HARRY POTTER AND THE ADAMANTINE GATE By Jitterbug Perfume

Transcription

1 HARRY POTTER AND THE ADAMANTINE GATE By Jitterbug Perfume

2 For Patty, Lif and Stewie for being parts of my life. Thanks guys.

3 Harry Potter belongs to Warner Bros, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Heyday/1498 films, JK Rowling and Raincoat books. I don't lay any claim to it. However, Sirenia and Rhiannon belong to me. If you wish to use them, please ask for my permission. July First published on darkmark.com/forum 1 st award for Best Other Fan fiction for st award for best portrayal of Albus Dumbledore for 2003

4 * CONTENTS* Chapter One: The Unexpected birthday present.. 5 Chapter Two: Memories and Discoveries.. 22 Chapter Three: The Pranks and the New Girl Chapter Four: The Stag and The Hound...57 Chapter Five: It Runs In the Family Chapter Six: The Quidditch Tryouts...90 Chapter Seven: Padfoot s Will.110 Chapter Eight: The Burning Ox 126

5 CHAPTER ONE The Unexpected Birthday Present Most boys and girls look forward to their birthday. Birthday, however, hadn t meant anything to Harry Potter for almost ten years. His birthday came and passed unnoticed, as the Dursleys (that was his uncle Vernon, his aunt Petunia and their son Dudley) with whom he had lived since his parents death when he was one year old, made sure to ignore it completely. This situation though, was altered almost six years ago, when a giant called Hagrid informed Harry that he actually happened to be a wizard! He also found out that his parents hadn t been killed in a car crash as he was told for ten years but murdered by a Dark Sorcerer called Voldemort who attempted to murder Harry too. The curse, however, rebounded when Voldemort tried to kill Harry and hit him leaving him with just a hint of life inside him and a scar on Harry s forehead shaped like a bolt of lightning. Therefore, Harry started at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry and had successfully completed the five of the seven years the school had, that June when he had also sat his O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels). He was expecting his results any day now so he would know which subjects he would have to give up and which not. Harry s birthday was tomorrow and he felt miserable for the first time in six years. He was neither worried that the Dursleys would ignore it completely as they always did nor that he wouldn t get several owls wishing him Happy Birthday from his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as well as from Hagrid, who was both a teacher and a gamekeeper at Hogwarts. The reason of him being miserable was that Sirius Black, his godfather and the only person as close as a parent Harry ever had, had mysteriously disappeared behind a veil in the Death Division in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic while fighting against his cousin Bellatrix LeStrange who has been a great supporter of Voldemort. Harry had yelled his lungs out calling Sirius s name but he never came back so he was convinced that Sirius was dead. The vacant feeling he had in his heart since last June hadn t changed at all. Sirius had been on the run for three years as he was accused of the deaths of twelve Muggles (nonmagic people) and one Wizard. This Wizard s name was Peter Pettigrew and he was actually the one who committed the murders and betrayed Harry s parents to Voldemort. As Pettigrew had faked his death Sirius was convicted to a life sentence in Azkaban The wizard prison, but he had managed to escape when he saw a picture of Peter disguised as a rat in the Daily Prophet. Sirius, Pettigrew and Harry s dad had all been unregistered animagi. Sirius could turn into a huge furry dog, Pettigrew in a rat and James Potter in a stag. Pettigrew had spent twelve years as Ron Weasley s pet rat Scabbers and was uncovered during their third year at Hogwarts. Sirius would turn Pettigrew in with the help of his friend s Remus Lupin who was teaching at Hogwarts at the time, but unfortunately, Remus happened to be a werewolf and transformed that night letting Pettigrew get away. Sirius had gone without being able to clear his name and this along with yet another loss of a beloved person made Harry feel so miserable and blue, that he didn t even complain about having to go on Dudley s diet. Harry had been living on food parcels his friends had been sending him the last two summers, but this year he had completely let the fact that he had to live on cabbage and lettuce slip. One month on Dudley s diet was showing

6 effect on him. He was completely lost in his already baggy clothes (Harry s clothes had always been second hand from Dudley), his face had become sallow and sunken and he spent his days locked in his room staring at the ceiling or flipping through one of his spell books without the slightest hint of even a dull interest. He was staring at the ceiling once again when he heard tapping on the window. He looked at it and saw his owl, Hedwig. He opened the window to let her in and she dropped a letter and a parcel on his lap. Harry recognized Hermione s neat handwriting and his face broke into the first real smile since he had left his friends at the King Cross station to go back to Privet drive for the summer. He tore open the envelope and read: Dear Harry, Happy Birthday! I really really hope. I find you well. As neither Ron nor me have received pleas for food yet, I suppose you eat properly at last. Has your cousin lost weight? I know he is horrible but I can t help feeling sorry about him. Imagine being so vast you cannot find clothes to wear! Harry didn t feel sorry for Dudley at all. It was his fault he became so fat. Anyway, how has your summer been so far? I ve been to Italy and Greece with my parents. It was lovely but I got tanned and it doesn t suit me at all. I ve been to the place were the Stakes used to be at Medieval times to burn witches in Italy. I can t believe that they didn t notice that none of the witches was really burnt, well, I doubt they were able often to lay hands on real witches but the whole thing was absolutely cruel. Greece had all this folk stories about mythical beasts and goblins and such things and I got a lot of books about it. Guess whom did I find in one of their mythology books! Fluffy! I bet Hagrid will be over pleased when I show him! Have you got your O.W.L.s results yet? I believe we ll receive them any day now. I m rather nervous about it. At that, Harry let out a small laugh. Hermione was the smartest witch he had ever met and he would be most surprised if she hadn t received Outstanding at all of her O.W.L.s. Anyway, I m visiting Ron next week so I suppose I ll be seeing you there. If you re not allowed to go (which I doubt after the encounter your uncle had with Moody) we ll hopefully see you in Diagon Alley or on Hogwarts Express on September 1st. Love, Hermione PS- I found this in The Daily Prophet and as you re not getting it anymore, I thought I should send it to you. PS2- Hope you like my present. They re rather difficult to find, those books. Only twenty copies ever published.

7 He searched in the envelope and found a piece of parchment cut off the Daily Prophet which read: SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT By Emil Efimery He looked at the words incredulously and read further After a meeting of the Wizengamot, Sirius Black, convicted for the mass murder of twelve Muggles and A wizard and fugitive for the last three years after breaking out of The Azkaban Fortress, has been cleared of all charges. Chief Warlock Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore stated: I have been aware of Black s innocence and whereabouts since June 1994 when he claimed that Peter Pettigrew, the wizard he was supposed to have murdered, was actually alive and disguised as a rat as he had also been an unregistered animagus and he was the one who murdered twelve Muggles on November 1st Pettigrew faked his death to avoid Black, as he wanted to confront him for betraying James and Lily Potter to You-Know-Who. Black was believed to be the Potters secret Keeper but the one was Pettigrew. Four witnesses have seen Pettigrew very much alive and the Ministry offers A thousand Galleons to whoever has accurate information about Pettigrew s whereabouts. Unfortunately, Sirius Black has passed last June and therefore cannot enjoy his life as a free person. Harry at first was relieved but then realised that Sirius couldn t celebrate this, as he wasn t there anymore. He felt a tear rolling down his face, as he looked the picture above the article. It was a picture of him before going to Azkaban. He looked exactly like he had seen him in Snape s pensieve last year. His dark long hair fell with elegance casually in his eyes and he looked very attractive. He kept it at the back of his mind and looked curiously at the parcel, which looked more like a casket than a book He tore the paper off it to find a black leather-bound volume with engraved silver lettering which read: HOGWARTS QUIDDITCH HISTORY. He flipped through it and saw that it had complete name catalogues with all the players, their position, their houses and the years they had been on the house team. He had a look in some pages and then he reached the Gryffindor Quidditch team of the 70s and paused. Because from the very first picture his father was waving at him. He read below the picture: JAMES POTTER ( ) SEEKER James Potter joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team in 1972 during his second year at Hogwarts as a seeker and helped Gryffindor to win the Quidditch cup fro 6 years in a row and was made a Quidditch captain during his sixth year. He and his wife Lily were murdered by the Dark Lord on Halloween 1981, and their son Harry was the one who lead to the Dark Lord s downfall. Harry looked at the book very surprised. It seemed that the book was recent. Surely it couldn t have been older than fourteen or fifteen years as he was mentioned. He turned at the back of the book to check the publication date and saw in amazement that the

8 book was a thousand years old and blank pages materialized at the back of the book and letters appeared on them. The book was updating by itself. Wow, Hermione he said under his voice this is brilliant. He turned back to the 70s Gryffindor page to see who else had been on the same team with his father and froze, for below his father was Sirius. SIRIUS BLACK (1960- ) BEATER Sirius Black has joined during his fourth year (1974) as a beater and along with his fellow teammate Hecarus Diggle were a pair of the greatest beaters that ever passed Hogwarts. Harry read this and his eyes filled with tears then he realised what he read in the brackets This couldn t be correct, if the book was updating by itself it should say He s alive he said, HE S ALIVE! *** Harry burst out of his room and dashed down to the telephone. He quickly dialled Hermione s number and waited for what seemed a century, then a sleepy voice replied: Uhm... Hello? Hello? Hermione? Is that you? It s Harry! There was a pause. Hermione is sleeping. It s two o clock in the morning Two o clock? He had been 16 for two hours then? I m very very sorry but this is urgent! Please! Please! Wake her up! He waited for one or two minutes and then heard Hermione s voice. Harry what happened? Did your scar hurt? Is about Voldemort? What happened? He s alive Of course he is alive, did you think he was dead? Hermione, Sirius is alive Oh Sirius... Well that s- WHAT???? Remember this book you got me for my birthday? Which updates by itself?

9 Yeah, what with it? You didn t like it? No, it was brilliant. Listen Sirius was a beater on the Gryffindor team and when I looked at my father s record it said that he died in 1981 but at Sirius it only says when he was born! That means that he s alive! Harry, are you sure? That is very important? Did you tell Ron? No I couldn t wait to send an owl and Ron doesn t have a telephone. What should I do now? Write to Dumbledore and tell him, I hope I ll see you at Ron s next week, OK? Sure... Hermione... Can you believe it? At that moment a voice was heard from upstairs. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU RE DOING BOY? Uncle Vernon had been probably awaken because Harry had been thundering on the stairs on his way down. Too excited to let the minor fact that his quick-tempered uncle was ready to throw the bed side table at him bother him he hissed a I have to go to Hermione who sounded very worried because she had heard his uncle s voice, hung up and turned to face his uncle. I SAY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU RE DOING? Telephoning I suppose. You know, dial a number and then talk to the person at the other end of the line? Uncle Vernon went rather purple in the face and said: YOU THINK THAT I LL HAVE YOU IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT USING MY PHONE TO CALL OTHER WEIRDOES LIKE YOU BECAUSE A WACKO WITH A MAD EYE IS THROWING THREATS AT ME? Harry looked at his uncle and said Well, I suppose you will Uncle Vernon exploded WATCH IT BOY, I INFORM YOU THAT Harry tried to keep his mind blank to prevent performing magic without meaning to. He then remembered that Sirius was alive and that was the reason he was down here and not in his bedroom staring at the ceiling. His spirits rose at this and he replied dully to Uncle Vernon. That you re going to lock me in my bedroom, lock all my things up in the cupboard under the stairs and prevent me of going back to Hogwarts, won t you?"

10 At the word Hogwarts uncle Vernon reacted as if he was a bull and someone was waving a red flag in front of him DON T YOU DARE CALLING THIS RUDDY NAME UNDER MY ROOF. YOU WATCH YOUR STEP OR I LL THROW YOU OUT OF HERE AT ONCE At that Harry noticed that Aunt Petunia and Dudley were standing on top of the stairs. Empty threat, Uncle Vernon said Harry Aunt Petunia promised to keep me. GO TO YOUR BEDROOM BOY. NO MEALS AND NO MORE TELEPHONE FOR YOU I reckon I won t be allowed to go at my friend s Ron house next week, will I? Aunt Petunia glared at him Do you think you re being funny? Phoning at two o clock in the morning and then being rude abusing the good of our hearts- Yeah, right, Harry cut in Can you lock me in my bedroom now? I have to send some letters, you know Uncle Vernon grinned evilly. Well, you are not sending any more letters. This ruddy pigeon of yours will stay locked Suddenly Harry noticed what Dudley was holding. It was Hedwig s cage and she was inside looking frustrated. He made his way upstairs poking Dudley hardly as he grabbed the cage. Dudley tried to punch him but Harry was much too fast for him. He got in his bedroom and heard a loud click, which meant that Uncle Vernon had locked him inside. Brilliant he said to Hedwig How am I supposed to write to Dumbledore now? Hedwig let a loud hoot and only then did he notice that a large barn owl was on his desk looking at him. He reached her and detached the two letters she was sporting and she was ready to fly when Harry had a sudden idea Wait a minute! You re a Hogwarts Owl!! The owl hooted to show she was in a hurry but Harry insisted Please wait, I won t be long He pulled a piece of parchment from his desk and scribbled: Dear Professor Dumbledore,

11 I hope I find you well. Amazing as it may sound I accidentally found that Padfoot is alive. I can t write more at the moment. The owl I m using is the one that brought my school letter and she s in a hurry. Yours sincerely, Harry Potter He attached the letter at the owl s leg, stroked her and thanked her and she was off. Then he turned to Hedwig and told her Don t worry, I ll find a way to let you out... OUCH! Something that looked like a minuscule canon ball had crashed in his head. It was Pigwidgeon. Ron s owl. Harry caught him as he twittered and hooted happily and tried to get his letter as Pigwidgeon was bouncing madly. Relax said Harry as he managed to pull the letter of his leg. Dear Harry, Happy Birthday! Hope the Muggles are treating you well. Look, Hermione s visiting on Saturday. Can you manage to be here too? Will the Muggles let you? Dad says he ll send Bill along to fetch you on Sunday whether the Muggles like it or not. Guess who s here almost daily? Luna Lovegood. She lives close and she drops in rather regularly. She and Ginny had made best friends and she s actually pretty cool when not talking about that bloody snorcacks. Ginny was made a prefect by the way. Mum started that nonsense of everyone in the family again and Fred and George pretended to be very offended of this but they didn t really mean it, as Mum doesn t badger them anymore for opening the Joke shop. After all it brings much gold and she cannot overlook this! I didn t send you your present because it s rather heavy Errol is sick, Percy s got Hermes and Pig wasn t able to carry it. I ll give it to you in the weekend. Can t wait to see you again mate. I ve been really worried about you. Ron Harry thought this was very unusual for Ron. He had never put emotions down apart from excitement. Then he remembered that Ron still believed Sirius dead and that he probably wanted to comfort him. He pulled a piece of parchment in front of him, unscrewed his ink bottle dipped his quill in and started writing to Ron what he found out and how excited he was and he went on for ages but then a sudden thought struck him: What if Pig was intercepted? He knew Pig was minute and very hard to spot just like a living feathery snitch and he also knew that Sirius had been cleared of all charges by the Wizengamot,apparently thanks to Dumbledore. However, there were some people who shouldn t know that Sirius wasn t dead but alive and kicking probably already on his way to find Harry and make sure he was safe and sound. He tore the letter he had just finished and threw it in his dustbin. He then remembered the Barn owl he sent to Dumbledore, and the letters she had brought to him. He hadn t looked at them yet. He looked at the first one, which was a thick yellowish parchment envelope with the Hogwarts crest on it and the second, which was a green one with silver lettering, bore the

12 Ministry of Magic crest. Utterly bewildered why the ministry wanted to contact him as he hadn t made any magic or why the letter was brought by a Hogwarts Owl, he tore the letter open and felt stupid at the moment he read the first lines. It was his results of the O.W.L.s It said: Dear Mr. Potter, We have the pleasure to inform you that you have succeeded in your Ordinary Wizarding Levels with General Mark 10. Below you can find your grade in each of the subject you sat in June. Please note that: O stands for Outstanding, E stands for Exceeds Expectations, A stands for Acceptable, P stands for Poor and D stands for Dreadful. You will also find out which subjects you will have to quit due to the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests level Subjects you will do from now on. Yours sincerely, Wendy Nevland Department of Magical Education Ordinary Wizarding Levels STUDENTS NAME: Harry James Potter School: Hogwarts NEWT Subject Level Mark Classes Astronomy P Fail Care for Magical Creatures E Pass Defence Against the Dark Arts O Pass Divination P Fail Herbology E Pass History of Magic A Fail Charms O Pass Potions E Pass Transfiguration E Pass Harry looked at his results in amazement! He had managed an E in Potions and he would be able to give up two of the dullest subjects he had! He couldn t help feeling a

13 little disappointed for not being able to drop Snape s subject but as he wanted to be an Auror after Hogwarts he had to take the subject. He however made a mental note not to pay much attention to Snape s rude comments during the lesson. He succeeded to get an E, which would be a D if Snape had tested him so it wasn t his problem for being bad at Potions. He had also expected a D in Divination because Trellawney would surely start seeing his death even if he told her he had dreamt about eating porridge. Firenze the centaur who taught them Divination the last two terms wasn t so miserable but also didn t make the subject less dull. The whole thing seemed pointless to Harry especially after his first year that he and Hermione had gone back in time and saved Sirius and Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Grinning broadly he opened his school letter curious to find out which books he would need for his NEWT Level classes. HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY Headmaster: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwwump, International Confed. Of Wizards) Dear Mr Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have succeeded to achieve a satisfying amount of 10 O.W.L.s in your latest exams and have been accepted to the following NEWT Level classes: Care for Magical Creatures, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration. You will find all the books and supplies you will need for your sixth year on the next page. Term begins on 1st September. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress Set Books 1) The Advanced Book Of Spells (Volume 1) by Miranda Goshawk 2) A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration (Volume 1) by Emeric Switch 3) Magical Herbs All Around The World by Cloe Jitterbug 4) Care of Magical Creatures Advanced (Volume 1) by Newt Scamander 5) The Dark Forces (Volume 1) by Aberfon Boggan 6) Moste Potente Potions by Arsenius Brewish He grinned even more broadly to the last book. He would get a nice fat O when Snape would ask him to brew a Polyjuice Potion as he; Ron and Hermione had used it during their second year to sneak in to the Slytherins common room. Harry began scribbling a new letter to Ron when the fourth owl of the night soared in his bedroom carrying a very small brown parcel, which it dropped on Harry s bed and departed immediately. He had never seen this owl before but suspected from who it might be. Hagrid.

14 Sure enough he saw his scrawl on the wrapping paper, which he tore to let a minuscule book fall on his bed. It was so tiny he could hide it in his handful if he wanted to. He wondered how on earth he was going to read it, as he couldn t make out the bronze lettering on the purple cover. Only once had Hagrid ever send him a book before. Three years ago when he took up the position as a teacher of Care of the Magical Creatures and asked his students to get a book called The Monster Book Of Monsters and would bite whenever someone tried to open it. The trick with this book was to stroke it and it would open sheepishly. Harry scanned his booklist to see if there was a title, which suggested such a small book. As there wasn t anything he reached for the wrapping paper s remnants to see whether there was a note but couldn t find anything. He caught the miniature book with his thumb and point finger and as soon as he touched it swelled to the size of a normal book. Harry looked at it amazed and saw that the letters on the cover read: HARRY J. POTTER. He opened it and he saw a blank page, which suddenly was full of Hagrid s handwriting. Happy Birthday Harry! This is a Segredo Journal. You can write in whatever you want and then shrink it so only those you want to read it will be able to do it! To magnify it you just have to press your thumb on the cover. To add someone you want to be able to read it you just have to place something they gave you, say their name clearly and tap the journal with your wand and say Escrevero. If someone you hadn t added takes the Journal it will shrink before they can read it. Sirius used to have one too when he and your dad were your age. I hope you are OK and if those Muggles treat you badly let me know and I ll put them right. See you at Hogwarts Hagrid Ps- It s really useful for private mail as you can tear the pages and use them in the same way. Harry placed his thumb on the Journal and it shrank back to its stamp size. CRACK! Remus Lupin had materialized in on Harry s bed his eyes glittering mischievously. Hello Harry! he said happily Happy Birthday Professor Lupin!! What are you doing here? Lupin ran his hand through his hair casually. Oh, I was just wondering why you didn t use Hedwig to write to Dumbledore so I dropped by to check if everything is all right. So? Is it? No, I had a row with the Dursleys and I m locked in here and Ron asked me to go at his house on Saturday and when I asked them if I was allowed to go they told me not to be funny.

15 He said all this very fast. It was so wonderful to talk to someone who liked him again. Well, well! said Lupin looking highly amused they won t believe you are funny after I had dealt with them! And by these words he pointed his wand at Hedwig's cage and said Alohomora. The door of the cage sprang open and Hedwig got out hooting gratefully. Then he did the same at the room s door. Harry thanked him and went for the door but Lupin stopped him. Let s leave it for a nice morning surprise, shall we? Now, tell me everything Harry looked puzzled Everything what? Surely Lupin wouldn t spoil the pleasure of telling the Dursleys off just to listen to Harry telling him about his very dull summer. Sure enough he looked at Harry incredulously. About Sirius of course! What happened? What did you find out? Harry told him about the book and then showed Lupin the book Hermione had got him. Oh my! said Lupin It is updating by itself! Harry looked down and saw that the book now read SIRIUS BLACK (1960- ) BEATER Sirius Black has joined during his fourth year (1974) as a beater and along with his fellow teammate Hecarus Diggle were a pair of the greatest beaters that ever passed Hogwarts. After he was wrongly accused of the mass murder of twelve Muggles and a Wizard and the treason of James and Lily Potter in 1981 he was convicted to a life sentence in Azkaban but managed to break out in 1993 and had eventually been cleared of all charges in 1996 Remus eyes were shinning. So he is alive! Oh, Harry this was more difficult for you and me than for anyone else. First your parents and last June we thought we lost Sirius too. I couldn t stand losing one more best friend. They grinned at each other. So what s new? Have you got your marks yet? Yeah Harry replied "I got ten O.W.L.s and I ve passed the subjects I needed!" Well done! So you ll be having a very interesting year!

16 I s ppose so. I just wish I didn t need to study Potions. I wonder why Snape accepted me though. McGonagall told me he only accepted those who got O in their O.W.L.s and I had an E Old Snivellus just needs someone to torture Harry. I don t believe, however that he can make your life worse than he already has. After all there are only two years left. Harry stared. If it hadn t been for him I wouldn t have gone to that awful place, the Department Of Mysteries. And I would be furious if I didn t know Sirius s alive I don t like what I m going to say but Snape did help last June. Remember that he didn t want Sirius to go there That s only because-" He s a slimy old git and wanted Sirius to feel that he s useless but he did know that it was dangerous. Yeah, he probably didn t think Sirius able to deal with it Lupin muttered. Yes the slimeball and then in a more clear tone Anyway, you ll just have to put up with him for six more terms Yeah... I s ppose this is not much Anyway, how are the others? How s Tonks? Lupin went rather red and Harry looked at him in surprise as he spoke in something that sounded like Troll. You fancy her! Harry grinned mischievously and Lupin nudged him and smiled going even redder. Come on Harry, don t forget I used to be your teacher At this they looked at each other and burst out laughing. So what does she say about it? Harry asked still trying to stifle his laughter with his sleeve Ah... Tonks is just a big child... She thinks I only like her because she can change her appearance to become good-looking but I would still like her even if her face was covered in pimples Lupin wore such a dreamily expression that Harry burst out laughing again. Well he said you should say that to her

17 Lupin grinned. So, what about you? Any girls ahead? No replied Harry firmly thinking for a moment about Cho and how he felt when he saw her last time on the Hogwarts Express. "Nobody he said again and looked at the window as though he found it very interesting. Lupin raised his eyebrows. You don t want me to believe that you re sixteen and you don t have the hots for a girl, do you? Well said Harry Something did happen last Christmas with a Ravenclaw a year older than me but it was not a big deal I don t think you re the person who would be with a girl just for the fun of it. What happened? Err At first she got jealous because she thought I liked Hermione better than her, then that friend of hers sold us all to Umbridge and then she was jealous of Hermione again so we had a row and she finally got with Ginny s, you know, Ron s sister, exboyfriend and that s all What? Lupin was looking at him in a rather peculiar way. You don t happen to like Hermione, do you Harry? Harry looked at him puzzled. Of course I like her As a friend He had never thought of Hermione as a girlfriend. He didn t even think of asking her to the Yule ball two years ago even after Cho turned him down. What was Lupin playing at? He surely looked utterly relieved though so Harry went on After all, I think Cho was mostly after guys who had the spotlight on them She did huh? Yeah, I think so Excuse me Professor but why would it be weird if I liked Hermione? Oh, I just don t think you re suited Harry. That s all. He had replied casually but he was avoiding Harry s eye. Ok then So Would you like to get some rest while I m writing to Ron to tell him I m going to be there on Saturday? Yes, I think I ll just lie down a bit. That night was exhausting. I was doing stuff for the Order and then Albus sent me to check you. Yeah Harry... Thanks Please wake me up in an hour so we can deal with your aunt and uncle

18 OK he said and sat down at his desk to continue his letter to Ron. He finished about forty-five minutes later and examined his letter Dear Ron, Thank your Mum for inviting me. The Dursleys locked me up last night, nice thing to do on my birthday, wasn t it? Anyway, a Hogwarts owl arrived with my results and my school letter tonight so I was able to contact Dumbledore to tell him what I found out earlier that night, which was the reason for the row I had with the Dursleys. I ll tell you when we meet Harry had thought of using the Segredo journal s pages to write to Ron but as he couldn t perform magic outside Hogwarts it wouldn t work yet and he wouldn t let anybody know that Sirius was alive in case Hedwig or Pig would be intercepted. Anyway, Dumbledore wondered why I didn t used Hedwig to contact him so he sent Lupin along to check if everything is OK and I think I m going to attend quite an interesting show in about twenty minutes. It s a really good thing Luna and Ginny became friends I felt really sorry for her last June. She s being taunted all the time at school and, don t tell her I told you, but she saw her mother dying and that s why she can see the Thestrals. Congratulate Ginny for me about becoming a prefect and give my greetings to everybody. See you soon, Harry He folded the parchment and gave it to Pigwidgeon who was doing laps all around the room and finally got out of the window flying up and down as if he had consumed several bottles of Firewhiskey. Harry breathed deeply the cool morning air that got through the window and heard the twittering of the awaking birds knowing the day ahead would be much better than the last one. Err Professor Lupin? It s 7 o clock already said Harry prodding Lupin on the shoulder. He opened his eyes and was up at once. You shouldn t let me sleep so long, Harry Sorry, but you looked exhausted Ah that s OK but the ahem discussion, will have to be much shorter now as I have to go to London he said with a grin that reminded Harry of the Weasley twins. I think it will be brilliant, said Harry beaming Let s go downstairs then, shall we? Yeah I think so, said Lupin stretching his legs and arms. They went downstairs and Harry opened the fridge only to find fruit and vegetables. He liked both very much but after a month of having them as his main food he wanted something substantial. He turned and looked at Lupin.

19 Only these for breakfast I m afraid Nah I don t think so Harry! Lupin swished his wand and on the table appeared eggs and bacon, toast, porridge, butter and loads of marmalade. Foods the Dursleys table hadn t seen for two years. They sat down and began eating, Harry guzzling his food. Merlin s beard! It s me who is the werewolf but you re making a good deal of imitating a wolf! I can easily imagine what animal you would turn if you were an animagus. Iz ust vbin livn on foot en vegi or a man I beg your pardon? Harry swallowed and spoke again It is just that I ve been living only on fruit and vegetables for a month Hehehe, don t worry I ll sort this out for you too At that moment, Dudley Dursley came sneaking in the kitchen apparently to smuggle food in his bedroom. He noticed neither Lupin nor Harry but went straight to the fridge and opened it but he only found the usual fruit and vegetables Harry had found. He then started for the cupboards and spotted Harry and started screaming for his mother A highly alarmed Petunia rushed in the kitchen calling. What s the matter popkin? then she also spotted Harry and Lupin and started screaming too. VERNON! HE S OUT VERNON. COME HERE! HE S WITH ONE OF THEM WEIRDOES VERNON! QUICK! At no time Vernon Dursley stepped into the kitchen and stopped dead looking at Harry, Lupin, the food on the table, his screaming wife, his terrified son and Harry again. YOU! He said pointing at Harry Explain. Before Harry could open his mouth to reply, Lupin stood up and glared at the Dursleys though Harry noticed that he was ready to burst out laughing at the looks on their faces. Now, now Dursley. I think you ve been warned. Haven t you? Who the hell are you? Get out of my kitchen! bellowed Vernon but Lupin remained calm. I think I ve introduced myself before. We warned you at the King Cross station last June that if Harry was mistreated we would find out Vernon turned a deep shade of purple but Harry could see fear mixed with his anger now. The boy got what he deserved, he growled

20 Honestly, man. He had just found out his godfather was alive, would you expect him to sit quietly in his room and wait till morning? That moment Lupin spotted Dudley eyeing the food greedily and pointed his wand at him Oh no laddy. You re fat enough without eating these Dudley at the sight of the wand let out a squeal and ran to hide behind his Mum not achieving too much though. Aunt Petunia was rather bony and Dudley had reached the size of a wardrobe instead of that of a young killer whale he used to have two summers ago. Vernon was ready to say something like: Don t you dare using this abnormality under my roof but he then noticed the look on his wife s face and turned to her. What s the matter with you? he snapped at her but Petunia wasn t looking at him. She was chalk white her eyes stuck on Lupin. Hi-his g-godfather a-alive? What d-do you mean a-alive? Harry looked puzzle from Lupin to his aunt and back to Lupin again. He hadn t told the Dursleys about Sirius. How the heck did his aunt know? He looked at Lupin who had his attention turned to Petunia. Well he said, I mean that we had a very long month believing that Harry s godfather was dead. S-Sirius d-dead? Petunia was making a very good deal of looking shocked and so was Harry. Had his magic-hating aunt just referred to his wizard godfather by his first name? Lupin looked neither confused nor shocked. On the contrary he said looking at Harry s aunt Get a grip on yourself Petunia, he s alive Petunia threw herself on a chair still chalk white, her eyes wide and vacant. Vernon looked furious and Dudley as puzzled as Harry was though with a hint of fright. Would any of you be so kind as to tell what is going on here and why you he said looking at Petunia are so upset because this wacko, murderer godfather of his was believed to be dead? Lupin stared at Vernon his eyes twinkling. Are you sure you want to know Dursley? Vernon grunted and Harry said I suppose that s a yes, Professor

21 Lupin smiled Well, Harry could you bring me your largest basin here? Sure, sir Err... Sir... Can I have a word? Lupin leaned towards Harry. I want to know too, he whispered Lupin stared at him Please? said Harry Well, OK then. Now, bring me the basin" Harry nodded and went upstairs to the bathroom to look for a basin. He found one the size of a small poll where he supposed his aunt Petunia used to bathe Dudley when the tube became too small for him. He turned around to look at the king size Jacuzzi the Dursleys had installed after Dudley s and Harry s fourth birthdays. Amused at the thought of an elephant sized baby Dursley splashing in the basin that could hardly fit him anymore, He took the basin and went downstairs again. He handed the basin to Lupin who swished his wand, all the food gone from the table and placed the basin on it instead, sighed and muttered to himself. This will take longer than I thought He flicked his wand and the basin filled with water and then stood there, his wand raised, his eyes stuck in the basin, his face screwed up with concentration. Lupin remained like this for twelve minutes before suddenly pointing his wand at the basin and roaring. PANSAMENTARO! A flash of purple light struck the water s surface turning it into a silver liquid and understood what Lupin had just created. A pensieve.

22 CHAPTER TWO Memories and discoveries Lupin wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled at Harry who caught a glimpse of the Dursleys. Vernon was very purple at the face, Dudley was trying to hide himself behind a chair and a-still- chalk white Petunia, her face buried in her hands. He turned at Lupin and saw him holding his wand at his forehead and then taking it away, a silver strand hanging from its tip, which he placed it in the water. Harry saw his aunt s face floating in the air. It was a younger Petunia though. It was a twenty-year-old Petunia Evans. Dudley, who now was as chalk white as his mother, watched her face floating for one or two seconds before it became one with the silver stuff in the pensieve. That s it. It s ready. So Be my guest Said Lupin looking at Vernon and pointing at the pensieve. What What am I supposed to do? he asked now looking more horror-struck and worried than angry Hold your breath and put your head in the basin replied Lupin dully andvernon eyed him suspiciously And how do I know that this is safe? Harry stepped forwards his eyes on Lupin Let me do it first Lupin nodded so Harry held his breath and put his head in the pensieve and in an instant he was falling in. He landed in a garden and looked around to find Lupin. As it was his memory he had to be somewhere close. He spotted him sitting under a tree and his stomach gave a pleasant jolt for Lupin was not alone. Lying on the smooth grass with him were Sirius and his parents. Lily and James. Harry watched them in amusement because they were all wearing Muggle clothes and it was the first time he d ever seen them dressed like that and he reckoned that they looked strange but cool. Sirius was wearing black jeans and a t-shirt sporting the logo The Banshees in violet lettering, which Harry supposed was a music band, and black dragon-hide boots similar to those Bill Weasley wore. James was wearing black jeans too and a red and blue checked shirt and trainers while Lily was wearing a knee length dark orchid dress with matching all-star high violet shoes. Remus was wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt. Harry went closer and sat next to his 18-year-old father who said to an 18-year-old Sirius So, where s Sirenia?

23 Her gran s place. Says it s ages since the last time she visited her so she caught the Knight Bus to her house straight after King Cross yesterday. And don t ask me if I miss her Remus grinned and started singing something in French containing a lot of Je t aime and mon amour. Sirius flicked his wand, said Tarantallegra and Remus was standing at once doing a tap dance and singing madly at the top of his voice: Oh mon cherie, Oh mon amour, Oh je t aime, Oh J adore! I want to marry you and have twelve children I want to marry you and live in a farm in Kansas Oh mon petit lapin! You re a fuzzy little wabbit!! He didn t seem willing to stop so Lily got out her wand and swished it Silencio! Remus continued mouthing the song but pointed his wand at his feet and apparently said Finite Incantatem because he could stand properly afterwards. He then went next to Sirius pinched his cheek and burst out laughing though no sound was coming out. Moony, I wonder how you were actually made a prefect said James while lifting the silencing charm Ah, Prongs my friend, it is I who should wonder why you were made Head Boy For my good looks I suppose. And to make me happy. I loved tucking points from Snivellus! The only one who deserved her title was Lily, mates! said Sirius We re not those who will make others behave At this all three boys raised their wands and said, I solemnly swear I m up to no good while Lily was scowling at them disapprovingly. James made a funny face then and she couldn t help laughing Oh, I ll miss Hogwarts she said stretching her legs We ll all miss it Lil, said Remus Err Shall we go inside? It seems it s ready to rain The clouds indeed seemed too heavy and grey so they made their way in the house, Harry on their heels. When they got inside Sirius got in the kitchen saying he needed to drink some water and Harry followed him where he saw a woman at her early fifties sitting at the table knitting something that looked like a pink jumper. Mum, why on earth are you making a wool jumper? It s July, said Lily and Harry blinked. He was looking at his grandmother for the first time ever. Your sister will be going skiing with a friend of hers and she didn t want to go with her old jumper

24 Oh OK. Where s she anyway? Upstairs dear. She s been there all morning OK. Err Mum? Will you send Eileen upstairs when she comes? She said she d drop by Certainly my dear she said smiling. Her front teeth were rather large like Petunia's Thanks. Let s go guys They made their way upstairs Sirius laughing at the pink jumper and Lily got into a big bedroom with two beds. In there was Petunia. When she saw them she scowled and muttered something like Freaks. Nice to see you too, Petunia Sirius said and she blushed and left the room banging the door behind. Now, now Padfoot my friend. I think you hurt her feelings! said James laughing. Lily sat on her bed and spotted some candles on Petunia s bedside table. Ah! My dear sister was messing with magic again! she said and all of them looked at her incredulously. She messes up with a Muggle Form of Divination. Wanna try? Sirius laughed. As if there is magical divination! Only the centaurs do some job nowadays. It s been a long time since real sheers were running on this earth! They laughed at this but Lily insisted This stuff works. Even Muggles can make it work. Fancy-" There was a knock on the door and a voice sang happily It s Eileen! Everybody hid their wands so Harry supposed Eileen must have been a Muggle friend of his Mum s. Come in! called Lily when James had tucked his wand up his sleeve and in got a very beautiful girl at her late teens. Harry stared at her. She was familiar although not in the way Sirius and Remus were. He must have seen her once or twice before and he made a mental note to check if she was in the photo album Hagrid had given to Harry in the end of his first year. Hullo! She said merrily Everything fine?

25 Yeah! Everything s great said Lily We were thinking to use the Wijaboard. Feel like joining? (WARNING!! I know how this stuff works though I never tried it myself. I haven t put down the whole or correct procedure in case someone of you wanted to try it. As a result it is COMPLETELY WRONG and might turn out very badly if it is attempted to summon a spirit- A girl I knew didn t know how to do it properly and Satan answered her calling, she told me this and I believe her- so DON T TRY THIS AT HOME Do not blame me if you do it and then have problems. I warned you. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT speak loudly the words Eileen says to summon the spirit. They re not correct. They won t summon any good spirits I don t know about bad ones as I said I never tried it myself and neither should you) Sure she said and Lily told James, Sirius and Remus to light some candles, turn off the lights and close the shutters. She then took a board from under Petunia s bed and placed it on the floor. It was a board which had the alphabet on it in a row as well as numbers 0-9 and three boxes with Yes, No and I don t know written in them, forming four lines the three of them having ten boxes and the last one nine. Lily told the boys that if anyone wanted to leave they had to send the spirit away first and then stop the game. She handed Eileen a little piece of plastic that looked like a magnifying glass and she told the boys to sit around the board. When they did Eileen placed the glass on the board s centre and said Whoever good spirit from the Elysian Fields want to talk, shall do it now. She put her finger on the cup; Lily did the same, the boys following her moves. Then they started whispering Do it now very fast and suddenly the glass moved by itself and went to Yes Wow! said James This is magic! and he received a sharp pinch in his back by Lily. Come on now James! said Eileen. We all perfectly know that magic doesn t exist Sirius was on the verge of laughter and then Lily talked to the glass Are you a good spirit? Yes Are you sure? Yes Nice. Could you tell us what s your name please? C A L Y P S O Are you able to harm us? No Ok, Could we check you please? said Eileen

26 Yes Can you find the name of one of us here? Yes and then R E M U S The boys looked awestruck. Are you sure girls that you are not moving the glass? Lupin asked Why should we trick you? Eileen asked Come on, ask her something we do not know to see for yourself Remus placed his finger on the glass and said: When did my grandmother died? Lupin looked at the glass in awe. Is this correct? Lily asked Yeah 17th July It was the same day on which I received my OWL err... owl essay results, said Lupin and then James took his turn. How many children will I have? 2 Harry looked at this curiously. Two? Lily asked whom she was going to marry. When the letters wrote J A M E S she blushed so much that one couldn t make out her face from her hair Sirius place his hands on the glass I want to know if I m going to have a long and happy life Yes a pause and then it jumped to No Yes or no? Sirius asked indignantly and to his surprise saw the letters forming the word B O T H Harry knew what this meant. It was 1978 and Sirius had no idea that the two people next to him wouldn t be alive in three years time and that he would spent years in Azkaban for a crime he hadn t committed. Weird he said and Eileen placed her hands on the glass

27 Who is Petunia Evans in love with Everybody including Harry looked at her in surprise. What did you ask that for? Lily asked her. Oh I just thought we could make some fun of her as she always makes fun of us. I wonder why she calls us freaks though. She is the one going around in shocking pink clothes. Everybody laughed at this but then spotted what the glass was writing. S I R I U S B L A C K Sirius yelled WHAT?!?!? and Lupin started singing the French farm thing again. Eileen looked thunderstruck She fancies Sirius and she keeps calling us freaks? It might be her way of showing her love, said James and the glass wrote H E H E H - E Err... Why does she fancy someone like me? Sirius asked S H E W A N T S T O H A V E C H I L D R E N O F Y O U R K I N D Petunia????!?!?!!? asked everybody except Eileen. Lily grabbed the glass and blew at it sending the spirit away and then she opened the shutters to let daylight in the room. What did it mean your kind? Eileen asked Sirius Dunno he replied casually but not looking at her. I suppose it meant physical appearance or behaviour or err... whatever Harry felt someone pulling him back and in a second he was back in the Dursleys kitchen. He looked thunderstruck and motionless at his Aunt who was now perfectly composed but his Uncle was turning a deep shade of purple in the face again and he was glaring at Lupin. Why should I believe this nonsense? How do I know that you didn t create this crazy pool? Lupin shrugged Ask her he said pointing at Petunia. Harry still stood motionless staring at his aunt. Had she pretended all the time that she detested Magic? Was she jealous of Lily being a witch and she wanted her child to be

28 magical too? Was this the reason he had been treated like a bothering insect? He looked at his aunt in the eyes So, you think that a childish whim was a good excuse to make a hell of my life for fifteen years? he asked her quietly You wanted your child to be magical. You were made to keep me and raise me as a son but you were not satisfied but jealous that I wasn t your child therefore I had to suffer. Am I right? AM I RIGHT? Harry roared but Petunia was avoiding his eye YOU VE ALWAYS WANTED A WIZARD FOR A CHILD BUT YOU MADE ME SUFFER. YOU WENT ON FOR AGES ON HOW THIS FAT, BULLYING GIT OF A SON YOU HAVE IS THE FINEST BOY IN THE WORLD BECAUSE YOU WANTED ME TO FEEL USELESS AND HUMILIATED he thundered. No one had ever mentioned this to Harry in real time or in the memory but he somehow knew it the moment he came out of Lupin s pensieve. Vernon pushed Harry and he landed on a chair. I won t have you speaking like this of my family you you ABNORMAL. Petunia surely understood how ludicrous it was to desire a ha, magical child and that s why- " He stopped because Lupin s wand was pointing at his direction once again. You know, as well as I know, Dursley, that your wife would have given anything even now, to have given birth to a wizard or a witch. It has been in her family ages before she was born Harry looked at Lupin in surprise. Lupin nodded at him and he put his hand in his cloak taking out a circular golden thing, looked at it and said: Merlin s beard! I m late! Harry, come on. Let s go upstairs to get my things They went upstairs and by the time Lupin close Harry s bedroom door Harry asked him what he meant that it had been in the family. Well, your great-great-great-grandmother was a witch. Her name was Espelth Regnarg. She got married to an Evans. He was Muggle. They had one child before Espelth died in a Wizard s duel, and he was a squib. As far as I m aware Lily was the first one to be magical in the Evanses and as your grandparents knew about their ancestors this is why they were so happy about her. You were the second magical child, but the first wizard. I don t know if there are any other Evanses that are magical What do you mean other Evanses? There are some Evanses left but as you re not closely-related you had to come here, said Lupin as if he had read Harry s mind Here where duels Lily s blood Harry remembered something he had seen in the pensieve Not even if I had a brother or sister? If I had one couldn t I live where they lived? No Harry. If you had a sibling, she would have James blood too She? Harry asked raising his eyebrows suspiciously.