Year 2

Chapter 1

Family

The residents of Privet Drive had always considered Harry Potter to be a strange boy. They were the sort of people who thought that scruffiness ought to be punishable by law, and Harry Potter was the scruffiest boy they had ever seen. His clothes were far too big for him (Vernon Dursley had told them that the boy refused to wear anything else), he was seen often bruised or bloody on his way back from school (Dudley Dursley insisted Harry was the one picking the fights, failing to mention the little game he and his gang liked to play, called 'Harry Hunting') and the most unforgivable of all was the untidy mess that was his hair (Petunia Dursley screeched indignatly that this came from his father's side, a scruffy foreigner).

They were therefore not at all surprised when last year the Dursleys informed them that Harry Potter would be sent off to an institution, menacingly titled St Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. The families with children warned their sons and daughters to stay away from this boy, ignoring the fact that the children were all far more scared of Dudley than his thin, bespectacled cousin.

When the nosey neighbours saw him arrive back for the summer holidays from St Brutus', they were wary of him, still with his scruffy clothes and his scruffy hair, but thought that the institution might have done him some good. They watched, waiting for something to kick off but they were glad, and secretly disappointed, when the boy seemed to spend the first week of his holidays locked up in the house, doing god knows what. Passersby heard the occasional roar of anger from Vernon Dursley, punishing the boy for something no doubt, but in the end decided to forget about the 'incurably criminal boy'. Then one day, Harry Potter walked out the front door.

Maureen Wendover, of three Privet Drive was the first to see the boy leave the house. She turned off the vacuum cleaner and walked over to the window, hiding behind the curtains and peeked out to watch what the boy was doing. He still looked messy, but it seemed like he was just taking a walk making his way down the street in no hurry or destination in mind. She was about to turn back to her cleaning when the boy came to a sudden and abrupt stop. She peered around to see what had made him freeze when she noticed a pigeon some four feet ahead of him.

He looked like a cat or a dog standing stock still, trying to stare the animal down. She gasped in shock when the boy suddenly rushed forwards, waving his arms into the air and shouting something unintelligible, right towards the pigeon, which obviously took flight in shock. Harry Potter watched the bird fly away and nodded in grim satisfaction, then as if nothing had happened, he started walking again, down the street.

Maureen watched him until the boy was out of sight, then hurried to her telephone and dialled a number. Across the street a woman grumbled as she put down her mug of tea and muted the television, wondering who was calling her while her favourite show was on. She quickly forgot her tea and her show when she heard about the Potter boy, and his little assault against a pigeon. By the time Harry Potter returned from his walk in the park, half the neighbourhood didn't just think he was just an 'incurably criminal boy', but that he had also lost his mind.

Harry Potter was in fact losing his mind, figuratively of course. His mind was functioning perfectly, but returning to Privet Drive after he had spent a year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he felt like a bird locked in a cage. Even after his uncle had shouted at him, when rumours of the Potter boy attacking wild animals had reached the Dursleys, he was allowed to leave the house and go for walks, but that was just about all the freedom he was allowed.

Their attitude towards him hadn't changed much since the last time they saw him, which was to ignore him completely. The only time he got more than a one word grunt out of them was when his Uncle Vernon was shouting at him, for mentioning magic in any shape or form. Harry had to try very hard not to laugh the first time this happened, because he could tell from his uncle's expression that while he was angry at him, he was even more frightened and his words seemed to have a hysterical quality to them. He had obviously not forgotten when he was turned into a pig by a professor from Harry's school.

Harry was happy to keep out of their way, deciding not to abuse his newfound power over them, although he had to put his foot down the moment he returned back for the summer. His uncle wanted to lock his school trunk in the cupboard and his aunt insisted she did not want a bird flying around the house. However, he did have homework to do, and he absolutely refused to keep Hedwig in her cage all summer, so he told them, through narrow eyes, that everything he owned would stay in his room. He did however, promise to keep her inside during the day, so the neighbours wouldn't notice her, much to the relief of his aunt.

They had not even attempted to make him do chores all day, like they had done before he received the letter from Hogwarts. His aunt insisted it was because he would destroy the house with his.. freakishness.. but the Dursleys all knew it was because they were terrified of him. If he said 'no' to their demands, they would have been unable to making him do anything and they would lose the small amount of authority they thought they had over the boy.

So Harry spent his days 'talking' to Hedwig, but it wasn't as mad as it sounded. He wasn't sure if she was a magical species of owl or one that had gained something by being surrounded by magic, but he knew that his companion was very smart. She responded to Harry's words with soft coos and little nibbles on his fingers and it almost felt like they were having a conversation. However, when he started talking to the moving photographs of him and his friends he thought it was time to leave his room. He found a purpose when he encountered a pigeon and decided there and then, he would try and get over his ornithophobia. He avoided doing anything while there might be people watching him, but he visited the local parks stalking birds of any species.

Harry hid behind a large tree when he heard the sound of a barking dog, which would usually be followed by someone walking it. It was a Labrador, still quite young by the looks of it, and it had apparently managed to sniff him out from behind the tree and was standing right in front of him, wagging it's tail in excitement. Harry tried to shoo him away, but it was only when the owner shouted out that the dog ran back towards the call.

Harry waited until he saw the man and his pet walk away from him then moved out from behind the tree and kicked the trunk, trying to get the bits of dead grass and mud off of his trainers. He caught sight of another bird, a black one but not as large as a crow, and leapt into action running towards it. While he watched it fly away in satisfaction he heard a shuffling and a grunt and he quickly spun around.

An old man wearing an impeccably ironed shirt and tie was limping across the park, following the path the dog walker had taken. Harry's expression changed from wariness, to relief then to concern for the old man. Major Chilmead was a retired army officer who spent most of his days now less than sober. The other residents of Privet Drive were more than accommodating towards him despite this because he was a war hero, with quite a lot of medals, and he didn't really cause too much trouble for the street. It also helped that the man always seemed to be smartly dressed, although Harry had no idea when the man managed to get his clothes so clean and pressed when he was sure he had always looked like he had a few drinks, no matter the time.

The Major usually kept to himself but Harry thought he knew him better than most others on Privet Drive. When he was six years old, and the Dursleys were planning on going for a weekend away without Harry, his normal babysitter was unavailable at that time. They went around asking their neighbours if they could look after the boy for a few days, and in the end a terrified Harry Potter had to stay with the Major for three days. He was shaking when he stepped through the door and the smell of alcohol hit his nose, he turned to his aunt and begged her with tears in his eyes not to leave him there. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then hearing Dudley's whiny cries telling her to hurry, she turned her back without a word and left him there.

Thankfully, the Major turned out to be a surprisingly nice, but inattentive babysitter. He treated Harry the same way one might treat a dog, by giving him something to eat, a place to sleep and the occasional pat on the head. The food was not the warm comforting cooking of a family meal, but it was nice and filling and definitely more than what he was allowed to eat at the Dursleys and obviously a proper bed was so much better than sleeping under the stairs. He watched television and went out on a daily walk with the veteran and best of all he didn't have to do any chores.

The Major ended up being the Dursley's child minder of choice after that, since he didn't seem to know he could be paid for his troubles, Uncle Vernon had even warned Harry not to mention anything to the kind old man. In the following years Harry learned to enjoy the quiet man's company and the Major even seemed to look forward to Harry's visits, mentioning once that it felt like having a son or grandson. He could spend a whole day just sitting on the couch, reading a book Major Chilmead had bought him, while not exchanging a single word with the man, but it was nothing like the way the Dursleys were ignoring him now, he knew he could ask for anything and wouldn't immediately be called an ungrateful little scrounger. Harry had on more than one occasion, wished he could stay there permanently and not go back to his relatives, but he never said his thoughts out loud. If the Dursleys knew he liked staying there, they might prevent him from ever going back, just to spite him.

The Major nearly tripped over a clump of grass and Harry was running towards him, ready to catch him if he fell. He seemed mildly surprised when the black haired boy seemed to appear out of nowhere. "You.. hmm.. Harry Potter. Yes. Right. Hmm.. Haven't seen you for a while."

"No sir, I went to a... boarding school." Harry couldn't tell him the lie about St Brutus', even after his uncle had warned him not to say anything else. "I'm back for the summer."

The man nodded absent-mindedly. "Good. Good. I went to a boarding school, you know?"

"Er.. yes sir." Harry vaguely remembered him mentioning something years ago.

The bird that had flown away landed back on the ground close to them, and the Major was startled. "Hmph, just a blackbird."

"You don't like birds?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Hmph, see how you feel when you see the feathery bastards gorging themselves on your fallen squad mates." he said bitterly.

Harry flinched at the tone of voice. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean.."

He waved his hand at Harry. "Never you mind. I should finish my walk. Off you go Harry."

He started walking again and left Harry there alone. Harry waited for five minutes, until the Major was gone, then he ran at the blackbird.

Harry did not expect the Dursleys to do anything for his birthday, he doubted they even remembered when it was and just as he thought, the 'very important day' Uncle Vernon had been going on about for weeks turned out to be a dinner party he was throwing for his work. He was happy enough to stay in his room, pretending not to be there, because his friends had sent him cards and presents the week before. He had the forethought to warn his friends not to send any owls on his birthday, his uncle's desire to get the deal signed was greater than his fear of magic and an owl appearing and ruining the dinner was sure to set him off.

Harry had more than his well-being in mind when he tried to keep out of trouble with his uncle, he had offered a sort of trade with him. His birthday presents included a variety of sweets, a few books, spare films for his camera and a multiple use magical party popper from Sirius, which made a bang and shook the house causing a terrified Uncle Vernon to crash into him room wielding a golf club. But his favourite was the note attached to Ron's present with an invitation to spend the last two weeks of the summer holiday with Ron and his family. Ever since Ron mentioned it before leaving school last year, they had been discussing it over letters and Ron's parents had finally agreed to it, they had been insisting that Harry should spend some time with his relatives. With his uncle's mood changing from never wanting to see Harry again and passively trying to make Harry as miserable as possible, he needed to be careful on how to approach him. In the end he managed to get Uncle Vernon to agree to let him go as long as he didn't make any trouble while the Masons were there.

The day finally arrived, with the dinner party a success, and Harry was packed and ready to leave. With the arrival of a fully trained wizard imminent, Dudley had already locked himself in his room while his aunt and uncle were waiting anxiously in the living room.

"Oi." his uncle grunted at him.

"Yes?" Harry replied and his uncle scowled at him. He wasn't being rude on purpose but he was just as nervous as his relatives were about this, as he wasn't sure how they were going to treat the Weasleys when they turned up.

"How are they getting here? They won't be... you know... here? In broad daylight, where the whole neighbourhood can see?" Vernon Dursley asked with a hint of desperation.

Harry thought about his last correspondence with Ron before today and he had just said Mr. Weasley would be here to pick Harry up at midday, without any mention of how this was going to happen. Harry's limited knowledge of magical transportation included broomsticks, trains (both flying and on tracks), phoenixes and he was sure his uncle wouldn't be happy with any one of those suddenly appearing on Privet Drive. He could only say, "I don't know."

They waited in silence for another new minutes and at three minutes past noon Harry heard a deafening bang, almost as loud as Sirius' present, from out on the street, causing Harry to jump up in shock.

His uncle had fallen off the sofa in surprise and reached around the back to retrieve a golf club he had been hiding. He raised it over his head and looked around the room wildly before turning to Harry. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BOY! JUMPING LIKE THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN, TRYING TO GIVE ME A BLOODY HEART ATTACK!"

Harry just stared at his uncle for a moment, "The noise? Didn't you hear it?"

"THERE IS NO NOISE! DON'T GIVE ME THAT FREAKISHNESS! I-" His uncle stopped when they heard the sound of someone knocking on the front door. Harry, left his raging uncle and ran to the door.

A freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed Ron Weasley was standing there with a worried expression on his face. When he saw Harry, his face broke into a smile. "Harry! I wasn't sure if this was the right house, I heard a lot of shouting so I thought..."

"That was just my uncle." Harry explained. "Where's your dad? And did you make that loud noise just a moment ago?"

"Yeah that was us, dad got caught up in Ministry work so mum's here instead." he turned around and shouted. "Mum! He's here! It's the right house!"

Harry looked past Ron to see a plump witch, with fiery red hair briskly walking up towards the house and behind her, to Harry's astonishment, was a triple decker bus, so violently purple it could only have been created by wizards. She walked right up to Harry and gave him a quick hug, "Oh it's good to see you Harry! But we need to get going, they won't stay for us long. Where are your things dear?"

"Erm, right here." Harry picked up his school trunk and an empty owl cage (Hedwig had already flown to Ron's house the day before), but couldn't take his eyes off the bus. "What is..."

Harry heard the sound of a clearing throat and turned around. In all the excitement, he had completely forgotten about his aunt and uncle.

"Oh you must be Harry's aunt and uncle, I'm Molly, very pleased to meet you." looking slightly flustered, but genuinely pleased to meet them. "Arthur couldn't make it, something came up at work. Ron, take Harry's trunk onto the bus!"

Mrs Weasley pulled out her wand (the Duresleys flinched) and tapped Harry's trunk, which allowed Ron to carry it with ease. Harry had noticed for the first time that Mrs. Weasley was wearing her normal robes, which was something the Dursleys would definitely consider 'freakish'. With the addition of the obviously magical purple bus standing garishly on the pavement in front of the house, Harry expected his uncle to explode, but was surprised when he only gave her a disdainful look and grunted.

Harry quickly said. "Mrs. Weasley, this is Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia."

"Hello." Mrs. Weasley said, but seemed too busy to notice their rudeness, and turned to Harry. "I'm sorry Harry, we really must be going. I'm so sorry to leave so quickly without saying a proper hello, maybe we'll have a cup of tea next time?"

Harry tried not to smile as he saw his relatives go pale at the thought of tea with a witch. Mrs. Weasley lifted the owl cage and gave Harry a little push on his shoulders towards his aunt and uncle and looked at him expectantly. It took him a moment to realise that she expected him to say goodbye to them.

"Oh. Erm... Goodbye Uncle Vernon. Goodbye Aunt Petunia. I'll be back next summer." the two of them mumbled a reply.

Mrs. Weasley looked like she wanted to say something more but behind her Ron was shouting, "Mum! They're saying they won't wait any longer!", so she gave the Dursleys a friendly nod and quickly moved towards the bus.

"They're very quiet, aren't they? Your aunt and uncle." she commented as they climbed onto the bus.

"Erm... yeah." Harry walked pass an impatient looking conductor, in the same coloured uniform as the bus, and saw quite a wide space, with a variety of mismatching chairs. The way some of the chairs were wobbling made Harry sure that they were not secured onto the floor. Ron was already seated towards the back with Harry's luggage. "Mrs. Weasley, what's this bus?"

"Oh dear, Ron said you might not have been on it before..." she looked at him worriedly. "I'll tell you everything you want to know once we get off, better not to talk while travelling though. It's easy to bite your tongue."

Ron seemed to have taken this piece of advice to heart, as he just gave Harry a nod when he sat down next to him. He was also looking considerably pale. Harry opened his mouth to say hello but it was forced shut when, with a loud bang, he was thrown back against his chair. He looked out the window and found himself suddenly somewhere that was very much not Privet Drive. By the looks of the traffic lights, the cars and the office block that they just past he thought he was in a city, London perhaps. But it wasn't the sudden change in scenery that had alarmed Harry, it was the fact that the things they had just passed, seemed to be actually leaping out of the way, just in the nick of time, making Harry think that they were going to crash more than once.

Ron had turned a slight shade of green and was looking straight forwards taking no notice of what was going on outside. Harry though that his friend had the right idea and turned away from the windows and firmly kept his eyes shut. The bus made a few more stops, all accompanied by the loud banging noise, before it arrived at Ottery St Catchpole, the small town where the Weasleys lived. Mrs. Weasley levitated Harry's belongings and walked off the bus, pushing Harry along in front of her. Ron had shot off first, and was leaning against a hedge, taking deep breaths.

Harry also took in a deep breath of the warm countryside air and felt instantly better. Behind him was a bridge crossing a river, where he could just make out children splashing around and playing, and all around him were fields of yellow wheat, gently swaying in the breeze. It had been his first experience of rural England, but he liked it very much, despite the buildings he could see in the distance across the bridge, the whole place seemed so much more natural, compared to the rigid lawfulness of suburban Little Whinging.

Mrs. Weasley gave Harry and Ron a moment to reorient themselves after the hectic journey, but quickly led them on, following the road leading away from the river. She looked around then quickly cast another wordless spell on Harry's trunk, levitating it slightly off the ground, he remembered Ron mentioning that Muggles also lived in the town. Ron and Harry took a handle each and followed Mrs. Weasley, chatting along the way.

"That was the Knight Bus..." Ron explained the magical mode of transportation they had just taken, mentioning that you just had to stick out your wand anywhere in Britain (as long as it was on land) and it would appear out of nowhere, with a deafening bang. Harry thought this was a useful piece of information, considering his relationship with the Dursleys he thought there might be a time when he would need to use it. "I've always wanted to ride it but.. ugh.. never again."

Harry agreed with this, but at the same time he would have endured that hellish journey for hours if it meant leaving Privet Drive and considering the distance they had just travelled, it had been a surprisingly short trip. They took a right turn away from the main road and followed a smaller path, until they reached a house that was so unlike any house that Harry had ever seen. The closest he could think of was Hagrid and Remus' little cabin on Hogwarts grounds, but this was far more chaotic, giving the impression that extra rooms were added wherever it was needed rather than built from the ground up.

"How is it..." Harry was about to ask how the building remained standing, but then realised that it must be held up by magic. He noticed a sign near the front door, reading 'The Burrow'.

"In you go Harry, why don't you both take your things up to Ron's room, then come straight back down for lunch." she shook her head looking at Harry. "You look like you could use a good meal."

They climbed the stairs to the top floor, where Harry heard a strange noise coming down from the ceiling, and reached a door with the words 'RONALD'S ROOM' written on a plaque. Inside was a room coloured completely in orange, posters covered the walls and ceilings all with the same seven witches and wizards wearing robes of that alarming shade.

"It's the Quidditch team I support, you know? The Chudley Cannons." Ron was looking nervously at Harry. "It's a bit small but... I hope you don't mind... it won't be for too long..."

"Ron." Harry said firmly stopping his best friend from babbling and gave him a wide smile. "It's brilliant, it's the best house I've ever been in."

His next few days with the Weasley family were among the best he ever had. Here Harry had no reason to hide who he was, or pretend he was a reformed criminal, because the whole red-headed family considered him one of their own. Fred and George he already knew quite well from their Quidditch practices and Percy he treated politely and received the same in turn.

His first encounter with Ginny had been quite awkward as she walked in with her twin brothers from the garden, dusty and muddy from the de-gnoming that their mother had ordered them to do before leaving to fetch Harry. Apparently her brothers thought it might be funny not to tell her that Harry Potter was about to arrive at the Burrow, so when she first noticed the black haired boy sitting on the table she gave a little scream and ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving George and Fred howling with laughter. She later got her revenge when she cast a spell on them, which caused large black bats to crawl out of their noses, and fly around their heads screeching loudly until they successfully managed the counterspell, which they did with great difficulty. Despite this Harry found that he got on quite well with her, she joined Harry, Ron, Fred and George playing a simplified game of Quidditch and like her brothers she seemed like quite a good flier.

It was only after several days had passed and reached the weekend that he finally met Mr. Arthur Weasley, who came down from the stairs on a late Saturday morning, looking as if he hadn't had much sleep.

"Ah, Harry! So good to finally see you!" the tiredness seemed to vanish from his eyes the moment he saw the non-Weasley boy. According to a clock that the Weasley's owned, which didn't tell you the time but rather showed you where each member of the family as at that moment, Mr. Weasley seemed to be constantly at work. According to Ron his father had been working for months trying to get a law passed, the Muggle Protection Act, which would ban harmful magical artefacts that could potentially be used against non-magic people. On the day he had been supposed to go to Privet Drive to bring Harry to the Burrow, something had happened that could potentially destroy all his hard work and he had spent the last few days and nights trying to fix it.

Harry had been told that Arthur Weasley had more than a keen interest in Muggle life, but Harry had underestimated his enthusiasm. Harry sat down on the dining room table and had to endure relentless questioning about a variety of subjects, half of which he really had no clue about (how on earth would he know how a telephone actually worked?). He was thankfully spared from this after just ten minutes as an owl entered the house and landed in front of him and Ron. It was a letter from Hermione asking them if Harry was enjoying spending time with the Weasleys and making sure that they had finished the homework they had been set over the summer holidays. They had spent the time relaxing during their break and neither Harry nor Ron had even touched a single book since arriving at the Burrow, but was now glad for the excuse to leave Mr. Weasley with his breakfast.

The two weeks seemed to pass faster than a single day alone in Privet Drive and it was finally time to go back to Hogwarts. Apart from a little incident when Harry had used Floo powder for the first time to get to Diagon Alley, but turned up in a dank and dreary shop in a place called Knockturn Alley, the days passed fairly peacefully. On the last day before they would go to King's Cross, Mrs. Weasley pulled out all the stops and created a magical feast that even the Dursleys would have been tempted by. Harry had been worried that she was going to all that trouble for his benefit, but then he saw the way she was fussing over her daughter, the youngest child that would also be leaving for Hogwarts and realised that this would be the last time she would see any of her children for a few months and that it was her way of sending them off.

Although she had done most of the work herself, she enlisted the help of her children and Harry for the last minute preparations, done in the typical chaotic Weasley fashion.

"Don't run with those you two! Ginny, be careful carrying that, try not to spill any dear." she said to the twins and then at Ginny, finally turning to Ron and Harry. "Right, you two why don't you-"

Suddenly there was a loud ringing noise that filled the house, "Oh, that'll be... Ron go get the door, but hurry back!"

She turned back to the stove, stirring something in a pot while chopping a huge loaf of bread with a flick of her wand. She seemed to have forgotten about Harry, so he followed Ron who was making his way to the door. Harry thought that the doorbell was rather loud and alarming but it probably would have been necessary, he had not yet experienced a day he could describe as quiet, especially with the twins in the house.

Ron opened the door where two wizards were standing waiting. One of them Harry could easily recognise as another Weasley, with his flaming red hair and a slightly largish nose and a mouth that broke into a wide smile as soon as he laid eyes on Ron. "I hope we're not too early! Couldn't wait to see my favourite nephews and niece!"

"Uncle Gideon! I didn't know you were coming!" Ron blushed slightly as his hair was tousled, but grinned all the same.

"Gideon is that you? Come in already, and Ron get back here!" Mrs. Weasley called loudly from the kitchen.

"Best not keep your mother waiting." Gideon said with a grin.

Harry and Ron quickly returned to the kitchen where they were set to more tasks. "Ron, help your sister carry those. Harry, could you be a dear and check if Arthur is still at work?"

"The clock says he is, Mrs. Weasley." Harry called out from in front of the clock. He quickly returned to the kitchen where he saw the two men chatting with a busy Molly Weasley.

"Ah, so this is Ron's new friend. The famous Harry Potter." Ron's uncle stared at Harry with a grin. "He's told me a lot about you last Christmas."

"Gideon, you're being creepy. Stop that." the other man chided him, but he also had a smile on his face. He shook his dirty blond hair out of his grey eyes and extended a hand towards Harry, and said with a hint of an accent, "Hello Harry, my name is Kasper, pleased to meet you."

Harry extended his own hand and gave it an awkward, but firm, shake. "Er.. Hi. I'm.. uh.. Harry.."

Harry blushed as Gideon snorted with laughter, but raised his right hand towards Gideon as well, thinking he should be polite. The red-haired man stared at his hand for moment, but then with another grin extended his left arm, grasping Harry by the back of his hand and shaking it. Harry was confused but then the man raised the sleeve of his robe, and Harry realised that he was missing the bottom half of his right arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Harry blurted out before he could stop himself.

Kasper gave an exasperated sigh and Gideon just laughed and gave Harry a good natured smile. "No worries Harry, I'm just having fun with you. If you haven't guessed already, my name is Gideon, Gideon Prewett, Molly's brother."

"Uncle Gideon!" Ginny Weasley squealed in delight and she threw herself at her uncle, who caught her deftly with one arm and spun her around once before putting her down.

He put his arms behind his back and stretched dramatically, "You're getting too big Ginny, and off to Hogwarts as well. I'll miss my favourite niece!"

"I'm your only niece." Ginny giggled.

"Still my favourite." Gideon said simply.

Ten minutes later Mr. Weasley finally arrived back from work. He looked extremely tired, with bags under his eyes, but he brightened up at the sight of the feast and the gathered family. They all tucked in with great enthusiasm, all greatly praising the culinary talents of Molly Weasley. Harry enjoyed it immensely as she had cooked several of his favourite dishes, including a treacle tart for dessert. Harry didn't talk much, he listened to the red-haired family catch up on things that had happened. The topic was mostly kept light, news of Bill and Charlie, Gideon and Kasper's work (they were healers of some kind), Quidditch and Hogwarts, the last two of which Harry could actually contribute something to. Gideon had briefly asked how Arthur's work was coming along and Mr. Weasley gave him a weak smile saying it's fine but quickly found something else to talk about.

Despite being the first time meeting them, Kasper and Gideon were surprisingly easy to talk to, Gideon especially, who Harry almost thought of as a third Weasley twin. There was however something he was curious about, that no one seemed to really mention, so he plucked up the courage and asked the question himself.

"So do you two work together?" Harry asked the two wizards he had met today.

There was a moment of awkward silence where everyone around the table seemed to glance at each other, waiting for someone to say something. In the end Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth. "Gideon and Kaspar are.. hrm.. life partners."

Everyone was looking at Harry now, trying to gauge his reaction, and Harry blushed under the scrutiny. "Oh... I was just curious."

"You don't.. have a problem with it.. right?" Ron, who was sitting next to him, asked tentatively.

Harry hadn't ever met a same sex couple before, but he wasn't new to the idea. It had been one of the topics that his Uncle Vernon had very strong opinions on, along with foreigners, the government and Harry Potter. He honestly didn't have his own opinion on the subject, but if anything, the fact that Uncle Vernon seemed to hate people in such a relationship so much, made Harry think that it couldn't be such a bad thing. Besides, Harry could tell from the moment he met them that they were very happy with each other, so why should Harry have a problem with it?

"Er.. no. I don't have a problem with it." Harry tried to speak clearly, looking back at the two wizards in question.

There was an audible sigh of relief from Ron, as well as a few other Weasleys.

"I told you it would be alright. Any friend of Ron's would be fine with it." Gideon smiled at Harry, he then turned to Mrs. Weasley with a grin. "But honestly Molly, life partner? It sounds so... I don't know."

There was laughter from the table. "So what do you want us to say, that he's your boyfriend?" Fred said jokingly.

Kasper put on a feigned expression of pain. "We're both forty five years old, a bit too old to be calling each other that."

Dinner ended and the Weasley children went up to their rooms to finish their packing for tomorrow. Harry had been living out of his trunk and had most of his stuff already sorted but went up to help Ron.

"Harry, have you seen my Chudley Cannons book?" Ron asked, dropping his school books into his trunk.

"Weren't you reading it downstairs before dinner? I'll go look for it." Harry said.

Ron thanked him and Harry went back downstairs to look for Ron's copy of Flying with the Cannons. He found the book in the living room, where Ron was reading it before Mrs. Weasley called on them to help. Harry was about to go back up when he heard a loud clanging sound coming from the kitchen. When he got there he saw Mrs. Weasley and her brother, and the floor was covered with leftover food and three overturned pots. Mr. Weasley and Kasper also came running in.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Arthur Weasley asked.

"It's fine. Damn it. Bloody thing's giving me trouble again." Gideon had an irritated expression on his face. He reached into his robes and pulled out something that was hanging around his neck. Harry thought it looked like a little bottle, like the ones he sometimes used in his potions class, but made of a bronze coloured metal. Kasper was by his side with his wand out and waved it, carefully tracing the shape of the bottle.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "I can't believe they won't give you a new one, with all the work you do for them."

"It's too bloody expensive, you know that Molly." Gideon grimaced. "I might be able to exchange it next year... or maybe the year after that... but I'm not the only one who needs them. Hi there, Harry."

The four adults turned to Harry, who held up Ron's book. "Sorry, I didn't mean to… I was just getting this and I heard a noise..."

"Sorry about that." Gideon tried to smile at Harry, but it looked forced.

He returned to Ron and told him what just happened. Ron frowned, "He's still having problems with that? Made a mess last Christmas as well."

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, it's something that let's you use magic even when you're a squib." Ron explained, then added. "A squib is someone who can't use magic, even though they had wizarding parents."

"Oh." Harry said.

"It's slightly different in my uncle's case, he was able to use magic before but it got burnt out of him or something when he fought in the last war. That's also when he lost his arm." Ron said.

"But it doesn't work properly?" Harry asked, handing over the book.

"Thanks Harry. Well it's meant to, but the one Gideon has is quite old, I think he's had it for five or six years now and he wasn't the first person to use it either." Ron continued sorting through his things, grimacing as he considered whether he should take a pair of well-worn, grim looking trousers.

Harry sat down on his bed. He tried to remember the conversations that happened during dinner. "So your uncle works for the people who makes them?"

"Not exactly. I think he helps people who have trouble with their magic, like him, and most of the time I think it can be healed. The little bottles are for the more serious cases." he said, then he stopped what he was doing and cocked his head, as if he was remembering something. "I think they told me once, it's something that Dumbledore invented."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"Nah, the other one. Albus Dumbledore." Ron said, before pulling out a pair of dirty old socks from his trunk and throwing it across the room.