Chapter 3
When Harry and Hermione entered the cave, Harry was met with a bone crushing hug. Harry didn't hesitate to hug his godfather back. He missed him so much after what happened last year. It took at least a minute or so for Sirius to let go of him. His godfather looked at him from head to toe as if Harry already went through with the first task and was checking for injuries. Then he hugged him again, but this time he let go less than a minute.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Sirius asked. "Did anything happened at Hogwarts after your name was pulled out?"
"Aside from no one believing my innocence, abandoning me, and probably planning something against me, nope," Harry spoke sarcastically.
Sirius frowned. He glanced over at Hermione, who greeted him with a smile. Sirius gave her a nod and glanced back at Harry. Even though Sirius was very open with his opinions, but Harry could tell that he noticed Ron wasn't with them and knew why. It wasn't hard to figured out. In fact, the whole school knew that Ron wasn't his friend anymore.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," Sirius apologized.
Harry shook his head. "It's fine...I-I just wished things were better."
"We did found some other rules about the Triwizard Tournament," Hermione said. "but it wasn't in our favor."
Sirius nodded. "Tell me about it while we eat."
At once, Sirius transfigured some rocks into a chair, table, plates, cups, and utensils. Harry and Hermione placed the food on the plates and poured some pumpkin juice. Soon, the three of them at the table. When they started eating, Harry and Hermione told Sirius of what they discovered. Sirius wasn't too pleased about the whole both people loose their magic, but he did seemed satisfied that whoever put Harry's name in the goblet would loose theirs's too. When they told him about the other loopholes, Sirius became excited, but soon that quickly disappeared when they told him what the two loopholes was about. As well as the other rules too.
"I see," Sirius crossed his arms. "I don't know if there's nothing much we can do."
Harry frowned and Hermione gasped. Clenched fists, Harry stood up. His eyes flared with anger. He couldn't believed what he was hearing. He thought Sirius would help him, but instead he wouldn't help him. Harry didn't want to go with the tournament. It was like a death sentence. He had already been through enough, why put him through more pain and suffering? What was the point to all of this? Harry was one step away for punching Sirius like he did last year and this time he wouldn't regret it.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Harry snapped.
"Sirius, there has to be another way!" Hermione exclaimed.
Sirius sighed. "The only way is to go muggle and how many witches or wizards will be willingly to give up their magic?"
Everyone was silent. Harry knew his godfather had a point. Giving up someone's magic was worst than death. He knew every time he had to go back tot he Dursleys, the wizards and witches around him complained how they couldn't do magic outside of school and felt like a muggle. Of course Harry and Hermione didn't mind since they were raised in the muggle environment. However, now he thought about it, Sirius did had a point. However, for Harry, he was willingly to do anything just to get out of that tournament.
"Hermione, I'll meet you back at the common room," Harry said. "It's almost curfew."
Hermione looked at him. It looked like she was about to say something. Harry knew how opinionated Hermione was, but for now, Harry would like to have a word with his godfather. Finally, Hermione nodded and got up from her seat as she quickly said her goodbye and left. After at least five minutes or so, when Harry took out his wand and did a quick locating charm to see if Hermione was still around. When the charm detect nothing, Harry put his wand away and slammed his hands on the table.
"I thought you'll be able to help me!" Harry shouted.
"Harry-" Sirius was about to say.
"How could you say this?! I thought I could count on you!!!"
"Harry, listen-"
"Shut up! You listen-"
"I want us to escape from here!" Sirius declared.
Harry froze. He tried to comprehend on what Sirius just said. Escape? He wanted both of them to...escape? Harry frowned. If they do escape from the wizarding world that meant...Harry would loose his magic and become a muggle. Wait...why did Sirius said all of those things from the beginning? What's going on?
"Why?" Harry demanded.
"I do think we should run," Sirius explained. "I had a feeling you might go with this route and I support your decision. Even when I do disagreed, then I will tell you, but considering the options that we were given...this is the only option."
Harry pursed his lips. He really wished there were other options for him, but the wizarding world was never to begin with. Ever since his first year was constant danger and each year it just got worst. how a school like Hogwarts didn't get shut down amazed him. Maybe in an another universe, Harry did all of these task, but not in this universe. Harry didn't want to go through pain anymore. Even if it means loosing his magic, he will. After all, he can survive in the muggle world, it's just that education was the main problem...and maybe finding a roof over his head.
"You mean it?" Harry asked. "We'll run?"
Sirius smirked. "Of course, we will. Besides, I'm still upset how Dumbledore tossed me aside like a scrap of meat, but vouch for Snape. I didn't even get a trail and Dumbledore has the power to give me one, but didn't."
"You're okay with me to loose my magic and become a muggle? Why didn't you agreed with me before?"
"Because if I agreed, then Hermione would know. Dumbledore would be able to look into her mind and see what we're planning. I can't risk that. I was glad that you sent her away because I was going to do that. Harry, when James and Lily made me your godfather, I promised them to keep you safe and make sure you are happy. They didn't die so you could become a savior to the wizarding world. They wanted you to live a long and happy life. If they saw this now, they are probably not pleased by this. Knowing Lily, she'll probably make a list to who she'll have to strangled, while James would probably just let her do that."
Harry stared at his godfather. A plan...Sirius has a plan? Harry didn't know what plan Sirius had, but he'll go along with it anyway. Anywhere was better than the wizarding world. No one would know who he was or why he's famous. He'll be just Harry to people.
"So what's you plan?" Harry questioned.
Sirius folded his hands together. "We go to Gotham. No witch and wizard would think to go to Gotham. Even the American wizards too. James and Lily has a house there just in case if they needed to go into hiding in America. The house is hidden and the only people who knows about that house is me and the other Potters in America. No one in the British wizarding community would think of going to Gotham."
"I have relatives?!" Harry nearly shouted.
Sirius nodded. "Yes, you do. You probably heard of him. He's famous for being a curse-breaker. His name is Bernard Dowd. His mother is the famous American Auror, Charlotte Potter."
Harry's mouth dropped. He knew who these people were. At the time, before their friendship was broken, Harry and Ron would talk about being either a Auror or a curse-breaker. Harry even learned who Dowd was through the Daily Prophet and other articles. Ron knew because Bill talked about wanting to work with Dowd one day. Never in Harry's life that he'll never figured out that Dowd was a Potter all along.
"The Potters," Sirius continued. "both British and American are very close. I remembered Bernard. He and his family used to visit you and your parents. In your parents' will, if for some reason I can't take care of you, Bernard and Charlotte would be able to take care of you. When you were a first year, Bernard was seventeen. Now you're a fourth year, he is twenty. If we go to Gotham, we can find him and have you stay with him. Hopefully, if we have enough time, we can stop have Bernard take you out of the tournament, since he is a living blood relative. If we can't find him on time, as I said before, I'm a hundred percent fine with you becoming a muggle."
"Why not Charlotte?" Harry asked.
"From the last time I read in the American wizarding papers, Charlotte is now working at MACUSA. She's very busy. Bernard, on the other hand is now at home in Gotham. He just finished dealing with the curses in Asia a week ago and is on a break because dealing with curses in Asia takes a lot of work than normal curses that we dealt with. Which means if we leave this weekend, we can try to find him."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He never knew he had relatives. Living relatives that weren't the Dursleys. All of this life, Harry thought the Dursleys were his only blood relative, but it turned out that they're not. Dowd and Charlotte were alive and close to his family. That meant they knew of his existence. Then Harry realized something as his eyes widened from shock to anger.
"Dumbledore knew didn't he?" Harry guessed.
Sirius nodded silently. It was clear to Harry that Dumbledore knew of the American Potters. Harry knew about the American wizarding community. He just never knew that he had relatives living there. That meant Harry would've been living with Dowd and Charlotte if Dumbledore didn't meddled with his life. Harry would've been in a loving family that cared about him, but he didn't because Dumbledore robbed that from him.
"Can we leave tomorrow night?" Harry asked.
Sirius blinked. "Isn't that a bit too soon? I do want you have time to pack, say goodbye, and all."
Harry laughed coldly. "What's there to pack? My clothes is still in my trunk. I just need to bring Hedwig. Hermione...she'll understand. I do think she knows I'll be going the muggle route, but like you said, she can't know where we're going...maybe I can bring Dobby."
Sirius raised a brow. "Didn't you freed him?"
"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll like it if I was his master. Besides, the Potter house is probably filthy. We probably need an extra hand on the cleaning."
Sirius nodded. "Then lets meet at front of Gringotts at midnight or at the latest, one in the morning. We'll get our money and convert it to muggle money. After that we'll leave. Goblins can keep a secret...how else would I get you the firebolt."
The more Harry thought about it, the more Harry did wanted to know how on earth did Sirius even bought the firebolt. Harry pushed that thought aside. For now, he needed to focus on his escape. Then he'll ask about that later. Besides, as much as Harry knew about Gotham and how dangerous it was, he did knew about the vigilantes that fought there, thanks for Dudley's fanboying of them. He was aware who Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and the others were. He even knew who Bruce Wayne was, thanks to Aunt Petunia reading some magazines about him. Although, Harry didn't know what Wayne looked like. All Harry knew was that Wayne likes to adopt. Rumor has it Wayne is dating Batman.
"Okay then," Harry said. "Let's meet at Gringotts."
Sirius smiled. "Good and don't do magic. I don't want the ministry to track us. For now, you need to go back and pack. Just act normal. I don't want you to send letters to Hermione unless it's safe to do so."
"What about Voldemort?"
The one thing Harry hated was the person who ruined his life. Dumbledore was now his second person who ruined his life and the Dursleys were the third. Harry didn't want Voldemort to kill anyone in his path just to try to kill him. Harry knew that one day Voldemort would one day regain his power, but he hoped that it wouldn't be any time soon. Besides, Harry was sure that Gotham would be the last place Voldemort would look for him.
"We'll worry about him later," Sirius said. "My only priority is your safety, Harry. I know I wasn't the best godfather when I put revenge over you, but I wanted to make that up to you."
Harry's eyes softened. He didn't wanted to admit it, but he was a bit disappointed that Sirius did chose to go after Pettigrew over him. Sure, Harry voiced his opinion, but at the time he was busy trying to kill Sirius for outing his parents when in fact it turned out to be Pettigrew. Of course Harry kicked himself over the foot for that, but he had no idea Sirius felt like that too.
"Thank you," Harry said.
At once the two hugged. Harry held Sirius as tightly as he could. He was glad someone believed he didn't put his name in the goblet, aside from Hermione of course. He just wished there were more people who believed him and for some reason Harry just didn't understand. He did so much for the school. He sacrificed his life to save them and yet when Harry needed them the most, people just turned away from him and thought he only wanted more fame. Harry wished that there were more people who would understand that he never wanted fame. He thought Ron did, but of course that didn't happened.
As they broke apart, Sirius ruffled his hair and the two quickly said their goodbyes. Harry use his cloak and got back into Hogwarts with no problem. When he got to his dorm room, everyone was fast asleep. Harry changed into his pajamas and laid on his bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. He couldn't believed he was actually doing this. Harry never thought he would do this, but this was a risk he was willingly to take. Besides, he was sure having his magic being taken away was like loosing a limb or something. He wasn't sure how it's going to feel, but when the time comes and in case if they couldn't find Dowd on time, at least Harry has Sirius and hopefully Dobby too. Harry hoped that after the whole Triwizard Tournament passed, he'll never return to Hogwarts.