A/N: I am so sorry! Yet again I accidentally left this fic for months and months without updating :( If anyone out there still cares about it, here's a chapter for you! I promise that no matter what, this fic will be finished. I will not abandon it.
Chapter 19
The doorbell rang. Sirius immediately gritted his teeth, sending a dark look towards the front door. Harry sighed, standing up slowly and trudging towards the door at which he knew the potions master was waiting. He had forcibly banned Sirius from having any interaction with Snape as it would only end in disaster.
The day Harry had been dreading was here, his first occlumency lesson with Snape. He knew it was going to be pretty terrible to endure, and he hoped that it at least would help keep Voldemort out of his head. He opened the front door slowly, a look of apprehension apparent on his face. The door opened to reveal the stony face of professor Snape, his usual scowl fixed firmly in place.
"Are you going to let me in, or are we going to stand around here all day?" Snape said tightly in his most annoyed voice, and Harry gulped, stepping quickly out of the way to let the taller man through. With Snape already in an icy mood it was going to be an interesting lesson.
Harry quickly headed towards the drawing room, where he thought it would be best to have the occlumency lessons. He could practically hear the dramatic sweep of Snape's cloak as he walked behind Harry, probably looming ominously as he usually did.
"Hello again, Snivellus," Harry heard Sirius's voice suddenly bark at them as he entered the room, and he clutched his chest as he tried to fight off heart failure.
"Sirius!" Harry chided, scowling at him as he caught his breath. "I told you it was best to stay upstairs," he continued, causing a sour expression to form on the older man's face.
"And I think I have the right to make sure this overgrown bat doesn't cause you any trouble during this so called lesson", Sirius growled at him, a dark look in his eyes. Harry sighed. He hated it when Sirius got like this, it became practically impossible to talk any sense into him. As he walked towards Sirius to try to convince him he should stay out of it, a barely audible cough sounded behind them. Harry swiftly span around; he had almost forgotten that Snape was standing right there.
"If I may- ah, interrupt this little heart-warming moment," Snape began, a smirk visible on his sallow face, "I must insist that for once in his pitifully erroneous life, Mr Potter is in fact correct. If you could just scurry away and play in the garden so that I can begin this lesson, I won't have to spend a second too long in this…home of yours." Snape spun around and walked into the room, not bothering to cast another look Sirius's way. Sirius looked furious and began stalking towards Snape before Harry caught him by his arm and literally marched him out of the room.
"Just leave it alone," Harry said firmly, depositing the grumpy man at the bottom of the stairs. "I know he's a complete dick and he's going to make this much more irritating than it needs to be, but it will go much quicker and smoother if you just leave him alone and stop antagonising him. If anything is going to make him treat me even worse, then that's it." Sirius stared him down for a moment, his jaw set defiantly, until suddenly the fight seemed to go out of him and he slumped his shoulders, turning and heading slowly up the stairs.
"Don't come running to me when it all goes wrong!" Sirius called back over his shoulder as he disappeared upstairs, and Harry rolled his eyes with a smile on his face at the silly, stubborn dog-like man. The smile was immediately wiped off his face as he entered the drawing room and saw a very impatient Snape sitting at the table, tapping his foot and looking at Harry murderously.
"If you are quite finished," he said stiffly, standing up and motioning for Harry to come closer. Harry walked towards him cautiously, alarm gripping him as his former teacher reached into his robes and drew his wand. He subconsciously patted his pocket where his own wand was sitting, wondering if he would need to defend himself from Snape. The potions master's eyes flickered downwards, following the path of Harry's hand, and a condescending look appeared on his face.
"In these lessons, I will be trying to teach you to build defences to ward off the dangers of external penetration into the mind. Professor Dumbledore seems to think you are at danger of being manipulated and preyed upon by the Dark Lord, whom by now seems to have realised that the link between your minds exists."
Harry was silent for a moment, letting this information sink in. "So there's definitely some kind of connection between my mind and Voldemort's?" Harry asked quickly, feeling horrified that his vague suspicions were correct. Snape visibly twitched at Voldemort's name, and his face turned darker.
"That is what professor Dumbledore believes to be correct, yes," Snape said stiffly. "As proven when you saw into his mind as he attacked Mr Weasley shortly before Christmas. This entry into his mind was powerful enough that he became aware of the connection, and professor Dumbledore is under the impression that he may use this connection to his advantage."
"So he could potentially make me see things, or do things, by entering my mind?" Harry asked worriedly, already starting to panic. He felt dirty, violated almost. Voldemort could enter his own mind whenever he wished?
"It is possible that the Dark Lord could make you see things that are not real," Snape confirmed, twirling his wand in his hand with an air of impatience. "Now, in order to build a defence to stop him entering your mind, you must master the art of occlumency. You will be able to use your own mind to build a barrier of sorts, to stop anyone other than yourself accessing it."
Harry nodded, feeling apprehensive. If he could have chosen anyone to be teaching him subtle magic involving his mind, his most private memories and feelings, Snape would be the last person.
"I will be casting on you the spell Legilimens. This is the spell that will allow me to see into your mind. You will try to use your will power to push me out, to stop me seeing in."
"What?" Harry asked quickly. "You're going to read my mind?" He nervously rubbed his sweaty hands on his jeans. There was no way he was ready for this. What if Snape saw something he wasn't meant to see? Immediately his most private memories swam to the front of his mind, kissing Sirius, sleeping next to him, the amazing sex they had the other night… Oh Merlin, he couldn't imagine what would happen if Snape saw something like that in his mind. Cheeks burning red, Harry looked defiantly into Snape's eyes. The potions master smirked, enjoying Harry's discomfort.
"If you don't want me to see those memories that you so clearly want to hide, then you'll have to put up a very effective barrier to keep me out. Are you ready to begin?"
Harry panicked. Of course he wasn't ready! "But you haven't told me how to do it!"
He said anxiously. Snape stared at him with extreme distain.
"It seems you have no common sense whatsoever Potter, a fact which does not astound me. If you want to keep me out of your mind, then rid your mind of the object you do not wish me to see. Empty your mind, clear it of all thoughts."
That was something to go on, at least, Harry thought to himself. He closed his eyes, thinking back to the lessons Sirius had given him on turning into an animagus. He had worked hard on being able to empty his mind, and he employed the same techniques here. "On my count, then," Snape's voice invaded the peace of Harry's mind. "Three, two, one. Legilimens!"
Harry immediately felt extreme discomfort, like something sharp and invasive was trying to poke his brain. Vague memories began to swim in front of his eyes despite his best efforts to keep his mind clear. He saw Cedric dying in the graveyard. Voldemort rising from the cauldron, naked and snake-like, eyes blood red and murderous. Sirius walking towards him, a soft, loving expression on his face.
"No!" Harry shouted, using all the force he had to push Snape firmly out of his mind. He felt a sharp pain in his knee and opened his eyes to find himself on the ground, panting with the effort it had taken him. Snape was looking down at him, unimpressed.
"You managed to push me out eventually, Potter, but it took far too long. I saw memories that clearly haunt you, things that you don't want to think about. You must try harder," he said, looking down his hooked nose as Harry unsteadily climbed to his feet. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and before he knew it Snape was casting the spell on him again. This time he managed to last a bit longer before the memories started to flood into his brain again. Flashes of Dudley beating him up with his gang, being chased by Ripper the bulldog, a glimpse of a dark room full of jewels and riches that he had only ever seen in his dreams but he somehow knew in his heart that it was an ancient Gringotts vault. That was the last image Harry saw before he managed to force Snape out of his mind.
"At the end, what was that memory? The dark room?" Snape asked Harry suspiciously. He had a calculating look on his face.
"I don't know, it's just some place I've dreamt about a few times," Harry explained vaguely, although something told him there was more to it than that. These dreams he had were persistent and worryingly vivid. Snape said no more, but he gave Harry an odd look before continuing to send a barrage of Legilimency spells his way. After several more attacks on his mind, Harry was on the floor again, his whole body shaking. It really took a lot out of you, having your mind repeatedly violated by someone you hate. Snape eventually seemed to realise it was time for them to stop.
"Alright, Potter, get up. The lesson is over. I shall see you here the same time next week." Without stopping to see if Harry was ok, Snape stepped over him and swiftly exited the room, slamming the front door behind him and awakening the portrait of Sirius's mother in the hall. Harry scowled, climbing wearily to his feet and staggering out of the hall to silence the bloody annoying portrait.
Feeling completely drained, Harry slowly climbed the stairs to his and Sirius's bedroom. He hoped Sirius wasn't annoyed with him still after their little spat earlier. He warily opened the door and peeked into the room, seeing Sirius sitting up in bed reading a book. He glanced up when Harry walked into the room, and gave him a soft smile. Harry let out a sigh of relief, returning the smile tiredly and climbing into bed after pulling off his jeans and t-shirt.
"How did it go?" Sirius asked him, putting away his book and shuffling down in the bed so he could put an arm around Harry and pull him into a hug. Harry smiled and snuggled closer, Sirius's warmth almost sending him over the edge into sleep.
"Snape's a bastard," Harry slurred, already struggling to stay awake. "I didn't realise occlumency would be so tiring." Stifling a huge yawn, Harry rolled over and within seconds he was asleep. With an affectionate smile, Sirius waved his wand at the light to turn it off, and settled down next to Harry, following him into sleep.
Harry tossed and turned, his dreams turning from soft vague shapes into something more sinister. Opening his eyes, he noted that he was pacing up and down a dark room, Nagini close by him as she always was. It was very important to keep her safe, more important than ever. If she were to be harmed… but that wouldn't happen, he told himself. He had her under the strongest protective spells imaginable, no one but him would ever get close to her.
His diary, on the other hand… A furious snarl almost erupted from his mouth, but he managed to keep himself under control for now. How had he ever let that snotty little kid, Harry Potter, destroy his diary, such an important artefact. It was partly down to Lucius of course; thanks to him the diary had fallen into the wrong hands. Lucius wasn't to know that he was holding in his hands an item of such extreme value and importance, but it still very much irked him. But no, it wasn't his fault that the Potter boy had somehow managed to pierce the diary with a basilisk fang of all things. Almost as if he had known…but how could he, he was only twelve at the time and no one knew the significance of the diary, let alone an idiotic child.
Now, if he could just keep the rest of them safe… they were kept in secure locations that no one else would ever guess, and the protective spells on them were strong enough and intricate enough to fool even Dumbledore himself should he go sniffing things out and finding the trail. But not even that old fool could have a clue about what he had done. He, who had gone further than any other in the quest for immortality. The locket was hidden in that far away cave, where he had enjoyed torturing those bullies. The diadem, hidden in the room that only he had managed to discover within Hogwarts, no one else had explored that castle as comprehensively as him, had called it their real home. The ring was in the old Gaunt place; he was almost completely sure that no one knew of his ties to the Gaunts. The cup, safe in the depths of Gringotts protected by dragons and whatever other dark secrets the goblins were hiding. He glanced down at Nagini, observing again her intricate protective spells. Yes, it would be impossible for anything other than his diary to be destroyed. He'd like to see Dumbledore try, especially now. His plan was still going well, and any day now Dumbledore was going to be very busy, very busy indeed, with the resulting carnage.
Harry opened his eyes, gasping for breath. The dream was still so vivid in his mind, as real as the cold sweat drying on his body. Before he had a chance to forget the details, he jumped out of bed and rushed to the desk, grabbing a quill and scribbling down everything he remembered. Voldemort was thinking about important objects, and wasn't that what Dumbledore had been interested in? Something that could destroy him, an object? Harry almost spilled ink all over the paper in his haste to scribble everything he could remember. The diary, that had been much more important than Harry had realised. There was a locket, a ring, a diadem (whatever that was), and a cup. The cup, Harry quickly realised, which Voldemort had so clearly pictured in a Gringotts vault. Wasn't that exactly what Harry had been seeing in his dreams? It all suddenly seemed to be coming back to him. Dreams of objects, dreams filled with fear and anxiety. Voldemort must have had these items on his mind constantly, and Harry had been seeing into his mind whenever he went to sleep.
With the ink still drying on the page, Harry looked around the room and saw that Sirius was nowhere to be found. He must've slept in. The first thing he had to do, right now, was to speak to professor Dumbledore. He hoped to Merlin that the man was still at Hogwarts at the present. Rushing downstairs, Harry crashed into the kitchen only to see the majority of the Order sitting around the table in deep discussion. They all ground to a halt and turned to stare at him as he bounded into the room, giving him strange looks. Harry glanced down and blushed when he realised he was still only wearing his underwear. Ignoring this worrying development, Harry turned to Kingsley Shacklebolt who was sitting at the head of the table, his usual place in command whenever Dumbledore was absent from the meeting.
"I need to speak to Dumbledore, right now!" Harry said quickly, surreptitiously holding the sheet of parchment in front of him to somewhat cover himself. Kingsley frowned at him.
"About what?" He asked in his slow, calming voice.
"I can't say but it's extremely important!" Harry said, getting agitated. "Is he at Hogwarts? Can I speak to him through the floo?"
"Well, he's probably very busy, Harry," Molly Weasley said kindly. "I'm sure if you just tell us what you want to talk to him about, he can see to it next time he's here."
"No, you don't understand," Harry sighed, frustrated. "This is a matter of life and death. I'm being serious!" He said hotly as Tonks started openly giggling at him. Remus gave her a look, and she quietened.
"Dumbledore is at Hogwarts," Remus said slowly. "All you can do is try to floo his office, but there's a very high chance you won't get through to him," he said carefully. It was all Harry needed.
"Great, I'll go and try!" Harry turned to run from the room, but before he was out the door he heard Sirius distinctly clearing his throat. Harry turned, raising an eyebrow at his godfather.
"Might want to put some clothes on before you run off to Hogwarts, Harry," Sirius said dryly with a wry smile on his face. He looked extremely curious beneath the humour, however, and Harry knew he must tell Sirius everything as soon as he'd cleared it with Dumbledore. He quickly rushed from the room, sprinting upstairs to throw some clothes on before racing back down to the drawing room, carefully locking the door behind him and casting a silencing charm for good measure. It wasn't that he didn't trust the members of the Order, but you never know where Kreacher might be hanging about.
Grabbing a handful of floo powder from the intricately carved bowl by the fire, Harry threw it into the fireplace and shouted carefully "Professor Albus Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts school". He knelt down and put his head in the green flames, feeling dizzy as his head seemed to spin around and around as his knees and body remained firmly on solid ground. Moments later, the green flames gave way to the image of Dumbledore's office, cluttered as always, the familiar sight of Fawkes sitting on his perch. He looked interestedly at Harry's face in the fire, then went back to grooming himself.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry called loudly, hoping against hope that the elderly headmaster was in his office. "Professor Dumbledore?"
"Harry! What on earth are you doing in my fireplace?" Harry sighed with relief as he heard the unmistakeable voice of Dumbledore coming towards him from the other side of the office.
"Professor! I had a dream and I was inside Voldemort's mind again and I really need to talk to you about it-." Harry rushed to tell Dumbledore, and before he could finish his sentence Dumbledore's eyes had lit up and he was ushering Harry to come through the floo. Harry pulled his head out of the fireplace, trying to ignore the dizziness, and then stepped all the way in to Hogwarts for the first time since his last school year.
"Harry, please sit down," Dumbledore gestured to the chair in front of his desk, walking around to take his own seat. His face didn't express any surprise, or hint that this was a situation out of the ordinary. They both sat, Dumbledore fixing Harry with his trademark icy blue stare that made Harry feel as if he was being x-rayed. "Why don't you explain what happened, from the beginning."
"Well, I just had my first occlumency lesson with Snape and I was completely drained, so I headed to bed early," Harry started, "in fact I think that might be why I had the dream. If anything this lesson made me even more susceptible to Voldemort because it weakened my defences." He frowned pointedly at Dumbledore at this, but the old man looked deliberately at a spot above Harry's right shoulder and ignored him. "Anyway. I went to bed, and I had a dream. Not a normal dream, it was like when I dreamt that I attacked Mr Weasley. I was inside Voldemort's head."
Dumbledore's stare fixated on Harry again, pale blue eyes piercing him above half-moon spectacles. Harry continued. "Voldemort was agitated. I was- he was walking up and down, Nagini was there. He was thinking about how I destroyed his diary, and it was as if it was something incredibly important, more important than just an old memory. Anyway, then he started thinking about other objects, they seemed to have the same significance. I wrote it all down," Harry said, fishing the piece of paper out of his pocket.
"There was a locket, which he said was in a cave somewhere. There was something about torture? I can't quite remember. A ring, which was in an old house somewhere, possibly belonging to his ancestors. And there was something called…" Harry glanced at his notes, "a diadem. What is that anyway?"
"It's a small crown, or tiara. Please continue." Harry swallowed nervously, suddenly overcome with the realisation that this conversation was one of the most important he would ever have.
"Er, right. The last object he thought about was a cup, and it was in a Gringotts vault. Which reminded me, I've been dreaming about a vault for ages. Well, all I've seen is a dark room full of gold and jewels but something told me it was in Gringotts, and I must've been picking up on Voldemort's fixation on these items. I've dreamt about the diary too, and the crown, and the locket too." Harry stared at Dumbledore, waiting for him to react in some way. There was clearly a lot of thinking going on behind those pale blue eyes. Harry fidgeted, waiting what seemed like forever.
"Thank you for coming to me with this, Harry. As I'm sure you're aware, this could very well be the turning point in the war. I told you a while ago that there were items I was searching for that would be of extreme importance in the destruction of Voldemort, and I do believe you've found the key."
Harry stared at Dumbledore open mouthed. He had suspected this to be the truth, of course, but to hear it directly from Dumbledore's mouth… Could he truly have accidentally found the key to destroying Voldemort simply by having this strange connection to his mind? All he did was witness Voldemort's frustration and anger towards himself in a dream, and he had been lucky enough to encounter this. It was a lot to process.
"So, what exactly are these objects, professor?" Harry asked eagerly. That was the question that was eating away at him the most. Voldemort had been unbeatable for decades, and yet there was some kind of way to kill him involving these seemingly unrelated objects?
"Ah, yes. An important question, and yet one which I cannot answer." Harry's eyes immediately narrowed. "Not yet, anyway," Dumbledore added quickly, noting the look in Harry's eyes. "You must understand that this is extremely important and secret information, and with this link you share with Voldemort, he could very easily access the information if he so desired."
Harry scowled. It sounded logical, of course, but that didn't mean he agreed with being sheltered from important information because of something that he couldn't control.
"You'll understand then, Harry, why I must insist that you practise extremely hard on your occlumency. If Voldemort were even to know about this conversation…"
"I'll do my best, professor! Although I don't think Snape really cares about whether I do well or not. He was supposed to be helping, but then my mind was more open than ever…although I suppose that's a good thing really, because I heard this information." It was true, Harry thought. Why should he be practising occlumency when the link between himself and Voldemort had proved so useful? First he had saved Mr Weasley, and now he had recovered extremely important information.
"I can see why you would think that, Harry, however it is extremely important that you close your mind to Voldemort. We have other ways of obtaining information from him. Remember that this connection between you works both ways. He can read your memories, your deepest thoughts, he can put images and thoughts into your mind that aren't your own. Yes, it is imperative that you work hard on your lessons, Harry."
With that, Dumbledore stood up and Harry understood that he was dismissed. There were so many more questions that he needed answered, but it was obvious that this was all he was going to get. With a slight sigh, he headed back towards the fireplace.
"Thank you for seeing me, professor," he said somewhat stiffly.
"That's quite alright, Harry," Dumbledore said with a vague smile, his eyes twinkling maddeningly. "Goodbye."
"Bye, professor," Harry said, stepping into the floo and whisking himself back to Grimmauld place. He of course fell face first out of the fireplace upon arrival, just about managing to catch himself before face planting the floor. He headed back towards the kitchen in a daze, not really sure what he was doing. All he knew was that the Order would probably want an explanation for why he ran into the room in his underwear, demanded to see Dumbledore and ran off without a word as to why.
As he entered the room, everyone turned to stare at him again. Sheepishly sitting down, Harry coughed nervously, not sure what exactly to say in this situation. Luckily, Kingsley helped him out.
"So, Harry. Would you like to share with us what on earth just happened?" Kingsley raised an eyebrow at him, a small smile on his face. Harry laughed nervously.
"Er, yeah. The thing is, I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't say anything to anyone. It's kind of private." Everyone around the table rolled their eyes in exasperation. "Okay, look. Basically, I had a dream. I looked into Voldemort's mind again, like when I saw Mr Weasley…" he glanced quickly in Arthur and Molly's direction, and saw them exchanging an uneasy look. "Well, anyway. I saw something important and Dumbledore thinks it best that I don't speak about it in case Voldemort were to use this connection to see into my mind."
People around the table flinched in varying degrees of severity at the mention of Voldemort's name. Harry suppressed the urge to roll his own eyes at their reactions.
"Okay Harry, we understand why you can't talk," Kingsley said after a fashion. Not everyone seemed to agree with him on this, but no one spoke up. Harry looked around the table and noticed for the first time that Arthur and Molly looked tired and strained, as if they were anxious about something. "Let's continue where we left off, shall we?"
Harry sat back and listened to the Order discussing things. The cause for Arthur and Molly's discontent became quickly evident. It seemed that Bill, who was supposed to be on guard duty somewhere in London, had gone missing. They had not been able to contact him, and upon sending another guard to the location, he was nowhere to be found. Harry hoped he turned up soon. Bill was a good man, and the Weasley's really didn't need any more drama after the attack on Mr Weasley.
As he sat pondering things, Harry came to a realisation. Though the Order discussed many important issues around him, he had noticed a distinct lack of information relating directly to Voldemort. He had simply put it down to a lack of insider information before, however he was realising now how naïve he had been. Dumbledore knew all along that Harry had this connection to Voldemort's mind. He had obviously told members of the Order not to discuss important things in front of Harry, lest the information fall into the wrong hands. Harry sighed, disgruntled. Even when Dumbledore let Harry think that he was actually letting him in on things, it turned out he was holding him back all along. He really shouldn't be surprised by this, he supposed. It was just like Dumbledore to do this, and to be honest it did make sense. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it though.
Soon enough the meeting was over, and everyone dispersed. Harry was sure to tell Mr and Mrs Weasley that he was sure Bill would turn up soon, and it would all be okay. They smiled kindly at him, but it didn't reach their eyes. They left hand in hand, and Harry sighed, really hoping it was all going to turn out alright. He turned around from the door and saw Sirius standing there, a soft expression on his face. Harry immediately walked towards him as if pulled by a magnet. He threw himself into Sirius's arms and hugged him tightly, not planning to let go any time soon. It had been a stressful day already and it was only lunch time.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Sirius asked gently, his mouth next to Harry's ear. He felt the warm breath slightly tickle, and smiled fondly.
"I'm alright, Sirius." Harry absentmindedly nuzzled closer to Sirius's chest, seeking the comfort he needed after all the drama. "I know Dumbledore told me not to talk to anyone, but I know you're dying to hear what happened this morning and I'm dying to talk about it so let's just get it over with." He pulled back and looked knowingly at Sirius who did indeed look intensely curious. They headed into the drawing room and sat down together on the couch, where Harry proceeded to fill Sirius in on everything that had happened this morning.
"So, do you have any idea what these objects could be?" Harry asked Sirius, curious as to what his opinion was. Sirius was just as clueless as him, however.
"Nope, no idea. I've never heard of any collection of artefacts like that having powers or anything. It must be some really dark magic that only Voldemort is twisted enough to know about."
"And Dumbledore," Harry added with a wry smile. He never was entirely sure if Dumbledore was a completely light wizard, even though he was clearly fighting for the light side. But then, everyone had light and dark inside themselves. With a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore, it was bound to show more clearly.
After a well-deserved lunch, Harry and Sirius pondered over what to do that afternoon. Harry couldn't stop thinking about the events of the morning, about what Dumbledore was doing, about what Voldemort was planning. Plus, he couldn't help thinking about if Bill was going to be okay. He hadn't heard any further news since the meeting, and it was really grating on his mind. It got to the point where Sirius was so fed up with Harry's fidgeting that he had to do something about it, so he suggested continuing their animagus lessons. Harry had been getting really close last time, and it would be a good exercise to help him focus on emptying his mind.
They sat down and got right down to it. Harry sat on the floor, plenty of space around him in the event that he turned into something large. He found this unlikely, however, as he was sure he'd felt like he was shrinking last time he'd attempted the transformation. Sitting on the floor, Harry closed his eyes and quickly cleared his mind, finding it easier now after practising so often. He sat that way for a while, not trying to rush things, feeling the warmth of his magical core getting stronger and stronger as he connected with it.
Before long, he felt his body begin to change. Bones changed shape, began to shrink, his skin burned as something grew out of it. This time, Harry completely relaxed and let the changes take place. It didn't hurt, per se, but it felt extremely uncomfortable. Luckily, after what had felt like a lifetime but was only a few seconds, the discomfort ended and the transformation was complete.
Harry opened his eyes warily. He was very close to the ground. As he went to move forwards towards the mirror at the side of the room, he felt that his instincts told him to hop. He moved his arms experimentally, and suddenly realised that they were a completely different shape. In fact, yes, they were wings! He spread them out, giving them a tentative flap. It felt so strange, but as the minutes went by it felt more and more natural. Eventually he made it to the mirror and looked in, his beak opening slightly in surprise as he looked at himself in his animagus form for the first time.
He was a large type of crow, probably a raven. He was jet black, with glossy feathers which almost looked green or purple when the light shone on them. There was a small white mark on his forehead where his scar would be if he were in his human form. Of course it had to be the scar, Harry thought with a sigh. At least he didn't have spectacles around his eyes, however. He spread his wings again and flapped them, enjoying how majestic he looked. He could get used to this. Now that he was more acquainted with his appearance, he turned to look at Sirius to gauge his reaction. Sirius grinned at him, looking proud and impressed.
"Wow, you look great!" Sirius smiled encouragingly at him. "And it only took you a few lessons. To think it took me an entire school year of practising to turn into mine," he added enviously. Harry went to reply, forgetting for a moment that ravens can't actually talk. He let out a loud caw, surprised himself and flapped his wings erratically as he tried to get used to how his body moved. Sirius guffawed at how stupid he looked, and Harry cuffed him on the arm with one of his large wings.
"Ow! I'm going to have to be careful around you with those things," Sirius said, rubbing his arm gingerly. Harry looked as smug as he could with a beak, and hopped around the room a bit more, getting used to how it felt. He wished he could fly, but there really wasn't enough space in this place for a bird with a four-foot wing span to spread out. He flapped his wings, feeling how powerful they were, and managed to lift himself off the ground a bit. It felt exhilarating just to do that, but he was forced to land again a moment later. He turned to Sirius, who seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.
"You want to fly, don't you? It would be ridiculous to deny you the chance to learn to fly now that we know your animagus form is a bird! What do you say to another trip outside?" Sirius looked at him mischievously, and Harry nodded his head earnestly. He couldn't care less if someone came in and found them missing, he wanted to fly! Flying on his broomstick was his favourite thing to do, the moment when he felt freest. The only thing he could imagine that felt even better was flying with wings, with nothing to keep him in the air other than his own momentum. He flapped his wings and jumped upwards, after a bit of practise and slapping Sirius repeatedly in the face with his wings, he managed to land on the man's shoulder.
"Be careful where you stick those talons!" Sirius warned him, and Harry suddenly realised how sharp they must be. He loosened his hold, using his wings to balance on Sirius's shoulder as he walked towards the front door. They went outside, Sirius walking the same way that they'd gone when Harry had snuck Sirius out in his animagus form not long after he'd first moved in. That had been the first time Harry had started to realise his feelings towards Sirius were changing… He happily reminisced about the fun they'd had in the park while Sirius walked them there, getting a very strange look from a muggle who walked past, wondering why a man was walking around London with a large raven on his shoulder. Luckily, London was a strange place anyway and it wasn't so odd to see someone with an exotic pet.
After walking for a few minutes they arrived at the park, which was luckily deserted. It was a rather chilly day, and no one else had braved the cold to walk in the park. Sirius stopped by some trees, and gently placed Harry on the ground so that he didn't run the risk of ripping his shoulder to shreds or slapping him in the face again as he took off. Harry flapped his wings a couple of times, getting a feel for it. This was it. The moment of truth. He hopped forwards, flapping his wings, and jumped. He immediately took flight, his body doing what it was naturally trained to do, and Harry followed his instincts. He soared around the park several times, only having to flap his wings once or twice to keep the momentum going. It felt incredible to fly like this, so freeing, so liberating. He plunged towards the ground in a huge dive, pulling up at the last moment and soaring off into the distance. He flew higher and higher, looking down at the tiny form of Sirius in the park beneath him, watching him as he flew. There was no other feeling quite like it.
After a little while Harry soared back towards Sirius, flying within a couple of inches of him and watching with amusement as he jumped backwards out of the way. He landed on the ground next to his godfather, and tried to connect with his magical core so he could turn back into his normal form. It came quite easily to him, and before he knew it he was sitting on the ground, whole and intact and completely human.
"Sirius, that was incredible!" Harry said excitedly as he climbed to his feet. He staggered a bit, feeling slightly out of sorts after being a bird for a while. It would take some getting used to, before he could change into his animagus form and back again as easily as Sirius did.
"It looked pretty impressive, flying around like that. Almost makes me wish I had a bird as my animagus form. I'm pretty attached to this one, though," he grinned, and a second later a large shaggy black dog stood where his godfather had been a moment ago. Harry closed his eyes, taking a couple of minutes to make the change himself, but now that he'd done it once it came much more naturally to him. He took to the air and flew after Padfoot who was running through the grass chasing pigeons and looking happier and freer that he had in weeks. They soared around the park together for a while, chasing each other and scaring the other wildlife, until they both tired. Turning back into their human forms, the two men lay next to each other on the ground for a while, catching their breath and enjoying the fresh air. It felt so wonderful to breath in the air after being cooped up in Grimmauld place constantly.
Even this wonderful afternoon had to come to an end eventually, however. They trudged back to Grimmauld place, hoping that no one from the Order had popped in and found them missing. Harry had almost been sent back to Privet Drive last time that had happened. Luckily, they got home and found themselves alone, but not for long. Only a few minutes could have passed before the door opened and suddenly the entire Order seemed to be pouring into the house. Harry and Sirius were summoned into the kitchen by a very grave looking Kingsley, and everyone filed into the room and took their seats around the table. Molly and Arthur were notably absent from the meeting.
"What is it, Kingsley? What did Dumbledore say?" Remus asked urgently, and Harry realised that he wasn't the only one that was clueless. It seemed everyone else had been summoned here to a meeting without any knowledge as to why.
"There had been a mass break-out from Azkaban," Kingsley said seriously. Harry gasped, and there was a murmur around the room. "Ten of Voldemort's most loyal death eaters are now on the loose."
Harry was in shock. He thought back to his dream, where Voldemort had mentioned something about a plan, and that Dumbledore would be kept busy in the aftermath. In all the excitement about the objects, he had completely forgotten that part. This must be what he was talking about! Kingsley read out the names, amongst them were Augustus Rookwood, Antonin Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius took in a sharp intake of breath at Bellatrix's name, and Harry realised she was Sirius's cousin. He gently took Sirius's hand under the table and squeezed it, feeling slightly better when Sirius squeezed back.
The news of this break-out was certainly grave. With this many powerful, loyal followers back under Voldemort's command, how were they to hold him back? It was so daunting. Harry suddenly heard mention of a name he recognised and zoned back into the conversation. Kingsley was reminding everyone what the death eaters had been sent to Azkaban for, and he was talking about Bellatrix.
"Lestrange is a name well known to all of us. She was of course the leader of the group of death eaters that tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, while trying to get information from them."
Harry's mouth fell open. He knew Neville had been raised by his grandmother, but no one had wanted to ask him about his parents because they assumed they had passed away. The news that they had been tortured by death eaters until they lost their minds was shocking to hear. He really felt for Neville. It was one thing to lose your parents, but to have them alive and yet no longer here? It was terrible. Harry vowed that he was going to kill that bitch, the first chance he got.
The Order were midway through discussing the break-out when the door opened and Arthur and Molly walked in. Harry could tell as soon as he saw them that something terrible had happened, something even more terrible than the Azkaban break-out. His mouth went dry, and he swallowed, hoping and praying that it wasn't the news he was dreading. Molly tried to speak, but her already red eyes welled up and she covered her face with her hands, shaking. Arthur put an arm around her and pulled her close, trying to pull himself together enough to speak. Finally, he managed to get a sentence out.
"It's Bill. The death eaters got to him, just before we managed to find him. He's…he's dead."
A/N: I'm so sorry Bill! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that (if anyone is still reading!) I can't believe I started this fic in 2014...*hangs head in shame* I swear to finish it soon. I will! Please review and give me motivation to write. I'll try my best to get the next chapter up soon. There's only 2 or 3 left now!