Defending the Light
Summary: Harry makes up his mind to do anything to destroy Voldemort, with no idea it'll include werewolves, elves, the Veil, the Chamber of Secrets, Azkaban, exotic new powers, and… a secret identity? Will he be able to keep his secrets without losing everything else?
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
"Voldemort found his way out of the Veil," he choked before a surge of dizziness overtook him once again.
Chapter 13: The Chosen One
The first thought that entered the mind of Severus Snape was, "Damn!" he'd known all along that the Dark Lord would find his way out of the Veil. Even if his body did die in there, he would always come back. Always. Dumbledore had once told him that it was important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting. But what happened when all of the fight ran out?
Potter groaned and attempted to sit up. His blasted Gryffindor pride was just one more thing Snape could not stand in the least.
"Lay back down Potter, before you kill yourself!" He snapped at the boy.
Severus surveyed his student with contempt mixed with curiosity. From the looks of it, Potter had been under the Cruciatus. No, something worse than the Cruciatus. What could be worse, however, Snape had yet to find out. Potter's body trembled and shook, though it was obvious he was trying to suppress the tremors. Thus, the next question arose. Why and how did the Dark Lord do this? And no one who could totally push one up against a wall with their mind should have any problem keeping even the Dark Lord out of it.
"Tell us what happened, Harry," Dumbledore calmly demanded.
"I don't know," the boy answered, "Voldemort didn't break into my mind though. I… I think I broke into his, with this," he rubbed his scar. "It's happened before, but I thought he was guarding against that now."
Snape was baffled, though he hated to admit it to himself, "Just tell us what happened already!"
The boy took a deep breath, "I was having a dream that was totally unrelated to anything important when I was suddenly in this place that was all dark and dungeon-like. There were Death Eaters in front of me, and at first I thought I'd been captured by them or something when I found out that I wasn't in my body at all, I was in Voldemort's. Because of what Aberforth did in the Veil," Potter got a shimmer of a pained look on his face, probably because he wished he'd done those things himself. According to reports, Dumbledore's brother had collapsed part of the Veil and basically saved everyone, "Voldemort wanted to know everything about him." He turned to Aberforth, "He wants to kill you. Sorry."
"Why in the name of Merlin is Potter apologetic that Aberforth saved his sorry arse?" Was yet another question that flashed through the mind of Severus Snape.
He didn't have much time to ponder though, because Potter started talking again.
"I um… got a bit freaked and tried to get out of his head. So I, um… I accidently got into the head of someone else, a Death Eater. But it… er… well, it turned out that that Death Eater was in some trouble with Voldemort and Voldemort cast the Avada Kedavra on him." Potter started to shake, and Snape had to fight the urge to shake as well, "It hurt worse than the Cruciatus Curse. And… memories… I felt as if I'd known the feeling before. But that's not important. What's important is that Aberforth is in big trouble because…"
"I'm doing what I feel I have to do." Aberforth Dumbledore finished Potter's sentence. "And you, Mr. Potter, are doing what you have to do."
The man winked at Potter, and Snape's eyes seemed to roll on their own accord. Why was the Headmaster's brother so damn asinine? Why was Potter looking so surprised? Why the hell didn't he just move to some secluded area and just disappear?
Gryffindor's golden boy started to speak again, "So… er… I think I know why that happened," he reached into that knapsack of his and pulled out a small vial.
Snape gave him no time to explain, merely swooped down upon him and grabbed the bottle out of his hands.
"Potter you imbecile! You made a Mind-Trapping Potion! Do you know what could happen if you overdose just once? Death, Potter." He shook the vial in the boy's face.
"I know the risks." Potter stated icily, "I needed a fast way to make sure nothing could get in or out of my head, and this was the quickest solution."
The two were locked in a staring contest for a moment. Snape felt anger well up inside of him. True, one wouldn't call someone who could actually brew a Mind-Trapping potion an imbecile, the concoction was inexpensive, yet difficult to make, not to mention extremely dangerous to take. Learning Occlumency would be easier than making that potion! For most people anyway... Potter was not normal. Not normal at all.
Dumbledore rubbed his temples, "it's not that I don't trust you Harry, but…"
At this, Aberforth started laughing like a madman.
"You don't trust me," Potter finished his sentence. "I assure you, Headmaster, that I'm very careful. I'll take the potion for the rest of the summer, and when I get back to Hogwarts, I promise I'll continue to try and learn Occlumency."
Snape closed his eyes, hoping that if he opened them again the scene would change and he would not have to see Dumbledore accepting Potter's request. He opened his eyes. Damn! The way the Headmaster was looking at him, he knew he was going to have to instruct the brat again.
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There were quite a few things Harry found unbelievable at the moment. First off, Aberforth was taking all the credit for what had happened in the Veil for his sake, practically sacrificing himself. Voldemort wanted to kill Aberforth because of what Harry had done and the man had simply brushed the fact off. Secondly, and the most impossible, was the fact that Dumbledore was agreeing to let him use a potentially lethal potion. Something was rather fishy about the whole thing. Aberforth was a nut, so his actions were at times, a little off. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was not one to blindly trust a fifteen-year-old. He wanted to appease him for something else that had happened.
"What is it?" Harry asked his Headmaster.
"What is what?"
The entire group turned to see the entire Weasley clan minus Bill and plus Hermione enter. None other than Mrs. Weasley herself had posed the question.
Dumbledore rubbed his temples again and Harry got the feeling that the Headmaster had not gotten as much grief from any other person besides Aberforth himself.
"Now, Harry. I don't want you to be overly upset about this but…"
"Please get to the point, sir."
Everyone in the room looked a tad shocked at the way Harry had just said that so bluntly to Albus Dumbledore. It wasn't as though he'd been mean-spirited about it though, in fact, he had spoken in an even calmer tone than the other man. Dumbledore said no more, just handed Harry the day's copy of the Daily Prophet. What it said, however, drained every once of calm Harry had ever possessed:
Harry Potter: The Chosen One?
Could the ever famous Boy-Who-Lived be more? Last night, it was confirmed that Mr. Potter had indeed been in the Department of Mysteries, rescuing his ever elusive and controversial godfather, Sirius Black (see page 2 for details) from what many know only as The Veil, which is supposedly a portal to the afterlife. It was also confirmed that the reason for Mr. Black being in this so-called Veil in the first place, was because he was fighting to assist his godson when Death Eaters invaded the Department a few weeks ago. Which brings us back to the question: Why were the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries in the first place? An information leak now tells us that after the battle against the Death Eaters, one of the prophesies in the Department was missing. Harry Potter was obviously prophesized to hold a key role in the war against You-Know-You, who was most likely trying to steal the prophecy that night. These clues are only the tip of the iceberg however. As you read on, you will surely come to agree that…
"No!" Harry groaned as he sat up quickly, ignoring all pain he was in. "How could they… a whole page of information on…"
Arthur Weasley patted him on the back, "It's alright Harry. The Daily Prophet has written worse things about people, and you've been able to handle the press in the past…"
"Yeah but they've never actually been right before!" Harry yelled to the ceiling, cursing whichever twist of fate was responsible for the mess he was now in.
The entire room went dead silent.
"They were right?" Ron finally managed to choke out. "That prophecy really did say… bloody hell."
"Well I don't think it really matters if Harry has been prophesized to play a large part in the war against Voldemort or not." Ginny proclaimed, making everyone stare at her incredulously, "Oh come on! It's just simple logic. Harry already knows he's going to fight, and he's not just going to go after Death Eaters like the Ministry. If I know Harry, he'll go straight for the root of the problem, Voldemort himself. In the end, The Prophesy is a good thing, because if we know you'll make a difference in the war, Harry, we know you actually have a chance against one of the greatest dark wizards of all time. If Voldemort was trying to steal The Prophesy in the first place, it means he probably knew just as much as this reporter. The only difference now is the rest of the world knows as well, just a tad ahead of time."
Harry looked at her, contemplating what she had told him.
"You're right," he said. "I guess it really doesn't matter. I just really hate attention. Although I suppose I'd get it anyway, Boy-Who-Lived or not. I'm like a magnet when it comes to trouble. And The Prophesy never said I will play a large role in the war, it just says I can. Nothing is ever certain."
"Good morning, everyone," Bill Weasley burst into the room and pulled back the curtains to reveal a dark, cloudy sky. "And what a beautiful morning it is!"
"Hey, Bill," said Fred, "Can I have a bit of whatever you're smoking?"
Mrs. Weasley conked her son on the head before asking, "Why so cheery this morning, Bill?"
"Last night after I visited Harry with the rest of you, Fleur and I went out to eat to celebrate the successful mission. Then we went over to my flat and…"
Harry, Ron, Sirius, and the four other Weasley brothers leaned forward in anticipation.
"Bill…" Mrs. Weasley interrupted sounding rather dangerous.
Bill gave the others a look that clearly said: 'I'll tell you all about it later' then continued, "Anyway… around dawn, nether of us were tired in the least and we sat out on that little balcony attached to my flat and watched the sun rise over London. But the best part is I asked her to marry me and she said yes!"
Was Harry imagining things, or did Mrs. Weasley look less than pleased about the engagement? Brushing the thought aside, Harry immediately jumped out of bed, ignored any pain or dizziness he felt, and shook Bill's hand heartily.
"Congratulations!" he exclaimed. "You are one lucky guy! I never got to know Fleur very well, but I know she's a nice girl. She's intelligent too; she did participate in the Triwizard Tournament after all."
Bill was ecstatic at Harry's enthusiasm, "Thanks, dude! You seem like you're feeling better."
Harry had to laugh at this, "Actually, recent events have caused me to feel much worse."
"Did I miss something?" the eldest Weasley asked with a hint of concern in his voice.
"Nothing too important," Harry shrugged it off, too happy there was still some good news left in the world to care, "Avada Kedavra's, Cruciatus's, stupid connection to Voldemort through my scar, and of course the ever annoying press that have the ability to make every situation one hundred times worse. The usual stuff. So when do you plan to have the wedding?"
The subject change didn't work. Damn. But the topic had to have been brought up sometime. Harry knew from experience that Dumbledore would have told Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in a very serious voice, making everything seem a thousand times shoddier than it really was. He'd hoped that if he had just brushed off the incident, no one would worry about it.
"We leave you for eight hours… Eight hours! And you manage to nearly kill yourself again? That's it! I'm about to fire-call Elaina and borrow some of her bodyguards." Ron joked; half worried as hell, half exasperated.
"Don't even think about it." Harry retorted. "Now seriously, Bill, about the wedding…"
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Sirius watched as his godson continued to chat away as if nothing had happened. How could he be so calm while Sirius himself was teeming with righteous anger over his godson's predicament?
Molly started to unpack an enormous bundle of food she'd brought with her, and Harry soon eased everyone slowly into normal conversation. As everyone was chatting over breakfast, Sirius quickly found the perfect opportunity to confront Remus about a certain something that hadn't escaped his notice.
"You had that dream again didn't you?" he quietly accused his friend.
"What dream?" Remus feigned innocence, knowing he wouldn't be believed.
Sirius sighed, Remus was going to make this discussion so much harder than it had to be; "The one where you're in your werewolf form and you're killing someone you care about. Who was it this time, the Lafina chick?"
Why would I dream about… her?" Remus asked stiffly.
"Because," Sirius started, "You care about her. And you always have that dream about people you care about. You've had ones featuring me, James, Peter, Lily, Dumbledore, Harry, that one Ravenclaw who tutored you in potions that one time, your mother, McGonagall (although, any dream that involves her is a nightmare anyway), a bunch of other random people… And there was that ever so memorable time in our third year where you woke everyone up at midnight claiming you'd eaten the entire population of our school. Hah! As if you could do that! One bite out of Slughorn would have given you a heart attack due to all the cholesterol."
Remus's mouth twitched upward a tad.
"I just… old fears are hard to get rid of." He told his friend, "I'll be fine."
Sirius nodded. If he wasn't mistaken, Harry had some old fears as well that he was desperately trying to hide. Sirius himself was an expert on high self-esteem, and he could tell, just by the way Harry walked, that his godson seriously lacked it. In fact, he had as much self-esteem as Remus, and that was saying something.
"Thinking about Harry?" Remus asked with a smile.
"How can you tell?" Sirius raised and eyebrow at his friend.
"I just can," was the response. "Speaking of Harry, you and I need to have a little talk with him. Apparently, Dumbledore hasn't told us everything there is to know about Harry's past…"
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When the time for the Weasley's to leave rolled around, a large amount of begging was to be heard.
"Please let us stay mum!" Ron pleaded, "It's so boring at Headquarters…"
Mrs. Weasley was about to say something to her son, but Harry interrupted, "I'd really like it if they could stay…"
That settled it. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were allowed to stay. Harry barely had time to open his mouth to speak, however, before Remus and Sirius pounced upon him and his three friends.
"Remus tells me," Sirius began, "that you have some interesting stories to tell us about your past experiences."
Harry's eyes widened. He'd completely forgotten that Remus had intended to have this discussion. From the looks of things, there was no way out of it.
Harry sighed, "First off, how much do you know?"
"Well," started Sirius, "We know that as a first year, a Death Eater taught at your school, but he was taken care of before he caused any real damage. And Dumbledore did mention something about the Forbidden Forest, but he said it was because of detention and you were fine."
"But," Lupin glared at Harry, "You mentioned something about Voldemort."
"Yeah, I mentioned Voldemort a ton of times. Which time are you talking about?"
Lupin shook his head, "Not sure, I was in a bit of a daze as soon as I heard the words 'Voldemort' and 'first year' in the same sentence."
Sirius started hyperventilating, "Voldemort… first year…"
"Maybe I misheard," Lupin took a deep breath, "You must have simply stated the Death Eater was trying to bring back Voldemort right? You weren't threatened by this Death Eater, were you?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at each other, looked at Remus and Sirius who were so nervous about a simple threat, and all burst into peels of laughter. Both adults looked very confused.
"Yeah, sure the Forbidden Forest was safe," Hermione snorted through her laughter, "If only Hagrid wouldn't have made us split up, leaving you with no one but Malfoy and Fang!"
"Who abandoned me the second Voldemort showed up!" Harry added. "And of course, being the pathetic little first year I was, I freaked out and did nothing but back up into a tree root!"
Ron sighed, "Thank Merlin for centaurs!"
"Tell me about. I swear, if Firenze had never showed up…"
"Mars is bright tonight…" Harry was cut off by Hermione's perfect imitation of Ronan and Bane.
All three of them broke into laughter once again.
But Remus and Sirius were far from amused. They had both gone stark white, and were breathing heavily. Both of them grabbed onto Harry so tightly, he thought he'd lose all oxygen.
"You met Voldemort in your first year." Sirius stated it calmly, but somehow made himself sound downright dangerous.
"Well, I didn't know it was Voldemort until he actually introduced himself later on…"
Lupin actually stopped breathing and Ron had to slap him on the back in order to get his respiratory system back on track.
"What do you mean he introduced himself?" Sirius was visibly shaking.
Ron reached over and grabbed an extra piece of bacon, adjusting his seating position on Harry's bed in order to make himself comfortable, "Shall we start from the beginning?"
"Yeah, from the beginning."
"But when was the beginning?" Harry wondered. "Was it the day I met Ron on the train? The day I discovered I'm a wizard? No. It was much farther back than that. Perhaps it all started the day I was born, or the fateful day the Prophesy was told. Or does my story start somewhere long before anyone knows it started. Before I know it started?"
Harry gave himself a little shake and began to talk about his first year with the help of Ron and Hermione, wondering why he always had to over-think things.
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Sirius Black was in a state of shock. His godson had: battled a troll, been hunted by a dark lord, gone into the Forbidden Forest, faced an enormous three-headed dog, almost gotten thrown off of his broom, nearly gotten himself killed by a giant chess set, nearly been strangled by devils snare, and so many other things in his first year alone. Now he was just finding out that Harry had come face to face with Voldemort, and actually heard Voldemort speak.
"So I had the Stone in my pocket," Harry was saying, "and lied to Quirrel about what I was seeing in the mirror. And you know Voldemort; he didn't fall for it in the least. Told Quirrell he wanted to speak with me face to face."
Sirius's heart sunk. This was insanity! Who would let an eleven-year-old face this kind of thing? Without thinking, he grabbed Harry into a tight hug.
"Er… it's really not that bad Sirius." Harry said incredulously, as if everything he'd done was something anyone could do, "Quirrell just un-wrapped his turban, and there was Voldie's face, right on the back of his head. Disgusting really. He's all like: 'Why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?' And I was… really freaked out. But I didn't give him the Stone and that really pissed him off, so he told me that my parents died begging for mercy and if I didn't join him I'd meet the same fate."
"HE WHAT?" Sirius heard himself shout, "What the hell did you do?"
"I called him a liar," Harry shrugged, "Yelled it at him really. He started smiling and then told me the exact opposite about how my parents died. He still wanted me to join him. So I bolted, Quirrell dived after me, my scar hurt like hell, everywhere I touched Quirrel blisters appeared, I grabbed Quirrell's neck, Dumbledore came and saved my sorry ass, blah, blah, blah… I became a murderer at eleven. End of story. Do I really have to continue this?"
Harry had what?
"Oh, yes," Sirius thought, "You are definitely going to continue this."
In his opinion, young boys should be worried about girls, Quidditch, and pranks, not evil beings out to kill you. But Harry wasn't your average kid, not by a long shot. And Sirius got the sense that that fact was grating on Harry's nerves. Sirius himself had never given a thought about whether he was normal or not. He went with whatever, and actually preferred to stand out, as had James. But Harry was not James, it was clear to see, Harry was… Harry. And he possessed as unexplainable an attitude as Remus had when Sirius had first met him and twice the complications. Somebody was going to get it, and Sirius didn't care whom he had to get back at in order to obtain proper revenge.
As of now, Voldemort and Dumbledore were at the top of the list.
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Harry was exhausted. He had just spent the past couple of hours answering frantic questions from both Remus and Sirius. Now he just wanted to talk about something other than himself. He tried numerous times to bring up other subjects and memories of happier, safer times, but every attempt backfired on him. Thank Merlin for Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who tried their best to tell as much of the story as they could in what could only be described as a streak of compassion for Harry's aching throat, which was already sore (along with the rest of his body) from the past night's events.
"Can we be done talking about this now?" Harry begged his godfather; "You've made me so damn bored out of my life right now…"
Ron shook his head, "How can you ever get bored of your life?"
Harry shrugged playfully, "No idea, but it's all Sirius's fault."
Harry's remake earned him the first real, though very small, smile Sirius had shown since he'd woken up that morning.
"Maybe his life is so not boring, all of the not boring-ness is starting to bore him." Ginny suggested with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"And that makes sense how?" Ron asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well it sort of makes sense… in a twisted Fred and George kind of way," Harry laughed. "But seriously, you guys have got to let me get of this room."
"Out of the room," Remus looked concerned, "I thought you just wanted to stop talking, why do you want out of the room? I'm not sure you're well enough yet."
"I just don't like closed-in spaces." Harry responded. "Please just let us go to the tearoom upstairs. I promise I won't overexert myself or anything…"
Sirius looked as if were undergoing a vicious internal struggle at the suggestion, "I'm not so sure Harry… I do want you to have fun… but you're injured and you might get hurt if…"
"You can go." Lupin interrupted, "If we decide you've been gone for too long we'll come for you. I know how you feel about hospitals, Harry. It may do you some good to get out of this room."
Fifteen minutes and about fifteen hundred warnings about how and why he shouldn't overexert himself later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were on their way to the tearoom. As the four of them walked through St. Mungo's, Harry couldn't help but feel an enormous amount of relief that everyone was so busy, no one gave him a second glance.
"Harry!"
Harry heard his name called and involuntarily twitched. Someone had noticed him after all. But on finding that person was none other than Neville Longbottom, Harry's anxiety turned into happiness.
"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
Neville's demeanor instantly grew tense; "I was just visiting my… parents with my Gran. The Healers don't think they have much time left."
A wave of sympathy for Neville completely engulfed Harry from his head to his toes. Anything he had previously felt about how much his life sucked was washed away in the tide.
"I'm sorry. You want to come upstairs to the tearoom with us?" Harry asked.
"Sure!" said Neville with a small smile as they walked into the Tearoom and Hospital Shop, "That'd be great. You should hear my gran talk about you; she's been doing it nonstop since I got home. She'd give anything to have you for a grandson. 'That Harry Potter's got more backbone then the entire Ministry of Magic put together!' she says…"
"She right," Ron grinned as Harry went red, "But if your grandmother wants Harry, she's going to have to fight over him with my mum. And Sirius. And Remus…"
They walked up to the counter and found the one employee working there was completely immersed in a certain book entitled: The Unauthorized Biography of Harry J. Potter: The-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry groaned in annoyance. The teenage wizard behind the counter was too busy reading to notice though. There was a large stack of his biographies on the counter, and a picture of him expertly dodging the Hungarian Horntail during the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament adorned every last one.
"It's not funny," he stubbornly told Ginny, who was in the middle of a giggle fit.
"Yes it is," she replied. "It's bloody hilarious."
"I want to read it!" Ron exclaimed, "It can't be very accurate, it'd be fun to just look and see everything they got wrong."
Harry couldn't subdue his curiosity about what the book said, so he replied with a disgruntled, "Fine."
"So what does everybody want?" Hermione asked.
"Iced Butterbeer sounds good to me," was Ron's enthusiastic reply.
"Me too."
"Me three!"
"Me four!"
"Five Iced Butterbeers please," Hermione said to the guy behind the counter, "And can we have one of those biographies?"
Never taking his eyes off the book, the employee grabbed a bunch of ingredients and mixed the drinks.
"Impressive," Harry commented, having expertly multitasked quite a few times himself.
"That's nothing," Hermione jokingly boasted, "I can read and cook whole meals at the same time."
Ginny grinned, "Although I seem to recall you nearly setting my house on fire last summer while doing just that while mum was away…"
Hermione blushed.
"Turning a little red there, Hermione?" Ron laughed.
"I'd love to see what color she'd turn if I actually told you guys what book she was reading at the time. It was this paperback romance and even the title was…"
"Ginny!" Hermione yelped putting her hand over the younger girls' mouth.
The group purchased their order and advanced to a table with the book, still laughing. Since Ron refused to shut up unless Harry read his biography out loud, Harry flipped to the first page.
"Once upon a time…" he read aloud, "an extraordinarily powerful child was born into a world of war and turmoil, never knowing that he would be the one to eventually stop it." Harry twitched, "What the hell? This thing makes me sound like some bloody action hero in a fantasy novel."
"Speaking of which, have you ever felt like a supporting character in someone else's work of fiction?" Neville asked randomly.
"Nah!" replied Ron, "Besides, what kind of insane author would make one of their characters say something like you just said?"
"Why are you even having such a pointless conversation?" Hermione griped, grabbing the book from Harry and flipping through it.
"I don't know," was Ron's only answer, "Ask the crazy author person who's writing this dialogue."
Hermione whacked Ron on the head with the book before saying, "It says here that your aunt and uncle treated you like their own son and explained to you about your heritage when they thought you were ready."
"Oh really?" Harry said as sarcastically as was possible, "And how exactly did I react to this?"
Ginny, reading over Hermione's shoulder, sniggered, "You were somewhat surprised, but told them that you always knew in your heart there was something special about you."
"Hey check it out!" Ron grinned, obviously finding Harry's exasperation hilarious, "You cleverly discovered Quirrell was a madman who thought he could resurrect Voldemort by sacrificing you and confronted him about it. Then he attacked you and you just managed to escape…"
"How dramatic!" Ginny proclaimed in a pretentious voice.
"Oh this is crap!" Harry yelled to no one in particular.
"Yo, dude," the guy behind the counter spoke for the first time, "You better not be insulting the Chosen One, I'll have to like, challenge you to a duel if you are."
"Why do you care?" Harry shot at him vehemently.
The guy never took his head out of the book, "Because the Chosen One is going to save us all, man. When he was in his second year, he fought off a hundred snakes with his wand. He has skills, mad skills."
Harry groaned and banged his head against the table, letting it rest on the hard, cool surface. He definitely needed some aspirin or something. The guy behind the counter, whose nametag said 'Dan', looked up.
"Harry Potter," Harry grumbled angrily into the table, "did not take on a hundred snakes. It was only one Basilisk."
Harry could practically feel the stares sinking into his back like a deadly poison. One of his worst enemies had interrupted his day: attention.
"He didn't have his wand either," Ginny nodded, "just a sword."
"Gryffindor's sword." Ron added.
"Why didn't you have your wand with you in the first place anyway?" Neville asked Harry.
"I think Voldemort took it." Hermione responded.
It was at that moment that Mrs. Longbottom walked into the room looking for her grandson and stopped dead in her tracks at the mention of the Dark Lord.
"What a second," Neville looked confused, and for the first time, Harry noticed that the boy didn't flinch when Voldemort's name was said, "What does You-Know… I mean, Vol… Voldemort have to do with the Chamber of Secrets?"
Ginny sighed, "He's the Heir of Slytherin. His damn diary enchanted me and forced me into the Chamber of Secrets where his memory started draining my powers and giving him life. Then he took Harry's wand."
"Yeah… that was creepy." Harry cringed. "So I think we've already established that this book is rubbish now," he motioned to the biography.
"Pretty much, yeah," Ron agreed, "Holy crap! It says in here you snogged Hermione!"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other wide-eyed.
"And this is supposed to be a best seller! Oh Merlin no! It'd be like kissing my sister …" Harry buried his head in his hands.
"Ew…" Hermione shivered, looking at the book, "It's all descriptive too…"
"Neville," Mrs. Longbottom spoke up, still looking a bit shocked, "We must be leaving shortly."
"Alright, Gran," Neville said glumly.
It was at that moment Luna skipped in absentmindedly.
"Hey, Luna!" Harry waved.
Luna stooped and squinted at him, poked him on the head, then smiled dreamily and sat in a chair next to Neville.
"Hello, Luna," Ginny grinned at her friend, "I didn't know you were here. We were just discussing how messed up Harry's biography is. According to this, he has a perfect, tragic life and knows exactly what he's doing at all times."
Ron snickered, "Tell that to Snape."
Harry shook his head, "Yeah, well, I think the biggest mistake the author made was not mentioning any of you guys enough," he motioned around the table. "I'd be nowhere without you."
Neville idly sloshed his Butterbeer around in his cup, "I can understand why you'd say that about everyone else, but why me? I didn't do anything."
Harry raised his eyebrows at Neville, "Are you kidding? You are one of the best students in the D.A.! You've worked really hard to get everything right. Then you put everything you learned to the test a couple weeks ago and helped hold off the Death Eaters until backup arrived. You wouldn't give in for anything." He met Neville's startled eyes with absolute sincerity, "Not many can hold their own against the Cruciatus, and we both know what it's like, to feel as if you'd do anything to make the pain stop. I could see it in your eyes; you wouldn't have given in to Lestrange no matter how long it took for backup to arrive."
Neville's eyes never left Harry's, "I wanted to."
"But you didn't. Although I might have, to stop her from hurting you."
Neville's actually smiled, "Hermione's right, you really do have a 'saving people thing'."
"Harry Potter: Hero complex by default." Ginny grinned and took a swig of her Butterbeer.
Harry blinked a couple times. Was it his imagination, or had she sounded a little sad when she said that?
Mrs. Longbottom was looking from her grandson to Harry with a wide-eyed expression on her face. When Harry had last seen her, she had said aloud that Neville lacked his father's talent. Harry desperately hoped she would change her mind. Neville really was much braver than anyone ever gave him credit for.
"I think," Luna announced while tracing the marks in the table, "That we did much better working together then we did when we got split up. The flying brains with tentacles and the Death Eaters had a much better chance of attacking us when we were separated."
Harry grinned, to him and the others Luna's statement made perfect sense. Although to a stranger, Luna would sound just as loony as she always did. The odd change in events was rather amusing. Then Luna ruined it all by saying:
"Hey, do you thing the flying brains with tentacles and the Death Eaters are in on some strange conspiracy together?"
Ron laughed, "No. But I do think we make a great team." In an exaggerated gesture of grandeur, Ron raised his Butterbeer into the air and declared a toast, "To well-timed Reductor Curses!"
Ginny got a mischievous look in her eyes as she too, raised her Butterbeer into the air, "To highly annoyed Death Eaters!"
Hermione laughed and raised her glass as well, "To brains, baby's heads, and prophecies!"
If Hermione's toast sounded ludicrous, Harry wasn't sure how to describe Luna's, "To Blibbering Humdingers!"
Harry couldn't resist, he raised his own Butterbeer and said, "To moving fountains and Voldemort's foiled plans!"
"To Bellatrix Lestrange's excellent imitation of a toddler, I daresay she didn't need to work hard at it."
Everyone turned to look at Neville, who, below his raised glass, wore a smile on his face. Harry ginned back at him before they all clinked their glasses together, laughing at their sudden bout of craziness. It was then that Sirius and Remus strode into the tearoom, ignoring the stares, gasps, and shrieks that followed them.
"Harry," Sirius scowled, "What is taking you so long. I was about to have a heart attack! I swear the enemy could be waiting at any time, anywhere to kill."
Harry snorted, "And Voldemort is hiding in my Butterbeer too, isn't he?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, "For the love of Merlin! How do Molly and Arthur survive with so many teenagers?" He ran a hand through his hair then spotted Neville, "You must be another of Harry's friends. I'm pretty sure I saw you at the Department of Mysteries, but otherwise, I don't think we've ever met. You do look rather familiar though…"
"This is Neville," Harry introduced him, "Neville, meet my godfather, Sirius. Sirius, meet Neville Longbottom."
"Longbottom? As in Frank and Alice's son?" A look of comprehension crossed Sirius's face.
Neville shook his head in affirmation, looking a little nervous. Sirius didn't seem to notice, though, and shook Neville's hand vigorously.
Sirius's enthusiasm, Harry was sure, knew no bounds, "Goodness, I haven't seen you or your parents in… a long time!"
"Fifteen years, Sirius," Remus corrected.
Sirius scoffed, "Nonsense, Moony. I'm not that old!"
Neville looked temporally stunned, "You knew my parents, sir?"
"Of course I knew Frank and Alice! Two of the best damn Aurors the Ministry had, back in the day."
"I know, sir."
Was it Harry's imagination, or did Neville look slightly disappointed?
Sirius's voice softened, "What else do you know about your parents, kid?"
Neville shrugged, "Just that they were really talented and nice. And they did really good in school and stuff…"
Sirius snorted, "Yeah, they were both smart, but has any ever told you about the time your dad was going to flunk transfiguration and…"
"Mr. Black!"
Sirius spun around at the harsh voice before exclaiming, "Augusta! I'd know that hat of yours anywhere! Why, aren't you looking marvelous today…"
"Flattery will get you nowhere, young man," Mrs. Longbottom said, "And Neville knows enough about his parents, thank you very much…"
Sirius shook his head, "He knows about his parents, but it seems to me he doesn't know his parents. Didn't you even tell him how Alice and Frank met?"
Neville's eyes lit up.
Augusta Longbottom crossed her arms, "I don't even know the whole story, but what I do know of it is outrageous, if not a bit scandalous."
"Scandalous?" Ron snickered.
"You shouldn't be the one laughing Ron," Sirius grinned, "Your parents were also involved."
"Yes, but so were you Sirius," Remus laughed, "Along with Lily, James, Skeeter, Jorkins, Malfoy, a few more Black siblings, a highly energetic Niffler…"
"You were involved too, Moony."
"I was only guilty by association."
Harry had never seen Neville look so thrilled. Then it hit him, Neville probably knew just as little about his parents as Harry knew about his own.
"Please let them tell me about it Gran," Neville turned to Mrs. Longbottom with a big smile on his face.
Mrs. Longbottom didn't say anything. She sighed, whacked Sirius on the head with her bright red handbag, and, with a flick of her wand, added three more chairs to the table. She sat in one of them as though she were a queen on her throne, a diadem of stuffed vulture atop her head. Sirius raised his eyebrows and sat down along with Remus before beginning what was to be one of the most amusing stories anyone at the table had ever heard.
"It was fall of '72 and, being the excellent twelve-year-old troublemakers that we were, me, Remus, and James (Harry's dad) were planning what we were sure would be the prank of the century. My sadist-of-a-cousin Bellatrix had taken to shamelessly flirting with super-popular pureblood sixth year prefect Frank Longbottom. She wasn't looking for a relationship, she was just a slut, and overlooked the fact that Frank was in Gryffindor for his looks and his cash. We wanted a way to embarrass the hell out of her and annoy Frank because he had confiscated my Led Zeppelin records and wouldn't give them back. Not because he was afraid I'd blast them again at midnight either, he was listening to them himself; I heard them playing in the sixth year dormitories. But to perform the exigent task, we needed a plant. Herbology wasn't a strong subject for us, so we decided to get some help from this adorably shy fifth year Hufflepuff named Alice, who had a bone to pick with another cousin of mine, Narcissa Black…"
-------------------
Neville Longbottom walked into his room, lost in thought. He had had so many firsts today. The first time his Gran had looked at him like he could actually be half as good as his father, the first time someone had told him how great he was, the first time he'd actually gotten an idea about who his parents really were… He almost laughed aloud; from how his Gran talked, he'd thought his parents had had a proper, somewhat boring, yet stunningly romantic relationship. He would have never guessed they had bonded over a messed up prank that got messed up because his roommate's parents had been snogging in an extremely necessary broom cupboard. Black's story had had more twists than one of the Muggle soap operas his Great Aunt Enid liked to watch.
According to Professor Lupin and Mr. Black, his father had been brash and brave, while his mother held a quite strength she would unleash on anyone who threatened those she loved. Neville wished he could, just for a moment, live up to the legacy they'd left him with. He looked at the gum wrapper in his hand, the one his mother had given him today. One day soon, she would no longer be around to give him anything anymore. Not old gum wrappers or hope, hope that his mother would get better because she remembered him at least a little.
Neville tried very hard to blink back tears, he really did. He had to let go. He had to stop hoping. He was going to walk right over to the bin and throw away the wrapper. He was going to let it go and drop it in with the rest of the pointless rubbish that had no use to anyone anymore. Neville's hand trembled as he walked over the bin, and stood over it for a good five minutes until his hand shook so badly he dropped it on top of some old paper and used tissues. But then he reached down, picked up the wrapper, and put it in an old cedar chest at the foot of his bed that had enough old wrappers to paper his wall. Neville closed his eyes and dropped the candy covering in like he'd done so many times before.
He would stop hoping another day.
--------------------
Night descended on London like a dark shadow. There were no stars, no moon, only the darkness and the occasional streetlight. Yet even the streetlights seemed strangely dim and foreboding, as if they were surrounded by a heavy miasma. Remus and Sirius were sleeping, goodness knows, they deserved some rest. Harry glanced around the room; Aberforth was nowhere to be seen. Deciding he needed to get down to business, Harry grabbed his knapsack from under his bed, drew the curtains around his bed, and dumped the contents over his mattress. Harry leaned forward and picked up the two things he felt he needed to investigate the most: The stone Voldemort had dropped and the note his father had given him in the Veil.
Harry reached for the note first.
Harry –
Can't say much
Tell Padfoot it's not his fault
Moony needs to make a move
Find the key incased in stone
When near the secret, it will appear
And then it will unlock the secret
The secret that lies in the forest
Find it and answer the questions you have
Find it before he does
Pay attention to detail
Don't give up, ever
We love you
Harry read it over and over again but he wasn't sure what to think. What was this key that was so important? He looked at the stone Voldemort had lost. Voldemort lost a key in the Veil, could the stone be it?
'Find the key incased in stone'
No, Harry thought, the stone wasn't the key. The key was in the stone. And it would only reveal itself if he took it near the secret in the forest. But what forest? Harry supposed his father couldn't tell him that.
'Pay attention to detail'
Thinking back to what his father had told him, Harry remembered something.
"There is someone that can help you, not that they'll think much of it, but they'll give you enough knowledge that you can figure some things out for yourself."
Could the secret have something to do with that person? Harry guessed he'd never know until he found the location of the so-called secret. Harry had a feeling he was going to need help before finding the secret, not after finding it. Harry contemplated telling Remus and Sirius after they woke up.
'Pay attention to detail'
Could Aberforth's words be considered as details? Could he trust the man and his strangeness enough that he could take into consideration what he said?
"One of you must keep an eye out for something shiny, and when you find it, don't tell. Shiny things are valuable."
Harry sighed and put his stuff back into his knapsack. He would keep everything he could a secret for the time being. Harry knew he couldn't make any progress on the mysterious key until he could find out about and go to the forest his father mentioned in the letter. All he could do now was wait. Wait until he was back at the Dursley's and his activities weren't monitored to such an enormous degree and pay attention to every detail imaginable.
'Don't give up, ever'
--------------------------
The following days passed much quicker than Harry had ever dreamed they could in a hospital. Not only was it fun to just hang out with Remus and Sirius, it turned out Remus was a very important aspect of the Order. It was as if Dumbledore had intentionally put him second in command without ever informing Remus of the arrangement. Harry had quite a few reasons to suspect this was the case because not only did practically every Order member stop by to ask Lupin something at least once in the three days they'd been there (while the more elite like Shacklebolt stopped by at least once a day and the more paranoid like Moody stopped by at least once every few hours). The funny thing was, however, that Remus seemed to have absolutely no idea he was in charge of almost everything Dumbledore didn't have time to do. In a moment of boredom (Sirius and Remus were doing paperwork), Harry told Aberforth about how hilarious he thought Remus was being. For some reason, Aberforth burst out laughing and didn't stop for a good five minutes. For the rest of the day, every time he saw Harry, he would burst out into more fits laughter. This annoyed Harry to such an extent he inadvertently put a silencing charm on Aberforth with wandless magic. Thankfully, Remus had thought Sirius had put the charm on Aberforth and Sirius had thought Remus had, so Harry was still in the clear.
But the slip-up worried him. He hadn't said a word or anything. After he'd gained access to a wand he'd stopped doing weird things (like turning his teachers hair blue) by accident with the exception of blowing up Aunt Marge. Now, however, he found himself doing many things without thinking. And he really had to think. Where the secret was hidden still eluded him, and Sirius and Remus had become rather confused about his sudden obsession with the National Geographic magazines he was using to learn about different forests.
He had, however, figured out a lot about how the Order was run. Mainly from Remus because he had a feeling Sirius was being rather biased in explaining certain things.
"What are you writing?" he asked Remus, curious about what Order business he was taking care of this time.
It was day three of Harry's stay in the hospital. The sky outside the window was a dark, sickly kind of gray. According to Remus and Sirius it was the dementors… breeding. Not a pleasant thought. Now that Voldemort was less occupied with finding ways to attack Harry and figure something out about whatever that stone was, Death Eater activity increased by a tenfold. Harry was quite surprised to see Remus grin back at him instead of grimly explaining what tragedy had happened this time.
"This," he said, "Is a letter to my mother."
"Your mum?" Harry had really never thought about Lupin's parents before.
"Yes, my mum. I don't want to be out of touch with her. Someday, I swear, she is not going to have to work anymore, even if I have to force her into retirement. She's had a very hard life."
"And you haven't?" Harry raised his eyebrows at his ex-professor.
Lupin just shook his head, "It's just… My mum has gone through so much because of me. After all these years, I'm still not sure why."
"At least your parents aren't dead because of you." Harry mumbled under his breath.
Apparently, Remus could still hear him, though, and Harry made a vow to never again underestimate a werewolf's sense of hearing.
"Your parents loved you, Harry." Remus told him sternly, "They would have done anything for you, as would Sirius and I. Besides, even if you were the person Voldemort wanted to kill most that… that night, Lily and James were still on his list. You've been told enough about them, I believe, for you to know that Voldemort wanted them dead as well. In fact, if you hadn't been born and destroyed Voldemort that night, your parents would probably still be dead, along with many others."
Harry still didn't agree, no matter how logical Remus's argument sounded. Desperate to change the subject, Harry said:
"So what about your parents? What are your mum and dad like?"
Sirius looked up from what he was doing and gave off a bark of a laugh, "Don't bother asking Remus about his dad. He'll never tell. I've known him for years, and all I know is he's a half-blood wizard, or was a half-blood wizard. Remus won't even tell me if he's alive or not."
Remus glared at his friend, "It's none of your business, Padfoot. Now excuse me while I head up to the hospital owlery to send this letter."
Sirius sighed as his friend left for the owlery.
"So you've never seen Remus's dad?" Harry asked him.
"Nope," Sirius replied, "James and I even went to his place one summer as a surprise for his birthday. Needless to say, he was shocked. See, Remus had never talked about his home life much at first; he was ashamed, I suppose. James and I came from such old, pureblood families that were, naturally, filthy rich. Remus on the other hand, lived alone with his Muggle mum in a small, rundown apartment."
"His dad was never there?"
"Never. And the strangest thing is, James and I got a hold of some Ministry files (don't ask how) and, besides Remus himself, there isn't a half-blood wizard with the surname Lupin living anywhere in the United Kingdom."
-------------------------
When Harry woke up the next morning to find Aurors in the room, he felt sick to his stomach, as if some noxious substance were eating away at its lining. The day they had all been dreading had finally come: the day of Sirius's trial.
Dumbledore was in the room and looked decidedly cheerful. He was wearing deep purple robes with gold embroidery, Aberforth stood right beside him wearing what could only be described of as rags in a simply hideous mustard color. Never had Harry seen two people who looked so alike look so… different.
Sirius was shaking badly. The prospect of a dementors kiss awaited him if he did not win his case. Had they rescued him, Harry thought with a shutter, from a fate worse than death just to have him suffer a fate worse than a fate worse than death? Harry looked down at his hand and realized that he was shaking as well.
"Time to be off!" Dumbledore announced with glee.
Harry almost had a heart attack. The man was starting to sound just like his brother. Sirius could be worse than dead by the end of the day and he was happy?
"So long fair brother, my heart longs for your return!" Aberforth made a grand gesture. "I love you, you stuck up prat!"
"I love you too, you moronic insane maniac!" Dumbledore clapped Aberforth on the back before walking out of the room.
Harry laughed despite himself. What was this? Some strange inside joke between siblings? Harry found himself wondering, for a split second, what it would be like to have a younger brother.
"Are you okay, Sirius?" Harry asked his godfather, who was just standing there with a peculiar look on his face.
"Yes, it's just… my brother and I used to say things like that… just joking around… before… Never mind."
Harry and Remus watched as Sirius took off after Dumbledore. It was then that Harry noticed something unusual about Lupin. There was no emotion in his movements, his voice, or his eyes. It was as if he had drained himself of all feeling, secluding his emotions somewhere too deep to be reached.
"Professor… I mean, Remus," Harry asked, "Are you very good at Occlumency?"
Lupin merely shrugged, "Why do you ask."
"Oh, no reason," Harry responded.
-------------------------
Morning faded to afternoon and the grey clouds Harry was watching rolled along languidly, ignoring the mere mortals that resided below their heavenly abode. He sighed wearily and went back to the book he had been reading. It was entitled Magical Memory and it dealt with how to remember even the tiniest details and how the process worked. It also covered memory charms and such. Harry flipped through the chapter on Pensieves, but the next chapter caught his attention quickly. It told of a highly advanced spell called that acted like a Pensieve and helped the caster relive their memories. Glancing over to look at Lupin and finding the ex-professor engulfed in his work, he decided he would try the spell with wandless magic. He didn't expect anything to happen but when he whispered the incantation, memensita, and closed his eyes, he suddenly saw snatches of memory, his vision from when he was inside Voldemort's mind.
"Stand up Avery! Peterson, take care of that body. As for you, Raulie, I want a full-scale search of that Veil for my key. Get moving, I have an appointment with a certain rat who made an incredibly imprudent slip-up this afternoon."
Harry's eyes snapped open and he felt suddenly dizzy and drained. Grabbing an old notebook from his knapsack, he wrote down everything he had heard in the conversation. A rat made a slip-up? How could that be relevant? Unless…
"I'M FREE!"
Harry jumped a foot in the air and turned around quickly to see his godfather bounding into the room, on his face was the largest grin Harry had ever seen. Sirius was wearing extremely extravagant robes with the Black Family crest on them and his hair was tied back in a very regal looking manner. In fact, he looked so unlike he had during their first meeting Harry almost didn't recognize him. A smile formed on his face as well and he ran to Sirius and held on to him as tightly as possible, fearful that he would disappear at any moment. When he finally let go and glanced at Remus, Lupin's face seemed to crumble like stone. His eyes held more emotion than Harry thought possible and he leapt up and hugged Sirius so fiercely they both toppled down.
"Moony, you know I love you mate, but I don't swing that way." Sirius joked in a muffled voice.
Remus, who was shaking now, popped Sirius on the head good-naturally, "You prat! If you ever scare me like that again, I'll… I'll…"
"Growl at me?"
Remus growled, "No. I only do that when you make incredibly injudicious jokes at farcically inopportune moments."
"You're doing it again, Moony."
"Doing what?"
"Using too many big words."
Harry couldn't help it; he started to laugh and didn't stop laughing. It was a desperate laugh, an outlet of relief that Sirius was alive. He laughed and laughed, his sides aching from exertion, his head spinning from lack of oxygen and fatigue over the charm he'd just done with wandless magic.
"Harry, are you okay?" Sirius asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I'll be fine in a moment," Harry responded, trying hard to control his breathing, "Just… Merlin, Sirius! What happened? How did you prove you were innocent?"
Sirius grinned, "Turns out, even though we didn't see him, Pettigrew was at the Department of Mysteries a few days ago as well. When we came back out of the Veil, he got nervous about being seen and slipped away in the commotion then transformed into a rat. Some kid saw him though, and took a bunch of pictures of him before, during, and after his transformation. Pettigrew got away, but the evidence was pretty damn irrefutable especially after I took Veritaserum. No one knew about this until the boy read an article in the paper about me and got his film developed. Dumbledore himself just found out this morning."
"I have an appointment with a certain rat who made an incredibly imprudent slip-up this afternoon."
Harry started laughing again.
'Pay attention to detai.'
Merlin, was he ever doing a horrible job of that! If he'd been able to remember things better, it would have saved himself and others a lot of pointless worry.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked, repeating Sirius's earlier query.
Harry attempted once again to calm himself, "Yes… I'm… Let's go for a walk."
Both men raised their eyebrows at him.
"What?" Sirius exclaimed.
"Go on a walk. You know… go outside and wander around. That sort of thing."
Remus laughed this time, "I highly doubt the Healers would let us go."
Desperate to get outside for reasons not even he understood, Harry said, "Then let's sneak out!"
"Sneak out?"
"Yeah! You two did it a lot when you were younger, why not now?"
Sirius and Remus both stared at Harry, stared at each other, then stared at Aberforth.
"Don't worry," the bearded man cackled, "I'll cover for you."
With a shrug of his shoulders, Sirius grinned at his friend and godson and Accio-ed some Muggle clothes towards himself, "Let's go for it."
-----------------
Outside, the clouds had parted slightly, and Harry relaxed somewhat. The sun was warm and welcoming for a change. Harry hadn't been outside for quite some time, and the warmth was just enough to make him gain a little more faith in humanity. The three of them had walked all the way to St. James Park, and were perfectly content to keep walking. Eventually, however, as none of them was entirely healthy yet, they unanimously decided to rest on the grass beneath an enormous tree.
"Merlin, I missed the sun and the sky." Sirius whispered softly. "It's true, you know, what they say about never fully appreciating something until it's gone." Then, trying to break up the sappy moment he'd accidently started, said, "In truth, I should have realized that when Mum confiscated my records the summer before fifth year."
"Wasn't that the summer you ran away?" Harry asked.
"Yep, I don't think I could've taken one more day without the sound of an electric guitar."
This comment made Harry laugh. Then he looked up at the sun and the sky, wondering how terrible it must have been for Sirius to have lacked them for so long.
Lupin glared at his friend, "Don't let him think you're anything less than you really are, Sirius. The real reason you ran away was because your parents found out about my lycanthropy and threatened to leak the information to the public."
Harry's head snapped up, "Really?"
"Yeah," Sirius sighed, looking a little uncomfortable, "I stunned them both before I left too. Then I headed over to James's place for help in not getting expelled. Luckily, his parents took me straight to Dumbledore and he glossed everything over. Remus never would have found out if James hadn't filled him in."
Harry's mouth twitched upwards a tad. Sirius, through all the overwhelming confidence he'd apparently had as a kid, was still humble in his own way.
"Well, well, well…" came a voice from above, "It appears those with the names Potter, Lupin, and Black still have a knack for showing up together when it comes to being in places they're not supposed to be."
Those with the names Potter, Lupin, and Black all looked up, startled. They only became more startled when they realized the voice was that of Albus Dumbledore. Not to mention, the Headmaster was sitting on one of the tree branches above them dressed in a Muggle suit.
"Professor Dumbledore! What are you doing up there?" Harry asked.
The Headmaster's eyes twinkled merrily, "Merely trying to discover what three of Voldemort's salient targets are doing in the middle of Muggle London in various states of ill health."
Lupin looked incredibly guilty, and strangely, so did Sirius.
"We brought our wands," Harry reassured the man a tad defensively, "and it was all my idea to sneak out in the first place. I just needed some fresh air and I think Sirius and Remus needed some too."
Dumbledore didn't speak at first, merely nodded and jumped down from the tree and sat by Harry.
"I do think you're doing well, Harry." Dumbledore stated serenely after a moment, "I want you to know, nothing great is expected of you quite yet. Although some fools may count on you completely to stop Voldemort as soon as possible, the Order knows you still have much to learn before you can get too involved in the war."
Harry acquiesced with a slight nod of his head. The four sat in silence for a while, before Harry interrupted.
"What does Aberforth think about all of this?"
Dumbledore frowned a bit, "I'm not entirely sure why you asked that question Harry, although I don't think it would do any good to hide it from you. According to Aberforth I should 'wait', and that is all he has to say on the matter. Nothing more, nothing less."
Harry nodded again, pondering these words. Should he wait? No, the words were for Dumbledore, not him.
"I must admit," Dumbledore spoke up again, "I'm impressed with your knowledge of how magic works. I know I've said it before, but I feel the need to say it again. The theory you spoke of earlier, which I have no doubt is true, is denied by many who choose instead to believe that they are born with magic inside of themselves, instead of being born able to draw magic into themselves through outside sources. They don't realize that just existing is magic, everything existing is magic."
"So magic is everywhere?" Harry asked.
"In every blade of grass," the Headmaster replied with a smile. "Although Dementors can pollute magic with dark forces that make it harder to work with, that's one of the many reasons it's so hard to escape Azkaban. With the small amount of wandless magic I'm capable of, I could probably just barely escape."
"Unless you were in The Cell," Sirius shuddered, saying the place's name in a way one knows is meant to be capitalized, "It's down on the bottom floor of Azkaban, right next to an enormous room where Dementors normally go when they're not feasting on the prisoner's happiness. The inmates got threatened with the place a great deal when I was in Azkaban."
"Wasn't that place outlawed hundreds of years ago for being too cruel for anyone?" Lupin inquired.
"Yes it was." Dumbledore confirmed, "The majority of those put in it begged for death ten minutes after being trapped in there. Alas, it is deplorable that a place like that even exists, but I do believe it's a moot point now. It is time you three get back to St. Mungo's before anyone else realizes your absence. I've already made up a portkey for you. Oh, and Harry," Dumbledore paused in the act of handing over a box of lemon drops, "I'll be picking you up tomorrow at noon to escort you back to your relatives. Be ready."
That said, Dumbledore handed them the lemon drop portkey and jumped into the tree, abruptly disappearing into the branches above. A moment later, Harry felt a familiar jerk on his navel and managed to take one last look around him. Earth and air and life were everywhere. And where there was nature and life, there was magic. It could be found almost anywhere, so long as one knew to look for it.
"One really can be find magic in the strangest places," Harry thought as his world started spinning uncontrollably at the pull of the portkey, "Perhaps, it can even be found at the Dursley's."
------------------
Harry's backpack was packed and his normal Muggle attire was on. He had said goodbye to his friends for one last time until school and paced around the hospital room glumly for what seemed the millionth time that day. Dumbledore was scheduled to arrive in a few minutes, and Harry couldn't help but be thoroughly miserable about returning to his aunt and uncle's.
"Is it normal for kids these days to have holes in their jeans?" Sirius asked, apparently getting exasperated with Harry's consistent pacing.
Harry shrugged and stopped his tiresome tread to sit next to his godfather, "It depends on the person, I suppose." He said, not wanting Sirius and Remus knowing he was wearing the jeans because they were hand-me-downs and all the Dursley's would give him, "I, for one, don't think I need to dress nice when I'm just going to be hanging around at my relative's house for the rest of the summer."
"Still, would you like me to patch those up for you so they'll last longer?" Remus said while gesturing to a patch on his own pants.
"Nah, I honestly don't care about clothes where the Dursley's are concerned. So what are guys going to do for the remainder of the summer?"
Both men just shrugged.
"Order business most likely," Remus responded. "According to all our sources, Voldemort's mood has improved considerably as of late. Voldemort in a pleasant mood definitely cannot be good for the rest of the world."
"Way to go, Moony. Bring up the bad news again, why don't you?" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm really going to miss you guys," Harry said sadly. "I probably won't see you all summer, then I'll have to go to school and I still won't see you!"
Sirius and Remus looked first at each other then at Harry.
"Don't think we aren't going to write, Harry," Remus reassured him.
"Maybe we can even visit a few times if Dumbledore gives us permission," Sirius added, "And if he doesn't give us permission, we'll try to visit anyway."
Harry smiled at this. A moment later, Albus Dumbledore opened the door and walked into the room.
"Hello, Harry. Are you ready to go?" He said kindly. "Alas, I see my brother has once again disappeared."
"Uh-huh, no surprise there," Harry stated as he gave one last goodbye to Remus and Sirius before following Dumbledore out of the room.
In the hallway, headmaster and student were silent as they walked, side by side, immersed in thoughts that were different yet surprisingly similar. Each one was a puzzle to the other, and the contrast between silvery white beard and pitch black hair had never seemed more prominent to either of them.
"Promise me, Harry," Dumbledore spoke softly as they walked into the main entrance, "That you won't put yourself into any unnecessary danger while at your relative's home. I don't want you leaving your neighborhood, and it would be best if you left the residence as little as possible."
"I promise, sir." Harry responded solemnly, his fingers crossed behind his back while he said it.
Dumbledore, thankfully, was too distracted to notice this small act and merely nodded before turning to a Healer at a desk to check Harry out of the hospital.
"You shouldn't cross two pairs of fingers behind your back, you know?" said a dreamy voice in Harry's ear while Dumbledore was busy. "They'll cancel each other out."
Harry turned around quickly to come face-to-face with Luna Lovegood, who had a very serious look on her face.
Harry shrugged, "I just promised him I wouldn't put myself in unnecessary danger. He didn't make me promise I wouldn't leave the house. Besides, our definitions of unnecessary danger may differ a bit, and I'm going by mine."
It felt odd, trying to explain himself to Luna, but he felt he needed to explain. The girl just gave him a dreamy smile and told him he should read the Quibbler more often.
When Dumbledore turned back to Harry, Luna was gone. Dumbledore than proceeded to introduce Harry to the wonders of side-along Apparation, which made Harry feel as if he'd been squeezed through a very tight tube. They ended up right in front of Number 4 Privet Drive, and Harry get the feeling the Muggles on the street could not see or hear him as no one seemed perturbed or even glanced their way when the magically appeared in the middle of the street.
"Well, Harry, this is where we part. I do hope you have a good summer. And don't worry," he said, taking in Harry's perturbed expression as a random Muggles walked past them, not paying any heed to Dumbledore's strange, wizarding attire, "Your relatives will still be able to see you. And the other Muggles will be able to as well the minute you are safely in the house with the door closed."
Harry nodded, wondering if he could learn to do something of the sort. As he started walking up to the front door, he realized that maybe this arrangement was best. He could not put anyone in danger here, and he would be able to practice wandless magic without the whole wizarding world finding out and going ballistic. All he had to do was stay on Vernon's good side and keep making the Mind-Trapping Potion and everything would be alright.
When Harry reached the door, he turned around to look at Dumbledore one last time. But without a sight or sound, the Headmaster had already disappeared.
In the Next Chapter, Undercover with Underwear, Harry returns to a family of not-so-happy Dursley's, has major trouble controlling his magic, overhears something he's not supposed to, and once again decides to take matters into his own hands. But this time, the events that follow will become more life changing than Harry could ever imagine. Watch out Dumbledore, Harry may end up getting 'too involved' in the war sooner than you think!
Why I Haven't Updated in Forever: Not that anyone really cares, but it turned out this chapter was harder to write than I thought. After a battle with writers block, I finally got close to done! Then I got writers block again and made up my own language. Then I made up a world that could have that language as their "ancient language". Then I made up some characters for my world which turned into me attempting to write an epic fantasy series. Which I shall not give up on! I hope... I have the beginning and the end; it's just the middle that's fuzzy. Really fuzzy.
Before people start telling me that a record player couldn't work in Hogwarts, J.K.R. said this (among other things) on her official website: "Cameras, like radios… do exist in the wizarding world… Wizards do not need electricity to make these things work; they function by magic, but in the case of such objects the wizards like the Muggle invention enough to appropriate the idea without adding cumbersome plugs/batteries." So Sirius could have been using one at Hogwarts like Colin Creevey uses a camera. Also, I believe Sirius could have discovered Muggle rock music while trying to find new ways to piss off his parents and decided he liked it.
Great Scot! I just discovered all I need to do to communicate with my reviewers is click 'reply'! I shall no longer get discouraged looking up everyone's email to reply to them!
The Mind-Trapping Potion is not canon.
Not only is memensita not canon; it is a random, made up word that, as far as I know, means nothing in Latin or any other language.
The channeling magic idea came from the Wheel of Time series (except in those books you channel the One Power) and it will be very important later on.
Once again I try to tap into the mind of Severus Snape and once again I fail. Suggestions are welcome. I'm not exactly a snarky person by nature so it's hard for me to get him in character.
St. James Park is the closest big park to the Holborn area in London where, according to the HP Lexicon, the most likely site for St. Mungo's is located.
I had some great ideas for Albus Dumbledore's past I might want to squeeze in here (or someplace else if I get the motivation). If I manage it, please ignore the fact I've taken a few ideas from various manga.