Piercing the Veil

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Piercing the Veil
Warring Minds, Book 1
By Moirae Ma’at

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Chapter 3: Exploring London

Harry spent an hour packing his trunk in the dorms before he headed down to the Great Hall for a quick lunch. Dumbledore waylaid him as he was entering the room, drawing the younger male aside for a quick word.

“Harry, my boy, I’m glad you came to lunch. I needed to inform you that you’ll be returning to the Dursleys this summer. No, now don’t interrupt me Harry,” Dumbledore told the younger wizard, dismissing his concerns before Harry could even open his mouth in objection.

“With Voldemort back and active in the Wizarding World again, it’s not safe for you to be outside of the wards. I’ll see what I can do about you spending a week with the Weasleys before school starts, but I don’t think it’s very likely. Now off you go, Harry. Go eat lunch before you take the train home,” Dumbledore continued with a grandfatherly smile, pushing Harry towards the doors to the dining room.

Harry slipped into the Great Hall and stiffly walked towards the Gryffindor table, looking forward to talking to his friends before he remembered that Ron was at St. Mungos for extra healing and Hermione was trapped in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey, who was taking a second look at her scar.

Harry sat down next to Neville, pushing down his anger at Dumbledore’s tendency to leave him flying blind in the Wizarding World grabbing a sandwich in the process, and nodded at Ginny and Luna.

“Hey Nev. How are you doing?” Harry questioned softly.

“Better now, Harry. Gran sent me a letter and we’re going to Olivander’s for a new wand, first thing after I get back from Hogwarts,” Neville replied.

“That’s great Neville! It’ll be good for you to have your own wand,” Harry said, genuinely pleased for his friend.

“Yeah, that’ll be nice. I was planning on working in the greenhouses again this summer, but I think I’ll be spending more time working with my wand than usual to get used to it. Do you have any plans Harry?” Neville questioned innocently.

“No, I don’t really have any plans for this summer. I’m stuck hanging around at the Dursleys like usual. Even Snape’s classes are better than that!”

“Really?” Neville asked, finding it hard to believe that anything was worse than Snape’s classes.

“How do you think you did on your OWLs?” Seamus asked, heedlessly cutting into their conversation with a question.

“Pretty sure I got a Troll on Divination and History of Magic. Who knows what else I got,” Harry replied carelessly, reaching for the pumpkin juice and thinking more about what the courses would be like at K’ver than what classes his OWL results would qualify him for at Hogwarts.

“So we won’t see you in Divination next year?” Dean asked.

“No, probably not,” Harry replied with a wry little smile. He definitely wouldn’t be taking Divination next fall. He wouldn’t even be at Hogwarts!

“Well, I’ll be waiting on my OWL results. I want to know what classes I qualify for!” Dean continued.

The discussion devolved into a conversation about the questions they had been asked on the OWLs and what they thought the answers had been. The discussion eventually evolved to include Parvati and Lavender, before the fourth years started badgering the fifth years about what they had been tested over.

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Dumbledore watched benevolently from the head table, pleased that Harry was moving behind Sirius’ death and conversing with his House. Harry seemed a little absentminded, but that was normal, he was probably thinking fondly about the times he spent with Sirius.

It was a pity that Harry wasn’t going to be able to attend Sirius’ will reading, but some things must be sacrificed to advance the greater good. After all, it was for his own good that he remain at the Dursley’s this summer; besides the fact that it would make it easier for the older wizard monitor the Savior of the Wizarding World. Dumbledore himself would deal with Sirius’ effects in a couple of weeks, after he got the Wizengamot to seal the will. There was no telling what Sirius had put in his Will and Harry needed to stay under his mother’s wards at Private Drive. He was sure Harry would move out as soon as possible, if he could, and Dumbledore just couldn’t have that happen. He knew Harry was safe at the Dursleys, well, to a point, but he would have no clue about where Harry was or what he was doing if he wasn’t at the Dursleys.

Dumbledores’ eyes twinkled as he nodded to McGonagall, who stood up and made an announcement to the students gathered below in the hall.

“Students, the train will be leaving soon. Please move to the carriages. Have a safe trip home.”

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Harry left the Gryffindor table and was heading towards doors to the Great Hall when Luna slipped in beside him.

“Hello Harry. You should be careful of Geengyrports this summer. They don’t like newbies and next few years are supposed to be an especially bad for Pyrmorts and Sumsets. Remember that Timsorrells like death,” Luna said dreamily before continuing on to the carriages.

Startled, Harry looked to his left but only saw the slight Ravenclaw walking away from him.

Geengyports? Purmorts? Sumsets? Timsorrells? What were those things? If Luna was talking about them, then it wasn’t likely they were real, but sometimes her words seemed to be some kind of code...

Harry slipped into the carriages and traveled down to the train station, thinking about what Luna had said the whole time. Geengyports don’t like newbies? What did that mean? Timsorrells like death? Luna was so confusing sometimes!

Harry picked an isolated compartment in the train and settled down to think about how to escape from the Dursleys and get to Gringotts within the week for Sirius’ Will. The Dursleys were likely to confine him to his room again, but maybe he could sneak out past them? But then he had to get past the Order… Could he use his invisibility cloak to get off the property and then just take a bus to London? Harry thought it was possible that he could get into Diagon Ally and reach Gringotts unnoticed using his invisibility cloak. He’d have to deal with the Goblins quickly in order to get home on time, but it seemed like he could pull it off – if Moody wasn’t on guard that day. He’d have to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, that way when Dung came on watch he could sneak out quickly.

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at Platform 9 and Three Quarters, Harry gathered his belongings and slipped off the train. Right after he passed through the barrier, he saw several members of the Order of the Phoenix talking to his relatives. Uncle Vernon didn’t look very happy to be lectured by freaks – and there went Vernon’s purple, angry face. The ride home was going to be horrible.

Vernon pushed past the bright-haired woman and the dark man talking to him the moment Petunia pointed out Harry in the crowd. His uncle grabbed Harry roughly by the arm and pulled him towards the car, ignoring the growing frowns on the faces of the watching wizards.

Harry loaded his trunk and Hedwig’s cage in the back of Vernon’s car and slipped into the back seat with Dudley. His uncle quickly drove away from the train station, waiting until he was out of earshot to start tearing into Harry.

“I refuse to be spoken to that by freaks – do you hear me, boy?” his uncle bellowed loudly before continuing in a quieter, more malicious tone, “You’re going to be spending the whole summer locked in a basement, yes you are – ”

“Vernon dear, don’t you think it would be better to pull over?” Petunia interrupted, worried at her husband’s erratic driving. “Then you can devote all your attention to disciplining the freak.”

Harry could almost see the light bulb blink on above his uncle’s head minutes before the man took a sharp right turn and began driving into the seedier parts of London.

“Where are we going, Vernon?” Petunia’s querulous voice asked.

“Don’t worry, Pet, I know what I’m doing. The problem will be solved shortly,” Vernon answered as he continued driving deeper and deeper into the middle of the London underground.

Vernon pulled off the road near an abandoned warehouse and climbed out of the car. Harry’s uncle opened the door closest to the small wizard and jerked the boy out of the car, forcing Harry to stumble as he tried to find his balance. Vernon then popped the trunk of the car and carelessly tossed the teen’s trunk out of the care so that it landed sideways on the ground.

The older male then rounded on his wide-eyed nephew, pleased to finally be rid of the freak.

“Those freaks told me that your freak Godfather is dead, so we don’t have to put up with your cheek now, boy. I got a promotion and we upsized to a better house in a better neighborhood that doesn’t accept freaks, so we’ll be leaving you here. Don’t ever contact us,” Vernon preached at Harry as he got back into the car and started it up.

Petunia had the last word as they began to drive away, “I have no sister, boy. You are no relation of mine.”

Harry watched the car pull away, partially shocked at being abandoned and mildly amused that his uncle had gotten one over on Dumbledore. If his muggle uncle could do it, then so could he! The Dursleys had just made the four and a half hours he had spent on the train ride home trying to figure out how to escape them and get to Gringotts obsolete in less than half an hour! Okay, this was doable; all he needed was a new plan. Could he still catch a muggle bus from here to Gringotts? But how could he explain his trunk? If he said he was just coming home from boarding school, which he was, then he just might get away with it…

Harry looked up from his thoughts and spotted Remus Lupin walking towards him. And there went another plan! He was really having bad luck with plans today; maybe he should give up on plans for the day and just go with the flow? As long as he kept his goal of getting to Gringotts in mind, he should do just fine.

The younger wizard sat on his trunk and waited for Lupin to approach him, allowing the other male to set the tone of their meeting. Harry figured that the werewolf had been sent by Dumbledore to tail him, so when the wolf’s eyes were focused with hatred on the departing car, the dark-haired boy was surprised.

Lupin walked up to Harry and placed his hand on his shoulder, but kept his eyes fixed to Vernon’s car until it turned and disappeared from his sight. The werewolf then looked down at Harry and began to question him.

“Is there a reason they dropped you off here, Harry?”

“My uncle got sick of me, Professor Lupin, and decided there wasn’t any room for me in their new house,” Harry answered candidly.

“Call me Remus, Harry. I haven’t been your teacher for two years,” the wolf answered absentmindedly before the rest of Harry’s sentence registered. “So they just decided to abandon you in the middle of gang territory?”

“I think my uncle actually just picked the closest, dirtiest, abandoned area he could find when he suddenly decided to kick me out of the car,” Harry answered.

“Bastard,” Remus swore under his breath before continuing in a louder tone. “I don’t have an easy way to get a hold of Dumbledore right now, so I’m going to take you back to Diagon Alley with me and we’ll stay at an inn tonight. There’s an entrance to Knockturn Alley close by and we can use that to get to the Alleys.”

“There are inns in Diagon Alley?” Harry questioned, thinking of slipping away from the adult and renting a room at one of them until he could get to Gringotts.

“The only inn in Diagon Alley proper is The Leaky Cauldron, but down some of the more reputable streets in the Alleys there are several inns. If they have an open room, we’ll be staying at Hollyhock Fields, which is only a couple of blocks away from both Knockturn Alley and Gringotts,” the werewolf informed his temporary charge as he looked around carefully before quickly shrinking Harry’s trunk and handing it to the younger male so he could put it in his pocket.

“Can we stop by Gringotts before you contact Dumbledore?” Harry questioned Remus as they began to walk, trying to sound innocent.

“Why?” the older wizard said, looking at the dark-haired male suspiciously.

“I’d like to see Sirius’ Will,” Harry divulged carefully. “The Goblins invited me to a reading, but it has to occur within the next six days for the Will to be considered valid. They mentioned something about Ministry regulations.”

Remus answered the unasked question absentmindedly, thinking over what Harry had just told him.

“Ministry regulations state that Will’s are untouchable for the first sevenday after the person’s death, so if someone wants to have a Will recognized without the Wizengamot changing anything on it, rendering it invalid, or taxing it, then the Will has to be preformed before then. Dumbledore should have arranged a day and time for you to go to the will reading before you left.”

“If he did, he never mentioned it to me,” Harry replied crossly, now understanding why the Goblins had set that ridiculous time limit. There was nothing like that in the Muggle World – wills were practically sacrosanct, even if they could be challenged.

“Are you sure about that Harry?” Remus questioned intently.

“Yes. We talked right before the noon meal and he never said anything about Sirius’ Will, just that I would be going to the Dursleys again this summer. He didn’t even allow me to respond before he shooed me off to lunch in the Great Hall,” the younger wizard firmly told his companion.

“We’ll go to Gringotts tomorrow then, and deal with Sirius’ Will before I get a hold of Dumbledore. If he didn’t send any of us to guard you, then he can’t complain if he doesn’t know where you are for a few days,” the werewolf openly declared as he walked beside the teen.

“If Dumbledore didn’t send you, then why were you following me?” Harry asked, curious about why an old professor and member of the Order of the Phoenix would be following him around if Dumbledore hadn’t ordered it. Remus may have been a friend of his parents and his Godfather, but that was no excuse, especially since Harry didn’t know the other man very well. Okay, he knew him from third year and through Sirius, but he’d never developed a persona relationship with the man. Yes, he trusted Remus to protect him and help him, but he’d thought that the werewolf was devoted to Dumbledore, obeying the older wizard’s ideals and orders explicitly.

Remus looked over at Harry sadly before quietly answering him as they approached a run-down coffee shop a few block away from the warehouse where Harry had been abandoned.

“I’ll tell you later, Harry. We’re about to reach the Portal to Knockturn Alley, so I’ll need you to be quiet until we reach the inn.”

Harry obeyed Remus’ advice and stayed quiet as they slipped past the servers at the coffee shop and entered a back room that opened onto a small courtyard with a large blank wall along one side. The werewolf walked up to the empty wall and traced a complicated symbol on it before tapping his wand in the middle.

The center of the previously empty wall suddenly broke apart and reformed into an arch that allowed Harry to see parts of Knockturn Alley and the Plaza near the end of the street. Remus and Harry quickly walked through the doorway and into Knockturn Alley, swiftly continuing through the dark alley into the large plaza in front of Gringotts. They took a long left turn and followed a twisting road with several taverns, inns, and hotels along the way to a small-looking, pale yellow house. A sign, reading Hollyhock Fields Inn, was displayed over the entrance and Remus reached out to open the door for the duo.

Harry walked in behind Remus, partially hiding in his shadow so that the plump innkeeper approaching them wouldn’t realize he was the Boy-Who-Lived. The werewolf and the innkeeper made small talk and quickly settled on the price of a room for the night, but when the small woman tried to peer behind the larger male, Remus pushed out an arm and blocked her attempt to touch Harry.

The woman tsked at Remus and tried to reach for Harry when he spoke up, voice soft, “Please stop. I don’t like to be touched. My caretakers weren’t very nice. He’s not going to hurt me – he rescued me.”

The woman looked pityingly at the dark form behind the older wizard but stopped trying to touch the slight figure. She informed Remus that she’d bring their food up to them; there was no way she was going to force an abused child to be around her rowdy common room during dinner!

Remus herded Harry up the stairs to the second floor and used the key the innkeeper had given him to open the door to their room. Remus was frowning as Harry took a quick peak around the room before looking back at the werewolf and settling down on one of the beds. The younger man looked at Remus expectantly; waiting for the explanation the older wizard had promised him.

Remus spent a couple of minutes examining Harry silently before he began to speak, but the topic surprised the dark-haired boy.

“Harry, why did you lie about your relatives being abusive to the innkeeper?”

“I didn’t,” Harry shrugged, “They locked me in a cupboard for eleven years, treated me like a house elf, gave me hand-me-downs, and sometimes refused to feed me. Vernon even raised his hand to me several times. I’d say that’s abuse –” Harry paused, finally registering that the rumbling noise he was hearing was a growl and it was coming from Remus.

The wolf’s growl had started with Harry’s second word and continued to grow in volume with every word after that until it reverberated around the room. Harry looked down at Remus’ clenched hands and then up at his amber eyes before carefully starting to inch away from the angry werewolf.

“I’m not going hurt you,” Remus told the other male curtly, trying to suppress his anger. “I’m not even angry at you; I’m angry at Dumbledore and myself for leaving you in that damn house. You were Sirius’ cub, you’re my cub! I shouldn’t have let you out of our sight once your parents died!”

Harry stopped cringing away from Remus and looked over at him curiously, wondering about the “cub” comment.

The werewolf looked over at Harry, and giving a sad smile at the younger male’s curiosity, began to explain what he meant.

“Sirius and I were lovers, Harry. He was my mate, so when he became your Godfather, by default I became your Godfather as well. You became my cub and my wolf has considered you that ever since. It’s why I was following you when you left the train station – my mate had just died and there was no way that my wolf was going to let you leave my sight until he was sure you were safe.”

Remus gave a wry smile as he continued, “I couldn’t leave you alone when your uncle looked like he was going to blow his top any second, so I followed the car and saw Vernon dump you on the side of the road. I wanted you with me to keep an eye on you, that way my wolf is calmer as we grieve for Sirius’ loss. If you weren’t here, then I’d be spending my time roaming the fields of England, feral with grief from the loss of my mate. I’d be going insane –”

Harry couldn’t let Remus continue on believing that Sirius was dead – it wasn’t fair to the poor man and there was no way that the werewolf wasn’t in at least as much pain as Harry over Sirius’ death. The younger wizard interrupted the older male, “Sirius isn’t dead, Remus, he’s just trapped in the Veil.”

The werewolf looked at Harry pityingly and softly spoke to him, “Sirius is dead, Harry. He fell through the Veil and he’s gone, he’s dead.”

“He’s not dead Remus! The Veil is a prison cell – it was a part of ?, an old prison in Northern Europe. There’s some way to retrieve prisoners from the Veil, but it has been lost to time. The only thing mentioned is that it requires the forbidden arts in order to open the cells and free Sirius.”

Remus looked shocked at the news, but as his brain seemed to turn back on, a look of hope dawned over his face.

“Are you sure about that, Harry? The forbidden arts aren’t taught anywhere in Wizarding Britain and the schools that teach them are invitation only – and there’s no way to solicit an invitation,” Remus told his cub.

Harry decided to jump into it feet first – he might as well tell Remus about K’ver as well, since he had already told him about the possibility of retrieving Sirius from the Veil.

“I got invited to K’ver and I accepted,” the young wizard told Remus. “I start in the fall.”

The werewolf started at Harry’s proclamation, surprised that his cub had both enough power and enough latent skill to be invited to the exclusive academy.

“Is that why you wanted to go to Gringotts, well besides the reading of Sirius’ Will? You needed to find a way to pay for your new schooling and figured your parents had left something in place to pay for Hogwarts and you wanted to change it?” Remus asked.

Now it was Harry’ s turn to look shocked; he hadn’t even considered how he was going to pay for K’ver! That was a huge oversight, and one that could cause a lot of trouble for him…

Remus chuckled at Harry’s expression and reached over to ruffle his hair as he asked a second question.

“Did you also forget to think about how to disguise yourself so no one would recognize you?”

Harry seemed to compress inward, mentally berating himself for forgetting that obvious fact: he was the Boy-Who-Lived! People knew what he looked like, so he’d have to find a way to disguise himself – especially his famous scar! Oh he was so stupid for forgetting that! It wasn’t like he could just waltz into a new school under the name of Harry Potter and not expect Dumbledore or Fudge to drag him back to Britain, magical contract guaranteeing death or not!

Remus interrupted Harry’s depressing train of thought, now petting the younger male’s hair soothingly, trying to calm the other wizard down.

“It’s okay, cub, you can’t be expected to think of everything. It’s ten now, so why don’t you go to sleep? Gringotts opens at six in the morning and we’ll probably be spending a lot of time there tomorrow, so it’s best to start early.”

Harry nodded in agreement and slipped into the bathroom to change into sleeping clothes while Remus turned down the covers on one of the two beds and settled comfortable atop the other. Harry entered the bedroom again and slipped into the open bed, quickly snuggling under the covers and falling asleep.

Remus stayed up for a few more hours after Harry went to bed, watching over his cub and thinking about what it would take to disguise the younger wizard at his new school. Before the werewolf went to bed he scribbled a list on a piece of parchment he had pulled from Harry’s trunk, making a list of what they needed to do the next day.

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Long Chapter…I have a list of events that I want to happen in the chapter and I write until those events are finished, which can result in both really long and relatively short chapters. This time it was a long chapter; 9+ pages and 4000+ words.