Chapter 10

Albus had tried everything to find Harry. The Dursleys were blaming him, Sirius refused to cooperate, where Black lived was under a fidelius, Miss Parker was being a pain, and no matter what he did he couldn't find this Jonathan Meadow character. As the years went on he became more and more frustrated. But finally it was time for the boy to come to Hogwarts. He tried to get a peek at Harry's letter, but he couldn't find a single one with the name Harry Potter. If he'd looked a bit further, he would have come across one for Ebony Meadow. To pacify himself, Albus pestered Minerva until she finally told him that all the letters had been sent back with confirmation. It was something. Once he got the boy inside the school he'd be able to mould him into the perfect weapon. He'd already sent Hagrid out to get the stone, hinting that Harry may be in Diagon Alley that day. However when the half giant returned with his precious cargo, he reported that he'd not seen the boy anywhere. It was more than annoying to be kept in the dark.

OOO

'Everyone better have everything because we don't have time to go back!' Molly called.

She sighed with relief when she got a positive response and crouched to fuss over a protesting Ron.

'I'll miss you daddy. I'll write as much as I can' Evangeline said quietly into her daddy's shoulder.

'Miss you too angel' Julian whispered, hugging her tightly.

'Behave yourself and don't get up to mischief' Rose warned playfully as she hugged Ebony.

'Mischief is over there with Rascal' he giggled, pointing to the twins.

She gave him a playful swipe.

'You know what I mean'.

He grinned and turned to his godfather while she went over to hug his sister. He remembered the day they'd all found their animagus forms like it was yesterday.

*Flashback*

'Has everyone got their potion?'

There was a chorus of yes and most held their vial up as proof. Sirius grinned.

'Alright then. Now that all of you have seen your form, that no one has seen fit to share with us adults, it's time to transform!'

'Sirius I know you're dying to see their forms but Ebony, Ron and Evangeline are only ten. And then there's Luna and Ginny. Are you sure it will work?' Arthur asked.

'It'll work fine. Rose and Selene made the potions. And the kid's have been practicing this for nearly a year now' the younger man replied. He looked back to the group.

'On the count of three, everyone drink up. One…two…'

Fred snuck a smoke bomb out of George's pocket.

'Three!'

The entire place was shrouded in thick black smoke. Coughing the adult quickly cleared it away.

'Fred! George! You two troublemakers are…!'

Molly's rant ended as they realised there were a bunch of animals sitting where the kids used to be, all with eyes closed.

'Prongs!' both Sirius and Remus breathed.

The young stag let out a noise of protest, and some of the others gave the animal version of a snigger. Snorting Ebony opened his eyes and wobbly got to his feet, admiring himself. The other animals seemed to be waiting in anticipation.

'It would appear as though they may have switched places when that smoke bomb was dropped. Looks like we have a guessing game on our hands' Jonathan chuckled.

When each kid had seen what form they'd be during meditation they all secretly agreed not to let the adults know and pull the whole thing off as a big prank. The adults examined the group.

'The hare is our Luna' Selene said with a smile.

'You sure?' Sirius asked.

'Oh we're quite positive. She's an arctic hare I believe' Xenophilius chuckled

The little white hare nodded and opened her eyes. A little shakily she bounded over to her parents. Just at that the white cockatoo turned itself pink.

'Tonks' just about everyone said at once.

Nymphadora let out a squawk version of a huff and ruffled her wings, cursing her ability. The adults chuckled and looked to the rest of the group.

'I have a suspicion about that long eared owl. Percy?' Jonathan remarked.

The owl bobbed his head and hooted proudly, opening his large beady eyes.

'I have got to know who the komodo dragon is! That is brilliant!' Sirius exclaimed.

'I believe the clue is in the name. Isn't that right Charlie?' Remus replied with a grin.

The huge beast made a noise of agreement and gave a loud hiss as he opened his eyes.

'Wicked! That fits you perfectly Charlie. Wait until the guys at the reserve see you' Sirius laughed.

'Well that's five down. Any other obvious ones?' Ted asked.

'Well we have a group of red furred animals here. Good place to start' Andromeda pointed out.

'Yes but a few too little for our lot. Especially since we already know Percy and Charlie' Molly replied.

'I'm going to go out of a limb here and say the lion's your Bill' Rose remarked.

Bill opened his eyes and roared with pride.

'That would be a yes' Selene laughed.

'I just realised we're missing one. And I have a feeling I know who. Fred or George, where are you?' Arthur then said.

At first no-one moved. Then a small furry head appeared from under Bill's thick mane. The squirrel chattered with laughter and clambered down to stand beside his brother.

'We have our twins. Are we ever going to tell them apart?' Molly sighed with a smile.

'I have a feeling the tiger is female' Selene mused dreamily.

'Is that you Ginny?' Remus asked.

She purred happily and stood, making her way carefully to her parents. The adult looked toward the three remaining animals.

'Guys I give up. Come on open your eyes!' Sirius pleaded after a while.

The three made noises of amusement and did as told.

'We have turquoise eyes here. That means the jack russell terrier is Ron' Jonathan said.

The little dog yapped and bounded over, tripping over his feet and tumbling head over heels. He sat up and shook himself out of his daze before trotting more carefully over.

'Alright, so which is Julian and which is Evangeline?' Sirius asked.

They all examined the red fox and the panther. The two gave nothing away.

'I've got a galleon on the panther being Evangeline' Jonathan said.

'I'll take that bet' Xenophilius piped up.

'No I think the fox is Evangeline' Andromeda said.

'This really is a tough choice' Rose said thoughtfully.

'I've got my galleon on the fox as Evangeline' Sirius said.

Together the adults made their choice and pulled out their galleons.

'Alright you two. Help us out here' Sirius then asked.

The two looked to each other, then the panther stood and padded over to Luna. The hare stood on her hind legs to greet her friend. The fox stood and stretched, then went over to Nymphadora and lowered his head to allow her to flap up onto his back.

'Pay up Sirius!' Jonathan laughed.

The winnings were split and the group watched as the kids got used to their new forms.

'Hey, you guys need names!' Sirius suddenly exclaimed.

The group groaned.

*End flashback*

'Have fun kiddo. Go prank a few professors with Junior'.

'He'll be doing no such thing! Junior will only be used in emergencies' Jonathan scolded with a grin.

Ebony laughed and hugged his grampa.

'Remember what I said about the headmaster. Keep your mind closed to him, and let us know if anyone bothers you or your sister' the man said quietly.

'I will grampa. I promise' Ebony replied.

He grinned as he saw Hermione's face. He'd spotted her and her parents by the archway and introductions were made all around before they all passed through the barrier. She looked a little overwhelmed.

'You ok Hermione?'

'I'm fine Ebony. I just didn't realise when you said your friends you meant this many people' she replied.

'If you think this is bad you should see us at Christmas when we're all here' he said.

She gave him a stunned look.

'There are more?!'

He laughed and nodded.

'Yep. Bill's Mr and Mrs Weasley's oldest son and he's in Egypt at the moment. Charlie's their second oldest and he's in Romania working with Dragons. Then there's Aunt Andromeda, Uncle Ted and Nymphadora, their daughter. Just don't call her that to her face, she doesn't like her first name. She prefers Tonks, that's her second name' he explained.

Hermione nodded slowly as she took it all in. And she thought her family reunions were big with twelve people.

Finally the hugs and kissed were over and the group got onto the train and found a compartment. They waved to their parents and friends from the window as the train pulled away from the station.

OOO

'Well kiddies…' George said.

'Time we headed off' Fred continued.

They gave a bow and left the compartment. Ron rolled his eyes.

'Absolutely mental those two'.

'So what house do you think you'll be in? I'm hoping to get into Gryffindor. It's the house Albus Dumbledore was in. What is that?' Hermione gushed out.

Evangeline giggled as her Carbuncle decided to come flying out her pocket. It buzzed around the group, wowing Hermione who had never seen such a creature before.

'This is Sapphire. He's my familiar'.

'Oh. I've never seen one of those before. But I thought you were only allowed a cat, owl or a toad' Hermione said.

'That is true but sometimes we're allowed others. If you've got something different you need to write to ask a member of staff for permission. As long as it's not a danger to students most professors will be ok with it. Sapphire here's not the slightest bit dangerous so professor McGonagall said it would be fine if I brought him' Evangeline explained.

Hermione nodded in understanding, then looked to the boys.

'Do you have a familiar?'

'I've got an owl. He's called Pigwidgeon, or Pig for short. Percy has an owl called Hermes. Fred and George haven't got familiars. Though with them that's probably a good thing' Ron replied.

'I've got an owl as well. She's called Hedwig. Both she, Pig and Hermes are flying to Hogwarts. They didn't fancy being stuffed inside a cage in the animal compartment all day' Ebony continued.

'I wish I had a familiar. Dad says I might be able to get one next year though' Hermione sighed.

'Well I'm sure Hedwig wouldn't mind delivering letters for you' Ebony said.

She smiled.

'Oh that would be nice. Thank you. I'm really nervous about learning magic. I've already read all of the books on the list'.

'All of them?!' Ron cried.

Evangeline giggled.

'Ebony and I have read them as well Ron. It's always better to be prepared'.

The red head slumped back against his seat.

'Mental!' he muttered.

'By the way. To answer your question, we're not sure what house we'll be in. But it doesn't really matter. We've all agreed that no matter what house we're in, we'll always be friends' Evangeline then said.

'And you shouldn't pick a house just because someone famous has been in it. Otherwise everyone would be swarming to go into Slytherin because of Merlin' Ebony followed.

'I didn't know Merlin was in Slytherin!' Hermione exclaimed.

'I know! We were the same when we read about it. Actually, we all thought Merlin came before the founder's time!' Ebony laughed.

'I think he pranked them and de aged just so he could go to Hogwarts as a student' Evangeline giggled.

Hermione smiled, then looked thoughtful.

'Well I suppose it really doesn't matter. I guess I'd probably be in Ravenclaw judging by the requirements'.

They looked up at the door slid open.

'Um…e…excuse me…h…have any of you seen a toad?' a nervous looking boy asked.

'Sorry we haven't. But if you want Sapphire here could find him for you' Evangeline offered.

'R…really?!' the boy said in surprise.

'Of course. What's the toad's name?' Evangeline asked.

'T…Trevor' the boy replied.

'Alright. Sapphire could you go and find Trevor the toad please?' Evangeline asked.

The little creature hummed in agreement and floated out the door. Ebony invited the boy to sit with them while the Carbuncle searched.

'I'm Ebony Meadow. This is my sister Evangeline and this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley' he greeted.

'I…I'm Neville Longbottom' the boy replied shyly.

'Oh, I know that name' Ebony said, then sighed sadly as he remembered what Sirius told him about the Longbottoms.

'I'm sorry about your parents, Neville. I've been told they and my parents were friends'.

'They w…were?! I...I've never heard of the Meadow family before' Neville asked in surprise, and a hint of sadness.

Ebony nodded, then turned to Hermione.

'I'm going to tell you both something. It's important and I think its best you knew before we get to Hogwarts. I know we just met Neville but I want us to be friends like our parents were, ok?'

The boy looked stunned but nodded, as did Hermione.

'You see the Meadow family adopted me as their grandson. My parents, are James and Lily Potter'.

The two looked at him in amazement.

'Wait, does that mean you are Harry Potter?!' Hermione cried.

Both Ron and Ebony quickly shushed her and she closed her mouth in embarrassment.

'Yes that used to be my name. To make sure I didn't forget my parents, my full name is Ebony James Potter Meadow. When my parents were killed I was brought to my aunt and uncle's home. They treated me horribly and they didn't like magic. Before I met Evangeline and my brother Julian I thought my name was Boy or Freak'.

He paused as both Hermione and Neville gasped.

'It was the headmaster Albus Dumbledore that took me to their home. He didn't once check up on me and he ignored my parent's Wills'.

He looked to Neville.

'I could have been your brother growing up Neville, if he'd done what my parents wanted'.

Neville stared at him wide eyed. His gran had always said how good Albus Dumbledore was and how he fought hard for the light. If Harry…Ebony was telling the truth then it meant that the headmaster wasn't as good as people thought.

'But he's Albus Dumbledore! Surely he just made a mistake' Hermione protested.

Ebony shook his head.

'My grampa said that Dumbledore was there as a witness when my parents wrote their Wills, so he knew that I shouldn't have gone to the Dursleys. I mean my godfather Sirius was in prison at the time but if I couldn't go to him then I should have gone to the Longbottom family or the Tonks family. I don't know why but he deliberately put me in a place where people hated me' he said bitterly.

He shook himself out of it as Ron put a hand on his shoulder.

'When we get to Hogwarts the whole school will probably learn that I used to be called Harry Potter. And I just know it's going to cause problems. I have a feeling you two can be trusted which is why I told you before everyone else found out. I haven't been Harry Potter since I was three. Actually, I haven't been Harry Potter since my parents died, since that was the last time someone called me that name. I'm just Ebony Meadow, and I'm hoping that's who you will be friends with'.

Hermione and Neville looked at each other. They'd only met minutes ago, but they both realised just how important this was. Neville was always put down by his family when he was growing up, so he knew how Ebony must have felt living with the Dursleys. To know that he could have had a brother on his side made him feel angry at those who had failed Ebony. It was settled for him. He may be shy, but Ebony wanted him and that filled him with determination.

'Ebony I would be glad to be your brother. And that goes for you too Evangeline. No matter what, I'll be at your side'.

His courage left him when Evangeline jumped up and hugged him tightly. He was a stammering blushing mess by the time she sat back down. Ebony laughed and pulled him into a one armed hug.

'Thanks Neville. You're the best!'

Hermione had already seen Ebony's family. They were friendly warm caring people. She was glad they were able to take Ebony away from his horrible relatives. And to know that Ebony trusted her to tell her this filled her with pride. She would be the best friend she could be.

'I already see you as Ebony Meadow. I was just surprised when I learned your old name. Sorry about that. I'd be honored to be included in your group of friends'.

She also received a hug for her efforts. It was broken when Sapphire flew back in with Trevor hot on his heels.

'Trevor!' Neville cried happily and scooped his familiar up.

Evangeline giggled when Sapphire flew round her head.

'He says Trevor doesn't like being in a train much and wanted some fresh air'.

'You can understand your familiar?!' Neville asked in amazement.

She nodded.

'If a Carbuncle has a close bond with someone then they can talk with them. Sapphire found Trevor at the back of the train, trying to open the door. He explained that if the door was opened then Trevor might fall off the train, and that you were worried about him. He says Trevor will be ok as long as he has a nice large swampy tank to sleep in after the train ride'.

Neville lifted his familiar up to eye level.

'Sorry Trevor, I didn't know you'd be scared. I'll get you the biggest tank I can and fill it with all sorts of things for you to hide under'.

The toad made a noise of contentment and happily jumped into Neville's pocket. The boy thanked Sapphire who crooned with delight. They looked over as the door slid open and a woman with a cart stopped at their compartment.

'Anything off the trolley dears?'

'Ooh yes please! I'll have two chocolate frogs and two sugar quills please' Evangeline replied with a grin.

'Can I have two chocolate frogs and a box of bertie bott's every flavour beans please?' Ebony followed, digging out some money.

'Five chocolate frogs please. I've only got a few more cards to hunt down' Ron said.

'A pumpkin pastie and a liquorice wand please' Neville asked.

'Those aren't real frog, are they?' Hermione asked warily.

Ebony thanked the woman and turned to his friend.

'It's just a spell that makes them hop. They're hollow chocolate and there's a collectable card in each box. Most of the sweets are just what the name says'.

'Oh. Well I'll try a chocolate frog please. Hmm, and a pumpkin pastie' Hermione said and brought out some sickles'.

'There you are dearies. Enjoy' the woman said with a smile and pushed her cart off to the next compartment.

Before they could tuck into their treats the door opened again.

'Oh, so it's you Weasley. And Meadow, and the squib. Why Hogwarts ever allowed you in Longbottom is beyond me' Draco drawled.

Ebony groaned to himself as Ron looked ready to start a fight with the blonde. Neville just looked away in embarrassment.

'Neville you're not a squib. In fact I bet you'll be one of the strongest people in our year' Evangeline soothed.

Draco snorted. His goons Crabbe and Goyle sniggered.

'Yeah, like a squib will ever be stronger than me. And who are you?'

Evangeline smiled brightly and stood. Behind her Ebony and Ron gave each other grins and settled back to enjoy the show.

'Hi my name's Evangeline, I'm Ebony's sister. I'm really excited to be going to Hogwarts, aren't you just so excited? What house do you think you'll be in? Oh wait you're part of the Malfoy family. I suppose that mean Slytherin then. Well maybe not I mean just because your family has all been in Slytherin doesn't mean you will. I guess we'll just have to see. I bet you've read all the books for this year, I have. So's my brother and Hermione. I have a feeling the three of us will be in Ravenclaw but you just never know. Hey did you get some sweets of the cart? I love chocolate frogs I could eat them all day if my daddy let me. He wouldn't though, I have to stay healthy. So what do you do for fun then Draco? I like to draw and I do martial arts, but I'm never going to be as good as my daddy, he's the best. You dress really posh like so I bet you do things like horse riding. Do you fly yet? I'm ok at flying but Ebony's amazing, he can even beat Charlie and he used to be on the school team. Fred and George are on the team and Ebony can fly rings round them. They just laugh though. They're really hoping Ebony gets into Gryffindor so he can be on their quidditch team. They keep forgetting about Ron though, he's really good at flying as well, I think he'd make a good keeper. Oh are you leaving, that's a shame, I was hoping we could sit and talk some more. Here let me get the door for you'.

And at that a flustered Draco found himself locked out of the compartment. Evangeline sat back down with a giggle and stuck a sugar quill in her mouth. Ebony and Ron burst out laughing as Hermione and Neville's mouths hung open in amazement.

'What you've just seen is my sister's way of getting rid of annoying bullies. It's really effective' Ebony sniggered.

Neville snapped out of it first and started laughing. He was closely followed by Hermione.

'That was pretty effective'.

Evangeline just smiled and sucked on her sugar quill.