Harry Potter and Gryffindor's Secret
Ch. 9: An Untruth Confessed/ Happy Birthday, Harry
By: Lin-z
A/N: I've had a few questions regarding how I came up with Harry's birth year, and those are answered in the author's note at the end of chapter six. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!
Same disclaimer applies. I don't own them!
Sirius' plan to distract Harry had definitely worked. Harry was concentrating so hard on what he was doing that he became practically oblivious to anything going on in the room around him. Sirius had explained to Harry many of the dangers associated with learning the art of Apparition. You had to focus your entire attention to the spot you wanted to land, or you could end up in the wrong spot, in the best of situations, or splinching yourself in the worst case. There was also quite a hefty fine for underage Apparition without a permit, so he had warned Harry frequently that the only place he was to Apparate was within the Black Manor grounds. Much like driving an auto, Apparating on private property was at the homeowner's discretion, and did not require a license. Harry's one worry had been that he would get caught performing underage magic as he had just prior to his second year, but Sirius had assured Harry that, as Apparating required no use of a wand, it was perfectly safe.
The first step to learning to Apparate was learning to focus your concentration. For this, Sirius had shown Harry an exercise entailing moving things with one's mind. Most wizards professed some degree of telekinetic ability, and it was this power that made Apparition a power available to almost all within the magical realm. While heavier things were quite difficult to move telekinetically, things such as feathers worked perfectly. All he had to do was concentrate on the feather, and imagine it moving from the spot where it was currently resting to a point a few centimetres away. When he had first started, he had barely been able to get the downy strands of the feather to twitch. Now, however, he was able to move it most of the distance across the table.
'Look, Sirius!' Harry said with enthusiasm, 'I think I've got it!'
Sirius watched as the feather raced across the smooth wood of one of the tables in the library. 'Well done, Harry! You've mastered that quite rapidly,' he said.
Harry smiled in a very self-satisfied manner. 'Thanks,' he replied.
'I reckon that's as good a place as any to leave off on, what do you say we go out on the town for supper and pick this up again tomorrow?' Sirius asked.
'Sounds good to me!' Harry said, picking up his crutches from the floor beside his chair and standing up.
Harry's question of how exactly they would be getting to the village was answered when Sirius summoned a black convertible BMW from around the side of the house.
'I didn't know you had a car,' Harry said, as Sirius helped him into the front seat, throwing his crutches in the back.
'I rented it,' Sirius explained, 'I've got it for the next month and a half, until you go to Hogwarts. I've grown quite fond of it, though, so I suppose I just might buy it.'
Sirius revved the engine and tore out of the driveway to Black Manor. The ten-minute drive into town took a mere five minutes, as Sirius was a "bit" of a fast driver. When they finally came to a stop in front of The Blind Man's Bluff, an old pub, Harry had to pry his fingers from the door, where he had been holding on for dear life.
'Wow,' he said, taking his crutches from Sirius and climbing out of the car. 'That was really fast!'
Sirius chortled and led Harry inside.
The pub was decorated in old English style, with dark panelled walls and hewn wooden flooring, looking rather like an antique hunting lodge. There was a great stone hearth in the centre, and a roaring fire that gave the whole pub a very pleasant ambience. A young man at the door led them to a booth overlooking the street, handed them menus, and went off to greet the next customers.
'Sirius? Is that you?' Harry looked around to see who had spoken, and saw an old wizard approaching the table and gawking at Sirius.
'Howard! Well it has been a long time! How've you been?!' Sirius said, standing from the table and exchanging a friendly handshake with the old wizard.
'I've been well, and you? Dear me, it must've been, what, fourteen years since I've seen you! Still keeping in plenty of trouble?' Howard said, looking Sirius up and down.
'I'm well … Not as much trouble as before, I'm afraid. Howard, I don't suppose you've met my Godson,' he said, gesturing to Harry. 'This is Harry Potter.'
Harry stood up, leaning against the table, and shook hands with Howard.
'Blimey, everyone knows Harry Potter!' he said, his eyes doing the familiar flick to Harry's scar. 'Nice to meet you, Harry.'
'A pleasure,' Harry replied pleasantly, resuming his seat at the table.
'Well, it's been great seeing you again, Sirius, but I'm afraid I must be getting back to work now,' Howard said, giving Sirius an amicable slap on the shoulder and heading back towards the back of the pub.
'Who was that?' Harry asked once the man was out of earshot.
'That's Howard, he owns this pub. My family used to come here all the time when I was a lad,' Sirius explained.
The rest of the evening passed in much the same manner. It seemed Sirius was quite well known and universally liked as a youngster, and most people had supposed that he was innocent all along. Most congratulated him on his release, and were astounded to find that the mischievous Sirius Black had taken young Harry Potter in. The food was superb (fish and chips with extra lemon and ketchup) and Harry enjoyed himself immensely, chatting politely with Sirius' old friends until the hour was late, and Sirius suggested they return home.
Harry had fallen asleep by the time they returned home, and Sirius had to prod him back to wakefulness so that he could go upstairs to bed. He climbed the stairs and fell wearily into bed, barely pausing long enough to pull his pyjamas on.
**
It was a few days before Harry received his reply from Professor Dumbledore. He had almost forgotten he'd sent the letter, but he opened it eagerly once he remembered. The reply honestly surprised him:
Dear Harry,
Can you remember anything else from your dream? It is imperative that you tell me everything, and please don't leave out a single detail. It had not come to my attention previously that Azkaban had slipped from our control, which means that Minister Fudge is no longer fighting with us, but rather, against us. Voldemort now has a stronghold in the magical community, and we must fight even harder if we are to come out on top. I have enlisted the help of many within the Ministry, but if you are receiving knowledge in your visions, it could prove to be vital to our cause. Again, I urge you to tell me all you know, and please don't leave out even the seemingly irrelevant details. The magical community thanks you and I thank you for your bravery and courage.
Sincerely,
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry swallowed hard. He was going to have to tell Dumbledore everything that he had seen in his dream, which meant that he would also have to tell Sirius he'd lied to him. The thought made him almost physically sick. "Why did I even have to lie in the first place?" he thought to himself as he gathered parchment, quill, and ink to write to Dumbledore. "I can be such a git!" Harry put his quill to the parchment and thought back to the night of his dream. He still remembered it quite vividly - a dream such as that is not easily forgotten.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I can still remember most of my dream, although I told you the most important bits in my last letter. Here's the rest of it, though, I hope it helps.
I was flying, and when my broom landed, I was at an island fortress that looked very much like pictures I'd seen of Azkaban. When I got off my broomstick, I was in a room with two Death Eaters. I don't know precisely what they were talking about, but a short while later, Voldemort entered the room. He called the first forward, Lucius Malfoy, by name. He congratulated him on a job well done, and asked him if "they" suspected anything. I think they were talking about me, sir, as he said that "they" suspected that the "boy" had had an accident on a broomstick, which is how I had thought I had broken my leg. Come to think of it, I reckon that's the reason why they can't heal it with magic.
Anyhow, after that, Voldemort excused him, and called the second Death Eater forward. He called this one Nott, and thanked him for securing Azkaban and the Dementors. The next bit is what confused me. He asked him about a book that had belonged to Gryffindor and something about a potion of Slytherin's. He seemed to be really quite angry when Nott replied that he hadn't found anything new. What is it he's after?
One other point of interest: Voldemort has, for some reason, discouraged his Death Eaters from anything more than muggle torture. Perhaps this is why my scar hasn't been hurting much this summer? That's all I can remember. He hit Nott with Cruciatus, but that's to be expected. I woke shortly after with a pain in my scar.
I'll be sure to write again if I have another dream.
Harry Potter
Harry read it through again before sealing it and sending it off with Hedwig, who seemed to sense his mood and hooted reassuringly before flying off. Harry glanced at his watch and noticed that Sirius would be back in about an hour. How ever was he going to tell him? Harry cursed himself again for having lied to his godfather, the person whose trust he treasured most. Harry spent the next hour running through different scenarios in his head, before drawing the conclusion that he should just come out with it right off. He left his room and headed for the sitting room downstairs, where he waited for Sirius to return.
**
'Hullo, Harry,' Sirius said, upon finding Harry.
'Hi Sirius,' replied Harry, a bit sullenly.
'What seems to be the trouble?' Sirius asked, as he sat in an over-stuffed chair across from Harry.
'Well,' he began, 'there's something I've got to tell you ... ' Harry then proceeded to relate to Sirius everything he had told to Dumbledore, this time not leaving anything out. Sirius listened quietly, his expression getting graver as Harry continued speaking. By the time Harry had finished apologising for not telling him earlier, Sirius was wearing a well-established frown.
'Have you told Dumbledore? Why didn't you tell me all this earlier?' he asked. 'I thought we had established the fact that we could tell one another anything, and this was important.'
'Yes, and I don't know,' Harry replied. 'I was scared, I guess. I thought that maybe if I told you Voldemort had done this to me, that you and Dumbledore would make me go back to the Dursley's. I'm really, really sorry, and I promise I won't do it again,' Harry pleaded.
'I would never make you go back there, Harry,' Sirius said, looking Harry straight in the eyes. 'I will, however, need to put up some stronger protective charms around the house and grounds. Tomorrow evening I'll have Remus, Mundungus and Arabella over to help us,' Sirius said. 'In the meantime, I want you to swear to me that you will come to me or Dumbledore if you have any more of those dreams.'
'Promise,' Harry said.
'Good, then. Now let's have supper, shall we?' Sirius asked, and the two went off to the kitchen, Harry feeling as though 100 kilos had just been lifted from his shoulders.
**
Although Harry had not as yet done any actual Apparating, he was getting better at the exercises Sirius had told him to do. As Apparating did not entail the use of a wand, there were a great variety of things that could go wrong. In order to keep from making those mistakes on himself, he had been asked to practise with objects, such as books. As the ability to make objects Apparate and Disapparate was more difficult, once he had mastered that it would be easy, by comparison, to do human Apparition.
Harry frowned and furrowed his brow, concentrating with all his might on making the book in front of him, 101 Ways to De-gnome a Garden by Miranda Steward, disappear and reappear in a spot on the other side of the room. The book popped out of sight, then, a moment later, reappeared quite a distance from the intended table.
'Hmpf!' he grunted, heaving himself from the chair to hobble over to the book. He was doing great at making it disappear and reappear, but his aim was still sloppy, at best. It simply wouldn't do to have him attempt Apparating downstairs for breakfast and landing in the sink. Harry tried once more, this time managing to get the book a bit closer to its target, but not close enough.
He picked the book up and re-shelved it, deciding to spend the rest of the day reading the diary he had brought up from his parents' trunk. It was his father's, from the year 1980 (*see A/N at the end of Ch. 6). While life had definitely not been what one could call carefree, his father held a very optimistic outlook towards life, and it was a very encouraging read. His favourite bits were where his father talked about his mother, and the baby they were expecting.
…Lily grows more beautiful with each passing month. Only one more to go! I simply can't believe that I'm going to be a father! It seems that only yesterday I was out traipsing through the Forbidden Forest with Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail. I wonder what he'll be like. Will he be more like Lily or myself? Lily seems convinced it's a boy, though I'm sure she'd be delighted either way. We've decided that if it is a boy, we'll name him Harry, after his grandfather, and James, after yours truly. If it's a girl …well, we haven't thought of an appropriate name as yet…
Harry spent the next few hours reading through his father's journal. He had just put it down to resume practise, when he heard an assortment of footsteps approaching the first storey library.
'Hi Harry,' Sirius said, as he reached the landing, followed by a small group of people about his age. Harry recognised Remus Lupin, but the witch and wizard with them he had never met.
'Hi,' Harry replied, getting to his feet.
Sirius gestured to the two newcomers standing beside him. 'This is Arabella Figg,' he said, pointing to a witch on his right, 'and this is Mundungus Fletcher,' he said, pointing to the wizard on his left. 'You may have heard about these two,' he added.
Arabella held out a hand, which Harry shook. 'Hi, nice to meet you,' he said. Arabella was young, close to Sirius in age, with shoulder-length curly light brown hair and dark blue eyes. She was pretty in a natural sort of way, with very little make-up and a big friendly smile.
'And you as well,' she replied, eyes sparkling.
Harry went over to greet Mundungus' hand next. Mundungus was short, just about Harry's height, with auburn hair and hazel-green eyes. He had the build of a beater, with broad shoulders and a thick chest. 'Hi,' Harry said.
'They've come tonight to help us set up the wards around the manor,' Sirius said, leading them back down the steps towards the front door.
'By the time we're done here tonight,' Mundungus said, 'any one with questionable intent won't be able to come with in 5 km of this place!'
The group spent the next two hours setting up complicated wards and charms all through out the grounds, including a tricky little one that prohibited outside apparition (meaning that one could only Apparate within the house, without leaving or entering).
During the course of the evening, Harry learnt that Arabella Figg was old Mrs Figg's daughter. He was surprised, at first, to hear that Mrs Figg had ties to the wizarding world. 'So does that mean that Mrs Figg is a witch?' he asked.
'Oh dear me, no,' Arabella replied, 'I'm muggle-born. My mother agreed to look out for you, though, whilst you were at Privet Drive,' she added.
'Ah,' Harry said. This explained a lot, really, like how she had never been surprised to learn of the strange things Harry had done at school, and why the pictures of her dozens of cats never moved.
Remus, Mundungus (who preferred to be called Gus for short), and Arabella stayed for supper, but left soon after. Sirius and Harry thanked them and watched them leave before retiring.
**
Time flew by, and before Harry knew it, it was July 30, the day before his 15th birthday. The day came and went, and neither Sirius nor Harry said anything about the next day being Harry's birthday. Nobody ever usually gave a fig that it was his birthday anyhow, so he wasn't exactly used to bringing it up in conversation. The next day dawned bright and sunny, and when Harry woke, he found a school owl bearing his list of supplies for the next term, but nothing more. He was more than a little disappointed at not having received even a card from his school friends, and trudged downstairs for breakfast in a less-than-excited mood.
He met with Sirius for breakfast, but even then, Sirius didn't so much as say "Happy Birthday." They carried on a dull conversation about the weather and what new supplies Harry would need for school, including workout robes, trainers, and various textbooks. But still, Harry did not bring up his birthday. He was feeling down right glum when Sirius left for work, promising to be home around noon. Since the wards had been erected, Harry was allowed to spend time on the grounds, as long as he did not leave the boundaries. He wandered out to the garden, and took a seat on one of the benches. He stared at the colourful blooms, brooding on how it could be that everyone he knew had forgotten about his birthday. The day wore on, the sun turning his skin a few shades darker, and bringing out the light freckles across the bridge of his nose. He was so absorbed in his gloomy thoughts that he didn't notice the people entering the grounds shortly before noon, and certainly didn't notice that Sirius was out front, welcoming and directing them to the house.
A few minutes later, Sirius came out to the garden and tapped Harry on the shoulder. 'Have you been out here all day?' he asked.
'Yes,' Harry answered, 'I like it out here.'
'Hmm,' Sirius murmured. 'Well, would you like to come inside for a birthday lunch?'
'What?' Harry asked. Sirius remembered!
'C'mon, you didn't think I forgot, did you?' He asked with a laugh as they walked back towards the house.
'Erm… of course not!' Harry replied.
The second Harry crossed the threshold, he was greeted by a loud shout of 'Surprise!' from the large group of people assembled in the entrance hall.
'Wow!' Harry said, looking at the people gathered in the hall, who were now rushing up to say hi and wish him a happy birthday. All his friends from school were there, including all the Gryffindor fifth years, Ginny, Fred, George, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell. Harry was shocked when Oliver Wood, the old quidditch captain for Gryffindor, came up and pumped his hand, eagerly wishing him a Happy Birthday and offering his condolences at Harry's broken leg.
Sirius herded everyone out to the quidditch pitch, where there was a stereo blaring out popular wizard bands, and tables arranged with hamburgers, various condiments, fruits, crisps, and loads of tasty desserts. They ate picnic style, on blankets that had been spread out across the lush grass of the playing field. Oliver Wood was just explaining some of the finer points of a complicated quidditch manoeuvre, when suddenly a loud squawking could be heard over the Starknaked Witches' (a popular band of Canadian wizards) latest hit. All eyes turned to the far end of the field, where Fred and George Weasley were doubled over, laughing at Ron, who was gobsmacked and had clapped a hand to his mouth and was staring daggers at his brothers.
'Don't worry, Ronnikins,' said George, 'It's only temporary!'
'Yeah,' Fred agreed, 'it should wear off in a few minutes. Go on, then, say something else!' The twins broke out in new waves of laughter as Ron steadfastly refused to do anything of the sort. Ron's face was red to the roots, and he looked as though he was trying his hardest to melt into the ground.
George stood, grabbing an innocent-looking basket from the ground beside him. 'You, too, can be the life of any party, with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, on sale now!' he said, and began to walk around showing off his and Fred's collection of homemade gags, pranks, and tricks. There were fake wands, Canary Creams, Tonne-Tongue Toffees, Squawkers ('Beautifully modelled by Ron, moments ago!'), along with various other tricks, including Krazy Kolours Magical Hair Dye, which looked like a simple bottle of hair tonic and turned your hair any number of odd colours.
Harry received more gifts in that one birthday than he'd received in all his previous birthdays combined, not to mention had the best time he'd ever had on his birthday! He nattered on with his friends about this and that, catching up on what had been happening over their summers. As it grew dark, Sirius conjured tiny coloured lanterns to light the field as the guests left. Harry stood beside Sirius and thanked his friends as they passed, until each one had left. Then he turned to Sirius.
'Thank you so much, Sirius! That was the best birthday of my whole life!' he said, smiling and giving Sirius friendly embrace whilst trying to balance on his crutches.
'No problem,' Sirius replied, smiling. ''Bout time you had a proper birthday!'
So yes, that's it for chapter nine. Thanks to all the readers who clamoured for more! I'm quite sorry that it took me so long to post this, but I'm moving soon and there is much to be done. I'll try to be quicker with chapter ten, but I'm not making any promises! @_@ Anyhow, if you have any comments or suggestions for further chapters, or revisions (basically anything but hateful flames), you can send them to my e-mail address (