"Mistress is not going to like what half-blood master is doing." Kreacher muttered.
"Stop calling him that you stupid wanker." Sirius shouted while carrying a large portrait of one of his ancestors down the hall.
"I have a name you know. You can use my name." Harry offered while helping arrange the portraits into one of the rooms in the basement beneath the Black manor.
"Kreacher would never move the portraits of the great Blacks from their proper place." Kreacher muttered dejectedly. "Oh, how Kreacher wishes he could disobey the master, traitorous scum that he is. He brings nothing but shame upon the House of Black."
"Why you little…" Sirius was ready to launch himself at Kreacher but Harry put a stop to that while they settled the portraits in the basement.
"Go. I'll speak to him." Harry pushed Sirius out of the basement with some effort.
Turning to Kreacher who was muttering about blood traitors and whatnot Harry sighed.
"You have to understand Kreacher we are at war with a wily enemy. The Dark Lord is a clever man who is not above enlisting the aid of old pureblood families and use their portraits to spy on his enemies. Many of the portraits in this house have links to other portraits outside of this house." said Harry, looking around he found the Portrait of Phineas Black which was frozen by a frame-freezing charm. "Look at that portrait. It's the portrait of Phineas Black who was once the headmaster of Hogwarts. If Dumbledore so wishes he could use the portrait in the headmaster's office and spy Black Manor with ease."
A light of understanding passed through Kreacher's eyes.
"Kreacher understands." the elf bowed his head flattening his ears in shame.
"While you are at it can you nicely ask him to take down my mother's portrait?" Sirius whispered near Harry's shoulder.
"Why? I think your mother's portrait is quite useful Sirius. If Voldemort somehow tracks us down the portrait could either give him a heart attack or serve as a warning for us."
Sirius suddenly became thoughtful.
"You know. I never thought of it like that. You might be onto something there Harry." Sirius said.
"Of course, I'm onto something." said harry, winking at Kreacher who looked relieved that Lady Black's portrait was not going into a dark corner of the basement.
"Now, come with me. I'll show you your room." said Sirius, leading Harry away from the basement.
"Well, this is a bit too much." Harry looked at the large expansive room with a king-sized bed and many ornate pieces of furniture that screamed pompousness. "A small bedroom with a small table on the corner would have been preferable."
"Can't have you living like that in my house Harry. You are a guest of the House of Black and my godson. Tradition dictates that you ought to be treated like the heir." said Sirius.
"Since when did you become a man of tradition?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Since last night. So, how's the room?"
Harry looked around at the blue-painted walls and the overall aesthetics of the room.
"I like it." Harry said, nodding to himself satisfied with the room even though he thought it was a bit too much luxury. He liked to keep things simple but he could live here without a problem.
"I wanted to have your room painted red and gold. Well, I wanted the whole house painted red and gold but Kreacher would find some way to disrupt the work. In the end, I decided to go with blue and white."
"That was probably good. I was getting tired of seeing all the red and gold in my dorms. This is a more soothing colour." Harry hummed in appreciation.
"Young master has more sense than the blood traitor." Kreacher muttered while pretending to sweep the floor nearby the stairs.
"See, even Kreacher agrees." Harry laughed while Sirius muttered about not being Gryffindor enough.
Before anything else could be said the doorbell rang making Harry and Sirius frown. They looked at each other for a moment before taking their wands into their hands. It has been only ten minutes or so since they arrived so they had yet to put up the necessary wards to guard against any unsavoury visitors bar the one that hid them from muggle eyes.
They heard the door swinging open followed by a loud crashing sound.
"BLOOD TRAITORS AND MUGGLE LOVERS. THE LOWEST SCUM OF THIS WORLD DEFILING THE HOUSE OF MY ANCESTORS!"
"Well, you were right. Her portrait can be a good deterrent for friends and foes alike." said Sirius.
Harry found Albus Dumbledore in his usual attire of star-spangled robes by the door with a large pointy hat in hand.
"Harry. I did not expect to see you here." said Dumbledore, with the customary twinkle in his eyes.
"I doubt that." Harry deadpanned, folding his hands but he kept his fingers wrapped around his wand.
"Harry, you must return to Private Drive for your safety."
"I must?" Harry raised a delicate eyebrow challengingly stepping forward. "Tell me, who do you think you are Dumbledore?"
Dumbledore's eyes widened as an oppressive force permeated the air trying to blanket him in its power. It was quite familiar as it was something he has also used in the past to scare away his opponents mostly in battle. Only a strong wizard can exert such pressure by using their magical power and he was surprised Harry was at a level to manifest a physical aura at this young age.
'It's remarkable!' Dumbledore thought.
"You are merely the headmaster of Hogwarts. Out here you have no authority or power to decide what I should or shouldn't do. I'm not going to the home of those fools under any conditions. I'm staying here with Sirius."
"Harry you must see reason. Lord Voldemort has risen…"
"I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, the Dursleys are not my family and they'll never be. Besides, I doubt they are in any position to host me." Harry said, a wicked smirk on his face.
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked frowning.
"Oh! Don't tell me your little spy didn't report you about the unfortunate situation with the Dursleys?" Harry asked sardonically.
Dumbledore's surprise was quite palpable and Harry quietly enjoyed the fact that he can give shocks to the old codger whom most in the wizarding world consider infallible.
"Why are you so surprised? You didn't think that I'd fail to see your little spy Arabella Figg, did you?" Harry asked as a matter of factedly.
"The fact that you kept tabs on me and knew what I was going through in my childhood leads me to only one conclusion Dumbledore. You wanted a malleable pawn whom you can throw at Voldemort as bait and that's exactly what you did in my first year. But you forgot to keep your pawn crossing over to the other side of the board. Once that happens the pawn can become any other piece except for the king."
"But…"
"Dumbledore, you may get out. You are not welcome in my house." Sirius snapped.
"Sirius, I…"
"Don't make me use force, Albus." Sirius raised his wand.
Harry watched Dumbledore looking thoroughly flummoxed. Thankfully, the old man regained his wits and chose to take his leave rather than impose upon them any further.
"Well, I must say good riddance to bad rubbish. This is the first time I saw my son take a stand like a true Black." said Lady Black from her portrait.
"This day seems to be full of surprises. Dumbledore scurrying away with his tail between his legs and I heard a compliment from my dearly departed mother. This is quite a day." Sirius declared.
"You are still a blood traitor, a shame on my house but at least you stood up to that muggle lover. I suppose that's your one good achievement." Lady Black huffed before she turned her sights on Harry. "Now, who are you, boy?"
"You could have known him earlier if you had not screamed like a harpy." Sirius growled.
"YOU! SHUT UP. YOU ARE THE SHAME OF MY FLESH." Lady Black screeched wagging a finger at Sirius from her portrait before training her wild eyes on Harry. "You boy. Who're you?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
"A HALF BLOOD FREAK IN MY HOUSE!" Lady Black screamed.
"Silencio." Harry shot the silencing charm at the portrait cutting off the screaming voice.
"So, now that we have dealt with Dumbledore and my mother what's the plan?" Sirius asked, tearing his eyes away from the silently screaming visage of his mother's portrait after flipping her off which riled her up even more.
"Now, we ward this place so tight that Voldemort won't think of looking for us. After that, we make plans for that trip to France I was talking about."
"That seems like a good plan." Sirius smiled, thinking of his chance to bag a veela just like his godson. "I hope Fleur has more relatives. With you as my wingman, this old dog might score once again."
XXXXXXXX
Vernon Dursley nursed the cold beer in his hand looking forlornly into the dark screen of his tv. The tv screen remained blank just like his life which had taken a radical shift ever since that ill-fated Christmas night. So many freaky things happened that night which left him and his son in the hospital for many weeks with their behinds burned to a crisp. The doctors then reported the incident to the police and Vernon has since been in a prison. The police concluded that he was some sexual deviant who found his jolly in burning his and his son's ass.
He was humiliated in society and it took a lot of money, testimonies from his wife and Dudely and a blood-sucking lawyer to get him out of prison. And even that was temporary as the police had also found out about his wife's freakish nephew. The police had gone through their home in Surrey like a pack of elephants. They found traces of that freak's DNA inside the cupboard under the stairs. It also became clear to the investigating officers that the freak was not in some special school for delinquents as they had convinced their neighbours.
His poor wife had screamed and pleaded with those officers that the freak was a wizard. It was the last attempt to get their life back. But those fools chucked Petunia in a mental asylum once some god-awful activists and journalists got wind of their story. His poor Dudley was now in the hands of child services. He was not even allowed access to his son because he was a bad influence on a growing child. He wanted to rage and rave at the system that denies good folk like him and his wife the freedom to look after their Dudders.
"It's all the freak's fault." Vernon muttered, after taking another swig from the bottle and draining the last drops of beer while sitting in his small rented apartment with nothing much to do.
His old job at the construction company felt like a lifetime ago. He was now a glorified gardener who could barely afford rent or put some food on the table. All his other savings were spent trying to keep his ass out of jail and even with that he was barely successful. He was out on the street as a free man but only on bail with very stringent conditions. He was to be on his best behaviour and his bail could be rescinded if his wife's freakish nephew does not turn up this summer as he promised to the court.
He so wanted to switch on the tv and keep his eye on the news but the power to his apartment was cut because he could not pay the bills. He prayed the freak walk in on his old house and get caught red-handed. That was the only way to clear his name and get his family back on track.
The doorbell suddenly rang catching Vernon's attention.
"Who is it?" he gruffly asked but no response came from the other side except for the bell being rung once more.
Muttering about rude neighbours Vernon swung open his door only to see one of the freaks at his doorstep.
"YOU! YOUR KIND HAVE THE GALL TO COME BACK AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED. STEP OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU FREAK!" Vernon roared.
In his rage, he rushed at the freak with his fist raised but he suddenly froze in his steps.
"I shall get to the bottom of what has happened Mr Dursley. Perhaps, I might…" Dumbledore began but was immediately cut off.
"NO!" Vernon roared. "YOU'LL NOT RUIN MY BOTTOM AGAIN YOU FREAKS."
Dumbledore stood there totally flummoxed at the tangent Vernon took misinterpreting his offer to help. The wild look in the man's eyes also did not sit well with the headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Oh, my. What has made you so deranged and mad, my boy?" he looked upon the muggle with pity. "I'm afraid I'll have to speed things along. I apologize in advance for any discomfort."
Dumbledore pointed his wand at Vernon and easily slipped into his mind. The things that he found inside Vernon's mind were quite disconcerting. Once he came out with the overall scope of what transpired here he was left with another dilemma in hand.
'What am I supposed to do? How do I make things right?' Dumbledore wondered.
The answer remained elusive so he decided to pay a visit to Arbella Figg's home to get another perspective on the events that transpired.