Chapter Text
Padfoot. Moony.
Something’s wrong. My entire body aches, and it’s not because of anything
my Uncle did. It’s like my skin is too small. My joints all feel soft and gummy, it’s
getting hard to even stand and it’s like there’s fire burning in my blood.
Please. I need you.
Harry
P.S. Thank you both for the early birthday presents
“We need to do something.” Sirius growled as he paced in his room, letter clutched in his hand.
They had received the letter just after breakfast. They had tried to bring it up with Albus but he had absolutely refused to listen. He just kept saying that Harry was fine and if anything was wrong he would deal with it. No one else would, or could, listen to or help them.
Bill Weasley had offered to speak with Harry when he was on guard duty, but he had then been switched off duty and assigned to Diagon Alley. Sirius had then tried going to his cousin’s daughter, Nymphadora, and Kingsley Shacklebolt who were both aurors, but they had just said the Headmaster would know if something was wrong and fix it. The rest of the Order had given them the same response. Now it was after dinner and they had locked themselves in Sirius’s room.
“I know Padfoot.” Remus was just as upset as his friend. His cub was begging for help and they were being stopped from being there for him. “But what can we do. We’ve tried to leave and can’t.”
That had been something to make them even angrier. Sirius had finally gotten sick of Albus refusing to do anything to help Harry and had tried to leave. Albus had responded to Sirius’s storming out by closing certain wards he had placed without Sirius permission. Sirius had agreed with the fidelius charm, but that had been it.
Both Sirius and Remus were locked to the property.
“We need…” Sirius couldn’t finish and just grabbed his hair and let out a short scream.
“Sirius, I KNOW!” Remus said as his eyes flashed amber, he was just as angry as his friend but was keeping it under control. “But we can’t lose it right now. Harry needs us to figure this out and get to him. Losing it now won’t help. Now, do you know what other wards Albus may have placed?”
“No, I agreed to the fidelius, but that was all he told me he was adding. I was making contact with other members at the time he warded the property, I have no idea what he may have done.” Sirius stood still. “I want them out of my house. If they don’t care enough to protect my pup I want them out. But how?”
Remus watched his friend for a moment but then got nervous as Sirius got a devilish smirk. He knew that smirk well. It usually ended up with them in detention for a minimum of a month when they were in school.
“Kreacher!” Sirius called.
“Disgrace of the Black name bes callin’ Kreacher?” The filthy elf popped into the room.
“Oh I think you’re going to like this Kreacher.” Sirius smiled at the elf. “I know you listen into everything. Do you know exactly who spoke against allowing us to help my godson, Harry Potter? Answer me!”
“Kreachers bes knowing Nasty Master.” The elf grumbled.
“Good. I want you to play with them. No killing or maiming, of course, but a few bruises never hurt anyone. I want you to stuff their clothing down the toilet. I want you to scrub the floor with their toothbrushes. I want you to turn off the hot water in the bathrooms they use. I want you to fill their shampoo with hair removing potion. I want you to mix their body wash with itching powder. I want you to add the acne causing potion to their face wash. I want you to add fireplace ashes to every single thing they try to eat or drink in this house. For those who have moved in I want their rooms to be ice cold and I want the main areas to be sweltering hot. But only if they speak against allowing us to help Harry.
As for those that only visit the house… I want any seat they sit on to dump them on the floor. I want anything they touch to make their hands sticky and dyed hot pink. I want you to fix the floo so they always tumble out on their butts. I want anyone who comes through the front door to have stink sap dumped on their heads. I want you to change the colour of their robes to mustered yellow, except for Albus Dumbledore, I want his robes to be completely black. And I want it so every time they walk through a doorway in the house a bucket of ice water dumps on their heads. But, again, only if they speak against allowing us to help Harry.
And, I can’t believe I am saying this… Completely remove the curtain from my mothers portrait.”
Kreacher was giddy. It was a truly disturbing thing to see the demented old elf smile like that. Kreacher was so happy he even bowed before popping out to start with his new duties.
“Well…” Remus was slightly disturbed with how quickly Sirius had come up with all that. “You do realize we are also going to have to listen to your mum and deal with the heat every time we leave our rooms… Right?”
“It will be worth it to make them pay.” Sirius snarled as he glared at the floor as if it had mortally offended him.
All of a sudden they heard a shriek.
“That sounded like Tonks.” Remus said blandly as the screaming continued and the portrait of Walburga Black started shouting along with her.
“Yup.” Sirius nodded before sending a silencing spell at the door. “So, any ideas on getting out of here?”
It was about an hour later that something happened. And that wasn't if you counted the number of people that had tried getting into Sirius’s room to get him to deal with Kreacher who had started his torment. Sirius and Remus had just ignored them, although they had spelled the door so they could see through it on their side so they knew who was coming up to see them, as well as see how they looked. Every one of them had been drenched and sweating.
As Sirius was pacing the room once again trying to work out how they could use Buckbeak in his latest scheme there was a knock on the window. Two large Gringotts eagle owls were waiting to be let in. Both wore goblin made armour helmets and wing plates that must have been enchanted to allow them through any wards since normal Gringotts owls couldn’t get through the wards.
Once they had let the owls in and taken the letters the owls left once again. Remus was the first to open his letter and read it aloud to his friend.
“To Remus J. Lupin.
We at Gringotts are writing to you in regards to your honorary godson and pack mate, Harry J. Potter. Mr. Potter was brought to the bank and your retrieval and safe delivery to the bank has been requested by a valuable ally.
This letter serves as a portkey and can go through any and all wards. Say the trigger phrase when you are ready. You will be brought to a private arrival room so none are aware of your arrival. Should you fail to arrive within 24 hours a contingent of goblin warriors will retrieve you by force.
Lord Ragnock. Gringotts Manager.
The trigger phrase is ‘Time is money’…”
Sirius laughed. Since Remus had been reading the letter to him the portkey had activated and he was already gone. Sirius quickly had both his and Remus’s rooms sealed so no one would be able to get in. He also called for Kreacher and had him ward their rooms so Mad-Eye and his blasted eye wouldn’t be able to see in.
With that done he opened his letter. It was the same as Remus’s with the only differences being his name and the phrase ‘Money is all’.
Speaking the phrase, Sirius Black left Grimmauld Place.
“What took you so long?” Remus demanded as soon as his friend arrived. It had been a few minutes and he had gotten worried.
“I was just making sure no one would notice we were missing for a bit.” Sirius assured the mother hen werewolf before turning to the goblins by the door. “We greet you this evening. Our presence was requested by Lord Ragnock in regards to our godson.”
“Follow.” One of the goblins barked before turning and walking through the doors.
They followed him down hall after hall. They went deeper into the bank then Remus or Sirius ever thought possible. Eventually they came to a door that was being guarded not just by goblins, but by elves.
“Inside.” Their goblin guide barked before turning to leave.
The goblins next to the door opened it slightly and Remus and Sirius quickly went inside. Both were instantly furious at what they saw.
Harry was laying on a bed thrashing and letting out short screams of agony. The was an older elvish woman gently running her hands through his hair and humming to him, but no one was doing anything to help him.
“Harry. Pup. Are you ok? What’s happening?” Sirius rushed over and sat down at the edge of the bed, closely followed by Remus.
“Siri… Remy… It hurts.” Harry managed to get out. It sounded like it was a lot of work just to get that much out.
“What do you need us to do cub?” Remus asked as he went to the other side of the bed and took his cubs hand.
“There is nothing you can do.” The elvish woman said, looking at them with startling green eyes that were just like Harry’s.
“What’s happening to him?” Remus growled as his eyes flashed.
“He is going through his inheritance.” The woman said.
“What? That happens when someone is 17, Harry is now only turning 15. And all that happens is your core finishes growing.” Sirius said in confusion.
“Here in Britain unfortunately that is what happens under normal circumstances, but it would seem this is anything but normal.” The woman said as she took the damp cloth off Harry’s head and dipped it in the basin next to her before wringing it out and replacing it.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Remus was confused. “We need to do something.”
“I am sure you have heard of creature inheritances.”
“Yes, but they are extremely rare. Only a few people get them every decade.” Remus said. “Are you saying Harry is going through a creature inheritance? But again, that generally doesn’t happen until a person comes of age.”
“The reason it is so rare in Britain is because many of your government buildings are covered in wards that bind all those with creature inheritances. This includes your St. Mungo’s where most magically born children are born, the public entrances to the Ministry, the main entrances to Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, as well as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where most children attend. Every time you pass through the main gate the binding is reapplied. In the past nearly a quarter of all magical children in Great Britain had creature inheritances because of the countries history and olde magics.” The woman said.
“If there is a binding how is this happening to Harry? And that doesn’t answer Moony’s question about Harry’s age.” Sirius couldn’t take his eyes off Harry who was back to writhing, not seeming to even notice they were there.
“It would seem young Harry is anything but ordinary.” The woman smiled. “One of the seers in the court sent us. He said that young Harry would not survive this without our assistance. His magic was already overwhelming the existing bindings when we arrived to collect him. He was too far into his change for us to risk taking him home with us so we sought refuge with our goblin allies for now. He requested we get the both of you here for this.
As for his age, I myself am not exactly sure. Lord Ragnock said he would inform me, but we decided to wait until Harry was through the worst of it.”
“And how long with that be?” Sirius couldn’t stand to see his pup suffering like this.
“According to the records the goblins have his exact time of birth was 11:27 p.m.. Usually the full inheritance is finalized at the same moment of their birth. Pain is actually quite normal. Harry’s is just more extreme due to his condition.” She told them.
Both Remus and Sirius glanced at the clock. It was 11:23. It was only another 4 minutes. They just wished time would go quicker.
“Why is it more extreme for Harry?” Remus questioned, trying to distract himself and Sirius.
“Harry has an elvish heritage. Going through that inheritance is naturally quite painful as nearly every muscle and bone needs to change. Even skin and hair shift. This is a painful process and from what I have been told makes a person feel like their muscles are ripping and their bones are melting. The problem for Harry is that he is malnourished and he has muscle and bone damage.”
Both Remus and Sirius were growling in the backs of their throats like the canines they were when they heard that. They had both had their suspicions about Harry’s home life, but Dumbledore had assured them that although Harry might not be as well loved as they would like he was still taken care of.
“Who are you? Why do you care so much? And how do you know Harry’s creature is an elf?” Remus asked.
“My name is Princess Magdalena Sofia Allena Maetharanel Táriel of the Elvish Kingdom of Rerenhil, Lady of the Rivers and Keeper of the Forestlands. But please, call me Mags. As for why I care, young Harry is my great great great grandson. He is the first in his line to have inherited my fey nature and not just my late husbands human traits. That is how I know he is elvish, I would not have been sent by our seers unless he was a member of our court.” The woman, now identified as Mags said.
“I thought Lily was a muggle-born.” Sirius muttered.
“She may have been.” Mags shrugged negligently. “Just because one has fey blood does not mean they can use magic, it is just more likely. But if she attended Hogwarts any chance of her developing a creature heritage would have been stopped by the bindings.”
“Is it just more common for elvish heritages to come early?” Remus thought this might be the reason Harry was getting his early.
“My Lady.” A voice came from the door interrupting the questioning. “This one arrived and has been swooping around the halls searching for you.”
With the door being held open a large red bird flew in. Both Remus and Sirius were worried as they recognized Fawkes, Headmaster Dumbledore’s phoenix.
“Well hello you old fire bird. I haven’t seen you in over a hundred years.” Mags smiled at Fawkes. “What brings you here?”
Fawkes flew over to Harry and landed gently on his stomach, trilling softly. Harry settled almost instantly and his breathing evened out.
“Thank you Fawkes.” Sirius smiled at seeing Harry's pain lesson.
Fawkes chirped and trilled a few times before using his wings to try and push them all away from the bed. When they weren’t getting the hint he squawked indignantly and glared.
“Listen here you old feather duster, I’m not letting you take my godson back to that old goat.” Sirius growled at the bird as his mood instantly shifted.
Fawkes gave a haughty insulted look.
“I don’t think that is what he’s planning Pads.” Remus was confused but got off the bed. He figured if anyone could help Harry it was a phoenix.
“Did no one ever teach you not to argue with a phoenix?” Mags gave a musical laugh as she pulled Sirius and Remus away. “I’ve always thought they were just too stubborn to die and that was why they lived so long.”
“Is that how it’s worked for you?” Sirius smirked at her.
Mags smiled back. “But of course.”
Once they were far enough away Fawkes seemed to prepare. Just as the clock hanging on the wall changed to 11:27 Fawkes took off, arching his wings above his head for a moment and calling up a fire storm.
At the moment Harry Potter officially turned 15 he was engulfed in flames.