AN1: I will be posting a disclaimer every few chapters as well as making notations of any parts that are taken directly from J.K.R's books. As always all credit for the characters and story belong to her. I am just playing around with the story. I also wanted to let those of you that read my story and leave reviews know that I finally figured out how to use the messaging system on the fanfiction app. I will be directly responding to those that leave feedback for me.
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Over the next week many things had changed in the Dursley residence. The Dursley's had agreed to think about what Harry had told them the day that he had returned from Hogwarts. They would leave him alone and he would make sure that they had their normal standard of cleanliness. Unknown to them, however, it was Dobby that was taking care of the cleaning and it was done while they were asleep. One event had nearly destroyed any of this happening however. Upon looking at the statements that Gringotts had sent to him the morning after his visit, Harry had found that Vernon and Petunia had been receiving money to look after him. With none of that money having been spent on Harry, he had nearly exploded. Dobby was the only reason that he had not left the house never to return.
When Dobby had seen that his friend was about to lose it he had created a distraction in the form of the alarm on the Grunnings company car going off. Vernon had run outside to find out what was happening. While the Dursley's hadn't been watching Dobby popped Harry back to his room.
Harry had received responses from most of the letters that he had sent out and some interesting news from Ron and Ginny's letters.
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Harry,
I would like to thank you for the letter that you sent me saying that you consider me to be a friend of the family. I hope that you will trust me enough to come to me with anything that you may need in the future, either in my role as Head of Law Enforcement or as a friend. You are welcome to join me and Susan at Bones Manor any time you want and I will make sure that you have access to my office anytime you need. Normally I do not allow anyone access to my office other than Susan or my house elf but I have added you and Dobby to that. I have also told Dobby that if you are in danger to bring you to my office. My wards will notify me that someone is in my office.
As for the matter you have brought to my attention concerning Sirius Black, I have found that he was sent to Azkaban with no trial and it was signed by the then head of my department Barty Crouch and the lead investigator Cornelius Fudge. This is yet another blight on his record. I strongly believe that anything else that happens that casts aspersions on his character could bring about the end of his career as Minister of Magic. I am currently looking into the options that we have for releasing allowing your Godfather his freedom but it will take some time.
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Harry,
After I received my letter from you I went to my grandmother and showed her the letter that you sent to me. She couldn't believe what she had done to me by forcing me to use my father's wand. She then took me to Olivander's to talk to him about my wand. The wand that chose has a core that he said was one of the rarest ones he has. My new wand is made of chestnut and has a griffin feather. He told me that wands like mine in the past have been held by people who have gone on to be famous herbologists and are usually extremely loyal and protective to those that they consider to be friends and family. My grandmother also told me that she had permission from the heads of Law Enforcement and Improper Use of Magic to allow me to use magic this summer to practice the spells I have already learned so I can become acquainted with my new wand. My spells are much more powerful and my grandmother and Uncle Algie are impressed with my new skills and what my wand means for my future.
Thanks,
Neville
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Harry,
You shouldn't have given me all that money. You saved my life in our first year and I will forever be grateful. From that point forward you have had my friendship, and I will stand by you no matter what. My parents were amazed that you view them as family as well. They wish to meet you but we will be unable to do that for a while as my parents decided to take us to France for the summer. They cannot believe that you would give away that much money. I, of course, told them that you care more about the people around you and view friendship and family as a much better thing to have than having all the money in the world. I hope that we can find time to meet before the end of the summer.
Hermione
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Harry,
Ron was furious with you when he found me holding your letter and crying. I wouldn't let him read the letter but he knows that you gave me the same amount of money that he received. I told him that my letter was personal and he has no right to know what you said to me. I don't know if he is going to say anything to you about it. He was speechless about the letter that you wrote to him. He has not said anything about it to anyone in the family since. I don't know if he will write or what he will do when he sees you the next time. Please don't be angry with him if he doesn't write.
I may not be able to completely get rid of my feelings for you, especially after you saved my life in the chamber, but knowing that you do not feel the same way will allow me to move on. I would be honored to consider you as an honorary brother and friend. I have many friendships that I need to repair due to Tom's meddling last year and I am happy to know that you are not angry with me for what I did to everyone and you. I am currently feeling extremely guilty about everything that happened.
My family will be spending the summer with my brother, Bill, in Egypt. Dad won 1000 galleons in a ministry draw and most of it is going towards this trip. Mom and Dad told us that we would be going to Diagon Alley to go shopping near the end of summer to buy our stuff for the next semester. They also said that the money that you are giving us is completely ours and we can do with it as we want. They promised that we could go and get a new wardrobe.
Ginny
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Harry also thought back to his trip to the castle to let the goblins, Dumbledore, and the Heads of House into the Chamber of Secrets. While this trip was solely to allow the goblins to remove the basilisk from the chamber the heads had cast many spells that had cleaned up the chamber and its surroundings. They also said that there were some rooms that were hidden but they had found no way to access the rooms. Dumbledore had told them that the five of them would consider ways to enter and asked Harry to do the same. He had instantly known how to access the room but he wanted to discover what was waiting in the chamber by himself first.
Harry had always relied on Hermione in his past life to find out what was happening in the rest of the wizarding world. He was determined to change that. He had sent Dobby to the Daily Prophet to put in a subscription to have the paper delivered daily. Dobby would pick up the Prophet while he was at the Dursley's but he would have it sent by owl otherwise. He went to bed that night wondering if the things that he had changed so far would have already changed what would be happening. He did not know how soon these changes would be affecting the wizarding world.
The following morning had a great deal of expected and unexpected events. Vernon told the family that he would shortly be picking up his sister, Marge, and that she would be here for a week. He told Harry that he expected him to be on his best behavior and he would be expected to be present during all meals. He had also told him that she thought that he went to some disciplinary school for delinquents. He knew that he would be fine until the final night when she insulted his parents. He had to do everything he possible could to prevent that from happening this time. Little did he know that that would be futile and would be happening sooner then he expected.
He went back to his room to find Dobby waiting for him.
"Harry Potter, sir. I have brought you the paper and I was listening to what your uncle said. I think that it would be best if I take every bit of magic away and if I disappear for the next week. I will still hear you if you call for me, and will help you but I don't want to do anything that would cause trouble for you. I gather that this woman is just like your uncle and is just as bad or worse towards you."
"She is Dobby and your suggestion is an excellent one. I would suggest that you either join Hermione. Let them know that my aunt is visiting and I don't want anything to happen that could result in her finding that my life isn't like it used to be."
"I will sir. Remember to call for me if anything happens." With that Dobby snapped his fingers and his room appeared as it used to be and all magic had been removed from the room. Dobby grabbed Hedwigs cage and disappeared with her in it. Harry sat down with the Daily Prophet and read the front page.
Boy-Who-Lived Now the Boy-Who-Slayed
By Rita Skeeter
Gringotts has notified the public that a basilisk has been slain, rendered down, and that they are currently selling off the potions ingredients, skin, and anything else that is valuable from the giant snake.
They also informed us that the proceeds from the sale would be split between the basilisk's victims and a newly created foundation.
While the goblins refused to tell us any of the details about the basilisk and the foundation this report is proud to be the first to tell you all of the details. I found out that the Boy-Who-Lived is responsible for killing the basilisk. I also found out that Albus Dumbledore had kept many things from the public about what had happened over the last year at Hogwarts.
Last year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened and a number of attacks occurred that caused several Muggleborns to be petrified and a Pureblood to be taken in to the chamber. While we do not know everything that happened I was able to find out that the Muggleborns were Colin Creevy, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hermione Granger, and Penelope Clearwater while the Pureblood was Ginny Weasley. I also found out that Harry Potter was the one to save the life of Ginny Weasley and was responsible for killing the basilisk.
I promise to bring to light the information that I currently do not know about what happened to everyone in the chamber and hope to conduct a one-on-one interview with young Harry Potter later in the summer.
As for the previously mentioned foundation all I could find out about it was the name. This foundation will be called the James and Lily Foundation. With a name like that we can only assume that the founder is none other than Harry Potter. This will be added to the questions that will be asked of the boy when I talk to him.
Harry heard several doors shut as he finished reading the paper and hurried downstairs to open the door, as was expected of him. Unfortunately, he had not had time to reign in his anger.
After putting away the luggage that was shoved in his direction, Harry entered the living room and Marge's Bulldog, Ripper, started growling at him. He was currently standing just inside the door behind the couch his aunt, uncle, and cousin were sitting in so they were unaware he had walked in. Marge was sitting in a chair by the fire place facing the couch.
Marge looked up and said, "I see you kept the boy from your useless sisters marriage with that loser of man."
Harry was getting angrier and angrier as Marge kept speaking. Harry was unaware that his anger was causing the temperature in the room to drop and the lights in the room to flicker. His aunt and uncle were starting to get worried about what would happen and could see the cause was Harry.
Vernon, in a voice filled with fear and worry said, "Marge I think we should change the subject and let the boy go to his room."
"Nonsense, Vernon. Marge started to say. "I've been wanting to say this to him since I found out you took him in. I am going to send him back to that reformatory school with the knowledge that the world is better with out useless drunks like James and Lily Potter. Whoever was involved in the accident that caused their deaths should be rewarded."
With that statement Harry could no longer contain himself, "SHUT UP" were the only words that were heard by the entire neighborhood before several things occurred.
Marge looked in his direction smiling at how angry she had made the boy and was about to respond before she realized that she couldn't.
Several things were preventing her from confronting the boy. The first was while she was trying to yell at the boy no sound was coming from her, second her body was swelling like a balloon, and third the boy was no longer standing there.
She had a look of fear on her face as she started to float away from the chair. Ripper had stood up and was running under his owners feet but charged in the boy's direction. As he rounded the couch and was facing the door the dog yelped in fear and ran back in the direction of his owner. The Dursley's stood and looked in the direction the bulldog had been heading.
They cowered and ran from the room as they looked at what appeared to be a 3ft tall and roughly 60 lb jet black panther. The panther was snarling and looking at Marge. As Petunia ran past it in the direction of the front door she felt bone chilling cold and understood that by some strange bit of magic she was running from her nephew. She ran to the front door and whistled as she opened it.
The panther ran in the direction of the whistle and as he could only see an open door he ran out of the house. Fortunately, for Harry, a series of pops had announced the arrival of three wizards who had been sent to find out what had caused the magic sensors in the ministry to go off.
As Harry, in panther form, ran down the street he found himself facing a giant black dog, slightly bigger than himself.
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While Harry was meeting his Uncle's sister for what would probably be the last time, a big black dog was walking down the street looking for a place to rest for the night. This mangy mutt appeared to be a stray that had gone a while without food but was the man that the wizarding and muggle worlds were looking for, Sirius Black.
Upon escaping from Azkaban, Sirius had been looking for any information that would tell him where his godson was. Sirius had escaped the night after Minister Fudge had visited the prison. He had seen someone that he had thought he would never see again on the front page of the newspaper. There had been an article with a picture of the Weasley's on the front page announcing that they had won a drawing and would be traveling to Egypt. On the shoulder of one of the boys was a rat that the man had instantly recognized.
He had learned little about where his godson was and could find no indication of who he had been placed with. Sirius set out to the one place he knew his friends had forbidden Harry to be placed with. Something was telling him that he would be able to start his search there.
A week was all it had taken for Sirius to reach Privet Drive. As he was looking for a place to stay for the night he heard a magically magnified voice yell "SHUT UP." He had headed in the direction of the voice but had to be careful as many of the residents had stepped outside to find out what was going on. He did not want someone to notify the authorities that a dog was roaming the streets.
Sirius was watching as many of the residents turned and ran back into their house. He was wondering what would cause this when he came face to face with a black panther. He could feel a magical aura of cold radiating from the animal and knew he was facing his godson. The panther had stopped and was looking at the dog as if there was something familiar in it. Sirius saw confusion and fear in the animals eyes and attempted to get it to follow him.
The panther followed him to a nearby park and Sirius quickly found a hidden spot amongst the trees to hide them from people who could see what was about to happen. Sirius then changed from a mangy mutt to an extremely shaggy and unkempt man. He looked at the panther with emerald green eyes and noticed a shift from confusion in the eyes to recognition. Somehow his godson knew who he was.
"Harry, I am Sirius Black and I am your godfather. I mean you no harm. You can shift back now."
Harry nodded but gave him a look of confusion.
This look told Sirius everything he needed to know. Harry did not take the normal steps to becoming an animagus and had no clue how to change back.
"The change is just like any other transfiguration. It is actually one of the factors that proves that a wizard has great skill in transfiguration. Since you have clearly not taken the normal method I should be able to help you. You must envision exactly what you want to happen and then will your magic to make that change. It also helps for you to be as calm as possible when changing back, especially if the change was made out of extreme anger."
Sirius was aware that Harry was getting close to being able to change back because the aura of cold that he was putting of was slowly lessening. Sirius also noticed that the shadows around them were beginning to lessen in darkness and he was certain that he knew exactly what form Harry had become.
Sirius watched as Harry's panther form shifted and he was once again human in appearance. He heard Harry say "Sirius, I am so happy to see you before the boy passed out in exhaustion. He walked over to him to make sure Harry was ok but was stopped by a house elf.
"What have you done to the Great Harry Potter?" The house elf said.
Before Sirius could respond a voice that he could recognize anywhere spoke.
"If you make any sudden moves or I find that anything has happened to Harry Potter, I will make sure that you do not see the light of day again." With that the woman, ordered a younger woman in auror robes with pink hair to take him and Harry back to the Manor.
