Birds of a Feather
By Sleeper 3173
Chapter Three
A/N: I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good.
Even though the pair were stronger then what Lupin and Tonks had expected, they still insisted on helping Harry and Hedwig down the stairs, despite their loud protests of course. They only let them go once they had eased into the chairs surrounding the kitchen table.
"Thanks Moony." Harry said. "But I think for future reference you're supposed to let the patient rest more before you decide to try and move them." He paused and chuckled. "I guess all those times in the hospital wing at Hogwarts finally rubbed off on me. I'm just glad enough that I feel well enough to move at all."
"I'm glad you feel that way." Lupin said. "Because we really don't have the luxury of time for you to be laid up that long." He stopped when a loud crash signaled that Tonks had started to cook breakfast by dropping the entire pot rack to the floor.
"Just how bad is it?" Harry asked, looking out of the corner of his eye at Hedwig, who was watching Tonks starting to fry bacon with interest. "You said that there are a lot of casualties."
"But thankfully only a few deaths." Tonks said as she dropped an egg to the ground while trying to scramble some eggs and flip the bacon at the same time.
"We would have been in real bad shape if Fawkes hadn't convinced another phoenix to come and help us care for the wounded." Lupin said. "Dozens of people owe their lives to phoenix tears right now."
"So Fawkes is still around?" asked Harry while Hedwig shifted anxiously waiting for the bacon to be served. "I thought when their masters died, phoenixes left to look for a new one?"
"They do Harry." Lupin replied. "Phoenixes are completely creatures of the light. He and Dumbledore where bonded, but there is so much darkness in England right now, I am shocked he didn't leave as soon as Dumbledore died, never mind bring another phoenix to help us. We think we know why he stayed, but that is for later."
Lupin stopped talking when Tonks, her shirt covered with splattered eggs and grease, carefully levitated four plates of food to the table. The seriousness of the situation was broken up by the need for Harry and Tonks to teach Hedwig how to use utensils after she tried to eat using her hands. It was becoming very clear that she still had the mind set of an owl when it came to many normal human actions.
Once the majority of the food had been eaten, and enjoyed watching Tonks get soaked from head to foot while trying to wash the pans (Harry looked away with a red face when her shirt got wet.) It was even more fun watching her trying to put the pans away on a pot rack that was still on the floor. Wearing a cheeky smile, she sat back down at the table still dripping wet and munched on one of the left over pieces of bacon.
"Alright," Harry said. "Spill. What has been going on out there?"
"Well…" Lupin said slowly. "I am sorry to say that You-Know-Who has launched his offensive against Magical Britain at last."
Harry frowned.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "What do you call what he was doing before?"
"That was more like covert ops, guerrilla warfare if you will." Tonks answered. "They wanted to build back up their forces and regain old allies. They also wanted the time to buy off or silently kill those who might lead a resistance against him, either in battle or in politics. Amelia Bones for example, could do both, so You-Know-Who killed her personally. "
"And with Dumbledore's death," Lupin continued "You were his last big obstacle. When you vanished and left a hand behind in a large pool of blood, it was widely reported that your uncle had injured you enough that when you tried to apparate away, you died. It wouldn't be the first time someone had died in that manner. It wasn't long after that that You-Know-Who went back to the Ministry at the head of his army and seized control of it."
"He tried to seize the Royal Family as well." Tonks said, her hair shifting to a fiery red to reflect her anger at this act.
"What?!" Harry yelped. "Why would he try and do that?"
"Simple." Tonks replied. "The British magical world is controlled by the Ministry of Magic, which is in turn controlled by the Minister of Magic. However, the Minister is just that, a minister. He or she still has to answer to someone… hence why You-Know-Who wanted the Royal Family. They are the real power in Magical Britain."
Harry was silent for a few seconds, his mouth open and closing a few times as he tried to wrap around this stunning new revelation of a world he was still learning about.
"What happened?" He asked. "You said tried, not that they succeeded."
Lupin and Tonks smiled brightly.
"In today's world, we thought that the Royal Family had no secrets left. Turns out they had a big one." Lupin said.
"Like what?" asked Hedwig. Even she knew who the Royal Family was.
"Princess Diana is a Witch." Tonks said. "Of course now that we know that we can suddenly understand the problems she has had with Prince Charles. She probably didn't tell him that before they got married."
"What?!" Harry and Hedwig exclaimed. "How could something like that have stayed a secret? Wouldn't she have had to go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"Not really." Lupin replied. "There are more schools in England then just Hogwarts, and there is also the homeschooling option. We think that is the route her family took."
"So get on with it already!" Harry exclaimed. "What happened?"
"When the Death Eaters showed up, they tripped the wards protecting the palace, and she was able to get the drop on them. Before they knew what had hit them, she had dropped three of them with Bombardas to the chest." Tonks said with an oddly prideful tone. "The noise of the explosions brought the Royal Guards who held off the rest of them till we could get there and evacuate the Royal Family."
"Bloody hell…" Harry muttered as he sat back trying to comprehend this new mental image of the Princess. "Was anyone injured in all of that? Where are they staying?"
"Prince Phillip lost his right eye." Lupin replied with a soft chuckle. "But all he has been saying is that the eye patch makes him look more dashing and refuses to let us fix it. And we will talk about where they are staying later."
Harry merely nodded, his mind still distracted. The room lapsed into silence for a few minutes till finally Harry shook his head with a sigh.
"So what else?" He asked. "Who is in charge of the Order? What else has Volde-MMPH!"
Before Harry could finish saying the name, Tonks had thrown herself across the table and slapped her hand over Harry's mouth and Lupin's wand was tickling Harry's right eye.
"If you ever say that name again." Lupin growled into Harry's scared face while Hedwig looked like she wanted to claw Lupin's eyes out. "I swear to Merlin I will kill you myself."
Harry managed to nod his head and the two settled back on their side of the table, though Hedwig was still glaring at Lupin, though then again, so was Tonks.
"Sorry about that Harry." She said giving Lupin a death glare. "You-Know-Who went and put a taboo curse on his own name. If anyone says it, the location at which where they are loses all magical protection, and Death Eaters instantly know where they are. Quite a few people have been captured or killed that way, and we've lost more then a few safe houses."
Harry paled at the thought of what had almost happened, while Lupin started to look like he was feeling bad for the way he had reacted.
"Don't worry." Harry said. "It won't happen again."
Silence once more fell upon the room while the people calmed down.
"So…" Harry said slowly. "Can my questions be answered?"
Lupin hesitated.
"Actually your questions go hand in hand…" he said slowly. "But I need your oath not to get overly upset when I answer it. You may not like what you hear."
Harry's eye narrowed, disturbed by what Lupin said before nodding, his thirst for knowledge overcoming all else.
"Alright. I promise." He said.
"No Harry…" Lupin said. "Your magical oath."
Harry sighed as he pulled out his wand and held it up. "I swear on my magic that I will not react violently to anything that Lupin has to say for the rest of the day, so mote it be." There was a flash and Lupin nodded in satisfaction before he leaned back in his chair.
"I guess the best way is just come right out and tell you." Lupin said. "I never agreed with Dumbledore's policy of weaving a long story before you getting to the point. Harry, right now its Snape who is leading the fight against You-Know-Who"
Lupin was instantly grateful that he had made Harry take that oath, judging from the way Harry was swelling from anger. He briefly wondered how much was from actual anger and what was magically induced. It was several minutes before Harry's magical oath allowed him to speak normally.
"You do remember that he killed Dumbledore right?" he asked in a barely controlled voice. "That all that is going on is his fault?"
Lupin hesitated and nodded.
"Yes, we remember." He said. "Nor has he denied it. However, he had Dumbledore's trust, and has told us things that have earned our reluctant trust. Also, certain events have transpired that have compelled him to leave You-Know-Who's service for good. But in the end, he had Dumbledore's trust, so with all that we know now; it's good enough for us."
Once again, Harry's oath prevented him from speaking for several minutes, and the others sat in uncomfortable silence.
"I want to know the details…" he started to say in a strained voice before Lupin interrupted him.
"Harry, I don't think that that is such a good idea." He said gently.
"Moony." Harry said sharply. "Either tell me or I swear the next time I see him I WILL kill him. Your choice."
Lupin and Tonks looked at each other, while Hedwig tried to comfort Harry by rubbing her head on his shoulder, forgetting that she was a human now. At least Tonks got a chuckle out of it.
"Alright Harry." Lupin said at last. "We'll tell you some of it, but only because your still under the oath, and because we really don't have a lot of time. In due time we will tell you everything. I'm not like Dumbledore. Ok?"
Harry nodded, though his muscles were still clenched.
"Snape's story begins and ends with your mother Harry." Lupin began, holding up his hand to stop him from saying anything. "They were childhood friends, and it was Snape who revealed to Lily that she was a witch. Sadly it was also due to this that your aunt Petunia became jealous of her sister, who had someone else to be with that understood her powers. I think even back then, they should have seen that fate was out to get them, for when they got to Hogwarts, Snape was sorted into Slytherin while Lily was sorted in Gryffindor. Despite that, they managed to maintain a friendship until their fifth year, the results of which you know very well."
Harry nodded, flashing back to his trip into the pensive with Snape's memories in it.
"However," Lupin continued. "By the time that happened, Snape had fallen in love with Lily, so the end of their friendship affected him badly. Without her light side influence, he sank completely into his studies, which even at that point was heavy in the Dark Arts. It was only a matter of time till he joined up with the Knights of Walpurgis, which eventually evolved into what we now know as the Death Eaters.
"Time passed, and Lily got married to James, and Snape became the man you know today. However, though the world was plunged into darkness, his love for Lily never died. When he learned You-Know-Who was wiping out the Potters, he went to Dumbledore and begged him to help keep her safe."
"But he was the one to tell Vol…er… You-Know-Who the prophecy!" Harry protested.
"Yes he was." Lupin said. "But you forget that when the prophecy was made, it could have applied to anyone, because, let's face it, You-Know-Who was targeting a lot of people. It wasn't till after he had reported what he had heard to You-Know-Who that it was figured out that it could be talking about either you or Neville. Dumbledore was looking to get a spy inside You-Know-Who's ranks, agreed to help protect them. He talked them into moving into a small cottage your parents had bought in Gordic's Hollow, which was then protected by the Fidelius Charm. Sadly, we all know how that ended."
Harry frowned as several forgotten nuggets of wisdom clicked into place.
"He did the actual charm work himself?" he asked slowly.
"Yes." Said Lupin bitterly. "And I already know what you're going with this. Yes, that means that he knew that Peter was the secret keeper and that Sirius was innocent all along. None of us would even think that Dumbledore would lie, so between him and what the evidence pointed to, we all believed that Sirius was guilty. There is of course the possibility that he obliviated himself of the knowledge but…"
"But Dumbledore values memories too much to do that." Harry finished grimly, staring at his new gold hand, realizing that his entire life had been decided for him without anyone having a single clue.
"So what else did the old man keep from me about my own life?" Harry asked dejectedly.
"The only other thing that I found out is that the Potter main vault still exists and that he had Gringotts stop sending you the monthly account notices."
"Main vault?" Harry asked confusedly. "What do I have now? And why would he stop the notices?"
"That's just your trust vault, something to get you through your years at Hogwarts. Normally you would have to wait till you come of age, but since you have no more guardians either alive or… fit… to care for you…. You can access it now. I am sure once we leave here you will get an owl telling you that you have been emancipated. As for why he stopped the notices? That was just Dumbledore being Dumbledore. He never believed that the young should have access to large amounts of money, fearing that they were too immature to be trusted to not spend it on frivolous things. You're not the only one who he has done this to, so don't feel too bad."
Harry nodded, but even this news of Dumbledore's further betrayal couldn't shake him from his original line of questioning.
"What did You-Know-Who do that made Snape leave his services?" he asked.
Lupin started fidgeting until Tonks put her hand on his arm.
"Later Harry." She said softly. "I promise I will tell you myself, but there are lots of other things we need to talk about first."
Harry scowled angrily, but nodded anyways.
"Alright Tonks." He said stiffly. "I'll be holding you to that promise."
Lupin visibly relaxed, and Harry was instantly reminded of Sirius. During the summer before the start of his fifth year, he had sat down with Harry to give him "The Talk." Harry doubted he would ever see another man relax as much as Sirius did when Harry told him that he already knew the subject matter.
"Ok." He said. "So what is so important that is this time critical?"
"Well," Lupin said. "To answer that question means we get to answer your earlier question about where the Royal Family is staying."
"Gee." Harry said sarcastically. "And here I thought you would wait till later to tell me that."
"Nonsense." Tonks said with a soft laugh. "We just didn't want to answer then because it didn't relate to what we wanted to talk about yet… then again we didn't want to talk You-Know-Who yet either… but you kind of forced the issue." Lupin just rolled his eyes.
"When our safe houses started to be discovered and destroyed, we quickly came to the conclusion that stealth was no longer an option. In fact, this is the only location that still remains hidden from You-Know-Who. Regardless, we needed a place that had strong defensive wards, and only a few places like that exist that could withstand a large attack. Gringotts, the Burrow, Longbottom Manor, and…" Lupin looked at Harry expectantly.
Harry's eyes widened.
"Hogwarts!" He exclaimed. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before?"
Tonks laughed.
"We forgive you for your moment of forgetfulness." She teased him. Harry in turn very maturely stuck his tongue out at her while Hedwig laughed.
"So what does all this have to do with me?" Harry asked, still not sure what Lupin and Tonks was getting at.
"Harry, as it stands now, Hogwarts' wards are already very formidable." Lupin said. "However, from what we have discovered through research in previous headmaster and headmistress's notes, they are just the basic set of wards that are currently activated. Some we could activate on our own, but some of the most powerful ones need to be turned on still." Harry gestured for him to go on, and Lupin faltered until Tonks took over with a huff.
"I think you need a brief history of Hogwarts castle." She said. "Hogwarts wasn't built as soon as the four founders decided to start teaching. It wasn't until the muggles started going after us magicals did they even think about building a castle. By that time, the four had married each other: Gordic and Helga, Salazar and Rowena. Courage and Loyalty. Cunning and Knowledge. Each the perfect match for the other.
"Salazar built the foundation of Hogwarts, but we think that was just so he could build his hidden chamber without fear of being discovered. Rowena designed and built the Library and all the classrooms. Helga (here the former Hufflepuff smiled widely) designed the 4 house dorms, as well as the general layout of the castle."
"What did Gordic do?" Harry asked, having learned more magical history in the past couple of minutes then in six years of Professor Binn's classes.
"Gordic, with the help of Rowena, designed Hogwarts' extensive wards." Lupin answered. It dawned on Harry that Lupin looked exhausted and he wondered if there had been a recent full moon. "However, in notes that Dumbledore left behind, we discovered that Gordic did more than that. He ALSO had a project he kept secret from the others. In addition to the additional wards then what he told them about, he also put together a more physical set of defenses, among which is an extensive subterranean wall system, which, when activated, rises out of the ground to completely surround the castle. We need those defenses because we know it is just a matter of time till You-Know-Who comes knocking at Hogwarts' gates at the head of his entire Death Eater army.
Harry sighed, getting frustrated.
"You still haven't said what this has to do with me."
Tonks chuckled, nudging Lupin in the ribs.
"You need to forgive him." She said. "He has a lot on his mind." Lupin blushed lightly but managed to give a weak smile.
"Right." He said. "Sorry. Gordic put two fail safes into his ward system. Well, three, but the first one only worked for as long as he was alive. He designed it so that to activate the full set of wards, you needed a key, and the key is his sword. I am sure you can already see why the first fail safe no longer works."
"Yeah." Harry said. "As long as he was alive, he would naturally have his sword with him, so why should he worry about someone else using it?"
"Exactly. Knowing that he wouldn't live forever, he put in the other two fail safes. The first was that only a Gryffindor could even touch his sword without suffering extreme pain. You don't even want to know what would happen if you tried to use it anyways. The third is the one that has gotten us hung up. Any Gryffindor can pick up his sword and use it as a sword. However, if you want to use it as the key, the sword needs to have PICKED you."
"Picked you?" Harry asked. "What do you… wait…. Oh bugger…" he trailed off, his mind flashing to the Chamber of Secrets when the sword came to "a true Gryffindor." Tonks shook her head.
"No buggering Harry if what Miss Angelina Johnson says is true." She said with a wink.
While a furiously blushing Harry choked and spluttered, Tonks took an equally as red Hedwig to the loo to teach her about human bodily functions. Lupin just sat there with a wistful smile on his face.
"What are you smiling at?" Harry finally managed to choke out, still bright red.
"Oh nothing." Lupin replied. "It's just that James reacted the same way when Lily told him near the end of seventh year that she knew about his large… er… collection of Playwizard magazines."
"Thanks Moony." Harry said with a groan. "I really could have gone without that bit of knowledge." Lupin laughed.
"Sirius would come back from the grave to kill me if I didn't say 'I aim to please' right now." Harry just groaned again and nodded his head.
"So…" he said, the blush slowly starting to fade. "Let's sum this all up. My uncle tried to kill me, failed, and I am guessing is dead in return."
"We don't know." Lupin said. "We are still trying to find out." Harry merely shrugged.
"My owl then turns into a human during all this, and we fled to here, Black Manor. During the process of fleeing, I lost my left hand, which you and Tonks replaced with a solid gold one." As he spoke, his gold hand flexed a few times, as if to tell him it was all true.
"While me and human Hedwig were asleep healing, You-Know-Who started to openly attack Britain, during which the Princess of Wales revealed herself to be a witch after Death Eaters tried to kidnap the Royal Family and she killed three of them. Hogwarts has been turned into a place of refuge. You need my help to use Gordic Gryffindor's sword to activate super strong ancient wards that the founder himself installed to make sure that You-Know-Who can't attack the castle."
"Don't forget that Snape is the leader of the resistance." Tonks chimed in as she and Hedwig came back to the table.
"Or that You-Know-Who put a curse on his own name." Lupin added.
"Or that we have to go back to the Dursleys and then go to Gringotts to look at your Family Vault." Hedwig answered.
"No." Harry said right away. "I am never going back to that place for as long as I live."
"But you left a lot of your stuff behind Master." Hedwig protested.
"I don't care Hedwig." Harry said, his eyes taking on an angry glint. "It can rot there for all I care. It was all clothing that used to be Dudley's that never fit me anyways. I would rather die then go back there, and there is nothing any of you can say that will change my mind."
"Relax Harry." Said Lupin. "You're not going back. But Hedwig is right. You do need to go to your Family Vault. Once we get to Hogwarts, we may not get another chance to go for awhile. There may be stuff in there we could use in the fight against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters." Harry nodded then a dark look came over his face.
"Don't think I've forgotten about Snape." He said angrily. "If I don't know the full story before I see him again, you had best prepare yourself for a leadership role Moony. When do we leave?" Tonks just smiled, undisturbed by Harry's threat.
"As soon as you two get dressed properly and get an energy potion into you." She said happily.
"Potion first I think." Lupin said, and with that, breakfast, and Harry's quick catch up on recent events, was over.
~Birds of a Feather~
In Little Whinging, a faint reddish dome was starting to show around the Dursleys' house. Unnoticeable by muggles, the hidden Death Eater who was assigned to watching the house saw it immediately. After Harry had shattered the wards, the Death Eaters had tried to attack, but to their disgust, discovered that the house was still protected by the blood ward that prevented them from entering the house with the intent to harm the occupants.
Now the ward was failing, and failing quickly.
The Death Eater immediately summoned for more help, and a few minutes later, twenty Death Eaters surrounded the Dursley house waiting for the moment they could attack.
Inside, Petunia Dursley was sorting through the growing pile of bills with frustration. It had been years since she herself had done the bills, and right now she was feeling overwhelmed. She reached for her teacup to take another sip of whiskey fortified tea when she paused, staring at it.
The tea cup was rattling in its saucer and it was getting worse with each passing second. In fact, the whole table, no, the whole room was shaking. She paled, somehow immediately knowing that it was somehow related to her nephew's freakishness.
Outside, the dome was becoming more and more distinct, and the Death Eaters creeped closer. Suddenly the red dome flickered a few times before a loud crack echoed through the area and the dome shattered like glass, falling to the ground with a tinkle.
With a loud cry, the Death Eaters rushed forward, eager to seize the house. Before they could travel half way across the yard though, there was the sound of objects breaking inside the house, before every window exploded in a hailstorm of glass that blinded a few Death Eaters. Seconds later, every single piece of furniture inside the house shot out through the windows and started pelted them; breaking limbs and driving them back.
One Death Eater struggled through the furniture storm to make it to the front door, but then paused when he heard a loud crashing noise. He didn't have long to wonder what the noise was, as half his head was suddenly taken off by the kitchen sink that smashed through the front door.
A loud series of cracks later, and silence once more fell on Privet Drive. To the curious people peering out from their windows, it looked like the Dursleys had been the victim of an unusual prank. That is till one sharp eyes neighbor spotted the corpse on the Dursleys' front step. The Police were quickly summoned.
With the wail of sirens in the distance, and the growing attention on the body, it's forgivable that no one saw the red "glass" slowly start to move. It could even be forgiven for not noticing that it gathered together in one spot. But only muggle stupidity could explain why no one noticed the flash of red light that enveloped the red lump, which quickly condensed into a red ball the size of a baseball and glowed brightly.
Lifting off the ground and floating five feet above it, it pulsed a few times slowly before twirling around rapidly. It drifted around the yard a few seconds, looking over the growing crowd and the general mayhem that had attracted them, before darting inside the house.
It paused outside the open door to the cupboard under the stairs, before rocketing up the stairs. It drifted unto Harry's room and scrutinized the dried blood on the walls and floor. It seemed to pulse with anger a few times before rocketing down to the first floor, passing through the wood effortlessly.
Drifting into the kitchen, it stopped in front of Petunia who was cowering in the corner. When she noticed the glowing red orb in front of her, she shrank back in horror.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed at it. The orb pulsed a few times before a very feminine voice came from it.
"That's the last time I help you." The voice said. "Next time the Death Eaters come, you're on your own. I suggest that you and your family leave at once."
With that final warning, the orb shot off towards the north, leaving behind a stunned Petunia who looked like she had just seen a ghost.
"Impossible…" was all that she was able to keep saying.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, Petunia was nowhere to be found. In fact, none of the Dursleys could be found. All that was left for them was the knowledge that there was a family missing, as well as the very puzzling mystery as to how a kitchen sink was used to kill a very weirdly dressed man.
A/N: I am so sorry for the enormous delay in getting this chapter out folks. I actually had the handwritten copy of this chapter done two weeks ago, but events in real life prevented me from dedicating any serious time to actually typing it up. Add in the three plot bunnies that popped into my mind while writing this and had to be dealt with…. Well… you get the picture.
Anyways, did I give you enough surprises? I told you that the fate of many would be changed. To my British readers, if making Princess Diana offended you for some reason, I am sorry, it was not my intention. It was my plan from day one to write it that she did NOT die in the car crash, and her being a witch kinda flowed onto the paper. I was originally going to make the Queen a witch, seeing as how a great many fanfics make her the leader of both muggle and magical governments, but as an American, I didn't feel I was up to the challenge of creating a personality for such a wonderful and well respected woman without doing her full justice.
So, to my British readers! I hope in the coming chapters you will help me create a believable magical Princess Diana, because after all, this story is for you, the readers. See you next time!
Sleeper 3173
P.S. How many of you can correctly guess what the orb really is? And even more so, what I plan to do with it? Look forward to hearing your answers! Also, your afraid about this being a Harry/Tonks/Lupin three some, don't worry about it. It's not going to happen.
Mischief Managed!