Chương 30: Chapter 30: Expedition
Stepping into the dark and shabby pub, Harry felt as if he were eleven again. The Leaky Cauldron hadn't changed much since then; it was the same dirty but oddly homely place acting as the entrance to the Wizarding World. This time, his goal wasn't Diagon Alley. Instead, he approached the counter where the elderly, deformed owner of the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, was tending to the pub. The moment the man saw Harry, he recognized him. "Mr. Potter, welcome! It's been quite a while since I heard of you."
"Shh, Tom. Not so loud! I try to keep a low profile; I don't need any reporters following my every step again," Harry replied to the man who had always been nice to him, especially during the few weeks he stayed here before the third year. The man was a real treasure, as nice a person as one could meet. It was too bad that someone had done this to him, completely deforming him for life. Harry was reasonably sure that the one who had done it to him was Voldemort or Tom Riddle, only because he had the same name as him.
"Sure, Mr. Potter. So where were you? No one has heard or seen you for quite a few months," Tom asked interestedly as he put a bottle of Butterbeer in front of the young man.
"Call me Harry, Tom. I decided to travel a bit. I really wanted to see what was out there. That way, I managed to get a bit of silence from everyone that wanted to meet me," Harry stated with a bit of good old duplicity.
"That sounds nice, Harry. You deserve a bit of quiet. So, how can I help you? You surely didn't come here to only visit good old me," Tom asked, no longer wanting to take more of the young man's time.
"You are right, Tom," Harry said before pointing at a black wooden board beside the counter, where once Sirius's Bounty Posters had hung. "Can anyone put something on the blackboard?"
"With my permission, yes. As long as it is nothing banal, obviously. What do you want to put there?" the elderly man asked.
"A recruitment announcement. I need people for an expedition," he replied with a smile. After all, an announcement for an expedition to the sunken city of Atlantis, famous in the Wizarding World as a powerful place filled with wisdom and knowledge, was a good way to recruit new people who could be of use to him. But since the chance of wizards transforming into high-level magus was quite great, he had to be careful with whom to recruit. After all, the brainwashing effect and genetically inherited loyalty were weaker on higher-ranked magi since they were more powerful and could resist better. So people whom he could trust would be much better to recruit.
"Are you sure you have found it?" asked Tom, "You can put it on the board; hopefully, you are not over your head, Harry."
"Thank you, Tom. And don't worry, I am quite sure that I have found it," Harry replied before he moved towards the board, placing the leaflet onto the board.
"Harry?" a female voice from behind him called out to him. Turning around, he saw Parvati Patil, his former classmate from Gryffindor, standing there. "Parvati! Good to see you! How have you been?" he asked.
The Indian girl returned a beautiful smile to him, saying, "I am great. I see you didn't return to Hogwarts yourself." She said that the unofficial eighth year for many of their yearmates was still ongoing and only about to end in a few days.
"No, I didn't really feel like it. I needed to get out of Britain for a while," Harry replied with a smile.
"Yeah, but Atlantis? It seems your adventures didn't end with Hogwarts," she said with a smile herself as she read through the leaflet.
"Well, I already accepted that I won't live a quiet life, so why not do an adventure that sounds at least like fun?" he chuckled.
"Maybe I will apply myself. It sounds fascinating," Parvati said once she finished reading the leaflet.
"You? I never took you for someone interested in adventure and ancient civilizations." Parvati had always been someone more interested in fashion and gossip; he would have expected someone like her sister Padma to be interested in such an expedition.
"The pay sounds good. And I need to do something with my life now that I defied the expectations of my father," Parvati said quietly. Seeing the change in expression, he asked, "Oh, that doesn't sound like you are doing great. What happened?"
"Uh, I kind of had a big fight with my father. He wanted me to marry some Indian pure blood and become a stay-at-home housewife, which I never wanted. My original plans are not working out right now because of some unfair conditions, so I will have to look for something to do soon," Parvati replied, a bit downcast.
Feeling a déjà vu here, Harry stayed steady and continued to ask with a warm look on his face, "I am sorry to hear that, Parvati. What were your original plans? And what happened to Padma?" Harry asked, as he now felt quite bad for his old Yule Ball date.
"Parvati is fine for now. Since she is doing another year at Hogwarts, she has a bit more time. But a similar fight will happen soon," Parvati replied before explaining her original plans: "Lavender and I were planning to start our own fashion brand. But nobody gives credit to a werewolf. Some things haven't really changed since the war."
"I know… Wait, werewolf. Who?" He asked, not having heard anything about it.
"You probably haven't heard; it was quite chaotic back then. But during the Battle for Hogwarts, Greyback attacked Lavender and bit her. She has survived but became a werewolf and now receives full werewolf treatment," Parvati explained. "I am actually about to meet her. You can join me if you want. I am sure she would love to see you too."
Harry replied kindly, "I would like that. And if you really wish to join the expedition, you are welcome. I am looking for people I can trust; for you, I don't even have to conduct an interview."
"Thank you, Harry. I would like that. Would it be possible for Lavender to also join the expedition?" She asked hopefully, "She is in a similar position as me."
"Sure, I was already planning to ask her the moment you told me about her recent experiences." Harry replied that it was also a good opportunity to study werewolves. "I already have a specific job for the two of you in mind."
"Really? What could it be?" Parvati asked. She felt that Harry was only offering them a position because he pitied them, and she couldn't refuse because she didn't have many other options. But neither she nor Lavender had any useful knowledge that would be useful to an expedition to Atlantis.
"I need help organizing this whole thing. Specifically for now, someone who organizes, sorts, and pre-chooses the applications for me."
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