AN: Firstly Thank you the readers I never had so many people follow or favorite my stories. I am very grateful to those that took their time to review. And I am sorry but the updates are going to be sporadic as I am having eye troubles.
Now in this story, Marlene is going to be a muggle born instead of half-blood.
Also, the third year of Harry will be explained in two to three parts. So this is essentially Third year part 1.
Disclaimer: Not mine
CHAPTER 2: Past - Part 1
Harry and Lyra had already bought their school books and in Harry's case, Hagrid had gifted him his COMC book- a monster book that tried to bite his hands off.
Harry and Lyra were sitting in her room in Leaky Cauldron. They were currently trying to control their new power levels and failing miserably.
"Lumos!" Harry tried again. The light again succeeded in temporarily blinding them. "Nox! Ok, this is getting irritating," He complained.
"Just keep on practicing. Lumos!" Lyra finally succeeded in controlling her powers. "See. It's easy, just try to restrict your power flow. I imagined my magic coming in trickles and it actually worked." Harry nodded and tried again. He got it a right on the second try. They spent a few more minutes practicing the Lumos before moving onto other spells.
After days of hard work, they could finally control their new powers. Then they moved onto learning occlumency. Occlumency prevented people from entering one's mind and viewing their memories. But natural occlumens had the additional ability to create false mind, a place filled with false or unimportant memories. It also meant that each memory was copied the moment it was generated and safeguarded against memory charms. It meant that suppose a natural occlumens saw an incident, then that incident will be immediately stored in their minds and a copy will be stored in the false mind until it is removed by the occlumens. Then if someone obliviated them then only the copied memory in the false mind will be removed.
The first step to occlumency was to imagine a mindscape. Harry after some thoughts decided on a maze to confuse the intruder. Lyra imagined her mindscape as Aslan's How from C.S. Lewis's Narnia. The next step was to sort through their memories. This was the most time consuming and difficult step for them.
Harry imagined boxes and trunks inside the maze where he kept his memories. These boxes were present at the most confusing turns and were locked. Lyra, on the other hand, took a different approach. She imagined a bookshelf inside the How and filled it with all the information she had learned from books and school, that is everything related to studies was put in those books. The other memories she imagined as characters. For example, all of her happiest memories were stored as Lucy while her memories of abuse became Edmund. The other memories became dryads and naiads, dwarves and centaurs, etc. Her most important memories became Aslan.
While sorting Harry came across the memory of that fateful Halloween.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —"
A woman with red hair, Lily, goes to Harry's room where he is in his crib.
The door bursts open. Voldemort gives a cackle of high-pitched laughter
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside now."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead —– "
"Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy…"
Voldemort laughs in a shrill voice.
"Avada Kedavra"
Lily screams. Then Voldemort turns towards Harry.
Avada Kedavra"
Harry remembers a blinding green flash and a burning pain in his forehead, then a high, cold cruel laugh.
Harry opened his eyes and gasped.
"Harry, what happened?" Lyra asked concerned. Harry relayed what he saw and Lyra gasped. She pulled him into a comforting hug.
"He came f-for me," Harry gasped into her hairs as tears trickled down his cheeks. Lyra hugged him tighter knowing that words weren't enough to soothe it. It took Harry about half an hour to calm down. Then they resumed sorting.
About four hours later, they were almost finished when Lyra came across the very last memory which her subconscious had buried deep.
A woman with jet black hair and blue eyes walked through the streets holding a baby. Suddenly there were several cracks. The woman spun around to see several masked men entering a house.
"No! Mum! Dad!" the woman screamed.
She made to run towards the house but stopped. She put the baby down and fished her pockets for something. She pulled out a red and gold feather.
"Lyra, love Mama must go save your grandpappy and granny. Take care love, be safe..." the woman kissed the baby's forehead and put the feather on her. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
"The light will triumph!"
Lyra was portkeyed away as the woman ran to the house.
The portkey took the Lyra to an office. An old man with long white beard and twinkling blue eyes wearing a garish purple robe and half-moon spectacles peered over her.
"Hmmm..." He waved his wand in a complex manner and Lyra suddenly felt suffocated. He took her and apparated to a familiar place. It was a street filled with sub-urban houses. He put Lyra on the doorstep of the number 8.
He waved his wand again in an intricate manner, nodded and apparated away.
"Lyra! Ly! Lyra open your eyes!"
Lyra's eyes flew open in shock she hadn't even realized she had been screaming. Angry tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked gently. Lyra shook her head.
"It was Dumbledore. He...he put me at the doorstep of tha..that place," she spat. "My mum portkeyed me to, what I presume is, his office. My mum was in danger, I...I think she di-died in that attack. And he didn't even help. THAT BASTARD LET HER DIE!" She was screaming at the end.
Harry tried to calm her down. "We'll deal with him later. Calm down, Ly!" He rubbed circles in her back.
Lyra did calm down, after hearing the nickname that is. She fought back the blush only for her hair to turn red. She groaned thankful that Harry was as oblivious as he was.
Xxxx...
That evening, the two of them sat building their mental defenses. Harry built a brick wall around his maze. He then put up a board saying 'KEEP OUT'. The wall was then further protected by another wall made of fire. He then put up traps inside his maze. He imagined dragons and basilisks to guard his maze. He hoped to be able to add more creatures to guard his memories.
Lyra imagined her mindscape inside a wardrobe. She then imagined it to become invisible. She added a password in Parseltongue, "May Aslan be with you." Only the password could take a person to Aslan's How. Then she imagined the wardrobe inside a room with many doors, each leading to a trap. Finally, she imagined a dark cloud surrounding the room that will attack anyone entering her mind with a lightning bolt and rain. Then inside her mindscape, she imagined traps to catch the intruder. She even imagined swords and stuff and filled them with false memories. All the creatures and the four humans had weapons with them to fight off the intruders. The only way to access her memories by an intruder was to kill the character. And this she prevented by putting another safeguard that made any intruder that entered her mind into a miniature unarmed version of themselves.
They were done by dinner time. There natural affinity for occlumency sped up the process by many times. While a normal person would take months to reach this stage, it took them only two weeks.
Lyra practiced day and night after that, to eject mental probe using lightning until it became a reflex controlled by her subconscious.
The two of them later created a false mind. It was like a room with false and unimportant memories floating about it. They then made it so that anyone trying to enter their minds would be shunted to it.
Xxxxx...
The next two weeks were spent learning legilimency and in Lyra's case controlling her metamorphmagus powers.
Being a partial metamorph meant that she had a base from which a full metamorphmagus lacked. She also couldn't change her height and bulk by more than a few inches. And finally, she couldn't change her age and gender that full metamorphmagus could. But she still had a lot of benefits from being a metamorphmagus.
But as days passed, Lyra discovered a rather irritating drawback of being a metamorphmagus. Her coordination suffered from the change. She became prone to tripping over things and sometimes knocking things over. Still, it wasn't as bad as full metamorphs.
She had a lot more control in her changes as it required a lot of concentration on her part to change even the littlest thing. Only very strong emotions could change her hair and eye colors spontaneously. Like when she was blushing from Harry's action or words, which happened often but she was able to get it under her control rather quickly. Her occlumency helped a lot as it gave her more control over her emotions.
Their progress in legilimency was rather slow going. This was because occlumency and legilimency were like polar opposites. And since both were good at one they were having trouble over the other. The books said it will go away eventually and they will become equally skilled in both.
They practiced legilimency on each other trusting the other to keep whatever they saw, a secret. The first time Harry was able to enter Lyra's mind was rather amusing. He entered her mind after about twenty tries only to go flying back out. He literally flew back and landed on his butt. Lyra didn't know whether to be horrified or amused. She finally settled for being amused and laughed herself silly.
"Shut up!" Harry grumbled.
"S-sorry!" she gasped out in between her laughter, "I never imagined it would produce such a...such a physical reaction."
"Laugh it up chuckles. But revenge will be mine," Harry growled.
"Really? What will you do? Fall on your butt-" she squealed and ran off as Harry began chasing her. They moved in a circle until Harry turned around and caught her. He then proceeded to tickle her until she cried.
"Say sorry and I'll let you up!" Harry grinned and stopped tickling.
"Ok..ok I am sorry," Lyra waited until Harry got off her and pulled both of them up, "I am sorry that I didn't bruise your butt more," and ran off. Harry growled and took off after her and the chase continued.
Xxxxx...
The two teens' fun time ended when Harry's friends joined him. Lyra had already warned Harry to behave normally around the Weasleys. And due to the removal of the bind on his intelligence Harry heeded her words and displayed the cunning for which the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.
Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would have to meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up and dressed and joined Lyra for breakfast. They spent the last day traveling around the alley and eating ice creams.
Lyra saw Weasley and Granger and nudged Harry. "Harry Weasley and Granger are here, I'll see you in your room at night. Remember, don't let them get suspicious." Lyra quietly left as Harry nodded and turned around just as he heard a shout.
"Harry! HARRY!"
They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor - Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him. Harry used his occlumency to reign in his temper at seeing Ron.
"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. "
"So am I," 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 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!"
"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.
"I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "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.
"There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Harry, 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's been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt. "
"Put him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.
Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside 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 took.
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 and Harry frowned. "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 knowing it was expected of him.
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. And it has earned my respect for that, thought Harry.
"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.
They 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 with their shopping. Harry and Lyra had discussed the rest of the Weasley families role in the thievery and they both decided to hold the rest of them blameless until they proved otherwise.
Mr. Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him.
"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.
Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, seemed even more heartily embarrassed than usual when she saw him, perhaps because he had saved her life during their previous year at Hogwarts. She went very red and muttered "Hello" without looking at him for which Harry was thankful. He didn't want to deal with another fangirl. 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 and Harry had to again employ occlumency to keep himself from showing his anger.
"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.
"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner. . . "
He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.
"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us. "
Xxxxx...
Dinner that night was a very boisterous affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and the seven Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses. Harry had seen Lyra leave just as the Weasleys had come in.
"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into sumptuous chocolate pudding.
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley.
Everyone 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," said Fred.
Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.
"Why is the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.
"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr. Weasley, "and as I work there, they're doing me a favor. . . "
His voice was casual, but Harry couldn't help noticing that Mr. Wesley'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.
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 doors 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!"
"I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves - they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think 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 Blacks 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 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?"
"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances 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 I, 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. "
"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. . . "
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.
The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr. and Mrs. Wesley's bedroom door close, then headed back upstairs with the bottle.
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 it," 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 lay 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 wasn't, not after so many attempts on his life. He knew that every year there was something life threatening at Hogwarts and the wizarding sheep's waited for him to take care of it.
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 three times; he wasn't completely useless. . . .
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.
"Why would you be?" Lyra's voice almost made him jump out of his skin. Harry sat up and relayed what happened and what he heard. Lyra set her jaws and looked Harry in the eyes.
"To get to you Black would have to go through me," she promised and Harry knew she would move heaven and hell to keep it.
"Listen, we won't get the chance to talk much at Hogwarts. But I know a room where we can meet. It is on the fifth floor. No one goes there, we will be undisturbed..."
Lyra and Harry talked for a few more minutes before Lyra bid him goodnight.
Xxxx...
On September first, Lyra bid goodbye to Harry with a promise to meet at Hogwarts and left in the morning. She took a tube to King's Cross station and reached Platform 9-and-three quarters around 10 in the morning. She secured herself a compartment in the front and was soon joined by a blonde claw, her best friend, Luna Lovegood. She was a bit eccentric. There were nine puffs in her year excluding herself, she generally sat with Luna in their shared classes. The blonde was rather fun and talked in riddles comprising of mysterious animals. She was bullied by her fellow claws and Lyra had a lot of times fought them off. But Luna refused to tell any teachers and Lyra didn't want to lose her only friend. Growing up she hadn't had friends as her so-called cousin had frightened them away.
"Hi Lu, how was your summer?"
"Daddy and I went on an expedition to find a crumpled horned snorcack. We didn't but I know we will one day. I see you were able to escape from nargles. And you seem to have a lot fewer wrackspurts this year."
"Er..yeah" Lyra knew that the blonde talked in riddles and codes. She vowed to decipher them one day.
The two spent the rest of the journey chatting lightly and reading. They suddenly felt the train stop. "We can't have arrived yet," Lyra mused as they began to feel cold.
"What's going on?" Lyra asked as Luna began to shake in fear muttering "No mummy...No". Lyra had no idea what to do and she tried to rock the girl to calm her. The cold receded after a few minutes and Luna began to relax.
"That was dementors," Luna was finally calm enough to explain what it was and they spent the rest of the ride silently until they reached the school...
TO BE CONTINUED...
AN: Well hope you liked it.
And Heartglow, they know Sirius is innocent by the end of their third year... It will be explained, don't worry...