novelraw Chapter 483 484: The Party
Chapter 483 484: The Party
Aunt Petunia's words carried a deep-seated fear that Harry couldn't quite grasp.
He could, however, understand that the wizarding world was far from safe.
He looked into the mirror. For his age, he was still quite thin and small,
though he had grown a few inches over the past year. His jet-black hair remained
as it always had—messy and stubborn, no matter how much he tried to flatten it.
Behind his glasses, his eyes were a startling green, and through the fringe on
his forehead, a thin scar was clearly visible, shaped like a bolt of lightning.
Of all the unusual things about Harry, this scar was the most extraordinary. It
wasn't, as the Dursleys had claimed for ten years, a souvenir from the car crash
that killed his parents. Lily and James Potter hadn't died in a car accident.
They had been murdered—murdered by the most terrifying Dark Wizard in a century:
Lord Voldemort. Harry had escaped that encounter with nothing but that scar.
Voldemort's curse hadn't killed Harry; it had rebounded on the caster, leaving
him a broken, spectral thing that had fled into the shadows.
And then Harry had encountered him again at Hogwarts.
At that moment, Harry's thoughts naturally drifted to Sean Green. Sean, who was
always quietly reading; Sean, who walked through the Hogwarts corridors at night
carrying a blood-stained sword; Sean, who had led them against Voldemort time
and time again.
Harry looked up. The afternoon sun beat down directly onto the terrace. Clouds
stretched lazily across the horizon, leaving no trace of the stars. But Harry
knew that when night fell, and when a wizard facing the darkness looked up, they
would always find the stars. They were always there, hanging high in the sky.
As Harry's thoughts wandered, the doorbell rang.
He ran downstairs to open the door. The sun hung over the neat garden of Number
Four, illuminating the brass number on the gate. The sunlight also crawled
across the face of the visitor.
"Mr. Potter."
Standing outside was a stern-looking woman wearing square spectacles. She was
draped in an emerald-green cloak, her dark hair pulled back into a very tight
bun. She showed a hint of excitement that was hard to detect, but mostly, she
wore a look of kindness Harry rarely saw on her.
"Professor McGonagall! You... I mean, what are you..."
Harry never expected to see Professor McGonagall on his doorstep. His mind
immediately went into a tailspin, flashing back to every rule he'd ever broken,
and his expression grew visibly tense.
"I am accompanying Mr. Green... to deliver some invitations."
Professor McGonagall was a wizard who valued etiquette. Harry took the envelope
from Sean's hand, following the Professor's subtle nod.
"What invitations...?" Harry was baffled. Was there something so important that
a professor had to deliver it in person? He looked instinctively at Sean. The
dark-haired young wizard looked just as confused as he did.
Together, they stared at the silver-trimmed invitation.
[Dear Mr. Potter, You are cordially invited to attend the birthday party of Sean
Green. The party will be held on July twenty-seventh.]
Harry snapped his head up. "Sean, your birthday?!"
"My birthday?" Sean looked dazed, a slow realization dawning on him.
"Oh, Sean." Harry looked at him for a long time, speechless. It wasn't until an
owl fluttered onto the windowsill beside them that he asked quietly, "You've...
you've never celebrated your birthday before?"
As she listened to them, Minerva McGonagall felt a bitter, aching sensation in
the back of her throat that she couldn't shake.
The night of July 26th. Midnight sharp. The stars were brilliant.
The twenty-seventh owl of the night burst into Ravenclaw Tower. By now, Sean's
room was practically overflowing with gifts. Ever since the Magic Hand Mirrors
had been released, communication between wizards had taken a massive leap
forward. He didn't know who had leaked the news, but Sean had received enough
gifts from the alchemical community to fill a small cottage. Beyond that, there
were dozens of letters and gift boxes from the countryside farm, London, and
Hogwarts itself.
Sean unwrapped the large box that had just arrived. Inside was a beautifully
wrapped gift, a card, and a letter from Hermione.
[Dear Sean: I hope you are well. If you are well, then...]
The Magic Hand Mirror on his desk vibrated slightly. Sean could see the area
designated for the "Mini-McGonagall" icon shifting to reveal Hermione's anxious,
flickering face.
"Good evening, Hermione," Sean said softly.
A gentle breeze brushed against the stained-glass windows of the tower. On the
table behind the glass sat a platter of fruit. Through a glass of chilled,
thirst-quenching juice, one could see the outlines of peaches, cherries, and
sweet melons.
"You found your birthday, Sean..." She spoke the first sentence and then seemed
unable to find any more words.
"Hagrid took me to sneak a look at the Book of Admittance," Sean explained.
"Happy birthday. That's what I wanted to say—I had to tell you. It's a wonderful
occasion, and I'm celebrating it with all my heart. We all are. If anyone says
they don't care about it, I'd say they've gone completely barmy." Hermione's
voice was thick with emotion. Her face vanished into the rippling surface of the
mirror, but in the final second, Sean saw her shoulders trembling.
Sean stared at a single spot for a long time, his gaze silent and unfocused. He
opened the letter and began to read again.
[Sean, I'm currently on holiday in France, but I headed back the second I
received the invitation. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I bought your gift
through owl-order; there was an advert in the Daily Prophet (it's so good being
able to keep up with the wizarding world while away).
Did you see the photo of Ron and his family from a week ago? I bet he's learning
so much. I'm so jealous—Ancient Egyptian wizards were truly fascinating. There's
some interesting local history of witchcraft here too.
I've already finished my History of Magic essay. I included everything I
discovered here. I hope it isn't too long—it's two rolls of parchment longer
than Professor Binns asked for. How is yours coming along?
I really want to see you, Sean. I've missed you so much. Let's meet on the
twenty-seventh!
With love, Hermione. P.S. Ron says Percy has been made Head Boy. I bet Percy is thrilled. Ron doesn't seem very happy about it, though.]
Sean set Hermione's letter aside and picked up her gift. It was heavy. Inside
was a massive, thick volume filled with advanced spells and various fascinating
magical histories she had collected.
Sean slowly raised his head. From the shadows of the castle tower, he gazed out
at the soft, slow-moving white clouds and watched an owl fly in a jagged path
through the breezy sky. The Forbidden Forest and the hills were a soft blur of
green. The fields were damp and warm, smelling of flowering grass, clover,
daisies, and rye.
The acacia blossoms were falling. The world was becoming more beautiful by the day.
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