81 81. Merry Christmas In Advance
Happy and Sirius Black sat down by the tree, a good distance apart. Happy still kept the wand at the ready since there was no telling when the man would pounce on him for no reason. Merely glancing at the man revealed his mental instability.
"Lord Voldemort isn't dead, and he's trying to return to life." Happy revealed. "In Harry's first year, he possessed one of the professors. In the second year, he returned with the help of his cursed diary. He's still out there as a soul without a body, and one day he'll be back. There is no denying it."
Sirius was too broken to seem shocked by that. "No wonder those bastards in Azkaban kept shouting that their lord would return. But why are you doing this? You're a Lestrange."
"Yes, I'm a Lestrange. I am just like you when you entered Gryffindor, Sirius—going against the norm. I'm the last of my family, and my last name is synonymous with blood supremacists and the Dark Lord's slaves. I have no desire to be some Dark Lord's tool, so I will fight with all I have to live a peaceful life." Happy answered, with a little bit of artful manipulation to evoke certain sentiments in Sirius' heart.
Sirius suddenly smiled. "There you are right… I was thrown out of the family because of that. You mentioned my brother. What happened to him?"
"You should ask Kreacher; he was with Regulus the whole time and knows everything. In short, I assure you that I know you're innocent, and Ron's rat is Peter. In fact, I've used my means to put a collar on the rat; it forces him to remain a rat and reveals his location to me—All I ask of you is to stop terrorizing the school. Write a letter to Dumbledore and inform him of everything that happened, but don't tell him anything about Ron's rat being Peter—let the old man investigate it himself. If he investigates, we'll at least know he still stands with us." Happy advised him skillfully. The man needed it in his current maddened state.
Sirius nodded his head. "When do we kill him?"
"On Easter Sunday, at night. I'll bring the rat to you in the Shrieking Shack. Sober yourself until then, get a bath and, perhaps, a wand. Because the plan I have is extensive and will end with ending the Dark Lord himself. Hear me out…"
The night went on, and Happy discussed his plan with Sirius. He didn't expect the man to have any critical thinking at that moment, so he just planted a few ideas and let him go. At least Sirius understood he needed to stop terrorizing the school. So with that, Happy happily returned to sleep, well aware that the remainder of the school year would be peaceful as he had complete control over everything.
…
[Hogwarts Unsafe! Sirius Black enters the school, and spreads panic: The previous night, right before dinner at the Great Hall, Sirius Black entered Hogwarts and attempted to force his way into the Gryffindor common room. In the attempt, the wild man damaged a painting.
But did you know, Sirius Black is one of the rare men in our era who was thrown into Azkaban without ever receiving a trial? Perhaps this time, when he's caught, we will finally obtain some answers...]
Happy allowed his propaganda machine, the delightful and hideous Rita Skeeter, to continue and write inflammatory articles that criticized the Ministry and the school. At the same time, the article implanted the notion that Sirius was unjustly denied a trial.
...
Winter rapidly approached, and November began, marking the beginning of the Quidditch season. It was a match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Despite the rainy weather, their spirits were surely high.
Happy sat on the reserve players' bench and ate a quickly made burger with not much other than a patty and some sauces inside. The rain was annoying, but Happy found solace in the fact that the school was still vibrant, unlike the movies, which for some reason, continued to lose their brightness with each installment.
"Any bets?" Happy asked his fellow Gryffindor teammates.
However, they all ignored him. "You always win bets, so no, thank you."
"..."
Happy sighed as their words held undeniable truth. Indeed, he was always lucky and won no matter what. Heck, he was starting to believe that as he was growing stronger, his luck was also growing and turning ridiculously crazy.
Just recently, his net worth increased from twenty billion to fifty billion, and it wasn't some stock or contract, but rather the cold, hard cash in his pocket, with which he had no idea what to do—all because of a massive flood had occurred in China and nearby nations, leading to an urgent need for food. Having already tested his company's products before, the government wasted no time in placing a big order.
Heck, he provided whatever was needed, and not just rice or some grains. But at the moment, the Room of Requirement was teeming with activity as his five house elves worked tirelessly. So he felt the urgency of making a few bigger Rooms of Requirement and spamming the money cheat codes he had found.
"And the race for the snitch ascends toward the clouds! Who will win? Cedric Diggory or Harry Potter?" Lee Jordan shouted through the magic mic as the commentator.
Happy's attention refocused on the match, and he saw Harry soaring dangerously towards the sky.
'So they came… good. Otherwise, I'd have slapped them to hell,' he smirked at the sight of the indistinct dark creatures cloaked in black.
"HARRY'S FALLING!" Lee Jordan bellowed.
Happy quickly grabbed onto his Nimbus 2001 and zoomed past his teammates into the field. He dodged the other players and swiftly reached Harry before Dumbledore could use his magic.
Bam!
Happy caught Harry Potter in a princess carry. Indeed, he just wanted to do something so he could make fun of his friend later.
"Easy there, princess… You nearly died there," he smirked after catching Harry, seeing him slowly lose consciousness. "That's what you will remember when you wake up… haha!"
Without hesitation, he returned to the ground and let Madam Pomfrey carry Harry to the hospital wing with magic. Harry wasn't physically injured, but the dementors sure did a number on him.
Yet Happy remained at ease, and at least the event would push Harry to learn the Patronus charm and perhaps, question Lupin about a few more things. After all, in the end, his goal was to unite Harry, Severus, and the others against the common threat.
'But things will still go my way as long as my plan is done right. I won't have to follow the story or worry about it later.' Happy told himself after setting his plans in motion.
…
Happy had no interest in magic other than herbology, runes, and a bit of Sunday training with Snape. He devoted his available time to studying these two subjects, even during his useless classes, at mealtime, or even before sleeping at night. He wasn't trying to master anything, but rather wanted to at least know the basics before going to study under Nicolas Flamel.
'So the wizards do know about genes but don't bother much with it since their science isn't advanced enough to manipulate them. But… isn't Animaguse enough proof? What about Nymphadora Tonks? Her body must be different from us homo-sapiens.' He wondered during his studies in one of the free classes in the Great Hall, right before lunch was served.
'Should I get some of her blood and get it tested by Flamel? He should know more about how to evaluate someone's blood, since he did it with mine.'
"What are you reading?" Hermione came and sat down beside him. She was in the middle of tucking her Time Turner back into her shirt.
'This girl, she's too dumb to realize she's already at the top.' Happy pitied her. Being the smartest and then being ridiculed for being smart felt too strange to him.
"Just some Herbology, what about you? I thought you were busy with classes," he asked, flipping through the pages.
Bam!
She slammed her forehead on the table, wearily letting her shoulders slump. "I quit a few, like Divination and a few others. I envy you, Happy… so carefree and happy."
He chuckled and patted her closest shoulder, giving it a massage. "Well, you live the choices you make. But I never understood. You're already the smartest person in our entire year. Why try so hard?"
"I don't know… magic is so fascinating and interesting. I just don't want to miss out on something and regret it a few years later, thinking, 'I wish I had taken that subject.' So I just try to study everything." She confessed her inner conflicts.
"Oh boy, you're actually dumb, Hermione." Happy shamelessly remarked. "Do you believe studying is more important than your youth? Unlike studies which you can do over the next few years and gradually learn everything—you will never be the same age. Each day you age, losing one day of your life.
"Some kids… don't even get to choose what they can and can't do. I think you should be more worried that you won't experience everything there is in life than worrying about cramming all those books in your head."
"..."
Hermione felt utterly speechless. She had never heard him speak so wisely before. "Who are you?"
Happy smirked. "Genius, Billionaire, hungry, philanthropist."
"What are you two on about?" Ron and Harry arrived just then, and the hall started to fill up for lunchtime.
"Oooo!"
"Horrrrr!"
But right then, owls began to fly into the Great Hall. There were dozens of them, and each carried a big package of equal size and shape.
Bam!
Happy climbed up a sitting bench and tried to grab everyone's attention as the owls began to deliver the goods. Three of them also landed before Ron, Hermione, and Harry.
"Everyone!" He bellowed. "May I have your attention? The packages that have arrived are from me. Recently, after the quidditch match, I felt sad for my friend here losing his broom, so I thought—why not gift him a new Firebolt?
"But! Then I thought, he'd get an unfair advantage, and the game wouldn't be fun. So, I decided to gift one Firebolt to each member of the quidditch team of all four houses—and of course, to a few of my close friends—Merry Christmas in advance, folks… have fun!"
Happy then sat down again, and reveled in the claps, shouts of excitement, and the amplified murmur of conversations throughout the hall. Everyone was frantically unwrapping their brooms. Many non-quidditch players also got brooms, such as Luna, Ginny, and some people in Slytherin and Hufflepuff."
"WOAH!" Ron's jaw dropped open. "This is beautiful!"
"It is," Harry chimed in, similarly excited. "How did you get this many, Happy? Last I heard, there was a long waiting list."
Happy smirked and crossed his arms while puffing out his chest.
"Oh no!" Hermione's brows furrowed, for she knew him too well.
Happy nodded. "Yeah, I bought the company."
