Harry Potter and his Seventh Year
Chapter 3: Mandy and the Basement Surprise
OK I PROMISE YOU THAT MANDY WILL BE IN THIS CHAPTER, AND IN FACT BE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT ARE DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER. DON'T BE EXPECTING CHAPTERS AS LONG AS THE LAST ONE FOR ALL OF THEM, FOR I JUST DON'T WRITE CHAPTERS THAT LONG USUALLY. NOW IN THIS CHAPTER, WE MEET MANDY, HARRY'S BABY PHOENIX IS HATCHED AND WE FINALLY FIND OUT WHAT'S IN THE BASEMENT THAT'S SO IMPORTANT, IN THAT ORDER, THEN THE CHAPTER WILL BE FINISHED.
As they were talking about what was happening with the Phoenix, there was a knock on the front door. Dudley went to answer it, and a pretty young blonde girl walked in after giving Dudley a kiss. "Good morning all. Hi Harry, Hermione, Mr and Mrs Dursley, how is everyone doing? Happy Birthday Harry." She smiled at everyone as they stood there over the phoenix egg while it was hatching. "Is that what I think it is, a phoenix egg?"
Professor Dumbledore smiled at the young lady and nodded. "Yes it is Mandy, I gave it to Harry for his birthday. How is your Aunt Arabella doing today?" He smiled at the young lady, who he hadn't seen since she was a baby. He remembered bouncing her on his knee during boring order meetings so long ago when Arabella was babysitting.
"She's doing fine sir. Please excuse me, but do I know you? You look so familiar for some reason." She looked at him with a different look and cracked a wide smile. "Uncle Albus, it is so good to see you again, it has been a few years hasn't it." She smiled and hugged the man that she thought of like an Uncle so many years ago.
Albus looked at her with a smile. "Why yes you do Mandy, your Aunt Arabella is a friend of mines, and I have known you since you were a baby, when I used to bounce you on my knee. Now do you want to see if your being a squib is do to a spell like Dudley and his mother's? It could be, even tho I know your Aunt's isn't, because I had tested her years ago."
"Would you really? That would be great, and mean that I can go to Hogwart's. Wait, did you say that Dudley isn't a squib, and neither is his mother? Wow, that's great Dudley." She hugged him, and his mother congratulating them. She then sat down while Albus cast the spell, which just happened to have the same effect as when he cast it on Dudley and Petunia.
"Congratulations Mandy, you can be magical like you were meant to be with just a simple spell that I will cast on the three of you now." With that, he waved his wand over the three of them, and they were now Magic Beings. This was done just in time, because the baby phoenix was just now beginning to come out of rheir shell.
"Looks like someone wants to come out and become part of the family. Why hello there little one." Harry had the baby phoenix out in his hand now, and looked at it with a smile. He smiled evern wider when he heard a voice in his head telling him that her name was Camille. "Why hello Camille, you are a beautiful phoenix." And she was, she had feathers the colors of Gryffindor, red and gold. "Everyone, I would like you to meet Camille, she's a newborn Phoenix. Yes she has bonded with me already, surprise surprise. I guess she has a name that she already goes by, and that's Camille. Isn't she one of the prettiest Phoenixes that you have ever seen?" Harry was crooning like a new father right now, and happy. "Thank you Professor Dumbledore, and thank Fawkes for letting me have one of his mates eggs also. Yes she has told me all about her parents and she is proud to be my Phoenix."
Hermione was surprised, but not that much. She had read all about Phoenixes before, and new that they bonded with their lifetime master or mistress before they even hatch. She was glad for Harry and was a little surprised when she heard a voice in her head also. "Don't worry young one, I can tell that you and my master are soul mates, so I have bonded with you also." She smiled at Camille, and petted her on the head. "Why thank you Camille, that is good to know."
Harry, Dudley, Petunia and Mandy looked at her with a are you crazy look, while Albus and Vernon had a knowing look in their eyes. "Looks like you three are going to be together for quite a while then. Phoenixes don't lie, and when she talked to you Hermione, it meant that you three are bonded, and that you and Harry are soul mates. I am so proud of you two, and I knew it back in your 2nd year, when you were petrified Hermione. When Harry wouldn't leave your side, except for classes and to go take care of the Basilisk."
Vernon looked at Albus with a strange look. "You mean Salazars Basilisk is still down there in the old Chamber of Secrets? I knew that one day it would come back and bite you in the arse Albus, we should have taken care of it back then. I told you that with being an elf, I could have gotten us in there. But you didn't want to take the chance, and now you had some students petrified, did anyone die?" He didn't know about this, and hoped that things went well and they got rid of the thing.
"Don't worry my old friend, Harry got rid of it in his second year with Godrics sword, while also rescuing a young first year from a fate worse than death. Everything is ok now, and the darkness that befell our world is now gone. Now that we have all met Camille and Mandy, shall we go down and look at what I'm sure your uncle was about to show you. His big secret in the basement. He hasn't even ever told me what was down there, but then again, we had lost touch with each other before he had bought this house." He smiled at Vernon who chuckled and smiled back.
"You got that right Albus, but yes, let's go show these young people what they were never allowed to see before. This is your legacy Dudley, and in less intent yours also Harry." He led them to the basement door, and was about to open it when he remembered Camille. "Why don't you conjur up a stand for her Harry, she doesn't need to come down here right now. Albus, why don't you contact Fawkes to come and watch over his daughter while we make a trip downstairs."
Albus nodded and Fawkes showed up in a flash of red and gold flames, and trilled at his daughter who trilled back at him. If a Phoenix could smile, he would be like a proud papa. "You have a beautiful daughter Fawkes, thank you for the gift, and please thank your mate for me also." Harry told him and scratched him behind the plumed feathers on his head.
Fawkes trilled his approval and sat on a stand which was just conjured up for the Phoenix's by Hermione. The two phoenixes were sitting there trilling to each other, where Fawkes was giving Camille lessons in proper ways to be around her master and mistress, and she was being a good little phoenix, and listening to her papa. Of course she would give her own ideas on the matter, but they got along quite smashingly.
The small group of people made their way down the staircase into the basement. There were modern lights, lighting up the staircase as they walked down it. They seemed to be walking for about ten minutes, and go down for far farther than what you would think that you would go to go into a basement. When they finally came to the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves at a huge set of double doors. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you my sanctuary. Now through these doors, you will find that there is many a different thing, from living quarters, entryways to the elven lands, and it is well stocked with all you would need to train in the Wizadring world, and muggle world alike. Harry, I would like to invite you and your friends to live down here for the rest of your summer to train Mandy, Dudley and I would also like you to train Petunia in magic. My family is going to come back to the Magical world again, now that we all have magic. What do you think Harry, do you want to be able to have an unlimited access to a library that would make Hogwart's library look like a broom closet, where your friends that aren't old enough to do magic out of school be able to down here, because the Ministry of Magic has no authority over here, because it's considered Elven lands." He looked at his nephew with a chuckle and a smile, knowing that he would jump at the opportunity.
"I think I can answer that for him Vernon, that would be yes." Albus was chuckling at this, and was happy for his young prodigy. "Harry, why don't you, Hermione, Dudley and Mandy go do some shopping in Diagon Alley, and also enjoy your birthday, and I will get a hold of Mr and Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood and Mr Malfoy so that they can meet you for dinner tonight, and you all can come back here to begin your studies."
"Thank you Professor, that would be great." He hugged Albus then his Uncle, Aunt, Mum, Dad, Dudley, and Mandy.. He was happy at this time, then kissed Hermione soundly. "I love you Mione, will you be mine?"
Hermione blushed at this show of affection, but was very happy. "Yes Harry, I will be yours forever and ever. Don't worry about what my parents will think, they think that I am going to be spending the rest of the summer with you and our friends anyway." She was happy, and they spent the rest of the time down there going through the rules, and regulations of the area and the elven realm. Basically they could go anywhere down here, including the elven realms, but to be careful. Time goes faster down here than upstairs, so you will actually be staying down here for a year in the month upstairs. For every month upstairs it is a year of your life down here. That will give you time to train everyone, and have fun exploring. We will let everyone know where they will be, and that they will have to send all correspondences through your Uncle Harry, and he can get them down to you guys down here."
Harry nodded, and hugged Hermione to him. "So things go faster down here than upstairs, so for the little time we were down here, we have been gone a couple of hours upstairs?"
"No Harry, that only happens when you go through that set of Double Doors." Vernon told them.
NEXT: SHOPPING IN DIAGON ALLEY, AND BIRTHDAY FUN.