On The Hunt: Chapter 5 (1/2) (Patreon)

The first thing Sirius saw when he walked out of the room was his godson standing in front of his mother’s portrait. However, what made him frown in bewilderment was the fact that the banshee was not shouting like she was known to. Weird. Did his godson get her under control?

“Yes, Mrs. Black. I will be staying here for the holidays. I was supposed to arrive a few days later but certain... circumstances forced my hand.”

“Oh, it’s a privilege to host someone of your station, My Lord!”

Sirius gawked. Did he hear correctly? He could swear that his mother was gushing. Just what was happening?

“Harry?”

Two pairs of eyes turned as one toward where the voice came from, and it didn’t take long for one pair to narrow in disgust.

“What do you want, you ungrateful brat?”

Sirius rolled his eyes at his mother’s kind words but Harry didn’t bother to hide his reaction.

“I seem to recall saying that a lady of your station ought to behave better, Mrs. Black.”

One simple sentence was all it took for his mother to flinch as if struck and she quickly apologized.

“I beg your pardon, my lord, I-”

Whatever she was about to say was cut off as Harry raised his palm.

“I won’t dare to presume whatever issues there are between your eldest son and yourself, but I’d ask you to treat him the way he deserves. Family and blood, after all, are two of the most important things we have, right?”

Walburga Black frantically nodded, and Harry simply muttered ‘good’ and walked away toward the stairs. Sirius simply followed slightly behind him.

“I’ve never seen someone school her in such a manner. Not even my grandfather could do it, and we were all scared shitless of the old geezer.”

Harry laughed.

“All you need to do is tap the sensitive nerve, Sirius. Your mother is, pardon my bluntness, a total harpy who is obsessed with her vision of prestige and social status. Being confronted by her social superior on her conduct is the perfect way to make your point across.”

Sirius chuckled.

“Since when are you the expert on human psychology?”

“You don’t need to be some sort of expert to know people’s motivations, Padfoot. Similarly, you just need to know what makes them tick. Once you know that, the same people you hesitated to confront will find it difficult to refute your point.”

“Is that what you did to Molly back there?”

Harry frowned slightly.

“That was more of a truth mixed in. Don’t get me wrong. I understand where she is coming from. She cares so much that she would shield all of us with her very body without caring for her wellbeing. But she needs to understand what the truth is. No matter how much she tries to keep us safe and hidden, it simply is not possible.”

Sirius frowned.

“I wish it didn’t have to be this way though,” he muttered, casting a side-eyed glance at the boy who had seemingly grown so much in such a short period.

“Well... we don’t always get what we want,” Harry muttered before his steps faltered. Sirius saw him looking upward and followed his gaze before a grimace crossed his face.

“A tradition of the Blacks. All the house elves who die in servitude have their heads cut off and hung right up there. I have no idea when it began but over the centuries it has become something of a dream for every elf who belongs to this house to find its head up there one day. A disgusting dream, but one I cannot do anything about,” Sirius muttered darkly.

“Why is it still here though?”

“Huh? What do you mean Harry?”

Harry turned around to face Sirius fully, and for the first time that night, Sirius got a good look at his godson’s face, or more precisely, into his eyes. They were glowing slightly, like emerald flames flickering in those orbs.

“You cannot do anything about the thought process of a Black house elf. But you can certainly do away with this disgusting piece of... let’s call it a shrine. Right?”

Sirius frowned.

“Well, I haven’t tried before.”

“No time like the present.”

Sirius nodded and brandished his wand. Pointing it toward the ceiling, he levitated the heads one by one until the entire hallway was filled to the brim.

“That was a lot.” Sirius remarked, wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his coat. Harry chuckled.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Burn it all,” Harry remarked.

However, before Sirius could do anything, a crack sounded out and Harry saw what looked like the ugliest house-elf ever glaring at the pair of them.

“Bad master trying to spoil the shrine! Oh, how mistress would weep in afterlife!”

“This is Kreacher. Has been alone in this house after my mother’s death, so he’s gone around the bend.”

Harry, meanwhile, was looking at the elf who was still glaring at the two of them and frowned.

“This is a Black family elf?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I don’t have time for his bullshit. Order him to dispose of this waste himself or move. His choice. Come on, Sirius. You’re his master. As much as I don’t like this house elf enslavement, it’s the only option right now.”

“You don’t have to convince me, Harry. I never liked this piece of shit anyway. The only reason he still lives here is because he knows too much, and I don’t have it in myself to get rid of him otherwise.”

Turning to Kreacher, Sirius snarled.

“Listen here you piece of shit, either move or I’ll order you to get rid of their heads yourself. Your choice in this.”

If possible, Kreacher’s face took on an even more loathsome look as he glared at Sirius with all the venom he could muster. Harry didn’t find himself spared, and was subjected to the full force of Kreacher’s glare. What felt like hours passed as the three simply stood there before Kreacher’s shoulders slumped. With a horrible wail that made the hair on the back of their necks rise, Kreacher threw himself to the side and started crying his heart out.

Harry felt genuinely bad for the elf now. Even though he was deranged, Harry could see that his emotions were in no way fake. No matter how fucked up it was, he knew this was something that meant a lot to Kreacher.

He felt more than saw the heat of the flames that erupted out of Sirius’ wand, completely controlled, as the dead elf heads were engulfed in those flames, which continued to burn for a few minutes.

Nothing was audible in the hallway apart from the charring of rotten flesh and Kreacher’s pitiful cries until the former subsided.

The two wizards kept on watching as Kreacher kept on whimpering. The thick snot that leaked out of his nose made them scrunch up their noses in disgust before they turned around to look at each other. Sirius offered a helpless shrug as if saying ‘What can I do here?’. Harry shook his head.

With a deep breath, he turned back toward Kreacher whose whimpering had ceased, and saw that he had turned around to glare at them murderously. Despite himself, Harry felt a chill go down his spine at the purely evil look the elf was giving them.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw all the Order members as well as the kids who were supposed to stay there had come up the stairs and were observing the spectacle in front of them with wide eyes. Tonks caught his eye and made to come forward but stopped with a frown when Harry discreetly shook his head. He saw Ron and Hermione looking at the scene in shock.

“Kreacher...” Harry sighed when the elf flinched.

“Nasty half-blood destructing Kreacher’s shrine. Kreacher should kill nasty half blood.”

Sirius stepped forward in agitation but Harry grabbed his arm firmly and shook his head.

“Listen Kreacher,” Harry spoke, turning around and looking the elf in the eyes, “I realize how much this shrine meant to you, but you have to understand that it was not right. No!” Harry raised his voice when he saw Kreacher opening his mouth, and saw him close his mouth abruptly.

“What that shrine actually was, was a sign of the fucked-up ways of the Blacks and their fucked-up attitude toward those who were not pure,” Harry’s tone was sarcastic in the end, “over the years it morphed into something else. Something to signify their power over your race. What better way to subjugate someone than to make them think of themselves as worthless?”

Kreacher, however, looked like he couldn’t care in the least, and it seemed Harry reached the same conclusion, and with a sigh, he conceded, not willing to waste his energy anymore.

“Alright then. Since I made Sirius destroy your shrine, I will grant you one favour. Apart from killing any innocent, putting anyone in mortal peril, freeing you or betraying anyone, I will help you in any one task, no matter what.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the proclamation and Sirius tried to dissuade him, but Harry held firm.

“It’s the least I can do for him after what we did, Sirius.”

Turning toward the wide-eyed elf, Harry smiled.

“Well, when you decide what you want me for, come find me. I’ll do my best to help you out.”

Kreacher said nothing for a few moments and simply stared at him, before sneering and popping out with a soft crack.

Harry released a deep breath and saw that everyone was coming forward.

“Hey everyone,” he grinned. Hermione scowled, and so did Tonks.

“What were you thinking, Hotshot? Going ahead and promising that barmy old elf something like that?” Tonks hissed angrily and Harry chuckled, something which made her angrier.

“Oh, come on, Tonksie. What’s the most he could ask for? You heard my conditions. The worst he could ask me for is throwing the trash out or cleaning the toilets, which, while not particularly appealing, are not much of a hassle.”

“You’re becoming too cocky, Potter,” she muttered, before yelping when Harry poked her on the side.

“Why you!”

She fired a quick stinger which Harry dodged before quickly dashing toward where Sirius had told him his room was. Finding the one with the name Regulus, he pushed it open and shut it behind him. He was right on time as the moment the door closed behind him, he heard the tell-tale sound of a stinger colliding with the wooden frame.

With a chuckle, he walked inside the room. Taking his clothes off until he was in his boxers, he threw them off to the side where the laundry basket was kept before climbing into the bed. The temperature runes activated themselves in an instant as he pulled the covers over his body and closed his eyes.

Outside the room, the crowd slowly dissipated until his two best friends and Ginny remained.

“He’s different. Too different.” Hermione muttered. Ron simply frowned.

“We’ll talk in the morning. He just came, Hermione. And then all the drama since then. He must be tired. Come on, let’s get to bed. Night, Ron,” Ginny grabbed her arm and the two girls started walking away.

“Night, Ron,” Hermione muttered, looking at Ron with a frown. The youngest Weasley son gave a quiet ‘Night’ in response before he turned around toward the room that he was supposed to share with Harry but wouldn’t now.

No matter what anyone said, there was certainly some distance now between them. The Golden Trio was breaking at the seams, with the pivotal member slowly pulling himself away, leaving the other two confused and filled with a sense of longing. But the question remained in their minds, why the sudden change?

XXXXX

The morning came far too soon for his liking and with a groan, Harry woke up. Blearily blinking his eyes open, he squinted them to look at the large clock that was hanging over the fireplace.

7:17 AM.

Time to wake up, then.

Harry pushed the covers aside and climbed out of the bed, making his way over to the bathroom. Relieving himself, he walked over to the wash basin and brushed his teeth, occasionally glancing at his reflection in the mirror. Once he was done, he washed his face properly and dried it up with a towel before properly taking his body in.

He had filled out considerably over the summer. The whey protein he had started taking combined with a healthy diet and a regular exercise schedule saw his body getting a healthily toned structure. His chest looked broader than before, and so were his arms – not overly large but not skinny either. Although he didn’t have any packs in his abdomen yet, he had visible abs and his chest looked defined. Turning around slightly, he could make out his toned back and gave a satisfied nod.

Harry was not vain but he couldn’t deny that it felt good to see his body in such physical shape after he remembered how scrawny he used to look a few years ago. He had once been one of the shortest in his year, but now he had grown to a respectable height of 5’11”.

Grabbing a towel from the rack, he hung it over his shoulder and made his way to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed and ready for the day before he sat down on the couch near the fireplace and closed his eyes. As had been the norm for months now, he started to work on his Occlumency. Tonks had tested his shields a few days ago and deemed him fit enough to keep an expert Legilimens out, but Harry wanted to improve further. All he needed to do was to undertake the calming exercises and work on developing his mental mindscape.

He had already observed the impact of Occlumency on his behaviour. While earlier he was easy to surprise and lose his cool, Occlumency had tempered his behaviour considerably. He didn’t give in to his impulses so easily now, and his critical thinking skills had also improved substantially.

Hermione had not been wrong the previous night. He wouldn’t have been able to make such plans or think so thoroughly earlier, but Occlumency helped him keep a calm mind and think things through.

When he opened his eyes about half an hour later, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. As always, his eyes glowed a slight emerald before they settled down to normal. This was another new aspect of his magic he had observed since that meeting in Dumbledore’s office. His magic had matured so much already that his eyes sometimes glowed. Harry didn’t mind. He felt it looked cool.

His eyes took in the time before he stood up and walked over to the door. Looking around, he saw that his bed had been made already.

‘Maybe Kreacher has come around. Good.’

XXXXX

Mrs. Weasley was the first to see him as he entered the dining room and with a smile, she made him sit before dishing his breakfast out. No one else apart from Mr. Weasley and Remus was down, each of whom gave him a nod before going back to their breakfast.

He saw Mr. Weasley reading the Profit with a frown.

“Anything interesting in the rag, Mr. Weasley?” He questioned politely. The Weasley patriarch chewed his toast before putting the paper down.

“Nothing new apart from the usual. However, it seems a new educational decree is in talks.”

Harry frowned.

“What for?”

“Well, it says here that Minister Fudge has proposed a bill to allow the ministry to appoint a teacher at Hogwarts if the post remains vacant on or after one month prior to the date of the commencement of school year.” Remus took over, reading from the rag.

“Looks like he wants to plant his bug at Hogwarts. Any idea which posts are vacant apart from the DADA one?”

“As far as I know, all other posts are filled. Only the Defence post is still vacant. Apparently, the headmaster has been having trouble finding a candidate.” Mr. Weasley said with a frown.

“Now that I think about it, it’s not entirely farfetched to think that the ministry, or even Lucius Malfoy might be blocking prospective applicants so that they could plant their spy at Hogwarts. Not when they believe that you and Dumbledore are plotting something together. Having a stooge of theirs right where you two stay for the majority of the year would be a top priority,” Remus remarked.

“Well, if the track record is anything to go by…”

“…the bug won’t last more than a year.”

They turned around to see the twins entering the dining room.

“Agreed boys, but one year is still a long time. Let’s hope the headmaster manages to hire someone by the end of the week.”

Harry sat there with a pensive look on his face as he pondered upon Mr. Weasley’s and Remus’ words. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

“Yeah, let’s hope so,” he muttered, as he took a bite of his apple.