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Harry Potter and the Secrets of the Chamber | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Albus Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Minerva McGonagall, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley, Sirius Black Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 73 Summary: Raised by his godfather Sirius Black in seclusion, Harry Potter finds new friends after the return of the Dark Lord, and together they seek ways to overcome the rising darkness. Hitcount: Story Total: 21792; Chapter Total: 1366 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: This time a bit earlier because I won't be at home over the weekend. |
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"Hello Harry, how are you doing? Did you make any progress with your Patronus charm?" Remus asked as he entered the living room where Harry had practised the charm all afternoon. "It's still just a silvery mist, but I can almost recognise the shape," Harry replied with a wry smile. "Let me see," said Remus. "That's definitely a step forward." Harry concentrated, trying to remember the moment when Sirius had given him his Nimbus 2000 broom for his birthday last year. Seizing his wand tighter, he raised it in the air and shouted, "Expecto Patronum". A silvery mist shot from his wand, forming an oddly shaped cloud from which something protruded that almost looked like antennas. Shrugging, Harry gave Remus an apologetic look, "That's the best I've done so far." "You almost made it." Remus nodded encouragingly to Harry. "Maybe another week or two of practice, and you'll be able to produce a real Patronus. What kind of memory do you use?" "The moment when I unpacked the Nimbus 2000 for my birthday last year," Harry replied. "I was so excited back then." "Think once more about it, Harry. Was that really your happiest memory?" asked Remus. "Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this memory, and I'm sure it was a happy moment. After all, I was there, and I've seen it. But remember, the better the memory, the stronger your Patronus will be." "I'll think about it again," Harry said, although he was sure he'd made the right choice after hours of pondering. "Take a break now, Harry. There's no point in trying too hard," Remus advised. "Besides, Dora is coming for your duelling training tonight, and tomorrow you'll be at Hogwarts with Dumbledore all day." Harry groaned. "Oh, no. Tonks. I'm afraid I won't be able to move again tomorrow." Remus chuckled, "Then she's got to be doing something right." Harry rolled his eyes and threw himself onto an armchair. Curious, he looked up when the fire blazed brightly, and Sirius stepped out of the fireplace. "Where have you been?" Harry gave Sirius a curious glance. Somehow, he knew Sirius had told him where he was going that morning, but he couldn't remember. "Everything's alright. We did it, "Sirius replied with a big smile. "Dumbledore removed the old wards from the house and put in the Fidelius charm and a few others." "What house are you talking about?" Harry asked, noting that Remus seemed to be confused too. "Ah, right," Sirius laughed, handing Harry a slip of paper. "Here, read this message from Dumbledore." The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at number 12 Grimmauld Place. Ah, right. The Fidelius Charm, Harry remembered. That's the reason he couldn't remember where Sirius had been. Harry gave the note to Remus, who read it briefly and then burned it. "Does this mean Kreacher made the house halfway habitable?" asked Harry. "Depends," Sirius replied with a chuckle. "It looks a lot better now, but it's obviously still not quite the standard Molly had in mind. She wants to clean at least the living room and bedrooms once again." "Does this mean the Weasleys have moved into Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked, relieved. "Yes, at least temporarily," Sirius explained. "Molly hopes her son Bill can restore the wards around their house as soon as possible, but she wants to move back to their home latest by the end of the summer break when her kids go back to Hogwarts." The next evening, Harry sat excitedly in an armchair in the living room, waiting for Sirius. Although he didn't particularly like the house on Grimmauld Place, Harry had decided to accompany Sirius to the Order Meeting, even if he couldn't attend himself. But it was always better than lounging alone on the bed, leafing through Quidditch magazines he'd already read countless times. And tonight's Quidditch game on the wireless was bound to be boring, as the Wimbourne Wasps hadn't won a single match that season so far. If Harry was being honest, it also played a role that he was hoping to meet his friend - and part of her family. The latter was probably the reason he was so nervous. "Ah, you've changed your mind?" Sirius called as he came down the stairs, giving him a knowing smile. "Yeah, why should I hang around here all alone? That's something I can have every night," Harry said with a shrug, trying not to look too excited. Otherwise, Sirius would tease him again, Harry suspected, wondering why his godfather was making such a fuss about him having a friend. "Okay, let's go then," Sirius said, reaching for the Floo powder. As Harry stepped out of the fireplace, he looked around carefully, hoping the entire Weasley family wasn't gathered in the living room. Relieved, he found that only a red-haired boy his age was sitting on the sofa, staring at a chessboard in front of him. The boy looked up and nodded towards the door. "Hi, there are already people here. Just walk through to the kitchen. That's where the meeting is supposed to take place." With a playful salute, Sirius nodded his thanks to the boy and headed towards the door. Following Sirius, Harry closely eyed the boy, who obviously was one of Ginny's brothers. Snippets of conversation could be heard from the kitchen and someone laughing out loud at something when Harry walked in, right after Sirius. In the sitting area were Remus and Tonks talking to a red-haired balding man. Remus looked up and waved to them with a smile while Tonks mouthed, "Wotcher, Harry!" "Oh, Mr Black," called a pudgy red-headed woman who must be Ginny's mother, thought Harry. "Aw, Molly," Sirius replied. "You hurt me. We agreed that we should address each other by the first name." Sirius glanced at the red-haired man and said with a grin. "Of course, your husband wasn't at home then. If you've changed your mind, Molly ..." "Oh Sirius Black," called the woman named Molly, blushing slightly. "You're not supposed to flirt with me like that. I'm a married woman." Sirius smiled and gestured at Harry. "This is my godson, Harry. He wanted to join the Order too, but unfortunately has to wait another year." Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head at Sirius' attitude. Then he bowed slightly and said, "Good evening." "And this is my husband, Arthur," said Molly, putting her arm around the waist of the man who had just got up and approached them. "Good evening, Arthur," greeted Sirius. "Good evening, Sirius, Harry," said the man. "Thank you for letting us live here. Of course, we hope to move out as soon as possible to get out of your hair." "Leave your hair on, Arthur," Sirius replied. "The house has been empty for years, so I'm glad it's now serving a purpose again. All the better that my family wouldn't like it at all. They'd hate it." Sirius laughed out loud. Harry looked around meanwhile and was a little disappointed that he couldn't spot his friend anywhere. "You must be as old as our son, Ron," said Molly, giving Harry a warm smile. "He's over there in the living room and sends the new arrivals to the kitchen if you want to keep him company. Dinner will be ready soon. Unfortunately, you have to eat in the living room because," she gestured towards the kitchen table, "...here it soon will be crowded." Giving Sirius a questioning glance, Harry headed back to the living room when his godfather nodded. The red-haired boy, Ron, looked up and gave Harry a questioning look when he entered. Running his hand through his hair, Harry shrugged awkwardly. "Hi, I'm Harry." "You don't belong to the Order?" asked Ron in amazement. "No, I'm here with my godfather, Sirius Black. He owns the house," Harry replied, indicating with his hand around. "Wait," said Ron, his eyes wide. "Sirius Black owns this house?" "You didn't know that?" Harry asked in amazement. "Nope," replied Ron, grimacing. "As you can see, my parents don't talk about important things when I'm around. But I'll be seventeen in a few months, and then I'm going to join the Order." Ron nodded resolutely. Harry had to smile at Ron's behaviour. He was lucky that Sirius always told him about important things right away. Ron suddenly frowned at Harry. "Wait a minute. You said you were Sirius Black's godson, and your name is Harry." Ron eyed Harry suspiciously. "Then you must be ..." "Harry! What are you doing here?" a voice suddenly called from the door. Harry turned and smiled at his friend. "Hi, Ginny. Nice to see you here." Her lips were twitching as she stared at him in disbelief. She looked a bit messed up in her jeans and the green T-shirt, her hair damp and a bit tousled. Apparently, she'd just taken a shower. Harry liked the way she looked. When Ginny noticed his gaze on her, she muttered, "I'm sorry. I just took a shower and just wanted to come down to pick up my dinner. Maybe I better..." "No, no. Stay," Harry interjected. "Don't bother because of me. I came here with Sirius because I was bored at home alone. And I was hoping to see you..." Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Then it was you who asked Dumbledore if we could live here?" "No, Sirius did that. But I asked Sirius," Harry chuckled. "I couldn't let you live with your Aunt Muriel all summer, could I?" "Wait a minute," put Ron in. Harry glanced at Ginny's brother and almost had to laugh at the way he sat there with his mouth open, looking from one to the other as if they were ghosts. "Yeah?" Ginny said, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" "You know each other? How...?" Ron asked, shaking his head, his mouth still open. "We met by chance at Hogwarts," Ginny said as if it were obvious. No, no," Ron replied, shaking his head vigorously. "Everyone knows Harry Potter is not at Hogwarts." "That's right," said Harry, smiling. "But sometimes, I'm visiting Dumbledore and then we met by chance." "So what are you two then?" asked Ron with an almost accusatory glance. "We're friends," they both said at the same time and couldn't help but chuckle. "And why did you never tell me about it?" asked Ron, almost a little offended. "Oh. Come on, Ron," Ginny replied, slightly annoyed. "You don't introduce me to every friend you have either." "Dinner is ready," came Molly's voice from the kitchen. "Please come over and get you something to eat." After they returned with a bowl of stew and sandwiches, they sat at the table and enjoyed their meals in silence. Harry noticed how Ron's brain was working while chewing and how he occasionally glanced over at him until he obviously couldn't take it anymore. "Why did you never come to Hogwarts?" Taking on a bite of his sandwich, Harry glanced at Ron while pondering how best to answer the question when Ginny did it for him. "His godfather thought it wasn't safe for Harry." "Yeah," Harry said after swallowing. "There was an incident where one of the professors tried to kill me. After that, Sirius refused to let me go to Hogwarts." Giving Ron an apologetic look, Harry wondered why he felt the need to apologize. "Yeah, that's understandable," Ron nodded, eying Harry carefully. "When did that happen?" "Before I started my first year," Harry explained. "Rest assured, I would have loved to come to Hogwarts." "I bet you would've loved to have played Quidditch," said Ron with a knowing grin. "Yes. That, for example," Harry replied. "And have friends." Ron shot him a confused look. "Oh, don't think I had a bad childhood. No, certainly not. I had almost everything I wanted, but I never had anyone my age to play with or talk to. Ginny is my first real friend." Looking from Ginny to Harry quizzically, Ron asked. "How long do you know each other?" "About two months," said Harry. "Yeah. We met the first weekend after the Easter break," Ginny agreed. "Yes, exactly." Harry nodded and looked about carefully. "When we met, you said you have six brothers, Ginny?" "Oh, right," she nodded, tittering. "Bill has his own flat in London. He works for Gringotts. Charlie lives in Romania with his dragons. Percy ... well, Percy has apparently lived in the Ministry ever since he started working there. He is ... let's call it very correct." Ron snorted at the remark and grabbed another sandwich. "The twins, Fred and George... who are the ones I got the map from ..." "They gave you the map? Why you and not me?" Ron shot her an accusing look. Ginny glanced back at Ron innocently. "I don't know. You have to ask them yourself." Turning to back Harry, she continued. "The twins have a mail-order business and are selling everything joke or prank related." "Good to know," muttered Harry, grinning. "Every now and then, I could use something to prank Sirius." Ginny giggled. "All you have to do is ask them. But after finishing their NEWTs a few weeks ago, they're constantly on the move. They call it a business trip." Ginny shrugged. "No idea what they're up to. They're always pretty obscure." "Harry? Are you still here?" Harry heard Sirius call. "We're in the living room," Harry called back. Sirius entered and nodded to them. "I'm glad you found company." "That's Ron and Ginny," said Harry. "And that's my godfather, Sirius Black." "Ah, Ginny," Sirius said, smiling at her. "Nice to finally meet Harry's friend," he said with a suggestive grin when he spoke the word friend. Suddenly his eyes darkened, and he stepped up to a large photograph of the Weasley family, which they had obviously already hung on the wall to make it a bit homey. It showed the family with pyramids in the background, wearing huge hats that were obviously supposed to protect them from the sun. "Ron? Do you still have that rat?" Sirius asked. Ron shook his head with a pained look. "Granger's Kneazle killed him. One day, Scabbers was lying dead in the common room. I have no idea how that stupid cat got into Gryffindor Tower." "When did that happen?" Ron shrugged. "Must be almost three years ago." "Are you sure the rat is dead?" asked Sirius, giving Ron a doubtful look. "Yeah, one hundred per cent. Why do you ask?" "I ..." Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "Nothing. It's probably nothing." He turned to Harry. "The meeting will probably take longer. If you don't want to wait for me, just floo home when you get tired." "Okay, but I'll be waiting for you," Harry replied. "I want to know what you were talking about in the meeting." "Of course," said Sirius. "But it can also wait until tomorrow morning." "Take care that you don't miss anything," Harry called after his godfather as he left. Ron stared at Harry with raised eyebrows. "Do you really think he's going to tell you everything?" "No, I don't think it, I know it," replied Harry, cocking his head. "Our parents won't tell us anything," said Ron sourly. "Are you going to tell us?" Ginny asked, giving Harry a hopeful glance. "Yeah, sure. Why not," Harry replied with a shrug. "Nobody forbade me to do so." "Great," exclaimed Ron enthusiastically. "Do you fancy a game of chess?" "Err ..." Harry wasn't sure. He'd played Remus every now and then and even occasionally won. "Forget it," Ginny shot Ron an annoyed look and turned to Harry. "He'll enjoy shredding you." She hesitated for a moment. "Unless you are a chess professional ..:" "No, no," exclaimed Harry. "I'm just getting along." "Then let's play a game of Exploding Snap," suggested Ginny. "I'd like that," said Harry with a smile. Even Ron nodded his agreement after looking disappointed for a moment. It was almost midnight when Sirius finally showed up again. They'd already given up playing cards a while ago when Ginny couldn't suppress her yawning anymore, and Ron's eyes were drooping. "Are you finally done with the meeting?" Harry asked, relieved but groaned when Sirius shook his head. "It'll probably take another hour or two," his godfather explained. "We're just taking a short break to let in some fresh air and have a coffee. But you can go home if you want. There's no need to wait for me." Harry briefly glanced at Ginny and then at Ron and nodded. The other two were looking just as tired as Harry felt himself. "Yeah, I better go." "I hope you'll find the time to show up again here," Ginny murmured, barely hiding another yawn. "Yeah, would also like to know what was going on over there," muttered Ron, nodding towards the kitchen. After a brief glance at Ron, Sirius shrugged. "Just let me know when you're heading over here," he said to Harry. "You can go alone. I just want to know." Nodding, Harry got up and stretched. "I'm gonna go, then. I'm tired. I'll come over as soon as I get word of what they were discussing in the meeting." Ron raised a hand to wave goodbye while Ginny got up, giving Harry a tired smile. "It was nice to see you. You know where to find us." "I'll stop by as soon as I can." Harry returned her smile. "Dumbledore wanted to give me a few extra lessons over the summer, and I don't know when that will be yet. But you'll hear from me." "It's the summer holiday, mate," Ron groaned. "That's life," Harry responded with a crooked smile. Waving his goodbye, he took a pinch of Floo powder from the glass on the mantle. When he stepped out of the floo, Harry hesitated for a moment before he made himself comfortable on the sofa, not wanting to miss Sirius' arrival. Picking up some Muggle motorcycle magazines Sirius had left on the table, he began to leaf through them…and his eyes were slowly drooping. The sound of noises coming from the kitchen made Harry wake up. Someone who could only have been Sirius had obviously covered him with a blanket in the night. Taking his blurry vision as a sign that someone had removed his glasses, Harry reached over to the table to find them. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he glanced at his watch, which said eight o'clock. With sore muscles from the uncomfortable sleeping position on the hard sofa, Harry made his way to the kitchen to find Sirius sitting at the table over a cup of coffee. Looking up, Sirius eyed Harry amused. "It's good you're up. Dumbledore requested to see you this morning." "Dumbledore?" Harry asked, amazed. "What does he want from me?" "No idea," Sirius replied. "But he asked me to come with you. I had the impression he wants to tell you something important." Frowning, Harry gave Sirius a puzzled look. "Judging by his grave expression, I'd bet it's not about giving you an early birthday present either," Sirius said. Ah yes, Harry remembered. The day after tomorrow was his sixteenth birthday. Since it was a Wednesday, they'd invited Remus and the three Tonks' over for tea and dinner. Maybe he should ask Sirius if he could invite Ginny, and maybe Ron, too. The thought of the two Weasleys brought Harry back to the reason he'd slept on the sofa. "What did you talk about in the meeting that took you so long?" asked Harry. Sirius' face darkened. "There are rumours that Voldemort will soon take over the Ministry, and possibly Hogwarts as well. And if the reports from the few Ministry workers who attended yesterday are to be believed, it is an imminent threat. They believe that a lot of people in the Ministry will either openly support Voldemort or be forced to do so, some of them even using the Imperius." "That doesn't sound good at all. What is the Order going to do about it?" Harry asked, worried. "That's the problem," Sirius replied. "We were discussing this issue over and over again the whole night but couldn't find a solution. Well, except that the order members in the Ministry are particularly attentive to figure out early enough when things get dangerous." Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "Some even said it's good that Voldemort finally shows up openly. Of course, those were the ones who were calling him Who-Know-Who." "But the Order has to do something," said Harry, disappointed. "The only viable idea came from Mad-Eye Moody, a former Auror," Sirius said. "He still knows many Aurors personally and wants to pick out the trustworthy the Order can work together with." Sirius looked up. "Mad-Eye wants to talk to Tonks too. I'm sure she wants to help." "Yeah, I think so too," said Harry, nodding. But what worried him far more was that Voldemort wanted Hogwarts. What about the students when it was true? With Ginny ... and Ron? The two should know what was waiting for them. "Feel free to tell your friends about this," Sirius said, obviously guessing his thoughts. "They can't go back to Hogwarts after the holidays," Harry said, worried. "We believe that Voldemort is going to wait until the students are back at Hogwarts. That way, he would have them hostage and could force their parents to stay out of his way and not to openly oppose him." "That bastard," Harry hissed. "One more reason to make it public." "We'll try, Harry. But we doubt it'll help. The Daily Prophet will claim it's a lie, and the kids can go to Hogwarts with no worries." "Damn it," Harry exclaimed. "Now, I don't even want to know what Dumbledore wants from me. It can only get worse." "We'll be on our way in a moment. We're supposed to be in Dumbledore's office for breakfast," Sirius replied. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Breakfast with Dumbledore? Is that a good sign or a bad?" "We'll see," explained Sirius. "But first, I need to tell you something else." Sirius waited until Harry looked at him. "Harry, you remember the Weasley family photo from last night?" Harry nodded. "I'm sure the rat your friend Ron holds on his arm in the photo is Peter Pettigrew. I recognized him straight away." "Does this mean that Peter is dead?" Harry asked doubtfully. Nobody had said it out loud, but Harry had always suspected that Peter Pettigrew was one of the Death Eaters who had kidnapped him. "If your friend Ron is not mistaken, Peter should indeed be dead. It would be ironic if Peter died a rat, wouldn't it? Perhaps you should ask Ron or Ginny about it again. Just to be sure." "Yeah, I'll do that," Harry agreed, nodding thoughtfully. |
| Reviews 73 |
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