Harry Potter and the Guardians of Power
Usual Disclaimers apply, folks – but you know that don't you.
AN: Please review and thanks especially to those of you who have reviewed every chapter and added this story to your favorites list. Now I know why authors do evil cliff hangers. I got three times as many reviews for that chapter than any other. Thanks!
AN: Apologies about the line where Severus didn't know where he was because he didn't recognize the constellations. My husband spent 20 years in the Navy, plus has his tugboat master's license, so I know how a sextant works. I meant that he didn't recognize his position by using the constellations; I just needed some reason for them not to directly apperate back to Hogwarts! That's what happens when I rush a chapter.
Chapter 20: Secrets Revealed
The night they had been 'restored to normal' Severus went up to Albus' office to reunite with the man he loved like a father. He and Harry had avoided getting too close to anyone; fearing they would inadvertently give something away when they had first returned. It had been so hard not to just run up and hug the old man; the minute that he saw him standing there the first morning they were back. They had originally planned to wait several days to pull their prank, but they were pressured into hurrying up for three reasons, one they were having a terrible time staying in character, and two they needed to be back to 'normal' before the other students returned from their holidays.
But mainly they needed to have their relationship in the open to brew the 'Potter Potion' before the next full moon. It took a full week to brew, took two people to brew it, and then it needed to sit for three days to cure. The full moon had been five days before Christmas on the 20th so the next full moon would be on January the 17th. They only had until the evening of the 14th to have the brewing done to let it cure. That meant they must start it no later than the 7th of January. And the students had returned on January the 6th; giving them only one day of classes to set up appropriate 'detentions' for Harry with Professor Snape. They didn't mind the staff and Harry's friends knowing of the 'new' relationship, but they didn't want the entire student body to know. That information would reach Voldemort too easily.
Severus agreed with all of their reasons for 'pranking the headmaster' but he was still sorry that they had had to do it all, especially after witnessing the distress so evident in all their friends in the pensive memory of the 'vigil'. He sighed and knocked on the door, at the soft, "Please come in, Severus." He took a deep breath and entered.
"Albus, I have a confession to make to you, but first I must tell you something that I have felt for many years but was unable, or unwilling to express. Thank you, Albus, for being a friend, a mentor, and a father to me for these long years. I know it hasn't been easy, and I appreciate more than you can ever know; that when I pushed you away, you just pulled back harder. I love you, you crazy old man, and I hope you will let me be the 'son' that I wish I really was."
The older wizard just rushed around his desk and grabbed Severus into a tight hug. "Oh, my child, when I thought you had been killed, my heart died along with you. Whatever you have to confess, I forgive. I never thought I would hear you say the words that I have longed to hear all these years. I love you too Severus, and would be proud for you to call me Father, even if you do think I'm an old coot, you insufferably bad tempered bat!" Even though they both chuckled at the names of endearment, neither of the men had dry eyes. They sat together on the comfortable couch in front of the fire and just cherished the moment of being together. Severus took Albus' callused old hands in his and, turning to look him full in the face opened his mind completely. "Father, please share with me what has happened to us while we were gone."
It took a long time and many emotions passed over the old man's face as he viewed the events in Severus' memories; horror and outrage at the treatment and injuries of his two boys, despair at the helplessness in the meadow, wonder and awe at the rituals and the release of the dark mark and Harry's curse scar, delight and even envy at the discovery of where and with who the two had found themselves. There was joy at their triumphs, pain at their suffering, astonishment as Harry won the tournament with Merlin, and fierce pride at the boy's mastery tests, the cure for lycanthropy and finally laughter at the 'prank' his boys had managed without him even suspecting for a moment.
"So where's this picture album now? And how much do I have to pay you to make it disappear forever?" He chuckled at the idea of blackmailing Minerva and the other professors. "I think we should keep this a secret from Sirius and Remus for a while yet, don't you agree?"
Severus 'called' Harry to come up to the Headmaster's office. Harry grabbed his most prized possessions, turned into his phoenix form and flashed into the headmaster's office. He hugged his dad in relief and, morphing into his real self, shyly turned to look at Dumbledore, who opened his arms and simply said, "Grandson."
Harry rushed to hug him back, wiping his tears in the old man's beard. He sat between the two, liking the feeling of being slightly squished between them. Severus had a hand on Harry's shoulder in support as Harry showed his new 'Grandfather' his treasures. First he displayed the adoption papers, signed by Merlin himself, then his parentage chart. He was delighted at the fierce pride in the headmaster's eyes as he showed him each of his seventeen mastery certificates, each more astonishing than the last.
Finally he handed Dumbledore his staff to examine, and gave him the beautiful armband he had made for him with a star sapphire centered between a golden griffin and a Peruvian Viper tail dragon. As he explained the significance of the two animals, Albus drew both of his 'sons' into a fiercely proud hug. He had Harry demonstrate calling the entity that was Hogwarts and, if possible, was even more in awe of all the young man had accomplished in only a single year. The three talked, laughed, and planned until late in the evening before hugging goodnight and returning to their own beds to begin setting their plans into motion- the next day.
Albus called Sirius and Remus to his office the next morning after breakfast to begin the plans the three had formulated the previous evening.
"Sit down, gentlemen; I'm sure you are wondering why I called you here this morning. I have a proposition for the two of you that I would like for you to consider." Albus began.
He then outlined the proposal the three had come up with the night before.
Sirius looked over at Remus and saw his agreement, "Thank you, Albus, we would both be happy to accept. But what should we do with the gerbil situation?"
"I have talked to Charlie Weasley and he and Mad Eye will be the primary caretakers of the colony. The Ministry has set up a category to pay them for their 'duties' without being too specific about what those duties are. Several of the former guards of Azkaban that Moody vouches for will also be moving into Grimmauld Place, if that is all right with you Sirius?" At the man's nod, he continued, "I think they will still be much more secure there than anywhere else we might put them, and the Minister is happy that no one can find them there."
"We had some bad news on Christmas Eve from Rita, but I guess it was to be expected. Voldemort knew he had been betrayed after the raid, following so closely on top of the capture of Wormtail, and he did not return to the Manor in Little Hangleton at all. We don't know where he has gone to ground yet. And all the death eaters that we know about have been captured and are safely contained in 'gerbil land'. So until we find another one for her to 'hitch hike' on their robes to the new location, we are without a spy at the current time. Though we believe he will lie low until the end of the school year, just trying to regroup and find his spy." They all chuckled at this thought, he would never suspect who had actually been relaying his plans in such great detail.
To the returning students in the Great Hall the next night, not much had changed over the holidays. To most of the students, it was a curiosity to see Harry Potter back at the Gryffindor table, to the members of the DA, they were happy to see their 'teacher' back and in apparently good health.
Most of them didn't notice the lack of a scowl on Professor Snape's face; they were too busy looking at the returning face of Professor Lupin and the handsome, black haired man talking animatedly to Professor Dumbledore, who looked uncharacteristically tired, though his blue eyes were twinkling madly. And who was that old wizard that was sitting next to, and talking pleasantly with, Professor Snape? And why was Professor McGonagall's hair blonde even though it was still in its usual tight bun?
After the tables were cleared, Professor Dumbledore stood and tapped his goblet for silence. "I have a few announcements to make before you all return to your dormitories. First, I would like to welcome back Professor Snape and Harry Potter, who have returned to us after recovering from the attack on December 10th. Please don't ask them about their experiences, the Ministry has requested that they refrain from talking about their experiences at this time. I would like to introduce several new staff members, Professor Lupin, whom most of you know, will be returning to teach History of Magic, as Professor Binns has finally decided it's time to pass over." Almost all the students clapped loudly at this announcement. Binns had not even noticed when he died, and was about as exciting to listen to as watching ice melt. Even though Lupin was a werewolf, he was at least alive!
"As most of you know from reading the Daily Prophet, Sirius Black is innocent of all charges and has graciously accepted my offer to replace the now incarcerated Delores Umbridge as our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." Albus had to wait quite a while for the cheers to die down before he continued, "Professor Black is a former Auror and will also be teaching an optional dueling class along with Professor Snape. Please see either Professor to sign up if you are interested." These announcements were met with scattered applause, mostly from the Gryffindor table, several loud gasps as Black was recognized and a surge of pleasure at the dueling class; followed by a groan as the second teacher's name was spoken.
"And finally, please welcome Professor Eric Brewmeister who will be splitting the potions classes with Professor Snape, details to be announced later. Prefects, please lead your students back to your commons. Thank you." Excited chatter filled the room as each student hoped they would be split into a class with the new Professor. They were still excitedly talking and gesticulating as they left the hall and headed to their houses.
Harry's first class the next day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall and he wasn't too sure she had forgiven him for 'baby Harry' yet. They hadn't told anyone but the Headmaster; they had decided to wait several weeks until the memories were dimmed enough to be considered funny, rather than still upsetting. Harry wasn't too sure that he didn't want to wait until after he graduated, but Severus swore the professors would see the humor in it soon enough and he would let Harry know when the time was right to pull out the photo album. In the meantime, Harry had to be sure to mask his abilities; he didn't want to raise any suspicions.
Hermione was chattering excitedly about finally getting back to classes and how they had wasted three whole weeks without lessons, Ron and Harry were just rolling their eyes and tuning her out.
"So we're supposed to be starting on a new unit today, I can't wait to find out what it is! I hope it's something exciting, though the last unit on transfiguring furniture was very useful." Hermione was saying as the Professor entered the back of the classroom.
"I'm sure you will find this unit suitably interesting, Miss Granger. We will begin to explore human transfiguration today, including transforming someone else, and self transformation, which includes metamorphmagi and animagi. Now, who can tell me the differences between the three?" McGonagall queried, looking expectantly around the room. "Mr. Longbottom, can you tell me about one?"
"Well, Professor Moody, well it wasn't really Professor Moody, but anyway we thought it was Professor Moody at the time, anyway, he transformed Draco Malfoy into a ferret and bounced him down the hall." Neville was getting better, but he still lacked self-confidence. The other students all giggled at the remembered sight of Malfoy bouncing down the hall.
"Yes, good, that is being transfigured by someone else. Miss Patil, do tell us about another one, and I do not want to see another edition of Teen Witch in my classroom again or it will be 20 points from Gryffindor!"
"Um, what was that, oh, animagus is a witch or wizard that can transform themselves into an animal? Like when you transform into a cat." She looked pleased at knowing the answer to a question.
"Excellent, though I expect you to pay attention yourself, not rely on Miss Brown to whisper the question to you next time. Now, the last type, Mr. Finnegan, can you tell me what a metamorphmagus is?" She continued.
"I don't know Professor; I haven't read about that yet." Seamus looked around the room; most of the room also looked clueless.
"Miss Granger, you have your hand up, go ahead."
"A metamorphmagus is a witch or wizard that can change their own appearance at will. They can change just one or two features or can completely change how they look." Hermione looked pleased until Professor McGonagall asked for more information.
Harry raised his hand reluctantly, but he knew that the Professor would know he knew what she was asking because he knew Tonks was a metamorphmagus and his godfather was an animagus. At her nod, he explained, "Professor, a metamorphmagus just changes the outside appearance, they can't do anything they can't do in their own form, an animagus becomes the animal, whatever the animal can do, they can do. So if their animagus can fly, they can fly. A metamorphmagus could make wings appear, but they wouldn't really function."
Neville raised his hand, "Professor, can you become any animal, I mean could you become a boggart? And do you get to choose the animal?"
"No, Mr. Longbottom, you cannot become a magical creature, only normal animals. And the magic within you will choose the animal that most matches your personality and strengths, you have no choice. I believe I become a cat because I am very curious about many things and I like to be warm and comfortable, I especially like to sit in front of a fire with a good book, for instance." The professor patiently explained. Harry raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, a question?"
"Isn't it true that within every wizard there are two forms, a magical and a non magical, and it depends upon the strength of mind and magic whether or not they can transform?"
"Excellent, I can tell you have investigated the subject beyond what our text says. While it is true that every witch or wizard has two forms possible within them, there have been no known magical animagi since the time of the Founders, though there is speculation that before he lost his human form, Voldemort, oh, quit flinching, it's only a name; was a basilisk. That however, has never been confirmed. And even though everyone has the potential, very few have the mental discipline and strength to transform at all. Ten points, Mr. Potter."
"Five points to everyone else with a correct answer." She continued to lecture for another twenty minutes and then had them begin to read the chapters in their books. She assigned them a 24 inch essay on the similarities and differences between the three types of human transformation for homework and told them they would be working on all three types in the next few weeks.
"I don't expect many, if any, of you will become animagi, it takes a strong ability to perform magic, and a very strong sense of self to be able to completely transform. And a metamorphmagus is born, it cannot be taught. But there are signs that show if you might have that ability. The ability itself rarely develops completely before the age of fifteen, since you are all fifteen and some of you are sixteen we will cover it at this time. Many more people, while not being true metamorphmagi, are able to transform a single characteristic or two, so we will be working on that."
Harry knew he would have to talk seriously with his Dad to find out exactly how to handle the situation. They had discussed what to do about his animagus forms; he would only show his one non magical silver wolf form, since everything else was supposedly impossible. It wouldn't hurt for that form to be registered with the Ministry; he was much more likely to use one of the others for spying or escape.
History of Magic with Professor Lupin was a very pleasant change from previous classes. Everyone actually stayed awake as they discussed the theoretical origins of wizardry. Harry took copious very neat notes for the book he was planning on writing after he graduated from Hogwarts.
The last class of the morning was potions. Both Professors Snape and Brewmeister were in attendance; and they presented the class with a selection of ingredients, a purpose for the potion and then had them write what they would use to brew it and, why and how they would brew it. Harry knew they were trying to separate intuitive brewers from scientific ones; and he had no difficulty writing his essay, but he knew from Hermione's body language that she was very frustrated with her inability to figure out exactly how to do what she wanted to do. Harry purposely knocked the papers on Professor Snape's desk onto the floor as he handed his paper in and was rewarded with a loud, "Detention, tonight, 7 p.m. sharp, Potter!" He hoped he was the only one who noticed that the hatred and venom formerly spewed by the professor was absent, but looking around he didn't observe anyone else noticing. He sent 'See you tonight, Dad. Can you ask Dobby for some of those pumpkin scones for later?' He heard back, 'Liked them too did you, brat? Of course!'
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, Harry carefully watched Hermione and Ron and placed his abilities between the two. The house rivalry had settled down without the constant irritation of Malfoy and his goons, there had been no clear new leader of the Slytherin house emerge. The jockeying for position left after the three were arrested was still going on, so they were leaving the other houses alone for the present. Severus was working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that the new leaders weren't pro-Voldemort and he was having some success, but it would take a while.
Harry and Severus began brewing the werewolves' cure that evening during Harry's 'detention'. They had been discussing the difficulty that Harry was having in disguising his magical strengths and were starting to reevaluate their previous stance on hiding his abilities from the other professors and students.
"Not only has Voldemort gone into hiding recently, with so many of his followers now living in 'Gerbil land' I think it's time to show the other students, particularly the Slytherins that there is a strong force on the light side so they actually have a choice in who they choose to follow. Many of them are distrustful of Dumbledore simply because he has been vilified by their parents all of their lives, also because of his age many of my students are leery of placing too much faith in him. If you come forward and give them a reason to choose the light, we can unite the houses of Hogwarts once again and cut off a source of followers for Tom." Severus was arguing that Harry should come forward as the strong wizarding leader that he was, after all, he already had a strong following in his DA club.
Harry was more willing to step forward than he ever would have been last year, but he still resented not being a 'normal' teen still. "You know I'm going to have to give up Quidditch already; there is no way I don't know where the snitch is at all times. I can simply sense the magic surrounding it too easily, now you want me to give up any chance of 'fitting in' that I might have."
"Son, I know that you want to fit in, but your friends will remain your friends no matter what, and the others have never regarded you as 'normal' any way. If you lead them, they will respect you for who and what you are; which is much better than what they think of you now. Besides, can you really attend classes each and every day, without showing your abilities and not learning anything new? You know you will be totally bored. If you step forward, you can teach any subject that you choose. Albus will never make you leave the castle simply because you are no longer a student. I don't think Hogwarts herself would let him. And we could live together openly as father and son in our own quarters like we did in the past. I could show more openly that Slytherins have a choice, they do not have to blindly follow their parent's choices, and if we can save any of them at all, we need to take that chance."
They had been speaking so passionately with each other; neither had noticed Albus enter the room, "I agree completely, Severus, plus another factor you may not have considered. With Tom on the run and in hiding; we would be showing all of wizardry that the fight is worth joining; Hogwarts could lead in the unification of pureblood, half-blood, and muggle born all together. And by uniting, we can keep Tom on the run and make it very difficult for him to gather followers. We know he uses them for physical and magical strength; we would be cutting off a way for him to regain strength, let alone grow more powerful. And I believe that is a very worthy goal."
Harry had stepped past the cauldron they were both working over and gave Albus a hug in greeting. He sighed, nodded his head slowly, and reluctantly agreed. "I think you both might be right. I had to constantly be on guard today to not give anything away. I don't think I could hide my abilities clear until the end of school. I just wish we had some way to know if Tom can still draw life and power from gerbils!"
The two men chuckled at the teen's sense of humor. Albus answered, "We have notified everyone in the Order and the Ministry to just follow any death eater they find if possible, and to let us know as soon as possible so that Rita can hitch a ride to wherever they are hiding. But no such luck. Minerva and Filius have been unable to devise a reliable dark mark detector for the new dark mark, so unless we have a reason to cast a revealo we will just have to continue to hope for the best."
Severus had a suggestion, "Harry, why don't you gradually morph into your real self over the next few weeks. I suspect most students won't even notice under your robes, then we can schedule an exhibition duel against several of the teachers and you can come forward at that time and show the students there is a new, powerful leader for the light that they can follow. You can speak to each teacher as you have their class and explain the situation to them so that you won't be too bored in the meantime." The two potions masters had continued to prepare ingredients and brew the potion as they discussed the situation. Albus was fascinated to watch the deft, sure, and graceful way the two brewed together.
"Changing his shape gradually is well and good, Severus, but I think we should do something now, while your house is leaderless. It will be more difficult to convince people to unite with the other houses if someone like Miss Parkinson or Mr. Nott for instance managed to forge the leadership position. Perhaps we could arrange the dueling exhibition for this weekend. That would give us four days to arrange everything. Would you be able to leave your brewing at that time?"
Severus thought, "Well, yes, the last two days are simply a low simmer. We could leave strict instructions with a house elf and that would be acceptable. I have used Nippy before when I have been summoned and had critical brewing going."
Harry grinned, "Does this mean I can just be natural, well natural for me, for the rest of the week? No hiding abilities, no holding back?"
Albus nodded, "I believe that would be best. Don't confirm anything; just let the others wonder exactly what you are capable of. I would like you to tell them your magic was awakened early because of your attack and the stress of escaping when you had to pour so much power into Professor Snape to get the two of you safely here, if you are really cornered and that will be the explanation we will give to your professors. I wouldn't show any metamorphmagus or magical animagus abilities though, keep them secret for the time being. Though you may, of course, show them to Professors McGonagall, Black and Lupin. Professor Flitwick and Madame Pomfrey also need to know, in case you need their assistance in the future. And Poppy will need to evaluate your magical levels to be able to treat you if it is ever needed."
The brewing had reached a simmer point for the rest of the night, so Severus cast a spell to keep it safe, called Nippy to watch and the three sat down to enjoy their pumpkin scones in comfort and conversation.
Harry had warned his friends at breakfast, after casting a silencing spell around them, of what was going to happen in classes that day. The six were giggling and chattering, though the twins and Ginny were upset that they weren't going to be able to witness it first hand. Harry told them that it was okay; perhaps he could borrow Dumbledore's pensive later and show them, after all, the Headmaster had made him promise to share the highlights himself.
The Gryffindor Trio was in Professor Black's Defense against the Dark Arts class almost ten minutes early and sitting at a desk in the front row. Albus had asked Sirius if he and Remus would be able to observe the class that day since they wanted to see how far behind everyone was after the debacle of Professor Umbridge's class all year. He had readily agreed, telling them he wanted to evaluate everyone's spell casting and shields that day to know where to begin his lessons for the year and would appreciate the help in evaluating, and then any suggestions the two had would be most welcome. Albus had come up to Harry and asked to speak to him privately.
Albus reached into his robes and pulled out a familiar wand. "Harry, I know from Severus' memories that you cannot use a wand at all now, it would either burn your hand or explode from the power that you wield, but we would like to keep that private for now, so I have duplicated your wand exactly, except there is no magical core. If you hold this stick in your hand and use your magic around it, I don't think anyone will notice anything."
Harry looked around and then gave him a quick hug, "Thanks, I never thought I would see it again and I hadn't thought about not having a wand. It's been so long since I've used one, I kind of forgot. Wish me luck."
Albus twinkled and smiled, "Be gentle, he has more classes to teach today!"
As Albus moved back to sit by an unsuspecting Remus, the rest of the class filed into the room. After months of Umbridge, everyone sat quietly, silently, paper and quill ready to take notes. Sirius swept into the room, gave the three in the front row a wink and said, "Clear your desks, this will be a totally practical class for the next few weeks." At his words an excited buzzing sounded through the room.
"Now, today I would like to evaluate how well you can cast a spell and how well you can shield against spells being cast against you. I know that most of you belong to Harry's DA club so those of you who do not belong, please raise your hands. Ah, you eight stand up here in pairs." He proceeded to show them how to cast several spells that they should remember from last year and two simple shields that were also a review. It only took a couple of minutes to reveal how badly the eight were doing. He shook his head and suggested that they each find a partner to practice with in the evenings. He announced to the class that the dueling room would be open every evening after dinner with an adult to supervise for anyone needing to practice, except for Tuesday and Saturday evenings when the class would meet.
The remaining seventeen students were all regular members of the DA so Sirius split them in twos after asking them who the best in the club was. Every single student pointed to Harry. "Okay Harry, sit this out and when we are done how about if you and I do a little duel to see where you are and any gaps in your training that we need to cover?"
Harry readily agreed and sat back to watch his friends. They all acquitted themselves much better than the first eight students. Harry felt pride that they all remembered what he had taught them, and was glad Albus, Severus and he, had decided that he should teach instead of wasting his time taking 5th year classes. He sent to his dad, 'Sirius is having me duel him at the end of this class if you can find an excuse to come watch. Albus is in here, maybe you need to bring him a potion or a piece of parchment?' He heard a delighted, 'I have just the thing, the list of students to be in my new intuitive brewing class, I'll be right up!'
Sirius was just finishing up his evaluations of the last few students when Severus entered the room, looking around for the headmaster. "I finally found you; I needed to give you this list of students for the new potions class so they can have their schedules changed before next week."
Albus looked suspiciously at Severus, and then he looked at Harry, who had a 'butter wouldn't melt in this mouth' look of innocence. "Why don't you sit for a minute, Sirius is just finishing up and then he is going to test Harry's dueling abilities. I'm sure you'd like to watch too."
Sirius had the class move to the back of the room, swept the desks out of the way with a sweep of his wand and cast a spectator shield around the area. Unknown to him, Harry also cast an air shield just to be safe. He didn't intend to expend that much energy, but he would rather be safe then risk anyone getting hurt.
Harry stood sideways facing Sirius, wand arm relaxed at his side knees slightly flexed and balanced on the balls of his feet. Sirius assumed a similar stance, explaining to the class, that this stance presented the smallest target and the most possibilities for ducking a spell cast at you. The two bowed formally, raised their arms and waited for a signal from Professor Dumbledore who had volunteered to be the referee.
Harry waited patiently for Sirius to cast the first spell, he knew his own abilities but had no idea how his godfather would fight. He knew he had been a very good auror, but then he had spent the last twelve years in Azkaban which was bound to have affected his dueling abilities. Sirius watched Harry in approval for a few moments before sending a medium powered expelliarmus at him. Harry simply leaned and let the spell pass harmlessly past him. Harry cast a moderate soundless stunner at Sirius to test his godfather's shield and dodging abilities. He was pleased to see Sirius also choose to just duck to the side. The two spent several more moments just testing the other's abilities before actually settling down to begin dueling for real. Harry was pleased to note that Sirius seemed to be on a par with Remus' abilities, not quite as good as his father's, especially after a year of sparring with both Godric and Harry, but not too bad. He wouldn't have to hold back too much, and could just begin to enjoy himself.
Sirius had begun to realize that Harry hadn't even begun to seriously duel. He was surprised at the methodical way the boy had tested his abilities as if judging how hard he could fight. Sirius felt uncomfortably like the student in the classroom, instead of the other way around! He knew that Albus had always said that Harry would someday be a very powerful wizard; he just hadn't realized that it was already true.
Harry opened himself up to his magical core and fed power to his hands. He cast an air shield around himself and just stood to absorb anything that Sirius could throw at him. Sirius wasn't too sure he liked the looks of the smile that graced Harry's face now. He glanced at Albus and Severus in the back of his classroom and noticed they looked completely at ease with the situation. He shrugged and turned back to the very confident boy standing in front of him, and was startled to notice the child simply glowed with power!
The two began sending curses and hexes at each other, shielding and ducking as necessary, neither really doing any harm to the other. Harry still looked completely calm but Sirius was beginning to tire and starting to sweat. Nothing he sent seemed to have any effect on Harry but he was beginning to get frustrated. He knew he had to send something strong enough to stun Harry soon, or he would be too tired to continue. They had been dueling for over 25 minutes, for Merlin's sake, and the boy looked like he could continue indefinitely!
Sirius sent a strong blasting curse only to watch in amazement as the spell simply curved around Harry and missed him without Harry having moved a muscle. Harry simply waved his wand and Sirius found himself on his backside. He scrambled quickly to his feet; cast a strong expelliarmus, followed by two stunners, one to the right and one to the left, and finally a blasting curse to the middle. Harry smirked, ducked under the first, leaned left and then right to miss the next two and simply banished the blasting curse with a wave of his wand. He smiled at the older man, flicked his wand and Sirius fell into blackness without even seeing the spell that stunned him.
Remus was too shocked to even say a word as Severus walked up to Sirius and shot an enervate at him. He left the chains and ropes for a few moments to let Sirius acknowledge that he realized they were there and then Severus banished them too. Sirius accepted the man's hand up and stood swaying slightly as he looked at the boy in front of him.
Harry had seemed to shrink and there was no glow of power around him now. In fact Sirius could almost convince himself that it hadn't been there before. But he somehow knew that Harry had been simply toying with him the entire time and that he had absolutely no chance of winning; the child had simply let the duel go on long enough to make his teacher look better before ending it. Severus leaned in to him and whispered in his ear, "Come to my chambers later and we will discuss what just happened. Don't feel too bad, I can't win against him either!" Severus then walked back to the door and left without saying a further word.
The bell rang for the end of class and Harry's classmates swarmed around him, "Wicked, how'd you learn to fight like that, Harry?" Neville was asking as they all left to go to charms class.
Ron looked at him in awe, "Blimey, Harry, remind me never to get you mad at me. That was wicked, seeing it was much more awesome than just reading about it!" Harry was pleased and a little surprised that Ron had finally managed to get over his jealousy at last. Maybe his best friend finally was growing up!
Everyone was still excitedly talking as they entered Professor Flitwick's class and he had to finally shoot sparks from his wand to get them to settle down. "Class, class, settle down! What's going on?" the tiny professor exclaimed.
Harry shrugged and answered, "We just had a good defense class for the first time this year, and I got a lucky shot in and stunned Professor Black in a duel."
The entire class disagreed with his assessment but had to let it pass as Professor Flitwick sternly ordered them to sit down and pay attention. The class that day consisted of a review of the charms they had learned before the holidays so Harry had no problem fitting in with Hermione and Ron.
The 5th year Gryffindors were still excitedly chattering as they entered the Great Hall for lunch and Harry was beginning to get tired of the whole thing. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to no longer be a student and to sit up at the staff table. Bur maybe after his abilities were out in the open; people might just begin to accept him as just himself again. As he sat down, hoping to be able to eat in peace he sent to his dad, 'Tell me again why we thought this would be a good idea?' Harry could see his father ducking behind his napkin, trying to hide his smile, 'It was worth it to see the look on Sirius' face as I revived him. And I don't think Remus has recovered yet. Look at how he's looking between you and Sirius now.' Harry hadn't noticed Professor Lupin's calculating looks before, but now he could tell the man knew something wasn't right.
Harry continued to eat his chicken pie as he sent to his dad, 'We're going to have to tell them, aren't we? Man I don't want to be there for that conversation.'
'Don't worry Harry, Albus and I will be sharing my memories with them both tonight in the pensive. You don't need to be there at all. If you are needed I will call you later. Enjoy the rest of the day; I believe you have Herbology, no problem there, and then Divination?'
Harry could hear the smirk in Severus' voice from across the room. Harry rolled his eyes and just continued eating, ignoring the excited buzzing that had now spread to the other three tables.
Remus and Sirius knocked on Severus' door promptly at 8 p.m. and were invited in. They were somewhat surprised to find Albus already sitting on a couch in front of the fire with his pensive sitting on a low table in front of him. Severus motioned for the two to be comfortable on the couch facing them as he sat down next to Albus. Albus patted Severus' knee in encouragement and nodded at him to begin.
"I know you have a lot of questions about what happened today, and about the relationship between Harry and me; but it would be easier if I just showed you what happened after we were kidnapped and then escaped. If you would gentlemen." With that said the four touched their wand tips to the silvery liquid in the pensive and were sucked into Severus' memories of the past year.
All four men sat quietly drinking tea after viewing the very emotional memories of the past year, each unsure of what to say to the other. Sirius finally cleared his throat, held out his hand to Severus and said, "Thank you for saving Harry's life. He wouldn't be here today without you. We may never be close friends, but I would like to still be a close part of Harry's life, if that is all right with you. After watching that; I can't break apart the two of you, and I wouldn't even want to try. I realize I couldn't have done what you did for Harry. Someday I would like to be a father, but for now, it's better if I am an uncle."
Severus solemnly returned the man's handshake and reaffirmed Harry's wishes, "I am most pleased to have the two of you be Harry's Uncles and his godfathers. Harry needs and is going to need all the support and care that he can get to overcome his background and to stay strong through what lies ahead of them."
Remus shook Severus' hand and pledged his support also before turning to Albus, "What are we going to do about the Dursleys. They must be held accountable for what they did to that boy!"
"Madam Bones and Arthur Weasley are taking care of the situation as quietly as possible. Harry doesn't need his former home situation plastered all over the Daily Prophet! They will be quietly charged, given Veritaserum and then join the gerbils until Tom is finally defeated." Albus' blue eyes had a steely glint in them.
Severus looked at Remus with a question, "Are you not even going to ask me about 'Potter's Potion'? I thought that would be your first question."
"You mean it exists? It isn't something that can no longer be made?" Remus was afraid to even look hopeful.
"Yes, it's already brewing in my lab; the first batch should be ready by the 14th. You will be able to take it on the night of the full moon on the 17th of this month. That is if you want to." Severus looked expectantly at the werewolf.
"Yes, yes of course. Albus, if we could verify the cure and then have it announced in the Daily Prophet, the werewolves would break from Voldemort in a heartbeat. That is true freedom and much more than even Voldemort has been trying to promise them!" Lupin was excited at the prospect of being finally free of the curse that had plagued his life since he had been bitten as a young child. "Does this lake still exist in this time then?"
Severus shook his head, "To be truthful, we haven't had enough time to be able to even think about that. Harry and I will have to go to Gringotts after everything settles down, but we brought back ten containers of lake water and that is enough to brew two hundred doses. The batch we made will make ten doses and they will be good for another four months before loosing strength. So we should be able to make up more for next full moon and I'm sure you will be able to find another twenty or thirty people willing to try the potion. But we will need to change the name to Potter-Snape Potion in the future."
Remus nodded in agreement, "Of course, Severus, you should have recognition for the part you did in developing the potion."
"You misunderstand; my son's name is Harry James Potter-Snape and we intend to make it that in this time too, as soon as we can." Severus smirked at the look on the two men's faces. They were coming to grips with the relationship between Harry and Severus but it was still a shock sometimes.
The men continued to talk well into the night, and by the time they each left to go to sleep, the beginnings of understanding were well underway with a foundation for a friendship to begin.