The Keeper of the Keys
"So, Hagrid is the one who came and got you?" Remus frowned.
"Yeah. It was great," Harry smiled happily.
"I'm sure. I'm just concerned that Hagrid won't be prepared to explain things to you considering you didn't know anything about our world."
"He did fine," Harry assured him.
BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.
"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.
"He says –" George began.
"- everything stupidly," Fred finished.
There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands
"What!?" Ted, Remus and Hermione exclaimed at the same time.
"What's a rifle?" Sirius demanded, worried by their reactions.
"Something muggles use to injure or kill each other," Remus told him.
"How did he even get one?" Hermione wanted to know. "You need a license for that."
"There is no way he managed to get a special license in the last few hours. He must have bought it illegally," Ted stated. Amelia scribbled something down.
now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them…and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.
"Woah," Ron whistled.
"Was that the storm? With how bad the state of that place sounded, I wouldn't be surprised," Tonks murmured. Nobody answered.
A giant of a man was standing in the doorway…but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.
"Why would you send Hagrid?" Andromeda questioned Dumbledore, as they still hadn't received an actual answer on that subject. "I have never heard of Hagrid being sent to introduce a muggleborn to our world. That should be the job of a teacher."
"I felt he would do an adequate job, and he was quite keen to see Harry again," Dumbledore stated.
"Hagrid did fine," Harry defended his friend.
The Ministry workers, Andromeda, Emmeline and Narcissa looked dubious at this. Snape sneered.
The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head…"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."
"Only Hagrid could break a door down and then casually ask for a cup of tea," Charlie chuckled.
"They are in a falling down hut in the middle of the sea. Did he really think they had the necessary equipment to make tea?" Kingsley rolled his eyes.
"He probably had the equipment on him in some of his pockets," Charlie shrugged.
He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear…said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."
Harry smiled slightly.
Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise…bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.
"I'm glad that's out of the way, but that was dangerous," Hermione winced. "He could have accidentally set it off or something."
"At least it's not a problem anymore," Ted said, looking on the bright side.
Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on…Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.
"That's very nice of him," Remus smiled approvingly.
"Not if you've had Hagrid's cooking," Ron muttered.
"I think he got the house-elves to make it. It was quite nice," Harry told him. "My first birthday cake," he added, mostly to himself. Several people felt their hearts break all over again.
"Your mum made a cake for your first birthday," Sirius spoke up after a few moments. The memory had just come back to him. "Apparently you took great delight in smashing your fists through it rather than eating it." Harry blushed while most of the room chuckled.
Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"
"Harry," Hermione said disapprovingly.
"Given who he grew up with, be grateful he's got any manners. And he did mean to say thank you, but I'd be asking who the person was who broke down the door of the place I was staying in and randomly offered me a cake," Charlie stated.
"Don't accept food from strangers!" Moody growled disapprovingly. Harry didn't point out that given how much the Dursleys loved starving him, he couldn't afford to be picky about where food came from.
The giant chuckled…"I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."
"Hagrid," McGonagall sighed in exasperation.
"It is certainly not an appropriate time to be drinking," Molly said angrily.
His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags…Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.
Harry glanced over at the Ministry people, wondering if they would say anything about Hagrid using magic when he wasn't supposed to. But nobody spoke up.
The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight…and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.
"Why did he ask for something stronger if he had his own?" Bill frowned.
"That was butterbeer," Harry told him. "He gave me a bit."
"How many pockets does Hagrid have?" Neville asked in surprise.
"Loads," Harry grinned.
Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage…"Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."
Moody nodded, but then pulled a face at agreeing with the awful muggle.
The giant chuckled darkly. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."
"I wonder why Hagrid is being so rude." Ted frowned.
"They deserve it given how they treat Harry," Tonks reminded him.
"I'm not saying they don't," Ted told his daughter gently. "However, Hagrid doesn't know how they have been treating Harry, and yet he is still being rude to them. That's not like him." A few other adults also began to frown, having not thought about that.
He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful,
"Don't eat food from strangers!" Moody barked once more. Harry started in surprise, not expecting the second reprimand. He just nodded.
but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed…I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.
"Well, this should be interesting," Tonks smirked.
"Er - no," said Harry…"Sorry," Harry said quickly.
"Why would you apologize?" Sirius frowned.
"Habit," Harry muttered. Sirius scowled.
"Sorry ?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows…The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.
"Good," Sirius said darkly.
"Hope they stay there," Remus agreed.
"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"
Snape thought this was a reasonably fair assessment.
Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school…"I can, you know, do math and stuff."
"And stuff." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very descriptive Harry."
"Considering Dudley can't even add two, I'd be offended if someone said I didn't know anything about anything," Tonks pointed out.
But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean…whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.
"What?" Many of the older people looked shocked.
"What?" Harry frowned in confusion.
"That's a weird coincidence. Mimblewimble is the incantation for the tongue-tying curse," Tonks told him. "Right when he wants to shut Hagrid up."
"I think someone should let him know he said a magical spell," Fred grinned maliciously. Harry smirked at him.
"But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said…my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"
"That's what you focus on? Not that you're famous too?" Ron asked.
"I wanted to know more about my parents." Harry shrugged.
"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know... " Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair…"Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"
"Like that'll stop Hagrid," Charlie snorted.
A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid…"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard."
"Ah, nice and blunt," George laughed.
"I think that's something you can only say bluntly," Hermione stated.
"I'm really not sure Hagrid was the best person for this," McGonagall murmured to Dumbledore.
There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.."an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit.
Snape snorted quietly in derision.
With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be?...Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:
"The sea? That's unusually vague for a Hogwarts letter," Ted said thoughtfully.
"This one was being delivered in person, so it didn't need to be so specific," Dumbledore told him.
"I thought it was done by a self-writing quill. How does it know if a letter is being hand delivered or owl delivered?" Harry wondered. Everybody shrugged, not giving him an answer.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY…After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"
"Really? That's your first question, Potter?" Draco sneered, unable to help himself.
"Well, the deadline was that day. It seemed the most pressing part," Harry replied evenly.
"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead…he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment.
"He has an owl in his pocket?" Ginny blinked in surprise. She was slowly getting used to being in fairly close quarters with Harry Potter so felt better about speaking out. It wasn't too different from being in the common room, as long as he didn't address her directly.
"I helped him charm it, so it is large enough and comfortable enough for an owl to stay," Charlie told her. "It was probably asleep which is why it looked ruffled."
With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:
"Wow," Tonks whistled.
"His writing is hard enough to read right side up," Charlie said, sounding impressed.
Dear Professor Dumbledore…Hagrid rolled up the note,
"Short and to the point," Fred grinned.
gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm.
"That poor owl," Luna whispered. She knew they were able to cope with all sorts of weather, and that Hagrid would never hurt animals, but she still felt bad for the owl.
Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone…Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.
"Oh, not him again," Bill groaned.
"He really doesn't know when to shut up, does he?" Kingsley muttered.
"He's not going," he said…An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."
"Literally," Fred commented.
"In every way possible," George corrected.
"Boys!" Molly scolded. They might be terrible people, but she didn't want to encourage Fred and George insulting them.
"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"
Everyone stiffened at the mention of stamping out Harry's magic.
"Did…" Sirius swallowed with some difficulty. He dearly wanted to ask, and yet, he didn't want to know the answer, or he might actually go out and commit murder.
"Did the Dursleys ever actually hit you, Harry?" Remus asked him quietly. Harry's immediate reaction was to say no. The word was on the tip of his tongue, after so many years of being told that it would be so much worse if he told anyone. But he saw Sirius' pleading face. Remus' earnest desire to help.
"Not really," he muttered eventually. "Maybe a swat now and again, but mostly they just punished me with chores and my cupboard," he added hurriedly.
"And starvation," Fred muttered angrily.
Sirius and Remus both nodded. They could tell Harry was telling the truth, but also holding something back. But they also knew this wasn't the time to press him for further answers. He already looked uncomfortable enough answering that.
"You knew ?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard?"…every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats.
Fred and George grinned at each other then. Fred moved so that Ginny was no longer between the twins, and they began scribbling on a piece of parchment that had just appeared in front of them.
"I thought you weren't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts?" Hermione frowned in confusion.
"Lily would have been seventeen in the summer between sixth and seventh year," Remus told her. "And at seventeen you can do magic, so she might have done it then."
"Plus, stuff like the frogspawn you can get at Zonkos," Tonks stated. "That doesn't require you to perform magic."
I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak!
"Lily was not a freak!" Emmeline yelled.
Snape clenched his fists angrily.
But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that…It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.
"She probably has," Remus said coldly, glaring at the book.
"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you…and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"
"How dare she!" Sirius yelled, even more loudly than before.
"That's how you found out they lied about your parent's deaths?" Emmeline looked at Harry sympathetically.
"Those foul muggles," Andromeda said haughtily.
The younger people in the room were all looking at Harry, who was doing his best to disappear under the blanket still wrapped around him. This was somehow worse than the first time he'd heard this, having so many other people listen in.
Sirius hugged Harry tightly.
Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said…but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."
"Can you imagine?" Charlie winced.
"That would have been awful," Neville agreed.
Even Draco looked uncomfortable. He would have mocked Potter even more if he hadn't known anything at all. But, hearing about Potter's home life made him strangely sympathetic. Not an emotion he ever thought he would feel towards Harry Potter.
He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys…Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.
"He won't say it," Sirius said confidently.
"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.
"Nah - can't spell it. All right - Voldemort." Hagrid shuddered.
"You actually got Hagrid to say his name?" Charlie whistled, looking impressed.
Even Dumbledore seemed surprised.
"Harry deserves to know his name," Remus said quietly.
"That's not even his real name," Harry scoffed. Everyone who didn't know Voldemort's real identity turned to him in shock. "His real name is Tom Riddle."
"Riddle isn't a wizarding name," Narcissa stated with a confused frown.
"That's because his dad was a muggle," Harry told her.
"Voldemort is a half-blood?" Sirius blinked in surprise. Then he burst out laughing. Narcissa and Draco both stared at Harry, unable to believe what he was saying.
"That's…how do you know that?" Remus asked.
"I'll come up in the second book," Harry told him. Ginny cringed.
"Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now…Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day!
"My dad was Head boy?" Harry asked in surprise. He had thought his dad was a prankster if he was in the Marauders, making the map. Snape sneered. Despite knowing Dumbledore's favouritism of Gryffindors, the Marauders in particular, he still struggled to believe he had made Potter head boy.
"Yeah. It was a shock to us too," Sirius chuckled. "We thought Moony was a shoe in." Snape's sneer became more pronounced. Lupin didn't have the backbone required to be head boy. He didn't have the backbone to be prefect either, he was simply the best of all of the awful choices.
Fred and George looked at each other in shock. Moony? Sirius knew the Marauders. Suddenly, they couldn't wait for a break to ask him what he knew.
Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before...You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an'-"
Everyone winced.
Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief…knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway...
Snape snorted quietly to himself while Harry smiled.
"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing…but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry.
Harry frowned.
No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons,
Sirius sighed sadly. Remus squeezed his shoulder.
"Marlene McKinnon was one of our friends. She was in Gryffindor with us," Remus told Harry quietly.
Emmeline closed her eyes in remembrance. It was hard to believe she had lost all of her closest friends in the space of around six months. Alice, Lily, Dorcas and Marlene, all gone.
the Bones,
Amelia looked down, closing her eyes.
the Prewetts
Molly let out a quiet sob as the rest of the Weasleys all looked down sadly. Fred and George knew their middles names were that of their uncles and they wished they had known them properly. Arthur hugged his wife.
- an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."…and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.
Everyone looked horrified.
"You poor dear," Molly said, sobbing even more now.
Hagrid was watching him sadly…Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there.
So had many other people. They were not pleased by the interruption.
Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage…and the world's better off without them in my opinion
Everyone, except the Malfoys and Snape, growled furiously at that statement. Amelia wrote something else down on her parchment.
"What I wouldn't give to shut him up," Sirius snarled.
asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types…"I'm warning you, Dursley - I'm warning you - one more word..."
"Go on. Say one more word. Please," Tonks begged.
In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.
"Awww," Tonks and several of the Weasley children complained.
"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa…"But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"
"You actually said You-Know-Who?" Ron gaped at him.
"It clearly made Hagrid uncomfortable." Harry shrugged.
"It makes me uncomfortable!" Ron complained. Harry grinned at him.
"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you…Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.
Dumbledore looked startled. After seeing the diary, he had a very good idea how Voldemort had not died that night, and Hagrid had stumbled quite close to the truth.
Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it…Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.
"Not necessarily," Bill said thoughtfully. He had seen and read about many kinds of dark magic in Egypt.
"Or they weren't under trances in the first place," Sirius muttered, thinking of Lucius Malfoy in particular.
"Much of his magic was broken that night," Dumbledore confirmed. "But he is still alive in one form or another."
"What does that mean?" Amelia asked. Dumbledore refused to answer.
"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers…Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes,
Harry winced. He hated that. He had done nothing. His survival was thanks to his mother, not anything he did. He didn't deserve that respect.
but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had…they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?
"Sadly, that's not how it works," Remus told him.
"I know that now," Harry smiled.
If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?
Everyone scowled at the reminder.
"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake…without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?
"You didn't actually set the snake on Dudley," Kingsley pointed out. "You vanished the glass and that was it. I don't recall you telling it to attack your cousin or anything of the sort."
Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him…But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.
"Of course not," Ted groaned.
"He does not know when to shut up," Tonks complained.
"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed…OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.
"Now he's done it," Fred muttered eagerly. Hagrid's loyalty to Dumbledore was infamous.
Dumbledore sighed. Hagrid was a little overly enthusiastic when it came to defending him and, while he was grateful for the loyalty, it was not always appropriate.
"Get him, Hagrid," Ron cheered.
But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head…When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.
Many people roared with laughter. They saw this as the very least of what Dudley deserved.
"That's brilliant!" Fred wheezed.
"Go Hagrid!" George managed through his own laughter.
The Ministry people were looking at the book with disapproval. While they agreed that the Dursleys deserved some retribution for what they did to Harry, it should not have been done on a child. Arthur in particular was fuming. He couldn't believe the usually gentle man had attacked a muggle child with magic, and for the sins of his parents no less.
Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room…Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."
The younger people in the room burst out laughing once more.
"Hagrid," McGonagall sighed in exasperation. "That is not how it works."
"Rubeus Hagrid is not allowed to do magic. I believe his wand was snapped?" Kingsley raised his eyebrows.
"It was," Dumbledore confirmed quietly.
"Hagrid was framed. It wasn't his fault," Harry put in quickly. "I find out the whole story in second year."
"Be that as it may, he is clearly attempting magic he is not capable of," Amelia said in concern. "And while legally not allowed to do magic. Not to mention attacking a muggle boy without any reason he knew of. It was Vernon Dursley who provoked Hagrid, not Dudley." However, there was nothing she could do about it right now. She made another note. If Hagrid had indeed been framed for whatever crime he had committed, maybe he could be exonerated and allowed to use magic again. However, he could not go around using magic while it was illegal for him to do so. He would need to be spoken to about that.
"Plus, Hagrid has already admitted that his transfiguration was incomplete, meaning it is unlikely he has the skills to reverse what he has done. If the letters were borderline muggle baiting, that certainly is," Arthur stated.
He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows…I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job."
"Lovely, Hagrid. Tell him you wanted the job just so you could do a bit of magic," Remus scoffed.
"How was Hagrid allowed to do magic?" Tonks asked curiously.
"I gave him permission," Dumbledore stated.
"You don't have the authority to do that," Amelia pointed out unhappily. "You have no right to grant him permission to do magic when his wand has been snapped." Dumbledore gave no reply.
"Wait, to get his letters to him? I thought you sent the letters?" Bill looked at McGonagall.
"I sent most of them," she agreed. "But Albus told me he would sort out the problem when I went to complain about the fact that he had still not received his. I believe that was the day before he sent Hagrid out."
"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry…"Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."
"Subtle," Fred snorted.
He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry…I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."
"Lovely," Ginny wrinkled her nose.
"Better than that thing they called a blanket," Ron scowled. She nodded in agreement.
"That's the chapter finished," Tonks called out cheerfully.
"Lunchtime," Molly said. As soon as she spoke, a large table appeared, laden with food. The Weasley children were the first to head towards the table. Many of the older people moved over at a more sedate pace.
Remus grabbed a couple of plates of food and then took Sirius and Harry off through a door that had just appeared and into a smaller living room area. The Ministry officials wanted to protest at Sirius going off with Harry but figured that there was little Black could do without his wand and with Lupin there too.
The first thing Sirius did was pull his godson into a tight hug. He hadn't thought he could feel more guilty about James and Lily's deaths and abandoning Harry, but somehow these books did it. Hearing just what he'd abandoned Harry to made him realise he really needed to step up. James would be rolling in his grave. The problem was, he had no idea how to be a parent to any kid, let alone his suddenly thirteen, almost fourteen, year old godson. Eventually he pulled away and the trio sat down in the three armchairs.
Remus handed Harry a plateful of food, and shared the other between himself and Sirius, knowing his friend wouldn't be able to eat much after so long in Azkaban and then on the run. Sirius took a bite of chicken and eyed his godson. There was so much to say, so much to ask, and yet he had no idea where to begin.
"How are you, Harry?" Remus asked him gently. "With the reading so far."
"It sucks," Harry stated bluntly. "I didn't want anyone to know about all of this. I just want to skip to Hogwarts. Now Hagrid is probably going to get into trouble, just for rescuing me."
"Not for rescuing you. He attacked a muggle child with magic and with no way of being able to reverse his actions," Remus pointed out. Harry grimaced, thinking that this wasn't the most illegal thing Hagrid had done that year but didn't want to freak the two adults out before it was necessary. When Sirius was finally freed, Harry wondered if he would still want to be his guardian once he heard how much trouble Harry got himself into. And a small, hopeful part of him wondered what kind of guardian he would be. Would he be strict?
"I understand why you didn't tell anyone about your relatives," Sirius said quietly. Harry looked at him in surprise. "But I want you to know that you can tell me anything. When you're ready, I'd like to hear about it in your own words, not from this book." Harry had no idea how to respond other than simply nodding. He didn't think he would ever want to discuss the Dursleys with Sirius, but it was sort of nice knowing the offer was there.
"Do you know why you are able to speak parseltongue?" Remus asked curiously. Harry winced. He didn't really want to explain about that, but maybe they knew of a way to fix it.
"Dumbledore said that when he tried to kill me and it rebounded, he transferred some of his abilities to me." Sirius frowned.
"That makes no sense. It's not possible to simply transfer magic and magical abilities to another person or there would be no squibs. Something else happened. Dark magic most likely. When we get out of here, I'll do some research."
"By which he means get me to do some research," Remus interjected with a smile of amusement. Harry grinned.
"My family were very into dark magic and the Black library probably has more books on dark magic than Voldemort could have dreamed of. It's partly why he was so desperate to recruit Blacks. There is most likely information somewhere in there." Sirius grimaced at the idea of returning to his family home, but he would do anything if it helped Harry.
Harry felt even more worried.
"So, how much trouble do you get into at Hogwarts? Are you into pranking?" Sirius asked. Harry grimaced.
"Er…"
"He certainly gets into enough trouble if the rumours I've heard are anything to go by," Remus stated dryly. Harry winced.
"What have you heard?"
"Enough. Although, I've only heard bits and pieces, not the full story of either of your first two years at Hogwarts."
"Are you…" Harry trailed off, unsure if he should ask what was on his mind. Sirius gave him an encouraging look. "I know we agreed no punishments for stuff in the books, but are you guys going to yell at me?" He glanced at Remus, thinking about when he'd confiscated the Marauder's Map. Remus' telling off had felt worse than any of Snape's rants.
Remus seemed to sense where Harry's mind had gone. "Well, as I'm no longer your professor, or your guardian, I don't really have any right to yell at you. However, we might yell a bit if you get into danger, but that's more because we're scared than because we're angry with you."
"Danger?" Sirius looked horrified. "At Hogwarts?"
"He has met Voldemort twice apparently," Remus reminded him. Sirius immediately glanced at his godson who winced.
"Moony is right. We might yell because we're scared, but I promise to try and keep it to a minimum. It was agreed there would be no punishments and I will try to stick to that. Especially as you didn't even know I existed for your first two years." Harry nodded, unsure if he was pleased by that answer or not. Not that he wanted to be yelled at, or punished, but Remus' comment that he didn't have the right made him wonder if he even wanted to be his guardian. Maybe Sirius didn't either. Maybe both of them just felt obligated because they were friends with his dad.
"How about we tell you a story from our days at Hogwarts?" Offered Remus, seeing Harry's face. Harry nodded eagerly and Sirius immediately launched into the tale of how he met Harry's dad on the train and how they became friends.
Outside, Draco sat quietly with his mother, eating his food. He had no idea how to think or feel about all of this. He wasn't sure why they were reading about Potter in the first place, and all of these revelations about his home life were uncomfortable to say the least. Draco was also a bit worried about Severus finding out exactly what had happened on the train with Potter, given that he might have given a slightly different account of the interaction. If there was one thing his godfather hated, it was being lied too. And that wasn't the only time he had exaggerated his encounters with Potter.
Narcissa watched her son fidget nervously. It was a habit Lucius had tried to encourage him to stop, but it always seeped through when he was anxious. Her son frequently complained about Harry Potter and was sure that Draco was not going to be shown in a good light in these books. Honestly, she wondered why they were both there. It didn't help having her sister here too. It had only been a few hours and it was already difficult to ignore Andromeda's gaze. She remembered when all three of them had been as thick as thieves, now Bellatrix was insane, and she couldn't even look Andromeda in the eyes.
The problem was the books had all but confirmed the Dark Lord was not gone for good. Narcissa was terrified that he would come back, knowing Lucius would return to his side. She wouldn't be able to escape being marked a second time. She had a lot to consider.
The Weasley twins were off in a corner, planning several pranks to play on the Dursleys. When Sirius and Remus eventually emerged from the other room with Harry, they immediately made their way over.
"So, we couldn't help but-" Fred began.
"- overhear you calling someone Moony," George said looking at Sirius.
"So, do you know -"
"- who the Marauders are?"
"Why certainly," Sirius told them with a cheeky grin. "That would be myself, Remus here, and Harry's dad, James Potter."
"Your dad was a marauder?" Fred looked at Harry in astonishment.
"Professor Lupin was a marauder," George realised. "No wonder he always knew about our pranks." Remus gave him a mischievous smile.
"You two really are quite ingenious," he complimented. They beamed. "And I am no longer your teacher. Please call me Remus."
"Glad we gave you the map then Harry. Your dad helped make it," Fred realised. "So, Professor Lupin is Moony."
"And as you called Harry prongslet, I'm guessing James Potter was Prongs," said George. Remus nodded.
"Padfoot, at your service," Sirius stated, giving an exaggerated bow.
"So, who is Wormtail?" Fred wondered. Remus, Sirius and Harry all scowled furiously. The twins looked at them all in surprise.
"Peter Pettigrew," Harry told them through gritted teeth. Both of them gaped in astonishment. "He's the one who betrayed my parents, not Sirius. He is an unregistered rat Animagus, which is how he escaped. He cut off his finger and transformed, leaving Sirius to take the blame and making everyone think he was dead."
"Wow," George whistled.
"That's crazy." Fred shook his head.
"If you're innocent, why did you keep breaking into Gryffindor tower?" George wondered.
"I was trying to get to Peter," Sirius growled.
"Peter Pettigrew was in Gryffindor tower?" Fred asked in confusion.
"He was hiding as Scabbers," Harry told them. Both of their jaws fell open.
"Didn't Scabbers get eaten by Hermione's cat?" Fred frowned.
"No. He faked his own death yet again. We found him hiding at Hagrid's the same night everything else happened," said Harry.
"We had a Voldemort supporter hiding in our house for years," George whispered in horror.
"Sleeping in Percy's and then Ron's bed," Fred added in disgust. Sirius explained how he'd seen the picture in the paper of the Weasleys with Scabbers, and knew Peter was at Hogwarts near Harry. The twins nodded, understanding his actions now, even if they hadn't been particularly well thought through, like slashing the Fat Lady.
McGonagall watched the group with a growing feeling of dread. She did not want to find out what would happen if the Weasley twins combined with Remus and Sirius. Hogwarts wouldn't be standing for very long. Maybe she could encourage their enterprises to be directed away from the castle. Potentially to a place in Surrey.
The twins immediately went over to their youngest brother and hugged him, much to the surprise of everyone else. Then they pulled him off the side of the room.
"You ok, Ronnie?" George asked him seriously. Ron looked at him, bewildered. "Sirius just told us about Scabbers," he added in an undertone.
"You had him sleeping in your bed for three years. He didn't do anything, did he?" Fred wondered. Ron blinked in surprise. He couldn't believe the twins were actually worried about him.
"Er, no. He didn't do anything," he assured them. He debated on whether or not to tell them he'd been having nightmares about what could have happened. In the end he decided to make the most of the attention they were giving him that wasn't a prank and said as much. George clenched his fists and gave him another hug desperately wishing they had used the rat for more of their experiments.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, just picture what we'd do to him if he ever comes near you again," Fred told him with a malicious grin on his face. Ron beamed.
"Thanks guys. Don't tell mum, will you?"
"Your secret is safe with us. But it might be worth talking to Bill," suggested George. "He has to deal with difficult stuff all the time in Egypt, and he might know some stuff that could help." Ron nodded. They re-joined the rest of the room. The twins rolled their eyes at the suspicious looks their parents were giving them.
After an hour or so, everyone resumed their seats to continue reading. Fred picked up the book next, wanting to read about something to take his mind off the recent revelation of Scabbers being Pettigrew. He opened to the correct page and began reading.