Disclaimer: I do not own anything of this story. Harry Potter and all of the notable characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
Magnolia Crescent
Chapter Five
Illegally Hogsmeade
Harry wasted no time in making his mind up. He reasoned that Black had yet to kill him and that he deserved some kind of break as it was Christmas. Besides, Fred and George had been using it for years and nothing had happened to them. Surely it was safe.
He quickly threw the Invisibility Cloak over his head and checked the map just in case. There was no one even on his floor. Relieved, he slipped out of the classroom and followed the map to Honeyduke's.
The passage was incredulously long; when it finally ended, it was at a trapdoor. Opening it just a crack, Harry peered out and made sure no one down there. Just as he was about to push the door open and climb out, one of the shopkeepers came downstairs.
"Make sure you grab a box of Sugar Quills; we're nearly out!" a woman yelled from the top of the stairs. The shopkeeper grabbed his needed boxes and disappeared upstairs once more. After a few minutes of silence, Harry pushed open the trapdoor and entered Honeyduke's cellar. It was piled high with boxes and the floor seemed to be covered in a fine layer of dust. Quietly, he slipped up the stairs and found himself behind the counter. No one seemed to look twice at Harry as the shop was crowded with so many Hogwarts students.
The shelves were lined with many brightly colored sweets, most of which had varying side effects. There were vast amounts of Every Flavor Beans, Fizzing Whizbees; rows of toffees and different chocolates. Along a wall titled "Special Effects", Harry seen Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Toothflossing Stringmints, Pepper Imps and Ice Mice. Not to mention, tons of other sweets that Harry couldn't seem to comprehend.
In a corner of the shop, Harry saw Ron and Hermione standing under a sign that read "Unusual Tastes". Harry moved over there quietly and heard them discussing what to buy for him. Right now, the item in question was a blood flavored lollipop.
"What? No, Harry definitely wouldn't want one of those!" Hermione said.
"What about these, then?" Ron said, gesturing to a jar of Cockroach Clusters.
"You obviously don't know me," Harry said, still hidden under the Cloak. Ron jumped so badly that he nearly knocked over a display of Spindle's Lick'O'Rish Spiders. Hermione gaped, eyes roaming to see where he was.
"Harry! You're not supposed to be here!" Hermione cried.
"Relax, Herms. It's Christmas, I think Harry needs a break," Ron said, causing Hermione to stare at him.
"Where did that come from?" Hermione asked.
"Where did what come from?"
"The nickname!" said Hermione.
"Oh, well," Ron stuttered slightly. "I don't know. It just sort of came to me. Do you not like it?"
"I'm not sure yet. I've never had a nickname before," Hermione thought aloud.
"Anyways, how did you get here without getting caught?" Ron asked.
"Maybe later; I don't want any of the other students to hear how," Harry whispered, gliding around the shop and picking out candies he wanted to try.
"What about Black?" Hermione hissed. Ron cleared his throat and pointed to a sign in the window as they left. Harry read through it quickly. The Ministry of Magic was issuing dementor patrols every night.
"There's no way that Black would even bother coming to Hogsmeade," Ron said. Wrapping his arms around him, he added, "how about we go into the Three Broomsticks and a get a butterbeer? It's freezing outside!"
They battled their way through the wind and snow towards a tiny inn. Ron had barely opened the door, however, when the wall of shrunken heads began to yell at him.
"Hey! No underage wizards allowed in today!" one barked.
"Shut the damn door!"
"Wait a minute! Madam Rosmerta changed her mind," one towards the end said just as Ron was shutting the door. "They're allowed in!"
"Awesome!" Ron said, pushing the door back open. Harry, who had removed his Cloak, found a table with Hermione while Ron went to get their drinks. A few minutes later, Ron returned with three foaming tankards of butterbeer. Harry immediately took a deep drink; it was the best thing he had ever tasted; it had a buttery taste and warmed him from the inside out.
Before Harry could put down his glass, the door of the pub swung open. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick walked in coated in snow, followed closely by Hagrid and the Minister of Magic. Ron and Hermione instinctively pushed Harry beneath the table, butterbeer still in his hand. Harry watched as they sat down at a table near them but still out of sight and heard them proceed to order drinks. Madam Rosmerta, the barmaid, returned a few minutes later and handed out the drinks before sitting down.
"Now, what could possibly bring Sirius Black to Hogsmeade?" she hissed in a whisper. They had clearly talked before Harry could hear or even before he had arrived.
"Harry Potter," Fudge replied in a voice just as low.
"What?" Madam Rosmerta said incredulously, her voice rising. "Oh, this I got to hear."
"I'm sure you heard about it thirteen years ago. When the Potter's were marked for death," McGonagall said. "Few knew where they were. One who did was Sirius Black."
"Yes, I've heard this. He told You-Know-Who and the rest of that night is history. However, I told everyone afterwards that Black was the last I expected of that gang to go over to the Dark Side."
"Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge said, cutting Rosmerta off. She scoffed, and he continued. "When You-Know-Who died, or whatever it was he did, that night, Black went mad. Even more so when Pettigrew – "
"Remind me again who Pettigrew was," Rosmerta asked.
"Little lump of a boy, always trailing after Potter and Black," McGonagall said.
"Anyways," Fudge cleared his throat. "After the Potters were murdered, Pettigrew knew that Black had sold them out."
"Dumbledore had insisted that they go under the Fidelius Charm. Which they did, and James insisted on making Black their Secret-Keeper," Flitwick interjected.
"Thank you," Fudge hissed vehemently. "Pettigrew was angered that Black had sold them out and sought revenge. Unluckily for Pettigrew, he found Black down some Muggle alley." Fudge paused, clearly waiting to see if anybody else was going to interrupt him.
"That unlucky?" Rosmerta said, horrified.
"Black was vicious," Fudge continued. "He didn't just kill Pettigrew, he destroyed him!"
"Yeh, an' all they found o' Pettigrew was his finger," Hagrid pointed out, voice beginning to slur.
"Well, I'll say this: Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead," McGonagall said. "And to top it all off, Sirius Black was, and remains to this day, Harry Potter's godfather." Harry nearly dropped his tankard, jaw hitting his chest, wondering how Black could have pulled one over on his parents. Vaguely he heard chairs scraping against the stone floor and turned to see feet moving towards the door. A single pair, however, remained. Harry watched as they moved towards their table.
"Miss Granger," McGonagall said. "Mr. Weasley, you wouldn't happen to know where in the castle Mr. Potter might be?"
"He said something during the week about visiting Hagrid, but we just seen him here," Hermione said.
"I wonder if he's trying to get more accustomed to the school brooms," Ron said. "Maybe the Quidditich field?"
"Well, should you head back to the school and find him, would you tell him to come and see me. I received a letter this morning stating that he had been given permission to visit Hogsmeade."
"That doesn't sound like the Dursley's," Hermione thought aloud. "Perhaps it's a joke?" she offered lightly.
"Well," McGonagall pondered. "That's what I thought. However, Professor Dumbledore believes it to be real and has agreed to give Harry permission to visit the village."
"Excellent," Ron smiled. "We can finally show him Zonko's and Honeydukes!"
"If you would be so kind," McGonagall reminded. "Good day." After she had exited the pub, Harry pushed his way back into his chair.
"Whoa, talk about information overload," he sighed. "Black really is my godfather, plus the reason why my parents are gone and I can actually visit the village. I wonder if Black really did kill all those Muggles and Pettigrew. Only one way to find out I suppose." They headed out into the village, wondering when they were going to run into Black again.
"Hey, Granger! Looking good!" a voice called, wolf whistling as they walked backwards. Harry turned and saw a blonde Slytherin boy winking towards Hermione. "Can I buy you a butterbeer? Might make you smoking."
"Not that you need it though," one of his friends added.
She blushed, turning away and pulling Ron and Harry with her.
"Who was that?" Ron said angrily.
"His name's Leo Holmes. He's a third year whose been flirting with me all year," Hermione replied quietly.
"And you've just let him?" Ron was oddly outraged.
"What am I supposed to do?" Hermione hissed back. "He's well within his rights to flirt with anyone he pleases, probably even if it were to bother them."
"Just be glad that there's at least one Slytherin who doesn't hate our guts," Harry said.
"Well, I still don't like it," Ron grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "How do you even know him?"
"Holmes is in Ancient Runes with me," Hermione said. "And surprisingly, for a Slytherin, he's also in my Muggle Studies class." This only served to make Ron even more upset. Harry was beginning to have his suspicions but said nothing about it to either one of them. In fact, he stayed out of the conversation.
"Look at the swarmy git, thinks he so cool with his hair tied back like that," Ron complained.
"Please, Ron. Just drop it, he's only flirting with me," Hermione shot back.
"Guys, shut up and look," Harry commanded, pointing down the street. There was a shaggy black dog rounding a corner. Harry bolted after it, leaving Ron and Hermione wondering vaguely what was going on before they ran after him as well.
"Black!" Harry hissed, following the dog through houses until they reached a thicket of trees.
"I do hope Lily left you some common sense!" Black hissed back. "Ministry employees are all over Hogsmeade and you had the nerve to say my name!"
"Sorry, I didn't realize," Harry said, trailing off. "Were you really my parents Secret-Keeper?"
"For a time, but we changed people because I had a slight fear of dying at the time, among other reasons, which I completely regret now."
"What about the Muggles you killed? Why did you do that?"
"Wasn't me," Black said, anxiously glancing around the tree trunks. "Look, if this is what you guys want to talk about, can we meet in the Forbidden Forest later tonight? Or even tomorrow? Hogsmeade is not the safest place for me right now."
"No problem," Hermione said. Harry gaped a little at her. "We'll meet up later." She tugged hard on Harry's sleeve; finally he followed after, looking just as dejected as Ron.
Ron was still grumbling about Hermione's Slytherin admirer all the way back through the village. Harry decided to take the Honeydukes shortcut back in, as it was drier and windless. They decided to meet in the common room before anything else. It wasn't long before Harry was making his way to the Owlery to find Hedwig. Without knowing when Black was going to be in the forest, they sent Hedwig with a letter asking when he would return.
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Harry asked, tapping lightly on McGonagall's door. He already knew what she wanted but had to pretend otherwise. And so, he swung by her office on his way back to the common room.
"Yes, Potter. Come on in," McGonagall announced. She was sitting behind her desk, appearing to be grading papers. "A letter was received at Hogwarts earlier today stating that you had been given permission to visit Hogsmeade."
"Really?" Harry asked, appearing surprisingly excited. "My uncle practically refused to sign my permission form over break, and I highly doubt that they would know how to use an owl or even be so kind as to give me permission this late in the year. Do you know who it was from?"
"I'm afraid not, Potter. The note was only signed Padfoot," McGonagall said, rifling through her papers and handing a slip of parchment to Harry.
ATTN: Head of Gryffindor House
This letter is to give Harry Potter, a third year student, permission to visit Hogsmeade. I realize that his aunt and uncle are Muggles and tend to be the 'worst sort', and because of that, it is highly unlikely that they would give Mr. Potter permission to visit the village. Hogsmeade is a school experience that no student should have to miss. As Mr. Potter has no living relatives, other than those Muggles, it can be assumed that he would not be getting permission to visit anytime soon. Therefore, I give Harry Potter permission to visit Hogsmeade village.
Sincerely, Padfoot.
P.S. If it is unclear as to whom I am, I can assure you that if you have any questions, Professor Dumbledore can attest to the authenticity of this letter and of its author.
"As you can imagine, I took it straight to Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall sighed, taking the parchment back from Harry. "However, despite my protests, the author was right. Dumbledore trusts whoever this Padfoot person may be and has agreed to give you permission to visit the village."
"Awesome, thank you, Professor," Harry said, truly excited now.
"Potter, before I release you there has been a slight concern about your wellbeing, with the events of last year and the recent escape of Sirius Black. I have had growing concerns about your welfare," the professor commented giving him a stern glance.
"Nothing's wrong, Professor, all and all I have been in one piece and everything I got into was my own choice. Nothing really Professor, and I doubt Black will be any trouble with recent security," Harry answered honestly.
"That's good to hear, Mr. Potter but if anything were to come up please feel free to come and talk to me," Professor McGonagall smiled.
"I know that Professor, but I don't have much time and I would like to visit with some of my friends," Harry replied as he looked back at the door.
"As it were, the dinner hour is almost upon us and there isn't time today to be visiting. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until next time." She answered Harry nodded in agreement when his stomach suddenly growled.
"That's fine, at least now I can go to Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione." Harry wondered briefly if he should just give in to Hermione and be honest with Professor McGonagall, but he decided against it.
"Now, I expect that Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will be returning any moment, I suggest you go and wait for them," McGonagall said, clearly shooing him away. Harry glanced over his shoulder as he left to see a smile on her face. He made his way through the castle, eager to freely visit Hogsmeade and wondering if Hedwig might have already returned with Sirius's reply.
"This has been a very odd day," Harry said, as he sat down next to Ron.
"Tell me about it," Hermione said, pulling her Potions book towards her. Just as Harry was about to reply, there was a tap at the window. Outlined against the setting sun, Hedwig perched on the ledge. Harry rushed over and wrenched open the window; Hedwig flew inside, circled once and landed on Harry's shoulder.
"Wow, that was fast," Hermione breathed, coming over to remove Hedwig's delivery. She hooted softly and nipped gently at Harry's ear.
"Black says that he's already back in the forest. He's waiting for us in that paddock where he met you earlier this year," Hermione read.
"Let's eat dinner real quick and then we'll go. We'll take the Invisibility Cloak as well, just in case," Harry said, heading towards the dormitories. Soon, he was back downstairs with the cloak under his arm.
After they ate a hurried meal, Ron and Harry found an empty corner where no one could see them and slipped beneath the cloak. Hermione was at the front door; when she noticed that Harry and Ron had arrived, she led them towards the forest, veering slightly towards Hagrid's cabin in case anybody was looking. She circled around it followed the line of trees until she encountered the paddock. Just beyond the fence, Harry could make out the outline of Black in his dog form. When he saw they had arrived, he transformed and looked at them apprehensively.
"I think it's time to be completely honest with you, Harry," Black said. "What exactly would you like to know?"
"Why are you an Animagus?" Hermione asked. "Your name isn't on the registered list."
"Well, let's just say that we found it to be highly useful, your father and I, that is," Black replied, looking at Harry.
"Could you teach me how?" Harry asked impulsively.
"Harry, what are you thinking?" Hermione shouted. "Becoming an Animagus is really risky. You have to register with the Ministry, and besides, I think you have to be of a legal age."
"Do you really think that matters?" Ron said. "I mean, Black and Harry's father did and they were still in school as well."
"What do you know of becoming an Animagus?" Black asked.
"That it's supposed to be a really difficult process," Harry shrugged. "I don't know much, I zoned that day in class. My Divination teacher predicted my death so I was a little preoccupied." Black balked slightly, but shook his head, smiling.
"Alright, I'll try my best to teach you how. I noticed that you play Quidditich, so that will obviously take up some time. What nights do you have free?" Black asked. Hermione's jaw dropped. Ron simply smiled.
"Mainly Monday and Tuesday. Anything towards the end of the week will probably be taken up with Quidditch practice," Harry replied after thinking for a moment.
"Alright, this is your holiday break; I heard students and teachers alike talking about it, so your free time is quite multiplied. I want you to meet me in this paddock on Tuesday night at 9:00. Ron, Hermione, you can come if you like but I don't think I'm up to teaching all three of you how to do this," Black said.
"Thank you, Black," Harry said, holding out his hand. Startled, Black shook his hand, before shooing him towards the school. Christmas break seemed a lot more fun now. Hermione quickly said that she disapproved of Harry's becoming an Animagus. Ron, on the other hand, thought that it would be pretty neat to be able to transform at will into an animal. After that, Ron mentioned that he would let Harry go to the first lesson by himself and would quite possibly join him the next time.
Let me know what you guys think of Leo Holmes. As always, R&R. Thanks!