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Stars
Chapter 20: The Greater Dog
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Summary: What if Harry wasn't taken in by Petunia? What if, instead, he was taken in by another wizard who moved into number four after Petunia forced her family to move to avoid taking in the freak? Neutral!Harry
Beta: Cauchy! Big thanks to her for being my beta! This means less confusing words and spelling errors and brains flying around.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own character. Including the several lines I did take from the book.
A/N: Sorry, sorry! I'm late! But stuff happened and with Halloween and all. I should get back to updating every other week though.
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Snape watched Cygnus carefully as Cygnus performed expelliarmus on a dummy.
He ducked as the head of the dummy was blasted in his direction.
"Right," Snape said tersely. It had been slightly amusing at first, but, like Cygnus, he was beginning to lose patience with the repetitive results of experimenting with Cygnus magic. The fact seemed to be, every single spell resulted in some kind of explosion. From levitation to stunning, everything. Snape had initially told Cygnus to try to stun a dummy without a wand, but that had resulted in an unconscious Cygnus and the dummy getting its head blown off.
Cygnus gave Snape an exasperated look and added, "My magic has always been like that though."
"Always?" Snape questioned, his eyebrows raised.
"Yes," Cygnus said patiently. Snape's lips curled to a sneer as he watched Cygnus comb a hand through his white hair. "Always." Cygnus glanced up to Snape's face and frowned. "Since I was little, I let out accidental bursts of magic. It was always destructive. My father's magic was the same."
"And your son?" Snape asked.
"Harry possesses his own brand of magic in addition to my own. I assume it has protected him from any outbursts," Cygnus said calmly. "I can feel my magic being forced into the wand and shot out the other end. My magic doesn't like being forced, but guided, which is why I am successful at warding. The wards provide a guide and my magic follows."
Snape hesitated, wondering if he should inform Cygnus that Harry had trouble with a wand to begin with as well. Then he decided against it and said instead, "If that's the case, then suggest it to go through the wand instead of forcing it."
"It doesn't work like that," Cygnus said. "It's kind of like a vacuum. It sucks my magic into the wand and spits it out the other end."
Snape grimaced and sighed, sliding into a chair. "That could be used to your advantage. I imagine that you would do well with spells like incendio or other fire-based magic."
"Don't get your hopes up," Cygnus said. "If that is true, then it is without a wand." He looked at his rowan wand and frowned lightly. "I imagine we'll have to ward the house against burning down before we try it."
"You mean you'll have to ward the house," Snape said.
"No, Severus. I'll write the ward and you will power it," Cygnus said. "Perhaps, then, you'll learn to appreciate the fact that you are used to your wand."
Snape felt a dark shiver run up his back. He suddenly got the impression that Cygnus was trying to get back at him for all the lessons that he had forced Cygnus to suffer through.
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It was late February when Harry brought up the question that had been rolling around in his head for the past few months. The trees still glittered with frost, but the ice was melting slowly as spring began to take hold in the country.
"Tell me about your family, Draco."
Draco looked up to Harry, his eyes wide with surprise. They had currently been in the middle of doing homework for History of Magic, but then Harry had broken the silence.
"You know them," Draco said. "You met my father."
"What does he do? Does he work?" Harry asked.
"At the ministry," Draco said, nodding. "I always wanted to be like him when I got older."
"Wanted?" Harry questioned.
Draco abandoned his essay, throwing down his quill. He had three more inches, but Harry was distracting him wonderfully.
"I used to want to be like him," Draco continued. "Because I saw that as the only option of a high-standing individual like myself. Now, I want to be more than he was."
"What does your dad do?" Harry repeated.
"He's the school governor as well as a personal advisor for the Minister of Magic," Draco said, looking at Harry, letting his parchment dry. "But why would he need to be advisor for that bumbling fool Fudge is beyond me. My father could easily become Minister of Magic, and yet, he chooses not to."
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"Your movements are watched more carefully when you are someone of high profile like the Minister," Draco said. "Father doesn't want that. But I have done nothing wrong for them to turn into a scandal so I strive to become Minister."
"What does your mum do then?" Harry asked, putting his quill down too.
"She mostly stays at home, tending to the house," Draco answered. "She is the one who tutors me or gets tutors for me if I need it." He glanced down at Harry's parchment. "I'm closer to my mother than my father."
Harry paused, digesting the information. Draco pounced on the silence.
"Your father is a Ward Master, but he doesn't have a wife, right?" Draco asked. "How did he manage to get everything done without a wife? He's usually busy, isn't he?"
Harry paused, looking away. "Yeah. We have Dobby to help us now, but before, my dad would just… keep working. I don't actually know how he manages the finances in our home."
"Ward Masters are paid a lot of money for the work they do," Draco said. "Because warding is a very rare job that people choose as careers. Shouldn't you know that though? Didn't your dad ever tell you?"
"He did tell me that it was rare, but he never mentioned how much he actually makes out of it," Harry responded with a frown. "That and… he works when he wants to, not really on any set schedule like I'm sure your dad works."
"So he's good enough where the goblins will let him work when he wants to? Did you miss your dad when you were younger?" Draco asked.
Harry smiled a little. "Not really. Because he always works from home."
Draco's jaw slackened. "Your father works from home? The goblins let him work from home?"
Harry paused, his smile flattering. "Is that rare or something? Why do you seem so shocked? I mean, he does go to meetings and stuff, but most of the time he works from home."
Gaping like a fish, Draco fought the words out. "I've never heard the goblins of Gringotts letting someone work on their things from home before."
"Well, my dad also had to raise me," Harry reasoned. "Maybe the goblins felt nice. Or maybe they like my dad enough where they make exceptions."
"No, no, no," Draco said, shaking his head. "You don't seem to realize so let me explain. Goblins are very, very possessive with their belongings. Even more so their customer's belongings. They wouldn't just hand them over to your dad and tell him to ward them at home. Impossible!"
"You just said it yourself, didn't you? Warding is a very rare job," Harry responded. "If they want Cygnus to work with them, then they'd have to compromise."
"Your father drives a hard bargain," Draco said in awe.
"Like you should talk. Your father does too, doesn't he?" Harry snorted. "Tell me more about him." Harry wondered when the conversation had, yet again, shifted to talking about Cygnus when they had started with Lucius Malfoy.
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Sirius followed Harry to the door of his dorm, nosing Harry's side. He was worried about his godson.
It wasn't the nightmares—Harry seemed relaxed and had gone several weeks without a nightmare—it was Peter. The end of the year was quickly approaching and the rat had been around the Slytherin Common Room. Sirius had chased him out twice, but so far, he had been unable to catch the sneaky rat.
Sirius wasn't sure what the rat wanted. With Voldemort gone, the rat stood no chance against the former Death Eaters. They would sooner kill Peter and claim the glory for themselves than let the cowardly rat take all the credit.
Harry gently patted Sirius' head as he walked out of the Common Room. Sirius lay down to wait. He could have followed Harry out, but that would risk running into Remus and getting his cover blown.
His ears perked an hour later as Harry came back into the Common Room with the Marauder's Map. Sirius felt the blood freeze in his veins as Harry spoke the password to open the map. It was over. He was finished. This meant he would have to go back on the run again and flee from Harry's life. Adding salt to that wound, Harry would never trust him again.
But Harry's brow simply furrowed and he reached over and pet him. "What's the matter, Grim? You looked startled."
Sirius forced his beating heart to calm down slowly, taking several deep breaths. It appeared that Harry had yet to accuse him of anything so he would cross that bridge when it came.
He wondered how Harry got the map. It wasn't something someone could just stumble across so Harry must have been given the map. By whom and why, Sirius had no idea. And how long ago had Harry obtained the map?
But they seemed less important than the current matter at hand. Harry looked puzzled as he spotted the dot labeled 'Peter Pettigrew' in front of the Slytherin Common Room. Slowly, he looked up at Sirius, lowering the map so the dog could see, and said, "Look, Grim. I've seen this dot around, but haven't found the person it belongs to yet."
Sirius leaned over the map and looked at the small dot before giving a soft growl. Harry frowned and scanned the map with his fingers again, tracing over the dot labeled 'Sirius Black'.
"I can't find this one either. Maybe they're glitches in the map?" Harry said softly.
Sirius hesitated, but then nosed Harry's hand. Harry looked at Sirius and spoke again.
"What is it, Grim?" Harry asked.
Sirius padded towards the Common Room entrance. Keeping the secret when Harry already had the map was somewhat useless. It would have been better to explain himself now than risk Peter getting his grimy hands over Harry. Peter might actually succeed the third time…
And perhaps, Cygnus and Harry would allow them to remain as their family pet.
Harry followed Sirius, completely trusting the dog. Sirius led Harry out the doors of the castle, map tucked under his arm and his cloak fluttering in the evening breeze.
"Harry!"
Harry turned at the sound of his name, but Sirius leapt into action. He jumped up, grabbing Harry by the back of his robe and pulled him on his large back, dashing away from a startled Remus Lupin.
Lupin took a few milliseconds to process what he had just seen but then leapt into action, running after Sirius and Harry. Harry gasped, grabbing Sirius around the neck and trying to stop himself from being thrown off the back of his dog. He had no idea what was going on but getting thrown to the ground sounded like a less appealing idea than hanging on for dear life.
"Grim! Whoa! WHOA!" Harry screamed out over the roar of the wind in his ears. They dived right past the thrashing branches of the Whomping Willow and were suddenly in the tree itself.
Harry's jaw dropped as he realized that there was a secret tunnel under the tree. The air was thick with the scent of dirt and dust, the walls climbing with thick roots.
Questions ran through Harry's mind. How did Grim know about this passage? Grim had never left the Slytherin Dorms. Not that Harry had seen, anyway, on the map.
The name 'Sirius Black' flashed through Harry's mind like a lightning bolt and Harry shivered, his stomach turning uncomfortably.
Was it possible…?
Grim slowed to a stop inside a very run down, broken house. Harry stumbled off the dog, falling to the floor and trying to shuffle away from his dog. Except… it wasn't really a dog, was it?
Sirius took a deep breath and slowly transformed back, dreading the reaction he was going to get. He looked up at Harry, his black eyes sad as he spoke.
"Harry."
Harry's green eyes were wide, his mouth slack with shock. He shuffled back against the wall, fumbling for his wand, his heart pounding hard against his ribcage. He could feel cold sweat breaking on his face as he stared at the man called Sirius Black. And yet…
Sirius' face dropped a little as he realized that Harry was scared of him. He hesitated, looked towards the doorway and then turned back to speak to his godson.
"Incarcerous!"
Sirius' eyes went wide as he was suddenly bound by ropes. He fell heavily to the floor, his jaw dropping a little in surprise.
"Wh…what?! Harry?!" Sirius croaked out, staring at his godson who had his wand out and pointed at him.
"It took a few seconds to lock onto you for my magic to work," Harry said, no trace of terror on his face. "That and it took a few seconds for the shock to wear off. My dad managed to convince me to study some dueling spells and I'm glad he did. Now…" Harry leveled his wand in front of Sirius' eyes. "Why did you come here, Sirius Black?"
Sirius stared. Harry hoped that his voice was steadier than how he felt. He was a bit of a jumbled mess inside. Cygnus had told him that he believed that the dog was harmless. Not a true dog, but harmless. Then again, Cygnus didn't know who the dog really was and probably had no idea it was a mass murderer.
But he couldn't rely on his dad all the time. His dad was wise and strong, yes, but his dad couldn't be there for him forever. While Harry still didn't understand why Cygnus felt the need to kill, he did understand that, sometimes, words weren't enough to get the point across.
Harry would give Sirius Black a chance to speak. If his dad had believed that Grim had been harmless, then maybe he was.
Sirius licked his cracked lips. He looked up into Harry's green eyes and said, "I came to protect you."
"I knew that much," Harry responded. "You've been sleeping in my bed for months now. Your intention is not to kill me. Not yet, anyway."
Nodding, feeling a little more confident, Sirius continued. "Peter… On the map. I came to warn you-"
He broke off as the door slammed open. Lupin rushed in, looking panicked, wand in hand, ready to fire a curse or hex at a moment's notice. Harry glanced at him but then looked back to Sirius who was bound in front of him.
"What does Peter Pettigrew have anything to do with it?" Harry asked.
"He has everything to do with it. He was your parent's Secret Keeper!" Sirius rushed out.
Lupin's wand flattered and lowered to the ground. Harry looked up to see Lupin utterly shocked as he stared at Sirius' tied up form and then Harry's wand hand. Sirius glanced at Lupin, but then made eye contact with Harry. He ignored Lupin's stutters of "But… how could that be? Unless… you switched… without telling me-"
"Are you going to kill me, Harry?" he asked softly, breaking off Lupin's rant.
"I'm waiting for you to give me a reason not to," Harry answered. "Explain yourself, Black."
Sirius opened his mouth but Lupin beat him to it. He seemed to have recovered his wits.
"Sirius Black was a friend of your parents, James and Lily Potter, Harry," Lupin started. "I suppose… that's where this all started." He looked at Harry and then at Sirius before flicking his wand so that the ropes fell away.
"I am a werewolf, Harry," Lupin said quietly. There was a layer of embarrassment, shame, disgust, and resentment in those simple words. Harry paused, and then lowered his wand.
"That means nothing to me," Harry said, watching Sirius sit up and lean against the wall.
Lupin smiled grimly and looked at Harry. "My kind isn't looked well upon in Wizarding culture so it was my dark secret. When I befriended your father, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew I made up all sorts of stories so they wouldn't find out. I told them my mother was ill and I had to go see her, terrified they would abandon me when they knew my true nature. For the first time, I had true friends."
"Your kind? You're human who turns into a wolf at the full moon," Harry said, recalling the Defense Against Dark Arts textbook. "The vast majority of the time, you are human, so I would consider you to be human."
Sirius smiled wide as Lupin flattered, looking longingly at Harry. Harry felt a twinge of pity for the man who was his Defense Professor.
"You're very kind, Harry. But I'm afraid the Ministry doesn't share your view," Lupin responded. "In any case, my friends… they eventually came to suspect something was up. And they did find out my secret. I thought they would leave me, but they didn't. They became animagi."
Harry recalled the explanation on animagi from Transfiguration and remained silent as Lupin continued.
"A werewolf is dangerous to only humans, Harry. As animagi, my friends were able to keep me in check. The wolf in me became… tame," Lupin said softly. "Your father, a stag, and Sirius, a large bear-like dog, were able to keep me in check. Peter, on the other hand, was the smallest and could press the knot on the trunk of the Whomping Willow, which freezes the tree, and they could come join me."
"Peter is a rat. The reason you keep seeing him on the map is because he is transformed," Sirius said, breathing deeply. "He's been hanging around the Slytherin dorms a lot. I've chased him out more than once. No doubt he wanted to finish what he had started. If he had brought you to Voldemort, who would dare call him a traitor?"
"It's a widespread belief that Voldemort is dead," Harry said, looking at Sirius.
"Dumbledore doesn't believe so, and therefore, neither do the Weasleys," Sirius said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled newspaper. "I got this from Fudge. If you'll see…" He pointed to the rat sitting on Ron Weasley's shoulder. "That's Peter. His front paw is missing a finger from when he had blown it off with the rest of the street and twelve muggles."
"Merlin…" Lupin said faintly, staring at the paper. "He's really there. Alive."
"He's been sneaking around all year, trying to get to you, Harry. But your dad protects you well," Sirius said. "Peter couldn't do anything in front of so many witnesses and you have wards on you constantly."
Sirius hesitated, then slumped a little. "Harry… I must apologize."
"Apologize," Harry echoed.
"When I had heard about your parent's deaths, I chased after Peter," Sirius said softly. "I shouldn't have, but I was grieving at the time. I had lost two friends and another had turned traitor so I chased after Peter, to demand an explanation, but my first priority should have been you."
Sirius' face seemed strained under the pressure of speaking the words. His eyes seemed tired and the wrinkles on his face more pronounced.
"I'm glad that you grew up in such a wonderful household. Cygnus is a wonderful father," Sirius said gently. "A better father than I could ever have been."
Harry shook his head. "It's over and done with, Sirius Black. You spent the past year protecting me."
"Because I felt guilty. I should have been there for you, but I wasn't," Sirius said, looking very frustrated at himself.
"But you were. Remember, you were there for the past year to soothe any nightmares I had," Harry said, his voice stern. "Don't underestimate your own worth."
This time, it was Lupin's turn to smile widely and Sirius' turn to flatter.
"Touching, really," a silky voice drawled out. "But there are more important things to take care of."
Lupin leaped backwards, his back hitting the wood in shock. Sirius leapt to his feet. Harry whirled around, his wand raised, looking alarmed.
Snape was leaning against the doorway. He regarded Harry carefully, then turned to the two adults.
"Have you been eavesdropping?!" Sirius snarled out.
"If you want to call it that. I prefer eavesdropping to bursting in here and cursing your guts out," Snape said smoothly. His black eyes glittered as he stared at the wrinkled newspaper. "So, do you have any idea where Peter Pettigrew is? We should capture him before he has a chance to escape. Again."
Sirius looked like he wanted to punt Snape out of the window, but abruptly turned to Harry.
"You have the map, Harry. It should tell us where Peter is now," Sirius said.
Harry pulled out the parchment and unfolded it, tapping it and saying, "I solemnly swear, I am up to no good."
Snape snorted at the words, but watched as the map revealed itself. It was a little hard to read, but Harry scanned each corridor, each stair, each classroom for the rat. Nothing.
"There!" Lupin said, pointing at the dungeons.
With a chill, Harry's eyes settled on the Slytherin boy's dorms. The dot labeled 'Peter Pettigrew' was sitting near his bed.
"Shit!" Sirius swore loudly, pacing. "Shit, shit, this is not good."
"My trunk is warded. Peter won't be able to cross the wards," Harry said calmly. "My dad set those up."
"But this makes capturing him all the more difficult," Snape said. "Anyone have a plan?"
"Snape can guide you into your dorms on pretext of another nightmare. And swipe the rat on his way out," Sirius said, almost hopeful.
"Nothing says Peter will stay that long to be swiped," Harry said, frowning. "Professor Lupin?"
"Using Severus is to our advantage, as he is your Head of House," Lupin said reasonably.
"I'm hardly going to be swiping with my hands," Snape said tersely. "You are in trouble for being out after curfew, by the way." He shot Harry a glare, who smiled a little sheepishly.
"Lay off him, Snivellus," Sirius growled out. "He's been through quite enough without your hounding!"
Snape whirled around and opened his mouth to speak, looking furious. But Harry beat him to it.
"This is no time for arguing," Harry said. "We have to get Peter. What do we do with him after?"
"Force him to reveal his form. Then we can turn him in," Lupin answered.
"Then let's get to it," Harry said, his face determined.
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Cygnus selected a pack of ground chicken off the shelf. He looked over it calmly, reading the package before putting it into his basket.
He moved on, failing to notice the presence following him.
Bags in hand, Cygnus exited the market and walked towards his car. A spell was fired from somewhere in the darkness when it hit one of Cygnus' wards.
Cygnus whipped around, his eyes narrowed as he scanned his surroundings. It was already quite late in the evening, so the sky was deep cerulean. It was enough to make the shadows on the roads to vanish.
This time, from Cygnus' right, a stunning spell impacted the wards. Cygnus set his groceries down, sliding his hand into his pocket, but not for his wand. His fingers closed over his pocketknife and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Show yourself, wizard," he said softly, his hand still in his pocket.
There was a flicker from the shadow of the car on Cygnus' right, then Cygnus could just make out the tip of a wand before words were whispered.
Cygnus shot forward like a bullet, flipping his knife out and swiping at the attached hand before the incantation was finished. There was a scream, a splatter of blood on the pavement and then a loud CRACK echoed through the night. The air stilled as Cygnus stumbled in shock of apparition but his eyes were narrowed. They had escaped.
Cygnus pocketed his knife and glanced at the blood on the ground. The wound he had given the man wasn't severe, but it would take a while to heal, even with potions. There might have been some nerve damage to a finger or two; Cygnus couldn't be sure unless he inspected the wound first.
He stood up straight and then sighed heavily as he walked back towards his car, stopping only to pick up his groceries. Whoever that was, they would get a nasty surprise if they tried again.
Cygnus was glad that Harry wasn't with him when this attack occurred.
"Excuse me," a voice said politely. Cygnus turned to face a middle aged man with a turban wrapped around his head and gloves on both hands.
The ground chicken hit the floor as its owner vanished with a CRACK.