Harry Potter and the Guardian of Lost Souls

Chapter 3:

"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" Harry said, still utterly shocked to find himself standing in the same room as his godfather and his favorite teacher.

Sirius chuckled and Lupin smiled at the look of consternation on Harry´s face.

"Hello Harry," said Lupin. "It´s been a while since I´ve seen you, hasn´t it? You´ve grown quite a bit."

Sirius held Harry at shoulder length to get a good look at him. For a moment it seemed to Harry that something remarkably similar to sorrow flickered through his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Yes, you´ve grown, I suppose, though I hardly notice it since I saw you two months ago..." Sirius fell silent and Harry supposed he regretted bringing it up. The circumstances under which he had last seen his godfather... He didn´t want to remember. He quickly changed the subject.

"So, the Full Moon, huh? I suppose this is your house then, professor?"

"Yes, though the name is new. It was Padfoot´s idea." Here he glared at Sirius, who just laughed.

"Aww, Moony! You´re not still upset about that, are you? I thought it was actually very funny."

"You would, you meddling Marauder!"

Harry looked from one to the other as they argued. The last time he had seen the two old friends, the situation had been much more serious. He found it very amusing to watch them acting like two quarreling fifteen year-olds, or more precisely, like he and Ron...

"Well, you really didn´t have to charm it to the house, you know!"

"Well, if I hadn´t, you wouldn´t have called it that, and it suits you! It fits!"

"Why I oughta..."

"What are you going to do, Moony? Growl at me?"

"No."

Then there was silence. Both parties seemed to be sizing the other up. Finally Sirius spoke.

"Well, guess I win!" he said cheerfully.

He turned to say something to Harry when...

"I will send you to the pound if you transform!"

"Ha!" Sirius shouted. "You wouldn´t dare."

"Want to bet?"

It looked as though the two of them planned to fight it out there and then and they would have if someone hadn´t come flying out of the fireplace right at that moment, straight into Sirius, knocking him down and falling on top of him in the process.

Lupin burst out laughing at the position Sirius now found himself in, but Harry could only stare.

Arabella Figg may have been a bit late, but it seemed that she had got there just in time to break up what had looked to become a spectacular fight. She hadn´t done it on purpose, of course, but she´d done it just the same. Indeed Sirius seemed to have forgotten all about Lupin, and even his godson as he found himself underneath the dark eyed brown haired beauty.

Lupin began laughing even harder as Sirius´ face turned a shade of red that Harry had only ever seen on Ron before. Harry was even more surprised when he looked up only to find Arabella blushing almost as much as Sirius. She quickly got off of him. Both looked at the floor and simultaneously muttered "Sorry," and then cleared their throats. Lupin was beside himself with mirth. Anyone who didn´t know that Sirius wasn´t really a murderous killer would have run, screaming for their lives at the look Sirius was giving Lupin now.

It looked as though another quarrel was on the way, but Arabella put a hand on Sirius´ shoulder, signaling him to shut up for the time being.

"Remus, how are you? You´re looking much better."

Lupin had more or less calmed down by this time, but was still smirking when he answered, "I´m feeling much better, thank you. We were wondering when you´d get here." Arabella smiled and picked up her things, which had tumbled out after she had.

"Well, I´m here now, aren´t I? So, where´s my room? And don´t forget about Harry either." Arabella seemed to be back to her brisk, cool-headed self.

"As though we would." Muttered Sirius, still extremely embarrassed at what had just happened. "Come on Harry," he said, recovering slightly, "I´ll show you were you´ll be staying."

Harry took his trunk and followed Sirius out the study door.

As he passed Lupin, Sirius glared at him and promised him that he´d get back at him later for this. Lupin just smiled cheerfully and said, "Arabella, I´ll show you to your room."

"Wonderful!" she replied and followed suit.

The Full Moon was located far away from any towns or villages; it was actually a large estate in what most people would call "the middle of nowhere". It was very big, consisting of ten bedrooms, each with an adjoining bathroom, a study, library, dining room, a kitchen that Mrs. Weasley would have reveled in, a living room, and even a small conservatory at the back.

Harry, who knew that Lupin wasn´t exactly what one would call rich, had asked him how he had discovered the place. Lupin had answered that it actually belonged to a very distant cousin, who had let him borrow it for the summer. It was unplottable and therefore very safe. Though he added that his cousin would NOT be very pleased about his home´s new irrevocable name.

Harry´s bedroom was triple the size of his room at the Dursley´s. It had thick blue carpet, floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the valley behind the house, a large four-poster bed, which reminded him of his bed at school in the center of the room and shelves filled with various leather-bound books that looked much more interesting than the ones in the smallest bedroom back at Privet Drive. Hermione would have died to get her hands on most of them.

In his first two days there Harry met a few other people staying at the Full Moon as well.

There was Mundungus Fletcher, a forty-five- year-old ministry worker who thought that Fudge was a complete ignoramus and spent half of his time ranting about the things he´d read in the paper.

Then there was Su-Ling San, a thirty-eight-year-old Asian witch who specialized in History of Magic and magical amulets. She was kind of a loner, and spent most of her time out back; gardening or practicing something called Kempo. Whatever that was...

Octavious Fiddle was a good-humored man of thirty-one. He had been in training to become an auror when Dumbledore had asked him to join the Order. He played a magical violin called Sissy, and everyone liked to call him Strings.

And finally, there was forty-three-year-old Cyril Crenshaw, the only Slytherin to have ever been known to transfer to Gryffindor in the history of Hogwarts. Actually, he was one of a minute group of students to have ever transferred houses at all. Sometimes drastic events can happen during a person´s lifetime to change that person forever, to the point that even the Sorting Hat would admit that they no longer belonged in their house. Sirius told Harry that Cyril´s parents had been killed in his fourth year by none other than the Dark Lord himself for failing to complete his instructions. Indeed, Cyril´s parents had been Death Eaters, and though Cyril had never really intended to follow in their footsteps, he had still acted like any typical Slytherin would. When they had died though, something snapped and, as Sirius told it, he had marched straight up to Dumbledore´s office and demanded to be sorted anew. The Sorting Hat had placed him in Gryffindor.

Cyril hated Voldemort more than anything, and even though his parents had been on the bad side, he´d still loved them and now did everything he could to bring the Dark Lord´s defeat.

Fletcher, Su-ling, Fiddle, Crenshaw, Figg, Lupin and Black. These were some of the people that Dumbledore had referred to as "The Old Crowd" at the end of Harry´s fourth year. Harry remembered now that the Headmaster had mentioned them to Sirius and wondered that he hadn´t recognized the name "Figg" when it had been mentioned. Not everyone was staying with Lupin, though. There were around 14 more wizards and witches that Dumbledore had assembled the fateful night that Voldemort had been seemingly defeated. They were "The Order of the Phoenix"; brought together to ensure that the Dark Lord would never rise to full power as he had all those years ago... Sirius was, of course, a new addition, being as he had been unfairly charged with murder at the time the Order was formed. But they all now believed in his innocence since Dumbledore had vouched for him, and they all trusted Dumbledore more than they trusted themselves, and almost every one of them had something to thank the wizened old wizard for.

All in all, it looked to become a very interesting summer for Harry and he was seriously looking forward to it. He hadn´t been really happy in two and a half months, and spending time with his godfather was definitely going to be soothing to his spirit.

On a gloomy and unpromising Sunday, a week after Harry had arrived, Harry found himself already acquainted with the strange entourage of people staying with Lupin. Sirius had introduced him personally to each one of them and Harry didn´t think he´d ever met a more comical group of grown-ups. They never seemed to act their age... He found he preferred it that way as it made it much easier to get to know them.

The only time Harry ever saw them all together was at the breakfast table. Harry already knew that Arabella was a good cook (when she wasn´t making cabbage) but it came as a huge surprise when, on his first morning there, Sirius put a plate of hash-brown potatoes, eggs and sausages before him that tasted as good as anything Hogwarts could ever come up with. It turned out that Sirius had spent a remarkable amount of time in the kitchens when he´d been a student and, though he´d never admit it, Arabella told him that the house elves had given him many a cooking lesson and Sirius had been only too eager to learn.

That was another thing. Harry may have been a teenage boy, but he wasn´t as clueless as Ron was. He´d been noticing strange things between Arabella and his godfather. Their behavior reminded him so much of Ron´s and Hermione´s everyday conduct, that sometimes he had to try very hard to convince himself that he wasn´t actually watching his two best friends having one of their blazing rows. They found even sillier things to fight about than his schoolmates, and it was making him wonder...

On the morning in question, Harry came down to breakfast and the usual quarreling that was always to be heard at the table. Even worse, there were sounds of strangled shouts coming from the kitchen and as Harry drew closer, his fears were confirmed. For some strange reason unbeknownst to any normal human being, Arabella and Sirius had decided to make breakfast together.

Harry sat down in his seat and then groaned as the sound of a dish breaking and a frustrated scream came from the direction of the kitchen.

"Oh dear," said Su-ling from across Harry, "here we go again."

"Good morning all," came Fiddle´s cheerful voice as he sat down next to her. Another shout was heard as the sound of a second dish being broken carried into the room.

"Aha!" Fiddle smiled mischievously. "I understand that the two lovebirds have decided to band together to make breakfast. How splendid!"

Mundungus Fletcher snorted into his coffee at the head of the table. He quickly immersed himself in his morning paper.

"Now, now Strings. I´d think you´d be happier. No matter the means, I´m sure today´s breakfast will be delicious," Lupin said as he sat down next to Harry.

"Yeah, and at least they´re banding together for something. It´s about time," Cyril muttered from his place at the opposite end of the table.

The sound of someone snorting into their coffee could be heard once again from behind Fletcher´s paper. He wasn´t the only one though. Su-ling almost choked on her orange juice and everyone else sniggered.

Harry was silent, thinking. It was as he expected. It did seem that his godfather and Arabella had some sort of history. But he was incredibly curious to know exactly what it was.

Another crash from the kitchen and everybody groaned. Things were starting to get ridiculous.

"So," began Harry, determined to get the information out of somebody, "what is the story with the two of them?"

Everyone jumped as though just realizing that Harry was there. Fletcher put down his paper.

Harry looked at them all expectantly. Come to think of it, he didn´t really know any stories about his godfather or his parents when they were younger. This one would be the first.

Everyone exchanged glances. Lupin and Cyril smiled and Su-ling chuckled.

It was Lupin that spoke first. "Well, I know the whole story as Sirius and I were very close, but everyone here knows a bit about it. Your godfather met Arabella at school in his fourth year. He was showing off to a bunch of Hufflepuff girls when she walked by. Thank Gryffindor I was there, because Sirius started acting like the biggest prat I´ve ever had the pleasure to meet and it was spectacular! He completely ignored the Hufflepuffs and started following her there and then. To this day I´m quite sure he was drooling..." Everyone laughed and Lupin continued. "That is, he followed her until he walked headlong into a door that McGonagall had just opened, right in front of everyone! He acted like a complete idiot from then on." Lupin rolled his eyes and gave a long, suffering sigh. "Arabella had seen him following her like a sick puppy." Harry began laughing as he knew exactly what Sirius would look like as a sick puppy. "And from then on," Lupin added, "she had Sirius on the end of a tight leash." Harry laughed even harder, just imagining the scenario. Sirius on a leash?!. "She´d really collared him!" Everyone was laughing now, as they all knew about Sirius´ animagus form. When Lupin had calmed down he continued. "Finally, in our sixth year, she felt sorry for him and from that day until we finished school they were inseparable. But after we finished Hogwarts they lost touch and went their separate ways. When Sirius was charged with murdering Peter," he paused, looking disgusted, "she was devastated. She came to me and told me it couldn't be true. She knew him and wouldn´t believe he´d done it." Lupin sighed. "I would have done better to listen to her..."

Everyone at the table was quiet. Harry sat deep in thought. No wonder they were so weird with each other. They really were like Ron and Hermione, but Harry figured it would take Ron an eternity before he figured it out and starting acting just as much as a prat as Sirius had. Not that he didn´t act like prat now...

A sudden explosion made everyone gasp and they were all up from the table in a flash.

"It came from the kitchen," said Cyril. They all made their way in the direction of the explosion and carefully opened the kitchen door. The sight that met their eyes was incredible.

Pots and pans were everywhere, along with shards of glass, pieces of ceramic plates, and cutlery. Pancake batter was splattered on the walls, egg yokes here and there, and fried beans had somehow found their way to the ceiling. Milk sloshed all over the floor and rinds of bacon were stuck to the windowpanes.

But the best of all, one might say the cherry on top of the whipped-cream, was the pair that stood in the center of the room.

Arabella and Sirius stood there, each holding out their wand, looking completely baffled and speechless, and each covered from head to foot in various foodstuffs. Arabella had batter all over her face, bacon and a fried egg in her hair, and an unidentifiable sauce all down her front. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to have favored the chocolate, which was all over his hair and face while a pancake had landed on his head and a napkin had stuck to his cheek, and there was a rind of bacon on his shoulder.

Harry and everyone else stood utterly speechless at the sight. A final dish clattered to the floor and broke.

Sirius gulped.

"Breakfast anyone?"

~*~

Staying at Lupin´s was definitely having a positive effect on Harry. He´d been sleeping much better ever since he´d arrived. Perhaps it was the fact that he was staying in a place with seven adult wizards. Harry wasn´t sure what, but he was grateful all the same.

The day after the "Breakfast War", as they had all decided to call it, Harry wrote to Ron and Hermione telling them that he was all right and that he was staying with Snuffles and Lupin. He explained about Arabella Figg and how she´d been watching over him all those years. He told them all about the other guests, as well as the incident the previous morning. Harry could just imagine Ron´s expression when he read about it. He´d probably crack a rib from laughing so hard. Of course, Harry wasn´t all that sure that he hadn´t done the same thing. After the initial shock had worn off, none of them could calm down. It was worse than having someone mess up a Cheering Charm on you.

The days passed peacefully and uneventfully, for which Harry was grateful. He´d had enough action and excitement to last a lifetime. The only news from outside came in the form of Fletcher´s newspapers everyday. But from what Harry read, nothing seemed to be happening at all. It was eerily still in the Wizarding world. Not that Harry wanted something to happen, but it scared him what Voldemort might be doing all this time that he wasn´t attacking. Gathering strength? Planning something horrendous? It was a stillness filled with tension, almost like the silence before a storm, and Harry didn´t like it at all...

~*~

One morning Harry went down to breakfast to find the dining room empty. He looked around confusedly.

Where was everyone?

He went to the kitchen, hoping that he wouldn´t find anything similar to the other day. But no one was there either. Harry wondered at this as he went back to the dining room. Where could they all be? He rounded the corner to the dining room, deep in thought, and almost jumped out of his skin when everyone suddenly jumped out at him from behind the table.

"SURPRISE!"

Harry gaped around the room in shock.

In the few seconds that he had been in the kitchen, the room had been filled with balloons, streamers, ribbons and other colorful decorations. There was a huge cake in the center of the table.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

How could he have forgotten?! It was indeed July 31st today, his birthday! He wondered at his forgetfulness as Sirius rushed up to him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. "Happy birthday Harry," he said. "So glad I finally got to be with you for one."

"Sirius, I- I don´t know what to say!" Harry was still getting over the shock. He´d never had a birthday party before, at least not one that he could remember, let alone a surprise party.

"How about- Where are my presents?" offered Fiddle helpfully.

"Or- Let´s eat the cake!" put in Cyril.

"I know!" exclaimed Arabella. "How about, I´m hungry! Where´s breakfast?"

Su-ling hit her on the head with a balloon. "You´re not allowed to mention breakfast anymore. We´ve forbidden it." Everyone laughed.

"Thank you," was what Harry replied. In the end as it seemed most appropriate and was the only thing he could think of to say.

They all spent the morning laughing and joking, telling stories about when they were kids. It was the best birthday Harry had ever had. But the best part, by far, was the presents.

They all sat down around the table and put a huge pile in front of Harry. He could see one from Sirius, Lupin and, to his surprise, one from Ron, one from Hermione and even one from Hagrid. He looked at Sirius questioningly. He laughed.

"Three damn owls woke me up last night at one o´clock in the morning! Got the wrong window..." Harry chuckled. He reached for Ron´s present first and opened the card attached.

`Dear Harry,

I got your letter and it´s good too, because Mum had already started to worry about you. I told her you were probably fine, but you know Mum. She likes to worry about everything. Anyway, did Snuffles really blow up the kitchen?! I couldn´t stop laughing when I read it! I told Fred and George about it too and they said that their next prank is dedicated to him. I think it´s going to be big, they haven´t come out of their room since except at meals. They said they had to work hard to top it now. Dunno Harry, I think we´re going to have to be real careful. The whole family knows about Snuffles now, since Mum met him. Would you believe it?! She´s taken to worrying about him now! Anyway, enjoy your present and Happy Birthday!

Ron´

Harry smiled as he folded the card and put it back in its envelope. Sirius would definitely laugh when he heard about the twins and Mrs. Weasley. He took the parcel that Ron had sent and unwrapped it.

He burst out laughing when he was through. Ron had sent him a moving model of Aidan Lynch on a broomstick continuously performing the WronskiFeint and crashing as he reached the ground. It was brilliant!

Next, he took Hermione´s letter and opened it.

`Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! I received your letter and was very relieved that you were ok. I kept sending you letters but didn´t get answers and I was really worried.

Did Snuffles really do that? That was very childish of him.´

Here Harry paused and rolled his eyes.

` I hope Professor Lupin and Snuffles are well. Please say hi to them both from me.

Oh! I didn´t go to Bulgaria; my parents wouldn´t let me. But please don´t tell Ron? I´ll tell him when I feel like it. He´s been acting like a three-year-old all summer. Sending me letters every other day, checking up on me, no doubt! It´s ridiculous.

I hope you have a good summer! Happy Birthday!

Hermione

PS: I got made a Prefect! Professor McGonagall sent me the letter yesterday!´

"Good job Hermione," Harry said as he finished. It was really no surprise at all though. What did surprise him was that she didn´t want Ron to know about Bulgaria. He wondered why. He decided it was useless to puzzle out the way Hermione´s brain worked and pulled her present over. As expected, it was a book. But Harry laughed when he realized which. Hermione probably hadn't known the full meaning of her present. She´d sent him "Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch your friends and befuddle your enemies with the latest revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More)" by Professor Vindictus Viridian. This was the book he had wanted so much to buy his first time in Diagon Alley. He chuckled as he rifled through the pages. A note fell out.

`Harry,

Even the simplest curses can come in handy sometimes, and I thought this might be useful. You never know.´

Harry smiled.

Hagrid had sent him some rock cakes, which MundungusFletcher foolishly tried to eat, and a Hippogriff talon on a key-chain.

Su-ling gave him a rare magical amulet, which she said was supposed to strengthen any shielding charm cast by the wearer. Fiddle gave him a magical watch (which was lucky, as Harry still hadn´t replaced the old one) that was very similar to the one at the Weasley´s. Fletcher, after hearing that Harry didn´t already have one, had gotten him a subscription to the "Daily Prophet". Arabella had made the cake, which was a spectacular seven layer, chocolate, vanilla and raspberry masterpiece to top all cakes ever baked. Harry had never tasted anything so wonderful in his life. He was sure it had been charmed.

Cyril placed a lumpy package in front of Harry. "Here you go, kid. I hope you like it."

Harry opened the package carefully. Inside was something red and yellow and very familiar. Harry pulled out a long Gryffindor scarf. The only difference between this one and his was that this one was slightly faded and rather frayed in some places.

"I hope you don't mind hand-me-downs," Cyril said apologetically.

"Who´s was it?" asked Harry curiously.

Cyril smiled and he seemed to drift to some distant time long before as he answered, "It was mine."

Harry looked from Cyril to the scarf wonderingly. "You´re giving me your Gryffindor scarf?!" Cyril nodded. "Why?"

He chuckled. "Because I don´t use it anymore, and I can´t imagine anyone else I´d ever want to give it to. This scarf means a lot to me, but I´d really be proud if you would where it."

There was a moment of silence and then Harry nodded. That was all, but it was more than any 'thank you' could express.

Sirius and Lupin were next. They both put two small packages in front of Harry.

"We are each giving you something different," began Sirius, "but both come from the same roots."

"Over the years we've kept them safe, until the time we found fit to give them to you," continued Lupin.

Then Sirius spoke again. "Before your parents died, they left in our possession something of theirs, something they loved dearly to give you in case they could not. Your mother left something with Remus and your father, with me."

"We give them to you now. Keep them well. Keep them safe, and one day, perhaps you can give them to your children," finished Lupin.

Harry looked from one to the other in shock. Something that belonged to his parents?! His parents had saved something for him before they died?! He- what could it- what could they possibly-? His eyes started to sting and he blinked furiously. He reached out a shaking hand and took the first package, the one from Lupin. He carefully removed the wrapping paper and then opened the box inside. In it was a simple necklace made of silver, and on it was a small pendant, shaped like a winged angel. It sparkled like nothing Harry had ever seen before and he was sure it was charmed. And when Harry looked closer, he could just make out a tiny pearl teardrop on its cheek. It was so beautiful, and yet it seemed so sad that it made him hurt inside. It made Harry wonder, what could have made this little angel cry... Without even realizing, he sighed.

"Harry?" Came a distant voice.

He looked up, dazed. "Huh?"

Sirius looked down at him with worry, but Lupin seemed to understand. He gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "Come on Sirius," he said, "now you." Sirius obliged and handed Harry his gift. Harry took a deep breath and took it from him. This too was a box and Harry opened it slowly. He gasped.

Inside was a golden pocket-watch in the shape of a lion's head and mane. It's eyes were small delicate rubies that seemed as though they were on fire, and it's mouth was gaping open in what would have been a spectacular roar had it been real. He opened it to find a round opal watch with intricate designs of the moon and stars in midnight blue.

"The stars change as the seasons do," said Sirius from behind him. He added quietly, "Look under the cover."

Harry lifted up the top and looked under to find the following engravings there:

Samuel T. Potter 1676

Devon S. Potter 1703

Thomas T. Potter 1730

Martin D. Potter 1767

John H. Potter 1784

Harold U. Potter 1812

Geoffrey C. Potter 1839

Samuel G. Potter 1865

Tobias J. Potter 1889

Timothy G. Potter 1912

George Z. Potter 1934

James T. Potter 1957

And finally, at the bottom was:

Harry J. Potter 1980

Harry gaped up at Sirius, openmouthed. "Sirius!" He finally let out breathlessly. "Are all these- Were all these my-?"

"Yes," he answered. "This watch has been passed down to each first born son of the Potter line since 1683, over 300 years. The year is the year that each was born in." Sirius smiled. "I remember the day they had you, Harry. James was so excited, he couldn't stop jumping around the room. Then he sat me down and showed this to me. He added your name right there and spoke about the day it'd be yours, and the day you'd give it to your son."

Harry looked at the names again. Since 1676! 300 years old! And somehow, he had managed to earn himself a place with all of these people and with his father. There it was: 'Harry J. Potter' right underneath 'James T. Potter'. The names were charmed on, to ensure that there would always be a place for the next Potter.

Something clicked inside Harry. Everything just fell into place. He breathed as though he hadn't truly breathed in three months, and a huge weight was lifted from his heart. There was something worth living for. He had to stop feeling guilty about what had happened or he'd go crazy. There were people that loved him, His godfather, Lupin, and his parents had loved him very much. It wouldn't be right, if after 300 years the last Potter went and got himself killed, or went mad. How could he do that to the people that loved him? How could he do that to the generations before him?

He couldn't and he wouldn't!

Harry smiled. "Dad," he whispered and closed the watch. He looked up at Sirius and Lupin.

"Thank you, for keeping these for me. And I'm sure, wherever they are, my parents thank you as well."

Sirius and Lupin seemed a bit taken by surprise by the last statement and for a moment they both seemed to drift off in thought. Then they smiled and Lupin said, "You know, they're probably watching right now."

They all fell silent, but the silence was broken a moment later when the sound of an owl could be heard fluttering through the hall. A second later, a large tawny school owl fluttered into the room carrying a small package and a note. It landed in front of Harry and stuck out its leg expectantly.

Harry quizzically untied the parcel and the owl took off and flew back out the way it had come.

He looked down at the note in his hand and unfolded it.

"Dear Harry,

I'm glad to wish you a very happy birthday. I expect it shall be marvelous.

The package contains a small gift that I imagined would come in rather useful, though I truly hope you will not again find yourself in a situation where you will need it.

Happy Birthday,

Albus Dumbledore"

"It's from Dumbledore," Harry said wondrously.

"Oh?" said almost everyone in the room.

His curiosity piqued, Harry opened the package from his headmaster.

Inside was a small vial of what were unmistakably phoenix tears! Harry could never forget the pearly white substance that had saved his life in his second year. But Harry shuddered as he realized what this meant. The headmaster wouldn't have sent him this if he hadn't been suspicious of Harry once again finding himself in mortal peril as the year went by.

Well, what had he expected? Voldemort was back now and he'd be after him. It was probably going to be a wonderful year... He could just imagine it. Looking over his shoulder everywhere he turned. Always wondering where Voldemort was right then and there, wondering if he might just be hiding around the next corner.

"What is it?" Sirius asked him. "What's wrong?"

Harry held out the small vial to his godfather. "Phoenix tears," he muttered.

"What?!" Lupin exclaimed. He took the little glass and held it to the light. "But, Harry, do you know what phoenix tears are for?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I should. They saved my life in my second year."

"Why would Dumbledore send you phoenix tears?" asked a puzzled Sirius.

Lupin gave Harry a piercing look. "Dumbledore wouldn't have sent this to you unless-" Harry cut him off.

"Unless he thought there was a reason." He sighed. "No sense in pretending it's not going to happen, Professor." Everyone around the table looked at him. "It will. Voldemort's coming after me, and there's nothing we can do to stop him."