The Necromancer

Chapter 14

“What do you mean?” Neville asked quietly while picking up his own cup and blowing across it.

“My parents were Gryffindors, and so were many of my extended family.” Harry stared over the kids’ heads, as though he was suddenly feeling melancholic. “If I hadn’t been kidnapped and we’d gone to Hogwarts together, I’m completely sure I’d have been a Gryffindor, too.”

“So you’re an honorary Gryffindor,” Ron said with an agreeable smile.

“Thanks!” Harry toasted the boy with his cup of tea. “I appreciate hearing that from a genuine Gryffindor.”

Ron’s cheeks flushed bright red and he quickly took a few sips of his tea, head ducked, trying to hide his face.

“I want to thank you again for returning my family’s cloak yesterday,” Harry said, addressing Neville. “Did Dumbledore ever explain why he gave it to you, though?”

Neville seemed frozen for a second by Harry’s sudden attention, but then he cleared his throat. “Er…no. Just that it was your father’s and you should have gotten it. But since you were missing, I could use it for the time being.”

“How curious,” Harry said with a thoughtful frown, making sure not to sound too accusatory. “I heard recently that our parents were friends, so maybe that’s why the headmaster thought it was a good idea.”

“Yes, that could be,” Neville agreed in a whisper, yet he still looked like he’d never had any real idea of why he’d been given the invisibility cloak in the first place.

Hermione, who’d been listening while seated at the edge of the sofa, apparently couldn’t contain her curiosity anymore. “What sort of magical school did you go to? What did they teach there?”

Harry chuckled as he looked at her expectant face. “I attended Master Karakas’ School for Sorcery in Misty Springs, which was a lovely town built on the side of a mountain in the middle of a rainforest.” All three kids were hanging onto Harry’s every word. “As for what we learned there? The simple answer is magic.” Harry grinned when the kids all groaned in impatience. “Nah, we learned classes very similar to the ones you have here. Plants, potions, runes, curses, wards, and much more.”

“That must have been right strange, to learn foreign magic like that,” Ron said in an awed tone.

Harry shrugged while giving the kids a lopsided smile. “I was four when I moved there. To me Santika’s magic has always been familiar magic. This world is filled with foreign magic as far as I am concerned.” Harry ducked his head a little, pursing his lips. “In fact, I’m feeling a little lost trying to navigate my way around this world, especially with the tournament coming up.”

“Oh, oh!” Hermione looked like she was half a second away from jumping up from the sofa and raising her hand in the air. “We could help!”

Whipping his head up, Harry gave Hermione an utterly grateful look. “Would you?”

“Yeah, we’d be happy to,” Neville said quickly with a solemn nod.

Harry sat up a little, looking from one kid to the next. “I couldn’t ask that of you…I’d need you all to do lots of research and that would take a lot of time.”