Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Belgariad

Chapter 12: Christmas at the Beach

Harry was currently lounging in one of the beach chairs just outside Prong's Hideout in one of the islands of Hawaii, a warded private beach along the Peolua Bay. The young Potter had to hand it in for his dad, James Potter definitely knew how to enjoy life and Prong's Hideout was a testament to that.

According to Bubua, the house elf in charge of the place, his dad usually spent most of his summers here along with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew while they were still at Hogwarts. In fact, Bubua informed his new lord and master that Master James took Mistress Lily here for their honeymoon, spending the whole month enjoying the beach and touring the rest of the island, of course, making love under the bright light of the moon.

Harry had a distinct feeling that he was 'created' by his parents somewhere in the area; not that he minded. The place was perfect, after all.

Now it was Harry's turn to enjoy it and he had it all to himself; well, technically, he had Zieg, Hedwig, and Floppy with him but he didn't care. He was having fun for a change away from the hustle and bustle of magic, away from his hateful relatives, and definitely away from people who wanted to control his life.

Here, he was simply himself and be a kid.

He had been in Prong's Hideout for five days now. After disembarking from King's Cross and saying good bye to his friends, Harry immediately pretended that his uncle was there to pick him up. However, when he crossed the barrier to the muggle world, he made a beeline to the nearest look and teleported just outside of Gringotts, met with Griphook to receive the pre-arranged portkey he had the goblin make in advance before leaving Hogwarts, and whisked away to this summer paradise with no one the wiser.

Despite enjoying some alone time, his mind was still formulating a plan on how to get Sirius a trial. Harry knew that it would be difficult especially the lack of evidence to prove that his godfather wasn't at fault. He could also use the Godfather's Vow, a magical vow that all godfathers should undergo; but this might not hold in court since the wizarding judicial system wasn't as…accepting. After all, lack of common sense was a norm and a privilege that they all have and love.

So here he was now trying to come up with Plan A which is to find a way to get Sirius a fair trial before resorting to Plan B, a plan that he lovingly dubbed as 'Get Sirius Out of Azkaban' plan. Both had plenty of wrinkles that needed to be ironed out and Harry wasn't sure where to start.

However, when his eyes landed on Zieg who was taking a peaceful nap under the shadow of a rather large tree, an idea sparked in his head.

"Hey Zieg." Harry called out to his familiar. Zieg raised his head before giving Harry a questioning look. "You can travel to any shadows right?"

Zieg nodded an affirmative, cocking his head to the side to show that he was listening.

"You see, I was thinking." Harry began to explain his plan to his rather talented familiar. "Getting a trial for my godfather has a low chance of being successful. However, I'm starting to think that the best way to get Sirius out is to arrange a jailbreak of sorts. So I was thinking, can you travel into Azkaban and bust Sirius out using your shadow travel?"

Zieg thought about it for a moment before looking at Harry in the eye. That was the thing about Zieg. He was incapable of speech, mental or vocal. However, he usually conveyed his intent to Harry in a form of visions or mental images, whichever works. It was disconcerting at first but Harry got used to it and considered it an effective form of communication though not as quick as he would like.

Harry's eyes glazed as he was assaulted by a vision coming from his familiar. When that was done, he frowned.

"You can't travel to a place you haven't been to though you can easily follow a trail if you have the smell of the person you want to track. That might be tricky since we don't know where to get an item with Sirius scent on it." Harry mused before taking a sip of his coconut juice. Another vision assaulted him making Harry palm his face in irritation. "Damn, I forgot that dad used to take Sirius here with the rest of his gang. If he stayed here then it is quite possible that my godfather had a few of his stuff here with his scent on it. Thanks for pointing that out to me, Zieg. Bubua!"

A house elf wearing a grass skirt appeared with a pop.

"Anything Bubua be helping Master Harry with?" said Bubua excitedly in his squeaky voice. Ever since the elf found out that the Potter family had a new lord, the elf was ecstatic and eager to please, more so when the bond was renewed. Thankfully, Bubua didn't die or go crazy from the lack of magic since he was bonded to the place and the ambient magic in the area was enough to give him the necessary magic to tick. Bonding to Harry just gave him a power boost of sorts.

"Yes, Bubua. Thanks for coming so promptly." this praise made the happy elf beam at him in pride. "Do you think Sirius had a few of his stuff back at the house?"

"Mister Paddy?" asked Bubua, cocking his head to the side.

"Who's Mister Paddy?" Harry asked incredulously. Did the elf change subject all of a sudden?

"Mister Paddy be Master James' friend. Mister Siri Black." Bubua informed Harry who nodded in realization.

"Where in the world did that 'paddy' come from? Mental note, ask Griphook if my dad left some journals back at the vault or at the ruined house in Godric's Hollow." Harry thought to himself before addressing the elf out loud. "Fine. Mister Paddy it is. Do you think Mister Paddy still have some of his stuff around?"

"Sure, Master Harry, sir. Mister Paddy's stuff be in his room on second floor. You want me to pack a trunk for yous?" Bubua said excitedly, eager to do anything for his master.

"Er, not really, Bubua." Harry said immediately. He only needed an item with Sirius' scent on it, not a closetful of the stuff. "However, can you get me one of his clothes? Preferably unwashed if there's one. If not, then give me the most recent one he wore before leaving the island."

"Ah, Mister Paddy be leaving his clothes in his room. I remember he had them in his trunk. Me get it for master now." Bubua said with a smile before popping out. He returned a few seconds later holding a rather faded red robe that had a…pungent smell to it. Considering that it was probably more than a decade ago that Sirius was here, the smell was quite obvious.

"Ah, thank you, Bubua." said Harry as he levitated the robe off the elf's hands. Bubua was staring at his new master in pure awe.

"Master Harry be a Sorcerer! Mistress Lily and Master James would be so proud." the elf crowed in delight as he danced a jig around a rather amused Harry.

"Thanks, Bubua. Now, why don't you go back to the house and do…do what it is you did before I called." Harry suggested since the elf was too excitable to control. Floppy was excitable yes but she had control over it.

"Bubua be making Hawaiin dish for Master Harry and his familiars. Bubua be going back to finish it now." the elf declared before popping out but not before seeing Harry drool at the idea of tasting another one of the elf's Hawaiian cooking. Bubua might have his fault but he was an excellent cook.

"Damn, we are going to be eating well tonight." Harry said to Zieg who nodded his head eagerly. His familiar liked Bubua's cooking too. "Anyway, here's Sirius' robe. Can you check if it had enough of his scent on it to merit a successful tracking? Be careful though. It's doesn't exactly smell like a rose right now"

Harry could hear his familiar snort before padding over and took a whiff from the robe. Zieg gave out a disgusted cough before leveling his bonded a glare. Harry immediately raised his hand in surrender.

"Oi. I told you that it wouldn't smell good." Harry stated defensively. Zieg merely huffed and sent a vision to Harry that he would start tracking Sirius' scent tomorrow. "Alright. Let's enjoy the day and you can search for Sirius tomorrow. When you find him, don't confront him yet. We need to plan our next move before that happens."

Zieg merely nodded before going back to his favorite spot. Harry shook his head and leaned back on the beach chair and taking another sip of his juice, but not before banishing Sirius' robe.

Tomorrow, the search for his godfather would begin. He just hoped that Zieg could find the man considering that he had been rotting in prison for more than a decade now.

Harry woke up in the morning of Christmas with a look of surprise on his face. There on the foot of his bed were a pile of neatly wrapped presents. He looked at it with disbelief for a few seconds before rubbing his eyes and looking back at pile. He had presents?

"Wow. How in the world did those get here?" Harry wondered out loud. As if to answer his question, Floppy popped into the room holding another present and neatly placing it on the pile. "Floppy?"

Floppy squeaked in surprise before looking at her master.

"Master Harry sir. You're awake now. Merry Christmas to you, sir. Floppy was popping your present from your auntie's house since they were mailed there." Floppy informed Harry who gave the elf a look of disbelief.

"You teleported from here to England and back? That's leagues away. I don't think even I could teleport that far." exclaimed Harry before looking at the number of presents on the pile. He looked back at the elf with concerns. "Are you alright? Do you need rest?"

Floppy let out a squeaky laugh. Her master was really one of a kind.

"No Master Harry sir. Floppy isn't tired. As long as Floppy is bonded to you, I have plenty of magic to pop anywhere in the world many times. Not bonded elves would have problem popping from here to home but it is not a problem for Floppy. Master Harry is a powerful wizard so Floppy has plenty of magic to pop anytime." the elf declared with a proud smile on her face. Harry stood up from his bed and went over to the elf and gave her a hug causing her to blush.

"Thanks, Floppy. You're the best." said Harry with a smile when he let go of the elf. Floppy managed to control her blushing enough to speak coherently.

"You's be welcome, Master Harry. Now, open your presents since I got all of them. I will go down to the kitchen to help Bubua with breakfast. I will come and get you when we're done. Enjoy, sir." Floppy declared before popping out of the room causing Harry to shake his head and smiled at his elf's antics. Suddenly, a child-like smile appeared on his face as he stared at the pile of presents. He literally jumped into the pile and started opening them one by one. It was a good thing that he already sent the presents he had for his friends a few days ago so he wasn't guilty indulging himself.

Daphne sent him a pair of black dragonhide boots. According to the letter included in the present, it came from a Romanian Black, a dragon well-known for its durable and magically-resistant hide. Harry didn't wasn't any time to pull off his slippers and pulled the boots on. It automatically shrunk to give him a snug fit. It was perfect. He was so going to wear it from now on.

Tracy's present came in the form of a watch. Considering how time-conscious he was, it was a very appropriate gift. A Timex watch was very expensive and Harry assumed that Tracy used his muggle friends or maybe his mother to buy the gift for him. Considering that there wasn't any enchantment on the watch, Harry decided to add the usual charms to it later when he had time. It wouldn't do for Tracy's gift to get damaged because of magic, after all.

Draco gave him a set of wizarding robes, six of them in different colors. According to the tag, it was made from Acromantula silk, giving it a bit of spell resistance and charmed to be always clean. It would also shrink or enlarge to fit his frame so he wouldn't have to worry about formal robes anytime soon.

Pansy sent a pair of earrings, or to be more specific, a pair of sapphire earrings. It was clearly made for a man due to the lack of design than its girly counterpart had. He made a note to check Diagon Alley if a shop there offered piercings since he definitely liked Pansy's gift enough to wear them as soon as possible.

Harry had to roll his eyes when he opened Crabbe and Goyle's gifts. It was packed to the brim with wizarding sweets. Sure, he had a sweet tooth but those two gave him enough to last him a year. He was thankful for the gift though since he didn't need to buy some just to indulge his cravings.

Blaise gift actually came as a surprise. It was a set of books that almost made Harry drool. The Zabini heir sent him a compendium of potions books, or more specifically, a compendium of books detailing the recipe of hundreds of potions invented since the dark ages to the present. It was a perfect gift for Harry since he loved Potions with a passion that could easily rival Snape's.

Neville sent him a rare bonsai tree that the Longbottom heir noted in a letter that it came from a Japan. It was a magical Pygmy Oak and it was one of the rarest plant in the world. It was also a prized plant by Potion Masters since the root of a Pygmy Oak was the best stabilizing agent to many flammable ingredients used in potion brewing. Harry vowed to take care of the gift since it was worth a fortune in the Wizarding World. How Neville got hold of one he would never know though he never doubted his friend's passion in Herbology so it would be easy for him to find out where to get one.

Harry also received a bunch of gifts from students who frequented his study session with his Slytherin pals, along with letters and cards expressing their thanks for helping them in their lessons. This made Harry smile since he liked to help those that needed it.

The gifts from his peers ranged from dueling books to snacks. Again, Harry had to shake his head at the latter since, with the addition of Brute one and two's gifts, he had enough sweets now to last him TWO years. He had to snicker at the thought.

However, the last gift was a curiosity since it wasn't wrapped like the rest – a simple brown paper unlike the other gifts who were clearly designed for the Yuletide season. The gift had a note attached to it stating that this belonged to his father and was left in someone's care. The note also said to use it well. It wasn't signed.

Curiously, Harry pulled the strings on the gift and removed the brown paper. It was a cloak of some sort and the young sorcerer could feel the magic rolling off it in waves. He stood up and walked over to a mirror and placed the cloak around his shoulders. He wasn't prepared for his body to disappear, leaving only his head floating in air. He looked incredulously at his reflection before taking the cloak off his shoulder which resulted in his body appearing again. He looked at the cloak and finally recognizing what it was.

This was an Invisibility Cloak! This was his dad's Invisibility Cloak.

He was so excited to finally have another piece of his parents with him that he only realized a bit later as to why his father left such a powerful artifact to someone.

Also, another question popped into his head. Who sent him the cloak?

It was in the afternoon while Harry was making a huge sandcastle using his wand when his mobile phone rang. He levitated the gadget over to him and saw that it was Bridgette. He grinned before using the tip of his wand to press the accept button and pressed another to activate the loudspeaker.

"Hi Bridgette!" Harry greeted his female best friend. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, brother dearest. Anyway, where in blue blazes are you? I just left your aunt's house and she told me that you didn't spend Christmas with them. You better tell me where you are right now mister or I'm going to be very cross with you." came Bridgette's voice from the speaker.

"Settle down, sis. I'm here in Hawaii right now. To be more precise, I'm spending my Christmas vacation here in my dad's cabin by the beach." Harry answered trying to placate his clearly irritated friend while flicking his wand to even out one of the towers of his budding castle. It was a bit…rough for his taste.

"No wonder William told me you weren't around earlier. I called him up when I found out you weren't at your aunts. He came by yesterday to give you your gifts but you weren't around so he is currently in London with his family before going back to America tomorrow." Bridgette paused, realizing something. "You're spending your Christmas alone in Hawaii?"

"Uh huh. Nothing wrong with that." Harry replied with a grin on his face. It would seem that his surrogate sister slash best friend was getting worried. "You could always visit me I suppose. I'll be here until January 5 so there's plenty of time for you to come over."

"Nuh uh. Mom won't let me since we are going to attend a…family reunion of sort this coming New Year. However, if you're going to spend your summer there again, I might tag along. I'm sure William would love to join too."

"That's a splendid idea, sister mine. I will make sure to plan for it. You mentioned you have 'gifts'? As in plural?" asked Harry incredulously and he could feel Bridgette rolling her eyes.

"I only have one gift for you but mother bought you a few…stuffs that she didn't tell me about. William also had one but his father packed a few things for you as well. You know, Harry dear, I have this feeling that our parents love you more than us." Bridgette said with a fake sniffle. "I feel so unloved."

"Ha ha. Very funny. I sent yours and William's gifts to the address that both of you gave me before both of you left Britain. I hope you got them." said Harry. He sent his gifts in one of the courier service in the town near his dad's vacation home two days before Christmas. Judging from the fact that he paid for first class delivery, it should have arrived by now

"Oh, if that is the case then your gift for me should be in my family home in China and William's gift should be in their penthouse in America. I'm sure we'll see what you gave us when we get it upon returning there. So anyway, how is your schooling coming along? What are you taking for college anyway?"

"Uh, I'm taking an online class on Computer Programming and Engineering. I don't think I'm ready for college yet since I'm going to be surrounded by people who are older and taller than me. I might have grown since we last saw each other but I don't think I'm that tall yet."

"Sorry to say this, Harry, but you are rather short." Bridgette bluntly pointed out.

"I am not short. I still haven't hit my growth spurt yet and I'm still 11 for crying out loud. Give me a break!" Harry declared with an indignant look on his face. It must have reflected on his voice since Bridgette gave a snicker from the other line.

"Keep telling yourself that, Harry. Anyway, if you give me your current address, I'll send you your gifts right now when I reach London. Pierre is currently driving me to the mall as we speak. I can have it special delivered to your location so you can get it in a day or two. I'll contact William with your address as well so he can send it too."

"Ah, well, if you really want to then send it to Prong's Hideout in Peolua Bay, West Maui, Hawaii."

"Prong's Hideout? Weird name. Sound like a pirate's cove or something." Bridgette quipped causing Harry to give the phone a deadpan look.

"Ha ha ha. You're hilarious." Harry said sarcastically.

"Did I also mention that you're getting snarkier as well?"

"I love you too, sis."

"I know. Honestly, who wouldn't love me? Anyway, we're close to the mall now. I'll call you later after I send your gifts, alright? Make sure you give me a call when you receive them. Give William a call too though I doubt he'll answer since the lazy idiot told me he was going to sleep for the whole day, jetlag and all that jazz."

"William has always been lazy. I'll give him a call later this evening or tomorrow, London time. Take care, sis."

"You too, Harry. I'll tell mom where you are or she's going to send out a search party. You know how…excitable she is especially when you're concerned."

"That she is. Anyway, got to run. I still have to finish my sandcastle. I'll take a picture of it when I'm done and I'll send it to you via email. It's going to be huge!" Harry said excitedly.

"Fine. I'll wait for it then. Toodles." Bridgette said before cutting off the line.

Shaking his head, Harry levitated the phone back on the towel before putting all his attention on his half-finished castle. He would finish his masterpiece by the end of the day even if it killed him.

Harry was confused. It was on the 3rd of January that Zieg finally returned from tracking his godfather. From the vision his familiar sent him, he was able to finally locate Azkaban and the location of his godfather's cell. What confused him, however, was why a dog was in the cell instead of a man?

Thankfully, Zieg answered him by sending a vision of sensing that the dog was a transformed man, like what he could do but a bit different. Harry pondered on that a bit until he finally recognized what his familiar saw. His godfather was a bloody dog animagus.

From what he learned of the Dementors of Azkaban, it was a blessing for Sirius to be one since the guards of the prison only affected human emotion. With his animal side on the fore, Sirius would be mildly protected from their negative effects. Also, Sirius having access to his animagus form was a clear testament that his godfather was still mentally sound since it takes a powerful mind and magic in order to shift.

The first phase of the plan was to bust Sirius out though Harry had to consider that such an act would result in the Wizarding World going up in arms because a 'mass murderer' just escaped. Harry knew that getting his godfather out with a half-cooked plan would someday bite him in the arse.

The second phase of the plan was what to do with Sirius when he gets out of prison. Of course, the first priority would be to make sure that the man was well-hidden since the Wizarding World would surely look for him, though that could be easily remedied since Prong's Hideout was under a family fidelius with him as the Secret Keeper. No one would find Sirius here.

In continuation to that, Sirius would need a lot of medical attention since the Dementors of Azkaban would have surely done a number on the man's health. Bubua could easily take care of the man as long as the supplies were available.

Harry was about to jot the ideas down when a thought hit him.

Why wait to help Sirius since he could easily do so right now without anyone noticing.

Grinning, he called up his two favorite elves to help him with its execution.

End of chapter 12

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