Summer was coming to a close. In two weeks, September 1st would arrive, though because September 1st, 1990 fell on a Saturday, school wouldn't start until the 3rd.

Harry was thinking about what awaited him in his last year of primary school.

In the past, Dudley and his friends made sure to scare off any of the other children from befriending him, mainly by threatening to beat them up. And though Harry knew he was Dudley's favourite target, he also knew he wasn't the only one. He knew there were other boys, and a few girls too, who would get harassed by Dudley's gang regularly. Was there anything Harry could do about that? Was there a way to make friends that wouldn't cause other kids to suffer by being friends with him?

He knew that Matilda made friends when she went to school by treating everyone kindly and doing her best to protect them when possible. From Lavender and Amanda to Brucey, Matilda did what she could to help and encourage her friends when they needed it, even if it meant using her powers (carefully…).

Would he be able to do the same?

How could he prevent a future friend from getting hurt? How could he stop Dudley from bullying people, without Dudley tattling to his parents, making Vernon and Petunia angry?

Such thoughts preoccupied Harry with more and more regularity as the time drew close to return to school.

Harry did have a bit of a change over the summer though.

While before, he might have shrunk back and let whatever life threw at him batter him down, now Harry was trying something different. He knew that he was nowhere near as clever as Matilda is, but he knew that if he wanted his life to change, he had to be the one to do something about it.

And so, the thoughts of the upcoming school year, the last school year that he would share with Dudley, have occupied Harry's mind constantly. And it wasn't only the tentative hope of making friends that was on his mind.

In years past, Harry had learned that any sign from him of eclipsing Dudley in any area of achievement would be viewed very negatively by his aunt and uncle. And so, after the first few times he tried to excel in his first year of school, and was punished for it, Harry only ever did what he had to do to avoid any letters going home with complaints. The rule was, if the Dursleys could pretend he didn't exist, then his life wasn't as terrible. Letters about him, of any kind, were discouraged. And so, for the past five years of schooling, Harry got by, doing his best to be invisible.

After everything Harry had gone through this summer, he knew this could not continue. Matilda didn't let her family discourage her from doing her best, and Harry intended to follow her example.

But the question remained… How could he do his best while making sure Dudley doesn't get wind of it, raising the wrath of Vernon and Petunia?

Thinking about all he learned this summer; Harry was trying to decide if he could use his powers to solve some of these problems. And so, a week before the beginning of school, Harry found himself in the library once more. The Dursleys had taken Dudley and Piers to an amusement park, and so wouldn't be back until much later in the evening, after dropping off Piers at his home. Harry had already taken care of the chores he had to and was now sitting in his regular spot in the library with his notebook, trying to sort out the problems that have been plaguing his mind. As had become a habit, Harry was writing things out.

First, he wrote down all of the powers that he had learned to use reliably. These included "Open", "Lock", "Switch", "Change", "Shrink", "Grow" and "Multiply". All of these powers would be really useful in school. He could "switch" report cards from As to Cs to bring home… He could "lock" bullies in classrooms or toilets so they wouldn't bother his friends. He could "multiply" school supplies in case a friend needed something…

There was one power however, that he knew he had used once, but had so far been afraid to try again… Disappearing and reappearing elsewhere. What if he tried it again and got stuck somewhere? When he had done that accidentally, when being chased by Dudley's gang, he didn't even know what he was doing, and he ended up on the school roof. What if this power was much more difficult to control? Based the comic books he had read, he thought maybe it wouldn't be that difficult… But he had to remind himself that Nightcrawler of the X-men wasn't real, and Harry's own powers were different. The time before, no one had mentioned a cloud of sulfur smoke when he disappeared.

Harry felt however, that he had to try. It saved him from a beating last time, even if it got him in trouble later. What if he needed to do it again? What if he needed to help a friend? He couldn't let himself be afraid to help.

His mind made up, and resolve fortified, Harry considered how to test himself. 'I could try here in the library' he thought 'not too many people around right now, and I know it very well. I could try a very small distance… and see if I can manage it'.

Harry stood up from his usual corner, and walked over the far corner of the library, a spot he knew was mostly invisible to the rest of the library's patrons. Ensuring no one could see him, he concentrated on what he knew to be the key, the desperate feeling of needing to get away to safety. Harry then pictured in his mind where he wanted to go, the opposite corner of the library, which was also shielded from onlookers by tall shelving.

Not remembering what word he had decided to use as a command, Harry was starting to feel a bit strange… Like he was getting squished slowly, a most unpleasant feeling. Harry stopped and opened his eyes, and the feeling went away. 'I don't remember a squishing feeling last time… but I was distracted' he thought. Closing his eyes again, Harry thought for a moment, deciding on a command word. A few seconds later, he had it. Thinking of the destination and remembering the feeling he needed to fuel his power, Harry smiled, and said "Bamf!"

A split second of being squished tightly, like peanut butter through a straw, and Harry opened his eyes to find himself on the other side of the library.

'I did it!' he thought, amazed.

Walking back to his usual seat, Harry noticed two things. One, he was winded, as if he had just done 10 of his tricks in a row… Two, he saw Ms. Atwell rushing to the corner of the library he had just disappeared from. Curious, Harry cocked his head and made to follow her, before Matilda's voice in his head told him to wait. 'No need to rush' it said, 'she'll come back, and you can ask her then'. Feeling a little bit short of breath and agreeing that this was a very sensible course of action, Harry decided to go back to his seat.

A few moments later, Ms. Atwell made her way back to her desk, a puzzled look on her face.

"You alright Ms. Atwell?" called Harry, loud enough for her to hear.

"Oh, yes Harry, I'm quite alright… But did you hear that noise?" she replied with a question.

"What noise, ma'am?"

"Well, I could have sworn I'd heard a loud crack… Like one of the bookshelves broke in half. It sounded like it came from the corner of the library, but I went to check, and I didn't see anything amiss…" she said, trailing off at the end her sentence, her mind clearly puzzled.

"Oh" said Harry, his mind abuzz. His "Bamfing" was clearly the cause of that noise, though he himself had not heard it while he was being squished. And the sound was loud if Ms. Atwell heard it as loud as she did. He had to be careful when using that power, or he could easily get discovered.

'So, it's loud, and I feel really winded if I use it, even for short distances…' thought Harry. 'I will have to save it for emergencies only, when there is no other option.'

Settling down, Harry then went about making a list of possible uses for all of his powers that would help him in school. Smiling to himself, he made his plans, and thought that this school year would certainly be different than any before.

The morning of Monday September 3rd finally came. Dudley had just left for school after breakfast, while Harry still had to tidy up after everyone before he could leave. Thankfully, he packed his school backpack the night before, and thanks to his improved health and stamina, was pretty confident he could make it to the school on time.

'Still, wouldn't hurt to hurry' he thought.

Getting the kitchen cleaned up quickly and efficiently wasn't hard due to his years of practice, and once done, he ran to his cupboard, grabbed his bag and headed to school. Taking the route that would take him past the library was second nature at this point, and also served to help him avoid meeting Dudley's gang on the way.

He arrived at the school, and not seeing Dudley around, headed to the notice board, to see which classrooms Year 6 students were meant to report to. Noting his name and the corresponding details, he headed to his assigned room, passing quite a few students he knew by sight from the previous years. Funnily enough, they didn't seem to recognize him. Trying to be friendly, and to turn over a new leaf, Harry smiled and waved at some of the students he remembered to be nice. After seeming startled for a moment, some waved back, recognizing him. One of the girls, Sally-Anne, actually stared at him open-mouthed for a few moments before shaking her head as if to clear it. He wasn't sure why they were confused… He was still the same boy, even if his clothes fit a bit better.

He wouldn't understand this for many years, but to his fellow pupils, seeing him again after the long summer, he was nigh unrecognizable. Though his hair wasn't a nest, his clothes fit better, and his overall appearance was much better due to his vastly improved nutrition, it was the way he carried himself that made the most difference.

No longer trying to be invisible, and walking with a relaxed yet purposeful gait, he exuded an aura of active, yet calm positivity. In years prior, he worked to make himself invisible so as to not attract attention that would get back to his aunt and uncle and cause him trouble. Now, though he was still aware of the need for caution, it was not the overwhelming instinct driving his behaviour. He did however, wonder to himself if he was jumping in too deep... So far, none of the other kids approached him, and he wondered if the fear of Dudley was still compelling them all to stay away. He hoped as the day went on, that he'd have an opportunity to talk with some of them, especially those who Dudley had bullied in the past, and see what he could do to help them.

He didn't have to wait long.

Later in the afternoon, during break time, Harry was leaving the building to go to the playground, when he saw Dudley's gang chasing a small, blond, bespectacled boy named Daniel Westin. By the look of terror on the boy's face, and the all-too-familiar look of gleeful malice on the faces of Dudley and his friends, Harry knew exactly how this chase would end if he didn't intervene. But he still had to be careful. It didn't look like Dudley's gang had seen Harry, which was good. Taking off at a light jog to keep up with the chase, Harry managed to duck into some shrubbery on the side of the building. It looked like the gang would corner the blond boy in the next few seconds, as Daniel seemed to realize, as he turned to face his tormentors and meekly accept his fate. Thinking quickly, Harry pointed his hands between the branches of the shrub, at Dudley's and Piers's shoes, and commanded in a quiet but firm voice "Open!".

The shoelaces of both Dudley's and Piers's shoes untied themselves, and as they were both running somewhat quickly, they inevitably stepped on their own shoelaces and tripped face first into the ground. The rest of the gang, being right behind them, fell on top of them in a massive dog-pile. Cries of frustrated pain and childish anger rang out from the heap. These cries were heard by one of the teachers (Mr. Welch.) who was the play yard supervisor, who finally noticed them and came over to see what the ruckus was about.

Harry saw Daniel standing there, wide-eyed, seemingly amazed at his own stroke of luck. The teacher, seeing only Daniel standing upright, started asking him some questions. Harry couldn't quite hear the conversation, but it looked like the teacher's face was becoming more of a thunderhead by the second, as he turned his furious gaze to the pile of bullies on the ground.

"Dursley! Polkiss! And the rest of you sorry lot! Follow me! Now!" called the teacher. "And you better not try and sneak away... I've seen all your faces and trying to escape will only cost you even more."

Harry waited in the shrubbery, careful not to move or make noise of any kind, trying to blend into the shrub with every fiber of his being. This whole thing would only work if Dudley had no reason to think Harry was involved. As the entourage of teacher and bullies drew closer, he felt a shiver run from the top of his head to his toes... His nerves were on edge. He waited with bated breath until the entourage had passed and he heard them enter the building proper. Exhaling slowly, feeling the warmth return to his fingers and toes, Harry stood up and out of the shrubbery and walked over to Daniel.

Daniel was still standing there, the same amazed yet puzzled expression on his face as he looked at the spot on the ground where the pile of bullies had briefly occupied. Looking up and seeing Harry, Daniel looked surprised to see him.

"Did you see that?" asked Daniel with a bewildered tone "I thought I was done for! And then all of a sudden, all their shoelaces all untied themselves! And BAM! Down they went!"

"Yeah, I saw" said Harry, smiling "I was behind the shrub over there" pointing at the shrub behind him.

"But how did it happen? They've been chasing me for 5 minutes already! Their shoelaces weren't untied then..." wondered Daniel.

"Does it matter?" asked Harry "It looks like they might get a detention on the first day of school, which means all the rest of us, who just want to enjoy our break time in peace, finally can... At least for a bit."

Daniel looked at Harry with what Harry thought was a rather disconcerting look. Staring at Harry with his head tilted sideways, as if seeing him for the first time, Daniel seemed to think for a moment before asking "Did you do this? Did you do that to them?"

"What?! How could I?" asked Harry, not lying precisely.

"I don't know... But it can't be a coincidence that you were there. Why were you hiding in there any way?" asked Daniel.

"Hello, my name is Harry Potter, and Dudley Dursley is my bestest friend..." replied Harry with a slight touch of sarcasm.

"Is it true that he's your cousin?" asked Daniel with a skeptical tone.

"To my undying shame, yes."

"Then why does he hate you?"

"I honestly don't know... Maybe I make him feel fat."

"But he is fat"

"Yes, but it's how he feels about it that makes him angry"

"Huh... I guess that makes sense"

"You're Daniel, right?"

"Yeah, Daniel Westin. Though you can call me Dan. I gotta say Harry, even though I don't know how you did it, thanks for that save mate."

"No thanks needed Dan."

"So, not denying it, then?"

"I'm sure I do not know what you mean…"

"Well, we don't have much time left in the break, but would you like to come play basketball? One on one? I'm not very good, but I still like it."

"Sure!" replied Harry. This was officially the first time anyone had asked him to play, and once more, Harry thanked Matilda for showing him the way.

Dudley's gang was punished severely for harassing a student on the first day of school and received detentions for the whole month of September. This meant that all of their regular victims were free to enjoy their time in school virtually free of the harassment of previous years. In that time, Harry had managed to start some tentative friendships with many of the kids in his year. Tentative though many of them were (due to the fear of Dudley returning even angrier), some started developing into more solid ones. Dan and Harry, for example, started meeting at the library and playing chess. Daniel, it turned out, was a quiet chess prodigy, though he didn't like to boast about it. Though certainly not shunning outdoor sports like football and basketball, Daniel enjoyed the classic board games quite a lot as they fed very much into his very organized mind. Harry learned the game from him, and found himself enjoying it as well, although he tended to be impatient with his moves, resulting in Daniel defeating him soundly on a regular basis. Thankfully, Dan never gloated, which made Harry eager to play again and improve.

On the other side of the coin was Adam Wiggins, a dark-skinned, brown-haired boy who lived and breathed football. In a spontaneous pick-up game, Harry had a chance to play with him, and Harry ran so fast that he was able to bypass the other team's defense with speed alone. Since then, Adam started picking him for his teams at break, which led to the two becoming friendly.

Harry even got along better with some of the girls, after helping some of them in the library with a particular literature assignment they were struggling with. Having already read Animal Farm over the summer (such a strange story, he thought), the assignment's topic, he was able to help them make sense of it and helped them sharpen their essays.

Coming home after that first day, Harry had been worried that he would be blamed for Dudley's detentions, but thankfully Vernon and Petunia were thoroughly talked to by the head teacher, and none of the fallout fell on Harry.

All in all, it was certainly an auspicious beginning to his term. And the cherry on top of this wonderful start were his marks. Though he didn't raise his hand in class, due to usually sharing a class with Dudley or one of his cronies, Harry made it a habit to approach his teachers after class and ask for clarifications, or to offer some thoughts he had on the subject. The teachers, pleasantly surprised by the quiet boy's renewed enthusiasm, were more than happy to feed it. Though his school wasn't a prestigious one, Harry's teachers were experienced, and recognized that he wasn't comfortable being called on in class. And so, Harry started to see a marked improvement in his marks across the board. Though he didn't know it yet, he quickly rose to the top 10% of pupils, and many of his teachers were having conversations with one another on his rather remarkable turn-around. And the best part? His aunt and uncle remained clueless, as Harry would "switch" his report cards to show a C grade on every letter he was told to take home.

Yep, the year couldn't be going any better...

Harry should have known it was too good to last forever.