Harry Potter and the Silver Dragons
Chapter 4: Godric's Hollow
The Night Bus came into existence at the end of the street that made up Grimmauld Place. When the doors to the triple-decker opened up, Harry, Ron, and Hermione disembarked, giving their thanks to Ernie and April for the lift. With a loud BANG, that Harry thought would attract the attention of all the muggles that were still at home today, the bus disappeared.
With a look at the others, Harry led the way up the street until they reached number eleven, number thirteen right next to it. As they began walking up the small path that lead between the two houses number twelve sprang into life in front of them looking as though it was pushing the other two houses out of the way in order to make room. Not even bothering to announce that he was coming in, especially since this was now his house, Harry tapped the door with his wand. They immediately heard the sound of many locks opening and the sound of a chain clattering. The door opened and he walked into the house followed by Ron and Hermione.
As soon as they entered the house, the three of them noticed something was different. First, the umbrella stand, which resembled a troll's leg, was now gone, replaced by a real muggle looking umbrella stand. The serpent shaped chandelier and candelabras were now gone, replaced by a crystalline like chandelier and several golden candelabras. When they approached the staircase the plaques with the house elf heads was gone, nothing replacing them. Then they saw the picture of Mrs. Black was missing as well. In its place, there was the picture of Phineas Nigellus, a former Headmaster of Hogwarts and Sirius's great-great-grandfather, or at least the frame of the picture was hanging there. Phineas was no doubt in his picture at Hogwarts.
There was a noise from the sitting room and Remus Lupin walked out into the hallway, followed by Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody. "Harry!" Lupin said as he saw them standing there. "What are you all doing here?"
"We came by to drop off a few things Professor." Hermione said before Harry had a chance.
Lupin smiled at them, "You don't need to call me that, just call me Remus since you are almost of age right now."
"Thanks," Harry said, "but we just stopped by to drop off some stuff that we picked up in Diagon Alley."
"You should have told us you were going there Potter," Moody said. "We would have made arrangements to…."
"It's ok," Harry interrupted, "we didn't see any Death Eaters while we were there. Besides we need to start looking out for ourselves." He added a bit hotly, "in case you didn't notice, the three of us have been through a lot in the last six years."
"Nobody is debating that Harry," Lupin stated as he held his hand up to try and clam Harry down.
"We are just concerned that you might be attacked, and not be able to get out of it this time," Tonks added quickly.
Harry made to turn away, but Lupin laid a hand his shoulder, "Look Harry, maybe we are being a little over protective of you, but it is only because we don't want to lose another good person to Voldemort or his Death Eaters." Lupin gave Harry's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "We know Dumbledore trusted you with some very important information about Voldemort and you feel it is your job to make sure whatever he started, you finish." Harry turned to look at Lupin, "Minerva told us."
"The point Remus is trying to make Potter," Moody added, "is that we all want to see the end of Voldemort just as much as you do. We are willing to help out in any way we can to make sure that the hopes of so many wizards that have fallen at the hands of Voldemort and his followers come true."
Harry thought this over for a moment. "If you want to help us, we could use some extra training with defensive spells. In order to prepare ourselves for any battles we might just get into down the road."
Lupin nodded, "I would be happy to help out in any way I can."
"As will the rest of us." Tonks added.
"But right now," Ron added, "we are a bit rushed, since we are headed for Godric's Hollow after we get rid of this stuff."
"Well then you're in luck," Moody said. "I have an old friend that happens to live in that area. You might be able to use his fire to travel there…that is unless you can apperate now."
Both Harry and Ron shook their head, "I'm the only one that can apperate at this time," Hermione explained.
Moody nodded, "Then stash that stuff in one of the rooms, and I will contact my friend to let him know you are coming."
"And I will contact Arabella Figg and see if you can use her fire to return to Privet Drive later." Lupin added.
"Thanks!" Harry said and then led the way up to the room he and Ron had shared two years earlier. Once the door was shut, Harry pulled out the locket and parchment, and showed them to Ron and Hermione. He then told them how he had been given them at Gringotts.
"So what does the letter say Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry shrugged, "Don't know…I was waiting till we were alone to open it."
"Let me open it." Hermione said. She pulled out her wand as Harry held it out to her and she tapped it. The seal on it instantly came undone, and Harry pulled it back to read:
Dear Mr. Potter
As you may have guessed I have figured out what you and Albus Dumbledore were doing when you left the school the night he was killed. Therefore I have decided to send you this Horcrux with the hopes that you will continue the work that the three of us began. Just so you know, the Horcrux in this locket is gone forever. This was made possible with the help of a potion I created is able to dispel any new magic that has been added to an object. This means that though the Horcrux has been removed from this object, all of the powers that were originally part of this item are still in tact. The instructions and list of ingredients for the potion are on the back of this letter. It was my hope to return these items either to their rightful owners or to give them to Hogwarts. Please carry on my work for me Mr. Potter.
Sincerely
R.A.B.
"Brilliant!" Ron said when Harry was finished reading the letter.
Harry in turn handed the letter to Hermione who immediately turned it over to look at the potion. "How soon can you have it ready to go?" he asked her.
Hermione took a few minutes to read over the instructions and the ingredients. "It won't take all that long to get everything ready, but we have to let it stew for about two months, and after that, theitem has to sit in it for an hour in order to destroythe Horcruxcompletely."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Ron stated, "not to much different from the time we made the Polyjuice Potion in our second year. That stuff took forever to make up."
Hermione on the other hand shook her head, "I'm afraid that there is a difference to that time Ron, at least with Polyjuice Potion a person can get multiple transformations with just one standard size cauldron. With this potion, we need to make up another cauldron if there is another item that needs it."
"So in other words," Harry began, "since we now have to find two more Horcruxes we need two cauldrons full of this stuff."
Hermione nodded, "Let me think about this for a while and see if I can come up with any ideas as to how and where we could possibly do this." She then looked at her watch, "We had better get going if we are going to Godric's Hollow."
"Just let me hide this first," Harry said indicating the locket. He went over to one of the beds, lifting up the mattress and placing the locket under it.
When they reached the kitchen, they found Moody, Lupin, and Tonks sitting there around the table. "Everything with my friend has been set up Potter." Moody said when he saw them, "Just call out Number 14 Hollow Road when you enter the fire, and it will take you right to his house."
"And I talked to Arabella," Lupin added. "She will be expecting you later tonight."
"Thanks," Harry said, "for everything."
"You just let us know if you need us for anything," Tonks added.
"We will," Hermione said.
As they walked up to the fire, Hermione pulled out the container with the Floo Powder in it. They each took a pinch of it, "Ok Hermione your first." Harry told them.
Hermione threw the powder into the fire and shouted "Number 14 Hollow Road!" as she entered it. Green flames erupted around her as she disappeared into the fire.
When the flames died down, Harry nodded to Ron to go next, "Number 14 Hollow Road!" he shouted. Just like with Hermione green flames shot up and engulfed him completely.
Harry gave Moody, Tonks, and Lupin and nod, then he through his powder onto the flames and just like Ron and Hermione before him shouted "Number 14 Hollow Road!" Suddenly he was spinning very fast though nothingness with other wizard rooms moving past him at incredible speeds. He finally felt himself slowing down and before he knew it, he was standing in a sitting room. Ron and Hermione were standing off to one side of the fireplace, brushing ash and soot off of their clothes. Stepping out of the fireplace, Harry saw standing to his right an elderly man of oriental decent. He was dressed in muggle clothing and had his hands folded in front of him.
"Welcome to my home Mr. Potter, my name is Victor Wu." The elderly man said, "And I have prepared a small meal if you would be interested before you head out."
"Thanks," Harry said almost refusing the offer, but his stomach chose that moment to remind him they had not eaten since early that morning. "We would appreciate that."
It did not take long for Victor to set up the table and before long they were sitting down to a meal of chicken and rice. "So what brings you three to Godric's Hollow?" Victor asked once everyone had taken some food and begun eating.
"We're here to visit my parents," Harry said.
Victor nodded, "Then you will need to go to Hollow Hills Cemetery, it's on the east side of town."
"How far?" Ron asked through a full mouth of food.
Victor took a moment before answering the question, more than likely trying to figure out exactly what Ron had asked, "Not very far," he finally answered. He then looked around, "I didn't live here the night that Lord Voldemort attacked your parents Harry, but I have heard some interesting tales from people who had lived in the area."
"What kind of tales?" Harry asked.
"Well," Victor began, "from what I have heard, the police classified the incident as an exploding gas main. Your parent's bodies were so mangled from the explosion that had destroyed the house, they attributed their deaths to it."
"What did the Aurors have to say about it?" Hermione asked.
Victor shrugged, "Can't say for sure, but there was a lady, who had lived right next to them, Mrs. Martha Wingate, who apparently told the police she saw somebody enter the house. Then, she saw two brilliant flashes of green light, the first one downstairs, the second upstairs. She thought she had seen a third flash just before the house blew up. However, the police only found the bodies of your parents Harry."
"That sounds about right," Harry said. "I remember what he had overheard from McGonagall, Flitwick, and Hagrid, who was telling Fudge about that night in our third year. Hagrid said he had just pulled me out of the wreckage when Sirius gave him that flying motorcycle of his to take me to Dumbledore."
"Yeah," Ron added, this time thankfully with an empty mouth, "I remember that. Hagrid said he got out of there just before the muggle police showed up."
"Now that I think about it," Victor added, "Martha did mention something to the police about a larger than life man that was going though the rubble not all that long after the explosion. She also told them about how he was holding something in his arms and how he apparently got into a bit of a shouting match with a normal sized man that came rolling up to the house on a motorcycle."
This information caught not just Harry's interest, but also Hermione's as well, "Do you know were we can find Mrs. Wingate?" she asked.
"I think she lives in a retirement home not all that far away from the cemetery," Victor told them.
After they had finished with their meal and thanked Victor for his hospitality, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed off to the other side of the town where both the cemetery, and the retirement home where Martha Wingate was now living, were located. As Victor had told them, they did not have to walk very far to get there. "You two wait here," Harry said as they walked past the home, "I need to talk to Mrs. Wingate about the night my parents died."
"No way mate," Ron said.
"We're coming too Harry," Hermione added.
Harry thought it over and nodded to them. It didn't take them long to find the entrance to the home. When they walked inside, they found a receptionist sitting behind a window. She looked up when they approached. "Can I help you kids?" she asked.
"Yes you can," Harry said, "we are looking for Mrs. Martha Wingate."
"Are you family?" She asked as she gave them a firm look.
"No."
"Then I am afraid that I can't let you see Mrs. Wingate. I am under order that only family and her doctors are aloud to see her."
Harry gave Hermione a look and she immediately stepped forward drawing out her wand as she did so. "But we do have authorization to see her," Hermione said as she grabbed a pamphlet off the counter and pointed her wand at the nurse, "here it is." The nurse's eyes became glazed over as she reached for the pamphlet.
She looked at it for a moment then said "Ok, everything looks to be in order. Mrs. Wingate is in room 213. Just turn left at the door, and take the elevator to the second floor. Her room is the sixth door on the right."
After thanking the nurse for her help, they headed in the direction they had been told to go. When they got to the second floor, they walked down the hall until they reached the sixth door,. There they found a white haired elderly lady sitting in front of a television. "Mrs. Wingate?" Harry asked, somewhat startling the lady.
"Who wants to know?" She asked, then took a good hard look at Harry and both hands went to her face. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, "James Potter?"
Harry looked at both Ron and Hermione, "No, my name is Harry, Harry Potter."
Mrs. Wingate took another closer look at Harry, "I should have known you weren't James, but you do show a striking resemblance to him, except for the eyes. Your eyes are…"
"Lilly's." Harry finished. He had told this a hundred times since he had rejoined the Magical World. "I'm their son Harry." He said.
"I know that my boy," Mrs. Wingate said, then beckoned them inside. "Please have a seat…all of you."
Sitting down on the small bed that Mrs. Wingate slept on, Harry introduced Ron and Hermione, then decided to just get to the point of the visit. "Mrs. Wingate, I understand it from some sources that you saw some of what happened the night my parents died." Mrs. Wingate nodded, and Harry continued, "I need to know what happened to them."
Mrs. Wingate looked at all of them one at a time and Harry felt a slight chill go up his spine, which he quickly attributed to being in a place with so many old people. "It was almost sixteen years ago when it happened," she began and Harry once again felt that chill go up his spine, only this time it was a bit more intense than the first time, "and not one person believed me when I told the tale any time during those years."
"We will believe you," Hermione told her in a kind gentle voice.
Mrs. Wingate smiled at them, "Ok," she said as she turned off the television, "as I told you before it was almost sixteen years ago when it happened, but I can still remember the events of that night as if it were yesterday. It so happened I was visiting your parents that night, and it was on the way home that I noticed a dark figure lurking around their house. All I could make out on the figure was that it wore some sort of cloak around it. Anyway, I decided to call over to your parent's house first chance I could get.
"As I was about to pick up the telephone, I saw what looked like several flashes in the sitting room window. At first, I thought it was gun fire, that is until I saw a flash of green light and the flashes stopped. It was of course at that time I decided to call the police." As she told this story, Harry pictured in his mind the flashes of light where his father's spells and curses being shot at Voldemort in a vain attempt to buy his mother the time she needed to get to him and get to safety. His attempts ended when Voldemort used the Avada Kedavera curse to finish their duel.
"When the operator at the police station put me on hold," Mrs. Wingate continued, "I glanced back at the house and saw another flash of green light in the window I knew was your room Harry."
Once again Harry envisioned, with the help of the memories that the dementors had brought out in his third year, his mother pleading with Voldemort to let him live and to take her instead, just before he killed her too. "All seemed still for a moment, then I could have sworn I saw a third flash of green light, just before the house blew up." Now Harry saw Voldemort right in front of him with his wand out and ready to kill him. Harry saw the flash of green light that was the trademark of the Avada Kedavera, and then saw it bounce back onto its caster. Harry then shivered as yet another, even more powerful chill ran down his spine, and this time seemed to stay there.
"After that, all seemed still until a huge man appeared out of nowhere and began to sift through the rubble. It was only after he seemed to find what he was looking for when a man on a motorcycle drove up to the ruins of the house. The two of them seemed to argue for a few minutes until they heard the sirens of the police cars and reached a compromise. The larger man ended up taking the motorcycle and disappeared out of sight, while the other man vanished into thin air."
As she told them this, Harry saw Hagrid apperate to the ruins of the house and begin to search for him. After Hagrid finally found him, Sirius showed up to find the mess, after learning that Peter Pettigrew had betrayed them to Voldemort. Harry watched as Hagrid and Sirius argued over who was going to take him, when at last, thanks to the police, their argument was settled. Sirius gave Hagrid his motorcycle so he could get to the Dursleys, while he went to hunt down Peter and kill him for his betrayal, only to end up in Azkaban for his troubles. Harry then noticed that both Ron and Hermione were both shaking as well.
"It was only when they finished shifting through the rubble and only found the bodies of your parents that I knew the large man had taken you Harry." Mrs. Wingate wiped a tear from her eye. Harry was about to say something when he noticed that the windows in the room were beginning to fog over, and then it hit him with the weight of an elephant…there were dementors in the building.
Ron and Hermione seemed to have figured this out as well because they had both pulled out their wands. "What's going on?" Mrs. Wingate asked, a little alarmed at this sudden movement, she then screamed.
Suddenly Harry heard in his head Dumbledore's voice saying "Severus…please…" Then he heard Snape's voice shouting, "Avada Kedavera!"
Harry did what he could to focus on the task at hand, "Hermione get to the ministry and let them know there are dementors here. Ron and I will try to hold them off as best we can till reinforcements arrive." Hermione nodded and with a loud crack disapparated from the spot. Harry then turned to Ron, "I know you weren't able to perfect your Patronus yet Ron, but do you think you can do it now?"
"Have to, don't I." Ron said.
"Just remember that all you need is to focus on an extremely happy memory and you can do it." Harry told him as he lead the way out into the hall. Then he saw them, two large dementors gliding down the hall right to them. Harry tried with all his might to banish the thoughts of Dumbledore's last few words, and focused on the last few weeks that he spent with Ginny, raised his wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" Instantly the giant silver stag that was his Patronus erupted out of his wand and charged at the two dementors.
Harry heard Ron shout next to him, "Expecto Patronum!" but nothing happened except some silver mist came out of the end of his wand.
"Ron you have to believe that you can do it and you will." Harry shouted at him as his Patronus rammed headfirst into one of the dementors. It was at that time he noticed that there were more than two of them.
Ron screwed up his face, closed his eyes and shouted once again, "Expecto Patronum!" This time something happened as a giant eight legged spider erupted out of Ron's wand and charged after the dementors. "I did it!" Ron shouted in jubilation, "I did it!" He then noticed what his Patronus was shaped like and it seemed like he was about to faint.
"Ron," Harry shouted, "you need to stay awake and keep your focus, otherwise it will vanish." This seemed to bring Ron out of it, but he still looked more scared of his own Patronus than of the dementors. The dementors didn't think this new Patronus was anything special either as they began to retreat back the way that they came. "We have to go after them." Harry shouted, and half pulling Ron behind him they directed their two Patronus to follow the dementors.
As they followed the dementors down the hall, the feelings of never being happy again began to flood over them. Though his mind was clouded worse than ever by the sounds of Dumbledore's last few words Harry still had a clear enough mind to figure out what was going on. When he stopped dead in his tracks, Ron nearly knocked him over. "What the hell are you doing Harry." He asked, but the answer to his question came when he looked in front of them were the four dementors they were chasing had been joined by over a dozen more. Even now the stag and spider were beginning to lose their brightness, just as Harry and Ron were fighting to stay awake themselves.
"No!" Harry shouted, "I won't give up without a fight, I WON'T"
Suddenly there were several loud cracks as a large number of wizards and witches appeared around them and almost as one they shouted "Expecto Patronum!" A large number of animal shaped Patronus appeared and joined Harry and Ron's stag and spider, which were now growing in strength thanks to all of the other Patronus, and charged at the dementors. Within ten minutes, it was all over and all of the dementors were flying off out of town.
Harry and Ron watched as all of the Patronus disappeared in silver hazes, and saw Hermione apperate in front of them, as all of the ministry officials headed off to begin the modification of the witnesses memories. "Let's go before somebody from the Prophet shows up." Harry said.
When they finally reached the grounds, they headed for the cemetery. It didn't take them long to find the grave markers for James and Lilly Potter. Ron and Hermione stood out of the way so that Harry could be alone with his parents. "Well Mum and Dad I finally returned to were it all began for me. I guess Sirius and Dumbledore are there with you right now, and more than likely you know the mission me and my friends are about to undertake. Though I would gladly trade all of the magic in the world to have you back in my life again. I can't help but to think the loss of each of you has made me stronger than if I had had you with me from the start."
As he thought about all of the people that Voldemort had killed a single tear flowed from Harry's eye, "My friends and I will stop Voldemort once and for all, and I will avenge not just your deaths, but the deaths of all of those that have had the misfortune of crossing paths at the wrong time with Voldemort. This I swear." Harry then drew out his wand and gave it a flick. Two bouquets of flowers appeared in front of the marker. He then knelt down and arranged them so that each bouquet was in front of a name, stood up, turned around and rejoined Hermione and Ron.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood in front of the fire in Victor Wu's sitting room. "Thanks for everything Mr. Wu." Harry said shaking Victor's hand.
"Don't mention it Harry," Victor said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder "Besides, it's because of you the ministry was able to stop the dementor attack of the retirement home."
Harry smiled at this, then indicated to Hermione for her to once again go first. She stepped up to the fire and threw the pinch of Floo Powder she had taken. Stepping into the flames, which had now turned green, "Number Eight Magnolia Crescent!" she shouted as the flames engulfed her.
Ron was next, stepping up to the fire, he threw the powder on the flames and shouted "Number Eight Magnolia Crescent!" as well as the green flames swallowed him up as well.
"Thanks again," Harry said as he threw his small amount of powder on the flames and shouted, "Number Eight Magnolia Crescent!".
When the flames had died away, one of the book shelves that lined one of the walls in the room swung open and John Warrens stepped into the sitting room. "Quite an eventful day Victor." He said as he sat down on one of the sofas.
"Can't argue with you on that one John." Victor said as he walked over to the window and saw a motorcycle pull up to the house, "Sam's here." He said.
Less than a moment later Samantha Baker walked into the room, "I heard what happened, was anyone…?"
"No," Victor said anticipating her question. "Luckily Potter and his friends were there to stop the dementors before they could do any harm."
"Did you find out anything Victor?" John asked.
Victor shook his head, "They were the ones asking all of the questions, it would have been suspicious if I had started asking any."
"Then we all struck out." Sam said.
"Not really," Victor said, "I placed a tracker on Potters glasses just before they left. Now we can track them wherever they go." He then looked at the other two one at a time, "What did you think of Weasley and Granger?"
"I really didn't get a good feel for them last night at dinner," John said, "With Minerva McGonagall there, it was hard for me to get any type of feeling other than the fact they would follow Potter to the ends of the Earth."
"I also got that impression when I met them this morning at Diagon Alley," Sam added, "though I did get the impression that Hermione Granger is the more intellectual one of the group because she was able to see some of the holes I put into my cover story simply for that purpose. Potter and Weasley didn't pick up on them until Granger pointed them out. Weasley on the other hand could be one of the most loyal friends that Potter has on his side. He is brave, cunning, and very capable of anything he sets his mind too."
"What about Potter?" Victor asked
"A natural born leader," Sam said, "once again capable of anything he puts his mind to, very brave and courageous…not to mention curious about things he should not be. All in all, the three of them make up one hell of a team."
"Much the same way that we do." Victor added with a smile.
"I do have to add," John said, "Harry Potter is not one of the people I would have suspected was a descendant of Godric Gryffindor."
"Nor did anyone suspect that a boy named Tom Riddle was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, but he quickly proved them wrong when he became Lord Voldemort." Victor told them, "The point is that Potter is Gryffindor's descendant, and therefore we know what we have to do."
Both John and Sam nodded their understanding, "Now get back out there, and remember Potter and his friends might be able to do what not even Albus Dumbledore was able to do…bring down Voldemort."
