Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter and never will.

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Chapter Four

The Book of Animagi

They landed with a soft thump in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Harry looked around at the dimly lit basement, and found it was much like the year before. If Sirius was still dead, then he would have found it hard to stay in this place. It would be full of so many bad memories and he wouldn't be able to handle it. Harry glanced at Sirius, just to make sure he was still there. His godfather was looking around the room with a sour look on his face, but he caught Harry's eye and grinned.

“Home, sweet home, huh?” he said sarcastically. “At least I won't be stuck in here by myself for the summer again,” Harry nodded in agreement. “Same here,” he said, chuckling as Sirius let off a bark-like laugh. Harry sat down at the table and sat his trunk against the wall, deciding to take it upstairs later. As soon as they got comfortable, everyone once again asked the same question. How?

“Well,” began Sirius just as there were loud footsteps heard on the stairs and Harry turned to see his two best friends enter the kitchen. Hermione spotted him first and ran forward, squealing as she enveloped Harry in a huge hug. He grinned and held her tightly; ignoring the looks they were getting from everyone in the kitchen. She pulled away and Harry noticed her face was slightly pink.

“Harry! How have you been, I hope you haven't been blaming yourself?” She rushed, still looking into his eyes. Harry couldn't help but laugh as he spun her around to face the man sitting beside them. Her face went completely white and she her eyes grew wide. She turned to Harry then back to Sirius, mouth moving but no sound escaping.

Harry looked to Ron and Ginny, who were both in the same state she was in. Ron's face was completely white, making his freckles standout boldly. Ginny had frozen on the bottom step, her hand resting on the hand rail with her eyes glued on Sirius. There was silence before -

“What is he doing here?”

“How is he here?”

“Are you sure it's him and not a Death Eater?”

Harry was laughing along with everyone else now, as the three teenagers looked on with confusion. “If you all be quiet, maybe we can all find that out finally?” Remus said loudly, gaining immediate silence. Harry shifted over on his chair to let Hermione sit down next to him. She smiled gratefully before tuning all he attention to Sirius, who was watching her with mild humor.

“Okay, it all began a little over two weeks ago, when I fell through the Veil...” Even though Harry had already heard his godfather's story, he still gasped along with the others and winced in all the right places. When it came to the part about Harry's parents, Hermione took his hand and squeezed it tightly. When Sirius finished up with him meeting Harry at the Dursley's, Remus turned to him sharply.

“Why did you just allow him in? He could have been a Death Eater sent by Voldemort to kidnap you!” The old professor said sternly. Harry grinned. “I didn't have time down in the kitchen to think of that, my aunt was trying to hit me with a broom. But as soon as I was up in my room, I was going to ask him questions but he had passed out on my floor. It wasn't until later, when he had woken up, that I asked him a few questions which he got right. So I figured he had to be Sirius because no one else could have known the answers, plus, he could change into Padfoot.” Harry said. Remus looked at him disbelieving while Mad-Eye Moody looked on with pride in his one good eye.

“Well, I'm glad you took precaution. You just have to be careful; you never know who's impersonating who!” Remus said, looking at Moody as he said this.

“Well said, Remus!” Someone said from the doorway. Harry whipped his head around to see Albus Dumbledore standing at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in magnificent midnight robes with a twinkle gracing his clear eyes.

“Albus, we didn't hear you come in!” Mrs. Weasley stuttered from her spot near the counter. Dumbledore chuckled merrily, as he walked closer. “If I had a Knut for every time someone said that to me, I would be the richest wizard in the world!” A few people laughed as the old headmaster stepped closer to Harry's godfather and said, “Sirius, it's good to have you back!”

Sirius raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You didn't think I would leave Harry here, to grow up with you lot? Of course not, he needed someone responsible and sensible to look after him when he grew up!” Harry didn't think Sirius had ever been responsible or sensible, but only grinned.

“Well, what are you doing here?” Remus said, causing everyone to laugh. As the morning wove on and a few people left for work, Harry thought this was the happiest time of his life. He was in the presence of his true family, laughing and talking about good times. He permanently had a smile plastered to his face and his sides were beginning to hurt from laughing so much.

Mrs. Weasley cooked a delicious breakfast, fit for Kings. And even Sirius and Ron had an eating contest, and Harry was amazed to see that Ron was not the biggest or fastest eater after all. Hermione stayed at his side the whole time, laughing and smiling along with him. Harry was glad he had such great friends and hoped it would be this way forever.

But as soon as he had thought that, the words of the dreaded prophecy began to stream through his mind, causing his smile to vanish. Hermione sensed his unease and asked what was wrong.

“Nothing just got a headache.” He answered. It wasn't entirely a lie. His scar had been throbbing since they had arrived, but he had been having so much fun he ignored it. “Are you sure you're okay?” She asked again, her brown eyes flashing with concern. Harry smiled at her and nodded, looking over to his laughing godfather. “Better than ever.”

“Hey everyone!” Sirius called across the room, gaining all attention. “Harry has something to show you!” Harry looked at him curiously as he mouthed, “Paper!”

“Oh, yeah!” Harry said, shifting slightly to pull out a ruffled piece of parchment from his pocket. He straightened it out and cleared his throat, reading out the Daily Prophet article to all in the room. When he finished, there was a sudden rush of movement, as everyone attempted to shake Sirius's hand or pat him on the back. Hermione hugged Harry tightly and whispered in his ear. “Its what you've always wanted!”

Harry smiled at her and nodded. It was what he always wanted. Family and a place to call home. And now he had both. As he felt his heart beat with uncontrollable joy, he heard Ron yell, “One hundred thousand Galleons? Bloody Hell!”

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Dinner had just ended, and most of the Order Meetings had left. Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Mundungus Fletcher and Hestia Jones had gone out for the night to the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius told Harry that he was craving for a bottle of Fire Whisky and they were all out. So Harry was wandering the halls, exploring a few of the rooms as if they were new worlds. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were in the Drawing Room, playing chess or reading. Harry ad told them he wouldn't be long and just wanted to have a look around by himself.

But what he really wanted was to have some time to think. The prophecy wouldn't leave him alone, and every time he thought about it his scar would give off a particularly painful throb. He had just entered a third floor room when something brushed past his knee. He looked back to see Kreacher scurry down the stairs, hiding something under his loincloth. Harry sighed in anger and continued into the room.

Boxes and crates were spaced around the floor, filled with clothes, books or old family items that hadn't been thrown out. Harry wandered between them, picking up a couple of things before putting them back. Most of the books were so old that they fell apart when he opened them. He was just about to head back down to the Drawing Room, when something caught his eye.

He wondered over to the far corner and picked up a book from the top of the stack. He rubbed the thick coating of dust from the front and read the title with much excitement.

Amazing Animagi- A Marauder's Guide to releasing the animal inside.

Harry sat down on one of the boxes and flicked to the first page.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to represent the Marauder's Guide on how to become a fully fledged Animagus. This book follows through on our own experiment on becoming Animagi. And obviously, the experiment was a success or we wouldn't be writing this.

Flicking through the rest of the pages, Harry discovered that it really was a guide on how to become an animagus, with diagrams and illustrations showing the different stages and instructions on how to make the potion and find the animal inside you. Harry stood quickly, sweeping the dust from his pants and stuffed the book into his pocket. When he left the room, he made sure to shut the door securely, to keep Kreacher out.

His mind was still on the animagus book when he entered the Drawing Room. His friends looked up at him and asked if he found anything good. Harry just grinned as he sat down next to Hermione and pulled out the Marauder's Guide.

“What's that?” Ginny asked from her position on the floor. She and Ron were in the middle of a chess game but both of them had their eyes on him. He smiled and passed the book to Hermione. Harry could see her eyes move along the front cover and slowly light up.

“Oh my god!” She said excitedly, turned to Harry with an odd look of eagerness on her face that Harry had only seen when she was about to take a test. “What is it?” Ron asked sitting up to try and see the cover of the book.

“Amazing Animagi- A Marauder's Guide to releasing the animal inside!” She read aloud. Both Ginny and Ron's faces lit up and identical grins broke out on their faces.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Ron said quickly. Harry nodded and looked at his friends. “I think I am,”

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Hey everyone, again. Here's the next re-written chapter, a lot better than previous. And its out quicker as well. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and keep them coming, please?

Bye

DW