Cor Leonis
By Bellandora


Chapter One: Birthday Visitors

On the night before the last day of July, the fourth house on Privet Drive was quite calm and quiet. This was actually an abnormal occurrence for this residence because between Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley and Harry Potter there was always something to yell about.

Harry Potter was a bespectacled boy of seventeen, well, almost seventeen. He had been orphaned at the age of one and was left on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle's home. They raised him not as their own, and for ten years held from him the secret of his true identity. For Harry Potter was not just a normal orphan, but a famous wizard. They called him The-Boy-Who-Lived, or more recently the Chosen One. On his eleventh birthday Harry learned the truth and was whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Over the course of the past six years, Harry learned that his parents had not died in a car crash as his aunt and uncle had told him, but had in fact been murdered by a very powerful, and equally as evil wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort. When he had turned his wand on Harry, the oddest things happened. Little Harry Potter did not die, Voldemort's powers vanished, Harry was left with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, and was thus forth known as The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Six years at Hogwarts had taught him a lot, though not as much as he realized. Not all wizards are good. Even teachers can make mistakes. Nobody is fool proof, especially wise adults.

Harry has two best friends: Ron Weasley, a tall red headed pure blooded wizard, and Hermione Granger, a bushy haired witch from non-magical parents, commonly known as Muggles.

It was partly because of Ron and Hermione that there had quite a bit of yelling at Privet Drive as of late. The Dursleys barely put up with one wizard under their roof, but three? Well, two wizards and a witch actually, but it had been too much for them to bare. Ron and Hermione had insisted, Harry was too worn out to argue, and in the end the Dursleys had been over thrown, and Hermione and Ron returned to Privet Drive with Harry.

That had lasted about three days. They hadn't really thought it through, even Hermione, who was quite good at finding flaws in their plans. Ron and Harry slept in Harry's room, while Hermione slept in the guest room. And that was all they did. They just hung out for three days. Three long boring days of sitting in the park, because the Dursley's didn't want them in the house, and because there was quite a bit of room to stretch out at the park. Then, on the third night, Ron, in a stoke of brilliance, came up with a reasonable solution.

Hermione would return to her parents till the beginning of August. Ron would return to his family till the beginning of August. Ron's brother, Bill, was getting married on the first Saturday in August, and all three would return to the Burrow around that time. From there they would set out to search for the remaining horcruxes.

It also made sense to put off their searching until Harry was legally able to freely do magic, which was until his seventeenth birthday.

Harry couldn't wait for his birthday, which was now one hour away, because in the wizarding world, he would be of age, a legal adult. He could do magic freely, though it was still slightly restricted to do magic in front of Muggles. And he would be in trouble for sure of he turned them all into newts like he had daydreamed about. For once, Harry was looking forward to his birthday, and for another first, his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and his cousin Dudley were also looking forward to Harry's birthday. It was the day that he would be leaving them forever.

Harry had a plan for where he was to go. He was going to flag down the Knight Bus and go into London and stay at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, a house he had inherited from his godfather. From there he was going to take the underground to the Leaky Cauldron, and then Floo to the Burrow. It was a bit complicated, but Harry thought it was best if he were to throw off anyone who wanted to follow him. After Bill and Fleur's wedding, himself, Ron and Hermione were going to set out on the adventure of destroying the pieces of Voldemort's soul.

At least that was the plan until about three days ago. Harry had received a letter from a Godric Coe, asking him to put his horcrux searching on hold, and to allow Mr. Coe to treat him to a birthday dinner.

Harry had never met anyone with the surname of Coe. He was quite sure that the letter was some sort of lure from Voldemort to kill him or kidnap him... but something Coe had said and made him think twice about it.

Horcrux. He knew about the horcruxes.

Harry had not mentioned horcruxes to anyone other than Ron and Hermione and Ron's sister Ginny, and of course he had talked to Professor Dumbledore about them. Professor Dumbledore was dead, and Ron, Hermione and Ginny would die before telling anyone about them, so how did this Coe character know about them?

A knock on the front door brought Harry out of his brooding and jumped to his feet. Coe said in his letter he would be by at eleven thirty the eve of his birthday to collect him...

Harry beat his uncle to the door, which was not a huge accomplishment, as his uncle was a large beefy man, who surprised Harry every time he was able to stand up.

"One of your freak friends calling this late at night?" Uncle Vernon grunted at him. "Thought we got rid of them for good."

"Dunno," Harry said. "It might be someone coming to take me away. You don't want them to get upset and change their mind do you?"

Uncle Vernon gave another grunt. He had taken to grunting in Harry's presence rather than using actual words. He glared at his nephew for a moment longer before turning back into the living room.

Harry stared at the door wondering what or who could possibly be on the other side. After another moments thought, he slowly opened the door.

Light pored onto the doorstep, and onto a smiling man.

"Hello Harry," the man said. "I'm Eric Coe. I'll be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts."

Harry didn't really know what to expect when he had first thought of Coe. What he got was the exact opposite of anything he could have possibly imagined. For one, Coe looked practically normal, he didn't look like a wizard at all; well, except for his cloak. Coe was taller than Harry, but not by much, and Harry wasn't sure that Coe would win a height contest when paired against Ron. He had wavy dark brown hair, which stopped gracefully at his chin. Peering at him from behind a pair of glasses were bright blue eyes with long black eyelashes. He looked healthy and tan, but not in a way that suggested that he worked for his bread. No, Coe, Harry was certain, came from a family of great wealth. His robes looked expensive, and his traveling cloak looked especially tailored for this exact outfit.

"That position is cursed," Harry said, not really realizing what he was saying until the words had escaped his lips.

But instead of looking alarmed, Coe chuckled. "Well, we'll see what we can do about that. May I come in?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Harry replied, and held the door open. Coe stepped into Number Four Privet Drive and Harry closed the door. "My aunt and uncle are watching the end of the late evening news. It would probably be best if we don't disturb them."

"That's not a problem, Harry," Coe said and checked his pocket watch. "We do need to hurry a bit. Do you have your trunk packed? Good, the sooner we get out of here the better."

Harry nodded and climbed a few stairs before turning and looking at the wizard in the entry.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Harry asked.

"If I had come to hurt you, wouldn't I have done it by now?" Coe replied, looking slightly amused.

"Perhaps," Harry said. "But I don't know what sort of protection Dumbledore has set up here. You might not be able to hurt me while its still up and running."

"What can I say to you to make you trust me?" Coe asked. "I assure you, I am only here to help."

"Help how?" Harry asked.

"I told you in my letter."

"No you didn't, you asked me not to go looking for the other--" Harry stopped and thought for a moment about Coe's letter. "How did you know about what you wanted me not to look for?"

"The horcruxes?" Coe asked. "Why, Professor Dumbledore contacted me, of course. Months back, before he died. I gave him a swift answer at first, but then after his funeral, Fawkes appeared in my sitting room and dropped a letter into my tea. And it was this letter that... well, it was most convincing. So I decided that if you would at least hear me out, then what I know would be of some use to you."

"What was his favorite candy?" Harry asked.

"Lemon drops," Coe replied immediately. "But honestly, Harry, everyone knows that. Thrust them upon everyone he met didn't he? Come now, you can do better than that!"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What was his favorite kind of jam?"

Again, to Harry's surprise, Coe did not react as he thought he would have. Instead of looking confused, Professor Coe's mouth broke into a broad grin.

"Raspberry," Coe replied. "In fact he told you that after you mentioned those dreadful pamphlets the Ministry sent out last year. He mentioned you might ask something like that. Does that satisfy you, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "It does."

"Good, now let's get moving, we're on a timed portkey here, and if we miss it... well, lets just not miss it okay?"

In a few minutes time Harry was back on the landing, his trunk at his feet, wand up his sleeve and cloak in his hand.

"Good, good," Coe said, looking Harry over. "You certainly are taller than when I last saw you."

"When did you last see me?" Harry asked.

"Another time," Coe replied, waving away Harry's question with his hand. "When we have more time. For now, as always, time is against us, and we must depart. Do you wish to say goodbye to your family?"

"Family?" Harry scoffed. "That lot? Not likely."

"Well, at least your Aunt Petunia," Coe said. "In a weird twist of things, it is her blood that has kept you alive and safe all these years."

Harry rolled his eyes and walked into the living room.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, I'm leaving now," Harry announced and neither looked up at him. Uncle Vernon gave a grunt though. "So, bye then."

When no more acknowledgments were made, Harry picked up his trunk and followed Coe out the front door.

"You have no idea how glad I am to be out of that place," Harry said, stepping into the cool night air.

"I can only imagine," Coe said. "Come on, we need to get a bit away from the house."

"What time is our portkey for?" Harry asked.

"Twelve-oh-one."

"Ah."

They crossed the street and walked right up next to Number Five's garage door. Coe was watching his pocket watch, holding a roll of parchment.

"Right now Harry, under that invisibility cloak I know you've got tucked underneath that traveling robe. Best you aren't seen."

"What-"

"Please Harry, under the cloak, and keep quiet, no matter what you see or hear. And here is your portkey."

Harry pulled his invisibility cloak out and threw it over himself, dozens of questions flying through his mind. He clutched the rolled parchment tightly in his hand.

"All right there, Coe?" came a familiar voice and a mousey haired witch's head popped up out of no where.

"Right on time, Tonks," Coe replied. "Ready to set those charms?"

"We're as ready as we'll ever be," Tonks replied and slipped back under her invisibility cloak. A few moments later the surrounding houses glowed a translucent pink before Number Four burst into flames.

Harry managed to keep his shock under control, and when Coe didn't move to do anything, Harry realized this must be some sort of charm. In fact once he thought about it, he had seen Professor Dumbledore use something like it once.

"Steady, Harry," Coe whispered and cast a Disillusionment charm on himself. "You're going to see something in a moment, but don't let go of that portkey, not matter what."

Harry nodded, but he was invisible so Coe couldn't see the motion, but he understood it all the same. It was another thirty second before loud cracks filled the air, the sound of a dozen or so Death Eaters, cloaked and masked, all Apparating to the front of Number Four. Harry's scar seared with pain, and he felt the portkey activate, felt the pull from behind his navel that was leading him to safety.

Thanks for reading! Please review! -Belle