Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the world of Harry Potter, that's J.K.Rowling's job. The plot is mine though.
Background: Harry has just left the Dursleys to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys.
CHAPTER 2 – A HELPING HANDOnce the four of them had arrived, Mrs Weasley began laying the table and filling their plates with mountains of food. Harry got double helpings of everything. Like always he had not quite been starved at the Dursley's, but he was definitely starting to look a bit thin. That day he was especially enjoying the chocolate cake, which Hermione had shown Mrs Weasley how to make from an old muggle cookbook. After he had eaten all that he could, and probably even more besides, he went upstairs to meet Ron and Hermione. As he opened the door to his room he could see Ron and Hermione sitting next to each other on his bed, waiting for him and laughing. As they looked up they looked slightly embarrassed, stopped laughing and stood up to greet him. Hermione spoke first.
"Harry! So good to see you again after all this time." She gave Harry a small hug before continuing, "We had both already eaten so we thought we would wait for you up here."
"Good to see you too Hermione, and you Ron," he replied "I thought I was going mad being kept up there all that time. Can't wait till I never have to go back to that house ever again, I wish Dumbledore didn't force me to go."
"But Harry, you know you have to stay there for your own safety." replied Hermione, being the voice of reason as always
"It is certainly good to be back though. I can do magic now as well!" He pulled his wand out of his pocket and waved it towards Ron playfully, causing him to duck out of the way. Harry chuckled and put it back in his pocket.
Hermione reached over and passed Harry a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Have you been reading the papers recently Harry? It seems they've got no choice but to admit Voldemort is back now."
Harry took the paper and glanced at the headline. Dark Lord Returns. The whole article was filled with the usual twisted truths and lies. Members of the Ministry of Magic bravely fought off the attack…the great Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen…you heard it first here in The Prophet…
He threw the paper down in disgust. How dare they? It had been the D.A and the Aurors who had fought Voldemort that night. How dare they say that about Dumbledore, who had fought single-handedly against someone most of the Ministry were afraid to even mention. Sensing his anger, Ron spoke up.
"It isn't all bad. At least those thickheads have finally accepted that You-Know-Who has actually returned. People will start to be extra careful and things. And nobody has even sighted him since he was in the Ministry."
"I suppose so," said Harry, "but it's only a matter of time. He has to be planning something."
After discussing the problem some more, Harry went with Ron out into the garden, eager for a ride around on his broom. Hermione followed them and sat down on the grass with a book which neither Ron or Harry could make heads or tails of. Flying always took his mind off the things that were bothering him, and soon he had nearly forgotten all about his time at Privet Drive. They tried to chase each other around at first, but Harry with his Firebolt could leave Ron so far behind that it soon became boring. Luckily Ron didn't need a broom that was really fast being a keeper.
When they had both tired themselves out, the 3 of them walked back through the kitchen. Harry glanced up at the Weasley clock, and saw that the hand for Mr Weasley was moving from work, to travelling, and then back to home. Shortly after there was a popping noise, and Mr Weasley appeared looking rather wind swept. His cheeks were bright red and his hat was sitting on his head at a funny angle. He had his wand drawn and was looking quite nervous. He turned and spotted Harry.
"Oh err hi Harry, I thought you would be coming down here today. Listen, do you suppose you could come back with me and give me hand. Someone let off one of those animating bombs in a muggle toyshop and caused utter chaos. I've had to stun the shopkeeper and a few customers until we can get the situation under control. I wouldn't ask, but I don't think I can manage it on my own and I know you are allowed to use magic and everything."
"Sure thing Mr Weasley." Harry replied eagerly, gladly taking any chance he could get to use him magic outside school, "I can't apparate like you can though…"
"No problem, I can just pull you along. We have to leave now though, it's getting quite desperate."
Harry gave a quick wave to his friends, and before he could say anything else Mr Weasley had grabbed his arm and everything disappeared.
The sensation was very similar to travelling by portkey, and Harry was certain that he would have rather travelled by broom. A few seconds later, he landed with a thud and stumbled over onto the ground. He looked up and tried to take in his surroundings. He was in the middle of what was obviously quite a large store. All around him were shelves that were three or four boxes high, all containing toys ranging from dolls to tanks. The most alarming thing however was the small army of soldiers staring him right in the face. They were all arranging themselves into lines and walking towards him with their swords raised. Harry looked over and saw Mr Weasley was busy fighting with a few dolls, one of which kept trying to cover his eyes, which was making it very difficult for him to see where to aim his spells. A small car kept driving into his leg.
"Harry! Just use the standard finite spell!" Mr Weasley shouted, before continuing his fight against the dolls.
For a moment Harry just sat there stunned. An arrow flew through the air and scratched the side of his face, which instantly snapped his mind into action. Starting with the small army in front of him, he aimed his wand and shouted, "finite", causing half the army to collapse. The rest of them looked a lot less sure of themselves at this point, so just charged all at once. Harry was forced to have to kick some of them away before he could fire another spell. Another few spells later, and the army lay in front of him, defeated. He then turned his attention to Mr Weasley and saw he was still outnumbered by at least fifteen dolls.
They had formed a half circle around him and were gradually backing him towards the wall. Harry fired off a stunning spell at one and ran over and kicked another, which knocked over yet another few. The temporary distraction was all Mr Weasley needed to regain control of the situation, and they soon had the rest of them motionless again.
The two of them then proceeded to walk down each of the aisles, shooting off a quick spell at everything that moved. About half way round there was this fast movement behind Harry, and suddenly a furry bear had grabbed onto his head and was trying it's best to stuff its hand down his throat. It was too close to his head to risk using any sort of spell on it, so it took a lot of effort from the both of them to wrench the toy away, and end whatever spell had been cast on it.
When finally it looked like the shop was free of anything magic, the two of them sat down on the floor and took a look around. Toys littered the floor, arms and legs ripped off those that had turned on each other, boxes were ripped open, and smoke was coming from a few places that toys had set fire to. Despite the seriousness of the situation Harry could not help himself from laughing, and soon both of them were laughing hysterically.
"Thanks for that Harry," Mr Weasley chuckled, "Couldn't have done it without you. Good job you were around, I didn't want to call the Ministry and ask for help, there is… enough going on there as it is."
"What sort of things Mr Weasley?"
"Well you didn't here this from me, but there are lot of people who want to see Minister Fudge replaced. Now that You-Know-Who has definitely returned people seem to think that he should have taken more notice of the rumours and started preparing. Even now he is trying to pretend everything is alright. Anyone who remembers the last war knows all too well that you can never be prepared enough."
"Any idea who the next Minister will be?"
"It will probably be the Wizengamot that eventually decides, no one quite knows for sure who it will be though. I had better get you back now then Harry; we have been here quite a long time. Take this portkey and I will meet you back home later. I still have to try and repair as many of these things as I can and then modify the memories of anyone who might have seen it."
Mr Weasley handed him a strange black and white striped sock, and almost instantly he felt the familiar sensation of the portkey carrying him back to The Burrow.
A/N : Only a short chapter this time, but don't worry the main story will start soon. I have been spending most of my time on my other story.
