A Light in the Darkness
Merlin’s ring came in very handy during the remaining days before Harry needed to catch the train to Hogwarts. For at least a few hours out of every day, Daniel wandered the streets of Diagon Alley. They had acquired wizard robes for him so he wouldn’t stand out during his forays. At least part of his time out was spent at Flourish and Blotts looking for information while the rest was spent in making purchases he and Harry would need if they were to carry out their plan of getting Harry free of the Dursleys and Dumbledore.
Glaive had recommended a solicitor, Ken Daveys, to them because he worked for Gringotts when they needed legal matters dealt with in the muggle world. The muggle-born solicitor dealt in both magical and muggle law, which was a little unusual, but he was one of a very few that practised in both worlds and as a result his services were much in demand. It was after speaking with him that they had come up with a plan that was both simple and complicated. The safest way to get Harry free of those who didn’t have his best interests at heart was to get a legal change of custody in both the muggle and magical courts.
Mr Daveys had provided them with blank copies of the forms that needed to be filled out and signed. Daveys had also promised that once the forms were signed that he would for a fee take care of filing the ones that needed to be filed in the muggle courts, since Daniel had told him his schedule was very irregular owing to the work he did for the US Muggle government. Daveys also assured him that once they were finalised by the muggle courts the magical ones would automatically be filed with the proper departments recording the change of guardian and that would be that. An added advantage was that once the papers were filed in the proper departments in the Ministry, the court appointed magical guardian would be removed from their position and if it were Dumbledore, he would no longer have any say in Harry’s life beyond where it pertained to his schoolwork or behaviour in school.
Neither Harry or Daniel expected to have any trouble with getting Petunia Dursley to sign the change of custody papers, given that she probably would’ve given custody of Harry to the Devil himself, if she could have. It was on the magical side of things that the new guardian would need to be a magical and given that Dumbledore wanted to keep Harry so desperately with Petunia, it would probably be best if the guardian were thought to be a blood relative as well. It should give them the least amount of government interference hopefully, if Dumbledore tried to get the change of custody overturned. The big problem there was proving that Daniel was related to Harry in such a way that it would raise no suspicions from the magical community.
Daniel couldn’t claim to be a previously unknown Potter, aside from the fact that according to the Goblins there were no remaining Potter relatives alive, there was no way pretend to be given that if he were his name would be on the Potter family tree in the vault. That meant that they were going to have to create one on the Evans side.
Harry found that a sort of poetic justice, because they were going to be able to scare Petunia with the idea that she and her precious little Duddykins were Squibs and that if Dudley bred with the right female he might have magical children. The thought of Dudley actually breeding was enough to give Harry nightmares, but he also found the thought of Petunia being one of those she despised very funny.
During their forays in Diagon Alley, Harry had also mad e it a point to keep an eye out for Hermione and Ron, they were supposed to be coming to the Alley to get their school supplies if nothing else, but so far he hadn’t seen them.
Harry had resigned himself to seeing them on the train tomorrow when he heard a female voice shout, “Harry! Harry!”
Turning he was engulfed in a hug from Hermione while Ron looked on.
When she released him, Hermione began chattering, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Good to see you mate!” Ron told him before Hermione could get started on every place they’d been in search of him.
“Harry, did you really blow up your aunt?” Hermione asked in serious tone as she and Ron dragged him over to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour where they’d been sitting after their fruitless search for him.
“It was Uncle Vernon’s sister Marge, so she couldn’t properly be called my aunt.” Harry told her, “but yes I did. I didn’t mean to though. I just lost control. How did you find out about it, anyway? I thought the Minister was keeping it quiet.”
“Dad,” Ron told him. “He works for the Ministry, remember? He told us when we were getting our rooms at the Leaky Cauldron for tonight. Dad thought it would be a good idea if we all went to the train together tomorrow.”
“Are you staying there tonight, too?” Harry asked Hermione, hoping to divert her before she started lecturing him about what he’d done to Aunt Marge.
“Yes, I am. Mom and Dad dropped me off at the Leaky Cauldron with my school trunk so I could ride in with you all tomorrow.” Hermione told him, then returned to the previous topic. “You’re very lucky you know, Harry. You could’ve been expelled for blowing up your uncle’s sister, you know, especially after that warning you got last year on account of Dobby.”
“You were lucky mate.” Ron agreed. “If I’d accidentally blown up an aunt, I would hate to see what the Ministry would do to me. Mind you they would’ve probably have to dig me up to do it because Mum would’ve killed me first. You probably got off easy ‘cause you’re Harry Potter.”
There was something about Ron’s tone of voice that made Daniel think of Steven Raynor, a fellow archaeologist and linguist who had always been jealous of Daniel’s success until he’d done the unforgivable and gone against older and wiser men by trying to prove the Pyramids were older than history said they were. Now Steven just acted superior, because he hadn’t lost his reputation. He made no comment though not wanting to distract Harry as he dealt with his friends.
“Have you gotten all your school things?” Harry asked.
Ron nodded, “The assistant at Flourish and Blotts nearly cried when we said we needed two of the Monster books. And look at this,” Ron pulled a slender box out of the bag at his feet. “Mum and Dad bought me a brand new wand. It’s Willow with the tail hair of a male unicorn.”
Harry admired the wand for a moment before handing it back. “Well you needed a new one after Lockhart broke yours beyond repair last year.”
Getting to his feet, Harry asked, “I’m gonna get some ice cream, do you want any?”
When they shook their heads no, Harry stepped away from the table only to trip over three heavy bags seated on the ground between him and Hermione. He sent the contents of the bags spilling out as he tried to keep from falling himself.
Hermione was on her knees scooping up the books that had spilled out of the bags, almost before the last one had spilled out onto the cobblestone sidewalk. She inspected them for damage before putting them back in their bags.
Recognising the bound copy of the Monster Book of Monsters, Harry asked, “Are all these books yours Hermione?”
“Yes, they are,” Hermione sounded slightly defensive. “I’m talking more subjects than you are this year. These are my books for Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Divination…”
/Now you see why I compared you to Hermione./ Harry commented to Daniel.
/I don’t think I was quite this bad, when I was in school./ Daniel countered dryly used to those kind of comments from Jack O’Neill. /I know that I never took five elective courses in a single semester. I wonder how long it will take before she collapses from exhaustion? Even stimulants will only keep you going so long./
“Hermione are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year?” Harry wanted to know as Ron sniggered, earning them both a glare.
Hermione didn’t answer his question, instead she checked the contents of her purse and announced, “I’ve still got ten galleons. Mum and Dad gave me some extra money so I could get myself an early birthday gift.”
“Well how about a nice book?” Ron suggested, the innocent expression on his face not fooling Harry or Daniel for a minute.
Hermione appeared to consider it seriously for a moment then shook her head. “No, not right now. I really want to get myself a familiar. An owl, I think. I mean Harry’s got Hedwig and you’ve got Errol….”
“Errol’s not mine.” Ron disagreed. “He’s the family owl. The only thing I’ve got is Scabbers.” He pulled the rather battered old rat out of his pocket and put him on the table. “Thanks for reminding me though Hermione. I want to get him checked over ‘cause I don’t think Egypt agreed with him.”
Looking at Scabbers, Harry had to agree with Ron’s assessment. Scabbers didn’t look all that good. He’d lost a lot of weight and his whiskers were drooping.
“The Magical Menagerie is over there,” Harry was quite familiar with the shops in Diagon Alley, having explored just about every nook and cranny with Daniel in the last two weeks. “You should be able to get Scabbers checked out, while Hermione gets her owl.”
Harry waited in line with Ron near the counter, while Hermione went to look at the owls. The shop was very crowded. Almost every inch taken up with cages of animals that hissed, slept, crept, growled, or tried to attract the attention of the customers in the store.
“How can I help you?” The witch behind the counter asked once the wizard in front of Ron had departed.
“It my rat.” Ron explained. “He’s been a bit off-colour since we got back from Egypt.”
“Bang him on the counter,” the witch instructed as she pulled on a pair of thick spectacles.
Ron pulled his rat out of his pocket and placed him on the counter as requested. The sleek black rats in a nearby cage stopped their tail skipping to watch.
After studying him for a moment, the witch told him, “Your rat has been through the mill hasn’t he. How old is he?”
Ron shrugged. “Dunno. He was old when I got him. He used to belong to my brother.”
“What special powers does he have?” The witch wanted to know.
“None that I know of.” Ron told her after a few moments thought. “Or if he does, he’s never shown them.”
“An ordinary garden variety rat like this one generally will not live beyond three years.” The witch told him bluntly. “Now if you’re looking for a replacement, one of these might interest you.”
She gestured toward the sleek black rats who resumed their game of skip rope using their own tails.
Ron glared at the rats and muttered, “showoffs.”
“Well, if you aren’t interested in a replacement, then you might want to try this rat tonic. It might help.” She put a bottle on the counter.
Ron would never admit it but he wanted his rat back to his usual self. ‘How mu…OUCH!”
Something large had launched itself from the highest cage on to Ron’s head and then from there onto the counter, hissing and spitting madly.
“NO CROOKSHANKS!” The witch behind the counter shouted as the orange thing made a try for Scabbers who bolted out from between the witch’s hands like he’d been greased.
As soon as Scabbers was on the floor he took off out the open door with Ron in hot pursuit. Harry followed close on his heels, wanting to help his friend find his pet.
It was Harry who found Scabbers hiding under a rubbish bin near Quality Quidditch Supplies and pulled him out by his tail.
“Easy Scabbers,” Harry tried to comfort the twitching rat. “That thing isn’t out here.”
/There’s something off about Ron’s rat./ Daniel spoke up suddenly.
/What do you mean?/ Harry inquired.
/He doesn’t feel right,/ was all Daniel said.
/Well if the witch at the Magical Menagerie is right he may be dying from old age./ Harry pointed out. /That may be what you are picking up./
/No,/ Daniel disagreed. /I know what impending death feels like and Scabbers isn’t dying, but I have never encountered this feeling before. It’s magical in origin though, I know that much./
“Good you found him,” Ron sounded very relieved as he hurried over to join his friend who was standing near Quality Quidditch supplies, staring at Scabbers.
Taking the trembling rat from Harry, Ron stuffed him in his pocket, then massaging his head he asked. “What was that thing anyway?”
The brief glimpse Harry had had of it only told him it was a feline. “It was either a very large cat or a very small tiger.”
Ron looked around. “Where’s Hermione?”
“Probably still getting her owl.” Harry told him as they headed back toward the Magical Menagerie to find Hermione.
She was coming out as they approached, her arms filled with the large ginger coloured cat that had made a try for Scabbers.
“Hermione! Please tell me you didn’t buy that monster!” Ron begged.
“Isn’t he adorable?” Hermione sounded very pleased with herself.
Harry wisely said nothing about the cat’s looks. The cat was large with a mashed in face and from what he could see it looked decidedly bow-legged. While it looked quite content right now, Harry was willing to bet that that was because Scabbers was out of sight.
“Hermione that thing nearly scalped me!” Ron pointed out. “Why would you wan to buy it?”
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to, did you, Crookshanks?” Hermione cooed. “Can you believe that nobody wanted him? The witch in there told me he’d been there for ages and no one wanted to buy him.”
“I wonder why.” Ron commented darkly then he asked. “What about Scabbers? He’s going to need rest and relaxation. How’s he going to get it with that cat around?”
“Ron, Crookshanks will be in my dorm and Scabbers will be in yours. He isn’t going to bother Scabbers, you’ll see. By the way, you forgot your rat tonic.” Hermione slapped a bottle of red liquid in his hand before walking off, Crookshanks cradled in her arms.
/She doesn’t know cats very well,/ Daniel observed as Harry and Ron followed her to the Leaky Cauldron, carrying the bags of books that had been bought earlier that day. /While my experience with them is limited, I know that cats will go wherever they want, whenever they want and you will never know how they managed to get there./
###########
Instead of his usual dinner alone in his room, Harry had dinner in the parlour with the Weasleys and Hermione. It was a very lively affair.
Once they reached the pudding course, Fred asked, “Dad, how are we all going to get to King’s Cross tomorrow?”
“The Ministry is loaning us a couple of cars.” Mr. Weasley told them.
Percy looked up surprised. “Why?”
“It’s because of you, Perc,” George’s expression was serious. “They’ve heard all about you and wanted to make sure you receive a proper escort since you are such an important person. And I certain the cars are sure to be sporting little pennants that say HB on them.”
“For Humungous Bighead.” Fred added, making all the Weasleys except Mrs. Weasley and Percy snort into their pudding.
“Why is the Ministry providing cars for us, Father?” Percy repeated his question, trying to ignore his snickering siblings.
“Because we don’t have one any more,” Mr. Weasley’s attention was focused on his chocolate pudding. “They are doing me a favour because I work there.”
/There’s more to it than that,/ Daniel commented. /You would think a government employee could lie better./
Harry could only agree. He’d noticed that while Mr. Weasley’s voice remained matter-of-fact, his ears had turned red, a lot like Ron’s did when he was under stress. /Probably something to do with Sirius Black, given how worried the Minister was that he might’ve gotten to me first the night Dursley almost killed me./
Before anyone else could question Mr. Weasley further, Mrs. Weasley spoke up, “And it’s a good thing they did too. Do you realise just how much luggage you’ve got between the seven of you. Now you’ve all got a busy day tomorrow, so I want you to go upstairs and make sure you’ve got everything packed. There may not be time tomorrow.”
“Ron, hasn’t even started,” Percy told his mother. “He’s got his stuff scattered all over my side of the room.”
“Snitch,” Ron scowled at his brother. “I would’ve gotten to it.”
Harry followed the Weasley children and Hermione upstairs. He needed to make sure that everything he didn’t want the others to see was hidden in the secret compartment of his new trunk. Once he was done, he went down the hall hunting for Ron and Percy’s room to see if he could help his friend pack.
He had no trouble finding the room, because he could hear Percy shouting from the partly open doorway of room twelve. “Where is it? I set it on the table here so I could polish it and now it’s gone.”
“I don’t know,” Ron shouted back. “I need to find Scabber’s rat tonic, I can’t find that. Maybe I left it in the bar.”
When Harry opened the door he saw Percy standing between Ron and the door. The room looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. “You’re not going anywhere til you find my badge.”
“What’s going on?” Harry asked.
“My Head Boy badge is gone.” “I can’t find Scabbers rat tonic.” Ron and Percy said at the same time, only Percy sounded like it was the end of the world if his badge wasn’t found right this minute.
Ron tried again to get past Percy so he could go down and check the bar, but Percy held him back saying, “You aren’t going anywhere until you’ve found my badge.”
“I’ll check for Scabbers tonic downstairs for you, Ron.” Harry offered.
“Thanks mate,” Ron turned his attention back to packing his stuff, ignoring Percy who kept insisting that he look for the badge.
As he headed down the passage from the parlour area to the main bar, Harry heard a pair of raised voices coming from the parlour where they’d had dinner and recognised the voices as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley’s.
“…it makes no sense not to tell him.” Mr. Weasley was insisting heatedly. “I told Fudge that Harry has a right to know, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He’s thirteen years old after all.”
“Arthur, that news would terrify him.” Mrs. Weasley insisted. “He’s better off not knowing. I mean would you want Ron to have that knowledge hanging over his head if it were him? Harry’s better off going back to school without knowing about this.”
“I’m not so sure about that Molly,” Arthur disagreed. “Remember all the trouble he and Ron have gotten themselves into. They’ve ended up in the Forbidden Forrest twice remember. Besides, others will know, like Malfoy and they are sure to use that knowledge to taunt Harry into doing something foolish and he can’t afford to do that this year. In fact, I am prepared to bet that if the Knight Bus hadn’t picked Harry up when he ran away from his Aunt and Uncle’s he would’ve been dead before morning.”
/Ah so the Minister and Dumbledore told everyone the same story that they wanted you to believe./ Daniel commented. /I had wondered if they would bother to tell your friends anything at all or leave it to you./
“Harry’s not dead. He’s fine, so what’s the point in telling him.” Mrs. Weasley wanted to know. “He’s better off not knowing, let alone worrying about it.”
“The Ministry thinks Sirius Black is mad, Molly,” Arthur told her, “and maybe he is, but his madness seems to have made him very clever. He was clever enough to get out of Azkaban and that’s supposed to be impossible. Not to mention that in the three weeks since his escape, no one has seen hide nor hair of him. Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet that we are close to catching him, but we are no nearer to doing that than we are to inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing any of us know is what he is after…”
“But Harry will be perfectly safe as long as he is in Hogwarts.” Molly protested. “Dumbledore won’t let anything happen to him.”
“We thought Azkaban was secure too,” Arthur pointed out, “but Black got out. If he could get past the Azkaban guards, then he can probably get into Hogwarts. Besides Dumbledore can’t be everywhere Molly and if Harry takes it into his head to go hunting Black, I shudder to think of what could happen to him.”
“Are you sure that Black is after Harry?” Molly demanded. “He might be doing something totally different you know.”
There was a thudding sound from within the room that Daniel identified as someone’s hand or fist hitting the table. Probably Mr. Weasley’s. Then Mr. Weasley said, “Molly, how many times do I have to tell you. They didn’t report it in the Prophet, because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but a few days before his escape the guards reported that Black was muttering in his sleep every night and it was always the same words ‘He’s at Hogwarts... he’s at Hogwarts.’ What else could we think but that he’s after Harry. If you ask me in Black’s deranged mind, he may think that murdering Harry will bring back You-Know-Who.”
“Does Dumbledore know about this?” Molly wanted to know.
“Of course he does,” Arthur sounded frustrated. “We had to have his permission to station the Azkaban guards around the school. He wasn’t happy to have them there, but he agreed.”
“Why wouldn’t he be happy to have the Azkaban guards there?” Molly sounded shocked. “I mean if they are there to catch Black, what possible objection could he have?”
“Dumbledore doesn’t like the Azkaban guards.” Arthur told her now sounding tired. “Neither do I if it comes to that.”
“But if they keep Harry safe and catch Black…” Mrs. Weasley began.
“Then I will never say a word against them ever again.” Arthur told her. “Come on dear, it’s time we went to bed. We have an early day tomorrow.”
Harry headed into the main area of the Leaky Cauldron and found the bottle of rat tonic under a table near where they’d been sitting before dinner.
Daniel was strangely silent as they headed back upstairs with the bottle. After giving it to Ron, he headed for his room and found the twins crouched further down the landing listening and laughing as Percy demolished his and Ron’s room in search of his badge.
“We’ve improved it.” Fred held Percy’s badge out for Harry’s inspection. It now read: Bighead Boy.
Harry forced a laugh and went onto his room.
After locking the door, he took the ring out of his pocket and put it on his right hand. He needed to see Daniel not just hear him in his head.
/Activate the silencer./ Daniel requested before appearing.
Harry opened his trunk and pulled a small celtic style dragon out of the secret compartment. He stroked the head of the dragon once and the walls shimmered briefly.
“What do you think?” Harry wanted to know.
“Well we now know at least part of the reason they wanted to keep you in Diagon Alley. They think Black is after you and they wanted you where hopefully other wizards could protect you.” Daniel told him. “Mr. Weasley is also apparently to serve as your escort to the train station. They probably think you won’t be alarmed by his presence they way you would say by the wizard equivalent of a policeman because you trust Mr. Weasley.”
“They all think that Sirius Black is after me. Could he be?” Harry desperately wanted reassurance from the one adult that he could trust.
“I don’t know,” Daniel admitted. “We still don’t have all the facts regarding Mr. Black. However we will be on our guard, and if Mr. Black does intend to do us harm, he will be in for a big surprise… Me. You have my word Harry. I won’t let him harm you. I won’t let anyone harm you. Not Black. Not Dumbledore. Not even the Goa’uld.
#######
Daniel descended the stairs to the main area of the Leaky Cauldron, dragging Harry’s trunk behind him. They had agreed last night that it would be best if Daniel were in control of their body until the train for Hogwarts left the station. That way if Sirius Black or anyone else made an attempt on Harry, he could protect them.
Daniel’s eyes swept the large room and noted the breakfast crowd was larger than usual, even allowing for the Weasleys and a number of the diners weren’t paying attention to their food, instead they were watching the room.
/They are about as subtle as the Goa’uld./ Daniel commented to Harry. /If these are an example of the Ministry’s finest protectors, the wizarding world has major problems. If these guys had been at the SGC, Jack would’ve sent them back for retraining./
“Harry!” Ron helped him drag his trunk over to join the rest of the pile waiting by the door to muggle London. “Dad’s outside waiting for the cars to arrive.”
A moment later Mr. Weasley poked his head in the door. “Cars are here. Why don’t you go first, Harry?”
Daniel mentally congratulated Mr. Weasley on his lack of subtlety. The man was making appear as though Harry had a choice, even as he dragged Harry’s trunk toward the door, leaving Harry with no choice but to follow. If Harry hadn’t followed him out the door there would have been questions.
Mr. Weasley checked in both directions as they crossed the pavement to the car and if Daniel/Harry wondered if he was checking to make sure that no one was trying for Harry or if he wanted to make sure they didn’t run into any muggles by suddenly appearing out of thin air. Harry had no idea how far the spell that kept those with no magic from seeing the Leaky Cauldron actually went.
/It makes a good argument for the goblins assertion that muggle-borns are in fact the children of long forgotten Squibs./ Daniel frowned over that word, not liking the slightly insulting sound of it. /Hermione’s parents are able to see the Leaky Cauldron, therefore they must have some magical ability even if they can’t harness it. I mean if you make a shield selectively porous so some can get through but others can’t, sooner or later it will be no protection at all./
/I wonder how Hermione would take the news that she might have an unclaimed vault at Gringotts?/ Harry put in as they settled in the back of the car.
/I doubt she would believe you./ Daniel told him. /From what I’ve seen of her in your memories, if she can’t confirm it by finding it in a book, she won’t believe it unless someone like Dumbledore tells her it’s true and I’m not sure that he would tell her that. If you are going to suggest it to her though, I would suggest you wait until we are out from under Dumbledore’s direct control that way he won’t have to wonder how you found out about it./
Hermione, Ron and to Ron’s disgust, Percy soon joined them. Daniel was willing to bet that the addition of Percy was Mrs. Weasley’s idea since she seemed to think he was so responsible.
Daniel personally thought he was like a younger version of Lt. Colonel Simmons, not that he would ever say it aloud. Simmons with his superior air had had his nose rather rudely rubbed in the fact that he didn’t know everything when the rocket he thought would take out the Goa’uld, blew up long before they hit their intended targets. In fact if it hadn’t been for SG-1, Simmons’ actions would have been partially responsible for the destruction of Earth because he would have delayed military mobilization past the point where it would’ve been able to even fight a delaying action to buy more time for more of the people of Earth to escape. He just hoped that Percy would lose that superior air, before he also accidentally caused great harm.
At King’s Cross, the drivers from the Ministry found carts for the trunks and then made sure they were safely on their way into the station before departing.
Mr. Weasley remained close by Harry until they reached the portal to Platform 9 & 3/4, then looking around, he told them, “since there are so many of us we will go through in pairs. Harry, you and I will go first okay?”
Daniel nodded and walked up to the brick pillar with Ron’s father. Leaning casually against it, they slipped through to the other side with a minimum of fuss. The others came through a few minutes apart. Once they were all gathered again, Mr. Weasley led them to a car near the end of the train that seemed to be largely empty and then he helped the older boys get all their gear stored in two separate compartments. They lost Percy almost immediately though as he spotted his girlfriend, Penelope because after finger combing his hair, he headed over to see her, his chest stuck out so she couldn’t miss his Head Boy badge. This made Fred and George start sniggering until their mother shushed them
Once the trunks, Hedwig, and Crookshanks were stowed they headed back off the train to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley.
Daniel had returned control to Harry for the good-bye. They didn’t need Mrs. Weasley suspecting anything was amiss and most mothers had an instinct that allowed them to know when something was wrong even if the child wasn’t their own.
Once Harry had said good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley spoke up, “Harry, can I talk to you a moment, over here.” He gestured toward a pillar near the end of the train. “It’s kind of a private matter.”
“What is it, Mr Weasley?” Harry couldn’t help noticing how tense the man looked, not to mention that he was looking around nervously.
“There’s something I need to tell you before you go…”
Certain that Mr. Weasley was about to tell him about Sirius Black, Harry interrupted, “I already know, sir.”
“You already know about…?” That surprised Mr Weasley. “How?”
“I overheard you and Mrs. Weasley talking last night,” Harry admitted. “So it’s alright, you haven’t broken your promise to the Minister by telling me.”
“That isn’t how I wanted you to find out about…. him.” Mr. Weasley was surprised by how calm Harry seemed to be over the whole matter. He was certain he wouldn’t be taking it quite so well if a mass murderer was after him. “You’re taking this a lot better than I expected, Harry. I expected you to be scared at the very least.”
“I’m fine,” Harry told him, and at the look of disbelief on Mr. Weasley’s face he added “really I am. I mean Sirius Black can’t be any worse than Voldemort, now can he? Besides, once I’m at Hogwarts, do you really think that Black is going to try and get past Dumbledore?”
There was the expected flinch at Voldemort’s name before Mr. Weasley said. “I knew you were made of stronger stuff than Fudge thought.”
The train whistle blew indicating the train was going to be leaving soon, so Mr. Weasley hurried to get to the main reason he wanted to talk to Harry. “I want you to promise me something Harry.”
“Arthur!” Molly interrupted him as she ushered the other on to the train. “Harry needs to get on the train. What are you doing?”
“He’ll be there in a minute, Molly.” Mr. Weasley started moving Harry in the direction of the train as he said, “I want you to promise me…”
“That I’ll be a good boy and stay in the castle.” Harry spoke up anticipating him.
Mr. Weasley shook his head. “Not entirely, though that would be the best thing to do…” The whistle blew again as he said, “I want you to swear to me you won’t go looking for Black.”
Harry looked at the man in surprise. “Do I look crazy to you? Why would I want to go looking for someone who wants to kill me?”
“Just promise me,” Mr. Weasley requested as Harry climbed on the train, “no matter what anyone says to you that you won’t…”
“Arthur, the train is leaving, let him get inside.” Molly Weasley shouted over the sound of the whistle.
##########
Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the compartment their trunks were in and found a surprise waiting for them. The compartment was no longer empty. A man was now sleeping on one of the seats, his head resting against the window. He was the first adult the three of them could remember seeing on the Hogwarts Express, other than the lady who pushed the food trolley. This train was generally reserved for the students only.
The sleeping man’s robes were kind of shabby and threadbare in places and they looked like they had been repaired quite a few times.
Daniel was kind of surprised that there weren’t more adults on the train. Apparently Fudge hadn’t been able to come up with a convincing excuse to put guards on the train, in addition to giving Harry an escort to make sure he got to the train, unless this one apparently sleeping man was supposed to be it. Daniel hoped not, because while the man looked young, he also looked like he was utterly exhausted if not ill and his light brown hair was flecked with patches of grey. He’d obviously been living a hard life up to now and Daniel wasn’t too sure how much more he might have to give before he broke.
“Who do you think he is?” Ron whispered as they quietly entered the compartment.
“Professor R.J. Lupin,” Hermione whispered as she sat down near the door to the compartment.
“How do you know?” Ron asked.
“It says so on his suitcase.” Hermione pointed out the battered case tied with string, sitting in the luggage rack above the man’s head.
Neither of them saw Harry start at the man’s name. R.J. Lupin! Could this man be the Remus Lupin mentioned in my parent’s will? Lupin couldn’t be that common a name even in the Wizarding world.
/When we get a chance we’ll ask him./ Daniel promised. /Judging by that suitcase, he is going to be at Hogwarts for a little while at least./
“I wonder what he’s going to be teaching at Hogwarts.” Ron kept his voice low so he wouldn’t wake the sleeping man.
“It should be obvious,” Hermione sounded slightly superior. “There’s only one current vacancy: Defence Against the Dark Arts.”
Ron looked the man over and commented, “I hope he’s up to the job. I mean he looks like one good hex would finish him off.”
“Well, he couldn’t be any worse than Quirrell or Lockhart, now could he.” Harry put in.
Ron shrugged. “We’ll see if he can break the curse.”
Most of the students at Hogwarts were convinced that the DADA job was cursed, given that no teacher had managed to last more than a year in the position without something happening to them.
Harry studied the sleeping man across from him intently. He could feel Daniel thinking in the back of his head, though the man hadn’t said anything as yet.
/Pence for your thoughts,/ Harry offered.
/I was just wondering who arranged for Professor Lupin to get the Defence position and ride up on this train. Was it Fudge or Dumbledore?/ Daniel told him. He could feel Harry’s confusion, so he elaborated, /I mean the timing is a little too co-incidental. One old friend of your parents breaks out of jail, possibly to come after you and now another that we know through your parent’s will that they thought highly of, just happens to get a job teaching Defence at your school. The timing just seems a little suspicious to me./
Harry stared out the window at the passing scenery and mulled that over for a moment. /If it is something more than coincidence then it was probably Dumbledore who arranged it. I can’t see him letting Fudge choose his DADA teacher./
Before Daniel could reply, Ron asked, “Harry, what did my dad want to talk to you about?”
Harry sighed, pulling his attention away from the window. He hadn’t wanted to bring this up and worry his friends, but since the topic had been brought up, he proceeded to tell them about the discussion he’d overheard between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley the previous evening and how they thought that Sirius Black was after him. He also told him that Mr. Weasley wanted to make sure he wouldn’t go after Black.
Ron looked shocked and Hermione was holding her hands over her mouth as if she were trying to keep from screaming as he finished his bare recital. When she finally lowered them, it was to say, “Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh Harry… Mr. Weasley’s right, you need to be really really careful. Don’t go looking for trouble, Harry...”
“I don’t go looking for trouble. It finds me, without me looking for it.” Harry couldn’t help feeling annoyed that Hermione would automatically assume he was going to go looking for Black.
“Hermione, just how thick do you think Harry is?” Ron gave voice to his friend’s annoyance. “He’d have to absolutely barking to want to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him.”
Harry was a bit surprised at their reactions. Both Ron and Hermione seemed more worried than he was by the notion that Black was after him, but then again he did have an Ascended being sharing his body, so he really didn’t have all that much to worry about. He couldn’t tell them that though.
“My dad told me that nobody knows how he managed to get out of Azkaban.” Ron told them. “He was in the high security wing too. Azkaban is supposed to be escape proof, between it’s location and the Azkaban guards.”
Remembering the conversation of the night before where Mr. Weasley had expressed his distaste over the Azkaban guards and the fact that they would be guarding the entrances to Hogwarts, Harry asked, “Ron, what are these Azkaban guards your father talked about?”
“I don’t know,” Ron admitted, “but they must be something awful. Dad had to go out there once and when he came home he was all white, shaky, and sick looking.”
Before Harry could ask him another question, a faint tinny sort of whistling sound filled the compartment.
“Where’s that coming from?” Hermione started to check under the seats.
After listening for a moment, Ron, said, “Sounds like it’s coming from your trunk, Harry.”
Harry with Ron’s help slid his trunk off the luggage rack and opened it. The whistling sound was coming from the pocket Sneakoscope that Ron had sent him for his birthday. It spun in the palm Ron’s hand, whistling and flashing.
“Is that a Sneakoscope?” Hermione leaned over for a closer look.
“Yea, but it a rather cheap one.” Ron told her. “It kept going off while I was trying to attach it to Errol’s leg so I could send it to Harry for his birthday.”
“Were you doing anything untrustworthy or that you shouldn’t have been?” Hermione wanted to know.
“Well, I wasn’t supposed to be using Errol.” Ron admitted. “Mum and Dad wanted me to wait until we saw him again to give Harry his present, but I didn’t want him to think I’d forgotten his birthday.”
The whistling was getting louder so Hermione advised him, “Put it away, before it wakes Professor Lupin.”
Harry slid the Sneakoscope into a pair of Uncle Vernon’s socks and then stuffed it down to the bottom of his trunk.
“I wonder what made it go off?” Harry spoke his thoughts aloud. “I don’t think any of us were doing anything untrustworthy.”
Ron told him. “Might want to get it checked when we go to Hogsmeade. Fred told me they sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Bangees.”
“Do you know much about Hogsmeade, Ron?” Hermione asked. “I read that it’s the only entirely non-muggle settlement in the whole of Britain…”
“Yea it is,” Ron agreed trying to head her off before she got into full flow about everything she’d found in her books about Hogsmeade. “That’s not why I want to go though. I want to get inside Honeydukes!”
“What’s that?” Hermione didn’t remember reading about that place when she’d looked up information on Hogsmeade.
“It’s the world’s best sweet shop.” Ron told them a dreamy look on his face. “They’ve got everything… Chocolate Frogs, Pepper Imps… they make your mouth smoke, Sugar Quills that look so real you can suck on them in class and no one will know you don’t have a real quill….”
“Hogsmeade’s a very interesting place,” Hermione agreed. “I read in Sites of historical Sorcery that the inn was the headquarters for 1612 Goblin rebellion and the Shrieking Shack is supposed to be the most severely haunted magical or muggle place in Britain.”
“…and massive sherbert balls that when you suck on them, they levitate you several inches off the ground.” Ron clearly wasn’t listening to Hermione’s listing of places of educational interest in Hogsmeade.
Harry watched the two of them going back and forth like a tennis match, neither listening to what the other was saying, until Hermione said, “It’ll be nice to get out of Hogwarts for a while and see some of the surrounding area.”
“Yea it will,” Harry agreed, glad that Daniel had signed Uncle Vernon’s name to the Hogsmeade permission slip. There was no way he could’ve forged it and Daniel’s handwriting looked nothing like his.
Hermione looked thoughtful. “Harry, with Black after you, do you really think you should be going to Hogsmeade?”
“Hermione are you nuts? Harry can’t miss Hogsmeade.” Ron looked at her aghast.
“Ron, I’m just thinking of Harry’s safety and if you were a good friend you would agree with me that it’s too dangerous for Harry to go while Black is out there after him.” Hermione crossed her arms and glared at the red head.
“I am a good friend of his. In fact I was his first friend and that’s why I don’t think he should miss Hogsmeade.” Ron countered hotly.
“I can settle this now before you both say something you’ll regret.” Harry spoke up before their argument could escalate. “Hermione, I am going. I am not going to miss out on seeing Hogsmeade. I doubt Sirius Black is going to put in an appearance in a crowded town so don’t worry.”
Hermione looked like she wanted to continue arguing with him, but Harry told her, “End of discussion Hermione. It’s my life, let me live it. I haven’t gotten to enjoy myself all that much thanks to the Dursleys and I’m not going to miss Hogsmeade if I can help it.”
Hermione sniffed and turned to open Crookshanks basket.
“Hermione, don’t you dare let that thing loose in here.” Ron warned, but it was too late.
Crookshanks leapt out of the wicker basket and perched on Ron’s knee. The lump in Ron’s pocket that was Scabbers trembled, so Ron pushed the cat away. “Get off!”
“Ron don’t!” Hermione chided him as she cuddled her cat.
Ron was about to respond, when Professor Lupin stirred slightly. He remained silent, not wanting to wake the man.
######
The sleeping professor in their compartment wasn’t very good company, and they remained quieter than normal so as not to disturb him but later that afternoon, his presence proved to be a good thing as the day wore on and the weather began to turn gloomy.
Malfoy pushed open the door to their compartment with a bang and stepped in flanked by his two goons Crabbe and Goyle.
“Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like Potty and the Weasel.” Malfoy announced, then before Harry or Ron could say anything, he continued. “I heard your father came into some money this summer Weasel, I’m surprised your mother didn’t die ofshock when she heard about it.”
Ron’s face turned red and he stood up so quickly, he knocked Crookshanks basket off the seat and it bumped into Professor Lupin on the way down. The sleeping man gave a snort and shifted slightly to get away from the basket.
Realising there was an adult in the compartment with them, Malfoy backed up a step as he asked, “Who is that?”
“A new teacher, probably for Defence Against the Dark Arts.” Hermione spoke up from where she was seated as Harry/Daniel got to his feet, in case he had to hold Ron back and keep him from doing something stupid.
Malfoy wasn’t stupid enough to start anything in front of a teacher.
“Let’s go,” Malfoy muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle and the two larger boys followed him out of the compartment.
Ron punched a seat cushion with his fist. “I’m not gonna take any rubbish from Malfoy this year. If he doesn’t lay off my family and I get my hands on him, I’m gonna do this,” he made a violent twisiting gesture, “to his head!”
“Ron!” Hermione hissed, glancing worriedly at the teacher.
He still appeared to be asleep, but she didn’t know how he could sleep through all the noise of students chattering as they passed by and on top of it Malfoy coming in. The man must be really really tired. She wondered if he would be at the Opening feast or would he sleep through that as well.
#######
The view outside was a dark, shimmering grey between the thick sheets of rain and the darkening sky and would make one think it was evening, but it wasn’t, at least not according to Harry new watch. They couldn’t even see any of the passing countryside from their window.
The train started slowing down.
“We must be nearly there.” Ron commented. “Good, I’m starving.”
“We can’t be, it’s too soon.” Hermione disagreed. “And I don’t know how you could be starving, considering how much you ate off the trolley.”
Ron shrugged. “I’m a growing boy.”
The train continued to slow.
“I wonder why we are stopping? I mean we still have a couple of hours before we reach school.” Harry put in checking his watch again.
Harry got up and carefully stepped over Professor Lupin’s feet. Opening the door he looked out into the corridor and saw other students doing the same.
Returning to his seat near the window, he told the others, “I don’t think this is a planned stop.”
Hermione and Ron looked at each other worriedly and then glanced at the sleeping teacher.
The train jerked sharply as it stopped suddenly and they heard bangs from other compartments in the sudden silence that told them people and luggage had fallen to the floor. As the voices in the other compartments started to rise the lights went out and they were in total darkness, both within the train and without.
“What’s going on?” Ron demanded a slight note of fear in his voice.
“Could we have broken down?” Hermione wondered.
“Dunno…” Harry used the edge of his sleeve to wipe a section of the fogged up glass to see if he could get an idea of what was going on outside. “There’s someone moving around out there though.”
Their compartment door opened and someone came in, falling over Ron’s legs in the process. “Ouch!. Sorry, whoever you are.”
“It’s okay, Neville.” Ron helped his fellow Gryffindor to his feet and got him settled on seat opposite him.
“Anybody got any idea what’s going on?” Neville asked as the compartment door opened again and someone stumbled over his feet.
“I’m afraid we don’t, Nev,” Harry told the other boy as he reached down to help the person who had fallen further in to their feet.
“Who’s in here?” the voice asked.
Ron recognised it as his sister’s. “Gin, it’s us.”
“Good, I’m glad I found you.” Ginny sounded relieved. She tried to sit down in the first available space, but wound up bumping into Crookshanks’ basket and than earned her a fierce hiss from the cat within.
“Sorry Crookshanks.” Ginny apologised to the cat as she fumbled around with her hand trying to find an empty space to sit.
“Quiet,” a hoarse older voice said abruptly.
Since Harry didn’t recognise the voice, he assumed that Professor Lupin had finally woken up. A moment later a dim light appeared in the compartment and Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames.
“Stay where you are,” he instructed as he moved carefully toward the compartment door.
The door slid open before he reached it and a wave of cold filled the small compartment. A cloaked figure was revealed in the light in Lupin’s hand. The face was completely hidden by the cloak and when Harry looked down at the hand that had pushed the compartment door open, he nearly lost his lunch. The hand was slimy, grey and scabberous like something dead that had been decaying in water.
Daniel gasped recognising that appendage from the knowledge he had gained when he Ascended. A Sai’ki’eth here! That isn’t possible. They were all supposed to have been destroyed!
The Sai’ki’eth had been a living weapon created by the Ori during one of their wars and according to Oma they had supposedly all been destroyed, before the Ancients had left Earth. She had told him that the Sai’ki’eth were hard to control or contain and even harder to kill. Had she lied to him, or had some of the dark creatures escaped their destruction, or even worse had some foolish wizard found a way to recreate the damnable things.
Daniel’s attention was pulled back to Harry who was beginning to retreat inside his own mind due to the cries of some woman who sounded as if she were in peril of her life . Daniel quickly figured out that the Sai’ki’eth had brought one of their main weapons to bear, the one that allowed them to bring forth the horrible memories of whoever they happen to be near and feed on their good memories. Daniel could feel Harry’s body shaking in reaction to their presence. Unfortunately there was no way he can work through Harry now because he was almost comatose, so he would have to separate and hope that he could deal with the Sai’ki’eth before both he and Harry died.
Projecting himself only for the Sai’ki’eth to see, Daniel told it, “You do not belong here. These are not your prey.”
You no longer have authority or power here, Alterran, a hissing, guttural voice disagreed. This is our place now.
Beginning to feel weaker, Daniel said to it, “That is where you are wrong. This is my place!”
Daniel extended his hands palm out and balls of blinding white light filled them. The foul creature backed up realising he intended to destroy it. Sending the energy blast toward the Sai’ki’eth he could see and through him to all the others that were on or around the train, Daniel continued to pour energy into his attack until he no longer felt the foul presence of the Sai’ki’eth.
Severely weakened, Daniel returned to Harry’s body and they both slipped into unconsciousness.
“What the bloody hell was that light?!” Ron’s voice spoke into the darkness.
“I’m afraid I have no idea.” Professor Lupin’s voice told him, before saying, “Lumos.”
A bright light appeared on the tip of the Professor’s wand. “Is everyone all right?”
“Other than really bright spots before my eyes, and the feeling that I will never be happy again, I seem to be okay.” Ron told him and one by one the others agreed.
“Here, this should help with that feeling.” Lupin handed out some chocolate.
As Hermione took her piece of chocolate she realised that there was one person who hadn’t answered the Professor’s question. “Harry, are you okay?”
No response.
“Harry!” Ginny called this time.
Still no answer.
Professor Lupin turned his lit wand toward where Harry was sitting.
The light from his wand revealed that Harry was leaning against the window, his eyes closed, he face very pale, and blood running from his nose.
“HARRY!” Ginny shrieked.
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Two Shall Be As One
by CorwalchKapitel Bemerkung:
I used sections of POA in this chapter though some of them were moved around. This is not intended to infringe on JK Rowling’s copyright or plagiarise her in anyway. I also want to thank her again for giving us such a wonderful universe to play in.word, words and more words = conversations in Ancient
/words, words and more words/ = conversations between Harry and Daniel
words, words, and more words = private thoughts
words, words, and more words = Dementor speaking
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