Harry Potter: The Angel of Death C42 (Patreon)

Chapter 42: A Pleasant Surprise

Harry quite liked the Tonks' townhouse.

It stood on a quiet street in Muggle London, only a short distance from St. Mungo's, close enough that Sirius could attend his appointments without exhausting himself. The house itself was elegant without being ostentatious, built from warm red brick with tall windows and a narrow garden hidden behind a decorative iron fencing.

Inside, the atmosphere was warm and inviting in a way that Grimmauld Place had never managed to be according to Sirius. They had visited Grimmauld Place once or twice, and Harry had found it to be an absolute nightmare of a house. He had casually suggested renovating it from top to bottom and turning it into somewhere Sirius would actually enjoy living. Sirius had looked genuinely surprised, as though the idea had never occurred to him before. Not long afterward, he had asked Andromeda if she would be willing to oversee the project, and she had seemed positively delighted at the prospect of transforming the ancestral Black home into something modern, comfortable, and welcoming. The portraits of the deceased Blacks had appeared utterly scandalized by the idea, much to the amusement of both Andromeda and Sirius, who had spent several minutes cackling at their reactions.

This family sure has some problems, had Harry thought at the sight. 

Back to the Tonks' house: bookshelves lined several walls, family photographs occupied nearly every available surface, and comfortable furniture filled the rooms instead of expensive antiques nobody was allowed to touch. There was always a faint smell of tea lingering in the air, largely because of Edward Tonks. Harry had come to the conclusion that the man could not live without tea. Edward consumed the beverage with the same dedication Crowley devoted to coffee.

Harry sat sprawled across one of the sofas in the living room, one leg hanging over the armrest as he listened to Sirius and Edward talking nearby, or rather, he pretended to listen.

The conversation had begun nearly two hours ago and should have ended forty minutes earlier.

The entire group had been invited to Sunday lunch at the Burrow. The plan had been simple: Harry would arrive in the morning, they would spend an hour chatting, and then everyone would Floo over together.

The flaw in that plan was Andromeda Tonks, more specifically, Andromeda Tonks getting ready.

Over the past few weeks, Harry had discovered that the elegant witch possessed many admirable qualities. She was intelligent, capable, patient, kind, and one of the few adults he knew who consistently treated him like a person rather than a symbol.

Punctuality, however, was not among those qualities.

Harry had learned that when a Black woman announced she would be ready in five minutes, one should prepare for a substantial delay.

Sirius and Edward seemed perfectly content to spend that delay discussing motorcycles, engines, and various mechanical subjects Harry neither understood nor particularly cared about. Sirius had fallen in love with motorcycles after Edward first introduced him to them during his Hogwarts years. The fascination had only grown after graduation, culminating in the infamous flying motorbike that had become one of Sirius' most prized possessions, which he got back from Hagrid the previous week. 

"...and that's why that engine was such a masterpiece."

"It wasn't the engine itself," Sirius argued. "It was the-"

Harry's attention immediately drifted away again. Bored and with nothing better to do, he mentally opened his System, and the familiar blue screens materialized before his eyes.

A surprising amount had changed during the last few weeks. The largest change had occurred after completing the quest that had dominated most of his summer.

[Quest Completed: Freedom Under Law]

The quest had concluded the moment the trial ended. Alongside five thousand experience points, the reward had included something far more valuable than raw levels: a System Feature Expansion.

At first Harry had assumed it would unlock a new stat. Luck, perhaps, or charisma. Something along those lines.

Instead, it had altered one of the System's core mechanics.

The upgrade permanently increased the number of stat points granted upon leveling up. Originally, each level had awarded only a single point. Now every level granted five.

It was an enormous improvement but unfortunately, the System had chosen to apply the upgrade only after awarding the experience from completing the quest. The result was that Harry had leveled up under the old rules before receiving the enhancement.

He was still annoyed about that.

Then there had been [Quest Completed: Get the Dog Out]

The quest’s name is one of the stupidest quest names the System has ever produced. If Sirius ever found out about it, he would laugh himself sick.

The objective itself had been straightforward enough: Free Sirius Black.

That quest had rewarded four thousand experience points and another Feature Expansion. This one had upgraded the Quest Log.

Previously, every quest had been dumped into a single enormous list. Now the System automatically organized them into categories. It was a relatively small improvement, but after nearly two months of constant notifications, Harry appreciated anything that made the interface easier to navigate.

The first category consisted of Daily Quests.

These were by far the most common: brush your teeth, make your bed, read for thirty minutes, drink water, practice spellwork,...

The System generated dozens of them every day. Individually, the rewards were almost insignificant, but they accumulated very quickly. After nearly two months of constant notifications, Harry had become so accustomed to them that he barely registered them anymore.

World Quests were much more important. They represented events capable of influencing the fate of an entire world.

At present, he had two active World Quests:  [The Dark Lord Must Fall] and [Beyond the Edge of the Maps].

Fate Quests occupied the next category. Unlike World Quests, these were tied directly to his own future and destiny.

Currently, there were only two: [Fragment of the Dark Lord] and [The Soul of Tom Riddle]

Finally, there were Adventure Quests: The miscellaneous category, everything that fit nowhere else ended up there.

Closing the Quest Log, Harry found himself reflecting on how much stronger he had become.

When he had gotten the System, he had been little more than an ordinary boy with decent magical talent. Now? That was a completely new story.

His physical abilities alone had reached levels that would have seemed impossible only months ago. At thirteen years old he could compete with adult Olympic athletes. His speed, reflexes, stamina, and strength had all improved dramatically since acquiring the System. Not enough to perform impossible feats, but enough that he had to constantly remember not to reveal his capabilities in front of ordinary people.

His magical progress had been even more impressive. Only a week earlier he had successfully mastered the Corporeal Patronus, a spell that is not taught until the 7th year at Hogwarts and most adult wizards and witches could not cast.

The memory immediately brought a smile to his face.

He had been practicing beside the lake when, instead of the usual silver mist, a fully formed Patronus had erupted from his wand: a snowy owl identical to Hedwig.

His parents’ reaction had been glorious.

Harry had previously told his parents about Future Harry's stag Patronus. James had been very proud of that revelation and had spent several days bragging to Lily that their son clearly loved his dad most.

Then Harry had cast his first Corporeal Patronus and it had been an owl.

When James saw it, he dropped to his knees in despair and spent the next several minutes mumbling about betrayal. Lily had laughed so hard she nearly fell over.

Hedwig herself had become even more insufferable afterward, which Harry had previously considered impossible. For three straight days, the owl had strutted around the estate as though the Patronus officially confirmed her superiority over every other living creature, especially Harry.

She had also begun looking down on Dobby with open disdain.

In all honesty, Harry was fairly certain she had viewed both of them as her servants long before the Patronus incident. Now she simply considered the matter officially settled.

Beyond that, he had nearly mastered every spell taught during the third year. He had also practiced the previous years' coursework until every spell from first and second year had become second nature.

The most difficult subject had been Defence Against the Dark Arts, and that was entirely because of Gilderoy Lockhart.

Professor Lockhart had been such a catastrophically incompetent teacher that Harry had effectively been forced to teach himself an entire year's worth of material. On the bright side, studying had become much easier thanks to his parents' ghosts, who had spent most of the summer tutoring him.

He had also devoted substantial time to developing his Skills. Particularly Mana Perception.

Since [Wizarding World Magic] is literally his magic and  [Self-Regeneration] is a passive skill, Mana Perception remained the only skill he could actively train. Mana Perception was incredibly useful; it was also incredibly painful to use.

In his normal state, maintaining the skill for more than two minutes produced a headache that felt like someone repeatedly striking the inside of his skull with a hammer. Pushing beyond that limit usually resulted in unconsciousness, rapidly declining HP, or both.

The sheer volume of information simply overwhelmed his brain.

In Angel Mode, however, the limitation nearly vanished (technically, the proper name of the transformation was [First Wing Awakening], but Angel Mode is simpler and shorter). 

The transformation remained his greatest trump card.

When activated, every aspect of his being improved dramatically. His senses sharpened, his magic strengthened, and his ability to process information increased enormously.

Mana Perception, normally unbearable, became almost effortless thanks to it. 

The countless streams of information that would ordinarily overload his mind were processed with ease by his enhanced consciousness, allowing him to perceive magic and the world in ways few witches or wizards could even imagine.

Originally, he had only been able to maintain the transformation for brief periods because the mana consumption had been too much, but weeks of practice had improved both his efficiency and control. He could now remain transformed considerably longer while extracting far more value from every drop of mana spent.

Few witches or wizards could match him while Angel Mode remained active. Harry had become one of the most powerful wizards in the world in just one summer. 

And he was only thirteen. How powerful would he be at fifteen? At twenty?

Harry dismissed the thought before it could inflate his ego too much and opened his Status Screen.

[Status]

Name: Harry James PotterLevel: 11EXP: 430 / 6450HP: 180 / 180MP: 330 / 330

AGI — Rank D (21)END — Rank E (18)STR — Rank E (17)MNA — Rank D (33)

[Unassigned Stat Points: 5]

Skills:

[Wizarding World Magic] — Epic Skill[Mana Perception] — Rare Skill[Self-Regeneration] — Common Skill

Harry stared at the five unassigned stat points. He still had not decided where to place them. Mana was tempting, it was always tempting, but stat allocation was permanent, and he had become increasingly reluctant to spend points without careful consideration.

Perhaps one day he would face an opponent quicker than himself and need additional Agility to match them. Perhaps he would find himself caught in an ambush and require greater Endurance to make it through alive.

Perhaps—

"I'm coming!"

Andromeda's voice echoed through the house.

Harry closed the Status Screen and exchanged identical looks with Edward and Sirius.  None of them believed her for a second.

"Merlin help us," Sirius groaned.

Edward snorted into his tea.

"How long has it been now?"

"Forty-three minutes."

"That's actually better than last week."

Sirius shuddered, Harry laughed at his misery, and somewhere upstairs, Andromeda shouted that she could hear them.

***

At precisely eleven fifty, after enduring another ten minutes of waiting, Andromeda was finally ready to leave.

The four of them gathered around the fireplace, the adults went first, saying something about elders first, and Harry shrugged.

Moments later, Harry felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a very narrow pipe as emerald flames carried him across the country. After stumbling out of the Burrow's fireplace, he realized something was wrong. 

Sirius, Andromeda, and Edward were nowhere to be found, and there weren't any Weasleys around either. Harry's hand reached for his want when-

"SURPRISE!"

Harry jumped and took out his wand, which was pointing wildly around. 

Dozens of voices shouted at once while colorful streamers burst overhead and confetti rained from the ceiling. Harry stared in complete shock as nearly everyone he knew emerged from seemingly every corner of the house.

The Weasleys were all present, with Fred and George already laughing at the expression on his face, Percy standing nearby looking extremely pleased with himself, and Charlie, having returned from Romania for the occasion, was leaning casually against a wall with a grin beside Bill. Ron was beside Hermione, and Ginny was with her parents, looking at him a bit shyly.

Harry put away his wand and looked around the room in awe. The Weasleys weren't the only ones present; almost everyone Harry considered a friend had come, along with several others he knew. Hermione, Dobby, Hedwig, the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, Neville, Seamus, Dean, several students from other Houses Harry had gotten along with during the previous years, and even several professors were there as well. 

Sirius barked out a laugh behind him, leaning against the fireplace.

Harry was still processing the surprise when Sirius passed a hand over his shoulder.

"Happy birthday, pup." He said. "I know it's a bit late, but we wanted to give you a surprise." 

Harry glanced around as more smiling faces offered their birthday wishes. He blinked rapidly and rubbed at his face, trying to hold back the tears. The last thing he wanted was to start crying in front of everyone.

"Happy birthday, master Harry." 

"Happy birthday, mate." 

"Happy birthday, Harry." 

Molly walked to him and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"You have grown so much..." She says wiping her eyes and that nearly makes him cry even more. 

"Mom, he is just thirteen, not thirty," Ron says. He hugs him as well and pats his back. 

Harry's smile widened as more friends hugged him and offered their good wishes, filling his chest with a warmth that had nothing to do with magic.

Nobody had ever thrown him a surprise birthday party before. This year he celebrated with Dobby, Hedwig, and Crowley, and then with his parents, and until today, it has been his best birthday ever. 

This beats it. 

Molly shooed the people away from him and guided him outside. The Burrows' garden had been transformed for the late birthday party. 

Several large enchanted tarps had been erected over the grass to provide shade, beneath which stood long wooden tables overflowing with food. Roasted chicken, sausages, pies, sandwiches, cakes, pastries, vegetables, fruit, and enough desserts to feed a small army covered nearly every available surface.

Molly kissed his forehead and said: 

"Happy birthday, dear." And this time, a tear escaped. 

***

Over the next few hours, they ate, laughed, and had a merry time. 

At one point Fred and George set off a batch of experimental fireworks and came dangerously close to burning down part of the house. Molly immediately took off after them, wooden spoon in hand. The rest of the Weasley children visibly paled at the sight and looked at the twins with the solemn expressions usually reserved for funerals.

"They lived good lives," Bill said gravely.

"But they were so young." Charlie brushed away an imaginary tear.

"They will be missed," Ginny declared, while Ron removed an imaginary hat and bowed his head in respect.

Percy said nothing, but even he looked at them with sympathy. 

A while later, Oliver proposed a game of Quidditch, claiming he wanted to see whether everyone's skills had gotten rusty over the summer. There was a manic gleam in his eyes that reminded the team of the countless mornings he had dragged them out of bed before sunrise for practice.

Exchanging looks, they followed him, knowing there was no escaping Oliver Wood. 

Since it was only a friendly match, they played without Seekers and left the Golden Snitch inside its box, choosing instead to limit each game to thirty minutes.

Neither of them had brought their brooms, but the Weasleys had more than enough for two teams. And not just any brooms—they were brand-new Nimbus 2001s. Ron was still bitter about Lucius Malfoy securing Draco a spot on the Slytherin Quidditch team by buying the entire team new brooms, so with the family's new wealth, he bought Nimbus 2001 for his whole family, with several extra sets aside for extended relatives as Christmas presents.

They divided themselves into roughly balanced teams. Harry took the position of Chaser and quickly impressed everyone with his skill. His reflexes and agility had already surpassed those of most people, and ever since his angelic transformation awakened, flying had become more natural than walking to him. Even without transforming, being in the air felt like home.

Harry did his best to rein himself in, but Oliver’s fierce competitive streak brought out his own, and since he wasn’t accustomed to holding back, he ended up outplaying everyone else on the field.

Oliver watched him with growing fascination.

"You know," he muttered, mostly to himself, "he'd make an incredible Chaser."

Angelina nearly fell off her broom laughing.

"Oliver."

"I'm serious."

"I know."

"Imagine our offensive—"

"Oliver."

"He could dominate entire matches."

Angelina rolled her eyes.

"Harry is the best Seeker Hogwarts has seen in decades."

"But—"

"The Golden Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points."

Oliver opened his mouth, paused, then sighed. "Fine."

After his second match, Harry decided it was time for a break. He landed beside the orchard fence and handed his broom to Ginny.

"Want to play?"

The youngest Weasley blinked.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Her eyes lit up.

"But—"

"Ginny."

"Yes?"

"Go have fun."

The grin that appeared on her face could have powered half of Britain.

Harry leaned closer.

"And give it everything you've got."

She straightened instantly.

"Obviously."

"Who knows?" Harry added. "You might impress Oliver enough to get yourself a spot on the team someday."

Ginny glanced between the pitch and Oliver before a look of fierce determination settled on her face.

Harry had almost started feeling sorry for the opposing team.

Ginny shot into the air moments later, and Harry watched her join the match. Within thirty seconds, she stole the Quaffle from Alice and zigzagged between the twins, dodging both of them. 

Perhaps he should feel sorry for them after all. Laughing, he made his way back toward the tables and grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice.

That was when he noticed Crowley; he hadn't seen when his solicitor had arrived.

The solicitor sat beneath one of the tarps beside Arthur Weasley, and the two men were engaged in a serious discussion about the recent changes in the Ministry. Something about someone stepping down? 

Molly's voice rang across the garden.

"Arthur!"

Arthur visibly winced.

"Yes, dear?"

"Come here."

Arthur sighed knowing resistance was futile.

"I should go."

"You should."

Arthur walked towards Molly, and Harry slid into the now-empty chair beside Crowley. 

"Still hiding from Aziraphale?"

Crowley nearly choked on his drink.

"What exactly is that to you?"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Nothing."

"Good."

"But unfortunately, you've stood me up twice in less than a week."

Crowley looked away.

"So it does concern me when my solicitor decides to vanish from the face of the Earth."

Normally, Harry would not have minded too much, but anyone would be annoyed after being stood up twice in just a few days without so much as a message. He had not seen Crowley for days, and they still had plenty of business to discuss. For one thing, they were working on suing everyone involved in publishing "Harry Potter's Adventures" books and several other things.

When Crowley didn't respond, he took a deep breath to steady himself and said: 

"If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push."

Crowley remained silent.

"But if you do want to talk about it..." He hesitated. "I'll listen."

Crowley stared into his drink, a liquor by the smell, for several long seconds. He sighed and it sounded tired. 

"I've known Aziraphale for a very long time."

Harry waited.

"A very, very long time."

Crowley took down his sunglasses, and the glamour covering his eyes vanished, revealing yellow snake-like eyes. 

"Long before humanity was a thing." Crowley continued staring into the distance. "For thousands of years we walked together the Earth, but when everything-"

Crowley looked lost and paused. Harry did not interrupt him, just waited. 

"We were partners, and when it mattered most, he left." The words came painfully out of Crowley's mouth, as if it hurt to say them. "He chose something else." 

After a moment, he said: 

"You know what's funny?"

"What?"

Crowley looked toward the horizon.

"You can't set a house on fire, move to another neighborhood, and then return whenever you please expecting the house to still be standing." He let out a humorless chuckle. “Aziraphale can’t seem to understand it.” 

Harry didn't know what to say. What could he say? Sorry that the person who had been your partner for thousands of years—the one who was probably your best friend, maybe even something more—had left you?

He had no advice that could help, so he simply reached over and placed a hand on Crowley's shoulder.

The older man froze.

"I'm sorry."

Crowley looked at him, genuine surprise crossing his face.

"If you need anything," Harry continued solemnly, "I'm here."

For several seconds Crowley simply stared at him and for a moment he seemed touched, but then he immediately ruined the moment. 

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm serious."

"And that's exactly the problem." Crowley waved a hand dismissively. "Go bother someone your own age."

"That's rude."

"Off you go."

Harry grinned.

"I am glad you are here, Crowley."

“Off with you, you little menace.”

Still smiling, Harry obeyed.

A few minutes later he found Hermione standing with Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Percy near one of the tables, they were talking about the upcoming school year. 

"...and naturally your coursework will become considerably more demanding," McGonagall was saying.

Percy and Hermione nodded eagerly, looking delighted by the prospect.

Those two really need some hobbies, Harry thought. 

"Oh, Harry," Percy said. "Perfect timing."

"What?" 

"Which electives did you choose?"

Hermione looked curious as well.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes."

Percy's eyebrows rose.

"Interesting combination."

Harry shrugged. With several magical creatures living on his estate, he had spent much of the summer learning about their care, researching ways to improve their living conditions, and gradually developed a genuine interest in the subject.

As for the second elective, Ancient Runes simply seemed the most interesting among all the options.

Hermione nodded approvingly and launched into an enthusiastic discussion about Ancient Runes, while Percy eagerly added several observations of his own.

Watching them, Harry couldn't help but think they were remarkably alike. It was surprising they hadn't spent more time talking before; with so many shared interests, he could easily imagine them becoming good friends.

Around them, the party continued beneath the afternoon sun, filled with laughter, good food, friends, and family.

***

Author’s Note: Sorry for the delay, work… It was a busy day.