After he'd carefully placed down the likely priceless book Dumbledore had gifted him, Tonks eagerly presented her gift next. She produced a somewhat unassuming small box, covered in bright purple paper, which matched the bright hair she'd taken to sporting.
Carefully opening the box, Harry was confused when he pulled out a small orb, covered in intricately designed silver rings, each adorned with delicate runic engravings.
"Do you know what that is?" Tonks asked excitedly, quickly explaining her gift. "So, it's called a 'Veilguard Revelator', they're super rare, since only a few guys can make them. But, fortunately for you, one of them works for the Ministry, and he gave this one to me just in time.
"Basically, it's a Dark Detector for anyone who's trying to hide from you, mainly concealment charms or disguises. But it also works on intent, so someone nearby who just wants to stay hidden from you will often trigger the detector too.
"Just hold it and give it a squeeze, and the time between pulses of light will reveal how close the concealed person is." Tonks finished excitedly, gesturing for him to try it out.
Cautious with how delicate the device felt, he tentatively squeezed it, until he felt something click into place, before the orb instantly began emitting bright blue pulses of light.
When Tonks took a clear step backwards, he grew alarmed, fearing a prank or trap, only to calm when the flash slowed in time with her distance.
"See, it even works on metamorphs like me, since it can pick up on my power. Of course, it makes it useless for me to use one, but it should work well for you!"
He found himself smiling gladly for the gift, appreciating Tonks' thoughtfulness. Although he was already quite good at detecting people using his Magesight, it required both line of sight and for him to actively be using his altered vision.
"I wanted to get you one when you were first ambushed by Crouch Junior, but I couldn't get it in time. Then I was feeling guilty, because if I had gotten it to you earlier, he likely wouldn't have been able to pretend to be Mad-Eye… But better late than never, hey?" She asked, giving a tentative laugh, before hurriedly handing over another small and colourful box.
"But, as I still wasn't sure I'd get that detector in time, I also had this made for you."
Half expecting another dark detector, Harry wasn't prepared to see a simple rounded locket. At first glance, it seemed to be perfectly ordinary, and it was only when he picked it up that he could feel a faint enchantment.
"I haven't put any pictures in it, I thought I'd let you do that." Tonks pre-empted, as Harry went to open it. "But it is enchanted. It will put a simple glamour on your left arm, that will make it mirror the right."
He was briefly confused, until he looked down and remembered his fake arm. It was strange, because even after a few weeks to grow used to his missing limb, it still caught him off guard.
Raising the chain, the moment he placed the locket around his neck, he felt something like liquid running down his arm, before his gauntleted arm shimmered away into his old arm, enveloped in a sophisticated glamour.
He'd used a similar glamour in the past to disguise the gradual damage his arm had received, but Tonks' enchantment put his version to shame. While his previous glamour had merely given his sickly skin a healthier colour, Tonks' version was far more intricate.
The enchanted locket mirrored every detail seamlessly. It even included the occasional blemish or spot, giving it a realistic and imperfect appearance. It was as if his Gauntlet had never existed, hidden beneath the flawless illusion crafted by the locket's magic.
Only a close inspection would reveal that the blemish or spot was merely duplicated from the other arm.
"This is fantastic! How did you even get this, I've never heard anything like this?" Harry asked, holding his arm up to the light to try and spot any flaws.
"Oh, it's nothing much, it's just something I made myself." Tonks answered, blushing at his praise, "I just thought you likely don't want to be walking around with a silver arm. Unfortunately, it can only do that mirroring thing. I'm not good enough to tie multiple enchantments into a single object."
Deciding to test the enchantment, he flexed his hand and summoned the full Gauntlet, growing disappointed when the glamour tore apart as the Gauntlet sprung into existence beneath it.
Concerned he'd instantly broken Tonks' gift, Harry turned the Gauntlet back into his standard arm, which allowed the locket's illusion to flutter back into existence.
Where before the entire thing would morph into a ring, since he'd used the Gauntlet for his full arm, it now only partially changed. The gemstones would all shrink, and the ring would form as expected, but with some slight direction it still left a passable imitation of a normal arm behind.
It was unfortunate the full Gauntlet was simply too powerful for Tonks' enchantment to survive over it.
"It's useful for my undercover work… Like, I can morph one arm to be larger, and hide my wand holster on the other arm under the glamour. As you saw, the glamour doesn't react well to sudden changes, but the glamour will reapply itself as soon as it can."
"This is really amazing, Tonks!" Harry repeated, getting a noise of agreement from Dumbledore who'd come over to investigate it for himself.
"Why not just make a standard glamour of his arm? I'd have thought a lady of your talents could make such a glamour without relying on mirroring?" Nicholas inquired.
"Oh… Well I know Harry has been working on his disguise, and I wasn't sure how his arm would react to such a disguise. So, since that same enchantment can keep up with my metamorph changes, I figured his disguise would work fine too."
"That is certainly something to look into. I must admit, I hadn't even considered how Harry's new arm would impede a disguise. My dear, if you ever grow bored of being an auror, I would highly suggest you look into becoming an enchantress."
"Is life always like this for you, Harry?" Sirius asked quietly, pulling Harry away from the others, a sombre look on his face.
Confused, Harry took in the scene again, before turning to his godfather. "I guess so, but what do you mean, Sirius?"
"I mean… there's no rest. Even on your birthday, everyone here's discussing weapons, disguises, and detecting threats… Do you never just get a moment to rest and put it out of mind?"
"It didn't used to be like this… It's just that Voldemort is back, and I'll bet he isn't taking a day to rest. I fought him once, when he was at his weakest, and he almost killed me. I won't have the benefit of him being in a new body, and you can bet he'll be taking a bunch of rituals to give himself a boost." Harry argued, gently.
He certainly didn't want to upset or hurt his godfather, but he couldn't pretend to just be another fifteen year old.
After some consideration, Sirius nodded sadly, "Has Dumbledore been letting you know what the Order's found out?"
"No, this is actually one of the few times I've even seen Dumbledore this Summer. Back at Hogwarts, before Crouch attacked me, we agreed Dumbledore would handle everything, for now. I don't… I don't need to know what Voldemort's up to. Not right now." Harry admitted sombrely, his gaze momentarily flickering away from the ongoing discussions.
"Don't get me wrong, it's hard not knowing what Voldemort's up to. It's like I'm constantly standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting for something to happen. But I can either spend my time looking over my shoulder, seeing what Voldemort's doing… Or I can focus solely on myself, so whenever I meet him again, I'll have another chance to survive."
"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sorry you have to live like this, it's not right. But I won't try and talk you out of it. Merlin knows James and I were trying to join the Order when we were your age, and we were just unimportant punks back then.
"Any way I can support you, you just have to ask, you know that, right? Makes my gift a bit prophetic though." Sirius said, before pulling out a book that reeked of Dark magic.
"Sirius? What's this?" He asked cautiously, unwilling to put his hands on something so obviously Dark.
"Don't worry, it's a book on countering Dark magic. But my family had strange ideas about how someone should learn how to counter the dark. My family felt rightfully paranoid that just because we knew more Dark magic than anyone else, doesn't mean we'd be immune to it.
"So, this book has a clear patch for every Dark curse we know, and it'll then teach you how to counter it. As long as you don't pull the patches out of the book, you won't interact with any Dark magic directly, I checked."
Taking the book, Harry used his magic to leaf through a few pages, noting how the writing was strangely mechanical looking. Finally, he flipped to the beginning and found an author's note, crediting the book to a Harold Black.
"Sirius… How many Harold Black's are in your family?"
"The writer, right? He's the only Harold in the family, at least as far back as we recorded. He was disowned from the family at birth for being blind, and the Peverell family ended up raising him. Then, when he made a name for himself from his Transfiguration skills, he was reintegrated into the family. Typical Black family politics."
"I've read about him before. According to Xenophilius, this guy used to own my family's invisibility cloak." Xenophilius had also suspected Harold had owned the resurrection stone, making him one of the very few people who'd been the master of two Deathly Hallows simultaneously, but Sirius didn't need to know that.
"That shouldn't be possible, Harry. Think about it, your dad's old cloak was already passed down from his father. I'm surprised it's lasted this long, but it certainly can't have been the same cloak centuries ago."
Rather than open that can of worms, Harry shrugged and put it out of mind, but vowed to read Harold's book very carefully.
"Thank you, for this and everything, Sirius." Harry said instead, hugging the man again.
"Always, Harry. Now, tell me more about your cute friend, Daphne, I think it was. Does she still want to become an animagus?"
"Daphne? Yeah, I think she still wants to, it hasn't really come up in conversation since we last saw you. That actually reminds me, I'll need to arrange a meeting with her… unrelated to the animagus process."
"Good for you." Sirius said proudly, "I remember I spent much of my own Summers making and meeting girlfriends."
"From what I've heard about you, I'm quite sure your visits to girlfriends were far less innocent than my plans." Harry replied wryly, hardly reassured by the devious grin he got in return.
"Are we talking about how innocent little Harry is?" Tonks called, drawn back into the conversation.
"No, no we are definitely not. Nor will we be!"
Harry was quite glad when they eventually stopped to have lunch, which allowed Tonks and Sirius to forget their teasing, after which Dumbledore apologised profusely before taking his leave.
It was then that Nicholas sprang his own gift, having taken his time.
"I had a bit of a dilemma when it came to gifts." Nicholas said, "You see, if I had anything useful for you, you already have it. But I didn't want to give you just some trivial present like food. And then I remembered Perenelle once had her own Grimoire."
From the folds of his velvet cloak, he pulled out the mentioned book, a rather thick and aged tome.
"She hadn't updated it for about a century, but I consulted it when I designed your shield sigil, and I thought you'd enjoy her insights. There will be parts neither of us are able to read, due to the blood magic at play, but I know Fleur and her family can help out there."
"Thank you Nicholas… but wouldn't you want to keep hold of this yourself?"
"No, I have my own family Grimoire to read if I'm feeling nostalgic for Perenelle's musings, and I've had many centuries to study that book. After the last of her family died, Perenelle stopped updating the De Rune Grimoire, but not all her original findings made their way from that book to mine."
Harry ran his fingers over the weathered pages of Perenelle's Grimoire, deeply touched Nicholas would give him something so personal. It was one thing to be told Nicholas cared for him; it was another to be given his late wife's book on family magic.
Nicholas smiled, a hint of nostalgia in his gaze. "Perenelle was an extraordinary witch, and her insights into magic were unparalleled. I'm sure you'll find many fascinating discoveries within those pages."
Harry nodded, a sense of reverence settling over him. "I can't thank you enough for entrusting me with this, Nicholas. It means a lot."
Sirius, drawn from his food by the conversation, joined them. "What's all the excitement about then?" he asked, his eyes flicking between Harry and the Grimoire.
"Nicholas gave me his wife's family Grimoire," Harry explained, displaying the ancient book to Sirius.
Sirius raised an intrigued eyebrow. "A family Grimoire, eh? That's an incredibly generous gift, Harry, you'll need to take very good care of it. And it's probably best if you keep it to yourself. A Grimoire is almost always quite a personal book, enough that I know several Blacks have died over the generations to keep our Grimoire safe."
"I don't think Harry will need to worry all that much." Nicholas interjected, "The last De Rune who might contest Harry's ownership died a long time ago. I assure you, I wouldn't give Harry anything that wasn't my right to give."
Immediately Sirius grew apologetically, bowing to them both. "Of course, my apologies I didn't mean to say Harry shouldn't be in possession of this Grimoire. No, I was only concerned about others who might wish to take it from him."
Slightly unnerved by seeing Sirius act in such a mature manner, Harry somewhat desperately tried to break up the tense moment.
"Sirius, do you know if the Potter's had a Grimoire I'd be able to claim? I keep learning about how different families have their own unique magic… but I have no idea if my own family has something."
Sirius straightened up, his expression thoughtful. "The Potters, like many older wizarding families, probably had a Grimoire of their own. I'd say it would be unusual if they didn't, but I also never heard your father or grandfather refer to it."
Harry's eyes brightened with curiosity. "Do you think there's a chance it's still around, or maybe in the possession of someone in the family?"
Sirius scratched his chin, considering the possibilities. "Well, the Potters did have a rich magical history. James' parents might have safeguarded it somewhere. If I had to guess, it could be in some family vault in Gringotts. You might want to check there."
Nicholas, observing the conversation with interest, chimed in. "Exploring one's family history can be a fascinating journey. It can connect you to your roots in a way just hearing about them cannot."
"I'll see what I've got lying around at home, Harry." Sirius promised, "I didn't leave much behind when I left my parent's house, but who knows, something might show up. Unfortunately, I think a lot of your family's history went up in flames when Voldemort went after your grandparents."
While he certainly wouldn't say he didn't appreciate the previous day's birthday celebrations, he woke up the following morning with a determined anticipation.
Being reminded of just how much destruction Voldemort's actions had robbed him of, Harry felt an added urgency to finish his newest shield. With his prior birthday having prevented him from finishing it, he once again woke up desperate to finish it.
Fortunately, he was hoping that putting the shield together would be an easy process, just time consuming. So he and Nicholas had taken their breakfast into the garden, to sit around as Harry formed the outer mithril layer around the wooden base Fleur had enchanted for him.
The mithril slid over the wood easily, protecting the wood from any magical attacks. In turn, the wood itself would provide the much needed physical reinforcement the mithril required.
Once he'd had about an inch of mithril coating the shield, he moved onto the tedious task of adding the sigil runes. To pass the time, as he laboriously followed the same template as before, he decided to ask his mentor a question he'd been considering for a while.
"Nicholas, if you had Voldemort going after you, like he went after me, what would you do?"
"Well, you see I have some experience with that in the past, your dark lord is hardly the first to exist in my lifetime. Especially when I was far younger, having recently finished my Philosopher's Stone, just after people noticed I wasn't ageing as I should've.
"To deal with the pressure back then, I made a flying castle, which used gravity itself as a power source. Unfortunately, the effort it took to maintain the castle was worse than just learning how to defend my property. But, I will say, I lack the proactive attitude you've been blessed with. I'd much rather hide and outlive a threat."
Only one day late, Happy Thanksgiving for those that celebrate it.
As has only just fixed the notification issue, if this is the first chapter update from this story you've seen in a while, chapter 110 is likely the last one you've read.
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