Ok. Everyone knows the drill. Still here goes nothing -
Harry Potter & the other characters of J.K. Rowling are strictly hers (though this plot here is mine J). I am not the original writer (though I wish I could be) & I do not wish to make money from this. Most Importantly, I DO NOT want to get sued. So if anyone has any problems with anything I write, then just tell me.
There's plenty more...blah blah blah....forget it & let the story begin :).
Note: US English has been used here.
HARRY POTTER & THE POWER OF HOGWARTS
Chapter 5 – Reactions
As he seated the death-eater, took away his wand from his pocket and de-stunned him, the death-eaters head rolled back causing his hood to fall back. His eyes were still closed and his face was drained of any color but the freckles on his face were unmistakable. Harry stumbled backwards at the man before him who was trying to open his eyes now.
Across the table sat none other than Percy Weasley.
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"You have brought me good news. I am pleased with you." The red eyes were glimmering with happiness, if there was such a feeling which this creature could feel, as a figure stood before him. The man in front had his head bowed all the time when he was in front of his Lord.
"Avery, go and give the new members a chance to prove themselves. Whoever is able to bring Potter will be rewarded beyond their dreams." Upon hearing this command, a hooded man, who had been standing in a circle, went out to carry his master's orders. He knew that his master always kept his word. He himself had been rewarded for his successes – and failures.
"You may go now Severus."
Sweating profusely, Harry woke up. He had just had another vision of Voldemort along with his death-eaters. They were now looking for him – thanks to that greasy, slimy git. He knew that Snape was a death-eater who worked for the Order but he still had doubts about his real intentions. He passed on information to both Voldemort & the Order. Dumbledore always vouched for his trustworthiness but the same Dumbledore had also been trying to protect Harry for the past 5 years from Voldemort. 'What if Snape isn't just another one of the old man's blundering mistakes?' Harry found himself pondering on this question again as he slowly got up and drank a glass of water. He never put anything past Snape and, since this summer's events, he never put any mistake past Dumbledore. But…wait a minute…this dream was unlike any of those he had had before. He had meditated before he went to sleep and had put his mental shields up, so Voldemort shouldn't have been to penetrate his mind. Also, the one's which he always had before were more like nightmares – when Voldemort had been very happy or when he was killing or torturing someone. In this case too Voldemort seemed to be happy at receiving the news of Harry going missing BUT he wasn't too happy about it. He would only be very happy about this if someone could give him the exact address where Harry was. "Then how come I could see what I did? What was all this about?" Hundreds of questions and possibilities came up in his mind. Finally, Harry decided to put this thing off till the next morning. This had been one of the worst nights in his life for quite some years now. As he lay back on his bed, he recounted what had happened that night. Slowly he fell into a deep sleep.
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Harry had been shocked to see Percy. He had never imagined that Percy could be a death-eater. As Percy was trying to open his eyes, Harry stunned him again. He had to think. He needed some time to think. He started to pace around the dungeon. Percy, the elder brother of his best mate Ron, son of Mr. & Mrs. Weasley who made him feel like he was a part of their family – what would he say to them? Or should he remain silent? But this matter was too grave for him to remain silent. Should he tell Dumbledore? No, the reply came promptly from somewhere deep within though he didn't know the reason behind this. Should he tell Remus? Maybe. But all this telling could wait. He had to arrange for something right now. "What am I going to do now? I can't just let Percy open his eyes and find himself in an uncommon place. But maybe I am wrong, maybe this goddamn radar doesn't work." Harry was trying to convince himself. "Well, the only way to find out is to check for yourself" With this thought, Harry raised the sleeves of Percy's right arm. There it was, no doubt about it – the dark mark was burned onto his upper arm. "What to do? What to do?" Harry's mind was all jumbled up by now. He was unprepared for all this. Then he did the thing which came into his mind – meditate. He meditated for about 10 minutes and came to a conclusion – he had to send Percy back unharmed. He couldn't let Percy see him and wasn't in the mood to use the imperius on him. The best use of Percy was to be a spy for Harry without his knowing so.
"DOBBY" Harry shouted as he pulled the hood to cover Percy's face.
"Yes Harry Potter" Dobby popped in front of him within seconds.
"Please take this man back to the place where you found him and enervate him, ok? And don't let anyone see you."
"Ok Harry Potter" Dobby said with terrified eyes. It was quite obvious that he didn't like dealing with dark wizards.
Once Dobby was gone, Harry apparated back to his room, his mind swirling with thoughts "Percy? How did he get into this? Everyone knows he is a bit power-hungry – but this is just too much. When did this happen? Who should I talk to about this?" Harry finally fell asleep while pondering over all this.
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"Dobby"
"Yes Harry Potter"
"Thank you for your help tomorrow." Dobby looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Can you help me out today also?" It was more a question than a command.
"Dobby is doing everything Harry Potter commands"
"Then I will not ask you for anything." Dobby looked up to noticing the regret in Harry's voice. "Is Dobby doing anything wrong?" Dobby's voice was almost a whisper. He looked as if he had just committed the most horrendous crime anyone could think of.
"Yes Dobby. You still haven't been able to accept me as your friend. You still see me as your master. When I had asked Dumbledore to send you over, I wanted a friend to come over, not a servant. I never command you to do anything…ok…maybe the menu of my meals since you are a wonderful cook…but apart from that…" Harry's voice trailed off to show his disappointment. If Harry had been looking at Dobby he would have seen wave after wave of emotions passing over him – grief, relief, grief again for hurting Harry and finally, after taking his decision, happiness.
"Harry Potter is the best wizard in the world. Dobby is wanting to be his friend" Dobby said, bouncing on his feet but added thoughtfully "But Dobby is never having a friend so Dobby don't know how to behave like a friend."
"Well Dobby, you can behave with me like you do with other house-elfs" At this, Dobby's eyes rounded up in horror. Such a thought was worse than having to go to hell, Dobby thought. Harry seemed to understand Dobby's problem and provided a different suggestion "Well…ok…you have seen Ron and Hermione with me, haven't you?" Dobby nodded indicating an affirmative response. "Well, behave with me like they behave with me. Talk to me when you have problems, give me suggestions when I do something wrong, tell me what to do, even though I may not do it, AND wipe off that guilty look from your face." Harry finished off. Dobby seemed quite content with this explanation and smiled back.
"So, what is Harry Potter requesting his friend Dobby to do?" Dobby's question brought a smile on Harry's face.
"Well Dobby, could you get me some information as to how to make a portkey?"
"But it is illegal Harry Potter." Seeing the look on Harry's face Dobby continued "Ok. Dobby is knowing some elves in the Ministry building – they are giving Dobby the information."
"Thank you Dobby. Just remember, I will need it quick" At this, Dobby gave a majestic bow and popped away leaving a laughing Harry behind him.
Harry got up and went to his room. He quickly went through the papers which he belonged to Lucius Malfoy and finally came to the one he was searching for. Going through each and every line carefully, Harry decided his course of action. He made a copy of the parchment and proceeded to the fireplace and made a quick call. After the call (in which he fixed an appointment 2 days from now), a very satisfied Harry returned to his room and found a book. As he went through the book (The Complete Reference To Portkeys), he seemed to have finally forgotten his bad experience of the previous night.
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"This place seems so lonely now…even with so many people here" Remus's voice was very sad as he spoke with Tonks who looked equally upset. The scenario around was one of absolute chaos. Everyone was speculating why Dumbledore had called an emergency meeting. This wasn't a meeting of only the Order members because many non-order members were present. All the Weasleys, except for Percy, were there along with Hagrid. Hermione had also been called over to everyone's surprise. There was McGonagall who was having a chat with Mrs. Figg. Mundungus was talking to Mad-Eye whose face was fixed in a scowl. Apart from these all too familiar faces, there were many others who had arrived and many more that were arriving. Only Snape seemed to be standing in a corner oblivious to everyone around. Almost everyone had arrived except for Albus Dumbledore. Taking a look at her watch, Tonks saw that it was still 10 minutes before the meeting started.
"Yeah. It was quite fun though I wanted to curse him everytime I stumbled over something." Tonks replied with a faraway look, remembering how it was with Harry around.
"You know, he really is like James and I shouldn't worry about him too much. But I can't help it now when he is the only one close enough to be a family for me. I mean, if something happened now…" Remus's voice trailed away. Tonks had become familiar with this attitude now. She knew that if anything happened to Harry then Remus wouldn't be able to live with it. He was almost daily cursing himself and had been carrying out the orders of Dumbledore half-heartedly.
"But he should have talked to us first before taking such a hasty decision." This seemed to have an effect on Remus though it was not one which Tonks had expected.
"Talk to us about what Tonks? About what?" Remus's voice was filled with deep anger but he managed to keep his voice low. "Tell me, what has happened over the past 5 years when he had always talked to someone. Do you have any idea of how lonely that boy is or what he has gone through? People think he's some kind of a freak, that slimy git makes him the laughing stock in his class, that Malfoy kid makes his life hell in school and when he goes back home…well…I won't call it a home…it is more of a torture cell for him. And Sirius…WHY DID DUMBLEDORE DO THIS TO HIM?" Remus almost spat out the last sentence which stunned Tonks. She knew that Harry's life had not been an easy one. Also, she had assumed that both Harry and Remus may have recovered somewhat from the events at DoM. Apparently she had been wrong about both the things. She could see the anger and grief on Remus's face. She was about to say something when Remus spoke again "Look at them" He said pointing out the Weasleys. "Look how happy they are, Look at the Hermione – she has her parents at home…goddamnit…look at yourself. All of you have families who care for you. Has anyone ever shunned you Tonks? Say, for being a werewolf or for being someone with a scar? You guys don't know what it is like when there is no one else for you. I just wonder how Harry manages to do all that he does. He is so selfless yet…yet look at how life has treated him…how we have treated him. I have learned to live with my fate sealed but I don't want Harry to have such a life. At least, I had Sirius & James around to fill up the loneliness in my life…" Tonks noted the omission of Peter's name but said nothing "…but who does Harry have? I thought maybe I could help him but that…that old man took him away from me. He – just - can't – see – us - happy." The contempt in his voice made Tonks speechless. She knew that Remus would never do anything against Dumbledore but obviously Harry meant more to him than the whole world put together. Tonks placed a hand on Remus's hand and gave it a squeeze. Remus didn't look up.
"Where's Harry?" Hermione and Ron said in chorus. They were both standing in front of Remus and Tonks and held each other's hands. Remus looked at them for a moment and then glanced at their hands. Suddenly Hermione became self-conscious and weaved her fingers out of Ron's hand fingers, much to Ron's displeasure. Tonks decided that she had to divert the conversation in some other direction, otherwise she would have to tell them about Harry "I will tell about Harry but first tell me when you two became an item" Tonks asked in here carefree manner which made Hermione blush deeply while Ron's face turned into the famous weasley-red color.
"well…uh…" Hermione just wasn't able to bring herself to it. Finally, she gave up and said as quickly as possible "Just during this summer." "Now, where is Harry?" Hermione also wanted to steer clear of the topic of her and Ron's relationship.
Tonks glanced at Remus and was about to cook up some wild cock-and-bull story when, thankfully, Dumbledore arrived. "We should get to the meeting now." she said promptly, dragging Remus along with her. They were only one of the few people who knew that Harry's sudden departure was the actual agenda of the meeting.
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore rose, but before he could begin Mrs. Weasley interrupted him.
"Albus, where is Harry? He isn't sick, is he?"
"Ah Molly…Don't worry about that. Harry is doing well wherever he is"
"What do you mean 'wherever he is'" retorted Mrs. Weasley in a higher tone of voice as she eyed Dumbledore suspiciously. Dumbledore refused to meet her eye and started to say what he feared would cause panic among everyone.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I called this meeting to inform everyone of the fact that Mr. Potter has left this place…"
"WHAT???" Molly Weasley stood up causing her chair to fall back "What do you mean by that?" Everyone now seemed to have the same question (except for a few select people) though no one had the courage to demand an explanation from Dumbledore in the manner in which Mrs. Weasley did.
"Well, a few days ago…" Dumbledore was again interrupted by Mrs. Weasley "HOW MANY DAYS AGO?"
"Well, I will give you all the facts if you just let me finish Molly." Mrs. Weasley reluctantly sat down, breathing heavily and having to retrieve her chair from where it had fallen. "9 days ago, Harry left this house for an undisclosed location. He left in the dead of the night and Remus and Tonks discovered it in the morning" A few heads turned towards both of them "Remus notified me at once. I, along with Alastor, Severus, Minerva, Remus and Tonks searched for him but in vain. I got a letter in which Harry had requested for the services of Dobby. Dobby found out Harry and reported to us that he was safe though he did not disclose Harry's location." At this, there was a collective sigh of relief across the room though Mrs. Weasley was still frowning and breathing heavily. "So, Mr. Potter is somewhere safe now though we don't know his location" Dumbledore finished.
The scene around the table was one to remember. Everyone was stunned for a minute and then started to ask questions to Dumbledore in what seemed to be a rapid-fire question-answer round.
"Where did you search?"
"What if he is in the hands of you-know-who?"
"What if he has been kidnapped?"
"Do you know how he is now?"
"When was the last you heard from him?"
Hagrid sat in a corner silently listening to everything. He had full confidence in Dumbledore. If Dumbledore was sure that Harry was safe, then Harry really was safe. But he too was wondering as to where Harry had gone and how come no one of the search group had been able to find him. After all, these weren't any average wizards. Still they had been unable to locate him.
On the other hand Dumbledore was trying to answer all the questions to his optimum limit and as calmly as possible. For the first time in their lives, Fred and George Weasley seemed worried too. Mr. Weasley seemed to be lost in thought while Hermione was crying silently on Ron's shoulders whose face had an unreadable expression.
"IT'S ALL THEIR FAULT" Suddenly everyone stopped to look at Molly Weasley who was pointing her fingers at Tonks and Remus. "THEY DIDN'T TAKE PROPER CARE OF HIM." No one had suspected that Molly Weasley would react like this. Even Dumbledore waited to see what the response would be. No one dared to breathe a single word now.
"MOLLY WEASLEY, BE CAREFUL WITH WHAT YOU SAY." Remus bellowed with so much anger that everyone looked very scared. No one had seen him this angry (some of the people present had never seen him get angry). Fred and George silently approved and applauded his response – no one had stood up to their mother in that manner. Mrs. Weasley looked shocked and opened her mouth to say something but Remus continued in the same menacing tone "Who do you think you are? You always think only you care about Harry. What do you think he is to me – some kind of garbage? What do you think he was to Sirius? Remember last year when we were talking right here and you didn't let Harry hear what we had to say? You have always treated him as a child - now look what that has led to. LOOK AT WHAT IT HAS DONE TO SIRIUS AND HIM. ALL OF THE HALF-TRUTHS AND YOUR TREATMENT HAS LED TO THIS." No one had seen Remus so angry ever. Even Dumbledore was dumbstruck. "You always made him feel like Sirius was nothing to him, that I was nothing to him. Look at what has happened after Sirius. AND LAST YEAR YOU HAD SAID THAT SIRIUS WAS A BAD GODFATHER FOR HARRY, REMEMBER? DO YOU REMEMBER WOMAN?" Remus was trembling all over in anger. Suddenly Remus's voice turned into mocking tone "Who are you blaming Molly? Me? Tonks? Sirius's death? Who Molly, who the hell are you blaming? Where were you all these days? How many times did you come to see him?"
"Albus told me it was risky and Harry needed some time alone" Mrs. Waesley said defensively
"Don't try to cover up, will you? How many owls did Harry get these days? Tonks, you remember Harry receiving any letters from anyone?" Remus glared at Ron and Hermione for a second, both of whom looked away. They had been too busy in their new-found relationship. Not receiving an answer from Tonks, Remus continued with a threat in his voice "If anyone blames me or Tonks or, for that matter, Harry, then they better watch their mouth. No one talks bad about my family, especially in front of me" With that Remus sat down again, managing to keep his whole body from trembling. No one said anything, especially after his last threat while Tonks was bowled over by the statement of her being 'family'. She had become quite close to both Harry and Remus over the past month and she had begun to think of Remus as her elder brother who always objected to her doing anything which he might think wrong (that what elder brothers always do, don't they?). But today was the first day Remus had called her a part of their family. She really felt grateful for that.
The silence all around was deafening. Dumbledore chose this moment for closing the proceedings "Since no one has anything more to say AND also because any argument is not going to bring back Harry here, I think we all go back to our respective homes. All of you must be tired after a hectic day's work." With a quick nod to everyone, Dumbledore left the house. Slowly, everyone else also left including a very tense and hurt Mrs. Weasley.
Once everyone had left, Tonks looked around to see that Remus had gone over to his chair by the fire. As Tonks approached him she saw the pain and anguish on his face. Silently, Tonks sat down opposite to him. None of them found anything to say to each-other. Both were lost in their own thoughts. For the first time in her life, Tonks had realized the importance of Harry in Remus's life. She also missed him – his teasing her, his chuckling whenever she knocked over something or tripped over the umbrella stand, his emerald green eyes and most of all she missed Harry as a person. No one noticed when both of them fell asleep in their respective chairs.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Harry's head popped up in the fire.
Slowly Remus & Tonks looked up groggily. "Wotcher Har" Tonks was the first to say. She was very pleased to see Harry again and felt sure that Remus' s mood will improve too. Turning around she saw Remus give a feeble smile. He opened his mouth to say something but Harry was quicker.
"What's the matter Remus? You don't look good to me." Harry's voice had become serious and he raised his eyebrows in a questioning look. Remus just smiled and said "Just a bit of Order problem". Hearing this, Tonks felt her heart go out to both of them. Here were both of them who were dead worried about either but none wanted to burden the other.
"Nah Moony, you don't fool around with me. Hey Tonks, what's his problem? I just have the feeling that something is seriously wrong."
Tonks turned to Remus who gave her a look meaning 'Dont say anything' but Harry was quick to catch onto it. "I know that look Moony. Tonks, you better say something because it seems that this werewolf is not going to tell me anything."
Tonks gave in and described to Harry what had happened some hours ago. Harry felt very grateful for Remus's standing up for him but he was worried about Mrs. Weasley too. Harry looked thoughtful for a moment and then said "I'll fix it up with Mrs. Weasley. I know she cares about me but sometimes it is just too much. How dare she blame you guys?"
"No Harry, you are not going to say anything about what happened tonight. I forbid you to do so." Remus's said in a very commanding voice. Harry looked straight into his eyes and saw the pain in them. He understood perfectly the love which Remus felt for him and finally said "Ok. I will listen to you but on one condition" Saying this, Harry waited for Remus's response which came as an affirmative nod.
"Now that Sirius is gone, will you be my…godfather?" Harry asked tentatively. The response evoked by this statement was something which Tonks had not expected though it seemed Harry was prepared for it. "It would be…" Remus almost choked with tears. He was now crying. "…my privilege" He barely managed to say these words. Looking at Harry she saw that he too was crying. Both of them were crying one minute and laughing the next. They seemed happy beyond words. Remus, who just a couple of hours ago was brooding over Harry's absence, looked a different person now. It seemed that he had grown younger by several years. By the time both of them had got a control over themselves, Tonks had started crying too. She had never imagined the kind of love which had existed between these two and was sure that today was the first time they had let their feelings know to each other in such an open fashion.
"What's wrong with her?" Harry said with a mocking voice. Tonks looked up at Harry and Remus and started crying again. This amused them to no end. Finally Tonks gained her composure and smiled at both of them. "I love both of you so much" she said.
"Hey, I am too old for you"
"And I am too young"
These sudden responses had their desired effect. Tonks blushed a deep red which would have given the Weasleys a run for their money. "I didn't mean it…uh…I just…" she was unable to finish her sentence. Both Remus & Harry were laughing their head off. Even Tonks joined in after some time.
"Ok. Now, to celebrate the acceptance Remus for being my new godfather…" Harry looked at Remus and then turned to Tonks with an evil grin on his face and continued "…and to celebrate the love of Tonks for both of us…" Tonks looked livid. She knew that this was going to haunt her for a long time. "…I invite both of you to my new house day-after-tommorow. What say you?" Harry finished in a dramatic fashion.
Both Remus and Tonks looked very happy and agreed promptly.
"OK. Be here tomorrow at this time and I will give you the instructions." When both of them nodded in reply, Harry exchanged a few more pleasantries with them and then went back to his room. That night, 3 people went to sleep with a smile on their faces.
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"Where do you think Harry is?" It was Ron who broke the tense silence in the room. Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione and Ron sat in Ron's room after coming back from 12 Grimmauld Place. Their mother had promptly retired to her room after dinner without saying anything to anyone so they had all gathered in Ron's room. Everyone looked worried. No one had expected something like this to happen.
"We are to blame for all this. We never got the time to write Harry a letter. How much time would it have taken – 5 minutes or 10 minutes? But we didn't do that." Hermione's voice was filled with regret. Ron and Hermione were so lost in their own new-found relation that they had forgotten about Harry over the past weeks.
"Well guys, I think wherever he is, he is well off. At least, he is better than being at the HQ." Fred said matter-of-factly while George nodded in agreement. "Yes, as far as I know Harry, he won't take any hasty decisions…not after what happened this summer." George chipped in to Fred's agreement.
"But why didn't he tell us? At least he could have owl'd me." It was Ron who spoke again this time.
"Ron, you git of a brother, he didn't tell you because he didn't want to. He didn't even say anything to Remus or Dumbledore." Ginny spoke for the first time since she got home. She had always had a little crush on Harry. Even though she now liked Dean Thomas, Harry still had a special place in her heart. It was the same with all the others but none of them had been saved by Harry as Ginny had been in her first year. "And as long as Dobby is with him, I won't worry too much. Dobby cares for him more than all of us put together." This comment from Ginny caused all of them to nod in agreement. Everyone knew that Dobby worshiped Harry for setting him free and he would inform someone if Harry had been in trouble.
"I think Ginny's right" Hermione said with a huge yawn. "We should get to bed or you all will face a tough time tomorrow." All of them realized that she was correct (as always, muttered Ron) and went to their rooms. Ginny shared her room with Hermione whom Mrs. Weasley had invited over for the summer after she learnt that Ron and Hermione were together. Ginny lay awake for a long time before finally falling asleep. Everyone missed Harry, but for the first time in the past few years Ginny realized that Harry had done more for her than she could ever have imagined, how much she missed him now that he was not there, how much she longed to see him again…how much…
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"Who are you?" Two people were in a private room behind the counter of the Leaky Cauldron. The question had been asked by a person wearing a black robe and a cloak. He had been asked to come here 2 days ago by a stranger who had made a fire call to his office saying that he had some evidence which could cause trouble for him. No one was able to see the stranger's face since he had pulled a hood over it. The man in the hood was talking to a teenager whose hair covered a great part of his face. This teenager was of medium height and had a slim figure, which was starting to fill out in places. He was wearing muggle clothes and looked like one of those rowdy teenagers of this new generation.
"I would like to see your face before I answer." The teenager replied. At this, the man pulled back his hood to reveal the face which was flashed almost daily on The Daily Prophet but it lacked the smile which his photographs had. "Now tell me who you are." The man demanded.
"Minister Fudge, I am just a well-wisher" the teenager replied with a chuckle. His disguise had baffled everyone till now. Harry just wanted to hear the comments of Remus and Tonks when they saw him like that.
"Look, you have to…"
"Sorry minister, today I have all the cards and we play this according to my rules" the voice had suddenly turned cold, devoid of any emotion except hatred. The minister suddenly stiffened as he deciphered the hatred in the voice. With a look of resignation he said "Ok, what do you want? Finish this."
"I want you to resign" Harry said
"Boy, you must be out of your senses. You are asking me to resign?" the voice of the minister was full of loathing for this boy. Though he knew that this boy had everything which he had thought had been destroyed, he still wouldn't give in without a fight.
"Well Fudge, look at these. These are only a copy of the original documents. Another copy is ready at my home and my house-elf will hand them over to The Quibbler if I don't reach home by 4:00 in the afternoon." Harry handed him a set of documents. All of them were letters which had been exchanged between the minister and Lucius Malfoy over the period of the past 6 years. The minister shuddered at the thought of what would happen if these letters were given to the press but decided to take some chances.
"How much money do you want?" the minister queried with an almost pleading voice. He was hopeful that this boy would take the money and go away. According to the minister, there was nothing more important in the world than money.
"Look Fudge, I don't have time for this. I don't want your money. But…hmm…I can offer you a deal" Fudge's face brightened at the mention of a deal. He was always brilliant at them but it seemed that Harry had understood exactly what he was thinking. "No Fudge, you won't be getting anything out of it except your life. Well, here goes – either you kill yourself so that you can avoid the public humiliation or you resign as the minister. It's up to you."
"No boy…no one will believe these letters." Fudge said with a mock laugh.
"Oh no Fudge. People will see these papers and they will try to verify these. You, as the minister, will HAVE to set up a investigation committee. Since Malfoy is still in Azkaban, he will be interrogated under the influence of Veritaserum. He will confirm all this and then ministry investigators will interrogate you. How about that?" Harry said in a dramatic fashion giving a blow-by-blow account.
"They still won't believe you" Fudge tried to sound convincing but failed desperately. He had started to sweat profusely by now. He may be the minister but he was not one of the strongest wizards around.
"Well, ok then. Check out tommorow's papers. See you." Harry turned and walked away but was stopped by the minister's voice "WAIT…" As Harry turned around, he saw that Fudge was shaking in his chair. Fudge had realized that Harry meant what he had said. "Ok. I will do it."
"Do what?" Harry queried.
"I'll resign only if you hand me over the original's today in an hour."
"Sorry Fudge. I – don't – trust – you. You are one of the greatest bastards around and you expect me to fall for your little trap. You do as I say or else…" Harry finished his sentence in a threatening voice.
"OK. I will resign tomorrow." Fudge queried in despair.
"NO. You will resign on the day I tell you. Don't worry, I won't make you look like some bastard – though you are one. I will give you a chance to go out in dignity. And secondly, you will transfer an amount of 100,000 galleons to a certain vault." Harry finished.
"100,000!!! I don't have that much money." Fudge jumped up from his chair at hearing the amount.
"OK then. See you." Harry turned around again and started to walk again.
"STOP. I will transfer the money. But please make it less. Please, make it 10,000 galleons" Fudge started pleading. Even though 100,000 galleons was not too much for him, he didn't want to give away a single galleon to anyone.
"hmm…let me think…is 100,000 a good amount or is 500,000 a better amount?" Harry pondered aloud in a mocking voice. He chuckled slightly at the look of utter horror on Fudge's face.
"OK…ok, I will be able to pay it even though I will become a beggar…I will pay it. Which vault should I transfer it to?"
Harry then mentioned the number of a vault which he had opened that very day at Gringotts. As soon as Fudge agreed to it, they proceeded to Gringotts and transferred the money. Harry watched a very disgruntled Fudge walking away after the transaction had been made. Harry then made a transfer of the exact amount to another vault asking the goblin to keep the transaction anonymous. The goblin, whose name was Tevrid, was only too happy to do so. Harry then left Gringotts with a smile on his face – he had thought of the money at the last moment and it had paid off. Harry then marched off to 'Botoman's Trunks and Equipments' to receive the delivery of his trunk. After another hour, both Mr. Botoman and Harry were smiling when Harry left the shop with his trunk which he had now shrunk to the size of a match-box.
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"Dobby" Harry called out as soon as he had apparated back to his home.
"Yes Harry Potter?"
"Listen, tomorrow Remus and Tonks are going to come over." Dobby seemed very happy when he heard this. He now had a chance to show everyone (ok, maybe not everyone) that the great Harry Potter was his friend. "I want you to do something tomorrow." Harry then explained his plan to Dobby, whose face dropped on hearing about it. "Don't worry friend, this is a request" Harry said with a chuckle knowing that Dobby won't be able to refuse it however much he wanted to. Dobby just nodded his head and popped away to finish whatever work was left to do.
As soon as Dobby had left, Harry went to his room and enlarged his trunk. It seemed too true to be true. Mr. Botoman had shown him how everything had been done as he had requested. Harry had checked them out and had found that they worked perfectly. Still, he wanted to go through the same experience again.
The outside of the trunk was plain and black in color. The color could be change using the Incline Infucatus spell similar to the procedure of that of Sirius's jacket and pants. The trunk was enchanted to be unbreakable and could only be opened by Harry. To open the trunk, all Harry had to do was touch the lock of the trunk. It used an ancient piece of magic to determine who had touched the trunk. The magic enabled the trunk to be opened by a combination of any 3 things the owner would like for verification. Harry had selected the 3 objects as his skin, blood and his wand. Accordingly Harry had to give a few drops of his blood, some shreds of his skin and a tiny bit of holly wood for the magic to be performed. Only the person who had Harry's skin and blood and was holding the wand in his left hand, while his right hand touched the lock, could open the trunk. The spell checked these 3 things every time someone touched the lock. Harry thought that this was an ingenious idea.
The inside of the trunk was divided into 6 compartments though it looked like a 4 compartment trunk from the outside. The first compartment was designed so that all of Harry's books fitted in nicely. The second compartment was for his clothes whereas the third compartment was designed in a manner so that all miscellaneous or extra things could be put into it. Also, it had 2 broom racks. The fourth compartment was the living quarters of Harry and Dobby along with additional guest rooms for both a human and an elf. The rooms of both Harry and Dobby had been plainly decorated with the required necessities. They were almost similar to their rooms in his home. There was also a kitchen (with a magical refrigerator), a spacious bathroom and a drawing room. To anyone, this trunk would have seemed perfectly normal – unless they proceeded to the 5'th and 6'th compartment. Both the remaining compartments were the result of a very ancient piece of magic which Harry had discovered in a book he had brought over from his family vault and, which luckily, Mr. Botoman knew of because of the knowledge his predecessors had passed on to him (Harry had leaarnt that they were a one of the oldest pureblood families in England). Both these compartments had rooms similar to the Hogwarts Room of Requirements. The 5'th compartment had just a single room of requirement whereas the 6'th compartment was divided equally into a room of requirement and a simple room having just some basic furniture. Harry was planning to use the 5'th compartment for his training while the 6'th compartment would be his private prison and interrogation chamber. The first 4 compartments were accessible to anyone who was able to open the trunk. These had to be accessed individually. But the entrance to the 5'th compartment was present only in the 4'th compartment. The 4'th, 5'th & the 6'th compartment each had 2 doors – one to either compartment. Harry had specifically asked for these to be interconnected through a special piece of magic. Each of these doors was enchanted so as to let only Harry pass through the doors (Harry had got the idea from his experience at his family vault). Others could pass through the doors only if they were escorted by Harry with his own consent (the doors were enchanted to understand one's feelings too). The trunk was protected against all kinds of spells apart from the unforgivables. The outside of the trunk had an advanced Protego charm on it so as to make the trunk more spell resistant. All in all, Harry had fallen in love with this trunk and had decided that this was going to be his only trunk until he died (which could be anytime, he thought).
After checking the trunk once again, Harry came out and practiced a bit on apparation. He had learnt that there were four kinds of apparation – one was apparation using line of sight, second was apparating to an apparation point, third was apparating to a place where one had been to previously and the fourth was apparation based on the knowledge of the co-ordinates of the place. Harry had already mastered the first two forms of apparation and was beginning to get a grasp of the third form. He was trying to master it. According to the author, the fourth form was the most difficult one as it often took a person to a different place. Harry had decided to master it too but knew that he would require more time to do so. He decided that it will have to wait. Finally, it was dinner time for Harry. Before that, he made a quick fire-call to talk to Tonks and Remus, giving them information as to how he had prepared for their journey. Giving them the required information, he proceeded to enjoy a delicious dinner. After that, Harry gave Dobby a trip to his quarters in the trunk. Once the inspection was complete, a very satisfied wizard and house-elf retired to their respective rooms for a good nights sleep.
"Dobby"
"Yes Harry Potter? You is calling Dobby."
"Yes Dobby. You remember about this evening, right?"
"Yes Harry Potter. Dobby is remembering and collecting everything needed. Everything is ready" Dobby said, his voice almost a whisper.
"Dobby. You have got nothing to be ashamed of. Now, don't look like that because I don't like my friends looking like that. I want you to help me with something if you have nothing else to do." Dobby's eyes lighted up with excitement that he would get some work to do.
"Yes Harry Potter. Dobby will be most pleased to help the great wizard Harry Potter."
Harry just smiled at this compliment and said "I am going inside the trunk. I will be gone for sometime. You can always find me, right?" Dobby nodded his head in agreement. "Ok. I will be gone for some time. So, if I get late, then please come and inform me, OK?" Dobby again nodded his head, pleased at his responsibility as Harry climbed into the trunk.
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"What do you think Harry is doing now?" Ron and Hermione were sitting outside after having their breakfast. Both of them looked quite worried.
"Don't know." Hermione replied truthfully. "You know, we should have written to him at least once"
"Yeah. I know. He must be mad at us" Ron said thoughtfully. "Where's Ginny?" Ron went on to ask.
"Well…um…Ginny is in her room."
"What's she doing up their? I haven't seen her since we got back from HQ."
"She's having a hard time."
"Hard Time? Why?"
"Really, you call yourself her brother and don't understand a thing about her" Hermione was glaring at Ron.
"What?" Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Why does everyone go around blaming me? If you understand her so well than why don't you tell me?
"It's easy, isn't it? She is worried sick over Harry."
"But I thought that she was now worried only about Dean nowadays."
"Really Ron, Harry saved her life for god's sake. How the hell can someone not be worried in such a situation? I sometimes think she still has a soft spot for Harry" Hermione added thoughtfully. Ron just shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips. He was damn worried about Harry and now he had to worry about Ginny too. After all, he was her big brother and big brothers had to worry about their baby sisters.
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After asking Dobby to wait outside, Harry went directly to the 4'th compartment and passed through the door leading to the 5'th compartment. The room was entirely empty. "I need more time to train" He murmured this 3 times to see a clock appear on the opposite wall. He then went on to practice the spells he had learnt in the past few days. He also spent a lot of time trying to get a control over his glove. After about 6 hours, he climbed out and found Dobby waiting for him.
"How long have I been gone Dobby?"
"Harry Potter is going away for 30 minutes in his trunk" Hearing this Harry thought Dobby was joking. But wait, Dobby never joked with Harry. Harry looked at the clock on the wall of the drawing room and saw that Dobby had been correct. "Well well well, this is going to be interesting" Harry thought to himself as he climbed back into the trunk. He went back to the 5'th compartment and started practicing again. Remus and Tonks would arrive after 5 hours which would give him about 60 hours in the trunk. He decided to make the most of it. He started to work on his dueling skills. After some time, he decided he needed an opponent to fight against. "I need someone who will fight me but won't hurt me mortally. Someone who has about the same skill as mine" he said to himself which the room could understand. Suddenly he felt the presence of someone else in the room. Looking around, he saw a person whom he expected to see the least. He saw another Harry Potter.
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After waiting for 5 hours outside, Dobby decided to go and check Harry. Remus and Tonks were to arrive soon and Harry had to escort them to 3, Sunshine Villa. Dobby popped right into the 4'th compartment. What he saw left him chuckling. Harry was sleeping on one of the couches in the drawing room.
"Harry Potter, your werewolf and tonkie are coming soon. You is having to get them." Dobby almost shouted in his ears which caused Harry to get up instantly. Harry still felt a bit tired after all his practice and fighting. He had been in the trunk for 2 and half days and had been practicing almost non-stop. He had even been able to gain a lot of control over the shields which his glove could create. The last day had passed by his double casting all kinds of spells at him while he tried to setup shields using his glove. He had a kind of mental contact with his double which enabled his double to stop when Harry could take no more (it must be due to the room, Harry thought). They had ultimately stopped after 14 hours of non-stop practice when the whole of Harry's body was aching while his double didn't even seemed to have broken in a sweat (after all, his existence was controlled by the room). By the end, Harry could almost put up a shield instantaneously. He had also learnt that the shields could be of two types – one which reflected any spell and another which absorbed a spell. Whenever a shield absorbed a spell, the power was transferred to Harry, which in turn, caused his next spell to be more powerful than normal. He knew that he would have to work on this more so that he could somehow store this reserve power for use when he needed it most. But for the time being, he was just happy to be able to control the shields.
"Thanks Dobby" Harry said as Dobby popped away. He climbed out of his trunk and put on some muggle clothes. Before going out, he went near the fireplace and touched his name on the tapestry and said "Harry Potter". Immediately, a light seemed to be emitted from each and every object in the house and the tapestry seemed to absorb all of it. After a few blinding seconds, the house looked like what it did on Harry's first night here – a truly gloomy place where no one could ever like to stay.
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Remus and Tonks were in a small alley close to the Leaky Cauldron. They had been waiting for a few minutes when Harry apparated behind them with a slight pop which went unnoticed in the noise created by all the muggle traffic in London. He silently took out his wizard radar and saw that there were no other magical people here other than these two people here.
"Hi you guys" Both Remus and Tonks turned around, wands pointed at the source of the voice.
"Password?" Tonks asked without lowering her wand.
"Snape is a greasy git" Harry replied with a chuckle.
"OK Harry. Did – you - just – apparate - here?" Tonks asked suspiciously. At Harry's nod, both Tonks and Remus exchanged concerned and admiring glances. Concerned because Harry was obviously trying things which he shouldn't be trying to do (at least according to them), admiring because Harry had been successful at them.
"How did you learn it?" Remus asked.
"Later Remus, Later" Harry just waved him off. Remus shrugged his shoulders.
"OK. Now, how about we go to your new home." Remus said pocketing his wand "It's not safe talking here in the middle of muggle London.
"Right you are. Ready for another Knight Bus ride?" Both Harry and Remus looked amused at the terrified look on Tonks face. "Don't worry, my dear Tonks, you won't fall off the bus."
"You know Mr. Harry Potter, I will be settling scores with you sometime soon. It will be at a time when you least expect it" Tonks said with a mock threat in her voice.
Harry chuckled at this and stuck his wand out. No one could here the name of the place which Harry said to Stan, the conductor of the Knight Bus. Stan went up to Ern, the driver, and muttered the destination to him, asking him to take a detour so as not to let anyone have any idea of the location. Ern & Stan were more than happy to do what Neville said because it was not everyday that a person paid 10 galleons as tips for taking a detour.
"Well, here we are" Harry said as all 3 of them reached an area surrounded trees, weeds & more trees. All of them had got off at a remote place and had walked for the past 15 minutes.
"Hey Har, you haven't been living in the trees, have you?" Tonks asked in a tentative voice, unable to decide whether the situation was supposed to be funny or serious.
"No you Pinkhead" Harry said to a furious looking metamorphmagus. "OK guys, read this" Both of them looked at a piece of parchment at read it slowly "Open Sesame".
"Harry, is – this – what – I – think – it - is?" Remus asked slowly as Tonks stood with her jaw hanging open. Harry just nodded his head in reply.
"Nah Remus, he is taking us for a ride. Hey Har, please stop all this & tell us what it is all about." Tonks said in any angry tone. After all, who would expect a soon to be 16 year old to perform such advanced magic which most of the wizards didn't even dare to try. Harry calmly took the parchment and burnt it with a spell.
"Hey, you aren't supposed to perform magic out of school" Tonks voice was even angrier now. The last thing everyone wanted was for Harry to get into a mess for underage magic.
"Tonks, relax. I am not supposed to even apparate, right? Ok, tell me - do you see any ministry owls around? No? Well, I can do magic. I have been doing it all the time I have been here." Harry replied to a stunned looking Tonks and Remus who seemed to have trouble digesting all these things at once. Both were looking around expecting ministry owls to come in flocks but were stunned to see none. Remus was the first to recover.
"Tonks, I think we are here for a surprise. We are better off trusting Harry rather than standing here looking like fools." Tonks nodded in reply unable to say anything. Apparently, she was still shocked.
"Open Sesame" the three of them said simultaneously. Out of nowhere, a ragged looking house, which seemed to have been bombarded during the Second World War, came into view, pushing apart everything in its path. Slowly, Remus and Tonks made their way up to the house, looking at the house and trying to get over the shock. Once inside, they were even more shocked.
"You live in this rat-hole?" Tonks asked to an amused Harry. "I mean, LOOK – AT – THIS - PLACE." Tonks was literally shouting now. "You are better off with the muggles than stay at this place."
"Harry, what have you done now? I think there is more to this than meets the eye." Remus eyed him suspiciously. Apparently, he did not want to jump to any conclusions without Harry's confirmation. Harry just smiled at him and went up to the tapestry. He was already satisfied at his guest's reactions and wanted to get to the next part of the play. Once again he touched his name on the tapestry and said his name. The blinding light worked like it had done on the first occasion when Harry had come here. By the time Remus and Tonks had a look at these new surroundings, Harry had doubled up in laughter. Oh, how he wished that Colin Creevy had been there with his camera.
After everyone had settled down (Tonks and Remus had done a quick survey of the house while Harry waited in the drawing Room. Harry said nothing about the dungeons below.), Remus said "OK young man, what is next on your plan. We have 3 more hours here so you can give us some more surprises."
"SOME MORE??? Are you mad, Remus? One more thing like this and I will be in St. Mungo's." Tonks bellowed. "Hey Har, now I know why you ran away. if I had such a lovely place, I too would have run away from that blasted house." Tonks voice was tinged with a hint of sorrow. Apparently, that house held many memories of Sirius, who had been Tonk's uncle, and Tonk's didn't like it without Sirius around. The events of the summer had been hard on Tonks too.
"No. I don't have any more surprises. At least not now." Harry winked back at Tonks. "As for you two, you are always welcome here to stay as long as you like"
Tonks was almost jumping in joy. "Did you hear that Remus? Well, I should be going now. Have to pack a lot of things." Remus shot an angry glare at Tonks who slumped back in her chair muttering 'spoilsport'.
"Thanks for the offer Harry but you know we can't." Harry nodded his head in agreement. He had known Remus's answer long before he made the offer.
They then continued to talk for a while about all the things that were happening. Harry first told them how he had corrected his eyesight and had learnt to apparate. Remus then informed Harry that nothing much had been heard about Voldemort after his attack on Privet Drive. The Order was trying to recruit new members for its fight against Voldemort. Harry informed Remus of his vision where he had seen Snape informing Voldemort about his going missing and how Voldemort had assigned his new recruits the task of finding him.
"WHAT? That git told You-Know-Who that you were missing?" Tonks looked furious and continued before Harry could say anything. "He didn't say anything at the Order meeting that night."
"Dumbledore knows" Harry said confidently.
"How can you be sure about that?" Tonks asked.
"Well, he normally knows everything, doesn't he?" Harry said matter-of-factly. Remus looked thoughtfully and said "Yes, he will know about it. Snape must have asked for his permission before doing anything like that. But our main concern is that Voldemort is recruiting new members. The Order had been suspecting this but this is our first official confirmation." At that moment, Harry felt tempted to inform them about Percy but controlled himself. He decided to wait for the right time.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Remus's mind. "Harry, you still have those nightmares? I thought you had learnt a bit of Occulmency." Remus queried with concern in his voice.
"Oh…I wanted to talk to you guys about this. I have also been thinking about this. Actually, it was not a nightmare. It seemed so normal. My scar didn't even burn. I just woke up feeling sweaty but I am definitely sure that it was not a nightmare. I don't know exactly WHY I saw what I did." Harry looked puzzled as he explained them.
"Well, I'll have to talk to Dumbledore about this. Maybe he'll have a answer" Remus said thoughtfully. Harry agreed with him. They had talked for over an hour after which Harry got up.
"Dobby" The elf popped right next to him. "See if our guests require anything. I will be in the kitchen for some time." Dobby nodded his head as Harry went into the kitchen.
"What's he up to now?" Tonks asked to no one in particular.
"Harry Potter has decided to cook dinner for his werewolf and tonkie" Dobby said. "TONKIE!!! Why you little…" Tonks bellowed at Dobby before Remus managed to calm her down. Dobby popped away before any further damage was done.
"Harry, what's that thing on your finger? A ring? Who gave it to you?" Tonks asked, when Harry came out of the kitchen, noticing for the first time that there was a ring on the middle finger of Harry left hand. An emerald green stone decorated the ring perfectly.
"Oh. It's nothing really. I brought it from one of the shops in Diagon Alley last year. I had completely forgotten about it until I turned my trunk upside down on the bed. It's ok, isn't it?" Harry lied. He did not want to tell anyone that this ring was the receiving device for all of Lucius Malfoy's spying devices. Harry had charmed it so that only he could here the sounds coming from the device. The fact that the device could take on any shape he wanted had enabled him to wear it like a ring. With relief Harry noticed that both Remus and Tonks were satisfied with his explanation.
"Hey, you are a great cook." Remus said when they started their dinner. Tonks just nodded her head since her mouth was full.
"I have been cooking for a long time now. I can make some good stuff." Harry replied.
"How long?" Tonks queried.
"Well, let's see…for the past 10 years, though initially I wasn't able to cook these many dishes." Harry said with a laugh but Tonks could say that there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "Last 10 years. Then he must have been doing this stuff since he was a 5 year old" Tonks thought "My god, I never knew about all these things at that time. Those muggles must have been really horrible to him. Did he ever get to know what childhood meant?" Tonks was still lost in her thoughts when Remus asked "They made you do this work since you were 5?" Apparently Remus was thinking along the same lines. His voice had a touch of anger and sorrow in it though he was trying his best to control it.
"Forget it. Everyone has skeletons in their cupboards." Harry replied, not meeting anyone's eye and not wanting to discuss this topic. "Dobby" The elf again popped right next to him. "Please have a seat with us and tell me how the food is like." Both Tonks and Remus looked with amazement at the scene. A wizard asking an elf to have dinner at the same table added to the fact that the dinner was made by the wizard – this was something which was unheard of. Slowly Dobby took a vacant seat and gulped down his first bite. "HARRY POTTER IS A GREAT WIZARD AND A WONDERFUL COOK" Dobby shouted at once. Everyone started laughing at his comment.
After dinner, Harry and his guests chatted for some more time. He gave both of them a mobile phone (what the hell is this, Tonks asked) and showed them how to use it. He had enchanted them so that all they had to do was press the call button and say Harry's full name to reach him. The same rule was followed if either Remus or Tonks wanted to contact each other. Finally, it was time to go.
"I liked it here today. It was really great." Tonks said trying to get over the awkwardness of having to say goodbye to Harry. Both Remus and Harry looked as if they didn't want to leave each other's company.
"Yeah. It was great having you guys here. But please don't let anyone know, OK?" Both his guests nodded their heads indicating an 'OK'. "Now that you know where it is, you can come here anytime you want AND don't forget my offer of asking you to stay here." At this, both Tonks and Remus gave a short laugh and said they will keep it in their mind. As they apparated back to the HQ. both were thinking of Harry. Though he seemed a bit different now, he was the same old Harry to both. But now at least, he was happy where he was.
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Harry had spent almost 35 days in the trunk though only 3 and a half days had passed in reality since he had Remus and Tonks as his guests. The next day was his birthday – his 16'th one. He knew that he would have lots of presents to open tomorrow but was feeling very sad about it. After all, he was already wearing his 16'th birthday gift which his godfather wanted him to have (and which fitted perfectly now). How much he would have liked to receive this present directly from him but no one could undo what had already happened. But he felt good about one thing – nowadays, he was not wasting his life thinking about Sirius but was preparing himself for the upcoming war and revenge. With thoughts of Sirius in his mind, he started to meditate in his trunk. He had almost dedicated the past few days to everything but meditating. He now wanted to meditate for a long time because that was the only way he was able to overcome his grief of Sirius's loss. He turned on his CD player and started to meditate in the soothing music. He meditated on the events which had taken place in the past month in his trunk as well as on his feelings about Sirius.
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Harry's daily routine in the trunk had almost changed his life nowadays. Nowadays, he slept for only 4 hours daily. He would get up at 5:00 in the morning and meditate for about 10 minutes. These days, he was more concerned about his dueling abilities than anything else. He would then proceed to the 5'th compartment and start training. A short workout was a must on his daily schedule now. He sometimes felt sorry for buying all the gym equipment from the muggle store because whatever he needed was provided by the room in the 5'th compartment (he didn't want to waste any money because he knew the real worth of it). After his workout, the real action began. Over the past month in the trunk, he had learnt how to throw a knife properly, and without cutting himself, though he was still unable to hit the bull's eye. He knew that he would get there in due course of time. He had also improved at dueling. Though he knew a lot of spells, he couldn't use all the spells in dueling with his double. Later, during one of meditation session, he had gone through his memory of his duels and was able to pin-point his problem. He understood that he had to cast spells almost without thinking. It was just like what happened in football – a player passed the ball to another player in a split second. It seemed that they always knew where to pass the ball. Harry realized that he had to do it like that. He knew that something like that could only be done through hours of rigorous training (his double had no problem in casting all the spells because, in a sense, the room controlled him). He had worked very hard on his spell casting speed and was now able to quickly cast many spells. It now seemed that his subconscious mind would help him decide which spell was the best one to use in a situation. Also, now he was able to cast powerful spells by just mutter them under his breath. In the later part of the month, he had dueled against 4 other Harry's and had been beaten only after an half-hour fight. He had been very happy with the result – at least, he would have a fair chance to survive long enough against death-eaters when he was outnumbered for others to come to his help. Slowly but surely, his spell casting speed increased. Added to his speed and agility, he was quite good now. He felt sure that he would be able to beat most of the death-eaters in a one-to-one fight but doubted if they ever worked alone. After all, if they had been really courageous they would never have served Voldemort.
The latter part of his days in the trunk had been spent working on his glove. It had taken him a week to visualize in his mind that he was not in the place where he was (which was the basic principle in using the glove to make a person invisible). After a week of intense practice and meditation, he had finally been able to turn himself invisible but for shorter periods of time. It seemed that to keep himself invisible, he had to concentrate continuously on being invisible. This had been hard thing to do. After all, how was one to concentrate on a being invisible when they were in a duel? But slowly, he was able to increase the time span of this. All he knew was that he had to practice more.
In the meanwhile, he always worked for 2-3 hours a day on making a portkey. Finally on the 10'th day in his trunk, he had been able to make a portkey which was able to cover a small distance. He asked the room to provide the required distance and was able to test it out. He had then started to work on advanced portkeys which would enable travel over long distances. Slowly, as his birthday was coming along, he had made a considerable progress on them and his success rate in making long-distance portkeys had increased. Nowadays, he always kept an assortment of his successfully made portkeys in one of his pant pockets.
The other thing on which Harry was working, though with little success, was conjuring up objects. Finally, he decided to take the help of Remus in doing this though he wasn't able to find the time because of his practice with his glove.
He had also mastered the different forms of apparation and was really happy when he had been able to apparate based on a location's co-ordinates (the room had simulated the simulated environment). He had also read many books which he had brought over from the vaults. Also, nowadays, he spent around 20 minutes writing in his journal. All in all, Harry remained busy.
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"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Dobby screamed into Harry's ears. Harry was still in his trunk and sat up groggily. He looked up to see Dobby jumping around and singing "Happy Birthday to Harry Potter, Harry Potter the Great Wizard…". Harry did not care to listen to the rest of the song which was obviously a list of praises which Dobby was singing in a tune of his own. Harry climbed out of the trunk and saw that it was 8:00 in the morning. He then noticed a large amount of chirping sounds coming from the drawing room. When he entered, he saw a heap of presents lying on the table and a disgruntled Hedwig looking at Pigwidgeon, who was flying round the room in excitement. According to Hedwig, Pig (as Ron called her) gave a bad name to owls.
One by one, Harry opened all his presents. They were almost the same as last year except for the book which Hermione had sent him "The Ancient Book Of Patronuses". This time, he had also received a gift coupon from Wesaleys Wizarding Wheezes worth 50 galleons (business must be good). After going through all the gifts, Harry took a quick shower and got dressed in his regular dress (the dragon hide stuff with a casual pant and tee-shirt covering them).
"Dobby"
"Yes Harry Potter?"
"Stop acting innocently. Where are your presents?" On hearing this Dobby seemed upset. "Dobby is wanting to surprise Harry Potter".
"Ok. I will close my eyes and you can then surprise me, right?" this thought cheered up Dobby who popped away to get Harry's present.
"Ok. Harry Potter can open his eyes now." Harry opened his eyes to one of the most shocking sights in the world. Dobby had got his socks, all right, but this time he had stitched all the socks together to make a bed sheet. Harry seemed shocked at seeing the zigzag patterns all over which made no sense at all. Dobby dubbed his shocked look as an appreciating look for which Harry was thankful.
"Thank you Dobby. You really did a great job" Harry was touched by the amount of work the elf had put in to make his present. He decided that he was going to use it – if only to make Dobby happy. Dobby was very happy to see that Harry liked his present and started to pop all over the place. Harry was laughing at Dobby's actions when suddenly, the door opened. Instinctively, Harry flicked his arm and had his wand pointed towards two shocked looking people with gifts in their hands.
"That WAS quick" Tonks was the first to say. Both had been impressed by the speed at which Harry had the wand pointed at them. "Where do you keep the wand Har?"
Harry lowered his wand and put it back in the hostler slowly so that Tonks and Remus could see it.
"Good. Moody will be very pleased with you." Remus said, pleased with what he saw. "Happy Birthday Harry" he added.
"Happy Birthday scarhead" Tonks said to an angry looking Harry. "Oh, don't worry, this is just one of the paybacks. It's just starting dear." Tonks explained before Harry could say anything. Harry just smiled at Tonks. She had changed her hair color to emerald green today along with her eye color.
"You like it?" Tonks asked noticing that Harry was looking at her hair.
"Nope. You are more the pink sort. Green actually makes you look more intelligent than you really are." Harry said as Remus laughed out loud at this comment.
"Ok buddy. You will pay for this also." Tonks said in mock anger.
Harry then opened the presents of Remus and Tonks. Tonks had given him a book titled "10,001 Ways To Use Your Abilities" which baffled Harry. On opening it he saw that the book contained instructions on how to use one's metamorphmagus abilities. Tonks winked at him and said "You will find all kinds of ideas in there." Harry just smiled back. He had a vague idea about what Tonks meant by 'all kinds of ideas'. Remus, on the other hand, gave him a handwritten book titled "Hogwarts: A History" whose cover looked similar to its namesake. Harry looked up in astonishment as Remus explained "We always got caught for not doing anything or playing pranks. So, your father and Sirius came up with the idea of a book which looked like "Hogwarts: A History". Actually, this contains information of all the people who have been involved with Hogwarts as a teacher or student. We had to go through a lot of trouble to make it. It also contains another copy of the map of Hogwarts. Make good use of it" Remus said. Harry nodded in response.
After checking the presents, they all started to chat amongst themselves getting the latest news from either side. After a while all of them fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. All of them were thinking about Sirius. They all missed him. Tonks's mother was Sirius's cousin. She had spent a great deal of her childhood playing with Sirius. Sirius had been more like her big brother than her uncle. She would play all kinds of pranks on him, most of which usually backfired because Sirius was a bigger prankster. Remus too missed his friend very much. Technically, he had no one else left whom he could call a friend or family although he was the unofficial godfather of Harry now. Remus was thinking about the times they had spent in Hogwarts. Harry, on the other hand, was musing on the fact on 'what could have been different if Sirius was alive' when Dobby popped beside him.
"Lunch time. Harry Potter must not forget to eat properly" Dobby said in an almost Molly Weasley kind of tone. Both Remus and Tonks were astonished for the second time seeing the relation between Harry and Dobby, though they said nothing about it.
"I miss him" At last Harry said these words, when they were having their lunch. Remus and Tonks said nothing. Both of them agreed with his words, there was no doubt about that. The rest of the lunch session passed in silence. After lunch, they all took up chairs near the fireplace.
"Oh Harry…I forgot these…" Remus held up 2 envelopes. "O.W.L. Result time" Tonks chipped in happily. "Lets see what our birthday boy has got". Harry gave a feeble smile and opened the first letter.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Please find your results of the Ordinary Wizarding Level tests taken by you this summer. The grading system had to be modified because of some unprecedented incidents. The grading system is as mentioned below:
O = Outstanding (Equivalent to 2 OWLs)
E = Exceeds Expectations (Equivalent to 1 OWL)
A = Acceptable (Equivalent to 1 OWL)
P = Poor (Equivalent to failure)
T = Terrible (Equivalent to failure)
If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact the Department of Evaluation of Magical Examination.
Best Regards,
Marcie Montomegry
Head of Department of Evaluation of Magical Examination
O.W.L. scores of Harry James Potter
Astronomy - A
Care of Magical Creatures - O
Charms - O
Defense Against Dark Arts – O
Divination - P
Herbology - A
History - T
Potions - E
Transfiguration – E
Note: A score of O is worth 3 O.W.L's.
Total – 11 OWL's
"WOW. 11 OWL's. You did great Har." Tonks had been reading the letter along with Harry and was really happy to see the results. But Harry was frowning and looked quite sad "I got on an E in Potions. Snape doesn't take anyone having a grade other than O. There goes my dream of being an auror" Harry said in a depressed voice. His final statement seemed to affect the other two people present there. "Lets see what bad news the second letter has." Harry said matter-of-factly.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I congratulate you on your OWL scores. I take the privilege to offer you the following courses for pursuing your N.E.W.T's:
Astronomy
Care of Magical Creatures
Charms
Defense Against Dark Arts
Potions
Transfiguration
You may take only 5 out of the above mentioned 6 subjects. Also, if you wish, you can take up 'Magical Healing' as an additional subject for one year which is a must for students willing to pursue Auror careers.
On a personal note Harry, I was very happy to see your results as it seems you are quite stubborn about becoming an auror. I hope you become one of the best.
I am also pleased to inform you that your lifetime Quidditch ban has been nullified and that your broomstick is now in my possession. Please reclaim it when you come back to school. I also offer you the position of the Captain of the Gryffindor House Quidditch Team. I hope you will help me keep the Quidditch cup in my office.
Best regards,
Professor Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
HogwartsSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Oh my god!!! You are the Gryffindor quidditch captain. Hey caps, do I get the permission to visit Gryffindor's matches?" Tonks was almost pleading with Harry who just smiled at her.
"Tell me one thing, is Snape dead?" Harry asked both Tonks and Remus. This question stopped Tonks histrionics.
"No, though I daily wish I would wake up and hear the good news. But why do you ask?" Tonks queried back.
"I have been offered Potions. How can this be true? Snape won't take me into his class." Harry said to both of them. They both gave him unknowing looks.
"You should ask Minerva or Albus" Remus said after a moment of thought. This seemed the best option to all of them and Harry & Tonks nodded their heads. Slowly, the talks shifted from Harry's OWL results to Quidditch. Remus told Tonks (once again) what a great flyer Harry is. Everyone was chatting when Dobby announced "Dinner"
After a delicious dinner, they all went back to their seats by the fire which was now blazing away. Tonks and Remus were to leave after one more hour, much to Tonks regret. They talked for a little while after which all of them fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts. After a while Tonks looked up to see that Harry had a faraway look in his eyes. She saw a string of emotions in them but the thing which she saw most prominently was the grief, pain and the feeling of wanting to be loved. At that moment Tonks realized that the life lead by Harry, accompanied by his losses, had resulted in turning the life of a 16 year old into one where he existed just for the sake of existence. He didn't have anyone, other than Remus, who really loved him – and the fact which pained Tonks even more was that Harry was very much aware of it. She just couldn't take her eyes off those emerald green eyes – those beautiful eyes which seemed to hold the whole world in them. Remus followed her gaze and saw what Tonks was seeing. It seemed as though the whole of Harry's life was passing before them as they saw each emotion in his eyes come and then go with every passing thought. Remus was also unable to take his eyes off Harry as he understood Harry's pain. To Tonks, all this was new. She had never known exactly what kind of life Harry had led but now she realized that it was one which she didn't want even her enemies to have (except for the death-eaters maybe). The pain in his eyes became almost unbearable for her when a single silent tear slid down his face. She now understood a little bit of how life felt being Harry Potter.
All of a sudden, a strange expression came over Harry. Tonks, who was still staring at his eyes, saw the expression in them turn to one of fierce determination. His eyes became steely and his face hardened. He wiped out the tears from his cheeks with the back of his right hand and turned to look at two pairs of staring eyes. He saw that they had seen everything which he had felt but he didn't regret it. After all, he liked them both very much and was thankful that they had let him stay as he was (he didn't want another molly-cuddling to make him feel loved). But this was not the time for expressing his thanks. With a cold and commanding voice, which stunned both Remus and Tonks, Harry told them what they had feared most for the past months but had never thought would happen so soon, and now of all times.
"Remus, stay here with me. Tonks, go and contact the other Order members – Azkaban will be attacked within 10 minutes time from now."
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A/N:
Ok guys, here's the 5'th chapter. If you guys are disappointed, then just say it in your reviews. Oh…Thanks to everyone who read this.
Calculation for the time Harry spends in the trunk:
1 hour outside = 12 hours in trunk
So, 20 hours outside = 240 hours in trunk
Effectively, if Harry spends 4 hours outside trunk daily (for other activities) then
24 Hours outside = 240 hours in trunk
i.e. 1 day outside = 10 days in trunk.
GiGiFanFic - Thanks for your review. If you think I have read LOTS of fanfics, then please give me some credit for that. How many people work 12 hours in an office, then spend 4 hours freelancing, 2 hours writing a fic and THEN have the time and energy to read other peoples fics? Anyway, I have read 3 fics, all of which are still unfinished. Some of the things which I have written are present in all three of them – like the Gringotts wallet & Harry running away and staying someplace else. I included them because I really like the idea. I would be more than happy to acknowledge the ORIGINAL author of these ideas, if you can point out that person to me. As for Harry being a metamorphmagus, it's quite obvious from JKR's writings, isn't it? Maybe if I made Harry an animagus, it would be stealing too, huh? BTW, I have not received a single mail from any of the other fic authors about me stealing their ideas. As for my own ideas, all I can say is that most of it is my own apart from the common things I mentioned above. If you don't like what I write then I am sorry for losing you as a reader. And if you want to notify other writers about me copying their ideas, then please feel free to do so. I would really like to see how many of the authors contact me and what their comments are.
skeeter007 – Thanks for your recommendation of the English-to-Latin site. If you go back to chapter 4, you will see that I have changed the spells for the pants and jackets. Thanks again.
And all you other guys – Thanks for your reviews. Please know that they are very much appreciated.
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