Harry Potter and the Eagle's Flight
By Cuthbert the Pure
A/N: Here's chapter two. It's a little longer than the first, but I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns mostly everything out of this story, and she is now richer than the Queen of England because of it.
Chapter Two: An Eagle in the Making
Two days after they received their OWL results, Ron and Harry were involved in a violent game of chess when Harry heard Mrs. Weasley calling his name. He shrugged at Ron's confused face and ran down the many flights of stairs. He reached the bottom and was surprised to see Dumbledore sitting at the dinner table.
"Sit down, please Harry." He said quietly. Harry sat timidly. The last time he had seen Dumbledore, he had destroyed half of his office in a furious rage shortly after the death of Sirius. He tried to look innocently puzzled.
"I assume by now that you have come to terms with your Godfather's death, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes genuinely worried. Harry nodded slowly, but truthfully he knew that the closest he would ever come to accepting Sirius's death would be when his killer was also deceased.
"Good, because this conversation concerns him, and his will. His will was found in Grimmauld Place shortly after he died. In it, he stated that he left everything to you, Harry." Dumbledore kept his eyes locked onto Harry's.
"I know, sir," said Harry, "Gringotts sent me a letter saying that I was in charge of the Black Family Vault." Dumbledore nodded,
"Well, when Sirius said 'everything,' he also meant Grimmauld Place. Shortly after the will was read, we were evicted from the house by old spells the Blacks must have placed upon their home. So, Harry, we need your permission to continue using it as headquarters."
"Oh yeah, that's fine." Harry felt weird telling Dumbledore that he could use his house.
"Excellent. However, you are also now the rightful owner of the house elf, Kreacher."
"Oh, I don't want him, sir. Can I give him clothes?" Harry added hopefully.
"I would advise against it, as he knows too many of the dealings of the Order. But, he is your elf, Harry, so you can do whatever you want with him." Harry suddenly had a brainstorm.
"Sir? Is there anyway you could bring him here so I could talk to him?" Dumbledore smiled and said clearly to the empty room,
"Kreacher, your master would like to talk." Then, with an earsplitting crack, Kreacher appeared on the dining table, crying at the top of his lungs. Dumbledore leaned over the table and spoke loudly to Harry,
"Kreacher still hasn't quite come to accept that he must take orders from you." Harry grimaced and shouted,
"Kreacher! Be quiet!" Kreacher immediately stopped bawling, but he looked like he was having extreme difficulty holding it all back.
"Now, Kreacher, I would like you to come and live with the Weasleys. They will be your new masters, but I forbid you to talk to them in any way they wouldn't like. Do you understand?" After what looked like a moment's hard struggle, Kreacher said slowly and politely,
"Yes, sir."
"Good, you can go get anything you want from Grimmauld Place, but I want you back here in ten minutes." Then, with another earsplitting crack, Kreacher disappeared. Dumbledore smiled appreciatively at Harry.
However, the surprises weren't over when Owls from Hogwarts arrived the next day. They contained a letter each from Professor McGonagall and new booklists. There were four new books each for Harry and Ron and six new books for Hermione. The books for Harry were:
NEWT Standard Charms by Miranda Goshawk
Transfiguration for the Natural by Miranda Goshawk
The Potion Masters Handbook by Opal Simmer
Defensive Spells and Practices by Robert Jinxed
Harry looked through his letter alone in the backyard, while Crookshanks chased Gnomes around the bench he was sitting on. He sighed quietly, thinking back to the night Sirius died. He watched it play through his mind slowly. He saw the curse that hit Sirius directly in the chest, slinging him back through the veil, and then he heard Beatrix's cry of triumph. A fresh wave of fury swept through his entire body, but it wasstifled quickly when he heard a window bang open above him. He looked up and saw Ron's face jutting out from the wall of their house. He heard his voice distantly,
"Hey, mate, come up here a second…I've got something to show you." Harry waved his understanding and jogged to the house. He had almost made it to Ron's room, when Ginny emerged from her own. They looked at each for a minute, and then Harry managed to get his tongue around a few words,
"Hi, Ginny."
"Hi, Harry. How many OWLs did you get? Hermione wouldn't say." She replied.
"Oh…seven out of nine. You have OWLs this year right?"
"Yeah, Fred and George told me it's hell."
"Oh, yeah it is. Any idea what you wanna be when you leave Hogwarts?" Harry was surprised to find how easy it was to talk to Ginny, even when she looked like she did. She blushed, however, and Harry found it even cuter.
"You better not laugh." She warned.
"I won't. Promise." He smiled
"OK…I'd like to play Quidditch." Harry found he didn't even want to laugh.
"Really? Who for?" She grinned,
"The Chudley Cannons."
"That's great. Well, I'm supposed to be meeting Ron, so…"
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later, Harry." She continued down the stairs, but Harry watched her leave, taking in her slender curves. Shaking his head, he went into Ron's room. Little did he know, a certain fifth year girl turned back to look at him as well.
In Ron's room, Harry was surprised to find that Ron had received another piece of parchment.
"Here, have a look." He thrust the letter into Harry's hand.
Dear Mr. Weasley,
All students attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who come of age (age seventeen) before 31st of August of this coming school year may sign up for Apparition lessons. Please send your reply back by OWL before September 1st.
Minerva McGonagall
Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"That's boss, mate." Harry replied wearily, the memory of Beatrix's laugh still boring into him. Ron looked crestfallen at his answer, but then he noticed something in Harry's hand. He pointed,
"What's that?" Harry looked down and saw his letter still clutched in his fist.
"Oh, it's just my Hogwarts letter."
"Not that. This!" He pulled a slip of parchment out from underneath the letter and read through it quickly, his eyes getting wider every minute. He then finished and yelled,
"I knew it!" This shout earned a fresh set of bangings from the ghoul in the attic, but Harry grabbed the letter and read.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as this years Quidditch Captain for the Gryffindor House Team. This means that tryouts and practice times will now be your responsibility. You will be expected to show good sportsmanship and etiquette in each game.
Wishing you a very good season,
Minerva McGonagall
Head of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry grinned at the letter. The thoughts of Beatrix and Sirius now gone from his mind, he emerged in a lengthy conversation about Quidditch with Ron. They discussed who would be the two new chasers on the team and also the new beaters, as Fred and George's business was booming and they had no intention of returning to Hogwarts. Ginny's name didn't emerge at all in the conversation, but she kept returning to Harry's mind many times.
The next day, Harry found that the surprises still were not over. After a very tiring game of Quidditch in the forest north of The Burrow, in which Ginny scored many a time past Ron, Lupins head appeared in the Weasley's fireplace, wanting a chat with Harry. He sat down in the chair facing the fireplace.
"Anything wrong, Professor?" He asked.
"Actually…well first Harry, I wanted to talk to you about your protection at Hogwarts this year." Harry nodded, understanding suddenly why Lupin wanted to talk.
"Harry, all of us here at the Order know about your affinity to go wandering around the castle at nighttime, and getting into all sorts of trouble. You know what I mean." Harry didn't bother hiding the grin that rose to his face.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you to stop," Lupin continued, "as I know you won't. However, we would like to take extra precautions this year."
"Well, I have my dad's invisibility cloak and the map…" Harry started.
"Voldemort know that you have these things and he has, of course, set up for these things. So, Harry, what would you say to become an Animagus?" Lupin grinned, but Harry was lost for words. Millions of questions raced through Harry's brain, stifling any other thought.
"Harry?" Lupin brought him back to the real world.
"Of…of…of course," he stammered, but then Ron's and Hermione's face floated to the surface of his mind, "but what about…"
"Ron and Hermione will also be allowed to attend the lessons if they would like. Any thoughts on the animal you would like to become, Harry?" Hundreds of names of animals raced through Harry's mind, and he was about to say he didn't know, but instead he heard his voice say,
"An eagle." Lupin smiled,
"An eagle will require a lot of concentration and preparation." Harry nodded and then frowned,
"Who will be teaching me, Professor?"
"I will." Harry grinned.
When Harry told Ron that afternoon, the ghoul must have almost died from shock at the explosion of noise from Ron's room. Even Ginny ran into the room, thinking someone might have won a large amount of gold. After Ginny left, Hermione also entered and Ron broke the news. Instead of being excited, she seemed distressed.
"I don't know. Isn't it supposed to be really dangerous?"
"Who cares?" Said Ron, lying back on his bed, staring up at the Chudley cannon posters.
"Well, you'll carewhen you're stuck with half the head of a dolphin." Ron scoffed,
"Who'd wanna be able to turn into a dolphin?" Hermione placed her hands on her hips and replied,
"Well, what did you wanna be?" Ron was silent for a minute.
"I don't know." He muttered, but Harry had the strangest feeling Ron did know what he wanted to become.
"Well, if you guys wanna do this, Professor Lupin said to send him and owl with your answer and your animal." Harry spoke to the room in general. Hermione then left, still wringing her hands.
"Mental, she is. Imagine having the chance to become an Animagus and not doing it." Ron said.
"Yeah." Harry muttered, but he could understand how Hermione felt.
That night at dinner, Mrs. Weasley told them they would be going to Diagon Alley the next day. She seemed distressed and Harry supposed it was through lack of gold.
"You'll be able to see Fred and George's shop." Ron spoke through a mouthful of roast. Harry didn't reply, as thoughts of Sirius had returned. He had tried to push them away all day, but with so many people, his mind just kept pushing back. Just then, Charlie arrived with a crack. He sat down at the end of the table saying,
"Excellent. I love roast." As he reached out to grab the plate, Harry noticed Charlie's left hand. Half of it was gone, leaving only the thumb and two fingers. Charlie noticed him looking and grinned. Harry asked,
"Why couldn't they put it back on?"
"Well," replied Charlie, "I'm not sure if there's even a spell, but they said it was too severe a biteanyway." Harry oh'd and went back to his meal, wondering how it would feel to half a hand bitten off by a dragon.
The next morning Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley's traveled to Diagon alley by Floo Powder. Harry had no trouble this time, and arrived in the Leaky Cauldron with Ron only seconds behind him. Together they entered Diagon Alley and headed directly to Gringotts, where Harry handed the letterhe had received before going toThe Burrow tothe goblin at the counter and was given four keys to the Black Vault. Harry only planned on visiting the vault, for he knew the money in his own vault would last him many years. They visited the Weasley's vault first, which was devoid of any gold, and only contained silver. Harry wondered how they were able to make ends meet. When they arrived at Harry's vault, he had another brainstorm. He swept close to fifty galleons into his own pouch and then turning as if to leave, he grabbed the pouch from Mrs. Weasley and emptied close to one hundred galleons out of his vault into the leather sack. Mrs. Weasley gasped, but Harry said,
"Just take it." He pushed the pouch into her hands, hopped back into the cart and said to the goblin in an official tone of voice,
"Vault number 416, lower level please." The goblin complied once the Weasley's had boarded the cart. The reached the vault in a little under a minute. The door was very nondescript, but Harry saw no keyhole. When he stepped out of the cart, the goblin gave them a very menacing warning,
"Before we reach the fifth door, I suggest that you stand back. There is no saving you down here is we have a…accident." The goblin smirked and ran a finger down the length of the door. It melted away slowly. The next door Harry saw took his breath away. It looked to be made of solid gold and was studded with many jewels. Two very scary looking gargoyles guarded it. The only thing that hindered the picture was a man-sized skeleton leaning against the wall. The goblin took no notice of it and stopped next to the door. Harry then saw a keyhole and looked down at the four keys in his hand. He saw that one of them had a tiny number '1' engraved on the handle. He inserted this into the keyhole and turned it. This door also melted away slowly, leaving the key in his hand. The next three doors looked almost the same as the second, with the absence on gargoyles and skeletons. When the reached the fifth door, the goblin pressed a small button on the wall, and with a loud crack, six wizards appeared before them. They all smiled at Harry. He handed the key to the closest one and stepped back, watching with interest. They all had their wands out, and the minute the door melted away, all six shot stunning spells into the room beyond. Harry heard a deafening crunch and followed the wizards into the room. Harry suddenly understood the 'British Horntail' on the letter he had received. It was the type of dragon that guarded his vault. The room that held it was huge, and completely empty, except for the large red dragon that was slumped in the middle of the floor. Harry saw another door across the room and jogged to it, but then realized he only had four keys. The goblin was right behind him, however, and he ran another finger down the length of the door and stepped back as it melted away. Harry entered the room to be disappointed. It was empty, although it was the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The goblin stared at him for a moment and then said,
"Speak your name, and the gold will be revealed only to you." Looking back, Harry saw that only he had entered the room. He motioned for the Weasleys to follow, but he saw that when they tried, they could not. He heard the goblin say,
"Only the rightful owner of this vault may enter." Harry nodded and spoke, loudly and clearly,
"Harry James Potter." Suddenly the room was filled with towering columns of gold and silver. In one corner, he saw a huge trunk. He crossed to it, making his way around a mountain of galleons, and opened it. Inside were small trinkets that were embossed with the Black Family Crest. He recognized it from the goblet he had seen last year. He took a deep breath and closed the trunk, leaving it in a hurry. Being in here reminded him of Sirius and that was the last thing he needed. So, after making his way back past the dragon, through all five doors, up the winding rails, and out of the Gringotts doors did he feel ready to get his new books. As he headed to Flourish and Blotts, however, Mrs. Weasley said to him,
"No, dear, I'll get your books for you. You go with the others to that joke shop of Fred and George's." Harry thanked Mrs. Weasley, handed her some gold, and then strolled towards the two bright flashes of red hair heading into a shop. He stopped outside to admire the sign.
WEASLEY'S WIZARDING WHEEZES
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS TO HOGWARTS STUDENTS
Harry grinned at the sign and entered the store. The first thing he clapped eyes on was Fred, blocking his view of anything.
"Harry, mate, how you been? Got rid of that old bag from the ministry, I heard. You and Hermione did us all a real favor, mate." Harry nodded, already in a good mood.
"Yeah, it was mostly Hermione though. Think I could get a look at your shop? I'm dying to buy some stuff…" Harry jingled his money bag. Fred looked horrified.
"You? Pay? I don't think so. You started us off…you take anything you want from this 'ere store for free and none of us will bash an eyelash." Harry started to protest, but then George joined them.
"Fred's right, mate. You get everything for free. Plus, we get too much money from everyone else to handle. Oh, and by the way," he lowered his voice slighter, "all the best stuff is at the back." Harry grinned and headed immediately to the back, where he found Ron and Hermione looking at a plain box with some simple writing on it.
LOVE GALLEON
One touch and he or she will fall madly in love with you.
WARNING: Wears off in 2-4 days, leaving the victim completely unaware of anything that you may have chosen to with them.
"That's brilliant." Ron muttered.
"Highly advanced magic…" Hermione was saying. Harry startled them both by saying,
"He was right…the best stuff is at the back." They both laughed and spent a good hour browsing the entire store. They left with the backpacks considerably heavier. Harry had refused to take anything for free, so his money bag was also lighter. They spent the rest of the day eating Florean's ice cream and looking through their new books. Harry felt that this would be one of his best years at Hogwarts, even with the prospect of Voldemort attacking him at any moment.
A/N: I hope you liked it. Once again, I apologize for typos and anything else of that sort. Anything else you noticed…please let me know. And in response to Bloodless Ace's review. Sorry, mate, I'll make sure that I take extra careful care to get HER gender right in the future.
MISC STUFF: Nothing this chapter. Come again!