Harry's Departure
Harry groaned as he was jolted out of sleep by the sounds of somebody (Dudley, no doubt) banging on his door repeatedly. He had been having the most wonderful dream and now because of being awoken so suddenly couldn't remember any of it, other than the fact that he felt deliriously happy. He thought he remembered seeing a girl, though he couldn't imagine who the girl could be - he certainly wasn't still dreaming about Cho Chang. He sighed, realizing that trying to relive the dream was a lost cause, put on his glasses and dragged himself out of bed.
It was the last two weeks of vacation before his 6th year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to begin. He figured he would be able to leave the Dursley's soon (Mrs. Weasley had told him they would get him away from the Dursley's house as soon as they could this summer, and Ron had just written to invite him) and that thought cheered him considerably, although not much could anymore.
Harry finished packing his things into his trunk, made sure he collected everything from under the loose floorboard, gathered Hedwig's cage and made his way down the stairs. He didn't know what Uncle Vernon would have to say about him using floo powder in the fireplace to get to the Weasley's, but since he wouldn't have to see him for a whole year he didn't suppose it mattered much.
"Er - so, I'll be leaving now," Harry announced to the room at large, while Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stared at him and his baggage. They never seemed to get over the fact that he was, indeed, a wizard, and as a result had everything that came with it. Then again, they never really intended for him to find out, so their incredulity was understandable.
"I hope those - Weatherby's, did you call them? - arrive in a more suitable fashion than they did 2 years ago, for I won't have the neighbors making a fuss," Uncle Vernon growled. This statement in itself caused Harry to smile as he remembered Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron stuck in the Dursley's chimney. However, he knew Uncle Vernon had never bothered to seal the chimney up the way it was before, so he would be able to travel through the floo network.
"No, actually," Harry replied (not without a smirk on his face), "I'll be traveling alone this time."
With that, he stepped into the fireplace, shifted Hedwig's cage so he could grasp a handful of floo powder, shouted, "The Burrow!", and threw his floo powder onto the fireplace floor. He didn't miss the look of shock on the Dursley's faces as he disappeared into the green flames, and he was chuckling when he reached Ron's.
