The Necromancer

Chapter 11

Harry sat down at the rustic table in the dusty basement kitchen, V remaining steadfast on his shoulder, while Sirius sat down opposite him and Remus rummaged around to get some tea started. Snape parked himself against the wall beside the door, face obscured by a curtain of black hair but his eyes as sharp as ever. Lily hovered beside him, had been sticking to him like a burr ever since the previous night. James floated beside Harry while staring at his old friends with the biggest, looniest grin on his face. The rest of Harry’s family was keeping an eye on some of the bigger players in the wizarding world, because Harry wanted to know what was happening around him in detail.

He’d sent both Auntie Eustice and Charis to spy on Dumbledore. Harry didn’t trust that man one bit, no matter his parents had always spoken well of him. That old man had been far too ecstatic to see Harry suddenly returned.

While he wouldn’t admit it out loud anytime soon, Harry was glad his parents were with him, had been with him the entire day, because even though Harry had heard all about the wizarding world for his entire life, he was feeling a little out of sorts suddenly finding himself stuck in it.

Santika was his home, and while Harry was genuinely curious about the wizarding world and he was certain he would enjoy spending some time in it, he did miss his home, especially because he wasn’t sure if he could ever return there. Or even if he should.

“So where were you?” Remus asked as he served them all hot cups of tea. All except Snape, who declined Remus’ offer with a sneer and simply returned to silently staring at Harry. “Are the stories of you living in a different world really true?” Remus sat down opposite Harry and gave him a mild smile and a curious look.

Harry sipped his tea, after he quietly ran his magic through it to search for potions, because no matter these were his parents’ old friends, Harry wasn’t a fool. “I grew up in Santika. Attended a school for sorcery there.”

Over the years Harry had learned that the best ways to communicate with strangers was to tell them as little as possible while still giving the appearance of answering all of their questions truthfully. Harry liked to think he’d gotten quite good at it.

“That must have been a shock, to find yourself in a different world all of a sudden,” Remus asked while Sirius just kept staring at Harry with a slight frown, as if he couldn’t quite believe that the man sitting opposite him was really the son of his deceased best friend.

Harry shrugged and sipped more tea. “It really wasn’t. The Dursleys kept me in a closet and starved me, so moving to a magical school where I had a warm bed and three meals a day was a vast improvement.” Harry narrowed his eyes as he stared from Remus to Sirius and back a few times. “I really would like to know how I ended up with my mother’s non-magical family while I’m sure you were supposed to look after me.”

A pained grimace appeared on Sirius’ face. “It’s all my fault. I buggered it up.” And with slumped shoulders, Sirius buried his face in his trembling hands.

Gently, Harry extended his magic to brush against the other men’s souls, to get a feel for them. Remus, as expected had a dual soul. They were still one whole, but with two distinct halves. Snape’s soul was whole, but had a bitter feel to it, with a touch of darkness.

And Sirius’ soul was a brittle thing, frayed all around the edges as though many creatures had been nibbling on it for years and years.