Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

There are some people in life that will never be considered normal by any standards. In fact, these are the people whom most would believe to be abnormal or weird. This was true even in the wizarding world, where weird and abnormal were everyday occurrences. Harry Potter was one of these people. His appearance was similar to that of every other fifteen year old boy. The only outward sign that Harry was different was the scar on his forehead shaped like a bolt of lightening. He had received it on Halloween, the year he turned one. A powerful Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, had tried to kill him after murdering his parents, James and Lily Potter. The curse meant to kill Harry had rebounded back onto Voldemort, causing many to believe that Harry had killed the most feared Dark Lord in history! In reality, the reflected curse had cast Voldemort out of his body, leaving him almost powerless. There had been no choice but to flee, searching for a way to regain what he had lost. Harry became known as The-Boy-Who-Lived; the saviour of the wizarding world, famous for being the only person to survive being his with the Killing Curse. Despite this, he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, the most anti-magic muggles on the face of the planet.

Aunt Petunia was Lily's sister, but so unlike her. She abhorred Harry and anything to do with her sister or the wizarding world. Her husband, Vernon, was no better. They kept Harry as a slave for their son, Dudley. By the end of his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry they had had enough. Harry had accidently inflated Vernon's sister, running out of the house while she gently floated against the ceiling. They had sent Harry to an orphanage where, truth be told, he was much happier. He had just completed his fourth year at Hogwarts, competing in the Triwizard Tournament, which ended in the return of Lord Voldemort and the death of another Hogwarts student, Cedric Diggory.

Harry felt guilty; it had been his idea for the two of them to take the cup together and he had survived whilst Cedric had died. And to cap it all off, no one believed him. Well, some people did, but most of the wizarding population believed Fudge when he denied Voldemort's return.

After everything that had happened it was no wonder that Harry regularly woke in the middle of the night screaming, drenched in cold sweat, with the words 'kill the spare' haunting him. His abrupt returns to consciousness had the unfortunate side effect of disturbing his roommate, Jason Smith, Harry's best friend at the "Home". Such was the case this particular twilight.

Jason woke to the sound of thrashing combined with low moans and pleads of, _"No…Please… I'm sorry Cedric, I didn't know…"_

"Hey Harry. Mate, wake up, you're dreaming." When that didn't work Jason took hold of his pillow and threw it at Harry's head, waking him up.

Harry sat bolt upright, breathing heavily.

"Mate, you've got to get over this. I don't know the whole story but from what you've said, it was an accident. You didn't kill Cedric!" Jason said, as though he could force Harry to believe him.

"I know, but it was still my idea, which means that I'm partially responsible. Can we change the subject?"

"Sure. What do you want to talk about this fine middle-of-the-night?"

"What time is it?" Harry asked, registering that it was, indeed, the middle of the night.

"About 2.30 on the 31st of July. Happy Birthday mate!"

"Thanks Jase. Hey, what time are we on tomorrow?" Harry and Jason were part of a band in the orphanage. Harry played the drums, Jason was lead guitar and vocals and another boy their age, Brad, played the bass. They were doing a gig at a fair held in the orphanage's grounds to raise funds for new facilities.

"Its today at 11.30. Then we get first pick at the barbeque!"

"And then we get to go on the rides free of charge!"

"Bingo. Hey, open the window, there are some owls that want to come in," Jason said, pointing. After sharing a room with Harry for the last two summers, Jason was used to owl post, though they had both had a good laugh over the number of stamps Mrs Weasley put on the envelope when she had written to the manager to check that Harry was allowed to stay with the Weasley's for the Quiddich World Cup.

After Harry opened the window the owls settled themselves on the bed, waiting to be relieved of their duties. Jason tended to Hedwig, who was used to the muggle teenager and gave him an affectionate nip while she waited for the intruders to vacate her water dish.

Hedwig had bought a letter and a present from Hermione, which Harry opened first. It consisted of a box of (sugar-free) sweets and a book about World Famous Seekers. After reading the blurb of the book, Harry turned to the letter.

"_Dear Harry,_

_How are you? I hope you're not leaving all of your homework until the last minute, as usual. You have all your books and plenty of time this year so there's no excuse! I won't help you. Or Ron._

_Everything here is the same as usual really. I'm going away on your birthday but I don't know where. All I'm told is that it's a surprise._

_Anyway, I hope you have a good birthday. I saw the book and thought of you. You might even read it!_

_And I know you'll bottle everything up and insist that you're fine so I'm not going to push, but when you want to talk I'm here._

_Love, Hermione."_

Harry felt a rush of gratitude towards his friend. Even just a year ago she would have pushed until he told her everything, no matter how frustrated he became with her in the meantime.

Not wanting Jason to read the letter, Harry put it back into the envelope and moved onto Ron's gift and letter. The present contained some of Mrs Weasley's home-made fudge, some samples of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes new products, an hour-glass filled with white sand and another book. Puzzled, Harry turned to his friend's letter, confused by the un-Ron-like gift.

"_Hi mate,_

_How you doing? I'm ok. Fred and George seem to have come into a bit of money recently and bought me some decent new dress robes. They also bought something for everyone else and have spent the summer creating new pranks, some of which they've sent you. When I asked them about it your name was briefly mentioned. What do you know?_

_Oh, right, presents. The hourglass will help you get to sleep. It's a bit like that counting cows thing. Watch it when you're in bed, it's supposed to relax you and help you fall asleep! I figured it might help. You know… Anyway, carrying on, the book is about famous Witches and Wizards. Take a look on page 53! I hope you're doing ok. See you soon,_

_Ron._

_P.S. Hermione's threatened to make me do my own homework. Help!"_

Harry smiled at Ron's parting comment, having predicted such a response. He was also appreciative of the way Ron tactfully helped him with the whole Cedric situation. It felt good knowing that his friends were there for him. He flipped to page 53 as Ron told him to and was horrified to find himself staring back at him. Quickly shutting the book, he moved onto the package delivered by the Tawny owl from Hogwarts. This consisted of a few photos of Harry himself and the Hungarian Horntail and a big bar of Honeydukes chocolate.

"Cool photos!" Jason exclaimed, examining the movement carefully.

Harry panicked, desperately attempting to think of a plausible explanation for photos of a moving dragon.

"Your friend must be good with a computer," the muggle continued. "The combination of Photoshop and holographic paper makes it look real!"

"I know," Harry replied, closing his eyes in relief. Deciding that the best thing to do was to distract his friend until the photos were safely hidden, Harry focused his attention on the last, rather large, package, which had been delivered by the barn owl. He opened the envelope first, just in case, and found two letters in the envelope. He picked up the first one and read,

"_Dear Harry,_

_Sorry I had to leave so soon, you've no idea how much I wanted to stay. I'm safe now, though I probably shouldn't tell you where. At risk of repeating what everyone else has said, Diggory's death wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself when the real blame lies with Voldemort and Wormtail. I know I've been doing the same thing, but there was no way you could've known about Moody._

_I hope you like your present; it's from both us Marauders. There's more to come, but you'll get it later. Take care,_

_Snuffles."_

Realisation dawned and Harry turned to the other letter, knowing who it was from.

"_Dear Harry,_

_I hope you don't mind me writing to you, your Godfather said it would be alright. Congratulations about winning the Triwizard Tournament, although it probably doesn't seem like a good thing at the moment. Your gift is from both of us, though it was Snuffle's idea, I merely provided the materials. Take care,_

_Moony."_

Curious, Harry turned to the parcel. Inside were two leather-bound books. The first was a book of defensive spells, which dealt with both dark creatures and dark witches and wizards. Harry flipped through the book, noting the colour illustrations and how the spells got progressively harder. He was pleased to note that the Patronus Charm was over halfway through the book.

Harry turned to the second book, expecting it to be similar to the first. Instead, he found that it was a photo album, filled with pictures of his parents, from before Hogwarts through to the Halloween that they died. Also included were some photos of the Marauders and Snape being pranked! It was defiantly one of the best presents Harry had ever received, but then, that wasn't really hard after growing up with the Dursley's.

"Hey mate," said Jason, breaking Harry out of his revere. "Happy birthday!" With that, Jason handed him a present, which contained a set of carbon drumsticks. Harry grinned. He had a habit of snapping and fraying wooden ones.

"Don't want me to hit someone with half a drumstick later then?" he asked mischievously.

"No I don't. Speaking of tomorrow, well today, we ought to get some sleep. See you later," Jason sighed, moving back to his bed and lying down with his back to Harry.

"Night Jase," Harry replied, turning the hourglass over and watching the sand fall. He fell asleep almost immediately, and slept through until morning with no more nightmares.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast and shower, Harry was out on stage helping to set up the amps and the microphones. From where he was standing Harry could see the fair employees putting the finishing touches to the rides and stalls that were scattered around the Home's grounds.

At 11:00 the band was sent inside to get ready, whilst the visitors were shown to their seats, which were really just blankets on the ground.

That was why he didn't see Remus, Sirius (as Snuffles), Hermione and the Weasleys (bar Percy) enter the grounds. They allowed themselves to be herded towards the stage, where they sat under a tree to one side. No one noticed anything unusual about them (they were all dressed in muggle clothes) or about the Tabby cat walking behind the tree.

If they had, they might have noticed that it was a woman that emerged from behind the tree, not a cat.

Minerva McGonagall made her way over and sat beside her former colleague.

"How's he been?" There was no need to ask who 'he' was.

"Well enough. He seems to have problems sleeping, which is no great surprise, but during the day he throws himself into practise and seems perfectly cheerful. He doesn't seem to have experienced any pain in his scar, he has friends and the people are certainly better than the Dursleys.

At the mention of Harry's relatives, Sirius let out a low growl and Molly Weasley got a closed off, tight-lipped look.

"I've never met them. What are they like?" Remus asked.

He was saved the reply by Marie, the manager of the home, who announced that the band was ready to perform.


	2. Chapter 2

All of the band members were nervous as they walked onto the stage. This was the largest, most public performance they had ever given, and they were terrified. Jason and Brad had their lucky plectrums whilst Harry had his new drumsticks, which he had tested, and he was wearing contact lenses because he knew from experience that his glasses fell off when he drummed. He felt a flash of panic when he wondered what the first song was, but once he was sitting down, ready to play he found he remembered easily. They played ten songs including 'Ghostbusters' and 'The Boys are Back'.

After the last song was finished, Harry and the others stumbled off-stage towards the barbeque amid deafening applause. The band had been a big hit, but they were all completely knackered. By this time, Harry had forgotten about the group and all he wanted to do was eat and collapse.

Harry and Jason made their way over to the barbeque whilst Marie informed the crowds about the layout and activities for the rest of the day. They each grabbed a couple of Hotdogs and a bottle of water and went to look for somewhere to sit.

"Hey, how about under a tree somewhere. That way we'll be able to cool down and hopefully avoid the crowds!" Jason said.

"What you mean is that you don't want Kim to find us," Harry replied, smiling at the thought that his friend was scared of his own sister.

"That girl is evil incarnate!" protested Jason.

"Jase, she's five years old. She acts like every other five year old. Besides, she's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Jason repeated incredulously. "You try being woken up on Christmas day by being jumped on."

'I was' thought Harry, remembering Dobby the House-Elf and his gift of odd, hand-knitted socks.

They reached the tree and sat down, Harry with his back against the trunk. Neither spoke for a while at they devoured their hot-dogs.

"How is this fair," a familiar voice interrupted the boy's lunch. "We come all this way to see our best friend and he get's food before the rest of us!"

"Honestly Ron! Is food all you ever think about?" The sentence was so well used that Harry mouthed the words as they were said.

"No. Sometimes I think about Quiddich!"

"I hate to interrupt, but what are you both doing here?" Harry asked, a grin on his face.

"Charming! We've come to surprise you, but if you don't want us here..." Ron made as if to leave.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. This is fantastic!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, Happy Birthday!" said Ron, brushing Harry's explanation aside.

"Thanks Ron. And thanks for the present. You too Hermione."

"It was nothing," she replied, sitting down and pulling Ron with her.

"The others don't know where we are," she explained, seeing Harry's questioning look.

"So you're Ron and you're Hermione. Nice to meet you," Jason said, reminding the three that he was there.

"Oh right," Harry said, realising that no introductions had been made. "Ron, Hermione, this is Jason Smith. Jase, these are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Oh and the little girl hiding behind Jason is Kim."

"Hello," The little girl grinned shyly, before locking her arms around the older boy's neck and burying her head in his shoulder.

"Kim being shy? That's a first!" exclaimed Jason, pulling her onto his lap.

"Ron! What are you… Harry! Dude! That was like, totally awesome!" Fred's voice startled the group as he moved over to Harry and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Gnarly!" seconded George, elbowing his twin out of the way so he could ruffle Harry's hair.

"Thanks you two, I'm glad you liked it. Now if you could let go I might be able to play again sometime."

The second George let go and backed off a bit, Harry was knocked sideways by a big black blur.

"Snuffles! Eew, stop it! Get off me!" Harry protested, pushing the big dog off himself.

"Big doggie," giggled Kim, moving closer to pat Snuffles.

"Why on earth is that thing called Snuffles? Surly The Hulk would be more appropriate?" Jason asked, confused.

"Because he makes a snuffling sound when he tries to laugh." The answer came from someone standing behind Jason.

"Hi Professor Lupin," said Harry, brushing himself off.

"I'm not your teacher anymore Harry. Call me Remus or Moony. I hate Professor Lupin."

Remus Lupin stood with the rest of the Weasleys, laughing at Snuffle's antics with the 5-year-old.

They were rolling around and chasing each other, much to everyone else's amusement.

"It's hard to tell which one's the kid," said Bill, just loud enough for Sirius to hear. The dog gave him an offended look before sitting down with his back to Bill, who had just noticed Jason.

"Sorry," said Harry, seeing where he was looking. "This is Jason Smith and that's his sister, Kimberly. Guys, this is Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin and his dog, Snuffles." Harry pointed at each person as he introduced them.

"So, not that I mind but what are you all doing here?" Harry asked, leaning back against the tree.

"You remember that we said that there was another part to your present?" replied Moony.

Harry nodded as the conversation caught Snuffle's attention and he trotted over, sitting beside Harry.

"Well it turns out that…" Lupin broke off when Jason stood and picked up Kim.

"She wants to go on rides. I'll meet you later at the Dodge-ums!" he told Harry.

"See you there!" When everyone turned to look at him, Harry explained, "We have a bet going about who's better on the Dodge-ums."

The group, except Hermione, continued to look blank so Harry continued, "It's a ride at the fair. You know what? I'll show you later."

"Right. Well, as I was saying, it turns out that Dumbledore has a holiday home in Italy and he's agreed to lend it to me, Snuffles, Molly and Arthur for the rest of the summer. It's also fully warded so while we're there, he'll put the wards up around here," said Remus.

"That is, if you want to come," added Molly with a smile.

"Of course I want to come! Do you even need to ask?" Harry asked rhetorically, grinning from ear to ear.

"We thought that might be the answer. Everything is arranged with the manager. We'll be leaving tonight by Portkey. You'll need to bring all your things," explained Arthur.

Only Sirius noticed the panic that flashed across Harry's face at the mention of using a Portkey, before it was hidden. He made a mental note to talk to Harry about it once they arrived at Dumbledore's Villa.

"Looking forward to Quiddich again this year? It's going to be tough. There's always more pressure when you're the defending champions, and you've had a whole year off," Charlie sympathised, knowing from experience just how much pressure was put on the Seekers.

"You had to remind me? It's going to be even harder seeing as Oliver left year before last," Harry explained.

"What position did he play?" queried Arthur.

"Keeper. We'll need tryouts to find someone else."

"He seemed good when I watched. And Quiddich was all he ever seemed to talk about. What's he doing now? Do you know?" Remus asked, recalling Wood.

"He's been signed to Puddlemere United. I don't know how often he plays but he's going to be hard to replace," said Harry.

"All you lot ever seem to talk about is Quiddich," grumbled Hermione. "Like last year, you went on and on about that Wonkey Faint thing."

At this Harry and Charlie cracked up while Fred, George, Ron and Bill looked horrified and the others looked blank.

"It's a Wronski Feint and the reason I was 'going on' about it was because Oliver never fully described it. That and after seeing Krum do it at the World Cup I really wanted to try it!" Harry said, grinning at the thought of Malfoy getting ploughed.

None of the adults, except Sirius, looked happy about this, the thought of Harry plummeting towards the ground at high speed terrifying, though if they knew details of previous escapades they might not be as worried.

"So are we going to take advantage of the free rides then?" Hermione asked, getting to her feet and waiting impatiently for the others to follow.

The group was approaching the rides when Ron turned to Harry.

"How come you never mentioned that you play the drums?" he demanded of his friend.

"I dunno. It just never seemed to come up. I mean, I never really played at the Dursley's, it was more something I took up when I came here," he explained.

Again, the feeling of carefully contained rage travelled through the group at the mention of Harry's relatives, a reaction that didn't fit with what Sirius knew of the situation.

"Do they miss those bars at all? 'Cause we can take them back if they do," suggested Fred, cracking an evil grin.

Harry laughed, saying "I don't think they'd appreciate it, but since there's nothing they can do, I say go for it!"

"What bars are you talking about?" asked Lupin.

"Oh nothing important. They were just something I took with me to the Burrow at the beginning of Second Year," Harry explained, not willing to mention that he had been locked in his room by his relatives.

By this time they'd reached the fairground where everyone but Harry and Hermione were looking around in wonder.

"Are there waltzers here?" Hermione asked, almost innocently.

"What are waltzers?" Ron asked.

"You like waltzers? Hermione, I reckon you've been spending too much time around me and Ron," said Harry, stunned.

"No, I've always liked waltzers. Rollercoasters too," she added, grinning. "And to answer your question, Ron, a waltzer is a ride. But if you want to know what it's like, you'll have to go on it!"

Harry led them over to the ride in question, which had just finished. Ron, Harry and Hermione went in one car while Charlie, Ginny and Bill went in another and Fred and George in a third, all totally unprepared for what was to come.

By the time they exited the ride, Ginny was looking slightly unwell, as was Ron. Those who hadn't gone on the ride were looking worried and slightly smug as they hadn't dared to go on the ride.

"Where next?" Harry asked, grinning as Ron turned whiter.

"Don't you have to meet Jason?"

"Not for half an hour," he said. "There is a rollercoaster, or a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a ghost train…" Harry trailed off as he and Hermione silently agreed to go on rides as and when they got to them.

By 5 o'clock the visitors had started to leave and Harry and Hermione had taken the Weasleys on most of the rides (they were all laughing on the ghost train!) and Harry had lost his bet against Jason. After clearing away the sound system, Harry went up to his room to pack, not noticing that he was being followed by Snuffles.

"Are you going to tell me the truth about the bars?" Sirius asked, changing back to human as Harry pulled his trunk out from under his bed.

"Jeez, Sirius! You need to learn to make some noise when you enter a room," Harry complained, startled. "What did you think of the music?"

"It was good. I never knew you played. Leaving the Dursley's seems to have been good for you."

In mentioning Harry's relatives Sirius was reminded about the bars.

"Hey! No changing the subject! I want to hear the truth about the bars Fred, or was it George? mentioned."

"It was Fred and if, IF, I tell you, you have to promise not to over-react and not to do anything about it!"

"Ok, I promise," Sirius said slowly, becoming worried.

"They were on my window the summer before second year, after my Uncle found out that we aren't allowed to do magic outside school."

"How did he find out? And why put bars on the window?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Dobby the House-elf used a hover charm on Aunt Petunia's pudding when they had visitors so I got a warning from the Improper Use of Magic office. Uncle Vernon was so happy with that note. He decided that he wasn't going to let me go back to Hogwarts, so he put the bars on my window, locked me in my room and gave me food through a cat-flap," Harry explained, avoiding Sirius' eye.

Sirius' voice was flat and carefully neutral when he asked his next questions.

"So how did Fred get them? And why was there a House-elf at Privet Drive?"

"Fred, George and Ron came to get me in Mr Weasley's flying Ford Anglia. They ripped the bars off the window to get me out. And Dobby was trying to stop me from going back to Hogwarts because Voldemort was trying to re-open the Chamber of Secrets," Harry explained, finishing his packing.

"The Chamber of Secrets doesn't exist. It never showed up on the Map and no-one else ever found it. Not even Dumbledore!" Sirius retaliated, not noticing his godson's sceptical expression.

"So where is… wherever we're going?" Harry asked, changing the subject more effectively than before.

"I'll tell you when we get there, just in case. You ready?" Sirius stood up and transformed, just before the door opened and Jason walked in. Boy and dog exchanged a look, clearly saying that they had cut it very close.

"You want a hand taking that down?" Jason asked, missing the exchange.

"Cheers!"

They carried Hedwig's cage and Harry's trunk down to where everyone was waiting, ready to say goodbye.

"Try not to kill Kim," Harry said, grinning at the dawning look of horror on his friend's face, as he realised that there would be no one to help wrangle his sister.

"Harry no go!" yelled Kim, running up to Harry and hugging his leg.

"I have to go sooner or later. Don't wind your brother up and stay away from trees, ok?" Harry asked, hugging her before handing the child to Jason.

"See you next summer!"


	3. Chapter 3

The group quickly left the grounds of the orphanage and followed the wall around to a deserted ally.

"Ok everyone, gather round," Mr Weasley said, motioning everybody close.

Sirius quickly transformed, touching the offered book. They all felt the tug behind their navels, but only Sirius and Remus noticed the look of pure panic on Harry's face as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut as the portkey was activated.

Due to the sheer number of them, all but Arthur fell over when they reached their destination.

"Ok you lot. Follow me," Arthur said, charming Harry's trunk to float along behind him.

"You go ahead Arthur. Remus and I want to talk to Harry for a few minutes," Sirius said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder so that he couldn't leave.

Ron and Harry exchanged looks, knowing that phrase never led to good things.

"OK. Come on." Arthur led the group away, leaving Harry, Sirius and Remus standing on a beach.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, partially out of curiosity and partly hoping to ward off whatever lecture was coming.

"We're in Italy, on Dumbledore's private beach. Now, why were you so panicked about using the portkey?" Remus asked, not allowing Harry to change the subject.

"The Third Task. The cup was a portkey. That was the last time I used one," Harry explained, looking anywhere but at the remaining Marauderers, who were silently kicking themselves due to their own stupidity.

"Sorry, we weren't thinking," Sirius apologised, knowing it wouldn't make a difference.

"It's ok. I'm a lot less jumpy than I was and I need to get used to it seeing as I can't Apperate and I hate floo even more. Was that all you wanted to talk about?" Harry asked, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"What happened with the Dursleys?"

"They'd had enough of everything. Me, owls, pranks, Hogwarts. And then there was that whole Aunt Marge thing, as well as everything from previous years." Realising he'd left himself open for questioning about his first 2 years, he quickly amended, "You know, Dobby, Quiddich and Hagrid!"

"What does Marge have to do with anything?" Remus asked, confused.

"Uncle Vernon's sister, Aunt Marge was laying into my parents and I got really mad and she um… blew up, like a balloon," Harry explained. "I didn't mean to do it but Uncle Vernon got really upset!"

"And they didn't realise that it was all her fault?" Sirius's eyes were wide as he asked.

"No," Harry snorted, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Muggles," growled Sirius, whilst Lupin just stood there shaking his head, unconvinced about Harry's explanation.

"Anything left to discuss?" Harry asked, anxious to leave the current conversation behind.

"Why do you avoid mentioning your first two years at Hogwarts around us?"

Harry silently cursed, wishing that Remus wasn't so damn observant.

"No real reason." Harry worked hard to keep his voice innocent. "Nothing of great interest really happened."

"What was with that comment about climbing trees?" Sirius' change of subject completely derailed both Harry and Moony.

"What comment?"

"You told… Kim?... not to climb any trees. Why?"

"Your mind works in strange ways Padfoot!" Lupin laughed, turning to Harry and ushering him towards the Villa.

"Kim can climb up trees but not down, so I always have to go up after her."

"Why doesn't her brother get her down?" Lupin wondered.

"He's scared of heights!"

"So how are you?" Sirius suddenly changed the subject. This tactic meant that Harry had no time to think up a lie and had no choice but to tell the remaining Marauders the truth.

"Tired." Harry realised what he had said too late.

"Why?"

"How much do you already know?" Harry retaliated.

"We know you've been having nightmares, and I could probably guess what about, but I'm not totally sure," replied Sirius, glad that Harry was beginning to open up.

"The Third Task, and what I heard when I went near Dementors."

"Which is?" Sirius asked, not knowing as Remus did.

But Harry refused to elaborate, changing the conversation, if not as subtly, then at least as effectively as Sirius himself had.

"Do you know who our new DADA teacher is going to be this year? Or how long they intend to stay?"

"Harry…" Sirius trailed off, knowing that trying to force the issue wouldn't help at all. "As far as I know the job has only been taken for this year, mainly to give your year a decent shot at your OWLs."

"As long as they don't try to kill me, they can't really go wrong. Unless they're like Lockheart, I suppose."

By this time they had reached the Villa, which prevented Sirius or Remus from enquiring about that last comment as Harry was quickly pulled aside by Ron and Hermione, who bombarded him with questions about his holiday, how he was and what the private conversation had been about.

The next two weeks of the summer holidays passed in a blur of fun, pranks and sports. Harry and Hermione had taught the Weasleys, Remus and Sirius how to play football, which had resulted in some very funny 5-a-side games, including Sirius turning into Padfoot and chasing the ball, especially when his team was loosing.

Several Quiddich games had also been played, with Harry making all the adults panic when he successfully pulled off a Wronski Feint. Pranks had followed for days afterwards, until Harry had finally confronted Sirius, telling him that Harry had been in perfect control the whole time and that he had done several reckless things as a Marauder. This had led to Sirius grumbling about know-it-all kids, while Moony just sat there and laughed at his friend.

They had all been thrilled to find that Dumbledore's Villa had a heated outdoor pool, and everyone found excuses to take advantage of it as often as possible. So it came as a surprise to no one to find the trio out by the pool celebrating the arrival of their Hogwarts Letters. While most would not view this event as worthy of celebration, the three friends would take any excuse to celebrate. All three had made it to their fifth year and Hermione had been named prefect, as had Ron, much to his shock and his mother's delight. They were lounging around in the shallow end of the pool chatting about who they thought their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was going to be when a big, inflatable beach ball flew over their heads, followed swiftly by Padfoot, who sent a great wave splashing over the 3 teenagers.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, glaring at the Grim sized dog, who just offered him a canine grin and continued swimming for the ball. Harry exchanged a grin with Ron and Hermione before racing after his godfather.

Once Harry realised that he couldn't beat Sirius to the ball the trio started throwing water at the dog, knowing that in order to retaliate Sirius would have to change back, giving Harry the advantage. Sure enough Sirius turned back into himself and began to splash back, allowing Harry to reach the ball first. The three teens ended up playing piggy-in-the-middle, with Sirius desperate to get the ball. After about twenty minutes of this, in which Moony was constantly laughing, the war was ended with the three teens the obvious victors.

It was at this point that Sirius realised that he was still standing in his robes. He waded over to the side and hauled himself out.

Harry, Ron and Hermione followed his lead and slipped T-shirts and shorts on, joining the Marauders for a walk on the beach to dry off.

"Do either of you know who our new DADA professor is going to be?" Ron asked with all his usual tact.

Remus and Sirius just grinned as Hermione hit Ron on his head.

"Hey! That hurt!" he protested.

"That was completely tactless Ron!"

"Dumbledore's found someone, but only for the year, they're worried about the curse," Sirius explained.

"The jobs not cursed!" protested Hermione indignantly.

"So why doesn't he offer it to other previous teachers apart from Moony?"

"Um… ones dead, ones lost their soul, one is in St. Mungo's and one is back in retirement," Harry replied, not really thinking about what he was saying, with his mind on other things.

He came back down to earth when Ron and Hermione both hit him round the head.

"Hey! What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his head.

"How did that happen to your professors?" Remus asked, suddenly understanding Harry's outburst at the end of his third year.

"Bad accidents," Harry said, unconvincingly.

"Try again," said Sirius, unwilling to believe him.

"No, really. It was all bad accidents," insisted Harry.

"Name one," challenged Sirius.

"Lockheart. He tried to use Ron's broken wand and it backfired on him."

"Ok. I'll give you that," Sirius accepted grudgingly.

Silence encompassed the group, before Hermione broke it, noticing that Harry was lost in his thoughts again.

"What are you thinking about?" she demanded.

"Huh, sorry, what did you say?" Harry asked, proving his lack of concentration.

Sirius and Remus exchanged grins as Hermione huffed and repeated her question.

"Oh nothing really," he replied, before quickly expanding after seeing the furious look on Hermione's face. "Mostly Hogwarts and the Dursleys."

"What about them?" Ron asked, knowing how Harry felt about his only relatives, even though he rarely let anyone else know.

"You know how many times…things have had the potential to go wrong at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded, noticing Harry's hesitation and realising that he was talking about all their near misses with death.

"Well, I was thinking that despite all of that, it was the Dursleys that came closest to making life a living hell, and everything at Hogwarts actually got me out of that situation. Kinda ironic huh?" The two friends just looked at each other and burst out laughing, while Hermione grinned, knowing that Harry wasn't telling them everything but agreeing with his logic, and the two remaining Marauders just looked confused, but didn't have long to dwell on it before Ron asked a surprising question.

"What do you know about wandless magic?"

"Wandless magic? It's…" Remus started only to be interrupted by Sirius.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Hermione mentioned something about it and it made me curious. Should I not ask?" Ron replied defensively.

"No, I just don't expect _you_ to ask those kinds of questions. Hermione's rubbing off on you!"

"Hey I am right here. AND I was interested in what Remus was going to say," Hermione replied in an offended tone.

"Thank you Hermione. Wandless magic is a very rare, natural ability. Some wizards believe that it depends on magical strength, others on levels of magic. The most accepted theory is that it is similar to a metamorphagus in that it can't be learnt."

"So basically, no one knows," Sirius summed up.

"Basically… yes."

"So why didn't you just say so?"

Remus just rolled his eyes, refusing to comment on his friend's impatience.

"So we can't use it to hex Mrs Norris anonymously when she next gets us in trouble," Ron groaned fictitiously, grinning at the image in his head of Filch's cat with jelly legs.

"Why would three upstanding students such as yourselves want to hex the caretaker's beloved cat?" Sirius asked grinning.

"She chased us into a room with a three headed giant dog!" Ron muttered indignantly.

"A what?"

Both Hermione and Harry glared at Ron as Lupin heard the mutter and alerted Sirius to the issue as well.

"Umm… A giant three-headed dog," Ron repeated, looking like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

"Why was there a three headed dog in Hogwarts and who did it belong to?" Sirius asked, concerned about what his godson got up to at school.

"Who at Hogwarts would have a giant three headed dog?" Lupin said rhetorically.

"A three headed dog called fluffy," Harry added.

"FLUFFY! Hagrid called it Fluffy?" Sirius shook his head for a moment and then grinned. "No, I can't even act surprised. So why was it in the castle?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other and then at Harry, refusing to tell Harry's guardian about their run-ins with Voldemort.

"He was helping to guard the Philosopher's stone during out first year at Hogwarts," Harry said simply, not giving any of the details he knew Sirius was looking for.

"The Philosopher's stone? Start at the beginning and tell me everything!" Padfoot demanded, hoping that Harry wouldn't skip anything.

Harry looked at Sirius, mentally debating whether his godfather could handle everything that had happened to him without overreacting.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ok, but if I tell you, you have to promise that you won't interrupt. You can react once you've heard the whole story but not before. Agreed?" Harry stipulated.

Both Sirius and Remus nodded their consent and joined Harry and his friends as they sat on the beach.

"I guess that it started on my eleventh birthday when Hagrid took me to Diagon Ally for my school supplies. While we were at Gringotts Hagrid went to a well protected vault and removed a small grubby package, telling me that I wasn't to mention it to anyone. Later we found out that Gringotts had been robbed later that day but the vault had already been emptied. Anyway, I met Ron on the train and we became friends over lots of sweets. We didn't become friends with Hermione until Halloween. Someone had let a troll loose in the dungeons. We were told to go back to the tower but we'd upset Hermione earlier so she was in the toilets and hadn't heard about the troll," Harry explained, giving the two adults time to digest what they were hearing.

"They were really brave," Hermione continued, unwilling to let her friend take sole responsibility for what happened. "They came to get me and take me back to the tower but the troll had already left the dungeons and had made its way up to the toilets. Ron started levitating bits of the walls at it while Harry stuck his wand up its nose. Ron ended up knocking it out with its own club."

"And Snape got his leg mangled by Fluffy!" Ron added, looking pleased with Hermione's praise. "By the way, you didn't tell them about the whole remembrall thing and its consequences."

"What consequences?" Sirius asked before remembering his agreement and making a zipping motion across his lips.

"Malfoy stole Neville's Remembrall during our first flying lesson and then took off, so I followed him, dived after it when he threw it, McGonagall saw and made me a Seeker."

"The youngest seeker in a century!" Ron added.

"It was at the first Quiddich match against Slytherin when someone tried to jinx my broom. We thought that it was Snape at the time but he was actually trying to save me. After that Hagrid won a dragon egg of some guy down the pub, who was actually Voldemort," Harry continued, noticing the grins on both of the Marauders faces. "Hagrid called him Norbert."

"He was a Norwegian Ridgeback. We managed to convince Hagrid to send him to Charlie, but Harry and Hermione got caught on the way back and were given a detention in the Forbidden Forest. I was in the infirmary after being bitten," Ron resumed the tale.

"We found Voldemort feeding off a dead unicorn to stay alive until he could steal the stone. Then Hagrid let slip that Nicholas Flamel was involved so we look in the library to find out what he had done. We realised that Hagrid had removed the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts and that Voldemort was after it."

"We even told Professor McGonagall but she told us the stone was well protected. So we decided to go after V…v…voldemort when we realised that Dumbledore had left for London," Hermione took over, but suddenly stopped, not willing to carry one.

Harry took the hint and continued.

"Hagrid had let it slip that music put Fluffy straight to sleep so I used the flute he had given me and we managed to get down the trap door he was stood on. Hermione saved us from the Devil's Snare we landed on, which was Professor Sprout's defence. Madame Hooch had made the keys for the next door into birds, which we used brooms to catch. The troll in the next room was already knocked out and then we came to McGonagall's giant chess board. Ron, being the master player that he is, played us across before getting knocked out by the queen. Me and Hermione went on to Snape's defence, which was a logic puzzle. Hermione aced it and she went back to rouse Ron and the summon Dumbledore whilst I went on. Still with me?"

Harry's audience nodded, too dumbstruck to respond verbally.

"Dumbledore had hidden the stone in the Mirror of Erised and Quirrel was stood there trying to figure out how to get it."

"Wait a minute. Quirrel? Your Defence professor? WHY?" Remus asked, trying to remember whether he had been mentioned before.

"Yeah, he was sharing his body with Voldemort, who told him to use me to get the stone. Dumbledore told me later that only someone who wanted the stone, but not to use it could get it out of the mirror. I just wanted to keep it away from Voldemort. Anyway, he grabbed hold of me but Quirrel couldn't touch me without burning. He died and Voldemort escaped while I was knocked unconscious. I came round a few days later. The stone had been destroyed and Voldemort had fled abroad again," Harry concluded, nervously waiting for his godfather's reaction.

Sure enough, Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't have to wait long for the infamous Black temper to make itself known.

"You mean to say that Dumbledore allowed three 11 year old kids to gallivant around after Voldemort and didn't even lift a finger to help!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Why couldn't Quirrel touch you?" Remus asked, much calmer that his friend, hoping that he would be able to temper Sirius's reaction.

"Dumbledore said that because my mum died to save me that she left protection in my blood, which Voldemort has now got around," Harry explained, reminding the Marauders about the events at the end of last year.

"Oh right. Still, it doesn't excuse that fact that Dumbledore left you to face Voldemort. It shouldn't have happened!" Sirius yelled, still trying to get his head around everything

"So what about your second year?" Remus asked, assuming that it was an average school year.

"Oh you know the usual… ghosts, acromantula, basilisks… nothing very important," Harry replied, knowing how this was likely to be received.

"Nothing very important... NOTHING VERY IMPORTANT! What do you think you are… invincible?" Sirius demanded, both wanting and not wanting to hear the whole story.

"Harry… stop trying to scare your godfather and tell us everything. Lockheart was the Defence professor wasn't he?" Remus asked, waiting until he knew everything before he reacted.

"Yeah… God he was a prat!"

"Not as much of one as you two… arriving in a flying car!" Hermione defended him indignantly.

"Flying car?" Sirius actually sounded impressed. "That beats any entrance we ever made!"

"I guess that it starts with Dobby. He visited me at Privet Drive to 'persuade' me not to return to Hogwarts. He floated a pudding which got me in trouble with the Ministry, which led to the Dursleys finding out about the whole no-magic-during-the-holidays thing. They would have stopped me from going but the Weasleys rescued me," Harry explained.

"Harry hadn't been replying to my letters so Fred, George and I took Dad's car, that he had enchanted to fly, and we flew to Surry. The Dursleys had locked Harry in his room with bars on the window so we pulled them off and took him back to the Burrow."

Ron didn't get any further before Remus interrupted.

"Did you say BARS? As in prison?"

"Yes Moony. Harry told me earlier," Sirius replied, looking carefully neutral.

"Anyway, when we went to Kings Cross everyone went through the barrier but Harry and I couldn't get through, so we decided to take the car and follow the train to Hogwarts. Unfortunately by the time we got to the castle the car gave up and we crashed."

"Into the Whomping Willow," Hermione scolded, causing the Marauders to raise their eyebrows.

"Bet that was fun," Sirius whistled, grinning slightly.

"Not so much. The tree definitely didn't like it. The professors weren't very impressed either," Harry confided, recalling McGonagall's speech.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "One more stunt and we would have been expelled!"

"You never mentioned that!" Hermione yelled, looking angry.

"Only because we didn't want to worry you. Especially after the whole polyjuice thing."

"Hey! Slow down you three. Don't go skipping ahead," Remus warned, wondering how much worse the situation could get.

"Sorry. I guess the next thing you need to know is that we went to Nearly Headless Nick's death-day party. He wanted us to convince the headless hunt that he should be allowed to join. There wasn't any decent food there," Ron complained.

Harry just rolled his eyes. "We were leaving the party when I heard a voice talking about killing and eating people. I'm the only one who could hear it though, so apart from Ron and Hermione I didn't tell anyone."

"Why not?" Remus asked, curious.

"Because hearing voices is never a good sign. Then there was the fact that Gilderoy Lockheart was our DADA professor. Completely useless. After a bludger broke my arm he tried to fix it and ended up removing all the bones in my arm. Madam Pomfrey had to keep me overnight to re-grow them. That was when Dobby visited again and pretty much repeated his warnings. He worried me more when he cried whenever I was nice to him," Harry explained.

"Wasn't that also when Colin Creevey was petrified?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he was trying to sneak into the infirmary. Everyone thought that I did it. Although that was after the whole duelling club disaster," Harry replied thoughtfully.

"What happened?" Sirius had noticed the way his godson's expression darkened at his current thoughts.

"Lockheart and Snape started a duelling club and gave a demonstration. Snape summoned a snake…" Harry trailed off as he replayed what happened.

"The snake attacked a Hufflepuff, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Harry told it to leave him alone," Hermione faltered, not sure how to continue.

"And? So? Therefore?"

"I spoke to it. In Parseltounge. Which made everyone stare even more. After the first attack on Mrs. Norris and the message written on the wall about the Chamber of Secrets being open everyone assumed that I was responsible because I'm a parselmouth." Harry's eyes were fixed firmly on his feet, not wanting to see his godfather's reaction.

"How? I mean… it's supposed to be hereditary but James couldn't," Remus' lack of reaction made Harry wonder if Dumbledore had said something during his third year.

"Dumbledore thinks that when Voldemort tried to kill me he passed on some of his own skills, such as parseltounge, which he inherited from Salazar Slytherin."

"You mean that Voldemort is Slytherin's heir?" Sirius demanded, shocked.

The two remaining Marauders exchanged a look at the new information, realising why it wasn't widely known.

"Anyway, everyone started avoiding me, except Fred and George who found the whole thing ridiculous. The situation just got worse as more people were petrified."

"We ended up wondering if Malfoy was behind it all as he was the only one enjoying the situation, and his father had been at Hogwarts around the time it was opened before, or so we thought. I ended up brewing a polyjuice potion for Harry and Ron in Moaning Myrtles bathroom so they could ask Malfoy about it."

"Over Christmas we locked Crabbe and Goyle in a cupboard and used their hair so we could get into the Slytherin common room."

"You got into the Slytherin common room? What was the password?" Sirius was practically jumping for joy that the son of a Marauder had been in their.

"Pureblood. Who would have guessed?"

"We tried that in our fourth year but never got in," Sirius explained enviously.

"I don't recommend it. It's dark, dank and full of Slytherins!" Ron joked.

"So what happened next?" Remus asked, more interested in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Harry and Ron found that it wasn't Malfoy, although he was willing to help, so we had to concentrate on what the monster inside the chamber was. Hagrid's roosters had all been killed. Combine that with people being petrified and I had an idea of what was in the chamber. However I was petrified myself before I could tell Ron or Harry." Having told her part of the tale Hermione was content to sit and listen to the boys tell their part, wondering if anything would change since they had told her.

"After that we went to see Hagrid. Harry had found Tom Riddle's diary, who had been at the school when the chamber was last opened. The diary wrote back and then showed Hagrid being expelled for having a dangerous creature in the school. When we got to his hut under the invisibility cloak Hagrid was being arrested and he told us to follow the spiders." Ron couldn't continue, remembering what happened when they followed Hagrid's instructions.

"So after we watched Mr Malfoy telling Dumbledore that the school governors had decided to remove him as headmaster, we followed the spiders into the Forbidden Forest with Fang and we were led to Aragog, the head of a family of Acromantula, and Hagrid's _pet_. He told us that a girl had been killed in a bathroom the last time but refused to tell us what killed her."

"He then ordered his children to eat us, even though we were Hagrid's friends. We were rescued by dad's car, which had been living wild in the forest since the whomping willow incident. Once we were back in the castle Harry realised that the murdered girl might still be in the bathroom," Ron explained, still impressed with his friends deduction.

"Moaning Myrtle? You went to _Moaning Myrtle_ for help?" Sirius demanded incredulously.

"Well we went to see Hermione first. It was the only excuse we could think of to get away from the teachers. Harry noticed that she was holding a page about basilisks with pipes written on it."

"The voice no one else could hear was the basilisk in the pipes," Remus realised.

"Exactly. We found a small snake carved on one of the taps in Myrtle's bathroom. I told it to open in parseltounge and the sink moved away…"

"You went knowing there was a basilisk down there?" Sirius was livid and he wasn't going to hide it.

"We had gone to tell Lockheart about what we'd figured out after we heard that Ginny had been taken down into the chamber. We dragged Lockheart with us down into the chamber," Harry clarified.

"Bet he was a lot of use," Remus muttered.

"He grabbed my broken, sellotaped wand and tried to memory charm us, which was the only spell he could do. Thought he didn't expect my wand to backfire, causing a cave-in with Harry on one side and me and Lockheart on the other. I tried to clear the rubble while he sat there humming since he'd erased his own memory. Harry went further into the chamber for Ginny."

"There was another set of doors that needed to be opened by a parselmouth beyond one of the skins the basilisk had shedded."

"Harry, stop stalling and tell me what happened so I can yell at you!"

"Ok, ok. When I got into the chamber Tom Riddle was standing there having used Ginny's energy to escape from the diary. He did this thing where he rearranged the letters of his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, to spell I am Lord Voldemort. He had already been using the name before he left Hogwarts. He said that he wanted to meet me after everything that Ginny had told him about me. He carried on with all this stuff about how similar we were, both orphans, misunderstood, etc, etc, before he summoned the basilisk to kill me. I got lucky I'll be the first to admit that. Fawkes turned up with the Sorting Hat and blinded the basilisk while the Sorting Hat gave me Gryffindor's sword. I was bitten by the basilisk when I stabbed it through the roof of its mouth…"

"You were BITTEN?"

Harry just blinked at his Godfather's yelling, used to it after living with the Dursleys.

"Yes, down to the bone I think. Anyway, while I thought I was dying and Voldemort was gloating about his victory Fawkes managed to heal me. When Voldemort realised he tried to curse me with my own wand until Fawkes dropped the diary in my lap and I stabbed it with a basilisk fang."

"By destroying the diary you destroyed whatever part was kept in there," Remus surmised.

"That was what Dumbledore said once we were all back in McGonagall's office. Ginny had woken up once the diary was ruined and Ron had cleared enough rubble so that we were able to get out. With Dumbledore back Lucius Malfoy came back trying to get the last word, which didn't work because the other governors had written to Dumbledore to tell him about the threats Malfoy had made in order to get rid of him and to reinstate him. Anyway, Malfoy had brought Dobby with him who started pointing at Malfoy and then the diary before hitting himself over the head as punishment. I realised that Malfoy had slipped the diary into Ginny's schoolbooks when we bumped into him in Diagon Alley before term started. So I gave the diary back to Mr Malfoy in my sock, which he promptly ripped off and threw to Dobby," Harry concluded, looking to his friends to make sure he hadn't left anything out.

"The only thing that I remember that you've missed happened once we were back at Kings Cross," Hermione spoke up.

At Harry's blank look she continued in a tone of voice that made it obvious that she thought he was an idiot for not remembering.

"You know, when I asked you if you thought the Dursleys would be proud of you and you said that they'd just be disappointed that you hadn't managed to die with all the opportunities you'd had."

"Oh, that!" Harry's inflection made it clear that he didn't think of it as anything unusual.

Silence reigned while the Marauders tried to come to terms with everything they'd heard, especially the topic of Harry's relatives. Unsurprisingly Remus was the first to break the silence, addressing Ron and Hermione.

"You two didn't have to get involved with any of this and while I'm angry that you put yourselves in unnecessary danger, I'm also glad that Harry has friends like you looking out for him."

Both Hermione and Ron blushed at the compliment and stammered out an unintelligible reply.

"I appreciate it as well. Now if you'd excuse us I need a word with my godson."

The two teens exchanged a glance and swiftly stood, heading back to the villa. Neither of them wanted to be in the firing line when Sirius unleashed his temper. He waited until they were out of earshot until he turned to Harry.

"Let me get this straight. Even though you KNOW that you have a mad mass murderer actively trying to kill you, you still WILLINGLY went to confront him as a fully grown wizard and when he had a pet basilisk." Sirius' voice was completely flat and emotionless, letting Harry know that he was really mad.

"Umm… pretty much," he replied nervously, shuffling his feet.

"ARE YOU COMLETELY STUPID? DO YOU WANT TO DIE? I'VE DONE A LOT OF STUPID THINGS BUT THIS TAKES THE CAKE! IT'S COMPLETE MADNESS!"

At this point Sirius walked away, trying to gain some measure of control, something he never would have done before Azkaban and his friend's deaths.

"Do your relatives know about any of this?" Remus asked, upset by the revelations but not particularly surprised.

"No, I never told them. They wouldn't care anyway," Harry replied calmly, not that bothered anymore with his family's opinions and behaviour.

"And we will be talking about them at a later date. However, for the moment we are discussing your complete lack of common sense," Sirius said as he returned once again ready to take part in the conversation.

"Your Aunt and Uncle may not care but I do and you ARE going to be punished. I just haven't figured out how yet. And you _will_ avoid any life threatening situations or I'll take you out of Hogwarts and lock you up somewhere very remote!"

"It's not like I try to get into trouble. It just _happens_!" Harry protested.

"Oh. It just_ happened_ that you didn't tell anyone who could have helped about the basilisk did it?"

"I didn't think anyone would believe me! McGonagall didn't when I told her that Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone!"

"Did it _ever_ occur to you to tell someone else?"

"_Who_? Snape? Or perhaps the Dursleys? There wasn't anyone else I _could_ tell!" Harry had made his point and all three of them knew it. "Professor McGonagall is the head of Gryffindor," he continued. "I'm supposed to tell her when I'm having problems!"

"Ok, so that wasn't an option but you've got no excuse now. If there's something weird going on I expect you to tell me about it OK?"

"Ok, I'll send Hedwig," Harry capitulated quickly, hoping to forestall anymore stipulations from his overprotective godfather.

"Or you can use _this_," Sirius added, handing Harry a small object.

"A mirror?"

"I've got the other one. Say my name and we'll be able to talk. James and I used to use them to talk to each other in detentions to plan pranks," Sirius explained, remembering his own school days.

"Cool. Thanks," Harry replied, thrilled at the link to his parents.

"So now you've got no excuse for walking willingly into dangerous situations with no one to help you!"

Remus realised that Sirius was still angry, but not at Harry. He knew that Dumbledore was going to be hearing about just how put-out Sirius was. Most likely at some ridiculous volume.

"So what kind of pranks did you lot pull?" Harry asked, eager to know more about his guardians.

The remaining Marauders regaled their charge with ridiculous stories from their own school days as they made their way back to the villa.


	5. Chapter 5

A loud thud jolted Harry from where he was concentrating on his potions homework, a particularly nasty essay from Snape.

"Hey Harry. I found this in Dumbledore's library and thought it might help. You'd be amazed at some of the books in there. There are loads that are really rare. There's more than this one but I thought this would be most helpful at the moment. And Professor Lupin was right."

Harry just blinked at Hermione's mile-a-minute rambling.

"What's it about?" he asked, nodding to indicate the book.

"Wandless magic. Specifically theories about how to do wandless magic. There isn't a single book about it that doesn't include the word theory."

Harry immediately closed his textbook deciding that the potions could wait and reached for the heavy tome.

"Thanks Hermione."

"No problem. I'm just as curious to see if you can do this or not. I'll be outside to make sure that you get some sort of warning before anyone comes in, though that shouldn't be for a while. Professor Lupin is still trying to talk some sense into Sirius, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie have gone down to the beach and the twins have enlisted Ginny's help with some new invention."

"It'll be ok. They'll test whatever it is on Ron!" Harry grinned.

Hermione gave him a calculating look before saying, "Yes. I suppose as their benefactor you wouldn't get pranked."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Harry. It's not that difficult to figure out that you gave the twins the money you got from the Tournament. Although I don't think anyone else has figured it out yet."

"That's a relief. I don't want to be anywhere near Mrs Weasley when she finds out!"

Hermione just looked smug, knowing that she'd be out of the line of fire.

"Anyway, I'll leave you alone for now. We can talk about this later."

"Cheers," Harry muttered as he cracked open the dusty volume and started reading.

He had first wondered about wandless magic when he had been in a summer physics class at the orphanage. The teacher hadn't liked him from the start as he'd asked far too many questions. As though it was Harry's fault that magic encouraged people to expect the unexpected. Mr Pearce had threatened to throw him out of the class, which Harry didn't want because not only was the subject interesting, but it helped him with his astronomy at Hogwarts, explaining why the planets moved as they did and why different stars were different intensities. After the warning Harry had dropped his pen, which had promptly rolled under the empty desk in front of him. He couldn't get to it without disturbing everyone, but he couldn't take notes without it. As a wizard he used quills, and only had a couple of pens, one of which he'd lent to Jason, who was notorious for forgetting things, including his own sister! He remembered sitting in the science lab wishing that he could just _accio_ the damn thing when the pen had started twitching and jerking. It had taken several minutes until it had moved far enough towards him that Jason was able to reach it when Harry nudged him. It had got Harry wondering if he had consciously been using wandless magic, if it was even possible. He had written to Ron and Hermione, telling them what had happened and asking for any information they had on the topic. Both had been intrigued by the events but hadn't known anything about wandless magic. However, they had been willing to help him find out about it. The result of which was lots of heavy books from Hermione and lots of questions to various wizards from Ron.

After a couple of hours skimming through various theories contained in the book and reading some of the more prominent ones in detail, Harry felt that he was ready to give wandless magic a try. He placed his quill on the table in front of him, choosing to use something light to levitate, the same way they were first taught at Hogwarts. He started by concentrating on the mental image of the feather hovering a few inches off the desk, before adding in his will and determination to make the feather levitate. He remembered the feeling of desperation and determination he had felt in the physics lab and added it as well. Harry concentrated until the only thing he was aware of was the feather and making it levitate.

It was then that he felt it. The sensation was almost like water, fluid, but almost static at the same time. It was a peculiar feeling, fizzing away inside him and flowing through his outstretched hand. Opening his eyes, Harry saw the feather hovering unsteadily above the surface of the table as the flow of magic fluctuated.

He gently lowered the quill until it once again rested on the table before dropping his hand and slumping back into his seat. It had only been a first year task that he had performed but he was exhausted. Thrilled that he had accomplished wandless magic, of course, but tired. He knew that much more practice was needed before he could use it effectively.

Realising that he was too tired for another try right after the first, Harry pulled his potions homework towards him, carefully stacking the books on wandless magic so that the titles aren't visible from the doorway. He had finally reached the halfway point of his essay when he heard Hermione's voice in the corridor. He paused, listening to her conversation.

"…always expecting me to help with homework. Well not anymore. He'll stay in there until Professor Snape's essay is complete without any help!"

"Now that's just cruel Hermione!" Harry could hear Sirius's grin and silently applauded his friend's acting.

"Maybe, but it'll work. At least on Harry, Ron on the other hand…"

"You know Hermione, if you want to read there are more comfortable places available that the hallway."

"If I leave then so will Harry and he'll convince me to help if he leaves it 'til the last minute!" she protested, grinning slightly, knowing that Harry would be eavesdropping by now.

"I need to talk to him anyway so I can keep an eye on him. Or I could get you a chair if you insist on sitting in the hall."

"If you stay you're not allowed to help him," the young witch insisted.

"Potions was never my strong suit. And I really don't want to try learning again. Besides, if I tried to help he'd do even worse. Now shoo, I want to talk to my godson!"

Harry heard Sirius helping Hermione to her feet before she opened the door and stuck her head into the room.

"You heard?"

"You're going to leave Sirius to keep an eye on me so I don't cheat on my homework," Harry replied, grinning.

His friend nodded once before leaving and allowing Sirius to enter.

"How's the essay coming?" he asked cheekily, perching on the table next to Harry.

"I'm about half-way and I've still got a few books to look through, so it's not going too badly. But you didn't find me to discuss potions," Harry replied confidently, pushing his essay out of the way and turning to face Sirius.

"No. Actually I wanted to talk to you about the Dursleys."

At this point Sirius pulled out a chair and sat, facing his godson anxiously.

"What about them?"

"How they treated you, what your life with them was like, why you were so quick to accept my offer of living together, even though we'd only just met."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to know all that? It's not like its important or anything," Harry said evasively.

"I want to get to know _you_. Why you act like you do, what you like, what you don't. You're my godson and I hardly know you!"

Hearing his godfather sounding so dejected made Harry feel guilty, so he decided to try to explain why he didn't open up to people.

"The Dursleys are a complicated topic. You may not know about much of my life but you understand me better than everyone else. You see me as Harry, not the Boy-who-lived or a burden, and that's something that no-one's really done before. I don't talk about the Dursleys because it doesn't matter to me anymore."

"Damn it Harry! You can't just lock all of this away in some cupboard like it doesn't matter!" Sirius yelled.

"Why not? They did!"

"Harry, just because you Aunt and Uncle hid how they felt…" Sirius didn't get a chance to finish as his best friend's son interrupted once again.

"They never hid how they felt! They saw me as a freak and a burden and weren't afraid to let me know it!"

"But you just said that they locked their problems away."

"Yeah. Me! In the cupboard under the stairs. They moved me to Dudley's second bedroom after my school letters started arriving," Harry explained wearily, fed up with the subject. It was then that he noticed that his quill was levitating about a foot off the table behind the Marauder's back. He quickly looked at the floor, thinking _finite incantatum _and praying that it would work.

Sirius had been silent the whole time, shocked at the revelation. His godson had grown up in a cupboard! Why had nothing been done? He looked at Harry only to find him staring at the floor, whether embarrassed or thoughtful he couldn't tell.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Sirius almost pleaded.

Harry winced at the anguished tone, thinking the question over. "Before I started at Hogwarts there was no one I could tell, even if I'd wanted to. The Dursleys kept me away from everyone; I had no friends because Dudley and his gang would beat them up; I didn't know that I was treated any differently to every other child. The only comparison I had was Dudley and even I knew that most children didn't get anything they wanted. Besides which, he was their son, I was only a nephew, for all I knew it was expected behaviour. And by the time there was someone I could tell I was out of the cupboard and it wouldn't have made a difference," Harry shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic.

"Merlin Harry! Someone would have moved you if they'd known."

"Dumbledore wouldn't have let them because of the blood protection. Not that it's in any way effective now. All anyone could have done was threatening the Dursleys and that would just have made them madder." Staring across the room Harry saw that the quill was gently lowering itself to the table's surface as he calmed down.

Sirius just stood there, once again stunned by his godson's attitude. He was brushing off 14 years of neglect as if it was nothing.

"How can you be so calm? What they did was neglect and abuse! It's illegal Harry! Don't you care?" Sirius all but yelled.

"Of course I care! They destroyed any chance at a childhood I had. They used me as a slave; I've been cooking their breakfast since I was eight! But, they made me who I am, and I'd rather have had the life I've had than to end up like Dudley. I've got Hogwarts, friends, you and Moony. I can't change what happened so why should I let control me?"

"Their attitude honestly doesn't hurt?"

"It used to. When I was little I used to do everything I could to make them proud of me. All I wanted was some small sign that they cared. By the time I was old enough to understand their attitudes I realized that it was never going to happen so why should I keep trying. It hurt, yes but it hurt less as I got older. When I left for Hogwarts I realized that I wasn't upset and I didn't miss them, but at the same time I didn't hate them because they had prepared me for everything that's happened. I can take care of myself and it's because of them. The Dursleys are my family only by blood. I don't care about them and they don't care about me. The past isn't an issue with them anymore."

"I don't know how you can just leave it all behind you like that. I ran away from home in my sixth year and I'm still angry with my parents, even though they're both dead now."

"Why did you leave?"

"Both my parents were dark. The whole family was with a few exceptions, like my cousin Andi and I. Anyway, they both thought that what Voldemort was doing was right. They were never Death Eaters, though my brother was, but they thought that he had the right idea about purity of blood. I didn't agree and I was sick of being belittled and put down for disagreeing, so I ran away, went to stay with your dad. Your grandparents were very good about it all, but I still hated my parents for everything, even after they died."

Sirius lapsed into silence, reflecting on his past. He'd been the traditional first-born son until he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. After that he was effectively disowned, with all of the first-born honours being showered upon Regulus until he had been killed by Death Eaters for running.

"What were their names? My grandparents I mean." Harry asked softly, breaking the silence.

"Melinda and Adam. She was a well liked Healer at St Mungos while Adam was an Unspeakable."

"What's an Unspeakable?"

"They work in the Department of Mysteries. Kind of like muggle secret service. No-one really knows what they do, all top secret research. During wars they also act like the military? I think that's the muggle equivalent. They're the elite Aurors," Sirius explained.

"What… what did my parents do? No-one's ever told me." Harry's voice was low as he asked his question.

"Your mum wrote children's stories, both muggle and wizarding, though she used a different pen name in each world. She didn't want public recognition every time she left her house. James worked in the Ministry. The Department of Magical Games and Sports. He worked with Ludo Bagman; thought that he was an idiot. I have to say that I agree with that statement."

"That I'll agree with. He kept offering to help me with the Tournament. Turns out that he'd bet with the Goblins that I'd win and then had to do a runner when I drew with … Cedric."

Both were silent for a moment, remembering Cedric Diggory and paying him the respect he deserved.

"So," Harry broke the silence. "How did you get on alerting the old crowd? Or am I not allowed to know?" he asked, forcing a grin.

"I'm amazed you remember the reason I left. I thought you'd just remember that I'd gone and not why."

"At that point I was concentrating on anything and everything that had nothing to do with the Tournament or Cedric."

"How are you coping with all that now? And don't tell me you're fine! No-one would be after seeing a friend killed and Voldemort reborn!"

"It's getting easier. I still have nightmares but they're not as bad. I know what happened to … Cedric wasn't my fault. There was nothing I could have done. It still hurts, but I'm coping. My elbow still twinges sometimes, but it's nothing much. It's still difficult to talk about it, but I can think about the rest of the Tournament without getting the urge to throw up now, so that's progress. Anyway, back to the topic of the old crowd."

"Harry…." Sirius started, not sure what to say.

"If you can't tell me just say. I won't be mad or anything," Harry reassured his Godfather.

"It's not that. The old crowd are all former members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was a group put together by Dumbledore during the last war to fight against Voldemort."

"Do you know what he's planning? I mean besides trying to kill me in some painful way?" Harry asked, trying to lighten the decidedly sombre mood.

"At the moment his biggest priority is recruiting new Death Eaters, though who would be stupid enough to join I don't know. Fudge is doing absolutely nothing to warn the public, just burying his head in the sand like the idiotic coward he is."

"Why? I mean, surely the best thing would be to warn everyone. Wouldn't be easier to fight if we started now instead of when he starts attacking muggles?"

"You're right kiddo, but that would cause widespread panic and lots of mistrust. Fudge is worried that it could damage his chances of being re-elected."

"Wouldn't more people support him if he did what was best in the long term?"

"Unfortunately most people only bother with the short term. Everyone would be too scared of a repeat of last time to be willing to believe that Voldemort's back without proof," Sirius explained.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"We're doing what we can, but I can't tell you any more than that. Now, what's your essay about?"

"Antidotes. It's actually quite interesting."

Sirius just made a disgusted face, obviously not sharing the sentiment.

"If it's so interesting then you won't mind if I leave you to finish!"

"Not really. You'd be more of a distraction than a help!"

"Oi. Just for that I'm going to lock you in so you have no choice but to work on this gorgeous sunny day."

"I'm sure Hermione will appreciate it," Harry said wryly.

Sirius just grinned in reply as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving his godson to finish his homework.


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next few days everyone had noticed that Sirius seemed calmer and more relaxed than usual. Whenever anyone asked the only answer he gave was that he'd talked to Harry, never giving any details, which was why Remus was currently looking for his friend. His current attitude was a complete turnaround from his usual sullen mood and much more like it was before Azkaban.

Remus wanted to know why.

He'd checked the usual places: the pool, the kitchen and the beach. He was on his way to check Sirius' room, knowing that his friend like his lie-ins, even if he hadn't really indulged this holiday.

What Remus was not expecting to see was a fully dressed Sirius lying on the bed looking through a book.

"Hey Padfoot. Don't tell me you're actually reading a book!"

"Oh, hi Moony. No. Harry… he lent me the photo album of… the one Hagrid gave him," Sirius said, never removing his eyes from the images displayed before him.

"I remember that. Hagrid wrote and asked if I had any pictures. Said that Harry didn't know what they looked like. I always wondered what happened to them."

Remus moved over to the bed, peering over his friend's shoulder to see a picture of Lily doubled over with laughter while holding baby Harry.

"I remember that. Harry wouldn't smile, so you and James started turning each other different colours."

"Yeah. It even lasted when we transformed. I ended up as a bright green poodle. I think James ended up multicoloured."

"That's right! Only his antlers were from a stuffed toy of Harry's. Lily was in hysterics but Harry just started wailing."

"Little tyke wasn't happy, that's for sure. It took Lily about ten minutes to calm him down didn't it?"

"How much do you remember?" Remus asked tentatively.

"If I'm actively trying? I can remember it all but the bad is more vivid than the good. It's getting better. Recalling events, like their wedding, Harry… It makes it easier."

"I know I've said it before but I really am sorry Padfoot. I should have…"

"Don't Moony. Everything was such a mess. YOU were such a mess, I don't blame you. Even if you had figured it out there was nothing you could have done. And I wouldn't have known whether you blamed me or not so just leave it. I wasn't you fault!"

"It wasn't yours either," Remus commented gently.

"Lily and James? No, that wasn't my fault," Sirius agreed, shocking his old friend. "Oh I know I blamed myself at first," he continued, seeing the incredulous look on Moony's face, "But after talking to Harry about the whole Cedric thing… It helped. He actually pointed out the similarities; asked me if I blamed him. I didn't of course, there was nothing he could have done. Taking the cup was Cedric's choice, just like switching was ultimately James and Lily's choice."

"Outsmarted by your Godson huh? He always was smart."

"Yeah. Remember after he started talking and got hold of the floo powder?"

"How could I forget? You, James and I were sitting there reminiscing when he falls out of the fireplace yelling Moony. I thought James was going to have a heart attack!"

"I'd never seen him turn that white that quickly!"

"You didn't exactly look calm yourself!"

"Hey, do you still have some of Lily's books?"

"I think so. Why?"

"I thought we could give them to Harry. Did you know that no one had told him about his parents? He had no idea about what they did. He didn't know about his grandparents either!"

"I've had an idea about that. It would help both of you at the same time," Remus mused, staring over Sirius' shoulder.

"Well, what's this great idea then?"

"I never said it was great, merely an idea, Padfoot!"

"Ah, come on Moony. All your ideas are great!"

"Thank you Padfoot. Anyway, I was thinking that we could put our memories of James and Lily, and Harry's grandparents in a pensive so he could see what they were like. It won't bring them back but it might give him a better idea of what they were like."

Sirius sat in silence for a moment, thinking it over. It was a good idea, but would it just show Harry what he was missing? Would it backfire and end up hurting him more?

"It's a good idea Moony but maybe we should ask him first. I mean, he may not want to see them. We could also offer to go through this with him," Sirius suggested, indicating the abandoned photo album.

"That's probably the best thing to do…" A knock at the door interrupted the conversation.

"Mum's about to give the traditional before term speech if you want to watch!" Charlie said as he poked his head around the door.

"What speech is that?" Remus asked.

"Every year she lectures us on dos and don'ts. This year she's including Harry and Hermione. It's always good for a laugh!"

"Why not? We can collar Harry afterwards," Sirius agreed.

They reached the kitchen just as Hermione left to fetch Ron and Harry.

"Hey you two, Mrs Weasley wants to see us all downstairs in the kitchen now," she said, sticking her head around Ron's door.

"Ok, we're coming," replied Harry, towards the door closely followed by Ron.

"Do you know what she wants?" Harry asked.

"Probably her traditional start of term speech," Ron responded, rolling his eyes.

"What start of term speech?" Hermione was caught off guard, not recalling any start of term speech when she'd stayed with the Weasleys.

"She gives us one every year, usually before you two arrive. She assumes that your parents and Harry's relatives also give you two speeches." Ron caught Harry's disbelieving look and grinned. "That's why she's giving both of you the speech this year."

By this time the three friends had reached the kitchen. Inside, they found Fred, George and Ginny already seated on three of six chairs with Mr and Mrs Weasley, Charlie, Bill, Remus and Sirius standing in front of them.

"Ah, take a seat," Mrs Weasley said, indicating the three spare chairs.

They sat down, feeling as though they were about to be interrogated.

"Alright, Ginny. I want you to stay out of trouble and for Merlin's sake, if you are unsure about something, take it to one of your brothers or to a teacher. And I want the rest of you to keep an eye out for her," Mrs Weasley rounded on the others which was followed by a chorus of "Yes mum!" and "Yes Mrs Weasley!"

"Alright dear, you can go. Fred, George, you are to stay through the whole of this."

Mr Weasley winced behind his wife's back and he and his eldest two sons put their fingers in their ears.

"YOU TWO ARE GOING TO GET A DECENT NUMBER OF NEWTS THIS YEAR. I'M STILL DISAPPOINTED WITH YOUR OWLS. AND NO MORE TALK OF JOKE SHOPS. We can discuss that once you leave Hogwarts."

The twins just gaped at this statement. Once it had sunk in they broke out into identical grins and jumped up, heading for the door.

"AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ANY DANGEROUS PRANKS OR TOO MANY DETENTIONS!" Mrs Weasley shouted after them. Sighing, she turned her attention to her youngest son and his friends sitting in front of her.

"Ok you three. I want all THREE of you to stay out of the hospital wing. I don't want to receive any letters explaining that you've tried to save the world and are currently at death's door. You will have a nice, quiet, SAFE year. I expect to see a good number of OWLs this summer and none of you are going to miss them. There will be NO, and I mean absolutely NO, trying to save the wizarding world!"

"Does that mean no Acromantula?" Ron asked hopefully.

The Weasleys spluttered but didn't get the chance to respond.

"Or Giant chess boards?" Hermione asked.

"Basalisks?"

"DADA teachers?"

"Fluffy?"

"Voldemort?"

"DADA teachers?"

"Norbert?"

"Voldemort?"

"Trolls?"

"Dead Unicorns?"

"Merpeople?"

"Dragons?"

"Blast-ended Skrewts?"

"Centaurs?"

"Diaries?"

"Escaped mass murderers?"

"Lockheart?"

"Snape?"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" shouted Mrs Weasley.

The trio looked at each other before ending their list.

"Don't go looking for trouble, whatever form it comes in," Said Mr Weasley, supporting his wife.

"We don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually knows exactly where we are!" Ron protested.

"Well if that happens tell a Professor!" said Mrs Weasley.

"A DADA one?" Harry asked, grinning.

Mrs Weasley just scowled at him before hurrying off to deal with the twins, who were the likely cause behind the loud explosion heard.

This signalled the end of the conversation and the remaining Weasleys walked off, discussing Fred and George.

"Hey Harry, can we have a word?" Sirius asked, as the trio moved towards the back door, chatting about setting up a Quidditch game with whoever else wanted to play.

"Sure," he replied, turning towards his friends. "I'll meet you at the pitch with whoever you can get to join us," he told Ron.

Harry turned his attention back to his parent's friends as the door closed behind Ron and Hermione.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"A few things actually. We were wondering if you wanted me to dig out some of the books that your mother wrote. I still have them in my attic and thought you might like to have them. They were aimed at young children but we thought you might like them anyway," Moony offered.

"That would be great! What kind of thing did she write?"

"For muggles it was mostly fantasy, changing aspects of the wizarding world. For wizarding children it was the other way around. They were very popular, but very few people remember them now," Remus explained.

"We were also wondering if you wanted us to go through your photo albums with you to explain what was going on," Sirius added, moving to lean against the counter next to his godson.

"Would you mind?" Harry asked, worried that it would upset his parents best friends.

"Of course not! We could even put some memories in a pensieve if you want."

"I'd like that. It'd beat the only memory I have of them," Harry said bitterly.

"You remember them?" Sirius asked sharply.

"When I get near Dementors… I can hear Voldemort… Dad tried to buy Mum time to run… And she…she just begged him to kill her in…instead of me. Then everything goes green and I pass out," Harry whispered, staring determinedly at the tiled floor.

"Oh Merlin, Harry!" was all Sirius could say, horrified that he remembered that much.

"At least I know how much they loved me, and that they died doing the right thing, no matter what people say," Harry replied, trying to lift the mood. "And I'd rather have that memory than none at all!" he added vehemently.

Sirius just wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly, immensely proud of him.

Unfortunately the moment wasn't to last, interrupted by a shrill shriek from the conservatory at the back of the property. The three wizards were immediately moving towards the commotion with their wands drawn. What they found was Mrs Weasley standing on a chair with a snake coiled on the floor hissing at her.

"_Ssstupid human! I'm trying to sssleep! Be quiet or let me leave!"_

"_Umm, excusse me. They don't understand you," _Harry explained in parseltounge, getting the attention of everyone in the room, including the snake.

"_You can ssspeak!"_ replied the very put-out reptile.

"Harry, what's going on?" Remus asked, always the calm one when faced with the unusual.

"He's looking for somewhere to sleep," the teen replied, fidgeting under the scrutiny of the adults, before turning his attention back to the now silent snake.

"_Why did you choossse in here? I would have thought that there were too many people in here."_

"_There are but it's the warmessst place I could find!"_ came the peevish reply.

"It's looking for a warm spot, preferably away from people," Harry explained.

"The cupboard with the boiler in is warm, and we don't really need to go in there. It's dark though," Molly offered, considerably calmer now that the snake's attention was focused elsewhere.

"_There is sssomewhere dark and warm that'sss out of the way, but you'd have to agree not to hurt anyone if we let you ssstay," _Harry bargained.

"_I agree. Will you carry me there?"_

"_Ok, but try not to move too much," _Harry reluctantly agreed, offering his arm to the snake and allowing it to coil itself around the limb. Carefully he stood and walked to the cupboard before kneeling and letting the snake down.

"_Thanksss!"_ was the only reply he received before the snake slid out of sight behind the boiler.

Harry closed the door and turned around, jumping when he saw Mrs Weasley, Sirius and Remus staring at him.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"That is one of the weirdest sights I have ever seen," said Sirius, grinning slightly. "What did you say?"

"I told it that it could stay as long as it didn't hurt anyone while it's here, and it agreed," Harry replied, relaxing slightly.

No matter what happened he always felt nervous and slightly guilty when he spoke parseltounge.

"It's very interesting. I've never seen anyone use the ability," Remus added thoughtfully, ever the scholar. "Are you able to control it? I mean speak parseltounge with no snake around?"

"I've never really tried," Harry admitted. "I mean, I couldn't in the Chamber, but I might be able to with practice."

"Well, thank you for moving it. I've never liked snakes," Mrs Weasley admitted, before heading back too her cleaning.

"By the way, Arthur arrived back earlier and put your things on your bed."

Mr Weasley had apperated back to England to buy books and any other supplies that were needed for Hogwarts from Diagon Alley, as well as refilling money bags.

"Thanks Mrs Weasley!" Harry called after her, thankful for a change of subject.

"How do you two feel about a game of Quiddich?" he asked the Marauders, eager to be back on his Firebolt.

"Sure, I'll play," Sirius grinned at the prospect having played for Gryffindor at Hogwarts.

"I'll watch thank you Harry. I never played but James and Sirius raved about it!"

"McGonagall kept yelling at me to aim at all of our opponents, not just ones I didn't like!" Sirius remembered fondly.

"You were a beater then?" Harry asked as they walked out to the pitch.

"Yeah, and Prongs was a chaser and eventually Captain, although it was more of a democracy. Who are the beaters at the moment for Gryffindor?"

"Fred and George. They don't really care who they aim at, although they're usually more aggressive when we play the Slytherins!"

"But of course!" Sirius agreed, grinning.

Once they arrived at the pitch Remus moved off to join Hermione who was watching the Weasley children practising while they waited for Harry.

"We've got eight so one beater and three chasers. One is responsible for the guarding the goals and another for catching the snitch. Agreed?" Charlie called, checking on the set-up.

Everyone agreed and sorted themselves out. Charlie and Harry were the chasers and seekers, Bill and Ron agreed to be the keepers while the twins shocked everyone by agreeing to both be beaters on different teams. It ended up with Harry, Ron, Sirius and Fred against Charlie, Bill, Ginny and George, with Remus and Hermione acting as Referees and coaches for both teams.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry got ready for bed that night still buzzing about the match. His team had won by ten points after he caught the snitch. The others had been too good as chasers, having practiced together and Bill and Ginny were used to playing that position. Fred and George had concentrated on trying to hit each other with the bludgers while Harry and Charlie were playfully competing for the snitch, having heard a lot about each other from Ron and the Twins. They were pretty evenly matched but Harry had the advantage of the Firebolt, allowing him to catch the snitch even though Charlie spotted it first. The whole thing had been taken as fun and everyone had enjoyed mucking about, no one being serious.

As he came back into the room from using the bathroom Harry caught sight of the quill lying on his bed. Deciding to try wandless magic again he carefully shut the door and moved across to the bed, sitting on the pillow. He breathed out as he forced thoughts of the match to the back of his head, even-though the carefree feeling remained.

Repeating the now familiar process, Harry concentrated on the quill and the incantation necessary to levitate it. What was different this time was the eagerness with which he felt his magic respond. It seemed to rush out of him towards the feather, steadily levitating it about a foot and a half above the duvet. Harry blinked and rubbed his eye but the feather remained steady, not dipping or quivering until his concentration was disturbed.

Hearing a thud behind him Harry spun round, allowing the feather to settle back on the bed.

Sirius stood just inside the door with his mouth open, staring at Harry, the photo album he was returning lying forgotten at his feet.

Harry searched for something to say, but settled at reluctantly letting Sirius start, unsure of his mood.

Finally gathering his wits, Sirius shut the door and retrieved the album, placing gently on the bedside table before sitting on the bed next to his godson.

"I'd tell you that it's illegal to do magic outside of Hogwarts but I can't see your wand. How long have you been able to do this?" Sirius asked, calmly.

"Are you mad?" Harry said instead, not wanting to upset his godfather.

"No. I'm shocked but I'm not mad. Why would I be?" Sirius asked, confused.

"We lied on the beach, when Ron asked about wandless magic. And it's… not normal," Harry said, reluctantly.

"Why would I care if it was normal?" Sirius asked, before the penny dropped and he realised. "Those bloody Dursleys! Dammit Harry, I'll love you no matter what you do. Ok it's not normal but who cares? What is normal?" he asked rhetorically.

"You love me? Harry asked quietly, sunned by the matter of fact why it had been said.

"Of course I do! I have since the day you were born and you squeezed my finger so tight that you cut off the circulation!"

Harry just smiled, stunned that someone had actually said that to him. He had grown used to having it directed at others, especially Dudley, and by the time he was eight he had accepted that his aunt and uncle would never say it to him.

"Anyway, we were discussing your remarkable achievement. So, how long have you been able to do wandless magic?" Sirius repeated.

"It started in a physics lesson at the Home this summer. The teacher threatened to throw me out because I was asking a lot of questions and then I dropped my pen. I couldn't reach it so I sat there wishing I could just accio it when it started slowly twitching and moving towards me. It only moved about two feet but Jase was able to reach it for me after that. I wrote to Ron and Hermione to see what they knew about wandless magic."

"Hence Ron's questions," Sirius added.

Harry just nodded and continued to explain the situation.

"Since we arrived here Hermione has been looking through Dumbledore's library for books. All of them are theoretical but some are useful. I've managed to levitate one of my quills about a foot of the table but it's always wobbly and unsteady."

"Always? How many times have you managed this?" Sirius demanded, shocked at the use of the plural.

"Four or five, not including tonight. Tonight was… different."

"Different how?"

"It was much easier tonight than it ever has been. Usually the quill wobbles and I'm not able to hold it for long, even with my full concentration, but tonight…" he trailed off as he struggled for the words to explain.

Sirius waited patiently, intrigued by the events.

"Tonight, even though I was till partially thinking about the Quiddich game, it was much easier. The quill was steady and I was able to move while I was doing it, which I haven't been able to before. It was almost like my magic _wanted_ to do something and I just had to encourage and let it."

"I have to admit I'm in over my head here. Moony's the one you need to talk to about this, and he will keep it a secret if you want him to. I would like a look at some of those books though," Sirius replied.

Harry nodded and fetched a couple of books from a pile hidden behind his schoolbooks.

"Thanks Sirius. I'd like to be able to do this but I don't know how much more I can do on my own," Harry admitted.

"Hey, it's what I'm here for! I'll talk to Moony in the morning," Sirius promised, giving Harry a one armed hug before leaving.

Harry sat there for a few more minutes, trying to make sense of the events. Finally giving up, he decided to leave it for tomorrow and turned out the light, letting thoughts of the Quiddich match resurface.

"Morning Harry! Padfoot said you wanted to talk," Remus greeted, walking into the library and sitting opposite his friend's son.

"Um yeah. You know how Ron was asking about wandless magic…"

"Go on. I assume it wasn't just because of curiosity."

"Not really. I can do _some_ wandless magic. How much has Sirius told you?"

"He told me about the incident in your physics lesson, but on its own I'd have attributed it to accidental magic. Why don't you tell me the rest?"

"I've been reading books about various theories and trying them. I can levitate a feather but not very high and it's unsteady. But last night although I wasn't fully concentrating it was easier. I could hold it steady about half a foot higher than usual and I was able to move my hands at the same time, which I haven't been able to do before," Harry explained, anxious for his old professor's insight.

"You said you weren't fully concentrating. Why not?"

"I was still thinking about the Quiddich game in the back of my mind."

"When you've been trying before, how were you feeling? Happy? Sad?"

"I wasn't feeling anything in particular. I was too focused on trying to levitate the quill," Harry replied, unsure as to why it was important but trusting Remus.

"I think that's why there was such a difference. Your magic has always been more responsive when you're feeling strong emotions and it was obvious that you were happy and relaxed yesterday, which I think made the wandless magic easier."

"That makes sense. It also explains why I was able to move the pen in the science lab when I was incredibly frustrated," Harry agreed.

"What does wandless magic feel like?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.

"It's… it feels fizzy. Do you know what static electricity feels like?"

Remus shook his head, knowing what Harry was talking about but lacking the experience.

"Um… it's like a fizzy drink. I can feel it bubbling up and flowing out to surround whatever I'm trying to levitate. Yesterday it felt eager, like it wanted something to do," Harry explained, unsure of how coherent his explanation was.

"That makes sense. Is it easy to feel?"

"Not really. It takes a lot of concentration and the connection flickers. It's like it's buried and I have to dig to reach it."

"Have you tried meditating? It might make it easier to reach your magic, and make the connection less tenuous in the process," Remus suggested, fascinated by what he had heard. Practical experience was nearly always better than reading about phenomena.

"You really think it will help?"

"It can't hurt," Remus replied reasonably.

"I suppose not," Harry mused. After a moment of silence he looked back at Lupin and smiled.

"Thanks for helping. I really wasn't sure what to do."

"I'm always here if you want advice or a second opinion and I know Padfoot is as well."

"You know Padfoot is what?" Sirius asked, wandering in and dropping into a chair.

"Reckless? Lazy? Nosy? Take you pick. I know quite a lot about you!" Moony returned, grinning conspiratorially at Harry.

"Whatever he's told you Harry, it's all lies!"

Harry just rolled his eyes and went back to his reading, leaving the remaining Marauders to bicker.

"I'm not lying! Besides, I have proof that you're nosy!"

"What proof?"

"Our sixth year. The letter James got from his aunt. You grabbed it before he had a chance to read it!" Moony crowed.

"Yeah, well he was just being slow. And you agreed with me if I remember correctly! I remember cleaning out the Owlery as a punishment and using them to send letters to keep you and James awake!" Sirius laughed, reminiscing.

The topic reminded Moony of a letter he needed to discuss with Padfoot.

"Speaking of, I received a letter from Dumbledore today," Remus started, knowing what Sirius' reaction would be.

Sure enough, as soon as the headmaster's name was mentioned his friend started scowling.

"Is he _still_ trying to talk the Dursleys into taking me back?" Harry asked more amused than upset.

He personally saw the move to the orphanage as one of the best things to happen to him, along with being accepted to Hogwarts and finding Padfoot and Moony, but the Hogwarts Headmaster seemed to disagree. He'd spent the last year since Harry had been kicked out of Number 4 Privet Drive alternatively trying to convince the Dursleys that they wanted Harry and threatening them. Neither option had worked and he was unable to use magic on them, which left him out of options.

However amusing Harry found the situation, knowing that the Dursleys wouldn't take him back, Sirius didn't. Ever since he had found out how the Dursleys had treated him when he lived there, he had been trying, equally unsuccessfully, to stop the headmaster's attempts at getting Harry moved back there.

"No, now he just wants you to spend one month a year with them. Two weeks during the summer and then one at Christmas and Easter," Moony continued, ignoring his disgruntled friend.

"Why? I mean, didn't I have to stay there to renew the blood protection from Voldemort?" Harry checked.

Remus nodded, while Sirius straightened up from his slouched position, curious as to where his godson was going with this.

"But since he used my blood to come back isn't it a bit redundant? Or will that have no effect on the protection?"

The Marauders exchanged a look before Sirius ruefully shook his head.

"I can't believe than none of us thought of that. It's stupidly obvious!" he lamented. Suddenly his mood shifted and he grinned.

"I'll use the floo and let Dumbledore know," he added cheerfully, heading out of the room.

"You do realise that without this protection you'll have to be more careful," Remus checked.

"I know. Although it doesn't seem to affect my scar."

"What do you mean?"

"When Voldemort is near, or really angry, my scar hurts. It's like an advanced warning," Harry explained.

Remus looked puzzled, but instead of interrogating his surrogate nephew, he settled for telling him not to rely completely on this connection.

They were both silent for a few minutes, both concentrating on various thoughts before Moony decided to speak up.

"Harry? Would you mind showing me the wandless magic? If you don't want to, or want to try later it's ok," he asked.

"I don't mind. I need a break from this anyway," Harry replied, closing his book and putting his quill on the table between himself and Remus.

Concentrating on the feather, Harry let out a deep breath and stretched out his arm, willing it to rise. Slowly and unsteadily it did, dipping and weaving in the air.

"Try thinking of the Quidditch match yesterday. Remember how you felt," Moony coached, motioning for Sirius to be quiet as he came back into the room, accompanied by Hermione.

With those thoughts in the back of his mind, Harry found that the quill became easier to manipulate. It floated steadily and allowed him to move it to the other side of the table and back before settling gently back onto the tabletop.

"That's amazing. I've never seen anything like it!" Remus murmured in awe.

"At least you were expecting it. I just walked into his room last night to see that," Sirius replied, causing Harry to jump.

"What did Dumbledore say?" he asked, glaring at his godfather for sneaking up on him.

"He said that as Voldemort used your blood the amount of protection that you got from you Aunt lessened, but it was still enough to keep you there. However, that is a moot point because you relatives called the police on Dumbledore and he has decided that you are to remain at the orphanage as long as it is safe," Sirius said, sitting down opposite Moony.

"You've finally escaped from Privet Drive then?" Hermione grinned, sitting next to Harry and looking over his essay.

"Yep. Free at last!"

"By the way, was Moony any help?" Padfoot asked, casting a teasing look in his friend's direction.

"He was. We think that my ability to do wandless magic it linked to my emotions," Harry began, ignoring the way the Sirius' hair turned purple.

"That makes sense. What was the problem?" Hermione asked, not having been told.

"The feather was always shaky and I couldn't get it very high. Then Sirius walked in on me practicing yesterday after the Quiddich match. It was easier then, probably because I was more relaxed."

"Meditation might help as well. The connection with his magic seems deeply subconscious, so meditation should help strengthen it," Remus explained, trying not to grin as he turned his friend's robes green and silver.

Unknown to him however, Sirius had realised what he was doing and had changed Moony's skin so that it was pink with black spots.

"By the way, does anyone know where the Twins found the money to develop their pranks?" Sirius asked. "Molly's been blaming me. Not that I mind! I'm always ready to help a fellow prankster, but it has made me curious."

"Umm… I may have given them my Triwizard winnings on the condition that they buy Ron some new dress robes," Harry confessed, opening his book and trying to disappear.

"I thought you might have," Remus said, before transfiguring Sirius eyebrows into caterpillars.

"Aww. Our little Marauder is financing a new generation of Mischief Makers. Prongs would be so proud," Sirius added, retaliating by switching Remus' ears with those of a rabbit.

"As long as Mrs Weasley doesn't find out. I think I'd get a howler for that!" Harry said, exchanging a look with Hermione, both silently agreeing that a retreat was in order before they got pulled into this prank war.


	8. Chapter 8

Unusually for Harry, he was not looking forward to the end of the holidays. Sure, he wanted to go back to Hogwarts; it was the only place that had ever really felt like home, but he would miss his family. He finally had a family he _could _miss.

And so it seemed, in direct contradiction to his wishes, that the 30th August approached at breakneck speed. They flew back to England early on the 31st, arriving back at the Burrow by lunchtime, having used a Portkey from the airport. Luckily all of the washing had been done before they packed, so the trunks were just stacked up in the hallway instead of unpacked.

The following morning was only slightly less chaotic than usual, thanks to the fact that everyone was packed. All that was necessary was to add a few last minute bits and to get themselves ready, but with six teenagers, plus Arthur leaving for work and the other adults getting ready to see everyone else off the Burrow was in chaos. Sirius was unable to accompany the group to platform 93/4 for obvious reasons, and instead was leaving for the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix along with Remus. Both of the former Marauders had told Harry to be careful and to keep his head down. They had also insisted that Harry contacted them via the mirror at least once a week in order to keep them up to date on both the goings on at Hogwarts and his wandless magic.

The train journey was rather boring, especially when compared to the summer. Harry had shared a compartment with Ginny and Neville Longbottom, a rather shy boy in Harry's year, due to the fact that Ron and Hermione had to attend the prefects meeting and patrol the corridors.

That had come as something of a surprise. They had known that Hermione would be a Prefect, but Ron's status as one was completely unexpected. It had led to an interesting, if somewhat predictable exchange between the trio after Ron had hesitantly stated that he had to join Hermione at the Prefects meeting.

"You're a prefect?" Harry asked.

"Ron! Why didn't you tell me? I was wondering who got it! It going to be great!"

"It's humiliating!" Ron groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Fred and George aren't going to let this go."

"Ron! Being a prefect is an honour! You're setting an example for the lower years!" Hermione cried, horrified that Ron didn't like being a prefect.

Harry smothered a grin at his friend's outrage. Despite everything that had happened Hermione still placed the utmost importance in rules and authority figures. And so they left Harry sitting in the compartment while they moved towards the front of the train, still bickering as usual.

Unusually, the highlight of the journey was Draco Malfoy's visit. The three Gryffindors had been looking at Neville's birthday present from his Great Uncle Algie, a cactus like plant that was covered in boils instead of spines and pulsated slightly. Everyone knew of Neville's love of herbology, so his enthusiasm for the rare plant was understandable.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, peering at the small, grey cactus.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia. I'm not sure if Professor Sprout has one, but I'm hoping she could help me grow some cuttings. Though it might not work as it's not a native plant," the shy boy explained enthusiastically, in his element.

"That makes it even more likely that you'll kill it. After all, it can't escape like the toad can," a drawling voice intruded from the doorway.

The Prince of Slytherin stood there, his habitual sneer firmly in place. Not giving anyone a chance to react he plucked the plant out of Neville's hands, inspecting it quickly before turning his attention back to his year mates, clearly unimpressed by the rare specimen.

"You want to be careful Longbottom. Potter's opposing the Dark Lord by killing off purebloods. Diggory was first. I wouldn't want you to be next," Malfoy taunted, paying no attention to the plant he now held. He was also unaware of the motion of the train, and was therefore caught off guard when it changed tracks, giving the passengers a jolt.

Unfortunately for Draco Malfoy the Mimbulus Mimbletonia took offence to this, covering Draco and his entourage in Stinksap, a dark green, viscous fluid that smelled similar to rancid manure. Everyone in the compartment did a collective blink, taking in the situation before reacting. Malfoy forced the plant into Neville's hands before turning and storming out with as much dignity as he could muster, while Neville and Harry exchanged a look before falling about laughing.

They had calmed down 20 minutes later when Ginny joined them and the three ended up playing Exploding Snap for most of the journey, with Ron and Hermione occasionally joining in between patrols.

All of them were relieved when they arrived at the station in Hogsmeade. They were famished and the train ride seemed to take longer every year. They made their way off the train, becoming separated in the crowds. Harry took in the familiar sights of Hogsmeade as he made his way across the bustling platform. Catching a glimpse of Hermione's bushy hair he hurried towards her. It was when they were separated by only a few people that Harry realised what was different about the station.

There was no Hagrid. No deep calls for the first years, so he could take them across the lake. No lantern swinging above everyone's heads. Instead it was Professor Grubbly-Plank who was ushering small first years down the path towards the boats.

Harry felt worry shoot through him. He had met Professor Grubbly-Plank last year when Hagrid had nearly resigned because everyone had found out that he was a half giant. But he couldn't have left! Hagrid loved Hogwarts and Dumbledore wouldn't have let him leave, that had been clear last year.

'He's probably just ill, or dealing with a problem in the forest,' Harry thought, trying to keep himself calm. 'Someone would have told us if something had happened.'

Due to his preoccupation he didn't notice the creatures in front of the previously horseless carriages until he was walking right by one. The animals looked like they shared the same bone structure with a horse, but that was about as far as that resemblance went. There was very little flesh to them; instead their gleaming black coats were stretched over their bones. The solid white eyes were set in a head that strongly reminded Harry of the Hungarian Horntail dragon he had met last year. The large leather wings only served to reinforce this resemblance.

The mass of students surrounding him prevented Harry from getting a better look at the grotesquely fascinating creatures, so he had no choice but to reluctantly clime into the carriage he had seen Ron enter. When neither Ron nor Hermione mentioned the new additions to the carriages Harry decided to bring up the topic himself.

"What are the things pulling the carriages? And why? I mean, they go fine without them," he said, glancing between his two friends, confident that one of them would know what he was talking about.

"What do you mean? Ron replied, confused. "The carriages are enchanted, there's nothing pulling them." His tone of voice implied that the answer was obvious and had Harry hit his head recently?

"Ron's right Harry," Hermione added. "If it was anything else it would be in _Hogwarts: A History_."

"Besides mate, if there was something there then we'd have seen them already."

"Right," Harry agreed, wishing he'd ever brought up the issue. "It must have been a shadow or something." He moved the conversation on, the three of them speculating on why Hagrid was absent from the station, while Harry resolved to ask Moony about the creature he'd seen.

Hagrid's disappearance was discussed in more detail once they were seated in the Great Hall, where it became obvious that Hagrid wasn't just tied up with something.

"Do you think he's been fired?" Ron asked tactlessly.

"Nah. We'd have heard. And even if he wasn't a professor he'd still have been at the station. It's part of his groundskeeper duties. And someone would have told us if he was hurt," Harry rationalised. "Who's the woman?"

This was a rather polite description of the toad-like woman seated at the High Table with a fluffy pink cardigan over her robes.

"She has to be the new Defence professor," Hermione replied logically.

"Doesn't look like much," Ron commented. "I bet she's another Lockheart."

"Useless or self-obsessed?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Useless. I bet she teaches us nothing useful this year."

"You're on. I bet she has some connection with Voldemort," Harry agreed, ignoring the flinches.

"You in Neville?" Ron asked.

"Um… connected with the Ministry."

"A bar of Honeydukes finest?" Ron checked, this being their usual prize.

Harry nodded, turning his attention to the terrified first years being led into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall.

A hush settled over the school as the tattered Hat was brought in and placed in full view of the whole school. Everyone waited for a moment, staring at the Sorting Hat until, with a twitch, a rip near the brim opened and the hat started to sing.

_In times of old when I was new_

_And Hogwarts barely started_

_The founders of our noble school_

_Thought never to be parted:_

_United by a common goal,_

_They had the selfsame yearning,_

_To make the world's best magic school_

_And pass along their learning._

'_Together we will build and teach!'_

_The four good friends decided_

_And never did they dream that they_

_Might some day be divided,_

_For were there such friends anywhere_

_As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

_Unless it was the second pair_

_Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?_

_So how could it have gone so wrong?_

_How could such friendships fail?_

_Why, I was there and so can tell_

_The whole sad, sorry tale._

_Said Slytherin, 'We'll teach just those_

_Whose ancestry is purest.'_

_Said Ravenclaw, 'We'll teach those whose_

_Intelligence is surest.'_

_Said Gryffindor, 'We'll teach all those_

_With brave deeds to their name,'_

_Said Hufflepuff, ' I'll teach the lot,_

_And treat them just the same.'_

_These differences caused little strife_

_When first they came to light,_

_For each of the four founders had_

_A house in which they might_

_Take only those they wanted, so,_

_For instance, Slytherin_

_Took only pure-blood wizards_

_Of great cunning, just like him,_

_And only those of sharpest mind_

_Were taught by Ravenclaw_

_While the bravest and the boldest_

_Went to daring Gyffindor._

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,_

_And taught them all she knew,_

_Thus the houses and their founder_

_Retained friendships firm and true._

_So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

_For several happy years,_

_But then discord crept among us_

_Feeding on our faults and fears._

_The houses that, like pillars four,_

_Had once held up our school,_

_Now turned upon each other and,_

_Divided, sought to rule._

_And for a while it seemed the school_

_Must meet an early end,_

_What with duelling and with fighting_

_And the clash of friend on friend_

_And at last there came a morning_

_When old Slytherin departed_

_And though the fighting then died out_

_He left us quite downhearted._

_And never since the founders four_

_Were whittled down to three_

_Have the houses been united_

_As they once were meant to be._

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_And you all know the score:_

_I sort you into houses_

_Because that is what I'm for,_

_But this year I'll go further,_

_Listen closely to my song:_

_Though condemned I am to split you_

_Still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfil my duty_

_And must quarter every year_

_Still I wonder whether Sorting_

_May not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_The warning history shows,_

_For our Hogwarts is in danger_

_From external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_Or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you …_

_Let the Sorting now begin._

After the Hat had fallen silent the students broke into applause while exchanging curious looks. What were the warnings for? Why now?

Ron opened his mouth to ask Hermione but closed it again at her glare, knowing she wanted to watch the sorting uninterrupted. After what seemed like hours the final student, Rose Zeller, was sorted and Dumbledore stood to address the school.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Announcements must be made, but I am sure they will be better received on full stomachs! Tuck in!"

With the final two words the tables became heavily laden and students rushed to fill their plates, the noise level in the Hall rising as friends chattered excitedly about their summers.

"Have you ever heard anything about the Hat giving warnings?" Harry asked Hermione, trying desperately not to look at Ron who was consuming everything in sight with all the grace and manners of a hippogriff.

"The Hat has given several warnings over the years," Nearly Headless Nick replied, having overheard Harry's question. "Always when it feels that the school is under threat. Its advice is always the same. Stand together and put differences aside."

"That makes sense," Hermione mused out loud. "Strength in numbers and all that."

"I suppose," Harry agreed reluctantly, before moving on. "But how does the Hat know when there's a threat?"

"How should I know?" Nick asked before moving down the table, repulsed by Ron's eating habits.

"I guess it must hear things in Dumbledore's office," Harry suggested before shrugging and turning his attention to the feast in front of him.

He had just finished his second helping of treacle tart when Dumbledore once again stood, causing the plates to clear and everyone's attention to fix on the headmaster.

"Now that we have all had our fill, there are a few start of term notices," he started. "First years ought to know that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students- and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too." Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged smirks. "Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch's office door. We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magucal Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks at the realisation that no mention had been made about how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quiddich teams will take place on the-"

He broke of and looked towards Professor Umbridge. The whole school followed his lead, wondering why he had stopped. It was only after she cleared her throat (_hem, hem_) that the students realised that she had stood up intending to make a speech. Professor Dumbledore managed to conceal his surprise after a few moments and promptly sat down looking attentively at Professor Umbridge. The other Professors were not as adept at hiding their shock. Snape was glaring at her with the kind of loathing he usually reserved for Harry and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. Not that it was surprising. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before.

"Thank you Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "For those kind words of welcome."

Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and a little girlish and Harry felt an inexplicable rush of dislike. He realised that he loathed everything about her from her stupid voice to her fluffy pink cardigan.

"_Hem hem_. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say," she continued, smiling. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"

Students exchanged a look at this; some of them were barely concealing grins.

When Professor Umbridge continued, (_hem, hem_) her voice had taken on a much more businesslike tone, the words flowing as though recited from a script.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to br of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed with careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lost them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Here she stopped momentarily to give a small bow to her colleagues, none of whom bowed back.

"_Hem, hem_. Every Headmaster and Headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance then between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"

Harry tuned out as the longwinded monotone continued. He was beginning to get an inkling about where the Defense Professor was going with this and was starting to become concerned. As he glanced around the Hall he noticed that most of the students had given up paying attention and had returned to their own conversations, not noticing anything amiss. Other were making the effort to look interested but the glazed over look in their eye's gave them away. In fact, besides the staff, the only one Harry could see who was actually listening attentively was Hermione, who did not appear to agree with Professor Umbridge.

"… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

Umbridge sat down promptly, the sudden silence caused by the mass realisation that the speech was over only broken by the applause from the staff table, where most of the Professors only clapped once or twice before stopping. Dumbledore once again stood.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge. That was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quiddich tryouts will be held …"

"It certainly was illuminating," said Hermione in a low voice.

"You actually enjoyed that waffle?" Ron said quietly, though his tone carried the full weight of his incredulity. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard and I grew up with Percy."

"I said illuminating, not enjoyable. And there was important stuff hidden in the waffle," Hermione explained grimly.

Harry stayed silent, agreeing with Hermione but reluctant to say what he was thinking.

"Such as?" asked Ron blankly.

"How about 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? How about 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?"

"Well, what does that mean?"

"It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."


End file.

Harry Potter, Adventure