1. Chapter One

AN: By now I'm sure you all know the story of Harry Potter's life, up until the fourth year, as told by the marvellous JK. However, in this story will be MY version of Harry. I suppose it's sort of an alternate reality story but it's not TOO different from the books we all LOVE. Basically what I’ve wanted to do for a while is write the book again only with Harry as even more of a hero ( I plan on making him ridiculously cool and magically powerful!) and to add the obvious Hermione/Harry romance (Okay well it's obvious to ME!).

As this is my first fic please be kind in your reviews but don't hesitate to tell me what you think needs to be changed and how.

Important:

The first two chapters of this story really suck. Or rather they’re quite good, but they’re mostly just a repeat of the actual books. You still need to read them, but the story isn’t really my writing until chapter three.

Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing. Not the characters not the copyrights or even the basic plot. I'm stealing it all from the Goddess 'Rowling'. What're ya gonna do? Sue me for all I have? Hmmm...... Let's see I've got some buttons, some baseball cards and a bit of lint.......

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Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bobble hats (AN lol! That's Dudley alright!) - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.

'Up! Getup! Now!'

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

'Up!' she screeched.

Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a particularly bad one this time, with a woman screaming and cruel laughter in the background. Harry didn't know how he knew but he knew that the woman in his dream had been his real mother. Harry was used to these kind of dreams by now and had learned to wake up without screaming as he had when he first started having the dreams. If he did that the Dursleys got mad...

His aunt was back outside the door.

'Are you up yet?' she demanded.

'Nearly,' said Harry

'Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday'

Harry groaned.

'What did you say?' his aunt snapped through the door.

'Nothing, nothing...' Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

Perhaps it had something to do with the martial arts lessons that Harry had been taking for free ever since he was seven. (AN Okay this is the first change in the story line and you will begin to see why I said I'm making Harry TOO good.)

The reason the lessons didn't cost anything was for several reasons the first being that Harry had never had any money of his own (even if he did the Dursleys would have taken it to pay for his 'room and board'). Another reason is that the Dursleys would never THINK of spending more than necessary on poor Harry and these lessons certainly weren't necessary but Harry had always stayed away from 'the house', as he called (certainly it wasn't a "home"), as much as he could ever since he was old enough for the Dursleys to make him walk home on his own, and on his way home each day he would stop in front of a small Kenpo Dojo and watch the other children train. After two years of seeing the same boy watching his pupils from the window everyday (Harry was forced to walk home at the age of 5), the teacher (sensei) approached Harry to ask him why he didn't join the Dojo so that he wouldn't have to stand outside.

-----------Flash Back--------------

"Hello son. My name is Mr. Osakawa. What's yours?" Mr. Osakawa asked the seven-year-old Harry.

"It's Harry sir." Harry replied clasping his hands in front of him and bowing as he had often seen the kids in their training do.

Now, Mr. Osakawa hadn't really expected to get an answer from this mysterious little boy as all children are taught not to talk to strangers from a very young age (The Dursleys had never told Harry this as they were most likely hoping he would be kidnapped and then they'd be rid of him with no blame to them. (AN They really sound like criminals huh?)).

"Well Harry, I've seen you outside my window before. What is it that interests you so much about watching my classes?"

Harry was used to the kind of sympathetic voice that adults often used with him. He just didn't understand it. Most people he talked to knew that he was somehow mistreated but not nearly the full extent of his 'abuse' and so nothing was ever suspected of the Dursleys but people still treated Harry as somewhat of an invalid. Harry however had no idea that he was being "abused" as his life had always been the way it was for as long as he could remember. He simply took it as being only natural when Dudley received loads of presents on his Birthday and Harry was surprised if someone mentioned his. So when this person that he assumed was some sort of teacher like the ones at school he responded the same way. With his eye on the floor he replied with the honest truth in a quiet voice.

"It looks like fun."

Now most children’s idea of fun is playing with their friends and eating candy and all sorts of other childish things. Harry, however was not 'most children'. His ideas of fun were running and reading. Or to simplify it, he liked to learn and he liked to exert himself (as most small children do when not sleeping). And he told Mr. Osakawa so.

" Fun?” Mr. Osakawa chuckled in surprise. “ Well now I can see why you’d be interested in what we do here. So why aren't you in any of my classes then, hmmm? It would be a pleasure to teach you."

"I don't have any money sir."

Now Mr. Osakawa hadn't expected such an answer from so young a child but he had taken an instant liking to this boy with eye's that shone like emeralds when Harry spoke of things he enjoyed. So he rather wanted to teach Harry.

"Well why don't you ask your parents to sign you up then hmm? I'm sure they've got some money." As soon as he had said this however he regretted it. If the state of his clothes was any indication, Harry's family must have to get their clothes from charitable donations and the like, as almost everything Harry was wearing was at least two sizes too big for him and if his parents couldn't afford to drive to school to pick up their son then there was no way they'd be able to afford to enrole their son in a Dojo.

While Mr. Osakawa was thinking what he could do to get this kid into his class (something in Harry’s eyes told him Harry would be a dedicated student, and therefore a pleasure to teach), Harry was having a sort of mental breakdown. Ask the Dursleys for something?! It didn't make sense. He had never asked for anything from them for as long as he could remember. He thought that the only people you were supposed to ask for things from were teachers... it just didn't make sense.

Fortunately for Harry’s poor brain Mr. Osakawa came to his rescue. "Ya know what kid? You can forget the money, it would be my pleasure to teach you for free!" He said with a big grin while thinking, < It's just one little kid. It's not like I'm in desperate need of money...>

His kindness was rewarded when Harry's eye's lit up with excitement at the thought of being allowed to join the kids inside the Dojo in their training. All Harry could do was stare at Mr. Osakawa with his mouth hanging open a little and pure joy in his eye's.......

--------------End Flashback----------------

So Harry had never been a very good 'Punching Bag' for Dudley although he never fought back as it never occurred to him to hate his "benefactors" the Dursleys (AN don't worry he will! ;-] ). He was, however quite small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees and black hair. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because all the times Dudley had been able to catch him he (Dudley) had always broken them to stop Harry from running away very well. The only things Harry liked about his own appearance were his pure black and naturally messy hair, which he liked because it made him different, and a very thin scar on his forehead, which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.

'In the car crash when your parents died,' she had said. 'And don't ask questions.'

Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

'Comb your hair!' he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way- all over the place.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel. Harry often thought that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

Harry put the plates of eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room with Dudley taking up three places. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

'Thirty-six,' he said, looking up at his mother and father. 'That's two less than last year.

'Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy'

'All right, thirty-seven then,' said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, 'And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today' How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?'

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, 'So I'll have thirty... thirty...'

'Thirty-nine, sweetums,' said Aunt Petunia.

'Oh.' Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. 'All right then.'

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

'Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!' He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

'Bad news, Vernon,' she said. 'Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him.' She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

'Now what?' said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs Figg had broken her leg and that it might ruin Dudley’s birthday, but somehow he just couldn't seem to care.

'We could phone Marge,' Uncle Vernon suggested.

'Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy'

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

'What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?'

'On holiday in Majorca,' snapped Aunt Petunia.

'You could just leave me here,' Harry put in hopefully (he'd he able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

'And come back and find the house in ruins?' she snarled.

'I won't blow up the house,' said Harry, but they weren't listening.

'I suppose we could take him to the zoo,' said Aunt Petunia slowly '... and leave him in the car...'

'That car's new he's not sitting in it alone!'

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

'Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!' she cried, flinging her arms around him.

'I... don't ... want ... him... t-t-to come!' Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. 'He always sp-spoils everything!' He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

Just then, the doorbell rang - 'Oh, Good Lord, they're here!' said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry; who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

'I'm warning you,' he had said, putting his large purple face fight up close to Harry's, 'I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.'

'I'm not going to do anything.' said Harry 'Honestly.'

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. In fact strange things happened so often around Harry that it was strange if nothing “odd” happened for more than a week.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'. Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

But today nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorbikes.

'...roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums.' he said, as a motorbike overtook them.

'I had a dream about a motorbike,' said Harry remembering suddenly. 'It was flying.'

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, 'MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!'

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

'I know they don't,' said Harry. 'It was only a dream.'

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon. They seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly. It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley except that it wasn't blond.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Harry loved it. It was quiet and dim, which he enjoyed and he had always liked snakes and such.

Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dustbin - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

'Make it move.' he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

'Do it again,' Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

'This is boring,' Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up - at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked.

Harry stared, then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked too.

The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: 'I get that all the time.'

'I know' Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. 'It must be really annoying.'

The snake nodded vigorously.

'Where do you come from anyway?' Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor Brazil.

'Was it nice there?'

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. 'Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?'

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. 'DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!'

Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.

'Out of the way, you,' he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened. One second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor - people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low hissing voice said, 'Brazil, here I come... Thanksss amigo'

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

'But the glass,' he kept saying, 'where did the glass go?'

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Prers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, 'Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?'

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say 'Go - cupboard - stay - no meals,' before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could reneember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang. The only person that he could really consider a friend was Mr. Osakawa at his Dojo.

AN- I’m sure everyone now understands what I meant in the note at the top. This chapter was practically straight from the book, and the next one is much the same. Chapter three and up are actually entirely my writing though so I hope you’ll continue on at least to chapter three to see if you’ll enjoy my writing.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

2. Chapter 2

The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera, crashed his remote control aeroplane and, first time on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.

The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry Hunting.

This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. Most of his time was spent at the Dojo training as had most of his summers ever since he was five. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had a place at Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local comprehensive. Dudley thought this was very funny.

'They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall,' he told Harry 'Want to come upstairs and practise?'

'No thanks,' said Harry 'The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick.' Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.

One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs Figg's. Mrs Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up.

Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.

There was a horrible smell in the kitchen next morning when Harry went in to cook breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what Looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.

'What's this?' he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

'Your new school uniform,' she said.

Harry looked in the bowl again.

'Oh,' he said.

'I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished.' snapped Aunt Petunia.

Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue.

He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High - like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.

They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.

'Get the post, Dudley,' said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

'Make Harry get it.'

'Get the post, Harry. Poke him with your Smeltings stick, Dudley'

Harry easily dodged the Smeltings stick and went to get the post. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard froin Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and - a letter for Harry.

Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends and no other relatives. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:

Mr H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

The envelope was thick and heavy; made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.

Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

'Hurry up, boy!' shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. 'What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?' He chuckled at his own joke.

Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.

Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust and flipped over the postcard.

'Marge's ill,' he informed Aunt Petunia. 'Ate a funny whelk ...'

'Dad!' said Dudley suddenly 'Dad, Harry's got something!'

Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.

'That's mine!' said Harry, trying to snatch it back.

'Who'd be writing to you?' sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.

'P-P-Petunia!' he gasped.

Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach.

Now as Harry had only ever known this kind of treatment it normally wouldn't have angered him. It would have just been another part of his life with the Dursleys. And if Harry was any other normal child he would probably need serious therapy after years of this treatment and probably would have anyway if it hadn't been for Mr. Osakawa. He had always treated Harry like he would his own son and Harry had begun to develop a new take on life over the past years of training at his Dojo. And now for the first time in his life he chose NOT to do what he was told.

'Give it to me NOW!' Harry screamed, and at the same time hit Uncle Vernon in the chest causing him to double over putting the letter within reach of Harry.

At once Harry snatched it and ran from the room to his cupboard reading the note.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all

necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no

later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry was crushed. It was probably just some joke meant to embarrass him. In fact he couldn't even understand why he had gotten so worked up about it in the first place. What Uncle Vernon had said was true. Who WOULD be writing to him?

Uncle Vernon had regained his breath now and was pounding down the hallway to Harry's cupboard. Harry didn't know what to do. He had actually HIT one of the Dursleys who had, as they told it, taken him in out of the 'goodness' of their hearts and raised him out of their own money. Somehow though, Harry didn't feel any remorse at having hit Vernon but knew that if he didn't seem sorry at least he would probably be stuck in his cupboard for the rest of the summer.

Harry popped out of his cupboard before Uncle Vernon would have ripped the door off it's hinges, and the act he put on of being sorry for it all would have won him and Oscar.

Uncle Vernon seemed slightly suspicious though when he saw Harry's downcast face. He had expected him to be jumping for joy to get out of the place and get to Hogwarts but was wary of Harry having some sort of magical protection. However, not wanting to let Harry see that he was frightened (of course he told himself he wasn't anyway) he angrily said 'Don't think that we're letting you go there!'

'*sigh* I know Uncle Vernon. It doesn't exist and there's no such thing as magic.’' Harry said dejectedly, repeating what was a sort of mantra for his Aunt and Uncle.

Uncle Vernon was taken aback for a moment before replying 'Too right! And don't you forget it!'

Feeling flustered and rather confused by Harry's reaction he left it at that, leaving Harry speechless and amazed that he wasn't to be punished at all it seemed for punching Vernon.

'Vernon,' Aunt Petunia was saying later in a quivering voice, 'look at the address - how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?'

'Watching - spying - might be following us,' muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.

'But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -'

'No' he said finally 'No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer ... yes, that's best ... we won't do anything...'

'But-'

'I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?'

That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before, he visited Harry in his cupboard. Or rather he visited Harry AT his cupboard as he was much too big to fit inside.

'Where's the letter?' said Harry the moment Uncle Vernon had opened the door. 'Who's writing to me?'

'No one. It was just some joker's idea of a prank.' said Uncle Vernon shortly 'I have burned it.'

'It had my cupboard on it. How'd they know where I live?' asked Harry.

'SILENCE!' yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.

'Er - yes, Harry - about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it ... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.'

'Why?' said Harry

'Don't ask questions!' snapped his uncle. 'Take this stuff upstairs, now!'

The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over next door's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through When his favourite programme had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air-rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.

From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother: 'I don't want him in there... I need that room... make him get out.'

Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with a REAL letter addressed to him than up here without it.

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smeltings stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof and he still didn't have his room back. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.

When the post arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smeltings stick all the way down the hall.

This time there was no letter to Harry.

The alarm clock that Harry had repaired along with several other of Dudley’s toys rang at eight o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. The Dursleys usually didn't mind when he turned on lights while he was making breakfast but with the odd way they had been acting yesterday he wasn't about to take any chances.

The whole day went like this with Harry avoiding contact with the Dursleys as much as possible. In fact after serving breakfast Harry left for the Dojo and he spent the rest of the day there training with Mr. Osakawa. He was among the top students there and the people there had only good to say of him. Especially Mr. Osakawa who had never regretted offering free lessons to Harry. (Harry had never told the Dursleys about the lessons and they had never bothered to ask where he spent all his time away from the house.)

That night as Harry was lying in bed listening to the rain on the windows of his new room. He realized that it was Monday and that in just a few minutes it would be Tuesday and he would turn eleven! To most kids this would be something to celebrate but to Harry it was just another day with no more importance than the fact that he would be one more year closer to the day he could leave the Dursleys.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were downstairs still watching TV and complaining about the weather forecast. The thunderstorm that they were having tonight was to continue on until Wednesday afternoon.

'Oh my poor geraniums. This weather will drown them!' Aunt Petunia cried shrilly.

Harry didn't mind though. In fact he quite enjoyed thunder and lightning. All that power and force somehow excited him and he wished, oddly, that he could be outside to join it.

Just one minute to go now and he would be eleven. He counted down the seconds on his alarm clock. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all and a little surprised that he himself had remembered.

Forty-five seconds to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the old tree outside his window wasn't about to topple onto the house in the strong winds.

Forty seconds to go.

Thirty seconds to go. What was that funny crunching noise? It sounded like something walking along the gravel road outside the house.

Ten seconds to go and he'd be eleven. Ten nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him -three - two - one -BOOM.

The whole door shook and Harry sat bolt upright in bed. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.

BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake in the room next to Harry's.

'Where's the cannon?' he said stupidly.

Harry leaped out of bed and rushed down the stairs to the front door with Dudley close behind.

There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands.

'Who's there?' he shouted. 'I warn you - I'm armed!'

There was a pause. Then - SMASH!

The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.

A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

The giant squeezed his way into the house, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.

'Couldn't make us a cup ‘o tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey.'

He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.

'Budge up, yeh great lump,' said the stranger.

Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.

'An' here's Harry!' said the giant.

Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

'Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby,' said the giant. 'Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes.'

5. Gringotts

AN- In this chapter I promise that something will actually happen! Sorry to all who like Malfoy though... That's all I'm gonna say for now.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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' One of the most important things you'll learn about magic, Harry, is that nothing is ever as it seems.' and with that Hagrid walked over to a dustbin by the wall and counted three bricks up and two across, winked at Harry then tapped the brick with his wand.

The brick quivered a bit, then rippled and the ripples spread out to form an archway of sorts that then faded away to revel Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley had the atmosphere of a small village and in fact it wouldn't have looked much different from most muggle towns if it weren't for all the magical creatures on store signs, like dragons and unicorns and other more fantastic things that Harry couldn't begin to name. The only other difference was in the people. Almost everyone there was dressed in robes of one type or another and Harry wasn't even sure all the "people" were actually human!

' Well Harry lets see that list of supplies.' Hagrid asked Harry.

' Huh?' Harry didn't remember any list, but then he hadn't read the whole letter as he hadn't believed it. He pulled out the envelope it was in and found that there had been a list of the school supplies he would need attached to the back as the note said.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Uniform

First year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags

Set Books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINIDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE

NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Handing the list to Hagrid Harry asked ' Why would students want any of those animals at a school?'

' Well actually probably no one wants a toad as they went out of style long ago, but cats are useful for carrying messages in the castle as well as their usually having other powers, but owl, and other birds for that matter, are darn useful whether they end up having any special powers or not. Like carrying messages and yer post. Say why don't I buy you one? An animal for Hogwarts I mean. I haven't get yeh a birthday present yet.' Hagrid said the last part with some embarrassment.

' You don't have to...'

' I know I don't. Tell yeh what, we'll pop into Eeylops Owl Emporium once we've got everything else you'll need and I'll get yeh a bird. Yeh'd be laughed at for havin' a toad and cats make me sneeze.' Hagrid said as he led them to the bank. He had explained that there was only one bank in the wizarding world and that was Gringotts. Harry saw what Hagrid said was a goblin guard at the front doors. Beside it, carved into the wall was a poem:

Enter stranger but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

' It's been said before and I'll say it again. " Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it".' Hagrid muttered as he saw what Harry was looking at.

As the passed through the doors Hagrid started going through his pockets looking for something. ' Ah-ha!' He said pulling and oddly shaped piece of green stone from his pocket and walking up to a free goblin.

' We're here to get some money from Mr Harry Potter's safe, here's his key.' Hagrid said and held up a tiny golden key. ' As well Dumbledore sent me here to get the you-know-what from vault seven hundred and thirteen, here's my authorization.' this time he held up the funny shaped stone.

The goblin glared at the key for a moment then nodded in satisfaction then took the stone from Hagrid, held it close to his mouth and whispered something that Harry couldn't hear but for some reason it made his head spin. Then the stone started to glow and the light coming from it seemed to press on the back of Harry's eyes. Blinking didn't help and neither did closing his eyes. The light seemed to seep through his eyelids until he could have pointed out exactly where the stone was even with his eyes closed. Then, all at once it stopped.

Harry shook his head a little to clear it then carefully opened his eyes and then sighed. His field of view was covered with the after image of the stone. Fortunately his vision cleared quickly and he was able to see again. What he saw was the goblin giving him a puzzled frown and Hagrid giving him a worried one.

' What's wrong Harry? Yeh said yeh were fine in the leaky cauldron but if yeh want we can find someplace for yeh teh stay before we get yer school supplies and...' Hagrid started but Harry cut him off.

' No I really am fine it was just that the light from the stone hurt my eyes.'

Now Hagrid took on the look that the goblin had been giving Harry. ' Light from the stone? What light?'

Harry was about to reply when the goblin saved him the trouble. ' I believe that.. Harry you said your name was? that Harry may be referring to the reaction of the magic in your authorization stone to my checking charm. Us goblins have the ability to see magical reactions and changes and it's not COMPLETELY unheard of for a human to have the same ability. If this is the case then it is nothing to be worried about but it is rather quite useful.' Turning to Harry he said ' Tell me. What colour did the light appear to be? Could you still see it when you closed your eyes?'

' It was a really bright blue and yes I could still see it with my eyes closed.' Harry replied.

' Well then that is definitely what happened. You have the ability to see magic when it's changing or when it's reacting to nearby magic.'

' Will it be like that every time? How can you stand it?' Harry asked. If he was unable to see every time he saw a bit of magic react to something he wasn't going to be much of a wizard.

' Oh no. The only reason it was so strong was because the reaction was so strong in the stone. The charm I used was quite a strong one. And I assume that this is the first time you've seen something like this?' Harry nodded. ' Well then it was also because you're not yet used to it. With time it will dim until it is manageable. You are starting at Hogwarts I assume?' Again Harry nodded. ' Well then this should be useful in your charms lessons.'

All through this little discussion Hagrid had been standing there with nothing to say and was starting to look as though he felt a little left out. Harry turned to him and smiled at the look on his face.

' I guess we'd better get to my safe then?' Harry asked him.

' Uh. I guess we'd best.' Hagrid answered, then turned to the goblin. ' So will yeh take us to Harry's safe now?'

' Of course. Right this way.' the goblin said then turned and led them to a platform where they got onto a sort of mine cart. The goblin then tapped the side with its middle finger and said ' Seven hundred thirteen.' and the cart took off.

To Harry it was the most fun he'd had in a long time but Hagrid didn't take it so well and even started to look a bit green before they finally stopped to get out at what Harry assumed to be vault #713. Hagrid asked the goblin to open the door which it did and to Harry's surprise all that was there was a small dirty paper wrapped package. He had expected something grand with jewels and gold and whatnot.

' What in there?' he asked of Hagrid, but Hagrid refused to tell saying that Dumbledore had trusted him not to Harry didn't press the matter. Then they were off to vault 11, which was Harry's apparently.

Here Harry found the jewels and gold that he had expected in the other vault.

Hagrid let out a low whistle as Harry stood there gaping. ' I knew that the Potters had a lot of money but.... wow!' was Hagrid's response to the sight.

' Y-you mean all this is... is all mine?' Harry demanded incredulously.

' Heh heh. Yep. It all belonged to yer parents and now it's all yours. Let's get what we need and go. You can explore and find out what else they left you some other time.'

Explore was right as the vault must have been at least as big as half of the Dursleys' house.

They grabbed a sack full of what Hagrid called galleons and left.

On their way out the doors the goblin stopped Harry for a moment.

' If you ever feel like trying out a job at a bank once you're out of school just come here, I'm sure we could use your talent. And if you have the time this year or another I would be happy to teach you what the colours and shades of magic that you see mean. Just ask for Griphook or me, Kalib.' Kalib said then let Harry go and turned away looking like he was already calculating sums in his head.

' Arrgh. Harry I suppose we should go get your school robes at Madame Malkin's, but would yeh mind if I left yeh with her teh get yer robes? Only those carts don't much agree with my stomach and I'd like ter visit the leaky cauldron again for a pick me up.'

' Of course Hagrid. I don't mind. You've already been more helpful to me than I had any right to ask.'

When they got to the store an assistant told them that Madame Malkin herself was here today and since it was Harry Potter HIMSELF she was sure to want to do his measurements herself if they wouldn't mind waiting a bit as she finished with the student she was working with at the moment.

No, they told her, Of course they wouldn't mind waiting and Harry sat down in the chair that the witch showed him to and Hagrid left for the leaky cauldron promising to talk to the patrons still there so as to satisfy their curiosity in the hopes that they would be more likely to leave Harry alone when he asked.

After a while Harry got bored and having nothing more interesting to look at than shelves full of robes he started meditating to pass the time, but didn't let himself get to deep into it so that he would be aware of when they needed him for his fitting.

About and hour and a half later, which seemed like seconds to Harry, Madame Malkin swooped into the room to curtsy before Harry. Harry was quite alarmed at this. He was starting to wish people wouldn't treat him like this for something that he had done before he could even form thoughts let alone remember anything. Her grand robes, which made her look all the more elegant only made it worse for Harry. They fit loosely but still managed to show off her fine form quite well, but aside from their shape the most stunning thing was their colour. It seemed to change with Harry's thoughts. Rainbows and stripes were flashing everywhere in impossible ways, with two colours being in the same place at once and neither mixing nor blocking one or the other. All in all it was quite overwhelming and all she had done was curtsy.

' Please don't do that ma'am. It's rather embarrassing and there's really no reason for it.' Pleaded Harry as she rose from her curtsy and he got his first look at her face. It was surprisingly old. Not that she was elderly but her eyes told Harry that she was much older than her face and body looked. He guessed that she was just a few years older than Hagrid. The second thing he noticed was that her face was flushed as though she was either annoyed or embarrassed or both.

' Of course there is. Even without the fact that you're the one that stopped you-know-who I've kept you waiting much too long, I beg your pardon for the inconvenience.' she said in an almost silky voice sounding very self-possessed.

' Really? I hadn't noticed that I'd been here too long.' Harry said, which earned him a puzzled glance from the assistant witch.

' You're too kind. Now I assume you're here for your school robes? Very well, this way if you please.' she stated briskly then turned and went through the curtains she had emerged from and led Harry to a fitting room where the other boy she had been measuring was waiting.

The boy had a pale pointed face with an arrogant look to it and the shape of his mouth had a sort of sneer to it even though he wasn't sneering at the moment. His hair was perfectly straight and parted right down the middle. It hung halfway past his ears and was so pale a blond that it seemed almost white next to the black robes he wore.

Harry felt an instant dislike of this boy but reminded himself not to judge a sword by it's sheath, a saying he had picked up from Mr. Osakawa. Harry's sensei had often used the saying in reference to Harry himself.

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AN- Okay he DID meet Malfoy but nothing has happened yet. I promise after this chapter Harry will actually talk to Malfoy. I know, I know! He was supposed to in this chapter and I really thought he would but I don't plan this story. I just sit down and type and follow Rowling's basic plot. So therefore pretty much everything happens that's supposed to I just won't know when it'll happen 'til I type it.

PS: What does everyone think of Harry's little trick with seeing magical reactions? He can't see magic being used or see magical traps (too cheap in a fight or somethin') and it won't matter until I've gotten to year five (if I do!) but I'd like to know your opinions of it.

Two reviews! J

VipyGirl831: Thanks for your review, but I think you were a little too hard on yourself. Besides, I’m not the best writer. It takes me FOREVER to get new chapters out! And don’t worry about seeing more of my writing. From chapter three on it’s all me!

Kabal: Wow. Me? One of “The Greats”? I don’t even consider myself on a level even close to any of the authors you mentioned, but nonetheless your review certainly made me feel good! J Thanks! I’ll be posting chapters two at a time up to chapter 21. After that… who knows? Thanks again for the review, I’m really glad to hear you’ve been reading and enjoying the story.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

6. Chapter Six

AN- Harry has an “encounter” with Malfoy in this chapter.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

PS: I MEAN to spell "Anywho" that way...

PPS: Everyone should look up the "Switchblade Kittens" and get their song "Ode to Harry Potter"!

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Harry felt an instant dislike of this boy but reminded himself not to judge a sword by its sheath, a saying he had picked up from Mr. Osakawa. Harry's sensei had often used the saying in reference to Harry himself.

After a quick glance at Harry the boy dismissed him as unimportant and looked to Madame Malkin.

' Father said to remind you to use your best material this time as there was a stain on the last set of robes you made for me. He also said to remind you that he can make life difficult for you should you fail to meet the Malfoy standards.' He said in a bored tone.

He then turned and walked out a door in the side of the room that Harry assumed would open into the alley by the store. However the boy shouted out " Gringotts!" as he passed through and Harry caught a glimpse of the main foyer through the doorway before it closed behind the boy and disappeared (AN- don't worry Malfoy haters. I'm not done with him yet.).

Taken aback at first Harry reminded himself that "Nothing is as it seems." when dealing in magic. Thinking again about the boy, he realized that Madame Malkin was muttering to herself as she went about the room picking things up from the measurements she had just finished with. Harry thought he caught the words "Damn Malfoys think they're so..." but he couldn't make out more than that. Harry decided that his first impression of the boy might have been right after all. As well as being arrogant the boy, Malfoy, Harry reminded himself, was also too dim to make a more subtle threat. That or he had reason to be so confidant. And from the looks of Madame Malkin I'd guess that the latter is true.

' Uh. Excuse me Madame Malkin? I know this will sound like a silly question but I was wondering if you could explain that door to me?' Harry asked pointing at the wall where the door had been. It was a poor attempt at getting her mind off the Malfoys but Harry didn't like to see someone as seemingly kind as Madame Malkin upset by some little pest that needed to be taken down a notch.

For a moment Madame Malkin glared at the wall as though it was the cause of her problems with the Malfoys. Then she shook her head, sighed and smiled at Harry.

' It's not silly. I keep forgetting that you grew up with muggles though.' she replied.

' Does EVERYONE know so much about me?' Harry groaned exaggeratedly (AN- I know it's not a word...).

Madame Malkin couldn't help but chuckle at this as she answered. ' Actually most people don't know quite so much, but as Hagrid and I are acquaintances I've learned as much about your life as Hagrid almost. As for the door... Well it's difficult to explain to someone that has no experience with magic. The door belongs to the Malfoys and follows them where ever they are. it has a way of connecting any too rooms that are connected to the floo powder network. Of course to understand that I'd have to explain floo powder and so on so you can see how the best way to learn is experience in this case.' Having accomplished what he was aiming for, namely getting her concentration off the Malfoys, Harry simply nodded his agreement to her last statement and she started her measurements without a word.

Never having had his measurements taken Harry wasn't sure what he was expected to do and eventually the two of them were falling over with laughter as Harry almost fell over several times while trying to change positions for Madame Malkin to work. All in all Harry had quite a good time just having his measurements taken and was grinning like an idiot by the time Madame Malkin was done.

' Your robes should be ready in just a few hours if you'd like to go get the rest of your supplies with Hagrid and then come back for them?' Madame Malkin said. She was still grinning at Harry's previous antics.

' Did I hear my name?' Boomed Hagrid as he came into the shop. ' So, yeh got yer robes yet Harry? No, of course you don't they won't be done quite yet' he said answering his own question.

' How are you Hagrid?' Madame Malkin asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. ' I heard you went down to Harry's vault at Gringotts? Did you enjoy the ride? Harry said he had fun.'

' Ughh. Don' remind me.' Hagrid groaned. ' But what are yeh doin' here? Yer almost never in your shop. You're usually travelling around the world and bringing back new materials and fashions.'

' Well I can only take so much traveling at a time and since Harry here was supposed to be starting at Hogwarts this year I thought that I'd come back and make sure that his robes were properly made.' This answer seemed to satisfy Hagrid but it only served to further embarrass Harry.

' Well Hagrid as I was just suggesting to Harry, why don't you take him to get the rest of his supplies while I work on his robes then when you're done you can come back here to pick them up?'

' That sounds like a good idea. What d'yeh say teh that Harry?'

' It's alright with me.'

' Then lets git goin'.' Hagrid said and they left for Flourish and Blotts to get Harry's books.

' Heh heh. Here's one yeh might like to try out on Dudley.' Hagrid said with a book called Curses and Counter-Curses by Vindictus Viridian.

Harry just chuckled a bit as Hagrid put the book down. He didn't really want revenge. As far as he was concerned there was no point and it wouldn't make up for anything Dudley had done to Harry unless Dudley actually felt sorry for the way he had treated Harry. Once Harry had all his books they left to pick up his other school supplies at a shop for "General Wizarding Equipment".

Then they at last went to get Harry's wand. Harry had been waiting for this all day. Finally he would be able to do magic himself, or at least once he knew some he would but he figured he'd be able to learn something from his books before school started.

When they entered, for once Harry felt that the building was the same size inside, as it appeared to be outside. It had the atmosphere of a library. Meaning that Harry didn't ask the cascade of questions that he thought of upon entering the shop. It just felt like speaking or disturbing the silence would be offensive to everyone there. Except that Hagrid was the only other person there. Harry was about to ask Hagrid where the owner was when....

' Good afternoon.' a soft voice said right behind Harry.

The pale old man that was standing there made it feel even more like a library with his half-moon spectacles and penetrating look. He was only up to Harry's shoulder but he had a way of dominating the room and the already small room seemed to shrink around Harry and he wondered if maybe it was.

' Ah yes. Yes, I thought I'd be seeing you soon.' Said the man. ' Harry Potter.' It wasn't a question. (AN- the wands will be slightly different than in the books.)' You have your mothers eyes. I remember her well. Her first wand was ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, willow. Nice for charm work. Your father's though, was mahogany. Twelve inches. Pliable. Excellent for transfiguration. My name is Mr. Ollivander.'

By the end of this Harry and him were almost nose to nose although Mr. Ollivander was much shorter.

' And that would be where...' Mr. Ollivander said touching Harry's scar with a long finger. ' I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it. Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Well if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do... Ah well. It is in the past.'

Then, to Harry's relief, Mr. Ollivander saw Hagrid as he shook his head at having been the one to sell THAT particular wand.

' Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again. Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy wasn't it?'

' It was sir.' Hagrid answered.

' It was a fine wand. They broke it in half when you were expelled though I suppose?'

' They did but I've still got the pieces.' Hagrid said brightly.

Mr. Ollivander's only response was to chuckle softly and turn back to Harry. ' Well lets get to work. It always takes the longest to find your first wand. Well, now - Mr Potter Let me see.' He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. ' Which is your wand arm?'

' Er - well, I'm right-handed,' said Harry

' Hold out your arm. That's it.' he measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow; shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his bead. As he measured, he said, 'Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand.'

Harry suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves taking down boxes.

' That will do.' he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor ' Right then, Mr Potter Try this one. ' Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave.

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit. To his surprise, a few small sparks flew out of the end, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. After that Harry started to lose track of how many wands he tried some did nothing others made sparks of different colours but Mr. Ollivander quickly snatched each one from his hand. Harry would have apologized for being such a difficult customer if it hadn't seemed that the more difficult it was to find the right wand the more Mr. Ollivander seemed to enjoy what he did.

' Hmm, something odd then. Only a few wands like this have been useful. Ironwood and phoenix feather. Eleven inches. Stiff but flexible. Try it.'

Then moment Harry touched the wand he knew it was the one. A warmth seemed to spread from his fingers all the way up his arm. As he flick the end of the wand at the wall. Bright silver and blue sparks shot out of the end. where ever they hit something they turned into a picture of the sparks. A line of blue and silver sparks was painted across the floor and up the wall.

' Oh very well done! Well done indeed!' Mr. Ollivander cried out. ' Curious. You know I remember every single wand I've sold and the phoenix that gave that feather gave just one other. Odd that this would be your wand when it's brother is the one that gave you that scar.... Yes, very odd indeed.'

After they'd paid for the wand, as Hagrid and Harry left, Harry finally asked the question he had wanted to know since he entered the shop.

' Umm... Mr. Ollivander sir? I was wondering if you could tell me how you know how powerful a wand is?'

' Many people have asked that when they get their first wand. The wand is not powerful at all. It is the wizard or witch themselves that have the power.'

Puzzled Harry asked ' But, then why do we need wands?'

For once Mr. Ollivander actually looked surprised at the question. ' The wand, Harry is merely a tool. It is used to focus the magical energy that a person that is not a muggle has.'

Instead of clearing things up Harry became even more confused. Hagrid had explained apparation and that you didn't need a wand to do it. You were simply able to transport yourself to where ever you were headed. Harry asked about this as well.

' Well I can only answer that by saying that perhaps there are other ways of focusing magical energy.' was Mr. Ollivander's reply, and with that Harry and Hagrid left to pick up Harry's robes and then his animal that Hagrid had promised.

' Very interesting indeed.' Mr. Ollivander said to himself after Harry was gone. ' The only other wizards to ever ask me those other questions were Dumbledore and... Merlin.'

Harry and Hagrid picked up the robes then Hagrid suggested that Harry look around a while by himself in Eylops before making a decision on an animal. So Harry was walking around in the musty store when he heard a familiar voice. It was the Malfoy boy. (AN- I'm a poet and didn't know it! ^_^')

' You call THAT a quality owl?! Get real! Humph! I suppose it'll have to do as it's the best you've got.'

The voice was in the isle next to the one Harry was in. He heard the lady at the desk muttering something and counting out change. Then he heard an owl hooting in agitation as footsteps went towards the door.

Harry got to the end of the isle and stepped out in front of the boy to see him sneering and trying to grab an owl out of it's cage while he walked. He didn't look up until he walked right into Harry and almost fell over. Harry didn't budge and inch.

' Watch where you're going you oaf!' the boy screamed at Harry.

Harry's face was completely devoid of emotion as he asked ' What're you doing to that owl?'

' None of your f***ing business!'

' I don't think it likes you. I don't blame it.' Harry calmly said in return.

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AN- So this is how you write a cliff-hanger.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

8. Heading to Hogwarts

AN- Okay I don't know what you guys think but I think that last chapter kinda sucked. I wasn't really getting into the story like I normally do. But anywho, in this chapter Harry is probably going to meet Hermione and Ron. I guess we won't know until I type it...

Bye

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Whenever Harry DID leave the Leaky Cauldron he learned to Hid his scar and blend in with the other wizards so as not to attract attention to himself. It never worked completely but he was at least able to move about Diagon Alley (AN Say it fast-diagonally) without attracting a mob. His glasses did much to hid Harry since, because they were mirror plated, no one was able to see the bright green of his eyes which had become almost as trademark for Harry as his scar.

During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron Harry had the best time of his life. Although he still didn't feel like he really fit in he was learning a lot from his schoolbooks. He had found himself playing with his wand wanting to try out a spell or two from his books more than once. Of all of his school supplies Harry's wand was what interested him most and he was almost always holding it or constantly checking to make sure it was still in his pocket.

Truthfully Harry really didn't fit in yet but Tom always went out of his way, in his spare time, to tell Harry all about the wizarding world. Eventually Harry felt more at home in the wizarding world, if not the Leaky Cauldron, than he ever had at the Dursleys. In fact Harry was beginning to think that his idea of what a "home" was supposed to be like was wrong. Home at his Uncle's house had never been this much fun!

On the last day before he was to leave for the train station Harry was becoming quite hyper and wanted to go outside of the pub but it was packed like a sardine can. Harry knew at once that he didn't want to try and deal with a crowd that size all trying to get his autograph at once, but he was still restless. In an attempt to calm down Harry started practicing his meditation. Once he calmed down he realized that he DIDN'T have to stay in his room to avoid the crowd.

There were two windows in his room one of which faced the alley in between Gringotts and the Leaky Cauldron. There was a drainpipe right across from his window to.

Harry made his decision at once. He opened the window, judged the distance carefully and jumped. Unfortunately the pipe was wet and slipped out of Harry's grasp and Harry fell. The fall would have been two stories, but acting quickly Harry did the splits, pushing his feet against both walls. Although this slowed him considerably he didn't stop falling. About six feet from the ground Harry brought his legs back underneath him and dropped, landing on his feet with as little noise as possible.

For a moment Harry just stood there shaking his head at his stupidity. He should have realized the pipe was wet before his jumped. It would have been an embarrassing way to die. The boy that "defeated You-Know-Who" killed by a slippery pipe.

After calming down after the scare Harry made sure his hair was covering his scar and that his glasses were covering his eyes and walked out of the alley as if it was a normal place to have been. It worked perfectly. No one even glanced at him.

Now that Harry was free of the Leaky Cauldron he realized that there was one place he hadn't visited since the day he arrived, Gringotts. He decided that the best way to pass the day would be to ask the goblins at Gringotts about his ability to see magical reactions. Supposedly it would be useful in charms lessons. How it would be useful Harry had no idea.

When Harry entered the bank it was packed. He saw families in every line but one family in particular stood out with it's flaming red hair. It was also the biggest group there. Harry was about to leave but when he turned to go there was a goblin standing right in front of him.

' Harry Potter I presume? I am Griphook. You were told about me yes?' The short and slightly portly goblin said.

' Shhhhh! Not so loud!' Harry said glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. Fortunately no one was looking in their direction except for a girl about Harry's age with bushy brown hair and cinnamon eyes, but she blushed and quickly looked away when she saw Harry looking her way.

' Yes I know you. Or rather I know who you are. I was told that you could tell me about seeing magical reactions?' Griphook nodded. ' Well I was wondering if you might explain it to me. If you have the time, that is. It is kinda busy...'

' Yes, yes. Of course. I would rather enjoy explaining it. I have always been interested in any humans with the ability to see reactions in magic. However, I don't think this would be a good place for us to talk. Follow me.' And with that Griphook led Harry through a door behind the tellers.

Harry spent most of the rest of his last day at Diagon Alley learning about his ability. Apparently there wasn't much to learn about it except for its history, which Harry forgot pretty much right away, and what different colours and shades meant. Unfortunately for Harry Griphook told him it probably wouldn't be of any use to him until his fourth or fifth year at Hogwarts. It was kind of disappointing to Harry who had hoped to have a bit of an advantage to make up for his lack of experience.

All in all Harry enjoyed talking with Griphook and didn't leave for hours when he did leave he decided to simply head back to the Leaky Cauldron and pack in order to be ready for the next day, and to practice his martial arts before bed. Practicing usually tired him out so this way he figured that he might be able to fall asleep before he had to actually get up the next day.

As it was Harry still couldn't sleep until one o'clock in the morning and had terrible dreams once he did.

Someone pounding on his door waked Harry up early the next morning. With bleary eyes Harry fumbled around until he found his glasses on his night table. He slipped them on hiding his eyes from the morning sun and opened the door.

' About time yeh got up Harry! The train leaves in a few hours and we've still gotta get you packed up and to the station.' Hagrid said.

' ...I'm already packed...'

' Yeh are? Well I'll be. Sorry about that I guess you didn't need to get up quite yet then...' Hagrid answered looking quite sheepish.

' Oh well I'm up now. I might as well double check everything.' Harry mumbled and went to have a shower and get dressed.

After Harry had dressed, he and Hagrid double-checked everything and by the time they were done Hagrid announced that it was time for them to leave.

' Goodbye Tom and thanks for letting me stay here.' Harry said as he and Hagrid went out the door on their way to the bus stop.

' Oh it was no trouble at all. In fact it really did wonders for my business for people to hear that Harry Potter was staying here at the Leaky Cauldron. We'll all miss you though. That's for sure.'

' Well thanx all the same. I had a wonderful time and I really owe you for helping me have some privacy!' Harry chuckled along with Hagrid.

' Heh heh. Well it's only to be expected yeh know Harry. Not only are YOU famous but yer parents were much loved by all that knew them and for their son to be starting his first year in the wizarding world... well people are happy for yeh!'

Harry just smiled a little and then they left for the bus stop. Once they got there Hagrid put down Harry's trunk.

' Well this is where we part ways but I'll see yeh soon once yeh get to Hogwarts, Harry.' he said and turned to leave.

' But I thought that you were coming with me? At least to the station?' Harry asked bewildered.

' Uh well I'd surely like to but... well Dumbledore needs me at Hogwarts before all the students arrive. I'll wait till the bus gets here and help yeh with yer trunk but then yer on yer own. Nothing to worry about. Yeh got yer Hogwarts letter and all yer things.'

' Ok then. It's really not a problem I was just confused is all. If you need to be going then don't worry about me. I can manage.'

' Yeh sure? Yer trunk is awful heavy for someone yer size...' but Hagrid stopped as Harry bent over and picked up his trunk with just a little strain. ' Heh heh. Oh right. I keep forgettin' "Things are not always what they seem." especially with yeh Harry. Well I suppose if yer sure yeh kin handle it on yer own, then I'd best be going.'

' See you in a while then Hagrid.'

' At Hogwarts then Harry!' Hagrid called as he walked away down the street.

' How is he going to get to Hogwarts before me anyway?' Harry wondered aloud as the bus pulled up and the driver got out to open a door in the side for Harry's trunk.

Except for a bit of trouble with Hedwig on the bus, Harry's ride to the station was uneventful compared to the last few days. Harry got his trunk onto a trolley and put Hedwig's cage on top and wheeled everything into the station. It was half past ten so Harry had plenty of time to find his platform. He pulled out his letter and found out that his platform was number 9 3/4. Harry looked at the signs for the platforms and saw that he was at number 8. He turned right and walked to number... ten? Harry looked back at number nine, and then looked in between nine and ten, but he couldn't find number 9 3/4 anywhere. He couldn't even see how another platform would fit in between nine and ten.

Harry was starting to panic. The train would leave in fifteen minutes with or without him and he had no idea where the platform was! Harry took a breath and calmed down. Obviously platform 9 3/4 was for wizards only so that would be why there was no sign of it. It must be hidden like the Leaky Cauldron. Unfortunately Hagrid wasn't around this time to point it out to Harry.

Harry decided to try and find some other wizards that might know how to get to 9 3/4. If he approached a muggle about it by mistake the worst that could happen would be for him to be embarrassed. He started looking around for anyone that might be a wizard. He looked for people in robes, with owls or any other wizardly thing that might give them away.

However, when he did find a large group of wizards it was not by any of these clues that Harry picked them out. They all had bright red hair.

Upon closer inspection he noticed that one of the boys in the family was fiddling with a stick, which Harry correctly assumed to be his wand.

' George! Put that away! We're not on the platform yet!' hissed the boys mother just loud enough for Harry to hear.

' Oh honestly mother. Even if a muggle DID notice do you really think they'd assume it is what it REALLY is? And anyway I'm Fred not George! Can't you even tell us apart?' Gred replied... or was it Feorge?

The woman sighed and shook her head hiding a smile. ' You go first Percy you're oldest.'

The oldest looking boy separated from the group and started walking towards the ticket barrier in between the two platforms. Harry watched him closely to see what he did but right before "Percy" reached the barrier a group of tourists walked in front of Harry and when Harry could see the barrier again Percy was gone. Luckily the twins, Gred and Feorge were already on their way and this time Harry's line of sight would be clear, but when they reached the barrier they simply vanished and Harry hadn't seen what they had done.

With a sigh Harry gave up on getting to the platform with out talking to the group. He just hoped, as he walked towards them, that they wouldn't see his scar.

' Umm... Excuse me m'am....' Harry started.

' Yes? Oh! Is it your first time at Hogwarts dear?' the plump woman asked as she turned around.

At first Harry was taken aback. How had she known? Then he realized that most muggles didn't carry white owls with green eyes around with them.

' Yes.' Harry said. ' However I don't know how to get onto the platform.'

She smiled kindly and said ' Not to worry dear. All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier three quarters of the way between nine and ten. Don't stop and don't worry that you'll crash into it. Go on now, before Ron she said indicating a boy of about Harry's age but almost a foot taller with the same red hair as the rest of his family.

Harry nodded. ' Ok.' he said and started walking.

When Harry was passing through the barrier there were tiny sparkles of bright white light wherever Harry was touching the barrier. Or rather the illusion of a barrier. Harry supposed that it was the magic of the illusion reaction to his own magic and letting him pass through that he was seeing. The lights kind of tickled wherever they touched him.

On the other side of the barrier there was a red steam engine waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign over the platform said "Hogwarts Express, eleven o' clock." Harry allowed himself a small smile. He was on his way to a place where he could learn magic. He was prepared to do anything to learn magic. Even if the people were like the Dursleys he wasn't about to leave. The woman on the other side had surprised him. If it had been the Dursleys they probably would have shouted at him for bothering them or ignored him completely. Harry was still not used to the fact that most people were nothing like the Dursleys.

At least Harry could be sure that he was in the right place. All over the place there were cats of EVERY colour and Harry could see many people with owls. All of which seemed to be going crazy hooting and flapping their wings in their cages. In fact Harry's own Hedwig and a few of the owls closest to Harry were the only calm owls. Harry wondered if this was one of Hedwig's special abilities. He didn't have long to wonder though as more people were coming through the barrier near him, though he didn't see anymore red heads yet.

Harry pushed his cart down the platform towards the end of the train hoping there would be a compartment near the back that was empty. The last few compartments were empty so Harry choose the very last one and carried Hedwig in. Then he came out for his trunk.

As he was bending over to pick it up he heard one of the twins he'd followed through shout out to him.

' Oi there! Ya want a hand with that?' Fred (or George) asked as he trotted up to Harry.

' No thanks I've got it.' Harry answered and grabbed one handle and heaved it over his shoulder to carry the trunk on his back. ' Thanks anyway.' Harry said to the impressed twins.

Harry carried the trunk into his compartment and set it in the corner.

' Looks like you're not as scrawny as you appear.' said George (or Fred) as Harry wiped some sweat from his forehead. The trunk hadn't been very heavy, at least not to Harry, but the station was rather warm today.

In perfect unison the twins did a double take at Harry's scar and said 'Oi, what's that?'

' Blimey, are you-?' said Fred (or George).

' He is,' said the other twin. ' aren't you?'

' What?'

' Harry Potter!' the twins said, once more in unison.

' Oh, him.' said Harry. ' I mean, yes, I am.'

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AN- Copying and pasting, copying and pasting, copying and pasting…. This gets boring after a while…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

9. Hermione Granger

AN- Again I'm sorry about the last chapter. I REALLY though Hermione would be there, but I promise that she'll be in this one or else that I won't stop typing until she is!

Bye!

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In perfect unison the twins did a double take at Harry's scar and said 'Oi, what's that?'

' Blimey, are you-?' said Fred (or George).

' He is,' said the other twin. ' aren't you?'

' What?'

' Harry Potter!' the twins said, once more in unison.

' Oh, him.' said Harry. ' I mean, yes, I am.'

The twins gaped. Having nothing to say Harry stood there and waited for some reaction. Just when the silence was starting to get awkward the twins mother called from outside of the train.

' Fred? George? Are you there?'

' Coming mum!'

With a last glance at Harry the twins left to talk to there mother. After getting settled Harry sat down to wait for the train to leave. He realized that he could see and hear the red haired family from where he was sitting. Their mother had just pulled out her handkerchief and was rubbing at an imaginary spot on the youngest boy's nose. Harry thought that this boy's name was Ron from what the mother had said outside the barrier. Eventually though the boy wriggled free with a now very red nose.

The mother sighed and rolled her eyes then glanced around and asked ' Where's Percy?'

Just then the oldest boy came walking up. ' Can't stay long mother,' he said. ' I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves and-'

' Oh are you a prefect, Percy?' said one of the twins acting very surprised. ' You should have said something, we had no idea!'

' Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it,' said the other twin. ' Once-'

' Or twice-'

' A minute-'

' All summer-'

' Oh shut up.' said Percy the Prefect.

Once again the mother seemed, to Harry, to be doing her best to frown at the twins instead of smiling or laughing. ' All right dear, well, have a good term and send me an owl when you get there!' She hugged Percy and then he left. ' As for you two- this year, behave! If I get one more owl this year telling me you've- you've blown up a toilet or some-'

' Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet!'

' Great idea though! Thanks mom!'

' It's not funny!' said their mother with her lips pressed together. Whether out of anger or to hide her smile Harry wasn't sure. ' And take care of Ron.'

Ron, who was already almost as tall as the twins rolled his eyes. His nose was still a bit pink.

' Hey mom guess what? Guess who we just met on the train? HARRY POTTER!'

Harry quickly turned his head away so he could watch them from the side of his glasses but they wouldn't see his eyes through the mirrored glasses and it would look like he was looking somewhere else. (AN-WAY too long a sentence!)

Harry saw the little girl asking her mum ' Oh can I PLEASE go on the train and see him mum!?'

' You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't some animal in a zoo. Is he really Fred? How do you know?'

' Asked him. Saw his scar and everything. It's really there like lightning. Couldn't see his eyes through those glasses though.' (AN- Most people probably missed it but Harry got mirror plated glasses to hide the black eyes he sometimes got from Duddley. Check the first chapter.)

' Poor dear- no wonder he was alone. I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get on to the platform.'

' Forget that! Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?'

Their mother suddenly became very serious. ' I FORBID you to ask him that, Fred. Don't you DARE. As though he needs reminding of THAT on his first day of school.'

' All right, all right. Keep your hair on.' Said Fred though he looked rather ashamed. Harry was surprised to realize that the boy was ashamed that he might have upset Harry if he asked about Voldemort. Harry was beginning to find out that Most people cared about their relatives but that someone that didn't really even know him would care about his feelings... it gave Harry an odd feeling in his stomach. Like he had eaten too much, only it was a pleasant feeling.

Just then a whistle blew signalling that the train was getting ready to leave and the three boys hurried onto the train after hugging their mother goodbye.

A moment later the youngest boy of the group came into Harry's compartment lugging a trunk that looked rather heavy. ' Mind if I stay in here with you? All the other compartments are full.'

' Sure, no problem.' Harry replied and got up to help the boy get his trunk stowed away under the seats.

Just as they were sitting down Fred and George burst in.

' Hello. We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves before. I'm George, this is Fred and this is our brother Ron.' said George pointing at Ron. ' And of course we know who you are.. Uh Mr. Potter.'

' Please! Call me "Harry". It's really weird to be called "Mr.". Especially by people older than you. And it's nice to meet you all.'

' We're going to go see what animal Lee brought this year. Either of you wanna come?' Asked Fred.

' No thanks. Think I'll just stay here and relax.' Answered Harry.

' Yeah. Me too.' Ron said.

' Alright see ya later.'

' Yeah, see ya Ron. Bye Harry!' and then the twins left.

' Are you really Harry Potter?' Ron blurted out.

' Yes I am.'

' Do you really have a...' Ron trailed off as his eyes traveled to Harry's forehead.

Harry took off his glasses so Ron could see his eyes, his eyesight wasn't TOO bad, and brushed his hair off his forehead.

' Wow! So that's where You-Know-Who...?'

' Yep, but I really can't remember anything other than a bright green light.'

Ron looked a little disappointed at this but at the same time relieved. He sat and stared at Harry for a while before realizing what he was doing and he quickly looked away out the window.

' So is everyone in your family a wizard?' Harry asked as interested in Ron as Ron was in Harry.

' I think so. We might have a cousin that's an accountant but I don't know because we don't really talk about him much. I heard that you had to live with muggles. What were they like?'

' Well I can't really describe them because I've always lived with them. Because of that I haven't experienced anything else to compare them with. People keep telling me how horrible they are though. The Dursleys I mean, not muggles. 'Harry explained. ' I wish I'd had three wizard brothers.'

' Five.' said Ron suddenly looking depressed. ' I'm the sixth Weasley to go to Hogwarts. I guess you could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was the captain of the quidditch team. Now Percy's a prefect, Fred and George mess around a lot but get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone will expect me to do well also but if I do it won't be a big deal because they'll have done it first. And with five brothers you don't get much new stuff. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat.'

Ron pulled a sleeping fat rat out of his jacket.

' His name's Scabbers and he's completely useless. The only reason I got Scabbers is because Dad got Percy an owl for being made a prefect and they couldn't affor... I mean, I got Scabbers instead.' Ron stopped talking seeming to think that he had said too much.

Harry was wondering why Ron would be embarrassed by not having enough money for something. After all he had never had any money to speak of and everything he had other than the absolute necessities was from generous people like Mr. Osakawa. He told Ron all this and it seemed to make him feel better. So Harry continued on to tell Ron about having to wear Duddley's old clothes, which Ron seemed to find hilarious, and never having a birthday party (Harry usually had to look at his birth certificate to remember when his B-Day was) at which Ron got quiet and sort of angry.

'...and until Hagrid told me about it I had no idea I was even a wizard! I didn't even believe in magic! I didn't know about my parents or Voldemort or-'

Ron gasped.

' What?' Harry asked.

' You said You-Know-Who's name!' Ron said sounding shocked and impressed. ' Although I guess it makes sense that YOU'RE not afraid of him.'

' I'm not trying to be brave or something saying is name. I just never knew I shouldn't. You see what I mean? I've got loads to learn that will be common sense to most other people at Hogwarts. I bet...' Harry said, with a sort of self-depreciating smirk. '...I'm the worst in the class.'

' Naw, you won't be. There's loads of muggle born kids and they learn quick enough.'

After that they were quiet for a while, letting the scenery speed by. At about half past twelve a dimple woman with curly hair opened their door and asked ' Would you like anything from the trolley dears?'

Harry jumped up and ran to the door not having had breakfast. Ron on the other hand just mumbled something about having brought sandwiches. Harry was ready to buy as many chocolate bars as he could carry as it was the first time he had ever had extra money to buy them with. However, the woman didn't have chocolate bars. In fact the closest thing Harry found to chocolate bars were called chocolate frogs. Not knowing what to get Harry got a few of everything and did his best to carry them back into the compartment without dropping any.

' Hungry are you?' Ron asked with a bemused expression on his face.

' Yeah. I missed having breakfast.'

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. It contained four sandwiches.

' She always forgets that I don't like corned beef.' Ron sighed.

' Swap ya one for a pasty?' Harry said.

Ron looked uncertain.

' Go on, have a pasty. I'm not gonna eat them all myself!' Harry encouraged.

It was a nice feeling sitting there with Ron eating their way through all Harry's cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties. Harry had never had anything to share with anyone before and if he had he wouldn't have had anyone to share it with.

' These aren't REALLY frogs are they?' asked Harry holding up a "Chocolate Frog".

' No, but check out what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa.'

' What?'

' Oh yeah. I guess you wouldn't know about that. There are cards of famous witches and wizards inside to collect. I've got about five hundred but I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy.'

Harry opened the package and looked at the card while eating the chocolate frog. It was Dumbledore.

' So this is Dumbledore.'

' Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!? Oh sorry, I guess you wouldn't have.'

Harry and Ron spent a while eating all the things Harry had bought and were almost half way through when a round faced boy that Harry had passed on the platform open their door.

' Excuse me but have you seen a toad at all? Only I've lost mine.' he asked tearfully.

' Sorry no, but here. Have a chocolate frog. We can't eat them all ourselves and I'm sure your toad will turn up.' Harry said passing the boy a frog.

' Thanks.' the boy said looking rather surprised then turned and left.

Ron sort of smiled and shook his head at Harry thinking that the great Harry Potter was much different then he had expected.

' Huh. Well I guess there's no danger of me losing Scabbers is there? He could die and you would never know the difference!' Ron said and Harry and him had a good laugh about it.

' I tried a spell my brothers told me about yesterday to turn him yellow but it didn't work. Here, I'll show you.' and Ron started rummaging around in his trunk then pulled out and old and battered looking wand.

He had just raised his wand over the rat n question when the door slid open again. The boy that had lost his toad was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She had curly chestnut hair and cinnamon eyes. For some reason Harry thought she looked familiar and he found himself feeling very warm all of a sudden. Harry realized that he was staring at her and shook his head and focused on what she was saying. Fortunately she hadn't noticed him staring. In fact the girls hadn't really even noticed him at all yet.

' Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one.' she was saying. She had a bossy sort of voice and Harry could see that her front teeth were a little large.

' We've already told him we haven't seen it.' But the girl wasn't listening. She was looking at the wand in Ron's hand.

' Oh are you doing magic? Let's see it then.' she said sitting next to Ron who looked taken aback.

' Er- alright, but it didn't work LAST time so...' Ron muttered then cleared his throat.

' Sunshine, Daises, Butter mellow,

Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.'

Nothing happened.

' Are you sure that's a real spell?' the girls asked. ' It didn't work very well.'

' Well I guess it was probably just a joke my brothers were playing on me.'

' Hmm. Well I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got the letter. I'm very pleased though of course. I mean it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learnt all our set books off by heart of course. I just hope it's enough- I'm Hermione Granger by the way.' the girl said all in one breath. ' Who are you?'

Harry had memorized most of the books as well, though not on purpose, and certainly not ALL of EVERY book. However from the look on Ron's face he hadn't read any of the books at all.

Well maybe I WILL have a small advantage after all. Harry thought.

' I'm Ron Weasley.' Ron muttered.

' Harry.' Harry said.

' Harry who?' Hermione started to say until she saw his scar. For a moment Harry thought she was starting to blush while she looked at him but it was only a moment. Harry decided it was his imagination. Maybe she would be excited to meet THE Harry Potter but she wasn't blushing.

' Are you really?' Said Hermione. ' I know all about you of course- I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in most every one published in the last eleven years!'

' Am I?' asked Harry feeling dazed.

' You didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me!' Hermione exclaimed. ' Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. It sounds the best by far, in fact I heard that Dumbledore himself was a Griffindor, but I suppose that Ravenclaw would be alright to. We'd better go get looking for Neville's toad again.' she said standing to leave. ' You two better get changed into your robes you know. I expect we'll be there soon.'

And with that she left.

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AN- I figured that was a good place to leave off until next time. More Malfoy in the next chapter I think.....

Anywho, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

10. Chapter Ten

AN- I was thinking that someone HAS to make a Harry Potter anime!.....Anywho, Back to more important things...

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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' You didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me!' Hermione exclaimed. ' Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. It sounds the best by far, in fact I heard that Dumbledore himself was a Gryffindor, but I suppose that Ravenclaw would be alright to. We'd better go get looking for Neville's toad again.' she said standing to leave. ' You two better get changed into your robes you know. I expect we'll be there soon.'

And with that she left.

Ron threw his wand in his trunk. ' Stupid spell- George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud. Anywho (AN- sorry but I always say and type anyWHO instead of anyWAY) Anywho, whatever house I'm in I hope she's not in it. What about you Harry?'

Harry actually though he wouldn't mind being in Hermione's house but could see that that answer would not make Ron very happy so he ignored the question. ' What house are your brothers in?'

' Gryffindor. ALL the Weasleys have been in Gryffindor! So if I don't get into Gryffindor I'll disappoint EVERYONE!' This situation was obviously upsetting Ron.

' I'm sure the house you end up in will be the right one. After all I think you get put in one house or another depending on your characteristics not how much magical ability you have.' Harry actually had no idea but thought that his explanation was the most likely one, so he wasn't exactly lying. Harry NEVER lied.

This soothed Ron's nerves visibly. ' So did you hear about Gringotts? Some one tried to break into one of the high security vaults! My brother, Bill, is in Africa doing some work for Gringotts that I THINK might have something to do with making the security a little bit more secure.' he said.

Harry had indeed heard about it from his friend Kalib at Gringotts, who had though Harry should know that it was probably the work of a dark arts master, for example... VOLDEMORT!!!! Dun dun dunnnnnn! (AN- heh heh lol!) He told Ron what Kalib had told him about it.

' Whoa. (AN- think Reeves.) You don't think You-Know-Who might be behind it do you?' Ron asked.

' Who? Voldemort?'

Ron gasped.

' Oops! Sorry I keep forgetting!' exclaimed Harry. ' But anyway I thought everyone says he's dead?'

' They do! And some people are still scared of the thought of him to this day, that's how bad it was when he was still powerful and that's why you're so famous.' Ron could see that talking about how famous Harry was, was upsetting to Harry to he let the conversation die.

' So what house was Vold... uh... You-Know-Who in?' Harry asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

' He was a Slytherin. I guess it wouldn't be TOO bad if I was in Ravenclaw... or even Hufflepuff but if I get put in Slytherin I think I might actually quit the school. Just about every dark arts wizard in the last few hundred years has been in Slytherin.' (AN- I don't really have anything against Slytherin... I just don't like Malfoy or Snape...)

' So I'm guessing that I should hope I'm NOT in Slytherin? Are you SURE it's really that bad though?'

' Harry. You obviously haven't been listening. If what you said about how your house is chosen is right then you only get put in Slytherin if you've got some evil in you! George told me that you have to pass some sort of test to be sorted but... well it was GEORGE that told me...'nuff said.'

Harry wasn't so sure about Slytherin as Ron was since he hadn't really met any Slytherins yet. Harry decided that he would wait until he knew more about the houses before he could decide which one he wanted to be in.

' So what can you tell me about Quidditch?' Harry asked changing the topic.

Ron's face lit up at the question. ' What do you want to know? What's your Quidditch team?'

' I don't know any.'

' WHAT!!?!??!?' Ron yelled jumping to his feet. ' Oh, you wait. It's the best game in the world!!' and he started explaining all of the details to Harry who soaked it all up.

Harry was really getting into it when they heard the door to their compartment open. They looked up expecting to see Hermione and Neville again. Unfortunately it wasn't. Instead it was the pale boy Harry had ... encountered in Diagon Alley, Malfoy was all he could remember, along with two other boys. The two unknown boys were large and stupid looking and not much else.

Malfoy looked confused and VERY angry. The latter of the two being quite understandable considering how Harry had dealt with him in Diagon Alley.

The pale boy just stood there for a moment staring at Harry. ' I heard that Harry Potter was in this compartment. Looks like it wasn't true.' the Malfoy sneered. ' Just a poor boy and a four eyed freak. What's the matter? Never heard of a comb before?'

Harry just shook his head and ignored him. Ron on the other hand had a MUCH shorter temper and on top of that was very protective of his friends and family. He wasn't about to let some complete stranger call his family poor and he already considered Harry a friend.

' Well looks like it's Captain Ignorant come to plague us with his ugly mug, along with his sidekicks twiddle dumb and twiddle dumber. Who the hell do you think you are barging in here like that? And for your information this IS the real Harry Potter!' Ron answered back.

Malfoy was quite ticked off at this. ' I'm Draco Malfoy, that's who. And it's obvious your a Weasley. My father told me all the Weasleys are the same. Red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford. Oh yeah! Sure that's Harry Potter! Hah! The real Harry Potter wouldn't be hanging around with the likes of you!' At this Harry gave up on hoping for a peaceful solution and stood up, brushing his hair off his forehead as he did so.

' Why don't you let the 'real Harry Potter' decide for myself who I hang around with?' Harry said without any anger in his voice.

For a moment Draco didn't do anything but stare at Harry's scar open mouthed, then he realized he looked like a fool.

' Uh, well if I had of known that you were Harry Potter I wouldn't have said what I did.' Draco said sounding rather uncertain, but gaining confidence. ' This is Crabbe and Goyle. Why don't you come with us and I can tell you who the right people to hang around with are and-'

' Like I said, I'll decide for myself who I hang around with. Now I think you should go.'

Ron was ready for a fight and didn't seem to realize that he and Harry were out numbered. Draco on the other hand was a little nervous after the last time he tried to hurt Harry, but he figured that Crabbe and Goyle, both rather large would at least even things up.

For a moment everyone was tensed, waiting to see who would make the first move. Only Harry had any appearance of calm.

(AN- I was gonna end the chapter here but it was only 7kb so I was forced to keep writing.)

All of the sudden Draco lunged at Harry and that's when it started. Ron ran at Goyle and punched him the stomach before Goyle could blink. Ron and Goyle were ignored as they continued to scuffle, neither one seeming to be winning. As Draco lunged at Harry, Harry stepped aside and smacked Malfoy in the back of the head as he passed causing him to run into the wall of the compartment and fall to the floor. Crabbe swung at Harry but was much to slow Harry ducked the punch and hit Crabbe in the solar plexus effectively taking him out of the fight, then turned back to Malfoy who was on his feet again. Malfoy took in the sight of Crabbe rolling around on the floor groaning and Harry not even winded and decided he had taught Harry and Ron their lessons and dashed out the door. Goyle, circling around with Ron, saw this, looked at Harry, then decided to help Crabbe out of the compartment, casting nervous looks at Harry the whole time.

Ron was out of breath and Harry could tell from experience that he'd have a black eye the next day but he was grinning so widely he was in danger of splitting his head in half. Harry laughed at his friend before it hit him. For the first time ever, Harry had a real friend. He supposed that Mr. Osakawa was a friend but he wasn't even close to being Harry's age.

' Teach THEM to talk about us like that eh Harry?' Ron asked snapping Harry out of his thoughts.

Harry smiled and quietly answered ' I guess they won't try to fight us again too soon.' Ron was still grinning madly but Harry was just disgusted. With Malfoy for being such an idiot and picking a fight with them and insulting Ron and his family (strangely it was Malfoy insulting Ron, not Harry, which had really mad Harry decide to fight). However, Harry was also a little disgusted with himself, What he had learned at the dojo wasn't meant for fighting but simply for the exhilaration he got from training. At least that was how Harry had always thought of it, but Mr Osakawa had told him something a little different when Harry had gone, by himself, to say goodbye. It had been during the last few days in Diagon Alley.

----------------Flashback---------------------

Harry stood outside of the dojo, it was closed, but he knew that Mr. Osakawa was likely still inside doing the little paperwork required of him. Harry went around back and knocked on the door. After a moment the door opened revealing a wary Mr Osakawa. When he saw who it was that was knocking on his back door after hours his eyes went wide and he threw his door open ushering Harry in while bombarding him with questions.

' Where have you been Harry? Something happened at your house a few days ago and it's all over the town. Something about a giant breaking into your house with a shotgun according to your Uncle. I haven't seen you since. Why didn't you come to tell me what happened? And while we're at it what DID happen? I don't believe your Uncle's story at all and-'

Harry interrupted when Mr. Osakawa stopped to take a breath. ' Mr. Osakawa I'll explain it all but it will take a while and before I do explain there are a few things you should know about my parents...'

After hours of explaining everything that had happened to him and then re-explaining since Mr. Osakawa hadn't believed him the first time, Mr. Osakawa sat back and closed his eyes, heaving a great sigh.

' I can't believe it. There's no way... and yet it explains more about you than it doesn't Harry. Whew.' after a while Harry had realized that Mr. Osakawa had stopped believing him and was only humouring Harry by listening. So Harry brought out his wand, which he had brought along with him for just such a problem. After a few demonstrations Mr. Osakawa had believed everything Harry had been telling him. Harry though he took it rather well considering a small boy had demolished his entire world view. After further explaining that he was going to Hogwarts and what that meant Mr. Osakawa asked him to stay where he was and said he'd be right back.

' Ahhh. Here it is Harry.' Mr. Osakawa said as he came back up the stairs from the dojo to the room where he and Harry had been talking. He sat back down next to Harry holding a small, ornately carved knife in his hands. He showed it to Harry.

' This knife has been passed down from father to son in my family for five or six generations. When my father gave it to me I figured that one day I could give it to my son. Unfortunately I never did meet that special someone, but when you joined my dojo here all those years ago and showed just how good a person you were I decided that I wanted you to have the knife when you grew up.' Harry opened his mouth to protest but was cut off before he could begin. ' I know, I know. You don't want to take something like this from me, but you would be doing me a great favour. Just promise me that if you ever meet "that special someone" yourself, and if you ever have a son, pass it on to him along with it's story.'

Harry could only nod.

' I know I can't ever take your real father's place and I know I can't make up for all the years of suffering you've endured from the Dursleys but I want you to know that you're as close to a son as I'll ever get.' He went on to explain that the knife wasn't meant to be hung on a wall and admired. He gave Harry a cleverly designed sheath that strapped to his wrist. When you flexed the right tendons in your arm the knife would slip out into you palm. He made Harry practice until he more or less could do it every time.

He and Harry talked for a long time and Harry slowly came to realize just how much he would miss Mr. Osakawa. He supposed that this was what it was like to have a father. They talked until well past midnight. Harry knew tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, might worry but he was just to happy at the moment to worry. Eventually Harry started to nod off in the chair and he knew it was time to go.

' I think I'd better be going now.'

' I guess you're right.' Mr. Osakawa said looking depressed at the thought. ' But hey, I'll see you at the end of term won't I?'

Harry nodded.

' Well then there is one more thing I want you to understand before you go. I know that you have a very trusting nature, whether you realize it or not, and I know that you never trained here to learn to fight, in fact those are some of the reasons I've given you that knife. However, you must realize that not all people are worthy of your trust, and sometimes you have to fight with everything you have. That includes everything that you've learned here. Do you understand Harry?'

Harry nodded and they exchanged almost tearful fare-wells.

----------------EndFlashback------------------

' Hello!? Atlantis to Harry? You still with us Harry?'

Harry jerked forwards. ' Huh? What?'

' You zoned out there for a while. It's time to get changed. We're just about there.'

' Oh, alright.' Harry got up from his seat and changed into his Hogwarts robes in the bathroom and the end of the car. Just as he was getting back to his and Ron's compartment the train lurched and began to slow down. They were finally there.

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AN- Hi everyone! No one is reading this are they?

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

11. Chapter Eleven

AN- No one will really read this so I might as well get on with the writing of the story huh?

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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When Ron and Harry got off the train, they found themselves, not an old castle as expected, but at the edge of a sheltered bay on a small lake.

All around them the other first years were milling around, not knowing where they were supposed to go.

' C'mon Harry! This way!' Ron said as he pulled on Harry's arm. ' Percy told me that first years get to ride to the castle on boats instead of going in the carriages with all the other years.'

Sure enough there was a fleet of boats waiting for them at the waters edge, and with the boats was Hagrid.

' Oi! Firs' years over here!' Hagrid was bellowing. ' All righ' there Harry?' he asked when he caught sight of Harry and Ron.

Harry smiled and waved as he climbed into a boat after Ron. Most of the other first years were in the boats, four students to each, but Harry saw Hermione and Neville just coming off the platform where the train was. They apparently hadn't found Trevor the toad yet as Neville looked about ready to cry. Seeing most of the other boats already full and Hermione looking worried, Harry stood up in Ron and his boat and waved them over.

Ron grabbed Harry's robes.

' What're ya doing?' he hissed after Harry sat back down. ' I don't want to sit with that bossy know-it-all!'

' Relax, I was waving to Neville. I felt sorry for the guy. I guess Hermione has attached herself to him though...' Harry said. Again, he wasn't EXACTLY lying. Ha HAD been waving to Neville along with Hermione, and Hermione DID seem to have decided that Neville couldn't get along without her. Which Harry had to admit to himself, Neville probably couldn't.

Neville was rather shy, but thanked Harry and Ron profusely for letting him ride with them. He seemed so nervous and overly grateful that Ron started blushing and telling him it was really not a problem and forgot to glare at Hermione when Harry helped her into the boat.

' Thanks, Harry.' Hermione said, looking down away from his eyes as he gave her a hand into the boat.

' No problem.' Harry answered. There had been an odd sort of feeling in his stomach when Hermione had taken his hand. It had left him feeling breathless and weak, almost like when Dudley punched him in the gut, except that it wasn't a really BAD feeling. Harry thought with a groan, that he must be getting sick. (AN- Of course Harry wouldn't think he might like Hermione, he hardly knows the meaning of "affection". He's never really experienced it...)

' Everyone ready? All righ' then, FORWARD!' yelled Hagrid, once he saw that everyone was in a boat and settled.

The boats all started off from the shore at once, and headed towards the open lake. Once they were clear of the bay they got their first look at Hogwarts.

It seemed to Harry, that it had been pulled straight out of his dreams. The castle stood proudly atop a cliff that dropped away into the lake, which was surrounded on all sides by thick forests. It was a stunning and inspiring sight.

The walls of the castle were taller than most houses Harry had seen and were made of huge blocks of some unknown grey stone. The towers seemed to be rising up into the sky as though they belonged in the clouds more than they belonged on the ground. They were made of pure white stone that seemed to have been carved from the mountain itself, as there were no seams or cracks to show where bricks might have been laid. At the back of the beautiful castle was a large turret made much like the other towers except that it was shorter, wider and made of a black material that looked at though it was a smooth as glass but as opaque as a rock. Harry's eyes seemed to slide around the tower as if the tower were pushing his attention away, much like the leaky cauldron had until Hagrid took Harry inside.

All of the students looked as impressed as Harry, except Neville, who happened to be crouching in the bottom of the boat fighting off a wave of seasickness. When he looked up for a moment and caught sight of the castle though, he forgot about his stomach and was lost in the beauty of the scene.

As the boats came closer to the castle the cliff blocked their view of it and broke the spell over the first years and people returned to talking and giggling nervously. Here and there though, a face or two kept the look of wonder.

As they continued to approach the cliff Harry started wondering whether something had gone wrong. There wasn't anywhere to get out of the boats and they were still headed right for the cliff. He was about to call this to Ron's attention when he realized that a large part of the bottom of the cliff was covered in vines. By itself, this wasn't so unusual, but Harry noticed that only one part was COMPLETELY covered, and they seemed to be headed right for it. Remembering what Hagrid had told him, about things never being what they seemed when magic was involved, Harry decided that the vines must have been grown there to hide an entrance.

Sure enough, when they were coming right up to the cliff, Hagrid called out for everyone to duck down low and the vines parted as if they were being pulled aside by some invisible hand, revealing a passage through the cliff.

From his crouching position in the bottom of the boat, beside Ron, Harry looked over to see how Hagrid was going to get through.

Even with Hagrid crouched down it was obvious that he wouldn't fit under the low archway. Only when Hagrid's boat went under the wall, Hagrid's head didn't even brush the ceiling. It was as though the ceiling had stretched up for Hagrid, or maybe Hagrid had shrunk to fit. It looked as if nothing had changed but the fact remained that the roof was only about a foot above Harry's head, which meant that Hagrid's should have been scraping the ceiling.

Once again Harry reminded himself that nothing was ever what it seemed.

Inside the tunnel the students' voices echoed back and forth creating eerie whispering sounds. Eventually everyone fell silent as they continued on. When it seemed that they must be just past the outside castle walls above the boats emerged into an open cavern with a rocky sort of beach. It was an underground harbour for the boats.

All at once the first years started talking again and calling out to their friends on other boats as they climbed out onto the stones and pebbles.

Hagrid bent down to pick something out of a boat he was inspecting.

' Oi there! This your toad?' Hagrid called out to Neville, who whipped around with wide eyes filled with hope then relief.

' Ahhh, Trevor!' he sighed as Hagrid handed the toad back to him.

' This way everyone!' Hagrid instructed, winking at Harry with a twinkle in his eyes.

He led them up a passage in the rack wall. It was a long way up, made longer by everybody's nervous anticipation.

It was especially hard for Harry, who had grown to hate small places after so many years sleeping in an increasingly cramped hall closet. He wasn't claustrophobic exactly, but the press of students in front and behind him, along with the narrowness of the passage made Harry feel frustrated. Like he needed to stretch his arms and legs out as far as he could, or run as fast as he could. When Harry judged that they were about halfway to the top of the cliff it started to get to him. Harry started to meditate, doing the breathing exercises he had been taught. Almost right away Harry felt better. As though a fresh cool breeze had reached him down in the dim rock passageway.

Harry continued to meditate the rest of the way and it felt as if they reached the top in no time and he was coming out into a grassy courtyard inside the castle walls.

Hagrid led them up a flight of stairs to crowd around the huge, oak front door.

' Everyone here then?' he asked turning to face them all.

' No, I'm not!' called someone hidden in the back of the group.

' Heh heh.' Hagrid chuckled, then turned to Neville. ' Still got yer toad? ... Good then.'

Then Hagrid turned back to the door and raised a giant fist to knock on it three times and it swung open on it's own. In front of the students stood a tall, black haired, stern looking witch. Harry thought at once that this was not someone to make cross.

' Here are the firs' years, Professor McGonagall.'

' Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here.'

With a quick glance over the students and a " Follow me." she turned and led them through the entrance hall, which could have easily fit the Dursleys' house, to an empty chamber to the right of a door through which Harry could hear the voices of the other students.

' Welcome to Hogwarts.' said Professor McGonagall. She had a sort of clipped way of talking, and sounded very strict. ' The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you can sit down for your meal you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is very important, as, while you are here at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family within this school. You will have classes with the rest of your house and you will sleep in your house dormitory.

' The four houses are Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history and has produced many great witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your accomplishments will earn your house points and any rule breaking will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. It is a great honour so I hope you are each a credit to your house.

' The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school so I suggest that you try to smarten yourselves up as best you can while you are waiting.'

She looked for a moment at Neville franticly brushing at dirt on his robes that wasn't there, at Ron self-consciously rubbing his nose where there was still a smudge of dirt and at Harry, who was nervously trying to flatten his hair, to no effect.

' I will return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.' then the professor turned and left.

Harry swallowed nervously. ' Ummmmmm... How, exactly, do they sort us Ron?'

' Some sort of test I think. Fred told me it hurt a lot, but then... well it WAS Fred so he was probably trying to scare me.' Ron answered.

Harry's heart jumped. A TEST? He hadn't expected anything like this on the first day! He knew a lot of the THEORY for the spells in his books but he hadn't dared to try anything yet!

Hermione didn't seem too worried though. She was whispering excitedly to anyone that would listen about how she had read all the books and wondered which spell she would need. From the looks on most other people's faces though Harry didn't think he was the only one that didn't know any REAL spells yet.

Harry started getting nervous again despite the realization that he wasn't the only one that didn't know any spells, so he started meditating once again. He imagined himself as a pond. The surface of the pond was rough but as Harry started to calm down so did the water. When the pond in his mind was completely calm Harry imagined it becoming frozen solid, so that he would be able to keep his mind calm and so that nothing would affect his emotions. As this mind set slipped into place Harry's face became blank and emotionless. He looked around and felt as tough he was detached from everything that was going on.

When Ron started talking to him about what the test might be Harry answered without thinking about it too much and felt as if he were listening to someone else with his voice carrying on the conversation.

And then it was time. Prof. McGonagall came back into the chamber and led them back out into the hall.

' Everyone get into a single file line and follow me up to the front of the Great Hall. You will then line up against the front wall and face the house tables.'

(AN- I was going to end it here and finally post it... but there's now a virus on my computer and I can't connect to the Internet to post it. So I figured that I'd keep writing, when I have the time, until I could post it at school or get my computer fixed. Once again I apologize for the lack of posts in the last few months.)

' Everyone get into a single file line and follow me up to the front of the Great Hall. You will then line up against the front wall and face the house tables.'

At that she turned around and opened the door and Harry and Ron got their first view of the Great Hall.

At first all Harry could do was wonder why they had never finished building the Great Hall. It didn't even have a ROOF! He almost stopped following Ron. Then he realized that the ceiling was actually there but had an illusion over it, like the tunnel in the cliff, to make it look like the outside sky. Or at least Harry figured that was the only reason for them not having a roof over something called the "Great Hall".

He would have asked Ron but everyone was being quiet and Harry would have been too embarrassed to break the silence just to ask Ron about something that he didn't NEED to know. Harry noticed that Ron wasn't nearly as impressed with the hall as most of the other students. But then, Harry thought, he has a lot more people to be nervous about living up to and to letting down if he isn't in Gryffindor. I guess I'm lucky not to have anyone to let down.

Once they were all lined up at the front of the hall Prof. McGonagall brought out her wand and tapped it on a worn looking hat, with a rip in it's brim, that was sitting on a stool in front of the first years. She then went to the head table with the rest of the staff and stood behind her chair.

Harry's attention was suddenly brought back to the hat as it started to move on it's own. As Harry watched the hat started to sing, and as it did Harry felt his mind slipping from his meditation and he was forced to focus on the frozen pond again. Unfortunately he didn't feel quite as detached as he had before.

(Insert song here)

The hall erupted in applause as the hat finished it's song and fell silent once more. The hat was looking much less worn than it had before, as though the applause and attention were giving it vitality.

Prof. McGonagall then motioned for silence and got it almost at once. She pulled a piece of parchment out of her robes.

As she unfolded the parchment, she said ' As I call your names you will go up one by one to put on the sorting hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!'

She said this all in one tone so that "Abbott, Hannah." took a moment before realizing that her name had been called.

She went up shaking visibly and put on the hat then sat down. The hall was silent for about twenty seconds before, ' HUFFLEPUFF!!!', the sorting hat shouted out.

The third table to the right cheered wildly as Hannah took off the hat, set it down on the stool and ran smiling to sit at her new house table.

After the first student had been sorted things went very smoothly, most people having to wait between ten and thirty seconds to be sorted.

' Granger, Hermione!' (AN- How is it pronounced? Is it HER-MY-OWN? I'd like to know if someone could tell me in his or her review!)

Hermione walked up to the hat without her confidant "I-know-what-I-need-to-aren't-I-special" look, put on the hat and sat down.

After thirty seconds passed and the hat still hadn't said anything some of the students at the tables started to whisper and Hermione's cheeks became flushed. Hermione sat there for almost a full minute before the hat finally called out "GRYFFINDOR!!!"

The cheers from the Gryffindors, as Hermione scurried over to the table with her head down, weren't as loud as they had been for the other new Gryffindors.

More students were called until "Longbottom, Neville!"

As Harry watched Neville walk to the hat, he half expected Neville to trip over his own two feet, he was shaking so bad. He made it to the stool and put on the hat without any accidents though, and as he sat on the stool his hands stopped twitching nervously and lay on his lap, his shoulders relaxed and his head came up. When the hat yelled "Gryffindor!" Neville just smiled widely and calmly walked over to the table.

Harry turned to Ron and raised his eyebrows, wanting to know if Ron had noticed that Neville hadn't seemed like Neville for a moment. Ron just shrugged but Harry could see that Ron had noticed the difference also.

Then came "Malfoy, Draco!"

When Malfoy got up to the stool and pulled on the hat it yelled "SLYTHERIN!" before Malfoy even had a chance to sit down. The cheers from the Slytherin table were wild as Malfoy walked over, but they had to be in order to be heard over the Boo!'s from the Gryffindor table, which earned a stern glare from Prof. McGonagall.

As the number of students still standing shrank, Harry concentrated on keeping his mind calm and detached. He was working so hard at it that when Prof. McGonagall called "Potter, Harry!" he wasn't even nervous anymore. It felt to Harry, that whatever happened would be happening to a different person and he needn't worry about it.

Harry could hear people whispering things like " Is it REALLY him?" and " Oh my GOSH! He looks SOO much better than I thought he would." The latter comming from some girls named Patil or something (and the Weasley twins!). He ignored the whispers as he walked to the hat and sat down with it on his head, but the image of the pond, frozen in his mind, was starting to crack.

And then, all of the sudden, the whispers stopped. All the noise stopped in fact and all Harry could hear was his own breathing and his own heart beat.

' Hmmmmmm... Well now this IS odd.' said a small voice in Harry's ear.

It had been so unexpected that Harry almost flinched when he heard it. Of course, he thought, this must be the Sorting Hat!

' Yes I am the sorting hat, but then you knew that when you put me on didn't you? I had intended to look into your heart and mind to tell which house you belong in, as I do with all new students, but... well I'm embarrassed to say, that for the first time since my creation, I cannot. Would you happen to know why Mr. Potter?'

Harry was getting nervous now. He was having a hard time keeping his mind in the calm meditative state.

I have no idea; Harry thought hoping that the hat could still hear his thoughts. You mean there's nothing in my mind at all?

' No, no, no...' the hat assured Harry. ' ...nothing like that. I just can't seem to find anything at all... Oh wait a moment. HERE'S something. Hmmmm. You wouldn't happen to be in a trance of some sort would you? Oh no of course you wouldn't you don't learn that until seventh year... but then why are your mind and heart locked up like this?'

Umm... Oops?

' I beg your pardon?'

Harry let his training in meditation slip and no longer felt detached, but rather he felt quite nervous indeed.

I think that maybe it was locked up like that, because I had been meditating before I put you on, Harry told the hat.

' Mmmmhmmmmmm. I see now. Yes that was the problem. At your age though? Not good to do that too often during this stage of your emotional growth... Ahh well, boys WILL be boys! Now, lets see. Difficult. Very difficult. You've got talent. Oh my yes, tons of it... A sharp mind and thirst for knowledge... Oh and an ambition to be independent, curious that... Ahhh and PLENTY of courage. Now what will it be? You've got talent and loyalty for Hufflepuff, intelligence enough for Ravenclaw, Slytherin would be good for you with that ambition, hmm, and there's bravery and power for Gryffindor. Very difficult... but I guess it had better be GRYFFINDOR!'

The last word Harry could tell had been shouted to the whole hall. The cheers were enough to shake dust loose from the ceiling and the only house not to cheer was Slytherin, and even then it was only because they made it a point never to cheer a Gryffindor.

Unfortunately Harry was not as calm as he had been before wearing the hat and he could feel his face start to turn red as he walked to a spot the Weasley twins had obviously been holding for him as they chanted " We got POTTER! We got POTTER!"

To Harry's dismay the seat was right beside Hermione. He didn't know why he had been nice to her before, but he hadn't known her very well at all and wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt; however, he had come to think that maybe Ron had been right. From the way he had heard her talking to other students, in the chamber they had been waiting in, Harry didn't think that she was really as nice a person as Harry had hoped she would be. He wanted Ron to sit with him and he KNEW that Ron wouldn't want to sit near Hermione. Also, Harry didn't want to have to pretend to be polite while listening to her condescending tone of voice all dinner long.

However, when the cheering had died down (Prof. McGonagall had finally had to let out a loud BANG! from her wand to get the students under control again), Harry sat down to watch the rest of the sorting. He saw that Hermione's head was resting on her fore arms, and though she wasn't going to start to cry she didn't look too eager to talk to anyone either.

Then, finally, "Weasley, Ronald!"

Ron sat on the stool for almost thirty seconds before the hat finally put him in Gryffindor.

Ron's smile when he came to sit beside Harry, with a short glare at Hermione, was so wide he was in danger of splitting his head in two. Fred and George slapped him on the back congratulating him; Ron didn't notice the sign they put on his back, but Harry did and pulled it off, crumpled it and tossed it away.

' Well done, Ron!' Percy said pompously from across the table.

Finally " Zabini, Blaise!" was put in Slytherin and the sorting was over. Someone at the Staff table stood up as McGonagall carried the sorting hat away, and Harry immediately recognized him as Albus Dumbledore; Ron had told Harry all about him on the train ride to Hogwarts.

' Welcome!' He said, his voice sounding much louder than it should have even though he was talking in a normal voice. ' Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts.' He paused to let the short applause die down. ' Before we begin our feast, I'd like to say a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!' and with that he sat down again.

Everyone cheered and applauded, not least the Slytherins, but Harry was just confused.

Turning to Ron he asked ' Is he- a bit mad?'

' Mad? He's a genius! He's the best wizard in the world! But yes, he IS a bit mad.' Ron exclaimed, before turning to his plate.

' Potatoes Harry?' Percy asked.

Harry looked down at the golden plates that had been bare just moments before. They were now full of all the best food Harry had ever seen. It would almost have been too much for Harry a few weeks ago before Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, had made it his mission to "...get some meat on ya ta cover up those bones!"

Harry hadn't realized just how hungry he was. He took as much food as his plate could hold and dug in. He had seconds and thirds of almost everything. Eventually Ron and him started a contest, between the two of them, to see who could eat more. The twins volunteered to be judges.

Both Harry and Ron were eating so much that the other Gryffindors started putting bets on who would win. Even Neville got in on it, betting ten sickles that Ron would eat most.

All through dinner all Hermione did was push food around her plate and glare at anyone that tried to talk to her, but Harry thought he saw her slip some money to George who was taking the money for bets on Harry.

In the end Ron ate two pieces of pie and half a chocolate frog more than Harry. By the time that the money had been given out, the rest of the hall had finished eating and everyone was chatting, the older students explaining life at Hogwarts to the new.

Harry had noticed that there was at least one ghost at each table. ' Hey, Ron? What's with the ghosts?' he asked.

' Hmmm?' Ron looked around to the ghost at the Gryffindor table. ' Oh, my brothers told me about them. There's a ghost for each house. That's the Friar at the Hufflepuff table, that one at the Ravenclaw table with the spectacles is the head ghost for Ravenclaw.' he said pointing at a ghost that looked quite a bit like Mr. Ollivander. ' That one over there, by the "slimy git", is the bloody baron, and NO I DON'T know how he got that blood on him, he's the head ghost for Slytherin. And last, but not least, here comes Nearly Headless Nick!' Ron finished grinning as a ghost in a ruff and tights sat down across from them.

The ghost sighed (though Harry wasn't sure HOW) ' I really wish you wouldn't call me that! My name is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington and-'

' NEARLY headless? How's that even possible?' a boy named Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

' Like this!' Nick said with a sigh as he pulled on his left ear and his whole head fell over onto his shoulder.

He quickly put his head back on straight as the demonstration had sent the two Patil girls into hysterics.

Trying to change the topic quickly Nick asked ' So, new Gryffindors? I hope you'll work hard and win our house many points! We've never gone this long without winning the house cup before. The Slytherins have had it six years in a row now and the Bloody Baron has become almost unbearable!'

As the other students continued with this conversation Harry studied the Professors at the staff table. An extremely short wizard with a high pitched voice was having a chugging contest with Hagrid (and WINNING!) and Prof. McGonagall was talking to Dumbledore. There was Prof. Quirrell talking to a man with a long hawkish nose and black greasy hair. As Quirrell turned his back to Harry in order to watch the conclusion of the chugging contest the man with the greasy hair turned and stared at Harry. As their eyes met, Harry felt a sudden searing pain in his scar. Harry might have screamed in pain, but the pain caused all of his muscles to contract at once keeping him from making any sound at all. As the pain continued Harry's back began to arch, then, as suddenly as it started and for as much reason, the pain stopped, leaving Harry looking rather silly and breathing hard.

' Ummm... not that it's any of my business, but what are you doing?' Ron asked, giving Harry an odd look.

' I uh- was just stretching. I'm getting kind of tierd.' Again Harry wasn't lying. His muscles had been stretched and Harry was EXHAUSTED!

Just then, Dumbledore stood up again and the hall fell silent without him having said a word or made a single jesture.

' I have a few reminders and notices to make now that we are all fed and watered. One: To all first years- and a few older students- the "Forbidden" forest IS indeed forbidden, hence the name.' he said, eyes twinkling merrily. ' Two: Although magic is allowed in the corridors between classes, it is not encouraged. Three: Quidditch trials will be held on the second week of term this year due to problems with some trees that decided to move to the centre of the feild during summer vacation. And last of all: The third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone that doesn't wish to die a very painful death.'

At the last remark several students laughed uncertainly but most looked serious and hushed the few that did laugh. Harry on the other hand didn't take the warning TOO seriously. After all he heard that kind of thing at least once a day with the Dursley's. (AN- They really DO treat him like Dobby don't they? >:-( )

' And now...' said Dumbledore with his twinkle back in his eyes. ' ...we sing the school song before heading off to bed. Everybody pick you favourite tune!' Then he flicked his wand, as if it were wet and he was trying to dry it off, and a long golden ribben came out the end of it and twisted itself into the words of the song.

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.'

The song finished with Fred and George singing to the tune of a funeral march.

' And now to bed. Off you all go!' Dumbledore said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN- La la la! Please review with any advice or suggestions you might have!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

12. Chapter Twelve

Anyone that reads this and has advice, please review. I can ALWAYS use advice.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.'

The song finished with Fred and George singing to the tune of a funeral march.

' And now to bed. Off you all go!' Dumbledore said.

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the crowd of students, out into the entrance hall and up one of the sets of stairs. Harry's legs felt like lead, he was so tired. He thought that if he fell down he'd probably fall asleep on the floor and the others would have to carry him to his room. Later Harry would hardly be able to remember how he made it too the common room on his own two feet, but he did make it in the end. One moment he was walking up the stairs from the entrance hall and the next moment he was waiting outside the hole that lead into the Gryffindor chambers and he couldn't remember anything in between.

' Come on Harry. Lets go. I'm asleep on my feet here and you don't look much better.' Ron mumbled rubbing his eyes.

Ron was behind Harry and was waiting for him to go through the hole into the common room. Harry climbed through and was directed, by Percy, up a spiral staircase on the left of the common room. The Gryffindor chambers were obviously in one of the towers; Ron and Harry's room was at the very top of the stair case, which had doors leading off into other bed rooms every few yards (metres) or so.

Ron and Harry were both so tired that it was all they could do to change and crawl under the covers of their beds. As exhausted as Harry was, he found himself tossing, turning and generally unable to sleep.

After an hour or so Harry gave up and crept down into the common room with his transfiguration and potions textbooks. He had heard Hermione and Percy talking, during the feast, about how hard Prof. Snape was on any non-Slytherin student and how hard transfiguration was in general. Harry figured that if he couldn't sleep, then he might as well read up on his subjects so that he might avoid looking stupid in front of his housemates.

Harry had been reviewing his magical herbs and their uses when he heard someone coming down the girls' staircase. He figured that it must be Hermione coming to study just as Harry himself was, so he crouched behind the large armchair that he had been sitting in. He just didn't want to talk to someone who, although she might be able to help him study, would almost definitely act very condescending and superior.

Harry was just trying to figure out a way to get back to his staircase without being seen when the girl who had been making the noise stepped into view.

It wasn't Hermione after all! It was some girl whose name Harry couldn't remember. Why was I SO sure it was Hermione then? Harry thought to himself. It must just be because I was thinking about her while I was studying.

Harry was about to stand up and say hello, when he remembered that most people didn't hide behind chairs in the middle of the night and if he jumped up and said 'Hi!' it would probably scare the girl.

Harry waited until the girl's back was turned and then stood up and stepped from behind the chair.

' Hello?' he asked softly.

Even though Harry hadn't jumped up from behind a chair and hadn't shouted "Boo!" the girl let out a short scream, which she quickly stifled.

' Great wizards you scared me! Don't you make any NOISE?' the girl asked breathing hard and holding her hand over her chest. She kept looking from Harry to the staircase for the boys' rooms, obviously wondering how Harry had gotten across the room without her seeing him. ' What are you doing down here at this time of night anyway?'

' Ummm, sorry. I just couldn't sleep so I figured that I might as well read up on my potions.' Harry whispered.

The girl stared at him as if he had two heads. ' Why, in the name of Merlin, would anyone be studying on the day BEFORE school starts?'

' I've got double potions with Prof. Snape tomorrow. At least I do according to George... or was it Fred?'

' Uh-huh? Well in that case I'm willing to bet you don't have potions tomorrow at all. So you know the twins huh?'

' Uhh yeah. You to?'

The girl nodded. ' Yep. Known 'em for a couple years now.'

' They're kinda crazy aren't they?' Harry asked with a grin that shone in the dark.

' Heh heh. Yeah, they are.' the girl answered, looking distracted.

' Hello? You still here?' Harry asked, walking over to wave his hand in front of the girl's face. From this close Harry could tell that she was a year or two ahead of him.

' Huh? Oh yeah, sorry.' the girl blushed. ' I'm Katie by the way.' she said holding out her hand. 'Katie Bell. You're a first year right? What's your name?'

Harry smiled and took her hand. ' I'm Harry. Nice to meet you, Katie.' Instead of shaking her hand though, he bowed and kissed it, grinning in a self-mocking way.

Katie shook her head and smiled with silent laughter. ' Well, Mr. Harry, Do you happen to have a last name?'

' Potter.' Harry said grimly. He was hoping that she wouldn't react like all the people at the Leaky Cauldron had; he was getting sick of it really. He was, apparently, famous for doing something that he couldn't even remember.

For a moment Katie just looked at him sceptically. After a moment though her eyes began to slowly grow wider. ' Oh. My. Gosh. You're not kidding?' She finally said.

Not liking the way this was going, Harry rolled his eyes and started to explain. 'Look, I really hope you're not going to start going all goofy on me now like most people have been lately.'

Katie's expression changed right away from awe to indignity. Harry had read her right. He thought that saying that might get a reaction.

' And what is that supposed to mean?' she asked with one eyebrow raised.

Harry smiled and began to explain. They sat down across from each other in the large, comfy armchairs.

When the clock in the common room rang one o'clock Katie stopped their talk.

'...so wherever I go, people already know me and just act crazy. It's really awkward and is getting annoying.'

' Wish I had your problem. People asking to give you their products for free. Huh! Some annoyance THAT is! Anywho, I gotta go now, but it's been nice talking to ya, Harry. I'll see ya tomorrow.' she said before leaving through the portrait hole.

Harry smiled. He wasn't positive, but he thought that maybe her destination had something to do with the note he had seen one of the twins slip her at the feast. The smile turned into a grin as he remembered the eating contest he had lost. His stomach hurt like anything now but it was a reminder of one of the happiest moments in Harry's life. He hoped to make many more happy memories here at Hogwarts.

Harry's grin turned into a yawn before he could pursue that train of thought though and he headed up to his room again.

When he got there, Harry realized that nothing had changed. He had been exhausted before and hadn't been able to sleep then either. It took a moment's thought, but eventually he figured out what was the problem, and after that he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

Neville was the first to wake the next morning, and the first thing he did once he was out of bed, was to trip over Harry. He made quite a thump when he fell and it woke the other three boys.

' Harry?' Ron groaned sleepily. ' What're you doing on the floor? Fall out of bed?'

' No, no. I just slept on the floor is all.' Harry answered as he sat up, as if this were a completely natural thing to do.

' Why would you want to sleep on the floor?' Seamus asked.

He had gotten used to the fact, the night before, that the "the-boy-who-lived" was not really THAT different from most people, and hated to be treated as if he were.

' Well my bed was just too soft.' Harry said, blushing.

The other boys just looked at him as though he were crazy as Neville picked himself up off the floor.

' Whatever you say Harry.' Seamus finally said and got out of bed to get ready for their first day of classes. He and Neville went to the boys' bathroom to shower and change.

Ron, on the other hand, wanted to know the rest of the story.

' What do you mean it's too SOFT?' he demanded. ' That would only make it MORE comfortable, wouldn't it?'

' You'd think so, but after sleeping in a closet on a collapsible cot for so long, the bed it just... well I guess it's TOO comfortable. I couldn't get to sleep.'

' Only you, Harry, Only you.' Ron muttered shaking his head.

Ron actually thought that Harry was joking about sleeping in a cupboard since Harry hadn't told anyone about his life at the Dursleys. If he had Ron might have flipped so Harry figured he had plenty of good reasons not to tell anyone about the Dursleys. In fact, as Harry learned more about how a "normal family" functioned, like the Weasleys, he became more and more embarrassed for living with the Dursleys.

' We'd better get going now if we don't want to miss breakfast.' Harry said, searching through his trunk for his robes.

Ron had laid back down for a few more minutes' sleep, but when Harry mentioned missing breakfast he popped out of bed and zoomed around the room collecting his books for classes and getting dressed in his robes. He ended up having to wait for Harry, who had stopped getting ready to watch Ron set a new time record for getting ready for school; Harry was currently unable to get up off the floor due to waves of laughter which only increased with Ron's annoyed glare.

Eventually the boys arrived at the Great Hall. The Gryffindor table was packed with students laughing and joking with their friends as they ate breakfast. Ron spotted his brothers and headed over.

' Jeez! Is it always this crazy?' He asked Fred.

' Naw. It's just that this is the first day.' George answered.

' People don't want to annoy their Professors on the first day.' Fred continued.

' It's usually like this.'

' For the first week.'

' Or two.'

Harry just stared at the twins for a moment then burst out laughing.

' Oh man!' Harry said trying to catch his breath. ' Did you two rehearse that or something?'

' They always talk like that, Harry. You'll get used to it.' Ron explained.

' Oi! Fred, George. Hey Harry!' said a girl walking up behind Harry and Ron. ' Sleep well?'

' Huh?' Harry turned to face the newcomer. ' Oh! Hi Katie! Yeah I did thanks.'

' What're you talking about Harry? You slept on the floor! How could you have possibly "slept well"? 'Ron demanded.

The rest of the group gave Harry odd looks.

' Well I guess I'm just used to it.' Harry mumbled self-consciously.

The others looked like they were about to say more, but Harry was saved from interrogation by Percy, who had come around the table handing out timetables to the first years. He handed Ron and Harry theirs without so much as a nod to each of them. He was looking rather harassed, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.

' What's up with him?' Ron asked.

' Oh he's like that every year on the first day.' George explained.

' We think he stays up all night reviewing all the rules or something.' Fred said.

' Just in case they've added some new ones during the summer.'

' So what have you guys got?' Fred asked Harry and Ron.

' Wait a minute. I thought you knew.' Harry demanded.

Fred and George looked at each other for a moment then burst out laughing in perfect unison.

' One of you told me last night that I had potions with Prof. Snape today!'

' And YOU believed me!' Fred gasped between gales of laughter.

' One thing you need to learn, even before classes start, is to never trust anything my brothers tell you. EVER!' Ron told Harry.

The twins had stopped laughing in time to hear this and became quite indignant.

' That's not true!' started George.

' There are SOME things...'

' We'd NEVER lie about.'

' Yeah! You'll NEVER hear us saying...'

' How wonderful Snape is or...'

' How modest Percy is!'

Harry and Ron just shook their heads and turned away to look for an open seat. As they were about to leave though, Katie called them back.

' Where are you going? Have you already had breakfast?' she asked.

' No, we were just going to go find an open spot.' Ron answered.

' Why don't you sit here with us?' Katie said as another girl came up. ' You just have to know how to MAKE some space. Right Alicia?'

She then turned back to Fred and George and, shoving them aside, sat down between them.

Then Alicia did the same.

Harry had expected people to be shoved off the ends when they sat down but apparently the benches were enchanted to accommodate extra students like this, so he and Ron sat down to the best breakfast Harry had eaten in a long time. Even Tom's scrambled ??? eggs and bugbear bacon weren't THIS good (Harry had never got up the nerve to ask what KIND of eggs Tom had used, but they had been an odd shade of orange).

When Harry was about half done his breakfast, the windows at one end of the Great Hall opened by themselves and a loud rush of wings could be heard approaching. Then there was a cloud of feathers and wings and beaks as all of the students' owls tried to deliver their owners' mail at the same time. Owls were buzzing down all the tables trying to find their owners and landed on the table when they did find the right student.

Unfortunately the tables were already crowded with breakfast dishes and no one had told the first years to prepare for this. Consequently several students were forced to go back to their common rooms to change after spilling pumpkin juice on their robes.

Harry saw Hedwig come through the windows last, and she didn't waste time flying around the hall but flew straight to him; almost like she had known EXACTLY where Harry was.

Hedwig didn't have anything for Harry, but had, seemingly, come just to say hello to him. Hedwig stayed long enough to have some of Harry's toast then left with the other owls.

' Wow, Harry. You're lucky to have an owl like that.' Ron said, looking rather envious. ' What kind was it?'

' Ummmm... I can't remember exactly, but I think that Hagrid said it was a Tus-ook-oh owl... or at least it sounded like that. I tried to look it up in 'Magical Creatures and Where to Find Them', but I didn't find anything.'

' I wish I had my own owl as well.' Ron said with a look of longing.

' Then use mine when you need one.' Harry told him. ' It's not like there's anyone outside of this school that would be owling me, or that I'd need to send an owl to.'

' Really, Harry?! Wow, thanks!'

Harry stabbed the last piece of sausage with his fork, put it in his mouth and bit down... on air! He blinked and looked at his empty hand and then at the rest of the table. All of the food, dishes and utensils had disappeared. Breakfast, apparently, was over.

The first lesson for the Gryffindor first years was herbology, which was held outside in the school's greenhouses. For this class their teacher was Prof. Sprout who told them that "...although the majority of herbs wizards use are magical, there are many potent, but non-magical, herbs that are extremely powerful." She warned them not to think something was safe to handle just because it had no natural magical properties. She used the example of garlic and vampires. Garlic has no magical properties but it will cause terrible allergic reactions in vampires because something about its aroma interferes with a vampire's willpower.

Harry and Ron quickly learned the reason for the long time in between classes. The castle had one hundred forty two staircases, not all of which always led to the same place. Then there were the doors that had to be asked NICELY, or tickled in the right place, before they would open. Some doors weren't even doors, in fact, and were just parts of the wall that felt like pretending to be a door.

Ron and Harry took to following Fred and George around whenever they were going to the same place, and Harry found their directions to be of great help, when he could tell which ones wouldn't end up with him and Ron walking into a girls' lavatory. After a few days of following Fred and George around the school Ron and Harry had learned enough of the secret passages and false stairways to be able to find their way to their classes on their own, and much faster than the other first years, except for Hermione.

Hermione always seemed to be the first to get to each class, and was usually sitting at the front of the class, when Ron and Harry arrived, with her nose in the textbook for that class. She was also always the first to raise her hand when a Prof. asked a question, even if the question was directed at a particular student.

To Harry's infinite relief, many students had come from muggle families and so he wouldn't have been at a disadvantage and besides that, there was simply so much to learn that even kids from wizarding families didn't have much of an advantage. After having read all of the course books once or twice in Diagon Alley Harry actually had an advantage, even over those students that came from magical families. Harry had always been able to remember whatever he read, so now all he had to do was learn how it applied to the tasks the Profs gave them instead of having to learn it and THEN apply it. Hermione though, seemed to always be a chapter or two ahead of the class in the textbook and had no trouble at all applying the theory to problems.

The first week was one that Harry knew he would never forget; if he lived to forget everything else, even his own self, he would never forget the happy memories he made and the friends he met that week. Nor would he forget the possible enemies that he also made. The only other time Harry had been near as happy for more than a day was while he had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron.

Charms class had been slightly embarrassing on the first day as the tiny Prof. Flitwick, (who had to stand on several thick books or on his chair in order to be seen behind his desk) had fallen over when he called out "Potter, Harry" while taking attendance, and everyone had turned to stare at Harry when he answered that he was present. Other than the initial embarrassment the class was quite enjoyable, and Harry found that he was rather good at the work. After Ron got a little help from Harry, the two were able to match Hermione in the class, which was a rather considerable feat. Of course it was mostly because Prof. Flitwick assigned very little in the way of written homework, which was what Hermione did best at and Ron and Harry often didn't do it at all until the last minute.

Transfiguration served to shatter many muggleborns' ideas about magic with the exception of Harry. Harry had always enjoyed things like science at school and liked to know how things worked. Most muggleborns had the initial stereotype that magic was just waving your wand and saying things in Latin or other obscure languages; whereas, magic was actually much more complex than that, as Prof. McGonagall demonstrated in the first class.

' Transfiguration is possibly some of the most dangerous magic that you will be learning at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back.' McGonagall said giving the class a stern look. When no one made any move to leave and she decided they had taken her warning seriously enough she turned to her desk and changed it into a pig and then back.

After the display the students were eager to start, but they quickly learned that they wouldn't be doing anything so spectacular anytime soon. They took long, complicated notes on things like the best way to grip your wand to do transfiguration and how different materials reacted to being transfigured. After all that they were told to form groups of two and to collect a few matches from McGonagall's desk for each group. They were then to attempt to turn them into silver needles (apparently silver was easy to transfigure things into if they had once been alive but were now dead, like the wood in the matches).

' Do not be disappointed if you can't make any difference in your matches for today. The exercise is meant to accustom you to the different grips on your wand and so you will learn the feel of magic. Normally we hold our magic in naturally, the same as we breathe without thinking about it. Now you must learn how to release that hold. Once you know how you feel when you are holding your magic ready, it will be easier to use.' Prof. McGonagall lectured them as they practiced. ' I will be very impressed indeed if anyone is able to make any difference toda-'

McGonagall was cut off by a triumphant "Ha!" from Hermione, who had managed to turn her match hard and slightly grey.

Prof. McGonagall went over to examine Hermione's success, and showed it to the class, saying how Hermione had the right idea and that anyone that was having trouble should ask Hermione for help if McGonagall herself was busy.

Ron glared at the back of Hermione's head and Harry rolled his eyes, both at Ron and at Hermione's annoyingly smug look.

Harry thought he knew exactly the feeling that McGonagall had been talking about. He had sometimes felt an odd, but entirely pleasant sensation, while meditating. He was only able to get that feeling when he was very deep in his meditation and then only if there were no distractions.

He gripped his wand and tried to call the same feeling to mind. Almost immediately he felt it. It wasn't as strong as when he was meditating and there was some intangible difference to the feeling, but he knew that it was the right feeling.

Harry thought carefully and made sure he remembered the feeling so he could call it up again for other classes. Then, while Ron was still busy glaring at Hermione and mumbling something about know-it-all teacher's pets, Harry pointed at the match and whispered "Spine ona permutatia."

For a moment nothing happened, then the match quivered and began to stretch. As one end started to mold itself into the eye of a needle the whole match was suddenly pure silver. Harry watched in amazement as the match finished changing. Its point was a little dull but the match was now a silver needle in every other way.

Harry was about to call out his success before he remembered Ron's reaction to Hermione's achievement. Harry didn't want Ron to look at him the way he was looking at Hermione, and if people already thought he was a great wizard for doing whatever he had to Voldemort then they weren't likely to dismiss this very easily. He would probably just attract more unwanted attention.

He wanted to perform the reversal spell, which McGonagall had also told them to learn but his mind was in too much turmoil, so instead he pocketed the match/needle. Just in time to, as Ron had just finished glaring at Hermione and turned back to the match.

' Huh? What'd you do with our match Harry?' he asked.

' Ummm... I think-' Harry began but was saved from having to say more by McGonagall calling out their homework and then dismissing them for lunch.

The first years all had each subject for no less than two lessons each week and by the time the second lesson came about most people, even Neville, were able to make the matches the right colour and shape. By then, though, Harry had already mastered it, as well as Hermione. Hermione was told to wait for someone to need help and then to give it to them since there was nothing else left for her to do. Harry on the other hand, once he realized he had the task mastered, had started trying out some ideas he got from the books.

Instead of just turning the match into a silver needle, he tried changing it from one type of metal to another. Anyone that noticed just thought that he hadn't quite gotten it right yet; they didn't realize that when they saw him get the wrong result he was actually doing something more difficult.

Most of the lessons went like this, with Harry learning what was taught quickly but hiding it until the others mastered it, then discreetly trying harder variations on the lesson.

By the end of their first week at Hogwarts, Ron and Harry were becoming familiar with the castle and it's daily routines. Harry was happier sitting in the common room with Ron, doing homework, than he had ever been anywhere else but the dojo. However, they still hadn't had a potions lesson and it was Friday. They were scheduled for double potions with Snape and the Slytherins.

Harry was not looking forward to the lesson. During the feast on the first night Harry had noticed Snape giving him odd, almost hateful looks, and had been doing so every time the two passed in the halls. Harry took little note of this as the Dursleys had always given him such looks; Harry might not have recognized the Dursleys if they ever stopped sneering or glaring at him.

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AN- Review with criticism and anything else please!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

13. Chapter Thirteen

AN- Any suggestions, comments or complaints, about the story, are welcome. PLEASE review!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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During breakfast, the post arrived as usual, and Hedwig came to visit Harry.

Hedwig usually came to visit Harry during breakfast, and, Harry suspected, to be admired by the other students at the table who all thought that the pure white owl was magnificent. Even the students who already had owls of their own were jealous of Harry. They thought that Harry and Hedwig went very well together, especially when they saw Hedwig's bright green eyes that matched Harry's perfectly.

This time Hedwig had brought Harry a note. It was written in an untidy scrawl that Harry instantly recognized as Hagrid's.

Dear Harry,

I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

Ron and Harry quickly decided that if their potions class was anywhere near as bad as the other Gryffindors told them it would be then they would probably need some cheering up afterwards and Hagrid's irrepressible cheerfulness was always infectious. Harry borrowed Ron's quill and wrote on the back of the note.

That'd be great Hagrid. Ron and me will see you then!

Harry gave the note back to Hedwig who was sitting on Neville's shoulder, making the boy quite nervous but at the same time pleased at the attention the other students were giving him. Hedwig took the note with a cheerful hoot and took off, causing Neville to flinch.

' Are you sure it's all right if I come with you Harry? I mean I've never really met Hagrid before so-' Ron started to say but was cut off by Harry.

' Don't be silly. Of course it's all right. Hedwig probably wouldn't have given me the note in front of you if she thought that it would offend you.' Harry said jokingly, but it was the truth.

Hedwig had actually brought Harry several letters through the week, but any that the Prof.s sent to congratulate Harry on his high marks, Hedwig didn't deliver until Harry was alone. Harry didn't know how she knew which letters to bring and which ones should wait. He didn't think that Hedwig could read the letters so he just decided it had something to do with her special powers, and he vowed to find a book with some information on Tusuko owls.

' Yeah right.' Ron answered grinning. ' She probably reads all your mail before she delivers it just in case it might offend you!'

Harry laughed along with Ron until the breakfast plates all disappeared, signalling the end of breakfast and the beginning of classes for the day.

Ron and Harry both stopped laughing at once and their faces became solemn.

' Well Harry, it's been good knowing you.' Ron said with mock severity before grinning and shaking his head ruefully.

Ron and Harry had little trouble finding their way to the dungeons in the bottom of the castle even though it was their first time down there. As usual though, Hermione was there before them with her head in a book.

Ron gave her a disgusted look.

' How can she be so stuck up?' he muttered to Harry who just rolled his eyes. ' I mean she's always got her nose in one book or another. What does she think, we're not good enough for her to talk to?'

' Chill, Ron.' Harry said. ' She just likes to read. Some people do enjoy it you know.'

Ron had only been at Hogwarts for a few days but already his temper was well known. He would fly off the hook at seemingly small things and was very hard to calm down. He usually listened to Harry though. Not because Harry was "The-Boy-That-Lived", but because Harry was Ron's good friend. In fact usually Harry only had to tell him to chill and he would calm down right away (anyone else that tried to tell him to 'Chill' learned why he was well known for his temper). This time, however, Ron didn't "Chill" very much.

' Well anyone that enjoys reading must be as weird as her.' Ron grumbled.

Harry looked at Ron without expression and said ' I happen to agree with her. Reading is quite interesting if want to know about what the book is saying.'

' Ahhh... Well you... But it's dif-' Ron stumbled, trying to correct himself so as not to insult his friend.

Harry just chuckled and shook his head. ' You know, you do that to. Get so stuck in a book that you don't notice anything else I mean.'

Ron looked outraged. ' I do NOT!' he growled.

Harry just shook his head again. ' So are you telling me that you haven't read "Orange: The Chudley Cannons Off The Field" cover to cover several times?'

Ron looked surprised for a moment, then smiled sheepishly and scratched his head. ^_^¿

On the other side of the room Hermione had heard the whole conversation. She knew her high marks weren't winning her any friends, and she had noticed Ron's glares before but she hadn't known just how much he seemed to hate her. After hearing Ron's first comment, she had come close to tears until she heard Harry say something to Ron. She hadn't been able to make it out as Harry always talked softly, but she was able to hear the rest of the conversation by sitting very still and listening hard.

Most of the other students would have just agreed with Ron but Hermione had noticed that Harry always tried to stop others from making fun of her, or anyone else, like Neville. It's not like he did anything like yell at them for being so insensitive (As Hermione wished she had the guts to do.). Harry just had a way of talking that most people listened to, even second and third years (the older students had mostly outgrown making fun of people for things like reading). She expected to hear Harry say something like " Leave her alone. She doesn't need you hassling her with everyone else."

Whatever else Hermione had expected to hear, she didn't expect to hear Harry defending her to his best friend. Hermione had been expecting potions to be pretty horrible, after all she had heard about it, but if someone that was liked, as much as Harry, was starting to defend her... well then, maybe things would start to get better.

Hermione stopped listening after the boys' conversation turned towards Quidditch. But by now other students had started to arrive and take seats at the rows of tables, with the Gryffindors staying to the back and the Slytherins at the front, so she couldn't have heard what was being said anyway.

Ron was so involved in his conversation about Quidditch, with Harry, that he didn't notice that the tables were quickly being filled up, with four to each table. Eventually he did notice but by that time there were only three seats left, and they were all at the table where Hermione was sitting.

Ron let out a groan when he noticed.

' Oh man, Harry. Look at what we're stuck with!' Ron said, pointing at Hermione, who chose to ignore Ron. ' We're gonna have to sit with Hermione, and since Neville's not here yet he'll be stuck with us to.'

Harry just nodded and walked towards the table Hermione had chosen. He had noticed all the other tables being taken, but had counted on Hermione's being empty. He thought that, if Ron was forced to work with Hermione for a while, he might stop hating her so much. Harry actually had no idea why Ron hated Hermione so much. They had never even spoken to each other. The fact that Ron and him would also have to work with Neville wasn't too appealing to Harry, but he figured that Neville couldn't possibly be as naturally clumsy as Harry had been told he was.

' Hello.' Harry said as he walked up to Hermione's table and sat down, taking the seat diagonal from Hermione forcing Ron to sit in front of her or beside her. ' Hermione, right?' he asked as Ron sat down beside her, figuring that he'd rather be annoyed by Hermione than injured by Neville.

Hermione looked up from her book just long enough to return the greeting and then went right back to reading. Harry looked at the title.

' 25 Ways To Detect A Charm' by Espy Cantrip. Harry had been looking for that book in the library earlier. He had wanted to see if it said anything about people that were able to see a charm without the aid of a spell. He opened his mouth to ask if he could borrow the book when she was finished, but just then the door to the dungeon flew open. It then shut behind the man who had just entered with a click that sounded eerily final.

If Harry hadn't noticed by now that Professor Snape had a great dislike for him, there was no doubt left in his mind after the first potions lesson. Only Vernon Dursley hated Harry more than Snape it seemed, but Harry had been living with the Dursleys all his life and had come to expect their treatment of him, so Snape's attitude wasn't too hard to endure.

Snape had just started to take the register when there was a thump outside the door. Snape glared at the door for a moment, but when no one came into the class, he walked over and jerked it open.

Scrambling around on the floor, trying to gather his notes and books, was Neville. He had obviously gotten lost on the way to class and in his haste had dropped all his materials.

' Longbottom I presume?' Snape hissed as Neville got to his feet with a red face and hunched shoulders. Snape curled his lip and looked about the room.

' Sit down over there, and the next time you are late and/or disrupt this class, it will be ten points from Gryffindor.' Snape said pointing at the only available seat, next to Harry.

Snape continued taking the register without further commotion, until he reached:

' Potter, Harry.' Snape called with a sneer. ' Ah yes. Our new... celebrity.'

Harry knew that Snape was probably trying to provoke him since Vernon had done the same on a daily basis to try and make Harry do something that would give him an excuse to punish Harry.

Instead of reacting to the comment, Harry answered ' Present.' and nothing else, but it was hard to ignore the snickers coming from the Slytherin's half of the room.

After waiting a moment, as if to see if Harry might make some comment after all, Snape finished taking the register and looked up at the class, with a slightly disdainful look.

His eyes and his hair were the same black colour as Hagrid's, but all similarities ended there. Snape's eyes lacked any of the cheerful sparkle that was constantly present in Hagrid's eyes, and while Hagrid's hair was wild and bushy, Snape's was perfectly straight and VERY greasy.

' You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,' he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word- like McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping the class silent without effort. ' As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with it's shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death- IF you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.'

Silence followed this little speech. Ron and Harry exchanged looks and Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

' Potter!' said Snape suddenly. ' What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to a solution of wormwood?'

A SOLUTION of wormwood? Harry thought. He couldn't figure out why you would want to add the two together since it just made hydrochloric acid.

' You would get hydrochloric acid, which would dissolve a pewter cauldron pretty fast.' Harry answered ignoring Hermione's look of shock as she stopped waving her hand in the air.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer again. ' Tut, tut- fame clearly isn't everything. For your information, Potter, root of asphodel and an infusion of wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death.'

At this Hermione stopped looking at Harry and blurted out ' But, Professor, you asked what you would get if you used a SOLUTION of wormwood.'

For a moment, Snape's eyes widened and he looked taken aback. He regained his composure a moment later and growled ' Well at least SOMEone is paying attention.'

He then turned to the other side of the class and berated Seamus Finnigan for not having his robes done up properly.

For the rest of the lesson, Snape seemed to think that he had to make up for his first mistake. It looked like he thought that by constantly harassing Harry would be the best way to do this. Unfortunately (for Snape), between Harry and Hermione, there wasn't a thing that Snape could criticize about the potion he had assigned for the class to make. This, of course, did nothing for his mood and by the time the class was over he looked about ready to attack Harry.

On the other hand Harry looked perfectly content to listen to Snape as little as was allowed by manners and ignored him otherwise. Of course Harry's lack of reaction only served to further frustrate Snape, who couldn't do anything until Harry made a mistake, which he didn't.

At the end of the lesson Neville was thanking Hermione for all the help she had given him and Ron was able to tolerate her. After all, she had saved him from having Neville's potion all over his robes when Neville had almost knocked the cauldron over when he bent down to pick up his quill he had dropped.

Hermione and Neville walked with them out of the class after they were dismissed, but Ron and Harry left them at the Great Hall and headed out to Hagrid's hut while Neville and Hermione stayed in the Hall to have lunch.

' All right! We've got the rest of the day off and then the weekend!' Ron said as he and Harry walked out the door of Hogwarts.

Hagrid had a small log cabin near the edge of the woods. Or at least it was a small cabin relative to the size of its occupant. The doorway was about nine or ten feet high and the logs that had been used wouldn't have looked out of place standing upright next to a redwood. Everything about the house was on a similar scale except for the knocker, which looked out of place, only halfway up the door, but Ron and Harry wouldn't have been able to reach it if it had been where it was supposed to.

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AN- Don’t have much to say…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

14. The Mirror

AN- Well the next chapter is here... I think something is wrong with me. My writing ability (assuming I had any to begin with) has been slowly fading lately. So has my creativity...WAH! I don't like this! Well, complaining won't help and writing more might not either, but at least writing is somewhat productive, and (hopefully) entertaining for you, my audience....*Shades is greeted by Total Silence as a tumble weed rolls by*

*Ahem* Anywho, back to things that might actually matter.

IMPORTANT:

From now on, anything inside these things < >, is what someone is thinking.

Bye!

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Hagrid had a small log cabin near the edge of the woods. Or at least it was a small cabin relative to the size of its occupant. The doorway was about nine or ten feet high and the logs that had been used wouldn't have looked out of place standing upright next to a redwood. Everything about the house was on a similar scale except for the knocker, which looked out of place only halfway up the door. Ron and Harry wouldn't have been able to reach it if it had been where it was supposed to.

With a bit of effort (the knocker may have been at the height of a normal one but it's size was still proportionate to the rest of the cabin), Ron was able to lift the knocker and drop it, making a noise like a small bomb going off.

Ron and Harry could hear a dog barking and scratching at the door and a moment later the door opened a crack and Hagrid's face looked out.

' Ah, Harry!' Hagrid grinned. ' Gimmie a moment and I'll be right there.'

He closed the door and Ron and Harry heard sounds of a struggle before Hagrid opened the door wide and let them in. He was holding back an EXTREMELY large black boarhound, which seemed desperate to reach the two strangers. Ron looked rather pale as he took in the size of the dog.

Hagrid must have seen the look on Ron's face as he turned to shut the door, still holding onto the dog.

' Don' worry about ol' Fang here. He's mostly all bark.' Hagrid reassured the two. Unfortunately, Hagrid's way of reassuring them of their safety was to let go of the dog's collar.

Ron took a quick step back as he saw Hagrid let go of the dog, and it was a good thing that he did. If he hadn't he might have ended up with the dog standing on top of him. As soon as Hagrid had let go of the collar, Fang had leaped at Ron's chest. As it was Ron was pushed against the wall and looked like he was about to scream until Fang started trying to lick his face.

' Oh! Uhg, geroff!' Ron cried out, looking thoroughly disgusted with his predicament.

' Fang! Down!' Hagrid snapped at the dog.

Through the whole event Harry's face hadn't even twitched, but he was having a hell of a time keeping his laughter in. Harry didn't think he could have kept from laughing if he hadn't known how easily Ron would have been offended or gotten angry.

' Huh.' Hagrid grunted, looking puzzled. ' Fang doesn't usually take ter anyone right away. He must really like you!'

Remembering that Hagrid and Ron hadn't met each other yet, Harry stepped forward and introduced the two.

' Hagrid, this is Ron Weasley. Ron, this is Rubeus Hagrid.' Harry said as Hagrid tried not to pull Ron's arm off as they shook hands. ' You don't mind that I brought Ron along do you, Hagrid?'

' 'Course not, Harry. A friend of yours is a friend of mine.' Hagrid beamed. It seemed to Harry that Fang's reaction to Ron had made a good impression on Hagrid, and Ron looked grateful to Hagrid for removing Fang's tongue from his face and handing him a towel.

' So how was the first week at Hogwarts you two?'

Almost before Hagrid had finished his question Ron leaped into an explanation of their classes and how hard they were, with Harry filling in gaps and giving his own opinions of the Professors.

As Hagrid and Ron were talking about Ron's brother Charlie, who was now working with dragons, Harry noticed a clipping from the Daily Prophet.

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that had been searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

' Hagrid!' Harry exclaimed. ' That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might have been happening while we were there!'

Hagrid only grunted, not meeting Harry's eyes, and offered him another rock cake (which were aptly named considering Hagrid's cooking ability).

Harry frowned, wondering why Hagrid had avoided looking Harry in the eyes, or at least the glasses. He re-read the article as Hagrid and Ron resumed their conversation about how to deal with muggles and dragons.

The article had said that the vault that was searched had been emptied earlier that day. Hagrid had, in a sense, emptied the vault when he had removed the dirty looking package. He wondered if the thieves had been after whatever had been in the package.

As Ron and Harry walked back up to the castle, for dinner, they skipped the rock cakes that they had hidden in their pockets, across the lake. Harry wanted to believe that he was being silly thinking so hard about a tiny package like that, but silly or not Harry just couldn't get the thought out of his head that Hagrid had been acting odd about it.

After dinner, Ron and Harry returned to their common room to find the majority of the first year Gryffindor student body clustered around a piece of parchment that had been tagged up on the bulletin board.

Until Ron and Harry read the paper, they had been thankful that they had very few classes with the Slytherins. At first sight of the paper Ron had grinned.

' All right! Flying lessons! - Not that I really need them of course.'

' Of course you don't Ron, but you might want to finish reading before you cheer.' Harry commented dryly. ' We're partnered with the Slytherins.'

' What?!' Ron yelped, whipping around to read the rest of the notice, then groaning when he saw that it was true. ' Well this aught to be fun.' he concluded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ron was certainly not looking forward to Thursday, when the flying lessons would be held. Harry on the other hand showed some enthusiasm, which meant he was extremely excited as he tended to show only a little of what he felt (yet another effect of having been raised by pigs- I mean the Dursleys! [AN- Sorry all pigs. I didn't mean to offend.]).

Of course, when a person is looking forward to something, time tends to crawl by for them. Harry was no exception. By the time Wednesday evening rolled around, Harry had taken to bouncing his knees up and down under the table when he did homework. Although Ron hadn't known Harry very LONG, he certainly knew Harry quite well. Ron knew that if Harry was so anxious he was bouncing his knees, then most people, in the same situation, would be wearing a hole in the floor as they paced back and forth.

' Harry! Simmer!' Ron finally snapped in exasperation, after Harry melted the third needle in a row while the two were brushing up for a practical transfiguration quiz the next day.

' I know you're looking forward to the flying lessons tomorrow, but failing the trans quiz tomorrow won't get you on a broom any sooner. I don't understand how the idea of learning to fly a broom can be getting to you so much. I mean, it'll be your first time, right?'

Harry nodded.

' Well then it probably won't be much fun on the first day. For the most part, people have to spend a whole day just getting the broom to float if it's their first time.' Ron told Harry. ' You KNOW Malfoy'll make fun of you if you can't make the broom float, even if it IS your first time.'

' Think about it Ron. This will be my first time ever flying.' Harry said with a light in his eyes that betrayed his calm expression and tone. ' It isn't that big a deal to you because you've been able to do it all your life, but can you imagine how a person that was born crippled, would feel if they were suddenly told that they would be able to walk?'

' Hmmm, I guess so, but aren't you being a LITTLE melodramatic?'

' Heh. Probably.' Harry said with a hint of a grin.

' Well whatever. We've gotta concentrate on learning to reverse our transfigurations now, otherwise we'll be too busy making up for failing the quiz to learn to fly.' Ron said with exasperation again. ' Besides, you can't go to the library and read "Quidditch Through The Ages" until we've got the reversal down pat.' Ron finished, sounding rather sneaky.

THAT seemed to get through Harry. He closed his eyes for a moment, and concentrated on his breathing. Then, with a flick of his wand, Harry turned his five silver needles back into the matches they started out as. After getting Ron to close his mouth, which had been hanging open, Harry showed him how to hold his wand properly to get the right wand motions, and after Ron was able to turn all of his needles back into matches.

' So just remember to keep your index finger in that position and you shouldn't have any trouble. Now I'm going to the library. I know I can't learn to fly from a book, but maybe I can learn enough to keep from making a fool of myself tomorrow.' Harry said as he got up and went out the portrait hole.

Ron was going to challenge one of the fifth years to a game of chess; beating Harry in every game just wasn't enough of a match, he had said. After he won the game (in theory) he was going to go to bed early, complaining that all the studying was tiring him out. So Harry left to make his way to the library by himself. It was the first time that he had gone wandering in the halls after curfew without Ron.

Fortunately Harry could remember almost all of the secret passages that the twins had shown Ron and him, so he was able to avoid being caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris. Whenever he thought he heard one of them coming he quickly ducked into the nearest secret passage and was a few corridors away before whomever he happened to hear went past where he had been the moment before. Unfortunately, for Harry, Peeves wasn't hindered by mere walls, so Harry had to rely on his hearing Peeves coming in time for him to hide. By the time Harry finally made it to the library he was breathing slightly hard and he heaved a sigh of relief. There had been some close calls with Peeves, but Harry had managed to make it to the library without being caught.

Harry walked quietly up to the doors leading into the library. He tried the handle, but it was locked. He had been expecting as much of course, but he had remembered a fairly simple unlocking charm that he had read about during the summer, and had practiced it earlier in the day.

' Alohomora.' Harry said softly.

As soon as he said the spell, the handle on the door clicked and the door started to swing open. Unfortunately it started to make a horrible screeching sound as if the hinges were complaining about being used after curfew.

Panicking, Harry gasped and said the first thing that came to mind. ' Quietus!'

Harry slapped his forehead, amazed at his own stupidity.

<Did I honestly expect the door to stop squeaking because I told it to be quiet?> Harry thought to himself before he realized that that was exactly what had happened. <Well that's new.> Harry thought. <I'll have to look that up when I'm finished looking for Quidditch books.>

The door had swung open halfway, so Harry slipped through and pulled it shut carefully behind him. He half expected it to start squeaking again, but it didn't. In fact Harry didn't even hear it click when he locked it again from the inside. He didn't want Filch to find the door unlocked and decide to investigate.

As carefully as Harry walked, he didn't know the layout of the library very well so he bumped into several shelves before getting fed up enough to risk using his wand to light his way.

' Lumos.' Harry muttered, and the tip of his wand blazed. Unfortunately, the light was much too bright. ' Nox!' he whispered hastily.

Harry had been rather tense after the surprise at the door, and had been expecting Filch to burst in at any moment. He calmed himself down by counting four beats of his heart for every breath. Once his heart was beating at it's normal pace, he tried again.

' Lumos.' he hissed, this time focusing on making just a small light. It worked this time and his wand emitted a soft white glow.

While he had been doing this Harry had been looking down at his wand, so when he looked up into the pale, transparent face of Lady Scrive, he swung his fist straight at her nose in an instinctive reaction to being surprised while he was so tense. She was the ghost of the first Hogwarts librarian, so fortunately the reflex did nothing but surprise her.

Harry had met her during his first few days at Hogwarts, and after she learned how much he enjoyed reading, they had become good friends. Harry hoped she was feeling friendly enough towards him at the moment to forgive his reaction and refrain from reporting him to Filch.

Lady Scrive didn't look very angry, or even annoyed. She only looked shocked for a moment, and then her look turned to puzzlement.

' Is something wrong, Harry?' she asked looking at once both concerned and puzzled by his behaviour. ' Don't worry.' She said, correctly interpreting the look on Harry's face. ' I know you didn't mean to do that, but IS there something wrong? This is the first time you've so much as flinched when I've surprised you.'

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't seem to be about to hand Harry over to Filch.

' Well, yes- but then, this is also the first time I've come here after curfew.'

' Ah yes. CURfew.' the Lady spat in an exasperated tone. ' I keep meaning to talk to Albus about that. I'm sure it's very necessary and all, but I think that, in the case of students requiring the use of the library, there should be a little lenience. Don't you think so, Harry? I take it that the curfew is the reason you are suddenly so jumpy?'

' Yes, it is. And I do agree. About the curfew I mean, but I think that the headmaster would worry about students wandering the halls and simply saying that they were headed to the library as an excuse if they were caught.'

' I suppose so. In my day a headmaster wouldn't have to worry about that type of thing...' she started, then her cheeks turned a bit silvery, which Harry assumed was a ghost's way of blushing. '...but then I'm sure I've bored you with the whole ' we respected our elders in our day' speech, plenty of times before. If only more students were like you Harry.' she said with an edge to her voice that conveyed some disappointment with the present generation of students.

Now it was Harry's turn to blush, although his expression had returned to its usual mask, through which few emotions were allowed to escape. Fortunately the Lady continued before Harry started trying to stammer his thanks (he had never had much experience with compliments so they tended to catch him off guard).

' Well I know you well enough to know that you didn't simply come here for a social visit, as much as I would enjoy that. What are you researching today? Or rather tonight?' the Lady asked, her expression changing from a friendly one to a business like one.

That was one of the things that Harry liked so much about the Lady. Once she got to work, she was all business. Harry was a little nervous to ask about Quiditch, since he thought she might not be too happy about anything that took a student's attention away from studies.

' Well, of course you know that the Gryffindors and Slytherins have never *really* umm- seen eye to eye?' Harry ventured.

The Lady had a light of understanding in her eyes. ' You may not know this, Harry, but I actually *do* know what goes on outside of the library.' Harry blushed again, having been thinking that she probably didn't. ' So I know about the flying lessons that you have with the Slytherins tomorrow. I suppose that you think I'll disapprove of you looking up books on flying because I might disapprove of Quiditch?'

Harry nodded his head, not meeting her eyes. Again she seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Ghosts couldn't read minds Harry knew, since their minds were on a different sort of plane than that of wizards, but the Lady often did a pretty good job of appearing to read the minds of the other students. That she was now doing the same with Harry unnerved him to no end. He *hated* being predictable. He had learned in school that being predictable meant that Dudley and his gang would know where to find you and what you might do to get out of a situation, which would have meant a lot more pain for Harry.

' Well I know you are in Gryffindor, and I know that Malfoy will undoubtedly take great delight in verbally abusing you if you happen to make any mistakes at your flying lessons tomorrow. So in order to avoid him becoming any more obnoxious than he already is I will help you find whatever books might be useful. However, I want you to understand that I'm helping you for two reasons only. One- because I know that you are a good person who would not do the same as Malfoy in his situation and you are my friend. Two- because the Slytherins have become quite conceited over the years since I was in that house.' the Lady explained.

For once, surprise showed on Harry's face. ' You- you were in Slytherin?' Harry asked, incredulous.

' Is it so hard to believe? One of the first reasons that you came to my attention was that I have never seen you judge someone by whatever rumours you hear about them. Even your apparent dislike of you-know-who stems from fact. Contrary to popular belief, Slytherins were not always considered evil in any way at all.' she said. ' In fact, although Salazar and Godric had vastly different views on what made a good wizard, they were quite good friends. Much like you and Mr. Ron Weasley.'

' Hmm. I suppose I *was* starting to let other people's opinions guide my own. Sorry if I've offended you.' Harry said apologetically. ' So do you think that there's any way that I could learn enough from books to keep from looking like a fool tomorrow?'

The Lady laughed lightly and said ' Harry, I think that you would have to work very hard indeed in order to look like a fool. (Harry almost blushed again at this) But whether or not you learn enough to keep people like *Malfoy* from making fun of you is another question all together.'

Harry and the Lady spent a good hour going around the library looking for books that might be helpful to Harry, and then another three or four hours after that reading the books and using a table Harry transfigured into a broomstick to learn the correct grip (the broom was a regular one and couldn't fly).

Harry didn't know when he fell asleep, but he suddenly woke to a terrible chill in his head. He had fallen asleep on ' Quiditch Through The Ages' and Lady Scrive had placed her hand on- or rather *in* Harry's head to wake him. It was still dark in the library, but a glance at the moon through the window told Harry that he had better get back to his bed soon or else he wouldn't be much good for anything at all the next day.

Harry replaced all of the books, with some help from Lady Scrive to find the proper places, and then headed back to his common room, after saying thanks to the Lady.

As tired as he was Harry forgot to be as cautious as he should have, and it almost proved to be his undoing. He never ran into Filch, but he did meet up with Peeves.

He was shuffling down the charms corridor when Peeves popped out of a Professor's office cackling wildly, until he spotted Harry.

' Well now. What have we here?' Peeves chuckled. ' Ohhh. Now isn't *this* a treat for ol' Peevsies? None other than the *famous* Harry Potter!'

Harry knew that if Peeves were to call Filch, Harry would never be allowed to go to the flying lessons the next day. He tried to think if he had seen that Peeves had any weaknesses, like vampires and garlic, but he didn't come up with anything but the Bloody Baron, who Harry hadn't seen since he got to the library so that was no good... or *was* it? Thinking quickly, Harry came up with a desperate plan.

' Quick Peeves! You'd better make yourself scarce. I saw the Bloody baron and he was heading this way!' Harry said widening his eyes and speaking in a harsh whisper. ' I'll stay here and wait.'

Peeves' manner changed quickly from nasty to a little frightened, but a bit suspicious at the same time.

' And why would *you*, a student, want to help me?' Peeves asked with narrowed eyes.

' Well, ' Harry started, trying to think something up as fast as he could. ' Your pranks are always funny and help me forget about people like *Snape*.'

All of this was true. Okay, so Harry had seen the Baron when Harry was heading *to* the library in the first place, but it was still true.

Peeves though about it for a moment, then did something Harry had never thought to see him do. He *thanked* Harry. And was quite polite about it as well.

Harry stood in the corridor for a moment after Peeves had left thinking about what had just happened. Most of the Gryffindors, as well as Harry, had thought that Peeves, and all other poltergeists were unable to be anything but pranksters. If Peeves was capable of thanking Harry, then perhaps he would be able to be more than just an annoyance. Perhaps even a friend.

<Well, > Harry thought. <Let's not take this 'benefit of the doubt' thing *too* far.>

After waiting a short while like he had said he would, Harry went on to his common room, climbed through the portrait hole and went up to his bed falling asleep almost before his head hit his pillow. For once he was able to ignore what he considered, excessive softness.

Harry woke up instinctively the next morning when he felt someone standing over him. He tried to keep his breathing slow and normal as he opened his eyes a bit. He took note of where everything was. Ron was still in bed and so was Neville, but Seamus Finnigan was standing over him while Dean and several others watched. Seamus had a bucket in his hands and was tipping it over top of Harry. Harry snapped his eyes open and sat up in order to avoid the water, but his sudden movement had startled Seamus who hopped back, causing most of the water to spill over his own robes.

' Man, so do you guys ever give up?' Harry asked looking around at the group of laughing students. Even Seamus was laughing at himself, and as infectious as the laughter was, Harry soon found himself grinning while all the others laughed.

' Well, ' Seamus started, still chuckling slightly and ringing out his robes. ' we know you always put that sound alarm on your bed that you got Flitwick to teach you, so we developed a way to detect it. We noticed this morning that it wasn't there, and since Ron wasn't awake to warn you... well it *looked* like the perfect opportunity to finally get you.'

' Tell me again why you think that you need to catch me off guard and pull some prank on me?' Harry asked still shaking his head and smiling a bit.

' Well since Fred and George tried to get you once and failed, we figured that if *we* could get you, then we'd be one step closer to being good as them.' Dean explained.

At this point, Ron, who had been listening since they all started to laugh, snorted derisively. ' You *do know* that there is *no* way you can ever match my brothers don't you?' he said. ' And besides, they only tried to get Harry once, because they had run out of anyone else to prank. *They* could probably get him if they really wanted to. No offence Harry.'

' None taken, of course.' Harry replied. He then headed to the boys' washrooms to get ready for the day.

Ron had a difficult job of keeping Harry under control all day as Harry was quite excited about learning to fly. He was still worried about looking like an idiot of course, but the prospect of learning to fly was simply too much for Harry to think about it *and* worry about how he might look. He was so happy about it that he almost started laughing out loud with the rest of the class at the rude picture Peeves had drawn of Prof. Snape on a wall in the Great Hall, and Harry was widely known for his lack of expression. People loved to say that, if he were ever hit by a tickling charm, he'd probably just smile and continue on as if nothing had happened. No one ever tried to test the theory though; they were still not used to "The-Boy-Who-Lived" telling them to treat him like an average person.

It certainly didn't help matters that Harry was most clearly *not* an average person. Aside from having survived the killing curse, and aside from everything that went along with it, Harry was quite unique in the school. Besides his lack of expression, Harry was the only person at school that had mirror-plated glasses. The Dursleys had bought them for Harry so that teachers would stop commenting on all his black eyes (the black eyes were courtesy of Dudley, but Vernon and Petunia pretended not to know this). At first Harry hadn't liked them, but he had grown used to them, and then had grown to love the fact that they hid his eyes. Harry had always believed that your eyes gave away too much of what you were thinking, and having his eyes hidden had helped him avoid many punishments at the Dursleys. It seemed that not being able to see a person's eye put the other person off balance.

Ron found it odd though, that Hermione was the only one that was able to stop Harry from bouncing around and talking non-stop about flying and Quiditch (it even got so bad that RON didn't want to hear anymore about Quiditch for at least a day). All Hermione had done to calm Harry down was to tell him that his incessant tapping was keeping her from focusing on her potion.

After potions class, Ron asked him about this, but Harry had no idea why Hermione's words had affected him so much more than Ron's. He only knew that one moment he was perfectly fine, if a bit over-excited, and the next moment he felt a little sick. Ron had been a bit hurt that Harry had appeared to listen more to Hermione, who Ron still didn't get on with too well, than to Ron who was Harry's best friend.

After the first potions class, when Ron had actually seemed to tolerate Hermione, Harry had thought that things would start to improve. He was *quite* wrong. The way Hermione had acted towards Ron, and vice versa, during the first potions class, seemed to have been a one-time thing. Both seemed to be unusually hostile towards each other. Harry often found himself acting as mediator, and by the end of the second potions class, Neville had started working with Harry to keep the two from killing each other, showing much more confidence than usual from him.

(AN- In case anyone noticed that Harry's potions class has moved in its schedule, it's because their classes aren't in the same order every week. I don't think that it really goes against the books, but even if it does... SO WHAT?!! My whole story goes against the books!)

As potions class ended and the Gryffindors left on their separate ways for transfiguration, Ron and Hermione shot each other glares, and Ron turned away. Then Hermione smiled a little uncertainly at Harry. Almost as though she wanted to apologise for the way she had been treating Harry's best friend. Then she turned and was gone through a stairway hidden behind a suit of armour.

As she left Harry felt a strange twist in his stomach and felt a bit short of breath. Figuring that he must be hungry, he asked Ron if he knew where the kitchen was.

Rolling his eyes Ron said ' Maybe you'll listen to me next time I tell you to eat more at breakfast. And that you're excited about learning to fly is NOT an excuse to miss most of breakfast!' Ron finished, adding the last part as Harry opened his mouth to protest. ' Besides which, I have no idea where the kitchens are and even if I did, we don't have time. We have to get to class and practise for the test today.'

At this, Harry let his mouth hang open in fake shock. ' Who are you and what have you done with Ron?' he finally asked. ' I mean was it just me, or did *the* RON WEASLEY, just say that we needed to STUDY?!!!'

Ron grinned and scratched the back of his head. ^_^ ' Well- only because it's a *practical* test!' he said defensively.

' Well maybe *you* need to study, but I just need some food.' Harry muttered. The feeling in his stomach was starting to subside though, so he and Ron left for the transfiguration classroom, once again arriving before anyone but Hermione.

For once, though, Hermione *didn't* have her head in a book when Ron and Harry arrived. Instead, she had her wand out, and was waving it at several toothpicks. A moment later the toothpicks turned into egg shaped balls made of metal with a wood-like grain. Hermione huffed in annoyance, but Ron only snorted derisively when he noticed her problem and then did a double take.

' Hey, what d'ya know!' Ron whispered to Harry. ' For once she's doing something *totally* wrong!'

Harry raised one eyebrow, in puzzlement, at Ron.

' Well she's not even practicing the right stuff.' Ron explained in response.

' Ron, do you honestly think that she *needs* to practise the stuff that's on our test?' Harry asked dryly. ' She *is* one of the top students in Transfiguration, as well as our entire year.'

' I know.' Ron moped. ' But doesn't it annoy you that she doesn't even seem to have time for anybody. I mean, all she ever does is read and study and do homework. She acts like no one is good enough for her to interupt her reading for.'

Ron and Harry were sitting at their desk by this time and Ron was getting out some matchsticks to practise on while he was talking. Harry, however, noticed Hermione's shoulders had become stiff.

<She must have heard Ron.> Harry thought, and felt bad for her. ' Well have you ever tried talking to her when she's *not* reading? Then you wouldn't *be* interupting her. And for that matter, have you ever tried talking *civilly* to her?'

Ron blushed and got defensive. ' Well you *can't* talk to her when she isn't reading; she's *ALWAYS* reading!'

' She's not right now, and don't tell me you don't want to interupt her preparations for the test because we both know she's just practising next week's work (AN- Next week's work= changing the shape and texture of things still, but more drastically). So why don't you talk to her right now, if it's so important?'

Ron looked a little taken aback for a moment, bofore replying, with a furrowed brow. ' Well I guess it's not really that important. I don't know why I let it bother me. I guess I just feel sorry for her.'

Harry was rather impressed with his friend. It was the first time that he had actually *expressed* a care about someone's feelings, other than Harry, who he was rather protective of. (AN- Sorry Nappa, I just don't seem to do any Ron bashing.)

' Well she doesn't seem to mind not talking to people, as long as she's got a book, so I don't think that you really need to feel sorry for her.' Harry said. He noticed that Hermione's shoulders relaxed after he said this. Somehow though, knowing that he had made Hermione feel better, made Harry's stomach twist again. <Damn! I should have gone to the kitchens after all.> Harry thought, smiling ruefully at Ron's previous inststance that they practise before the test.

Harry and Ron spent a while studying each other’s performance and giving each other some helpful advice. Or rather Harry gave Ron advice then Ron watched Harry to see how to do the spell *properly*. A few minutes later, after the rest of the class, and Professor McGonagall, had arrived, Ron was feeling confidant that he would pass the test, and was also feeling quite impressed with Harry. Harry had been able to answer every question that Ron had about the material to be covered in the test; he had also done every single transfiguration perfectly, as long as he kept his mind off the flying lessons that were fast approaching.

Harry on the other hand was not feeling so good. He wouldn't normally have been worried about the test, but today he was having trouble concentrating. He couldn't even calm himself down through meditation. He attributed this to the flying lessons, as he kept finding himself staring at the window, which Hermione sat in front of.

Ron and Harry didn't need to worry. It turned out that all they had to do for the test was to turn a twig into a match and back, then into a needle and back. Everyone did quite well. Even Neville was able to get as far as turning the twig into a needle, but then melted it when he tried to turn it back.

For Ron, lunch always seemed too short, but for Harry the time crawled by.

' Will you stop that, Harry?!' Ron finally snapped when Harry asked to see Ron's watch for the third time in one minute.

Harry had a watch, but since it was powered by electricity, the charms surrounding Hogwarts stopped it from working; he and Ron used Ron's watch instead which was powered by magic.

' If you keep checking the time it's only going to make it seem like it's taking even longer!' Ron said in an exhausted tone.

Harry smiled grimly and said ' You’re right.’ He rested his forehead on his palms and let out a small sigh.

Two whole minutes later…

‘ Jeez! I guess I know what to get you for Christmas!’ Ron exclaimed. ‘ And NO, it’s STILL not time to go to our last class yet!’

By this time many of the other students had left to spend the rest of their free time doing homework and such, and a small area around Ron and Harry had cleared out as people tried to stay away from Ron’s outbursts and Harry’s annoying tapping on the table.

Harry finally decided that it was getting ridiculous. He could tell that he was really annoying Ron now, even though Ron WAS known for being easy to annoy. Resting his head in his hands once more, Harry closed his eyes and started breathing deeply. He stayed like that for the rest of lunch.

When lunch ended and Ron tapped Harry on his shoulder to get ready for herbology, which was their last class before the flying lessons, Harry was feeling fine, and not anxious at all.

When he and Ron got to the greenhouses where they had their class with the Slytherins, they found a note on the door telling them that their class had been cancelled as a special delivery had come in for Prof. Sprout that only she could take care of. Further, they were to report to the Quidditch field and wait for Madam Hooch.

When Ron and Harry got to the playing field most of the class had already arrived and were talking in groups, speculating about what Prof. Sprout might have ordered. All of the Slytherins were on one side and the Gryffindors were on the other.

Looking around Harry happened to notice Neville, who was off by himself, scratching his head and looking at a red ball in his hand. He tugged on Ron’s robes and nodded towards Neville, then looked pointedly at several Slytherins that were giving Neville some impish looks. Ron glared at the Slytherins.

‘ What d’ya say we go and say “Hi!” to Neville?’ Ron said through clenched teeth, all the while staring at the Slytherins.

They walked over to Neville, who looked startled when Ron tapped the arm that he was holding the ball in.

‘ What’cha got there, Neville?’ Ron asked.

‘ Oh, hi, Ron! It’s a Remembrall that my Gran sent me.’ Neville said holding out the ball for them to see.

What Ron and Harry had thought was a red ball turned out to be a glass ball with red smoke inside.

‘ See, normally the smoke is white, but if you hold it, it’ll turn red if you’ve forgotten something.’ Neville explained. ‘ But it’s not really so helpful, because it can only tell you that you’ve forgotten something, but not what it is that you’ve forgotten.’

Ron, Neville and Harry talked for a while about the transfiguration test they’d had and other work they had to do, until finally Madam Hooch showed up, with her wand raised and about twenty broomsticks following her.

She walked to the middle of the field, and pointed her wand at the ground, muttering something under her breath. The brooms that had been following her settled to the ground in rows where she had pointed.

As Madam Hooch started walking around to each broom, presumably checking its charms, Hermione walked over to Harry, Neville and Ron. For once she looked worried about something. She started babbling about the different things that she had read about that might help you fly better, and Neville was hanging on her every word. Harry was also listening intently to everything Hermione said; he figured he was listening in case she had read something that he had missed in the library. Ron was just shaking his head and muttering about silly gits that tried to learn to fly from a book.

As much as Harry was actually enjoying listening to Hermione, he had already read everything that she had, and he was starting to agree with Ron; experience was the only way to learn to fly.

‘ Hermione, calm down.’ Harry said gently, putting a hand over hers, which she was wringing. ‘ You know Ron’s right. You really can’t learn to fly through theory alone, so what you read in books probably won’t be much help until you learn the basics through practice.’

Both Hermione’s and Neville faces fell at this. Harry hadn’t intended to make them feel bad, of course, and he suddenly felt nauseous seeing Hermione’s crushed face.

‘ Well I don’t know what you two are so worried for. It’s not like flying a broom is required to graduate, or even just to get around.’ Harry said, trying to cheer Hermione up (he figured Neville would always be worried about something). ‘ Unless you get on the Gryffindor Quidditch team you won’t need to fly until you graduate, and by then you’ll be allowed to learn to Apparate. Which you can learn from a book.’

When Harry finished, his stomach felt better and Hermione looked happy again, but Harry was starting to worry about something else now. At lunch he had begun to think that he might be sick since he didn’t feel hungry after Transfiguration, and just now he had felt sick one moment and fine the next, but he was beginning to think that it might be something else if the feelings could come and go so quickly. Perhaps it was Malfoy using some sort of curse on him; after all, Malfoy had been present each time, so far.

Before Harry could pursue that train of thought, Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and waved all the students to gather around her.

She stood for a moment, studying them with her hawk like eyes. She took note of Neville’s pale face, and Hermione biting her bottom lip and wringing her hands.

‘ Alright!’ she finally said, clapping her hands once. ‘ Everyone line up beside a broom. Come on now, hurry up!’

Everyone rushed to find brooms that didn’t look like they were about to fall apart. Harry looked down at his. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles, but it seemed okay otherwise.

‘ Now, hold your hand out over the middle of your broomstick, and shout, up!’ Madam Hooch told them once they were all lined up and had quieted down.

All around Harry everyone was shouting “Up!”, but only a few brooms rose off the ground. Most brooms just twitched and lay still, and some, like Neville’s, didn’t do anything at all.

Thinking of how wonderful it would be to be able to fly high and fast, Harry held out his hand and said ‘ Up.’, in a normal voice.

Almost before he had finished saying it, the broom was in his hand. It hadn’t even seemed to move; one moment it was lying on the ground and the next it was in his hand, without any time seeming to have elapsed in between.

Beside him, Ron’s broom was in his hand, but seemed like it wanted to fall back to the ground.

Madam Hooch was now going around, shaking her head, and generally having a hard time with getting each broom to obey each student. Harry reached out and tapped Neville on the shoulder. Neville was in front of Harry and was looking pleased that his broom wouldn’t fly for him, but also embarrassed about it.

‘ Hey, Neville.’ Harry hissed at him. ‘ You’ve got to calm down, and forget about everything else. Don’t even worry about getting the broom to fly, alright?’

Of course, Neville looked confused at this advice. ‘ Don’t try to make it fly?’ he asked, looking more puzzled than usual.

‘ Yeah. You’re not supposed to make the broom fly. The broom is enchanted to do that, you just need to control when and how it fly’s. Just think about how peaceful and calming it would be to float up in the sky.’ Harry said in a calming voice.

Neville closed his eyes with his hand still over his broom, which started to twitch. His breathing slowed, and he looked as calm as Harry had ever seen him. Then, without any instruction from Neville, the broom floated gently up to his hand.

‘ Now what?’ Neville asked, with his eyes still tightly shut.

Harry almost smiled then he said ‘ Now close your hand, and open your eyes.’

Doing as Harry said, Neville gasped and dropped the broom in shock. The broom fell to the ground again, but Neville was still delighted; for once he hadn’t been the last to accomplish a difficult task.

‘ You should be able to get it now.’ Harry told him., as someone tapped his shoulder.

His stomach did a little flip when he turned around to see Hermione there, face pink in embarrassment.

‘ Excuse me, Harry, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could help me?’ she asked. ‘ I’m afraid you were right. All the books I read only had tips for people that could at least get the broom to float, but I’ve been having some trouble- and Madam Hooch seems to be taking quite a while… so could you?’ she finished, looking rather annoyed at having to ask for help from a student. She never minded asking the professors for help, but she didn’t like to admit that she couldn’t do something that many other students could.

‘ Sure!’ Harry said, a bit too quickly and a bit too loud. ‘ I mean, what’s the matter?’ he continued in a more normal voice.

Hermione explained that she didn’t really know what the problem was, but all her broom would do was twitch and roll over, but it couldn’t get off the ground.

The two stood on either side of Hermione’s broom. ‘ Okay, now do what you did before.’ Harry told Hermione.

She held out both her hands over the broom, and said “Up!” in a commanding tone.

Harry smiled in amusement as the broom’s handle jerked up towards one hand and then the other before falling back down.

‘ First off, are you going to lead your broom with your left hand or your right?’ Harry asked, but Hermione only shrugged. ‘ Okay then, I want you to slap me.’

Hermione’s eyes widened. ‘ But I couldn’t do that!’ she gasped.

‘ Don’t worry you won’t hurt me. I’ve had worse after all. I mean, Snape’s class alone!’ Harry joked.

‘ You really shouldn’t talk like that about professors, Harry.’ Hermione scolded, but she was trying to hide a smile.

‘ Well professors shouldn’t act like he does, but we’re getting off track. Now I don’t want you to think at all. This is very important. Just pretend you’re really angry, and then try and hit me-‘ Harry cut off as Hermione swung at him without warning.

Harry easily caught her wrist, being careful not to hurt her. She looked startled that Harry had done this, but also relieved.

‘ Now, ‘ Harry said, still holding her hand. ‘ this is how you want to put your fingers.’ He continued, moving her fingers for her into the shape that the most recent book he had read suggested for beginners.

He looked up from her hand to her face, to make sure she got everything he was telling her, just as she looked up as well. Their eyes locked for a moment and Harry’s stomach twisted into several knots. They finally snapped out of it, and Harry let go of Hermione’s hand, as if it were burning him.

‘ Uh… I guess you can try it again now.’ Harry mumbled, trying not to blush or look away from Hermione.

Hermione seemed to snap out of a trace and said ‘ Uh- yeah.’ Then she held her hand out again, with her other hand by her side.

‘ Up!’ she said, with a much better result. This time the broom handle flew into her hand, but it smacked into it with such force that she cried out in pain and dropped the broom once more.

Her cry had attracted Madam Hooch’s attention, and she came running over to see what was wrong. She put a simple numbing spell on Hermione’s hand, which was fine except for being a bit sore. Then Madam Hooch had Hermione demonstrate what she had been doing and started working on Hermione’s form as she had been with the other students. Harry slipped away from the two and went back to his broom.

Ron and Dean Thomas had both been able to get their brooms to work after a few tries and had been arguing about football verses Quidditch ever since Harry went to help Neville. He listened in amusement for a while until Madam Hooch finished her rounds, commenting to Malfoy that he had been holding his broom wrong all his life, and that she would be surprised if half the stories he told about his flying skills were true. Malfoy’s face had gone several shades of red at this while Ron and a few other Gryffindors snickered.

‘ Listen up everyone!’ Madam Hooch called, from the front of the class. ‘ Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle- three- two-‘

But, Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch’s lips.

‘ Come back, boy!’ she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away beneath him, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and –

WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the forbidden forest until Madam Hooch pointed at it with her wand, while still running towards Neville, and shouted “ Accio!” The broom stopped floating aimlessly, and started flying straight at Madam Hooch, who was now bent over Neville.

‘ Grab it when it comes in, will you, Potter?’ madam Hooch shot at Harry.

Realizing that she was talking about the broom Harry readied himself to jump on it to keep it from hitting Madam Hooch. Seeing what was happening, the other students backed away from Harry and made sure they weren’t standing between the broom and Madam Hooch.

As Harry jumped up and grabbed the broom when it was coming in, Madam Hooch did something to Neville that brought him around, and she helped him to his feet.

‘ Broken wrist to.’ Harry heard Madam Hooch mutter to herself. ‘ All right, boy, up you get. It’s all right, we’ll just take a trip to see Madam Pomfrey, and she’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy.’

She turned to the rest of the class.

‘ None of you is to move while I take this boy up to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you’ll be out of Hogwarts faster than you can say “Quidditch”! Come on, dear.’

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

‘ Did you see his face, the great lump?!’

The other Slytherins joined in.

‘ Shut up, Malfoy.’ Snapped Parvati Patil. (AN- Wahoo! Go Parvati!)

‘ Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?’ said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. ‘ Never thought you’d like fat little cry babies, Parvati.’

‘ Look!’ said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. ‘ It’s that stupid thing Longbottom’s gran sent him.’

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

‘ Give that here, Malfoy.’ Harry said quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch, and Harry could sense more than see that Ron was right behind him, silently backing Harry up.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

‘ I think I’ll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?’

‘ Give it here!’ Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn’t been entirely untruthful, he could fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, ‘ Come and get it, Potter!’

Harry mounted Neville’s broom, which he was still holding.

‘ No!’ shouted Hermione. ‘ You’ll get hur- um, Madam Hooch told us not to move – you’ll get us all into trouble.’

For once Harry ignored Hermione’s advice. Blood was pounding in his ears. He took off his mirror-plated glasses, since he only needed them for reading and other close-up work, and put them in a secure pocket of his robes. He then kicked hard against the ground and soared upwards. Air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him. In a rush of fierce joy, he realised he’d found something that he could do without being taught or reading about; in fact, all the reading he had done the night before had gone out of his head in a rush. It was easy, it was wonderful! He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps from the girls (of both houses) on the ground, as well as a “That’s my man!” from a cheering Ron.

Harry whipped his broom around to face Malfoy, who looked stunned. Harry himself might have been stunned if he could have seen his face at that moment. Harry’s usual mask that hid his emotions was still in place, but his eyes burned with a cold inner fire. They alone expressed Harry’s fierce joy of experiencing flight, and ever more fierce anger towards Malfoy.

‘ Give it here.’ Harry called again. ‘ Or I’ll knock you off that broom!’

‘ Oh, yeah?’ said Malfoy lamely, trying to pull himself together, but still looking worried.

Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leant forward slightly and grasped the broom in both hands and it shot towards Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about turn and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

(AN- I would like to take a moment to thank Nappa for his ideas for this next part. I wouldn’t have come up with it if it weren’t for him.)

Malfoy now had a determined look about him, and Harry knew, from martial arts tournaments he had visited with Mr. Osakawa, that people who had that look would simply not give up. Harry didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, even Malfoy, but he wanted – no – he needed to get the Remembrall back. Someone as kind and innocent as Neville didn’t deserve to be tormented by the likes of Draco Malfoy.

Down below, Ron was getting worried. He knew Harry well enough to know that he wouldn’t let Malfoy get away with the Remembrall, but as much of a natural flier Harry seemed to be Malfoy still had the experience.

Ron uttered a few choice words, causing Hermione to look at him with a scandalized expression.

Feeling he needed to explain himself, Ron said ‘ Harry’s not going to let Malfoy get away with the Remembrall, and Malfoy won’t let Harry show him up, so one of them is going to get hurt – bad.’

Looking back up at the two boys facing off above Hermione bit her bottom lip, then made a decision, and pulled out her wand. Pointing it at one of the two, (Ron couldn’t tell who she was aiming for) Hermione shouted ‘ Rictusempra!’

Forty or fifty feet in the air over the class, everything was quiet except for the wind. Both Harry and Draco heard Hermione shout something, but neither could tell what had been said. They didn’t dare look away to see what was going on lest they give the other an advantage.

Then, much to Harry’s surprise, Draco started to giggle, then he doubled over on his broom and – Harry couldn’t believe it – he started to laugh!

At first Harry was worried that Draco would drop the Remembrall, but as it became apparent that Draco had no control over his laughter, Harry became more worried that Draco might fall off his broom. He was half right. Draco slipped off his broom, but managed to hold on with one leg and the hand that didn’t have the Remembrall in it. He stopped laughing quite quickly then, and was breathing heavily, his eyes wide. There was a new round of screams from the girls now, and a lot of swearing on the boys’ behalf.

Seeing that Malfoy was okay for the moment, Harry pressed his advantage.

‘ Hand it over Malfoy, and then I’ll help you back to the ground.’, but mercy was the wrong idea right then.

Malfoy’s face turned red in anger as he growled at Harry. ‘ You want it so bad? Then go catch it!’

With his free hand Malfoy threw the Remembrall at the ground. At the same time Harry shot forward to try and catch it, but saw that Malfoy’s sudden motion had caused him to start to lose his grip. Deciding that any life was more important than a Remembrall Harry did two things at once. He changed direction to head for Malfoy, while at the same time he pulled his wand from its holster on the side of his chest. As he closed in on Malfoy, who finally lost his grip completely, he said a spell, at the Remembrall, that he had only read about near the back of his charms text.

‘ Impedmentia!’ he shouted, as he let go with his other hand and swung himself under his broom, holding on to it and guiding it with only his legs.

Even though Harry was only a few feet from Malfoy when he had actually fallen, Harry only caught up with him about twenty feet above the hard grounds of the Quidditch field. Harry made sure his legs were braced and grabbed both of Malfoy’s wrists. As soon as he did Malfoy gabbed Harry’s as well and Harry levelled off as fast as he dared. If he stopped them too quickly they would lose their grips, and Harry didn’t want Malfoy hurt that badly, even if he often said he did.

They were still a good fifteen feet up when they were able to stop. Now that he was safe, Malfoy turned purple in rage and embarrassment. Seeing that no gratitude was forth coming Harry decided that he would do to Malfoy as Malfoy would undoubtedly do to Harry if the situations were reversed. Harry let go with one hand, thanking Mr. Osakawa’s insistence that Harry exercise regularly, otherwise he couldn’t have held Malfoy with one arm. He reached up with the free arm and steered towards the lake, ignoring Malfoy’s swearing and threats.

When they were about fifteen feet out into the lake and ten feet above it, Harry let go of Draco’s other wrist and let him slip off. Malfoy thought better of continuing to yell at Harry and used the moments before he hit the water to draw a deep breath.

Having taken care of Malfoy, Harry turned back to where he had last seen the Remembrall. Amazingly it was still thirty feet up and falling quite slowly. Harry hadn’t expected the spell to work and assumed he’d done it wrong because, from what he remembered of the charm, it wasn’t supposed to last even half as long as it had.

Just as Harry started to fly towards it, the charm finally did wear off, and the ball started falling at a normal rate. Heading on an intercepting course, Harry leaned far forwards and dived. If flying had been wonderful, diving was for Harry what the Chudley Cannons winning the Quidditch cup would be for Ron. As much as Harry would have liked to savour the feeling, both he and the Remembrall were getting uncomfortably close to the ground. Harry rolled under his broom once again, but kept one hand on it this time, and levelled off with his head about two feet from the grass. As he flew by the impact point of the Remembrall, Harry reached out and was able to grab it about a foot before it would have smashed into the ground.

He pulled up and righted himself then stopped and dismounted. All at once he noticed the sounds of cheering as the entire class – minus Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle – rushed towards him. From the time that Harry had taken off until now, he had blocked out all other sounds, the cheering and laughter was a surprise, but what surprised him most was the way everyone suddenly stopped in their tracks and everything got quiet, except for Malfoy’s splashing as Crabbe and Goyle tried to pull him from the lake.

‘ HARRY POTTER!’

Harry pulled his glasses out and put them on as he turned to face what he assumed would be his expulsion, his heart sinking faster than Malfoy had plunged into the water.

‘ Never – in all my time at Hogwarts –‘ McGonagall ground out as she stalked towards Harry.

She was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, ‘ – how dare you – might have broken your neck – ‘

‘ It wasn’t his fault, Professor –‘

‘ Be quiet, Miss Patil –‘

‘ But Malfoy –‘

‘ That’s enough, Mr. Weasley.’ McGonagall snapped, becoming impatient. Looking around she noticed Malfoy’s absence. ‘ Speaking of Mr. Malfoy, where is he?’ she asked.

Ron was trying to hard not to laugh to answer so it was Hermione who silently pointed behind Professor McGonagall at the spectacle of Malfoy, dripping wet, pulling himself out of the lake and ordering Crabbe and Goyle to leave him alone.

Although McGonagall’s face didn’t change Harry heard her snort several times and shake as though she was doing her very best to keep from laughing at the sight.

‘ I assume you have an appropriate explanation for what you were doing out in the lake, Mr. Malfoy?’ McGonagall demanded, tapping her foot and glaring at Draco.

Draco looked shocked for a moment, but then his eyes took on a triumphant look and he hid his smirk.

‘ Well Potter there, dropped me in the lake m’am.’ He said, trying his best to look abused and long suffering.

‘ Oh, he did, did he?’ asked McGonagall in a sceptical voice. ‘ And would you like to explain how he managed to get you up above the water in the first place?’

Draco didn’t have an answer for this so he just scowled at the ground in front of his feet and remained silent.

‘ I thought so, fifty points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy.’

Draco looked up and started to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look on McGonagall’s face.

McGonagall turned to Harry. ‘ Follow me Potter.’

AN- Hey everybody. I apologise profusely. I know I said that I’d have this part out by New Year’s, but… well stuff happens. Stuff like my Grandmother’s funeral. She died just before Christmas, and I was a pallbearer at her funeral, so I think I deserve a little forgiveness for this chapter being so late.

Anywho, enough with the gloomy stuff and excuses. I know where I’m going to go with my next chapter, but it’ll be longer take longer than even this chapter did due to massive amounts of homework that I have been putting off for FAR too long. But as always, your REVIEWS are what keep me alive and most importantly your advice. Whether it’s on the plot of the story or on my writing. So please send me compliments, but criticism is much appreciated!

15. Fluffy

AN- I don’t have much to say right now… here’s the story…

Bye!

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‘ Oh, he did, did he?’ asked McGonagall in a sceptical voice. ‘ And would you like to explain how he managed to get you up above the water in the first place?’

Draco didn’t have an answer for this, so he just scowled at the ground in front of his feet and remained silent.

‘ I thought so, fifty points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy.’

Draco looked up and started to protest, but thought better of it when he saw the look on McGonagall’s face.

McGonagall turned to Harry. ‘ Follow me Potter.’

Harry felt numb as he followed McGonagall towards the castle. He was going to be expelled. He could hardly believe it. He would have liked to be able to say something, to protest at least, but there was nothing he could say. He had disobeyed Madam Hooch, and he had known the consequences of his actions before hand. He didn’t like that he was to be expelled, but he accepted it as the consequence for his actions. The only thing for him to do now was to worry about what he would do now that he would no longer be allowed to train as a wizard.

When McGonagall finally stopped, Harry almost ran into her. He hadn’t expected her to stop here as they were outside a charms classroom, and Harry had assumed that she would be taking him to her office or to see Professor Dumbledore.

McGonagall stuck her head in the door to speak to whatever Professor happened to be teaching.

‘ Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?’ Harry heard her ask.

For a moment Harry thought wildly that Wood might be a cane she was going to use on him. He would have taken it smiling if it meant that he would be allowed to stay.

But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth year boy who came out of Flitwick’s class looking confused.

‘ Follow me, you two.’ Said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.

‘ In here.’ McGonagall said shortly.

She had led them to a classroom that was empty, except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.

‘ Out, Peeves!’ McGonagall barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin and spun to face McGonagall with a nasty grin on his face, but upon seeing Harry he simply smirked at McGonagall and bounced out the door, blowing raspberries at them as he went.

McGonagall closed the door, pointed her wand at it and whispered something. Then she pointed her wand at each of the four walls in turn and whispered the same thing. The room suddenly seemed awfully quiet and stuffy to Harry, and he realized that McGonagall must have used some silencing spells. Harry was elated. She wouldn’t need to keep anyone from hearing if she had intended to expel him. Harry didn’t know what she was going to say that needed to be kept secret, but he was all for it if it meant that he wasn’t to be expelled.

‘ Potter, this is Oliver Wood.’ McGonagall said turning to face the two confused boys once more. ‘ Wood – I’ve found you a seeker.’

Wood’s expression turned instantly from puzzlement to delight.

‘ Are you serious, Professor?’

‘ Absolutely.’ Said McGonagall crisply. ‘ The boy’s a complete natural. I’ve never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?’

Harry nodded silently.

‘ He caught that thing in his hand after a thirty-foot dive.’ McGonagall told Wood. ‘ Didn’t even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn’t have done it on the broom Harry used.’

Wood was now looking like all his dreams had come true at once.

‘ Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?’ he asked excitedly.

‘ Wood’s captain of the Gryffindor team.’ Professor McGonagall explained.

‘ He’s just he build for a Seeker too.’ Said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. ‘ Light – speedy – we’ll have to get him a decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two-Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I’d say.’

‘ I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can’t bend the first year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn’t look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…’

McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.

‘ I want to hear you’re training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you.’

Then suddenly she smiled.

‘ Your father would have been proud.’ She said. ‘ He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.’

At dinnertime, Ron almost choked on a mouthful of steak and kidney pie when Harry told him what had happened when he left the field with McGonagall.

‘ You’re joking!’ He said when he regained his breath. ‘ Seeker? But first years never – you must be the youngest house player in about –‘

‘ – a century.’ Said Harry, eating his own dinner as fast as he could. He was extra-hungry after not eating at lunch and then exerting himself so much to save Malfoy and the Remembrall. ‘ Wood told me.’

Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.

‘ I start training next week.’ Harry continued. ‘ Only don’t tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret. And close your mouth, before a bat flies in thinking it’s a cave.’

Fred and George Weasley now entered the hall, spotted Harry and hurried over.

‘ Well done.’ Said George in a low voice. ‘ Wood told us. We’re on the team too – Beaters.’

‘ I tell you, we’re going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year.’ Said Fred. ‘ We haven’t won since Charlie left, but this year’s team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.’

‘ Anyway, we’ve got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he’s found a new secret passageway out of the school.’

‘ Bet it’s that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.’

No sooner had Fred and George disappeared, than someone far less welcome showed up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

‘ Having a last meal, Potter?’ Draco sneered. ‘ When are you getting the train back to the muggles?’

‘ You’re a lot braver now that you’re not falling off your broom, and you’ve got your little friends to back you up.’ Harry said coolly. There was, of course, nothing little about Crabbe or Goyle (except their brains), but there was nothing either of them could do with the entire staff sitting at the High Table.

‘ I’d take you on any time on my own.’ Said Malfoy. ‘ Tonight if you want.’ Harry allowed himself to grin a little at this before Malfoy amended himself. ‘ Wands only – no contact. What’s the matter? Never heard of a wizard’s duel before I suppose?’

‘ Of course he has.’ Ron said, standing up to face Malfoy. ‘ I’m his second, who’s yours?’

‘ Crabbe.’ Draco answered without pausing. ‘ Midnight alright? We’ll meet you in the trophy room, that’s always unlocked.’

When Draco had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.

‘ I know I’ve read something about duelling before, but I can’t remember it exactly.’ Harry said. ‘ Do you know much about it? Like what do you mean you’re ‘my second’?’

‘ Well, a second’s there to take over if you die.’ Said Ron casually. Seeing Harry raise an eyebrow he quickly added, ‘ But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy’ll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you know enough magic to do any real damage. Or at least I know Malfoy doesn’t.’ Ron said, giving Harry a speculating look. Harry was always ready with some new surprise, like during the flying lessons, so Ron thought that Harry might know something to use on Malfoy after all. ‘Besides, if all else fails, you can just forget your wand and punch him on the nose.’

‘ Excuse me.’

They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

‘ Can’t a person eat in peace in this place?’ said Ron, then grunted as Harry elbowed him without looking away from Hermione.

Hermione bit her lower lip and ignored Ron, then turned to Harry.

‘ I couldn’t help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –‘

‘ Bet you could.’ Ron muttered.

‘- and you mustn’t go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you’ll lose Gryffindor if you’re caught, and you’re bound to be. It’s really very selfish of you.’

‘ I’m afraid that’s beside the point now. I said I’d be there and I always keep my word. Even to Malfoy.’ Harry said and turned back to his dinner, missing the look of confusion on Hermione’s face. Any other guy, Ron for example, would have justified breaking the rules by saying that it didn’t matter so long as he ‘got even’.

‘ Goodbye.’ Said Ron, returning to his dinner as well.

All in all, Harry didn’t think it was what he’d call a perfect end to the day. < Hermione thinks I’m selfish.> Harry had thought he would have a hard time staying awake until it was time to go for the duel. < Hermione thinks I’m selfish.> But the overly soft bed, and the rumbling snores of his housemates, minus Ron who was still awake to leave with Harry, made it impossible to sleep regardless of how tired Harry was. < Hermione thinks I’m selfish… Arrrrghh!> Harry thought. < Why can’t I stop thinking about that? Except she was right, in a way. And so was Ron when he said Malfoy might not show up.> Earlier, before the two had gone to bed, Ron had brought up the possibility that Malfoy wouldn’t show. < But it doesn’t matter. I gave my word that I’d be there so I don’t have a choice.>

Harry glanced at the table where he had left his wand. He had put it on a spot that would come into the moon’s light just before midnight. The moonlight was shinning on half of his wand; when the tip was in full view of the moon through the window, it would be time to go. There were only a few minutes to go, but Harry was restless. He got up quietly and went down to the common room where he and Ron had planned to meet to talk, since it wasn’t a good idea to meet in their dorm as their beds were on either side of Dean’s. Dean was a notoriously light sleeper.

Harry crept down the staircase and into the common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the chairs into hunched black shadows. Harry chose one facing the portrait hole, with it’s back to the two staircases, and settled down to wait for Ron. A minute later he heard footsteps coming downstairs, but they were coming from the girls’ side. Frowning Harry remained still, trusting to his black robes and hair to hide him in the shadows if the person came in front of his chair.

When he finally saw who it was he almost gave himself away with a gasp. It was Hermione, wearing a white night shirt and pink shorts.

After a moment of shocked silence, Harry was about to say hello and find out what she was doing in the common room at this hour, though he had a pretty good idea, but then he heard her mutter his name, and he instinctively froze and listened.

‘ I can’t believe I’m out of my dorm after curfew! I sure hope Harry appreciates this!’ she was grumbling. ‘ Honestly! First on the broom and now he’s going to duel with Malfoy! As if I wasn’t worried enough for him on the broom, now he goes and picks a fight with a much more experienced wizard…’

At this point Harry realized that he had been eavesdropping. Harry felt rather bad about it and would have gotten up and said something, but if he did then Hermione would know the he had been eavesdropping. He decided to wait for Ron to come down and distract Hermione so he could move to the stairs and pretend to be just coming down. It wasn’t easy to wait, with Hermione sitting across from Harry, in her nightshirt, gazing at the embers that were still left in the fireplace. Harry found himself slipping into a sort of trance, but not one like he did when he meditated. When Harry went into a meditative trance, he felt totally disconnected from everything that happened, both physically and mentally, though this didn’t slow his reflexes. The trance he was slipping into now was different though. He felt more connected to everything, and everything seemed to be more solid and detailed than normal, but he was having trouble remembering small things, like whatever Hermione had been saying about Harry in the first place. Harry also found that he simply couldn’t move. Or more accurately, he couldn’t seem to make himself want to move. So Harry sat there staring at Hermione, in her nightshirt and shorts, until Ron came down.

Harry finally snapped out of it when he heard footsteps coming down the boys’ stairway, and then heard Ron whispering.

‘ Hey, Harry. Harry, where are you?’

From where Harry was, he could see Hermione’s puzzlement. She had obviously thought that Harry was still up in his dorm, but if Ron was looking for Harry in the common room…. Hermione lit a lamp beside her chair and stood to talk to Ron, but didn’t get a chance to say anything before Ron.

"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy - he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

Harry frowned and wondered <Why is she trying to stop us from going? I’m sure she’s not worried that we’ll hurt Malfoy.> Harry would have pondered this longer, but at that point Ron and Hermione both had turned away from him, arguing about the consequences of being out of their dorm after curfew, and Harry took the opportunity to get out of his chair and creep silently over to the stairs.

Knowing that Ron at least, would ask him where he had been, and since he neither wanted to say that he had been eavesdropping on Hermione nor did he want to lie, Harry went up the stairs to the washroom and came back.

At this point Ron and Hermione were starting to forget what time it was and were beginning to raise their voices. They were so engrossed in the argument that they didn’t notice Harry come noisily back down the stairs and walk over to where they were standing.

Harry was about to say something when he remembered Katie screaming when he said hello to her because she hadn’t noticed him in the dark on the first night. So instead of calling out to the two from where he was, and risk scaring them, Harry walked over to them and, as they still hadn’t noticed him, he waved his hand in front of their faces.

The two whipped their heads around and snapped “What?!” at the same time, before realizing who it was.

‘ Harry!’ the both said in relief, still in unison.

‘ I hope that you at least will listen to reason.’ Said Hermione in an exasperated tone.

‘ Reason? What does that have to do with anything?!’ exclaimed Ron. He had obviously become entirely too caught up in the argument and his baseless dislike of Hermione, and was now just disagreeing with anything Hermione said.

‘ You know, I really can’t agree with either of you.’ Harry started, in a calming voice, before the two could start up again. ‘ I don’t even know what you two are arguing about, now.’

Hermione took a slow breath and was about to start explaining, when Ron interrupted.

‘ We don’t have time for this anyway, Harry, we’ve got to go, remember? And anywho, where were you?’

‘ I was just in the washroom,’ said Harry casually. ‘ You’re right though; we do need to leave. I don’t want to give Malfoy any reason to call me a coward.’

Hermione’s eyes bulged as Harry said this.

‘ Don’t you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don’t want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you’ll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells.’

‘ Look, Hermione.’ Harry said , placatingly. ‘ I know the reasons for not going, but do you know the reasons for going?’

‘ Well… no, but-‘ Hermione said, looking down.

‘ Harry, come on! Quit wasting time!’ Ron said tugging on Harry’s robes. ‘ She’ll never understand, she’s to dense, let’s just go, already!’

Hearing this, Harry almost laughed for the first time in years, but Hermione failed to see anything funny about Ron’s comment. She looked about ready to curse Ron into oblivion, as soon as she found the right curse. Not wanting to waste even more time in an argument, Harry intervened.

‘ Hermione, right or wrong, I said that I would be there. I will not break my word to anyone. Even Malfoy.’ Said Harry, in a firm tone. ‘ So please, don’t tell anyone that we’ve gone?’ He continued in an almost pleading tone.

Without waiting for an answer, Harry turned to the portrait hole, and went through, pulling Ron after him. Hermione wasn’t going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing angrily.

‘ All right, but I warned you,’ she said, looking more worried than angry. ‘ You just remember what I said when you’re on the train home tomorrow, you’re so —‘

But what they were, they didn’t find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

‘ Now what am I going to do?’ she asked shrilly.

‘ That’s your problem,’ said Ron. ‘ We’ve got to go, we’re going to be late.’

They hadn’t even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.

‘ I’m coming with you,’ she said.

‘ You are not.’ Ron said.

‘ D’you think I’m going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I’ll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up.’

‘ You’ve got some nerve —‘ said Ron loudly.

Suddenly Harry held up his hand, silencing both of them.

‘ Shhh,’ he whispered, ‘ I thought I heard something.’

It was a sort of snuffling sound.

‘ Is it Mrs. Norris?’ Ron asked.

‘ No,’ Harry muttered. ‘ it’s human.’

‘ How could you possibly tell- ‘ Hermione started to scoff, before they came across the sleeping form of Neville.

‘ Huh.’ Ron snorted. ‘ Well, Hermione, I don’t know how common it is for girls to snore, but when you sleep in the guys dorm, you learn to recognize this sort of sound.’ He said with a shit-eating grin.

Hermione flushed and retorted ‘ Then why did you think it was a cat?’

Fortunately, Neville woke up then, putting a stop to the ensuing argument before it could get out of hand.

‘ Thank goodness you found me!’ exclaimed Neville as he woke to find the three standing over him. ‘ I’ve been out here for hours. I couldn’t remember the password to get in.’

‘ Keep your voice down, Neville. The password is “Pig Snout”, but that won’t do you any good right now, the fat Lady’s gone off somewhere.’ Hermione informed him.

‘ How’s your arm?’ asked Harry.

‘ Oh, it’s just fine now. Madame Pomfrey fixed it up in about a minute.’

‘ Good – well look, Neville, we have to be somewhere, we’ll see you later- ‘

‘ Don’t leave me!’ said Neville, scrambling to his feet. ‘ The Bloody Baron’s been past twice already.’

Ron glared at his watch, then at Neville and Hermione.

‘ If either of you two get us caught, I’ll never rest until I’ve learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you.’

Neville trembled at this threat, but Hermione looked completely unimpressed. She opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron what Harry already knew, that there was no such thing, Prof. Quirrell had been making it up, but Harry put a finger to her lips to keep her quiet, and motioned for everyone to follow him down the corridor.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn they expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but Harry was able to lead them around any ghosts that crossed their path, and they never saw either Filch or Mrs. Norris. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy and Crabbe weren’t there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.

‘ He’s late, maybe he’s chickened out.’ Ron whispered.

Harry didn’t think that Malfoy would have chickened out. If Malfoy wasn’t here yet, then it was probably because he had never intended to come. Harry told the others what he thought and, although Ron didn’t agree, he didn’t say he disagreed either. Neville just wanted to go back to the portrait and wait for the fat Lady, but Hermione thought about it for a second and agreed with Harry in the end.

‘ Hmmmm… You’re most likely right. If he had intended to show up in the first place, he would have been here early probably. Since he’s not here then he probably is back in his dorm laughing… it seems like a trick someone of his intelligence would pull.’ Said Hermione.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had his wand raised with a curse ready on his lips when they heard someone speak — and it wasn’t Malfoy.

‘ Sniff around, my sweet. I know they’re around here somewhere.’

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Biting back a few choice words, Harry waved to everyone to follow him as he ran at an apparently solid wall.

Not knowing what else to do, the others followed Harry. Hermione almost cried out as Harry ran smack into the wall. Ron on the other hand swore loudly, attracting Filch’s attention. Except that Harry hadn’t ran into the wall. He had disappeared a foot before it. Then his head popped back through the wall.

‘ Come on! Just run at the wall.’ He told the others. ‘ So long as you run right at it, the wall will let you through.’

In any other circumstances, the other three probably wouldn’t have been able to make themselves do it, but Filch chose that moment to come barrelling around the corner into the trophy room with Mrs. Norris right on his heels.

Hermione turned to Neville and Ron, and, grabbing their hands, she ran through the wall, pulling them behind her. They emerged to find Harry leaning on the wall waiting for them, his usual lack of expression still apparent.

‘ Come on,’ he said, standing up straight. ‘ Filch is bound to figure out where we went soon enough.’ He turned and started to jog down the corridor. Hermione and Ron started to follow with Neville a few feet back.

Suddenly they heard Filch shout, “ Ah-ha! The false wall! Now I’ve got you!” He had, apparently, figured out where they had gone, and the four students sped up.

Then there was the sound of loud cursing from behind the four. Apparently the wall had decided to behave like a normal wall while Filch was still halfway inside it. Glancing back they could see most of his upper body sticking out of the now solid wall, his face an ugly shade of purple as he screamed at the wall to let him go.

Both Ron and Neville almost fell over laughing, and it was lucky for them that Filch was trapped so that he couldn’t turn enough to see the faces of the students that were laughing at his predicament. Fortunately for Ron and Neville, Harry and Hermione (AN- What a beautiful phrase!) were still paying attention to Filch, because the wall had started to revert to it’s passable state, and Filch was slowly pulling himself free. If they stayed where they were much longer Filch would catch them for sure.

‘ RUN!’ Harry shouted, hoping that Filch would not recognize his voice later.

Ron and Neville looked at Filch, struggling to get free, then turned and bolted past Harry. Together, the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Neville in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

‘ I-*pant* think we--*pant pant*- lost him.’ Ron gasped, holding his side and stopping to rest.

Everyone was on the point of collapse after their sudden sprint, except maybe Harry, who was only breathing a bit harder than normal.

‘ I — told — you,’ Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, ‘ I — told — you.’

‘ We’ve got to get back to Gryffindor tower,’ said Ron, ‘ quickly as possible.’

‘ Malfoy tricked you,’ Hermione said to Harry. ‘ You realize that, don’t you? He was never going to meet you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off.’

‘ I know.’ Harry said. ‘ I figured he might try that. In fact, that’s why I asked the twins about any ways in or out of the trophy room that most people might not know about.’

‘ I was wondering how you knew about that.’ Ron admitted.

Harry shook his head grimly. ‘ I should have anticipated that Filch would know about it though. If that wall hadn’t decided to go solid right then…’ he let it hang.

‘ Well as much fun as that was, why don’t we go back to the common room now?’ Neville asked. He was still looking over his shoulder nervously every few seconds.

‘ Yes. Perhaps the fat Lady will be back now and we can go back to our dorms, where we should have been in the first place.’ Hermione said acidly, looking at Ron, as though it was his fault she was locked out of Gryffindor tower.

They started to make their way through the corridors, back to their dorms. Ron and Hermione were back to ignoring each other as much as possible, Neville was to shy and nervous to say anything and Harry was concentrating on making sure they weren’t caught by any wandering ghosts. All in all it was a very quiet walk. It was almost relaxing, until Peeves came zooming around a corner ahead of them. He spotted them before they could hide.

‘ Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties?’ he jeered. ‘ Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you’ll get caughty.’ Then he cracked a grin at Harry. ‘ At least you will if you don’t find somewhere to hide quickly. Seems some students were laughing at Filchy-pie and he’s rather eager to catch them.’

Both Neville and Hermione were looking scared, as if they were just waiting for Peeves to start shouting for Filch. Ron, on the other hand, had gone as red as his hair. He looked like he was about to explode at Peeves, but Harry just smirked and nodded at Peeves before motioning for everyone to follow him as he searched desperately for a place to hide.

‘ Over here!’ hissed Ron, standing before a door at the end of the corridor.

The others rushed over to Ron but when he tried the door it was locked.

‘ Shi-oot!’ spat Ron. ‘ It’s locked!’

Just then they heard footsteps coming towards them from the direction they had been headed in.

‘ Oh, get out of the way!’ Hermione snarled, shoving Ron away and looking closely at the lock. ‘ Give me your wand, someone.’ She said, holding out her hand.

‘ This is it!’ Ron moaned, as he pushed uselessly at the door, ‘ We’re done for! This is the end!’

Harry playfully slapped the back of Ron’s head as he handed his wand to Hermione. ‘ Don’t give up before you’re caught.’ He advised.

Hermione tapped the lock and said “ Alohomora!”

The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

They heard Filch arrive in front of the door they had just gone through. Everyone’s eyes bugged out as they listened to Filch talking to himself.

‘ Grrr. I know I heard them around here somewhere.’

Then, to their horror, they heard him start opening doors on the far end of the corridor, checking the rooms for unruly students.

Neville and Hermione started breathing quickly, panicking. To tell the truth Ron was panicking also, but hiding it better. It was only a matter of time before Filch would find them. Harry tried to calm his mind and think of any magic he had learned or heard of that might keep Filch from opening the door, or even just distract him. He noticed Hermione still had his wand and he got an idea.

‘ Hermione!’ he whispered, with his lips close to her ear to avoid making more noise than necessary. ‘ Can that spell you used lock doors too?’

For a moment Hermione couldn’t answer; in fact, she was having trouble thinking at all. They were all pressed closely together, all trying to listen through the door at once. When Harry suddenly whispered in her ear, and she could feel his warm breath on her ear and cheek, she just froze as a shiver ran through her.

‘ Hey! Didn’t you hear him?’ Ron muttered, bringing Hermione back to her senses. ‘ Can it or not?’

Hermione shook her head to clear her mind and brought Harry’s wand back up. Crossing her fingers on her free hand, she whispered the spell again, and there was a little click as the door locked itself once more, and they all let out a sigh of relief.

‘ I wasn’t actually sure that it would work. After all it is an unlocking charm-‘ started Hermione before Harry put a finger to her lips, silencing her and sending another chill down her spine, which she attributed to running around in a cold castle in her night clothes. Harry shivered thinking much the same thing as Hermione.

Filch was starting down the other side of the corridor now and was only a few doors away from where the four were hiding, when he opened one door to find Peeves waiting with water balloons. (AN- Where the heck did he get them? The characters are taking over the story and leaving plot holes! Ahhh!)

‘ PEEVES!’ shouted Filch in surprise.

Peeves grinned savagely at Filch, tossing one balloon up and down menacingly.

‘ Y- Y- You wouldn’t dare!’ Filch stuttered, his eyes wide and his face purple in a scared rage. Peeves had been known to fill his water balloons with whatever potions he found in the dungeon, and the results were often… distressing to say the least.

Ron, Neville, Hermione and Harry couldn’t hear what was going on after Filch had shouted “ Peeves!”, which had made them all flinch.

Luckily for Filch though, Peeves didn’t actually have any water balloons. They had actually been an illusion, one of the few bits of magic that poltergeists can do.

Filch glared and turned an embarrassed red as Peeves let the balloons disappear.

‘ Quick, Peeves, which way did they go?’ asked Filch, over Peeves’ cackling laughter. ‘ Tell me!’

Ron, Neville and Hermione all tensed when they heard this. Would Peeves give them away? But Harry was fairly sure that Peeves was actually trying to help them without seeming to. Harry wasn’t too worried…

‘ Say “Please”.’ Peeves said, folding his arms and acting, mockingly, like a stubborn child.

‘ Don’t mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?’

‘ Shan’t say nothing if you don’t say please,’ said Peeves in an annoying singsong voice.

‘ Alright – please!’

‘ NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn’t say nothing if you didn’t say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!’ And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.

A moment later they heard a still cursing Filch stalk away, and they let out a relieved sigh.

‘ He thought this door was locked,’ Harry whispered. ‘ I think we’ll be okay — what is it, Neville?!’ For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry’s bathrobe for the last minute. ‘ What?’

Harry turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he’d walked into a nightmare — this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. They weren’t in a room, as they had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren’t already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

Harry took a step forwards pushing Hermione behind him, towards the door.

‘ Quick, Hermione.’ He said in a shaky voice. ‘ The door.’

Hermione snapped out of her frightened paralysis when Harry moved her to the door, and she whipped around shouting “ Alohomora!”

The door slammed open, and Hermione rushed out followed closely by Neville and Ron, and lastly Harry.

They slammed the door on one of the dog’s noses as it lunged towards them. Fortunately the dog couldn’t even fit his head through, and Ron, Neville and Harry were able to hold the door shut for Hermione to perform her spell, one last time, on the door.

Once the door was locked again they all sprinted back to Gryffindor tower without slowing down. Fortunately the fat Lady had returned by that time, and was able to let them in.

‘ Where on earth have you all been?’ she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

‘ Never mind that.’ Panted Hermione, stepping forward. ‘ Pig Snout.’ and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he’d never speak again.

‘ What do they think they’re doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?’ Ron said to Harry finally. ‘ If any dog needs exercise, that one does.’

But Harry wasn’t listening. He was lost in thought and had a suspicious look on his normally inexpressive face.

Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. ‘ You don’t use your eyes, any of you, do you?’ she snapped. ‘ Didn’t you see what it was standing on?’

‘ The floor?’ Ron suggested, snidely. ‘ I wasn’t looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads.’

‘ No, not the floor.’ Said Harry thoughtfully. ‘ It was standing on a trapdoor. It’s obviously guarding something.’

Hermione dropped her glare for a moment to beam at Harry, as though she was a professor, and Harry was her prize pupil.

‘ Exactly.’ She stated. ‘ And if something has to be brought to Hogwarts to be kept safe, then you can bet it’s pretty important. Now I hope you’re pleased with yourselves.’ Turning to Harry she said ‘ You could have been killed — or worse, expelled. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.’ And without a backwards glance she turned and went up the stairs to her dorm.

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

‘No, we don’t mind,’ he said. ‘ You’d think we dragged her along, wouldn’t you?’

But once again, Harry wasn’t listening. Hermione had given him several things to think about. The foremost in his mind being what Hagrid had said…What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts. It looked as though Harry had finally found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

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AN- Hello, everyone! I don’t have much to say right now, but I want to tell everybody that the “Chamber of Secrets” movie is f***ing AMAZING!!! Dan is a great actor! He plays Harry perfectly! And I just LOVED Rupert’s facial expressions as Ron!

Anywho that’s all for now…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

16. A New Broom

AN- I need to know if you guys want Harry and Hermione together in this story even though they’re not together (YET!) in the books. I think I’m planning on making Ron kinda girl crazy or something… I’m not really sure. This story seems to have it’s own ideas about what’s going to happen and they don’t always agree with what I want to happen… Oh, well.

BTW, the little pictures ( ¿<’}}}>< ) just mean a change of scene.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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But once again, Harry wasn’t listening. Hermione had given him several things to think about. The foremost in his mind being what Hagrid had said…what had Hagrid said? He had said that Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts. It looked as though Harry had finally found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.

¿<’}}}><

Malfoy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

‘ It’s either really valuable or really dangerous,’ said Ron.

‘ Or both,’ said Harry.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn’t have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was “…such a bossy know-it-all…” as Ron so eloquently put it, that Ron saw this as an added bonus to the adventure of meeting the dog.

All Ron and Harry really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

That morning the post arrived as usual, but six owls carrying a long thin package between them caught everyone’s attention. Ron and Harry stared at the struggling owls along with everyone else, waiting to see whom the mysterious package was for. As they watched a white blur flew by the six owls screeching. Two of the owls let go in panic, flapping madly to get away as the white thing slowed down to turn for another attack. As it slowed, Harry realized it was Hedwig, looking angry and fierce.

‘ Hey, Harry? Isn’t that Hedwig?’ Ron asked incredulously, at about the same time Harry realized just that.

‘ Yeah, it is. But why would Hedwig attack those owls?’ wondered Harry.

As Ron and Harry spoke Hedwig flew at the four owls that were still struggling not to drop the package. Hedwig screeched at them again as she approached, and the owls seemed to decide that it wasn’t worth their feathers to deliver the package, so the dropped it and flew away, beating their wings as fast as they could. By this time the entire hall was watching the dogfight-taking place over their heads. Several students that were sitting below when the owls finally dropped the package leaped up to catch it, but Hedwig, in a brilliant display of aerial acrobatics, flipped over as she went by where the owls had been moments ago, and dove at the package.

Harry, who still had no idea what was going on, or why Hedwig would be acting like this, saw what she was trying to do. He didn’t think that Hedwig could possibly carry a package, by herself, which had needed six school owls to deliver. All this flashed through Harry’s mind as Hedwig caught up to the package, grabbed a hold of it, and… pulled up!

For some reason all of the students cheered as Hedwig rose up with the package. She had been perilously close to crashing, and it was obvious that the package was really weighing her down, but she looked almost triumphant, which was a neat trick for a creature with as little facial mobility as an owl. Some of the staff members were cheering Hedwig along with the students, who seemed to have forgotten that Hedwig had just been attacking several school owls, but as Harry glanced at the staff table to see if he would be getting into trouble for this, he saw McGonagall chuckling slightly and shaking her head.

Harry had been wondering why Hedwig was acting like this, but now he was more interested in why his very strict head of house was letting such a breach of discipline go.

Harry didn’t have long to wonder, as Hedwig had glided down to Harry’s spot at the Gryffindor table and dropped the long package across his lap. She alighted on Harry’s shoulder, letting out contented hoot and nipping Harry’s ear affectionately.

Except for the Gryffindors, the other students had sat back down to their breakfast after they saw that it was Harry Potter who had received the package after such an unusual mail delivery.

‘ Aren’t you going to open it, Harry?’ asked Ron.

‘ Well, I guess it must be for me… I mean, Hedwig wouldn’t steal from school owls I don’t think.’ Muttered Harry.

‘ I dunno, Har,’ mused Fred.

‘ Hedwig might… if it was for you,’ continued George.

‘ She seems to really-‘

‘ care for you.’

‘ Maybe she was…’ Fred started with a grin.

‘ …Jealous of the other owls giving you your package!’ George concluded with a laugh.

Ron and Harry just groaned at the twins’ antics.

‘ Well I guess there’s only one way to find out if its for me or not.’ Said Harry, preparing to start ripping the brown paper off the odd shape.

Just as Harry grabbed the long thin end and was about to start, a letter fluttered onto the table in front of him with his name on the front. Hoping it was something about the package he had just gotten he opened it first.

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE!

It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand,

but I don’t want everyone knowing you’ve

got a broomstick or they’ll all want one.

Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the

Quidditch pitch at seven o’clock for your

first training session.

Professor McGonagall

Harry was only just able to suppress a grin of delight as Ron gasped and whispered ‘ A Nimbus Two Thousand? I’ve never even touched one!’

Ron and Harry quickly left the hall before any other students could ask what the letter said and what the parcel was.

¿<’}}}><

Ron ran into someone as he and Harry left, literally.

It was Malfoy.

‘ Watch where you’re going Weasel!’ he sneered as Ron and him picked themselves up off the floor. He glared at Harry and noticed the package Harry was carrying. ‘ What’s that?’ he asked suspiciously.

‘ None of your business is what it is!’ growled Ron, pulling Harry around Malfoy and up the stairs in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. ‘ Man! I can’t wait to see the look on his face when you play in your first match!’ he continued gleefully.

¿<’}}}><

Both Ron and Harry had a hard time keeping on task that day. They both kept zoning out in class, imagining how great it would be to finally have a chance to fly on Harry’s new broom.

Ron had asked Harry if they could go out for Harry’s first practice a little early so that Ron could have a chance to try out Harry’s Nimbus. Of course Harry had agreed without hesitation. He had no problem with letting anyone else use his broom, especially not Ron.

Harry didn’t really see what the big deal was about the Nimbus Two-Thousand. It seemed to be the same as any school broom except that it was brand new, and all of its twigs were in line, all very superficial things as far as Harry was concerned. He knew that, more than any physical aspect, it was the charms placed on a broom that decided how well it flew (Pg. 47, Quidditch Through The Ages, lines 10-14), and as far Harry could tell the charms on the Nimbus weren’t too different from those on a Cleansweep.

The classes that day crawled by for Ron and Harry, but eventually the last class of the day ended and Ron and Harry scrambled to get to the Great Hall to have dinner then get ready for Harry’s first practise session.

¿ <’}}}><

As Ron and Harry hurried to the practise field, they talked about how great it would be to see the look on Malfoy’s face when he realized that Harry had made the house Quidditch team, and even had a broom of his own when no other first year was allowed one.

They were an hour early for Harry’s practise time and had the entire field to themselves.

When they arrived, Harry turned to Ron and held out the broom wordlessly.

Ron’s eyes gleamed and his hand twitched as if to take the broom handle, but he just smiled and shook his head.

‘ No, Harry.’ He said. ‘ You should be the first one to try it.’

Harry only grinned in response and mounted.

As soon as he did so the broom rose a few feet, taking Harry’s feet off the ground, and in that one simple movement Harry could feel the energy and speed of the broom. Harry’s eyes lit up behind his glasses and he grinned at Ron once more be fore off hard and rocketing straight upward.

Harry flew up and down the field a few times, the ground below seeming to be only a blur. He wasn’t experience enough yet to try anything fancy, but he couldn’t wait for Wood to arrive for practise. After ten minutes or so, Harry landed in front of Ron to trade places.

He opened his mouth to exclaim to Ron about how wonderful the broom was, but Ron cut him off.

‘ I know, Harry. It’s wonderful, right?’ asked Ron, chuckling. ‘ You should see your face right now. I can’t remember seeing you grin so widely before!’

Harry had taken his glasses off and put them in a pocket on the insides of his robes after almost losing them several times. ‘ It is!’ was all he could say with his eyes glazed over.

‘ Your turn now, Ron.’ He said, shaking his head to clear it.

Ron’s eyes were bright and he licked his lips in anticipation as he reached out for the broom.

Harry studied Ron’s flying while he waited. Ron might not move nearly as fast as Harry had been, but his extra experience was apparent. Harry found himself analysing Ron’s form as his friend flew up and down the field, executing a few simple tricks.

Ron’s handling of the broom was quite good even if he did tend to guide it more with his legs than he strictly should, and his balance was superb. Harry knew he had read about these types of things in the Quidditch books he had looked up before, but he found that he didn’t really need to consciously think about the information. It was simply there waiting for him to use it. All in all though, Harry could tell that Ron had great potential as a flyer.

Ron and Harry spent half an hour or so taking turns on the broom before Ron finally decided to head back in to complete some last minute changes on a transfiguration paper that was to be handed in the next day.

‘ See ya later, Harry.’ He called as he walked off. ‘ Remember to come and tell me how it goes when you’re finished!’

Harry waved as his friend walked off then mounted the broom again, intending to get in some practise of his own before Wood showed up.

Harry had fully intended to go through the basic manoeuvres that most of the books had suggested for beginners, but they were simple and he soon became bored with them.

He started flying up and down the field again, this time simply enjoying the feeling of freedom, something new to him. After a while he started leaning closer and closer to his broom zooming up and down the field, faster and faster. He tried to see just how fast the broom could go, and how sharply it could turn at those speeds. The field was a large one, but Harry was moving so fast that it seemed to take only seconds from one end to the other.

As fast as he was already going, Harry was sure that he could go even faster if he could find some way of accelerating in a shorter distance. Harry slapped his forehead with his hand. Of course!

< Gravity equals acceleration and acceleration equals gravity.> he thought.

With that in mind Harry rocketed upward until he was well above even the tallest of the towers of Hogwarts. At that height he levelled off and grinned fiercely towards the ground. Then, with his stomach doing flips he pointed his broom straight down and flew towards the ground, faster than he had ever moved before!

Harry had only the approaching ground to judge his speed against; he guessed he must have been going almost one hundred miles an hour by the time he reached the tops of the Hogwarts towers. At this point he started to pull up, but as fast as he was going it would still be close.

Straining to pull the front of the broom up Harry heard someone yelling and laughing. It took him a moment to realize that it was him who was laughing! For the first time that Harry could ever remember, he was laughing and smiling. At the same time he was screaming with the exhilaration of flying so fast.

The ground was still rushing up at him, but not quite so fast as before, and by the time he reached the ground he was moving slow enough to jump off the broom and absorb the shock by crouching.

Pulling out his glasses and slipping them back on, Harry turned to pick up his broom and saw Wood, mouth hanging halfway to his knees, staring at Harry then the Nimbus, then back at Harry.

‘ Are you completely nuts?!!’ He roared. ‘ What would we have done for a seeker for our first match if you had killed yourself, huh?’

Raising an eyebrow Harry asked ‘ What do you mean? The worst that could have happened is I might have broken my legs. I pretty sure it’s possible to fly without using your legs.’

Wood just stared at Harry as if he had sprouted horns before shaking his head and muttering something about stupid gits who didn’t care about winning Quidditch matches.

Oliver turned around and bent over a wooden case that Harry hadn’t noticed.

‘ Very nice dive though, even if you did almost kill yourself.’ said Wood, his eyes glinting. ‘ I see what McGonagall meant…you really are a natural. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move that fast on a broom. Anywho, I’m just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you’ll be joining team practice three times a week.’

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

‘ Right,’ said Wood. ‘ Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers.’

‘ Three Chasers,’ Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

‘ This ball’s called the Quaffle,’ said Wood. ‘ The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?’

‘ The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,’ Harry recited. ‘ So — that’s sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t it?’

Wood gave Harry an odd look and opened his mouth as if to ask a question, but then thought better of it, and continued explaining the intricacies of Quidditch to Harry, who made sure to remember everything he was told. McGonagall had said that if he didn’t work hard at his Quidditch training, she might remember that he hadn’t been punished for the incident with Malfoy.

‘ This,’ said Wood, reaching into the crate to pull out the final ball ‘ is the Golden Snitch, and it’s the most important ball of the lot. It’s very hard to catch because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the Seeker’s job to catch it. You’ve got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team’s Seeker. That means that although your speed will be very useful, you’ve also got to be agile, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That’s why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. So that’s all. Any questions before we start practicing?’

Harry shook his head.

‘ It’s getting a bit too dark to use the actual Snitch, we might lose it, so we’ll use these instead.’

Wood pulled a bag of ordinary muggle golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch. He even threw a few straight at the ground.

Harry didn’t miss a single one. Wood was delighted, but after half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn’t carry on.

‘ That Quidditch Cup’ll have our name on it this year,’ said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. ‘ I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn’t gone off chasing dragons.’

¿ <’}}}><

The common room had been deserted by the time Harry got back, except for a few seventh years working on large projects, and Harry headed straight to bed.

Harry was so exhausted after his workout that he was able to ignore what he considered to be an overly soft mattress, though he was beginning to become used to it, and went right to sleep, a hint of what might have been a smile on his face.

AN- “ Love is like a cancer, it kills you in the end.”

Anywho, my ‘ Golden Rule’ of fanfics is: If you read, you must review.

I follow this rule and I hope you will to. Whether you like my story or not, I WANT TO KNOW!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

17. The Troll

AN- Anywho, I’ve decided to pretty much write the story however I want and to only put in the events that I think need to be in it. I’d also like everyone to say in his or her reviews what events you’d like to see, and how you’d like them to play out. I’ll try my best to accommodate everybody’s opinions.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

¿ <'}}}><

Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework and his own extra studying, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he’d already been at Hogwarts two months. Harry had discovered a new definition of ‘home’. He had always thought that your home was where you lived, which meant that Privet Drive was his home, but he knew better now. The castle was his home. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered what Harry considered “the basics”.

All in all it felt to Harry as if he was learning about life for the first time. Compared to his life with the Dursleys everything about Hogwarts was fun, even the homework; sometimes especially the homework, which he sometimes did in the library with Hermione if Ron didn’t need his help, or was busy with something else.

After a few days of Hermione not talking to him, Harry had decided he needed to do something about it. He had never minded when the Dursleys had ignored him, but for some reason he felt sick knowing that Hermione was angry with him. He had begun to feel differently towards people in general since coming to Hogwarts, but didn’t know how to deal with them. He was beginning to realize that the Dursleys had been, and still were, real jerks (to put it mildly!).

He had finally settled on forcing her to talk to him by cornering her in the library one day.

*****************Flash Back********************

‘ Get out of my way, Harry!’ Hermione demanded, in an almost pleading voice after she realized that he wasn’t going to let her out of the library.

‘ Not until you at least listen to me for a moment!’ said Harry, feeling exasperated. < And I thought Dudley could be stubborn sometimes!>

‘ No!’ she stated, raising her chin so it seemed that she was looking down her nose at him although she was actually a little shorter than Harry. ‘ Not until either you, or Ron apologises for all the trouble you caused for me.’

‘ Well first, it’s hard to apologise to someone who won’t listen to anything you say, and second, I do apologise.’ Returned Harry, looking abashed. ‘ I’m sorry that you got dragged into it because you were concerned about m- uh, us… I mean about Gryffindor house, but you do realize that I didn’t really have much choice, don’t you?’

Hermione sniffed at him, but appeared to be thinking about it. Eventually she nodded her acceptance of his stammered apology, and they walked out of the library in much lighter spirits with Hermione muttering about people that took some promises too seriously.

***************End Flash Back******************

¿<’}}}><

On Halloween morning the students woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they’d seen him make Neville’s toad zoom around the classroom.

Harry shared a smug look with Hermione. She had insisted on working ahead on it while she and Harry were working in the library one day, so neither of them would find the task very gruelling.

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry’s partner was Seamus Finnigan. Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. Hermione had said, after Harry had apologized, that she would talk to Ron as well, even if he hadn’t apologized, but that didn’t stop the two of them from spending more energy glaring at each other than actually working.

‘ Now, don’t forget that nice wrist movement we’ve been practicing!’ squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. ‘ Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said ‘s’ instead of ‘f’ and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.’

It was a very difficult spell to learn, apparently. Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Harry stamped it out quickly.

While Seamus was getting more and more frustrated with the lesson, Harry was, as always, working on more difficult uses of the spell. Specifically, he was practicing levitating heavier objects, when he thought no one would notice.

Ron wasn’t having such luck, although he did seem to be doing better than most of the class. Each time he yelled the spell and flicked his wand the feather would twitch upward for a moment before settling back down. Most of the class hadn’t gotten much better results than Seamus was getting.

‘ You’re saying it wrong!’ Hermione snapped at one point. ‘It’s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.’

‘ Then you do it!’ Ron finally shouted at Hermione who hadn’t tried as yet.

Hermione turned to the feather with a disdainful sniff for Ron and pointed her wand at the feather.

‘ Wingardium Leviosa!’ she cried, with a flick of her wand. Nothing happened for a moment, but then, just as Ron smirked and was about to make some comment that Harry knew would end up in another fight, the feather slowly floated up off the table until it was level with Hermione’s eyes.

By the end of the class, both Hermione and Harry had earned Gryffindor ten points each and Ron had earned another five after calming down enough to perform the spell properly. Harry thought that Ron could do a lot better in his lessons if he could just learn to be calmer.

‘Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the ‘gar’ nice and long.’ Ron muttered snidely to Harry as they left the class. ‘ Honestly, Harry, she’s such a know-it-all! I don’t know how you can stand her!’

Just then someone brushed past the two in a hurry. Harry only caught a glimpse of watery cinnamon eyes and bushy brown hair before the person was around a corner and out of sight.

‘ I think she heard you.’ Said Harry with his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

Ron said ‘ So what? She must realize she’s not making any friends.’ But he looked rather uncomfortable.

Hermione didn’t turn up for the next class and wasn’t seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls’ bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of his mind.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore’s chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, ‘ Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know.’

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore’s wand to bring silence.

‘ Prefects,’ he rumbled, ‘ lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!’

Percy was in his element. ‘ Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I’m a prefect!’

‘ How could a troll get in?’ Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

‘ Don’t ask me, they’re supposed to be really stupid,’ said Ron. ‘ Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke.’

Harry didn’t think so, and he said as much. ‘ Peeves can be cruel sometimes, but not vicious. Not like this.’

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of Hufflepuffs who seemed determined to stay and help the Hogwarts staff, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron’s arm.

‘ Come on, Ron.’ Harry said steering Ron away from the other first years who seemed to actually believe in all of Percy’s bravado.

‘ Where are we going? Percy better not see us!’ Run demanded, pulling back.

‘ We’ve got to go find Hermione. She doesn’t know about the troll!’

Ron frowned but didn’t hesitate to continue following Harry. ‘Alright,’ he said,’ but if we get in trouble I’m blaming Hermione.’

‘ With any luck we can find her, and get back to the common room without getting caught by the teachers or the troll.’ Answered Harry.

‘ Great!’ Ron muttered. ‘ You just had to remind me about the troll.’ Then he stopped suddenly. ‘Shoot!’ he spat grabbing Harry’s arm and pulling him behind a suit of armour.

‘ Wha-?’ Harry started before Ron shushed him.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

‘ What’s he doing?’ Harry whispered. ‘ Why isn’t he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?’

‘ Got me.’

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape’s fading footsteps.

‘ He’s heading for the third floor,’ Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.

‘ Can you smell something?’

Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

‘ The keys in the lock,’ Harry muttered. ‘ We could lock it in.’

‘ Good idea.’ Ron whispered back.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn’t about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

‘ Hah!’ crowed Ron, triumphantly.

Harry felt better knowing that the troll was locked up. This way there would be no danger to Hermione, and the professors could be called in to deal with the troll.

Flushed with their victory, they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop — a high, petrified scream — and it was coming from the chamber they’d just chained up.

‘ Oh, no,’ said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

Harry felt his stomach drop down to his feet. He couldn’t breath except to gasp ‘ Hermione!’ Then he felt angry. Harry only rarely got angry and he controlled himself when he did, but he had never felt so angry before because this anger came from his fear. Not fear of the troll, but fear for Hermione’s well being, and for the first time in his life, Harry acted without thinking. For the first time, Harry couldn’t control his emotions, and his emotions demanded just one thing. STOP THE TROLL!

Without thinking about what he could do to stop the troll, Harry whipped around and ran full tilt back down the hall towards the frightened cries.

It was the last thing that Ron wanted to do, running back towards the troll, but he wasn’t about to let his best friend face something like that by himself.

Harry didn’t bother slowing down as he approached the locked door for he heard Ron shout ‘ Alohomora!’ from right behind him.

The door swung open and Harry flew inside without pause.

Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

‘ Distract it!’ Harry roared at Ron, while charging at the troll himself. In his rage Harry had mostly forgotten about his magic and instinctively relied on what he had practiced for years.

As Ron shouted and threw a large pipe at the troll Harry leaped forward, slamming his foot into where a person’s kidney would be. It was like kicking a brick wall, and had about as much effect, but it had at least gotten the monster’s attention.

The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had hit it, much as one might look for an annoying fly. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, and then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

‘ Oy, pea-brain!’ yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw another metal pipe at it. The troll didn’t even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron.

Even though Harry still wasn’t really thinking, he saw his chance to get to Hermione, who still looked scared, but didn’t seem to be about to faint anymore.

‘ Come on, run, run!’ Harry yelled at Hermione, holding her arm and putting an arm around her waist to help her stand, but once she was standing she still couldn’t move. She was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.

The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.

‘ RON!’ Harry yelled, and his sudden movement seemed to snap Hermione back.

Hermione still seemed panicked, but she quickly picked up her wand, from where she had dropped it and pointed it at the troll as Harry ran to help Ron.

Ron was starting to panic himself and was casting a spell in the troll’s direction, but it couldn’t be heard over the troll’s roar and it didn’t seem to have much effect anyway.

Harry ran around to the front of the troll, only thinking that he had to stop it before it could hurt one of his friends. The only true friends Harry had at Hogwarts - or anywhere else for that matter.

As Harry turned to face it he saw Hermione’s hex take effect as brilliant lights exploded in front of the troll’s eyes.

Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, forcing Harry to take a step back or join the headless hunt (Nick had mentioned it to Harry in passing).

Everything seemed to slow down for Harry as the club passed through the spot where his head had been a moment ago. When the club went by, Harry flexed his arm and caught the knife that Mr. Osakawa had given him as it fell from it’s leather sheath. The knife that was meant to be used, not to be an ornament.

He flipped the knife around to hold it blade-forward, as he jumped toward the troll thrusting forward. As the tip of the knife pressed against the skin of the troll, time appeared to return to normal speed for Harry and he felt the knife slam into the troll’s chest with little resistance, right to the hilt. Harry knew he had killed the troll, but the troll wasn’t about to admit it right away.

Before Harry had a chance to leap back away, the club came swinging back to catch Harry in the side sending him flying into the wall. Then everything went dark for Harry.

Ron looked on in horror, as his friend put himself between him and the troll, narrowly missing a crushing blow. Then Harry moved to fast to see exactly what he did, but Ron saw him seem to punch the troll’s chest before the troll brought it’s club back around and knocked Harry into the wall.

Harry didn’t move.

Ron froze staring, waiting for Harry to move. To groan. To breathe.

Ron could hear Hermione screaming again, but it came from a great distance. Ron snapped out of it when the troll staggered towards Harry’s limp form, seemingly weakened from Harry’s punch, but intent on finishing Harry off- if it hadn’t already.

‘ Nooooo!’ cried Ron and Hermione at the same time.

In unison, Ron and Hermione shouted the first spell to come to mind. ‘ Wingardium Leviosa!’

The club flew suddenly out of the troll’s hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner’s head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, hiding Harry’s knife underneath it, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Ron and Hermione shared a terrified look before rushing to their friend’s side, fearing the worst, but still hoping.

Hermione reached out a hand as if she wanted to touch him but was afraid to. She and Ron stared for a long moment before…

‘ Look!’ cried Ron. ‘ He’s still breathing!’ and he reached out, and with Hermione helping, carefully rolled Harry from his side onto his back.

Tears of relief streaked both friends’ cheeks as Harry groaned and turned his head, waking up.

Opening his eyes a bit, Harry saw the slightly blurred forms of Hermione and Ron. He didn’t move for a moment, trying to remember where he was and why his side seemed to be on fire.

‘ The troll?’ he asked as the events before he was knocked out came back to him.

‘ Forget about the troll, Harry, we’ve got to get you to Madame Pomfrey –‘ Hermione started to say, but was cut off by a groan from Harry, who had tried to sit up. ‘ Harry! Stop! Just wait a moment! Ron, grab his other arm and we’ll lift on three. Okay, Harry?’

‘ On three.’ Harry agreed, gritting his teeth against the pain.

‘ One, two, three.’ Hermione counted and her and Ron pulled on Harry’s arms helping him stand, trying not to let his torso bend much.

Even so, Harry let out a groan, and tears pricked his eyes as he stood, with Ron supporting his injured side and Hermione on the other.

Glancing down, Hermione saw some red on the floor where Harry had lain. Pale faced she gulped with worry for her friend, but kept quiet for Ron’s sake.

They slowly made their way across the chamber to the door, being careful to support Harry. The going was slow, and it tore at Hermione and Ron’s hearts each time Harry let out a grunt of pain. He was hurt bad. It was easy to see the pain in his eyes with his glasses out of the way.

Harry was pretty out of it by the time they made it to the great hall, from there they had to climb a set of stairs that lead to the hospital wing. The pain was starting to get to him, and Hermione could see that at each step Harry was leaving part of a bloody footprint, the blood having soaked his robes and dripped down his leg.

Ron, however, was silently cursing himself, and didn’t notice the blood.

he berated himself. < My best friend risked his neck for me while I stood there like a brainless git! I don’t deserve a friend like Harry…>

The tired Trio stopped at the foot of the stairs. By this point Harry was more or less unconscious again, and his legs seemed to be moving on their own.

Ron and Hermione shared a forlorn look. How were they going to get him up the stairs?

The were saved from having to work out a solution as a group of professors came around the corner of one of the corridors leading from the great hall. It seemed the staff had formed patrol groups to try to find the troll before it found someone on it’s own.

‘ Professor McGonagall!’ Hermione called out in relief as she recognized her favourite Professor. Professors Snape and Flitwick were with her, as well as another Professor whose name Hermione couldn’t remember.

At first, as McGonagall came over she looked angry.

‘ Why aren’t you in your dormitory?’ she demanded as she approached, but stopped short when she saw what Ron and Hermione were carrying.

‘ The troll?’ she asked a little faintly as she came closer.

Ron could only nod in answer, still mostly blaming himself for what had happened to his friend. < If only I’d acted sooner!>

Snape seemed about to start a lecture, but even he thought better of it as he saw Harry’s condition. With the help of the four Professors, Harry was quickly levitated and rushed to Madame Pomfrey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN- I thought this was a good place to end it for now.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

18. Harry's Knife

As always your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated, and always remember my Golden Rule: ‘ If you read, you must review.’ And speaking of reviews, I’m putting in a thanks section at the end of this chapter. I really feel I should have done it earlier… anywhoooo…

H/H forever!!!

Bye!

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Snape seemed about to start a lecture, but even he thought better of it as he saw Harry’s condition. With the help of the Professors, Harry was quickly levitated and rushed to Madame Pomfrey.

As Ron and Hermione followed Snape and McGonagall, Flitwick and the other Professor, whom neither Ron nor Hermione recognized, left back down the corridor leading to the girls’ lavatory. Presumably they were going to deal with the troll more permanently, as neither Ron nor Hermione had noticed whether it was dead, or merely unconscious.

As the group traveled towards the hospital wing McGonagall asked… or rather demanded- an explanation of what had happened. Ron did most of the talking as Hermione was too upset about Harry’s current condition to do more than add in a few details here and there. Ron went on in great detail about how he had done nothing as the troll smashed Harry into the wall, until McGonagall finally told him to stop being foolish.

‘ There was nothing you could have done anyway! Just be grateful that any of you are still alive.’ McGonagall scolded, both Ron and Hermione. ‘ What Harry did was certainly very foolish,’ McGonagall looked puzzled briefly before continuing, ‘ even if it did end up saving all of you from having to suffer the same, or worse. However, it was no more foolish than any of you being there in the first place. In fact I’d say that you were the one that acted more reasonably. On top of that, if you had tried to do something as well as Harry then it’s likely that Ms. Granger would be the only one in any condition to be walking about, and it may have been to late for you or Mr. Potter by the time she could bring help.’

This seemed to finally get through to Ron.

‘ You mean it would have been worse for Harry if I had tried to help him sooner?’ Ron asked, in an almost desperate tone.

McGonagall looked at him with a raised eyebrow. ‘ Precisely, Mr. Weasley. Now is there any point in telling you and Ms. Granger to return to your dormitory? Or will you find some other mischief to get into on the way back?’

As much as both Ron and Hermione wanted to stay with their friend, they knew he would be okay, and McGonagall’s stern look was enough to make them both shake their heads and mutter their assurances that they would go straight back to the dormitory.

‘ Mr. Potter is lucky to have such a good friend as you, Mr. Weasley.’ Professor McGonagall told Ron in as soft a voice as she ever used, as he turned to leave with Hermione. ‘ I’m sure he doesn’t blame you. From the way you tell it I believe he was ready to trade his life for yours. I’m sure he will tell you much the same when he wakes. You will both be notified when he is able to receive visitors.’ Both Ron and Hermione were quite surprised at the almost sympathetic tone in her voice, but it didn’t last long.

‘ Now hurry back to your dormitory. We will have to deal with your being out of the dorms against our orders not to leave, when Harry is conscious.’ McGonagall continued in her usual strict tone, which allowed no protest.

Ron and Hermione turned away once more and headed back to their dormitory. Neither was particularly interested in spending time with the other, but they were looking forward to facing the onslaught of questions from their fellow Gryffindors even less. For a while the two walked in awkward silence, taking the longest way back to Gryffindor tower and walking as slow as they could without going backwards. In the end it was Ron who broke the silence.

‘ I’m, uh- I’m sorry about the whole trapping you with the troll thing.’ Ron mutter, his face going slightly red from embarrassment.

Hermione sighed shortly. ‘ Oh, stop it.’ She said, sounding a little annoyed, but not at Ron. ‘ It wasn’t your fault. There was no way you could have known I was in there in the first place, and even if you’d have left the door wide open the troll had me cornered.’ Her head slumped a little as she continued. ‘ If anyone is to blame here, it’s me. You guys came to help me and you were put in danger because of it, and worse, Harry was injured.’

‘ Please! Stop being so…noble.’ Ron answered. ‘ You never would have been in there, Harry and I wouldn’t have come looking for you, and Harry wouldn’t be in the hospital wing right now if I had just listened to him in the first place and tried being civil to you. I- ‘ He stated, getting more worked up as he went, until Hermione grabbed his arm.

‘ We’re starting again.’ Was all she said giving Ron a sad look and letting his arm go.

Ron stared for a moment then sighed. ‘ You’re right. This kind of thing is what started it all, isn’t it? Look, I’m really sorry about how I’ve been treating you.’ He said, stopping and turning to face Hermione. ‘ I had no right. I guess I was just kind of jealous…’ he explained, trailing off.

Hermione frowned. She was used to Ron acting stubborn and lazy, but he usually made sense.

‘ Jealous? Jealous of what? My hordes of friends and admirers?’ Hermione asked in a slightly bitter tone.

‘ No.’ Ron exhaled, a pained look on his face. ‘ It’s just that we’re both Harry’s friends, but it’s always Harry helping me with homework and stuff, while you’re able to help Harry with it. It started getting to me that you’re a more valuable friend to Harry than I am.’ Ron sighed again ‘ He’s talked a lot about how you can always take something from a book and apply it to real life so easily and other things like that.’

‘ It’s not just your fault. I didn’t exactly give you a whole lot of reason to want to be friends with me.’ Hermione answered. ‘ And to tell the truth, I was kind of jealous of you as well. I might be able to help Harry with schoolwork, but I can’t help him with anything else. You’re the one that is always helping him understand the everyday wizarding world. Harry could do just fine without me helping him with his schoolwork, and he helped me to by the way, but he’s always laughing about how you’re always having to save him from making a fool of himself whenever he encounters some magical device that he’s never seen before, but is common knowledge to wizards.’

‘ How about we just agree that we’re both at fault?’ Ron suggested, with a tentative smile.

Hermione grinned. ‘ Sure. Truce?’ she asked holding out her hand a little uncertainly.

Ron looked down at her hand for a moment, and then shook it, letting go immediately.

‘ Truce.’ Ron confirmed. ‘ I don’t want to take the chance of something like this happening to Harry again because of us. Even if it was just bad luck this time.’

Ron and Hermione became quiet once more at the thought of Harry lying so motionless in the hospital wing. They turned and walked the rest of the way back to the Gryffindor common room in silence.

Fortunately Ron and Hermione didn’t have to answer any questions when they got back to the common room. The Halloween feast was continuing in each house’s common room and no one noticed the two entering except for one or two seventh years who seemed to be going about making sure the rather noisy party didn’t get too out of hand. They hadn’t seen Ron leave with Harry though, and so they didn’t ask any questions.

Hermione went straight to the girls’ dorm after climbing through the portrait hole, and Ron went to the boys’ dorm a few minutes later, earning him odd looks from Dean and Seamus.

Normally Ron would have been eating everything in sight and playing card games or chess with everyone else, but somehow he just didn’t feel like celebrating with the others while Harry was missing out.

¿ <'}}}><

Later on in the evening Professor McGonagall came to tell the Gryffindors to quiet down.

‘ Where are Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger?’ she asked, glancing about the crowded common room.

‘ I think Ron is up in our dormitory.’ Offered Seamus ‘ Shall I go get him?’

‘ Please do.’ McGonagall nodded in his direction. ‘ I assume that Miss Granger is also in her dorm? Would someone please tell her that I wish to speak to her?’

Lavender got up, with a sour look, from where she had been sitting on a couch with Seamus (who had been trying for most of the evening to get away) and went up the stairs to the girls’ dorm.

Seamus returned a moment later pointing out, to an anxious Ron, where McGonagall was waiting by the portrait hole. Seamus then disappeared into the mass of still celebrating students with a furtive glance towards the girls’ dorm where Lavender had gone.

Ron opened his mouth to ask if Harry was alright as he approached McGonagall, but she forestalled his question with a stern look.

‘ Harry is not yet awake, although Madam Pomfrey assures me that he will be fine.’ Professor McGonagall explained, looking as though she had other things on her mind, as indeed she did. ‘ I am not here however, to discuss Mr. Potter’s health. When Ms. Granger arrives we will be visiting Professor Dumbledore’s office.’

Confused, Ron opened his mouth to ask why, but was once again predicted by McGonagall who told him that the reason for the meeting with the headmaster would be explained when they got there.

Hermione arrived, with slightly red eyes, just as McGonagall finished speaking to Ron.

They left immediately; with Ron and Hermione walking a few steps behind McGonagall as Ron explained to Hermione what was going on or at least what he knew about what was going on, and that he had been assured of Harry’s eventual recovery.

Eventually McGonagall stopped in front of one of the uglier, but more comical looking, gargoyles and leaned close, whispering something that neither Ron nor Hermione heard. As McGonagall leaned away again the gargoyle’s ears twitched and it shook it’s head, as if waking from a nap before stepping aside to reveal a doorway and a spiral staircase.

‘ So can you tell us why we’re here now?’ Ron questioned as McGonagall led the two up the spiralling stairs. ‘ I mean I know it must have something to do with the troll, but I thought that you said that you were going to wait until Harry was awake to deal with that.’

Hermione looked at Ron with alarm, as though she wanted to scold him for talking to a professor in such a manner, but she also looked equally interested in McGonagall’s answer.

McGonagall looked as though she was looking for a reason not to answer, but as they were not yet at the headmaster’s office, she found none.

‘ The reason you are both here is that inspection of the b— *ahem* of the troll, yielded unexpected and rather… suspicious results. That is all I will say for now. The headmaster will explain the rest in due course.’

A minute or two later the three finally reached the door to Dumbledore’s office.

The first thing both Ron and Hermione noticed upon entering was a large, brilliant ball of fire.

‘ Ah! Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, I see you have noticed Fawkes.’ Dumbledore greeted them from beside his desk.

At the sound of it’s name the ball of fire shook itself and looked up and Ron and Hermione realized that it actually had a head and was sitting on a perch.

‘ A phoenix!’ Hermione breathed in awe. ‘ They’re supposed to quite rare and extremely difficult to tame!’

‘ Ahem!’ McGonagall cleared her throat, ‘ If we might get on with the reason for this meeting?’

Abashed, Ron and Hermione closed their mouths and turned to a merrily smiling Dumbledore. Even McGonagall’s usually expressionless mouth was twitching at the corners.

‘ Ah, yes. To the matter at hand.’ Said Dumbledore, as the perpetual twinkle of his eyes dimmed slightly. ‘ I have been told your story of what happened of course, although I still fail to see why you and mister Potter did not simply inform a staff member of the situation Mr. Weasley,’ he went on in a lighter tone, raising a bushy eyebrow at Ron, ‘ ; however, I would like to hear it once more from your own mouths.’

Ron shared a nervous look with Hermione before turning back to face the two professors.

‘ Well, I guess it started in charms class when…’

Ron and Hermione both told the story together, filling in details for each other when Dumbledore or McGonagall asked.

‘ Hermione, ‘ Dumbledore questioned, ‘ did you happen to notice the troll’s eyes perhaps? What colour they were?’

‘ No, sir. I was – I was too scared to really notice.’ Hermione said hanging her head and looking very interested in her hands in her lap.

‘ Very well.’ Dumbledore stated with a hint of a sigh. ‘ Please continue.’

‘ Well, I guess that all the noise and shouting made it go a little nuts because even when Harry shouted at me it didn’t seem to notice and it just kept coming at me. Then Harry ran in front of it and Hermione did some kind of spell or charm that made flashing lights and colours in front of it’s eyes, and it started swinging it’s club all over.’ Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath then went on. ‘ I – I couldn’t even do anything. I just stood there, behind Harry…’ Ron stopped and hung his head with his eyes still closed.

Hermione took up the story for Ron with sympathetic look in his direction. ‘ It must have been the smell, no one can smell something that bad and not be affected by it.’

Ron lifted his head with a snort of unexpected laughter and Dumbledore smiled his approval at Hermione.

‘ Anyway,’ Hermione continued, ‘ Harry jumped back to get away from the club, but then… he did something- it looked like he just jumped at it and punched it-‘

‘ Where, precisely, did Mr. Potter- hit the troll, Ms. Granger?’ McGonagall asked with an inquisitive frown.

‘ Right here.’ Ron said, pointing at his heart. ‘ Then that’s when the troll hit him with it’s club and smashed him into the wall. Then it sort of stumbled towards him and that’s when Hermione and I cast “Wingardium Leviosa” on the club and dropped in on the troll’s head.’

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair stroking his long white beard and looking to be deep in thought.

‘ Well then Mr. Weasley, I’m sure you can see now that you did in fact help save your friend.’ Professor McGonagall said to Ron. ‘ You may not have acted as quickly as Mr. Potter, but you certainly acted with as much Gryffindor bravery as he in order to protect your friend. As did you Ms. Granger. Twenty points will be awarded to Gryffindor for such fine examples of Gryffindor qualities.’

Both Ron and Hermione’s eyes lit up at this and even more at the proud tone evident in their head of house’s tone.

‘ There is still of course the fact that you and Mr. Potter should not have acted on your own Ronald, but we’ll deal with that later.’ McGonagall admonished, but Ron still grinned at her approval.

Now Dumbledore seemed to have reached some sort of decision, and he reached into a drawer in his desk to pull something out which had been wrapped in a plain grey cloth.

‘ I am sure you are both curious as to why I would be so interested in hear the story again from you directly, and although I cannot explain everything, I will tell you what I can.’ The headmaster told the two first years.

‘ Professors Flitwick and Sinatra were sent to investigate the troll, and if necessary, to deal with it however they saw fit. Upon inspection of the troll they discovered several unusual things. As you may have guessed, it was indeed a mountain troll. They are not entirely uncommon in this area, but there is a rather powerful charm on the Hogwarts grounds designed specifically to deter trolls. I won’t get into the details of it, but I will tell you that to get a troll close to the school, much less to get it to enter the school requires considerable- Shall we say persuasion? In short, the troll must have been sent here. I would ask that you not share this information with any of the other students as it may cause useless rumour. Yes, Hermione? What is it?’ asked Dumbledore smiling as Hermione raised her hand as if in class.

‘ Sorry to interrupt, but how could—‘ Hermione gestured helplessly ‘ any of this have happened? I know there are more security measures than mere charms and wards to get past to enter Hogwarts.’

The headmaster looked at the two carefully, a calculating look behind the twinkle in his eyes. ‘ I can see that you will be more likely to inquire more into this, and possibly raise questions in the other students if I don’t answer you. I remind you though that sometimes we are not ready for the answers we want. I think I can trust you not to tell anyone other than Harry about whatever I might tell you?’ He asked looking Ron and Hermione both carefully.

‘ Of course you can, sir. Besides, we’re Gryffindors!’ Ron stated proudly, and Hermione nodded as well.

Dumbledore smiled softly. ‘ Just because a person is brave does not mean they are a good person, but I understand your meaning. The fact is that dark magic must have been used in order to get a troll into Hogwarts without it being detected. I know this information undoubtedly brings more questions to mind, children, but I must ask that you keep them to yourselves for now, and we must finish our discussion about the troll you took care of. One of the other unusual things that Professors Flitwick and Sinatra found was this.’

Dumbledore began to carefully unwrap the small cloth package on the desk. As though it might bit his fingers if he wasn’t careful.

Inside the wrapping was a small knife. It’s handle could have been made of bone except it was black and almost shiny, with what looked like foreign writing carved into the side to provide a grip. The blade was plain and straight, about a hand span in length and looked to be in perfect condition.

‘ It was found in the troll’s chest, and it is ultimately what killed the troll. Now it might be that someone found the troll and stabbed it with this in between the time you left and when the two professor’s found it’s body, except that it was facedown on the floor with the knife underneath it and it would take several people and great effort to roll the troll over, or magic, the residue of which would have been detected by Professor Sinastra.’ McGonagall explained.

‘ Which leads to the conclusion that it was most likely Harry who had the knife and killed the troll.’ Dumbledore stated calmly. ‘ Now the troll would have needed to be “put down” in any case, due to certain factors revealed by Professor Flitwick’s charms. There were spells eating away at the troll from the inside that would have caused it to die in great pain, and there are few other ways to deal with such vicious creatures once they have made their way into a populated area, but no Hogwarts student is allowed to carry a non-magical weapon without the knowledge and consent of the staff.’

‘ But why would any weapon be allowed, sir?’ Ron asked, wide eyed.

‘ There are all sorts of charms and spells and wards all over Hogwarts that prevent the use of any potentially lethal magic by anyone but Hogwarts staff.’ Hermione answered. ‘ It’s in “Hogwarts: A History”.’

‘ That is correct Ms. Granger. I’m impressed. I never have actually read the whole book, as good as it is.’ Dumbledore said. ‘ But the question at hand is whether or not the knife is actually Harry’s, and why he would have it if it is his.’

Hermione let out a sort of quiet whine from the back of her throat as she thought of the possibility of Harry being expelled for have a knife that had saved her life.

‘ There is little chance of sever punishment for Harry, of course.’ Dumbledore assured her, ‘ After all he did not know it was not allowed and he certainly used it in an appropriate situation and as a last resort, but can either of you confirm that it is in fact his knife?’

‘ I’ve never seen it before now. Not even when we were fighting the troll.’ Hermione answered quickly.

‘ I- I think I might have seen a flash of the blade when Harry punched the troll.’ Ron said with uncertainty ‘ but it might just have been part of Hermione’s spell…’

‘ Then neither of you can say for sure whether or not it is actually Harry’s?’ McGonagall asked.

Both shook their heads and mumbled apologies.

‘ That is all then.’ Dumbledore said kindly. ‘ I’m sure you would both like to get back to you dorms now. I’m sorry to have caused you to miss so much of the celebration. Professor McGonagall? Would you please guide them back to their dorms? We can wait until Harry is awake tomorrow to continue this discussion.’

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

AN- Criticism please! Not much else to say…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

19. That Darn Knife Again!

AN- Okay, here it is! Not very much to say right now is there?

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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Dumbledore watched as Professor McGonagall led the two back down the stairs and when he was sure they were gone he closed the door and returned to his desk, sitting down and peering intently at the knife. After a moment’s pondering he took out his wand and whispered ‘ Accio.’

He waited for a minute, but when nothing happened, the headmaster sat back in his chair looking both puzzled and intrigued.

he thought with a frown and a sigh.

¿ <’}}}><

When Madam Pomfrey had given Harry a sleeping potion to let him sleep until morning, when most of the pain of his bones mending would have passed, she didn’t think of making it a dreamless sleep potion to ease the pain in his mind. And there was pain in Harry’s dreams.

Looking at Harry’s sleeping form you wouldn’t notice any sign that he was having any dream at all, other than the usual lack of expression that Harry wore when he was awake, he looked as peaceful as any other sleeping person. But if one could look past his closed eyes to the dream his unconscious mind showed him, they would see that Harry Potter’s mind was anything but peaceful.

Even as Harry’s body recovered from the fight with the troll, Harry’s mind relived it, playing and replaying the last moments before Harry lost consciousness. He felt the sickening vibration he had felt when he had stuck his knife through the troll’s heart, and he knew in his dream, as he had realized just before he had been knocked out, that the thump he felt through the knife had been the last beat of the beast’s heart. Harry had killed a being that probably had little idea of what was going on, for no more reason than that Harry hadn’t found a way to save his friends without killing the troll.

Harry had always hated things dying. Seeing road kill had made Dudley laugh while it made Harry frustrated that there was nothing he could do. Even when walking home from school in the rain, Harry had walked with his head down to avoid stepping on any worms, and often stopped to pick them out of puddles where he simply couldn’t stand to see them drowning. Harry had even avoided stepping on ants when he noticed them (AN- Some of you might think this is a little far fetched, but I myself do the exact same thing, so there!).

Harry knew that he had unintentionally killed plenty of things like ants in his life, but now he had killed a troll. What was worse was that he had done it on purpose, and worst of all was that trolls, while not exactly sentient, did have some vague understanding of the fact that they existed.

Perhaps Harry’s mind realized that it was torturing itself with the repeating dream of the troll’s death, or perhaps Harry’s quick metabolism processed the sleeping potion faster than normal, but for whatever reason Harry awoke much sooner than had been expected. Which meant that he awoke by himself in a strange, dark place, feeling more than a little disoriented and confused thanks to the lingering effects of the sleeping potion.

The moment Harry awoke, his eyes snapped open and he sat straight up in the hospital bed. This turned out to be a big mistake as his bones still hadn’t finished healing and the pressure put on his ribs by sitting up was as torturous to his body as the dream had been to his mind.

Harry sucked in a breath, falling back again and clenching his teeth against the pain.

< Where am I?> Harry wondered, and as soon as he did, he remembered what had happened… and that he had killed the troll.

As memory rushed back into his conscious mind, Harry curled into a ball, lying on his uninjured side and started breathing shakily as he remembered killing the troll. He really hadn’t intended to kill it, only to injure it so that Ron, Hermione and him could get away. Unfortunately he had found out that a troll’s heart wasn’t in quite the same place relative to the rest of its body as a human’s heart.

Eventually Harry fell asleep once more due to either the exhaustion of the healing his body was undergoing, or the still active sleeping potion, or some combination of the two, but his sleep was mercifully dreamless.

¿ <’}}}><

As usual, Hermione was the first to get up in the girls’ dorm the next day. Normally she would have used the time before the rest of the house got up to work on homework or extra credit assignments, even if it was the weekend, but today wasn’t a usual day, and she was only mildly surprised when she entered the common room to find that Ron was already up and dressed.

‘ McGonagall came by a few minutes ago.’ Ron informed Hermione, from where he sat in one of the armchairs in the common room. ‘ She said that we could go see Harry after lunch. That’s when the sleeping potion they gave him should wear off.’

Hermione nodded as she sat down in a chair across from Ron’s.

‘ So… do you think that the knife was Harry’s?’ she finally asked. The question had kept her awake for quite a while the night before.

Ron furrowed his brow in thought.

‘ I really don’t know.’ He said. ‘ If it were anyone else I’d have to say it’s probably not. After all, what good is a knife with so much magic around? But with Harry… well, you just never know what to expect.’

Hermione nodded once again, this time with a bit of a smirk.

‘ He’s certainly a mysterious one, isn’t he?’ she asked. ‘ I mean I’ve known him for a couple months now and I can still never tell what he’s thinking.’

Ron opened his mouth to respond when the portrait hole opening up to admit Professor McGonagall interrupted him.

‘ Ah, good, you’re both here.’ McGonagall addressed the two upon seeing them already waiting. ‘ I know that I told you that you’d have to wait until this afternoon to see Harry, but he has already woken up. It appears that both the healing and sleeping potions worked much faster than Madam Pomfrey had intended them to and she has deemed Harry able to receive visitors, so long as you don’t get him over excited.’

Both Ron and Hermione’s faces lit up at the news and the two jumped up and rushed past McGonagall as soon as she finished speaking, calling out their thanks over their shoulders as they rushed down the corridor.

¿ <’}}}><

Harry had woken up to the sounds of Madam Pomfrey bustling around and getting ready for all the patients she expected to have, seeing as it was the weekend. Harry sat up carefully, but found that his ribs no longer bothered him and indeed the only evidence that anything had happened to him were the bandages still tightly wound around his chest, restricting his breathing somewhat.

‘ Um… Madam Pomfrey?’ Harry called to the busy Matron.

‘ Oh!’ she exclaimed, spinning around to face Harry and placing a hand to her heart. ‘ My goodness, you gave me a start.’

Her look of surprise quickly turned to one of puzzlement.

‘ You shouldn’t have woken yet, the potion was supposed to keep you under for several more hours.’ Madam Pomfrey muttered as she hustled over to Harry’s bedside. ‘ You certainly shouldn’t be sitting up just yet, you need to stay lying down until you ribs have finished healing, but now that you’re up anyway we may as well check how your ribs are coming along.’

She pulled out her wand and waved it at the bandages on Harry’s chest creating a dim yellow glow.

‘ Well now that’s funny.’ She mused to herself as if Harry weren’t even there and she waved her wand at the bandages again causing them to glow a bit brighter.

‘ Excuse me,’ ventured Harry ‘ but what exactly is “funny”?’

‘ Hmm?’ she said looking up from Harry’s ribs to his face. ‘ Well it seems that the potions that were given to you to heal your ribs have all done their jobs properly, but it really should have taken a bit longer.’

‘ How can you tell?’ asked Harry with a frown. ‘ What does the charm you used do? And what did the yellow stuff mean?’

‘ First I didn’t use a charm, I just activated one in the bandages.’ Pomfrey lectured, happy to explain the tools of her trade. ‘ To answer your second question, the charm in the bandages, when active, detects whatever potion is in the person they’re wrapped around and turns blue if the potion is active. That is to say if it is doing whatever it is intended to do. The darker blue it is, the more active the detected potions are. Your bandages should have been a light blue since the potions would almost be finished their work by now. The fact that nothing happened most likely means that the potions are inactive since very little can go wrong with such a simple charm.’ At this point she frowned and looked at Harry quizzically. ‘ I don’t know what yellow stuff you mean though.’

Harry realized that the yellow had only been the charm in the bandages being activated and that although he could see it reacting Madam Pomfrey probably didn’t have the same ability. He just about started to explain this to Madam Pomfrey, but thought better of it, figuring that the less that people knew about him, the less he’d be treated differently.

‘ Oh, sorry.’ He said, pretending to be a little embarrassed. ‘ It must have just been the sun reflecting off the buttons on your robes.’

Madam Pomfrey smiled kindly and set about removing Harry’s bandages, while joking with Harry that maybe he hit his head harder than she had thought.

‘ So I guess I’ll head back to my dorm now?’ Harry said as Madam Pomfrey finished with his bandages.

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at this.

‘ I don’t think so, mister.’ She with a smile, but with a warning tone in her voice. ‘ The potions may not be active, but they’re still in you. They need to be flushed out and I’ll need to make sure that your ribs are in fact healed.’

Harry paused for a moment, weighing his chances of convincing her to let him go. One look at her face and he dropped that line of thought.

< Well, she is definitely not someone I want mad at me.> Harry thought. < Especially since I’ll likely need her goodwill at some point in the Quidditch season.>

Hoping to quickly change the subject and get that- dangerous- look off her face Harry asked about the potions.

‘ Why do the potions need to be “flushed”? Wouldn’t it be good to already have them in me in case I broke another bone later on?’ He asked assuming, correctly, that any professional would enjoy explaining the details of their trade.

Pomfrey beamed at his question.

‘ I can see why the professors enjoy having you for a student. You’re always thinking ahead, aren’t you?’ she nodded in satisfaction, dropping her serious look. ‘ I can see how you might assume that, but as you’ll learn in potions in a few years, potions can be activated to do their work without any actual need for them. For example, in this case if you were to later bruise your bone, the potions that are in you now would start trying to get your bones to knit together since that is what they are designed to do. When they were administered last night they acted on your broken ribs, pulling the pieces together and speeding up their growth, as well as many other things you’ll only learn about if you pursue a career in healing.’ She frowned again, cocking her head to the side, thinking hard. ‘ I must have overestimated the extent of the damage to your ribs since they healed so fast, but anywho, the damaged bone would cause some of the potions to activate again. It could result in uncontrolled cellular growth in your bones (Harry was mildly surprised to learn that wizards knew about muggle science, such as cell theory), or it could cause your joints to start fusing together depending on what potions happened to become active- ‘

Ring!

Madam Pomfrey looked surprised at the chime and rushed into her office, excusing herself to Harry.

Harry had listened earnestly to the long explanation. He had found it fascinating to see that magic, when you took into account the fact that effect did not always follow from a physical cause, actually worked quite logically. As interesting as it was though, Harry didn’t think he wanted to pursue a career in healing, but his questions had definitely earned him Madam Pomfrey’s friendship.

< Maybe, if I butter her up enough, I’ll be out of here before the weekend’s completely over.> thought Harry with a sigh as Pomfrey came back into the room from her office carrying a small goblet of some silvery looking potion.

‘ That was Professor McGonagall in the fire (AN- Think Sirius talking to Harry about the first task in Book #4), she stopped by the Gryffindor common room earlier this morning and spoke to Ron Weasley about coming to visit you around noon when you were supposed to be waking up.’ Pomfrey announced with a slight smirk. ‘ She’s going to head back there now to let your friends know that you’re already up, so drink up and you should be ready to leave by the time they get here.’

Harry took the goblet when it was offered and looked at it curiously.

‘ That’s to pull the leftover potions from your body.’ Pomfrey answered Harry’s question before he could ask.

‘ Cheers.’ Harry said as he raised the cup to his lips and tossed it back in one go.

The taste was surprisingly pleasant though. Harry had expected it to taste like metal, given its silvery look, but it tasted more like lemonade than anything else.

He handed the goblet back to Madam Pomfrey who was looking at him rather expectantly. Just before Harry was about to ask just why she was looking at him like that, he felt it. It started as a rumbling in his stomach and as the growling of his stomach got louder Harry could feel pressure building up.

The door burst open and a breathless Ron and Hermione rushed in just as Harry’s stomach suddenly went quiet. Then, just as Ron and Hermione opened their mouths to speak, the pressure that had built up in Harry’s stomach was released.

‘ BUUUURRRRRRRRPPPP!’ was Harry’s response to his friends’ arrival, as the potions that had been left in his body were… expelled, thanks to the silvery potion.

There was a moment of absolute silence as Harry’s face turned a very light pink and Ron and Hermione’s mouths hung wide open. A moment was all it lasted though before Ron broke into gales of cackling laughter, which knocked him to the floor clutching at his stomach.

Hermione’s eyes went wide and her face turned quite red as she started to look mildly disgusted.

Looking miffed at Ron’s roaring laughter Pomfrey scolded him ‘ Mr. Weasley, control yourself! The leftover potions in Harry’s body were simply forced out by a purifying draught. It is hardly something worth losing your self control over and I highly doubt that Harry appreciates your reaction to something he had no control over- ’

She might have continued to berate Ron, but it was apparent that lowering the volume of his laughter was all Ron was able to manage at the moment so Pomfrey went back into her office with a sniff.

After watching Madam Pomfrey go back to her office, Hermione shook her head at Ron and walked over to sit on the bed next to Harry’s.

Ron, when he was once more in control of his body, crawled over to lean on the bed next to where Hermione was sitting, a grin still plastered on his face.

‘ I take it your ribs are feeling better then, Harry?’ Ron asked and shook with more repressed laughter.

‘ Ron!’ scolded Hermione.

‘ Yeah, my ribs are alright now.’ Harry interrupted, smirking, before Ron and Hermione could get into another row. His smirk was not long lived though, and his ace resumed its usual blank mask. ‘ As good as it is to see both of you right now; I’d like to know what I missed. If you don’t mind?’

Ron’s shoulders stopped shaking and his face turned sober. Hermione too dropped the stern look she had been giving Ron and faced Harry.

‘ Well then,’ Ron started ‘ what can you remember?’

‘ The last thing I remember clearly is having a small tree slammed into me.’

Taking a deep breath Ron began to tell Harry about what happened after Harry had hit the wall. Harry’s memory of Ron and Hermione helping him to get up and walk was fuzzy at best, but there wasn’t much to be told about how he got to the hospital wing.

‘ So what did they do with the body?’ Harry asked with a sigh upon hearing that Flitwick and a Professor Sinastra had been sent to check on the troll. His face showed no emotion, but without his glasses covering them Harry’s eyes revealed his sorrow over the troll’s death.

‘ I don’t know.’ Hermione answered slowly. ‘ Professor Dumbledore only told us about what they found when they examined it. How did you know it was dead though?’

Harry opened his mouth then closed it and looked away from Hermione’s eyes.

< Great.> he thought. < How do I explain this?>

Ron saved him from having to explain anything though.

‘ So it is yours then.’ Ron said, looking at Harry oddly.

Harry looked up again at his two friends and wished he had more experience with people so that he might know what to say or do now, when he actually cared what someone thought of him.

None of the three knew what to say and all looked away from each other, waiting for one of the other two to beak the silence. Nothing was said for almost a full minute and it might have gone on longer had the door to the room not opened to admit a smiling Professor Dumbledore followed by a dour looking Professor McGonagall.

‘ Ah, Harry! Good to see you’ve recovered so quickly!’ Dumbledore said as he conjured a chair and sat down on it at the side of Harry’s bed opposite to Ron and Hermione.

Both McGonagall and Hermione seemed shocked at Dumbledore’s casual manner, but neither was about to say anything about it.

Glad for the distraction at first, Harry quickly noted that both Ron and Hermione became tenser and were obviously worried about something that Harry was currently ignorant of.

‘ I’m just glad I’m alive at all, Professor.’ Harry answered carefully, feeling naked without his glasses to hide his eyes from Dumbledore’s sparkling stare. On top of that, Harry was beginning to feel rather self-conscious about facing four fully clothed people while wearing just his bedclothes.

‘ As much as I appreciate your concern, I assume that you aren’t just here to congratulate me on being healed?’ Harry asked.

< Man, I hope this doesn’t take long!> thought Harry, fighting to keep from blushing at his predicament.

Dumbledore’s smile faded slightly at Harry’s words as he reached into a pocket on his robes, which Harry could’ve sworn wasn’t there a moment before, and pulled out something wrapped in white cloth.

‘ Indeed there is another reason for my visit, Harry. A rather serious one to.’

< Ah, crap.> Harry thought seeing the change in Dumbledore’s expression. < This isn’t going to be quick.>

Dumbledore seemed to sense Harry’s growing discomfort and with a wave of his wand Harry’s bedclothes were changed to regular school robes. Another wave and Harry found himself sitting, not in a bed, but in a replica of the chair Dumbledore had conjured.

Harry smiled slightly and nodded his thanks.

‘ First off, Harry, I must ask you,’ Dumbledore said gravely; unwrapping the cloth to show Harry what he’d known would be there. ‘ Does this belong to you?’

Harry’s right hand twitched upon seeing the knife, and Harry had to stop himself from reaching out to take it back.

‘ Yes,’ he answered, ‘ it does.’

‘ I am I correct to assume that you had no idea that it is against the rules for any student to carry a non-magical weapon without the knowledge and consent of the staff?’ asked Dumbledore, sounding more official than casual now.

‘ No, sir, I didn’t.’

‘ Under normal circumstances you would possibly face expulsion, but obviously these are not normal circumstances.’ Continued Dumbledore. ‘ Despite the fact that you didn’t know that you were breaking any rules by having this knife, you still did break the rule.’

Now Professor McGonagall spoke up for the first time since she had entered the room.

‘ There is still the matter of your conduct and Mr. Weasley’s last evening.’ She pronounced. ‘ You knew that you were to go to your house common room to continue the feast and yet you both went off on your own. Now I understand that you acted on behalf of you concern for Ms. Granger’s well being, for which I commend you, but if you had thought it through you would have seen that it would have been better for everyone if you had just told a member of the staff and let them handle it. So, Harry, since you broke two rules, you will have two nights of detention with Mr. Filch and Ron, you will accompany him for one night.’

‘ Well then,’ said Dumbledore, clapping his hands and standing up. ‘ Now that that’s out of the way I would like to have a word with Harry in private.’ And he ushered everyone out of the room, including, much to her indignity, Madam Pomfrey.

Dumbledore was smiling as he turned back to Harry.

‘ Now, Harry, would you mind telling me just where you got this knife?’ he asked.

‘ May I have it back please?’ Harry asked, bypassing the professor’s question.

‘ You certainly may- eventually; when you may have it back and whether or not you are allowed to continue to carry it with you; however, depends on many things, including your answer to my question.’ Dumbledore said, his smile not fading at all despite the bluntness of Harry’s question.

Still feeling rather naked without his glasses to cover his eyes, Harry tried to look away from his headmaster’s eyes, but he found he couldn’t. Dumbledore’s stare seemed to mesmerize him and Harry found himself about to start telling Dumbledore all about how he had gotten the knife, but he quickly stopped himself and finally was able to look away from the piercing gaze.

Harry just wanted to have his knife back. Aside from the free lessons that Mr. Osakawa had given him at the dojo, the knife had been the only thing that Harry had ever been given that could be considered as any kind of a gift. Aside from that it was also the only thing that Harry had to remind him of his sensei and since it was obviously very important to Osakawa-san that Harry should have it had enormous sentimental value to Harry.

< Well then, if I’m not going to have it back until I tell him where I got it in the first place I’d best tell him.> Harry thought. < Why don’t I want to tell him in the first place? Oh well. Here goes.>

‘ I got it from my sensei, Osakawa-san. He gave it to me because he was supposed to pass it on to his oldest son as a family tradition, but he has no sons and- ‘ Harry stopped to compose himself, as he had felt that he was starting to blush. ‘ and he said that he considers me his son, even if I’m not actually related to him.’ Harry finished in a rush. ‘ So can I have it back please?’

Dumbledore didn’t say anything until Harry looked back up into his eyes again.

‘ I’m not yet sure when you may have it back Harry, although I assure you that it will be returned to you eventually. Do you know how long it has been in your- Mr. Osakawa-san’s family? Or where the knife first came from?’

Harry hid his smile at the professor’s use of the Japanese honorific “san” and began to tell Dumbledore what he remembered of the stories that Mr. Osakawa had told him about the knife. At the time neither Mr. Osakawa nor Harry had believed them at all.

‘ Well, Mr. Osakawa- ‘ Harry paused after saying the name so that Professor Dumbledore would be able to figure out that “san” was not part of the name. ‘ he told me that no one in his family had any idea where the knife actually came from since all that was remembered about it’s origins was in the form of legends and myths. Now that I think about it though, the legends may be true. After all, I didn’t think there was any such thing as magic at the time. Anywho, according to the legends, which are supposed to be passed on with the knife, the knife was made a long time ago in Japan. An evil wizard made it, but I think that all wizards and witches were supposed to be evil in these legends. This evil wizard was supposed to be the most powerful wizard that Japan had ever seen, but he was held captive in shackles made of some special material that couldn’t be affected by magic. The knife was supposedly made of the same material, but the story doesn’t say how magic was used in the making of the knife, just that it was. Of course Osakawa-san and I couldn’t make sense of how something that couldn’t be affected by magic was made using magic, and I think that’s one of the other reasons we didn’t believe it.’

‘ Hmmm.’ Was Dumbledore’s comment as he stroked his beard in thought. ‘ Do these “myths” say anything about why the knife was made?’

Harry frowned, trying to remember what Mr. Osakawa had told him.

‘ I think- I think it was made for some wonderful group of people to be used to kill all of the other wizards, since a person would be able to block most spells shot at them with the knife and the knife could cut through any magical protections that an assassin would face.’ Said Harry with a small frown.

‘ Hmmm. Harry, you won’t be starting to learn about the magical history of other countries until fourth or fifth year, but when you do you will most likely read about a group of Japanese muggles who believed it was their “duty” to eradicate all traces of magic in the world. Of course they were only one such group of many all over the world, but the important thing is that they did in fact exist, and I believe that the stories you have been told about this knife may be true.’ Dumbledore said, looking gravely at Harry. ‘ do you understand, Harry? This knife was made, and used, by people who were, for the lack of better words, evil and ignorant. Are you sure you still want this knife back?’

‘ Professor, it’s not entirely certain that this knife is the same one that you’re talking about right?’ Harry asked sighing.

‘ No, it is not certain, but it is quite likely.’

As Harry looked up into the headmaster’s eyes, he saw the same twinkle that always seemed to be there, as if Dumbledore saw something funny that no one else could, but Harry also saw a calculating look. It was as if he were weighing Harry’s reactions and measuring some unknown quality about Harry by doing so.

Shaking his head Harry continued.

‘ Well even if it is the same knife, it is still the same knife I’ve carried with me since the day it was given to me. Even if the people who made it and used it were evil, the knife isn’t capable of being evil. It is only a tool; evil can be done with it, but then it is the person wielding it who is evil, not the knife. So yes, professor, I would like to have my knife back.’

Dumbledore actually let out a laugh at this.

‘ Very well, Harry, you may have your knife back, but Professor McGonagall has begged me to at least make sure that you will not hurt yourself with it if I did decide to give it back to you right away. Do you know how to handle this knife without getting hurt and without letting anyone around you be hurt?’ asked Dumbledore and Harry nodded in return. ‘ Well you may have it back now, but don’t be surprised if Professor McGonagall asks you to prove that you know how not to get hurt.’

And then Dumbledore handed Harry back his knife, the twinkle in his eyes brighter than ever. He then waved his wand as he stood up and his chair disappeared even as Harry’s robes and chair turned back bedclothes and a bed, and he walked out of the room closing the door quietly behind him.

Harry never noticed a thing. His eyes and hands were focused on his knife, which hadn’t left his side since he first got it and was now back in his hands after a day without it.

Examining the blade he realized that there was no evidence of his fight with the troll on it. Thinking of the fight triggered ugly thoughts about how Harry had killed a creature that was at least slightly sentient. Harry sat up straight in bed, crossing his legs and relaxing, falling naturally into a sort of meditative trance as he tried to sort out his thoughts on having killed.

¿ <’}}}><

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Harry “woke up” from his trance. During his thinking, Harry had decided that although he should have found another way to save his friends, there was no point dwelling on a past mistake. As his sensei had always taught him, “ When you make a mistake, learn from it and move on. If you obsess over it you will unconsciously repeat it.”. So Harry decided that he wouldn’t focus on the mistake, but on the solution. He figured that if he’d known more about the troll’s anatomy, or had known more spells, then he could have saved both his friends and the troll.

< Alright, first stop- the library!> Harry thought to himself as he got up from where he’d been sitting on the bed since Professor Dumbledore left.

As Harry left the hospital wing he heard a growl. Looking down for the source of the sound he realized it had been his stomach. < Okay, maybe the great hall should be the first stop.> he amended his previous thought.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

AN- Still not much to say… I’m going to write a story that splits off from this one at chapter twenty. I hope you’ll read it as well and tell me how much it sux…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

20. Quidditch

AN- Here it is.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Luckily the great hall was still serving lunch when he got there, and that day Harry ate more than he could remember ever having eaten before (although that wasn’t saying much considering his treatment at the Dursleys’). Madam Pomfrey had told him to expect this as his body had needed to rebuild a lot of his bones, and that took nutrients that would need to be replaced, but even though he explained this to Ron and Hermione, they were still quite amazed.

The afternoon was spent doing most of the homework that had been assigned for the weekend, much to Ron’s dismay. The only reason Ron agreed to do any work at all was because he was still worried about Harry and was trying his best not to fight with Hermione. By the time the trio had finished all the work they intended to they were already late for dinner in the great hall. Ron was quite amazed (and secretly pleased) at all the work he’d gotten done. Normally he’d leave it till nearly the last minute, but having almost all of it done, and done well with Hermione to help, he would have more time to goof off the next day.

At dinner Harry once again ate as much as Ron ever did, which Ron seemed to find amusing and challenged Harry to another eating duel. Of course Ron won again and Hermione couldn’t understand how he could eat so much and not be as big (at least around the waist) as Crabbe and Goyle combined.

‘ That’s it for me.’ Hermione said, as the three climbed through the portrait hole when Ron had finally declared himself full, with a satisfied belch to rival Harry’s earlier magically induced one. ‘ I’m going to sleep.’ And with that she left Ron and Harry alone in the common room, heading up to her dorm room.

Ron plopped himself down in an armchair and pulled a short table closer to himself. There was a chess set on it looking like someone had played a game then left it as it was.

‘ Care for a game, Harry?’ he asked, setting the pieces back up.

Harry smirked at Ron’s confidence.

‘ Sure, but don’t feel too bad when it becomes obvious that I’m letting you win.’ He said.

Of course he was only joking. Ron and Harry had often played against each other, and although Harry often started out taking piece after piece from Ron, he had yet to come even close to winning. Ron had explained to Harry that while Harry was obviously quite good at tactics, he had a lot of room to improve on strategy. (AN- tactics refer to smaller actions serving a larger purpose in a battle, whereas strategy refers to long term plans for a goal, so tactics are sort of smaller parts of a strategy)

A few games later Harry thought he was improving, but he was still no challenge to Ron who had grown up playing chess against his father who was quite good at it and had eventually become even better than his father.

‘ I think I’m gonna head up now. You coming?’ Ron asked, as he packed up the chess pieces, being careful not to let Harry’s pieces stick him with their miniature swords (they weren’t happy about losing so many times).

‘ Nah, not yet.’ Harry answered. ‘ I’m not really tired right now.’

That was putting it lightly. After all, Harry had been lying and sitting in a bed for the better part of 24 hours.

‘ Right then, see ya tomorrow. I think Fred and George are planning something for the Slytherins tomorrow, maybe we can get in on it since we’ll have the time to spare.’

Harry waved as Ron went up the stairs to their room.

< Now what am I going to do?> Harry wondered. < Everyone else is in bed by now and I’m not even slightly tired…. Hmm. I suppose I could try the library. I never got a chance to after I left the hospital wing, but then there’s Filch and Mrs. Norris… and Peeves.>

In the end though, Harry’s restlessness got the better of him and he pushed the portrait hole open slowly and silently. He checked to make sure that the Fat Lady was there (she was, but was asleep) before climbing out and letting the portrait slip shut again. He’d have to wake her when he got back, assuming he was able to avoid detection and detention on his way to the library and back.

¿ <’}}}><

He made it to the library with no troubles, but paused at the locked door remembering the last time he’d sneaked in after curfew. He’d used an unlocking charm he’d read about during the summer, but when he opened the door it had squeaked rather loudly.

< Crap!> Harry swore. he thought back to his transfiguration lessons. < No way could it be so easy- but it’s worth a try I guess.>

He pulled out his wand and whispered “ Alohomora.” Then held the door closed to keep it from swinging open when he heard it click.

Then, concentrating on the proper images, he said one of the basic transfigurations he’d learned during the summer. It wasn’t anything fancy, and most of the class had already mastered it by the end of the first week.

“ Localis minimus.”

It was one of the first things to be taught in transfiguration, and it was used to shrink whatever object it was cast on.

Much to Harry’s surprise, it worked and the door shrunk down to about a quarter of it’s original size, falling off it’s hinges and forcing Harry to catch it to avoid a rather loud clatter.

Frowning Harry stepped through the doorway and leaned the door against the doorframe.

< Huh. I’d have thought Madam Pince would have something protecting it from this kind of “vandalism”. Oh well, no point in complaining.>

Harry used a levitating spell to hold the door back in the middle of the doorway and enlarged it. Unfortunately the hinges weren’t aligned properly and the door was stuck in place. Nothing about it looked unusual unless you were looking for it, but it wouldn’t open if you tried it.

Harry thought and turned around to find himself face to face with Lady Scrive.

Most other students would likely have screamed before they realized who it was, but most other students hadn’t grown up with Dudley who seemed to pester and hurt Harry more the more Harry showed a reaction to it. As it was though Harry gasped quickly and his eyebrows jumped up, but it was only for a second.

Lady Scrive gave a chuckle to have gotten even this much of a reaction out of Harry, who was her second favourite student (her favourite was Hermione of course).

‘ You’re not as jumpy as you were the last time you came here at this time of night, Harry. I would have thought you’d be more jumpy after what you went through last night?’ she said, watching Harry quickly calm down.

Harry frowned at being reminded of what had occurred.

‘ Actually, that’s sort of why I’m here.’ Harry replied. ‘ I killed that troll. I’ve never killed anything on purpose before, and on top of that trolls are at least a little self-aware. It probably didn’t want to be there any more than we wanted it to be and I killed it because I couldn’t find any other way to save myself and my friends.’

It was times when he felt like this that Harry wished most that he could cry- but he hadn’t cried in years and it was as if he had forgotten how to. Oh his eyes still watered like anyone else’s when he got hit on the nose or something, but no one with a normal nervous system could stop that.

Lady Scrive was quiet for a moment, waiting until Harry looked back up to her face without a trace of the anguish in his voice showing on his face.

‘ Harry, you did the best you could to save as many lives as was possible. There is no reason for you to feel as though you’ve done something wrong.’ She said, trying to console him.

‘ I’m afraid I disagree.’ He returned with a shake of his head. ‘ I did do the best I could, but I think there is always a way to save everyone. It’s just a matter of finding a way (AN- “Trigun” is another awesome anime). Anywho, I know there’s no point in obsessing over a mistake that is already done with. If I had of known more about trolls though, or known more magic I might have been able to see the way to save my friends and the troll.’

‘ I do not agree with you about there always being a way to save everyone of course, but as long as you don’t let it weigh on you I don’t see any reason to continue arguing about it.’ The Lady said, beginning to sound more business like. ‘ I assume you want to try and learn more to keep the same thing from happening in the future? That is why you’re here isn’t it?’

Harry nodded his confirmation, ready to get down to business himself.

‘ While I approve of both your motives and your desire to know more, I hope you realize that you can’t accomplish what you’re trying for in one night?’

Harry nodded again.

‘ And you also realize that no matter how much you study, you won’t learn any of it if you don’t sleep? I will report you to the staff, probably Professor Snape, if I think you’re not sleeping enough.’

‘ I understand.’ Harry said. ‘ I’m only here tonight because I’ve been in bed for so long that I couldn’t sleep right now without a sleeping potion to help.’

‘ Very well, I will help you then.’ Lady Scrive said, finally smiling. ‘ You do know that the reason you’re at Hogwarts is to prepare you magically in just the same way that you’re here in the library to do? It’s the whole point of a magical education.’

‘ Yes, but as was demonstrated last night, the universe doesn’t wait until you can handle a situation to thrust it upon you.’ Harry told her, and then smiled a little. ‘ Well, that and I’m just a little impatient to learn what I can.’

The ghost certainly knew that Harry was only trying to get on her good side by saying that (even if it was a little true), but she didn’t mind at all.

‘ I think then, that you understand you’ll need to dedicate a lot of time to this pursuit. Are you sure you have time for it?’

‘ I know I’ve got enough time for this, but getting here without being caught out of bed means I won’t have as much time as I’d like to have.’

‘ I think we can cut down on the time it will take you to get here. Assuming you can keep a secret. Even from your friends.’

Harry was a little confused at her concern about his ability to keep secrets (Why would he tell anyone something that they didn’t need to know?), but he assured her that he would tell no one.

‘ Follow me then.’ She said turning off towards the back of the library.

She led him to a place in the back of the large library with shelves of history books on one side and what seemed to be books on divination on the other. It wasn’t a place that was frequented by most students.

She pointed at one of the shelves that had a nail sticking out a little from the wood.

‘ Pull that nail out a little farther, turn it one and a half times to the left, then three times to the right, then push it all the way back in.’ she instructed him.

Harry did as he was told, making sure that he’d remember the instructions later, and the shelf of divination books slid silently back into the wall a few feet and stopped, revealing a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

‘ This will lead you into a maze of corridors that runs all throughout the castle. The original reasons for having the hidden corridors have been long forgotten, but the openings to them are still working just fine.’ Lady Scrive told him and smiled in amusement. ‘ Do not use this way to get back tonight, you would probably get lost, but if you ask the Weasley twins to show you around I am sure they shall be more than happy to. Do not tell them how to open this though. They have already found this opening and figured out where it leads to, but they have not discovered how to open it yet. Of course they do not see much reason to sneak into the library, so they have not tried very hard at figuring it out.’ Her voice became icy as she said this and Harry promised himself that he’d never show anything but love and respect for books while she was near.

Just then the shelf slid back into place of its own accord and the nail slipped back out to where it had first been.

‘ Now- we need to decide how to go about this.’ Lady Scrive announced.

Harry took a deep breath as his heart gave a little thrill at the idea of having the entire library to himself without the risk of detention. On top of that he would have a librarian who knew the library as well as only someone who’d spent literally hundreds of years there could.

¿ <’}}}><

It was two in the morning when Harry finally decided he was feeling tired enough to head back and try to get some sleep before he got up for breakfast. With Lady Scrive’s help and accumulated knowledge of how students learned best and fastest Harry had decided that he would come to study on Friday, Saturday and Wednesday nights unless there was a test the next day or some other reason not to on that night (when you didn’t sleep and spent just about every moment for hundreds of years in a library you tended to gain some experience of this sort).

Since Lady Scrive insisted that he tell no one about what he did, saying that the fewer who knew the easier to avoid complications, Harry wouldn’t be doing his homework during these nights because it would make his friends suspicious about how and when he got it done. Instead Lady Scrive thought that Harry should study all the spells, charms, curses, and hexes he could find. She also suggested studying any of the extra courses that he’d have to chose in a couple years, such as arithmancy and runes. If he simply studied for the classes he already had he would do well in them, but would raise suspicions. She did suggest though, that he study for potions, as she knew somehow that Snape was out to get him.

As it was so late (or early) when Harry decided to leave he didn’t think that anyone except Peeves would be in the halls at this time of night, but he made sure to keep quiet nonetheless.

Once again he shrank the door, walked through, then enlarged it again, but this time he paid more attention to lining up the hinges.

Turning to head back to Gryffindor tower, he saw shaky lamplight on the wall at the end of the corridor and heard the meow of a cat.

‘ Oh crap!’ Harry whispered fiercely and darted down a different corridor knowing that Mrs. Norris would likely smell him and alert Filch.

Not really paying any attention to where he was going Harry ran as fast as he could without making a sound and breathed a sigh of relief as the sound of Filch and Mrs. Norris started to fade. Then they started getting louder again and Harry swore at his luck. They must have gone past the library and taken some other route to where he was now.

Looking around desperately Harry spotted a door that was slightly ajar. Having learned his lesson from the first time he had snuck into the library, he slid through the opening without moving the door. It seemed to be a classroom that hadn’t been used in years. He held a sigh of relief in check once he was in as just then both Filch and his cat had come around the corner and into the same corridor Harry had been in moments before.

Harry held his breath as the two passed the classroom where he was without even a glance in its direction and continued on around another corner. Harry continued to hold as still as possible until he could no longer hear Filch’s muttering.

Now Harry took a breath and turned to examine the room he found himself in. It was in a lesser-used area of the school and from the depth of the dust covering everything Harry would have to say that it hadn’t been used in years. Then he noticed an object that was completely out of place in an abandoned classroom.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised strea ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

What made it stand out so much in the room was the dust, or rather the lack of any dust at all on the mirror, as if someone had just moved the mirror in there recently. The problem with that idea was that other than Harry’s own footprints, no other dust had been disturbed in the room.

Seeing his footprints on the floor made Harry think and he walked carefully back over to the doorway. The dust stopped in a perfect line where the door would be if it were closed. Since the line was still so perfect Harry surmised that the door had been open only recently, but the fact that there were no footprints from the door to the mirror meant that someone had been in here recently and had either moved from the door to the mirror and back without touching the ground, or someone had used magic to replace the dust moved by their feet when they left.

All in all it was too much for Harry to worry about right then and after checking the corridor, he slipped back out of the room and made his way back to his common room.

He made it back with no further “adventures” and flopped into bed as soon as he changed and charmed his bed to squeal if anyone opened his curtains while he was still asleep. He fell into a deep dreamless sleep, and the next morning he wouldn’t remember anything about his trip back from the library except that he’d hidden in an old classroom to avoid Filch at some point, but he’d remember seeing the letters: Erised strea ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi, carved in a mirror.

¿ <’}}}><

When the month changed from October to November, the weather changed from merely chilly to downright cold. Hagrid was seen early in the morning defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch. Normally they were kept in a shed near the changing rooms in the colder months, but the first frost had caught everyone by surprise and they had been left out the night before.

The Quidditch season began in November and Harry would be playing his first real game then. The only people who even knew who this years Gryffindor seeker was were the Quidditch team (of course), Ron and Hermione.

It was a good thing for Harry that Ron and Hermione were friends now (meaning that they probably wouldn’t resort to cursing each other during their constant arguments), otherwise Harry wouldn’t have had time to finish all of his homework and still keep up with his extra Quidditch training. As it was Harry was only able to get to the library once that week for his extra studying and even then it hadn’t seemed a very productive visit to Harry as he was too worried about his Quidditch game to concentrate as hard as he felt he should have. All in all, the week before Gryffindor’s first Quidditch match of the season was rather stressful for Harry. The fact that his first game would be against Slytherin certainly didn’t help either.

The upside to the week was that Hermione was beginning to become more relaxed about the rules (of course she claimed she was simply trying to stick to the spirit of the rules rather than the exact words). This more relaxed attitude helped Ron and her get along almost as much as Ron’s decision to finish his homework as soon as possible (so as to have more time for fun) did.

After classes on Monday, the trio was out on the Quidditch pitch talking about how they couldn’t wait to see Malfoy’s face when he found out who the Gryffindor seeker was on Saturday. Even Hermione, who didn’t think too highly either of the rules being bent for Harry to play or of Quidditch in general, had a chuckle at the thought of Malfoy’s reaction.

‘ Yeah,’ Ron exclaimed. ‘ I should get a picture of his face when Lee announces your name!’

Harry smiled.

‘ And Snape’s.’ he agreed.

‘ Snape!’ Hermione gasped.

‘ What?!’ Ron said with wide eyes looking about frantically. ‘ Where?’

‘ No, he’s not here, I just remembered something I noticed about him when we saw him Friday night after we took Harry to the hospital wing.’

‘ What?’ Ron asked, his voice full of sarcasm. ‘ You realized he doesn’t know how to use a shower?’

Hermione rolled her eyes but continued.

‘ No, I noticed he was limping and his robes were torn. I didn’t think anything about it until now because of all the- um, excitement.’

Ron stared at her deadpan.

‘ And this is something we care about… why?’

Harry jumped in before Hermione could start lecturing Ron as her eyes said she was about to.

‘ Well it seems like a bit too much of a coincidence now, doesn’t it?’ he asked Ron. ‘ I mean suddenly a troll gets past all the security without anyone finding out and all the professors leave to find it…’

‘ And it certainly looked like he was attacked by something big…’ Hermione put in.

Ron caught on quickly then.

‘ Of course, the troll had to have been a distraction.’ He said, and Harry could almost watch the gears turning in Ron’s head. ‘ It wasn’t enough to be any kind of attack. You proved that, Harry. So it was brought in for a different reason. Quirrell found it in the dungeons too, where Snape spends most of his time. So Snape probably let it in and waited for it to be discovered, then, while everyone was either in their dorms, or in the dungeons looking for the troll, no one would be there to notice someone sneaking into “Fluffy’s” room since it’s practically on the other side of the school.’

‘ Fluffy?!’ asked Harry and Hermione incredulously.

‘ What? What’s wrong with “Fluffy”?’ Ron returned defensively as his ears turned an interesting shade of red.

‘ Oh, nothing… nothing…’ Hermione said with a giggle.

‘ So what do we suspect then?’ Harry asked turning from Hermione to Ron, his brow furrowed.

‘ Well, we’ve got a troll that had to have been brought in using some kind of dark arts. It was found in the dungeons, which are known best by Snape. Snape was no where to be found while the rest of the staff were out looking as far as I know.’ Ron paused here and looked at the other two who shook their heads. They hadn’t seen Snape either that night until after the troll incident. ‘ Then when he’s next seen he’s limping and his robes are torn, as if by something with big teeth, and right now I think Fluffy is the only thing that fits that description. Not very solid evidence for anything, but it certainly points to Snape trying to get at whatever is being held here.’

Hermione shook her head, looking both grim, but amused.

‘ Just when you’ve almost got me convinced you really are a blockhead you pull something like this.’ She said ruefully. ‘ I certainly couldn’t have worked that out. Not so quickly at least. It’s hard to think that a professor would do something like this though.’

Ron rolled his eyes at the last bit and Harry was inclined to agree with the sentiment at this. Hermione trusted her idealized stereotype of professors too much.

‘ Just because a person is in a position of honour doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re an honourable person.’ Harry informed Hermione and Ron nodded his agreement.

‘ I know that!’ Hermione snapped, blushing lightly. ‘ but still… you wouldn’t think that someone who Dumbledore has trusted to teach here for years would do anything like that…’

‘ You know,’ Harry said thoughtfully, ‘ If something was brought here to be guarded because it’s safer than Gringott’s, then there’s got to be more than just- Fluffy guarding it. We don’t really need to do anything about this yet, at least until we’ve got some sort of proof that something’s going on. Snape’s obviously not even able to get past the dog yet… and I’m still not positive that he’s trying anything. All we’re doing now is speculating. Like you said, Ron, there’s really no solid evidence…’

Ron and Hermione both nodded in agreement and the conversation turned to lighter subjects, such as making fun of Malfoy, Quidditch, making fun of Malfoy, homework and making fun of Malfoy.

¿ <’}}}><

For the rest of the day Harry couldn’t get his mind off the idea of Snape trying to steal whatever Hogwarts was guarding. Not that Snape didn’t seem like the type to do something like that, just the opposite. Snape seemed to fit the role too well.

One night that week, when Harry was taking a walk around the school before curfew, in hopes of clearing his mind, he saw a still limping Snape heading into Filch’s office. Harry, still feeling suspicious of him, drew back behind a suit of armour, and watched as Snape glanced around, then quickly opened the door and slipped inside, closing the door after him.

Harry crept up to the door and listened carefully. Nothing.

< Hmm. Silencing spell probably.> he thought.

Frowning for a moment, Harry got an idea and pulled open the door.

Snape was alone with Filch inside. Part of his robes were lifted up, revealing partly healed gashes in his thigh, which Filch was wrapping with new bandages.

‘ Blasted thing, how’re you supposed to watch all of its heads at once.’ Snape growled.

Harry had planned on saying he wanted a list of the forbidden items from Filch when he was noticed, but the two of them were so wrapped up (no pun intended) in what they were doing that they didn’t even notice Harry.

Having heard enough already Harry pulled the door shut quietly and headed back to his common room, eager to tell Ron and Hermione what he had seen. He never noticed Filch’s head stick out the door, Mrs. Norris at his feet, and glare at Harry’s back.

¿ <’}}}><

As the day of the first Quidditch game approached Oliver grew more and more paranoid about keeping the fact that Harry was on the team a secret. This meant that instead of getting up for the usual six o’clock practice the team was dragged out of bed by Wood at sometime around four in the morning and they were usually on the pitch and ready to go by five.

Most of the team thought that these measures were a bit drastic just to keep the identity of their seeker a secret, but no one voiced such opinions to the almost maniacal Wood. In the end it paid off though; Harry was able to work with the rest of the team as if he’d been playing Quidditch with them all his life. Every move and formation Harry was involved in was perfectly co-ordinated.

Despite all of the practice and all of the assurances of the rest of the team, Harry was quite nervous on the day of his first Quidditch game.

‘ Come on, Harry. You can’t play on an empty stomach. You have to eat something.’ Urged Hermione.

It was the morning of the game day and Harry’s appetite seemed to have left him completely. He often got the same feeling just before his first match in martial arts tournaments, but now it was much worse. At the tournaments Harry only had to do his best and he knew it would be enough for Osakawa-san, but now he might let down his entire house and for once in his life he cared about what his classmates thought of him. He didn’t like it at all.

Eventually Ron and Hermione were able to convince him to eat some eggs and toast, but that was all Harry would take. Then it was time.

Oliver led the team to the change rooms and they all put on their scarlet robes.

Oliver cleared his throat for silence.

‘ Okay, men.’ He started.

‘ And women!’ piped Alicia.

‘ And women,’ Wood amended, ‘ This is it.’

‘ The big one.’ Said George.

‘ The one we’ve all been waiting for.’ Said Fred.

‘ We know Oliver’s speech off by heart.’ George told Harry.

‘ We were on the team last year.’ Fred said.

‘ Shut up you two.’ Wood said good-naturedly. ‘ This is the best team we’ve had in years. I know we’ll win it this year.’ He said, adding a look that clearly said “ Or else!”

‘ Alright, it’s time.’ He said. ‘ Let’s go.’

Harry followed the twins out of the change room and on to the field. The moment he heard the cheering of most of the school Harry’s nervousness doubled. He hadn’t realized that so much of the student population would be present.

Looking around he spotted Hagrid in the stand (he was actually rather hard to miss) and beside him was Ron and Hermione. His stomach twisted in knots as he saw them wave to him, but he instantly felt less nervous as well. No matter how Harry performed, he knew that Ron, Hermione and all of his other Gryffindor friends would support him. It was an odd feeling; one that he’d never experienced during his life with the Dursleys.

The feeling was overwhelming. It filled his mind with joy and left no more room for him to feel nervous or embarrassed. He liked playing Quidditch and he loved flying, so that was what he would do.

Harry took his position as Madam Hooch waved the captains forward to shake hands as Lee Jordan began his commentary.

‘ Welcome to the first Quidditch match of this year’s house tournament. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. On the Slytherin team we have: Captain and chaser- Marcus Flint, chasers Pucey and Larkly, beaters Fletcher and Podswick, keeper Bletchly and seeker Terence Higgs. No new faces on the Slytherin team this year.’ Lee announced. ‘ And on the Gryffindor side we have: Captain and Keeper- Oliver Wood, chasers Johnson, Spinnet and Bell, beaters Weasley and Weasley, and a new addition to the team, please welcome the youngest house player in I-don’t-know-how-long: HARRY POTTTTEEERRRRRRR!’

There was a collective gasp from the fans in the stands as the secret of Gryffindor’s seeker was finally revealed before cheering erupted. It seemed to Harry that the noise alone would cause the stands to collapse. The noise was that loud, but under the cheers Harry could just make out the sounds of booing from the Slytherin section. Looking up at them Harry saw a flash go off. Apparently Ron had gotten a hold of a camera and Malfoy’s reaction to Harry’s introduction would be forever captured on film.

Once the cheering had finally subsided, Madam Hooch told the teams to take position and once they had, she released the balls and everyone pushed off.

Rose faster and higher than anyone else as Wood had told him to.

‘ Keep out of the way until you spot the snitch,’ Oliver had told him, ‘ we don’t want you being attacked until it’s necessary.’

It was hard though; Harry and Oliver had come up with some great ploys to involve Harry in the game, mostly using Harry to distract the other side and Harry felt as if he wasn’t doing his fair share by hovering above the game.

It was easy to see that he wasn’t really needed yet and Higgs, the other seeker, was doing the same as Harry.

Lee Jordan was the official commentator for the house matches and as he was a friend of the twins he tended to be rather- ah, biased in his commentary. Professor McGonagall had assigned herself as a sort of censor for Lee and given the fact that she was head of the house that Lee was biased in favour of, she was as fair as could be expected about it.

‘ The Quaffle is taken immediately by Johnson of Gryffindor and she speeds up the pitch. Excellent chaser that girl, and rather attractive as well-‘

‘ Jordan!’

‘ Sorry, Professor.’

Harry tuned out the commentary as the game went on, focusing instead on spotting the snitch. The Slytherin team certainly were no slouches, but with a captain as obsessive as Wood the Gryffindor team had much more practice and it showed in how well they worked together. They often didn’t even need to look in order to pass the Quaffle, knowing from experience where their teammates would be.

Harry quickly became bored and started doing loops and small dives each time Gryffindor scored to let off some of his pent up energy. His actions were distracting to Higgs at first, who flinched the first several times Harry had done a small dive, thinking that Harry must have seen the snitch. He quickly began to ignore Harry’s movements after realizing that Harry was just fooling around.

Harry hadn’t been thinking about lulling his opponent, but he quickly realized the usefulness of it and reminded himself to talk to Oliver about the strategy.

¿ <’}}}><

Down in the stands Ron was on the edge of his seat. Each time Gryffindor scored he jumped up, yelling and cheering with everyone else.

On the other side of Hagrid, Hermione was also on the edge of her seat, though for entirely different reasons. She hardly noticed when either team scored, but flinched every time Harry would do a loop or a dive, biting her lip the whole time. She let out a small whimper once when a Bludger had shot up at Harry while he was on of his dives, thinking he hadn’t seen it since it was coming at an angle, but Harry had whirled around on his broom at the last moment, neatly avoiding the ball.

‘ Slytherin in possession,’ Lee was saying. ‘ Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and chaser Bell, showing remarkable agility, and speeds towards the- wait a minute- was that the snitch?’

Harry’s eyes snapped over to where Pucey had been, and he saw it. It was speeding down the pitch towards the Slytherin end.

Harry sped after it a moment before Higgs, but Higgs had been closer so they ended up flying down the pitch, side by side, on parallel paths. Harry was moving faster though and it quickly became obvious that he would be the first to reach it.

Down in the stands Ron was on his chair yelling and cheering Harry on. Hagrid, who didn’t need to even stand up, was also cheering and his voice could almost be heard through the din of hundreds of screaming fans. Hermione though had covered her eyes with her hands, but was peeking out between her fingers, torn between worry over her friend’s safety and the hope that he would succeed and catch the golden ball.

Harry, focussed on the flash of gold that he was chasing, didn’t notice a thing. He didn’t hear the roar of the crowd, the whistle of the wind speeding by him, or even the shouts of his teammates urging him onward. It was all well and good that he was so focussed on his goal, but another thing he failed to notice was the hulking mass of Marcus Flint quickly approaching on an intersecting path.

WHAM! Marcus Flint had blocked Harry, seeing that his team’s seeker didn’t have a chance otherwise.

The collision probably would have been much worse for both him and Harry if it wasn’t for Harry’s quick reaction. The moment he saw Flint in front of him he’d clamped his feet around the end of his broom and pushed his feet under him so he was sort of standing up on the bristles of his broom pointing the broom straight up (AN- Bad description, so just picture someone on a pogo stick with no gravity so they just keep going up).

As it was Harry’s feet ended up hitting Flint in the face, giving him a bloodied nose, as Harry rose above him. Harry wasn’t hurt, but his feet were knocked off his broom leaving him hanging by his hands with his broom horizontal once more.

The crowd roared their disapproval (except for most of the Slytherins), and Madam Hooch blew her whistle, signalling for a penalty shot.

Once more Lee couldn’t help taking sides.

‘ So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating – ‘

‘ Jordan!’ McGonagall growled.

‘ I mean, after that open and revolting foul – ‘

‘ Jordan, I’m warning you!’ McGonagall snapped, but sounded rather half-hearted.

‘ All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor seeker, which could happen to anyone I’m sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue to play, Gryffindor still in possession.’

While this had been going on the twins had risen to help Harry get back up on his Nimbus, but he waved them off with one hand, wowing anyone in the crowd who had been watching him, then easily pulled himself up on his own and was back on his broom in no time and the game continued without further interruptions to the action.

Hermione had seen the whole thing from between her fingers. She’d nearly had a heart attack when she saw him almost fall from his broom the first time and nearly had another when he let go with one hand to wave off Fred and George.

For once though, Ron felt mostly the same. Although he hadn’t made the same sort of squeaky noise that Hermione had, he’d certainly been worried and had angrily cursed Harry for being “so bloody stubborn” when he didn’t wait for help to get on his broom.

Hagrid on the other hand seemed amused.

‘ Close one there, eh?’ he chuckled, nudging Hermione gently with his elbow (knocking her into the person next to her).

Hagrid seemed not to notice danger like a sensible person would. It probably came from the fact that it would take a lot more to hurt Hagrid than it would to hurt most other people.

As the game resumed, Ron, who’d been mostly watching the Quaffle until then, started watching Harry instead so when it happened he was the first to notice.

It started just after Harry dodged a Bludger. His broom lurched upwards. It certainly wasn’t enough to even unbalance him, much less to throw him off, but what made Harry suddenly tense was the fact that it had been the broom and not him that had caused the movement.

A few seconds after the first twitch, it happened again, but more violently – and it didn’t stop. Suddenly it seemed to Harry that his broom had decided to throw him off for no reason. Only Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to throw their riders. No brooms did, for that matter.

He quickly turned towards the Gryffindor goal, intending to ask Wood for a timeout. It was then that he realized he had little to no control over his broom and it started zigzagging back and forth across the field and only years of hand exercises to strengthen his grip while learning holds at his dojo kept him on the crazed broom.

Although Hermione was watching Harry, she didn’t realize what was going on at first, not having any idea of how Quidditch players normally moved. Fortunately Ron did know Quidditch and he saw that something was wrong right away.

‘ What on Gaia does Harry think he’s doing?’ Ron wondered out loud. ‘ If I didn’t know better I’d think he’s lost control of his broom.’

Hagrid and Hermione both watched Harry more intently when they heard Ron’s words and soon all three of them were shouting for someone to call a time out as it became obvious that Harry had indeed lost control and soon would lose his grip.

No one heard them over the noise of all the fans and Lee’s continued commentary.

‘ Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherin score – oh no… ‘

Suddenly people started noticing Harry’s erratic motions. His broom began to spin, rolling Harry over and over on it. Then the whole crowd gasped, and several girls (Hermione included) shrieked. Harry’s broom had given a sudden massive lurch and almost succeeded in tossing Harry. He was now holding on with only one hand and the broom continued to jerk and twitch making it impossible for him to get his other hand back on.

‘ Could something have happened to it when Flint blocked him?’ Seamus asked worriedly.

‘ Can’t have,’ Hagrid said, his voice shaking. ‘ Can’t nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus.’

Hermione, who had been biting the corner of her bottom lip and staring at Harry, as if transfixed, whirled around upon hearing Hagrid’s words and grabbed his binoculars. Instead of looking back at Harry though, she started scanning the rest of the stands.

‘ What are you do – ‘ Ron started, then cut off as her realized she was looking at the section of the stands where most of the staff were and realized what she suspected.

‘ There!’ she cried. ‘ Look! Snape!’ she thrust the binoculars at Ron.

Through the binoculars Ron spotted Snape in the stands opposite from them. He was staring at Harry and muttering non-stop under his breath.

‘ He’s doing something to Harry’s broom, isn’t he?!’ Ron exclaimed turning back to Hermione, only to find that she was gone.

Quickly bringing the binoculars back up he spotted her in the other stands, making her way towards Snape. He turned the binoculars on Harry, whose broom was shaking so hard that Harry should have already fallen, but he still held on, adrenaline giving him extra strength.

The whole crowd was on its feet now, watching anxiously as Fred and George tried to pull Harry on to one of their brooms, but each time they got too close the broom would give another jerk and fly up higher. The twins settled for circling underneath him in the hopes of catching him when he fell. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would fall, only a question of when.

Marcus Flint grabbed the Quaffle and scored several times without anyone noticing. Or if they did notice they certainly didn’t care.

‘ Come on, Hermione, come on!’ Ron muttered desperately.

Hermione hurried along the row behind Snape until she was at his back, not even apologizing to Professor Quirrell as she knocked him into the front row. Upon reaching Snape she crouched down behind him and lit the hem of his robe with a jet of bright blue flames.

At took Snape a half a minute to realize he was on fire and Hermione scooped up the flames as soon as she heard him yelp, putting them out as she did so, and sped away before Snape could look around to see her.

‘ Yesss!’ Ron hissed as he saw Harry’s broom steady itself and Harry climbed back up.

As soon as he had control again Harry sped towards the ground as fast as he could with only one hand on his broom. The other hand was covering his mouth, as if he was going to be sick.

As soon as he had his feet back on the ground he doubled over and spasmed, as if he really was sick, and coughed up – the snitch!

He took a deep breath before straightening up and calmly raising his hand in the air, the snitch still beating its wing in his hand.

The crowd went wild, some laughing, some cheering, and a few (mostly Slytherins) booed.

‘ He didn’t catch it!’ Flint was still hollering at Madam Hooch, twenty minutes later. ‘ He nearly swallowed it!’

But Madam Hooch was firm, only giving in a little by letting the goals Flint had made, while everyone was distracted, count because no one could be sure if Harry had “caught” the snitch before or after they were made.

In the end the score had been one hundred and eighty to fifty in Gryffindor’s favour.

The entire Gryffindor team was still on the pitch cheering and hugging each other half an hour after Harry had ended the game – or rather most of the team was. Harry was off with Ron and Hermione in Hagrid’s hut, nursing a strong cup of tea.

¿ <’}}}><

‘ It was Snape.’ Ron was telling Harry. ‘ He was jinxing your broom or something.’

‘ Rubish.’ Hagrid said. ‘ What would Snape want ter do that for?’

The trio looked at each other, debating on what to tell Hagrid, until Harry decided to go with the truth.

‘ I think he saw me when he was in Filch’s office.’ He explained. ‘ We already suspected that he had tried to get past Fluffy, and what I saw and heard confirmed it.’

Hagrid’s eyes bulged.

‘ How do yeh know about Fluffy?!’ he asked, stunned.

‘ I don’t think we’re talking about the same animal here, Hagrid.’ Hermione said. ‘ We’re talking about a huge dog with three heads and-‘ Hermione cut off as Hagrid nodded. ‘ You mean that – that thing’s name actually is Fluffy?!’

‘ Yep!’ Hagrid said with great pride. ‘ He’s mine. I lent him ter Dumbledore to guard-‘

‘ Yes? To guard what?’ Ron asked excitedly.

Hagrid only shook his head, obviously afraid to open his mouth in case he let something else slip.

‘ Oh, come on, Hagrid.’ Hermione pleaded. ‘ You might as well tell us. You’ll only be saving us the trouble of figuring it out on our own.’

‘ Now you look here, you three.’ Hagrid said, shaking a giant finger at them and looking fairly disgruntled. ‘ Snape’s not trying to steal anything, especially not from Dumbledore. What’s being held in that third corridor is none of your business. It’s a matter between Dumbledore and Flamel, and that’s the way it’ll stay, right?’ he didn’t even notice what he had let slip until he saw their eyes widen with the grins on their faces.

‘ So there’s someone named Flamel involved in this?’

After that Hagrid looked furious with himself and refused to talk about anything to do with it.

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AN- I really didn’t like that chapter… I hope all of you did though!

Steven: If you mean more talent that he will hide, then yes, though not necessarily because he’s trying to…

VipyGirl831: Lol! I’m not really a very fast writer. It’s just that I’ve already written up to chapter 21. It’s just a matter of fixing the formatting of each chapter so I can upload it. Chapter 21 will be posted just minutes after this goes up! Unfortunately I’ve been stuck on chapter 22 for a while so you may have to wait a bit… Anywho, I really enjoy getting your reviews, they always brighten my day. I do plan on doing all of the books, but it will obviously take me quite a while. On top of that there is another story that splits off from this one that has been bugging me so much that I’ve decided I have to write it as well so things may go slowly, but rest assured that I won’t stop writing until there’s nothing left to write about! Anywho, I think that’s enough rambling. PLEASE keep reading my story! And if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to review or e-mail me (TooMuchToMatter@ICQmail.com).

Dominus De Angoscia: I absolutely agree! Harry may not be the stereotypical hero you see on those silly romance novels, but he’s certainly not just an average wizard with an interesting past. Anywho, I’m happy to hear that you approve of the changes I’ve made. Do you have any suggestions for other changes you think I should make? By the way, what does “Dominus De Angoscia” mean? I’m assuming it’s latin, but I know very little latin and don’t even have a latin dictionary. I’d really like to know what it means if you don’t mind reviewing to tell me, or sending me an e-mail (TooMuchToMatter@ICQmail.com).

Nappa: :-P (Heh heh heh!)

That’s it for now!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

21. A Christmas Tree

AN- Not much to say. This is being posted just minutes after chapter 20 was so nothing new has happened…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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Things returned to what passed for normal at Hogwarts after the Gryffindor-Slytherin Quidditch match, but Christmas was quickly approaching and one could almost feel it in the air.

One morning at the beginning of December, the whole of Hogwarts awoke to find the world outside the castle walls had turned a sparkling white. The entire Hogwarts staff (even a rather reluctant Snape) agreed to leave off classes for the day since it was Friday and combined with the fact that it was the first snowfall they realized that the students would be hard pressed to pay any attention in class.

The general feeling of happiness and good cheer was even more exhilarating for Harry who had never really had a Christmas that was in anyway different from any other day with the Dursleys, or rather he’d had one Christmas with his parents, but that could hardly be counted since he didn’t remember it.

The Weasley twins enchanted a pair of snowballs to follow Professor Quirrell around the grounds, bouncing off the back of his turban and were punished for it. Professor Flitwick began teaching them different decorating charms; everyone was getting into the holiday spirit. Even Malfoy’s sneer seemed a little more like a smile than a sneer.

Of course Malfoy’s way of showing his good cheer was to try and make as many people as possible as miserable as he could manage. After the disappointment of Gryffindor’s victory he’d tried to get people laughing at Harry by suggesting that he’d be replaced with a wide mouthed tree frog in the next match; however, it quickly became apparent that everyone one was too impressed that Harry had stayed on his broom at all to laugh at such a weak joke. When Malfoy saw that insulting Harry’s Quidditch skills was pointless he resorted to making fun of Harry’s lack of a true family.

‘ I really do feel sorry,’ he said during one particularly freezing potions lesson, ‘ for all those who have to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, because they’re not wanted at home.’

He smirked and looked pointedly in Harry’s direction, but Harry simply raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head in a disappointed fashion. Surprisingly this served to wipe Malfoy’s smirk off his face even faster than anything Harry could have said would. Also Snape couldn’t very well yell at Harry for not retaliating.

Of course Harry was fairly sure that the Dursleys wouldn’t want him to come home for the holidays, but he didn’t want to leave Hogwarts anyway so when McGonagall came around, making a list of all the students who planned to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays he’d signed up immediately.

On their way from the potions class that day Ron, Neville, Hermione and Harry had found the way blocked by a giant fir tree. They could tell from the huffing sounds that Hagrid was carrying it.

‘ Hey there, Hagrid.’ Ron said, walking up to the tree. ‘ Need any help there?’

Ron and Hagrid had taken a great liking to each other, as they both seemed to really like animals in general.

‘ Nah, I got it, but thanks, Ron.’

‘ Would you mind getting out of the way?’ a cool voiced asked, but managed to make it sound more like an order than a request.

‘ Malfoy!’ Ron spat.

‘ Weasley!’ Draco mocked in return. ‘ Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself someday? I suppose that Hagrid’s hut must seem like a palace compared to-‘

He didn’t have a chance to finish before Ron launched himself at him.

Unfortunately Ron couldn’t have timed it worse as Professor Snape came around the corner at just that moment and saw Ron tackle Malfoy to the floor.

‘ WEASLEY!’ he snapped, and Ron’s head snapped up.

Seeing who it was Ron jumped up off of Malfoy, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

‘ Twenty points from Gryffindor, Weasley; no fighting in the corridors. Now move along, the lot of you.’

Malfoy sneered and he, Crabbe and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree- or at least they tried to. As he was going by Hagrid suddenly “lost his grip” and he dropped the tree, the branches smacking Crabbe and Goyle in the face and the trunk landing heavily on Malfoy’s toes.

Malfoy let out a rather girlish yelp, causing Harry to smirk and Ron to start laughing out loud, and neither made an attempt to hide their mirth.

‘ Whoops. Sorry ‘bout that Malfoy.’ Hagrid said, sounding quite sincere, but Harry caught him hiding his smile behind the branches of the tree as he lifted it easily off the Slytherins.

Snape looked furious and his eyebrow started to twitch, but after a moment he spun on his heel and continued on in the direction he was first headed.

Once the four were sure he was gone Hagrid chuckled in a satisfied manner and Hermione let out a giggle.

‘ That was bloody brilliant, Hagrid!’ Ron said in between fits of laughter (he still hadn’t finished laughing).

Hagrid attempted to look innocent and confused, but his eyes gave him away to Harry.

‘ I don’t have any idea what you could be talking about, Ron.’ He said. ‘ It’s not like I dropped the tree on purpose.’

Harry smirked again at this and the other three had another round of chuckles.

‘ Why don’t you three come on down to the Great Hall with me?’ Hagrid suggested. ‘ This is the last of the trees and Flitwick and McGonagall have almost finished with the other decorations. Looks a treat, it does.’

The trio agreed and followed Hagrid to the great hall where they were greeted by a fantastic sight. Even Ron, who had grown up around magical decorations was stunned and the three friends stood in the doorway, jaws on the floor, for several minutes, just taking in the transformed great hall.

Hagrid chuckled at the reaction and moved into the hall setting up the tree he had been carrying in the far corner of the hall, the only place that lacked any decorations yet.

By the time he had it upright, Ron and Hermione had come to their senses and were smiling at Harry, who was still staring around at the decorations in awe.

Finally Hermione nudged Harry with her elbow.

‘ You’d think you’d never seen a Christmas tree before, Harry.’ She teased him.

Instead of smiling as Hermione thought he would, Harry just sighed and looked down at his feet.

‘ Wait a minute.’ Said Ron with a frown. ‘ You have seen a Christmas tree before – haven’t you, Harry?’

‘ Well… no, but it’s no big deal. Right?’ Harry said softly as he looked up and smiled, but if Ron or Hermione could see his eyes behind his glasses they’d see that the smile didn’t touch his eyes.

Both Ron and Hermione wore concerned looks now that said quite clearly that it was indeed a big deal.

‘ How could you have never seen a Christmas tree before, Harry? I mean, your aunt and uncle do celebrate Christmas, don’t they?’ Hermione asked her voice a little higher pitched than normal.

Harry let his smile drop in an instant.

‘ If you don’t mind I’d rather not talk about my – relatives in public.’ Harry said casually, but his clenched jaws made it clear that he wanted the conversation to stop right there.

‘ Sure, but we’re talking about this later.’ Said Ron firmly, but he let the subject go and the trio went over to chat with Hagrid.

Neither Ron nor Hermione knew much about Harry’s life before Hogwarts other than what was in history books; that he lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin and that they were his only living relatives and they were muggles. Up until that day they hadn’t really noticed the fact or they had let it go for some other time, but now both Ron and Hermione were both intrigued and suspicious of Harry’s quick end to the subject.

A few months ago Harry probably would have believed that it wasn’t a big deal to have never seen a Christmas tree before, but his time at Hogwarts was teaching him more than just magic. He was beginning to learn how most children were treated and how all children should be treated; and that was certainly not how the Dursleys treated him.

For all of his life Harry had learned from the Dursleys’ example that special people (Dudley) were treated one way, and “freaks” (Harry) were treated another way. It was all Harry had ever known and so he had believed that it was natural and normal. It took a few months at Hogwarts, but when Harry had realized that the Dursleys had been treating him quite horribly all of his life he had made a vow never to treat anyone the same way himself. He would never let himself judge people and treat them according to what they were, only according to who they were. He couldn’t change the Dursleys and he still needed them for a place to stay in the summer, but he swore to himself that he would never become like them.

The rest of the day was spent finishing homework and searching for some mention of Nicolas Flamel in the library. They had tried looking in all of the recent history books such as “Notable Magical Names of Our Time” and “Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century”, but no mention was made of the elusive Nicolas. Ron and Hermione did have a good time laughing at an artist’s representation of Harry’s defeat of Voldemort in “A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry” though.

Harry tried to set the book on fire, but Ron grabbed it and ran, as soon as Harry pulled out his wand, laughing all the while. Hermione just about had a fit as she cracked up over Ron and Harry’s antics. They were almost kicked out of the library for, but the librarian liked Hermione and there weren’t many students in the library so close to the holidays in any case so they were allowed to stay.

The days before the beginning of the holidays were the best days of Harry’s life. He was able, for the most part, to forget that one of the professors might be trying to steal something from Hogwarts and that at the end of the year he would have to return to the Dursleys, and instead he focussed on the things that really mattered. Things like thinking up ways to humiliate Malfoy with Ron, and reading books with Hermione and just generally enjoying actually having friends and people around who cared about him.

He also forgot that Ron and Hermione had demanded that he sit down with them at some point to tell them about his life before Hogwarts. He had said that he couldn’t because it would simply be too weird to have an entire conversation just about him, but Ron and Hermione had countered by saying that it was even weirder for them to have their best friend know just about everything about their lives and not know anything at all about his. In the end Harry hadn’t had any choice in the matter, but he had managed to get them to put it off until later in the hopes that they would forget about it, as he really would have been quite embarrassed to talk about himself for so long (regardless of whether he lived with the Dursleys or not).

Unfortunately for Harry, neither Ron nor Hermione had forgotten that Harry had promised to finally tell them about what he did before he met them and they were only waiting for a time when he would have no more excuses to put it off until later.

That time came with the start of the winter break. Aside from Ron, Hermione and Harry no other Gryffindors were staying at Hogwarts for the holidays and only a few more students from the other houses were staying so the trio would have the entire Gryffindor tower to themselves and since it was the holidays Harry could claim to have a prior appointment. He would have no choice but to sit down and tell his friends about his life at the Dursleys.

¿ <’}}}><

‘ Alright, Harry, time to get up!’ Ron shouted in Harry’s as he pulled his friend from bed by his ankles.

The other students had left on the Hogwarts express the day before and Harry had planned to sleep in late to celebrate the first day of the holidays. Ron and Hermione seemed to have other plans though. It was actually quite a shock for Harry. He had thought that he would be the one pulling Ron from bed as Ron was usually the last one to get up. It had almost given Harry a heart attack when the alarm charm he always put on his bed had gone off and his eyes had snapped open to see a blur of red hair and freckles in front of his face.

‘ Have you gone bloody mad?!’ Harry groaned into his pillow trying to kick Ron’s hands off his ankles. ‘ What are you doing getting up at this time on a holiday?!’

If there was one thing that Harry did know about holidays, it was that people didn’t get up until quite late in the day on them. The Dursleys had never gotten up before eleven o’clock on a holiday and judging by the sun in the window it was around eight o’clock in the morning.

Ron smirked and finally pulled Harry from his covers and onto the floor. It hadn’t been easy, but Hermione had convinced Ron that they needed to make Harry talk to them when he least suspected it because otherwise he would probably find some way to either avoid telling them what they wanted to know (Harry had an odd ability to talk for hours at a time, yet when you thought back on it you realized that he actually hadn’t told you much at all), or he would find some way to avoid talking to them about himself at all.

‘ Come on, Harry. Hermione’s waiting in the common room; it’s time we had that little talk.’ Ron teased.

Harry froze where he was then shouted something into his pillow, which he’d dragged onto the floor with him.

‘ Oh, shablahmmggh!’

‘ Language, Harry! Language!’ Ron said in a mockingly shocked voice.

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AN- Hey everyone! Did that suck? I think it did, but it’ll get better (I hope). It was also too short.

Anywho, when Harry finally tells Ron and Hermione about his life with the Dursleys we too will learn more about Harry. Harry will get some of the sympathy he deserves, but he’s not going to like it, and he’ll also talk about some of the things that he did as a child that proved he was a wizard.

One question that will help me writing the next part: How powerful (or how weak) do you wonderful people want Harry to be?

That’s all for now.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

22. Harry Remembers

AN- Here it is people! The next chapter! Betcha you’re excited!

Okay I’m done being weird…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

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It was a very reluctant and only half-awake Harry that made his way down to the common room that morning. It wasn’t just his sleepiness that made him reluctant to leave his bed that morning either. Today was the day that Ron and Hermione had decided Harry was to tell them all about his life before they had met him giving him no say in the matter what so ever.

It’s not that he didn’t want to talk to his friends, just that he didn’t want to talk to them about himself. Everywhere he went in the wizarding world he was treated like a celebrity. People he’d never even met before had swarmed him in a pub and seemed to know more about his past than Harry did. When he had finally gotten to Hogwarts people had still treated him as if he was something… more. Harry had to admit, though begrudgingly, that he had somehow done something that no other person had, he had survived “Avada Kedavra”, the so-called “Killing Curse.” Everyone thought that there was something special about him that had allowed him to survive it, but what if there wasn’t? What if it had simply been some sort of accident, or an odd reflection of magic due to the alignment of the planets, or something equally esoteric? According to Hagrid his parents had been powerful wizards in their own right and it had been suggested that it was perhaps their magic that had saved him. Harry honestly believed himself to be just a normal child, yet still everyone looked up to him as the hero, a figurehead for the fight against Dark Wizards. As if, because he survived the killing curse, he must be special in some mysterious way. Harry didn’t think so. He couldn’t even remember what had happened, but he had obviously been too young at the time to do anything like defeat the most powerful dark wizard ever on purpose.

Most people would have liked the attention, but then most people hadn’t grown up the way Harry had. All his life (at least all that he could remember) he’d never had anything of his own, only hand-me-downs from his enormous cousin for clothes and only as much food as he required to live. Only his thoughts and feelings had ever been truly his and so he was loath to let anyone see either and after years of living with the Dursleys his feelings had become more and more muted, a sort of unconscious defence against their cruelty leaving him with only his thoughts.

On the other hand though, Ron and Hermione were certainly friends and, although he didn’t know it yet, Harry was beginning to learn that some people could be trusted and Ron and Hermione were two of those people.

So it was with mixed feelings that he sat down in front of his two friends in the empty common room to begin his ‘interrogation’.

Harry sat down on the couch that faced the fireplace while Hermione used a levitation charm to move an armchair over to face him and Ron just carried one over.

“Alright, Harry, here’s what you’re going to do.” Hermione started in gentle, but firm voice once she had curled up in her seat. “We’re going to ask you questions and you will answer them. Simple enough?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Harry said mockingly.

“Okay. First off.’ Ron said, leaning towards Harry. “We’ve told you all about our homes, so now you’re going to tell us about your home.”

Harry though for a moment. Privet Drive might be where he had lived for the last ten years, but it certainly wasn’t his home, but if it wasn’t his home… Harry smirked.

“My home? Well, my home is a hidden castle, with a surprisingly large population of in training witches and wizards…” Harry began.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, quite obviously not amused.

“Hogwarts is not your home, Harry. It’s just where you’re living right now.’ Hermione said angrily with the air of a child stomping their foot. “You promised us that you would answer our questions or give us a reason why not.”

“By ‘home’ we mean…” Ron started, trying to find a suitable description. “Well I don’t know who said it but ‘Your home is where your heart is.’ That’s what we mean by home.”

Harry sighed and decided he wasn’t going to be able to joke his way out of this.

Harry thought. <Otherwise this could take all day.>

“I understood exactly what you meant, but by your own definition Hogwarts is my home. Privet Drive is just where I lived for the last ten years.”

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, looking quite obviously confused.

“But… How… But - that’s where your family is. At least your relatives, and all of your childhood memories must take place there. How can you not consider it your home?” asked Ron, frowning.

“Please!” Harry snorted. “I’d rather not be reminded that I’m related to them. As for childhood memories? Well of course they all take place in and around Privet Drive. So what? How does that make it my home?”

Ron rolled his eyes as if Harry was a complete imbecile.

“Home is where your heart is right?” Hermione asked and Harry nodded his agreement. “Well all of your good memories are a part of your heart, so then it makes sense that your heart would be wherever those memories took place.” Hermione looked quite pleased with her explanation.

“I guess,” Harry shrugged, “but then, I don’t really have any good memories of Privet Drive.”

Ron looked appalled at the statement and Hermione suddenly looked as if she might start crying at any moment. (AN- Why do girls change emotions so rapidly?)

“Okay,” Ron said while he rubbed his forehead. “I think we need a new approach.”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be confused. He couldn’t for the life of him understand the reaction of his two best friends. He didn’t get a chance to ponder their reactions before Ron asked another question.

“You said you didn’t want to be reminded that you’re related to - well, to your relatives. Why not?”

Harry wrinkled his nose in mild disgust.

“Because,” he said, sounding as if he thought he was stating the obvious “they’re ignorant, rude, obnoxious, intolerant, narrow minded, lazy, nosy, cruel, hypocritical fools-” he frowned, continuing through clenched teeth, his voice expressing a tightly controlled rage. “They don’t deserve to be related to my mother at all. Whether by blood or marriage.”

Ron and Hermione jerked back in shock at the seething anger in Harry’s voice. They had known that Harry wasn’t as close with his relatives as Ron and Hermione were with their own families, but they hadn’t expected to hear anything even close to what they had just been told, and Harry wasn’t finished yet.

“You know,” he said seeming to be just figuring something out, “I think I actually hate them…”

Both Ron and Hermione spluttered for a while at this statement before Hermione finally recovered enough to ask-

“But - why?”

And Ron asked, “How could you hate your family?” right after.

Harry sighed.

“Well, you said you wanted to know everything, right?”

Hermione nodded, as did Ron a moment later.

“To tell you the truth, they’ve been absolute jerks for as long as I’ve lived with them, and that’s putting it mildly. I didn’t really realize it though, until I’d been here at Hogwarts for a while. I mean I’d never really lived any other way so I didn’t really have any way to see that.” He paused, suddenly finding himself embarrassed that he’d never noticed how poor his treatment was.

Ron was starting to look mad now, but Hermione asked him to explain.

“Well, for example there are four rooms in the house. One where Dudley sleeps, one where he keeps his toys, one where my - my Aunt and Uncle sleep and one guest room.”

“Then where do you sleep?” Ron blurted out, then clapped a hand to his mouth motioning to continue with his other.

“Well,” Harry paused, not sure how to explain. “There’s this room under the stairs - well, it’s not a room really, it’s a cupboard - but it’s big enough that a cot fits in it, so that’s where I sleep.”

Ron apparently had no idea what a cot was, but Hermione knew and from the look on her face she wasn’t what Harry would call ‘happy’ to hear about Harry’s sleeping arrangements.

“Well that’s certainly a good reason to hate them.” Hermione growled. “I assume there’s more though.”

Harry nodded and went on.

“Before I go on, I just want you both to know that I wouldn’t have put up with any of it if I’d had any idea that I shouldn’t have had to.” He said, still feeling a little embarrassed.

“Harry, there’s no need to be embarrassed that you never did anything about your life.” Ron said. “You’re not weak or anything because of how the Dursleys treated you. You didn’t let them treat you badly, because as far as you knew they weren’t treating you badly.”

Harry smiled thankfully at his friend, amazed at how Ron could seem insensitive most of the time, but always seemed to say the right thing when it really mattered.

“Well, let’s see now. Reasons why I hate the Dursleys… Well for one, they hate me for being a wizard. They hate anything magical or different. They yell at me if I ask any question, especially about my parents. They actually told me that my parents had died in a car crash and that I got my scar in that same crash. In fact they never told me anything other than that about my parents, so I never knew that my mum was a witch and my dad was a wizard and that I was one as well. They give Dudley anything he wants while I’m lucky if I get one of his shirts before it’s worn out. All the clothes I own, other than my school robes, are hand-me-downs from Dudley. The Dursleys said I was lucky to get even that much, because, after all, they didn’t ask to be forced to “look after me”…” Harry paused and took a calming breath. “Look, there’s more, but I could probably go on all day about it and I think that you wanted to know more about me, not just why I don’t like the Dursleys.”

By this point both Ron and Hermione were clenching their fists and breathing deeply to keep themselves under control.

“Alright,” Hermione said once she was calm enough to speak. “We can talk about this later. For now just tell us what you used to do before you met us. Like at school and stuff. Your pastimes.”

Harry rolled his eyes. He really didn’t want to talk about why he didn’t like the Dursleys. It made him feel like he was just whining and complaining, which he hated. After all, whine and complain all you want, but nothing will change until you shut up and do something about it.

“Well at school I mostly just did my work. Dudley and his friends made sure that no one would talk to me and I didn’t really mind too much since I was used to it from living at Privet Drive, so I never really tried to get to know anyone. When I was little I was offered free martial arts lessons, which I accepted of course, and for the most part I spent most of my time either at the dojo or in the local library. Other than that my life up until I got my Hogwarts letter was pretty dull. Just going to school, going to the library and dojo, doing chores and staying away from the Dursleys as much as I could was pretty much all I did.” Harry let out a breath. “ So I guess that’s about all there is to say. Can I go back to bed now?”

“Harry, I’m really sorry that you had to grow up like that.” Ron said looking profoundly sad. “No one should have to live like that…”

Hermione to looked terribly sad, as if she wanted to cry. Suddenly she got up and went over to Harry. Then before anyone could say anything she sat on the couch facing him and threw her arms around him and hiding her face on his shoulder.

“Harry, why didn’t you tell us?” she asked, sounding a little squeaky. “We can’t make up for what you went through, but we could’ve done something to help you feel better.”

Only having ever seen such affection shown to Dudley, Harry was quite shocked. Nonetheless he put his arms around her in what he hoped was a comforting manner, after giving Ron a surprised look.

“Hermione, I told you. I never realized that anything I’d experienced was bad, so there really wasn’t anything to tell you for a while. Once I realized though that my life basically sucked, I had already been here at Hogwarts for a while, where my life really doesn’t suck. You couldn’t have helped me feel ‘better’ because I didn’t feel bad about it in the first place. I still don’t. It’s like getting a cut and not realizing it until after it’s healed. If you don’t notice anything is hurting you until after the pain is gone then there’s isn’t anything you can do about it and it doesn’t really matter because if you never felt the pain then it may as well have never happened.’ Harry explained with the air of someone who had just stated that one plus one was two. “Besides, what more could you do other than being my friends? What more could I even want?”

Ron looked as if he wanted to disagree, but just shook his head. Hermione’s shaky breaths steadied and she let go of Harry. A moment later Harry realized he should also let go and Hermione settled down to sit by him on the couch.

“Alright, Harry, if you say so, but you know we’ll always listen if you ever want to talk to either of us about it.” Ron said.

“Alright, Ron, I’ll remember.” Harry answered. “Now can I go back to bed?” he asked starting to get up.

“No, not yet.” Hermione said trying to sound light hearted and brush away the gloominess that seemed to have settled over everyone but Harry. “You haven’t told us anything about what accidental magic you did as a child.”

“Yeah, Harry.” Said Ron jovially. “I told you about the time I got covered in rat spleens in Diagon Alley. You must have some equally embarrassing story. I need to have something to blackmail you with so you can’t use that story against me.”

”Rat spleens?” Hermione asked. “What does that have to do with accidental magic?”

“Uhhh…” Ron blushed. “Well, I was in the apothecary with my family, we were getting Percy’s school supplies, and the twins told me that the owner had a bunch of chocolate frogs in the jar. I believed them because I couldn’t actually see inside it. It was too high up for me to reach and I ended up doing a bit of accidental magic, which made the jar fall off its shelf. Unfortunately it was too heavy for me to catch and I ended up spilling it all over myself. Let me tell you, it’s just about impossible to get the smell off of you.”

Hermione looked at Ron for a moment in silence, then burst into uncontrollable laughter at the thought of a young Ron covered in fresh rat spleens and looking surprised.

Harry smiled slightly himself and Ron tried to look indignant at Hermione’s laughter, but he soon joined her, smiling at the memory.

“Alright, Harry,” she said when she calmed down. “Spill it. What kinds of magic did you do when you were a kid?”

“Hmmm, well it’s hard to think of them all.” Harry said. “I mean I never really even thought much about it until Hagrid came to take me to Hogwarts and I found out that I’m a wizard.”

Harry thought about it for a moment before coming up with some occurrences that he was pretty sure had to have been caused by accidental magic.

“Well, there was this one time when Dudley and his friends were chasing me at school. I was running away from them, but I got stuck in a dead-end between the side of the school and some fencing. Then all of the sudden I was on the other side of the fence even though I hadn’t moved at all.”

Ron frowned and asked how old Harry had been at the time.

“Ummm- I think I was around four or five at the time. Why?”

“Nothing, I was just wondering.” Ron answered, but his frown didn’t go away. “Keep going, what else did you do?”

“When I was about six, Dudley’s aunt Marge brought her dog to the house and it started chasing me as soon as it got out of the car. Fortunately Marge really spoils it so it wasn’t very fast, otherwise it would have got me right away. But anyway, I ran away (obviously) and tried to climb a tree in the back yard before it could reach me and when I got to the tree I jumped up to try and get hold of the first branch. I didn't even come close the first try but then I heard the Dursleys laughing at me just as the dog tried to jump on me.” Harry let himself smirk at the memory of what happened next. “Instead of jumping on me though, it jumped through me. It smacked its nose on the tree and I swear it had a confused look on its face.” He grinned. “It would have been so much funnier if I hadn’t gotten in so much trouble for it.”

Hermione shook her head, laughing and not feeling the least bit sorry for the dog.

Ron, however, was frowning.

“I didn't think it was possible for a wizard to do something like that...” he muttered to himself.

Harry looked at him weirdly.

“What do you mean? I know what happened, and since it happened it’s obviously possible!”

“Huh.” Ron said. “I guess so. I must just be thinking of something else...” but he didn't look too sure of himself. “Are you sure the dog went through you?”

“Yes, Ron, I am quite sure. I may not always tell the truth, but I never tell a lie.” (**AN- check the AN at the bottom if you don’t understand this.)

“Well go on then.” Ron said. “Can you think of any other times you did accidental magic?”

“Of course I can.” Harry answered. “I must’ve done it a hundred times while I was living with the Dursleys. Although…” Harry paused in thought. “From what I can remember I started doing it a lot more after Osakawa sensei started teaching me.”

“Who’s “Osakawa”?” inquired Hermione. “And what was this person teaching you?”

“Sensei?” Ron asked at the same time.

“Oh, sensei sort of means the same thing as ‘Professor’, and he teaches me martial arts.” Answered Harry.

Ron only looked more confused than before, but Hermione nodded in understanding.

“Okay, I got the part about him teaching you ‘martial arts’,” Ron stated, scratching his head, “but what are martial arts?”

“Oh, honestly!” Huffed Hermione. “Does everyone from a wizarding family know nothing about muggle culture? Martial arts are basically different forms of fighting, or hand-to-hand or unarmed combat, such as Judo or Karate. Although they are generally studied for the purpose of defending yourself and others or stopping a fight.”

Ron rolled his eyes at her, but he was smiling anyway.

“Anyway, Harry, you said you started doing even more accidental magic?” Ron asked seriously.

“Yeah, I don’t know why though. I suppose it’s just a coincidence.” Harry replied casually. “My magic must just have started growing then.”

Ron bit his lip, obviously thinking hard about something. Harry and Hermione shared a look. Ron was almost never serious, so when he did get serious about something you could bet that it was… well - serious.

“Hey, what’s up?” Harry asked his friend cautiously.

Ron asked another question instead of answering.

“How many times can you remember doing accidental magic?”

“Ron, I honestly couldn’t tell you.” Harry said. “Around a hundred times though, in all ten years I was at the Dursleys. Now, what is up?”

The look on their friend’s face was beginning to worry both Harry and Hermione.

“Probably nothing.” Ron mumbled to the two facing him and continued frowning as he was deep in thought about whatever he was talking about.

By this point Hermione looked ready to strangle him.

“Well I certainly hope it’s nothing.” She said through clenched teeth. “Of course I can’t be sure it’s nothing unless you tell us what the heck you’re talking about!”

Hermione’s tone brought Ron out of his thoughts and back to reality.

“Uh - well, most magical kids only do accidental magic a few times before they get their wand.” Ron explained. “It’s definitely weird if you’ve done it a hundred times, Harry.”

Hermione started to look worried again.

“Hmmm. We should really tell a professor about this –“ she started, but Harry cut her off.

“Ugh!” he groaned. “No way are we telling anyone about it. It would just be another thing for people to annoy me about! The whole Boy-Who-Lived thing is annoying enough on its own! I don’t need something else for people to talk about!”

“But, Harry! There might be something wrong!” Hermione scolded him.

“Hermione, if nothing bad has happened because of it for ten years then the chances that something is wrong are pretty slim, aren’t they?” argued Ron. “Just leave it alone. Besides, it's not really a big deal. It could even be something as simple as Harry's magic reacting to his scar.”

“Well, I suppose.” She agreed reluctantly. “It would make sense. After all, I read that a person’s magic always works to heal any magical injury on it’s own. In fact that’s what most medical magic is based on, and-“

“OK!” Ron interrupted. “I think we get it. We don’t need a whole lecture!”

Harry smiled as Hermione’s face flushed. These times were the memories he needed. Simple fun, teasing friends and no one to tell him what a freak he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN- Alright- go ahead and shoot me. I know it's been WAY too long since I updated, but on the plus side I've got the next chapter almost finished already, and the moment I think it’s good enough to be posted, I will do so.

Why did this take sooooooo long? Because I wanted to do a really good job on this chapter and I ended up writing the entire thing about seven or eight times- believe it or not, I'm still not happy with it.

IMPORTANT: I need advice! I really don't think my writing is going too well. I feel like the story is flopping around from one thing to another without any flow. I also think that I'm focusing too much on the wrong things. PLEASE help me if you think you can!

**I may not always tell the truth, but I never tell a lie.

Don't understand? Basically it means that Harry never says anything that he knows isn't true, but suppose he was blind and someone told him that the sky is green. Then Harry might tell someone else the same thing. He wouldn't be lying because he thinks it's true, but since it's not true he wouldn't be telling the truth. I will be keeping Harry like this. If you look carefully, you'll see that Harry has never lied in this story, nor will he ever. Fortunately there are ways to get around such a disadvantage. If you still don't understand what I'm talking about (I won't be surprised as I SUCK at explanations) then either forget about it, or e-mail me for a better explanation.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

23. Christmas

AN- This took too long and is too short, and there’s likely many flaws in it, but at least it came faster than the last chapter…

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

The rest of the day was spent “jazzing”, as Hermione called it. Just lying around the common room talking, playing wizard chess (Harry was fascinated by the fact that the pieces could move and talk on their own), eating more sweets than was really healthy, and – at Hermione’s insistence – scouring their schoolbooks for any mention of Nicolas Flamel.

The following days were spent in much the same manner. Ron just wanting to relax and forget about school and books, while Hermione insisted that they needed to use the free time while they had it to work on school assignments and to look for any mention of Flamel in the books in the library. As a result Harry was often forced to play peacekeeper, forcing the two to learn to compromise.

Sometimes though, Ron and Hermione’s bickering was too much and Harry would go off by himself, letting the two yell until they tired of the argument.

While his two friends argued Harry would explore the castle, or spend time in the library, which was even quieter with so many students gone. He sometimes met students from other houses in the library; most often they were from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

The Ravenclaws usually just wanted to be left alone with their books, but were more than happy to help the boy-who-lived with anything he wanted to know when he asked them intelligent questions.

The Hufflepuffs that Harry met there were much – warmer people, and would often offer their help without being asked, or in the case of some first years, they would ask for Harry’s help, which he never hesitated to give.

Harry was dismayed to find that nearly every Slytherin he saw, with one or two first years being the exceptions, would only glare at him, or just ignored him as if he were beneath them. Harry began to wonder just why it was that an entire house seemed to be so hostile. After all, the qualities that Slytherins were supposed to have were ambition and cleverness, not arrogance and aggression. He didn’t worry about it much though as he wasn’t in Slytherin.

Although Harry enjoyed talking to students from the other houses, he preferred spending time with Ron and Hermione, as they were the only ones who never stared at his scar as if it was more important than Harry himself was.

¿ <’}}}><

Going to bed on Christmas Eve, Harry was looking forward to the feast and all of the food that Hagrid had said the house elves were preparing, but the last thing he was expecting was to get any presents. As such it was a great surprise when he woke early in the morning and the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

“ Merry Christmas, Harry.” Ron mumbled sleepily from his bed still rubbing sleep out of his eyes as Harry stared at his presents in confusion.

“ I- I’ve got some presents.” Harry stated.

Ron snorted.

“ Well what did you expect?” he asked, “ Turnips?”

Harry paused, wondering if he should tell Ron about the one year, when Grunnings had made a big business deal just before Christmas and….

< Naw, Ron would probably just get angry…>

“ So – do we open them right now?” Harry asked, not really knowing what was usual procedure on Christmas morning as the Dursleys had almost always forced him to stay in his cupboard for most of Christmas.

Ron thought for a moment.

“ Well, we can open most of them here, but we should probably open the ones we gave each other and the ones from Hermione in the common room with her.” He decided.

Harry smiled widely and the two started opening their gifts.

Not knowing where else to start, Harry picked up the top parcel, which happened to be from Hagrid. Ripping open the thick brown paper he found a simple wooden flute that looked like Hagrid had carved it himself. Harry blew lightly across the hole and a pure note filled the room.

Harry would have liked to try actually playing a song, but there were other presents to be opened.

The next present was closer to what Harry would have expected if someone told him he was going to get a present. It was a letter from the Dursleys that read: We received your message and enclose your Christmas Present. Signed Mr. and Mrs. Dursley.

Inside the envelope was the only present Harry had ever received from the Dursleys – well, other than that turnip…

“ Weird!” Ron exclaimed as he examined the fifty-pence piece. “ This is money?”

“ You can keep it if you’d like.” Harry muttered, once again feeling something akin to hate towards the Dursleys, but he mostly felt only contempt for them now. In fact he almost pitied them and how they would never experience the excitement of diversity… almost.

Harry frowned at the remaining presents now. Not that he wasn’t glad to get them, but who else would be sending him presents?

“ So those were from Hagrid and the Dursleys.” Harry said (he no longer mentioned the fact that they were related to him). “ And those two are from me to you and Hermione…” he continued placing two other parcels aside. “ Then who sent me these?”

Ron eyed the other two packages.

“ I, uh – I think I know who that one is from.” He said, and his face turned a bit pink. “ You see, I told Mum that you didn’t expect to get any presents and – oh no!”

Ron turned to face Harry, looking slightly horrified.

“ She’s made you a – a Weasleysweater™!” he whispered, as if it were a death sentence.

Harry frowned at Ron as he picked up the gift.

“ What could be so bad about a sweater?” Harry asked.

“ If it wasn’t for Fred and George!” Ron blurted out, “ Then, nothing, but those two always insist that every Weasley at the school wear them for the entire day.” He shuddered. “ You don’t want to know what they do if they catch you without it on.”

Harry smiled as he opened the present from Mrs. Weasley, wondering what prank the twins had pulled on Ron to make him dislike the sweaters so much.

Inside the wrapping Harry found a thick, hand-knitted, emerald green sweater and a box of homemade fudge.

“ Every year she makes us a sweater,” said Ron, “ and mine’s always maroon.”

“ That’s really very nice of her,” Harry said, trying a piece of the fudge “ but why’d she make me one? I mean, I really appreciate it and all, but – well I’m not even related to you, and I’ve only met your mother briefly.”

Ron smirked.

“ If you knew my mum you’d understand. She may have only met you once, but all of the wizarding world knows – well, she knows what happened to your parents, and when she heard that you weren’t expecting any presents from ‘the Dursleys’ – “ Ron paused and his smile brightened. “ Well you can expect to be treated like family now, so don’t let her find out if you get in any serious trouble.”

Harry turned to his last present and picked it up. It was very light. He unwrapped it and something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.

“ I’ve heard of those.” He whispered, setting down a book about magical creatures he’d gotten from Hagrid. “ If that’s what I think it is – they’re really valuable, and really rare!”

Harry frowned and picked it up.

“ Well what do you think it is?” he asked as he unfolded the material.

It was an odd material. It felt like holding a piece of warm water that had been woven into cloth.

“ It’s an invisibility cloak!” gasped Ron, “ I’m sure it is. Try it on!”

Harry tossed it over his shoulders, and Ron gave a shout.

“ I was right! Look down!”

Harry did, and saw nothing. His feet were gone, though he could still feel them. He ran over to the mirror. All he saw was his head floating, and staring back at him. He flipped the hood of the cloak up and he disappeared from the mirror altogether; however, with the cloak over his head he could now see his feet if he looked down, but he still saw nothing when he looked in the mirror.

“ Something fell out.” Ron reported, looking in Harry’s general direction with a confused look.

Harry took the cloak off and picked up the letter. It was written in a narrow loopy handwriting that he’d never seen before.

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A very merry Christmas to you.

There was no signature on the letter, and Harry stood still for a moment staring at it, wondering who had sent it.

< My dad must have really trusted whomever sent this.> he thought.

“ Wow.” Ron said, interrupting Harry’s thoughts. “ We should go show this to Hermione!”

“ Yeah, we should.” Harry answered without hesitation. “ And then we can give each other our presents as well.”

Ron grinned.

“ Why don’t you try out your cloak?” he asked Harry with a wink. “ Give Hermione a Christmas scare!”

Harry just smiled and slipped on the cloak, disappearing once more, along with his presents for Ron and Hermione.

Ron chuckled and grabbed two rather messily wrapped packages and headed to the common room. Harry followed silently behind him.

¿ <’}}}><

Hermione came down to the common room from the girls’ dorm a moment after Ron had sat down, claiming the large armchair in front of the fire and smiling smugly at her.

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend, but smiled. He quickly sat down in the other armchair and waited.

“ Where’s Harry?” Hermione asked as she walked over to the fireplace.

“ I’m not really sure,” Ron replied truthfully, “ but I’m sure he won’t be long.”

Hermione smiled.

“ Well, he’ll have to get his own seat when he gets here then.” She said with a smirk as she sat down in the armchair.

“ I’ve already got one, thanks.” Harry said and wrapped his arms around her as she sat down on his lap.

Hermione shrieked and tried to jump back up, but Harry had pinned her to himself.

As soon as she shrieked Ron had started laughing, and by the time Hermione’s breathing was back to normal he had collapsed onto the floor and had to drag himself back into his armchair.

“ Harry?” Hermione asked in a shaky voice, “ Don’t ever do that again.”

She turned to look at him as he loosened his hold on her. At least she tried to look at him, and her face actually was quite close to his, but the invisibility cloak did it’s job perfectly and to both her and Ron it looked as though she was sitting on the air above the chair rather than on the chair itself.

“ What…? Harry?” she asked, her smile turning to a confused frown. “ Why can’t I see you?”

< Books.> Harry thought. < She smells like cinnamon and books.>

“ Hello? Harry, I know you’re there now!” Hermione called poking his chest (only knowing where to poke because she was sitting on him).

“ Sorry.” Harry said hastily as he pulled back the hood of the cloak.

Ron nearly fell out of his chair again at the look of absolute surprise on Hermione’s face when she saw Harry’s disembodied head.

“ Someone sent me an invisibility cloak.” Harry explained with a small smile. “ The note said it used to be my dad’s. Stand up for sec so I can get this off?”

Hermione obliged and Harry pulled the cloak off and put it away in a pocket of his robe. Hermione immediately sat back down in the armchair, this time forcing Harry over so she could squish down into the space beside him.

“ What’re you doing?” Ron asked Hermione with an odd look now that he’d calmed down. “ There are plenty of other chairs.”

Having come from such a large family, and having spent most of his life forced to share close quarters with them, Ron couldn’t understand why anyone would want to share a chair when there were many other’s to pick from if you went to the trouble of moving them. On the other hand, Hermione was an only child and certainly didn’t mind, and Harry had spent most of his life in forced isolation, both at the Dursleys’ and at school. Even if Harry didn’t realize it, he practically craved physical contact other than being punched or kicked.

“ Yes.” Hermione answered as if she was talking to a very small child, “ but they’re on the other side of the common room, and the whole point of Christmas is to be together with your friends.”

She smiled at Harry as she said ‘your friends.’

“ Think fast, Ron!” Harry said, tossing a long, thin tube to Ron in hopes of ending any argument before it started.

Unfortunately, either Harry’s aim was off, as he was pressed quite close to Hermione, or Ron just wasn’t thinking very fast, and the end of the tube hit him in the middle of the forehead. Ron winced and glared at Harry for a moment, then at Hermione who was trying unsuccessfully to stifle a fit of giggles, before chuckling and tossing Harry a small cube, wrapped in paper that switched from being red to being green and back again.

“ You first, Harry.” Said Ron, indicating that Harry should open Ron’s gift.

Harry pulled off the paper to reveal a plain brown box with the words ‘Quality Quidditch Supplies’ stamped on its lid.

Harry lifted the lid and something white shot up to hover an inch over the box. It was a snitch, but it was white and its wings seemed to be black rather than clear.

“ It’s a practice snitch.” Ron explained. “ I got mum to send it when you first made the team.”

Harry grinned at Ron and pushed the ball back down into its box and replaced the lid.

“ Thanks, Ron. It’s brilliant. I don’t know what to say.”

Ron smiled.

“ Just promise me you’ll put in a good word for me when I try out for the team next year.” He answered. “ Here, Hermione, you next.”

Ron tossed Hermione a package that looked suspiciously like a book.

Hermione opened it up and found-

“ ‘Twenty-One Charms and Spells for Accurate Note-Taking’, by Mark Downing! Thanks so much, Ron!” Hermione exclaimed with obvious delight.

Harry smiled as he saw her hands twitch. He could tell she couldn’t wait to start reading the book. His smile faded though as Hermione shifted against him. His stomach had started feeling… well he couldn’t quite describe how it felt - while he was looking at Hermione.

< I’ve gotta go see Madame Pomfrey about this.> Harry thought to himself. < My stomach’s been acting up now and again ever since I came to Hogwarts. Maybe I’m allergic to some of the magic around here. I know Madam Hooch found out that Neville’s allergic to some of the magic used on the school brooms.>

After finally tearing her eyes from the book, Hermione handed packages to Ron and Harry. Ron’s was shaped suspiciously like an extra large sized package of Every Flavour Beans, while Harry’s was obviously a book.

“ Go on and open them then.” She told the two excitedly.

Harry waited for Ron to open his first. As Harry had thought it was a large box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans.

“ There’s a temporary bottomless charm on the box so they should last quite a while.” Hermione informed the grinning Ron. “ Now you go, Harry.”

Harry quickly pulled the wrappings off of his present to reveal the title, stamped in gold print.

111 Entertaining Charms and Spells, by Wanga Juju

“ Wow.” Was all Harry could say.

Hermione smiled happily.

“ I know you’re interested in how Ron’s chess pieces were made to move and act partly on their own, and I know you like charms class, so I knew it was the perfect book to get you.” Hermione explained. “ I checked and the book explains all about the types of charms used to animate things, and how to perform the charms. It will be interesting to find out about, but I don’t think you’d be able to do the charms for a few years yet. I couldn’t even understand half of what I read in that part.”

Hermione sounded rather vexed that she was unable to understand something that was written in a book.

“ Thanks, Hermione.” Said Harry, smiling. “ I can’t wait to read it.”

Hermione smiled and gave him a hug.

“ You’re welcome.” She said.

Harry turned to Ron.

“ Now it’s your turn.” He told him.

Ron smiled and started tearing paper away to expose a cardboard tube. He looked in one end of the tube then reached in and pulled out what was obviously a rolled up poster. Ron unrolled it to reveal a Chudley Cannons poster.

“ Thanks, Harry.” He said. “ But I’ve already got this one.”

Harry smirked.

“ I know. I asked Fred and George.” Harry said. “ I got copies of all of the posters the twins said you had in your room and got the owner of the store to combine them. You kept complaining that there wasn’t enough room in the dorm to put up all of your posters so I got this one that will switch between all of the posters that were combined to make it. I figure it’s the next best thing to having all of your posters from your room at home.”

Ron and Hermione looked back at the poster and sure enough there was a different scene on the poster.

Ron laughed in delight.

“ Wow! It’s great! Thanks, Harry!” he exclaimed. “ I didn’t know you could do that with these.”

“ I’m glad you like it.” Harry said. “ Here, Hermione. This one’s yours.”

Hermione took the offered package from Harry and turned it over curiously. The parcel was wrapped in the same brown paper that Harry’s gift from Hagrid had been. It wasn’t very big, about the same size and shape of a small novel, but it was obviously not a book.

Hermione didn’t waste any more time trying to figure out what Harry might have got for her and she ripped off the paper and opened the plain box, removing the gift inside. Unfortunately this didn’t relieve her curiosity.

“ Uh… Thanks, Harry, but – what is it?” she asked, holding up some sort of leather gauntlet.

Harry grinned at the looks on Ron and Hermione’s faces. He hadn’t actually expected them to know what it was. After all they were still first years and weren’t used to having to carry their wands with them at all times.

“ It’s for your wand.” Harry told them.

They looked at Harry, then back at the gauntlet that Hermione was trying to fit on her forearm, but the confusion never left their faces.

Harry smiled and rolled up the left sleeve of his green Weasley Sweater™ to reveal an identical gauntlet except that his was properly secured and his wand was sticking out of it.

“ It’s a lot like the one I have for my knife.” Harry said.

“ You have one for your knife?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“ Sure, right here.” He answered and rolled up the right sleeve.

Harry’s knife was held in a similar gauntlet, except that the leather that covered the top of his arm had a piece of fine steel mail over it.

“ Do you always have that on?” Ron asked. “ I’ve never noticed it before.”

Harry shrugged.

“ Well I take it off to shower and when I sleep, but that’s it.”

“ Huh, I did wonder what happened to your knife. Professor Dumbledore is letting you keep it then?” Hermione asked, still trying to fix the wand-sheath on her arm and Harry nodded.

“ Now that I think of it I’ve never seen you carrying your wand to class either.” Said Ron, “ I guess that’s why.”

Hermione let out a sigh of frustration then thrust her arm at Harry.

“ Show me how to put this on.” She told him.

Harry smiled and obliged, showing her also how to put her wand in so that it wouldn’t fall out when she swung her arms while walking.

“ I figured that you would like this since you’re always practising our spells and you usually have your wand with you.” Harry said to her as he tugged a strap into place. “ There you go, all set.”

Hermione flexed her wrist, turning it this way and that and smiling.

“ Thanks, Harry.” She said. “ I didn’t like having to carry my wand everywhere I go, but don’t yours get annoying or anything? I mean, you have them on all day.”

“ Not really.” Harry smiled. “ The inside of the leather gets pretty soft after you wear it for a day or so.”

Ron laughed.

“ It’s just like you two to worry about having your wands with you. Personally I don’t see why you’d take it with you if you’re not going to use it.” He said. “ Like in potions class.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry just smiled. He wouldn’t have expected any other response from his red-haired friend.

¿ <’}}}><

The rest of Christmas day was spent having fun. Harry had the time of his life learning from his friends what the holiday was supposed to be like.

The twins, who had slept late, had come down from the boys’ dorm and immediately demanded that Ron get his sweater and put it on (they had already put theirs on).

When Ron came back down wearing his sweater the twins were grinning as they excitedly told Harry that he was now an official Weasley.

Christmas dinner was eaten in the Great Hall with all of the professors and students sitting at one enlarged table. Never in his life had Harry ever had such a Christmas dinner… of course thanks to the Dursleys he’d never had a Christmas dinner of any kind, but Harry didn’t spend much time thinking about that, as there were plenty of other things to think about. The food itself looked so good that he almost didn’t want to eat it – almost. All through the feast there were loud explosions as people opened the wizard crackers.

Harry had seen the usual muggle kind before, and there was no comparison. The muggle variety made popping noises and had paper hats and plastic toys, whereas the ones at this feast sounded more like cannons going off and inside were things like rear admiral’s hats and live mice and many other things.

When Harry finally left the table, after narrowly losing to Ron in another eating contest, he was staggering under a load of things from the crackers, including a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit and a wizard’s chess set. He had lost the mice from the cracker he and George opened and he had a feeling that Mrs. Norris would be having a nice Christmas feast herself.

The Weasleys, minus Percy, along with Harry, Hermione, and several other students had a furious free-for-all snowball fight that covered a large part of the grounds outside the castle. Some of the more merry professors even joined in, including Dumbledore himself, who proved to be much more energetic and agile then would be expected from someone even half as old as the students supposed he was (none of them were really sure just how old the man was and no one dared ask). Ron, Harry and Hermione all teamed up, protecting each other and pelting as many people as possible with snow.

Others saw that the trio was quite dangerous as a team and soon others joined together to form other teams. It quickly became a three-way fight between the two teams that had formed and the trio, as both teams had been formed to get back at them for being the first to team up.

Soon the trio was being pelted from two directions at once. Ron just stood in front of Harry and Hermione laughing as he tried to throw and dodge at the same time. Hermione was also laughing, but used Ron as a shield and flicked her wand at the snow in front of him. Harry wasn’t sure, but he thought she’d used a controlled ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’ because all at once a huge pile of snow was forced up, making a nice sort of shield. Harry quickly used his own ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’ to pack the snow down when he saw that it was so soft that it was about to collapse.

Seeing the trio’s ‘fort’, one of the twins (one was on each team) started shouting at the others on his team to do the same. Eventually there were three such walls of snow, although the trio’s was the shortest in both length and height.

At first none of the teams seemed to be able to hit any of the others, and they all had fun popping up to throw a ball then ducking down again to avoid projectiles from their opposition.

“ Cover me!” Harry suddenly told Ron and Hermione as he got an idea.

Harry then jumped up and threw his snowball, but let it fall just a little way in front of their wall. Once again he used the levitation charm, this time rolling the ball through the snow towards one of the other sides. All the while Ron and Hermione tried to throw balls at anyone who popped up, but they were running out of the snowballs they had already made.

Just as Ron threw the last of the ready made snowballs and scrambled to make some more, Harry flicked his wand upwards. His snowball, which was now as big around as Professor Flitwick was tall, followed the motion and flew up and over the wall that Fred’s team was behind (or maybe it was George). The whole group was clustered together and looked up as one. Whichever of the twins was on that team tried to leap to the side, but was too slow.

Harry ended the charm and the ball fell. Fortunately it hadn’t been tightly packed and it didn’t hurt any of them, but they all began running around trying to get the snow out of their clothes (after climbing out of the pile of snow that was their fort.

Ron and Hermione tried to congratulate Harry on a brilliant idea, but they were too busy laughing to get any words out. Unfortunately they were also too busy to do more than look up when Harry yelled ‘ Look out!’, and jumped to the side.

The third team had seen what Harry had done with his snowball and three of them had done the same, making three smaller snowballs, about the size of big pumpkins. Harry only just fast enough to avoid the one meant for him, but both Ron and Hermione were completely buried.

After that both the trio and Fred’s team (it turned out Fred had been on the team Harry had buried) charged the last wall.

Late in the afternoon, when everyone but the twins had finally gotten tired of the snowball fight, the trio retired to their common room and Harry tried out his new chess set in a game against Ron. He didn’t do too badly, but it was obvious that he still wasn’t too much of a challenge for Ron to beat.

Hermione spent much of the afternoon completely absorbed in the book she’d received from Ron and it seemed nothing would tear her away from it until she finished the whole thing. In the end too much turkey made her so sleepy that she gave up reading when she was only about halfway through, and she went to bed wishing Ron and Harry a merry Christmas and a good night.

Ron and Harry soon followed, though Harry wasn’t nearly as sluggish as either of his friends.

Ron was asleep as soon as he lay down, still fully clothed, but despite how tired Harry was, he found himself unable to sleep. Something was nagging him, telling him that there was something he’d forgotten about during the day’s excitement.

After half an hour of trying, and failing, to go to sleep Harry finally remembered what it was that was bugging him.

< The invisibility cloak!>

He quickly got out of bed and pulled it out from the robe he’d stuffed it in that morning.

He looked at it for a while, imagining his father sneaking around the hall of Hogwarts in it, playing tricks on the Slytherins.

He got up intending to try it out by sneaking to the library to look around. Glancing at Ron he decided not to wake him. Harry wanted to try it by himself, just for this first time. As he was about to leave the boys’ dorm he thought of the other gifts he’d received that day. He went back and got the flute from Hagrid, wanting to try it out as well as the cloak.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

AN- Review? Please?

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

24. Christmas Presents

AN- Not much to say accept that I’m still having trouble writing, but I’ll keeping at it!

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

After half an hour of trying, and failing, to go to sleep Harry finally remembered what it was that was bugging him.

< The invisibility cloak!>

He quickly got out of bed and pulled it out from the robe he’d stuffed it in that morning.

He looked at it for a while, imagining his father sneaking around the hall of Hogwarts in it, playing tricks on the Slytherins.

¿ <’}}}><

Harry had never had any trouble getting to the library without being caught, even without the invisibility cloak, but having the cloak on certainly made him feel much safer. He made it to the library without seeing any other people, either staff or students, and decided that it was time to pay Lady Scrive back for sneaking up on him and startling him many other times.

“Quietus.” Harry murmured, silencing the door with a charm he’d discovered before by accident (he had researched it later to be sure that he’d be able to do it properly).

He pulled open the door and slipped inside, closing the door after him. As he searched the aisles for Lady Scrive he wondered whether or not there was any point in trying to scare a ghost by sneaking up on them. After all, there is little that a ghost would fear, as it is quite difficult to hurt them and impossible to kill them – due largely to the fact that they had already been killed.

< Ahh, well.> he thought,

He’d finally spotted her a level above him floating through the aisles.

Making sure to keep the cloak wrapped around his legs, Harry slowly made his way towards her. When he’d finally reached where he had seen her last he paused, unsure which way she had gone, until he caught sight of her again. This time she was headed towards the restricted section. Harry bared his teeth in an evil grin.

< Now here’s something interesting. I wonder if the cloak will hide me from the wards that keep unauthorized people out of the restricted section?>

Harry had been coming to the library at night for a while, and had access to more books than even Hermione could read in a lifetime, but despite that he’d longed for the chance to browse through the restricted section, partly because he wasn’t allowed to, but also just because there was likely a lot of interesting information there.

He paused as he reached the boundary of the section. This was where all the protective charms started.

Harry had once tried, like all students do at some point, to get into the restricted section without permission. Fortunately he’d been alone at the time because the moment he had stepped past the boundary he’d been thrown back out by the wards guarding the section and had landed on his back atop a table.

He stretched forth an arm past the first rows of book cases and felt a light pressure, as if he were pushing his hand into syrup, but no alarms went off and he wasn’t thrown away from the books (besides experiencing it himself, he’d once seen the same thing happen to the Weasley twins – though they hadn’t known he was there), so he stepped forwards and resumed looking for Lady Scrive.

He found her near the back of the section, looking at the titles of the books and murmuring to herself.

“Hmmm, Harry would enjoy this one, I’ve no doubt.” Harry heard her say as he came upon her.

“What one is that?” Harry asked from where he stood, not more than a foot behind her.

“Oh!” she gasped as she whirled around looking quite startled. “Who’s there?”

Harry grinned and took a chance at setting off an alarm charm by removing the hood of his cloak.

The Lady quickly calmed seeing Harry – or at least his head, and put a hand over her… well over where her heart would have been if she had one, causing Harry to grin even wider.

“Payback I assume?” she asked dryly. “And how did you manage to get past the wards in here any way?”

She didn’t seem at all disconcerted by the fact that she was talking to an apparently disembodied head. Perhaps it had something to do with being a ghost.

“Well, I can’t be absolutely sure, but it’s probably thanks to the best Christmas present I’ve ever had.” Harry answered, still smiling.

Lady Scrive frowned for a moment, not understanding, before her eyes went wide as she finally realized that Harry wasn’t all there.

“A present?” she asked. “It can only be your father’s cloak!”

Harry nodded.

“It is, but – how do you know about it?” he asked.

Harry hadn’t thought that anyone other than Ron, Hermione, whoever sent the cloak, and Harry himself knew about it.

Lady Scrive smiled wistfully.

“You are much like your father, and in more than just looks.” She said. “He used to come here the same as you. He never asked for my help though; in fact, he probably thought I didn’t even know about it since he was almost always wearing that cloak, but he slipped up a few times.”

“What did you do when you found out that he was sneaking around after curfew?” Harry asked, wanting to know as much as possible about his father’s school days.

“Nothing. As long as he was here to learn I saw no reason to stop him from doing so.” She answered. “You know –“ she went on, becoming thoughtful. “ – he didn’t start coming until his sixth year, but his reasons for wanting to learn more were much like your own. He wanted to know more so that he would be better able to protect his friends and loved ones. One of his best qualities in my mind and one you share with him most strongly.”

She smiled sadly and Harry could see a silvery substance fall from her eye that disappeared before it hit the floor.

< She’s crying.> he realized with a start.

Not for the first time Harry wondered what kind of a man his father must have been to have so many people who had known him and still mourned his passing, even years later. The Lady Scrive hadn’t even known James that well and yet she had still strongly admired him.

Ever since he had been told the truth about who his parents were, and how they had been killed, Harry had hoped he would be as good a person, and as strong and well respected as both his parents had been. Now he became determined to do so.

< Wherever you are, mom and dad – I’ll make you proud.>

The Lady quickly wiped away her tears.

“Well, enough reminiscing.” She said. “What brings you here? I had thought you were taking a break from studying for a while in the holidays?”

“I am.” Harry said. “I just wanted to try out a couple of the presents I received.”

“Oh? The cloak and what else?

Harry smiled and pulled the flute out, holding it outside the folds of the cloak so the Lady could see it.

“Hagrid made a flute for me. I had a few music lessons in school, everyone did, so I wanted to try it out.”

“Well go ahead then, no one will be able to hear you in here.” Lady Scrive told him.

“Here goes then.”

Harry put the flute to his lips and blew. The flute let out a squeal, not at all the sound Harry had been trying for.

The Lady cringed and chuckled.

“I said that I’d had some lessons, not that I was any good.” Harry admitted sheepishly (of course it hadn’t helped that Dudley and his friends had always been teasing him, making it hard to concentrate on what the teacher was telling them).

He brought the flute back to his lips and blew lightly this time. The sound was much better, sounding soft and clear. Harry ran his fingers over the holes producing an interesting sort of trilling sound.

The Lady and Harry smiled at each other as he paused.

“Well that sounded much better.” Lady Scrive told him. “Now if you could just learn a song to practice people might not mistake the sound for a fwooper’s mating call.”

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Oh, give me a break! I’ll get better! Besides, it’s not like I’ll ever be playing for people to hear.”

Harry spent a while strolling around the restricted section with Lady Scrive while playing his flute. He couldn’t play any songs of course so he just made up little tunes. He wasn’t really especially good of course, but the sounds he made were at least not painful once he learned not to blow too hard.

Even though Harry couldn’t remember any of the simple tunes that his class had been taught at school he still enjoyed just playing. The flute sounded clear and the sound seemed to calm him almost as if he was meditating.

He remembered Dumbledore saying something at the welcoming feast. Something about music having a magic of it’s own, and now Harry could understand what the headmaster had meant. There was a feeling in the music aside from its calming influence. It felt a lot like the feeling that McGonagall had told them to look for during their first Transfiguration class. (Ch. 12)

After an hour or so Harry began to become tired and decided to go back to bed.

“I think I’ll leave now.” He told Lady Scrive when he started yawning.

“Before you go, there was a book I saw here I thought you’d like.” She told him.

Harry frowned.

“Will I be able to take it off the shelf?”

“I’m not really sure.” The Lady admitted, tapping her chin. “Even I don’t know too much about what was used to protect this section. You may as well try though. If it sets off some sort of alarm you shouldn’t have much trouble keeping from being caught. Just make sure to have your cloak on before you take it off the shelf.”

She led him to where the book was (‘An Objective Look At The History Of Curses’) and Harry carefully covered himself with the invisibility cloak, then reached out and tentatively pulled the book from the shelf and held his breath.

Nothing happened.

Praying that he hadn’t set off some kind of silent alarm, he sat down on the floor and opened the book in his lap.

Harry just about had a heart attack when the book began to scream and he nearly threw it away in his surprise. Quickly he slammed it shut, and when that didn’t shut it up he stuffed it back in its spot on the shelf. It still didn’t stop screaming, but the sound was mercifully muffled now.

“Oh, well.” Lady Scrive said, apparently not minding the horrid noise too much, after all, she didn’t have any eardrums for it to destroy. “It was worth a try, but you’d best be on your way now, Harry.”

Harry nodded before he remembered that she couldn’t see him.

“Alright.” He told her and made his way to the entrance as quickly as he could.

¿ <’}}}><

Harry got to the library entrance as fast as he could and only just made it in time to slip past Filch as he threw the still unlocked door wide open.

< I should really get the twins to show me how to use the hidden corridors.> Harry thought. < It would have been useful tonight.>

Filch’s eyes were wide and he looked so fierce and suspicious, as he whipped his head back and forth, trying to find the intruder, that Harry half expected him to start foaming at the mouth, but he didn’t wait around to find out. He slunk silently away, and broke into an all out sprint once he was out of earshot.

Harry could still hear the book’s shrieking, but it was fairly faint so he slowed to a walk and looked more carefully at his surroundings. He was back in the same corridor he’d run down while trying to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris one night. He listened for any sound other than the faint scream of the book, and then walked down the corridor when he heard nothing.

A little ways down the hall he found the same room that he had used to hide in, though the door was closed now.

Curious, he tried the handle and found that the room hadn’t been locked.

Harry turned the knob and carefully opened the door, then stepped inside.

The dust that had covered the room before was still there and undisturbed, but now lay equally thick on the elegant mirror in the centre of the room. When Harry had first found the room he’d thought that it was suspicious that there wasn’t any dust on the mirror yet the dust on the floor leading to the mirror hadn’t been disturbed, suggesting that the mirror had been put there recently and someone had covered their tracks somehow. Now he found it even more suspicious that so much dust had settled on to it in so little time. It was as if someone was going out of his or her way to keep the mirror from being noticed. Putting it in an out of the way classroom and making it look as though it had always been there.

< Someone must want this kept secret for some reason…> he realised, and then grinned. < All the more reason to check it out. After all, knowledge is power.>

Careful to disturb the dust as little as possible, Harry crept towards the mirror. It was really quite elegant looking, but Harry found it somehow disturbing, but couldn’t put his finger on why it disturbed him.

He stepped in front of the mirror, wanting to not see his reflection through the invisibility cloak. What he saw instead caused him to spin around whipping out his wand and knife at the same time, as his heart raced, but there was nothing to be seen.

Harry instantly turned back to the mirror. The people he’d seen were still there, but apparently only existed in the reflection and weren’t really in the room.

As he calmed down he realized two things at once. One, even though he was wearing the invisibility cloak, he could see himself in the mirror, and two, he knew one of the other people in the mirror.

In fact he didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it sooner. After all, it was impossible not to recognize the softly smiling girl with her arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder. He saw her uniquely bushy brown hair and her cinnamon eyes everyday after all.

Once he recognized Hermione, he looked around at the others. There, to the left and a little behind him, was Ron, grinning as madly as ever and his hair almost seeming to be made of flames as it shone in the spotlight he was standing in. Beyond him were many others that Harry couldn’t quite place right away, but they all had a familiar feel to them. Especially the closest two… a man and a woman, holding each other tightly while waving at him. The man could have been an older version of Harry himself and the woman had hair that was as red as any Weasley’s and her eyes… they were the eyes hidden behind Harry’s glasses…

Harry was stunned when he realised who he was looking at.

“Mom?” he whispered hoarsely. “Dad?”

Harry started shaking, though he didn’t notice.

“No!” he said still whispering. “It can’t be! You’re dead!”

He stumbled back until he bumped into a desk and he turned and ran from the room, looking as if all the evil in the world was chasing him.

Harry couldn’t remember getting there, but he somehow made his way to Gryffindor tower and into his bed.

¿ <’}}}><

That night Harry had terrible dreams about the night Voldemort had killed his parents. They started out the same as the dreams that he’d had for as long as he could remember, though he’d started having them more often ever since he had been told what really happened to his parents.

The dreams he had that night were slightly different though. At first Harry saw his parents. They were smiling, laughing and holding each other. Harry knew what was coming next, but couldn’t stop himself from seeing it. A shadowed, snake like monster, would appear, looming over his parents and next would come the flash of green light then the cold, empty laughter. This time though Harry felt the dream change. Suddenly Harry found that he was there in the dream himself and when he looked back up at his parents he saw Ron and Hermione were there too.

They were smiling and waving at Harry. Harry started to smile as well and tried to move towards them, but found himself stuck. He looked down at his feet, but there was nothing holding them down. He looked up again and saw the sky that had been so blue a moment ago was now the blackest night, and behind his parents and friends he saw a part of the sky darken further and move forwards. As always, the monster seemed to be made of shadows and moved too fluidly, as if it had no bones. Somehow Harry knew that this was Voldemort, even though he couldn’t see him for the darkness he wore.

Harry tried to scream a warning, but no sound came from him. He heard the laughter start and there was a flash of light. When Harry could see again his parents were lying dead and bloody on the ground, and Voldemort had turned to Ron and Hermione now, who looked horrified. Again Harry tried to move, to scream – anything, but could do nothing as there was another flash of light and his friends joined his parents.

Voldemort’s laughter got louder and even emptier. It seemed as if it was suffocating Harry, pressing in against him till he couldn’t draw a breath. As the dream began to fade, Voldemort turned his sunken red eyes to Harry and began to advance on him with a malicious sneer.

If Harry wasn’t already used to such dreams he would have woken up screaming then, but he had experienced many such dreams before; in fact, it would have seemed odd to him if he went more than a couple weeks without a nightmare. As it was Harry’s life with the Dursleys had taught him to keep from screaming from even the worst of his dreams. A fact that Harry was actually quite glad for at that moment. If he’d woken Ron up, then Ron would no doubt want to know exactly what had happened, and Harry had learned that most people didn’t have such terrible dreams. At least not as often as Harry did, and Ron would be worried about him if Harry told him about the dreams and Harry definitely didn’t want the people he cared about to worry about him.

It wasn’t that Harry wasn’t affected by the dreams. No one could dream of their parents deaths and not be affected, it was just that Harry accepted the dreams. They scared him and caused him sorrow, of course, but Harry just ignored it, or refused to let touch him. Just like he had learned to refuse to let the Dursleys’ insults, or the pain from Dudley’s punches affect him.

For a while Harry just sat up in bed and tried to meditate, but had a hard time clearing his mind and organizing his thoughts. After an hour or so, he gave up and simply laid back and quickly fell asleep again.

Harry looked up at his parents and saw Ron and Hermione were there too.

Again Harry tried to move, to scream – and suddenly he realized there were hands holding him back. Struggling he twisted his head and saw that it was the Dursleys that were holding him back.

“ Let go!” he growled at them. “ You don’t control me! I won’t let you!”

With a surge of strength he pulled from their grip and was able to move forwards. He felt like he was moving through syrup, but he was moving forward and then he found himself between Voldemort and his friends. The shadow/Voldemort sneered and reached out a hand towards Harry, as if to grab him and crush him.

Harry found his voice again and screamed at Voldemort over the continuing cold laughter.

“Nooooo! I won’t let you hurt them!”

Suddenly there was silence, as Voldemort’s form seemed to be blown away by an unheard and unfelt wind. The darkness lightened a bit as well and Harry suddenly felt lighter and a great relief washed over him.

“Harry!”

…….

“Harry!”

…

“Wake up, Harry!”

Harry felt someone shaking him and opened his eyes. A blurry red shape was leaning over him.

“Ron?” Harry mumbled, feeling groggier than he could remember ever feeling before, but at the same time – something was different. He felt… more free somehow.

Judging by how bright it was Harry guessed it was still pretty early in the morning. Too early for Ron to be awake yet.

He heard Ron sigh in relief.

“Are you alright?” Ron asked him. “You were yelling something in your sleep. Something about someone not hurting you?”

“I was?” Harry asked in confusion, but then he began to remember the second dream he’d had that night.

“Yeah, you were.” Ron answered. “Bad dream I guess?”

Harry thought about it for a moment. The first dream he’d had was definitely bad, but the other one…

“I’m not sure. I was dreaming, but it wasn’t exactly a bad dream…” He gave Ron a crooked smirk. “You actually heard me? I had thought it would take a dozen enervate’s to wake you up with all the turkey you had last night.”

“Hey!” Ron cried, smacking Harry. “Here I am, being a nice guy and waking you up because I thought you were having a nightmare and you start making jokes at my expense! Some friend!”

Harry just smiled in response and watched Ron dive back into his bed, falling asleep again in moments.

Harry shook his head and wondered, not for the first time, how Ron was able to go from being fairly wide awake to being in a deep sleep at moments notice. He smiled again, thinking of how glad he was to have Ron as a friend, before laying back down to sleep himself.

¿ <’}}}><

When Harry woke up again it was already past noon and Ron had already gotten up.

As Harry got dressed he thought about what he’d seen in the mirror the night before.

< Why was I scared?> he wondered with a frown. < It was just my parents, Ron and Hermione.>

Thinking about what had caused him to run from the old classroom he realised that it hadn’t exactly been fear that had made him run. It had felt more like a terrible pain in his chest.

He was still thinking about it as he walked down to the common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing a game of chess. Ron was smirking and Hermione was scowling at the board, as if it had done something evil to her.

Seeing the look on her face Harry couldn’t help but smile. She was so used to being the best at anything intellectual that she seemed to take it quite personally when Ron beat her at chess. On the other hand Ron thought it was good for her to see that she couldn’t do everything perfectly. At least that was his excuse for taking such pleasure in beating her, saying that he enjoyed it because he was helping her to be a better person.

“How are you this fine afternoon, Harry?” Asked Ron, jovially.

“I could be worse.” He answered. “How are you two doing?”

Hermione only grunted in response, her eyes never loosing their determined look.

“Ha!” she suddenly shouted, moving a piece on the board. “Take that!”

She smirked, obviously thinking she had made a good move to keep Ron from taking even more of her men.

Ron looked at the board for only a minute before smiling and shaking his head ruefully.

He moved his queen over two spaces.

“Check.”

Harry thought that Hermione’s eyes would pop out of her head if she opened them any wider.

“Darn!” she said, obviously wanting to use stronger language than that. “I surrender.”

Ron just chuckled and stretched his hands over his head.

“Yep, I’m still the champ!” he crowed.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his antics and turned to Harry.

“Ron told me you had a bad dream last night.” She said. “You ok?”

Harry nodded.

“Yeah, it really wasn’t too bad. I’ve had worse before.” He answered.

Now that he was more awake he realised what had made the dream different than usual. He’d seen Ron and Hermione with him and his parents in the mirror, and had them seen them all together in his dream.

“By the way, I tried out the invisibility cloak last night.”

Now he had both Ron’s and Hermione’s full attention.

“Really?” Ron asked excitedly, while Hermione gave him a disapproving look. “Where did you go?”

“Well, I went to the library,”

Ron’s face fell and he looked sick.

“Look, where I went isn’t really important. I want to show you guys something I found on my way back.” Harry said and stood up.

“Alright, lets go.” Ron said. “but what is it that you found?”

“A mirror.”

Hermione frowned.

“Why do you want to show us a mirror?” she asked.

Harry shook his head.

“Just wait and see.” He told them.

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AN- This chapter is up thanks mostly to Bryan Tait, who been, as always, a tremendous help in getting everything right, and also thanks to threats of annoyance from “anon”. Lol! :-)

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

Shades of Grey

25. The Mirror

Chapter Twenty Five

The Mirror

AN- Anyone that has been following this story for long probably has a LOT of questions and I WILL answer them in the AN at the end, but for now please try to put any anger you hold towards me aside and just enjoy this LONG overdue chapter.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

Shades of Grey

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It turned out to be much harder to find the room with the mirror than Harry had expected and the trio spent quite a while taking different routes from the library to the common room and back, in hopes of finding the path Harry had taken last night in his haste to elude Filch.

After two hours of fruitless searching Ron was ready to give up (Hogwarts is, after all a huge castle and magical to boot).

“Come on, guys! Let's just go back to the common room,” he whined. “There's no way we're gonna find this place; after all, it could be like one of those places that Fred and George have talked about. The ones that only appear at certain times and besides, it's not worth all this effort just for a dumb old mirror anyway.

Hermione rolled her eyes and glared at Ron. “You're so lazy, Ron!” she exclaimed. “I'm sure we'll find it eventually, you just have to learn to have patience.”

Harry only smiled at his friends' antics as they launched themselves into their latest quarrel and pondered the feeling of actually having friends. Ron and Hermione may have been his friends for months now, but Harry still found himself amazed at how great it felt to know that there were people who truly cared about what happened to him and actually found his presence enjoyable.

Of course the more he learned about how most people acted towards others the more he realized that the way Ron and Hermione treated him wasn't quite as unusual as Harry had at first thought it to be. They treated him like a friend, not like a nuisance, and certainly not like a legend, and it was this fact more than any other that made their friendship even more wonderful to Harry. Harry knew that how he acted most of the time caused his friends to worry about him, but it was hard for him to act differently. After all it isn't easy to change behaviour formed through years of mistreatment.

Ron and Hermione now understood that he was just used to being silent all the time because that was the safest course for him around the Dursleys, but they also made it quite clear that they weren't the Dursleys. After having their little talk on the first day of the Christmas Holidays, Hermione had asked Harry to at least try to speak his mind more often, Ron had also eagerly agreed hoping that Harry might become an ally in his usual `friendly discussions' with Hermione.

With a jolt, Harry realized that his most recent dream had mirrored his friends' thoughts of the Dursleys and how, though they were not present, they were still holding Harry back in some ways. Such as how he tended to try to do what others wanted him to instead of acting upon his own thoughts and feelings.

Just as he had in his dream, Harry felt a spark of something deep within him rebel at the very thought of being controlled.

<I swear on all that I am that I will never be controlled!> he vowed, the same as he had done in his dream. <I will be my own person and always do what I think is right!>

Harry shuddered in a sort of pleasure as the feeling within him seemed to swell inside him and flash, like lightning about to strike, before it dimmed again leaving him feeling energized and oddly - free?

With Harry lost in his thoughts and reflections, and Ron and Hermione lost in another of their ridiculus arguments (at least Harry found them ridiculus), the trio walked right by the room they were looking for… or at least they would have if the suit of knight's armour that stood a few doors down the hall hadn't lowered his lance in front of Ron, who was so preoccupied with his argument with Hermione that he walked right into it.

“Owww!” Ron complained as he rubbed the side of his head and glared at the knight. “Grr! You stupid - piece of junk, I'll fix you!”

Ron searched through the many pockets of his robes and pulled out his wand, brandishing it at the offending armour. Harry grinned at Ron's antics and Hermione laughed out loud. Before Ron did anything though, the knight held its hand up and waved it, as if to say `No, wait!', and then pointed back down the way that the trio had come.

Ron frowned and looked down the hall, then back to the knight in confusion. Harry looked down the hall as well and nearly smacked himself when he did.

“Uh, sorry, guys, but we just found it.” Harry admitted, sweat dropping. ( ^_^' )

Now it was Ron's turn to smirk at Harry's mistake.

Harry turned from his friends to the set of armour and bowed his head to it.

“Thank you for your help.” He said, “I owe you one.”

In turn the knight's armour shook his head and bowed to Harry, `It was no problem.', it seemed to say.

Harry and Hermione smiled, both of them still amused by how things were so different in the Magical World, a place where just about anything could and frequently did happen, while Ron smiled, just happy that his friends were happy.

They walked back up the passageway until Harry stopped outside of a door and turned to Ron and Hermione.

“Ok, I don't know how that suit knew what we were looking for, but there's a lot of dust in here and if we disturb any of it someone will probably realise that we've been in here.” He explained.

“Wait a minute,” Hermione said looking apprehensive “are you saying that we're not supposed to go in here?”

Harry opened his mouth to answer before closing it as he realized that, as far as he knew, they weren't forbidden from going anywhere in the castle other than the third floor corridor, as long as it wasn't past curfew.

“Well - I don't think there's a rule against it.” He said, “but… I just kind of get the feeling that the mirror in here was put here to keep it hidden.”

Ron rolled his eyes at the two.

“Jeeze! Are we not Gryffindors?” he demanded. “Why are you two so worried? If we're not allowed in here and we're caught, then we'll lose some house points, or get a detention at the worst! Lets go! I wanna see what's so special about this bloody mirror that we've spent so much time looking for.”

Ron pushed past the two and opened the door slowly, being careful not to kick up too much of the dust, despite his continuing mumbling about overcautious Gryffindors.

The trio entered the old classroom and closed the door behind them. The room was the same as Harry had left it the night before and the three of them walked, side-by-side, up to the mirror and stood before it. The surface of the mirror seemed to shimmer for just a moment when the three of them came up to it.

Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Harry expected to see the same thing he'd seen before. Instead he saw only what any normal mirror would have shown: three good friends standing together. Glancing to his sides Harry could tell by their expressions that his friends weren't seeing anything out of the ordinary either.

Ron looked blankly at their reflection for a moment before turning back to Harry.

“So would you like to explain just what it is that's so special about this mirror that we're missing lunch to look at it?” he asked arching an eyebrow at Harry.

Harry could only frown and shake his head.

“Sorry.” He apologized, “but I swear it worked differently last night…”

“How, exactly, did it work differently last night, Harry?” Hermione asked.

“Well, I had my invisibility cloak on when I came to this room and I wanted to look in the mirror and not see myself in it,” he said, “but when I looked into it I saw both myself and… other people.”

Harry paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and Ron and Hermione both waited for him to go on.

“I saw both of you with me, and behind the three of us I saw… I saw my parents and you guys too…” Harry sighed heavily. “That was when I - decided to leave.”

Now both Ron and Hermione looked thoughtful.

“Why would it show you that?” Hermione wondered aloud. “I'd say it was showing you your family and your ancestors, but then it wouldn't have shown you Ron and I.”

“I haven't been able to figure it out either.” Harry admitted, “and I don't understand why it's just a normal mirror now either.”

“Yeah.” Hermione agreed, “It doesn't make any sense that it would work differently now.”

“Well, you said that you were wearing your invisibility cloak when you were here last time, right?” asked Ron. “Maybe the cloak and the mirror worked together to produce a different effect?”

Harry and Hermione looked at him in surprise.

“What?” he asked when he noticed their stares.

“Harry? Is it just me or did Ron actually sound intelligent for a moment there?” Hermione asked teasingly.

Harry could only smile in response as he shook with silent laughter.

Ron's face turned a red so brilliant it rivalled his hair and tried to glare at the two, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching and trying to smile, ruining the effect entirely.

“Anywho,” Hermione went on, “I don't understand why Harry's invisibility cloak would have any effect on the mirror.”

Now it was Harry and Ron's turn to stare in mock surprise.

“What? Hermione Granger doesn't understand something that I said?” Ron exclaimed with a grin and great sarcasm.

“Oh shut it!” Hermione muttered, but smiled at the same time.

Ron shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“I keep forgetting how much there is that the two of you don't know about magic.” He sighed. “Harry's cloak may only affect Harry and whomever or whatever else is under it, but its magic still extends beyond the cloak itself. The same happens with any type of magic that's permanent.”

Harry listened intently, eager to pick up any bit of knowledge about the wizarding world that might help him fit in better. Hermione on the other hand was still frowning at Ron in confusion.

“How do you know that? You never do any reading!” she demanded. “You hardly even do your homework!”

Ron took a breath and the two looked as if they were getting ready for another one of their arguments before Harry cut in.

“Not everything that is learned, is learned from a book, Hermione.” He told her gently. “Did you ever learn how to ride a bicycle?”

Hermione nodded, still looking confused and now a little indignant at Harry's apparent disrespect for `her' books.

“You didn't learn from a book did you?”

Almost immediately Hermione's look of confusion turned to a look of sudden understanding, and she smiled and nodded.

“I guess there's a lot that you learn about magic by growing up in a magical family. Right, Ron?”

“I guess so.” Ron shrugged with a smirk

While the Trio smiled at each other, sharing a moment of closest friendship, they didn't notice the mirror beside them shimmer once more, showing briefly three adults in their place.

One, though smaller than Hagrid, was a giant of a man with wild red hair and a grin that was almost ferocious in its intensity. His bright blue eyes seemed to shout a warning to any foolish enough to cross those the man was loyal to.

Another, quite obviously a woman, was shorter than the two others. She had rich brown hair and cinnamon eyes that seemed to absorb and examine everything she saw, remembering it and filing it away for later use.

The one in the middle was a man. He was tall, though not as tall as the other man, and he wasn't as muscular either, though he certainly didn't look physically weak, but something about his stance or the way he held himself seemed to hold a sort of liquid power. As if he was relaxed yet on the edge of sudden action at the same time, like lightning waiting for a reason to strike. His hair, more wild and erratic than should have been possible, was a black so dark and pure that it seemed to be made of the very shadows themselves. But the face drew the most attention, not for its distinctive scar, but for its intensity of expression. Every part of it seemed to express an unbelievable love and enjoyment of life and everything that came with it.

Before any of the three saw it, the mirror flashed and once again reflected only what was in front of it.

The three of them often got lost in their discussions, completely forgetting whatever they had been doing before and they would likely have gone on discussing the differences between the ways each of them grew up if it wasn't for the dust that was kicked up as Hermione leaned against one of the desks in the room. The Trio coughed and choked on the dust until Ron was able to squeak out a cleaning charm between bouts of coughing. His mother had insisted that all of her children learn it and practice using it on their messy rooms as soon as they started at Hogwarts.

“Ahh.” Hermione took a deep breath of dust free air. “Thanks, Ron.”

Ron nodded as he caught his breath.

“So what do you say we figure this mirror out and then get out of here.” He asked.

“Sure.” Harry answered.

“Definitely.” Hermione agreed.

They turned back to the mirror.

“Hmmm, that's odd.” Hermione commented, pointing out the writing on the frame of the mirror that she had noticed before.

“ `Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.' I wonder what it means?” asked Ron. “Its not Latin, that's for sure, but it doesn't look like any language that I know of, even though the letters are all in the basic alphabet.”

“Well if we can't figure that part out right now we should try something else.” Hermione said in her usual business like manner that she donned whenever faced with a puzzle. “Did you happen to bring your cloak, Harry?”

Harry nodded and pulled the folded cloak from one of the pockets in his robes.

“Okay then, we'll put the cloak over us and see what happens.” Hermione explained and took the cloak, throwing it around herself, Harry and Ron.

They watched the mirror expectantly, waiting to see what, if anything, would appear. Other than the fact that the mirror continued to show their reflections, despite the cloak, nothing unusual happened. The Trio sighed in unison.

Hermione was disappointed that her idea hadn't helped, but looked determined nonetheless.

“Fine, so that didn't work. We'll just have to try something else.”

“Like what?” Ron asked.

“Well, first we can try to reproduce what happened last night as closely as possible.” Continued Hermione after a moment's thought. “Harry, Ron and I will stay at the side of the room and you go out, then come back in with your cloak on and try to do just what you did before. Okay?”

“Alright.” Harry nodded.

Hermione pulled Ron out from under the cloak and to the side of the room then turned to the door and watched as it seemed to open by its self and then closed again as Harry left. A moment later the door opened and closed silently and Ron and Hermione watched the floor for Harry's footsteps in the dust. They didn't see anything until there was a small stirring of the dust when Harry came to a stop in front of the mirror.

There was a moment of silence then a distortion in the air, and then Harry was visible. He was standing in front of the mirror with his cloak held tightly in one hand. Harry's expression, which was difficult to read at the best of times, was now completely blank, which made his friends think that he was hiding his reaction more than he usually did.

Harry turned and looked at Ron and Hermione, seeming relived to look away from the mirror.

“It's working now.”

His voice was monotone and sounded oddly strained.

“You can see the same thing you could before?” Ron whispered as if talking out loud might alert the mirror to his presence and make it stop doing… whatever it was doing.

“Even without the cloak on?” added Hermione, also whispering.

“Yes. I can see Ron and you, and all my relatives, and - and my parents.”

Hermione groaned in frustration.

“I don't get it.” Ron complained. “Does it only work for you? And what is it supposed to be showing you?”

“You'd know more about this kind of magic than me or Hermione, Ron.” Was Harry's answer.

“He's right, Ron. I'm as lost as him.”

Ron scratched his head a moment, thinking, then shrugged.

“Why don't we just try it one at a time?” he suggested.

“Works for me.” Agreed Harry and he quickly stepped back from the mirror.

Ron looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione, who were both looking at him expectantly.

“I suppose I'll go next?” he asked, but it was more of a statement than a question.

Ron took a deep breath, closed his eyes and squared his shoulders, then stepped before the mirror. Still squinting, Ron slowly opened one eye wide enough to see the mirror, as if afraid of what he might see.

The moment he saw his reflection though his eyes snapped wide open and his jaw went slack as he stared into the mirror, as though transfixed by what he saw.

*Ron's POV*

< Damn it! > Ron thought to himself. < Why am I always the one who has to be the chizpurfle? Well, here goes. > (Wizards often use chizpurfles in magical experiments much like muggles used guinea pigs. The practice is still allowed as there is little magic that the chizpurfle cannot handle given time to absorb it.)

Ron took a breath and closed his eyes, stepping in front of the mirror. Not knowing what to expect he cracked one eye open a bit to peer at his reflection.

At first he saw just his reflection, but it took only a second to realize that, although it was certainly still him in the mirror, he looked vastly different from the way he looked for real. He opened both eyes fully to get a better look and what he saw struck him speechless.

Before him in the mirror was his reflection, but it seemed - older somehow, and instead of a tall gangly youth, dressed in dusty school robes, Ron saw a tall and solid young man standing in a spotlight and the way he held himself showed an agility or grace despite his height. He was dressed in different robes too.

< Quidditch robes! I'm on the Quidditch team! > Ron thought happily. < And I'm wearing the captain's badge too! >

After managing to look at something other than the robes and badge Ron saw that his reflection was holding something. In one arm was the school's Quidditch cup, in the other was the house cup - he'd won them both for Gryffindor! Beside the `mirror Ron' were his parents and siblings, all smiling at him proudly and congratulating him. On the other side of his reflection and closer to the surface of the mirror were Harry and Hermione. Hermione was carrying the thickest book Ron had ever seen. Harry was right up next to Hermione with his arm around her and around Harry Ron saw shadows of people patting Harry on the back or resting an arm on his shoulders and he knew that they were the caring family that Harry needed. Both of his friends were smiling at him and cheering for his success.

“Ron!”

Ron began to wonder if perhaps the mirror showed the future of whoever looked into it. He felt someone tugging at his robes, but he waved them away, he had important things on his mind.

“Ron!”

*Third Person POV*

“Ron!” Harry yelled, jerking his friend away from the mirror.

Harry and Hermione had waited for a few minutes after Ron looked into the mirror, but when he still hadn't moved in all that time and his expression had remained blank and glassy they started calling him. Starting to get worried, Hermione had tugged on his robes to get his attention but Ron had only brushed her away without even glancing away from his reflection. Finally Harry had had enough and dragged Ron from the mirror.

“What do you think you're doing?” Ron yelled at him.

“Ron, you've been staring at the mirror for three minutes now!” Hermione told him.

Ron blinked at her, startled. “I was?” He asked looking lost. “It felt like just a moment…”

“Well what did you see?” Harry asked. “And why didn't you answer us? Did you figure out what the mirror is doing?”

“I saw - I saw myself, only older, and I was Gryffindor's team captain.” Ron explained. “I was holding the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup. My family was there to and so were the both of you… do you think maybe the mirror shows the future?”

“No way.” Harry and Hermione answered simultaneously. The three smiled at it then Harry motioned for Hermione to go ahead.

“Well I just don't think that it's possible to predict the future at all. In order to do that the future would have to be already decided, and then predicting it would be pretty pointless.” Hermione said. “Even if you did predict the future, then you could change whatever you predicted, which would mean that your prediction became wrong and you hadn't really predicted the future. At least that's how I see it. What about you, Harry?”

“Yes, I agree with that,” Harry replied nodding. “Besides that though, I wouldn't have seen my parents if it was showing me the future, but I also wonder why you got so caught up in it, Ron?”

“I dunno.” Ron admitted. “It was just - cool, I guess.” He finished lamely. “I suppose that's why it was put in here. A person could waste away in front of that thing is they weren't careful. Why don't you try it now, Hermione? Maybe whatever you see will help us figure it out.”

Harry frowned at Ron's assumption though. If the mirror drew you in by showing you things you wanted… then why hadn't Harry felt any inclination to stay and stare at it?

< For that matter,> he wondered, < why was I SCARED of it…?>

“Alright.” Hermione said, interrupting Harry's thoughts and sounding a little nervous. “Here goes.”

“Don't worry, I'll pull you away from it if you get too caught up in it like Ron was.” Harry told Hermione as she braced herself for whatever the mirror might show her.

She smiled at him gratefully as he and Ron stepped away from her leaving her alone in front of the mirror.

*Hermione's POV*

< Alright, I can do this,> Hermione thought, < I just have to make sure to remember that it's just a mirror, and Ron and Harry will pull me away if I DO get lost in it.>

With that in mind she let herself look into the mirror and as she did the reflection in the mirror shimmered then showed what looked like the Hogwarts grounds in the summer. Far back in the image, too far to be properly seen, were dozens of different creatures of all shapes, sizes and species and they all looked as though they were celebrating something or other. Closer to the surface of the mirror Hermione could make out most of the Hogwarts staff with Professor McGonagall at the front, all smiling in her direction and holding out scrolls that looked like diplomas. Still closer to the surface were her parents, their smiles were full of perfect white teeth.

< Okay,> Hermione shook herself, trying to surpress the grin that was threatening to break out, < I've got to remember that this is just a trick, an illusion… no matter HOW nice it seems.>

Shaking herself and forcing herself to remember what she was supposed to be doing in the first place she examined the mirror image again, looking for any clues as to what it's purpose might be.

Near the surface of the mirror was her own reflection along with that of Ron and Harry.

Ron was flying back and forth around the other two riding a very shiny, and apparently very fast, broom. His robes sported the Gryffindor colours and his eyes seemed to shine in the spotlight that appeared to be focussed solely on him.

“Right, so why would the mirror show Ron like that?” she wondered out loud.

“Like what?” Hermione heard Ron ask.

“Quiet! I'm trying to figure this out.” She hissed back at him without looking away.

< I don't know if those robes mean that he's the Quidditch Captain, but if they do, then he looks pretty much like he said he did when HE looked into the mirror.> Hermione could tell that the answer was hiding somewhere in the back of her brain and it was frustrating that she just couldn't quite pin it down. < Obviously anything that we see in the mirror is taken from our own minds, but - WHY?! Arrgh!>

She sighed and decided to look at Harry next.

The very first thing that she noted about Harry was his eyes. Usually they were hidden behind those mirrored glasses of his. < How does he see with those things when it gets dark any way?>

In the mirror Harry's usual glasses were gone and he was wearing gold-rimmed spectacles. His eyes fairly shone through the clear lenses and they seemed to have deepened to a rich emerald green. Dragging her attention away from his eyes she looked at the rest of him. He didn't look NEARLY as skinny as he was in reality, though he certainly didn't look anything like a bodybuilder. He was dressed in loose casual clothes that looked black, but every so often a bolt of lightning flashed across them as he moved. His movements held a sort of fluid grace that made he look both relaxed and on the brink of sudden action at the same time.

What drew Hermione's attention most though was his face. There was something very different about it that made her smile softly. After a moment Hermione realised that it was the fact that Harry was grinning, which had caught her attention because it was something that `real Harry' did only rarely.

Hermione finished her examination of Harry and could tell that she was a little closer to pinning down the answer that was fluttering around in her head as she turned her attention finally to her own image.

What she saw surprised her more than any of the other images. Her reflection looked… NORMAL…

She frowned and took a longer look. She didn't look EXACTLY like her reflection, but there were no drastic differences. `Mirror Hermione' looked a little bit older, but she was still wearing the same Gryffindor school robes that she was now. Her reflection was reading a big blue book, nothing unusual there, with a title she couldn't quite make out (something to do with material magics maybe) as she leaned against Harry's shoulder. Every once in a while she would look up at Ron, smile and wave, then turn to Harry and share a laugh over their friend's antics.

Then something clicked in her head and she turned slowly away from the mirror mulling it over.

*Third Person POV*

Hermione's expression turned suddenly suspicious and she turned slowly towards her friends.

“Ron, how did your reflection look like it was feeling?” she asked.

Ron turned to Harry with a puzzled look, but Harry only shrugged.

“Well, happy I guess,” Ron answered with confusion. “Why?”

Hermione waved off his question and turned to Harry. “And yours?”

He thought about it for a moment. For some reason what he'd seen had upset him, but his reflection had looked cheerful enough. “The same I suppose.” He answered with a frown. “What have you figured out?”

Hermione gave no indication that she'd heard him as she turned again to look at the mirror, though this time she seemed to be squinting at the frame, rather than her reflection.

“Hello? Helllooooooo!” Ron shouted, dancing around and waving his arms.

The two boys shared amused looks. They were used to it by now. Sometimes when Hermione really got into a question nothing else seemed to exist in her world but her, the puzzle and its solution.

Ron and Harry prepared to wait until Hermione either figured the mirror out or decided that they needed to go to the library and were about to sit down and get comfortable when Hermione's eyes flashed and she yelled out in delight.

“THAT'S IT!”

“Gyaa!” Ron cried and jumped up off of the desk he'd just sat on. “Sheesh, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry.” She said, not sounding it. “But do you want to know what the mirror does or not?”

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AN- *wrings hands nervously*Okay, now before anyone does anything rash I'd like to offer and explanation and apology.

First of all, I'd like to acknowledge the fact that this chapter is ridiculously overdue and I am sorry for any worry that I may have caused over whether or not I was going to continue with the story or not. Let me assure you, I have said that I would not stop writing until I was finished and I meant it. I have NEVER, in all my memory or anyone else's, broken my word and I don't intend to start now. I said I'd finish this and come Hell or high water or both I damn well WILL!

I've never been very good at excuses and such so I'll just give you a run down of the events that led up to the `slightly delayed update'. First, when I had about 2/3s of this chapter done, I was forced to format my hard drive (Setback = 1.5). While I was reinstalling EVERYTHING onto the computer I started using another one to start on the story again… that file was deleted by a family member who, I assure you, suffered dearly for their mistake (Setback = 1 + increasing frustration). Dismayed by these events I didn't bother trying to start again until I had my own computer working again. By this time it had already been a couple months since the last update. It was around Christmas that I was finally able to start writing again and you know how distracting that time of year is (especially when you have to deal with MY family… scarey…) (Setback = 2). After the hols I planned to get back at it, but had trouble due to the fact that it had been so long since I'd done any work on it, or even had much chance to read anything at all (Setback = 1)! Then to make matters even better my grandfather passed away (Setback = 0.5) while at the same time I had to start working at my co-op placement in PNGS which takes a LOT of getting used to with all of their security and the long hours didn't leave me much in the way of free time (Setback = 1). Aside from these major things there were the usual small setbacks in between (Setback = 1).

So on a setback scale from one to ten (One being regular updates, 5 being on hiatus, and ten being abandoned), I had a rating of about 8. Of course I'll never let that rating reach ten, but I hope you can understand a little bit of why it took me soooooo long!

Now I want to say that I am very sorry that I wasn't able to bring this chapter to you sooner, and while I can't promise that nothing like this will happen again, I can at least promise that if something like it happens again I will be sure to let everyone know what is going on with the story.

Anywho, since I've got that out of the way I want to thank everyone. When I was actually able to check things out, I received a lot of e-mails, reviews and messages from people asking about the story, complimenting, complaining, and even threatening me! I don't think that any of you will realize just how amazing it was to hear from so many different people. It actually made me grin, reading everything that all of you had to say. Thanks.

Special thanks go to Bryan for being a very understanding and encouraging beta reader for me (not to mention helpful), to people who threatened annoyance (eg. Anon [whomever you are]), to JennLeigh821 for caring about random people and Mary and Leigh for making me so embarrassed by the lack of updating (unintentionally on their part) that I started working on the story while at my co-op placement which gave me that little extra bit of time that I needed to finish this.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

Shades of Grey

26. New Training Grounds

AN- Hello, Ladies, Gentlemen and everyone else. Welcome to another chapter. Please keep your hands and feet inside at all times and keep your eyes glued to your computer screen. The author accepts NO responsibility for any feelings of vertigo, nausea or mirth. Any injuries sustained such as cracking up should be taken care of by a trained health care specialist and not mentioned to the author as he will likely respond in a random and insensible manner.

‘O_o

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

Shades of Grey

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Ron scowled in exasperation for a moment then gave in.

“Ahg! Fine, so what does the bloody mirror do, oh mighty all-knowing Hermione?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Think about it, Ron.” She answered, rolling her eyes. “Everything we saw made us, or at least the images of us, very happy didn’t it? It can’t be showing us our futures because then Harry couldn’t have seen his parents.”

Ron frowned, his brows creasing in concentration, looking as if he had almost figured it out then lost it again.

“I still don’t get it, Hermione.” He admitted sheepishly.

“I don’t get it either.” Harry added. “It shows us when we’re happy? Or what would make us happy or something?”

“Exactly Harry.” Said Hermione. “I’m pretty sure it shows us whatever would make us most happy. Look at the writing.”

“You mean Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi?” Ron asked, trying to pronounce the odd words.

“I wonder what language it’s in? I know the characters are from the basic Latin alphabet, but I don’t recognize any of the words.” Harry thought aloud as he turned to examine the letters on the frame.

“English.” Hermione answered once she had gotten over her surprise at Harry’s knowledge of languages and writing, looking quite satisfied with herself.

Ron and Harry turned to her with amusingly identical looks of disbelief.

“English? Are you daft?” asked Ron, seeming more than a little sceptical. “I can hardly even say most of those words!”

Hermione only smirked at the other two and said, “Read it backwards.”

By this point Ron and Harry were well past being merely confused, but they both knew better than to argue with Hermione when she was in her lecturing mode. It just wasn’t conducive to maintaining your health or at the very least your sanity.

Once more they turned to the mirror and studied the carvings mumbling to their selves. They soon realised what the writing on the mirror was supposed to say.

“I show not your face but your hearts desire.” Ron recited to Hermione’s beaming approval. “But why would it be backwards?”

“Because it’s a mirror, Ron.” Harry answered slowly. He grinned a little as it dawned on him and Hermione nodded her approval. “When you look in a mirror you see everything backwards.”

“Well, now we know what the mirror does.” Ron stated, “I suppose that’s one mystery down and one to go.”

Harry nodded his agreement.

Finally it was Hermione’s turn to be confused.

“What’s the other one?” she asked.

“Well if all the mirror does, is to show you whatever you want most, then why was it put here?” Ron asked. “According to Harry, it was only put here recently and the fact that it was made to look as if it had always been here would suggest that SOMEONE doesn’t want it to be noticed.”

Hermione opened her mouth to respond when there was a sudden rumbling growl.

Harry and Hermione nearly jumped out of their skin and looked frantically towards the source of the noise. Ron smiled sheepishly back at them.

“Why don’t we see if we can still get some food?” he asked rubbing his stomach.

Hermione smiled and Harry actually gave a small laugh, earning him an odd look from his friends.

“What?” he asked.

Hermione smiled and shook her head ruefully.

“You don’t laugh nearly enough, mate.” Ron answered. “In fact I can’t even remember having heard you laugh before. Anywho, lets go. I’m starving.”

Ron’s stomach backed up his statement with another frighteningly loud growl.

¿ <’}}}><

They ended up missing lunch, but Ron made sure to make up for it during dinner. The rest of the day was spent trying to think of any reason someone could have for wanting to hide such an odd mirror. Hermione insisted on dragging them all to the library to look for any mention of the mirror in books about magical artefacts, but they didn’t find anything about the mirror. They didn’t find anything conclusive to suggest what the mirrors purpose might be, partly because Harry kept getting lost in his thoughts.

He was trying to decide why seeing his parents in the mirror had scared him so much the first time, and had been upsetting the second. He didn’t really understand. If the mirror was showing him what he wanted most – then why would seeing it be upsetting? He decided that he was out of his depth and chose to forget about it for a while. Maybe he would ask Hermione about it later. He wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to Ron about it and he didn’t think that Ron was likely to be much help. Harry knew though that both his friends wanted him to talk to them about things like this. Harry just wasn’t used to having people around who wanted to know how he felt. Certainly the Dursleys had never shown any interest in his feelings, with the possible exception of Dudley who liked to know that he was in fact causing Harry pain of some sort. Talking about his feelings, even with friends as great as Hermione and Ron went against all his experience up until he arrived at Hogwarts.

After exhausting all the possibilities the trio decided to forget about the mirror until something new came up. After all they all still had their potions homework to do. Even Hermione had put off doing hers which Ron was quite happy to hear. He had hardly even looked at his potions assignment and even if Hermione and Harry refused to let him copy what they wrote it still saved him a lot of research by simply using whichever books Hermione suggested to Harry and him.

¿ <’}}}><

A couple of days later Harry was wandering around for a bit, having slipped out of the common room by himself during one of Ron and Hermione’s more – intense arguments. He’d be worried about their blood pressure if they were any older.

As he passed the door to McGonagall’s office he fingered the sheath on his arm, thinking back to the day that she’d asked Nearly Headless Nick to send Harry from the common room to speak with her.

******FLASHBACK******

Harry knocked on the door to McGonagall’s office. The faint scratching of a quill on Parchment stopped and Harry heard some papers shuffled before his professor answered.

“Come in.” she said.

Harry opened the door stepped into Professor McGonagall’s office. Other than a couple cabinets, her office lacked anything in the way of furnishings other than the desk which she was currently sitting behind.

“You wanted to speak to me?” he asked. He was fairly sure he knew why, but would rather have McGonagall be the one to bring it up than to mention her concerns regarding his knife himself.

McGonagall nodded and motioned for Harry to close the door.

“Have a seat, Mr. Potter.” She said.

Harry closed the door and was about to point out that there was no chair, when McGonagall waved her wand at the floor in front of her desk and part of the floor seemed to grow upwards and quickly turned into a simple wooden chair. Harry chastised himself mentally for forgetting McGonagall’s mastery of transfiguration. Of course this also explained her lack of furniture. What use would she have of such things when her skill in her field allowed her to create what she needed from nearly anything on hand?

He sat down quickly. He knew that McGonagall was still quite against him being allowed to carry a knife around the school with him and he started a calming breathing exercise to mentally prepare himself to argue his case as best he could. He might have already been given Dumbledore’s permission to have the knife, but the headmaster had made it clear that Harry would still need to convince his head of house that the knife would not cause any harm, whether or not the harm was intentional.

“I am sure that you already know why I asked to speak with you, Mr. Potter, but let me make it perfectly clear.” McGonagall began in her usual lecturing tone. “I am concerned with the fact that you carry a weapon with you. I do not at all doubt that you have no intention of using it for anything less than an absolute emergency as you did on Halloween, but accidents do happen. I understand that you have been carrying it with you since the beginning of the year, and the fact that there were no problems in all that time does reassure me somewhat, but nonetheless I remain concerned. Now, the headmaster has told me that he does not believe there is any reason to take the knife from you, but he suggested that I speak to you about my – misgivings anyway.”

She paused to give Harry a look.

“I understand, Professor, but I assure you that you have no reason to be worried. I agree that there is a chance that an accident could occur, but then there is also a chance that someone could be hurt from something as simple as falling down the stairs. Even more of a chance when you think about things such as trick steps and the fact that the staircases sometimes move around unexpectedly and without warning.” Harry reasoned. “I assure you that the chance that someone could be hurt because I’m carrying my knife is far less than the chance that they could fall down the stairs.”

“I know that you believe what you’re saying, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall sighed, “but can you give me a reason to believe you? Why do you think that there would be little risk in you carrying a weapon as opposed to any other student?”

Harry let out a deep breath. How could he convince her? He didn’t believe that what he was saying was true, he knew that it was true.

“I suppose – “Harry paused, then shook his head and started again. “ No, I know that there is less risk of an accident if I carry a weapon than if someone else did because I know how to handle it, and use it, whereas others probably don’t.”

McGonagall frowned at him in confusion.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” She admitted. “How – Why do you know ‘how to handle it’? And what do you mean by that?”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be confused. Dumbledore must have told her what Harry had told him in the hospital wing. She was, after all, the deputy headmistress.

“Uh, didn’t Professor Dumbledore tell you about it?” Harry asked.

“No, he did not.” McGonagall answered, folding her hands in front of her.

Harry could tell that she was a little miffed at the headmaster for that.

“He said that it was your choice whether or not to tell me about it, as it seemed to be a bit personal.” Explained the professor.

Harry felt a rush of appreciation towards the headmaster for this. It wasn’t that he didn’t want McGonagall to know anything about his knife, but never before had any grownup other than his sensei let him decide for himself whether to answer a question or not. At the Dursleys he always had to do exactly as he was told ‘or else’, it felt great to be shown such respect and… trust from someone like Dumbledore.

Harry snapped back to reality as he realised that McGonagall was still waiting for a response from him.

< Well, she is my head of house,> Harry thought to himself. < I suppose she can’t really use anything I tell her against me...>

“Well, I don’t really know how to explain what I mean by ‘handling it’, but I was taught how to use it by my sensei Mr Osakawa, – he’s my martial arts instructor…” Harry trailed off as he could tell that his explanation was only causing further confusion. “Uh, do you know what I’m talking about?”

McGonagall shook her head.

“I can only assume that you’re talking about some type of muggle thing?” she asked, and smiled at him a little. “Muggle studies was never my best class.”

Harry was shocked that she would say something like that to a student. It just didn’t seem to fit her manner, and she looked a little surprised at it herself, but he went on anyway.

“Well, sensei basically means ‘teacher’, and martial arts are different styles of muggle fighting.” He told her feeling rather odd to be teaching his teacher about something. “It’s sort of like a sport, maybe like duelling is for wizards? Sorry, I’m not very good at explaining things…”

McGonagall sighed.

“Perhaps we should start over. What exactly does your – ‘sensei’ teach you about these martial arts?”

“Well generally most martial arts focus on discipline a lot.” Harry began. “Of both the mind and the body.”

Harry went on to explain as much as he could about martial arts in general and found himself enjoying talking about something he was interested in. He began to understand why McGonagall was Hermione’s favourite professor. She listened to what Harry had to say and asked intelligent questions even though it was obvious that it was hard to understand for someone who’d grown up only in the magical world, where there was apparently nothing like martial arts, duelling being the closest comparison.

“So muggles hit each other with their hands and feet in order to hurt each other?” McGonagall asked looking a little perplexed. “I can’t see how there could be many different ‘styles’. After all, how many different ways can there be to hit someone?”

Harry shook his head.

“Martial arts are like DADA.” Explained Harry. “The purpose of learning them is self-defence and self-discipline, but they can be used aggressively the same as the magic we learn in DADA can. And as we learn different kinds of spells to deal with a situation, you can learn different ways to – move, I guess, in a fight.”

“I’ll have to take your word on that I suppose. Right now we’re getting a bit off track.” McGonagall sighed. “What you’re saying is that your teacher taught you how to use this knife to… attack people?”

Harry sighed. He didn’t seem to be doing very well at convincing McGonagall to let him keep his knife.

“Yes, I do know how to attack people with the knife,” he said, “ but in order to do that I also have to know how not to hurt people with it. You have to be able to control a weapon, whether magical or muggle, in order to use it.”

McGonagall looked thoughtful, and nodded at Harry’s answer.

“Yes, I see. Doing any kind of magic requires control. If the caster is not properly in control of their magic they are as likely to hurt themselves with a curse as their target. I can understand it in terms of needing control of magic, I’m not sure about how you would control a piece of metal in the same manner though.”

Harry was beginning to become exasperated by this point.

< I know that witches and wizards have been hiding in their magical world for a long time, but are they so submersed in magic that they don’t even understand simple things if they’re not in terms of magic?> he grumbled.

“Like this.” He said, and he released his knife into his hand and held it up in front of him.

Making sure McGonagall was watching the knife Harry spun it around a bit, a move that was flashy but not useful in a fight. He kept it spinning, faster and faster, then tossed it to his other hand, still spinning. McGonagall’s eyes had gotten wider and wider as he spun the blade and she had flinched when he tossed the knife, but her eyes never left the flashing point of the blade.

Harry sent the knife rippling across the backs of his knuckles, before tossing the knife back in the air and catching it by the blade in his right hand. Harry had never enjoyed learning that kind of thing as it seemed to be a pointless talent and not at all practical, but Osakawa-sensei had insisted it was a wonderful way to increase his dexterity and Harry had obediently practiced it until Osakawa-sensei was satisfied.

Harry couldn’t remember his professor ever looking as surprised as she did just then and had to work to keep himself from smiling as she sat still for a moment after he stopped the knife.

Finally she looked up from the knife to Harry’s face. Harry didn’t know what reaction he’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t the one he got.

She looked suspicious.

“How did you make it do that?” she asked slowly, her eyes narrowing.

Harry stared in disbelief. She thought he’d used magic to try and trick her! He could see it in her eyes.

He quickly got over his shock though.

< It was probably my fault for trying to be too fancy, but still… does she really think I know enough magic already to do something like that without her noticing what I was doing?>

Harry sighed, he shouldn’t have let his frustration get the better of him like that.

“Watch,” he said, taking the hilt of the knife once more. “I’ll do it slower so you can see what I’m doing.”

This time he spun the blade much slower, like Osakawa-sensei had done when he was teaching Harry.

When Harry finished his little performance, the suspicion had left McGonagall’s eyes and she just looked a little amazed.

Satisfied that she no longer suspected a trick Harry told her, “As you can see there is no magic involved, yet in order for a muggle to use a muggle weapon effectively they still need to have nearly absolute control of it, and if they have such control over it in order to hurt someone then that same control will allow them to keep it from harming anyone. The point of practicing such things is to teach the body to work on it’s own. I couldn’t do all this if I had to think about each movement. Instead my muscles remember how to move and so I don’t have to think about every little movement.”

“Well, I can’t imagine being able to do that myself, but I guess I can’t argue that you don’t know how to handle it without getting hurt.” She admitted with reluctance. “But what about the other Gryffindors who don’t know how to handle it? You can’t have it with you all the time and someone that doesn’t know how to use it might get a hold of it… where do you keep it anyway?”

“Right here.” Harry said, pushing up his right sleeve. “See it fits in here.”

Harry slid the knife back into its sheath as McGonagall watched curiously.

“Isn’t it difficult to get out though?” she asked, “It looks like it’s held pretty tightly.”

“It is held tightly, but it was made so that when you flex the right muscles, and hold your hand properly, it falls out into your hand.” He told her. “Like this.”

Harry demonstrated a few times, bringing the knife out and sheathing again rapidly.

“The only times I take it off is when I shower and when I’m cleaning the sheath. Since I still have the knife with me when I clean the sheath the only time someone else could get a hold of it would be when I’m in the shower.” He explained. “So there’s really very little chance at all of anyone else even finding out that I have it. If they wanted a knife for some reason then it would make much more sense for them to just take one from potions class or from the Great Hall.”

McGonagall frowned in thought for a while before finally sighing in defeat.

“Very well, you may continue to carry your knife with you for now, but you are not permitted to let anyone know other than Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley as they already aware of its existence. If I think you are abusing this privilege in any way then you will no longer be allowed to have it with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do.” Harry answered with relief. “May I go now?”

McGonagall hesitated a moment.

“Would you mind… could you spin it over your knuckles again?” she asked, not sounding at all like the stern professor Harry was used to.

The request surprised him, but he obliged her and sent it across his knuckles a couple times before putting it back in its sheath, McGonagall then thanked him and told him he could go.

As Harry pulled the door shut behind him he heard her murmur something.

“Without even using magic!”

Harry wondered again to himself why so many magical people thought that magic had to be the answer to everything.

¿ <’}}}><

The next few days of their holidays were put to the greatest use that the trio could, doing homework (for Hermione), playing chess (for Ron) and flying around the towers of the school on brooms (for Harry) though neither of the boys could convince Hermione to go further than six feet from the safety of solid ground.

Harry woke a bit later than usual the day after all the other students had returned from their holidays due to the fact that he’d been having so much fun just flying the day before that he’d gone on long after Ron and Hermione had landed and headed back in. Normally Harry got up at 3:00AM each day except for the days after he went to the library for his ‘extra work’, and went through his usual routine (he never skipped doing his meditation though, even the mornings after his library work). He usually only got five or six hours of sleep each night, but that was enough for him.

He was simply too tired on the mornings after he did his late night studies with Lady Scrive to complete his exercises properly . But Osakawa-sensei had always been quite adamant that Harry was to do them properly, no matter how slowly he had to move, or not do them at all. If he let his body move in the wrong way in practice then he would be much more likely to make a mistake when fighting an opponent, either in a tournament or in real life.

Fortunately it was Saturday and really, he could perform his exercises at any time (he had always thought of them more like a dance). He was a bit surprised to find that Ron had, for once, gotten up before him. He wondered, with a smile, what Ron had thought when he saw Harry sleeping when he got up. Ron was always grumbling at breakfast about how Harry couldn’t be human. In Ron’s eyes there was simply no such time as 5:00AM or earlier.

Harry put on the robes (sometimes called a gi) that he used to practice in and headed to the Quidditch pitch where he normally trained after his morning jog. The first few times that Harry had gone for his run he hadn’t seen anyone else out running so he’d thought that everyone else was still getting settled in after their summer holidays. When he’d been allowed to go running at the Dursleys he’d always seen at least a few other people jogging in the mornings (none of the Dursleys though) and often in the evenings as well. As the school year progressed however, Harry found that the only other witch or wizard who got up for any kind of exercise was Oliver Wood, and he only got up to plan and practice Quidditch.

Harry just put it down to there being some other kind of exercise that only people who had grown up in the wizarding world knew about. After all, he’d yet to see any seriously obese witch or wizard, but he did wonder why there weren’t any muggle born students out running though.

As Harry pondered this, he reached the outer doors of the school and passed through them. He soon realised that he would not be training on the pitch that day due to the large gathering of Slytherins who had come to watch their house team’s practice. Not that he had anything against the Slytherins in general, but far too many of the Slytherins seemed to have something against the rest of the world.

As he stood in front of the giant doors several fourth year Hufflepuffs went past on their way to the greenhouses. Harry heard them giggle and saw them point at his clothes as they went. Fortunately Harry’s cheeks were already red from the cold and hid his blush.

He was getting cold just standing outside without moving so he headed back inside to see if there might be an unused room big enough for him to work in.

Having nowhere else to go yet Harry started back to his common room trying to think if he knew of anyplace he could train or if there was anyone who did. As he walked he looked into any rooms he that he hadn’t been in before, but most of them seemed to either be broom closets or required a password that he didn’t have.

“Harry?!” Someone called from behind him.

Harry turned and saw Ron heading down the hallway, having apparently come from a late breakfast or, knowing his friend’s appetite, possibly a second breakfast. He was grinning when he came up to Harry, and seemed to be fighting back gales of laughter.

“Harry, w-what are you doing those pyjamas?” he asked incredulously.

Harry frowned. “They’re not pyjamas, Ron. These are the clothes I train in.”

“Train in? How come I’ve never seen you wear them before?” Ron asked and scratched his head.

“Well, I expect that’s because you’ve never seen me training, have you?”

Still confused Ron asked, “Sure I have! You and Hermione are always training! Honestly, I don’t know why you two –“

“Not that kind of training, Ron.” Harry interrupted.

“Then what kind of training are we talking about here?” Ron asked scratching his head.

“Remember I told you how I’ve been taking martial arts lessons?” Harry asked.

“Oh right! From Osarwa, or something?”

“From Osakawa-sensei. Well in order to be any good you need to practice as often as possible.” Harry informed him. “Also you should be in as good shape as you can, which is why I go running each day before I train.”

Ron scratched his head.

“So why haven’t you been training before now?” he asked.

“I have,” Harry frowned, “you probably just didn’t realise it because I actually get up early to do it! Unlike some people who only get up just in time for a rushed breakfast and are almost always just in time for classes.” This last statement was followed with a small smirk.

“Hey!” Ron protested, taking a playful swipe at his friend. “Hermione gets up early and she hasn’t mentioned it!”

“Well, why would she?” Harry shrugged. “It’s no big deal that I go running early in the morning.”

“Well, leaving the castle is no big deal, but – you run around for no reason? I’d say that’s pretty odd.” Ron said with a look that plainly said that Harry was quite the puzzle to him.

Harry sighed once again at the ignorance of the inhabitants of the magical world towards muggles.

“I guess I’m just odd then, Ron. I’ll explain later, ok?” he said in exasperation, “Right now I’m trying to find a room that got some open space for me to workout in. You wouldn’t happen to have any ideas would you?”

“Nah, not a clue.” Ron answered. “The only rooms I know are the ones we have classes in and you can’t – do whatever in them. Maybe ask Hermione? And I’d bet anything that Fred and George would know a place if anyone would, though you might have to become their chizpurfle in return for any information.”

Harry smirked. Ron was probably right about the twins, but their pranks rarely ever ended up being painful as they usually tested them on each other before actually putting them to use.

“So where’s Hermione?” Harry asked, already suspecting the answer.

Ron’s roll of his eyes was answer enough for him. Hermione was in the library.

Seeing that Harry understood, Ron didn’t bother answering.

“I’m headed there now. I’m hoping she’ll help me out a bit with that new charm we’re supposed to practice.” Ron told him.

“Okay, see you later, Ron. You’re probably right.” Harry answered, “If anyone knows a room for me to use, it’ll be your brothers.”

Harry walked on in search of the twins now.

¿ <’}}}><

The twins hadn’t understood why Harry had wanted to find the kind of room he’d described but they hadn’t really asked for much of an explanation anyway. Harry figured that they were just used to being so secretive themselves that they automatically assumed that everyone else was the same. So after being told what Harry was looking for they’d been obviously confused but hadn’t asked questions and Harry hadn’t offered answers.

The place that Fred (or was it George?) had suggested was an old classroom near the top of a long unused tower. The twins had found it in their first year. Even then they had been quite the pranksters, they had enjoyed telling Harry as they led him to the room, but they hadn’t had much experience with hiding the preparations for their pranks. So when they happened across the room one on their way to a class (“You got lost didn’t you?”) they’d immediately made it their base of operations. Over the years though, the room had been of less use to them as their pranks evolved and they learned much better how to hide them. Also the room was to far out of the way and with no easy access it was just to much hassle to drag their pranks up and down the long staircase.

It wasn’t an ideal place to train in, but there was plenty of light from the many windows that showed a view over the castle in every direction. Harry assumed that some of the windows were enchanted like the ceiling of the Great Hall because one of the windows should have looked into the room next door, which was filled with desks, chairs and very stale potions ingredients that the twins had forgotten, who knew how long ago.

What Harry liked the most about the room was the quiet. The entire tower was far from anywhere that was frequented by either staff or students and Harry relished the silence that allowed him to focus on his meditation and training exercises more than he ever could before, even at the dojo.

In fact Harry got so deeply into his exercise that he almost didn’t hear the door open to admit Hermione and her ever present bag of books. Having paused to look towards her while in the middle of a high kick, Harry didn’t realise just how funny he must look until Hermione unexpectedly broke out in unrestrained laughter.

Bringing both feet to the ground Harry turned to her fully and gave her a friendly glare.

“I’m so glad that I’m able to provide such amusement for you, Hermione,” he said with mocking malice, “but would you care to tell me how you found this place? It’s a bit out of the way.”

“To put it mildly!” Hermione answered, after containing her laughter. “It’s practically a hike just to get to this tower, much less up it! And Ron told me you were looking for a room your ‘marital arts’ and were going to ask Fred and George, so when I saw them on my way to the common room I asked if you’d talked to them and they told me where you were. I didn’t expect it to be so far or I’d have dropped off my books before coming here.”

Hermione looked for somewhere to put her books then settled for putting them on the floor in the corner when she saw there were no tables or desks.

“Where’s Ron anyway?” Harry asked, “You didn’t turn him into a toilet seat did you?”

Hermione chuckled appreciatively at the reminder of the time she’d threatened to do just that during an argument with Ron. It had startled Ron and Harry to hear Hermione suggest something like that, even though they knew that they wouldn’t be able to do anything like that for quite some time.

“No, maybe next time. I left him in the library working on his spinning charm.” She told him. “You know he’s really very good at charms when he actually tries.”

Harry nodded.

“So what brings you here?” Harry asked her.

“Oh, nothing really.” She shrugged. “I just wanted some peace for a moment.”

“But you said before that you asked the twins where I was, not where you could go to get some peace?” Harry countered.

“Yes, but everyone is usually pretty quiet when you’re around.” Hermione told him, then continued on before he could protest. “I know you don’t understand it or like it or anything, but it’s still true.”

Harry sighed and acquiesced. There was no point in denying reality, but at least the students and staff at Hogwarts weren’t as bad as the people at the Leaky Cauldron had been, and they were starting to get used to treating him like everyone else now.

“I won’t be disturbing you will I, Harry?” Hermione asked as she sat down and paused while pulling out her homework. “I could leave if you want.”

“No, you won’t be disturbing me.” Harry smiled. “Besides, I should be able to focus on what I’m doing regardless of distractions.”

The two settled into their own little worlds as Hermione worked on complex potions formulae and Harry worked on complex martial arts.

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AN – Didn’t get to make the major changes that I wanted to, just small ones. Sorry.

Anywho, I’m working on the next chapter of this story, as well as the fourth chapter of “Final Battle”. Uh... yeah, that story was origionally just going to be the two chapters... I think it may end up going on much longer than that.

H/H FOREVER!

Bye!

Shades of Grey

Harry Potter (Modified) - Book 1

1. Chapter One

2. Chapter 2

3. When Harry Met Hagrid

4. Chapter Four

5. Gringotts

6. Chapter Six

7. Chapter Seven

8. Heading to Hogwarts

9. Hermione Granger

10. Chapter Ten

11. Chapter Eleven

12. Chapter Twelve

13. Chapter Thirteen

14. The Mirror

15. Fluffy

16. A New Broom

17. The Troll

18. Harry's Knife

19. That Darn Knife Again!

20. Quidditch

21. A Christmas Tree

22. Harry Remembers

23. Christmas

24. Christmas Presents

25. The Mirror

26. New Training Grounds