Harry Potter and the Impossible Mission

Disclaimer: We own nothing, but the plot. Everything else is J.K. Rowling's.

Summary:

Harry is reflecting on the things that happened last year at the Department of Mysteries when he gets an unexpected visitor. He learns about his family and moves on after the death of Sirius. A new event begins at Hogwarts and Harry learns he must participate if he wants to help the Order. Harry begins working harder than ever to accomplish the task when one of the only people he feels understands him is taken by Voldemort. He deals with the contents of the prophecy and all the pressures that normal teens have, growing stronger to do what's asked of him all the time.

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Hey everyone! Please remember to review and we appreciate ideas and suggestions to make this story even better! The chapters are getting longer so stick with us! Thanks so much to everyone who reads!

-Shannon and Kathryn

Chapter Three: Stones and Scores

The next few days passed by quickly and Harry's birthday soon arrived. He was woken up by Ron running around the room screaming, "Happy Birthday!" Harry opened his eyes and an amused expression came to his face as he watched Ron. Just then Hermione came in talking about O.W.L. scores.

"Hermione," Ron said, interrupting her long talk about the scores, "Do you remember what day it is?"

Hermione's eyes scanned the room and fell on Harry, "Happy Birthday!"

Harry smiled, "Did the O.W.L. scores come in?"

"Yes, so hurry up so we can go downstairs," Hermione said eagerly.

Harry got dressed quickly after Hermione left, then he and Ron went downstairs. Harry looked around the room and saw Lupin, Moody, the Weasley's, Hermione and finally Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood up and handed Hermione, Ron, and Harry each an envelope. They all opened the envelopes at the same time. Harry pulled out a piece of parchment with green writing on it and read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

This letter contains your OWL Results. You have done especially well. Congratulations!

Sincerely,

Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Charms- practical-E written-O

Defense against the Dark Arts- practical-O written-O

Transfiguration- practical-O written-E

Potions- practical-E written-O

Care of Magical Creatures- Practical- O written-O

Astronomy- practical-P written-O

Divination- practical-D written-A

HIstory of Magic- written-D

Herbology- practical-E written-O

Harry smiled to himself as he skimmed through his scores again. He looked up and saw Mrs. Weasley congratulating Ron on his scores. Harry thought about how he should be able to do the same thing. Sirius should be here congratulating him and telling him about how he and his father did when they took it.

Harry sighed as he glanced down at his scores again. He set the parchment aside and wiped a tear that fell down his face away. He looked up and saw Dumbledore looking at him with a sad smile.

"I need to be leaving Molly, but I will be back tonight," Dumbledore said with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

He gave Harry a brief hug as he left the room. Harry smiled at his great grandfather's retreating back, deep in thought. At the thought of what his father and Sirius did during their testing time, a horrible memory he had hoped to forget surfaced in his mind. It was the scene from Snape's pensieve. Lupin came over to Harry. He smiled as he approached and Harry smiled back.

"Hey Harry," Lupin said as he came and sat down beside the skinny boy, "How did you do on your OWLs?"

Harry handed him the piece of parchment and Lupin looked through it. A smile came over his face. He looked up at Harry as he set the piece of parchment down on the table. "Your parents and Sirius would've been really proud of you Harry," Lupin said, looking carefully at the now sixteen year old.

Harry sighed as he looked down at his feet. He suddenly found his shoelaces extremely interesting as he tried to push the memory that was invading his mind and taking over his thoughts out. Lupin seemed to know what Harry was thinking about and put his fingers under his chin as he gently turned Harry's face up. Harry stared into the man's tired looking eyes and didn't say anything.

"Don't think about the bad memories you have with him," he said gently, "Think about all the good times you had." Lupin released his chin and got up and left the kitchen.

Harry let his head drop as he excused himself and headed upstairs. He wandered up the stairs not thinking about where he was going and turned up in Buckbeak's room. What happy memories of Sirius did he have? There hadn't been enough time to be happy whenever he had seen his godfather. The first time, he had to leave, next had been just after Cedric had died, and last year, they had been discussing Voldemort and worrying about Mr. Weasley.

Harry bowed to Buckbeak slightly and Buckbeak nodded his head in return. Harry sat down and began stroking the hippogriff's head, lost in thought. Why did Sirius have to die? Why did he have to die when Harry needed him most? He couldn't deal with the prophecy alone and the only one he felt he could talk to about it was Sirius. It wasn't fair. He hadn't known Sirius that long, but he was the closest he had ever had to a father.

He wasn't sure how long he was there, but it must have been a while. Harry heard footsteps outside the door. He paused and Buckbeak made a sound of complaint as Harry looked to the door.

Dumbledore walked in smiling. His eyes were twinkling. "Hello Harry! Happy birthday! Are you going to come downstairs? There's a party all planned out and everything," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

Harry smiled weakly, "I guess I have to." Dumbledore's smile faultered when he heard the young wizard's reply. He came over and sat down next to Harry who looked up into his eyes. Harry could see the worry and concern etched in the old man's face.

"My dear boy, what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked. Harry looked up into his great-grandfather's face. The memories and thoughts came rushing back to him. Harry couldn't stand it anymore. Tears began falling down Harry's face and he buried his face in Dumbledore's robes. Dumbledore put a comforting arm around his shoulders.

Neither said anything and sat there for a few minutes. The only thing that was heard were Harry's sobs and the sound of Buckbeak moving around every now and then. The sobs slowly stopped and Harry looked up.

"I'm sorry about that," Harry said as he wiped the remaining tears from his face.

"Don't be sorry, Harry. There are alot of sorry people in this world," said Dumbledore as he went over to Buckbeak and began stroking him, "There's no need to be sorry for things that are meant to happen." He turned back to Harry and helped him up. The two headed down to the kitchen.

Harry was suprised at the change in the kitchen. Balloons were everywhere and there was a pile of presents all in brightly wrapped paper in the center of the table. A large chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry! written in red icing sat at the head of the table.

Dumbledore steered Harry over to the seat and Harry sat down. Dumbledore took the seat to the right and Ron and Hermione took seats to the left of Harry. His friends had large smiles on their faces and wished Harry a happy birthday.

Dumbledore took out his wand and pointed it towards the blue and white candles. An orange light shot out of his wand and the candles lit up. Harry stared at the candles and a smile crept onto his face. The words to Happy Birthday shot out of Dumbledore's wand and hovered in the air. The room was suddenly filled with people's voices all singing the tune. Not all the voices matched and to most people it wouldn't have sounded too great. Harry thought it sounded wonderful though.

"Make a wish!" Ron said excitedly. Harry smiled at his best friend and looked down to the cake. He stared at the cake thinking hard of what he wanted. He closed his eyes. I wish...

The room filled with clapping as Harry blew out his candles. Dumbledore summoned a present to him and handed the box to Harry. Harry opened it and found a card from the Weasleys and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Dumbledore continued summoning them and Harry slowly made his way through the large pile. Harry recieved a book of studying tips from Hermione, a new watch from Lupin, and a large box of supplies from the Weasley twins from their new store. Harry guessed business was going well for the two.

Finally there was one present left. It was a small box wrapped in gold paper. Harry took the package from Dumbledore and tore off the paper. He took the lid off and pulled out a small, emrald green stone that matched his eyes. It was perfectly round and slightly warm. Harry rolled it over a few times in his hand as he examined it and looked up to the older wizard beside him.

"I'll tell you about it later," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded and set the stone back in the box after another glance at it.

"Time to eat cake!" Mrs. Weasley said.

She came over to Harry and began cutting the cake into slices. She put a rather big slice infront of Harry and handed him a fork. She passed the other pieces down the table. Harry began eating. The cake was delicious and Harry quickly made his way through the cake. Not as quickly as Ron was though. When he finally looked up from his piece, his face was covered in chocolate icing. Harry smiled and soon was laughing as he looked at his friend.

"What's so funny?" Ron inquired through his mouthful of food. Hermione scowled and rolled her eyes and Harry kept on laughing. Dumbledore allowed a small smile to slip onto his face when he saw the boy.

"I believe you need to look in the mirror Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said as he conjured a mirror and handed it to the red haired boy. Ron gasped when he saw his reflection and the part of his face that could be seen was almost as red as his hair. Harry laughed harder.

The night was soon coming to an end and everyone had a good time, especially Harry. He hadn't laughed so much in quite some time. Harry was heading up the stairs with his friends when Dumbledore called him back. Harry turned around and remembered Dumbledore's mysterious present that he had recieved. He followed Dumbledore into the sitting room where Dumbledore closed the door and put a sliencing charm on it. Harry took a seat on the green couch and Dumbledore sat down beside him.

"Do you have your present with you?" Dumbledore asked Harry. Harry pulled out the box and took the stone out. He showed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded, "Good, good. Now, this stone is very important. You have this instead of getting what the Order gets because this has special features."

Harry raised an eyebrow in question but didn't say anything. Dumbledore took the stone from him and looked down at it as he rubbed his finger over the smooth surface of it.

"Whenever we have an Order meeting, it will grow warm and begin to vibrate. Since you cannot yet apparate, it will serve as a portkey. You will have thirty seconds to get to somewhere that will be safe to portkey from and will arrive back at headquarters in the kitchen. You will also be able to call me whenever you get into trouble.

"The special features are that it will warn me when you are hurt or in danger as long as you have it with you. It can also be used like a wand for simple defense spells such as the disarming spell and the stunning spell. Now, I think you would like to know how to work it?" Dumbledore finished.

"Yea, that would be great," Harry replied with a smile.

"Now, if you want to talk to me, just rub it and say my name. For the spells, you will hold it out infront of you like you would with a wand and say the incantation. Remember, only simple spells work. Why don't we practice doing spells with it," Dumbledore suggested. Harry nodded and took the stone back from Dumbledore. He held the stone out infront of him as Dumbledore pulled out his wand.

"Try the disarming spell first Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled out. A red beam shot out of the stone and knocked Dumbledore's wand out of his hand. It fell to the floor. Dumbledore smiled.

"I think you have that down. Good job!" Dumbledore said as he picked up his wand from the floor. He motioned Harry to sit back down on the couch. Harry did so. What else did Dumbledore want to talk to him about?

"You remember our conversation that we had started before Professor Snape interrupted us?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. Hopefully, he would get some answers now to why this had been kept so secret, other than the fact that it was for his own protection.

"There are other reasons than just your safety for me not telling you sooner," Dumbledore said, giving Harry a penetrating stare. Harry raised his eyebrows in question. "As I told you last year, I could not have Voldemort possessing you to try and find information. If he knew our relationship was, as I said earlier, more than teacher and student, he could use it to his advantage."

Harry turned his head away from the man and stared hard at a stain on the floor. The anger had flared up inside of him at Dumbledore's words. Dumbledore could've risked letting him know in his first year or after that, Harry was sure of it. There was no chance of Voldemort possessing him then. He wasn't powerful enough.

"Harry," Dumbleodre said gently. Harry looked back and sighed. He couldn't be mad at Dumbledore. He was family after all, even though he hadn't known for so long and he was human. He was bound to make mistakes! Harry looked up to Dumbledore and allowed a small smile to slip onto his face.

"Are you okay?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded.

"I also think you will be delighted to know you won't be needing to go back to the Dursley's next summer," Dumbledore said. Harry looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"Are you serious?" Harry asked. His voice was filled with hope as he looked up at the headmaster. Dumbledore chuckled at the sight of the boy's face.

"Yes Harry, I'm quite serious," Dumbledore said. "You will be allowed to come back to my home next summer. Your friends will be able to visit as well, so you can see them more often." A large smile appeared on Harry's face and he jumped up and gave Dumbledore a big hug.

"Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you!" Harry exclaimed. Dumbledore returned the hug and laughed a little before telling Harry to quiet down some. Harry muttered an apology and sat down on the couch. His face flushed red with embarrassment when he thought about what he just did.

"Well Harry, I think you need to get to bed," Dumbledore said standing up.

"Okay. Good-night Professor," Harry said as he headed for the door.

"Harry, you don't need to call me that while we're not at school," Dumbledore said.

"Okay," Harry said. "Good-night, Granddad." He smiled and Dumbledore smiled back at him.

Harry headed upstairs. He walked into his room to find Ron already asleep. He laughed slightly as he threw his robes into his trunk and pulled on a pair of pajamas that were a few inches too short. He slipped under the warm covers and went to sleep without any disturbing visions from Voldemort.

The last few weeks of the summer holidays passed quickly. The last week before they were going to head back to school, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the kitchen. Harry was snacking on a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich while Ron and Hermione had one of their daily arguments. Today, the subject was the homework Ron had left till last minute.

"I told you that you would regret waiting so long," Hermione said in her know it all voice. Ron looked like he was about ready to jinx her and Harry could have sworn he saw more than once Ron's hand go to his wand and grasp it tightly.

"Hermione, would you just shut up already!" Ron yelled angrily as he scratched out a mistake on his transfiguration essay. Harry laughed slightly as he finished off the sandwich. Just then Dumbledore walked in. He raised his eyebrows at Harry when he heard Hermione's long lecture to Ron about his homework. Harry just shook his head and followed Dumbledore out of the room.

"Thanks for saving me," Harry said as they wandered up the stairs. Dumbledore had been spending more time with Harry in these last weeks to make up for completely ignoring him last year. He wanted to get to know his favorite student better. Harry told him about his, Ron, and Hermione's many wonderful adventures at Hogwarts, though he had a pretty good feeling that Dumbledore already knew about them all. The subject of his time before Hogwarts was almost always avoided.

"You're quite welcome my boy," said Dumbledore with a chuckle. "So, which wonderful adventure are you going to tell me today?"

"Hmm," Harry said thoughtfully. "Have I told you about my first past curfew adventure?"

"Not that I know of," said Dumbledore, looking interested. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Well, Malfoy was really mad that I wasn't expelled after the incident in flying class," Harry started. Dumbledore laughed, but quickly turned it into a cough. Harry smiled slightly and continued. "He challenged me to a duel and so we went out at midnight to meet him in the trophy room. It turns out he never planned to meet me in the first place, and instead told Mr. Filch we would be there. That's how we met Fluffy."

Dumbledore nodded with a look of intrest on his face. They walked into Buckbeak's room. They normally ended up here and would spend some time with the hippogriff. Buckbeak was so used to Harry now that Harry never even had to bow when he came in.

Harry immediately went over to the creature and sat down by him. He began stroking the animal's neck. Dumbledore smiled down at the sight of the boy and bid Harry good-bye as he headed out the door, saying he had work to finish. Harry nodded in his direction and continued what he was doing. He stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon, caught up in his own thoughts.

A/N: Longer than the last so we hope you all enjoyed it! Please review after you read. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading!

-Shannon and Kathryn