"Not a lot is known for sure about that night, Harry. All we know for sure is that Sirius Black was the most likely candidate for Secret Keeper. From what everyone said he and your dad were practically inseparable. They were basically brothers in everything but blood. Neither your mum nor your dad could be the Secret Keeper since they lived in the house. Black was the next person they'd trust most."
"And Voldemort walked right up to our door." Harry said nodding. "So he knew the secret."
"Yes. Even more damning...their other friend, Peter Pettigrew apparently hunted Black down after that night. Pettigrew caught up to Black on a street in Muggle London. There was a battle; Pettigrew yelled out about how Black had betrayed your family and then Black cast a curse that caused an explosion, blowing up a large section of the street. 12 Muggles died and the only thing recovered from Pettigrew was his finger." Snuffles put his two front paws over his head. Shiva slung an arm around Harry and pulled him close to her before continuing. "The Aurors caught up to Black almost immediately and found him laughing in the destroyed street. He didn't even put up a fight. They stunned him, snapped his wand and tossed him in Azkaban. Nobody ever looked back. A few days ago, somehow...he managed to escape. According to the guards, he had been whispering for several days beforehand that 'he's at Hogwarts'. The Ministry is assuming that he's coming after you; to finish the job that he and his master started over a decade ago."
Harry was quiet for a few minutes, just scratching Snuffles and leaning against Shiva. "So," he finally said softly, "I have a second madman after me. Fantastic." He chuckled and shook his head. "Want to put a bet on whether he'll be our DADA teacher this year? The first one was possessed and tried to kill me and the second tried to obliviate us all. It'd be par for the course for Sirius Black to wrangle the job." Snuffles started a low growl and a nearby squirrel jumped away before he quieted down.
Shiva snorted. "You do seem to inspire murderous thoughts in our Defense teachers, kid."
Harry shrugged as best he could while leaning against her. "It's a talent. Shiva…I think I'm going to start working on more offensive runes this year…"
The older woman sighed but nodded. "I can understand that. Promise me you'll consult with me before going for anything too dangerous?"
"Promise." Harry nodded. "I think the most volatile design would be more Feedback stones. They'd be like the one I used against the basilisk. Directed failures; magical grenades. I've been a bit scared to work on them before after the whole troll incident thing but...I think I have enough of a foundation now that I can do them safely. And I can always go to my legal guardian for advice both in and out of class now," he finished grinning up at her.
"Damn right you can, kid," Shiva said laughing. "Any other ideas I should be watching out for?"
"Well I'm going to have Comm Stones finished before we get back to school." Harry frowned and said, "Muggles have mobiles now. They can contact almost anyone in moments and it's not a one way channel. It's stupid that we don't have something like that in the magical world." Snuffles cocked his head at Harry and Shiva found herself nodding along. "I worked out how to make a cluster that could function the same while at the Dursleys. It's restricted to audio and has to be tied to specific people at the moment but each stone can be tied to multiple others. I can work on making a completely open, untethered cluster later. Can you pierce one of my ears?"
"What?" Shiva asked blinking at the non sequitur.
"Like for an earring? I'm going to miniaturize the Comm Stone. You know, make earrings out of them. The magic flowing through them should be small so the stone can be tiny without worrying about failure or breakage. I was going to make one for me, Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Tracey and you. I'm thinking I might make one for Tonks too so that we could call the Aurors fast when we need them. Maybe one for Susan and Hannah too, but I want to talk to them first so those will probably come later."
Shiva shook her head laughing. "You really don't do things halfway, Harry! I'll take you to get a piercing in a few days. Wait till I tell Bill you got an earring!"
Harry snorted. "Hey, his dragon fang one was awesome!"
"He thinks so too," Shiva commented still laughing. Snuffles started chuffing along with the humans. "Alright, kid, dog, time to head back home."
"Yeah. Let's go home," Harry smiled at Shiva as he stood and stretched. "Thanks for telling me this stuff, Shiva. And thanks for supporting my ideas."
Shiva smiled back at him as Snuffles fell into a trot beside the two. "Anytime, Harry. Anytime."
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