Albus Potter and the Prophesied Year

Ch 25 Boxing Day

Boxing Day was January twenty-sixth, Monday.

Harry, Ginny, Albus, Cleo, Lily, Ivana and Minerva ate breakfast together in the kitchen of twelve Grimmauld Place. Hermione and Ron with Hugo joined them.

"Cleo and I are going to spend the next four days on the island," Albus announced. "It is too difficult traveling back and forth every day, and it is awkward with the time difference as well."

"You are going to have to give the island a name," Hermione suggested.

"The Island of the Pirate Witch Queen isn't true anymore," Harry noted.

"The Island of the Fertility Goddess?" Ginny wondered.

"I hope not," Albus retorted. "The island is not that big, and Cleo really has to control that aspect of her personality."

"She does," Ginny confirmed. "If the prophetesses thought you needed to wear that wedding gown, I guess you did, but I doubt if all the babies born because of it are going to be wanted. That gown is going to put many families in awkward positions."

"I know," Cleo sighed.

Just then several owls flew towards Albus and Cleo. Albus opened a small bag he was carrying, took out a large bag of owl treats, and gave each owl a treat. He then took a quick look at each letter. He did read all of two of the letters. He then shrunk the letters and put them in the bag.

"Sometimes I wish the owls took a day off," Cleo complained.

"People are acting like we are the next rulers of the Magi," Albus told the table. "Even if we will be, we are not yet. I've looked at enough of these letters to know that they all should be answered individually, but Cleo and I don't even have time to read them all."

"You need a personal staff," Hermione suggested. "People whose job it is to read the letters and, under your direction, answer them. They may end up doing other things for you. I know Winky does more for me than I thought she would, and at the Ministry Jack Miller and his staff handle much of the routine matters that otherwise would overwhelm me."

"Richard Fagan and Annabella Bulstrode!" Albus exclaimed. "I wonder if they married. They were going to. We have worked just enough with Richard to know he could do the job, and Annabella seems to be a nice, hardworking-person. They want to marry, but actually marrying may be very awkward.

"Richard is at Hogwarts. His parents disowned him when he went to Hogwarts. I don't know where Annabella is."

"I will go to Hogwarts to try and find out," Hermione replied. "Boxing day is a holiday at the Ministry, so I don't have to go to work."

"I am going in to work," Harry informed everyone, wincing when everyone groaned. "I'm still dealing with how short staffed we are because of all the Aurors who are dead or disabled. The Creevey family, Dennis and Mary Lou, covered for me during the weddings and Christmas, but they are taking all of today off."

"I thought Albus and Cleo won, and everything was over with?" Hugo asked.

"There are problems large and small that still have to be dealt with, and dangers large and small. The largest is, we think, some ways off, but the Lord of the Dementors and the evil, Christians would call it the Devil and his demons, are apparently frantic. Prophesies suggest that they will suffer a big loss sometime after the Pirate Witch Queen is defeated."

"There are really scary prophesies," Albus confirmed. "Plus, there is a big conflict between some of the old fashion goblins and the newer Elf Goblins and other descendants of the High Elves. We have not been very involved in that, and I hope we are not, because it is scary, and violent at times."