|
|
|
|
 |
Harry sat at the window at 4 Privet Drive, staring out into the street. It was almost his birthday, and he hadn't heard from any of his friends in a week. He wasn't sure what was going on. Things at the Dursley's were slow compared to his last year at Hogwarts. He shuddered every time he thought about Voldemort's return, and Cedric's death. The only thing that reassured him that things were all right were the frequent letters from Sirius and Dumbledore. Sirius had mentioned something about a birthday surprise, and Harry was anxious. The Dursleys refused to have owls swooping in and out of the house at all hours, and so Harry's hopes of a subscription to the Daily Prophet were quashed. He hoped that Sirius' news was that he had been cleared of the murder charges, and that he would be taking coming to take Harry away from the Dursleys once and for all. Professor Dumbledore rarely had time to write. He was very busy trying to gain support against Voldemort, without the Ministry of Magic finding out. He seemed to feel that an adult should be keeping track of Harry though. He'd said in his last letter that his predictions of inter-school cooperation might be coming true. And not just students from Beauxbatons and Durmstang either. As he was idly stroking Hedwig's feathers, a strange car driving down Privet Drive caught his eye. It was completely out of place in the Dursley's neighbourhood. It was a dark black sedan, that looked like something out of an American spy film. And yet, as it passed next door's door, it almost looked as though it had caught fire, just for a second. He stuck his head out the window, trying to see where it was going, and was mildly surprised when it stopped outside number four. Pulling his wand out of its hiding place underneath the loose floorboard, Harry rushed downstairs to where Uncle Vernon was answering the door. Two almost identical women, dressed in black suits and sunglasses were standing at the door. "Well," Uncle Dursley said. "Whatever you're collecting for, we're not interested." "I'm Ms. Jones, and this is Ms. Smith," she said gesturing to her companion. "We're here to make sure that Mr. Potter arrives at his destination in one piece." "What?" Harry gasped from his place on the stairs. "You must be Mr. Potter," the woman introduced as Ms. Smith said. "We were sent by Mr. Black." She handed a packet of letters to Harry over Uncle Vernon's shoulder. "Sirius? But..." "That mad felon!" Uncle Dursley exploded, causing Dudley and Aunt Petunia to come running out of the kitchen. "I don't care who sent you. I am the boy's legal guardian, and I say he's not going anywhere with that... that..." his voice quailed. "That lunatic!" "Actually," Ms. Jones said. "You aren't the boy's legal guardian. And because of your treatment of Harry, your fitness as parents has been called into question. Family services will be here in an hour to discuss your son's placement." "My Duddykins! No, they can't take him away," Aunt Petunia wailed. Harry tore open his packet of letters. There was one from Sirius. And another in the familiar green ink from Professor Dumbledore. Harry started with Sirius' letter. 'Dear Harry,' Sirius wrote. 'I have sent these two to pick you up and get you to school on time. I'll see you soon. Sirius.' Dumbledore's letter was almost as short. 'Harry, I have discussed this with Sirius, and we agree that someone should be there to make sure all goes smoothly this year. I have complete trust in these ladies.' "Well that's enough for me," Harry said. "When do we leave?" "Now." "Okay!" Chapter 2 -The Birthday Surprise- Harry ran up the stairs and quickly tossed his things into the chest he used to lug things to school. His textbooks, his robes, dress robes, and letters. Within 15 minutes all that he owned (Not a very large amount, the Dursleys made sure of that) was in the trunk, and one of the ladies, Ms. Jones, he thought, knocked gently on his door. "May I come in?" She asked. This completely threw Harry off; no one had ever ASKED to come into his room, not even the Weasley boys when they saved him through the window with the flying car. "Yes!" Harry responded, shocked. Ms. Jones picked up the chest and carried it down the stairs like it weighed as much as a feather. The Dursleys look quite in shock as Ms. Smith was reading off a list of things they had been charged with that made them look like a bad family. Harry was sure that Mr. Dursley was more worried what the town would think if they where even in court for such charges. He would then be less ordinary than before and a curse upon what he deemed right. Harry didn't care, he skipped outside to the black car and watched as Ms. Jones loaded the chest into the trunk of the sedan. He thought he could hear the car purr as she patted it gently. This somehow didn't surprise Harry, as it wasn't the first magical car he'd seen. The first purring car he'd seen, but not the first magical one. Ms. Jones then opened the back door and there, sitting quietly, was Sirius Black. He looked in far healthier shape than last time. And was actually wearing a muggle black pinstriped suit. "Happy birthday Harry!" He stated and patted the seat beside him. Harry scrambled into the car and threw his arms around his godfather. "Sirius!" He cried. "Sorry I didn't come in myself, but I thought that I might strangle your Uncle if I did, and I'm not supposed to hurt anyone unnecessarily am I?" He grinned, a twinkle in his eye. Ms. Smith and Ms. Jones crawled into the front seats of the car, and the car began to speed away. Harry was so caught up that he didn't know what to say exactly. The first thing he could finally ask was: "Are you clear?" Harry asked. "I mean are they still looking for you?" "No,"Sirius grinned a bit larger. "There where some things that convinced them to actually investigate. He glanced over at Harry. "Guess you want to know?" He pulled out a Daily Prophet and passed it to Harry, the date was a couple of months earlier. "Raised Dead" "Last night the Ministry of magic raided a small house in Hangleton, believing it to be a source of the recent murders, which count to 13 to date. A battle ensued on the grounds of the old house. Only one man was found in the house, but he decided to fight the authorities and was killed. Several of the MoM Elder employees later identified the body as one Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail. Wormtail was supposedly killed by Sirius Black 15 years ago when he tried to stop Black from killing muggle innocents." The story continued on, but Harry had gotten the idea. "So then what happened?" "The Ministry, being the old farts they are, still had my wand from that time and they decided to check the last 4 spells cast by it, and discovered that it had not been used for any destructive purposes that day. However I was fined for having a flying motorbike." "Alright!" Harry threw his hands around his godfather "So where are we going?" "To your birthday surprise, of course," Sirius smiled. After what didn't seem long enough, but still too long, they arrived in London. The sedan pulled up beside the Leaky Cauldron, and the crew of the car got out. Harry was however, surprised to see that the shape and colour of the car had changed and it now looked like a red old fashioned American sports car. It had a small devil embossed on the side. The devil, having spotted Harry, winked. Strange. Sirius opened the door, and everyone went into the Leaky Cauldron. There was a loud BANG as some wet-light-no-flame-fireworks went off inside. The lights turned on, and inside there was a huge banner hung from wall to wall. "HAPPY 15th BIRTHDAY HARRY!" The place was full of people. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" They all cried, then they began to sing the birthday song. Harry could see most of the staff of Hogwort's school of Magic, including Professor Dumbledore, and Hagrid singing along. It seemed like the entire 5th year and some of the older students of Gryffindor tower were there singing, and some from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw too. Harry looked around, and there she was, Cho Chang, the girl Harry had developed a crush on. Also Ron and Hermione were there with their families. And there was a great cake rose in the centre of the room for him. Harry counted in awe, 10 layers to the cake. Not knowing what to say, Harry's jaw dropped. And he looked over at his godfather. Who shrugged. "I wanted the first birthday we spent together as a family to be a special one," he mentioned. "Go on, we'll be lighting the candles on the cake in 30 minutes, go say 'Hi' to everyone. " Jump to Page 2 |