HPNSA - BOOK ONE

CHAPTER 5 – ALL ROADS LEAD TO HOGSMEADE
TIMELINE: FIFTH YEAR APRIL TO MAY

Hogsmeade looked different this year; Around the corner spring was preparing to peek into its busy sidewalks, a constant wailing will be heard somewhere along the road – someone would be muttering about the streets being too slippery. Though in some lonesome cranny the snow had still to melt and join the lake, in its main thoroughfare, no trace of it can be seen--Only a constant dripping and flowing of icy water.

Fred and George Weasley were scouring the streets today for signs of the new priest that recently placed an ad in the Daily Prophet. It wouldn’t be hard to find him since his ad advertises uncanny practices in weddings – those that normal priests approved by the Ministry would be penalized for.

Though the Ministry of Magic has strict rules regarding registration, they give a new priest leeway of up to six months to accept them using an emblem for registration just to crank up his business. Thus, he can accept all kinds of marriages and keep it secret. The emblems used only during the ceremony, were later given to the couple, which would make him a favorite for six months what with the many half-breed unions, and gay wizard marriages that normally would be frowned upon had it been made public – wizards would not readily accept Hagrid.

Unfortunately, many parents keep a close watch whenever a new priest is in town because many teenagers take this opportunity to wed themselves without their knowledge and blessing resulting in tragic family affairs. However, it was still within the school year and most of the teenagers are in Hogwarts. In fact, George and Fred were the only ones roaming around Hogsmeade since they gave up school due to Professor Umbridge on the 27th of April.

“Let’s ask Madam Rosmerta.” George said, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand. He has been asking around and no one seemed to have a clue about this new priest.

Madam Rosmerta was again banging on a sign that she has been trying to fix unto her pub door. It was announcing discounts on butterbeer during weekends.

“Excuse us.” George said. Madam Rosmerta looked at them both first with curiosity, “Erm…we’re looking for this priest.” The moment they showed the ad, her eyes judged them. Fred wanted to melt but they had no choice but to endure it.

“Yes. He frequents the Hogshead.” She answered raising her eyebrows to show her contempt for what she thought they planned. She muttered something about morals in Hogwarts or something like it before the twins were out of earshot.

George and Fred then left and headed for the Hogshead - not a very welcoming place, though it proved to be quite effective when holding secret meetings and what not (the DA met here the first time Hermione introduced the idea of Harry teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts). Inside, they found several suspicious characters and the usual filthy bartender that looked like he was related to the swine whose head was used as a sign for the place. They showed him the ad and without the need to finish their question, he points them outside the pub to a small shop across the street.

The owner was cleaning the stalls in front that featured all kinds of cauldrons made from pewter and ingredients used for Potions. They approached him and, after showing him the ad, he points them to the alley between his shop and the next without saying a word.

George looked inside the alley and saw that there was nothing between it or beyond it. However, the man directed them to go through so he and Fred plunged in and as soon as they were several feet through, they found themselves inside a huge round hall. The dome like ceiling was filled with small floating planets that circled around a blue-white sun that served as the light source for the hall. There were 13 pillars around and each pillar had the carving of a creature with wings that were reaching for the sky – they moved slowly as if in dance; reaching for the sky now, then arching themselves in fetal form the next. Half of the hall was covered in thick burgundy drapes that hung from the ceiling to several feet on the floor. The altar had a claw-like holder right in the middle with candles shaped like children with wings floating around it – eleven all in all.

“Yes?” A voice asked. George felt like a cold finger ran across the back of his neck; large Goosebumps emerged and he felt compelled to run out but Fred stopped him.

Somewhere between the burgundy drapes came a man; he was tall and thin, had shoulder-length ebony hair, his nose was large and hooked, and he had very thin lips, which made him look like a vulture. He had large dark round patches around his button-sized darkling eyes. He wore a bottle green gown that was accented only by a pendant that hung from a golden chain around his neck that dropped down to about two inches beneath his chest. They could not make out what the pendant was, but it seemed to have wings – bat wings.

“Well, we are looking for the one who placed this ad.” George said, trying to be courageous.

“That will be me.” The man said. “I am Uriel. Are you planning a wedding?”

“Y-Yes.” Fred answered. “But not us.”

“No. It’s someone we know.” George said.

“Oh?” His languid voice was icy to hear. “Why are they not here then?”

“Well,” George began, “Your ad said that you do teenage marriages in secret.”

“How young are these?” Uriel asked.

“Sixteen. They are students from Hogwarts.” Fred said George kicked him. “Ouch!”

“I see. Well, that is nothing to hide these days, there’s no need to get violent.” Uriel said.

“Well, they are, erm.... They’re gay…sort of.” Fred said.

George ribbed him and said, “Too much information!”

“What?” Fred said.

Uriel smirked. “I only do secret marriages with emblems. The ministry insisted.”

“Where do we find the emblems?” George said.

“The shop outside to the right sells them for me. You need a fertility emblem and a unity emblem. Bring them to me and we can have the wedding.” Uriel said.

“Do we have to schedule that?” Fred said.

“The first of May.” Uriel said. “Oh and be sure to come, the next open slot is after three months.”

The twins looked at each other then headed outside. The temple disappeared the moment they stepped out of the archway entrance. They then went into the shop to the right where they found a small table in the middle with two brown chairs, and an archway that opened to the back of the shop that had immaculately white walls. On the table was a small bronze bell. George picked it up and rang it. A small man came out of the archway almost instantaneously bringing a small wooden box.

George was a bit startled by his entrance. “Erm…we’ve come to purchase some emblems.”

The small person placed the box on the table and took the bronze bell that disappeared with one wave of his wand. “Look…” He said.

Inside the box they saw two emblems, one was shaped like an egg the other a nonagon with several facets. Both had some kind of liquid inside that looked like water. The small man then waved his wand again and a small booklet appeared. He gave the booklet to the twins and Fred opened it and found that it was the primer for the emblems: what was for what and what the results mean.

“Three galleons.” The small man said.

Fred reached inside his pocket and was about to pay the man but George stopped him. “What is it now?” Fred said.

George turned him around so that they could speak in secret. “Look…” The primer had results for all kinds of marriages – ALL KINDS included a Nymphrodite wedding. “See? We need more than one of those Unity Emblems.”

Fred nodded then he turned to the small man and asked if they could buy more than one Unity Emblem. “Three galleons.” He said.

“Wait, three galleons for the entire set and three galleons for just the Unity Emblem?” George said.

“Fertility and Primer free.” The small man said.

“Oh…” Fred said sarcastically.

“Alright we’ll get 5 more.” George and Fred then left the shop carrying the emblems and headed off to send an owl to Ron asking him, Harry, and Hermione to meet them on the 30th in the shrieking shack. Then they went in search for a place where they could put up their joke shop.

***


“I’ve never seen a wedding with emblems before.” Hermione said, musing over them with genuine curiosity.

“It’s been a long time since one is needed since the Ministry only allows the use of emblems for six months to help a new priest start his business. That’s what dad says.” George said.

“Do you always have to tell dad?” Ron said.

“I’m careful, Ronnikins! You don’t have to worry about this coming from me.” George said, rubbing Ron’s head with his hand.

“Alright, what are we going to do now?” Harry said, looking at the Fertility emblem with curiosity.

“Here,” Fred said producing two small needles from the primer. “You and Ron will prick yourselves with this and drip your blood inside the emblems.”

“Ouch!” Ron said. “That’s gonna hurt.”

“No they won’t. These are magic pins, an ant bite would have been worse.” Hermione said looking at the needles.

“Let’s do the Fertility emblem first.” George said.

“Yes, let’s see if you’ll be able to produce another Weasley.” Fred said, ribbing Ron.

Ron blushed and so did Harry. Then they pricked themselves with the needle and dripped their blood inside the emblem that was shaped like an egg. Their blood immediately swirled around each other and after a while the water inside turned to something that looked like milk.

“Positive!” Hermione cried the primer in her hand showed the results of the test to be positive for reproduction. “You two can produce a child!”

Harry and Ron blushed again and everyone felt a little awkward but they laughed it off until the whole shack was shaking with their laughter. Then it was time to do the Unity Emblem. They had to do the same thing and when their blood met inside the emblem the whole thing turned to gold. The laughter died slowly until it was totally replaced with silence. Fred took the emblem and shook it a bit; no trace of liquid could be seen, the whole thing was solid gold.

“You can’t, Fred, put it down.” Ron said.

“That won’t do.” Hermione said after a while. She then showed the primer to Ron and Harry. “Maybe we can use someone else’s blood?”

“Let’s try it with Hermione’s blood and Ron’s,” Fred said. Harry felt a sting of jealousy at the suggestion but gave way. The test was successful, the emblem turned to scarlet – a human man and woman wedding.

“Well…” Ron said.

Harry could feel blood rising to his head. “Of course he’d know that’s not my blood.”

“Yes…of course.” Ron said looking at Hermione; for a moment, there was tension in the room.

“Maybe you can drink polyjuice potion and pretend to be me.” Hermione said after a while.

“That’s brilliant!” Ron exclaimed.

“No. We can’t, we already told the priest it’s a gay wedding.” George said.

“Yes, you show up with Hermione there he would not accept you, he would reschedule.” Fred said.

“Then let’s reschedule.” Ron said.

“Why don’t you just marry her instead?” Harry snapped.

“What?” Ron said.

“Well seeing as this is MY wedding don’t you think it will be appropriate if I walked down the aisle looking like, oh I don’t know, ME?” The jealousy was clearly taking over and Harry could not control himself. Ron scratched his head.

Hermione sighed heavily then said, “Wait here…” She then took the needle from Harry and ran downstairs. The four boys waited in silence though every now and then Ron would whistle. Shortly after Hermione came rushing back in, took one of the extra Unity emblems, and dripped the blood in the needle. “Ron, give me yours.” After dripping Ron’s blood in the emblem, the swirling liquid turned to deep blue – male to male marriage. “Alright…that’s it.” Hermione said. Fred and George clapped their hands but Ron didn’t even smile.

“No. This won’t do either.” Ron said shaking his head.

“Why not?” Harry asked.

“It doesn’t match this.” Ron said shaking the fertility emblem in front of them.

“Oh that’s right.” Hermione said taking both emblems.

Fred suggested they tried it with his and Ron’s. The blood would not meet they kept swirling around. The same thing happened when Hermione and Harry tried to use their blood – the blood would not meet, which meant they couldn’t be united.

The five of them now debated on which emblem to present to Uriel. The real one with Harry’s and Ron’s was definitely out of the question. Finally, Harry decided to use the last one.

“Who’s blood did you get?” He asked Hermione.

“Neville’s. He doesn’t know, I pricked him from behind and he thought I was playing a prank.” Hermione said.

“We’ll use that then, it’s the closest.” Harry answered. “We can tell the priest that we drank a fertility potion or something for that emblem, we’re wizards, he’ll believe anything.”

The debate should have ended that day but May first came and things that were simple yesterday took a different turn – a more annoyingly complicated turn.

“Ron, bad news. Uriel won’t accept the Unity emblem!” Fred said.

“What? Why the bloody hell not?” Ron said. He, Harry, Hermione and George waited for Fred inside the Hogshead pub.

“He wants you to do it in his presence.” Fred said.

“No!” Ron said. “Unacceptable. I won’t do it.”

“You promised.” Harry reminded him.

“Harry, the deal was if we can do it in secret!” Ron said.

“That’s the purpose of the emblems, the whole bloody thing will be in secret.” Harry insisted.

“No. I have a bad feeling about this.” Ron said he was nervously shaking his head. “There are too many people who know already. You said that Dumbledore specifically told you not to let ANYONE know. My father said that your only defense is anonymity.”

“But he’s a priest, Ron. I’m sure he’ll keep his mouth shut. Besides, he offers this service in complete secrecy, if he blabbers it’s not good for business. You think a new priest will risk that?” Harry said exasperated. He was beginning to feel boxed in. “Fred, can’t you convince him to just accept these?”

“No. I tried to, but he would not do the wedding if you won’t register in his presence.” Fred said.

“Let’s go.” Ron said. “Harry, I’m not risking it.”

“No. We’re doing this today, Ron.” Harry said. “Please. Let’s just do it!”

Ron walked out of the pub. Harry followed him and said, “I might as well announce to the world what I am.” He cried. Ron stopped and turned around. “I will and you know it!” Harry said.

“Why can’t you understand that I don’t want you to die?” Ron said. “Do you want to die?”

“No! Of course I don’t.” Harry said.

“Well you will if they find out. They will hunt you down!” Ron said.

“See this?” Harry points to his scar. “They don’t need another reason.”

“Yes, but then there’ll be more, more enemies who will come and hunt you more vigorously. What if we don’t have the power to defend you against them?” Ron said.

“The Incubi fear wizards, and I AM a wizard – that means I’m not helpless. I have managed to survive this long.” Harry said.

“So because of that you will plunge in? Welcome them with open arms?” Ron said.

“No!” Harry said. Then he went closer to Ron then said in a low soft voice, “No. I will give anything not to be in this situation.”

“Then what is it, Harry? Why do you insist that we do this?” Ron said.

Harry took out a tattered piece of paper from within his jacket pocket. “This is why.” He gave it to Ron. “Those are all the Nymphrodites that died within the last millennia. I don’t want to add my name to that list.” Ron looked at it and sighed. He then turned around and looked at the sky. Then he bowed his head. “This is within my reach, Ron. Don’t deny me this, please.” Harry pleaded. “You might as well write my name here if you won’t do this. I don’t want to end up like them. Don’t condemn me to their fate.”

Ron turned slowly though his head still hung low. Then he slowly raised his eyes and looked at Harry and said, “I will never forgive myself if anything happens to you because of this,” His eyes brimmed with tears. “I don’t know what I will do.”

Harry placed his hands on Ron’s shoulders. “You always had my trust, now you have my love. Not this, nor death will get in the way of our happiness. The curse of the Iranna could not stop us falling in love and it will surely have no power on this day. Not today, Ron. This day will be blessed because today we defeat the curse. Marry me, Ron. Marry me and get my name off the list.” Harry looked into Ron’s eyes, “Change my fate.”

Ron crumpled the paper in his hand and closed his eyes tightly causing drops of tears to run down his face. Then nodding his head he said, “My mind is telling me we shouldn’t do this. But my heart and soul could never say no to you, I love you so much it’s devouring my consciousness.” He brushed his hair with his hands then looked around them. He took a deep breath then said, “Alright, we are doing this. May the fates be kind to us, if anything bad happens to you out of this, I won’t be able to live with myself.”

“Thank you. The fates will smile upon us, Ron.” Harry said, embracing Ron tightly. Ron wiped the drops of tears that hung in his eyes and went back inside the Hogshead to inform Fred, George and Hermione that they will go through with the wedding.

Hermione went back inside the shop of emblems with Fred and purchased a new Unity Emblem for the ceremony while Harry and Ron went back to the Shrieking Shack to get their dress robes. Moments later they were inside the temple and registered in Uriel’s presence.

Uriel gasped as the emblem turned to gold. “Well…” He said, “I didn’t know this was going to be a special wedding.”

Harry smiled. Ron frowned at the priest that smiled at them strangely.

“Wait here…” Uriel turned bringing with him the emblem.

“Where are you going?” Ron said. “Shouldn’t we start the ceremony now?”

“Patience…my dear boy…” Uriel said. “You will be wed. I just need to prepare…” Then he disappeared into a room behind the burgundy drapes.

“Where’s Hermione?” Harry said.

“She’s keeping watch outside, in case other Gryffindor’s or Ravenclaws come and try to get hitched.” George said.

Harry nodded. Then he looked at Ron and said, “This is it…\"


***

On the other side of the Burgundy drapes, Uriel was talking to a curious animal. A garden rat was missing one toe. He looked absolutely repulsive to be someone’s pet but he used to be adored by a very kind family once. In fact, the one person who loved him with a passion was on the other side of the room waiting patiently and nervously for the ceremony to begin.

“I have found our Nymphrodite…” Uriel said to the rat. “You will never guess who it is…” His eyes glinted green before making the announcement, “Harry…Potter.”