Chapter 7
The morning after Hagrid left, the house felt wrong.
Not quieter.
Just… different.
Like something had been taken out of it and nobody had decided what to put back in its place.
Harry sat at the kitchen table with his letter in front of him.
Ivy sat opposite.
Dudley was nowhere to be seen, which Harry considered a minor miracle.
Petunia moved around the kitchen like she was avoiding eye contact with reality itself.
Vernon hadn’t spoken since last night.
Ivy broke the silence first.
“We need a list.”
Harry looked up.
“A what?”
“A plan,” she corrected immediately. “We have two months. That’s not a lot of time.”
“It’s loads of time.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.”
“It’s really not, Harry.”
He sighed.
“Fine. A list of what?”
Ivy tapped the parchment.
“Books. Wands. Cauldrons. Whatever a ‘standard size owl’ is supposed to be.”
Harry frowned.
“You’re acting like this is shopping.”
“It is shopping.”
“It’s… magic school shopping.”
“That sounds worse when you say it like that.”
She ignored him.
“I also want to know where it is.”
“You heard Hagrid. It’s hidden.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s a wizard answer.”
“I don’t trust wizard answers yet.”
Harry snorted.
That felt normal.
Comforting, even.
Ivy leaned forward slightly.
“We’re leaving for it.”
“Yes.”
“On our own.”
“I guess.”
She nodded like she’d just confirmed something important.
“Then we should know what we’re walking into.”
Harry watched her for a second.
“You’re not scared.”
Ivy didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she looked down at her letter.
Then she said quietly,
“I am. I just don’t think it helps.”
That made Harry pause.
Because Ivy was many things.
Bossy. Loud. Curious. Reckless.
But she didn’t lie about things like that.
⸻
Later that day, Dudley tried to read Harry’s letter.
It did not go well.
“Give it back,” Harry said flatly.
“No.”
“Ivy.”
“I’m supervising.”
“You’re stealing.”
“I’m inspecting.”
Dudley held it up higher.
Harry stood.
Dudley backed up.
That was the mistake.
Because Ivy didn’t even get up.
She just said,
“Dudley.”
Dudley froze.
Harry frowned.
“What?”
Ivy pointed at Dudley’s mouth.
“Is that chocolate?”
Dudley hesitated.
“…No.”
Ivy smiled sweetly.
“Then why are you lying while holding chocolate?”
Dudley looked down.
The letter slipped from his hands.
Harry caught it instantly.
Ivy leaned back in her chair.
“Case closed.”
Harry stared at her.
“You blackmailed him with chocolate.”
“I observed him with chocolate.”
“That’s worse.”
“It’s efficient.”
Harry wasn’t entirely sure when Ivy had become like this.
Or when she’d started enjoying winning arguments so much.
But he suspected Hogwarts was going to get very interesting.
⸻
That night, Harry couldn’t sleep.
He kept thinking about the letter.
About Hogwarts.
About wizards.
About parents he barely remembered.
And Ivy.
Always Ivy.
He rolled onto his side.
Across the room, she was awake too.
Of course she was.
“Harry,” she whispered.
“What.”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s usually the problem.”
She ignored him.
“If magic is real… then everything else could be too.”
Harry blinked.
“Like what?”
“Anything.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It’s honest.”
She turned slightly, looking at him through the dark.
“I don’t want a small life, Harry.”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Because that was the thing about Ivy.
She never said things like that lightly.
“I know,” he said finally.
A pause.
Then she added, quieter,
“Do you?”
Harry thought about it.
About Privet Drive.
About Dudley’s screaming.
About Petunia’s silence.
About Vernon’s anger.
About a life that felt like it had already been decided for them.
Then he looked at his sister in the dark.
“I think,” he said slowly, “we might not get one.”
Ivy didn’t seem upset by that.
If anything, she looked relieved.
“Good,” she whispered.
“Good?”
“Means we get to choose it.”
Harry huffed softly.
“You’re impossible.”
“I know.”
A pause.
Then Ivy said, very softly,
“Harry?”
“What?”
“I think we’re going to be alright.”
Harry didn’t know why.
But he believed her.
Outside, somewhere far beyond their small house, something vast and unseen was waiting.
And for the first time in their lives—
Harry and Ivy Potter were going to meet it together.