28-Second Summer

During the last official meeting of the children's club, Angie took her goodbye. She had prepared a written speech that she read out in front of all the participants. Most of the magical parents were also present, and some of the muggle ones: Mrs. Granger, Petunia Dursley, soon to resume the Evans surname, accompanied by Sirius Black, and Mrs. Creevey, along with her younger child Denis. Astoria Greengrass was also present, making it very clear to her uncle that she would no longer accept to be left behind. Both Johnson parents were present, looking very proud of their daughters.

Angie stood in front of them all, tightly holding her written speech. She didn't seem to have any problem about talking in front of an audience, as she had demonstrated numerous times during the club meetings, but she looked extremely excited.

Angie looked around, making sure that everybody was ready, and then started talking. "Almost two years ago, Father Roberts asked me to come and meet a younger boy, along with my sister. I was sure I was going to act mainly as a babysitter, but I love my sister and respect the reverend, so I was willing to spend some time on that." She stopped and smiled at Harry and then at her sister. "This turned out to be the best decision I made in my life. That boy, Harry, gave me a very nice drawing that I later had framed and it still hangs in my room. He also opened my eyes and my mind to what really unites us all here – Magic. Before meeting him, I only thought I was a magnet for weird and unexplained things. Along with him, we learned from Father Roberts and then some others how to control our magic and use it wisely. For fun too, I admit."

Some chuckles interrupted her speech. Angie looked around, seeming proud to be part of this group. "Within a few weeks, some more children joined our little group, becoming the children's club that we're now so content and proud to be part of. We all learned a lot in our meetings, as most of our parents and guardians know. We also had a lot of fun, especially when trying to adapt the way things are normally taught to the way we felt better about. For this, we must thank Harry and Hermione, who put in most of the thought and made this club so special."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle with unshed tears. "Now, after I reached eleven, I was told that I need to move forward in my life. I'm expected to soon go to Hogwarts and learn everything the traditional way. I can't say that I'm not excited to go there and meet new people and gain new friends and new knowledge, but I'm saddened that I will no longer be meeting you as regularly. I'll miss you, I'll miss our meetings, our fun and our closeness. I promise to use what I learned here to come and join as many meetings as I can. I also promise to keep our club and our knowledge secret, although it may be difficult. I'm afraid I'll feel like I was demoted two or three years and have to relearn most of what I know."

She stopped and wiped some errant tears that reached her cheeks. "No matter what will happen, I'm sure I will remember the times in our club as some of the happiest times in my life. Thank you all for making it possible."

Her mother rushed to hug her, and was soon joined by her father and her sister, and then by the other members of the club. Dylan noticed Hermione whispering something in her ear. Angie smiled thankfully. He wished he knew what they said.

The rest of that meeting was just a party. The children conjured various toys and games, spending the time having fun, only pausing to enjoy the various delicacies and sweets that were brought by the adults.

Dylan glanced at Petunia. She was still wearing conservative clothes, but now he knew why. She seemed to be enjoying herself. She was alternately watching Dudley and Harry and smiling occasionally. Dudley seemed to become quite close with Luna. Dylan chuckled at the thought of how Vernon would have reacted to this friendship. Sirius seemed to only watch Harry, though. Harry and Hermione were much closer already. Dylan had a feeling that these two were much closer than most happily married couples, maybe even all of them, despite their young ages.

He then looked at Lora, who seemed just as happy as the children. He loved her so much! And she brought him the twins, whom he loved just as much, although differently. Despite the many sleepless nights, these two were the best gift he had ever received. He thanked God for all this happiness that he could trace back to one event – an abused child coming into his church.

\/\/\/

It was a very busy summer for Dylan. His twins were teething, he had to attend some advanced studies for the clergy and he also needed to think and prepare for the club's next year. Actually, the last item was the most problematic. Despite their ages, the children could easily pass all their practical OWLs in Charms, Transfiguration, Defence and Potions. He also had a feeling that Harry, Hermione and Neville could also pass their NEWTs in Potions, maybe even their mastery. The subtle, or sometimes bold changes they were introducing to the potion brewing in the club testified of a very good understanding of the process and the ingredients.

And yet, their work in the club could prove to be a problem when reaching Hogwarts. They would need to learn to follow the instructions exactly, use wands and do things the standard way, although they already had better methods. He then thought that wands could make the difference. They couldn't legally buy any wand, of course, but they could learn about wands and understand how they helped in casting. They might even try to make some play wands, just for the fun of it.

He also thought of adding new members to the club. Astoria wouldn't leave him alone about it. Denis Creevey was also the right age to start. He could search for some more, but would it be wise? The more people who knew about the club, the more its secret was in danger. And then, Shifting could also prove dangerous in the wrong hands. Well, practically everything could prove dangerous in the wrong hands, but that was no excuse.

The current members of the club would need to pass their knowledge to the newcomers, and he had no doubt about their success. They would also need to train at Potions, but that would probably be just as easy, since he intended to keep the children brewing the potions they had already learned and introduce a few new ones. With the twins already weaned, mostly, he was sure that Lora would also like to resume her Potions training. He would have to introduce the contraceptive potions for her (and his) benefit. The way some of the girls were growing, he thought it would also come in handy for them. Maybe he should have taught it to Angie, at least?

Thinking of potions reminded him that his brother was also expecting him to help a bit during the summer. While preparing the kits for Hogwarts students was a job best done by the house-elves, purchasing all the ingredients was something one couldn't delegate to them. Dylan was asked to help each summer. He didn't like it, but he wouldn't deny his help to his head-of-house. Besides, it was a kind of respite from his usual occupations.

\/\/\/

Although there were no official club meetings, the children kept meeting almost daily during the summer. On sunny days, they met at the Johnson or the Granger backyard, enjoying the pools. On rainy or overcast days, they met at the Longbottom pool. Just like the previous summer, they also learned some more magic from various books. Lora joined them occasionally, although her husband was too busy to do the same.

"We're going on vacation to the Italian Riviera next week," Hermione told the group.

"You won't join us, then?" Neville asked, sounding a bit sad.

"We could probably shift and join you," she said. Everybody understood that she was referring to Harry as well. Maybe Dudley too. "Why don't you join us at the beach, though?" she added.

"How can we?" Colin asked.

Hermione smiled. "Just shift to us. We can decide on the time and you can all shift to meet us wherever we may be. No need to bother with clothing, though. My parents go to nudist resorts."

They all smiled, glad to be able to keep the company even during vacations.

\/\/\/

Petunia was more apprehensive when presented with the idea. "I need to be able to go to court and finish the divorce. I can't stay in Italy for two weeks."

"You don't need to. You can stay at home and attend to whatever you need, and Dudley or I can take you to Italy and back when you're free," Harry told her.

It took Petunia a moment to understand the implications. "Are you saying that you can reach Italy just as easily as you reach your friend's home?"

Harry shrugged. "It feels the same. I did it last summer too, only then I went to the French beach."

"Can you reach any place you want that way?" she asked.

Harry considered her question. "Not quite. I need to either know that place or have somebody I know there. I can shift to wherever one of my friends is and I can go to places I already visited or that I know well enough in other ways."

"Can you visit Paris, if you want?"

He smiled. "I don't know Paris, but I've seen enough images of the Eiffel Tower to go there, and some other famous places too. I can't go to just a random address. Maybe I'll find a way to do it when I grow up a bit."

Petunia had problems grasping the idea. Such a way of travel made international borders irrelevant. She was sure that most countries would frown at the idea. It made passports, borders, and immigration control completely irrelevant. She suddenly understood why Father Roberts kept these abilities secret.

Petunia still enjoyed the offer. She joined the Granger vacation most days, excluding the ones she needed to tackle the divorce. She even enjoyed spending it all nude, especially after Harry used some magic to make her scars invisible. Without them, she felt like she was a slim and attractive young woman, much younger than her real age.

\/\/\/

Petunia's divorce went well. With Amelia giving testimony, it was clear that the marriage was not salvageable. Vernon lost all his counterclaims and was forced to pay alimony and support his child until he reached adulthood. Petunia couldn't count on him doing that. Without her trying to calm him down, his temper was sure to lose him his job, and he would not be able to pay anything without a job. She felt lucky to have started a course for secretaries, learning all the latest innovations in the office, like word processors, spreadsheets and computerized schedules. It didn't assure her a job but made it more likely to find one. She would feel much safer when she would no longer need to rely on Vernon's money.

A day after her divorce, she took Dudley to change his name. He still needed to give some answers on his own.

"Why do you want to change your name?" he was asked.

"I don't want to keep my father's last name. It gives me bad feelings."

"And why is that?"

"He had a habit to beat my mother. That's very wrong. He also beat my cousin and made me do the same when I was smaller."

"Did your mother tell you what to say?"

"No. She didn't even think I needed to change my last name. It was all my idea."

"And why do you want to change it to Evans?"

Dudley smiled. "That was my mother's maiden name and my aunt's – my cousin's mother. It makes me feel closer to my cousin."

The name change was approved.

\/\/\/

Angie joined the group on the beach one day, looking very enthusiastic. "I've got my Hogwarts letter! Somebody is coming this evening to give us some introductions and then I need to go buy my school supplies in another day or two. I'm so excited!"

"You know you shouldn't let them know that you've already experienced magic," Hermione reminded her.

Angie smiled mischievously. "I'll be utterly surprised that magic is real, you know. Besides, if I slip and show my true abilities, I can also oblivate the visitor. We all know how to do it."

Hermione stayed serious. "It's better not to use that at all. Too little, and they may still remember something; too much, and they may forget what they shouldn't. I think we should only use it when there's no other alternative."

"I can also use Legilimency or compulsion to make them think I only knew the film version, like in Narnia, or Lord of the Rings," Angie suggested.

Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Better not use even that. Just act surprised and keep your Occlumency shields high."

Angie smiled. She knew better than to use any kind of magic unnecessarily. She was only teasing.