Harry Potter and the Green Flame Torch

CHAPTER SIX

~Surprises Galore~

Harry sleepily made his way downstairs the next morning, rubbing at his half-closed eyes. Walking into the dining room, he greeted everyone with a grunted, "Morning", before collapsing onto the nearest seat.

He was halfway through reaching for a piece of toast, before he realised that nobody had said anything. He lifted his eyes to everyone, furrowing his brows worriedly as he was met by seven pair of eyes that were staring straight back at him.

"What's wrong?" asked Harry, the remnants of sleep quickly draining away. A nightmare from last night suddenly reappeared in his mind and he forced back a gulp. What if something had happened?

Nothing was said to calm his fears. The twins only shifted their gaze down to the table where an unknown parchment was lying, and Ginny and Hermione looked at each other warily. Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he saw Mrs Weasley dabbing at her eyes with her apron, and Mr Weasley patting her on the back in a comforting manner. Panic tightened its hold on Harry's chest, and his mouth went dry as he anxiously turned to Ron for an answer.

"Nothings happened, has it?" he demanded frantically, but Ron shook his head and picked up the same parchment that the twins had been staring at.

"What?" exclaimed Harry, as Ron thrust the parchment into his hand. At a closer inspection, Harry realised it was the back part of that day's edition of the Daily Prophet. He quickly turned it around, fearing the worst, but as soon as he saw the front, he sighed in a mixture of realisation, relief and pain. "Oh."

A picture of Sirius was plastered onto the front page, along with the headline, 'MINISTRY BUNGLE WITH SIRIUS BLACK'S IMPRISONMENT, SAYS BOY-WHO-LIVED'.

"They wrote it." Harry breathed, reading through the newspaper article - his newspaper article.

The Black family may have been a prestigious and well-known pureblooded family, but they were far from pleasant. They supported the same ideals that You-Know-Who was famous for. They hated all Muggles, Muggleborns, Muggle-lovers; the list goes on. Many of them died either following the Dark Lord or at the least following his same beliefs.

How do I know all this? Simple. Last summer I was told first-hand by my godfather. He knew everything there was about them because he was a Black himself, as much as he was loathed to admit it. For that I don't blame him.

My godfather was Sirius Black, and no, you haven't read wrong. Harry Potter's godfather was the one and only escaped convict from Azkaban prison. I admit for the past two years, I have known his whereabouts; I've contacted him; hell, I even spent last Christmas with him.

But that's not a crime. I haven't been aiding and abetting a criminal as you may think, because he wasn't one. He was innocent for all the crimes against him, and I'm going to tell you exactly why and what happened all those years ago that wrongfully put him in prison, because it sure is about time that it was revealed.

It is a well-known fact that Sirius Black was a supposed follower of You-Know-Who, who killed a fellow wizard Peter Pettigrew and 12 other Muggles with one single curse. This, however, is not the whole story, as he wasn't a follower and he didn't kill anyone. It would probably be better to start from the beginning.

For seven years at Hogwarts, a tightly knit group of four boys became the closest of friends; Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, James Potter and Sirius Black. Together they formed their own little group called the Marauders.

Even after school finished, the four continued to be friends. Sirius was best man at my parents' wedding, and then he was later named as my godfather. Then something unthinkable happened. Reports came in that there was a spy amongst the group - one who had been feeding Voldemort valuable information about the light side. It went on for about a year before my parents were forced to go under the Fidelius charm for their own safety. A Fidelius charm is where only a secret keeper knows a person or person's location. The secret keeper is the only one who can reveal their location, so this was a convenient charm to use at the time. Sirius Black was the obvious choice as secret keeper, and he kept people thinking it wasn't to be any other way. In an attempt to flush out who he thought was the spy and keep my parents and myself safe, Sirius secretly switched the secret keeper position over to Peter Pettigrew. At that time he thought Pettigrew wasn't the spy. He thought it was Remus.

This proved to be a mistake, and not even a week after the Fidelius charm had been performed, Sirius found out who the traitor and spy was. All along it was Peter Pettigrew. It was too late to do anything about it, however. By the time Sirius reached my parents house, both my parents were already dead, and I had just been plucked out of the wreckage by Rubeus Hagrid.

Sirius was devastated, and furious. He managed to track down Pettigrew and confront him, but Pettigrew was too cunning. Using the Dark Arts that his master taught him, he cast a charm that exploded around him, killing those 12 Muggles. Amidst the confusion he cut off his finger and scurried away.

No one suspected him. How could they? Sirius was the only one standing there, and admittedly he had intentionally sought out to kill Pettigrew. There was no trial for Sirius or Veritaserum for him to speak the truth. He was sent straight to Azkaban for life. Twelve years he spent rotting away in prison until circumstances arose in my third year, which led him to believe that I was in danger from Pettigrew. He escaped and tried to save me from Pettigrew at the end of the school year.

This is when I found out the truth about Sirius, and along with Sirius, Remus and my friends, I finally saw Pettigrew with my own eyes. He admitted to spying for You-Know-Who, but unfortunately managed to escape our clutches when Sirius was recaptured on the Hogwarts grounds. I didn't see Wormtail (a nickname for Pettigrew acquired from school) again until the Third Task at the end of my fourth year. Under the orders of You-Know-Who, he was the one that killed Cedric Diggory and brought You-Know-Who back to power.

The next bit is too painful for me to recount again, so instead I am including parts of a letter that I wrote to Cornelius Fudge at the beginning of the summer. It must be said that Fudge previously knew about these events. Professor Dumbledore and myself had told him the truth on a numerous amount of occasions; each time ending in him denying it, just as he denied You-Know-Who's return. My letter was only a last ditch attempt to make him listen, so you may be shocked to read his reply to my letter, which I've also included.

Harry skimmed over the letters, and read on to what the Daily Prophet had to say.

After all this shocking evidence has come to light from the 'Boy Who Lived', one wonders how long it will take for Fudge to be removed from his position as Minister. Fudge refused to comment on the accusations made in the article, but other Ministry members had something to say about it.

"Yeah, Fudge knew all along the truth about that Sirius Black," one unnamed Ministry Auror said, "He received information about it all the time from Albus Dumbledore."

Another official present at the Ministry on the day of its attack also added, "Why, I heard Albus saying to Fudge's very own face that we'd been chasing the wrong man for twelve months."

Surely this shows that someone who has known about the unfortunate circumstances of Sirius Black and chosen to keep it quiet for so long should not be allowed to continue ruling our Ministry. That is the question that remains in the mind of the wizarding world and one grieving Harry Potter.

As Harry had suspected, they'd published practically his whole article and the letter that Fudge sent to him. He leant back in his chair, still gripping the newspaper in his hands, but feeling immensely relieved that everybody would now know the truth about Sirius. The Daily Prophet seemed to be on his side for this at least and Fudge was definitely going to be in trouble for this scandal.

"It's all true then?" demanded Ron, who like everybody else had been closely watching Harry as he read the article.

"Of course it's true Ron." Harry snorted in amazement, snapping his head up to look back at Ron. "You already know - Sirius's story."

"No, he meant the fact that it was you that actually told this to the Daily Prophet," Hermione put in quickly.

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, yeah. I - at the Dursley's I - uh wrote it," he said lamely, taking a quick glance around everyone in the room. This wasn't quite the reaction he was hoping for. Instead of congratulating him on the article or at least acting happy that Sirius would have a chance at being declared innocent, everyone were still just sitting there in stunned silence. He began to feel a bit queasy, and doubts started to flicker in his mind. "Is there something wrong with what I did?" he asked hesitantly.

"NO!" Mrs Weasley proclaimed through her handkerchief, making Harry jump. She blew her nose loudly. "It was - just quite a shock for all of us."

Hermione added softly, "We didn't even have a clue that you would do something like that."

"I - I'm sorry for not telling you," said Harry, all of a sudden feeling guilty for keeping this from his friends. He hadn't considered the fact that his friends might have been hurt by not telling them. He'd just been so wrapped up in his own little plot for Sirius that he'd discarded what everyone else might have thought about it. "I wasn't really thinking of anything else except Sirius, I guess." he admitted.

"It's alright dear," replied Mrs Weasley, "We aren't angry with you. We're so - so-" she broke off sobbing. Wanting to disappear from sight completely, Harry looked at her in alarm. Crying women weren't his speciality. Cho was probably the perfect example, he thought back, cringing.

Luckily, Mrs Weasley eventually calmed down and what she said next made Harry's face redden considerably, "We're so very - very proud of you Harry ... and we're sorry you have to go through - all - all of this."

Harry knew she didn't expect him to answer, but he hung his head down and quietly said, "Thank you Mrs Weasley."

Of course, it was Ron who broke the mood just then by saying, "Reckon you're the next Rita Skeeter."

Smiling lopsidedly, and glad for the change in atmosphere, Harry punched Ron lightly in the arm, and everybody laughed, even Mrs Weasley. After the laughter, he was congratulated on the article. The twins even started quoting back comments of Fudge from various witches and wizards in the editorial section of the Daily Prophet. One had even described Fudge's letter to be portraying an 'incompetent fool - something which we should have realised sooner.'

This was the reaction that Harry had expected, and he finally relaxed as he watched everyone chat excitedly amongst themselves. He hadn't realised until that moment how important their opinions were to him. Since Sirius's death, they were all he had left. Speaking of Sirius, Harry wondered what the only remaining Marauder thought of it, and suddenly realised that Remus and the other Order members - such as Tonks - that had stayed the night before weren't there at the table.

"Where's Remus, and Tonks and the others from the Order?" asked Harry, looking around at the empty seats. Extra plates had been set out, so Harry presumed that they'd be here by now. "Have they eaten already, or something?"

Another silence, but this time it seemed that only the two adults knew the answer. Hermione only gave a shrug, and Ron pulled a face.

"Remus was ... asked for over at the Ministry to set a few things straight, and Tonks accompanied him," Mr Weasley replied finally, fondly de-attaching himself from his wife, and standing up, "Somewhere that I should be now actually."

He kissed Mrs Weasley, before saying his goodbyes and walking outside. Harry watched him go, wondering if Remus was at the Ministry to talk about Sirius. The uneasy feeling just returned in the pit of his stomach. He hoped he didn't get him or anyone else, like Dumbledore, in trouble over it. He'd done that way too many times lately.

~*~

Lunch had many members of the Order joining Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys around the now magically enlarged dining table. Regardless of Ron and Hermione's reassurance that everything would be fine, Harry was still feeling apprehensive about the Order's reaction towards the article and to what happened with Remus. Unwanted thoughts kept on creeping into Harry's mind; ones where he would be met with disapproving stares. Snape's malevolent and hateful black eyes came to mind briefly, and Harry shuddered. He didn't think he could bear it if Remus or Dumbledore faced him with the same glare.

Therefore, Harry was, to say the least, surprised when he stood in the hallway to find that this lunch started like any other. Mundungus Fletcher could be seen gesturing wildly to the twins, Tonks was busy finding a desired hairstyle with Hermione and Ginny giggling her on, Kingsley and Moody were loudly discussing the principle of constant vigilance, Snape was grumbling in the corner, and Remus was ...

"I see you didn't spend all your time escaping from the clutches of those Muggles, after all."

... standing directly behind him. Harry instinctively yelped in shock, but relaxed as Remus came to stand beside him. He smiled as Remus's comment sunk in.

"Yeah, I was running out of places to go ... you know," joked Harry, although his eyes shone with sorrow. Remus placed a soothing hand on Harry's shoulder, and squeezed it gently.

"It was what Sirius always wanted Harry," said Remus, "I'm glad that his spirit can finally be put to rest, and others."

Harry coughed uncomfortably, but a small smile was unable to be repressed. Trust Remus to figure out his intentions. Suddenly, he found himself wanting to explain himself, pour out everything to someone who would hopefully understand him. His next words came out all in a rush, but he kept his voice low so nobody else could overhear him.

"I know it probably was wrong not to tell anyone," he began, "but I just wanted to - to make everyone see what he was - like." Harry paused at the understanding on Remus' face and he felt more confident in continuing. "At first I was just going to write to Fudge, but that moron sent me back that ridiculous letter, which practically tried to buy my silence, so then I just became so angry and I decided to send that letter and the whole story to the Daily Prophet." Harry took in a much-needed breath before adding in a calmer tone, "I'm sorry-"

But Remus waved him off. "No need to apologise." He said, then leaned closer to Harry as he added in a conspiratorial whisper, "Admittedly, I myself had slightly more irrational solutions to Fudge's incompetence." At Harry's stunned look, he laughed fondly and leant back. "The Marauder in me has yet to fade away."

"So you aren't angry at me for sending that article?" Harry asked finally.

Remus shook his head, "Of course not," he replied firmly. "No one is. In fact, Dumbledore was quite amused by it all and said he should have thought of that himself - actually, it has seemed to resolve many problems within the Ministry as well." he added thoughtfully.

Remus stopped abruptly, and Harry waited impatiently for him to continue on with this news. "And?" he urged on. "What kind of news? Why did you have to go there this morning?"

"And," Remus smiled infuriatingly, "You'll find out soon enough."

Harry was about ready to protest at not being told, but it was then that Mr Weasley raised a full goblet of pumpkin juice and Harry reluctantly turned his attention to him.

"I would just like to say," Mr Weasley began loudly, "that thanks to Harry's - uh - unexpected article in the Daily Prophet, Sirius's name will be officially cleared and-" Mr Weasley broke off as he was answered by a loud roar, and twelve glasses of pumpkin juice being thrust into the air.

"Hear hear." Tonks was shouting enthusiastically, her glass of pumpkin juice slopping all over her robes as she waved it around.

Smiling, Mr Weasley continued on, "-and Mr Cornelius Fudge will not be returning as Minister of Magic. He has officially been taken down as of today."

This was met by silence until Ron finally stuttered in amazement, "You mean Harry finally got rid of that git?"

Harry ignored Ron and turned accusingly to Remus, who was smiling in satisfaction. "That was the news?" Harry cried out, his eyes shining in happiness.

Remus nodded, accepting a glass of Firewhiskey from the twins. "They asked me in this morning to confirm the 'Boy-Who-Lived' 's extraordinary story."

"So they did actually believe me after all?"

"Why wouldn't they? As you most certainly know, the wizarding world have drastically changed their views on you and Dumbledore after finding out that you were both right about the return of Voldemort." replied Remus. He took a sip of the Firewhiskey and pulled a face before adding, "No one would even think of discrediting you again."

Harry thought for a moment, "So do you think if I told everyone that Snape was really a bloodsucking vampire, they'd believe me?" he asked, grinning evilly. He visualised members of the Ministry of Magic charging Snape with wooden stakes and necklaces of garlic, and choked back a laugh.

"Professor Snape," Remus corrected automatically, though his heart didn't seem to be in it, because he laughed anyway and said, "They probably would, and though I shouldn't be saying this, they probably think that already."

Harry snickered at the thought, and sipped at his pumpkin juice as Remus finished their conversation and joined Kingsley and Moody's continuing debate to stop Moody from pulling out his wand to demonstrate something. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ron discreetly accept a glass of Firewhiskey under the table from the twins. He caught George's wink, and ruefully shook his head.

"This could get ugly," mumbled Harry, through the corner of his mouth.

Sure enough,

"RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, YOU REMOVE THAT GLASS FROM YOUR LAP THIS INSTANT!"

"But mum," Ron protested indignantly, tightening his hold on the Firewhiskey. Harry stifled a grin. "It's only one drink, and I've been wanting to try one for ages."

"Better not, Ronniekins," interrupted George, cheekily downing one glass in clear sight of Ron. "Especially with Harry's condition."

"YOU TOO, GEORGE WEASLEY!" Mrs Weasley screeched, now directing her wrath onto George, "YOU MAY BE OF AGE NOW, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER ANYMORE. DON'T YOU FORGET THAT I USED TO BE THE ONE WHO CHANGED YOUR NAPPIES WHEN YOU WERE ONLY A RED, BARE BOTTOMED LITTLE BOY."

To the laughter of everyone else, George turned red, and hurriedly put the empty glass down on the table. Ron, however, was still stubbornly refusing to let go of his glass and had managed to raise it to his lips whilst Mrs Weasley yelled at George.

What happened next was still a mystery to everyone except Harry, Hermione and Mrs Weasley. It all just happened too fast. One moment Ron went to take a sip of the Firewhiskey, the next his face was completely covered with the stuff.

Watching Ron splutter indignantly, Harry only just managed to catch the brief nod of approval that Mrs Weasley gave to Hermione. His eyes widened, and he sent a questioning glance to Hermione, who gave a smug smile in return. He was later told that she had quickly pushed Ron's hand forward when he was too busy watching out for his mother.

"Really Ron, you're a prefect," said Hermione, handing Ron a tissue, which he gratefully accepted with a grunt. "You should be more responsible."

Ron pointedly ignored Hermione, not noticing the sly grin still planted on her face as he proceeded to wipe his entire face, except his mouth. Harry was surprised to see him emerge grinning, until he watched as Ron licked his lips.

"At least I got to taste a bit of it," whispered Ron, leaning over to Harry so that his mother was out of earshot.

~*~

"SURPRISE!"

Harry stopped midway through reaching into his pocket for his wand, and gaped in shock.

It was the next night and along with Ron, Harry had just entered the unusually dark dining room for dinner. To his definite surprise, the lights flickered on and he saw that the entire dining room had been transformed into a Gryffindor's paradise and Mrs Black worst nightmare; everything from the couches to the tapestry in the corner had been decorated in red and gold streamers and balloons. A large banner hung above the table stuck out the most, at times flashing 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY' then 'HARRY BIRTHDAY HAPPY!' No doubt the work of the twins, Harry laughed silently.

What was the most amazing were all the people who were standing in front of him. Everybody from the Order had turned up, even Professor Dumbledore. Professor Snape was present, though probably not by his own accord, according to where he was hiding sullenly.

"I- uh - what?" stuttered Harry. He was at a complete loss for words as he himself had even forgotten that it was his birthday. Due to Sirius' article being released at the time that it was, Harry had been distracted from what the next day would hold. The whole day had been spent celebrating Sirius' final declaration of innocence. There had, however, been a bitter sweet moment for Harry as he went to bed that night, thinking it had been too late for Sirius to enjoy.

But even if Harry had remembered about his birthday yesterday, he never would have suspected anything like this happening - his first birthday party. He was absolutely overwhelmed. Without realising it, he began to grin idiotically.

"Didn't think we'd forget about your birthday, did you mate?" Ron bellowed, letting off a firecracker and ignoring his mum's protests.

"Considering I forgot about it, yeah." Harry replied wryly, grinning as he took another step inside. He looked around again at all the smiling faces. "I - don't know - what to say."

"Too bad." Fred chimed in, before starting to chant with George. "SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!" Soon everyone joined in the chant.

Harry flushed red, his hands trembling considerably as he tried to motion for them to all quiet down. When they finally did, Harry took a deep breath before saying shakily,

"I - I can't believe what you've all done for me here tonight ... I don't know what I'm - meant to say or anything ... Uh - I guess I want to thank you ... I've never had a birthday party before, and it - it ... just - thank you. It sure beats all my other birthdays."

The cheering grew louder, and Harry was guided over to the most decorated chair, where mounds of presents and birthday cards lay. He looked in amazement at these presents. They could almost rival Dudley's presents for once.

"These are all for me?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Who else would they be for, Harry?" replied Mrs Weasley, who was dabbing at her eyes with her apron again. She, like Harry, seemed to be overwhelmed at everything.

"But there's so many." Harry protested, picking up a nearby parcel. "Since when does Hannah Abbot give me a birthday present? Or ..." he trailed off in amazement, "Justin Finch-Fletchley?"

"Well go on," Ron prompted, poking Harry in the back with a fake wand, shooting birthday confetti. "I wouldn't be complaining. Just open them up."

Harry grinned and tore open the first present, which was from Mr and Mrs Weasley. Predictably, he found himself in the possession of another sweater, this time in green with a large gold snitch knitted onto the front. Harry could see how much Fred and George were itching to yank it over his head like they had done with Percy one year, so he flashed them and Mrs Weasley a quick grin before pulling it over his baggy t-shirt.

"Thanks Mr and Mrs Weasley." he said, straightening the jumper out and inwardly laughing at the twins' disappointed faces.

Mrs Weasley looked quite pleased with herself and waved a hand dismissively. "It was nothing Harry."

Another predictable present was from the twins, which most obviously contained all of their most recent business attractions. Canary creams, skiving snackboxes, and their newest creation Bulging Butterscotch's were only a few that Harry spotted in the box. He would be looking forward to using them at school, he thought wickedly, giving the twins an equally wicked grin.

The next present to open was from Tonks and Moody. It was a step-to-step guide on how to become an Auror, which also included the names of all the Aurors in the past fifty years. Tonks had leant over as he flicked through the book, and whispered, "I think you'll find something particularly interesting for you in that."

Having no time to figure out what she had meant, other than the obvious fact that he wanted to become an Auror, Harry just looked quizzically at her, before being urged to turn to his other presents.

Hermione and Ginny's present was next, where they had combined their powers to get him an expensive wizarding watch. When he had thanked them, Hermione laughingly replied, "At least you won't have that excuse for being late to class anymore."

As usual, Ron's present for him was tied in with Ron's main interest ... food. Sweets of all variety were packed into his present, especially Bertie's Every Flavour Beans.

Kingsley had gotten him a mini spy-glass, to "prevent any recurring incidents of last year". Harry frowned, automatically remembering Cho's sneak freak Marietta.

Hagrid, who wasn't there, hadn't given him a present, but a card with a very suspicious note in it.

Harry,

Can't give you your birthday present until you get back to school. Too heavy for Hedwig, so come see me when school starts.

Hagrid

After reading it, Harry was perplexed and admittedly worried. What trouble was Hagrid going to cause now? He hurriedly shoved the letter into his pants pocket. No use worrying about it until then.

There were many other presents from students at the school that Harry opened, ranging from unmoveable football stickers from Dean, to a very thorough book explaining about corporeal Patronus charms from Susan Bones. He also received a year's free subscription of the Quibbler - added on from the month's free subscription he'd been sent at the beginning of the summer - from Luna Lovegood, and a framed article about Sirius from the Daily Prophet.

None however could compare to the next one he was about to receive.