Chapter 31: Raising Harry

A few days later…

When Harry got back to his dormitory after his last class of the day, he found a neatly wrapped parcel on his bed. Surprised, he quickly put his things down on the bed and picked up the package. He looked for any indication of who it could be from, and didn't find one. He then gently pulled the gold ribbon off and opened the box. What he found inside was something he had never seen before, and it was the strangest fabric. He held it up to get a look at it: it was a cloak! He was confused, as this cloak seemed different from any other, but he couldn't figure out why. He tried it on, and it seemed a bit large but-

"Harry? Are you asleep or something? I don't blame you, that last lesson was so boring I nearly-" Ron was saying as he approached Harry's bed, but he jumped back in horror when he saw Harry.

He did a double-take and shouted "BLOODY HELL, HARRY! WHAT IN MERLIN'S BEARD HAPPEN-"

Harry said "Shh! What's gotten into you, Ron? I'm-" and then he looked down and exclaimed "Whoa! My body is gone!"

Ron nodded and paled as he stared at Harry, still appearing to be without a body.

Harry looked back at Ron sheepishly and said "Oh! Sorry, Ron" as he pulled off the cloak.

Ron's face flooded with relief, and said "Oh, bloody hell, Harry! I come in and suddenly all I see is your head floating around! I wondered "how in the hell were you still alive?!""

Harry tried not to laugh, and was thankful it was just them in the dormitories at the moment, he didn't really know how to explain this to anyone else.

As Ron breathed a sigh of relief, he noticed a piece of paper on the floor next to where Harry was standing. He picked it up and handed it to Harry, saying "You must've dropped this."

Harry replied "Thanks" as he read the note, which said:

"Your father left this in my possession when he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well."

Harry wondered who it could be from. His father used this cloak too? It felt foreign for him to think about his dad, as he hadn't known his father or any father figure in his life. Hagrid seemed to be the closest thing he had to one.

He handed Ron the note too, and Ron said "This is your dad's invisibility cloak? Wicked! I dunno how he could have gotten this though, these are really rare! This may even be the only one left! I wonder who gave this to you."

Harry replied with "Hmm, yeah." as he nodded and kept staring at the cloak, and trying to imagine his dad using it around Hogwarts with his friends. He smiled as he thought of all the antics he probably did using this, as his mum described he was quite a prankster. He and his friends even gave Peeves a run for his money! Though it seems Ron's brothers Fred and George had that honor now.

Ron continued "But Harry! Think about how many Midnight snacks we could get from the kitchens using this! Or we can use it if we're late to class, and if the teacher asks, we could say that we were there the whole time!" Ron grinned.

Harry laughed a little, and said "I didn't think about that. Maybe. I heard from mum that my dad got into a lot of mischief in his time here at Hogwarts, so he must've used this quite a lot!" Harry now grinned too, thinking about the stories his mum used to tell him before bed.

Later that night…

Harry couldn't sleep; he tossed and turned as he thought about the cloak, and maybe what he could find out now that he had a way to move around unseen throughout the school. Maybe would he be able to learn more about the Philosopher's Stone? He could sneak past Fluffy and find out. He put his glasses on and stretched as he sat up in his four-poster bed. He looked at the clock on his bedside table: it read one-thirty in the morning. He sighed as he put his slippers on, grabbed his cloak from his trunk, and slipped past Ron, who was snoring loudly before turning over.

He went to the Gryffindor Common Room sofa and sat in front of the fire to warm up a bit. He put a hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses as he thought about the cloak once again, and decided it wouldn't be wise to sneak past Fluffy himself. "Who knows what dangers could be behind that door he's guarding?" he thought to himself. He did decide, however, that when he visits Hagrid for tea in a couple days, he would find a way to ask about what's behind that door without revealing why he wanted to know. Maybe Hermione or Mary could help him sort out something.

After he tossed around more thoughts about the Philosopher's Stone and Fluffy, he finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to test out his new cloak and take a walk to clear his head.

He pulled the cloak over himself and slipped past the Fat Lady's portrait, who appeared to be sleeping and didn't notice that she was moved. It felt very strange for him to be under the cloak and know that he was invisible. He could see fairly clearly through the cloak; the material seemed to be translucent from underneath as well. He stepped as quietly as he could, and found his way through the halls without disturbing the sleeping portraits and paintings. He walked for what felt like an hour through the castle, not really knowing what he was looking for, but thinking a lot about his parents and how they probably walked these very same halls. He thought about how many times his dad used this cloak to sneak out and walk around the castle when he couldn't sleep too.

He then looked around to see where he was, and when he saw he was at the end of the corridor, with only a single door in front of him, he decided he should probably turn back.Just as he turned around, however, he heard a sharp "meow". He gasped as silently as he could, and when he turned around fully, he saw Mrs. Norris walking towards him. He panicked and walked backwards as quietly as possible, then remembered the door behind him. As soon as he heard Filch's footsteps and mutterings approaching, he opened the door as quietly as he could and slipped behind it. He prayed that he hadn't gotten himself into another Fluffy situation as he locked the door quietly.

He listened at the door, and when he heard Filch stop at the door and try the lock, he said to Mrs. Norris "Come, my sweet. It was probably just that good-for-nothing Peeves or another one of those damned ghosts again. If there's a student out of bed, we'll find 'em."

Harry sighed with relief as he heard Filch pick up his cat and heard his footsteps get further away. Then, he found the courage to turn around and look at his surroundings, where he would be staying for the next hour or so before he would attempt to go back to the Common Room. It was dark that he couldn't see much, but he could make out a few windows with a lovely view of the night sky, and the dim moonlight shining through. He then noticed that in the middle of the room was a large, intricately detailed mirror. He adjusted his glasses and pulled off the cloak as he walked closer to the mirror to examine it. He looked in awe of it, and he looked at his reflection in the mirror to see how disheveled he looked from rolling out of bed and being under the cloak for so long. When he looked, however, he didn't see just himself…

"No, it couldn't be!" he gasped and stared even more intently. He looked behind him to make sure he was truly alone in the room, and then he stared again into the mirror.

He saw a beautiful young woman standing on his right behind him, with bright green eyes like his, and a smile that looked as if it could light up a room.

He whispered "M-Mum?"

She nodded silently, and a tear trickled down his cheek. He then looked to his left behind him, and saw a young man with the same messy, black hair as his, and even the same smile as his own. He grinned at Harry, and Harry couldn't help but smile back.

"Dad?" He nodded to Harry, and Harry had never wished so hard that he could hug someone in his life.

His parents were there, but yet they weren't. They looked so young, and just as Katrina had described them to be. They were smiling at him, and he couldn't help but smile back as a few tears streamed down his face.

How was this possible?

Thank you for reading! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting for each chapter! Life happens, but I'm grateful to you for bearing with me and reading my story! – PinkRoseKoolKat