I'm posting on the last day of each month now – it's just easier.
This chapter contains a few unbelievable bits, but I just thought they were funny. Muggle chemistry and potions…
Oh, and I'm posting up the first chapter of my Star Wars AU Dark Queen and White Knight as well. That'll probably be monthly as well, depending on how fast I write.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6: First day
2nd September 2003:
A yell of pain pierced the air of the Sixth-year Gryffindor dormitories. All but one of the five other boys sighed, knowing what was happening. Conall White - or Lupin as he would soon be and actually was - did not.
"What the…?" He began.
Ron and Neville were out of bed.
"Harry!" Ron grabbed the dark-haired lad's thrashing arms. "Harry!"
Harry thrashed in the bed, yelling, in pain or grief, they didn't know. Whatever it was, it was bad.
He shot up in bed, nearly taking out his two friends, his voice guttural and tired.
"His fury matches no bounds as he sees history repeating itself once more." He stated. Ron was activating a coin nearby. Conall flinched as he saw Harry's eyes burn with an unnatural green fire. "The Warriors have sprung from the Guardians, and as Zaran was defeated by the orphaned Potter, so Voldemort fears the strength of one no-longer orphaned."
The sixteen-year-old then collapsed back onto the bed, breathing heavily.
"Harry, I thought we decided you weren't a Seer." Ron frowned.
Harry groaned. "I'm not. Just some presence that talked through me – probably a remnant of the vision." His eyes snapped open again. "We need to see Dumbledore."
"What's wrong?"
"What do you think?"
"Oh."
Dean and Seamus looked at each other, then regarded the four awake teens.
"We're gonna take the extra ten minutes sleep." Dean told them.
Harry nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll wake up in time. McGonagall's harsh if you're late on the first day."
XXXXX
Dumbledore's office:
"You had another dream? Was this Voldemort again?" Dumbledore asked.
"I don't know." Harry responded. "It didn't feel like -" he gulped, remembering what his last vision had led to, "it didn't feel like last time. And there were loads of flashing images, and something about the past being repeated, and some mysterious omnipresence."
Ron looked surprised at Harry's use of the word, while Conall looked impressed.
"Anything specific?"
"I know that Voldemort's heard about what happened last night and he's even more pissed off than when he lost the prophecy." Harry responded cheekily.
"Yes, they were rather a thorn in his side." Dumbledore mused. "And he would not care to see his work undone so easily."
"'Work'. What a charming way to term murder and torture." Neville snarled.
"Very much so." Dumbledore agreed. "But then Voldemort is not a stable man."
"His dad was a Muggle, but his mother had to have been wizarding stock, and old." Harry mused. "Too much inbreeding?"
"Very much so. His mother was a Gaunt, a family known for having a decidedly mad streak resulting from marrying their cousins, and pride in their heritage. Merope - his mother - had a weak magic, but was a capable enough witch. She probably used a potion to make the handsome Tom Riddle fall for her. He left her when she removed it…"
"She was in love with him, and hoped he loved her?" Ron asked.
"Precisely. However, she had been the filthy daughter of the family of mad tramps in the village, and not particularly pretty. He left her, and her son lived in an orphanage."
"So we've got a child who's inherited his family's magic and madness, but the magic has been granted a new lease of life by the infusion of fresh, non-magical blood. Tie that to Slytherin's abilities that were probably enhanced by the fresh bloodline…" Harry groaned. "We have an insane wizard with insane power, and the looks and intelligence to hide the insanity."
Conall stared at Harry. "You really like genetics, don't you?"
Harry grinned. "They have a branch in the Department of Mysteries studying the effects of magic and blood inheritance. Due to a lack of Muggle blood, many of the older lines are dying out." He shrugged. "Simple enough to remedy. Marry a Muggle-born, have them take your name if you're female or keep it yourself and name a child for it, then have lots of kids and set up a second house from the male spouse's original name. That's if you want to keep a social hierarchy including effectively aristocrats." He frowned. "It could work, but only if you limit their powers, or make them responsible for the setting up of new houses and tutoring Muggle-borns on wizarding ways. That way, Muggle-borns learn of the traditions of the wizarding world and wizards learn of the Muggle world." He smirked. "Half the recent great inventions have come from those who lived in the Muggle world."
"Harry, you have had way too much time to think on your hands."
He shrugged. "No homework to do at the Dursleys, so I started planning the restructuring of wizarding society." He smirked. "Maybe Trelawney was accurate and I really will become Minister for Magic and have twelve children after I get Voldemort. In which case, I need to start working on my manifesto now. There's so many flaws."
"While debating bloodlines and the flaws of wizarding society is interesting, I believe you were speaking of a vision, Harry?" Dumbledore interrupted.
"Oh yeah. Well, I had a few glimpses into Voldemort's mind during it, but it was like walking through a long corridor with open doors and seeing things before they snap shut than anything else. Killing his father and grandparents, performing some sickening ritual using the blood of three girls, torturing people…" He gulped. "That monster has destroyed more lives than I'd care to count, more indirectly than directly. How are people supposed to cope with the loss of a child or spouse? Worse, how are they supposed to cope with the mental and physical after-effects of torture? I even saw some of his ideals and dreams… He wants to be a king, with a superior race, the rest slaving after them." Harry groaned. "He's like Hitler, but perhaps even more twisted, if that's possible."
Dumbledore looked grim. "Unfortunately, men like Voldemort and Hitler have always existed, though not all of them gain such power. As long as people stand against them, they cannot and must not win."
Harry nodded. "It wasn't like a normal vision, but… It was something. And I think he was planning something. Big. An attack perhaps. And it'll be significant of something."
"A holiday or commemoration. Voldemort always had a habit of using such things to spread panic and fear among the masses." Dumbledore sighed. "Thank you, Harry, boys. Now I suggest you run along to breakfast and prepare for the school day."
They nodded, knowing a dismissal when they heard one.
When they had left, Dumbledore sighed again, and looked into a mirror.
"Alastor, your protégé has had another dream, though different to usual. We need a list of likely places and dates that Voldemort will attack with significance."
"I'm coming anyway, Albus." The ex-Auror grinned wickedly. "I thought I'd make sure my recruits are up to scratch on their training."
XXXXX
The boys arrived to breakfast later than usual and, in true male fashion, began to make short work of the remaining food.
"We waited for you, you know." Hermione informed them disapprovingly, wrinkling her nose as Ron shovelled eggs into his mouth. "Wasn't until Seamus and Dean came down that they told us you'd gone already. Where were you?"
"Headmaster." Harry replied, and took a bite of sausage. He grinned. He'd missed Hogwarts food.
"And?" Ginny prompted.
"And what?" Harry replied maddeningly.
Ginny gave a very descriptive account of what she'd do to him if he didn't elaborate immediately. Harry merely raised a brow.
"Is that all? My dear Ginevra, you're getting soft. Anyway, I had a dream - different to normal. Snake-breath's planning something big."
"Snake-breath?" Selene asked, her eyes wide. "Dear Circe, you're as bad as Mum!"
Harry grinned. "And I don't even know her." Then he considered. "Well, she's got a great right-hook. Sent Uncle Vernon right to the ground…"
"Oh, Kathryn, tell me you didn't antagonise my sister and her husband further!" A female voice spoke behind them.
The teens saw the new professors walking nearby, towards the table.
"No. I just repaid Vernon in kind." Kathryn replied sharply. "Lily, it's not like they're human. They're sub-normal. I mean, that house was so clean it made even me want to throw up."
"The neat-freak's complaining about 'too clean'?" James joked. "Is that possible?"
"You go to Aunt Petunia's." Harry advised. "It's possible. I think she uses hospital disinfectant. Not nice on your hands." He grimaced.
Lily looked about ready to say something, but was stopped by a prod in the ribs.
"Come on, we need to eat. We've got to teach classes - somehow, and Moony still won't lend us the plans he made when he was here." Sirius sighed. "Too busy sha-"
A hand clapped over his mouth.
Lily gave him a sharp look. "Minerva will put you in detention again, Sirius Calhoun Black. For that matter, I'll put you in detention if you use language or imagery like that in front of students."
Kathryn snorted inelegantly. "Lily, he offered to rectify the 'problem' of my not being pregnant in front of the entire hall last night. He's not going to change."
"Then you have to remember how to use the female behavioural modifier then, won't you, Mystique?" Lily teased.
"And at times like that, you live up to your name, Medea."
"Oh, please, like I'd poison anyone."
"You were an Auror."
"And?"
The students - their children in particular - stared.
"Scared yet?" Selene asked Harry.
"Yep."
"Good, you're learning."
XXXXX
Due to only a few students reaching the required O for the Potions NEWT course, Snape had been forced to open it up to those with high Es. This meant Ron and Harry were both eligible for the course. It was just as well, because Moody had been drilling them in potions as part of their training. Neville, on the other hand, had elected self-study in order to take the Potions NEWT.
With Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology on top of Potions, Harry was loathe to choose another as well, but the lure of Auror Studies was too great, and too useful for him not to take. He'd just have to be careful with six choices.
Neville had also chosen Auror Studies. Charms, Herbology and Defence were his other options - his transfiguration mark was not good, and he felt he'd be better playing to his strengths, as Professor McGonagall advised. Ron had dropped Herbology in order to take Auror Studies. Hermione was taking the 'core' subjects (Charms, Potions, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts) with Herbology, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. She was not cut out for a career as an Auror, but she'd already had some speculative interest from the Association of Magical Research, an institution that Selene's aunt - Adalia - belonged to.
Selene had picked the same as Harry, while the White - truly Lupin - twins chose the Core subjects plus Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Harry breathed a silent sigh of relief at the fact that there was someone taking Hagrid's class, since the Trio could not fit it into their schedules. Halimeda Jackson had taken Transfiguration, Charms, Defence, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Astronomy - she was very interested in ancient and celestial magics, and was angling for a career in her father's department.
Their first subject was Potions, and Snape surprised the attendees by being a lot less severe, but a lot more stern, if it was possible. They were not to muck around, or play pranks. The chemicals they would be dealing with were dangerous, which set Harry's mind whirling on a tangent. The word 'chemicals' - could Muggle chemistry and magical potions be combined at all? The principles were the same…
"Potter, since you see fit not to pay attention, care to inform the class what is so fascinating a thought?"
"I was just wondering what the effects would be of mixing Muggle chemicals like hydrochloric acid or potassium would be with potions. It would depend entirely on the potion and effect, and certain chemicals would be poisonous…" Then he froze, his eyes wide. "Dear Merlin, are we so stupid as that?"
"Potter!"
"Silver nitrate. Silver, but in a compound to weaken it, the nitrate is acidic… Of course, you'd have to try mixing it with aconite…"
"Potter, are you…" Then Snape understood. "Potter, make some notes, then concentrate on the lesson. I'll see you at the end of the lesson."
Everyone else, except Hermione, was confused, but Harry and Snape may have just had the first breakthrough in lycanthropy prevention and cure since the Wolfsbane.
XXXXX
"What did he want to talk to you about?" Ron asked as they headed to their first Defence class.
"Well, first he made a lot of sarcastic comments about my family being back, and that he would not tolerate pranks in the classroom - as though I'm that stupid - and then demanded to know everything about silver nitrate. I don't know a lot, so I recommended he get some Muggle chemistry books, and suggested he find the nearest WHSmith's."
"Oh, Harry!"
"Don't worry, I wasn't really that rude. Just think, we may have found a new relief for werewolves, if we're right. Maybe Snape'll finally get that fame he's so desperate for." He scowled.
"It would be great if he could relieve the symptoms of lycanthropy." Conall smiled. "But what if it caused damage in the natural balance? All creatures are there for a reason."
"Then we may find a similar occurrence to Muggle-borns. Spontaneous born-werewolves."
Harry snorted. "That'd be fun. Imagine how the purebloods would react to their kid being born a werewolf?"
"Not well at all." Ron agreed, shuddering slightly.
Selene stopped outside the Defence room door, with a little worry on her face.
"What is it?" Neville asked, confused.
"I'm just praying that they don't decide to replay history and greet the Sixth-years the same way their teachers did." Selene wrung her hands.
"Which was?" Harry asked.
"Professor Johnson had Miss Kestrel bent over his desk." A voice behind them informed them.
Harry's wand was in his hand before he realised it, then he stared at the newcomer, and then his wand, as if wondering how it got there.
"Nice reflexes." James approved, smirking at his son.
"Oh, uh…" Harry coloured.
"Bloody hell, Harry, how'd you get that fast?" Ron demanded. "You were only half that speed a few days ago."
Harry shrugged. "The wrist holster helps."
"Always does." James approved.
Hermione looked at the Potters meekly. "Um, professors, aren't you teaching Auror Studies?"
"It's an elective - we've only got one class. No one took it last year. We're offering the Seventh-years some extra general help. But we're here to help your Black professors."
Selene groaned at the pun.
"Please, don't. Orion's bad enough…" She moaned.
Lily grinned. "You're lucky. Remember what I have for a sister."
Hermione finally opened the door.
Rather than being caught in a clinch like Professor Johnson and Miss Kestrel in their Sixth-year, Kathryn and Sirius were fixing some damage to the classroom to the astonishment of the students as they filed in.
Lily and James joined them at the front.
"Take a seat everyone." Kathryn ordered.
"Where?" Sirius asked.
"To the Chamber of Secrets." Kathryn replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, why did I marry you?"
"My spectacular good looks?" Sirius suggested. "My witty and humorous conversation? My adorable and lovable personality?"
Kathryn shook her head, then smiled brightly as she remembered. "I remember now, your mother cursed us."
Sirius looked grumpy. "My mother is not the reason we got together."
"Of course not. We got together because we're soulmates and destined to be together. Your mother just decided to activate the Curse of Kali, crazy old bat." Kathryn nodded, fixing the last of the damage.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
"We just had the second-years. Kat got cross when she realised how much they knew." Sirius replied.
"Which was?"
"Absolutely, bloody nothing." Kat stormed. "That imbecilic toad didn't even teach them how to recognise a vampire from a werewolf! She just shot her mouth off with her pathetic prejudices and taught them absolutely nothing!"
Harry smirked.
Then Kat calmed down, an evil smile featuring on her face.
"Kat?" Sirius asked, warily.
"We're going to do Amelia a favour and get that toad out of her government." Kat scanned the students, who were watching, some with interest, others with confusion. "Susan Bones? Tell your aunt that there will soon be a letter on her desk citing the removal of Dolores Umbridge from government and incarceration in Azkaban for child abuse, abuse of authority, attempted use of an Unforgivable, and several counts of attempted murder."
Several of the students blanched.
"Let her also know that if Dolores Umbridge does not go to Azkaban, I will find Fenrir Greyback and offer her to him as a meal."
Everyone froze with fear.
Kathryn smiled brightly.
"Now, onto more fun things. I'm Professor Kathryn Black, formerly Auror Kathryn Orenda Black, and an Auror within the Department of Mysteries. Yes, I'm the Kathryn Orenda who was the first 'official' victim of Voldemort who ended up in a coma for five years. Yes, I'm married to Sirius Black, your other professor. No, I was not intimidated, killed, hurt or otherwise harmed when I disappeared, unless you count the fact that Sirius had knocked me up about six weeks before."
"Kathryn." Sirius groaned.
She grinned at him. "I know your lessons have been sporadic at best. Quirrell was an imbecile with Voldemort stuck in his head, Lockhart was a narcissistic fraud, Remus actually taught you something, thank Circe, Moody was actually a Death Eater impostor, Barty Crouch Junior, but at least he taught you something, and Umbitch didn't teach anything." Now she smirked and looked directly at Harry. "Some of you demanded teaching from someone who actually knew what he was talking about."
Sirius now took over. "Before Kat frightens you all away, I'd like to say something. I did not betray Lily and James Potter. I'm Harry's godfather, so I wasn't intending to kill him in your third year either. I apologise to the Gryffindors for terrifying you all. I was actually after Peter Pettigrew, who truly betrayed the Potters.
"I did not kill him. I tracked him down, fully intent on bringing him to justice one way or another. Before I could do anything, he shouted out that I'd betrayed Lily and James, blown up the street, cut off his finger and turned into a rat to escape. I was left, shocked by the fact that he had beaten us, betrayed us. His best friends, the skilled, well known Aurors, weredestroyed by his hand. That is why I laughed. Because I was in shock."
"Never did handle shock well, did you, Sirius?" James smirked.
"At least I didn't faint when I found out my wife was pregnant."
"I didn't faint!"
Kathryn giggled. "That's not the way Lily tells it."
Harry buried his face in his hands, suddenly realising that his parents would be acting the age they were when they died - in their mid-twenties.
"Have you been telling tales about me, Lily?"
"Not the time, James. Kat and Sirius have a class to teach, remember?" Lily dug her way out of a hole she'd created several years before.
"Don't worry, Lily." Kat smirked. "Sirius fainted when I told him he had a fourteen-year-old son after I brought you back."
"And that brings us onto the topic of this lesson." Sirius rounded the conversation off. "Why we're back, and what we're fighting. Today's going to be non-practical, I'm afraid."
"Except for this moment." Kat interrupted, her face gleeful. "Did you all bring your book from last year?"
There were groans as they pulled them out.
"Okay. I want you to place the book on the table in front of you." Kathryn instructed.
They obeyed, sighing.
"Take out your wands."
They did so, now confused.
"And chant 'incendio'. Don't worry about the desks." She giggled. "They're fire-proof."
Harry gleefully hit the book with a ball of flame, while Selene merely looked at hers for it to flame, then stared at it in shock (her mother had bought her a copy to share in the exercise). Hermione obeyed - scarily enough - a look of satisfaction on her face as though that was all she thought the book was worth.
"Now, with that done, put your wands away, and we'll have a little history lesson." Sirius stated.
More groans.
"You can make notes if you want, but it isn't vital. However, this is information you need to know." Sirius continued.
"All fours of us lived through the first war against Voldemort. All of us fought him, met him, spoke to him, defied him. The Longbottoms also did. Radella was turned into a werewolf and tortured to insanity by him, as was my brother, Janyd - Jack. You'll find him with Madam Pomfrey, being assured that she never moved on." Kat got a speculative look. "Madam Pomfrey'll be Madam Orenda by the end of the month, I'm sure."
"Voldemort is not the wizard's original name or identity." Sirius informed them. "Some of you will recognise his true identity. You may even have polished his trophy."
"Lord Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood descended from the Slytherin Gaunt family by his mother. His father was a Muggle, tricked into marrying her by magic." Kathryn informed them.
There was near uproar, and everyone was shocked, but for those who already knew.
"Tom Riddle inherited the Slytherin ability of Parseltongue and the Gaunt streak of insanity owing to their habit of marrying their own cousins. Inbreeding causes a build up of inherited flaws, and does not increase magic." Sirius grinned. "Actually, Tom Riddle was powerful because of the influx of fresh blood from his father - it magnified his power, rather than diluting it."
"Any pureblood will deny this, but it is true." Kathryn informed them gravely. "Marrying only purebloods will spell the end for wizarding society. The Department of Mysteries have a research team still trying to work out why we lost the abilities of ages past. But I can tell you something.
"Witches and wizards are lazy. Most of them use magic for everything. They fail to acknowledge the fact that Muggles have created ways to do as much harm as we. A bullet will kill, an electric chair produces torment like the Cruciatus, an atomic bomb can wipe out a city for generations. Purebloods aren't superior to Muggle-borns. They're scared of the power Muggles wield.
"Almost all new inventions have come from people who lived in Muggle society in some way. And the purebloods have forgotten their old duty - that of introducing Muggle-borns to the wizarding world and sponsoring them, helping them, tutoring them, until they can set up a house of their own."
Harry nodded, and made a note on a piece of paper he had titled jokingly 'My Mandate for Ministry'.
"Voldemort was aware of the power of Muggles. But he was also fully aware of his own abilities. He had a mean streak as a child, and would attack others. He grew up in a Muggle orphanage and never felt he had what he deserved." Sirius continued. "Personally, I think it was a swift kick up the backside, but that's me. He grew to hate and despise Muggles, and his Muggle heritage, hiding his identity and creating a new name as he began to attack and impose his views on the wizarding world. By using violence."
"Should've used the Ministry." Hermione muttered. "That's how Palpatine got control."
Kat grinned as she looked at Hermione. "Never would have thought you for a Star Wars fan, Miss Granger."
Hermione turned scarlet.
"However, she has just made a good point. Had Tom Riddle gone into politics, he would have undoubtedly succeeded. He was a skilled orator and liar. Had he done so, we could have compared him to Hitler even more easily."
Kathryn noticed a shudder race throughout the room. Even purebloods had heard of Hitler.
"Voldemort chose guerrilla warfare instead, and it has not worked well. Wizards don't have a standing army, so guerrilla tactics do not succeed so easily. But he has killed many, and ended many lines of the purebloods he claims he wishes to promote. The Crouches, the Prewetts, the McKinnons… The Boneses are reduced to Miss Bones and her aunt. The Blacks were nearly destroyed altogether, but for the fact that I was pregnant with a son. Some may be revived. The Prewetts if one of the Weasleys takes on their mother's name." Ron stared. "The Boneses if Miss Bones chooses to maintain her name on marriage and name her son that."
"Voldemort is not championing any pureblood cause." Sirius informed them gravely. "He is championing his own - of total control over the wizarding world."
"That's not true!" Someone muttered from the back.
"Oh believe me, it is." Kathryn responded. "Voldemort is a megalomaniac. But all we need is to stand up to him, to note run in fear, and we will survive."
Sirius continued. "Throughout this term we will be introducing you to the spells, potions and devices you will come across in these dark times and in life in general. You've all had reasonable teaching on the Unforgivables – ought to have, it was a Death Eater teaching you – but there are other Dark spells that are just as bad."
"But today," Kathryn smiled brightly, "You're going to have the option of questioning four Aurors who lived through the first war." Then she frowned. "Well, two of us died in it as well…"
"Not helpful, Kathryn." James informed her.
Kathryn shrugged. "I've enough brothers without you pretending to be one, James Potter."
James frowned then nodded, counting. "Jack, Jonah, Joseph and Paul. Huh, Paul doesn't fit the pattern."
Kat flung a fireball at him, which he quenched with water.
"First question, how did we do that?" Sirius asked. "We're the Elemental Guardians."
"That's pure myth!" Hermione argued.
Harry gave a snort. "So was the Chamber of Secrets, remember?"
Lily and James' eyes grew wide. "Chamber of Secrets?"
Lily looked at Kat accusingly. "Missed something, did we?"
Kat shrugged. "It was more important to make sure nothing got left behind. Besides, we had minds to restructure and a basic knowledge of what happened to return, remember?"
"You are not getting out of this that easily, Mrs Black." Lily responded.
Kat shrugged. "We assure you, we are not myth. Before anyone else asks, I control fire, Sirius - er, Professor Black - earth, Professor Lily Potter air and Professor James Potter water. We have some wandless abilities as well, of the kind that have been lost over the centuries."
The class stared.
Harry's hand went up. "So, how did you bring them back?"
Kat looked a little sheepish. "Had to find some ancient temples, erm, snatch your parents' bodies from their graves, break into the Department of Mysteries, find the Death chamber and sort out a few things using the Veil. Oh and some elemental jewels."
Harry nodded. "Didn't happen to be in a box at my aunt's house, did they?" Kat's eyes widened in answer and Harry grinned, before announcing to the rest of the class, "Be careful, she's got a mean right hook."
"I'll say." Sirius muttered.
"Next question?" Kat asked quickly.
"Curse of Kali?"
"Blood and reincarnation curse meaning that our souls are forced to separate and be tormented in each new life. Luckily, that's been broken." Kathryn smirked.
"What was the first war like?" Conall asked.
The professors' faces hardened.
It was James who spoke. "We won't sugarcoat it. The first war was bloody, brutal and cruel. Voldemort kidnapped schoolgirls and bled them for rituals. His Death Eaters tortured, murdered, raped and destroyed Muggles and enemies for fun. Sirius and Kat were tortured for information. Minds were broken. Radella was turned into a werewolf. Bombs containing dried korrehn were thrown and Voldemort liked to mark holidays with attacks. It was a dangerous, dreadful time to live through."
"Life was hard." Kathryn continued. "Those of us who were high profile were under constant threat, and we lived with as many wards on our homes as possible. Lily and James were convinced to leave to protect their loved ones by use of spells and guilt. Families were broken, lives destroyed, and hope crumbled each day. But we worked through it. We fought as hard as we could against darkness, because we wanted our children to have a better life than us." She sighed. "Never wanting you to go through what we did in Hogwarts and beyond."
Sirius looked at her and then looked at the waiting class. "No one knew who to trust. We told everyone that I was the Potters' Secret Keeper, and then swapped it to Peter Pettigrew. We never knew he was a spy and even the Ministry was too harsh to even do a simple questioning."
"They probably felt betrayed." James pointed out. "They thought one of their top Aurors had betrayed them and his best friends. His wife and child had disappeared… The evidence was too damning."
Kathryn looked down, then at the students. "In war, you don't get to do what you want. I was literally forced to leave by my ability to see the future, because I was forbidden to change it. Never forget that magic is a force that we can harness, but never control. It is larger and more powerful than any of us can imagine."
Harry watched his parents and godparents carefully as they continued to speak about the war, and wondered if the pain of war was an inherited trait.
XXXXX
The afternoon had gone quickly, and it was now that Harry and his friends - including his new ones - approached the teachers' quarters.
"Goodness me, what a lot of you!" The portrait the Marauders' Map identified as guarding the teachers' wing exclaimed.
Harry smiled at the lady in the picture. "Lady Cordelia."
The woman smiled. "Oh, you know my name. What are so many of you students doing here?"
"Revanata." Harry replied with the password.
Lady Cordelia's eyes widened, and she swung open. "Very well."
The teacher's wing, on opening, looked to be a series of corridors. Harry knew that the Heads of Houses had their own rooms near their students, and this was preserved for visitors and teachers of the other subjects. However, he also knew that his parents and godparents and whoever else had arrived had also 'taken over' the top floor.
"Upstairs then." Hermione observed.
Harry nodded and the group walked up a winding staircase.
They finally arrived outside the last door that barred them from the adults who held the answers to their many questions.
Harry took in a deep breath, suffusing himself with calm and tranquillity, lest he become irrational. He did not want his parents to believe he was a spoiled, whiny brat like Snape claimed. Though if they knew Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, that was unlikely to be a problem.
They were guarded by a portrait that held a majestic stag, black dog, rearing wolf and a flying black owl around the top, sides and base. In the centre was a forest clearing, a full moon in a night sky and four nymphs dancing around a burning fire. Each was different - one redhead, one dark blonde, one ash blonde and one brunette. Harry wondered who had painted it.
"Rebirth." He told the portrait.
One of the nymphs turned away from dancing to look at him, and walked forward, a hand resting on the stag's head. She was redheaded and green-eyed, and they suddenly realised who the nymphs represented.
"Yes, you are permitted, child."
Harry raised a brow at the term 'child' and the portrait swung open.
The group stepped inside.
There was a large group of adults inside. Sirius and Kathryn shared an armchair beside the fire, and Lily and James were snuggled on a sofa opposite. Remus and Damion Jackson were playing chess, Radella and Alura leaning over the backs of their chairs to watch. All of the Orendas were there, including Leila Dobbs, whom Harry had not met, and Adalia, the sister who was getting married. Bill Weasley was chatting to Paul Orenda, and both were swapping stories with the Orenda twins, who were being looked at with admiration by the Weasley twins. Mr and Mrs Weasley were sat on the other end of the sofa to Lily and James, deep in discussion, while the Longbottoms sat looking out onto the Hogwarts grounds beside a window, chatting occasionally with Madam Pomfrey and Jack Orenda. Tonks sat chatting to Moody, and Dumbledore and McGonagall were sat in a corner.
Everyone was there.
Harry, as the designated 'leader', cleared his throat and an eerie silence fell.
"Hmm, I thought it was me with the power of Voice, Harry." Ginny commented.
"No, Harry just has that power McGonagall and Snape do, holding everyone quiet with no effort. 'Cept sometimes in the DA last year."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm sixteen, not a teacher." He looked at the adults around. "Didn't know everyone was going to be here."
"You all need to know." Kathryn Black stated, her dark eyes seeming to blaze with inner fire. Once again, Harry was struck by the similarities between her and her daughter.
Orion Black looked at his mother. "Can we say hi first? You and Dad pretty much disappeared yesterday, and we didn't have time for anything other than a hug."
"Why couldn't we see you during the holidays?"
"Getting over death is hard." Kathryn replied. "Particularly being dead."
"Well, you could always grind your enemies to dust with a sledgehammer, but, gosh, that's been done already." Selene quipped.
"I knew introducing you to Buffy was a bad idea." Kathryn shook her head.
"You were quoting it before even the film was made." Lily pointed out.
Kathryn shrugged.
"Besides, a sledgehammer would be too nice for old Tommy." Harry commented. "Maybe we should give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Hmm, using a diary to suck out his life-force has amazing possibilities." Ginny mused.
Harry shook his head. "I was thinking more along the lines of turning him into a vampire and waiting for the sun to rise whilst he's attached to a cross."
That was dark. And worrying from a young man like Harry.
"Sorry." He responded. "That sort of thing comes from spending too much time in ol' Voldie's head and training with Moody all summer."
"Alastor…" Lily's voice was warning.
Moody shrugged. "S'too nice for that glorified Death Eater if you ask me." He grunted.
"Why were we hidden?" Tala asked suddenly, looking at Remus and Radella.
"I didn't even know." Remus replied. "I couldn't sense it, nobody told me…"
"You weren't in my vision." Kathryn responded. "You had to be safe, you had to be somewhere else, and my vision didn't have you at Hogwarts. Remus was grieving and in no state to care for you, and Damion and Alura - who were your godparents proclaimed at your Blessing - left for America. Plus I knew Fudge was going to get into power along with Umbitch." Kathryn gave an unholy grin of glee. "Oh, I can't wait to hear her squeal."
"Blood quills have been illegal for fifty years, Harry, except when signing legal documents." His father informed him, his voice stern. "They should only be used in terms of irrevocable contracts, such as wills. What the woman could have done with that much blood of yours…"
Horror dawned on Harry's face as he realised what had happened. He knew of blood rituals. Gods, if Umbridge had decided to use his blood…
"We'll need to find every scrap of paper." Tonks informed him. "Your blood is too powerful, Harry."
"Why?"
"Well, you're a Potter. That's just to start."
Harry sighed. "There are things I don't understand. About my heritage, my family… But I think there is one question in everyone's minds." He looked at Kathryn, his eyes burning with green fire.
"How did you bring them back?"
XXXXX
A/N:
Well, what do you think? Too much complaining on behalf of the Guardians? Too little talk about the new kids? More details?
Kathryn's explanations of bringing them back in the next chapter.
And Harry's comment about WHSmith's is a homage to the nice people who pay me to work on Sundays. Of course, I'm still not sure putting me on the book counter was a good idea… It'd be like having Ron work in a sweetshop…
If any of you are Star Wars fans, please have a look at my AU, Dark Queen and White Knight. I'd like to see what you think.
Please review, I'll post at the end of April – yay, most coursework done and Drama exam over. But oh, revision! Still, I'll try and set time aside for writing – and focus on revising in my free periods.
Lol, Tanydwr