After the Dawn

Chapter Nine: Discoveries

Harry bounded out of the fire place into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, and was met with a happily squeaking house elf. Kreacher hugged Harry tightly around the middle. "Master Harry has returned."
 "So has Master Black," Sirius's voice came from behind his godson as he stepped from the green flames into his own home. Kreacher immediately stopped looking so jubilant.

 "Kreacher bids Master Black good day, we is wishing that he has drowned himself," he added, under his breath.

 "In that case, you are out of luck," Sirius remarked dryly.

 "Kreacher, we came over because it's Christmas," Harry said excitedly. "Have you had a good Christmas so far?"

 "Kreacher is having an excellent Christmas, especially since Master Potter has chosen to join him in the Ancient and Most Nobel House of Black. Though we is wishing you hadn't brought Mistresses treacherous son with you."

 "Don't be silly Kreacher," Harry replied, smiling. "Sirius is nice! See, he let me come to visit you!"

 Kreacher said nothing, though Harry knew that neither Sirius nor Kreacher would change their opinion of the other any time soon. The hate between them ran too deeply.

 "We're going to stay for the rest of the day," Harry explained. "That way I can talk to you!"

 "Kreacher is being glad that he is cleaning the house today," the house elf remarked. "Kreacher invites you to come to the Kitchen, if Masters are wanting food."

 "Thanks Kreacher! Sure," Harry bounced off after the elf, with Sirius following less enthusiastically behind.

 By the end of the holidays, Harry had finished all of his homework (the maths teacher had given him some easy multiplying and dividing decimals by tens, because Harry was far ahead of the rest of the class, who were still on adding, subtracting and the occasional bit of division or multiplying.) and was going very well with his magical tuition.

 "Well, maybe you'll be able to stay here for a while without a magical burst to alert anyone. I probably should have taught you this ages ago," Sirius remarked as they walked back into the flat they'd vacated in preference of Potter Mansion.

 "Maybe," Harry replied. "I just want to start going to Tai-Kwon-Doe classes again."

 Sirius laughed and ruffled his godsons hair. "Go to sleep kid," the man advised. "You'll have to get up early tomorrow morning to get ready for school."

 Harry nodded and headed off to bed. Sirius stayed awake for a while longer, thinking about his godson. "Oh Harry, you've such a life ahead of you. Will you be able to do what you have to? Will you be able to fulfil your destiny? Well, I could not have done anything else. You would not have lived this long if I hadn't come to look out for you. You'll do all right though, I'll always be there for you."

 He stood up and walked up to his own room, next door to Harry's, to get a good nights sleep himself.

 In the morning, Sirius was awake long before his godson, it was his habit to rise early in the morning and practice his own magic, keep up with the duelling spells that he knew, and teach himself ones that he didn't.

 Making Harry's lunch with a swish of his wand, he looked over to see Harry, disguised as Taylor Sarl, slip into the kitchen. "Morning," Sirius greeted with a smile, before doing a double take. "Did you change into your disguise using magic?"

 "No," Harry replied. "Of course not silly. I'm not in my disguise yet, you have to put it on because the Ministry won't detect your magic."

 Sirius waved his wand, creating a mirror. "You're Taylor," he said. Harry blinked in shock.

 "I didn't do this. Are you sure you didn't do this while I was asleep, as a practical joke? If you did, it isn't funny," he told Sirius.

 "There's only one explanation for this," Sirius said, meeting his godsons eyes.

 "Metamorphmagic," both of them said together, sounding slightly reverent. 

 "Haven't you got a cousin or something who's a metamorphmagi?" Harry asked.

 "Yeah," Sirius replied, "Nymphadora Tonks, who only ever answers to her last name." 

 Harry giggled slightly at this. "I would too, if I was called Nymphadora – that's a girls name, and I'm a guy. But wouldn't it have come into light before now?"

 "I don't know. I know that Tonks has a very strong gift, and she was changing at about two years old, but there aren't that many with a gift as strong. I'll head back to the Mansion and see what I can find in the library there today. I'll put the disguise magic on you myself anyway, just in case," Sirius decided. "Your own disguise might fade off, I don't know. I never thought much about Metamorphmagic – it's quite rare."

 Harry nodded. "I'll be fine at school anyway," he said. "I can walk there fine."

 Sirius nodded. "I'll meet you here after Tae-Kwon-Doe, ok?"

 "Sounds good to me. See you then," Harry swept his lunch from the counter and packed it easily into a bag as Sirius placed the few charms necessary to keep the illusions that Harry was really 'Taylor Sarl' in place.

 "Have a good day kid," he said, ruffling Harry's hair gently.

 "You too," Harry replied cheerfully, darting outside, heading for school. Sirius smiled gently after his godson, before turning to the fire place and throwing a handful of floo powder on to it.

 "Potter Mansion," he murmured.

 Harry walked into the play ground at Edinburgh Elementary alone, head high and proud as he glanced around him, marking everyone silently. He spotted a pack of bullies tormenting a younger child, a girl, and sighed.

 Walking over, he touched a finger to a pressure point on one of the boys, forcing him out of play for a moment, frozen in place with an expression of agony on his face.

 The other bullies stopped when they noticed that something was wrong with one of their own. When they saw Harry, their 'courage' deserted them.

 "Didn't you know that it's bad manners to hit a lady?" Harry asked coolly, releasing the bully he was holding with a finger. They all left quickly. Harry was respected by the bullies, because he wasn't afraid of them.

 "Sorry about them," he said calmly to the girl.

 She wasn't the prettiest of people, with bug-like eyes and pale blonde hair, but she smiled at him. "That's ok," she told him. "My name's Luna, Luna Lovegood. Who are you?"

 "Taylor Sarl," Harry replied. He knew that the girl was a witch – her mother was a highly respected member of the Accidental Charms squad at the Ministry. It was rumoured that her husband was a little on the doubtable side of sanity.

 "Thanks for that," Luna said, and waved before wandering off.

 Harry smiled faintly. She was just the sort of person that the bullies would love to pick on. He'd have to watch out for her.

 She wandered off, humming tunelessly to herself as Harry walked his own way, occasionally checking the girls location, and that of the people around her.

 Suddenly, the bell rang. It startled Harry momentarily before he headed into school for his first class – maths.

 "Have you done your homework, Taylor?" The teacher, Professor Iron, asked his favourite student.

 "Yes, Professor," Harry replied with a  faint sigh. "So what do I do now?"

 "I've got a sheet covering everything you say you can do. Go through it, it includes multiplying decimals by ten. If you require help, ask for it," Iron replied.

 "Why do I have to do harder work than anyone else?" Harry grumbled aloud, getting to work on the paper. None of the other students had arrived at class yet.

 "Because you're the best student in the class."

 "Why do I have to be the best? Can I retire and be the second best?" Harry asked hopefully.

 "No, otherwise there wouldn't be a best in the class," Iron told Harry, grey eyes sparkling. "No one wants to be the best in the class! Some people just are."

 "Well I wish it wasn't me."

 "If wishes were wings, all creatures would fly," the teacher replied as the rest of the class turned up. Harry worked on the sheet – it was all very easy, some of it stuff that Sirius had taught him even before sending him to school.

 The day couldn't pass fast enough.

 Finally the last bell of the day rang. Harry headed outside, ready to bolt for the Tae-Kwon-Doe class, as if getting there quickly would make it pass faster, when he saw the new girl – Luna – in trouble again.

 Hurrying across the playground, Harry made for the gates, where Luna was once more surrounded by the gang of bullies. They were throwing something – a doll, it looked like – over her head and refusing to get it back.

 Luna lost her vague look, face filling instead with extreme anger. Knowing the dangers of angering a young witch without much training, Harry bounded into the centre of the ring of bullies, kneeing one of them in the groin and spinning to deal a quick, hard kick to another's abdomen.

 The rest took one look at Harry's anger, flushed face and backed off quickly. "Cowards," Harry muttered, turning to hand Luna her doll back.

 "Thank you," Luna said, smiling.

 "That's ok. You gonna get home all right?" Harry asked.

 "Yeah, I live just around the corner," Luna replied. "I was being home schooled, but dad likes Mu- well, dad thought I should get a proper education with kids my own age. So I came here."

 "You nearly said Muggles," Harry remarked with a smile. "Don't worry, I know all about that – my older sister is a witch, our parents are both Muggles, and I am too."

 "Oh… Well, at least you are someone I don't have to pretend with," Luna smiled brightly.

 "I have to go – I have a Tae-Kwon-Doe lesson to attend. I'll see you tomorrow, probably," Harry said, smiling back, before taking off, running hard towards his class.

 Luna put her doll in her backpack and wandered off around the corner, pulling a magazine out of a pocket and opening it, right side up.

 Harry checked his pace a short distance from his classroom, catching his breath before going inside. "Taylor! Nice to see you again – have a good Christmas?"

 It was Sensei. "Yes, thank you Sensei. I had great fun. How was yours?" Harry asked politely.

 "Well enough, well enough. Come in and change," Sensei replied. "There's only one or two others so far, and we won't be starting without you."

 Harry still changed swiftly, hurrying back into the main room of the Dojo, ready for tuition in Tae-Kwon-Doe, even if his mind was not completely with it at present.

 One and a half hours later, the lesson ended and Harry changed back into his regular clothes as quickly as he could, before racing home again, yelling good bye and thank you to Sensei as he went.

 "Sirius!" he called, walking through the front door of the flat and dropping his school bag on the floor.

 "In the living room!" Sirius yelled back, and Harry raced over, following the sound Sirius's voice.

 "Ah, there you are," Sirius looked up with a smile, there was a book resting on his lap. "I've been looking into Metamorphmagic while you were at school."

 "What have you found out?" Harry asked, bounding over to sit down beside his godfather.

 "Well, depending on the amount of talent, and the circumstances that one lives in, Metamorphmagic can begin to show at any given time. There are records of fifty year olds developing the ability," Sirius replied. "The only way to strengthen it is to use it, like with so many other things."

 Harry nodded. "That makes sense. Oh, and there is another wizarding family in the area – the Lovegoods, I met their daughter at school today, her name is Luna."

 Sirius swore softly. "Tread softly around her," he warned.

 "I stopped some bullies picking on her," Harry replied. "And told that I knew about the magical world, because I have an older sister who is a witch, just in case I ever slip up."

 "Ah, that sounds alright then," Sirius said, nodding. "All the same, don't hang around with her too much, and don't go to her house – her mother is a charms expert, and I wouldn't want her to notice the charms around you."

 "But if I'm a metamorphmagi, and use that magic to disguise myself, will Mrs. Lovegood recognise it?" Harry asked.

 "Not necessarily. Just warn me if you are going to her house, ok?" Sirius replied, after thinking for a moment. "You know I want you to make more friends, but this friend could be dangerous."

 "Yes Sirius! But I don't need friends – I've got you!" Harry told his godfather, hugging Sirius around the waist as his godfather got up.
 "You still need friends your own age," Sirius replied sternly, though inside her was smiling happily. His godson loved him. It was almost a good as having James back again.

 Harry just nodded. "I've got homework from Iron again," he said. "I'd better get started, maths is first thing again tomorrow."

 Sirius nodded. "Ok, later tonight we'll head over to Potter Mansion and you can practice with magic."

 Harry nodded and took out his homework. So, he was a metamorphmagi, huh? A thought occurred to him. "Sirius! If I change my appearance using Metamorphmagic, will the Ministry pick up on it?"

 "No, don't worry! That's only normal magic, Metamorphmagic works by it's own rules, the Ministry can't sense it," Sirius yelled back. Harry smiled slightly. Good! This new talent of his wouldn't make life difficult for him and Sirius then.

 Content, Harry settled down to work on his maths homework.

 Not so far away, in what appeared to most as an old ruin of a castle, Albus Dumbledore paced around his office. Professor McGonagall was there also.

 "He's alive," the headmaster murmured. "I know it!"

 The subject of both their thoughts and conversations was, of course, Harry Potter.

"Albus, we've been searching these five years!" McGonagall sighed. "Even I am beginning to lose hope! How can you be sure he is dead?"

 "Because if he is, then our world is doomed, Minerva," Dumbledore replied heavily. "Harry is no more dead than Voldemort is, both of them will resurface sometime. But Harry must be trained if he is to fight his battles, and defeat the dark! He must be found and raised in a secure environment!"

 "Maybe he is," McGonagall pointed out. "What says that he is not being raised in a secure environment? We cannot see into the Muggle world, perhaps he was found by a by passer and raised with someone else, someone who could love him."

 "I hope so. But still I worry. What is it was not an innocent bystander than found Harry? What if it was someone more damaging than the Dursley's might have been? What if it was a Death Eater? What if it was Sirius Black?" Dumbledore sighed heavily. "My mind is plagued with hellish images of what would happen, were the traitor to have found Harry Potter."

 "No, Albus! I refuse to believe that, if Harry is alive, he is in the hands of a Death Eater! Surely someone would have come to gloat about it, if that was the truth!" McGonagall cried out, eyes flaming.

 "You saw what the Death Eaters did to the Dursley's. What if that pitiful wreck of a son of theirs one day becomes Harry?"

 "At least they were not tortured much first, Albus. Their deaths were not as horrific as some that were witnessed through the Dark Reign. That is one small mercy. They all died together, too."

 Dumbledore nodded wearily. "I know, Minerva. Sometimes I feel even myself beginning to lose hope that Harry will ever be found."

 "Albus! Five years you've searched for him without let! If you were convinced enough to do that, then you can't give up hope now!" it was one of the pictures on the wall, a man. McGonagall couldn't remember who the guy was, but it didn't really matter.

 "You are quite right, I suppose," Dumbledore said. "But Christmas is just over and the halls are teeming with students again. All of them disappointed that the holidays couldn't last just one more day. Their post-holiday depression gets to me a little, I'll be fine in a few days."

 Down in the dungeons of the castle, Snape was feeling no such sentiment over the depression of the students. In fact, he had four of them in his classroom now, cleaning out gunk that had been piling there since the last detention.

 He was in a very bad mood. Yet another holiday spent chasing Dumbledore's whim across the country, searching for the Potter brat. Why couldn't the old coot just admit that Potter was either dead or unfindable and leave Severus in peace!

 "Work harder!" He snarled at the terrified first and second year students, who squeaked and jumped to try and do as he bided them. Everyone knew that after the holidays was the worst time of the year for running into Snape. He was always ten times worse than any other point in the year – a feat few would have imagined possible.

 Everyone knew that you shouldn't put so much as a hair out of line after the holidays when Snape was even rumoured to be near by. These four hapless students hadn't been quick enough to hide when they saw Snape's billowy robes approaching, or think up a suitable excuse for whatever it was that they were doing wrong. They weren't too sure what that was themselves.

 "I said work harder," the irritable Potions Master snarled again. "If this isn't finished when I return, you'll serve another detention tomorrow night!"

 More squeaks and attempts to work harder, Snape sneered coldly at his victims and swooped from the room without a backwards glance.

 In another place, far from Hogwarts, a werewolf turned its head to the moon and howled a painful, lonely cry to the taunting full moon.

 Again, in a different place, a rat almost sighed with relief in the knowledge that the Terrible Twins were gone, and he would not be tormented by them any longer.

 And back in Edinburgh, Harry Potter snuggled deep within the blankets of his bed, content after a wearing, but fun lesson in magic from his godfather.

***

 There you go, a new chapter with a bit of info on more than just Harry! Hope you liked the chapter, and please review! I made it to the amount that I wanted last time, and it wasn't too hard, was it? So, how about we get up to 460? Only 47 reviews away, and I got 48 for the last chapter! See you all in a day or two!

~WolfMoon~