It took Sirius three days before he finally believed that he was not imagining things and accepted the reality of the fact that he was now a free man.
Rather, it took him three days before he admitted to believing it was all true. Harry suspected the man had accepted reality within the first thirty minutes of waking up and was simply milking the situation for all it was worth. Not that Harry minded, as Sirius made a point of teaching advanced pranking techniques, which he preceded by always saying "now, your mother would have killed me for teaching you this, but it's OK to teach you because you're not real, so..."
Harry believed Sirius decided to finally stop milking the situation once Remus got fed up enough to stop acting guilty all the time. Which was coincidentally the same morning Sirius woke up to discover that his limited set of new shirts had been transfigured into T-Shirts saying, "I spent 12 years in Azkaban, and all I got was this stupid T-Shirt", "Life is full of trials, except for when I was sent to prison", and "Azkababy Got Back".
On that third day, Sirius sat down at the table wearing his "A dementor is my mentor" T-Shirt. After finishing half of his breakfast and another two large slices of birthday cake, while eyeing Remus's smug smirk, Sirius looked over at Albus and spoke up.
"So, Albus, this is apparently all real."
Albus lowered his upside-down newspaper. "It would appear to be so, but who am I to define another person's reality."
Sirius nodded. "It's answers like that that tell me this is real. My delusions aren't that philosophical."
Albus tilted his head in acknowledgement and lifted his newspaper back up.
"Although..."
Albus lowered his newspaper once again.
"...yes, Sirius?"
"I might have realized this was all real, if you had apologized to me earlier."
Albus narrowed his eyes slightly. "Well, I'm sorry I missed my window. Out of curiosity, what would have been the content of my apology?"
Sirius's eyes hardened. "You let me rot in Azkaban, when I was innocent and hadn't even had the decency of a trial!"
Albus folded his newspaper and placed it on the table. He sighed as he laced his fingers in front of his face.
"Sirius, I do feel awful that you needlessly spent years in that horrid place and am thoroughly dismayed you did not receive a trial. I was under the impression that you had received a trial, nor did anyone give me a reason to doubt that impression. I would have insisted upon a trial if I had known at the time. I was also under the impression that you were found laughing maniacally at the scene of the explosion, surrounded by a dozen deceased individuals. Was that also an incorrect impression?"
Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "That... that was how I was found."
"But you must have at least proclaimed your innocence before your arrest. Right?"
"... I didn't quite do that."
Albus nodded. "Ah... well, I feel horrible that I didn't ask Remus to confirm that you were really the Secret Keeper. He was informed of the truth, correct?"
Sirius's eyes darted over to an overly interested Remus. "Well... we also told him I was the Secret Keeper."
"Ah... so... I believe I can speak for Remus when I say that we are both dreadfully sorry that we believed you, James, and Lily when you lied to us and told us Peter was the Secret Keeper. And, of course, we are sorry we did not see the obvious signs of innocence when you were caught surrounded by corpses and laughing maniacally while never once claiming you were innocent. I just hope that you can someday forgive us."
Sirius groaned. "Sweet Merlin... Wormtail barely had to anything to frame me. I ended up doing nearly all the work for him, didn't I?"
Remus patted Sirius's shoulder. "Yes. But, at least, you excelled at framing yourself. As usual, Wormtail wouldn't have succeeded without your help."
Sirius stared at Remus, as his face twisted from shock to disbelief to slowly growing grin. "Huh... that... actually... that really helps. Just knowing I accidentally pranked myself, and Wormtail had nothing to do with it... that makes it easier to accept."
Remus frowned slightly. "Well, I wouldn't say he had noth..."
Sirius loudly interrupted Remus. "HE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! IT WAS ALL ME!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, that was what I was going to say."
Sirius nodded triumphantly.
Albus smiled. "I am happy to hear that. Harry and I were growing weary of two mopey pranksters. On that note, Remus, how would you like to have a job?"
Remus looked at Albus with guarded interest, his eyes taking in Harry's sudden grin. "What sort of job?"
"As you both know, Harry is receiving private tutelage from me as he does not intend to return to Hogwarts. I find myself in need of as an assistant to ensure he is taught all he needs to know to pass his OWLs and NEWTs with Outstanding grades. As you had excellent grades in school, I was hoping you would help in that regard... along with some other miscellaneous assistance."
Remus frowned. "That sounds like something you could do, and honestly, you could do it much better than me."
Albus shrugged. "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss your value, Remus. However, it is true that I was prepared to do the academic training myself. But, given you have joined us, I thought you might like to take on the role in my stead."
"Why?"
"Well, as one of Harry's official tutors and my employee, you would be able to travel the world with us without the normal hassles associated with your affliction. Plus, you would get free room and board, along with a stipend we can negotiate if you agree. Unless... do you not want to help care for poor young Harry?"
Harry sniffed slightly as his eyes opened as wide as he could manage. He then spoke in a trembling voice. "Don't you want to stay with me, Moony?"
Remus rolled his eyes as he looked at Harry. "Your wounded puppy dog act, that Sirius taught you, would work better if you didn't also use it every morning to get the last pancake. And, obviously, I am taking the job. Just, tell me the real reason already."
Harry's expression immediately transformed into a smile as he chuckled. "Albus doesn't want to do the boring stuff. He just wants to focus on the new interesting magic we are experimenting with."
Albus broke in at this point. "Well, there is the added benefit that you can help teach Harry everything he needs to know to become a proper prankster."
Harry felt a sense of happiness fill his heart as he saw a Remus's eyes alight with a sense of joy that seemed to push out the last remnants of soul weary sadness that seemed to constantly cling to the man. As a genuine smile grew on Remus's face, Sirius spoke up.
"Hey! If anyone is going to tutor Harry in pranking, it should be me! Are you going to offer me a job!?"
Both Harry and Albus stared at Sirius with nearly identical incredulous expressions.
Sirius's expression changed from indignation to confusion. "What?"
Albus sighed. "Sirius... what is your relationship with Harry?"
Sirius frowned as he replied slowly. "I'm his godfather?"
"And?"
Sirius glared at Remus, as his friend barked out a quick laugh. "What am I missing?"
Harry shook his head and spoke with a tone of fond exasperation. "You didn't read the Ministry forms past the point of saying you were officially free, did you?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes as Harry pulled the forms out of his pocket and handed them over.
"You've planned this conversation with Albus, haven't you?"
Harry shrugged with a smile.
Sirius chuckled softly as he scanned the documents. A minute later, he paused and read over a section a second and then third time. He then looked up with genuine surprise in his eyes. His voice filled with tentative hope.
"I'm your guardian?"
Harry smiled. "My parents wanted you to have that position, and I'm sure they would have wanted Remus to have the position as well if they had known the truth about Pettigrew. I still want to see the world with Albus but would also like to get to know the people my parents trusted most in the world."
Albus spoke gently. "Also, having you as Harry's legal guardian adds an extra layer of protection from having to deal with the British Ministry trying to bring Harry back to England."
"What if I decided to fire you and force Harry to return to England? Not that I would do that! I certainly have no more love for the British Ministry! But, what if I did?"
Albus smiled as his eyes sparkled. "I am certain you would not be foolish enough to try to violate Harry's wishes."
Harry laughed. "There is that. Also, he and I have put together over a dozen plans to deal with you attempting something so unlikely and foolish. Only a few them involve the fact you are physically incapable of stopping me from Hyper Jumping away from you. The other ways... well, there is no need for you to know them. Although, you should know that Albus was confident you would be happy to let me explore the world if you were invited to come along, so the plans were only a contingency."
Sirius stared at the pair for a long moment before he broke out in laughter. After about half a minute he managed to calm down to speak with mirth filling his voice. "It's lucky then that Azkaban didn't make me crazy enough to want to make an enemy of my godson and one of the most powerful wizards in the world."
Albus replied with a nod. "Quite lucky. Now, how would you like to help train your godson to eventually overtake me in power?"
Sirius leaned forward with interest. "What do you have in mind?"
Sirius stood in the middle of the training ground, wand at the ready.
"So, I just hit Harry with a stinging hex before he can physically touch me?"
Albus nodded. "Exactly. Of course, Harry will not be casting any magic to reach you or defend himself. I want this to be a challenge for him."
Sirius arched an eyebrow. "You don't think I can be a challenge?"
Albus stared at Sirius's offended expression, eyes assessing the man's still unhealthily thin form. Finally, he shrugged as his eyes twinkled.
"Very well, Sirius. Harry, feel free to go at full force. Though, please don't harm him irreparably."
Harry's face lit up in excitement. The only time he had tried a Jump and Hit against Albus, it had gone abysmally (for Harry that is, as Albus admitted he enjoyed having some relaxing time to read as Harry was knocked unconscious on the grass). Harry noticed Sirius becoming very wary and nervous. As he looked at the man, he remembered one of the first basic pranks Sirius had told him about. Harry's smile widened and Sirius tensed up further.
"Alright, Harry and Sirius, getting ready... and... go!"
Sirius snapped his arm forward to fire at Harry but was shocked to see the boy no longer visible. He then felt a hand slap the small of his back and yelped as he felt the back of his underwear yank up violently.
Harry laughed as he stared at Sirius hanging in the air, his feet dangling a few inches off the ground as his body weight was now fully supported by his underwear. Remus's laughs soon joined Harry's laughter.
After about ten seconds, a loud ripping sound could be heard followed by Sirius thudding to the ground. When everyone looked up from Sirius's form the laughter doubled. Even Sirius began to laugh through the pain as they all stared at a destroyed pair of underwear floating in the air.
Fifteen minutes later, a recovered Sirius stood in the middle of the training ground, wand at the ready.
"So, I cast stinging hexes at Harry, and he doesn't cast any magic at me or Hyper Jump? And he just touches me with absolutely no spells involved. That sounds good."
If Sirius noticed Albus, Remus, and Harry rolling their eyes, he chose to ignore it with as much dignity as he could muster (it was not a lot of dignity).
Albus replied. "Those are the terms. And... go!"
Harry rushed forward and his eyes widened as his senses screamed at him to dodge. He jumped to the left as a hex passed through the space he had been, with more space than he was used to. With Albus, he had become familiar with almost sensing the spell coming towards him, where his senses would barely whisper warnings to him with very little time to do anything about the warning (assuming he was able to notice the whispered warning). Sirius's spell had caused Harry's senses to scream as soon as the spell started to leave the man's wand.
Harry turned his head back toward Albus, facing away from Sirius, as he was completely distracted from the exercise. He opened his mouth to ask a question... when his senses screamed again. Automatically, he dropped to the ground and rolled to the right. The hex flew over his body, and Harry popped back onto his feet to face Sirius. Sirius paused as he and Harry stared at each other, both with faces expressing the shock they felt. Harry's lips turned up in a smirk, as Sirius groaned out a shorts statement before preparing himself.
"Aw... crap!"
Sirius then began to cast as fast as he could, which was unfortunately at a sluggish pace. Harry strolled toward Sirius, side stepping spells or ducking with ease. Sirius began to pant as sweat beaded on his forehead, while Harry neared slowly and deliberately. Clearly enjoying this easy victory.
Three feet away, Harry felt his senses scream again that the spell was aiming towards his head, so he negligently leaned to the right. However, the spell did not fly past his head. Instead Harry's eyes widened when his senses screamed again that the spell was aiming at his torso. With his body leaning right, he was unable to twist away, and he felt the sting of the hex hitting his stomach.
With a sigh of relief, Sirius collapsed on the ground as he tried to regain his breath.
Albus walked over and knelt next to Sirius, waving his wand over the panting man.
"Well done, Sirius. Very well done! It will take time and training to get you back to your pre-Azkaban skill level, but I am confident you will get there. For now, I'm happy to see you are starting rediscover your battle instincts."
Sirius weakly gave a thumbs up as he continued to focus on his ragged breathing.
Harry looked down at Sirius and felt a twinge of guilt. He had been so excited to finally be able to thoroughly outmatch an opponent, that he had nearly let his godfather collapse of exhaustion.
"Sirius... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have been so..."
Sirius waved him off.
"No... apologies... needed..." Sirius took one last deep breath before he was able to start talking normally. "If you hadn't underestimated me, I never would have had a chance to win."
Harry smiled. "Thanks... how did you win anyway? I was certain you were casting for my head. I know that you tried changing your aim at the last second several times, but it never fooled me before. So, how did you trick me?"
Sirius wiped the sweat from his face, as he looked like he was regaining his energy. "First off, I have no idea how you were doing that, but I'm happy to see my godson can defend himself. James and Lily would be proud!"
Harry felt himself start to beam as his heart filled with warmth.
"As for the trick..."
Albus interrupted. "Sirius, before you tell Harry, let me ask him a question. Harry, are you sure you want to have Sirius give you the answer, or would you prefer to figure it out yourself?"
Sirius opened his mouth to protest, then closed it with a thoughtful expression.
Harry looked between the two men and after ten seconds he sighed. "You just want him to keep his advantage against me, don't you?"
Sirius grinned as Albus shrugged and replied. "That is part of it, and I fully expect Remus to be told so that they can be more effective in training you. To a degree though, the trick Sirius used is irrelevant. Given enough time, he will figure out new tricks as he works with you and gets back into shape. Ignoring the specific trick, do you want to know what you did wrong?"
Harry frowned in thought. "I already know that I underestimated Sirius. What else did I do wrong?"
Albus looked over at Sirius. "Sirius, when you and James tried to slip a potion to all the Ravenclaws at once, so they would sprout feathers during lunch, what happened?"
Sirius and Remus both chuckled as Sirius responded. "They saw me pointing a camera at them and one of the Ravenclaw prefects shouted a warning for them not to eat or drink anything, and then they got Flitwick."
"And when I talked to you and James, what did you say was the lesson you learned?"
Remus groaned as Sirius smiled proudly. "That, next time, I wouldn't pull out the camera until it was too late for people to avoid the prank."
Harry laughed at Sirius's expression of supreme pride. "OK. I get it. I was celebrating my victory before I had won. And, fine, I'll let Sirius and Remus keep their tricks to themselves until I figure them out on my own."
Albus smiled broadly. "Excellent! Now, Sirius and Remus, get up there and help Harry learn how to dodge without magic!"
The two men and thirteen-year-old boy all groaned as they stood.
On the bright side, for Harry, he was finally achieving a lot more victories than he ever got against Albus.
It was one week later at breakfast when Albus received a letter that left him smiling.
"Ah, wonderful news! My friend, Deathspear, has just gotten permission for us to make use of his training grounds for breaking wards. What do you think, Harry, do you want to learn how to destroy wards? It's a lot of violent spells and explosions to begin with, where subtlety is taught later."
Harry smiled slightly at the sight of Sirius perking up at the word 'explosions', and then looked to Albus to respond. "Where would be going, and when?"
"We will be heading to Egypt. Deathspear is the supervisor for the Gringotts Curse Breaking team that William Weasley is on. I happened to see him when I went to capture Peter, and I figured it would be a nice way for you to get some practical experience after reading Perenelle's book. For Remus's sake, we will leave the day after the upcoming full moon, so September 1st."
Harry nodded. "That sounds great!"
Harry then looked at the others at the table. "Sirius, Remus, and Dobby... how does that sound to you?"
Everyone agreed to the plan, with Dobby's answer being typically overenthusiastic and praising of how the Great Harry Potter would be the best ward breaker in the world. Remus's answer was positive, but still colored by a troubled look on his face.
Albus spoke kindly. "Don't worry Remus, I have been brewing some Wolfsbane Potion, so you can have your first dose tonight."
Remus sighed in relief.
Harry looked at the two men in confusion. "What's that?"
Remus responded to the question. "It lets me to keep my mind when I transform. Without it..."
Remus trailed off with a look of frustrated resignation on his face.
Harry nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry. Isn't there anything that can be done to cure being a werewolf?"
Remus shook his head. "No, people have looked for a cure for as long as the curse has existed. It is impossible to cure. I'm just grateful that someone finally figured out a way to make it so I least lose control of my mind."
Harry's eyes flitted over to Albus at the word 'impossible', and saw the man just shrug in response. At that moment, Harry swore to himself he would figure out how to show this impossibility was possible. He would talk to Albus later to get ideas on where to direct his studies.
Looking back at Remus, his mind returned to the present. "Well, thank goodness for the potion then. It must have made it easier when you were in school."
Remus grimaced. "The potion was invented after I left school. Back then I had to be isolated in the Shrieking Shack to keep everyone safe."
"The Shrieking Shack?"
"A house that was built for me, and where I could transform without fearing the possibility of hurting others. The only way to enter or exit was through a secret passage under the Whomping Willow. It was impossible to fit inside the passage in my transformed state. The only people who even knew about the passage were Albus, some professors, Sirius, James, and... Pettigrew. Well... I guess there was also Severus."
Harry looked at Remus in shocked confusion. "Snape? Why would he know?"
Sirius sighed sadly. "I told him. Thankfully, James rushed off and saved Snape before Remus had a chance to hurt him. Though he still did see Remus in his transformed state."
Harry's brow furrowed in concentration and then looked over at Albus. "You told me my father saved Snape, which was why Snape both hated me and was trying to save me. Was that what you were talking about?"
Albus nodded. "Indeed. Your father prevented a truly horrible tragedy, and saved Severus from his own stupidity."
"What do you mean? It sounds like he was going to be the victim of Sirius's actions. Sorry, Sirius."
Sirius shook his head. "You're not wrong."
Albus looked at Sirius in confusion. "I thought you were aware of the whole truth, and that is why you didn't ask any questions when you weren't expelled."
At Sirius's look of utter confusion, Albus pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked over at Harry.
"Harry, Severus received his Mastery in Potions at an exceptionally young age. He worked as a double agent during the war and survived. He also, despite having a non-magical father, was a high-ranking Death Eater. Finally, during school, he was obsessed with destroying your father and his friends. Do you honestly believe that a man like that would not be able figure out what it means when one of his sworn enemies is away from school for every single full moon for years on end?"
Harry's eyes widened, noticing the jaws slackening on both Remus and Sirius's faces.
Albus continued. "You see, Severus knew what he was going to see, and he wanted proof so he could get Remus expelled. The problem was that he was expecting Remus to be safe and chained up. All Sirius did was the stupid action of telling Severus how to get into the passage. But, do not doubt that Severus knew what he was doing."
Harry frowned. "Why would he do something so... stupid?"
Albus chuckled ruefully. "You've met the man. Does he strike you as a nice person who only attacks when attacked first, or as a bitter man who goes out of his way to proactively attack his enemies?"
Harry stared at Albus thoughtfully. "That's... that's a fair point. So, was he the one who started the rivalry between him and my dad?"
Remus and Sirius responded at the same time. "No!" "Yes!"
Albus chuckled. "I'll leave it to those two to figure that out. I can tell you that I could clearly see the loathing between the two even before they were sorted into their houses. Things just got worse as the years went on. Your father and his friends tended to target Severus for pranks, but Severus and his Slytherin allies targeted them back with far more violent responses. Of course, Severus chooses not to remember that he gave as good as he got. To be fair, he didn't help himself by the way he taught himself Occlumency."
Harry leaned forward in interest. "What do you mean?"
"Do you remember me telling you about how we did quick and dirty Occlumency training during the war? Well, he did similar training while in school, but on himself. Instead of focusing on his worst memories, he focused on keeping his hatred for your father and his friends at the front of his mind. That is part of why he hates you so much, as it has become instinctual. Whenever one examines his mind, his memories and thoughts are guarded by a thick layer of undying hate for James Potter and, to a lesser but still violent degree, his friends."
Harry paled. "Thank you for teaching me the right way to learn Occlumency."
Albus smiled. "You're quite welcome, my boy. Speaking of teaching you, it is time for us go outside and start your training. I think today you will be taking on Remus, Sirius, and me."
Harry groaned as Sirius chuckled.
Over the days until September 1st, Harry had spent a lot of time trying to take down the trio of adults in training. He could occasionally take down Sirius and Remus, but Albus remained untouchable. Though it had been satisfying the one time he managed to dive behind Remus and saw Albus's spell hit the man.
Of course, when Remus needed to take a break from training the day before the full moon, Harry had made the mistake of joking that this was his chance to take Sirius down during each session. Albus responded by revealing that he was proud that Harry had gotten the hang of the basics of his training and it was now time to start the official novice level training.
Up to that point, Harry had though Albus had been attacking him with a deluge of spells, where the man would shoot a spell every three seconds. He now realized that deluge was little more than a light sprinkle. With the "official novice level training" the old man had decreased the interval to less than a second between spells. Additionally, where he used to be almost able to feel the spells from Albus, he could now barely sense the ghost of the spells. Harry found himself fondly reminiscing over those early days of hellish training. On the bright side, Sirius's spells still screamed their presence well in advance of becoming a threat.
Intellectually, he appreciated that Albus was trying to keep him from becoming too full of himself and make sure he never underestimated his opponents. Practically, his stinging and exhausted body demanded that it was time to figure out a new prank for the old man. Maybe he could get Remus and Sirius in on a brainstorming session.
Then again, with how much Remus and Sirius laughed at the training stories, perhaps all three men were due a prank. He would figure something out.
When it came time to take the train to Cairo, Harry was too focused on his pranking vengeance to pay attention to the rapidly changing landscape as they popped through different countries. Nor was he paying too much attention as Albus apparated him from the train station.
He did start paying attention though when he was hit by an intense dry heat. Looking around, he saw they were standing in the middle of a desert. He could not see a structure in any direction. Looking to his left, he saw Remus and Sirius apparate next to him.
"Where are we, Albus?"
Albus smiled. "We are at the edge of the wards for the Gringotts Curse Breaking Headquarters. We should be greeted shortly."
"Ah... it looks nice."
Sirius grinned. "Very nice! I like... the dunes."
Remus responded. "I don't know, Sirius, I prefer the heat shimmers."
"Dobby likes the pool!"
"What are you talking..." Harry looked to where Dobby had spoken, only to see the elf rush forward and disappear in thin air.
Albus chuckled. "I suppose the wards aren't designed to work on House Elves."
Before they could respond, a tall red-headed man appeared from where Dobby had disappeared. The man had his long hair in a ponytail and had a fang earring. If Harry had not spent the past few months in the muggle world, seeing more people than he had ever seen in his life, he would have likely thought this was one of the coolest people he had ever met. Instead, he just found himself pondering what he would look like with a basilisk fang earring and if it would fill Sirius with envy.
"Headmaster!" spoke the man. "Supervisor Deathspear is expecting you. You're still keyed in, so let me just key your guests into the wards."
"Hello William, as I said before, you can just call me Albus now. How are the family?"
As William waved his wand towards Harry, he answered. "I'll try to call you that, but it seems... wrong. Like I am going to get a week of detention from Professor McGonagall for my cheek. My family is doing well. They were obviously a bit shook up by discovering that Scabbers was really an animagus. But they were feeling better by the time they left."
Harry looked closer at William. "Are you Bill Weasley? Ron mentioned that..." Harry stopped speaking and gasped as the empty desert in front of him disappeared and was filled in with a tiny town.
As he stepped forward, the air cooled to a comfortable level. The most striking feature was an immense pyramid that had sides colored in pure gleaming white, topped with a cap of gold that shone brilliantly in the sunlight. Surrounding the pyramid were a series of modest, yet comfortable looking huts. Finally, not too far from where he stood was a huge pool filled with clean and clear water. Several humans and goblins could be seen relaxing and swimming in the cool water.
And, floating atop an inner tube in the center of the pool, wearing sunglasses, and sipping a Butterbeer through an elaborately looping blue straw, lay an extremely relaxed Dobby.