Chapter 6

The Leaky Cauldron, London, 23rd August 2011

"This place is strange," Dean mused. He looked at the four walls surrounding them. "Did you see that guy this morning? He just pointed his wand at his cup, and it started stirring itself."

"Mhm," Sam mumbled.

"Hey, geek boy, are you listening to me?" Dean complained. "Nerdy boy says what?"

"What?" Sam asked, coming out of his trance as he put down the book he was reading.

Dean grinned. I was just saying how weird this place is, while you were busy making out with your book.

Sam ignored the comment. He looked at his brother laying on the four-poster bed, arm over his face. He looked completely at ease. Sam grimaced. How can he be so calm after the bombshell he dropped yesterday? How come he never told me? Sam wondered to himself. We are brothers; we aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other. Right?

"We'll talk about it later," he had said. But would later ever come?

He tried to kill himself. Accidentally or not.

"Dean, we have to address this…" Sam finally spoke.

"Man, this again?" Dean sighed. He didn't look annoyed, just resigned. He knew this was coming. He was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Dean wasn't trying to minimize the seriousness of what he did, but he needed to get it through to Sam. It was a split-second decision. It was a regretful memory, a moment of weakness.

"Yes, this again," Sam frowned.

"Please Sammy, just listen. You know I go to pieces when you're gone. You've been in my position before. After the deal. It was hard for me, but I did what you said. I found Lisa and Ben. I got a job and settled down. I didn't mean what happened."

"It doesn't change the fact you didn't fucking tell me," Sam snarked back.

He kept secrets from Dean, all the time. Drinking demon blood and hiding it from his brother, hanging around with the demon that eventually betrayed them. He hadn't taken his eyes off his older brother since yesterday, watching him like a hawk, much to Dean's annoyance. Sam was so used to Dean just being… there. He lay awake the night before worrying about Dean, hearing the soft breaths from the other bed that calmed him a little.

"Don't you think enough was going on?" Dean shot back, trying not to lose his patience.

"With Terminator you running around? I had to make sure you were alright first. I was going to tell you. I wanted to tell you, there wasn't enough time. Trust me on this."

Dean's eyes held sincerity as Sam examined his older brother's expression. Dean was telling the truth. Could Sam be angry at him? Sam had done so much worse stupid shit when emotional. A glimpse of wet gravel soaking through the knees of his jeans, and the sound of the crossroad demon screaming as he sliced off his finger flashed in his head. Attempting to trade Dean's life for his when he was in the pit was an idiotic move. They'd both done amazingly stupid things when grieving.

"I believe you," Sam said finally, his shoulders relaxing as let go of the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I'm sorry. I understand. I… it was a shock finding out that way.

"I know," Dean nodded. "It's okay. I can't blame you for freaking out. Now that we're done with the chick flick moment, will you stop being a bitch?"

Sam had to laugh. He had to admit, he'd been in a foul mood since last night, mulling over his brother and wondering what else could have happened in the year he was gone. Dean smirked back at him, happy things were peaceful, at least for now anyway.

"What are you reading anyway? Dean asked.

"Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century," Sam answered. "There's a section about Harry Potter and Voldemort."

"There are books about this kid?" Dean asked, surprised. His eyebrows were raised.

"Why are you surprised? This kid took down a dark wizard at a year old. It's no wonder he's famous."

"Good point," Dean replied. "What does it say?"

"Not much. Harry is only 16 at this point but for a 16-year-old kid, he's gone through a lot. He lost his parents as a baby and was brought to his non-magical aunt and uncle. At 11 years old he started at Hogwarts. In his first year alone he took down, get this, a troll and faced Voldemort who was possessing a Professor. He then defeated a giant snake in the bowels of the castle that Voldemort placed there 50 years before in his second year. There's not much to say here about his 3rd year, but a murderer named Sirius Black broke out of prison to kill him and then went missing. They still can't find him. In his 4th year, he got entered in some competition that ended up with a fellow student getting killed. Voldemort was raised again and dragged him to the wizarding government last year in his fifth year to try to kill him again."

"Shit… this guy really wants this kid dead, "Dean said, surprised.

"I don't get why? What would a dark wizard want with a baby?" Sam asked.

"What would a demon want with a baby?" Dean replied rhetorically. Sam frowned.

"Anyway," Dean began. "We still have more to get on that list, right?"

"Just the wands."

"Okay, let's go."

Soon the boys walked out in the late August breeze. They decided to venture inside quite early the day before, both exhausted. Everything on the list hadn't been accumulated yet, but with two weeks before the term started, they had plenty of time.

Dean and Sam ventured outside Diagon Alley the previous evening to contact Bobby and reassure him everything was okay. (In reality, the main reason was to calm Dean's nerves when he came to the shocking realization that his Baby was left alone outside a random motel in Idaho.) Bobby promised he would pick her up and bring her back to his place. Eventually, he managed to shout down the phone enough to calm Dean down. All the while Sam was questioning his older brother's sanity.

As they walked down the cobblestone streets, they took a closer look at the surrounding shops. Selling everything from books to potion ingredients. They found the small, old looking shop quickly. Soon they were back in their rooms again, books strewn around the room, and two boxes on the bed.

"Guy was a little kooky…" Dean looked a little weirded out. "What kind of name is Ollivander anyway?" More to himself. "Lotta weird names around here…"

"Well with some names in these textbooks it seems kind of normal. Alright, here we go," Sam began opening his box. "He said they were specially made for us."

"Probably to work with the rings I guess," Dean answered. "So, what do we need to do? Say some phrases in Latin and whip out our wands? This sounds gay… And inappropriate."

Sam rolled his eyes. "There's a specific way to wave your magic wand… and it's not all just Latin. Here, I picked up a basic charm and spells book. Maybe we should practice a little?" He flipped through the book to find an easy spell to learn. "Here, a levitation spell. Should be simple enough."

"How in the hell do you pronounce that?" Dean squints at the page.

Sam picked up his wand and cleared his throat, pointing at one of the books. "Wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa."

Nothing happened.

"Ooh magic…" Dean clapped sarcastically.

Sam, determined not to give up, went back to the book and read the rest of the page. "The Levitation Charm is one of the first spells learnt by any young witch or wizard. With the charm, a witch or wizard can make things fly with the flick of a wand. The charm is an excellent test of your magical skills, wand control and above all, patience."

"Could you get any nerdier?" Dean rolled his eyes.

"Patience is something you do not have…" Sam shot back.

"Look, you said there was a wand-waving right?" He leaned over his brother's shoulder and started reading.

"Cast the charm with a swish and flick motion. So, it looks like making a 'u' in mid-air." Dean nodded, taking his wand out of the box, and pointing it at the book. This is either gonna be really cool, or really stupid….

"Wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa. The book hovered over the table. "Woah… it worked…." He grinned, much to his brother's astonishment. He waved his hands under the book, looking for strings. He could imagine McGonagall somewhere watching them on security cameras laughing her ass off.

"Congratulations Dean, you've now done a spell that most 11-year-olds learn in their first few weeks at Hogwarts," Sam smirked.
"Shut up…" Dean grumbled. "I can't believe I got the hang of it, and you didn't. You always wanted to be a wizard. Remember when you were thirteen?" Sam blushed, mumbling words of protest.

"You looked so cute in your little cape. You're living the dream, Sammy."

There was a sudden tapping on the window and turned to see a grey owl on the windowsill. Dean went over and opened the door. Letting the owl swoop in. It crashed into the pile of books on the table sending them toppling to the ground.

"Fucking owls again, have these guys ever heard of USPS? Now we've got kamikaze owls…" As he spoke, he untied the letter from the bushy owl's leg.

Dean peered over the books, checking on the owl. He picked it up gingerly and set it upright. "Alright there, little buddy?" The owl squawked out weakly before grabbing a sandwich and started to nibble on it.

Dean opened up the letter and started to read.

Dear Sam and Dean Winchester,

I'm writing this letter to request your attendance at a special meeting in your honour, in two days, the 25th. If you wish to attend, I will send someone to collect you. Unfortunately, I have matters to attend to at the school, so I cannot come to get you. I will be late for the meeting as it is. This man is a former Professor at Hogwarts and is very trustworthy. I have given him instructions to meet you in the Leaky Cauldron promptly at 6 pm. Just ask for the man who walks at midnight.

Sincerely Minerva McGonagall

"What do you think?" Dean asked, looking up from the paper.

"It looks like Minerva's handwriting. I don't know. Could be a trap, could be just more witches and wizards." Sam sighed. "She seems trustworthy. The worst thing she's done has been to transfigure my laptop into a teapot."

Dean smirked, "She also threatened to turn me into something unnatural."

"Well yeah because you pissed her off. Can you blame her?"

"True," Dean allowed.

"If Minerva trusts them, I think we should go with it," Sam reasoned.

"Always the peacemaker," Dean said sarcastically. "Oh wait, no you weren't." A glare from Sam cut him off.

"I'm probably crazy for saying this, but you're probably right."

Sam scoffed, "Look at this whole situation Dean. We're doing correspondence with owls… meeting some guy who walks at midnight… all of this sounds crazy."

"So, do you not want to go? We can take these rings off right now and go grab this first plane back to the States." Dean sighed, not happy about that mode of transportation, but it's better than travelling by enchanted socks. "But if we leave now, could we live with the fact that McGonagall might get hurt, or worse killed, and there was something we could have done to prevent it? And there are the students to think of. If they're telling the truth, hundreds of kids could be dead because of this wizard Hitler guy."

"You're right. So, we're going?" Sam asked.
"What the hell, saving people, hunting things, right?" Dean shrugged. He grabbed a spare piece of notebook paper and wrote. Sam took it and saw the word 'Sure' in his brother's handwriting. No signature, nothing. He sighed.

"Hey little buddy. Can you take this back to Minnie for me?" He tied the letter to the owl's leg. "There's a nice cracker in it for you."

"Don't bribe the bird," Sam complained. "It's not a parrot."

"You're meant to give them something. I saw a guy doing it downstairs last night." He gave the owl a cracker, and it hooted happily before flying clumsily out the window. "See? I observe."

"Fine, so I wonder who Moony is."

Dean flopped on the bed lazily. "No clue. I guess we'll find out in two days."

They both jumped when the levitating book slammed down on the table.

⸸

Two days passed, Sam studied over all the books they had bought, and Dean had been, well, Dean.

Sam woke up in the middle of the night to see Dean standing in the mirror with his wand in one hand and the Standard Book of Spells: Grade One in the other. He was mouthing words to himself and waving his wand in the air. One attempt sent red sparks dancing across the ceiling causing Dean to curse and put the book away for the night.

The next morning two boxes arrived from Madam Malkin's, Sam paid the delivery boy and brought the boxes inside. Dean came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth. Sam rolled his eyes and set Dean's box on his bed. They dressed in their everyday robes and decided to go take one more look around Diagon Alley. Not sure if they would ever make it back to this place.

They spent most of the day wandering around the street, finding more shops. Sam walked into Eeylops Owl Emporium, looking at all the owls, some of them hooting happily, and others asleep with their heads under their wings. One, in particular, caught his eye, a beautiful barn owl that hooted at him when she looked at him. Sam wanted to get an owl. But they figured there was no point, as there was an owlery on the grounds. Sam left, giving the barn owl an affectionate head rub and a longing look.

They discovered Sugarplum's Sweet Shop, which Dean enjoyed. He almost dropped the piece of liquorice wand he was eating when he stumbled upon a colourful building down an area of the Alley that they hadn't been down before. Weasleys Wizard Wheezes was written in colourful letters.

"It's a joke shop Sammy!" he enthused. "It's practically begging us to come in!" He raced off down the street, his robes flapping wildly in the breeze. Sam rolled his eyes and followed him. He looked up at the sign where an animatronic man was taking off his top hat, revealing a small white rabbit on his head. Then he put his hat back on and the next time it took off his hat the rabbit was gone.

Sam marvelled again at the shopfront. Wondering if it was magical or mechanical. The joke shop was certainly more colourful than the rest of the shopfronts.

They went inside and spent the next while looking around. They found pranks, sweets that made you ill to get out of class, and even love potions. Sam commented that they would have to be on the lookout for students using these to get out of classes or assignments. Then Dean called him a wet blanket, before agreeing reluctantly that he was probably right.

Soon they were paying for their purchases, handing the money to the tall, freckled, red-haired boy, who served them enthusiastically. They walked out with a bag. And Sam gave a passing comment that the teen reminded him of Dean when he was younger.

Six pm soon rolled around, and the boys were standing in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron.

"You realize we have no clue who this guy is, right?"

"No clue, but we just need to look for someone unfamiliar. Shouldn't be too hard. Most of these people are regulars here."

"Good point," Sam replied. At that moment a man went to the bar closest to them and ordered what they heard was a 'Firewhiskey.'

"Whatever that is, I want it," Dean muttered. "Besides, could be our man."

He walked up to the man. His fair hair was unkempt, and his clothes were patchy and frayed. Besides that, he had a kind smile, but four thin, long scars raked across his face. "Are you the man that walks at midnight?" Dean asked, feeling like a jackass.

"It depends on who is asking. Are you travellers searching for a tabby cat?"

"Yes, we are," Sam replied. "She sent us."

"We shouldn't talk here," The man answered. "Come with me." The boys nodded and followed him outside, down a dimly lit alleyway. Dean gripped the knife he had stashed in his front pocket but waited to see where things would go.

"I'm sorry for all the theatrics. I just didn't want to arouse attention," The man smiled. "My name is Remus Lupin. You must be Sam and Dean Winchester." He shook their hands. "Nice to meet you both."

Dean and Sam shared a look before Dean shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"We'd better get going. We have to meet the Order soon."

"Order?" Dean asked.

"Of course, I'm sorry. We are having a meeting. Professor Dumbledore thought it was better for you to meet some of us before the term starts. The Order of the Phoenix is a society he created, and we work on bringing down You-Know-Who."

"Oh right. So-"

"I think you should save your questions for when we can talk in private." Remus interrupted Sam, casting a suspicious glance over their surroundings. "You never know who could be watching…"
"Okay, so how are we getting where we're going?" Dean asked.

"The Floo Network," Remus explained. They walked through a narrow door in the alley, into the back room of a derelict store, toward an old dusty fireplace. Remus pointed his wand at the fireplace and green flames ignited. "This will bring us to where we need to go."
Dean looked at it nervously and Remus smiled. "It won't hurt. It just means the Network is active. Dumbledore pulled a few strings to get a fireplace near Headquarters reconnected temporarily. We can't go directly. There's protection on Headquarters. You have to take some Floo powder, step into the fireplace and say "Number 11, Crossley Street. It's an abandoned house. We have to walk from there. It's not far. You then throw the Floor powder into the flames."

Sam looked warily at the green flames, a headache beginning to form in his temples.

"You're sure this is the only way to go?" Dean looked to Remus cautiously, remembering Minerva's way of travelling.

"It's safe, don't worry," Remus assured. "Would you like me to show you? I'll go to Crossley Street and come back, and then you can go. I'll follow back along."

"No, it's okay. I'll go," Dean replied, a slight frown on his face. Not having the wizard think I'm a wimp.

Remus nodded, grabbing a pouch from inside his pocket. "Take a handful of this powder." Dean took a handful and stepped into the fireplace.

"Number 11, Crossley Street," he said. I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought. He threw the powder down and green flames obscured his vision. Suddenly he was in a fireplace in another room. He stepped out.

"Woah," he muttered. A moment or two passed before the green flames went high and Sam appeared.

"Hey," Dean replied, relieved. "How'd it go?"

"Not fun," Sam frowned. Dean could only guess… Hellfire was not a good thing to be reminded of.

"You're okay Sammy," Dean replied, brushing the dirt off Sam's jacket. "Was getting worried there. Thought Scarface kidnapped you" Sam rolled his eyes. Then Remus appeared in the flames.

"Everything alright?" He smiled. The brothers nodded.

They followed Remus out of the abandoned house, and down the next street, and stopped in front of a row of houses.
"Read this," Remus instructed, handing Sam a slip of paper. Sam read the words and then handed them to Dean, who did the same. The note read "12 Grimmauld Place is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix."

Suddenly the houses in front of them began to move. Number 11 and 13 moved away from each other, the people inside seeming to take no notice. An identical house came into view, a golden number 12 on the door. Dean and Sam's mouths were hanging open and Remus looked amused.