Harry Potter and the Sword of Eternal Flame
By: Alex Lyons3
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and everything in the wonderful world of Hogwarts. Disney owns Gargoyles and Demona.
Author's Note: In order to understand this you have to read Harry Potter and the Soul Shifter, my Year six fan fiction. As I said in The Soul Shifter, Harry started school back in '97, so Seventh Year is 2002-2003. In this chapter Harry gets an explanation to a lot of his birthday surprises. Also, this "...." is where someone is recalling a memory and there is more than one instance of said person is saying something.
Chapter 3: Explanations
Sirius Black sat in his cell, staring at the green gargoyle that was in front of him angrily. He had figured that this one was a twin of some kind to the other gargoyle who had put him in here. He had seen him playing with a group of two year olds, twelve in all. He sighed, for an hour now he had attempted, to no avail, to give Malibu cause to let him out of his cage.
Malibu glared. "Why you here?" The gargoyle said, getting tired of the silence and the monotony of Fang's jokes.
Sirius looked at him kind of disbelieving. "I'm here to find Harry. Or so that was what I was told."
Malibu looked in at him. "Brooklyn say you not allowed to leave until he comes back. You try to hurt Harry?"
Sirius snarled, "No! Never!"
"Oooo! Malibu! You should know better than to make him mad. He's already insane." Fang said.
Malibu sneered, "Be quiet!"
"What if I don't wanta?" Fang asked, pouting.
"I call Talon!" Malibu said, which Sirius understood to be a good enough threat.
"All right, ya little squirt! Utterly amazing! You bein' the clone of the smartest of Goliath's clan, but you bein' the stupidest clone."
"I not Stupid!!" Malibu snarled, tears beginning to glitter in his eyes.
"Yeah, right! Can't even talk like a normal adult!" Fang taunted.
"Yeah, well, neither can you, mate! If he were really stupid, he'd talk like you!" Sirius said, not at all liking the mutate.
"Hey!" Fang whined.
"Then put a sock in it!" Sirius sais indignantly.
Malibu's eyes were still brimming with unshed tears, Sirius sighed, this was going to be a long thirty minutes.
At three forty-five Brooklyn came back, he was flanked by Talon and Goliath. Right in front of him though was Remus, he was to check and make sure that this really was Sirius. No matter what Brooklyn had heard how Sirius had ended up behind the veil. He couldn't see how James' best friend had come back from the dead and still in the body he left in.
Malibu came bounding over to them, looking at Remus expectantly. Remus held out a large bar of chocolate and the clone took it, grinning, said a word of thanks and bounded from the room to go share his treat with the children he often played with. Goliath chuckled. Out of all the clones, Malibu was by far his favorite one. Mainly because he was so childlike and inquisitive. The others were really more like young teenagers, too stubborn and proud to take the time to listen to what their originals had to say.
Brooklyn looked into the cage, "Well," he said shortly, "he hasn't changed."
Remus looked to Brooklyn, "No. He hasn't. My nose knows too. That's Sirius!"
"Thank you, Moony, for pointing out the obvious!!" Sirius said angrily.
"At least you didn't have Dementors guarding you!!" Remus snapped.
"No! I had a half wit living bug zapper and a childlike gargoyle guarding me! That is so much better!!" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Leave Malibu alone, Padfoot!" Brooklyn snarled.
"What about me?!" Fang, who had been listening in pouted.
"You are a half wit." Remus exclaimed truthfully.
"Remus, I hope you don't mind, but I need you to explain to Sirius about me. We can give him proof later, tomorrow perhaps, but he needs to know." Brooklyn said seriously as he unlocked the door to the cage and handed Sirius his wand back.
"Why can't you explain, Beaked Freak!?" Sirius sneered.
"That's unbecoming, Padfoot, you look like Snape!" Brooklyn said grinning slightly with a brow ridge raised as Sirius' jaw dropped and he started to go red. Brooklyn turned to Remus, "As to answer 'Snape Junior's' question, I can't because I need to help Talon, Maggie, Claw and Goliath. Besides," He turned back to Sirius (who looked about ready to explode) with a cheeky grin, "you'd never believe me, but I know well enough that you'd believe Remus."
"Fair enough." Remus said with a smirk at the way Sirius' face was starting to go magenta. "Go on, I can handle, Padfoot!"
Brooklyn nodded and left the room.
Remus grinned. "Come on, Sirius! Let's go some place more accommodating for this discussion."
Sirius shrugged, but let Remus lead him out to a table where they could watch the others.
"Okay, Padfoot, first things first. His name," he said gesturing to Brooklyn, "is Brooklyn, not Beaked Freak. In a few moments what I'm about to tell you is well...a little odd."
"Alright, but how's Harry? Where is he? This isn't London!" Sirius said looking confused. "The god with the jackal head, Anubis. He said that I'd be seeing Harry shortly. He said that Harry needed my protection soon. That he needed all The Marauders' protection soon. Of course, I don't quite understand that, I mean James is dead, right Moony?"
Remus looked at Sirius with a mixture of pity and disbelief in his eyes.
"I wish that you could have been here last year. Harry really missed you." Remus said calmly. "Harry's fine. He and I are staying at Castle Wyvern, which has been moved to New York City. More specifically, to the top of the Eyrie building at the northern end of Manhattan Island."
"We're in America?!" Sirius said incredulously.
"Yes. Harry has just officially turned seventeen today. Brooklyn there," He gestured again towards Brooklyn, "is planning Harry's first ever real birthday party! Last year, Harry faced Voldemort because he got a hold of me and with out the Wolfsbane potion to keep me in check, he turned me loose on a bunch of people. One of the first were Harry's relatives. Another family were The Granger's, Hermione's family."
"My God, Moony! Are you all right?" Sirius asked concerned.
"I'm getting over it, slowly. Harry and Hermione have forgiven me, but it isn't something I will ever get over easily." Remus said pushing his solid silver hair back. "Thing is, when Harry came to rescue me, he brought along Brooklyn, who we of The Order knew as Brian Brooks and his young friend Jessica Cotten, Jess to most of us. They both got hit by the Killing Curse." Sirius looked stunned, but said nothing. "Now, Jess apparently was a banshee and since she was already dead; she couldn't die again. In fact, since you know what a banshee is this may be easier to take in, she's the spirit of Lily. No body could tell, of course, until Voldemort fired the spell to see who's body she had inhabited before hand."
"Lily's here?!" Sirius asked, shocked.
Remus nodded. "Voldemort thought it a bit odd that Lily would be there, but not James. So, going on a hunch, he fired the Soul Shifter Revealing Spell, since when the Killing Curse hit a very human Brian Brooks, instead of dying he turned into a gargoyle. That gargoyle," Remus pointed to Brooklyn, "is none other than our Prongs!"
Sirius' mouth was gapping as he stared at the tall, lean gargoyle that was preparing the clones to leave for the castle.
"So, that's what Anubis meant when I asked to see James or Lily and he said that he didn't have them." Sirius said, finally finding his voice.
"Yeah, kind of funny, really. You remember when we went on that field trip as first years to Castle Wyvern and James was just blown away by the gargoyle statues? Particularly the beaked one?" Remus said slyly.
"Yeah." Sirius said, distractedly then comprehension dawned on him, "He saw himself? Did James even know?"
Remus shook his head. "From what I gathered from Brooklyn, he never really remembered much from his life as a gargoyle while he was James. Also, he'd never have remembered any of James' life except, as Anubis said, 'Harry needs The Marauders' protection.' He remembered Harry so vividly that he applied for the job that he held as James last year."
"So, no recollection what so ever?" Sirius asked.
"Only bits and pieces. Like with certain tests and all. That's why he could get through them with hardly any study, he'd already taken them all!" Remus said with a chuckle.
"Wait! I remember doing a paper for Defense on him!" Sirius said, shocked, "He's a Slytherin! Why did the hat put him in Gryffindor?"
Remus chuckled, "Man! Harry is your godson! Same paper; same gargoyle!" Remus explained when Sirius raised a brow at him. "Gryffindor didn't want him!"
"You got to be kidding me?!" Sirius said his mouth agape again.
Remus shook his head, "No, but he was more Gryffindor to begin with. The Hat just reversed a mistake that was made."
"Harsh mistake!" Sirius said looking at Brooklyn out of the corner of his eye.
"No. Not from what Brooklyn told me. Seems Slytherin wanted muggle born's to not come to Hogwarts. He never said that they shouldn't be taught." Remus said, then grinned, "However, if that were the case...James would have never met Lily."
"Too true!" Sirius said.
"Hey! You finished, Moony?" Brooklyn said coming over to them. Sirius looked up at the gargoyle, stood and incased him in an enormous hug.
"I'll take that as a yes, then?" Brooklyn said, with a slight grin.
"Are they all ready?" Remus asked, not bothering to wait for Sirius to stop hugging Brooklyn.
"Yeah, they're ready. All we got to do is take them up to the streets with out anybody noticing them." Brooklyn said, finally getting Sirius to let go.
"How about we do a Disillusionment Charm on all of them? I could go out first, Sirius could come out last." Remus suggested.
"Hmm. Goliath!" Brooklyn called over to his leader. The large lavender gargoyle came over to the three of them.
"Yes, Brooklyn?" Goliath asked warily.
"We might know of a way to get everybody top side with out anybody noticing, but I know you don't like my using magic, so I was going to ask if it was alright?" Brooklyn said, as though he were a child asking an adult for permission to do something that wouldn't necessarily harm him, but that the adult thought that the child had no understanding of.
"What did you have in mind?" Goliath asked skeptically, watching Sirius warily.
"It is called a Disillusionment Charm!" Brooklyn explain, excitedly. "It is a really useful charm as it keeps people from seeing you, unless they know what they're looking for.. I'll demonstrate, Moony, if you please?"
Remus rapped Brooklyn on top of the head with his wand and quite suddenly if Goliath had not known that Brooklyn was standing there he would not have known what had happened to his second-in-command, for Brooklyn blended in with what was behind him. It was as though someone had made Brooklyn transparent.
"Does it wear off?" Goliath asked, interested for once.
"Yes, Goliath, the Disillusionment Charm can be taken off the person too?" Remus explained.
Goliath nodded his approval. "I believe this would be a most excellent way to get home. Can you take the spell off of him now?"
Remus laughed and rapped Brooklyn on top of the head again and Brooklyn returned to normal, though rubbing his head where he'd been hit.
"One more like that, Moony, and you'll be carrying me home." Brooklyn said grumpily.
"Sorry!" Remus chuckled, "Always wanted to do that though."
"Yeah! Yeah!" Brooklyn mock snarled.
They all made it to the grate with out incident and Goliath pushed up the grate after they'd all had the Disillusionment Charm put on them. Remus then went top side. He looked around then gave the all clear signal.
"Sam, hurry up!" Remus said down into the grate.
Sirius and Remus had worked it all out. Sirius would be Sam and Remus would be Roger. That way they'd be able to get their friends out and not have people wonder why it took the other so long to appear, since lately everybody in "The Big Apple" was suspicious of every little thing. Thinking it might have something to do with the gargoyles. Which, of course, this did have something to do with the gargoyles, but no one needed to know that except Sirius and Remus.
Maggie came first, then Claw because they were the gentlest of the mutates with the clones. Malibu came out of the grate just as Claw was climbing up the fire escape that Remus had pulled down for him. Maggie showed Malibu where to go and the clone went up the side of the building eagerly. He was followed by Hollywood, Brentwood, Burbank and then Delilah. Maggie went up the ladder followed soon by Talon. Goliath and Brooklyn came out and then finally Sirius.
"What took you, Sam?" Remus asked, acting slightly put off.
"Sorry, Roger, I thought I heard some thing behind me. Thought it might be one of those critters that we see on the telly, every so often, those gargoyles. Turned out it was only a rat!" Sirius said sighing slightly. Remus just shook his head at him as they made their way up the fire escape while Goliath and Brooklyn climbed up the side of the building using their sharp, strong, talons to dig into the building's surface.
They all reached the top, where Remus and Sirius preformed the Disillusionment Charm upon each other. Goliath then scooped up Remus and took off with him. Maggie, Delilah and Burbank left five minutes after. Then Talon, Claw, Hollywood, Brentwood and Malibu left five minutes after them. Then, finally Brooklyn scooped up Sirius and they went after the rest of them.
"I take it that Remus explained who I once was." Brooklyn said quietly.
"Yeah, it is a little odd, though, you being James and all." Sirius said looking the gargoyle in the eye.
"I know what you mean." Brooklyn said as he angled his wings to catch an up draft. "I was really freaked when I found out that James' life, all that I had thought a dream, was real and that I'd actually become a Soul Shifter, for a brief stint of time. Now, Padfoot, Old Friend, why have you returned from the dead?"
"Anubis sent me. Said that Harry would need all of us to guard him." Sirius sighed, "Though Wormtail is a traitor and we're both suppose to be dead!"
"That's why we've both come back obviously. We were sent to protect Harry, though, I can't protect him very well from here, but Dumbledore was adamant that I stay so it'd be harder for Voldemort or his followers to get to me."
"God! Another person bored out of their minds!" Sirius said angrily.
Brooklyn shook his head, "Not really. I help protect the island." He gestured to it with his head. "Trust me, when you're protecting close to a million people a night, it never gets boring. Also, becoming a part of Alex's training doesn't hurt. That's never boring either."
"Who's Alex?" Sirius asked curiously.
Brooklyn chuckled. "You'll meet the little mite in a second!"
Brooklyn landed, touching down carefully on one of the stone parapets. Sirius rapped Brooklyn on the head with his wand and Brooklyn rapped Sirius on the head, breaking the Disillusionment Charm that was on both of them. Remus had already taken care of everybody, except himself, since you couldn't preform the Disillusionment Charm on yourself. Brooklyn came over to the still Disillusioned Remus and rapped him on the head.
"Thanks!" Remus said happily, "Should I go get Harry? Everybody else is here. Should I get Dumbledore?"
"No, let's bring him in, instead." Brooklyn said pointing to Sirius.
Everyone went in except Brooklyn and Sirius. Remus went over to Harry and told Goliath to get ready to catch Dumbledore in case he hit the floor.
"Lupin? What's going on?" Harry asked laughing.
"Okay, Brook, bring him in!" Remus shouted through the still opened door.
Both Brooklyn and Sirius came through the door. Harry's jaw dropped as did Dumbledore's.
"Sirius?" Harry whispered, not daring to believe.
Sirius grinned and held out his arms. Harry rushed over, slamming into Sirius sobbing his heart out.
"How did you..." Dumbledore asked incredulously.
"That's something we'd all like to know, Padfoot. How did you come back?" Remus asked his friend. "You were a little vague on the details."
"Well, it is a long story!" Sirius said looking at everybody uneasily.
"The Veil parted and let me through. The sounds of battle, the thought of protecting Harry, everything vanished. I was suddenly pulled through the darkness to a place where the lights shown more brilliantly than the sun, there a man with a jackal's head sat upon a fine Egyptian throne. Anubis gazed a me, his eyes took on a gentler look.
Sirius Black," He said calmly, "I am afraid that you were taken far too soon. This Realm of Peace is not yet yours to savor."
"I don't understand. Where have I been taken from?" I said to him, confused for I had no recollection of my past after I had died.
"You were taken from a vicious wizards' battle, which your godson was a key player." He placed his hand on my forehead as he said this, "Remember all!"
And, I did remember! I remembered everything, from the time I was born to the time I went through The Veil. Even some stuff I don't think he meant for me to remember. Like from another life. One very long ago. When I remembered I begged to see James and Lily and apologize to them for not seeing that Peter was the traitor. However, Anubis did not have either of them. Anubis told me that all The Marauders would have to protect Harry. That Peter had become a turn coat again, this time on Voldemort. I was then pushed with rushing speed out of Anubis' presence and I found myself in a dark, dingy alleyway, soon to be led to a place under ground by an old man where you, Brooklyn, found me and to make sure that I was safe. You locked me up, took my wand away and brought Remus down an hour and thirty minutes later just to bring me all the way up here!" Sirius said calmly, all jaws were dropped and all the people there were standing as though mesmerized by what they had just heard.
* * *
To Liaranne: LOL! I knew I'd get this, but as this chapter explains, Sirius really did die! He just wasn't allowed to be dead for very long.
To athenakitty: Harry will get a lot of good news here for awhile, I think Harry needs some good news after all. The Vortex of Doom only dumped Sirius out! Of course, this will everything does have some kind of impact on the poor boy. If you've ever watched Gargoyles then The Labyrinth is that area where Cyberbiotics use to have their under ground laboratory, but abandoned allowing the mutates and homeless people take it over. Yes, Sirius shows and yes Harry will see Sirius. Alex will only chase after Remus when he's a doggy, LOL!! For those last two questions, you'll have to read and find out.