Late that night, after moving invisibly through the house to avoid people and snooping portraits, Harry finally found the basement. It was just as wonderful as he had predicted. There were manacles on the stone walls, dampness around the edges of the room, and even some rust-colored stains still on the floor, presumably dried blood. It felt very relaxing and like a home should feel like. Dusty boxes filled the corners of the room; Harry guessed they contained the cursed objects collected from the house as their aura seemed warm and inviting to him. He hovered cross-legged over the floor breathing in the feel of home in the dungeon. Since no one was on that level of the house, Harry even allowed himself the luxury of slightly let go of his aura some and the room dropped several degrees in temperature.
Happily warm for the first time in a long time, Harry pulled the shiny, golden locket out of the pocket of his tattered robes. He'd put a lot of thought into those robes since he'd been turned. They were a part of his magic as a dementor, but they had pockets…that seemed too practical for something that must have the sole purpose of contributing to the aesthetic of scary. He did take off the robes once, so it was possible, but a couple minutes later they reappeared back on his skeletal body. So much for changing out the robes for some jeans and a graphic tee.
Eerily smiling, the dementor sat in the basement and stared at the locket, reveling in the feel and smell of it. He could only take the beautiful torture for a minute before his opened his chapped lips and pulled the soul out of the casement and into his body. It really was like eating the best chocolate cake he'd ever had. It was sweet and tangy and just a little spicy. Giving off a deep sigh, Harry breathed in relief that he was finally no longer hungry and had a pleasant full feeling in his stomach. He knew he should be worried about how he'd handle being at Hogwarts, this wasn't normal behavior by any definition of normal, but he pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. He hadn't been at peace since before the Triwizard Tournament, he wanted to enjoy this moment and deal with his anxieties over feeding the dementor in the morning.
Yes, it was a really bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea. Even as he clasped the locket's chain around his neck, he knew it would only cause him problems. But…it was just so shiny! After a few rubs from his robes, the gold shined brightly on the locket engraved with an elaborate script "S" on its face. The dementor wanted to be able to see the shine throughout the day and look at it whenever he felt like it. It was either that or steal Dumbledore's star robes. Something told him this was probably the lesser of two evils.
I'm really doing a bang-up job at this whole being normal thing. Harry thought wryly as he walked out of his bedroom in his Harry-suit the next morning, not-so-proudly wearing the locket around his neck on top of his ratty t-shirt. Self-control…yeah, that's what he desperately needed to work on. At least he wasn't hungry though.
Initially, no one noticed the locket at all. Ron was oblivious to everything except for the food on his plate, the twins couldn't care less what jewelry Harry wore, and Ginny didn't know Harry well enough to know what necklaces he normally wore or not. Hermione was the first (of course) to realize something was different. "Harry…wasn't that in the library we cleaned yesterday?" Hermione looked at the prize around Harry's neck in suspicion.
Harry shrugged and ate another piece of toast. If everyone was going to flip out and raise a ruckus, he wanted to make sure Jamie was well fed first at least. "It's fine, I checked it out," Harry sort-of told the truth. He had removed the dark object…by eating it first.
"Pup, did I hear right? Are you wearing something you found in this house?" Sirius asked in concern from where he had been fixing himself a cup of coffee. "How are you feeling? Any feelings of unexplained murderous tendencies, lust for someone you don't know, self-destructive desires?" Harry's godfather asked as he put down the coffee and rushed over to look Harry in the eyes and feel his forehead.
"You feel a little cold. Is this normal, Molly?" Sirius asked, deferring to the mother in the room.
Molly's hand took Sirius's place on Harry's forehead. "You do feel a little cold dear, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine everyone," Harry laughed and grabbed another piece of toast to butter. "Really, not everything is cursed, or we wouldn't have beds to sleep on or silverware to eat with."
"One set of silverware was cursed to make the users agree with the master of the house," Remus stated as he walked into the room. "We tossed it and had to use another, even though Sirius protested that he wanted to keep them. What're we talking about?"
"Harry's wearing a locket he found in the library," Sirius explained in concern to his friend.
Remus frowned and immediately started casting spells at the locket. "Harry, can you take that off please?" The former professor asked after casting a few spells.
The dementor sighed. It took all his willpower, but he did unclasp the locket and placed it on the table. "Well, he can remove it; that's a good sign," Remus mumbled as he cast a few more spells.
"Anything?" Hermione asked as he looked Harry over, trying to see any changes.
"Cool it, Hermione," Harry scooted farther away from her as she leaned into his personal space. "Really, there's nothing wrong with me."
"He's right…I can't find anything wrong with it," Remus finally stated after what seemed like a very long time of countless spells. "I don't think it's cursed."
"Pup, you can't go scaring me like that!" Sirius sank into the seat beside Harry with a sigh and dramatic clutch to his chest. "You see something you want, you ask me or Remus first, ok? We'll check it over so you don't accidentally curse yourself."
"I'm sorry, Padfoot," Harry said, feeling bad for his impulsive actions, though they had been mostly out of his control. "I shouldn't take things that're yours anyway."
Sirius laughed and pulled Harry into a one-armed hug. "Pup, you're my only beneficiary in the will. All this is yours anyway. Here," Sirius picked up the necklace and clasped it around Harry's neck again. "You want this old piece of junk, then it's yours."
"Thanks, Padfoot," Harry smiled and hugged the man back.
"All right, now that's settled, the school lists came in today," Mrs. Weasley said in a business-like manner as she passed Hogwarts letters around to all of them. "I need your book lists and anything clothing or supplies related that you need. Dumbledore is going to send Order members to get your things as it's not safe for you all, especially Harry, to be wandering around right now."
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