STORY TITLE: Harry Read The Books
PART: 01 of??
AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (red.jacobson@gmail.com)
DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, Hentai-Foundry, Questionable Questing
DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me. Harry, Remus, and Sirius belong to JK Rowling and her publishers.
SUMMARY: On Christmas Eve of Third Year, Harry finds a series of seven books and a pamphlet titled 'And What Happens Afterward' sitting on his bed.
FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster
RELATIONSHIPS: Harry/Multi
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: <6,174>
SPOILERS: None; if you don't know how the Harry Potter story goes by now, why are you reading this story?
WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, Dom/sub, multiple partners, and Femme-cest.
AUTHOR NOTES: Hogwarts starts at 13 to avoid the Underage issue, so everybody is at least 16 when they start doing the nasty. There is yet to be any lemon planned for this story. The story doesn't need any citrus, but I will let you know if that changes.
AUTHORS NOTES (AGAIN): Minerva married Elphinstone Urquart before she started teaching in canon. In the story, they married after Halloween and have been married ever since. I kept him alive because I needed a DMLE Contact, and Amelia Bones has been done to death already.
AND YET AGAIN STILL MORE NOTES: This chapter contains 6 or 7 paragraphs from the Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows. Those words belong to JK Rowling and not me, darn it!
BETA'D BY: YosugaT, Thank You so much!
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
3rd Year Boys Dorm
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Lunch
Harry stretched his arms above his head and let out a satisfied sigh. He couldn't resist taking another bite of treacle tart, its sweetness making his taste buds dance with delight. Satisfied, Harry grabbed his bag and got ready to head back to his dorm. Ron, his best mate, was enjoying his enormous bowl of ice cream and still had half of it left, so he let him know that he would take an afternoon kip before heading out of the Great Hall.
Ron just nodded and gave Harry a 'thumbs up,' actually chewing with his mouth closed for a change. Hermione's constant harping about it seemed to have finally gotten through to Ron. Either that, or there was a girl that he fancied staying at Hogwarts for the Yule holiday, and Ron wanted to impress her. Harry knew that bringing it up would embarrass his mate and possibly cause him to become defensive, so he didn't bother doing it. He was just grateful that he could finally enjoy a meal without having to guard his own plate from the food that flew out of Ron's mouth.
Returning the 'thumbs up,' Harry made his way back toward Gryffindor Tower. As he walked, he couldn't help but revel once again in the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It truly felt like home with its grand halls, cozy common rooms, and forgotten magical secrets waiting around every corner. It was a much better place to be compared to the Dursleys' unwelcoming cookie-cutter suburban home. Harry reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and stated the password 'Fortuna Major,' the large frame swinging open silently to allow entry. The Gryffindor common room had several students sprawled out across the various loveseats and armchairs playing Exploding Snap, chess, or just chatting merrily; a couple of 2nd years waved him over to join their game, but he just shook his head with a smile.
As he climbed the steps to his dorm, all Harry could think of was how much he wanted to collapse onto his four-poster bed and its comfortable pillow and sheets. Kicking off his shoes at the foot of the bed, he pulled open his bed curtains only to freeze in shock. There was a plain wooden box placed in the center of his bed. The top was closed, but not sealed, with a small brass latch. The most bewildering part was that the cream colored envelope on top of the box had his name written on it… in his own handwriting!
Dropping his wand into his hand, he cast all the detection spells he knew on the box and the envelope and found nothing. As far as he could tell, there was nothing magical or potentially dangerous about it. He gave a small shrug and decided to open the envelope. Sure, he probably should have told somebody about the box and letter in case Sirius Black sent it, but how could Black have figured out what his handwriting looked like? Sitting on the edge of the bed, Harry picked up the envelope, and pulled out the enclosed letter. The young wizard started reading the messy, scrawled words with equal humor and frustration. Whoever wrote the letter certainly wrote exactly like he did, and that meant that he could barely read 'his own' handwriting. When he could finally read the entire contents, he gave a low whistle of amazement.
Hi, Harry Potter. This is Harry Potter, but from a slightly different dimension than yours. Did you also grow up with the Dursleys? Met Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express? Managed to get an excellent look at Lavender's bangin' baps when she leaned over in front of you that first night at the Welcoming Feast? If you can answer yes to those questions, then our lives are probably similar enough that this information can help you.
In the box are seven main books, each covering one of our seven years at Hogwarts. They contain a very accurate description of the various future misadventures that will happen to you now and within the next few years. An eighth smaller book will gloss over what happens after we graduate. I know you are anxious to dive into the books; trust me, I was the same way. We are, unfortunately, almost perfect textbook Gryffindors: brave, chivalrous, and (I hate that the man was right about anything, but Snape was correct) dunderheads that leap before we look, which is why a couple of the other houses call us 'the Dead Hero Training Class.' But please listen to everything I have to say before you start reading them.
For your own sake, I do not recommend trying to read them in your room. Too many people will interrupt you, and when Hermione finds the books or this letter, you will never get a moment's peace. Unfortunately, Hermione still believes strongly in the authority figures, particularly McGonagall and Dumbledore, and she will stop at nothing to let the professors know about your 'dangerous and dark' books and get them taken away from you.
What I suggest you do, is call for Dobby. If he's anything like the Dobby I knew, he bonded himself to you right before knocking Lucius Malfoy's arse tip over tail when the ponce tried to curse you last year.
If he appears when called, ask him to show you the 'Come and Go Room', or as we called it in our fifth year, the Room of Requirement. Once you get to the seventh floor of the castle, you'll find a painting of dancing trolls at the end of the corridor. Move close to the opposite wall and walk back and forth three times while thinking about what kind of room you wish to appear. I would suggest concentrating on needing a room that will give you privacy to read these books and also a bed for rest for the weekend. The room has a time dilation feature that you can use to stretch the 3 remaining weekend days into a full week. That should give you enough time to read and absorb what you've read. Ask Dobby to prepare three meals a day and bring them to the room, putting them in stasis so they stay warm and fresh.
Start with 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' followed by 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' The next one, 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' will update you on what should currently be happening. The order for the next few are: 'Goblet of Fire,' 'Order of the Phoenix,' 'Half-Blood Prince,' and 'The Deathly Hallows.' Only open the 'What Happens Later' book after you finish the first seven books.
Keep this letter! More writing will appear at the end of this paper after you've completed your assigned reading. The important part is what comes after you're done reading. I recommend grabbing a notepad, several biro's (you're not doing homework, after all!), and start practicing some serious hand stretches. Alright, enough overloading your brain with information. Happy reading, Harry (oh, Hermione would be SO proud of us!).
Quickly gathering his note-taking supplies, Harry gave one final longing look at his pillow and called for Dobby. Moments later, he was standing in front of the portrait of dancing trolls. He gave a small snort of amusement, idly wondering if offering the Troll from that first Halloween would have helped at all.
After walking back and forth three times, concentrating on the room description that the other Harry gave him, a simple looking wooden door soon appeared in the wall in front of him.
Harry looked over the room that would be his home for the next several days and was glad to see that the magic of the room had created a full ensuite bathroom, including a shower with all of his favorite toiletries and plenty of fluffy towels to dry off with. There was an enormous metal box that resembled a cooler in the corner opposite the bathroom door with what Dobby called a 'Preserving Cabinet.' It looked like it would hold enough meals for a month if he needed it to.
As his other version mentioned, Dobby admitted to bonding himself to his 'Great Master Harry Potter Sir' and was worried that it would make the Great Master unhappy. When Harry told him that seeing Dobby throwing Lucius Malfoy down the stairs was still one of his favorite memories, Dobby practically collapsed in relief before popping out of the room to bring back a few sets of Harry's clothes, including pajamas. Dobby assured him that the clothes that The Great Master Harry Potter Sir was wearing would be cleaned regularly by the excited house elf.
As he was wondering how he would start the time dilation feature, a book containing convenient instructions on the activation procedure appeared on the coffee table in front of him. After a couple of minutes to confirm the settings he wanted, Harry activated the runes to give himself a week of time. Then, planting himself in the most comfortable looking armchair, he picked up the first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and started to read.
CHAPTER ONE
THE BOY WHO LIVED
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't tolerate such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
Harry grinned a few times at the comments he made to and about Dudley; of course, the baby whale didn't understand that he'd been insulted, which made things even funnier. Sadly, things didn't stay amusing long with Dudley and his gang playing their favorite game, 'Harry Hunting.' The green-eyed youth shuddered slightly as he remembered the bruises and scrapes he would be inflicted with.
A little further in the story, Harry met Hagrid, and the gentle giant was a huge source of relief for him. The wondrous and impossible things that Hagrid showed him were an explanation for all the 'freakishness' that seemed to happen around him. Of course, his aunt and uncle weren't pleased that Harry now knew the truth about himself and his parents. They seemed to think he had bouts of accidental magic purposely to upset them, and while he would love to upset his uncle's sister Marge and her scary dog, he had no control over any of it. It was a shame, though, that he hadn't lost his temper with the horrid old bitch when they were outside. Maybe she would have floated high enough that she would freeze to death in space or deflate high up and splat on the pavement. That would have made it a birthday to remember!
He did note that some things really didn't make much sense in retrospect, such as why on earth Dumbledore flew his broom from Scotland to London. The floo was practically instantaneous, and Fawkes could have flashed the old man to the lobby of the Ministry building in the blink of an eye.
Harry was also suspicious of why the traps, except for the Mirror, seemed to be tailor made to suit the special interests and talents of him and his friends (although with the Devil's Snare, they must have expected Neville to be in the group.) All of the obstacles were easily bypassed by a group of firsties, so how would Dumbledore expect them to keep bloody Voldemort out?
And then after the scrape with Death Face himself, Dumbledore saying, 'You did do things properly,' was so weird. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Suddenly, he felt like a strange kinship with mushrooms since it seemed like he was constantly being kept in the dark and regularly fed a load of bullshite.
Finishing the first book, Harry took a break from reading to have one of the meals Dobby had prepared before picking up the next book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Room of Requirement
An Unknown Amount of Time Later
Date and Time immaterial
The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.
"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.
As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead. "I know he will."
The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.
"Oh, HELL no!" Harry swore, setting down the seventh and final main book. He glanced at the smaller pamphlet that remained, but he decided that he needed to take a break before continuing, or he would leave the room and find a way to kill Snape with his bare hands, that miserable bastard!
The room morphed to his inner desire, and half of it opened up into a sprawling Quidditch pitch. His mood lightened almost immediately, and when a pristine Nimbus 2000 appeared at his feet, quickly said, "Up," with his hand above the broom and mounted the handle. Going carefully at first, he slowly increased his speed so that he wouldn't accidentally crash into the ceiling or the walls at high speed.
About twenty minutes later, Harry brought the broom down for a landing, smiling widely. His face was flushed and slightly sweaty from the exertion of flying about wildly, as he preferred. Although he still would pay to have Snape raped to death by a Centaur, he felt like he was in a much better mental space compared to before he started flying. Harry picked up the 'And What Happens After' booklet and started to read. He became furious again after seeing how magical Britain seemed to have stayed just as unfair in the future; Draco had cast several Unforgivables and was a completely free man. What happened to actions having consequences?
Harry read through the booklet a second and third time, taking notes on everything that happened after the war. When he was satisfied that he had all the major and minor events written down, he walked to the bookshelves and concentrated on wanting to find a way to prevent anybody who saw the notes from reading them easily. A book titled 'The Caesar Cipher' suddenly started glowing with a dim golden halo. Upon grabbing the book and reading its surprisingly sparse contents, he couldn't believe how simple it was to use the cipher, and very few wizards or witches were likely to figure it out. Of course, Hermione could probably read it like plain English given enough time to decode it, but he could probably find a more secure method of protection in the future. Starting with the first page of his notes, he followed the diagram and shifted each letter three places to the left alphabetically so that 'D' became 'A,' 'E' became 'B', and so on.
It was tedious work, but after a couple days of work, he eventually finished converting all of his notes. Then, picking up a book on Advanced Charms that the room had recommended to him, he opened it to the chapter on the 'Someone Else's Problem' Charm by Douglas Adams, also known as the 'SEP' Charm. It was a mildly difficult charm that prevented anybody but himself from acknowledging the existence of what you were trying to hide. It was a more advanced variation on the common Notice-Me-Not Charm that hid the subject's existence instead of directing the other party's attention elsewhere.
Putting everything away, Harry dimmed the lights and set the room's alarm clock to wake him up in 8 hours. Unsurprisingly, since reading all of the books about his future, his sleep became restless and full of nightmares. Floating text started swimming around constantly in his head, clouding his thoughts with 'Kill the Spare,' 'Blood from an Enemy, forcibly taken,' ' The One With The Power To Vanquish The Dark Lord Approaches,' and other morbid phrases.
With the sound of a loud chime ringing his eardrums, Harry woke up and stretched, still feeling drowsy and a bit sore from tossing and turning all night. He stripped out of the pajamas and took a quick shower. Once he was dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist, Harry deactivated the Room's time dilation runes. Before he could even call for him, Dobby arrived with his clothes, freshly laundered and steamed to wrinkle-free perfection. After dressing, Harry let Dobby take the towels and pajamas away to be washed, and he carefully packed the books and his notes away in the box. With a quick tap of his wand, the box shrunk down to the size of a matchbox, and he slid it inside his pants pocket.
To Harry's surprise, Dobby informed him that he could 'pop' Harry directly back to his bed to minimize the amount of questions he would get from being MIA all weekend. Back in his room, Harry activated the Marauder's Map, and, sure enough, Peter Pettigrew was lying in the middle of Ron's bed. The emerald eyed teen slowly opened his curtains and silently padded across the floor to his best mate's bed, cavernous snores echoing from behind the thick fabric around Ron's four poster bed.
"Got you, you traitorous bastard!" Harry whispered victoriously. A large smile spread across his handsome features as he placed the obese rat into a transfigured cage that he charmed to be Unbreakable. After putting on his school robes, he tapped his wand on the map and muttered, satisfied.
"Mischief Managed!"
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Defense Professor's Office
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Fifteen Minutes after Prior Scene
Remus Lupin was sitting at his desk, slowly sipping the extra-sweet tea he'd made and hoping it would ease the pain of the upcoming transformation. He had his usual pain potion ready to go, but the tired werewolf was doing his best to wait until the actual day of the full moon; he didn't want to build up a resistance, or worse, an addiction to it. The transformation was still several days away, and it seemed to get worse each month. It wasn't so bad when he had Prongs and the others to distract him, but now almost his entire pack was gone. Sometimes he felt like just letting go and joining them in the afterlife. He was only holding himself together to protect Harry from the damned traitor, and once he got to see the bastard shoved through the veil, he would finally finish things off. 'Snivellus would finally win something, that bastard,' Remus thought with grim amusement. Maybe that would stop the greasy git from being so damned miserable all the time.
Taking a bar of Honeyduke's Finest Dark Chocolate out of his jacket, Remus tore open the wrapping and broke the bar into pieces. He set the first small chunk on his tongue and reclined back in his armchair as the bittersweet candy slowly melted away. He had just washed the chocolate with another sip of tea when there was an urgent knock on his office door.
"Come in," he called, only to see Harry hurrying into his office and slamming the door behind him. Before he could say anything, Remus froze when he saw the cage Harry was holding. Inside the cage was a sleeping rat that he could never mistake for any other rodent as long as he had two functioning eyes. He'd seen that rat so many times while practicing their transformation, but his brain kept trying to refuse what his eyes were telling it. Peter was dead, after all, and had been for years! Looking into Harry's eyes, Remus saw no sign of humor, just cold determination. Remus wanted to ask Harry what was going on, but he just handed him the Marauder's Map showing the Defense office. Shaking off the shock of seeing a relic from his school days, he focused on the map of his office and saw the two names Remus was expecting, but in the center of those names was the name Peter Pettigrew.
The Defense professor quickly shot a stunning charm at the already-unconscious rat and sent a series of locking and privacy spells at the door to his office. At Harry's curious look, Remus said, "A security precaution, so we can't be overheard by anybody who might be monitoring the office or classroom. I don't want to take the chance that word would get out about Peter's survival. One of the 'Imperious victims' might 'fall to the curse' again and kill the rat." Remus sneered thinking about the Death Eaters that were walking around in public with no repercussions after pleading that they were Imperioused and forced to commit the atrocious crimes that they did gleefully.
Harry nodded in understanding, and then started telling him how he discovered Peter after all these years.
"After I was told that Sirius was after me, I did as much research as I could. I found the newspaper articles detailing how he supposedly killed Peter Pettigrew, blowing him up with a spell until nothing but a severed finger remained. The one thing I didn't see anywhere was any article covering the trial and Wizengamot decision that resulted in Sirius being sentenced to Azkaban for life. I double checked articles covering the other Death Eaters' crimes, and they all had at least a small blurb about their trial and sentencing. I couldn't find anything on Sirius other than a large headline saying that the public was now much safer because 'Voldemort's Strongest Supporter' was now locked in a cell with Dementors," Harry spat.
Remus shook his head in disbelief and said, "No trial? No questioning? That can't be right. Have you contacted the Ministry to request copies of any transcripts of the trials that might be in their archives?"
Harry looked slightly embarrassed, "I didn't even think of that, but that can be our next step once we turn this bastard into the Aurors. I discovered that he was sleeping in our dorm when I was using the map the other night and I saw a strange name in Ron's bed. I looked over at his bed, and no one seemed to be in it except for his fat rat that was sleeping away on his pillow. I remembered the name 'Peter Pettigrew' from reading the articles on Sirius recently, so I stunned him and brought him to you since you said that you, Sirius, Peter, and my dad were all good friends. Do you know if there is a spell that shows if a person is an Animagus?"
Remus nodded, "I can do it, but I'd prefer to have an auror witness the result. It's not that I doubt you or the map, but you aren't of age yet, so the DMLE and Wizengamot would probably discount your testimony."
Pulling his wand, Remus' face screwed up slightly in concentration, and soon, a miniature silver-colored wolf was floating in front of him. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he said, "Professor McGonagall? Can you please come to the Defense Office as soon as possible? I need to get your opinion on a problem that I can't figure out."
Turning back to Harry, Remus smiled tiredly, "Professor McGonagall's husband is a Senior Auror, and he can be trusted to take care of things properly."
After a few minutes of tense waiting, there was a sharp rap on the door. Remus waved his wand and let Professor McGonagall in, closing the door behind her. The austere professor looked around the office curiously, raising an eyebrow at Remus, obviously waiting for an explanation to the urgent and unexpected request.
Still tense, Remus laughed lightly, "I really wish you wouldn't give me that look, Professor. I feel like I'm in my 4th year again and about to end up in detention."
To Harry's great astonishment, the corners of Professor McGonagall's lips upturned slightly, like she was holding back a grin. However, when her eyes landed on the rat in the cage, her face became stern once again. Gesturing at the sleeping rodent, she just looked at Remus and said, "Explain."
Remus, with help from Harry for clarification, managed to tell the whole story within a few minutes. As soon as they finished, Professor McGonagall's wand appeared in her hand, and a spell raced toward the sleeping rat. The rat immediately glowed a light blue, and Minerva canceled the spell before stunning the rat again.
Disillusioning the cage, she picked it up and said, "I'll handle this from here. Please don't say anything until there is an announcement, is that understood?" The Transfiguration professor's flinty eyes peered over intently at both Harry and Remus, causing them to gulp reflexively.
Getting nods from the two wizards, Minerva stepped out of the office carrying the cage under her flowing robes. Luckily, she wasn't stopped by anyone on the way back to her office. A quick floo call to her husband and Auror Elphinstone was stepping through the flames with his wand at the ready. It only took a moment or two to explain the situation, and her husband had taken the rat back to the DMLE.
It was the start of a very long day for Elphinstone and his team of trusted Aurors because they had to keep an airtight lid on the whole situation, especially from the Minister and his Undersecretary. He couldn't prove it yet, but there were enough money trails between Lucius Malfoy and Fudge that the Auror was sure that if Malfoy got word of his prisoner, a rogue dementor would 'somehow' be let loose and kiss Pettigrew before he could be tried in court. That's why he was determined to pump the rat full of veritaserum and get him questioned without anyone else being the wiser.
Daily Prophet Special Evening Edition
New Evidence in Sirius Black Crimes! Peter Pettigrew is Alive!
Pettigrew was Death Eater, Interrogation Under Veritaserum Proves Pettigrew was the Potter's Secret Keeper!
For Transcripts of the Interrogation and Pettigrew's Trial, see Page 4
Sirius Black Acquitted of All Charges, Turns Himself in for Trial.
Pettigrew Sentenced to Dementor's Kiss, Sentence Carried Out Immediately.
At the bottom of the page was a paragraph about Bartemius Crouch, Sr. Head of the Department of International Cooperation, and former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement committing suicide before they could arrest him in connection with the travesty of Sirius Black's unauthorized transfer to Azkaban. Someone found Crouch hanging in his office at the Ministry of Magic. Reports say he left a note, but authorities haven't released it yet pending a full investigation.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Dinner Time
The Great Hall was exploding with noise when Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way through the crowd towards their usual spot at the Gryffindor Table. When they were finally seated, the trio noticed copies of the Daily Prophet in the hands of almost every student, with large, bold headlines proclaiming Pettigrew's guilt and Sirius Black's innocence on the front page.
Harry turned to look at the staff table and noticed that Professor Lupin wasn't there, and neither was the headmaster. Professor McGonagall was sitting in her regular seat, and he caught the older woman's eye. She gave Harry a small nod, indicating that he was free to share the news with his friends. With his wand under the table, Harry cast a privacy spell around the three of them, surprising Hermione who looked at him curiously. He said to Ron, "Now that the news is out, I can tell you why you won't see Scabbers around anymore. And no, Crookshanks had nothing to do with it. Do you remember how Professor McGonagall is an animagus that's able to change into a cat?"
Harry waited while Ron and Hermione nodded, but her eyes widened when she realized where he was going. Surprisingly, Ron figured it out almost as quickly, and he went pale, his freckles standing out even on his face. "Who?" Ron shakily asked. Not wanting to hold them in suspense, Harry tapped the paper on the picture of Pettigrew, and Ron's face regained color. Unfortunately, the color that came to his face was a sickly green! Pushing himself to his feet, Ron stumbled out of the Hall, dashing toward the nearest toilet with his dinner remaining forgotten.
Hermione stared after the red-head before turning back to look at Harry slightly bemused and disgusted."He just realized he's been sharing his bed with a grown man for 2 1/2 years, hasn't he?" Hermione asked sympathetically.
Harry nodded, "And I should probably let Percy know about it too, since he had the rat before giving him to Ron. Do you want to track Ron down and make sure he's alright? I'm going to talk to the rest of the Weasley siblings."
Hogwarts Infirmary
Right After the Last Scene
Percy and Ginny took the news about Scabbers very poorly, reacting in disgust and terror, respectively, but Harry could understand the reaction. He would have had a meltdown if he found that a grown man had been secretly sleeping in his bed for years. The twins were also grossed out, but they didn't interact with Scabbers as much, so the feelings weren't as intense as it was for their other unfortunate siblings. Harry felt worse for Ginny since apparently she would sometimes set the rat on her bed when she was changing clothes. There wasn't much he could say that would make either of the Weasleys feel better, so he asked if they wanted to see the nurse for something to help them.
That was how he ended up escorting the Head Boy and Ginny to the Infirmary, only to find that Hermione had the same idea. Ron was lying on top of a bed staring blankly at the ceiling, and Ginny and Percy were soon on either side of him, staring at nothing until they all succumbed to the effects of the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Before Harry and Hermione could leave, Madame Pomfrey stopped them to ask, "Can you tell me what in Merlin's name happened to the three of them? They were barely responding to any of my questions, and they looked rather shell shocked."
Harry nodded, "Did you see the headline in tonight's paper? About Peter Pettigrew being alive and a Death Eater?"
"Yes, and I should have known that Sirius would never have betrayed your father and mother. Your grandparents took Sirius in and gave him a home from the time he was sixteen, that poor boy."
"Well, it wasn't mentioned in the paper, but Pettigrew was found hiding in his animagus form, which also happened to be the Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers. Ginny is especially having a hard time accepting that she had set the rat on her bed when she was changing or getting ready for bed."
The matron listened carefully, noting everything that happened, before saying, "Okay, thank you, that helps. I need to contact Arthur and Molly, they need to know what's happened so that we can work together to help the children cope with this horrible revelation."
Looking at the clock, she said, "You probably have time to get some dinner if you still feel like eating, so you two better hurry along."
Harry wasn't all that hungry because of the final breakfast he'd eaten in the Room of Requirement, but if he didn't eat something, Hermione might get a bit suspicious. With that in mind Harry followed Hermione in hurrying down the stairway that would get them to the Great Hall the fastest. After making it back, they were grateful to see that there were still quite a few people eating, and the tables were full of food. Hermione sat in her usual seat, but Harry stayed on his feet, looking over toward the Ravenclaw table, where a younger girl was sitting alone. There was a huge gap of a few feet around her on both sides, making her look especially pitiful; the glares of her fellow housemates certainly didn't help. Making a snap decision, he said, "I'll be back in a minute, there's a girl over there who looks like she could really use a friend."
Hermione looked over to see who he was referring to, and Harry saw a flash of something in her brown eyes. He remembered some offhand comments from her in the later books, and it was clear that Hermione was just as lonely growing up as he and Luna were.
Hermione smiled softly and said, "Sure, bring her over, we can always use more friends."
Walking deliberately to where the tiny, waifish girl was sitting, he took a seat next to her with a friendly smile, said, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter. You're Luna Lovegood, right? My friend's sister, Ginny, mentioned you, and you sound like somebody my friend Hermione and I would like to be acquainted with. Would you like to join us at the Gryffindor Table for dinner?"
Luna looked at him, her large, expressive eyes temporarily sharpening as divining the sincerity of his offer. After a few moments, her spacey demeanor reappeared and she said dreamily, "Thank you, Harry Potter, I would love to join the two of you for dinner. The Nargles seem to favor you quite a bit, you know."
Offering Luna his arm, they walked across the floor to where Hermione was sitting, and after a quick introduction, the three of them were soon chatting like old friends. There were brief moments where Luna would say something odd and Hermione would pause, confused, but then she would catch Harry's eye and smile, shaking it off as just another quirk that made Luna the special girl she was.
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they missed Professor Sprout, who was watching their interaction, saying quietly, "20 Points to Gryffindor for seeing a problem and reaching out to help." She smiled to herself and returned her attention to her delightful treacle tart.
End Chapter One
PART: 01 of??
AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (red.jacobson@gmail.com)
DISTRIBUTION: FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, Hentai-Foundry, Questionable Questing
DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me. Harry, Remus, and Sirius belong to JK Rowling and her publishers.
SUMMARY: On Christmas Eve of Third Year, Harry finds a series of seven books and a pamphlet titled 'And What Happens Afterward' sitting on his bed.
FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster
RELATIONSHIPS: Harry/Multi
RATING: PG-13
WORD COUNT: <6,174>
SPOILERS: None; if you don't know how the Harry Potter story goes by now, why are you reading this story?
WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, Dom/sub, multiple partners, and Femme-cest.
AUTHOR NOTES: Hogwarts starts at 13 to avoid the Underage issue, so everybody is at least 16 when they start doing the nasty. There is yet to be any lemon planned for this story. The story doesn't need any citrus, but I will let you know if that changes.
AUTHORS NOTES (AGAIN): Minerva married Elphinstone Urquart before she started teaching in canon. In the story, they married after Halloween and have been married ever since. I kept him alive because I needed a DMLE Contact, and Amelia Bones has been done to death already.
AND YET AGAIN STILL MORE NOTES: This chapter contains 6 or 7 paragraphs from the Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows. Those words belong to JK Rowling and not me, darn it!
BETA'D BY: YosugaT, Thank You so much!
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
3rd Year Boys Dorm
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Lunch
Harry stretched his arms above his head and let out a satisfied sigh. He couldn't resist taking another bite of treacle tart, its sweetness making his taste buds dance with delight. Satisfied, Harry grabbed his bag and got ready to head back to his dorm. Ron, his best mate, was enjoying his enormous bowl of ice cream and still had half of it left, so he let him know that he would take an afternoon kip before heading out of the Great Hall.
Ron just nodded and gave Harry a 'thumbs up,' actually chewing with his mouth closed for a change. Hermione's constant harping about it seemed to have finally gotten through to Ron. Either that, or there was a girl that he fancied staying at Hogwarts for the Yule holiday, and Ron wanted to impress her. Harry knew that bringing it up would embarrass his mate and possibly cause him to become defensive, so he didn't bother doing it. He was just grateful that he could finally enjoy a meal without having to guard his own plate from the food that flew out of Ron's mouth.
Returning the 'thumbs up,' Harry made his way back toward Gryffindor Tower. As he walked, he couldn't help but revel once again in the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It truly felt like home with its grand halls, cozy common rooms, and forgotten magical secrets waiting around every corner. It was a much better place to be compared to the Dursleys' unwelcoming cookie-cutter suburban home. Harry reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and stated the password 'Fortuna Major,' the large frame swinging open silently to allow entry. The Gryffindor common room had several students sprawled out across the various loveseats and armchairs playing Exploding Snap, chess, or just chatting merrily; a couple of 2nd years waved him over to join their game, but he just shook his head with a smile.
As he climbed the steps to his dorm, all Harry could think of was how much he wanted to collapse onto his four-poster bed and its comfortable pillow and sheets. Kicking off his shoes at the foot of the bed, he pulled open his bed curtains only to freeze in shock. There was a plain wooden box placed in the center of his bed. The top was closed, but not sealed, with a small brass latch. The most bewildering part was that the cream colored envelope on top of the box had his name written on it… in his own handwriting!
Dropping his wand into his hand, he cast all the detection spells he knew on the box and the envelope and found nothing. As far as he could tell, there was nothing magical or potentially dangerous about it. He gave a small shrug and decided to open the envelope. Sure, he probably should have told somebody about the box and letter in case Sirius Black sent it, but how could Black have figured out what his handwriting looked like? Sitting on the edge of the bed, Harry picked up the envelope, and pulled out the enclosed letter. The young wizard started reading the messy, scrawled words with equal humor and frustration. Whoever wrote the letter certainly wrote exactly like he did, and that meant that he could barely read 'his own' handwriting. When he could finally read the entire contents, he gave a low whistle of amazement.
Hi, Harry Potter. This is Harry Potter, but from a slightly different dimension than yours. Did you also grow up with the Dursleys? Met Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express? Managed to get an excellent look at Lavender's bangin' baps when she leaned over in front of you that first night at the Welcoming Feast? If you can answer yes to those questions, then our lives are probably similar enough that this information can help you.
In the box are seven main books, each covering one of our seven years at Hogwarts. They contain a very accurate description of the various future misadventures that will happen to you now and within the next few years. An eighth smaller book will gloss over what happens after we graduate. I know you are anxious to dive into the books; trust me, I was the same way. We are, unfortunately, almost perfect textbook Gryffindors: brave, chivalrous, and (I hate that the man was right about anything, but Snape was correct) dunderheads that leap before we look, which is why a couple of the other houses call us 'the Dead Hero Training Class.' But please listen to everything I have to say before you start reading them.
For your own sake, I do not recommend trying to read them in your room. Too many people will interrupt you, and when Hermione finds the books or this letter, you will never get a moment's peace. Unfortunately, Hermione still believes strongly in the authority figures, particularly McGonagall and Dumbledore, and she will stop at nothing to let the professors know about your 'dangerous and dark' books and get them taken away from you.
What I suggest you do, is call for Dobby. If he's anything like the Dobby I knew, he bonded himself to you right before knocking Lucius Malfoy's arse tip over tail when the ponce tried to curse you last year.
If he appears when called, ask him to show you the 'Come and Go Room', or as we called it in our fifth year, the Room of Requirement. Once you get to the seventh floor of the castle, you'll find a painting of dancing trolls at the end of the corridor. Move close to the opposite wall and walk back and forth three times while thinking about what kind of room you wish to appear. I would suggest concentrating on needing a room that will give you privacy to read these books and also a bed for rest for the weekend. The room has a time dilation feature that you can use to stretch the 3 remaining weekend days into a full week. That should give you enough time to read and absorb what you've read. Ask Dobby to prepare three meals a day and bring them to the room, putting them in stasis so they stay warm and fresh.
Start with 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' followed by 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.' The next one, 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' will update you on what should currently be happening. The order for the next few are: 'Goblet of Fire,' 'Order of the Phoenix,' 'Half-Blood Prince,' and 'The Deathly Hallows.' Only open the 'What Happens Later' book after you finish the first seven books.
Keep this letter! More writing will appear at the end of this paper after you've completed your assigned reading. The important part is what comes after you're done reading. I recommend grabbing a notepad, several biro's (you're not doing homework, after all!), and start practicing some serious hand stretches. Alright, enough overloading your brain with information. Happy reading, Harry (oh, Hermione would be SO proud of us!).
Quickly gathering his note-taking supplies, Harry gave one final longing look at his pillow and called for Dobby. Moments later, he was standing in front of the portrait of dancing trolls. He gave a small snort of amusement, idly wondering if offering the Troll from that first Halloween would have helped at all.
After walking back and forth three times, concentrating on the room description that the other Harry gave him, a simple looking wooden door soon appeared in the wall in front of him.
Harry looked over the room that would be his home for the next several days and was glad to see that the magic of the room had created a full ensuite bathroom, including a shower with all of his favorite toiletries and plenty of fluffy towels to dry off with. There was an enormous metal box that resembled a cooler in the corner opposite the bathroom door with what Dobby called a 'Preserving Cabinet.' It looked like it would hold enough meals for a month if he needed it to.
As his other version mentioned, Dobby admitted to bonding himself to his 'Great Master Harry Potter Sir' and was worried that it would make the Great Master unhappy. When Harry told him that seeing Dobby throwing Lucius Malfoy down the stairs was still one of his favorite memories, Dobby practically collapsed in relief before popping out of the room to bring back a few sets of Harry's clothes, including pajamas. Dobby assured him that the clothes that The Great Master Harry Potter Sir was wearing would be cleaned regularly by the excited house elf.
As he was wondering how he would start the time dilation feature, a book containing convenient instructions on the activation procedure appeared on the coffee table in front of him. After a couple of minutes to confirm the settings he wanted, Harry activated the runes to give himself a week of time. Then, planting himself in the most comfortable looking armchair, he picked up the first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and started to read.
CHAPTER ONE
THE BOY WHO LIVED
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't tolerate such nonsense.
Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
Harry grinned a few times at the comments he made to and about Dudley; of course, the baby whale didn't understand that he'd been insulted, which made things even funnier. Sadly, things didn't stay amusing long with Dudley and his gang playing their favorite game, 'Harry Hunting.' The green-eyed youth shuddered slightly as he remembered the bruises and scrapes he would be inflicted with.
A little further in the story, Harry met Hagrid, and the gentle giant was a huge source of relief for him. The wondrous and impossible things that Hagrid showed him were an explanation for all the 'freakishness' that seemed to happen around him. Of course, his aunt and uncle weren't pleased that Harry now knew the truth about himself and his parents. They seemed to think he had bouts of accidental magic purposely to upset them, and while he would love to upset his uncle's sister Marge and her scary dog, he had no control over any of it. It was a shame, though, that he hadn't lost his temper with the horrid old bitch when they were outside. Maybe she would have floated high enough that she would freeze to death in space or deflate high up and splat on the pavement. That would have made it a birthday to remember!
He did note that some things really didn't make much sense in retrospect, such as why on earth Dumbledore flew his broom from Scotland to London. The floo was practically instantaneous, and Fawkes could have flashed the old man to the lobby of the Ministry building in the blink of an eye.
Harry was also suspicious of why the traps, except for the Mirror, seemed to be tailor made to suit the special interests and talents of him and his friends (although with the Devil's Snare, they must have expected Neville to be in the group.) All of the obstacles were easily bypassed by a group of firsties, so how would Dumbledore expect them to keep bloody Voldemort out?
And then after the scrape with Death Face himself, Dumbledore saying, 'You did do things properly,' was so weird. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Suddenly, he felt like a strange kinship with mushrooms since it seemed like he was constantly being kept in the dark and regularly fed a load of bullshite.
Finishing the first book, Harry took a break from reading to have one of the meals Dobby had prepared before picking up the next book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Room of Requirement
An Unknown Amount of Time Later
Date and Time immaterial
The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.
"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.
As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead. "I know he will."
The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.
"Oh, HELL no!" Harry swore, setting down the seventh and final main book. He glanced at the smaller pamphlet that remained, but he decided that he needed to take a break before continuing, or he would leave the room and find a way to kill Snape with his bare hands, that miserable bastard!
The room morphed to his inner desire, and half of it opened up into a sprawling Quidditch pitch. His mood lightened almost immediately, and when a pristine Nimbus 2000 appeared at his feet, quickly said, "Up," with his hand above the broom and mounted the handle. Going carefully at first, he slowly increased his speed so that he wouldn't accidentally crash into the ceiling or the walls at high speed.
About twenty minutes later, Harry brought the broom down for a landing, smiling widely. His face was flushed and slightly sweaty from the exertion of flying about wildly, as he preferred. Although he still would pay to have Snape raped to death by a Centaur, he felt like he was in a much better mental space compared to before he started flying. Harry picked up the 'And What Happens After' booklet and started to read. He became furious again after seeing how magical Britain seemed to have stayed just as unfair in the future; Draco had cast several Unforgivables and was a completely free man. What happened to actions having consequences?
Harry read through the booklet a second and third time, taking notes on everything that happened after the war. When he was satisfied that he had all the major and minor events written down, he walked to the bookshelves and concentrated on wanting to find a way to prevent anybody who saw the notes from reading them easily. A book titled 'The Caesar Cipher' suddenly started glowing with a dim golden halo. Upon grabbing the book and reading its surprisingly sparse contents, he couldn't believe how simple it was to use the cipher, and very few wizards or witches were likely to figure it out. Of course, Hermione could probably read it like plain English given enough time to decode it, but he could probably find a more secure method of protection in the future. Starting with the first page of his notes, he followed the diagram and shifted each letter three places to the left alphabetically so that 'D' became 'A,' 'E' became 'B', and so on.
It was tedious work, but after a couple days of work, he eventually finished converting all of his notes. Then, picking up a book on Advanced Charms that the room had recommended to him, he opened it to the chapter on the 'Someone Else's Problem' Charm by Douglas Adams, also known as the 'SEP' Charm. It was a mildly difficult charm that prevented anybody but himself from acknowledging the existence of what you were trying to hide. It was a more advanced variation on the common Notice-Me-Not Charm that hid the subject's existence instead of directing the other party's attention elsewhere.
Putting everything away, Harry dimmed the lights and set the room's alarm clock to wake him up in 8 hours. Unsurprisingly, since reading all of the books about his future, his sleep became restless and full of nightmares. Floating text started swimming around constantly in his head, clouding his thoughts with 'Kill the Spare,' 'Blood from an Enemy, forcibly taken,' ' The One With The Power To Vanquish The Dark Lord Approaches,' and other morbid phrases.
With the sound of a loud chime ringing his eardrums, Harry woke up and stretched, still feeling drowsy and a bit sore from tossing and turning all night. He stripped out of the pajamas and took a quick shower. Once he was dried off and wrapped a towel around his waist, Harry deactivated the Room's time dilation runes. Before he could even call for him, Dobby arrived with his clothes, freshly laundered and steamed to wrinkle-free perfection. After dressing, Harry let Dobby take the towels and pajamas away to be washed, and he carefully packed the books and his notes away in the box. With a quick tap of his wand, the box shrunk down to the size of a matchbox, and he slid it inside his pants pocket.
To Harry's surprise, Dobby informed him that he could 'pop' Harry directly back to his bed to minimize the amount of questions he would get from being MIA all weekend. Back in his room, Harry activated the Marauder's Map, and, sure enough, Peter Pettigrew was lying in the middle of Ron's bed. The emerald eyed teen slowly opened his curtains and silently padded across the floor to his best mate's bed, cavernous snores echoing from behind the thick fabric around Ron's four poster bed.
"Got you, you traitorous bastard!" Harry whispered victoriously. A large smile spread across his handsome features as he placed the obese rat into a transfigured cage that he charmed to be Unbreakable. After putting on his school robes, he tapped his wand on the map and muttered, satisfied.
"Mischief Managed!"
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Defense Professor's Office
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Fifteen Minutes after Prior Scene
Remus Lupin was sitting at his desk, slowly sipping the extra-sweet tea he'd made and hoping it would ease the pain of the upcoming transformation. He had his usual pain potion ready to go, but the tired werewolf was doing his best to wait until the actual day of the full moon; he didn't want to build up a resistance, or worse, an addiction to it. The transformation was still several days away, and it seemed to get worse each month. It wasn't so bad when he had Prongs and the others to distract him, but now almost his entire pack was gone. Sometimes he felt like just letting go and joining them in the afterlife. He was only holding himself together to protect Harry from the damned traitor, and once he got to see the bastard shoved through the veil, he would finally finish things off. 'Snivellus would finally win something, that bastard,' Remus thought with grim amusement. Maybe that would stop the greasy git from being so damned miserable all the time.
Taking a bar of Honeyduke's Finest Dark Chocolate out of his jacket, Remus tore open the wrapping and broke the bar into pieces. He set the first small chunk on his tongue and reclined back in his armchair as the bittersweet candy slowly melted away. He had just washed the chocolate with another sip of tea when there was an urgent knock on his office door.
"Come in," he called, only to see Harry hurrying into his office and slamming the door behind him. Before he could say anything, Remus froze when he saw the cage Harry was holding. Inside the cage was a sleeping rat that he could never mistake for any other rodent as long as he had two functioning eyes. He'd seen that rat so many times while practicing their transformation, but his brain kept trying to refuse what his eyes were telling it. Peter was dead, after all, and had been for years! Looking into Harry's eyes, Remus saw no sign of humor, just cold determination. Remus wanted to ask Harry what was going on, but he just handed him the Marauder's Map showing the Defense office. Shaking off the shock of seeing a relic from his school days, he focused on the map of his office and saw the two names Remus was expecting, but in the center of those names was the name Peter Pettigrew.
The Defense professor quickly shot a stunning charm at the already-unconscious rat and sent a series of locking and privacy spells at the door to his office. At Harry's curious look, Remus said, "A security precaution, so we can't be overheard by anybody who might be monitoring the office or classroom. I don't want to take the chance that word would get out about Peter's survival. One of the 'Imperious victims' might 'fall to the curse' again and kill the rat." Remus sneered thinking about the Death Eaters that were walking around in public with no repercussions after pleading that they were Imperioused and forced to commit the atrocious crimes that they did gleefully.
Harry nodded in understanding, and then started telling him how he discovered Peter after all these years.
"After I was told that Sirius was after me, I did as much research as I could. I found the newspaper articles detailing how he supposedly killed Peter Pettigrew, blowing him up with a spell until nothing but a severed finger remained. The one thing I didn't see anywhere was any article covering the trial and Wizengamot decision that resulted in Sirius being sentenced to Azkaban for life. I double checked articles covering the other Death Eaters' crimes, and they all had at least a small blurb about their trial and sentencing. I couldn't find anything on Sirius other than a large headline saying that the public was now much safer because 'Voldemort's Strongest Supporter' was now locked in a cell with Dementors," Harry spat.
Remus shook his head in disbelief and said, "No trial? No questioning? That can't be right. Have you contacted the Ministry to request copies of any transcripts of the trials that might be in their archives?"
Harry looked slightly embarrassed, "I didn't even think of that, but that can be our next step once we turn this bastard into the Aurors. I discovered that he was sleeping in our dorm when I was using the map the other night and I saw a strange name in Ron's bed. I looked over at his bed, and no one seemed to be in it except for his fat rat that was sleeping away on his pillow. I remembered the name 'Peter Pettigrew' from reading the articles on Sirius recently, so I stunned him and brought him to you since you said that you, Sirius, Peter, and my dad were all good friends. Do you know if there is a spell that shows if a person is an Animagus?"
Remus nodded, "I can do it, but I'd prefer to have an auror witness the result. It's not that I doubt you or the map, but you aren't of age yet, so the DMLE and Wizengamot would probably discount your testimony."
Pulling his wand, Remus' face screwed up slightly in concentration, and soon, a miniature silver-colored wolf was floating in front of him. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he said, "Professor McGonagall? Can you please come to the Defense Office as soon as possible? I need to get your opinion on a problem that I can't figure out."
Turning back to Harry, Remus smiled tiredly, "Professor McGonagall's husband is a Senior Auror, and he can be trusted to take care of things properly."
After a few minutes of tense waiting, there was a sharp rap on the door. Remus waved his wand and let Professor McGonagall in, closing the door behind her. The austere professor looked around the office curiously, raising an eyebrow at Remus, obviously waiting for an explanation to the urgent and unexpected request.
Still tense, Remus laughed lightly, "I really wish you wouldn't give me that look, Professor. I feel like I'm in my 4th year again and about to end up in detention."
To Harry's great astonishment, the corners of Professor McGonagall's lips upturned slightly, like she was holding back a grin. However, when her eyes landed on the rat in the cage, her face became stern once again. Gesturing at the sleeping rodent, she just looked at Remus and said, "Explain."
Remus, with help from Harry for clarification, managed to tell the whole story within a few minutes. As soon as they finished, Professor McGonagall's wand appeared in her hand, and a spell raced toward the sleeping rat. The rat immediately glowed a light blue, and Minerva canceled the spell before stunning the rat again.
Disillusioning the cage, she picked it up and said, "I'll handle this from here. Please don't say anything until there is an announcement, is that understood?" The Transfiguration professor's flinty eyes peered over intently at both Harry and Remus, causing them to gulp reflexively.
Getting nods from the two wizards, Minerva stepped out of the office carrying the cage under her flowing robes. Luckily, she wasn't stopped by anyone on the way back to her office. A quick floo call to her husband and Auror Elphinstone was stepping through the flames with his wand at the ready. It only took a moment or two to explain the situation, and her husband had taken the rat back to the DMLE.
It was the start of a very long day for Elphinstone and his team of trusted Aurors because they had to keep an airtight lid on the whole situation, especially from the Minister and his Undersecretary. He couldn't prove it yet, but there were enough money trails between Lucius Malfoy and Fudge that the Auror was sure that if Malfoy got word of his prisoner, a rogue dementor would 'somehow' be let loose and kiss Pettigrew before he could be tried in court. That's why he was determined to pump the rat full of veritaserum and get him questioned without anyone else being the wiser.
Daily Prophet Special Evening Edition
New Evidence in Sirius Black Crimes! Peter Pettigrew is Alive!
Pettigrew was Death Eater, Interrogation Under Veritaserum Proves Pettigrew was the Potter's Secret Keeper!
For Transcripts of the Interrogation and Pettigrew's Trial, see Page 4
Sirius Black Acquitted of All Charges, Turns Himself in for Trial.
Pettigrew Sentenced to Dementor's Kiss, Sentence Carried Out Immediately.
At the bottom of the page was a paragraph about Bartemius Crouch, Sr. Head of the Department of International Cooperation, and former Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement committing suicide before they could arrest him in connection with the travesty of Sirius Black's unauthorized transfer to Azkaban. Someone found Crouch hanging in his office at the Ministry of Magic. Reports say he left a note, but authorities haven't released it yet pending a full investigation.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Great Hall
Friday, December 24th, 1993
Dinner Time
The Great Hall was exploding with noise when Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way through the crowd towards their usual spot at the Gryffindor Table. When they were finally seated, the trio noticed copies of the Daily Prophet in the hands of almost every student, with large, bold headlines proclaiming Pettigrew's guilt and Sirius Black's innocence on the front page.
Harry turned to look at the staff table and noticed that Professor Lupin wasn't there, and neither was the headmaster. Professor McGonagall was sitting in her regular seat, and he caught the older woman's eye. She gave Harry a small nod, indicating that he was free to share the news with his friends. With his wand under the table, Harry cast a privacy spell around the three of them, surprising Hermione who looked at him curiously. He said to Ron, "Now that the news is out, I can tell you why you won't see Scabbers around anymore. And no, Crookshanks had nothing to do with it. Do you remember how Professor McGonagall is an animagus that's able to change into a cat?"
Harry waited while Ron and Hermione nodded, but her eyes widened when she realized where he was going. Surprisingly, Ron figured it out almost as quickly, and he went pale, his freckles standing out even on his face. "Who?" Ron shakily asked. Not wanting to hold them in suspense, Harry tapped the paper on the picture of Pettigrew, and Ron's face regained color. Unfortunately, the color that came to his face was a sickly green! Pushing himself to his feet, Ron stumbled out of the Hall, dashing toward the nearest toilet with his dinner remaining forgotten.
Hermione stared after the red-head before turning back to look at Harry slightly bemused and disgusted."He just realized he's been sharing his bed with a grown man for 2 1/2 years, hasn't he?" Hermione asked sympathetically.
Harry nodded, "And I should probably let Percy know about it too, since he had the rat before giving him to Ron. Do you want to track Ron down and make sure he's alright? I'm going to talk to the rest of the Weasley siblings."
Hogwarts Infirmary
Right After the Last Scene
Percy and Ginny took the news about Scabbers very poorly, reacting in disgust and terror, respectively, but Harry could understand the reaction. He would have had a meltdown if he found that a grown man had been secretly sleeping in his bed for years. The twins were also grossed out, but they didn't interact with Scabbers as much, so the feelings weren't as intense as it was for their other unfortunate siblings. Harry felt worse for Ginny since apparently she would sometimes set the rat on her bed when she was changing clothes. There wasn't much he could say that would make either of the Weasleys feel better, so he asked if they wanted to see the nurse for something to help them.
That was how he ended up escorting the Head Boy and Ginny to the Infirmary, only to find that Hermione had the same idea. Ron was lying on top of a bed staring blankly at the ceiling, and Ginny and Percy were soon on either side of him, staring at nothing until they all succumbed to the effects of the Dreamless Sleep Potion. Before Harry and Hermione could leave, Madame Pomfrey stopped them to ask, "Can you tell me what in Merlin's name happened to the three of them? They were barely responding to any of my questions, and they looked rather shell shocked."
Harry nodded, "Did you see the headline in tonight's paper? About Peter Pettigrew being alive and a Death Eater?"
"Yes, and I should have known that Sirius would never have betrayed your father and mother. Your grandparents took Sirius in and gave him a home from the time he was sixteen, that poor boy."
"Well, it wasn't mentioned in the paper, but Pettigrew was found hiding in his animagus form, which also happened to be the Weasley's pet rat, Scabbers. Ginny is especially having a hard time accepting that she had set the rat on her bed when she was changing or getting ready for bed."
The matron listened carefully, noting everything that happened, before saying, "Okay, thank you, that helps. I need to contact Arthur and Molly, they need to know what's happened so that we can work together to help the children cope with this horrible revelation."
Looking at the clock, she said, "You probably have time to get some dinner if you still feel like eating, so you two better hurry along."
Harry wasn't all that hungry because of the final breakfast he'd eaten in the Room of Requirement, but if he didn't eat something, Hermione might get a bit suspicious. With that in mind Harry followed Hermione in hurrying down the stairway that would get them to the Great Hall the fastest. After making it back, they were grateful to see that there were still quite a few people eating, and the tables were full of food. Hermione sat in her usual seat, but Harry stayed on his feet, looking over toward the Ravenclaw table, where a younger girl was sitting alone. There was a huge gap of a few feet around her on both sides, making her look especially pitiful; the glares of her fellow housemates certainly didn't help. Making a snap decision, he said, "I'll be back in a minute, there's a girl over there who looks like she could really use a friend."
Hermione looked over to see who he was referring to, and Harry saw a flash of something in her brown eyes. He remembered some offhand comments from her in the later books, and it was clear that Hermione was just as lonely growing up as he and Luna were.
Hermione smiled softly and said, "Sure, bring her over, we can always use more friends."
Walking deliberately to where the tiny, waifish girl was sitting, he took a seat next to her with a friendly smile, said, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter. You're Luna Lovegood, right? My friend's sister, Ginny, mentioned you, and you sound like somebody my friend Hermione and I would like to be acquainted with. Would you like to join us at the Gryffindor Table for dinner?"
Luna looked at him, her large, expressive eyes temporarily sharpening as divining the sincerity of his offer. After a few moments, her spacey demeanor reappeared and she said dreamily, "Thank you, Harry Potter, I would love to join the two of you for dinner. The Nargles seem to favor you quite a bit, you know."
Offering Luna his arm, they walked across the floor to where Hermione was sitting, and after a quick introduction, the three of them were soon chatting like old friends. There were brief moments where Luna would say something odd and Hermione would pause, confused, but then she would catch Harry's eye and smile, shaking it off as just another quirk that made Luna the special girl she was.
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they missed Professor Sprout, who was watching their interaction, saying quietly, "20 Points to Gryffindor for seeing a problem and reaching out to help." She smiled to herself and returned her attention to her delightful treacle tart.
End Chapter One
