The laughter of the Dark Lord echoed through the room like sand rubbing against itself. It echoed back and forth and Harry gritted his teeth, still staring at the rotting corpse in the armchair.

"What do you mean? What is polar?" He asked, still confused.

Voldemort shook his head, a few bugs fell to the floor. "That is nothing you need to know, boy. In fact, it doesn't matter at all because you won't survive this day at all. Carrows!" The last word was called out louder, echoing through the room again. One of the doors cracked open and the two adults that had been sent from the hall returned.

Quickly almost running down the stairs the two hurried to the platform and kneeled down in front of the big armchair. They both bowed their heads and now Harry noticed the similarity between the two of them. The short noses and the way their eyes were shadowed by their thick eyebrows made them look like siblings, Harry thought in some kind of detached way.

They bowed their head so deep their long unwashed hair touched the ground. The corpse in the armchair waved its hand.

"Gag him and prepare everything." Lord Voldemort whispered, his voice cracking in a dried throat. The two siblings bowed even deeper before they both hurried to start the preparations. Being undead had a few perks, like the factor that you couldn't die, but at the same time it was an empty, shallow way of exciting and the man who once had been called Tom Riddle wished nothing more than to return to his old self. He wanted back his power, this body was frail and weak. He wanted the masses to bow down to his might once more, a whole country kneels before him in fear. That was the true thrill there was. He thrived for this feeling of power and control, for the one thing that made him feel truly alive.

His dark red eyes turned to the boy who was still sitting at the ground and glared at him with anger in his eyes. One of the Carrows forced an ugly piece of cloth in his mouth, fixing it behind his neck. The boy screamed into the gag but nothing really came out anymore. Voldemort had snorted in amusement. That boy was truly stubborn. He was in the presence of the most powerful wizard the world had ever seen and still he tried to resist. It was almost adorable. A mere teenager standing against the Lord of Dark Lords. Like a mouse that tried to fight off a snake in the tall grass.

Voldemort had the thought it would be a shame to kill the boy. He would love to keep him prisoner, show him one by one how his precious world and friends were shattered into pieces, scattered like broken toys, hurting him at every turn. Potter seemed like the boy who would break down at the sight of his loved ones being tortured and killed. That would be an appropriate punishment for the boy who dared to stand up against Lord Voldemort twice.

But that wouldn't do. The death of this boy would bring him to new heights, new power. Using his polar in a ritual would enhance him even further. There was a reason he had attacked the Potters all these years ago. Yes, the boy's parents had fought against him, annoyed him to no end with their fruitless efforts to stop him, mere twigs that tried to hold back an avalanche.

But the boy was the real reason he had searched for them. Oh, of course, that old fool, Dumbledore had figured it out too. He had made the arithmetic equations too and he knew it was the turning point of the war. So the old fool had hidden the Potters from him and would have almost gotten away with it. Fidelius charm, so clever, so smart, so boring. Typical Dumbledore. Yes, a Fidelius worked very well, but Voldemort was so often bored by the man's inability to do something creative, something daring. There were so many spells and curses that would have done the same effect but with lot nastier side effects. For example, there was a variation of the Fidelius where the secret keeper would die a gruesome and very painful death if he tried to tell the secret to certain people. That would have been effective and safe. But no, in his self-loving manner Dumbeldore didn't consider this option.

Tom had to admit, even if he didn't like it, that the old man was probably the stronger wizard out of the two, not that he would ever say it. The raw power, the man held in his hands was scary, even for the Dark Lord. There was a reason he never tried to attack Hogwarts, why he never challenged Dumbledore directly. While he was certain he would win a fight with the noble leader of the light, he had no idea what would happen if he pushed the old coot too far. What Dumbledore turned to the idea that he should cast morals and principles aside to kill him. So he avoided the man and still had hoped one of his followers could land a lucky shot or the poison in his food wouldn't be detected this time.

But this would all change soon. The dark red eyes looked at the hurt, bound boy with such hunger.

"I am sick of this." Sirius growled out, his fist slamming once more onto the desk in front of him. Remus placed his hand on the black-haired man's shoulder. He had finished his preparations with the map and returned to his best friends side, trying to calm Sirius in some way or form. It wasn't easy. For one Sirius wasn't someone who would be calmed quite easy, to begin with. He was rash and emotional.

But even more Remus himself was on edge. Harry was missing and Moony deep inside of him wasn't happy at all. While the wolf was savage and dangerous, it had a sense of pack and family. It considered some its own and its own taken away made the beast twitchy. Yet he had to be there for his best friend.

They had left Dumbledore's office quite some time ago now. Actually, they had been thrown out because Sirius was acting out, yelling at everyone in the room. Narcissa finally had booted him out, saying she would inform him if they had news but he could be childish on his own.

"I know Sirius. We will find him." He said quietly, nodding to his friend again. Sirius looked over to him, leaning back in the chair.

"I hope you are right Moony. I can't lose him." There was a pleading undertone in Sirius voice that clenched Remus's heart. The man was so honest it was sometimes difficult to handle. His words were meant in a quite literal way. Remus had noticed it during the summer and the last couple of months. Harry was Sirius world. He was everything the man thought about most of the time.

Before their world breaking apart before Padfoot went to that hell on earth before Lils and Prongs died, Sirius had been a carefree, energetic and unbothered man. Yes the war has been tough and they fought and lost but Sirius kept on walking. No matter how dreadful the situation became, Remus' best friend fought not only for survival but for a better tomorrow. He believed with all his heart that they would win and then the normal life would have them back. They would laugh and joke and be there all together. It all broke apart in just a few hours and when it broke, Sirius broke with it.

He was still the same man as before, joking and being goofy and most people wouldn't notice it but to Remus, it was obvious as daylight. Sirius had changed. There was a pain in his eyes that wouldn't go away. The festering wound in his mind still there and aching all the time. Sirius was a man who had lost everything and now was mourning those losses.

The only times this pain seemed to move away was when he was with Harry. Then the pain would fade and a certain light returned and the real Sirius, not the Lord of Black, not the ex-convict haunted by the nightmares of half a life in prison. No the Sirius that had been his friend for so many years and that he had missed for so long.

Harry didn't seem to know it, but Sirius' whole life, his whole world circled around the black-haired boy and if something would happen to his godson, Remus was quite certain he would lose his last friend at that day for good.

They had talked about it once, during the summer. Sirius had drunk quite a lot that night, while they sat together, talking quietly. A sombre mood had filled the man and that one time, he had spoken of Azkaban.

Sirius swirled the fire-whiskey in his thick glass, the ice cubes sliding around with clicking sounds. Remus had stuck to water that night. Moony wasn't all that agreeing with alcohol and while he despised the creature at his core, Remus still didn't want to tempt it. Sirius sighed, leaning back in the armchair while rubbing his face.

"Alright there Padfoot? You and fire-whiskey don't mix well anymore?" Remus said with a chuckle, eyeing his best friend. But he didn't see a smirk, not a grin nor faked anger. Instead, Sirius stared up at the ceiling in a hundred-yard stare blinking, while his mind seemed to wander somewhere. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's still cold Rem." He said slowly opening his eyes again. Remus frowned.

"It's quite warm Padfoot." He said, not sure what his best friend was about. Sirius shook his head and tapped on his chest.

"In here. I still feel like my bones were made from frozen acid." He mumbled, finally looking at his friend. Remus saw at that moment the things Sirius was hiding so badly. The pain and the destruction of twelve years of dementor exposure could create. The man stared at him but it was like Remus wasn't even there really. It was the kind of stare you would see from veterans when they came back home and couldn't handle.

"I can't forget Rem. Every night when I close my eyes, I see them again. Prongs lying on the floor, his empty eyes staring at the ceiling. I remember it in every detail. There were small particles of ash on his eyeballs and his face was contorted to a stoic face of defiance. I didn't need to have been there to know that James put up a hell of a fight when the pillock came through their door. He had still his wand in his hand, strong and firm. Like he would jump up in any moment and crack a joke."

Remus felt his heart drop in his stomach. He knew what it had looked like. He hadn't been to the house himself, but he had read it over and over and others had told him. Hagrid, Dumbledore, Moody and more. Yet it was quite an image burned in his mind, showing their best friends killed by a maniac.

Sirius still stared into the distance, not looking up to Remus, while the class was clutched in his hand, forgotten.

"And Lils, lying just there. Crumbled down, her red hair sprawled out like a halo around her. I couldn't see her face, it was covered with her hair but I just knew, I just knew Rem."

His voice was bitter and while Remus wanted to comfort his friend he wasn't sure Sirius was even there really with him.

"And Harry was crying. Heartwrenching sobs out of that little crib. Merlin those haunting sobs. He knew, he knew his mommy and daddy just had died and it tore his little heart apart."

Remus nodded slowly.

"I miss them too." He mumbled, wishing now he had taken the alcohol no matter what his inner beast said. Sirius slowly shook his head.

"I don't remember them Rem."

Remus frowned tilting his head.

"What do you mean Pads?"

Sirius looked up at him, tears in his eyes.

"I don't remember what Lily's voice sounded like. I don't remember the warmth of James hug. Not the way they were, it is all covered in a layer of fog. It feels like things that I have heard of but never experienced myself. I have no idea what they were like anymore. All I remember is that night, it is all that is clear to me really anymore. That and the gutwrenching pain of knowing what I lost."

Remus sighed and stood up, placing his hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Azkaban did horrible things to you Pads." He said quietly.

Sirius sniffled slightly. "I wish it would have ended there. But it is still haunting me, Rem. Even when I fled, these pictures followed me. Every step, every day every night at sleep. Every night I wake up screaming their corpses burned into my mind, my heart racing and I feel like throwing up. I don't need fucking Dementors to torture my mind, because my mind is doing it fucking itself!" He growled out the last words and threw his whiskey glass through the room shattering it on the opposite wall. Remus flinched slightly at the sudden shattering. Sirius buried his face in his hands and shook in silent sobs for some time, while his friend rubbed his shoulders, trying to give him comfort.

"I'm so sorry Pads." The scared man whispered

They stayed that way for quite some time, then Sirius finally sat up rubbing his face. He still sniffed hard but he stopped shacking anymore, while he looked up to his friend with brimmed red eyes.

"And do you know what I do when I wake up screaming?"

Remus shook his head slowly.

Sirius face turned into a sad smile.

"I walk over and glance into Harry's room. Watch him sleep for a little while. That calms me down quite a lot. Knowing that he is safe and secure, that not everything in this world is dark and empty. It might be a little creepy but this is the only way I can return to bed and sleep at all those nights. Knowing that he is in the next room, sleeping and dreaming happy dreams."

Remus smiled, patting his friend's shoulder. When he spoke of his godson, Sirius's eyes were shining with a totally different light, a light Remus had seen in his gaze back when they were children just a few times. It was the intense happiness that knew no bound.

"I'm glad to hear that Pads."

"I feel the same Padfoot. We can't lose him and we will not." Remus said with a firm voice. Sirius looked at him desperately.

"I hope you are right Remus. I just hope you are right." His eyes glared up to the ceiling, where Dumbledore's office was.

"Why isn't he doing something? He is just sitting there doing NOTHING!" The man lashed out, yelling loudly.

Remus sighed, shaking his head.

"He is not a god Sirius. He tried what he can but his power knows limits. You can't expect him to solve every problem with a snap of his fingers."

Sirius growled again, shaking his head. "Awesome leader of the light he is. Merlin Damn! There must be something we can do."

"You could keep your calm Siri." A stern voice from the door said. Both turned seeing the strict face of Amelia Bones, who had crossed her arms staring at them. Sirius got to his feet, surprise in his face.

"Melia, what are you doing here?" He asked, stepping towards her. The head of house Bones wore crimson Auror robes and her hair was tied to a knot on the back of her head. She moved in, still glaring in Sirius direction.

"What do you think I'm doing here? The boy who lived disappeared from Hogwarts in the middle of a great public event. How long did you think it took Fudge to get the head of the DMLE involved? About half a second. So I came here as quick as I could. Search teams are out there, with some trinket of Dumbledores. He said with those we could find him with enough search time."

Sirius frowned shaking slightly. "What if we don't have enough time?!" He asked with a raised panicked voice only to stumble back when Amelia Bones stepped forward and jabbed her index finger into his chest.

"Don't you yell at me, Sirius Orion Black! We do what we can and then some, so get your damn head out of your ass and calm down for Merlin's sake! You are not helping anyone by stomping your feet like a child. You will calm down or I swear to god I will hex you into next week!"

Sirius stared at her blinking for a moment, before he took a deep breath, shaking a little. He then sighed.

"I'm sorry, It is...hard. What do we have?"

Amelia's stance softened a bit and she nodded slowly.

"We know a few things. For one it will take us about four hours to work our way through the country. By that time we should have found him."

Sirius raised his eyebrow. "What if he isn't in Britain?"

Amelia shook her head. "We checked the wards. The portkey that was used could only have the reach of a few hundred miles. Barely reaching the northern part of France. It is more likely that they are here in the UK. Also, the bird says otherwise."

Remus tilted his head. "Dawn?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes. Of course, she can't talk, but she and Dumbledore's phoenix can communicate in some way or form and from what he is sending through their "bond" it seems like the bond of Harry and his phoenix isn't stretched extremely thin, something that would happen when he would be really far away. Of course, this is pretty vague and Dumbledore himself said it is only a guess or a hunch but it is all we got so we take what we can get."

Sirius nodded, thinking of the black bird. She looked so sad up there but stayed with her "father" so to speak, snuggling close to the taller flaming red bird.

"In about four hours we will have covered every inch of Britain, two hours if he isn't in a secluded part. Now did he say something to you before anything?"

Sirius shook his head slowly. "He was nervous about the trial and didn't want to embarrass himself by dropping out. Oh, Merlin, I wish he would have just dropped out right away." He fell back into the chair, deflating, while he ran his hand through his hair.

Amelia Bones nodded slowly, like making a note.

"Did he have any enemies?" She asked and for a moment it just got silent in the room. Sirius only raised his eyebrow. The stern woman had the decency to blush a little.

"Right, of course. Well, Dumbledore's prime suspect is You-know-who." She said with a bitter tone, making both the man flinch.

Sirius frowned. That was likely. He had come to the same conclusion by now. Harry had a tendency to run into the Dark Lord more than any other person in the world. He blinked.

"Probably yes, but how did he get a Portkey into the most protected place in the world unnoticed."

Amelia frowned herself, nodding. "I would like to know that myself. And I will find out. Moody had an eye on the thing the whole time and I can't for the life of me figure out how someone got passed his excessive security." She smiled, stepping closer to the man and placed her hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"We will find him, Sirius."

The man gave her a weak smile, placing his own hand over hers.

"Thanks, Melia."

"We begin." The voice that was like a knife cut through the cold room. A large cauldron was set up in the middle of the room, without a fire underneath. In it swam a clear liquid. Luckily for Harry, he had no idea what that liquid was, because it was the amniotic fluids taken from captured pregnant muggle woman. The liquid of life to restore a broken life to its former self.

The Carrows hastily walked over to the armchair and picked up the corpse that was sitting there with the sound of crackling bones and the smell of rotting flesh and death increased quite a lot when the robes that were hanging around that frame were moved. Both siblings showed no sign of disgust but even from Harry's point of view, the smell was overwhelming. He really didn't want to know what it felt like carrying a rotting corpse around at all. His stomach was tumbling and when he leaned he felt the pain of his hurt shoulder once again.

The Carrows reached the cauldron and carefully put the rotting body in the liquid. Harry sighed in somewhat of a relief, the moment the body was submerged at least the pain in his forehead faded quite a lot. Yet when you have burning headaches for a few hours, even slightest relief feels like heaven, but it doesn't go away in an instant. Both of the dishevelled looking adults stepped back picking up pieces of chalk and got to work, writing runes and circles onto the ground. For some time there was nothing to be heard but the clicking of chalk on the ground, along with shifting robes. Harry had long given up trying to scream it just exhausted him. He tried as quietly as he could to loosen his bonds, even though moving his shoulder hurt like hell every time he tried it, but his restraints were so tight they actually cut into his flesh quite a bit. There was a sharp piece of the rock he leaned against and he tried rubbing the ropes on the edge to cut them, but he knew that he would never make it in time. Still, he tried anyway because giving up wasn't something Harry Potter considered doing at all, that was his nature to always try and do what he thought needed to be done.

So he endured the burning agony from his shoulder, the cutting feeling of the ropes, the throbbing pain from his forehead and kept on moving his hands up and down ever so careful. He had only one chance of getting it right and if one of them saw what he was doing, it would go down the drain.

Yet he didn't finish before the two siblings stood up, looking down at their work.

"You think that is right?" The woman said, frowning while she stared at the signs they had drawn. The man leaned down walking in a circle before nodding.

"Yes, I think that is about right." He admitted. The woman even laughed a little.

"You were always better at ancient runes brother, I trust you." She leaned over and Harry stared in horror when he saw that she was kissing him quite deeply. Didn't they say they were brother and sister? He even forgot to move the ropes for a moment, caught in a moment of fascination and horror. The man hummed once then nodded.

"All right, let's do this." He sat in a tense voice. Harry wasn't sure why but he got the feeling that the man was really afraid during this moment. The female death eater nodded and retreated from the circle, only to hand something that was wrapped in an old cloth to the man. The thin guy nodded unwrapping the object.

"Bone of the father, given unknowingly to revive the son." He said with a nervous voice. The object was an old bone, darkened by age and time, The man dropped it in the fluid and a thick cloud of dark red smoke rose from the depth of it. Carrow nodded, then put his hand in his robes, pulling forth a long thick knife.

His sister turned away, even closing her eyes, while the brother took a few deep breaths. Harry watched with horror as the man stretched out his arm over the cauldron, speaking again.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master." With a swift motion the knife came down and the man screamed in agony as it slid through his forearm. The whole left hand was cut off dropping into the now bubbling fluid. The man stumbled back, screaming, holding on to his forearm. He turned to his sister, still in panic and pain. The woman raised her wand, mumbling something. Harry saw the flesh knit itself together in slow motion as someone pulled it on hooks over the wound. The man screamed in even more pain and shook, dropping to his knees, still clutching to his forearm. The veins on his forehead were pulsing and he gritted his teeth so hard he might actually break one or two. After a few moments, the gruesome display ended and the man sagged into himself sighing in relief. His sister kneeled in front of the circle, careful not to cross one of the lines.

"Are you okay? Amycus, talk to me, my love." She said pleading, almost stretching out her hand. She pulled herself back none the less, just before the man nodded slowly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I have to continue." He said, sweat running down his face, while he was stumbling to his feet. Then he turned to Harry, his hand shaking .

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." He growled out, while the knife glinted in his hand. Harry struggled in his bonds, not noticing the pain in his body anymore when the man came closer, stumbling a little. The thin person grinned at him with a pained smile.

"Don't you worry boy. We only need a little of your blood. You will die later." He leaned down, gripping Harry on the injured shoulder. This he couldn't ignore as pure white agony rushed through his entire body, setting the ends of his nerves on fire and drowning out every conscious thought. It was good he was gagged, or he would have screamed and probably bitten his tongue off. Only a muffled scream of pain and misery came out of his throat as Carrow pulled him up.

"Hold still you damn maggot." The man hissed, putting him in an upright state. Then his hand pulled back leaving Harry panting in his bounds. Then the hand returned holding the large blood-covered knife.

"Only a few drops and AHHH!"

Carrow dropped the knife in his hand stumbling back in shock falling on his ass. On his hand were two small red dots, where Gryph had bitten his hand, darting out of the collar of Harry's robes. The snake hissed at the man.

Stay away from my human!

The small snake held his head high and proud. No one attacked his human, this was his. No one should dare to try to harm a speaker of the noble tongue.

Carrow stared in surprise at the snake, before a dark look covered his face. He grabbed in his robes and pulled out a thin dark brown wand. Harry screamed in terror, his eyes wide as the man swished his wand in a horizontal line and Gryphs small head left the thin neck and dropped into Harry's lap.

Now even the gag couldn't keep his screams of hurt and anger muffled.

Somewhere 487 miles away a small creature stirred in its sadness. She blinked, chirping loudly. While she had felt lonely, her brother/father/mother/friend/companion/love had disappeared and she missed him greatly. Though their bond she had felt fear and pain. She had felt anger and sadness. But now coming like a tidal wave came pure agony and misery, loss and fury. Something horrible had just happened to her bonded friend and she could feel his pain radiating through her like a stone that was dropped in a large pool of water. And with the pain came fire. Her partner was attacked and to that, the young phoenix knew only one answer. She spread her wings and set out an ear-deafening scream.

Sirius who had just returned tumbled out of his chair in front off Dumbledore's desk. The old headmaster had jumped out of his chair as well, raising his wand. All stared at the screaming black phoenix.

"What is going on?" Sirius screamed over the loud noise.

Dumbledore frowned, leaning closer as Fawkes also spread his wings and joined Dawn in her scream, doubling the noise while everybody covered their ears. The windows cracked a little at the volume and things started to rattle around the room.

Then there was a spark on Dawns left wing. Just tiny and almost unnoticeable for the human eye. Then there was two, then three then four. Small speaks grew larger and turned into tiny flames. The flames spread over one feather then two, then engulfing the entire wing. Creeping over her back down her spine and up her neck, over to the other wing, the flames then covered the entire small bird, that was still screaming, her body now resembling that what you would imagine in a bird of fire. Once more she batted her wings and with it came a gust of wind and power, a shockwave rushing out from the point where she was knocking everybody over. Trinkets and small machines dropped from the shelves, shattering on the floor and the large globe that searched for Harry's position broke it's thin metal arms.

Sirius blinked staring up from where he had fallen. Everybody groaned and tried getting up.

"What just happened?" Sirius asked in the silence that was now in the headmaster's office.

The place on Fawkes perch, where Dawn had just sat was empty.

Harry screamed and thrashed in his bonds, not feeling his shoulder anymore. His gaze was glued to Gryphes head, while the body slowly sliding out of his collar and dropped to the head in his lap. Harry's eyes weren't filled with tears yet but he felt his anger rise more and more in his core. Small rocks rattled around him when wild magic flowed out of him in waves of fury.

His head flew up and he stared at the Carrows with such rage and anger, it hurt in his core. The man with the knife stumbled backwards, dropping the knife. He grabbed into his robes, jumbling and trying to pull out his wand again. Harry slammed his feet into the ground again and again. The dust and stones danced on the ground while first tears watered his eyes. He screamed into the gag twisting and turning. He even got to his knees, ready to stand up. The tears were taking away his vision but he didn't care.

He only wanted to hurt these people. These people wouldn't leave him alone. These people who had killed his friend. Because that was what Gryph had been, his friend. Yes he had been grumpy, yes he had been like an old man but he had been with Harry for a month now, sleeping in his bed, talking with him in the quiet moments, giving him some form of friend that was always with you, always ready to talk. He was just born this year, not even fully grown. He hadn't seen snow, nor the spring. He hadn't been one year old. No new year, no other snake. He had never found a partner to mate with, not fathered any children of his own.

And now he was gone. Snuffed out like a small light. Gone in a moment. And to these despicable people that wasn't even something special, something to feel bad about. They didn't care. Just an animal, not more significant than any other. Not special in any kind of form.

But for Harry, he was special. For him, he had a voice, a personality, a life. And he wanted nothing more than inflicting pain onto them, show them what it was like to lose someone, to feel his pain, to share his suffering.

Suddenly there was a bright flesh, the Carrows had to cover their eyes. It only lasted a moment and Harry felt a weight on his healthy shoulder, a weight he was so used to, a weight that felt so right. Warmth radiated onto the side of his head. He heard the ruffling of wings and a quiet cooing when a small feathered head rubbed on his cheek, while still cooing, trying to comfort him.

He turned his head and with watery eyes, he saw coal-black feathers and golden burning eyes that looked at him with love and sadness. A warm wave rushed through their bond, sending waves of comfort and love through his body like a wave of warm water, like wrapping yourself in a thick blanket of friendship and support. Harry blinked in surprise.

"Dawn." He mumbled through the gag, his voice croaked and broken.

Ruffling her feathers, Dawn stared into the emerald green eyes of her bound partner, feeling the happiness she could only feel when being with him, knowing him near and safe. These feelings were magnified by the absence like you feel something even more after it had been absent for quite some time. The way her boy smelled, the way his shoulder felt under her claws, the way his skin felt, when she rubbed her small head against it, his voice sounded, his heartbeat was in sync with hers.

The phoenix chirped once before she spread her wings. Starting from the tips of her wings, the small black bird set itself on fire and suddenly Harry felt like he was pulled upwards and away, not rough like the portkey but soft. He imagined this was what it had felt like when his mother had picked him up as a baby, reaching for a warm embrace with a light laugh. The connection with Dawn had never been so deep, so profound and he felt only her in his mind, her strange and yet so familiar emotions mixing with his in a jumble of feelings.

With a tumble, the feeling suddenly ended and Harry crashed onto a hard wooden floor, landing on his shoulder, screaming into the gag.

People all around the room jumped in surprise and shock but it took only a split second before Harry saw only black long hair as strong arms pulled him into a crushing embrace.

"Harry!" Sirius all but screamed into his ear, holding on to his almost lost godson.

AN

Harry is back. I could have taken longer but I thought this was a good way to finish this part of the story. I wanted to play more on Dawn/Harry's reunion but it was something that happened in only a moment of time, maybe two seconds so I couldn't do much about it.

Harry escaped barely. Just by the scrape of things. But he is hurt, not only physical but emotional.

Gryph never played a big role in this story, but a big role in Harry's life. They were together most of the time of the day for quite some time. That formed a bond, even more so because Harry latches onto reptiles quite easily.

I thought about Harry keeping him to the end, till the last fight but while I wrote this chapter I thought, no you know what this is a good point for this to happen. Him dying defending Harry felt right. Also, I thought I don't want to play too much on Harry "The Zookeeper" so it was maybe a good idea before he bored everybody.

For those who ask why didn't Voldemort react to all this, the reason is he can't while in the cauldron he was cut off from the world, like almost a pocket dimension. That is also the reason why Harry's scar stopped hurting so much. The link between the two of them was broken.

There were other things I thought I should say in this author notes.

Harry is not perfect. Not in my story. I often see stories about characters and they are just too good. They don't make mistakes or unjust or something like that. Not the next chapter but soon this story will turn quite dark for a while. In the next chapter, he will learn things that make him tumble into a dark spiral for a while. What I have to say is, this will not be forever. When I started this story I wanted fun and lighthearted things but it changed a little over time. This will need to happen for Harry to grow.

A lot will happen what people will probably not like so much. I ask you to stay with me. Sometimes luck has to be found through pain and this is the dark chapter of this story. As someone said, the night is the darkest right before sunrise.

I hope you stick with me and as always, to keep comments and PM coming. I try to always answer and I love your feedback, things you have to say, ideas and more.

I don't even know how many are reading this story regularly. Maybe we can find out this time.