This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations. This work also includes Pokemon, which belong to the Pokemon Company, and I again claim no ownership of these characters.
I thank both Rowling and the Pokemon Company for the universes they have created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.
Harry fumed in silence for the rest of the way back, which was perhaps for the best as it meant he didn't notice just how long it took. It seemed Moody had insisted on a new, even longer, route back to the abandoned plot of land Mr Weasley was using as a carpark.
Eventually they made it back to Grimmauld Place and, finally, Mrs Weasley seemed to relax.
"Alright, everyone get your things upstairs and start packing," she told them briskly. "I'll get started on dinner." And so she did.
What Mrs Weasley probably had in mind when she'd sent them all on their way was that they would spent the time until dinner gathering up their supplies for the next term and pack as much as they could away for the last two weeks of the summer holiday. What she had forgotten to account for was that after an entire day on the move with no chance to stop for lunch the children were starving and it was only a few minutes, after dumping their stuff in their respective rooms, before they were heading back down to the kitchen.
Harry, distracted by what he'd learned on the way back from Diagon Alley, was the last one to make it back to the kitchen, and was therefore the last one to spot the unusual addition to the table.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it at all, Hermione," Remus was saying calmly as Hermione peppered him with questions. "I just found it. Your guess is as good as mine."
What 'it' was was none other than a Pokémon egg. Harry had seen one before - that containing the Bagon, now Shelgon, Norbert - but even then there were very noticeable differences. Norbert's egg had been sky blue with cream splotches. This egg was brown. In fact, this egg would have hardly been worthy of comment had it not been for the zigzag pattern around the middle.
"But where did you find it?" Hermione had been in mid interrogation when Harry appeared so he took a seat and looked up at Remus expectantly. Everyone in the room was following the conversation, even Mrs Weasley, despite having her back turned as she manned the stove.
"In a forest," Remus supplied simply. "Exactly where does not particularly matter. It was in a nest, clearly abandoned, and so I felt it wouldn't be wise to leave it lying there. Who knows what would happen to it."
Harry glanced around the table. "What would happen to it?" he asked. Remus sighed.
"A number of things," he said. "None of them good. There are many animals who eat eggs, even Pokémon eggs which would normally be better protected. Then there are black market traders."
"Black market traders?" Harry questioned.
"The worst scum," Sirius's voice sounded from the doorway. He'd appeared unnoticed but now he walked down the stairs into the room proper, his expression stormy. "The Black family have a long history of this sort of dealing. The trading of rare Pokémon has always been susceptible to criminal activity. The money involved is incredible."
"That would perhaps be the worst case scenario," Remus admitted. "Pokémon sold on the black market generally endure terrible living conditions and eggs especially are highly valued. If you have the egg then you can start to condition the Pokémon from birth, often for malicious purposes. Of course, hatching without anyone to look after it might be the worst outcome of all."
For a while the egg was put to one side, literally, as Mrs Weasley served dinner and the various people present dug in. They were quickly joined by others, too, most notably those that had been on duty at Diagon Alley earlier that day. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Sturgis Podmore, they all chatted along conversationally until such time as Mrs Weasley decided it was time for the younger trainers to leave the room in preparation for that night's Legion meeting.
Before Harry could leave he was stopped by Remus.
"Could you please take the egg upstairs with you?" he asked, passing the egg over into Harry's hands. Despite his experience with Norbert Harry had never held an egg before. It felt dangerously delicate in his hands.
And so he took great care of it as he went up the stairs, reaching the first floor landing where he paused, unsure of which way to go, before deciding on the drawing room. Once there he received a shock that almost made him drop the egg.
Albus Dumbledore was sitting before the fire, looking entirely calm and relaxed as he warmed his sock covered feet by the flames. To round off the image Crookshanks, the usually boorish Purugly, was curled up contentedly in his lap, purring as Dumbledore scratched him behind the ears.
It took a moment for Dumbledore to notice him but when he did he smiled.
"Ah, Harry," he said warmly from his seat. "How good to see you. Please, take a seat."
Harry hesitated, somewhat thrown off by the sheer relaxed nature vibe Dumbledore threw off. He didn't look much like a headmaster, and certainly not like the exceptionally powerful Pokémon trainer that he was. He looked more like an extremely dotty old grandfather.
Still, Harry wasn't about to disobey him and he walked forward, hesitating before placing the egg Remus had entrusted him with within the moth-eaten pillows of the other armchair. With the main seats taken Harry settled for the sofa instead.
Dumbledore did not make much of a move to leave. In fact, he seemed rather comfortable where he was, gazing into the fire, but eventually he turned his attention back to Harry.
"I assume by your presence that the meeting is due to start," he said, his eyes flicking over Harry's face. Harry nodded. "Well then, I must be off. Crookshanks, if you would be so kind." Crookshanks turned his ugly face up to Dumbledore, looking rather put out, but jumped down from his lap obediently, allowing Dumbledore to sit up straight.
"Professor," Harry said suddenly, a thought surfacing in his mind. "Professor, could I ask you something?" Dumbledore hesitated.
"If it is about the Legion of Ho-oh I'm afraid I cannot answer," Dumbledore informed him sadly. Harry scowled.
"It's not about the Legion, actually," he retorted, slightly mutinously. After all, even if he was asking about the Legion surely Dumbledore of all people could tell him about what was going on. Anyway, he had a different question in mind.
Dumbledore did not say anything in response, instead looking at Harry with his striking blue eyes over the rim of his glasses. He gave a short nod and settled back into his chair. Harry took courage from that.
"Last year the Sorting Xatu placed me in the Tri-Pokémon Tournament," Harry said and he knew he'd surprised Dumbledore by the way his aged eyebrows had risen. "Back then you told me that there must have been a reason why me being a part of the tournament was better than not. But Voldemort returned, and Cedric…" he swallowed. "And nobody believes it," he said instead. "How could things have turned out worse?"
Dumbledore favoured him with a thoughtful look, placing his hands together and gazing over them at Harry. Harry shifted.
"I admit, Harry, that I do not know," he said eventually. "It is a very good question. I have my theories but the Sorting Xatu remains silent on the subject and so that's all they are, theories."
"But what do you think?" Harry asked. In his experience Dumbledore's theories were more reliable than most people's facts.
"I believe that there must have been an even worse alternative, had you not been competing in the tournament," Dumbledore admitted. "Perhaps without you in the tournament Professor Karkaroff may have managed to kidnap you from the Hogwarts grounds without the aid of your loyal Charizard to defend you. Perhaps Voldemort would not care at all about completing his vengeance on your mother and instead returned quietly, with no witnesses. As horrible as the current situation is at least we know what's coming. And small in number though we may be and fighting against the weight of public opinion this small fact may be enough to tip the balance in our favour."
"May?" Harry questioned weakly. Dumbledore gave him a sorrowful look.
"Young though you may be I cannot bring myself to lie to you, Harry," he said tiredly. "You are more than capable of facing the truth. I cannot guarantee that this is a war we will win. I can only give you my word that I will not rest until you and your friends are safe once more."
He rose to his feet.
"And now," he said. "I must join my colleagues downstairs. Keep an eye on that egg, Harry, it seems like Crookshanks is taking a liking to it."
Harry turned sharply, rushing forward to gather up the egg before a waiting Crookshanks could get any ideas, and by the time he turned back around again Dumbledore was gone.
The Legion meeting had been quite short, from what Harry could make out it was mainly focused on discussing their trip to Diagon Alley, and soon the children were being called back down again to celebrate Ron and Hermione becoming prefects.
It was a jovial atmosphere in the kitchen as everyone talked and chattered. Several members of the Legion had stayed behind to wish them well, including Tonks, Kingsley and even Professor Dumbledore, who congratulated both of them before making his excuses. At the centre of it all Ron and Hermione soaked up the attention and enjoyed every minute of it.
Harry, however, kept himself to the fringes of the celebration. He didn't much feel like there was much to be cheerful about. Yes, he was glad that his friends were happy but there were so many other things weighing on his mind right now. The reaction to his presence in Diagon Alley and the discovery that the Prophet had been badmouthing him all summer was a horrid surprise, and the conversation with Dumbledore left a bad taste in his mouth. On top of that he was still conflicted over how he felt about Ron being prefect. He'd spent a long time lying in bed, alone, while the Legion had their meeting, and of all the things that were bothering him his own confused emotions had been at the forefront of his mind.
"Hey pup, you alright?" Sirius had appeared at his shoulder, some sort of alcoholic drink in his hand.
"Yeah," Harry answered, but not convincingly. He felt drained. It was almost like nothing really mattered to him at the moment.
"Sirius," he said after a moment's pause. "Have you ever been jealous of someone?" His question had clearly taken Sirius by surprise, for he frowned and looked out thoughtfully across the room.
"Yes," he said simply. "Of your dad." Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised.
"Why?" he asked. Sirius shrugged.
"Well, he had it all, didn't he," Sirius told him. "His parents loved him and spoiled him rotten and then there was the fact that he was just so good at everything. He was handsome, funny and talented. Hard not to be jealous of him really."
Harry frowned. "But he was your best friend," he pointed out. Again Sirius just shrugged.
"Sure," he agreed. "But if anything that just meant I saw more to be jealous of. His family, and I'm talking about you and Lily as well as his parents, they loved him so much. My family would happily behead me if it would please their lord." The simple certainty to Sirius's words made Harry feel sick.
"But being jealous doesn't stop you from being friends," Sirius continued. "Just because James had things that I wanted didn't mean that I had to hold it against him. On the contrary, what I wanted was family and James was more than happy to share that with me. In many ways he was family."
Harry wondered what his dad would have had to say on the situation. What did he think about Sirius's jealousy? Had he even noticed? Did Ron know?
"I think I'm jealous," Harry admitted quietly. "But it's stupid, I never wanted to be prefect in the first place. Why is it that because Ron was the one that got the badge I suddenly care about it?" To Harry's annoyance Sirius simply shrugged.
"It's normal to get jealous sometimes," he said instead. "No one has a perfect life and it is easy to hold it against someone when they get what you wish you'd got. I know you didn't really want to be prefect but there was certainly something you wanted that Ron has now got through becoming prefect."
"What?" Harry asked. Again Sirius shrugged.
"I can't really answer that for you, Harry," he told him. "Only you know yourself well enough for that." Harry frowned. He'd been trying to think of why he was jealous from the moment he knew that he was. Why was this so difficult to work out?
"Anyway, jealousy isn't always a bad thing," Sirius said easily, causing Harry to frown. That didn't seem right.
"I thought jealousy was a sin," he said, a concept fading in the far reaches of his mind.
"The seven deadly sins," Sirius said, completing the reference for him. "Envy, I think, is what it's called. But that's just a thing people say. There is good to jealousy, if you look at it the right way." Again Harry frowned.
"You see, Harry," Sirius said with the air of someone struggling to put his thoughts into words. "When you allow jealousy to rule you then that's bad. It breaks up friendships and leads to all manner of problems. Yet jealousy can sometimes tell you things about yourself you didn't already know."
"Take myself, for example," he said. "I was jealous of James's family. I had money and looks and smarts and personality but I didn't have family. Being jealous of James allowed me to realise that that's actually something I care about. To have a loving family is something I hope to have one day. And jealousy of James taught me that."
Harry considered this. That made sense, in an odd sort of way. It was like Hermione always said whenever he was struggling with his classes. Every failure should be studied and used to gain more knowledge, rather than simply dwelling on his own low scores he could improve himself so next time he wouldn't have to fail at all.
He was distracted as Sirius shifted, switching his glass from one hand to the other, his free hand dipping into one of his pockets.
"Here," he said, pulling out a small scrap of paper. "I want to show you something."
It was a picture. A very old picture. It was frayed around the edges and lines ran across from where it had been folded over one too many times but the figures were still visible, only slightly smudged.
"The original Legion of Ho-oh," Sirius told him as Harry looked down at the picture. "I'm sure you can recognise Dumbledore. He hasn't changed much since the first time I saw him." Indeed, Dumbledore was standing at the back, taller than most, and his long hair and beard were as magnificent as ever, if perhaps a few inches shorter. To his left stood Mad-Eye Moody, easily recognisable. He had a few less scars and a few more hairs but the man, as well as the Murkrow on his shoulder, couldn't possibly be mistaken for anyone else.
"There's Gideon and Fabian," Sirius said, pointing to a pair of redheads off to the side. "Molly's brothers, god rest their souls. And there's Marlene McKinnon. And the Longbottoms." Sirius sighed. "Their fate was the worst of the lot, I reckon."
Harry would agree. It wasn't that long ago that he had watched the memory of the LeStrange's trial for the attack on Frank and Alice Longbottom, the attack which had left them clinically insane. If ever there was a cure found Harry could only hope it would be in time for them to help guide Neville through childhood.
"And look, there's me," Sirius said, drawing back Harry's attention as he pointed to the handsome young man standing front and centre. "Quite a looker, if I do say so myself. And there's Remus, and James and Lily." He didn't mention the squat rat faced boy beside them and Harry didn't let his eyes rest on him as they immediately went to his parents.
"I know Hagrid got you a photo album a while back," Sirius said. "I'll have to thank him when I get the chance. But I figure you can't have enough pictures of Lily and James. And this one sums them up, I think. They fought the good fight. They never needed encouragement to put their lives on the line. In many ways they remind me of you, Harry." Sirius clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Look after yourself," he told him. "You've got a long time before you should see them again."