That was another gut punch to Harry that he didn't know about. The person who betrayed his parents was known? And this was his cousin? "Is he in these pictures?" Harry asked, reopening the binder.
"Yes, to the left of James, the one with the curly black hair. That's Sirius Black. He and your father had been friends since they were your age. Sirius had even run away from home and lived with the Potters like a second son for a time. The fact that he would betray them is so bizarre and unheard of for him, but I suppose there was something about him that we didn't see." Andromeda said sadly.
"I understand if hearing about this may make you not want to live with us Harry, I do truly get it. I'm sure you know as well as I do that you don't get to chose your family, and sometimes just because they share blood with you doesn't mean that they love you. Just know that if you choose to live with us, we will love you no less than if you had been one of our own. James and Lily were good friends, and I miss them dearly. I owe a lot to their memory, and the least I could do is make sure you are raised correctly." Andromeda said, giving Harry a heartwarming smile.
The rest of the meeting was pleasant, going over some particulars of what living with the Tonks would be like. Ted spoke up a few times, but was content to let Andromeda take the lead. Ted mentioned his job as a healer, where he worked at St. Mungos and was slowly attempting to integrate modern muggle medicinal treatments alongside long standing magical ones. Andromeda was a charms mistress, and did consulting work on charm creation for magical items, such as the warming scarves that Harry had. Their time ended and they left through the floo.
"Well Harry, what do you think?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"I think… I think it might be best if I go with the Tonks. They knew my parents after all, and they probably know of other people who did as well." Harry said,
"I thought that might be the outcome. We'll get the paperwork started for that over the coming months. When school lets out, you should be moving in to a new safer home." Professor Flitwick said, a beaming smile on his face.
Harry turned his attention back to the binder in front of him, flipping open to the pictures he had seen earlier.
Internally, Harry spoke, "I'm glad to see you mom and dad. I hope Andromeda and Ted are as nice as you thought they were."
For the first time in his life, Harry truly believed he may have a family.
Even harder than making the decision to live with the Tonks for Harry, was telling Susan that he wouldn't be living with her. Harry liked Susan, she was one of his closest friends, and he would have loved to get the chance to live with her, but he did think that it would be better for him to live with the Tonks.
Susan hadn't taken it well at all, and it took a giant cuddle pile of reassurance to let her know that they would still be friends after this. She did eventually get the message.
Harry had continued his workout regiment, and true to their word, Lavender, Parvati, and Padma had taken to joining him. With the warming scarves he had, and a few more procured by Flitwick, the quartet had taken to running along the shores of the Black Lake, which Harry also insisted their route swing near Hagrid's house so they could say hello during the mornings. A result of that was that on mornings when he felt particularly playful, Fang would also join in on their run, and was more than happy to chase any stick that Harry or the girls threw for him.
The quartet had been on one of these runs in mid-April when Hagrid bid them inside to see something.
"What is it Hagrid?" Harry asked, patting Fang on the head.
"Yew four get to witness summit real special. Watch." Hagrid said, pointing his large finger at a bundle of blankets near the firepit in his house. Inside a small nest of the blankets was an oblong object, onyx black in color that reflected the warm firelight. The object wiggled a little bit in the nest, before a crack appeared in the side. A small set of claws poked through the edge, and Harry quickly came to a realization of what this was. Hagrid had somehow obtained a dragon egg.
The hatching lasted only a minute or so, as the newborn dragon broke out of, and then promptly ate the shell it emerged from, before cozying into the blankets for a nap. "Beau'iful ain't it?" Hagrid said, wiping a tear from his eyes.
"Ooh! It's so cute!" Lavender squealed, her eyes never leaving the tiny draconian.
"Norwegian Ridgeback he is, gonna call him Norbert." Hagrid said, pouring everyone some tea.
"Hagrid, surely you realize you can't keep a dragon here right?" Harry said, looking worriedly around.
"What do ya mean Harry? I keep all kinds of beasties in check, from the Nifflers to the Thestrals, even ol' Fluffy." Hagrid said.
"I thought his name was Fang?" Parvati says, patting the dog on the head when he glanced to her for saying his name.
"Ya, thas Fang, Fluffy's the big one. More bark than bite he is. Bit o' music and he goes roight to sleep." Hagrid said absentmindedly, looking through a book he had. The cover read "An Essential Guide to Dragons."
Harry filed that tidbit away, he could take a guess who Fluffy was, and the look that Padma gave him from across the table said that she had made the connection too. The Ravenclaw trio, that is, Harry, Hermione, and Padma, had elected to not inform the rest of the club about the presence of the Cerberus in Hogwarts, even Daphne they had just told that Malfoy had never shown up for their duel.
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