AN: Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter of Harry Potter and the Sphinx Club! I'm hard at work writing more chapters, but am unsure if next week's will come out on time, so sorry in advance if it doesn't! Thanks for all the reviews, and your understanding at what will likely become a slower release schedule now that I can't devote as much time to this as I could previously. Anyway, keep reviewing/commenting, I read them all! Now, on to Chapter 16!
Harry's birthday was turning out to be a success on all fronts. The Tonks had rented out a small magical park just outside of Bristol for the event, and had prepared a small feast for the gathered friends. This was, after all, Harry's first true birthday party, and the Tonks had wanted to make sure it was special for the young man. The entire Sphinx Club had managed to be able to attend. Padma and Parvati had managed to convince their parents, who were convinced that Harry could be a potential suitor, to let them attend. Harry had turned very red when the pair had told him that, which had given all of the gathered club members a good laugh.
Also present was Charlie Weasley, who had managed to get the day off from his job at the dragon sanctuary. Harry and Charlie had interacted a few more times since their initial encounter at the beginning of June.
Alongside all of the children, Padma and Parvati's father, Hannah Tracey and Lavender's mothers and both of Hermione's parents had made it. Professor Flitwick had been invited but was busy prepping for the rapidly approaching school year, as well as assisting in the selection process for the replacement Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. The thought of which had sent a small shiver up Harry's spine, he was, in his mind, responsible for the opening of the position.
Harry gazed out at the collected people who had come to celebrate his birthday, they had all come for him. He felt something inside him build up, a warm feeling that sat deep in the core of his chest. Everyone had taken time out of their lives, simply because they wanted to celebrate his growing older with him. Harry was still adjusting to the feeling that people even liked him, much less would go out of their way to do something for him. He was touched that they cared so much. A voice pulled him from his musings.
"Wotcher Lil' Bro, this is your day! What are you doing over here in the corner?" Nymphadora said, making her way over to him. Her hair was a match for his own today, wild and black, with a comically small party hat hair clip sitting atop her head. She had changed her eyes to match his as well, making her look as though she could be his sister.
"Just looking over everything. I'm still surprised that everyone took their time to come out." Harry said honestly. Nymphadora had taken many efforts to try and get to know him while they were living together, and while her auror training kept her away for days at a time, she still made every effort to come and see him. "Is there a reason you're stealing my look?" Harry asked with a small smirk.
"Well, how else are they going to know I'm your big sister now? I've got to clear all the girls to make sure whichever one you date is good enough for you." Nymphadora said, sticking her tongue out at Harry. Harry once more flushed a beet red, and Nymphadora smiled smugly to herself at her little brother's misfortune. "Now come on and join the party! Mom got a game of Whizzerbye, that's great fun!"
Whizzerbye as it turned out was the name of a flat disc that someone through, and then it would fly about in random directions while people moved to catch it. The Sphinx Club, as well as Nymphadora and Charlie all ran around the large park area chasing the disc as it zipped across the plains. It was exhausting, but very good fun.
"Alright everyone! Time to cut the cake!" Andromeda belted out, her voice amplified by magic. No one in attendance was devoid of a sweet tooth, so it brought everyone together quickly.
Harry's birthday cake was a relatively simple affair, though quite large given that it needed to feed nearly twenty people, covered in a midnight blue icing, with bronze lettering that read "Happy Birthday Harry!" in a choppy hand-written font. While Andromeda had baked the cake, admitting that baking was something she enjoyed, Nymphadora had taken it upon herself to decorate it, with Ted encouraging her to keep it simple. Twelve candles sat atop the cake, and the smoke from them animated itself into magical images of people having fun, and occasionally spelling out "Happy Birthday Harry" themselves. The Grangers had been rather shocked that magic could perform such tasks, and the magicals in the room assured them that that was only some of what magic could do.
"Make a wish Harry!" Hermione called out to him taking her customary seat to one side of him, Padma taking hers at his other side. They had been doing this all year, and it seems that not even their two month separation had removed the instinct from the pair.
Harry looked around at his friends and family that gathered, and he took a brief snapshot with his mind and filed it into his heart. There they were, smiling, looking happily at him excited to share this moment with him. Excited at getting to watch him grow into a young man. Harry held this moment deep within his chest, and pulled the air in with it. Then with a mighty puff, he released it, extinguishing the flames that had their final puff of smoke encircle Harry's head and form into a smoky mostly shapeless crown. Everyone clapped and Hermione and Padma crushed him in a hug between them. "Happy Birthday Harry!" came the call in unison, among all the guests.
As everyone ate their cake, Andromeda had Harry open his presents that various guests had brought him. Harry had told everyone that there was no need for gifts, but everyone had flatly ignored him. Harry was in some ways glad for this, after all, what self-respecting 12 year old doesn't like presents? Ted and Andromeda had gotten him a Nintendo Gameboy with a few games. Dudley had gotten one two years prior, and had been absolutely enamored with it, Harry was interested in seeing if it was as fun as Dudley had made it out to be.
Hermione had gotten him a book, or rather a series of books The Chronicles of Narnia. "I do hope you like them, Harry! I loved them, and they are such a fun adventure story you should as well. There should be a note there with the reading order for them, make sure you read them in the right order!" Hermione spoke, giving him another tight hug. Sure enough, a note included with the book outlined two potential reading orders for the set, one was Hermione approved, and one was chronological. Some part of Harry wanted to read them the chronological way to spite his friend, but resigned himself internally to reading them in her order, if only to make her happier.
Padma and Parvati had gotten him two presents, one was a small magical figurine of a mountain troll, not too dissimilar to the one he fought in the bathrooms the year prior, and the other was another figurine, this one bearing his general likeness, lacking facial features beyond his scar, but wearing his Ravenclaw robes and glasses. They then said a word, and the pair of figures came to life, and had a small battle on the table. The Harry figure handily beating his larger foe. "We hope you like it, trollslayer!" The pair laughed in unison. Harry smiled at them for the gift. While that night still weighed heavily in his mind sometimes, time had dulled the negative emotions from it. It had always thrilled Padma and Parvati, who found the whole situation to be something out of an adventure novel, so he allowed them their fun.
Susan and Hannah had also teamed up for their gift, as was expected of them. The girls did nearly everything together, and in some ways were more inseparable than the twins. From them, Harry found a Gobstones kit. "Padma told us how much you liked playing with hers when you were in the Ravenclaw common room, so we figured we'd get you a set to play with as well. These are the special 'muggleborn' kind, you can say the word on the box and they turn into regular marbles until you say the word that's hidden under a muggle repelling ward." Susan explained. Harry thanked them for their gift, he did really enjoy Gobstones, and now he could practice on his own time. With a mischievous grin, he thought about how Padma would never beat him again!
Next up was Nymphadora, who had gotten him some type of armor set, leather pauldrons that attached to a padded breastplate, with added knee and elbow pads, gloves and boots. "From me and Flitwick" the metamorphmagus started. "It's duelist armor, you'll be wearing it during matches. Won't stop any spells, but sure beats regular clothes. Plus I made sure it looked cool." She finished, sticking her tongue out and winking. Harry was stunned, he knew that one of the reasons he had been training with Flitwick had been to compete in these tournaments, but holding this made that thought more real in his mind. "Thankfully, this set comes with adjustable straps, so unless you hit a major growth spurt, it'll last you for a year or two." She added, before ruffling his hair with her hand.
Charlie followed up, and had given Harry another book: Dragons: The Definitive Guide. "This is pretty much the reference book on dragons, you always ask about what I do, so here's a quick guide for the basics. Hope you like it!" He says, taking a spot at Nymphadora's side. Harry thanked him, he was very fascinated in what Charlie did, although he didn't think it was something he would want to do himself. Learning about it though was right up Harry's alley though.
Tracey and Daphne had also teamed up for their gift, which was wrapped in a solid wood box. Atop the box was an inscribed image of a sphinx, with the words 'Sphinx Club' written proudly above and below the image. At the pair's urging, he opened the box, and found ten badges with the image of a Sphinx on them, and the words 'Sphinx Club' written on the collar. "We thought we could use badges to be proud and open about the club, let everyone know how cool we are." Daphne said, a small smirk on her face. "There's one for each of us, but I can get more made if we get any new members."
"These are cool Daphne! Come on, everyone grab one." Harry said, handing them out after attaching one to his shirt. Soon the entire Sphinx Club were proudly displaying their new badges.
Neville's gift came next, which was a wizarding songbook. A loosely bound collection of popular songs from the wizarding world, with what the cover touted as a 'play along mode'. Supposedly, the songbook could play the song for you to listen to, to help get an idea of the tempo and cadence of the music. "I know you were learning the flute, when Gran was having me learn the piano, she had gotten me one of these to help learn. Didn't do anything for me, but you're better than I ever was."
"Thanks Neville, I've been trying to practice but didn't have any songs, this'll be great!" Harry said, clapping his best male friend on the back.
"You're welcome mate. Now open your last one." Neville said, reaching over to the table and handing Harry the last remaining gift.
The last gift was from Lavender, and it was a small bottle of wizarding cologne, Curse the label says, containing traces of three different love potions. "Contains love potion?" Harry asks, looking over to Lavender.
"Love potions typically end up changing their smells to be something positive to the one smelling it, which makes them great for perfumes and colognes, as it'll likely smell good to anyone who can smell it. When I picked it up in the store, it was cake batter and that kind of dusty smell the couches in the Sphinx Club room have." Lavender explains. "Give it a whiff! What do you get out of it?"
Harry took a deep inhale through his nose, letting the vapors from the nozzle enter his sinuses. The first smell that hit him was woody, and then another that was almost musty. Underneath that was something spicy, and a few other scents that he couldn't quite place, but could only feel deep in his core. It was very pleasant, and he was sure it would be quite nice to wear. "Well, thanks Lavender! I'll be sure to wear it on some special occasion." Harry said after explaining what he could smell.
Harry went around while everyone ate and personally thanked them for coming. He was ecstatic that everyone could make it out. Padma and Parvati's father, Rajesh Patil stopped him. "Hello Harry, did the book I sent you help you at all?" the older man asked. Towards the beginning of their first year at Hogwarts, Padma and Parvati had asked their father to send some books on what was expected for male heirs of wizarding families, especially the sole remaining heirs like what Harry was. Rajesh had sent along a manual that was the most helpful to him during his time, and Harry had read through it several times.
"Oh yes sir. I would have never known what I am meant to do without it, I owe you a great debt for that." Harry said. From what the book had told him, Harry's status as the last heir of the house of Potter meant that he had many duties he needed to perform once he came of age. From managing finances, to ensuring the continuation of his family line, there was a lot of pressure. Thankfully, he wouldn't need to worry too much about it until he was 14, which is when he would be officially given access to the wider Potter fortune. No one was quite sure how large it was, though it was expected to be substantial. Ted had said that when the time came, he would help Harry learn to manage the fortune as best he could.
"No debt, you make both of my daughters very happy by being their friend, so many positive letters sent back home about you. My wife was very sad she could not attend today, she so wanted to meet you." Rajesh said. "I do hope when it comes time to consider wives, you will remember my daughters."
Harry went red at that. He was of course aware that he was all but required to marry at least one woman, and likely more simply to rebuild the house of Potter, much less any houses that he may be the last in line for. "I think I'm a little young to think about that, but I'd be a fool if I did forget Padma or Parvati, they're great friends, and very pretty."
Rajesh let out a hearty belly laugh at Harry's embarrassment. "True words, they are almost doppelgangers of their mother in her youth."
Harry and Rajesh chatted for a few moments, before he sent Harry along to his other guests. Meeting with Hannah and Tracey's moms had been pleasant, if a bit embarrassing. Both were happy that their daughters had made new friends since attending Hogwarts, and constantly spouted about how adorable they found Harry. They also laughed when their statements made Harry turn into what was quickly becoming his signature shade of crimson, before sending him on his way. Lavender's mother however, had been a different beast from all of them. Lavender had warned Harry about how her mother might try and wrangle some gossip about the Boy-Who-Lived out of him, and she had been correct. Every sentence Mrs. Brown spoke was a leading question into some aspect of his life, his childhood before Hogwarts, the events of the last year, even mundane things like his personal preferences in women. Lavender quickly came to his rescue, and had somehow curtailed her mom with threats of 'telling Dad'. That, as well as backup that arrived in the form of Andromeda, Mrs. Abbot, and Mrs. Davis saved him from her wrath for the rest of the day.
Meeting with David and Rose Granger again had been a pleasant affair, and they were so overwhelmed with how much their shy daughter had really come out of her shell and made so many friends. They thanked Harry for this, and Harry swore that he had very little to do with it, but they seemed to insist he did.
A few hours later, the party wrapped itself up as the collected pre-teens began to wear down, their excitement in seeing each other again being trounced by their failing bodies. A floo connection was opened in a nearby pavilion, and Harry waved off his many guests as they passed through, and saw the Grangers in their car head off for the suburb they called home.
"Did you have a good birthday Harry?" Andromeda asked as they entered their living room back at home.
"It was the best birthday I've ever had! I can't imagine how it could've been better. Thank you so much for doing it for me." Harry said, excitement evident on his face, even as his energy was leaving his body.
"Well, it'll be the first in a long line of good ones from now on. We'll make sure of it." Charlie said, wrapping his arm around Nymphadora.
"You know it little bro! Next year we'll take everyone up on broomsticks, that'll be wild!" Nymphadora said, pumping her fist into the air.
"Just so long as there's no rough housing. Harry's not a quidditch player like you two were Nym." Ted said, as he settled into his chair.
"Shame too, he'd be a hell of a seeker, his build and reflexes? Other teams wouldn't stand a chance." Nymphadora said, looking wistfully.
"Language young lady!" Andromeda said, giving Nymphadora a soft bop on the head with the rolled up Daily Prophet she had in her hand.
"Sorry mum." Nymphadora said, mostly unapologetically.
"Take your things upstairs Harry, we'll get everything ready for movie night. You wanted to watch Star Wars, right?" Ted asked.
"Yes, I read it was really good, I'm excited to see it." Harry said, picking up the small box of items he had received for his birthday.
"Oh, you'll love it! It's the best!" Nymphadora said, as she plonked herself down on one of the loveseats in the living room.
Harry made his way up the stairs and to his room, where he set the box of gifts on his desk. Getting out the books he'd received, he stepped over to his bookshelf and began placing them in. As he turned around to pick up another item from the box, he saw a small creature holding it. Harry yelped in surprise. The creature yelped as well, dropping the box. It landed back on the table with a soft thud, and thankfully nothing inside was damaged by the short fall.
The creature Harry saw was between two and three feet tall, with large bulging eyes and pointed ears that toed the line between floppy and stiff. It was humanoid, and it wore a tea towel wrapped around its body as though it were a toga.
"You're a house elf? Aren't you?" Harry asked, recognizing the creature from one of Daphne's Chocolate frog cards. Urban Creatures, the set had been named.
"I's is Dobby the house elf yes. You's be Harry Potter." Dobby said, looking at Harry with large eyes.
"I am Harry, what are you doing here Dobby?" Harry asked, his pulse beginning to slow. He didn't know much about House Elves, but Daphne had mentioned her family had some to help around the house, so it likely wasn't dangerous. Hopefully.
"Dobby is here to tell Harry Potter to not be going to Hoggy warts. It be's dangerous." Dobby said, smoothing out his tea towel toga.
"Why is going to Hogwarts dangerous?" Harry asked, confused. While his first year wasn't the pinnacle of safety, he imagined in the grand scheme of things it must be an outlier.
"Dobby cannot be saying. But Harry Potter must not be going to Hoggy warts!" Dobby insisted, his tone becoming simultaneously resolute and frightened.
"Well, if Hogwarts is dangerous, why don't you tell someone like Headmaster Dumbledore? Or the aurors?" Harry asked.
"They's would not listen to a house elf. But Harry Potter might. Dobby must save Harry Potter, as Harry Potter saved us all." Dobby said.
"Dobby, if Hogwarts is dangerous, I have to go. I have to keep all of my friends safe." Harry said, looking into the box at his dueling armor.
"Harry Potter be being very braves, but cannot go!" Dobby said.
A knock was heard at Harry's door. "Harry? What's taking so long? You not coming down for the movie?" Nymphadora's voice came through the door.
"Ooh! Darn it. Harry Potter be listening to Dobby. No goings to Hogwarts." And with that, the small creature simply popped out of existence, as the door opened.
"Harry? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Nymphadora said, walking over to Harry.
"There was a house elf here, he said his name was Dobby, and he said it was dangerous for me to go back to Hogwarts." Harry said, looking at Nymphadora. "Any idea why?"
"I've got no clue. Hogwarts is about as safe a place as you can get though. Can't imagine it being dangerous, you know, providing you listen to your teachers and don't go running off when there's a troll in the castle." Nymphadora said in a joking manner.
"Yeah, I figure last year was kind of an outlier, surely something like that couldn't happen again, right?" Harry chuckled. That'd be outrageous, like he's a character in a book series or something.
"Right, now lets go tell mum, then we can watch the movie." Nymphadora said, dragging her little brother down the stairs.
Andromeda agreed that the house elf being here was odd, but couldn't understand why he would be there. The group collectively shrugged at the encounter, and put on the movie.
Harry very much enjoyed the movie, and was ecstatic to hear that there were two more, as well as a holiday special. Harry's dreams that night were filled with thoughts of flying starfighters and fighting dark lords. A far cry of his life of flying brooms and fighting dark lords.