Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J. K. Rowling, not me.
Dumbledore Answers Harry - Chapter 15 - Harry's Birthday
A few minutes later, Harry and Sirius were in the library of Potter Manor, entering a pensieve that Padfoot claimed to have recently removed from his family vault. They leaned into it.
Harry looked around and saw memory Dumbledore and Sirius walking in between some trees. He followed them and soon realized that they were heading toward an old shack, the same shack he'd seen in Dumbledore's pensieve where Voldemort's family had lived. When they reached the door, Harry saw what appeared to be the skeleton of a snake nailed to it and realized that it had never been removed. The door opened, and the inside was completely full of dust and cobwebs. Before stepping inside, both Dumbledore and Sirius performed the bubblehead charm on themselves.
Once inside, Harry watched as Dumbledore performed some sort of spells, pointing his wand in every direction as he said to his companion, "I believe that if a Horcrux is located here it will be hidden. There." Harry didn't see any indication of why the headmaster believed he'd found something, but the aged professor pointed his wand at a certain place in the center of the floor and nonverbally scourgified it. As the thick dust began to disappear, Harry realized that there was a thin, old gray floor mat there. As soon as Harry realized this, it was levitated and tossed to the side, revealing an approximately two square foot section on the wooden floor that appeared to be a trap door.
Sirius pointed his wand at the square and said, "Wingardium Leviosa," only to be thrown backward into the wall. He landed in a heap. He shook his head and said, "Well that hurt," as he got up.
We must exercise caution, Sirius." Dumbledore then performed some incredibly complex wand movements while remaining silent until finally the trapdoor opened inward. The headmaster then looked into the hole and saw an old wooden box. Dumbledore then performed another spell until the box glowed golden for a moment, and he opened it to reveal an ugly gold ring with a large black stone, which Harry recognized as Slytherin's ring.
"Is that it?" asked Sirius.
"Yes indeed, it certainly appears so. Stand back and be prepared to defend against any curses." Albus then performed a silent spell with his wand pointed at the ring and what appeared to be black beams of light shot at him. Counter spell after spell was performed by the aged wizard, neutralizing black beams with white.
This went on for about fifteen minutes until the ring glowed white. Finally relaxing and slightly panting from the effort, Albus pointed his wand once more and cast a spell directly at the black stone. Harry watched the stone crack as a hideous scream seemed to emanate from it. A gray light shot directly from the stone to the wand that destroyed it, and onto the hand holding the wand. "Ouch," the professor said calmly, although it was quite obvious that he was in much more pain than he was pretending as his body was flung backwards into a wall. As Sirius watched his now unconscious companion, he saw that Dumbledore's whole body was beginning to shake as the tips of the fingers on his right hand started to turn black. Instinctively Sirius grabbed the now neutralized ring and then the unconscious man and disappeared with a small pop.
After they left the pensieve, Harry looked at his godfather with a concerned expression on his face. "Is Dumbledore alright?"
Sirius looked down. "He's pretty much alright, but not quite. That black that formed on his fingers kept spreading until Madam Pomfrey could stop it. It had reached the bottom of his fingers before the spreading was halted. His fingers are now black, dead, and can't be healed. He can still move them, but it hurts him if someone touches them." He took a deep breath. "He can still hold his wand. Anyway, he feels that it was an equitable trade."
-
The next few weeks went by quickly with Harry getting a letter from each of his vacationing friends. He continued his training every day as usual, and one day he woke up and realized with a grin that it was his birthday. After his morning exercise Harry went to breakfast to see Padfoot was already there. "Morning Harry," he said.
"Good morning Sirius. Isn't this a great day?"
"I suppose so. I've got a lunch date with Angela in a few hours, and I've got a few errands to run until then. I've got to go. Will you be alright?"
Harry was a bit shocked and hurt. He had expected his godfather to remember his birthday. "I, I'll be fine. Have. Have fun."
"Dobby is being busy working," said the elf nervously just before popping away.
"See you later cub," he said as he walked toward the floo. "By the way, don't worry about lunch. I'll bring something back with me. In the mean time, I suggest you get some more studying done in your room."
As soon as Sirius was gone, Harry quietly sang, "Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me," as he got up and went to his room to study.
-
A few hours later, he was lying in his been reading a book when he heard some noise downstairs. "Sirius?" he called out, even though he knew it was too early for him to be back from lunch.
There was no reply and the noise seemed to lesson some. After he'd called again with no response, Harry marked his place in the book and walked downstairs holding his wand at the ready.
As he approached the living room, he heard whispering until he walked out there and caught the intruders red-handed. First he saw Hermione standing on a chair hanging one end of a banner the muggle way. His heart skipped a beat and he smiled. The banner said, 'Happy Thirteenth Birthday Harry.' Holding the other side was Ginny. Dobby was also there doing something Harry couldn't determine. Since all three of their backs were to him, Harry quietly left and went back upstairs, not wanting to spoil the surprise.
-
He was standing in front of a mirror practicing looks of shock when he finally heard Sirius call him downstairs at about noon.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Harry wasn't surprised by the party, but he was surprised at how many guests were there. It was about as many as last year. Sirius, Angela, Remus, Hagrid, Minerva, Albus, Arthur, Molly, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Dobby were there. He couldn't help the huge grin that formed on his face as he realized that now he's had a surprise birthday party two years in a row.
After Harry greeted everyone (being hugged by all the females), they had lunch, which consisted of several pizzas Sirius had brought. After that was a cake Mrs. Weasley had helped Ginny make earlier that day. They'd flooed to the Burrow as soon as they woke up in Egypt to get everything ready for the party. "She did all the work, Harry-dear. She's really very good in the kitchen and will someday make a wonderful wife."
"Mother!" Ginny said blushing.
"Thanks Ginny. It looks wonderful, but you didn't have to go to all that trouble."
"I wanted to," said Ginny winking.
Hermione then walked up to them. "That cake does look wonderful, but I believe Harry prefers treacle tarts like these to cake." Hermione smiled at Harry while holding a box of them that she'd obviously purchased at a bakery. Ginny frowned.
Something about Hermione's smile made Harry a bit light-headed, but he didn't like the fact that she'd just belittled Ginny's hard work. "Hermione," said Harry appearing upset, "That wasn't very nice, was it? I certainly appreciate Ginny's effort, and if no one has any objections, I'd like to eat that now. I'd like to save the tarts for later."
Hermione frowned and looked hurt. "Of…of course Harry. I'm sorry Ginny. I shouldn't have said that. Personally, I prefer cake."
-
After they'd eaten the cake, Harry began opening presents. Sirius gave him a set of Quidditch accessories, which included a broom servicing kit, safety equipment (like gloves), and a compass that clips onto the broom handle. "I warned everybody not to get you Quidditch supplies since I was doing it."
Dobby naturally gave Harry a mismatched pair of socks. Hermione gave him a bottle of some sort of French cologne. "I think it smells nice," she said, causing Harry to blush.
Ron gave Harry a pocket sneakoscope. Remus gave Harry some defense books. Arthur and Molly gave him a model of a pyramid. Ginny gave him a wizard picture of herself riding a camel in a wooden frame that had Egyptian hieroglyphics carved at the bottom. Ginny smiled at Harry. "These symbols mean, 'I rode a camel.'"
Hagrid gave Harry a box of rock cakes he resolved not to eat. McGonagall gave him a book on human transfiguration. Fred and George gave Harry a box of unlabeled candies that Harry wasn't too sure he wanted to try. As he thanked Fred and George, he decided to ask Dobby to inspect them for any pranks. He'd ask Sirius, but he didn't think he could trust the marauder to let him know if the candy was pranked. Angela gave Harry a green dragon hide Irish National Quidditch team jacket with a small wizarding picture of a leprechaun on his heart and a large wizarding picture of the team flying out into a pitch on the back.
While Harry was admiring it, Ron said, "You should've given him a Chudley Canon's jacket."
"That awful team?" asked Angela. "Why would anyone support them? And if they did, why would they admit it in public?" Ron's face turned pink but he remained silent. Angela continued, "Besides, I think the green dragon hide brings out Harry's eyes."
"Yes, it certainly does," said Hermione.
"Everyone expects them to make it to the world cup next year," said Angela, "so hopefully you'll be able to go since England is hosting it. The jacket is charmed to adjust its size to the person wearing it, so it'll still fit you even if you grow taller like you have since Christmas."
"Thanks a lot!" said Harry happily. "I really like it."
She hugged him. "Happy birthday."
Albus gave Harry an old-looking book called 'Mastering the Elements.' "I'd like you to read the first chapter this week, and then I'd like to discuss it with you.
-
When the party was over and his friends had left, Harry had Dobby inspect the twins' candy while he began reading Dumbledore's book. The first thing the book said was that most people can't learn this type of magic, and that those who can, begin learning at fifteen or sixteen years old. He didn't get much further than that when Dobby popped into his room and said, "Dobby is testing the candy, and Dobby is finding that each piece is either turning the one eating it into a canary or changing their hair or skin or eye color."
Harry laughed. "I'll have fun with those once school starts. I'll bet I can get some Slytherins to eat it, especially Crabbe and Goyle."
He then continued his reading and found out that according to the book, it was possible to learn how to control fire, air, water, and earth from something small like lighting a candle and putting it out to causing hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes. He seriously doubted he'd be able to do any of it. At the end of the chapter was a test to find out how much potential you had, if any. He decided to try it out the next day.
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Please review. Thank you to those who have.
P.S. In my story, Dumbledore would've woken up from being knocked out a little while later and therefore given the curse more time to spread.
P.S.S. I have a picture of myself riding on a camel in the Middle East.