A/N: I got most of my ideas for Potter Manor from Ballindalloch Castle, the homepage for it can be found on my bio page. It’s a beautiful castle which I have had the pleasure of visiting on two occasions and it was very inspirational when it came to writing some aspects of this chapter. So if you want a rough idea of the picture I have in my head for this house then you could visit this site and hit the ‘Tour Castle’ button. I should also probably note that the book “ ‘I Can Write My ABC’s’ by Kama Einhorn is an actual children’s book, one that my little cousin Lewis showed me with distinct pride! Don’t forget to read and review!
Like the week before Ellie woke him fairly early in the morning as she did Ginny. This time, however, Charlie and Tonks would also be accompanying them and their portkey was a rather worn looking beach bag. After the whirlwind of travelling, Harry found himself standing alongside a tall, white wall with large wrought iron gates just to his left. The long metal spars were twisted elaborately and pointed towards the words that adorned the top of the gates, ‘Potter Hall’.
“Are we safe out here?” Charlie glanced around at the vast open landscape as he took a protective step towards Elizabeth.
“Yes, it’s hidden by the Fidelius Charm,” Ellie answered knowledgeably
“But then how did Voldemort know where it was…oh,” Tonks muttered when Remus’ features hardened slightly.
“Dirty, lousy rat,” Harry muttered under his breath.
“They should have chosen me or Sirius, if they had then we wouldn’t be in this sorry situation,” Remus said sadly.
“You listen here, Remus John Lupin,” Tonks said in her best Mrs. Weasley tone. “Ifs, buts and maybes will only get you one place “ a deep, dark hole of depression! If they had made you their secret keeper then you would probably be dead, you and I would never have fallen in love and this entire family wouldn’t be as close as it is. Now I don’t know about you but I love our family, so stop moping and buck up!” she scolded him fiercely. Tonks usually had such a friendly and approachable nature that she had surprised them all with her outburst.
“I couldn’t agree more. I don’t know where we’d be without you, Moony,” Ellie said warmly.
“She’s right,” Harry agreed.
“That goes for me and short-fry too!” Charlie said pointing at Ginny.
“Hey!” Ellie and Ginny protested simultaneously.
“You’re lucky if I’m an inch taller than Ginny,” Ellie complained.
“It’s not my fault you’re short, that’s down to genes,” Charlie mocked.
“If you’re not careful, Charlie Weasley, you’ll have to find yourself another wife!”
“Don’t joke about things like that, Ellie!” he said seriously, it was only two months ago that he had come close to having to find himself another wife. She ignored this comment and instead strolled towards the gates, which opened for her automatically. She reached her arm out towards Harry and signalled him forward.
“Welcome, Harry, to Potter Hall,” she said brightly.
In front of him stood what looked like a miniature Hogwarts. It was definitely a castle, despite the fact that it was on rather the small side for that type of building. It came complete with towers and turrets and Harry suspected that it might also have wings. Its brickwork was slightly darker than that of the castle he called school; it was a rather murky shade of grey. One side of the building had a stained window that must have easily been twice the height and breadth of Hagrid. As they walked up the sweeping driveway he noticed the front doors which were undoubtedly at least twenty feet tall and half that wide, they were made of solid oak strips bound together by broad metal straps.
“Patefacio Sesame!” Ellie breathed. “There’s a lot to be said for Muggle tales, you know,” she said cheerfully.
“Open Sesame,” Remus explained to him when he spotted Harry’s bemused expression.
The mammoth front doors swung open, admitting them to the vast entrance hall, it had a tall vaulted ceiling supported by several pairs of wooden pillars with intricate carvings, and a gleaming marble floor. There were three hallways leading off in different directions, one to the left, one to the right and another straight down the centre of the house. At the far end of the entrance hall was a wide, sweeping staircase much like the one at Hogwarts, it was lined with sizeable portraits of moving subjects. There was a large stone archway on either side of the hall, one led to what looked like the drawing room and the other to the sitting room. Right next to each archway was an enormous beautifully gilded fireplace.
“This place has been home to the Potter family for over seven hundred years. These are only the formal rooms; the last time these were used was to welcome people after your christening. They came in here until the Main Hall was ready.” She waved her arm towards the hallway to the left. “The ordinary sitting room is upstairs,” she smiled at him and strode confidently towards the passage directly in front of her, the group followed behind her. They passed half a dozen doors on their journey down the corridor and eventually emerged in a room that was approximately half the size of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Harry looked up in to the excruciatingly high rafters, almost giving himself neck ache. The stained window that he had seen from outside was part of a wall in this room; from the close proximity Harry was able to read the name below. Merlin. The figure of a longhaired, wizard in magnificent silver robes was depicted with his wand out and sparks flying from it; he was surrounded by an aura of power.
“Why do we have a stained window with Merlin on it?” Harry wondered aloud.
“Our ancestry can be traced back through countless generations to Merlin himself. We’re also related Godric Gryffindor,” Ellie was stood next to him, staring up and the sparkling window.
“Seriously?” he remembered seeing Dumbledore after his escapades down in the Chamber of Secrets, it was then that the headmaster had commented that only a ‘true Gryffindor’ could have pulled Godric’s sword out of the sorting hat.
“Yep, he’s our great, great, great, great… oh, I’m not sure how many greats there are but cutting to the chase he’s our something grandfather in the Potter line. There are actually other connections to the Dumbledore family somewhere along the lines; you can look it up on the family tree. We’ve got a distant cousin somewhere who married in to the Weasley family as well,” she laughed at Harry’s astonished expression. “You’ve been told before that all the pure-blood families are interconnected haven’t you?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t realise just how literally it was meant,” he said with surprise.
“Very literally, if you go back several generations we’re related to the Blacks and the Malfoys as well…”
“But how?” Harry found it very hard to cope with the idea that he was in anyway linked with Draco Malfoy.
“Before you go panicking about our connections to dark wizards let me point out that every family has a black sheep or two somewhere and we are no different,” she looked at him reproachfully.
“They used to hold the most terrific parties in here, you know,” Remus interjected. “Every New Year, Halloween, birthday and anniversary, this family never could resist the opportunity to have a good party. If only these walls could talk…” he stared wistfully at the walls as though silently reading the stories that lay etched in to the stained pine panelling. “They invited everyone they knew; your grandparents certainly knew how to spread cheer.”
“They certainly did. I came to your second birthday party,” Tonks added to Ellie.
“I never knew that!” the auburn haired girl exclaimed.
“She caused a ruckus by blending into the wallpaper in your bedroom. It took everyone three hours to find her; it could have taken longer if she hadn’t laughed at Sirius. He muttered some choice expletives under his breath when he was forced to join the hunt for her,” Charlie recalled.
“Actually, I think you’ll find I was laughing at you laughing at Sirius’s mutterings. You were making a funny snorting noise,” Tonks teased.
“What can I say? I was eight and I thought that it was amusing,” Charlie shrugged his broad shoulders.
“What was he muttering?” Ginny asked.
“Don’t you dare tell her!” Remus interrupted. “They were undoubtedly words that no young lady should be privy to,” he said with a nostalgic smile.
“Yes, but this young lady has five older brothers so there aren’t many swear words she hasn’t heard,” Ginny protested.
“I don’t know about that, Gin, he used some ones that even I’d never heard and haven’t since!” Charlie smirked.
“Do you want to go upstairs? All the more interesting stuff is up there,” Ellie made a deliberate attempt to change the subject. Harry knew that his godfather was still an especially sore subject for his cousin, like him she felt the need to blame herself for Sirius’s untimely death. She believed that if she had been where she should have then it would never have happened. She didn’t really wait for an answer before she slid a section of panelling to one side, revealing a secret staircase; Harry had a sneaking suspicion that this house had been built with his school in mind.
When they surfaced at the top of the stairs they were on a landing of the main staircase that started in the entrance hall. They found themselves stood in the middle of a large open area that was almost identical to the one below, the difference being that on this floor there were four large archways, three of them had been filled with doors and a fourth had luxurious red velvet curtains hanging in it. There were dozens of portraits hanging on the walls including a short, red-haired witch in glittering emerald green robes, her long hair was plaited and she wore a large bright green jewel that he recognized but could not place. When she saw them she shuffled forward elegantly in her frame and gazed at them intently. “HOW DARE YOU!” she suddenly shouted right in Harry’s ear.
“Excuse me? What did I do?” Harry objected.
“Who do you think you are, storming in here and pretending to be James Potter? What right have you got? And you over there,” she now wagged her finger accusingly at Ellie. “You almost had me fooled you know, for a second I was sure you were Jane but then I saw that nose! What do you think you’re doing? You’ve not fooled me! EVERYONE WAKE UP! WE’VE GOT INTRUDERS! WAKE UP!” she called to the paintings around her. The people began to stir and rubbed their eyes sleepily but when they saw the group on the landing they suddenly looked very alert.
“Explain yourselves at once!” cried a man who was the spitting image of Harry with the exception that his dark, unruly hair was a good bit longer and his eyes were hazel instead of green.
“INTRUDERS! TRESSPASSERS! PROWLERS! THEIVES!” the red haired woman continued to shout as loud as she could. Another flame haired woman in the frame next to her was peering at them absorbedly.
“MAYBELLE POTTER, WOULD YOU PLEASE BE QUIET!” Ellie roared. The woman screaming faltered for a second and the woman in the portrait next to her said quietly.
“How does she know your name, May?”
“Come over here you,” the man who looked like Harry called to Ellie. She pushed past everyone else and stood in front of his picture with her arms folded; she was drumming her fingers along her bicep in a very annoyed fashion. He surveyed her closely, tipping his head from side to side then taking a step forward and then a couple of steps back. “Good Lord!” he muttered after a good long while.
“What is it, Alistair?” the formerly loud-mouthed woman asked quietly.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said to the pictures around him. “Our young Miss has returned to the Hall,” he declared. “Elizabeth Potter has come home!”
“Elizabeth? Never. It can’t be. You’ve made a mistake, Ally,” Maybelle rebutted.
“I have not made a mistake, Maybelle, I’d know that girl anywhere and I’m telling you that’s her!” he bellowed. Maybelle, however, refused to believe him and began questioning Ellie.
“What’s your name?” she asked suspiciously.
“Elizabeth Alexandra Jane Potter,” Ellie answered.
“When were you born?”
“January 15th 1978.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs in A wing, second room on the left.”
“Who were you parents?”
“Andrew and Jane Potter,” Ellie answered exasperatedly.
“Grandparents?”
“Harold and Eliza Potter.”
“Who are we?” she pointed to herself and the raven haired man named Alistair.
“Maybelle Kelleigh and Alistair Leofric Potter, our great grandparents,” Ellie said in irritation.
“Our?” Maybelle inquired dubiously.
“This is Harry. You remember him, don’t you? James and Lily’s son?” Ellie now tugged Harry closer to the portraits.
“He’s strapping lad, isn’t he?” Alistair’s chest puffed out.
“Meet the family, Harry.” She indicated the wall full of pictures. Harry stared up at the hundreds of portraits almost in a daze. A hundred or more men and women who all looked very alike were now staring down at him proudly.
After a moment Ellie led them away from the portrait collection and into the library. The walls were lined, from floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall, with shelves of books while a large and impressive chandelier hung from the ceiling. Ellie drew her wand from her robes and pointed it up at it and said ‘Lumos Candela’, immediately the hundred or so candles on it lit up. The extra light wasn’t really necessary as there were two cathedral windows on one wall. In between them was a large fire and around it there were several comfortable looking chairs, in fact the whole room was littered with chairs and couches that looked very inviting. The was a massive drum table in the middle of the room with several books lying on it, including The Darkest Wizards by Tiberius Ogden, the summary on the back cover read, ‘Biographies of the world’s Darkest Wizards, telling of their rise to power and their violent ways.’ In stark contrast to the serious nature of this book the one lying right next to it was ‘I Can Write My ABC’s! by Kama Einhorn.
Harry looked back up at the bookcases around him; there must be thousands of books in here, there must be a thousand shelves never mind a thousand books. “How are you supposed to get those ones?” he asked Remus. His guardian looked up at the shelf Harry was pointing to; it was one of the upper most shelves and was fifteen feet from the floor.
“I thought you were a wizard, Harry?” Ginny interrupted.
“I am!” he declared.
“Well then start thinking like one,” Charlie mocked.
“What do you mean?” Harry puzzled.
“Can you or can you not make things levitate?” Remus asked him, there was a look in his eye that betrayed his knowledge of Harry’s escapades with a Mountain Troll in his first year.
“I can. Is that what you have to do, float the books down to you?”
“Well you could, but I daresay it would be a great deal easier to float yourself up to them,” Remus drew his wand, waved it at himself and called ‘Wingardium Leviosa’. He immediately began to float, and under the direction of his own wand, Remus drifted up to the top shelf, plucked a book from the selection and descended back to the floor. “As I said a great deal easier.”
After a good long while examining the contents of the library and Ginny’s final proclamation that Hermione would ‘Have a fit’ if she could see it, they left the library and crossed over the landing to one of the doors. They were now in the sitting room. Harry wasn’t sure if he had ever seen a more comfortable looking room in his entire life, even at the Burrow. The walls were burgundy and the room was full of other warm purples, reds and blues. Harry was of the opinion that the cushions must have been breeding unsupervised during the last sixteen years, it was not normal for one room to hold that many pillows. There were sideboards, tables and a fire surround all made of dark Walnut wood, and it reminded him largely of the Gryffindor common room. The family portrait that adorned the fireplace wall at Potter House hung in exactly the same place in this room; other family pictures were dotted here and there. Seeing the smiling faces of his family, for once, didn’t fill him with sorrow, instead it filled him with warmth and he did not feel the need to cry.
When Ellie slipped from the sitting room back out into the hall everyone followed her silently. She led them through the door opposite and found themselves in the large kitchen, it was similar to the kitchen in number twelve with the exception that instead of magical windows this had real ones. The view was magnificent. The benefit of being on the first floor was that you could see just about everything there was to see, including the extensive grounds which looked beautiful under the bright summer sun. It suddenly struck Harry that he had seen this garden before. It was in the picture of Ellie chasing Harry and Neville around while their parents looked on. He smiled as he imagined his and Ellie’s children running around in the same manner one day.
They moved swiftly on to the next room which was the drawing room and then up the stairs, this hall on this landing was much like the two below, only this one had three archways, each with a set of sapphire curtains hanging in it. Above each archway there was a letter carved in to the stone. Instead of rooms these arches lead to three corridors with a good number of doors leading off them. “This side used to be my mum and dad’s.” Ellie pointed down the corridor to her left. “That was your mum and dad’s.” She pointed to the one dead ahead. “And that was Gran and Grandpa’s.” She pointed to the final corridor on her right.
“So I was right it does have wings,” Harry mumbled quietly.
“Certainly does. A wing, H wing and J wing.” Ellie said loudly to him.
“A, J and H?”
“Andrew, James and Harold, Gran once said that a man had to have a wing to give him space to breathe,” Ellie grinned.
“The only reason she said that was because of how boisterous the three of them became when they got together, they once nearly destroyed the house,” Remus reminisced.
They all split up to explore the house with Harry and Ginny automatically heading for J Wing. They wandered aimlessly from room to room; there was a study, a small sitting room, a dining room, and a very large toy room. There were several bedrooms, the most magnificent of which was located at the top of a turret that was at the end of the corridor. Ginny gasped in awe when she pushed open the door.
A substantial sized four-post bed was lined up against the same wall that the door was on. Ginny ran her hands along the soft beige sheets and made a soft noise of contentment. Harry had never seen such a large bed; it was easily eight feet square. The curtains that draped down the posts were made of the same pale suede that adorned the bed covers; the bed itself looked very soft and inviting. Harry chanced a glance at Ginny, she was still mindlessly caressing the sheets, and she seemed to be staring off in to space. He wondered if she was perhaps thinking the same thing that he was but he shook the thoughts from his mind and cursed his raging hormones. A long line of wardrobes were lined up against the opposite wall, they were nestled nicely between two large windows with a spectacular view of a lake out on the grounds. On another side of the room there was a fireplace with large sheepskin rug covering the stone floor in front of it and an armchair on either side. The final section of wall space was occupied by a large dressing table that was complete with a sizeable mirror that said, “You’re ever so pretty, dear,” to Ginny as she walked past and tutted something about Harry’s hair.
Next to it there was a doorway leading to a spiral staircase much like the one that lead to the dormitories at Hogwarts. They descended it and found themselves in a bathroom that was only marginally smaller than the bedroom above it. In the middle of the room was a roll top bath that was roughly the size of a small swimming pool. There were half a dozen neatly labelled taps that spouted different things much like the bath in the prefect’s bathroom at school. There were his and hers sinks, a toilet discreetly hidden behind a sort of swinging door and a shower that was separated from the rest of the bathroom by some frosted glass. “It’s just so beautiful,” Ginny said in quiet admiration.
“I wonder if all the wings are as nice?” he replied.
“I bet they are. It looks like your family had good taste,” Ginny smiled as she ran a finger around the rim of the bath.
“No, it looks like they all married women with good taste,” Harry corrected her. “Seems such a pity to break with tradition,” he said mockingly.
“Is that so?” Ginny’s eyes flashed. She pushed him backwards so that he fell in to the bath with a thud and then she immediately began to turn on the taps. Before he really had any opportunity to clamber out, the bath was half full of water that had fragrant multi coloured bubbles floating off it.
“I can’t believe you did that!” Harry exclaimed when he finally managed to scramble to his feet.
“Well, let that teach you a lesson!” she answered back smugly.
“Teach me a lesson! How about this for a lesson?” He reached out and wrenched her arm sharply. She plummeted into the bath beside him, coating the surrounding floor in a wave of water. When she lifted her head out of the water she made a noise like an angry cat and pulled him back down into the water. Before long their fighting had developed in to passionate kissing and they had lost track of time completely. “We should probably get out of here and go back to the rest of the house,” Harry said breathlessly.
“I think you’re right,” Ginny replied in an identical tone. They slipped and slid their way to an edge of the bath and were able to get out of it without further injuring themselves. After they had cast a Drying Spell over themselves and the soaking floor they headed back up the stairs and continued their exploration of the house.
Although J wing had been devoid of personal effects A and H wing were still full of all the character of their former inhabitants. Grandpa Potter had collected the newspaper cuttings of the dark wizard’s that he had caught and made a sort of shrine in his study. Granny Potter, it transpired had been a Herbologist, she had been doing a lot of research into the properties of certain magical plants, Harry got the distinct impression that she and Neville would have got on very well. Uncle Andrew had a shrine similar to that of his father, Harry was pleased to see that in most of the articles it was highlighted that the ‘Potter Brothers claimed the capture together’. Unlike his Grandfather’s collection, Harry actually recognized some of the names; there were several well-known Death Eaters such as Avery, Dolohov, Mulciber and Rookwood on their list. His Aunt Jane had been also been part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement too, but she had been a member of the Wizengamot and assisted with their administration. They had found several binders with case notes in them; she had played an important role in the trials of Death Eaters.
It was quite late on in the afternoon when everyone was finally ready to leave. When they all met up on the landing Harry noticed that Ellie and Charlie were looking rather guilty and Remus wore an expression that he couldn’t quite distinguish. “Is everything all right?” he asked them.
“Fine,” Ellie replied in a strangled tone.
“She’s looking rather embarrassed because I caught her and Charlie making rather good use of the bed in her mother and father’s bedroom” Remus emphasized these words to Ellie and Charlie, but couldn’t help throwing Harry a devious smile and a quick waggle of his eyebrows.
“Okay, Moony, we get the point!” Ellie then glanced up at Harry with a very strange look indeed. “Harry, have you got blueberry bubbles in your hair?” she asked as she leaned forward and sniffed the side of his head. Ginny exploded with laughter.
“I…um…quite possibly…” Harry glared at his shoes as though they had launched some kind of uncalled for attack.
“If you ask me, Remus, it’s that pair you should be worried about. At least Ellie and Charlie are good at hiding the evidence of their activities. How would you have explained that one to Molly?” Tonks snorted in to the back of Remus’s shoulder.
“What have you two been up to?” Remus asked stringently.
“Looks to me like they’ve been having a wash in Uncle James and Aunt Lily’s bath,” Ellie said as she sniffed at Harry again. “Yep, there’s the toffee smell,” she announced victoriously.
“Toffee smell?” Harry began sniffing his clothes for the tang but couldn’t find it.
“Aunt Lily had a softness for toffees and so Uncle James bewitched one of the taps to provide bubble bath that had the aroma of fresh toffee, on top of that he put another spell on it which means that men can’t sense it. You have a sniff, Ginny,” Ellie grabbed a handful of the t-shirt that Harry was wearing and thrust it in the direction of Ginny’s nose. When Ginny inhaled and then nodded, she pulled Harry in Tonks’s direction.
“Ah, that’s so nice,” she sighed.
“Harry, sniff Ginny and tell me what she smells like,” Ellie said fervently. Harry did as instructed and paused for a moment to contemplate the scent that had just wafted up his nostrils.
“She smells like freshly polished wood and something flowery.” At this pronouncement Ellie and Remus shared a wide smile.
“Broomstick,” they chorused in unison. Remus immediately leant forward and gave Ginny a quick sniff. He nodded and said “Lilies,” to Ellie.
“Aunt Lily did the exact same thing with another tap,” Ellie beamed.
“What I want to know is exactly what the two of you were doing in a bath?” Charlie demanded as he swelled with protective indignation.
“Ginny started it; she pushed me in to the bath and turned all the taps on!” Harry instantly declared. Charlie then raged at her instead.
“You did WHAT?” Harry was amazed by the way he sounded almost exactly like his mother.
“He said I had no taste! He deserved it! Besides he pulled me in after him!” Ginny was not going to take the fall for this one on her own.
“EXCUSE ME!” Charlie nearly shouted himself hoarse.
“It was payback!” Harry yelled defensively and took a side step behind Ellie. Just as Charlie was about to start another rant Remus held his hand up to stop him.
“You’re not really the person to be lecturing on taking liberties today, are you?” Remus said almost playfully. At the reminder of his own guilt Charlie deflated. “What are the four of you like, can’t even leave you alone for a few hours,” Remus admonished as he lead the way back down to the entrance hall.
Harry left Potter Hall that afternoon with and indescribable feeling of pride and love in his chest. This was his family; he was a part of all this history. It felt like after so many years wandering in the wilderness he had finally found his home, the place where he belonged. With the Weasleys he had always had this feeling of belonging but not quite, particularly when the snake attacked Mr. Weasley, he had felt as though he was intruding on a private family moment. But now he did belong, he couldn’t intrude on private family moments because this was his family, and this was his home.
Dinner that evening was an interesting affair as Harry tried to explain Potter Hall to his rapt audience; otherwise known as Ron and Neville. Remus was sorry to interrupt him; it had been a long time since he had seen Harry talk about anything so animatedly. “I was wondering if you could give me a clue as to what you’d like for your birthday, Harry?”
“My birthday?” Harry snapped out of his daze.
“Yes, you remember, the day when we celebrate the anniversary of your arrival in the world,” Remus said with a chuckle.
“Sorry, I just hadn’t thought about it much,” he shrugged.
“Well start thinking about it, what would you like?” Remus finished his bottle of Butterbeer and placed it in the nearby bin.
“I dunno, Moony, get me anything.”
“Anything? Well that’s very helpful thanks,” Remus shook his head cheerfully.
“Did I hear you right there?” George’s ears had pricked up; he looked like an alert canine.
“Did you hear who right?” Remus asked.
“Did Harry just call you Moony?” Fred joined the inquisition.
“Yes, why?” Remus was surveying the twins through narrowed eyes.
“As in Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, the authors of…” George quickly glanced at his mother and leaned in closer to whisper, “ The Marauder’s Map.”
“One in the same,” chimed Harry.
“You knew?” Fred turned on Harry accusingly.
“Well…yeah,” he replied, a little intimidated by their reaction.
“And you didn’t think to mention it to us?” George asked furiously.
“I didn’t think…” Harry had entirely forgotten to let the twins in on the secret.
“Well, that’s obvious!” Fred said heatedly. “So you’ll have known who Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were?” he asked concentrating on Remus once again.
“I certainly did,” he answered with a devilish glint in his eye. “You two knew Padfoot as well.”
“Padfoot? Who?” the twins asked in unison.
“Sirius, and Prongs was James.” He nodded in Harry’s direction. “Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew,” he said bitterly.
“You’re our Hero!” they exclaimed, they reached across the table to shake his hand vigorously.
“Where did you get the names?” George continued to whisper, the proclamation of hero worship had not gone unnoticed by their mother.
“I was Moony because I’m a werewolf,” Remus said very quickly, he could see that Molly was trying to listen in, but thankfully because of all the other noise in the kitchen that was rather a difficult task. “Sirius was Padfoot because his Animagus form was a dog, James was Prongs because he turned in to a stag, and Peter was Wormtail because he could turn in to a rat.”
“They were all Animagi? Wow…” Fred breathed.
“There must be so much you can tell us,” George quickly pulled Remus from the table by his elbow and led him out of the kitchen. Although the man protested that he had things to do the quick grin he gave Harry as he was pulled from the kitchen gave him the distinct impression that Remus would only be too happy to regale the Marauder’s adventures to the twins. Eager to hear these stories for themselves, Harry, Ron and Neville followed them, all the way up the stairs to the twins’ room.
“And just where do you think you three are going?” Fred asked sweetly.
“We want to hear what Remus has to say too,” Ron said excitedly.
“No can do little bro,” he replied.
“But, that’s not fair! Harry gave you the money to start your stupid joke shop and now you’re going to shut him out of a meeting with his guardian who’s going talk about things his godfather and his father did!”
“You’re quite right Ron, in you come, Harry,” Fred stood to one side to allow Harry to pass him.
“I’m not coming without Ron and Neville,” Harry said adamantly. He could see Fred thinking this over before he made a final decision.
“Do you swear that you won’t tell mum about anything you’re about to see or hear?” he said threateningly to Ron and Neville.
“We promise!” they said simultaneously.
“In you come then,” he said letting the other three into the room and shutting the door firmly behind them.
A/N: The next chapter heading your way is… Coming Of Age