Aunt Marge's Big Mistake

"Is this when?" Ron asked, having been looking forward to hearing how he had blown up his aunt.

"Yeah," Harry replied, running his hand through his hair. Ron grinned while everyone else, save Hermione, looked between the two boys in confusion, although none of them asked, they all knew they wouldn't get an answer.

They were watching a brand-new television a welcome-home-for-the-summer present for Dudley,

"Did he get good grades to earn that?" Padma asked, having not heard the discussions about Dudley's intellect during the previous books. Harry tried really hard not to laugh and ended up in a coughing fit because of it.

"What I think Harry is trying to say is no," Hermione offered. Harry managed to get his breathing back under control enough to answer the question fully.

"Yeah, it wasn't a gift because he got good grades. He got it just because he wanted it. I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't been held down a grade yet." Many people frowned at that; getting a gift, especially such an expensive one for those who knew how much televisions cost, just because you want it is not a good way to be raised.

who had been complaining loudly about the long walk between the fridge and the television in the living room.

"Are they that far apart?" Luna asked.

"No. They're the rooms next to each other."

Dudley had spent most of the summer in the kitchen, his piggy little eyes fixed on the screen and his five chins wobbling as he ate continually.

"That's not at all healthy," Madame Pomfrey said, frowning.

Harry sat down between Dudley and Uncle Vernon,

"Why would you even do that?" Ron asked, nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought of voluntarily sitting between those two.

"When the table is square and they're sitting opposite each other, I didn't really have a choice," Harry said.

Look at his hair!"

Snuffles seemed to be trying to glare at both the book and those around him simultaneously. Those in their group – apart from Luna, Lee, and Neville – and especially the trio and Remus, were trying extremely hard not to laugh. They all knew how much Sirius cared about his appearance, and his hair.

Compared to the man on the television, however, whose gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle, Harry felt very well groomed indeed.

Snuffles glared increased a notch as he turned all his attention to the trio and Remus who had given in to their laughter.

"Are they laughing about Sirius Black?" a second year Hufflepuff asked her friend.

"Maybe. The muggle news could have just been reporting a different convict named Black," their friend replied.

"When will they learn," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"

"These people? What people?" Mrs Weasley asked. Harry shrugged.

"Anyone they think is abnormal. Those with magic, people who commit crimes, people who aren't straight or are trans, people of different ethnicities than them, people who aren't Christian. Anyone who isn't exactly like them and doesn't fit their view of normal."

"Sh-she's not coming here, is she?"

"Happy Birthday to me," Harry said sarcastically. That year's birthday had been worse than the others – disregarding his twelfth birthday. Instead of giving him a terrible present like they had the first few years he lived with them, or completely ignoring it like they had since he turned seven, they had decided to gift him a gift of allowing a woman who hated him, and he hated, to come visit for a week.

Aunt Marge lived in the country, in a house with a large garden, where she bred bulldogs.

Harry shivered at the mention of her bulldogs. He may not mind being around Padfoot or Snuffles, or Fang, but otherwise he really didn't like dogs. And meeting Fluffy had not helped with that.

Ripper had chased Harry out into the garden and up a tree, and Aunt Marge had refused to call him off until past midnight.

"How long were you up that tree?" Tonks asked. Harry shrugged.

"No clue. I have no idea what time I got up there."

"All right," said Harry bitterly, "if she does when she's talking to me."

"Were you practicing for the toad Harry?" Fred asked.

You behave yourself, got me?"

"That went well," the trio muttered.

"I will if she does," said Harry through gritted teeth.

"You're really getting into the swing of things Harry," George said.

"And thirdly," said Uncle Vernon, his mean little eyes now slits in his great purple face, "we've told Marge you attend St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys."

"And that's why the neighbours don't question why I had bars on my window," Harry said with a sigh.

"They thought you were a criminal?" Remus asked in shock.

"They believed most of the lies the Dursleys tell them about me, so I'm not surprised they believed that one."

"Duddy's got to make himself smart for his auntie," said Aunt Petunia, smoothing Dudley's thick blond hair.

"I doubt anything could make him look smart," Ron muttered.

"Mummy's bought him a lovely new bow-tie."

"Will they even be able to see the bow-tie under his five chins?"

"It could be seen, but it was barely visible."

Harry, who had been sitting in a kind of horrified trance, had a sudden idea.

"And we all know how well Harry's ideas and plans work," Neville said.

"Hey! I resent that."

"Is he lying?" Ron asked. Harry poked him in the side for that comment.

"I'll have you know that that idea worked pretty well. And would have worked perfectly if Marge hadn't opened her mouth on the last night."

Well, said Harry, choosing his words carefully, "it'll be hard work, pretending to Aunt Marge that I go to that St Whatsits..."

"Blackmail?" Remus asked, one eyebrow raised.

"How else was I going to convince him to sign the form?" Harry replied.

"How did you know he would still sign it even if you did everything he told you to?"

"Threatened to tell her the next time she was over. Or threaten to tell the neighbours."

"And you know that it's illegal to tell muggles about the magical world unless they are directly related to a witch or wizard?"

"I know I'm not legally allowed too, but they don't."

"You'll get the stuffing knocked out of you, won't you?" roared Uncle Vernon, advancing on Harry with his fist raised.

"He didn't touch me," Harry said quickly before Snuffles or Remus could react to the threat towards him.

But Harry stood his ground.

"Facing a troll, Fluffy, Volde-wraith, Acromantula, a basilisk, and Riddle made Uncle Vernon nowhere near as terrifying as he was before I started at Hogwarts," Harry said. "And After everything else I've faced, I doubt I'd even feel threatened by him now." After all, what did Vernon have compared to everything he had just said plus a werewolf, dementors, a dragon, fully grown blast-ended Skrewts, Idiots, and the Head Idiot (read: Death Eaters and moldywarts).

"Knocking the stuffing out of me won't make Aunt Marge forget what I could tell her,"

"Obliviators from the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad could have," Mr Weasley said.

"He didn't know that," Harry said with a shrug.

And don't look at me like that" – Hedwig's large amber eyes were reproachful, "it's not my fault.

"She really didn't want to leave me alone with them," Harry said with a sigh. She thought it was bad enough that he was alone with them when she went hunting, or sending messages to his friends, let alone if she left for a week.

In one hand she held an enormous suitcase, and tucked under the other was an old and evil-tempered bulldog.

Harry shivered at the thought of Ripper. If there was one dog he hated, it was Ripper; he may dislike most dogs, mainly because of Ripper, but he hated that dog.

"Where's my neffy poo?"

The hall burst out laughing at that.

"Neffy Poo," Fred gasped between laughs, tears streaming down both his face and George's.

"I told you my favourites of his terrible nicknames was in this book," Harry replied, laughing softly.

Dudley came waddling down the hall,

"Does he really waddle?" Parvati asked in disgust. Harry nodded.

Aunt Marge thrust the suitcase into Harry's stomach, knocking the wind out of him,

Harry felt his breath leave him as something seemed to slam into his stomach, the rush of air seeming to catch the attention of both Remus and Snuffles, if the confused looks they sent him were anything to go by. He sent them a smile, and, after a few seconds, they turned their attention back to the book.

Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley only put up with Aunt Marge's hugs because he was well paid for it, and sure enough, when they broke apart, Dudley had a crisp twenty-pound note clutched in his fat fist.

"A child shouldn't have to be paid to interact with family members," Mrs Weasley exclaimed.

"I don't know. You'd have to pay me to put up with the Dursleys after I can legally leave," Harry said.

"I said family dear, not relatives."

"And what will Ripper take?"

"He'll take water. Because that's what dogs drink," Charlie said slowly, staring at the book as if it was crazy.

"Ripper can have some tea out of my saucer," said Aunt Marge,

"That's not good for the dog at all. Even those trace amounts of caffeine can be harmful," Charlie said in shock; the book had said she bred bulldogs, surely she knew that.

But Harry wasn't complaining; any excuse not to be with Aunt Marge was fine by him, so he began to heave the case upstairs into the spare bedroom, taking as long as he could.

"How long did it take you?" Hermione asked.

"Nowhere near as long as I'd hoped," Harry replied.

Wouldn't have done it myself. You'd have gone straight to an orphanage if you'd been dumped on my doorstep."

Harry shuddered at the thought of being left on Marge's doorstep.

Harry was bursting to say that he'd rather live in an orphanage than with the Dursleys but the thought of the Hogsmeade form stopped him. He forced his face into a painful smile.

"Why did you have to force it?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, your masks are normally really good, and you say they're effortless," Ron agreed before anyone could question Hermione's question, which only ended up making more confusion for most of those who were listening to them; Neville, Fred, and George all knew what masks they were talking about; George and Fred because they had their own masks when they were pranking, even if theirs weren't as believable since they already had the reputation as pranksters before they learnt how to fake their emotions – such as innocence – so they knew what to look for; Neville because he was observant enough to notice when Harry slipped a mask on or off again.

"She just gets to me. When she's around, I really have to focus on keeping my masks up," Harry replied with a shrug.

"What masks?" Tonks asked. Harry's face immediately changed to one of innocent confusion.

"Masks? I don't know what masks you're talking about," Harry replied, and if they hadn't seen the change or heard the previous conversation, the rest of the group would have fallen for that and believed it.

"Those masks," Neville added, shaking his head at the familiar shift. He was at least glad that he rarely saw Harry using masks anymore when they were in the dorms; when Harry had first come to Hogwarts, he had hidden behind masks a lot. They started to drop when he became friends with Ron and Hermione and he had gotten comfortable around the rest of the dorm, becoming used around adults only during first year and even less then in the following years, with them coming up especially when he was doing something against the rules.

"Do they use the cane at St Brutus's, boy?" she barked across the table.

"Who asks that?" Bill asked in shock.

"And he said it so casually," Tonks added.

Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, "All the time."

"Don't oversell it," Moody barked. Harry shrugged; he had known what he was doing, and he knew how to best play to what Marge wanted to hear.

Perhaps Uncle Vernon was worried that Harry might forget their bargain; in any case, he changed the subject abruptly.

"And he knew how I might react if they kept with that line of conversation," Harry added, refusing to elaborate when others sent him questioning looks at that statement, wondering what he meant and how he would have reacted.

"Heard the news this morning, Marge? What about that escaped prisoner, eh?"

She delighted in comparing Harry with Dudley,

"There's no comparison," Fred said, angry at everything they've heard this chapter despite how they had tried to laugh a lot of it off.

"Harry is a billion times the person that whale could even hope to be," George said.

She also kept throwing out dark hints about what made Harry such an unsatisfactory person.

"And what makes you an unsatisfactory person?" Hermione asked.

"Everything about me. But mainly, I think it's the fact that she has to share airspace with me," Harry said casually.

"I like sharing airspace with you Harry," Luna said with a smile.

"Thank you, Luna. I like sharing airspace with you too."

"If there's something rotten on the inside, there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Harry quickly grabbed one of the calming draughts and passed it, already open, to Remus, who had begun to growl. He knew that the insults were just going to get worse, both towards him and his parents, and he knew that Remus was not going to be happy. Neither would Sirius, but, since he was a dog, he couldn't have a calming draught; instead, Harry decided to move to the ground with a cushion from the couch he had been using to better comfort Snuffles.

Harry tried to concentrate on his food, but his hands shook

More than usual, Harry added silently.

If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup –"

"What!"

"Excuse me!"

"There was nothing wrong with Lily!"

"You don't insult someone's dead mother."

"How can you say that in front of her son?"

"How dare she."

At that moment, the wine glass Aunt Marge was holding exploded in her hand.

"What happened?"

"Why did it explode?"

In the hall, Harry was forcing his magic down, feeling it want to lash out and make something small explode, while trying to keep a blank face and ignore the reactions of the rest of the hall.

But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry suspiciously,

"How did they know it was you?" Lee asked.

"It wasn't the first time I exploded a glass when they talked badly about my parents after I started at Hogwarts. They quickly learned to only talk badly about them when I wasn't around," Harry said simply, finally getting his magic to calm down and settle back to where it normally was, without anything exploding.

It had been a long time since he'd lost control and made something explode.

"You say that like it happened before Mr Potter," Amelia said, having not heard the conversation between him and Lee.

"It had Madame Bones. I made a few glasses and a plate explode by accident during the first week or two of the summer holidays after my first year when they talked bad about my parents. They learnt pretty quickly that they shouldn't insult my parents around me."

The teachers and Ministry officials, minus Fudge and Umbridge, were all watching him closely, trying to work out just how powerful he was. They already knew he was powerful from the events of his first two school years alone, plus what they had heard of his accidental magic. But having accidental magic once you got a wand and started at Hogwarts was nearly unheard of, so for him to have had outbursts of it when he was eleven and thirteen just showed how much power he truly had.

The Hogsmeade form wasn't the only thing at stake – if he carried on like that, he'd be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic.

"You didn't get in trouble for the few explosions you caused after your first year though," Ron said.

"Those were just small outbursts of magic, so they wouldn't have registered on the tracking device that monitors underage magic. Anything bigger most likely would have registered," Hermione explained.

"Exactly. And if I had let my magic lash out again, it would have been bigger, and then it would have been detected," Harry added. He had done a lot of research about accidental magic and underage magic while he was at Diagon after he had run away.

Aunt Petunia cooked a fancy dinner and Uncle Vernon uncorked several bottles of wine.

"Several bottles for three adults? They shouldn't be drinking that much. Especially around children," Mrs Weasley said in horror.

They got all the way through the soup and the salmon without a single mention of Harry's faults;

"With Marge around, that was honestly a record," Harry commented.

Her huge face was very red.

"She really doesn't need anymore," Bill said in alarm. He knew from experience with friends that if you were red from drinking, then most likely, you had had enough.

Harry really wanted to disappear to his bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon's angry little eyes and knew he would have to sit it out.

Harry snapped his fingers, wanting to get at least either Ron or Hermione's attention, remembering what happened later that night.

I need to leave. I heard it once and that was bad enough. I don't want or need to hear it again, he signed. He really didn't want to listen to the insults towards his mum and dad; insults towards himself he could put up with, insults towards the two who gave their lives for him though, were another matter. Plus, he had felt how his magic react earlier when the glass had exploded in the book from his accidental magic and the accidental magic coming up was a lot stronger than simply exploding a glass, so he didn't think he could restrain it this time; it had been strong enough to burst open the cupboard after blowing her up after all. He had no idea what his magic reacting to the book would do and did not want to be in the hall when they reached that part.

It's normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs

"Twelve dogs? Who needs twelve dogs. One's enough for me," Remus said, glancing down at Snuffles, who they were all playing off as his pet.

"Yeah, but Snuffles makes up for about twelve dogs, plus a handful of children," Harry quipped, trying not to think of what was going to be said next, causing Remus and the rest of those who knew about Sirius to chuckle while Snuffles shifted to rest his head on Harry's chest, giving him a betrayed look.

But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy," she went on, winking at Dudley.

"If she thinks that boy is healthy-sized, she knows nothing about health," Madame Pomfrey said. While she knew that weight didn't always equal physical health, just hearing how much that boy ate and how little he exercised let her know that he was extremely unhealthy.

Harry gently nudged Snuffles off him when he saw Hermione's nod in response to his earlier signs.

I'll be back before the chapter's done, he added as he stood before walking quickly out of the hall, not caring how many people noticed him.

"Where's Harry going? Is he ok?" Remus asked; he had seen the signing so knew Hermione or Ron would know.

"He doesn't want to hear the next part. He said that hearing it once was enough. He'll be back before the chapter finishes," Hermione replied.

"Maybe you and Snuffles should go make sure he's ok though, just in case," Ron suggested; Harry had explained how Marge had insulted his parents pretty badly before he finally reacted and blew her up and did not want to see how Remus and Sirius would react, despite the fact that Remus had a calming draught in him.

"Where will he be? Do you know?"

"Probably in a spare classroom somewhere nearby," Hermione said. Remus nodded and pushed to his feet, Snuffles rising as well before they walked out of the hall, Remus' hand in Snuffles' fur.

Remus and Snuffles found Harry sitting on one of the tables in a classroom nearby, his legs bent in front of him as he leant back on his hands, trying to take his mind off the insults that he knew would be coming soon enough. Remus and Sirius approached the table he was seated on, Sirius having changed back to human after Remus had shut the door. Remus perched on the edge of the desk opposite Harry, facing him, while Sirius grabbed one of the chairs and sat backwards on it, resting his arms on the back of the chair.

Back in the Great Hall, the book continued reading despite the fact that the one the books were about wasn't present.

"You'll be a proper sized man, Dudders, like your father.

"They're proper sized?" Tonks asked in disgust, thinking about how the books had described them and the comments from Harry and his three youngest brothers.

Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon..."

"She really doesn't need anymore," Bill repeated.

She jerked her head at Harry, who felt his stomach clench.

"Are you ok Harry?" Sirius asked. Harry glanced over at his godfather before turning his attention back to the wall that he was staring at, ignoring the clenching in his stomach curtsey of the book being read back in the Great Hall.

"I guess. I just don't want to hear what Marge said that night. I'm guessing that's why Hermione and Ron sent you out here with me," he said.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked. Harry shrugged.

"She says some pretty bad stuff about mum and dad. And more insults about me, which would probably set you two off as well."

"Do you want us to tell you some stories about your parents and our time at Hogwarts, seeing as we're learning all about yours?" Remus asked and Harry looked over at him eagerly.

"Really?"

"Course kiddo," Sirius said before launching into a story about how James had reacted when Lily asked him out after saying no so many times when he asked her out; he had asked her a couple times each year in their later years; it had never been anything overboard or creepy, but just enough to thoroughly annoy Lily. And he made sure to include a small bit about how Lily had reacted when she got too annoyed at him; he had been hit with books a few times, especially in the face.

Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Under bred."

"Is she suggesting that Harry should have been drowned," Mrs Weasley demanded. No one answered, many people thinking the same thing and were too angry to say anything.

"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day.

"She sounds like a muggle pureblood supremist, or like a muggle Death Eater," Susan said in disgust, her comment being echoed and agreed with all around the hall.

Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia" - she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one, "but your sister was a bad egg.

"She was not," many of the teachers exclaimed, all of them remembering her time in school fondly.

Harry was staring at his plate, a funny ringing in his ears.

Harry tried to concentrate on what Remus and Sirius were saying, on the story they were telling him about how they had charmed mistletoe to appear over his mum and dad whenever they stood near each other for the whole Christmas holidays of their seventh year. This was difficult however, due to the ringing that had appeared in his ears, causing everything around him to be half-drowned out by the annoying noise.

"This Potter," said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth,

"She doesn't sound like she needs any more alcohol," Tonks said, wrinkling her nose, Bill nodding his agreement; he would have cut her off two glasses again.

"He - didn't work," said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. "Unemployed."

"He was busy fighting in a war and protecting his family," McGonagall exclaimed in outrage.

"He'd graduated from the Auror academy top of his class and was already one of the best we had in the few months he was in the field before he went into hiding," Moody said.

"If I remember right, the only one who matched him in his Death Eater takedown was his partner, Black," Amelia agreed.

"What about his mum?" Ron asked, wanting to be able to tell Harry when he came back, knowing how much Harry loved learning new things about his parents.

"Lily was studying to become a healer, but she put that plan on hold when she was a few months pregnant and was planning on picking it back up when Harry was a bit older, since it's too dangerous to use healing magic when pregnant or when you have a young child," Minerva said, having kept in close touch with the young couple after they had graduated.

"A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who -"

"How dare she," Mr Weasley said. "How dare she insult a man who died protecting his family, and in front of that man's son. She should be lucky that Remus wasn't in here to hear that. Or none of us, apart from maybe Harry, would have been able to stop him going to pay her a visit." The fact that Sirius would have joined him remained unsaid.

"He was not," said Harry suddenly.

"He finally snapped," Ginny said.

"I would have snapped much earlier if it anyone was saying that about my parents," Neville said, many people who head him nodding in agreement.

"This part is his dad's temper. He managed to hold it in and shake it off all week, and something finally pushed him over the edge. And when he goes over the edge after holding it in, it's very explosive. Much more than if he cracks when it first happens," Ron said, remembering how he had reacted that summer; he had to have been bottling that anger up all summer. And it had been literally explosive, in the case they were reading about.

He had never felt so angry in his life.

In the abandoned classroom, Harry finally stopped listening to Remus and Sirius talk about his parents, the anger that he had felt that night rushing through him, his body starting to shake slightly. He clenched his fists, trying to not show his anger and to conceal the fact that he could feel what was going on in the books, even though he was pretty sure that Remus at least suspected that something was going on; Remus' reactions to his reaction towards the end of the previous book had told him that much. He could feel his magic starting to thrash around him and really hoped it wouldn't hurt either of the men in the room with him when it came to the point where it would fully lash out.

Proud of your parents, are you?

"Of course, he's proud of his parents," Ron and Hermione said aggressively.

They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect)-"

"They didn't die in a car crash," was yelled from all throughout the hall.

"Neither of them even drank," Mrs Weasley added, remembering the few comments she had heard Remus and Sirius make around Headquarters, especially when they themselves were sharing a glass, about how they had both always refused a drink, especially after Harry had been born.

"They didn't die in a car crash!" said Harry, who found himself on his feet.

"Here he goes," Ron said, and Hermione winced, remembering how loud he had gotten when he had been angry at them during the summer. Many of the Weasleys, namely Fred, George, and Ginny, looked excited about to see what Harry did, since they knew how his temper could get and wanted to see what it did when it wasn't directed to any of them. Especially since they knew that their dad had known, since the Ministry had had to get involved, and told Ron, but not told any of them.

But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking.

Harry climbed off the table and walked to the wall at the far end of the classroom. He stared at the wall; his hands clenched into fists with his nails digging into his palms. His magic was desperately wanting to lash out and he was fighting to keep it in control; he hadn't lost control of it since the incident being read about now and he was not going to let now be the time he lost control again; he had so worked hard to gain control in the first place. Plus, he knew that more of his magic was becoming accessible as the potions started to heal him; Poppy may have said that it was only a possibility, but he had felt that his magic was slightly stronger the night before than it had been before the potions, which had made the prank he set up that little bit easier to accomplish.

"Harry?" Remus asked.

"I'm fine," he said quietly.

"I don't think you are kiddo," Sirius said, and Harry heard a chair scrape as Sirius got off it.

"Please stay where you are," he said without turning around. He was hoping he would be able to control his magic, but if he weren't able to, he wanted the two men to be on the other side of the classroom so that they had a low chance of being harmed. He was glad when he heard the footstep stop in their approach.

She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger- but the swelling didn't stop.

"Note to self," George said.

"Don't anger Harry," Fred agreed.

"Imagine if he did that to You-Know-Who to get him to shut up," Charlie commented.

Next second, several buttons burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls- she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami …

Harry clenched his eyes tightly shut as he strained to keep his magic under control. His efforts were in vain though, as his control slipped and part of his magic leaked into the room, causing the tables and chairs near him to start shaking, as if there was an earthquake.

"MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together, as Aunt Marge's whole body began to rise off her chair towards the ceiling.

"Just like a balloon wanting to reach the stars," Luna said dreamily.

Ripper came skidding into the room, barking madly.

"Who even breads those dogs? Their barks are annoying," Lavender complained as the barks that were a mix of snuffling, yelping, and a bit of choking echoed around the room.

The cupboard door burst magically open as he reached it.

"He still had wild magic left after that outburst to open the cupboard before he reached it?" Kingsley asked in shock.

"Apparently," Amelia replied, just as shocked. The amount of magical power it would take to cause a spat of accidental magic that caused someone to blow up like a balloon, especially after two years at Hogwarts, was incredible, and then adding on that he still had enough accidental magic whipping around him to unlock something, all without collapsing from magical exhaustion, was outstanding. Just how powerful was Harry Potter?

In seconds, he heaved his trunk to the front door.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as his magic calmed down, the tables and chairs around him stopping shaking and stilled again. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning around to face Sirius and Remus.

"Are you ok Harry?" Sirius asked, stepping forward. Harry ran a hand through his hair and shrugged.

"I'm better now," he replied.

"What was that?" Remus asked.

"I lost some of my control and part of my magic lashed out. I couldn't stop thinking about what Marge said, despite the fact that I wasn't actually there and listening to it." Hopefully, that lie would work; he really didn't want them to know that he felt everything, mainly the pain and sometimes the extreme emotions, from the situations in the books.

"If you're sure," Remus said slowly, not sounding as if he completely agreed with, or even believed, what Harry had said.

"Are you ok to head back?" Sirius asked, concerned about the magical outburst that Harry had just had; accidental magic was meant to stop when you got your wand and started learning how to actually use magic, and Harry had passed that stage years ago; if he was still having accidental magic at fifteen, then he was very powerful. Harry let out a slow breath before nodding.

"COME BACK AND PUT HER RIGHT!"

"Like I'd want to put her right after what she'd just said," Harry said with a small scoff as he sat back down in his place on the couch with Hermione and Ron.

"She deserved it," Harry said, breathing very fast.

"Yes she did," Mrs Weasley said. Remus shot her a confused look, wondering what had happened in the book while they were out of the hall.

"I've had enough."

"You just left," Tonks said blankly, not entirely sure what else to say.

"I did. I was fine," Harry said, waving her concern away.

"What happened?" Remus asked.

"Aunt Marge insulted mum and dad really badly," Harry said.

"And Harrikins here didn't like that," Fred continued.

"He got very angry at here," George added.

"And then proceeded to blow her up," they finished together.

"You blew her up?" Remus asked. Harry shrugged.

"Like a balloon." Remus had no idea what to say to that and didn't have time to try and work out how to reply before the next chapter started.