The hidden side of the Wizarding World

Chapter 27: presents, a house-elf and France

"Pup, are you ready?"

Harrison looked up to see Sirius standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"You like Remus' gift, then?" He hummed, nodding at the book laying in his lap.

Harrison nodded. He was very happy with the book, it contained loads of information about prejudices in the wizarding world. And with him being a Parselmouth, and Remus being a werewolf... he could use all the information he could get his hands on.

"Are you nervous?" Sirius asked him as they walked down the stairs.

"Yes, a bit. But I'm glad we're going to do it, though. Mum said it's not going to hurt, and besides, I've been through worse." He said with a smile.

Entering the living room, he didn't see Sirius' grim reaction to that last sentence.

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"Now everyone will have to call me Potter-Black, right?"

Evelyn nodded, smiling as Harrison skipped beside her. The adoption was over and the tension Harrison had before had completely vanished.

"Including my teachers and Dumbledore, right?"

Evelyn nodded once more, "And if anyone gives you trouble because of it, or if they don't want to call you that, you write to us, and we'll fix it. Some people just need to be reminded of the power of the House of Black. That includes your new housemates. They won't make it easy for you, Harrison. You know that, right?"

Harrison nodded, "But I'll have Draco, and professor Snape."

"That's right, cub. Don't hesitate to go to professor Snape if something happens, okay?" Remus hummed.

Harrison promised them. He was glad. Scratch that; he was happy. Very happy. It finally felt so real, like an actual family. No one could take him away from Evelyn anymore, no one.

"I'm going to write to Neville about today. Will we see him again before we leave for France?"

Evelyn shook her head, "No. We'll visit the Malfoy's on Monday, though."

"Right, I forgot. And the full moon's in two days, right? Will you be okay to go with us to the Malfoy's, Remus? It's the day after the full moon..."

Remus smiled at him, "Don't worry about me, cub. I'll be fine. Besides, I'll have Sirius there, so it'll be better than last month."

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3 August 1992

"So, what did you name it?" Draco asked, motioning to the snake wrapped around Harrison's arm.

"It's not an 'it', Draco. It's a girl. Her name is Emerra. I wanted to call her Emerald, but it sounded too bland. Sirius suggested Emerra, so that's her name now." He responded.

"He's okay with you having a snake and all?" Draco asked carefully. He didn't know if he was crossing the lines with that question.

Harrison nodded, "Yeah. I mean, it's still a little uncomfortable for him. For me too, I guess. Perhaps for all of us, but we had like a talk about it. I guess we're fine now. Besides, mum says I can take her with me to Hogwarts, even though it's not on the list."

Draco's eyes lit up at that. "Really?! That's so cool!"

Harrison chuckled at his cousin's excitement. "Yeah, it is. Mum reckons it might scare off the not-so-nice other Slytherins."

Draco nodded, "It will, but it will also make them more interested in you when they know you speak parseltongue. They won't know whether to despise you because of your background and blood, or to be interested in you because you're a parselmouth."