Hogwarts Assignment #11
Amulets & Talismans: Lucky Charms Task #3 Write about someone learning/casting wards on something or around something.
AN AU in which Harry made some unexpected acquaintances in the summer before his third year...
When Harry Potter went to Ron's brother, Bill, for advice on casting wards at age 15, no one really batted an eye. The boy was still recovering from having witnessed the return of Voldemort. Of course he'd be concerned with safety precautions. Who wouldn't be in his shoes?
What was less expected, however, were the intended recipients of his protective energies.
"Sooo… Rumour has it that many of the packs are seriously considering taking a position of neutrality in the war. Know anything about that, Pup?" Sirius asked one day over the holidays, a good four months after Harry'd begun his research into wards. Remus just sighed exasperatedly and swatted at his packmate's head.
Harry chuckled at the sight before responding seemingly without a care, "Can't say as I've ever been terribly knowledgeable in politics, Pads."
"Apparently, someone's been offering them updated wards on pack lands and access to forests to run in for those who need it. It's all been incredibly generous," Remus lightly commented. "Some would even say too kind as nothing has been asked in return for this assistance."
Harry stared hard into his bowl of porridge as though its peaks and valleys held the answers to the universe.
"Maybe the one offering the help feels like he is doing naught but paying back a debt already in place," he mumbled. "Maybe this war is connected only in that it sped up a timeline that formed before he ever knew of the infamous Marauders. Maybe it feels good to know that not all of my legacy is tied up in what happened when I was a baby or that psychopath's stupid obsession with killing me and those I know!" Hands shook as Harry roared the last of his 'hypotheses'.
"Cub—" "Pup—" the two adults spoke on top of each other as they reached out to Prongs' only child. With a look, Sirius let the other take the lead.
"Harry, you must know that you are so much more than that to us, right? Where's this coming from?"
With his godfather on one side and the man he considered his alpha on the other side (lack of animagus runs notwithstanding), Harry responded, "In the Muggle world, the Dursleys made it so that everyone in the community hated me. Hermione's parents tell the world that she's at an elite private school in Scotland. It's a sign of prestige for them, something to be proud of. I, however, go to St. Brutus Secure Centre for Criminally Insane Boys. In the Wizarding world, the news can't decide if I'm a savior or an attention-seeking liar. The jury's still out on whether I'm someone my classmates should or shouldn't associate with. For as long as I can remember, I've been something other, separate from everyone else. There has only been one exception: the summer before my third year."
"What happened then?"
"That's the year I maaay have accidentally blown up Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, like a balloon for insulting Mum and Dad."
"Sounds like she deserved it!"
A wet grin met that response. "She did, but the Dursleys kicked me out for the rest of that summer, and I spent it at the Leaky Cauldron. I wasn't persona non grata yet, and the Ministry picked up the tab wanting to keep me 'safe' from a certain dangerous criminal."
Sirius gave his best menacing grin, causing the other two to break out in chuckles.
"Anyway, I had the run of the Alley, and along the way, I may or may not have run into two cubs who were in a bit of trouble. They introduced me to Lunar Lane. For once, the stupid scar took second place to something I actually remembered doing, and kids wanted to play with plain, old Harry, not just Harry Potter. The differences that stood between me and my new friends didn't feel insurmountable."
"Surely, you don't feel that way with Ron or the Weasleys, do you?"
"Generally, no. But Ron goes through jealousy phases and…"
"As much as they try to include you, you can still see that there's an effort behind that inclusion?"
"How'd you guess?" Harry seemed surprised that Sirius understood.
"I felt the same way when I moved in with Mum and Da Potter. They were great, and your dad had been like a brother to me for years by that point, with all the ups and downs that come with it, but the amount of effort they put in to include me sometimes felt as divisive as anything my own parents could have come up with. Looking back, it was teen angst at its finest, unable to stop poking at a good thing, but that doesn't make those feelings any less valid. I take it you didn't really deal with that on Lunar Lane?"
"I still got a few funny looks from some of the adults," Harry admitted. "But that was because the cubs I'd helped had spread word of our adventure. Once I explained to 'Ri that I was just a kid like him, all the others took it to heart, and I'd be pulled into a game of football or badgered into telling a story same as any of the other big kids. I was just one of the group."
"And the wards, they're your way of saying thank you?" Remus brought things neatly full-circle, though wide eyes suggested a million little incidents were now lining up a pretty picture in his mind's eye.
"Yes, no… I don't know. I've always wanted to do something for the people on the Lane for giving me that experience, but it's more than that, too. I met Accalia and Bledri when a mob tried to attack 'em for looking into a toy shop. Kids shouldn't have to put up with that. I've read the histories of the last war with Voldemort. The cubs and their families, their packs, who showed me what it was to just be one of the crowd are in so much danger now. Danger from Voldemort and the Ministry in equal measure. If I can help with that… isn't it my duty to do so?"
"One of these days, I think we'll have to sit you down and explain precisely what duty and responsibility mean to the average teenager, Harry. We can't have you getting grey hairs prematurely, after all. But, I can see where you're coming from. If you'd like, I could pass along a clarifying message to the alphas when I next meet up with them," Remus offered.
"That'd be great, thanks!"
If the rest of Harry's winter holiday was spent sneaking out at odd times with a grim-like dog and his old DADA professor with an unregistered wand, well, what the Order of the Phoenix didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Besides, Harry's actions did more to prevent werewolves from joining Voldemort than any other plan in place, even if officially most wolves refused to choose a side.
