Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass
Dumbledore handed Arthur the book and Arthur turned the page.
"The Vanishing Glass" he started.
KNOCK KNOCK.
"Should we allow the kids to join?" Molly asked frantically
"Might as well. Whoever sent these wanted them to join us" Remus said "But let's not tell them immediately what these books are."
"I think Harry will figure it out since I'm seeing the name 'Dursley' on this page and the second and third word on the opposite page are 'Harry Potter'" Arthur said.
"Might as well then" Sirius sighed.
Moody unlocked the door and the six younger kids came in.
"The kitchen's clean." Ron said. "What are you guys doing in here?"
"We were magically sent some books to read." Sirius said. "You guys are welcome to join us."
"Wow!" Fred and George gasped at the fact that they were allowed to join. Hermione's face had brightened at the word 'books' and Harry and Ron looked skeptical. Ginny looked scared stiff.
"It's okay Ginny. These books are only about magic. They're not magical" Arthur assured her.
"We've already read Chapter 1 which was pretty dull" Tonks said.
"Then why do you look like hell when you were fine earlier, Sirius?" Harry challenged.
"Just…a really bad flashback. By the way, Remus. Remind me to get my bike back from Hagrid."
"It's not like you can ride it" Remus said.
"I didn't say I was going to ride it" Sirius whispered quietly so Molly wouldn't hear as he subtly pointed to Harry.
"Lily will come back to haunt you for that" Remus said.
"Should we explain or should I get started?" Arthur asked.
"Get started" Sirius said with a wink at the Weasley patron.
"WHAT?!" Harry exclaimed horrified at the first mention of the Dursleys.
"Did we forget to mention that these books are all about you?" Sirius teased.
Harry looked around for something and grabbing the seventh book, which was the thickest, went to slam the book into his forehead as if trying to knock himself out. However, Hermione had realized what Harry was doing and grabbed the book halfway through the swing.
"Don't make us body-bind you" Remus threatened since the kids didn't know about the no magic ward.
"It can't be that bad mate" Ron laughed.
"Start again Arthur" Molly said.
The teenagers and Bill and Charlie sniggered at this. Even Tonks had to giggle. Harry, on the other hand was doing the math. Ten years after he had been found…he hoped that this scene was after he got his first letter.
"Lovely" Ginny muttered sarcastically.
"Nope" Sirius whispered to the boy who was sitting close to him, only separated by Ron.
Harry groaned. It was PRE-first letter which meant that the cupboard was bound to be mentioned. Why did he leave his cloak upstairs?
"You TOUCHED one!?" the arachnophobic Ron exclaimed.
Arthur trailed off as he read the rest of the sentence and looked at Harry who really looked as if he'd rather be in Detention with Snape with Malfoy and Voldemort in the room than here.
"Why would you be used to spiders?" Ron asked obviously disgusted with the idea.
"Arthur?" Molly asked.
"Harry?" Arthur asked in a fatherly tone. "Why didn't you mention this to us?"
"It wasn't important" Harry said to the floor.
Tonks walked across the room and looked over Arthur's shoulder and her hand went straight to her mouth as her eyes widened and her hair turned from pink to black.
"Whoa! That bad Tonks?" Sirius gasped.
"What?" Remus asked.
"That's her REAL hair" Sirius told Remus.
"Just read it" Harry told Arthur figuring that it would be mentioned again so skipping would be pointless.
"WHAT?!" everyone except Arthur, Dumbledore, and Harry shouted at the mention of the cupboard.
Harry sank deeper into the couch hoping for a bit of accidental magic to make himself invisible like that spell Moody had used on him at the Dursleys this summer as everyone was screaming out some curse words or even curses to use on the Dursleys.
Harry then turned and saw that the headmaster was looking older than usual. From the look on his face, the Boy-Who-Lived figured that the headmaster didn't know either and the letters had been addressed by a magical quill.
For the first time in his life, Harry wondered if it was a good thing to keep quiet about the treatment he had undergone at 4 Privet Drive. Maybe…maybe if he had told Dumbledore the truth to begin with, he would never have gone back.
Harry then turned to Arthur who also hadn't reacted with yelling. The Weasley Patron looked astounded that ANYONE can do that to a child. Arthur noticed Harry being extra quiet and gave him a reassuring smile to inform the teen that everything was going to be okay and that Harry would ALWAYS have a home with the Weasleys. Harry returned the smile.
When everyone had shouted themselves hoarse,
"Now that THAT'S out of everyone's system," Arthur said before taking a breath to continue.
"One last thing." Sirius said turning to his godson. "We will discuss why I'm just now learning this later."
Harry nodded in understanding.
"That it?" Arthur asked.
Sirius nodded.
"LILY/THEY DID NOT DIE IN A CAR CRASH!" Snape, Sirius, and Remus chorused at the book angrily. Harry's eyebrows rose at the fact that Snape was with the Marauders on something.
Of course, Sirius and Remus were louder because they were also channeling their anger about the cupboard into that yell.
"That explains about your behavior in class" McGonagall said still a bit upset about the cupboard but figured that she would have a LONG I-told-you-so with Albus later.
Flitwick, Sprout, and even Snape had to agree with her. It was always clear when something was confusing the boy when it came to class, but he never asked a teacher for help. In fact, more often than not, it was usually dealt with by Hermione noticing what Harry (and Ron) was doing wrong and correcting him.
"Won't work" Remus said with a sad smile thinking of the few times James had actually MADE the effort.
"Potter trait" McGonagall said. "Your grandfather was the same."
"You knew my grandfather?" Harry asked.
"He was a year above me in school" she explained.
The younger crowd laughed hard at that as the adults chuckled softly.
"Didn't know you had it in you Harry!" the twins chorused.
"I had forgotten I used to call him that" Harry mused.
"His face fell for THAT?" Hermione asked stunned. "I don't think I've even received that many gifts for my birthday altogether!"
"You poor baby" Ginny said sarcastically.
"How old is this kid again?" Bill asked.
"Would you believe turning eleven at this time?" Harry answered.
"If any of my children acted that way, they wouldn't see another present until their wedding" Arthur interrupted himself giving his kids a pointed look.
"Don't worry Dad." Fred said.
"We're better than that git" George said.
"You and Mum raised us right" Bill added with a pleased smile at his parents.
Charlie, Ginny, and Ron nodded their agreement.
Though nobody voiced it, everyone was wondering what went wrong with Percy.
"Wish I knew she had been a squib." Harry muttered under his breath.
"But then you would have had fun and the Dursleys wouldn't want that" Ginny whispered having heard his muttering.
"True" Harry mused.
"Wasn't Marge the one…?" Ron asked his best friend.
Harry nodded.
"The one what?" Sirius asked.
"Long story." Harry said waving it aside.
"They've got it a bit mixed up" Ginny said trying to ease the tension that the Dursleys were causing "they're the ones that are no better than slugs."
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Molly and Sirius yelled at the book.
"Dinky Duddydums?!" Fred and George laughed.
"Evil conniving little brat" Tonks muttered before jerking her head up and turned to Sirius. "Hey Sirius. Mum once told me that Regulus did that. Is that true?"
"Oh yeah. He was a real Mama's boy" Sirius sighed. "But he only did that when family was around. When it was the two of us…at least until he reached the age of 9, he wasn't THAT bad. But he realized what a disappointment I was to Mother and…he did what he could to appease her, including promising to go into Voldemort's service."
"Of course. Can't have your best friend seeing what a baby you are" Ron muttered.
"He BETTER not have!" Molly threatened.
"Considering he spent Christmas at Hogwarts…" Ron told his mother.
"Ugh!" Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny made faces as they thought of the fashion disaster that must have been.
"Really?" McGonagall said before turning to Harry. "That's REALLY advanced magic Mr. Potter."
Harry just shrugged as if it had been no big deal. Snape gave Harry a look as if he was shocked that Harry hadn't drunk in the praise like James would have.
So far, it seemed that Harry's childhood was more like his than Snape had ever dreamed possible. Sure it didn't seem as if Harry had been treated as badly as the way he had, but the cupboard was pretty bad.
"Aw. Harry. He loves you" the twins chorused.
"In that case, makes one wonder what Professor Snape really thinks of me then" Harry said with a smirk in the Potions' master's direction that reminded Snape almost too much of Lily, he NEARLY fell out of his chair.
"Why did you say that?" Hermione asked her brother-in-all-but-blood.
"I was a 10 year old boy" Harry told her.
"We may have to check out these…cartoons" Fred whispered to George.
"As soon as we find out what they are" George whispered back.
"Harry. That's an insult to gorillas everywhere" Ginny teased.
THAT had done it as everyone burst into laughter at Ginny's comment. The cupboard was temporarily forgotten.
"With your luck mate, it won't last" Ron said.
The smile that had been on Harry's face from Ginny's comment about the gorillas faded. He looked around the room and wondered if Bill, Charlie, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and the real Moody knew about his…gift. Come to think of it, did Arthur and Molly know? He knew the teachers did as did Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, but wasn't sure about the rest.
"Smart move Snake" the twins chorused.
Harry looked at the floor as he felt his godfather turn to him.
Ron snorted as he kept from laughing.
"Ronald!" Molly scolded.
"Sorry." Ron apologized before turning to his mortified friend as one of his secrets was now completely out to those he cared about. "But this is MUCH better than the way you told it."
"Glad YOU like this" Harry said obviously not sharing the same joy as Ron.
"That must have been a sight" Tonks muttered.
"You made a whole glass window vanish?" Flitwick asked. "Then why is it you have a hard time with the vanishing charm?"
"It was an accident" Harry answered.
"Hmm." Flitwick mused, his Ravenclaw mind at full steam. "it seems to me Mr. Potter, That between the fact you learn better through application and the fact that knowing limits hinders you, you're a lot more talented than your grades make you out to be. In fact, I'm sure your relatives play a LARGE part in…"
Arthur decided to continue before McGonagall can accuse Flitwick of calling her Gryffindor a secret Ravenclaw.
"Wow" Fred said.
"A polite snake" George said.
"Why can't the Slytherins be like that?" Fred added.
George was about to respond but refrained after seeing the glare from the only Slytherin in the room.
"WHAT?!" Molly and Sirius once again chorused angrily. Even Remus was gripping the arms of the five-seat couch he was sharing with Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Sirius tightly and Arthur was squeezing the edges of the book praying that this story would get better.
"Not like your father in that respect, but I'm actually glad of that." Sirius said to Harry.
"I can't believe you remember that" Sirius whispered.
"Only when I strain" Harry said.
"It's quite logical Harry" Fred said.
"Aliens caused the crash" George said.
"There are no such things as aliens" Hermione argued.
"Exactly!" Fred said.
"There was also no crash" George explained.
Remus and Sirius both winced at this, but each had their reasons. Remus couldn't get through the wards until Harry was past the age of 13 when he would be smart enough not to tangle with a werewolf and Sirius had been in Azkaban.
"AGH!" Moody cried in frustration. "The laws of Secrecy, People!"
"That's not true anymore" Hermione said.
"Yeah. At school, you have us" Ron said throwing his arm around Harry's shoulder and grabbed Hermione, who was sitting on Harry's other side and pulled her arm towards Harry to indicate that she was there too.