Notes: I wanted to apologise for making this at the end of the summer, you will see more training via flashback and all that but the summer was mostly like the first day - tons of training and sleepovers. I didn't want to bore you with the same training over and over again, you will see how much better Hermione got but this way is better than doing the same all the time.
Chapter 2: Letters, Diagon Alley, and Nutters.
Hermione made her way down the stairs of the Grimsom's house. She was dressed in her blue demin jeans and a light pink t-shirt. Rex was following after her as they made their way into the kitchen, where Mia, Harry and Sirius were having their breakfasts.
Draco had gone home two days ago due to his father summoning him. Narcissa had visited over the summer to help with the training so Hermione could catch up. Hermione was now please to say that she had become quite good at defense - she could guess any attack coming from Mia, Draco and Harry and found that she worked better with Mia in team work when it came to fighting.
"Morning," Mia greeted as she looked up and smirked at the younger girl. Hermione smiled back. Mia was dressed in her usual attire, her black jeans and a black-strapped top. Harry was dressed in green shirt with black jeans too. Sirius was flicking through the papers while Rex bounded past Hermione and moved over to Harry, who fed him a piece of bacon.
"Morning," Hermione greeted back as she moved over to the table and sat down next to Harry. She started filling her plate when the windows opened and owls flew in with letter clutched in their talons, causing Hermione to frown. "Why doesn't Dumbledore or the Ministry just place a tracking charm on the owls to find you?" Hermione asked.
"They do," Mia told her and Hermione looked at her.
"There is a barrier surrounding the house," Sirius stated and Hermione looked at him, her curiosity piqued. "It disables any tracking charms that may have been placed on anything within a couple of miles from here. Dumbledore and the Ministry won't waste their time looking in a large amount of area."
"Beside, they wouldn't be able to find us. There's a Fidelius charm placed on the house," Harry spoke up and Hermione looked at him, stunned. A Fidelius charm was a very powerful spell. It allowed a person to be hidden from the world from anyone and that person can press their nose up against the window of the house and wouldn't be able to see the person they were looking for unless the secret keeper who hold the location gave it away. The Potters had used that spell the night they died and their secret keeper had given away their location.
"Whose the secret keeper?" Hermione asked.
"Me," Mia told her and Hermione looked at her and Mia winked as she grinned. "People would find it hard to break me in order to get the secrets." Hermione smiled at her.
The owls dropped the letters on the tables before going out of the window once more as the window shut behind them. Hedwig hooted from where she was sitting up on the cabinet in the dining room.
"I know girl, here," Harry soothed as he picked up a piece of bacon, stood up and moved over to where Hedwig was and reached up to give her the bacon. She took it with a softer hoot and a nibble of his fingers before he moved back to the table and sat down.
The three of them reached for their letters and opened it. Mia scanned the contents of her lists with an arched eyebrow.
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holiday with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Who the hell is Gilderoy Lockhart?" Mia demanded as she looked at her paper. "And why do we have all of his books on this list?"
"Oh!" Hermione squealed, causing everyone to jump as they looked at her. "He's the best there is!"
"What are you on about?" Mia asked and Hermione turned to face her.
"Oh, he is the most amazing man to walk on earth. He has these good looks and he did everything he wrote in the books. He is so brave!" Harry just arched an eyebrow at Hermione, slightly disturbed to see her acting like this over an older man while Mia just shrugged at her father's puzzled look before twirling a finger around the side of her head.
"Looks like we're going to have to go down to Diagon Alley," Sirius told them and Mia nodded before arching another eyebrow.
"And we need to wear robes, interesting," she murmured under her breath before shaking her head and looking at her watch. "How about after we've all finished our breakfast?" she asked and Sirius nodded.
"That'll be okay. I'll change my image and my aura so you'll need to call me something else so that no one can pin-point I'm Sirius Black," he told them. Harry nodded while Hermione tilted her head slightly, Gilderoy Lockhart banished from her mind at the moment.
"How do you change your aura?" Hermione asked and Sirius looked at her.
"Pretty easily. I have a potion that I can take. What it does, it alters my magical aura that people can sense and changes it to someone else's so it's not completely recognisable," Sirius explained.
"Will I be able to do that?" Hermione asked and Mia nodded.
"Yeah, once you've trained yourself to be able to change your image. Draco, Harry and I can change our image on the spot without an aid of a potion or our wand. We are Metamorphmagus," Mia explained and Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "It comes with our abilities to control the elementals."
"Oh," Hermione said. "Wait, shouldn't we all change our image to stop any Aurors or Dumbledore from finding us and grabbing any adults with us?" Hermione asked and Sirius shook his head.
"No, by changing my magical aura, I'm changing my abilities, I can break through any truth potions that they give me, beside, Diagon Alley will be too busy for Aurors to be looking for us," Sirius explained. Her brain was filled with new ideas and thoughts with new questions running through her head. She was about to ask some more questions when Sirius spoke up.
"You better finish off your breakfast, we're gonna have to leave soon," Sirius told them. Hermione turned to her breakfast and finished it off with four gulps of her pumpkin juice while Sirius made his way into the potion room.
Harry, Hermione and Mia were standing in front of the fireplace, all three of them dressed in robes when Sirius came out, not looking like Sirius at all.
In his place was a dusty brunette with dark blue eyes. He wore his robes with a dark blue shirt and jeans underneath.
"Right, before we go, here's some ground rules," Sirius told them and they looked at him. "When you call me in public, my name is Mac," he told them and they nodded in understanding. "And try and not vanish on me. I don't have time to panic because you all decided to pull a disappearing act." The kids smiled, causing Sirius to shake his head in a mixture of amusement and irritation before he grabbed the pot of floo powder.
"Okay kids, lets go," Sirius told them and they moved over to the fireplace and Harry turned to Hermione.
"Have you flooed before?" he asked and got a shake of head in reply. "Okay, Mia will go first," Harry told her and Mia stepped forward and took a handful of green like dust and stepped into the fireplace.
"Diagon Alley!" she shouted before throwing the dust down and she was gone within a green flash of light.
"Okay Hermione, do you think you can try it now?" Sirius asked and Hermione nodded as she took a handful of floo dust from the pot and stepped into the fireplace.
"Diagon Alley!" she shouted before throwing the dust down and disappeared with a flash of green light. Harry looked at Sirius.
"She did say it right, right?" Harry asked and Sirius nodded.
"She said it right," Sirius agreed and Harry smiled.
"That's Hermione, gets everything right on the first go," Harry stated before grabbing a handful of dust and stepped into the fireplace. "Diagon Alley!" he shouted and disappeared with a flash of green light, leaving a laughing Sirius behind.
Harry slid out of the fireplace before rolling and standing up. He looked around and smiled when he saw Hermione and Mia standing in front of them, both brushing the ash from each other's clothes.
"Hey," Harry greeted as he moved closer and they both turned to look at him with wide smiles.
"You made it," Mia told him before they both reached over and brushed him down. There was a whooshing sound and they turned to see Mac coming out of the fireplace. He walked over to them, brushing down his clothes at the same time.
"Ready kids?" he asked and they nodded as they followed him out of the shop.
They made their way round Diagon Alley, collecting the stuff they needed for their year at Hogwarts when they came to a stop outside of Flourish and Blotts where there was a huge sign outside.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, the Magical Me!" was on it with a winking, smiling picture of a blonde haired man. Harry thought he seemed a little vain but didn't let it on to the others when he saw how happy Hermione was.
"Oh, he's here in person!" Hermione squealed and Mia looked at her, confused.
"Why are you all excited over this man? I don't see anything great about him?" Mia asked.
"He saved towns single-handed," Hermione breathed out. "He's so brave!" Mia arched an eyebrow.
"Harry saved Hogwarts and stopped Voldemort from returning just before the summer, you don't see him rushing to write a book on it, do you?" Mia asked and Hermione waved her hand, dismissingly.
"That's like nothing compared to what Gilderoy Lockhart has done," she informed Mia before stepping in the building, leaving Harry taken aback before he looked at Sirius and Mia.
"Oh, I'm guessing this Lockhart person had stopped Voldemort on a countless time?" Harry asked sarcastically before following Hermione in. Mia shook her head and Sirius stifled his laughter.
The bookshop was rather cramped due to all the females that were in the shops. They were all lining up near a large table near the end. Harry could see the man, who was on the poster outside, standing behind the table in the flesh.
"His hair is a bit shiny, isn't it?" Harry asked and Mia covered her mouth to muffle her laughers while Hermione glared at him.
"It's a natural gloss," Hermione shot him before stepping forward and Harry arched an eyebrow.
"And I get the feeling that she just insulted me," Harry told Mia, who bit the sleeves of her robes while looking away as tears of mirth came to her eyes.
"Are you trying to kill her with laugher?" Sirius hissed to Harry, who shrugged.
"Not my fault the man is a little…shiny," Harry muttered, squinting his eyes at the man. "Though I think I need my eyes checked again, he seem to be…glittering," Harry took of his glasses and rubbed them with the hem of his t-shirt before placing it back on his eyes then took them off again.
"Harry, he is glittery," Mia told him and Harry placed his glasses back on before looking at his sister with disgust clear on his face.
"Bloody hell, what the world coming to?" he demanded before looking at the line when he spotted a familiar red head. "Ron?" Harry called and Ron spun around. When his blue eyes landed on Harry, his face spilt into a wide grin as he moved over to him.
"Hey Mate, I was wondering if I was going to see you today," Ron told him before looking at Mia. "Hey Mia," he greeted and Mia grinned back as Hermione moved over to them with the two adults that Harry and Mia had seen at the train station before the summer.
"Everyone, these are my parents, Stuart and Jane Granger," Hermione told them. They had arranged at the beginning of the summer to meet up in Diagon Alley so they all could meet up with each other.
They had been waiting at the back of the bookstore, browsing some books when their daughter had came up to get them and had explained to her how the bartender Tom had allowed them through into Diagon Alley so they could meet up with their daughter.
"Mum, dad, this is Harry Potter, Mia Black, Ron Weasley, my friends. This is Mac, he is our chaperones today," Hermione explained and they nodded as they reached out and took Sirius' hand and shook it.
They had been warned that Sirius would be in a disguise so that no one would know it was him and try and take Harry and Mia away from him.
"It is nice to meet you," Stuart told him and Sirius smiled.
"Nice to meet you too, it was no problem bringing the kids down. Sirius would have come himself but because of everything…" he trailed off and Jane waved a hand.
"Understandable, Hermione did say that the Wizarding World could be rather…rash when they wanted to be," Jane told him. Mia snorted in agreement, causing them to look at her.
"Sorry," she apologised as a group of red heads walked over to them.
"Ronald, what have I told you about walking off?" the rather plump red haired female demanded and Ron smiled, sheepish.
"Sorry mom," Ron told her before turning the rest. "This is Harry Potter, Mia Black, Hermione Granger, Hermione's parents, Stuart and Jane and this Mac, Harry and Mia's chaperones," Ron told the group before turning to the gang. "Everyone, this is my mom, Molly, my dad, Arthur and my little sister, Ginny. You know the twins."
"Hey boys!" Mia greeted with a wave and the twins waved back.
"Ready for another year at Hogwarts?" Fred asked and George elbowed him in the side.
"Of course she is ready, she is, after all the queen of pranks," George scolded him, causing Mia to laugh.
"Nice to know that you two have me in a high pedestal, even though I haven't even done any pranking last year to claim it," she teased them and they grinned back at her.
"We have a feeling you will have lots of reason to prank this year," Fred told her, leaving everyone looking at them, curious.
Harry turned to Ginny and smiled at her.
"This your first year at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, noticing the books in the cauldron that she was carrying. He got a bright red blush and a stammer in return, causing Hermione to narrow her eyes at the red haired girl. Harry and Ron looked on in amusement while Mia just arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah, last one of the Weasleys, so far, to head off to Hogwarts," Ron explained for his star-struck sister before they turned around when they heard a loud voice.
"Gather around everybody!" a male voice shouted and they saw Gilderoy Lockhart holding his arms up with a bright smile on his face, which had a lot of the witches, sans Mia, swooning.
Ron and Mia just looked around them in wariness and a hint of disgust on their face while Harry rolled his eyes, obviously bored with the man in front of them.
"Yes, it is I, Gilderoy Lockhart. I am here to sign books and to give away copies of my newest book - Gilderoy Lockhart, Magical Me." He lifted one the books and showed it to everyone as a photographer took a picture for the Daily Prophet.
Gilderoy looked around when his eyes landed on Harry and his eyes flickered over to his scar that was showing brilliantly through Harry's bangs. Harry's eyes widened when understanding dawned on him and a bunch of women blocked Gilderoy's view of Harry, giving Mia the chance she needed.
"Duck," Mia hissed as she pulled Harry down and Harry knelt down close to ground while Lockhart looked around.
"Didn't I see Harry Potter?" Lockhart asked, looking confused. Everyone else just looked around too while Hermione was frowning, looking around for Harry.
"Sorry, think you might be a bit mistaken," Mia called at him and he nodded as he shook his head before smiling brightly.
"Nothing about it, I'm sure that I will see Harry Potter over Hogwarts this year," he told him, causing Mia to arch an eyebrow.
"How do you mean?" One of the female asked in an breathless voice and Gilderoy winked at her before flashing her his most charming smile, which caused her to nearly faint.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm the new Defence Against the Dark Art teacher!" Lockhart informed them. All the women cheered while all the girls sighed and swooned over him while Harry buried his face into his hands.
"Oh hell," he muttered. He was going to have to deal with the idiot for an entire year!
"What the hell is going on?" Sirius muttered before shaking his head before looking at his daughter, who was eyeing Lockhart with a mixture of disgust and annoyance.
"Of course we would get that vain prick arrogant pathetic excuse of a man for a teacher," she muttered out before shaking her head and walking off. Harry stood back up next to Sirius after making sure that no one was looking in his direction.
"She's mad," Harry muttered as he rolled his shoulders before shaking his head. "And I have to agree with her. The thought of dealing with that man for the rest of the year…" he trailed off and fear filled his green eyes.
Confused, Sirius turned and saw Hermione bearing down on Harry with fire behind her eyes.
"What did you think you were doing hiding from Lockhart?" she hissed and Harry arched an eyebrow.
"Excuse me if I don't want to associate myself with that fraud!" Harry hissed.
"He's not a fraud!" Hermione hissed back. "He wrote all those books!"
"Exactly, he wrote the books. I don't see anyone coming forward and saying that they were witnesses to him doing these things," Harry shot back and Hermione arched an eyebrow.
"No one was there to witness to defeat Voldemort yet they still call you the boy who lived," Hermione shot back at him and Harry glared at her.
"At least I'm not flaunting around like that flaming idiot!" Harry snapped and Sirius placed himself between the two kids, lifting his hands into a T-shape.
"Oi, time out!" he exclaimed before rubbing his forehead. "Hermione, Harry didn't want to be plastered over the papers and I'm not surprised. He is allowed to decide if he wants to be associated with Lockhart or not," he informed Hermione before holding up his hand. "It's his choice," he repeated, firmly before turning to face Harry. "And Hermione has a right to believe in whoever she wants to believe in," Sirius informed Harry, who nodded. Hermione just huffed before walking off, leaving Harry rolling his eyes.
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered with a shake of his head while Sirius just sighed.
"Too much like Lily, she is," Sirius muttered before Harry ducked around Sirius, hiding behind him as Lockhart walked by with his many adoring fans.
"Something tells me I'm not going to live through Hogwarts this year," Harry informed Sirius. They moved away and made their way toward the exit when he stopped in his tracks. Someone stepped into the shop. He moved over to the person.
"Lucius Malfoy," Harry stated as he came to a stop in front of a long blonde haired man.
"Harry Potter," Lucius sneered as he looked down at him. "Wrecking havoc just like your father," he muttered and Harry arched an eyebrow.
"And you would know," Harry stated, causing Lucius to glare at him in return.
"Oh lookie here, Mr Malfoy Senior out on the town. Hell must have frozen over if he is gracing us with his presence," Mia stated as she walked over to them.
"Mind your manners young lady," Lucius snapped.
"Mind your manners old man. You're not my father therefore you can't tell me what to do," she retorted.
"Just like your mother you are," Lucius snipped and Mia grinned.
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," she replied.
"Shouldn't you be with your guardians?" Lucius demanded.
"Shouldn't you be getting a life?" Mia mocked back.
The Weasley family, Sirius and the Grangers moved forward to where Harry and Mia were facing off with Lucius Malfoy when a tall black haired female stood up with a smaller blonde haired male.
"Potter," Malfoy greeted and Harry glared back.
"Malfoy," Harry snipped back.
"Now, now, play nice boys," Lucius told them before looking over at the rest of the gang who showed up. "No need to guess who you all are, red hair, vacant expressions, hand me down rags," he picked up one of the book in Ginny's caldron before placing it back in. "…you must be the Weasleys," Lucius told them and Arthur stepped forward.
"Lucius," he greeted, coldly, and Lucius smirked before he looked down at Hermione and his eyebrow raised slightly.
"And you must be Hermione Granger, the muggle born," Lucius stated and Harry stepped in front of her.
"And she has nothing to do with you," Harry replied.
"Very protective of her, aren't you?" Lucius asked and Harry lifted his chin.
"With the way you treat them?" Harry asked with a snort. "Don't know why you are surprised."
"What is it with you lot and Muggle-borns?" Lucius demanded and Mia smirked.
"Hey, you know the rules Malfoy. You push us, we'll shove you right back," Mia informed him before shrugging. "Beside, they're better than you guys - they actually do what it takes to prevent things from happening unlike some people I could mention," she informed him.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Malfoy asked and Mia arched an eyebrow.
"Like what I said. In the muggle world they actually get off their ass and do what it takes to bring someone down, while in this world they bury their heads in the sands and hope it passes."
Malfoy made toward her when Lucius' cane snapped around, preventing Malfoy from moving any further.
"Time to go, I believe," Lucius told him before grabbing Malfoy's shoulder. He spun his son around while helping his wife out of the shop. Mia stepped forward so that she and Draco could whisper to each other without anyone else hearing them.
"Good going," Draco whispered to Mia before walking off, leaving Mia hiding a smirk.
"Well," Sirius started and everyone looked at him. "I think I should get the kids back home after all the excitement they had today." Harry and Mia nodded while Sirius looked at Stuart and Jane Granger. "Do you wish to take Hermione back home with you or shall I take her back with us?" Sirius asked.
"We'll take her home with us. I'm sure she will want to collect the rest of her belongings for Hogwarts. Just bring her stuff with you at the train station and we'll sort out what she's to take with her and for us to take home with us," Jane told him and Sirius nodded as he shook their hands.
"It was very nice to meet you," Sirius told them and they nodded.
"It was nice to meet you too, Mac," they told him. Hermione hugged Mia and gave Harry a big hug before pulling away; she smiled slightly when she saw Ginny's jealous look before moving over next to her parents before they walked off.
"See you at the train station?" Harry asked Ron, who nodded in reply.
"Yep, see you then," Ron told them as Harry, Mia and Sirius made their way over to Tom's place so they could use the floo to get home. Sirius shrunk their books and equipment and placed them into his pocket.
"That was eventful," Sirius, told them as he led the way into the Tom's bar and they headed in the backroom where the fireplace was.
"Oh yeah, we find out that Hermione has this ridiculous crush on an complete fraud, only to find out that said fraud is now our teacher at Hogwarts this year. Great day," Mia muttered as she grabbed some floo power and threw it into the fireplace. "Grimsom's place!" she snapped and disappeared, leaving Harry and Sirius looking at each other.
"And we're in for hell tonight," Harry informed Sirius before grabbing his handful of floo powder and called his destination before he disappeared in a green flash.
Harry coughed when he came tumbling out of his fireplace in his bedroom and let out a sigh as he moved over toward his bed only to stop short when he saw that it was already occupied.
A house elf was bouncing on his bed. Harry would see that he had slightly pointed ears and was wearing a pillowcase as clothing. The house elf stopped bouncing when it realised that it had an audience and jumped off the bed.
"Harry Potter," it breathed out and Harry arched an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" he asked.
"Dobby, sir, Dobby the House Elf," Dobby introduced himself and Harry nodded.
"Nice to meet you but not to be rude, what are you doing in my bedroom?" Harry asked and Dobby pulled at the bottom of his pillowcase.
"Dobby came to warn Harry Potter not to go back to Hogwarts this year," Dobby explained and Harry shook his head.
"I'm sorry, what?" Harry asked.
"It's too dangerous for Harry Potter to be at Hogwarts, he must not go!" Dobby pleaded.
"Dobby, I have to go. It's where I learn magic," Harry told him and Dobby shook his head.
"Harry Potter must not go to Hogwarts, too much danger rises there!" he exclaimed only to stop when there was a clatter outside of Harry's room. Harry's snapped around to face the door before he looked back to where Dobby had been standing only to see that he had gone, leaving Harry alone and confused.
"What the hell was that all about?" Harry muttered himself.
TBC