A/N: Thanks to Avlyn: Good theories, I can't say if you're right it would
give things away. But we will see; JerseyGirl03; Lya; Elodie; and MaggieDB:
It went through!!! And I know what you mean, yesterday it took me forever
to type up this chapter and when I went to upload it, the site wasn't
working. Drove me bonkers waiting!!!
Okay, next chapter, now.
CH9: The Box
~And they left the Leaky Cauldron to go back to Oakwoods.~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hagrid dropped Harry off at Oakwoods and left. After returning his appearance to normal, he immediately brought his stuff up into Miss Weston's office where Manda and Elle were waiting.
"Ooohhh, let me see, let me see!" Manda exclaimed as he came inside. Elle and the Headmistress seemed almost as excited as her. So Harry proceeded to tell them about his day - the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, the shops, Gringotts, Draco Malfoy, getting his wand...everything. He showed them all off his books and his robes and shot some sparks from his wand. By the time he finished, the girls were wide-eyed in amazement.
"Cool," muttered Elle, flipping through 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. It didn't take long for the group to get over the fact there were moving pictures. Harry smiled, but Manda had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I just realized something," Manda said. "You have a whole new life."
"Yeah?" Harry asked carefully.
An evil smirk spread across her face. "We can have fun with this."
"Do I even want to know?" The Boy Who Lived was rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was bad. Very bad. Amanda Carel's ideas usually involved explosions, colored dye, running for your life, and something odd, like a polka dotted fish. And Harry was frightened. But Manda just smiled knowingly and went to look at his books some more.
"What's this?" Miss Weston pulled a box from the pile of robes.
"Oh, I found that in my vault at Gringotts. I think - I think it belong to my parents." The room went silent. Everyone knew how much Harry valued information about his parents, Manda especially since she felt the same about hers.
"Do you want to look at it alone?"
"That'd be nice." They filed out of the office. Elle gave Harry a reassuring squeeze on shoulder as she left. He turned to the box, studying it. It was fairly plain. There seemed to be a vine carved around the sides and 'Potter' imprinted on the top. Slowly, he opened it.
(I was thinking about leaving it here for suspense, but I'm not that mean.)
There was an envelope, addressed to him, on the top. With shaking fingers he read:
My dear Harry,
Since you are reading this, we were found. I know that we took many precautions against this, but I have a funny feeling. And I want you to know that, no matter what, I always loved you. And I'll be watching over you. Your father and I made up this box for you. It is filled with things we want you to have.
Oh, your father wants to write something.
Hey Pronglet! You probably don't remember that name now, so I'll have to explain everything. You see, I'm an animagus. Illegally, so don't tell anyone! When I went to school, me and my friends became animagi to help another of my friends who was a werewolf. I was a stag. And, being who we were, we explored the school and found out all the secret passages. To give our knowledge to future generations, we created the Marauders' Map.* Now, I pass it to you. Use it well. Your mother is now glaring at me for telling this, so I should probably give her back the quill. Love you, kid. Bye!
Your father really shouldn't be telling you those things. But, I suppose as your a Potter, pranking is in your blood.
Yeah!
Anyway, if you got this now, you are probably on your way to your first year in Hogwarts. No matter what, I will be proud of you. It doesn't matter what house your in, or if you play Quidditch, or what your favorite class is. I'm proud of you, no matter what. And remember, always be true to yourself.
Love,
Mom
Harry finished the letter with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. 'They sound like great people,' he thought. 'I wish I knew them.' Under the letter there was an old, folded piece of parchment with a note attached. It said:
To activate the Map, just tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!' To erase it say 'Mischief Managed!' Enjoy! Love,
Dad
He tried it out and was amazed. Squiggly lines spread across the paper to form walls, passages, and rooms. 'I can't wait to see Hogwarts. If this what it looks like on a map, it'll be amazing in person!' There was also his parents wedding rings (which he slipped on to the chain his locket was on) and a worn, stuffed lion. In the very bottom was a black jewelry box. He opened it and inside was the most beautiful ring Harry had ever seen. Silver with runes engraved on it, but that wasn't the interesting part. It had a small flame dancing around the band. It was wrapped in yet another note and the paper wasn't catching fire. Harry picked it up and put it on his left ring finger. A sudden warmth spread through him. The paper said:
Harry, this is the Phoenix Ring. It's been in my family for ages. It has certain healing properties. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. ~Dad
Harry sat, contemplating what he now had. He was closer to his parents then he could remember. Smiling slightly, he looked at the clock. He put his box with the rest of his school things and headed down to dinner.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
* = yes, Harry has the Map. I couldn't let Fred and George have it because then they would see Harry's real name on it. Just think that Filch had it, but the Marauders' reclaimed it.
More later. Read and Review. Bye!
Okay, next chapter, now.
CH9: The Box
~And they left the Leaky Cauldron to go back to Oakwoods.~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hagrid dropped Harry off at Oakwoods and left. After returning his appearance to normal, he immediately brought his stuff up into Miss Weston's office where Manda and Elle were waiting.
"Ooohhh, let me see, let me see!" Manda exclaimed as he came inside. Elle and the Headmistress seemed almost as excited as her. So Harry proceeded to tell them about his day - the Leaky Cauldron, Tom, the shops, Gringotts, Draco Malfoy, getting his wand...everything. He showed them all off his books and his robes and shot some sparks from his wand. By the time he finished, the girls were wide-eyed in amazement.
"Cool," muttered Elle, flipping through 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. It didn't take long for the group to get over the fact there were moving pictures. Harry smiled, but Manda had a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I just realized something," Manda said. "You have a whole new life."
"Yeah?" Harry asked carefully.
An evil smirk spread across her face. "We can have fun with this."
"Do I even want to know?" The Boy Who Lived was rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was bad. Very bad. Amanda Carel's ideas usually involved explosions, colored dye, running for your life, and something odd, like a polka dotted fish. And Harry was frightened. But Manda just smiled knowingly and went to look at his books some more.
"What's this?" Miss Weston pulled a box from the pile of robes.
"Oh, I found that in my vault at Gringotts. I think - I think it belong to my parents." The room went silent. Everyone knew how much Harry valued information about his parents, Manda especially since she felt the same about hers.
"Do you want to look at it alone?"
"That'd be nice." They filed out of the office. Elle gave Harry a reassuring squeeze on shoulder as she left. He turned to the box, studying it. It was fairly plain. There seemed to be a vine carved around the sides and 'Potter' imprinted on the top. Slowly, he opened it.
(I was thinking about leaving it here for suspense, but I'm not that mean.)
There was an envelope, addressed to him, on the top. With shaking fingers he read:
My dear Harry,
Since you are reading this, we were found. I know that we took many precautions against this, but I have a funny feeling. And I want you to know that, no matter what, I always loved you. And I'll be watching over you. Your father and I made up this box for you. It is filled with things we want you to have.
Oh, your father wants to write something.
Hey Pronglet! You probably don't remember that name now, so I'll have to explain everything. You see, I'm an animagus. Illegally, so don't tell anyone! When I went to school, me and my friends became animagi to help another of my friends who was a werewolf. I was a stag. And, being who we were, we explored the school and found out all the secret passages. To give our knowledge to future generations, we created the Marauders' Map.* Now, I pass it to you. Use it well. Your mother is now glaring at me for telling this, so I should probably give her back the quill. Love you, kid. Bye!
Your father really shouldn't be telling you those things. But, I suppose as your a Potter, pranking is in your blood.
Yeah!
Anyway, if you got this now, you are probably on your way to your first year in Hogwarts. No matter what, I will be proud of you. It doesn't matter what house your in, or if you play Quidditch, or what your favorite class is. I'm proud of you, no matter what. And remember, always be true to yourself.
Love,
Mom
Harry finished the letter with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. 'They sound like great people,' he thought. 'I wish I knew them.' Under the letter there was an old, folded piece of parchment with a note attached. It said:
To activate the Map, just tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!' To erase it say 'Mischief Managed!' Enjoy! Love,
Dad
He tried it out and was amazed. Squiggly lines spread across the paper to form walls, passages, and rooms. 'I can't wait to see Hogwarts. If this what it looks like on a map, it'll be amazing in person!' There was also his parents wedding rings (which he slipped on to the chain his locket was on) and a worn, stuffed lion. In the very bottom was a black jewelry box. He opened it and inside was the most beautiful ring Harry had ever seen. Silver with runes engraved on it, but that wasn't the interesting part. It had a small flame dancing around the band. It was wrapped in yet another note and the paper wasn't catching fire. Harry picked it up and put it on his left ring finger. A sudden warmth spread through him. The paper said:
Harry, this is the Phoenix Ring. It's been in my family for ages. It has certain healing properties. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. ~Dad
Harry sat, contemplating what he now had. He was closer to his parents then he could remember. Smiling slightly, he looked at the clock. He put his box with the rest of his school things and headed down to dinner.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
* = yes, Harry has the Map. I couldn't let Fred and George have it because then they would see Harry's real name on it. Just think that Filch had it, but the Marauders' reclaimed it.
More later. Read and Review. Bye!
