Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [14]
“Well,” replied Mrs. Figg, now with a bigger smile, “I use the name he called himself before, Sirius Black.”
CHAPTER 4 - AMBUSH AT MRS. FIGG’S
Harry’s jaw dropped so far down, he thought it was in danger of hitting the floor. How and why would Sirius, his godfather and a fully trained Animagus (a wizard that could transform into an animal) wizard who was being falsely accused of murder, be here at Mrs. Figg’s house? As Harry’s mind was racing over this, the dog that was in Mrs. Figg’s kitchen transformed into Sirius Black. He ran up to Harry and gave him a hug.
“Harry, Harry! So good to see you! I haven’t heard from you lately so I thought it would be best to be here when we-”, he stopped suddenly, frowned for a second, then put his smile back on. “Well, I’m just glad to see you.”
Harry’s brain had finally seemed to consciousness, as he found himself able to speak again.
“What? How? When? Why? Why? Why are you here?” he asked.
“That, Harry, is a question that shall be answered once Remus arrives”, responded Mrs. Figg.
“Remus? Oh! Professor Lupin! Is he coming?” asked Harry, quickly. Then, realizing there was bigger question at stake here, “Mrs. Figg... are you a... witch?” asked Harry. Mrs. Figg smiled.
“Yes Harry, I am a witch and a bodyguard,” she said. “You see, Harry, Dumbledore put a Kinsafe Charm on you so that whenever you are around your family, your mortal enemy could not come near you. In this case, Voldemort could not touch you.”
“Yeah”, said Harry, “he told me that.”
“Good,” she replied, “from your expression at hearing me to be a witch, I am assuming that you did not know that when the Dursley’s left somewhere without you, I was expected to take care of you. If Dumbledore couldn’t have you around your family, he at least wanted you around a fully trained wizard, in this case: me.”
“So you were the one that wanted to meet me, you sent me the owl didn’t you?” Harry asked Mrs. Figg. She nodded.
“Well,” said Harry, “now that I’m here, what do you want?”
Mrs. Figg and Sirius looked at each other and gave a look of excited sadness.
“Once again Harry,” said Sirius, “that is for when Remus arrives.”
Harry nodded, anxious to know what this was all about, but trusting them enough to allow them to continue going along in their secretive manner. Just then, an alarm went off, and Harry jumped.
“Oh!” said Mrs. Figg as she ran to her stove. “Well, I suppose Remus won’t mind if we start without him.” Harry and Sirius nodded in a hungry agreement as they saw and smelled the cookies coming out of the oven.
Despite the excellent food, and the fact that every time on cookie was eaten, two more magically grew in its place, it was a very tense time. They all ate in complete silence, and Harry’s anxiousness to know what this meeting was all about was growing. Then, when the plate of cookies was about three times its original size, Harry heard the front door quickly open and close.
“Ah! That must be Remus!” said Mrs. Figg. She tapped her napkin against her lips stood up, and walked back out to the living room. Sirius and Harry did the same. As soon as Mrs. Figg entered the room, Sirius and Harry heard a loud shriek, and they ran in.
As Harry saw what Mrs. Figg had seen, he let out a scream as well. Professor Lupin did arrive, but he had a large snake protruding out of his chest with blood all over it. It was evidently impaled through him as Harry saw a snake tail protruding out of his back. Sirius was the only one who kept his cool, and took out his wand.
“HARRY! RUN!” yelled Sirius, but Harry’s feet felt as though they were cemented to the ground. Sirius finally pointed his wand at Professor Lupin, and yelled, “Magnetus!” an orange beam shot out of his wand, and right into the snake’s mouth. The snake screamed and shrieked, but Sirius did not stop.
The snake was turning a bright green, and then suddenly, it exploded. Harry shielded his eyes as what seemed like millions