Chapter Five Remus New Suit and Sirius' Mirror

"So you rode in on top of the carriage," Harry said staring at the horizon.

Ron nodded and replied, "I knew I had to be here with you. It's a good thing I came. No offense Professor Lupin…"

"Ah, Ron," Lupin gave out a burst of laughter. It sounded almost giddy. "Don't you think it's time you called me Remus? I think I owe you that at least"

They looked at each other and Ron smiled sheepishly. "Alright. Anyway I knew I had to come. It's a good thing I was here when you did that thing you did. Harry couldn't of held you a second longer." They were covered in dust, as fine as flour and blood from seeping wounds. The three of them were exhausted and still in a daze from the last few minutes. Lupin was standing close to Harry to be there if he collapsed.

Harry nodded and said, "That's true, Ron. I'm surprised something bad didn't happen when you jumped in. It's like you were meant to be here or something," They stood in silence. Harry brushed the dust from his hands and took off his glasses to wipe them clean. He put them back on and stared at an object some feet away. It looked familiar. It was his Hogwart's trunk. "Ron, is that what I think it is? he asked.

"I just knew you had to have it," Ron said looking in the same direction. All three wandered over to the dust-covered trunk lying in the trampled grass and stared at the out-of-place object.

"Really!" Harry exclaimed, staring at the trunk.

A voice behind made them turn in unison. Moses was there. He was holding onto a large box wrapped with twine. Beside him stood the boy, Ramond. "He says there is something in the trunk you need," Moses translated and motioned to Harry to open it.

"Really!" Harry said, again. He crouched down and flipped the lid open and then held his breath. His unwashed clothes and his used cauldron gave off a stench. There were books, clothes, even his wand, all scrambled together. "What is it I'm supposed to need?" he asked. Piece by piece, he began to pull things from the trunk.

When Ron and Snape had rescued him from his aunt and uncle's, unbeknownst to him, they had gathered up his belongings and had taken them along.

"Sorry about the mess, Harry," Ron said. "I just threw everything in there and forgot about it. Snape told me to."

Harry was creating a pile of his personal belongings on the ground and would now and again glance up to look at the fair-haired child who stood quietly watching as each item was pulled from the trunk. The child continued to remain silent.

Harry reached the bottom of the trunk and saw something that made his heart thump in his chest. It was the mirror Sirius had given him. He had chucked it into the trunk in anger when he had discovered at the end of school term that he couldn't communicate with Sirius; he had to admit now the chance to use it to communicate was past.

Harry reached in and lifted it from the bottom.

"That's it," Moses said. "Ramond asks you to hand it to him for a minute." The boy's tiny singsong voice continued to speak. Harry handed it to him and looked up at Moses and then back again at the boy waiting for the words to be translated. The child touched the pieces that were broken when Harry had thrown it so carelessly. The pieces came together and seemed to melt like a liquid in his hands. Ramond handed it back, his blue eyes watching Harry.

When Harry reached for it he felt a mild tremor and a tingling in his hand. The boy was still holding one end.

"Ramond says you should keep this near and not lose sight of it. Carry it with you always. Where there is doubt there is now faith," Moses stared down as if mesmerized by the child.

Harry nodded and tucked the mirror into his shirt pocket.

Moses seemed to come to himself and looked at the box he carried in his hand. "This boy, the red-headed one also brought this." He handed the box to Lupin. "Raymond says that you need it.

Ron chimed in, "Don't ask me why. I know it's your personal stuff Lu….Remus," he faltered for a moment. "I just knew you'd need it," he stammered and blushed red in the hot sun. "Honestly, our family isn't known for having any seer blood in us and I've never, ever seen the future," he stuttered. "I just knew they were needed and I had to come along."

Remus also blushed. "Really?!" They were all looking at him. "Well you see I used a little of the money Sirius left me in his will to buy some clothes," he said in some attempt at explanation. He took the box from Moses and fell silent.

Harry frowned and stared at him. "It's alright Remus, you deserve them. It's very strange though isn't it." He turned to look at Ramond who was giving him a smile that filled his heart. The child was definitely beautiful. Harry wondered about it. If he is this beautiful, he wondered, I wonder what the rest of the elves look like. Ramond was only half elf.

Moses spoke as the child talked, "He says there are now five of us who journey together. That is the way of it."

"Do you know what that means, Moses?" Harry asked.

"I don't Harry Potter," Moses said and smiled. "Ramond is gifted. What he sees, comes true. I believe we are all meant to go together and this boy…"

"Stop calling me that," Ron piped up, "My name is Ron, Ron Weasley."

Moses grinned, "Ok, Ron Weasley. What Ramond says; we do. He can see what is to happen."

"Why do I need the mirror then?" Harry asked. "Why was it important?"

"And why the suit of clothes?" Remus asked.

Moses shook his head and shrugged in answer. He looked at Ron again. "There was a small owl, tiny like a bee. He brought a package for you as well."

"Pig!" Ron gasped. Ron was talking about his tiny owl Sirius had given him in exchange for depriving him of a rat who had turned out to be Peter Pettigrew. "What did he bring me?"

Moses reached in his trouser pocket and produced the picture that had been sent to them. It was Hermione surrounded by the Rom prisoners at Azkaban.

Ron looked at it and frowned. "Why this?" he asked.

Moses once again shrugged.

They all stared down at Ramond who suddenly grinned and scampered off just like a normal child. A tinkle just like a crystal bell sounded through the air. It was his laughter.

The four of them walked back to the encampment. Harry felt a little stronger and walked with Ron.

"This is giving me the willies, Harry," Ron said.

Harry nodded. "Out of my league."

"And Snape," Ron shuddered beside him. " I sort of lost it back there and yelled at him. Did you see him? He didn't even flinch. I thought he'd take my head off but it didn't happen. What's up with that?"

"I don't know, Ron," Harry said. "It's like he's different here. Like this is private world and he can be himself. I think what he does at school is a more of an act. Here he feels safe with these people, the Rom." They stopped and let Moses and Remus walk ahead. "You know Hermione always stood up for Snape. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt."

Ron curled his lip and scrunched his nose and grunted, "If you say so, Harry."

Harry knew Ron wasn't going to be persuaded so easily and there was no way he could tell him the story Snape had told him. "I'm just saying we need him to help us rescue Hermione. It'd be nice if we could all get along for awhile." He didn't tell him about the previous night, how ill he was and how Snape had nursed him. He didn't tell him about Snape's wife, the mother of Ramond.

Ron nodded with understanding.

Harry collapsed beside Moses at the smoldering fire. Petra handed him another cup of liquid and gestured for him to drink it. It was a cup of the sweetened coffee Harry found the Romani enjoyed drinking.

Done with his duties as a translator, Moses napped on the ground, his hat over his face and his feet extended towards the fire. Ron was persuaded to exchange his clothes for those of his hosts and Lupin joined him to change to his new clothing.

Harry rolled to his back and propped his hands under his head for a pillow. "Moses can I ask you a question?"

The man appeared to be asleep but the piece of straw stuck in his mouth was waving with the motion of his tongue. "Our people find it rude to ask questions, Harry. But since you are a guest I will answer it." One eye opened and the smile appeared. "Ask away, Chavo."

"Well first of all, what does Chavo mean," Harry asked.

Moses talked with his eyes closed and slowly eased off one of his boots and then the other. He reached down and tore off socks and extended his bare feet, with his trousers rolled up. "It means, 'young boy'. That's all. It is friendly."

Harry stared at the blue sky, feeling his exhaustion. "Do you know where Azkaban is?"

Moses rolled his head and glanced over and then nodded. "Yes."

"They say it's far out to sea," Harry said. "Are we going by boat? Shouldn't we be starting out soon?"

Moses mumbled and answered, "It is not out to sea. It can be seen by standing on the shoreline. That does not mean it is easy to reach. It sits on an island with many turbulent waters surrounding it. We will travel there by wagon tonight at sunset. We will reach it in the morning. Pashal is a wizard who does this thing he calls apparating, but he says you and the other boy cannot do this and we Rom don't do it either. It would not take him as long but he chooses to travel with us. We will take a boat and sail to the island." Moses pushed his hat back. "Can you sail Harry?" he asked.

"No, not really," Harry said sitting up. "I've...I've only been in a boat once." he recalled the year his letter from Hogwarts arrived and in his attempt to get away from the owls that tried to deliver it, his Uncle Vernon had taken them to a remote island. It had been a harrowing experience.

Moses nodded and mumbled, "Hmmm. It is alright."

"Moses do you know anything else about Azkaban?" he asked.

"Not as much as I do," a deep voice behind them said, which made Harry glance back. It was Snape.

"The island's shores are rocky and steep. There are very few places to put in a boat. The guards who Malfoy has will be looking to the skies thinking we will come on brooms. He'll not expect us to apparate since he knows you can't and most of the island is inaccessible to that kind of travel."

Snape sat down and continued, "If we get to the beach then we will have to climb through volcanic rock as sharp as the blade of a knife." Harry still had difficulty believing it was the 'greasy git' as Ron called him. The transformation in the man was astounding. "We'll climb to the very top where there is an open cone and then down the other side. There is a small lake in the cone and a small island. The inside is covered with a thick forest. It's a very old volcano." He was scratching on the ground with a stick. Harry watched in fascination. Snape continued, "On the island in the center is a castle. It is almost identical to Hogwarts." Snape glanced up. "It's a shame its' beauty is marred by the fact that it is our wizard's prison."

"Will we be able to get in once we are there?" Harry asked.

Snape studied the scratching on the ground and nodded. "I think so. Malfoy won't have any Dementors inside the prison, since he loathes them. However it will be guarded inside by trolls or whatever loathsome creature he has enslaved. The outside will be guarded by other dangerous creatures; Dementors, surely, and possibly other things. Most certainly there will be a dragon if he is aware of him...and has woken him."

Harry looked from the crude sketches on the ground to Snape's face. Dragons, he thought and almost immediately wished for his Firebolt.

Snape must have been reading his mind. "It was very clever of you to avoid the dragon in the Tri-wizard tournament Potter. This time we will have to be even more clever. There are too many of us to just step by the old monster."

"You know this dragon?" Harry asked in fascination. He was becoming ever more astounded by what the man knew.

"Oh, yes," Severus nodded. He didn't betray anything in his facial expression but Harry sensed a deepening despair in the man.

Moses rolled over to hold his head on one hand and look at Harry. "The dragon is not be worried about Harry Potter," he said and Snape shared a look. "There are worse things than an old grandfather dragon who sleeps most of the time." The gold tooth twinkled from the grin.

Harry shook his head at Moses who was laughing silently, his belly jumping up and down with his mirth.

"In our language the dragon's name is Lamya," Moses chuckled. "His name is Old Dog."

"What then?" Harry asked looking from one man to another. "If we get past the dragon and the Dementors and…and ...trolls."

"Elves," Snape said quietly.

Moses sat up and looked grim. This time he sounded grim, "Wood elves, Harry. They live in the woods in the volcano pit. They are more dangerous than any troll, or dragon, or Dementor."

Harry sat in silence. Moses wasn't laughing or teasing now.

They turned in unison as they heard a noise. Ron was with Lupin and he was talking loudly. "You look really good!" he was saying.

Harry stared at his friend. The man was dressed in a pin-stripe dark blue suit. A gold chain was suspended from his waistcoat and he wore black polished boots. Lupin looked so much younger and his hair was no longer touched with gray but was all over a sandy brown. He stepped into the circle and looked very shy as they inspected him.

"Remus, you look…why...you look like you belong in the Ministry!" Harry said, standing and looking at his friend from head to toe.

Remus grinned, "Really! Well I don't think I'd go that far Harry."

"I would," Snape said quietly. They all turned to look at him. "As a matter of fact Lupin, you could be from the Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry cast a shocked look at Snape and then at Remus. He knew exactly what Snape was thinking.