Once again Harry found himself in the Forbidden Forest, he traveled to the place where he had encountered Voldemort and decided to climb a tree using his grappling gun to avoid another nasty encounter, he took his night vision goggles and changed the setting to the heat signature mode, he felt like the Predator, searching for his prey in the middle of the night jungle, he moved from tree to tree until he found a great concentration of a heat signature near a small pond.
He once again he moved closer using his grappling gun to silently approach the pond, he saw fifteen people wearing robes and cloaks that hide their faces standing up in front of a large fire pit, then a taller figure appeared in front of them, the figure took its hood off and revealed to be his uncle Remus.
"Brothers and sisters of the moon, fear not. The turning point is about to begin, remember to drink from your vial and to dispose of the outer layer of your robe, you won't like to rip your clothes and then having to walk naked in the cold morning, trust me" Uncle Remus said which made every robbed figure to chuckle "Remember to let the wolf be free but at the same time remember that you're your own person, not a monster, simply a gifted person" He finished his speech then he drank from a vial, gulping down every single drop of it, the figures did the same thing and proceeded to take out their robes" Harry was surprised when he saw not only Fay Dunbar but also Terrence Higgs amongst other elder students.
"The moment is here" Uncle Remus said as the moon was in the perfect position and he begun to growl and right on cue everyone else growled as well, Harry saw with shock and horror how their bodies twisted, their arms and legs stretched unnaturally, hair begun to spread all over their bodies and fangs replaced their teeth, it all look that was ripped from a horror picture and what was worst was that now Harry was in a forest surrounded by werewolves.
When the transformation was done the alpha wolf, Uncle Remus, howled at the moon and called on the attention of all his pack, the younger wolves sat in front of their alpha, he growled and bark some sort of orders and the wolves ran away in a two lines formation, just when the alpha wolf was about to run behind his pack he began to sniff the air, then immediately turned his gaze towards the tree Harry was perched on, the boy felt terror as he saw the yellow eyes of the werewolf and rapidly ran away hoping and praying they wouldn't follow him, he never stopped running until he reached the inside of the castle, there he managed to catch his breath and sneak away to his dorm room.
"How stupid and careless I was" Harry thought to himself.
--
During the next day on Professor Lupin's class Harry was nervous of seeing that side of his uncle, he counted the time on his wristwatch hoping that the class to get over soon, then the school bell sounded and everyone grabbed their materials to leave to their next class, Harry almost sprinted towards the door when he heard a voice calling him.
"Mr. Wayne, can you spare a few minutes? It won't take long" The professor called him and Harry gulped in terror, he walked towards the professor's desk, Harry saw how his classmates walk away and Hermione and Rachel turned to him and told him that they would wait outside, he nodded at them.
The silence was complete in the classroom, Harry for the first time felt nervous around his uncle's presence, but then the man he knew all of his life said.
"Harry, please I ask you to not be afraid, yes it might have been a shock to see what you saw last night, but I promise you that neither you nor any student in this school is in any form of danger" He said
"But professor, everything I've read about the werewolves says that they're dangerous creatures" Harry said he realized that he had committed a mistake when his uncle's expression denoted hurt.
"That's how it was" He said in a whisper "But not now, when I started working on the school seven years ago I made a promise and a vow that any werewolf child that attended Hogwarts would get my guidance, my experience as a werewolf hasn't always being positive, I must admit that one time I almost ate Professor Snape and your uncle Sirius, luckily I was stopped of it" Remus confessed
"Then what happened? How did they allowed you to personally care of the werewolves?" The boy asked
"Well it was thanks to your father's friend Dr. Langstrom that we developed a sort of cure for the lycanthropy sickness" Remus said
"Which is?" The boy inquired
"The cure is like a cough medicine, it works in a way that when we transform we remain in full control of the beast within ourselves, thanks to that we're changing the way the purebloods see us, it's been an uphill battle but we're at least trying to change things" Remus confessed.
"Well don't worry Uncle Remus, I won't say anything until you guys are ready, I was just curious if my hypothesis was correct, which it was, only that I got scared when you looked at my direction" Harry confessed.
"It tends to happen, but I don't want to see you again in my werewolf class, some students are novices so I don't want you to end up hurt, alright?" Remus said
"Yes professor" Harry said and with that he left the classroom to catch up with his girlfriend and his friend.
--
That night Harry sat on his bed and with a clipboard he began to write a letter, he took some of his white sheet paper and his blue ball point
"Dear Uncle Ted, how's the family?
Hey so I needed some items from the Potter Vault, can you take them out from me? I attached the list alongside this letter with a list of some Christmas presents. Thanks."
The next morning Hedwig flew towards him who was sitting on the Hufflepuff table talking with Cedric and Draco, he snatched the letter from his snowy owl's beak and read the letter.
"Dear Harry, the family is great, I hope you are making sure that Nymphadora is behaving well, we know she can be a handful so just bear with her a little more. Consider your petition to be fulfilled and I'll be going to Gringotts this morning and I'll try to buy everything you asked for, while we are on that matter I need your permission as LP to access a certain property, I promise you that everything is both legal and it's a surprise you're going to enjoy, all I need is your written consent, if you write it on a note just call upon Muffin, one of the Hogwarts house-elves that was donated fro m the Black family to deliver the letter to me, have a nice day Harry."
"Permission? Well I hope he knows what he is doing" Harry said as he took a pen and a sheet of paper from his utility belt then wrote down his permission.
"I Lord Harry James Potter, give my explicit consent to Edward Tonks, advisor, legal representative and accountant of the Potter vaults and fortunes that he may do with the best interests to use the galleons to his project. Signed Lord Harry James Potter"
"I felt weird writing that" Harry thought as he folded the letter and said "Muffin". With an almost silent pop a healthy looking House-elf appeared behind Harry startling everyone in the Hufflepuff table.
"What can Muffin do to Mr. Harry Wayne?" The house-elf said bowing down
"Please deliver this letter to Ted Tonks, thank you" Harry said and the house-elf bowed again and with another pop it disappeared.
"Amm Harry, what was that?" Cedric asked with genuine curiosity
"Just something I needed to send right away" Harry explained as he nonchalantly continued to eat from his fruit salad, unknown to him someone was watching with interest, after all no student ever called upon a House-Elf.
--
At the same time in Gringotts…
Ted walked to the teller after Muffin gave him Harry's permission.
"Next" The teller said calling Ted's attention away from the letter in his hands.
"Greetings Mr. Joustsword may your enemies cower at the whisper of your name" Ted said to the teller who grinned widely showing his sharp teeth.
"And may your fortune always increases Accountant Tonks, what business do you have on Gringotts today?" Asked the teller
"I have to do to things at the request of my employer, first I need fifty galleons from his vault to make his Yule gifts shopping, and two I request to speak with Account Manager Frankbolt regarding the reparation of a house." Ted explained
--
Harry walked besides Rachel regarding the holiday season
"You know I don't celebrate a lot of things Harry" Rachel said in her monotone voice
"I know, but it's Christmas, besides I heard that Damian bought you something big for you" Harry said
"Please Harry, don't try to convince me, I know when you're lying" Rachel said "Empath remember?" She explained
"I know, but please, last year you weren't there and I want my best friend around" Harry pleaded at his friend
"I thought Neville was your best friend" Rachel said dryly
"Best male friend, you're my best female friend" Harry replied.
"Fine, I'll tell my mother, not like she would decline though" She added
"Thanks, I'm sure a short boy will be happy about you coming for Christmas" Harry said
"You should stop remind him of his stature, you know Damian has a short temperament about that" Rachel said
"That's what makes it even funnier at his response" Harry said knowing that his brother hated when someone compared him to Dick, who was the shortest of their older brothers
"One day he is going to punch you for calling him that you know" Rachel added
"Nah, he won't do it, beneath that grumpy exterior my brother loves me" Harry said with a smirk.
They kept walking and they saw Myrtle floating down in front of them.
"Good afternoon Myrtle, how's your day going?" Harry happily said at the teen ghost
"Harry! Great news! I found the hidden Ravenclaw room" Myrtle said "Follow me quick!" The ghost teen said making the pair of friends race behind her. They ignored Mr. Filch's remarks of not running on the hallways and Rachel was a little confused of what they were talking but she was intrigued by this mysterious secret room.
After some minutes, an infinite set of stairs, and what could be described as a growl in the third floor, they finally arrived at an empty corridor in the seventh floor.
"Here it is" Myrtle said to the pair.
"There's nothing here" Rachel pointed the obvious
"Well of course there's nothing here, it's not called the Ravenclaw's secret room for nothing" Myrtle replied Rachel's statement
"How do we access it?" Harry asked as he took the device Professor Snape gave to him from his utility belt as well as a magnifying glass to look for a possible hidden door or panel.
"Well it took me a while to find it but according to the Hogwarts House-Elves the way to open it is that you need to pass three times in front of the Barnabas the Barmy tapestry while thinking exactly what you need" Myrtle explained
"So if he needs a bathroom it will appear?" Rachel said sarcastically
"Yes, exactly" Myrtle replied, and though her reply was simple she was actually annoyed of the pale girl's sarcastic comments, the girl looked even more ghostly than her, an actual ghost.
"Alright then" Harry said as he began walking back and forth the hall thinking "Take me to where the Horrocrux is, take me to where the Horrocrux is, take me to where the Horrocrux is" He said each time he passed in front of the tapestry, then two doors appeared in front of them. "I love magic" Harry said smiling
"Come on, we have a Horrocrux to destroy" Harry said as he stepped forward, Rachel simply shrugged and followed him. "Myrtle can you do me a favor and ask Professor Snape to come here? I believe we will be needing his expertise to destroy the evil thing" Harry said to the ghost teen who nodded and flew away.
Harry and Rachel saw pure and utter trash inside the room, old furniture, very old and used books, cracked mirrors, termite filled cabinet, rusty bird cages and dirty sheets. "Come, the compass says it's this way" Harry said as they motioned to walk to a direction inside the endless parade of old stuff.
The walked right, left, right, right, left, they felt like they were on a dark labyrinth or a haunted house, but then they saw a big pile of old junk. "The compass says it's inside there, you take the left and I take the right, does it sound good?" Harry asked
"Sure" Rachel simply shrugged as both of them started to search for an item, none of them knew what exactly what they were looking for but they guessed it would have an eerie feel to it. Harry moved clocks, books, boxes, who piled all of this stuff like that?
Meanwhile on Rachel's side she found an old jewelry box, it was dirty but it was still beautiful, she opened and saw the most beautiful tiara with a Raven shaped form with a blue sapphire on its center, it was the most delicate piece of jewelry she had ever seen, definitely magic made since no muggle artisan could be that meticulous to make those intricate designs.
Rachel decided to hold the tiara in her hands, when she felt the evil that resided inside of it then a dark and hissing voice called on her "Rachel Roth… Rachel Roth… Rachel Roth… I see your heart… I see your soul… daughter of a naïve mother… daughter of a ruthless father… the Raven bringer of the apocalypse… yes… I see it now… the prophecy that you heard… the daughter of the demon will bring the end of the world on her sixteenth birthday… place the tiara on your head and we will bring the apocalypse sooner… place it and become the queen you're meant to be… place it… place it… PLACE IT!" The voice continued and Rachel was in a trance-like state and she was about to place the tiara on her head when her entire body became rigid and she fall to her back but on Harry's arms, she felt as the tiara was snatched from her cold and immobile fingers.
"I'll take that away" Professor Snape said holding the tiara with a pair of dragon skin gloves, the man's wand was on his other hand.
"Thank you professor, how long it will take for Rachel to return from her paralysis?" Harry asked as he gently placed his friend on the floor.
"It should be only two minutes, I only hit her with a minor stun spell, but she was foolish for holding this thing with her bare hands, it was way too dangerous" Professor Snape said as he placed the tiara on a lead box, he took a vial from his robes and uncorked it.
"What's that?" Harry asked
"This is a very unique potion that Andromeda Tonks, Pandora Lovegood and myself created to destroy Horrocrux without destroying the vessel nor its magical properties" Professor Snape explained to the boy, the man moved like a surgeon knowing full well what he was going to do. "When I pour the potion put the lid immediately understood?" He said to which Harry nodded and grabbed the lead lid.
"Don't breathe Wayne" He warned the boy as both of them hold their breaths just as the older man poured the potion over the tiara and just as quickly Harry place the lid and shut the box. A muffled scream could be heard which shocked Harry but after a few moments the screams quieted down and the professor opened the box revealing a shiny looking tiara, it looked brand new like if had just been created or restored by the most skilled of jewel makers.
"Wow" Harry said
"Let this be a lesson Wayne, dark magic can corrupt even the purest of things, don't chase foolish dreams and what-ifs, focus on what's real" Professor Snape said, his message was confusing for the boy but he somewhat understood what the man tried to say. Just then Rachel stirred and stood up from her place.
"What happened?" She asked
"Young lady you were about to be possessed by a dark artifact if I hadn't stunned you… well the important thing is that you two are fine, five points for Ravenclaw and Slytherin for their services to the school" Professor Snape said as he walked away from the kids.
"Are you fine?" Harry asked
"Yes, it's just that, I'm tired" She replied
"It's alright, come" Harry said hugging his friend. "Have a chocolate, it will make you feel better" He said giving her a piece of his emergency chocolate.
Rachel didn't say it but she was completely shook up from what the tiara had told her, she was the bringer of the apocalypse, the Raven, even her father told her, she feared for the day when everything would turn to shit and the evil spread on the world.
--
It took days for the Goblins to tear down the old wards, create new ones that, for the moment, were going to be charged by Sirius magical core since Harry wasn't around to bond with the wards himself.
The Lord Black walked inside the manor for the first time in thirteen years, he remembered how devastated James was when they were informed on the attack at his home and the murderer of his parents, Sirius loved the Potters and took the news badly himself, now the manor was completely restored and he was proud of looking at it once again. He walked inside the manor and saw that things were just the way they used to be.
"I'm home once again" –Sirius said and he decided to check on the portrait room first, hoping to see the portraits of his long dead friends. He saw many of the ancestors of the Potters but what he wanted to see were his friends, and what a surprise it was that James and Lily both shared a portrait, they look exactly like he remembered them from ten years ago, they must have get those portraits ready before they went into hiding.
"Sirius is that you?" The feminine voice of Lily Potter came from the portrait, Sirius was happy, no, he was so glad to see his friends again.
"Man you look old" James interrupted, at this point Sirius was shedding tears.
"How much time has transpired since our deaths?" Portrait Lily asked the first of a set of important questions
"Ten years" Sirius said
"And you didn't thought of restoring the Manor and restoring our portraits until now?" Lily asked annoyed.
"Yes, but I couldn't, it was needed that a living Potter could give his permission to reinstate the manor, otherwise I would've done this the second you were killed" Sirius confessed.
"A living heir? Does that mean that our boy is alive?" James quickly asked, hope could be heard on his voice.
"Yes, he is doing fantastic" Sirius said with a proud smile
"I'm sure that you have done a marvelous job raising him" Lily complimented her friend
"Actually, though I'm still a part of Harry's life I'm not his guardian nor father figure, I'm more like an uncle to him" Sirius confessed as he rubbed the back of his neck, this was going to be awkward.
"Then who raised him? Remus? Alice and Frank?" James asked and Sirius shook his head in response
"Please don't tell me they took him to my sister? Lily said with panic in her voice.
"Merlin's beard no!" Sirius exclaimed to the portrait
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! Tell us in this instant who has been raising our child!" Portrait Lily yelled startling Sirius, he hadn't seen her that angry since the day he pranked her and the rest of the Gryffindor girls with a potion that made you completely static making their hairs stand up.
"Bruce Wayne! Alright?!" Sirius blurted out
"Who the hell is Bruce Wayne?" James asked confused
"THE orphan Bruce Wayne?" Lily asked, being a muggleborn she had heard of the rich boy who saw his parents get killed, it was a major news when she was a girl.
"Yes, him, he has actually made a great job taking care of Harry, the boy has grown up in a loving family, he has many siblings and he is more athletic than you James and smarter than you Lil, he is funny and he has a good heart, also his magical power exceeds whatever you had ever dream of" Sirius said proudly.
"Really? How strong?" James asked, his family had always strive for improving themselves and always reach for new heights so hearing that he was very interested.
"One of his professors says that he should be around Merlin's level by his third year" Sirius said what Jason Blood once told him.
"Wow" James said
"So that means he goes to Hogwarts?" Lily asked, she loved her years there so she was hoping that her son attended her school
"Yes, he does, he is one of the top students and he plays Quidditch, he is the seeker" Sirius said hiding one particular aspect of Harry's action
"I'm sure Gryffindor won during his first match" James said with proudness
"Oh no, on the contrary, Gryffindor lost" Sirius said making James both confused and curious "Harry won for his house, Slytherin" He added, he knew were to poke fun of his friend, the portrait James turned completely red.
"What?! HOW COULD MY SON BE IN THAT SNAKE PIT! WHAT THE HELL DID THAT BRUCE WAYNE DID TO OUR BEAUTIFUL BOY?!" James yelled
"Bruce did nothing wrong, he simply raised the boy to be cunning, loyal, brave and smart, Harry chose to be in Slytherin because he felt he belonged there, I'm not surprised either that he snatched himself three girlfriends on his first year due to that." Sirius said.
"And there's nothing wrong with Slytherins, that old rivalry is a childish and petty thing" Lily added. "Now tell us, when will be able to meet our son?" She asked looking hopeful
"You'll meet him soon enough, after all, Christmas is coming" Sirius replied with a happy grin