Harry Potter and the Mage Powers
Chapter 1 – Never Again
"It shall wait, over the ages if necessary, for him. It will sleep in its broken existence until then…"
All was calm on Privet Drive. It was two o'clock in the morning and a full moon shone brightly over the horizon, and not a sound could be heard on the street. Immaculate lawns, gleaming cars, neat driveways… It was the very image of a perfect suburban neighbourhood and all the inhabitants were currently enjoying their well-earned sleep. All of them, that is, except for one: a bespectacled young man lying on his bed at number four, twirling a long piece of wood between his fingers, deep in thought. However, this was no ordinary piece of wood. It happened to be a magic wand, made from holly and measuring 11 inches. Harry Potter, a young wizard fresh from his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, dared not go to sleep.
Harry's brain was occupied by thoughts of the veil through which Sirius Black had fallen in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. He couldn't quite erase the image of Sirius' face as he fell, the look of utter surprise on his godfather's face as he fell to a curse issued by his own cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Although most of the country still believed Sirius Black to be a hardened criminal, Harry knew better. He missed his godfather more than anything in this world and it was due to this that he could not fall asleep. He'd rather be exhausted than go through the nightmares again.
Harry Potter and his friends from school had gone to the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius. He had been tricked into thinking Sirius was in mortal danger by Lord Voldemort, the most evil Dark Wizard, who had wanted Harry to retrieve the record of a prophecy connecting the two of them. This prophecy had been destroyed in the following battle between the Death Eaters and Harry and his friends. Sirius and other members of the Order of the Phoenix had arrived in time to save them, but Sirius had been killed and now Harry felt guilty…
If only I had not been fooled by Voldemort… If only I had continued with Occlumency… These thoughts plagued Harry for what seemed the umpteenth time.
So far, summer at the Dursleys' was proving to be better than any preceding time at his aunt's house. Ever since the threat issued by Moody, Arthur Weasley and the others, his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia gave him an impressive amount of freedom around the house. They more or less ignored him except over trivial matters such as chores, and otherwise he was free to do as he pleased. This suited Harry just fine, as he had too much to brood upon and did not want to be bothered. Dudley also kept his distance from him, scared that this Harry (for Harry knew he seemed utterly changed) wouldn't be afraid to use magic on him if he were so inclined.
As it was, Harry spent his time either doing his homework or going over last year's events. He found, however, that he could not truly concentrate on his homework, as the death of Sirius and his role in it loomed ever large over Harry's conscience. Sirius had been his only family for a while. True, he was part of the Weasleys, and Ron and Hermione were surely closer to him than his "real" family… But Sirius was really the only father figure he'd had in his life that he could remember and relate to.
Losing him had proven to be a huge blow to Harry's morale. So, nothing could be more normal than the feelings Harry was experiencing.
Hedwig, Harry's female snowy owl, was currently delivering another reassuring letter to the Order that nothing at Privet Drive was amiss and that his aunt and uncle were being sufficiently decent to him. Harry missed Hedwig, for in these moments of deep thought it was really soothing for him to hear Hedwig's comforting hoots and be able to pet her. His owl was the only thing on which he could pour affection when away from his friends, and without her his room seemed to turn even more sombre. It was as if he was locked away, cut off from everything he loved and from the world he belonged to.
He could no longer blame Dumbledore. Harry understood now, after their talk, why he must stay at the Dursleys'. He had finally been told the reason for his parents' death and his scar, but it still didn't make him feel any better. Also, Harry had just realized at the end of last term that Dumbledore was a very powerful wizard but still human, and was trying to come to terms with that realization. He was very used to thinking of Dumbledore as the all-knowing wizard that could solve anything… Nonetheless, even if Harry had been very angry to begin with, the anger at the old headmaster had been slowly receding. He had been able to hear the emotions behind Dumbledore's words after the events at the Ministry, even through his rage. Dumbledore had come to regard him as a grandson of sorts, something that made Harry feel somewhat touched. But yet, he missed his godfather.
"Stop it, Potter!" he muttered to himself. He hated feeling so helpless, so alone… He knew also that he should really start working on his training. He was sure, after their last encounter, that if he was to defeat and vanquish Lord Voldemort, as the Prophecy stated, he would need loads of training. Maybe more research at the library for more spells, some endurance training… Honing his reflexes would be great for a real battle too.
Harry stood and slowly stretched. He had taken to completing a couple of sets of both sit ups and push ups, which were starting to show some results on his skinny frame. Surely, if he followed the routines and kept increasing their duration, he should be in a better shape at the start of the school term. He'd grown a bit the last month, gaining a couple of inches, but what made him feel best was the fact that he looked a little broader around the shoulders. He was still a skinny boy, but hopefully no longer a push over. He usually only did his exercises in the mornings, but he figured he could use the strain right now to push his mind into an exhausted state to invite sleep. After about a couple of sets, the physical exhaustion he felt was enough to drive away the thoughts that tortured his mind. His muscles ached dully but he managed to fall asleep over the pain…
"HARRY POTTER!"
Harry awoke with a start at his uncle's yells and massive fists pounding the door to his bedroom. He was grateful he had slept well and could not remember any nightmares that had disturbed him. He did feel slightly queasy and sweaty, but these feelings were very faint, and he dismissed them quickly… However, when he looked at his watch, his heart almost skipped a beat. It was well past noon and on its way to one in the afternoon! No wonder his uncle was pounding like mad at the door.
"Coming, Uncle Vernon!" Harry said as he jumped quickly out of bed and ran to open the door, feeling quite refreshed.
Uncle Vernon was a large man who looked as if his neck had been cut off and his head simply reattached to the rest of his body. He stood before Harry, his face turned purple as most of the times when he spoke to his nephew. Seething, his uncle just stared at him for a few moments, as if he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he wouldn't be able to control his rage.
"BOY! What do you think sleeping for so long? How did you lock the door from the inside? We will have no laziness in this house! Now explain yourself!" Vernon Dursley was a man who did not take kindly to lying about.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon," said Harry, trying to defuse the situation by apologising. "I was just very tired and thus I must have slept through aunt Petunia's calls in the morning…"
"What's this nonsense? You overslept? No one oversleeps for nearly two days, boy! Where were you? And what did you do to your room? Light kept coming from your room these two days! Thank God the curtains to your room are thick; I can't imagine people seeing what you were doing here!" Uncle Vernon was literally spitting with fury. He had always detested Harry, apparently for the crime of being imposed on the Dursley household as a baby.
"What do you mean two days? What day is it today?" Harry was confused. Two days? The thought was staggering.
"The last we saw of you was Monday evening. Now it's Wednesday in the afternoon. Care to explain? I shall not have those freaks you call friends come to this house saying I refused to feed you for two days in a row. I will not be threatened in my own house by a bunch of weirdoes on the whim of a 15 year old brat!"
"Wednesday? Today is Wednesday? But how can that be possible? I know I can't have slept that much!" Harry was now panicking. Was that why he hadn't remembered any dreams? Sure, he had been tired, since the nightmares had not let him have a decent night of sleep in the last month… But to actually sleep two whole days was too much! It can't be, Harry pondered. But then, as he looked around his room in a daze at confronting such thoughts, he saw Hedwig with a letter waiting patiently at the top of her cage, staring at him from her huge, brown eyes that conveyed worry.
Just as he was about to go to her and remove her letter, a loud pop alerted him to a wizard apparating at the top of the stairs. Quick as a cat, Harry launched himself at his bed to remove his wand, which he kept under his pillow while he slept. Uncle Vernon appeared to freeze suddenly while looking out Harry's room into the hallway. Harry heard the unmistakeable sounds of a cloak swishing and pointed his wand at the door to his room, waiting for whoever appeared. It was then that he heard a voice.
"If I had no conscience I would gladly turn him into what he really is: A worthless pile of dung!"
At these words Harry began to calm himself, even though he warily kept his wand at the ready. As the pretend Moody had repeated constantly for a year, he was constantly on the watch, ready for any surprise. However, the voice had sounded just like that of Remus Lupin, his old Hogwarts professor. As these thoughts crossed his mind, Harry saw a head peek around the door: the unmistakeable face of Remus Lupin.
"Hello, Harry! How are you today?" Remus Lupin was a wizard with a shabby appearance to himself due to the always tattered condition of his robes (caused by the lack of gold to buy new ones). He looked at the young wizard standing in his room and did not appear to be bothered by the wand pointing straight at his forehead.
"It's OK, Harry. It's me, Remus. I taught you the Patronus Charm in third year, helped create a certain map of Hogwarts, and your Patronus takes your father's animagus form."
"Remus! What are you doing here? What did you do to my uncle? What…" Harry slowly lowered his wand.
"Easy Harry. Take it slow. I'm here because there has been some strange activity detected at your house for the last two days. It didn't set off the underage magic alarms in the Ministry, but it did interfere with Dumbledore's magic detection wards. They are a mite more sensitive than the ones the Ministry uses. We wondered if you had noticed anything weird going on around here since Monday evening."
"Magic detection wards? I didn't know there were those kinds of wards in the house? How come Dumbledore did not notice Dobby in my second year?"
"They're a recent addition, put in place just before you came here," explained Remus, "to alert us of any unexpected magic signatures around your house. Dumbledore thought they'd serve as a nice alarm system to avoid things like your Aunt Marge's blowing-up incident. Dumbledore was worried that in your…grief, you'd find it harder to control your emotions. The wards are set up to trigger an alarm in Dumbledore's office when your magic starts to flare up just prior to uncontrolled magic."
"Wow… I did not know that was possible!" exclaimed Harry.
"Smart man, Dumbledore… That's a spell of his creation. The Ministry is just able to detect magic once it has happened. Albus, however, can be alerted just before you do that magic. We don't want to have any problems with the Ministry regarding you, even if they are on our side." Remus looked thoughtfully at Harry, taking in the apparent distress in Harry's eyes. "Don't worry; the alarm didn't go off. But the wards constantly monitor the magical levels in the house at all and there was a strange reading during the past two nights… Dumbledore has been busy lately with business for the Order, checking some things at the Ministry, so he failed to review the status of the wards these past two days. He thought if something was wrong, the alarms would sound. However, upon checking the readings this morning, he noticed the abnormal signature and ordered me and Tonks here."
"Tonks is here? Where is she? I didn't hear her in the house," said Harry.
At this, Remus chuckled. "Well, yes. You know how clumsy she is… We decided I would Apparate first and put your family in a Freeze-frame spell. It makes them freeze in time until they are released, they'll think nothing happened. After I did that I was supposed to let her know and she would apparate. If you'll allow me…" With this, Remus grabbed a small red stone from a pocket in his robe and tapped it with his wand. As soon as he did this, there was a small crash downstairs, and after a few minutes Tonks walked into his room.
Tonks, a young Auror with Metamorphmagus powers, could look any way she wanted. At the moment, she appeared as a thin blonde woman. Her hair reached to her waist and the ends were coloured bright green.
"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks winked at him. "Sorry for the mess downstairs, I already cleaned and repaired the broken vase."
"So, Harry. About the weird signature, do you know anything that might have caused it?" Remus looked at Harry, concern etched into the deep lines covering his face. His werewolf condition, added to the stress of the war and losing his best friend, had caused him to age quite prematurely.
"Actually, there was something I wanted to tell you. It was what I was discussing with my Uncle. I remember going to sleep on Monday, and then nothing until right now, when my Uncle Vernon woke me." Harry saw the worry deepening in Lupin's face. "I went to sleep tired and apparently just slept through all Tuesday and part of today. Uncle Vernon said there was light pulsating from my room all through this time. Do you know what could have happened?" Harry asked his professor.
But it was Tonks who spoke up first. "Light pulsating from your room? And you were asleep, you say? Do you remember any dreams?"
"No."
Tonks placed her hand on Harry's forehead and a weird look came over her face.
"Remus," she said, turning to the professor, "we need to take him to Dumbledore. Now."
"Why, Tonks? What's going on? Do you…" began Harry.
"Don't say anything more. I think I know what's going on… It's not safe here. Dumbledore will explain. Remus, if you'd help me pack?"
"Of course Tonks!" With a couple of waves from both their wands, all of Harry's possessions were once more packed and ready for moving.
"You'll have to wait here for a second Harry. I'll go to Dumbledore for a Portkey, there's no time to assemble a guard and make the trip by broom. Remus, stay here and unfreeze the Dursleys while I go. Explain to them that Harry is leaving for the rest of the summer. I'll be back as soon as possible." Tonks, having said this, Apparated away.
"How have you been, Professor?" Harry asked, trying to pass the time until Tonks came back. However, after asking this Harry was assaulted by the memories of Sirius and his nightmares.
Harry looked up at Remus, the emotions welling up inside him. He realized that the man in front of him was standing against the same monster: Death. Both felt Sirius' death in the same manner, as he was family in more ways than one to them.
"Professor, I'm sorry… I killed Sirius! I did not think! I am sorry, please forgive me. I miss him; I am such a fool at not realizing it could be a trap! I should have listened to Hermione, I should have…" Harry stopped as he saw Remus' hand raise and cut him off.
"Harry, calm down. It wasn't your fault. Sirius died because of Voldemort. Nothing more, nothing else. He did what he felt was necessary, as did you. Don't blame yourself."
Harry felt part of the heavy burden upon him start to lift and was grateful for that. He knew at that moment what it truly meant to be forgiven. If someone could make him feel better, that was Remus. While Dumbledore had taken some of the responsibility onto himself at the end of the summer, his words did not have the same effect as those from Remus, who had now lost all his close friends to the evil deeds of Voldemort. Harry just stared at him and then hugged him with all his might.
"It's OK. Don't worry; we will talk more about this. I am, you realize, now your guardian. Sirius left a will asking me to take on this role should anything happen to him. I daresay you will hear more on the subject from Albus, but for now just know that I don't blame you in the least and I am proud of you, as would be Sirius and your parents."
"Thank you Prof… Remus," said Harry fighting the quiver in his voice as he called Lupin by his first name for the first time. Never again, he thought. I will train as hard as possible and I will take you down, Voldemort. No one else should suffer so.
It was at that moment that Tonks reappeared in his room holding an old issue of the Daily Prophet. Harry grabbed on to his possessions and placed a finger on the paper. A few seconds later, he felt the familiar hook behind his navel and Remus and Tonks bumping against him. In a swirl of colour, they landed in Dumbledore's office.