Magic Ignited

by serpensignis

Before they died, James and Lily arranged for Harry to attend Ignis Academy, a preparatory school for young magicals that teaches them foundational magic skills with a heavy focus on the connection between the mind, body, and magic. Harry begins his journey at Hogwarts with the magical world laid ignited before him, burning with knowledge, excitement, and endless possibilities.

3. A Year At Ignis Academy Part 2

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Also thank you to the wonderful human being who agreed to be a beta for this fic, DoctorPhantom!

Chapter 3: A Year At Ignis Academy Part 2

Chapter 3: A Year At Ignis Academy Part 2

Classes resumed in the new year and, after a second medical exam that showed Harry as having caught up in his height levels but still a bit scrawny - and that the black mark in his forehead had remained unchanged - Harry was allowed to move from the yoga class to the krav maga class. Magical Plant and Animal Handling transitioned into Harvesting, Magical Theory becoming Crafting, and Harry added Animagus classes to his list, alternating between that and Occlumency.

Aside from the changes in classes, there was also a remarkable difference in one of Harry's classmates. Draco had come back from Christmas break and seemed to be making an effort to be less of a prick, at least when he was around Harry. They weren't working together in any of their classes, but Harry had a feeling that Draco was looking for an opening to talk to him. Harry was pretty sure Draco was trying to befriend him because of his apparent fame in their home country given the conversation Harry had had with Headmaster Scythe. That is, if Draco was really as pompous as he made himself out to be.

They spent all of January finalizing all of the projects that they wanted to do. Madame Beck advised the students to pick what would be most important for them to have next year for their first project which would be their primary focus for the class, but there was no reason they couldn't have other projects planned out as well. There would be times when they would need to wait for the enchantments and wards to settle in before they could continue working on one project anyway. On the last Friday of January, Harry was working on the final calculations for the trunk he wanted to create.

After lunch, all of the first year students had free time and so Harry and his yearmates dispersed around the island to pursue their own interests. Harry would usually go off with Leo and Isaiah, either exploring the island on their own or finding a quiet place to study and plan all of the projects that they wanted to craft. When Harry had a moment to himself, he would sneak back up to the hot spring to relax for a bit since none of the other first years had found it yet. Since Harry wanted to check over his work for his trunk, he told his friends to go on without him and he was going to catch up on some reading that he wanted to do.

Luckily for Harry, he had already checked out the book that he wanted to read from the library and it was in his school bag, so he simply needed to find a place to read. He was debating heading to Hut S, the stables, or the hot spring when Johnny came up to him.

"Hey, Harry," Johnny greeted warmly, Ra perched on his shoulder as usual. "Want to see something awesome?"

"What is it?"

"You studied hellhounds in your animal handling class, right?" Johnny waited until Harry nodded in the affirmative before he continued. "We have a pack of hounds on the island and one of the females just gave birth. I thought all of you boys might want to see them."

"I'd like to," Harry said. "But I don't know where the others went."

"Don't worry about them, you'll just have something exciting to tell them at dinner." Johnny grinned and gestured for Harry to follow him. Harry did so, tracing a path that he was surprised to find somewhat familiar to him. It was near the same space on the island that housed the stone stables where the Fire Horses were kept, on the opposite side of the volcano from the hot spring. Harry had walked the path many times on his trips to visit Prince. They came to a fork in the road and instead of turning right like Harry normally did, Johnny led him upwards to the left, following a steep trail along the mountain that housed the volcano.

They crept along the mountain trail for quite some time, Ra occasionally lifting from Johnny's shoulder to circle around them, hissing his excitement to Harry. Harry smiled, distracted by the flying serpent until he bumped into Johnny's back.

"Sorry."

Johnny waved off the apology, gently urging Harry to crouch down and look with him at a small outcropping hidden behind a few small bushes. "Look, just over there."

Harry looked to where Johnny was pointing, searching for a long moment before his eyes picked up a small bit of movement.

There were six of them there, small balls of black and red fur that looked like normal puppies but for the small puff of smoke that rose from the footsteps they left behind. They were small enough that Harry was sure one of them would barely fit in his palm. Resting beside them, the adult hellhound laid regally along the rocks, looking almost like a wolf but for the long, whipping tail barbed with flames.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Johnny asked. Harry nodded in silent amazement.

"Do you think we can get any closer?"

"We can try." Johnny said, "but you'll probably have to only get a little bit closer every day. The pups won't hurt you but the mother is very protective. Here, let's move to where she can see us."

Moving slowly, the two boys both stood up and walked around the bushes they stood behind with careful footsteps. They were able to take two steps past that before the low growling reached their ears. They froze, looking towards the mother hellhound. Solid black eyes stared back at Harry and he had the distinct feeling that he was being judged. He didn't move, hardly even breathed. Johnny put a hand on Harry's shoulder to stop him from moving any closer but Harry was rooted to the spot anyway.

After five minutes of the mother appraising them, she stopped growling. Harry's shoulder relaxed but he didn't move any closer. Instead, he and Johnny began to silently retreat, both letting out a deep breath once they had started walking back down the path to the main island.

"That was amazing." Harry told Johnny excitedly. "Do you think I'll get close enough to pet one?"

"It's possible," Johnny said. "You'll have to come up here everyday for a while to be able to earn the mother's trust. And you might need gloves to pet them, like the horses."

"I don't need gloves to pet the horses." Harry said. Johnny's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Really?"

"Really. I've never used the gloves. Not since Prince nudged my shoulder and only burned a hole in my robes. My skin was perfectly fine." Harry was honestly surprised that Johnny hadn't heard about it yet, from either the other boys in Hut S or the upperclassmen that Harry had talked to over the winter holidays.

"Has anyone mentioned aptitude testing for you yet?" Johnny asked. Harry shook his head.

"What's that?"

"It's a magical exam, sort of like the health screenings we have, but instead of measuring your body, they measure your innate magical abilities. It's not the end all be all of magic, and there's no reason you can't do something that you don't have a natural affinity for, but it can help lead you in the right direction."

"Did you have an aptitude test?" Harry asked. They were back on the main island now, following the boardwalk to the shaded spot that Harry had been sitting at before Johnny had taken him to see the hellhounds.

"I did," Johnny took a seat beneath the palm tree and gestured for Harry to sit as well. "I don't have a strong elemental affinity, like I think you will, but I showed an aptitude for learning magical languages, and a talent for charms. All of that to say it was fairly easy for me to learn parseltongue and I did the best in Charms in school. I think the hardest thing for me to learn was the Animagus transformation, I didn't have that down until I was fifteen and it took me five years. I learned parseltongue in 8 months after I met Ra."

"So the test will tell me what I'm good at?"

"Well, not exactly," Johnny shrugged. "Aptitude or affinities don't equate to automatic skill. I think you have an affinity for fire magic, which is why the animals that are connected to that element seek you out or can't hurt you. But that doesn't make you an elemental mage just like that. You'll still need to work on the skill."

"Oh," Harry said. "So it's telling me which things I'll need more practice with to be good at it. I can probably do fire magic pretty easily but some other things will be harder."

"Exactly." Johnny said. "Most students are given the aptitude test at the beginning of their second summer here, so not this coming summer but the next one for you, but I can ask about letting you be examined earlier. It's just like the health screenings and Healer Michael will perform it in private."

"Yes, I'd like to know." Harry said. Johnny smiled and assured him that he would ask before gesturing to Harry's school bag and the roll of parchment that was half sticking out. Harry eagerly pulled out the plans that he had for his first trunk, a three compartment piece with a storage room, a library, and bedroom.

"I wanted to do the full living compartment like yours, but Madame Beck said that might be too much for a first project. Multiple rooms within one are harder to do, not to mention multiple compartments."

"She's right. I had similar ideas for my first trunk; it was a disaster. I had to restart after two months of work." Johnny moved over to sit beside Harry so they could look at the parchment together. "If you're dead set on having a place to sleep and a library, you could always combine the rooms into one. All you would need to do would be carve out a small nook on one wall and separate the space with a curtain. That would be easier than having everything separated."

"I hadn't thought of that," Harry said. He looked down at the plans that he had for his trunk. "If I combine the library and bedroom compartment into one, I would have enough room to make both sections bigger, meaning I'd have more storage as well."

"You could indeed. It might take a little longer to carve both compartments out, but you would have more space for books and storage, even a study area in your library if you want it. And if you construct your compartments the right way, you can remove them and reuse them in another trunk later."

"Then I could have a full bedroom or living quarters and turn the sleeping nook into a reading nook." Harry nodded, scratching out part of his notes and beginning to rewrite them.

"Exactly. Have you thought about the wood types you want to use? Are you going to use different ones or the same for both rooms?"

Harry nodded, pointing to a list of wood types that he had put down at the bottom of the parchment. "I want the outside to be simple: oak wood with brass for the latches and handles, but I'm still trying to decide on the inside portions."

"Well, you want to make sure that the wood type is appropriate for the rooms they need. A library should be made of wood that has properties to encourage learning and focus, which also usually have some protection and healing qualities as well which would help you sleep."

Harry and Johnny spent a good portion of the afternoon together, Johnny helping Harry to refine his plans for his trunk. They were eventually joined by the rest of Harry's Hut S housemates, and the girls from Hut R and their student mentor, a girl from Canada named Holly. With the help of the two older students and each other to work with, the whole group of 8 had their final plans for their first projects ready to be submitted for approval to Madame Beck, and most of them had all the plans for their second and third projects nearly complete as well.

"You didn't tell them about the hellhounds?" Harry asked Johnny as they packed up to head to dinner many hours later.

"Guess I forgot," Johnny said with a grin. "Might be for the best, anyway. It'll be easier to earn their trust if it's just you up there instead of all the boys."

Harry grinned back. Johnny had a point after all.

Harry was happy for the break that visiting the hellhounds offered him. He'd started out visiting them once or twice a week and then by the end of February, with his classes growing more and more difficult, Harry began visiting them once a day. It was amazing to watch the hounds grow from the tiny balls of warmth into the playful puppies they were becoming.

During his classes, Harry worked hard to get the materials that he needed for his projects. He needed mostly wood for the trunk, of course, and he had finished carving out the exterior of the large bit of oak that he was using for the base and had hollowed out the inside. The piece itself was soaking in the mixture of the binding tree sap and the wood stain that would make it resistant to damaging magics. He hoped to have the first compartment, the library carved out of petrified cherry wood, ready to be placed in when the oak was done absorbing the sap and petal mixture. The process of carving the wood was simple but time consuming. Harry had to imagine the block of wood taking the shape that he wanted, any furniture that he wanted to be permanent included. He would then wandlessly and silently carve the wood layer by layer into the correct shape. It took much more time to carve a single compartment than it did to hollow out the oak he was using as the base.

Harry also had a stretch of leather being prepped for crafting into a notebook for himself. The leather had come from the black stallion that sired Prince and had many innate protective properties, but it wasn't big enough now to do anything substantial with. Other students had used the bigger portions of the hide for gloves and boots and even a cloak, leaving just enough left for Harry's notebook. Harry would shape the leather into the correct size for the notebook he wanted, and then he would fill it with a special duplicating parchment that he had made out of a combination of two different papyrus leaves that would automatically replace any parchment he tore out with a clean piece. Johnny had made a similar project in his first year and then made some improvements on it later. He'd given Harry his notes on it and Harry was working to incorporate some of them in as well.

Harry had plans to make an enchanted bag for himself as well, but he thought that might be a project that he would work on towards the end of the semester. If all went right, he would be done with his notebook by the end of March, finish the trunk in mid April, and then still have the rest of April, May, and June to finish his final project.

On the first Saturday of March, Harry had made his way up to the hellhounds' den just after breakfast, fully intending to stay there until it was time for lunch. Harry had the letter from his parents tucked into his pocket. He'd been putting off reading it for some time, unsure if he really wanted to read it all. He wanted to know what his parents wished for him, of course, but he was worried that he wouldn't be living up to their expectations of him. He'd spent his childhood sleeping in a cupboard, he only knew about magic because someone told him about it, and though he was doing well at the Academy, he had no idea how that might translate to his performance at Hogwarts.

With only five months left at Ignis Academy, Harry wanted to put his best foot forward. He knew from his last talk with Scythe that he came from an important family and he wanted to live up to that legacy the best that he could. Sitting halfway up the mountain with the hellhounds around him was the best place that Harry could think of to be left totally alone while he read the letter.

The five hellhound pups let out excited yips at the sight of Harry coming through the brush. Their mother's sharp eyes found Harry as they always did but instead of the cold appraisal Harry had been greeted with the first few visits, Harry was met with curious acceptance. Harry positioned himself just to the left of the den, far enough away that he couldn't easily reach any of the pups but close enough that they could come closer if they wanted to. It didn't take long for Harry to feel a few warm puffs of air against his ankles as the pups came and sniffed at him, all at once. All but one decided he was rather uninteresting and scampered off to play. The fifth one, a male that was not quite as rowdy as his brothers and sister, continued sniffing along Harry's body until his nose met Harry's hands where they rested over his lap, the still-sealed letter in his hands.

"What do you think, boy?" Harry asked the pup. "Should I read it?"

The pup nudged against Harry's arm, wiggling its little head beneath it until his head was resting on the top of Harry's thigh, snout angled towards the letter. Harry chuckled and lifted his hand to pat the little creature on the head. The pup shuffled closer when Harry stopped petting him.

"Alright." Harry took a deep breath and turned the letter over. With careful fingers, Harry broke the wax seal and pulled the folded parchment out. He unfolded it and, one hand resting on the soft fur of the hellhound pup cuddled against his leg, Harry began to read.

To our dear Harry,

Although we hope you never have to read this letter, your father and I both know that the chance we won't get to see you grow up is not insignificant. We have done our best to be as protected as possible, but if the worst comes to pass, there are a few things we want you to know.

First, we love you. You are the best part of our lives and we will cherish every moment we have with you.

Second, we are so, so proud of you. There is nothing you could do that would make us feel disappointed in you.

And third, we are so very sorry for leaving you. Please know that this is not something we wanted to happen and we did our very best to fight against it. Nothing that happens to us is your fault, no matter what the prophecy says. We chose to fight against Voldemort and we do not regret that choice. If you haven't heard the prophecy yet, ask Sirius about it. He'll tell you when he thinks you're ready to hear it.

We hope that you have had a happy and safe childhood. We expect nothing less from your godfather. Your Uncle Padfoot has always loved you like his own son and we know that in our absence, he will make sure you are taken care of. Tell him thanks from us. Moony and Wormtail too, if they're around. We're sure that Peter did the best he could as our secret keeper and friend.

By now, you should be at Ignis Academy. We hope you enjoy it there. Headmaster Scythe seems to be a kind man and will help you prepare for your time at Hogwarts. We won't lie to you and say that Hogwarts will be easy, but we hope you'll be ready for the challenge. And just for the record, we will be proud of you no matter what House you are placed in at Hogwarts. I'm sure Sirius has filled your head with tales of how amazing Gryffindor is, but the other Houses have their values too. Don't forget about them.

With Padfoot around, I hope that you'll be prepared to take over the Potter line when you come of age. He'll be able to teach you everything you need to know as the Head of an Ancient and Noble House. He should remember, but remind him that you will have access to your Hogwarts vault and limited access to the Potter Family Vault when you turn eleven. It's best to visit them before your eleventh birthday. You'll need to visit the goblins regularly for account summaries and such, but Sirius can handle the political aspects until you're ready to take over.

Knowing Padfoot, though, he will be all too happy to let yourself and him forget about your House responsibilities. There is another letter for you in your Hogwarts vault at Gringotts that will explain your inheritance and outline how the Potter line goes about moving from one head of house to the next. You should pick that up and read it before you go to Hogwarts if you can.

We hope you are happy, son. That is all that we wish for you. A happy life filled with love, and wonder, and joy.

We will be with you, always.

Love,

Mum and Dad

Harry sat there, re-reading the letter over and over again as silent tears fell from his eyes. He could feel the love his parents had for him permeating every word. Harry had never felt anything so strongly before and it broke his heart as much as it healed it. It was everything he'd always wanted to hear from his parents. That they were proud of him. That they loved him. The pup resting against his leg nuzzled closer, letting out a sympathetic whine.

"Harry?" The boy startled at the sound of the voice, looking up to find Headmaster Scythe beside him. "Are you alright? Your friends said you weren't at lunch and Johnny told me I might find you here."

"I read the letter sir," Harry said, wiping his tears away.

"I see." Scythe said. "I'm sure you have some questions then."

"Yeah," Harry looked back down at the parchment, reading through it again quickly to make a mental list of all the names mentioned. Before he could open his mouth to ask the first question, his stomach grumbled.

"Perhaps a snack first," Scythe said gently. "Shall we head to the Commons."

Harry nodded, standing up. The puppy grumbled at the motion, standing on his tiny hind legs to paw at Harry's leg. Harry leaned down to give the puppy a few more pats, promising that he'd be back later.

"Bring him with us," Scythe said. "It looks like the mother approves, and given your apparent fire affinity, a hellhound would make a fine familiar for you." Scythe gestured to where the mother hellhound was watching them, acceptance and calm easy to see in the way she lounged against the warm rocks.

"Are they old enough to leave their mother?" Harry asked even as he knelt down to pick the hellhound up. Scythe looked at Harry with a wry, raised eyebrow and Harry suddenly remembered that he had spent a good deal of time studying hellhounds before. "I mean, of course. He's been very nice to have around."

Scythe chuckled as he led the way down the mountain.

They stopped in the Commons for Harry to get a platter of sandwiches, giving a bit of the meat to the hellhound pup when he made a whining sound, before they continued on to the Headmaster's office. Again they settled in the two chairs that were sat in front of the Headmaster's desk. The hellhound was warm against Harry's stomach where he curled into a ball. Scythe waited until Harry was settled before telling the boy to begin with whatever question he wanted.

"Who is Sirius? Or Padfoot?"

"Sirius Black," Scythe said. "He was your father's best friend at Hogwarts and your godfather. I never met him in person but he was who I was told to contact if anything happened to your parents. I was quite surprised to learn that he has been in prison since 1981 for betraying your parents and killing 12 muggles."

"He betrayed my parents?" Harry felt his anger rising, warmth creeping up his spine like flames.

"Your parents had been hidden behind a very powerful ward that kept anyone from finding them, even if they knew exactly where they were. Sirius is believed to be the one who kept the secret of your parents' location. He had to have given that up to Voldemort."

"But it wasn't him!" Harry thrust his letter towards Scythe. "Look. They said to thank someone called Peter for keeping the secret. Not Sirius."

Scythe frowned as he scanned through the letter to find what Harry meant.

"I see," Scythe said. "Harry, I won't lie to you about this. I truthfully don't know who Peter is, or Moony for that matter, but I have been looking into what happened with Sirius after I found you at your aunt's house. I have made a few inquiries but I haven't gotten any clear answers on what happened in Sirius' trial. If we can find out why he received the guilty verdict, we can petition for a retrial based on new evidence."

"How soon can we do that?" Harry asked.

"As soon as I can get into contact with Albus Dumbledore. He will be your headmaster at Hogwarts but he's also the Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot."

"If Sirius is freed, does that mean I won't have to go back to the Dursley's?"

"It's possible. Based on your parents letter, it's clear that Sirius was your intended caretaker. Perhaps we can contact Gringotts about seeing if your parents left a will." Scythe said. "I'm afraid I don't know what the prophecy said, only that it exists and was a large motivator for Voldemort to attack your family. I'm sorry I can't answer any questions about that."

"But Sirius can? If we can get him out?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Again, it's possible. Getting him out is going to be the hard part. I've never known of anyone getting out of Azkaban before. But we can certainly try." Scythe said. "I will write to Albus at once, though it is possible that he will want to speak with you before he decides anything. Would you be alright with that?"

"If it will help, I guess so." Harry shrugged. His hands fell to run his fingertips through the soft fur of the hellhound in his lap. Scythe watched the boy interact with his new familiar in silence for a moment, letting Harry absorb everything he'd learned in the past half hour since Scythe had found him on the mountain. "Do you think Headmaster Dumbledore will help us?"

"I don't doubt that he will," Scythe said. "Dumbledore is not the kind of man who would be alright with unlawful imprisonment. If he is able to help us, I'm sure he will. However, it may take some time for him to be able to meet with us. He does have his own school to run, after all."

"Right," Harry nodded. "So in the meantime…" He trailed off questioningly.

"Continue your work in your classes, bond with your new familiar, and try not to worry too much." Scythe said. "Johnny has mentioned to your teachers that he thinks you should be given the aptitude test early. Is that something you want to do?"

"Yes."

"I'll check with Healer Michael. He'll perform the exam and you can discuss the results with Healer Michael, Johnny, or myself. Would that be alright?"

"Yes, sir."

Before Harry could leave, Headmaster Scythe asked if he could make a copy of the letter from Harry's parents. It might help sway Dumbledore to listen to them and so Harry handed it over and waited anxiously while Scythe duplicated the letter. Once he had it back, Harry rose from the chair and, after settling the hellhound pup on his shoulder again, left the headmasters office with a new familiar and much to think about.

In the morning, while the rest of his classmates were fawning over Harry's new familiar at breakfast, Healer Michael approached their table and asked Harry to come with him so he could perform the aptitude test. Harry was happy to get away from the attention of his year mates, just as the pup was happy to be rescued from the overly eager 10 year olds trying to examine him from every angle.

In the Healer's hut, Harry laid down on the same exam table that he normally did. The exam was performed in the exact same way as the health screenings, but there was a different runic pattern that glowed along Healer Michael's hands, and he said something different. Instead of a magical projection of his body, the results of the scan were written out on a piece of parchment that Healer Michael rolled up and then handed to Harry.

"Johnny should be waiting for you just outside," Healer Michael told Harry as he got ready to go, the hellhound pup resting beside his feet. "He'll walk you through the results of your aptitude test but if you have any questions, please come ask. I'll be here all morning and around the isle the rest of the day."

Johnny met Harry outside the Healer's Hut and led him back to a shaded spot near the beach where he had his trunk setup.

"I thought you might like to have this conversation where we can't be overheard," Johnny explained as he pulled open the lid and gestured for Harry to make his way down the steps into the trunk proper. Harry nodded, lifting the hellhound into his arms and carrying his young familiar down the steps. Johnny had finished the trunk now so that when he looked up, even with the trunk closed he could see the leaves of the palm tree the trunk was under. Johnny had Harry go to the study and together they looked over the results of his magical affinity test.

Just as Johnny suspected, Harry had a very strong natural affinity for fire magic. He was also naturally able to speak parseltongue which granted him the ability to use parselmagic, something that Johnny was incapable of doing as he had learned parseltongue and was not a natural speaker. Harry showed to have natural inclinations towards Charms, Magical Crafting, Blood Magic, and Legilimency,. Everything else was rather baseline for him, meaning that he wouldn't struggle to learn Transfiguration or Potions or anything else any more than the average wizard would. Occlumency, however, would be much more difficult to learn which explained why Harry was still struggling to form his mindscape even after eight months of taking Occlumency lessons.

"You can also see the beginning of your familiar bond with your little pup there," Johnny said. "Have you thought of a name for him?"

"Not yet." Harry said. "How did you name Ra?"

"The summer that I met Ra, I had been doing a year-long project in the study of different mythologies around the world. Despite Ra being a sacred animal to the Aztecs, I felt that the name of the Egyptian sun god fit him better." Johnny said. "And I had been on the Egyptian Mythology part of my project. Worked out alright, I think. But there are a ton of gods associated with fire if you're interested. I have a few books you can borrow or make copies of."

Harry gladly accepted the offer, knowing he needed to find a name sooner rather than later.

"If you have time, it might be a good idea to Craft a collar for him as well. Hellhounds are considered Class XXX Magical Creatures, so it's not illegal to have one and most competent wizards can handle them even if they're wild, but they are somewhat elusive. Their hide can go for quite a bit if in the wrong hands. I made one for Ra that made him look like a regular snake to anyone who didn't know about him already."

Harry and Johnny left the trunk an hour and a half after they had entered it, Harry laden down with three books that discussed the history and mythology of Western, Eastern, and European fire gods, the scroll that listed the results of his affinity test, the hellhound pup, and a complete plan for a collar for the pup that would make him look like a regular black labrador to anyone who didn't know he was a hellhound, and mask some of his fire abilities so he wouldn't leave a trail of burning steps in his wake.

It took Harry longer than he wanted to, but he finished building his notebook and started on both his bookbag and the collar that he would be putting on his familiar while they were at Hogwarts in mid April. The hound was growing beautifully and Harry had finally settled on a name for him two weeks after he had taken the pup from the den. Their bond was slowly growing stronger and the pup was never far from Harry's side. He ran around Harry's feet when he was busy working the cloth and leather he was using for crafting, laying down when Harry took to the wood with the carving tools to refine the shape he'd made before placing the completed compartment into the trunk, and waited patiently when Harry measured his neck so he could put the collar on him. He was working on stitching the name, Agni, into the hellhound's collar when he received a message from Headmaster Scythe that he was needed in his office. It was a call that Harry had been waiting on and part of the reason that it had taken him so long to finish his projects. His attention was only ever partially on what he was doing. He couldn't get his mind off of his parents, or Sirius, or Moony and Peter.

Harry had far too many questions that he was sure didn't have easy answers. At least it gave him plenty to consider when he was attempting to find his inner self during meditations sessions for his Animagus class. They'd be taking a special potion to reveal their animal selves at the end of April and needed to be able to hold a definitive meditation state for at least one full hour for the potion to be successful.

Harry tucked the half-stitched collar into his bag and got to his feet, dusting the sand from his pants and calling for Agni. The hellhound came bounding up from where he had been playing in the surf while Harry was sitting under a palm tree while he worked on the project, yipping softly.

"Come on, boy, let's go see the headmaster." Harry stated and then began walking towards the Commons, Agni hot on his heels. He made the short trek to Headmaster Scythe's office quickly, waving at a few of his friends who called his name but not stopping. He'd see them at dinner when they all gathered to talk about how their projects were going and if they'd made any progress in other areas, either animagus, occlumency, or finding a familiar.

Harry knocked on the door to Scythe's office and then entered quickly when he was told to do so. He wasn't expecting to find anyone other than Headmaster Scythe sitting at his desk, waiting for him, and so Harry stopped short when he noticed the two other figures in the room.

The first man he saw was Scythe, sitting just where Harry had expected him to be behind his desk. Across from him in the seat beside the one that Harry normally took when he came to speak with Scythe was another man, much older than the other two given the length of his beard and the stark white color of both it and his hair. He wore purple robes with iridescent stars and moons, half-moon glasses perched on his crooked nose. He turned as the door opened, eyes sparkling as he looked at Harry.

The third man was pale and gaunt. He had greasy black hair that fell to his shoulders, his robes, though of good quality, seemed as though they were four sizes too big for him. The man looked as though he were an inch from death, but his pale gray eyes grew considerably brighter when he turned towards the door and spotted Harry there.

"Harry, please come in," Scythe said warmly. Harry took another step into the room and then paused, Agni rubbing against his leg in comfort. "As I'm sure you can see, we have much to discuss. But first, introductions."

Harry stepped further into the room, turning to walk towards the couch when Scythe gestured him to do so. He was quickly joined by the three men who each took a seat in the chairs around the couch, giving Harry plenty of space. Agni jumped onto the couch and leaned against Harry's leg. Harry looked apologetically at Scythe when Agni moved, unsure if the headmaster would be alright with Harry's familiar getting fur all over his couch, but Scythe waved away his concerns with a small shake of his head.

"Now, Harry, and…" Scythe trailed off. "What did you name your familiar, Harry?"

"Agni," Harry said. "His name is Agni."

"Strong name choice, Harry. I see that the bond between yourself and Agni is already growing."

"Yes sir."

"Good, very good." Scythe gave Harry a reassuring smile. "I am sorry to surprise you like this Harry, but there have been a few things happening over the last few weeks and it was decided that you should be kept out of it until things were settled." By his tone, Harry got the impression that keeping him out of things hadn't been Scythe's decision.

"What's happened?"

"You saved me, Harry." The dark-haired man spoke softly, his voice hoarse as though he isn't used to using it for speaking. Harry blinked in surprise.

"What did I do?"

"You let me make a copy of the letter from your parents," Scythe explained. "We were able to use that letter as proof of innocence, which was then backed up by Mr. Black's testimony in court."

"I presided over the opening and closing of the trial, though I abstained from voting due to a conflict of interests." The man with the long white beard spoke. "I am very sorry that I didn't realize you needed help sooner. It seems as though a lot of suffering could have been avoided."

"Are you Headmaster Dumbledore?" Harry asked, eyeing the man carefully. He didn't have the sense that the man couldn't be trusted, nor did he think that Dumbledore had been willfully trying to harm anyone, but he was skeptical nevertheless.

"I am," Dumbledore gestured to the man sitting beside him. "And this, Harry, is someone you should have known your entire life."

"Sirius Black," the man introduced himself. "I'm your godfather, Harry."