Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Guardians of the Eternal Phoenix
‘Thoughts’
“Speech”
Chapter 3: Introductions and Plans
Private Drive had one problem, all the houses looked almost the same and the only distinguishing feature was the number plate beside the gate, thought Drake, as he came to a halt outside the gate of No.10. Drake walked across the lawn along the gravely path until he was halfway down the path. He looked around warily, looking for people who might be watching him. Finding no one, he grinned and raised his hand skywards. A bright yellow ball of energy suddenly appeared in his hand, crackling madly. The ball of energy then flew upwards into the sky and began to spread like melting chocolate across a cake, until it covered the entire plot of No.10. The yellow film of energy then turned transparent and disappeared from view. Satisfied with himself, Drake crossed the remaining path and went inside the house.
The house had two rooms on the ground floor and four on the first floor. Drake decided to turn one of the rooms on the lower floor to kitchen cum dining room and the other to living room. For now he would need only two of the rooms on the top floor, one for bedroom and the other for training purposes.
All the rooms appeared to be painted recently but with a sickly green color. Whoever painted the house had horrible taste, thought Drake, grimacing slightly. He waved his hand and all walls turned to a soft blue color. He walked into the rooms on the lower floor and began conjuring the necessary furniture and accessories. He then proceeded to his would be bedroom and took out some items from his jeans pocket. He enlarged them and soon the room sported a comfy queen sized bed, a mahogany wardrobe and a writing table and chair. He waved his hand once more and the color of the walls changed to a darker shade of blue while the roof changed to a soothing white color. Satisfied with his handiwork, Drake got into bed and fell asleep within moments.
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It was well past noon when drake woke up. He stumbled groggily to the bathroom for a shower. A few minutes later as he stood by the window toweling his hair, he saw his target walking down the street. His target appeared to be a thin, scrawny kid and was impossibly small for his age, or maybe it was due to the fact that he was wearing clothes that were too large for him.
Drake quickly got dressed up and was about to close the gate when he felt someone coming to a halt behind him. He turned around to find an extremely fat kid with sandy blonde hair staring at him.
“Excuse me, but is your name Drake Jones?”
“Yes…” Drake had a hunch about who he was related to and sure enough…
“My name is Dudley Dursley and my mum told me to invite you over to tea at our house at around 7 this evening.”
Drake smiled,”Sure I will be there. Now if you will excuse me…” And without another word, Drake walked off in the direction in which he had seen his target go earlier.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Drake stood at the entrance of a deserted children’s park that appeared to be the victim of vandalism. Half the swings were broken and empty drinks bottles and pieces of cigarettes littered the ground.
Drake looked around and spotted his target sitting in the shade of a tree. He walked over to him until he was standing a few paces behind him. He appeared to be lost in thought.
“Excuse me, may I sit beside you?”
His target looked up and looked at him with emerald green orbs. “Sure”
Drake smiled brightly and plopped himself on the ground beside his target. “Hello, my name is Drake Jones. I just moved into Private Drive today.”
His target gave a small smile. “Harry Potter. Welcome to the neighbourhood.”
“So Harry, where do you live?”, Drake asked, although he knew the answer, since it was part of his mission briefing.
“No.4 Private Drive”
“Just out of curiosity, what are you doing in the park at this time of the day. Its scorching outside. Shouldn’t you be inside your house, drinking lemonade or something?”
Harry snorted. “Yeah, sure” , he muttered sarcastically. “ Apparently some guests are coming over to our house for evening tea and my aunt needed me out of the house so she could properly make preparations for the evening.
Drake was a little amused that the Dursleys seem to have assumed that he would not refuse their invitation since Harry was out in the streets before he was invited. ‘How correct they were’, thought Drake. “So would you like to meet the guest?”
“No thanks. I have no interest in meeting some obnoxious guest of my uncle.”
“ You wound me Harry. You think I am obnoxious?” Drake teased.
Harry’s eyes widened and he started stuttering,”S-sorry I-I didn’t mean to insult you. I-I had no idea….”
“Relax Harry, I was only teasing.” Drake laughed.
Harry visibly relaxed. “So you are our guest”
“The one and only” Drake looked thoughtful for a minute, then asked,”I understand you are to stay out of your house. So why didn’t you go over to one of your friend’s house?”
Harry looked down sadly, “I don’t have any”
To say Drake was surprised, would be an understatement. “You seem to be very polite and quite nice to talk to. Why don’t you have any friends?”
“ I had a few at school until my cousin and his gang scared them away” Harry did not seem to want to elaborate.
“Would you be my friend?”
Harry seemed to be shocked that someone wanted to be his friend. Then his expression turned skeptical, “I don’t know…My relatives may cause problems for you if they find out that I am your friend. I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”
“It would be no trouble. I am a big boy, I can take care of myself.”
“But why? Why would you want to be my friend? Is it pity?”
Drake was extremely saddened by the total lack of self-confidence in Harry. ‘What has those Muggles done?’ Drake seethed internally.
“No, no, its not out of pity. I am new here and I have no friends. I liked talking to you and therefore would like to become your friend. Didn’t you like talking to me?”
“No, no, it’s not that. After Dudley scared them away, no one wanted to be my friend anymore. So I was just curious. Of course I would like to be your friend.”
Drake beamed and extended his hand, “Friends?”
“Friends”, grinned Harry, taking his hand and suddenly very happy.
“So, why don’t you come over to my house for a cup of tea.”
“Sure!”
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Drake handed Harry his cup of tea before taking his seat on the couch opposite to Harry. They were currently in Drake’s living room. Harry couldn’t help but admire Drake’s taste. The room was sparsely furnished with a pair of couches, a table and a showcase in which a few intricately designed china pieces were on display. Overall, the room had a calming and homely touch to it.
“Tell me about you, Harry”, Drake asked, taking a sip from his cup.
“As you already know, I live with my uncle , aunty and cousin since my parents died. My relatives don’t like me much. Um…, that’s me in a nutshell” Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. Drake sensed that Harry was probably downplaying things but decided to let it go.
“What about your parents? Do you remember them?”
“No”, Harry replied sadly.”I was one year old when they died. My relatives don’t have any pictures of them. My aunt said that they died in a car accident because they were drunk.” Harry looked down at his feet. Drake bristled in anger. ‘Those filthy people’ , he raged internally.
“Do you believe her?” Drake asked quietly.
“What?” Harry said, looking up.
“Do you believe your aunt?”
Harry looked conflicted. “I don’t know. I don’t want to believe them and sometimes I feel that she had lied to me. But then again, why would she lie about her own sister?”
“Harry, your parents did not die in a car accident nor were they drunk.” Drake said with conviction.
“How can you be so sure? Did you know my parents?” Harry asked hopefully.
“Not personally, but yes, I know about them. They were very good people, Harry. But before I tell you more, tell me, has anything strange ever happened around you? Don’t be hasty. Think on it for sometime before you answer.”
Harry was glad that whatever his aunt told him was a lie. But was what Drake told him, the truth? He wanted to believe so. Harry was also a little surprised by the question. He quietly pondered over it as Drake waited patiently.
“I have never really given it much thought before, but now that you mentioned it, yeah, strange things always seem to happen around me. One time, Dudley and his gang cornered me at school and I was desperately looking for a way out. The very next moment, I found myself on the roof of the school. Then yesterday, my uncle cut my hair so short that I was almost bald. I was mortified and lay awake nearly all night thinking about next day when I would surely turn into a laughing stock for the neighbourhood. Today morning, I found my hair was back to its original length. My uncle got very angry at that.”
Drake was smiling widely. Noticing this, harry lifted an eyebrow, “You seem to have been expecting this.”
Drake shook his head, smiling. “No, I was not expecting this. I knew this.”
Harry was puzzled. “You knew this? How?”
“Harry, you are not a normal kid.”
For some reason, this seemed to anger Harry. “Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Like my relatives don’t remind me enough already.”
Drake seemed unfazed by this outburst. “That’s because they know about your talent and they are afraid and somewhat jealous of you. Harry, you are a wizard and the strange things that happen around you is magic.”
Harry was dumbstruck and his mouth fell open. A few minutes later, he stammered, “But my uncle said there is no such thing as magic.”
“Like I said, he knows and he is jealous and afraid.
Harry was having a hard time believing it. “Are you a wizard too?”
Drake thought about what to say for a moment before nodding. As a demonstration, he waved his hand and made his teacup float in the air. Harry’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Cool!”
Drake couldn’t help but laugh. Harry sported the expression of a kid who had just found out that he owned a candy store on his face. “I take it that you like what you saw?”
“Absolutely” , Harry said excitedly. “Can I do it too?”
“Sure, but with training.”
“Will you train me?” Harry blurted out hopefully.
Drake smiled inwardly. Everything was going according to plan. Outwardly, his face wore a thoughtful expression. “ I don’t know. This sort of things should best be left to professionals. Besides you will need a wand to do this sort of things.”
“But you didn’t use a wand.” Harry argued.
“Yeah, but I have been doing this for quite sometime unlike you.” Seeing the depressed look on Harry, Drake added, “But I think I can teach you somethings that don’t require a wand.”
Harry’s mood lifted considerably at this. “So when are you going to teach me magic?”
“Who said I am going to teach you magic?” Harry looked confused. “Ok, the first part is sort of magic but the rest are not exactly magic but you will find them immensely helpful in learning magic when you go to Hogwarts.”
“What’s Hogwarts?”
“Oh sorry, it’s the magic school you will be attending when you turn 11.”
“What is it like?” Harry was curious.
“I don’t know. I have never attended Hogwarts.”
Harry frowned. “Then where did you learn magic?”
“Private tuitions.” Drake said shortly.
“Oh! So what will you be teaching me?”
“Before I tell you, you have to promise that you will not tell the Dursleys or anyone for that matter, that you know me, until I say so.”
“Afraid of them are you?” Harry teased.
Drake rolled his eyes as if to say ‘Please!’
Harry chuckled. “Sure, I promise. But may I know why?”
Drake grinned mischeviously. “Let’s just say it’s revenge. They kept your true identity from you. You now get to keep our friendship secret from them.”
Harry nodded, also grinning.
“Ok, now the first thing I will be teaching you is called Occlumency”
“Occlu-what?”
“Occlumency or mind protection magic. It will help you to concentrate and also help in keeping your emotions in check. It also helps to protect one’s mind from unwanted invasions.” Harry looked alarmed. “Relax, it won’t happen in this world. But it occurs quite frequently in the magical world.”
Harry nodded, not liking what he was hearing but glad that would be learning this occlu-thingy to protect himself. “What are the other things you will teach?”
“I will tell you after you master Occlumency.” Harry nodded in agreement.
“Ok, now we have to decide how and when you will receive training.” Drake said thoughtfully. Then suddenly his eyes lit up. He waved his hand and out of nowhere a ring appeared. Drake waved his hand again, making some complex signs in the air, and the ring briefly glowed bright blue. He handed the ring to Harry.
Harry took the ring, awed by the brilliant display of magic, and saw that it was a simple, yet elegant silver ring with a phoenix etched on its surface.
“Always wear that ring, Harry. It’s a modified portkey, a type of magical transportation. Nobody except you will be able to see or touch that ring. Whenever you are alone and feel that it’s safe to come here, rub the ring and say ‘phoenix’. If I am free at that moment, you will be transported to the training room.” Drake pointed at one of the rooms on the upper floor. “But remember, nobody, and by that I mean nobody, should know about us and this training. You may wonder why and in time I will tell you, but not now. But trust me, one day you will be grateful for it.”
Harry frowned at the cryptic explanation but shrugged. He put on his ring. His eyes then fell on his wrist watch and he gasped. It was almost 4 o’ clock in the afternoon. “ Sorry, but I have to go”
“Yeah sure. Oh, the next time you are here, I will tell you about your parents. Give me a day or two to arrange things for your training and then we will start.”
Harry nodded gratefully. “Thanks Drake, for the tea…and everything.” He then left, leaving a satisfied Drake behind. A small smile was playing on Drake’s lips.
“Speech”
Chapter 3: Introductions and Plans
Private Drive had one problem, all the houses looked almost the same and the only distinguishing feature was the number plate beside the gate, thought Drake, as he came to a halt outside the gate of No.10. Drake walked across the lawn along the gravely path until he was halfway down the path. He looked around warily, looking for people who might be watching him. Finding no one, he grinned and raised his hand skywards. A bright yellow ball of energy suddenly appeared in his hand, crackling madly. The ball of energy then flew upwards into the sky and began to spread like melting chocolate across a cake, until it covered the entire plot of No.10. The yellow film of energy then turned transparent and disappeared from view. Satisfied with himself, Drake crossed the remaining path and went inside the house.
The house had two rooms on the ground floor and four on the first floor. Drake decided to turn one of the rooms on the lower floor to kitchen cum dining room and the other to living room. For now he would need only two of the rooms on the top floor, one for bedroom and the other for training purposes.
All the rooms appeared to be painted recently but with a sickly green color. Whoever painted the house had horrible taste, thought Drake, grimacing slightly. He waved his hand and all walls turned to a soft blue color. He walked into the rooms on the lower floor and began conjuring the necessary furniture and accessories. He then proceeded to his would be bedroom and took out some items from his jeans pocket. He enlarged them and soon the room sported a comfy queen sized bed, a mahogany wardrobe and a writing table and chair. He waved his hand once more and the color of the walls changed to a darker shade of blue while the roof changed to a soothing white color. Satisfied with his handiwork, Drake got into bed and fell asleep within moments.
xxxxxxxxxxx
It was well past noon when drake woke up. He stumbled groggily to the bathroom for a shower. A few minutes later as he stood by the window toweling his hair, he saw his target walking down the street. His target appeared to be a thin, scrawny kid and was impossibly small for his age, or maybe it was due to the fact that he was wearing clothes that were too large for him.
Drake quickly got dressed up and was about to close the gate when he felt someone coming to a halt behind him. He turned around to find an extremely fat kid with sandy blonde hair staring at him.
“Excuse me, but is your name Drake Jones?”
“Yes…” Drake had a hunch about who he was related to and sure enough…
“My name is Dudley Dursley and my mum told me to invite you over to tea at our house at around 7 this evening.”
Drake smiled,”Sure I will be there. Now if you will excuse me…” And without another word, Drake walked off in the direction in which he had seen his target go earlier.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Drake stood at the entrance of a deserted children’s park that appeared to be the victim of vandalism. Half the swings were broken and empty drinks bottles and pieces of cigarettes littered the ground.
Drake looked around and spotted his target sitting in the shade of a tree. He walked over to him until he was standing a few paces behind him. He appeared to be lost in thought.
“Excuse me, may I sit beside you?”
His target looked up and looked at him with emerald green orbs. “Sure”
Drake smiled brightly and plopped himself on the ground beside his target. “Hello, my name is Drake Jones. I just moved into Private Drive today.”
His target gave a small smile. “Harry Potter. Welcome to the neighbourhood.”
“So Harry, where do you live?”, Drake asked, although he knew the answer, since it was part of his mission briefing.
“No.4 Private Drive”
“Just out of curiosity, what are you doing in the park at this time of the day. Its scorching outside. Shouldn’t you be inside your house, drinking lemonade or something?”
Harry snorted. “Yeah, sure” , he muttered sarcastically. “ Apparently some guests are coming over to our house for evening tea and my aunt needed me out of the house so she could properly make preparations for the evening.
Drake was a little amused that the Dursleys seem to have assumed that he would not refuse their invitation since Harry was out in the streets before he was invited. ‘How correct they were’, thought Drake. “So would you like to meet the guest?”
“No thanks. I have no interest in meeting some obnoxious guest of my uncle.”
“ You wound me Harry. You think I am obnoxious?” Drake teased.
Harry’s eyes widened and he started stuttering,”S-sorry I-I didn’t mean to insult you. I-I had no idea….”
“Relax Harry, I was only teasing.” Drake laughed.
Harry visibly relaxed. “So you are our guest”
“The one and only” Drake looked thoughtful for a minute, then asked,”I understand you are to stay out of your house. So why didn’t you go over to one of your friend’s house?”
Harry looked down sadly, “I don’t have any”
To say Drake was surprised, would be an understatement. “You seem to be very polite and quite nice to talk to. Why don’t you have any friends?”
“ I had a few at school until my cousin and his gang scared them away” Harry did not seem to want to elaborate.
“Would you be my friend?”
Harry seemed to be shocked that someone wanted to be his friend. Then his expression turned skeptical, “I don’t know…My relatives may cause problems for you if they find out that I am your friend. I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”
“It would be no trouble. I am a big boy, I can take care of myself.”
“But why? Why would you want to be my friend? Is it pity?”
Drake was extremely saddened by the total lack of self-confidence in Harry. ‘What has those Muggles done?’ Drake seethed internally.
“No, no, its not out of pity. I am new here and I have no friends. I liked talking to you and therefore would like to become your friend. Didn’t you like talking to me?”
“No, no, it’s not that. After Dudley scared them away, no one wanted to be my friend anymore. So I was just curious. Of course I would like to be your friend.”
Drake beamed and extended his hand, “Friends?”
“Friends”, grinned Harry, taking his hand and suddenly very happy.
“So, why don’t you come over to my house for a cup of tea.”
“Sure!”
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Drake handed Harry his cup of tea before taking his seat on the couch opposite to Harry. They were currently in Drake’s living room. Harry couldn’t help but admire Drake’s taste. The room was sparsely furnished with a pair of couches, a table and a showcase in which a few intricately designed china pieces were on display. Overall, the room had a calming and homely touch to it.
“Tell me about you, Harry”, Drake asked, taking a sip from his cup.
“As you already know, I live with my uncle , aunty and cousin since my parents died. My relatives don’t like me much. Um…, that’s me in a nutshell” Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. Drake sensed that Harry was probably downplaying things but decided to let it go.
“What about your parents? Do you remember them?”
“No”, Harry replied sadly.”I was one year old when they died. My relatives don’t have any pictures of them. My aunt said that they died in a car accident because they were drunk.” Harry looked down at his feet. Drake bristled in anger. ‘Those filthy people’ , he raged internally.
“Do you believe her?” Drake asked quietly.
“What?” Harry said, looking up.
“Do you believe your aunt?”
Harry looked conflicted. “I don’t know. I don’t want to believe them and sometimes I feel that she had lied to me. But then again, why would she lie about her own sister?”
“Harry, your parents did not die in a car accident nor were they drunk.” Drake said with conviction.
“How can you be so sure? Did you know my parents?” Harry asked hopefully.
“Not personally, but yes, I know about them. They were very good people, Harry. But before I tell you more, tell me, has anything strange ever happened around you? Don’t be hasty. Think on it for sometime before you answer.”
Harry was glad that whatever his aunt told him was a lie. But was what Drake told him, the truth? He wanted to believe so. Harry was also a little surprised by the question. He quietly pondered over it as Drake waited patiently.
“I have never really given it much thought before, but now that you mentioned it, yeah, strange things always seem to happen around me. One time, Dudley and his gang cornered me at school and I was desperately looking for a way out. The very next moment, I found myself on the roof of the school. Then yesterday, my uncle cut my hair so short that I was almost bald. I was mortified and lay awake nearly all night thinking about next day when I would surely turn into a laughing stock for the neighbourhood. Today morning, I found my hair was back to its original length. My uncle got very angry at that.”
Drake was smiling widely. Noticing this, harry lifted an eyebrow, “You seem to have been expecting this.”
Drake shook his head, smiling. “No, I was not expecting this. I knew this.”
Harry was puzzled. “You knew this? How?”
“Harry, you are not a normal kid.”
For some reason, this seemed to anger Harry. “Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Like my relatives don’t remind me enough already.”
Drake seemed unfazed by this outburst. “That’s because they know about your talent and they are afraid and somewhat jealous of you. Harry, you are a wizard and the strange things that happen around you is magic.”
Harry was dumbstruck and his mouth fell open. A few minutes later, he stammered, “But my uncle said there is no such thing as magic.”
“Like I said, he knows and he is jealous and afraid.
Harry was having a hard time believing it. “Are you a wizard too?”
Drake thought about what to say for a moment before nodding. As a demonstration, he waved his hand and made his teacup float in the air. Harry’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Cool!”
Drake couldn’t help but laugh. Harry sported the expression of a kid who had just found out that he owned a candy store on his face. “I take it that you like what you saw?”
“Absolutely” , Harry said excitedly. “Can I do it too?”
“Sure, but with training.”
“Will you train me?” Harry blurted out hopefully.
Drake smiled inwardly. Everything was going according to plan. Outwardly, his face wore a thoughtful expression. “ I don’t know. This sort of things should best be left to professionals. Besides you will need a wand to do this sort of things.”
“But you didn’t use a wand.” Harry argued.
“Yeah, but I have been doing this for quite sometime unlike you.” Seeing the depressed look on Harry, Drake added, “But I think I can teach you somethings that don’t require a wand.”
Harry’s mood lifted considerably at this. “So when are you going to teach me magic?”
“Who said I am going to teach you magic?” Harry looked confused. “Ok, the first part is sort of magic but the rest are not exactly magic but you will find them immensely helpful in learning magic when you go to Hogwarts.”
“What’s Hogwarts?”
“Oh sorry, it’s the magic school you will be attending when you turn 11.”
“What is it like?” Harry was curious.
“I don’t know. I have never attended Hogwarts.”
Harry frowned. “Then where did you learn magic?”
“Private tuitions.” Drake said shortly.
“Oh! So what will you be teaching me?”
“Before I tell you, you have to promise that you will not tell the Dursleys or anyone for that matter, that you know me, until I say so.”
“Afraid of them are you?” Harry teased.
Drake rolled his eyes as if to say ‘Please!’
Harry chuckled. “Sure, I promise. But may I know why?”
Drake grinned mischeviously. “Let’s just say it’s revenge. They kept your true identity from you. You now get to keep our friendship secret from them.”
Harry nodded, also grinning.
“Ok, now the first thing I will be teaching you is called Occlumency”
“Occlu-what?”
“Occlumency or mind protection magic. It will help you to concentrate and also help in keeping your emotions in check. It also helps to protect one’s mind from unwanted invasions.” Harry looked alarmed. “Relax, it won’t happen in this world. But it occurs quite frequently in the magical world.”
Harry nodded, not liking what he was hearing but glad that would be learning this occlu-thingy to protect himself. “What are the other things you will teach?”
“I will tell you after you master Occlumency.” Harry nodded in agreement.
“Ok, now we have to decide how and when you will receive training.” Drake said thoughtfully. Then suddenly his eyes lit up. He waved his hand and out of nowhere a ring appeared. Drake waved his hand again, making some complex signs in the air, and the ring briefly glowed bright blue. He handed the ring to Harry.
Harry took the ring, awed by the brilliant display of magic, and saw that it was a simple, yet elegant silver ring with a phoenix etched on its surface.
“Always wear that ring, Harry. It’s a modified portkey, a type of magical transportation. Nobody except you will be able to see or touch that ring. Whenever you are alone and feel that it’s safe to come here, rub the ring and say ‘phoenix’. If I am free at that moment, you will be transported to the training room.” Drake pointed at one of the rooms on the upper floor. “But remember, nobody, and by that I mean nobody, should know about us and this training. You may wonder why and in time I will tell you, but not now. But trust me, one day you will be grateful for it.”
Harry frowned at the cryptic explanation but shrugged. He put on his ring. His eyes then fell on his wrist watch and he gasped. It was almost 4 o’ clock in the afternoon. “ Sorry, but I have to go”
“Yeah sure. Oh, the next time you are here, I will tell you about your parents. Give me a day or two to arrange things for your training and then we will start.”
Harry nodded gratefully. “Thanks Drake, for the tea…and everything.” He then left, leaving a satisfied Drake behind. A small smile was playing on Drake’s lips.
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