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Chapter 4: Odd Occurrences

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Harry tucked his elbows in and closed his eyes. The wind was ruffling his hair and stinging his face. Luckily, Harry opened his eyes just in time to catch himself before he fell face first into the Weasley's fireplace.

" Well?" Ron said as he held out his hand, smiling brightly

" That was great! You guys are geniuses!" Harry said with a laugh as he looked at Fred and George, who were laughing loudly with Bill, Charlie, and Ginny; Hermione didn't look amused.

" Oh honestly! You guys can't give anyone a break can you?" She asked in her bossy, airy tone. Everyone just laughed a response. She sighed and smiled. Even though Hermione hated to admit it, she too, found it funny.

" How do you guys come up with these ideas?" Harry asked as he sat down in a chair at the kitchen table with Ron.

" Well, we got the idea for the Frog Fudge from that time when Ron cursed himself to burp up slugs." Fred said with a bright smile. Ron's ears went red, thinking about the time he tried to curse Malfoy but cursed himself instead.

" Yeah, the only bad thing is, it wears off after about an hour or so." George said in a very matter of fact kind of tone. Fred nodded.

" What's going on in here?" Came Mrs. Weasley's voice from the doorway. " Oh hello Harry dear. Now what are you laughing about?" She asked again, looking at the twins suspiciously. They smiled brightly.

" We didn't do anything Mum. Honestly, you call yourself our mother when you walk around prosecuting us constantly!" George said with a bright smile as everyone laughed. Even Mrs. Weasley found this funny. She smiled at the twins and turned to Harry.

" Well, it is good to see you Harry dear." She said with a warm sort of smile. Harry smiled back.

" It's good to be here." Mrs. Wealsey smiled and nodded.

" Well, dinner will be ready in an hour." Mrs. Wealsey said as she started to pull pots and pans out of the cabinets. Ron cleared his throat and gave Harry and Hermione both meaningful looks. Getting the message, they all three retreated to Ron's room on the up-most floor, under the attic, and the ghoul. When the got into the room, Ron closed the door quickly, tryin to drown out Percy's yelling at them for 'disturbing his work'. Ron looked at Harry and then Hermione.

" So Harry, has anything…weird happened?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head.

" No, nothing." He said. " Really!" He added quickly, spotting the mistrusting looks on their faces.

" Have you heard from Sirius?"

" Yeah, I heard from Sirius twice. Once two weeks after I got back from Hogwarts, and on my birthday. He says he's ok, and is at Professor Lupin's house." Harry said. " And that reminds me, Hermione, in your letter, you asked what the Defense Against the Dark Arts book reminded me of. What did you mean?"

Hermione frowned at this. " If you can't figure it out, then I guess you'll just have to wait. Honestly, it's not that hard." She said. " Besides, I don't think we're suppose to know." She said very matter of factly with a thoughtful look.  Both Ron and Harry exchanged quizzical looks, but they knew that Hermione wouldn't tell once she had made her mind not to.

" Boys! Would you help set the table?" Mrs. Wealsey's voice called from the kitchen. When they all walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Wealsey was loading Bill up with plates and cups to take outside to the large table that Charlie was setting. All the while she was complaining lovingly about a new necklace that Bill was wearing.

" Oh honestly Bill, dear, this is getting a bit silly. First your hair, then that silly earring, and now that necklace. Really dear, do the goblins at the bank mind at all?" She was asking him. Bill sighed as she added three more cups to his load.

" No Mum, they don't say a thing. Like I said before, they don't give a damn about how I dress. As long as I do my job they don't say a thing Mum." He said calmly. Mrs. Weasley gave her son a skeptical look before sighing and spotting Harry, Ron and Hermione.

" Silverware please, you three." She said pointing her wand at a drawer that opened, spitting out knifes, forks, and spoons. The three of them picked up the silverware and went outside with Bill.

" Hello Harry. How are you?" Bill asked, leaning against the back door to hold it open for them.

" I'm ok. Thanks." Harry said as he walked passed Bill who nodded.

" No problem." He said as they headed to the table where Charlie was. Charlie was guiding the chairs to their spots with his wand when they walked out. He looked at them and smiled.

" Hello all." He said with a smile, pointing his wand at the dishes that were weighing Bill down. The plates, bowls and cups all shot into the air and down into their right places. Spotting Bill's face, Charlie laughed.

" Mum nagging about your necklace now too?" He asked with a grin. Bill just nodded. Charlie laughed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat the silverware on the table as Charlie pointed his wand at them. All the silverware went to where it belonged.

It was no sooner then ten minutes before everyone was seated at the table and helping themselves to Mrs. Wealsey's cooking. There was chicken, and turkey, rolls, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, and few other things. Harry was happy to be eating real food. It was quite good, really, he thought to himself. All down the table there were different conversations going on. It was quite funny to listen to. After dinner they had dessert, which was every flavor of ice cream that you could imagine, even some that Harry's four, years in the wizarding world hadn't introduced him to. Fred and George even put some of their motor oil flavored joke ice cream out that Percy had the misfortune of tasting. He was stuck in the bathroom for an hour, though Harry had to give them credit. Sorry though he felt for Percy, it was quite funny. By the time they were done eating, the sun had gone down and everyone was very tired and very full of good food. Harry wasn't exactly sure how he had made it up to Ron's room. He didn't remember changing, laying down or falling asleep neither.

It was hard to believe that the month was almost gone. A full three weeks had come and gone without Harry being none the wiser. Maybe it was because he was having such a good time, that always makes the time pass quicker. At any rate, he could hardly believe that he would be at Hogwarts in a few days time, much less that he would be in Diagon Alley picking up his school things for the new year in an hour. Harry sat up and looked around Ron's room then to the twin lumps that were Fred and George. The twins had been pushed into Ron's room because Bill and Charlie had taken their room, like the last time they had visited. Yawning, Harry stood up and stretched as Mrs. Weasley knocked softly on the door and then walked in.

" Good Morning Harry." She whispered, shaking the twins lightly. " Up you get you two." She said before moving on to Ron who was sitting up in his bed. " Get dressed and come down for breakfast. We will be leaving in a bit." Mrs. Weasley said before walking out of the room. A long yawn came from either Fred or George, Harry couldn't tell which. Ron stood up, yawned, and then began looking around for his socks that he had carelessly thrown aside last night. It took a while for all four of them to get up and dressed. When they finally had, they all headed down stairs and to the kitchen.

Hermione and Ginny were both up and eating when Harry, Ron, Fred, and George walked in. Mrs. Weasley was by the stove, cooking no doubt.

" Good morning M-m-mum." Fred said failing to stop his yawn as they all sat around the table.

 " Why'd we have to get up so early, we're just going to Diagon Alley." George complained as Mrs. Weasley flipped five sausages on his plate, and moving on to serve Ron.

" We have a lot to do today. Your father needs to take care of something, I need to do some shopping, Bill needs to check with the bank, and Charlie has to pick up something from the animal shop for a dragon his friend is watching for him. Not to mention, we have to get all of your school things." Mrs. Weasley said as she put some eggs on Harry's plate.

After everyone had eaten, which had only taken a few minutes, they were all crowded in the kitchen. Mr. Weasley picked up a small flowerpot and walked over to the fireplace and tossed a bit in. Mr. Weasley had gone first, then Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry, and lastly Mrs. Weasley. In a matter of minuets, they where all in Diagon Alley. Harry was beating the soot off of his clothes while he walked down the street toward the bank with all the Weasleys, and Hermione. Floo Powder was by far the worst way to travel, Harry thought, sure it was fast, but it was painful if you didn't catch yourself in time, and getting soot up his nose he could have done without. When they all reached the bank, Harry had successfully brushed off all the soot from his clothes and had gotten his glasses cleaned.

As they walked in, Bill walked ahead to the counter and started talking to a free goblin. " I'm Bill Weasley from Egypt, I was told to talk to the head of the bank." He said, taking a card out of his pocket and handing it to the goblin. The goblin nodded.

" Yes, we've been expecting you. The manager is through that door, and down the hallway. It's the last door on your right." The goblin said as he handed the card back to Bill, who nodded.

" I'll meet you guys in Flourish and Blotts in an hour or so." He said before walking off. The goblin turned to Mrs. Weasley. She walked up to the counter.

" We need to get money out of the Weasley's and Harry Potter's vaults." She said and took out a key and handed it to the goblin. Harry took out his vault key and handed it to the goblin. The goblin looked at the keys.

" Alright, all things seem to be in order." He said as he waved a goblin over to take them to their vaults. The ride down to the vaults was quite crowed and uncomfortable. Harry had gotten elbowed in the ribs twice by Fred, and stepped on by Hermione when they where clambering out of the cart. Mrs. Weasley walked up to the vault that was theirs and swept some of the little money that was in vault. When it came time for Harry to get money out of his vault, he wished that everyone would just look away. He felt bad having all that money to himself, and Harry would have gladly shared all of his money, but he knew that the Weasleys would never accept. Harry stuffed some money quickly in his moneybag and walked out, all the while trying to block the others view. He was relived when his vault was shut again. When they got back up to the counter, Hermione exchanged Muggle money for wizarding money before they left the bank.

" Alright, everyone should go take care of what they need to, we'll all meet in Flourish and Blotts in an hour and a half." Mr. Weasley said before they all parted ways.

" Where should we go first?" Ron asked as he, Harry, and Hermione all walked down the street, looking at the shops as they past.

" How about we go get some ice cream?" Hermione suggested, spotting the ice cream shop just up the road. Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. As they walked down the road Harry came to a quick stop, feeling eyes on him. Looking behind him, he saw a cloaked figure standing in the doorway of a potions shop. A sudden, weak feeling, like the one he had felt on his birthday suddenly pricked his heart. He couldn't see the figure's face, but he was sure it was looking right at him… through him.

" Harry! Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione shout to him, running back with Ron. Harry turned his eyes to his friends and then back to the potions shop. The cloaked person was gone. His stomach gave an awful lurch and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

" Are you ok?" Ron asked. Harry gave a glance back at the potions shop, and then back at his friends. He nodded.

" Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I saw something. It's not important, come on, let's go get some ice cream." He said, trying to sound ok. Hermione and Ron exchanged nervous glances. " Really, I'm fine. We'd better hurry before they run out of waffle cones like last time." Harry said with a smile, driving the thoughts of the cloaked person out of his mind. Why should he be worried? Hermione and Ron both smiled.

"  Yeah, c'mon." Ron said, turning on heel and resuming his walk to the ice cream shop. While he was walking away, Harry couldn't help but steal one last glance at the potions shop, but there wasn't a cloaked person anywhere in site. Getting a large hot fudge sundae, complete with waffle cone, cherries, nuts, and three types of ice cream brought his spirits up immensely. After finishing their ice cream, they bought a second round and left the shop, talking about where to go next.

" How about the Quidditch shop?" Ron said as he pointed out a shop on their left. Hermione shook her head.

" How about we got get our school stuff first. We need to get our school shopping done first, then we can play around." She said in her very matter of fact kind of tone. Ron rolled his eyes and sighed.

" Honestly, can't we have any fun with you around?" he complained as they walked into a shop on their right. Hermione scowled.

" I don't know what you're complaining about, it won't take ten minutes." She snapped, picking up a quill and about twenty rolls of parchment.

Hermione proved to be right, the shopping only took ten minutes at the most. As agreed, they stopped by Quality Quidditch Supplies and looked around. Harry bought some more polish for his broom service kit. He had run out a few months ago, and couldn't wait to get back and polish his prized Firebolt. After they spent around twenty minutes looking around the Quidditch shop, they went and picked up some new robes, and then headed to the pet shop to get some treats for Crookshanks, Pig, and Hedwig. After that, they all headed to the joke shop, where they found Fred and George talking to a man behind the counter.

" Hallo!" Fred and George echoed together when they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

" Hi. What are you doing?" Hermione asked the twins. They grinned.

" We're talking to this bloke. He says he can help up start Weasley Wizard Wheezes." George said, both of their grins went wider. Harry and Ron smiled while Hermione sighed. Fred and George went back to talking to the man behind the counter while Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around the shop. After a while, they theft with their money pouches a lot lighter.

" We should go fill up our potion ingredients." Hermione suggested with a thoughtful look. Ron looked repulsed by the idea, but nodded in agreement.

" Yeah, I would hate to see what Snape would do if we should show up to his class on our first day back and didn't have all of our ingredients." Harry said. Ron nodded and scowled angrily at Harry.

" Potter!" He barked in a voice much like Snape's. " Thought you'd show up unprepared, did you? Fifty points from Gyffindor and a weeks detention!" He snapped and turned to Hermione. " Granger! What's your excuse? Apparently you're not as smart as you thought you were! Fifty points from Gyffindor and an 'F' on all your homework!" Ron snapped, trying hard to keep his 'Snape face'. Harry imitated Ron's look.

" Weasley! I suppose you couldn't afford new ingredients, is that it? Fifty points from Gyffindor and a ten gallon fee!" Harry said in a Snape voice, trying not to laugh. It was a losing battle, all three of them found themselves laughing at the joke. When they got to the potions shop, Harry couldn't help but remember the cloaked person. He looked around nervously, but there was no one in cloaks anywhere. But, Harry just couldn't get rid of the horrible pain that settled in his stomach. The whole time they where in the potions shop he kept looking around nervously, hoping that no one in a cloak would walk through the door, or walk out of a dark corner. They left, to Harry's great relief, ten minutes later.

" We should go to Flourish and Blotts, it's been an hour and twenty minutes." Harry said, checking his new watch that Sirius had gotten him as an 'early birthday present' a week after he went back with the Dursleys. Ron looked at Harry's watch and nodded.

" Yeah, maybe we should. We still have to get our books and stuff." Ron said as they turned a corner and walked into the bookstore. Inside they spotted Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, the twins, Percy, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny.

" Here are your booklists, dears." Mrs. Weasley said when she had seen them, and pulled out three pieces of crumpled up parchment. " Off you go, get you books." She said in a motherly tone. Harry, Ron, and Hermione split up and went different ways. Harry got his transfiguration book first, groaning at the size of it. It was even big by Hermione's standards, and that was saying something. Next he got his spell book, which, to his relief, was the same size as last years. The potions book was next, and Harry knew before he had seen it, that it would be as large as the transfiguration book, or bigger. It was just like Snape to make everything hard and miserable. And when Harry saw the book, he got the ominous feeling that Snape had picked that book out with him in mind.

" Got to be at least ten thousand pages…" Harry grumbled, turning the corner to were the Defense Against the Dark Arts books where. He looked at the shelf where they sat; not one was on the shelf, the last one was being read by some one that was leaning against the bookshelf. Harry's heart stopped when he looked at the person. It was the cloaked figure he had seen outside the potions shop. He was sure of it. The figure was looking down at the book reading and Harry wondered if they even knew he was standing there. His stomach gave an awful lurch when the person looked up at him. Harry looked back, but he couldn't see a face. The only part of the face he could see was from the lips, that were set into a stern line, and down to the person's chin. The cloak hid any signs of gender, and by the height he couldn't tell a thing.

"  Could I…er…" Harry started to ask for the book, but the words died in his throat. In one swift motion, the person had stood up, closed the book, and held it out to him. He reached for the book but hesitated. He looked at the black-gloved hand that was holding it out to him, and then back to the person's hidden face. The person stood still as a statue, holding the book out to him, and Harry was sure that the figure wasn't even breathing. He looked back to the book and took it slowly from the figure.

" Harry! Are you ready dear?" Mrs. Weasley called from the front of the store.

" Yeah, I'm coming." Harry called back, turning to the front of the store and looking back at the book. He stopped when he saw the tip of a piece of paper sticking out from under the cover. " Is this---" Harry began, looking back to where the cloaked person was. They where gone. Harry's heart stopped as he looked at where the strange person had been standing not even a few seconds before. He looked at the corner for a moment more before looking back at the book. Despite the anxiety that was gnawing at him, Harry couldn't help but wonder. He opened the book with shaking hands and picked up a napkin that was sitting inside. He turned it over and gasped. On the other side of ice cream shop napkin was a picture drawn in silver ink of himself, Ron, and Hermione all sitting at the ice cream shop, eating their hot fudge sundaes. Drawn in the corner in a close up, was himself, laughing brightly. There was no signature, but instead a pair of wings drawn in the bottom corner under Ron's chair. As Harry stared at the picture, the same feeling came over him as when the cloaked person had looked at him just a few moments ago, but, as Harry noticed, it wasn't fear. In fact, he didn't know what it was. He jumped when he heard some one call his name.

" Harry! What are you doing?" Hermione asked. Harry turned around and looked at Hermione and Ron, who both looked worried and nervous.

" Huh? What's that?" Ron asked, noticing the napkin. Harry shook his head.

" I'll explain when we get back to the Burrow." He said, jerking his head in the direction of Mrs. Weasley. Ron and Hermione nodded.

" Come along you three! We're about ready to leave!"  Bill piped up, waving them over from behind Mrs. Weasley. The three of them walked to the front with Hermione and Ron giving Harry uncomfortable glances. When the three of them got to the front, Mr. Weasley was paying for Ron, Ginny, and the twins' books. Harry glanced back at Hermione; she had already bought her books. " That's just like her." Harry thought to himself. When Mr. Weasley finished paying for the books, Harry stepped up to the counter. The man smiled at him.

" Good afternoon, that will be…fifty gallons, ten sickles, and nine knuts." He said. Harry took out the money and paid the man. As he picked up the bag of books, the man spoke again when the Weasleys where out of earshot. " You'll be Harry Potter, am I right?" Harry nodded. The man smiled. " Nice to finally put a face to the name. Have a good day Mr. Potter." He said with a merry wave as Harry picked up his books.

" Alright, has everyone done everything they need to?" Mr. Weasley asked when Harry walked out of Flourish and Blotts. Everyone nodded. " Great! Now back to the Burrow." He said as they began walking off. When they finally got back to the Burrow, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all retreated upstairs to Ron's room. Ron shut the door quickly and both he and Hermione gave Harry stern looks.

" Ok, now what's going on?" Ron asked.

" What where you looking at?"

" What did you see at the potions shop?"

" Why where you so jumpy in the potions shop?"

" One question at a time!" Harry bellowed, his mind spinning in confusion. Ron and Hermione both got quiet.

" This is what I was looking at." He said, pulling out the napkin. Ron and Hermione looked at it wide-eyed. Before either could ask any questions, Harry explained about the cloak person, and how many times he had seen the person. He told them about his birthday, and the weird feeling he got when he looked at the picture on the napkin. Both of them sat quiet for a minute.

" Have you told Sirius?" Hermione asked after a moment of silence. Harry shook his head.

" No, I didn't want him to worry. He might have done something stupid and ended back in Azkaban." He said. Hermione frowned.

" Sirius isn't stupid! Besides, you should tell him! Write to him right now and tell him! Dumbledore too! They both need to know!" She shrieked. Ron nodded.

" I hate to agree with her, but she is right. It might be better to let some one else know, so they can be on the look out too." He said. Harry sighed as Hermione pulled out a quill, parchment, and a bottle of ink and shoved it into Harry's arms.

" I was going to anyways, you know." He grumbled as he began to write. Hermione snorted but Harry just ignored her. He wrote for about five minutes in silence until he pulled his back and read what he had wrote:

    Dear Sirius,

           You asked me too tell you about anything weird, so here it goes. On my birthday, I was looking outside my window and I saw some one standing across the street looking up at me. When I blinked to get a better look, they were gone. I pushed it out of my mind, but today when I was in Diagon Alley, I think I saw the person again. I don't know because I never did get a look at their face. The first time was when I was walking to the ice cream shop, I got a weird feeling and looked back, and there was someone standing in the doorway of the potions shop looking at me. I turned my eyes for a second, and they were gone. The second time was when I was getting my school books. The same cloaked person was standing there, holding the last book. They gave me the book and I looked away, and when I looked back, they were gone. There was no other way of the corner unless they had walked past me. But the weirdest thing was that inside the book they gave me, was a napkin with a picture of me, Ron, and Hermione at the ice cream shop drawn on it in silver ink.

       It might just be a weird coincidence, but Hermione and Ron thought it best I told you. Hope you, Professor Lupin, and Buckbeak are well.

                                               --Harry

Harry walked over to Hedwig's cage and opened it up. " Hey Hedwig. I need you to take this to Sirius for me ok?" He said to the sleepy snowy owl. " I could always use Pig, couldn't I Ron?" He said, turning to look at Ron. He nodded.

" Yeah, I don't mind if you use Pig." Hedwig looked at Ron and then to Harry and stuck her leg out for him. Harry tied the letter to the owl's leg and carried her to the window.

" I'll be at Hogwarts in two days, so just go there alright?" He asked, petting Hedwig. She hooted and nipped his ear softly and soared out the window, disappearing into the sunset.

" Well, that's done. How about we get packed and then go and play some Quidditch?" Ron suggested. Harry nodded. Harry picked up his bags and walked over to his trunk and popped it open.

" Well, I'll go put my stuff up and-" Hermione began, only to get cut off.

" Guys…look at this…." Harry said, holding up a small piece of parchment with the same silver ink as the napkin. Ron and Hermione walked up to him and looked at it. The note said:

                    Harry Potter,

                             Things aren't always what they appear to be, or seem to be, when you first see them.

                     Things aren't always what they appear to be, there might be something hiding. Do well                        

                     to remember this little bit of advice that I give you. Don't trust half of what you see, or all       

                   of what  you will hear. The war is coming, don't let us down. You can't afford to make a

                   mistake.

~End chapter 4