Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Petrificus totalus"
Sirius shot spells at Harry and Neville, forcing them to duck and dodge. The spells wouldn't hurt them, the strongest could only disable. Jess had already fallen prey to a stunner and Neville quickly collapsed under Petrificus totalus
"Melle caeli. Alligant"
The air instantly became more thick and hard to move in and a net of ropes shot towards Harry. He attempted to duck but with the air he wasn't fast enough and the ropes hit and bound him.
"Well done, but you forgot your aim again. You need to team up and get past me."
They were continuing an exercise that Remus created, Sirius would fire spells at the three and they needed to dodge and get to the other side of the room. Sirius could jinx, hex, transfigure and charm them and the items around them. Each time they tried he would change the room. It currently looked like it had uneven stony ground and nothing to hide behind. Last time it looked like a desert, with blocks of sand stone, small dunes and a few sinkholes.
"Ok, we're all done here. You've done really well and we'll try again next week. I need to speak with Cascadia, we need to do something with Aslan and Giselle while you go to Hogwarts, they'll really miss you."
Aslan and Giselle were Sirius and Cascadia's twins. They were seven, having been born early January 1984. Aslan had Cascadia's fair complexion and blonde hair but Sirius's grey eyes and joking attitude. Giselle was dark haired with electric blue eyes, she had a shocking likeness to her aunt, Bellatrix. She was a lot more serious then her brother and had already had shocking bouts of accidental magic.
Harry lead Neville and Jess up to his room. Sirius had adapted the whole western wing into his quarters and he'd recently redecorated.
His bedroom was blue with silver and sea green trimmings, the traditional Potter colours. He had a large double bed with a wooden headboard that displayed the Potter crest. The crest featured a shield split into four sections, alternately blue and silver patterns with a Antipodean Opaleye displayed on the front. There was sea green detailing around the edge. He had a bathroom and wardrobe attached. The wing also contained a study, a guest bedroom decorated in gold and a spare room to relax in. It was there the threesome headed. The room was also blue, but a lighter shade, it contained a small bookshelf, a few chests with games and toys from Harry's childhood and a corner with a few couches and beanbags, which they collapsed on. The other side of the room was bare; Sirius had mysteriously promised it would be full by his birthday.
Cascadia came in a moment later bearing a tray with energy potions, they were being tutored next and needed to be able to concentrate.
"Ok, drink quickly, Remus will be here in a moment."
They were tutored by Sirius's lifelong friend Remus Lupin; he would come to the Lowe Mansion on Mondays, the Black estate every Wednesday and the Longbottom manor each Friday. Every lesson was different; they would learn the theory behind Charms, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He would teach the history and they would make basic potions. The Lowe family was potion masters so they would make potions on Mondays, they would learn spell theory on Wednesdays and at Neville's mansion they would learn history. Each Wednesday before Remus came Sirius would teach them defense against spells by dodging and using their surrounding's.
Checking the time they quickly finished their drinks and ran to Harry's study where they had lessons, arriving just before Remus.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
"Hey guys, today we're going to learn about the History of Hogwarts, I know normally we'd be learning theory behind spells but you're going to Hogwarts in just over a month, on Friday you're going to Diagon Alley and next Wednesday we will be having a joint party for Neville and Harry. "
"Ok, please open your books to chapter eighteen and read pages four hundred and thirty-six to fifty-seven, they show the history of how and why Hogwarts was formed."
There was the sound of pages rustling and the three emerged themselves in the History and Hogwarts.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was built in 994 A.D. by Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. The Four Founders wanted to create a place of learning where purebloods, halfbloods and muggleborns could learn together. They divided the school into four houses, those in Gryffindor were brave, to be in Ravenclaw they must be intelligent, Slytherin took those with cunning and ambition and Hufflepuff took the loyal. They worked an intricate piece of magic called the conscientiae suae, which granted Godric's hat powers to divine which house a student should be in.
The book continued on, detailing the building and classes of Hogwarts.
"Ok, if you've finished I'm sure you'll have questions."
"Why didn't the founders choose which students were in their houses?"
"They did at first, however they weren't immortal and they tended to be bias so they chose the hat to an anonymous judge. You're not really supposed to know how you're sorted but I just said the final decision was made by the hat, I'll leave the rest up to your imagination."
"Damn, there goes my next questions, um when do we get electives?"
"In your third year you get electives, you'll choose them in your second. When it comes time I'll give you a basic lesson on each elective so you have a basis to choose."
Remus continued answering their questions for the rest of the session before dismissing them.
"What are you guys doing now?"
"I'm going with gran to the hospital to visit my parents."
Neville had always been quiet, never participating in the pranks that Jess and Harry pulled. He'd only recently trusted them with the information about his parents.
"I'm hanging around here, my parents are at some ball or something so Sirius invited me to stay for the evening."
"Ok great, see you Neville, good luck."
Neville nodded before stepping into the fireplace and disappearing in a burst of flame.
"Ok, I've got a new idea for a prank, come on I'll show you."
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
The ten and eleven year olds raced out of Harry's room grinning. They had a marvelous trick planned and a free afternoon.
"Come on, I'll show you my favourite parts of the estate."
They raced down to the broom shed and Harry grabbed his broom and a spare family broom. They took off and Harry darted around Jess, showing off with loops and spirals. They quickly headed off, flying over the manicured gardens. Harry dove down and through the many arches, swerving through the trees. They soon reached a large maze. Grinning, Harry soared down into it.
"It's enchanted to change every twelve hours and you can't fly over it. We can fly through it though."
After over an hour of searching they found the center. It was a small clearing with a large pond. The pond had millions of tiny pebbles positioned around and in it and a large tree hung over it. Harry dropped the broom, squirming up the tree. He quickly found a small knot and twisted it. A shadow began to grow next to him until it was about his height. He dove through and ended up in a hidden room.
"Sirius enchanted it for me a couple of years ago. It's one of my favourite places."
The room was decorated with cushions and wooden furniture. The shadow doors looked like windows from inside and there were multiple at different heights of the room. A trailing vine lead up to the highest point, where Harry headed. He shimmied up the vine and slipped out the highest window. They ended up at the top of the tree. A small wooden observation deck showed the whole maze and there were piles of cushions and books.
"I love coming up here to relax. We can call the brooms up and fly out."
They then headed to the northern side of the estate, flying over fields and paddocks they quickly found a large forest.
"The wood is full of magical creatures, but none are too dangerous. There are a couple of warded out-of-bounds areas but I know where to avoid. Sirius is part of a rehabilitation program for endangered magical species."
He lead her through the woods until they found a small meadow. On the far side they could see a silvery horse with a golden foal. Closer inspection revealed the horse to be a unicorn with her foal.
"There's a whole herd here and quite a few other creatures. I'll show you the Abraxans, Jarvey's and the lake, it has Merpeople, Hippocampi and in a warded section a Kelpie!"
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Harry and Jess sat down at dinner and began to wait patiently, they were experienced in pranks and knew that smiling and giggling would show that something was wrong. Sirius sat down with Cascadia, Giselle and Aslan and clapped his hands, signaling that the house elves bring the food up. Their manor's kitchen was below the dining room, allowing the elves to teleport the food from the table below to the identical one above. Their usual meal rose up, it was fairly extravagant but any left over food would be stored and used again. They began to reach for food but as Sirius attempted to take some meat the platter moved. Frowning he tried again. Sighing he reached for a different plate only for it to happen again. He took out his wand and cast a sticking charm only for the same thing to happen again. He then tried to summon and duplicate the food. By now Harry, Jess and the twins were in hysterics; Sirius' face while trying to catch his food was hilarious. He reached for the knife and tried to cut a piece of meat only for the knife to bounce off. Glaring at the kids he clapped his hands and summoned the elves.
"Naril did you charm the food?"
"No Master Black sir."
"Loa? Kepri? Taol?"
"No Master Black."
Sirius spun around and glared at Harry.
"Where's Remi?"
"I ordered her to stay in my quarters."
Remi was Harry's personal elf and his orders override Sirius's.
"Black elves cancel the charm."
Each house elf had different magic, but four against one was never going to end well, a moment later Sirius was eating his long awaited meal, still glaring at Harry.
"You're turning into a Mini Marauder, I think it's time I teach you about them."
Harry looked over, curious. Sirius and Remus had mentioned that term many times before but had never explained it…
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
"Ok, as you know we were great friends with your father at Hogwarts. Along with him and another boy we formed a 'club' called the Marauders. It was originally just something we called ourselves when we committed anonymous pranks. Then at the end of our first year we found out about Remus being a werewolf. James came up with the idea we become Animagus to help him through our transitions. It took the next four years but we managed. I am a large black dog, similar to the grim. Your dad was a stag and the other boy was a rat. We'd travel the grounds with Remus at night; we probably knew more about the grounds then anyone else. We had names, Remus was Moony, I was Padfoot, your dad was Prongs and the other boy was Wormtail, the little rat."
"Who was he?"
"He was called Peter Pettigrew, he was one of our best friends but he turned spy to Voldemort. He was always the most stupid in our group but we trusted him. He betrayed your parents and is the reason you're raised by me."
Harry had never hated anyone before, but this knowledge bought up a whole wave of anger. His magic hissed and the windows in the room exploded.
"Reparo, don't worry. I wish I was young enough to have that excuse."
"Ok, well like I said you're becoming a Mini Marauder, I think it's time I teach you to other part to the name, how'd you like to become an Animagus?"
Harry looked at him, eyes wide.
"Could you teach me?"
"After a bit of studying I could probably remember how. Although, having said that, the earliest you could start would be Christmas. You have Hogwarts soon and we're going to be very busy. Then I need to look over the laws and check that it's legal. So yes it's an offer but it will take time."
Harry looked at him, his eyes shining. He was desperate for anything to do with his father, no matter how tentative the link.
He looked up at Sirius, unable to convey his joy and bewilderment. Fortunately he was saved from answering by the noisy arrival of the twins.
Aslan ran into the room, grinning, his sister following quietly behind him. She looked up at them under her dark lashes.
"Where are you going?"
Giselle was shockingly perceptive for her age, she could tell that something was happening. Her twin brother was vastly different.
"In a month Harry will be going to Hogwarts, the wizarding school."
Giselle nodded, her eyes bright.
"Why're you goin' to school?"
Aslan was a lot more like a normal child; he would be the problem when Harry left.
"I'm going to Hogwarts to learn magic so I can control it. Don't worry, I'll see you in Christmas."
"And possibly throughout the term. You're Heir to the House of Potter and when you attend Hogwarts that'll become obvious. You will have to report to the ministry occasionally, especially when the Wizengamot meet. I'm legally the Regent for the House of Potter but when they apply to change a law they need all Heads of Houses, unless they are physically or mentally incapacitated."
Harry nodded, Sirius had been teaching him about the history and protocol for the last five years, ever since he was old enough to understand.
"Why do you have to go?"
Aslan was convinced for the rest of the day that Harry was going to leave and never come back. It took Harry spending the whole next day with him, not that Harry found that hard. He loved his little brother, even though they weren't blood relatives. Giselle often tagged along, but she was a lot more serious and could be a little unnerving with her declarations. She loved to read, although Sirius sometimes worried as to why a seven year old would want to learn about blood wards or advanced runes.
Harry would often study with her; she had a habit of seeing new unusual ways to do things and was already skilled in the theory of Herbology and Potions.
Sirius had never mentioned it but Harry knew he was worried; the last Black to be that powerful was his cousin Bellatrix.
What do you thinks going to happen?
Just to clear things up, this is not a Dumbledore hate story, Dumbledore tried to rehome Harry because he genuinely believes it's the right thing to do. He is used to being right but he isn't always and that will show in this story.
Anyway reviews help me right faster.
I will be updating this weekly starting soon. I'm going away for two weeks on Saturday though so I will write but probably be unable to post. Which is why I'm posting this chapter and the last one this week. Soon it will be regular weekly uploads.
Harry may become an Animagus, but that isn't the point of this story. That's just a side thing to add interest, but what animal do you think he'd be?
BTW this is not a story where Harry is super powerful, his spell casting will be similar but he will be better in theory.