Harry Potter and the Rising War

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Chapter 15: Moving In

In the days that followed the completion of Harry's glove, and the initial testing, Harry remained furiously busy, and time seemed to fly by. His lessons with Dumbledore were proceeding steadily again, and his research of his second animagus form was nearly complete. He hoped that within a few more weeks he would have it mastered. In no time at all, the house was nearing completion; all that remained to be finished was the roof. Harry planned to do it that very evening. But first he and Dumbledore had to pay a visit to Diagon alley once again. They needed to pick up all of the items that one would normally find in a household – or, at least, in a wizard's household.

Harry and Dumbledore had been staying at the cosy little inn for a little over a week. The night before they were due to move into his house, Harry decided he had better tidy his room a little; he didn't want to hold Dumbledore up when the time came to say their goodbyes. As Harry was collecting together the last of his possessions, his hand bumped something hard under his bed. With his brow furrowed in confusion, Harry got down almost underneath the bed to see what it was that he had found. With a gasp, Harry remembered something that he had meant to do right when he'd first arrived at Godric's Hollow. Getting to his feet again, Harry spread the three forgotten items over the bed: the laptops that he had bought for Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

"How am I going to get these into Hogwarts without Fudge knowing?" Harry murmured. He sat in quiet contemplation for a few minutes, but had failed to notice the presence of Tronza! His faithful (if a little pompous) phoenix had mysteriously arrived in Harry's room. He and Fawkes had disappeared together to go exploring at the beginning of Harry and Dumbledore's little adventure, until they had a permanent home. Tronza sang a few notes of phoenix song to announce his return, which succeeded in startling Harry from his contemplative state.

"Tronza!" Harry exclaimed happily as he crossed the room to his familiar. "Did you and Fawkes have fun while you were away?" Harry asked the beautiful bird as he stroked its plumage. Tronza trilled in reply and hopped up onto Harry's shoulder.

"It's good to have you back here, pal," Harry told him, and again sat on his bed to consider how to get the laptops to the others unhindered. But as soon as he sat, he jumped back on his feet again, struck with a very obvious idea. "How could I have been so stupid not to have realized it in the beginning?" he thought. Harry picked his companion up from his shoulder, and carefully put him back down on the bedside table, saying, "Hey, Boy, I have a delivery for you to make for me! But I need you to go a little later tonight, and to use your phoenix magic; no one can see you enter the castle. Okay?" Harry asked; and in reply, Tronza flapped his wings excitedly, earning a light laugh from Harry.

A few hours later, Tronza was ready to go, with the laptops firmly tied in place, and a scroll of parchment attached on top of the parcel.

"Take this to the dormitory for the 6th year Gryffindor boys, and don't leave until Ron has taken the parcel from you personally. Got it?" Harry asked, and the phoenix replied with a short trill of indignation, for suggesting that he might let just anyone take the mail. Harry ignored the meaning of the trill, gave him one last pet, and let him go; then he finished up his chores and went to bed.

The next morning, Tronza had yet to return; but Harry figured that was because the phoenix couldn't get Ron to wake up; so he would've had to wait until morning to rouse him.

"Are you ready to go?" Dumbledore asked Harry.

"Yeah, just about; I hope the weather holds up!" Harry replied, as he glanced at the ominous sky which threatened rain and thunder.

"Yes indeed, it would just be our luck to be stuck in a downpour with all of our purchases in hand," Dumbledore said, as they exited the inn for the last time. (Dumbledore had apparently taken care of their bill earlier that morning.) They walked to the edge of the town, passed through the newly erected anti-apparation wards, and apparated to Diagon alley.

As they walked down the busy street, they once again drew the attention of many passers-by; and often people would stop to watch what the amazing Boy-Who-Lived and the greatest sorcerer of modern times would do next.

"Here we go again," Harry muttered under his breath to Dumbledore, gaining a light chuckle from the aged ex-headmaster.

"At least we have no need to shop on this street this morning," Dumbledore commented cheerfully. Before Harry had a chance to ask where they would be shopping if not in Diagon alley, Dumbledore turned down a side-street that Harry had never noticed before – and no wonder. It was right at the very end of the street, far away from any of the usual shops that he visited. The alley itself was called Extern Alley, and appeared to be filled with shops dealing with domestic magic and goods, from simple cleaning items to grand furniture stores.

"Here we are, then. I think before you buy anything, it would be wise to scout out what several of the stores have to offer, and go with a theme. It would not do for the saviour of the wizarding world, and prestigious heir of the Potter, Black and Gryffindor line, to be living in a home that looked like it had been decorated by the Weasley twins and the Marauders!" Dumbledore quipped, eyes twinkling as usual.

Harry decided to take Dumbledore's advice. They split up, and scouted the numerous shops and stores along the alleyway for 2 hours. Then they met up once again at the end of the alley, and compared all that they had seen.

Two more hours later, the teacher and student left the alley and returned to the main wizarding shopping district, carrying several bags and charmed objects.

Altogether, Harry had bought for his home two black sofas for the living room; a large white rug that would cover a large portion of the dark wood floor; decorative fireplace ornaments (such as a realistic phoenix statue that would sit in the centre of the fireplace amid the flames, and looked like a phoenix rising from the ashes).

For either side of the fireplace, he bought two statues of a bird called the Quetzalcoatl, which was a cousin of the phoenix. It looked exactly like the phoenix, and had the same properties – except instead of being a bird of fire, it was a bird of lightning; and instead of being red and gold, it was emerald green and silver. Dumbledore had explained its properties when Harry had seen it. He was actually thinking about buying such a bird, but Dumbledore told him that they were extinct. It seems that wizards had thought that they could harness the weather if they had one; but once the birds were captured, they died mere months later, because they didn't like being in captivity.

For the kitchen, Harry had simply bought lots of food and some magical appliances. He had also picked out the necessary things for the bathrooms. For the bedrooms, he had chosen large four- poster luxurious beds, much like those at Hogwarts but less worn looking; also large rugs, dressers and wardrobe units.

The dining room was to be perhaps the most extravagant and luxurious room in the entire house. The grand table that continued the dark wood theme would sit in the centre of the room, and fill a large portion of it. All around the room were to be portraits and landscapes, and some enlarged pictures of Harry's friends and family. He was even lucky enough to find a portrait of Godric Gryffindor himself. There were also shelves, trays and magical tools for the layout and preparation of foods for self-service. Along one of the walls, Harry planned to put a large tapestry showing the Potter family line; having it made up would set him back a large amount. For the upstairs room, Harry had bought only a few pieces of furniture. He would leave the rest alone for now, so he could set it up and equip it properly at a later date.

"So, can we go now?" Harry asked eagerly, hoping to get away from all of the prying eyes and curiosity-seekers.

"Yes, I believe that we have spent enough time here; we have yet to finish the house, and by the look of the weather, we don't have much time," Dumbledore said, as he now glanced at the sky, which had surprisingly held off so far. Harry was just about to reply to Dumbledore when a large crowd of witches and wizards surrounded them, separating them, and bombarded them with rapid-fire questions. In all of the reporters' excitement, Harry had lost sight of Dumbledore, and began to feel a little uneasy.

"Mr. Potter, can you tell us the circumstances of your expulsion?" one reporter asked Harry, or rather shouted at him over the large crowd.

"Harry, is it true that it was the ex-headmaster of Hogwarts that expelled you?" another shouted.

Harry was beginning to get fed up with all of the reporters bombarding him with questions and surrounding him so he could not get free. He was just about to do something drastic, when he caught sight of a 'reporter' at the front of the crowd. This particular 'reporter,' Harry noticed, did not look like the others; he wasn't desperately trying to get Harry to answer questions or gain his attention, he was just looking at Harry with a blank expression on his face, and standing perfectly still except when another witch or wizard jostled him. Harry was just about to confront the man when he was nudged rather forcefully from behind, making him lose sight of the strange 'reporter.' Before he could regain his line of sight, he was hit with the agonizing pain of the Cruciatus curse, and fell to his knees. Almost at once, the crowd of reporters frantically backed away from Harry and the man, leaving Harry to be tortured at the hands of the obviously dark wizard before him.

"So this is the great Harry Potter everyone fears so much, hmm?" he sneered, once he let the curse go. "You're nothing without your precious Dumbledore at your side to protect you," He snarled. During this short speech, Harry had managed to make it to his feet and regain his bearings. He was still trembling from the unforgivable curse, and his skin itched with pain as his nerves and muscles occasionally gave a spasm.

Gasping for air, Harry choked out, "Who are you?" to the man. If he was a Death Eater, Harry was willing to bet that he was one of those that Tom had broken out of Azkaban, both from his words, and also because he had not seen this particular man at Riddle's rebirthing ceremony.

"Who am I? Who am I? That is a good question. I know what I am; I know when I am; but do I know who I am? No, I don't, because people like you took that away from me when you threw me and my wife into Azkaban!" the death eater roared as he levelled his wand at Harry.

At that moment, Harry figured out who the man was. He had not heard of any other Death Eater couples who had been sentenced to Azkaban, let alone escaped. "Lestrange," he growled, almost like his animagus' growl.

"So, you're not as stupid as they say. Serpensortia!" he said, yelling the curse. He obviously wasn't well-updated, or as smart as he thought.

"Someone called me stupid?" Harry asked calmly as the snake approached. When it was barely a meter away, Harry hissed at it: "*Stop!*" he said in Parseltongue, drawing a collective gasp from his audience.

"*Attack that man now,*" Harry commanded it, hoping to use Lestrange's moment of shock to his advantage. The snake slithered quickly back over to its summoner, and in the blink of an eye, it had pounced onto him. It was just about to bite him when Lestrange awakened from his shock and screamed out, scrambling his arms trying to get the snake off him. Several moments later, he was free of the snake and had banished it, and was again ready to curse Harry. In the time that it took Lestrange to rid himself of the serpent, Harry had quickly gone through his options about how to deal with the Death Eater. He was reluctant to use his magic, because whichever sort of magic he used, it would give away his immense power to the reporters, and ultimately to Riddle. He was saved from making any kind of decision, because just before Lestrange was going to curse him again, he was stunned from behind. A moment later, Dumbledore stepped over the body.

"I am sorry I took so long getting here, Harry; the crowd would not let me pass, and you were a fair distance away," Dumbledore said gravely.

"It's fine, sir; you got here in time, and that's all that matters," Harry replied wearily. Being cursed with the Cruciatus had exhausted him.

"I think we had better head back as soon as the ministry arrives. I have a potion that will help you," Dumbledore said. Just then, there were several pops announcing the arrival, late as usual, of ministry officials.

"What's going on here?" one of the new arrivals harshly asked; then he spotted Harry and strode up to him, almost nose to nose. "Potter! I should have known. You're always causing trouble. It seems that no-good muggle-loving Dumbledore actually did something right by expelling you before he was booted out!" he said, in what he must have thought was a threatening tone. When the crowd heard what the official had said, most of them gasped in surprise, but less due to what was said, and more for in front of whom it was said.

"Regardless of my views on muggles or my dismissal from Hogwarts, I am still chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and as such, I am your superior," Dumbledore said in his headmaster's voice from behind the man, whose face went white in shock.

"And furthermore, Mr Smyth, it is my right to punish you for slandering me in public. Do you know what an offence of this sort is punishable by?" Dumbledore asked. Smyth shook his head. "Dismissal."

"P-please, s-sir, I have a-a family to take care of!" Smyth stuttered.

"Consider yourself lucky, then, that it was me that you were bad-mouthing, and not another of your superiors. I have no intention of dismissing you; but you had better find a better attitude toward people before you go jumping into any future confrontations. Now, I believe you owe Mr Potter and myself an apology?" Dumbledore said, returning to his normal jolly voice.

"Yes – sir. I'm very sorry, to both you and Mr Potter; I was acting without thinking. I'm… I'm sorry," Smyth said, and as soon as he got it over with, he skulked off somewhere away from the reporters.

"Prof… er… Mr Dumbledore sir, can you tell me what happened?" another official asked after he witnessed the confrontation between his colleague and the greatest magic user of modern times.

"I am afraid that while the reporters were ambushing me and Mr Potter, one of Voldemort's followers saw an opportunity only an insane man would take, and he took it. His probable insanity, alas, only made matters worse for him. I believe he held Mr Potter under the Cruciatus curse, and then tried to use the Serpensortia spell to attack him. Luckily, Mr Potter was able to command the snake to return the attack on Lestrange, which kept him occupied long enough for me to arrive and stun him from behind," Dumbledore explained to the man, who had it written down using a Quick-Quotes-Quill.

"Thank you sir, I think that will be everything we need. By the looks of the weather, I would say it would be a good idea to get home, especially if young Mr Potter there was cursed," the man said with a genuine smile on his face.

"Good day to you," Dumbledore said, as he and Harry left the crowd and quickly made their way to the designated apparation point.

Two faint 'pops' later and Harry and Dumbledore were once again strolling along the streets in the small village of Godric's Hollow.

"We had best hurry, due to the impending weather. Once we get to your house, I shall give you a potion to counter the effects of the curse," Dumbledore said as the house came into view.

"Thank you, sir," Harry said wearily, which Dumbledore did not fail to notice. Once they got to the house, they both went inside and set their purchases down. Dumbledore began digging through a trunk that he had enlarged, while Harry went over to his waiting phoenix, Tronza.

"Hey, boy, can you go and wait in my room? I have a few things to do before I can write a reply, or even read Ron's, for that matter," Harry asked him. Tronza gave him the usual trilled reply, before he vanished in a burst of flames.

"Aha!" Dumbledore cried, as he pulled out a vial of gooey green potion, and handed it to Harry. He smiled with amusement at the disgusted look plastered on Harry's face at the prospect of ingesting such vileness.

"Go ahead, it's best to get it over with," Dumbledore said.

"Ergh! It looks like something Dudley produces when he actually reaches his limit of food intake!" Harry commented, his face turning a matching green.

"Don't worry, it looks worse than it tastes," replied Dumbledore.

"Why did you have this potion brewed, anyway?" Harry questioned suspiciously, after all no sane (or even insane) person would even dare to think about cursing Dumbledore with the Cruciatus – except maybe Riddle, hoping to buy some time.

"Given trouble's … shall we say, attraction to you? Yes. Given trouble's attraction to you, I thought it would be a good idea to have an inventory of potions at the ready, in case something did go wrong," Dumbledore laughed. "Now, hurry up and finish off the potion, and then you can go and finish the roof before it starts to rain too heavily. I think I will make an allowance this one time and let you use your glove," Dumbledore said.

"You are so generous," Harry commented dryly, and then downed the potion in one gulp, bypassing most of his taste buds, but unfortunately for him, not all of them.

"Yuck! That has to be the most awful tasting potio…" Harry began but was interrupted by a loud clap of thunder.

"Oh great, looks like I won't beat the weather after all, then," he said as he reached for his outdoor cloak.

"I told you to hurry, but you insisted on stalling," Dumbledore said with amusement on his face once more.

"Would you drink that potion straight away if you could get away with stalling?" Harry asked.

"Yes; and now I believe you are stalling once again. I suggest you hurry if you don't want any damage to your house; those charms wont hold out forever, you know," Dumbledore said.

"Fine, but I expect to see all of that stuff enlarged and in their right rooms when I come back," Harry said, as if he actually had any command over the sorcerer.

"Your wish …" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

With a 'humph,' Harry went outside once again into the now pouring rain, levitated himself up onto the roof, and began weaving spells with the slate he was using to give it extra durability and resistance to the elements. He was about midway through his work when something happened that he both didn't expect and didn't think possible. He was just summoning more slate overhead, while his arm was aimed straight up. It happened in an instant, but Harry would remember it forever. In that instant there was a blinding flash of light, a charged feeling within himself, and a burst of both physical and magical energy which resulted in the rest of the roof being fixed together, spells and all, straight away and in one go.

"Harry, finished already?" Dumbledore asked, as Harry came back in and used a wordless drying charm on himself.

"Yeah, I – er – well, I don't know how it happened, it was so quick."

"What, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, alarmed.

"It was amazing! I felt so energized, but the whole thing took less than a second," Harry said cryptically.

"Harry, will you please slow down and tell me what happened?" Dumbledore asked urgently. Gathering his wits, Harry sat down on one of the chairs that Dumbledore had enlarged for the dining room.

"I was on the roof, finishing up slating it. In the middle of levitating over some more slate, there was a flash of bright light, and I felt energized – not like when someone has too much coffee, but like I could do anything! My magic felt pumped too, and I know it was – because in that brief half a second or so, I was able to finish the entire roof: slate, spells and all," Harry said, still in a little shock.

"Well that is indeed strange; I have never heard of such a thing happening before. It might have something to do with the glove that you are using, in conjunction with the different method of wandless magic that you have developed," Dumbledore said, and then he too sat down and thought for a few minutes. "Whatever it was, I don't think we have anything to worry about at the moment. There isn't even much we need to do about it, unless someone else sees it happen. Until then I suggest we go about life normally," Dumbledore said, earning a snort from Harry at his comment about normality.

"Speak for yourself! Since when has anything, including life, been normal for me?" Harry asked bitterly.

"You just have to take what life throws at you, Harry; that is what's normal in life," Dumbledore said, rising to his feet. "Now, I think it would be a good idea to get the rest of this stuff unpacked so we can go to bed. It has been a long day."

Later that night, while Harry was lying in his new bed and going through all of the events of the week, he couldn't help but wonder whether his magic-level test might have been inaccurate. After all, he had achieved so much compared to Dumbledore, to still be weaker than him by one level. But then again, a level 5 out of 7 was nothing to frown at; and battles never relied solely on magical strength. Maybe – just maybe – he really would kill Riddle, once and for all, when the time came.

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A/N: I thank everyone that reviewed, it means a lot reading all of the great comments you have taken the time to write and I appreciate the suggestions some give. Hope you liked the chapter the next one should be out soon. Also I would like to say a big thank you to my beta reader who is very patiently trying to get me to see the light so to speak of grammar :D

Until Next Time

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