AN: Hope everyone's ready for the next chapter of the story. This one took a fair bit of revising on honestly. It used to be quite a bit shorter, but I'm trying harder to flesh out dialogue and the small instances more, since I feel that's an area I rather lack in at times. You'll have to let me know what you think
Quill will 1981, Mewpagano, scrappy8 - Thanks for your continued support and reviews! I always appreciate seeing them.
Alexandramay - We move ever closer to what you're looking forward to with Sirius and Dora. Thanks for your regular reviews. I always enjoy seeing what you bring up because sometimes it gets me thinking about revisions to the story.
LadyKitai - Yes, I absolutely despise Umbridge, but she's a great tool as a villain that's hard to fight. Glad you liked her early inclusion. I'm setting the stage for later.
Arctic Wolf Fury - Wards and Mad-Eye are a recipe for good fun. Malfoy will continue to be the annoyance he always is, and you are right that he won't take the insults to his father's reputation lightly. Yes, doom puppies nourish the soul, and I will continue to be your illicit dealer.
Bigbear1995 - Thanks!
Domicdrag - Thanks, and yes Harry is a horcrux. If you're wondering why Hades didn't deal with it, I'll get there eventually. Safe to say that gods have different plans and ideas of acceptable risks. People accuse Dumbledore of playing god and sacrificing Harry (which is accurate), but to the gods, their vassals may be valuable, but their still pieces to this game, and Hades has his own idea of how the story will end. Plus, Harry still has to much to prove.
Guest - Harry's grandfather is still Fleamont, and yes Harry will learn more about his family as time goes on. Most of that will just be pieces here and there, but some will be fairly important, but overall, I intend for him to learn much of his family history in the background. More deities? Maaaybe. Athena is one of my favorites . . . and she might play a part in a bit. You'll just have to wait and see. Zeus . . . also might play a part. I'm not going to say anything bad about the King of the Gods (he will smite me). I touched on shadow magic which is why Hades was first up to bat, plus the Lord of the Dead doesn't get enough love sometimes.
Guest - Glad you enjoyed Mad-Eye's snark and that you enjoy the love I'm throwing to the canon background characters as well as some of my own background OCs. Kingsley was fun to bring in as Dora's active mentor, sicne she impressed him which is a way for me to justify her being an even better Auror than she might or might not have been in canon, since my headcanon (which is fairly supported by canon) is that Kingsley was one of the best. I don't enjoy how useless the Auror force seemed in canon, and this is the start of me extrapolating on it and bringing it into greater importance.
Chapter 17
The summer started flying by. A second change to Harry's summer occurred only a week after the custody hearing when Mr. Weasley managed to scoop the Daily Prophet's Grand Prize Galleon Draw, and they decided to take the whole family on vacation to visit Ron's eldest brother, Bill, in Egypt.
Dora confided to him that Bill was a Curse Breaker, and that they probably were trying to make sure Ginny was completely okay before the coming school year.
Harry was happy for his friends, but with Hermione in France with her parents on vacation, Harry had lost his chances of enjoying time with his two best friends for most of the summer, but he still had his days with Mad-Eye and his evenings with Dora to look forward to, and surprisingly he did manage to meet up with his Quidditch mates, mainly Alicia, Angelina, and Katie, at the range that he and Dora went to, and occasionally one or all of the girls would invite him to one of their places or they'd come over to his and Dora's for a meal and to hang out with him, and often Dora since they generally only came in the evenings or he went to any of their places in the evenings. He missed Ron and Hermione, but he had to admit that he'd probably miss the three girls just as much if he wasn't able to see them over the summer. Sometimes he misjudged how close he felt to the three chasers.
Now that Dora's friends had met him, and for the most part were in town, Dora was also occasionally taking him out to dinner with them, or it was common for some of them to swing by their place for a pleasant evening, and Harry had been thrilled to go to his first Professional Quidditch Match.
Skye and Erika reminded Harry of Oliver Wood. Quidditch was life to them, but he thought they were good people. He already knew that Alicia, Katie, and Angelina were jealous that he was on a first name basis with them, and he knew the twins, Ron, and Oliver would be just as jealous. He was hoping that they might be willing to come out and do a practice session with his team this coming year, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high.
Chiara was a quiet girl, but a nice soul, though Harry could tell she had some sort of disease or secret which was why she was going to muggle medical school rather than entering healer's training at St. Mungos. Penny was a chatter box, and very friendly, which was different for Harry, but he could see how kind she was. Kelly, Nicole, Stacey, and Lexie all reminded Harry of Dora in various ways. Sarcastic humors, adventure streaks, and a preference to action rather than sitting around. Kelly seemed more by the book than Dora. Lexie seemed even more brash, which was saying something. Nicole was more reserved, and Stacey seemed a bit vain.
Just under a week after that found Harry having another new experience, one that Dora surprised him with.
**HP**
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Harry scrambled up and immediately fell out of his bed, still being disoriented from sleep, and then he glared at a cackling Dora, who had spiky purple hair. Astra was at the foot of his bed, wagging her tail, and he could feel the energetic puppy's mirth through their bond.
"Aren't you supposed to be nice to the birthday kid on his or her birthday?" Harry grumbled, even if he was already starting to smile in the face of Dora's infectious joy.
"Where on earth did you hear that?" Dora demanded with a mischievous grin. "Come on, I've got breakfast almost ready."
Harry and Dora had a nice breakfast, which devolved into a food fight towards the end, which Dora started, but Astra ended, polishing off everything that was thrown and then tackling a grappling Harry and Dora to the ground and licking them each repeatedly until they gave up.
"So, what's the plan for today?" Harry asked after he and Dora finally got the kitchen cleaned up . . . cleaned up a second time after they got into a water/towel fight while doing dishes and cleaning up the floor and table.
"What makes you think I have any plans to take you anywhere?" Dora asked pompously, her nose turned up.
Harry snorted, and then put on his best attempt at an angelic and innocent face.
"Because you're my favorite and wonderful big sister," Harry said, and Dora narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm your only wonderful big sister," Dora said, and Harry shrugged.
"That makes you my favorite," Harry said, thinking of the Weasleys and how they did this with Ginny all the time.
Dora shook her head with a grin.
"Well, you'll see momentarily," she said. "Once they get here, we'll be on our way."
"Who?" Harry asked with interest, but no matter how much he asked, begged, pleaded, or attempted to bribe or flatter, Dora kept silent and merely teased him.
Finally though, a knock at the door signaled the arrival of whomever they were waiting for.
Harry went and opened the door and he smiled wide as Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Oliver grinned at him and said, "Happy Birthday, Harry!"
"What are you all doing here?" he asked, happy to see them.
"Oh, Dora's been planning this for ages," Angelina said, as she Alicia, and Katie stepped forward and mobbed him in one of their group hugs like normal, and then he grinned, fending off the two oldest girls who kept with tradition for off field interactions and attempted to playfully ruffle his hair.
"Besides, we'd never miss a chance to see you on your birthday," Katie said brightly before her smile grew devilish. "Plus I'm always happy to see just how cute you've gotten."
Harry blushed and Katie laughed delightedly.
"Awe, you're still too easy, Har," she said, kissing his cheek, and patting it mockingly.
Harry huffed, shaking his head in exasperation as the three girls moved into the flat to greet Dora, laughing, and Oliver stepped forward, grinning. Katie loved to tease, and was a big flirt, though he'd rarely seen her actually talk about going on a date or not. She just loved riling people up, and Harry was one of her favorite targets. It didn't help that she was quite pretty, and knew Harry very well.
"You can't win with them, mate," he said with a grin, clapping him on the back.
"Never will, huh?" Harry asked the older boy, and he shook his head.
"Never."
Harry chuckled, and turned and walked with Oliver over to where Dora and the three chasers were talking.
"We're just waiting on a few more people, and then we'll be off," Dora said with a grin, her eyes full of energy.
"A few more people?" Harry asked just as the door was knocked on again.
Dora grinned, and Harry made his way back to the door and opened it, revealing Penny and Chiara.
"Hiya, Harry! Happy birthday!" Penny said brightly, stepping forward and wrapping him in a hug.
"Hey, Penny," Harry greeted back easily.
It was hard not to like Penny. She was just too friendly.
"Hi, Harry," Chiara said, more reserved, but smiling as well.
"Hey, Chiara," Harry said, happy to see her as well.
"You two better get your butts in here and say hi to me already!" Dora called out, and Chiara and Penny both rolled their eyes, grinning as they made their way past Harry.
As he went to shut it, he heard a person call out, "You better not shut that door on me, Harry Potter!"
Harry stopped and grinned seeing Skye, Erika, Kelly, and Lexie all making their way through the hallway.
After another round of hugs and greetings were exchanged, they finally were all chatting aimlessly in the now rather cramped apartment.
Katie, Angelina, Katie, and Oliver were all deep in conversations with Skye and Erika, though the three chasers were still grinning at a slightly blushing Oliver who had been left speechless when Skye mentioned that he'd been noticed by recruiters and that she was planning to come watch a match or two this next year to see how much more he'd improved since she left the team.
"Alright you lot," Dora said. "First up is tiring out our Quidditch happy morons, including our birthday boy, so start heading for the door. We're heading for the range for some flying and Quidditch!"
A mass of people traveling and soon most of their group was soaring through the air. Chiara was happily staying on the ground with Penny and Astra. Penny was a die hard Quidditch fan, but not much of a flyer, and Chiara preferred to keep her feet on the ground, but was more than happy to play with the shadow hound puppy with Penny and watch the shenanigans unfold.
"Alright, the pitch is ours," Skye said, flying over to where the rest of the group was in the air. "How are we going to do this?"
"Well, we have four chasers," Harry said, looking at Katie, Angelina, Alicia, and Skye. "One keeper," he nodded at Oliver, "two beaters - " Dora and Erika.
"And one Seeker," Angelina said, with a grin.
"I'm game to play keeper," Kelly said.
"How about you and I, Harry, just play as chasers?" Lexie said. "That way each team has three chasers, one beater, and one keeper. We'll keep the snitch locked up, since I think you're the only one of us with much seeker experience, and we'll bring out one bludger and the quaffle. First to a hundred and fifty wins?"
"Works for me," Harry said.
"We'll make Harry and Dora team captains," Skye said with a feral grin. "A true battle of the siblings."
"Works for us," Dora and Harry both said, grinning at each other.
"Birthday boy gets the first choice," Dora said.
"I'll take Olly," Harry said, figuring getting the best keeper was key.
With Katie, Angelina, Alicia, and Skye all playing, there were plenty of superb chasers to choose from, and he'd never seen Lexie play, so he had no idea how good or bad she would be. Harry knew that he was a fair chaser, having played that position during pickup games, but he knew it wouldn't be hard to grab two other skilled chasers to make up for his mediocrity. Besides, he was guaranteed Erika since Dora was on the opposite team.
"Skye," Dora said.
"Angie," Harry picked.
"Katie," Dora picked with a wink, and Katie giggled knowing she was being picked to try and distract Harry, since she was good at doing so.
"Leash," Harry said, knowing Alicia and Angelina's years of playing together would be hard to beat, even with Skye as professional and Katie with her insider knowledge on the other team.
"Alright, that means I get Lex and Kelce," Dora said. "You get Rika."
"You know she hates being called Rika," Chiara said.
"Just as much as I hate being called Tonksie and Nymphie," Dora said brightly. "It's how we show we love each other."
"She's going to show she loves you by knocking you off of your broom," Lexie muttered, and Erika laughed.
It ended up being a fairly even game. Angelina and Alicia were very good together, as always, but Harry wasn't quite as good at working with them, and Katie knew all of their tricks, so she was able to clue in Skye, who was the best of them all to help counter the duo, and Lexie wasn't quite as good a flyer as Harry, but she was a fair chaser, and overall more effective than Harry, creating a solid balance between them, with the edge possibly possibly in favor of Dora's team. However, Erika was a much better beater, helping to keep the pressure on Dora's team, and Oliver was a far superior keeper, so in the end, Harry's team managed to clinch the win, a hundred and fifty to a hundred and thirty.
"Alright, the birthday boy's team got lucky," Dora said loftily, and Angelina and Alicia booed her, and she grinned. "Still, it's time to move on to the next part of the day!"
"Where to next?" Harry asked, a bit surprised, since he thought this had already been a fantastic day.
Apparently, Dora's next plan had been the arcade that she and Harry occasionally went to, which amazed all the purebloods and even halfbloods who had little to no experience in the muggle world.
Harry and Dora enjoyed showing their friends the various games they played, and then they spent the next few hours enjoying the arcade, with Harry teaming up with various combinations of his friends and Dora's friends for games. Angelina loved one of the racing games, Alicia loved Pac Man, and Katie loved one of the shooting games. Chiara loved Asteroids, Oliver and Skye loved the air hockey table, Penny enjoyed the crane game, Kelly loved skee ball, and Lexie loved pinball.
Afterwards, they returned to Harry and Dora's small apartment for some cake and dinner, and then opened presents, which was a much larger stack than Harry had expected to see.
Ron, from Egypt, sent Harry a pocket sneakoscope, while Hermione, via Hedwig, got Harry a very nice broom servicing kit that he thought was fantastic. Hagrid sent Harry a book that tried to bite him, and while some of them wondered if it was Hagrid's idea of a joke, most agreed that it was ominous that Hagrid's note said the book would be useful the following school year. Earlier, Mad-Eye had gifted him an actual practice sword so that Mad-Eye didn't have to keep conjuring one for Harry, and so Harry could practice on his own, and Dora had given Harry some new clothes, since he'd outgrown some of what they'd bought the previous year. Much to Harry's surprise however, that wasn't the end of his gifts.
Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Oliver got him a set of books on famous quidditch maneuvers, which included diagrams and pictures on how to perform them, and the girls went a step further and got him another group photo of the four of them (girls plus Harry) as well as a group photo of the Quidditch team, and a few photos of just him and each of them as a pair or various combinations of a trio.
He did rather enjoy finally having some photos of just him and his friends and new family, something the three girls knew and were more than happy to help with. Along with his photo album of his parents, he started a new one which had photos of his friends, newer photos of him and Dora and even some photos of him and Mad-Eye, both during training and after training.
Dora's friends had all gotten him gifts, or pooled together to get him books as well, which was humbling to him, and he greatly appreciated their kindness. Chiara got him an Introduction to Healing book, which would help teach him some basic magical first aid. Erika and Skye pulled together and got him his own practice snitch, which Oliver whole heartedly approved of. Kelly and Lexie got him a set of books on hexes and jinxes, which he thought was brilliant, and Penny got him a book on understanding Potions, since she'd heard he struggled there, and she swore the book would help him understand the subject more.
Overall, it ended up being the best birthday he'd ever had or at least tied with his first one with Dora, which would probably always hold a very special place in his heart, it being his first real birthday with actual family. Sure, he had overall enjoyed his eleventh birthday, learning about the wizarding world, but he'd still been at the Dursleys that evening, and had had the rest of the summer of their presence to look forward to.
After his birthday, his days tended to all blend together in a general pattern. Harry would join Dora on her morning workouts before he spent his days with Mad-Eye, who sometimes would continue to push Harry with his dodging exercises, and swordsmanship. Afterwards, they'd talk about various things throughout the day, whether that was strategy, history, magical law, sometimes the finer use and application of magic, sometimes life in general, and sometimes Mad-Eye would tell stories about his days in the Aurors or his friendship with Harry's parents and Harry's grandparents. Mad-Eye had also started teaching Harry to play chess correctly, both for some fun, but also for a nice lesson in strategy and thinking ahead. Harry did find it nice to know he might be able to give Ron a bit more of a challenge with Mad-Eye's help. He definitely grew quite close to the crotchety old man as the summer went by. It was funny to think that he was having a fairly educational summer, but without the stress of homework and Snape.
In the evenings and on weekends, Harry and Dora would find things to do, whether that was cooking dinner together (which usually ended up a mess with the two of them playing around in the kitchen), watching TV, reading and relaxing, or seeing the occasional matinee on the weekends. They still kept things low budget, but overall, Harry felt that his summer was as good as it could possibly be.
Harry continued to bond with his familiar throughout the summer, and Astra happily joined him and Dora on the mornings that they went for a run, which was good because Harry had no hopes of keeping up with Dora for the whole time, at least the way he was currently. Granted, Astra could have left him in the dust too, but she rarely did so, completely content to run along and do circles around him, but stay in his general area for the most part, unless she wanted to race Dora and leave Dora in the dust.
They'd determined, with some help, that she was growing at a slower rate than a normal breed of black german shepherd. It didn't bother them. It just meant they got longer with her in the puppy phase, and she was adorable, so no complaints there. She generally played around while he was working with Mad-Eye or dozed, but she never strayed too far. He suspected she explored further away during nights when he was asleep.
He also continued to leisurely study the book Hades had gifted him, continued to study the Sensing book, and had started reading the dueling book. Mad-Eye had been able to tell Harry that the ring he'd been given would amplify his abilities with shadow magic which would make his magic stronger, but also help him learn it quicker once he was able to practice again after returning to Hogwarts, and that Dora had been right and it was bound to him.
A month into the summer he was told that he wasn't needed as a witness against Lockhart, and was told that Lockhart was being sentenced to life in Azkaban for statuatory rape, improper relations with students while at Hogwarts, multiple accounts of obliviating minors and legal age Hogwarts students, and multiple counts of illegally obliviating people and their families to falsely claim their accolades. Harry was just happy to see that something had been done and was told there was a task force specifically set up to repair the lives that Lockhart's actions had harmed, which included using the gold that Lockhart had got from his books and awards to fund reparations.
It was a couple days before the start of the Hogwarts term when Harry and Dora made their trip to Diagon Alley to restock, since it was the same day the Weasleys and Hermione would be making their trips for back to school shopping.
Harry and Dora walked into the Leaky, and Harry was wondering how long it would be before Astra traveled her way over, since she rarely seemed to let Harry go anywhere without following, not that he minded at all. Hedwig was still a bit jealous though, but he did his best to shower her with attention and praise during the evenings, doing his best to appease her vain side, and it was slowly thawing her attitude.
"Harry! Harry!" two voices called out, and Harry and Dora both turned to see Hermione and Ron waving at them, with the rest of the Weasleys around them.
Harry and Dora moved over to them, smiling.
"Harry dear, it's good to see you," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling him into a hug.
Harry pulled back and shook hands with Fred and George, "Spiffing to see you, Harry," they both chimed in an imitation of Percy, and then he shook hands with Mr. Weasley before finally finding himself near his two best friends while he saw Ginny chatting happily with Dora.
Small chat kept them going for a moment, before the twins dipped out to go visit with Lee Jordan who was apparently in the alley.
"Harry, how about we go get your robes and potions supplies?" Dora said. "Molly is going to take Ron and Ginny to get new wands, and then she'll get their potions supplies and we can all meet up at Flourish and Blotts for books afterwards."
"Sounds good to me," Harry answered, grinning at Ron and Ginny who looked ecstatic to be getting new wands of their own, rather than the old hand-me-down wands they had been using.
They split off, with Hermione immediately heading to the bookstore since she wanted to spend more time browsing than they did. Harry and Dora took a while to get through the crowds, but finally got some new robes for Harry and then restocked on his potions supplies, running into Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley towards the end of restocking their potions, so they waited for the Weasleys before they all took off for Flourish and Blotts, with Ron and Ginny showing Harry and Dora their new wands, fourteen inches, willow, unicorn hair, and ten inches, aspen, phoenix feather respectively.
Once they got there, Harry watched as the poor shop assistant nearly cried when Ron and Hermione asked for two copies of the Monster Book of Monsters, which was the book Hagrid had sent him for his birthday and was the coursebook for their new Care of Magical Creatures class.
Thankfully, from there it was much more straightforward as they all got the new Defense book, Harry, and Hermione got Standard Book of Spells: Grade 3, Intermediate Transfiguration, and the several books they needed for Runes, Arithmancy, and Magical Theory, while Ron and Hermione got the divination book, and Hermione got all the other subjects' books.
When all was said and done, most of them had a stack of books that they had to carry or stuff in their bags, but it was easy to see for the boys that Hermione had far more than the rest of them combined.
"How do you have three bulging bags of books?" Harry muttered, staring at her bags in shock.
"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I," said Hermione. "Those are my books for Wizarding Culture, Magical Theory, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, World Languages, the Study of Ancient Runes, Magical Law, Government, and the Wizarding World, Muggle Studies -"
"I still don't understand why you're taking Muggle Studies!" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"
"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.
"You're going to be bored in that class," Dora interjected and Hermione glanced at her. "Take it if you want, but you're going to find that Muggle Studies is at least a decade behind the times when it comes to nearly everything in the muggle world."
Hermione frowned at that. "Still, I think it'll be fascinating."
"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them. "I also don't see how your three extra classes mean so many extra books. Ron's in Divination and Wizarding Culture, so the only extra classes you have that we don't, combined, is Muggle Studies, World Languages, and Magical Law and if you combined mine and Ron's books, we still wouldn't be close to how many you have. There's no way those three classes have that many books!"
"Well, I like supplemental books, you know!" Hermione protested and then looked in her purse. "I've still got ten Galleons. It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present. "
"How about a nice book?" said Ron innocently.
"No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol -"
"I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers. " He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him. "
Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.
"There's a magical creature shop down near the potions shop," Dora said. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl, and Harry can find a new toy for Astra."
"That'll make her happy," Harry muttered. "She already destroyed that rope we got for her."
"Better that than my shoes," Dora responded archly.
Harry grinned sheepishly. "True."
"I take it that Astra ate a pair of Tonks's shoes?" Hermione said with a chuckle.
"Right in one," Dora responded archly. "Let's head on over."
"Where is Astra?" Hermione asked as they walked down Diagon Alley?"
Harry closed his eyes and felt for his familiar and grinned.
"She seems to be annoying Mad-Eye right now," he said, and Dora laughed.
"Well, you do spend a great deal of your week over there, and she is quite fond of his yard."
Hermione's head tilted. "What do you do at Mr. Moody's home?"
"It's where I stay while Dora's at work," Harry said. "He's been teaching me a bunch of things though, including how to whip Ron's butt at Chess," Harry finished with a sly grin, and his best mate laughed.
"Bring it on, mate," Ron taunted. "Any improvement on your end might make the game at least more enjoyable. Beating you game after game does eventually get old, you know."
Harry snorted in amusement.
"What else have you learned?" Hermione asked, eyes frowned thoughtfully. "Something does seem different about you."
"Yeah, I thought so too," Ron said, glancing at Harry. "Maybe the way he walks or moves?"
"Well, I did start working out with Dora in the mornings," Harry admitted, "and Mad-Eye's been working with me on dodging spells to help improve my reflexes, and he's been teaching me how to use a sword, so I guess that could affect how I move," Harry said thoughtfully. "Just more fit and in control of my body, I guess. Other than that, we'll talk about history, or about magic, or strategy, or sometimes he'll tell me stories about various things."
"Sounds fascinating," Hermione said earnestly. "You'll have to tell me more. I'm sure Mr. Moody's vast experience is incredible to hear. Why have you started doing that sort of training? Dodging spells and learning swordsmanship?"
"Well, it was sort of an agreement Dora and I came to for her to allow me to keep coming back to Hogwarts," Harry said with a wince, and his two friends gasped, and glanced at Dora in question, and she unrepentantly nodded.
"If you guys are going to keep finding yourselves in dangerous circumstances, I want him to learn to protect himself better," she said firmly, a slightly dark look in her eyes.
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Hermione said, bowing her head and Ron winced, realizing that it was a bit of a touchy subject between Harry and Dora.
"Still, if Mad-Eye thinks I'm ready and I keep working at it and studying this year, he and Dora will enter me in the National Dueling Circuit next summer," Harry said.
"Wicked," Ron said in awe, while Hermione shook her head.
"Just what you need," she muttered.
"There's Magical Menagerie," Dora said, pointing out a small shop, and cutting off an argument, and then she grimaced. "Seems packed. I think I'll save myself some claustrophobia and stay out here."
"Claustra - what?" Ron said in confusion.
"Fear of closed in spaces," Hermione answered quickly. "Let's go!"
They entered the store and found that Dora had been right. There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.
"Tonks seems a bit tense," Hermione said hesitantly.
"Bloody looked like she was ready to start channeling mum from what I could see," Ron said, and Harry snorted.
"She's not quite that bad, but despite her approval of what we've accomplished, she's still not happy at how many times I've almost died, especially when my survival has involved quite a bit of luck." Harry sighed bitterly. "It doesn't help that Sirius Black escaped."
"What does Black have to do with it?" Ron said. "The man's a nutter."
"Well, the Ministry believes he escaped to kill me," Harry muttered back to them, still angry with the man after learning about him from Mad-Eye and Dora. "He's . . . well, he's actually my godfather."
Ron and Hermione's faces morphed to absolute shock and horror, and Harry nodded.
"I guess he and my dad were best friends all through school. He was best man at my parents' wedding, and he was named my godfather . . . and he was a spy the whole time, working for Voldemort."
"Oh, Harry, that's terrible," Hermione said, horrified. "Are you scared?"
Harry shook his head. "No. He'll have a hell of a job getting to me at Hogwarts, and I've got Astra to watch my back, so I'm really not that worried, but Dora is."
"You're not . . . you're not going to go looking for him, are you?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"No, of course not," Harry retorted.
"Harry would have to be insane to go after a nutjob," Ron said with a shake of his head, and they turned their attention back to the shop.
A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.
The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.
"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt. "
"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.
Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better took.
Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was secondhand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.
"Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"
"Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother. "
"What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.
"Er -" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.
"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.
"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.
"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these -"
She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs. "
"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.
"Okay," said Ron. "How much - OUCH!"
Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.
"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.
"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed, and surprised Dora who was waiting for them only to see them come barreling out chasing a rat.
It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.
"Well that was exciting," Dora said with a chuckle.
"What was that?" Ron asked Harry.
"It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry.
"Where's Hermione?"
"Probably getting her owl. "
"Then let's get back there," Dora said, and they made their way back to the Magical Menagerie just as Hermione was coming out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.
"You bought that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.
"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.
That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.
"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.
Dora and Harry snorted at that.
"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.
"And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"
"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him. "
"Wonder why," said Ron sarcastically as they set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.
They got to the Leaky Cauldron and found the rest of the Weasleys relaxing just arriving from their shopping, except for Mr. Weasley who was sitting at the bar, reading the Daily Prophet.
Harry and Dora joined the Weasleys and Hermione for the remainder of the evening, having an enjoyable dinner. Tom put three tables together in the parlor, allowing them all to all be next to each other as they ate their way through five delicious courses.
The conversation was nice. Mr. Weasley peppered Harry with questions about muggles. Ginny spent most of the night attached to Dora, but Harry knew Dora didn't mind, and watched as she happily chatted with the younger girl. Percy of course went on about being Head Boy, and Fred and George provided entertainment by making jokes and keeping things light. Ron and Hermione predictably spent much of the night bickering.
As they were getting ready to leave, Hermione staying with the Weasleys for the night, Harry did notice Mr. Weasley pull Dora aside and speak to her in a rather hushed voice. Harry wondered what they were talking about, but all he noticed was a rather surprised, but approving, look on Mr. Weasley's face before Dora smiled and moved on.
Harry bade his friends goodbye, knowing he'd see them all the next morning, and then Dora side-apparated them back home.
Harry grinned as Astra came running over and jumped over him enthusiastically.
"I'm rather surprised you didn't come visit, girl," Harry said, before glancing over at Dora. "So, what did Mr. Weasley need to talk to you about?"
"Sirius Black," Dora said with a grimace. "He felt like you should be warned, even though everyone else believes it's better to leave you in the dark. I told him that I'd already told you about him and that the Ministry believes he's coming for you.
"Oh, well I guess that made that easy," Harry said. "I told Ron and Hermione. They took it worse than I did."
"That's because you're bloody insane, little brother," Dora teased, and Harry laughed.
**HP**
The next morning came quickly and soon Harry, Dora, and Astra were soon making their way through King's Cross. Dora was at least happy to see that nothing went wrong getting onto the platform. No mad house elves after Harry this year. They were there earlier than the Weasleys would be. Dora had never seen the Weasleys early when she was at school and so far, according to Harry, that hadn't changed, so she helped him find a compartment to put his things in.
Then, they went back out onto the platform, and Dora couldn't help but give the train a wistful look. She had enjoyed her time at Hogwarts, and wouldn't mind going back, but really she was just sad that it was time for Harry to go again.
"I'm really going to miss you, twerp," Dora said, pulling him into a hug. "I've really gotten used to having you around all the time."
"I'm going to miss you too, klutz," Harry said with a grin, before it faded. "A lot. It's been great having this whole summer with you and Mad-Eye. It was somehow better than last summer, and last summer was the greatest of my life."
"That's because you've had a shitty life," Dora remarked dryly and Harry laughed at that. Dora did her best to joke about it, since he had a bit of a dark humor towards it and it helped take away the power the memories had on him. It was one of the mechanisms for helping with his trauma she'd read about, and so far it worked well for them.
"Maybe, sis, but it seems to be turning around for me, and I think you can claim most of that credit."
"No," Dora said firmly, pointing an accusing finger at Harry. "No, no, you're not allowed to turn me into a human hosepipe. My mum cried too, and I swore I wouldn't be the one who cries."
Harry laughed and then his eyes drew her attention to the Weasleys and Hermione's arrival. Dora walked up to Molly and Ginny, while Harry approached his two best friends.
"Ready for this, babe?" Dora asked, and Ginny smiled at her and nodded eagerly.
Molly shot Dora a grateful smile, but Dora didn't think it was necessary. Ginny had been through something horrible last year and it was because nobody in the school had really noticed. The number of letters she'd gotten from Bill and Charlie about it had told her exactly how unhappy her old friends were about Ginny's experience, and how grateful they were that Harry had saved her life. Bill had even written to her after his family met him in Egypt to thank Dora for taking Ginny flying with the family, and letting her borrow her broom.
In Dora's mind, she had friends who wanted to make sure Ginny was okay, so Dora would happily check on the girl, especially since Harry had nearly died to make sure that Ginny survived. It didn't hurt that she enjoyed talking to the younger girl. When she wasn't shy around Harry, she was friendly and vibrant, and had a fire that wouldn't be quenched. Now she just needed Ginny to show Harry that, and she felt like the two could be very good friends.
Case in point was Astra, who was now standing up on her hindlegs in order to reach higher on Ginny, who was happily petting the greedy Grim. If Astra liked her, and the puppy seemed to like Ginny quite a bit, she knew Harry would get along with her.
"Just relax, have a good time, and write to me if you do any good pranks?" Dora said in a lower whisper and winked, getting a giggle from Ginny. "Maybe get Harry involved."
Ginny blushed again, but nodded. "Will do, Tonks."
"Cool, now let's get your trunk onto the train," Dora said, and she helped move Ginny's trunk into the same compartment that Harry's had been put in, and was surprised to see a man now sleeping in the compartment, but judging how full the train was, he probably didn't have anywhere else to sit, so she didn't think of it, though she thought the man looked really familiar, but she couldn't think how she would know him.
A few more goodbyes, and soon the train was moving away, leaving Dora, Molly, and Arthur on the platform to watch.
"This sucks," Dora said, and the two older Weasleys laughed.
"It never does get any easier," Molly said. "You're happy they're getting to experience Hogwarts, but you're sad you don't get to watch it and make sure they're safe."
"At this point, I assume Harry's never safe," Dora said with a grimace. "That kid's going to put me into an early grave with worry."
Arthur and Molly laughed at that.
"I can't exactly disagree with you," Arthur said, "but I can't imagine what my world would be like if he wasn't the way he was. I think he's going to be a very big name in our world, beyond his title as the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Oh, of that, I have no doubts," Dora agreed. "I suspect he's going to join me in the Auror Department some day, and I think that he might even be my boss someday."
"You and Mad-Eye are already trying to recruit him, huh?" Arthur said with a smile.
Dora shrugged and grinned. "Not really, but with how nosy he is, I think he would do very well as an Auror. Mad-Eye's been working with him all this summer, and he said Harry's got great reflexes, incredible intuition, and that he's going to be a very powerful wizard someday. Granted, I already knew that, but Mad-Eye's not exactly one to dish out compliments."
"No, he's not," Arthur said in agreement.
"Why did you have him working with Alastor?" Molly asked with interest.
"It was my requirement for him going back to Hogwarts," Dora admitted. "With how many near death experiences he's had there, I wasn't exactly thrilled to let him go back, even if I do love Hogwarts."
The two Weasleys shot her surprised looks and she shrugged.
"Mad-Eye's taught him how to react to danger, think critically and he's honed the skills that Harry could use to get out of a bad situation. Especially with Sirius Black on the loose, I wanted Harry to be able to better protect himself."
"That poor dear," Molly said. "I'm sure he was terrified when you told him that Black was after him."
"No, I don't think he was," Dora said to Molly's surprise. "Resigned, angry, especially when I told him who Black was to him, but I never really saw fear."
"Well, of course he must have been afraid," Molly said with a frown.
"Maybe a little, but I think he believes he'll be safe at the castle, and unfortunately, at this point in time, he's already faced a Death Eater and a fifty foot basilisk, and he's technically faced Voldemort (Molly and Arthur flinched) three times ," Dora said with a sigh. "I think he trusts in his own abilities and he trusts Astra to watch his back, and I can't even disagree with him on either point. I watched that adorable little grim grow into a scary looking hellhound when threatened during Harry's custody trial. I'd hate to see what she could do to someone actually threatening Harry, especially since she can just jump out of people's shadows."
"Is she really that dangerous?" Molly asked with concern.
"To anyone trying to harm Harry or his friends? Probably," Dora said. "It's not like we know everything about shadow hounds, but I do know that they're Hades's enforcers, so I reckon they're no pushovers in a fight."
Arthur smiled, breaking up the tension. "Would you like to join us for an early lunch? It's about that time and goodness knows Molly and I, and you now are just going back to empty homes."
Dora hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "That sounds wonderful."
**HP**
Wotcher Dora,
Well, you'll be unhappy to learn that I didn't even make it through my first night before McGonagall insisted I go to the hospital wing. IT WAS ONLY A SHORT VISIT! I SWEAR!
Dora paused, eyes closed and she took a breath before turning back to the letter.
It's not my fault. It was during the train ride. The train stopped before we got to the station, and a dementor searched the train for Sirius Black. Well, apparently I don't react very well to them. All I really remember is hearing a woman screaming, but apparently the dementor stayed longer than it should and the man in our compartment, the new DADA professor sent it away. . . well, he broke up the fight between Astra and the dementor and somehow sent the creature away after that. I can tell you that apparently Astra does not like Dementors. I don't really know why, but the book does say that grims and Dementors are mortal enemies. Maybe I'll talk to the new professor. He actually seems like he'll be really good.
Dora smiled at that. It would be nice for Harry to finally have a good professor in the subject. Then he wouldn't have to devote so much time to external studies in the subject, just to stay with where he should be, let alone pushing beyond. The dementor was concerning. She couldn't fault them searching the train, but she was a bit worried about one sticking around longer than it should have around schoolchildren. Then again, it sounded like Astra punished the creature for its mistake. Dora smiled at that and decided the puppy needed a new bone to chew on. She turned back to the letter.
Still, I'm a bit worried about how the dementors affect me. Is that normal? Am I weak?
"No, Harry. You're not weak," Dora said to herself. He just had much worse memories than his fellow classmates at least most of those his age, except for maybe Ginny Weasley, who had also written to her.
Hagrid's the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor. I guess that explains the biting book! Still, it will be great to see him in class, and gods knows he knows his magical creatures. Hopefully he tames down what he shows us though . . . just a little bit. Still, he seemed so happy now that his name's been cleared. At least I know that he'll help me if I struggle in his class! Takes away some worry for one course.
Anyways, figured I'd let you know about the dementor. Maybe you have some advice or something. Astra says hi. Hoping everything's well.
Love,
Harry
Dora turned to the second letter that had come to her, via Hedwig. She'd been a bit surprised, but happy to see that Ginny had written to her and had obviously managed to ask Harry if he could send her letter along with his.
Wotcher Tonks,
I figure you like that greeting, so I might as well use it. I . . . well . . . I hope you don't mind me writing to you. I just, I don't want to tell my parents. They might try to pull me out of Hogwarts, and I don't want that. I just, I don't understand these dementors. They made Harry collapse, and I wasn't far behind him. What are they doing to us? What is scary enough to make Harry Potter, of all people, fall? They made me remember the Chamber and Tom's voice as he told me how he was going to kill and rape me. I just . . . how do I move on?
Bill talked to me over the summer, and helped me see that it wasn't completely my fault, that the diary probably had enchantments to make it so I'd keep writing, but I can't completely escape that blame, and I can't completely get rid of the nightmares. He at least was able to tell me that I was free, and wasn't under Tom's influence or power anymore, but I'm still scared. I'm scared that I'll get used again . . . that somebody will have power over me when I don't want them to.
How do I move on?
You don't have to waste your time on me if you don't want to. I'm sure you have more important things, but I just thought you might have some answers. My parents, my brothers, and Harry all seem to respect your abilities, so I thought you might know what I can do.
Anyways. Hope I'm not annoying and wasting your time.
Thanks,
Ginny
Dora frowned. In a way, the both of them were concerned about the same thing. The way the dementors affected them, and in this she could at least provide information. Harry's letter was far easier to answer. There were some things she'd warn him about, like watching Astra to make sure she didn't get in trouble fighting dementors, but other than providing dementor information, the rest was small talk she could comment on but didn't need to.
Ginny's required a bit more.
She was a bit humbled to hear that it seemed the whole Weasley family held her in great regard. The younger siblings were one thing, but Bill was a very accomplished Curse Breaker and was quite magically powerful. Molly and Arthur were so much more experienced and knowledgeable than her when it came to life. It just seemed humbling that they all respected her abilities and knowledge.
Still, to truly help Ginny, she needed to help boost the girl's self-confidence. Dora figured she'd start by saying she was glad Ginny wrote to her and she hoped she'd do so again. Dora didn't get a ton of letters. Life went on and she and her friends certainly weren't writing to each other every other day, so getting ones from Harry and possibly Ginny would be nice.
It would be fun to be an older role model to the younger girl. Merlin knew that Molly was wonderful in so many ways, but having an older female you could approach for things you didn't want your mother to know about was also very nice.
Dora smiled and started preparing two letters to go to Hogwarts.
**HP**
Wotcher Dora,
Thanks for all the information on dementors. It really helped, and I do feel better about it. I'll make sure Astra avoids the dementors. I don't want her getting hurt because she gets outnumbered, and I definitely don't want her getting in trouble with the Ministry.
It's been an interesting first week back. I can say I'm really glad that I didn't take Divination, but it seems that I can't completely escape it. Perhaps you can confirm, but apparently Professor Trelawney makes death predictions about a new student each year? Well, I'm not in the class, but apparently I'm the one she sees kicking the bucket. Something to do with a grim. I really couldn't stop laughing when I heard that, especially since Astra had just shadow traveled into transfiguration and scared the absolute hell out of everyone who took Divination. It was priceless. She's a menace, but I love her. I did ask her if she'd be my doom. Her response was to steal my cloak and shadow travel away, so I think that's a yes and I should be very worried. She's a ruddy brat. Oh, and she loved the bone, so thanks.
Dora snorted with laughter, the grin etched on her face. The dog was a bloody menace, but oh she would have paid good money to see a bunch of piss scared divination students, fresh after their first encounter with Professor Trelawney, predicting death by grim only to have a grim flash out of the shadow of the exact boy whose death she predicted. She had to admit it. She loved Astra too . . . even if the bloody dog had destroyed her favorite pair of trainers.
Ron and Hermione are fighting over Divination. Hermione of course thinks it wooly and that I shouldn't worry about seeing a grim. Ron of course is worried about the grim, but I did point out that I live with a bloody grim. Didn't seem to help. He said that perhaps Astra would attract a different grim that would get me. Again, quite glad I didn't take that subject. You must be bloody insane to have gotten your NEWT in it . . . then again I already knew that.
I got to experience all my other new subjects though, which was great. Arithmancy will definitely be tedious, but I was pretty good at maths back in muggle school, and I can see just how cool the subject will be down the line. Shame it can't be more useful now, but that's every class it seems or at least most of them. Runes seem bloody maddening, but Mad-Eye warding our place this summer did show me exactly what they can do, so I'm determined to give it a go. No promises that I won't go insane trying to memorize these Nordic and Celtic runes though.
Dora laughed at that. "You're already insane, Harry," she muttered to herself before looking further into the letter.
Magical Theory would probably be excruciatingly boring if it wasn't taught by Dumbledore. He is really good at making the subject interesting, and it is cool to be in a class that he teaches, since I know he doesn't teach much anymore, being the Headmaster. I'll still probably be ready for it to be over after OWLs though even if I can appreciate what I'm learning.
Care of Magical Creatures was interesting. Hagrid showed us hippogriffs. I actually got to ride one and it was pretty cool, though I definitely prefer a broomstick. Malfoy almost got hurt, the idiot. He started insulting the hippogriff I rode, ignoring what Hagrid said about them being proud, and was almost attacked. Funnily enough, it was Astra that intervened and saved the stupid git. I almost wanted to be mad at her, but Hagrid was so relieved nobody got hurt, and gods knows Malfoy and his dear old dad would have made a big stink so it's really a great thing that she intervened.
Potions on Thursday was as bad as ever. I don't know their history, but Snape seems to hate the new Defense Professor, and he seems even more vindictive than before. Neville's shrinking solution was coming out bad, so Snape threatened Neville with poisoning his toad (Trevor) if he didn't get it right by the end of class and forbade Hermione from helping him to fix it. Naturally, Hermione helped Neville fix it so that when Snape tested Neville's potion on Trevor it worked. Of course, Snape took points off of Hermione for Neville having a good potion.
Speaking of Defense though, the first class was brilliant! We covered Boggarts and Neville got to turn his boggart, which was Snape, into a Snape wearing his grandma's clothes. It was priceless. The only bummer to the class is I didn't get to fight the boggart . . . and well it felt like it was intentional stopping me from going. Do you think that it's because of me fainting due to the dementor? Unfortunately, the story made it out in the school and Snape's bullying Neville worse than ever.
That's really all that's worth talking about. Hope your studies are going well. I hope Kingsley's still beating you around the dueling chamber. It's good for you! Or at least that's what you and Mad-Eye said to me.
Love,
Harry
Dora scowled a bit at the mention of Snape. She just didn't understand. The man had never been pleasant when she was there, but he seemed far more vindictive than when she was there and went out of his way to bully students. She thought about sending in another written complaint, but it seemed her last one had done nothing, so what was the point? Unless Snape got much worse or Harry seemed like he was at his breaking point with the man, there wasn't much Dora could do. On the other hand, she still loved how snarky and free he seemed in his writing. Far more comfortable with her compared to their initial interactions. She smiled. That was always good to realize. She turned to the second letter that was from Ginny.
Wotcher Tonks,
That does make me feel a lot better about my reaction to the dementors and why I heard Tom's voice, so thank you. Things are getting better. I've started talking to Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey like you recommended and I do think it's helping with the nightmares a bit. I'm sure it will get better as time passes on, just like you said.
I asked Professor McGonagall about Occlumency like you asked, and she agreed that it can help people fight off possession, so she loaned me a book for me to study and work on. Professor Dumbledore actually talked to me and offered to help me when I felt like I had some shields established. Thank you again for another great suggestion. I finally feel like I'm doing something to take back some control in my life.
Classes are going pretty well, though I don't feel like I learned as much as I should have last year because of the diary, so I'm going to have to do some studying to catch up. Hermione offered to help, and she does help a lot . . . but she can be a bit overbearing on it, and I don't really want her directing when I study so much as helping me when I need it. Not really sure how to tell her that though. It's nice having a friend, and I don't really want to hurt her feelings. Ron and Harry mostly roll with what she said, so I took that to mean that they can't get her to back off either. Any ideas?
Love,
Ginny
Dora snorted at that, having heard Harry say much the same thing. Hermione Granger was a whirlwind of a person and you just rolled with her or ignored her and let her scold you. It didn't seem there were any other options. Dora figured she'd start by telling her young red-headed friend just that, and then she grinned. She'd also tell Ginny to ask Harry for help, since he would be more than happy and more than capable of helping in most subjects. Ginny would probably be mortified, but it would help her get more comfortable around Harry, which would be good for both of them.
Dora knew that Harry worried about Ginny, since he had saved her life, but he didn't want to make things harder on her, which he felt he did by being around. Dora knew Ginny had a crush on Harry, but at the heart of the matter, Ginny wanted to be friends, andt her crush was making it hard. Hopefully, some time together would help that. Maybe Ginny would take her advice, maybe not. Still, and she grinned again, it would be fun seeing how red the girl would turn at Dora's suggestion of asking Harry for help. Too bad she couldn't see it in person.
**HP**
Harry moved through the dark castle, adrenaline keeping him tense, but this was a good test. He was doing what Tonks loved and was going around setting up pranks that would get a multitude of people from all houses and even staff the next morning, and at the same time he was testing out his elemental abilities and utilizing his Sensing skills.
He'd found that Dora and Mad-Eye had been right. The ring made using the element easier, and made his efforts stronger, and he suspected that they were also right and that Astra's magic also helped. His abilities with the spells he already knew were much, much stronger and he could do them at much greater distance now, but the real victory had been that he'd finally been able to do the shadow cloak spell down. It basically made his whole body blend in with the dark, making it hard for people to notice him. It wasn't quite as good as the shadow invisibility spell when it came to hiding and nothing compared to his invisibility cloak, but he wasn't advanced enough for the invisibility spell, and it actually was better for someone moving in an area that wasn't completely in darkness. The shadow cloak spell wasn't broken if he moved into light and would still help conceal him, whereas the invisibility spell only worked in darkness, but it was impossible to be seen when using it.
This was his test tonight. Normally, he'd have brought his invisibility cloak, but for tonight he was relying on his magical skill in the element and his senses to evade the patrolling teachers and prefects. He'd already managed to hide on the side of a corridor from Filch, who's lantern and eyes had not noticed him standing in the open, but he didn't consider that too much of an accomplishment. It was something, but there were better tests. The problem would be if he was wrong. The points he would lose would likely be astronomical, hence his nerves. If this worked though, it wouldn't be a large leap to learn the spell to conceal others and objects.
He honestly was pretty much done with what he'd wanted to do for the night and was making his way back to the dormitory, thinking this might be as much of a test as he'd get on this night. That thought was immediately crushed as soft steps alerted him to the approach of someone, and he cursed himself for not being able to passively sense yet and letting his concentration lag. He pushed to the side of the corridor, letting the shadow cloak spell conceal him.
His nerves spiked when Professor Snape rounded the corner, his normal scowl etched on his face. He moved closer and closer, and Harry held his breath as Snape drew level with him, but then to Harry's elation the hook nosed potions master kept on walking, not even glancing Harry's way.
Harry had just passed his test. Now, he just needed to get back to his dorm and then he could enjoy the show in the morning.
**HP**
Harry hid his grin as another batch of Slytherins walked in sulkily with bright pink robes and lurid green hair. He'd been smart. Not even the Gryffindors had been spared from his work the previous night. Hufflepuffs were all sporting bright yellow hair, their robes turquoise. The Ravenclaws had blue hair with mustard orange robes, and the Gryffindors all had red hair (much to the Weasleys delight) and were wearing purple robes. While that had been a success in itself, the real success, in Harry's opinion, was that the Heads of Houses looked the exact same as their students, much to Flitwick's joy, Snape's fury, Sprouts's amusement, and McGonagall's annoyance. Dumbledore, along with all the Professors not representing a House, were sporting a spattering of every color.
A third of the school was livid, a third thought it was hilarious, and the rest were simply resigned. The real funny part? Nearly everyone thought the twins had done it, and despite their protests to the contrary, nobody was buying it. Harry thought Hermione might suspect him, having eyed him speculatively, but she couldn't prove anything and hadn't yet confronted him.
Harry had to admit. It was amusing playing some of these pranks, especially when it caused no harm to anyone, other than maybe wounding some prides. It was also a pleasant break in his studies from school and the whole Sirius Black problem.
Classes were going well, for the most part. Defense Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class, Professor Lupin staying with generally practical lessons. After the boggarts, he'd moved through Red Caps and Kappas and he kept bringing in the creatures they would study, allowing all students to get hands-on approaches.
Potions was worse than ever, likely due to Lupin being around, but Harry was doing like Dora and Mad-Eye wanted and taking his studies seriously, and that included all of his studies, whether he liked the Professor or not. He wasn't great at Potions, but Dora had provided some tips and tricks, and he'd had several conversations with Penny over the summer and was using her book, and he was doing better, even with Snape making life miserable.
Harry was giving Hermione and the other top students in their year a run for their money when it came to Transfiguration and Charms, at least when it came to the practical sides of both subjects, though he knew he'd probably never keep up with Hermione or even some of their other yearmates on the theoretical or written side, but he was beating Hermione and he thought everyone else outright in Defense. Hell, he was even helping Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and the Twins when it came to Defense. Outside of his normal favorite core classes, he was even doing a bit better in History and Astronomy, though admittedly not much better in either.
Arithmancy was absolutely fascinating to Harry, and he found he had a talent in the subject, giving Hermione a run for her money as well as a boy named Michael Corner who was very talented at the subject. The more he learned, the more he knew that it would eventually make learning the more complicated magic seem more doable, and he knew altering spells would be much more possible. It was also closely linked with Magical Theory, and while he wasn't enjoying it nearly as much as Arithmancy, he was really glad he had taken it, especially with Dumbledore teaching it. It had played a large part in him rising towards the top of the academic standings in his year, specifically in transfiguration, charms, and it had even helped him in defense. He noticed that those who were in the class with him also seemed to be doing better in their other classes as the weeks went on.
Runes however, weren't going quite as well. He was doing reasonably well, but he had to work a lot harder to get those same results. Learning Ancient Runes was learning a new language, and unfortunately, he really would be attempting to learn two languages this year, though that was nothing on the World Language class. Hermione had told Harry that Professor Tolkein was bent on having them learn six languages to proficiency by the end of the year. In Runes, Harry was currently working to memorize the Nordic Runes they learned in class, but he knew that they'd move to Celtic Runes the following term. Granted, he didn't need to have both completely memorized, but he knew if he really wanted to get competent using Runes, like Mad-Eye was, then he needed to do better. What he had learned of Runes told him that it was a very versatile and useful branch of magic, and it would be very useful to know later in life, so despite the difficulties, he continued to press forward, hoping the baffling subject might eventually click.
His last class, Care of Magical Creatures, hadn't been quite as exciting since the first lesson, but despite the snag that Malfoy almost caused, Hagrid was pushing forward, though Harry suspected Dumbledore was influencing what Hagrid was teaching, to an extent. Immediately following Hippogriffs had been the entirely boring Flobberworms, but afterwards they'd had an enjoyable lesson talking about Gnomes and their various varieties, and then most recently, they'd talked about Flesh-Eating Slugs, which Harry had known from previous experiences with Hagrid, could infest and destroy cabinets in homes. Not the most interesting of creatures, but still quite useful, especially from what he had gathered from his friends that were from magical families.
Outside of his classes, Quidditch was picking up with Oliver Wood obsessed with finally winning the Quidditch Cup in his final year, especially since there was a good chance they should have won the previous two years, if Harry hadn't been in the hospital wing after going for the Philosopher's Stone and the Chamber incident hadn't occurred. With Oliver driving the team, they were practicing three evenings a week, no matter the weather, but the whole team had the silver Quidditch Cup in their sights and dreams. It was cutting into his personal studies a bit, but he knew he'd go mad without his Quidditch time. He was still keeping up with his workouts, reading the dueling book, and working on his Sensing and Shadow magic.
Overall, the year seemed to be going quite well.
**HP**
"So much for the year going well," Harry muttered bitterly to himself as he walked away from the Entrance Hall where all of his fellow yearmates, along with everyone older, was being checked out to go for their first Hogsmeade trip of the year.
Harry had been looking forward to it just as much as his fellow third years, but despite having a signed form, McGonagall had been unwilling to let him go, citing Sirius Black as a threat and the Professors not wanting to endanger possible collateral damage while keeping him within the safe confines of Hogwarts.
The only bright side of not going was that he didn't have to listen to Ron and Hermione fighting for the day, Ron still being pissed that Crookshanks had tried to eat Scabbers. Though, he would have taken the fighting if it meant he was able to visit Hogsmeade. He'd have to write to Dora and see if she could override McGonagall.
The only other thing to look forward to was the Halloween feast that would happen that night, which was hardly a consolation prize since he would have had that anyways.
After meandering around for a bit, he decided to go visit Hedwig, figuring it'd be nice to see her, and assuming Astra didn't come looking for him, try to unruffle her still ongoing slight jealousy. As he was making his way along the corridor in the owlery's direction, a voice from inside one of the rooms said, "Harry?"
Harry doubled back to see who had spoken and met Professor Lupin, looking around his office door.
"What are you doing?" said Lupin. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"Hogsmeade," said Harry, in a would-be casual voice.
"Ah," said Lupin. He considered Harry for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a Grindylow for our next lesson. "
"A what?" said Harry.
He followed Lupin into his office. In the corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.
"Water demon," said Lupin, surveying the Grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle. "
The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner.
"Cup of tea?" Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one. "
"All right," said Harry awkwardly.
Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout.
"Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid."
"That's fine," Harry said hurriedly, not wanting to bother the man.
Lupin said, "Anything worrying you, Harry?"
"No," Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched the Grindylow brandishing a fist at him. "Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. "You know that day we fought the Boggart?"
"Yes," said Lupin slowly.
"Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly.
Lupin raised his eyebrows.
"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised.
Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he'd done any such thing, was taken aback.
"Why?" he said again.
"Well," said Lupin, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort. "
Harry stared. Not only was this the last answer he'd expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort's name. The only people Harry had ever heard say the name aloud (apart from himself) was Professor Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, and Dora.
"Clearly, I was wrong," said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it was a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined that people would panic. "
"I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry honestly. "I - I remembered those Dementors. "
"I see," said Lupin thoughtfully. "Well, well. . . I'm impressed. " He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is - fear. Very wise, Harry. "
Harry didn't know what to say to that, so he drank some more tea.
"So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the Boggart?" said Lupin shrewdly.
"Well. . . yeah," said Harry. He was suddenly feeling a lot happier. Further conversation was cut off as Astra suddenly appeared out of Harry's shadow and then she ran around the room before moving over to Harry and laying down at his feet.
Harry chuckled at her antics and he saw Remus smiling too, though he almost thought there was a slightly nostalgic look in the Professor's eyes.
"I love her, but she's a menace," Harry said fondly, scratching Astra's ears as she panted slightly and inclined her head so Harry could get deeper.
"It's quite incredible for someone of your age to have a familiar," Lupin remarked, looking at the young grim. "Even more incredible given what Astra is."
Harry chuckled. "That's what Dora keeps saying. Every time something new happens, she asks me if I can do anything normal."
"Dora?" Lupin asked, looking puzzled.
"Nymphadora Tonks," Harry said, and was surprised to see recognition flare in the man's eyes. "Do you know her?"
"Y-yes or I did," Lupin responded, "but it's been a very long time. I knew her parents, and knew her when she was a little girl."
"Oh," Harry responded with interest. "If you knew the Tonkses, did you know my parents?"
"I - I did," Lupin finally said. "Your parents and I were in the same year at school, and I was actually good friends with both of your parents, though more so your dad initially."
"Oh," Harry said in surprise. "Does that mean you were one of the people who gave pictures of my parents to Hagrid?"
Lupin nodded slowly. "Yes, I did. I certainly thought you deserved to have pictures of your parents. How - how did you end up getting in contact with Miss Tonks? That's a name I haven't heard in years, but I remember you and her being quite close when you were very young."
Harry nodded. "That's what I hear. She started writing to me when I first got to Hogwarts and we hit it off. She's . . . well, she's actually my guardian now, so I'm really thankful every day that she reached out."
Lupin frowned. "I thought you went to live with your muggle relatives."
Harry winced. "Yes . . . well, I did until the summer after my first year, but well, my relatives never really liked me. Dora helped me escape them when she came to visit . . . and I've lived with her ever since. By all accounts, she's the sister I never had, just like when we were kids," Harry finished with a smile.
Harry was surprised and startled to see a startled and slightly angry look appear on the man's face before it faded.
"I'm sorry to hear that your muggle relatives weren't great to you," Lupin said finally, "and I'm quite glad to hear that Dora found you and helped you. Your parents certainly wanted better for you than that, but I'm sure they would have loved to know that you and Dora found each other again."
Harry was going to take the conversation further when it was interrupted by Snape, bringing Lupin a potion that Lupin apparently needed to stay healthy. Harry felt uneasy watching Lupin drink the potion Snape made, but there was little that could be done about it, and soon after, Lupin bade his farewell, having papers to grade.
Harry wished he could say the rest of the day went well, and it mostly did, with Ron, Hermione, and even his Quidditch mates all bringing him some stuff back from Hogsmeade, but it ended on quite a sour note when coming back from the Halloween feast, they found out that the Fat Lady's painting had been attacked.
Sirius Black had penetrated Hogwarts.