Hey y'all, remember me? Ezra Redcreek. First student from the States to go to Hogwarts in the UK, and one-fourth of the Golden Quartet with my British best friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter. Let me tell you, our first year at Hogwarts had many episodes, good and bad, that we will remember.

I didn't change much over summer, except that I grew a couple of inches taller. My hair grew a bit, and my widow's peak was slightly more pronounced, but it still ended at my neck. Summer was busy for me. I was juggling between doing homework for Transfiguration, owling letters to my school friends, and hanging out with my old friends. The minute I got back, I was bombarded with questions from them. It took me about a while to answer every single one, being careful not to reveal anything that had to do with magic.

I can tell you that once I got home from King's Cross and told my parents what happened last year, they were amazed…Okay, "amazed" is the wrong word. Especially since they noticed me walking with a limp, and the fact that I kinda skirted around any questions from Dad about the times that I got into trouble. But Mom eventually found out what happened, thanks to her discreetly slipping a truth-telling potion in my soda one day. It made me spill out everything that happened down in the dungeons, from Fluffy to Quirrell and Voldemort. All I can say was, she wasn't too thrilled about what we did in the dungeons.

I got berated with questions like, "What were you kids thinking?! You could've died!" or "Why were you out sneaking around when you could have been caught?" and the ever repeating "Putting yourselves in danger like that! Where was your common sense?" Dad tried to calm her down, but she turned on him with her famous glare that said, "Don't start with me, mister!" "Ma, you gotta understand! The Stone was at risk and You-Know-Who was hunting for it to get stronger. We just wanted to find a way he wouldn't get it," I argued. She let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm sorry, Ez. You four did a noble thing. I just was so worried about what happened." Dad added, "We know this involved You-Know-Who and you wanted to help your friends, but ya shoulda left to the professors, not go off an' play detective, 'specially since you and Harry suffered the most damage." "I understand, Dad. I'm sorry, and I promise not to do something reckless like that again," I said, walking off. "Hold it, missy," my mother interrupted. I started to sweat a little bit, because whenever she calls me "missy", it's never a good thing. "We can see you understand the seriousness of your actions, but you're not off the hook just yet. Double chores and no friends over for two weeks. Starting tomorrow, clear?" "Yessum," I responded dejectedly before going up to my room so that I could finish my letter to Ron.

It was a month into summer break, and I had been feeling anxious over one of my friends. Hermione, Ron, and I had written to Harry all summer, but we didn't get a reply back, much less see Hedwig with a delivery. In the back of my mind, was starting to think that he had forgotten about us. Mom would often tell me to be patient and remember that he was living with his No-Maj relatives, so maybe it was still weird for them. I tried to tell her that I was patient…for about a month, and I didn't think that I shoulda had to wait for a letter from him. I was slightly perturbed about the lack of response from Harry, but kept thinking, "He's got a reason for the late reply."

It was extremely cloudy the next day, almost foggy. I was about to finish writing a birthday letter with a gift attached for Harry one last time before I thought about the worst, when I heard a car engine rumble close by. Not only that, but it seemed like its headlights were shining right in my window. What the-? I got up from my desk and went to investigate. Turns out the car was floating right outside my window with Ron, Fred, and George driving it.

They had stopped about three feet away from my window and were in some sort of argument. "Now, Ron, are you absolutely positive that this is the right place?" George asked with slight irritation in his voice. "Yeah, Ezra gave me her address so I could write to her. We've been following the map to her home city and state. How was I to know that there are multiple houses with the same address in different states?" Ron answered slightly unsure about his answer. "Well, we've been flying for ages, across England, an entire ocean, and most, if not all of the States," Fred said, agreeing with his twin brother in testiness. "If this isn't the place again, we'll have to turn back and get Harry without her." "Boo!" I shouted and promptly spooked them, giggling at my lame attempt to get their attention. "That was not funny, Ezra. Bloody hell," Ron said, trying to calm down after being jolted. "Sorry. I wanted to make sure I wasn't goin' crazy when I saw you guys. What are y'all doin' here? And what's with the flying car? Y'all are gonna get in trouble for doing magic outta school."

"Oh, don't worry about us Ezzy. This doesn't count. You see, it's our dad's Ford Anglia, so we're not doing any magic," George explained from the back seat. It sorta irked me that he called me "Ezzy." The only person I allowed to do that was my father, and he didn't do it much. "And to answer your other question: Ron got your letter about how Harry wasn't replying to your messages, just like him and Hermione. So we decided to see for ourselves and possibly pick you up on the way." "That makes sense," I stated. "Now c'mon kid, pack your trunk. You'll be staying with us until we have to go back to Hogwarts" Fred stated. "You mean suitcase?" I wondered. "Right, different words in America…forgot. Yeah, pack that up and your owl cage can go in the boot…uh, trunk?" "Right."

I packed up my suitcase with my Hogwarts gear and placed Polaris near the back window so Fred could still see behind him. Before climbing out the window, I scribbled a quick note to my parents telling them about our impromptu plan to rescue Harry and that I would be staying with Ron's family until school started. The boys helped me climb into the car and I sat next to George in the back. I was surprised to see the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car, instead of the left. Must be an English thing… "You guys do have enough gas in the tank to take us to Harry's, right?" I asked, realizing how far they came to see me. "Don't worry, there's plenty. Have we ever let you down?" Fred asked with a smile. Turning to Ron I said, "With those two in charge, that's a possibility." "Definitely," Ron replied back. "Where's the trust? How could you say that, Ezzy?" the twins dramatically whined. "Oh, suck it up 'n drive. It's gonna be a long trip. And don't call me Ezzy! It sounds childish," I shot back and got them to drive away from my house to Privet Drive.

It took almost half a day to reach Privet Drive. Fred, George, and Ron kept on taking turns during the trip. When we finally did, we saw bars drilled on Harry's window. It almost looked like he was in a jail cell instead of his room. Fred was driving again and inched the car as close as possible. Harry looked completely bewildered. "Hiya, Harry," Ron said. "Didja miss us?" I said grinning. "Ron, Fred, George, Ezra…What are you all doing here?" Harry asked, happy and surprised to see us. "Rescuing you of course! Now come on, get your trunk," Ron directed.

While Harry was packing, George and I handed Ron a rope with a hook tied to it. He attached the hook to the bars. "Better stand back," Ron warned, and Harry did. "Let's go," Ron said. Fred turned the car around and drove forwards, tearing both the bars and the window. We forgot that it would make so much noise, because not 5 seconds later, someone in the house yelled, "POTTER!" Harry was in the middle of giving Hedwig to Ron when we heard the shouting and jangling of keys. Time apparently wasn't on our side, 'cause we had to rush putting Harry's things in the car now that his relatives were on their way.

"C'mon Harry! Hurry up!" Ron urged. "You can do it mate!" George said. Right as we had secured his suitcase and Hedwig in the car, the door opened and Harry's uncle screamed, "Petunia, he's escaping!" Harry was halfway out of the window when his uncle grabbed his ankle and started to pull him back in while fighting against me and Ron who hung onto Harry to pull him into the car. "Let go of me!" Harry shouted. "Oh no! You and that bloody pigeon aren't going anywhere!" his uncle refused. "Get off!" Harry shot back. "Floor it, Fred! Floor it!" I yelled. Fred obeyed and we drove away, narrowly escaping. Harry's uncle released his grip on Harry and fell onto the bushes about 12 below. Harry slammed the car door and locked it tight.

Ron turned to Harry and said, "By the way, Harry, happy birthday!" "I was gonna owl this to you, but Ron mentioned it already. So from me to you, happy birthday, Harry," I added handing him a package and envelope attachment. "Thanks guys. You made today a whole lot better for me," Harry replied, and we headed on our way the Burrow.