Chapter 332: The Second Dinner
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The space twisted and distorted like an old hag's wrinkles. There was a pop, and Quinn appeared behind a tree near the township gate of the little community of Godric Hollow.
He glanced around for the presence of a non-magical residence of the hybrid township. Seeing that there was no one in sight, he stepped out of the tree's shade and walked towards the gate under the guise of an invisibility charm— it would be a bother to run into a non-magical resident and become part of a conversation that would go nowhere, ultimately ending in a confundus or obliviation charm.
The little township was the same as before, with the town church sandwiched between the town square and cemetery and half of the houses hidden from the sight of the unknowing residents who continued to live their lives in a town that looked to be nothing out of the ordinary.
But today, Quinn could see something out of the ordinary. He swept his eye on the paved street he was on. Quinn could make out several individuals that shouldn't be there usually. Some were hidden under an invisibility spell, and while Quinn couldn't tell who exactly they were, he could clearly pinpoint their positions. Then there were few physically hidden instead of magical invisibility, though these people did have Muggle-Repelling Charms cast over them.
Quinn made a mental of his surroundings with the people he spotted, and they seemed to be strategically placed around his destination.
Quinn reached his destination, the Potter House. He eyed the cozy house(much more spacious on the inside) from a few paces outside the property. He could feel a strong ward on the property— he could feel his warding, a type of Aegis, on the property— and seeing that the Potter House was protected by his ward was a relief to Quinn. He thought for a second if he should check if there was a Goblin ward (which he personally recommended to be set alongside Aegis) but decided against it in case he alerted the owners of 'tampering.'
Before stepping through the ward boundary, he softly patted the front of his sleeveless vest, and all of his clothes straightened out. He walked to the door and knocked on the door from the attached door knocker.
The wait between the knocking and the door opening wasn't anything lengthy, but to Quinn, it felt excruciatingly long and startlingly short, all at the same time. It reminded him of the time he had visited Daphne's house for the first time after they had started dating— he had been cornered by Sophie Greengrass (whom he was told won't be present during his visit.)
'No. . . I am prepared this time,' he thought and straightened himself. 'And they don't know that I'm dating their daughter.'
There was a faint sound of footsteps before the door swung open for Harry Potter to appear in view.
"Right on time, or. . ." Harry glanced back at a clock hung just beside the door, "oh, you're five minutes early. . . no wonder mum suddenly went mad."
"Should I return after a while? You can pretend it was the milkman or something."
"Or we can just wait here and talk until someone comes out looking for us."
"That's fine as well."
"Did you really expect anyone to buy the thing about the milkman?"
"Hey, I was being polite. It's the sentiment that matters."
"What kind of milkman comes in the evening?"
"The imaginary kind, of course."
"We get our milk in the morning through the owl."
"A mishap in delivery then. It happens, you know."
"We got milk today."
"An extra package for being such loyal patrons. A little customer appreciation can go a long way. Brand loyalty and all that jazz."
"But I don't have milk to show."
"You were thirsty and drank it."
"An entire bottle?"
"You're a growing boy; you can guzzle down a bottle. It might even go to your height."
"Hey! Me being shorter than you doesn't mean I am short. You are just really tall."
"Never said anything about you being short. That was all you, mate."
"You just don't want to admit that your suggestion was silly."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
As Quinn and Harry spoke to each other at the door, a voice from inside the Potter House interrupted them.
"What are you two doing goofing at the door? Come in and shut the door before the mosquitos come in."
Harry turned, and Quinn leaned to the side to get a look at Hermione Granger peeking out from a room.
"Oh, you're here as well," said Quinn
"I am staying over," said Hermione. "Ron is here as well."
"That's nice," said Quinn. Before he entered the house, he turned to the outside and waved over to the hidden people with a smile, who had clearly moved from their initial places when he had revealed himself on the doorstep of the Potter House.
"Who are you waving to?" asked Harry.
"To the milkman, of course."
". . . That's still going on?!"
Quinn followed after Harry and Hermione into the Potter House. They led him into what he remembered to be the lounge, where he found the other two of the golden squad waiting for him.
"Good evening, you two," he said, smiling.
Ron nodded in greeting. While Ivy responded with a "Good evening," accompanied with a bright smile.
Quinn continued to smile, keeping his brow from quirking. Had she forgotten the conversation they had?
When James had asked Quinn to come to dinner, he had immediately communicated with Ivy about it through MagiFax. But the problem was that after the Hogwarts attack and the looming threat of Voldemort, the Potter children weren't allowed out of their houses without adult supervision. This meant that Ivy and Quinn couldn't meet face-to-face, and they could get caught if they kept using MagiFax.
It was Ivy who remedied the problem before Quinn even brought it up. It turned out that she was thinking about how to communicate better with Quinn. She learned how to make the two-way mirrors James and Sirius used in their Hogwarts days. She charmed two hand mirrors— something she could do easily without getting pinged by the underage magic usage trace on her wand as she was inside a magical home and a heavily warded one at that. To keep the mirrors a secret, Ivy forwent owl-ing the mirror to Quinn and instead sneakily dropped the mirror in a marked corner of Godric Hollow, from where it was picked up by Polly, who transported it to Quinn, with only three people knowing of the twin mirrors existence.
"Your father asked me to come to your home for dinner," said Quinn, surprised to have a two-way mirror in his possession just after the day he got the invitation to the Potter House. He hadn't even told Ivy about it, that's until now.
"What?!" Ivy exclaimed and instantly sat up in her bed. "How? When did this happen?"
"Yesterday," said Quinn, ruffling the back of his head.
"And?"
"I accepted."
"Oh," Ivy sounded surprised and lost at words simultaneously.
"Yeah," said Quinn. He could've politely refused the offer, but if he had done that, he would've not been able to meet Ivy for the summer. Sure, even if Ivy didn't take the initiative to send the two-way mirrors, he would've made something similar— but meeting face to face was something he wanted to do, even if it was just once.
"So, we need to talk about how to act in front of your family," he said, "that's if you want to keep it hidden."
Ivy nodded. She wasn't ready yet; they had just started going out.
"I say that we act normal, just like the last time I visited; I think that'd be fine."
"You mean, you coming unexpectedly and I pulling my hair wondering if you'd do something horrible."
". . . You and I have really different memories of that day. It was jolly fun for me."
"Well, it wasn't for me. But I do agree about acting as if we are friends."
"I concur."
"Then, it's decided."
That was how Quinn remembered the conversation between them went. But that smile on Ivy's face was definitely not something that would be classified as normal— she could smile, but that was a little too bright. . . and if he was being honest, he didn't mind it.
Harry and Hemione took a seat on a triple-seater. Ron was slumped on a single-seater with his feet on a footrest. He turned to the other single-seater in the room, but his eyes caught Ivy, who was lightly tapping the empty space beside her on the double-seater where she sat.
Quinn stared at her for a moment before taking the seat where she asked him to.
"Where's Ms. Potter; I would like to greet her," he said.
"Mum!" called Harry, "Quinn's here." He turned to Quinn, "She'll be here."
"Auror. . . Mr. Potter?"
"In the kitchen with mum, probably."
Quinn nodded. He watched as he saw Hermione and Harry get their feet up the sofa and snuggle with each other.
"I did hear about you two getting together," he said. "It looks like it was true." He had been occupied with his internal problems and keeping up with who was going out with who wasn't on the top of his priority list.
Quinn glanced at Ron and found him looking at the couple from the corner of his eye. He reached out with a feather-soft Legilimency probe, and the feeling of green jealousy echoed through the probe. It seemed that the resident Weasley wasn't psyched about his best friends getting together.
"How's life after Hogwarts?" asked Harry.
Quinn retrieved his magic and turned to answer. "I don't know. I have been at home, doing nothing special, to be honest. It just feels like any other summer break. I guess I will know when I don't board the Hogwarts Express on the First of September.
What about you guys? Any ideas for your final year?"
"We will be aiming for the Quidditch Cup," said Ron confidently.
Harry nodded, "Gryffindor is going to win, no doubt about it."
A smile appeared on Quinn as he dipped his head to hide it.
"What?" asked Ron.
Quinn shook his head, the smile still on his face.
"It's about Quidditch, so he most probably remembered something that Carmichael said," Ivy supplied as she peered at Quinn.
Both Ron and Harry leaned forward. Harry immediately asked, "What did he say?"
"Nothing, he said nothing, but he did do something that I did personally find hilarious."
Ron and Harry exchanged glances before turning to Quinn with a question in their eyes.
"The day Ravenclaw won the Quidditch Cup, Eddie sort of marked it. . . ."
"What do you mean?"
". . . he sort of engraved his name on the Quidditch Cup. . . well, to be precise, he wrote: Eddie Carmichael— The Real Champion," said Quinn and every pair of eyes in the room widened, "and I mean really engraved it. . . he made sure you can't undo the engraving."
"We have to get a new Quidditch Cup," said Harry immediately while Ron had his jaw hanging.
"You know it better than me that the Quidditch Cup is a tradition; it has a long legacy behind it. . . I don't think McGonagall would replace it, even with Eddie's name on it," said Quinn with a grin on his face. "He told me that he'd regret missing the expression on your face when you saw it— I guess I ruined your surprise, but at least now, I can tell Eddie my first-hand experience about it."
A chime bell sound tingled inside the house. It sounded like some sort of indicator as Quinn could feel that the sound was weaved with a hint of magic.
Quinn turned to Ivy, "That was. . . ?"
"Someone came through the floo," she said.
There were heavy footsteps in the corridor beside the lounge. The sound grew closer until the source entered the room in the form of Sirius Black. The Senior Auror directly focused in on Quinn and sighed,
"You really gave everyone a scare, kid."
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Quinn West - MC - I am confused. . . just a bit.
Ivy Potter - Potter Princess - Had fun creating the two-way mirrors.
Harry Potter - Boy-Who-Lived - Likes to banter at the door.
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