Lily's Journal 5

2/1/15 - 2/28/15: Chapter 5

Summer after Year 1

Harry was woken up in the hospital wing the next morning by the loud voices of Padma and Su demanding from Hermione and Neville the details of what happened and why Harry was being treated for injuries. His two best friends were both rather loud and somewhat hysterical trying to get those answers and not being able to ask Harry himself as he was still hidden behind a curtain. He could also hear Terry and Anthony trying to calm the girls down unsuccessfully, and Neville's and Hermione's promises that Harry arrived in the infirmary with a broken shoulder but nothing else seemingly.

"Oh ...just a broken shoulder!" somewhat shouted Padma incredulously, "and how exactly did he get that broken shoulder?" she continued and Harry could practically feel the glare she was no doubt shouting at the pair of Gryffindor first years.

"Um ...w-we don't really know," answered Neville awkwardly, "we never got a chance to ask him what happened before Madam Pompfrey put him behind the screens."

"Where were you then, when Harry was getting injured?" asked Su equally upset but not nearly as loud as Padma.

"Um ...w-we were stuck in one of the obstacles ...there wasn't enough potion for us to go forward and follow him," continued Neville sheepishly.

"But you two were the reason he was even down there in the first place," practically shouted Padma near complete hysterics.

"WE KNOW!" shouted back Hermione, "and we feel awful about it. Nobody was supposed to get hurt, but it wasn't completely our fault. He just took the potion before we could even determine what was happening and left us behind. We were stuck there until the Headmaster showed up."

"Pretty convenient that the Headmaster showed up before the thief could make off with the stone ...you would almost think he had baited the trap perfectly, just like Harry said," growled Padma still very much upset but no longer screaming and hysterical as her analytical mind took over. "It's just too bad Harry was the one caught up in the trap too."

"What is all this noise?" came the exasperated voice of Madam Pompfrey as she came out of her office after hearing the raised voices, "this is a hospital, not a social hall."

After being admonished by the matron of the hospital wing, all of Harry's fellow first years grew quiet except for Padma who asked about Harry and if he was alright and could have visitors. Madam Pompfrey told them she would let them know after giving him an exam this morning, but to not expect to get to see him until lunchtime even though he was going to be okay physically after healing a severely shattered right shoulder. Padma and Su gasped upon hearing that his wand arm's shoulder had been shattered as it would have made spellcasting practically impossible, and now even more they wanted to hear the story of what happened down the third floor corridor the night before.

Harry listened as Madam Pompfrey ran a few scans on Hermione and Neville before dismissing everyone, and telling them they would have to wait until after lunch to come back and visit Harry to which they all grumblingly agreed. She then came to Harry behind the curtain, and shook her head in exasperation at finding him sitting up in bed waiting for her, probably having listened to the entire conversation she just had with his fellow students. Running her scans on his shoulder, she found that everything was healing properly, and there was no lasting damage and only really needed one more round of potions to help finish the healing of ligaments, tendons, and muscles that were damaged in the shattering of the clavicle.

Madam Pompfrey told him to take it easy with his shoulder for the next few days, and reminded him that had exams and classes not already been finished for the year she would have forbid him to participate to risk further damaging his shoulder. For Harry, it was a bit of an eye opening experience and made him realize how dependent he was on his right arm for being able to do magic at all, and wondered if he couldn't do something to rectify that dependency soon. The matronly nurse also told Harry that if he ever needed to talk about anything at all, that she would be available or help him find someone else he felt comfortable with.

Shortly after that, the Headmaster returned to enquire after Harry and ask about the confrontation between him and Voldemort again, and what else happened between them. Harry reiterated what he said the night before, going into slightly more detail but also careful to make sure he didn't bring up the Stone itself and focused more on the fight and conversation with Quirrell and Voldemort. He also asked a few more questions about what Dumbledore believed happened back on Halloween in 1981, and why Voldemort was even coming after his family knowing the older wizard didn't seem to want to talk about that from their conversation the night before and would hopefully leave him alone.

It ended up working, as the conversation turned to other things the Headmaster did his best to avoid answering several questions, and then cut the talk short leaving without getting the answers he wanted as well and leaving Harry happy to have gotten through it. The harder conversation for Harry ended up being with Padma and Su, who took turns berating and grilling him for answers as Hermione, Neville, Terry, and Anthony looked on in varying states of sympathy and shock. Eventually the two girls ran out of steam, and ended up hugging Harry as tightly as they could while crying gently and simply thankful that he was okay.

After several apologies from Harry for rushing into danger like a Gryffindor, causing Neville to blush and Hermione to complain, the girls forgave him and promised Madam Pompfrey that they would watch and make sure Harry took it easy on his shoulder until school let out. When the nurse agreed to let Harry out, the group all went outside as it was a beautiful day to sit near the lake and enjoy the nice weather while they could. Harry wasn't too involved in the conversation, as his mind and thoughts were still on the adventures of the night before, and couldn't seem to completely shake the fear and vulnerability he had felt against Voldemort or the confusion of taking a man's life.

It was just before the group was getting ready to go back inside to prepare for dinner, that the group was joined by an excited and yet angry Tonks, who practically tackled Harry back to the ground in a crushing hug. She was quick to say how glad she was that he was okay, but then instantly began berating him just as his friends had for being so rash and going after an adult wizard that was way beyond his skill level with no real plan in place. She too also cried a bit and made Harry promise to be more careful and smarter in the future, before telling him all about how happy she was to be finished with her NEWT exams and how sad it would be to leave Hogwarts for good in a few days.

The last few days of his first year at Hogwarts went fairly quickly as far as Harry was concerned, as he was trying to study and practice a few things before he had to return to his relatives for the first month and a half of the summer. He was just glad that his custom trunk had been warded to prevent magical detection so he could continue his practice while stuck at the Dursley's with nothing to do, as he didn't want to get rusty, and also had several new things he wanted to work on the most notable of them was learning to cast with his off hand. He had gone over the fight he had with Quirrell several times over those few days, and made it a goal of his to learn left handed casting as well as a form of muggle fighting that would help him if ever he was caught wandless again.

While his shoulder was still a little tender and sore after working it for any bit of time, it gave him plenty of opportunities to begin learning all of his spells left handed, and he was slowly making progress. The hardest part was the lack of dexterity his left hand had in order to complete the specific and tight wand motions associated with his spells. He knew that as he got older and more familiar with his magic and individual spells, that wand motions became less important but as a young wizard it was an important part of learning the spells and what the magic felt like.

Harry also decided that since he had his new special five compartment trunk, that he no longer needed the three compartment one he originally purchased in Diagon Alley. He ended up gifting it to Anthony for his help getting in touch with his Lawyer Father who he had made an appointment with to meet in the beginning of July to talk about his options representing him. The few letters he exchanged with the elder Goldstein were very straightforward and helpful, and Harry had plans to capitalize on those using his image illegally and better protecting himself in the future.

By the last day of term, Harry was at least able to do most of the very first basic spells he learned this year in each of his classes, and only a few other spells that didn't have too difficult of a wand motion. His progress was getting better every time he practiced, and his healing shoulder was almost as good as new by the time he was making his way to the Hogwarts Express for the journey back to London. He was soon sitting in a compartment with Padma, Su, Daphne, Tracy, and Blaise listening as everyone talked about their plans for the summer.

Daphne would be spending most of July in France with her maternal grandmother where her and her younger sister usually spent their summers, while Blaise would be visiting some of his family in Italy. Tracy would be spending most of her summer at her family's beach house in Brighton, and Padma would be going to India at the beginning of the summer to visit some of her family before coming back at the end of July. Su would be staying at her home all summer learning traditional skills and magic of her native China from her parents until August, when Harry and Padma would join her for two weeks until they all went to Padma's afterwards.

His friends were a little concerned when Harry said that he would probably spend the entire first month and a half holed up in his room, or more likely in his trunk practicing magic and trying to get better and stronger. They had all realized throughout the year over various things heard and said, that Harry did not have a very good home life and all wanted to make sure that the difficult dealings at the end of the school year didn't make it worse for their friend.

Daphne in fact came up with what she thought was a brilliant idea, and called one of her family's two house elves named Neebo to introduce her to Harry. She asked Neebo to look out for Harry during the summer, making sure he was well taken care of and eating healthy. She told Harry to call for Neebo if he needed anything as she was going to be staying behind at her family's house to look after things while they were all gone for most of the summer and wouldn't really have much to do.

The others all thought the idea was a good one, and Harry grumbled good naturedly that he could take after himself and didn't need a babysitter but was actually quite touched that his friends were worried about him and wanted to make sure he had a good summer too. Neebo was like all of the house elves Harry had met in the Hogwarts' kitchens, very excitable and eager to please. She seemed quite happy to be given more work and someone else to look after over the summer and promised that she could find him and would take care of him.

The others all laughed at Harry's face once the happily bouncing house elf left the compartment leaving the raven haired wizard stunned and sputtering after witnessing her energy. Eventually Harry just shrugged, and thanked Daphne for the temporary loan and figured he would probably get some real use out of having the hyperactive house elf on call. The rest of the train ride, the friends hung out in the compartment, and were visited by their many friends and acquaintances stopping in to say hello and wishing them good summers.

It seemed like no time at all when the train arrived in London, and the friends all said their goodbyes, were introduced to their parents in some cases, and went home with their respective families. Harry met up with the Dursleys who complained about having to come and get him, and Vernon demanded to know where his ruddy trunk and owl were as he would be locking them up this summer. Harry simply shrugged and lied that Hedwig was staying at the school, and that his trunk was stored in a magical pocket dimension and there was nothing Harry could do to change that now.

Vernon was completely pissed and turned a magenta red color that couldn't be healthy for his heart when he learned that he couldn't lock up and deny Harry his property over the summer. Instead he started grumbling that Harry would be spending a lot of time locked in his room this summer, as he didn't want to see him around the house except to do his chores and that he better behave and not be under foot or he would regret it. Harry simply nodded along, while smiling on the inside that he would be mostly left alone for his time at their house, so he could spend most of his time practicing in his trunk as he wanted.

By the second day of his stay at the Dursleys, Harry was grateful to Daphne for thinking about Neebo taking care of him, as Vernon had almost immediately locked Harry into his room with several exterior locks to keep him inside. Since then, he hadn't once been let out to be allowed to eat or use the restroom, and was beyond thankful for the little house elf for bringing him plenty of food and his small trunk apartment's bathroom. He left the lid open so he could hear if anyone called for him or attempted to enter the room while he was staying in the spacious trunk, and was so far glad to be ignored by his so-called family.

It wasn't until his fourth day back at Privet Drive, after hearing his Uncle leaving for work that he heard someone outside of his room undoing all the locks. He quickly got out of his trunk and tapped the rune on the lid that instantly shrunk it so he could slip it in his pocket just as his Aunt threw open the door with her customary sneer on her face. She balked however, when she noticed that the room was still spotless, the bed was made, and Harry looked cleaned and dressed already for the day ahead.

"What have you done in here boy?" she asked in her shrew voice, as her bulging eyes glared around the room seemingly looking for something to punish him for.

"Nothing," answered Harry simply, and it was technically the truth as he hadn't spent practically any time at all in the room itself.

"I want you out of this house during the weekdays while Vernon is at work," she snapped. "I don't care what you do, but you are to be back in this room before dinner and Vernon gets home."

Harry just shrugged, wondering why his Aunt didn't have chores for him or wanted to ensure he wasn't around during the weekdays, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly left. Figuring he had the whole day to himself, he thought about heading to Diagon Alley but thought he would wait on that for now as he still had a good bit of muggle money and wanted to get a few things and check out Greater Winging on his own for once. As it was still early, the weather was still pleasantly cool and the almost half an hour walk to the shopping district was rather peaceful and gave Harry some time to plan what he wanted to get accomplished.

He thought back to his list he made at the end of the Hogwart's school year, and beside picking up a few pieces of muggle clothing, the main thing on the list he wanted to look into was muggle fighting and fitness. When he got to town, he noticed a new gym that had opened up that looked promising as an alternative even if it wasn't exactly what he wanted as most of the physical fitness he could do as a young man was cardiovascular he could accomplish doing chores. The better find was a small back alley door that simply had the word 'Karate' painted in red letters on it, and led to a building that looked relatively old and worn but exactly what Harry was hoping for.

Harry went in and found a middle age man in a white outfit he recognized from the movies of Dudley's he had seen parts of, seemingly having a fight with his shadow as he danced all around a wide open room with wall to wall mats covering the floor. Harry simply watched the man for another minute or so until he finished his imaginary fight and turned to Harry smiling and barely breathing heavily at all. He was relatively pale, with sharp features that showed some distant asian ancestry, and short black hair as dark as Harry's.

He introduced himself as Sean Duncan, a relatively new resident of Greater Winging, having spent the last several years in Japan and China studying martial arts of various forms after growing up in London. He had recently returned after learning his father had died and he had no more family left, and decided to make a go of it by starting a karate dojo to teach others. As of now however, he only had two other students, a pair of brothers in their teens he worked with in the late afternoons twice a week.

Harry explained that he was a student at a boarding school in Scotland, and would only be seeking instruction for about six weeks until the end of July. He wanted to learn the basics of hand to hand fighting, and had his weekdays completely free until he had to return to school and was highly motivated. His new sensei, as the older man asked to be called, was happy to have a motivated student and the pair quickly planned out a schedule that they both liked.

Harry would be spending every weekday from 9 am to 1 pm with his new sensei, studying and training in martial arts which was exactly what he wanted. They came to an agreement for pay, and his sensei gave him a gi to wear for training and had him go change and get ready. There was no reason not to start right away as it was only just past nine, and they were both excited to learn or teach respectively.

That afternoon after his first martial arts lesson, Harry hitched a quick ride on the Knight Bus to DIagon Alley in order to get some more money from his vault and transfer a large chunk into muggle pounds for his classes and other expenses while at the Dursleys. He also searched his vault for anything other than money, and only found a small pile of gems in the back but nothing else. He asked his goblin escort about any books or wands that belonged to his family and was told he would have to get access to his Family Vault in order to get at anything like that which usually didn't happen until he was 15 years of age.

When he asked at the counter for his muggle currency exchange, he also asked about how he could get into his Family vault in order to search for items of interest to him. The goblin directed him to one of the account managers, and after a short wait was discussing his needs with Ripfang, who after determining he wasn't after any money agreed to allow him access to get a spare wand and up to five books at a time. Another trip to the vaults followed, and Harry watched as his goblin escort this time had him provide a drop of blood on the crest over the door to gain entrance and then watched as the young wizard tested all the spare wands and look through and pick out his five books.

There was an entire bookcase type contraption that held wands, that had Harry waving them around for a good ten minutes until he found a pair that felt relatively good but not quite as good as his original from Ollivander's. The book collection in the large vault was quite extensive, and Harry took another fifteen minutes looking for books that he would both enjoy and be able to understand at his current level. He found two on beginner wards that he instantly pulled out, finding several more that were well above his level but would be helpful later, and also one on transfiguration for duels, and two hand-written potion journals written by one of his ancestors that looked promising.

He made it back to the Dursleys minutes before his Uncle Vernon, and was quickly locked back in his room by his Aunt who handed him a small plate with two stale slices of bread and a single slice of turkey. Once again grateful for Neebo who he called seconds later, and soon after had a large meal that would satisfy his enormous appetite after the trying day he had. Laying in his trunk bed, he began reading through the easier of the two warding books until it was time for bed happy to have accomplished everything he set out to do today.

.

The next few weeks continued in the same pattern for Harry, he would get up and ready, waiting for his Uncle to leave and his Aunt to let him out of his room before heading to Sensei Duncan's dojo. His mornings would then be spent learning different katas and fighting styles under the careful instruction of his sensei who often complimented him on his determination and quickly growing skill. He would then eat a large lunch in town, and then either visit one of the many muggle shops in the area or hitch a ride to Diagon Alley and one of their many second hand shops or bookstores.

He had also returned to Gringotts twice to replace the five books he was allowed at a time to take from his family vault, and also spent a little time looking around at the gathered stuff of generations of his family occasionally finding something he asked the goblin escorting him if he could take with him. One such item was an unbreakable white gold necklace he attached to the handle of his custom trunk so that when it was shrunk, he could wear it as a cool necklace and never have to search through his pockets looking for the miniaturized trunk. The other item was a very nice old rune carving kit he knew was quite expensive having checked them out previously and wanted to test out.

Harry also met with Everett Goldstein, Anthony's father, for his legal appointment where the two wizards discussed his image as The-Boy-Who-Lived and how to prevent people from making money on it. Also, how to go after those who had exploited his name and image in the past, namely the Harry Potter Adventure Book Series, and Boy-Who-Lived dolls that he learned were both very popular items. They decided on a straight forward letter to the book publishing company and toy manufacturer demanding compensation and a hefty percentage of the cost of goods in order to prevent a lawsuit from being filed.

Both companies instantly folded to their demands, as the negative publicity they would receive from a lawsuit from The Harry Potter would most likely cripple them and their sales in the future, and even only making a percentage of what they once were was better than losing everything in a legal battle. Mr. Goldstein, also had a form letter signed by Harry that he would present to any new companies looking to exploit his image or likeness asking the same thing and hoped they would weed out all those making money on Harry's name rather shortly and offer a small level of protection to the young wizard.

Harry also made visits to the Oculist's Mr. Johnston to get his prescription set now that his eyes had reached their best potential and were no longer changing, and to Healer Stevens for another physical. The young healer was very happy with the changes to Harry's body, the growth in weight and height, the stronger bones and ligaments, and the steady increase in his magic too which was pretty substantial to begin with. He also checked over Madam Pompfrey's work on his shoulder after learning about the injury and was really pleased with the healing that had taken place and declared him fit as ever.

His evenings after returning to the Dursley House, was usually spent reading and practicing magic in his trunk getting much more comfortable with using both hands to cast spells and even practicing dual casting now that he had a pair of spare wands. Neebo had continued to be a life saver providing him with meals, and he had already begun planning on a gift for Daphne in thanks for her loan of the house elf who had proved invaluable. Especially when she caught another house elf named Dobby who was stealing Harry's mail both to and from his friends and managed to get the house elf to leave him alone.

She knew Dobby as the Malfoy family elf, and had extracted information that the Malfoy patriarch was planning to unleash something on the school that would make it very dangerous for muggleborns and Harry in particular as he had heard his master complain often about the Boy-Who-Lived. Dobby ended up promising not to interfere after Neebo got Harry to promise he would be careful and call on Neebo or Dobby if he needed any help while at Hogwarts. After that fiasco, Harry also began corresponding more frequently with his friends who all seemed somewhat worried about the lack of responses they had received from him so far.

For the next few weeks leading up to his birthday, Harry continued with his schedule of martial arts and magical study and practice, and was amazed at how far he had come in both areas in the month and a half away from school. His sensei was very complimentary about Harry's progress, and somewhat sad to see his dedicated and skilled young student leaving and spent the last few lessons trying to give Harry as much instruction as he was able on things Harry could continue to practice throughout the year. Harry was definitely glad that he had found Sensei Duncan, as the martial arts lessons were exactly what he had in mind and wanted to better prepare himself for his next inevitable confrontation.

On the morning of his birthday, he had his trunk completely packed, shrunk, and hanging around his neck when his Aunt opened his room to let him out for the day. He told her he wouldn't be back until next year and left the house knowing he didn't ever truly want to come back here and hoped he could find a way to skip coming back at all next year. He went to his final morning lesson with his sensei, ate some pizza, and took the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron where he was practically tackled by an excited pair of girls.

"Harry!" shouted Padma and Su, who were both very happy to see their friend as they hugged him fiercely, "Happy Birthday!"

"Hi girls, thanks," answered Harry, who was pretty touched as he reunited with his two best friends who he missed greatly over the last six plus weeks, while the three friends enjoyed a group hug in the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Let the guy breathe," called out Terry jokingly, as he and Anthony made their way over to join their three housemates, and while succeeding in getting the girls to release Harry they did so only to begin glaring at the tall brown haired boy.

"Is everyone ready to go shopping for school supplies?" asked Anthony, trying to distract the pair of girls from killing his best friend.

The group all agreed, knowing that they wanted to get most of the shopping done quickly so they could spend more time at the bookstore before it was time for them to go home for dinner. They all set out to Gringotts for Terry and Anthony to pick up some money, as the other three already had their money either from previous visits in Harry's case or from their parents in the girls' case. After that, they visited Madam Maulkin's for everyone to either get new robes or alterations to their current ones before stocking up on ink, quills, and parchment.

They then visited the pet store for everyone to either stock up on food for their pets, or to look for an animal that they wanted though nobody ended up getting a new pet. Harry then showed everyone to the few second hand curio shops he often visited to look for random finds and old books, which they all enjoyed and each found a few things they had to have. When the group made it to the bookstore, their Ravenclaw natures had each of them wide eyed and wandering all over the store picking out their textbooks and other things they wanted to read and study.

With all their shopping done, Terry and Anthony said their goodbyes until the train to Hogwarts for their second year and left Harry with Padma and Su as they prepared for their two weeks with Su's family. The three friends used the floo at the Leaky Cauldron to go to the Li family home in the Tower Hamlets borough of London, an area that was heavily populated with families of Chinese Asian descent. The home they arrived in was very nice, with lots of open space overlooking the Thames River and Harry instantly fell in love with it.

Harry and Padma were introduced to Su's parents, her mother Xia who looked like a slightly older and taller version of her daughter and her father Gian who looked to be in phenomenal shape and greeted the friends with wide smiles. Her parents were a bit on the strict and formal side, but they genuinely cared for their daughter, and by extension were very glad to host her friends for two weeks. The two visitors were then given a tour of the large house, shown their rooms and taken into the bottom level dojo that Su and her father practiced their own family's martial arts every afternoon.

Harry was quick to ask if he could either join those lessons, or have access to the dojo for his own martial arts practice which he had only recently begun and wanted to continue working on in order to get better. Mr. Li, as he asked Padma and Harry to call him, gave Harry a long look for several moments seemingly accessing him before giving a short nod of his head that he would test his proficiency the next day to determine if he would let him join his daughter's lessons or not. Harry smiled gratefully and thanked the man before being led back upstairs with his two best friends to get washed up and ready for dinner.

Harry and Padma both greatly enjoyed the very traditional dinner that first night at the Li family's home, and by the end of the meal both of Su's parents seemed even happier with their daughter's choice of friends. They were both courteous and respectful to them and their traditions, open to trying new foods and experiences, and highly intelligent and driven young people that the parents instantly took a liking to. It also bettered their opinion of Hogwarts and how their daughter was faring at the magical school, making them both feel much better about sending their only daughter off for nine months of the year.

The following morning after a nice breakfast, the three friends got together with all their summer homework and began reading over and correcting each others as was their usual method of editing and bettering their work. By lunch time, everyone's homework had been read through and marked for corrections they would make later. After lunch Mr. Li came to collect the kids for Su's lesson and Harry's test, letting Padma come to watch her friends and learn a bit about his family's martial arts.

Harry's test was grueling, and he felt like he was back to the first day he spent with Sensei Duncan as the older man seemingly had no problem defending any of his attacks and was constantly correcting his movements and attacks to the point Harry felt like he hadn't learned anything yet of value. While Harry was recovering his breathing, he got to watch Su and her father spare, and instantly realized why the older man had so little difficulties defending against him, when Su was obviously well above his level and her father even better. When they were done with their workout, Mr. Li congratulated Harry on a solid base knowledge of martial arts for someone who had only recently begun training, and promised that he would include Harry in their daily workouts if he was still interested which he was.

The next day at breakfast, three owls delivered their school lists for second year, and report cards for their first year, and all three students were quick to read and talk about how they did with each other. Su parents were very complimentary of their daughter's friends for scoring in the top five along with their daughter who they were very happy with and offered to get her a special treat of her choice. Su asked for her own owl so she could better communicate with her parents during the school year and her friends over the summer, and they were quick and happy to agree.

Over the following two weeks, the three young friends followed pretty much the same schedule as their first day, with revising and studying in the morning, and martial arts lessons in the afternoon. After dinner, they would sometimes play games in the den or sneak visits into Harry's trunk training room to practice magic and keep all their skills sharp while preparing for the next year. While Su's parents allowed her to practice and use magic over the summer under their direction and supervision, she didn't think they would completely approve of her desire to learn magical dueling and the heavy emphasis the group put on Transfiguration, as they were both Charms experts and practitioners of their native chinese magic.

Su knew her parents wouldn't really mind her practicing in Harry's trunk, as they always had encouraged her to push herself and be the very best she could. It was more likely they would not like her being in a place with a boy that they couldn't supervise, even if she knew it was much too early in her life to be worried about that even if Harry was what she would consider a great catch. She and Padma had often talked about how great he was as a wizard and person, and that they hoped that by showing him off to their parents now and hopefully over every summer that their fathers' would consider him when it came time for them to be sold off as brides.

They had both known and been raised with the understanding that their fathers' would be responsible for finding their husbands once they came of age, and could only hope that with introducing Harry to them early and often, that he would be considered as they both knew him to be a very agreeable match. Padma was even more worried than Su, as Chakur Patil was a very traditional man who followed the old ways of his ancestors by marrying much younger women whereas Su's father just wanted a powerful match and wasn't as strict about it being a certain type of person. It was one of the main reasons the two girls pushed so hard to get Harry to visit, and it would hopefully put their male friend in front of their fathers' faces early, hopefully before they had committed to any other arrangement for their girls.

Harry of course was oblivious to the girls' intentions for now, though both girls were planning on coming clean with him once they were back at school as they felt they owed their friend the truth and felt a little bad about trying to use him like that without his knowledge. They knew Harry well enough however, that they were fairly confident that he would have gone along with their plan just to be able to help them even if he had no desire or intentions to begin thinking about getting married himself. It was easier for Harry, mainly because he was a male in a male dominated society, but also because when he came of age he would become the Head of his House, whereas the most either girl could hope for was to be Custodian of their House while the Heir came of age if their fathers' died, as neither girl could actually inherit the Head of House mantle.

Both girls also came from a culture of sexual inequality and were pretty much accustomed to or at least resigned to that fact that their lives were not truly their own to live as they would basically be transferred from their fathers to their husbands like property with little or no say in the whole thing. Having known this truth for their entire lives, it wasn't such a disappointment until reaching Hogwarts and befriending Harry, who made them realize that there were many different kinds of guys out there, and some much better than others. To both girls, Harry was the perfect boyfriend and later husband material as he was smart and considerate, had good manners and habits, was good looking and already good friends with each girl.

By the end of the visit, Mr. and Mrs. Li were somewhat sad to see the three youngsters leave as they were excellent house guests, and their interaction with one another was refreshing for the older couple to watch. Mr. Li congratulated Harry on his great start to learning martial arts and excited to have someone his daughter could spar with throughout the year to keep their skills sharp, and both kids were invited to come back the following summer to do something similar. After saying their goodbyes and making sure they had everything packed, the threesome used the Floo to travel to the Patil residence in the Harrow area of London, an area heavily populated by those of Indian descent.

They arrived in a very decorative and luxurious looking sitting room with comfortable seating covered in heavy bright colored fabrics, and a pair of familiar Gryffindor girls already there. Padma's twin sister Parvati and her best friend Lavender Brown, two of the school's biggest gossips were already discussing something of great importance to them as Padma arrived first followed by Harry and Su. It was somewhat awkward as the pair of Gryffindors were instantly giggling and staring at Harry who knew the pair but had rarely talked with them, finding them both a little too wrapped up in fashion and rumors to really feel comfortable around them.

The two groups greeted one another, before Padma announced that they were going to say hello to her parents and would see the pair of Gryffindor's, who had already been there for a day, around the house later. The parents were glad to meet Padma's two best friends, happy that at least one of their daughters took her studies seriously and were happy to have the kids staying with them. Chakur and Reshma Patil, were both relatively formal towards their daughters and their visiting friends, but Harry and Su at least had no problem adjusting to the way things were at the Patil household and fit in seamlessly.

The Ravenclaw trio tried to keep to themselves as much as possible, spending most of their time inside the training room of Harry's trunk continuing to practice their magic and martial arts in Su and Harry's case. They also used the escape to keep clear of the giggling pair of Gryffindor girls that neither of the three Ravenclaws could stand being around for much time, especially Harry. Parvati and Lavender spent most of the time in Harry's presence giggling and trying unsuccessfully to flirt and get his attention which was actually a sure fire way to get him even less interested in the pair and offered no end of amusement for his two best friends.

With their homework out of the way, the three Ravens spent most of their spare time learning about new things that interested them while they weren't practicing which mostly consisted of Ancient Runes. All three were interested in that subject for different reasons, and couldn't wait a whole year to get to learn it at Hogwarts and were getting a head start. Harry wanted to learn warding like most of the members of his family, Su wanted to do Enchanting that had a heavy runic element, and Padma just wanted to learn runes as they were such a foundational aspect of magic and a skill that was very much in demand and lucrative, and had dreams of being a curse breaker.

The two girls though were somewhat upset at Harry, as they quickly found out that he had already begun studying runes and was a natural at deciphering the different runes and alphabets and had already begun learning to draw runes both with his quill and the etching kit he found in his family vault. He was able to pacify them though with extra help making sure they understood the basics and answering any questions they had about the subject which made it hard to stay mad at the young wizard. They also understood his family's connection and affinity for runes gave him a severe advantage in the subject and didn't hold it against him too much despite sometimes feeling he had many such magical affinities.

Harry promised that his other subjects came much harder to him, and any advantages he had were from reading, studying, and practicing ahead owing much of it to the small hints and advice given to him in his mum's journal and from hanging around two very smart and competitive Ravenclaw girls. His other big advantage came from his growing Occlumency, which had really progressed far over the course of his first year of school, and although it hadn't been tested he felt that it would hold up against any intruder. His defenses were varied and many, with new ones being added all the time to replace his earlier attempts and the sorting and storing of his memories was coming easier to him every night he practiced before falling asleep.

He had mentioned several times now to his best friends, the benefits and necessity of learning Occlumency both for the protection of your mind and the greater retention and mental focus that helped so much with classes and learning magic. The visualization component that was so important in Transfiguration according to his mum's notes, was incredibly boosted by his Occlumency which also increased his ability to remember runic alphabets. The girls agreed that the advantages of Occlumency would be a great asset, and agreed to spend some time reading the books Harry had and practicing on their own as Harry would begin studying Legilimancy.

He had managed to find a book about the subject near the beginning of the summer and had read about the mental discipline, though had done very little about it as the main requirement was a strong mental defense and organization that he wanted to shore up first. Strong Occlumency and knowledge of your own mind was the crucial first step for any new Legilimancer planning to enter the mind of others to prevent losing oneself in the process. Harry felt that he was probably ready to begin trying to read someone else's mind, but didn't want to just randomly invade someone's privacy without any provocation.

Harry's first chance to practice Legilimancy came the day before they were set to leave for Kings Cross, when he was cornered outside of his guest bedroom by Lavender who was trying to bat her eyes at him and invade his personal space. Harry was somewhat uncomfortable with the attention and closeness of the Gryffindor girl, and instead of simply trying to run away as he was already backed into a corner, he focused on her brown eyes and gave a slight mental push with a whispered "legilimens" that had him quickly inside the young witch's mind. The images came at him fast and furious, and took a moment for Harry to make any sense of them all finally settling on an image of Lavender having a fantasy about Harry that would have had his eyes popping out of his head and blushing furiously if he wasn't inside another person's mind.

Breaking the connection instantly after seeing the scene straight out of a cheesy romance novel, Harry was left blinking quickly trying to regain his focus on the here and now as the girl in front of him continued talking a mile a minute and batting her eyelashes repeatedly. Luckily, not too much real time had passed in the short time he was inside Lavender's mind, and she was not asking him anything of any importance so he hadn't missed much but the feeling of displaced time was unusual and would take some getting used to. Figuring he would be able to practice more once he got back to Hogwarts, Harry quickly ran away from Lavender in search of his friends.

The last day of the summer was spent mostly together, with the whole household heading to a local market that the Patil's had visited for years and was filled with local cuisine, clothes, gifts, and culture. Padma was quick to show Su and Harry all of her favorite stalls, much different from those of her twin sister, and the trio was able to visit a few stalls with her father following along as her mother went with the Gryffindor duo to do clothes shopping. They all picked up a few random things that interested them, with Harry finding a few tunics that seemed like they would work well with his magical outfits and that he really liked more than the plain ones of the wizarding world.

The following morning, the Patil family and guests were all up and ready to go long before the ten o'clock time designated for their departure to Kings Cross. As a magical family, they travelled via Floo powder directly to the station and platform nine and three quarters getting there well before the final rush of arrivals trying to make the eleven o'clock train. They said goodbyes to all five kids returning for their second years of schooling, and gave both their daughters final hugs and words before the large group boarded the train and split into their groups by house and headed in different directions all excited for another year at Hogwarts to begin.

*Ravenclaw First Years Schedule:

Monday 9-10:30 Herbology (R&S), 10:30-12 History of Magic (R&H), 1-4 Charms (double R&S)

Tuesday 9-10:30 DADA (R&G), 10:30-12 Potions (R&H), 1-2:30 Transfiguration (R&S), 9-12 Astronomy (All 1st Years)

Wednesday 9-12 FREE, 1-4 Herbology (double R&S)

Thursday 9-10:30 History of Magic (R&H), 10:30-12 Charms (R&S), 1-4 Potions (double R&H)

Friday 9-12 Transfiguration (double R&S), 1-4 DADA (double R&G)