Harry Potter and The Frozen Heart

Title: Harry Potter and the Frozen Heart
Chapter Title: Time for Action
Author: Ash Knight
Pairings: Harry/OC
Warnings: Slash, Spoilers from book 5, bad language, sexual situations, and more . . .
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter and I do not make any money from these stories.
Synopsis: During his summer before his 6th year, Harry decides he no longer cares about the wizarding worlds needs and decides to face Voldemort on his own terms. He meets someone who then begins to unlock his inner feelings in way he never knew possible, but what happens when this person shows up at Hogwarts? Not to mention the new threat Voldemort has in store . . .


Tears stained the pillow under Harry’s head as the tears continued to flow out of his eyes. After about an hour of sobbing he was able to get control of himself. The song his mother sang was still repeating itself over and over in his head, and with each verse his heart seemed to freeze over and over again in a new layer of frost. When he saw himself as a baby in the pensieve he couldn’t remember being that content and happy in his entire life. His entire future was taken out his hands before he was old enough to even remember his own mothers face. And his destiny was thrown in his face by the person he trusted the most.

The stars in the sky seemed to dull by the second as he mulled everything. Finally as the sun began to climb into the sky Harry Potter decided he was done by playing by Dumbledore’s rules. If he was going to fight Voldemort he was going to do it on his own terms. But, he knew he wasn’t ready to face the dark lord, at least not yet. And as Harry decided more and more, a plan began to form in his mind. It was going to be dangerous and too many things could go wrong, but he was going to do it regardless. But along with the plan there came a new name. . .

~*~

It was now Saturday, two days after the Will reading at Grimmuald Place. Professor McGonagall had sent him the book list he needed for his new school year and along with her best regards. Harry sent a letter back to her with Hedwig thanking her for all she had done for him that morning and finalized everything he had planned. He packed his invisibility cloak in his bag, along with the papers and keys for his new vaults. Along with that he grabbed one of Dudley’s old baseball caps and a large black sweater with a hood. In his left pocket was the powder made from three sleeping pills he stole out of Aunt Petunia’s bottle in a tiny envelope.

It looked like it was about to rain and Harry was great full for that as he walked over to Mrs. Figgs house, since he now didn’t need an excuse as to why he was wearing such a thick sweater in the summer. He told her he would come for tea today so she wouldn’t ask questions as to why he was there.

“Oh Harry dear come in before it starts raining” she said as she opened the door.

“Good morning Mrs. Figgs” Harry said happily as he entered the house.

“How are you feeling dear?”

“I’m alright” Harry answered as he walked over to her living room to find Mundungus smoking his pipe. “Hello Mundungus.”

“Good morning Harry. Come to join us for tea?”

Harry nodded and set his bag down by the side of the couch.

“How about I help you with the tea Mrs. Figg?”

“Oh don’t worry about it Harry, you’re my guest”

“Don’t worry, it’s no trouble,” Harry said quickly as he followed her into the kitchen.

While she began to get the tea cups and pot from the cupboard, Harry quickly emptied the powder into the tea kettle on the stove that was already beginning to boil. Harry then poured the tea into the tea pot as Mrs. Figgs placed the cups on the tray along with some biscuits. Harry carried the tray out for her into the living room where Mundungus was staring out the window, still smoking his pipe. Harry poured out three cups of tea, one for each of them, and sat down in the chair opposite the couch.

“So Harry, what happened the other day, everyone is still talking about it?” Mrs. Figgs asked.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen Molly so upset, even when I tried to stash all those cauldrons at headquarters last year.”

“Don’t worry about it” Harry answered shortly as he took a drink from his tea cup and then quickly spit it back into the cup to make it look as if he was drinking it.

After a few more minutes of talking and three more cups of tea, Harry could see Mrs. Figgs getting drowsy while Mundungus looked as if he was already half asleep. Harry babbled on about quidditch for a few more minutes until Mrs. Figgs dropped her cup on the floor, signaling she was asleep. Mundungus was already snoring loudly on the couch with one of Mrs. Figgs cats laid on top of his lap. Harry shook them lightly to make sure they were asleep and when he was satisfied they were, Harry quickly opened his bag and thrust on his baseball cap making sure his scar was covered. Then he grabbed a handful of floo powder and was quickly swallowed in green flames. . .

~*~

In flash of green flames Harry found himself in a large room with many crates and barrels. He quickly pulled on his invisibility cloak and spotted a door in the corner. Just as he was about a foot away he saw the door knob turn and he quickly dived into the corner to hide. Tom from the leaky cauldron walked in and began to look through some crates. Realizing his chance Harry silently but quickly moved over to the door as it was still open and saw that he was now behind the bar of the leaky cauldron. Crawling on his hands and knees, Harry quickly moved under the opening in bar thanking Merlin that there was almost no one in the cauldron yet. When he was sure no one was looking, he quickly opened the door to the back.

He quickly pulled off his cloak when he saw no one in the alley and then tapped the brick to open the passage way. Looking at no one and walking quickly Harry made his way to Gringgotts. Finding a free teller Harry walked up to goblin and pulled the papers out of his bag.

“I would like to make a quick check of these vaults I now own; also I need to make a withdrawal but I do not now exactly how much I will need today. And, I would like some money converted to muggle funds. 200,000 pounds should be enough.”

The goblin eyed Harry suspiciously and then began to look through the papers.

“If you like, we would be able to provide you with a magic velvet pouch” the goblin began to explain in a welcoming voice suddenly. “It will have a magical jinx connecting it to your vault so you may be able to take out whatever you need at anytime. It will also have another jinx on it that will allow us to keep count of how much you are taking out and another to make sure no one else will be able to use it. If another person gets the pouch and tries to steal the money inside, the pouch will bite off the person’s hand. It will be ready by the time you return here from checking your vaults Mr. Potter, along with the muggle money.”

Harry froze for a moment as he heard the goblin call him by name but quickly recovered.

“There is also a flying motorcycle in the storage vault 1983 I would like to have it removed, and also some papers and license made so I may use it in muggle areas.”

“Very well, it will be brought up by the time you get back from the vaults.”

Harry agreed and the goblin called Griphook to take Harry down. The cart ride was the usual rollercoaster trip Harry always remembered, and had to grip his hat tightly to keep it from flying of his head. Since the money issue was taken care of Harry told Griphook to take him to vault 962 first. When the ride finally stopped Harry saw in front of him a gigantic vault and gave Griphook the key. Harry gasped as the vault opened and saw it full of jewels. Remembering he was racing against time he quickly gathered a few rubies, diamonds, and other stones into a black pouch. Next it was storage vault 1983 where Harry saw Sirius’s belongings.

He just wanted to take a quick look to see if there was anything useful he might be able to use. After a few minutes of looking around he found two sharp well crafted daggers, one with the hilt made to look like a dragon and the other like serpent, which he quickly stuffed into the waist band of his jeans. Then in a trunk he found a metal plate of armor for the forehead made of gold with a fine dragon hide strap. Engraved on the gold was the symbol of the grim and a stag. Underneath was a small untouched envelope with ‘James” written on it. Harry quickly put the envelope into his bag and slid on the forehead armor. It covered his forehead completely from the beginning of his hairline to just above his eye brows. It felt like it was custom made for him and he quickly looked himself in the mirror by a stored bed. It covered his forehead entirely and made his bangs fall over the plate, making him seem wilder somehow.

When he was finished he closed the vault behind him and went to storage vault 946. Inside were the beautiful antiques and furniture. There were couches of fine black velvet and satin, and chairs of beautiful cushy velvet and large four poster beds. They were covered in beautiful Celtic and animals designs, and Harry decided to give the key to Mrs. Weasley so she could refurnish headquarters. After that it was time for Harry to return and took the cart back up to ground level. When he got there the motorcycle was waiting for him in the lobby along with some papers he needed to sign. Then Griphook pushed a button on the motorcycle and with a loud pop, it shrunk to the size of a small toy like thes Hes Harry wanted when he was little, which Dudley would always get.

“To return it to its normal size tap it with your wand here” Griphook informed pointing to the front wheel.

“Thank you for your assistance, I am grateful for your time” Harry said as he took the motorcycle and placed it in his bag.

Harry then walked back to the goblin that gave him the papers for the motorcycle.

“Alright Mr. Potter, please place your hand inside the pouch” the goblin said as he held up a violet pouch.

Harry did as he was told and the goblin quickly snapped his fingers. The bag glowed black for a moment and then returned to normal.

“Alright, the jinx is now in place, your hands will be the only ones able to take money out of the pouch. If anyone else tries the jinx will have the person’s hand bitten off and will also alert us to ensure the safety of your funds. Anytime you need any amount of money simply place your hand over the pouch and think of how much you need and that exact amount will be inside. Also, here are your muggle pounds. Is there anything else you would like?”

“No thank you, you have done more than enough for me and I am grateful, here take this,” Harry said as he dug into his black pouch and pulled out two diamonds the size of a small Easter egg. “Take this one for you as my thanks, and give this one to Griphook for me. I will be in contact soon to make sure he has gotten it.”

“Thank you sir, you are always welcome here” the goblin said as he took the diamonds and bowed to Harry.

Harry then began to walk out as he watched the goblin go over to Griphook and give him the second diamond and began to talk quietly. Harry knew it would serve him well to get on the goblins good side, and now that he had plenty of money he knew he had a firm ground with them for the future. Quickening his pace he made his way to his first and most important stop; Olivanders. Thankful no one was inside he quickly closed the door and flipped the closed sign on the door. With the ring of the bell on the counter, Mr. Olivander appeared from the back room behind the shelves and shelves of wands.

“Ah, Mr. Potter, I knew I would be seeing you soon.”

“I trust you already know why I am here” Harry replied coldly.

“Of course, you can’t be expected to fight with a wand that you can’t use against You-Know-Who. I have been experimenting with some powerful combinations since you first bought your wand in the summer of your first year. Please step into the back room” Olivander informed as he gestured to the door he just came out from.

Inside Harry saw ceiling high stacks of wands in a large rectangular room. For about an hour Harry grabbed wand after wand only to have it taken away the instant his fist closed around the handle. The stacks of wands were beginning to reach Harry’s height as time passed and Harry was no closer to a match. Finally there was only one wand left.

“This is the last wand I’m afraid,” Olivander said as he held up a large black wand.

Harry took it in his hands and immediately it began to glow, and a magical force seemed to shot up inside of Harry. Harry had to grab the stool behind him to keep him from falling over in what seem to be a drunken swoon. Finally as it all subsided away Harry could here Olivander muttering, ‘curious, quite curious”.

“What’s curious this time?”

“This wand is made from an extremely complex combination of cores and wood. It’s 15 inches long and made from a large branch of petrified willow from a tree that is over 3000 years old and is completely unbreakable. The core inside is a combination of a phoenix feather, the feather of a very rare and fine breed palomino horse, and thestral heart string. The cores have been soaked in dragons’ blood for 40 days and then soaked again in phoenix tears for another 40” Olivander explained.

“How much will it cost?”

“I’m afraid it’s 3,500 galleons, but if you wish I can ask Dumbledore for the money when I inform him of your purchase.”

“No” Harry said quickly. “I can pay for it myself, and you won’t be able to reach Dumbledore until tonight since he is on a very important call from the minister.”

“Alright then, I will speak with Dumbledore tonight then” Olivander replied suspiciously.

Harry placed his hand over the violet pouch and then pulled out the galleons to pay for the wand. He then quickly left thop, op, hoping he wouldn’t contact Dumbledore. He was already pressed for time and if Dumbledore was told he was in Diagon Alley his plans would be cut short. Realizing there was nothing he could do but continue onwards he made his way to the luggage shop. He needed a new trunk to fit everything he was going to get today. His current trunk was already starting to overflow and it wouldn’t hurt to get a new bag as well. Just as he was looking through some trunks he saw some str one ones marked, ‘Home Trunks’. They looked like Moody’s trunk in the respect that they seemed to have many different key holes for different compartments.

“May I help you young man?” a very short wizard ask suddenly.

He was about the height of professor Flitwick with a very long beard and a pair of oval glasses over light brown eyes.

“Yes I was just at looking at these trunks here, I plan on doing some traveling next week and I need a new trunk” Harry lied quickly.

“Well you have found the right place to browse. These home trunks here are perfect for traveling.”

“What’s the finest trunk model here you have?” Harry asked.

The wizard looked at Harry for a moment as if trying to see if he was serious.

“Well, we just got in a new one” the little wizard said pointing to a large and very fine looking trunk.

It was made of dark oak with what looked like a Chinese design. It was four feet high and just as wide and long as Harry’s old trunk. All over it where Chinese symbols and had eight keyholes in it. On top, a beautiful tiger and dragon was carved into the wood together with amazing detail, twisting towards each other like the yin-yang symbol.

“The first compartment is a spacious storage closet for all your clothes that is connected to the room compartment” the man began to explain as he opened each compartment with a fine set of keys, each with its own animal symbol for each key hole.

The 1st keyhole and key was shaped like dog.

“The 2nd compartment is for books, which is connected to the library” the man said as he inserted a horse shaped key into the keyhole. “The 3rd is to store any other items you may need,” this time an ox shaped key. “Now the rest of the trunk is actually housing” the man explained, as he opened the 4th compartment with a pig shaped key.

The wizard then opened the next compartment to reveal a very large bedroom. Harry watched as the man climbed inside rather clumsily and climbed down a ladder. Following, Harry was careful to make sure the wizard was below him before he climbed down, not wanting to step over the man.

The bed room was amazing. It had a king size poster bed with black satin sheets and matching curtains with tigers and dragons embroidered in the fabric. There was a large desk that was also made of oak which matched the décor of the room. The walls were painted from the ceiling to half way down to the floor in crimson red, and the other half in pure black. There was also a very large matching dresser to put your clothes in along with a walk in closet and a large full length dressing mirror.

Another door led to a gigantic bathroom that rivaled the prefect bathroom Harry saw at Hogwarts in his 4th year. In the center of the floor was swimming pool size bathtub made out of black marble with golden taps. Each tap was for a different kind of bubble bath and soap. On the other side was an elegant shower with a crystal glass door and many jets over the walls and looked as if it could fit five people inside it. The sink was large along with a giant mirror that took up almost the entire wall around it. They were both golden and engraved with snakes and monkeys.

“In each room you will find a red door with a keyhole that will transport you to a different compartment on the wall by the doors. Just insert the key to whichever compartment you want to go into and the door will take you there” the little wizard explained as he walked to another door with a keyhole next to it.

The 5th key was shaped like a dragon and when they entered the next room Harry saw it was am extremely large kind of wizard exercise room. There was equipment to exercise and lift weights, along with a large ring for dueling. There were dummies to practice spells on and punching bags. The walls were completely covered in real weapons such as, bows, crossbows, katanas and other swords, throwing stars, staffs, daggers, whips, maces and more. Attached to the room was a large sauna on the left, on the left of that door was a locker room equipped with showers big enough for twenty people, and a twin locker room next to it for members of the opposite sex. In another room was a large swimming pool and hot tub. Then it was on to the next compartment.

The 6th key was shaped like a rooster and inside was a large kitchen big enough to be the kitchen in Hogwarts. It had large stoves for cooking and tables for preparing food. It had a huge ice box (already stocked) that could hold two months worth of food along with cabinets for other items that would do the same. And closets and racks full of kitchen ware and utensils. Through a pair of large double doors was an elegant dining room large enough for fifty people. The dining table was long and made of dark willow, its legs carved like the coils of a snake and the chairs were done in matching fashion. In the center was a large crystal chandelier that gave off a strong white light.

The 7th key that was shaped like a snake led to a large library and study. The shelves were already filled with books on a variety of topics, from Defense against the dark arts to transfiguration. The library had many comfortable chairs and sofas made of dragon hide and a large table in the center for studying. The desk was like the one in the bed room with matching chairs and lamps.

Finally, the 8th key that was shaped like a goat led to a compartment that was a potions lab. It had many cauldrons of different sizes and tables and instruments for cutting and mashing ingredients, along with measuring cups and so forth. It also had wizard machines that looked like computers to test the quality of the potions made.

“This trunk also has a flap to allow your owls and other familiars inside it so you may receive your mail in here as well and it shrinks to the size of a small wallet so you may carry it easily to where ever you go. To shrink it just press the carving of the tiger and to enlarge it just press the carving of the dragon” the wizard explained.

Harry told the wizard he would take it along with a large black bag he spotted that had a feather light charm on it and could hold up to five hundred pounds. Paying a large price for everything Harry knew it would be worth it in the end. Deciding he needed some new clothes he went to Madam Malkin’s shop. The first thing he bought himself was a new set of Hogwarts robes since he had out grown his old ones from the previous year by at least four inches. Next he bought another set of robes in a variety of styles and colors. Lastly he bought a black robe with a hood. Putting all the new robes in his new trunk he left wearing the hooded black one and headed to Flourish & Blots. Grabbing a cart he began to look and choose which books he would need.

Deciding to get the books on his list first he grabbed a copy of ‘Potions of Potions Masters’, ‘Transfixing Transfiguration’, ‘Plants and Fungi for the manic’, and Charming Charms’. There wasn’t a book for DADA and Harry wondered why. Regardless he got three books on the subject along with Auror books. Next he got more books on herbology, transfiguration, and charms. After that he got books on magical painting and how to animate portraits to life, healing, animagi, potions, wand less magic and apparation. He looked for books on Occlumency but all they had was a book on its theories and meditation. After grabbing a few more books he left the shop with at least thirty books in his trunk.

After that he went to the Apothecary shop and bought a large variety of potion ingredients along with his usual ones. When he was finished it was time to start phase two of his plan, and he headed for Knockturn Alley. Not looking at anyone he quickly walked to Borkin & Burkes, where he knew he could find many of the things he needed. Thankfully it had now begun to rain, giving Harry an excuse to keep his hood up over his head as he walked towards the shop. When he entered the shopkeeper was already talking quietly with another man in a hooded robe. Harry quietly walked to the book case on the side and looked through the books that were there while keeping an eye on the other two.

The books on the shelf seemed to have amazing spells to hide objects and locations, especially from the ministry. There were books on dark potions, and spells, along with transfiguration, animagi, spells to summon animals and a variety of dark creatures, and more. Finally the man in the robe left looking very happy with a small box clutched tightly in his arms.

“May I help you young man?”

“Yes you may” Harry said giving the man a dark look. “I would like to purchase some of these books here, and I would also like to take a look at some of your other books and items I know you have hidden in here.”

The man seemed to grow angry and Harry just threw him and devilish smile.

“I only have what you see here, and I doubt these items are in your price range, so why don’t you leave now and save me the trouble of throwing you out” the man snapped back which only made Harry smile more.

Great full he had risen to the bait he merely went ihis his black pouch and pulled out a finely cut and polished egg sized ruby, and watched as the mans jaw drop.

“With this alone I can buy your entire shop” Harry spat. “I was told to come here by *certain* people who claimed you had more business sense than other people. But, obviously I must spend my gold and jewels somewhere else.”

With that Harry gave the man a disgusted look, and walked towards the exit with his robe billowing behind in a perfect Snape like way.

“Wait sir,” the man said as he finally seemed to find his voice. “I apologize; I thought you were one of those fools from the ministry. Obviously you have more . . . taste than those fools. Please come back.”

“The fools from the ministry have been here?” Harry asked, not turning around.

“Yes, those stupid Aurors have been going into the shops in disguise trying to find anyone to arrest and question about death eaters.”

“If they were in disguise, how did you know it was them?”

“With my years of experience I’ve come to know who’s here to buy and who is just trying to give me trouble” the man said vaguely.

“Alright then, here is the deal” Harry said as he turned around. “I will give you this ruby and in exchange I can have whatever I want in this shop.”

“It’s a deal” the man replied happily.

The man walked to the door and used his wand to lock with a spell Harry didn’t recognize and flipped the closed sign on the door. Harry told the man which books he wanted and he happily pulled them off the shelves and placed them on the counter.

“Also, I am a year under age, so I need something that would help me do magic with those stupid mudblood lovers from the ministry finding out.”

“If you like, I have a potion that will permanently cloak your magical signature and keep you off the ministries sensors.”

“That would be adequate. Also I need more advanced books than these here and on more topics.”

“Then ow mow me sir” the man said as he let Harry behind the counter. “Now Mr. . . Um sorry I never caught your name sir.”

“That because I didn’t throw it” Harry replied with a wicked smile. “You may simply call me Zane.”

“Alright then, please follow me.”

Harry followed the man to a dark room in the back. Then with a flick of his wand a trap door opened in the far corner of the room, revealing a set of stairs. Below Harry found himself inside a large spacious cave like room, with rows and rows of books, potions and other items, which must obviously be illegal.

“Now, here is the potion I was telling you about Zane” the man said as he pulled a small bottle out from one of the shelves.

It looked like a bottle of thick black syrup. Harry took the battle and a Moody like voice shouted in his head ‘constant vigilance!’ But at this point Harry had come too far and he really didn’t care. In one large gulp Harry drowned the bottle and shuddered at its bitter and disgusting taste, fighting the urge to throw it back up. Suddenly, Harry felt as if a dementor had wrapped itself around his entire body like a giant snake, as he felt like he was being frozen alive. Then he felt normal again as if nothing ever happened.

“Now, you should have no problem performing magic. Also sir, if your interested I have another potion that can permanently fix your eye sight, it will also give you the ability to see people who are invisible or under invisibility cloaks, or disillusioned.”

Harry quickly agreed and followed the man further down the shelves and was then given another potion, this one a very light blue, almost white. Once again Harry felt like throwing up as he quickly downed the potion. Suddenly everything he saw was nothing but a blur.

“You fool now I can’t see anything now!” Harry yelled as he drew out his dragon dagger.

“No wait sir, please! You still have your glasses on!” The man said as he backed away from Harry.

Harry, realizing he was right, took off his glasses to see everything perfectly.

“I apologize” Harry replied neutrally as he put away his dagger.

“It’s quite alright sir” the man said obviously still nervous.

“Now, I need books on Occluemency, as well as Legilimency.”

“Right this way Zane” the man instructed still shaking.

He showed Harry were the books were, and waited for him to reply. Harry quickly scanned the books and saw that they had very complex diagrams on how to perform and break into some ones mind as well as how to defend yourself from attacks. Along with that Harry took books on animagi, healing, bewitching muggle objects, potions for healing, potions for offense and defense in battle, transfiguration, dark charms, curses, and jinxes. Then there were books of blood and life magic, dueling with and against the dark arts and books on powerful elemental magic spells.

With huge pile of books piling up Harry decided he had more than enough and put them in his trunk in the horse compartment. The compartment seemed to grow deeper and deeper to magically accommodate the number of books put inside of it.

“I believe that is enough for now” Harry said.

“Very well Zane, it was a pleasure doing business with you” the man replied as Harry gave him the ruby.

“I trust you realize I want no one to hear that I was here” Harry declared as he looked at him sternly.

“Of course” the man said, never taking his appraising eyes off the ruby.

“Very well then. As long as that is clear, I may come back in case I ever need anything else” Harry declared vaguely.

The man walked Harry out happily and told him he must drop by again soon. Harry then saw another clothes shop and went in to by more clothes. He bought fine wizard robes and slacks. There were cloaks and jackets made of fine dragon hide in various colors and lengths. As well as shirts and pants for all occasions. Harry bought a long black dragon hide cloak and a long body length coat with no arms and another one with arms. He bought many shirts and slacks as well as underwear and socks. He bought fine boots and shoes, and also a cane like the one he saw Luscious Malfoy have, except the cane had the head of phoenix. When he left the shop he headed to another Apothecary shop.

Once again he found himself surrounded by rare items and some he knew were definitely illegal. Buying large quantities of pretty much everything in the shop Harry made his way to his finally destination. But, on the way there he saw something he couldn’t resist, a tattoo parlor. The inside of the shop was dark and smelled like a combination of sweat and paint.

“May I help you?” a very large man said as he stepped into the room from the opposite of the entrance.

He was tall and very lanky with brown hair and amber eyes, with a large hawk nose that seemed to dwarf his face.

“I thought I’d come in and see what kind of work you do since I have been wanting a tattoo recently, and perhaps a piercing” Harry answered.

The man began to show Harry many exquisite tattoos in books and drawings hung up on the wall. Finally not able to decide, Harry decided to get several. On his left shoulder he got a large stag with blue eyes, on his right, a big shaggy bear like dog. On his chest he got an emerald green phoenix with beautiful red eyes that stretched from his left peck to the right, covering most of his chest. On his back he got two large thestral wings that began from his shoulders and extended all the way down to just above his buttocks. Finally, on the top of his right ear he got a simple golden hoop.

“Here” the man said handing Harry three vials of potions. “Take this blue one now to kill the pain. Then an hour later take this green one to prevent infection, and finally the red one to make you heal over night when you go to sleep. You can’t take them all now since they don’t react well together in your stomach, understand?”

“Yes, thank you” Harry said as he paid and took the three vials.

Harry walked out swallowing the first potion and began walking towards the pet shop he had seen when he had come here in his second year. He needed a new bird that could defend itself incase it was attacked, and something that would ensure his messages would get to where they needed to be. The shop smelled like animal droppings and many bird cages lined the ceilings with birds that looked to be a mixture of owls and some kind of reptiles. He saw the shopkeeper attending to other customers so he decided to look around.

A large terrarium covered the left wall of the shop filled with boa constrictors.

“Snakes of Invisibility: these snakes can become invisible at will and if they choose can also make who ever, or whatever they coil themselves around, become invisible as well” said a small dirty sign on the glass.

There were about ten snakes inside, nine of them eating rats together, while the last one sat coiled in the corner alone looking rather sad. It was about three feet long and white, with strange black stripes on it that seemed to be a mix of zebra stripes and crescent moons.

~What’s wrong? Why are you by yourself?~ Harry asked in parcel tongue.

~Thee otheeer ssssnakes hate meee~ it answered.

~Why?~

~Theeey ssssay I am too uglyyyy~

~That’s not true. Your one of the most beautiful snakes I have ever seen.~ Harry replied honestly.

~You tttthink I am Beeeautifuuuul?~ the snake asked happily.

~Yes I do. What is your name?~

~I dooont hhhhave oneee~

~Would you like to come home with me?~

~I would loveee to~ the snake replied as it stood straight up with excitement.

~Wait here, I’ll be back~ Harry declared.

The witch was no longer taking care of anyone and was watching Harry from afar. On closer inspection she looked as if she should be in a book of hags. She had ratty white hair and corn yellow teeth and her body seemed to be made of a giant pale prune and had a monocle over her left eye.

“Excuse me but I was hoping you could help me with something.” Harry said as he walked up to her.

“What did you have in mind” she replied in a light airy voice.

“First I would like to buy that white boa constrictor over there, second I am in need of a new bird. But, I’m afraid I need a bird that can defend itself if attacked and unsure that my letters are sent and not intercepted. Last year someone attacked and killed my owl after I sent her to deliver some very important private documents” Harry declared.

She looked at him as if he was an object before she finally spoke.

“I might have something that might fit what you need but I’m afraid you would not be able to handle it.”

“Let me be the judge of that” Harry replied sternly.

“Alright then come this way” she said and gestured to another room.

Inside Harry saw the most beautiful and yet heart breaking thing he had ever seen in his life. In a large silver cage that glowed faintly was a sickly looking phoenix. But unlike Fawkes it was not red and gold. Instead it was an amazing bold jet-blue color with a light crystal blue color on its breast. Its long tail was of the same mixture of bold jet-blue and crystal blue along with flecks of white, and it had amazing turquoise eyes. Harry could easily see that it was sick and on closer inspection he saw that it had a broken wing.

“This is a water phoenix. Some people I know caught her near the Nile River in Egypt. If she doesn’t choose a master soon she will die and not be reborn.”

“Why?” Harry asked quickly.

“Because, when a water phoenix dies when it’s in captivity it doesn’t get reborn. No one really knows why though. She has only two ways of surviving now, breaking free, or choosing a master which is almost never heard of. I believe there have only been two water phoenixes in the last two thousand years who have ever chosen a master.”

“Why did you break her wing?”

“Because it was the only way my friends were able to capture her. You have to weaken it before capturing a water phoenix; otherwise even the spell placed on the cage won’t keep it locked up.”

“Since she won’t choose a master then why not just let her go then?”

“And lose out on the possible galleons I can get for her, are you crazy?’

“How much?” Harry asked, with every intention of freeing her.

“10,000 galleons.”

“I’ll give you 5,000” Harry countered.

“8,000!” she spat back

“This phoenix is already going to die! You can either sell it to me for 5,000 or let it die and get nothing!” Harry declared, giving her deathly glare.

“Fine, 5,000 and another 1,000 for the book of phoenixes I have. You’ll need it if you’re actually thinking of trying to take care of her” she countered.

“Done” Harry spat back.

She gave him a silver key to the cage and a very large old book, and then she went outside to get the boa constrictor Harry demanded earlier. When she gave him the snake he pulled out his trunk and placed the bird and snake inside, telling the phoenix that he would set her free as soon as he was home, and letting the snake lose in his room with a warning not to try and hurt the bird in the cage. Then he quickly got out of the trunk and put it back into his pocket before the old hag could ask questions and walked out of the shop. By now he knew the Order must be looking for him and he had to make his way back to the leaky cauldron to get back home. . .