FIVE
Potter Manor
Rhineland, Germany
Harry awoke on his first day on his new home. As his eyes opened, his first inclination was to pinch himself awake, but since he already knows that he is not dreaming, he decided that that would be a waste of time.
Instead, he decided to take in the completely, in his opinion, unnecessary luxury that is surrounding him.
He remembered when they first arrived at this manor last night, he was not the only one who was taken aback by the display of luxury right in front of them.
They had decided to celebrate the marriage, though the Granger parents are still insisting on a proper wedding, first before heading off to Germany. Harry, as the groom, treated everyone to the most expensive restaurant in the Alley, allowing him to use his new Gringotts card. At first, Harry thought that the Order would make an appearance then and there, so he was surprised when not a single member of the Order who was not invited, meaning, only Sirius and Remus, crashed the celebration. They ended up staying until seven in the evening, spending more than seven hours talking, teasing and playing with each other.
After dinner, it was straight to Germany, and because of their preferred client status, and because of the fact that the Potters have never been on the wrong side of the law, they did not worry about immigration, in fact, their immigration papers came to them while they were eating a full five hours before they stepped foot in any German territory.
Whatever form of travel that they had used to travel from London to this place, Harry had never experienced it before. He was sure that it was not apparition, since Dan and Emma are muggles, and he is sure that it is also not floo, he would need a fireplace for that and if that was the case, they would have ended up in a fireplace as well, and it sure was not portkey, since the familiar tugging was not present this time around.
Unfortunately, Sirius and Remus are unable to join them since Dumbledore scheduled an emergency meeting at Grimmauld the following day. Sirius and Remus both reckoned that the topic would be his, Harry's, disappearance, and both Marauders are already planning on using her disappearance as an excuse to deny Dumbledore the use of the Black family home.
Harry shook himself awake and then rolled off of his bed. With one glance at the bed, he gave off another sigh, the bed was a four poster bed that was as wide as the company car of Vernon Dursley was as long. The bed, being a four poster has a canopy and curtains, and due to the size of the bed, there were electrical light hanging at the canopy of the bed.
Harry's room in the manor, which the head-elf called Timmy had called as the room of the Lord Potter, was the largest in the house. Harry had learned that evening that it has its own bathroom, a bathroom that was the size of the entire ground floor of Number Four.
This is where Harry headed next, and he shook his head once more as he studied his personal bathroom, there was a shower cubicle that was bigger than the bathroom at Number Four, a, relatively, small bathtub, small because, compared to the other bathtub in the room, which was a swimming pool, it can only hold six people at the same time, as well as four sinks and four toilets, the latter, Harry was pleased to see, as ordinary as it gets. He had to admit that he was half-expecting the toilets to be made of gold.
A few minutes later, a fully refreshed and newly showered Harry Potter emerged from his room and into the hallway of the second floor of his house. He was pleasantly surprised to see Hermione was waiting for him as he opened the door, silently debating with herself whether or not to enter his room without asking permission.
From what Harry can read from her face, she was frustrated that, despite the fact that they are already married, her parents had forbidden her from staying in the same bed as Harry. Dan and Emma had pleaded with Hermione, to no avail, that they should sleep at different beds, at least, until the end of the week. When that failed, Dan and Emma turned to Harry, who agreed with the deadline. He can tell that she was disappointed, but he felt that he had ably defended his stance at agreeing with her parents.
"Waiting long?" Harry asked as he kissed his wife good morning.
Hermione pouted, "I was expecting to wake up with my husband beside me" she replied, and then she smirked, "And I was also expecting my good morning kiss in bed"
"Look at the bright side, love," Harry said, "The end of the week is just two days from now"
"Oh yeah" Hermione replied, smiling broadly at that, "And best part is, my parents made the deal so they cannot do anything about it" she jumped once, giving off the impression that she would have wanted to scream 'yes' at the top of her lungs, but managed to control herself just enough to ask, "Care to escort me to breakfast?"
Harry smiled, "But of course, my lovely lady" Harry replied, he offered her his hand, which she took, and they walked towards the nearest staircase, there are five inn this house that goes from the ground floor to the second floor, which was around the corner.
A few minutes later, the house was that big, the two of them entered the dinning room still holding each other. They were unsurprised to see Dan and Emma in the room, sitting on the table and having their breakfast, when they entered, but apparently, Al was a late riser, or at least, he seemed to be, since he is not yet at the dinning room.
Harry took his position at the head of the table, everyone in the room, including a few house-elves who decided to pop in, demanded that he sit there, while Hermione took her usual seat at his right hand side. No sooner had they taken their seat when breakfast, which consists of fried egg, bacons and sausages popped into the flat surface before them.
"Don't we get a choice in breakfast?" Harry asked in jest, but he nevertheless turned his attention towards his breakfast.
"We do" Dan replied, he had just finished his breakfast when he did so, "but since you did not say anything, I guess that our cook decided to give you the regular one" he smiled as he glanced at an empty seat beside him, "You should've seen Al's breakfast, it was classic"
"Too many?" Harry asked, mentally trying to block an image of an eating Ronald Weasley.
"Nah" Dan replied, "It was just weird, but not that much to him apparently, he likes it"
At that moment, Al entered the room. He was sweating and had a white towel over his left shoulder. He seemed to have caught on what Dan was saying a few moments ago, and said, "Just because you do not eat it does not mean you should criticize it Dan" he smiled, "I happen to like smoke-dried milkfish and rice"
"Okay" Harry said, looking at his father-in-law and at Al at the same time, he nodded once and then said, "I would definitely have to try that"
"Good" Al replied, ignoring the horrified look on the face of Dan, he looked at Harry and added, "Tomorrow then, and after that, we can get some training done"
"Al, not to be rude but…" Harry said, he looked at the battle wizard up and down, and then asked, "What have you been doing?"
"Exercise" Al replied, he looked at Harry, noted that he was freshly showered, and then at Hermione, who was also freshly showered, before turning his attention back towards Harry, "Don't worry, tomorrow, after breakfast you're joining me" a notebook appeared on the flat surface in front of him and he opened it, "Right, so tomorrow, you need to be awake at five in the morning, we'll have a light jog around the estate," he smiled as he looked at Harry and Hermione, "Don't worry, its only about five kilometers, should be no problem, before we have breakfast, then after that, I'll need to review your defense skills"
He looked at Harry intently and said, "Remus had told me about your performance in his class two years ago Harry, so I think that you would do well with this" then he turned his attention towards Hermione, "Same with you Hermione, so I don't think that there would be a problem"
Both Harry and Hermione nodded, "What about charms and transfiguration?" Hermione asked.
"You'll have to ask Remus and Sirius for that one" Al replied, he smiled and said, "I know I look as if I have mastered all of those subjects folks, but the truth is, Sirius is better than me at transfiguration, he is an auror after all and that was basic, while Remus is better at charms than defense" he sighed before adding, "Moony would have been a charms master by now, if not for his furry little problem, and I think Sirius would be at the same level with transfiguration, but, of course he cannot take the test since he released himself from Azkaban"
"No worries though" Al said, he smiled and said, "This just means that you have me training you solo until the end of the week, coincidentally" he smirked as he looked at Dan, "Wasn't that the deadline before the two of you can sleep together"
Al loved watching the face of his friend turn red, which, he had to admit, was why he was teasing him with his own daughter.
Hermione nodded, "We won't do anything until after the marriage" she said, she looked at Harry and said, "Since we are both raised in the muggle world, we both think that we need a proper marriage first before we go to that"
Al nodded his approval, "that's good" he replied, he smiled and said, "Doesn't mean that I cannot use it to make Dan's face red every now and then though" he sighed, and before Dan can say anything, Al added, "Back to training, the three of us would be best friends, at least, during the summer break, I would not only be teaching you magical defense, I would also be teaching you fencing, martial art, and target shooting" he looked at Harry and asked in a serious tone, "I heard that you drew the sword of Gryffindor during the Chamber of Secrets debacle" Harry nodded, which made Al excited, "May I see the sword?"
Harry paused, he blinked and then said, "I would love to show it to you" and then he looked crestfallen as he added, "unfortunately, its at Hogwarts"
Al looked at Harry, and then laughed, "Lemon-Drop never told you that by drawing that weapon, that weapon is now yours?" when Harry shook his head, Al stopped laughing and now looked a bit angry, "Figures" he said, "Lemon-Drop would not have wanted you to have the sword" he sighed once more and said, "Listen Harry, by drawing that sword, you have proven to be worthy of it, even if you are not the heir of Gryffindor"
"Does that mean that I can call the sword?" Harry asked.
Al smiled, he raised his right hand and all of a sudden, a blade, Harry recognized it as the one that he was wearing yesterday, appeared on his hand. From the way that it gleamed and the perfect beauty of the weapon, both Harry and Hermione realized that Al was holding a goblin forged weapon, "My personal sword" Al said, laying the weapon on the flat surface in front of him, "Forged by the Goblin master blacksmith Dragonbreath when I was sixteen"
Harry nodded, he was still looking at the weapon, it had a curved blade, unlike the sword of Gryffindor, and there are runes carved into the blade itself. Harry cannot read runes, but Hermione can, and she easily read the runes that was etched on the blade of the weapon, and translated it, she turned towards Al and asked, "Tenacious Justice?"
"Tenacious of Justice" Al replied, correcting what she had said, he smiled and added, "The York family motto" he turned towards Harry and instructed, "Hold out your right hand and will for the weapon to appear"
Harry did so, though he had to wait for a couple of minutes, long minutes during which he felt stupid, having his right arm upraised, before a sword materialized. Harry and Hermione instantly recognized it as the sword of Gryffindor. Harry laid the weapon on his left hand side and allowed Al to study it.
"I see that the descriptions did not do it justice" Al commented, he hefted the weapon and nodded in appreciation, "Indeed" he said, though it was more to himself, "A fine battle weapon" he smiled and looked at Harry, "Since you've already used this sword, I do not think that I would have a hard time to teach you"
"Sorry" Harry said, shaking his head, "I just used it to stab the basilisk, I really did not use it to block or parry another sword"
Al smiled, "Why is it that everyone assume that that is how swords are used?" he asked rhetorically, he shook his head and then looked at Dan, "I trust that you are current?"
Dan nodded, "Browning and L1A1" he replied.
Al nodded, he smiled and said, "Good thing you left active service a long time ago then" he looked at Hermione, and then back at Dan, "Does she?"
Dan shook her head, he smiled and offered, "I would have taught her to scare the potential suitors away, but somehow, never got to do that," he pretended to pout as he added, "now she's married, what's the use?"
Al laughed, "Well, she would be part of the training, so I guess that I would have to start from scratch" he said, he looked thoughtful for a few moments, and then said, "9 mm., wouldn't want them to try the bigger ones yet, and just pistols" he looked back at Dan, "martial arts?"
Dan shook his head, "Didn't see the need for it" he replied. Al saw Emma frown at that statement, Dan seemed to have noticed it as well, so he cringed and admitted, "Okay, we tried, but the first person who tried to hit her during practice found her hair color changed" he smiled and said, "We now know what that is, but back then, we sure as hell did not"
Al nodded, he turned towards Hermione, saw her blushing, and decided to add a but to her embarrassment, "Don't worry, Hermione, you won't be able to change my hair color," before turning to Harry and saying, "I guess that I do not need to ask you about this one"
Harry nodded, "My only experience with martial arts is when Dudley needs a punching bag" he said, he noted the hostility coming from the eyes of Al, and was pleased to see that the hostility was not directed towards him, and Harry knew whom that hostility was targeted to.
"We would be making a visit to that place soon enough" Al said, he shook his head and said, "So this simply means that I also have to teach you two basic martial arts," he grinned and said, "Should be fun"
12 Grimmauld Place
London, England
There was tension in the air, that much was obvious. Albus Dumbledore was attempting to calm the members of the Order and he was already using his magic to do so, but somehow, it seemed that the anger of the members of the Order is powerful enough to negate his subtle cheering charm.
"People, please" Sirius suddenly said, he stole the attention of everyone by firing a couple of noise-maker spells. All attention was turned towards him, "While we are arguing about this, Harry may be in danger, we need to do something about that first, before we think of ways to tear out each others throats"
"Sirius is right" a towering black man with two golden earrings said in a deep voice that seemed to calm everyone, "We need to find Harry first"
Albus nodded, he had to hide his smile as he noted that the ones who had calmed the members were Sirius and Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror who, ironically, is the one in charge of the hunt for Sirius. Dumbledore had long branded the two men as born leaders, and in the case of Shack, this was more obvious.
"What about his trial, Headmaster?" a member of the Order, Hestia Jones, asked, she looked at the Headmaster and said, "We've heard that Harry had chosen someone else to represent him for this trial"
"I do not think that anyone else can represent the boy better than the Headmaster" a squeaky voice that everyone noted belonged to Daedalus Diggle, said, he looked insulted that Harry had even thought of thinking that someone else can represent him better than Albus Dumbledore.
"Don't be so sure Diggle" Mad-Eye Moody, standing at the rear of the meeting room, said, attention was diverted towards him and he explained, "Potter has chosen Anton Rosseu as his counsel for his hearing" at the blank look on the face of mostly everyone in the room, Moody added, "He is the man who prosecuted Richelieu in France, the wannabe Dark Lord that was so powerful, it was said that anyone who would tackle him tends to end up at the bottom of the Seine," he said, "Rosseu was also the one who tackled Wolfe, one of Grindelwald's protégé, so bad that kids are said to cry at the mere mention of his name, but so good that there was no way that he can be prosecuted, Potter's counsel proved them wrong"
"A super-lawyer" Snape commented under his breath, he looked at Dumbledore and asked, "Are you okay with this?"
"Unfortunately, whether or not I agree with the choice of young Mr. Potter is moot until we can find him" Dumbledore admitted, he sighed and said, "He is the only one who can change his legal representatives"
"What about his relatives?" Remus asked.
"Unfortunately" another auror, Tonks, people use her first name at their peril, said, shaking her head, she added, "Petunia Dursley was rather off with us, she saw us coming to her door, and before we can even knock, she was threatening us already with a shotgun in her hand" she looked at Dumbledore and added, "there is no way I am going to attack a house with an oversized ostrich holding a gun guarding it"
"You made the right choice in that one Tonks" Shack said, he looked at Dumbledore and said, "We would be endangering ourselves if we continued with that route, and we are already sure that his relations do not know where he is" his lips nearly disappeared as he said, "Specially after how they treated their nephew, it is a wonder that they are still whole"
"This is not helping" Sirius said, he looked positively irritated as he said that, and angry as well. many people in the room can see that most of his anger is directed at Dumbledore, whether or not it was because Sirius blames Dumbledore for Harry's disappearance or because Dumbledore has given instructions that Sirius cannot leave headquarters, they do not know, "I will not take this sitting down Dumbledore"
"I know Sirius" Dumbledore replied, "He is important to our world"
"I couldn't care less about the world" Sirius retorted, he stamped his foot down on the floor, "The world can burn for all I care, but I care about my godson, I want him found"
Even Snape was smart enough not to cross Sirius when he is this angry, he tried once and it nearly cost him his life, so he kept silent despite the fact that the potions professor would want nothing more but to retort to the statement of Sirius Black.
"What about at his friends place Headmaster?" Hestia Jones asked, "I mean, the boy is only fifteen, there is no way that he can live alone on the streets, and retaining a counsel like Rosseu practically screams that he is receiving help"
Dumbledore looked sheepish as Hestia Jones said that, and unfortunately for Dumbledore, Sirius noticed, though to be fair, Sirius was waiting for it, "Dumbledore, has some other screw up happened?" he asked, from the tone of his voice, it was clear that Sirius was not just asking, he was also demanding.
The other Order members joined Sirius in demanding answers, which left Dumbledore with no choice, "Our Order Guards watching the Granger residence reports that the Granger residence is abandoned"
Sirius shot up, "What the hell were the guards doing?" he demanded, he looked at Dumbledore and demanded, "I want to hear directly from them" and unfortunately for the unfortunate guards, almost everyone in the Order supported Sirius's demands.
Daedalus Diggle swallowed first before he raised his hand, "I was in charge of the guard there that night" he admitted, "I was with Sturgis Podmore, who is on duty today at the Ministry and Erick Argwood, who is on duty at Number Ten today"
"Leaves you as the only one to explain this fiasco then" Sirius said, he stared at Diggle, who cringed at the gaze of Sirius, but managed a nod, "Then explain please" Sirius made it clear that it was not a request this time, it was an outright demand.
"A friend of theirs dropped by for a visit" Diggle said, he thought about informing the members of the Order that the same man managed to injure Diggle even though he was invisible, but thought better of it, "After a conversation of about five hours, which we thought normal, the Granger's pilled into their vehicle and left the house, followed by this friend of theirs in his own vehicle"
"You didn't deign to follow them?" Remus asked.
"We thought that they would return" Diggle replied, defending himself.
"You think that Harry is with the Granger's?" Tonks asked Dumbledore, who shook his head, "But they seem to be close, from the reports that we have read, I thought that it was pretty obvious that the two of them would end up together"
"I dare you to say that in front of Harry, Tonks" Remus said, and then he turned serious, "The Headmaster is correct, the Granger's may have went to their vacation, they are an outgoing family who has the financial capability to do so"
"But without bags?" Diggle asked, he fell silent when he caught Sirius glaring at him.
"Then how else do you explain this?" Remus asked, he sighed and then said, "No matter how important Hermione is, however, she is nothing compared to Harry, it is Harry whom we need to find, not Hermione, who is with her parents anyway"
"Remus is right" Dumbledore said, "Ms. Granger is not our priority, it is Mr. Potter" he sighed once before adding, "I've tried to send letters to Harry, but the owls refuse to take delivery"
This bit of news shocked everyone, since there are only two reasons for owls to refuse delivery, either the person to whom the letter is supposed to be delivered is already dead, or he is so far away that the owls cannot reach it. Since everyone assumed that Harry cannot leave the country, everyone assumed that it is the former.
"You mean Potter is dead?" Tonks asked.
"He may be in a place that is so far away that the owl cannot reach it" Sirius said, "or it may be that he is in a house that the owl cannot reach so it is considered far" he looked at Dumbledore and said, "You have two days" he then revised it to include the whole Order, "The Order has two days to find my godson or I…" he paused and looked at Remus, who made a show of sadly nodding, "or Remus and myself would withdraw ourselves and ours from the Order, including use of this headquarters"