A.N: All the characters used in this story belong to JKR.
Thanks to Jui (FGHermione) for her amazing work as always.
|
Harry Potter And The Broken Wizard | ||||||
|
Category: Pre-OotP, Post-OotP, Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, General, Tragedy Warnings: Death, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 14 Summary: Harry's past is slowly breaking him, with the resurrection of Voldemort the future looks even more dark. Will Harry succumb or will help come from friends he never expected to have? Sirius dead in third year. Neville is the BWL. Voldemort didn't keep all his hopes on just Horcruxes. How will our heroes solve this new mystery? h/g r/hr Hitcount: Story Total: 4379; Chapter Total: 521 Author's Notes: |
Previous |
|
||||
|
__________________________________ CHAPTER 6 After changing into some black jeans and a white button-up shirt, Harry read the letter which Dobby had placed in his special trunk, which for all intents and purposes looked like a regular school trunk. The letter was from Gerald Smythwick. His family had a business for a long time in magical stones, and he sold a good variety of stones for anchors as well as jewellery. He had contacted Harry and Remus, who were currently anonymous to him, a week earlier to get back his family heirloom- a necklace containing some very valuable stones --from Borgin and Burkes. Smythiwick had claimed that Borgin had cheated his father and stolen that artefact from him, and he was pretty sure that it was still in the shop. His father had imparted this fact to him in his dying hours and now Mr Smythwick wanted to have his heirloom where it belonged, but he also knew that it was not that simple since Borgin and Burkes was well known for its affiliation with dark artefacts. After hearing the reputation of the Black Eagles- Harry still couldn't understand how people came up with those ridiculous names- so he had contacted Harry and Remus for help. Harry and Remus had started doing these freelance works in the summer after his third year, mainly to escape the gaping hole in their hearts left by Sirius and also to owe debts from people to redeem them at the right time as they knew Voldemort would definitely come back one day. It had also helped to provide Remus with some financial help. After checking for any tracking spells, they found that the letter delivered today by was simply Smythwick accepting their request for some stones required for anchoring spells. Harry and Remus were going to steal the necklace today after three days of planning, whose result was not a great plan, but they were good at improvising the plan as they went. Harry went downstairs, expecting Remus to be waiting downstairs but was surprised to hear what appeared to be squeals of delight from the room which was silent from his argument with Moody not long ago. Upon opening the door Harry understood the reason for the squeals he heard. Hermione's face was aglow with happiness, and she appeared to be holding a badge, a prefect badge to be exact. Harry had totally forgotten about the letters Dumbledore brought with him and it looked like he had also forgotten that fifth years were made prefects. So, he wasn't surprised to see Ron holding a similar badge. Mrs Weasley too looked very happy that there was another prefect in the family, but the twins looked appalled about that. Ron himself resembled a troll who had gotten hit with his own club. Ginny, Tonks and Remus were looking amused at what was happening. "Looks like congratulations are in order," said Harry, startling them. Ron's ears turned pink and Hermione blushed herself, but was looking quite happy, which he didn't understand much as everyone in Gryffindor Tower and outside had always known she was going to be a prefect. "Harry, could I please borrow Hedwig? I need to inform my parents about this,” said Hermione. "Of course, just praise her a little and that will get her to do your work easily. She likes being praised," Harry said, his lips twitching upwards at the image of Hedwig preening under the praise. Hermione immediately dashed out of the room and Harry took his own letter and opened it, more out of a habit than anything else. Opening the letter gave him a semblance of something normal. It gave the feeling of welcome only a home ever gives. And Hogwarts was his only home. "Alright, there Harry?" Tonks asked, looking slightly concerned. Everyone else was looking too, probably thinking I'm feeling sad for not being a prefect, which was far from the truth. Harry didn't need any responsibilities and he would have returned any badge they might have given him, which he knew wouldn't happen anyway. "Never better," Harry replied. “Ready, Remus?" "Yes Harry, let's go," said Remus, who looked like he understood what Harry was feeling while opening the letter. "Where are you going?" asked Mrs Weasley. "Nothing to worry, Molly, just some small work, and we will be home by the time of the party for our new prefects," said Remus. Harry could remember a time when he had had to convince Remus to let him work with him and warning him that he would do the work himself if Remus declined. ____________________ The Leaky Cauldron was bustling with people who had to have some late lunch before returning to their work. Harry and Remus were chatting to calm their nerves before they went to Knockturn Alley. "Where do you think Dumbledore kept the books he took from the headquarters?" asked Harry. "Mostly in his office, very tightly secured. Don't even try to think about trying to get into his office and snoop around. You don't want him to think you are interested in them, though I think he trusts you very much, he has a huge responsibility on him and a doubt that someone as powerful as you dabbling in dark arts will do you no good," warned Remus. Poor Remus doesn't know what all you know, said his inner voice, Harry didn't know how one could be so against oneself this much. "So, you aren't afraid that I will go the wrong way?" Harry said. He didn't know what made him ask that, but he wanted to know the answer. "I trust you, Harry, I know you enough to know that you are not evil. We all will stray our path at times, Harry, it's finding our way back that defines us, and we will need help in doing that," said Remus. Harry knew what Remus was implying, but thankfully he changed that track, most possibly to avoid those thoughts before the task they were about to do. "So, how is the animagus practice going?" asked Remus. "Not great, it's been difficult to concentrate on remaining in the form and keeping my senses," said Harry, who was frustrated by the lack of progress. "Don't become irritated. It takes time and patience. Becoming an animagus form with a single animal is hard enough, you are practising for the second one Harry. Only a few people even have two animagus forms and even few have managed to achieve it," said Remus patiently. He was used to his complaining about the lack of results. "I know. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating." Indeed, Harry remembered, not just from Remus but from Sirius too. "Having two animagus forms is rare but not very much, but accomplishing the transformation is very rare Harry. Only a few people were known to have succeeded in it," said Sirius. " Becoming an Animagus is very hard because you need a lot of willpower to do it. You have to delve deep inside your mind and contact your animal form, Harry. It represents you, Harry, not your power. The fact that you have two forms represents your complex nature, Harry, it doesn't indicate your power, maybe a bit but that's all. Because there are many powerful wizards and witches who have only one animagus form. You can take McGonagall as an example. She is a powerful witch with a cat animagus. It is not a representation of her power." "So, what should I do next?" asked Harry, barely containing his enthusiasm. "I want you to contact your forms daily before you fall asleep. You remember how to do it, right? Concentrate on the hawk form first; it will be the easier one. And don't try to join your minds before I tell you, you have to have a firm grip on your mind, or you would be stuck in the animal's mind inside your mind. And don't try the transformation too, just because you want it to happen fast, the results would be disastrous. And bring me the ingredients for the trance-inducing potion too. One more attempt with the help of the potion will give you a better idea of doing it yourself." Remus just smiled and stood up and started towards the entrance towards Diagon Alley and Harry followed him. Remus and Harry both drew the hoods of their robes above them and did a notice-me-not charm to their faces. "Do you remember the plan?" "Yes, I do Remus, now open your robe." After ensuring that no one was watching them, Remus opened his robes and Harry quickly disillusioned himself and turned into his Hawk form, whose dark feathers and bright green eyes were hidden under the disillusionment charm. Remus liked to call this animagus form Blitz. He went inside Remus robe pocket, which was charmed to not show any bulge outside of it. Remus then stepped into the dark and dingy Knockturn Alley, keeping his head down and moving briskly and purposefully. His black robe also helped in mixing with the people there. A tinkling sound indicated Remus entering the shop. The owner, a stooping man appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair, "How may I help you sir?" his voice had an oily texture to it. Remus leaned on the counter and adjusted his robe to open a bit to allow Blitz to come out of his pocket without Borgin being aware of it. "I have been recommended by some friends of mine that I will get some items here that I would not get as easily elsewhere," said Remus deepening his voice and making it sharp, appearing as sinister as the things in the shop. Blitz could see the shop now; it was a dusty place with a stone fireplace. Evil-looking masks were leering down and a withered hand, a dark cabinet and some sinister-looking objects. There was another door that was slightly ajar and looked like a storeroom. "It depends upon what you need and how much money you can afford to spend. So, what are you searching for, sir?" Borgin said in the same oily voice "Money is no problem, I have plenty of it and know plenty well how to handle it. I am looking for objects, you see, that look innocent enough. But looks are not everything, are they?" said Remus, sounding as though he had been in many dealings like this. He then patted his other robe pocket with the galleons causing a clinking sound and assuring Borgin that he indeed had a good sum on him. Borgin asked Remus to follow him and led him to the back door to the storeroom. Borgin then took out his wand and then tapped the door and muttered something indistinguishable, then turned towards Remus and said in a warning tone, "If you have purchased any items from me, then the moment you step out of the door, you have never bought anything from me, understood? If not, I'm sure you wouldn't like the consequences. If you agree to that, we will have a good business." "Of course, I have never bought anything from you, but you too wouldn't like to know what would happen if you cheated me. Things work both ways, Mr Borgin," said Remus without any indication that he was scared by the threat. Borgin smiled at that and led him through the door. The moment the door closed behind them, Blitz turned back into human form and took out his wand. Carefully not making much noise, Harry started charming the objects in the shop, starting with the leering masks and completing with the various items, which he didn't know the name of. And at once he brought down the masks and whispered, "satus incantatum". The sound of the masks falling was followed by the various items in the shop jumping and bumping with each other and started roaming the shop and causing a racket. Harry immediately turned into Blitz at the same moment the door to the storeroom opened and Borgin and Remus came out to find the shop in a mini chaos. Borgin looked surprised and took out his wand and pointed it towards one of the orbs like glass and said, "FINITE". But all that was achieved was causing them to make more noise and they started moving outside the shop. Borgin went after them shouting obscenities and Remus followed him, discreetly throwing a spell at some cards, causing them to explode and fill the room with smoke. Blitz slipped into the storeroom in the racket and transformed back. Remus didn't stop the spell, as they had planned to do before if Remus didn't find the necklace in the basement. So, the necklace must be there. Harry searched for the necklace and kept an ear open for the sound to recede, indicating Borgin being successful in stopping the spell, which the Marauders' had discovered in their school time and which Remus and Harry had modified to cause much more mayhem, making it much more difficult to stop. The store was much larger on the inside and had some steps down, probably towards the basement, where the books were kept, if Harry and Remus’ information was correct. Harry didn't want to test the basement door as it was probably much more warded. After passing racks containing several rings, bracelets and some necklaces which he thought had some alluring nature to them. There were also swords and daggers that had dried blood on them. Harry was intrigued by the spell Borgin used to hide this room. He was sure that was the spell used in trunks, but it was much more sophisticated and complex. At the end of the room stood the necklace, looking as though it had been made yesterday itself. It looked exactly like the picture Smythwick had showed them. It was a beautiful piece of work with rubies embedded throughout it with occasional sapphires. It felt like it has a magical quality to it. But it was encased in a glass box which was he sure to be warded. Harry knew enough about warding but mostly about the type that was darker. He had learnt the subtle art of ward breaking in The Lair. He dabbled in things he knew he shouldn't have. But now was not the time for reliving the past. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated and slowly on easing his magical consciousness and senses to the surrounding magic. There was a strong dark, forbidding aura present in the room. It looked like all the racks were cursed to prevent robbery. Harry slowly contacted the magic surrounding the glass case. He tried to slowly seep through the magic, making himself as friendly to it as possible so as to not trigger any alarms. It was quite taxing. He could feel the sweat on his body with the effort. But he didn't know other ways to break or counter the wards. After seeping through halfway, Harry started to mix his magic along with wards, supplying strength to them and making them stronger. The magic around the case started to accept him more readily than before. After sufficiently ensuring that his magic had gained a foothold, Harry brought down his magic, swiftly bringing down the wards along with it, giving it no time to counteract the sudden change. After ensuring there were no more obstacles, Harry removed the case and took the necklace. The sound above stopped suddenly and he could hear Borgin saying, "If I ever find out who did this, they will hope I kill them quickly." He definitely wasn't in a good mood. Harry immediately cast a doubling charm on the necklace;, he knew the duplicate wouldn't last even a few hours but he didn't care. Storing the original in his enlarged robe pocket, placing the duplicate in the original's place and casting a confundus charm on it, Harry replaced the glass case, turned into Blitz and flew to the top of the door and waited for them to enter back. In no time Borgin entered followed by Remus. "That was a good piece of charm work you displayed there," Borgin was saying to Remus. "It was nothing, just needed to find how it was working, though I must say, the prank or whatever it was, was quite innovative," said Remus. Harry was sure there was an undercurrent of amusement to his voice. Blitz carefully flew down to Remus and clung to the backside of his robe and waited for him to open his robe a bit so that he could get into its pocket. He could've flown out but for that damn bell, which he was sure wouldn't be quieted down by a silencing spell. Remus and Borgin continued to chat and examine the various dark relics. Borgin's anger seemed to have evaporated during his explanation of some of the obscure curses on the objects. Remus, on the pretense of examining an opal necklace, slowly opened the robe and Blitz slid inside. Borgin didn't observe any distortion in his vicinity. Now the second part of their plan had started. Remus suddenly went down to his knees gasping and coughing, showing that he too was a Marauder. Borgin came to his side and asked, "What happened, Mr.." He seemed to have realised he didn't know the gasping man's name. "Nothing, I knew I forgot““ Remus coughed ““ taking my potions," said Remus, still wheezing. "I will come back later this night for the necklace, it is better to do this business after sunset anyway," said Remus and started towards the entrance and quickly went out of the shop before Borgin tried to stop him or ask to pay some advance. Once back in the Diagon Alley, Remus opened his robe again, making sure that no one was paying them any attention. Blitz came out and transformed back into Harry. Remus and Harry looked at each other for a second and burst into laughter. "You should've seen his face when the items started to go out of the shop and the neighbour came out to see what was causing the racket. So did you get it? Sorry, he nearly caught me charming the items to multiply, so I had to cover up by stopping them," said Remus. "No problem there, and yes, I got it," said Harry triumphantly. It was good laughing with Remus- they didn't do it much these days, they didn't have much to laugh at either. After seeing that it was a quarter to five in his watch, Harry and Remus decided to leave the package at the place mentioned in the letter and collect their anchor stones. After entering the narrow alley beside Gringotts, they saw the trash bins. Tapping the bins with the wand and saying the password "We got the necklace," Remus opened the bin to find the five stones, three of which were blood red in colour and two of which were dark purple. Remus couldn't get the stones from the bin. Raising an eyebrow at Harry, he said, "Drop the necklace here." After dropping the necklace, a loud ping echoed in the alley and the necklace vanished and Remus was able to take the stones. "Mad-eye would be quite proud of whoever Smythwick is," said Remus, his amber eyes glittering with amusement. "Ok, let's finish our project. I will look into the Black family vault later for the pensieve and check if they had any books in there, though I think the chances are nil," said Harry, already imagining the feeling of speeding air through on his face and the thrill of freedom. ____________________________ _____ A.N: Ok, hope it's nice. More about how the animagus training will be revealed later. And comment on the reason Harry and Remus need the anchor stones. Thanks to Jui(FGHermione) who always makes sure the chapters are good enough. |
| Reviews 14 |
Previous
|
