Tribe of mystics: Reworked

by Lord of mystics

This is a rewritten version of the earlier story of the same name. Some incidents in the story have been rewritten in detail so that any unanswered questions can be addressed.

3. Chapter 3

This chapter has been edited and made more interesting by the splendid insights of my editor- Hypergym. thank you for the great work.

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THE NEXT DAY, HOGWARTS INFIRMARY

It had been three days since Harry woke from his magical coma. Three days since Harsh Vardhana had revealed his identity and stated his purpose to take Harry away and teach him the ways of the Mystics. But things had settled into a routine since then and Harry was getting restless. He was over the shock and most of the grief from the events in the graveyard and was ready for whatever comes next. He enjoyed the steady stream of visitors and Madame Pomfrey spoiling him, but he had enough of being in the infirmary.

He felt a bit embarrassed that he had landed in the infirmary more often than anyone else currently enrolled at the school. Yes, even more than the other Quidditch players. So much so that he was the only one with the dubious honour of having a personal name plaque affixed to his bed. Of course, the Weasley twins had a good laugh over that.

More about the visitors. It seemed to Harry that most of the school had been in to see him. Some came to apologize for accusing him of cheating to get into the Triwizard Tournament. Some came to pledge their support in the upcoming conflict. All of them asked after his health. Harry often quipped that he was fit as a fiddle, healthy as a horse and in all ways, as good as could be expected. When he thought about it, something inside him had profoundly changed for the better. His scar didn't bother him anymore and his temper had cooled down.

When the quidditch team dropped by, the chasers had some fun fussing over him and treating him like their baby brother. Harry could have been embarrassed, but he had to admit that he was enjoying the attention of the older girls. And, all joking aside, he knew he could count on their love and protection. Specifically, Angelina and Alicia were his staunch defenders while Katie was the mothering type. The last two members, Fred and George gave him a beautifully wrapped box of sweets. That may have seemed like a thoughtful gesture, but Harry recognized the diabolical assortment of all the joke products the twins had developed over the last year: ton tongue toffee, canary creams, braying butterbeer and so on. Most of it just transformed the unsuspecting victim into an animal for a minute or so, then wore off, but the ton tongue toffee was nasty.

He chuckled when he remembered what happened to Dudley when George "accidentally" dropped a Ton Tongue Toffee and the great lump ate it. Then there was that time they tried a Braying Butter-Beer out on that big fifth year McLaggen. He could not stop braying like a donkey. He created such a disturbance that Snape put the braggart in detention.

Hermione was there every minute that she was not in class or sleeping. She seemed anxious but kept herself restrained. He knew she was bursting to reassure him and to ask him questions about the private conversation from the day he woke up but Harry calmly made it clear that he was not yet able to discuss it with her. Although Harry knew that it was difficult for Hermione to suppress her need to know everything, he needed to sort out what he could say and how he felt about it before that conversation could take place.

Ron was there, being uncharacteristically silent. He didn't even help himself to the small mountain of sweets that Harry's well-wishers and visitors had left. When Harry tried to make small talk with him, Ron merely grunted in mono-syllables. Harry found this strange and guessed that Ron was worried about something that may have happened while he was in the coma and it was so profound that it caused him to keep quiet. To some extent, Harry also wanted to avoid confrontation with Ron for some time before he could put things in order so it worked for him.

He also noticed that Mrs. Weasley had taken to staying around him in the hospital wing during all her spare time. Mrs. Weasley had not left his bedside for so much as a minute since yesterday.

She greatly cared for Harry but he knew what she was trying to do.

For the third time today, she continued her campaign, "Harry dear, I wish you would reconsider your decision.".

Although Harry's patience was worn thin, he answered respectfully, "Mrs. Weasley, my mind is made up. It is my duty to end Voldemort for good. If Harsh and his people can teach me what I need to do that, it is better for everyone that I go with them."

"But how can they expect a child to fight a war?"

"Mrs. Weasley, nobody asked me that when he murdered both of my parents and tried to kill me. ", he said gesturing to his scar, "Sure, I could attempt to shirk my responsibility, run away, hide, refuse to learn how to fight, but do you think, for one minute, that if I did that, Voldemort would let me enjoy a life of peace?". Molly started at the mention of tom's assumed name. Harry shook his head vehemently, "We both know that will never happen. Ever since the night that he gave me this scar, his entire mission has been to kill me and prove that his defeat was a fluke. He will not stop. He will not spare anyone that gets in his way. There is only one way this can end. This is my burden to bear. Not just for my sake, but for every single living being that monster will ever oppress, torture or kill. I am no coward. I will do what I must. This is my war. I will train. I will prepare and I will fight."

Even after that speech, Molly started up again, "But Harry…"

Harry interrupted her before she could complete her sentence, "I have already made up my mind. Nothing you can say can change it. I respectfully request that you stop trying."

With that, as far as Harry was concerned, the subject was closed. Molly continued her badgering, using any argument that came to mind to dissuade him from going off to train with the Mystics, while Harry steadfastly ignored her, reviewing the pages of his broom maintenance guide in his head. Thus, he had passed the last hour in relative calm while Mrs. Weasley's blood-pressure climbed. Although Harry knew that she was worried and she just wanted to keep him safe, she did not understand that this time, Harry had to keep her safe and everyone they cared about. Harry's parents had told him that only he could defeat Voldemort once and for all. Although he did not wish to cause her any pain, he was determined and he would go.

However, Mrs. Weasley wasn't what occupied his thoughts at that moment. It was about the time for dinner when all of his friends would be in the Great Hall. He was thinking about his summer vacation which was going to start in a week. He hoped that with Pettigrew caught, Sirius would take him to his home as he had once promised. There was also the offer of training by the trainee healer, revealed to be Harsh Vardhan, leader of the Mystics, to make him the best wizard that he could ever be. This was promising to be a busy summer and yet he had no idea how things would turn out.

He was so lost in his musings, that he failed to notice when the girl opened the door of the infirmary and entered the hospital wing. He only noticed her when she was standing right next to his bed, "Hi, Harry."

He snapped out of his musings, "Hi, what can I do for you?"

As he addressed her, he tried to recognise her. It didn't take him long to connect that face and her robes with a Slytherin girl in his year. She was Daphne Greengrass, one of the most beautiful witches in the school. They had never spoken even once before in all their years at the school. "Miss Greengrass?".

"Oh, Daphne please. I don't need anything", she said, "I was worried about you. I mean, I saw you return with the trophy and then Madam Pomfrey brought you to the hospital wing. Since then no one has said a word about you. Malfoy was saying that you were killed by the Dark Lord. I wanted to see if there is any truth to his words."

Harry chuckled. "Well Daphne, to satisfy your morbid curiosity, unless I am very much mistaken, I have not yet departed on the next great adventure.". Harry continued, "If you don't mind my asking, how are you convinced that Voldemort has returned?".

Harry noted that Daphne flinched at the mention of the name before she answered, "Because I know that you and Dumbledore would not lie about something like this, especially not for publicity. You two are famous enough without pulling a stunt like that. Also Malfoy has been telling anyone who will hear that the Dark Lord is back and he hit you with the killing curse."

Curious and a bit suspicious, Harry asked, "You could have come to see me any time of the day. Why did you wait until everyone would be at dinner in the Great Hall?

"Because, I am not stupid", she said, "I know how kindly your friends would have taken the appearance of a snake in their midst. Weasley is pretty vocal in his opinions about us."

"I see", harry said, "Well I thank you for coming and saying hi. Is there something specific you wanted to talk about?

"Later, may be", she said, "For now I just wanted to make sure that you are well."

With that, Daphne Greengrass left the Hospital Wing as covertly as she had come.

Another puzzle that he was trying to figure out was Susan Bones. They had not been friends in the last four years but recently something had changed. Harry noticed her giving him looks but having the same emotional range as Ron, he didn't get it. She tried to get close to him but one thing or another had cropped up. But since he woke up from the coma, she had been to see him five or six times a day. Madame Pomfrey had also let Harry know that Susan had been up to see him as often as Hermione while he was unconscious. Harry knew her as a friend who was fiercely loyal and had heard about how she had defended him when others accused him of putting his name in the Goblet. She had shut her house mates down when they tried to taunt or trouble him. In his mind, she was a perfect ally to have and Harry vowed to befriend her and get to know her better.

At last, there was Neville Longbottom, his god brother. Neville was there when Harry woke up, looking anxious. Neville had an alert demeanour around Harry as if he were assessing the surroundings to see that there was no apparent threat to his safety. He had been back to the hospital wing several times since then and Harry felt good about that. He had wondered why Neville did not tell him sooner that he was his god brother. It was a conversation that was long overdue but it could wait until Harry got out of the Hospital Wing.

Among the many other students who had dropped by to visit and apologize was Ernie McMillan. He seemed quite solemn and sincere when he told Harry that he believed him and that, moreover, he would follow Harry where ever he goes.

This had been quite the change from when his name was selected as the fourth champion. Many people had affirmed their faith in him which made him feel good as opposed to sad, brooding and gloomy, the way he felt when the entire world seemed to be mad at him.

"Harry", the head master's voice brought him out of his reverie.

He looked up towards the voice to find the Headmaster standing with Mr. and Mrs. Diggory. The grief and loss they shared showed in every line of their faces. There was quite the change in the countenance of Amos Diggory who looked so happy, jovial and prideful when his son, the apple of his eye, Cedric Diggory was alive and in line to win the Triwizard. He was a man who was proud of his son. But now he looked old, miserable, slumped and shrunken. Mrs. Diggory looked grey and forlorn with a haunted look on her face.

"Harry, Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory want to talk to you about what happened to Cedric, if you are willing."

It all went through Harry's mind in an instant: landing in the graveyard with Cedric; the precious moments lost while they both tried to figure out what happened; the unbearable pain splitting Harry's head when Voldemort realized that Harry was there; the frustration and terror as Harry fought against the pain and tried to tell Cedric to get the both of them out of there; the last split second of Cedric's life while he failed to understand or act; the rushing sound and green flash and finally, the inert shell that had been Cedric crumpling to the ground.

"Mr. Potter, I know that you have had a rough go of it and that this is hard for you, but; would you please tell us how our son died?", Mr. Diggory asked as the tears filled his eyes, "We can't bring our son back, but perhaps, knowing how it happened will bring us some sense of closure. You were with him. Only you can tell us how it was at the …", he trailed off as his voice failed him.

Harry was very reluctant to relive those moments and to relive the entire ordeal again through a retelling. He feared that the pain that he felt would never go away but he also realised that the Diggorys deserved to know what had happened and why their son died. He nodded his assent as he re-lived the tragedy and braced himself to tell these two people how their son and hope for the future died.

Harry took a few moments to gather his thoughts and carefully consider what to say. These people had lost everything that mattered to them when Cedric died. Harry's own temporary discomfort lost all meaning and he knew that nothing he said would make much difference, but he had to try.

Summoning his courage, he began as gently as he could, "Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, there is nothing I can say to diminish your loss. Before I tell you how your son died, I want to tell you about how he lived. Everyone here liked him. He was a fierce but fair competitor. I remember that when he won that Quidditch game against my team and found out that I only missed the snitch because the dementors had caused me to fall unconscious, he wanted to call it off. You see, that went against his sense of fair play. Even though we were rivals at quidditch and in the Triwizard Tournament, he was kind and generous and a good friend. We will all miss him", Harry took a few moments to collect himself again.

Mrs. Diggory spoke into the silence, her voice shaking, "That was our Cedric."

Then Harry began again, determined to get through the worst of it, "Cedric did not feel a thing. I'm sure that he didn't even realize what was happening until it was over."

Then Harry, remembering, outraged at the brutality and senseless waste, turned and looked Mr. Diggory in the eye as he said, "Your son was murdered by Peter Pettigrew, using the killing curse, on Voldemort's orders…", (the Diggorys winced as he said the name), "… just because he was there." Harry paused, gasping, "and… and, his light went out of the world", Harry concluded. Looking down at his hands Harry whispered, "He shouldn't have been in the graveyard. It was me they wanted, not Cedric."

Mr. Diggory put his arm around his wife's shaking shoulders and hoarsely began, "Thank-you Mr. Potter. We will leave you to rest now." And he began to guide his wife out of the hospital wing.

"Mr. Diggory", Harry called after them, "There's just a bit more." Harry took a breath looking to the ceiling, then to Mr. Diggory again, "I'm not sure how it happened, but while I was duelling Voldemort, something strange happened with our wands, and the shades of the most recent people he had murdered came out of his wand. I saw Cedric again and his last request was that I take his body back to you. His last act was to keep Voldemort busy so that I could escape. To the very end and even beyond, he was thinking of you and was a true hero."

When he was done, the Diggorys embraced him as they all three abandoned themselves to their shared grief. Some time passed before the trio separated again. Madame Pomfrey, knowing that Harry must be exhausted started making shooing motions at Mr. Diggory behind Harry's back. Mr. and Mrs. Diggory ineffectually employed handkerchiefs attempting to mop at their tear-stained and swollen faces, while Harry used his sheets.

"Well," began Mr. Diggory, trying to employ the stiff upper lip, "I must thank you for bringing our son's body back to us, for telling us how he met his end, but even more so for sharing what he meant to you."

Mrs. Diggory gave Harry one more hug saying, "Take care of yourself, young Harry", then pulling back to hold him by his shoulders, looked him in the eye, saying, "Send that monster to the place where he belongs. I have the utmost confidence in you."

Mr. Diggory extended his hand for a firm handshake with Harry, "Send him to the pits of hell for all the evil that he has done, Mr. Potter. We will be going now. I believe that Madam Pomfrey would like to fuss over you further."

Harry returned the handshake and watched as the couple left. It seemed that Mr. and Mrs. Diggory were standing a bit taller now even if they did walk more softly. With an approving nod to Harry, Dumbledore seemed to emerge from the shadows of the Hospital wing, then follow the Diggorys out.

Badger's Hole, Girl's Dormitories

Since the Halloween which marked the inauguration of the Triwizard tournament, the simple life of Susan Bones had been thrown into chaos. When Harry's name was announced and it became clear that he would have to participate, Susan's life became complicated. From the start of the year, she resolved to emulate the Gryffindor's courage and at least befriend Harry Potter. The year had also started on a good note with nothing happening for the first two months except the bit where Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret when he attempted to sneak-attack Harry. She was starting to hope that it would be a great year.

But when his name came out of the cup, most of Hogwarts turned on him. The Gryffindors mostly stuck with him with a very few exceptions. Only the Hufflepuffs were truly vexed with him because in their minds, he had taken away one of their few moments of glory. She spent most of the time that year defending Harry Potter from her friends. Things became so bad that she had quarrelled with her best friend, Hannah Abbot. Hannah didn't believe that Harry had not entered his name in the tournament but easily believed what others said about him. Susan clearly let her house-mates know what she thought when they started wearing those infernal badges that Malfoy distributed. Perhaps if she were not the niece of the head of DMLE, she would have been hounded worse. Even her class mates had been avoiding her like the plague and although this bothered Susan, she had bigger things to worry about when she learned that the champions had to face dragons in the first task.

Most of the badgers changed their tune when Cedric told them how Harry warned him about the dragons in the first task. The first task had made her sort her priorities. She kept fighting for Harry but she didn't waste her energy on fighting against others because she understood that the wizarding world was made up of those whose loyalty was fickle at best. From that time on, her only concern was finding any way she could to help Harry. She was unable to help with the first task because she didn't know anything about it beforehand. For the second task, however it was all over Hufflepuff that it involved being under water for an hour in the middle of winter and she sought out Neville Longbottom.

She knew Neville Longbottom because her family had been in an alliance with the Longbottoms and several others for more than a millennium and there had been marriages among those families bringing them closer to each other. She talked to Neville and found out that he already knew the answer. He had read about Gillyweed in a book about magical herbs of the Mediterranean that Professor Moody had given him. They sought out Dobby, the house elf who was loyal to Harry and suggested that the great Harry Potter would need Gillyweed. Some might say that this was cheating, but strictly according to the rules, "The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the Tournament." There was nothing in there about fellow students lending a helping hand. Cedric was from her house, but he was a seventh year and could take care of himself. She was much more concerned about helping Harry survive this madness.

After the second task, she helped him to learn more hexes and jinxes by regularly placing books on defensive and offensive magic on the Golden Trio's regular table. She often watched him train with the help of Weasley and Granger. She would have liked to be there with him but curse that Ron Weasley who sought to stop anyone from getting closer to Harry.

She had often thought that someone as kind and brave as Harry Potter should have a lot more friends and that he probably would have except that Ron kept chasing them away. Weasley seemed to be jealous and possessive of Harry's friendship and had dreadful manners. She often wondered if Harry was aware of the ancient Great Alliance. She also wondered if Harry knew anything about the history of his family or their position in the wizarding world. Because, if he did know anything about it, he was not doing anything to live up to his heritage or renew those centuries-old commitments.

When she spoke with her auntie about it, Amelia assured her that she would look into it. Susan was quite sure that she must have done so because Ron came and apologized to her while Harry was in his coma and things became more bearable.

Since Harry woke up, she visited him at every possible opportunity and they had talked for hours. Auntie had promised that she would talk to Dumbledore and try to take over his guardianship this year. Susan hoped she would be able to get it done.

Her bed curtains were pulled aside and she closed her eyes feigning sleep. "Susie, can I talk to you?", her best friend Hannah was asking. It was the first time in months that Hannah sought her out. Hannah was usually very pig headed about things and would not budge even if the evidence was overwhelming that she was wrong.

Susan tried not to show her surprise at hearing Hannah sounding so nervous. She could have carried the grudge on further but for what purpose? Besides, she missed the banter with her best friend.

"Hannah, we have been friends since we could walk and if you need to ask permission to talk to me, I would think that things are very bad between us", she said kindly.

Hannah smiled hesitantly and said, "I wanted to apologise to you. I know now that no one would willingly enter themselves into a tournament where they can be killed. I want to apologise to Harry as well. You think he will forgive me?"

Susan smiled at her and stood up to embrace her friend, "It is alright Hannah. I think Harry will forgive you."

The relief that Hannah felt at those words and the warm comfort that Susan's hug gave her made her feel like an idiot at her own stubbornness of the last few months. She felt something in the pocket of her robes and extricated herself from Susan's grip. As Susan watched, she pulled out something and tossed it into the air, pointing her wand at it, "Incendio."

The thing burst into flames and the ashes fluttered to the floor. Susan raised an eye-brow at her best friend, who said sheepishly, "It is one of those badges that Malfoy was passing around. I feel like a heel now for having worn the thing in the first place."

"What is the time Hannah? I bet I missed dinner' she asked her best friend. "Maybe I'll have to go to the kitchens to find something to eat' she murmured to herself.

"The dinner is long since over and I kind of missed you being there because you missed all the drama that went on in the Great Hall today."

"What happened in the Great Hall?"

It had been an hour since dinner started. The Great Hall was full and the students were talking amongst themselves, sharing plans for the summer holiday or debating over what Dumbledore had told them. Many of them were of the opinion that Dumbledore wouldn't have said anything if Harry Potter hadn't told them so maybe he was lying.

Over at Slytherin table, Malfoy was gloating to his friends, "Father has written to tell me that the Dark Lord is living in our manor as our honoured guest. I hope he will mark me as one of his followers."

"Why would you want that?", asked Theo Nott.

"I can help him with purging our world of the riff-raff. With a war coming, he will need help from everyone to clear out trash like the mudblood Granger and Potter."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself Malfoy", said Blaise Zabini coolly, as he was passing through, "Or you will find trouble sooner than you expect."

"I am a Malfoy, Zabini", he said, "No one can harm me. Anyone who tries to harm the Malfoys will be dealt with like the Dark Lord did with Potter and Diggo… *Smack*."

Malfoy was so busy running his mouth that he failed to notice Cho Chang arriving with fury in her eyes. She heard Malfoy shooting his mouth off. When he was about to utter Cedric's name, it was too much for her. Her right-cross knocked Malfoy to the floor, his nose bloodied and broken and a few teeth knocked out.

"How dare you, Malfoy?", she snarled, "How dare you talk like that about Cedric and Harry Potter?"

Malfoy tried to mumble something through the hand covering his ruined face as he started to get up, but the people in the Great Hall looked on as she tackled him to the ground, beating him senseless with her punches and kicks. It was only when Snape arrived to separate them that she could be restrained.

"Fifty points from Ravenclaw for resorting to violence, Ms. Chang and detention tomorrow with me", squeaked the tiny Professor Flitwick.

"And 50 points to Ravenclaw for loyalty", said Professor Sprout, "Will you punish Mr. Malfoy, Professor Snape?"

Snape sneered at Malfoy, "10 points from Slytherin and a detention tomorrow with me. But first, off to Madame Pomphrey with you." He handed Malfoy his teeth and gestured to Crabbe and Goyle to escort him as Malfoy's eyes were too swollen to see.

"I never thought of Chang as someone who would resort to such violence", Susan said, "What happened after that?"

"Chang left the Great Hall to get her hand looked after but she looked very happy with herself", Hannah said. It was actually very satisfying to see the ferret's head snap back.

Black Townhouse, London

The Black townhouse was in the heart of London. Based on the Georgian architecture, the house was situated in a neighbourhood that had once been the most affluent but had fallen into squalor with the passage of time. The previous Lord Black, Arcturus Orion Black, had maintained the place and erected every ward known to wizardkind to secure the house and to keep the muggles from poking their noses into his business. Now with all other Blacks dead or in Azkaban or removed from the family tree, the house had come to Sirius Black as part of the Black inheritance. Sirius had never accepted their ideals and revolted against them so he knew that despite being the blood- heir he would never become the Lord of Black. Yet, he used the house for the protection that it offered and offered the house to Dumbledore to use as headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

To say that Sirius Black hated the house was an understatement. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to raze it to the ground but he knew there were immediate uses that he could put it to. Until he was exonerated, he was forced to stay in this place because it was the only place where he could live freely even if it contained all the bad memories of his childhood and he had hoped to never set foot here ever again.

Number 12 Grimmauld place never felt like home to him even when he was little but Potter Manor was like home to him. At the start, Arcturus Orion Black used to live in the town-house with his wife Melania and his family but when his family started growing, he gave this place to his oldest, Orion Black. Arcturus Black left the town house shortly after Sirius was born because he could not stand Wulburga Black who was as obnoxious as she was foul. She made it a regular habit to belittle Sirius and treat him horribly.

Wulburga did nothing in her life that could have made Sirius love her. He actually hated her with every fibre of his being and wished that she was not his mother. If there was anyone Walburga ever loved, it was Regulus, his brother, the perfect pure blood. She often said that Regulus should have been the heir to the Black family. Sirius also knew that Regulus had more affinity to the Black family magic and even perfectly towed the line of the pureblood agenda spewed by the blood purists and even got the stupid mark. That was the end of the relationship between the two brothers. Sirius had tried to discourage his brother from joining Voldemort but Regulus was so far gone in it that he did not listen to his brother. His mother had indoctrinated him such that he thought he was doing her proud by becoming a death eater.

When Sirius was sent to Azkaban, his family was mostly alive but now the Black Family tree had withered with only a handful of them remaining. At the end of Harry's third year, Sirius had met Moony who updated him about his family. Lord Arcturus Orion Black had died 6 years ago, a few months after Wulburga died. Cassiopeia Black who had left for the chateau in France had died there sometime in 1988. Lucretia Black had married into the Prewett family and had died only a few years ago. Charis Crouch nee Black had died even before the war and so was Callidora Longbottom nee Black who had died shortly before the first war. Cedrella Weasley nee Black had been disowned for marrying a blood traitor.

The Blacks, once a large and influential family was reduced to him and his cousins: His eldest cousin Andromeda had been disowned for marrying a muggle born and had a metamorphmagus daughter Nymphadora who was also an Auror, Bellatrix was married to Rudolphus Lestrange and was imprisoned in Azkaban with her husband Rudolphus Lestrange and brother in law Rabastan Lestrange for torturing the Longbottoms into insanity and lastly there was Narcissa Black who married Lucius Malfoy, the world's biggest bigot, bully and coward.

Previously Sirius was not sure if he would be able to enter his family home. It didn't matter because he had no interest in doing anything with the Black family. After having escaped from Hogwarts, he had been on the run for quite a while thinking of ways to survive with no money and no place to live. Shortly after he had escaped, he received a letter from his Account Manager Ripthroat who had informed him that Lord Black had made him his heir and did not change his will even after Sirius was sent to Azkaban which meant that he was still the blood heir to the Black fortune.

He attempted to take up the mantel of Lord Black so he could arrange a trial with the help of the allies of the House of Black and be exonerated but the lord ring never fit his finger as it was supposed to. It indicated that the family magic identified him as the blood heir but he could not become the Lord of Black. It also meant that while he was alive, no one else would be able to become the Lord of Black because the magic would not identify him as such. If he were to die without an heir, the lordship would pass to either Draco Malfoy or to Nymphadora Tonks. But, he had an heir, his Godson, Harry Potter, the son of his brother James, who was named as his heir ever since Sirius Black had been named his godfather.

The reason for Sirius being there that day was that they needed to make the place ready for the Order of the Phoenix. When Dumbledore confirmed that Voldemort had returned, he sent out the call to many of his old friends, who were members of the Order of the Phoenix in the first war. Everyone who was alive and able answered the call but their numbers were few.

Too many of them had died in the previous war. Good men and women who should have lived long lives to change the world, fell to that monster and his blood thirsty followers. Peter also told of his treachery in detail telling of all the times he snitched on the lives of Order members. He told of his role in the murder of the Bones, the Prewetts, the McKinnons and many other order members who were fighting on the side of light. He had told the death eaters of the location of their homes, the wards around their places, their strengths and their weaknesses and every other detail that could be helpful.

They were not just witches and wizards but his brothers in arms. Entire families had been wiped out. Remembering their deaths even now made Sirius's heart ache. The Prewetts were all but gone. Lord and Lady Prewett had died even before the war had escalated. The Prewett Twins, Fabian and Gideon, were demons with a wand. Sirius knew it for a fact that when those two were together, nobody could best them in an honest duel and the only way that they could be conquered was ambush. They were killed in an ambush involving 10 death eaters of whom only 4 walked away from the duel but not before getting seriously injured. Sirius had known later that they had been attacked en masse by the death eaters yet they stood their ground dispatching death eaters to hell one after another. They would have emerged unscathed but Antonin Dolohov killed them with his signature curse when their backs were turned. The only one alive in the House of Prewett was Molly Weasley nee Prewett who was married to Arthur Weasley.

Other than the Potters, there were Edgar and Ellie Bones who were dear friends to him. Edgar came from the House of Bones. The renown and feats of their warriors were scattered throughout the pages of history. During the last war, Amelia Bones, who was a senior Auror, was a terror to the death eaters. She proved to be a threat to their plans of world domination. It was said that whenever her squad entered into a battle, it was sure to go their way. She always took a hard-line approach against death eaters and strongly advocated for giving the harshest punishments to them.

Edgar and Ellie were killed by Voldemort himself to deter Amelia Bones from taking the hard-line approach against him however they did not go down easily. When Voldemort stormed the place where they were hiding, Edgar dispatched the two death eaters who had accompanied Voldemort and Bellatrix and then duelled with Voldemort. There was a moment when he fought Voldemort to a stand-still and hoped in his heart that they would make it out alive. His hopes however were thwarted when Voldemort played dirty and had Bellatrix take Ellie captive at wand point. The threat of harm to her had forced him to forfeit and consequently they both were killed. Susan wasn't home that day because she was staying with her Aunt Amelia for the night to give them some couple time.

Sirius's heart still ached for Marlene who was a daughter of the McKinnon family. Nobody ever knew what became of them that night but it was believed that all of them had been brutally killed. The rumour was that the best fighters of Voldemort's inner circle had killed them. He missed them and especially Marlene, his intended after he had promised her that he would marry her. She had been his calm centre in his chaos and the one whom he listened to. He never found her body or those of her family. By the time that Sirius arrived there, their manor was burnt to the ground and everyone was thought dead. Even their elves had valiantly died protecting them from the death eaters.

There was Dorcas Meadows, the only order member apart from the Bones and the Potters to have been personally murdered by Voldemort and they never found his body either. The Ancient and Most Noble House of Sayre was all but gone with Lady Sayre escaping by the breadth of a hair who then left Avalon to settle in France away from the war and never deigned to return even after Voldemort was gone. Benjy Fenwick was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he happened to come across a death eater raid and they killed him for trying to oppose them. It took 3 of them to take him down.

Lastly there were Frank and Alice Longbottom who were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix, the Lestrange brothers and Bartemius Crouch Junior who were sentenced to Azkaban for their crimes. Frank and Alice never recovered because there was no known cure for their condition, not in all of wizarding Britain.

Many other Ancient and Most Noble houses had lost their heirs or scions in the war from the side of light. Most of them had been his friends in Gryffindor house and companion pranksters especially the Prewett twins. There was a sort of rivalry between the Prewetts and the Marauders and often they pranked the whole school together or while trying to beat each other.

Reminiscing about the past, Sirius approached Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and tapped the serpentine door knocker with his wand. After a few seconds the door opened. From the dark, dank interior, the wall of stench of rot and neglect hit him. The walls already gloomy had turned downright foreboding and the dust looked like it had not been removed in decades. The chandeliers were draped with cobwebs and everywhere he looked, there were infestations of pests like doxies, spiders etc. In its glory days, that place was the talk of the town but now it was a neglected dump.

As he crossed the threshold, there was a loud crack and an elf appeared before him. The elf was very old, stooping, emaciated and grubby. His shoulders hunched and his skin fell in folds over the rag he wore as a loin cloth. The elf stared at Sirius and said in a low hissing voice, "You not welcome here, nasty master. Mudblood lover, blood traitor, broke my poor mistress's heart. What will Mistress say?"

Sirius took in the sad sight of this elf who had never served him happily but always doted over his brother and worshipped the ground that Wulburga walked on. At one time, Sirius would have been angry with this elf and freed him to die but now he felt pity. They were the last of the legacy of the House of Black, both alone, broken and forlorn. He should have been angry with this thing before him but he felt pity. He shuddered to imagine having an existence where no one talked to you and you lived only with memories. He had lived the same life for 12 years.

Kindly, he said to the elf, "How are you, Kreacher? I did not think I would find you here. If I did, I would have called you much sooner."

Kreacher was surprised at this. He was not used to kindness from Sirius. The demeanour thawed him a bit, but not enough to let go of his rudeness. Kreacher just stood there staring at him.

Sirius started again, "Kreacher, I do not wish to have you against me. I am the only one left now and so are you. I want to restore the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black to its former glory. Will you help me with that?"

The elf was too surprised to say anything and overwhelmed with emotions so could only nod.

"Kreacher, I know the house of Black supported Voldemort in the past but where did it lead us? All of them who supported him are dead or in Azkaban. Is that the kind of glory that you want for the House of Black? I for one, want the name of the House of Black to command respect and I will do anything to make that happen. Will you help me?"

"I will, master."

Sirius took that as a positive sign and ordered him to cook something for him to eat while he walked through the house.

As he reached the end of the corridor, he tripped over an umbrella stand that he hadn't seen in the gloom. When he went down with a mighty crash. The drapes covering a nearby portrait flew open revealing a life-sized portrait of his dear departed mother in her full glory. in fact, she looked even more horrendous in the portrait than she did in real life.

Flecks of spittle ejected from her impossibly huge mouth as she shrieked, "YOU! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE HOUSE OF BLACK WITH YOUR PRESENCE!? YOU ARE THE SHAME OF MY LIFE, A SHAME TO THE ENTIRE HOUSE OF BLACK, A LOVER OF MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS…"

Sirius growled as he aimed his wand, "Shut up, you hag!". As her incoherent abuses continued, he shot a spell at her. With a red flash from his wand, the curtains slammed shut, cutting her off mid-word. In the blessed silence that followed, he took a few breaths, then summoned Kreacher.

The ancient elf appeared with a crack.

"Kreacher, who put this portrait here?", he asked in the mildest tone he could manage so as not to offend the demented elf.

"That be Kreacher, Master. Mistress telling Kreacher to put it here so no can enter.", said Kreacher wringing his hands.

Sirius, seeing the elf's apprehension said, "Well done, Kreacher, for doing as your mistress commanded." The elf perked up at the praise. Sirius continued, "I am sorry for you, that the one you served so faithfully is gone to the next great adventure. In her place, I am your master now. If that portrait is here and yells profanities at everyone who comes through that door, it will give a bad name to the House of Black. Do you want the name of Black to be dragged through the mud?", he asked playing upon his sentiments for the House of Black.

"No master", he said shaking his head firmly.

"Kreacher, I want you to take down this portrait and take her to the attic where you can keep it and care for it. And why is the house so dirty, Kreacher? You have not been doing your duty to the House of Black. Do you wish to disgrace the House of Black and your ancestors whose heads have been proudly mounted upon that wall?", he said further goading the elf into shame.

Kreacher straightened and, looking upon Sirius, said firmly, "Kreacher cleans the house Master. Yous be not worry."

Ordering him to clean his old bedroom first, Sirius approached a room he had never set a foot in. The room belonged to his brother, Regulus which was well kept and tidy without a trace of dirt. Perhaps Kreacher kept this room clean due to his attachment to him. There were photos of Regulus on one of those walls, there was a photo of his Quidditch team where Regulus was laughing at the camera, looking innocent and carefree.

Seeing Regulus and his friends in the photo, he remembered that not only the light but the dark also had lost a number of their men in the war. His own brother was presumably killed and his body never found. The House of Rosier ended when Evan Rosier was killed by Alastor Moody in a fight after Voldemort fell. The Notts had lost three of their sons including their heir.

The House of Crouch was all but finished with Barty Crouch Junior being in DMLE custody. Amelia Bones had plans to chuck him straight through the veil right after she finished squeezing the last useful drop of information out of him. That woman had an eternal grudge against death eaters.

The Wilkins had lost their son at the hands of Mad-Eye. The patriarch was killed duelling Sirius and James when the death eaters attempted to ambush Sirius and James on their way home from a muggle bar.

There were countless other faces who had died in service of Voldemort, some of them as examples when they failed to complete their missions, others when they attempted to leave his ranks. Such a waste of life and magical blood bringing the already dwindling wizarding population to a new low.

Then it occurred to him that perhaps Kreacher knew something about what happened to Regulus. To confirm his suspicions, he summoned the elf. Kreacher tried to deny knowing anything, but when Sirius made it a direct order, Kreacher started bawling. Crying he told Sirius about an underground lake, where the Dark Lord had hidden a locket and used Kreacher to test the defences. Kreacher told Regulus of this, Regulus asked Kreacher to take him to the lake where Regulus drank the elixir of nightmares and told Kreacher to take the locket which he swapped with a fake one and to destroy the original.

Sirius was shocked beyond belief with the courage his brother had shown. His brother had defied Voldemort to the end. He collected a crying Kreacher into his arms patting the back of the still inconsolable elf, "Kreacher, I want to finish his work. Will you help me?".

Kreacher nodded and popped away and returned a moment later clutching a heavy locket in his hand which reeked of dark magic so much that Sirius was repulsed by it. He took the locket and looked upon an elaborately carved 'S' on it studded with jewels. The locket looked very regal and reminded him of something he remembered seeing in a book once. A picture of the famed locket of Slytherin.

Instantly conjuring a sack and securing the locket in it, he ran out of the house giving instructions to Kreacher to start cleaning. As he was out of the door, he disappeared into thin air.

Hogwarts

He appeared a little way outside of the Hogwarts gates and changing into Padfoot he bounded towards the gates. Once through, he ran all the way up to the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. After taking a moment to make sure that nobody was watching, he changed back to give the password, "Mars Bar". He bounded up the escalating spiral staircase two steps at a time and barged through the door without knocking.

Dumbledore stopped mid -sentence in his discussion with Harsh Vardhan as they both looked up.

"Sirius, is something the matter? I thought you would be busy for at least a week making the house habitable.", Dumbledore asked him, surprised.

Sirius related the whole tale of how Regulus had betrayed Voldemort and died to make one more step toward putting the dark lord down permanently. With a fierce grin of triumph, Sirius presented the sack with the locket in it, saying, "And here it is!"

Albus carefully took the sack from him, handling it like the sack contained a viper, he poured the contents out on his desk. Harsh Vardhan leaped back as if repulsed by it while Albus peered curiously at the locket. Muttering under his breath, he rapidly cast a series of detection and analytical spells. The locket glowed a nasty shade of red and pulsed a few times before dimming again. He raised his head, his expression grave, looking towards Harsh Vardhan, waiting for the Mystic to speak.

Harsh Vardhan sighed, "Sorry about my reaction. Such abominations always repulse me. It is such a sacrilege against Mother Magic that one cannot even fathom but only those evil of heart."

Sirius nodded firmly, "That!", he said, pointing at the locket, "That thing is a horcrux. I confirmed it before I came here. It contains a fragment of that maniac's soul. My brother gave his life to retrieve it. We have to destroy it. We must succeed where Regulus failed!"

"Yes, Mister Black, you know of 'Horcrux'…", began Harsh Vardhan.

Sirius answered, not realizing that Harsh wasn't finished, "Of course, I know what that evil, filthy thing is. I am a Black, the darkest family in Wizarding Britain. These things are described in some of the books kept in the Black library. How do you know of them?"

Harsh Vardhan smiled softly, "only you British wizards classify magic. It is not evil or light, Mr. Black. It is simply that. What makes it evil or good is the purpose for which it is used. We know of Horcruxes and many other sinister things perhaps not described in your books."

Harsh Vardhan turned his gaze and looked curiously at the locket, staring at it with longing and anger, "What a waste of such precious artefact. Salazar would be rolling in his grave knowing what has become of his precious possession. He was quite proud of this locket and its powers."

"You sound as if you knew him", said Sirius.

"As a matter of fact, I did but that is tale for another time. What will you do with it, Dumbledore?", he asked turning towards Dumbledore.

"I plan to destroy it with Basilisk venom, the same way young Harry destroyed his diary."

"Basilisk? Did you say Basilisk, Dumbledore? And what diary are we talking about and what did Harry have to do with it?", squeaked Sirius.

"The Basilisk young Harry killed when the Chamber of Secrets was opened", said Dumbledore and then proceeded to recount the tale of Harry's second year telling them how Harry had discovered he was a parseltongue, how he had found the chamber, killed the basilisk and saved Ginevra Weasley.

By the time he was done, Sirius's face was ashen while Harsh Vardhan looked intrigued by the tale.

"This means it is second of the five horcruxes he had made when we captured him. I wish we could have asked him for the location of the others but we could not find it', Harsh said frowning.

"What do you mean capture? And if you had captured Voldemort, why did you release him?", retorted Sirius angrily.

"Calm down Mr. Black. We do not keep prisoners, so we had no means to keep him subdued with, his fate has been so written that he would never fall to my wand. We had to release him before the future was altered", he explained.

Dumbledore decided to interrupt before Sirius could explode further, "What do you propose we do with this? We can destroy it with fiendfyre or with basilisk venom."

Harsh shook his head. "We do not resort to such crude methods, Albus my boy. If you had viewed the world in a larger perspective and treated magic as a sentient being, you would not have suggested this way. Do you know there is a way that we can pull the soul fragment out without destroying the locket?", he reprimanded Albus and Sirius snorted seeing the head master being berated.

Albus's interest was piqued. He could think of a lot of possibilities with such knowledge however, the mystic spoke before he could interrupt as if he read his mind, "No, Albus we are not teaching it to you. It is our own magic not meant to be imparted to everyone and even among ourselves we do not teach it to everyone but those who prove themselves worthy."

Albus pouted at this which Sirius found a little hilarious but he had more work to do.

"Albus, I have seen the house. There is no way I can clean it up by myself. Kreacher is there but he is getting old and I suspect he won't be much help. We are going to need some help to clean the place up. And no one can clean it without magic. The ward stones of the property are inactive and they need blood from the Lord of Black to recharge them. I cannot wield the family magic enough to do it myself. Harry will need to take up the mantel and do it before we decide to make it headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. If I could get an elf, it would really speed things up. Do you know if any are available?"

The old Headmaster nodded. "I may know of just the elf you need. But, you will have to talk to Harry about it because the elf is fiercely devoted to him. Although he claims to be a free elf, I suspect he is already bonded to your godson. I propose that we all go to Harry and ask him to summon the elf, then we will know", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

"Since I have nothing more to do, let's go find Harry Potter", announced Sirius.

Great Hall

Madame Pomfrey ran out of excuses to keep her patient in the hospital wing. With Harry's strength rapidly returning, even she had to admit that it would be good for him to get out and get some exercise. Besides, with all the visitors, it was starting to look more like Kings Cross Station than an infirmary. So it was that after giving Harry the strictest orders not to overdo it, that she released him.

Harry Potter was sitting in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table enjoying the company of his friends as he ate his lunch. Ron and Neville flanked him. Hermione sat across from him with the Weasley twins on either side of her. Over at the Hufflepuff table, Susan was stealing glances at Harry when she thought nobody was looking. She had been up to see Harry and talked with him at length. He found that he enjoyed her company. Meanwhile, at the Slytherin table, Daphne Greengrass took in every detail while keeping her expression neutral and an auburn-haired girl sitting beside her was talking to her animatedly.

Hagrid was sitting at the staff table gesticulating wildly as he told Professor Flitwick the latest story about an interesting creature he recently obtained. There was Professor Moody looking very haggard and tired, sniffing a piece of chicken before starting to eat it. His usual hip flask was missing. Sirius had filled Harry in on how Moody had been imprisoned in his own trunk by an impostor who was a death eater in disguise. Professor McGonagall was sitting beside him looking at him unapprovingly while her lips were pursed into a thin line and Snape was sitting in his place with a boorish expression on his face and the trademark sneer in place. Seeing Snape, he remembered the message his mother had given for him and decided to go to him later in the day.

Ginny sat by herself, at the end of the Gryffindor table, concentrating on her meal, she did not meet Harry's eyes the way she used to. Harry missed that. He wondered what was wrong. Now that Harry thought about it, Ginny hadn't been to the infirmary to visit since the day he woke up.

Harry casually asked, "Hermione, what's up with Ginny?"

Suddenly, Ron and the twins found the flat wear and dishes endlessly fascinating while Hermione coughed into her napkin. Finally, she said, "Oh Harry, I can tell you all about it, but this isn't the place." The other Weasleys in the immediate vicinity vigorously nodded their agreement. Neville, unaware of what was really going on, just shrugged.

Harry said, "Right then. Let's go."

They all followed Harry out of the Great Hall except for Ginny and found an empty classroom on the second floor. After the twins locked and silenced the door, they all sat down and Hermione finally spilled the beans about how Ginny had a huge crush on Harry, but became disillusioned when he went into the coma and now she was avoiding him out of shame, grief and embarrassment. At the end of it all, they all watched Harry to se how he would react.

After a few moments, Harry said, "Sorry I'm so clueless when it comes to girls. I was so busy trying not to die and chasing Cho around that I had no idea about all this. She must feel awful". Turning to Ron he said, "Ron, you're my best mate. I hope this doesn't make things weird between us?"

Ron shook his head, "Not in a million years, mate."

Turning to Hermione he said, "That must have been really hard for you, Hermione. There's only two days left before end of term. If you think I should talk to her…?"

Hermione said, "No, not now. But I will tell her what you said if that's OK?"

Harry nodded, "Sure. I'm glad I can count on you.

With that, the twins said, "Right. That's sorted. We have some floo addresses to get before everyone takes off for the summer." And they all exited the room.

Harry wandered in the direction of Gryffindor tower. He had packing to do and a solid night's sleep, in his own four poster bed, without Madame Pomphrey waking him up to give him sleeping draughts would not go amiss. Ginny's teenage angst aside, Harry was elated that he would not be going to the Dursley's anymore.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turning back, he found the "trainee healer" who was smiling at him and Dumbledore who motioned him to follow them to a room on the other side of the castle (which he had never seen) which was quite a way apart from the Dungeons. Perhaps this place was not even marked on the Marauder's map. Albus went to a door with the Hogwarts crest, which melted at his touch and Harry followed the two men inside. Before the door closed, Snape and McGonagall came in with Padfoot who started jumping up and down trying to lick Harry who had to force himself not to laugh while he kept trying to keep Padfoot down. Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly, Padfoot turned into Sirius.

From Dumbledore's grave expression, Harry guessed that they were going to discuss serious (no pun intended) business. He started saying sombrely, "Harry, it is time that I answer a question you asked me in your first year about why Voldemort came after you. Shortly before you were born, a prophecy was made by Sybill Trelawney while I was interviewing her for the subject of Divination at the Hog's Head inn in Hogsmead. The prophecy was about a boy who will have the power to defeat Lord Voldemort. A spy of his was present in the Hog's head who heard the first half of the prophecy before he was caught spying and was thrown out of the inn. The spy rushed off to inform Voldemort about the part he heard. That was about a boy being born at the end of July who would possess power to defeat the dark lord. The prophecy also said a few more things which we will discuss …".

Snape cut in, sneering, "Do you really think the Potter brat can defeat him? He is nothing but a mediocre wizard. "

Sirius barked back, "You are knocking my godson who has faced the monster 4 times and lived to tell the tale, Snivellus. So, you can shut your festering gob and quit drooling all over the floor!"

Before Snape started up again, Harry snapped, "Will you both please keep quiet? I can't stand listening to the two of you bickering like school children. Sirius, you have tormented him as much as he tormented you and Professor, you have never treated me fairly, thinking that I am just like my father."

Dumbledore chuckled at Harry chastising both of the men and continued, "Based on the information that Voldemort received from his spy, he decided to kill all the children to be born at the end of July that year but he made this decision without knowing other important factors. From the information he had, he deduced that either of two children would fit the prophecy. Both had parents that had defied Voldemort three times and were born at the end of the seventh month: you and Neville Longbottom. Of the two, he chose you to be the child of the prophecy."

Harry's mind was reeling. There was so much he did not understand, but what he knew for certain was that he was the one who would have to kill Voldemort. This was the reason that his parents had gone into hiding. This was the reason that he was an orphan. He felt like the weight of the world was upon his shoulders. Sirius hugged him tightly and kept whispering encouraging words into his ear.

Harry croaked, "But, how can I defeat him? I only have four years of magical education. He is both more powerful and more experienced than me."

Harsh Vardhana chuckled softly as a man with many secrets. He began to speak, "While it is true that your experience and knowledge is limited but your courage, valour and power is unfathomable and more than a match to him. You are already as powerful as Voldemort or Dumbledore and with the training that we would give you, you would be able to tilt the balance in your favour."

Harry was not entirely convinced but felt reassured by his words.

He turned towards Sirius, "But, if I go with him then I will not be able to come with you."

"Harry, you are only going away with him for a month or so. Besides, once we get rid of Voldemort, we will have a long life to be together. I want you to train hard with him and learn everything that you can", Sirius said.

"Do you have a place for us to live?", Harry asked eagerly.

Sirius smiled at him and said, "The Black family has many properties all over the world. We can live anywhere we want once this is all over."

"Professor, how are we going to India?", he asked the Headmaster.

Harsh Vardhana answered the question, "I want this to remain a surprise but you will like it, I promise.".

Dumbledore ushered Severus and Minerva out of the room while Sirius adopted a more solemn demeanour (if that was possible).

Once the others were out of the room, Dumbledore began, "Now Harry, there is something more that we have to tell you. You can tell your friends about it but I would advise you to very carefully consider with whom you share this secret. He did not die that night because he had several fail-safes in place to tether him to mortality. He split his soul into many pieces hiding them in things which he hid away from everyone. Those things are called Horcruxes…", Harry shivered on hearing that word, "…which keep a wizard bound to this plane, even if their body is destroyed."

"How do you split your soul?", asked Harry confused with the concept.

"By the act of supreme evil, murder.", he replied with no trace of joviality in his voice.

Harry shuddered at the thought and so did Sirius however Harsh Vardhan was impassive.

Dumbledore looked at him before continuing, "I had long suspected that Voldemort created them but it was finally confirmed when you brought me the proof."

"What proof?", Harry asked.

"The Diary of Tom Riddle that you brought to me after you slew the basilisk. You described to me how he came out of the diary, I was stumped at such a phenomenon and after a lot of research I came to the conclusion that he had created horcruxes. The theory was confirmed by Mr. Harsh Vardhan. He learned this when he captured and interrogated Tom Riddle, the self-styled Voldemort 30 years ago".

Harry looked at the mystic in awe. Anyone capable of such a feat was a hero to him.

"When he came for you that night", Albus continued, "his soul was already unstable and when the killing curse hit him, a part of his soul tore off from the remaining portion and latched itself to the only living being in the room, you.", Dumbledore announced to the shock and dismay of Harry and Sirius.

"You mean I am keeping him alive? How do we get it out? Can we do it here? When can we get it out?", Harry spewed a lot of questions.

Dumbledore stopped the stream of questions with a silencing spell, then continued, "I discovered that you were a horcrux when you were brought to the hospital wing
after the dementor attack in your third year. I tried to exorcise it out of you after I fed you the draught of living death, but I found it to be latched too deeply to you and sucking on your magic thus hindering your growth and your magical energy. The exorcising process was too painful and you almost died so I did not try it again and you were enervated before the morning. I have been trying for the past year to find a way to exorcise it out of you without hurting you but could not find anyway. There was always the last resort of killing you."

Sirius interrupted, leaping to his feet, wand in hand, "are you out of your mind!? What makes you think that I would let you hurt Harry?"

Harsh spoke up, "It would not have come to that Mr. Black. We had been keeping an eye on Harry Potter all this while and we were waiting for the right time to approach Dumbledore and offer our services to exorcise the foul thing out of him. However, as it turns out we did not need that anymore", said Harsh Vardhan.

"If you know how to exorcise the damn thing, why haven't you already done it?", asked Sirius hotly.

"We did not do that because the process would have caused him extra ordinary pain and despite his pain threshold being very high, he would have been magically exhausted and his magic would have been unstable. Since he was in the tournament and constantly training, doing so would have put him in danger because without his magic being settled, he could not participate in the third task, thus forfeiting his life and magic.", he replied, "but we do not need to do that anymore as when he was hit with the killing curse in the graveyard, it killed the soul fragment in his scar and he is free of any contamination. It was due to killing of the horcrux in the scar that he had his magical maturity earlier."

Harry was relieved beyond words but something Dumbledore had said was on his mind, "Professor, if we have killed the fragment in me, does it mean he can be killed now?"

"No, he made several horcruxes. Seven being the magical number, I expect he has made 7 of them. However, I will have to see someone to confirm my theory. As it happens, the Diary was destroyed by you, the one in you was killed by him, we have the locket of Slytherin and if my guess is correct, and they usually are, there are four more yet to be found", Dumbledore replied.

"Now Harry, we have another little request for you. Sirius needs a house elf and I suggested one for him. I was thinking if you could summon him?", said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling again.

"You mean Dobby", said Harry grinning.

There was a loud crack and Dobbie appeared, hugging Harry's leg. He squeaked, "Did Harry Potter call for Dobby? How Dobby be serving the great Harry Potter?".

Sirius snorted at the elf's antics and Dumbledore chuckled while Harsh Vardhan tried not to laugh.

"Uh, Dobby, I will need my leg thank you. I wanted to ask if you would like to serve my Godfather", asked Harry gently extricating his leg from the elf.

Dobby started wringing his hands and said rather hesitantly, "Dobby be honoured the great Harry Potter ask to help, but Dobby is be already bonded."

"That's great Dobby. Who are you bonded to?", asked Harry interested.

"I be bonded to the Great Harry Potter.", said Dobby nervously.

"Uh, Dobby, why did you do that? I thought you like being free. Not that I'm complaining," said Harry.

"Wes be lose our magic if not serve a magics strengthen our bond", the elf replied.

"It's alright Dobby. I am honoured by your service. Do you know of another elf who can help me?", Harry asked while shocked that unwittingly he had almost caused Dobby to die.

"Winky not having a family is dying, great Harry Potter's dogfather…", (Sirius snorted), "…can bind her to his family", the elf replied enthusiastically.

Dumbledore summoned Winky and Sirius bonded her to house of Black then called Kreacher to take her to Grimmauld place and have her help in cleaning the house. Dobby decided to stay with Harry until he left Hogwarts since he effectively had no wand now. The new holly and phoenix feather wand was no better than a piece of dead wood to him and the wand he won from Wormtail was in the custody of the DMLE. A house elf could use magic to defend their master as Dobby had once defended him from Lucius Malfoy.

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