Harry was eating his cold porridge that his Aunt Petunia had just given him, when suddenly, an owl started tapping on the kitchen window. Excitedly, and before his Uncle Vernon could hurt the bird, Harry leaped up and took the letter from its beak. Harry read the note excitedly. It said:
Harry, I have great news! Peter Pettigrew mistakenly was found in a convention for the 1932 class of Hogwarts, and was caught! Would you like to come live with Buckbeak and I? I recently purchased a house on the outskirts of London, a five-minute broom-flight to Diagon Alley. Come and live with me and Buckbeak! I'll await your owl in a day. If you agree, I'll come for you the day after tomorrow. I hope I'll see you then! Sirius Harry excitedly handed Uncle Vernon the note, and ran upstairs to pack his things. He ran back downstairs after writing a quick return note saying:
Sirius, YES!! Please come soon. I'll be ready when you come. My window is on the north-east corner of the house. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Harry
Harry gave his note to the owl, who flew off, and was about to run back upstairs when Uncle Vernon suddenly roared, "HARRY! Get back here NOW!" Harry slowly walked back to him, but with a smug look on his face. "Yes Uncle Vernon?" He asked. "I forbid you to live with that...that...man! He is not your legal guardian, we are! And we've raised you all these-" Harry cut him off. "Yes, you've raised me, doing a darn well bad job at it, besides, but I'll bet you never registered me with the courts. They don't know I exist at all! You can't claim I'm yours if they say I'm not!" Uncle Vernon couldn't reply to this, and Harry ran upstairs to pack.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Harry paced his room nervously. He checked his bedside clock for the twelfth time. Midnight was still half an hour away...wait! It was twenty-nine minutes away! He sighed. Harry checked his book bag and duffel again, lying on his bed, and Hedwig, who was placidly in her cage. He had all his spellbooks, his quills, his clothes, including uniform, his Firebolt broom, with broom repair kit, and of course, his wand. Twenty-three minutes. He took his glasses off, and wiped them with the tail of his shirt. He put them back on, and sighed once more. Eighteen minutes. He walked across his small room, and opened the winter. The cool summer air whipped across his face. It was quite refreshing after being in his stuffy room for three hours. Harry leaned back, checking his clock again. He almost smiled, it being only seven more minutes until midnight. Harry grabbed his duffel and book bag. He set them by the window, and gently lifted Hedwig's cage. He looked at the clock (three minutes more) and hefted his bag onto his shoulder. Suddenly, outside of his window, he heard a flurry of wings. He poked his head out and saw, of course, Sirius Black. "Hello, Harry!" Sirius said in a loud whisper. "Glad you're ready! Climb on, and let's go, before your awful aunt and uncle try and stop us!" Harry handed his duffel out the window, then Hedwig. He climbed out, and Sirius placed him at the front of Buckbeak. "There ya' go Harry. You comfortable?" Harry nodded, feeling happier than he had ever been in his entire life. "Let's go then!" He lightly kicked Buckbeak, and he zoomed off, into the night. "This is great!" Shouted Harry as the wind whipped through his hair. He looked down, and could just barely make out a few barns and other buildings. Rather suddenly, Harry started seeing more and more buildings. Harry looked straight ahead and could see clearly, the shape of Big Ben, the legendary clock tower of London. "Isn't that beautiful Harry?" Asked Sirius, looking down at him. "Yeah...Hey, won't the people below see us? Or do you have us under some invisibility spell?" Asked Harry curiously. "Of course I do. I doubt the Ministry would be very happy about me riding around where all the muggles could see me." He paused, and looked ahead. The city was starting to thin out, with much fewer headlights and noises. "There it is! See there Harry, that small building with the one light on?" "Yes!" Said Harry, getting excited. "That's my, I mean our house." Sirius tapped Buckbeak lightly, and the hippogriff swooped down, pulling up just a few feet above the front lawn. Harry shakily climbed off, and absently gave Buckbeak a pat on the neck. He turned, facing away from the house, and saw a beautiful view. There were the faint lights of London and a group of clouds hung above it all, foretelling rain.
"Come on Harry, come inside." The boy wizard grabbed his duffel and Hedwig (who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the journey, even the landing) and followed Sirius into the house. His first impression was the tidiness of it, and also the coziness.
Harry set his bags down while Sirius stabled Buckbeak for the night. "Do you like it, Harry?" Sirius asked.
"Oh!" Harry had been in deep thought and was surprised by the sudden appearance of his new guardian. "Yes! I love it. Where's my room?" He asked.
"Right this way, follow me." Sirius picked up Harry's duffel, and he took his owl, and Sirius led him through the living room, with a nice, big television, a long coffee table, and a big, overstuffed couch, with some matching overstuffed armchairs. Then they turned left, and came upon a doorway, and to the immediate left was a short hallway. Mid-way through the corridor, Sirius tapped on the wall on the left side.
"In case of any danger at all, Harry, come to this part of the wall, tap three times and say 'James and Lily', OK? Go on, say it."
Harry knocked on the wall three times, and said loudly, "James and Lily!" Nothing happened immediately, but after a few seconds, a door appeared. Harry turned the handle, and was faced with a comfortable room. It had two armchairs, two beds, and a whole stockpile of food. There was also two or three cupboards, which, when Harry opened, discovered blankets, food preparing supplies, and a few interesting games that Harry had never heard of, like "Quidditch: the Board Game" and "Diagon Alley Monopoly".
"That one," Sirius said, pointing to the Monopoly game, "has to be specially made. There are actually some magical folk working at the Hasbro game company. Bet you didn't know that!" Sirius laughed. "Now," he said, suddenly looking quite stern, "whenever there is true danger, you are to say 'sound off' and all our speech will appear in visible bubbles above our heads. This is so no one can hear us. Try it." Harry said the magic words. Sirius opened his mouth, and suddenly, above their heads, came the words Harry opened his mouth to talk, but only this came out: Sirius smiled happily and just motioned for Harry to follow him. They walked out of the room, and Sirius said, "You just leave. The spell goes away, and you're free to talk again. Now, on to your room." They walked further down the hallway, and finally came to a small room. There was a door on the right, and a nightstand, a desk, a steamer trunk and a dresser. "Why don't you get settled," said Sirius, "while I go make dinner?"
He was partly down the hallway, when Harry asked, "Uh, Sirius? Where's my bed?"
Sirius whirled around, and laughed. "I knew I forgot something. Here," he said as he tapped his wand towards the room. "Hope you like blue!" A bed suddenly materialized out of thin air, with dark blue, flannel pillows and sheets, and a huge lighter blue quilt appeared on top.
"Thank you Sirius!" Harry shouted happily. "Thank you for everything!"