Guardian of Magic
Chapter 1: Troubled Time
Harry was depressed, and as he leaned against a tree in the backyard of Privet Drive, he couldn't help to feel uneasy as he had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong. His scar had tingled three days ago and the fact that Hedwig wasn't back yet left him with a less than gloomy outlook. Harry could hear his aunt so he got up quickly. Harry looked out across the lawn, realizing, with a smile, that he was just about done. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead and started up again, renewed at the idea of being able to stop soon. It was deadly hot outside, and Harry could feel a nasty sunburn forming on his bare back. This was the second time that week that he had been made to mow the lawn, and it was only Thursday. It wasn't as though Dursley's had quick-growing grass; they just liked to get him out of the house as much as possible. With one final push across the lawn, Harry let go of the mower, letting the engine roll to a stop. He heaved it back to the garden shed, and then made his way to a shady oak tree by the fence. He sat down wearily and took a deep breath, savoring the coolness that the shade of the tree provided. It felt so wonderful to finally be able to sit back and relax a bit. He put his head back against the rough bark of the trunk and closed his eyes, knowing that as soon as he went back inside his aunt would have some other ridiculous chore for him. He sat forward a bit and rubbed the kinks out of his back before lifting himself from the ground and trudging back to the house for a glass of cold water. Just as he had expected, Aunt Petunia was sitting at the kitchen table. She was leaning over the table, holding a pair of black binoculars to her beady little eyes, trying as hard as she could to see into the next-door neighbor's window. As Harry went about preparing a glass of water, Petunia spoke. "Are you done mowing the lawn, boy?" Harry looked up to see her sneering at him. "Yes, I've just finished," he replied politely. "Good then, you can press Vernon's shirts now.... Mind you don't mess them up." She said, turning back to the window. At last it was night-time. Vernon's shirts were all nicely pressed, the lawn was perfect, and Harry had just finished his supper. Dinner had been relatively uneventful. Dudley had shoveled as much food as humanly possible into his quivering jaw, Uncle Vernon had droned on and on about drills and things that made him angry, and Aunt Petunia had sat and listened quietly, still craning her neck to see what the Mrs. Next-door was serving for her supper, all ignoring Harry, who was eating quietly not caring what his relatives were doing. "May I be excused?" he asked, putting down his fork. "What? Oh, yes, fine, go," Uncle Vernon said, not looking up from his own, still full, plate. Harry pushed his chair back and climbed the stairs, flopping down onto his bed. Looking around his room, he was startled to see Hedwig was back with two letters. The first was an Order letter telling him that they would look into Voldermort's plans, but the second letter was written in Sirius' untidy scrawl. Harry quickly tore the seal off the letter. Harry,
If your reading this then I have done something foolish, and ca no longer be there to protect you and see you grow up. If I never told you this, I wanted to tell you that I've loved you like my own since you were born. So, with that being said, I am going to give you some parting advice. First of all, I want you to study harder than you ever have, and master everything that your teachers teach you. That's because the money in your vault isn't going to last forever. I probably never be a free man. So after you graduate you got to make living on your own. Hogwarts won't be your home forever Harry and the Dursley's certainly won't keep you. If you want a good future, work hard. Your parents would want you to have a full and prosperous life, hell they certainly wouldn't want you to be living on the streets.
Secondly, your parents and I would want you to be happy, so try and find someone that makes you happy. The one thing I can say about your parents is that they lived. Sure they weren't around for as long as they would have wanted to be, but they made the time they had precious. They were able to find love and nurture it during a war Harry; and you have all of their strength and compassion, so get out there and find someone that you can share your joy and sadness with, or after this war is over (and I know that you will survive), you will be alone and I can tell you firsthand that you don't want to do that.
Lastly, you have to realize that you are in the middle of a war and that people die. I can't say it any differently; you need to learn to put the deaths behind you. If I know you, Harry, and I do, I know that you are blaming yourself for my death. If you are, stop; if not stop lying. The only way that I would be unhappy with the way that I died was if I didn't go out fighting. So, stiff upper lip and all that, because the only way to honor the dead is to cherish their memory and live for them. So for your parents and me, get yourself study hard and get a good future, and live and love well. That's all the advice you'll get.
P.S. I transferred some of your parents' thing into your family vault.
P.P.S You're birthday present is in your vault if I couldn't give it to you personally.
Love
Sirius
Harry cried for hours after reading the letter, but he also spent the several hours thinking it over. All Sirius said was true. He made up his mind he was going to control his life, master everything he could in the wizarding world, defeat Voldermort, and live and love well.
Harry was depressed, and as he leaned against a tree in the backyard of Privet Drive, he couldn't help to feel uneasy as he had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong. His scar had tingled three days ago and the fact that Hedwig wasn't back yet left him with a less than gloomy outlook. Harry could hear his aunt so he got up quickly. Harry looked out across the lawn, realizing, with a smile, that he was just about done. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead and started up again, renewed at the idea of being able to stop soon. It was deadly hot outside, and Harry could feel a nasty sunburn forming on his bare back. This was the second time that week that he had been made to mow the lawn, and it was only Thursday. It wasn't as though Dursley's had quick-growing grass; they just liked to get him out of the house as much as possible. With one final push across the lawn, Harry let go of the mower, letting the engine roll to a stop. He heaved it back to the garden shed, and then made his way to a shady oak tree by the fence. He sat down wearily and took a deep breath, savoring the coolness that the shade of the tree provided. It felt so wonderful to finally be able to sit back and relax a bit. He put his head back against the rough bark of the trunk and closed his eyes, knowing that as soon as he went back inside his aunt would have some other ridiculous chore for him. He sat forward a bit and rubbed the kinks out of his back before lifting himself from the ground and trudging back to the house for a glass of cold water. Just as he had expected, Aunt Petunia was sitting at the kitchen table. She was leaning over the table, holding a pair of black binoculars to her beady little eyes, trying as hard as she could to see into the next-door neighbor's window. As Harry went about preparing a glass of water, Petunia spoke. "Are you done mowing the lawn, boy?" Harry looked up to see her sneering at him. "Yes, I've just finished," he replied politely. "Good then, you can press Vernon's shirts now.... Mind you don't mess them up." She said, turning back to the window. At last it was night-time. Vernon's shirts were all nicely pressed, the lawn was perfect, and Harry had just finished his supper. Dinner had been relatively uneventful. Dudley had shoveled as much food as humanly possible into his quivering jaw, Uncle Vernon had droned on and on about drills and things that made him angry, and Aunt Petunia had sat and listened quietly, still craning her neck to see what the Mrs. Next-door was serving for her supper, all ignoring Harry, who was eating quietly not caring what his relatives were doing. "May I be excused?" he asked, putting down his fork. "What? Oh, yes, fine, go," Uncle Vernon said, not looking up from his own, still full, plate. Harry pushed his chair back and climbed the stairs, flopping down onto his bed. Looking around his room, he was startled to see Hedwig was back with two letters. The first was an Order letter telling him that they would look into Voldermort's plans, but the second letter was written in Sirius' untidy scrawl. Harry quickly tore the seal off the letter. Harry,
If your reading this then I have done something foolish, and ca no longer be there to protect you and see you grow up. If I never told you this, I wanted to tell you that I've loved you like my own since you were born. So, with that being said, I am going to give you some parting advice. First of all, I want you to study harder than you ever have, and master everything that your teachers teach you. That's because the money in your vault isn't going to last forever. I probably never be a free man. So after you graduate you got to make living on your own. Hogwarts won't be your home forever Harry and the Dursley's certainly won't keep you. If you want a good future, work hard. Your parents would want you to have a full and prosperous life, hell they certainly wouldn't want you to be living on the streets.
Secondly, your parents and I would want you to be happy, so try and find someone that makes you happy. The one thing I can say about your parents is that they lived. Sure they weren't around for as long as they would have wanted to be, but they made the time they had precious. They were able to find love and nurture it during a war Harry; and you have all of their strength and compassion, so get out there and find someone that you can share your joy and sadness with, or after this war is over (and I know that you will survive), you will be alone and I can tell you firsthand that you don't want to do that.
Lastly, you have to realize that you are in the middle of a war and that people die. I can't say it any differently; you need to learn to put the deaths behind you. If I know you, Harry, and I do, I know that you are blaming yourself for my death. If you are, stop; if not stop lying. The only way that I would be unhappy with the way that I died was if I didn't go out fighting. So, stiff upper lip and all that, because the only way to honor the dead is to cherish their memory and live for them. So for your parents and me, get yourself study hard and get a good future, and live and love well. That's all the advice you'll get.
P.S. I transferred some of your parents' thing into your family vault.
P.P.S You're birthday present is in your vault if I couldn't give it to you personally.
Love
Sirius
Harry cried for hours after reading the letter, but he also spent the several hours thinking it over. All Sirius said was true. He made up his mind he was going to control his life, master everything he could in the wizarding world, defeat Voldermort, and live and love well.
