It was mid afternoon when there were some knocks on the door to the potions lab, startling Harry so he almost lost half the box of powdered unicorn horn into the Neutralizer to Dark Curses. He idly wondered if it'd have expanded its potential range from only a few of the mildly dark curses to the the darkest and dangerous ones, or if it would make the potion a poison, but Ginny's call stopped his train of thoughts.
"Enter!"
The door slid open, and Sirius' face appeared. "I've got some grand news for you lot," he said with a rather painful expression that instantly had Ginny worried. Behind him followed an ancient-looking house-elf with bulbous nose and blood-shot eyes and white hair growing out of his ears.
"Oh?" Harry turned off the heat of the potion and turned his attention to Sirius. "What is it, then?"
"Well, I was trying to put Grimmauld Place upside down after it endured my mother, and then I found something that was rather interesting – or the object wasn't really interesting, but Kreacher went ballistic over it!" He pulled out a heavy golden locket adorned with an S-shaped serpent on the lid. The house-elf eyed it with such loathe that Harry thought the locket would wither from his gaze only. "Now, my brother Regulus became a Death Eater, and we all thought that he'd fail some sort of mission and was killed by Voldemort, because he wasn't a very important one. But I managed to get Kreacher to tell me when he started shouting at the locket, that Regulus had asked Kreacher to test some misery potion for Voldemort in a cave somewhere in the North Sea and left behind this locket, protected by this potion and loads of inferi, by the sound of it," Sirius told them impatiently.
"What are inferi?" Ginny wondered.
"Corpses that have been affected by Dark magic to do the bidding of a Dark wizard," Sirius explained hastily. "So Kreacher was called back, and sometime later Regulus asked Kreacher to take him back to the cave. Regulus drinks that horrible potion…" Sirius faltered for a moment, "he drinks it and orders Kreacher to switch locket with a fake, to destroy the real locket, whatever it takes. And to go home without him. Regulus died in that cave. He died for betraying Voldemort." Sirius' eyes were shining with unshed tears as he stared hard at Harry. "Tell me, Harry; what magic is this?"
Harry didn't even have to focus. It was pure darkness. Like the darkness that he and Ginny had found inside him, it was of an evil so horrid that Harry only wanted to get away from it and throw it as far away he possibly could. He stumbled backwards and landed on his butt on the floor.
"Merlin, that's awful!" he exclaimed before he saw Ginny's look of glee. She began to rummage through their storage room and came out with one of the basilisk fangs carefully wrapped in a piece of conjured fabric. She shoved it into Harry's hand and stepped back to watch.
Harry, however, hesitated. He looked at Kreacher, the one they really owed this to. Making a decision, he walked closer to him. "Thank you for sharing your story. I suppose since Regulus asked you to destroy the locket, it's only right that you do so." He handed Kreacher the basilisk fang, who took it with a look of utter disbelief on his face. The beady eyes watched Harry with awe before they found the locket still dangling from Sirius' hand.
Sirius dropped it on the floor in front of Kreacher, and it started to hiss as Kreacher knelt to make the final stab. The locket burst open, and a figure of a young man looking slightly like Sirius rose from the locket.
"You've failed, Kreacher! You are no use as a house-elf! A disgrace to our household and the Black Family! You don't deserve – " the figure vanished as Kreacher drove the fang into the locket. A long scream echoed in the room, and the shattered remains of the locket lay on the floor in front of the old elf, who looked very happy with himself.
Harry, Ginny and Sirius exchanged looks before Ginny began to laugh. It was infectuous, so in short time all three of them were laughing hard. Kreacher was left on the floor, not understanding the fun in the situation.
"Great. Three down. Four to go," Harry said.
"I think I might have an idea of another one too," Sirius said.
"Let's talk about that outside, alright? I'll bring some tea," Ginny said and hurried ahead of them down to the kitchen.
"How are the Weasleys doing?" Sirius asked as he and Harry made their way outside.
"They're doing fine. There's something I wanted to ask you regarding them. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and Percy have been reading up on Animagi in the library all day; they wanted to try to become one, and the only reason Mrs. Weasley agreed was that it made a way of escape should another war begin. She also suggested to ask you if you could help them train?" Harry asked.
Sirius' face widened into a large smile. "Of course I can! Oh, by the way," he turned and looked at Kreacher, who was following right behind, "you are not allowed to tell anybody about Potter Manor, who live here, or anything you learn of while here, Kreacher. Not to anyone, understood?"
Kreacher nodded mutely.
"You know, when I lived here with James, there were two house-elves here, but they were old, so I suppose they've died before you got here," Sirius told Harry.
"Right. There was something I was rather curious about. Kreacher, how come you can enter here? There is supposed to be something similar to a Fidelius Charm on."
Kreacher looked up at Harry with wonder. "Kreacher knows not where this is, so he cannot tell. He only comes with Master Sirius."
"House-elf magic is different from wizard's magic, Harry. Their powers are adapted so they could follow their master's every little whim, so if I ask him to come along to a place protected by the Fidelius Charm, but which I know the location of, he will be able to come, but he won't know how to get there alone, and will be unable to tell where it is, because, like Kreacher said, he simply doesn't know," Sirius explained as they walked down the last set of stairs and exited the Palace. "You know, before I detested Kreacher, and believe me, the feeling was returned. He's so devoted to my mother and her ways that everything else is horrible and bad and cruel, but I think today has changed my whole perspective of him."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "I can see that, but I want to tell you something I came across in one of the old books in the library while Ginny and I were trying to get a rough overview. House-elves are what they are made to be. If treated kindly, they follow the ideals of their masters with raw passion. I suspect that your mother was kind to Kreacher, and that's why he aquired her beliefs. There is one exception from the general rule, and that's Dobby. According to what I've read, no house-elf even have the faintest desire to be freed from their master, and instead consider it as a disgrace and a humiliation," Harry said and seated himself comfortably in a chair in the shade of an apple tree while he studied Sirius' contemplating look.
"You know, they really should teach about house-elves during Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts," Sirius pointed out.
"I'll mention it to Professor Kettleburn; he's the one teaching it."
"Still?" he's been going on for a while, hasn't he?"
"I think so."
Ginny appeared with a tray of tea, cups and some small cakes. "Mr. Black, do you know how to do a Patronus?" She asked. "Harry and I have been practicing, but we can't seem to get it right, no matter how hard we try to focus."
Sirius watched her curiously. "Let me see, will you?"
Ginny nodded and pulled out her wand. When she did it, only the usual wisp of silver emerged. She looked at Sirius with hope, who looked very thoughtful.
"Perhaps you should try to think of an even happier memory? It doesn't even have to be a memory, just something that would make you extremely happy, and then you have to let it fill you until you get the shivers," Harry had to smile at his way of explaining, "and then you can do the spell. You must keep the good feeling, though, or it will stop."
"Right. A new memory." Ginny's eyes then fell on Harry. "Well… you make me incredibly happy. Why don't I just think of you?"
"Didn't you before, Mrs. Potter?" Sirius wondered.
"No; I thought it had to be a memory, so I thought of when I got my Hogwarts letter," Ginny said.
"I don't think that's good enough. I'm sorry to say that, but…"
"It's alright, Mr. Black, I don't take it as an offense. Like I said; I'll think of Harry." And she thought. She thought of how happy she was to just have him with her all the time, how happy he made her by smiling, or by holding her, hugging her, and especially kissing her.
"Expecto Patronum!" she declared loudly, and a large mass of silver emerged from her wand. It formed into a familiar shape, and then vanished in a second. Elated, she turned and looked at Harry with joy. "Did you see that? I did it!"
Harry beamed at her. "I saw. Well done! The form was curious, though."
"It was?" she wondered. "What was it? I didn't see."
"It was an eagle, Mrs. Potter," Sirius said with a wide, mischievous grin and looked from Ginny to Harry and back.
"Really?" Ginny commented, and was about to ask when Sirius turned to Harry.
"Your turn, Harry. We want to see yours too. If you can make it." He smiled gleefully and watched Harry expectantly as he pulled his wand.
Like Ginny, Harry thought of her. She represented everything that he had missed since he was a year old: a family, love, one that would always be there for him, and one he could trust with absolutely everything. When he said the spell, the felt such happiness that his eyes prickled and, like Sirius had said, shivers ran down his back.
The mass of silver was large. Larger than Ginny's. But it took the same form; the golden eagle. The barred pattern on its ventral side was unmistakable. He held it alive as long as he could before it dissolved.
"That was very good, Harry," Ginny praised, "but I'm rather curious about why we have the same form. I'm not an eagle Shapeshifter."
"It's because you love him," Sirius said. Both of them looked at him for a further explanation. "Sometimes, patroni take the form associated with a person that you love very much, which is what happened with you two," Sirius said.
"So that might not be my real patronus form?" Ginny asked with a frown of confusion.
"Oh, it's real enough. They can change during one's life, but it doesn't make them any less real," Sirius explained patiently. He reached for a cup and filled it with tea, something that had slipped Ginny's mind when she had arrived. They fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Harry glanced at Kreacher, who was standing, studying his surroundings, behind Sirius' chair.
"Have a seat, Kreacher," Harry said, and Kreacher looked at him with horror. "I'm sure we could get you some tea as well." He then muttered a summoning charm, and another cup came soaring through the air and landed in front of one of the free chairs.
Kreacher hesitated and glanced at Sirius, who looked just as shocked as Kreacher himself, but he didn't say anything, so Kreacher climbed into the chair offered and took the cup gingerly in his hands once Ginny had filled it for him.
"So, what about that Horcrux you thought you knew where was?" Harry pressed on, staring at Sirius, who looked confused for a moment before he caught on.
"Ah, yes! Well, while I was in Azkaban, my cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, avid follower of Voldemort and very close to Voldemort himself, judging by her Dark Mark, occupied a cell two or three further in than mine, and she was considerably more affected by the Dementors. She tended to talk in her sleep, so she chatted about being so highly trusted by Voldemort that she was given one of his prized objects to guard in her vault at Gringotts. He had obviously told her not to let anything happen to it, and that this was very important, so I'm suspecting that this object is one of the Horcruxes."
Harry shot a glance at Kreacher, whose face was covered with revulsion and bafflement. Sirius followed his line of vision and nodded to himself.
"Well, Kreacher always liked cousin Bella and cousin Cissy. Figures it's a great shock to learn that his highly held master Regulus is working against the case Bellatrix is working for." Sirius grinned slyly at Harry.
"So you think there's a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault? Do you know what it is, Mr. Black?" Ginny asked, pulled up her legs and tucked her toes under Harry's thigh.
"A goblet of sorts, I think, but I suppose if we can get Harry inside, he should be able to pick it out rather quickly, judging by his reaction to the locket today," Sirius said. "Since she's a Black by birth, and her and the Lestranges imprisoned for life, I am legally in command of the Lestrange vault, as the last male relative – that is of age, of course. That little scoundrel Draco doesn't count."
"Draco? Draco Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed. "He's related to you?"
"Yes; my cousin Narcissa decided to marry a Death Eater, so there you have a Death Eater spawn at Hogwarts," Sirius growled.
"Better keep an eye on him, then," Ginny said. "Harry, that's almost certain proof that Hufflepuff's cup is a Horcrux!"
"Yeah, I know. Sirius, would you be able to get it?"
"I could, but I don't know what it looks like. I could bring you along, though, Harry."
"I think that's best," Ginny declared. "We never know what odd sort of magic there might be in a Death Eater's vault."
"Do you know anything about the other Horcruxes?" Sirius inquired.
"Not really, but I know that dad was hot on a trail of something in Little Hangleton when he died. I think that's where Tom's mother grew up," Harry said.
"If we don't know exactly where in Little Hangleton, it'll take us a lot of time to cover the area," Ginny said, "why don't you search for magic from the sky, Harry? The eagle can cover the distance much faster than we can by foot."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Harry agreed.
Fifteen minutes later Fred, George, Ron and Hermione came bouncing out the door with a book each. At the sight of Sirius, who none of them had seen before, they skid to a halt.
"Harry…" Hermione began, looking from Sirius to Ginny, then at Harry and at Ron and the twins.
"Oh!" Harry said. "Sirius, this is Hermione Granger, Ron, Fred and George Weasley, and Percy of course," he gestured towards Percy, who walked out of the house in a slower pace than his younger brothers. "Everyone, this is Sirius Black."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Black," Hermione said, and immediately approached him with her hand extended.
"The pleasure is all mine!" Sirius declared honestly.
"Harry told us you're innocent, Mr. Black," George said.
"We were considering pranking Fudge for it," Fred continued.
"But it seems like Harry best us at it!"
"Brilliantly, too!"
Sirius grinned at the two pranksters. "Well, it's good to see someone with a good sense of humour," he said before shaking hands with Ron.
"Can I ask you a question, Mr Black?" Ron said.
"I believe you just did, but go ahead," Sirius beamed at him.
"How come no-one has spotted Peter Pettigrew yet? He's been free all the time, hasn't he? Someone should have noticed."
"That's because he's probably hiding somewhere in his Animagus form, like he did when he tricked your family," Sirius said bitterly.
"About Animagi, did you ask, Harry?" George asked.
"Yeah, he said he would help, didn't you, Sirius?" Harry looked at Sirius, who was now shaking hands with Percy, who congratulated him with being out of Azkaban.
"Yes, I did. I heard you've read up on the basic today?" Sirius looked at the Weasleys and Hermione, all of whom nodded. "Good. So you will have to start with feeling your magic. You have to feel how it runs through your vein, and then be able to focus it towards your inner self. Then your magic will work its… well… magic, and reveal your inner self. Because, unlike Patroni, the Animagus form is the true self, and does not display anyone's love for someone else, or a different animal that plays a major role in one's life."
Sirius continued to instruct them on the subject, while Ginny stood and stretched her body. With half an ear to Sirius, she studied her own magic as she shifted into her cat form and back. She did it again. And again. But the third time she lost some of her focus, and suddenly her body morphed differently.
Harry made wide eyes when he saw the final result, and then he grinned like mad. Ginny, however, sounded like she was panicking, and everybody else just stared back with wide eyes.
Harry! What happened!
"You're a horse, Gin!" Harry replied in a jokingly serious tone.
But that isn't right! You're the horse Shapeshifter! I can't be one! She exclaimed and twisted her body to look at herself.
"But you are. And if you ask me, I still say the horse fits you better than me."
"Harry, is that her third form?" Hermione asked.
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "And one that I share with her. Gin, I think you're gorgeous; I think it's brilliant!" he said as he studied her. She was smaller than his own form, by quite a bit, but she looked far more graceful and lithe than his. Plus, she was grey in colour, whereas he was bay.
But… I don't understand how I did it!
"By altering your magic a little differently. The distraction helped you. I noticed," Harry told her.
Ginny continued to check out herself, and Harry helpfully sent her an image through their connection before he too changed into his equine form. While Weasleys and Hermione returned to Sirius' lesson, Harry and Ginny had races around the house and mock playfights until Ginny grew hungry. Ending their playtime, they went to cook dinner.
The next week went on in similar fashion, except for on Wednesday, when Sirius and Harry went to the Lestrange vault. It wasn't quite as deep as the Potter Family vault, and didn't have the campitor as a security, but they still had to pass the Ukrainian Ironbelly. Finding the Horcrux was also far easier than Harry anticipated. There were a lot of dark artefacts in the vault, but the Horcrux stood out quite a lot. Harry snatched it up in his eagle form, but barely managed to hold it long enough to get out of the vault because of the Flagrante curse, as Sirius named it.
While Ron, Fred, George, Percy and Hermione eventually started to feel their magic properly, they weren't much closer to transforming, but Sirius said not to worry. It took him, Pettigrew and James three years to manage it.
"Harry! I don't know how I'm supposed to do it!" Ron complained by the second week. "Could you watch my magic and tell me how it's supposed to act, d'you think?"
Harry, who had watched Ginny, and even Sirius transform several times, agreed, and started to study Ron working on his magic.
"It's not the right way, Ron, but I'm not sure how to explain," Harry said slowly as he watched his best mate.
"Could you show me then?" Ron asked frustratedly, and stopped his attempts on transforming to look at him.
Harry hesitated. "I could try, at least," he said, "but I'm not quite sure how to do that either. I've sort of got to help your magic along the way in the right direction. And I don't think that's considered a spell."
"You can manipulate your own magic, Harry; you can do things even without a spell, just by doing that; you don't need a spell," Ginny pointed out for him from where she was watering the flowers.
"I know. One of the benefits of the bond, I suppose," Harry muttered and then met Ron's gaze again. "Here. Take my hands. I don't know if it's going to work, but at least I'll try."
"That's good enough for me," Ron said elatedly and took both of his hands.
Ron then watched Harry closing his eyes, and seconds later felt a different sort of magic enter him. It was Harry's magic, he realized. His own wanted to repel it, but Ron fought it back down, knowing his friend would never hurt him. Harry's magic started to push and pull on Ron's, trying to get it to change in a certain way.
"Follow my lead, Ron. Help me."
Ron closed his eyes automatically, and tried his best to follow Harry's direction at how his magic was manipulated. It was hard, and it was strenous, and soon they hit a barrier that prevented them from moving forward.
"You've got to break it. Push through it; I can't do that for you."
Ron didn't need any further encouraging. He slammed his magic into the barrier, which bent a little. He did another, stronger attack, and then a third. At last, at the fourth attemt, it broke, and suddenly he felt his body begin to morph.
"Keep it going, Ron. Don't let anything distract you," Harry told him.
Ron went on and on, pushing through the transformation. He nearly lost it several times, but gathered himself and went on until he felt that it was complete. Harry's next words were the confirmation he needed.
"Well done, Ron! You did it!"
"I did?" he tried to ask, but it came out as a growl. He opened his eyes; everything was contorted into really odd colours, but what caught his attention, were rustling of leaves in the forest to his far left. Before he knew it, he was crouching low and prowling towards it, trying to make as little sound as possible.
Harry's call from behind, made him freeze.
"Ron, where are you going? This is no time for hunt. Not yet." He was smiling.
It made Ron remember what they were really doing, and he began to twist and turn to look at himself.
"You're a lion, Ron," Ginny said helpfully. She drew out her wand and summoned a mirror from inside.
Indeed, Ron was a lion, albeit a rather young one; his mane was only just starting to grow out. He watched his mirror with satisfaction.
"Ron, I want you to try and turn back by yourself. It should be easier, but I want to watch your magic as you to, to make sure you don't get stuck the first time," Harry said.
Ron felt his hand on his shoulder, and tried to remember the way he had gone with Harry in reverse. It took a long time, but he was proud to say that he turned back completely by himself.
"That was brilliant!" he exclaimed joyously. "Can I do it again?"
"Yeah, go ahead. Do it alone, this time," Harry said and smiled encouragingly.
Ron closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, he was once again the tawny, young lion. He began to leap around and explore his form and the new way of experiencing the world. Harry laughed at his antics and turned to the others, who looked hopefully at him.
"Oh, I suppose I can't escape with helping only one," he said, but couldn't hold his smile away from his face.
As Harry helped each of them through their transformation, Sirius wrestled with Ron, but didn't stand much chance to Ron's larger size and strength. Soon enough, an otter was tumbling around in the lake, diving to the bottom and coming up with rocks or whatever else that Hermione found at the bottom.
Then two foxes with black feet and white-tipped tails bounded around on the area, wrestling each other. The only difference one could spot was that Fred's white patch on the chest was a little bit wider than George's. Percy was content with being last, but soon he too had his eurasian hobby, which was a bird in the Falcon family, according to Percy himself, soaring over the others, watching them with a rather superior look.
Harry, however, was exhausted by the straint of all the difficult magic, and lay down in his wolf form to watch, and ended up falling asleep. Odd colours flickered in front of his vision. Orange, black, white. They mixed and made no sense at all. He could feel grass underneath his feet. Every little twig and stone that might make a sound and reveal his presence. Every sound magnified; the scent of food –
"Harry!"
A rather rough push caused him to roll over on his side, and in annoyance he lashed out with his claws. Wait, what? When did he get claws? Blinking, he sat up and looked around. Ginny sat in front of him, luckily having avoided his swipe, but looking curious with a mixture of worry. Hermione was beside her, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Damn, Harry!" Ron's voice spoke up from behind him, startling him, "you never said you were a tiger too!"
What! He exclaimed, and was on his feet in a moment.
"He said you were a tiger, Harry. Though how you managed that, is as great a question as my first horse," Ginny said.
I was asleep! I didn't do anything intentionally! He replied indignantly.
"You must've manipulated your magic unconsciously, then," Ginny replied, "although I don't complain about having a large, cuddly kitty," she beamed and boldly wrapped her arms around his rather large tiger form. He lifted his head to look at her and saw is own brownish orange coat with black stripes and white belly.
Ginny beamed at him and buried her face into the soft fur by his neck, causing him to lay back down and nearly purred with contentment. She giggled and ran her hand over his head.
"I think we should go home now," Percy said, "mum said dinner would be ready at six."
Ron leaped up at the thought of dinner. "Yeah, let's go. See you tomorrow, Harry, Ginny?"
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Tell mum and dad to be over for dinner tomorrow! We've got something to tell you all."
Harry chuffed in agreement.
"Hey, we must have a wrestle fight, Harry! Two large felines against each other!" Ron exclaimed with glee and disappeared inside before Harry could react.
"I think I should go back to Remus' too," Sirius said from his chair near the door, "and Harry; we have to check Little Hangleton before summer ends.
Harry turned back to human form, causing Ginny to land hard on his chest. "Oomf!" he grunted. "Yes, let's do it the day after tomorrow, deal?"
"Sure. Don't expect me over for tomorrow."