((A/N: Here's the next 3 parts. Time for school to start. This should help everyone understand a little more. :-) I want to thank everyone for their reviews I received. Again, thanks to moshpit, Sovran, and wolfsscream for the their help! Enjoy -- kb.))
(((Anno-Hogwarts)))
"Year 1"
Harry went over to the Weasleys for the afternoon a couple of times each week. Not only did he enjoy time with his new friend, but Molly told Dee that Ginny enjoyed it. She had been very lonely all year with her brothers off at school.
Just before June ended, Cedric came home. Harry thought that was the greatest since Cedric would fly with him and teach him flying tricks. Harry also loved it since Cedric said he was so good. He did not know if Cedric really meant it, but he sounded like he did.
The next time Harry went to visit Ginny he got a surprise. Cedric took him over, and when he came out of the Floo, the room was filled with redheads.
Cedric smiled at them. "Fred, George, what's up?"
"Cedric! Who's that?" one of the twins asked. It was obvious they were curious, since they were waiting in the room with their sister.
"Oh, this is my little brother, Harry. We adopted him not long ago. You're not supposed to tell anyone about him until school starts though. It's for his safety," Cedric explained.
"Why's that?" the other twin asked.
"My parents want to give Harry the chance to get used to us and everything else. It's just the family rule," he said with a shrug.
"Yeah, we understand. We have family rules that don't make sense too," the youngest male Weasley said.
Cedric laughed for a moment before a strange thought occurred to him, one he tried to ignore for a moment. "OK, I know these two. Harry, one of those is Fred and the other is George. If you can tell them apart, good on you." The twins laughed at that. "She must be your friend Ginny, but I don't know you," he pointed to the other one. "You just started, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I'm Ron. I'll be in second year next year," he said proudly.
"Everyone, meet Harry."
"Hi Harry!" all the Weasleys shouted, even Ginny before she giggled. Harry blushed slightly.
"Hey, you've got a broom," Ron pointed to the object in Harry's hand, the object that always came over with him. "Do you fly?"
"Better than you do, Ron," Ginny told her brother. "In fact, I bet he flies better than any of us except for Charlie."
"Uh-uh, no way," Ron argued. "Besides, how would you know, Ginny?"
She rolled her eyes at her brother and ignored his question. "Then go get a broom and Harry will show you, won't you Harry?" Ginny challenged him.
"OK then, come on." Ron accepted the challenge and jumped up to run outside to find the truth. Ginny and Harry quickly followed.
"Fred? George?" Cedric called. The twins stopped, they were about to follow the others. "Would you two look after him? I'll be back in a while."
"Sure Cedric, he'll be safer than Ron with Ginny watching after him," one quipped.
"Yeah, go on; we'll see you later," the other assured him.
"Thanks. I'll, ah, be back later." Grabbing some Floo powder from the bowl on the mantel, Cedric left Harry and hurried back home with new questions going through his mind.
It was a Saturday afternoon, so both of Cedric's parents were home. "Mum? Dad?"
"In here, son," Amos called out jovially to his oldest.
Cedric went into the kitchen and found his parent sitting at the table with a cold drink. Thinking that sounded good, he grabbed a Butterbeer out of the cold cabinet.
"Something on your mind, Cedric? Did school go well this year?" his father asked.
"Yeah, Dad, school was fine. Uh, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, son…" his father waited patiently and his mother seemed to be having a relaxing day too.
"It's about Harry. He's -- I don't know how to put this, but he's not just some kid who lost his parents and needed a new home, is he?" Cedric wanted to know, and yet he was almost afraid of the truth.
"I'm not sure I understand what you're asking."
Cedric looked at his father. He could tell his father was not lying to him, but it seemed that his father was not telling him everything either. He was not sure why, but new questions had popped into his mind while he had been talking to the Weasley twins.
He ran his fingers through the left side of his hair as he thought and tried to reason it out. "I guess it's this safety thing for Harry that made me start to wonder. Harry came into our family shortly after I started school. When I came home for Christmas, he was acting like a four- or five-year-old, even though he looked almost as old as he does now. And you wouldn't let anything happen to him, spent lots of time with him, teaching him his alphabet and everything. Now when I come, he can read and write almost like a Firstie, he's an incredible flyer, and yet you still wrap him in extra layers of safety. Something's wrong beyond the story you told me, and …. I just want to know what it is."
Cedric watched his father take a deep breath and look at his mother. She got an expression on her face as if she was considering a hard problem before she slowly nodded.
"Son, we were going to tell you later this summer, but since you ask now, we'll tell you. You remember how we told you at Christmas time that Harry had an accident and lost his family, so we took him in to help him?"
"Yes, Dad."
"The more detailed version is that Harry's parents were killed when he was a baby. Since he had no Wizarding relatives, he was taken to live with Muggle relatives who did not treat him well. Against odds I can't begin to calculate, so I must say it was his magic, Harry managed to find his way to a place where a witch recognized he was a wizard and helped him. Part of the help was Harry had to be totally Obliviated so he could start over."
Cedric frowned as he tried to understand. "So you had to Obliviate his leaving and being found? That doesn't make sense."
"No, dear," his mother said. "Harry's previous life was so bad, that we had to remove all of his memories. Even though he was eleven, he was like a baby when we were done healing him."
His mouth literally dropped open in shock.
"Since it is in my line of work, and your father and I always wanted a second child, we volunteered to help raise him. I also took on the role of teacher this past year. As you've noticed, Harry is a very fast learner."
Cedric tried to make sense of all of it all, but this was so fantastic. Eventually, he asked, "Does Harry know all of this?"
"We've been slowly giving him pieces of it over the last few months," his mother explained. "Last week, I told him almost what we just told you. Cedric, we love you very much. We also have more love to give to others, people we care about, and that includes Harry as well. To us, he can be a Diggory if he wants to be."
There was something missing, Cedric thought. Harry lost his parents as a baby and then lived with Muggles. Harry turned up sometime last fall. What was missing? Suddenly he realized the question was really who was missing. Someone was missing at the Welcoming Feast, a Harry who was also eleven. "Harry Potter!"
"Very good, son," his father beamed at him. "However, you may not tell anyone yet. One day, it will come out. I don't know if it will be this fall or if Harry will try to keep the Diggory name for safety for a while. The choice will be up to him."
"I don't understand," Cedric was very curious. "Why is it such a big deal? You-Know-Who is dead."
His father made a strange look, which Cedric was not sure how to interpret. "Maybe he is, but if you talk to the right people, they'll tell you he's still alive -- just without a body at the present."
"What?!"
"Calm down, son. We don't really know. But what we do know is that some of His followers are still on the loose, so we need to protect Harry until he's finished at least a few years of school and has at least some chance of defending himself."
"Respectfully, Dad, are you daft? I've just finished my fourth year and I don't think I could defend myself against a Death Eater."
His father took no offense; in fact, he smiled. "I respect your opinion, son. However, starting next summer, Harry will be getting extra tutoring in Defense. Professor McGonagall has already told us it would happen. In fact, she told us she would arrange it when she asked us to be extra safe with Harry when we took him in. In some ways, neither Harry nor us were given a choice."
"I see. So Harry is in hiding here?"
"Basically, yes. On the other hand, this is our chance to help not only the Boy-Who-Lived, who has already done a lot for the world, but our chance to love a wonderful little boy who wants a family, including a big brother."
Trust Dad to appeal to his family instincts, he thought. Cedric knew they were a close family and prided themselves on it. Mum may have been a Ravenclaw at school, but they were a Hufflepuff family. "Of course, Dad. Harry seems like a wonderful little brother."
"We're glad you think so," his mother told him with a smile. "It will be time to go pick up Harry in about an hour. Why don't you go unpack your trunk from school, as well as bring your dirty laundry to the cleaning room so I can take care of it this evening, then go pick him up. There's no rush, so if he needs a few minutes to finish something, it's all right."
He nodded and got up to do his mother's bidding. As he did, he thought about his new little brother, the famous Boy-Who-Lived. But from what little he knew about him so far, Cedric suspected Harry did not care. He would have to get to know him better over the summer. Cedric suspected he would also have to help protect him at school when the truth came out. Fortunately, nine of the worst bullies had been expelled this year at Hogwarts. The others had gone underground. They were still mean and bad to be around, but they created trouble less frequently. Harry would need protection. Cedric hoped his brother was in Hufflepuff; that would make it a lot easier to do. If not, he knew some good people in the other two houses who would help him. There was no way Harry would be in Slytherin.
Once he was done with his chores, he went back over to the Weasley house and found Harry and Ginny lying side-by-side on the living room floor reading a book. When they looked up, he noticed the book was for first year Transfiguration. "Whatcha reading, Harry?"
"This is Ron's book from last year. Ginny and I wanted to see what it was about."
"I understand. Why didn't you just ask Ron?" he asked with curiosity, wondering what they were up to.
"He didn't care and didn't want to talk to us about it," Ginny told him with some irritation in her voice. "He said he's out of school for the summer and doesn't want to think about it until next September."
"Oh, I see. Do you understand what you're reading?" Cedric was curious about how smart they were, especially Harry.
"It mostly makes sense, but I don't understand how the third law of Transfiguration fits in. It seems to contradict the second law," Harry said with the most serious look Cedric had ever seen on him. Ginny mirrored the look which the older boy found quite amusing, an emotion he kept to himself.
For the next ten minutes, Cedric explained the Laws of Transfiguration using as simple of words as he could. When he finished, he asked, "Do you understand now?" He expected a 'no'.
"Oh yes, that makes perfect sense now," his brother told him. "I really wish I had a wand. I'd like to try some magic." Ginny was nodding too.
Cedric laughed. "Well, little brother, I suspect Mum will take us to Diagon Alley to shop for school supplies in about a month, and you can get your wand then. However, you'll have to wait until you get to school to start learning magic." Harry looked depressed at that so he chuckled. "Chin up, Harry. Hogwarts is a wonderful place and you'll learn loads there. Now, come on, we need to be getting home."
Harry nodded and got up. Cedric saw him bend down and give Ginny a hand to help her up -- a real gentleman he thought. However, he was shocked to see the two give each other a quick hug before Harry started walking towards the fireplace. Of course, now that he thought about it, it was like a brother and sister would hug, but it was still amusing and cute -- very cute. With a smile on his face, Cedric took his little brother home.
On the 31st of July, Harry was jumping up and down for joy when his Hogwarts letter came. He was so excited he tried to drag his mother to the fireplace so he could get his wand right then.
She looked at him with all of his excitement, partially hating herself for what she was about to do, and asked him, "Didn't you want Ginny to go shopping with you?" Harry nodded to her. "I'm really sorry Harry, but if we're to go together, we'll have to wait until the Weasleys are ready too. I spoke to Ginny's mother earlier and we have almost two weeks until they had planned to go shopping." His exuberance immediately deflated.
Harry sighed and slowly left the room. His mother watched him get his broom and then go outside to fly; it was his favorite way to make himself happy again. Oh well, she thought, he'll be happy this evening. Ginny and her family were coming over for a birthday party.
After Ginny's party, a week and a half later, Dee watched her youngest and Ginny give each other a quick hug before the girl left. She covered her mouth with her hand and quietly chuckled, it was so cute. Ginny had received her Hogwarts letter at the first of the month, and the two families had scheduled a trip to shop after the next payday, which was tomorrow.
The next morning, Harry all but dragged his mother out of bed and got them over to the Weasleys fifteen minutes early. With five Weasley children, Harry could have been fifteen minutes late and still had to wait. Harry did not care too much though, Ginny was ready and they excitedly talked about what they would buy. Cedric had gone straight to Diagon Alley when they had left for the Weasley residence; one of the advantages of being older.
When they finally got there, Harry was amazed at all the sights. Ginny had been there before, but she was enjoying being there and listening to Harry's amazement. His previous shopping trips had been to the local town and to the outskirts of London. Their first stop was Gringotts.
The Weasleys went to one teller and the Diggorys went to another teller. Harry presented his vault key, which his mother had given to him that morning. The goblin held the key for a moment and then looked at Harry. "Did you want to go to your vault or did you just want to make a withdrawal?"
"What's in my vault?" Harry asked, wondering what else could be in a vault beside money.
The goblin turned and waved his hand over a box. A few seconds later, a sheet of parchment came out of it, which was handed to Harry.
He and his mother looked at it, especially the number that was at the bottom. "That's a lot of money, isn't it Mum?" Harry did not see anything listed other than money.
Dee was beyond surprised. "Yes, Harry, 310,000 Galleons is a lot of money." She almost told him 'If you're careful, you probably would not ever have to work', but she decided that was best left unsaid so as not to demotivate him from working hard in school. "You'll need to be careful not to spend it all too quickly though. It can go a lot faster than you realize. We can talk about this with your father when we get home."
"OK, Harry told her, acting as if he matter was of no importance. "How much do you think I should get now?"
"We might need as much a hundred Galleons today. You should get a little more for spending money, too." She was curious as to what he would ask for. She would not stop him unless it was outrageous. She could have paid for all of his supplies, but Harry had wanted to do it himself when he had found out he had a vault from his birth parents. Professor McGonagall had told Dee there was enough in there for his school years, which seemed like an exaggeration now that she knew the amount.
Harry thought for a moment. With a nod as he came to a decision, he turned to the goblin and said, "I'd like to withdraw two hundred Galleons. Better safe than sorry," he told them both. His mother smiled at the phrase they frequently used on him. The goblin handed Harry his key and a small bag, which was obviously bigger on the inside than the outside based on its size. They turned to leave and found the Weasley's waiting for them.
"Molly? Why don't you go ahead to Madam Malkin's and get started there. We'll go to Ollivander's and then come find you. I have a feeling it might take Harry longer than normal to find his wand and I wouldn't want to make all your children wait on him." Dee got agreement from Molly and the two families split for awhile. Dee wanted to be alone with the wandmaker, anticipating what would probably happen.
Walking into the shop, she was pleased they were the only customers at the moment.
"Welcome," an old man said when he suddenly appeared from what seemed like nowhere. "Who do have we here? Delores Diggory, a ten and a half inch willow and unicorn hair wand, as I recall." He looked at Harry. "I was unaware you had any more children after Cedric."
"This is Harry Diggory. You will please call him that, even if you might know him by another name," she told him in a voice that did not allow for argument.
The old man reached out towards Harry and Harry shook his hand. The old man also stared at him a moment before he smiled. With the briefest of glances at her, he intoned, "Ah, Mr Diggory, it's so nice to finally meet you. I expected to see you last year."
"There was a slight problem then; it has been corrected." Again, she made sure her tone implied that was the end of the discussion.
Ollivander nodded. "Still, it is good you came to see me. The wand chooses the wizard and without one's proper wand, one's magic will never be as good. Now, let's start trying some out."
What must have been three-quarters of an hour later and who knew how many wands, some of which had made a terrible mess by unloading an entire shelf of wands, Harry finally swished one and a large number of maroon sparks and a gentle breeze came out and whipped around him. Dee was glad this was done.
"Very interesting, yes, very interesting. The brother wand to yours, Mr Diggory, gave you your scar. Nice glamour, by the way. That will be seven Galleons."
Harry looked at his mother in surprise.
"Yes, Harry," his mother nodded slightly. "it was an accident with magic. I'll tell you more when we get home."
He nodded his acceptance, knowing his parents had never lied or held anything back from him when he asked directly. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his money bag and gave seven golden coins to the old man. They left him and a large mess in his shop to go find the Weasleys.
Due to the fact that Molly had five children to buy robes for, from Ginny up through Percy, and she was looking for 'good' second-hand robes, they were still dealing with robes when the Diggorys arrived. One of the shop girls came over and helped Harry. By the time he was done with new robes, Molly had finished selecting all of the Weasley's robes too.
While they were waiting on Mrs Weasley to pay for the robes, Harry pulled out his holly and Phoenix feather wand and showed it to Ginny. She thought it was very cool, and then she got a sad look on her face.
"What's wrong, Ginny?
"I don't get to go get a new one; Mum said I have to use Grandmum's," she said slowly.
"What? That won't do. Mr Ollivander says you have to have your own wand. Come on," he told her with fierce determination. Grabbing her hand, he quickly led her out of the store while the two mothers were talking with each other and not paying complete attention to their children. Ginny had to almost run to keep up with him he was walking so fast. He guided her down the street and into the wandmaker's shop.
This time, the old man was at the counter, and to Harry's surprise, the mess that was there when he had left a little bit ago was all gone. The store was as neat as a pin.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, right on time. Let's see what we can find for you today."
She was on her fourth wand, one with as disastrous results as what Harry had had when she cleared almost an entire shelf with an overly strong wind, when two upset women and three other children came into the shop. Apparently, Percy had other things to do as he was not with them any longer.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley! What are you doing in here? You should not have left us like that!" said a red faced and red haired mother.
Harry saw that his mother had a very upset look, but she did not get to tell him what she thought.
"Ah, good morning, Molly," Ollivander jumped in before more could be said. "Eleven and half inch birch and dragon-heartstring. Don't worry, Miss Weasley was right on time. I've been expecting her. Here Miss Weasley, try this one."
Since her mother was momentarily speechless, Ginny took it and a wave produced a multitude of golden sparks.
"Excellent, Miss Weasley. Holly and dragon-heartstring -- a wand made for power; you will do well with it…"
Molly finally got her voice back as she interrupted. "I'm sorry to put you through all that work, Mr Ollivander, but Ginny will be using her grandmother's wand."
"But she can't," Harry objected.
"Harry! It is not your place to be saying what happens with Ginny," his mother admonished him forcefully.
"But Mum, you heard him. The wand chooses the wizard…"
"Harry!"
"…and if she doesn't have a good wand, she won't do well in school; and I want my best friend to do well in school with me." Everyone stared at him. Since no one did anything for a moment, he quickly pulled out his money pouch and retrieved seven Galleons from it and gave it to the wandmaker.
"Mr Diggory, this wand is only five." He handed two of the coins back. Harry nodded and returned them to his pouch.
"Harry…" Mrs Weasley came over and knelt down so she could talk to him face to face. "I'm glad you want to make Ginny happy, but we can't do this. We can't accept this from you."
"You took my birthday gift to her; this is just another birthday gift," he argued.
"But you did not spend this much on her birthday gift, and you've already given her one, so you don't need to give her another."
Not knowing to back down, he determinedly went on. "But you don't know that I didn't spend that much on her, and besides, you gave her three gifts."
She gave him a wry smile. "That's true, but we're also her parents, and as her parent, I say she will have to use her grandmother's wand."
Harry looked at her fiercely for a moment, trying to determine what to do. Finally, he said, "I don't understand why you want her to fail school, because she will without the new wand."
"No she won't, Harry. Ginny is a very smart girl and she'll do just fine."
He continued to try to find a way out of this. A sudden smile came to his face. "Do you have the other wand with you?"
"Yes, I do. I was going to have Mr Ollivander take a look at it to make sure it was in proper working order." She rummaged around in her purse and pulled out the old and slightly beat-up looking wand to hand to the wandmaker.
"Ah, Ethel Prewitt's wand, vine and Cockatrice feather -- very definitely wrong for Miss Weasley." He waved it a moment producing only a few yellow sparks before he handed it to Ginny. "It is in proper working order. I believe Mr Diggory would like you to give it a wave." Harry nodded vigorously.
Ginny waved the wand and a single white spark came out, and almost as an afterthought at that.
"See the difference!" Harry proclaimed. "This wand makes her look like a squib compared to the new wand." He looked at Ginny and, for the first time since her mother had come into the store, a look of hope came to her face.
Mrs Weasley slowly nodded her head and Ginny threw her arms around Harry's shoulders for a quick hug. "Thanks, Harry!" She turned around and accepted her new wand from the wandmaker. "Thanks, Mr Ollivander!" Harry started to walk out of the shop so she went with him.
Harry noticed her brothers for the first time since they had come in, they had been so quiet. The twins were grinning at them, but Ron was scowling. Harry did not care. Other than flying, Ron did not spend much time with them. Once, Ron had even said, "Yeah, but you're a year younger than I am." Harry did not know why that should make a difference in being a friend, but he did not dwell on it either.
When his mother caught up to him outside of the wand shop, she gave him a look that Harry could easily interpret that they would be having a long talk when they got home. "This way, Harry. We need Potion supplies and then books."
Obtaining the Potion supplies was non-eventful, but the books were another matter. It seemed like the entire Wizarding World was there. It appeared that the author of all of his Defense books was there for a signing.
As they were finally about to leave, a very blond headed boy ran into Ginny almost knocking her down. "Hey, watch where you're going!"
"You watch where you're going!" Harry almost shouted back. "You're the one not paying attention to where you're walking." A scuffle started with the boys pushing one another. It almost came to blows before a hand grabbed the blond boy and pulled him back.
"Draco," the voice drawled. "What have I told you about being around commoners?"
Although the boy was looking down as if he felt guilty, Harry could see the expression on his face showed he had enjoyed it. "Sorry, Father."
"We shall be going, then." The father, also a blond but with longer hair, looked to Mrs Weasley. "Since some people can not seem control their children." They left before Mrs Weasley could say anything, although she looked like she wanted to give the man an earful.
Fortunately for Harry, his mother had been paying for his books at the time and did not see the short scuffle. Therefore, she did not immediately take him home. Instead, when they left the bookstore, she told Harry, "We have one more thing to buy, and I think you'll find this very useful." She led him to a shop a few doors down called "The Owl Emporium".
"Go ahead, Harry. Pick out an owl. You can use it to write to us, or anyone else that you need to."
Harry's face broke out into a large smile. "You mean I can have my own owl just like Cedric does?"
"Yes, Harry," she told him with a slight chuckle, "just like Cedric."
Harry started looking around with Ginny helping him out. Her brothers were just looking at the owls, pointing, and laughing from time to time. Her mother had found a chair by the door, as if guarding it, and sat down to rest. His mother was sitting next to Mrs Weasley and they seemed to be having an intense but very quiet conversation.
Eventually, Ginny pointed to a very white owl. "He looks very smart." The owl under inspection glared at her with its golden eyes and hooted very loudly.
Harry laughed. "I think the owl is trying to tell you she's a she." The owl hooted much more softly, almost a coo.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know? I just thought she was pretty and looked intelligent." The owl seemed to coo again.
With a smile, Harry grabbed the cage and took her up to the front. "I'd like to buy … Hedwig." The owl softly hooted again and Ginny giggled.
The shopkeeper looked at the boy carefully. "Well, maybe it'll be all right. She's been ornery with everyone else who's tried to buy her." Hedwig twisted her head almost completely backward and clicked her beak at the man. "See!" he told Harry.
When the owl turned back around and cooed at Harry, he put a finger in and petted the soft feathers on the top of her head. "I think she'll be wonderful." The man just shook his head as he rang up the purchase.
His mother bought some owl treats too and they finally went home. A long day of shopping completed, and it was only lunch time. Harry could not wait to get home and show his brother his new wand and books. Maybe Cedric could explain a few more things to him.
The next evening, about an hour before dinner time, Ginny surprised Harry by coming out of his fireplace. "Hi, Harry!"
"Ginny! What are you doing over here?"
She looked down for a minute before she looked up at him, as if she was afraid of something. "My mum said I had to come over here for a week to help your mum with some things."
"Huh?"
"She wasn't very happy with the wand, Harry. She and your mother worked this out. I'm supposed to come over and help your mother around the house to repay her."
He was even more confused now. "But I paid for it…"
"I know, we all saw you, but she said since your mum gave you the money, I had to work for her." Ginny did not seem upset or anything, mostly resigned.
"No, you don't understand. I have my own vault; that was my money; it was my decision not my mum's." He sighed and she gave him a puzzled look. "My mum was not happy with me either, especially about me arguing with your mum, but she understood. Don't worry though, I'm sure she won't work you hard."
"What do you mean you have a vault? I think only my oldest brother Bill has a vault, although maybe Charlie does too since he doesn't live at home either."
"It was from my real parents, not my mum and dad Diggory," Harry said very matter-of-factly. "Mum said I had to be careful not to spend it all, but I don't know what she's worried about. If I spend only a hundred Galleons a year, it'll take foreeeever to empty."
Ginny laughed. "Harry! You don't spend a hundred Galleons a year when you grow up. You have to buy a house, take care of a wife and children," she blushed slightly but didn't stop, "and loads of other things too."
"Oh," Harry thought about that for a moment. "Well, but I'll have a job like Dad and make lots of money that way, so it'll still take forever to spend it all."
"I don't know, Harry. I think it goes faster than it comes in, at least that's what my parents always say."
Harry nodded a little. "Yeah, my mum told me the same thing too. Well, let's go tell Mum you're here."
Harry's mother had Ginny set the table and then carry a few dishes in. Harry's father came home about that time and the four of them soon ate; Cedric was at a friend's house for the evening. After dinner, his mother had Ginny take her dishes to the sink and then she was sent to play with Harry.
"That was easy," Ginny told him.
Harry smiled. "See, I told you it would be. Come on, I want to show you something." He led her to his bedroom and closed his door.
Ginny looked around. "It's nice." There were enough things it was obvious it was a boy's room, but it was not cluttered either. It was also quite clean, like her room.
"Thanks. I want to show you something. I learned this last night." He walked over to his dresser and picked up his new wand. With a look of concentration, he said, "Lumos" and the end of his wand lit up.
Her eyes grew big. "That is so cool! But aren't you afraid of getting in trouble? I don't think we're supposed to do magic outside of school."
"We're not?" Harry was surprised. Ginny shook her head. "Nox." The light went out. "That's too bad, because it was fun to learn that, and I'll never stub my toe in the dark again."
"You didn't receive a warning from the Ministry?" she was amazed when he shook his head. "You're lucky."
"Harry! Ginny!" his mother's voice came through the door.
The two went back out into the living room. "Ginny? Would you please hand me that towel that's on the floor over there? One of the boys must have dropped it there."
By the look on her face, Ginny thought that strange, but she did it.
"Thank you, Ginny. Now, when you go home and your mother asks you. You helped me fix dinner, set the table, cleaned up afterwards, and you helped me pick up the living room."
Ginny giggled as Mrs Diggory smiled at her. "Thank you, thank you very much."
"You're welcome, Ginny. Harry? Why don't you go get one of your books and the two of you can read together out here for a short time before Ginny has to go home."
Harry retrieved his first year Transfiguration book so they could read more beyond where they had before.
When Ginny had to leave, she gave Harry a hug as she usually did, although this time she also whispered to him. "Thanks, Harry. You have a great mum." A moment later she was gone. When he turned around, he found his mother looking at him and smiling as if she knew something special. Shrugging, he went back to his room to get his Defense books. He wanted to makes notes of what was in there. He figured if he treated it like History, noting the defense equivalent of names/dates/places, it could be very interesting.
The next evening, Ginny returned, but this time she had a little black book in her hand.
"What's that?" Harry wanted to know.
"I'll show you after dinner," she told him and slipped it into a pocket.
After dinner, which went much like the previous evening, except that tonight Harry's mother had Ginny empty the waste bin in the bathroom so she could say she cleaned the bathroom, the two of them sat down in front of the fireplace. It was warm, so the fire was very small and only there so that the Floo connection would work.
Ginny also pulled out a quill and a small bottle of ink, which she opened. "Watch this," she whispered before she wrote, "Hi again" in the book, which soaked into the page and disappeared after a few seconds.
"Hello. Is that you again, Ginny?"
Harry almost yelled in his surprise, but managed to contain himself. "How did the book do that?" he whispered.
"I don't know, but Dad says every magical thing has a brain." She wrote, "Yes, it's me and I have a friend too. His name is Harry."
The book sat there for a moment before it wrote back, "Hi Harry. I'm Tom. Are you a friend of Ginny's?"
"Who's Tom?" he asked her.
"I don't know. That's the name of the book, I guess. See?" She flipped the book over and he saw "T.M. Riddle" on the front of the book.
"Where did you get it?"
"It was in my book bag when I came home. I didn't pick it up from the store, so I guess my mum put it in." She shrugged.
Harry took the quill to write. "Yes, she's my best friend."
What he wrote also soaked into the page. "Ginny? Is he your best friend too?" the book wrote back a few seconds later.
Ginny grabbed the book to turn it back to her, but Harry had not let go of the page. To their amazement, the page that should have torn when yanked did not. "Weird," she said before she carefully reached out with both hands and tried to tear the page slightly. Again, it did not tear.
Harry reached forward and tried; it did not tear for him either. On a whim, Harry picked up the little book and tossed it into the fireplace. That set Ginny off.
"Harry! You can't burn my book like that!" She shouted, mad at him now.
He heard the newspaper fall behind him, so he knew his father was paying attention to them; but he also noticed something else. "Ginny, look! The book -- it's not burning!" Sure enough the book sat in the middle of the fire but was not being consumed by it.
Harry heard footsteps behind him before he saw his dad pick up the poker and pull the book out of the fire. Gingerly, he touched the cover. "It's not even warm," he muttered. He looked at it a moment before he set it to the side. Giving them a serious look, he said, "Neither of you touch that; sorry Ginny." She nodded, her amazement evident on her face.
Standing up, he got a pinch of Floo powder and threw it in. Kneeling back down he announced, "Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office," before he put his head into the fire. A minute or so later, he pulled his head back out. "Everyone, stand back," he told the kids.
Harry noticed his mother had come in the room and was looking at them as the fireplace glowed green and a tall witch stepped out. She looked around and greeted everyone. "Amos. Dee." She looked at him and smiled. "Harry, hello again." He had seen her for a few minutes during a few visits since Christmas, although he had never talked with her. Turning to the last person, she nodded, "Ginevra."
"Ginny," she said with a trace of defiance.
The tall witch gave a small smile. "Ginny, I stand corrected. I'm Professor McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts. Now, I understand you have a very special book, Ginny. Where is it?" Ginny pointed to the book on the hearth. The Headmistress pulled out her wand and started doing a number of spells on it. When she finished, she pursed her lips and looked to be thinking very hard. "Excuse me for a moment." She grabbed some Floo powder and threw it in before she said, "Dumbledore's Domicile," and stepped in.
A couple of minutes later, the fireplace flashed twice. McGonagall was back, but she had brought a tall old wizard with a very long white beard.
"Dumbledore," his father greeted the man, but Harry noticed it was not enthusiastic like he did to most people. Harry wondered who he was and why his dad did not seem to like him very much.
"Amos. Dee. Harry. Ginevra." The man nodded to each as a brief greeting.
"Ginny," the young witch corrected him automatically.
"Ginny," he politely said. His eyes seemed to almost twinkle as if by magic. "Now, where is this mysterious book?" McGonagall pointed it out to him on the edge of the hearth and the old wizard started casting spells at it too, many more than the professor. He also scowled when he looked closely at the name on it. Dumbledore looked at the young witch. "Ginny? Where did you get this book?"
"It was in my book bag when I came home from the bookstore," she answered a little shyly.
"And you did not purchase it?"
"No. I assume my mother did and put it in."
"Your mother would not have; it is very Dark Magic." Everyone but Professor McGonagall gave him a surprised look; she just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Did anything unusual happen while you were at the bookstore or before you came home."
"I don't think so," she said slowly as she gave it thought. Harry leaned over and whispered in her ear. She blushed slightly before she looked back up at the old wizard. "Harry reminded me that a boy a little older than us, maybe a student, pushed me and we almost got into a fight; but his father stopped him before anything bad happened, although he wasn't fast about doing so."
"Do you know who it was? Were any names mentioned?" Dumbledore asked with calm curiosity.
She was a bit hesitant, but she finally said, "His father called him Draco."
The professor and Dumbledore both seemed to groan slightly. "Perhaps the shoving was to distract everyone while Lucius placed the book in her bag?" the Professor asked her colleague.
Dumbledore nodded. "That would make sense. Arthur is trying to get some new Pro-Muggle legislation introduced, a law that Lucius would not like to see passed. Arthur's daughter doing something embarrassing might be enough to derail that. It's a pity when men use innocent children to do dirty deeds to advance a political agenda." He sighed and became thoughtful looking before he suddenly brightened. "I shall be right back." He used the Floo to leave.
"Professor?"
She turned to look at the young boy. "Yes, Harry."
"Is the book really that dangerous?"
"Yes, Harry. It is very dangerous. It was also a good thing that you brought this to our attention. Should you ever find anything else that seems magical and you aren't sure about it, please bring it to the attention of your parents or me immediately. We'll help you with it and you'll never be in trouble. The same goes for you too, Ginny."
Harry looked at the woman and she seemed to be very sincere, so he nodded.
"Yes, Professor," Ginny answered her.
Albus Dumbledore returned in a flash of green light. He was holding a small stone bowl with many markings on it. He set it on the short table in the living room before he turned to Ginny. "This is a Pensieve. It allows us to look at memories. So I'd like you to think very carefully about the time from which you entered into the bookstore until you left it. Can you do that?" She nodded very solemnly. "Very good. When you do, I'll put a copy of your memory out and you'll feel something like a little tickle in your head, but it won't hurt you. Do that and then tell me when you're ready."
Ginny seemed to scrunch up her face in concentration before she said, "OK."
Harry watched the old wizard place his wand to her temple and when he pulled it back, a silvery blob of tangled threads seemed to be sticking to his wand. Dumbledore placed that in the stone basin.
Dumbledore looked at his parents. "This Pensieve can hold but four people at a time, so I'd like the children to come with Minerva and myself. If we find something, then we should probably bring Arthur and Molly over and the four of you can go in."
His parents agreed.
"Harry, Ginny, I want you each to stick your hand into the bowl. It will feel like you're being pulled in. Don't fight it. We will follow behind you. You can't do anything or hurt anything in there, nor can you be hurt, so don't be afraid. Go ahead."
Harry looked at Ginny. She looked a bit scared, but she took a deep breath and stuck her hand in anyway. He saw her go very still before he put his hand in too. Before he realized what had happened, he was in the bookstore, although everything seemed a bit pale. A few seconds later, Dumbledore and the Professor joined them.
"Everyone watch what's going on. The moment you see either Draco Malfoy or his father, keep a close eye on them; they are our primary suspects. If you see something you need to look closer at, yell 'pause' and I shall freeze the memory," Dumbledore instructed.
They all watched and just before Ginny was to bump into someone, she yelled, "There they are!" Everyone watched closely. When Draco knocked his shoulder into Ginny, and it did look purposeful, she dropped her bag and it went slightly behind and to the side of Draco. They watched the father and a few seconds after the Draco yelled at Harry, they saw the man pull a wand out of the top of his cane and shoot a spell at Ginny's bag so it opened up. He quickly dropped a little back book into the bag and then closed it up with another spell before putting his wand up and then grabbed Draco to stop the fight. The planting of the book had taken less than ten seconds.
"That's what we needed to know. Everyone hold on," Dumbledore told them. With a wave of his wand, the children found themselves floating up and then they were back in their normal bodies in the Diggory living room.
"Well?" Amos asked.
"I'm both afraid and delighted that our theory is true. Lucius put the book in Ginny's bag." Dumbledore looked at McGonagall. "If you will go fetch the Weasleys, I shall track down Amelia Bones." He then left with a faint crack. The professor left via the Floo.
Harry's mother came over to him and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you're all right, Harry. This is why I didn't like you running off that day. Who knows what can happen?"
"I'm sorry, Mum." In truth, he really was.
"It will work out, dear; we'll make it work out," she told her son.
"Are we going to tell Cedric when he gets home?"
"Yes dear, we'll tell Cedric when he comes home from his friend's house." She patted his back.
The Weasley parents were the first to arrive and they looked very concerned. They had barely started asking questions when Dumbledore, plus a woman and a tall dark man Apparated onto the front porch. Amos let them in.
"Harry, Ginny, this is Director Amelia Bones, the head of the Aurors; and this is Kingsley Shacklebolt, one of her senior Aurors. Amos, Dee, Arthur, and Molly, why don't you enter the memory. I will make it skip about the first ten minutes; watch Ginny very carefully. When Draco Malfoy bumps into Ginny, watch his father. When they go away, feel free to come back out." Dumbledore let the four parents enter and then he tapped the stone basin a few times and turned back to his other guests.
"We'll watch it next, but this is what he planted in Ginny's school bag." He pulled the book out of his robes. "It is very dark magic and I will have to research how to destroy it once it is no longer needed as evidence."
"What is it, Albus?" Bones asked.
"It's a Horcrux for Voldemort," he simply said. The Aurors gasped.
"Surely you're joking?"
"I wish I was," he solemnly told her.
The parents came out and Mrs Weasley looked very angry. "What did he put in her bag? It must be bad or you wouldn't have Director Bones here."
Dumbledore looked like he did not want to answer, but he finally told her, "It's a magical artifact designed to possess her and then bring Voldemort back to life." All the parents and Ginny gasped. Harry did not gasp only because he was too surprised.
Mrs Weasley moved over and pulled Ginny into a hug and continued to hold her close. "And Lucius did that practically right under my nose." She began to cry. Harry thought he heard her mutter something about a "bad mother", but he was not sure.
"I believe I need to see," Amelia said. She, Shacklebolt and Dumbledore stuck their hand in and went still. Everyone just talked about how horrible it was while Mrs Weasley cried quietly. Harry grabbed a hold of Ginny's hand to try and comfort her and she looked thankful for his support.
A few minutes later, the three in the Pensieve returned to normal. Amelia Bones stood there for a moment looking very thoughtful; then she smiled as if she had had a sinister thought. "Minerva, the Board of Governors is about to get a lot easier for you to deal with and we're all about to get a Minister for Magic who is less controlled. I've never been able to prove it, but I know it's true that Lucius influences Cornelius."
"I'll just take this copy of the memory," she did that and put it into a phial that Shacklebolt provided her. "Mr Diggory, if you'll give me your memory too, it's quite possible the same information is there for you too and that would be helpful." She helped Harry retrieve his memory and put it in the basin. Since he only contributed the time around the short scuffle, the Director reviewed and said Mr Malfoy was visible in it too, so she took a copy of that memory for evidence. The book went into a special box.
Director Bones turned to Ginny. "Miss Weasley, I've very happy that nothing bad happened to you and I thank you for bringing this to our attention. The same goes to you, young Mr Diggory," she said as she faced Harry. "I don't know how to reward you for what you've done, but if I think of something, I'll do my best to make it happen. The only problem is that we can't let people know that it was you two who found this."
Harry could not help himself. "Do you think you could recommend some good Defense books? I've started looking at the ones we're supposed to use and they don't look very good. Lockhart seemed to be in two places at once sometimes."
McGonagall looked ashamed as she hung her head. "I'm very sorry, you two, but he was the only candidate for the job this year. I understand your concern, but I really could not find anyone else to teach it."
"And I'm unable to provide an Auror to teach as I did last year; I'm sorry" Bones apologized. Harry nodded. "But your request is easy and you should consider it done. Expect something in a couple of days from me." A few minutes later, the two Aurors were gone.
Harry looked at Dumbledore. "Sir, if the book was that dangerous, how come everyone could hold it and not get hurt?"
The old man smiled and his eyes seemed to twinkle again. "Holding it is not a problem. Writing in it is another matter entirely."
"But, we wrote in it…" Harry wondered if he should be scared.
"Did it only write back pleasantries?"
"Yeah, it just asked us who we were and a few things about us," Ginny told him.
"Then you are very lucky it had not had time to place you under its spell. Do not worry about it all. Lucius Malfoy will go to Azkaban for this and then I shall destroy the book. I bid you all a pleasant evening, and if you find anything else like this, please bring it to my attention." A few seconds later, he disappeared with a soft crack.
"I must add my congratulations as well, Miss Weasley and Mr Diggory. I look forward to seeing both of you in school in a few weeks. I'll let everyone know of any news I receive on this matter. Good evening." She turned and left for her school office via the Floo.
Finally it was just the two families. "Well, this was not something I was expecting when we went shopping for school supplies," Dee commented. That got a round of nervous laughs.
"I'll be checking our bags very carefully next time," Molly told them. There were a lot of smiles for that comment too.
Ginny gave Harry a quick hug and the Weasleys left. Harry wondered what Cedric would think when he found out about all the excitement he had missed.
The day that both Harry and Ginny had both been eagerly waiting for finally arrived. Their families got together and went to King's Cross together. Harry was thrilled to see the Hogwarts Express. Cedric helped him with his trunk and into a compartment before he left. Ginny joined him there. Ron did not look too happy about that, but he did not stay around, muttering something about "Firsties" before he left to go sit with others from his year.
Harry wondered what school would be like, as his parents had told him that his real name was known in the Wizarding world. To help that, his mother had taught one bit of magic in the couple of weeks before he left for school: a glamour charm. It had been hard to learn as it was not normally learned until the third year, but he had managed it. Harry had strict instructions to whisper the spell every morning before he got out of bed; his mother had also given him a mirror to keep in his bedside table to check it. He hoped no one found out who he really was because he did not want everyone pointing at him. So far, no one had.
Just before the train left the station, they were joined by some others who were to be first years. There was Colin Creevey, Amanda Devonshire, Julia Chesterfield, and Jack Sloper. Shortly after the lady with the snack cart came by, a girl named Luna Lovegood stopped in and joined them for the rest of the journey. Since Harry and Ginny were the only ones with older siblings already there, they led most of the discussion about the school. All in all, they had a great time on the train.
They got to experience the boat ride across the lake, and to their good fortune, the weather was pretty reasonable. Colin got wet even if it was not raining as he took a little too close a look at the lake. Fortunately for him, the giant squid helped him back into the boat. It was funny to see him alternate between terrified and thrilled.
Cedric watched the sorting begin. He thought back to his first year as he watched the first student, a Luke Butterfield. Like that boy, who went to Ravenclaw, Cedric had barely placed the hat on his head before it shouted "Hufflepuff". He remembered being a little scared, so he had done his best to tell Harry not to worry and that wherever he was sorted, Cedric was fine with it. Finally, the moment came.
Professor Flitwick shouted, "Diggory, Harry."
With a little trepidation, he watched his little brother put the hat on and then sit there. Harry looked like he was concentrating on something, but the hat did not say anything. He had seen the hat take awhile on a few people, but Harry seemed to have the record he thought. He also noticed that neither Flitwick nor McGonagall seemed to be concerned in the least.
After nearly half a minute, the hat finally shouted, "Gryffindor!"
While a little disappointed, he clapped loudly anyway. Harry went to sit beside the Weasley twins. Cedric hoped they and their pranking nature did not rub off on him too much. Still, they were pretty decent underneath. He would have a few words with them about watching out for Harry, especially if any of the larger Slytherins were nearby.
A few of his friends started asking him about his little brother that they did not know he had; he told them Harry was adopted but he was his little brother now. Harry seemed happy and that was the most important thing to Cedric.
Harry watched Colin, Amanda, and Jack come into Gryffindor too. Julia went into Hufflepuff, while Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw. He clapped very loudly when Ginny was sorted into Gryffindor as well. He had saved a seat for her, so when he motioned her over, she joined him.
The twins congratulated her as did Percy and Ron. Harry could not figure out Ron, but maybe they just did not know one another well enough yet to be friends. A bushy haired brunette also introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Hermione Granger. You must be Ron's sister. He's talked about you." It was all said in one quick breath.
"Good things, I hope," Ginny quipped, but not too worried about the answer.
"Uh, mostly." She turned to Harry. "So, are you Cedric's little brother? He's the only Diggory I'm aware of."
He smiled at her and her quick tongue. "Yes, but I'm adopted."
"Oh? What happened?"
Harry wondered if she was always this curious. "My parents died when I was younger and the Diggorys were nice enough to raise me. They're really great, and Cedric is pretty cool, too." Someone got her attention from the other direction and she was gone, fully into that conversation. Harry smiled as he considered she talked about as fast as Colin did, and he had been amazed at the boy.
The rest of the feast went well. The Headmistress introduced some new staff. It seemed that Professor Slughorn was back as the Potions teacher. He did not know why everyone was clapping, but he did too.
Professor Lyle was introduced as the new History of Magic teacher, which generated even more applause. He heard comments from the other Gryffindors about not being able to sleep in class now that the ghost was gone. That sounded strange; he would have to ask one of the older students about it.
Someone named Horning was introduced as the new Caretaker, which also produced a lot of applause. "I'm glad she sacked Filch and his stupid cat," he heard Ron say. The redhead's twin brothers did not seem as happy as the rest, even if they did clap along with everyone else.
And finally, Gilderoy Lockhart was introduced as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Most of his applause came from the females in the room.
Harry did not care for Lockhart's books too much; there were inconsistencies between them, or so he had found when he was taking notes on them. Fortunately, Director Bones had sent a list of books to him to read about Defense. In addition, the actual books came with the list so he did not have to go buy them. He assumed that was the 'thank you' she had mentioned. Ginny had received a set as well, although hers were different. Both notes encouraged them to share with the other so they would have more to read. They both agreed that was a good idea.
As the feast ended, Cedric came over to him quickly. "Hey, little brother. Gryffindor is not as good as Hufflepuff, but it's a good second choice." He laughed when he said it and ruffled Harry's unruly hair.
"Ha, ha. Wait until we play you in Quidditch, then we'll see who's better and who's second." He made sure he was smiling so Cedric knew he was joking back, which apparently he did as Cedric laughed.
Then his older brother turned more serious as he walked with Harry so Harry would not get lost. "What happened with the Sorting Hat? It took a long time with you."
"We had an argument…"
"What? It talked to you?" Cedric was obviously surprised.
"Yeah. It said I could fit in almost any house and almost put me into Hufflepuff, but I told it that it had to put me in the same house as Ginny Weasley." Harry heard a giggle beside him and turned to look at Ginny.
"I told the hat it had to put me into Gryffindor, since that was the house you were in." She was smiling and blushing slightly.
Harry nodded. "That makes sense, we are best friends."
Cedric chuckled. "Well, there's the long stairs to your tower. If you need anything, ask a prefect or come ask me. Things are a lot better now than in past years, but if anyone tries to pick on you, you let me know."
"Thanks, Cedric. I'll see you later!" Harry waved good-bye.
"He's a good big brother," Ginny commented. "Sort of like how Bill and Charlie are, or how the twins can be, if they're serious enough."
"What about Ron?" Harry was curious about the boy. Harry already knew Percy ignored everyone but himself. Harry had seen the third brother maybe four times, each very briefly, over the entire summer.
"Ron can be a good brother too, when he puts his mind to it. But he has his own problems, most of them because he's the sixth and last boy. One day he'll grow up and be all right," she prophesied.
They came to the portrait covering their entrance into the Gryffindor Tower. They were told the password by a prefect and went in. Harry thought it looked really wonderful -- very cozy. The prefects were herding the first years off to bed, so Harry and Ginny gave each other a quick hug and went up the proper stairs to their dorms.
Across the room, Ron was watching his little sister come in. He had been trying to figure her and her new friend out. They seemed really close. He had even asked his mother about them once. She had told them that they were good friends and had spent a lot of time playing together since May. His mother had gone on to say that she thought it was a good thing because Ginny had been so lonely at home by herself. Ron felt a little guilty about that as he knew he could have written her, but he had not. Still, she should not be best friends with a boy no one really knew. It was not done and he did not understand why his mother was not more concerned. Perhaps he should have asked her that, but he had not.
Then he saw them hug before they each went up the stairs. "Look at him. He's taking advantage of her." He started to get up to go over to Harry, but he was immediately pushed back into his seat. Looking up, he saw his twin brothers looking at him and shaking their heads.
"I was afraid of this," one said.
"I was too, but our agreement is normal," the other one commented.
"Ronnikins, you're going to have to stop reacting and start using your eyes..."
"And your brain because things are not always what you think."
"What are you talking about? Did you see what he just did to our sister?" Ron was still upset.
"Yes…"
"But the question is, did you?"
"He hugged her. He shouldn't be doing that!" Ron could not believe they did not agree.
"Perhaps he left his brain in his trunk?"
"Naw, I think he just forgot to turn it on."
"Ron, describe what you saw…"
"Exactly, what you saw."
"Harry Diggory grabbed Ginny and hugged her." Ron thought it was obvious. Both twins shook their heads.
"Ronnikins…" One twin said, sad with great disappointment.
"Are you so blind you missed everything else?" The other twin was incredulous.
"First, they stood toe to toe, their bodies were not even close together…"
"Second, Ginny opened her arms and leaned over towards Harry…"
"That was important Ron, as is the fact that thirdly, Harry returned the gesture, not initiated it…"
"Fourthly, the entire hug lasted less than two seconds…"
"And fifthly, they hugged just like she and you hug…"
"So finally, there is nothing to be concerned about because even Mum has seen them do it and she's not concerned in the least so you should not be either."
Ron stared at them for a moment. "You two are mad, you know that don't you?"
"That may well be, Ronnikins…"
"But that does not affect our sister and her friend."
"A friend who quite possibly saved her life while we were at school."
"What are you talking about?" Ron was confused now.
"Harry probably saved Ginny's life last May…"
"You should ask Mum about it. It's quite the story."
"You're just making it up," Ron was a little doubtful considering who he was talking to.
"'Fraid not, little bro…"
"Write and ask her…"
"But leave Ginny alone if you know what's good for you…"
"Or don't, it would be so much more amusing for us. 'Night!"
The two left and Ron was puzzling over what had happened.
"They're right, you know," came a soft voice from the side.
Ron whipped around and found a classmate he could not decide if he liked or not. After a big fight last year, they had decided on a truce and been distant friends. "Do you always listen in on other people's conversations?" he asked a little peeved that she had heard all that.
"No, but when I'm sitting nearby in a public place and you're practically shouting, you're actually quite difficult to ignore."
He looked at her, an open book in her lap like normal. "Why do you think they're right?" He was still working through everything they had said. It was reasonable to ask her, she had demonstrated that she had a brain in all of their classes.
"Several reasons. First, your brothers have obviously talked to your mother about it and she's apparently all right with your sister and Harry. Second, it's obvious they're close friends by the way they sat together and talked. Third, they did not hold hands or anything, so they're not boyfriend and girlfriend. Fourth, they did look they were hugging just like brother and sister. There's nothing wrong with her having a good friend who's a boy."
"So you think I should do nothing? I'm her big brother, I'm supposed to protect her."
She shrugged. "Do nothing for now and watch them. They're only in first year, they're not going to do anything bad. Watch and see, try and get to know them, too -- especially Harry. I think I will. Good-night, Ron."
"Good-night, Hermione." She left and Ron sat there for a few more minutes thinking. He supposed it would not hurt to watch for a few days. She had a point in that they were only in first year and no one ever did anything until at least fourth year. He would wait and watch carefully.
Harry was jumping up and down in his excitement. Ginny was with him doing the same, as were Fred and George. Harry had just been declared the Quidditch team Seeker after the tryouts. Last year's Seeker had been a seventh year who had done it reluctantly because no one else would, and the team's poor record reflected the Seeker's reluctance. The only problem had been a broom, but a quick conversation with his brother had fixed that. Even though Harry was not allowed to bring one to school, Cedric told him he would get Mum and Dad to send him another and Harry could "borrow" his extra.
There was much rejoicing in Gryffindor Tower. As they had a mini-party amongst the team plus Ginny, two more Gryffindors were watching them. One was very thoughtful and the other was alternating between watching them and watching the other watcher. In the end, neither of them said anything to the partiers.
As the term continued, things went well for Harry. He learned a lot in classes and was usually the first one to get a spell right. Ginny usually did better on the essay part, but not by much. Quidditch was a joy for Harry and he spent as much time on it as he could, dragging Ginny along as much as possible to watch.
About the only unpleasant part was Draco Malfoy. Fortunately, the boy did not know about the part Harry and Ginny had played in sending his father to prison, but he treated all Gryffindors with disdain and insults. Harry was not happy about it and resolved to come up with a plan to stop him. One good thing was that Harry had no classes with the Malfoy boy, so Harry only ran into him between classes and other free time when he was not in Gryffindor Tower -- which was very little.
The spring brought a time of great tension to the Diggory family: the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor Quidditch match. Their parents tried to stay neutral, but it was difficult. To make matters more fun, they had bought a Nimbus 1000 for Cedric's "backup broom", so the two boys had the same model -- although Harry's was two years newer. This was Cedric's first year to competitively play Seeker.
Amos made sure he was at Hogwarts early that morning so he could catch both of his boys at breakfast. Walking into the Great Hall, he found them both eating with their teammates. He walked over to Cedric first.
"How are you doing, son?"
The boy looked up, he had not known his father was there. "Dad!" He jumped up and gave his father a quick hug.
"Doing all right this morning?"
"Sure, Dad. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm sure I'll be OK once we get going."
"Good, good. How do you feel about flying against your brother?"
Cedric smiled. "It'll be a challenge. He really is good, but I'm sure I'll win."
Amos smiled. "And it'll be a clean game?"
"Of course, Dad. I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want Harry to get hurt either."
He smile and gripped his son's shoulder. "Well, your mother and I will be in the stands rooting both of you on."
"Thanks! We'll see you after the match?"
"You can count on it. Well, let me go over and see Harry. He looks a little green."
"He's just scared of flying against his big brother," Cedric said with a laugh and Amos joined him.
"We'll see. Good luck!" He turned and walked over to his other son. He saw the Headmistress briefly and she smiled at him; he waved and continued on.
"Harry!"
"Dad!" They hugged.
"Doing all right? You look a little green this morning…"
"I'm fine, just a little nerves. I'm always like this."
He smiled. "You're not nervous about playing against your brother are you?"
"Nope, I'll beat him because I'm better," Harry said with a laugh.
"And that's because you'll fly better and it will be a clean game, right?"
"Of course, Dad! I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Harry, time to go!" Oliver called and started walking out the door.
"Gotta go. Will you and Mum watch?"
"Yes son, we'll be watching both of you. Find us after the game."
"Right, bye!" Harry took off. Amos watched him go. He had two wonderful boys and was happy with both of them.
"Hi, Mr Diggory!" came a high-pitched voice.
He looked around and finally saw her. "Hello, Ginny. How are you?"
"Doing good. You're here to watch the game after you delivered your message, huh?"
He chuckled. "Was I that obvious?"
"To me, yes." She shyly glanced down for a second, but she did not pull back from the conversation.
He smiled at her. "Are you enjoying being here with Harry?" He could not resist a little fun.
She blushed a little before nodding.
"I'm glad. I'll see you later, Ginny."
"Bye, Mr Diggory."
Looking around, he saw the Headmistress had finished her breakfast, so he walked towards her. A little conversation to catch up on things before the match seemed like a good idea.
His wife was jumping up and down yelling in her joy. Amos supposed he was not much better considering the the huge grin on his face. The game had been close and came down to whoever caught the Golden Snitch, and it had been quite the battle for it. The twists, the turns, the dives, they all were incredible -- just like his boys.
He rushed down to the field. He would not be able to get to the winner for some time, so he made his way to the other -- the son who was looking at his brother in chagrin and shaking his head. He put his arm around the young man's shoulders.
"You played a fine game son."
"Thanks, Dad, but I can't believe how well he played, how well he flew. I'm so proud of him, despite the fact that he beat me. Look at him on their shoulders, and to think, he learned to fly less than a year ago."
"Harry has talent, that can't be denied. But don't sell yourself short, Cedric; you gave a very fine effort. I think it could have gone either way."
"I don't agree, but thanks. He deserves it." He watched Harry finally come off the shoulders of the Weasley twins, who had been carrying him around. As he came down, their sister came up and gave Harry a big hug and hung on his neck for a moment before she let go, laughing the entire time. Harry was still laughing and carrying on in his joyous celebration. "Yes, he's a very good flyer. Imagine what he'll be like in six more years. If you have a favorite professional team, Dad, you better start getting Harry to like them. I think he could do it."
Amos did not say anything, he did not need to; he just smiled.
A moment later, Harry came running over and gave him a hug and slapped Cedric on the shoulder. "Good game, Ced! I thought you had me a couple of times."
Cedric laughed and gave him a one-armed hug. "I don't think so, Harry. You're too good for me, at least this time. Next time will be another story."
Harry laughed with him. "Thanks, big brother! Maybe I'll let you win next time."
They all laughed. Those are my boys, Amos thought, and I could not be prouder of them.
"Year 2"
Spring turned into summer and Harry's first year came to an end. All in all, Harry thought that Hogwarts was a great place and he had enjoyed every minute of it. When he got his grades back, just before he got on the train, he had been surprised at how good they were, but he, Ginny, and some of the others, even some from the other houses, had formed a study group. It had worked out well for everyone. And when they got stumped, they asked Hermione for help.
Hermione had turned into a really good friend, especially to Ginny. Harry thought it amusing that Hermione and Ginny got along better than Hermione and Ron, given that the other two were in the same year and had known one another for an extra year. But after more thought, he decided it was just a girl thing, although that did not explain why he and Ginny got along so well. In the end, he decided he did not care as long as Ginny stayed his best friend.
After a few days rest, Harry's summer changed from one of relaxation to one of learning again. True to her word, Professor McGonagall had arranged for extra training. Every afternoon, he went through the Floo to the school for lessons with Professor Flitwick. Unbeknownst to him, Professor Flitwick had been a dueling champion in his younger days, so the short man started passing along his knowledge to Harry.
As soon as Ginny had found out what he was doing, she practically demanded to join him. It had been a little tough getting her mother to agree, but her father had finally helped that along. So every day Harry went to The Burrow, then he and Ginny went to summer school.
The twins teased them about the work a little, but usually they asked what the two were learning. Harry suspected they actually were on the lookout for anything that might help them with their pranks.
Ron basically ignored them. He was still the interesting one. He tended to watch Harry, but he never gave him a hard time. A few times he had asked Harry to play chess with him, but after being soundly trounced each time, Harry gave it up.
Harry and Ginny's school routine had just been well established when it had to change. Mr Weasley won the Galleon draw at work and they had decided to take a trip to Egypt for a family holiday to see their oldest son Bill. Ginny was torn in deciding what to do, but her parents ended up taking that decision out of her hands; she was going. The entire family even got their picture in the paper two weeks later. They left in mid-July not to return until mid-August. Harry was really going to miss his best friend.
Harry was doing a little flying this morning to try to take his mind off of missing his best friend. Ginny had been gone for almost a week now. It was a little more than a week until his birthday, so he felt stuck between events. Professor Flitwick did not really give homework, except for a little bit of reading, and he was all caught up with that. Therefore, he was flying and trying to just relax.
He sort of wished Cedric was home to do something with, but he was away with a friend. He tended to divide his time between home and his friend's house. Harry wished he had a friend he could spend the night with and go do things with like his brother did. Well, he had Ginny to do things with, but both his and her parents tended to not let them do too many things together, and spending the night together was definitely not allowed. After being at school for a year and watching what the older kids did, he supposed he could understand, but he never thought of Ginny "like that".
He did not want to spend the night with Colin. He was not sure about staying in a Muggle house; it sounded too weird. Jack and his other dorm mates were nice guys, but he had not really hit it off with any of them well enough to want to hang out with them all the time. Perhaps his best male friend was Neville Longbottom, but that was a real stretch. In some ways, he was better friends with Hermione than Neville, but he could not spend the night at her house either. He sighed and just looked around as he slowly flew around.
Harry was not sure at first what it was. Eventually he decided that the reason he had seen it was because it moved, and not like a tree in the wind. Deciding to investigate, he slowed down and flew lower, weaving in and out among the trees, not overly far from his house. He was not allowed to go too far away, but he was just within his boundaries, so he did not worry about it.
There, he saw it again and zoomed over to see what it was. In the bushes, he finally found it: it was a large black dog. It was overly thin for its size, but there was no doubt that its back would be up to Harry's waist. He hovered about ten feet off the ground not too far away and just looked at it, trying to decide what to do next. The dog then barked at him. Harry laughed and continued to watch.
Eventually, the dog lay down and with its tongue hanging out of its mouth in a pant; it just stared at Harry. Not knowing what else to do, Harry asked, "Are you thirsty, boy?" He assumed the dog was male. It barked once and seemed to nod its head. That was weird. "Are you hungry, boy?" Again the dog barked once and nodded his head. "You sure do look like you could gain some weight." The dog barked once again.
"Gee, I'm talking to a dog and he seems to be answering me." He chuckled to himself. "Stay there, boy, and I'll see what I can get you." The dog barked once and stayed, even when Harry started to fly away. "Very weird," he told himself.
In the house, he found a metal bowl, which he filled with water. He found another metal bowl and put some meat in it, left over from last night's dinner. He threw a few veggies in for a balanced meal, though he was not sure the dog would eat them. His mother was in the other room and Cedric was in his room, so if he was not too loud, he should be able to get away with this.
Carefully, he walked back out to where the dog had been, and he was still here. He set both bowls down and backed away. The dog got up and came over. To his surprise, the dog ate everything in the bowl and drank most of the water. Harry realized the dog had no collar and seemed to be a stray.
On a lark, he asked, "Are you a stray?" The dog barked once. "I suppose you don't have a family then. The dog barked twice. Since he had barked once for yes earlier, Harry assumed two barks meant no. That was assuming the dog understood him. Hmm, maybe he was a magical dog of some sort. Harry would not have that class until third year. This was all very strange.
"I wonder if I can talk my parents into letting me keep you," he thought out loud. The dog barked once. "You like that idea?" He barked once again and seemed to bounce up and down before he came over to lick Harry's hand and lay at the boy's feet.
"Of course I have to go to school in the fall, so they probably won't let me." The dog hung his head and seemed to look sad, but then maybe that was just because the dog had a long nose. He was a short-haired dog, Harry noticed, along with the fact that he was all black. Harry petted him and the dog seemed to like it.
"Maybe you can keep me company. I'm really lonely right now. I know I shouldn't be since I have my older brother, but my best friend, that's Ginny Weasley, she's gone on a trip and won't be back for three more weeks. But you probably don't care, do you?" The dog barked twice. Harry grinned. "What, you do care?" The dog barked once. Now Harry laughed. Then he heard his name being called.
"Well, boy, I gotta go. My mum is calling and I have to eat lunch before my special classes this afternoon. If you stay here, I'll bring you some more water and maybe some food later." The dog softly barked once. Harry smiled and ran back to the house. What was the chance that the dog really understood him?
That evening, he was caught trying to sneak food out of the house and had to confess. That caused his parents to go check the dog out. In the end, they let him keep the dog, but only for the summer. At the end of the summer, the dog would have to go find a new home. Harry decided he could live with that, although part of him wondered if he could talk them in to keeping the pet permanently after it had lived with them and they got used to it.
So now that the dog was officially blessed, he fed it regularly and it started gaining weight. After a week, the dog was looking pretty healthy and Harry enjoyed playing with it every morning. Harry would also swear it was the smartest dog in the world; it seemed to always do the right thing when asked.
The day after his birthday, the dog acted a little different. After breakfast, when Harry wanted to go flying, the dog carefully took his hand in its mouth and led him towards the woods. When it was near the bushes Harry had originally found him in, the dog let go of Harry and walked a little bit away.
"What do you want? What are you trying to show me?"
Then the dog did something very amazing, it transformed into a man. Harry stood there in shock for just a moment before he pulled out his wand and leveled it at the man. "Who are you?" The man did not look like a nice person either. He had long dirty hair, a slight beard, and dirty torn striped clothes. In short, he was very unkempt.
"Harry, my name is Sirius and I'm a friend of your parents. I wasn't really searching for you, at least not yet, because … well, because I was searching for someone else first. But I would have come to find you next so I could fulfill my duty."
Harry thought about that. He had heard the name Sirius somewhere else recently, but he could not remember where. "If you're a friend of my parents, then why haven't I heard them talk about you?"
The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't mean … uh, them," he pointed towards the house. "I mean your original parents, your birth parents."
Harry was surprised. He had not talked about them in a long time. There was no way the dog/man should have known about them. "If that's true, then what's my real name and what are the names of my birth parents?"
"Your real name is Harry James Potter." Harry gasped. "Your parents were James and Lily Potter. They were murdered on Halloween, in 1981."
Harry had to sit down, this was overwhelming. He did not put his wand up, but it was now pointed at the ground. He was not sure what to do.
"Your father was my very best friend, Harry, and your mother was a wonderful person. No matter what you might have heard, I did not betray them or do anything else to hurt them, other than to give them some bad advice." He hung his head, he face becoming invisible as his hair covered it. "But I didn't deserve to go to prison for that."
Suddenly, Harry remembered where he had heard the name. His parents had been quietly discussing something last week and he had overheard them say, "Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, we'll have to be careful. He might be after Harry…" Then they had realized he was there and had stopped talking about it.
"What exactly happened? No one has ever told me much more than what's already been said." Harry was curious, but because of what he had heard, he still kept his wand out pointed near the man.
So Sirius launched into the story. He told about the Fidelius Charm and how it worked. He also told about the switching of the secret keeper and his part in trying to mislead people to think he was the secret keeper when Peter had really been. Then he told of the betrayal, the murder, the chase, and finally his capture and imprisonment.
Harry thought about it all; it was a wild tale. As he continued to think about it, one point made no sense at all. "But wait a minute, if you're really not guilty, then why were you in prison? Shouldn't the trial have found out the truth and set you free?"
Sirius shook his head. "If I'd had a trial, then I would have eventually gone free. But it was during a time of war and trials were sometimes overlooked, especially if everyone thought the person was already guilty. Remember, we had made a big effort to say I was the secret keeper, so everyone automatically assumed I had betrayed your parents. Harry, I promise you and will swear any oath you want that I did not betray them. I would have rather died than do that. In fact, that's why I went after Peter. A part of me wanted to die because I felt so guilty in giving your parents the advice to switch secret keepers. That's why I was not there to raise you; that's why you were sent to the Dursleys to live."
"You were to have raised me?"
"I'm your godfather, Harry. It should have been my duty, but I couldn't because I was in prison."
"OK, and who are the Dursleys?"
"You know, your Aunt Petunia and her oaf of a husband Vernon. Dumbledore took you to live with them. I tried to stop it, but he wouldn't hear of it."
Harry shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I know a Dumbledore, but I've never heard of the Dursleys."
"No? Then where do you think you grew up?"
"I don't know exactly. Mum and Dad told me that after my parents were killed, I went to live with some people until there was an accident with magic and they couldn't keep me anymore. It also caused me to forget everything. That's why I came to live here, so they could help me learn things again. Mum is a mind healer, so it was easier for her than most people."
Sirius looked like he wanted to be angry, but was not sure. "And what did they tell you of your time before you came here?"
"They told my real name and that they adopted me. They told me my parents had been killed when I was a baby and their real names. For the time after that, they've only told me that I was living with some other people and it did not matter whether I could remember it or not. I've found that I don't really care since I'm happy here."
Sirius gave that some thought. After a moment he chuckled. It was the truth, not all of it, but certainly enough to be believable and to probably hide some things that Harry probably did not really need to know, based on what he knew about Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
"Very well, I can understand that. But did they never mention me or Remus Lupin?" Harry shook his head. "Interesting. Well, I suppose I can just stay here for a few weeks until the Weasleys return, then I'll be on my way."
"Why? What do you want with the Weasleys?" Harry's wand snapped up and pointed it back at the man. He cared about the Weasleys and did not want them to get hurt in any way, especially Ginny.
"Whoa, careful with the wand, Harry…"
"I said, what do you want with them? I will not allow you to hurt them."
Sirius nodded. "Friends of yours, especially Ginny?" Harry nodded. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "No, and I don't need a girlfriend. Now answer the question!"
Slowly and carefully, Sirius reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He was going to hand it to Harry, but they were too far apart. Before he realized what was happening, Harry waved his wand, "Accio Parchment!" To Sirius's amazement, the paper zoomed to Harry's hand. "That's amazing, Harry! I'm very impressed."
"Professor Flitwick taught it to me the other day. This is the picture of the Weasleys from the Galleon draw. What's so special about it?"
"Carefully look at their youngest boy. Ron, I think his name is." Harry nodded. "See what he's holding?"
"Yeah, his pet rat. It's been in the family for years, I understand. So?"
"Harry, you saw how I was a dog, right?" Harry nodded. "There were four of us and we were very close friends: your father, myself, Remus Lupin, and Peter. We were all Animagi; well, except for Remus, but he had another way to become an animal. That rat is Peter, I'd recognize him anywhere. Also notice that his paw is missing a toe. That corresponds to the finger he cut off, as I told you in my story. I want to get there so I can capture that rat and turn him in. If I can bring him in with me, I'll be declared innocent and set free."
"How exactly would you do all of that?" Harry wondered.
"It's really not that hard and you can make it easier for me, Harry."
"Oh? How?"
Sirius laughed. "I've had over ten years to think about this. First, I stay here until the Weasleys return. Then…" By the time Sirius finished, Harry was smiling impishly.
It was a mid-August morning and Harry was in the living room reading through a book that Professor Flitwick had recommended. The current section was on ways to keep someone where they were after they had been disarmed. The obvious things like tying them up and the body bind were there, but it also discussed doing things like sticking them somewhere and transfiguring their clothes into metal.
As he flipped another page, the fireplace roared to life and a person came out. He barely had time to identify who it was before she launched herself at him. "Harry!" A fraction of a second later, he had two arms full of girl in a hug and her momentum was carrying them across the floor; she ended up on top and they were nose to nose. She seemed to suddenly realize where she was and blushed as she quickly jumped up. There was laughter from across the room.
Harry looked over and saw his mother and brother laughing and grinning, which caused him to blush. Fortunately, his mother snagged his brother's arm and pulled him back into the kitchen to save him further embarrassment.
He looked back at Ginny who was still looking down and was very red from embarrassment. "Hi, Ginny," he said a bit tentatively, "I'm glad you're back."
She was still red faced, but she looked back up and gave him a big smile. "Thanks! I'm glad to be back here again. I really missed you and wished you could have come with us. How have you been?"
Harry couldn't stop the smile from coming to his face. "I've really missed you, too. I've had lessons and Cedric has flown with me some, but it just hasn't been the same without you here." He wasn't sure why, but that seemed to cause her to blush again.
"So you're still doing lessons in the afternoons?" He nodded and she seemed to deflate. "I'm so far behind I'll never catch up now," she said dejectedly.
"It's OK," he tried to comfort her. "Why don't you come this afternoon and see what Professor Flitwick says? You're really smart, and I bet you can catch up if you work some during school. We're going to be stopping lessons after next week anyway, and I can work with you on the stuff you missed."
Her face lit up. "You would?" He nodded. "Thank you, Harry!" She threw her arms around him again in another hug, though this one was shorter like they normally did.
"Oi! We've got a couple of hours, let me show you some stuff now." He jumped up and ran into his room to get a book. They spent the rest of the morning going through the book with Ginny catching on quickly. While Harry forgot about Sirius, the black dog laid on the front porch listening to everything happen inside with a big grin on its face.
Harry watched Ginny work on her shield. Flitwick was helping her with it while he had been practicing casting ropes and chains at a wooden dummy. Their time for the afternoon was almost up and Harry decided it was time to put Sirius's plan into action. They had modified it a few times, but the basic plan was still here.
"Professor Flitwick?" he called when the little man and Ginny had finished. "I, ah, found a mouse or maybe a rat at home that I'd like to catch. Can you conjure a cage for me?"
"Certainly, Mr Diggory." He brandished his wand and little metal cage appeared on a nearby desktop.
"And can you put an Unbreakable Charm on it? I think he's pretty active." Flitwick smiled and cast that charm too. "Thanks, Professor!" Harry grabbed it so they could go.
As they all started walking toward the Floo, Harry asked, "Professor, is Professor McGonagall in her office? I'd like to Floo call her later with a question."
"I believe she is, but is there anything I can help you with?" Flitwick asked conversationally.
"Not at the moment, but you've helped a lot with the cage. We'll see you later, Professor, bye!" Harry threw the Floo powder in, but instead of going to his home, he said, "The Burrow!"
A moment later, he stood in his friend's living room; she came out right behind with a questioning look on her face. "Harry? Why did you come here?"
Now was going to be the trickiest part, or so he thought. "Ginny, I need you to trust me on something. I need to get Ron's rat into this cage so we can look at it."
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because, I'm not sure it's a normal rat. That's why I had the Professor put an Unbreakable Charm on the cage. Please trust me, Ginny. If we find the rat is missing a toe, it's very important we do this. If not, we can put him back and Ron doesn't have to know."
She looked at him for a very long moment before she nodded and started walking towards the stairs. They managed to get to them with her mother being none the wiser; she also directed him to skip a few steps because they squeaked. They went past her room and on up to Ron's. Luck was smiling on them because he was outside and the rat was curled up on his bed sleeping.
With great care, Harry managed to get the rat into the cage before it even realized what was going on, then he quickly closed and locked the cage. If Harry did not know any better, he would have said the rat's beady little eyes contained fear. Ignoring the eyes, he looked down at the paws, and sure enough, the left paw was missing its "index toe", just like Sirius said it would. Harry could not decide if he was happy or sad about this; he had found his parents betrayer and now he was about to face the man.
Turning to Ginny, he pointed out the missing toe. "See?"
She nodded. "Now what?"
"Now we go make a Floo call." They went back downstairs and into the living room. With a pinch of Floo powder, he threw it into the fireplace. "Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office". His head was spinning and it was a most disagreeable feeling.
Suddenly his head stopped and he could see the office. "Professor McGonagall? It's Harry Diggory." He heard a chair move and then he saw her.
"Good afternoon, Harry." He noticed that she usually used his first name during the summers. "To what do I owe this call?"
"Professor, you told us that if we ever found something magical that we couldn't explain and we thought it might be dangerous to give you a call. Well, I think we need your help."
Her eyebrows shot up. "What have you found?"
"I'm afraid it's rather hard to explain and it would be a lot easier to show you. Can you please come to The Burrow?"
"Certainly. If you'll step back, I shall be there momentarily."
Harry withdrew to find Ginny and her mother staring at him. "Uh, hi Mrs Weasley. Have a good trip?"
"Hello, Harry," she said kindly and smiled at him, but he could tell there was more to her greeting. "It's nice to see you again." She paused for a moment. "Harry? Can you please tell me why you have Ron's rat in a cage and you're making a Floo call?"
Apparently, they had not been as sneaky as he had thought. "Yes, ma'am, but if you'll wait just a moment, I'll explain it when Professor McGonagall gets here."
The woman's eyes shot up in surprise. "Is this something else that my husband needs to be here for?"
"Well, I don't know; but if he is available, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea." This was not part of the plan, but then again, plans changed. He was saved from more questioning from Ginny's mother by the arrival of the Headmistress.
"Harry, Ginny, Molly, good afternoon. Now, what seems to be the problem, Harry?"
"Professor, even though my parents have tried to keep it from me, I've heard that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban." The two adults stiffened.
"That is true, Harry. Have you seen him?"
"I think a better question is: Why does everyone think he's a problem? Where is the proof that he did what they say he did?"
"Harry," she had a forced smile of patience on her, "those are matters for the adults to deal with."
"Please, Professor. Did he have a trial? Where was the proof that he betrayed … the Potters? How do you really know he was their secret keeper? Did anyone really see him kill all the Muggles and Peter Pettigrew? Did anyone do a Priori Incantatum on his wand? Where's the proof or are people just making assumptions and working on speculation from circumstantial evidence?"
McGonagall looked at him in amazement before she finally took a seat. "Harry, Sirius Black was James Potter's best friend. Everything we know says he betrayed them."
"But was it ever proved?" he asked forcefully.
"No, Harry, it was not."
"So, we've ignored our own laws and jailed an innocent man…"
"Harry, Sirius and the Potters told a few of us they trusted that Sirius was the secret keeper…"
"But what if they did that to misdirect everyone? You know, tell everyone it was Sirius but then they really picked another?"
"That might have been a good way to hide the secret, but it wasn't done," she said with patience. "Besides, there is no proof."
Harry was not to be deterred. Reaching to the floor, he picked up the little cage and set it on the low table in front of them. Before anyone could say anything, he pulled out his wand and cast, "Quiesco" on the rat and it fell asleep.
"Mr Diggory!" McGonagall objected.
"That was Ron's rat!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed.
He ignored them both and pulled the rat out of the cage and set it in the middle of an empty space on the floor. "Professor, can you please cast the spell that forces an Animagus to turn back into a human on the rat."
"What are you suggesting?" Her eyes narrowed and it was not hard to see that the witch was thinking very carefully. Perhaps his earlier arguments were starting to sink in.
"I'm suggesting this rat is not a real rat. Please Professor? I know it won't hurt the rat if it's a real rat." Harry waited.
McGonagall pursed her lips and thought for a moment, she looked between the rat and Harry several times as if trying to work something out. Finally, with an air of confidence, she cast the spell. To everyone's surprise, the rat transformed and turned into a man. Harry immediately cast the rope spell to tie him up.
"My word!" McGonagall was aghast. "It's true!" She looked as if a fear had come true.
Mrs Weasley just gasped and put her hand to her chest, absently grasping her clothes and pulling them tighter.
"But if that's Pettigrew, then Black really didn't kill him…" McGonagall started.
"And all the other assumptions are wrong as well," Harry finished.
The professor stared at him suspiciously. "How did you know?"
Harry pulled out the picture of the Weasleys that was in the paper and handed it to her. "Because the rat was in this picture and Sirius recognized him, that's why he escaped. It was to prove his innocence." They all looked at him and he could tell they were jumping to a conclusion. "Yes, I've talked with him and I know where he is hiding. As soon as the Aurors have Pettigrew in custody and they promise that Sirius will be set free, he'll turn himself in."
At that moment, the fireplace flashed green and Mr Weasley stepped out and promptly fell over the unconscious man. "What's this?" he asked from the floor.
"Oh Arthur, you won't believe what's happened this time…" his wife told him. By the end of the story, the two adult Weasleys were looking thoughtfully at Harry, but the boy could not figure out why.
The Aurors came and there were lots of questions. Ron also came in from outside and when he found out that his rat was not really a rat, Harry could not quite decide if the boy's anger was aimed at Pettigrew or himself. Harry decided that avoiding Ron for a while was probably a good plan. Percy was not pleased to have been fooled too, but the older boy did not hang around to discuss it.
As everyone else left and it was just the Weasleys and Harry again, Ginny came over to him. "Harry, you really like an exciting life with many adventures, don't you?" she told him in a teasing voice.
He gave her a small grin. "I don't go searching for them, they just come to me. Besides, it's not just me, you've been there too. And thanks for trusting me."
With a smile that showed pleasure, for which Harry did not understand why, she told him, "Always, Harry, always." She then gave him a quick hug and sent him home telling him she would see him tomorrow.
The next morning, Harry was awakened early by his father and directed to come out to the kitchen. There he found his mother and his dad had a newspaper.
"Son," his father started in a slightly curious tone, "would you like to tell me what you did yesterday afternoon? It seems your name is in the paper for capturing a criminal that we believed to be dead and mostly proving the innocence of a man we believed to be guilty. And if that's not enough, it's possible you may have also started the process of removing our present Minister for Magic. So we'd really like to know how all of this happened and you didn't tell us." Both of his parents were giving him their full attention.
"Ah, maybe we should get Cedric too? I'm sure he'd like to know…" he stalled.
"We can tell him later," his father informed him, obviously eager to get to the bottom of this.
So Harry explained what happened yesterday and answered all of their questions but one. "I'm sorry, dad, but I won't tell you how I talked to Sirius until he's been promised fair treatment. I promised I'd protect him."
"Very well, son, I do want you to keep your promises. But, I would strongly suggest that in the future, you be more careful what you promise."
"I understand, Dad, but I had to help him. No one should go to prison for something they didn't do."
His father smiled at him and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "I know, and you're a good lad. I'm very proud of you for sticking up for the innocent. I do wish you weren't quite so adventurous, though."
Harry smiled and hugged his father. "Thanks, Dad."
"I love you, son."
"And I love you, Dad."
That was not the end of the story though. A few days later, Sirius had turned himself in and was promptly set free. That led to an interview in the Daily Prophet, which was read in almost every Wizarding household the next morning, including the Diggory home.
Again, Harry was awakened early and told to follow his father. This time, he found his entire family in the kitchen. His brother was as bleary-eyed as he was.
"Harry," his father started solemnly, "yesterday, Sirius Black was exonerated and set free." Harry smiled. "I wouldn't be smiling so much if I were you," his father told him seriously.
For the life of him, he could not figure out what was bad about this. "What's wrong, Dad?"
"It seems that in your plans to save him, you forgot one small but extremely important detail." Harry gave him a puzzled look. "Let me read a portion of the main article."
One of the more surprising aspects of this story is how Mr Black was found and his true story came to light. It seems that while he was tracking down Peter Pettigrew, he came upon none other than The Boy-Who-Lived. "I was quite surprised to find James's son, Harry, on my way to find the rat, but Harry believed in me and my story and I have him to thank for my freedom. Although he is my godson, I shall never forget what Harry Potter has done for me."
The Wizarding World has wondered what happed to Harry Potter, orphaned after his parents were killed on that fateful night in 1981. His disappearance was a mystery, but a bigger mystery was his failing to come to Hogwarts as expected in 1991. Now we know that he as been staying with Amos and Delores Diggory, taking their last name, and he is also going to Hogwarts, but why did he start school a year late? No one we've questioned will answer.
"It seems that in your planning, you two forgot to remember to keep your real name secret. So when Mr Black gave his interview, he mentioned your real name and now the whole world will know where you live and what you're doing."
At his father's pronouncement, Harry lowered his head and softly banged it on the table. "I was really stupid, wasn't I?"
His father sighed. "No, Harry, you're only barely thirteen. As I told you before, you did a fine thing; it's just that it's very unfortunate for this information to get out. We will deal with it." Harry looked up and nodded. "Now, we need to get our story straight and present a united front. The big question you're going to get asked is where you were from the time your parents died to the time you started Hogwarts. We can say anything you'd like, but I think the best answer is to tell everyone that it's a private matter and none of their concern. You'll still get badgered, but stick to your answer. Eventually, it will all calm down and then you'll just have normal fame to deal with."
Harry dropped his head back down and banged it again. "Just what I don't need."
A few miles away in another Wizarding home, another family was gathered around the breakfast table, but a much different conversation was going on. This table had a little girl at it and she had been continually red for the last few minutes, mostly due to her brother's teasing.
"You're lucky, Ginny," Fred told her.
"You've got an inside track to The Boy-Who-Lived," George continued.
"Yeah, think of all the other girls…"
"And how jealous they will be of you."
Ginny tried to back away from the table but mainly only managed to shove her elbow into the butter dish.
"Oi! Smooth one, Ginny. Be glad Harry didn't see that," Ron teased her.
"Shut it! All of you!" she finally yelled as she grabbed her napkin to clean her elbow.
"Boys!" their mother yelled. "That is more than enough. In fact, go de-gnome the garden, all three of you. Now!" With that tone, they knew to jump and left quickly. With a forced calm, she turned to her last son remaining. "Percy, please find somewhere else to be."
"Yes, mother. I shall be in my room." He went up the stairs, leaving only Ginny and her parents.
In a soft voice, her mother told her, "Ginny, dear. I think I understand what you're feeling, but you really don't have anything to worry about."
"But he should have, he will, I mean, oh I don't know what I mean…" she was confused and scared. How could Harry do this to her?
"Ginny," her father got her attention. "You must understand that Harry did not lie to you to hurt your feelings. I'm sure his parents told him not to tell anyone. Do you remember how they stressed safety and not telling anyone about him when you first met him?"
She nodded.
"That's probably all it is. You can ask him when you see him this afternoon. He's a good boy and I know he'll tell you the truth when he's allowed to. But you have to understand that sometimes people have to say nothing or mislead you if they have special circumstances because they are in danger. Now I don't know what Harry's circumstances are, but I can tell by the things that are said and who's saying them that Harry does have special circumstances. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Dad." That did make sense to her; after all, how many of the students could Floo call the Headmistress and have her come to their house? And how many students had extra summer lessons on Defense? She would not have if it was not for Harry asking for her. "You're right, Dad. I just never thought of it that way."
"That's my girl." He patted her hand. "If it will make you feel any better, your mother and I knew something wasn't right, and we should have figured out who Harry really was sooner, but we didn't."
Ginny nodded a gave a small smile to show she appreciated his sharing that. It made her feel not as stupid.
"I have to go to work, but you take a deep breath and talk to Harry. He'll still be your friend just like before." He kissed her on the top of her head and left.
Ginny looked at her mother. "He's right, you know. Harry had a very good reason to not tell you who he really was." She nodded knowing her mother was right in her head, and yet, she still did not like it.
"Tell me, Ginny, how do you feel about Harry now that you know who he really is?"
That was the big question. It was not a secret in her family that she had loved the story of The Boy-Who-Lived when she was a little girl. She supposed it was the usual like of a hero who beat overwhelming odds to win -- the story of a baby who survived when he should not have. That was Harry Potter.
Then there was Harry who was her neighbor, who did practically everything with her and was her very best friend.
The problem was, those two Harrys were the same person. Did she feel the same about each of them? Also, would the new Harry still want to be her best friend?
She looked at her mother. "Mum, I just don't want to lose my best friend."
Her mother smiled. "Don't worry, Ginny. Harry will still like you for who you are. He's still the same Harry. He'll have some new problems now, but you can still be his best friend by being there for him. Tell me, if I had asked you yesterday how you felt about Harry, what would you have told me?"
Ginny shrugged. "He's my best friend, he's a great flyer, and uh," she paused and blushed slightly, "he's kinda cute."
Another smile came over her mother's face. "He was just a normal boy that you like, wasn't he?" Ginny nodded. "Then that's what you need to do, Ginny. Treat him like the normal boy he was yesterday and be his friend, especially when things become difficult because people now know who he really is. Treat him like Harry Diggory not like The Boy-Who-Lived."
Ginny considered that and understood what her mother was saying, and she thought her mother was right. Harry would want to be normal not some famous celebrity. "It may be a bit hard at first, but I think I can do that."
"I know you can, dear. Now, I'll talk with the boys to tell them to treat Harry normally too. You go clean your room and then come back for lunch. You and Harry can talk about this when you go to class this afternoon."
Standing up, Ginny went over to her mother and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mum!" She went upstairs feeling a lot better while her mother went out to the back garden for another talk.
After lunch, just like normal, Harry took the Floo to The Burrow. Only because her mother said so, Ginny was the only one in the living room waiting on Harry. When he came out of the fireplace, Ginny did her best to give him a normal smile. "Hi!"
"Hi, Ginny. Are you ready to go to class?"
"Yes." She stood and walked over to him. As he was about to turn to go, she reached out and grabbed his hand, which caused him to whip around and look at her. "Harry?" she said tentatively.
He immediately looked down, guilt written all over his face. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but I wasn't supposed to tell anyone."
She gave him a small smile. "It was for your safety, wasn't it?"
"And for everyone else around me," he added, still not able to look at her.
Her smile grew as she thought about what she was about to do. "I'll forgive you if you'll be my best friend -- Harry Diggory."
Harry finally looked up at her and a smile came to his face. "Only if you'll be my best friend."
"It's a deal."
"Deal. Come on, we have to get going to class."
Ginny let go of his hand and they took the Floo to school.
Around the edge of the doorway in the kitchen, a mother smiled to herself.
As the summer continued, Harry found that all of the Weasleys treated him the same except for Ron. Ron was never rude or anything, but he seemed to become a bit more distant. Harry also caught Ron watching him more often. He had no idea why, and when he mentioned it to Ginny, she was also at a loss to explain her brother's actions.
By the time school started, Ginny had done half of the work she had missed over the summer. She was itching to finish quickly. Professor Flitwick had told them that he would continue the practical defense lessons for a few hours every Saturday they were all free.
The train ride to school was a blast. Their study group got a compartment together and told stories of their summer. Harry's change from Diggory to Potter was the most talked about topic, to his dismay. It was a tight fit with them all there, but a good time was had by all. Hermione even came by and stood in the doorway and talked to them. Like everyone else, she was excited to hear about what Harry had done to free his godfather and about his real identity.
At the Welcoming Feast, Harry saw Remus Lupin for the first time. He knew all about him from Sirius and looked forward to talking to the man during some of his free time. It looked like his second year was going to be a wonderful year.
In the end, it mostly was a good year. He learned a lot and had fun with Ginny and others, whom he was slowly becoming better friends with. Harry decided that Colin was not quite so bad after he got used to him, and after he had had a short talk with his friend about not taking so many pictures of Harry.
There were some bad parts. A story came out in the Daily Prophet at the end of the year saying that Professor Lupin was a werewolf and what a bad thing it was to have a half-breed like him teaching at Britain's premier magic school. That forced him to resign. In a private conversation, Professor Lupin told him that it was probably someone at the Ministry who did not like werewolves, but that was life. Harry was sad for his new found friend of his parents.
One other bad thing happened: Draco Malfoy now made Harry a bigger target for his insults. He was always very careful to do it there were no teachers around. Normally, Harry ignored him, but he also sometimes said things about Ginny, and Harry was going to stop that one day -- forcefully.
"Year 3"
The summer after his second year started off like last summer. He had free time in the morning and lessons with Professor Flitwick in the afternoon. Ginny still joined him. She was doing really well, but Harry did just a little bit better; he always seemed to be able to get more power into his spells.
A major question presented itself after Harry had come home: Did Harry want to go live with Sirius? He thought long and hard about it, but decided to stay where he was. He thought he could write Sirius for a while to get to know him better.
Not long before his birthday, Harry got a surprise one evening at dinner.
"Cedric, Harry?" Amos looked at both of his sons. "If I could get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, would you like to go?" he asked casually. He took joy in watching both of his sons light up and shout for joy. "Well, then I suppose it's good news that was able to procure three tickets." The boys whooped again.
"Dad? Are the Weasleys going to go?" Harry wanted to know.
Amos smiled. "Yes, and yes, I know that Arthur got enough tickets for Ginny to go, too." Harry whooped yet again.
"It's a good thing your girlfriend can go," Cedric teased him.
"She's not my girlfriend," Harry shot back, though he also looked a little red from embarrassment. "She's my best friend."
"That's all right, Harry," his mother consoled him with a grin on her face, "don't worry about it. Of course, Amos was my best friend in seventh year and look what it got me." Harry turned even redder when he understood what she meant. Cedric laughed and Harry backhanded him on the shoulder.
"Boys! No horseplay around the table," Amos told them, but he was not really bothered. This would be a good time.
To Harry's pleasure, they managed to reserve the camping site next to the Weasleys. The surprise of the day was that Hermione and Neville had also showed up, as friends of Ron; although Harry suspected that Ginny may have been a bigger influence in getting Hermione to come. Cedric went and found some of his seventh year friends while Harry hung out with the Weasleys and specifically Ginny. His father tagged along and spent most of his time talking to Ginny's dad.
The game had been awesome, and Viktor Krum's play been spectacular. However, the event had been ruined by some Death Eaters after the match and someone had cast a Dark Mark. It was even more weird when they found Ron's wand missing and that it had been the one to cast the Dark Mark. Still, they managed to survive and get home, although it was to two worried mothers.
Harry's third year started off being very busy. In addition to all of his normal classes, he now had three more: Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. He and Ginny had decided to take the same classes, and after a discussion with Hermione, they felt those classes would be best for them. A few stories from Ron had also convinced them that Divination was definitely a class to be avoided.
This year, the Defense classes were again taught by an Auror, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. Harry and Ginny both decided they liked the strange and scary looking man, once they started ignoring his gruff manner. He seemed to really know his stuff.
The Triwizard Tournament generated a lot of interest among the students. Harry and Ginny talked about it as excitedly as the rest of their friends, all knowing it made no difference as none of them were old enough to enter. So when Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire as the fourth contestant, he got a lot of strange looks. He would not have gone up had it not been for the Headmistress beckoning him and Hermione pushing him out of his seat.
In the trophy room with the rest of the contestants, Fleur, the Beauxbatons champion asked him what he was doing there. Since he did not really know himself, he just shrugged. Before they could ask him more questions, Professors McGonagall, Moody, and Flitwick came in.
"Mr Potter, did you put your name in the Goblet?" the Headmistress asked him.
"No, Professor."
"Did you ask an older student to put your name in?"
"No, Professor. I don't want to be in the Tournament," he told her firmly, looking at his brother for help.
"You don't have much choice," an older man who had been introduced earlier as Barty Crouch said. "It's a magically binding contract. You have to participate."
"But I did not enter my name!" Harry protested.
Crouch thought about that for a few seconds. "I'm afraid that does not matter according to the rules. They say you must compete. I'm sorry."
"But why would anyone enter my name in?" Harry wanted to know.
"The survival of contestants is not guaranteed," Moody's gravelly voice answered from behind Harry.
"Alastor! Please!" the Headmistress admonished him before address the rest of the Tournament Committee. "We shall just have to have four champions then."
"That is not fair," Headmaster Karkaroff protested.
"Then we want two champions as well," Madame Maxime argued.
"I'm afraid that's not possible either," Crouch replied. "Once the Goblet has turned off, that's it until the next time it's activated, and that's not possible until the present tournament is completed."
"Well, I'm not going to compete. I will not compete against my brother!" With that declaration, Harry hurriedly turned around to leave and accidentally ran into and knocked over Professor Moody, who happened to be trying to take a swig from his hip flask, a flask that went flying and landed at the feet of Professor Flitwick.
As Moody carefully got up, with Harry apologizing for knocking him over, Flitwick bent down to pick up the open flask which had spilled slightly. As the odor from the flask reached the Charms Professor, he sniffed carefully. "That smells like Polyjuice Potion." That simple statement caused everyone to look at Moody, who immediately drew his wand and started firing Stunning spells -- the first hitting McGonagall's pointy hat and knocking it off her head as she dove behind a chair for some cover.
Everyone scrambled behind the nearest piece of furniture or hit the floor to allow the spells to go flashing overhead. Moody tried to walk backward to get away while he shot spells to keep everyone's head down, but he failed to see Harry on the floor near him. As he took another step backwards, Harry reached out and grabbed his artificial leg and yanked hard and fast. The grizzled Auror lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the way down. When he just laid there without moving, Harry also reached out and grabbed the man's wand and held it on him.
Since the spells had stopped, everyone started coming out and saw Harry standing over Moody.
"What the bloody hell happened?" Bagman exclaimed.
"I've never seen anything like it," Madame Maxime said as she looked at the downed man.
"Look at him now!" Fleur shouted as she pointed to Moody. Indeed, the man on the floor was starting to morph. His artificial leg and eye fell off and a much younger man with straw colored hair was now lying there.
"No…" Crouch hoarsely protested and collapsed into a chair.
"What is Barty Crouch Jr doing here?" Flitwick asked. No one had an answer, not even his father. "Harry, please tie him up. I shall return with Aurors in a few minutes." He left to go to the Floo in his office.
Nearly ten minutes later, Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Director of the MLE, and Kingsley Shacklebolt came in with Flitwick. "I thought he was dead," Scrimgeour stated as he looked at the trussed up young man.
"No," Crouch Sr spoke into the silence. "I had better come in with you." Silently he handed his wand to Shacklebolt, who took it along with the wand Harry had been holding from the fake Mad-Eye.
"Where's the real Moody?" McGonagall asked.
"He would have to be nearby to contribute to the Polyjuice. We need to check his quarters," Flitwick suggested. "May I search the prisoner for keys?" he asked the Aurors.
"I'll do it," Shacklebolt told him. A moment later, he handed a ring of keys to the Charms professor.
Harry surprised everyone by speaking. "Well, now that we know the Tournament was rigged, as it is obvious he must have entered my name for me, I won't have to do it now."
Crouch Sr turned to the boy. "I'm sorry, Mr Potter, but there's nothing in the rules that allow for the Tournament to be stopped, even for a case such as this. I know as I helped write the rules."
"That's stupid!" Harry let his true feelings be known on the matter. He also found it interesting that none of the adults admonished him for his outburst; apparently, they agreed with him.
"Barty, we may have to have the Tournament anyway, but is there anything in the rules that says we have to have the same tasks we originally agreed upon?" Flitwick asked.
"No, the tasks are whatever the committee agrees upon and are changeable right up until the moment they are started. It would only take a unanimous vote to change them. Why do you ask?"
A smile came over Flitwick face. "What if we changed the tasks to something very simple in order to quickly complete this rigged Tournament, as Mr Potter calls it, then we can restart the Goblet and try again with the correct champions and the original tasks?"
"A capital idea, Filius!" Bagman agreed. "That would let young Mr Potter off the hook and then I'm sure the other champions would be picked again."
"They would if they were the only three names entered and the Goblet was locked up until the time expired," McGonagall commented. "I like that idea. Any other suggestions?" No one said anything. "All in favor of this change, vote Aye." She got four Ayes along with her own. "It's unanimous then."
"I suggest a flying race on brooms," Karkaroff suggested.
"And I suggest a game of Gobstones," Maxime suggested.
"Exploding snap for the third?" McGonagall half asked half stated. She received nods all around. "Vote Aye for those three tasks." It was unanimous again. "And do them all tomorrow?" Everyone agreed.
"I'll put up one hundred Galleons for the prize money," Crouch Sr said. "It seems only fair since my son was the one who did this. That way the other prize money will still be available for the real tournament."
"Very well, the times of each event will be announced at breakfast. This meeting is adjourned. Mr Potter, Mr Diggory, have a pleasant evening," McGonagall dismissed her students.
The two brothers left together. Harry looked up at Cedric. "Cedric, I'm really sorry for this. You should have all the attention."
He smiled and looked down at his little brother. "Don't worry about it, Harry. As we found out, it wasn't your fault." He then snorted. "You know though, we need to go tell the others. I know a person in Ravenclaw to go talk to," he blushed slightly, "so I'll tell them and Hufflepuff. You tell the Gryffindors. I guess the Slytherins will just have to wait and find out at breakfast."
"Thanks Ced! We'll get this part out of the way tomorrow, and then I'll get all the Gryffindors to cheer for you in the real Tournament."
Cedric put his arm around Harry and gave him a squeeze. "Thanks, Harry! You're the best little brother a guy could have. Go have fun tonight and tomorrow have a day of games just like at home."
Harry smiled and turned for the Tower. He was glad it had all worked out. It was a good thing Harry was in a good mood, because when he went through the portrait hole into the Tower, he walked into the middle of screaming match between two redheads.
"You're just a jealous git, Ron! Harry did NOT enter himself in the Tournament. There's another explanation!" Ginny screamed at her brother in front of the rest of the house.
"Yeah? You're just blinded by fame and your stupid crush on The Boy-Who-Lived!" Ron yelled back.
A second later there was a resounding crack echoing through the common room and a very red handprint on Ron's face. As Ron's hand went back, a voice stopped everything.
"Start that swing and I'll make you regret it for a long time to come!" Everyone turned to see an angry looking Harry Potter standing by the portrait hole with is wand pointed at Ron Weasley. As he hesitated, Harry went on. "Step back from her, Ron." When the boy did not move, Harry shouted, "Now!" Ron took two steps back and lowered his hand.
"Now, for your and everyone else's information, I did not enter my name into the Goblet." Murmuring started. "But if you'll be quiet, I'll tell you what did happen." Everyone immediately shut up and looked at him eagerly.
"There was an imposter on Polyjuice pretending to be Professor Moody, and he entered my name into the Goblet."
Shouts of "What?" "No way!" "I can't believe it!" came from all around the room.
"It's true," Harry told them. "Tomorrow at breakfast, we're to be told when we compete in the new substitute tasks. There will be a flying contest, a Gobstones contest, and an exploding snap contest."
"That's all?" Lee Jordan exclaimed.
"They came up with three simple tasks to get the rigged Tournament over with. After that, they will relight the Goblet, put the other three names back into it, then let it select their names again and the real Tournament will happen -- thankfully without me in it."
"Why did he put your name your name in?" Harry was not surprised that Hermione was the one who asked.
"Until the investigation is over, everyone believes the answer is to get me killed during one of the tasks." That started a lot more questions, which Harry ignored.
"Harry, can we still root for you?" Lee asked.
Harry laughed. "Sure, whatever you want. That's it, there's nothing more to say."
"Then let's party!" Fred shouted.
"And party hardy!" George added.
Harry smiled and walked over to Ginny, who had calmed down -- mostly. Ron was now on the other side of the room by Dean and Seamus, who had dragged him over there for his own safety.
"You alright there, Ginny?" he asked her softly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She blushed a little. "Thank you for proving me right."
"I didn't have to do anything, you knew what was right, even if you didn't know how. I'm just glad I came in when I did. I can't believe he was going to hit you."
Ginny shook her head. "I don't think he really would have swung, but thanks for giving him extra incentive to think about it." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. As she did, she saw Ron watching them and it looked like he was going to come over. So she glared at him and shook her head 'no' just slightly. That froze him in his tracks.
She let Harry go after a long hug. "I don't think he'll do anything, but watch out for Ron. I don't know what his problem is, but I think it's only him being overly protective. Good-night, Harry." She left him to go to her room, although she stopped by her twin brothers first.
"Hey, will you two keep an eye on Ron? I don't know what his problem is, but I don't want Ron to get into trouble or hurt, because he will if he does something to Harry."
"Yeah, you'd really take care of Ron if he tried something, wouldn't you?" Fred told her.
"I would, but Harry would hurt him first," she informed them.
"But he's only a third year…" George started.
"Hey! Have you two forgotten about all the extra lessons Harry and I have been taking over the last two years?" Ginny reminded them.
"Oh, yeah…"
"We forgot."
"Maybe you should remind Ron. Good-night." Ginny went to bed, curious about tomorrow.
Harry had watched her talk to her brothers as a few people had come up to talk to him. As soon as she was safely upstairs, he left for his dorm room. He suspected that after a night's sleep, Ron would not be a problem anymore.
As soon as Harry had left, the twins paid a visit to their younger brother. He was much paler when they finished.
The next morning at breakfast, the changes to the current Tournament were announced. Only the Slytherins were surprised. It was also announced that the Gobstone contest would be held at ten, the exploding snap contest at one, and the broom race through an obstacle course would be at three, with the point leader getting a head start in the race.
Ginny sat beside him during the announcements to give him courage, or so she said. Harry was not worried, but he liked having his best friend there anyway. He noticed that Ron sat far down the table from him, but otherwise did not give either of them any trouble.
At ten o'clock, everyone gathered in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall had transfigured the tables into grandstand-style seating so everyone could see. By eleven o'clock, Fleur had won, with Harry being second, Cedric third, and Viktor fourth.
After lunch, the Exploding Snap contest started. Professor McGonagall had picked well as Cedric came in first, Harry second, Viktor third, and Fleur fourth. Just like in the real tournament, their scores decided when they would start on the last task. Harry and Cedric were tied and would leave first, Fleur would start five seconds later, and Viktor would start five seconds after Fleur. Still, everyone thought Viktor would win since he was a professional Quidditch player.
Slightly before three, much to Ron's consternation and glare, Ginny gave Harry a firm hug and wished him luck. The course was set up around the school ground with magical arrows in the air showing them where to go. To complete it, one would have to perform all kinds of turns, twists, and avoiding things while going as fast as possible.
Harry and Cedric both had their Nimbus 1000's, Fleur had some French broom, and Viktor had a Firebolt. Fortunately for the other three, there were no long straight runs, so the Firebolt's top speed would not be much of a factor.
The race started. Harry and Cedric raced neck and neck toward the first turn. It was a sharp right with the next target down at a 45 degree angle. Harry's small size gave him a very slight advantage and he took it. He was also the more daring of the two brothers. By the time he came around the fourth target and headed for the flaming ring he had to fly through, he was two broom lengths in front of Cedric. Fleur was slowly falling behind, and Viktor had almost caught up with Fleur, despite starting five seconds behind her.
Harry rocketed through a corkscrew going up then flipped over to dive back down towards a bar only five feet above the ground. Those with no guts would have to slow down to safely make it, Harry never slowed. As he came out of the last turn, Harry lay completely flat on his broomstick and urged it to go as fast as possible down across the last hundred yards to the finish line inside the Quidditch stadium. As he crossed over the finish line, he looked back and saw his brother come in second about five seconds later with Viktor right on his tail three lengths behind. Fleur finished fourth almost five seconds later.
The crowd was roaring and Harry held his hands up in victory as he slowly turned and landed next to the judges; the others landed beside him.
Cedric hugged him. "Great job little brother!"
"Thanks! You too!" He turned to Viktor and held out his hand, Viktor took it. "Great race! I'm glad you didn't start any sooner or you would have won."
Viktor smiled at him. "No, I don't t'ink so. You fly very good, Harry Potter. Maybe you be Quidditch star some day."
Harry laughed. To be polite, he turned to Fleur. "Good race." She smiled at him and he felt a slight twinge of something, but didn't know what it was. He shook her hand as he had with Viktor.
"You are not 'ust a lettle boy, Harry Potter. Perhaps I am glad you will not be in the real tournament."
He shrugged. "I know I'm glad not to have to be in it." She smiled at him. He turned to Ludo Bagman who was walking over to him with a small bag in his had.
"Sonorus! Ladies and gentlemen. For this running of the Triwizard Tournament, the most unusual one in its history, we award first place and one hundred Galleons to Mr Harry Potter!" The crowd screamed and clapped. "Yes, good showing, Mr Potter. It is fitting that you've won, now the other three can compete in the next tournament, to start in a few days. Congratulations again, Mr Potter.Quietus!"
As Harry left the front area, Ginny came running to him and gave him a long hug and kissed him on the cheek. "I knew you could do it, Harry!" He blushed mightily. His parents came over as well, both of them with large smiles on their faces. He figured they must have seen what Ginny had done.
"Congratulations, son. I'm proud of you. I'm also glad you don't have to compete in the real tournament, not that I'm overly thrilled about Cedric doing it," his father told him as he hugged him.
"Thanks, Dad!"
"Good show, Harry." His mother hugged him too. He noticed that his father was already talking to Cedric. He did not want to be his brother right now, having to explain why he was in the tournament. "I agree with your father on this. I'm very glad you're not in the real tournament, and I'm sorry you thought you were for a short while. I'm so glad they caught that Death Eater."
"Me too, Mum, me too."
Apparently more than his parents had seen Ginny kiss him, as he was teased by a number of people, but he didn't care. He just smiled and shrugged. Apparently, that was the right thing to do as Ginny smiled and stayed near him; she did not seem to be mad at all.
A few days later, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor were chosen at the next choosing of the champions. The Goblet had been very thoroughly examined for extraneous charms and only one Confundus Charm had been found on it, and removed.
Three weeks later, the first task was held and Harry was doubly happy not to be in the tournament when he saw the dragons. When it was over, all three scores were very close, only a few points between them. Still, Viktor was in first, Fleur in second, and Cedric was very close behind in third. He congratulated his brother and told him he would easily catch up in the next task.
In early December, an unexpected task was announced, at least for the older students. There was to be a Yule Ball for the fourth years and up. The first three years would each have a party in their common room.
When they heard, Harry was excited. He turned to Ginny. "You heard that? We get to have a party."
"But wouldn't you rather go to the Ball?" Ginny asked him.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, I've never been to a Ball. Mum showed me how to dance once, but it wasn't nearly as good as flying."
Ginny laughed. "Harry, nothing is as good as flying to you."
"Too right," he grinned. "But you know what?" he asked her more seriously. When she shook her head no, he told her, "If we went to the Ball, I'd ask you. I wouldn't want to go with anyone other than my best friend."
She gave him a quick hug. "Thanks, Harry, that's sweet."
He blushed slightly. "So anyway, I'm glad we'll be together at the party." She smiled at him and they went on to lunch.
Classes had finished for the term and the Yule Ball was tonight. The few older guys who did not have dates were starting to panic. Harry had watched a few, one of them being Ron Weasley. He had had a flaming row with Hermione about going, especially after she refused to tell him who had asked her.
Harry was sitting on their usual couch pulling a book out to read. Ginny saw him as she came down the girl's stairs and started walking over to join him. Just before she arrived, she was stopped by Neville Longbottom. "Hey, Ginny?"
"Hi, Neville."
"Ginny, ar-are you g-going with anyone to the B-Ball?" Neville was obviously nervous; but she noticed more than that. Past Neville's shoulder she saw Harry stiffen and go wide-eyed.
"No, I --" She never got to finish.
"W-Will you g-go with m-me to the B-Ball?" She was surprised and pleased to be asked. She would not get to go otherwise, and Neville was a friend and nice person. He would treat her right. And yet, could she really go with him?
"Neville, I'd like --" and she stopped instantly as she saw Harry stand and practically run up the boy's stairs. Neville saw him go too.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I didn't think this through…"
"It's all right, Neville. I'd like to go, thank you for asking, but I think the answer needs to be no." She hated turning him down and the look on his face was the reason why. He looked really dejected. "Neville? Try asking Parvati. I know she doesn't have a date yet and I've heard she likes you."
"Really?" he looked very surprised to hear that.
"Really. If you'll excuse me, I need to go do something."
"Sure, no problem; thanks for the advice, Ginny," he told her as she hurried off and waved at him over her shoulder.
She raced up the stairs to the boy's dorms, glad she could get up them. On the second level where she knew Harry's room was, she came to a halt and peered in. He was standing by the window looking out and he was the only one in there. She walked up behind him, making sure to shuffle her feet a few times to make some noise. She did not want to startle him; she had first-hand experience in Flitwick's lessons that that was a bad thing to do.
As she came up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and put her chin on his shoulder; he did not move.
"Harry, it's OK." He did not respond. "Harry, I told Neville no; I'd rather be with you at the party than with him at the Ball."
After a moment she heard him softly say, "You did?"
"Yes, Harry, I did," she told him as sincerely as she could.
"But I heard you say you'd like to go." He sounded very confused.
She sighed. "I told him that I'd like to go, but that I couldn't. Listen carefully. I'd like to go to the Ball. It would be a lot of fun. But I only want to go with you," she hated to say this next part, but she did, "my best friend." Then the thought occurred to her that maybe she really did not have to stop there.
He slowly turned around and she loosened her grip but kept her arms around him so she was embracing him. He slowly put his hands on her shoulders. "Only with me?" He still sounded so unsure.
Ginny nodded. "Only with you, Harry." Usually she hugged him or they hugged at the same time. For one of the few times ever, he hugged her first.
"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, Ginny. You're not mine like that. If you want to go, you should be able to go," he told her, whispering in her ear. The experience of his face in her hair was very pleasant, but his voice seem to indicate he did not believe what he had said.
"But I don't want to go with anyone else." Her mother might be upset with her for doing this, but that was just too bad she decided. "Harry, I like you."
"I like you, too, Ginny. That's why you're my best friend."
She closed her eyes and rolled them. "Harry, I mean I like you." She put extra emphasis on the all important word. "I like my best friend so much, I wish we had more." There, now she had done it; her mother would be scandalized that she was this forward.
It only took a full second, but he suddenly jerked his head back so he could look at her face. He looked very serious and she could tell he was thinking deeply about what she had said. He had obviously understood her. He stared into her eyes. She was perfectly fine with that as she thought she could lose herself in his green eyes all day long.
"Are you sure, Ginny? I couldn't bear to lose my best friend." She nodded.
Then she realized he had closed his eyes as he was slowly leaning down towards her. One of her fantasies was about to come true she realized. His lips soon touched hers and it was wonderful. She lost herself in the kiss and was saddened when it ended. He pulled her back to him and she rested her chin on the top of his shoulder as they hugged again.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" he quietly asked her.
She pulled her head back and smiled before she softly kissed him. "Yes," she impishly told him when they parted.
After a moment, he asked, "Do you suppose I should thank Neville for helping us get together?"
Ginny giggled softly. "I don't think it's necessary. Besides, I already helped him out by telling him to ask Parvati. She's liked him for a while."
Harry continued to hold her. "The only person I'm worried about is Ron. What do you think he'll do?"
She sighed as she thought about it. "If he's smart, nothing; but there's no guarantee that he'll think first. How about we don't say anything to him, then tomorrow morning I'll have a talk with him and set him straight?"
"Only if it's in the common room. I want to make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid."
Ginny could not help but chuckle. "OK, but don't worry about it. I'll probably start the talk with my wand in my hand so he knows I mean business." She tilted her head up slightly and softly kissed him again. With a smile, she commanded him, "Wait here for a minute, and then come down. Hopefully that will avoid problems." He nodded so she left, already missing his warmth as she walked down the stairs. She would write Mum a letter tomorrow; Ginny was sure she would be happy for her.
Harry and Ginny were in the common room playing a game of chess when most of the older boys went upstairs, including Ron. He did not have a date, but he was going anyway, just to find out who was taking Hermione, or so Ginny assumed.
A few minutes later, a single girl came down the girl's stairs. "Wow!" Ginny was amazed.
"Wow!" Harry echoed her, only to receive a light backhanded slap on the shoulder. They both got up and went over to her as she came into the common room. "Very nice, Hermione. So who's the boy?"
Hermione smiled at her two friends. "No telling Ron?" Harry nodded. "Viktor Krum."
Harry looked at her and then he began to chuckle, which turned into outright laughter. Hermione looked a little hurt. Once he realized that, he waved his hand. "No, no, that's … so priceless. I wish I could see Ron's reaction to that. He's going to have a fit with the way he's been acting."
Ginny was smiling and nodding. "I agree. So why are you down here so early?"
"Oh, well, I wanted to leave while the boys were all getting ready and they wouldn't see me. I told Viktor I'd meet him at the front door away from everyone. I wanted it to be a surprise," Hermione stated as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world.
Hermione looked at Ginny and smiled. "So, why does Harry have his arm around you and his hand on your shoulder?"
Ginny gave her friend a big grin. "He asked me to be his girlfriend just a little bit ago."
Hermione gasped slightly and gave Ginny a hug, before she turned to Harry and gave him a quick hug too. "Congratulations, you two." Then she laughed softly. "Something else for Ron to find out."
"Please don't tell him. I plan to do so tomorrow morning."
"Will it be somewhere I can see?" Hermione asked mischievously.
"Be in the common room after breakfast. You can sit with Harry and keep him from hexing my brother," Ginny told her with a grin.
"I won't miss it. If you'll excuse me, I'd best be going before anyone comes down." With a smile, Hermione turned and left the Tower.
Harry whispered to Ginny. "You would be prettier than her if you were going to the Ball."
Her eyes sparkled as she turned to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the table. They had an act to maintain for a little while longer.
After breakfast the next morning, Ginny was not sure about talking to Ron at this exact moment, but she wanted it done. The problem was Ron was still in a foul mood from last night. He had returned from the Ball in a temper and then waited in the common room staring at the portrait hole. She and Harry had sat on the side of the room softly talking. Ron had never noticed them, or anyone else for that matter. When Hermione had come in much later, the fireworks started. To say those two had a flaming row would be an understatement. Ginny was surprised a teacher had not come in, since they were shouting so loud. Hermione ended it by going up to her dorm just about the time that she and Harry thought they were going to have to step in and break the fight up.
While they walked, she looked at Ron and his scowl; yep, he was in a full-blown snit. When they reached the common room after breakfast, Ginny told him, "Ron, come with me for a minute, I need to tell you something." He looked like he was going to balk, but then he followed her. When she sat down, she noticed that Harry and Hermione were on the other side of the room with a chess set between them. It looked so natural; she was sure that was Hermione's idea.
"Ron…"
"Ginny, I don't want to hear it. I know you're going to take Hermione's side."
She wanted to say that Hermione had a very valid point that Ron should have asked her sooner if he cared who she went with, but this was really not the time to try and straighten him out on that. "Ron, I have nothing to say about that at this time."
He looked surprised. "Oh?"
"Ron, I need to talk to you about something else. About … Harry and me."
His hackles seemed to go up at that. "What's he done to you?" He looked daggers at the boy across the room.
"Well, he very politely, mind you, asked me to be his girlfriend, and I accepted."
"Ginny!" he exploded.
She whipped out her wand. "Ronald Weasley, shut it!" she commanded him, and to his credit he obeyed.
"Now you listen to me very closely. I've seen you watching us since practically the first day you met him, so you should know that he's always been a good friend to me. And just for your information, not once has he ever been anything less than a perfect gentleman. In fact, I practically had to ask him first…"
"You what?" Ron looked very confused.
"I said, shut it! I'm telling you this now so you aren't surprised later when we hold hands, or kiss good-night, or anything else boyfriends and girlfriends do. I'm warning you, Ron, leave us alone. You do not want to mess with me or Harry. And if you do try, I'll get the twins involved to so it's four on one. Do you understand me?" One of the great things about being in a large family was if you needed help and knew how to play your cards, you could always gang up on the sibling who was being "stupid" and get your way. Ginny was a master at it rivaled only by the twins. Even Bill understood and respected her.
Ron paled and swallowed hard.
"I love you, Ron, but you will not bother Harry or myself, nor will you fight our relationship, get in the way, or do anything to attempt to break us up. If you try that, I won't hesitate to go to Mum either. Do you fancy a war where it's five on one?"
He vigorously shook his head.
Satisfied he was sufficiently cowed, she put her arms around his shoulders and gave him a quick hug, just like she used to do for Harry. "I love you Ron, so I shall give you some advice to consider. Think very carefully before you speak and act, and you'll have more friends and less trouble." With that, she got up and walked over to her boyfriend, whom she had noticed had been giving her glances. Smiling, she sat sideways on his lap as he finished his chess game, narrowly losing to Hermione. Looking over, she saw Ron looking at her and he appeared to be thinking deeply. She smiled at him and he gave her a very weak smile back.
As the year continued, the twins were happy for Ginny, treating her and Harry no differently. Ginny's talk had caused Ron to continue his policy of keeping a distance while also keeping watch. He bristled when she and Harry kissed good-night, but he did not interfere.
In Harry's family, his brother Cedric was still dating his Yule Ball date, the pretty asian girl, Cho Chang. When Cedric found out Ginny was now officially Harry's girlfriend, he had gotten a large grin on his face and pulled Harry into a hug and slapped him on the back, telling him, "You lucky devil!" Cedric also told Ginny "Congratulations!" Harry was very happy Cedric was his brother.
The second task drastically changed the standings in the tournament. Cedric moved into first place by a narrow margin, leading Viktor, and then Fleur. The French witch had lost a lot of points by not completing the second task.
Harry shuddered when Hermione was brought out of the lake by Krum. His concern was not only for his friend who had been at the bottom of the lake, but it was also for who they would have taken for him to rescue. He was almost certain it would have been the pretty redhaired witch sitting next to him.
The third task started as the term was ending. Harry watched his brother run into the maze. From what his brother had told him, Harry was very happy not to be competing. Just before the hour mark, fireworks went off, originating from the middle of the maze and the hedges that made up the walls started to slowly disappear. A minute or so later, everyone could see Cedric standing in the middle holding up the Triwizard Trophy Cup. With Ginny's hand in his, he sprinted down onto the field right behind his parents to congratulate his brother, Cho was right behind them. Cedric was happy and Harry was happy for him.
After the fake Moody had been discovered, Harry decided this had been a pretty good year. He had won a hundred Galleons by having a little fun playing games, gotten a wonderful girlfriend, and learned a lot. While the fake Moody had been a pretty good teacher, the real Moody had been better.
The summer promised to be good too. He should get a lot of time to see Ginny; Professor Flitwick would continue to teach them over the summer, or Professor McGonagall would when the Charms professor was unavailable; and he was supposed to start visiting his godfather, Sirius. He had discovered that Sirius had a very funny sense of humor, or at least he did in his letters.
Presently, the plan was to spend Saturdays and the occasional morning over at Sirius's house. Former Professor Lupin was supposed to be around as well. Now all he needed to do was to arrange for Ginny to come with him. If he got really lucky, he would get Sirius to take him shopping so he could use his tournament winnings and some of his own money to buy a Firebolt. Yes, this summer looked like it would be quite good.
(A/N: Four parts down and 5 parts left…)
