Ninja Wizard V 10
By David
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and HP characters. JK Rowling has that pleasure.
Author Notes: These marks () indicate Japanese spoken.
Ninja Wizard v 10
"Toads and Snakes"
October 31st. Harry got out of the shower after having a hard workout and dressed in black as his habit was. This time it was in a black suit with a blood red tie. He cast the warming spell on them to keep himself warm as he went to the church where his parents had been buried. His black hooded cloak floated to him and he pulled it around himself and brought up the hood. Miyamoto nodded and let him out. Harry cast notice me not before leaving the flat and had no problem getting out of the castle. He went to the gardens where he knew Professor Sprout would be waiting for him. She nodded to Harry as she handed him the two bouquets of roses for his parents and patted him on his right arm. Harry gave her a sad smile as she stepped back. A door appeared at the far end of greenhouse three and Harry walked out of the door and out into the snow. It had snowed a bit earlier than normal and Harry was okay with that. He went to the front gates of Hogwarts and apparated the minute he cleared them to appear in Godric's Hollow. He walked the three blocks to the church and went around the left side of it to find the cemetery. He paused before the main gate and then went through it. His senses were alert and reached out to find the place quiet. Harry walked down the main path to the Potter Clan plot and entered the smaller gate that swung open when he approached it. He found his parent's graves and then reached into his cloak for the roses. He laid them down before each tombstone and then stepped back. He studied each tombstone and then nodded.
"Hi Mum, Dad," he began, and went from there, telling them of everything he had been through in the year he'd been here last.
Once he was finished with his narrative, he felt a lot better and stronger. Coming here and talking to them always made him stronger. There were times when he felt something warm touch him deep in his spirit, soul, and his heart, and he knew it was his parents telling him that they were right there with him. He knew for sure they were right there with him and he loved that feeling.
Harry returned to Hogwarts only to find trouble waiting for him in the form of an ugly pink toad. She stood in front of him with a smile on her face.
"Where have you been, Mr. Potter?" she asked in a little girl voice.
Harry pulled his hood back with both hands and looked at her. "You will address me as Lord Potter. As for where I have been, I went to pay my parents my respects as I have done every year."
Umbridge blinked at that and then smiled sweetly at him. "Oh but you need to clear it with me and I will decide if you are allowed to go or not."
The fire that lay within Harry slowly rose up in his eyes as his dragon spirit rose up within him and roared loudly. Umbridge stepped back as she saw the fire rise up in Harry's eyes, becoming afraid.
"My honor demands I go and pay my respects to the two people that I love beyond life that had been torn away from me by the Idiot-Who-Must-Be-Named!" Harry said to her coldly. "I do not need you permission to do so!"
Harry stepped forward glaring at her as Umbridge stumbled back, clearly afraid of the fire she saw deep inside Harry's eyes. Harry turned and headed up the stairs, ending the confrontation. The school hadn't stopped talking about the confrontation in the grand foyer since it happened and now it was late November and the talk about that confrontation hadn't stopped. McGonagall had talked to Harry about it and she told him that she endorsed his right to go see them anytime he felt like it. Harry appreciated that and continued on with what he was doing. And then Hagrid returned. Harry observed smoke coming from his chimney on the way to breakfast one morning and smiled. He'd go visiting the first chance he got, which he did, just before dinner.
"Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed when he opened the door to his hut. "Come in!"
Harry walked in to find Hermione already there. "Hi Harry!"
"Had a feeling I'd find you here love," Harry said as he came around the table and kissed her on the cheek, making Hagrid smile.
"Always knew you two would make a great couple," Hagrid said as Harry sat down next to her. "Cuppa tea, Harry?"
Harry smiled. "Thank you Hagrid."
Hagrid gave Harry a cup and then sat down. "Hermione here tells me you had a bit of a scrap at this Umbridge girl."
Harry sighed. "I did, and she's been trouble ever since she got here. When she finds out you're back, she's gonna make trouble for you, Hagrid. So you need to be careful round her because she will pop up on you when you least expect it to inspect one of your classes, and no doubt Malfoy is gonna try to make you look bad."
"He can try, the little rotter, and I'll dock him a load of points. As for her, I'll drop kick her arse into Black Lake from the hut," Hagrid said.
Harry had no doubt in his mind that Hagrid could do it.
"So where did you go?" Harry asked.
Hagrid sighed. "I went looking for me Mum once I learned where she might be and found out she had died some time ago. I did find where she was buried and paid my respects to her."
"Hagrid, I'm truly sorry for your loss," Harry said as he reached out and grasped his right hand.
Hermione patted his arm. "Me too. I bet she was a great mom!"
Hagrid sighed. "She wasn't the best. The last time I saw her was me first year. Don't know what made her go back to her family. Broke me Dad's heart when she did. Mine, too. I've been looking for her ever since because I missed her."
"She will always be with you Hagrid, especially in the times when you need her," Harry said.
Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder. "Kind of you to say that, Harry."
They stayed for a few minutes more and then headed to the castle for dinner.
Two weeks later the castle was abuzz about what happened in Hagrid's class. Umbridge had dropped in to inspect his class. At first everything had gone okay until Malfoy had to open his mouth and tried to make Hagrid look bad. Hagrid had heard what Malfoy said to Umbridge and docked him a hundred points for badmouthing him. Malfoy had done his usual 'when my Father hears of this' act, threatening Hagrid and Hagrid knocked another hundred points off for making threats he had stormed off madder than anything. Hagrid turned to Umbridge and she scurried off, completely unnerved by the fire in his eyes. What would happen next was anyone's guess, but all of Slytherin House was pissed off at Malfoy and word was that Snape wanted Malfoy's ass and was looking to take out his anger on somebody and couldn't because Harry wasn't Ravenclaw anymore. Harry decided to keep his head down and not make any kind of waves even though he hadn't been there. If Snape was pissed at someone, it should be Malfoy, not him or Hagrid. He was pondering the situation when the doors to the Room of Requirement opened to admit the people who signed up for Harry's defense class. Harry stood up and nodded to everyone who showed up.
"Hi," he said, starting things off, "so did anybody have the chance to practice this week what we did last week?"
Quite a few people said yes. Harry grinned.
"Good. So let's start off by checking scores and we can go from there. First ten to the firing line and we'll go from there," Harry said.
The first group went through and then went over to where Harry was. Once everyone had gone through the firing line and posted good numbers, Harry nodded.
"Okay, that was great. Tonight I'm going to show you something called Salvio Hexia. It's a spell to protect you against most hexes. It puts some kind of shield around you and not over a large group like the Protego spell does, and the Protego is usually a onetime thing, while this one is a long term spell until you end it. Nice thing about it is you can cast it over just yourself, or over a group of people. If two or more people cast it at the same time, it increases the strength of the shield. So if we were to be in a fight together, two or three of you can cast it over the group and work to keep it going while the rest of us cast our spells through it to fight back. Incoming spell fire will be stopped from coming in. So let's give it a try," Harry said.
They worked on it for the next two hours, switching roles from defenders to attackers and back again as Harry introduced a few good hexes to the group. He grinned as they were catching on very well.
"Okay, time!" Harry called out, ending the evening.
People turned to look at Harry. "All of you got that one down fairly quick, good job. I think we will do one more class before we break for Christmas Holidays. As usual if anyone of you finds a good spell please introduce it to the rest of us. This class is just as much yours as it is mine. We need to learn this stuff as it could potentially protect us one day. So stay alert, okay?"
With that, people began leaving in pairs on one at a time through different doors as to not attract attention, last thing they needed, and then headed off to their dorms. Harry and Hermione strolled out from another location and were seen by the entrance to the library.
"Curfew in fifteen," they were informed by a suit of armor.
Harry nodded. "Thank you sir."
They kissed good night in front of the Gryffindor entrance.
The first week of December the castle underwent a change. Christmas decorations appeared to make the castle look much brighter. Harry began to smile a bit more as seeing the decorations put him in a better mood and Hermione was happy to see that. Coming down the stairs they saw Hagrid handling a tall Christmas tree and trying to open the doors to the great hall. Harry and Hermione raced over and opened the doors for Hagrid. Harry could see the slight smile on his face but it didn't quite reach his eyes and Harry knew why. The word had gotten around that Hagrid had been placed on probation by Umbridge. Malfoy was still in the doghouse with the Slytherins and that kind of made up for Hagrid's troubles.
"Where to, Miss McGonagall?" Hagrid asked.
She turned to see Hagrid coming in with the tree, Harry and Hermione with him. "By the Gryffindor House table, Hagrid. They are waiting to decorate it."
Harry smiled at her. "Nice to see everybody's getting into the spirit of things."
"It is. I'm hoping that this will change things a little," she said. "Even… her can't stop this."
That told Harry volumes. McGonagall was out for her blood. Harry discretely checked to make sure nobody was around.
"I can fix things to make her leave," Harry whispered.
McGonagall reacted to that. "You would frame her for something?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, before she does something to hurt any of us. She is capable of that."
McGonagall sighed. "Thank you for the offer, Harry, but no. We can wait her out."
Harry nodded. "As you wish."
McGonagall went to talk to Flitwick as he directed a few of the Ravenclaws in decorating their tree. Harry sat down at the tail end of the Gryffindor table and called for a cup of tea. Hermione joined him.
"Do you really want to frame her for something?" Hermione asked.
Harry sighed as he rubbed his face. "We gotta get rid of that… thing before it destroys Hogwarts."
"I agree, Harry, but there's got to be a better way," Hermione said.
Harry sighed. "Then suggest something, please. I am entertaining the thought of stuffing her into a tiny box and sending her on a one way trip to the absolutely coldest place on Earth."
Hermione grinned at him. "Funny you should say that. I had the same thought, too."
"The sooner the better," Harry said.
Ron appeared and rushed up to Harry and Hermione. "You gotta see this! Umbitch is kicking Trelawney out of the castle! Filch has her trunks out on the grounds!"
Ron rushed back out. Harry turned to Hermione and both of them left the table and went to follow the crowd. Filch helping the Toad? They found a spot to watch and sure enough Trelawney was next to her trunks begging to stay while Umbridge mocked her. Harry watched as Filch dragged another trunk out and down the steps.
"You can't do this!" Trelawney screamed at Umbridge. "Hogwarts has been my home for years!"
"Oh but I can," Umbridge snarled at her. "It is my job to remove the useless bits from Hogwarts and to make it great again! As of now, Divination has been removed from Hogwarts."
"But I can teach other things!" Trelawney cried out.
Harry pulled a bit of paper from his pocket and wrote a quick note to Sirius. "Trelawney is getting kicked out of Hogwarts. Get her to safety, now!"
There was a slight tingling in his fingers and Harry blinked in shock as the note disappeared. He raised his head to see Umbridge laugh.
"You? Teach something else? I don't think so!" she laughed.
Trelawney glared at her. "I see the Grim stalking you! Your days here are numbered! Those you have wronged shall rise up against you! You can run to the Darkness but it will not protect you as it will cast you aside once it gets what it wants! And then… you will die!"
Harry shivered at that. If that was a prediction, it had to be for real. Harry glanced at Umbridge to see her reaction. Umbridge had gone pale, and then she came back with a red face and full of anger.
"Get out," she snarled, pointing to the road leading to the gates of Hogwarts.
Trelawney turned to her trunks and pointed her wand at them and they rose off the grounds. She started off past Umbridge, and then turned around.
"You will die a most hideous painful death at the hand of darkness," Trelawney spat, "nobody will miss you, and your Ancestors shall never welcome you. Filch will pay for his betrayal against Hogwarts."
She turned and headed off to the front gates. Harry turned to watch Umbridge but she had disappeared along with Filch. Harry pulled one of his disappearing acts and melted into the shadows. He found Trelawney and watched her go down to the gates where Sirius was waiting. He watched Sirius comfort her and he looked up to see Harry watching from the bushes. Harry nodded, and Sirius nodded back. Harry melted away into the darkness and went back to the castle. Now he would deal with Filch the first chance he got. It shouldn't be hard to find the man's rooms and leave a message for him.
The talk at dinner was very subdued. Harry listened very carefully and it seemed to him that it was being centered on today's events. There were a few staff members at the head table, Umbridge among them. But nobody sat with her. People were keeping their distance from her and Harry wondered just how long she would last. He had devised several ways to kill her, each method as gruesome as the last. Harry sighed. McGonagall had been right. If anything did happen to the Toad, he could very well come under fire as Umbridge and Fudge had marked him as a troublemaker. But McGonagall never said anything about pranking the bitch. Harry smiled as he thought of two people who would enjoy the challenge. He looked at Fred and George until they looked up at him. Harry sent them the secret signal to meet. Both of the smiled and he knew they would.
"So Mr. Potter," Fred grinned as they met in a dark shadow of a statue.
"We meet again," George chuckled in an evil manner.
Harry had to grin. "You guys make life fun round here, ya know?"
Both of the laughed out loud. "So what's on your mind?"
Harry grinned at them. "Prank the Toad. Embarrass her badly."
Fred and George looked at each other with very big grins on their faces. Harry had given them the word they wanted to hear the most. Harry was the first to sneak away. He observed Filch talking to the Umbitch and decided to follow him. He went where Harry had hoped he would and revealed his personal quarters. Harry slipped in after Filch left and looked around a bit. He slipped back out getting an idea of what he wanted to do. Filch would get his warning. First he needed some red paint and he went down to where he knew Hagrid kept all kinds of stuff as he was responsible for the upkeep of the grounds. Harry sighed as he entered the shed. The place was a big mess. Harry carefully maneuvered his way around things as he looked through everything within his grasp and finally found what he was looking for, red paint. It was in a small can, perfect for the job. Next to the can were small brushes. Harry took two of them and then headed back to the castle. Now all he needed to do was to wait for opportunity, and he got it almost immediately. He observed Filch working on something in a hallway and knew it would take him at least an hour to do it. Harry immediately raced to Filch's quarters and went in. Harry knew Filch was a squib, one born into a magical family unable to perform any kind of magic. Harry went to work with a brush and within fifteen minutes had the message done. He decided to leave one on the front door of his office as well. It would be a simple message, a single word, 'traitor' and he hoped it would get through to the decrepit old man. Harry left Filch's rooms and headed down to his office. He made sure the coast was clear and then painted the word on his door and then stepped back into shadow once he was done. Nothing happened for a few minutes and Harry sighed in relief. Nobody had seen him and that was good. He considered painting something on the Toad's front door and then decided not to. There was plenty of time and besides, Fred and George were going to start pranking the bitch this morning. Harry smiled. He knew the pranksters of Hogwarts would be joining the fun once the word got out that it was open season on her. Harry decided to keep the small can of paint in his quarters knowing it would be safe in there as the wards he cast along with Dobby's Elf wards would keep anything from getting taken. Harry then put in an appearance at dinner where he relaxed, pursued the evening edition of the Daily Prophet, made small talk with a few of his friends, and had a plate of broccoli beef with brown rice.
Filch came running through the doors just before dinner ended, looking distressed. He went straight for the head table and talked to Umbridge first, and then to McGonagall. It was interesting to watch him go from upset to pissed off, pounding on the table.
"Wonder what's got him all worked up?" Ron observed.
Harry calmly sipped his tea. "Something has. I'm sure we will find out before long. We always do."
"Someone should write a book about this place," Ron said. "Be a best seller."
Harry smiled at that as he watched McGonagall follow Filch out of the great hall. "I'd be willing to endorse it."
"So what are you planning on doing this evening?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed. "I'm in the mood to go up to Potter's Bar. Haven't been there for a time."
That sounded like a great idea so the group followed Harry up there and went in with him. Harry nodded to the crew of skeletons who played with him as he adjusted his guitar and started the opening notes to AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck', and the evening went from there. Harry didn't sing very much so one of the skeletons handled the vocals and Harry was fine with that. He just wanted to play guitar and have fun doing it. Harry played for nearly two hours and then relaxed with his friends talking about this and that. It was just a bit past curfew as he settled into his office chair. First thing he did was to check his Goblin Postbox for mail, and there were two letters, one from Sirius and another from Shizune. He read Shizune's letter first and it informed him of a DE they had been watching. This guy had been getting a lot of visitors over the last few weeks and naturally all of the visitors had been photographed and checked against the criminal database in England. A tiny few had come up. Harry tapped his bottom lip for a moment and then wrote back, suggesting that Sirius look at the stack of pictures and see what came up with him. He turned to Sirius' letter and it informed him that Trelawney was now a guest with the bird club, that Dumbledore had taken her in. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least Trelawney was protected now. Harry was sure that McGonagall knew by now. He wrote a quick thanks for the information and told him what he had done in regards to Filch and sent it off to Sirius. He headed off to bed, it had been a long day.
The great hall was buzzing the next morning with the news of the word 'traitor' appearing on Filch's office door and someone made the claim that a message had been written inside Filch's personal quarters with his cat's blood. Harry nearly fell off his seat with that one, but when the message had been repeated word for word, Harry knew that people had seen it and were telling other people about it. Umbridge looked like she was about to explode. Then she stood up and the hall slowly went quiet. She opened her mouth to speak and all that came out of it was a loud croaking noise. Harry blinked in shock. Not that he wasn't expecting. Umbridge got pissed and started pounding on the table with her right fist, croaking madly. All it took was one person to start laughing, and that set off the hall. What Harry didn't expect was Hagrid doing it. He was trying to contain his laughter but it got the best of him and soon the entire hall was laughing as well. Umbridge stormed out of the hall waving her fists. That became the subject of the day, especially when the suits of armor croaked when she passed one, and one of the suits even dared to slap her on her ass as she passed by, making her jump in shock. And then McGonagall sent for Harry. Harry had an idea what she wanted to talk about as he went to her office.
"There you are," she said when he knocked on her door. "Tea?"
Harry bowed and took a chair next to the small round table in the headmaster's office she now occupied as McGonagall took the other one.
"No thank you my lady," Harry said. "I appreciate the offer. How can House Potter be of service?"
McGonagall smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You are a true gentleman, Harry. I do need to ask you about an incident that happened in Filch' personal quarters, Harry. I know you didn't do it, but I must ask. Did you leave a message for Filch on his living room wall?"
Harry looked at her straight in her eyes. "No, I did not. Any clue to who did it?"
"None, as there is no magical signature," she said.
Harry scratched his chin. "That means this person used muggle means to leave it for Filch."
"Filch seems to think you or one of the Weasley Twins did it," she said.
Harry leaned back in the overstuffed chair. "The twins are practical jokers to be sure, but even they know just how far to carry a prank, and this is no prank."
"I agree. I needed to ask you is all. Thank you Harry," she said.
Harry left the office a moment later.
Harry took his seat in the library late Wednesday evening with a book he had been trying to get through the last few days and now he had the opportunity to do so. It was a book that he needed to read for Dumbledork's history class and write something on it before the school left for Christmas Holidays. Harry was tired as classes had been running him ragged. He opened the book and picked up from where he left off and started reading. Normally his senses were sharp and alert, but because of his exhaustion he wasn't as alert as he should have been, and if he had been alert, he would have seen the person settling down at the base of a suit of armor, watching him. It didn't take long for Harry to start nodding off, and he'd snap to and reread that paragraph again. Eventually he lost the battle and his head dropped down as the book he was holding hit the floor. The person in shadow raised his/her wand and pointed it at him, casting something at Harry. Harry suddenly found himself standing in a dark hall, the same dark hall he had dreamed off twice before. Harry stepped backwards into a shadow before the man sitting there on a bench could see him. He turned his head slightly, and Harry recognized him as Arthur Weasley. Harry frowned. What the hell was going on here? Why was he here? Why was Mr. Weasley sitting here? Was he guarding something? Was he waiting for somebody? Harry watched the scene in front of him for a few minutes until something got his attention. Harry gasped at the size of the snake. It was huge! Not as big as a basilisk, but as big as a car tire? Harry really had nothing to go on to try and describe the snake. For something that big, it sure moved well. Harry wondered why it was here. Was the snake animagus? Backup for Mr. Weasley? The snake then rose up and hissed at the man. Mr. Weasley reacted by raising his hands to block it as he moved backwards but it was far too late and a poor defense. The snake struck, getting past Arthur's hands and chomping down hard on his left shoulder. Harry could see Mr. Weasley's eyes go wide and mouth open to scream but Harry heard nothing. Harry charged the snake but couldn't touch it. Mr. Weasley fell backwards and the snake landed on top of him and hissed once more before moving off, leaving in the direction it came from. Harry came to in a snap, his heart pounding, his chest heaving, and streams of sweat coming off his face. He knew he had to go to McGonagall. He raced out of the very dark library and into the hall, ignoring the paintings calling after him. Harry raced up the stairs to the third where he knew the headmaster's office was. He ran up to the gargoyle and it came to life in front of Harry. It stepped aside and Harry started up the stairs. He reached the door to the office and it swung open to reveal McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Sirius.
"Snake… attacked Mr. Weasley… in some dark hall… he's been hurt!" Harry gasped out.
Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Are you sure of this?"
"YES!" Harry roared, angry now. "DAMN SURE!"
Sirius put his hands on Harry's chest and back. "Harry…"
"Are you just going to stand there, Dumbledork?" Harry snapped. "Are you that fucking useless? Are you going to let a man die?"
Dumbledore glared at Harry and then turned to the row of paintings above his head. "Phineas, I need you to go and look. If he is injured, raise the alarm and then come back."
The much older man disappeared from his painting as Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "Please… tell us what it was you saw. No, wait. Miss McGonagall, the pensieve please. Harry, get those memories back up in your mind. I shall copy them and then play them out into the room for all of us to see."
Sirius eased Harry into a chair as the pensieve appeared onto the great desk in front of them. Harry closed his eyes and recalled the memory to the front of his mind and allowed Dumbledore to copy it. He watched the silvery strand drop into the liquid inside of the bowl and Dumbledore tapped a rune on the side of the bowl and the dream played back, start to finish. Dumbledore ran it forwards, backwards, in slow motion, and then frame by frame. A moment later Phineas returned.
"He's on the way to St. Mungo's, Albus. He looked like hell, his left shoulder was mangled up," Phineas reported. "The Aurors can't get anything out of him."
Dumbledore nodded. "I will head over there and see what I can do. Sirius, Harry, get the Weasleys out of here before… she gets a hold of them. Harry, I will need to talk to you later."
Dumbledore left the office as McGonagall turned to Harry and Sirius. "The floo system is being watched by her. You'll have to portkey out."
Sirius grinned. "Works for me. Harry, you get Ginny and I'll grab the boys."
Both of them raced for the stairs and then used a series of secret pathways to get to Gryffindor Tower.
"Harry," Sirius called, getting his attention, "the Doghouse for now. Go!"
Harry nodded and they got inside Gryffindor Tower. Sirius went up into the boy's dorms while Harry found Hermione on the couch, writing something.
"Harry, what?" Hermione began.
Harry caught his breath. "No time to explain. Go get Ginny and port to the Doghouse. Emergency, will explain later."
"Why the Doghouse?" Ginny asked as she appeared.
Harry grabbed her hand and Hermione's and mentally said the password to transport them to the Doghouse via the portkey function on the Potter Family Ring. They appeared in the Arrival Room at the Doghouse to see Remus pointing a wand at them and Keith backing him up with a shotgun.
"The Marauders Ride," Harry said and Remus sighed before standing down.
Keith put the shotgun back into the umbrella stand with a collection of umbrellas hiding it. He lit up and headed into the kitchen as Harry led the girls into the living room.
"Sirius is inbound with the Twins and Ron," Harry said and the warning chimes sounded just as a glow came out of the Arrival Room. Harry, Remus, Hermione, and Ginny drew their wands and pointed them into the Arrival Room. Sirius smiled and waved.
"Hi there! Kinda got lost on the road to life and ended up here."
Remus sighed. "You need to find a better line than that one, Mr. Padfoot."
Sirius herded the three Weasley brothers into the living room as Keith appeared with a tea service. Harry turned to Sirius and the man nodded. He returned with a pensieve and set it down on the table in front of everybody. Harry recalled the memory and Sirius copied it and dropped it in. Then he tapped the playback rune. The room fell silent as the memory played back. Keith was the first to speak.
"Bloody hell, that's one ruddy big one," he said, studying the frozen image of the snake.
The Weasleys turned to Harry. "How?"
Harry sat down in an overstuffed chair. "I don't know. I just don't know."
Harry closed his eyes and sighed. A moment later he conked out.
When Harry woke up sometime later, he found himself in a bed. Sirius must have brought him up here and put him to bed. Harry groaned as he sat up. His head hurt and he was hurting.
"Gotta stop these late nights," he groaned out loud.
He got out of bed and pulled a kimono around him and tied it up. He stuck his head out the door and then went into the bathroom in the hall. He took a quick shower and combed his hair back and tied it up in a ponytail. He got back into his kimono and left the bathroom. He pulled on a pair of shorts leaving the kimono in place and went downstairs. Sirius handed him a cup of coffee.
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked.
Harry knocked back a quarter of the cup and sighed. "A little bit better now. I still feel like I've been run over by a pack of dinosaurs."
Remus chuckled at that. "Well, if it's any consolation, Arthur's out of danger. They managed to stop the bleeding and get the poison out of him. They've got him resting in the ICU ward because of his shoulder is still messed up. It's gonna be a while before he's able to start using his left arm. You did good, kid."
Harry sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table. "That's good. Hell of a way to start holiday."
Sirius appeared. "All of us have been invited to Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore wants to talk to you, Harry. I'm to be there to play referee."
Harry nodded. "What about…?"
"Umbridge?" Sirius asked and Harry nodded. "Amelia's shut her down for now. Can't guarantee what will happen back at Hogwarts, kid. Gotta tell you, Arthur can think fast when he needs to. He had a folder with him that was to be dropped off at one of the offices down there overnight and claimed he was going down there to drop it off before heading home after a very long day of chasing things and just got attacked. Everybody but Umbridge is buying it and Fudge had to get tough with her to drop it. He thinks getting the Weasley kids out of Hogwarts right then and there was a good move. Even Percy got taken into protective custody until they were sure that Arthur wasn't down there for any other reason other than to drop the file on the desk he had to."
Harry sighed in relief. "So he wasn't doing any spying?"
Sirius nodded. "None."
Harry leaned back in his chair. "Okay. We go visiting, and it it's safe for them to return to the Burrow, they go home."
Sirius nodded. "That's the plan, kid."
Harry stood up. "Has anyone had breakfast yet?"
"No, not yet," Sirius said.
Harry nodded and went to the coffee pot. Good. Give me an hour and I'll have breakfast up."
"You don't have to kid," Sirius said.
Harry nodded. "I know I don't have to but I want to."
"Okay then," Sirius said and backed out.
Harry cracked his knuckles and got started.
They left the Doghouse around one in the afternoon. Harry wasn't really looking forward to meeting with Dumbledore, preferring not to deal with him outside History of Magic, but he had no choice in the matter. They went as a group to Grimmauld Place and once they knew where to find it, they casually strolled up to the front door once it appeared and went inside. Harry felt like he had stepped back in time when he stepped inside. The place actually looked very nice. Molly Weasley was there and she hugged Harry thanking him for saving Arthur. Harry took a seat in the sitting room and sighed. Dobby popped up in front of him with a cup of tea.
"Dobby be looking after Master Harry," he looked at him with a serious look on his face. "Dobby thinks Master Harry is a great wizard for saving lives."
Harry gave him a slight smile. "Thank you for the tea, Dobby. You're a good man."
Dobby beamed as he popped away and returned with more tea for others. Harry sipped a little of it and placed it on the small table next to his chair. He looked around the room at people and things and wondered just how different his life would have been if his parents were still alive. He sighed and looked up as Sirius sat down next to him and nodded.
"He's just arrived. The Weasleys have gone to St. Mungo's," Sirius said.
Harry nodded and Dumbledore sat down in front of him. Moody took the chair to Harry's right as Snape stood behind Dumbledore. Harry's gaze shifted back to Dumbledore.
The only sound in the room was the ticking of a clock on the shelf behind Harry. Harry picked up his teacup and sipped from it and then put it down.
"Mr. Potter," Snape began.
Harry glared up at Snape. "It is Lord Potter to you, sir!"
Snape chuckled. "How arrogant. Just like his father."
"I am nothing like my father, sir. I do not chase pathetic little worms like you around Hogwarts or spend my time putting people down like you and your pathetic pack of baby snakes who are still in diapers," Harry snarled. "So you yourself a favor and shut that arrogant dirty filthy mouth of yours!"
Snape moved, only to find a wand in his face, having been drawn by Sirius.
"I don't think so Mr. Snape," Sirius smiled. "I can and will drag you sorry ass off to jail for attacking a minor who happens to be a lord of an Ancient and Noble House. No more job for you at Hogwarts."
Snape snarled at Sirius but backed down. Moody looked at Dumbledore and shook his head.
"I did tell you Albus, that bringing Snape with you was a bad idea. You need to muzzle him and put him on a leash or he's gonna be trouble for you someday," Moody said. He turned to Harry. "All we are interested in is how you are able to see all of this?"
"Something Remus and I have been asking ourselves," Sirius said.
Hermione appeared at Harry's right side holding a rather thick book. "I've been asking that question myself, Sirius. So I've been doing some research."
"And what have you discovered, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione smiled and then kicked off in teaching mode. "As we all know, Occlumency is the art of protecting one's mind and Legilimency is the art of looking inside a person's mind. Rumor has it that there are a very tiny few that know this branch of mind arts. The Idiot-Who-Must-Be-Named is one, and Professor Snape has been accused of it a few times by various individuals."
Snape snarled at that and Hermione smiled. "Ah, so you do admit to it. Thank you Professor Snape. Do feel free to add to the conversation if you so choose to. Now then, Occlumency. The practitioner of this art trains his or her mind to protect it's self from all intrusions that are aimed at the active areas of the mind in order to protect what the practitioner deems is very private thoughts containing information that the person wielding Legilimency wishes to obtain. In order to protect the mind the practitioner of Occlumency builds some kind of protective scheme inside the active areas on the mind. I'll use a building as an example. Inside this building I can make it into anything I wish, from a muggle office complex to a very complicated maze designed to trap the practitioner of Legilimency into. Oh, the spell to cast Legilimency is Legilimens. In order to be a practitioner of Legilimency, one must be an expert at Occlumency in order to learn how the mind works. Now based on what I've learned, I pose this question. Is it possible to cast Legilimens at a quiet part of the brain that isn't very active in order to insert that which the caster wishes for the person he or she is targeting to see what it is the caster wants them to see?"
Harry had to blink at all of that. Not only did Hermione manage to expose Snape as an Occlumency and a Legilimency user, but propose a way to enter a person's mind. Harry was so very happy that Hermione was on his side. Harry noted a flash of annoyance at what Hermione had just said in Dumbledore's eyes. That made Harry believe that Dumbledore was very capable of doing it too.
"A very interesting theory, Miss Granger," Snape snarled at her.
He was very pissed at her for exposing his abilities to use Occlumency and Legilimency to the room at large. Harry knew Hermione needed to be a lot more careful at Hogwarts now.
"Severus," Dumbledore said very quietly. "That is enough. Miss Granger has hit on a possible method that someone is using in an attempt to gain entry into Harry's mind and I must agree with her. It is very possible, Miss Granger. Well done. It is too bad we are on holiday as I would award you fifty points for discovering this. I must ask you Harry, do you practice meditation every day to work on protecting your mind?"
Harry nodded. "Every morning as part of my workout routine. Occlumency has helped me to organize my mind very well and allows me to recall information quicker than most people and it is very useful in class as I take the key elements of a lecture and commit it to memory, for example your lecture at the beginning of the year where you stated that we would be undertaking the study of very influential people in the magical world who have defended the magical world."
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, well done in recalling that, Harry. Well done. I must ask you to never skip a day in making sure your mind is well protected, for if you should skip one day it would weaken your mind just a tiny bit and that would be disastrous. Now I wish to expound on Miss Granger's theory a bit in stating that the quiet part of your mind can be activated to place something into it that would make that part of your mind active, and from there just might be able to slip into the protected areas of your mind. You need to learn how to combat this while you are in your sleep."
Harry nodded. "Then I will make an effort to work on that."
"Very good, Harry. I wish to invite you to spend your holiday here with us," Dumbledore smiled.
Harry inclined his head. "So sorry, but I have made other plans. I wish you had spoken to me earlier in the month as I could have made some arrangement to be here. Perhaps another time. I do wish you a joyous holiday sir."
Harry rose from his chair with Sirius and Hermione joining him. The three of them walked to the front door and collected their jackets and Hermione slid the book back into her backpack. The three of them walked out the front door and into the daylight. They strolled down the block and then the three of them checked each other out to make sure nothing had been stuck to them at least several times and found nothing. Sirius grinned as they ported away.
Harry started his holiday fun by stopping a DE attack on a muggle family that night. Eight on one wasn't such great odds, but if you're a magical ninja it's not too bad. Harry took them out in just under three minutes before they could do any serious damage. Sirius followed up with doing the obliviate and reparo chores as Harry sent the remains back to Voldemort after getting the activation key from the leader before he passes on. Then from there it was to another location to take down another group. Before the night was over, Harry and Sirius had stopped at least four different attacks. Harry decided it was time to get proactive and find out just where Voldemort was hiding and blow the place down and hopefully take out a bunch of DE's with him. Keith was getting little bits here and there and while that helped it wasn't giving Harry what he needed, a major score. That however, changed one night when he encountered one of the major DE's that had escaped Azkaban when Voldemort broke everybody he wanted back out of there last summer. After some really hard fighting Harry managed to overcome the guy and used Legilimency to find out what he needed to know. Voldemort was hiding out in Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton. Keith went to work getting information on the area and dug up a lot.
"Interesting history here," Keith said as he talked to Harry and Sirius. "The Riddle Family used to be a prominent family there until about 1942 when one Frank Bryce was accused of killing them when a maid arrived at the house one morning and found them dead. The police could not figure out how the hell they died and Bryce was released. He continued to watch over the property as the house passed through several owners none of them ever going inside the place. As for all of the property the Riddles had, the state took it all once no heirs were produced. The house sits next to a graveyard that used to be Riddle land."
Harry sat up at that. "I'm willing to bet that's the same graveyard I met Tommy boy in."
"There's a road that runs past the house. The Graveyard is on the other side of that road. According to what I dug up, the Riddles owned that property and sold it off back in the mid 1930's because the land was unfit to farm on. They did buy a plot to be buried in, and that's where they are now," Keith said. "Nobody seems to know where they came from. They did have a lot of money, too. State took all of that too. The state tried to sell the house at auction for the longest time but with World War Two going nobody was interested in it. It finally sold back in later 1948 and since then it's been bouncing through a lot of different people. I'm trying to find the current owner now after having been sold for the last time back in 1982."
Harry scratched his chin for a moment. "Do you suppose that our good friend Lucius Malfoy bought the place thinking it might make a good hideout for Voldemort on the chance he was found and returned to a body?"
Sirius considered the question as Keith went back to his computers. "The only way to find out is to do a run down there. If by chance it is being used as an active base…"
Harry smiled. "We ruin his Christmas Holiday."
Next Episode: Harry and Sirius Go Visiting. Holidays with Friends and Family.