Harry spent the summer feeling pleased as punch. He'd gotten the drop on wizards significantly older and more experienced than him!
He'd spent much of the year thinking he wouldn't be able to see his family, and yet here he was; going through the endless tests that they always had for him and practicing wandless magic.
In their exploration of the topic of Therianthropy over the prior winter break, they'd also come across the term Animagus, which was a wizard who could change their shape into that of an animal. Legend said that a Metamorphagus might be able to be multiple animals.
Becoming an Animagus required no wand, but it did require a great deal of work. He spent the summer reading every book he'd scanned into the computers on the subject, brewing potions, and meditating on what his spirit animal was, aided by the potions he brewed. He was still in the beginning stages by the end of summer.
Then one night, after he had fallen asleep while meditating, while he was dreaming of flying, something heavy landed on him while he slept. He woke with a start and stared at the alien-like being that was standing on him. Green skin, bulbous eyes, and wearing only a tea towel, he and the alien stared at each other.
"Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts!" the alien exclaimed. So a magic alien then, great.
Harry stared groggily at the alien not sure what to say. After a moment's more hesitation he decided himself. Then he opened his mouth and screamed out, "Mira!" to get the attention of the woman who was spending the night there.
"Shh!" the alien whispered urgently, "Harry Potter must be quiet!"
Harry ignored it and screamed out once more, "Mira!" only to immediately have a sock magically stuff itself in his mouth.
It was too late though and the door of his bedroom slammed open, immediately followed by his bed curtains being pulled back. Her weapon drawn, she got one good look at the alien before it Eeped(!) in surprise and disappeared.
After that, the alien didn't appear again, but then neither did his Hogwarts letter and he had to call Hermione to get the list of supplies they needed. The Headmaster must still be sulking at Harry disappearing at the start of the summer.
He'd called Hermione many times over the summer, about once a week actually. Once he'd explained that the Headmaster was trying to take him from his guardians simply because they were muggles she was on his side. She'd also given Ron his phone number, at Harry's request, but at the time the boy was supposed to call his father answered instead and screamed down the phone that Harry had to come to live with them at once.
Once he'd explained that whole situation to Hermione the two of them had decided to give the entire Weasley family the cold shoulder for the summer and neither had spoken to them since.
When he asked her for the list she asked him if they could go shopping together. On the one hand that sounded good but on the other hand, he couldn't let anyone know about his disguise capabilities so he regretfully told her that he couldn't do that.
They went shopping on a Tuesday around 1 pm when Diagon Alley was mostly clear of shoppers and, much as they may like to go on another information-gathering shopping spree they agreed not to since the last had made it into the papers, even if he was able to be disguised.
Eventually, the end of summer arrived and it was time to go back to school.
To avoid the Headmaster's lackeys, Harry arrived at the train station at 5 in the morning and when he got on Platform 9 3/4 the train wasn't even there. Harry dozed off as he tried to read a Mandarin Chinese chapter book and woke when the train arrived at 8.
Now safely ensconced in a private compartment of the train Harry ate the breakfast that had been packed for him (ham, egg, and bacon sandwich with an apple and a box of orange juice) and then went back to his Mandarin Chinese chapter book.
A small number of people started arriving at 10 but it wasn't until 10:30 that Hermione arrived and happily informed him that she had decided to also learn Mandarin Chinese so that he wouldn't be doing it alone, at her parents' urging. They always wanted Hermione to strive for excellence and this was just another way for her to do so.
Ron arrived only moments before the train was set to leave and was greeted by twin glares.
"What?" he asked defensively, "Bad enough you didn't write but now you're mad at me before I've even done anything!"
Before Harry could say anything Hermione said, "Well maybe we wouldn't be mad if your family weren't a bunch of bigots! It's bad enough that we get it at school but now outside of it too? And from you!"
"Excuse me!?" Ron exploded. "My family aren't bigots!"
"Then why did your dad scream at me to leave my family and go live with you?" Harry asked icily before Hermione could butt in again.
"Because Dumbledore said that you're living with a dangerous bunch!"
"I'm living with muggles!" Harry growled, ignoring the fact that they were in fact a dangerous bunch.
Ron looked dumbfounded, "You're living with muggles?"
"Yes, and the only reason Dumbledore wants to take me away from them is that they're muggles. That's what he told me at the end of last year. After my aunt and uncle got arrested the muggles placed me somewhere else and now Dumbledore's all offended that they didn't place me where they wanted and decided to remove me."
"But- Dumbledore's- you know, Dumbledore! He loves muggles! And so does my dad!"
"Well, then Dumbledore's lying, to one or both of us. And your dad fell for it which is nearly as bad in my book. He's an adult he's not supposed to fall for stuff like that."
Ron almost collapsed into the seat beside him, "You- you must have misunderstood."
"I didn't," Harry growled, still worked up over it. "I told him that they love and care for me and he said something like, 'be that as it may' and then ordered me to go home with you."
Ron shook his head, "Dad'll be furious. I've got to tell him." He glanced out the window but they'd long since left the station.
Harry studied Ron but he seemed to be sincere, "All right then, tell him I expect an apology."
Ron grimaced but nodded, "Of course."
After that, the train ride went by fairly quickly with Hermione and Harry speaking to each other in Mandarin and attempting to read the chapter book he had brought with him and Ron staring forlornly out the window.
Harry wasn't surprised when he was called to the Headmaster's office the next morning after being given his schedule. Hermione patted his arm reassuringly and Ron looked vaguely guilty again.
Before he could get far from the table he was stopped by what looked to be a miniature, female version of Ron. "Can I help you uh-"
"Ginny, Ginny Weasley. You're friends with my brother. You were supposed to live with us this past summer."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Right well I've got a meeting so-"
"I got you this for your birthday" she interrupted, shoving a book into his hands and then running off.
Shrugging Harry shoved the book into his bag and went on his way.
"Licorice Wands," Harry snapped at the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office, already irritated by the meeting before it had even started.
Harry was unsurprised by the sight of the scarred man standing behind and to the right of the Headmaster and he sneered at him, getting a sneer in return.
"Harry I'm very disappointed in you for not going to live with your foster family."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Frankly I don't care. You can't just take someone from their family just because you don't like them."
"That's not why I did this Harry, I did this because I care about you. I worry about what they're indoctrinating you with." Harry rolled his eyes again.
"Whatever."
The Headmaster continued to try to convince Harry that going to the Weasleys was for the best but Harry just ignored him. After several minutes of this, the scarred man said, "Albus it's time for you to do it."
"No Alastor," the Headmaster said sharply, "We've been over this, he's just a child."
"A child with secrets!" And before Harry could do anything a spell was shooting his way with a shouted "Legilimens!"
Harry didn't have time to dodge but it didn't matter because a shield shimmered into place in front of him. Without thinking too hard about it Harry went running from the office.
That day they had double Herbology, Transfiguration, double Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even with that grueling schedule, and in the case of DADA a ridiculous class, Harry was distracted all day. He barely had the presence of mind to snort at the quiz they were given and he was only fully distracted from his thoughts by the pixies being set loose. After they were all captured he went right back to brooding.
After finishing most of his homework, since most of it was due the next day, he checked out ten books (the second-year limit) and went to his dorm room.
After sending off his daily report he alternated between making the next potion he needed for the Animagus transformation on his desk and scanning in books. He ended up missing dinner but Ron was kind enough to bring him some leftovers, mercifully after Harry had finished scanning the books.
"Why are you doing more Potions?"
Harry shrugged, "I want to."
"You're barmy mate."
Harry grimaced in irritation but continued with his potion.
"Hey, what's this?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed, "I can't look away from the potion right now, what does it look like?"
"It's a black, blank book."
It took a second but then Harry remembered, "Oh yeah, your sister gave it to me. I haven't looked at it yet, sounds like it's a journal."
"Ginny gave it to you?" he asked, bewildered. "How'd she get it?"
Harry shrugged, "How would I know?"
He could hear Ron flipping through it, then he exclaimed "It has got some blokes name in it! She must have stolen it!"
Harry grimaced, "So tell your brother, he'll know what to do."
"Yeah, you're probably right. I can't believe she stole it!"
Finally, Ron left leaving Harry in blissful silence to focus on his potion.
Author's Note: I spent much of the week glancing at the stats when I could only to see it say that no one had read the last chapter. I knew this to be false as I had gotten two reviews on the past chapter. Obviously, FFN was glitched out for a while however when I logged on this morning it finally admitted to me the actual number of people who had read it. In case it happens again could you please leave a review so I don't feel so bad staring at a zero, even if I know it's false? Regardless, lots of love and thanks for reading!