Harry spent
the next two weeks practising transforming with Hermione and Ron. He was
determined to have it perfected it by the next meeting of the Order which, Prof.
McGonagall had told him after a Transfiguration class, was on the twenty-first
of November. Hermione wasn’t too sure he would be able to do it however.
‘It’s very difficult magic,
Harry,’ she said. ‘Many fully-grown wizards can’t transform. There are
reasons why there is an age restriction on transforming you know. And I bet
Dumbledore doesn’t expect you to have gotten it perfect by the
twenty-first.’
‘Well, we’re going to surprise
him aren’t we,’ said Harry.
By the twentieth Harry had almost
perfected it. He had become the correct size with large barn owl-eyes but he was
going a bit sparse with the feathers. He had also managed to have a conversation
with Hedwig though this was compiled mostly of hunting successes and sightings
she had seen while hunting the previous night. Harry heard this as though it
were English and he responded in what he though was English but it ended up just
being hooting just as it was with his Parslemouth.
On the evening of the twenty-first
after dinner at eight o’clock, Harry headed for the statue of Merlin the Great
on the fourth floor. He whipped out his wand and tapped the side of the statue.
It sprang to life and jumped aside to allow Harry enter the passage on the other
side. When he reached the chamber the rest of the order were already there
including Hagrid and Madame Maxime. Harry sat down in his usual place between
Sirius and Moody, and Dumbledore began to talk.
‘Now,’ said Dumbledore, ‘I
believe Harry that you have been practicing for transformation. The Order will
be going somewhere in a week, which I will tell everyone about in just a minute,
but firstly I would like to see how far you have reached in your transforming.
Would you mind demonstrating?’
Harry wasn’t too sure about this.
He didn’t want to transform with all these people around. It was bad enough
just Hagrid and Sirius watching but he felt he had no choice so he got up from
his chair and stood away from the table. He closed is eyes but before he was
barely able to think about transforming he felt the tingling rush through his
body. When he opened his eyes, yet again, everything seemed bigger than usual;
he was able to see better and he felt peculiarly warm. He looked down at his
body and saw feathers. He had completely transformed. He felt a sudden urge to
fly around the room he was so happy. He spread his wings and took off. It was a
lot easier than he had expected. He had thought that he would, like any normal
bird, have to learn to fly from scratch. He wasn’t perfect at flying. He
couldn’t fly in a straight line and he often fell through the air a bit before
picking himself up again. Even still, the flying seemed even better than flying
on a broomstick. He flew over to his seat and perched on the back of it.
Dumbledore, Sirius, Hagrid and Madame Maxime all clapped. Mrs. Figg nearly
fainted from delight that Harry had transformed fully for his first time right
in front of her. Moody was to cautious about letting his guard down to clap and
Fletcher still seemed unhappy about Harry being in the Order, so he didn’t
clap either.
‘Well done, Harry,’ said
Dumbledore beaming at him. ‘I always felt a strong connection with magic in
you.’ Harry hooted back.
‘Now,’ he
continued addressing everyone. ‘I believe it is time to revisit the place of
Lord Voldemort’s –’ Hagrid shivered - ‘collapse – Godric’s Hollow.
It is the home of Lily and James Potter and I believe it is essential for us to
revisit it. It have certain information that may help us defeat Lord Voldemort
once and for all. I must however revisit Godric’s Hollow however as there may
be crucial evidence as to whether defeating Lord Voldemort is possible. I will
need your help to find this evidence. I do not know what form it will come in
but I am almost certain it will be there. The house was destroyed after Lord
Voldemort’s spell backfired and left only rubble. A spell, however, was cast
upon the house so that it looks as it did before it collapsed. This way it can
be preserved for later inspection when a wizard from this Order enters it.
‘There is some information about
the Potters that I believe everyone should know before going. Arabella and
Sirius, I believe, are the only people in this room who know the information I
am about to reveal and it may surprise some people.’ He looked at Harry as he
said this. ‘James Potter was the heir of Godric Gryffindor. That is why Lord
Voldemort killed him. Lord Voldemort wanted to finish off Salazar Slytherin’s
work by killing all the descendants of Gryffindor. Once he did this he would be
able to take over Hogwarts as he would be the only descendant of the four
founders left. With this power he would be able to run the school with the Dark
Arts and only people from ancient wizarding families. He would soon have enough
followers to kill all the Muggles or people of Muggle heritage in the
world. All the people that he killed while he was gaining power were descendants
of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Few people knew this and that is why
everyone feared for their lives. Now, however, I believe he is killing any
Muggle, person of Muggle parentage or Muggle lover he sees. All of James’
ancestors were witches and wizards right back to Godric Gryffindor. Godric was,
in fact, of Muggle parentage. The only descendants Lord Voldemort didn’t
manage to kill were Harry and Vernon Dursley.’
Harry fell backwards off the back
of the chair and onto the hard, carpeted ground. He immediately transformed back
into a human (which was surprisingly easy) and got up again.
‘Uncle Vernon is related to my
dad!’ cried Harry.
‘Yes, Harry,’ said Dumbledore.
‘He is, in fact, your father’s cousin.’
Harry couldn’t believe it. After
all that Uncle Vernon had said about witches and wizards and he was a descendant
of one. And then Harry realised something.
‘Pro- I mean Albus,’ he said.
‘If all of my Dad’s ancestors were witches and wizards would Uncle Vernon
not also be a wizard?’ But Harry had already guessed the answer.
‘Vernon Dursley had witch and
wizard parents and siblings. He was the only one in the family to lack magic. He
is, as you would call him, a Squib. That is why, I believe, he detests witches
and wizards so much. Everyone around him had magic but he didn’t. He was
jealous.’
Harry couldn’t believe it. He had
spent ten years of his life living with someone who could have told him all
about the wizarding world. Someone who had lived their life among wizards yet he
never talked about it. Not even to criticise it.
‘Now,’ continued Prof.
Dumbledore. ‘On this Saturday coming we will be Disapparating to Godric’s
Hollow from hear at this time. It will be best to do so when it is dark and we
can be at peace. Goodnight to you all.’
‘Albus,’ said Harry, ‘I
can’t Disapparate.
‘Don’t worry about that,
Harry,’ said Prof. Dumbledore smiling. ‘I’ve already organised that.’
And with that he got up off his seat and left the chamber.
Harry left the chamber feeling
sick. He ambled slowly up to the picture of the Fat Lady as she came to life.
‘Violet’s been telling me you
can transform into an owl, dear,’ beamed the Fat Lady. ‘Oh! Do show me!’
‘No. I don’t feel like it,’
mumbled Harry. ‘Hanging Gnomes.’
‘Ah go on,’ pleaded the Fat
Lady as she swung open to reveal the secret Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry stepped in and went straight
over to a quiet corner where Hermione and Ron were already sitting doing their
Herbology homework (Revision on Mandrakes – The Main Properties and
Precautions).
‘What’s wrong?’ asked
Hermione seeing Harry’s sickly face and Harry lunged into the story about what
Dumbledore had just told him.
‘Ah rotten luck,’ said Ron.
‘And I thought I was hard done by having a Magician in the family – my third
cousin once removed, I think.’
‘What’s wrong with
magicians?’ asked Harry. ‘Aren’t they just Muggles that can do tricks?’
‘Oh no!’ exclaimed Hermione.
‘Magicians are witches or wizards but are thought to be too untrustworthy to
keep the secrets of the wizardry world so they aren’t accepted at any wizardry
school. They still have magic in them but they just don’t know how to use it.
You see many of them showing Muggles tricks they have taught themselves but of
course the Muggles just think the tricks are illusions or because of wrist
movement. They’re frowned upon by most people in the wizarding world.’
Just then Crookshanks leapt up onto
Harry’s lap and Harry remembered about being a proper Animagi. He told them
how easy it had been but decided it would be best not transform with Crookshanks
around, never mind the rest of the Gryffindors (‘Crookshanks is not a
barbarian!’ cried Hermione. ‘He knows you, Harry. He’s not going to eat
you.’). He promised them, however, that he would show them in an empty class
the next day at lunch.
***
Harry did
exactly as he had promised and the next day he showed both Ron and Hermione how
well he could transform into an owl. They were both amazed.
‘Wow!’ exclaimed Ron. ‘Even
Percy can’t transform yet.’
‘That’s amazing, Harry,’
cried Hermione. ‘I still can’t understand however why Dumbledore would allow
you break the law like that. You’re underage and besides you don’t even have
a license.’
‘Oh give it a break Hermione,’
said Ron. ‘Dumbledore obviously knows what he’s doing.’
The rest of the week went by
slowly. Harry had no free time as it was taken up completely by homework,
classes and Quidditch practise. But finally Saturday came and it was time for
him to head down to the forth floor. He was already a bit late because Colin
Creevey held him up in the common room wanting a picture of him and beside the
fire but Harry finally shook him off.
In the corridor in front of the Fat
Lady, Harry decided it would be quicker to transform and fly down. Making sure
no one could see him, he transformed.
‘Oh that was brilliant,’ cried
a voice from behind Harry. Harry turned around (now an owl). It was the Fat
Lady. ‘Oh go on! Do it again!’ But Harry just hooted happily and flew away.
Flying was much quicker than
walking though he had trouble when he reached a tapestry because he wasn’t
strong enough to move it. But he finally found that there were gaps just big
enough for him to squeeze under at the bottom of each tapestry.
He ran into more trouble, however,
on the fifth floor corridor. Filch, holding a mop in his hand, was walking up it
with Mrs. Norris, towards Harry.
‘DIRTY, FILTHY OWLS!’ roared
Filch when he saw Harry flying towards him. ‘Leaving their mess everywhere for
me to clean up. Well not this one.’ And he swung the mop at Harry missing by
only millimetres. He swung again and again and again and each time Harry dodged
them using the skills he had learnt from Quidditch.
He finally got away from Filch and
at last arrived on the forth floor at the statue of Merlin the Great suddenly
remembering he had no phoenix feather to open the secret chamber.
‘Great,’ he thought. ‘Now
what am I going to do?’ But just then his luck seemed to be with him (well,
maybe it wasn’t completely with him), for Prof. Figg came briskly around the
corner.
‘Ah, Harry!’ she cried.
‘Practising your transfiguration are you? I bet your friends are very proud
and jealous of you. I suppose you’ll be transforming at every chance you
get.’
‘Well no,’ Harry said.
‘Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone.’
‘Oh don’t listen to him,
Harry,’ Figg said. ‘He just doesn’t want you to show off.’ She then
pulled something big and feathery out from under her cloak. It was a very
disgruntled looking phoenix. It’s feathers were ruffled and it had big bald
patches on it’s back. Harry wondered where she had room to keep that under her
cloak because phoenixes aren’t small birds. She then brushed the phoenix over
the statue and Merlin jumped aside to reveal the passageway once again.
Together they walked down the
passageway to the table and saw Dumbledore sitting in his usual place and the
rest of the Order standing around the table.
‘Ah! You are here,’ said
Dumbledore. ‘Now we will all transform before Disapparating to Godric’s
Hollow. Harry, you are to touch me as I Disapparate. That way you will
Disapparate with me. Moody, you can hold onto Sirius. Now, everybody
transform.’
And so everyone transformed.
Sirius, into the familiar big, black, shaggy dog. Dumbledore, into a large gold
and red Phoenix. Figg, into a Kneazle. Lupin, into a large wolf, Moody, into a
badger. Fletcher, into a fox and both Hagrid and Maxime turned into large mice
– Hagrid was black and Maxime was brown. Harry, himself, turned into the now
familiar barn owl with the little red lighting bolt on his forehead.
One by one they Disapparated until
just Dumbledore and Harry were left. Harry flew over and landed beside the
Phoenix. He laid his wing on Dumbledore’s back just as Dumbledore
Disapparated.
Surprisingly, Disapparating
wasn’t at all scary. Harry had expected it to hurt or to feel sick but nothing
of the sort happened. The chamber quickly faded and at the same time a street
appeared.
It was already dark on the short
street. There were just five houses on each side of the street all the same
design. The rest of the Order was already there. Dumbledore took flight as did
Harry, and led the animals to he first house on the street. The house was larger
than the Dursleys’ but once Dumbledore flew over the low wall the house
suddenly vanished. What was left was rubble and bits of walls sticking up out of
the ground.
So, this is where my parents were
murdered, thought Harry full of hatred, and where I defeated Voldemort.
Dumbledore
flew straight to a tall tree and gazed around at the site while Figg, Hagrid,
Maxime, Lupin, Fletcher, Moody and Sirius walked around the rubble looking in
corners and gaps. Harry hadn’t a clue what to look for so he sat on the
highest bit of wall he could find and gazed around at the devastated area
looking for something that was out of the ordinary but he saw nothing.
After only five minutes Dumbledore
took flight again and flew back to the street again followed by the rest of the
Order. Harry followed suit. Out on the street the animals started to Disapparate
again. Harry moved over to Dumbledore and once all the animals had gone he laid
his wing on Dumbledore’s back and they Disapparated together.
When they Apparated back into the
chamber Harry suddenly realised something. He transformed along with the rest of
the Order and went over to Dumbldore who had sat down in his place.
‘Albus,’ he said, ‘how come
we were able to Apparate out of and into here. I thought you couldn’t in
Hogwarts.’
‘Ah but Harry,’ said Dumbldore.
‘We aren’t in the Hogwarts grounds anymore. That corridor reaches out over
the wall that surrounds this school. It does not feel such along walk only
because it is magically shortened.’
‘Wouldn’t people see it?’
asked Harry
‘You forget you are in the
wizarding world,’ said Dumbldore. ‘This room is completely invisible from
outside and one could walk through it without noticing it.
‘Now please,’ he continued,
‘could everyone come over to me?’ Everyone moved over to Dumbledore and he
whipped out his wand. He pointed it at the table and a large stone bowl suddenly
appeared. Harry recognised it as the Pensive. He then put his wand up to his
head and pulled a silver string of thought from his head and placed it in the
bowl. An image of Godric’s Hollow appeared and then vanished as he put his
wand up to Harry’s head and pulled another string of silver thought away and
dropped it in the Pensive. Once again an image of Godric’s Hollow appeared. He
did this for the whole order and when he was finished he said ‘Now I can
examine the rubble without being disturbed and find that important piece of
evidence.’
Everyone left the chamber and Harry
headed back to the Gryffindor common room.