Harry Potter and the Ring of Slytherin: Year Six

Chapter 4: Back at the house of Black

Harry could not believe what just happened. Just this morning he was eating breakfast at the Dursley's back yard and now he just came back from a trip to the Daily Prophet. But his little tour made several questions come up in his mind like, If Lizzy was a Death Eater, Why didn't she kill him when she had the chance? And who's Agatha Trimble? Why did he have such a weird feeling when he's around her? But no matter how much Harry thought of everything that happened, he couldn't find any answer to these questions.

Well, one thing was for certain, he sure was exhausted. He layed on his bed and was about to take a nap when Hedwig landed on his stomach, carrying a couple of letters. Harry took them off her beak and patted her head appreciatively before she flew into her cage. He opened the first letter which was from Ron.

Dear Harry,

Things have become really messy around here now that You-Know-Who's out in the open. He hasn't shown up yet but the Death Eaters have become quite aggressive. Dad and the others are having a really hard time trying to control them.

Anyway, have you seen the advert of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at the paper? Mum went berserk when she saw it; I think she almost had a heart attack. She told Fred and George not to gop is on but they still refused to close it down. Oh, and Percy's back home, that git! He came home the day Fudge announced the return of You-Know-Who. Mum and Dad forgave him of course, as if that slimy piece of dung is really sorry for what he did. Ginny and I are still not talking to him. Bill and Charlie pretended to be too busy to notice him.

Well, I think Dumbledore's gonna let you come here earlier than scheduled. Hope the Muggles are treating you better! See you here soon!

Ron

Harry scrambled to get the Daily Prophet which was now lying on the floor. He flipped the pages until he saw the huge and colourful advert of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It had a huge moving photograph of Fred and George demonstrating their Invisibility hat, followed by the following words:

Tired of your old boring wands?
Can't stand your annoying Professor?
Ever wish you could get back at that big and mean school bully?

Well we have the solution to your everyday problems!

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes"

Fake wands, Skiving Snack-boxes, Invisibility hats, Avenging Sweets

You name it, we have it!

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
The jokeshop with an attitude!

Located beside Florean Frotesque's Ice Cream shop
Diagon Alley

Soon to open:
Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Hogsmead Branch

"Wow, they really did it!" Harry said to himself. He sure was glad that he gave his price money at the Triwizard tournament to Fred and George, although he felt quite guilty whenever he thought of Mrs. Weasley. She was always nice to him and now because of him two of her sons wouldn't come homDefence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, Professor Lupin.

Harry,

I hope that everything is going well between you and the muggles. Everything is quite fine here. Now that the ministry is on our side, it is much easier to do our jobs. Even the Muggle Prime Minister has agreed to help us. Voldemort is still nowhere to be found but we are doing our best to find him. Harry, you must keep your eyes open at all times. We never know when he will be attacking. He's probably in hiding by now, but we all know that he's just getting his strength back. So, as Moody always says to us, Constant Vigilance, Harry, constant vigilance.
Don't worry I have a couple of good new for you. Dumbledore already gave us the signal to bring you here. He seems to think that because of all those Death Eater attacks, you will be much safer here, under the Order's protection. A member of the Order will be picking you up on Tuesday next week and don't tell the Muggles that we're coming. Well, we are all looking foreward to seeing you again. And Harry, whatever you do, just be careful!

Moony

Harry folded the two letters and hid them both in the drawer of his bedside table. His spirit rose a little after reading those letters. At last, he will be going back to Grimauld Place where all of his friends were.

I can't wait to get back there! I'm finally going to see Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Moody, Sirius, Tonks...."

Harry felt like his stomach turned. He kept forgetting that Sirius was dead; maybe because he couldn't accept the fact that his godfather was really gone. He kept thinking that that night at the Ministry where Bellatrix Lestrange killed Sirius was just a part of the horrible nightmare he's been having. It all didn't seem real. Just last Christmas Sirius was singing Christmas carols and having a great time, and now he's gone. Harry was never convinced that Sirius was dead. He didn't even see Sirius's corpse...well, except in his dreams.

And a few days from now, Harry will be going back to the place where he and Sirius spent their happiest moments together. The place where they were supposed to live once Sirius's name was cleared. But Sirius never got the chance to clear his name and Harry's dreams of living with his godfather vanished, in a flick of a wand.

The thought of going back to Grimauld place suddenly became gloomy. Harry realized that he would be entering a house filled with Sirius's memories but without Sirius in it. Nothing would ever be the same. He was able to bear the last few months because there was nothing that would remind him of Sirius, but once he's back at Grimauld place, the battered doors, the rotting smell, the peeling wallpaper and the Doxy infested curtains of the derelict House of Black would remind him of his beloved godfather.

He spent the next few days dreading the arrival of Tuesday. Three days ike a breeze. Four days passed, five days, and finally Tuesday came. Harry's things were all packed up in his trunk, Hedwig was sitting comfortably in her cage and his room was as tidy as it ever could be. Harry was good to go, but he felt like he wanted to hide inside the loose floorboard in his room and wait there until the the start of term at Hogwarts arrive. In all his life, he never thought the day would come that he would rather stay with the Dursleys and be pummeled on by Dudley than go back to the Wizarding world to be with his friends.

He was actually on the verge of opening his trunk and throwing his things back into the closet when the doorbell rang. He heard Uncle Vernon's heavy footsteps coming from the kitchem and moving to the door. Harry expected to hear Uncle Vernon's frantic yells once he opened the door and saw a wizard, but Harry heard nothing.

He carefully sneaked downstairs to see what was going on. He saw Uncle Vernon talking to someone in a very courteous manner.

"What can I do for you miss? Is it about my son Dudley? Are you one of his professors in Smeltings?" Uncle Vernon asked politely.

"I'm afraid not Mr. Durseley." The woma said in a prerogative tone. "I'm the Deputy Headmistress of St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys. Someone has just reported to us that a juvenile delinquent is staying here at your respectable home. According to our sources his name is Harry James Potter and he is very dangerous. I have come here to take custody of him before he does anything to harm your family. Is he here?"

Uncle Vernon looked as if he was just promoted as president of Grunnings. The smirk on his face was so wide that it seemed like all his prayers have been answered.

"Is that so?" he said to the woman, trying really hard to keep himself from jumping up and down and screaming with glee. "Well, please do come in Miss- "

"Dashwood, Olivia Dashwood," said the woman.

Harry went closer to get a better look and he saw a stern but very beautiful woman with sleek honey-blonde hair tied up in neat bun and wearing a very smart-looking but sexy black business suit, a pair of stylish black shoes with stiletto heels and a pair of rimless eyeglasses. She was also carrying a large leather suitcase that completed her executive look.

Uncle Vernon lead the woman to their well kept living room and called for his wife Petunia. Harry tiptoed to the behind them to find out what they're talking about. He hid underneath Aunt Petunia's new coffee table and faced sideways to hear everything clearly.

Aunt Petunia entered the room wearing an apron, and looking quite confused. She was obviously taken aback by the extremely poised appearance of their guest. Harry even saw her glance at herself in the mirror to see if she didn't look too shabby compared to the woman in front of her. She flattened her hair a bit and wiped her face with the paper towel she's holding then she sat beside her husband, without taking her eyes off Ms. Dashwood.

"What is the meaning of this Vernon?" she immediately asked her husband.

"Well, this nice lady here is from St. Brustus's and she's finally going to take Harry off our hands to teach him some good manners. You and I both know that that boy needs to receive some proper discipline!" Vernon replied joyfully.

Aunt Petunia still looked quite puzzled. It took some time before she was able to process what she heard. Then she blurted out, "So, you're telling me that this woman is taking Harry away from us for good?"

"Not for good madam, just for the entire school year. He'll be back here next summer, better than ever! Allow me to show you our Institute's brochure." Ms. Dashwood brought out a glossy blue leaflet with the St. Brutus's crest at the center. "As you can see madam we have top of the line facilities."

Aunt Petunia stared at the photographs in the brochure. There were photographs of various school facilities including the classrooms, the cafeteria, the gymnasium and the Olympic-size swimming pool. "Well this looks like nice school. Wait a minute! What are those chains in the walls of the class rooms for? And those Professors, why are they holding steel pipes?" gasped Aunt Petunia.

Ms. Dashwood laughed mildly. "Well, the chains are for worse cases and the pipes are our way of imposing proper discipline. We used canes before but we realized that they weren't hard enough. Pipes really do work! See how well behaved our students are." She pointed at a picture of some boys, just about Harry's age, scrubbing the gymnasium floor with a toothbrush.

At that moment panic began to creep inside Harry. He felt like there's suddenly a huge lump in his throat. Chains, steel pipes and scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush! That sounds even worse than staying with the Dursleys.

"Come on Petunia, this is what we've always been praying for for a very long time. Just say yes and that blasted Potter kid will be out of our hair in an instant!" persuaded Uncle Vernon.

Aunt Petunia, please don't say yes! Please don't say yes! Please...

Petunia thought for a long while. She had always thought that Harry was a good-for-nothing low-life but he was still her nephew. Her blood was still in his veins and she did give her word to Dumbledore. But she suddenly thought of Voldemort. Now that he's back, he'd want to get even with Harry and her family might get involved in their conflict. She may have been a very nosy and envious woman but she cared a lot about her family and if sending Harry away would save them from a lunatic dark wizard then she would definitely have him leave her home this very instant.

She looked at Ms. Dashwood and firmly s;

Harry felt like a couple of trolls hit his head with their clubs. His life was definitely over. Good bye Hogwarts, good bye wizarding world, hello St. steel pipes and chains!

At that moment Ms. Dashwood said coldly. "Splendid, now just sign this contract and I'll be taking the boy with me."

Uncle Vernon immediately signed the contract without even reading it. Aunt Petunia reluctantly followed her husband's lead.

Then Uncle Vernon stood up and said, happier then ever, "Well, There's no time to waste! I'll get the boy then!"

Harry was about to sneak out of his hiding place before Uncle Vernon finds out that he's eavesdropping to their conversation, but someone suddenly grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of his hiding place.

"Well, what do we have here? A nosy little freak! Oh, you're in so much trouble!" Dudley, Harry's huge but useless cousin, said menacingly.

He pushed Harry into the leaving room. "Dad, look who's eavesdropping under mom's coffee table!"

"You found him! Good job Dudley! You saved me the trouble of going up to get him!" Uncle Vernon delightedly said.

"But dad, I just caught him nosing around! Do you want me to do to him that new move I've been practicing for my next boxing match?" Dudley proudly said as he began punching the air with his huge porky fists.

"No need Diddykins! Harry will be leaving now with this nice lady here!" Aunt Petunia said sweetly while squeezing Dudley's fat pink cheeks.

"He's leaving? Not to that freaky school again!" Dudley said bitterly.

"No, darling he's going to St. Brutus's" replied Aunt Petunia.

The expression on Dudley's face changed. And he even looked more delighted e idea of Harry being chained to the wall while being beaten up with steel pipes.

After all the commotion, Ms Dashwood asked Harry to come closer. He hesitantly and slowly walked towards her. He felt like he was entering the Wizengamot and he was about to be sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. Ms. Dashwood opened her mouth and began explaining the situation in a very dull tone. Harry didn't hear a word she said though, because his mind was too busy formulating plans on how to get out of this sticky situation. He thought of grabbing his trunk and running out of there as fast as he could, or he could just break out of St. Brutus's by contacting his friends using Hedwig. Hundreds of ideas came up in his mind but all of them seemed impossible to do. He even thought of using a Polyjuice potion to turn himself into Dudley and Dudley into him so Dudley would be sent to St. Brutus's instead of him. Then he realized that Polyjuice potions took a month to prepare and he only had a few minutes left before that Dashwood woman takes him to St. Brutus's.

He was suddenly brought back into his senses when someone grabbed his arm and began pulling him. He looked up and saw that Ms. Dashwood was dragging him towards the door.

Harry yanked off Ms. Dashwood's hand and yelled, "Let go of me! I'm not going a step further with you!"

"Look, boy! This is for your own good! St. Brutus's is a great place! Trust me!" said Ms. Dashwood with a devilish grin on her face.

In a few moments, Uncle Vernon came down carrying Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage. "Well, here's his stuff!" Uncle Vernon said to Ms. Dashwood then he looked at Harry menacingly and said, "I don't know where you were planning to go boy, packing your stuff and all; but wherever that is, you'll never be able to go there because your only destination is St. Brutus'!"

Hedwig started mak.

"Oh, that bloody bird!" bellowed Uncle Vernon while furiously shaking Hedwig's cage. "I'm finally going to be able to get rid of you! Your master won't need you anymore!"

"Actually," interrupted Ms. Dashwood. "We encourage our students to have pets. Taking care of animals teaches them to have a sense of responsibility." Then she snatched Hedwig's cage from Uncle Vernon's hand. "The boy can keep his owl. Although, I must say, very few people have owls for pets."

Then after a few last insults from Uncle Vernon, a few reminders from Aunt Petunia and a few good bye punches from Dudley, Ms. Dashwood dragged Harry out of the house and into her car. Harry sat by himself at the back seat as Uncle Vernon loaded his trunk into the car's compartment. Ms. Dashwood handed Hedwig to Harry as she had a few last words with Uncle Vernon.

"Well Hedwig, I guess it's going to be just the two of us now. Maybe St. Brutus's is not such a bad place; it can't be that different from Hogwarts. Besides, I don't have to worry anymore about being expelled if I use magic outside of school."

As Ms. Dashwood started the engine and the car began to move with a loud bang, Harry finally accepted his terrible fate. He would have to give up on magic forever and he would have to spend the whole year in a huge torture chamber disguised as a school. Just as he was about to feel sick because of too much aggravation, he heard a very familiar voice coming from the driver's seat.

"You alright there, Harry?"

"Tonks!!!" yelled Harry.

Ms. Dashwood turned around and faced Harry. Her hair wasn't blonde anymore, instead it was green and curly and her eyes were suddenly hazel instead of blue. Her stern and rigid face was now friendly and cheery. She smiled at Harry broadly and said in a really excited voice.

"I did it! I fooled the muggles! I can't believe I pulled it off! I really pulled it off!"

"But how-, why-, I can't believe it's really you Tonks!" Harry screamed. He was still in a bit of a shock but he never felt that relieved in his entire life.

"Well, it was Dumbledore's idea! He said that if we pick you up dressed as wizards, those muggles will give us a really hard time and they'll be asking a lot of questions. Questions that we definitely couldn't answer. Aside from that, Dumbledore wanted to test your Aunt Begonia.or was it Leticia? Anyway, he wanted to know if she will keep her promise, apparently she didn't. Well. I'm just glad they didn't find out I'm a witch! I'm really getting good at this! All those hard work in Muggle Studies really paid off!" Tonks said excitedly.

"But you could have told me about your plan! I mean.you have no idea how I felt back there! I thought I was never gonna see my friends and I'm going to be tortured for an entire year!!!" bellowed Harry.

"Well, we would have told you if we figured this plan out earlier, but Dumbledore only thought of it last night! Besides, it wouldn't be as believable if you knew I was a witch! The muggles wouldn't buy great muggle impersonator?" asked Tonks.

"Hell, yeah! You surely fooled me! But I have to admit you were a bit too classy for a deputy headmistress. You looked like a secret agent or something!"

"Secret agents huh! I heard about those in our Muggle studies class, they're like the muggle counterpart of the Unspeakables, right?"

"Yeah, sort of like that."

"Wow, I really looked like one of them? Wicked! We'll enough talk, I must get you to the manor before it gets dark. We have to take a short cut."

"A shortcut? But-" But before Harry could finish what he was saying the whole car just vanished and so did he. It was as if he turned into a pair of floating eyeballs. All of a sudden, the car began moving upwards. It levitated higher and higher until it was at the same level with the clouds where it made a sudden halt. They hovered there for about a minute then Harry heard an earsplitting noise that sounded like a gigantic steam engine, and flames came out from the back of the car and without warning, the car zoomed forward like a rocket! It was going so fast, they seemed to be traveling at the speed of light. Then it hit Harry! There's only one car in the world that could fly and make itself invisible .Mr. Weasley's car!

"Hey Tonks! This car doesn't happen to be a Ford Anglia is it!" yelled Harry.

"It sure isit a bit of a tune up, used a few extra charms on it and added the rocket boosters that Mr. Weasley found during his raid at that place called N.A.S.A. Wicked isn't it!" she yelled back.

Harry's jaw dropped! He just couldn't believe that he was actually riding the same car that saved him and Ron from a bunch of gigantic spiders during his second year and it even has rocket boosters from N.A.S.A! This car could fly them to the moon if they wanted to, and to think that it was wild and in terrible shape when he last saw it.

After a few minutes the car landed on an old deserted street and it suddenly became visible again. And there they were at the old Grimauld place. The moment they got there, the same battered door suddenly popped out of nowhere between house number 11 and 13 and in just a short while the entire house materialized. The moment Harry saw the derelict and dingy old house, his feet felt like it was made of ten tons of metal. He could barely lift them. He temporarily forgot about his godfather when he thought that he was about to be sent to St. Brutus's but know he had to face reality. He had to accept the fact that he's only a few steps away from the dreadful House of Black, and there was no turning back.