This one starts exactly the same as the last one, only it veers off from when Hedwig comes back. This one isn’t as nice as the last one, but it’s different. A bit darker, I think. More dramatic.
It’s still dictated and I’d still like some feedback.
6/1/2024 I rewrote some of this, because I was bored and wanted to extend and didn’t want it to be exactly like the original. So, I added to it and took away small parts of it.
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Harry Potter had been home at the Dursleys for about a week now. It had been a rough month for him since the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries. Sirius had gone through the Veil of Death during the battle. Bellatrix had sent him through during the fight. Had Sirius been fighting seriously then he would not have been sent through the Veil, but he had been… playing.
Harry will never forget the look on the man's face as he was sent backwards. His godfather had been so shocked that he had actually got hit with a curse and the look on his face had shown that.
Now the teen sat here in the dark, close to midnight, crying. He didn't know what else to do. He had lost the closest thing to a family member he had. Well, if you didn't count the Dursleys, which he didn’t on a good day. On a bad days he did if only not to feel alone in the world.
His godfather was supposed to take him away from this horrible place, but now he was gone. He didn't even have time to get to know the man very well. Everybody had done their best to keep him away from him. Every time they tried to get together someone came and had something important for one of them to do. Mostly it was Order business for Sirius, but sometimes it was Hogwarts business for Harry, or something to do with his trial. The whole time he was at Grimmuald Place, he never really got a chance to get to talk to his godfather in depth. It was beyond frustrating.
Getting frustrated with his thoughts, he decided to do something. So, he sat at his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and some ink. He put the quill in the ink and started to write. There were some tears that fell as he wrote, they blotted the ink in places, but it was still legible.
Dear Sirius.
I know you'll never get this letter, but I wanted to let you know that I miss you already something fierce. I don't know how to tell you this, but your loss hurts me more than I ever thought it was possible. We didn't know each other very well, but I thought we got along well, for the short time we knew one another. We never had the time to connect, but we got on well enough, I thought.
You are a very funny man. You brightened up my day every time we were around one another. Your pranks and your laughter would make anybody’s day brighter. Sometimes you're even funnier than the Weasley twins. I know they thought your jokes were great. And that's pretty high praise coming from them. I don’t know if you knew this, but they worshiped you and your group of Marauders. I wish you had more time to get to know them too. You would have liked them.
I know you didn't have a good childhood, judging from the state of your house and some of the things you let slip. I know being caught and left in Azkaban was horrible for you. And then being locked up in your disaster of a house after your escape and not being able to get your name cleared had to have been traumatic. I understand that being kept prisoner there must have been the icing on the cake that was the shithole of that life. Going from one prison to another must have been hell for you. Even if the second was better without the Dementors.
I blame Dumbledore for that last part. He should have been able to get you a trial and he did not. He had all this power, yet he doesn't use it for anything. There are times when I think he is just playing games with the people around him. I don't have proof of that, but it's something I feel deeply about. I know he’s controlling my life. He keeps me prisoner here at the Dursleys as much as he did you at Grimmauld Place.
You would be proud of what I did to him after he told me the prophecy. I blew up his office. Sirius, I told him that it was his fault that you died. If he had told me all this earlier, then none of this would have happened. That you would be alive. And I'd be with you. I’m so angry at him I don't know what to do. But now you're gone and it's too late. All of it is just too damned late.
I didn’t write this letter to vent on how shitty my life is. I just wanted to let you know that I missed you, and if there were a way to bring you back then I would.
All my love,
Your godson,
Harry James Potter.
He took the letter, folded it, wrote Sirius’ name on the back and sealed it. Then he placed it on his desk. He didn't know what else to do with it. Did he burn it and hope that it got to him in heaven? Or did he just leave it there and look at it every now and then and cry?
Right now, it was just too emotional. He'd figure it out in the morning. He was going to try and go to bed and go to sleep. If he could. He couldn’t, so he started crying again and soon he tired himself out and fell into a fitful sleep.
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Hedwig sat and watched her master cry himself to sleep. She felt so bad for him, he was hurting so bad. She wished there was something she could do for him. She saw the letter on the desk with the name Sirius Black on it. She knew that she could probably deliver this small letter and that would make him feel better.
So, she swooped down and grabbed it and went to deliver it. She felt the pull of the recipient. It took her to the Department of Mysteries and to the Veil of Death. She didn't know whether she should go through the Veil or not. It had an eerie evil feeling to it. But the man that she needed to get the letter to was inside it. So, she swooped in and disappeared.
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The Unspeakables watched the owl get through their wards and go to the Veil of Death, and at first, they were going to try and stop her, but they were too late. The owl swooped in and disappeared. They just shook their heads at the loss.
“Wasn't that Potter's owl?” one of them said, watching the Veil closely as if the owl would come out the other side. He knew that was futile, but he didn't want to see the owl of all things die because of something as silly as a letter.
“I think so,” said the other. He too was watching the Veil to see what would happen. But nothing did. Just the fluttering of the curtain and the whisper of the voices. Nothing strange came about.
“Do you think we should have stopped it?” the first one said, turning around to leave the room of death. He didn't like being in here anymore than anybody else did. It was creepy and eerie, and those voices were nerve-wracking.
“It was too fast. Well, there's nothing we can do about it now,” the second one said, following the first one, taking up his clipboard and making a note that the owl had gone through the Veil. They, after all, did have to note everything that went on in the Department of Mysteries, whether it was benign or not.
“He's going to be pissed,” the first one said, also making a note on his clipboard.
“Oh well, maybe we just won't tell him,” said the second one.
And the two of them went about their business. There was always so much to do in the Department of Mysteries, and since that battle that happened here a month ago, there was even more to do. There were brains to reorganize. There were time turners to try and save. There were all sorts of prophecies that have been destroyed. The whole place was a complete mess, and they would be years cleaning it up.
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It was three days later a white phoenix flew out with the letter in its beak. It flamed to Harry Potter waking him up.
“Wha?” said the exhausted boy, his brain was still sleep-addled. He looked up and saw the beautiful white bird perched on the back of his bed. Now he was wide awake. He looked hard at it and said, “Hedwig?” His mind was completely blown. His beautiful owl. It turned into a beautiful phoenix.
The bird trilled, dropping the letter on his head.
Harry looked at the bird in wonder, and then picked up the letter and looked at it and saw that it said Harry Potter on the envelope. The paper was unlike any paper he had ever seen before. It was kind of glossy and heavy. He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.
Dear Harry.
I was very surprised to get your letter from Hedwig. I don't know how she got here, and I was shocked to see that she was now a phoenix. I can only assume she turned that way by going through the Veil. She could only have found me because she turned into a phoenix. And how she found me out of the millions of worlds the Veil empties into, I do not know.
I can only assume that you're my Harry. Because this letter found me. And if you are, I'm very sorry that I left you behind. But because this letter found me, there is hope that we can find each other again. The only reason I did not go back through the Veil is because I was told that it does empty out into thousands of other worlds. Finding the correct on would be astronomically impossible.
If you follow Hedwig through the Veil, you can come to me. She will guide you. But Harry, it's a very dangerous journey. And the world you're coming to is unlike any world you've ever been to before. It’s nothing like the wizarding world. I mean nothing like it. You would be leaving everything you know behind you. Choose very carefully.
If you do choose to come, go to Gringotts first, and empty out the accounts. Gold here is a precious commodity, just like it is anywhere else. And you will need the money. I left you everything in my will. I don't know if Dumbledore told you that. But the goblins will know. They will let you empty it out. They might ask for a fee. Go ahead and give it to them. It's a minor one.
Leave everything else behind, you won't need it. Except maybe you're Invisibility Cloak. Take that with you. Take your wand as well. Everything else, leave behind. Just your gold, your cloak, and your wand. Nothing else is important. I will provide you with what you need when you get here.
I love you too, I miss you and I’m sorry that you didn’t have a good life either. I too blame Dumbledore for what happened to the both of us. I don’t want to come back. I have a good life here now. I don’t want to influence you; this life isn’t for everyone. There is a lot that is different. Magic is different, and the laws are a lot harsher here. There are eyes everywhere. I want to warn you of that now.
Chose wisely.
Your godfather.
Sirius Orion Black.
Harry made up his mind right away. He didn’t even give it a second thought. He was going to his godfather. What did he have here? A few friends that listened to the headmaster over him? A family that didn’t love him? There he had a godfather that obviously cared for him, and his phoenix. He could make do with that.
He wasn't sure if he wanted to leave his photo album behind, but his godfather said that it wasn't important. Maybe he should take a picture of his parents and leave the rest behind. Or a picture of his friends too. That should be okay, just two pictures. Then again, he would be leaving his real friends behind too.
That was something to think about. He hadn't really heard from them all summer. They were ignoring him like they had last summer. And he was getting kind of tired of being ignored. They were probably listening to Dumbledore again. And wasn't that irritating?
Making up his mind quickly and grabbing his invisibility cloak and the two pictures out of his photo album, he pocketed his wand and made his way out of the house. He certainly hoped that there were no Order members waiting about. He didn't want to have to fight with them just to leave. He threw on his invisibility cloak and snuck out and down the block. He waited until the coast was clear and made sure there were no muggles about and called the Knight Bus.
After paying the small fee to get on the bus, he made his way to Diagon Alley. Once he got there, he snuck through the Leaky Cauldron and made his way to Gringotts. The bank was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, he had no problem finding an empty teller.
“I need to empty my accounts,” he said. He placed his key upon the counter and waited for the response. He was a bit nervous doing this. He didn't know how the goblins were going to react. He knew they liked their gold, but he didn't know if they needed it to stay open. His account was big, but Sirius’ was much larger.
“Gringotts not good enough for you, human?” inquired the goblin with the lifting of his eyebrow and his sneer on his face.
“No, no, not at all. I just have a trip I need to go on and I need all of my money,” the young man said, waving his hand in a non-threatening manner.
“You need all of your money to go on a trip?” asked the goblin in a disbelieving voice. “What kind of trip are you going on?” he asked in a condescending manner. He knew humans were extravagant, but he didn't think they were that wasteful.
“One that will take me out of this world,” Harry said truthfully. One always spoke the truth to somebody who could gut you. Even if they didn't believe you.
The goblin just looked at him queerly. He didn't know if this human was for real or not. Then again, it was a wizard, so he might be speaking truthfully. Well, it was no sweat off his brow if the human wanted to take his money out of the bank. It wasn't like it was doing him any good. He took the key and looked at it, saw that it was for the Potter account and waved him through to go speak to his manager.
“I'll have to go wake your manager up. Wait here,” the still unnamed goblin said, waving to a bench near the double doors he was about to go through.
So, Harry waited by the double doors of the bank until they went and woke the manager up, which he was sure was going to make the goblin grumpy. But that was okay, he needed to be on his way. It took about fifteen minutes for them to get the goblin there. And Harry was right, the goblin was very grumpy.
“Come this way, Potter,” said Sharptooth. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed and put on yesterday's clothes. They were wrinkled and crumpled. He looked like he really didn't care what his client thought of him at the moment. He had pulled him out of bed after all.
“I need to talk to you about the Black accounts too,” the dark-haired teen said, weariness in his tone. He had had a long night and Hedwig had woken him up pretty early in the morning.
“We can get to that when we get to my office,” Sharptooth said, waving the boy to follow.
They walked down the long hallway to the set of doors that had ‘Potter’ written on the doorway. They walked inside the office and Sharptooth went around the desk and sat in his chair and Harry sat in the chair in front of the desk.
“So, I hear you want to empty your accounts,” the goblin said, picking up a quill and making some notes on some parchments, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here at this desk at this time, talking to this human. If this boy pulled all the money from the accounts, then he didn't have a job anymore. Then again, there were other accounts, more prestigious ones than the Potters.
“Yes, I'm going on a trip,” said Harry, running his hand down his face, trying to get the weariness out of his eyes.
“Ah, yes, according to the teller, you said you're going on a trip out of this world,” the goblin said, making more notes on the parchment.
“That's right,” said Harry with the nod of his head in complete agreement.
“And just how do you plan on doing that?” said the goblin, looking the boy dead in the eye.
“I'm going to go through the Veil,” said Harry. He didn't see any reason not to be truthful with the goblin.
“That is a one-way death ticket,” said Sharptooth. Not that he cared if the human died, but he was going to be taking all that gold with him.
“Not if you have a phoenix,” said Harry, puffing up as if he was the proud father of a newborn baby.
“And where did you acquire a phoenix?” asked the goblin. The last he heard, the only wizard that he knew of that had a phoenix was Albus Dumbledore.
“She came from the Veil,” said Harry proudly. “Which is how I know I'll survive the Veil.”
“I see,” said Sharptooth. Maybe this human was on to something. Maybe he would survive the Veil. Oh well. He was legally obligated to let this boy take his money and do whatever foolish thing he wanted to do with it. It was not his problem.
And with that, the two got down to the business of taking care of the necessities of emptying the accounts. It took only an hour as it was rather easy to do. All Harry had to do was sign over that he was emptying the accounts and it had nothing to do with the goblins. He was doing it of his own accord, and that he was of his right mind. It was actually slightly illegal, since Harry was still a minor, but since he had participated in the Triwizard tournament, that made him an emancipated adult.
While they were taking care of the paperwork, there was a group of goblins that were taking care of emptying the vaults for a small fee. They put it all in one bag, an expandable bag. And they brought it up to Harry in the office. There were 30 million galleons in that bag. So, Harry and Sirius were set for life. They wouldn't have to worry about anything for a long time. Well, that depends on the cost of living in the world Harry was going to.
Harry took the bag, took the two pictures that he had taken and put them in the bag. He had attached the bag to his waist, went out of Gringotts, and called for his phoenix.
“Hello, Hedwig, are you ready to go?” the dark-haired young wizard said to his lovely new phoenix. He had loved her as an owl, he loved her even more as a phoenix. She was the most beautiful bird he had ever seen.
She trilled at him. She landed on his shoulder and flamed him to the Veil of Death. When they got there, there were three Unspeakables coming into the room.
“Hold on there. What do you think you're doing?” yelled one of them. All three of them lifted their wands as if they were going to fire spells at them.
“Quick, Hedwig, we need to go,” Harry said, rushing through the Veil. He didn't even spend time lifting a shield, he just went straight through the Veil.
He grabbed onto Hedwig's tail and Hedwig dragged him through the Veil.
It was a vortex of madness. There were colors of lights and voices everywhere. He didn't let go of Hedwig's tail as she dragged him through. His eyes were completely blinded by the lights and his ears were completely deafened by the whispers. He held on to Hedwig as if his life depended on it, which it did.
She flew and flew and flew, but the voices and the colors were driving Harry insane. He didn't know what to do, but the only thing he knew to do was not let go of that tail, no matter what. It was a matter of minutes, or it was a matter of hours. It didn't make any sense. He just held on to that tail until suddenly they were through.
There were Unspeakables in this room, too.
“Hold on there. What do you think you're doing?” yelled one of them. All three of them lifted their wands as if they were going to fire spells at them.
“Quick, Hedwig, we need to get out of here,” Harry said. Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder and flamed them out. He didn't know where she flamed him too, but he was glad of it. He looked around to see where they were and saw a Sirius standing there.
“Sirius!” he cried, running to his godfather, and throwing himself in his arms and started bawling on the man’s shoulder. He didn't care if he seemed like an overly emotional teenager. He just wanted to be in his godfather's arms one last time. Of course, it wasn’t for one last time, because his godfather was here now. And wasn't that mind blowing?
“Harry,” Sirius said, grabbing his godson and hugging him hard. “I'm so glad you made it. I didn't expect to see you so soon. Hedwig only left a couple of hours ago.” He had expected Harry to take days to figure out whether he was coming or not. He didn't expect him to come so soon. He had hoped it would take days because he needed to make some clearances and some preparations.
“How could I not be here? I missed you so much. Do you think you can come back with me? Hedwig can lead us back,” the young man cried, as if to convince his godfather that that was the place they needed to be.
“Harry, why would I want to go back to a place that wants to throw me in jail? Besides I told you in my letter, I have a nice life here,” Sirius asked, completely thrown that his godson would even ask that question. Didn't he realize the hell that he went through being in that world, going through what he went through? He was in prison for twelve years for no reason. Dumbledore had kept him prison in his own home. He was looked down on by everybody except Remus. Nobody paid attention to him. Nobody cared what he thought. Why would he want to go back to that? Couldn't Harry see that? So he told him that.
“I guess you're right, but what's here for us?” Harry asked, after hearing the man out, looking around the room for the first time. It was a rather large room that had nothing but metal paneling and a few chairs and a couch and some tables. There were lights on the panel. It looks kind of supernatural, or futuristic rather. Harry wasn't sure what to make of the room now that he thought about it. There were no gizmos or anything lying about, nothing except the chairs and furniture. He wondered what Sirius did for rest and relaxation.
“I'm free here, for one. Nobody expects anything from you, for two, and it's so much better here, for another,” Sirius said, counting things off on his fingers. It's the good things that were part of this world that weren't part of the other.
“Those are good things, but what else is there about this place that is better than ours. At least there we know people. We don't know anybody here. None of my friends are here. Is there even a Hogwarts here?” Harry asked, he was starting to feel guilty about leaving his friends behind to face Voldemort. He was the one who was prophesized to defeat the man. If he wasn't there, did that mean he was going to take over the world?
“There is a Hogwarts here, but it's not run by Dumbledore and there is no Dark Lord here,” Sirius said, looking at Harry as if he was just arguing for arguments sake. “That’s a good thing, Harry. There is no war going on,” he added.
“What do you mean there is no Dark Lord here. Didn't Voldemort rise to power here?” Harry asked, completely perplexed by the idea that there was no Dark Lord.
“No, because Dumbledore never rose to power here,” Sirius said with complete seriousness. It didn't make sense to him at first too, but then after it was explained to him it made complete sense.
“That doesn't make any sense,” said Harry with a puzzled look on his face. He was mad at the headmaster, but it didn't make any sense to him how he had anything to do with Voldemort rising in power.
“Actually, it does, if you have the story,” Sirius said, not really wanting to get into it. He didn't want to get into the debate whether the headmaster was a good man or not. It was something that Harry was just going to have to come to realize on his own.
“I don't understand,” said Harry, running a hand through his hair in frustration. To him, Dumbledore was a good man, even if he was mad at him. He just didn't understand that the man was manipulative.
“I don't know how to explain it to you, Harry. All I know is because Dumbledore never rose to power, there never was a Voldemort. There was a Grindelwald, but there never was a Voldemort,” Sirius said with a great deal of patience. He knew how hard it was to wrap your brain round that concept. It had taken him two weeks to do so, and he always knew that Dumbledore was a good man. Now he knew differently. Dumbledore was a good man. He was just also a very manipulative man with shades of evil. “Somehow, Albus was responsible for Tom Riddle turning into Voldemort, that’s all I know.”
“I’ll take your word for it for now. But who took care of Grindelwald?” the teenager asked, completely flabbergasted that somebody else besides Dumbledore would have taken care of one of the greatest Dark Lords there was of all time.
“Believe it or not, it was your grandfather,” Sirius said, grinning like a loon. He knew he could blow that boy's mind one more time.
“My grandfather? Fleamont Potter?” Harry asked, completely floored by the idea that that simple man would have taken care of that notorious Dark Lord.
“Yeah, your grandfather,” his godfather said, still with that grin on his face.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I was impressed too. I never knew Old Fleamont had him in it. And I knew him when I was younger. He's the one who took me in when I ran away from my mother's house,” Sirius said, getting a nostalgic look on his face. He remembered that time well. He had been in desperate need of some place to be, and James's parents had taken him in without question.
“You're gonna have to tell me that story sometime. So, tell me more about this new world, convince me that I wanna stay here instead of going home,” Harry said, still holding Hedwig on his shoulder. She was sighing and breathing heavily. “By the way, where can I put Hedwig? She must be tired from dragging me through the Veil. She went through it three times already today. I didn't. It was disorienting for me to go through it once. It must have been crazy for her to go through it three times.” He was very concerned about her. She wasn’t looking good. It would take days for her to recover. He wouldn’t ask her to do anything like that again, unless it was necessary.
“You can put her over here. I'm sure she must be tired,” Sirius said, pointing to a high back chair that would serve as a roost for this time. Since the wizards in this world use phones, there was no need for owls, so they didn't have an owl roost.
“Come on, Hedwig, let's let you rest,” Harry said, taking her over to the high back chair and putting her on the back of it.
Hedwig put her feet on the back of the chair and clamped down and put her head under her wings and rested. She was asleep before she knew it, but she still kept one ear out for her human. She trusted Sirius, but he was new to her, and she wanted to make sure Harry was comfortable around the man.
“So, tell me about this new world,” Harry reiterated, taking one of the chairs away from where Hedwig was perched, and talking quietly so that he could let her sleep.
“Well, for one, it's a lot more advanced than the world we came from, technologically speaking. They've got computers that are fast and phones that are instantaneous. It took me a while to get used to that, but I did. They're pretty user friendly. Even a complete idiot like me can use one. They're pretty much push here, dummy,” Sirius said, pulling out his cell phone and showing it to Harry. He didn't let the boy have it. He didn't want him to lock him out because he didn't know how to unlock the phone if it got locked. He wasn't that smart, but he did show it to him.
“The computers back home are awfully difficult to use. I even have a hard time using them,” Harry said, thinking of Dudley's computer in his room. It was hard for him to get through half of the programming Dudley went through. Then again, he didn't go through classes like Dudley did. He went through Hogwarts. So…
“The computers here are easier to use. They're made for everybody. We’ll get you one and get you caught up in no time. You can make friends easily enough. I have many friends, both virtual and in real life,” Sirius said, waxing poetic on the simplicity of it.
“Sounds promising,” the teen said, ready to get started.
“The problem is they keep track of everybody too. There's no privacy here. Our conversation right now is being recorded. Whether anybody's actually listening to it or not is debatable, but it is being recorded,” Sirius said with a shrug of his shoulders. Here, he’d gotten quite used to the fact that everything he did and said was recorded. He didn't think anybody was listening. He never had any privacy anyway, whether it was at Hogwarts or in prison, everybody was always listening to what he said. Either via the guards, listening charms or the portraits.
“So, for the ease of convenience you, and the public, given up privacy?” Harry asked, completely floored by that fact. He didn't think that was a good idea at all. He was one very much for his privacy. He didn't want anybody privy to what he had to say constantly. To him, that was just not something that was kosher.
“Basically,” Sirius said nonchalantly.
“Why would you, or they, do that?” the dark-haired wizard asked. His mind just boggled at this. He couldn't understand why anybody would give up their privacy. It just did not compute with him.
“Because it's simpler. But like I said, if there was anybody who's actually listening to the conversation it’s debatable. You gotta understand, there's like seven billion people in this world and only a hundred, maybe a thousand, people listening to conversations, so they're listening for keywords. Well, their computers listen for the keywords, and then they let the people who are listening know those keywords have been said. And then those people listen to the conversations. I don't think we've said any of those keywords. And even if they did, they'll be listening to our inane conversation,” the man explained, like it was the most logical thing in the world. “there is less crime in the world because of it.”
“I guess I get what you're saying. But still, to give up your privacy for the sake of convenience, that's mind boggling. Are you sure you don't want to go back to the wizarding world?” Harry asked, his tone took on a pleading quality.
“There wasn’t a lot of difference there. I'm telling you. Didn’t you get monitored in everything you did. Don't you remember? Nothing you did was left alone. Everybody knew everything about Harry Potter. And just about everything I did was recorded as well,” his godfather said, firm in his stance. “You couldn’t even sneeze without the press knowing about it and reporting it,” he said.
“I guess,” the younger man said, sighing in defeat.
“So, you want me to show you around?”
“Sure.”
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Harry stayed with Sirius for a while, and then he decided to move out on his own. He did everything he could to retain his privacy, but he knew it was futile because everywhere were cameras or recording devices. He wasn't comfortable around that. They were in his phone, they were in his TV, they were in his microwave, they were in his stove. Everywhere! There was a camera or recording device. It was driving him crazy. It was a year later that he decided to go back to the Veil.
“I'm sorry, Sirius. I can't stay here,” he said, His eyes were damped from crying because he knew he didn't want to go, but he just could not stay with this much scrutiny. He couldn’t sleep, he barely bathed, he hardly ever got undressed. He was at his wits end. He was anxious about everything he did, because he knew something was watching him. He felt eyes on him all the time. He was a nervous wreck.
“I'm sorry too, Harry, I am. I didn't think this would bother you so much. However, I can't go back with you,” Sirius said, his eyes tearing up too at the thought of losing his godson one more time. He really thought that his godson would like it here. Being away from all the stress of having Voldemort put on his shoulders all the time.
“It does help my heart to know that you're alive and well, though,” Harry said, wiping his eyes off with his hands so he could put on a happy smile. Now showing that he was trying to be brave. He really didn't want his godfather to think that he was leaving him sad.
“And it helps my heart to know that you're happy,” Sirius said. He wanted to be brave, too. He didn't want his godson, to be unhappy here. He truly thought Harry would feel differently. He was free here, and he wouldn’t’ give that up to live a life of a prisoner. Not for Harry, not for anyone.
“I don't know what I'm going to be going to when I go back, so wish me luck,” The dark-haired young wizard said. He was hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
“I wish you all the luck in the world, Harry, and I know you've been training since you've been here. Take your phone with you and maybe we can stay in contact,” his godfather said, knowing it was futile, but having hope anyway.
“I don't think it'll work on the other side, but I'll take it with me anyway. I know Hedwig can come back and forth through the Veil, though, so there is that. We can keep in contact that way,” Harry said, knowing that Hedwig would be more than happy to take a letter every now and then to his godfather. He didn't think she'd take it through every day, but he knew she would take it through every now and then.
“Okay, Harry.”
With that the two men hugged, and Harry went and packed his things and put them in the expandable bag that he had gotten from Gringotts. He also put his clothes that he had purchased here in this world in there. And everything else he thought he could take with him. Including his gold, his invisibility cloak, and pictures of his godfather. He left enough gold for Sirius to be able to live on. Not that he needed it. Sirius had done very well here in this world.
They met in front of the Veil. Hugged. Then Harry grabbed Hedwig's tail, and through the Veil they went.
It was the kaleidoscope of colors and a myriad of noise again. But Harry persevered and came to the other side, praying he was in the correct world. Not that he didn't trust Hedwig. But he didn't want to make a mistake. The Veil of Death room was unnervingly empty.
The whole Department of Mysteries seemed eerily quiet. There wasn't an Unspeakable in sight, actually. There wasn't anybody anywhere. There didn't seem to be any experiments going on, and there was nothing. At all.
He crept out of the Department of Mysteries and noticed that the Ministry of Magic seemed to be very, very quiet. Maybe it was nighttime? Throwing on his Invisibility Cloak he crept out of the Ministry of Magic, through the floo.
Now in the muggle streets, he caught the Knight Bus back to Privet Drive. He looked over to #4 Privet Drive and noticed that Uncle Vernon's car was not in the driveway. He decided not to take the chance that the Dursleys were no longer living there, so he recalled the Knight Bus and went to the Leaky Cauldron.
The Leaky Cauldron had a lot of people in it, but they didn't seem to be the right kind of people, so he kept his invisibility cloak on and crept through Diagon Alley. Seeing there were a lot of shady people in the Alley, he went to Gringotts.
He took off his Invisibility Cloak, threw up the hood of his robes and went to the nearest teller.
“I need to speak to Sharptooth,” he said, his voice calm and collective. He looked around at all the shady people in the lobby and wanted to make sure he didn't seem nervous at all. He was a lot older now than he was the last time he was here, and he was sure he could take down at least half the clientele. He wasn't sure about the other half, though.
“And who's asking?” the goblin said as it continued to evaluate gems, putting them off to the side based on their values.
Harry put his key on the counter. He waited for the goblin to pick it up and look at it.
“This account is closed,” the goblin said, peering at the key through his gem glass.
“Is there anybody I can talk to?” Harry asked. He really didn't care who he talked to as long as he got some information. He figured the goblins would be the best people to get that from. He didn't know where anybody else was.
“Are you opening an account?” the goblin asked, looking at him in a scrutinizing way.
“Yes, yes, I am,” Harry agreed hurriedly.
“Very well, follow me then,” said the goblin as it jumped off its stool and walked towards the back door. He made a motion for Harry to follow him. And he took him into another room, and they sat to open the account. The goblin pulled out some parchment and started going through the procedure of opening an account.
Harry stopped him and said, “What is going on out there?” He made a vague gesture towards the door to encompass all of the wizarding world.
“What do you mean out there?” the goblin asked, not sure exactly what he was talking about.
“Out in Diagon Alley, why is everybody out there so shady looking?” Harry clarified, keeping his voice calm and low.
“Haven't you heard? Where have you been?” this still unnamed goblin asked him through narrow eyes. His eyes darted over the young man’s face and landed on the scar on the brow and his eyes widened.
“Out of town,” was all Harry would tell him.
“Voldemort has taken over the ministry. This happened last year,” was all the answer he got. If Harry was going to be vague, so was the goblin.
“What happened to Dumbledore?” Harry asked. As far as he knew, Dumbledore was the only wizard that Voldemort was afraid of. As long as Dumbledore lived, Voldemort wouldn't go forward.
“He died a year ago,” the goblin said. Though he didn't seem too overly upset about it, it seemed the war with the wizards didn't affect Gringotts at all.
“Oh, and the Order of the Phoenix?” Harry asked, though that did explain a lot of things, that Dumbledore was dead. That means the war marched on without him.
“Never heard of them,” said the goblin.
“Is there any resistance that you know about?” Harry asked, leaning forward and in a hushed whisper. Having come from a place that recorded everything you said, he wanted to make sure that this was said in such a way that nobody would hear.
“You didn't hear it from me, but you had best asked the Weasley twins,” the goblin said, leaning forward in a similar manner so only Harry could hear him.
“I didn't hear it from you,” Harry said, agreeing wholeheartedly that he never heard anything from the goblin. “Let's open that account,” he said, in a louder voice.
So, the two talked about opening Harry's account. He only put half his gold and kept the other half in his pouch. He took the key to the account and put it in the pouch too and walked out of Gringotts. He looked with disdain at everybody that was in the Alley as he didn't see anybody that looked to be any type of clean character. It was if, as if all of the wholesome people were just staying at home and too scared to come out. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
Harry set out to find The Weasley twins. It wasn't hard to do. They were very open about their sneakiness. Once he found them, and he proved to them who he was, it was all out war between him and Voldemort. There were fights in the streets and Harry was the new Dumbledore, only less manipulative. He even had the phoenix to prove it. He was hailed as the leader of the light and led the battles. He didn’t lead people to their deaths and was on the front line, not in the shadows controlling everything like a puppet master.
It only took a matter of months before the final finale came. It was fought on the streets of Diagon Alley and Harry Potter won once again. It was a fluke, but he won. And it was only because Dumbledore had left him the ring and the wand, in hopes that he would come back and save the wizarding world. Harry was the Master of Death, but that’s another story.
If Harry Potter had stayed away, then the wizarding world would have been lost. But Harry always had his ‘saving people thing’, and he came back because he just didn't like people looking over his shoulder all the damn time. Here, he was in charge of his own destiny. Well, now that the old man was gone.
They found out about the horcruxes after the fact and took care of them too. It was just a matter of viewing Dumbledore’s memories. The one in Harry was destroyed in the Veil, the first time he went through. He killed the others in much the same manner. Voldy wasn’t coming back.
Harry kept in touch with Sirius after he had won. And they kept writing back and forth via the Veil of Death. And it was all because of the phoenix that was once an owl known as Hedwig.