My life - An adventure

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter works belong to J.K. Rowling.

AN: This story is an idea I got from "Harry Potter and the Memories of Old" by Snowy123. Some of spells are from the story "Harry Potter and the Unlocked Knowledge" by kmfrank.

Chapter 09

Life has been peaceful the last few weeks. What with the threat of me performing magic and Sirius dropping by every weekend, the Dursleys are scared out of their socks. I don't really need to install a vacuum ward this time around as Albus expects me to perform magic as my underage license is valid until the world cup ends.

I got my third year results a few days back and as expected I topped every subject I took, including history, which I tied with Hermione. The rest of my group got good scores as well. The Quidditch training has been pretty rigorous. We train for 6 days a week, with Sunday off to relax the tired muscles.

During those days I train, I leave the house at 8 in morning and come back around 7 in the night. After that I am too tired to practice any magic. So mostly, I spend about 90 minutes in the morning practicing my speed casting and wandless magic to keep up my magic. After coming back at night I spend most of my time with my runic scheme to which I added a new dimension. I need to understand the workings of the Fidelius charm to get that right. The runic scheme, not only involves runes but a good bit of Arthemancy as well.

In a way Arthemancy is like Divinition. Instead of predicting events concerned with a person's life, we are predicting what happens when magic is released with a particular wand movement and intention or when two spells interact with each other or when two runes interact with each other. This is done to avoid spell damage that might occur when trying out a new spell or a runic work.

On Sundays, the one day I don't have Quidditch training, Sirius comes by and we spend the day together going to movies and such. He also drops off a week's supply of food, which is useful though I can always call Dobby if I need anything. It seems that a nurse at Smeltings ordered the Dursleys to put Dudley on a diet. So all he gets to eat is fruits.

Thank god for little mercies. I eat all my meals at the stadium and Sundays with Sirius. For in between snacks when I get hungry I eat the food, which Sirius dropped off and I stored in my own mini refrigerator.

Since I have little need for him, I loaned Dobby to Sirius who put him into good use at his house. Or so he says. I will be seeing it for the first time after the world cup.

I packed everything I have in my trunk. The one-month I needed to spend at #4 passed with as little interaction between the Dursleys and myself. Just the way I liked it. It's July 23rd and I will be spending the next 10 days at the stadium. After that we have a day to practice at the stadium and then the final on August 4th. I activate my portkey and am whisked away to my next great adventure.


I land in the room allocated to me by the team. I put away my trunk and remove my shirt to change into the Quidditch attire, when someone opens the door. I turn around to see Dorea smirking at me.

"Yum…"

I smirk back. "Enjoying the sights are you, Dorea?"

"Most certainly, Harry."

It kind of became a game between the two ladies on the team and myself. They tease me and I tease back.

I put on my shirt and am about to take off my pants, when I stop and turn around to face her. I raise my eyebrows. "Do you mind?"

She pouts but turns around. I shake my head and change into the right clothes.

"So what's up?"

"Coach asked to see if you are in yet. We have a team meeting in ten."

"Alright. Lets go." I pick my broom and head toward the door. Then, a very silly idea pops out of nowhere.

As Dorea turns around to head out of the door, I catch hold of her hand and in one smooth motion pull her toward me and kiss her right on her lips.

I am a cool 5 feet 8 inches, which is about the same as Dorea. My first kiss and it was perfect. Dorea hesitates at first, but then goes with the flow.

As I release her, I smirk at her. "How was that?"

She smiles back. "Tasty."

I return her smile. "Thanks for giving me my first kiss, Dorea."

"Your first kiss? Really?"

"Yep."

We head out of my room. We both know that we are just flirting with each other. But we enjoy it all the same. I finally hit puberty over the summer. I guess my lack of nutritious food for the better part of my life affected me in more ways than one.

With puberty came hormones and close proximity to such beautiful girls like Dorea and Monica, can be quite a distraction. The one bad aspect of it is to hear Sirius give me the TALK. It's not like I don't know what happens, but… Oh well. You can't win them all.

We enter the team room to see all the teammates and coach already there. We quickly join them and get the team meeting going.

Terrance, the coach, starts it off. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, to start with we will see a couple of matches the Bulgarians played at home last year."

He starts the Omnicular projector, which as the name suggested projects the images from an Omnicular on to a screen.

"Bulgarians make the game plan simple at the same time they are our toughest opponents. Their plays will revolve around Krum. If Krum catches the snitch, they win, if not, they don't. Their chasers don't really compare to us. And they know that. The chasers will mostly play defensive to make sure we don't get more than 150 points ahead of them. The beaters and Krum will concentrate on you, Harry. If they remove you from the picture, they have a clear shot at the title. I know I said all this a hundred times… Harry will concentrate only on the Snitch. Roderick and Hesper will work the bludgers as much in favor of Harry as possible. The chasers will aim for the 150 point lead. And Eric, you keep an eye on the snitch while you keep."

We all nod at the strategy, which as the coach said was drilled into our heads practically once every day for the past couple of months.

I stare at the screen as I see Viktor do a feint to get rid of his opponent and another where he blind-sided him into the stands. He also uses his muscles quite a bit to bump into the other seeker, which is a legal move. He is around 6 feet tall with about 180 pounds on him. He will have better maneuverability because of his weight. It's some what negated with the firebolt, which does react quite fast. He has the advantage of having a larger reach and I have the advantage of providing less resistance to wind.

The coach interrupts my thoughts. "Harry, you will work on the snitch with Thomas. Roderick and Hesper work the bludgers on Harry with the reserve team. 3 of them."

I groan at that. Great. 3 bludgers again and 4 beaters against little old me.

He points to the chasers. "You three will work the Quaffle with the reserve team. Lets get going."


On the day of my birthday, the team broke up at 4 instead of at 6. We are having a party after which, I will go to the Burrow for dinner with the Weasleys with Sirius.

The party was great. Dorea snogged me senseless as a birthday gift. The other team members gave me small gifts anywhere from auto quills to books. The team as a whole bought me my own Harry Potter toy. Joy.

I wave to the guys and step into the fireplace and floo to the "Burrow."

I step out of the fireplace to an empty living room. "Anyone home?"

I don't get a response and I take a couple of steps when Sirius steps out from behind a sofa and shouts "Surprise."

I roll my eyes at him and smile. "I already knew about the dinner, Sirius."

He scowls at me. "You could at least act the part."

He quickly smiles. "Come my Quidditch star of a godson, everyone's waiting outside."

Hermione, Remus, Alastor and the whole Weasley family are waiting outside including Ron's two elder brothers I never met.

Seeing me, Ron hurries over. "Hey mate. What took you so long? I am hungry."

Hermione rolls her eyes as she joins us. "You are always hungry Ron."

She hugs me. "How are you, Harry?"

"I am fine, Hermione. How was your trip?"

"It was great. Did you know there are wizarding sections in nearly every museum?"

"Really?" I of course didn't tell them about my trip to a few of these museums in Venice.

"Yes…"

"Leave him alone, Hermione." He turns and whispers to me, "Harry, did you know Mad-Eye Moody?"

"Alastor? Yeah, sure. He's kind of guarding me in case and of Malfoy cronies decide to take of piece of me."

Ron looks at me awed. "Blimey."

Hermione rolls her eyes. "Harry, did you meet Bill and Charlie?"

This gets Ron moving and he introduces me to his two elder brothers.

Charlie shakes my hand. "It's good to meet you finally Harry. I saw your match against Ireland. You were brilliant."

"Thanks, Charlie. That was a good game."

"Excited about the final?"

"Excited, thrilled and terrified."

He slaps me on the back. "Don't worry, mate. You will do just fine. Bill and I took leave to watch the match. It's been a long time since England played in the final."

"Thanks."

I turn to face Bill. "Bill, you are a curse breaker right?"

"Yeah, Harry. Why, interested in that career?"

I nod. "Yeah. But the reason I ask is in this parchment."

I show him in the Peverell Parchment. "Did you ever see a rune like this?"

He takes the parchment and head toward an empty chair where he settles down and checks the rune in detail. "Hmmm… Where did you find it?"

"In my family vault."

He nods and stares at the rune for a while. "Sorry Harry. Never saw anything like it before. Can I keep this for future reference?"

"I rather not. Can you make a copy of it?"

He nods and does the same. "I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Thanks. Just don't tell anyone where you got it."

He nods and we continue with our dinner. I glance around to see Ginny sitting a few chairs to my right talking animatedly with Bill. She grew up over the summer and is looking good. Once we get to Hogwarts, I will have to spend some time with her. She is one of the only few people who knows about my secrets and I can talk to freely.

I hear Sirius snicker from my left and turn to face him. He has a smirk on his face and he murmurs to me. "You know your father once said that, Potter men have a weakness for red heads."

"Oh! What about Blondes and Brunettes? I was thinking of starting a harem you know."

Sirius barks a laugh and wipes a fake tear. "My godson is so manly."

I roll my eyes at him and glance at the others staring at us. "Don't mind him. He has gone mad."

He replies back with a high-pitched girly voice. "You are being a meany."

"And you are acting like a little girl."

He puffs up in indignation. "I am not a little girl. I am Sirius Black."

"And the difference is?"

"I am a man."

"Thanks captain obvious. How's the house coming along?"

His face lights up with a true smile. "It's unrecognizable. I got rid of all the junk. Fresh paint, new furniture, the whole deal. Thanks for loaning Dobby. He's been great help. Better than my filthy family house elf."

"Any news on Crouch."

"None. And I don't really care." I can see where he's coming from. I don't really care for him as well, but I rather know what happened.

After that we move on to opening my presents. I told Sirius not to get me anything extravagant. But as expected he didn't listen and got me a complete dragon hide wardrobe. At least he had the sense to give it to me before I came to the Weasleys. The rest of them gave me their usual gifts from candy to a shield ring. It was a relaxing night and I am glad I got to spend a birthday with my friends and family.


"Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch world cup!"

That introduction got the whole stadium going. 100,000 wizard and witches screaming and clapping can be quite a thing to hear. I stand with my team waiting for the introductions to start.

First comes the Bulgarian team mascots, Veelas if I am right. We did see them yesterday while we were practicing in the stadium. Next the English mascots, which is a combination of all the different English & Irish Quidditch league teams mascots, from Barny the fruit bat to Leprechauns. Not entirely original are they. But unlike most European countries we do not take pride in our magical population, only witches and wizards.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome- the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you – Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaand – Krum!"

With a particular essence played to Krum. A sound like a firecracker and the crowd or at least the Bulgarian part of the crowd takes up the chant. "Krum! Krum! Krum!"

"And now please greet – The English National Quidditch Team!"

We get ready as we get on our brooms. This is it.

Osmosis, the captain, murmurs to us. "Good luck boys and girls."

"Presenting - Toole! Melcose! McDoogal! Smith! Twonk! Beamish! Aaaannnd – Our very own Boy Who Lived! Haaaarrryyy Potter…"

We zoom into the stadium to see Viktor's image flying up above. One by one we take a lap around the stadium. I do a sloth grip roll and a cartwheel. I end the show with my traditional broom surfing stunt. As I stand on the broom facing a crowd of 100,000, I take out my wand and point it into the sky.

'CRACK'. I release an image of a lightning bolt. The English crowd cheers and takes up my name as a chant. "Potter… Potter… Potter…" I spy my friends and family in the top box and zoom toward them. I give the wand to Sirius and fly back to the team.

The referee is introduced as an Egyptian wizard and chairwizard to the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa.

A small skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache to rival Vernon's, wearing golden robes strides into the stadium with a broom in one hand and a box in another. He gets on to the broom and kicks the box open when 4 balls sped out of it. And the game begins.

"Theeeeyre OFF!" And I cut rest of the commentary out of my mind. I take to the sky moving around, keeping an eye on Viktor and the game in general.

Smith gets the first goal in opening the English account. And from there on the game turns brutal. Half the times the bludgers are directed at me and the other half to disrupt the chaser formations.

30 minutes into the game, English lead by 80 to 20. And then I see Viktor who was close by go into a dive. I follow him down. Faster and faster until we are flying at top speeds.

As I reach him, I get second thoughts and pull up. I shouldn't have been able to reach him that easily if he got a head start. This was a feint.

After seeing me pull up, Viktor does the same. I smile at him and yell "Better luck next time." And I speed off looking for the snitch escaping a couple of bludgers on the way.

And with that English chasers tore into the defensive strategies of the Bulgarians. In no time at all we are leading by 110 points.

And the game got dirtier as well. The Bulgarian keeper elbowed Dorea hard in the face making her drop the Quaffle. But we did get a foul out of it and a goal.

Followed by a couple more fouls when the Bulgarian beaters interfered with the referee for wanting to send the distracting veela mascot away from the stadium.

With those two goals, the score reads 160 to 30. And then Viktor and I saw the snitch at the same time. And as luck will have it, he was closer. We raced toward the snitch, which is hovering 20 feet from the ground. I will not reach it in time. I slide myself over the broom, freeing my legs and inch closer to the tip of the handle. As Viktor is 3 feet from catching it, I swing myself from the broom, holding it with only one hand. I twist my grip on the broom and give the snitch a mighty hit with my leg. I land with my legs on the broom and pull up immediately in my traditional broom surfing style.

Of course it was a illegal move and the referee blew the whistle. The Bulgarians got 3 fouls and they got two goals in. The score reads 160 to 50. But at least the snitch is not lost.

And the game continues fiercely. The foul didn't win me any friends in the Bulgarian team, especially the beaters as they concentrated solely on me. I spent the next 15 minutes escaping the bludgers while the English chasers got in 4 more goals giving us a 150 point lead.

Realizing what was happening, the beaters went back to disrupt the chaser formations leaving me alone with Krum.

I lean forward on my broom and speed up toward the stands. As I get closer, I spy Viktor a hands distance from me. And 5 feet from the stand I pull up. I think that was when Viktor realized it was a feint and stopped just in time. Got to appreciate his skill. Any other player and he would have ploughed right into the stands.

As I turn around to look for the snitch, a bludger whacks into my hand, breaking it cleanly. I grit my teeth as my eyes water in pain. I managed with a broken hand in second year. I could do the same.

That's when I see Viktor going for the snitch. I race after him. We have a 150-point lead, but in the final who ever catches the snitch wins.

He is at least half a foot ahead of me. I can't do any of my moves, not with a broken hand. There is only one thing left to do. I inch closer and closer to the tip of the broom using my good hand. And finally when we are about 4 feet from the snitch I push myself of the broom. With the additional velocity provided by my push combined with gravity, I caught the snitch, half a second before Viktor would have.

I push the feelings of joy away as I have another problem to take care off. I am plummeting 10 feet to the ground at incredible speed. I can't accio the broom as it has anti summoning charms on it. I push all my power into a wandless levitation and it provides me with enough resistance to slow down so that when I hit the ground, I have enough cushioning to avoid serious injury. But the momentum was enough to drag me for a few feet on the ground scraping me raw.

I turn around to lie on my back. I stare at the night sky with blood pounding into my heart. I slowly check myself for any other injuries. Except for the broken hand and the raw skin, I am fine. My heartbeat slows down. My hearing comes back again. The stadium is deathly quite. And I smile to myself. I just won the worldcup with an incredibly dangerous move.

I slowly get to my feet. I look around the stadium to see everyone starting down at me. I raise the snitch above me for the world to see it. And the stadium explodes into cheers.

"He caught the snitch. Harry Potter jumped of his broom and has caught the snitch. ENGLAND WINS."

The team took a victory lap around the stadium with the mascots, after the mediwizard did a quick patch job on me. After that we all troop into the top box for the presentation ceremony.

"Let's have a really loud applause for the gallant losers – Bulgaria!"

The Bulgarians walk into the box to applause and they receive their runner up rings. Krum gets a round of applause and he deserves it.

"And now comes the World Quidditch Champions – England." The stadium explodes with wild applause.

The Top box is filled with both English and Bulgarian Ministry officials. I see the Weasleys, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Sirius, Remus, Alastor and Albus and grin at them. I have scratches all over my face and it's quite bloody. But nonetheless, what a moment.

I receive my ring from the minister who looks nervously at me. "Hello minister."

I shake hands with the Bulgarian minister and then I put on the ring and face the crowd who give a thunderous applause.

Finally, Osmosis lifts the Quidditch cup and we join in to hold it.

As we leave the box, I meet Krum's eyes and he nods to me. I nod back.

I turn to face my friends, when I get a hug from Sirius, followed by Hermione and Ginny.

The rest of them pat me on my back. "Well done, Harry. Well done."


After the ceremony, I got my arm and the scrapes on my body fixed and had a hot water bath to sooth the muscles.

Many fans greeted me on the way to Sirius' tent. On reaching it, I saw him gathered around with the Weasleys, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Remus and Alastor who spotted me instantly with his magical eye.

"Potter's here."

"Hey guys."

"HARRY. How could you be stupid enough to jump of your broom?" Hermione starts off on her rant.

"I knew I could take care of myself and was not going to loose the worldcup over a couple of broken bones."

Hermione huffs and sits down. Sirius puts a hand around my shoulders. "I know you can take care of yourself, Harry. But you gave us a mighty fright."

"I know. But I did what I had to do." I add picking up a bottle of butter bear.

I see Alastor and he nods at me with a smile. He was never a man of too many words. I see another female sitting near Sirius. Seeing my gaze, she smiles at me. "Hey, Harry… I am Tonks."

"She's my cousin Andromeda's daughter. Nymphodra Tonks. She an Auror."

Her hair turns red and she swats Sirius on his hand. "I said call me Tonks."

I raise my eyebrows at her. "You are a metaphore."

"Yep."

"It must be quite useful in your line of work."

She smiles brilliantly. "It is."

I nod to her when I spy the twins ambling toward me with a smile.

"How much did you guys make?"

"Enough Harrykins. Here's your winnings."

"Thanks." I take my winnings with joy. I made good money today.

"Hey godson, did you bet on yourself?"

"Yep."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Ron pitches in. "Yeah, mate. We all could have made some money."

I roll my eyes at them. "And if I lost?"

We argue about it for a while before we all decide to turn in.

Ron, Neville, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and I will be sleeping in Sirius' tent, while the rest will be bunking in the Weasley's tent.

As I lie on my bed and stare up at the canvas ceiling of the tent, I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to celebrate with my parents. To feel their joy and pride in their 14-year-old son who won England its first worldcup in over 70 years.

I murmur to myself. "Isn't that something for someone who lived for most of his life in a cupboard under the stairs."


As I slip into dreams, a hand shakes me awake. I open my eyes to see Sirius looking strained. "Get up, Harry."

I wake up and put on my glasses." What's up?"

"We need to go."

That's when I hear screams coming from outside. I quickly dress up while Sirius wakes Ron and Neville. We walk out and join Hermione, Luna and the Weasleys.

I see a group of people slowly marching toward us with their wands pointed upwards and laughing. As they come near I recognize their costumes. "Death Eaters." I spit out. My wand jumps into my hand from the holster.

They have the muggle Mr. Roberts, the camp manager, and his family up in the air doing antiques. Seeing a young boy of 5, being treated like that got my blood boiling.

"That's sick", Ron mutters. And I quite agree with him.

"We are going to help the ministry," says Mr. Weasley. He points to us. "You lot, get into the woods and stay together."

A green light highlights the scene as more and more people join the Death Eaters; making there numbers swell to over 3-dozen. As they march they destroy the tents with fire.

Sirius, Alastor, and the Weasleys, including Percy run toward the oncoming crowd.

"Come on," said Fred grabbing Ginny and pulling her toward the wood. We follow them into the wood and look back to see the crowd much larger as Ministry wizards are having a problem getting to the death eaters.

I fume under my breath. "This is stupid."

I turn to face my friends. "Alright everyone. Remember what I thought you. Ginny, disillusion yourself, Hermione and Luna. George, Fred, you both do the same for yourself, Ron and Neville."

I disillusion myself as they follow my instructions. "Right. Maintain the charm as much as you can. When you feel exhausted, drop it and move back. Ron, Neville, Hermione and Luna, I want the four of you to cast Absolvos in concentric fashion, one after the other."

They do the same. "Let's teach these idiots a lesson."

I conjure a net and convert it into a portkey. Then, I swish my wand in a wide arc. I watch the scene as slowly stones turn to various animals like Lions, wolfs, dogs and snakes.

I send them toward the crowd with directions not to harm anyone… permanently. As the groups of animals reach the crowd, the 6 lions roar in union deafening the crowd to silence.

The animals run toward the stunned crowd crossing a few ministry wizards and witches. The animals reach the crowd and attack them. Seeing that, the death eaters fire curses at them killing a few. But this gets the required result of loosening their hold on the muggle family. As soon as I saw the death eaters firing cures I banish the conjured net toward the family.

As the muggle family plummets to the ground, the net catches them and I activate it mentally. The family disappears and appears right beside us, mentally traumatized, but physically fine.

I quickly stun the 4 of them.

"HARRY."

I hear one of my friends shout and turn around to see a few death eaters sending curses in our general direction. The first round of curses are absorbed into the first shield before it fades away. Seeing this, they send more dangerous curses like the two Cruiciatus, heading toward us right now.

I quickly conjure two slabs of marble to intercept them. I grit my teeth. "You want to play that game do you? Then, eat this."

I send a score of blasters, cutters and bone breakers. As they go defensive, I point my wand at the sky and mutter "Offendo Astrum Lux Lucis" and point my wand to a spot 10 feet away from the death eaters, where a brilliant bolt of lightning strikes the ground.

Any closer and they will be fried without an appropriate shield. Now, they are just thrown to the ground and mildly electrified. This is among the handful of Elemental spells, which Voldemort knows off.

Finally the ministry wizards start taking control-sending stunners toward the fallen death eaters. Then, I feel a green glow flooding from the sky. I look up to see the dark mark clearly visible in the distance. Seeing the mark, many people start screaming and running away. In the following confusion the death eaters portkey away with their fallen companions.

"Alright. Drop the shields, keep the disillusions and let's get out of here." On the way I send a miniature messenger Patronus to Sirius telling him where the muggle family is.

After we reach a safe area, we drop the disillusionment charms and wait for the adults to join us. I glance up at the dark mark floating in the sky.

"And so it begins."

"What is that?" I hear Ron whisper.

Hermione answers him. "The Dark Mark. You-Know-Who's Mark."

"Bloody Hell."

"What happened today, stays between us. No one else needs to know." I tell them, still staring up at the mark. They all accept in one-way or the other.

"What's that spell you used, Harry?" asks Ginny.

"Lightning, also called as star light. A high level elemental spell. Very potent. Very dangerous."

"Did you learn it from the books you for Christmas?" asks Hermione.

I nod, still staring at the sky.

"Will you teach us, Harry?"

I shake my head no.

"Why not?"

I turn to face the twins who asked that question.

"Because none of you are strong enough to handle such magics."

As they open their mouths to argue, I raise my hand stopping them. "In the last one year alone I practiced for over 1000 hours to increase my magical strength and control. Even now, if I were to try the same spell 3 to 4 times in a row, it will render me unconscious and if I were to lose control of the spell, it will turn against me, and kill me."

They stare at me open mouthed. Just then, Sirius and Mr. Weasley came by running.

Mr. Weasley hugs Ginny. "You are all alright? No injuries?"

We shake our heads and they lead us toward the tent. Sirius holds me back briefly. "Did you conjure the lightning?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Really Sirius, of all the people here, you ask a 14 year old if he conjured lightning?"

He smiles. "You are not any 14 year old are you? And I already saw you using couple of elemental spells."

I nod to him. "Keep to yourself will you?"

He nods back and we enter the tent to see everyone in a somber mood. Bill is clutching an injured hand, while Percy has a bloody nose.

"Dad, did you catch whoever conjured the mark?"

"No, they were already gone."

Ron looks exasperated. "But what's with the mark? Why all the ruckus about a bloody mark, which is not hurting anyone."

Hermione scowls at him. "Language Ron. And I already told you it was the dark mark. You-know-who's mark. I read about it in the Raise and fall of the dark arts."

I smile at the two as do the rest of the adults.

"But You-know-who is gone…"

Sirius interrupts. "He is… But the mark hasn't been seen since Halloween of 81."

Here he glances at me to find me staring at the ceiling.

Arthur pitches in. "You-know-who and his death eaters, conjured the mark whenever they killed someone. It inspired terror like none other."

He continues in a low voice. "Imagine coming home and finding the mark…" He shakes his head and takes a huge gulp of water lying nearby.

"But why did they run away after seeing the mark?"

"Because they are probably more afraid than us of you-know-who coming back. Remember, these are the same supporters who lied saying he forced them to commit the crimes."

"But did anyone see who conjured the lightning and got the muggles free?"

No one answers, while a few eyes glance at me.

I stare at Bill's bleeding hand. "Do you not know any healing spells, Bill?"

He shakes his head. "No Harry. Never saw the need to. We always have one professional healer or the other in our team."

I nod and reach for his hand. He raises his eyebrows in surprise. I clean his hand and scan for any magical residue. Finding none, I do a simple sealing spell, which closed the wound with only a fine scar.

I hear Hermione doing the same for Percy's nose.

"Impressive, Harry. Where did you learn that?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Thought it would be wise to know a couple of healing spells in case I need them. You know Quidditch and all…"

I doubt anyone believes the answer. But no one really cares about it at 3 in the morning.

Alastor drops by a few minutes later. He and Bill setup wards on the two tents and we all got into bed to get some sleep.

Things are happening fast. First Crouch goes missing and his house burnt down. And now a death eater attack after 13 years of absence.


The next day we woke up bright and early and left to grab a portkey back to Ottery St. Catchpole. On the way we got a nice "Merry Christmas" from Mr. Roberts. Poor guy. I wish we didn't have to memory charm him.

As we reach the Burrow, Molly came running out and hugged Arthur and then choked the twins nearly to their graves.

We had a nice breakfast where Arthur pointed out that the Ministry would be in a load of trouble over yesterday's events. I agree with him and also with the paper. The Ministry should have had better security.

After breakfast it was time for Sirius and myself to leave for his house. I promise Ron and Hermione that I will be by in a couple of days.

We step out of the Burrow and beyond the wards, when Sirius turns to face me. "Ready?"

"You are going to Apparate me?"

He nods and then smirks. "At least for now. I am sure you can apparate yourself after I key you into the wards."

"Alright. But can you first take me to Godrics Hollow?"

He looks down at me surprised. "You have never been there before?"

I shake my head no. At that he mutters something under his breath.

"Hold on."

And then we disappear with a pop -

- To appear in a little lane. We kept walking, with me following Sirius.

"Have you been here after you got out?" I asked.

"Yeah."

We walk on silently, until the little lane curved to the left leading to the heart of the village, which is bustling with activity. We pass several shops, including a post office and a grocery store. The inhabitants take a moment to stare at our new faces.

"Does the village still have any magical population?"

"There are a few, Harry. If I am right, Bathilda Bagshot the author of 'History of magic' lives some where around here. The Dumbledore family once lived here. Your family had a big mansion not far from here, but it was burnt down during the first war."

I remember that. Voldemort headed that attack, nearly killed Grandfather and Grandmother. They escaped but from what I gathered, died soon after due to old age.

In the distance we see a war memorial. As we pass it, it transforms and I stop to stare at the statues of three people. A man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. A happy baby with no scar on his forehead. Sirius puts a hand on my shoulder as I stare at what could have been.

I turn around and continue walking toward the graveyard I spy in the distance with Sirius following me closely.

I open the gate and enter the graveyard. I spy a couple at the other end. Other than that, it's empty. Sirius takes the lead and I follow him through many graves with names that are familiar. One in particular, Kendra Dumbledore and her daughter Ariana.

We finally reach our destination and I stare at a headstone made of marble, with the letters engraved upon it clearly visible.

James Potter, Born 27 March 1960, Died 31 October 1981

Lily Potter, Born 30 January 1960, Died 31 October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

I wonder what it means.

Staring at their graves, suddenly the memories of times long gone by, return. The memories of a childhood spend in a dark cupboard not knowing what happened to the people who loved me. Of the nights I wished and prayed for someone to take me away. For someone to love me. All the time here lay two people who gave me unconditional love. The two people who sacrificed themselves so that I can live.

Hot tears escape my eyes. I feel a tight sensation in my chest. Like I am suffocating. I feel a hand on my shoulder.

I take huge gulps of air, and steady myself. I kneel down beside them and touch their headstones. The surface feels cool to my hand. I take out my wand and transfigure a small stone into a crystal box. I place the snitch I caught yesterday in it and then merge it with the headstone right below my parents' names.

"I love you mom and dad. I love you so much."

I stood up, turn around and walk away feeling the weight of their sacrifice.

As we step back into the village square, Sirius leads me down a lane. And I see the reason why. At the end of the row of houses, stands an abandoned and partially destroyed house.

We approach it and stand before it. The hedge has grown wild since that fateful night. Most of the house is still standing, but covered with ivy. The right side of the top floor is blown apart. Probably where the curse backfired on Voldemort.

Sirius touches the gate and a wooden sign slowly rises out of the ground in front of us. I move closer to read the golden letters printed on it.

On this spot, on the night of 31st of October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the killing curse. This house, invisible to muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart a family

And all around these words are scribbles added by witches and wizards wishing me luck.

"If you want to remove the enchantments…"

"No Sirius. Let it be. It's the right kind of tribute to my parents. A tribute to their sacrifice."

As I gaze at the wooden plank, I can think of one word. "A tribute to hope."

He smiles at that. "Yeah. I think they would like that. A tribute to hope…"

I match his smile and take hold of his hand. "Lets go."

We disappear with a pop and then appear in a hallway with fresh paint smell. He leads me into the house. You can still see some signs of it being dreary at one point.

"Let me show you to your room, first."

We climb up the stairs to the third floor with only three doors on it. We walk to the farthest door and Sirius opens it.

I step inside to see a good-sized bedroom with a king size four-poster bed in the center. The room comes with an attached bathroom, tub and all. I have my own bookshelf already half stocked with books, a study table, a couple of couches near a huge window and a big clothes closet. I walk to the closet and open it to see it half stocked with clothes of all kind. Brand new ones too.

I shake my head. "Really Sirius. Did you have to buy all these?"

He waves me off. "I don't think you realize how reach the Blacks are, Harry. I have over 200 million galleons sitting in a vault collecting dust."

I roll my eyes and smile at him. "Whatever… But thanks, Sirius. This is brilliant."

He smiles widely at that. He points to the bookshelf. "I stocked it with some good books from the vault I thought you'd like."

I nod to him and put my trunk near the bed. "Lets look at the rest of the house."

We walk out of the room and he opens the second door. "This is my room. The master suite of the house, I guess." It's slightly larger than my room with an extra window.

The third room is a room about the same size as mine. "I thought Remus could stay in here. I asked him, but he absolutely disagreed." He looks kind of disappointed. "Says he has to find a job and all that rot."

We step on to the fourth floor, which has a nice balcony with a view of London. The second floor has 5 more bedrooms, and two bathrooms much smaller than ours. The first floor has the kitchen with house elf quarters, a large living room, a large dining room and a small Library. "Most of the noteworthy books are still in the vault, Harry. These books are good, but are not the best of the lot."

I nod to him and we move on to the final level, the basement, which has three rooms. The first of which is a potions room. Sirius opens the second door to show a cushioned room prepared as a jail cell. I glance back at him. "For Remus?"

He nods. "Yeah, as your dad put it, for his furry little problem."

We leave the room and he pauses at the final door. He smirks at me. "I think you will like this." He opens the door and I see a huge dueling chamber within. I walk inside and gaze around. It has the traditional dueling platform with wards to protect onlookers from stray spells as well as a spell shooting range with gauzes to measure effectiveness and accuracy and a dodging circle.

"You are right, Sirius. This is brilliant."

I turn to face him with a smile, wand in hand. "How about a duel?"

"You are on."

After 30 minutes of dueling, we retire to the dining room.

"Dobby."

"Sirius Black Sir, called?"

He looks up to see Sirius and myself drenched in sweat. "Harry Potter, Sir, " he squeals in delight. I smile back at him. "Hey Dobby, how have you been?"

"The great Harry Potter sir asks how poor Dobby is doing? He is truly great. Dobby is doing great, Harry Potter Sir."

"Good. Can you get myself and Sirius something cool to drink?"

He bows and pops away.

As we drink the butter bears, I ask Sirius what he things of my dueling capabilities.

"For a fourteen year old, you are brilliant Harry. But compared to a good Auror or… say an inner circle death eater, 1 to 100, your spell knowledge is around 80s, your reflexes and casting speed are in upper 90s, spell selection is around lower 70s and power is around upper 80s. The one thing you really need to improve upon is your accuracy, which I would say is around 50s."

I agree with him except for the first point. I of course have more combat knowledge than I showcased.

"You can take on 90% of the wizards and witches and come out good. But we are not aiming to be part of that 90% are we…"

I nod to him. "Right. Not that 90%."

"I think you are taking care of the knowledge part yourself. Just keep up the reflexes and speed. Spell selection will come with experience, so will accuracy. We can work on those two this summer and Flitwick will help you during school."

"Alright. I am going to go take a bath."

"Hang on… There is one more character you need to meet."

"Kreacher."

An old dirty house elf pops in and bows. "Master called."

"Yes. This is Harry Potter, my godson and heir to the house of Black. You will treat him with respect."

He looks at me and bows all the while muttering to himself. "Kreacher will serve half-blood master. Kreacher has no choice."

I stare at him with a scowl. A memory not of my life kicks in… "You are the Black family house elf?"

"Yes, master."

"Look up at me."

He looks and I stare at him connecting him to the elf in my memory. He's the same elf. How did he survive?

He gets anxious seeing my penetrating gaze. "You can leave."

After he pops away, Sirius asks me in confusion. "What is it, Harry?"

"We need to talk Sirius. But I need some more information before we do that."

He shrugs. "Let me know. I will help in anyway possible."

I nod. I get up to leave to my room.

"Oh! I am going out. I will be back later in the day. I am helping Arthur with some stuff."

"Alright. If I am sleeping, wake me up."


I soak in the bathtub. My body still aches from the rough night of Quidditch. I think back to Voldemort's memory of Kreacher where he left him for dead.

I get out of the bathroom, dry myself and put on clothes. Before I talk to Sirius I need to know what happened with Kreacher.

"Kreacher."

He pops in. "Little half-blood master called?"

I point him to a sofa. "Sit."

He hesitates, but obeys.

I gaze at him. "How did you survive, Kreacher?"

"Kreacher does not understand what little master means?"

"Voldemort left you in the cave to die, Kreacher. How did you survive?"

He looks at me astonished. "How does master know this?"

"I know many secrets Kreacher… But what I don't know is how you survived after drinking the potion and being left to die on the island."

Kreacher fidgets. "Answer me Kreacher."

"Master Regulus called and I went to him."

Regulus Black. Sirius' brother if I am right. He was a good follower of Voldemort, but was not part of the inner circle. I wonder what happened to him?

"You can go anywhere if your master called?"

"Not many places ward against house-elves."

I nod to him. "And what happened to Regulus?"

Here he bursts out into tears. In between tears, he explains how he told Regulus what the dark lord did and how Regulus ordered Kreacher to take him to the island.

"Then master Regulus ordered poor Kreacher to make him drink the potion." Here he bursts out into tears. I feel sad for him. But I need the whole story.

"Go on Kreacher."

"After master Regulus drank the horrible potion, he ordered Kreacher to take the locket and leave him. Kreacher had to follow master Regulus' orders… Kreacher had to follow master Regulus' orders…"

The final resting place of Regulus Black, the younger son of the most ancient house of Black, is at the bottom of the lake with the Inferi. What an end.

I shake my head and turn back to face Kreacher. I put a hand on his shoulder. "What happened to the locket, Kreacher? The locket Regulus asked you to take from the cave, what happened to it?"

"Master Regulus, ordered Kreacher to destroy it. Kreacher tried everything he knew, but could not destroy it. Kreacher failed master Regulus' orders."

I sigh. "You wouldn't be able to destroy it Kreacher. Very few can."

He looks up at me with wide eyes. "Where is the locket?"

Here he scowls. "Blood traitor master Sirius took it away. He ordered Kreacher not to touch anything and he took everything away."

Blast it, what have you done with it, Sirius?


AN: And that's the end of chapter 9. An early release. Call it my tribute to HBP being out today.