Part 1
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Harry whispered hopefully.
It was almost the end of August. His favorite time of the year is finally approaching.
Time to go back to Hogwarts.
After all the dishwashing, dusting, and mopping, Aunt Petunia nodded in approval and as usual, Harry ate his dinner alone in the kitchen. At the precious age of fourteen, the leftover food was far from making his stomach completely satisfied(surprised that there are any leftovers in the first place by his big uncle and cousin), but at least he wasn't starved to death.
He is used to eating alone.... Or was.... Ever since he felt the joy of eating with a friend at Hogwarts, the food he ate at home seemed to be tasteless. Nevertheless, his growing body needed to be fed and it didn't matter what the food tasted like. He wolfed down the remaining mashed potatoes and gulped his milk. He only drank milk when Dudley wasn't around. His chunky cousin won't allow him to drink milk since Harry was almost as tall as him, if not taller. Harry would try to reason that milk wasn't the only factor to his growth, but Dudley did not want to take any chances. He told Harry to keep away from his milk and warned he will tell his parents if he ever tried even to lick a single drop. Now, if Dudley ever did lift the milk carton with his own tubby fingers he would notice someone other than him was drinking it. But since Harry serves him his cereal every morning, and takes his drink to him whenever he was thirsty, he had no way of figuring it out. Harry thanked god for his cousin's dullness.
He washed his dish and went upstairs to his small room. Hedwig flopped her wings as he entered.
"I know, Hedwig.... Wait a little bit longer and you can fly whenever you want once we're at Hogwarts." Harry said as he placed the cover over her cage.
He was only allowed to go to the park for half an hour in which he would take Hedwig to spread her wings. Harry was worried she wasn't getting enough exercise and feared she might get stressed. But the wise snowy owl seemed to understand Harry had no power over this matter, and was always in a cheerful mood whenever Harry was near.
Harry slumped on his bed and wondered what was going to happen this year at Hogwarts. Every year, it seemed something was bound to happen and he couldn't help but to smile with excitement. He also wondered if he'll get to see Sirius and Remus again, strongly hoping Remus was the DADA professor once more(..or at least someone competent). He could ask Dumbledore their conditions and ask if he could contact Remus or Sirius. The former DADA professor wouldn't have any difficulty keeping in touch with the school, but the latter was a fugitive and couldn't risk getting caught....at least for now… But Harry was determined to prove his godfather's innocence and bring Pettigrew to justice, which was long overdue.
Harry slowly pulled out a candy wrapper underneath his mattress. It was from the Weasleys, or more specifically, Fred and George. They sent it to him via Pigwidgeon saying that it was their new creation and Harry was the first to try it. Knowing the twins, Harry was afraid to even open the little package, but curiosity got the best of him. Because on the letter it said,
'Eat this and your dreams will come true…. or…. Was it a wish..? Anyways, just try it and tell us what you think.'
Harry bravely tried it(phone in hand)….but sadly, it didn't seem to work. He first wished for Voldemort's death, and then his parent's resurrection(though a little afraid how they'd appear), but nothing happened. He was still thankful for the twins since he wasn't allowed any sweets at home. He opened the new wrapper and sighed when he realized it was the last one.
"....If I eat one today and next Wednesday, then I'll still have one left over on the day before I leave..." Harry mumbled to himself.
There were three candy balls per wrapper. He didn't want to eat all at once since he wasn't used to such luxury. He slowly chewed the blue gum-like candy and put the rest away. As the candy dissolved Harry had the urge for more. Plus, he was still a little hungry and sugar seemed to ease the cravings down. He finally decided and pulled the candy out again. The red candy quickly disappeared in his mouth while Harry stared at the remaining green...
"I should just eat the whole thing now...... I mean.. why not?..... Once Hogwarts starts, I can eat all the candy I want..." Harry thought thoroughly and before he changed his mind, he ate the last candy and threw the wrapper away.
He turned the lights off and slowly turned the candy over and over with his tongue, savoring every flavor. He closed his eyes and again, thought about Hogwarts and his friends. He couldn't stop thinking about them if he tried. But not everything in the wizard's world was a happy thought. He still had to worry about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and remembered his Occlumency lessons with Dumbledore and Snape. Of course, being the slimy potion master he was, Snape insulted and discouraged Harry to continue every opportunity he got. The last time he talk to Snape was..... oh wait… he didn't talk to him..... During the last lesson, Harry got so enraged he threw a hex at his professor and ran out… He knew Snape dodged it effortlessly since he heard him saying something along the line of '-can't even aim right...'
"Oh.... I am so going to pay..." Harry groaned as the memory slowly came back...
But he believed Snape had no right to treat him like a plague. He heard about how his professor was mistreated by the troublesome Marauders….or mainly Sirius, but that didn't justify Snape's hostility towards Harry.
"If you can't even block me from getting in your mind, how do you suppose you can defend yourself from the Dark Lord?"
Harry grimaced as he recalled the famous poison-dipped sneer of Snape. But he had to admit, how was he supposed to win against Voldemort if he can't even win an argument against his school professor? Everything Snape said made Harry tick, but he also knew they were true. Therefore, he couldn't talk back to defend himself... which made Harry even more frustrated.
He finally realized the last candy had dissolved completely in his mouth.
"I wish there was someway to find out how I can defeat Voldemort…. Or even if I can defeat him at all…."
Harry closed his eyes in attempt to sleep.
But few seconds later, he detected an odd smell... It was somewhat a familiar scent, but couldn't quite put his hands on it. He opened his eyes and realized he wasn't in his room anymore… He felt an odd sense of being in mid-air and before he knew it, he fell hard on the cold ground.
"OWW!!!"
Harry yelped as he struggled sit up.
He looked left and right, but all he could see was smoke. Was his house burning? He quickly erased that thought as he realized what the familiar scent was. His potions class.
He coughed as the smoke dimmed and through his blurry vision, he detected a presence.
"....That fool..."
The dark figure approached menacingly.
"Wha-?... Who..."
Harry blurted out as he scooted away.
The figure...a man? clicked his tongue in annoyance and quickly pulled Harry to his feet. Through squinted eyes, Harry saw that the man had dark hair and an equally dark robe. He leaned in closer to see the man's face.
"Potter, the year is 2005 August 17th. Remember it, and remember it well."
The last sentence was more like a warning.
By this time, Harry definitely knew who this was.
"Professor Snape??!"
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