A Better Plan
by Roff
Chapter Three
At first Harry thought Neville was jealous and was just saying that about becoming a big brother too, but then he couldn't remember Neville ever lying to him. He decided not to say anything and go along with it. He didn't want to hurt his best friend's feelings.
When he spoke to his mum later that day, she confirmed that Alice was pregnant too and they were both going to have another baby close in age to each other just like Harry and Neville, who were less than a day a part when they were born.
Harry was glad he didn't say anything to Neville. That would have been mean not to believe him. So, Neville still had not lied to him. He was such a good friend, he thought, and should never doubt him again.
Both boys felt very lucky to have such a good friend and soon to be big brothers too.
Sirius and Remus would sometimes visit after the announcement and tease him about his new sibling showing up in a few months. He would have to really do his big brother job then, they told him. Harry assured them that he was ready and a little tired of waiting as a matter of fact. He wanted his baby brother or sister now.
Of course, they had to explain how long a baby had to stay in the mummy's tummy before it would be old enough to come out and join the world. He would just have to be patient. They assured him it was well worth the wait. They told how they were anxious for Harry to make his appearance before he was born but they had to be patient too.
They told Harry that when he was born that his honorary uncles were just as excited about it as his mum and dad were. And now, they couldn't be any prouder of him for how smart he was and how much he had learned already.
The babies came a few weeks apart in the next year. The Longbottoms had another baby boy on April 16, 1987 and the Potters had a baby girl on May 8, 1987.
Neville Franklin Longbottom's little brother was named Austen Alix Longbottom, while Harry James Potter's little sister was named Izabelle Lily Potter. Harry was sure he was going to call his little sister Izzy because she was way too small for such a big name.
After Harry started running around the grounds on his own when he was eight years old, he made friends with a young gryphon who was around four months old. The smaller gryphon would run along beside Harry as he exercised. Occasionally Harry would pet him on the head as they ran.
Later, he convinced the mother gryphon to let him ride on her back as she flew. The younger gryphon wanted to give Harry a ride too but he wasn't big enough yet. It was amazing to see the Potter lands from up high though.
The third time Harry went for a fly on one of the adult gryphons, his parents came out of the castle with James holding Izzy and they were looking for him. When they saw him flying on a gryphon they nearly feinted. Lily quickly called Lucy to take Izzy inside and then cast a silencing charm on the back of the castle to prevent scaring her little girl.
She then cast the Sonorous charm on herself.
"What do you think you're doing young man?" asked Lily loudly over the wind and distance.
James cast the charm on himself and joined in.
"Yeh, what made you think it would be okay to fly on the back of a gryphon, Harry?"
"Because it's super fun!" he yelled loudly. "Yippee!" he yelled as he turned loose with his hands and stretched his arms out to each side of him, a big grin on his face.
"You put your hands back down and hang on before you give me a heart attack!" scolded Lily.
"Oh, Mum. You worry too much," he said grabbing a hold of his ride again.
"Well, we need to tell you something, Harry," his dad told him. "Please land so we can talk to you in a normal manner."
"Okay!" he answered loudly.
Harry leaned up and said something in the gryphon's ear. It then started circling as it came in for a landing.
"Meet us in the castle, sweetie," Lily told him after he climbed down off the gryphon and petted it in thanks for the ride. "We have something very important to tell you."'
"Okay, Mum. I'm coming."
Once he washed his hands in the kitchen sink, he sat at the table and drank some water, ready to hear what his parents had to say.
"Harry," Lily started, "we want to have Sirius start coming over a little more often to give you some extra training. He's completed his training with his grandfather so he can take over the Black family when it's time."
"Padfoot?" he asked.
"Yes, Padfoot, Harry," replied James. "My best mate and your godfather."
Sirius Black was well known for his ability as a powerful fighter. His wand use was legendary, especially with the number of spells he knew and could use efficiently in a duel. He would often use spells no one would ever think to use in a fight, but he made them work and usually surprised his opponent to their detriment.
His best mate, James Potter, was no slouch either. Both received training from Fleamont Potter. Before that, Sirius had been taught by his grandfather, Arcturus Black, who was also well-known for his ability with a wand, but less so than Fleamont. Most Death Eaters were afraid to face Sirius one on one in a duel. They only wanted to take him on in groups and if James Potter was with him, then they had to double or triple the group.
Harry was now ready to start learning how to use surprises in his dueling. Who was better than his somewhat crazy godfather to teach him? His dad knew how but Sirius was the expert at it.
They spent some time after Sirius arrived just discussing what they were going to do. Harry was very happy to learn some of this new stuff.
Sirius had been busy working with his grandfather for several years so he could eventually take over the Black headship. While he visited the Potters often, he never saw his godson training. Harry always took a break when Sirius came over so they could visit with each other and have fun.
When Sirius first started training Harry by dueling him, he realized his godson was only eight years old so was taking it easy on him. Very quickly though, he decided he better pay closer attention as Harry was much better with a wand than any eight-year-old should be.
After their first duel, Sirius stopped the training and just stared at his godson for a few seconds, wondering how he got so good. Then he looked over at James and then up at the portrait of his adopted father, Fleamont Potter.
"How long have you been working with Harry on his dueling, Dad?" Sirius asked him in that familiar term of endearment since his real father never once acted like a dad toward him.
"What makes you think it was me and not James?" Fleamont asked smiling.
"Because he fights a lot like you," he said with a knowing look.
"That's inherited," said James.
"Really?" Sirius asked. They both nodded. "So how long?"
"About two years, I'd say. He's a natural and he's going to be more powerful than all of us," answered Fleamont.
Lily walked in right about that time and stopped to see what was going on.
"Do you think he's really ready to learn some fun stuff? Some tricks? Or is it too early?" asked Sirius.
Harry was nodding his head enthusiastically. He definitely wanted to learn the fun stuff.
"He's ready," answered Fleamont as James nodded in agreement.
"You better be careful, Sirius," warned Lily. "In another year or two you may not be able to keep up with him."
"Don't think I didn't notice your input, Lily, with his use of charms and yours too, James, with his use of transfiguration. You two stand out like a sore thumb when it comes to Harry's dueling abilities. It's just hard to believe that he already has enough power to pull those spells off."
They both just smiled, while Fleamont grinned in the background.
Harry continued to look excited.
As Izzy grew up she found out she really loved to play with her big brother Harry. Sometimes she would let her dad hold her while she watched Harry practice with his magic in the training room. He was really good against those dummies he fought.
Harry made sure he showed his sister how to use wandless magic. He would show her how to float her toys and move them around with just magic. After she turned two she was summoning her toys on her own.
When he first started teaching her though and she managed to make some progress, it really tired her little body out to do that much magic. She was sleepy so she climbed into Harry's arms to take a nap.
Harry picked her up and sat in Lucy's little rocking chair and rocked his baby sister to sleep. Lily came by to check on them a little later and found her son rocking his sister while she slept. Harry didn't see her when she peeked in the room so she immediately pulled James from his office and showed him the scene in the nursery.
They both got a big kick out of it and Lily picked up the camera when she went to get James. She took a picture for posterity's sake which got Harry's attention. He noticed his parents in the doorway so he explained quietly what happened to make Izzy so tired.
"Do you want me to put her in her bed for you?" asked Lily.
"No. I'm fine. I'll just rock her for a while longer."
"You are an amazing big brother, Harry, and I'm very proud of you," James told him.
Harry smiled happily as he continued to rock his sister.
The nursery was once Harry's room, but now it was Izzy's room. Harry had a new room when he became too big for the baby bed. It was bigger, nicer, and all his own. He liked it a lot. Izzy sometimes came in to visit on occasion if he was reading or studying in his room.
Harry always thought it was funny that he looked like their dad with his black hair but had their mum's green eyes while his sister looked like their mum with her dark red hair but had their father's eyes, which were hazel, but leaned more toward the color of light blue.
Izzy was smart too, just like their parents.
Sometimes she would have playdates with Neville's little brother Austen. They would visit the Longbottoms or the Longbottoms would visit the Potters. While Neville and Harry had fun together, so would Austen and Izzy.
Around three years later, Sirius was taking Harry to Gringotts in Diagon Alley to get some money for his first year Hogwarts supplies. James, Lily, and Izzy were going to join them a little while later to finish up. James had some business first thing that morning and Lily didn't want to have Izzy, who was only four years old pulled around thru Diagon Alley in the crowds the whole time. Plus, Lily had just worked some long hours on a special project she was doing for work.
She wasn't up to traipsing all over Diagon Alley either so it was decided to let Sirius get the bank stuff out of the way, especially since Harry's trust vault was already setup for him. Kurlig, their account manager was going to explain all the Potter accounts to Harry and give him his heir ring that resided at the bank. Besides, Sirius wanted to do a little business with Harry in the bank regarding the Black family.
Arcturus, Sirius' grandfather, had passed on last year but not before training his grandson in all things Black. Sirius was now the head of the Black family and since he hadn't married yet, he wanted to name Harry as the Black heir. He had no plans to let Draco, the Malfoy spawn and son of his cousin Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, inherit the Black headship. That would be a disaster.
If he managed to find a wife and have some offspring then he could change it. He was sure Harry wouldn't mind. He had plenty he was going to inherit as a Potter already.
Many people stopped and stared at them when they arrived. Harry was tall for his age and Sirius Black had not been out much since taking over the Black headship. He also looked to be in in prime fighting shape. He had received some extra exercise while training his godson for a few years so he was really in good shape.
They didn't quite make it to Gringotts before the reporters descended on them.
"HARRY! HARRY!" A few of them were yelling his name as they ran up to Harry and Sirius and surrounded them.
"Harry, where have you and your parents been this whole time?" one of them asked before anyone else could get in their questions.
As they planned ahead of time just in case, Harry turned and looked up into his godfather's face. He said nothing. Sirius pulled him in closer to him so they wouldn't get separated by the bunch of overeager reporters anxious to dig into the Potter's private life. The news had been sparse for a few years so they were trying to get something going with old news since they had never seen Harry before.
"I'll be happy to answer that question for you, Harry," he said with a charming smile to his young godson before turning to the reporters. "My godson and his parents have been busy with their work and lives raising Harry and now his sister. I myself have been able to spend more time with Harry in recent years and was very thankful for that. I quite enjoyed my time with him."
Harry just stood there beside his godfather and remained emotionless and quiet even as the cameras took picture after picture. One of the male reporters grabbed Harry's arm to get his attention and to get him to talk.
"Hey!" Harry said loudly has he jerked his arm to get away from the man causing the movement to alert Sirius.
Sirius saw the reporter still had a hold on Harry's arm so he quickly pulled his wand and stunned the reporter with the spell hitting him square in the face before he fell down out cold, stopping all the other reporters momentarily due to the shock.
"Don't. touch. my godson," Sirius threatened them before stowing his wand smoothly back into its holster.
The reporters nodded and moved a little further away from Harry. They realized Harry was not going to talk to them so they kept addressing Sirius instead.
"Then tell us where the Potter's have been living this whole time," a female reporter demanded.
"No."
"Why not," another asked.
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you where my godson's family lives, just so you can print it in those publications of yours for all to see? Do you honestly think I want reporters like yourselves, crazy fans, and Death Eaters coming after them?" Sirius frowned at their ignorance then looked around at the other reporters. "Is there anyone here who has an intelligent question to ask? We have things to do," he said impatiently.
"Why are you here now?" asked a young female reporter.
"Finally, a decent question. It's quite simple. My godson is now eleven years old and will be starting at Hogwarts on September one. We're here to buy his things for school. Now, if you'll excuse us, we need to get that done."
They wanted to ask more questions, but Sirius just pushed them aside while hanging onto Harry and continued to lead his godson toward Gringotts. The reporters then hurried back to their offices, to write their articles, ignoring their stunned colleague. Harry was smiling at the way Sirius handled the reporters.
Harry snuck in a silent and wandless enervate to the man as they walked off but no one saw him do it since he barely moved his fingers.
Once inside the bank, Sirius asked for both the Potter and Black account managers. He explained that they needed to meet with both. The two account managers officed across the hall from each other so Sirius knew that would not be an issue.
A younger goblin, named Griphook, led them back through the maze of offices until they reached the account managers they needed.
"Harry Potter and Sirius Black to see their family account managers together," Griphook announced.
The two account managers came to their office doorways and looked at their guests.
"Hello, Bonecrusher," Sirius greeted his family account manager with familiarity then turned to the other goblin. "Hello, Kurlig. This is my godson, Harry Potter," he said introducing him to both. "Harry will need to sit down with you, Kurlig, so you can go over everything he needs to know about the Potter accounts and get his heir ring. Meanwhile, I'll get with Bonecrusher and get everything ready so we can officially make Harry my heir."
"So, my client is not only the Potter heir, but will also be the Black heir?" asked Kurlig.
"That is correct," Sirius answered.
"Yes, Kurlig," said Bonecrusher. "My client is going to make a few Black relatives very unhappy, but there's nothing they can do about it," he said with a grin, showing his sharp teeth.
"Very well," said Kurlig. "Come along, Mr. Potter. We have much to discuss."
Harry followed the family goblin into his office while Sirius went with his.
It took a while but Harry was now more knowledgeable about his family's finances. His parents explained a lot to him, but they deferred to Kurlig for the specifics, since he was the one that managed all their money and vaults.
He had to cut his thumb twice and use his blood to identify him. Once was with Kurlig and once with Bonecrusher. When done, he had two heir rings on his fingers to identify him as the next head of house for both Potter and Black.
He then visited his trust vault for some money to buy his things while Sirius went to his and grabbed some coin for himself.
Madam Malkin's was next so Harry could be measured for his Hogwarts robes. That's when his parents and little sister joined them. Then they went to pick up the other supplies while the robes were being custom made. While out, they went to Eeylops Owl Emporium where Sirius bought Harry a large white Snowy Owl, a cage, and some treats. Harry named her Hedwig, a name he read in a book.
They became immediate friends. Harry wrote a quick note and sent her with it to Lucy. It explained that this was his new owl Hedwig and she was to stay there until he gets back home. He tied it on her leg.
"Take this to Lucy and wait for me there, Hedwig," he said petting her. "I'll be home as soon as I get all this done."
Hedwig rubbed her head against his fingers then took off to deliver her first letter for her new friend.
It was finally time to visit Ollivander's for a new wand. Harry could continue to use his Red Oak wand with gryphon talon core as it was a great match for him, but it was not traceable and the Ministry frowned on that for children below seventeen. All wands are made with the trace since that law went into effect, at least they are from reputable wand shops. One can likely buy a wand from a disreputable place and it not have the trace, but most of the time those wands were inferior.
The trace automatically removes itself once the user turns seventeen or if an adult matches while buying a new wand.
Ollivander's was a family-owned business since 382 BC and each family member that took over the business was blessed with a strong affinity for wands. They carried on the tradition and each made excellent wands that matched the witch or wizard.
When the Potter family and Sirius walked into the shop, it seemed no one was around. Harry had been warned though about Ollivander and his tricks. Harry was very quick with his wand now and even quicker wandlessly. He could fire a spell before you could blink. They didn't want Harry hurting Ollivander with a spell if the old wand maker surprised him.
As expected, Ollivander appeared out of nowhere behind them. Harry calmly turned around at his greeting, determined not to fall for the surprise.
"Harry Potter. I was wondering when I was going to see you for your first wand," he said creepily with his strange silvery eyes. "Wait a second," he said bending down and peering at Harry closer. Harry stayed steady right where he was with no emotion on his face. "You already have a first wand," Ollivander said knowingly. "Don't you, Mr. Potter?"
Harry just continued to stare up at him.
"May I see it?" Ollivander asked while putting his hand out.
Harry released his wand slowly from its holster and placed it in Ollivander's hand.
"Hmm, what have we here?" he asked as he examined it curiously. "Yes. This is a well-made wand, Mr. Potter. …Ah! No wonder! It's an Ollivander wand, but I didn't make it or sell it. That means I don't know who bought it. A Peverell perhaps? A very long time ago?"
Harry nodded.
Ollivander looked at it again. "Red Oak with a …what is it?" he asked as he held it up to his ear like it could talk. "Gryphon talon core? Oh my! That is a powerful wand and very fast too."
He handed it back to Harry who quickly slipped it back up into its holster like he had been doing it all his life.
"You may be a very difficult customer, Mr. Potter, but I do love a challenge. Let's get started shall we?"
As soon as he said that a tape measure lying on the floor jumped up and started measuring Harry in every way one could be measured. Harry wasn't sure what some of the measurements were good for when it came to a wand but he decided not to ask questions.
Izzy thought it was funny and pointed at her brother as the tape measure did its thing. Sirius, James, and Lily just smiled at him as they watched.
Meanwhile, Ollivander was gone pulling down boxes and boxes of wands all over the store. He came back floating a huge pile of them and set them on the counter. He opened one up and handed it to Harry very carefully like he was afraid it was going to explode.
"Give that one a wave," he said.
"No," Harry answered and handed it back.
"No?" Ollivander asked.
"No" he said shaking his head.
"Very well. Let's try some more."
They must have gone through a hundred wands with Harry picking it up, saying 'no,' and giving it back to Ollivander. Harry was getting frustrated but Ollivander seemed to be getting giddier the longer it took. Finally, Ollivander sent all the boxes of wands back to where they belonged and looked down at Harry.
"No worries, Mr. Potter. I'll just have to custom make your wand. Follow me. …You can come to," he added like it was an afterthought as he indicated the others.
They followed Ollivander into the back of the store where there was far more space than there should be. He took them over by the wall where he had bins filled with wand woods.
"Mr. Potter, I need you to hold your hand over each bin until you find a wood that talks to you. If you find it quickly, feel free to test the rest and come back to it if none of the others have as good or better feeling."
Harry nodded and began touching a wand wood in each bin. He got a few reactions but nothing strong enough until he came to a box of wand woods that were mostly white. Then he felt a very strong pull on his magic, like it wanted to be used by him. He remembered that wood and completed the remaining wand woods. Nothing else popped so he went back, felt different ones to see if there was any difference, then picked up the specific white one that felt the strongest and handed it to Ollivander.
"This is Aspen, Mr. Potter. Well-known for duelers. I believe the Charms teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Filius Flitwick, also uses an Aspen wand and he was the dueling champion several years ago for ten years running," he said with a knowing look. "I find it interesting that you use a Red Oak and now choose Aspen. I believe we will see great things from you, Mr. Potter." He turned and took a few steps. "Step over to the wand cores," he said gesturing to another set of bins, "and hold your hand over each bin to see which one talks to you."
Harry did as before but did not get a strong enough reaction from any of the cores, only minimal reactions from a couple.
"Tough customer?" he asked. "Well, none of these are gryphon talon but I should have one in the back. Wait here."
Ollivander was only gone a minute but came back with four smaller bins.
"Here are four more choices. One is a gryphon talon core but all of these have not been needed for a long, long time, even before my time," he told them. "Give it a shot."
Harry held his hand over the gryphon talon core and felt a pull. He then moved over to the Rougarou hair and didn't feel anything. The Snallygaster heartstring was fairly dim too. The last one he tried was the shard of Horned Serpent horn and that was when he felt it intensely. It was far stronger than the gryphon talon core.
"It's this one," Harry said pointing.
"Oh my!" Ollivander exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" asked James, Sirius, and Lily worriedly at the same time.
"That's the Horned Serpent horn. It's exceptionally powerful and is very sensitive to Parseltongue."
"Oh, well that makes sense," James replied. "Harry here can speak Parseltongue. We're not sure which part of the family he inherited from but it doesn't really matter. However, I'd appreciate it if you kept that to yourself, Mr. Ollivander. You know how some carry on about it since Voldemort could speak it."
"Certainly, Mr. Potter. I can see your point."
"Thank you," Lily replied.
"Can you come back tomorrow afternoon to pick up your wand?" Ollivander asked. "I'll have it ready by then. Normally, I would tell you to come back in a couple of hours but this will be a very unique wand and I want to make sure it gets the attention it deserves."
Harry nodded and looked over at his family.
"That'll be fine, Mr. Ollivander," answered Lily while she was holding onto Izzy's hand. "We'll come back for it. I'm looking forward to seeing what Harry can do with it."
"So am I," he said looking at Harry with a smile. "So am I."
Harry just smiled. He liked his current wand a lot, but he wanted to try out his new one as soon as possible. It held a lot a promise.
They finished up their shopping after that, picked up the uniforms from Madam Malkin's, and shrunk the packages for easy carrying. Sirius then treated his godson and the other Potters to some ice cream at Fortescue's. Izzy really liked it and managed to get some on herself that Lily had to magic away.
Harry saw quite a few kids that looked to be his age or older running around with their parents buying their supplies. He supposed he would meet them at Hogwarts.
There were several gawkers who wanted to stare at them but he had been thoroughly warned about that before he ever appeared in public. It was uncomfortable but not a complete shock.
They went home after they enjoyed their ice cream.