Intersections

Chapter 13: Musings

Harry woke early the next morning feeling unusually refreshed. The sky seemed to agree with his mood, and for a while, he simply stood at the window, watching sunlight slowly spread among the frosty garden. He thought briefly of Privet Drive, feeling a tiny twinge of nostalgia for the garden he used to slave over for hours. He'd hated working in the garden, especially during the summers when Dudley would often tease him or throw dirt in his face, but he had to admit that seeing the plants healthy and blooming gave him a slight sense of accomplishment. Even Aunt Petunia couldn't deny that he'd done a good job at those times.

Harry wondered briefly how his aunt and uncle were doing. He doubted that they wanted to hear from him, but he hadn't had a chance thank Aunt Petunia for the childhood photographs of his mother. Come to think of it, he hadn't asked her how she had known Snape, either...and he wouldn't dare to ask Snape the same question. Snape hated him enough already.

Thinking of Snape made him think of Sirius, which made him think of Remus, and last night's conversation flew to the forefront of his mind. The fact that Remus turned into an infectious beast once a month didn't bother Harry nearly as much as he thought it should. He didn't think there was anything wrong with Remus as a human, so as long as the man didn't try to turn Harry into a werewolf, Harry was perfectly fine having Remus as a teacher. Sirius, on the other hand...

Something tensed and coiled in Harry's stomach, and he pushed the thoughts of Sirius away quickly. Running a hand through his hair, he dressed and went downstairs to find Hermione at the kitchen table, her brows knitted as she read her latest letter.

"Is that parchment?" asked Harry, grabbing a piece of toast. "Did Ron and Ginny write?"

"No, the twins did," said Hermione, looking up with a frown, "but I can't make sense of what they've written." She thrust the parchment at him, and he took it, blinking a little at the scrawl on the page.

Dear Double H's:

By now you must have figured out how the big old Crup escaped its cage. We haven't been able to solve this riddle since Mum wants us to concentrate on our NEWTS, but we know that you have more superior resources, and we would be delighted to know the answer. Please give our regards to your friends as well. We salute them in their ingenuity in keeping mum about our indiscretions.

Sincerely,

Frederick Fabian Weasley and George Gideon Weasley

Harry raised his eyebrows as he finished reading the letter. "I don't understand," he said, shaking his head. "Perhaps there's some kind of code."

"But what's the code?" asked Hermione, perplexed.

Harry frowned and looked at the letter again. "What's a Crup?"

"A Crup," Remus announced as he entered the kitchen, "is a dog-like magical creature with a forked tail." He poured himself a cup of tea and looked at his new students curiously. "Who's asking about a Crup?"

Harry waved the letter. "Fred and George," he answered.

"Really, now?" asked Remus. He plucked the letter from Harry's fingers and read it, and then he laughed, pointing his wand at the parchment and whispering something. The letter expanded from a single sheet of parchment to three, each one covered with different handwriting. He handed them to a wide-eyed Hermione with a small smile.

"How did you do that?" asked Hermione.

"It's a tricky bit of Transfiguration," said Remus. "They used Unus Elementum, which conceals multiple versions of the same object into one item. It's particularly useful for post." A shadow passed across Remus' face as he caught Harry's eye. "Your father invented the spell when we were at Hogwarts, Harry. He was a master at Transfiguration. We used to use it for..." Remus' voice faltered, and he shook his head. "Enough reminiscing. Read your letters, eat your breakfast, and then we'll begin lessons. Oh, and hand me Fred and George's letter, I think they placed a Concealment Charm on it."

It turned out that the Crup the twins mentioned referred to Sirius; they wanted to know if he'd told Harry and Hermione how he'd escaped Azkaban. The twins asked whether they'd had their Defense lessons yet, while Ron and Ginny both expressed a fervent desire for Harry to come to Hogwarts and play for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ron also asked if Hermione could come to Hogwarts and "attack Draco Malfoy with those Muggle 'dental tools' in order to send Malfoy's poncy arse running from Muggle technology." Hermione didn't know whether to be flattered or shocked by the request.

After breakfast, Remus asked Harry and Hermione to each demonstrate a Levitation Charm. They did so easily, impressing Remus, who promptly began to teach them the first level of Locomotion Charms, which caused objects to move under the direction of a wand.

"You have to be very careful with Locomotion Charms," warned Remus. "When we were second-years, Sirius and James tried to use Locomotor to move their trunks up the dormitory stairs at the beginning of term. Unfortunately, they didn't have very good control of the Charm yet, and they also didn't know that the Head Boy at the time, Frank Longbottom, was going down the stairs. The trunks knocked Frank out cold. We had to take him to the hospital wing. McGonagall - that's head of Gryffindor House - gave James and Sirius detention for a month." Remus' lips twitched. "Frank never could figure out what made him miss the first day of classes."

"Was he all right?" asked Hermione worriedly. "There wasn't any permanent damage, was there?"

Remus' smile was strained. "No, there was nothing permanent," he replied quietly. "He was fine. He went on to become one of the top Aurors in the Ministry." He shook his head slightly and smiled again, warmly. "Let's take a short break and start on Transfiguration. You'll probably find it useful to take some notes while I explain the theory. We'll work on applying the theory after lunch, and then Sirius and I will teach you Defense."

Harry grinned. He was looking forward to Defense the most.

Transfiguration theory turned out to be one of the most complex things Harry had ever learned - and one of the dullest. He was surprised to find himself losing focus as Remus lectured about the various forms of Transfiguration and the fundamental differences between each one. He stared out the frosted window, running his fingers unconsciously along the frayed quill that was serving as a writing instrument, and he wondered if it would snow. He'd never had a chance to play in the snow when he was young. What would it be like to play Quidditch in the snow? His mind drifted to Ginny's bright red hair -

"Harry?" Remus interrupted, as Hermione poked Harry sharply in the side. "Are you paying attention?"

Harry started, flushing under Hermione's disapproving gaze. "Yes. Er. Sorry."

Remus frowned. "I know this is a little boring," he said lightly, "but you only need to learn it once before you'll learn it forever." He sighed and slid the battered copy of A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration across the table. "Here. Do you think you can finish the first chapter within an hour? I'll ask you a few questions to make sure that you understand, and then we'll have lunch."

Biting his lip, Harry nodded and began to read, feeling a jolt of guilt as he remembered Remus' earlier comment that James had been very good at Transfiguration. He ran a hand through his hair and forced himself to concentrate on the words. Hermione leaned to the side and read along with him, her bushy brown hair tickling his shoulder.

"Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration is like the opposite of the Conservation of Mass," Hermione remarked, as the hour drew to a close. She turned the page. "Oh, look. There's a short section on the Animagus Transfiguration."

"'A wizard's Animagus form cannot be chosen,'" Harry read aloud. "'Like the composition of a wand, the Animagus form reflects upon the wizard's true inner nature. Excessive usage or improper training of the Animagus form oftentimes augments the wizard's animal instincts and sometimes may even result in a complete takeover of the wizard's human mind. Therefore, the Animagus Transfiguration should only be attempted by fully-trained adults.'" Harry frowned at the smudged handwritten note at the bottom of the page. He could make out the words "Moony" and "Prongs," but the rest was scratched out viciously.

"All ready, then?" asked Remus, sitting down with them expectantly. Harry nodded. "Good. Now explain to me the three fundamental steps of Transfiguration..."

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Hermione let out a frustrated sigh as she tried once again to Transfigure a quill into a needle. "Intent, visualization, and performance," she muttered feverishly. "Come on, Hermione, you can do it." She looked up and caught Harry's eye, her cheeks flushing. "Sorry," she said quietly.

"It's all right," said Harry. "I can't do it either."

"You can both do it," Remus said firmly. "Just - relax. Don't force the Transfiguration - see it in your head, really see it, and let it flow out of your mind to wand."

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to visualize the Transfiguration the same way she used to visualize chemical reactions. Step by step, in her mind's eye, the quill each of its hairs, the thin spine of the quill turned from delicate bony white to silver and metal, the point sharpened - and - there. That was the needle she needed. She opened her eyes, pointed her wand, focused the sequence of images in her mind, and pushed her magic through her body, her fingers clenching spasmodically around her wand.

The hair on the quill promptly fell off, and the quill turned silver. It did not, however, become a needle. Hermione bit back a sigh of frustration.

"Almost, Hermione," said Remus with an encouraging smile. He Transfigured the quill back to its original state. "Try again."

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing once again on the transformation in her mind's eye. She focused on the quill lying in front of her, again pushing her magic through her wand, and then - Hermione felt her heart lift. There it was! A silver needle!

"Good! Very good, Hermione," said Remus with a smile. "Go on, Harry, you try."

Harry ran a hand through his hair tiredly and tried once more, shaking his head when his quill remained on the table unchanged.

"Keep trying," said Remus, nodding once at Harry.

By the end of the hour, Harry had managed to Transfigure the quill into a needle. The needle was white, but it was still a needle, which seemed to hearten Harry slightly.

As Remus went to fetch Sirius for the Defense lesson, Hermione stood and stretched, pulling her hair back into a long plait as she gazed out the window, her heart aching as she wished she could share this new world with her parents and old friends.

Harry joined her at the window, handing her a cup of tea.

"It's brilliant, isn't it?" he said. "Magic." He grinned. "I can't wait until we learn human-to-animal Transfiguration. I've always wanted to turn Dudley into a pig."

Hermione felt her lips curve upward into a smile. "I'd turn Polkiss into a rat," she told him, remembering the crude and horrible boy with a grimace.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah. I would too." His brow creased, as if he were trying to remember something.

"What is it?" she asked.

Harry shook his head and shrugged. "What do you think your Animagus form would be?" he asked.

Hermione chewed her lip as she considered the question. "I don't know," she said finally. "I...I imagine I'd like to be a cat."

"A cat?" He looked at her, his brow knitted. "I suppose..."

"You think I wouldn't be a cat?" she asked defensively.

Harry frowned. "Perhaps," he shrugged.

"What form do you think you'd take?" asked Hermione.

Harry grinned teasingly. "You tell me."

Hermione tiled her head to the side as she considered the boy next to her. Unkempt black hair, a thin frame, glasses, and heaps of a talent on a broom....She thought of the way he flew gracefully in the air, and she nodded. "A bird," she said firmly.

Harry scowled. "A bird?" he repeated, disappointed.

"I didn't say it was a small bird!" she defended. "No, you'd be a very noble bird..." She trailed off as Remus and Sirius entered the kitchen. "Hello, Sirius," she said.

Sirius nodded shortly, his gaze almost unconsciously slipping from her to Harry.

"Hello, Sirius," Harry muttered, averting his eyes.

"Sirius and I are going to show you a wizards' duel," said Remus, drawing out his wand as he led them up the hill to the small sunny paddock behind the garden. "We'll be teaching you a few spells after we finish." He directed Harry and Hermione to the tree at one end of the paddock where Hermione liked to read her books. He and Sirius then crossed to the other end, slowly backing away from each other till they stood about ten feet apart.

"The first thing to do in a wizards' duel is bow," Remus announced, his voice carrying across the field despite the roar of the cold wind. He inclined his head slightly, keeping his eyes fixed on Sirius, his wand held out warily in front of him. "For now, of course, we'll be using spells that only have temporary effects and immediate counter-spells. Death Eaters like to use Dark curses and Unforgivables which can't be countered, so the best way to win a duel against them is to avoid getting hit by anything at all by putting up a Shield Charm. We will teach you that later. For now - we duel!" He raised his wand quickly, crying, "Expelliarmus!"

A red arc of light soared toward Sirius, who immediately ducked out of the way and roared, "Levicorpus!"

"Protego!" A white shield erupted from Remus' wand, deflecting the curse. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Sirius ducked; the curse sailed out of the way. A blazing smile lit his surprisingly handsome face; Harry had never seen him so happy. "You've got to do better than that, Moony!" he yelled, closing the gap between himself and Remus. "Rictusempra!"

Remus doubled over, wheezing, but he managed to bite out, "Tarantellegra!"

Sirius jumped, but not in time; one of his legs began to beat out a tap-dance rhythm uncontrollably. "Impedimenta!" he shot out, gripping his dancing leg in an effort to halt its motion.

Remus lifted his arm with a great effort. "Supplanto!"

Sirius cursed and fell to the ground, his foot still jerking wildly, but he managed to keep his grip on his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled, trying to regain his bearings.

The spell missed Remus by a hair's breath. "Stupefy!" Remus shouted.

A red jet of light hit Sirius directly in the chest. His laughter froze on his face as he keeled over, motionless. Remus pointed his wand at himself, muttered "Finite," and then knelt down beside Sirius, murmuring something to revive him. Sirius sat up, dazed.

"You beat me," he said to Remus, disbelief evident in his voice.

Remus' lips quirked. "Yes. I did." He reached out a hand to pull him up; Sirius accepted.

"I'm losing it," Sirius said quietly. "I used to be so quick."

"No," said Remus, "you're out of practice." He placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "You'll get it back in no time, Padfoot. Don't worry."

Together, they walked toward Harry and Hermione.

"Did you recognize any of those spells?" Remus asked.

"The Boils Curse," answered Hermione immediately. "Furnunculus."

"The Full-Body Bind," Harry replied, "and the Tickling Curse. And" - he hesitated -"was that a shielding spell? Protego?"

"Very good," said Remus, looking immensely pleased. "And yes, that was the Shield Charm."

Harry darted a quick glance at Hermione. "I think - we may have done that one," he said slowly, "by accident."

Hermione's mind flashed back to the night at Stonewall. She bit her lip and nodded.

Remus considered them carefully for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly. "Did Fred and George teach you the Disarming Spell?" he asked. "Expelliarmus?"

Hermione shook her head, as did Harry.

"Ah," said Remus, with a small smile. "Come on then, stand up. Hermione, you stay here with me, and Harry, you go toward that side with Sirius. Just a few more steps back, Harry. Okay, good." He cleared his throat. "The Disarming Spell does exactly what it says - it disarms your opponent. It's one of the simplest but most effective dueling spells you can use. Now, Hermione" - he turned to her -"what I want you to do is to try to disarm me. Harry, you do the same with Sirius. You raise your wand and say, Expelliarmus!"

"Expelliarmus," Hermione whispered, making sure that her intonation was correct.

"Good," said Remus. "Now try to disarm me. I won't be defending myself yet."

Hermione raised her wand, biting her lip at the thought of doing something against a teacher. "Expelliarmus," she intoned.

Remus frowned. "You have to mean it," he said. "Don't hesitate. You won't hurt me - I'll just lose my wand."

Hermione nodded and took a deep breath. "Expelliarmus!"

Remus stumbled backward a little as his wand slipped out of his sleeve toward Hermione. After a little bit of fumbling, Hermione caught it, as Harry's cry of "Expelliarmus!" rang out across the field. Hermione watched as Sirius' wand soared from his hand into Harry's outstretched one.

"You should always prepare to catch the wand as well," said Remus, glancing at Harry and Sirius. "There's no point in using the spell if your opponent can easily snatch the wand back. Try it again."

Hermione handed the wand back to Remus and raised hers. "Expelliarmus!"

This time, Remus' wand came to her easily, and she tracked its arc in the air, preparing to grab it and grinning as she curled her fingers around the narrow shaft of wood.

"Good!" said Remus, taking three steps backward and creating more space between them. "Now let's practice a few more times. You need to be able to cast the spell from a certain distance. I also want you to practice catching your opponent's wand without looking at it."

"Okay," said Hermione, steeling herself for another round. "Expelliarmus!"

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On the other side of the paddock, Sirius was looking at Harry with an expression of tender pride. "You're a quick learner," he said to his godson, taking his wand back for the sixth time.

"Thank you," said Harry, and he looked away. The weird tight feeling was in his stomach again, coiling and twisting and burning inside of him as he remembered what Sirius had told him last night. He didn't want to think about that - didn't want to think about how guilty and angry it made him feel....

"Harry..." Sirius placed a tentative hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry stiffened and made to move away. "Harry," said Sirius softly. "Please look at me."

With a sigh, Harry unwillingly met Sirius' stormy grey gaze. "What is it?"

Sirius seemed to be struggling for words. "I - I'm sorry, you know," he said, "for everything." His hand tightened on Harry's shoulder. "I can't even begin to express" - he swallowed convulsively -"how sorry I am."

Harry took in the tall, broken man in front of him, and the tight, angry coiling in his stomach dissipated slowly as faint, curious stirrings of pity rose in his heart. Hermione's words from the previous night echoed in his head. Tentatively, awkwardly, he reached out and lightly touched Sirius' shoulder. "It's all right," he said quietly, even though he knew that it'd never really be all right. Nothing could make it all right, not when there were fourteen years to make up for. "It's all right," he repeated.

Sirius' eyes searched Harry's face, asking for permission. Slowly, Sirius took Harry by the shoulders and pulled him inward, till Harry's head was resting against Sirius' shoulder. Harry stiffly wrapped his arms around Sirius, gradually relaxing as Sirius did the same, holding Harry in a tight, warm embrace.

Harry closed his eyes. He couldn't remember being hugged like this before, even as a child.

It wasn't such a bad feeling, really. Not at all.

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Evening found Harry and Hermione in the living room of the Burrow, taking turns reading Remus' old Herbology, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts textbooks. Remus had assigned them homework, much to Harry's dismay, promising to test them on it as soon as he recovered from the full moon. He and Sirius had left for Hogwarts shortly after dinner. Sirius had explained that werewolves did not react to animals the same way as they did to humans; as a dog, he would keep Remus company during the transformation, and then help to take care of him once the transformation was complete. Remus also had the Wolfsbane Potion that Snape had given him, which allowed him to retain his human reason while he was a werewolf.

Harry yawned as he finished reading a section on a magical vine-like plant called Devil's Snare, which used its tendrils to ensnare anyone who touched it and eventually suffocated its victim. He cringed at the thought of encountering the plant, vowing to learn how to create the repelling bluebell flame as soon as possible, and speculating whether or not students worked with the plants at Hogwarts. Surely not. Who would dare to put such a dangerous plant inside a school full of curious students? He'd have to ask Ron or Ginny the next time they wrote.

Setting the tattered book down, Harry picked up the photograph album he kept of his mother and began to flip through it, stopping on the picture of his parents' wedding day. He ran his fingers along the photograph lightly, making a note to ask Remus and Sirius if they had any more pictures of James.

"...a cauldron full of hot, strong love..."

Harry suppressed a laugh as Hermione wrinkled her nose in annoyance, distracted from her Potions reading by the love ballad coming from the wizarding wireless near the kitchen sink. "Awful song," she muttered, as Mrs. Weasley joined in, humming the tune softly.

"Oh, come and stir my cauldron..."

Harry sniggered. "I'll stir your cauldron, all right," he muttered. "I'll stir it with a nice, long, hard rod..."

Hermione looked appalled. "Harry!"

"What?"

Hermione glared at him and went back to her reading. Harry quietly sniggered and glanced around the room, his eyes falling upon a thin sheet of parchment tucked into the back cover of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Curiously, he pulled it out, his brow furrowing as he found notes scribbled in all directions on the page. He could make out four distinct sets of handwriting, and he leaned in closer, reading.

Prongs, you're a complete idiot.

You're the idiot, Pads. It was your idea to leave a "trademark flourish" at the portrait hole.

I put three Concealment Charms on it!

And you know how brilliant Lilyyyyy

What on Earth are you two arguing about? Stop it! McGonagall's starting to suspect something. Lily already does.

Way to be subtle, Moony. Sometimes I think you should have been sorted into Slytherin.

Harry's eyes widened. Hadn't Sirius called Remus "Moony" just yesterday? These must be Remus' notes! But who was Pads - wait. That had to be Sirius; Remus had called him "Padfoot" during the Defense lesson. But then...Harry felt heart excitement growing within him - Prongs must be Harry's father! Of course! Why else would he mention Lily? But who was Evans? And why was James called Prongs?

Shut up, Padfoot, I'm trying to concentrate.

No need. Prongs will teach us everything later.

He'll be too busy trying to impress Lily with his hair. Now stop giving me this note.

Moony...

Moooonnny....

MOONY...

STOP IT, SIRIUS.

Don't be such a wet blanket, Moony.

Just because you're a Transfiguration genius, it doesn't mean the rest of us are. We only have a month to study for O.W.L.s. Now leave me alone, the both of you.

At this point the handwriting changed. A shaky scrawl ran across the side of the page.

What's the principle behind the Switching Spell? McGonagall's about to ask me, and I just can't remember!

Calm down, Wormtail. The principle is element-by-element Transfiguration. First year, remember?

Thanks, Prongs!!

Harry felt his hands tighten around the parchment. Wormtail, Peter Pettigrew, who had betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort...a thrill of dark satisfaction ran through him at the next comment.

How Wormtail has managed to survive in Transfiguration so far is beyond my comprehension. How he's managed to become an Animagus is

For Merlin's sake, Pads, some discretion, please.

Oi, Moony!

Get away from me before McGonagall decides to come over and revoke my prefect privel oh bugger - Merlin. That was close.

We need a Concealment Charm on this thing. Do you think Lily would be willing to provide some extra tutelage?

But you already know the Concealment Charm. You taught it to me.

You're missing the point, Wormtail. Clearly Prongs wants a little more than extra tutelage.

He wants some extra boob-ilage, is more the case.

Don't impinge upon my honor like that, Pads. It doth hurt.

You? Honor?

I'll have you know, Moony, that we of the Honorable House of Potter think nothing but the purest thoughts about fiery, beautiful, brilliant, busty red-headed lasses -

Moony! Stop him! STOP HIM! I'm beginning to feel ill.

Prongs, Padfoot is beginning to feel ill.

You're no help at all.

Oh, do stop pouting, both of you.

All right, be that way.

Moony, I

And at this point the notes ended. Harry found himself smiling as he drank in the sight of his father's loopy handwriting, Sirius' prettier and more effeminate flourish, and Remus' neat print, choosing to ignore Wormtail's ugly, messy scrawl. He felt a deep ache inside of him as he skimmed over the notes once more, pausing at James' description of Lily, noting absently that James had already liked Lily during their fifth year...had she liked him back at that time? How had they fallen in love? Harry glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen, the ache increasing tenfold as Mr. Weasley looped an arm around Mrs. Weasley's waist and pulled her to his side, her head resting against his shoulder as they swayed to the slow tune on the wireless. Could that have been his parents, in a different life, a different time and place?

"Is something on your mind, Harry?" asked Hermione softly, her voice carrying across the crackling flames in the fireplace. She, too, was looking at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with an expression of deep longing.

"I'm just thinking," he answered, shaking his head slightly.

"I miss my parents," she said quietly, biting her lip, and she looked down, her eyes glimmering strangely.

Harry swallowed. "So do I," he whispered.

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Outside, the full moon rose under a cloudless sky, and a wolf and a dog huddled inside a dusty wooden shack, howling with an aching grief for their lost companion, the stag.