Disclaimer: I have no ownership on any rights, shares, stocks, or characters of Harry Potter or Final Fantasy. I would love to own some part but I don't and so life moves on.

Chapter 2 The Meeting

Privet Drive was having a strange spell of rain but today was a nice sunny afternoon. The birds chirped happily as neighbors mowed their front lawns. Everyone on Privet Drive was what the world would call normal… well, not everyone. One boy is far from normal and his name is Harry Potter. Harry by now was quite a tall young man with shabby clothes, messy black hair, and round glasses. But most unusual was his lightning bolt scar given to him by Lord Voldemort on the day his parents died.

Harry was spending another summer at the Dursley's. Normally the Dursleys pretended that Harry did not exist but this summer was different. It was Harry's turn to pretend that the Dursleys did not exist. Harry had not come out of his room all summer and refused to talk to anyone.

Harry was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling when a group of owls flew through the window. Harry didn't even notice the owls until they started to hoot at him. Harry slowly rolled over on his side to stare at his new guests.

Harry saw a tiny brown owl still flying around excitedly with a package attached to its leg. This small owl was Ron's owl, given to him by Sirius, and later called him "Pig". Another was his own snowy white owl named Hedwig who also had a large package tied to its leg. The last two Harry assumed to be school owls judging from the professional manner they had about them. One had a package in its beak and the other had a small letter.

Harry hoped that if he lay here long enough the owls would just disappear but as the hooting became unbearable he quickly got up, took all the packages and the letter from the owls.

"There, is that better?" said Harry in a voice louder than he intended.

The two school owls gave one final hoot and left the room. Pig gave several cheerful hoots while zooming around the room before finally leaving. Hedwig ruffled her feathers and hopped in to her cage.

Harry turned his attention to the packages and saw the words: "Happy Birthday Harry" written on one of them. This line confused him; it couldn't be his birthday it was too soon. He ran over to his calendar and saw that it indeed was July 31, which was his birthday. Harry looked at the gifts and could guess what they were. Ron's was likely to be some kind of wizard candy, the next one was Hermione's and was probably some kind of "getting ready for school" book, the third was Hagrid's and by the smell it was some kind of cake that Hagrid made himself. And the letter was a list of all his books he would need for the next school year.

Harry didn't open a single one of the presents but just laid down on the bed and continued to stare at the ceiling. Seeing Ron's owl reminded him of Sirius and how he had given Harry some presents before but now…

"Stop it!" Harry shouted which scared Hedwig and took several minutes to calm down again.

Harry had spent all summer trying to erase the event of Serius's death and was not going to let one tiny owl bring back those painful memories.

Harry decided that it was time to go down to get his school supplies and do his summer homework. On his way downstairs, he saw the Dursleys sitting around the dining room table watching the news. Uncle Vernon was a very plump man with little neck showing. Aunt Petunia was a slim woman with a very long neck which she used to spy over fences into other's yards. And his cousin Dudley was also a very fat boy who looked a lot like his father.

As Harry walked toward the closet under the stairs he hoped that he could get his stuff and slip back upstairs without anyone noticing. Unfortunately Uncle Vernon was staring out the door to the hallway at the same time Harry was walking across.

"You there, boy!" said Uncle Vernon gruffly "come here."

Harry sighed heavily and walked over to his Uncle.

"What is it?" Harry asked in a rather rude tone. But Uncle Vernon ignored this and started to make faces as if he was trying to force himself to say something he knew was wrong.

"H-H-H" Uncle Vernon stuttered. He paused and took a deep breath and started again. "H-H-Happy B-Birthd-day H-Harry." After this he sat down and look straight at the television without another word.

Harry was stunned. Through out his whole life the Dursleys hadn't ever recognized Harry even had a birthday, so what brought on the change? Harry must have been standing there for quite some time because Uncle Vernon yelled at him that he was free to go.

Harry retrieved his supplies and returned upstairs but was unable to focus on any schoolwork. Perhaps what changed the Dursley's mind was what Mad-Eye said to them at the beginning of summer or maybe. Maybe they were acting differently because they felt sorry for him that Sirius died.

At this thought Harry slammed the door to his bedroom shut and locked it. If someone, such as Ron, felt sorry for him that was one thing but for the Dursleys of all people to feel sorry for him was unbearable. His whole life the Dursleys had always hated and feared him, and now the first thing they felt towards him was pity.

Harry didn't know what to do with himself, so all he could do was flop on his bed and fall asleep.

A few days latter someone knocked on Harry's door. When Harry didn't answer they knocked again. Tired of the knocking Harry finally told them to come in. To his surprise it was Uncle Vernon with a nervous look on his face.

"Umm…" Uncle Vernon said "It's almost time to get your school supplies so I thought…" he looked away from Harry. Harry was now sitting on his bed looking at his Uncle intently.

"Well… I mean… I thought we could take you to get your stuff for school." said Uncle Vernon finally looking at Harry waiting for his answer.

Harry didn't know what to say. First they wished him a happy birthday and now they were willing to take him to get his school supplies. After a long wait Harry finally gave a response.

"That would be great," he said to his Uncle.

"Right," said Uncle Vernon as he was leaving Harry's room " Get your things and we'll be off." He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Harry got out of bed changed his clothes and gathered all he would need for the trip back to Hogworts. As he was getting his things, he looked on the table and saw all of his presents. He noticed none of them were open, even the letter from Hogworts. He packed them in his luggage and told himself he would open them on the road.

Harry finished packing and went downstairs; Uncle Vernon was already waiting for him.

"Alright, let's go." said Uncle Vernon. The two of them got into the car and drove off. The car ride was quiet except for the sound of opening of presents coming from Harry in the back seat. The gifts were exactly what he thought they were, tasty looking candy, a very dense book, and a baked cake. The letter was from Hogworts telling him that he had received seven O.W.Ls in his Ordinary Wizarding Levels tests. The next letter was his list of books he would need for next year but the one book that caught his attention was a book called The Chi Within Magic by Chishiki Shinsetsu. Harry wasn't sure what that meant but before he could think any longer they had arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

Mr. Dursley helped Harry unpack, then said a quick good-bye and left. Harry had just entered the pub when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Oy, Harry!" said the voice. Harry turned around to be staring into Professor Lupin's face.

"Oh, hello Professor," said Harry "You look dreadful where have you been?"

"Well, I've been traveling but anyway," said Lupin as he waved his hand as if trying to dismiss the matter "I have someone I want you to meet." He then tried to lead him up stairs but Harry wouldn't move.

"Why, can't we do this later?" Harry asked with an air of annoyance "I was trying to get all of my school supplies." Harry didn't feel like shopping but he didn't like being ordered around.

"No, this is very important and you must do this first," said Lupin in a strict tone. So Harry, seeing no other option, followed Lupin upstairs.

Ending Note 1: Hope yal enjoyed my newest chapter of my story. I'll update in about another month. As always I don't own Harry Potter or Final Fantasy and stay cool and bring peace!

Ending Note 2: According to my Japanese dictionary chishiki means knowledge and shinsetsu means kindness.