Chapter Eleven
Fly Boy
"MUM!" Ally yelled, bounding into McGonagall's office, the Transfigurations teacher gave the youngest Potter a stern look which Ally was good enough to look bashful for.
"Sorry Professor," she mumbled apologetically.
Lily and Professor McGonagall were having tea when Ally came crashing through the doors yelling like there was no tomorrow. Although McGonagall was used to both the antics of a Potter and the inevitable procedure of new students getting into trouble, she still had to shake her head and wonder; why her? Lily put down her cup of tea worriedly and waited for Ally to speak. The First Year looked breathless and red in the face enough to match her own hair, Lily had to give a small, albeit frustrated smile at that; there were many things about her daughter that reminded her most explicitly of James, one of them was the brashness her daughter expressed when she was hurried. Her husband had learned to tone it down incredibly well over the years, but Ally Potter had a long way to go still.
"Mum," said the First Year, "Have you seen Harry?"
Lily shook her head.
"No dear," she said, "Isn't he in a lesson right now?"
Ally shook her head.
"The Sixth Years have the afternoon free," she said, "I cant find Harry and his friends anywhere!"
"I'm sure they're just showing him the castle," Lily laughed, "Which you should be exploring if you have free time. Its easy to get lost around here and the sooner you learn your way around the better."
"But Mum," Ally pouted, "Harry said he was going flying this afternoon!"
"Has Potter ever been on a broom before?" McGonagall asked sceptically.
This of course brought Ally's attention to the fact that she had quite rudely interrupted a professor during their break time. She looked even more abashed at the fact and Lily was tempted to laugh.
"Well," Ally blushed, "No, but Ron was going to teach him and he said Nick, Mickey and I could come and watch."
"Why not try the pitch then-" McGonagall began before they heard a shout outside the window.
"Ginny! Give it back!"
"You're going to have to catch me Harry!"
McGonagall's office was a good three stories up from the ground, for them to be able to hear the voices of students from all the way down there, then-
All three Gryffindors, past and present, turned to the window only to see two blurs whiz past them. The first was a red haired girl on a broom waving a red cap triumphantly in the air and the second, a determined looking dark haired boy who was following close behind. Ginny Weasley was being chased through the air by first time flyer, Harry Potter. Lily watched in horror as her son weaved through the air like a bird, catching up with Ginny quite a few times before she effectively flew from his range. It was clear Ginny had more practice, but Harry had pure, raw talent; a natural flyer.
"Harry!" Lily gasped.
"Go Harry!" Ally cheered, as she watched the two do a loop. Harry was close to Ginny, very close, another inch and he'd grab the hat. Ginny dodged out of his way, placing the cap on her own head and flashing Harry a triumphant smirk. Harry seemed a little surprised, instead of angry, he seemed to be having fun. He laughed as Ginny teased him with his cap, looking more carefree and relaxed than he had the past few days at Hogwarts. A mischievous glint caught in his eye and he rushed at Ginny, almost taking the hat from her. Not to be out done, Ginny rolled to the side in mid air, giving a great whoop as she did, unfortunately she didn't keep hold of the cap on her head and it fell off.
Harry looked from her to the falling hat for a split second. Lily bit down on her lip, she knew that look, she'd watched her husband play too many times not to.
"Don't you even think about-," she muttered and screamed as Harry went straight into a nose dive. Hurtling full speed towards the hat. It was about two feet from the ground when Harry caught the hat and pulled out of the dive without much trouble at all. Ally cheered, Lily looked faint and McGonagall looked thoughtful. They watched as Harry slammed the hat on his head, hiding his hair and eyes from view and proceeded to descend to the ground. He landed smoothly, only to be engulfed in a hug from Hermione Granger whilst Ron just grinned in awe and patted Harry on the back. A few more Gryffindors joined them, including James and Sirius, cheering Harry on as they did. Ginny landed, ran up to Harry and gave him a hug too, before pulling off his cap once again, Harry chased after her on foot as she made her way to the castle. That was, until James pointed his wand at the cap and made it disappear, much to the protest of the young teens. Lily let out a sigh of relief and before she looked round, McGonagall was halfway out the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'm sorry Lily," said McGonagall, "But that boy definitely inherited something from James and I'll be damned if I lose to Severus again!"
Lily watched in amazement as the usually stern Transfiguration teacher made her way out the door with what seemed to be an excited spring in her step.
"What just happened?" she asked her daughter, sitting down heavily.
"I think," said Ally with a grin, "That Harry just made the Quidditch team."
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Earlier that day…
Wednesday's Daily Prophet
The Boy-Who-Lived Returns
By Tabitha Hollow
After almost fifteen years, Harry Potter, commonly known as the Boy-Who-Lived has returned to the wizarding world and to his parents eager arms. Harry Potter, known since his infancy as a saviour of the wizarding world and only known survivor of the Killing Curse has finally been found. Harry was first found on the 30th July in a train tunnel near muggle Surrey. Dementors had escaped their usual route of patrol for reasons not revealed by the Ministry and attacked the boy that evening. Luckily, Aurors James Potter, the boy's father, Sirius Black and Professor Remus Lupin, teacher of Defence at Hogwarts, managed to save the boy from harm. Unrecognised after fifteen years, Harry was branded an orphan muggle-born who had merely come into his powers belatedly and put into the care of one of James Potter's most trusted friends, Remus John Lupin. It was only upon reaching Hogwarts that they were able to ascertain his identity. Harry Potter has been Sorted into Gryffindor House, the same his parents attended school in and Madam Bones, who dealt with him on the day of his discovery revered him as 'a capable wizard with a good aptitude for learning.' There seem to be high hopes within the wizarding community for its newest and most welcome member. We wish Harry Potter the best of luck in the future.
Harry was thankful to Tabitha Hollow, who ever she was, for not mentioning anything of the Death Eater attack and not making too big a deal out of his coming back. Many did and it was annoying, he was even grateful for the vote of confidence, but his relief didn't last long when the Friday morning's paper came in.
Harry Potter; Saviour of Hogwarts
By Rita Skeeter
Newly returned saviour of the wizarding world, Harry James Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived, made his debut as a hero on Monday evening, September 1st, when the Hogwarts express was attacked by rogue Death Eaters. Faced with danger, Harry James Potter stood bravely against the followers of the monster who had ruined his young life. Sources have revealed, dear Readers, that there is a lightning bolt scar on Mr. Potter's forehead, the exact place where the killing curse hit him all those years ago. It is the mark of his survival. The mark of his strength. Shown as his emerald eyes flashed with determination and courage as he battled the Death Eaters with the little magic he knew, desperate to save his new found friends from harm. Witnesses say you could see the fear in his eyes, as though he could remember the time he faced the Dark Lord himself, but still he did his duty. No matter the price he rushed bravely into danger, bravely into the true certainty of death…
Harry was beginning to wonder just who the hell this kid was.
…Unfortunately the Death Eaters escaped, destroying part of the train and vanishing, but Harry Potter still stands strong to face another battle, to go on another day. One can only imagine why the Death Eaters attacked, perhaps revenge for their old master, or merely for fun. Whatever the reason, dear Readers, we can only imagine what might have happened had Harry not been there. Witnesses claim to have seen Harry taking solace in the arms of a young red head girl whose identity has not been obtained. Perhaps this is a budding romance for Hogwarts' newest hero. This reporter is determined to find out everything that lies in store for our little hero.
He tore up the paper and binned it, determined not to let it get to him. Harry hadn't thought the staring and whispers would be that bad, in fact he thought people would have had their fill at the feast a couple nights before. But if the reaction of the Gryffindor House was anything to go by, that of the rest of Hogwarts was far worse. It started at breakfast on the first day with a boy named Colin Creevey taking his picture and begging for an autograph, then carried on in Herbology on Wednesday when several of the girls spilt a poisonous sap on themselves because they were trying to get Harry's attention; next came Charms on Thursday and three Ravenclaws blew up their practice objects whilst trying to catch a glimpse of his scar. To his embarrassment, Luna Lovegood had dreamily asked him in front of some Seventh Year Ravenclaws just who this red haired girl was. Harry had turned bright red and fled.
He fingered his scar a few times when he thought no one was looking. It had always been there for as long as he could remember, was it really the place, the exact place, where the killing curse had hit him of all things? He shook his head. The thought brought with it a kind morbidity and he tried to ignore the continuous stares that always found their way up to his forehead. Even Ron and Hermione had stolen a glance or two, not that Harry could really blame them. If what Ginny had said was true, and he really didn't doubt that it was, then many of these kids had grown up hearing about him at least once.
Harry had had the misfortune of running into Professor Trelawney, the divinations professor, who then went on to claiming in front of perhaps half of Hogwarts that she had known they would find him all along…only to proceed in predicting his early death, before he knew it the whole school knew he was in for a premature end. Hermione had just rolled her eyes and handed him an extra timetable which encompassed all the extra lessons she'd be giving him during the week.
Things had eased up a bit though, Professor Dumbledore seemed to have made a deal with the Magical Board of Education. Harry would not have to sit Fifth Year OWLs, but his final marks at the end of Sixth Year would be taken as substitutes for them. There was a condition though, Harry had to go through three rounds of testing throughout the year to make sure he was up to scratch in his magical training. After discussing it with Professor Lupin, Harry had carefully decided to concentrate on only six subjects; leaving out some that students took from First Year like History of Magic and Astronomy. Despite this and Hermione's help, Harry still found that he was having a little problem concentrating in lessons because of the stares.
The only lessons so far that Harry had had any peace in were Transfiguration (mostly because McGonagall was so strict), Care of Magical Creatures (Hagrid's array of creatures kept everyone on their toes) and Defence Against the Dark Arts (only because it was Harry's favourite subject by far). By Friday, Harry Potter was welcoming the weekend and a chance to get to know his parents better, he'd only really spent time with his father and godfather since that night, but his mother had told him to meet them at Lupin's office promptly at seven that evening. Of course Harry had one, last lesson that Friday afternoon to contend with; potions.
Snape and Harry had not gotten on well over the summer, truth be told they were just very different people, but Harry had had a grudging respect for the man when he learned of just how dangerous potion brewing could be. Even more when he found out Severus Snape was one of the few people in Britain who knew how to brew the Wolfs Bane potion, but that respect was dwindling. Especially when it was so obvious in the last lesson how much Snape and the other Slytherins detested Harry. He couldn't understand what he had done, until he realised two things; one, Snape hated Gryffindor and two; for some reason, Snape hated Harry's father. Seeing as Harry was related to both aspects, he had no chance at all. How did Harry know this?
The greasy git had told him so, that's how.
After asking Harry questions he had told him to learn in any case and then sneering and taking points away even when Harry got it right. Another thing Harry learned that potions lesson as he answered a question correctly; Snape didn't seem to mind his mother too much.
"Tell me Potter," the Potions Master sneered, "Is arrogance learned or just a family trait? Hmmm, I have yet to see even an ounce of the brains your mother should have given you."
Harry didn't know if that meant he liked his mum or not, but at least he didn't call her names. He didn't think he could go another lesson if Snape was going to continually insult his parents, especially if he did it in front of Ally too. Harry guessed that he might need to have a chat with the Potions Master at some point and see he kept his opinions to himself. Having spoken to his little sister on numerous occasions over the past few days, Harry was finding that he was becoming very fond of the young girl. She had a way about her that seemed to light up the room and he for one wasn't about to allow Snape of all people to distress her.
"Don't worry Harry," said Ron sympathetically as they made their way to lunch, "He's horrible to all Gryffindors, even Hermione and she can be more Ravenclaw at times."
"Hey!" Hermione huffed, she turned to Harry, "If its okay, we'll have another session on Sunday afternoon just in case there's any homework you don't get."
"That'd be great Hermione," Harry nodded, "I might need it."
"Hermione," Ron whined, "Don't you think of anything but studying?"
"Really Ronald," she huffed, "Harry has his first round of testing right before Halloween, he needs to catch up on five years of magical training!"
"He seems to be doing alright to me!" Ron scoffed.
"Isnt Lavender wondering where you are?"
That shut Ron up. Harry had only met his friend's girlfriend a few times, but already he got the feeling that Lavender Brown was more than just clingy and possessive; she was all round crazy too. Harry couldn't understand what Ron saw in the chatty girl, sure she was pretty and everything, but there was just nothing else there. Harry had Divination with her and if that was anything to go by, she was probably the most vapid girl he had ever met. Ginny, Hermione, Luna and a few other girls Harry had met so far seemed to somehow have more character, whilst those like Romilda Vane were just plain scary. He hadn't dated much in his sixteen years, in fact, it was safe to say Harry Potter just got plain old tongue tied with girls he liked. He'd had a few crushes in the muggle schools, but being who he was, a homeless nobody, it made the dating pool seem rather dried up.
"Say Harry," Ron asked suddenly, obviously eager to change the subject, "Want to try your luck on the broom this afternoon? We've got nothing else."
"Sure," Harry nodded, "I've just got to get some books out the library for Snape's essay after lunch, I'll meet you down at the pitch at about three?"
"Blimey Harry," Ron whistled, "You'll turn into Hermione if you're not careful."
"Hey!"
"I think until my tests are over," Harry mused, smiling at Hermione, "That might not be such a bad thing."
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Dean Thomas watched the new student. He had heard of Harry Potter of course, it was hard to have spent six years in the magical world and not have. He knew Harry had survived the Killing Curse as a baby, he knew Harry had stopped a dark wizard from taking over and he knew Harry had been lost for a long time and only just been found again. To be honest, he felt sorry for the guy, he didn't seem to want the majority of he student body staring at him, he seemed shy and awkward in the lime light and embarrassed most of the time.
What amazed Dean about Harry Potter, was the effect he seemed to have on Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
He wasn't sure what exactly had happened on that train, but whatever it was, the three had quickly formed a small friendship group. He had suspected for years that Ron was probably hiding his feelings for Granger behind all the arguments and petty fights. Truth be told, he thought they rather liked challenging each other. Ron would never humiliate Hermione in public, sometimes Dean thought he felt guilty for teasing her so much in First and Second Year, but he would still argue with her.
Thinking back on his friendship with Ron Weasley, Ron had become rather secretive since the whole Chamber incident, and if he did talk about it then it was to his sister or…Hermione Granger.
Dean had dated Ginny for a good year and she had never once mentioned the Chamber of Secrets or her ordeal. He had supposed that the memory was just too terrible for her to open up about and so he didn't push. He quickly realised, however, that unless he could understand Ginny, their relationship was not going to go very far. There was a shadow in her eyes that not many could see, save for Hermione maybe and even Ron and their brothers from time to time. It was the shadow of a burden and it had taken Dean far too long to realise it was there. She needed to open up about it, she needed closure and she needed to know that it would never happen again.
For that, she would have to finish her business with the Chamber and that included finding the person who had saved her.
It was the only person who had been there with her, who had seen what she had seen, experienced what she felt and tried their best to help her. The fear she must have had, lying in that Chamber all alone, waiting for someone to help her…
Dean couldn't even imagine.
But Ginny needed to have that one last mystery solved before she could finally put the Chamber to rest forever. Finding that person was a small obsession for her, ever since it had happened, the fact had put a strain on their relationship, the secrecy and the constant inability to open up had finally made it break. She had broken it off first and Dean had felt oddly relieved when she did. Goodness knows Ron had hardly spoken to him in the past year in any case, maybe that had added to how easily Harry and Ron had become friends.
Dean sighed as he watched Harry Potter from across the hall, he was sitting next to Hermione and laughing at something Ron had said. Even though he and Ron were friends, Dean had to admit that over the past six years if there was one person he spent most of his time with, it was Hermione Granger. Now it seemed Harry Potter had become part of that loop. It was a loop he would never be part of, neither would Seamus nor Neville for that matter.
How had things changed so quickly in just a few short days? How had the presence of one person effected so much?
Harry Potter was a catalyst.
That much was clear to Dean, but for good or ill, he wasn't sure.
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When Harry entered the library, he realised two things; one, Ravenclaws spent most of their time in there, no matter when you went, and two; Ravenclaws stared about as much as any other house did. Harry ducked behind a book case, avoiding the looks and whispers he was getting.
"…Harry Potter…"
"…saved some First Years on the train…"
"…the scar!"
Harry groaned, looking at the books as he tried to drown out the voices. He was in the transfiguration section of the library and his eyes came to the bound cover of; Transforming everyday objects into useful things.
Harry thought for a moment, running a hand through his hair, he had lost his cap on the train…he wondered if…
"Hello there, Harry!"
Harry turned round and beamed at his Defence teacher. Professor Lupin stood behind him with an arm full of books and a quill tacked behind his ear. It was an odd sight, but Harry suspected that out of his father's friends, Lupin was the Hermione of the group.
"Hi Professor!" Harry greeted him cheerfully.
"Don't you have the afternoon off?" asked Lupin with a small frown, "Your father and Sirius would have a fit if they caught you in the Library on a Friday afternoon."
"I just need a potions book," Harry chuckled, "Then I refuse to do any homework until Sunday."
Lupin laughed, the corners of his blue eyes crinkled and for a moment he looked ten years younger. Harry wondered what kind of life Lupin had that would make him seem so old when he was the same age as Harry's own father.
"Where are my father and wayward godfather anyway?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow as though worried the two would surprise him out of somewhere.
Lupin gave him a knowing smile and shrugged.
"No clue," he said, "Knowing those two, probably relaxing out near the lake."
"I'll talk to them later," Harry shook his head, "Ron and I are going flying in an hour, so-"
"Have you ever flown before, Harry?" Lupin asked, a little concerned.
"Nope," said Harry with a small shrug, "But Ron said he'd teach me-"
"Harry," Lupin said softly, taking a step forward and placing an arm on Harry's shoulder, "I think you should invite your father."
"Sure," said Harry with a shrug, "But why-?"
"Because," Lupin said with a small, sad smile, "From the day you were born and even before that, all James could ever talk about was the day he'd be able to teach you how to fly. He was quite the Quidditch player at school, you know. It would mean the world to him if he could be there."
Harry felt a lump in his throat, he had never thought of that. Flying in the wizarding world seemed to be a rather big thing, a right of passage in some circles. Being taught something by his father, Harry had dreamed of that when he was little. His Dad teaching him how to ride a bicycle, or fish or even fly a kite. He swallowed hard.
"Yeah," he said, looking away a little, "I'll do that."
Lupin nodded, smiled and squeezed Harry's shoulder before stepping away. Harry smiled too, then he heard more giggling and talk about him. He rolled his eyes, briefly looking over the covers of the book shelf again. He smiled as an idea came to him.
"Say Professor," he asked, "You wouldn't happen to be any good at transfiguration, would you?"
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Thus, when Harry found his father and godfather lying out on the lawn near the Black Lake a half hour later, he was sporting his red cap once more. Sirius and James were basking in the last of the summer rays, watching the students walk by and apparently locked in a deep conversation.
"How did she find out?" Sirius was saying, a frustrated look on his face.
"We haven't even told Remus yet," James was saying back, "No one, but the people in that Hospital Wing could possibly know-
"Know what?" Harry asked, grabbing their attention.
"Harry!" both men broke into grins.
James gestured for his son to take a seat on the grass with them, which Harry did gratefully.
"Now what?" Harry repeated curiously.
James and Sirius exchanged glances.
"Nothing. So how was school?" asked his Dad, "We're still going to see you tonight, right?"
"Definitely," said Harry, "School was okay, Divination sucks and Professor Snape hates me-"
"The git," muttered Sirius.
"Apart from that," Harry pressed on, "Hermione thinks I should be ready for my OWLs by Christmas and-"
"Why are you wearing that cap again?" asked Sirius suddenly, eyeing Harry, "We're not having this whole trust issue thing again are we?"
"Trust issue thing?" Harry repeated, a little confused, "What trust issue thing?"
"Never mind," said Sirius, "A Mooney theory. Why did you always wear that cap in the first place?"
"Oh," said Harry, blushing a little, "Well uh-that's a long story."
"We're listening," said James.
"Um-" Harry bit down on his lip, "Well, when I broke out of the orphanage-"
Harry didn't finish his sentence, James Potter looked up in surprise and shock all mingled together. Harry flinched, he never did mention that part to his parents. He'd told Professor Dumbledore over a month ago that his parents were dead, he guessed they had thought it was his foster parents.
"B-broke out?" James enquired.
"Yeah, when I got taken into foster care," he lied, forcing his expression to be calm, "W-what else would I mean?"
"Nothing, just…misunderstood there for a second," James nodded, gesturing for him to continue. Harry bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a little guilty.
"I bought the cap with some of the money I earned," Harry explained, "It was the middle of summer and I needed one when I did my-my summer jobs. Anyway, I never used to wear it all the time, until-"
"Until?" Sirius asked.
"About a year ago," said Harry, frowning a little, "There was this reporter who managed to get a picture of me, bloody annoying. He wrote some stupid article about me being the local wonder boy hard worker or whatever. I had to lay low for two months. Two months! No working or going out, everyone and their mother seemed to be looking for me, the whole neighbourhood! Couldn't work for anyone, good thing Mrs. Figg's so private about her business, or I don't know what I would have -"
Harry suddenly paled.
"Oh Mrs Figg!" he exclaimed, leaping up, "I forgot about her-"
"Harry?" his father asked, "You don't mean Arabella Figg, do you?"
"Yes," said Harry frantically, "I told her I was coming for dinner the night the Dementors attacked and-wait, how did you know?"
James and Sirius looked at one another and burst out into laughter whilst Harry watched them in confusion.
"She's a Squib!" Sirius choked out.
"What's a Squib?" asked Harry, that shut them both up.
"A Squib," said James, clearing his throat, "Is the complete opposite of a Muggle-born, where Muggle-borns come from non magical families but are magical, Squibs come from magical families and are not magical."
"An explanation worthy of Lily," Sirius teased.
"Shut up Padfoot."
"So," said Harry sitting down again, "She knows about magic?"
"Yep," Sirius nodded, "She's an old friend of Dumbledore's, used to help us out on the muggle side in the old days."
"And she reads the Daily Prophet?"
"Probably."
"She's going to kill me."
Sirius laughed.
"She won't kill you Harry," said James softly, "You did sound quite heroic in those papers."
"Don't remind me," his son grumbled, burying his head in his hands.
"I remember it now," Sirius said fondly, " 'Harry James Potter stood bravely against the followers of the monster who had ruined his young life.' "
"Sirius," said Harry warningly. Sirius reciting the Daily Prophet was not funny.
" 'His emerald eyes flashed with determination and courage as he-' "
"Silencio!" Harry cried, aiming his wand at Sirius.
Sirius started cursing, but no sound could be heard, only the gaping of his mouth could be seen.
"If I ever meet Rita Skeeter," Harry growled, "She's going to be jinxed from here to Australia."
James laughed.
"So you wore the cap the first time to escape bad press," said James, taking out his wand, "And now you think it'll help again? Sorry Harry, but I think this is one demon you're going to have to face on your own."
He waved his wand and the cap vanished.
"Hey!" Harry protested, "Dad!"
"Oh come now," James chuckled, "You took on Death Eaters, is a little attention really going to bring you down? Besides, you want to show off those dashing good looks I gave you."
Harry just glared at him.
"Come on," James said, "We'll send a letter to Mrs. Figg tonight, its Friday afternoon, I'm sure there was something you'd rather be doing than hanging out with your old man."
Not really, Harry wanted to say, having enjoyed the time with his dad, then he remembered what he was there for.
"Well," he said slowly, suddenly a little nervous, "I was kind of wondering if-"
"If?"
"You-would-come-watch-me-learn-how-to-fly-with-Ron-this-afternoon!" Harry mumbled quickly.
"What?" asked James.
"Um," Harry swallowed, why was this so hard all of a sudden, "You see, I-I've never really flown a broom before and-and Ron said he'd teach me so I was wondering if-well if you'd like to come along?"
James looked at him in surprise, saying nothing. Harry shifted uncomfortably.
"If you cant then its fine," he said hurriedly, worried he had put too much pressure on his father, "I just-"
"No, no," said his father, smiling, "I'd love to. When?"
"Uh, now."
"Well then." said James, "I cant miss my son's first flight now can I?"
Harry broke out into a big grin.
"Just one more thing," he said to his father and muttered a charm, pointing at his head. The cap popped back in an instant.
"Harry!" his father groaned.
"Just until the lesson's over," Harry said, "As much as I appreciate the good looks, they seem to get me noticed."
"That's the point," said James with a teasing grin as Sirius made clapping sounds, trying to get their attention.
"Right," said Harry, aiming his wand at Sirius and removing the charm.
"Finally!" he exclaimed, "Lets go!"
As the three walked towards the pitch, Sirius had the idiotic idea of trying to tease Harry with the Daily Prophet again.
"I've been meaning to ask," he said, wriggling his eyebrows, "You ever going to tell us just who this little red head number of yours is Ha-?"
Padfoot had just earned himself another silencing charm.
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Harry borrowed one of the school's brooms, as the Twins had advised him over a month ago. His father was giving him tips the whole time, doing more teaching than Ron ever could get a word in to do. That's when he saw Ginny coming towards them however, a broom held in her own hand.
"Hey Harry!" she greeted with a smile. Hermione and a few other Gryffindors had come to watch. Harry recognised the Quidditch captain, Katie Bell and Colin Creevy with his blasted camera. It appeared the optimum entertainment this school could provide was watching the famous Harry Potter try to fly a broom stick. He bit back a groan and instead smiled at Ginny.
"Alright Ginny?" he asked her.
"Alright," she chuckled, then she frowned, stepping in front of him and looking at the cap with distaste.
"You'll see better without that on," she said, pointing to the cap. James and Sirius stood back a bit, watching the exchange with interest.
"I can see fine with it on," Harry challenged, more to his dad and godfather than Ginny. A mischievous look entered her brown eyes and Harry found he couldn't to look away, no matter how bad he wanted to. He was so sure this was the girl he had seen in his dream, so sure it scared him. He was so lost in his thoughts for a moment that he didn't realise when Ginny had grabbed his cap and taken off into the air.
"You'll get it back after you learn!" she laughed, flying higher.
"Hey!" he protested, leaping onto his broom.
"Harry no!" his father cried, but it was too late, Harry had taken off into the air after Ginny, "You don't know how to-"
James Potter never finished that sentence and he never would. Harry Potter definitely knew how to fly.
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Harry sat quite calmly under the scrutinizing gaze of his mother at dinner that evening. James and Ally were keeping unnaturally quiet as though they both knew what was to come. Harry, for the most part, was almost looking forward to his mother scolding him, he thought it might make her seem more real to him. His Dad had been easier to accept somehow, maybe because he and Sirius were so alike that the three of them could just talk about normal 'guy' things. Lily Potter, on the other hand, had always been an intangible dream to him, he had almost completely accepted that he might not ever get to meet her, what he had asked Sirius to do for him had been a last ounce of hope and it had paid off. Nevertheless, for some reason he was still having a slightly hard time accepting that he had a mother now.
"Harry," his mother sighed, finally, "Look, congratulations on making the team and everything, but did you really have to put yourself in danger like that to do it?"
"Sorry, L-Mum," said Harry, "It wasn't intentional, it just kind of happened."
Lily looked at him for a long time, before she seemed to give in and give a weak smile.
"Alright," she said softly, "Just don't worry me like that again. You gave me quite a scare!"
"I wont," Harry promised, then grinned, "Though being on that broom was pretty awesome."
James chuckled, earning himself a glare from his wife, who sighed and smiled too.
"Far too much like your father to be kept on the ground," she shook her head.
Harry laughed along with his family, it was nice knowing he had apparently inherited something from his father's side other than looks. This day had been pretty good, he had made the Gryffindor Quidditch team thanks to McGonagall and Katie Bell, who had both tackled him immediately with the issue. Apparently they thought he might make a descent Seeker and told him to meet Katie on the pitch the next morning.
Then of course there was that one other worry. Ginny Weasley. He had a suspicion and somehow he knew it might be true, Ginny was the girl from his dream, the one he had saved from some weird kid and a bloody giant snake. He wondered momentarily if he had seen her face somewhere before as a child and just had a nightmare, there was no way it could be real, right? It might be the magical world, but that didn't mean they had ruddy big snakes, fiery song birds and ruby swords falling out of hats-
Hats.
The Sorting Hat.
Bugger, that's why the Hat had said they had met before, it had to be the same Hat! He had to talk to that thing, find out if any of it was real and-
"Harry?" his father's voice broke his train of thought, "Something wrong?"
"No, no," Harry said quickly, masking his face into an easy smile, "Um no, nothings wrong, just thinking."
"Well, I suppose we'll have to get you a broom now," said James.
"Actually," said Harry guiltily, "I already have one."
"You do?"
Harry nodded, reaching into his robe pocket for the miniaturized Firebolt, he cast a quick counter spell and the broom enlarged, Ally and James' eyes went wide.
"You have a Firebolt!"
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Revision 10-I really had to include this chapter, I strongly considered leaving it out, but I just couldn't bring myself to. It's the last fun chapter before everything starts getting more serious. Very much a filler chapter.
Sorry for the wait, had a lot to do before the end of the year.
Also, my final revision. Thanks again for all the patience! I hope the revised chapters have made the story more sensible. The OC characters parts in the story will hopefully begin to clear up soon, I never write in an unnecessary character, even if you don't like them at this stage in the game.
-Southern Hearts-