Who: Harry and Ginny (and Jamie) What: calming down, hopefully. When: Tuesday, after this Where: their cottage -> Hogwarts RoR Warnings: TBD Status: Incomplete
At this point, Harry was fairly sure he was the only entirely levelheaded person left in Trickster's Paradise. Maybe he'd always been the only one. Well, except for Snape - Harry believed that Snape's advice had been sound, and it meant quite a lot to him that Snape thought he'd made the right decision. It probably should have been weird to think that, but it wasn't; it was just a shame that all of Harry's insight into who Snape was and his respect for the man had come to him posthumously.
Now, though, Snape was here and alive, and Harry was grateful for it. He might have made an entirely different decision if not for that, or maybe he would have reached the same conclusion on his own - he wanted to think that, but he honestly wasn't sure. He still would not have wanted to hold the man accountable for crimes he hadn't yet committed, but he might not have been quite so conscious of what effect it might have on Dolohov to keep him in jail.
He wasn't underestimating Dolohov, but he might have underestimated the vengeful, angry sentiment from the rest of their little community. If something bad happened now, Harry was fairly sure it would be instigated by someone seeking to provoke Dolohov, or to get revenge. And of course, if that happened, Harry would likely have to make yet another judgment call regarding who was actually at fault. If they listened to him at that point, anyway. It was entirely possible that power would be wrested from his control, which could be either a relief or very worrisome or both, depending on how it happened.
Merlin, they needed someone like Dumbledore. Harry didn't see himself as having the same presence or clear judgment, and yet, somehow felt as though he'd been thrust into his mentor's shoes.
It had made him very preoccupied, but he was still paying attention to his surroundings as he headed to the cottage where he and Ginny were staying. There was very little he could do to comfort the people who didn't know him and had no reason to listen to him, but Harry was holding out hope that Ginny would see the logic behind his decision, or at least that he could ease her mind about it.
"It's me, Gin," he called out, before opening the door. She was scared enough already, he didn't want to startle her. He closed the door behind him, and looked around for her. "Do you want to go up to Hogwarts?"