Hidden Heritage
Year 7
by Hyena Cub
Rating: PG-13 for violence, language, and death.

Genre: Harry Potter

Chapter 46: It's not Goodbye, After All

The next day, Hagrid took him to the Ministry of Magic to visit with Kingsley about keeping Chance. Normally the Minister himself wouldn't exactly be involved in a case of exotic pets, but Cody said he wanted to see Kingsley anyway, and find out how he was doing.

As he and Hagrid stepped into the Minister's office, Chance was draped around Cody's shoulders, sniffing around at the large room, decorated with plants, flowers and portraits. Kingsley was standing behind his desk, beaming down at Cody. "Welcome," he said warmly, extending a hand.

Cody took it, and shook; Kingsley clasped both of his hands around Cody's for a moment before letting go. "Hi, Kingsley," said Cody, then smiled. "Minister, I mean."

Kinglsey laughed appreciatively. "Thank you for that, but for you, I am still Kingsley."

"Congratulations," said Cody. "I'm glad you got it."

"Thank you again," said Kingsley again, his eyes drifting to Chance. "And so this is the creature?"

Cody nodded, slipping a hand beneath the half-grown lethifold to stop him trying to slither off and explore the room. "This is Chance. He saved my life. No, you can't sniff Kingsley's flowers, you'll make a mess."

Seemingly understanding the words, Chance stopped trying to sneak off and instead draped his head over Cody's. Cody laughed.

"He did?" said Kingsley in surprise. "How?"

So Cody told him the story, and told him how Chance had eaten a Death Eater during the battle. "He knew what he was doing both times," said Cody. "He passed loads of people on our side. But he only attacked the Death Eater--a short one, small enough for Chance to grab."

"Fascinating," said Kingsley softly. "May I hold the beast? Will he be nervous of a stranger?"

"No, he's okay," said Cody, removing Chance from around his shoulders with some difficulty (he was getting heavy!) and handing him over to Kingsley. "Just don't squeeze him hard; they think that's an attack because that's how they attack. He might try and drape on you—that's okay. He's just sniffing you. Their noses are on the bottom."

Kingsley nodded his understanding, taking Chance from Cody and looking the cloak-like beast over. As predicted, Chance did slither up, trying to sniff at Kingsley's face, but he gently held the beast away from his head. "A beautiful creature. But deadly. If need be, do you know how to restrain him?"

"Patronus Charms repel lethifolds," said Cody, and actually smiled. "And I can do one. I finally got it right. But unless the lethifold's already attacking someone, you can use other magic like levitation charms and all. Won't stop them trying to attack, but'll help when trying to deal with 'em."

Hagrid beamed proudly at Cody as Kingsley handed Chance back. Sensing his opportunity, Chance tried to escape again to explore, but Cody wasn't having any of it.

"Nice try."

Kingsley laughed. "You know the creature well," he said. "I have spoken with Hagrid beforehand, and am convinced you know well how to care for the creature. I have spoken with those within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, too."

Cody rather thought they could do with a shorter name.

The new minister rummaged in his desk and brought out a piece of parchment on which Cody glimpsed his name, and handed it across the desk. "This is the paperwork you will need to prove you have permission to keep this exotic creature," said Kingsley, and Cody grinned excitedly. "Continue to care as well for him as you do now, Cody."

Cody laughed, looking at the paper and beaming at the words. "Thanks—thanks, Kingsley!"

"You're welcome. Oh...and one other thing. I know that you are far younger than other students in your year, and that the others are all able to perform magic outside of school. I would like to make a deal with you." Cody looked up, interested. "I would like you to repeat your seventh year at Hogwarts. As I understand it, many others are also repeating this year...unfortunately people did not learn as they should, and wish to make up for it."

"Boy, that's for sure," muttered Cody.

"Once you have taken your N.E.W.T. tests, and are a fully qualified wizard, I shall arrange for the Trace to be lifted from you. After all, you have learned the same things as your older classmates, and I believe you can be trusted to use magic on your own outside of school."

Speechless, Cody could only stare, until Hagrid clapped him on the back and sent him sprawling on his knees. Wincing, Cody stood back up, rubbing his shoulder, and Chance reared up in irritation at the sudden disturbance. "Thanks," Cody said wryly.

"Sorry kid," chuckled Hagrid. "But yeh seemed a bit shocked, there."

"I-I am," said Cody, looking back to Kingsley, who looked amused. "I...that's...yes! Of course I'll agree with that... I was kinda thinking of it anyway since I missed my exams."

"Then it is settled, then," said Kingsley. "I will inform Minerva that you will be at the Opening Feast this fall."

Cody smiled; he liked the idea of attending Hogwarts one more year. A normal year. And now there would be no fear, there would be no uncertainty, no constant fighting... Yes. He liked that idea. "I guess I'd be with the sixth-year boys, then?" he said.

"Yes. I don't know if any other seventh-year Gryffindors will repeat their seventh year or not, but you may be the only one. If so, you will bunk with the sixth-years, now moving into seventh."

With a pang and an unpleasant chill, Cody realized that there would be an open bunk among the seventh-years: Colin's. He sighed, nodding a little morosely. "Okay," he said. "And Kingsley...thanks."

"You're welcome." Kingsley held out his hand again, and Cody took it. "I must continue my duties now, young Cody, but I am glad to have seen you. Good luck to you."

"Thanks." Cody waved at the man as he and Hagrid left the office, and Cody felt an incredible, warm bubble in his chest. Things would be okay. They were already beginning to be okay.

Cody spent all afternoon telling people he was allowed to keep the lethifold, resulting in many people shaking their heads or telling him he was mad as a hatter. At dinner, Cody ate a Blood Lollipop and revolted half of Gryffindor. Katie Bell watched him in mild fascination, shaking her head.

"Still doing that," she muttered.

"Always," muttered Ron. "The kid's a ghoul."

Cody laughed...and it felt good.

That night, after everyone had finished eating and had dispersed to their own devices, Cody found himself wandering the corridors rather aimlessly. Samantha was in the Ravenclaw Common Room with some of the friends she had made at the castle, and Chance and Merlin were in the Gryffindor dorms chasing each other. (They'd become surprisingly good friends.)

As Cody was gazing out of a nearby window at the summer-touched grounds, Harry approached with a very happy smile on his face. "Hey," he said. "I've found something that you need to see."

"It doesn't have anything to do with something I'll have to get revenge on you for later, does it?" asked Cody suspiciously.

Harry chuckled. "No. Just the opposite; you will be very happy about it."

Intrigued, now, Cody followed Harry up three flights of steps, to the corridor where Amycus Carrow's office had been. He curled his lip as he passed it, peering inside. It had been stripped of everything; Amycus's belongings, the rather gruesome hangings that Snape had hung on the walls the previous year (Amycus had left them up); the room looked bare and empty, waiting for the next Defense teacher. Cody liked it far better that way! 'Wonder who the next one's gonna be,' he thought.

Harry led Cody past that corridor onto a main hallway on the fourth floor, on the way towards Gryffindor Tower. Cody blinked as he heard a voice among the normal talk of the portraits...a voice that was impossible. He frowned, looking at Harry, but Harry only smiled and said nothing as he walked.

Their destination was a portrait. It was about four feet high, set near one of the main stairwells, against a warm-tan wooden wall. It was a full-body portrait of a man with longish, brown hair, warm brown eyes, and worn-looking robes. The man looked at Cody with pride and love.

Cody felt his legs turn suddenly rubbery, and Harry had to grab him before he fell, and even then he almost couldn't stand. "Remus," he whispered.

Remus's face was as it ever was, familiar, warm, friendly... He was standing in the office he kept when he taught at Hogwarts, so achingly familiar that Cody felt faint again. A grindylow in a tank stood by the blackboard, and Remus's desk was full of papers, the walls full of interesting pictures and the office itself full of interesting items. Cody barely noticed as Harry conjured a chair for Cody to sit in so he didn't have to keep holding him up.

"I'll let you two talk," said Harry, looking rather pleased with himself as he left the deserted corridor.

"Thanks, Harry," said Remus, before turning his gaze back on Cody. "I'm so proud of you, Cody."

Cody tried to speak, but he was too shocked that he couldn't say anything for several moments. He moved his jaw, trying to shake his brain into gear, but words just wouldn't come. All Cody could do was look. Finally he was able to squeak out, "I-is it...it's not...is it really you?"

Lupin chuckled, sitting down on the floor of his portrait so that he could talk a little more easily to Cody. "It is, in a way. Do you know how wizarding portraits work?" Cody shook his head. "A true wizarding portrait can only be of one who has died. Otherwise a magical painting of a person will be like a photograph, with movement only, and a very base personality, if any at all. But a true portrait is not painted by anyone's hand. It appears when a wizard or witch has died, and it appears in a place where he or she has made a great impact."

"Like the Headmasters," Cody murmured. Still shaking, Cody looked around at the many other portraits that lined the walls...watches and wizards of past years, who all were watching the little scene. Many smiled at him. One gaily dressed woman waved merrily. "You did make an impact here," said Cody suddenly, turning to Remus. His eyes were burning and he wiped them impatiently. It seemed almost too good to be true that he could talk with Remus, to hear his voice again. "You did. People like Neville. The people you taught except stupid Draco and his stupid goons. Everyone liked you. They learned from you. A-and you died protecting Hogwarts!"

"I did," agreed Lupin, his smile a little sad now. "My true spirit has moved on...beyond the point where I died, I know only what others have told me of my fate. A portrait is an essence only. An imprint of a person's earthly form."

"I...don't get that," said Cody, wiping his eyes again, and feeling very confused.

"It's not an easy concept to grasp," said Lupin in his patient way. "When a person dies, his soul...spirit...whatever you like to call it...moves on to another place. Harry has told me this, and it coincides with most wizards' belief about death. But if one becomes a portrait on his death...the parts of him that were physical...sort of transfer into the picture, and that includes the memories and personality of the mind. So...in a way...yes, it's me. it's what bound me to Earth. I'm not a copy or an imitation, nothing could be further from the truth."

A great happiness suddenly clenched Cody's chest, and he had to gasp in a breath. "I-I'm glad," he managed to say. "I'm glad...I'm glad you can stay here now...and you've got the whole castle, and loads of other people to talk to..." He swallowed hard as Remus's smile widened. "And me, too. You're not...it's not like a ghost, is it? Trapped here?"

"No," assured Remus. "Not at all. My spirit is free...my true self...and you will see me again there when you die. As for me, this essence of myself, I am not trapped here. It's just another world...another stage of life. Much like death itself."

Cody was still confused, but he didn't care. All that mattered right then was that Remus was not completely lost to him. He had felt comforted when Harry told him...but hearing Remus himself saying it made it all the more convincing. Having Remus here, where he could talk to him any old time...it did seem too good to be true.

"I'm glad I told you I loved you," he finally whispered. And he had, only a half hour before Remus was murdered. "I'd n-never said it before."

"But I knew," said Remus softly, his smile warm again. "Maybe you never thought to say it in words, but words are just words sometimes. You said it in your own way, many times. But...I also am glad you told me...and that I told you."

Neither of them said anything for a long time; Cody couldn't stop crying, and Lupin didn't seem inclined to try and make him stop. He never had. He'd just hold Cody and let him cry. Now he couldn't hold Cody...but for some reason, Cody didn't feel bad about it. Having Lupin there was enough.

Once he'd calmed, Cody began telling Remus everything. What happened after Remus and Tonks had died, about killing Dustin, about the funerals...everything. All Cody's worries, fears, triumphs, and stories he told.

The two of them talked for hours. The sun had long set, and Cody's rear end was numb from sitting, but he didn't really care. His heart seemed to get lighter with every word the two of them exchanged. The other portraits sometimes joined the conversation, and Cody was glad to have them—he knew them, after all, from his years at Hogwarts.

"I'll be coming here one more year,' said Cody finally, his voice hoarse from talking. "So I'll see you a lot. I'll come and annoy you when I get bored."

Remus laughed. "I would love that," he said.

"Maybe Harry'll let me borrow the Marauder's Map again," mused Cody. "If he's not coming back...that thing's awesome! How'd you guys make it?"

"Several years' worth of exploration," said Remus, "and a lot of research on magical mapmaking. I'll help you out if you'd like to try and replicate the effect."

"Brilliant," Cody murmured. "Graham'll love it." He was about to say something more, when he was suddenly falling, letting out a startled yelp as he landed hard on the floor. Harry's conjured chair had vanished. "H-have I been here that long?" Cody said wonderingly, getting a little shakily to his feet and rubbing the sore part on his behind. How undignified.

"You have," chuckled Remus, looking entirely too amused. "It is nearly two in the morning."

"Two! No way—jeez. No wonder I'm tired." He glared at the spot where Harry's chair had been, then looked back up at Remus, suddenly smiling. "I guess I should get back to the dorm...it's way past curfew! And I don't really wanna have detention the first day back next year."

"No, that would be a rather unpleasant way to start term. Perhaps not as unpleasant as finding out the Carrows were the new schoolteachers...but still."

Cody laughed tiredly, nodding in agreement. "Well...I think everyone's leaving tomorrow," said Cody. "So...maybe the Weasleys'll let me visit over the summer! I bet they will. I bet Professor McGonagall'll let me."

"She likely would," said Remus, "but you won't have to do so merely to visit me. The centaurs, perhaps, or the thestrals, but not me." Cody frowned, cocking his head curiously. "Are you familiar with Phineas Nigellus?"

Cody snorted. "Unfortunately. That git—talk about smug! And mean, too!"

"You won't hear me argue," said Remus. "The important thing is...he has two portraits. One in Grimmauld Place, and one in the Headmaster's office. I, too, have two portraits." He smiled again, getting up to his feet. "I was not so great a wizard to have my second portrait in an impressive place like St.Mungo's, or the Ministry...but to me it's more important."

"Where is it?"

"At the moment, in the Gryffindor Common Room." At Cody's confused blink, Remus grinned. "Go on up and have a look. I'll see you there."

Having said this, Remus slipped out of his frame and into the next portrait, and Cody knew he would make his way through the various frames in the castle...he'd probably beat Cody there, for that matter!

Confused again, Cody ran for the stairs, huffing and puffing up the various staircases, nearly getting stuck in the evil Vanishing Step on the way to Gryffindor Tower, and finally arriving before the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" she asked, looking half asleep.

"Alpha Orionis."

She gave him a rather stern look. "Have you any idea what time it is? You're lucky Mr. Filch hasn't caught you."

'Things are definitely getting back to normal,' Cody thought, irritation and fondness warring for dominance as the Fat Lady proceeded to tell him off for being so late after curfew. Only after she considered him sufficiently scolded, did she swing forward to admit her.

"Finally," Cody muttered as he climbed through.

"I heard that," said the Fat Lady, swinging shut a bit harder than normal. Cody stifled a laugh.

When he got to the seventh-year dorms, Cody saw that Harry and Neville were still awake. They greeted Cody quietly, and it was evident that they both knew about Remus's portrait. "Hi," he whispered, looking around.

The portrait was on Cody's four-poster bed, and he beamed as he saw it. It was about half the size of the other one, but otherwise identical. Remus was sitting in the chair beside his desk, grinning at Cody.

"You can take it with you," said Neville. "So once you leave Hogwarts, you won't have to leave him, too."

Cody stared, openmouthed, as he realized that Neville was right! "Awesome," Cody whispered gratefully. He had a lot to be grateful for, he realized. A lot. And they were things he could never properly express enough gratitude for.

"I can travel at will from this to the other portrait," said Remus. "But for now I think I will let you be. You'll need to pack...and you should make sure tomorrow morning that Samantha has everything with her. She's sharing a bunk with Ginny, isn't she?" Cody nodded. "I'll check in on you tomorrow though. But for now...sleep well, Cody."

"You too." Cody waved a little dazedly as Remus left, and Cody carefully set the portrait alongside his table; he would have to show it to Samantha. Then he turned to Harry. "Thanks."

"Anytime, kid," said Harry. "I found him when I was looking for Hagrid; McGonagall wanted to talk with him and didn't know where he was."

"I'm glad," said Neville, grinning at Cody as he lay down on his four-poster. Cody noticed that Gryffindor's sword sat on his bedside table, and had to stifle a giggle. Neville would be keeping that with him until he left on the train tomorrow! "I'll see you, Cody. Dunno if I'll be coming back next year or not, but I do know that this isn't goodbye."

"Definitely not," said Harry. "We're family, all of us. We'll be seeing a lot of each other."

Cody nodded, as Harry, too, closed the curtains of his bed then blew out the lamp, leaving Cody alone.

He looked to his belongings, scattered all around his bed, and began cramming things into the newly-repaired trunk Graham had salvaged for him. It was more beat-up than ever, but at least it was savable. His course books hadn't been so lucky.

When he felt under his bed, his hand hit something light that skittered away at his touch. Grabbing it, he brought it out and peered at it as if he'd never seen it before. It was his toy Sword of Omens, the plastic replica of the weapon used in his favorite television show, ThunderCats. It had been his favorite toy all throughout his childhood...and still was, he realized. He'd brought it to Hogwarts all his years there.

He rummaged in his bright trunk for a moment before bringing out the dagger Remus had given him, and slid it from its metal sheath. The dagger was quite a lot heavier than the Sword of Omens though smaller, its green and silver gleaming mellowly in the lamplight. Remus had given it to Cody in honor of his bravery...to tell Cody he valued him as a fighter. As an adult.

One blade from childhood, the other adulthood. Cody looked at him both, feeling a little chill...maybe a chill of fear, maybe of anticipation. And where was Cody? Somewhere in between, he supposed. He remembered again how he'd wanted to find a way to keep from growing up, but he had never really gotten around to it.

"Well," he muttered softly, putting both weapons into his trunk and closing it tightly. "Maybe I'll give it a try." If he didn't like adulthood, he could always revert to the original plan! Smiling a little, he took one last look around the dorms before blowing out the lamp.

---

Author's note: Cody's journey is far from over. But for now we have come to a stopping point in the quest, and must take a little time to decide which path to take next. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with Cody and his voyage through Harry's world thus far...and he thanks you, too!