Jack Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban

Rat Tonic

Jack's POV

"Hey I'm going to Diagon Alley, what to come?" Harry asks me.

"Sure, I have nothing better to do" I tell him. As we exit my room a familiar rat runs by, being chased by a cat. "Wasn't that Ron's rat?" I ask Harry and he nods his head. We head to the stairs to see Hermione holding the cat while Ron held his rat.

"I'm warning you Hermione! Keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cozy!" Ron yells.

"It's a cat, Ronald! What do you expect? It's in his nature" Hermione states.

"A cat? Is that what they told you? It looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me" Ron tells her.

"That's rich, coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush" Hermione says. "It's alright, Crookshanks. Just ignore the mean little boy" she tells the cat.

"I thought you were getting an owl Hermione" I say announcing mine and Harry's presence.

"Jack, Harry!" Hermione exclaims happily smiling up at us. "I was going to, but then Crookshanks attacked Ron as he was buying rat tonic for Scabbers. I just fell for the cuddly ball of fur" she explains. The four of us head to the dining area as Ron shows Harry and I picture of him & his family in Egypt.

"Egypt, huh? What's it like?" Harry asks as he sits beside Ron. Hermione and I sitting opposite them, while I pat Crookshanks.

"Brilliant! Loads of cool stuff. Mummies, tombs. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself" Ron replies.

"You know the Egyptians used to worship cats" Hermione and I tell him.

"Yeah, along with the dung beetle" Ron retorts. As the rest of the Weasleys appear. The twins taking to picture from Ron. While Harry greets Mrs Weasley telling her we were both all packed.

"Not flashing that clipping again, are you, Ron?" George asks.

"I haven't shown anyone!" Ron tells him.

"No, not a soul! Unless you count Tom" Fred says.

"The day maid" George adds.

"The night maid" Fred continues.

"The cook" I add smirking as the twins nod their heads.

"That bloke who came to fix the toilet" Fred states.

"And that wizard from Belgium" George finishes as they sit either side of me.

"So how you been Jack?" they ask me.

"Great, did you enjoy Egypt?" I ask them.

"Yeah, we tried to shut Perce into a tomb. But mum caught us" Fred explains and I chuckle.

"You know he made head boy" George adds.

"Good for him" I say smiling.

"Oh we got you something from Egypt" Fred adds placing something in my hand. It was an Eye of Ra Amulet on a beaded chain. (Necklace: https://www.gateworld.net/wiki/images/2/27/EyeofRaamulet2.jpg).

"Wow thanks guys" I say smiling as I put it on. We then all had dinner together. Where Mr Weasley tells us we'd be taking Ministry cars to the train station. How I'd be going with them. That explained the letter I got this morning from Uncle Remus. Originally he was going to take Harry and I to the station. As he was riding the train with us. But I don't understand why we have to take ministry cars.

After dinner I was helping Harry finish his packing when we heard raised voices. Entering the hall we saw door 13 ajar and could hear Ron and Percy arguing. We approach to see what was wrong. "It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing" Percy states.

"I haven't touched it!" Ron shouts back.

"What's up?" Harry and I ask aloud.

"My Head Boy badge is gone" Percy says annoyed.

"So is Scabbers's Rat Tonic" Ron adds while throwing things out of his trunk to look. "I think I might've left it in the bar" he states.

"You're not going anywhere till you've found my badge!" Percy yells.

"We'll go get the tonic" I tell Ron.

"Yeah, we're packed" Harry states. We were halfway to the bar when we hear another pair of raised voices. Harry looks at me and I shrug. I soon recognize the voices as Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"Makes no sense not to tell them" Mr. Weasley says. "They've got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry and Jack like a child. They're thirteen years old and..."  he continues, only to be cut off by Mrs Weasley.

"Arthur, the truth would terrify them!" Mrs. Weasley says shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry and Jack back to school with that hanging over them? For heaven's sake, they're happy not knowing!" she states.

"I don't want to make them miserable, I want to put them on their guard!" Mr. Weasley retorts. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves — they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry and Jack mustn't do that this year! When I think what could have happened to Harry that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him" he states.

"But he's not dead, they're both fine, so what's the point" Mrs Weasley tries to say.

"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is. But he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after" Mr Weasley states.

"But they'll be perfectly safe at Hogwarts" Mrs Weasley tells him.

"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts" Mr Weasley tells her. I tune out when I see Ron's rat tonic. I grab it unseen by the Weasley parents and return to Harry's side.

"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?" I hear Mrs Weasley ask her husband.

"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards" Mr. Weasley says heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that...but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid" he states.

"If they save Harry" Mrs Weasley says.

"Then I won't say another word against them" Mr Weasley tells her. I show Harry the bottle and we head back up stairs. I give Ron the tonic before going into Harry's room.

"So what else did they say?" I ask him.

"Apparently Sirius Black is after me" he states.

"Don't worry Harry, I won't let him get anywhere near you" I tell him.

"I thought I was supposed to be the older protective twin" he says smiling.

"We're both protective" I state. "Good night brother" I say hugging him. Then return to my room and prepare for bed. Before crawling under the covers and falling asleep.

A/N

Picture above of the Rat Tonic and picture on the external link of Ron standing next to Hermione, both holding their pets.