DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything you may find in my story that in any way resembles a character, story, or plot that is owned by another person.
Harry Potter and Yet Another Version of His Hogwarts Years
Hogwarts Year 3
Harry took the Hogwarts Express to school his third year and was accompanied by an invisible Dobby as usual.
The train had barely gotten moving when he was joined by four redheads: two twins, a baby troll, and his damsel in distress.
"Hello Harry," one of the twins said. "May we join you? We wanted to visit and introduce ourselves and thank you for saving our sweet little Gin-Gin here."
"Sure, c'mon in guys." replied Harry.
Ginny was nervous and shy and blushing but she sat right next to her hero Harry. Next to her was Ron and across from them sat the twins.
"So, you guys are Ginny's brothers then?" asked Harry to the twins. I know Ron of course, but we're not exactly friends." continued Harry.
The statement drew a blush from Ron, probably not for any other reason other than he was commented upon. He didn't want to come visit with his brothers and sister but they insisted they show a unified front like their mum and dad asked them to do. Ron still didn't like Harry, he was a dirty snake who could talk to snakes after all. So, he just sat quietly because he knew the twins would tell on him if he caused trouble.
"Yeah, I'm Fred and this is George." said George.
"No, I'm Fred, and you are George." said Fred.
"Never mind them Harry, just call them Gred and Forge, that's what I do. That'll shut'em up." said Ginny, face blazing.
The twins just gave each other a smirk knowing that Ginny's favorite little joke would get her to open up in front of Harry a bit.
"Ha, ha, ha." laughed Harry. "Okay, so Ginny, how are you feeling? Everything alright since that day?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, thank you Harry. I can never repay you enough for what you did." replied Ginny.
"You're welcome Ginny. I'm glad I was able to help on time. I heard you didn't get into any trouble either, so that's good. What did your mum and dad say about it?" asked Harry.
He thought Ginny was cute, especially when she blushed, and it was the first time he wanted to keep a conversation going with another kid about his age.
"My dad reminded me that he taught me never to talk to something that I didn't know where it's brains are." laughed Ginny.
"Mum was mad more at the boys than me because I had been sad and they were ignoring me which is why I wrote in the book and answered it when it answered me back. Tom acted like such a nice friend in the beginning. I shouldn't have of course but my own brothers wouldn't even talk to me. So, mum laid into them about that." answered Ginny.
"Harry, dad told us about your theory about Mr. Malfoy and the diary. You couldn't have known it of course, but there was a moment in the book store last year before school where our dad and Mr. Malfoy got into an argument because Draco was teasing Ginny and talking down about our family; and a bunch of books spilled into Ginny's own cauldron full of books and supplies. Malfoy took the things that were his, and obviously to us, he must've left that diary there. We agree with you that he staged the whole thing in order to plant that diary on her." said Gred, or was it Forge.
"Yeah, that adds up. The Malfoys are bigots as far as I've been able to tell so far and the rumor is that Mr. Malfoy was a big supporter of Riddle during the war. Being in Slytherin you hear things." said Harry.
"So, Harry." said Ron, speaking for the first time. "Are you saying that even though you are in Slytherin that you don't believe in the same things as Malfoy and their lot do?" asked Ron.
"No Ron, I don't." answered Harry.
"I think the hat put me into Slytherin because I have a lot of ambition and cunning, which are the official traits Slytherin house looks for-despite the reputation it's had since Riddle." continued Harry.
"I don't think everyone in Slytherin is evil. I know they don't all follow Malfoy or their beliefs, but those that don't usually keep their head down and mouth shut because they will be treated like traitors by the nutters." said Harry.
"Most of them are a bunch of stuck up purebloods I'll give you that. And many of their families would vote against reforms that would make life more equal for non purebloods. That still makes them not nice, but that doesn't mean they're evil or dark." said Harry.
"Many of them would do so just because they don't want to lose their privilege. It's more greed than bigotry for some of them. But there are a fair few that are nutters like the Malfoys, who would stoop to the tactics of Riddle to get their way. So, I won't deny there are a lot of them there too." continued Harry.
"Anyway, that's the opinion I've formed of them. I personally don't socialize much, with anybody actually. So, I don't know any of them personally. Draco has tried a couple times to recruit me to his little following but I've told him to Eff off several times and to just stay out of my way. Since last year he doesn't talk to me if he doesn't have to. And the feeling is mutual." concluded Harry.
"Well, I guess you'll be okay then." said Ron.
"Ron, can I be honest with you?" asked Harry, not waiting to hear a reply.
"I don't give a damn what you think of me, anymore than I do what Draco thinks. You think I would want to be your friend now because, I've passed your judgment and I am acceptable? I've never asked or sought your judgment or approval. You've been an ass to me since we started school and all I've done is leave you alone. Let's keep it that way shall we?" replied Harry.
Which caused Ron to leave the compartment in a huff, slamming the door.
"Sorry guys and Ginny, that doesn't go for you three. You've done nothing to me or said anything to me that makes me feel that way about you all. If you can live with me ignoring your brother we can be friends if you want. I just don't forgive or give anyone my trust very easily." said Harry.
"We can live with that Harry." said one of the twins. "Ron is a loud mouth and a hot head and jealous of everyone who has anything. He's really the only one in the family like that. I think you'll find the rest of us are pretty easy going folk. Well, except perfect Percy, but he was born with a stick up his ass and wants to be Minister someday." they continued.
"Well as long as you don't mind me staying away from him too. I don't like government much." said Harry.
"No problem, we're the same. In fact, if you didn't know we have a bit of a reputation as trouble makers in the school. Playing pranks, especially on bully's. Most of them are from your house Harry, sorry." continued the one he thought was Gred.
"Well, I don't mind as long as you don't prank me. You're right, most of the bully's are from Slytherin. It's embarrassing really and I don't like them either. So, count me in if you ever need any help. You know, a man on the inside if you will." replied Harry, with a grin.
"Good man Harry. We like that." said Forge.
"So, what about you Ginny? Are you a prankster too?" asked Harry.
She just shrugged and blushed again. She seemed to lose her courage to speak in front of Harry.
Then the trolley came by and Harry bought sweets and snacks for everyone and they just talked casually the rest of the trip. Ginny joined back in a little bit when things seemed to relax. The twins introduced him to some wizard games, exploding snap was his favorite and Ginny like to play. So, he played with Ginny and the twins played their own game. Sometimes they switched up, so along the trip everyone played with everyone else at least once. Also during the trip the twins and Ginny told him about the trip to Egypt the family got to go on that summer. So Harry learned about their other brothers Bill and Charlie too as they explained what they all did.
Harry might've actually had a genuine smile on his face for the second half of the trip. Laughing and having fun with other kids for the first real time in his life, and he didn't notice. He just knew that he felt good, better than he had in a long time.
Before they got to the train station and were getting ready for the arriving feast, one of the twins handed Harry a letter.
"Sorry Harry, almost forgot to give this to you. Dad asked us to give you this letter. Wouldn't let us read it. Said it was important, something just for you." said Forge.
"Thanks guys." and Harry read the letter.
A couple minutes later...
"It was about Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban. He wanted to warn me not to go looking for Black, no matter what I might hear. Said that the Ministry thinks he might come after me to try to kill me." said Harry.
"Why would I go looking for some nutter escaped from Azkaban that the Ministry thinks wants to kill me?" asked Harry.
"Don't know. There's probably more to the story that he didn't feel safe to say in a letter or maybe he doesn't know." said Gred.
Just then the train slowed down but the twins noticed they weren't quite to the school yet. The train was being searched by Dementors. When they got to Harry's compartment, they had no visible effect on Harry. His parsel magic mind shield kept their effects out entirely, they couldn't reach his mind. As for the twins, they shivered and reported they felt like they would never feel good again. Ginny almost passed out, her lips lost all their color, she was effected far worse. All she could think about was the terror of being in the chamber with Tom and her life-force draining out. The Dementors didn't stay long, they looked in, didn't see Black and left. The Weasley's recovered quickly after, Ginny crying, ran to her brothers who hugged her and warmed her up and gave her a bar of chocolate; and explained to Harry that chocolate is the best thing to quickly calm down the effects of a Dementor.
Elsewhere on the train, a certain Professor and part-time werewolf woke up and cast a Patronus charm to chase away the Dementor that had scared Ron and his brunette classmate Hermione who hated each other, but it was the only compartment he could find quickly, when he stormed out of Harry's.
Soon they arrived at the school.
"Well, I will definitely be watching my back. Thank your Dad for warning me." said Harry.
"Will do Harry. See you around school." said the twins in stereo.
"Bye Ginny. See you around. Hey, if you're feeling sad again or your brothers are picking on you come see me okay?" said Harry, before he could stop himself. Why was he being so friendly and open with this girl. Egad.
"Really Harry? You want to be friends?" asked Ginny, shyly.
"Sure Ginny. As long as you don't mind a friend from Slytherin house like your brother Ron does." Harry replied.
"No Harry, that doesn't matter." and being bolder than she ever felt, gave Harry a quick hug, which made him feel very warm inside. "Bye." she said as she ran off waving goodbye as red as a tomato hardly believing her nerve to hug her hero and secret crush like that. Which left Harry with a gulp in his throat, wondering, "what was that?"
...
The rest of Harry's third year went pretty much as expected with an escaped Sirius still trying to get into Gryffindor tower because he was after the damned rat he saw on the cover of the Prophet.
Harry was banned from attending Hogsmeade even though he threatened a signature out of his Aunt. Because of the Sirius Black issue.
That never stopped Harry before and it wouldn't stop him now. He simply made himself invisible/intangible with his parsel magic and followed the twins on their trip to Hogsmeade. They didn't know he was there of course, he hadn't shared any of his secrets with anyone yet.
During their visit to the Three Broomsticks he overheard the Minister, Professor McGonagall and Madam Rosmerta discussing Sirius Black so he followed them and eavesdropped on their conversation.
It was then that he learned that Sirius Black was his godfather, his fathers best friend, and that he betrayed them and led Riddle right to them. There were no tears. He just grit his teeth and vowed he would kill the man someday. He now understood why Mr. Weasley warned him the way he did. If he had known Black was his godfather before, without knowing the rest of the story, he might've done something rash.
Professor Lupin tried to initiate some kind of relationship with Harry by offering to tell him some memories of his parents. But when Harry found out that he was another one of their best friends and had never checked on him, left him to rot at the Dursley's, Harry just became dismissive and ignored him. Just treated him like any other faculty, doing his work and nothing else for him. In one of Remus' attempts before Harry dismissed him altogether he did learn that his father, Sirius, Peter, were unregistered animagus and along with Remus were a group of pranksters that they called themselves 'The Marauders' and their Marauder names.
Later during the year Harry and the twins played a couple pranks, one time Ginny joined in. Nothing too serious. The twins showed Harry and Ginny the secret of their success. The Marauders map. This caught Harry's attention, especially the names of the Marauders printed on the front. He told them what Professor Lupin said. Prongs was actually his father.
After that the twins treated Harry more like royalty than they already did and offered to give him the Marauders Map. They said it was rightfully his anyway and they had all the secret passages memorized. He thanked them profusely. Another priceless artifact along with this cloak, that belonged to his father.
Near the end of the school year Harry was sitting outside after dinner just looking at the Marauder's map, marveling at how it could tell him the whereabouts of everyone in the castle and on the grounds, even as far as the shrieking shack. Interesting. He wondered why his father included that on the map.
As he pondered this, he saw a ruckus of people running from the school toward the whomping willow. A big black dog with its teeth firmly sunk into Ron Weasley's trouser legs, dragging him under the tree? followed by that girl, Hermine Granger or something. Their yelling must've attracted one of the professors, because it looked like Professor Lupin went chasing behind him. As Harry glanced at the map for a second he saw the names: Sirius Black, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin.
He thought. "What the hell?" He put the map away, turned himself invisible, checked that Dobby was still with him invisibly and went to follow. At that point he could see Professor Snape had chased after them too. So, Harry had to hurry to catch up. "What the hell is going on?" thought Harry.
When Harry got to the base of the stairs under the room they were in he turned himself back to visible because he didn't want anyone finding out that secret, knowing that Dobby would protect him if he needed it. He stormed up the stairs to find Professor Snape with his wand trained on Lupin and Black, snarling about how he got them both this time. While Granger and Weasley and the pet rat he was holding were curled up in another corner of the room.
Lupin was going on about how Weasley's rat had to be Peter Pettigrew because it was missing toe on his front paw. Snape was ranting that he was delusional trying to save his own ass and that of his murdering friend Black.
Harry interrupted with a loud "Ahem."
"Potter, what are you doing here?" asked Snape.
"Sir, I saw all of you run into this place one at a time and I think Professor Lupin might be right. You need to see this." said Harry.
And he showed him the map segment for the shack, he had never deactivated it. All their names were there, including Peter Pettigrew right on top of Ron Weasley.
With Snapes attention diverted, Black made a leap for Snapes wand and the two in his other hand. He didn't successfully grab any wands but he managed to knock down Snape and all the wands went flying.
At this point, the rat realizing that had to be 'the' map, figured his goose was just about cooked and tried to make a break for it. He bit Ron (again) and started for the entrance, unfortunately he had to get past Harry first, and an invisible Dobby.
Harry whispered, "Dobby, if you would please?" and Harry waved his wand in an arc pretending to cast a wordless Immobulis spell and everyone and everything in the room came to a stop except Harry.
That was a trick Harry and Dobby had perfected so that people didn't need to know Dobby was there, but his power to do such a wide ranging immobulis far exceeded Harry's to do this at that point and didn't require any precise wand movements or casting time.
"Everyone calm down. Now, Pettigrew you little rat. You will show yourself and we'll find out the truth." said Harry.
"Now how to find out if you are really an animagus."
Harry touched Professor Snape and gathered up his wand for him.
"Sorry sir. I only know how to immobilize a whole room at a time. I'm sure you can straighten this out. Do you know how to make this rat turn back into Pettigrew?" said Harry.
"I do, Mr. Potter, let us see then." said Snape.
Professor Snape waved his wand at the rat that was floating in mid air still and hit it with a bright blue light. Suddenly the rat transformed into a shaggy short man that also looked like a rat, still floating in the air.
"It appears at least some of this story checks out. We will take all of these to the Headmaster's office, and he will get to the bottom of it. Mr. Potter, I am going to incarcerate all three men then you can drop your spell and we will all, including you two-pointing to Weasley and Granger go directly to the Headmaster's office."
"Yes, sir." replied Harry. The other two were incapable of replying just yet.
Before they did anything else, Snape presented a vial of potion to Lupin and said, "Here take this quickly. I was on my way to give this to you when I spotted this whole thing. It's almost time."
Snape then, put all three men in a combination of petrificus totalus and incarcerous, then levitated them together so he could control marching them up to the castle. They would have to leave by the front door at that point.
Harry dropped the spell and Harry asked Ron and Hermione if they were alright. They grumbled that they were except Ron was complaining that Black almost bit his leg clean off and he needed to go to the hospital wing.
Snape changed his orders and told Granger to escort Weasley to Madam Pomfrey and they were both to stay there until he and the Headmaster came for them after dealing with the rest.
They were quite a sight as they marched toward the castle gates with a Professor, an escaped convict, and an allegedly dead man being levitated in bindings up to the castle. With Harry, Ron, and Hermione following.
Professor Dumbledore placed all three men in a modified petrificus spell which held them in place from the waste down, but they could now talk. While Granger and Weasley continued on to the hospital wing.
"Now what is the meaning of this, what is going on?" said Dumbledore, coming rapidly to his own conclusions but needed to hear it from Professor Snape.
Snape described the scene as he came upon it before Potter arrived then explained Potter's revelations. They would take another look at that interesting map later. It was at least partially obvious what they had in front of them. Black obviously never killed Pettigrew because there the man stood. He doubted Remus had done anything wrong in this but he knew that giving them this much leeway was all Severus could stand and probably only did so for Potter's sake who he now thought of more as one of his own snakes than just a damned Potter.
So, Dumbledore floo'd to Amelia Bones and told her the situation and asked her to come with Veritaserum and a squad of Aurors, so they could get an initial statement from all the adults involved, then he would remand them to her custody. Thankfully she did so without first alerting the pompous ass Minister Fudge, lord knows what he would've done. Amelia came with four Aurors and administered Veritaserum to each men one at a time, including Snape to get his statement on the events.
Pettigrew admitted to being the Potters secret keeper and giving them away to Voldemort and admitted to killing those muggles, cutting off his finger and disappearing into the sewers in his rat animagus form. Black admitted being an unregistered animagus dog and escaping Azkaban to find Pettigrew in response to the picture on the front page of the Prophet that Fudge dropped off to taunt him, the picture that included Ron holding his pet rat that just happened to be Pettigrew.
Lupin only admitted to being a werewolf which actually was already known to the adults in the room, it was news to Harry though, and he told his story how he followed the kids when he saw the animagus Black dragging Weasley to the willow but also recognized Pettigrew as a rat once he got inside with them. They took a statement from Harry but he was not required to be under Veritaserum. They had enough proper statements from the adults involved anyway. They sent one Auror down to the hospital wing to get similar statements from Weasley and Granger.
Amelia released Professor Lupin, but he knew his time was up being a professor when the news got out that he was a werewolf. She took Black and Pettigrew into custody. They still had to officially clear Black but, his case was made even stronger when it was revealed that he'd never even been charged with a crime or given a trial. Heads were sure to roll over that, but then again most people involved are retired or already in demoted jobs, so who knows. In any case, the job still had to be done. Pettigrew would go to maximum security at Azkaban and Black would only go to a Ministry holding cell pending confirmation and official release. He was sure he would get time served for his animagus penalty, but forms had to be followed. Sirius wasn't upset, he knew he was finally going to be free. He looked over at his pup admiring him for what he'd done. He was only thirteen, but he looked like a strong and confident thirteen. He looked forward to having the chance to get to know him when it all blew over.
Amelia left with the Aurors and her two prisoners. Harry was dismissed. Professors Snape and Lupin returned to their duties, with Lupin starting to pack, he knew he wouldn't be there much longer when the news came out.
Ginny came to see Harry and ask for details when she heard from Ron what happened.
"That is crazy Harry. I'm glad you guys caught Pettigrew though and the right guy will be punished now. I'm sorry about your godfather, but now you'll get a chance to know him right?" said Ginny.
"Yeah, I guess so. We'll see if he's even interested. Who knows?" Trying to change the subject he asked, "So is Ron's leg alright then?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, just a small bite really. But he was going on like they were going to have to amputate his leg or something. Him and Granger are becoming 'friends' now (she made the double quotes gesture) because she's going all gooey eyed over him, thinks he's all brave and all for standing up to Sirius Black. I wasn't there but, it didn't sound to me like he did anything but get caught and dragged by him in his dog form. I think he's just mellowing on her because she's the first girl to seem to take an interest in him." answered Ginny.
"Yeah, so are you going to write this summer?" asked Harry.
"Sure Harry, I'd love to, but our owls aren't very good." replied Ginny.
"Don't worry Ginny, c'mon up to the owlery with me and I'll introduce you to my owl Hedwig and she can deliver owls for you too. This way when I send you something she will recognize you and know to wait for you to send something back when you want." said Harry.
"Okay Harry, lead on." and Ginny happily slipped her arm into Harry's, being led to the owlery. She felt like a queen. Harry had no idea, he thought she was just goofing around. Which she was, but still girls have their little fantasy's of knights in shining armor riding on white horses and fancy gentlemen.
...
The rest of the year was somewhat uneventful but they learned that an official trial for Sirius Black, followed by another for Peter Pettigrew that same afternoon would be happening a week after school got out.
Harry asked if his presence would be needed at the trials and Dumbledore said no, they already had all the evidence they needed. Privately, Harry was only checking because he was trying to find out if Dumbledore or anyone else would be coming to look for him at the Dursley's that day meaning to escort him to the trial. Harry was not planning on attending in either identity. If he was he would go as Giles but he knew that no glamour's worked in the trial room.
So, they took the train ride home. The twins and Ginny accompanying Harry again for the ride home. The twins also noticed just how much more chummy and close Ginny had gotten to Harry. They grinned at each other. Blackmail material.
Harry for his part was eager to get home because he knew that Potter Castle was now waiting for him. He'd received an owl from Gringotts that said Grimtooth and some staff would be waiting for him there after he got home...to turn it over to him.
Harry got a hug from Ginny before he left the platform causing them both to blush and the twins to grin again to each other. Then he made a show of taking a taxi home to Privet drive and entering the house with his trunk and owl. Just as planned in case he had a tail.
He ignored the Dursley's, they ignored him and he popped away courtesy of Dobby, to his new castle.
"Wow! This is beautiful!" Harry said as he arrived. "It is better than I imagined it." continued Harry.
Shaking Grimtooth's hand, he said. "Thanks Grimtooth and all of your staff too." Nodding to the other Goblins.
"You're welcome Mr. Potter. Let us take a tour and we will explain everything to you, turn the wards over to you; and set the Fidelius. Who will be your secret keeper by the way?" asked Grimtooth.
"Dobby will be. He's perfect. He can't give away my secrets anyway, now this one will be doubly protected." said Harry.
Said elf turned visible and hugged Harry's leg and thanked him profusely for the amazing trust he placed in him. The Goblins just shook their heads amused at the little elf's antics.
"He is definitely very loyal to you Mr. Potter." said Grimtooth.
"That he is. I am loyal to him too. He is a great friend." replied Harry.
Which made Dobby swell with pride.
"Okay, let's get on with it then." said Harry. Then the Goblins led him and Dobby on the grand tour. Turned over the wards and set the Fidelius which covered the entire one thousand acre estate. "Potter Castle is located on Mount Brandon in County Kerry, Ireland."
After the Goblins left, Harry had Dobby pop him over to see Fryer at the Bottomless Flask Inn to let him know that he won't be needing to stay there anymore. That he had a new permanent home now and to thank him for all his help. He gave Fryer a five hundred galleon tip for being there for him the last three years and keeping his secrets. Fryer was humbled and grateful for the big tip and wished Harry the best of luck and told him to stop by once in awhile to let him know how he was doing.
Harry returned to Potter Castle and finally for the first time really unpacked. The only thing he kept in his mokeskin pouch truly was petty cash. He put the bulk of his personal stash as well as other valuables he still had from the basilisk into his new subterranean vault, to christen it. It was such a tiny pile considering the vast size of the room. So, he vowed he would have to get more cool stuff to store in there.
Harry's new master apartment suite was rather large, beside his own luxurious master room it had ten other stately bedrooms, and an appropriately sized receiving area, kitchen, dining room, living room, recreation room, library, indoor pool, sauna, hot-tub, and study. The central hall ran the entire length of the third and fourth floors of the tallest part of the castle on one whole side of the structure, overlooking the Ocean. It included a large balcony accessible to only his apartment where he could enjoy the Ocean view and entertain if he wanted.
Then it was time to furnish it. A job he began in earnest. He was able to buy many items cash of course and have them delivered to a secure location where he would pick them up, shrink them, and carry them home in his mokeskin pouch. That set him back a small piece of his castle fund, nothing noticeable. He made that much in interest each year. Dobby took the room closest to Harry. He said it was too much but Harry said, "Look at all I have Dobby, and I want to keep you as close to me as possible. Please take it for me? and decorate it anyway you want!" said Harry, and Dobby relented.
A week later Harry got the news that Pettigrew had been given the Dementors Kiss and that Sirius had been freed, with his other infractions considered time served. And Sirius was given one hundred thousand galleons in restitution for each year he was improperly incarcerated. One millions two hundred thousand galleons for twelve years.
Harry sent Sirius an owl and asked if he would like to meet sometime soon. If so, to please keep it between the two of them and to not involve Dumbledore.
Sirius replied that he would like to meet him. Where and when?
Harry wrote back to meet him at the Leaky Cauldron the next day at Noon.
Harry arrived quite early in his Giles persona and waited for a bit to see if Sirius truly did arrive alone. Luckily he did. So, Harry slipped out back and reverted to himself and went in.
"Hello Sirius. It's nice to finally meet you." said Harry.
"Oh you've met me before pup, even before that day at Hogwarts. You were just so little you don't remember."
The two made small talk for awhile and Sirius thanked him for having presence of mind to get Wormtail arrested, he was just going to kill him.
"I see." said Harry. "Then where would that have left you?"
"Well, I suppose I'd still be on the run or dead if they caught me." answered Sirius.
"Alright then. I suppose that would've been twice you had a chance to help raise me like my parents would've wanted. Instead, you'd do the rash and reckless thing both times and leave me alone." replied Harry.
"I don't know what to say pup. I guess you're right." said Sirius.
"Yeah. Okay, well I just wanted to get it straight from you before I made up my mind. I mean I don't know if you had intended now to stand up for me as my godfather and offer me a place to live or not. But, I can tell you from what I know. I'm not interested. You don't know what I've had to do to survive on my own all these years. Lupin was the same way, he wasn't even in prison and never checked on me once in all those years. You'll never know what I lived through. I'm not even interested in telling you. It appears that my father didn't have the best of friends. I will keep taking care of myself." said Harry.
"Harry, it's not like that. Listen." started Sirius.
"No thanks. I'm out of here. Enjoy your life. Congratulations on your freedom. I'm only thirteen but I am more mature than you. Go grow up will you?" concluded Harry, as he stood up and walked right out the door. Sirius couldn't move, his jaw was still dropped looking at Harry's back going out the door. By the time he got up to go after him, he was long gone.
He stopped by the Dursley's to let them know that if Sirius Black showed up there to talk to him, tell him that he's over at a friends and not to try to wait for him. They asked about Black, wasn't he the nutter who escaped from prison that there was a manhunt on for? He explained he was actually innocent, they just found that out and he was released-and that he is Harry's godfather and that he spoke with him and Harry didn't want to have anything more to do with him. But, knowing how all wizards were, he probably wouldn't just take no for an answer.
With that settled (hopefully), he went home to ponder what he wanted to do for the rest of the summer. First thing was to make some progress on some new stuff from his parsel magic book. He had been slacking off on that lately. He had not spent any time learning any offensive magic yet and he still hadn't tried the dimension travel. He put off the dimension travel a little longer. He really didn't want to screw that up. As for offensive magic he found an interesting one that he didn't think there was an equivalent for in normal wand magic, the ability to cast a lightning bolt from his wand or to call down a storm of lightning bolts for an area of effect.
Depending on how much power you had and how much you put into it, it could either stun your targets or fry them to a crisp like real lightning. So, he spent some time practicing that outside.
The other thing he learned from reading the book is that he could talk to all manner of reptilian creatures not just snakes, that included crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and even dragons. The book gave some tips on how to have successful conversations with those creatures, including an explanation that magical creatures that he could speak to would have a tendency to favor him as a friend or ally because of the gift.
They magical ones knew how rare it was and they revered the human who could do so, as long as you didn't abuse the privilege by trying to dominate them. They were intelligent creatures and not easily manipulated. The book made a specific example of how this could be helpful if the practitioner were to run into a runespoor or dragon in the wild.
Back at Lupins, Sirius broke out a bottle of fire whiskey and two glasses and described his brief encounter with Harry and how he stormed out after Sirius admitted he would've been too rash again, to put Harry's interests first over stupid reckless decisions that would get him arrested or killed.
"He's right Remus. I did basically abandon him to the Dursley's and whatever Dumbledore's agenda was and I would have done it again if Harry himself hadn't miraculously stopped me." said Sirius.
"I know. But to be fair, Snape got the drop on both of us before Harry got there. Anyway, I feel the same way about not ever checking on him either. I use the werewolf as an excuse and it is a very valid excuse but there are times I could've found a way around it just to check on him. I'm no better. I could tell that Harry gave me the cold shoulder too during the year when we reached that part in our conversations. I couldn't bring myself to tell him I'm a werewolf. I'm not sure it would've helped my case or hurt it." replied Remus.
"Well, we've really let James and Lily down haven't we?" said Sirius.
"I know that Lily didn't want Harry to ever go to the Dursley's, but even though Harry didn't say anything I'm getting the bad feeling things were very bad for him there. Why else would he be so upset about being left there. I wonder about that." continued Sirius.
"Well, we could go check on him now. See for ourselves." said Remus.
"I suppose so. I get the feeling its too late though. Do you even know why Albus put Harry at the Dursley's?" asked Sirius.
"Nothing specific except that he was able to put in place some kind of extra protection there because of Lily's sacrifice having to do with Petunia being her sister." said Remus.
"I'll bet it was some kind of blood wards." added Remus.
"Merlin, no! That is dark magic, forbidden. Albus of all people should not be doing that sort of thing. If he placed blood wards on that house tied to Harry, it would have slowly kept a drain on his magic while he lived there to maintain them. And since he was a baby too?!" shouted Sirius.
"Even on their best days one was never to do such a thing without the person undergoing it knowing full well what they were doing and giving their consent." continued Sirius.
"Well we don't know if that's what he did. It was just the first thing I could think of that would have anything to do with Petunia being Lily's sister. Maybe we should talk to Albus first and find out." said Remus.
"We can do that. But, we can't let on that Harry met with me. I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone especially Dumbledore. I don't think he trusts Dumbledore. Crap I just realized I broke the promise by telling you too. Ahh. Merlin, I'm a Eff-up." exclaimed Sirius.
"Okay, we'll go to him together but just tell him that I told you all about the conversations I had with Harry earlier in the year and it was the impression we got from that, which had us asking questions about his conditions at the Dursley's and wanting more information on the protections he placed there." said Remus.
"Alright, that will be a plan. We'll start with that. The next time I talk to Harry I want to know more about what has been going on anyway and show him that I've looked into it. That I care." said Sirius.
Remus just nodded in reply and they both finished their fire whiskey.
...
The next day Remus and Sirius floo called Albus to ask if they could come over and speak to him. He said yes, to come right on through the floo now if they had time.
So they had that conversation with Albus and him being the way he was, liked to play his cards close to his chest and only gave out information that he thought showed him in a good light.
He told them he had Arabella Figg, a squib friend of his who lived in that neighborhood keep and eye on him. She was to let him know if anything strange was going on that he needed to intervene. She never reported anything. As for the protections, it was Lily herself who cast the protection on Harry, all he did was re-tie it to Petunia before it waned so that it would continue as long as he lived with her. He avoided mentioning that it was blood wards even though that is what Sirius specifically asked about.
"Well then, do you mind if Remus and I stop by there some time to visit Harry and see how he's doing? Look in on the place a little bit?" asked Sirius.
"Fellows, I know Harry would appreciate your concern, but I've been trying to keep the amount of magical presence down in that neighborhood to reduce the chances any watchers of Voldemort's old supporters might trace a lot of activity there, become too curious and find exactly what we don't want them to ever find." replied Dumbledore.
"That makes sense, but what if we just floo'd over to Arabella's house and had a word with her then? Get it right from the horses mouth so to speak?" said Remus.
Of course that only made sense if you are already inclined to believe every word that came out of Dumbledore's mouth and you believed him to be all-wise and all-knowing.
"Very well. I will floo her now and let her know you will visit sometime for that very reason." said Dumbledore, thinking he managed it to a compromise that would keep them away from the Dursley's for the time being. Of course, he never really bothered to check with Arabella either, he just assumed everything was fine since she never contacted him. He figured that's what they would hear when they got over there.
...
A half hour later Remus and Sirius were sitting in Arabella Figg's living room trying not to step on any cats there were so many of them, and having a cup of tea.
"So, you say that you never see Harry around anymore not really since he started Hogwarts? Just each year when he returns from school but then he seems to just disappear?" asked Sirius, for clarification.
"Have you mentioned that to Dumbledore?" asked Remus.
"Why no. He only told me contact him if something bad was happening that the Dursley's were unable to handle, only things that would need him to intervene." replied Arabella.
"Okay." continued Sirius, rubbing his forehead as he started to get a headache. "What about before school? What can you tell us about Harry's life from the time he arrived until he got his Hogwarts letter. Did you see him around much then?" asked Sirius.
"Oh heavens yes." said Arabella.
"I've seen him go off and return from primary school every day. That seemed to go like clockwork with no problems that I could see. And I often saw Harry playing up at the playground on Wisteria Way and outside helping his Aunt Petunia with the gardening and such. I even baby-sat him a few times. He was always quiet and shy, but well-behaved and good mannered. He seemed like such a good little boy." said Arabella.
"Did he ever tell you about anything about his life, how things were inside the house? Anything about how the Dursley's treated him?" asked Sirius.
"No. Like I said he was very quiet and shy. I'm afraid he didn't feel like he had much in common with a little old spinster lady like me." said Arabella.
"Okay Arabella, thank you for your time and thank you for looking out for Harry over the years." said Sirius, as he made to get up.
"You're very welcome dear. It was my honor." she said, showing them to the floo.
...
Back at Lupins house. "So, what do you make of that Remus?" asked Sirius.
"I think she didn't have a clue what was going on in the house. Only saw the bits she was capable of seeing. Saw and heard nothing she thought was unusual and so never said anything." replied Remus.
"We still don't know if there was anything going on inside the house to merit any concern. But, there is the fact that Harry seems to be missing from there most of the time since he started school and Dumbledore told us about that one year he lied to his relatives about his whereabouts before he returned him there the following summer personally." said Sirius.
"Yeah, there is something strange going on. Harry seemed to be acting strangely and we don't really know why except that it points to him simply not wanting to be at the Dursley's if our suspicions are correct. But I don't know where else to look." said Remus.
"Well I think we need to try to talk to Harry again. And do you realize that we allowed Albus to talk us out of our primary aim to go visit the Dursley's ourselves? It makes me wonder if he is hiding something about that place and reminds me of just how weak willed we have been about this." said Sirius, slamming his fist on the table.
"We need to put Harry first and not give a shit about Albus' opinion or advice or what he thinks is safe or not safe. We trusted him with the safety of Lily and James and look where that got us!" concluded Sirius.
"Alright let me send another owl to Harry and see if I can arrange for him to meet both of us." said Sirius.
Three days later, Harry replied that he would meet with them but someplace more private like the shrieking shack. So, they agreed to a time and place and met him there.
"Hello Harry. I've thought a lot about what you said and I spoke to Remus and he agrees with me that we've been too weak willed putting other interests or concerns ahead of yours when we owe it to Lily and James to look after you first." started Sirius.
"I don't expect you to forgive us all of a sudden but we both hope we can earn that forgiveness someday." continued Sirius.
"We thought about it and we became suspicious that Albus might've been hiding something about your situation and we went to talk to him. Don't worry we didn't mention I had seen you at all, we referred only to conversations you and Remus had earlier in the year in order to give him any context he needed." continued Sirius.
"Okay, go on, I'm listening." said Harry.
"That's all we ask Harry." continued Sirius.
"I have suspicions about this so-called protection he said he put on you at the Dursley's. I didn't know anything about that until I spoke to Remus and he didn't know details. That is one reason I went to see him, to see if I could get him to reveal something." continued Sirius.
"He was cagey about it and did not come right out and admit it, but he did in so many words. I believe he used illegal blood magic to place wards on you and the house for your protection. Now if what he said is true, your mother may have started it by initiating blood wards on you herself to protect you. But we don't have any idea if it's true or not. All I know is he concocted a story meant to sound feasible to most people. But I'm still not convinced." continued Sirius.
"Next, he tried to talk us out of coming to see you directly at the Dursley's to see you ourselves and see your living conditions there. Asking us to go see your neighbor Arabella Figg. Whom I don't know if you were aware Harry, is a squib of Dumbledore's acquaintance that he had supposedly keep an eye out for you all those years. He said and she confirmed that she never once alerted him to any problems." continued Sirius.
"Wait a minute." said Harry. "You mean the crazy old cat lady that baby-sat me a few times and I caught staring at me every so often was a minder set by Dumbledore all this time?" asked Harry.
"Yes, pretty much." answered Sirius.
"Well, fat lot of good that did." Harry mumbled.
Sirius and Remus shared a glance, obviously there is more Harry would like to say.
"Harry," began Remus. "This is why we wanted to see you in person. Because obviously whether Dumbledore intended for you to be well looked after or not, clearly from his side he didn't do enough and it's clear no one knows what life was really like for you in that house. But I know two things Harry. One, your mother never wanted you to go to the Dursley's if anything happened to them, so Dumbledore went against those desires, if he knew about them-that I don't know. And two, is that according to Arabella you are never seen around there anymore since you started Hogwarts, except to arrive back from at the end of the year, but once you step through the doors, no one sees you again for another year." continued Remus.
"So," and Remus pointed to himself and Sirius. "We suspect you aren't living there at all except to put on airs and we'd like to know why and if you need any help, we want to help you. To hell with whatever Dumbledore says he wants." concluded Remus.
"Do you both feel that way then? That you'd want to help me and be on my side no matter what Dumbledore wants?" asked Harry, actually feeling a little warm inside from the unexpected care from the two men.
Both of them seeing a possible break in Harry's armor there fervently shook their head yes and said, "Absolutely," and "Yes, you have my word on it."
"Okay, if you really feel that way and you want to know what I'm keeping secret I will need you both to give me an unbreakable vow of secrecy. If you will do that, I will tell you and show you everything, and on one hand you will be irate and for other things I think you will be amazed. I think I've taken good care of myself." said Harry, with a little pride.
The two men didn't hesitate. Sirius went first with Remus binding the vow to Harry. Followed by Remus, with Sirius bonding the vow to Harry.
"Okay guys. I don't think I could ask for more loyalty than that. You are both forgiven. Now come with me and I will show you something. Dobby!"
Dobby becomes visible and says, "Yes, master Harry."
"I need you to give them the secret to our home and then I want you to pop us all there. Can you do that?" asked Harry.
"Yes master but I should warn you for future reference, four people including myself is the most I can do this way. I don't have enough power for more." Dobby said looking downtrodden.
"Dobby, don't feel sad buddy. I think you are amazing. You are very powerful. I don't know why other wizards don't see the greatness in you elves. But, I do. Never forget it." Harry said to his first best friend.
"Okay, here it is." said Dobby.
"Potter Castle is located on Mount Brandon in County Kerry, Ireland." concluded Dobby.
Then with stupefied looks on both Remus and Sirius faces, one could almost see the words 'Potter Castle' in their eyes, mixed with 'Harry has an elf for his secret keeper?'. Dobby, grabbed each by the hand and Harry put his hand on Dobby's shoulder and he popped them all to the front gates of Harry's castle.
"Whoa!" said Remus.
"Great Merlin!" said Sirius.
"Harry, did Dobby say Potter Castle?" said Remus.
"Since when do the Potter's have a castle?" asked Sirius.
"Will you two stop that you are starting to sound like the twins now." said Harry.
"The twins?" asked Sirius.
"The Weasley twins. Two of my friends from school." answered Harry.
"Oh. Okay, so really what is up with Potter Castle, and did I say Whoa! look at this place it's beautiful." said Sirius.
"No, I don't think you did." Harry said with a grin. "Remus here said Whoa!, you said Great Merlin!." Harry said laughing.
"Well, why don't I take you on a walk around the grounds. As I understand it for a castle this is a rather small estate, only one thousand acres. And then once you've seen it from the outside and all the nice views I'll take you inside." said Harry.
So, as they started walking...
Harry said, "So to answer your first question, the Potters have a castle ever since I had it built last year. I myself only just moved into it the beginning of this summer. It took the Goblins a year to build it for me." started Harry.
"Goblins?"... "You had it built?" sputtered Sirius...
And Harry proceeded to tell them his whole story. He had always wanted to tell someone. There was still one really bad part, the worst part that he wanted to take to his grave but, he told them the rest about how he was treated from the time he can remember at the Dursley's, what his meager life goals were before he turned eleven, and everything he's learned and found out since he learned he was a wizard since then.
To stopping back by the Goblins to ask more questions...and beginning to take control of his life from there. Showed them his secret identity Giles Kerr, and basically explained everything to them, from his time staying at the Bottomless Flask Inn, his parseltongue abilities and the parsel magic he learned so far, and all his adventures in Hogwarts up to the point Sirius became the most recent adventure. By the time it got done, Harry had already shown them half the interior of the castle courtyard and was just leading them into his Great Hall.
"So, there you have it. That has been my life pretty much. As you can see, I don't trust Dumbledore. I don't want him involved in my life and I've done all I can to avoid him while doing my own thing. It hasn't always been easy. I was afraid you guys were going to blow my cover actually. One of the reasons I asked for the vow. So what do you think." concluded Harry.
"That is so much Harry. I really am just heartbroken and want to cry over the childhood you were given and I won't deny a part of me wants to go take a piece out of Dumbledore over that but, to take your advice to heart and your example too from what you've told us. I will play it cool and deal with this the way you think is best. You really have turned out to be an amazing kid, no an amazing young man, Harry. To think that you've done all of this on your own, with your own imagination and your own cunning. I can definitely see the full strength of both James and Lily in you. They would be so proud of you. To answer your question about what do I think? I am stunned. I am equally shocked and dismayed at your childhood as I am amazed and impressed at what you've done on your own." said Sirius.
"I agree with Sirius. I would just sum it up like this. I simply want to be happy for you, seeing what you've done here and are doing. But, I am having a hard time reconciling that with the pain and suffering you've endured to even push you to this. All I can do is say, if you need anything from me at all, any kind of help. I will gladly give it." said Remus.
"Well guys, I appreciate it. I know it seems weird me being only thirteen, almost fourteen and acting this mature and doing all this. But, like you've seen I've had to grow up fast, the hard way." started Harry.
"Thing is I was really mad at both of you seeing how you weren't there to help me when I needed it the most. But, I believe my parents meant as much to you as you say, and I want to have a chance to get to know you guys." began Harry.
"Sirius, at this point in my life I hope you can understand that I don't want any more official adult guardians. I have well and fully run away from that and taken full control of my life, as you've seen and heard. I won't give that control away to anyone now." said Harry.
"But, I know you are still looking for a new permanent home and if you want you can move in here with me and be my crazy uncle and tell me all about my parents. Remus, same goes for you if you don't want to stay where you are. This place has fifty great guest rooms, plus my private apartments have ten more great guest rooms in addition to my master suite. So, you all can have the pick of any of those rooms other than my master suite." said Harry.
"Dobby has the room directly next to mine. I'm all alone here except Dobby and me, and I would like the company-and as I've explained, I can afford it. What do you say to that?" said Harry.
"I'm in Harry. If that's what you want from me. You've got it." said Sirius.
"Me too. Make that two crazy uncles." said Remus.
"Excellent." replied Harry, with a genuine smile.
"I know I gave you both the cold shoulder but, I wanted you to be motivated to go see for yourselves and come to me when you were really ready. Remus, I already knew about your furry problem. It's not that hard to figure out really when you take off sick for the three days around each full moon." said Harry.
"That is great Harry. So then tell us more about those twins who worship the Marauders..." said Sirius.
...
And the rest of the summer went happily ever after with Sirius and Remus each taking the next two rooms next to Dobby in Harry's private apartment and learning their way around the castle. Still trying to let it sink in that Harry 'had' a castle and that he was able to afford it in the first place because he killed a sixty foot basilisk in his second year.
With some people with him now, who 'knew their way around' so to speak, he got out a bit in his Giles Kerr persona. Sirius and Remus took him to Disney World, Las Vegas, and some really cool beaches. It was the first time Harry really had a blast going all out. Of course he didn't participate in any illicit activities that aren't meant for someone of his true age, but that didn't stop him from getting into places with the Marauders and enjoying watching them have a good time.
During the summer, Harry and Ginny did exchange a few owls but Harry realized he couldn't really tell her much of what he was really doing because of all the secrets. Mostly he tried to talk to her about her nightmares and guilt she still carries dealing with the chamber.
As the summer wore down Harry prepared for another year of school. He got another allotment of funds from his trust fund and tossed most of it in the small pile of money growing in his castle vault.
While Harry went back to school, Sirius told him that he would take the time to go check out the ancestral home his parents left him at Grimmauld Place and see about their family house elf. Then he would need to figure out what to do about it all.
Sirius gave Harry a mirror that all three of them had one of so they could get in touch whenever any of them needed; and he told Harry a few other secrets of the Marauders map, such as how to ask it to find an individual and zoom in on them.
They also made plans, that next summer they would begin teaching Harry how to be an animagus and would personally teach him even though it's early, how to apparate-so he could begin to learn his parsel magic dimension travel. All projects for next year.
Until then, Remus and Sirius had Harry's leave and a one hundred thousand pound budget out of the castle funds to do some more finishing around the castle, get some more furniture and what have you. Remus had already broken in his own personal cell at the end of the cell block in the dungeon with a name plate, "Moony" fashioned over it placed by Sirius. That is where Remus went to deal with his furry little problem each month.