It was a regular summer for Harry, well, as regular as it could possibly be. Now that he was of legal age, he could use magic outside of school and there was nothing to be afraid of now since he had magic to help him if needed. Dudley was still terrified out of his wits because of the Dementor episode from last summer. Uncle Vernon had locked Harry's robes and all of his other possessions in the cupboard but Harry luckily managed to keep his wand. Aunt Petunia's nagging got worse that summer but it wasn't much of a bother.

Aunt Petunia's shrill screeching woke Harry up from his peaceful slumber because it was Dudley's birthday and he had to cook breakfast for the family. His relatives would go out for the day and he would stay with Arabella Figg. He would be able to do as he pleased at her place, so he couldn't care less if he was excluded. The events of his fifth year still stayed in his mind however despite being in his seventh year. The war with Voldemort had ended but it still had some lasting effects on its survivors.

As he cooked the Dursleys' food, he thought about Sirius even though he knew it was a dangerous game. He couldn't help thinking about everything and his sixth year. He had killed Voldemort and the remaining Death Eaters were sent to Azkaban to live out their days. After eating his breakfast, he wrote like he promised, updating them on his last summer at the Dursleys'. In the midst of writing a letter, his uncle's booming voice interrupted his concentration. "Apparently Ms. Figg can't take you for the day so we're forced to take you to the amusement park. We're going to pick up that Pier Polkiss bloke now. Get ready and don't waste our time. Hurry up!"

Harry had mixed feelings about this. While he had never been to an amusement park, it meant having to deal with his relatives who had been more of an annoyance than usual. He also had to suffer through Pier's and Dudley's bullying until he could find some form of relief at the amusement park. Once there, Vernon pulled him aside to warn him that if he did anything he would be forced to live out the rest of his summer in his old cupboard.

Luckily, he was able to wander around for a while unbothered since the Dursleys actively made sure not to associate themselves with him. He stopped when he heard a familiar voice, "Harry! Is that you?"

He turned to see Hermione holding a stuffed animal beckoning him to come to her. After catching up quickly, they decided to go on a roller coaster since Harry had never been on one. He enjoyed it as it was a different but similar thrill to riding a broomstick. Dudley and Piers bumped into them and decided to try their hand at bullying Harry, but Hermione would have none of it and managed to outsmart them by tricking them into embarrassing themselves. Laughing as he wiped his tears, "I wish Ron was here to see this. This is pretty much the highlight of today."

The day passed by quickly for Harry as he won some prizes and tried out some muggle food for the first time. When he was saying his goodbyes to the Grangers, Dudley was sulking in the back with Vernon looking a little annoyed at his son being outsmarted by a girl. Harry sat in the back of the car feeling content as he gently patted the magically shrunken prizes in his pocket.

On the day before his birthday, he received the usual Hogwarts letter listing the required school supplies. As he was scanning through the letter, he found something unusual.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Uniform Seventh year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

5. One dress robe

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry nametags and that girls can wear trousers in the sixth and seventh year.

Set Books

All the students should have a copy of each of the following:

A Guide to Occlumency by Severus Snape

The Advanced Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk

Monster Book by Furrey Animage

Advanced Transfiguration: Advancing to a new Level by Emeric Switch Advanced Potions by Alice Dumbledore

Magical Plants and how to Care for Them by Phyllida Spore

Defending Yourself by 'Mad-Eye' Moody

1000 Charms by Georgee Charmsy

Other Equipment:

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 4)

2 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set silver scales

A Pensieve

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Harry looked at his letter in disbelief when he saw the pensieve listed at the bottom. Professor Snape would be teaching him Occlumency again and he was very much dreading it. He remembered his last Occlumency lesson with Snape where Snape lost his temper when he became too his memories. He realised he was in the wrong for invading his privacy but he wasn't looking forward to how Professor Snape would handle the lessons after that incident. Prof. He decided to owl his friends to see if they were also going to be receiving the Occlumency lessons. Harry was hoping they were.

He scribbled on 2 scrap pieces of parchment:

Hey Ron/Hermione,

Did you get in your list that you needed a Pensieve? Owl me back as soon as possible please.

Harry

Harry tied the parchment to Pigwidgeon and Hermione's letter to Hedwig. Hedwig nipped him gently and the owls soared into the night sky. He couldn't sleep that night because he was still confused and shocked that Dumbledore decided that he should take Occlumency again despite the war being over.

The next day Harry received Hermione's reply.

Harry,

No, I didn't. Is Professor Snape teaching you again? I think you should take the opportunity.

Hermione

The day after, he received Ron's reply

Harry,

I got an owl saying that greasy git is teaching you again. Don't take the opportunity. He'll just take off more points off of Gryffindor. The war may be over, but the git is still biased towards Slytherin. By the way, Mum's picking you up next week.

Ron

In a week he would be leaving for the Burrow again like he usually did every summer since his second year. The week passed by slowly and the day for Molly to pick up Harry came. Molly passed through the house by Floo powder. After the last incident with the electric fire, the Dursleys had switched to the traditional fire. As Molly stepped out of the fireplace, Petunia was scared out of her wits because Nypmhadora Tonks came with her. She had never seen someone as outlandish as her. Molly paused both in confusion and worry when she heard Harry tell her that all his things were locked away in his old cupboard. She tried to press the topic but luckily, Tonks managed to distract her by unintentionally creating a commotion with opening it.

When it came for Harry's turn, Vernon stopped him and attempted to hit him as he told him to stay over at the 'freakish hole' that was the Weasleys' home and never come back. Harry attempted to dodge it as he flooed away but some of the hits landed on a prior bruise from Harry muttering to himself about the Occlumency lessons. Anything related to magic was off limits in the Dursley household and Harry was blamed automatically for anything magic related, even if it was in the Muggle sense.

Molly looked worried at the unusual state of Harry's dishevelled appearance. She knew there were parts about his appearance that did not lie with that of one having flooed. "Harry, did something happen at your relatives' place?"

He half-heartedly attempted to deflect the conversation to another topic but it seemed like it wouldn't work. Ron casually stepped in to help him out and Harry whispered his thanks. He offered Ron to buy something from Honeydukes as a token of gratitude. Ron beamed and gently patted him on the back. "Thanks mate, you don't have to. I appreciate the thought. You know, people have their own pace at life, and if something's wrong, they'll tell someone when they're ready to. Just remember that, okay?"

A bang interrupted their conversation and they looked outside to see fireworks and the sounds of Molly Weasley nagging at Fred and George to be more careful and to stop inventing dangerous things in the house. The twins smiled and raucously laughed as they greeted Harry along with the other Weasley children. They asked about the extra lessons and wrinkled their noses in disgust as they learned that Harry would be once again required to be under Severus' tutelage.

The next day, Molly told Harry and Ron that she was going shopping for their school supplies later that week and to give them the papers for what they needed. Harry told Molly that his list was different from Ron's and gave her his copy. Molly raised her eyebrow in confusion as she looked at his paper. "I'm pretty sure you both need the same things though? You both usually take the same courses..."

Harry explained the situation to her and she nodded and understood what Dumbledore was planning for him. She harrumphed a little as voiced the same opinion as her children. "Severus is a pain to deal with at times but he's a brilliant Potion Master, I will admit that. I wish he wasn't the one teaching you, but Albus usually seems to know what he's doing though, and besides, he's a busy man, having to taking care of Hogwarts and all. He must not have the time to teach you personally this year."

When Molly came back from her shopping, she told Harry and Ron that Pensieves were not sold readily in Diagon Alley. Harry felt disappointed and slightly stressed that he did not have it ready for the new school year. Sighing, he looked at the list and shook his head in dismay, "Looks like I'm going to be in trouble with Snape before the Occlumency lessons even start."