Harry Potter 6 - The Ring of The Ancients - Angelfire

439 Pages·2003·1.04 MB·English

Harry Potter and The Ring of The Ancients

Chapter 1- The Funeral

“Gotta go to the bathroom… gotta go to the bathroom…”
Harry Potter repeated over and over in his mind until the words
lost all meaning. He and Dudley had just spent the past two
hours celebrating their graduation from their fifth years at
school by having a soda drinking contest, which Harry won.
Sadly, it was a pyrrhic victory. Harry had set a personal record
by chugging down fifty-three cans of soda, and now he had to let
it out… but where?
The restaurant in which the two of them had held the
contest was just a small diner, it had no bathrooms, and it was
on a busy street, with very few other businesses. All there was
were houses, and Harry had to resist the urge to barge into one
and demand to use the bathroom. The closest place they could
seek refuge was Dudley’s house, but that was a little more than
a mile away… could they make it?
“Why don’t you just use some magic and teleport us back
home or something?” asked Dudley, looking extremely red in
the face, and almost in pain.
“I can’t… I left my wand at home,” said Harry, wanting to
hit himself in the head for doing so. He had been so used to just
having his wand with him wherever he went that he forgot that
he actually had to bring it with him in order to have it. Back at
Hogwarts, it was normal to have his wand with him wherever he
went.
Of course, nothing like that would be normal to us, only to
Harry and the rest of the wizarding world. You see, despite what
you may think from the contest, Harry Potter is not a normal boy.
He is a fifteen year old, going on sixteen, wizard student at
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. There, he among
many other students learn how to perform fabulous magic, and
gain powers that could help them in dangerous situations,
everyday life… or situations much like the one Harry was in now.
“Arg, if I had my wand I could just summon us a toilet or
something,” groaned Harry and he walked slowly forward, the
pain growing with each step.
“Oh, there has to be a place somewhere around here,” said
Dudley, gripping his stomach and desperately turning his head
in all directions.
Harry couldn’t help but smile. This was his and Dudley’s
first time out doing something together, and actually enjoying
each other’s company. For the past five years during summer
vacations at Hogwarts, and for ten years before then, Dudley’s
family, the Dursley’s, watched Harry. His parents were killed by
the most terrible and vicious dark wizard in over a century:
Voldemort. He attacked their house one night, to try and steal
Harry from his parents. Both of his parents died in the attack,
but Harry managed to survive due to his mother sacrificing her
life for his. When Voldemort performed the killing curse on
Harry, like he had done on hundreds of others, it just rebounded
off of the invisible shield of love, and gave Harry only a small
scar on his forehead.
When the curse rebounded back to Voldemort, it nearly
killed him, turning him into a feeble spirit that wandered the
world for thirteen years, trying to regain his former power. At the
end of Harry’s fourth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort managed to
resurrect himself, and rose to become even more horrible than
before. Now, instead of trying to kill Harry, he has been trying to
recruit him into his army of darkness.
Up until now, Harry hadn’t stopped worrying about
Voldemort. But, at this moment, he had more pressing matters at
hand; like his exploding bladder.
“Oh man, we’ve got to find a place quick!” yelled Dudley
and Harry at the same time, surprising each other. After a quick
laugh, they returned to their previous states, and continued
looking.
Suddenly, a place appeared before them. It was the most
glorious place in the world. It shone its magnificent light,
becoming the greatest building of all. It was like a mirage in a
desert, it was salvation in a city. It was…
“A funeral home!” exclaimed Harry, pointing it out to
Dudley. His face suddenly perked up.
“Oh yeah, they have to have ‘facilities’ in there!” he said,
looking happier than Harry had ever seen him. With every ounce
of energy in them, the two boys ran toward the building, gritting
their teeth, and trying to stop their eyes from watering. Finally,
after what felt like hours, they reached the front door and burst
inside.
“May I help you… gentlemen?” asked a man at a desk in
front of them. At first, he had a pleasant tone, but then once he
saw the condition of Harry and Dudley’s clothes (not at all
appropriate for the place they were in) he immediately stuck his
massive nose high in the air, stood up, and put on a snobbish
attitude.
“Yes, do you have a bathroom anywhere?” gasped Harry.
“Well yes, but they are only for people visiting the
deceased,” said the man, sticking his nose, if it was possible,
higher into the air. “Are you here to pay your respects?”
“Um…” stuttered Harry.
“Yes… yes of course,” interjected Dudley. “We’re here to…
um… see grandma! Yeah, right! Grandma!” The man put his
nose down slightly.
“Oh really? Well, Mrs. Perenelle is still accepting visitors,”
he said, sitting down and pointing his arm in the direction of a
long hallway. “You may go see her.”
“Thanks,” groaned Harry and Dudley together quickly,
running off as fast as they could.
“What did you think you were doing?” demanded Harry,
elbowing Dudley in the side. “What if they didn’t have any dead
women? What then? Where would ‘grandma’ be?”
“I dunno,” shrugged Dudley. “We’d just run away I guess.
Sometimes you’ve got to take a chance. I did, and it paid off!”
“We’re lucky it did,” said Harry. “Now where’s the
bathroom?” Both of them turned their heads in every direction,
scanning the hallway, trying to find the familiar signs of a
lavatory. Suddenly, Dudley tapped Harry on the back, gasping
that he saw one. They ran over to it, faster than they had ever
run in their lives; even faster, for Harry, than when he was trying
to get away from Voldemort.

After several minutes, both boys left the bathroom, their
tongues hanging out, feeling greatly relieved. Harry put his hand
on Dudley’s shoulder.
“Let’s never do that again,” he said.
“Well, just don’t forget your wand next time and we’ll be
okay.”
“Hey Dudley, what should we do about… her?” asked
Harry, pointing to the room that the woman was in that they were
supposed to be seeing as they walked by it.
“What about her?”
“Well, it’s thanks to her that we were able to use the
bathroom. The least we could do is thank her.”
“I guess so… let’s just make it quick.”
The two of them quickly popped into the small, slightly
decorated room. Harry was surprised, however, at the lack of
flowers or pictures. It was as if no one had been there, as if no
one cared that she had died.
“Look at this,” said Dudley, reading the guest book. “No
one’s been here yet, and according to this, the wake ends in just
a few minutes. Where is everyone?”
“Maybe she didn’t have any friends or family,” suggested
Harry, walking over to the open coffin. He looked in, and saw an
extremely old woman inside. Her hair was pure white, with a
small golden crown, and she looked at least one hundred years
old, if not more. Her face was just a peach colored prune, and
there were so many wavy wrinkles in her arms and hands, it was
not hard to imagine someone surfing on them.
“Well… thanks,” whispered Harry to her, backing away
slowly. “Heh, you saved our lives…. Ready to go Dudley?”
“Yep,” he said, putting down a pen.
“What were you doing with that?” asked Harry.
“I just put down our names in the guest book,” he
responded. “To make our story more believable..”
“Good thinking. Alright, let’s go.”
Both of them walked out of the home, trying to look like
they were mourning. The man at the front appeared to have been
satisfied with their look, he just nodded and went back to his
work as they passed by.
“I hope you found your visit… relieving,” said the man.
“Oh yes, it was very relieving,” said Harry, trying not to
burst out laughing as they walked out of the door.
The two of them walked the rest of the way back to
Dudley’s house, still laughing and reminiscing about their little
adventure. Just when they were reliving the best part, Mrs. Figg,
their old neighbor (who happened to be a witch and a teacher at
Hogwarts) shouted out to them.
“Hello Harry!” she yelled from her door, walking outside.
“Hello Mrs. Figg,” said Harry, walking over to her.
“Oh… hello there Dudley,” she said. “Not used to seeing
you two together.”
“Yeah, me and Harry have kind of…become friends since
last summer.”
“Oh, well that’s nice.”
“What did you want to tell me, Mrs. Figg?” asked Harry.
“Oh yes! Well, I wanted to tell you that I will not be teaching
this year at Hogwarts.”
“What? Why not?” asked Harry, feeling extremely upset.
“You were one of the best Defense Against the Dark Arts
teachers I’ve ever had… the entire school has ever had!”
“Well, teaching just isn’t my thing, Harry. I much prefer
actually being out there fighting the dark forces than teaching
how to do it. I only did it last year because there were no others
willing to do it, and I felt as though I owed that school
something. But, you don’t have to worry; someone just as good,
if not better than me is taking my place.”
“Oh I doubt that,” said Harry. “But who is?”
“Professor Quirrell.”
“What!?” yelled Harry, almost knocking himself and Mrs.
Figg over. “But, he died five years ago! He was a servant to
Voldemort!”
“Oh no no no no no,” said Mrs. Figg, waving her arms.
“That was Larry Quirrell. This is Jerry Quirrell, his twin brother.”
“He had a twin brother?” asked Harry.
“Yes, and you know how they say when twins are born, one
is supposedly evil, and the other is good? Well, before I knew
the Quirrell children, I never believed that. But, they are a perfect
example of that theory. Larry was foul, and Jerry is lovely.”
“Well, I hope so,” said Harry, still not feeling too sure. He
personally fought Quirrell at the end of his first year at
Hogwarts, and it was not a very pleasant experience, nor was it
especially easy. “But why are you telling me now?”
“Harry, unlike students, teachers do not have the summers
off. Me, among many others, are still quite busy at work, trying
to keep the world we live in a safe one. I will be gone for the rest
of summer, and wouldn’t have a chance to tell you. I figured it
would be better for you to hear it from me rather than just find
out on the first day of school.”
“Oh okay,” said Harry. “But, one more thing. Is Snape
going to teach Potions again this year, or is someone else?”
Mrs. Figg let out a laugh.
“I’m afraid so, Harry,” she said. “Snape will be back.”
“Too bad,” sighed Harry. “I lose a good teacher and gain a
bad one, both in the same year. It’d be nice if Lupin could come
back… or Sirius.”
“I don’t think Sirius will be coming back anytime soon,”
she groaned. “Ever since last year, with Cornelius Fudge having
been revealed for what he was, the Ministry of Magic has been
extremely desperate to show that they can do something right.
So, they went back to their old attempt at catching Sirius.”
“He’s evaded them before, I’m sure he can do it again.”
“I’m not so certain, Harry,” she admitted. “This time, the
Ministry is using very advanced magic to find him; especially
one spell, the Possession Position Spell. If they get a hold of
something that they know belongs to Sirius, they can
immediately find him no matter where he is on Earth. I’ve heard
he’s trying to give most of his stuff away to his most trusted
friends to try and avoid it.”
“I hope they don’t get him…” said Harry, feeling a little
worried.
“Now don’t fret too much,” said Mrs. Figg. “I do not want
you to lose sleep over this.”
“Speaking of which…” moaned Harry, trying to indicate
that he wanted to leave.
“Ah yes, it is getting late,” said Mrs. Figg, walking back to
her door. “I’ll see you boys later!”
“Goodbye Mrs. Figg,” yelled Harry, running up to the door
to the Dursley’s house alongside Dudley. “And… good luck!”
“Who’s Snape?” asked Dudley when Harry opened the
door, having a very dumbfounded look on his face. Harry merely
laughed as they walked in. Dudley was so oblivious to Harry’s
world, it was funny.
“Where have you two been!?” scorned Harry’s Aunt
Petunia the second they stepped inside, as if she had just been
standing there, waiting to pounce.
“Will you shut it mom,” said Dudley, closing the door. “I’ll
be sixteen in just a few days, I think I can take care of myself.”
“Well of course you can take care of yourself in a normal
situation, Dudley,” she said. “But, whenever… he’s around (she
pointed to Harry) the situation can never be normal.” Dudley just
sighed at her response. Unlike him, the rest of the Dursleys had
not yet come to respect the fact that Harry was a wizard, and
nothing was going to change that. Dudley waved his arm,
indicating to Harry to come into the living room and partake in
their favorite activity (even more than soda chugging): watching
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
“Did I tell you watching this movie saved me during a test
last year?” asked Harry.
“Hah! and they said memorizing it would never pay off!”
“Oh yeah, and there’s something else I’ve been meaning to
tell you Dudley… oh… what was it…?”
“Well, out with it!” he said, taking the movie out of its
cover.
“Oh… it was…. Oh man, it’s on the tip of my tongue!” said
Harry, snapping his fingers.
“Come on! Use your magic or something to remember!”
“Oh yeah! That’s it, I remember now!”
“What is it?”
“Dudley… you’re a wizard.”
Chapter 2- Dobby Again

Dudley dropped the video to the floor, and he stayed
squatted there, with his mouth opened wide. Harry knew he
should have waited for a better time… but this was the best he
could think of.
“I’m a… what?” stuttered Dudley.
“You’re a wizard, like me,” said Harry, trying to stay calm.
“But- but… how could I… be a wizard?” Harry tried not to
smile. Dudley was reacting to the new the same way he did when
he was told that he was one too.
“I can assure you that you are.”
“But… I don’t go to that school of yours, and- and… I’ve
never done anything… magical. And how could I be… that way…
with parents like mine?”
Harry sighed. Voldemort had told him the answers to all the
same questions at the end of last year when he was holding
Harry captive, and he didn’t really feel like having to repeat it all
over again. But, he had to. He had brought this new burden to
Dudley, and he had to try and begin to relieve it.
“Well Dudley, to answer your first question, the reason you
don’t attend Hogwarts is because Voldemort somehow changed
the attendance sheet for the new first years, when it was your
time to come, so that your name was not on it.”
“Why did he do that?”
“I never told you about the Kinsafe Charm put on this
house, did I?”
“Um… no?”
“I guess not then,” sighed Harry. “Well, when I was
brought here, Dumbledore put the charm on the house so that
as long as I was around family, Voldemort could not touch me.
Now, if you came to Hogwarts with me, I’d still have that
protection at school, which is something Voldemort definitely
did not want.”
“Oh, okay. I see,” said Dudley, wide-eyed and not looking
like he did ‘see’ at all. “But still, how can I be magical? I’ve never
done any magic and my parents certainly aren’t!”
“Well, I’m not sure how to say this, but your mom is a
witch, Dudley.”
Dudley didn’t say anything, he just merely continued to
stare at Harry, with a drop of drool slowly falling down from his
mouth. Harry decided to keep on talking.
“You know that your mom and mine are twins, but what
you don’t know, is that their father is Voldemort.” Harry stopped
there for a second. The thought just occurred to him: Voldemort
was his grandfather. He shuddered at the thought. “It’s just by
chance that he chose to help my mom out at a young age and
give her a magic book to read before she even started school,
giving her a huge advantage. When the time came for new
students to be chosen, Lily so overshadowed Petunia, that they
just forgot about her, and she never came to school. So, just
because she never went to Hogwarts doesn’t mean she lost her
powers.”
“But why doesn’t she use magic now?” asked Dudley,
quietly and slowly.
“After a while, I guess Hogwarts discovered their mistake
and they wiped her memory, making her forget she was ever a
witch. But, yet again, that didn’t take away her powers, and when
she gave birth to you, you gained some of them.”
“So I’m… a wizard?” gasped Dudley.
“That’s what I said.”
“Wow,” said Dudley, slowly getting up and sitting in a
chair. “So… am I going to be coming to Hogwarts then?”
“Err…” stuttered Harry, he hadn’t really thought about that.
He had been meaning to owl Dumbledore. “I think so.”
“Oh man… I don’t know what to say,” said Dudley, starting
to look a little better, and possibly excited. “So, I’ll be able to
make fire, and summon brooms, and even control the weather?”
“Um… sure,” said Harry, not wanting to get Dudley’s hopes
too high. There was always the chance that he wouldn’t be
coming. But, it couldn’t hurt to get him started a little. “In fact,
let’s practice some right now!”
“That sounds like a great idea,” said Dudley, jumping up
from off his chair, and dropping the video on the floor, ready to
start exploring his new life.

“That’s it! Now you’re getting the hang of it!” said Harry to
Dudley, after his seventieth attempt at trying to perform a simple
Lumos Spell resulted in some light. Even though he was using
Harry’s wand, and was therefore not as powerful as if he had
used one that was his own, Harry hadn’t expected it to make that
much of a difference.
“Hey! I made some light!” squealed Dudley with
excitement.
“Good job,” said Harry, giving a small yawn. They had
been practicing basic spells all day long inside the living room,