People came jumping out at him, yelling at the same time, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Harry's heart nearly stopped out of the shock, but was soon back to normal. There was a large pile of presents sitting in the corner, and a cage as well, covered in wrapping paper.
There were a lot of people there. 16 years old and how could he forget it was his birthday?
Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Moody and all the members of the Order were there also including Mrs Figg and Hagrid. All his friends from school were there as well, and was pleasantly surprised to see Charlie and Bill, who both got time off from work.
Mrs Weasley had again produced a lovely food, and since there were so many people, she made it a buffet as there were simply too many to fit around the table. It included, to Harry's delight, steak, ham and sausage rolls.
After that, there was a large chocolate birthday cake, it had "Happy Birthday Harry" written on the top, and it had the Gryffindor Lion on it, as well as a snitch. Also, there was ice-cream, profiterole, chocolate log, doughnuts and so much more.
At last, it was a time to open his presents.
Even though Ron had given him his gift early, (the Quidditch Book) he had given him some sweets, chocolate, and some Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Products.
Hermione had given him a lot of books. As a thank you, she had got him all the books about Quidditch tactics she could find, and Harry automatically sent them to his Library's Quidditch Section, where they were automatically sorted out.
Ginny had given him a locket. It had a picture of Harry, her, Ron and Hermione together inside it. Harry kissed her on the cheek, and everyone wolf-whistled. Trying to ignore this, he moved on to the next present.
Fred and George themselves gave Harry a certificate which showed he know owned 1/3 of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, and a note telling him that 20% of their profits would go into his vault at Gringotts.
Mr and Mrs Weasley gave him a jumper, some more food, and new dress robes. They were black with a gold rim on them.
Hagrid had given him some home-made toffee, some home-made toffee and a book about giants.
He opened all the Order's gifts, to find a lot of books about defence, Auror training and even one of "The Un-Authorised Biography of Harry Potter" which he found was very accurate.
Next, it was Lupin who gave him a gift. Inside, there where three mirrors inside, and a note explaining about them.
"Harry, there are three mirrors, one each for you, Ron and Hermione. They are called Tiny Talkers. James, Sirius and I used these when we were in detention, because since there were only two of the mirrors, we thought it would be better. You will always know when someone is calling you. Just tap it and it will open. If you want to call someone, just tap it and say the person's name. If you want a three way conversation, tap it and say "All" and it will call both."
Harry went over and thanked Lupin personally before opening his friend's gifts. They all consisted of food, pranks and books.
He then moved on to the final gift, the cage. He ripped off the paper, and inside, there was a beautiful Phoenix. This one was different though. It had beautiful gold and silver marks down its back as well. A girl and he could tell that this was related to Fawkes, maybe even his daughter. Dumbledore then produced a book about caring for Phoenixes, and Harry thanked him a lot. He decided to name her Lily, after his mother. He asked Dumbledore about the marks and explained:
"Harry, this is what is known as a Pure Phoenix. It is rarer, and there are only about 5 living today. Fawkes is its father (is Fawkes boy or girl?) and because of the mix between the mother and father, she became a Pure Phoenix. They live longer than normal Phoenixes and have the same powers, but stronger. They are able to be called on, and will provide true loyalty to you. Take good care of her."
"I will sir, I will."
Harry's grin showed it all. He was having the best summer of his life. His friends travelled here for his party, his results had been good, Quidditch Captain and Prefect, and there was more to come.
A large brown owl came in the window. Harry noticed a Gringott's symbol on it. He opened it up.
"Dear Mr Potter, We have sent this to inform you that your inheritances from Mr and Mrs James Potter, and Mr Sirius Black have now been put into your fault. They all decided that you should receive this on your 16th birthday. We were told to inform you that the money already in your vault is just your trust fund. Now your overall bank balance is:
53,935,457 Galleons, 14 Sickles and 21 Knuts.
G.R.T. Reksatop Head of Inheritances at Gringotts Bank of Diagon Alley"
Harry was staring, wide-eyed, at the letter, and seeing that everyone was staring at him as if he was crazy, he went to stuff it inside his pocket, when it burst into a ball of flames.
"Bank statement Harry?" Lupin asked.
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I once didn't know they done that, put it in my pocket, and my robes went alight. People found it funny until they realised I couldn't actually get my robes off.
Everyone laughed at the image he had just given them.
"Everyone, I want to thank you all for coming here, and for all the wonderful gifts, which I am sure, are going to come in very handy." Harry yelled over the talking people.
At this, he sat down, and everyone rushed up for more food.
After most of the people had left, he talked to Dumbledore.
"Sir, thanks for the Phoenix. I'll make sure I take care of her brilliantly." He said, just as Lily landed to his shoulder.
"No problem Harry. I also see that you received news of your inheritance. There is actually something else they left to you as well. Hold on."
At that he vanished, and in a few minutes, he returned with a small box.
"Another box!" Harry mumbled under his breath. Dumbledore laughed.
"Now Harry, it contains some important things. Maybe you would like to open it somewhere else?" He asked looking around.
Harry nodded and Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder. In a second, they were in Dumbledore's office.
There, Lily flew over to Fawkes and sat next to him. Dumbledore continued talking.
So Harry, are you ready?
Harry nodded and opened up the lid and found two things. First, there was a small key, and secondly, there was a letter.
He opened the letter.
"Dear Harry, Our Son,
If you are reading this, we have not managed to reach your sixteenth birthday. Hopefully, one of us is still with you, but if not, then we are sorry, especially if you have to live with Petunia, though hopefully Sirius is taking care of you. We hope you are well and are doing well in school and that your friends are as well. We know all about you being the Heir of the Legends, and you will know by now, but there is something else. You see, the powerful a witch or wizard is, is the earlier that they show signs of magic. It is a well known logic. You showed signs VERY early. We are not completely sure when this started, but it in your first year."
Harry nearly fainted, and Dumbledore, knowing the contents of the letter, just chuckled.
The letter continued.
"I know you probably were VERY shocked by that, and we were as well. These powers are your natural powers, and with the added power that you have been given, you could probably become greater than Merlin himself.
Anyway, you now know about your inheritance. I'm sure you were shocked by that as well. We are probably going to give you heart trouble. Anyway, we also have something else for you. The key. It is a special key, to another vault in Gringotts.
Hopefully you shall see the contents soon.
Harry, you make us so proud. We will always love you.
With love forever,
Mum and Dad."
Harry felt tears come to his eyes. He had never seen anything that heartfelt to him, showing parently love, which he would never have. Harry fought them back though.
Dumbledore asked Harry if he wanted to go back outside.
"Yes Sir. Ok." Harry answered, and then there were back in the living room.
Harry went to tell Ron and Hermione what happened. He spoke to them in Potterish, incase someone overheard them.
"Wow Harry." Hermione said, still in Potterish, (I'll tell you when they stop speaking it)
"Yeah, I know, and this other vault, I wonder what's in it?" Ron said.
"Anyway..." Harry said. (Now back in English)
"We should be getting to bed. Ready for tomorrow's trip." Harry ended.
So they climbed the stairwell and were soon asleep.
Harry awoke early the next morning. He was actually up earlier than Mrs Weasley, which shocked him. She had to get up early to do work around the house, so being up earlier than her must mean that he was up VERY early.
Quietly, as to not wake up Ron, who was groaning, "Oh Lavender," in his sleep, he got ready, and chuckling to himself, thinking what Hermione would say, he continued downstairs. He found Ginny's door open, and she lay lying reading.
Harry looked at her and walked in. He sat on her bed, and Ginny, feeling him sit there, looked up at him. She smiled.
"How are you Harry? Why are you up so early?" She asked.
"Well, I just did and I couldn't get back to sleep and I was going to ask you the same question."
"Yeah, same reason really." said Ginny.
They sat in silence for a while.
"Well-"as he said as he smelled bacon.
"Yeah, let's go down to breakfast. I could eat a hippogriff."
Harry laughed, imagining what Hagrid would say if he heard that.
They climbed the stairs and Mrs Weasley, surprised they were even up before she had to call them for breakfast, let alone dressed, she was shocked. She even pinched herself to see if it was a hallucination, it hurt, so she guessed it wasn't.
After about 10 minutes, Mrs Weasley called upstairs.
"Everyone! Time to wake up!"
There was no reply.
In a quieter voice she said, "Breakfast is out."
There was suddenly a stampede, and she smiled.
She turned to them and said, "It always works, now help yourselves.
Soon, after breakfast Mrs Weasley sent them to find their book lists and to make a note of everything they needed. They also brought their wands.
They came back downstairs to find Mrs Weasley standing with a pot of floo powder in her hands.
"Now Ron, you go first."
He stepped into the fire and shouted "Diagon Alley!"
Then he was gone.
She signalled for Harry to go next.
He took some, gulped and stepped into the fire.
"Diagon Alley." He said, and then he to was gone.
This was undoubtedly one of his worst ways to travel. Soon, after he was starting to feel sick, he landed.............
Sorry, I just had to cut it off there. It makes a good effect and the chapter would have been a lot longer if so.
Anyway, sorry the update has taken so long, but I've been busy over Christmas.
I would like to thank Dragon Bait for pointing out that I said about needing a wand for Animagus Transformations in Chapter 3.
However, they also pointed out to me, how could Sirius have done it?"
So - you'll be pleased to know, that it's just the swish of the hand now, and the chapter has been edited to include this.
Harry's heart nearly stopped out of the shock, but was soon back to normal. There was a large pile of presents sitting in the corner, and a cage as well, covered in wrapping paper.
There were a lot of people there. 16 years old and how could he forget it was his birthday?
Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Moody and all the members of the Order were there also including Mrs Figg and Hagrid. All his friends from school were there as well, and was pleasantly surprised to see Charlie and Bill, who both got time off from work.
Mrs Weasley had again produced a lovely food, and since there were so many people, she made it a buffet as there were simply too many to fit around the table. It included, to Harry's delight, steak, ham and sausage rolls.
After that, there was a large chocolate birthday cake, it had "Happy Birthday Harry" written on the top, and it had the Gryffindor Lion on it, as well as a snitch. Also, there was ice-cream, profiterole, chocolate log, doughnuts and so much more.
At last, it was a time to open his presents.
Even though Ron had given him his gift early, (the Quidditch Book) he had given him some sweets, chocolate, and some Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes Products.
Hermione had given him a lot of books. As a thank you, she had got him all the books about Quidditch tactics she could find, and Harry automatically sent them to his Library's Quidditch Section, where they were automatically sorted out.
Ginny had given him a locket. It had a picture of Harry, her, Ron and Hermione together inside it. Harry kissed her on the cheek, and everyone wolf-whistled. Trying to ignore this, he moved on to the next present.
Fred and George themselves gave Harry a certificate which showed he know owned 1/3 of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, and a note telling him that 20% of their profits would go into his vault at Gringotts.
Mr and Mrs Weasley gave him a jumper, some more food, and new dress robes. They were black with a gold rim on them.
Hagrid had given him some home-made toffee, some home-made toffee and a book about giants.
He opened all the Order's gifts, to find a lot of books about defence, Auror training and even one of "The Un-Authorised Biography of Harry Potter" which he found was very accurate.
Next, it was Lupin who gave him a gift. Inside, there where three mirrors inside, and a note explaining about them.
"Harry, there are three mirrors, one each for you, Ron and Hermione. They are called Tiny Talkers. James, Sirius and I used these when we were in detention, because since there were only two of the mirrors, we thought it would be better. You will always know when someone is calling you. Just tap it and it will open. If you want to call someone, just tap it and say the person's name. If you want a three way conversation, tap it and say "All" and it will call both."
Harry went over and thanked Lupin personally before opening his friend's gifts. They all consisted of food, pranks and books.
He then moved on to the final gift, the cage. He ripped off the paper, and inside, there was a beautiful Phoenix. This one was different though. It had beautiful gold and silver marks down its back as well. A girl and he could tell that this was related to Fawkes, maybe even his daughter. Dumbledore then produced a book about caring for Phoenixes, and Harry thanked him a lot. He decided to name her Lily, after his mother. He asked Dumbledore about the marks and explained:
"Harry, this is what is known as a Pure Phoenix. It is rarer, and there are only about 5 living today. Fawkes is its father (is Fawkes boy or girl?) and because of the mix between the mother and father, she became a Pure Phoenix. They live longer than normal Phoenixes and have the same powers, but stronger. They are able to be called on, and will provide true loyalty to you. Take good care of her."
"I will sir, I will."
Harry's grin showed it all. He was having the best summer of his life. His friends travelled here for his party, his results had been good, Quidditch Captain and Prefect, and there was more to come.
A large brown owl came in the window. Harry noticed a Gringott's symbol on it. He opened it up.
"Dear Mr Potter, We have sent this to inform you that your inheritances from Mr and Mrs James Potter, and Mr Sirius Black have now been put into your fault. They all decided that you should receive this on your 16th birthday. We were told to inform you that the money already in your vault is just your trust fund. Now your overall bank balance is:
53,935,457 Galleons, 14 Sickles and 21 Knuts.
G.R.T. Reksatop Head of Inheritances at Gringotts Bank of Diagon Alley"
Harry was staring, wide-eyed, at the letter, and seeing that everyone was staring at him as if he was crazy, he went to stuff it inside his pocket, when it burst into a ball of flames.
"Bank statement Harry?" Lupin asked.
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I once didn't know they done that, put it in my pocket, and my robes went alight. People found it funny until they realised I couldn't actually get my robes off.
Everyone laughed at the image he had just given them.
"Everyone, I want to thank you all for coming here, and for all the wonderful gifts, which I am sure, are going to come in very handy." Harry yelled over the talking people.
At this, he sat down, and everyone rushed up for more food.
After most of the people had left, he talked to Dumbledore.
"Sir, thanks for the Phoenix. I'll make sure I take care of her brilliantly." He said, just as Lily landed to his shoulder.
"No problem Harry. I also see that you received news of your inheritance. There is actually something else they left to you as well. Hold on."
At that he vanished, and in a few minutes, he returned with a small box.
"Another box!" Harry mumbled under his breath. Dumbledore laughed.
"Now Harry, it contains some important things. Maybe you would like to open it somewhere else?" He asked looking around.
Harry nodded and Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder. In a second, they were in Dumbledore's office.
There, Lily flew over to Fawkes and sat next to him. Dumbledore continued talking.
So Harry, are you ready?
Harry nodded and opened up the lid and found two things. First, there was a small key, and secondly, there was a letter.
He opened the letter.
"Dear Harry, Our Son,
If you are reading this, we have not managed to reach your sixteenth birthday. Hopefully, one of us is still with you, but if not, then we are sorry, especially if you have to live with Petunia, though hopefully Sirius is taking care of you. We hope you are well and are doing well in school and that your friends are as well. We know all about you being the Heir of the Legends, and you will know by now, but there is something else. You see, the powerful a witch or wizard is, is the earlier that they show signs of magic. It is a well known logic. You showed signs VERY early. We are not completely sure when this started, but it in your first year."
Harry nearly fainted, and Dumbledore, knowing the contents of the letter, just chuckled.
The letter continued.
"I know you probably were VERY shocked by that, and we were as well. These powers are your natural powers, and with the added power that you have been given, you could probably become greater than Merlin himself.
Anyway, you now know about your inheritance. I'm sure you were shocked by that as well. We are probably going to give you heart trouble. Anyway, we also have something else for you. The key. It is a special key, to another vault in Gringotts.
Hopefully you shall see the contents soon.
Harry, you make us so proud. We will always love you.
With love forever,
Mum and Dad."
Harry felt tears come to his eyes. He had never seen anything that heartfelt to him, showing parently love, which he would never have. Harry fought them back though.
Dumbledore asked Harry if he wanted to go back outside.
"Yes Sir. Ok." Harry answered, and then there were back in the living room.
Harry went to tell Ron and Hermione what happened. He spoke to them in Potterish, incase someone overheard them.
"Wow Harry." Hermione said, still in Potterish, (I'll tell you when they stop speaking it)
"Yeah, I know, and this other vault, I wonder what's in it?" Ron said.
"Anyway..." Harry said. (Now back in English)
"We should be getting to bed. Ready for tomorrow's trip." Harry ended.
So they climbed the stairwell and were soon asleep.
Harry awoke early the next morning. He was actually up earlier than Mrs Weasley, which shocked him. She had to get up early to do work around the house, so being up earlier than her must mean that he was up VERY early.
Quietly, as to not wake up Ron, who was groaning, "Oh Lavender," in his sleep, he got ready, and chuckling to himself, thinking what Hermione would say, he continued downstairs. He found Ginny's door open, and she lay lying reading.
Harry looked at her and walked in. He sat on her bed, and Ginny, feeling him sit there, looked up at him. She smiled.
"How are you Harry? Why are you up so early?" She asked.
"Well, I just did and I couldn't get back to sleep and I was going to ask you the same question."
"Yeah, same reason really." said Ginny.
They sat in silence for a while.
"Well-"as he said as he smelled bacon.
"Yeah, let's go down to breakfast. I could eat a hippogriff."
Harry laughed, imagining what Hagrid would say if he heard that.
They climbed the stairs and Mrs Weasley, surprised they were even up before she had to call them for breakfast, let alone dressed, she was shocked. She even pinched herself to see if it was a hallucination, it hurt, so she guessed it wasn't.
After about 10 minutes, Mrs Weasley called upstairs.
"Everyone! Time to wake up!"
There was no reply.
In a quieter voice she said, "Breakfast is out."
There was suddenly a stampede, and she smiled.
She turned to them and said, "It always works, now help yourselves.
Soon, after breakfast Mrs Weasley sent them to find their book lists and to make a note of everything they needed. They also brought their wands.
They came back downstairs to find Mrs Weasley standing with a pot of floo powder in her hands.
"Now Ron, you go first."
He stepped into the fire and shouted "Diagon Alley!"
Then he was gone.
She signalled for Harry to go next.
He took some, gulped and stepped into the fire.
"Diagon Alley." He said, and then he to was gone.
This was undoubtedly one of his worst ways to travel. Soon, after he was starting to feel sick, he landed.............
Sorry, I just had to cut it off there. It makes a good effect and the chapter would have been a lot longer if so.
Anyway, sorry the update has taken so long, but I've been busy over Christmas.
I would like to thank Dragon Bait for pointing out that I said about needing a wand for Animagus Transformations in Chapter 3.
However, they also pointed out to me, how could Sirius have done it?"
So - you'll be pleased to know, that it's just the swish of the hand now, and the chapter has been edited to include this.