Order of the Phoenix
Change of Address
By Ruskbyte
Chapter Twenty Six
~ Change of Address ~
A blinding white light encompassed Privet Drive. It was joined by a muted rush, like the whispered growl of a hurricane. A concussion wave of air exploded outwards and lifted Ron off his feet and
into the air. Normally the novelty of flying without the aid of a broom would have caught the youngest Weasley male's attention. However being sent hurtling through the air by a blast of raw magical
energy tends to distract one from such novelties.
Ron's brief attempt at broomless flight came to an abrupt end an instant later as he was slammed into the road with a painful crunch. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as his teeth bit down hard on his tongue, accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest that signalled the breaking of one or two ribs.
At least we got out of the house, he thought as he rolled over to survey the damage. His eyes were watering and he had trouble focusing on what lay before him, but he was able to get a good idea of what had just happened.
One thing was immediately obvious.
Number four Privet Drive... was gone.
Ron blinked his eyes rapidly in an attempt to clear them, spitting out the blood that had pooled in his bleeding mouth. Groaning from the ache in his chest, Ron pushed himself into a sitting position and found himself gaping at the carnage spread out before him.
Harry's house, or rather the Dursleys' house, had been completely destroyed. There was no other way to put it. There was nothing left of it. It was simply gone. Clouds of smoke and dust obscured the view, but Ron could make out a massive, steaming hole in the earth where number four had once stood.
Merciful heavens...
The buildings to either side, number two and number six, had also suffered damage, but it appeared to be mostly cosmetic in nature. The paint on the walls facing where number four had been was scorched and blackened, while the windows on those sides had been blown in.
Several street lamps lining the roadside had also borne the brunt of the explosion and had been knocked askew of their upright positions. The poles were bent at crooked angles and the lights were out, broken from the impact. Even the road had been affected, torn up and cracked in large pieces. It looked like some pictures Ron had seen of the damage an earthquake left in its wake, only this had not been an earthquake.
Harry did this, he thought in shock, turning his attention back to where number four had been.
Ron had spent the duration of the battle for Hogwarts in the Practical Fighting Techniques auditorium, coordinating the defence with the help of the situation map. Safely ensconced beneath the castle, he had not had an opportunity to see Harry's magic firsthand. He'd had do make do with stories from those that had been up on the battlements fighting.
I never realized...
Then something caught his eye. Somewhere within the dust and smoke still clouding the area, something was moving. It was shifting about, barely noticeable at first, but as the dust began to slowly settle it began apparent that something from number four Privet Drive had survived
At first Ron assumed that it must have been Harry, since everyone else had rushed out of the house, leaving only Harry within its walls. True, he had been forced to drag his sister kicking and screaming, but they had all cleared away in time. But as the view cleared Ron quickly realised that if it was anything, it was not Harry.
Whatever it was, it was big. Very big. Easily as big as a dragon. No. Bigger. Much bigger. On its hind legs a dragon could stand sixty feet tall. This beast was nearly that high already while standing in a low crouch. With a jerk and a twitch, accompanied by a deep and ominous growl like an avalanche, it began to move and slowly stood up.
And up.
And up.
***
It was like staring into the heart of the sun.
Charlie Weasley had never seen anything as beautiful. Or as terrifying. He was willing to wager all he possessed that nobody else had either, because if anyone had, Charlie knew he would have heard, or read, about it.
It stood just shy of a hundred feet tall, higher if you included the arching curves of its wings that rose from its back. The creature, which Charlie realized was actually Harry, deftly unfurled its wings, spreading them wide to either side of its bulk.
He was obviously some kind of feline, but bipedal with a sleek yet leanly muscled body. His head was that of a lion and was surrounded by a regal mane. Thick fur covered every part of him, from head to the tip of his tail, and was a brilliant white that seemed to shimmer and glow with all the colours of the rainbow as he moved. Only its mane and tail were not white, but were instead finely spun gold, which shone brightly in the evening light.
Reaching out behind him were the glorious, feathered wings of an eagle that spanned over a hundred feet from tip to tip. The feathers were the same pure white as the fur covering his body and were tipped in gleaming gold. These razor-sharp golden tips caught and reflected all the light that reached then, glowing like miniature suns along the edges of his wings.
Massive golden talons extended from his padded feet and four-fingered hands. They were wicked blades that curved gracefully for nearly two feet until reaching needle-fine points. As Charlie watched he saw its powder-white lips part in a silent snarl, baring golden teeth that were a perfect match and counterpoint for its scythe-like claws.
Its cat-like eyes, each the size of a Muggle beach ball, were glowing with inner strength. They were the same startling green that Harry possessed in his human form, only so much greater and burning with a primal fire. It was so obvious now, the blend of feline and eagle, there could be not doubt as to what Harry's Animagus form was.
A Griffin.
Although Merlin only knows what kind...
Without warning the Griffin threw back his head, like a baying wolf, and unleashed a roar that was unlike anything ever heard before. It was almost a living thing in its own right, reverberating with a force that screamed of an untamed will that could never be broken.
//RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!//
Every window, every mirror, every light bulb, every car windshield and every single piece of glass or crystal in the town of Little Whinging shattered as the roar swept by.
Ten miles away, little children woke up crying and every living creature, great and small, within fifty miles of where number four Privet Drive had once stood, heard the Griffin's call.
And it humbled them.
It was a cry of exultation and of long awaited release. A message to the world that something new, something ancient had returned from beyond and was now free.
The Griffin continued to howl for over a minute, his head thrown back and muscular arms spread wide as though in supplication to the heavens. Finally, when Charlie was beginning to wonder if it would ever end, the cry trailed off and the Griffin lowered his head. Focusing on the tiny people standing, or lying scattered before him, the Griffin gave a low, rumbling growl.
//RRRRRrrrrr...//
"Now that is one large beastie," commented a rasping voice at Charlie's side, after several moments of quiet had passed. Charlie started, surprised by the unexpected presence of none other than Alastor 'May-Eye' Moody standing beside him.
"A loud one as well," retorted the young Obliviator, Chrissy, who was standing not far from them, ruefully massaging at her ringing ears.
Charlie looked at her and then back to the Griffin and shrugged. "Big lungs."
Nobody, not even the Muggles, could bring themselves to move as the Griffin dropped its upright stance as though preparing to pounce. As it held itself steadfast in the smouldering crater that surrounded it, Charlie watched with mounting apprehension as its glowing green eyes scanned back and forth.
It's looking for something, he realized with a start. Then the Griffin's gaze fell on three trembling figures that were huddled close together on the far side of the street opposite it. Charlie looked in that direction and suddenly came to the conclusion that all hell was about to break loose in Privet Drive.
It was the Dursleys.
And the Griffin obviously recognised them.
Minerva McGonagall and Charlie's parents seemed to be standing guard over them, though none of the three were trying to comfort or calm the distressed Muggles. The man was looking at the ruins of his home with a pasty face as he clutched his wailing wife to his chest. The boy, who was large enough to rival the Griffin, was bleating and making noises that sounded more akin to a farm animal than a human.
I think it has found what it was looking for.
Charlie turned away from the Dursleys and noticed the large numbers of witches and wizards that had Apparated into the area. Where originally there had been about a dozen, including the Weasley family, now there were close to fifty of them. Aurors and Obliviators comprised the bulk of them, clearly sent by the Ministry to try contain the situation.
//RRRRRrrrrr...//
The deep, threatening growl drew Charlie's attention back to the Griffin. The creature's eyes were firmly fixed upon the cowering Dursleys and had narrowed to fine slits that failed to hide the burning green fire that blazed within them.
//RRRRRrrrrr...//
"H-Harry?"
Charlie relaxed as his little sister, Ginny, made her way to stand before the towering behemoth that seemed only a hairsbreadth away from becoming a rampaging behemoth. From the few letters Ginny had written to him over the past year, Charlie was willing to believe that if anyone could reach Harry, it was her.
He watched, as did everyone else, with bated breath as the Griffin's murderous glare shifted to Ginny. The young girl was nervously fingering the hem of her torn blouse as she looked up to match the Griffin's gaze. For a moment, as the leonine head cocked quizzically to the side, Charlie thought she had done it.
But only for a moment.
//RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR!!!!//
If every single piece of glass in the town had not already been shattered, the Griffin's thunderous roar would certainly have done so. Charlie, hands clamped firmly over his ears, looked on in dismay as Ginny toppled backwards and landed heavily on her rump.
I hope to God we can stop it before it kills someone... was Charlie's despairing thought as the Griffin's roar trailed off, leaving his ears ringing.
As the Griffin bared its fangs in a snarl and presented its talons in challenge, Dumbledore made his presence known. The old wizard strode down the cracked and upturned length of road to stand where Ginny had fallen. He peered over the rims of his broken spectacles at the Griffin that loomed menacingly over them all.
"Stupefy!"
Dumbledore was widely regarded as the most powerful wizard in the world and, though Charlie had never personally seen him do it, it was rumoured that the Hogwarts Headmaster was able to stun a full grown dragon with a single spell.
Nobody expected his Stunning Spell to be utterly ineffective.
The Griffin stumbled back a step, the ground trembling as its massive weight shifted. For a short second or two it seemed to be off balance, but quickly steadied itself. The Griffin's wings spread wide and helped it to remain upright. It dug its feet into the ground and shifted its stance to distribute its weight more evenly.
//RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIHHHHHHHH!!!!//
"I think we've managed to piss young Mister Potter off," observed Moody, his magically eye aimed straight at the Griffin. His wand was in his gnarled hand and a terrible grin of excitement cut across his scarred face.
Charlie drew his own wand and ran unsteadily to help Ginny to her feet. As he drew close, he caught the look of absolute astonishment on Dumbledore's face as the Griffin flexed its shoulders and flapped its wings, once, twice. Clouds of dust were kicked up from the movement and Charlie had to squint against the buffeting wind.
"Everyone! Stunning Spells!" he shouted as loud as he could. He held his wand high over his head as a signal, "On the count! Three... two... one... NOW!!"
"STUPEFY!!"
Every witch and wizard present answered to his call, except for Ginny who just watched silently. Close to fifty Stunners shot through the air in the blink of an eye, all bearing straight at the snarling Griffin. So much force and power in a single instant would have knocked a Hungarian Horntail unconscious and to the ground like a felled oak tree.
The Griffin met the multitude of spells without flinching, like a trained boxer rolling against a light jab. The only indication that they had hit it at all was the way its shoulders twitched and the howl of unadulterated fury that followed. It might have been Charlie's imagination but it seemed to him as if the Griffin's fur and feathers were beginning to glow even brighter.
"Conjunctivitis!" cried two female voices, which Charlie recognized as the two Unspeakables his father had dragged along.
This time the Griffin reacted even more fiercely as the curses struck it in the eyes with a flare of white light. A shriek that caused his already overtaxed ears to protest rang out and was followed almost immediately by a resounding crash. The Griffin had swung around blindly and one of its unfurled wings had collided with number two Privet Drive.
Broken bricks, pieces of wood and shards of tile fell to the ground as the Griffin spun full circle and back to face them. Its glowing eyes, now almost too bright to look directly at, were fixed on the two Unspeakables with open malice. The young women both voiced a sound that seemed more fitting of a mouse than trained witches, but under the fury of such a gaze...
The Griffin took two menacing steps forward, the ground shaking and rumbling as each foot rose and fell. Its taloned claws were flexing in something that could have been anticipation, and its lips were bared in a silent snarl.
"I'm sorry, Harry," came a soft voice. Had Charlie not been standing only three feet away, he would never have heard Ginny's quiet apology for what she was about to do. It took him a second to realize that her wand was drawn and aimed with a trembling arm at the advancing Griffin.
"Stupefy."
Charlie would never have believed that so much power could be placed into a single spell by only one person. Especially his baby sister. It was simply not something he thought possible when it came to Ginny. He knew her magic was above average, he had seen examples of it when they were both younger, but if this was any indication, she was stronger than Dumbledore.
The Griffin was actually lifted off its feet and into the air. If it was possible Charlie would have described the look on its face as that of acute surprise. After a moment of airborne flight the massive creature fell to the earth with what would have undoubtedly been a thunderous crash. Its fall was broken, however, by number six Privet Drive.
With arms, legs and wings flaying about, the Griffin collided with the side of the house. And continued to fall, the walls mounting hardly any resistance against its mass. Tiles, bricks and wood collapsed all around the Griffin as it smashed through the top floor and down into the floor below. A billowing cloud of dust and fine debris exploded outwards as the hulking beast hit the ground with a crash that made Charlie's teeth click.
Several minutes passed in relative silence, apart from the clattering noise of falling masonry. Finally the clouds of dust began to settle down and revealing to everyone that had not yet run off screaming the fate of the house next door to the Dursleys. Suffice to say that Privet Drive was now missing two houses instead of just one.
"Glory be," muttered Mundungus Fletcher, gawking at the scene of destruction with wide eyes.
"Please let him be all right," whispered Ginny, so softly that Charlie could barely hear her. Without even thinking about it he shifted closer to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders as he surveyed the wreckage.
Then, to everyone's disbelief, the rubble began to stir.
***
//...mmmmmMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!//
Bill Weasley shielded his eyes behind his hand as the Griffin tore free from the ruins of number six Privet Drive. He had noted earlier that the Animagus had been growing brighter and brighter at a steady rate. Their attacks against the Griffin had only served to agitate the beast and cause the white glow to increase in intensity.
Now it was impossible to look at.
The Griffin's birth cry, which was what Bill compared it to, had shattered every Muggle light bulb in the town. Thus the entire street had been plunged into relative darkness under the gloom of the evening dusk as the sun set. Now, however, as the Griffin pulled loose from the debris that had fallen on top of it, the street was bathed in light.
With his eyes almost completely shut and hidden behind his outstretched hand, Bill could only just make out the gigantic form of the Griffin. It was struggling to its feet, swaying unsteadily as it rose up high above them. With each step accompanied by a loud thump and quake, it lurched forward and collapsed into the crater that it had appeared in.
//HHHHHRRRRRGGGGG...//
It seemed impossible, but the light surrounding and emanating from the Griffin appeared to be growing even stronger. Bill could clearly see the outline of the bones inside the hand shading his eyes against the glare.
//HHHHHRRRRRGGGGG...//
It may have seemed impossible, but it was true. With each throaty growl the intensity of the glow that was engulfing the Griffin increased. It might have been his imagination but Bill could have sworn he could feel the tickle of raw power running up his spine.
//HHHHHRRRRRGGGGG...//
It was so bright now that nobody could even face in that direction. Bill, along with everyone else, had turned his back away from the blinding light. It was incredible, the light was stark yet appeared to pulsate as it illuminated the world around them. It was so bright that even their shadows seemed to fade away under its glare.
//-----//
The darkness was so sudden that Bill could not prevent the yelp of surprise he uttered. A thousand questions popped into his head in that instant, as the light simply disappeared and left them all in what felt like complete blackness.
Bill never got a chance to ask any of his thousand questions.
It rushed out and fell upon them like a wave breaking against the shore. Unlike the blinding brilliance that had encompassed the Griffin, this was softer, gentler. The glow of energy was a soothing mix of light blues and greens that swept out behind a sound like pixies giggling.
Bill opened his eyes, after having closed them in anticipation of something dreadful, and found himself face with the absolutely last thing he had expected. The titanic form of Harry's Animagus was gone, disappeared without a trace and everything was back to exactly the way it had been before.
Well, nearly.
The Muggle cars that had been flipped over and battered by the initial explosion were once again in perfect condition. Their metal frames were pristine and smoothly precise, the paint gleaming with a polished finished.
All that was wrong was that they were all still either on their sides or completely upside down.
Privet Drive itself had been repaired and the road appeared almost freshly paved. It was perfectly flat and rolling, with the customary white and yellow lines looking as if they only just been painted on. The street lamps that had been knocked askew now stood tall and straight, their light bulbs glowing a soft white that illuminated the street.
All that was wrong were the crowds of dumbstruck witches, wizards and Muggles scattered about.
The gaping hole that the Griffin's wing had torn into the side of number two Privet Drive had been repaired. If Bill had not seen the damage done before his own eyes he would never have known that an entire wall had been knocked out with almost casual ease. The bricks had been returned to their proper places, the few tiles that had been knocked away were back on the roof and the shattered windows were shining.
All that was wrong was that the paint adorning the repairs was clearly newer and brighter.
The demolished ruins of number six Privet Drive had seemingly been completely rebuilt from the ground up. The entire house seemed to be newly constructed. The paint on the walls was brighter and cleaner than the others and its tiles were not yet faded from sun and rain. The garden was perfect in every way and the brass number six on the front door gleamed in the lamp light.
All that was wrong was the gap between it and its neighbour.
Everything had been returned to how it had been before, perhaps even better, with a single exception. There at the start of the street was number two, then a space, and then number six.
Number four Privet Drive... was still gone.
That plot of land was completely empty. The once neatly mowed grass and trimmed shrubs had been burned away, leaving nothing but barren earth. The bricked driveway was gone, save for a few bricks that lay near the road. And there, in the centre of this vacant lot, was a hole in the ground. It filled up most of the space and was nearly fifteen feet deep at its centre, where the only two things that had survived number four's destruction lay.
A large, old and battered trunk with the initials 'HP' engraved on the front.
A completely naked fifteen-, nearly sixteen-year-old unconscious boy.
Harry Potter.
***
Ginny was the first one to reach him, having almost killed someone who had unfortunately been in her way. The poor Auror had tumbled down the slope of the crater and finished his uncontrolled descent with a rough landing and solid encounter against Harry's trunk.
The contents of the trunk were now scattered about the immediate area as the bruised man painfully pulled himself up. Ginny ignored both him and the mess as she hurried to Harry and knelt down beside him.
"Harry?"
With a small amount of trepidation Ginny reached out a hand and rolled Harry onto his back, shutting her eyes as she did. A moment passed and then she cracked her left eye open and then her right as both grew wide with relief and amazement.
The three bullet wounds that had been almost fountaining blood not fifteen minutes ago had completely vanished. Aside from some slight redness there was not a trace of the life threatening injuries that Harry had sustained at the hands of his 'family'.
"Thank Merlin he's going to be okay," she breathed once her relief subsided enough for her rational processes to reactivate.
*Don't thank me now,* a voice seemed to tell her, *He's not out of the woods just yet.*
Ignoring the strange sensation Ginny focused her attention wholly on Harry. She scarcely noticed as other witches and wizards descended into the crater and clustered around them. Ginny's quick, yet thorough, examination of Harry revealed nothing in the way of injury, beyond one or two small bruises that must have been sustained during his transformation back to his human form.
Ginny was so relieved that Harry was no longer at death's door that she didn't even realize that he was completely without clothing. This point was only driven home when her father, cradling his broken arm against his side, draped his robe over Harry's limp body.
*Our little Harry,* announced a slightly bemused voice, *An Imperial Arch Griffin.*
*Who would have guessed?* noted another voice, a woman this time.
Ginny frowned and looked around at the people crowded into the spot that had once been occupied by number four Privet Drive. She could swear that people were talking, yet she could not place where the voices were coming from. Everyone was talking in low murmurs and whispers, except for these voices that sounded almost as it they were coming from right behind her.
*I think she's beginning to catch on,* observed a wry male, whose accent Ginny could not place, but reminded her of some of the people she had heard during her visit to Egypt.
*Hush, Osiris,* admonished a similar sounding female voice, *Now is not the time to joke.*
Ginny looked around again, trying to be surreptitious about it and not draw attention to her doing so. Besides she was also preoccupied with Harry, whose head she had lifted and brought to rest on her lap.
Who the hell is saying all that?!
*...*
I'm not hearing things, am I?
*Better sit down, Ginerva. Explaining this is going to take some time.*
TBC...