The Secret Magic Of Potions And Daggers

Early morning light streamed gently into the smallest bedroom of number Four Privet Drive. It crept along the floor illuminating a large empty cage before reaching the bed of a rather peculiar boy. Not so much a boy as a young man, nearly fifteen years of age, although by count of experience he was much older. Harry Potter lay for the moment asleep on his bed. His jet black hair stuck up in all directions revealed the most peculiar thing of all and the reason he was experienced beyond his years, a small scar in the shape of a bolt of lightening upon his forehead. It was a souvenir he received in his infancy from a terrible curse pronounced by the darkest wizard ever to stalk the earth, meant to kill. It had killed Harry's parents and destroyed their house but kill Harry it did not. Instead the curse rebounded upon its originator and sent him into hiding until he could gain power again, which he accomplished last year.

But at the moment Harry was in his small bed in the home of his oppressive Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon Dursley who had raised him since that night fourteen years ago. Harry lay there dreaming not of summer vacation fun and such as other teenagers were apt to do, but of school. Harry went to a very special school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He dreamt of returning there, of being with his friends again. He enjoyed learning to use the powers he didn't know he had until his 11th birthday when the Hogwarts letters arrived.

Ah, that fateful birthday that now seemed so long ago. He had learned so much at school, including many things that had nothing to do with class. To be back at Hogwarts, away from his Aunt and Uncle was his wish. Perhaps he would be able to see his godfather Sirius Black while there. Sirius Black was his father's best friend but due to a mix-up had been imprisoned for 12 years as the one who had told the Dark Lord Voldemort where to find and subsequently kill the Potters as well as for the murder of Peter Pettigrew. But he was innocent and needed only to clear his name in order to take up his privilege of godfather to Harry. This was easier said than done. Peter Pettigrew still lived, and it was he who had ratted out the Potters, to say ratted isn't far from the truth for he is an anamagi that turns into just that -- a rat. Now that Voldemort had returned his goal was to kill Harry and continue his conquering quest begun decades earlier. These thoughts about his past and others about his future collided in Harry's dream. His subconscious, seeming to search for a way to solve these problems, was stumped, and at that point Harry awoke. Not because of the light now reaching his eyes or because his head was full of the same circular, unanswerable questions, but because of something else entirely.

Someone downstairs was yelling. This seemed strange to Harry because the Dursleys didn't usually start yelling until Harry entered the room. He sat up and listened intently in an attempt to decipher what was going on downstairs. He heard the front door slam, then soft footsteps running through the house followed by the heavy thumping footsteps of his large Uncle Vernon. Harry got out of bed slowly and had almost reached the door when it swung toward him and in came a black cat. Harry didn't have time to watch the cat enter because his vision was filled with the immense form of Uncle Vernon, purple in the face with anger.

"What happened," stammered Harry confused and still groggy.

"You tell me," bellowed Uncle Vernon, "Who is that!"

"Who, did you say, don't you mean what, it's just a stray cat" Harry replied as though Vernon were making a much bigger deal of the situation than Harry felt it warranted. Uncle Vernon's gaze was steady toward Harry's bed. When Harry turned to see what Vernon was looking at he saw not a cat but a woman with long golden hair down to her waist, dressed all in black with a black leather bag slung across her shoulder hunched over Harry's trunk apparently looking for something.

"What are you doing, those are my things," Harry said desperately crossing the room in defense of his personal property.

"I know my dear, Oh, where is it" she continued until she'd gotten to the very bottom. "Here it is"

Harry stood aghast as the woman held up his father's invisibility cloak, the only thing he had inherited from his father and one of his most prized possessions.

"Put that down," Harry said in voice of panic.

"No time to explain my dear, you'll need to put this on, and this" She pulled open her cloak and took out a pocket watch on a long chain from an assortment of others, handed him the invisibility cloak and put the chain around his neck. Then she started putting all of Harry's things back into his trunk. "Is that everything you have?"

"What....yes...who are you, what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, there is no time now," she seemed a bit preoccupied to Harry and when she looked up to see Uncle Vernon still sputtering at her she seemed quite surprised. "You'd better grab a few things and clear off for a while, sir," she said to Uncle Vernon. "Bad things are coming here but the danger will pass. I have got to get Harry out of here, and you probably don't want to be here either."

The look on Uncle Vernon's face went from anger to panic and he disappeared calling to wife. "Petunia, we're leaving, going to visit Marge, NOW."

Harry, just as bewildered as he was at the beginning of this conversation tried to ask again but the tall witch just guided him to his trunk and prompted him to sit on it. Then she spotted a large bird pecking at the window outside. Not in the least surprised she opened the window and Hedwig, Harry's pet owl, fluttered into her cage. The witch set it on the trunk next to Harry then stood before them both. "Voldemort is coming and you've got to leave. I know you are friends with the Weasley's, have you ever been to their home?"

"Yes," replied Harry still confused.

"Great, that will make this much easier. Now I need you to visualize in your mind their home with as much detail as you can. Once you have that image stuck press the button on the watch," she yanked on the chain she'd put around his neck before. She grabbed the invisibility cloak from Harry again and spread it over him, Hedwig and his trunk. Harry tried to sputter in resistance but was only met with "Please do it quickly, I'll meet you there to explain." Harry picked up the watch, wondered if it were broken because both hands pointed at 12, but began to concentrate very hard on the home of his friend. In his minds eye he could see the original stone portion of the house, the rickety upper stories all the way up to the roof and its several chimneys. He saw the garden full of gnomes and weeds and a low rock wall. Then he clicked the watch, not knowing what to expect. A few seconds later he felt the trunk beneath him shaking, rise up in the air and then fall down with a bump. When he finally opened his eyes he was no longer inside his Uncle's house but outside in the yard of the Weasley's home. Amazed he threw off the cloak and looked down at the watch which now read 1:00. It was very quiet at the Weasley's and just as he was wondering whether it would be alright to wake every one by ringing the bell the front door opened. Ginny, the Weasley's youngest child and only daughter stepped out to feed the chickens in the front yard. When she saw Harry she squealed and ran inside. Moments later the entire Weasley family came out to greet him.

*****

"I'm not sure how I got here" Harry tried to explain for the third time to the Weasley's while they stared at him over the kitchen table. Mrs. Weasley was just tipping four more sausages onto his plate when he added, "It happened just like I told you. A witch came in handed me this told me to think of your house, click this button and ...then I was here. She said Voldemort was coming." At the mention of the Dark Lord's name every one of the Weasley's flinched but were so engrossed in the story none of them corrected him. Very few people dared speak that name. "Oh, she said she'd meet me here to explain later. I've never seen her before in my life."

"Describe her again" asked Mr. Weasley, who was obviously late for work but didn't seem to mind.

"Well, she was quite tall, had blond hair down to here," pointing to his waist, "she was dressed all in black. She must have been an animagi because when she first came in she was a black cat. She had a large black leather bag strapped across her chest with tassels and strange markings on it, I think." He was straining to remember because he had only seen her through the fog of tiredness and confusion. "She looked just like...." His eyes grew wide and he pointed behind them all, "that."

The Weasley family turned around and saw her. Having arrived at her destination didn't seem to have relaxed the timetable she kept because she crossed the room in a hurry, took the watch she'd given Harry and replaced it in her cloak. She spoke briskly to the dumbfounded audience now gaping open mouthed at her.

"You are safe now Harry, no one knows where you are and that, for now, is a good thing. Please don't send any letters and don't, any of you, mention Harry is here or that I was here. His life depends on it. It is fine to go to Hogwarts, dear, Dumbledore will protect you there. The Dursleys are fine and everything should blow over in a day or two. I wouldn't recommend returning there for the rest of the summer, just to be sure. I must be off, I'll see you again." As she turned to leave Harry found his voice and grabbed her cloak in protest. "Please, stay. I have so many questions. Who are you, how did you know Voldemort was coming, how did I get here with that watch?"

The witch's demeanor changed for a brief moment and a kind smile spread on her face. She walked back to Harry, took his hand and then gave him a hug. It was the same kind of motherly hug he received from Mrs. Weasley and when they broke apart he noticed she was fighting back a small tear. "My name is Genevieve, I owe your parents a debt that can not easily be repaid. I have been away and only found out about you a few short months ago as well as what happened to James and Lily." The tear over powered her ability to suppress it and fell gently down her face. "I want to stay and tell you everything but I cannot. I will be missed and then you will be not the only one whose life is in danger. Please excuse me for now, I will find you again. Until then, take care of yourself, son of James." With that she took Harry's head in her hands and kissed him on the forehead.

Genevieve then glided to the wood scrubbed table and pulled a large jewel encrusted chest out of her satchel. Harry could have sworn there was no way that such a large box could have fit in it. She set it on the table with a loud thump and it jingled slightly. She opened it to survey the contents and every one could see that it was full to the brim with wizards money (Gold Galleons, Silver Sickles, and Bronze Knuts).

"Please take care of Harry," she whispered to Mrs. Weasley in a near crying voice. Mrs. Weasley objected.

"Harry is no problem; we need not be paid for having him as a guest in our home."

But the witch only stared at her curiously for a moment, composed herself and replied,

"If I were to leave him with someone who didn't care for him as much as you obviously do they would demand payment and then treat him as a stranger. How much more deserving are you, who treat him as family and ask for nothing in return? Consider it a gift, a token of my appreciation, though it comes with two conditions. Never sell the actual chest or remove the last coin. Someday, I'll be back for the box." Then unearthing a chain with a watch from the multiple folds of her robe, took a deep breath, pressed the button and faded from view.

The Weasley's still sat there stunned while Harry felt a great warmth flow through his body starting from the point where Genevieve had kissed him. After a few moments of shocked silence Harry thought it best to change the subject and challenged Ron and his twin brothers George and Fred to a game of Quidditch.

Life at the Weasley's for the next month was wonderful. Harry filled his days flying his top of the line Firebolt broomstick in a small clearing of trees while Ron threw apples at him to catch in practice for the following school year. Harry was the seeker on the Gryffindor house quidditch team. It was his job to catch the golden snitch which would win his team an extra 150 points and end the game. Fred and George sometimes joined them, but mostly spent their time dreaming up laughter filled gags and tricks, for it was their aspiration to own a wizards joke shop. Nights Harry spent in Percy's old bedroom who had moved out last year to live on his own. It was a small room, stripped of its former owner's personal effects leaving it a great place for Harry to think without distraction.

No one had mentioned Genevieve until it was time to go to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the next year.

"Boy I wish I had that pocket watch now," Harry said offhandedly as he took a pinch of floo powder and got ready to throw it into the fire. "That was a lot easier way to travel." Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other uneasily but Harry hadn't noticed. He stepped into the fire and very clearly pronounced, "Diagon Alley" which flung him into a wild ride threw the flews of other witches and wizards fireplaces until he stumbled onto a hearth at the Leaky Cauldron. .

It was as normal a day of shopping for school supplies as one could expect on Diagon Alley. Owls hooted at Harry from Eyelops Owl Emporium, Books of every size and shape could be seen in the windows of Flourish and Blotts, and occasionally as the wind blew Harry's hair back to reveal his scar children would stop with eyes wide and wizened old wizards he didn't know would bow or shake his hand. He had grown used to celebrity treatment by now. Slowly he and Ron lead the troupe of Weasley's up the crowded street to Gringotts, the wizard bank. After being ushered in by a pair of goblins they entered an expansive room lined with tall tables, behind which sat more goblins going about their business. Harry approached one who was scribbling in a large ledger. "I'd like to go to my vault, please. My name is Harry Potter, and here's my key." He held up a small golden key for the goblin to inspect.

"Alright Mr. Potter, follow Hanzboy, he will escort ..." but his voice trailed off. He had just spotted Mr. Weasley pulling the box Genevieve had given them out from beneath his cloak. As each goblin spotted it they stopped their work to stare. Harry found it odd as some of them had in their hands rubies far larger and more valuable than any on the trunk. In fact, compared to the treasures these Goblins handled every day it was a very ordinary box. But each was enthralled with it and the goblin Harry was standing before could not have been more pleased when a bewildered Mr. Weasley joined him.

"May I place this in my vault. We haven't had a chance to count how much is in here yet and I'm sure you'll want to," explained Mr. Weasley.

"Nonsense, if you'll follow Mr. Potter and Hanzboy he will take you to your vault right away Sir, and may I add, have a wonderful day."

Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Harry followed Hanzboy through one of the many doors leading off the hall and climbed into the small cart to begin the thrilling ride down to their vaults.

"This is weird," whispered Ron to Harry as Mr. Weasley was depositing the trunk in the vault. "They never treat dad that nice, and they always count everything, down to the last knut. I don't get it" Harry didn't have a chance to even think about a reply because Mr. Weasley had returned with Hanzboy and the cart had resumed it's course, deeper to Harry's vault. Harry quickly stuffed a leather pouch full of gold and returned to the cart in time to catch Mr. Weasley's question to Hanzboy. "Something odd is going on today, what do you know about that chest?"

Hanzboy seemed eager to change the subject, "Please hurry Mr. Potter, all set, let's go," and the cart began its journey upward, perhaps even faster than the downward ride.

After their eyes adjusted to the bright light above ground Harry and Ron, who had now rejoined Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Fred and George, consulted their lists for needed supplies. Most of Harry's robes had seen better days, some having been singed, soaked or poked during the previous year's competition. His first stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. To his delight Mrs. Weasley and the others followed him in to get their robes new. This was an exhilarating experience, especially for Ginny who was almost dancing on a pedestal as a witch pinned the robe to the right length. Store after store the Weasley's and Harry picked up their supplies. Fred and George disappeared into a joke shop for a while and didn't emerge until they were laden with gags, pranks and Filibuster Fireworks. "This is going to be the best year yet!" said George to Harry winking.

"Yeah, I guess we've got to make our last one count" added Fred.

After completing their shopping they all began their trek back to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry let his eyes wander taking in the whole experience. He found he never tired of this place. Then, while walking past Titos Antiques something caught Harry's eye. A pocket watch, identical to the one Genevieve used. He trailed behind the others, staring at it in wonder. He felt the impulse to enter and followed it. The door creaked open to reveal a shop smaller than any he had been in before. In fact, it seemed to have very little in it to sell. The air was dark and musty and the window, which had been so clean while looking in appeared to be covered in cobwebs and filth, letting very little light in at all. He walked to the window display to get a closer look at the watch. There it shone, starkly contrasted against black velvet. Mesmerized, Harry didn't even notice the clerk approach him until he spoke.

"Interesting choice. the Traveler's Watch. Very few of them left you know. His voice cracked a little, but that seemed fitting coming from such a chapped mouth. The clerks face was wrinkled; his black hair appeared to have been slicked back at one point but had gotten messed up in back and now went in all directions. "Have you ever seen one of these before," he continued his sales pitch.

"Yes, I saw a witch use one once and she..." Harry regretted the words even as they escaped his lips. The clerks attitude changed from professional salesman to starved fiend with Harry's words.

"You've seen one used, actually working. When, where, who has it -- tell me now." Such a sudden change in the man frightened Harry. He made his way toward the door but the clerk beat him to it. "Who was using a Travelers Watch," the clerk asked again. Harry quickly concocted a lie.

"A witch just down the street, short with red robes. She was holding one and appeared just over there," Harry pointed out of the window and the statement had just the effect he wanted. The clerk opened the door to see where Harry had pointed leaving a space just wide enough for Harry's slim physique to bolt through. Harry ran blindly, weaving in and out of the crowds until he was quite sure the salesman had not followed him. He ducked into a small gap between stores, panting for breath he leaned against the wall and sank to the ground.

"Unusual place for a rest, where are the Weasleys?" came a vaguely familiar voice. Harry looked up and to his surprise saw Genevieve.

"I was just wanting some time alone," Harry lied while getting to his feet. He hadn't realized how tall she was until this very moment. "Now do you have time to tell me about the Traveler's Watch and the chest you gave to Ron's mum?" This time Genevieve seemed sad, but nodded her head and indicated Harry should follow her.

Instead of heading out toward the street though she walked straight for the back wall, and vanished. Harry pursued her and also vanished into the wall, but what waited on the other side was not, as he had supposed, a hidden room, but a forest glen. "Whoa, now where are we? How did we get here?" he asked himself idly while looking around for some sign of Genevieve. To his left were smoldering logs laden with a large cauldron, behind which he saw a small wooden cabin, just on the edge of the trees. It seemed the entire clearing was enclosed by large evergreens. Behind him, the largest tree trunk must be the one to contain the portal that brought him here. He passed by what was left of the fire and knocked on the door, which swung open.

"Hello, Genevieve?" He cautiously entered the sparsely decorated hut. To his left was a fire which lit a portrait of a small baby boy no older than one. Harry approached it and found delight at its faint laughter as he did. As was the case in the wizarding world pictures moved. The baby seemed to be playing in his frame, its red hair accentuated by the firelight. Harry took another step forward and saw in the shadows a figure, seemingly transfixed to a wooden chair, also watching the portrait.

"Genevieve?" Harry questioned the dark shadow. Only a nod answered. As the figure rose and walked toward Harry the baby stopped to look, then faintly said "Mama." The shadow stopped and kneeled. Harry pulled out his wand, muttered Lumos, and was bewildered to see this woman crying.

"I can't do it," she whispered. "I can't. Even if I did ..." her voice trailed off. Harry kneeled next to her.

"You can't do what?"

"Oh dear boy, don't you understand. I brought you here to kill you" Harry's eyes enlarged and he jumped back toward the fire with his want out. Genevieve pulled a dagger from the sleeve of her robes and let it clatter to the floor. "I must find another way," she muttered, talking more to herself than Harry.

"To do what?" Harry wanted to know if she was looking for another way to kill him. A long silence followed in which they stared at each other.

"To get him back," was the reply as Genevieve broke her gaze with Harry and turned to the baby in the portrait. "The Dark Lord murdered my Muggle husband and has stolen my precious child from me. I was told he would only be returned if I killed you. I thought I would do anything to get him back, but not this. Even if he was returned alive how could I teach him to respect human life and behave honorably if I did this? How could I break a promise to Lily? I would not even be here were it not for her." Harry could see the internal struggle which had beset the woman before him, and hear random rational as she was torn so deeply.

Harry could not help but ask, "How did you know my mother?" and it was at this point that Genevieve looked up, surprised that Harry was still there.

"She was a dear friend to me and my mother, we worked together. She then shielded us from those who would have us executed and was a great champion to our cause. She was so kind and generous, as was James, stalwart and brave. I will not let their deaths be in vain by allowing the Dark Lord this underhanded victory. I will not kill a Potter." Harry noticed that this last statement served to strengthen her resolve as well as to reassure him. "Come, we must get you back to Diagon Alley." She brought herself off the floor, took only a brief pause to gaze at her happily playing portrait child, and left the hut.

She led Harry back through the large tree trunk to Diagon Alley and toward the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't speak a word nor leave his side until Harry was to the point where he could see his friends, a sea of red hair, just outside the book shop. He turned to thank her but she had vanished. Harry strolled up to the Weasleys, who appeared to be looking for him, and was pleased to see the Granger's, Hermione's Muggle parents.

"Ron, you'll never guess what just happened," Harry began, but Ron wasn't listening. He was just standing there staring at, "Hermione" Harry gasped, "Is that you?"