"Could I get a mirror?" Harry asked. Right now he and his godfather sat together at one of the tables strewn about the large family's library.
Sirius nodded his head then took out his wand which he waved it around a bit and muttered a few words under his breath. Before them appeared a large beautiful golden mirror which Sirius grabbed by the handle from the middle of the air and passed it to Harry.
Harry still couldn't believe the metamorphosis he went through, now he stood at 6 feet 2 inches tall with plenty of room to grow in the future-- a far fetch of his previous 5 feet 6 inches. His scrawny frame of the past was long gone as he was now sturdy and well built. His features seemed sharper and more aristocratic almost mirroring someone he didn't like thinking of, or those old wounds would open up.
And for the first time, he looked well over his age of 17 instead of that weak little boy he always looked like. Harry had also been wondering when his growth spurt would hit as his classmates were well into their growing aches, but he stayed always the same, which was very unusual.
The old wounds and bruises that covered his body were missing as his skin was unblemished except for the basilisk bit on his arm he got during his second year and the scar he got on that faithful night.
His features which used to be above average seemed to be heightened up to the max as he had full red lips, high cheekbones, long eyelashes, luscious hair, and glowing eyes.
All in all, he looked like a Malfoy, a pureblooded pretty boy.
The process was really thorough that he even now noticed that his eyesight have been miraculously fixed when he took off his glasses.
Still, there was something nagging at the back of his mind, all this stuff reminded him of someone, he just couldn't put a name to it.
"So why didn't Mrs. Tonks tell me all about it?" Harry asked, whenever he thought about all the things that Dumbledore did to him, his rage is at the near bursting point.
Before Sirius could explain the older witch's intentions, a voice he realized quite well now cut in, "I only wanted what was best for you dear and so that you can lead a carefree life."
Turning around to face the older witch who was walking down the alleyway towards them, Harry uttered, "Well it is already too late for that. I have a mad man who wants to kill me and a meddling old fool with a mysterious agenda."
"I see that now," the witch said with a nod.
Breaking into the conversation, Sirius expressed towards his young ward, "Harry, Andromeda only wanted what was best for you, she was looking out for you not trying to leave you in the dark."
"I know," Harry said as he rubbed at his eyes, "I am sorry Mrs. Tonks for losing my temper towards you."
"It is alright dear," the older witch said as she rubbed at Harry's head. "I see that your magic is still working overtime to fix all your nits and picks. I must say, you have the largest magic reserves I ever have seen on a budding young wizard like you."
"So I guess that is what happened when you removed all the blockage and restriction?"
"Yes," the witch answered back, "And you now have a striking resemblance to your father in his younger days if I recall well enough."
"Mhm," Sirius said as he nodded his head at Andromeda's assessment. "Now that I do have a closer look at you, pup, Andromeda is right. You are an exact replica of your father back when he was in Hogwarts."
"Yes, I could see the similarity," Harry said a bit downcast when Mrs. Tonks and Sirius pointed it. It was the thing he was avoiding trying to mention.
Sirius noticed his mood, and patted him on the back, "Your old man would have been happy to have a little look alike running about!"
Mrs. Tonks shook her head and changed the topic, "I have a question for you dearie?"
"Yea what is it?" Harry asked, turning to face the older woman.
"We have a general idea of what happened to you mostly, but I am curious about the poison in your veins and the counteragent. What is that all about?"
"Oh, that," Harry said, "Yea, I got bitten by a giant basilisk a thousand year old then Fawkes came to the rescue and healed me."
"You got what?" Mrs. Tonks shouted.
"I got bitten by a basilisk which I think belonged to Salazar Slytherin," Harry repeated with a shrug.
"How are you not dead?" the mediwitch whispered in a shocked tone.
Cutting off the older witch, Sirius asked in a deadly calm tone, "Harry could you tell me all that happened while you were at Hogwarts?"
"Sure" Harry replied slowly as he saw that everyone was sober now. Telling his tale, Harry made sure to leave no part left as he spoke about what happened all three years at Hogwarts.
"Now that is a lot to digest," Sirius said once Harry was finished telling his story.
"A lot to digest," Mrs. Tonks sneered, "It is clear that Dumbledore was putting little Harry in danger at every turn!"
"Yea, but the question is why" Sirius stated.
"So what are we going to do now?" Harry asked, getting back to the topic at hand.
"Well first of all we need to make sure that all you know stays a secret," Sirius said as he got up from his chair then headed off into the stacks. Harry stared at Mrs. Tonks and asked with a shrug where he headed off into. However before long, the man was back and in his hands were some books.
Sliding the books towards Harry, Sirius uttered, "You will need to learn this; if you want to keep secrets to yourself."
Picking up the first book, Harry read the title; [In-depth Guide to Occlumency: The Mind Arts]
Skimming over the first couple pages a certain passage captured his attention which said it all about this sort of magic. 'The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one.'
"So I will be basically putting up some sort of Mental Shields, right?"
"Yes," Sirius said with an iffy-iffy wave, "Though Occlumency is a lot more than that."
"Sure, to-may-to to-mah-to," Harry said with a shrug as he picked up the second book. However, before Harry could read the second tome, Mrs. Tonks took it right out of his hands.
"Hey!" Harry shouted in a bit of indignation, but the older witch was ignoring him and was staring down at his Godfather.
"You can't be serious Sirius."
Barking out in laughter at the witch's choice phrase, Harry tried to hide his amusement but Sirius, on the other hand, slapped his thigh in knee-jerk response as he laughed.
Shaking her head in disappointment, Mrs. Tonks uttered, "I do not have time for this Sirius. Now stop acting like a child."
"Okay, okay, cousin," Sirius said as he wiped at the tears at the corner of his eyes. "You know I just lose it when somebody says my name and serious in the same sentence. You just can't demand something to be a no laughing matter when it comes out to be priceless."
"I hate," the witch snapped out, "And I curse who ever gave you that name."
"So do I," Sirius concurred with a cheerful nod and wave. "Anyways, I know what you are trying to say, Dromeda, but can you expect Harry to fight effectively against something he barely knows?" he asked in a rhetorical manner.
"It is a useful expertise to have in your skill set" Sirius added, nonchalantly.
"Yes, but it is not proper in the hands of a child!"
"Come, Dromeda," Sirius droned as he waved off the witch's concerns. "Everyone misuses it from time to time. I will be the first to admit, I used it plenty of times to get a feel for a woman's mood."
Looking quite indignant, Mrs. Tonks shouted, "The nerves of you, Sirius, how could you speak that out loud in the face of a child."
"Come on, Mrs. Tonks I am not a child," Harry added from the side however the older woman kept on ignoring him like he shouldn't be butting into the conversation of adults.
"And you want to look after, young Harry with that sort of immortal behavior."
"Hey, I am being honest, here," Sirius said as he held up both hands. "Don't tell me you never used the ability to surface Ted's thoughts!"
"The very thought of it... How dare you, Sirius Orion Arcturus Black," the older witch uttered as a slight blush passed through her face.
Handing the book back to Harry that Mrs. Tonks took in the first place, she dragged the young wizard to his feet and spoke out loud. "Come on Harry, we still need to finish up with your vaccines and the follow-up potions. I do not want to deal with your Godfather any longer today."
"Okay, Mrs. Tonks," Harry said as he fell into step behind the older witch, turning to look back at his godfather, Sirius gave him a thumbs up and a wink to which Harry shook his head.
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