Chapter 93: Penelope Clearwater
November 1994
Diagon Alley
With another flash of lightning when Harry appeared he was in an obscure corner in Diagon alley. Hedwig let out a soft hoot and flew away.
As it was getting quite late in night most of the shops were starting to get closed. The owners of the shops and the workers were on their final tasks. They were cleaning the shop and organising the things before they would go home.
Harry had his face covered with the hood of the cloak of his invisibility cloak.
With slow strides he started walking; his destination Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour.
The ice cream parlour like the other shops was on its closing leg. One of the employees working at the parlour was clearing the floor while three other remaining employees were rearranging the chairs on the table.
From the corner of his eyes, Harry caught the sight of the person he was looking for.
Dressed in a short skirt of the white waitress uniform, no doubt designed to attract the attention of the customers, the witch had blue eyes and curly blonde hair.
The expression on her face though had a little smile but it was stiff. The colour in her eyes had dulled and Harry no longer saw the pride and fierce determination to be best in everything, he had once associated with this girl.
She was none other than previous Hogwarts Head girl and the topper of the school. Penelope Clearwater.
Harry walked near the girl and sat on a chair behind her.
"The best ice cream you have," Harry placed an order.
Penelope turned and replied with a neutral expression, "Sir, we have closed for today. Sorry for your inconvenience."
Harry did not respond and put his hands in the pocket of his overcoat, pulled out few shining gold galleons and placed it on the table.
Penelope's eyebrows widened in shock as she counted no less than 15 gold galleons which was more than her monthly salary.
By the time she could reply, Harry pulled his hood down. The blazing green eyes and the familiar face shocked Penelope even further.
Harry had been all over the news since the past week his name came out of the Goblet. And seeing him here, in front of her eyes was a shock to her.
She was about to respond but a slight fat man with small beards crossed her in haste and bowed before Harry.
He was the owner of the shop, Florean Fortescue.
He said, "Mr. Potter, it is our pleasure to have you here."
Most wizards would have considered what was Harry doing in Diagon Alley at this time when he should be in Hogwarts but Florean Fortescue was a proper businessman. And the amount of gold galleons on the table was more than enough for him to put aside any question he had in his mind.
Florean Fortescue continued with a flattering smile, "Mr. Potter, you should not worry. The parlour may be closed but such rules apply only to ordinary people. And you are no ordinary wizard."
He quickly pocketed the gold galleons from the table and turned towards Penelope, "Clearwater, serve Mr. Potter with the best ice cream we have."
He then leaned and whispered, "Serve him well. And don't worry, you will get a good share of the tip Mr. Potter have given us."
Penelope nodded in daze failing to understand what was transpiring.
Nonetheless she removed all these thoughts from her mind and walked inside the parlour to get the ice cream.
In very few short moments, she walked back with a dazzling glass ice cream bowl. In the bowl, two scoops of ice cream had been served for Harry to enjoy.
Penelope walked and placed the ice cream on the table in front of Harry and was about to leave when Harry interrupted her, "Miss. Clearwater, if you don't mind, can we have a small chat?"
Penelope seemed to hesitate but remembering the gold galleons she nodded and sat down.
Harry picked up the spoon to eat. After few moments of silence, he asked, "How is life going Miss. Clearwater?"
Penelope did not answer immediately but tear welled in her eyes, "Are you also here to mock me, Harry?"
Understanding that she had misunderstood his intentions he shook his head, "No, Miss. Clearwater."
He continued, "In fact I am here in need of your services."
Penelope frowned, "What services?"
"Well, you are one of the best students to ever graduate from the history of Hogwarts. And though, I do not look down on any kind of job," Harry replied his gaze moving around the parlour. "This place is not where, you can utilise your talent to the fullest."
He added further, "I am here to offer you a job."
"What job?" Asked Penelope with an aggressive tone. Her tone made Harry realise that she had been offered some 'jobs' before.
Harry again shook his head, "Don't worry, I am not here to offer a price for your physical body."
He continued, "You can think it some kind of assistant of me. You will have to look after my businesses, deal with a little bit of politics and most importantly slap some sense into few idiots of the Wizarding world. We can talk about details only after you agree."
Penelope seemed to hesitate, to Harry, which was completely normal, "If you agree, I can make a magical oath to never force you to do anything and that you would be free to leave whenever you want."
"Of course, I will pay you much more than this place pays you," added Harry.
Penelope went into silence for some time with hesitation clear on her face. With all that she had went through, to be cautious was a natural trait.
She finally nodded, "Ok... I agree."
Harry smiled brightly, "Very well.... Where do you live?"
"In a small flat not far away from here," she replied.
Harry nodded, "Good.... Dobby..."
With a pop, the enthusiastic elf appeared and bowed towards Harry taking Penelope by surprise, "Harry sir, called for Dobby."
"Yes Dobby," said Harry.
He pointed towards the witch, "She is Penelope Clearwater. Take her with you to the manor."
He turned towards Penelope, "Make yourself comfortable while you wait for me. We have few things to discuss. I will be back shortly."
Dobby took Penelope's hand and popped away and moments later Harry also disappeared in flash on lightning to complete the next and the final objective of the night.
To meet the person who was going to represent him in the Wizengamot tomorrow.
[Can you guess, who is the person?]
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