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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: 176729; Chapter Total: 8983 Author's Notes: Summary: Sirius tells his story about what happened when he fell through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. Everybody gets a message from James and Lily Potter, and Ginny receives a big surprise. Dumbledore asks Harry to work on a special project related to his training and he accepts |
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Messages From The Other Side When everybody was settled on some comfortable armchairs and sofas (Hermione on Ron's lap, Harry on an armchair with Ginny next to him), Sirius, who was sitting down in an armchair too, started to talk about what had happened two weeks ago, at the Department of Mysteries into the Ministry of Magic. "This story is very long, so I'd like if you did not ask anything until I am finished with it. I think I should start with the exact moment everything changed; when I crossed the Veil after Bellatrix used that Stunning Charm on me to shove me through it." "First of all, everything went pitch black. I had my wand with me, so I tried to use every charm that could illuminate the place: Lumos, Incendio... but nothing worked. Then I just stayed for hours there, in the obscurity, until something strange happened. I was in front of a very big group of people, it looked like some kind of a jury, and I could swear that I could recognise one or two of them, but they were dead, of that I'm sure." Here Sirius paused for a moment seeming to gather his thoughts. "Then one of the guys there, who seemed to be the big boss, started to say aloud; 'Sirius Orion Black, you have been brought here so that the Deceasengamont can decide about your future in the Land of the Dead. You have arrived here through the Veil of Death, which was used before as a means of giving the death penalty among the living. But, since you have arrived here by accident, we, the Deceasengamot, will decide which your future will be. So that it can help us to make that decision, we will go through all your memories along your whole life.' Then, two big bowls turned up from the nothingness. The big boss said that one of them would show the good things I had done in my life and the other one the bad things I had done. The latter was the one which started first. It showed images at a very fast rate, but I could see one of them; it was when I sent Snape to where Remus was hiding before he transformed into a werewolf, in my sixth year. Fortunately, the list of bad things I had done was very short, and it only lasted two or three minutes for me, although I think their conception of time was different for them." Again Sirius paused to catch his breath and organize his thoughts. "After that, the other bowl lit and went through all the good things I had done since I was born. If the first was fast, this one was a hurricane: I couldn't see any of those memories very well, but I managed to pick two of them from the whirl: one was when James, Peter and I studied to become Animagus and be with Remus during his transformations; the other was just before I fell through the veil, while trying to help Harry to get out of the Ministry. Afterwards, the judge said that all the jury should have to discuss about what would happen to me after all the memories were shown. They stood there, whispering for hours and sometimes yelling a bit, and finally they went back to their seats and the judge talked." "'Sirius Orion Black, it is obvious to everybody here that the charges put on you in the living land were completely incorrect, so you will be free. However, we have not decided if you should stay here, among us, or go back to where you belonged. So, we are putting that decision into your own hands, and you will meet someone who will help you to decide. We hope you make the right decision.'" "Then, everything went pitch black again. I decided to have a sleep, since I knew this would last a long time. When I woke up, I was in the middle of a very big field, covered with grass and trees, and what I saw there..." Sirius sniffed slightly at this moment, and his gaze directed to his godson, who was listening intently to him. "I couldn't believe my eyes. In front of me, smiling, looking exactly like they were the last time I had seen them, stood Lily and James." Harry had to fight against his tears falling from his eyes, and nearly nobody in the room had a dry eye. "The first thing they did was to greet me there and they started to talk with me about the subject of all the things that had happened here since they died. Of course, they had seen all your life, Harry, but they also wanted to know a few other things they had not managed to pick up." "After a week, it was time for me to say if I wanted to stay or to come back. First I thought on staying, since my friends were there and I would not get bored like I did last year here, but in the end Lily convinced me to come back and take care of Harry, making me see how miserable you were, blaming yourself - rather stupidly, I have to say, since you are not to blame - at the Dursleys'. If the truth must be told, Lily threatened to use a few very nasty hexes on me if I stayed there, and even in the Land of the Dead hexes work, I can tell you," Sirius pointed out, shivering a bit. "Later, I was in front of the judge and he asked me: 'Sirius Orion Black, what have you decided of your staying place for the next years?' I answered him: 'I have decided to come back to the Living Land, but I don't know how to do it.'" "The judge explained me that it was impossible to send me back through the Veil again, since it was only the entrance, but there was a place in Great Britain - he did not say where - that could be used as an exit from there. He showed me the way, but the main problem was that I only could go through it in my Animagus form, since the hole was not big enough for my human self." "I appeared near Stonehenge, something that surprised me a bit. First thing I tried was changing back, but I couldn't. I had my wand on the pocket of my pants, but I couldn't take it out to change myself, so I tried to go to the only place I could think of where someone would be able to help me; to Harry's relative’s house. And the rest of my story, you know." "I have told you that there were some messages from the Other Side. Well, James and Lily asked me to be the messenger and helped me to memorise them all." Sirius looked again at Harry, smiled sadly at him, and said, "Harry, your parents have been watching all the things that have happened to you since you had to go to the Dursleys'. They hated all the things you had to go through there, especially not knowing about the magical world and the abuse they put you through." The adults gasped, and Dumbledore looked especially concerned; he had sent Harry to his aunt's house, but he had not worried about him until it was time for him to come to Hogwarts, since he thought Petunia would try to raise Harry as her own son. "They were happy when you went into the Great Hall for the first time, and very proud of you for all the times you have had to face Voldemort. They have seen you doing your best to help everybody you know stay away from harm, like when you saved Ginny three years ago, or when you told us what had happened to Arthur. But, over all, they asked me to tell you one thing: wherever they are, whatever is happening to you, they love you, and they couldn't be more proud of you." Harry couldn't stand it anymore, and threw himself over Sirius. He let the tears fall from his eyes, which went over Sirius' robe, while the Animagus caressed his black messy hair and said a few words of support. When they separated, Sirius told him in a low voice; "By the way, they told me you should not be there for a very long time." He smiled and went back to his seat. "That's one thing down. Let's go with the rest." Sirius paused and look over to his dear friend Moony. "Remus, James told me that we had to take Harry out of the hellhole he has been living in every summer at his so-called relatives’ house. He gave us one year to do it, or he will use a special hex on the first who arrived there if we have not done what he asked us to do. He mentioned something about skinning alive, I think." Lupin looked alarmed at this. "Albus," Sirius continued, looking at the old Headmaster, "both of my friends said that, in their opinion, you only have two options; you let Harry out of going to the Dursleys' this summer and not make him go back there, or they will make your next life impossible, starting with a funny welcome and non-stop from there. Actually, James was snorting a bit when he thought on what to use on you when you were with them." "Arthur, Molly," he said to the old couple, "James and Lily told me they were very happy from the very moment you met him at King's Cross Train Station. They had met both of you before they had to go into hiding, and they knew you were two very great parents. They said they couldn't give you enough thanks for taking care of Harry all these times he has been at the Burrow and for being the nearest thing to a family he has ever had since he lost them." "Ron," the young man was surprised, because he didn't expect Harry's parents would have a message for him, "they were very happy to see that you became Harry's best friend from the very first moment you met him. They have seen all the adventures both of you have been through since you were in your first year at Hogwarts, and they are very proud of your loyalty towards Harry; and his towards you. They also expect you stay like this for your whole life." "Sirius, can you give me a sec?" Ron said. Then he looked up and said, "James and Lily Potter, wherever you are, don't worry; I'll be your son's best friend forever. Thank you." Everybody chuckled at this, and Sirius kept up with the dealing. "Hermione, my friends also thank you for being such a big support during these years. Although they know Harry is intelligent, they also know too that without your help he would not have been able to go through all the exams he has had to do. They would love to see that you still are Harry's friend even when all of you are old." "I'll be, don't worry," she said, smiling. "Well, I think that's everything I had to do," Sirius declared while standing up. "Harry, I'd like to have a little chat with you now, in the kitchen. Sirius, would you like to stay with us?" Dumbledore said. "Yes, of course," he said. The three people went into the kitchen, closed the door and Dumbledore used a few charms to prevent eventual eavesdroppers. "OK, that's done. The first thing I'd like to discuss is this summers arrangements. You still have to be with the Dursleys..." "Come on, Albus," Sirius interrupted. "Didn't you hear me before? Harry is not going back to that hole you call his relatives' house ever." "Sirius, I need you to calm down. I was going to say that Harry only has to stay one more week with his relatives, and I'll make sure nothing bad happens to him." Harry smiled at this statement, and Sirius said: "You still have the mirror I gave you, no, Harry?" The lad's smile faltered. "I'm sorry, Sirius. When you where at... the Other Side, I thought you were dead, and when I saw the mirror I tried to use it to communicate with you, but when it didn't work I threw it into my trunk and it broke." Sirius looked a bit sad, but he recovered himself and replied: "Don't worry, kiddo, it can be repaired. You only have to send me all the pieces and I'll mend it." "OK, do you have any other questions to ask?" Both Sirius and Harry shook their heads. "Well, in that case, I'll escort you to Privet Drive. I'll tell you everything you need to know for the next weeks and we will have a chat." Harry hugged Sirius one more time and went with Dumbledore to the hall, where he Side-Along Apparated to Surrey. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~** *~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~ Sirius sighed when he saw his godson going out of the house and stood up. The next day, he would have to do a lot of things so that he could be free again and be out of Grimmauld Place without having problems with other witches and wizards and being able to buy a few things he needed. He went upstairs to the third floor (he laughed when he saw his old mother's portrait completely shut up) and when he passed by the first floor room doors, he remembered he still had one message to deliver, but he had not said anything because he knew it was something private only the receiver should know. He knocked the door and the red-headed girl stuck her head out of the door. "Sirius? What are you doing here?" "I had to deliver the last message," he replied, smiling. "Why didn't you give it to me before?" Ginny asked, confused. "It was something I didn't want to say in front of a certain someone," he admitted, chuckling. "Tell me about that guy you told your brother you were going out with, Dean Thomas. It was a bluff, no?" The young girl was surprised. "How did you know it?" "It's an advantage of being on the Other Side, you can see what's happening here. So, it was a bluff. Well, the message for you has two parts. The first is from Lily. It says, 'Don't give up.'" "Don't give up?" "Yes. I don't know how to tell you this, but somehow Lily knows that Harry has... feelings for you, but he hasn't realised them yet. Like Ron, he is too thick to realise what is happening to him." Ginny giggled at it. "If what you say is true, what do you think I should do?" "That's where the second part of the message stands. It's from James, and I'm sure you will realise he was the action man of the group. 'Talk with him a bit and, hen you feel is right, take the bull by the horns.' In other words, snog him on the very first moment he shows interest in you." The young girl smiled mischievously. "I'll do that, Sirius. Thanks for everything." "Just make Harry happy. Potters have always had a thing for red-heads, and I'd bet he is not the exception to the rule. Good night, Ginny." "Night, Sirius." ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~* **~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~ ~ Harry did not like Apparition a lot. It was very uncomfortable; it was like going by a very tight rubber tube, making it very difficult to breathe. When he thought he could not stand it any more, they landed. Harry opened his eyes and realised they were on Magnolia Crescent, a street which was near Privet Drive. "Well, Harry, we have a lovely walk to your aunt's house, so while we walk, we will talk a bit about your next year at Hogwarts. Are you planning on restarting the D.A. when you come back?" Harry thought a bit about it. He had not given any thought to it since he was caught last year. "The main reason we started the D.A. was because Umbridge didn't let us practice spells for the O.W.L.s. Now that Voldemort is on the loose, I think we should keep it open so that everybody could have a way to defend themselves." "If you think that is the good thing to do, we could make it official. That way, you would have the support of the school, and a teacher could be there to help you if you were in any need." "What has happened with all those Educational Decrees?" "They were revoked when I went back to my post of Headmaster, the 'lifelong' Quidditch ban on you among them. Your Firebolt will be given back to you as soon as possible. Furthermore, some parents of Hogwarts students have made a formal complaint due to the abuse of her position of High Inquisitor. Since your guardian had disappeared, nobody has been able to report what happened to you, so I think it should be done as soon as possible. I'd like you to be at the trial, because your testimony will be essential." Harry nodded, caressing slightly the scarred words that had been in his right hand since last year; the Umbridge Toad had made him use a Blood Quill that wrote in his skin the words he wrote on a parchment: 'I will not tell lies'. "If that will help send her to prison, I'll do it gladly." "Very well, Harry," the old man replied. "There is another thing I would like to ask you. What did you think of fighting with your friends at the Department of Mysteries?" "In spite of the fact that there were twelve maniacs behind the six of us, I managed to notice everybody did it rather well. For what happened to Ron, Ginny and Luna I think you should ask Ginny, she would be able to describe everything, but on Neville and Hermione I could say that they fought very well. Neville even tried to use Hermione's wand when his was broken." "Could you tell me what you think are their strong points?" "Why, sir?" the lad asked, curiously. "I was considering the possibility of training the six of you as a fighting group. Should the necessity arise, it would help you to work alongside your friends in a team." Harry smiled. "I expect there is never a situation in which we will be forced to fight that way." "Neither do I, but it wouldn't hurt to do something about it." "Right you are, Professor," Harry replied. Then he started to recall every memory of his friends, about their weaknesses and strengths, so that the Headmaster could know what he thought about them. He didn't like the idea of putting his friends in any danger, but he also knew that training with them would help him to save them. He decided to start on the easiest one. "Ron is the person who knows best about making strategies. He is incredibly good at magic chess, and from what I can tell, he is able to think five or six moves after the moment he is playing. When he applies himself, he can get very good marks, but he is better at physical stuff, like Quidditch or things like those." "Hermione is the most intelligent of us. She knows what to look for when she is doing a research at any subject she thinks of. She works very hard at schoolwork even when there is something that distracts her. She always gets very good marks, but she has a lack of physical abilities because she spends a lot of time studying." Now it was where the difficult things started; he didn't know Ginny, Neville and Luna enough to say enough things about them, but what he had was good enough. "Ginny would be the one Death Eaters underestimate the most, since she is petite. That would be their mistake, because I know she has a good sort of very nasty spells under her sleeves, especially the Bat-Bogey Hex. She is agile and fast, and the Quidditch training she has done since last year improves that." "On Neville's side, I have to say he is one of the most underrated students at school. The main problem he has had all these years is lack of confidence, due to his grandmother, who is always comparing him to his parents and he feels overshadowed by them, and then Snape..." "Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore corrected him. "... is always making fun of him in class, and that breaks his concentration. Maybe that's the reason he doesn't manage to do very well in Potions." "Luna is the one I know the least of. Ginny knows her better than anyone else, since they are friends practically from their first year. She may be dreamy and believe in things nobody would really think of, but she is rather good at fighting. She was one of the first to learn a spell at the DA. Ginny once told me something about her being good at Divination, but I'm not sure if that should be said as a good thing." "For your information, Miss Lovegood has the ability of Foresight, which allows her to see what happens in the next future." Harry was surprised by that piece of information. He should talk with her about that, but he could see that maybe that was the reason she was so strange, the possibility of knowing what could happen in the future would drive anyone insane. "I'll talk with your friends to find out if they want to join you in this project. And I would like your help on another project related to your training." "Well, if it helps me, I'd like to do it, but what would it require from me?" "Would you like to have your own genealogical tree?” "My genealogical tree?" he said, surprised. "How?" "There is a charm that could help us to write all your family in a special piece of parchment. Not only would you be able to know the names of your ancestors, you would also be able to know their powers and yours too." Harry was delighted at the thought of it. It sounded nice, and he wanted to know who his family was. The only blood relatives he had ever met were the Dursleys, and he didn't felt connected to them. "I've never known anything about the Potters and my mom's parents, so I'd love to do it. When could that be done?" "The trial against Umbridge is going to be held in ten days, so I think it could be a good thing that after the trial you came with me to Hogwarts. I can arrange everything to be prepared for that day, and it would last no more than one hour." "Cool!" "One last thing before I leave you here." They had just arrived at the door of Number Four, Privet Drive. "Someone is going to meet you tomorrow. He will have some instructions with him, and I expect you will treat him well." "Who is he?" "I'd rather not spoil the surprise," the old man said with a smile. "I just can say that he will be here at nine o'clock. Be prepared for his visit." "I'll be ready." "Get in there. Your relatives won't ask you anything about your whereabouts." "Thanks, sir." And, without any other word, he went into the house, went upstairs and, for the first time in weeks, he slept the whole night without a nightmare. ~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~ ~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~ ~~~ So, what do you think? This chapter was not easy to write, especially when it came to write everything Sirius saw at the Other Side. I'm waiting for your replies! And wait for the next chapter, "Last week at the Dursleys"! P.S: Vote for the Alhambra at www.new7wonders.com!!! |
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