CHAPTER 5
Past Not Forgotten
Harry whistled quietly to himself as he and Mag made their way down the hallway
that lead to the defense office. Hermione had just left them, but hade given
them careful instructions on how to get there. She had guided Harry and Mag
most of the way, but because she was on her way to the library, they had
separated when they were about halfway.
The whole way down, Hermione could tell that Harry was nervous. So before she
left him, she turned to Harry and told him, "Harry, you have nothing to worry
about. He's a really great guy and an even better teacher,
I'm sure he loves having the chance to finally get to know you."
Hermione's words were not in vain as they seemed to calm Harry a bit. Going to
get a one-on-one tutoring session was quite intimidating for him, and the fact
that his teacher just happened to be one of his fathers old school friends
didn't ease his nervousness. He almost felt like he needed to make him proud.
It was true that he wanted to get to know this man, but he never did have good
social skills and wasn't very comfortable around strangers either.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door that read 'Prof. Remus Lupin'.
"Come in" he heard a friendly voice from inside say. He opened the door and
walked in with Mag. As soon as he entered he had to gazed
around the room. The room was packed with all sorts of fascinating objects and
creatures, as well as hundreds of books.
"Hello Harry, you're right on time" Remus said, looking up from some papers he
was grading. "'Ello Professor Lupin" Harry smiled
timidly as he tore his eyes away from the walls. Lupin put his papers in a
drawer and said "You can call me Remus when it's just us Harry. You only need
to call me professor when the other students are around. Now, come over here
and have a seat, we have a lot to do."
Harry sat down in the comfortable chair in front of Lupin's desk and Mag lay
down in front of him. He was already starting to feel more at ease.
"Now" Remus said looking at Harry, "What were going to do tonight is basically
run over the basics of magic. I'll skip all the obvious, since we want to get
you up to speed quickly. Now, at Hogwarts, the standard subjects we teach are
Charms, History of Magic, Transfiguration, Defense Against
the Dark Arts, Herbology, and potions. The only classes that actually involve
the use of Magic are Charms, Transfiguration and Defense. At first you will
start out by doing small stuff in these, but as you grow more powerful, you
will be able to cast more powerful and potent spells." He paused for a moment,
indicating for Harry to ask any questions.
"How do ya' get more powerful, does it jus' grow with
age" Harry asked curiously. Lupin smiled, "Good question. Yes, magical powers
do usually grow according to age, but that is not the only factor. There are
many theories as to what else affects magical growth. Basically it is like
muscle if you ask me. The more you exercise it, the more it grows. Some also
believe that knowledge is the key to power. For example, Professor Dumbledore
is defiantly the smartest man I have ever met, but he is also the most powerful
wizard in the world. So I'd say that this theory is not to far off." Harry
nodded in understanding.
"Now, moving on, we use wands to focus our magic when casting spells. For most
spells an incantation is needed, but some only require a specific wand
movement. Very powerful wizards can sometimes cast spells through a wand just
by concentrating. Understand so far?" Lupin asked.
Harry nodded and asked, "can ya' do magic without a
wand." "Yes, sometimes. Usually it takes a very powerful and experienced wizard
to cast spells wandlessly, but sometimes people can unintentionally do magic. Usually when they are experiencing strong emotions. Such as when you opened that door yesterday. We call that
accidental magic" Remus said.
Harry nodded but appeared to be thinking. After a moment he looked at Remus and
said "I reckon I use' ta know a wizard when I was
younger. I aint seen 'em in
a few years, but now dat I think abou'
it, he might 'ave been one. Real nice man, he always
used ta' do tricks for us but we jus' though' he was
a regular ol' magician. He could do stuff like make
things disappear 'r make stuff change shape. I use' ta
ask 'im how he did it but he jus' said it was his secret.
An now dat I tink abou' it, I reckon he did 'ave a wand too."
Remus looked curious about this. "Really, what was his name?" he asked.
"Um...," said Harry, "I aint sure what his real name
is, but we use' ta jus' call 'im
Fletch" Harry replied. Remus thought for a moment and asked, "You wouldn't
happen to be talking about Mundungus Fletcher would you?"
"Ya, dat's 'im, do ya know 'im?" asked Harry. Remus smiled, "I do as a mater of fact,
He was a few years ahead of your father and I in school. Where did you meet
him?"
Harry then replied, "Well, I tink e' use' ta do business wif' some guys who
lived around us. I tink he's a black market dealer or
sumthin'. He used ta come
by an' give us bread or apples whenever 'e was in
town. Real nice guy, I was always surprised he was a crook 'cus
he was always treatin' us right. An
we never stole from 'im either so he didn' mind helpin' us out. One
time my friend jack go' stabbed in da' gut an' was gona die but Fletch took 'm to a hospital ta get fixed up. Dat was pretty
risky fer him 'cus he was
probably wanted at da time."
Remus looked a little saddened as Harry talked about his street life, but was
surprised to hear about Fletch. "Yeah," Remus said, "He always was a nice man,
unless of course he was trying to con you."
The night went on as Remus proceeded to explain to Harry the theories and
properties of magic. After an hour or so of Lupin lecturing and Harry listening intently, Remus decided to loaned Harry his
wand and began teaching Harry some basic spells. The first time Harry cast a
spell he swelled with pride. All he had done was gotten a pen to float a few
feet in the air but it still shocked him that he was succeeded. The continued
to practice several first year spells late into the
night. By the time they were finished, Harry had forgotten all his shyness
towards Remus and had already mastered several fundamental spells.
"Great job Harry, you're already getting the hang of it. It'll be so much
easier with your own wand though. Now, its time to go back to
your common room. I will let you know what time our next session will
be, until then, good night" Lupin said as he shook Harry's hand.
Harry thanked Remus before he left. He and Mag then ascended into the
Gryffindor tower. It was getting late and he did not expect anyone to be awake
when he returned, which is why he was so surprised when he spotted Hermione
reading on a couch near the fire.
Looking up from her book Hermione smiled, "Oh, there you are. How did your
lesson with Professor Lupin go."
Harry Cheerfully walked over to her. He had had a great time with Remus and was
already in a good mood. "Ah' great 'Ermione, didn' realize magic was so complex. Wha'
you doin' down 'ear still, it's pretty late."
"Oh, well I just wanted to make sure you got back okay," said Hermione', "and
to see if you wanted to practice reading some more."
At her offer, Harry became even happier. "Tank you 'Ermione,
I really appreciate ya tryin'
ta help me out. I'd be lost withou'
ya'." Hermione blushed a little gave him a smile that
said she was happy to do it, and she was.
The two of them stayed up for a little while longer until they both decided
they were too tiered to continue. After thanking Hermione and saying good
night, Harry and Mag ascended the staircase to the dormitory and got into bed,
Harry under the covers and Mag snuggled up at his side.
He was very tiered and fell asleep not long after his
head hit the pillow. But before he was overtaken by darkness, he took time to
once again reflect on his first day. It had been a great day by his standards.
'Hell, that was the best day I've had since Maggie died" he thought.
Harry was panting as he ran down another hall of the abandon building.
'I have to find her, have to..., must find her' the little eight year old child
thought in a desperate panic.
He could hear Jack and Sarah, who were running shortly behind him, yelling for
him to slow down, but was too scared to care. He couldn't loose Maggie, no one
hade ever loved him like she did, and he loved her just the same.
They had been searching for a day now and Harry was becoming more worried every
minute. He rounded another corner and his nose twitched as he came across the
awful odder of sex, blood and rotting flesh. The odder seemed to be coming from
a door that was half open on the left side of the hall.
With out thinking, the child ran into the room and let out an ear piercing
screamed when he caught sight of the motionless body lying on the floor.
There in the middle of the room lay the corps of his most cherished love. Her
pale face stared emotionlessly at the ceiling. Her arms and legs were tied and
a filthy rag was gagging her mouth. Shredded clothes littered the room and left
her once beautiful body lying naked on the floor, covered in truly lethal cuts
and bruises.
For a few seconds Harry didn't say anything. He was in shock. Death was no
stranger to him, he had seen it plenty of times on the streets, but he could
never imagine it happening to Maggie. The thought had crossed his mind but
never did he admit to himself that it was possible, she was the first to ever
love him and now that he had experienced her love, he never wanted to be
without it again.
"Maggie?" he asked finally, taking a few steps forward. 'No,' he thought, 'no,
no, no she... she can't be dead.' He knelt down beside her motionless body and
shook her slightly, but she didn't respond. Her deep blue eyes remained fixed
on the ceiling.
Tears began to pour down his face as it began to sink in. "Maggie!" he sobbed,
clutching her corpse to his body with all his might. "Maggie, pwease wake up. No, no, no, NO... Maggie, don' be dead pwease, pwease don' be dead
mommy, mommy, pwease, WAKE UP MOMMY!" screamed the little boy.
Harry continued sobbing into Maggie's body which he was holding onto for dear
life. She was dead. She would not be back. Never again would she be there to
help him through the tough times, nor would she be there to kiss his forehead
each night before they went too slept. She would no longer be there to cradle
him in her arms whenever he woke in the night, screaming from the horrid
memories of his uncle. She would never again be there to love him. Her love was
gone. The love he had come to thrive off of was gone. And he would never be the
same.
He still had love. Jack was his brother, and he loved him like family. And
Sarah, he loved her nearly as much as he did Maggie. But there was no one who
could ever share with him the same love that he bore for Maggie. The love of a mother to a son. With this thought, young
Harry turned away from his 'mommy' and threw-up what little contents his
stomach held onto the floor. He only took a few moments to regain his breath
before returning to Maggie.
He continued to wail out the pain in his heart and only when Sarah knelt down
next to and pulled him to her did he let go. "I'm... s-so s-sorry Harry" she
sobbed, for she to had feelings for Maggie. Everyone did, but no one felt for
her as much as Harry, her 'son'.
He continued sobbing, tears pouring down his wet face. The wetness on his face
was soothing some how; it was not from tears though.
Harry snapped his teary eyes open to see Mag's moon lit face right above him.
She was licking his face in a comforting manor, trying to ease the pain she
sensed in her master.
After getting his wits about him, Harry opened the curtains to look about the
room. Luckily, all his dorm mates were still asleep, he miraculously had not
woken them with is screaming.
He was already starting to calm down, these dreams
were just a part of life for him. Yes, he did accept them, but he did not ever
get used to them, nor was he always able to deal with them.
After drying his tears he lay back down in his bed and curled up tightly with
his companion. Completely oblivious to the fact that one of his newest friends
was lying wide awake, pretending to sleep, not knowing what to think of what he
had just heard. He had woken to the sound Harry screaming out in agony for his
mommy. At first he thought that Harry was awake but after looking he realized
that He must be having a nightmare. Neville quickly noticed that if Ron or one
of the others were to hear this, they would use it. And so he cast on Harry one
of the few spells he had ever been able to master, a silencing spell. By the
time he was finished, Mag had begun licking Harry's face. Not wanting Harry to
know that he had been heard, Neville quickly got back in his bed and lay still,
thinking he would defiantly tell Hermione and Ginny in the morning, they'd know
what to think of it all.
Remus Lupin strode briskly down the halls in deep thought. 'How could Mundungus
know the boy and not tell us, even if he didn't know Harry's name, his scar
should have told him all he needed to know. But then again, the boys got so
many other scars, and that hair of his all but covers his whole face.'
He continued to ponder this until he came to the large stone gargoyle which hid
the entrance of the headmaster's office. "Sugar quill" he murmured, and
ascended the moving staircase that the gargoyle reveled. When he got to the top
he raised his hand to knock but before he had the chance, he heard a voice from
inside call out, "come in Remus, no need to knock." Remus stood for a moment
with his mouth hanging slightly opened before he entered the room. He new it
would be useless to ask the old man how he had know he was there so he shrugged
it off and sat down in front of the Headmasters desk.
"Good evening Professor, I hope I'm not disturbing you in any way" Remus said.
The headmaster kindly replied, "Not at all Remus, tell me, how did it go with Harry, no more surprises I hope".
"No, well actually, there was one thing rather shocking, that's actually what I
had come hear to talk to you about." The headmaster raised his eyebrows a
little and said, "Do continue."
"Well," started Remus, "It seems that we were not the first ones to find Harry.
In fact, he's been acquainted with a member of the order for a number of years
now." For the first time in his life, Remus had managed to shock the
Headmaster. The headmaster seemed to be thinking for a few moments when he
asked, "Who?"
"Mundungus Fletcher. Once I started explaining to him about magic, he said that
he might have known a wizard. He told me about a man who went by the name of
Fletch who used to do magic tricks for the kids on the streets and give them
food and stuff. He said that Fletch had business with some black- market
dealers. Plus Harry said something about not stealing from him. We should
really try and contact him and try to learn moor about Harry. What do you
think?"
"That sounds like a great idea, I will owl him first thing in the morning,"
said the Headmaster. "Now, how did the rest of the lesson
go?"
"Wonderfully", replied Remus. "He's even smarter than James, I can tell.
He's already performing at a second year level. If he keeps this up, he should
be up to speed in no time."
At this the old man smiled, "Excellent."
Neville, Hermione and Ginny were all sitting close together in the common room
the next morning. Harry had just left with Hagrid and Neville had told the two
girls that he had something important to tell them.
"What is it Neville, you said you had something to tell us," Ginny questioned.
Neville looked a little nervous but said, "Okay, it's about Harry, I need to
know what you think cuz it's really starting to worry
me and I don't know what to do about it." Neville paused at this and only
continued when Ginny exclaimed, "What is it Neville!"
"Well, you see, last night, I woke up and Harry was screaming out in his sleep.
It was really sad. Kind of like a like a scared little kid or something, He
kept crying out for his mommy and someone named Maggie, over and over, he kept
screaming, 'don't be dead mommy, please don't be dead Maggie'. Did Harry say
any thing to either of you about anyone named Maggie?"
Both girls seemed to be thinking as they absently shook there heads, no. After
a moment of silence Hermione declared, "Well I don't know what to think of
this, except that he is probably traumatized, but that much was obvious. We
should just try and let him live a normal life I guess and look out for him
while he is here. And Neville, if it happens again, better give him another
silencing charm, just incase one of the others wake up and hear him, I'd hate
to see what Ron or Seamus would do to taunt him after that."
Harry whooped out in joy as the car dove down another arduous tunnel. He and
Hagrid had just arrived at Gringotts bank by use of flue powder. Flue powder
did not appear to agree with Harry, for when he came out the other fire place,
he was sideways. Never the less it did fascinate him just as much as anything
else did these days.
When they had arrived at Gringotts Hagrid had presented a key to someone who
had turned out to be a goblin named Griphook. Griphook then led them down a
hallway and through a set of doors which led to a gigantic system of tunnels.
While Griphook led them over to a car to lead them down to Harry's vault,
Hagrid briefly explained to Harry the system of wizarding banking. Hagrid's
speech ended though immediately after the car started moving.
After several minutes of plunging deeper and deeper into the underground system
of tunnels, Hagrid was looking almost green. Luckily, they had reached Harry's
vault soon after and the gigantic man exited the car with relief.
Harry looked to Griphook who was retrieving his key from his pocket. The Goblet
walked over to the door on the wall and inserted the small skeleton key into to
lock.
To be honest, Harry had been to caught up in
everything the last few days to think about the money his parents had left him.
Thus he received quite a shock when Griphook opened his vault to reveal vast
room filled with heaps of glowing bronze, silver, and gold coins.
"There ya' go 'Array. Told ya'
yer parents were well of didn'
I", Hagrid said to a dumbstruck Harry.
Harry took a sack from Griphook and filled it with all the coins it would hold.
Hagrid said that it would be more than enough to last him a while. Once they
were finished they boarded the cart once again and set of up the tunnels.
Two hours latter Hagrid and Harry could be found outside Madam Malkin's robe
shop. After the bank, Harry and Hagrid had visited the book store, the
apothecary, and several other shops to purchase various items Harry would need.
All that was left to get were his robes. Outside the shop Hagrid had asked
Harry if it was alright if he went in alone so that he could take care of some
business elsewhere. Harry assured him that he would be alright,
this place was far less dangerous than where he had spent the last nine years.
The only problem here was that his lightning bolt seemed to be a beacon to
witches and wizards, both young and old. He had quickly learned that in order
to avoid people nearly having heart attacks at the sight of him, it was
necessary to keep his hair draped over his face to hide the scar on his
forehead. Everyone hear still thought he was dead and he had given quite a few
people a scare after leaving the bank.
He walked into the shop and stood near the entrance to wait for assistance.
Harry waited for a few moments and decided to go and find someone himself but
before he could, a small creature appeared right in front of him with a small
pop.
"Harry Potter Sir! Oh we is so happy you is alive,
Dobby has been looking for Harry Potter for so long and we finally finds him." Harry
took a small step backwards and away from the creature in front of him. Not
knowing what to say he timidly replied, "Um... 'ello... Ah... who are ya'
exactly."
The little creature beamed with. "Oh Mister Harry Potter Sir is so nice to we
house elves. He is so noble. I am Dobby the house elf, at your service sir" he
said with a bow so low, that his long nose actually touched the floor.
Harry raised his eyebrow at him, "Ah... hi Dobby... um... so, wha' can I do fer ya."
"Oh no sir, you is not to do anything for Dobby sir.
We is here to give Harry Potter good news. Harry
Potter is not to be worried about the bad news, no; Mister Harry Potter is not
to be troubled, for he is not being hunted. No, you sir is not to be afraid."
"Afraid of wha', o' isn' huntin' me?" Harry asked.
"Me is not being able to say, Dobby has said too much already, now Dobby must
slam his ears in the oven door."
Harry raised his eyebrows and said, "uh... you don' got ta
do dat. Um... nice ta meet'cha though, and uh, tanks fer
da warnin'"
"Harry Potter sir is so kind, you is not needing to thank me, we is so grateful
for he is the one who ended the dark times. But we must be going now sir, Dobby
is not supposed to be leaving the house. Farewell Harry Potter sir." And with a
small pop, Dobby was gone, leaving a confused Harry staring where the elf had
stood a moment before with his mouth open.
Dear Mundungus
I hope this letter finds you
well. I am writing to ask you if you could spare me an afternoon of you time,
as I require your assistance.
I don't know if you have heard
yet, but Harry Potter has been found. However, the condition in which he was
found was not at all well. It appears that Harry has been living alone on the
streets ever since he was abandoned by his uncle.
Talking with Harry, he
mentioned that he was acquainted with you. I do not know why you would not have
told me, If in fact this is true, but I do believe
that it may be possible for the two of you to have crossed paths while you were
conducting your business.
There is probably a logical
reason for you to not inform me, if you did know him, but that is in the past.
In the present, however, I believe that there is a possibility that Harry may
be mentally disturbed after all that he has suffered. This is why I would
greatly appreciate it if you could find time to come to Hogwarts as soon as
possible so we can find out what exactly a street kid like Harry might have had
to endure. Even if it turns out that you do not know him, any insights that you
could offer may help us to determine weather or not Harry may be a danger to
himself or others.
I will be expecting you soon, Albus
Dumbledore reread the letter and sealed it with his Hogwarts wax press. As he
sent the letter of with his phoenix, he thought to himself, 'Oh Harry, what
have I done to you child.'
END OF CHAPTER 5 ------------------------------------------
Well my friends, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. Luckily, I am in the
mood for writing today so I may be updated again as early as Monday morning.
Don't forget to Review. Bye
PS Does anyone know how I can make bold and Italics
show up on FF.net. If so, let me know.
Review Responses
HAZZAGRIFF : Thanks, Oliver
Twist is one of my favorit stories and I also share a
fascination with the art of the pickpocket
Adashek :
Thanks, you're the first person to say my grammar was okay.
Honeyduck
: Thanks a lot
(-: : Dully noted
Shadow Beast1 : Thanks a lot
Stan : Good point, keep reading and
you will see what becomes of Harry's habits
Raven Potter Weasley: Tanks fer da tip
Rachel A. Prongs : Thanks
Micah : Thanks, I will
A-man : Thanks
Alan : Thanks buddy
Shdurrani
: You speak the truth
