A/N - I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. I only play in the universe. Any ideas that other authors that recognize some of their ideas, I apologize, I have read so many stories that I can't remember where I get some of them. Send me a PM and I will try to give you the credit that you deserve. I appreciate constructive criticism but will ignore any flames you send me. If you don't like the story then don't read it.
Chapter 2
Rome
Harry and Hermione laughed at her parents as they landed with the Portkey clutched in their hands. When Emma realized where they were, she gasped at the sight. The Coliseum was in the distance.
"You brought us to Rome!" she exclaimed.
Harry chuckled, "Well, yeah. Do you like it?"
Dan smirked, "Of course she does; she's been wanting to come here for years. We've never had a chance to come. Usually, we go to France or the States for our summer vacations."
"Hermione said as much. I have a townhouse in the city so we can stay here for a week, then head to France for two weeks with a Time-Turner," Harry smiled.
The Grangers nodded their approval and they left the Portkey arrival site and made their way to the Gringotts branch in Rome. From there, they got their money exchanged and withdrew some Galleons to shop in the magical district.
They finally made it to Harry's townhouse around dusk and got settled. Harry, once again, insisted on Dan and Emma having they the master bedroom, while he took a smaller guest room. Once they had their things put away, they decided they would eat out for dinner. They went to a little restaurant around the corner from the house, where the kids shared Pasta cacio e pepe and the elder Grangers shared the same. Afterwards, they explored the area and enjoyed the evening.
Throughout the following few days, they toured the Vatican City and saw Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. They visited the Pantheon and toured the different museums that were in the city. They even went to the Trevi Fountain and made a wish and took a Portkey and explored Pompeii. When they weren't seeing the sights, they were talking with the friendly locals.
One their fifth day in Rome, they found that there was going to be a duelling tournament in a warded off part of the Coliseum. Both Harry and Hermione wanted to be in it. At first, the Granger parents were reluctant to let Hermione participate, but after talking with the youngsters, they relented and allowed Hermione to participate.
At the sign in, they found out that the tournament was with between two-person teams. Each team would duel each other and try to incapacitate the opposing team. They found out that the winning team of the children's' division would have a chance to go against the winning team of the adult division.
When they found this out, both Harry and Hermione smiled. They excused themselves and Shadowed back to their townhouse for their dragon-hide training armour. They didn't need to advertise that they had better armour to those that were going to be watching. When they got back, they put their names in and found that the rules were the standard Duelling Circuit rules; no outright Dark magic that couldn't be healed, no Unforgivables, anything else allowed.
They explained to a tournament official about their armour and extra wands and they were told that they were okay to use, though not many others in the children's division had armour or multiple wands. As the tournament got underway, they put their armour on and checked each other over.
Hermione questioned, "What are we going to say if someone asks where we got a second wand?"
"Those in the tournament won't care. If anyone from the Ministry asks, we both have citizenship in multiple countries. Some friends made the wands for us after they trained us a bit. The wands are certified with the American Mages. We are both allowed to have them because we are emancipated in America," Harry chuckled.
Hermione nodded, then had a thought, "What if someone from Britain sees us using multiple wands and skills we shouldn't have?"
Harry nodded, knowing where she was going with that train of thought. "It's okay. We can say that we leave the wands with friends, namely Alex Shadow and Miranda Grey, while in school. If they try to search us, which is illegal because the wands are registered with a government that is a part of the ICW, the wands are hidden in our holsters. The holsters are special because they have a localized Shadow Fidelius charm on them. As for our advanced skills, well, maybe we should not use everything. I mean, we can use our combat skills and some higher level spells and pass them off as learning from the Mages. But we shouldn't use our manipulation of magic, or at least, shouldn't make it obvious."
"I guess you've thought of everything, haven't you?" she smirked.
Harry laughed and they waited for the announcer to call them.
About forty-five minutes and six duels later, Harry and Hermione were called to the duelling platform. They were duelling a pair of thirteen year olds that were from Naples; Antonia and her sister, Cinzia. When they walked out, they almost immediately saw Dan and Emma in the audience.
Once on the platform, they bowed to each other and took their places. When the referee signalled go, the two sisters attacked immediately. Harry and Hermione shielded or dodged at first, to gauge their opponent's style. Harry threw a few harmless curses at them, while Hermione watched how they defended; she noted that they shielded against incoming spells, rather than dodge them. They also noted that the two girls spoke their spells aloud rather than cast them silently or whisper them.
After about a minute, Harry and Hermione had figured out how their competitors duelled. Harry and Hermione spoke through telepathy and attacked at the same time. Harry took out Cinzia with a spell chain of "Stupefy! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" Hermione did the same to Antonia. They had decided beforehand that they wouldn't use any advanced spells until later in the tournament. The sisters shielded against the spells and their shields held against the first two spells. The third shattered them and they were taken down. Harry and Hermione summoned their wands and were named winners. They Ennervated the two sisters and gave them back their wands. As they walked off of the platform, both teams talked and shared tips and advice about what they could improve on.
Another eleven duels later and Harry and Hermione were again bowing to their opponents. This time they were facing a boy from Venice named Enrico, and a girl from Verona named Francesca. They were apparently childhood friends but Enrico had moved away.
The duel got started with their opponents trying to blind Harry and Hermione with a Lumos Maximus. However, Harry and Hermione Shielded and covered their eyes. Harry retaliated with a smoke screen that surrounded him and Hermione. By the time Francesca had blown the smoke away, Harry and Hermione had Disillusioned themselves and Silenced their footsteps. They let loose with a barrage of Stunners, Disarming Spells and minor jinxes, like the Jelly-legs Jinx, Langlock, and others that made it hard for their opponents to concentrate, while continuously moving around the platform. Eventually Enrico was the first to go down and a few seconds later Francesca was hit with a Stunner by Hermione.
Once again, Harry and Hermione were good sports about it and walked back with the two Italians, talking about the duel and each of the four giving tips to their opponents. They waited to be called for their next duel and talked about how they should duel the next team.
The next five duels went longer than those previously, but before they knew it, it was their turn again. Their opponents for this duel were cocky and their entire attitude had both Ravenclaws gnashing their teeth in frustration. Both Harry and Hermione didn't even pay attention to their names and waited for the duel to start.
Once it did, the opposing duo sent a barrage of curses at them, which Harry noticed could actually do quite a bit of harm. Both Harry and Hermione decided to return the favour and sent a few Jelly-Brain Jinxes, Twitchy-Ear Hexes, and Horn-Tongue Curses in their direction, as well as Confringo at the ground in front of the two boys. When they were slightly stunned, Harry bound them in magic resistant chains, then walked over to them and plucked their wands out of their hands. He handed them to the referee, who was slightly stunned at the spells used by two thirteen year olds, but nonetheless took the wands and declared Harry and Hermione the winners. As Harry and Hermione stepped off the duelling platform, Harry released the chains and the two disgruntled boys retrieved their wands.
The next three duels took nearly fifteen minutes each because each team had seen the other's style. Finally, Harry and Hermione were up, this time against two American brothers; Michael, who was sixteen and Anthony, who was fifteen. Both boys were polite and respectful, but when the duel started, they were relentless.
They started out with Blasting Curses at Harry and Hermione's feet, and then transfigured the rubble into small rodents. Anthony conjured a flock of birds and directed them towards the two British teens. Harry took care of the birds with an overpowered Incendio, and then shaped the magic to create a "criss-cross" pattern, obscuring their opponents' view of them. Hermione took care of the rodents with a localized crushing spell, directed at the ground. She then signalled for Harry to drop the Incendio and immediately shot a powerful stream of water at the two Americans. Harry followed it up with a Glacius. Michael saw what was coming and dove out of the way. As he dropped into a crouch, Anthony was encased in ice. Michael immediately sent Bludgeoning Curses towards Harry, who shielded with Tutela. The curses impacted the shield but it held. Hermione took care of their last opponent with a dozen Stunners fired so fast that they looked to be one long connected stream of spells.
Harry thawed Anthony while Hermione Ennervated Michael. They walked off, laughing and talking about who taught them to duel. While they waited for the final duel of the children's division, they spoke with Anthony and Michael. They were surprised to learn that Ms Cerina was their great aunt. They talked about each other's training and what their best class of magic was. For Anthony, he was good with Transfiguration and Michael was good with Defence and what the British Ministry would classify as Dark Magic.
Harry explained that he was great with Defence and Transfiguration, but his favourite was Runes. Hermione explained that she was very good with Charms and Transfiguration, but her favourite class was Arithmancy. They both thought that the British Ministry was a joke, after Harry and Hermione explained all the restrictions they had. Both Harry and Hermione told the brothers, as they told their other opponents, to stick around and see what surprises the two British teens had up their sleeve.
When the children's final duels got underway, Harry and Hermione knew that their rivals meant business. The rivals started off the duel with a wide area cutting curse. They blocked it, but were immediately met with Blasting Curses, which they dodged. Harry used the "Black Hole" spell to return the following series of Blasting Curses back at the two sixteen year olds. Hermione next conjured a flock of eagles and sent them towards the opposing duo. As the girl, Amanda, sent a cutting curse at them, the birds shifted and fell to the ground as a horde of rats. The boy, Clark, got rid of the annoying rodents with a wide area Crushing Curse directed at the ground. Amanda responded with a surprising spell, Flamma Flagellum, the Flame Whip spell. Clark immediately cast a Fulgur Flagellum, the Lightning Whip. Harry and Hermione countered with Brachium Praesidio, an arm specific shield. When the two sixteen year olds sent the whips towards the two thirteen year olds, the audience gasped as Harry caught the Flame Whip and Hermione caught the Lightning Whip.
Before Harry and Hermione could rip the wands from their grip, Clark and Amanda cancelled the spell, then transfigured the rubble around them into a pair of dogs and sent them after Harry and Hermione. Harry cast a cutting curse at the two animals. Hermione sent a "smoke bomb" charm into the middle of the stage, and then used Wingardium Leviosa on Amanda, catching her off guard. Harry Stunned her and Summoned her wand, before firing a stream of Stunners at Clark, too many for him to do anything but shield against. When Hermione joined Harry, their spells shattered Clark's shield, and he went down.
The audience went ecstatic at the end of the duel. Harry and Hermione Ennervated the two duellists and congratulated them on a spectacular duel.
"Where did you two learn to duel like that!" Clark asked.
Harry smirked, "I've been duelling since I was nine years old. But I've been following the duelling circuit since I was seven. I've watched so many, that I would pick up and use what works for me. I got some training from the American Mages and the Australian Outback Special Forces. Last summer I took Hermione and her family to America for a few weeks and we got more training with the Mages."
Amanda smiled, "Well, you guys were great. We've had a special trainer since we were twelve and decided we wanted to be professional duellists. How old are you exactly?"
Hermione smirked, "We're going into our third year at Hogwarts in Scotland."
Clark and Amanda's jaws dropped.
Clark exclaimed, "You can't be that young! You even blocked two spells that took us three months to learn!"
Harry looked confused. "What spells?"
Amanda gaped at him. "The Lightning and Flame Whips! It took us three months to learn those! What spell did you use to grab them like that?"
Harry smirked and told them he learned the spell in a professional duel back in 1989.
"How long are you guys in the city for?" Hermione asked.
"For another few days," Clark answered.
Harry asked, "You guys want to grab dinner with us? My treat, then maybe we can hang out tomorrow and talk about duelling."
Amanda glanced at Clark and smiled, "We'd like that. Good luck against the winners of the Adult Division."
Hermione and Harry smiled and thanked them. They then went to find the adult Grangers since there was a break in-between the last duels.
Emma grabbed them and exclaimed, "You were amazing! I've never seen anything like that before! I was so scared at times but you guys did great!"
Dan smiled and patted Harry on the back. "That was something else Harry. I guess you were right when you guys said you could take care of yourselves."
Harry smiled slightly and Hermione blushed. They spoke a bit more and ate a meal with the elder Grangers and introduced Amanda and Clark, along with their parents, Ethan and Amy, and Dale and Jennifer. Ethan and Amy were Clark's parents; Ethan was an accountant with Gringotts, while Amy was a secretary for one of the higher-ups in the MBI. She knew a few people in the Mages, but the MBI wasn't as high on the proverbial "totem pole" for her to know many people. Dale was the kids' trainer, he was a professional duellist in his youth, but eventually went on to teach the basics of duelling at M.I.T. Magical Department. Jennifer was a lawyer that worked for the MBI.
Before they knew it, Harry and Hermione were being called back to prepare for their last duel of the day. When they got back to the arena, they put their armour back on and made their way out onto the duelling platform, where they met two adults; a man who looked to be around his early thirties and a woman that looked to be in her late twenties. The man introduced himself as Philip and the woman as Trish. Harry and Hermione introduced themselves and then prepared for their duel.
As the duel got underway, the two adults, Trish and Philip Castello, started off using easy spells against the two teens. They sent simple Stunners and Disarming Spells, and overpowered them, thinking that their spells would crush any shields Harry or Hermione could put up. To their surprise, their spells were reflected back at them, after which Harry surprised them even more and conjured marbles to banish towards them at high speeds. They protected against the projectiles and started to duel like they did in the adult division.
They conjured barbed wire, knives, glass shards and other dangerous items and sent them all towards the two British teens. Harry and Hermione managed to transfigure the incoming items into harmless feathers that fell to the ground; they even managed to Vanish those they missed before they get close to them. Before Harry and Hermione were able to retaliate, Philip conjured twin lions while Trish conjured a pair of wolves. While Harry took care of the wolf and lion attacking him, Hermione did the same with the other two beasts. Trish didn't give them a chance to rest before sending a stream of fire towards them, while Philip sent a chain of lightning.
Harry responded with a massive cutting curse at all four animals and Shielded against the attacking elements. While his shield took the brunt of the attack, Hermione conjured dozens of darts, Disillusioned them, and banished them towards their attackers. The streams of fire and lightning were abruptly cut off with grunts of pain from Trish and Philip. After a moment, the two older duellists returned to their attack with Trish shooting shards of ice out of her wand, whilst Philip conjured miniature tornadoes and sent them towards Harry and Hermione. Harry cast Incendio and manipulated the fire to form a wall between himself and Hermione and the incoming shards of ice. The fire melted but the tornadoes snuffed out the wall of flames. Hermione sent a strong gust of wind and dispatched the tornadoes before they could harm them.
Finally, Harry saw a chance to go on the offensive and took it. He told Hermione what he was going to do and then cast Lumos Maximus! The strong light blinded everyone but them; they put the next stage of their plan into effect. He cast the spells that he needed to and then started sending streams of spell chains at the two adults. The two duellists had enough experience to know to shield when they couldn't see, and so none of Harry or Hermione's spells got through. When everyone could see again, they were met with three Harry Daniels and three Hermione Grangers. The British teens started casting faster than most in the audience thought possible. Trish and Philip shielded or dodged out of the way. Finally, Philip noticed that some of the spells being cast were coming from nowhere and signalled to his partner.
The two adults continued to shield, then without warning, they shot two spells at seemingly empty space. The spells were so fast that most couldn't see what happened, however, everyone knew something had happened when the duplicates stopped casting spells and vanished. Philip walked to the other side and removed the Disillusionment spells from the unconscious Harry and Hermione.
Once revived, Harry and Hermione both said, "Damn!" at the same time.
Philip laughed and said, "That was amazing! I haven't duelled like that since I was back on the circuit!"
Trish smiled, "I agree, where did you learn to duel like that? I've been duelling for close to ten years and that was one of the hardest duels I've ever been in."
"Well, I was disowned at an early age, but was almost immediately taken in by some friends. Over the years I got trained a little by the American Mages and some other places. Mainly the Mages and the Australian Outback Special Forces. Last summer I took Hermione and her family to America and the Mages trained her as well," Harry smiled.
Before anything else could be said the announcers said, over the booming applause from the audience, that it was time to present the trophies. Afterwards, Harry and Hermione talked with Philip and Trish a bit more about duelling and where they trained. The two adults were amazed that the two kids were only thirteen. They told Harry and Hermione that they were both twenty-eight and had started duelling right after they got out of school. They explained that, on the circuit, they were always partners and that they had known each other since they had started school and had eventually married when they were twenty-six.
After a while, Harry and Hermione said goodbye, but left with an invitation to train with them when they were done with school, if they wanted to duel professionally. The two teens went out to dinner with Hermione parents to celebrate.
Hogwarts Castle - Head of Ravenclaw House Quarters
Filius Flitwick sat at his desk, preparing for the upcoming school year. Next to his workplace, he had the duelling journal that Harry Daniels had gotten him the previous Christmas. He found that when he would take his breaks, he liked to watch some of the different duels going on around the world. As he finished up the first half of first term, he glanced at the book and had to blink a few times before he let himself believe what he was looking at. Two of his students were in a duelling tournament.
He watched as his students very nicely destroyed their competition. He noticed that on their third duel, they were rather vicious about it, but he could easily tell that their opponents were insulting and did not have the proper attitude. He watched as the two incoming third years decimated their competition.
As he watched the last duel in the children's division, his work forgotten, he was amazed when they caught the Lightning Whip and Flame Whip. He watched as they used simple spells with devastating efficiency and watched as they were good sportsmen at the end of the duel. He was tempted to go and get Minerva, but realized that Harry and Hermione hadn't told anyone about their abilities and most likely didn't want others to know. He knew that Albus was trying to gain control over Harry, but did not know why. He decided to keep their secret and speak with them at the start of term.
He had a castle elf bring him a small meal as he waited for the final duel to start. When it did, he was flabbergasted when he saw their opposing duellists. He didn't know Philip and Trish personally, but he knew their trainer. She was his apprentice's apprentice. He watched as the four duellists weaved around the spells being sent. He noticed that in the beginning, the professional duellists had taken it easy on his Ravens, probably thinking that they didn't know much and couldn't be much of a challenge. He chuckled slightly when he saw their expressions turn to shock when they realized that the two teens could actually beat them. He was amazed at the spells that they knew and had they shielded only when they absolutely needed to, otherwise they moved out of the way. Not many witches and wizards bothered with that. He remembered his first duel with Albus, it had been his only weakness, and it was how he was beaten.
At the conclusion of the duel, he got so excited that he fell right off his chair. He was very impressed and would most definitely be speaking with the two kids when they got back to the castle.
Potter Manor
It was the day after Chris' birthday and the day Lily would be heading to the States to enter the chamber for the duration of her pregnancy. She was both excited and nervous. James had taken some time off and would be there with her for the last two months of the pregnancy. He couldn't get any more time off because of the breakouts.
She grimaced as she thought of the breakouts; it brought back the memory of Harry's appearance and the bollocking he gave them about Peter. When James and Sirius had told Amelia Bones, their boss, she tore them a new one about not speaking up before. She had told them that it was the missing piece of the puzzle as to how the prisoners had escaped. They were fined for not registering immediately but that was all, minus the icy attitude that Amelia now took with them. The only reason they weren't suspended was because of the budget cutbacks that Fudge had imposed on the Auror department and because they were two of the best Aurors in the department.
As she got the last of her things together, she went and said her goodbyes to Chris, James, Sirius, Emmeline, Remus, Alice, and Frank. After that, she Flooed to the Ministry and made her way collect her International Portkey to the U.S.
When she finally got to the American Ministry, she went through customs and then made her way to the Time Manipulation Department. Once there, she gave them her information and a woman named Sarah.
Sarah directed her to a waiting room, but before she walked away, Sarah asked, "Excuse me, but do you know someone by the name of Harry Daniels?"
Lily started. "Y-Yes. How do you know Harry?"
Sarah smiled, "I've seen him around before. Nice kid. I saw him here last year with a girl, Hermione if I remember her name correctly. Anyway, thought I would ask, your eyes reminded me of him. If you see him, tell him Sarah said hello."
Lily smiled weakly and continued on. How does she know Harry? What did she mean that Harry has been here before? I know that he said he had been to the Mages before but I didn't realize that he had been to the time department too. Maybe she has met him elsewhere in the building.
She continued thinking until her name was called and she walked through to doors. She took a deep breath and thought; This is going to be a long eight months.
France
Harry and the Grangers had been in France for a week already and so far, it had been exactly as their last stay had been. They spent most days at the beach and underwater, courtesy of Gillyweed. As he swam through the water, Harry remembered their time in Rome. After the duel, they had gone out to dinner and the following day, they had met up with Clark and Amanda. They spent the day talking and having fun with the two Americans.
The rest of their stay in Rome had been about the same. They visited with Clark and Amanda some; they also had lunch with Anthony and Michael before they went home.
Harry was brought of his reverie by Hermione, who darted in front of him and thus began a game of tag through the water. Eventually they left the water and decided to go out to dinner with Hermione's parents.
X0X0X0X0X0
Once they were back in Britain, they caught up with the events going on there. Harry found that James Potter and Sirius Black had registered as Animagi and that the news of Pettigrew's Animagus form was now common knowledge. His and Hermione's letters arrived for the upcoming term and they were told that they were taking the classes they had signed up for. Both were taking Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures. Hermione would take Arithmancy, while Harry would take Ancient Runes, since they couldn't take all four classes. They conceded that they could still take their OWLs and NEWTs on those subjects. Harry would copy his notes in Ancient Runes for Hermione and she would do the same for Arithmancy.
He remembered meeting with the teachers that taught each class.
Flashback - Hogwarts Castle: End of Year
Harry and Hermione were waiting to meet with Professor Vector. They had asked to meet with each teacher together to speak about the electives they would take. They had an idea of what they were going to take but were going to meet with the relevant teachers anyway.
When they were called in, Harry let Hermione go first and they went in to meet with the professor. Once they were in the office, they talked about they would learn in Arithmancy and what sort of jobs they could get with a Mastery in the subject. Harry explained that he was interested but he wouldn't have enough room in his schedule. Professor Vector assured him that he would be able to take the OWLs for the subject and she would be happy to supply him with exams. Harry thanked her and they left.
Next they met with Bathsheba Babbling, the professor of Ancient Runes. They didn't really have much to say during the meeting. Professor Babbling knew Harry had a working knowledge of Runes, though she didn't know how far that knowledge extended. Harry and Hermione explained to her that Hermione would not be able to take the class because she wanted to take Arithmancy, but still wanted to learn the subject. They were given the same answer as Professor Vector gave them. Professor Babbling would help Hermione if she had any questions and would work out a time to quiz her throughout the year, but Hermione would have to study on her own. They talked a bit more and then left for their next meeting.
The two Ravenclaws walked into the smoky classroom and heard shuffling from in the corner of the room. Not a moment later, Professor Sybil Trelawney came into the light and told them to sit down. Throughout the meeting, Harry and Hermione had to hold back their laughter at the old professor. They already knew that they didn't have the gift; they were only humouring her to be polite. After about ten minutes, they left the classroom and were finally able to breathe properly again.
They made their way to the next meeting they had with Professor Grubbly-Plank. He explained that he would be retiring that year and he didn't know who would be taking over as professor of the subject. When they asked, he explained what Care of Magical Creatures was about and what he expected his students to know at the end of the year. He then went into detail about what sort of jobs a person could get with a Mastery in Care of Magical Creatures.
Afterwards, they made their way to their last meeting, the Muggle Studies professor, Lily Potter. Harry didn't really know what to feel going into the meeting. Lily had pretty much left him alone for most of the year. He shrugged off his worries and figured that he would treat her as any other teacher they were meeting with to discuss class options.
They were let in and both sat across from Professor Potter. She went into detail about what she taught and what she would expect her students to know at the end of the year. She also told them that there weren't too many fields that someone with a NEWT in Muggle Studies could choose from. There wasn't even a Mastery in it. However, she stressed that the subject was important to maintain the Statute of Secrecy. She then acknowledged that they didn't really need the course because of their background.
Harry asked her simple questions about how up to date the course was and Lily responded that it was current up until 1981 because she had stopped spending time in it after her parents died.
"I have a sister, but she and her family despise anything different. So naturally they hate me and magic altogether. So I don't really have a reason to go to the Muggle world all that much." she explained.
Harry offered to get her a book during the summer to bring her material more up to date which she accepted. Afterwards, she requested that they talk a bit. Harry didn't really see the harm so they talked for half an hour about what he liked to do and a bit about his life outside Britain. Though he didn't give anything away about the Order, he mainly told her broad generalizations. In exchange, she told him about what had happened in Magical Britain while he had been gone. He was surprised that she hadn't tried to pry anymore information out of him. But he shrugged it off and was grateful for it.
After their meeting, they knew what classes they were going to take and so filled out the form and handed it in to Professor Flitwick. The Charms Master was slightly surprised they weren't taking all their classes together but they explained their reasoning.
End Flashback
About half-way through August they finally made their way to Diagon Alley to get their school things. Luckily they didn't meet anyone and didn't have any issues like they did the previous summer. When they got to Flourish and Blotts, they found the manager near tears when he saw them. They assured him that they didn't need a copy of "The Monster Book of Monsters." Hagrid had sent them two copies the previous week and they had almost immediately understood how to open the books and not get their fingers bitten. They got their things and left, eager to read through some of the other books they got in Knockturn Alley, which they explored with disguises on.
The rest of the summer passed swiftly and before they knew it, September the First arrived and they were making their way onto the Platform. They got there with nearly an hour to spare so they put their things in a compartment, locked it, and put a Notice-Me-Not on it so they didn't have to worry about someone breaking in. Afterwards, they went and talked with the adult Grangers and had a coffee while they watched other families go through the barrier.
At about half-past ten, they saw the Weasley family, Longbottom family, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and finally the Potters. Harry was slightly shocked to see Lily holding a baby girl with black hair. Hermione saw it as well and wondered about it. A few minutes later, the four of them finished their drinks and made their way back to the Platform. Harry bade Dan and Emma goodbye and was slightly surprised when both of them hugged him back. He smiled as Hermione did the same.
As he and Hermione started to make their way towards the train, he saw Lily glance his way, then walked over, still carrying the baby girl.
"Harry, this is Rosalyn Potter. Your sister," she said, smiling.
Harry blinked, then smiled slightly, "Well, that's a surprise. You didn't say anything about being pregnant at the end of the year."
Lily smirked. "I didn't know myself. I found out a few days after. I went to America and spent three weeks in one of their Time Chambers they have there. By the way, Sarah told me to tell you she said hello."
"Thanks, I haven't seen her in a while. I'll have to send Gwen to her with a letter." Harry smiled.
Harry gently rubbed his sister's cheek and chuckled when she reached up and grabbed his finger.
Lily smiled, "Well, she's definitely likes you more than Chris; the first time he tried playing with her, she threw up on him." Harry and Hermione chuckled. Hermione started to laugh when Rose grabbed his hair and tried to tug on it. She seemed fascinated by the changing colours of his hair. Harry smiled as he extricated himself from the baby's grip and bid the mother and daughter goodbye before getting on the train.
They quickly found Luna, Ginny and the twins on the train. They were trying to find a compartment when the two Ravenclaws found them. They had seen the new Professor for Defence, but they claimed he was sleeping. Harry wasn't surprised; the Full moon had been a few days before. They invited them to their compartment and soon enough, they were all settled. The twins talked a bit with Harry and Hermione, trying to get some new ideas for pranks and genuinely talk about their summers. They soon left to find Lee Jordan. As the compartment door closed, it was once again opened, and Daphne poked her head in.
"Mind if we sit in here?" she asked.
Harry nodded and the three Slytherins entered and sat down.
Harry asked, "So, did you all practice merging with your magic anymore over the summer?"
Everyone in the compartment besides Hermione and himself nodded their heads, smiling. They spent a while talking about the bonuses that merging came with and wondered at why no one in Britain had thought of it. Harry and Hermione explained their hypotheses, which everyone in the compartment agreed with. Harry told them a little about what he and Hermione had done over the summer, a bit about what they learned at the temple and, in turn, the others did the same in turn. Ginny was the most excited. She had gotten a whole new wardrobe with the money Harry had given her from the Basilisk. She also thanked Harry for giving her the advice of letting the goblins take care of her investments.
"I only put a quarter of what I have in my vault into the control of the Goblins to invest so even if it wasn't the smartest move, I still have most of the money still in my vault. My parents decided to take your advice as well, apparently, they are doing well."
After a while, everyone quieted down and did their own thing for the duration to the train ride. Ginny and Luna talked a bit about charms, while the three Slytherins talked about the breakout. Harry and Hermione pulled out a book and read. Harry was busy with a book about Tibetan Ancient Runes and Hermione had begun an advanced book on Arithmancy. They were only interrupted when Zacharias Smith entered their compartment to thank Harry for the book and advice, along with the money for the Basilisk.
A few hours later, the train made an abrupt stop, causing many to fall to the floor.
Hermione looked around. "We can't be there yet."
Harry was about to say something when the lights went out, plunging the train into darkness.
He barked, "Get to the back of the compartment."
Everyone did as he said and he stood at the front of the compartment. After a few minutes, they started to hear screams and whimpers throughout the train. Soon enough, the compartment door started to slowly open. Everyone held their collective breath. There, floating in the doorway of the compartment, was a Dementor. Harry fought through the debilitating effects of the creature and sent a mental message to everyone in the compartment, Stay calm, and don't do anything. I think they are looking for the escaped convicts from Az- he stopped abruptly when the black brute started to come into the compartment and reach for him.
Harry was almost overwhelmed with memories that he had wanted to forget. Memories that he had locked away in his mind, that the Dementor was pulling to the forefront of his thoughts. Through the painful memories, he heard Hermione and Luna whimper along with the rest of his friends; it gave him the strength to fight through the fog. He thought of his time with Hermione and her family and he roared "Expecto Patronum!" A blindingly bright raven shot out of his wand and seemed to rip, tear and peck at the Dementor's face, driving it away.
As soon as it left the compartment, Hermione broke through the fog that had caused her to remember the most painful times in her life and she shot a Patronus as well, a bright Falcon. Together, the two Patroni went through the train, driving the monsters away from the students they were tormenting. Harry realized that he was only able to fight unconsciousness because of his Occlumency training. He swiftly got up and made his way to find Chris Potter.
He told Hermione, "I have to find him. He will be affected worse than I was because he has the same memory of that night, but with no protection."
Hermione nodded, pulling out some chocolate frogs and nearly forcing them down their friends' throats.
Harry made his way through the train, telling everyone he saw to eat chocolate. He finally came to a compartment with Remus Lupin, Chris Potter, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. He saw Chris convulsing on the floor. He knew he would be fine, but that he was probably trapped in the memory of that night. He made his way in and shoved the others to the side.
As he knelt down, Ron asked, "What's wrong with him?"
"He is trapped in the memory of the night Voldemort showed up," answered Harry. "Go to the driver and tell him it's okay to continue on, they are gone." he told Remus.
He Stunned Chris, calling for Gwen to flash Chris to Hogwarts after he attached a note explaining what was wrong and what had happened.
Then, without saying anything else, he made his way back to his compartment. Nothing much was said until the train started its journey again.
Once they were moving again, Ginny asked, "What did you do to make it go away?"
Harry glanced at her. "I cast a Patronus at it. It is a difficult spell to master. It took me a long time to get it, even longer to get it to work in the presence of a Dementor. Though, I didn't practice on a Dementor, I practiced on a Lethifold or under a Nightmare and Sorrow Ward."
Ginny gnawed on her lower lip, and then asked nervously, "Co-Could you teach me? The Dementor brought back the memories of last year." Luna nodded, looking shaken.
Harry looked at the others in their compartment, seeing all his friends looking shaken and frightened, though the three Slytherins tried to hide it. He nodded and for the rest of the train ride, he taught them the basics of the charm. The only interruption they had was when Remus Lupin asked if they were alright or needed anything. He was surprised to see that when he opened the compartment door, Harry and Hermione were teaching the five other students to perform the charm and they were so far along that they were already getting thin white mist out of their wands.
They assured him that they were fine and thanked him; he then made his way to the other compartments to look in on other students.