Chapter 53
When Harry awoke the next morning, he was feeling more at peace than he had felt for a long time, and with a smile on his face, he remembered why he felt so good, Lily had said yes, and so had James, it was only a matter of weeks now until he could finally get on with his life, for the first time without Voldemort. Another reason that he felt better was that he had finally accepted a bottle of dreamless sleep potion from Snape to try and stop the nightmares that plagued his thoughts every time he closed his eyes. They had been getting steadily worse, between Voldemort influencing them and making Harry see what his followers were doing, and Harry's own terrible memories, and everyone was starting to notice how tired he always looked because of them. He had been hesitant the night before to take the potion, worried that it wouldn't work since Voldemort was playing a part in influencing the dreams, but now he was thankful that he had taken the potion, because it did work and he was finally able to get a good nights sleep.
Stretching his arms over his head, he got out of bed and immediately regretted it, his bedroom was freezing, and the floor was even colder on his bare feet. Hastily, he ran for the bathroom and turned the water as hot as it would go before he jumped in, relishing the warmth it brought, but he was slightly worried by the fact that the water seemed to only warm his skin, and his bones still felt as thought he were standing in the middle of a blizzard instead of in a hot shower. Deciding to ignore the discomfort that thought brought him, he finished his shower and returned to his room where he quickly pulled clean clothes from his wardrobe and got dressed, pulling the thickest robe he owned over his black shirt and pants before he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, trying in vain to calm the chattering of his teeth and the chills that wracked his entire body, He then grabbed his staff and walked over to the window where Sherlock was sunning himself.
'Are you coming with me to breakfast this morning?' he hissed to the green serpent
'I wouldn't dare to miss a meal' hissed the snake back and Harry swore that if he could, the snake would be smirking
'Well then, come on then, we are already running late' said Harry as he stretched out his hand to the snake who obediently slithered up his arm and settled himself underneath the cloak around Harry's arm.
When his pet was ready, Harry left the room and made his way toward the great hall alone since Sirius had already gone to breakfast. When he entered the hall, Harry walked quickly up to Ginny, who was sitting at the Gryffindor table, and leaned over to give her a quick good morning kiss on the cheek before saying hello to the three marauders and Lily who all smiled at him in greeting, all four of them looking quite tired from the events of the night before. He then grudgingly let go of his girlfriend and made his way to the head table and took his seat next to his godfather who gave him a warm smile.
"Good morning, Harry, I was wondering when you would get here" said the black haired man around a mouthful of eggs.
"Morning, Sirius" said Harry as he began to fill his own plate.
"So, what are you doing today since both Remus and I are lecturing in defense classes" asked the ex-convict in curiosity
"I'm not sure, I was thinking of going into the village to get Christmas gifts, I haven't had an opportunity to buy anything yet" said Harry after he had thought for a couple of minutes.
Before Sirius could respond though, the hall was filled with the screeching of the owls as they delivered the morning post. Harry instinctively looked to the ceiling, even though he wasn't expecting anything since anyone that would be sending him letters was sitting in the great hall, but he still loved to watch as the hundreds of owls circled around the vaulted ceiling. When the last owl had found the recipient of its burdens and left the great hall, Harry turned back to his breakfast, but when he heard a loud gasp echo from around the hall, he looked back to the ceiling where he saw another bird circling around the rafters, but this was no post owl, it was a solid black hawk, and when he saw it, it felt as though his stomach had been filled with ice cold lead, especially when the bird began to fly toward him.
Pushing all of his bad feelings aside and ignoring the now silent great hall and the stares he was receiving from students and teachers alike, he stood and watched the hawk approach him until it dropped a blood red envelope onto Harry's plate and flew up to take a perch on the rafters, it's black eyes never wavering from Harry as he hesitantly picked the letter up and opened it. He quickly skimmed the letter before his eyes widened in horror and he looked up to the hawk.
"Never" he said defiantly to the hawk who just starred back at him for another moment before leaving the rafters once again and going into a dive straight for Harry, who just stood his ground, but at the last moment, the bird veered off toward Harry's right side, directly to Sirius who was standing next to him looking at his godson in concern and completely ignoring the hawk, as it let out a loud screech that made everyone's blood run cold.
"Sirius, move!" yelled Harry and the older man immediately looked to the approaching hawk and his eyes widened in horror as his face paled.
The black haired man jumped out of the way at the last second, but he wasn't quick enough as the hawks razor sharp talons tore six long gashes in the shoulder of his robes before it launched back into the sky and flew out the high windows, not even looking over his shoulder at the stunned hall.
"Oh God, Sirius, did it get you?" Harry asked desperately as he fell to the ground next to his godfather who had his teeth clenched in pain. "Sirius, answer me!" he pleaded desperately and still he got no response from the older man and he was terrified to see that his godfather was quickly losing color in his cheeks and his breath was becoming labored as his eyes began to loose focus "Sirius, hang on!" Harry demanded as he clutched one of Sirius' hands in his own and tore the shredded robe with his other to see just how badly he was injured, revealing six very deep gashes in Sirius' shoulder, each several inches long and bleeding freely, but what worried Harry the most was the fact that the edges of each cut were solid black. He desperately tried to use the edge of his own robes to try and stop the flow of blood, but within seconds, they too were saturated and he felt tears come to his eyes "Hang on Sirius, you have to, I can't loose you" said Harry quietly to his godfathers now still form and he felt a hand on his own shoulder, but he didn't turn to face the person it belonged to.
"Harry, why won't you heal him, or let Madame Pomfrey do it?" asked the headmaster quietly, worried about just what was going on and concerned for Sirius and Harry both.
"We can't" said Harry quietly "Any spell we used would only kill him faster" he added in a whisper as he felt tears begin to spill over and slide down his cheeks. He heard several startled gasps from behind him, but he ignored them all and pulled the unconscious from of his godfather closer to him, willing desperately for the older man not to die, even though he knew there was nothing anyone could do to save him from that fate now, it was only a matter of minutes now before the only father Harry had ever known would be dead, and it would be all his fault.
The students and teachers gathered in the great hall sat in stunned silence, some with tears in their own eyes and some crying openly when they heard what Harry had said and as they watched him cling desperately to Sirius. No one dared to move, and even if they had wanted to, they were still in too much shock to do so. Once the hawk had flown out of the room, Ginny and Lily and the marauders had all gone up to the head table and were standing next to Ron, Hermione, and Draco, none of them believing what they were seeing, and none of them wanting to approach the clearly distraught teenager in front of them, none that is except for the older Remus who knelt on the ground on Sirius' other side and grasped his free hand in his own as tears fell down his own cheeks at what he felt was the loss of the only friend he had left from his childhood.
After a moment, Ginny too kneeled next to Harry and wrapped one of her arms around his waist as she too tried to stop the flow of tears that were threatening as she listened to Harry speak quietly to his godfather, completely ignoring the rest of the people around him.
"Sirius, I'm so sorry, I should have known this was going to happen, it should have been me who was hurt, not you. I'm sorry Sirius, please don't leave me, please, things are supposed to be getting better now, we can finally be a family, we just had to wait for less than a month, then everything would be normal, please, Sirius, we're so close, don't leave now" he pleaded as he continued to hold the now still form close to himself, tears running unchecked down his face as he said these things over and over again until he became so chocked up that he could do nothing else but sit in silence.
For the next several minutes, the entire great hall was silent, and no one dared to move, everyone praying silently for what they were witnessing to be nothing more than a terrible dream that they would wake up from. No one knew what they could do to help, if anything, especially if what Harry said was true and any magic used would only kill Sirius Black faster, so they just stayed silent until they heard a gentle rustle of wings from above. Frightened, everyone but Harry looked up, worried that it was the black hawk returning, but to their surprise, it was not the hawk, but instead, a great golden phoenix was soaring through the high windows, and after circling the room once, she changed direction and flew in silence to the front of the hall, where she gently perched on Harry's shoulder and the green eyed boy tore his gaze from his godfathers prone form and turned his tear filled eyes to meet the black ones of the phoenix.
Everyone watching was spellbound by the beautiful creature, since no one except the students from the past had seen her before. Harry had spoken often to his friends and the professors about Terres, his guardian, but thus far, the mysterious bird had not been seen by anyone except Harry since the beginning of term. She was smaller than the headmasters phoenix, Fawkes, and her beautiful plumage was of the richest gold, with not even a single feather of any other color on her entire body. In short, she was the most beautiful bird any of them had ever seen before and she just seemed to radiate a sense of unsurpassable power.
'What has happened, my child?' asked Terres gently after she had settled onto Harry's shoulder and taken in his distraught appearance.
'It's Sirius, he's dying and there is nothing I can do about it, and it's all my fault that he was hurt in the first place' said Harry quietly as he starred at his guardian for a moment before turning back to his godfather and pulled him closer into his arms.
'Won't your powers heal him?' she asked in concern
'No, they will only harm him further, I can do nothing to save him' answered Harry as more tears fell down his cheeks
'Perhaps I can do something to help, do you mind if I try?' asked Terres
'No, please do anything to help him' said Harry desperately
With a quick nod, Terres jumped from Harry's shoulder and sat on the ground next to Sirius where she began to sing a rich and beautiful melody, and a few moments later, she leaned over and rich pearly tears began to fall from her own eyes to land on the bleeding wounds, but after that, something that none of them had ever seen before began to happen as the four cuts were bathed in a blanket of golden light that slowly turned to the purest of white that was so bright that everyone but Harry had to shield their eyes from its intensity until it began to fade. When it was gone, Harry dared to look down at Sirius, and he felt his heart fill with joy as he saw that the wounds had completely disappeared, not even leaving scars behind, and Sirius had regained all the color in his cheeks and was breathing normally again. Within seconds, his eyes opened and looked directly at Harry, who, in response to seeing them felt a fresh wave of tears flood his eyes, but these from happiness as he gave his godfather a tight hug as he began to openly sob into his shoulder.
Sirius was at a complete loss, never had Harry acted so emotional, and he had no idea what to do to comfort him, so he did the only thing he could think of, he sat up and wrapped his arms around Harry's back and gently stroked the long black hair that had begun to fall loose from its ponytail "Shh, Harry, everything is going to be all right, calm down" he repeated over and over again completely ignoring the astonished looks he was receiving from everyone in the hall and the golden phoenix still sitting the floor beside him until it flew to Harry's shoulder and began to sing quietly, effectively calming Harry to the point that he could look at Sirius and speak rationally.
"Are you ok, Sirius?" he asked almost hesitantly as he looked into the pale blue eyes, and when he nodded, Harry spoke again "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let this happen, I could have stopped it" he said quietly and, shocked, Sirius looked at him with wide eyes.
"What do you mean, Harry?" he asked, and Harry noticed that he was receiving the same look from a few of the professors and his friends as well.
"Read this" he said as he held out his hand, summoning the red parchment from his seat at the table and giving it to Sirius who unfolded it and began to read the black writing on it, aware of Dumbledore, Remus, and Snape reading the letter over his shoulder.
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Potter,
We know your secret. We know the location of our master, and we want him back and will stop at nothing to return him to his rightful place at our head, as the ruler of the wizarding world, and weather or not it is your body he uses is of no concern to us, he could rule just as easily if you were dead as he could using your powers since you are the only threat to him. This is your only opportunity to choose on your own, tell the hawk your answer and she will relay it to us, but be forewarned, if you refuse to obey our suggestion, you will regret it, and don't even try to put any type of spell on the hawk, for any magic you try to use on her will be repelled. Also, don't try to touch her, her talons and beak are coated with a poison so strong that it kills in a matter of minutes, and if you were to try to heal any wound she might inflict on you with a spell, it will only bring death quicker. You have a choice, either surrender willingly now, and turn your body and powers over to the dark lord, or face the consequences. We will win, and you will loose, choose now, Potter.
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When they had finished reading the letter, no one could miss the tense looks that passed between the four professors and Harry, and it only caused Ginny, who was now standing next to her brother to give Harry and Sirius a moment together, the marauders, Lily, Hermione, Ron, and Draco to begin to worry more, especially after hearing the equally tense conversation that followed.
"Do you know who sent this, Harry?" asked Remus once he had finished reading the ominous letter
"I have no idea" admitted Harry
"Who could have found out? And how?" asked Sirius almost frantic with worry for his godson
"That is something we need to discuss further, Harry, I trust no one else knows that you are aware of?" asked the Headmaster as he surveyed the group of students and the others who had been told about what was going on.
"No, no one else has been told, and I have complete trust in those who do know" said Harry as he too looked at his friends
"Very well, we will have to discuss this further at a later time. Sirius, how are you feeling?" asked Dumbledore as he looked to the man who was still sitting on the floor
"Fine, thanks to her" he said as he motioned to Terres
"Well Harry, am I correct in assuming that this is the phoenix that you have been calling Terres, your guardian?" asked Snape as he looked at the creature that had just moved back to her perch on Harry's shoulder.
"Yes it is" said Harry quietly as he gently stroked his friend "Thank you, Terres, I can never repay you for this" he said to the bird who looked intently to him
'My child, you don't need to thank me, I only did what needed to be done' she answered
'Yes, but without you, Sirius would have died, and then I wouldn't know what to do, I can't loose him, he and Dumbledore are the only real family I have left' said Harry honestly
'You are welcome, my child, now be careful, I must be going, but I will be back soon. Be careful, my child, and don't blame yourself for what happened, you couldn't have stopped it no matter what you did. I will see you soon' she said before she spread her beautiful golden wings and soared toward the high windows before flying out them and disappearing from sight. Harry then turned his attention back to those gathered around him and to Remus who was helping Sirius to his feet. He then stood up himself and looked toward Dumbledore who was facing the students.
Without saying a word, Harry grabbed his staff and held out his hand and an instant later, the Gryffindor sword and Slytherin dagger appeared, and his scarlet cloak was replaced by one of solid black. Ginny looked to him in concern, and she was surprised to see the cold fury that was being radiated from his green eyes, they were no where near the warm and caring eyes that she was used to seeing, but more like green ice. Tentatively, she approached her boyfriend and laid a hand on his arm.
"Harry?" she asked quietly, not noticing the eyes of the rest of the student body and the professors that were looking at her and the raven haired boy beside her. Harry didn't answer her or even acknowledge her, instead, he looked at his godfather who was breathing heavily and leaning on the table for support. Apparently, even though the wounds had been healed, he was still feeling sore from the injuries. After watching Sirius for a moment, Harry turned backed and looked directly at her "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, though everyone in the hall heard her.
"Ginny, I have to find whoever did this, they can't get away with it" he answered, but like his eyes, his voice held no warmth.
"Harry, what are you talking about?" she asked fearfully, already knowing full well what he meant.
"Ginny, I will make whoever did this pay, it is me they want, they had no right to come after my family" he said harshly "Be careful, Gin, I don't want them to get you too" he added quietly as he gently placed a hand on her cheek before turning and beginning to walk from the hall.
"Harry, think about what you are doing" said the headmaster before he had made it halfway to the doors.
"I have, whoever did this has to pay" he said without turning around
Suddenly, the doors to the great hall slammed closed and Harry spun on his heel and faced the aged wizard who was looking at him heavily "Harry, you can not rush out there in the state of mind you are in right now, if you do, you will loose" he said calmly
"Don't try to stop me, Dumbledore, I will do this, whether you want me to or not" he said back evenly
"I know I can't stop you, Harry, but I want you to be sure you are aware of just what you are risking if you leave the castle" answered the headmaster
"Sir, with all due respect, no one understands just what I am risking better than I do. Now if you don't mine, open these doors before I do" he threatened
"Very well, but be careful Harry, and don't do anything rash" he cautioned, and when Harry nodded his head, he waved his wand and opened the doors once more.
"Thank you, sir. Sirius, watch your back, all of you" said Harry as he turned once again and walked from the now silent hall. Once he was out of sight, Dumbledore sighed heavily before turning to face the rest of the school.
"Students, because of the events of this morning, I'm afraid that I am forced to cancel all trips to Hogesmede, and I must insist that all students remain inside the castle at all times, and all outdoor classes will be put on hold until it is safe to venture outdoors again. If you notice anything suspicious, please inform a teacher immediately, and finally, all quidditch practice and games will be postponed until further notice. Please be careful and watch out for yourselves as well as your younger schoolmates. Thank you, now please report to your common rooms, classes are cancelled until this afternoon" he said and the students obediently left the great hall as he turned to those gathered at the staff table.
"Minerva, would you and the other heads of house please go and make sure that everyone is in their common rooms? Hagrid, would you please go to the Slytherin common room, I'm afraid there are things I must discuss with Severus" and with a nod, Flitwick, Sprout, Hagrid, and McGonagall all left the hall and Dumbledore turned to Ginny and Sirius. "Don't worry, I am sure Harry will be fine, as long as he keeps his wits about him, he may be strong, but he is acting on anger, he is no match for death eaters, or worse, Voldemort until he calms down" he said heavily as he surveyed those still gathered in the hall.
"Albus, do you really think Harry will be all right once he calms down?" asked Sirius thickly, still trying to process everything that had happened during breakfast as he tried to hold himself up using the back of his chair.
"I think he will" said the headmaster with a small smile "We just need to have faith in his abilities, and trust in Harry not to do anything rash" he said "Sirius, why don't you let Remus take you up to the hospital wing so Poppy can check you over, I will let you know the instant we find him" he suggested, and Sirius grudging obeyed and accepted his friends help out of the great hall as Dumbledore left through the door behind him with Severus on his heels. Realizing that there was nothing they could do, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Lily and the three marauders all left the great hall as well, but instead of going to any of their rooms, they walked in silence toward Gryffindor tower.
Once Harry was out of the great hall, he stopped momentarily to make sure he wasn't being followed, and when he was sure that he was alone, he tucked his sword and dagger into his belt. He then pulled his hood over his head and gripped his staff tightly in his hand and took a deep breath before continuing on his way through the castle, almost jogging to the front entrance of the school. Once outside, he cleared his mind and an instant later, he had changed into a black wolf and set off at a flat out run into the depths of the forest. When he had run for several hours straight, Harry stopped abruptly and began to sniff the air with his canine ears pricked up, listening and smelling for anything that was our of the ordinary. Sensing nothing strange, he decided to go at things from another angle, so he shifted into his raven form before spreading his wings and soaring into the sky, his eyes never leaving the forest floor below him as he constantly scanned it for any sign of death eaters or the black hawk that had delivered the letter to Hogwarts only a few short hours before.
He flew until the sun was setting, and only then did he fly down to the forest floor. After sitting in silence for several minutes listening for any movement around him, he shifted into the form of a panther. Deciding that a cats senses were far more acute than other animals, and would therefore alert him to anything else approaching, he curled up on the forests floor to take a quick nap before heading out again. After a few hours, he was refreshed and wide awake again as he ran through the forest once more, stopping occasionally if he picked up any strange smells. He continued in this pattern for three long hours before he found anything even remotely of interest.
He was searching the forest once more as a wolf when his senses picked up the unmistakable smell of many humans from about a mile ahead of him. After searching the area directly around him and finding no threats, he transformed back into himself to make sure he was ready to fight if the need were to arise. His sword and dagger were still tucked into his belt, and his staff was in pristine condition in his hand, ready for his use if he needed any of his weapons. Taking a deep breath, to still his frazzled nerves, he silently shifted into a black owl, and once the transformation was complete, he spread his great wings and took off into the night sky in the direction of the area he had smelled the other humans.
It only took him about fifteen minutes to reach the area where the smell was the strongest, and when he was near it, he transformed once again into a wolf and closed the distance between himself and the clearing that was lit up with the light of a large bonfire.
He silently crept around the edge of the clearing, keeping his stomach almost pressed onto the forest floor to try and remain out of sight of the people gathered in the clearing. Once he had gone almost halfway around the clearing, he found a place where he could safely watch what was going on without being seen by those in the clearing. He settled down on his stomach and peered through the underbrush before him to see just what was going on around the fire. There were about thirty different figures standing before the fire, all of them wearing black robes that clearly marked them to be death eaters, and they were all talking loudly, clearly disagreeing about something.
"I'm telling you, we would be better off just to go to Hogwarts and take the brat!" yelled one man as he waved his arms around furiously.
"How do you propose we do that? There is no way we could take him out of the castle with Dumbledore guarding him" answered another man just as furiously as the other
"I agree, we could never get him out of the castle as long as he is so well guarded" said someone standing toward the back of the group
"What other options do we have?" asked the first man "The longer he remains at Hogwarts, the better the chances are that they will be able to destroy our master. They are already close, by Christmas they will be successful" he countered
"What if we were to lure him out of the castle by capturing one of his friends?" suggested one member of the group who had been silent until now
"But how would we get one of his friends out of the castle? He isn't likely to let any of them out of his sight for long" said another
"I think I have an idea" began one of the original men to speak, but before he could say anything further, all of the members of the group as well as Harry were distracted by a piercing screech from somewhere in the trees above them. Fearfully, Harry looked up and was met by the piercing black eyes of the hawk that had nearly killed. Harry's green eyes grew wide in shock and terror as he recognized the bird, and clearly, she recognized him as well, if not by sight, then by smell. He quickly jumped to his feet, and by doing so, caused the bush he was hiding behind to begin to shake.
"What was that?" asked one of the death eaters hesitantly as they all turned their eyes toward Harry who was too frightened to move lest he draw more attention to himself than he already had, hoping that they would ignore the noise, but he was not to be so locky, and in a matter of moments, he was regretting ever leaving the castle.
"It came from over there" said one as he pointed at Harry, and instantly, six death eaters began to advance toward him.
Before he knew what was happening, Harry was surrounded by the death eaters, and all of them had their wands trained directly on him. Growling, he raised his hackles and bared his teeth at the men who all looked slightly frightened of him.
"Well, what is it?" asked one of the men who was still in the clearing
"It looks like some sort of dog, maybe a wolf" answered one of the men who was aiming his wand at Harry
"Well, kill it, it can't be that difficult" answered the other man with a wave of his hand
"Yes, sir" answered the man who was now only a few meters away from Harry "Avadra Kedavra!" he shouted and a green beam of light shot out of his wand and struck Harry directly in the side. "What the hell" he muttered when the wolf remained standing on his paws, but was panting heavily. He looked at the others who were surrounding the animal with his eyes wide, and saw the same shocked expression mirrored on all of their faces as the wolf began to growl at those surrounding him once again.
"Well, what is taking so long?" demanded the man from the clearing, clearly the one in charge of the death eaters. When he received no response, he became angry and walked briskly to those surrounding the angry wolf. He looked at the animal with a disdain clearly written on his face before looking to the men around it "I thought I told you to kill this creature" he said with a scowl on his face as he looked at the man who had shot the killing curse.
"We tried sir, I hit it with the killing curse, but nothing happened" he admitted nervously
"Well, are you sure the curse hit him?" asked the other man in doubt without looking at the wolf.
"Yes sir" answered the other man
"Incompetent fools" said the leader angrily as he turned to face the wolf, and for the first time, Harry got a good look at the man, and when he saw his face, he let out another ferocious growl. He would recognize that man anywhere, his image had been present on many of Harry's nightmares, ever since that fateful day almost exactly a year ago when the two of them had dueled in the great hall at Hogwarts, and he had stabbed Harry, nearly killing him. It was Edward Shaw, former head of the aurors at the Ministry of Magic and known death eater.
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A/N: Ha, ha, cliffy, well don't worry, the next chapter is almost done, so I'll post it probably Thursday or Friday. Hope you enjoyed this, I know, I'm evil to do that to Sirius and Harry, but oh well, I couldn't resist. Well, anyways, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, and please let me know what you think about this one as well. I guess since you guys are so nice to review, I'll give you a few hints about what's coming up next, lets see, in chapter 54, Harry gets to fight those stupid death eaters, and that evil bird goes back to Hogwarts, and they finally get finished with the potion. In chapter 55, well, you'll just have to wait for that, I only have like five pages written so far, but I think you'll like it! Well, enough rambling, please review!
When Harry awoke the next morning, he was feeling more at peace than he had felt for a long time, and with a smile on his face, he remembered why he felt so good, Lily had said yes, and so had James, it was only a matter of weeks now until he could finally get on with his life, for the first time without Voldemort. Another reason that he felt better was that he had finally accepted a bottle of dreamless sleep potion from Snape to try and stop the nightmares that plagued his thoughts every time he closed his eyes. They had been getting steadily worse, between Voldemort influencing them and making Harry see what his followers were doing, and Harry's own terrible memories, and everyone was starting to notice how tired he always looked because of them. He had been hesitant the night before to take the potion, worried that it wouldn't work since Voldemort was playing a part in influencing the dreams, but now he was thankful that he had taken the potion, because it did work and he was finally able to get a good nights sleep.
Stretching his arms over his head, he got out of bed and immediately regretted it, his bedroom was freezing, and the floor was even colder on his bare feet. Hastily, he ran for the bathroom and turned the water as hot as it would go before he jumped in, relishing the warmth it brought, but he was slightly worried by the fact that the water seemed to only warm his skin, and his bones still felt as thought he were standing in the middle of a blizzard instead of in a hot shower. Deciding to ignore the discomfort that thought brought him, he finished his shower and returned to his room where he quickly pulled clean clothes from his wardrobe and got dressed, pulling the thickest robe he owned over his black shirt and pants before he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, trying in vain to calm the chattering of his teeth and the chills that wracked his entire body, He then grabbed his staff and walked over to the window where Sherlock was sunning himself.
'Are you coming with me to breakfast this morning?' he hissed to the green serpent
'I wouldn't dare to miss a meal' hissed the snake back and Harry swore that if he could, the snake would be smirking
'Well then, come on then, we are already running late' said Harry as he stretched out his hand to the snake who obediently slithered up his arm and settled himself underneath the cloak around Harry's arm.
When his pet was ready, Harry left the room and made his way toward the great hall alone since Sirius had already gone to breakfast. When he entered the hall, Harry walked quickly up to Ginny, who was sitting at the Gryffindor table, and leaned over to give her a quick good morning kiss on the cheek before saying hello to the three marauders and Lily who all smiled at him in greeting, all four of them looking quite tired from the events of the night before. He then grudgingly let go of his girlfriend and made his way to the head table and took his seat next to his godfather who gave him a warm smile.
"Good morning, Harry, I was wondering when you would get here" said the black haired man around a mouthful of eggs.
"Morning, Sirius" said Harry as he began to fill his own plate.
"So, what are you doing today since both Remus and I are lecturing in defense classes" asked the ex-convict in curiosity
"I'm not sure, I was thinking of going into the village to get Christmas gifts, I haven't had an opportunity to buy anything yet" said Harry after he had thought for a couple of minutes.
Before Sirius could respond though, the hall was filled with the screeching of the owls as they delivered the morning post. Harry instinctively looked to the ceiling, even though he wasn't expecting anything since anyone that would be sending him letters was sitting in the great hall, but he still loved to watch as the hundreds of owls circled around the vaulted ceiling. When the last owl had found the recipient of its burdens and left the great hall, Harry turned back to his breakfast, but when he heard a loud gasp echo from around the hall, he looked back to the ceiling where he saw another bird circling around the rafters, but this was no post owl, it was a solid black hawk, and when he saw it, it felt as though his stomach had been filled with ice cold lead, especially when the bird began to fly toward him.
Pushing all of his bad feelings aside and ignoring the now silent great hall and the stares he was receiving from students and teachers alike, he stood and watched the hawk approach him until it dropped a blood red envelope onto Harry's plate and flew up to take a perch on the rafters, it's black eyes never wavering from Harry as he hesitantly picked the letter up and opened it. He quickly skimmed the letter before his eyes widened in horror and he looked up to the hawk.
"Never" he said defiantly to the hawk who just starred back at him for another moment before leaving the rafters once again and going into a dive straight for Harry, who just stood his ground, but at the last moment, the bird veered off toward Harry's right side, directly to Sirius who was standing next to him looking at his godson in concern and completely ignoring the hawk, as it let out a loud screech that made everyone's blood run cold.
"Sirius, move!" yelled Harry and the older man immediately looked to the approaching hawk and his eyes widened in horror as his face paled.
The black haired man jumped out of the way at the last second, but he wasn't quick enough as the hawks razor sharp talons tore six long gashes in the shoulder of his robes before it launched back into the sky and flew out the high windows, not even looking over his shoulder at the stunned hall.
"Oh God, Sirius, did it get you?" Harry asked desperately as he fell to the ground next to his godfather who had his teeth clenched in pain. "Sirius, answer me!" he pleaded desperately and still he got no response from the older man and he was terrified to see that his godfather was quickly losing color in his cheeks and his breath was becoming labored as his eyes began to loose focus "Sirius, hang on!" Harry demanded as he clutched one of Sirius' hands in his own and tore the shredded robe with his other to see just how badly he was injured, revealing six very deep gashes in Sirius' shoulder, each several inches long and bleeding freely, but what worried Harry the most was the fact that the edges of each cut were solid black. He desperately tried to use the edge of his own robes to try and stop the flow of blood, but within seconds, they too were saturated and he felt tears come to his eyes "Hang on Sirius, you have to, I can't loose you" said Harry quietly to his godfathers now still form and he felt a hand on his own shoulder, but he didn't turn to face the person it belonged to.
"Harry, why won't you heal him, or let Madame Pomfrey do it?" asked the headmaster quietly, worried about just what was going on and concerned for Sirius and Harry both.
"We can't" said Harry quietly "Any spell we used would only kill him faster" he added in a whisper as he felt tears begin to spill over and slide down his cheeks. He heard several startled gasps from behind him, but he ignored them all and pulled the unconscious from of his godfather closer to him, willing desperately for the older man not to die, even though he knew there was nothing anyone could do to save him from that fate now, it was only a matter of minutes now before the only father Harry had ever known would be dead, and it would be all his fault.
The students and teachers gathered in the great hall sat in stunned silence, some with tears in their own eyes and some crying openly when they heard what Harry had said and as they watched him cling desperately to Sirius. No one dared to move, and even if they had wanted to, they were still in too much shock to do so. Once the hawk had flown out of the room, Ginny and Lily and the marauders had all gone up to the head table and were standing next to Ron, Hermione, and Draco, none of them believing what they were seeing, and none of them wanting to approach the clearly distraught teenager in front of them, none that is except for the older Remus who knelt on the ground on Sirius' other side and grasped his free hand in his own as tears fell down his own cheeks at what he felt was the loss of the only friend he had left from his childhood.
After a moment, Ginny too kneeled next to Harry and wrapped one of her arms around his waist as she too tried to stop the flow of tears that were threatening as she listened to Harry speak quietly to his godfather, completely ignoring the rest of the people around him.
"Sirius, I'm so sorry, I should have known this was going to happen, it should have been me who was hurt, not you. I'm sorry Sirius, please don't leave me, please, things are supposed to be getting better now, we can finally be a family, we just had to wait for less than a month, then everything would be normal, please, Sirius, we're so close, don't leave now" he pleaded as he continued to hold the now still form close to himself, tears running unchecked down his face as he said these things over and over again until he became so chocked up that he could do nothing else but sit in silence.
For the next several minutes, the entire great hall was silent, and no one dared to move, everyone praying silently for what they were witnessing to be nothing more than a terrible dream that they would wake up from. No one knew what they could do to help, if anything, especially if what Harry said was true and any magic used would only kill Sirius Black faster, so they just stayed silent until they heard a gentle rustle of wings from above. Frightened, everyone but Harry looked up, worried that it was the black hawk returning, but to their surprise, it was not the hawk, but instead, a great golden phoenix was soaring through the high windows, and after circling the room once, she changed direction and flew in silence to the front of the hall, where she gently perched on Harry's shoulder and the green eyed boy tore his gaze from his godfathers prone form and turned his tear filled eyes to meet the black ones of the phoenix.
Everyone watching was spellbound by the beautiful creature, since no one except the students from the past had seen her before. Harry had spoken often to his friends and the professors about Terres, his guardian, but thus far, the mysterious bird had not been seen by anyone except Harry since the beginning of term. She was smaller than the headmasters phoenix, Fawkes, and her beautiful plumage was of the richest gold, with not even a single feather of any other color on her entire body. In short, she was the most beautiful bird any of them had ever seen before and she just seemed to radiate a sense of unsurpassable power.
'What has happened, my child?' asked Terres gently after she had settled onto Harry's shoulder and taken in his distraught appearance.
'It's Sirius, he's dying and there is nothing I can do about it, and it's all my fault that he was hurt in the first place' said Harry quietly as he starred at his guardian for a moment before turning back to his godfather and pulled him closer into his arms.
'Won't your powers heal him?' she asked in concern
'No, they will only harm him further, I can do nothing to save him' answered Harry as more tears fell down his cheeks
'Perhaps I can do something to help, do you mind if I try?' asked Terres
'No, please do anything to help him' said Harry desperately
With a quick nod, Terres jumped from Harry's shoulder and sat on the ground next to Sirius where she began to sing a rich and beautiful melody, and a few moments later, she leaned over and rich pearly tears began to fall from her own eyes to land on the bleeding wounds, but after that, something that none of them had ever seen before began to happen as the four cuts were bathed in a blanket of golden light that slowly turned to the purest of white that was so bright that everyone but Harry had to shield their eyes from its intensity until it began to fade. When it was gone, Harry dared to look down at Sirius, and he felt his heart fill with joy as he saw that the wounds had completely disappeared, not even leaving scars behind, and Sirius had regained all the color in his cheeks and was breathing normally again. Within seconds, his eyes opened and looked directly at Harry, who, in response to seeing them felt a fresh wave of tears flood his eyes, but these from happiness as he gave his godfather a tight hug as he began to openly sob into his shoulder.
Sirius was at a complete loss, never had Harry acted so emotional, and he had no idea what to do to comfort him, so he did the only thing he could think of, he sat up and wrapped his arms around Harry's back and gently stroked the long black hair that had begun to fall loose from its ponytail "Shh, Harry, everything is going to be all right, calm down" he repeated over and over again completely ignoring the astonished looks he was receiving from everyone in the hall and the golden phoenix still sitting the floor beside him until it flew to Harry's shoulder and began to sing quietly, effectively calming Harry to the point that he could look at Sirius and speak rationally.
"Are you ok, Sirius?" he asked almost hesitantly as he looked into the pale blue eyes, and when he nodded, Harry spoke again "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let this happen, I could have stopped it" he said quietly and, shocked, Sirius looked at him with wide eyes.
"What do you mean, Harry?" he asked, and Harry noticed that he was receiving the same look from a few of the professors and his friends as well.
"Read this" he said as he held out his hand, summoning the red parchment from his seat at the table and giving it to Sirius who unfolded it and began to read the black writing on it, aware of Dumbledore, Remus, and Snape reading the letter over his shoulder.
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Potter,
We know your secret. We know the location of our master, and we want him back and will stop at nothing to return him to his rightful place at our head, as the ruler of the wizarding world, and weather or not it is your body he uses is of no concern to us, he could rule just as easily if you were dead as he could using your powers since you are the only threat to him. This is your only opportunity to choose on your own, tell the hawk your answer and she will relay it to us, but be forewarned, if you refuse to obey our suggestion, you will regret it, and don't even try to put any type of spell on the hawk, for any magic you try to use on her will be repelled. Also, don't try to touch her, her talons and beak are coated with a poison so strong that it kills in a matter of minutes, and if you were to try to heal any wound she might inflict on you with a spell, it will only bring death quicker. You have a choice, either surrender willingly now, and turn your body and powers over to the dark lord, or face the consequences. We will win, and you will loose, choose now, Potter.
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When they had finished reading the letter, no one could miss the tense looks that passed between the four professors and Harry, and it only caused Ginny, who was now standing next to her brother to give Harry and Sirius a moment together, the marauders, Lily, Hermione, Ron, and Draco to begin to worry more, especially after hearing the equally tense conversation that followed.
"Do you know who sent this, Harry?" asked Remus once he had finished reading the ominous letter
"I have no idea" admitted Harry
"Who could have found out? And how?" asked Sirius almost frantic with worry for his godson
"That is something we need to discuss further, Harry, I trust no one else knows that you are aware of?" asked the Headmaster as he surveyed the group of students and the others who had been told about what was going on.
"No, no one else has been told, and I have complete trust in those who do know" said Harry as he too looked at his friends
"Very well, we will have to discuss this further at a later time. Sirius, how are you feeling?" asked Dumbledore as he looked to the man who was still sitting on the floor
"Fine, thanks to her" he said as he motioned to Terres
"Well Harry, am I correct in assuming that this is the phoenix that you have been calling Terres, your guardian?" asked Snape as he looked at the creature that had just moved back to her perch on Harry's shoulder.
"Yes it is" said Harry quietly as he gently stroked his friend "Thank you, Terres, I can never repay you for this" he said to the bird who looked intently to him
'My child, you don't need to thank me, I only did what needed to be done' she answered
'Yes, but without you, Sirius would have died, and then I wouldn't know what to do, I can't loose him, he and Dumbledore are the only real family I have left' said Harry honestly
'You are welcome, my child, now be careful, I must be going, but I will be back soon. Be careful, my child, and don't blame yourself for what happened, you couldn't have stopped it no matter what you did. I will see you soon' she said before she spread her beautiful golden wings and soared toward the high windows before flying out them and disappearing from sight. Harry then turned his attention back to those gathered around him and to Remus who was helping Sirius to his feet. He then stood up himself and looked toward Dumbledore who was facing the students.
Without saying a word, Harry grabbed his staff and held out his hand and an instant later, the Gryffindor sword and Slytherin dagger appeared, and his scarlet cloak was replaced by one of solid black. Ginny looked to him in concern, and she was surprised to see the cold fury that was being radiated from his green eyes, they were no where near the warm and caring eyes that she was used to seeing, but more like green ice. Tentatively, she approached her boyfriend and laid a hand on his arm.
"Harry?" she asked quietly, not noticing the eyes of the rest of the student body and the professors that were looking at her and the raven haired boy beside her. Harry didn't answer her or even acknowledge her, instead, he looked at his godfather who was breathing heavily and leaning on the table for support. Apparently, even though the wounds had been healed, he was still feeling sore from the injuries. After watching Sirius for a moment, Harry turned backed and looked directly at her "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, though everyone in the hall heard her.
"Ginny, I have to find whoever did this, they can't get away with it" he answered, but like his eyes, his voice held no warmth.
"Harry, what are you talking about?" she asked fearfully, already knowing full well what he meant.
"Ginny, I will make whoever did this pay, it is me they want, they had no right to come after my family" he said harshly "Be careful, Gin, I don't want them to get you too" he added quietly as he gently placed a hand on her cheek before turning and beginning to walk from the hall.
"Harry, think about what you are doing" said the headmaster before he had made it halfway to the doors.
"I have, whoever did this has to pay" he said without turning around
Suddenly, the doors to the great hall slammed closed and Harry spun on his heel and faced the aged wizard who was looking at him heavily "Harry, you can not rush out there in the state of mind you are in right now, if you do, you will loose" he said calmly
"Don't try to stop me, Dumbledore, I will do this, whether you want me to or not" he said back evenly
"I know I can't stop you, Harry, but I want you to be sure you are aware of just what you are risking if you leave the castle" answered the headmaster
"Sir, with all due respect, no one understands just what I am risking better than I do. Now if you don't mine, open these doors before I do" he threatened
"Very well, but be careful Harry, and don't do anything rash" he cautioned, and when Harry nodded his head, he waved his wand and opened the doors once more.
"Thank you, sir. Sirius, watch your back, all of you" said Harry as he turned once again and walked from the now silent hall. Once he was out of sight, Dumbledore sighed heavily before turning to face the rest of the school.
"Students, because of the events of this morning, I'm afraid that I am forced to cancel all trips to Hogesmede, and I must insist that all students remain inside the castle at all times, and all outdoor classes will be put on hold until it is safe to venture outdoors again. If you notice anything suspicious, please inform a teacher immediately, and finally, all quidditch practice and games will be postponed until further notice. Please be careful and watch out for yourselves as well as your younger schoolmates. Thank you, now please report to your common rooms, classes are cancelled until this afternoon" he said and the students obediently left the great hall as he turned to those gathered at the staff table.
"Minerva, would you and the other heads of house please go and make sure that everyone is in their common rooms? Hagrid, would you please go to the Slytherin common room, I'm afraid there are things I must discuss with Severus" and with a nod, Flitwick, Sprout, Hagrid, and McGonagall all left the hall and Dumbledore turned to Ginny and Sirius. "Don't worry, I am sure Harry will be fine, as long as he keeps his wits about him, he may be strong, but he is acting on anger, he is no match for death eaters, or worse, Voldemort until he calms down" he said heavily as he surveyed those still gathered in the hall.
"Albus, do you really think Harry will be all right once he calms down?" asked Sirius thickly, still trying to process everything that had happened during breakfast as he tried to hold himself up using the back of his chair.
"I think he will" said the headmaster with a small smile "We just need to have faith in his abilities, and trust in Harry not to do anything rash" he said "Sirius, why don't you let Remus take you up to the hospital wing so Poppy can check you over, I will let you know the instant we find him" he suggested, and Sirius grudging obeyed and accepted his friends help out of the great hall as Dumbledore left through the door behind him with Severus on his heels. Realizing that there was nothing they could do, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Lily and the three marauders all left the great hall as well, but instead of going to any of their rooms, they walked in silence toward Gryffindor tower.
Once Harry was out of the great hall, he stopped momentarily to make sure he wasn't being followed, and when he was sure that he was alone, he tucked his sword and dagger into his belt. He then pulled his hood over his head and gripped his staff tightly in his hand and took a deep breath before continuing on his way through the castle, almost jogging to the front entrance of the school. Once outside, he cleared his mind and an instant later, he had changed into a black wolf and set off at a flat out run into the depths of the forest. When he had run for several hours straight, Harry stopped abruptly and began to sniff the air with his canine ears pricked up, listening and smelling for anything that was our of the ordinary. Sensing nothing strange, he decided to go at things from another angle, so he shifted into his raven form before spreading his wings and soaring into the sky, his eyes never leaving the forest floor below him as he constantly scanned it for any sign of death eaters or the black hawk that had delivered the letter to Hogwarts only a few short hours before.
He flew until the sun was setting, and only then did he fly down to the forest floor. After sitting in silence for several minutes listening for any movement around him, he shifted into the form of a panther. Deciding that a cats senses were far more acute than other animals, and would therefore alert him to anything else approaching, he curled up on the forests floor to take a quick nap before heading out again. After a few hours, he was refreshed and wide awake again as he ran through the forest once more, stopping occasionally if he picked up any strange smells. He continued in this pattern for three long hours before he found anything even remotely of interest.
He was searching the forest once more as a wolf when his senses picked up the unmistakable smell of many humans from about a mile ahead of him. After searching the area directly around him and finding no threats, he transformed back into himself to make sure he was ready to fight if the need were to arise. His sword and dagger were still tucked into his belt, and his staff was in pristine condition in his hand, ready for his use if he needed any of his weapons. Taking a deep breath, to still his frazzled nerves, he silently shifted into a black owl, and once the transformation was complete, he spread his great wings and took off into the night sky in the direction of the area he had smelled the other humans.
It only took him about fifteen minutes to reach the area where the smell was the strongest, and when he was near it, he transformed once again into a wolf and closed the distance between himself and the clearing that was lit up with the light of a large bonfire.
He silently crept around the edge of the clearing, keeping his stomach almost pressed onto the forest floor to try and remain out of sight of the people gathered in the clearing. Once he had gone almost halfway around the clearing, he found a place where he could safely watch what was going on without being seen by those in the clearing. He settled down on his stomach and peered through the underbrush before him to see just what was going on around the fire. There were about thirty different figures standing before the fire, all of them wearing black robes that clearly marked them to be death eaters, and they were all talking loudly, clearly disagreeing about something.
"I'm telling you, we would be better off just to go to Hogwarts and take the brat!" yelled one man as he waved his arms around furiously.
"How do you propose we do that? There is no way we could take him out of the castle with Dumbledore guarding him" answered another man just as furiously as the other
"I agree, we could never get him out of the castle as long as he is so well guarded" said someone standing toward the back of the group
"What other options do we have?" asked the first man "The longer he remains at Hogwarts, the better the chances are that they will be able to destroy our master. They are already close, by Christmas they will be successful" he countered
"What if we were to lure him out of the castle by capturing one of his friends?" suggested one member of the group who had been silent until now
"But how would we get one of his friends out of the castle? He isn't likely to let any of them out of his sight for long" said another
"I think I have an idea" began one of the original men to speak, but before he could say anything further, all of the members of the group as well as Harry were distracted by a piercing screech from somewhere in the trees above them. Fearfully, Harry looked up and was met by the piercing black eyes of the hawk that had nearly killed. Harry's green eyes grew wide in shock and terror as he recognized the bird, and clearly, she recognized him as well, if not by sight, then by smell. He quickly jumped to his feet, and by doing so, caused the bush he was hiding behind to begin to shake.
"What was that?" asked one of the death eaters hesitantly as they all turned their eyes toward Harry who was too frightened to move lest he draw more attention to himself than he already had, hoping that they would ignore the noise, but he was not to be so locky, and in a matter of moments, he was regretting ever leaving the castle.
"It came from over there" said one as he pointed at Harry, and instantly, six death eaters began to advance toward him.
Before he knew what was happening, Harry was surrounded by the death eaters, and all of them had their wands trained directly on him. Growling, he raised his hackles and bared his teeth at the men who all looked slightly frightened of him.
"Well, what is it?" asked one of the men who was still in the clearing
"It looks like some sort of dog, maybe a wolf" answered one of the men who was aiming his wand at Harry
"Well, kill it, it can't be that difficult" answered the other man with a wave of his hand
"Yes, sir" answered the man who was now only a few meters away from Harry "Avadra Kedavra!" he shouted and a green beam of light shot out of his wand and struck Harry directly in the side. "What the hell" he muttered when the wolf remained standing on his paws, but was panting heavily. He looked at the others who were surrounding the animal with his eyes wide, and saw the same shocked expression mirrored on all of their faces as the wolf began to growl at those surrounding him once again.
"Well, what is taking so long?" demanded the man from the clearing, clearly the one in charge of the death eaters. When he received no response, he became angry and walked briskly to those surrounding the angry wolf. He looked at the animal with a disdain clearly written on his face before looking to the men around it "I thought I told you to kill this creature" he said with a scowl on his face as he looked at the man who had shot the killing curse.
"We tried sir, I hit it with the killing curse, but nothing happened" he admitted nervously
"Well, are you sure the curse hit him?" asked the other man in doubt without looking at the wolf.
"Yes sir" answered the other man
"Incompetent fools" said the leader angrily as he turned to face the wolf, and for the first time, Harry got a good look at the man, and when he saw his face, he let out another ferocious growl. He would recognize that man anywhere, his image had been present on many of Harry's nightmares, ever since that fateful day almost exactly a year ago when the two of them had dueled in the great hall at Hogwarts, and he had stabbed Harry, nearly killing him. It was Edward Shaw, former head of the aurors at the Ministry of Magic and known death eater.
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A/N: Ha, ha, cliffy, well don't worry, the next chapter is almost done, so I'll post it probably Thursday or Friday. Hope you enjoyed this, I know, I'm evil to do that to Sirius and Harry, but oh well, I couldn't resist. Well, anyways, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, and please let me know what you think about this one as well. I guess since you guys are so nice to review, I'll give you a few hints about what's coming up next, lets see, in chapter 54, Harry gets to fight those stupid death eaters, and that evil bird goes back to Hogwarts, and they finally get finished with the potion. In chapter 55, well, you'll just have to wait for that, I only have like five pages written so far, but I think you'll like it! Well, enough rambling, please review!