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Harry Potter and the Secrets He's Kept | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, General, Romance Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Mild Language, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse Rating: R Reviews: 46 Summary: Sequel to Harry Potter and the Secrets Revealed. Harry and friends have rewound time, and gone back to the end of Harry's second year. Harry must now try to change the future without making Dumbledore suspicious, and harder yet, without Voldemort finding out. Hitcount: Story Total: 48275; Chapter Total: 6181 |
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Harry stared out the window of the car on the drive home from Kings Cross. Dudley was trying to keep as far away from him as he could, and Harry was perfectly fine with that. At last they pulled into the driveway of number four. Harry got out of the car and as soon as Uncle Vernon opened the boot, he pulled out his trunk and owl cage. He had decided to let Hedwig fly home from London. It was safer for her than being in the Dursleys’ presence for even a minute. Harry followed the other four into the house, and was about to climb the stairs to his room when Vernon said something. “Boy, your room isn’t up there anymore.” Harry’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t?” Vernon smiled gleefully. “No, it’s back to the cupboard with you! Our Dudley has grown so much that he is in need of a bigger bed, so we’ve decided to turn his second bedroom into a lounge for him to make up for the lack of floor space in his main room.” Harry suddenly had a positively Slytherin idea. “Okay, Uncle Vernon, but I don’t think my godfather will be happy when I tell him about it.” “What godfather? You haven’t got a godfather, Potter,” Dudley said. “Yes, I do. He just got out of prison for murder,” Harry said matter-of-factly. Petunia turned gray. “You won’t tell him a damn thing, boy,” Vernon hissed, his face an odd shade of puce. He grabbed Harry’s arm hard enough to leave a bruise. Harry glared up at his uncle. “Too bad. He’s planning on meeting me at the park whenever he can. If I’m not there, or if I’m hurt, you’ll have a lot of wizards on your doorstep. He made me swear a magical oath that I’d tell him the truth about whatever happens in here.” This, of course, was a total lie. Harry had never even talked to Sirius, and had certainly not promised him anything. Vernon didn’t know that though. He exchanged glances with Petunia. They had no choice now. Petunia sighed in annoyance. “Fine!” she snapped. “The room is yours. We’ll just turn the attic into a suite for our Dudders.” Dudley looked annoyed at the idea of having to climb more stairs. “But, Mum,” he whined, “it’s my bedroom not his. It’s not fair.” Harry thought that Dudley was just pathetic. “Put your things in your room, then get back down here and cook supper,” Petunia ordered. “Fine,” Harry said. “But first thing tomorrow I’m throwing out all of that trash in my room.” He took great delight in calling Dudley’s possessions ‘trash’. Dudley moaned. “It’s my stuff. He can’t throw it away.” Harry smirked. “It’s my room. I’ll compromise with you Dudley.” Dudley looked confused. He obviously didn’t know what a compromise was. “I’m not having your stuff in my room, so I’ll just box it all up and put it in your ‘suite’.” Dudley moaned again, but nothing more was said on the subject. Harry lugged his trunk and Hedwig’s cage upstairs, and opened the window so Hedwig wouldn’t have to wait on him. He went back downstairs to cook supper, which was chicken parmesan. The Dursleys enjoyed it, but Harry had to make do with a small plate of pasta with no sauce. His family was so charitable. - - - Harry happily threw all of Dudley’s old things into boxes the next morning. “Ten points to Potter for a perfect shot into the left hoop from across the pitch,” he said as he threw Dudley’s air rifle across the room. “And he passes the Quaffle to Ginny Weasley without even having to look for her,” he added, tossing the Monopoly set into the box on the right. Harry finally finished around two in the afternoon, and carried all of the boxes up to the dust-filled attic. His stomach growled as he shut the door to the attic, so Harry decided to get some lunch. He pulled out his last bottle of butterbeer, saved from the bonfire, and his last three pumpkin pasties. His aunt hadn’t called him for lunch, and if he went down now for some, she’d get mad. The only things he hadn’t removed from the room were the books. “Hey, Dudley,” he said, sticking his head in his cousin’s room. “Did you want your books in here or upstairs?” Dudley stared at Harry. “Throw them out,” he grunted before turning back to his video game. “Mind if I keep a few?” Harry asked. Dudley grunted, and Harry decided that that was as close to a yes as he was going to get. Harry began to sort through the books. The dictionary and thesaurus he kept. He was sick of having to ask Hermione how to spell certain words. He found some history books that were new; he figured they were issued by Smeltings and Dudley hadn’t bothered to use them for class. He added them to the “keep” pile. He wanted to compare the timelines to the ones in his History of Magic book to see how it all fit together. There was a book called 'Chemistry for Beginners' and another called 'Geology: Science of the Earth'. Again, these were added to the “keep” pile. Harry did however throw away the book on Anatomy. This one looked as though it actually had been used, but when he dropped it, it automatically fell open to the section on the female reproduction system. Harry felt ill. He certainly didn’t want to know that much about his cousin. He tossed into the garbage bag, hoping he would be able to keep his lunch down. He also threw out some old fairytale books, and several books with rather disgusting titles. The covers had pictures of kids eating bugs and dripping with mud. He found a pristine copy of 'The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'. He read the back and was rather impressed. He had to keep it, if only for something to read when he wasn’t outside or doing homework. He threw out some comic books and even a few math books, and then he was done. He lifted the now heavy trash bag and toted it down to the garage. When he got upstairs, he began to put all of his books on the shelves, and hung up his robes in the wardrobe. He also began to sort out his clothes. Hand-me-downs from Dudley were tossed onto the floor, and everything else went into his dresser. The only clothes that weren’t Dudley’s at one point were his underwear, Weasley sweaters, his school shirts, ties, and pants. Harry ruffled his hair with one hand absentmindedly. He needed new clothes. This made him snort. His aunt would let him have new clothes when hell froze over. It was only three, so he dug around in his trunk and found his money bag. When he opened it, a wad of pounds fell into his hand. He had gotten the money at the bank before first year and forgotten about it. Harry stuffed the cash into his pocket and went downstairs. “Aunt Petunia?” he said. “What do you want, boy?” she asked, not bothering to look up from her magazine. Harry shifted his weight nervously. “I’m going out for the afternoon. You needn’t worry about dinner for me; I’ll take care of myself tonight. I’ll be back before nine.” She looked up at last. “Where are you going?” He shrugged. “Just out. Maybe I’ll run into my godfather while I’m gone.” Petunia paled and jerked her head toward the door, giving him permission to leave. Harry dashed outside and began to walk down to the shops. He made it within twenty minutes. Harry supposed that he still walked fast out of habit from avoiding Dudley during his childhood. The bells on the glass door jangled as he entered a store. He had only been here once before to his knowledge. Dudley had soon grown too wide to fit in any of the clothes from this shop. The girl behind the counter paled nervously as Harry began to browse. “I think you’d better leave,” she said. Harry froze and turned to her. “Why?” he asked, genuinely confused. “I’ll call the police,” she said, reaching for the phone. “Again, I ask you… Why?” he stressed the last word. “I’m not about to lose my job because you stole from the store,” she said, as she gave him a dirty look. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, for the love of… Look, lady, I’ve never stolen anything in my life, unless you count scraps of leftovers from my aunt’s fridge when I missed out on dinner. I am fully capable of paying.” She continued glaring at him. “Yeah, right. I know all about you. You go to St. Brutus’s.” Harry groaned. “Not that fairytale again! I don’t go there! I go to a private school up in Scotland, where my parents went!” “Then why would your aunt lie about it?” she said, thinking she had won. “She lied because she was jealous that my mother got to go to a fancy school for gifted students and she didn’t. She lied because she didn’t want anyone to know that I might possibly be smarter than her darling son.” Harry sighed. “Look, I have money,” he pulled a couple of bills out of his pocket. “I am in desperate need of some new clothes, because right now the only things I have are my cousin’s hand-me-downs that never did fit right. If you’re really that scared, I’ll leave and do my shopping in London instead.” “One wrong move and I’m calling the police.” “Deal,” Harry said, knowing full well that she wouldn’t do it. He wasn’t going to do anything that could possibly be construed as criminal. He grabbed some packages of boxers and undershirts and then began to look at regular clothes. He didn’t really know what kids his age wore, so he was just going to have to wing it. Maybe next time he’d bring Ginny and Hermione with him. The girl watched him browse. He looked hopelessly lost. At last he seemed to find something that suited his taste. He pulled a pair of khakis off of a shelf and held them up to determine what size he’d need. Too big, he thought, and pulled the next size smaller off the shelf. Much better. He grabbed three pairs then moved on to the jeans. “Erm, do you mind if I try these on? There are so many different styles.” “Fine,” she said, “but you leave everything else on the counter while you’re in there.” He smiled. “Good idea. I don’t think lugging this stuff all over the place would be much fun. Can I just pile everything I want on the counter?” She nodded. All the better to make sure he doesn’t steal anything. He tried on several styles of jeans before he found a pair he liked. Harry didn’t know why a lot of teens enjoyed wearing their pants around their butts. It looked stupid. His jeans fit him nicely around the waist but weren’t too tight in the legs. They were a bit long but not by much, and as Mrs. Weasley would say, “It’s growing room.” He tossed five pairs onto the counter in various shades of blue. He picked out several shorts in denim and khaki and then moved on to the shirts. Harry just couldn’t seem to find anything he liked. They either had stupid sayings or had pictures on them that would make no sense to the average wizard. He finally decided to get a bunch of plain tee-shirts in various colors, and matching button down shirts to wear over them. He even found a couple of pullover sweaters that were on sale because they were left over from the winter. Harry also picked out three different tracksuits to wear when he started exercising, several sweatshirts, three sets of pajama pants, and a new robe. He figured he could wear his undershirts with the pajama pants. Harry also, at the last minute, grabbed several packages of socks and a leather wallet. The girl rang him up, looking doubtful when she told him the total, however it didn’t even come to half of the amount he had with him. He left that store and wandered down the road to the shoe store. His current trainers were, quite literally, falling apart. Harry wound up buying two pairs of trainers (one pair for exercise) and a pair of dress shoes. His stomach growled as he left the shoe store, so he decided to stop at a restaurant he had passed on his way there. Harry sat down at a booth in the diner that would not have looked out of place in the 1950s. He ordered some tea and a roast beef dinner, and sat back to relax until he had to leave to go home. He got home twenty minutes before nine and was promptly accosted by his Uncle Vernon. “Boy! Where did you get the money for all that stuff?” Vernon indicated the shopping bags that Harry was carrying. Harry glared at him. “My godfather gave me the money for them. He said he was sick of seeing me in rags that weren’t fit for even the dustbin.” Vernon paled, and Harry stormed upstairs. A minute later, Harry had carted all of Dudley’s old clothes down to the trash can. He hurried back upstairs to remove the tags from all of his new clothes, and to fold them and put them away. Just before he climbed into bed he got an owl from the Quibbler. He quickly filled out the form and sent it out with the required money. - - - The next morning Harry got up excited. He would be meeting Remus Lupin later today. Harry hurridly dressed in a tracksuit and dashed downstairs to cook breakfast for the Dursleys. He decided to start jogging every morning to get into better shape. Today he managed two miles before he was too tired to continue, but he felt it wasn’t a bad start. Harry decided to get some breakfast at the same restaurant from the night before. He was lucky he had thought to put some money in his pocket before he left the house that morning. After eating, he hurried home to shower and get ready to meet his father’s friend. Harry showered quickly and got dressed in a new pair of khakis and his green tee-shirt and threw on a black button down over it. He also put on his second pair of trainers which were black. He tucked his wand inside his right sleeve, tucked his letter from himself into his pocket, and grabbed the Sherlock Holmes book before going downstairs. “Aunt Petunia, I’m heading down to the park for most of the day, I’ll probably be getting my own lunch again, alright,” he said. She turned to look at him, and her eyes went wide. “Fine,” she said somewhat distractedly. Harry wasn’t sure why she had looked at him like that, but he thought it best to ignore it. He hurried out the door and began to walk down the street. When he arrived at the park, he wandered over to the picnic tables where a few mothers sat watching their children play. Harry sat at one table, facing away from the women, and began to read. He was halfway through 'A Study in Scarlet' when he heard someone clear their throat. His head shot up and he saw two men standing about ten feet in front of him. He recognized Remus Lupin right away, but wasn’t sure who the other man was. “Hi,” Harry said, smiling at the men as he shut his book. “Hello, you might remember me from the trial,” Remus said. “Yeah, of course I do, Mr. Lupin,” Harry replied. “Please sit down.” “Sure, and please call me Remus, Mr. Lupin just makes me feel old,” he said as he sat down on one side of Harry. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought Sirius with me. He was begging to meet you.” Harry looked closer at the other man. Sure enough, he was the same man who had just been released from Azkaban. Sirius had gained some weight and his hair had been cut, making him look years younger. “H-hi, Sirius,” Harry said in little more than a whisper. He could hardly believe that his godfather was standing right in front of him. “Hi, Harry,” Sirius said, smiling at the younger version of James. “I’m sorry that I didn’t notice you at the trial.” A look of shame crossed his face. “I could hardly blame you for that,” Harry said. “You were a little distracted from just having been released from prison and seeing the traitorous rat again.” Sirius shrugged a little and sat down on Harry’s other side. Harry turned to Remus and said, “I suppose you’d like to read my letter now.” “Yes, please,” Remus replied. Sirius suddenly asked, “Why didn’t I rewind time with you?” “I don’t know. I guess you were still in Azkaban or something,” Harry said, frowning as he thought about it. The trio sat in silence while Remus finished reading the letter. “Harry, I really think Sirius ought to read this,” he said when he was done. “Okay.” Harry took it from him and handed it to his godfather. Sirius tensed suddenly when he was about halfway through the letter. “You are to the Dursleys what a house-elf is to the Malfoys?” he asked tersely. Harry blushed and stared at the ground as he nodded. Sirius exchanged an angry look with Remus. “James would never forgive us…” he began. “You have a plan?” Remus asked. Sirius’ eyes sparkled with mischief. “Hell, yes.” Harry looked up and glanced from one to the other, looking confused. “What’s going on?” Sirius grinned at him. “Let’s start by going to Gringotts, then we’ll bring you back here to pack, and we’ll all be gone by nightfall.” Harry still looked confused but said, “Okay.” “Is there anywhere we can go where no one will see us,” Remus asked. “Yeah, there’s an alley between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk,” Harry said. “Lead the way,” Sirius said, standing. As soon as they were in the alley, Sirius began to explain the plan. “You know how this letter said that I’m your godfather and have the right to take you from the Dursleys.” “Yeah,” Harry said. “Well, Dumbledore has the power to make that difficult, unless we do it in such a way that he won’t know anything about it until it’s too late.” Harry nodded to show that he understood. “We have to go to Gringotts so I can become Head of the Black family,” at Harry’s confused look, Sirius added, “So I can take control of the family vaults to keep my Death Eater cousins from accessing them. Then I can authorize you to become Head of the Potter family, which means…” Remus finished for him, “You’ll have control of your properties and finances, and you’ll be emancipated.” Harry grinned. “Which means no restriction for underage wizardry.” “Exactly,” Sirius said, beaming. “Well, what are we waiting for?!” Harry exclaimed. The two remaining Marauders exchanged a look of pride. Sirius said, “Come here, Harry, and hold onto my arm. We’re going to Apparate.” “Apparate?” Harry asked in confusion “Yes, we’re going to disappear from this spot and appear in one in London in less than a second,” he explained. Harry’s eyes widened. “I’ve done that before.” “You have?” Remus asked in shock. Harry nodded. “By accident when I was in primary school. Dudley and his gang were chasing me to beat me up, and the next thing I knew, I was on the roof of the school kitchens.” “Wow!” Sirius said in awe. Harry grabbed onto Sirius’ arm and the three of them disappeared, only to reappear behind the Leaky Cauldron. They hurried through Diagon Alley and avoided three giggling witches, eight wizards, a hag, and someone that Sirius referred to as 'Dung'. The two men and Harry entered the bank, walking quickly past the Goblin guards who Harry smiled at. Sirius walked up to an available Goblin and said, “I’m here to claim my position as Head of the Black family.” “Griphook!” the Goblin called out. “Hi, Griphook! It’s good to see you again,” Harry said, smiling at the Goblin he had met his first time in the bank. The two men and the Goblins all stared at Harry. “You as well, Mr. Potter,” Griphook replied after he got over the shock. “Follow me.” They followed him down a wide marble corridor and into a large room. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back,” Griphook said, leaving the room. When he returned, he walked up to Sirius and said, “Do you accept the rights and responsibilities of Head of the Black Family?” “I do,” Sirius said. Griphook handed him a gold ring with a large black stone in it. It had a crest of a rearing Unicorn. “Your inheritance includes the Black family vault, which holds eight million six hundred and fifty two Galleons and one Knut. There are no investments at the current time. In addition, you also have inherited the Black family home at number twelve Grimmauld Place,” Griphook explained. “Sign here to show that you have been informed of your inheritance.” Sirius signed the parchment on the line indicated. “Do you have any other business you wish to attend to at this time?” the Goblin asked. “Yes,” Sirius said. “I would like to adopt Harry James Potter as my heir.” “I anticipated this,” Griphook said. “Sign here, Lord Black. Then you may sign here, Mr. Potter. Would you like your name to change to reflect this adoption, Mr. Potter?” “What would my name change to?” Harry asked. “Either Harry James Potter-Black, or Harry James Black. On this line, you should sign whichever name you want.” Harry looked up at his godfather for advice. Sirius raised his hands up, and said, “Don’t look at me, Harry. It’s your choice.” Harry signed his name and showed it to both men, then handed the paper to Griphook. “Do you have any other business, Lord Black?” Sirius nodded. “As the godfather of Harry James Potter-Black, I hereby authorize him to receive the Potter-Gryffindor signet ring.” Griphook sighed. “I am sorry to inform you that in your absence Albus Dumbledore was assigned control of Mr. Potter-Black’s affairs until such time as he is legally able to take control himself. So, unless you can prove Mr. Dumbledore's negligence of the accounts, control must remain with him.” “What would it take to prove negligence?” Harry asked. “Intentional poor investment choices, or using your gold for purchase that weren’t for you,” the Goblin explained. “Can I get a copy of my bank statements for the past eleven years?” Harry asked. “Yes, I’ll be right back,” Griphook left the room and returned a moment later with a ledger. Sirius began to read them over. “The only investment that Dumbledore made personally was to Fudge’s campaign fund.” Griphook grinned. “Lord Black, due to Mr. Dumbledore’s gross negligence of the accounts of Harry James Potter-Black, I hereby hand over control of his affairs to you, his rightful guardian.” “What gross negligence?” Remus asked. “Supporting Minister Fudge WAS gross negligence in my opinion,” the Goblin said, grinning evilly, a scary sight indeed. Sirius and Remus grinned back. “We quite agree,” Sirius said. “Well... NOW, as the godfather of Harry James Potter-Black, I hereby authorize him to receive the Potter-Gryffindor signet ring.” “So be it. Mr. Potter, do you accept the rights and responsibilities of Head of the Potter-Gryffindor Family?” “Yes,” Harry said, as he accepted the signet ring. He slid onto his right hand ring finger. “You have inherited both the Potter family vault and Gryffindor’s vault. You already have access to your trust fund vault. You have three properties... the cottage at Godric’s Hollow in Scotland, which has been rebuilt as per your grandfather’s agreement with us; Gryffindor Castle in Scotland; and Potter Manor in northern England. In addition, your grandfather invested in The Daily Prophet, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, and Baggin’s Bookshop in Hogsmeade. Your father invested in the Firebolt Company, Zonko’s Joke Shop, and Gambol & Japes Joke Shop,” Griphook explained. “All investments are doing well at this time. Sign here to show that you have been informed of your inheritance.” Harry signed and asked, “Did my dad know the owners of either joke shop?” “No,” Sirius said. “He didn’t. Why?” “Oh, good. I want to withdraw my investments in them please,” Harry told Griphook. “One moment please.” Griphook left the room. “Sacrilege!” Sirius declared. “Removing investments from jokes! You’re insane!” Harry grinned. “Wait for it,” he said. “Wait for what?” the incredulous Marauder asked. Griphook returned. “Sign here to withdraw your investments in the joke shops.” Harry did. “Excellent! Now I would like you to invest that money in a new account which I would like for you to set up for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The only people allowed access to the account would be myself, and Fred and George Weasley,” Harry explained. “One moment please.” Griphook left the room again, leaving Harry with the two gobsmacked Marauders. They now understood that Harry was investing in a new joke shop, and was obviously a full partner since he had access to the account. “Sign here,” the Goblin said when he returned. “I will inform Mr. and Mr. Weasley about the account.” “Thank you,” Harry said. “Would you mind if I had a moment alone with my godfather and our friend?” “Not a problem. I need to file these anyway. I shall return in a half hour.” When Griphook was gone, Harry turned to Sirius. “I need you to make sure that nothing leaves this room or enters it, Sirius,” Harry said. Sirius warded the room and said, “What’s up Harry?” “Do you trust me?” “Yes. Why?” he asked. Harry sighed with relief. “I’m about to do something that will seem a little crazy, so bear with me.” He paused for a moment. “Rita, you little beetle, turn to human form. NOW!” Both Marauders looked a little nervous. A small beetle fluttered out of the folds of Sirius’ robes and transformed in to a blonde woman who wore way too much makeup. “How did you know it was me?” she asked Harry, who smirked. “I saw you land on Sirius while we were walking through Diagon Alley. I had been tipped off about your spying form.” “Hmph. What do you want?” she asked. “It’s simple. I’m going to forget all about your being a beetle.” Harry grinned. “I’ll make a deal with you. You’ll be the only reporter I’ll ever talk to, and you will only write what I approve of. Otherwise, I’ll make this deal with a different reporter.” Rita seemed to be thinking about the pros and cons of this deal. “I want my first interview with you tonight,” she said at last. Harry narrowed his eyes. “I have one condition. You only print it when I say you can. Say…next Saturday?” She groaned. “Fine.” “Excellent,” Harry said. “I’ll meet you at the park in Little Whinging, Surrey at seven. Oh, and Rita, one other thing…” “Yes?” “Register yourself as a new animagus or the deal is off.” She bristled. “By tomorrow night,” Harry added. “I have no desire to be charged as an accomplice to an illegal activity simply because I know your secret.” “Fine,” she snapped. As she transformed, Sirius lowered the wards so she could slip through the keyhole in the door. He raised the wards again and asked, “What the hell are you thinking?” Harry sighed. “Better to have control over what the media says about me, than to have them print lies to sell more papers.” “True,” Sirius said, “but still, Skeeter?” Harry shrugged. “I had dirt on her. That’s more than I can say about anyone else. Besides, she owes me now.” “I guess,” Sirius muttered, and nothing more was said on the matter. After Griphook returned, they traveled down to their vaults, and Harry was able to read letters from his parents for the first time. He also took a sip of the learning potion, but decided to leave it and his mother’s engagement ring there for the time being. Harry also read the list of people who were allowed access to his homes, and changed it to allow only the time-travelers and Sirius. The last thing he wanted was an unexpected visitor. Harry, upon searching the vault, found a seven compartment Auror trunk that was empty. “Hey, why don’t we load up some of these books in the trunk,” he suggested to the two men. Remus happily began to search the shelves for some rare books that could be useful in the future. He found 'Moste Potente Potions', 'Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes', 'An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms', 'The Invisible Book of Invisibility' (which only remained invisible when closed), 'A Guide To Medieval Sorcery', and 'The Dark Arts Outsmarted'. Sirius was ecstatic to find 'The Marauders’ Book of Pranks', and 'The Marauders’ Guide to Becoming an Animagus'. Harry made Sirius promise to teach him from it during the summer. Harry, however, was the one to find Lily’s journals, which he was not ashamed to admit crying over. After that, they went to the Black family vault, where Sirius asked Griphook to destroy anything that had Dark Magic on it. After haggling, the Goblin agreed to have it done for the sum of one hundred Galleons. While there, Sirius removed Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco from the access list. He even closed down Draco’s Black family trust fund vault. Draco would still have the Malfoy one, but it would annoy the Malfoys, which was excellent motivation for Sirius to do it. The only members of the Black family that retained access were Sirius, Andromeda, Nymphadora, and Harry. They took another wild cart ride down to the Gryffindor vault, which Harry opened without being asked a security question. This astounded Griphook, who told them that the vault always asked questions unless the person had been there before and was allowed to enter. As soon as the door shut behind the two Marauders and Harry, someone spoke. “I’m glad to see that you were able to rewind time, Mr. Potter.” Harry looked up and saw a portrait of a man who looked like him but with brown eyes and neat hair. “Who are you?” Harry asked. The man smiled. “Godric Gryffindor at your service. We have met before this, though you do not remember it. You were nearly sixteen at the time.” Remus and Sirius stared in shock. If either of them had any doubts that the letters were real, the portrait just destroyed them. “Sir,” Harry asked, “Do you have any advice for me?” “Indeed I do,” Godric said. “As you know, you own my old home, Gryffindor Castle in Scotland. You could go there, but I would suggest instead that you go to Potter Manor. You should use the castle as a last resort for now. As soon as you are at the manor, you should call Seneca, your Phoenix, to you. You were bound to him in the future, and the bond remains. He will only answer to you and Ginny, as she is also bound to him.” “Alright,” Harry said, a little overwhelmed by all this. “Would you like me to bring your portrait to Potter Manor with me?” “Yes, please,” Godric said, smiling happily. “I would very much like to see it.” Sirius pulled the trunk out of his pocket and opened it to a compartment that was the size of the Dursleys’ house. Remus climbed in with the portrait and hung it on one of the walls using a sticking charm. - - - The three quickly returned to Privet Drive where Harry packed his trunk. It really didn’t take long as he already knew where everything was. The Dursleys were out, so Sirius left a note saying that Harry would no longer be living there. Then, Harry took the men to the same restaurant from before, where they had dinner. Sirius absolutely loved the Coke he ordered, and Remus had a good laugh at his expense when he started burping uncontrollably. Harry suspected that Remus helped the burping last by using a charm on Sirius, but he had no proof. All too soon for Harry’s taste, it was time to meet Rita Skeeter. They found her already waiting for them, albeit impatiently. She was seated at one of the picnic tables in the park and was watching the children on the swings with distaste. “I’m glad you didn’t decide to skip out on me,” Rita said. “Shall we begin,” she added in a far more cheerful tone of voice, and pulled out a vibrant green quill. “Take the notes by hand,” Sirius ordered. “Excuse me?” she asked. “You heard me,” he said. “That’s a Quick-Quotes Quill, and I won’t let you use it for the interview.” “Fine,” she snapped, and replaced it in her big shiny red bag. Instead, she pulled out a plain eagle feather quill and opened a bottle of ink. She placed her quill above a piece of parchment. “So, Mr. Potter,” she began, “tell me about your childhood.” “Well,” Harry said, his eyes glazing over with memories. “The important thing to remember is that there are good Muggles and bad Muggles, just as there are good wizards and bad ones.” Her quill dashed across the parchment, as she wrote word-for-word what he said. “My aunt and her family are the bad kind.” She paused in shock, and then hurried to write that down. Harry continued, “Up until I started school, I didn’t know what my name was. I thought it was 'Boy' or 'Freak'.” Sirius looked furious. “I lived in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter. That’s when my family thought they might be being watched, so they gave me Dudley’s second bedroom.” “Did you say ‘second bedroom’,” Rita asked incredulously. “Yeah,” Harry said. “His first bedroom was where he slept and kept most of his things, but his second bedroom was where he kept all of his broken toys and books, not that he ever read any of them.” She nodded as she continued to scribble. “My aunt worked me like a house-elf most of the time. ‘Work for your keep, you ungrateful brat,’ she’d say. I learned to cook by the time I was five. I could garden like a professional when I was three, and I did almost all of the cleaning. The only time I wasn’t working was when I was locked in my cupboard.” Harry paused so Rita could catch up then continued, “And on the occasions where I’d do accidental magic, I’d be locked in my cupboard without food for days at a time. Or if Uncle Vernon was in a really bad mood, he’d beat me up. Then I’d get in even more trouble for healing faster than I should’ve. I lost track of the number of broken bones I had before I was ten.” Rita finished writing this down then asked, “So what kind of accidental magic did you do... besides healing yourself of course?” “Oh. I once turned my teacher's wig blue, shrank a hideously ugly sweater that my aunt tried to force me to wear, and I even Apparated onto the roof of my primary school’s kitchens. My cousin and his gang were chasing me, and the next thing I knew, I was up there.” “Really,” she said, as she scribbled. “What do you remember about your parents?” “Not much,” Harry said, shredding a leaf that had blown onto the table. “I remember my Mum being murdered.” Sirius and Remus gasped. “What happened,” Rita asked. “Voldemort,” Rita flinched, but Harry ignored her, “told her to step aside. He wanted to kill me, but she could’ve lived. She refused, then there was a green flash of light, and he was laughing. His laugh was high and shrill, like something out of a horror film.” “Do you remember anything else about your parents?” “Sometimes,” Harry said, “I can almost smell her perfume. Light and flowery. And I can almost remember my dad’s laugh; he did that a lot you know... laugh. I remember my mum’s chocolate biscuits. They were the best. And my dad used to pick me up under my arms and pretend that I was flying. That’s it though.” Rita rushed to get that all down. “I noticed that you said You-know-who’s name, aren’t you scared?” “No, I’ve faced him three times and lived, why should I fear him? Besides, Dumbledore says that fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. I think everyone should call him by his name. No more of that You-know-who stuff. If people aren’t comfortable with calling him Voldemort, then they should call him ‘Tom’. That’s his real name you know, ‘Tom Marvolo Riddle’. He just rearranged the letters to come up with ‘I am Lord Voldemort’. Stupid isn’t it?” She wrote that down, her eyes wide with shock. “Now that your godfather is free, will you go to live with him?” “It’s what my parents wanted, and he wants me, so yeah! It beats living with the Dursleys.” Harry grinned at his godfather, who ruffled his hair in response. “Tell me about Hogwarts, what do you think about it?” “Hogwarts,” Harry said, his eyes sparkling with joy. “It’s my first real home. I belong there, in the magical world. I belong in a way I never knew was possible. I have friends there too. I never had any before, because Dudley would beat up anyone who was nice to me.” “Tell me about your friends,” she said, dipping her quill in the ink. “Well, there’s Hagrid, my first friend ever. He bought me my owl, Hedwig.” “Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts?” “Yeah,” Harry said, grinning widely. “He took me shopping for my school supplies and bought me some ice cream at Florean Fortescue's.” “What about people your own age?” she asked. “Ron Weasley and I became friends on the train to Hogwarts. He taught me about Quidditch, and told me about Chocolate Frog cards and stuff like that. It’s great. Then there’s Hermione. She’s the smartest in our year, and she’s always pushing me and Ron to study more. She’s like — like my older sister or something. Always trying to take care of me. It’s a great feeling.” Harry grinned, “Then there’s the twins, Fred and George Weasley. When the whole school thought that I was the Heir of Slytherin,” Harry laughed at that, “they made fun of it, made me feel better. Like there were at least some people who knew I would never hurt anyone.” He waited for her to catch up again. “And now there’s even Ginny Weasley. She’s brilliant, as smart as Hermione, and as funny as the twins, and as loyal as Ron. I probably spent all of my time after classes ended this past term, just hanging out by the lake with her.” Rita looked up. “Do you have more friends?” “Oh, yeah! There’s Neville Longbottom. He’s really nice. In fact, he’s even been teaching me about the different things that I have to know for when I come of age. You know, laws and things about finances. He knows a lot about it too. And there’s also Luna Lovegood. I really hate it when people tease her. She’s awfully kind; different, yes, but that’s part of what I like about her. She’s refreshing; she gives everything a different perspective.” Rita continued writing. “You’re also the youngest Quidditch player in a century, yes?” “That’s what Professor McGonagall said,” Harry confirmed. “Wood, my Quidditch captain, makes us train really hard. He really wants to win the Quidditch Cup before he graduates next year, and I for one am going to work my hardest to help him get it. He’s good enough to play professionally, I reckon. And we have three amazing chasers on our team: Katie, Angelina and Alicia. They can practically read each other’s minds, they’re that good. And I honestly believe that Fred and George, who are our Beaters, CAN read each other’s minds.” She nodded. “As soon as I leave the ground and start flying, I just feel amazing. The first time I got in the air, it was as though I’d been waiting for it all my life. I feel at peace, you know. It’s even better when I’m chasing the Snitch. Forget the other players, or even the other Seeker. It’s just me and that tiny gold ball. Everything else fades away.” “What do you think about your Professors?” “Well, Professor McGonagall is strict but fair. She seems really tough, but you can just tell that she really does care about her students. Professor Flitwick is a blast. He’s so cheerful, and he makes Charms fun. Every class with him is interesting. Professor Snape tends to favor Slytherin, but that’s not as bad as it seems. A lot of the time, it feels like it’s the rest of the school against the Slytherins and that’s not fair to them. Professor Sprout is nice, and she takes her teaching seriously. The other Professors are okay. As for the Headmaster, though, he’s not bad. I just really have issues with him knowing about my relatives’ abuse but still making me come back during the summer. Madam Pomfrey, the Healer at school, is awesome though. I really trust her, which is good because I tend to wind up in Hospital Wing a lot.” Harry laughed a little. Rita smiled, and said, “I understand that you have had two Defense Professors so far. What did you think about them?” “Well, Quirrell had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head, so I really didn’t like him. He tried to kill me too. If it weren’t for my mother’s blood protection, I’d probably be dead. And Lockhart was terrible; he was a complete fraud. Our first class with him, he gave us a test on his books. It had questions about his favorite color and his Christmas wish, but nothing about defense. He confessed to me and my friend Ron that he interviewed other people and wrote about their accomplishments, making them seem like his own. The reason no one ever came forward about it was because he Obliviated them all. He tried to Obliviate us too, but he was using Ron’s broken wand, and the spell backfired, erasing his memories instead. Poetic justice if you ask me.” Rita looked as though Christmas had come early. “Given everything you’ve been through at Hogwarts, do you feel safe there?” she asked. Harry grinned sadly. “I don’t really feel safe anywhere. I mean, the person who betrayed my parents was living as a rat in my friend Ron’s house. I was nearly murdered by a Professor, and another one tried to erase my memories. I don’t trust the Headmaster, because what kind of a person would make a child live with people who abuse him. I trust my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, my godfather Sirius, Remus Lupin, Hagrid, and Professor McGonagall. I don’t really trust anyone else, because I either don’t know them well enough, or they’ve betrayed me in some way.” Harry paused. “Actually, I also trust Madam Bones. She seems really smart, and she truly wants to see justice done. And I also trust Griphook, a Goblin at Gringotts…” Rita stared in shock. “…Dobby, the house-elf who saved my life; and also Firenze, a Centaur who saved my life.” “Really?” she asked. “But they’re not human.” “So what?” Harry said. “Griphook knows a lot about finances, and I know I can trust him with mine. Firenze saved me from being attacked by Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest, and Dobby warned me that someone was going to do something at Hogwarts this past year. What does it matter that they aren’t human?” Rita stared. “You do know that Mr. Lupin is a werewolf, don’t you?” “Really,” Harry asked him. Remus blushed and nodded. “Oh. So what? He’s only a werewolf during the full moon, and I know him enough to know that he’d lock himself up during those times, so he’s not a risk. It isn’t his fault he was bitten,” Harry said, shrugging. Rita hurriedly wrote that all down. “Do you have anything else you’d like to add?” she asked as she flexed her sore hand. “Not that I’m aware of,” Harry said. “Great!” she said, cheerfully folding up her parchment. “I’ll write the article and send it to you for approval, probably sometime tomorrow. That way it will be ready for the Saturday edition.” “Great!” Harry said. “It was nice meeting you, Ms. Skeeter, and I look forward to working with you some more.” They shook hands, and she turned and shook Sirius’ hand then Remus’. “Perhaps I could interview you sometime, Mr. Black?” she asked flirtatiously. “I’ll think about it,” he replied. “Excellent,” she said, beaming. “This article is going to be a front pager, I’m certain of it. Ta!” she said, walking away. |
| Reviews 46 |
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