Imagine everyone having their appearances in the 3rd movie. Just thought I'd make that clear in case i hadn't done so before. Have to make them physically older for the John/Anne Marie/Fleur triangle thing in case I do something like that. Fleur would have a similar appearance to the 4th movie, but younger. This story may or may not be as long as the canon one. It all depends on if I have it so Black is set free or not.
Chapter 1: An Egyptian Adventure
John sat in a chair with a glass of ice cold water in his hand outside on a balcony with sunglasses on so the really bright sunlight wouldn't blind him. Unlike the previous year, the Weasley family had gone to Egypt thanks to one of Ron's older siblings. His name was Bill and he worked for Gringotts. As to why anyone would want to work for a bunch of unpleasant and ugly creatures…. John had no clue. However, he had never been to Egypt before so he didn't care one way or another. This time around, everyone had a growth spurt. John didn't grow as much as they did, but he still grew enough that he had to get new clothes. He got the usual clothes along with a new coat. This time it wasn't a raincoat and was a knee-length tan trench coat. The rest of his attire was pretty much the same though.
"You'll get a sunburn if you stay out here, ya know," said a feminine voice from nearby. John didn't have to look to recognize the speaker. The voice belonged to Anne Marie. She had elected to go with them as her family were leaving on a business trip without her.
"Not with the enchanted sunblock I put on," John replied before he took a sip of his drink.
"Why are you out here anyway?" Anne asked.
"I wanted to get out of the room due to Ron's shouting," John answered.
"You could've told him how to answer the phone…" Anne said dryly.
"Nothing teaches better than experience," John shrugged.
"Fair point," Anne nodded.
"Oh," Anne said as she turned to head inside, "Mrs. Weasley says that it's almost time to head out so we should prepare ourselves."
John didn't respond except to take a drink of his water as he got up from the chair. He followed Anne inside and saw that the Weasleys had outfitted themselves in Egyptian garb.
"Aren't you hot?" Ginny asked as she looked at his clothing.
"Thanks for noticing, luv," John replied.
"Very funny," Ginny said rolling her eyes, "you know what I meant."
"The enchanted sunblock is surprisingly cool," John shrugged, "Especially if I drink cool water."
"You might want to change then," Molly said as she walked out of her and Arthur's room wearing similar garb.
"Why?" John asked.
"We're going to see the pyramids next," Fred or George said eagerly.
"Lovely," John said sarcastically, "I've always wanted to be sprayed by pressurized salt acid."
"Huh?" asked the entire Weasley family.
"Great," John sighed to himself, "why is it pure-blood families have zero interest in muggle entertainment and other things?"
"Too much temptation for some," Molly said as she cast a disapproving glance at Arthur who was staring into the earpiece of a muggle house phone as if it was a spyglass.
Later, on a caravan of camels…
John was miserable. It was hot, the sun was bearing down on him, and he had to change into clothes not his own. However, he had to admit that the attire he put on was indeed best for desert heat.
"How long till we get there?" Ron called to Molly Weasley who was closer to the front alongside Arthur Weasley.
"Quiet!" shouted their guide who wore a white long sleeve shirt with buttons, tan khaki pants, brown dress shoes, suspenders, and a brown fedora.
"Don't shout at my kid!" Molly shouted in return.
"My apologies," the guide grunted, "However, unless you want your son to become something's dinner…"
"What do you mean?" Arthur Weasley asked as he looked around.
"There's a being out around here that is rumored to be the cause of several tourists like yourselves to go missing," the guide replied.
That had a sobering effect on everyone, and from then on nobody uttered a word.
About midday, they finally arrived at the Pyramids of Giza. As soon as the guide came to a halt, they followed suit.
"Blimey I'm parched," John muttered as he pulled a flash of water from his camel.
Once everyone had refreshed themselves, the guide walked towards the entrance and peered in.
The guide was so focused on peering into the darkness of the pyramid that he didn't notice as John Constantine walked up behind him.
"Looking for mummies?" John asked. The guide jumped a bit and whirled to stare at John.
"No," the guide finally replied after his heart rate had normalized, "I'm looking for signs of traps."
"Like that one?" John asked as he gestured towards a seam in the floor of the entrance to the pyramid.
"Good eye," the guide said appraisingly, "What's your name kid?"
"John Constantine," John replied, "and you?"
"Carter Hall," the guide replied before he walked back to his camel.
John watched as Carter removed several sticks from the saddlebags on the camel, but then focused his attention on the entrance of the pyramid.
John clasped his hands together and rolled his eyes as he prepared to do some of his muggle-magic.
"John!" hissed Anne as she walked up in her arabian clothes, "your not allowed to do magic outside of school!"
"This is muggle-magic," John assured her as he stared at her, "there are no laws against using it."
However, before he could use his muggle-magic Carter Hall returned and John reluctantly lowered his hands and placed them in the folds of his rent-a-cloth.
"Okay," Carter said with a messenger bag now slung on his shoulder indiana jones style, "follow me. Don't deviate from the path, don't touch anything, and don't steal a thing. If you do as I say, you'll be fine."
"What are those club-things for?" Ginny asked.
"Beating balls?" Fred or George said instantly thinking of Quidditch.
"These are torches," Carter explained, "It's what the ancient egyptians used way back when. Same for medieval england, britain, and even the colonial america used them."
"They look like sticks to me," Arthur said excitedly, "does that mean that torches is another word for sticks?"
The guide blinked twice when he heard that, because it was the dumbest thing he's heard in a while. Especially, since it came from the mouth of an adult.
"Torches are sticks doused in flammable liquids set ablaze," John explained to ensure their visit to the Pyramids was no longer than neccessary.
"Ohhhhh," the entire Weasley group said with a tone they didn't know that till now. Which they didn't, but Carter Hall didn't know that.
"Follow me," Carter said as he shook his surprise away. He turned around, and after he made sure the trapdoor at the Pyramid's entrance wasn't going to activate he walked through.
Later, inside of the Pyramid…
They had to walk carefully and slowly as there could be traps at any step. John was getting impatient as well, because he really didn't want to be in what was essentially a gigantic graveyard. For all he knew, Imhotep was about to wake up and kill them all. He was also bored, because nothing interesting was happening either. Eventually, they made it into a bigger room which had some mirrors, chairs, and tables around the room. Some of the tables looked to be far more recent while others were unusable. Same goes for the chairs. The mirrors on the other hand were kept in good condition.
"You those mirrors?" Carter Hall asked as he gestured with his torch.
"Those don't look good for checking out one's appearance," Molly said confused.
"That's because they were used as a lightsource back in Ancient Egypt," Carter explained.
"How are mirrors a lightsource?" Arthur asked confused.
"Watch and learn," Carter replied as he picked up a random stone and threw it at the mirror. The Weasleys thought the mirror would shatter, but to their shock the mirror merely flipped till it caught the sunlight that was pouring in from a hole in the roof. The sunlight reflected off of the mirror and onto the others which brightened up the room a lot.
"Amazing," Arthur said with wide eyes, "These muggles were ingenious!"
Muggles? Carter thought confused.
John however, wasn't paying attention as he stared at a wall with Hieroglyphics on it. There were two images that stood out, and they were of two beings with feathered wings in battle against Egypt's enemies. John immediately walked towards it and wiped some dust off of the wall.
"That wall tells of two warriors," Carter said once he noticed what John was doing, "They fought the enemies of Egypt on their own for a while. However, not even they were strong enough to fight off Egypts worst enemy. Rome. The two warriors were defeated and crucified. According to the legend, the two reincarnated time and time again due to a spell they whispered to one another. So, they could be alive today. However, legends are generally exaggerated and so mostly bogus."
John looked Carter and saw the long-stare combined with grief. John narrowed his eyes, because someone of the present shouldn't have such a reaction of two people from the past.
"Moving on," Carter said suddenly as he headed towards the exit.
Towards the end of the visit…
There were some rooms that had curses on them, and some were booby-traps made by muggles. Once they reached the last room, Molly Weasley forbade ginny from entering the last one. As they followed Carter towards the exit, John glanced into rooms and the last one he glanced into had a golden helmet. It was undoubtedly made out of real gold too. He slowed to a stop as he felt something coming from the helmet. It felt similar to what Gryffindor's sword felt, but different as well. For a second, John thought he saw the eye-holes flash with a golden light. However, once he realized he was getting left behind he hurried after the Weasleys and Carter Hall.
Later in the afternoon…
The twins were chatting excitedly about possibilities for pranks which made Molly frown. Molly immediately forbade them from following up on their ideas, but that only made the twins even more certain in coming up with new pranks. Arthur was also excited, but merely because he found out more about muggles. Ginny and Anne were chatting together about their venture and their guide who they thought a looker. Ron immediately sat down, pulled out a parchment and quill, and began to write furiously. John on the other hand looked at a medallion in his hand that he had grabbed from the pyramid. He hadn't intended to, but he felt that he should so he did. It had the image of a man on one side and an image of a wolf on the other side.
John immediately went towards his hotel room and changed back into his own clothes after putting on his enchanted sunblock. John placed the medallion into his pocket, and put his wand into his inside coat pocket. He returned to where he had left the Weasleys and found they weren't there anymore. In fact, the lobby was empty except for a man in black desert robes with a curved sword in his sash(?).
John immediately turned to head back up, but stopped when he found two more standing behind them. As to how they got there… he had no freaking clue.
"'Aead ma sarqth," said the one John saw first. John slowly turned around to look at the man.
"Sorry," John said sarcastically, "I don't speak aladdin."
"I said," the man said irritated as he stepped forward, "return what you have stolen."
"I haven't stolen anything," John said innocently.
"We know you have it," the man persisted as the two other men prodded John forward, "We saw you put the medallion into your clothes as you left the pyramid."
John just stayed quiet and crossed his arms.
"Unless you want a curse to fall upon you and all you hold dear," the man implored as he held his hand out, "hand it to me."
John stared at him for a while as he determined whether the man was lying or not, but eventually he concluded that the man was being honest. John slowly pulled out the medallion and handed it to the man who quickly pocketed it.
"Midalia allaykan fireawn," the man muttered to himself. John just blinked twice when he heard that.
"Why did you take this?" the man asked curious.
"I just felt I had to," John shrugged, "I didn't actually want or need it. I usually go with my gut feeling, and if my gut didn't feel I had to I wouldn't have."
"This medallion is said to cure or cause lycanthropy," the man said.
"I think I'm safe from becoming a furball," John said with a shrug.
"Then you must be about to meet someone that has been bitten by a werewolf," the man said thoughtfully.
"You a believer of magic?" John asked.
"I am a Medjai," the man said, "a guardian of Egypt. I have sworn to ensure that the monster never arises and that all curses of Egypt remain dormant."
"A simple yes would have sufficed," John remarked dryly.
"True," the man said before he handed the medallion to John, "and I hope this medallion proves helpful to you."
"So, there's no curse about to 'fall upon me and all I hold dear'?" John asked.
"Not from that medallion," the Medjai shook his head, "at least not one that can't be cured with the medallion as well."
"Okay then," John shrugged as he put it back in his pocket.
"I ask that you return the medallion to Egypt once you have used it," the Medjai said as he and his two buddies headed towards the door, "because if you don't… the effects will be disastrous."
At that, the Medjais left the building.
A few days later, with Harry…
Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would at least meet Ron, Hermione, and John tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up, dressed, went for a last look at the Firebolt, and was just wondering where he'd have lunch, when someone yelled his name and he turned.
"Harry! HARRY!"
They were there, all three of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him. John looked the same as usual, but with a new coat. Also, like Harry, Ron and Hermione both had a growth spurt so they were around the same height as John. Think movie appearances for every canon character, and versions of the Constantine characters from the tv show looking around the same age.
"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down, "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and-"
"I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Dad," said Ron simply.
Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would of course have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.
"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.
"I didn't mean to," said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. "I just… lost control."
"It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."
"Same goes for you, John," Hermione said sternly to John who had burst out laughing.
"I'm not laughing about that," John said as he sobered up, "I'm just laughing about the image of Draco receiving the same treatment."
Ron and John burst out laughing again, but harder.
"So am I, Hermione," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested." He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"
"Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" shrugged Ron, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!"
Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things."
"Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"
"Look at this," said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And we've got all our books -" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two."
"What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.
"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I' said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies-"
"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle- born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"
"I'm with Ron on this," John said also baffled.
"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.
"You want to know of them from the wizarding point of view?" John said, "I'll tell you something about them. Muggles SUCK. They hate anything they don't understand. Take Harry's muggle relatives. They treated him like freaking Cinderella just because his parents had magic and they feared he did. Now they're just abusive of him."
"What's a Cinderella?" Ron asked confused.
"Doesn't matter," John said with a quick glance at him.
"My own dad drank and beat me just because I was magical," John continued to Hermione, "It didn't help any that he was a freaking priest."
"Well," Hermione said with narrowed eyes, "not all muggles are as horrid as your dad or Harry's relatives, John. My parents happen to be quite nice. I'm looking for an unbiased opinion of them. An opinion that is neither good nor bad."
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry when he sensed the growing tension, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.
"I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse to change the subject. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present."
"How about a nice book? said Ron innocently.
"No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol-"
"I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers." He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him."
Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.
"Not having him for stew then," John said as he eyed the rodent. That earned a glare from Ron.
"I'm off," John decided, "It's pretty clear that I'm not wanted here anyway."
At that, John left them to do their thing while he did his own.
"There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Harry to change the mood, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl."
So they paid for their ice cream and crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie.
There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants Of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.
A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.
The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.
"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He has been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."
"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.
Ron lifted Scabbers out of his pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.
Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was secondhand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.
"Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"
"Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother."
"What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.
"Er…" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.
"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.
"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.
"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch, "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these-"
She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."
"Well, if you Don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.
"Okay," said Ron. "How much - OUCH!"
Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.
"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers, shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.
"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed.
It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.
"What was that?"
"It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry.
"Where's Hermione?"
"Probably getting her owl."
They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.
"You bought that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.
"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.
That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.
"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.
"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.
"And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"
"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."
"Wonder why," said Ron sarcastically as they set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.
Meanwhile, with John…
John stood in front of a building which had items inside of it as city-shops do. However, these items were unlike those you'd find in the Muggle world. The item John was staring at specifically was an amulet. Said amulet looked more like an Ankh.
"Monsieur Constantine!" said a familiar french voice nearby. John turned to look at who said his name and widened his eyes. Standing nearby were Madam. Delacour, Fleur, and another young girl that looked similar to Fleur.
"You don't have a demon you need exorcising, do you?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No," Madam Delacour shook her head, "This year we are staying in the French Embassy, and while we are… Fleur will be attending Hogwarts."
"Well then," John sighed, "Unless you've been here before, I'll play the role of tour guide for now."
"That would be...uh…" Madam Decalour trailed off.
"Awesome? Wonderful? Great?" John suggested.
"Ah yes," Madam Delacour said gratefully, "The middle word, wonderful, is the one I was looking for."
At the Leaky Cauldron…
Harry, Ron, and Hermione found Mr. Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the Daily prophet.
"Harry!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks," said Harry as he, Ron, and Hermione joined Mr. Weasley at the table.
Mr. Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him. Image Gary Oldman's appearance in the 3rd movie.
"They still haven't caught him, then?" he asked.
"No," said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."
"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It'd be good to get some more money-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr. Weasley, who on closer inspection looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard. It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, You mark my words."
At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred and George, who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts; the newly elected Head Boy, Percy; and the Weasleys' youngest child and only girl, Ginny.
"Where's John?" Molly asked concerned as John wasn't there.
"Probably making mean jokes about people's pets," Ron grunted his mood soured by the mention of John.
Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, didn't seem to notice Harry except by giving a casual nod. Ginny was just as concerned as Molly was about John. Perhaps, even more than Molly. Probably, because John had saved her life during their previous year at Hogwarts and again in the Pyramid. Percy, however, held out his hand solemnly as though he and Harry had never met and said, "Harry. How nice to see you."
"Hello, Percy," said Harry, trying not to laugh.
"I hope you're well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands. It was rather like being introduced to the mayor.
"Very well, thanks-"
"Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy-"
"Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."
Percy scowled.
"That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Mum!" said Fred as though he'd only just spotted her and seizing her hand too. "How really corking to see you-"
"I said, that's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed to the brand-new silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride."
"And last," Fred muttered under his breath.
I don't doubt that," said Mrs. Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects."
"What do we want to be prefects for?" said George, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life."
Ginny giggled.
"You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, let them be," said a Liverpudlian voice from nearby, "Every family needs a goofy relative or two. Otherwise, you'll end up miserable from boredom."
They all turned to see that John had returned and was flipping his wand in the air like the Doctor does with his sonic screwdriver.
"I will not!" Molly said sternly, "They need to grow up, and behave respectable!"
"If muggles can make a living out of making people laugh," John said as he put his wand away before he headed their way, "then so can these two idiots."
"Hey!" the twins exclaimed in unison.
"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy suddenly and loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner…"
Even though he hadn't intended to, he had just defended Fred and George.
He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.
"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us."
Dinner that night was a very enjoyable affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and the seven Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and John ate their way through five delicious courses.
"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate pudding."
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley.
Everyone except John looked up at him.
"Why?" said Percy curiously.
"It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them."
"For Humongous Bighead," added Fred.
Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.
"Why are the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.
"Well, they-" said Mr. Weasley.
"Arthur," Molly said as she gave him a look.
"They're just doing me a favor," Arthur slowly finished.
His voice was casual, but Harry couldn't help noticing that Mr. Weasley's ears had gone red, just like Ron's did when he was under pressure.
"Good thing, too," said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground… You are all packed, aren't you?"
"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed."
"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.
"Potter's going to find out eventually," John finally spoke up which attracted their attention, "so there's no point in hiding it from him."
"I don't know what you mean," Molly lied with a shocked look in her eyes. She had no idea that John knew about Black's reason for escaping Azkaban.
"Sometimes…" John said slowly, "the best way to protect someone… is to tell them everything. That way they can be ready."
"That's what I said," Arthur agreed with a sigh, "but Molly wouldn't go for it."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked confused. Hermione, Ron, the twins, Ginny, and Percy were also confused.
"Never you mind, dear," Molly said kindly to Harry.
After dinner everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day. Ron and Percy were next door to Harry. He had just closed and locked his own trunk when he heard angry voices through the wall, and went to see what was going on.
The door of number twelve was ajar and Percy was shouting.
"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing!"
"I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back.
"What's up?" said Harry.
"My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, rounding on Harry.
"So's Scabbers's rat tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk to look. "I think I might've left it in the bar-"
"You're not going anywhere 'till you've found my badge!" yelled Percy. "I'll get Scabbers's stuff, I'm packed," Harry said to Ron, and he went downstairs.
Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, which was now very dark, when he heard another pair of angry voices coming from the parlor. A second later, he recognized them as Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys'. He hesitated, not wanting them to know he'd heard them arguing, when the sound of his own name made him stop, then move closer to the parlor door.
"Makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and-"
"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"
"Oh come on!" said the voice of John, "He's faced You-Know-Who himself! Twice I might add! Once when he was a runt, and again in his first year! This is nothing compared to that!"
"It might be nothing to you," Molly's voice said angrily, "but it will be everything to him! He will be miserable if you tell him!"
"John's right. We just want to put him on his guard, not make him miserable," retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves… they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest once and in John's case, twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think about what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him."
"But he's not dead, he's fine, so what's the point-"
"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after."
"But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."
"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."
"But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry."
There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. Weasley had banged his fist on the table.
"Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… he's at Hogwarts.' Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You- Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that…"
There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more.
"Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's headmaster. I suppose he knows about all this?"
"That may be," John put in, "but the Headmaster isn't always at the school."
"Of course he knows," Arthur answered, "We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around every entrance to the school grounds. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed."
"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"
"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Nor am 1, if it comes to that... but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."
"Took the words right out of my mouth," John said.
"If they save Harry then I will never say another word against them, said Mr. Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up…"
"You too, John," Arthur added.
Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlor door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were climbing the stairs.
Harry walked into the parlor and looked for the rat tonic, but didn't find it.
"How long were you standing there?" asked John from the shadows.
"Long enough," Harry said as he turned towards the shadows.
"Good," John said as he tossed the tonic to Harry.
"Where did you get this?" Harry asked.
"I nicked it from Ron and Percy's room," John said, "I also nicked Percy's badge."
"Why?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.
"I knew Percy and Ron would start yelling at each other," explained John, "and I knew it would attract your attention. I knew Percy would not let Ron leave the room till the badge was found. I knew you would volunteer to get the tonic for him."
"You planned this?!" Harry exclaimed.
"Most of it," John said, "not the row between Molly and Arthur though. I was going to tell you directly, but looks like fate had a similar idea."
"Where's the badge?" Harry asked.
"Not on me," John replied cryptically as he headed towards the stairs. Harry hesitated as he thought over what he heard this night, but eventually he too headed up the stairs.
As soon as Harry reached the top landing, he heard snickers of laughter. Curious, he headed towards the shadows where he found the twins. Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in search of his badge.
"We've got the badge," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."
The badge now read Bighead Boy.
Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, then shut himself in his room and laid down on his bed.
So Sirius Black was after him. This explained everything. Fudge had been lenient with him because he was so relieved to find him alive. He'd made Harry promise to stay in Diagon Alley where there were plenty of wizards to keep an eye on him. And he was sending two Ministry cars to take them all to the station tomorrow, so that the Weasleys could look after Harry until he was on the train.
Harry lay listening to the muffled shouting next door and wondered why he didn't feel more scared. Sirius Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley obviously thought Harry would be panic-stricken if he knew the truth. But Harry happened to agree wholeheartedly with Mrs. Weasley that the safest place on earth was wherever Albus Dumbledore happened to be. Didn't people always say that Dumbledore was the only person Lord Voldemort had ever been afraid of? Surely Black, as Voldemort's right-hand man, would be just as frightened of him?
And then there were these Azkaban guards everyone kept talking about. They seemed to scare most people senseless, and if they were stationed all around the school, Black's chances of getting inside seemed very remote.
No, all in all, the thing that bothered Harry most was the fact that his chances of visiting Hogsmeade now looked like zero. Nobody would want Harry to leave the safety of the castle until Black was caught; in fact, Harry suspected his every move would be carefully watched until the danger had passed.
He scowled at the dark ceiling. Did they think he couldn't look after himself? He'd escaped Lord Voldemort two times; he wasn't completely useless. Well, John believed in him probably… or he thought the danger was minimal.
Unbidden, the image of the beast in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent crossed his mind. What to do when you know the worst is coming…
"I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.
"That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.