Chapter 1 Chance Meeting?
"Breakfast! UP! Now!" As usual Harry woke up to Aunt Petunia's shouts. His
scar was hurting but it wasn't as bad usual. He rolled over and got out of
bed. He marked a notch on the wall, counting down the days until he would
return to school.
Unlike most 14 year olds, he normally looked forward to school, but again, unlike most 14 year olds, he was a wizard. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a little scared of going back this year though because at the end of last year, Voldemort had risen again. Voldemort had killed his parents when Harry was a baby. He had also attacked Harry, but because Lily, Harry's mother, had sacrificed her life for Harry's, the curse rebounded on Voldemort, bringing his downfall. Just a few months ago, though, Voldemort had performed a complicated, dark, spell, using Harry's blood, that returned him to a body. Harry had no way to keep up with the recent events in the wizarding world, except for the occasional letter from Ron and Hermione, his best friends at Hogwarts. He was also beginning to expect the two were hiding something from him, but he couldn't be sure. He spent a lot of time trying not to think about last terms events and trying not to worry about the present and future in the Wizarding World. It was easier to think about than it was just a month ago though.
During the summer holiday, he lived with his absolutely dreadful Aunt and Uncle and their large son, Dudley. They were muggles, non-magic folk and detested any and all things that have to do with magic, including, it seems, Harry.
His Aunt and Uncle were decent to him this summer, as they were still worried about the threat of his godfather, Sirius Black, an accused murder and wizard. He was innocent, but Harry's aunt and uncle didn't need to know that.
A few minutes later he was walking down the stairs when he heard his cousin Dudley wail, "I don't want Grapefruit, mom! I want eggs, and bacon and pancakes and-"
He was quickly cut off by Uncle Vernon's thundering voice, "YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT! EAT YOUR GRAPEFRUIT AND LIKE IT! END OF CONVERSATION!"
Harry sighed, it would be a long day. This summer wasn't as bad as others, because he still had the threat of Sirius. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had also been harder on Dudley. He still couldn't fit into a Smelting's uniform and his grades had been even worse than usual. Harry sat down to his own small slice of grapefruit and began to eat. He had about finished when Aunt Petunia started talking, it didn't occur to Harry that she was talking to him until he heard his name.
"Harry, are you listening? I'm serious about you behaving for Mrs. Figg." She stared at him expectantly.
"Alright. I will." He wasn't entirely sure why he was going over to his neighbor's house, but it usually meant that the Dursleys were leaving their house and didn't trust Harry to stay home alone. It wasn't normally that bad, occasionally she let him just watch TV, while she worked around the house. Since he was done eating he went back to his room. He was working on his homework when an hour later he heard Uncle Vernon below, "Harry, you're leaving. NOW!" He threw his books under his bed and walked quickly outside, and into the car where the Dursleys drove him the 2 streets over to Mrs. Figg's house. She was waiting outside for him. So once Harry was out of the car the Dursleys drove off.
"Hello, Harry. How is school going? What year are you now?" Mrs. Figg was an older lady who always seemed to be cheery. She used to own a lot of cats, but then one broke her leg and she wasn't so fond of them anymore. Her house also smelled of cabbage, but after attending Hogwarts, which was full of both pleasant and unplesant smells, Harry didn't mind it so much.
"Its good, I'm in my fifth year." He briefly wondered if the Dursleys had told her too that he was attending St Brutus's School for the Criminally Insane, which is what they had told most people.
"Well, that's good. You are Leigh's age then. I thought so," she told him as they walked inside.
Harry wondered who Leigh was, but his question was quickly answered. Sitting in the living room, reading a book was a girl, who did look about Harry's age, reading a book. She stood up once she saw them. She was mostly average looking, but her hair long was such a dark red-brown, it was mahogany.
"Leigh is visiting me for the summer. Leigh this is Harry Potter." Mrs. Figg introduced the two.
Harry thought Leigh's dark blue eye's narrowed for a moment, looking like she was considering something, but then she smiled so quickly, Harry doubted it even happened. "Hi."
"Hello." He grinned back. ________
"Leigh... wake up." Leigh could hear someone talking to her but she really didn't feel like waking up. "I know you're probably still tired, but you need to get used to the time change. Come on Leigh, wake up." They wouldn't go away and her brain was slowly waking up so Leigh opened her eyes. The voice belonged to Mrs. Figg, her Great Aunt's friend who had agreed to allow Leigh to stay over her house for the summer. Mrs. Figg was nice, but she was also boring.
"Fine. I'm up." She said after she yawned. She heard Mrs. Figg walk away. A few minutes later she did actually convince herself to get out of the bed. Once dressed she walked into the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Leigh." Leigh made a mental note that Mrs. Figg was abnormally cheery in the morning.
"Morning..." Leigh still wasn't fully awake.
Mrs. Figg smiled. "A boy about your age will be coming over today. His aunt and Uncle don't like him to be home alone and they're taking their son out today. I thought I'd tell you. He's a nice boy."
"'Kay..." Leigh was eating breakfast now, "When?"
"Oh he should be in about two hours or so." Once Mrs. Figg finished eating she went to work outside.
As she ate breakfast she began to wake up. When she finished, she decided to study a bit for the upcoming school year. She was transferring to the school where her Great Aunt taught, and her old schools had a different format. However, the schools she attended weren't your average schools. Leigh was a witch and would be attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardy. In the past she had gone to both the Salem Witches Institute and Glendale Academy. Her mom had died about seven years ago and Leigh was shuffled between family members since. She had adapted though she did get tired of moving. She briefly hoped this would be the last time she moved before she was out of school.
The only thing she knew about Hogwarts was that her mother, Rowan, had gone there when she was in school. Rowan was born and raised in England, but had moved to the States when she was pregnant with Leigh, feeling that she would be safer there.
She was scanning The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 as she had used a different but similiar enough text book, when she looked up Mrs. Figg was walking in with a boy with baggy clothes, messy hair and glasses. Leigh shrugged, she'd seen worse. She quickly stashed the book under the couch so that the boy wouldn't notice anything strange.
"Leigh's visiting me for the summer. Leigh, this is Harry Potter." Mrs. Figg looked at Leigh expectantly.
A thought briefly entered Leigh's mind, but she pushed it out deeming it impossible. She smiled, "Hi."
"Hello." The boy smiled back. It was a very friendly smile. Leigh wondered if he was shy or if he felt as awkward as she did just standing there.
"Well, that's nice. Have a seat Harry. You can watch some TV or something, I need to go work in my garden." Leigh turned to go to her room, but Mrs. Figg glared at her so she sat down in a chair. Mrs. Figg went out to the backyard.
"So..." Leigh said feeling the need to start a conversation. Unfortunately she couldn't come up with a topic.
"So, have you been in England long?" Harry quickly thought of one.
Leigh laughed. "Gee, how could you tell I'm new here? I just got here a yesterday morning, before that I came here once on vacation. I'll be going to school here though, once it starts, and I thought it would be nice to adapt to everything before that. I take it you've never been to the states?" "No, never had the chance to. I don't do much during summer holiday." Harry paused and thought for a moment. "Why are you going to school here?"
"Well, My great aunt teaches at good school and it was decided that I should transfer there. She's busy during the summer, doing a lot of stuff for the Headmaster of the school, as she's the Deputy Headmistress, or something, and can't watch me, so Mrs. Figg, who is a friend of her's, volunteered to take me in until the semester started. She'll be teaching at that school too, it will be her first year. Anyway, it's not bad, so far. Boring, but not bad." Leigh thought for a moment, she wanted to avoid certain topics that would lead to questions she would have trouble answering. "Wanna play Speed? It's a card game. I could teach you if you don't know how." Leigh hadn't played a good game of Speed for months. It was a favorite game, usually she used Exploding Snap cards, but she had a muggle deck for emergencies just like this.
"Um, yeah, sure." Harry had never even heard of it before let alone played it, still an hour later he had gotten the hang of it and even won a game or two.
Two weeks passed and Harry and Leigh, out of combination of boredom and loneliness, and the fact they both found the other easy to get along with, found themselves as friends. They wals found themselves playing cards a lot.
On July 31st Harry woke up to three owls on the edge of his bed, carrying packages and letters. Looking around the room he noticed Hedwig wasn't in for the day yet, but when he noticed one of the owls was Pig, he figured that was why. Eager to get the fluff-ball back to Ron, he opened that package and letter first.
Hey Harry, Happy Birthday! Mom says you're invited to stay at the house still. Just send Hedwig with a date and we'll figure out how to get you here. Hermione's coming next week sometime. She said her parents could pick you up and take you over here. I think it would be best not to use Floo Powder again. We're going to go to Diagon Alley on the 15th to get books and stuff. Just so you know. The break has been fun, nothing much to say. Hope you like your gift. Some are from Fred and George though. Don't eat anything that's not labeled, you don't recognize or looks funny. Ron
Harry looked at the letter for a moment, it was awfully short. Ron's letter were usually filled with some news of the magic world. Harry wished he knew if anything has changed since the term ended. The last thing he knew was that the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, refused to acknowledge that Voldemort was again a threat. He wondered if Voldemort had become active or if he was waiting for something. But all of Ron's and Hermione's letters to him had almost seemed to avoid the subject. He was considering all this when Pig started flying around his room, he decided he and better open the package and reply to the letter before Pig broke something.. Ron had gotten him a variety of wizard candy. There were quite a few that he couldn't wait to eat, but he definitely would wait on some of the ones he suspected Ron's brothers made. They probably caused something to happen that wouldn't be easy to hide from his Aunt and Uncle. Fred and George were infamous practical jokers. Harry quickly wrote a short letter to Ron.
Hey Ron, Thanks for the gift! I'll wait 'til I see you before eating some of it though. Do you know what some of it does? Jus curious, I might leave some for Dursley to find. My summer's been better than usual. Of course that isn't saying much. There's this girl spending the summer with one of my neighbors and we hang out sometimes. Going over there gets me away from the Dursleys at least. I'll mention staying over your house to the Dursleys. I'll try to have an answer by later today. Harry
Harry tied the letter to Pig's leg and held open the window for it to get out. Once it did, he turned to the other owls on his bed.
He took the letter from the nearest one and opened it was from his godfather Sirius. He put it to the side and decided to read it later, so that he could mention it the Dursleys when he asked about going to the Weasleys'. He took a package from a barn owl and opened it. Inside was a wrapped gift and a letter from Hermione. Her letter was even shorter than Ron's, not surprisingly the package was a book, Quidditch and Its Impact on the Wizarding World. Harry quickly wrote a thank you note and sent the owl back to Hermione.
The last owl held a messily wrapped package that Harry guessed was from Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Once he opened it, he found he was correct. Inside was some unrecognizable thing, that Harry decided might be food that he wold never eat, having experience with Hagrid's cooking. Also enclosed was a letter.
Harry-Part of your present will come starting tomorrow. I got you a subscription to the Daily Prophet! Still very busy, working for Dumbeldore, don't have much time to talk, don't bother replying, won't be able to find me. Hagrid
Harry puzzled over the letter as the last owl flew out the window. He wondered what sort of business Hagrid was working on. At that thought other questions he had at the end of last term came flooding back. Harry was beginning to worry. At least, if he had the Daily Prophet, he would have an idea of what's going on. Of course if he was going to the Weasleys he would already find out.
When Aunt Petunia yelled at Harry to wake up a couple hours later he was still worried. Attempting to forget all that for the day, he prepared himself to ask the Dursleys about staying at the Weasleys'. ***
Leigh woke up a little earlier than usual. She noticed her Barn Owl sitting in a tree outside was alone. There was a snowy owl right next to it. She studied it for a moment, not familiar enough with the area to know whether or not it was native. It flew away five minutes later, so Leigh went to eat breakfast.
A few hours later, Leigh was reading when there was knock on the door. She answered it since she knew it was probably Harry. The two had been hanging out nearly daily. It was a nice relief to the boredom, but something still was nagging Leigh in the back of her mind. She couldn't figure it out, since Harry was actually pretty cool, but there was just... something about him. It couldn't be what she thought though. It just was impossible.
"Hey Leigh." Harry grinned.
"Hi Harry. What's new? You seem abnormally cheery." Leigh asked.
"Want to go sit in the backyard? Its nice out today." Harry dodged the question. The Dursleys were going to let him go to the Weasleys' The day before, Hedwig had returned after breakfast. He talked to the Dursleys and after he mentioned a package from Sirius, Uncle Vernon agreed to let him go. He expected a reply soon.
"Okay... I guess." Leigh rolled her eyes. Sitting down on a lawn chair in the back she asked again, "So what's up?"
"Well, I might be spending the rest of the summer with one of my friends from H-school. I have every year for the past three years. I wasn't sure if I could this year. You know the Dursleys..." In the past week and a half Harry had explained the Dursleys situation. He found Leigh easy to talk to and she had also told him how her mom had died. He was careful about not mentioning anything magical, and unbeknowst to him, so was Leigh.
"Yeah... well, that's cool. I guess..." Leigh was trying to hide her disappointment at finding out that Harry, the only thing breaking up the monotony of summer, was leaving when the same snowy from the morning flew up to him and dropped a letter in Harry's lap.
Harry saw Leigh's eyes grow wide. He was just as shocked as she was. He thought Hedwig knew better than to deliver a letter like that. His thoughts were interupted quickly.
"That owl? Its yours?" Leigh said this all very slowly. "Yes, I mean no, I mean-"
Leigh jumped up. "You are that Harry Potter!"
"As opposed to the other one...?" Harry wasn't sure where she was going with this and was dead on an explanation.
"You know what I mean. You're a wizard. Aren't you?" She whispered this last part.
"How do you-"
"Isn't obvious? The owl in the tree above us belongs to me. I thought so at first, I mean Harry Potter and it has been bugging me but I didn't think, it is a common name... and here of all places-"
It was Harry's turn to interrupt."You're a witch then?"
"No, I'm just a muggle who owns an owl and know what it means when one drops a letter off..." She stared at Harry for a moment. He had just brushed his hair nervously out of his eyes revealing his scar. "You know, if you would comb your hair once in awhile, I would have seen the scar and we could have avoided all this. Now I just feel dumb." Leigh rolled her eyes and sighed. "Here I was playing cards with 'The Boy Who Lived' without even knowing it." Leigh said this all smiling now. She found this all incredibly difficult to believe, yet immensely humorous at the same time. "So do you go to Hogwarts then?"
"Well... yeah...And don't call me that. Its annoying. And I like my hair." Harry was still trying to take this all in. Leigh, a witch? Did that mean Mrs.. Figg was one too? On Privet Drive? "Wait, is that the school you'll be going to?"
"Right, just because you're famous doesn't mean I have to care." Leigh grinned. "Yeah, I will be going to Hogwarts. It won't be too bad then, at least I'll know someone, unless of course, you conveniently forget you ever met me, and just go back to hanging around with your friends and since you are famous..." Leighs' voice trailed off, she was thinking out loud.
"Of course not. This is a little weird though. You play Quidditch?" If all else fails talk about Quidditch, Harry thought.
"Yeah, it was an easy team to get on, I was Keeper for two years. It was the only open position, I actually like chaser better though, I think I'm better at it to. But, most people played Quodpot and those that didn't make that team, were already chasers for Quidditch. I hate quodpot, too many singed fingers and too much burnt hair. I was on the dueling team, too. What position do you play?" Leigh wanted to laugh at the still puzzled look on Harry's face.
"Seeker." Harry avoided talking about Dueling. He didn't want to tell her somethings. He wasn't ready to talk about them, he wasn't even ready to think about them. "What broom do you have?"
"An Element. Its an American broom though, good for quodpot. I don't think they have them here. It's a nice little broom though, light, speedy, thick handle, fireproof. Yours?"
"Firebolt. It's gorgeous. I'm on the house team. We got the cup for the past few years, only there wasn't Quidditch last year because we had the Triwizard tournament." Harry didn't want to think about that right now. He quickly changed the subject, "So why are you changing schools? I don't know of anyone else who has."
"Funny, neither do I. Yet, this will still be the third magic school, I've been to. I move a lot, between family members and stuff. Maybe in two years, I'll be somewhere else. I hope not though. Its so hard to get to know people. They all already have their friends and stuff. I'm serious when I say I'll kick you if you pretend like you don't know me."
"Kick me?" Harry asked laughing, "I won't pretend I don't know you, but I also won't pretend I like you." " Haha." Leigh made a face. "So, your aunt and uncle, are they....?" Leigh had been unlucky enough to run into the Dursleys. Mrs. Figg had asked her to drop off some pie she had made and Aunt Petunia had invited Leigh in for a few minutes. Leigh didn't say much, Aunt Petunia took that as good manners. In reality it was because Leigh thought Aunt Petunia was the most gossipy and annoying person she had ever met.
"Them? No, of course not. They don't like magic at all. In fact they hate it."
"I see. They don't seem the type anyway. Aren't you going to open that?"
Suddenly remembering he had received a letter, Harry opened it and scanned it. "Its from Ron, he says Hermione and her parents will come by tomorrow at two thirty."
"Okay... I'm going to guess that they're both friends, since those names don't ring any bells. Though I did once read a myth with someone named Hermione it and, it would provide a nice twist to today if that were the same person."
"They're friends. Its Ron's house that I'm staying at. Hermione will be too, and she's going to pick me up and take me there. I suppose I should go pack then." Harry said this last part reluctantly.
"Yeah, I guess."
Harry started to stand up. "See you at Hogwarts then?" He smiled.
"Yeah see you then."Leigh smiled back and Harry left. "Well, that was a little unexpected." she commented outloud.
"What was unexpected, dear?" Mrs. Figg said approaching.
"Nothing, I didn't know you could hear me." She paused. "Well, actually it is something. Did you know that Harry's a wizard?" Leigh asked looking at Mrs. Figg.
She smiled. "Of course dear, he's the Harry Potter."
Unlike most 14 year olds, he normally looked forward to school, but again, unlike most 14 year olds, he was a wizard. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a little scared of going back this year though because at the end of last year, Voldemort had risen again. Voldemort had killed his parents when Harry was a baby. He had also attacked Harry, but because Lily, Harry's mother, had sacrificed her life for Harry's, the curse rebounded on Voldemort, bringing his downfall. Just a few months ago, though, Voldemort had performed a complicated, dark, spell, using Harry's blood, that returned him to a body. Harry had no way to keep up with the recent events in the wizarding world, except for the occasional letter from Ron and Hermione, his best friends at Hogwarts. He was also beginning to expect the two were hiding something from him, but he couldn't be sure. He spent a lot of time trying not to think about last terms events and trying not to worry about the present and future in the Wizarding World. It was easier to think about than it was just a month ago though.
During the summer holiday, he lived with his absolutely dreadful Aunt and Uncle and their large son, Dudley. They were muggles, non-magic folk and detested any and all things that have to do with magic, including, it seems, Harry.
His Aunt and Uncle were decent to him this summer, as they were still worried about the threat of his godfather, Sirius Black, an accused murder and wizard. He was innocent, but Harry's aunt and uncle didn't need to know that.
A few minutes later he was walking down the stairs when he heard his cousin Dudley wail, "I don't want Grapefruit, mom! I want eggs, and bacon and pancakes and-"
He was quickly cut off by Uncle Vernon's thundering voice, "YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT! EAT YOUR GRAPEFRUIT AND LIKE IT! END OF CONVERSATION!"
Harry sighed, it would be a long day. This summer wasn't as bad as others, because he still had the threat of Sirius. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had also been harder on Dudley. He still couldn't fit into a Smelting's uniform and his grades had been even worse than usual. Harry sat down to his own small slice of grapefruit and began to eat. He had about finished when Aunt Petunia started talking, it didn't occur to Harry that she was talking to him until he heard his name.
"Harry, are you listening? I'm serious about you behaving for Mrs. Figg." She stared at him expectantly.
"Alright. I will." He wasn't entirely sure why he was going over to his neighbor's house, but it usually meant that the Dursleys were leaving their house and didn't trust Harry to stay home alone. It wasn't normally that bad, occasionally she let him just watch TV, while she worked around the house. Since he was done eating he went back to his room. He was working on his homework when an hour later he heard Uncle Vernon below, "Harry, you're leaving. NOW!" He threw his books under his bed and walked quickly outside, and into the car where the Dursleys drove him the 2 streets over to Mrs. Figg's house. She was waiting outside for him. So once Harry was out of the car the Dursleys drove off.
"Hello, Harry. How is school going? What year are you now?" Mrs. Figg was an older lady who always seemed to be cheery. She used to own a lot of cats, but then one broke her leg and she wasn't so fond of them anymore. Her house also smelled of cabbage, but after attending Hogwarts, which was full of both pleasant and unplesant smells, Harry didn't mind it so much.
"Its good, I'm in my fifth year." He briefly wondered if the Dursleys had told her too that he was attending St Brutus's School for the Criminally Insane, which is what they had told most people.
"Well, that's good. You are Leigh's age then. I thought so," she told him as they walked inside.
Harry wondered who Leigh was, but his question was quickly answered. Sitting in the living room, reading a book was a girl, who did look about Harry's age, reading a book. She stood up once she saw them. She was mostly average looking, but her hair long was such a dark red-brown, it was mahogany.
"Leigh is visiting me for the summer. Leigh this is Harry Potter." Mrs. Figg introduced the two.
Harry thought Leigh's dark blue eye's narrowed for a moment, looking like she was considering something, but then she smiled so quickly, Harry doubted it even happened. "Hi."
"Hello." He grinned back. ________
"Leigh... wake up." Leigh could hear someone talking to her but she really didn't feel like waking up. "I know you're probably still tired, but you need to get used to the time change. Come on Leigh, wake up." They wouldn't go away and her brain was slowly waking up so Leigh opened her eyes. The voice belonged to Mrs. Figg, her Great Aunt's friend who had agreed to allow Leigh to stay over her house for the summer. Mrs. Figg was nice, but she was also boring.
"Fine. I'm up." She said after she yawned. She heard Mrs. Figg walk away. A few minutes later she did actually convince herself to get out of the bed. Once dressed she walked into the kitchen.
"Good Morning, Leigh." Leigh made a mental note that Mrs. Figg was abnormally cheery in the morning.
"Morning..." Leigh still wasn't fully awake.
Mrs. Figg smiled. "A boy about your age will be coming over today. His aunt and Uncle don't like him to be home alone and they're taking their son out today. I thought I'd tell you. He's a nice boy."
"'Kay..." Leigh was eating breakfast now, "When?"
"Oh he should be in about two hours or so." Once Mrs. Figg finished eating she went to work outside.
As she ate breakfast she began to wake up. When she finished, she decided to study a bit for the upcoming school year. She was transferring to the school where her Great Aunt taught, and her old schools had a different format. However, the schools she attended weren't your average schools. Leigh was a witch and would be attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardy. In the past she had gone to both the Salem Witches Institute and Glendale Academy. Her mom had died about seven years ago and Leigh was shuffled between family members since. She had adapted though she did get tired of moving. She briefly hoped this would be the last time she moved before she was out of school.
The only thing she knew about Hogwarts was that her mother, Rowan, had gone there when she was in school. Rowan was born and raised in England, but had moved to the States when she was pregnant with Leigh, feeling that she would be safer there.
She was scanning The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 as she had used a different but similiar enough text book, when she looked up Mrs. Figg was walking in with a boy with baggy clothes, messy hair and glasses. Leigh shrugged, she'd seen worse. She quickly stashed the book under the couch so that the boy wouldn't notice anything strange.
"Leigh's visiting me for the summer. Leigh, this is Harry Potter." Mrs. Figg looked at Leigh expectantly.
A thought briefly entered Leigh's mind, but she pushed it out deeming it impossible. She smiled, "Hi."
"Hello." The boy smiled back. It was a very friendly smile. Leigh wondered if he was shy or if he felt as awkward as she did just standing there.
"Well, that's nice. Have a seat Harry. You can watch some TV or something, I need to go work in my garden." Leigh turned to go to her room, but Mrs. Figg glared at her so she sat down in a chair. Mrs. Figg went out to the backyard.
"So..." Leigh said feeling the need to start a conversation. Unfortunately she couldn't come up with a topic.
"So, have you been in England long?" Harry quickly thought of one.
Leigh laughed. "Gee, how could you tell I'm new here? I just got here a yesterday morning, before that I came here once on vacation. I'll be going to school here though, once it starts, and I thought it would be nice to adapt to everything before that. I take it you've never been to the states?" "No, never had the chance to. I don't do much during summer holiday." Harry paused and thought for a moment. "Why are you going to school here?"
"Well, My great aunt teaches at good school and it was decided that I should transfer there. She's busy during the summer, doing a lot of stuff for the Headmaster of the school, as she's the Deputy Headmistress, or something, and can't watch me, so Mrs. Figg, who is a friend of her's, volunteered to take me in until the semester started. She'll be teaching at that school too, it will be her first year. Anyway, it's not bad, so far. Boring, but not bad." Leigh thought for a moment, she wanted to avoid certain topics that would lead to questions she would have trouble answering. "Wanna play Speed? It's a card game. I could teach you if you don't know how." Leigh hadn't played a good game of Speed for months. It was a favorite game, usually she used Exploding Snap cards, but she had a muggle deck for emergencies just like this.
"Um, yeah, sure." Harry had never even heard of it before let alone played it, still an hour later he had gotten the hang of it and even won a game or two.
Two weeks passed and Harry and Leigh, out of combination of boredom and loneliness, and the fact they both found the other easy to get along with, found themselves as friends. They wals found themselves playing cards a lot.
On July 31st Harry woke up to three owls on the edge of his bed, carrying packages and letters. Looking around the room he noticed Hedwig wasn't in for the day yet, but when he noticed one of the owls was Pig, he figured that was why. Eager to get the fluff-ball back to Ron, he opened that package and letter first.
Hey Harry, Happy Birthday! Mom says you're invited to stay at the house still. Just send Hedwig with a date and we'll figure out how to get you here. Hermione's coming next week sometime. She said her parents could pick you up and take you over here. I think it would be best not to use Floo Powder again. We're going to go to Diagon Alley on the 15th to get books and stuff. Just so you know. The break has been fun, nothing much to say. Hope you like your gift. Some are from Fred and George though. Don't eat anything that's not labeled, you don't recognize or looks funny. Ron
Harry looked at the letter for a moment, it was awfully short. Ron's letter were usually filled with some news of the magic world. Harry wished he knew if anything has changed since the term ended. The last thing he knew was that the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, refused to acknowledge that Voldemort was again a threat. He wondered if Voldemort had become active or if he was waiting for something. But all of Ron's and Hermione's letters to him had almost seemed to avoid the subject. He was considering all this when Pig started flying around his room, he decided he and better open the package and reply to the letter before Pig broke something.. Ron had gotten him a variety of wizard candy. There were quite a few that he couldn't wait to eat, but he definitely would wait on some of the ones he suspected Ron's brothers made. They probably caused something to happen that wouldn't be easy to hide from his Aunt and Uncle. Fred and George were infamous practical jokers. Harry quickly wrote a short letter to Ron.
Hey Ron, Thanks for the gift! I'll wait 'til I see you before eating some of it though. Do you know what some of it does? Jus curious, I might leave some for Dursley to find. My summer's been better than usual. Of course that isn't saying much. There's this girl spending the summer with one of my neighbors and we hang out sometimes. Going over there gets me away from the Dursleys at least. I'll mention staying over your house to the Dursleys. I'll try to have an answer by later today. Harry
Harry tied the letter to Pig's leg and held open the window for it to get out. Once it did, he turned to the other owls on his bed.
He took the letter from the nearest one and opened it was from his godfather Sirius. He put it to the side and decided to read it later, so that he could mention it the Dursleys when he asked about going to the Weasleys'. He took a package from a barn owl and opened it. Inside was a wrapped gift and a letter from Hermione. Her letter was even shorter than Ron's, not surprisingly the package was a book, Quidditch and Its Impact on the Wizarding World. Harry quickly wrote a thank you note and sent the owl back to Hermione.
The last owl held a messily wrapped package that Harry guessed was from Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts. Once he opened it, he found he was correct. Inside was some unrecognizable thing, that Harry decided might be food that he wold never eat, having experience with Hagrid's cooking. Also enclosed was a letter.
Harry-Part of your present will come starting tomorrow. I got you a subscription to the Daily Prophet! Still very busy, working for Dumbeldore, don't have much time to talk, don't bother replying, won't be able to find me. Hagrid
Harry puzzled over the letter as the last owl flew out the window. He wondered what sort of business Hagrid was working on. At that thought other questions he had at the end of last term came flooding back. Harry was beginning to worry. At least, if he had the Daily Prophet, he would have an idea of what's going on. Of course if he was going to the Weasleys he would already find out.
When Aunt Petunia yelled at Harry to wake up a couple hours later he was still worried. Attempting to forget all that for the day, he prepared himself to ask the Dursleys about staying at the Weasleys'. ***
Leigh woke up a little earlier than usual. She noticed her Barn Owl sitting in a tree outside was alone. There was a snowy owl right next to it. She studied it for a moment, not familiar enough with the area to know whether or not it was native. It flew away five minutes later, so Leigh went to eat breakfast.
A few hours later, Leigh was reading when there was knock on the door. She answered it since she knew it was probably Harry. The two had been hanging out nearly daily. It was a nice relief to the boredom, but something still was nagging Leigh in the back of her mind. She couldn't figure it out, since Harry was actually pretty cool, but there was just... something about him. It couldn't be what she thought though. It just was impossible.
"Hey Leigh." Harry grinned.
"Hi Harry. What's new? You seem abnormally cheery." Leigh asked.
"Want to go sit in the backyard? Its nice out today." Harry dodged the question. The Dursleys were going to let him go to the Weasleys' The day before, Hedwig had returned after breakfast. He talked to the Dursleys and after he mentioned a package from Sirius, Uncle Vernon agreed to let him go. He expected a reply soon.
"Okay... I guess." Leigh rolled her eyes. Sitting down on a lawn chair in the back she asked again, "So what's up?"
"Well, I might be spending the rest of the summer with one of my friends from H-school. I have every year for the past three years. I wasn't sure if I could this year. You know the Dursleys..." In the past week and a half Harry had explained the Dursleys situation. He found Leigh easy to talk to and she had also told him how her mom had died. He was careful about not mentioning anything magical, and unbeknowst to him, so was Leigh.
"Yeah... well, that's cool. I guess..." Leigh was trying to hide her disappointment at finding out that Harry, the only thing breaking up the monotony of summer, was leaving when the same snowy from the morning flew up to him and dropped a letter in Harry's lap.
Harry saw Leigh's eyes grow wide. He was just as shocked as she was. He thought Hedwig knew better than to deliver a letter like that. His thoughts were interupted quickly.
"That owl? Its yours?" Leigh said this all very slowly. "Yes, I mean no, I mean-"
Leigh jumped up. "You are that Harry Potter!"
"As opposed to the other one...?" Harry wasn't sure where she was going with this and was dead on an explanation.
"You know what I mean. You're a wizard. Aren't you?" She whispered this last part.
"How do you-"
"Isn't obvious? The owl in the tree above us belongs to me. I thought so at first, I mean Harry Potter and it has been bugging me but I didn't think, it is a common name... and here of all places-"
It was Harry's turn to interrupt."You're a witch then?"
"No, I'm just a muggle who owns an owl and know what it means when one drops a letter off..." She stared at Harry for a moment. He had just brushed his hair nervously out of his eyes revealing his scar. "You know, if you would comb your hair once in awhile, I would have seen the scar and we could have avoided all this. Now I just feel dumb." Leigh rolled her eyes and sighed. "Here I was playing cards with 'The Boy Who Lived' without even knowing it." Leigh said this all smiling now. She found this all incredibly difficult to believe, yet immensely humorous at the same time. "So do you go to Hogwarts then?"
"Well... yeah...And don't call me that. Its annoying. And I like my hair." Harry was still trying to take this all in. Leigh, a witch? Did that mean Mrs.. Figg was one too? On Privet Drive? "Wait, is that the school you'll be going to?"
"Right, just because you're famous doesn't mean I have to care." Leigh grinned. "Yeah, I will be going to Hogwarts. It won't be too bad then, at least I'll know someone, unless of course, you conveniently forget you ever met me, and just go back to hanging around with your friends and since you are famous..." Leighs' voice trailed off, she was thinking out loud.
"Of course not. This is a little weird though. You play Quidditch?" If all else fails talk about Quidditch, Harry thought.
"Yeah, it was an easy team to get on, I was Keeper for two years. It was the only open position, I actually like chaser better though, I think I'm better at it to. But, most people played Quodpot and those that didn't make that team, were already chasers for Quidditch. I hate quodpot, too many singed fingers and too much burnt hair. I was on the dueling team, too. What position do you play?" Leigh wanted to laugh at the still puzzled look on Harry's face.
"Seeker." Harry avoided talking about Dueling. He didn't want to tell her somethings. He wasn't ready to talk about them, he wasn't even ready to think about them. "What broom do you have?"
"An Element. Its an American broom though, good for quodpot. I don't think they have them here. It's a nice little broom though, light, speedy, thick handle, fireproof. Yours?"
"Firebolt. It's gorgeous. I'm on the house team. We got the cup for the past few years, only there wasn't Quidditch last year because we had the Triwizard tournament." Harry didn't want to think about that right now. He quickly changed the subject, "So why are you changing schools? I don't know of anyone else who has."
"Funny, neither do I. Yet, this will still be the third magic school, I've been to. I move a lot, between family members and stuff. Maybe in two years, I'll be somewhere else. I hope not though. Its so hard to get to know people. They all already have their friends and stuff. I'm serious when I say I'll kick you if you pretend like you don't know me."
"Kick me?" Harry asked laughing, "I won't pretend I don't know you, but I also won't pretend I like you." " Haha." Leigh made a face. "So, your aunt and uncle, are they....?" Leigh had been unlucky enough to run into the Dursleys. Mrs. Figg had asked her to drop off some pie she had made and Aunt Petunia had invited Leigh in for a few minutes. Leigh didn't say much, Aunt Petunia took that as good manners. In reality it was because Leigh thought Aunt Petunia was the most gossipy and annoying person she had ever met.
"Them? No, of course not. They don't like magic at all. In fact they hate it."
"I see. They don't seem the type anyway. Aren't you going to open that?"
Suddenly remembering he had received a letter, Harry opened it and scanned it. "Its from Ron, he says Hermione and her parents will come by tomorrow at two thirty."
"Okay... I'm going to guess that they're both friends, since those names don't ring any bells. Though I did once read a myth with someone named Hermione it and, it would provide a nice twist to today if that were the same person."
"They're friends. Its Ron's house that I'm staying at. Hermione will be too, and she's going to pick me up and take me there. I suppose I should go pack then." Harry said this last part reluctantly.
"Yeah, I guess."
Harry started to stand up. "See you at Hogwarts then?" He smiled.
"Yeah see you then."Leigh smiled back and Harry left. "Well, that was a little unexpected." she commented outloud.
"What was unexpected, dear?" Mrs. Figg said approaching.
"Nothing, I didn't know you could hear me." She paused. "Well, actually it is something. Did you know that Harry's a wizard?" Leigh asked looking at Mrs. Figg.
She smiled. "Of course dear, he's the Harry Potter."