-Harry Potter and the Wardrobe
Disclaimer: If you don't recognize the character, I own them but the characters from Harry Potter and Narnia Chronicles belong to their respective authors. No money has changed hands as I write for fun.
Reviews are welcomed and encouraged. However, flames aren't.
Summary: After Sirius' death, Harry renews his friendship with the only adult that ever earned his complete trust. So what does a wardrobe and a lion have to do with it? Can Harry discover a power the Dark Lord knows not? AU and a crossover The Chronicles of Narnia and HP
A/N: I love doing crossovers. I love trying to mesh two completely different worlds together and see if I could stay true to canon. So this time, I thought I would give this crossover a try. I know I shouldn't start a new story until I at least finished the ones I'm working on now, but this one wouldn't let me go.
Two things though, first, this story is set after the OotP, and it is not HBP and tDH compatible. Second, this is set after the fall of Narnia. The books were set in the time of the Second World War and HP is set in the present day. To make this work, I could've used time travel but decided not to as I have that planned for a different story and didn't want to be redundant.
I hope you enjoy this. --GF
Chapter 1: Brooding
Harry Potter sat on the swing brooding. It was worse than last year when he had witness the death of a fellow student and the return of his nemesis Voldemort. This time, he was grieving over the loss of his godfather, Sirius Black who fell through the Veil at the Department of Mysteries a few short weeks ago. He also learnt the reason behind all the false visions that Voldemort had been sending him – 'The Prophecy.' For Harry was no ordinary 15 year old boy, he was a wizard, not only that but he was hailed as "The Boy Who Lived," the darling and expected savior of the Wizarding World.
'Yeah, right. Some hero I turned out to be,' he snorted as he gave himself a slight push on the swing. 'Couldn't even save Sirius. Got myself possessed. Got my friends hurt. Some hero.'
Rubbing his tired eyes, the raven-haired youth mulled over his life which to all intents and purposes sucked. He had no one he could turn to. He had learned at a very young age one very important truth -- adults are not to be trusted. The Dursleys taught him that fact. When he did trust an adult, for some reason or other, they turned on him. All except her.
'Why am I suddenly thinking of her?' he thought with a contemplative frown. The 'her' in his life had been the librarian during his primary school years. He had only known her for two years before she retired. She taught him the joys of reading and exploring the adventures only that books could give. She offered the school's library as a sanctuary from the bullying of Dudley and his gang. She taught him how to retain what he read for when he wasn't allowed to read. He never took a book out of the library. He had been afraid of what Dudley would do to it and the punishment his Uncle would dish out for its destruction.
She hadn't been scared of the Dursley or Dudley. She always had a kind word or two for him and he never forgot her kindness or her lessons. He had been very sad when she retired. She did promise to keep in touch but she never had. He was certain that she had written, she has always kept her promises. He sighed. He just knew that the Dursleys had destroyed them, just like they had tried to keep his Hogwarts' letters from him. 'I wonder how many times she wrote before giving up on me?' he sighed, looking up at the sky when a shadow fell over him.
"Harry? Harry Potter?" came a woman's voice startling him out of his thoughts.
"Miss Susan?" Harry blinked and blinked again. He didn't really believe in coincidence but the person he was just thinking about was standing in front of him!
Miss Susan Pevensie was a stately, elderly lady who held herself with a quiet regal grace which seemed to come naturally to her. She peered at Harry over her wire-rimmed glasses. Then she smiled and Harry felt the warmth of it coursing through him as he stood up.
"My, how you've grown, young man. The scrawny child that I helped has turned into a fine young man."
Harry wanted to snort at being called a fine young man as he stood to embrace his once mentor and only true childhood friend. "What are you doing in this neighborhood?" he asked as he stepped out of her hug.
She smiled, peering into his face. "I had to go to London for business and I wanted to visit my old library to see if they are keeping it up to date. Someone told me that you were had turned out badly and was going to a boarding school for wayward boys."
Harry winced. The Dursleys had been putting out for years that he went to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. 'Just shows you how much they really can't stand me,' Harry thought as he tried to think of a way to tell Miss Susan what he was doing without breaking any Wizarding Laws.
"Um. I hope you aren't believing them?" he asked, nervously. He wasn't sure why he wanted her approval but he did. "I actually go to a boarding school in Scotland for gifted young people." Remembering what Hermione told him about saying that to her family when they asked.
"Oh? Is that so?" she smiled at him. "Well, I can see for myself that the rumors are false. Anyone with half a mind could see that. Honestly, people are getting more and more blind these days." She sat down in the swing beside him. "Do you still live with your relatives? Are you free this summer? If I remember right, you must be at least fifteen. I usually hire a boy about your age to help me around the manor. Would be interested? The pay isn't much."
Harry thought for a moment. On one hand, he wasn't suppose to leaving the protection of the wards. However, he knew that his relatives were planning on a vacation soon and weren't planning on taking him with them. 'They never do,' he thought with a grimace. 'Dumbledore isn't my guardian. I really don't need his permission to go. He did promise to keep me informed, Yeah. like that's going to happen. He doesn't like me to write to my friends.' Looking up at his former mentor, Harry shrugged. "I have nothing better to do. My Aunt and Uncle are planning on a trip anyways. I'm not invited."
He thought he saw a flash of emotion in her eyes but it was fleeting. "Well that's settled. Let's go visit them. I want to get their permission."
0o0o0o0
Harry's head was spinning. He was on his way to the countryside, to Miss Susan's home! Somehow, he had given his jailers the slip. His relatives were more than happy to give Miss Susan permission to hire Harry for the summer, provided that he sends a part of his salary home. "So that he won't be wasteful and spend it on junk," Uncle Vernon had said. Harry knew that he would never see that money again but he didn't care. He was away from Privet Drive and the Dursleys for the rest of the summer. 'They even had signed papers, at Miss Susan's urging. "Just to keep it all legal and above board," she had told them.'
The train ride was peaceful and long. Miss Susan chatted with him about her home. She had inherited from an old college professor that had been killed in a train accident, along with the rest of her family.
Harry watched as his former mentor's eyes darkened with old grief and memories. Then she shook herself and smiled at him. "Oh don't mind me, Harry," she said. "The old tend to wander in their memories from time to time."
From the train station, they traveled in a horse drawn cart. Miss Susan smiled down at him. "I rode in this very cart, the first time I came here along with my brothers and sister. I was the second oldest. Peter was eldest at fourteen, I was twelve, Edmund was 10 and Lucy was eight. It was during the war. Mum wanted us safe from the Blitz and the professor took us in. Ah! We're home!"
Harry gaped in awe at the manor house. It wasn't Hogwarts. Well nothing could top the magical castle, but it seemed to have its own quiet 'magic.' It spoke of peace and safety. It seemed to call to Harry, offering him a chance to heal.
"I should warn you. My care takers, 'The Macreadys,' are a bit strict, but they are good people. They just don't know how to deal with children. They won't harm you. I won't allow it. They will expect a good day's work but Mrs. Macready is a good cook and likes to bake. She will expect you to eat everything on your plate," she smiled.
Harry grinned back. He was going to like living and working here.
0o0o0o0
The next few days, Harry was busy with his new duties. First he was up at dawn. His chores before breakfast consist of helping take care of the pony and mucking out the stables. Besides the pony, they had a milch cow, two goats and a flock of geese. He learnt real fast to stay out of the way of those noisy buggers. If you turned your back on them, they were nastier than Dudley and his gang.
After breakfast, he helped around the manor. Summer time was the time they did a lot of cleaning and the yard work was unending. He enjoyed every moment of it. At least it was better than doing chores at the Dursleys. Here he was praise for his efforts, getting paid, and all he wanted to eat.
In the evenings, he was allowed to work on his summer homework and had unlimited access to the huge manor library. Hermione would've thought she had died and gone to heaven with all these books. True they were muggle books but the library was vast and comprehensive.
Miss Susan was a wonderful hostess and employer. She would engage him in conversation about anything and everything. She couldn't help him with his school homework and he really couldn't ask her for help as she was after all a muggle. But it felt great to be treated as a human being, rather than a freak or worse a savior.
Mr. Macready was easy going and Harry was able to get along with the older gentleman. "Call me Uncle Amos, son," the old farmer said. "I have grandsons your age. It's a right shame that they live so far away. They would've been helpin' me this year but my son and his wife wouldn't allow it." Harry smiled shyly and nodded. He did all the lifting and heavy work to spare Uncle Amos' bad back.
Mrs. Macready, Aunt Flo to those that she favored, was a stern but fair woman who ruled the kitchen with an iron fist or rather an iron ladle. Woe betide anyone that tracked mud onto her spotless floors or came to the table with dirty hands. Harry was fast becoming one of her favorites as he would do anything for her with no complaints. It also helped that he cleaned his plate and often asked for thirds.
Harry had been there for two weeks when he found an empty room in one of the upstair wings. Tucked against the far wall was an ornate, hand carved wardrobe.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Miss Susan asked, standing at the door.
Harry smiled. "Yes." He could feel it radiating magic. It seemed to be calling him to enter it.
When he opened the door, he found it so filled with old fur coats he couldn't past them to the back of the wardrobe. He held out a hand as he stepped into it, worming his way through the coats towards the pull of magic. Vaguely, he heard Miss Susan calling his name.
Ignoring her call, he moved through the darkness. He brushed the fur that seemed to engulf him in an almost loving embrace. He still couldn't feel the back wall of the wardrobe.
'How big is this thing?' He was starting feel a chill of uneasiness. He finally hit the back wall and as he ran a hand over it, he felt a door knob.
He turned the knob and the door sprung open. Harry was suddenly blinded by a bright light.
0o0o0o0
Remember, reviews are welcomed, flames aren't. Until next time. --GF