Right, before we go on, a few notes about this chapter: Nothing much really happens; just Harry's birthday and a note. The story is now picking up and chapters will be getting longer. The length will vary depending on what is happening in the chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 4: The Best Birthday
The following day Harry informed the Dursley's that he was going to be collected by Albus Dumbledore at sunset. The immediate reaction was that Uncle Vernon spluttered, spilling his tea all over himself, Aunt Petunia succeeded in burning the toast, something that she had always been careful to avoid, and Dudley had dropped the milk bottle on the floor, smashing it to pieces.
When at last the shock died down Uncle Vernon asked, "So, this Dumbledwadle fellow is coming to collect you?"
"Yes," Harry muttered, "and it's Dumbledore, not 'Dumbledwadle'."
"Whatever! Just go and pack your bags and be ready for him then. I don't want him staying in the house too long!"
Harry nodded, finished his breakfast, tromped upstairs to his room and began to pack. Within an hour everything Harry owned was ready for collection, tucked away neatly inside his trunk. He was a bit apprehensive about leaving, a bit angry with Dumbledore for making him go to Grimmauld Place, the last place in England he wanted to be. How could he live there for the remainder of the summer, especially with all the memories of Sirius residing there?
As the afternoon sun blazed down upon Privet Drive, Harry's nerves began to rise. It would be the first time he would have to face the Wizarding world probably since Sirius' death, even the prospect of being allowed to do magic at sixteen was not making him happy. It was another two days till his birthday anyway. At least he wouldn't be with the Dursley's for it, which made him feel happier, yet being with Wizard's was something he just did not want to do.
His green eyes traveled out his window and he saw Bonnie walking past. Heart skipping, he opened his window, letting the fresh air brush against him, and called out: "Bonnie! Bonnie!"
Below, Bonnie Wright turned, her black hair sparkling in the sun, her eyes met his and she waved. He mimed for her to come to him, and obediently she made a bee-line for number four. Quickly he rushed to his door, ran out onto the landing, nearly bumping into Aunt Petunia who was carrying a basket full of washing, jumping down the steps so fast he nearly tripped, and landing on his feet at the bottom, flung open the front door and smiled at Bonnie as she came up the drive.
They sat on the front steps not speaking. Surprisingly Harry found it difficult to speak to her, and he didn't know why. Finally he spoke: "I…won't be…seeing you for a while," he saw her face fall, "I've…got to go away, to protect my family from harm. When…Claire comes to Hogwarts, I'll watch out for her…though it does depend on what house she is sorted into."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, that if Claire is put into Slytherin, then I won't be able to help her, mainly because Gryffindor and Slytherin students do not get along. They never have and I doubt they will this year." Harry explained, feeling awkward.
Bonnie nodded. "I see. But you'll try even if she's put in Slythen?"
"Slytherin, Bonnie, Slytherin." Harry corrected. "And yes, I will try to help her, but it may not be very easy."
Bonnie smiled and leaned forward. "Harry, I'll miss you. If you can come at Christmas, I would like to see you. If not, write to me." Then she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the lips, then stood up, smiling lightly and walked away. She ran into a sprint as soon as she was away from him and disappeared from sight.
Harry sat there numb to the core. Surprised and flattered he finally mustered the courage to go back inside.
The sun was just setting at 6PM and Harry and the Dursleys were waiting for Dumbledore to arrive. All his luggage and Hedwig's cage was at the foot of the stairs ready for collection. Harry had seated himself on one of the chairs in the Dursley's living room, the Dursley's themselves were together on the sofa, huddling up together and looking apprehensive of the situation they were about to be plummeted into with the arrival of a Wizard in their household.
The sun set.
Suddenly there was a knock at their door, Harry jumped up and opened it, admitting Albus Dumbledore inside. "Hello Professor."
"Harry," Dumbledore nodded. "Are you ready?"
"All my stuff is there." Harry pointed to his trunk and broomstick, ready for collection by the stairs.
"Excellent," Dumbledore turned to the Dursleys. "Now, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I am going to perform the Fidelius Charm upon your house so that you cannot be located by anyone."
Uncle Vernon stood up from the settee and said gruffly, "And why would we need that?"
"For your own protection. We believe that Lord Voldemort will attempt to kill you in order to break the protection that Harry has here while he is in your care. You will be safe as long as the Secret-Keeper, which is me, keeps your location secret. Now, Voldemort knows that Harry lives in this area, but does not where about. People who know you could be approached and asked where you live and they would tell them, however if it comes to that, then the enemy will not be able to find you, even if he is looking through your window, he would not be able to locate any of you, unless I foolishly give it to him, which I know, by experience, I won't."
Even before Dumbledore had finished Harry knew that the Dursley's hadn't understood a single word of the speech. He looked apologetically at the headmaster, silently saying that he was sorry for his Aunt and Uncle's thickness. Dumbledore, however, after a side-glance at Harry, put his hands into his robes and pulled out a letter, placing it upon the table.
"Everything I have just said is written down in that letter. Read it and you'll understand what I just said, but for now I will perform this charm upon you." He raised his wand, pointing it at the Dursley's and said: "Fidelius!"
A bright yellow glow erupted round them, the Dursley's cowered, the yellow glow expanded to Dumbledore and then it faded. He turned to Harry. "Now, you know where you live of course, but even if Voldemort divulged it from your mind he would not be able to see you here or any of your relatives. He would see different people."
Harry nodded. "How are we getting to Headquarters?"
"Portkey. The Ministry is keeping a firm watch upon the fires because of possible Death-Eaters, but I'll be arranging a private link from my office at Hogwarts to Headquarters so that I can keep up with the Order during term time." Dumbledore fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a very old candle. It was dusty and badly in need of cleaning. "Take hold of it, Harry."
He did so waiting. "Good-bye," Harry said to the petrified Dursley's.
Then he was rushing forward in a blur of colours, his head spinning. He felt like he was falling through space. Then he landed on his feet in the middle of a kitchen.
Almost immediately he was embraced by no more then eight people (Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin and Tonks. He spluttered, trying to breathe.
"Oh, he can't breathe!" came Tonks' voice.
Everyone stepped back to give him some room. "Hi," he said.
"It's good to see you, Harry, dear." Mrs. Weasley said. "Had good hols?"
"Not really," Harry murmured, glancing quickly at Ron and Hermione.
"Don't worry, dear, we'll make it all better for you!"
"Um, thanks, I think."
Just then Dumbledore apparated next to them, with Harry's luggage in tow. "Here you go, Harry, have a good time, and I'll see you next term." Then he disappeared.
Tonks rushed forward, levitating his luggage and moving to take it up to his room.
"Just think," Ron began, "We're the only students allowed to use magic at 16! I think its brilliant!"
"Well, I don't!" Mrs. Weasley interrupted, "You're too young. Cornelius Fudge only did it by the persistence of Dumbledore. He wants you to practice your spells during the holidays, as if you'll need them." she flung her hands in the air, "honestly, at 16! Even Ginny is allowed and she's 15!"
"Ginny's allowed to?" Harry asked.
George nodded, "Yeah, she's right muffed. But it doesn't come into affect until you turn 16. Heck, Hermione isn't 16 until September, and Ron isn't until March! And yet they are allowed to do so. Personally we think its unfair."
"Only because you weren't allowed to use magic until you were 17?" Ron asked, teasingly.
"Yeah, but anyway we can curse you anytime during the next two days. You're not allowed to use magic until the sunset on your birthday anyway, so we might just curse a few presents for the fun of it." Fred said, grinning.
"Come on," Ron began, "let's go upstairs."
That night Harry's dreams were filled with memories, memories of Sirius. Before falling asleep Harry had gone over everything that had happened that night at the Department of Mysteries and wondering how he could have stopped it from happening. If only he had used the mirror, then he would have been able to speak to Sirius. He felt so foolish in not remembering it at the time. Tears had leaked into his eyes, but gradually they subsided, finally allowing him to fall asleep, his mind buzzing with happy memories of the past.
It was the same dream again, but different…
Harry was standing by the Veil watching Sirius and Bellatrix fight. He began to run forward as Sirius fell through the Veil, pushing Bellatrix aside, rushing through the material and once more finding himself in a dark and dreary place. Searching he saw a black door, closing. He ran to it, desperately trying to open it, but he couldn't. He called out, "Sirius! Sirius!" But nothing happened. The door would not budge.
Once more Harry woke, rubbing his eyes, tears leaking out of them. Beside him he found Ron, staring across at him from his bed.
"Harry," he mumbled weakly.
"I'm fine," Harry replied, "It was just a dream. Go back to sleep."
As Ron settled down, Harry couldn't help but wonder how long it would take him to get used to a world without Sirius, a world without a beloved parent, even though Ron's mother filled the role quiet nicely. No one could fill the space that Sirius had left behind, no one save for Sirius himself.
If only he could have done something to save him…
The next day was spent sat around doing nothing. Fred and George constantly tried to attack them, but always failing to notice an adult in the room, ending up in them getting told off. Lupin remained distant and Harry noticed he kept to himself, staying locked up in his room. Ron told him he had been like that since the start of the holidays. Harry had a good idea why: Sirius' death had unhinged Lupin. All his childhood friends had gone, James had been murdered, Peter had betrayed them and was now working for Voldemort, and now Sirius had been lost in the fight.
The house of Black reminded him so much of Sirius that by evening Harry was fervently wishing he was back in his room at Privet Drive. He knew it would be hard being here but not as much as it was. Whenever he walked into the room people swarmed over him asking if there was anything he wanted. They knew he was suffering but still he wanted some surety that at least he wasn't the most important thing to protect.
His heart fell at the instant. He was the thing people wanted to protect. He was, after all, the only one who could defeat Voldemort. The Prophecy had stated as much. He hadn't thought about the Prophecy for a long time, not because he had forgotten it, no, but mainly because he was so consumed with guilt over Sirius, that the Prophecy had been wiped from his mind without a second thought. Now, however the full effects of what Dumbledore had said to him exploded inside him, embracing his soul, and pulling him down inside the memory of that awful night.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been Neville? Why not Neville?
Because he's a pure-blood, Harry thought bitterly. Voldemort chose me because I was a half-blood, like himself.
He sat in his room, that night, thinking longingly of a normal life. At least Dudley has led a normal life, at least he doesn't have to worry about Voldemort taking over the world.
In frustration of what his fate entailed, Harry slammed his fist against the wall, angry tears flowing down his cheeks. He didn't want any of this! None of it! He sat beside the wall, hating Dumbledore for informing him about the Prophecy. He wished now that the headmaster had kept him in the dark. At least he wouldn't have known that his life must end or include murder.
July 31st dawned bright and clear. Harry had not gone to bed, instead he had remained sitting beside the wall, and fallen asleep. His anger with Dumbledore had now abated. Ron was not in the room, so Harry changed his clothes, to make him more presentable, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
A huge shout of 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' reached his ears as he trotted into the kitchen. A large banner saying 'HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY, HARRY' was pinned on the ceiling. On the table there was a bunch of presents and a seat ready for him.
"Happy Birthday, mate," Ron said, leading him to the chair and sitting him down.
The Weasley's (excluding Mr. Weasley as he was at work), Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, Hermione and her parents, Tonks and a few of the Hogwarts teachers (such as McGonagall and Flitwick) were standing round the table.
"These all mine?" Harry asked, staring at the wad-load of presents, obviously amazed.
"'Course they are!" Ron declared shoving a present forward.
Eagerly Harry ripped open the paper to find a message from Ron saying, 'Happy 16th' and his present which was a miniature versions of various Quidditch Players. Mrs. Weasley had given him some chocolate as well as a jumper with a huge Gryffindor Lion printed onto it, Hermione had given him some mint sweets from Honeydukes, her parents had made a card for Harry (as they didn't know him that well they had thought it polite to give him a card, yet when he opened it, there was some Muggle money inside it), Tonks gave Harry a book entitled: Metamorphmagus: A Guide to Hiding Yourself , Mad-Eye Moody gave him a pocket-guide book: How to get around the magical world without being noticed. Fred and George gave him a voucher saying that he could have a discount from their shop whenever he dropped by; Ginny had brought him some new Quidditch robes for the Gryffindor house team as his old ones were too small for him, and finally Lupin stepped forwards, holding a package wrapped in brown paper.
Harry took it gently, laying it on the table, and carefully took the paper off. It was a large leather bound book and on the front was printed these words that made Harry's heart skip a beat:
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Proudly present
'The Marauder Years'
By James Potter and Sirius Black
Harry ran his fingers over it not knowing what to think, not knowing what to say. Finally he spoke, his voice was quiet, yet filled with emotion. "Where…did you get this?"
"Sirius gave it to me the night your parents died." Lupin stated.
Harry felt his lips go dry. This was something that would link him to his father's past, something that he had always wanted to know. "Why did he give it to you? Who's idea was it to make this…book?" Harry's mind was buzzing with questions, so he chose the select few that he thought would be the easiest for Lupin to answer.
Lupin was frowning obviously trying to think of any easy explanation. Finally he settled himself down on a chair, with all the occupants of the kitchen looking at him and he began the tale, his voice showing a lot of emotion, as if talking about James and Sirius brought him pain.
"At the end of our first year at Hogwarts, when we were so young, immature, less experience, James came up with the idea of our memories being stored into a book. He said whoever had children first, the book would go to them. So, during that first summer, James worked on it and created the first part of this book. Each holiday one of the Marauders would take it home and add a bit in. By the end of our seventh year we had this book, filled with lots of memories and our writings and all the stuff we got – actually James and Sirius – got up to at school. It was quite an achievement. Neither me nor Peter had really done anything much in the book, mainly it was James' and Sirius' handiwork that had brought the book 'alive'. So, because on our graduation day, that is when we got our results for N.E.W.Ts, James proposed to Lilly, and because he was the first of the Marauders to properly settle down, we came to the agreement that James would keep the book. Then a few years later you were born, Harry, and James named Sirius your godfather and passed the book to him to give to you when you started Hogwarts at eleven. It didn't work out though, did it? Peter betrayed your parents, James and Lilly killed, Sirius came to me with this book, asking me to give it to you when you went to Hogwarts. I promised I would though I didn't trust him as at that time I thought he had betrayed James, but I kept the book for old times sake," he fell silent, as if doubting how to continue, then, "The next thing I knew was that Sirius was in Azkaban for murdering thirteen people. I was tempted to chuck the book away so that the memories wouldn't haunt me, but something told me to keep it, so I did, but I stashed it away in the deepest, darkest corner of my parent's house so that I wouldn't come across it intentionally. Years passed, I got a job at Hogwarts, but had forgotten about the book. When, on that night, you met Sirius and Peter was revealed at last as the true traitor I knew that I had to give you that book, but I forgot again with all the excitement. Then a year later Sirius came to me and said Dumbledore wanted to recall the Order of the Phoenix, and he asked me if I still had that book. I didn't have time to give it to you, so after the 'incident' I asked my parents to find it for me and they sent it here, so I can now pass it on to you, Harry. And that is a rather, I must say, sketchy version of this books fascinating history."
Harry, spellbound by the whole story, now turned his attention towards the book laying flat on the table.
"Open it Harry!" Fred called, "Let's hear what Padfoot and Prongs have to say!"
Carefully Harry pried the book apart. The first page was blank, save for two words: 'the Marauders' etched onto the parchment. Harry ran a finger over the word, for some bizarre reason, he couldn't explain. Then as his middle finger made contact with the word, a bright light flashed before him, shooting out of the book, dazzling Harry momentarily. The others around the table shielded their eyes, but Harry was stunned as the bright light began forming figures, four figures of people he recognized, but just with one major difference, they were younger.
It was the Marauders: Lupin, Peter, Sirius and James.
It was obviously a recording of some sort, though how they managed it, Harry had no clue. Before he could ask a question, the figure of James stepped forward, brushing his untidy hair out of his eyes, and moving his glasses up his nose. He looked no older then twenty.
"Hi Harry," it said, "This book is for you, passed on to you, hopefully by Sirius, on your eleventh birthday, but if he hasn't then I'll make sure I'll hunt him down and curse him for you. We're going to introduce you to the Marauders and give you a little back-ground information on each of us." The figure of James stopped speaking.
Then on the far left, the younger version of Lupin stepped forward, his hair was a bit longer then it was now, and he didn't look so old and pale, yet he was happier then Harry had ever seen him. "Hi Harry, you might not see me very often in your life but James insisted on all of us being here, so I am Moony, yet my real name is Remus Lupin. Feel free to call me Moony or Remus. I am the only one of the Marauders who cannot turn into any animal like the rest of us can. I was bitten by a werewolf as a child and am now cursed with turning into one every full moon. And also, I am a half-blood, both my parents were magical but somewhere along the line of 'Lupin's' there was at least one of us who married a Muggle."
As the figure of Lupin stepped back, Peter stepped forward, he was quiet short but had a healthier look around him then he did when Harry had met him two years ago. "Hello, I'm Wormtail but I'm really Peter Pettigrew. I can turn myself into a rat at will. I'm a half-blood too. Have fun at Hogwarts and I hope we meet some day."
Peter resumed his position in the line, and James pushed Sirius forward who, like Peter and Lupin, looked much younger. "Well, Harry, hopefully you'll see a lot of me as, after all I am your Godfather. I'm Padfoot, mainly because I can transform myself into a great, big, scary-looking black dog. Don't worry I won't bite,"
At this statement there came a loud laugh from Ron who, after all, in their third year been dragged into the Whomping Willow by Sirius in his Animagus form.
Sirius was still speaking and Harry turned to listen again.
"…anyway, my real name is Sirius Black, and, unfortunately, I'm a pure-blood. My parents don't want me 'hanging' out with riff-raff such as this lot," he nodded to James, "but I don't care anyway. Whatever you do Harry, never visit my house, you never want to meet my mother. She's the female version of the devil! Have a good time at Hogwarts!"
Harry laughed. Sirius was certainly right: Mrs. Black defiantly could have been the devil. His eyes then moved onto James who had stepped up again and was introducing himself.
"You obviously know who I am, Harry, I'm your father, James, also known as Prongs. Whenever I want I can transform into a stag. It was my idea to become Animagi back in our second year, but I do not want to hear of you going around in the dark like we did. Hogwarts is a marvelous place to be Harry, and I suppose one of my fondest memories was when I was in a match, playing Quidditch that is, against Slytherin. I remember that both Padfoot and myself were hit full on the nose, hurt quite a lot. Piece of advice son, make sure you don't get in the way of a Bludger. They hurt – badly. Good luck and make the Marauders proud!"
As soon as James stepped back into line the recording vanished and Harry was left staring at the spot, numb and unable to speak.
"When did that recording take place?" Harry asked.
"About a week after you were born," Lupin said, "James brought us all together, and asked us to leave a recording for you. We did. Peter was the only one who didn't know what to think of you. Sirius was around James and Lilly the most. He absolutely loved playing with you, I think it made him happy," Lupin was smiling, "You never really took to me until just after your first birthday, but then I wasn't around much."
"How did you record those messages?" Hermione asked, "I mean its obviously magic you used, but what was the incantation, and how did you get it to reside in the book and play when you touch the word?" She was looking now at Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, waiting patiently for an answer.
It was Flitwick who answered, his voice rising high so everyone in the vicinity could hear him. "It is a very complex spell. Hardly any Witch or Wizard have ever mastered it so expertly. The incantation requires a complex movement of the wand," here he demonstrated by brandishing his own wand in mid-air in various different circles and shapes, "and then at the exact end of the movement the caster should say: Recardo! That, in its self is complex to learn. However to record something and place it in a book it requires the same movement of the wand but also these words: Recardo lorman book. That means 'record into the book'. Very complex but can be achieved when practiced regularly. This spell can only be found in the very hard N.E.W.T level of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and even there most students find it hard to conjure up. Only two people last year managed to do it."
"Once the spell has been cast onto a blank page the writers write a word on the page and transfigure it to resemble a 'play' button. Once that is done the word returns to normal and whenever pressure is applied to the word the required recording takes place." Lupin finished.
"That would be a very interesting spell to learn," Hermione said, "I think I'll try it."
"I'm sure Miss Granger that you'll execute it to perfection. You've brought a new name to the world of magic since you started Hogwarts: brains. And I must say you've put them to good use over the years," Professor McGonagall stated.
Hermione couldn't help but blush; Ron and Harry side-glanced at each other, smiling, knowingly.
"And Potter," Professor McGonagall continued, "the headmaster wishes for you to continue practicing Occlumency, he also sends birthday greetings to you."
"Thank you Professor," Harry stated, "I'll try and do Occlumency."
"Then we must go now. We have business to discuss with Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick dis-apparated, obviously gone to find the headmaster.
Harry turned his attention back to the book and turned the next page, taking in every detail of the work his father and Godfather had done. Throughout the book there were many photos of the Marauders, but nearer to the back most of the photos contained just James and Lilly, with Sirius beside them.
"It tells you how they came to be Animagi!" Harry said, "It looks that easy from this!"
"It isn't," Lupin explained, "Peter had enough trouble; James and Sirius took three years to work out how to do it. I have to admit, though, when I found out what they were trying to do, I did attempt to put them off the idea, but James was adamant I wouldn't be left alone during the full-moon."
"It was still really dangerous to be doing that, running around after dark, someone could've been hurt!" Mrs. Weasley said.
Lupin shrugged, "Well we were young. Careless and carefree. Nothing could stop us."
As Lupin recounted memories, Harry felt himself beam in laughter. He was happy. Today he was sixteen, today he could officially use magic. As he sat there content in his joy he began to wonder if he had been imagining all the pain he had gone through the previous year.
For the first time in weeks Harry Potter was happy.
That night, as Ron slept, Harry woke suddenly. Something had woken him up, something had been in this room. How could someone have gotten in without opening the door? Ron did a loud snore, waking abruptly and staring round.
"What's up?" he asked sleepily, seeing Harry sitting up.
"I think someone was in the room." Stated Harry.
Ron reached for his wand muttering 'Lumos'. The bright light illuminated the room. "Nothing there."
"No," Harry muttered. He turned to his drawer and picked up a glass and drunk steadily from it. As he put it down, the beam of Ron's light came across the drawer and fell onto a piece of paper. "Wait, don't put the light out! There's something here."
Harry picked up the piece of paper, opening it up and with the beam of Ron's wand read what the words said. They were written in a hurried script but was readable.
They betrayed you, he knows, get away from no.12 before they come.
S
"S?" Ron asked, "Who's 's'"
"I don't know."
"What does it mean?" Ron read: "'They betrayed you, he knows, get away from no.12 before they come.' Should we tell someone?"
"Hermione's good at this thing. She'd help us understand what this means," Harry said. "We'll wait till tomorrow."
Ron put his wand back and Harry folded the note, carefully laying it back on the drawer. They lay back down to sleep. As Ron fell back into a dream state, Harry lay awake thinking over the note.
Questions burned his mind: Where did the note come from? What did it mean? Who was 'S'?
TBC
What does the note mean? Who is it from? Can anyone guess?
Review Responses:
LunaShadows: Yes, something big is going to happen very soon, in the next chapter. I didn't really want to send Harry back to Grimmauld Place but it is the safest place for him. I'm sorry about your Grandfather – it is very hard to go back to a place where they once lived. My Great Grandfather died when I was eight and though his wife died before him I find it very sad that he went when he was very lonely. He didn't have anyone to comfort him.
Evil-pillow: I'm not sure about Harry being paired with someone. I'm thinking about it but I'm not much of a fan of romance. I don't really like Ron and Hermione being together but maybe…I don't know. At least, I think there will be no romance in this part of the story. Maybe later on in the year. I thought it would be a good idea that Harry could use magic at Grimmauld Place to stop him getting bored, after all he does have lots of adults around him.
Ash Knight: I hope this chapter length was satisfactory for you. The chapter lengths will vary but I'll try and get them to be longer.
Moon Lace/Serry: I'm not sure about a Bonnie/Harry relationship but I think it is heading in that direction! I always like to mention my reviewers even though I get the feeling that some of them don't come back. Thanks for reading!
HoofsTailsGal: Thanks for the review!
