Chapter 9: The Year Goes On
Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Poppy Pomfrey and Sirius Black silently as Fawkes the Phoenix shed tears over the scar Lord Voldemort left on Harry Potter. As tears hit said scar, screams were heard but everybody in the room wondered where they were coming from since the tears were falling on a boy whose mouth remained closed. Their wondering ceased when they noticed some black ooze coming from the scar. As the ooze stopped, the screaming also stopped and the scar vanished.
"Is it over?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, Sirius." Dumbledore answered with even more cheerfulness than usual. "Harry is now completely free from whatever lasting effects Lord Voldemort's last attempt on his life had on him."
"Prongslet, without that scar you look even more like James." Sirius commented, shocking Harry. "I've lost my scar?"
"You sure did, Mr. Potter." Minerva McGonagall explained.
"What do I do now?" Harry asked while looking at Madam Pomfrey.
"You can leave now, Mr. Potter." The mediwitch answered. Harry did so and returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, where he told the tale to his fellow Gryffindors. "Harry, do you feel any different without the scar?" Cormac McLaggen asked.
"Like I've lost a burden." Harry explained.
"Mate, you'd better be ready for when the media learns you no longer have your scar." Ron advised.
"Yeah, right." Harry scoffed. "Like they'd care about that."
Oh, they did care.
BOY-WHO-LIVED LOSES SCAR
By Rita Skeeter
Fearing You-Know-Who's failed attempt to kill our savior had left some potentially harmful side-effects, his Godfather Lord Sirius Black had Hogwarts' resident mediwitch scan it. The side-effects were removed but the Boy-Who-Lived lost his scar in the process. There are unconfirmed rumors Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix shed tears over the scar to cure our savior.
"Can you believe this?" Vernon Dursley asked as Sirius Black showed him and Petunia the newspaper.
"I know." Sirius replied. "I told them it was your idea but they wouldn't praise muggles. Sorry about that."
"This is not what bothers me, Sirius." Vernon said. "What's the big deal about Harry losing his scar?"
"Vernon, in the Wizarding World, everything about Harry is a big deal." Sirius explained. "Especially when it has something to do with what made him famous in the first place."
"Either way, I hope they haven't bothered my son over this." Vernon grunted.
"Don't worry, Vernon." Sirius reassured his godson's foster father. "As Harry's magical guardian, I talked to the reporters on his behalf."
Back at Hogwarts, Severus Snape was livid at the sight of a scar less Harry. "As if the brat wasn't already too much like his father." The Potions Master muttered. If not for Dumbledore explaining about the true nature of the side-effects, Professor Snape would have accused Harry of intentionally making himself more like his father just to make the Potions Master upset. Snape was actually horrified that such a thing happened to a child.
Aside from that, nothing else happened at Hogwarts until it was time for the students to go back to their homes for the Christmas holidays. As Harry readied himself to rejoin his foster parents for the occasion, he noticed Ronald Weasley and his brothers weren't doing the same. "Won't you go home for the holidays?"
"No. Mum and Dad are going to Romania to visit Charlie." Ron explained.
"Well, Happy Christmas to all of you." Harry said and then left.
Harry took the Hogwarts Express and went back to King's Cross Station, where he met the Dursleys and Sirius Black. "Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad. Hi, Sirius."
"Welcome back, son." Petunia happily said as she hugged him. Vernon then drove them back to Surrey. Sirius Black certainly kept the ride from being boring. "So, Prongslet, have you played lots of pranks at the Slytherins?"
"Sirius, I'm not a prankster." Harry explained. Sirius' reaction would have given the impression somebody had told him Quidditch was outlawed.
"Prongslet, you're a Marauder's son!" Sirius exclaimed. "You must keep the Marauder legacy alive."
"Sirius, you're the son of a dark family." Harry replied. "Must you uphold their ideals?"
"That was low, Prongslet." Sirius pouted.
At Number 4, Privet Drive, Sirius helped himself to the guest room. "Are you staying for the holidays, Uncle Sirius?" Harry eagerly asked.
"Yes, Prongslet." Sirius answered. "Your Uncle and Aunt…"
"My parents." Harry corrected.
"Whatever. Your parents invited me and I gladly accepted their invitation." Sirius explained.
During Christmas Day, Harry, Vernon, Petunia and Sirius exchanged gifts. Some owls dropped gifts from other people. One of them was a jumper Molly Weasley knitted for Harry. Another one came with an unsigned note. The note said the package's contents once belonged to his father and he was supposed to 'use it well'. "Dad, did you entrust anything to anyone's care?" Harry asked Vernon.
"Harry, I believe whoever wrote this letter meant James Potter." Vernon explained.
"It's Albus Dumbledore's handwriting!" Petunia exclaimed once reading the letter. "I recognize it from when he explained why I couldn't attend Hogwarts."
That brought a smile to Sirius Black's face. "Open it, Prongslet! It must be James' Cloak of Invisibility!"
"The what?" Harry asked but opened the package as eagerly requested by Sirius and there was indeed a cloak in there.
"Put it on! Put it on!" Sirius eagerly asked. Harry covered his body from the neck down and then nobody could see the cloak or anything under it. Harry and the Dursleys were visibly shocked.
"Hilarious!" Sirius commented. "Vernon, Petunia, you should have seen your faces!"
"Harry, your head is floating in midair!" Petunia exclaimed.
"It's not floating, Petunia." Sirius explained. "The rest of his body simply cannot be seen while under the cloak. Well, I believe one with a magically crafted eye could see it."
"Take it off, Harry." Vernon desperately ordered. "You're freaking me out."
Harry did so.
"Prongslet, think about all pranks you can pull with it." Sirius said. "I can give you some tips."
"My son will not sneak around to play pranks." Vernon grunted.
"He's James Potter's son." Sirius replied.
"He's also the son of Lily Evans and she wasn't fond of pranks either." Petunia replied.
"Well, Prongslet, I believe I can't blame you for not having James' sense of humor since you're raised by your mother's relatives." Sirius replied. "But even if you don't use the cloak, you should keep it. It's been in the family for Merlin knows how many generations. In fact, it's believed to be the cloak from The Tale of The Three Brothers."
"The what?"
"Sorry, Harry." Sirius replied. "I forgot muggle-raised wizards don't grow up hearing the tales of Beedle the Bard. The Tale of The Three Brothers featured three wizards who, as the tale's title suggests, were brothers. One day, they used their magic to cross a river known to have claimed the lives of everyone else who tried to cross it. Death saw them doing it and didn't like the fact they survived. Pretending to congratulate them, Death offered each one of them a reward of their choosing. The eldest brother asked for a wand that would defeat anyone it was used against. The middle brother asked for a way to bring dead people back to life. The youngest one asked for a way to stay hidden from Death. Death didn't like the idea of granting the youngest one's wish but knew that a refusal would make the other brothers suspect something. To grant the elder brother's wish, Death made a wand of Elder wood and a core of thestral hair. Thestrals, for those who don't know, are winged horses with a skeletal body, face with reptilian features, and wide, leathery wings that resemble a bat's. They cannot be seen by anyone who hasn't seen anyone dying."
That was enough to give chills to Harry and his parents.
"Death gave the second brother a stone and instructed him to spin it three times at the palm of his hand while thinking about whomever he intends to bring back to life." Sirius continued. "Death gave the youngest brother a Cloak of Invisibility."
"This one?" Harry asked.
"James and I believe so." Sirius answered. "Remus not so much. Anyway, after Death gave the brothers their rewards, each one went a separate way. The first brother went to a nearby village and challenged a rival of his to a wizard's duel. With help from the Elder wand, the oldest brother killed his rival. Later, he went to a bar and bragged about his wand. That night, while he was sleeping, somebody stole the wand and killed him. That part of the tale is used to teach children not to trust wands made of Elder wood. In fact, wands made of that wood are known for being particularly fickle. The second brother used the stone to bring back a long-deceased love interest of his, only to learn that people brought back to life by the stone don't feel like they belong among the living. He ended up killing himself to be completely reunited with his love. Thanks to the cloak, the youngest brother managed to stay hidden from Death until he decided it was time for him to pass away. The youngest brother then passed the cloak to his son. Now, I know that, while rare, there are more than one Invisibility Cloaks but most of them lose their power with time and this one remains as good as new, reinforcing my belief that it's the cloak of the tale. Most wizards and witches who heard of the tale don't believe these magical artifacts are real but, for those who do, they're the Deathly Hallows. Most people who believe they're real believe that, instead of being given to the brothers by Death, the brothers were talented enough to create them and that said brothers were the legendary Peverell Brothers: Antioch, the elder; Cadmus, the middle child; and Ignotus, the youngest one. Through James Potter, you're a direct descendant of Ignotus Peverell, Harry."
Sirius gave them time to think about it and then showed a pendant with a picture of a triangle, a circle within the triangle and a line cutting both circle and triangle in half. "This is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows: the line represents the Elder Wand; the circle represents the Resurrection Stone; and the triangle represents the Cloak of Invisibility. For ages, people who believed in their existence used to carry this symbol to be recognized by one another. However, it all changed when Gellert Grindewald carried it. Now everyone bearing it is likely to be mistaken by someone who believes in his dark ideals."
"Who's this Gellert Grindewald, Sirius?" Harry asked. "Aside from reading Dumbledore's chocolate frog card about Headmaster Dumbledore defeating him, I've never heard about him before."
"Gellert Grindewald was the Dark Lord who terrorized Wizarding Europe in the nineteen-forties." Sirius explained. "He was so terrible he remained the darkest lord in history until Voldemort started terrorizing England and even then Grindewald remained a close second. Grindewald destroyed the Deathly Hallows' symbol meaning like Hitler destroyed the swastika's."
"Uh, let's see the other gifts, shall we?" Vernon asked, disgusted at the idea of bringing Hitler upon the conversation. They then opened the other gifts, including some chocolate frogs.
After the Christmas holidays, the rest of the term would have been uneventful except for Groundskeeper Hagrid's cabin suddenly catching fire. Like all other students, Harry James Dursley Potter was curious about this. At lunch time, Headmaster Dumbledore decided to satisfy their curiosity. "Students of Hogwarts, it's with sadness I must inform you our groundkeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, was arrested for illegal dragon breeding." He said without the typical twinkle on the eyes. "Hopefully, he'll just have to pay a fine and then will be able to resume his duties as groundskeeper and gamekeeper. Now I've explained what happened to him, please don't let me keep you from enjoying your lunch." Ronald Weasley was the first one to react to the mention of 'lunch'.
As the muggle world's stores started selling Easter eggs, Vernon and Petunia Dursley were at one of those stores looking for an egg for Harry. "Vernon, do you think Harry will like this one?" Petunia asked as she held one Easter egg.
"Too small." Vernon scoffed, albeit most people would disagree. "Let's buy this one." He said as he showed an even bigger egg.
"Yes, Vernon. This egg has a proper size." Petunia replied. The other shoppers, not acquainted to Harry, were now assuming the boy to be just as fat as Vernon. "But, Vernon, Harry never ate this much in only one day and he'll only be back from boarding school for the Easter holidays and then return there and not come back until summer vacation."
"He can take the rest back with him." Vernon suggested. "He'll probably finish it on the way back."
Meanwhile, at Hogsmeade, Sirius Black was having a similar idea. "After all those years with nothing but muggle delicacies, my godson will certainly enjoy a magical Easter egg, don't you think?" Sirius asked Remus as the both of them were at Honeydukes' for some Easter shopping.
"An extra bit of chocolate can't harm." Remus replied in agreement.
At Easter day, Harry once again rejoined the Dursleys at Privet Drive. "Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Mum!" Harry exclaimed. "It's the biggest egg I ever had!"
Before either parent had a chance to reply, they heard the door bell. Answering it, they found Sirius Black. "Happy Easter, Dursleys!" Sirius greeted. "May I get in?"
"Certainly, Sirius." Vernon replied as he made way for Sirius, who gave Harry an Easter egg with chocolate frogs inside. Harry had a good time chasing after them. Petunia, not so much. She just wanted that to stop before one of the frogs escaped the house and the neighbors saw it.
"So, Sirius, what happened to that groundskeeper who got arrested for that dragon thing?" Vernon asked, wanting to divert the topic from the frogs.
"Well, our Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and his Senior Undersecretary Dolores Umbridge were moved by their biases against anything not completely human to try to get him to Azkaban for that but Headmaster Dumbledore pointed out nobody other than Hagrid himself got hurt."
"He's luck no child got hurt." Vernon commented. "I'd demand the Ministry to hang him for that if something happened to Harry because of that."
"I doubt there'd be enough rope for anyone that huge, Vernon." Sirius replied. Still remembering how Hagrid easily towered over Vernon, the Dursleys agreed. "He was fined and got a warning."
As the year ended, Gryffindor won the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup (Cormac was seen as a hero among Gryffindors for that) and, by a narrow margin, the House Cup. When Harry and Sirius boarded the Hogwarts Express, Sirius said. "Don't worry about the restriction to underage magic, Harry. Just spend summer at my place and the Ministry's trace won't be able to tell your spells apart from mine."
"I won't spend summer away from my parents just to be able to do magic while outside Hogwarts." Harry replied.
"Okay, Prongslet." Sirius said while trying (and failing) to hide sadness.
Originally, I'd extend this fic to all years but, since I'm interested in focusing on other stories, I'll end it at the first year's end and perhaps I'll make a sequel at a later time.