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Harry Potter and the Unexpected Visitor | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Fluff Warnings: Disturbing Imagery Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 223 Summary: Harry James Potter has come back to Privet Drive after his abysmal fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, as Albus Dumbledore asked him to do. There, he mourns around everything that happened the last months, especially his Godfather's death, but all will change when someone he did not expect comes... The author has stated this story will not be continued. SIYE Hitcount: Story Total: 176715; Chapter Total: 8175 Author's Notes: Summary: Harry goes with Sirius, Arthur and Dumbledore to the Vote Of No Confidence against Fudge, and gets surprised when a certain someone is the one who helps them to kick Fudge out of office. A visit is paid to vault no.3 and Harry discovers why Slytherin got separated from the other Founders. Finally, Dumbledore teaches Harry elemental magic. |
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Vote Of No Confidence Harry woke up early and went straight to the shower with the clothes he had prepared the day before. He had bought a black businessman suit in the Operation New Age, approximately ten days ago, intended to put it on in an important occasion, and now he was glad he had done it. He had also used an Impervius Charm on it so that it didn’t get stained while he was having breakfast. Lately, Harry had decided to start to wear his hair like Bill’s, shoulder-length and in a ponytail. Mrs. Weasley didn’t like it and tried — without success — to convince Harry to change it back to his old one, but Ginny had declared adamantly that she preferred Harry’s hair that way, and for the young man, his girlfriend’s opinion was more important than his girlfriend’s mother’s opinion, even if she was his surrogate mother. He still had to decide how he would disguise himself to not attract the journalists’ attention while trying to get to Courtroom One, the room designed specifically for the meetings of the Magical Heads. He knew that his mere presence in the Ministry would cause some kind of a riot, and if a Death Eater was there, he could try to kill him just to raise himself into the ranks of Voldemort minions. After showering and dressing, he came down to the kitchen. While he was having breakfast, everybody in the house started to show up in the room. Mr. Weasley and Sirius were dressed in elegant robes, and were waiting for Dumbledore to show up. They had also decided to disguise themselves, because all of them were known for being personally attached to Harry, and it could still attract undesired attention over themselves. Finally, the Headmaster arrived, wearing his best electric blue robe. He was the only one who wouldn’t disguise himself, because the knowledge of Fudge’s near goodbye from the position he had held for nearly six years had transpired to British magical population and Dumbledore was expected to be in the meeting, and it would be suspicious if he was not seen. “Good morning, everyone,” he said, entering the crowded room. “Molly, would you be kind and hand me a cup of that wonderful tea of yours?” “Of course, Albus,” she said, smiling, and poured some tea in a cup which the old wizard summoned cautiously so that she didn’t have to move through the group. “Thank you very much, Molly.” He sipped some of the tea, and asked, “Are you prepared for the meeting? Arthur? Sirius? Harry?” The three mentioned nodded. “Very well. We should be going in a few minutes, because the meeting is starting at quarter past nine. You should change your appearance now, before anyone manages to get a glimpse from any of you.” Harry nodded again and changed his appearance completely: short blond hair with a strategic fringe to occult his scar, intense blue eyes, slightly hooked nose, thin lips, and he even added some inches to his height, so that he was nearly six feet tall. He may attract some attention, but nobody would be able to recognise the Boy-Who-Lived behind all those physical changes. Ginny smiled at him, but said; “I’d rather have you as five minutes before, but I understand why you do it. Don’t forget your real face, or I’ll make sure you won’t forget mine.” Harry laughed and hugged his girlfriend. “Don’t worry, Gin. I know you like my small, black-haired, green-eyed one. I do have a photograph to show myself the real me, so don’t worry.” “You are lucky, Harry,” Tonks said. The young Metamorphmagus had appeared in the house by the hand of Remus, which led Harry to think that they had been very busy at Remus’ house, and he shivered when he remembered how he had caught them the day Sirius appeared in Privet Drive. “I have changed my face so many times since I am eleven that I can hardly imagine how I would be now if I had not done that,” she said, with a sad smile. “I’m sure that everybody here,” Harry declared, looking intently to Remus, “doesn’t mind a lot for that. I can’t think of you without your pink hair, so for me that’s your natural face.” “Thanks, Harry,” she replied, squeezing her boyfriend’s hand. “If you don’t have anything more to say,” Mr. Weasley said, standing up, “we should get going.” Harry and Sirius stood up too, and the former kissed his girlfriend before going to the fireplace and taking the Floo. “See you later,” he said, before stepping into the fire and shouting “Ministry of Magic!” ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Harry landed cautiously in the Atrium and went out of the fireplace. He had transformed his glasses so that nobody could recognise him, but he tried to wait in the shadows until Dumbledore, Mr. Weasley and Sirius showed up. The three adults arrived separately, Dumbledore being the one that attracted the most attention, and allowing the other three to go down with the lifts to floor one, where stood the access to the old courtrooms. They didn’t find anybody in their way downstairs, and when they reached the door, Harry changed his appearance back to his normal one, and the adults used a Finite Incantatem on the charms they had applied to themselves. After that, they entered the room and Harry was astonished. The seats were arranged on a semicircle around a big podium with three seats, which Harry thought would be where Dumbledore, as the Chief of the Wizengamot, would sit. Some people had already arrived to the courtroom, but they were nobody he knew or had heard of. Harry found his seat, on the left half of the semicircle, labelled with a sign; which said “House of Potter” and, engraved in the back, the Potter’s Family Crest. He sighed with relief when he saw that the “House of Black” and the “House of Weasley” seats were next to his. “Dumbledore arranged it so that you were better protected, if anyone of those who want Fudge to remain decide that a dead Potter is better than an out-of-office Fudge,” Sirius said. Soon, people started to arrive to the courtroom. Harry recognised a man who looked a bit like Frank Longbottom, Neville’s father, and he thought it could be Neville’s Great Uncle Algie. He also recognised the barman of the Hog’s Head, who was immaculate clean, in the opposite of how he was in the tavern. Out of the tavern, Harry could see a few characteristics that were similar to Albus Dumbledore, and he asked the others if they knew him. “It’s Aberforth.” “Dumbledore’s brother? The one that practised charms with a goat?” “That one. But he is not that mad anymore. Maybe he is still a bit mad, like Albus, but he stopped practicing things like that long ago.” Harry accepted that explanation from Mr. Weasley and sat down, while waiting for everybody to arrive. Five minutes before the meeting formally started, Dumbledore arrived, followed by someone he did not expect to see until next September 1st: Draco Malfoy. “What the hell is Malfoy doing here?” he asked, both surprised and angry, while the blond boy sat down at the last seat in the right side. “No idea, you should ask Albus. But I believe that, with his father being in Azkaban, he is the representative of the Malfoy family.” “I don’t like having him here. I’m sure he will spoil everything.” “Don’t worry; I’m sure we will have enough votes to win.” The last one was Minister Fudge, and Dumbledore, who was sitting down in his place, said aloud: “I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief of the Wizengamot, declare the session of the Magical Heads on July 25th opened.” The last whispers among the people faded while everybody looked at the old wizard. “We are meeting here to decide which will be the future of the current Minister for Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, by means of a Vote of No Confidence. This was decided in a previous meeting of the Wizengamot, due to the obvious misuse of power by both Minister Fudge and Senior Undersecretary Dolores Jane Umbridge during years 1995 and 1996. Since the date of the meeting, on July 15th, new proofs of said misuse in that period have come to light, mainly in the trial on Madame Umbridge on July 17th. Miss Clearwater, as one of the Court Scribes, was in the trial. Would you be kind and read aloud the parts where Madame Umbridge declares the implication of Minister Fudge?” The young woman nodded and started to read aloud the start of the declaration of Umbridge, in which she had told about what they had been doing to undermine the public’s credibility on Dumbledore and Harry during last year. “Before anybody tries to deny these accusations,” Dumbledore declared, “the defendant declared under the effect of Veritaserum, and various witnesses confirmed nearly every detail of the declaration. Does anybody here want to say something before we start with the protocol?” A man who was sitting on the back of the right half rose and started to talk. “I am Andrew Silas Crofton, the Head of the Crofton Family. Minister Fudge has served well this country for nearly six years, and has maintained peace during his term of office. Why should he be fired now? Isn’t this just a way of getting revenge on him after you left the leadership of both the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards, and lately your position as Hogwarts’ Headmaster, Dumbledore?” While Harry was explained, in a very low voice, that Crofton was an old friend and business partner of Fudge from before the election of the latter as Minister, the man that Harry thought was Neville’s great uncle stood up. “I will answer you.” “And who are you?” Crofton said, in a derogatory tone. “I am Algerie Alexander Longbottom, Head of the House of Longbottom. I think that Minister Fudge should not be allowed to keep directing the Ministry because he has been lying to the nation for more than a year. It has been demonstrated that he used his power to run Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter’s names down, with his pressures on the press and the forced presence of Madame Umbridge in Hogwarts in the obvious and clear purpose of spying at the school. Then he used the laws in his favour to put Madame Umbridge in a position that gave her the possibility to overrule every aspect of the school, in an insolent display of paranoia and complete lack of respect for two people who were saying the truth from the start. Finally, his big incompetence has made our position in the war against You-Know-Who very difficult, because the nation is in shortage of resources for the fight. Do you really think anybody will still believe him even if we don’t kick him out of office?” Finishing, Algerie sat down among the claps of nearly all the people of the right wing of the semicircle and some from the other side. Crofton, red in anger, sat down too, unable to counter the comments of the other man. Fudge was about to faint, because it was fairly obvious that the number of people that seemed to support Algerie Longbottom’s words were more than half, and it was only required half plus one of the total votes to expel him. “Silence, please,” Dumbledore said, in a serious tone. When silence was made, he continued; “Thank you very much, Mr. Crofton and Mr. Longbottom, for sharing your opinions with the other Heads. Now, we have to welcome the people who have become Heads of their families since our last meeting. Who stands for the House of Black?” he asked, in a commanding voice. Sirius stood up. “I, Sirius Orion Black, true heir of the Black Family, hereby claim my post as the Head of the House of Black.” “Thank you, Mr. Black. Your claim is accepted. Who stands for the House of Potter?” Dumbledore asked. Harry rose, nervously. “I won’t accept this!” Crofton yelled. “This boy can not be accepted as one of the Magical Heads! He is still a minor, and I want him expelled from this court!” “Mr. Crofton, your opinion doesn’t count when it comes to choose the Head of a House; that can only be done by the Heirlooms’ Book, and it accepted him as the Head of the House of Potter,” the Headmaster said in a calm but angry voice. “I would like you to remain quiet or I will have you expelled for your lack of courtesy towards Mr. Potter.” That made Crofton sit down again, but it didn’t stop him from throwing death glares towards Harry and Dumbledore. The Headmaster then nodded at the young man, who opened his mouth then, “I, Harry James Potter, true heir of the Potter family, hereby claim my post as the Head of the House of Potter.” “Thank you, Mr. Potter. Your claim is accepted. Who stands for the House of MacCallister?” There were a few more people who had not been in the last meeting of the Heads. Draco Malfoy was the last one to claim his post, and after that the voting started. “I will ask all of you for an answer for this question: should Minister for Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge be expelled from office, aye or no? Mr. O’Flaherty?” “Aye.” Dumbledore kept asking people from the upper to the lower seats. Harry, Mr. Weasley and Sirius said ‘Aye’ too. Harry was counting in his mind how much votes they had, and how much the others had. At first, the ‘Aye’ was being voted by lots of people, but when they were reaching to the end, Harry noticed with that the ‘No’ was starting to reach the ‘Aye’ and then surpassed it. The result was going one hundred and sixty to one hundred and fifty-eight against the ‘Aye’, and there were only two people who hadn’t voted yet. “Mr. Bowen?” “Aye.” “Mr. Malfoy?” The silence that followed the question was eternal. We are doomed, Harry thought. Malfoy will never support Dumbledore, and with Fudge still in office everything will be thousands of times more difficult. Malfoy stood up, and simply said, “Aye.” This silence was even more awkward than the one before. What? Malfoy just said ‘Aye’?, Harry asked himself, but there was no need of getting worried. The tie between the two options was clear. “The final voting is one-hundred and sixty to one-hundred and sixty. A tie has been produced. In my position as the Chief of the Wizengamot, I am able to break a tie when one is produced, and my answer is ‘Aye’ to the Vote of No Confidence. Mr. Fudge, you are not our Minister anymore. Thank you for your services to the magical community of Great Britain.” Fudge left the room, defeated, while everybody clapped gently to his exit. Then Dumbledore rose again. “Now, we need to appoint possible candidates for the elections to succeed Cornelius Fudge as Minister for Magic. Who do you suggest?” Mr. Weasley rose and said; “I appoint Amelia Susan Bones, current Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, as a candidate for the post of Minister.” “Thank you, Mr. Weasley. More candidates?” The man who was sitting next to Crofton said; “I appoint Andrew Crofton, Head of the House of Crofton, as a candidate for the post of Minister.” “Thank you, Mr. Burke. More candidates?” Nobody talked this time. “Very well. For the next seven days, the appointments for Minister will be open, and after that the official candidates for the elections will be shown. Session dismissed.” Nearly everybody left the room, chatting among themselves, except Harry, Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore and Malfoy. Dumbledore talked a bit with Malfoy and then gave him a Portkey which made him disappear. Then the old man went towards the other three and tried to start a conversation, but Harry interrupted him. “What is Draco Malfoy doing here?” Dumbledore sighed sadly, regretting the bitter tone in Harry’s voice when talking about Malfoy, but answered him anyway. “The day Mr. Malfoy arrived home after healing from his… confrontation… with you and your friends in the Hogwarts Express, Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy called me by the Floo Network and told me about what Voldemort had planned for her son: apparently, he was going to be sent to Hogwarts on the main purpose of killing me. She didn’t want her son to be in that danger and we discussed shortly what should be done, and she agreed that both of them would be in danger unless they were in a safe place. I suggested for them to come to Hogwarts, and she accepted. “Half an hour after that, Mr. Malfoy arrived by a Portkey and we chatted about a few things. He had overheard a few minutes ago a conversation between Voldemort and his aunt Bellatrix Lestrange around the subject of what had happened in the Ministry, and Voldemort sent her in the mission of kidnapping one of your friends. Before you say something, you should remember that we couldn’t find Miss Granger because it was impossible to get into contact with her or her parents. “Well, a few minutes after I went out of my office to tell everybody about the state of things, Mrs. Malfoy arrived, badly injured due to the great deal of curses she had been between her son’s arrival and her escape from Malfoy’s Manor. She has been recovering all this month, and woke up just two or three days ago, but she still is in the hospital wing.” “And why was he here?” “You should know the answer to that, Harry. With his father in Azkaban, and his mother hospitalized, he is the only person in the Malfoy family that was able to come here. And, for why he has voted in favour, I think that now he does not intend to support Voldemort.” “Are you sure? I mean, how do you know that he is not trying to spy on you?” “Mainly because the only thing he does lately is stay with his mother. He told me, the first night after they arrived, that his mother told him about the ‘pleasures’ of being a Death Eater — being that the reason why he does not desire to be one - and even that he would like to work at your orders in the D.A.” Harry was astonished. It should have happened something really big so that Malfoy changed sides as fast as he had. And he wanted to join the D.A.! Nobody would believe him, especially Ron, but he knew he would have to tell them. “Can I tell my friends? I’m sure they would like to know about this sudden change in Draco Malfoy, so that they are not surprised this year.” “I strongly recommend you to do it, but I ask you not to tell anybody who is not among your friends. This kind of information in the wrong ears could be disastrous. “But this is no time to keep talking about this. Didn’t we have to go to Gringotts, so that you could have a look at that vault of yours?” “Um, yeah, you are right. Sirius, would you like to come with us? Since you are my guardian, I would love that you were there.” Then he looked at Mr. Weasley, without knowing what to say, but the latter laughed. “Don’t worry for me, Harry. I’m curious about that vault of yours, but I start working in a quarter an hour and, even if I didn’t have to, I believe that it would be easier to visit your vault with less people. Albus and Sirius will protect you well.” “Thanks, Mr. Weasley,” Harry said, with a genuine smile, and shook his hand. Dumbledore was creating a Portkey with a quill he had pulled out of his pocket, and soon he said it was time to go. “OK. We’ll see you at Sirius’, Mr. Weasley.” “Have fun, Harry.” ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ “Vault number 3,” Griphook said. The three men had arrived at Gringotts Bank a quarter an hour ago, and they had asked to have a look at one of the three securest vaults in the building. Then Harry had surprised everybody by requesting the help of Griphook, saying he still remembered him from the first time he had visited the bank, five years ago. The said goblin was delighted, because — like he was explaining to Harry while the cart took them to the vault — in normal circumstances only a high rank goblin would be allowed to open that door, and he felt honoured. “Mr. Potter, give me the key and put your hand in that sphere on the door of the vault,” Griphook instructed. Harry was surprised at that request, but he thought it had to be one of the security measures of the vault. While he put the hand on the blue sphere, Griphook introduced the key in the lock and turned it. “Now, say your name loud and clear.” “Harry James Potter,” the young man said. Then the door opened majestically. Harry was astonished. At the back of the room, four big banners that represented the four Houses of Hogwarts, presided the place. Below them, stood various weapons and armours of incredible high quality. A big table was placed in the middle of the room, with a big book and a hand-written letter. On the sides, lots of books of all subjects stood in shelves, perfectly clean. On the floor, below the shelves, lots of trunks with mountains of gold and jewels were opened and shining. “Damn, Harry,” Sirius said in a mocking tone. “You are filthy rich!” Dumbledore was walking to the shelves and having a look at the books in the shelves. “These books are really old, and some of them were thought to be lost forever.” Harry thought that he should read the letter, because, if this was from one of the founders, it could be of big importance. He sat down in the chair and took the parchment. At first, the handwriting and the words were illegible, but soon everything changed and Harry started to read the letter. My most dearest and powerful Heir, I am Godric Gryffindor, one of your ancestors. It has been nearly one thousand years since my demise and the demise of all my friends, but do not grieve for us, please, because we are long dead and surely we are now used to the place where we go after our deaths. I alone remain from the eight friends that went to the Scotland hills to build what we wanted to be the best place for young wizards to stay and learn to control their magic in the moment of writing this letter. Salazar, my most dearest friend until the fight about who should be accepted in the school — he only wanted to accept wizards and witches from families who didn’t have Muggles in their families, while Helga, Rowena and I wanted to accept everybody who had magical abilities — was the first to die, a few years after leaving the school; we found him in a forest in the south-west of England, and we took him back to our school to bury him. His wife, Selena, who had remained with us, died shortly after him, because of the pain she had been suffering since his departure. The next was Rowena’s husband, Renard, whose heart stopped while sleeping in his bed, ten years after Salazar and Selena died. Another ten years later, my dear wife Gabrielle, alongside with Helga and Hale, died in a cart accident while trying to find a young wizard who lived in the south of Wales. For six years, Rowena and I remained, teaching our pupils with the help of older pupils who had excelled in their work while studying in this Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the place we wanted to use as the refuge for wizards of all ages and a place for the youngest to know how to control their magic. It’s been nearly three years since my dear friend Rowena died peacefully, and I feel my end is near. There is something only Helga, Rowena, Salazar and I know, and it is the reason why we fought about the origins of our pupils: two years before Salazar departure, a strong and powerful Seer told us she had foreseen the future, and she said a few sentences that will never leave my mind, because they were the cause of our separation: “Long after the Four remain Three, a millennium after the Four were born, when the darkness invades the planet, a Chosen One, son of the Four, will raise, and with his companions the Four again will be back...” The reason why Salazar wanted only people without Muggle relatives was that he thought a person’s blood and magic would be tainted if a Muggle was part of his family, and that when his descendants went to school, he wanted this Chosen One to be a person with pure blood, but Helga, Rowena and I argued with him, saying that he could see now that people with Muggle relatives were sometimes more powerful than people without them. Salazar didn’t want to see that and that was the reason he left. My dear friend Gultank, who is the Gringotts Chief in this moment, has promised me that no Gringotts Chief will allow this vault to be opened unless the Chosen One, the person who descends from us, is able to understand which his powers are. Now, my young heir, I suggest you to look at the book; which unquestionably, will still be in this same table, at your left. This book is a compilation of every item which is held in this room, and also will tell you what the books in the shelves talk about. However, the most important are the weapons and armours which should be right behind you. These are the weapons and armours that my seven friends and I had to use in our life, when we had to save a wizard from the attack of furious and zealous Muggles or had to defend ourselves in the middle of our travels. There are eight weapons and armours, which correspond to Gabrielle, Helga, Hale, Rowena, Renard, Salazar, Selena and me. I won’t tell you whose is each one, but if the prophecy is true, you will know instinctively which of your friends will have to take each of the weapons. When you have found your seven companions, a tricky piece of magic will be released, but do not fear, my heir, because it will help you in your fight against the darkness. Sincerely, I hope you manage to overrule the evil in the planet. Yours faithfully, Godric Gryffindor November 25th 1069 A.D. Harry had read with interest the whole letter, and when he finished, he saw that Albus Dumbledore was looking with interest at him. “You won’t believe this, but this letter was written by Gryffindor himself.” Dumbledore was amazed at this piece of information and ran to where Harry was sitting. Harry gave him the letter, and Dumbledore looked at it. “Harry, I can’t read this. It has a charm so that only someone who descends from the founders can read it,” he said, giving it back to the young man. Harry was surprised at this, but in spite of it he started to look at the book which had, according to the letter, the index of all the things that where in the vault. First thing he did was to look at the weapons. From left to right, there were a shield and a sheath; a staff with a snake around it; another staff with an orb in the extreme; two short swords; an axe; a bow with some arrows in a quiver; a wooden flute, and some daggers. Behind them, eight armours stood. According to the book, the armours were made of a strange metal called mithril, which was supposedly as hard as dragon scales and as light as feathers. It would protect you from physical injuries and from lots of spells, although it also recommended that the user moved on the battle camp as if he hadn’t the armour, because normally dodging a curse is more efficient than trying to stop it with a shield. Harry realised there was something strange when he looked at the book to read a description of the weapons; alongside with the shield, there should be a sword, but it was out of sight. He took the sheath then, and he made a possible connection; he took his shrunk special trunk out of his pocket, enlarged it, and started to search for the sword of Godric Gryffindor, the one he had extracted from the Sorting Hat in his second year. When he found it, he took it out of the trunk and sheathed the sword. It fitted perfectly. “These must be the founders’ weapons, from when they had to battle on their own and couldn’t use magic.” Sirius had been watching Harry while he was looking at the weapons, and his commentary made the younger man smile. “Yes. That’s what Gryffindor wrote in his letter. He said that the four founders and their spouses used them lots of times. The letter reveals too why Slytherin separated himself from the other Founders.” He summed everything he had read on the letter to both adults; including the prophecy his four ancestors had been told. “There is something I have realised about this prophecy,” Sirius said, reflecting. “I think I have seen it too, Sirius,” Dumbledore said, smiling. “What are you talking about?” Harry asked, confused. “Well, I think I should explain you this,” Dumbledore replied. “Do you remember how we discussed the Prophecy about you last year, in my office?” Harry nodded, blushing a bit when he remembered the smashing he had caused that day; he had just lost Sirius and he couldn’t stop himself from breaking the Professor possessions. “I also told you how Voldemort heard about the Prophecy, too. But, do you think he would have done anything if he hadn’t heard about it?” The young man reflected, and after a few minutes he understood why: if the spy hadn’t been in the Hog’s Head when Trelawney had made the Prophecy, it would have never reached Voldemort’s ears and then he wouldn’t have had tried to kill him when he was one year old. “This prophecy falls into the same category, which is usually called among the Muggles as ‘full-filling prophecies’. Those are the kind of prophecies that are fulfilled because the people it affected acted in the way that made sure the prophecy was fulfilled. Now, do you think Salazar Slytherin would have left the school and his friends if they hadn’t been told the prophecy?” “No, sir,” Harry replied. “Exactly. Now, to change the subject, what do you plan to do with the weapons?” Dumbledore asked. “I know it can sound strange, but I have the feeling that I have to give them to my friends. Not all of them, of course, but instinctively I know that each of these weapons belong to one of my friends. For example,” he said, pointing at the sword he was holding, “this one is mine, and it stands for Bravery” “Nice one, kiddo,” Sirius said, laughing. Harry smiled and continued. “The staff with the snake is Ginny’s, because it is the symbol of the Healers; the other staff is for Luna, since that orb is a mention to her Foresight ability; the double swords are Neville’s, for Agility; the axe is for Ron, and it means Force; the bow and arrows are for Hermione, which stands for Accuracy…” Harry stopped talking, with a confused look. “And the last two?” Dumbledore asked. “I have no idea who these are for,” Harry recognised. “I only get a very blurred image of them. I can tell that the flute is Fellowship and the daggers are Cunning, but I don’t know who the designed person for them is. Maybe I’ll know it when I come back to Hogwarts.” “Maybe. What are you going to do, then?” Sirius asked. “I’ll take them, and I’ll tell my friends about the weapons, but I won’t give them to them until I know who the other two people are.” “Wise decision. If there is a charm that will activate when all the weapons are used by your seven friends, it’ll be better when the eight of you are reunited.” “Anyway, have you seen some interesting book in the shelves?” “Yes, Harry. I have found three books in Parseltongue, two with ancient and powerful spells and even a journal with Crafted spells, probably Ravenclaw’s,” Dumbledore said. “I have here another book about Parseltongue, one on Occlumency and Legillimency, other with ward charms like the Fidelius and, you won’t believe it, one about all the secrets of Hogwarts,” Sirius said, smiling. “Wow! Let me have a look!” Harry said, impressed. He read a bit of the book Sirius had handed him and grinned. “This is fantastic! It explains how the Founders built Hogwarts, with all the secret passages and rooms, how the stairs work, even how they managed to create the Room of Requirement!” “I expect you will use it well, Harry. I wouldn’t like you to get advantage on the fact that with that book you would know how to get around with your occasional rule-breaking,” the Headmaster said, his eyes twinkling in an amused glance. “Don’t worry, I’ll only use it to sneak to the kitchen,” Harry joked, laughing. “I think we should get going,” Sirius said, watching his clock. “Molly must be asking herself where we are by now.” “You are right, Sirius,” Harry said, putting all the books the adults had shown him into the trunk alongside with the weapons and armours and the letter Godric Gryffindor had written to him. When he closed the trunk and shrunk it, he declared that he was ready to go. “Good. I’ll accompany you to Grimmauld Place and then I’ll go back to Hogwarts to check on Mr. Malfoy and his mother,” Dumbledore said. “I’ll tell him you are considering his joining the D.A.” “I’ll do it, sir,” Harry answered. “If he is really willing to be part of our group, I’ll be the first to welcome him.” “That’ll be good. As the Sorting Hat always reminds us, we have to do something to improve inter-House relations. Maybe this will be the first step into it.” “I’d never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad Malfoy changed like this,” Harry spluttered as realization hit him. “So am I,” Sirius said with a smile. “I’d like to see Tonks’ face when she hears about her cousin.” “I’d bet she would be a bit freaked,” Harry laughed. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~* **~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~ ~ “No way, man!” Ron shouted. Harry had just told his friends what Dumbledore had said about Malfoy after the Magical Heads Meeting, and Ron had expressed that he couldn’t believe it with that sentence. “I couldn’t believe that either, Ron, but he was the one who kicked Fudge out of office with his vote. I mean, he could still be in “Let’s support that idiot” mode, but he supported what we wanted. According to Dumbledore, he even wants to join the D.A.” “And what do you think we should do?” Hermione asked. “I think we should try to give him an opportunity. Nobody with the purpose of betraying us will be able to sign the magical contract I’ll prepare.” “We should try to see if any more Slytherins will want to join us,” Neville said. “Maybe with Malfoy not being as stupid as he was they will want to be able to defend themselves from You-Know-Who.” “Yeah, you are right, but there are a few from which I’m not sure. For starters, Crabbe and Goyle,” Harry replied, reflecting. “Why?” Ron asked. “Well, they were his lackeys while he was friends with Voldemort — oh, stop that,” Harry said to Neville, Ron and Luna, who had shivered, “but I’m sure that when he hears about Malfoy he will tell Crabbe and Goyle to do something in the way of showing him that not obeying the Dark Lord is a bad idea.” “Theodore Nott will be the same way; his dad is a Death Eater and I doubt his mother will try to save him like Malfoy’s mother did with him,” Ginny said. “What do you think about Parkinson and Bulstrode?” “I believe the latter will be in Voldemort’s side, but I’m not sure about Parkinson. She has always been behind Malfoy like a stupid dog, but with him changing sides… Merlin knows,” Hermione replied. “I’m sure that at least Blaise Zabini and… what is the other girl’s name? Greengrass, those two will join alongside with Malfoy. They have always remained neutral in our fights.” “And they have never tried to insult any of us,” Neville reminded. In that moment, someone knocked on the door and opened it. “Guys?” It was Sirius. “We need you downstairs, Molly says you have to lay the table.” “K, Sirius, we’ll be coming down in a matter of seconds,” Harry said, standing up. “You coming, guys?” “Of course,” the others said in a chorus. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Two days later, Harry was going through the Floo to Dumbledore’s office. He was a bit nervous today, because it would be the first lesson in elemental magic. The day before, he had managed to control all the spells he had ever learned at school, even the ones he had not been taught in classes, and a few more Dumbledore taught him. He had also managed to improve his first Crafted spells so that he didn’t have to say the words or use the wand. Finally, he landed, but he was getting used to this way of travelling, and he landed without a flaw in the fireplace. “Good morning, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “Good morning, Professor.” “How are you this morning?” “Very well, thanks.” “Sherbet?” Harry accepted the candy with a smile and put it into his mouth. “Thanks.” After a few seconds of silence, the Headmaster started to talk. “Well, you know that today I’m going to teach you how to control the elemental magic you have. You will notice that this is similar to wandless magic, but instead of controlling the things, you have to control nature itself. The elemental magic has in reality two different parts. Do you think you can differentiate what those parts are?” Harry thought for a few minutes and then said, “Well, I think one of those parts should be to control the elements for things in which they act on their own, like starting a fire, making the wind blow… and those kinds of things. But, I can’t imagine the other part.” “You have guessed correctly one of them, Harry. You should be able to, for example, create a fire in the palm of your hands without the fire burning you, or create a water stream from nothing. “But the other part is much more powerful and interesting than the other. You see, in the magical way of seeing things, each element is considered like a whole, a being. For example, all the fires which are lit in the world now are considered part of the being fire. “People with high levels of magical power, especially when they have the ability of controlling the elements, are able to call some individuals from all the elements.” “Are you able to do that?” Harry asked, with curiosity. “Yes, Harry, just watch.” Dumbledore concentrated for a few seconds and a salamander appeared on the table; which was between the two wizards. “Wow. Is this one of those individuals you were talking about?” “Yes. This is one of my Fire Dwellers, or guardians of the fire. I can tell you too that I have three of these.” “And what do the others look like?” Dumbledore smiled and concentrated a bit more. Soon, a snake, a raven and a mole appeared on the table alongside with the salamander. “The snake is a Water Demon, the raven is an Air Sprite and the mole is an Earth Spirit.” “Are they always like this?” Harry asked. “No, their forms depend on the person, but they always look like animals. But first of all we should try to help you control the element itself, before you try to call the individuals. Follow me, if you please,” he said, standing up. Harry did the same as Dumbledore, and, following his steps, soon they reached a white door. “This door leads to a workroom that all the Headmasters of this school have been using since it was founded. We can work here without problems of any kind, since the walls have ancient protective spells that absorb the magical energy of the spells. “Please, stand in the middle of the room while I prepare the ritual needed to wake up the elements.” Harry went to the middle point of the room, and watched how Professor Dumbledore conjured four tables; which he put in the four corners of the room. When the young man looked at the floor, he saw a compass rose, and he noticed that the four cardinal points were exactly in the corners of the room. When Dumbledore put up some banners, he couldn’t help but notice that each banner had the colours of each house: the one in the south should be Gryffindor, because it was red and gold; on the north stood the green and silver banner, Slytherin; the one in the east was blue and silver, so it had to be Ravenclaw; and the one in the west had to be Hufflepuff, which was yellow and gold. “As I think you have noticed, these banners have the same colours as the houses. Well, these colours also represent each one of the elements: fire,” he said, pointing at the south, “water,” at the north, “air,” at the east, “and earth,” at the west. “Now you just have to sit down in the middle of the rose, on the point where the diagonals cross, looking at the north.” When Harry sat down in that point, Dumbledore said; “You don’t have to do anything, just close your eyes and I’ll do the ritual to wake up your elemental powers. Are you ready?” “Yes.” Dumbledore started to chant in a strange language that Harry hadn’t ever heard of, but he suspected it should be something in Latin, the language that was usually used for the spells, because he could understand a few words that were in some charms he had learned, and even one that he used for his Alarm Clock Spell, Evigilare. Five minutes had passed, and Dumbledore was still chanting. Harry was starting to get bored when he felt something flowing from his back, which was looking at the south. It felt like a big wave of heat, but he didn’t react to it in any way, because although he could feel it, he wasn’t hot. Then from the north something like a torrent of water arrived, refreshing him and fighting with the wave of heat. The next thing was from the east, and it consisted of a fast blowing wind that was soon countered by a great mountain of earth; which also fought against the air. That lasted for a few seconds, which Harry thought should be normal. Suddenly, everything stopped. The young wizard tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t do it, in fact he couldn’t move. He didn’t know why this was happening now, but then he felt like he was being stretched and compressed a few times, but a force he was feeling inside him was comforting and protecting him and his body. Soon, everything was finished, and Dumbledore was helping him to stand up. “Are you OK, Harry?” he asked, worried. “Not very well, Professor,” Harry answered. “I feel dizzy, and the last thing didn’t help a lot.” “Which last thing?” the old man asked. “Well, in the end I felt like if everything stopped or froze, I’m not sure of that. Then it was a strange feeling like something was compressing my body.” Dumbledore had a strange look in his face. “That’s not very usual. In fact, nobody I have seen to do this has ever felt anything like that.” “What do you think that means?” Harry asked, quizzically. “I have to say that I don’t know, but those could be the clues of which the two elements we don’t know are,” Dumbledore replied. “Well, if only we knew what they are, I would be able to control them,” Harry said. “Indeed, Harry. But, for the moment, we will start with what we know. I believe we should start with fire. Since you are a Gryffindor, it should be the easiest one to practice.” Dumbledore then conjured a stack of wood in the middle of the room. “Do you remember how you did your wandless magic?” When Harry nodded, the older man said, “Well, this is similar but different to. You just have to concentrate the magic in your hands, like with the wandless, but instead of thinking of a spell, you just have to imagine that the wood is burning. Give it a try, Harry.” Harry prepared himself for the test, and when he felt that he was ready, he thought of the stack being on fire. Unfortunately, what he intended to be a warm bonfire was changed into a big fire that nearly reduced all the wood into ashes. “Don’t worry, Harry, it is normal that they go a bit out of control at first,” Dumbledore said, chuckling. “Try to control it, you just have to know how much magic you need to use on it.” Soon, the bonfire was burning happily in the centre of the room, but since they were in the middle of the summer, Harry started to feel very hot. “Well done, Harry. Now, try to turn it off completely, but using another element, like water.” Harry concentrated again on his magic, and tried to create a bit of rain over the fire, but his power went out of control again and suddenly the whole roof of the room was filled with black clouds that soon started to discharge a strong rain over the two occupants of the room. Dumbledore, laughing, started to dance while singing I’m Singing in the Rain, which sent Harry into fits of laughter. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ ***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~ ~~ Hey, what do you think about this chapter? I expect it gives you enough clues to learn which the two ‘Unknown’ Elements are. I expect you have liked it, and don’t forget to review. Next stop, ‘Harry’s Birthday’! P.S: Vote for the Alhambra at www.new7wonders.com!!! |
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