Next morning Harry's behaviour gave no clues that something out of the ordinary had happened that night. By 10am, he had eaten, showered, packed his trunk and was ready to go. As he carried his stuff down the stairs he glanced at the Dursleys. Mr Dursley was watching TV - or at least trying to. Every minute or so he'd get up to peek out the window, while Aunt Petunia were nervously trying to read a woman's magazine. Harry ignored them, sat down and tried to control his impatience.
"How will those freaky friends of yours get here?" Mr Dursley asked without taking his eyes off the TV. "Not through the fireplace, I hope?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. The letter didn't say."
Mr Dursley snorted contemptuously for a response.
"What a charming fellow," Storm spoke inside Harry's mind. In a strange way her voice reminded him of the sound threes made when they moved in the wind. "Is he always like this?"
"Oh, this is nothing," Harry thought back. "You should see him if I mention the words 'magic' or 'wizard'."
"I can hardly believe someone can have such a... medieval relationship to magic," Thunder said in a growling bass.
"Heh. Too bad we can't give him a demonstration, yet," Lightning said, who had an oddly steely quality to her voice.
"The time will come," Thunder chuckled. "The time will come."
About one and a half hour later, Dudley came stomping down the stairs. He gave Harry a terrified look and then promptly ripped open the door to the cupboard, somehow squeezed his considerable body mass inside, and shut the door with a bang. Harry snorted with laughter, but Mr and Mrs Dursley gave him such an ugly look he found it best to wait outside.
As the clock drew near 12pm Harry suddenly heard two loud cracks in quick succession coming from the living room, closely followed by Aunt Petunia's scream and Uncle Vernon's indignant cursing. Harry sniggered to himself as he went back inside. Whomever the Order had sent to pick him up had Apparated right into the Dursleys living room.
"I will not have this kind of unnaturalness in my house!" Mr Dursley shouted on the top of his lungs. "Use the front door like normal people - no, use the back door-"
"Keep quiet, Dursley!" came a familiar growling voice. "I travel as I see fit, and no bloody Muggle is going to tell me otherwise."
Harry grinned wider as he entered the living room and found Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody and Nymphadora Tonks standing there, the former glaring daggers at Mr Dursley and the latter looking around interested. Someone had apparently informed Mad-eye that the bowler hat he had used to cover his magical eye with just made him seem more suspicious, because he was now wearing a black eye patch instead. Unfortunately, Tonks had ruined the impression by changing her hair colour to neon blue and growing it down to her knees.
Mr Dursley opened his mouth as if to say something, but then thought better of it and instead sat down beside his wife who had her eyes closed and one hand pressed against her chest.
"Hello, Potter," Mad-eye growled. "Everything ready?"
"Yeah, um- who is it that always start screaming in the Entrance Hall to where we are going?" Harry asked just to be sure it actually was Mad-eye.
"Mrs Black, of course," Mad-eye said and looked delighted at Harry having acquired a healthy doze of paranoia.
"Thanks. Tonks, who is it that usually make her scream?"
Tonks rolled her eyes. "Me and my clumsiness, wise-guy."
Harry chuckled. "Alright, how are we getting there?"
"Portkey," he grunted and dug around in his pockets. "It's safe now that the Ministry is back on our side. Got it here somewhere..."
"Had a nice summer, Harry?" Tonks asked brightly.
"Well, I have to admit that it passed quicker than usual," Harry grinned. Tonks had been one of those who had threatened the Dursleys with dire consequences if they mistreated Harry. "As a matter of fact I've had much worse summers."
"Ah, here it is," Mad-eye said and held up the wrapping from a piece of chewing gum. Harry could barely make out the words 'Ton-Tongue Toffee' on it. Ignoring Mr Dursley, whose astonished look clearly said that he thought them insane, they walked into the Hall.
"Alright, there's only a few seconds left so be quick," Mad-eye said. "Tonks, take the bird cage. Harry, you take the broom, and I'll take the trunk." Tonks and Harry touched the chewing gum wrapping with one finger. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Mr Dursley peeking nervously out of the living room, staring at this little bit of craziness. Then suddenly he felt the familiar hook behind the navel, and he was dragged off into a swirl of colours. A few seconds later his feet slammed back into the ground. The room they were standing in were pitch dark. Squinting, Harry couldn't even make out his own hands.
"Um, Professor? Is something wrong?" he asked nervously. He'd had some very bad experiences with portkeys before.
"I've told you, boy, I'm not a professor anymore," came the gruff voice of Mad-eye. "And nothing's wrong. Tonks, are you gonna turn on the lights or not?"
Several gas lamps suddenly illuminated the room, and Harry's brain had barely time to register that the room was filled with over a dozen people before an ear-splitting 'Happy birthday!' nearly knocked him on his backside. About one second later the world disappeared in bushy brown hair, and something tried to squeeze the air out of his lungs.
"H-Hermione?" Harry managed to get out.
"Easy, let the poor chap breathe," came Ron's amused voice.
Hermione let go of Harry and beamed up at him. "Welcome back, Harry. We've been missing you."
"Yeah, the wizarding world is not quite the same without the Amazing Adventures of the Boy Who Lived," Ron joked and slapped his back.
Slowly a grin spread across Harry's face as he surveyed the room. A large banner floated in the air seemingly on its own, with 'Happy birthday, Harry' written across in letters that slowly faded from one colour to the next. Beneath it a huge birthday cake was standing on the table. It would have easily reached to Harry's chest had it been sitting on the floor. And gathered all around him were all of Harry's closest friends and then some.
Aside from Ron, Hermione, Mad-eye and Tonks, Ginny was also there in a beautiful blue dress that clearly said that she was no longer just Ron's little sister, but a girl ready to take on the world. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, were also there, with the usual mischievous glimmer in their eyes. Neville and Luna from Harry's 'Death Eater fighting gang' were present, too. Finally, Remus Lupin, Mr and Mrs Weasley and even Professor Dumbledore himself was there, the latter's eyes twinkling merrily.
"You- you threw a birthday party for me?" Harry exclaimed while trying to keep his voice even. Crying in his own birthday party wouldn't look cool.
"Of course we did, silly," Hermione smiled. "That's the least we could do."
"Right, now that the emotional stuff is hopefully over," Fred intoned while his twin made puking-sounds, "would birthday boy please get his backside over here and open his presents so that we can eat some cake?"
Laughter erupted throughout the room, and the twins walked over to Harry, grabbed one arm each, lifted him off the ground, carried him over to the table and unceremoniously dumped him down in a chair.
"Fred and George Weasley!" Mrs Weasley shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
But everyone else just laughed. "Go ahead, Harry," Lupin grinned. "It's the main event after all."
Harry eyed the pile of presents, not knowing quite where to start.
"Open the one from me first," Ron said, reached into the pile and handed Harry a fancy envelope with silver writing that read: 'To Harry'. Inside Harry found a card that gave him a one-year subscription to a magazine called Quidditch Quest Monthly.
"Thanks, Ron!" Harry grinned.
The next present was (surprise!) a book from Hermione: Defence Against the Dark Arts: What a teacher ought to know.
"It's not that you weren't already doing a great job as a teacher for the DA," Hermione said after Harry thanked her, "but I thought you'd need it. Now that the Ministry has officially admitted that Voldemort is back I bet we'll have an influx of new members." Harry blinked at her. He hadn't even thought one way or the other of continuing with the DA this semester. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher couldn't possibly be as bad as Umbridge - which was the main reason they had started the group in the first place.
Harry gave himself a shake and opened the present from Mad-eye and Tonks: a wand holster to strap on his forearm. No one would be able to se it as long as he wore Hogwarts robes or a Muggle sweater and didn't roll up his sleeves.
"It's standard Auror equipment," Tonks explained. "The Expelliarmus Charm won't work as long as your wand is in the holster, and if you suddenly need it in a hurry it's enough to concentrate hard on your wand."
Harry did so, and with a small click his wand jumped out of the holster and into his hand. "Thanks," he said. "I might need that one day." Tonks waved Harry's thanks away, and Mad-eye hemmed and hawed and found a very interesting spot on the floor to study.
The biggest surprise, however, came when Harry opened a letter with two handwritings from the Weasley twins that read:
Dear sponsor,
Since you were kind enough to provide initial capital for Weasleys's Wizard Wheezes it is only fair that you are rewarded for your generosity. Therefore we have decided to make you into a WWW shareholder. Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of thirty-three per cent of total stock!
Fred and George Weasley,
Co-Presidents of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.
PS: Mom isn't mad at you for financing us. She has finally accepted that the only careers we are interested in are pranks. And that's about time, too!
Harry stared overwhelmed at the twins who stood there with a smug look - more smug than usual, that is. "I can't accept this!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, yes you can," George said, and Harry noticed both twins were fingering their wands. "Just like we did when you showed all those Galleons on us."
"I'm warning you, we learned some pretty good jinxes especially for this occasion," Fred threatened.
Realizing he wouldn't be able to refuse and actually walk out of the room, Harry had no choice but to give in. "Alright," he said shakily. "And thanks, guys. That's one heck of a birthday present."
Mrs Weasley gave a snort. "That from someone who gave away a thousand Galleons, just like that." She gave the twins a piercing look. "And you two who actually accepted!"
"Hey, he practically threatened us at wandpoint, mom," Fred said defensively.
"That's true," Harry said hurriedly. "I didn't want them after what happened, and would probably have flushed them down in the toilet if Fred and George hadn't accepted them."
"Well, what's done is done," Lupin interjected when Mrs Weasley opened her mouth argue further. "Why don't you open the present from me, Harry?"
Glad for the distraction, Harry wasted no time in tearing off the wrapping paper, exposing a shallow stone basin. It was lighter than he would have thought from looking at it, and it had strange runes and symbols carved around the edge. Harry had seen one of these before, in Professor Dumbledore's office.
"A Pensieve?" Harry asked dumbfounded.
"Yes, considering how much you and your little gang enjoy the role of detectives, I thought you'd like one of those," Lupin said lightly. "It makes it easier to spot patterns and links. Or so I've been told."
"Thanks, Professor," Harry said sincerely.
"Oh, please!" Lupin chuckled. "I haven't been your professor for two years now, and I like to think that we've become friends. Call me Remus or Moony."
"Alright, Moony then," Harry grinned. He liked that name. "How do you use this thing?"
"That's easy enough. Press the tip of your wand against your temple and concentrate on the memory you want to remove. Then carefully pull away your wand."
Harry did as he'd been told, pressing his wand against his temple and concentrated on the first time he flew on a broomstick. As he moved his wand away he could see a silvery thread hanging from the tip. For a few seconds he hesitated - he couldn't remember what he'd just been concentrating on. It was as if there was something missing in his mind. Shrugging, he disposed the memory in the Pensieve.
"There you go," Lupin said. "That's all there's to it."
The three remaining parcels were from Ginny, Neville and Luna, and contained a box of Fillibusters Fabulous Waterproof No-Heat Fireworks, and various candies such as Every Flavour beans and Chocolate Frogs.
"Hey, you didn't need to buy me anything," Harry smiled.
"Of course we did," Luna said seriously. "It's your birthday party, is it not?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Before we begin eating Mrs Weasley's delicious cake I'd like to give back something that's rightfully yours," the old professor said and handed Harry his Firebolt, which he had been hiding behind his back. Harry jumped up from the chair and snatched the broomstick with a wild grin, causing some laughter around the room. With everything that had happened at the end of last term, he had actually forgotten that Umbridge had confiscated it. His subsequent depression and total dedication to the oath he had sworn that night a month ago, had caused him to forget about the whole matter.
"Of course, since Mrs Umbridge is no longer a member of the Hogwarts faculty, your Quidditch ban has been lifted and you're back on the team," Dumbledore continued with a twinkle in his eye. Cheers erupted from Neville, Hermione and the Weasley kids, and Harry got quite a few pats on the back.
"Well, now that birthday boy has gotten his presents, perhaps we can get something to eat?" Fred asked and looked at his mother with an eager expression.
Mrs Weasley heaved a resigned sigh. "Alright, alright. Sit down everyone." As everyone found someplace to sit along the table, she pointed her wand at a spatula that promptly began serving cake on its own.
"Say, Harry; you are going to continue with the DA this year, right?" Neville asked.
"I haven't really thought about it," Harry said thoughtfully through a mouthful of cake. "I've taught you guys just about everything I know."
"But you've got to!" Ron exclaimed from across the table. "The DA was the only reason why I got an 'O' on my OWL in Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Yes, but we only started the DA in the first place because of that cow Umbridge," Harry said. "If we get a decent teacher this year, we may not need the DA."
"Still, some more practical training wouldn't hurt, now that You-Know-Who is back and all," Neville countered hopefully.
Harry thought that while Neville did have a point it was true that he had reached the limit of his knowledge. Of course he had Hermione's birthday present, but he doubted that would be enough. "I don't know," Harry said. "I'll think about it, okay? Speaking of OWLs, how did you guys do?"
"Well, except for that 'O' in Defence Against the Dark Arts, I got 'E's in nearly everything else," Ron said. "Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, theoretical Astronomy and Potions. I got an 'A' in practical Astronomy, a 'P' in History of Magic, and a 'T' in Divination-"
"A 'T'?" Hermione said and looked surprised at George. "As in 'Troll'? I thought you were joking!"
George looked back equally surprised. "I was joking! I thought that grade didn't exist."
"Are you two finished rubbing salt in the wound?" Ron grunted. "Me failing in Divination was a given since day one."
"How did you do, Hermione?" Neville asked.
"Are you kidding?" Ron said and eyed Hermione sideways. "Perfect 'O's in everything, of course - except practical Astronomy where she got an 'E'. But that was just because she was distracted by Umbridge attacking Hagrid."
"Oh, shut it," Hermione muttered, trying not to look too smug.
They swapped OWL results a while more ("You got an 'O' in Potions?" Ron exclaimed impressed. "How the heck did you pull that off?"), until Fred and George got bored and decided to test their newest invention - exploding tea cups which turned the face of the victim blue. Seconds later they got more entertainment when a blue-faced Mrs Weasley chased the twins around the room. The entertainment came to an abrupt end, however, when Mad-eye ate or drank something that charmed his hair into dreadlocks, whereupon he promptly transfigured Fred and George into ferrets. He later told Harry that he didn't make them bounce up and down because: "Anyone who manage to trick me into drinking a potion deserves some respect."
It was well past midnight before Harry and Ron made their way up to the bedroom they shared. They played a little with Harry's new Pensieve (Ron let Harry see his memory of the last Quidditch match), but were really too tired and too stuffed with cake to keep awake much longer. Eventually Harry fell asleep, truly content for the first time in over a month.
When Harry woke hours later it was still dark. A glance at his wristwatch told him that it was only 4pm. He sat up in bed and peered into the darkness, wondering what had awoken him. Only Ron's snoring penetrated the darkness.
"Harry, it's nearly time."
Harry jumped as the voice sounded in his mind. "Lightning! Don't scare me like that! Time for what?"
"The first transformation. It'll start soon."
"What? Now?" Harry exclaimed wildly.
"The transformations do not wait for anyone," Thunder said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You better be quick, if you want to keep this secret."
Harry glanced at Ron who was still snoring away, then got out of bed and tiptoed across the room. He opened the door, slipped out silent as a wraith and closed it gently behind him. Now where should he go? Where could he be sure no one would find him for about an hour? Then he suddenly remembered the drawing room he had helped clean up the previous year. Shivering from the cold air and wishing he had taken the time to get dressed, Harry quickly made his way toward the room.
The drawing room was as he remembered it - except for the tapestry showing the Black family three which someone had finally managed to tear down and replaced with a man-sized mirror. Heat began building in his chest; that was the warning signal, Harry knew. It was about to begin. Quickly he shut the door, and muttered an epithet when he saw it had no lock. There was no time to find a different room; this would have to do.
Harry took a few calming breaths and positioned himself in the centre of the room. The heat had spread to his entire torso, and was currently flowing down his arms and legs like water. He looked at himself in the mirror, trying to imprint in his memory how he looked. While the first transformation wouldn't alter him too radically, the same couldn't be said about later transformations.
"I will keep my friends safe," Harry whispered to himself. "No matter the cost."
He was sweating now. In the mirror he could see a faint golden light spreading out of his chest. He closed his eyes and concentrated on calming his racing heart. When he opened them again he saw that both his body and his pyjamas had grown transparent. He could actually see his own heart beating furiously. And then Harry's world disappeared in a tremendous burst of golden light so bright he was forced to shut his eyes again. He could feel magic radiating out of his body, and deep down Harry knew that now there was too late to retrace his steps. It had begun.
Author's notes:
Whoa! Twelve reviews after only the first chapter? Well, hope you liked this one, too...