Shattered Mirror

Chapter 2 - Sand, Rock, and Flowers

As the car continued to roll down the road, Harry slipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans, and retrieved the letter Kingsley had sent him the previous day.

Dear Harry,

I hope you're well and on your way to recovering from your long ordeal. If you need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, please owl me immediately. After all you have done and all you have lost, the world can never really repay you. I would certainly welcome the opportunity to try.

Things are going well. We are still rounding up Death Eaters, and will be for quite a while, possibly even for years. All seem to be in hiding now. They aren't a threat to anyone. We could use your help though...when you're up to it. The Auror ranks are greatly depleted. We've lost a lot of good people this year. While things are going well, we need people like you to continue the fight. Take your time, you've earned it, but when you're ready, let me know.

The real reason I'm contacting you today is that it has recently come to my attention that a provision of Albus Dumbledore's will was not to be executed until after You-Know-Who's death. Please meet me at the Ministry of Magic at nine o'clock tomorrow morning so we can discuss it. I'll then have a Ministry car take you to where you need to go.

Sincerely,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

Harry slipped the letter back into his pocket. The last thing he needed was another house. Kingsley said the house was special, but didn't explain what that meant. Harry still wasn't sure what to do with Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It was hard enough just to think about Sirius. Living in his home would be impossible.

A few minutes later, the road began to descend and they found themselves on a narrow path with sheer rock walls on both side. The pavement became more sand covered by the minute until it disappeared completely as they emerged onto a beach.

"We've arrived," said Auror Ravenswood from the front seat. "It looks like a beautiful spot. Albus Dumbledore certainly had good taste."

Harry took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door. He had a knot in then pit of his stomach. He tentatively stepped out of the car, his trainers sinking slightly into the soft sand. Hermione got out of the car after him and closed the door before taking his hand.

They were standing on a beautiful stretch of beach. It stretched about forty yards in each direction before the golden sand changed to rocks, which rose up, sealing the beach at both ends. The road they came in on seemed to be the only way to get there. The sun was shining and it was warm. The waves splashed lazily on the beach, and the ocean stretched as far as they could see. There was no one around.

"Where is it?" asked Hermione confusedly.

"Up there," said Arnold, as he turned away from the water and pointed up.

Above the beach loomed a cliff. A sheer precipice stretched up to the top. It was quite high. Harry and Hermione looked up, but could see nothing but rock.

"Where is the house?" asked Harry, equally as puzzled as Hermione. "I don't see anything up there."

"Half way up the rock face," said Arnold. "You have to look right at it or you can't see it."

Harry and Hermione had been looking at the top of the cliff. They both looked down towards the middle of the rock face and they saw it.

It looked as though a large cave had been cut into the rock, and seemed to stretch back quite a distance. A house sat in it, though from the angle they were looking at it from, they could only see the roof. The rock above it seemed to glow as if the sun were passing right through it. A white picket fence stretched across the front of the cave.

"How would we get up there if there were Muggles around?" inquired Harry. "We can Apparate, but not if we'll be seen."

"You won't need to worry about that," responded Auror Ravenswood with a laugh. "The whole property is magically protected. Muggles can't see the road in here, and if they are in the water, the whole beach looks like a rocky coast. They can't see the house even if they look right at it."

"The whole property?" questioned Harry curiously. "You mean I own...all of this?"

"According to what Minister Shacklebolt told me, yes," said Auror Ravenswood with a nod. "He seemed to think you'd like the privacy."

"Kingsley just said that Professor Dumbledore had left Harry a house, he didn't say it included its own private beach, or that it was anything as grand as this," stated Hermione incredulously.

"The Minister thought it might be a nice surprise," laughed Arnold with a smile. "It's called 'Phoenix Bay'."

"Do we have to Apparate up to the house?" queried Hermione, as she scanned the cliff looking for a way up to the house.

"The Minister said there is a rock at the base of the cliff," answered Auror Ravenswood. "If you touch it with your wand it will act sort of like a Portkey and take you up. If you need anything, I'll be right here."

Harry and Hermione thanked Auror Ravenswood. They walked to the base of the rock face. There was a stone set in the ground directly beneath the cave. It had an etching of a phoenix on it. They drew their wands and touched the stone. A moment later, they found themselves standing on grass.

"Well, that was different," said Hermione as she grabbed the white picket fence beside them to steady herself.

There was an identical rock to the one at the base of the rock face beside the white picket fence. It too had a Phoenix etched into it.

Hermione looked out of the opening of the cave. "Harry, look," breathed Hermione. "This view is amazing."

Harry turned and looked out over the water. Unless you looked straight down, all you could see was endless ocean.

"Yeah, I guess," stated Harry absently.

"Harry, this would be such a wonderful place to be on a warm summer night," said Hermione with a smile. "I'll bet the sunset is incredible. It must be really romantic here."

"Probably," mumbled Harry disinterestedly.

They turned toward the house. It was a large three-story building with a porch that stretched across the front. Two swings framed the front door with large windows behind each. The house was white with purple shutters and blue trim. The front door was scarlet with a gold knocker and handle.

A small set of stairs led up to the porch. At the foot of the steps, a cement path stretched towards the picket fence. About fifteen feet from the house it forked and then turned toward the back of the house on each side, apparently creating tracks to the rear of the house. Between the house and the pavement were flowerbeds filled with flowers of every color. The grass that stretched from the front of the path to the white picket fence was neatly trimmed and lush. The walls of the cave had flowers and plants growing out of them, giving it the feel of a giant tropical garden.

"It's so beautiful in here," noted Hermione as she stared wondrously at the house. "The temperature is perfect, not too hot, not too cold. The grass and flowers must all be maintained by magic. It certainly can't rain much in here."

"Well, Professor Dumbledore was one of the most powerful wizards ever," uttered Harry as he looked impassively at the house. "It stands to reason he would have been able to make his home maintain itself, and keep the grass and flowers growing without any rain."

"However he did it, it's beautiful," said Hermione with a smile. "Professor Dumbledore wanted you to have it. I'll bet it was very special to him."

"Probably," responded Harry absently.

"Shall we go inside?" inquired Hermione.

"I'll go alone," Harry informed her, as he started walking toward the house.

"Are you sure?" begged Hermione concernedly.

"Yeah," muttered Harry without turning around. "I won't be long. I'll just look around and then we can head back to The Burrow."

Harry walked across the lawn and up the walkway to the stairs, leaving Hermione behind with a very concerned look etched on her face.

As Harry ascended the steps and approached the door, he could see the knocker more clearly. There was a gold drawing of a phoenix on the door. The gold artwork seemed to almost glow in the slight shadow caused by the roof of the porch. The knocker was shaped like a griffin. It was identical to the one on the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts except that it was gold while the one at Hogwarts was bronze.

Harry drew his wand as he reached the door, but it was a wasted effort. The door unlocked and slowly swung open as he approached. Harry slipped his wand back into his pocket, stepped inside and the door slowly closed behind him.