CHAPTER 14

(A/N: I don't know if I have done a disclaimer, so here it is now: I do not own any of the original Harry Potter characters, settings or plots.)

Harry continued to cry silently for several minutes, wishing Hedwig would come back. Helga was about to leave, her own tears forming, when something strange happened. Where Harry's tears had fallen, Hedwig's feathers began to smoke. Harry glanced up, feeling warmth in the air. Without warning, Hedwig's body burst into golden flame. A phoenix song rang throughout the room, higher and softer than Fawkes', and as comforting as the memories Harry had of his parents. Out of the flames, a bird flew- swirling into the air.

The flames vanished, leaving Harry to stare at the newborn phoenix. A white beak protruded from her red-gold face. She was larger than Harry's phoenix form, and had a copper-colored tail. Her chest was red, and the tips of her tail and wings were white, as were her talons.

"Hedwig?" Harry whispered, wanting desperately to believe it.

She trilled a short song, and landed on Harry's shoulder, gently rubbing her beak against the side of his face. Harry stroked Hedwig in return, oblivious to everything but his friend who had died—and come back again. "Welcome home," he whispered.


Miles away from Black Manor, Albus Dumbledore awoke with a start from his makeshift office in Grimmauld Place.

"What is it Albus?" Minerva asked, rushing into the room.

"The wards on the Dursley home have fallen," he answered gravely.

Her face grew pale, "What does that mean?"

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, "Either Voldemort has succeeded, or Harry no longer can call it home."

"I'll alert the others," she promised, as Severus entered the room.

"Is everything alright?" Albus asked with concern, Severus and his role in the Order worried him often.

The much younger wizard nodded, "Somewhat. I was in Diagon Alley, and I ran into Potter."

Dumbledore sat up straighter in his chair, "You've found him?"

Severus shook his head. "No. He was exiting the Apothecary, and I recognized his owl. Knowing he would not come willingly with me of all people, I tried to stun him. He vanished after my second try."

"He's learned to apperate?" Minerva whispered in shock.

"I don't think so, there was no noise at all."

Dumbledore sighed, "We'll just have to wait for him to—"

A shriek rang throughout the entire house, starting from Molly Weasley. The three professors rushed into the living room, where a phoenix was sitting on the mantle of the fireplace, a letter in its beak. "That's not Fawkes." Severus noted.

Dumbledore stuck out an arm, ad the phoenix gracefully flew over and landed on it. Albus took the letter, and the phoenix returned to the fireplace. With a sigh of both anxiety and relief, Albus told them. "It's from Harry."

Molly dropped the duster she was holding, Severus eyed the phoenix warily, and Minerva sat down heavily on an armchair. "What does it say?" she asked.

Dumbledore read it aloud, " 'To the Order From Tallon. I'm writing to let you know that I am alive and well. In fact, I'm having the best summer of my life, with the exception of staying at the Burrow. As I returned to my home, after an attempted attack (Severus cringed inwardly), I realized it was Professor Snape who'd tried to subdue me. I can't say I blame him, it's not like I'd willingly come to Headquarters with him, or any of you for that matter. I'm not going to apologize for departing unknown by you two weeks into the summer, so do not take this letter as one, and I will not allow myself to be chastised for my actions either—I run my own life now. I can assure you Tom has no idea of my whereabouts, nor do any of his Little Helpers for that matter. The Dursleys' are no longer what one might call 'family', mind you they never were except by my mother's blood; and I will not be returning to them- not now, and not in any time in the future. I am surprised you had me placed with that family in the first place Headmaster, nevertheless, what is done is done, and neither of us may change it. As you might have gathered by now, I am perfectly able to defend, escape and hide when needed. I also assure you that I did not apperate, though do not try my patience and therefore encourage me to learn. I know some of you are worried, some of you could care less, and some of you might not think that this is indeed me writing. So, to assure you that I am fine without your shadowing, I will make an appearance next week. I will not say when; it is up to you to be prepared, and I suggest that you do just that. Please say hello to my friends, I will know if you do not. I will see you soon, so I urge you to get ready, you will need it. Tallon P.' " Albus closed the letter, and Severus was half-grumbling, and half admitting that Potter had sounded rather -dare he think it?- Slytherin-like, in the letter. The Headmaster nodded at the phoenix to show that he understood, and the bird banished in a burst of flame. "What now?" Molly asked, still somewhat shocked at Harry's choice of words.

Dumbledore stared into the fire. "We wait."


Harry waited anxiously for ten minutes while Hedwig delivered the letter. When she did return, Harry gave her some fish from the kitchens as a reward—from now on, he spoiled her.

The next day, Harry went through his routine, and began his normal, Tuesday classes. He was almost able to apperate, two more weeks and he'd be able to get around without having to teleport to his home first. Potions was coming along nicely, and Salazar had begun to teach him how to make Veritaserum on the side of his normal potions. His first bath would be ready right before school began, and it required intense concentration. Defense was getting more interesting, now Harry had to use terrain, physical exercise, his broom, and his animagus abilities to dodge the onslaught of spells. Offense was target practice—Harry fired stunners and hexes rapidly at the flying targets. After he'd mastered that, Salazar promised something new on Thursday. Godric taught him many useful plays and tricks in Quidditch, and Harry was eager to tell Ron, as his best friend was still on the Quidditch team, and Harry wasn't sure if his ban had been lifted. Since Salazar had taught him everything there was to know about Hogwarts, including several passageways between class room that even the Marauders hadn't found, Harry asked if he would mind giving extra potions lessons; Salazar happily agreed.

Wednesday also went by quickly. Harry was one sixteenth done with his new spell in Arthrimacy, and was getting the hang of writing in runes. Harry experimented in Herbology, mixing different plants with various liquids to find out the result; he found some good, some bad, and some very useful on both sides.

Thursday and Friday were both preparation for Saturday, and reviewing what they'd done earlier in the week. Salazar began to teach Harry how to become an effective duelist, by drilling him endlessly in the simplest spells until he could do them in his sleep; though they hoped that wouldn't happen to often. Harry would be ready to try his first apperation in two weeks, and he discovered that phoenix tears mixed with crushed wootgrass would stop an injury from bleeding, and heal it at the same time.

On Saturday, Harry dueled with the four founders. He beat Helga and Godric, and almost beat Rowena, but didn't come close to defeating Salazar. "Not too bad," Slytherin told him after Harry was thrown against the wall with a Parsloz 'expelliarmus'.

"Thanks," Harry said, and got up with a wince. To give him a break, Godric suggested that they play some Quidditch. "Not a real game, since we don't have enough players; just some catch, throw, beat and seek." It took a while to convince Rowena, but in the end she agreed. None of them could beat Harry as seeker, and he wasn't on his new broom either. They all rode Comet 260s, since there were seven of them in one of the broom closets.

Five o'clock came too quickly in Harry's opinion, as time always flies when you're dreading something—and he wasn't exactly happy to stop playing. With a sigh, Harry returned to his room, changed into his muggle outfit of black slacks, a white shirt, and his leather jacket; got James' letter to Snape, and then called Hedwig over.

"Good luck," Godric said as Harry prepared to leave for Headquarters.

Harry smiled, "Thanks, I'll need it."

"You'll do fine," Rowena told him soothingly.

"She's right, ya know." Helga agreed.

Salazar clapped him on the shoulder in a rare gesture of support, "Just remember Occlumency if you start to get angry."

Harry smiled again at all of them, ad Hedwig sang softly on his shoulder. "Let the fireworks begin." Harry said, and with that, teleported to the front door of the invisible, unplottable, and 'unfindable', Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.


He knocked quietly on the door, after making sure there were no muggles around. In just moments, Molly Weasley opened the door. As she saw him, she barely kept in a screech, and let him in then closed the door.

The first thing she did was give him a verbal beating of worry. "DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE'VE BEEN YOUNG MAN?" she yelled as Harry looked at her, "NOT A SINGLE WORD FOR SIX WEEKS! DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, HARRY!" She finished her last statement with a hug, and Harry couldn't help but grin when he realized he was now taller than her.

While she had yelled at him, the entire Weasley family who knew about the Order, as well as Remus, Tonks, Moody, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Snape, had all entered the room. "It's so nice to hear her yelling at someone else." Fred sighed. Harry grinned again, and was bombarded by both Ginny and Hermione with hugs. Chuckling, Harry gently pulled them off and shook hands with Ron and Lupin. "Nice hair," Ron told him with a slight smile.

"Thanks; I'm catching up to you too." Harry replied. Whereas Ron was only an inch away from six feet after his major growth spurt, Harry was only an inch shorter than his best friend. "You're a mess," Harry told Remus jokingly; looking at his scruffy hair and the dark circles under his eyes. "I know, full moon was last night." He replied, smiling as he shook Harry's hand.

Harry took a small breath, and looked at his professors, keeping his face blank.

"I must admit Harry, you've given us quite a scare," Dumbledore said with amusement, though the laughter didn't reach his eyes.

"I know Sir," Harry replied evenly, "But I can take care of myself, thank you anyways."

The Headmaster nodded at the phoenix on Harry's shoulder. "And who is this?"

Harry glanced at Snape then back to Dumbledore, "Hedwig, Sir." Several sharp intakes of breath sounded throughout the room.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "How did that happen?"

"Well, when she was an owl, she got hit in the heart by a stunner," Harry explained, "The spell went right through her, and she started to bleed. I took her home, but it was too late—she died. Or at least that's what I thought. I don't know exactly why, but her body burst into flame, and she came out a phoenix."

Dumbledore nodded and looked around at the others who'd entered the room, "Forgive me, but I need to speak with Harry alone for a moment." The members of the Order left with backward glances, except for Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Remus, "I'll be fine," Harry told them, "And I won't leave until I get a chance to talk with you." This seemed to satisfy them and Harry was left alone with Dumbledore and Hedwig.

"Please, take a seat." Harry sat in an armchair opposite of Dumbledore, with Hedwig perched on the fireplace mantle once more. "Harry, I must say I am disappointed with you. Running away like that was very irresponsible."

Before he could go on, Harry broke in with his own comments. "With all due respect Sir, I told you I wasn't going to allow myself to be chastised, and that's what you are doing right now. From my point of view, I am not the irresponsible one—the Dursleys are. If I were irresponsible, I would have just gone out without a plan, revealing myself to the world. If I were irresponsible, you and the Order would have found me. If I were irresponsible, I wouldn't have a life." Harry stated, flat voiced.

"Very well," Dumbledore said, "I will not 'chastise' you, as you're saying. Tell me, why did you leave, and where?"

Harry felt a subtle prickling feeling in his mind—Dumbledore was using Legilimency against him. Harry quickly zapped him with lightning, one of the more painful ways out. "Don't try that again Headmaster," Harry warned with anger flashing in his eyes, "If I won't tell you, you won't fid out by creeping into my head." Dumbledore looked taken aback. "I didn't want to be rude, but I will be if that's what it takes to get my point across: I-am-pissed."

He didn't seem effected anymore, "Why, if I may ask, are you angry?"

Harry took out his parents' will, then slid it towards Dumbledore across the coffee table, the bold title stood out like paint on wax against the pale parchment. "You kept this from me," Harry said coldly, "My parents wanted me to either go to Sirius, Remus, or a loving family." At this statement, Harry used reverse Occlumency, forcing Dumbledore to look into his mind. Before he could react, Harry shoved every single memory of the Dursleys in Dumbledore's face. The times Dudley beat him, the scant meals, the taunting; everything. "Now you tell me Headmaster, does that look like a loving family?" Harry demanded in an icy voice "Did you noticed that my first letters to Hogwarts were addressed to a cupboard? Or did you not care, as long as I was 'safe'?
"Well, guess what—I wasn't safe. Maybe I was from Voldemort, but not from my own blood, which kept me safe from him." The twinkle was replaced by grief in Dumbledore's eyes. "I've thought about apologizing for all of this, this behavior of mine. But the more I think about it, the less I want to. I'll apologize for worrying everyone, I'll apologize for making them waste their time on a futile search, but I won't apologize for leaving, for living my own life." Harry softened his tone from the icy, angry one it had been throughout his speech. "I understand that you did your best to help me, Headmaster, that you did what you thought best. But all I can say to that is: it wasn't, but thank you for trying." They remained silent, just looking in each other's eyes: Harry's were rebellious and understanding, Dumbledore's were sad and defeated.

"I will try to regain you trust Harry," Dumbledore finally said, "Now that I know I have truly lost it. I will not keep anything more from you—and I will tell Remus of his guardianship if you wish, unless you want to."

Harry nodded and got out of his chair, taking the will with him. "Thank you Headmaster, and I'm sorry I had to say all this, but you left me no other option." With that, Harry walked up the stairs, leaving Dumbledore alone with Hedwig and his own, troubled thoughts.


Harry visited Remus first and told him about the option of guardianship. He clearly wanted to, but forced him to bring up the obvious, "But Harry, I'm a werewolf, it'll be difficult."

Harry smiled, "Don't worry about it, I've learned a lot of things over the summer."

"Like what?" Lupin asked doubtfully.

With an evil grin, Harry transformed first into a panther, then a phoenix, a cobra, and finally, a werewolf—drawing an amazed gasp from Remus with each shift. "What the—four animals?" he exclaimed, "Where'd you learn to do it?"

Harry told him about their split inheritance of the Black Vault, Black Manor, and Grimmauld place, though he didn't say the names of his tutors. "You can meet them if you come home with me," Harry teased.

Remus laughed, "Anything else- captain?"

"Yeah, time to get you some new clothes." Moony immediately went into protesting mode, but finally gave in when Harry repeated Sirius' words: "The Marauders take care of their own." After agreeing on returning with Harry to his hideaway, Remus told Harry that he should go talk to his friends.

"Harry!" Ginny shrieked as he opened the door and stuck his head in.

"Come on in mate!" Ron called, "You've given us a heck of a fright!"

Harry laughed, "Sorry about that, I needed some time alone."

"yeah, lots of it," Ginny scolded.

"So, what have you been up to?" Hermione asked.

After casting an invisible sound-proofing charm on the room, Harry explained Dumbledore's letter, his escape, and then his trip to Gringotts.

"You've got three vaults?" Ron whispered.

Harry nodded, "And only one isn't being watched." Changing the subject so they wouldn't ask about the rest of his summer, he asked, "Have you guys gotten your school stuff yet?"

Ginny giggled, "It's still two weeks away, school I mean."

Harry shrugged, "Can never be too careful."

"He's right you know," Hermione said earnestly, "Speaking of school, how's your schoolwork coming? What'd you get on your OWLs?"

"Well, I got eight OWLs out of nine, two for DADA alone."

"Same here mate!" Ron gave him a high-five, "NEWT level DADA, here we come!"

Harry laughed an continued, "I've gotten my schoolwork done—it was pretty easy actually."

Ron scoffed, "Potions? Easy? Ha!"

"I found it easy," Hermione said defensively.

"Well that's 'cause you're a bloody genius Herms," Ron replied.

Harry grinned weakly, "Actually, Ron –Hermione is a genius, no offense-"

"None taken,"

"But I found it pretty manageable."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Watch, next you'll be in Snape's NEWT class."

Ginny laughed with her brother, and Harry blushed. "Erm—I'm already in Snape's NEWT class."

Their eyes boggled. "You're kiddin' me!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry shook his head, "Nope, not kidding."

Ron and Ginny burst into hysterics. "You've got another year with Snape!" Ron choked out.

"Don't worry Harry," Hermione said, "I'm in it too. Ron barely got an 'A' on his Potions OWL." Now it was Harry's turn to laugh.


Although he'd planned to leave after talking with his friends, Mrs. Weasley convinced him to stay. It was the least he could do since he'd 'scared the living magic' out of her, as she'd said.

So, at seven o'clock, Harry sat down to eat dinner with the Order. Ron was on his left, and Remus was on his right; with Bill sitting across form him. As they made their way through Molly's specialty: meatloaf, Harry chatted with his friends, careful to keep his gaze averted from Dumbledore. "You've grown quite a bit Harry," Remus noted.

Harry grinned, "Another thing I've been working on."

"What else have you been working on?"

Aware that Moody was listening intently from his seat next to Bill, Harry chose his words carefully, "Bookwork really, things that don't require a wand." Harry answered vaguely. It was a half-truth, seeing as how Ancient Runes, Herbology, CoMC, Potions, Quidditch, and History didn't need a wand to do it.

Remus nodded and changed the subject to OWLs, "Did you like your scores? I think I got eight or nine in my fifth year."

"Actually, I got eight out of nine," Harry said with a smile, "I would've gotten seven, but I got an 'O+' in defense." Remus beamed at him. "Even with all those crazed teachers." Harry joked. His former professor laughed.

Harry noticed the surprised faces on the nearby diners at Remus' laugh. I'll ask him about it later, Harry promised silently. The rest of the meal was wonderful, ending in key lime pie.

Snape left the table when the dessert was served, and went upstairs. Remembering his dad's letter, Harry waited five minutes after finishing his pie, then excused himself—promising Remus he wouldn't leave just yet. After making sure Moody wasn't watching him, Harry tried out his x-ray vision. After looking through doors, Harry spotted the potions master in the attic. Taking a breath, Harry turned off his x-ray feature, and went up to confront his least-favorite teacher.


Harry knocked cautiously on the door. "Enter," came Snape's voice. Harry opened the door, and waited for Snape to finish adding the ingredient in his hand—bitterroot, Harry identified, probably for Remus' Wolfsbane potion.

Snape stirred the cauldron a little while longer, wiped his brow, then turned to see who his visitor was. "What do you want Potter?" he sneered, although inside he was nervous that this was about the attack on the boy's owl.

Harry counted to five silently in his head to keep back an angry retort. "To talk, Sir."

Snape raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because I need to."

Snape rolled his eyes, "What about?"

Harry readied himself for the attack to come, "My dad." Snape stiffened, he was relieved that it wasn't about the owl, but bitter at the new topic. Harry began to talk before either of them exploded. "Listen, I'm sorry for looking in your penesive that night—it was rude. I thought it was stuff from the Order, stuff that was being kept from me. I was frustrated with the Order then, and I didn't think about what else it could have been. But when I said I wanted to talk about my dad—I meant it." Harry's tone turned somewhat bitter, "You might be surprised, but your worst memory, is now one of my worst memories."

"And why is that?" Snape hissed, "Because now you know how much you're like him?"

Harry looked at the floor, furious. "No Sir, I'm not like him. He was a royal git to you, I'm not denying it. That's why it's one of my worst memories. I've thought all this time that my dad was nice—got into trouble, but nice. And ever since I met you, you've been telling me he wasn't. I fought with you about it for five years, only to find out that you were right too." Harry drew his gaze defiantly from the floor. "Sirius, Remus, and Hagrid, they all talk about him the way I pictured him, and I still do. But whenever he's mentioned, half my mind goes back to how mean he was in fifth year—I'm not going to be like that. What I mean is, I might look just like him, but I'm not like he was in fifth year, I want you to actually see that." Harry took a quiet breath, and pulled out the letter, "This is from him. He told me in his will to give it to you. I don't know if threats, or advice, or whatever. But just read it, please Sir."

Snape took the letter, "Fine." He replied.

Harry nodded, "Thank you Professor, and I don't know if you care, but Hedwig doesn't blame you either, and I guess I can't either. I'll see you in class." With that, Harry turned and walked out of the attic.


Half an hour later, Harry bid everyone good bye, and told Remus to meet him outside when he was ready. How Remus was able to slip away on the night of the last full moon, Harry had no idea. So, Harry quickly hid them both under his invisibility cloak, told Hedwig the plan, and teleported himself and Remus to The Hideaway after making sure Moody wasn't watching. Harry didn't have time to show Remus around, or introduce him to the four founders, because Remus immediately began to transform as they rushed inside. Harry warned his tutors as he and Remus went into Harry's bedroom. Harry swiftly turned into a panther, and waited for Remus to finish.

"Hey there Harry," Remus growled, "Or should I say Tallon?"

Harry flicked his tail in amusement, "Either one Moony."

Moony yipped his laughter, "So, I know we're at Black Manor, but how'd we get here, and how did the Order not find it?"

"Well, Sirius left it to both of us in his will, which I found in the Marauders' Box. He told me, to find Black Manor, think of him. The Order hasn't found it because there's anti-apperation wards for 100 yards in every direction, anti-magic detection wards for twice that distance, and a Fideleus Charm on it too."

"Who's the secret keeper?"

"I am."

Lupin nodded his understanding, "Would you mind showing me around? I promise not to bite anyone."

Harry purred his laughter, and led Remus out the door (after turning the handle with his paws with a fair amount of difficulty). He showed Remus the Chimera room, and promised to explain later, then they went to the study. Surprisingly, Rowena wasn't in it. "Harry, is that your family tree?" Moony asked, amusement tingeing his voice.

Harry nodded, "Yeah."

"Interesting, if distant, relatives." Remus teased, then followed Harry out the door Godric was in the dueling room with Rowena; they paused their fight when Harry and Remus walked in.

"That'd better be an animagus," Godric said warily.

Harry transformed into human, "Don't worry, there's a potion called Wolfsbane that allows a werewolf to keep their human mind even when they transform, Remus wouldn't hurt anybody."

"Well in that case," Godric jumped off the dueling platform and offered the werewolf a hand, "Name's Godric, I'm Harry's animagus, defense, Quidditch and apperation tutor."

Moony yipped his laughter and put a paw in Godric's hand—it never occurred to him that this might be the actual found of Gryffindor house.

"And I am Rowena," Ravenclaw said, and inclined her head in greeting, "I have been teaching Harry Arthrimacy, Ancient Runes, and the history of the Magical world."

Moony gave Harry a surprised look, and nodded his own head in return greeting to Rowena. "Well, this is the dueling room," Harry hastily explained, "Since I can do magic here, I've been practicing spells against those dummies, and occasionally my tutors." Lupin nodded, and Harry bid Godric and Rowena goodbye, then shifted into panther shape again and led Moony downstairs.

Harry showed him all the guestrooms, and said he could either take one of those, or Harry would combine two of them to make another master bedroom. Remus told him it wasn't necessary to make a bigger room, and so Harry took Remus down to the ground floor. Harry introduced Helga to Remus in the kitchen, then showed the werewolf the laundry, dining and living rooms. "I'm still trying to figure out how to connect the fireplace to the floo network without the Ministry finding out," Harry explained as they headed to the dungeon. Remus had surprised Harry by agreeing with Harry's illegal, but useful, acts.

"I can help you with that," Remus told him, "I remember talking with Arthur and Moody about it," Harry thanked him and began to go down stairs, Lupin right behind him. He explained the locked door, and even let Remus try to knock it down, with a warning of course. The sound of a werewolf crashing into the iron door drew Harry's last tutor out of the potions lab, an annoyed look on his face. "What's all that racket?" he asked irritably. Harry turned back into human and introduced Remus, "He's already taken the Wolfsbane potion I told you about," Harry explained, "he was trying to break down the locked door across the hall."

Salazar eyed Lupin cautiously, "Well, I daresay it's not going to budge. I'm Harry's potions, offense, and Hogwarts history teacher, by the way."

Harry translated Lupin's response, "He says he hopes you're doing a good job—so I can make it through potions this year."

Salazar laughed, "I assure you Mr. Lupin, Harry has caught up to NEWT level, and on his way to passing it." Harry blushed at the rare compliment, and Remus gently licked his hand.

"Well, show Mr. Lupin the potions room," Slytherin told him, "I'm working on an idea I came up with a few years ago, so please, don't try to test the strength of the tables." Harry smiled, and followed Salazar in after transforming into a panther once more, Moony then followed.

Lupin was impressed with the potion-filled cabinet; over the summer, Harry had filled it two thirds of the way with bottled potions and healing pastes. "Now I know why you've been so busy," Remus joked.

Harry flicked his tail in silent laughter, and showed Remus the store room, "Actually, these are for wands-" Harry began, then realized he was late to pick up his wand from Ollivander's. I'll go when Remus goes to sleep, he promised silently. The workout room was next, and Remus made Harry demonstrate his normal routine. Sighing, Harry used all the machines for five minutes, then returned to panther shape. "Very good Harry," Moony complimented. Harry thanked him, then led his guardian to the armory. "If I could whistle, I would," Remus said, looking at the mass of weaponry. "I'd carry one of those, and learn how to use it."

"I actually have one in a holster on my arm, and I've been working with Godric and Salazar to learn how to use it." Harry replied.

Remus stretched and yawned, "Do you mind if I go to bed Tallon?"

"Of course not, I'll be going to sleep in a couple of hours," he replied, "Are you sure you don't want a larger room?"

Lupin yipped his amusement, "Yes, I'm sure."

Harry nodded, "Tomorrow we'll go get you some new robes."

Moony rolled his eyes, "Yes Captain Tallon." He mocked. Harry chased Remus up the stairs, tackling him playfully as they entered one of the guest rooms. Laughing in wolf-typed yips, Moony rolled over and pinned Tallon in return. Growling his own amusement, Harry turned into a cobra and slid out from under the werewolf.

"I'll get you next time," Moony promised.

"Suuuuure you will," Harry tease, then slithered as fast as he could out of the room.


As soon as he heard Remus lay down, Harry teleported to Ollivander's. The store was closed, but the wand maker saw Harry and quickly let him in. "I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Ollivander," Harry apologized.

The elderly wizard smiled, "Not to worry my boy, I was only able to finish your wand yesterday; come and see." Harry followed Mr. Ollivander to the back room, where a grey wand box lay on the table. "I've never made one quite like this, your feather had peculiar tastes, I must say." he said as he handed the box to Harry.

Harry took off the lid, and inhaled sharply. The wand was thirteen inches long, and about the same thickness as his other wand. The wood was polished and black, the four-inch handle was made of ivory, with silver wire inlaid in a spiral pattern. "It's beautiful," he whispered, looking up at Mr. Ollivander.

The wand maker's eyes were excited, his tone proud. "Yes, and very powerful. More than your wand and its twin put together."

Harry stared at him, "I can't thank you enough for this Mr. Ollivander, if there's anyway I can repay you, just name it."

"My only wish is this: do not abuse the wand's power. It was made with good intentions, see that it is used for good intentions, and good alone."

"I swear I will," Harry replied solemnly.

Mr. Ollivander, "I never doubted that you would." After listening to Mr. Ollivander explain why it had taken him so long to make it, Harry bid the older man good night, then cautiously left the store and teleported home.


Coming Up:

Remus meets Alex

The Woes of a Werewolf

A second visit to H-Q

Then:

First Vision of the summer

Snape's not the only Snape