Harry Potter and The Tomb of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and

The Tomb of Hogwarts

Chapter 8

Summer Surprises

The weekend seemed to come and go in no time at all. Harry made sure to get back to Grimmauld Place by seven in the morning and never arrived back at Privet Drive until exactly nine thirty, the latest time the Dursleys would allow him to come home.

Everyone spent Saturday in Diagon Alley to do some shopping. Then on Sunday they spent their last day together in the basement playing games and flying around on their brooms while Hermione sat with Buckbeak.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger arrived escorted by Tonks, Moody, and Mundungus Fletcher. It seemed they were more entertained by Fletcher than everyone else, but in general they all seemed to be having a good time.

Before leaving, Mr. Granger made mention that, since Hermione had spent the entire last week with Harry, he and Mrs. Granger wanted to spend an extra bit of time with their daughter before school started up once again. Since they would only be in America for another six weeks, they felt it would be best to stay together for the rest of their vacation, with the exception of course of Harry's birthday.

They all said their goodbyes, including Ron who had a few extra chores to do and would not be back until Wednesday. So the week started out with Dudley and Harry spending more time together, and before Harry knew it, they were actually beginning to like spending time together.

Over the weeks that followed, things began to fall into a normal routine. Dudley and Hagrid continued their classes during the week while Ron was keeping Harry company Thursday through Sunday.

When Ron wasn't about, Harry would spend time going through his Animagus book and working on his Occlumency lessons. Over the next six weeks he had become rather adept with blocking Snape's intrusions. He was often able to break his link with Snape by his third try during lessons and was quickly improving, though he never heard this from Snape.

It seemed that Snape's polite demeanour had faded from him early, as he had begun treating Harry in a manner that more were closely related to tolerance, rather than acceptance, when he was teaching Harry. However, the lack of insults had given Harry the impression that he was doing better, and there was a slight look of acknowledgement that came over Snape when Harry had done some of his more impressive work.

"That was, effective, Mr. Potter," he would say to Harry. Initially Harry had taken to thanking him and trying to impress Snape on his tactics, but that was quickly rejected after Snape's continuous smirks and comments about "The Dark Lord" not giving him the benefit of an advanced warning before trying to invade his mind. Harry had shrugged this off until the end of their last meeting for the month of June.

"It seems you are indeed beginning to fully grasp the full weight of why you need to practice Occlumency. However, there is one final series of lessons that I believe, and the Headmaster agrees, requires your undivided attention. From now until the week prior to your return to Hogwarts, we will only be meeting on Wednesdays. The reason for this is to allow me to randomly test your abilities without your prior knowledge, and that includes while you are asleep."

Harry was about to object, but Snape was a bit too quick for him.

"And before you make any unfounded accusations, I have already spoken to Lupin who will be notified twenty-four hours before I arrive and he shall accompany me during any such lessons in which you will be tested unawares. We will cover any additional steps you need to exercise to protect yourself on Wednesdays. And don't think that just because you stay at your Aunt and Uncle's two times a week that you will not be tested there as well." The smirk that crossed his face made Harry's blood freeze as though he were surrounded by ten Dementors.

"Of course," he continued, "we shall be spending the last week of July preparing you for your next Professor."

Snape smirked as he mentioned this last bit. Was it a smirk of accomplishment that he had actually prepared Harry for his new Professor even though he thought it impossible, or was he smirking at the fact that Harry was going to be in for a bit of trouble once his new teacher took over? Harry wasn't sure which it was, but neither sounded particularly pleasing.

"Also, I have some work to do for the Order so you will have a small break next week, but I would highly suggest you spend the next week practising because I may be coming by any time between next Saturday and the following Wednesday." There was an air of amusement in Snape's voice that made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end.

The weekend that followed seemed very odd. It began with Ron telling Harry that he wouldn't be able to meet him for the weekend, but his reasons and mannerisms seemed a bit peculiar.

"Sorry, but I forgot to do some chores so Mum is putting me on restriction for the next week. I can't come over and nobody can come visit over here." It wasn't so much the words that seemed odd to him, but more the attitude behind his words. He acted unhappy about it, but there was something in his tone that lead Harry to think that Ron wasn't as upset as he said he was.

Then, when Hermione arrived on Friday to spend some time with Harry, the first thing she did was to tell him that she wouldn't be able to stay the whole weekend.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I really wanted to stay, but Mum and Dad say that going to see the San Francisco Symphony is a once in a lifetime experience and the only tickets they could get were for Sunday. But I can still stay until tomorrow night," she added as though this would fix everything.

Then, the worst. Not only had nobody mentioned his birthday yet, but then Dudley, the one person that Harry had been able to rely over the past few weeks had told him that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon wanted to head to London to pick up some new school clothes since he wouldn't have to wear a school uniform any longer. This meant that he would not be able to accompany Harry back to Grimmauld Place over the weekend.

The one ray of sunshine was Remus. Remus wanted to bring Harry over to his family's home out in countryside of Wales. He said that since the area was populated by more wizards and witches than Muggles, and since each family owned so much land out there, he thought that they might bring Buckbeak with them to his old home where Harry could meet his brother and sister-in-law.

"They're good people. Of the whole family, Romulous is the only one who has never shown any animosity towards me for being a werewolf, though I think he still blames himself for... Well, anyways, I think you might like him, and they have a son who will be coming out to Hogwarts next year."

"Oh, okay. When do we leave?" Harry asked semi-enthusiastically. It wasn't the best plan for things to do over the next few days, but it was better than staying around the house all day, and that was reason enough to go. Besides, it might be nice to see where his Godfather came from. And that's when it hit him. Sirius.

He had referred to Remus neither as a surrogate Godfather nor as his new Godfather. He was simply his Godfather. But what about Sirius. Was he betraying Sirius's memory by addressing Remus this way, especially so soon after Sirius's death? But you didn't know him for all that long, really said a voice in his head. But he did. He knew Sirius for two years now, and whenever he had any kind of a problem, Sirius was always there for him. Harry's feelings must have been showing because Remus was asking him something in a very soft voice, though Harry hadn't caught what had been said.

"Sorry," he said shyly, "what was that?"

"I asked if you were alright, Harry. You look as though you've seen a ghost."

"Yeah. Well I have, kind of. I was thinking about you and I realised that I thought of you as my Godfather."

Remus's face brightened. "Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" he asked lightly.

"Well, yeah... It's just that, well... It's just that I was thinking of you as just my Godfather and not a stand-in for Sirius. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love having you around and all, but it's like I'm betraying Sirius's memory by accepting you in his place. Oh bugger, I'm never going to say this right," he said angrily.

"Harry, I know exactly what you mean, and I think it's completely healthy. Sirius was, and still is, a very important person in your life and you can't be expected to just forget him. But at the same time, you shouldn't feel bad that you are going to continue to adjust to life without him. He wouldn't have wanted you to stop living just because he can't be here with you."

Harry bowed his head. Of course he knew that Remus was right, but it didn't make him feel that much better. It all sounded like pointless excuses to him. They were giving him nothing more than empty reasons why he could forget about Sirius without feeling guilty. Well, that wasn't going to happen. He would never forget Sirius, but he did have to admit, to himself anyway, that having Remus around was kinda nice too.

"Harry. I know it's hard to let go, but if you hold onto something too tight that isn't really there, sooner or later you'll become consumed by it, and you'll never be able to truly live until you come to terms with it. It's much better to do that now. Trust me, it's better in the long run, and you'll never regret living without him, but you may never forgive yourself if you don't."

Again Harry nodded. He knew that everything Remus was saying was true. He went through the same things when he saw Cedric killed over a year ago, though that only lasted a few weeks. But even still, he hadn't know Cedric they way he knew Sirius. Sirius was the closest thing to a father he had had. But Remus was right. He needed to start living again. That's what Sirius would have done.

"Your right. I need to get on with my life, and I'm going to start right now, by heading out with my Godfather and meeting his family."

"Right. Well, if we're going to go then I need to send an owl over to Romulous to let him know when we'll arrive. We'll be heading out just before dawn tomorrow morning. If all goes well, we should be able to ride Buckbeak most of the way there and arrive sometime just after lunch."

They spent a few more moments going over some of the travel plans before he headed back downstairs where he spent the rest of the day with Hermione. He told her about the planned trip with Remus and she told him about everything that she had done in America.

They spent several hours talking while working on different spells that they thought he might be able to use in his Duelling Classes including some of the more basic spells used in different fashions. Hermione had suggested some very inventive ways of using transfiguration spells to change Harry's shoes into lead, and Harry responded by giving Hermione's Robe wings which tried to fly away with her still in it.

All too soon it was time for her to go home and Harry was left alone. He was upstairs and in his room by nine and had finished a heavy set of Occlumency exercises.

That night he had a wonderful dream which had him, Sirius, and Remus duelling Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and standing across from Harry, Godrick Gryffindor, all the while his Mum and Dad watched from the sidelines. It was a great battle, but in the end, Harry's team had lost, two to one, with Harry being the only one who had been able to disarm Gryffindor after he had missed with a sleeping spell.

They all laughed and enjoyed each other's company until a Loud Explosion came from the North Tower of the castle.

Harry woke with a start, looked around and heard a voice coming from outside his door.

"...blasted stupid trunk. Repairo." It was Remus, and as Harry looked over at his clock he realised what was happening. It was already four fifteen in the morning. They were due to leave in less than an hour.

Half an hour later he had his trunk by the back porch and was eating a quick breakfast. Dobby seemed very excited at the prospect of having nobody around for three whole days. His day off would normally have been yesterday, but as Harry and Remus were to be gone for three days, Harry suggested that he take the whole three days off instead. Dobby didn't much like this idea, but he said that he would take the rest of Sunday off and then maybe take more time working on the house since nobody would be around.

"And maybe Dobby could even, take a break," he said, quivering at the word.

"That would be just fine, Dobby. Don't work too hard now, okay?"

"Thank you, Harry Potter Sir," Dobby said with excitement covering his face. Harry had not doubt that Dobby's "break" would last no more than thirty seconds and the thought made him laugh. He made a mental note to try to spend Dobby's next day off with him, possibly with Hermione. Then his face turned a bit sour at thinking of her. She still hadn't mentioned his birthday, even before she left, and he still hadn't heard from Ron either.

"Ready to go?" came Remus's voice.

"Ready," Harry replied.

"Great. I already brought Buckbeak into the back yard, so all we have to do now is work a little magic on the trunks here." He pulled out his wand, waved it once, and each of the trunks lifted themselves up a foot off the ground. With another wave a pair of ropes had attached themselves to the trunks with a large loop at one end for someone to hold onto. "And if you'll just bring those out with you, we can hook them up to the rear harness and we'll be ready to fly."

Harry pulled the trunks out the back door and into the back yard to find Buckbeak standing there with a large double-saddle.

"Now, since you've ridden Buckbeak before I think you should take the reigns. I'll go ahead and attach the leader rope to the back and we'll be ready for takeoff."

A few moments later Buckbeak took a quick running start, spread his wings, and they were off.

Five hours later they were flying through the clouds and looking over the land spread far and wide beneath them. Harry had gotten used to the gentle up and down motions of Buckbeak's beating wings and had begun to enjoy flying when Remus tapped him on the shoulder. He pointed to a tiny speck of a house about a mile in front of them and Harry began to guide Buckbeak back towards the ground.

They came to a soft landing a few moments later and received a greeting of family solidarity that even the Weasleys rarely showed. A tall man Harry could only assume was Romulous ran forward and pulled Remus into the biggest bear-hug Harry had seen anyone give, except maybe for Hagrid.

"Remus!" he called, holding Remus back at arms length. "My man, you are definitely looking good these days."

"You don't look half bad yourself Rom," Remus replied with a big smile.

"Uncle Remus!" cried two high pitched voices from their left. From the front of the house two little girls ran towards Remus as Harry began walking Buckbeak towards the back fence. As he tied Buckbeak he heard two loud claps that could only have been the girls smacking into Remus's legs and sure enough, as he looked he saw the two of them giving him a pair of huge hugs.

Beyond them came a tall beautiful blonde woman accompanied by a shorter blond version of Romulous who gave Remus a firm handshake, followed by a soft hug by the woman who was obviously the young man's mother.

"Harry," Remus began, "this is my big brother Romulous and his wife, Sarah." Harry shook both their hands in kind.

"And these two little ones," Remus said, continuing the introductions, "are Megan and Miranda. Megan here is five and Miranda is seven. Girls, say hello to Harry."

"Hello Harry," they both said in unison." Then Megan added, "What happened to your head," as she pointed to Harry's scar.

"It's a scar from when Voldemort attacked me." Romulous, Sarah, and the boy Harry assumed was their son all gasped at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"Dad, why did he have to say that name?" the boy asked while the two girls giggled. Harry assumed they were a bit too young to understand the weight behind Voldemort's name which made Harry's smile widen. He knew there was something he liked about those girls, but he didn't get a chance to figure it out before his attention was directed back to the boy by Remus.

"And this big guy here is Bastian. Bastian, this is Harry Potter."

All of the sudden, it was Colin Creevey all over again. Harry was immediately bombarded by questions about Voldemort, the different times he'd been attacked, and how he was able to escape. Luckily Romulous and Remus were able to handle him and give Harry a moment to breath.

Everyone headed inside except Harry and Bastian who brought Buckbeak to the barn at the back of the property It led into a large paddock which Remus had told Harry earlier had been charmed to stop any animals from escaping. It would also cause Buckbeak to look like a horse to anyone outside of the paddock.

As Remus had explained it to Harry on their ride over, his brother's wife was a Muggle-born who had never fully embraced the ways of the wizarding world and still believed in hard work. One of the compromises she had made with her husband in this regard was that he would do all the farming without using his wand, but she did allow him to use thestrals to help them with their chores instead of standard horses.

They brought Buckbeak into the paddock and let him loose. He didn't seem to take to the thestrals, but he didn't seem to mind much either. Harry supposed that after the long ride Buckbeak would have sat down just about anywhere so long as he was left alone.

"So how did you catch a hippogriff?" asked Bastian as there were heading back to the house.

"I didn't catch it. A friend of mine had been taking care of Buckbeak for a while, but then some people wanted to kill him, so my godfather adopted him. Then, a couple of months ago my Godfather died and I took over taking care of Buckbeak."

"Oh," he said sadly. "So that's why Uncle Remus has been staying with you?"

"Yeah. When Siri... er, my Godfather died he asked that Remus take over as my Godfather."

"Wow. Well, I guess that sounds like him. He always takes good care of those he likes, and he's always said good things about you. You should have heard him when he came by after he left Hogwarts. Boy was he proud of you. He told us all how you had conjured up a full grown Patronus and how even your dad hadn't mastered that until his second year in Auror Training."

"Yeah, he said it was a hard spell to... Wait a minute. Did you say my dad was an Auror?"

"Yeah. Well, not really, but kinda. Oh. What, you didn't know?"

"Know what?" Harry asked, beginning to panic.

What could this little boy know about his father that Harry himself did not.

Before he could ask, however, a look of total panic swept the boy's face as he blurted out quickly, "Oh no, I, I forgot something in the house. I have to go up to my room. I'll meet you at dinner," he added quickly, then ran away as fast as possible. Before Harry knew what happened, Bastian had already disappeared through the back door.

When Harry came through the back door all of his thoughts had finally settled down into a single question. He needed to know what his father did for a living. That would answer everything without him sounding too upset, confused, or anxious.

He walked up to Remus and as casually as possible he asked, "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure Harry. What's up."

"Well, I was thinking about some stuff on the way in and got to wondering. I don't know a whole lot about what you, Sirius, and my Mum and Dad did after you guys got out of school. Like, what did you all do for a living. I mean, I may not have grown up in the wizarding world, but I know a lot of money when I see it, and the money in Gringotts is a lot of money." Remus seemed to be fighting back a smile and was definitely losing.

"Actually, Harry, that's not all the money they had. That's the money they left you for school. Most of us didn't want to tell you when you were first introduced to the wizarding world because we didn't know how those Muggles would respond. However, since you're nearly of age now, I guess it's alright to tell you. On your graduation day you are going to inherit the entirety of their fortune, which I dare say, will be more money than you have ever seen in your life.

"But how did they get it all? I mean, I know they didn't inherit it from my Mum's side of the family because I wouldn't have heard the last of it from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."

"Too right. Much of the money came from your father's side of the family, though all I know about that is that his father had inherited most of his money, and I have no idea how far it goes back to. As to the rest, well, take a seat and I'll tell you about it."

Harry took a seat and waited for Remus who, at the same time, got up from his seat and got them a pair of butterbeers.

"Well, it all began about a little over two years after we all graduated. Lily and James had applied to the Magical Law Enforcement training classes and flew them quite rapidly. Normally a six month course, Lily had finished it in four and James had finished only two weeks later. Then they had a bit of an argument. Lily wanted to go to work for the Ministry working in Legal Policies. That's where they make the laws and assign what kind of penalties they come with."

"Yeah. We learned a bit about that in History of Magic," Harry said, nodding.

"Right. Well, James wanted nothing to do with it. He wanted the excitement of being an Auror. So he went into the Auror Training Academy and was flying through it. Then, three days before graduation, and trust me, James was going to graduate, he dropped out. For three weeks he wouldn't tell anyone why, not even Lily. But when we did find out, we had no choice but to forgive him. Your dad had been chosen to be on the Emergency Magical Threat Squad, or EMTS. They are to Aurors what Wizards are to Muggles."

"I've never heard of them," Harry said in a confused voice.

"There are two good reasons for that. One, the whole purpose of being an EMTS is that nobody knew there was such a thing. They were there for the worst of the worst, to take care of things even the best Aurors couldn't handle. It's the reason Mad-Eye Moody acts so odd sometimes. He was on the squad for a few years and had a breakdown after he was hit by a very powerful Memory charm. The second reason you've never heard of them is because they no longer exist. You see, there are only six members of the team at a time, and when Voldemort learned of the group he worked it so that all but one of them were on his side."

"Dad." Harry said plainly.

"No, actually, it wasn't your dad. It was a young man who had just recently joined the Order. Your father had been on his three-year hiatus when this all happened. Still, the boy had been killed after an exceptionally disastrous incident. Voldemort had send several Death Eaters to attack at a Quidditch game. It wasn't the World Cup, but it was between two rival teams and there were thousands of people there. They took hundreds of hostages and brought out some Dementors who began to feast. The EMTS were called in, riding five dragons. The one kid who refused had been killed earlier. They used the dragons to attack everyone that moved. It was a disaster. After that, the remaining team was disbanded and James joined the Order. I believe you know the rest."

Harry's face was ashen. All those people killed, just because they wanted to watch a Quidditch game. Harry's eyes were wide, but his question hadn't been answered, at least, not totally.

"So, if he didn't work for them any more, how did he get all that money?" he asked softly.

"Well, it's a bit like those spy movies you see on TV. You don't have to work often, but you are very well paid for when you do. In the total time that he worked for the EMTS he made just over two hundred thousand Galleons. Added to the money he had inherited, he had all the money he was going to need for a long, long time. After things started getting bad, they decided to take some time off, travel the world for a while, and I guess you know the rest of that story."

"Yeah," Harry said softly. He'd never known much about his parent's lives after they left school, and he had lots more questions which he asked, and Remus was able to fill in many of the gaps. They talked for most of the afternoon and up till supper. They spent the rest of the night with Romulus's family and didn't bring it up again for the rest of the trip.

As the Sunday faded into Monday Harry learned a lot more about his godfather's family as he played with Remus's nieces and nephew. Meanwhile Remus spent most of his time indoors with his brother catching up on old times. They ate splendid homemade meals which could not be compared even to those of the great feasts at Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, Tuesday brought an accident that soured the visit quite a bit. It happened just after lunch. Harry had been helping Romulous in the fields as Remus helped Sarah and the kids in the garden.

The harness on one of the two thestrals had broken and Romulous had gone to fix it. Unfortunately a Gnome had startled the thestral just as Romulous had fastened the ropes back into place and was kicked quite hard in the chest. He flew nearly twenty feet before landing with a loud crack on his left leg.

Harry rushed over to him and helped fashion a splint over his leg, but it seemed that he might also have a broken rib and Harry didn't want to move him. He used the Sonorus charm on himself to call out for Remus and Sarah who arrived moments later and helped bring Romulous into the house. As it turned out, Romulous ended up with three broken ribs as well as the leg.

Sarah was able to easily mend the leg, but the ribs were going to require a two days rest in order to mend correctly. So Sarah, Remus, and Harry, due greatly to a great deal of persistence, each shared shifts spending time keeping Romulous company.

Harry took this time to learn as much about Remus as possible, but Romulous generally moved the subject quickly from their school days to Harry's school days, and before he knew it, Harry was telling him everything about himself that he was trying to find out about Remus. When he would point this out, Romulous would get a sudden pang of pain in his chest and ask for something to drink. Harry finally gave up after the fifth deflection and they spent the rest of their time together talking about farming the Muggle way.

Remus and Harry packed up and headed back to Grimmauld Place on Wednesday only after Romulous threatened to Jinx his brother. Of course, he also threatened to jinx him if he didn't come back more often, so Harry didn't take the threats that seriously.

They left Saturday night and didn't arrive back home until two in the morning, which meant that it was already two hours into Harry's birthday. Harry had already gotten a pair of presents from Romulous and his family which he had opened before they left. The girls had given him a new quill set engraved with each of their names while the guys had given him Masters Of The Sky, 101 of The Greatest Quidditch Manoeuvres in History and How To Master Them In under a week.

Harry took a deep breath as he stroked the title of the book, and not only because of the length of the name, but because of his name being listed at the bottom. He searched the pages for his name and found that he was actually included in a reference to the Wronski Feint for his flying work during the Tri-Wizard Tournament nearly two years ago.

Harry smiled as he unpacked his two presents and put them on his shelf, but he was too exhausted to do anything else. So he grabbed his medallion, dragged himself over to the bed, and began his Occlumency exercises, but it was no use. He was out even before his head had hit the pillow.

They were all duelling again, and this time it looked like Harry's team would actually win. But just as Harry had looked over to see Sirius deliver a perfect jellylegs jinx to Helga Hufflepuff, Harry had been hit hard with a disarming spell he hadn't seen coming and went flying back, impossibly far back, up and over the trees of the Forbidden Forest, and landed hard on his back.

Everything began to fade in and out like a TV show whose reception that wasn't quite coming in. One moment he was in the forest alone, then surrounded by everyone, then they were all inside some kind of underground cave, and then he was alone again. For a moment everything seemed to come into focus and he took a look around. It looked like he was in a miniature stone version of the Great Hall.

Behind the large table he had been laying on were four niches dug into the wall with the emblem of each Hogwarts house carved into them. Harry could see at Gryffindor's niche the Sorting hat and the sword he had used against the basilisk during his second year. As he looked around he saw Helga Hufflepuff with all sorts of potions, while the Slytherin niche looked almost barren except for a large emerald Staff. The only thing in Ravenclaws niche was a book placed gently on a huge bed of singing flowers.

Harry took a step forward take a better look at the sword, but as he stepped forward he felt his eyes become heavy as lead as he fall backwards, only to land with a soft bounce. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in bed at Grimmauld Place, and though it was a totally bizarre dream, he felt completely at peace and fell back to sleep almost immediately, and slept undisturbed for the rest of the night.

Harry woke up the next morning only to find it was closer to afternoon than morning. He signed softly, wanting nothing more than to be able to go back to sleep and not wake up until tomorrow morning. But after lying awake in bed for half an hour he knew he would not be able to sleep away the day and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Just as he walked through the kitchen door he was attacked by Dobby who was wearing a very colourful paper hat. "Happy Birthday Harry Potter, Sir!" he called loudly.

"Thank you Dobby," he said with a big smile as he patted Dobby on the shoulder. "Thanks a lot."

Well, he's not the only one who wants to say Happy Birthday," added Remus who was also wearing a paper hat. He quickly stood up from the breakfast table and came to give Harry a big Birthday hug.

"Now, I know that most of your friends weren't able to come by, but I wanted to make sure that you did enjoy yourself, so I thought we might go out to London today and have a little fun. In fact, I've set up a little surprise for you that I think you might like."

"Okay," Harry said uncertainly.

Breakfast was over quickly and before he knew it, Harry was in the fireplace on his way to the Leaky Cauldron. He headed up to the bar and retrieved a small bag from Tom, the bartender. Tom then looked over past Remus and called out, "Having a good Birthday Harry?"

If looks could kill, Harry would be on his way to Azkaban right now. It took less than ten seconds for him to be surrounded by people wishing him a happy birthday and either asking him how school was working out for him or asking him what You-Know-Who looked like. Thankfully Remus was able to pull him out before Harry was completely lost in the crowd and they headed outside.

Once they were out on the street Remus hailed a cab and a few moments later they were off towards the countryside. They were in the cab for half an hour before they came to a stop at the bottom of a slight hill. Harry couldn't see anything but grass and trees in all directions and couldn't figure out what they were doing out here, and neither could the driver, but Remus seemed quite excited about being here.

After they got out he looked over at Harry and smiled broadly. "Happy Birthday, Harry. I've got a surprise for you, but first, I thought you might want this." He pulled the small bag from his robe and opened it up. From it he pulled a ragged old broom and, to Harry's surprise, his own Firebolt, polished to perfection and looking as it did when he first saw it two Christmases ago.

"Wow, it looks great," he exclaimed.

"Oh, my boy. That's nothing compared to what's on the other side of that hill there," he said pointing in front of them. He mounted his own broom and called, "Follow me, and prepare yourself," he added with a wide smile.

"They took off up towards the top of the hill, and just as he was reaching the top he could begin to hear faint sounds which resembled human voices. As he reached the top of the hill, he found the sources of those voices. The voices belonged to the Chudley Cannons Quidditch Team.

Harry's jaw nearly hit his broom as he gawked at the team while they continued to practice. A few moments later a whistle was heard from somewhere off to Harry's right. He turned to see an older gentleman the team coach being joined by the whole of the team before leading them all over to...

"Harry Potter!" called the coach. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sam Jamison, and this is, well, everyone. Everyone, I'm sure you're all familiar with Harry Potter." Everyone nodded and smiled, but to Harry's gratitude they didn't rush him, but formed a line and each came up and shook his hand, introducing themselves and wishing him a Happy Birthday.

Harry noticed that there were several new faces to the team this year. He did recognise Keeper Blake Baxton and the backup seeker from last year, Sylvia Trienmark, along with the Fanta twins, Florna and Florence, who both played chaser. The rest of the team took turns introducing themselves.

After introductions were completed, the team split up into two with Harry playing as seeker for one side, staring down Sylvia at the other end. Sam blew the whistle and the game began.

It was like a dream, flying with some of the best players of the game. They played for two hours. It had been Harry who had seen the Snitch first, but he was a bit farther away from it than Sylvia was, and they were on opposite sides of the field. They both dove for it at the same time, but by the time they were within ten feet of the Snitch it was flying right at her. Harry sped up as fast as he could and reached out his hand with all his might, but the Snitch dove out of his reach and straight into Sylvia's waiting hand.

Everyone met down at centre field and celebrated. It didn't matter which team had won because they were all on the same team. Sam came down last and addressed the team. Harry made to leave as he didn't want to intrude, but Sam insisted that he stay.

"No need for you to leave, Harry. You played as well as anyone else on the team so I figure you got a right to sit in on the team meeting. Now then. We're doing very good on offence, but we definitely need to beef up our defence. It's nice to see such high scores, but eighty percent of those goals were made off the return of another goal. We need to start working harder on regaining possession of the Quaffle. If we can start getting possession away from the other teams, we might have a good run this coming year."

The team cheered and started getting pumped up. They went over a few more tips, then broke for the day. Each of them then huddled around Harry and spent the next hour talking about Hogwarts and Quidditch and half a dozen other subjects which he couldn't remember. Just being around them was so intoxicating that he was sure tomorrow that he would think back on this as a hazy dream.

When it was time for everyone to go home, Harry was presented with a large box filled with a pair of orange robes with the infamous cannon ball and double Cs. There were also two copies of Flying With The Cannons signed by each of the team members, along with signed pictures of each of the players, a team picture, and Harry's favourite, a team picture with him in his Cannons Robe standing in the middle of the team, also signed.

As he was saying goodbye to everyone Sam pulled him aside and handed him a replica of a Golden Snitch.

"Harry, if you ever want to come by again for another practice just send me an owl and I'll reply with our next scheduled practice time and password. This Snitch here is set as a portkey and you'll have a fifteen-minute window from the scheduled time to say the password to activate it. Just remember to get permission first, as it won't bring you back for another six hours and we wouldn't want to get you in trouble. And if your friend Ron and his brothers can get permission we'd love to have them.

"Thanks, Sam. I've had a thoroughly wonderful time. I can't imagine how I can ever thank you."

"Oh, Harry. You've taken out You-Know-Who for fifteen years, then let us know the moment he returned. I'd say that we are still greatly in your debt, and that is a debt I doubt any of us can ever repay, but it would be my pleasure to do whatever I can to try." It was a bit of a sore subject, talking about Voldemort and all, especially on his birthday, but Harry was sure that Sam had meant it all as a compliment and he tried to take it that way.

"Well, I thank you for everything, and I'll try to come by whenever I can. I could probably come by during the Hogsmeade visits, and I know Ron will love to come too, though I don't know about the twins. All they ever seem to do is work on their store and, well anyways, I'll see what I can do. And thanks again for everything. This has got to be the best Birthday Present I've ever gotten."

"It's no problem at all. Now, I've got to get home before Marguerite gets all huffy for my coming home late from practice."

They shook hands and Harry grabbed his bag and flew back up to the top of the hill where Remus was standing. He resisted the urge to jump of the broom and give Remus a huge hug, and instead smiled broadly and said, "Thanks. This was the best present anyone's ever given me."

"It was a pleasure. You know, you really gave them a run for their money. I wouldn't at all be surprised if you ended up on a pro team some day."

"I don't know about that, but it was fun."

Remus smiled back at him, and Harry's smile broadened as well. After a few moments they headed back down the hill where, to Harry's surprise, another cab was parked there, just waiting for them. They packed their things in the trunk and headed back to London.

It was just after six when they popped out of the fireplace at Grimmauld Place. Remus gave his broom to Harry and asked him to bring it down with him to the basement broom closet.

Harry opened the door to the basement and found all the lights turned out. He whipped out his wand and called, "Lumos," and took a few steps down. He heard the door close behind him and his wand immediately lost all but a foot of light. He stood still for a moment and listened for any noise. He heard none, but there was still something not right. His Lumos spell should have had more effect. He backtracked his steps to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He cast Alohomora on it with no effect.

Well, he thought, All I have to do is get to the fireplace. From there I can Floo back upstairs and get Remus.

He started downstairs, his wand at the ready, just in case. Just as he hit the bottom of the stairs he heard a faint sound from his left before the lights came back on with blinding brightness. He heard it before he could focus his eyes, and at once he knew what he had walked into.

"SURPRISE!" came a roar from throughout the room.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, Harry began to make out faint shapes of what was unmistakably Ron. A few moments later he was able to make out Dudley standing next to Hermione, and to her left were the twins and Lee Jordan, and behind them, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, half of the Order Members, and most of the sixth year Gryffindors, and to Harry's great surprise, Cho Chang.

Every one of Harry's friends were there, and even Professor McGonagall and Flitwick had come, as well as Snape, though it looked like he had been threatened with everything short of being fired if he didn't come. And then he saw Snape's motivator, Professor Dumbledore, standing behind him with a huge smile on his face.

There had to be thirty people in all, and to Harry's shock, right there in the back was Remus, just standing there with a huge smile on his face. Harry could tell by the soot on the shoulders of his robe how he had gotten down here.

For a few moments Harry just stood there, shocked and perplexed by the huge turnout to what was obviously a very intricately planned Surprise Party for him. Then the embarrassment set in, and he could feel his cheeks flush.

Thankfully, Ron took the first step forward and gave Harry a big slap on the shoulder and wished him a Happy Birthday.

"Come on, mate. You didn't actually think we'd forget about your birthday now did ya?"

"Happy birthday, Harry," added Hermione, and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Soon the crowd had converged on him and he was getting hugs and kisses from all the girls and slaps and handshakes from the guys. As more people said their Happy Birthdays he became oddly aware of just how many friends he had. It seemed to go on for hours, saying hello to everyone who had come.

Finally he made it through the group, the last of whom were the Professors. Snape gave him a simple Handshake, where Hagrid had given him a huge bear-hug that nearly split him in two. McGonagall restrained herself to a handshake, though she did so with a much bigger smile than normally seen, and finally Dumbledore who also shook his hand and wore the broadest smile of them all.

"Happy Birthday, Harry. It looks like you've gotten yourself quite a collection of friends. You can feel a lot of love in this room."

"Yeah. I'll bet that somewhere out there, right now, Voldemort's screaming his head off."

Dumbledore gave a slight chuckle. "You know, I wouldn't doubt it."

Harry turned and looked around and found the far right corner of the basement stacked at least six feet high with presents. The twins had begun to chant "Speech! Speech! Speech!" so Harry turned around and smiled at them.

"Wow. Well, I'm not really good at speeches, but I want to thank you all for coming. I can't believe you all went through this much trouble for me, but I have to say that you all have made this by far the best birthday I've ever had. Knowing that I have friends like you all, well it just makes me know that everything's going to turn out just fine." Harry could feel his stomach tighten up and he knew if he said much more he'd break down, so he finished quite abruptly.

"So, anyway. I famished. Is there anything to eat?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore said and, clapping his hands as he did with the start of term feast and five large tables lowered themselves down from the roof which were already full of food and beverages.

Everyone sat down and dug in. Harry was so famished that he hadn't noticed that he, Ron and Hermione had been directed to sit down at the same table which would have corresponded to the head table back at Hogwarts.

When things had settled down from dinner, Ron stood up and made a toast in Harry's honour.

"To the best friend I ever had. You've been through more in the past sixteen years than most people go through in a lifetime, and you rarely complain about it. Well, okay, so you complain about it all the time." A few people around the tables gave a soft chuckled. "But you've always been there whenever we needed you, and we all thought that we'd come around and be here for you. So tonight, Harry, is your night, and we all wanted you to know that if you ever needed us, we're here for yah pal."

Harry stood and gave Ron a quick friendly hug, his eyes getting more than a little misty.

"To Harry," Ron added, holding up his pumpkin juice. Everyone raised their glasses in salute. After they all had a quick drink, Ron spoke up once again. "And now, it's time to see what goodies we have in store for our guest of honour." Ron turned and pointed to the stack of presents.

And so Harry began opening his presents. The twins gave him a large gold-plated chest, inside of which was their latest invention, The Ultimate Sweets Supply. It was basically a square two foot chest with at least two dozen keyholes. Put the key into a keyhole and it would be filled to the brim with one particular sweet. Unlock different lock and get a different treat. Ginny gave him a Diary with a beautiful hand painted Phoenix on the front. "Don't worry, it's a hundred percent safe," she said with a shy smile.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave him a nice set of new robes, and he was surprised and happy to see that Percy had joined them and gave Harry a new copy of The Pre-Auror Handbook which Harry took with a smile.

Ron gave him a new quickdraw arm holster he'd seen in The Daily Prophet. To Harry's surprise, Hermione had given him not a book, but what looked like a fish tank, only where he expected to see fishes swimming around he saw instead fifteen little figures flying around on brooms. And when he looked more closely he could see the Quaffles and Bludgers flying around. And at the base of the tank was a wide plaque with the moving pictures that followed the snitch and both Seekers. Harry jumped up and gave Hermione the biggest hug of her life.

Cho gave him a beautiful magical watch which had six small jewels, each of which activated a different small charm. It would change from a watch to a compass, a miniature Sneakoscope , a locket with her picture in it, a change purse, and a large white stone which he couldn't figure out.

"It's an emergency beacon. Just press it and it lets out a loud screeching sound that everyone but you will hear. It also conjures a sphere of light which hovers over you for ten minutes. I figured it might help if you ever get into trouble like last..." She seemed to blush a bit at having brought up Cedric again, but she still bent over and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. "Happy Birthday Harry.

He held his cheek for a moment, thinking about his time with Cho over the past two years. Maybe he could give things another try with her when they all got back to school.

He continued to open the presents and found himself more and more surprised by the different gifts people would give him. Some of the girls would give him nice outfits, all sorts of extras for Hedwig, and several different books. The boys, on the other hand, would give him Quidditch equipment and games, and Dudley gave him a nice silver and gold Chess set.

Lastly, he picked up the presents from his Professors. McGonagall gave him a beautiful book Redecorating Your Home with Ten Basic Spells. Snape gave him a new bronze cauldron for his Potions area in the basement, which was no surprise to Harry. Then Dumbledore gave him a beautiful new Pensieve and book on how to properly use it.

After all the presents were given out the party continued for another hour and a half. Many of the students wanted to meet Dudley, and after it got out that he was both a Slyder and Harry's cousin he became swamped with students asking him questions about everything from what it was like to grow up with Harry to how he became a wizard and everything in between.

Finally around eight people started to leave and by nine it was down to the Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, and of course, Remus. They all sat down upstairs in the living room for a spot of tea. That's when Remus came out with one last present.

"Harry," he began with a soft voice, "I hadn't planned on giving this to you so soon, but I think you've shown that you are ready for it now." He looked up at Dumbledore who gave him the slightest of nods with a sparkle glinting in his eyes.

He held up a very large and but thin package and placed it on the fireplace mantle. "I think it might be best if you have a sit down for this one and closed your eyes."

Harry gave him an unsure look but sat down in the armchair all the same, leaned back, and closed his eyes. After a few moments passed he could hear the wrapping paper falling off the present. He smiled as he imagined what might be in store for him. Silence filled the room and for a moment Harry started to wonder if everyone had left when someone spoke up and he could feel his heart come to a sudden stop.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," came the familiar voice. All thoughts about what his present might be flew out the window.

His eyes flew open and he jumped to his feet. His head was spinning and darting from one place to another as he searched for the person he knew could not be there. But every face he saw smiling and looking not at him, but at the fireplace. His eyes followed theirs and came to rest on the mantle in front of him, and his jaw hit the floor.

His eyes flooded with tears as he stared at his unwrapped gift. He could feel a lump the size of a pumpkin in his throat and his breathing was coming in short burst, but he was able to get out a single word.

"Sirius?"

<-=-+-=->

Coming Soon

Chapter 9

Untold Stories