It started, or more accurately, continued one morning at the Kings Cross station in London. School had just finished for the year, and the students were taking the train back home. As it pulled into the station, and they started exiting the train, they were talking to each other about their vacations. Harry Potter, a short skinny kid with extremely untidy hair, was leaving the station with his two best friends in the world. He was very disappointed that he might not see them during the entire vacation.
As they were saying their farewells, something took Harry by surprise. Hermione Granger, one of his best friends, did something that was unexpected. She kissed him. She kissed him on the cheek, to be more precise. She hugged him, and he could have sworn that it felt as though she was nibbling on his ear.
He finally realized that has was dreaming, and it was really his pet owl, Hedwig, that was nibbling him on the ear. He had been having this dream a lot since he had returned from school.
As he slowly got up from bed, he realized that he was really in the smallest bedroom of Four Privet Drive. He put on his glasses, and looked around his room. He found that his owl Hedwig had returned from her nightly flight, she needed to stretch her wings after being cooped up in her cage.
He petted Hedwig on her snowy white head, and gave her an owl treat, which he kept by his bed. Hedwig, a snowy owl, wasn't your usual pet, but Harry wasn't your usual boy either. What made Harry unusual was that he was a wizard. Four years ago, he found out that his life had been a lie up to that point, and things have not been the same since.
That was when he enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Another one of the many unusual things about Harry is that, unlike most children, he hated summer vacation, and he loved everything about his school. In fact, he felt more at home at Hogwarts than he ever could at Privet, and couldn't wait for school to start again.
Then, when he got up, he remembered that today was his fifteenth birthday. Another unusual thing about Harry was that until recently he didn't look forward to his birthday at all. The Dursleys never gave him a proper birthday. In fact, until he went to school he had never even been presented with a birthday card. Now that he had friends for the first time in his life, his birthdays weren't so bad. At least his friends always remembered, and that made him feel better.
Harry looked at Hedwig, and realized that she had a letter attached to her leg. He quickly untied the letter from Hedwig's leg and opened it. Hedwig nibbled at his fingers, affectionately and returned to her cage. This is the way that letters were delivered in the wizarding world, by the owl that is.
When he opened the letter, his heart skipped a beat. It was from Hermione. For some reason he couldn't get her out of his mind all summer, but this didn't make any sense to him since he didn't think of her in that way. Nevertheless, he kept wondering what it was that he feeling, because it wasn't like anything that he had felt before. Several times, in fact, he thought about asking someone about this, but he was way too embarrassed to do that.
He stared at the meticulous handwriting on the envelope, for what seemed like an hour. Finally, he carefully, opened the letter, which was written upon thick yellow parchment. It was written on the same paper that most of the post was delivered on in the wizarding world.
Dear Harry,
Happy birthday. I have a present for you, but felt it would be better to give it you personally.
How are you doing this summer? Have you heard from Sirius lately?
Sirius was his Godfather. He was framed for a murder that he did not commit. He was in hiding, for now, until they can clear his name.
In addition, have you heard from Ron? We should arrange a time to meet in Diagon Alley to pickup our supplies for next year. I think it might be a good idea if we pick you up and go meet Ron there together.
I also got some news for the both of you. However, I'd rather tell you when I see you in person. Write back to me when you know when you will be going to London.
As always, Love from,
Hermione Granger
He kept reading the letter over and over again. He did this so intently that it wasn't until something small and hard hit him in the head that he realized that he wasn't alone.
As Harry rubbed his forehead, he realized what it was that had hit him. It was a small owl that belonged to his other best friend Ronald Weasley, the owl's name was Pigwidgeon, whom Ron called Pig.
The reason Pig had such an odd name was, much to Ron's displeasure, his sister Ginny had given his pet owl that name one day, and try as much as he could, Ron couldn't get him to respond to any other. It wasn't however just Pig's name that was different.
Pig wasn't your normal, wizarding owl. It liked to show off, and it wasn't always reliable, but unlike most of the other things in Ron's life, this was truly something that was his, and not a hand me down from one of his many brothers.
He grabbed Pig quickly out of the air. Harry always had pretty good reflexes, but after three years of constant Quidditch practices his reflexes were now exceptional. Harry missed Quidditch almost as much as he missed his friends, and he was very good at it. In his first year at Hogwarts, he was placed on the Gryffindor house team, the youngest player to be named on any house team in nearly a century. Quidditch is a sport that is played on broomstick and involves four different balls high above the ground.
Pig was delivering a letter from his friend Ron. Harry liked the entire Weasley family, and felt that you probably couldn't find a nicer family anywhere. They were a hard working family, but unfortunately, they were also extremely poor. Harry's parents had a left him a small fortune within the vaults of Gringotts, the wizarding bank. This money, however, was only good in the wizarding world and wasn't any help in the Muggle world he spent his summers.
He would be only too happy to offer his gold to the Weasleys, but he knew that if he did offer it to them, that they would never accept it, and it probably would make them feel pretty uncomfortable. That was why he was more than happy to give the 1000-galleon prize money to Fred and George Weasley. The very money that he had earned in the Tri-Wizard competition
He starred at the envelope that had Ron's usual untidy writing on it and opened it.
Hey Harry,
Happy birthday. How are you doing this summer? I hope you're feeling better after the end of last term.
Have you heard from Hermione? After what happened last year when we tried to pick you up I think it might be a bit awkward if we came back. I am pretty sure they still haven't gotten over it by now.
Harry still had to laugh when he remembers what happened last year. When the Weasleys came to pick him up, they tried to use Floo Powder, but the problem was the Dursleys had boarded up their fireplace. It was a huge mess.
Fred Weasley "accidentally" dropped a piece of ton tongue toffee. It was hilarious, but he agreed it would definitely be a good idea if they did not show up again so soon after that.
Hermione says that her family would be able to pick you up and bring you to Diagon Alley, and we will meet you there. The earlier we make it, the sooner you can leave those Muggles you live with.
Send Pig back with your answer. I also hope you enjoy the present I sent you. I know it's not much but I hope you like it.
Ron
P.S. I know you don't get any wizarding news over there but the Chudley Cannons just had their best season, for as long as I can remember.
Harry opened the package that came with Ron's letter. Apparently, Ron had given him a subscription to Quidditch Weekly. In addition to the first issue, it also gave a preview issue of the upcoming season.
He looked out of the window and saw that it was a lovely morning. As Harry was just starting to think of how lucky he was, his thoughts drifted to his parents. You see, Harry doesn't live with his parents. This is because the Dark Lord Voldemort had murdered them. This happened when he was only a year old, and ever since he has been staying with his mother's sister's family.
The Dursleys, the family Harry has been living with, were as unlike Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents, as you can get. They were what wizards called Muggles, people without any magical abilities. Not only were they Muggles but they couldn't stand anything that differed from their quiet orderly world. This was especially true of Harry and his friends.
Harry had been living with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and of course, their enormous bully of a son, Dudley. It has been 14 years of pure torture, with the only reprieve being the time he had at his school, Hogwarts.
Harry grabbed some of the parchment from his remaining supplies in his trunk, but before he had started to write to Ron, three more owls came quietly into his room. Seeing this, he put down his quill and parchment on his desk and went over to the bed where the owls were, whom where looking at Pig, who was still zooming around the room, with disdain.
He went first to the tawny owl and removed the letter from its leg. When he did this it quickly and silently flew out from his room. He saw the letter was from Hogwarts.
He went to a barn owl that was there. He removed the package it was carrying, and instead of flying off, he went to over to Hedwig's cage afterward, and she moved over to let him get some water.
The last owl was am eagle owl. It had another package. He walked over to it and untied it. Unlike the other owls it just stayed quietly on his bed, not moving, as of it was waiting for a reply.
He opened the letter to find out whom it was from. As soon as he opened the letter, he recognized the writing as belonging to his godfather Sirius.
Dear Harry,
I want to wish you a very happy birthday. After everything you went through this past year you deserve one. I do hope you are feeling better.
I am still working on s special assignment for Dumbledore, so I am going to be moving around a lot, but I still want to hear from you. I am staying with Remus now, and he also sends his best.
As always, keep in touch if anything unusual happens. I also want to hear from you even if nothing unusual happens.
I know something very exciting is going to be happening at Hogwarts this year. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to tell you what it is, but trust me you will enjoy it.
I hope you enjoy the present I sent you. It will come in very handy soon enough. Before you say I shouldn't have, I want you to realize that you are the most important person in world to me, and your happiness is very important, so enjoy.
I also might have some very good news for you shortly, but that is all I can say at this time. I also want you to write me back to tell me how you are doing and what you're plans are for the rest of the summer.
Your Godfather,
Sirius
Remus Lupin was Harry's defense against the dark arts teacher in his third year. He also helped as Harry found out that Sirius was innocent, and now was staying with Sirius.
Harry opened up the package, and what he saw literally took his breath away. It was brilliant. It was a broom, but not just any broom. No, this one was very special. Harry had never seen anything like it. It was the most remarkable thing he had ever seen. It was burgundy and gold, and extremely shiny. When Harry picked it up it glowed like crystal, it was lighter than air and stronger than steel. He looked on the handle and it read The Spitfire.
Harry, mind you, didn't know as much as his best friend Ron about racing brooms, but knew this must be the best one of the best ever made. He wanted to jump on it right now and take off, but he couldn't do it here in Privet. He had to wait until he was safe from prying Muggle eyes.
Harry scampered over to the desk and picked up the quill. He had to thank Sirius and tell him he was doing well.
Dear Sirius,
I am doing much better now, or at least I will be. I am happy to hear you and Lupin are doing ok. I want you to tell him that I miss him as well, and look forward to seeing him again.
I know you can't tell me what is going to happen at Hogwarts this year, but you are going to drive me crazy trying to figure it out. I just wanted you to know that.
I know what you said about the gift, but you really shouldn't have. This must have been very expensive and I feel guilty accepting something like this from you. I can't begin to thank you, not just for the broom, but also for being there for me. I also want you to know that you are very important to me to.
Your Godson,
Harry
He attached the letter to the eagle owl and watched it fly out of the window. When he looked over toward Hedwig, he noticed that she was asleep and the barn owl had already left.
Harry was so absorbed by the broom that he wouldn't have noticed if the Dursleys had flown out of his window.
Harry opened the letter attached to his last package. He could tell from the untidy scrawl that it was from Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts' gamekeeper. He was the first person from the magical world that Harry ever knew, and was also a close friend.
Hey Harry,
Happy birthday. How are you holding up? I hope you are having a good summer, even with that lot of Muggles you live with.
When I see you at school, I have some news for you. Speaking of Hogwarts I can't wait until the semester begins. Trust me; this will be your most enjoyable one there. Unfortunately, I can't say any more.
Hagrid
Harry ripped open the package attached to Hagrid's letter. He was praying it wasn't another biting book. In his Harry's third term at Hogwarts, Hagrid had taken over as the care of magical creatures' teacher and had issued to his students a book called 'The Monster Book of Monsters'. This book would attack anything unless you stroked it the right way. Needless to say, nobody, not even Hermione figured that out. However, to Harry's relief it wasn't a biting book.
When he opened it, he was shocked to find what he recognized as Quidditch armor, not the armor that he was using at school, but a much higher quality. He knew this must of cost Hagrid a lot of money. When he tried it on, it was almost as if it was custom made for him.
Harry heard the Dursleys stirring, so he decided to go down for breakfast and write to Ron and Hermione afterwards. Anyway, Pig obviously flew herself to exhaustion, because she was sitting next to Hedwig, with both of them having their heads tucked under their wings.
When he went down to breakfast, the Dursleys were already sitting down. The room became very quiet when he entered. When Harry sat down in the empty seat, nobody said anything to him, although Dudley kept giving him nervous glances.
Harry served himself some bacon and eggs and started to eat. He thought that that he should bring up leaving for the rest of the summer now, so that he could tell Hermione when to pick him up.
Feeling there was no better time than the present he coughed to get there attention.
"Excuse me," Harry said tentatively.
Uncle Vernon grunted, still not looking up, to acknowledge that he was listening.
"I wanted to know if I could stay with my friends. They can pick me up to pick up my thing for Hog, err, school from Dia, err, London."
Uncle Vernon looked finally looked up and looked like he was about to explode. He stammered, "those people will never set foot in my house again. After what they did last year I can't believe that you would even ask …."
Harry kept trying to interrupt him to tell him it wasn't what he thought, but he hardly had an opportunity. After Uncle Vernon screamed himself hoarse, Harry said, "No, you don't understand. The Weasleys aren't the ones who are going to pick me up."
He could tell that Uncle Vernon was a little relieved by this news, but he still looked nonplussed.
"Hermione Granger's parents will." Thinking quickly, Harry added, "They're mug … like you." Meanwhile thinking to himself that although the Grangers were indeed Muggles, they were probably nothing like the Dursleys.
Uncle Vernon sat back down looking a lot calmer than he did before. "When will they be picking you up exactly?"
Harry could tell he was really meaning to ask how they would be picking him up. "They wrote me to ask when they could pick me up."
Uncle Vernon looked at him again and asked, "how did they ask you? We haven't gotten the post yet and nobody has called."
Harry answered before they could stop him, "by owl."
Uncle Vernon gave a violent shush saying, "how many times did I tell you not to mention your abnormalities in this house."
Harry really didn't care, but felt it would be easier if they consented. After realizing that they weren't going to do that, he decided that he had to play his trump card.
"That's ok if you won't let me go," Harry said. All of the Dursleys looked at him suspiciously. "I'll have extra time to finish my letter to my godfather and tell him all about not being able to see my friends. He probably won't be too pleased to hear that …."
Harry had gotten accustomed to seeing Uncle Vernon going from purple to green to gray in the blink of an eye whenever he mentioned his godfather.
Uncle Vernon forced a smile and a laugh. It looked and sounded painful. "We never said you couldn't go. Don't be silly, of course you can go."
With that good news, Harry finished off his breakfast and sprinted upstairs. He picked up the quill again and wrote to Ron.
Dear Ron,
I received the letter from Hermione and I am writing back to her to arrange to be picked up. Let's just say that the Dursleys aren't going to be a problem.
I wanted to thank you for the subscription to Quidditch Weekly. It looks really interesting.
I am going to write to you when I get to Hermione's. I also have a big surprise for you. I know you are going to really enjoy it.
Harry
By this point Pig was already up again and zooming around the room. Harry caught him quickly again and tied the note to his leg, with considerable difficulty. Finally, after attaching the note he let go of Pig and watched him fly out of the window.
He sat down and slowly, in his most meticulous handwriting started to write to Hermione.
Dear Hermione,
I have good news. There won't be any problems my coming to your place. I have come to an understanding with the Dursleys. Let me know when you can pick me up. It would be preferable if you came as soon as possible.
I have heard from both Sirius and Ron. I sent Ron a letter telling him that we will write him to tell him when we will meet him at Diagon Alley. I am looking forward to seeing you again. I have loads to tell you.
Love
Harry
He read the letter several time to make sure it was perfect, or at least as close as he come to it. He walked over to Hedwig, who flew up to his arm.
"Do you feel up to a delivery Hedge?"
She cooed and stretched out her leg. He attached the letter to her leg, and petted her on the head before she glided out the window. He watched her fly for as long as he could see her, and continued to stare out of the window for a while.
When he finally turned around, he remembered that he had an unread letter. He went and looked at it. It was the letter from Hogwarts.
He opened the letter, expecting it to be the normal start of term letter. When he opened it he realized that this was different. When he removed the letter, he barely noticed as something else fell out of the envelope.
Mr. Harry Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Prefect for the upcoming term. You will find enclosed a Prefect's badge. When you arrive at Hogwarts at the start of term your duties, responsibilities and privileges will be explained to you.
Professor M. McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Harry was stunned. He didn't believe it. He wasn't sure that he wanted to believe it.
A Prefect?
Me?
This has to be some kind of mistake. Actually, it has to be a giant mistake. He could understand Hermione being a Prefect. He actually is expecting that she would be the one to receive this letter, not him.
After starring at the letter dumbstruck for a while, he put it down and picked up the prefects badge that was lying on his bed.
He could see why Percy was so fond of his. It was very impressive. Percy Weasley, Ron's third oldest brother, was a prefect in Harry's first year, and Head Boy in Harry's third year. After a few minutes of staring at it he stopped. This was silly. His grades weren't that good. This has to be a mistake.
Harry thought to himself, yes, when I go to Hogwarts they will tell me they made a horrible mistake, apologize, and take back the badge. That must be it. Harry threw the badge in his trunk and didn't allow himself to think about it again.
He went downstairs to have some lunch. When he was finished, he went back up stairs. He started to look through some of textbooks to do some of his homework. After he finished a particularly difficult report for his potions homework, he decided to put away his schoolwork.
He took out the photo album Hagrid gave him in his first year, the one with pictures of his parents. He looked through the book and found a couple of pictures with his parents wearing their Prefect pins and some with their Head Boy and Head Girl badges.
After looking in the book for a while, he looked up and saw Hedwig glide through the window. She had a letter attached to her leg. After removing the letter, he petted her on the head and gave her a treat.
He saw Hermione's handwriting and he opened the envelope. The letter was much shorter this time.
Dear Harry,
We will pick you up tomorrow at 7 am.
Love
Hermione
Harry went down for dinner and told them that he would be leaving at 7 am tomorrow. Uncle Vernon, not looking at him, grunted an acknowledgement. Harry went up stairs, packed up his things and went to bed. He had just had a big day, but he had no idea what he was in for though.