Harry Potter Fan Fiction – Chapter IV
Chapter 4: Birthday Surprises
(Chapter I , Chapter II , Chapter III , Chapter V)
Harry lay blissfully asleep after the nightmares had ended and had drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Someone gave him a hard rap on his head.
“Ow!” said Harry.
He got up rubbing his eyes. ‘Has it dawned already?’ he thought to himself thickly. He put on his glasses to see Ron, Ginny and Hermione goggling at him with a grin on their faces.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!” they shouted.
For the first time in many days Harry was happy. He wanted this moment to stay frozen forever. He was with his friends and that made him even happier for words. As he went down for breakfast accompanied by his friends, he saw that the table was laden with gifts. Harry couldn’t believe himself. His thoughts must’ve shown on his face because Ron said “It’s not everyday that a guy comes of age Harry.”
Harry smiled happily at everyone. He would never forget this day.
She slithered through the fencing and hid herself in the long grass and weeds in the garden. She gazed around taking in the smells of the night. Her tongue flickered in and out. She let out a soft hiss.
All the people he knew (even the ones he knew merely by sight) had gathered that evening in the Burrow (after Mr.Weasely had enlarged it several times its original size so that the living room now was the size of a quidditch pitch!).
The whole crowd was talking merrily as Harry started opening his gifts. Ron had given him a miniature quidditch set, complete with a quidditch stadium and two full quidditch teams.
Hermione’s gifts were two huge spell books entitled ‘Major Defensive and Offensive charms, hexes, curses and jinxes: Part I and II by Professor Vindictus Viridian’
Mr. and Mrs.Weasley had given him a watch just like they had given Ron the previous year, when he had turned seventeen.
She lay under the bed in the room which she had seen through her master’s eyes. She was lucky to have gotten into the house, lucky that the creeper grew past the window of this room, and this had made it possible for her to get into his room without anyone finding out. Now all she had to do was wait. Wait till the golden moment came and then her mission would be complete.
“Harry!” Ginny called out from the other side of the room. Her voice was barely audible over the noise of the crowd. But all the same it was loud enough for Harry to hear. He made his through the crowd and found her near the table in the kitchen. On the table sat a strange, oddly shaped package.
“It just appeared here Harry……with this.” She said holding up a feather. A phoenix feather.
Harry’s heart skipped a beat. What can this package be? If he had been right about Dumbledore’s demise, then this must have been sent by Dumbledore! Should he open it? Was it safe? His curiosity got the better of him and Harry opened the package. Harry removed the last pieces of wrapping paper to reveal a stone basin, with weird markings on it. A pensieve. It looked just like Dumbledore’s, except that it was slightly smaller. When Harry lifted it up to examine it a note fell down from it. Harry picked it up to read the contents of the note. It said
‘Use it well’
And that was all. Nothing else. This message sparked thoughts in Harry’s mind. It was the same message he had got from Dumbledore, when he had anonymously sent him his father’s invisibility cloak. Harry was sure that this was from Dumbledore.
“Harry….” said a voice behind him.
Harry had quite forgotten about Ginny on seeing the pensieve. He turned around and saw that she was smiling. She moved closer to him.
“I want to give you my gift for your birthday.” she said holding out a small package.
Harry unwrapped it and held a golden locket dangling in his hand. He opened it up to see the picture of Ginny and himself standing side by side playfully pushing each other, beaming. Harry looked up at Ginny smiling.
“Wow!” he said “I really don’t know what to say.”
“And that’s not all” said Ginny moving even closer to him.
Before he could realize what had happened, he and Ginny were locked in a tight embrace and were kissing passionately. How long they stood there they didn’t know, but neither wanted to stop.
“Ahem.” said a voice suddenly from the door.
They saw Lupin standing at the door, slightly bemused.
“How long has this been going on?” he asked, a bit seriously now.
“Er……we got together last year and then we broke up. Now we’re back together again.” muttered Harry grinning.
Ginny’s face had turned scarlet. She hurried out muttering a hasty excuse to Lupin and Harry. Lupin and Harry looked at each other and grinned. Harry fully appreciated Lupin’s company. He was the only one of his dad’s friends who remained. Pettigrew betrayed all of them. And Sirius…Sirius had died because of him. ‘Don’t think about that now!’ Harry scolded himself. Besides that Lupin was another person who, like himself, really suffered because of Dumbledore’s death. Dumbledore. Dumbledore would have trusted Lupin as much as he trusted Harry. Harry decided. Harry moved to the door, closed it and muttered “Impedoforo.”
He moved to the table and drew up chairs for both of them to sit. He motioned Lupin to sit down and then said
“Professor. I want to tell you something. Something about Voldemort….you know Professor Dumbledore used to leave Hogwarts …..and…and….” his voice trailed off as he thought about the locket and Dumbledore.
His mind always wandered away to Dumbledore. No matter what he thought about, he always ended up thinking about him one way or the other. And it was very painful as it reminded him of the things Dumbledore had done for him. All this made Harry hate Snape, loathe him and despise him. Anger surged through his veins. He stared out of the window for a moment and then turned back to Lupin. He told him everything he knew through Dumbledore about the horcruxes. Finally after he finished, Lupin said
”Hmm…so according to what Albus has told you, Voldemort had made seven horcruxes and you have destroyed the diary and Albus, the ring.” He said going over what he had learnt from Harry’s narrative.
“But you mentioned having found a locket that Albus thought to be a horcrux. What happened to that?” he asked
Harry slipped a hand to his pocket and drew out the locket. He held it out to Lupin, who took it and examined it.
“But, Harry….didn’t you tell me it was Slytherin’s locket? This possibly can’t be Slytherin’s.” He said, as his fingers fumbled to try and get it open.
Harry turned back and faced the pensieve. Lupin watched him draw out his wand. Harry placed it on his temple and when he brought it away from it, a silvery strand of memory clung to the wand tip. He dropped it in the pensieve and watched as the single, silvery strand swirled around in it turbulently.
He ushered Lupin forward and both of them placed their wands together in it and disappeared into the pensieve. A moment later they were back in the Weasleys’ kitchen.
“I understand now, Harry.” said Lupin looking at Harry.
“Better get this stuff back to your room” he continued, staring at the pensieve and the other remaining unopened gifts which Harry had received “I think someone might have noticed that we’ve been missing for the past half hour Harry. We better go join them now. Need any help?” he asked motioning towards the table.
“No. You go on. I’ll get these to the room and then join you.” said Harry
As Lupin left the room Harry moved the gifts on the table to his room with a flick of his wand. He then picked up the pensieve and then moved to the staircase and went up to Ron’s room. He kicked the door open and then placed the pensieve on his bed. He went back and locked the door. As he turned back towards the pensieve, he thought he saw something slither under his bed.
‘I must be getting sleepy.’ he thought, glancing at his watch.
He then moved towards the window and looked at the moon. The horcruxes were still out there. Safe and sound, tucked away in some unknown places, the places which he would have to find out soon. He realized the task ahead of him and felt glad that Ginny, Ron and Hermione were still with him. He turned back facing the pensieve. Harry quickly drew out his wand and held it in front of him like brandishing a sword. He cursed darkly. He had seen something slither under his bed, and now it was right in front of him. Nagini.
Harry’s mind quickly jumped back to what Dumbledore had guessed about Nagini.
“Why are you here?” Harry hissed out in parseltongue.
Nagini didn’t answer she just kept drawing closer to him, her tongue flicking in and out.
“He sent you here didn’t he?” hissed Harry again.
At this Nagini paused and hissed back “You stupid half blood scum. Took you long enough to realize, did it? My master knows all and I through him know everything. I am more than just his pet…” she paused again and glared at Harry.
“More than just his pet?” What Nagini just told him kept replaying in his mind. This confirmed Dumbledore’s speculation. Harry quickly brought his wand in front of him. Nagini slithered forward. Just as she lunged at Harry he disapparated momentarily with a crack and then appeared behind her.
All his hatred for Voldemort brought his anger out. He shot Nagini a look of pure loathing.
“AVADA KEDAVRA!” he shouted aiming his wand at the snake which lunged for him. Nagini fell on the floor baring her fangs. An unearthly shriek filled the house. Nagini then turned to ashes.
Harry’s wand fell on the floor. He couldn’t believe it. He had just destroyed another of Voldemort’s horcruxes. He had used the killing curse. He heard footsteps echoing on the staircase. Nagini had come here because of him. No. He wouldn’t endanger anyone anymore. He found parchment and quill and scribbled a quick message and threw it on his bed. He picked up his wand and pensieve. Someone banged his door. He heard muffled cries outside.
“Harry….open the door. Harry!”
Lupin moved swiftly through the crowd near the door and blasted it open. He looked around. No one was there. He walked to the window, opened it and peered out. He looked about the room, to try and find something that might give him a clue about what had happened. He glanced at the bed. As he did he noticed something flutter from it from the breeze that was now emanating from the opened window. He made a grab for it and caught it. It read
“Don’t look for me. I will return.”
(Continued)
(Chapter I , Chapter II , Chapter III , Chapter V)
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