Chapter 7: Back to Hogwarts
The rest of the summer was Harry's favourite time ever. Bill bought Fleur over a few times and apparently inducted her into the Order. She greeted Harry enthusiastically. Both were very happy to help out and be added to Harry's ever growing list of allies. Bill was also very helpful in aiding Sirius going through the Black library looking for what Voldemort could possibly have done to become immortal. They had both asked Harry for a detailed explanation of how the diary acted as they felt this was key but so far the search had yielded nothing.
Harry had one great day where Tonks had taken him and the twins into muggle London, although the row preceding it was rather spectacular. Sirius insisted he needed some clothes other than the rags given to him by the Dursleys. When it was announced at dinner that they were going, all the Weasley children and Hermione wanted to go too. Harry would have been happy to have them along but Mrs Weasley expressly forbade them going as it was deemed too dangerous. Despite Tonks being an Auror and Kingsley offering to accompany them alongside Remus, she still said no. This also meant Hermione was not allowed to go as Mrs Weasley took the stand of being her magical guardian. Fred and George kicked up a stink and pointed out that they were of age and could do as they pleased. This led to another large row as she shouted that they had been spending far too much time with Sirius and this nonsense would stop.
"Molly, I have warned you enough to stop being rude in my house. Fred and George have been very independent and caused trouble long before they met me. Nor will you say who I can and cannot spend time with in my own house. If you do not want your children in my company then you can leave and go back to the Burrow."
"The Headmaster…" She began.
"Dumbledore is not here. Not does he have any authority over any of these children during summer holidays. He can recommend it's unsafe as much as he likes. They will have two Aurors and Remus for company, I think they can handle anything that comes up. To launch a large attack on muggle London would reveal himself, not something Voldemort will wish to do. Harry is going, that is final. What you say to your own children is your business." Sirius sat back down, looking furious.
"We are of age." Freg stated looking mutinous. "We've been stuck in this horrible house, no offense Sirius, with basically nothing to do but clean. Even at the Burrow we can go out and play Quidditch. It's driving us all insane, mum. Let us blow off some steam." Molly did not look convinced. She shook her head and said none of her children would be going. She also announced that she would be going alone to get their school things as their letters had arrived during the row. There was a loud gasp that silenced the table, causing the argument to end rather abruptly. Ron was staring at something in his hand. Harry saw that there was a red, shiny badge with the letter P written on it in gold. He had completely forgotten that prefects were allocated in fifth year. Nor, even if he had remembered, would he have assumed Ron would be picked.
If he was perfectly honest with himself he would have thought Dean Thomas would have gotten the badge. He was quiet but confident. Worked hard and had respect throughout Gryffindor, not to mention hadn't caused half as much trouble as he and Ron had. Neville might have been a good choice but he was probably a bit too shy to really assert his authority. A loud screech burst out as Hermione realised she had been made prefect too. This, Harry would definitely have expected. His heart sank a little as he realised both of his former best friends were prefects which would leave him the odd one out. He suspected Dumbledore may have done this deliberately as Ron's behaviour in previous years was really not one of a prefect and his grades weren't particularly good either, both of which were important in being a prefect. He reflected that this would at least be a good excuse to make new friends. Ron and Hermione would have prefect duties that would leave him alone for good portions of time.
"Oh Ronnie! A prefect, that's wonderful. That's everyone in the family!"* Mrs Weasley was looking overjoyed.
"Oi! What are we? Next door neighbours?" Fred called indignantly. It was a well known fact that the twins have no desire at all to be prefects. As there was only one male slot per year it would mean choosing one over the other, something neither of them would be happy with. However, Harry could see the hurt in both their eyes as their own mother completely forgot they even existed.
"Hey! I'm not a prefect either." Ginny protested, trying to take make her twin brothers feel slightly better.
Bill too was slightly astonished by her words. He knew she put great stock in following rules to the letter but the twins were simply not made to be prefects and he felt there was nothing wrong with that. He was a little indignant on behalf of his younger brothers that their mother had almost completely dismissed them as non existent because one of them hadn't gotten a simple badge.
"We must decide what to get you." She was cooing to her youngest son.
"Get me?"
"Yes. A reward. Bill got new robes and Percy got his owl." Ron's face lit up.
"Can I have a broomstick?" Molly's face fell slightly.
"Not a really good one. There is a new Cleansweep out and it would be nice to have a new one." Ron muttered.
"Of course dear." His mother beamed. "A prefect. Well, if I'm going to be getting a broom as well, I must be off." With that she bustled out of the room.
"Now that mum's gone, shall we get going?" Fred turned to Tonks and Harry. They both nodded.
"Boys, your mother." Mr Weasley pointed out. He accepted that his sons were now adults but he really didn't want another row between them and his wife when she found out they had gone out anyway.
"We don't care." George snapped. He was still on edge from his mother completely dismissing them. "If 'everyone in the family' is a prefect and we aren't prefects then we don't have to listen."
"She was just excited." Mr Weasley tried to soothe them. "Give your mother a break, it's been a stressful time for her recently."
"We are going to London." Fred stated. He then marched out of the room with his twin. Harry quickly followed them with Tonks, Remus and Sirius not far behind. Sirius made his apologies for not going with them but he was needed at Potter Manor. The five of them left Grimmauld place and headed off into London.
Last time he had been to Gringotts, Harry had converted a load of money into muggle money specially for the trip. He handed a bunch off to Fred and George.
"As you didn't know about this, I figured you wouldn't have any muggle money. If you really want to you can pay me back in wizard money later." Harry said to stop any protests. They both nodded and beamed. Tonks wanted to stop in a couple of music shops that they passed and she told them about some muggle bands she liked listening to thanks to her dad. Then Remus insisted they visit some book stores where the twins came out holding title such as '1001 Practical Jokes', 'How to Make Your Own Pranks' and '99 Magic Tricks for Beginners' which gave them new ideas to make magical versions of. Harry bought a few muggle fiction books to read in his spare time. He also bought some textbooks for muggle subjects. He had decided that in the future he may return and get a muggle education as well but nothing was certain. He certainly didn't need more work in his OWL year so it was more for holiday study and future reading.
They stayed a while before Tonks finally moved them on to the purpose of their trip out. Ushering them into a department store, the twin's eyes almost fell out of their heads. The store was huge. Remus led them to the mens section and starting finding some clothes for Harry. An hour later he had seven t-shirts, five new smart shirts that could be worn at school. His school trousers were fine so they just got a few pairs of trousers and a few pairs of shorts. Much to Harry's embarrassment they also shopped for underwear and socks. The twins also bought some new clothes. They got some new, better fitting t-shirts to go under their Quidditch robes and became fascinated by muggle suits. The decided they liked those much better than robes and considered having them as uniforms for their joke shop. They picked out two suits in different colours and then the group marched to the till.
Once they were done with shopping, Harry decided to introduce the twins to hot dogs and pizza. They both looked disgusted by the idea until Harry assured them it wasn't real dog meat.
"But why call it hot dog if it isn't made of dog?" Fred looked confused.
"No idea." Harry shrugged with a smirk.
"You're pranking us aren't you? It is really dog." George guessed.
"Nope, it's not." Tonks assured them. Finally they both gave it a try and thought it was delicious.
"Of course it's made of dog." Remus smirked as they finished eating. Both of them stared at him in horror until he burst out laughing. Catching on, they glared at him, threatening revenge. "Don't start a war against a Marauder." Remus warned but his eyes were twinkling.
"You're on." They said in unison, grinning.
"I think they are about to break London." Tonks stage whispered to Harry. He laughed. Harry was thinking it probably wasn't a good idea to give the twins muggle sodas as it would make them even more hyper but figured it wasn't him who would have to deal with them when they got home. He made a point of pointing out Fanta to them. Both of them were keen to try it and loved the taste. They then made it their mission to try as many fizzy drinks as possible, amazed by the sheer variety on offer. They were used to only really having pumpkin juice or butterbeer. By the time they had finished, they were practically bouncing off the walls. It was then, Tonks and Remus decided it was time to head back. Shepherding hyperactive twins was no easy task and both adults were amused and exasperated by the time they finally arrived back at Grimmauld place. Everyone was grateful they actually arrived before Mrs Weasley got back so they avoided an argument for the time being.
Harry went up to give Ron the hotdog and some muggle sweets he had saved for him to try. He figured that his friend had done the same for him when he hadn't been able to go to Hogsmeade. Ron was ecstatic. Harry also gave Hermione some of the books he had picked up on the muggle subjects, not knowing whether she was continuing her education on the muggle side of things. She was a mixture of delighted with his gift and horrified she hadn't thought of doing muggle exams as well as magical ones. Harry tried to point out that they would have enough on their hands this year and she wouldn't want to jeopardize results in either world by doing them both at once. She reluctantly took his point but decided she would definitely be studying the books he gave her.
He then left them to enjoy their presents and went upstairs to see Sirius and Remus. They were going to spend the afternoon on lessons. Harry had already covered all the material from his previous years by now and they were progressing into fifth year except for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. Remus was teaching him the proper syllabus for Defense as they suspected it would not be taught properly. Sirius then took him through Potions. Harry had found his mother's journal to be amazing. He treasured it almost as much as his invisibility cloak as it was the only thing he had that was Lily Potter's. As well as actually teaching him, they did have Harry doing homework. They had him practising his essay writing both on material from his previous years and of that from fifth year. For every essay he wrote, they all sat down and pointed out how he could have phrased things better or how to choose the most important information to put in.
"Your professors will not appreciate having more rolls of parchment than they ask for. If they ask for two then they want two not four. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it just increases the time they have to spend marking essays, which they have enough of already. Secondly it takes skill to be given a load of information and be able to pick out the most important parts and put them in your own words. Simply regurgitating what the textbook says is not enough. It shows you can read, but not whether you understand it or not." Remus lectured him one afternoon. "Thirdly, limiting the amount you write is also for your own benefit. In the exams you only get a certain amount of time. Spending too much time on one question will see your answers in other become more rushed and less satisfactory. The length of answer they require will be the amount that should be written in the exam. It is long enough to get the information in that will get an Outstanding but not so long that it takes away from other questions." Harry nodded his understanding.
Harry was also pleased with his progress in Ancient Runes. Having done the most study in this subject they were now onto the fourth year material. Remus fully expected him to be up to date with the fifth year material by Christmas. He only expected it to take that long because he would have a lot less time for studying it at Hogwarts as he was not taking it as an elective. He reckoned Harry should be done with the fourth year material by Halloween and then able to catch up on the rest rather quickly.
Finally, the last day of August arrived. Harry had never been less excited about returning to school. With Sirius finally free, he wanted to catch up on the twelve years they had missed. The last two months had been very good for both of them. Harry had been able to learn so much more about both of his parents. He was delighted that they seemed so much more real to him now. They had their flaws but were good people who had loved him. Having his mother's journals also helped him connect to her in a way he hadn't been able to before. He frequently ran his fingers over her handwriting, or sat and re-read a page several times because it had turned into more of a diary for that one page. Several times her exasperation at his father had been expressed in the corner of a page. At the very back he found a game of hangman she had played with Alice Longbottom, both of their names signed at the bottom of it. They had also made snide comments to each other, leading Harry to assume they had been doing this during a lesson rather than in the common room.
Mrs Weasley was going up and down the stairs shouting at her children to make sure they were packed for tomorrow. They would be having an Auror escort in the form of Tonks and Mad-eye. Sirius was also determined to see Harry off to Hogwarts for the first time. Remus had wanted to come too but unfortunately the full moon had been the night before and he wasn't feeling up to it. They threw a party to celebrate the kids going back to school before everybody went to bed early as they had to be up early.
The next morning was the usual chaos. The twins managed to knock Ginny down the stairs after George dropped his trunk into her because he stepped on Crookshanks. Harry, who had packed the night before and whose trunk was shrunken in Sirius' pocket, watched the chaos in amusement. Finally everyone was ready and they made their way towards Kings Cross. On the platform they went through the barrier in ones and twos. Sirius took Harry's arm and marched through. The platform was so full they managed to get by relatively unnoticed except for the occasional person who eyed Sirius warily.
"Shall we find a compartment?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.
"Sorry, Harry. Both of us have to go to the prefect compartment." Hermione said. Harry shrugged and moved off and the twins had already left with Lee Jordan. Ginny was desperately trailing after him but he ignored her. They soon found a compartment with Neville in and a blonde girl Harry didn't know. Choosing that one, he had Sirius come in and unshrink his trunk. Neville looked up and greeted Harry before looking startled at the appearance of Sirius. However, whatever he had heard about the man, Harry clearly trusted him and Neville trusted his friend's judgement.
"Good morning, Lord Black. Congratulations on your freedom." Neville said formally. His grandmother had drilled the correct greeting for Lords into him since he could talk.
"Neville, right?" Sirius questioned. "How are you?"
"Fine thanks." Neville still looked a little uneasy.
"How are your parents? I was horrified when I found out, they were such a lovely couple."
"Same as ever really." Neville looked even more uncomfortable with the turn of topic until Sirius mentioned he had known his parents. "You knew them well?"
"Yeah. James and Lily were your godparents as James was working under Frank in the Aurors and Lily was best friends with Alice all through Hogwarts." Sirius explained.
"Wow." Neville's eyes were wide.
"I'll tell you some good stories about them sometime. Alice was quite good at getting into mischief, but forgetful as anything, mind. She'd forget her own head if it wasn't stuck on properly." Sirius laughed.
"I'd like that." Neville offered shyly. Sirius nodded. Then turned his attention to Harry.
"Have a good term and remember everything we discussed." Harry knew he was talking about keeping his temper in check. They had also agreed that Remus would continue Occlumency lessons through the mirrors. Although he wouldn't be able to actually attack Harry's mind from so far away, they could still go through the theory and meditation techniques. They hugged goodbye and then Sirius stepped back onto the platform. Just in time as the doors closed and the train set off. Harry hung out of the window and waved for as long as he could see the platform. Then he turned back to Neville.
"Good summer Nev?" He asked.
"Not as good as yours apparently."
"Yeah, mine was pretty special. Sorry, I should have asked your name." He turned his attention to the girl in the corner. He soon noticed she was reading a magazine upside down.
"Me? I'm Luna Lovegood." She introduced herself with a dreamy look that would put Professor Trelawney to shame. "You're Harry Potter."
"Yes I am." Harry grinned.
"How do you know Stubby?" She asked.
"Stubby?" Harry frowned, bewildered.
"Stubby Boardman, the man who came onto the train with you." She explained.
"That's not Stubby. That is Sirius Black, my godfather." Luna shrugged and returned to her magazine. Harry returned his attention to Neville.
"So what did you get up to?"
"Well my gran decided that now I'm fifteen I should start going to the Wizengamot meetings with her. I missed the one with your trial in because my uncle took me away for a week, but I went to the official quarterly meeting in July. It was dead boring, but as I will become Lord Longbottom in a few years I need to know." He looked gloomy.
"Well, at least you have had your gran teaching you. I didn't know anything about Lords or the Wizengamot until Sirius taught me this summer." Neville's jaw dropped.
"You didn't know? But your famous. That should have been you knew from birth."
"Raised by muggles. They certainly didn't tell me anything but nobody else did once I got to Hogwarts either." Harry shrugged.
"Harry, don't you realise what a big deal this is? My gran would have a fit if she knew. I'm really sorry I didn't realise sooner. I'd have told her and she would have offered to tutor you herself. Would have been nice to have someone else in those lessons."
"Thanks Nev. That would have been awesome. Thankfully, Sirius has done a great job over the summer to catching me up but I'm sure there are things he has missed in such a short period of time."
"I'd be happy to help you catch up. There are plenty of Heirs at Hogwarts who would be equally horrified you didn't know and would help you. Susan knows a lot thanks to her Aunt. Hannah is an only child so is the heir to the Abbott's title even though she is a girl. They are one of the few houses who allow a female to hold the title. We often study Herbology together, you'd be welcome to join us and we could add stuff about law and being an heir to those sessions." Neville offered, happy to be of assistance to his dorm mate.
"That would be awesome. Thanks Neville. I'd love that, Herbology has never been my strong suit and you are one of the best in our year at that." Neville flushed red at the praise. "In exchange, I found a journal of my mum's on Potion making. I'd be more than happy to help you with Potions." Harry offered. He didn't know whether he would show Neville the compartment in his trunk, but he would definitely help him with the extra theory he had learnt and what he knew about ingredients. Maybe he would show him the trunk later in the year, for now he wanted it to be private. Neville was thrilled by the offer and even more so when Harry showed him the hangman game at the back of one journal. Neville then decided to go and find the two girls and see if they wanted to come and sit with them. While he was gone, Harry started up a conversation with Luna. He found out she was a Ravenclaw a year below him and they had a great time discussing Crumple Horned Snorkacks. Harry had no idea what these were but it was fun hearing Luna describe the holidays she had been on to find them with her father. Neville soon returned with Susan and Justin who had been in the compartment with them when Neville had arrived. Hannah was a prefect and so was up with Ron and Hermione.
"Hey Harry." They both greeted, sitting down.
"Hi guys. Good summers?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, mine was really interesting. By the way Auntie was really impressed with the way you handled yourself over the summer." Susan told him. Harry grinned.
"Yeah, your aunt was a massive help. I have her to thank for my godfather being free so I owe her more than you can imagine."
"She was more than happy to help. Aunt Amelia really hates injustice." Susan smiled slightly. Neville told them what Harry had told him and she was horrified. Justin looked a little confused, not understanding how big of a deal it was. The four made plans for the study group as Justin was also interested in learning how the wizarding government worked. The information was not readily available to muggle-borns. They decided that one evening a week should work. They could spend an hour on Herbology and an hour on wizarding law. They all sat and discussed their summers, making sure to include Luna, until the trolley came round. Harry bought a bunch of sweets to share with everyone. It was an hour later when Ron and Hermione came in. With them as well the compartment was now a bit of a squeeze.
"What are they doing here?" Ron asked bluntly, looking at Luna and Susan.
"Susan is a friend of Neville's and entitled to sit with him. This is Luna Lovegood from Ginny's year but in Ravenclaw." Harry explained before they could take offence. Ron then shrugged, distracted by the remaining food. Ernie and Hannah then arrived, having been looking for Susan and Justin. They greeted everybody and dug into the food with gusto. They all settled down again until Harry asked if he could take a look at the magazine Luna was reading.
"No point reading that, Harry. Everyone knows it's just full of rubbish." Hermione said snottily.
"Excuse me, my father is the editor." Luna replied sharply.
"Oh, well…" Hermione looked faintly embarrassed but did not apologise for her comments. To avoid the awkward topic, they changed to who the other prefects were. Everybody was disgusted but not surprised to learn the Slytherin prefects. Harry asked Neville quietly to speak to Hannah and Ernie later about his lack of knowledge so the topic was not dragged up again in front of Ron and Hermione. He agreed quite happily, trusting Harry had his reasons. Harry could tell that Augusta Longbottom would be getting an owl very soon and grinned inwardly at her anticipated response.
Finally the train began to slow down as they approached Hogwarts. The girls went into the next compartment while everyone changed into their robes. They all got off the train and made their way to the carriages. Harry was surprised to see that the carriages were not pulling themselves this year. In front of each carriage was a skeletal black horse looking creature. He jumped backwards in shock.
"What is that?" He asked.
"What is what?" Ron looked confused.
"Those things, pulling the carriages." Harry frowned.
"There isn't anything pulling the carriages, Harry. You must just be really tired." Hermione asserted before getting into the nearest one.
"You aren't going mad. I can see them too." Luna appeared at his shoulder. "They are Thestrals and can only be seen by those who have seen death." She informed them.
"Who have you seen die then?" Ron asked. Hermione whacked him on the arm.
"Ronald!" She scolded. "Don't be so tactless."
"My mum. She died when I was nine." Luna explained quietly. Harry felt his heart go out to her and gave her a sideways hug. Then they all clambered onto the carriage. He was sad that Luna had seen someone close to her die, but rather relieved not to be going mad.
*A direct quote from Order of the Phoenix and one a really struggle with. Considering Molly Weasley is portrayed as a completely overbearing woman who monitors her children all the time, I cannot believe she would so easily say something like that. Not all of her children were prefects, there isn't any indication whether Charlie was one or not but it's not mentioned when she lists of what the others got as a reward for being made prefect so I'm inclined to believe he wasn't. Molly may consider being Quidditch captain to be just as good though. Either way I really like the twins and felt this was incredibly nasty, not to mention Ginny isn't even old enough to be prefect yet and so either doesn't include Ginny in the family or she automatically assumes that she will be made one. Sorry, I just really, really hate this moment in the book.
