Chapter 5
"So! I have some questions for you" James sat next to Harry the next day as he waited for his friends to rise. Harry sighed, bracing himself to answer.
"Shoot. I'm not doing much right now" Harry was trying hard to sound casual.
"Is Snape always vanishing student's work?" James' question surprised Harry. He thought he'd be dealing with hard hitters like Voldemort.
"Mine and Neville's for sure. I know I've done perfect brews and I got trolls on it because it didn't pass Snape's can-I-shit-on-Harry-for-it inspection" Harry shrugged.
"Damn. Neville's too?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Mhm. Dunno why though"
"Alright. Second question. Umbridge?" James jumped to his next biggest question.
"Ministry plant. She's Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge, here to ensure Hogwarts isn't causing trouble"
"Merlin's pants I hate being right. Dated anyone yet?"
"Huh? No. No, I'm still sorting through all that. Had a crush on a girl but it faded over the summer. Trauma does that I guess" Harry stared deep into the fire.
"Want to talk about it?" James' voice got soft. Harry snorted.
"Which part? The necromancy, the shunning, growing up with little love, killing someone at eleven, killing a giant snake at twelve, chasing off a hundred dementors at thirteen, the dementors over the summer or the helplessness of being underaged but also simultaneously expected to fix everything?"
"Okay, A. Holy shit I am extremely proud of you for like. Half? Of that? Both dementors and snake definitely. And getting through the ritual and loveless raising. Everything else is up in the air. B. Holy fuck where the fuck are the responsible adults?!" James' outburst made Harry break down cackling.
"It's not funny!" His father insisted, pouting slightly.
"It-it is a bit. No one has asked that in a long time and to hear it tacked onto praise of my accomplishments gave me whiplash" Harry calmed down a bit. "To answer your question about wanting to talk about it, not really. No offense but I don't trust you with my past experiences. I don't need a parent to swoop in and save me. That time has long since passed"
"Kid, I mean no offense in return but even if you did, I have no idea how I could possibly be that for you. Most nerve-wracking thing I've done is run with Remus once as Prongs. And that was more innate fear from being a deer around a wolf. I was 15. And you were out here killing snakes at 12!" James ran a hand through his hair. Harry was privately glad his instinct was to push his bangs down because James looked frazzled from just his bangs standing up.
"Wait until you tell him what kind of snake it was" Seamus dropped into a seat nearby with an easy grin.
"Seamus!" Hermione appeared as well, scolding the Irish boy.
"What! It makes the story more impressive!"
"We're trying not to make James look more lightning struck before breakfast, or at all, thank you very much" Harry grumbled with a narrowing of his eyes.
"Huh? Oh. Right. The Potter curse. Or, the more obvious one. Yeah, I can't remember who exactly it was but one of our ancestors, well. They pissed off an Old Elf. And the elf cursed them and their children with hair that could not be tamed. I mean, my dad made Sleekeazy's to try and tame it. But if you use too much at one time, the Curse wins. We also got the inherited curse of the Gryffindor line, which is why we're more likely to run off in protection of someone" James brightened a bit at discussing his family.
"Oh yeah. I had forgotten Fleamont Potter was the original creator" Hermione mused out loud. "And, an old elf?"
"Old Elf; the origins of House Elves. They used to live in the wild, when magic saturated the land a lot more. Over time less and less could get supported by it. So some started doing small tasks in exchange for feeding off of a family's free floating magic. Eventually they all moved to that, becoming what we know as House Elves. They get to take some of our magic as sustenance, in exchange for services" Remus smiled softly as he and Sirius wandered over.
"Yes, thank you Remus. What he didn't mention is we exude a certain amount of magic just naturally. It's how we're able to ignore Muggle-repelling charms actually. Our innate magic brushes aside the magic of the charm, and that excess is what elves feed on. It doesn't harm us in any manner to lose that bit just floating around us, what some people refer to as auras. A bond just allows the elves to feed directly off the top rather than collecting it from the bits in the air" Sirius explained.
"So leaving knitted clothes around the area an elf cleans...?" Hermione asked nervously.
"Will offend them likely. May just refuse to clean that area if the intent was honorable. It's basically subtly saying their side of the deal isn't being fulfilled well enough".
"Oops. I guess I'll have to go apologize for that" She blushed.
"We'll show you the kitchens since that's where the Hogwarts elves tend to be in the biggest group. Head Elf should be there too, since they'd be the one deciding meals and making sure they're made properly. Most likely they'll be cold towards you but if you explain your thought process they'll give you a second chance. Students make mistakes, we're here to learn" Sirius shrugged, not fussed one way or the other.
"After classes. 'Mione would just die if we missed even a second" Ron smiled.
"Or worse, be expelled" Neville and Harry whispered teasingly. The brown-haired girl just glared half-heartedly.
"Let's just get to Herbology now that Professor Sprout has her plants ready" Hermione marched out with Ron and Harry following closely.
As the group was headed back up the hill from Herbology, a familiar shaggy black dog came bounding up.
"Snuffles!" Hermione hissed. Harry glared from where he was hanging off of Ron. Of course Sirius would slip out of the house to see the time travelers.
Shack? Harry signed with a questioning look towards the Willow. Hermione's brow wrinkled.
No. Toad. She returned. All of the fifth years winced at the reminder and tried to pretend the older Sirius wasn't currently begging for attention.
"Meet us after dark. Dissendium" Harry hissed out of the corner of his mouth. Snufffles whined, pausing in his play bowing. But none of the teens acknowledged him, so he eventually ran back towards the forest.
Safe? Parvati asked subtly. Lavender conveyed her doubt with a pursing of her lips and a dart of her eyes towards the windows. Dean huffed lowly, drifting alongside Seamus to cover the side facing the forest. Their wand hands were loosely held near their pockets.
"Who was that?" Peter interrupted their silent conversation.
"Snuffles. Met him around what? Winter of last year?" Ron smiled benignly. Harry hummed in agreement. He flicked his first two fingers of his free hand towards the castle when Neville came hurrying up. His godbrother got the message and came to stand on Hermione's opposite side.
"Never figured out who he belonged to...collar just said his name" Lavender sighed sadly. All of those who knew the truth narrowed their eyes slightly when they noticed the flash of pink just inside the front doors.
"Too bad. I wanted to tell them to get their dog under control" Hermione complained. "And now he's running loose again."
"Hello students" Umbridge greeted them with a too-wide smile.
"Hello professor" All of them chorused, Harry hiding slightly behind his taller friends. When it became clear the toad didn't expect more, they all gave her polite goodbyes and made their way up the stairs to the tower. Once they were safely behind Lady Elizabeth, the tension drained from the non-time travelers.
"Okay. Showers and then we will discuss this in our room" Harry turned to his friends, magic flaring slightly at the contained emotion.
"We'll be up in about half an hour and we'll knock first" Parvati told them before leading the way up the girls' staircase.
"Are we invited?" James' eyes were hard.
"Yes" Ron tugged Harry after him once conveying the message.
"Alright. So. Shall we catch our new classmates up to speed?" Ron prompted about an hour later. All of them nodded.
"So. The dog you saw was the older version of Sirius. He's currently a fugitive from the law, which is why he was in his animagus form" Harry started.
"Oh! Silvershield told me to tell him Gringotts doesn't care about that!" Sirius remembered.
"Yes. Thank you. As I was saying, he likely was coming to check on you lot as I'm sure he heard all about it at the last Order meeting" Harry finished with a slight glare.
"Oooo Dumble's little club?" Lavender asked excitedly.
"Indeed. Full name is Order of the Phoenix but we refer to it just as the Order because the full name is pretentious and not great for secrecy" Hermione examined her nails.
"Back up. Black is an animagus?" Lily broke in.
"As of last June...for us...yes. Me and Pete too" James said slowly.
"Oh I forgot I saw Peter transform into a rat when the explosion happened. What's your form James?" The redhead asked eagerly. Harry exchanged loaded looks with his best friends. It was an explosion, likely a potions one with the comment from the day before.
"I'm a red stag. My unique feature is how my back fur sticks up in all directions and has a darker hue to it like my normal hair" James ruffled said hair.
"Why am I a fugitive?" Sirius asked.
"Well..." Neville started, glancing over to Harry who sighed.
"You were thought to be the secret keeper for my parents and then you went on to allegedly blow up a street, killing twelve muggles and a wizard" Harry's eyes flicked over to Peter at the end.
"Was I the wizard?" The rat animagus caught the side look. Harry looked to Hermione who barely shrugged.
"You were the wizard. But your future self isn't dead. Harry saw him back in June" She told him.
"Wait. You said 'allegedly' and 'thought to be'. And you're entirely too comfortable with his older self. Was Siri innocent?" James asked. Harry was surprised at how quickly he picked up on it.
"Never even had a trial" Dean said softly.
"But yes, he's innocent. Minister just wouldn't listen when he was told as much. Same as You-Know-Who's return after..." Parvati trailed off, looking at Harry who smiled tremulously. Cedric was still a sensitive topic for him. Neville reached over to squeeze his knee with a sad smile.
"Even if I doubt that it was You-Know-Who, I don't doubt something came to be, bad enough to shake Harry who has stared down a Ba-" Seamus was cut off.
"Really large snake!" Harry covered up the end of the sentence.
"Yeah, sure" The Irish boy yielded. He grinned unrepentedly at the small black-haired boy's glare.
"So he's still around?" Remus cocked his head to one side. Harry's friends went silent, all looking to him for guidance. He considered how much more to reveal, eyeing the five before him.
"We're not sure how, but yes. You see, when I mentioned the alleged crimes of Sirius, that all happened in one day or so. On October 31st, 1981, my parents were killed by Voldemort who tried to kill me too. But Mum had done something that made it so he couldn't, and he was temporarily rendered to a wraith. He possessed our DADA teacher first year in order to regain a body using the Philosopher's stone. Second year a teenage version of him tried to do the same. Last June he succeeded. Now he's currently quiet but we know he's obsessing over a weird corridor" Harry summed up.
"And how do you know that?" Peter asked with narrowed eyes.
"Harry's got a sort-of connection to him. His scar hurts whenever he's nearby, and he gets visions from him in his sleep sometimes" Ron glanced over worriedly, receiving a nod of permission before he explained.
"Your scar?" Sirius asked, leaning forward as if to examine it.
"Yes. We're not talking about that right now though, so, any other questions?" Hermione led them away sternly.
"Your mum did something?" James asked, his hazel eyes lighting up excitedly at the chance to ask.
"Yes, she did. I assume your future self helped. But I only...." Harry trailed off with a sad smile, not wanting to confess the dementor's effect.
"Only know bits and pieces. That's fair, since you lost us young" James nodded in understanding. Harry nodded back, smile widening just a touch.
"She's so cool"
"James stop being sappy when we can't understand you!" Sirius tackled his friend.
"Never!" Said friend shouted happily.
"Curses and lovey-dovey stuff" Remus rolled his eyes. Ron sent an affectionate smile at his best friend since he did the same.
"Anything else we need to do before you go meet Sirius?" Lavender asked.
"Cover for us?" Hermione gave a half smile.
"Always" was the soft promise in return.