Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue.
"BOY! Get down here and fix my breakfast!" Harry groaned, and got up to fix breakfast for his uncle. Without a word, he pulled some fruit and orange juice from the refrigerator. However, as he was slicing up the grapefruit, the doorbell rang.
"Boy! Get the door!" Vernon called, and Harry dutifully went to the door. He opened it, and his jaw fell; it was Steven and Carol!
Harry didn't know what to say, and Vernon yelled, "Well, why are you standing there? Invite them inside, and go tell Dudley some friends of his are here!"
Harry let them in and Steven admitted, "Actually, we were here to see Harry."
Harry watched his uncle's mouth move wordlessly, clearly thinking them to be two wizards. Carol continued, not noticing Vernon's odd state. "Yeah, we met Harry yesterday, and we played some soccer."
Vernon still looked like he didn't know whether Harry's friends were wizards or not, but finally found his voice. "You do know," he growled, "that Harry goes to the St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys?"
Carol laughed, but Steven edged away slightly from Harry. Harry caught his uncle's eyes; they were glaring at him with obvious intent. He wants me to confirm his story, Harry thought sadly. It took a minute, but Harry finally caved in and said, "Er, yeah. I attacked a postman five years ago."
Steven grew even more afraid of Harry and pulled his sister out of the Dursleys' house. Harry's head fell, and Uncle Vernon hissed, "You see, boy? No one will be a friend of yours, since you're such a freak!"
Harry went back into the kitchen and finished cutting the grapefruit up.
Later that week, Harry was still mad at himself. He shouldn't have gone along with his uncle! Harry angrily whipped out his trumpet and cast Mutus on the room. Harry began practicing his scales, when he heard a tap on the window.
Harry looked out, and it was Carol again, although Steven wasn't there. Harry waved and nodded to her. He quietly slipped out of his door, and snuck down the stairs, avoiding the squeaking stair at the bottom. When Dudley started loudly yelling at the television in the kitchen, Harry quickly opened the front door and snuck outside.
As he walked up to Carol, she asked, "You really didn't attack a postman, did you?"
Harry couldn't help but laugh, and said, "No, I never attacked a postman"
Carol looked at him, "I thought so. You certainly didn't seem the type. When Mac yelled at you, you simply left, instead of, well, hitting him or something. Why do you go to that institution? The one for incurably criminal boys?"
Harry quickly changed the subject and asked, "What's your brother's name?"
Carol looked at him somewhat nervously and said, "Steven."
Harry smiled, and said, "No, I meant your other brother."
Carol grimaced and finally grunted, "Terry."
Harry finally placed who Steven reminded him of – Terry Boot! So that's why they can't talk about him! Harry thought, Because he's a wizard! And I didn't know Terry was a muggle-born!
Still, Harry didn't want to say anything – he could still be wrong. "I understand," Harry said casually, "you can't talk about him. Anyway, I was just reading this story. It was pretty good! It was about this castle named Higwerts."
"Hogwarts," Carol corrected automatically. Harry had to contain a smile as Carol went completely white.
"Carol, I have to go back inside. Can I ask you a favor?" Harry asked. When Carol nodded, he continued, "Can you tell Terry that 'Harry Potter is sorry for knocking him out last year'?"
"You want me to say what?" Carol asked, confused.
"I want you to tell him, 'Harry Potter is sorry for knocking him out last year.' Ok?" At Carol's questioning face, Harry added, "Trust me."
Carol waved goodbye, and Harry turned to go back inside before the Dursleys noticed he was gone.
"BOY! Get down here and fix me my breakfast!" Vernon's voice came from downstairs. Harry smiled; this was starting to become a regular pattern at 4 Privet Drive. Harry wondered what Vernon would think if he knew Harry regarded him as an annoying alarm clock.
As Harry finished pouring the juice and slicing the grapefruits, the doorbell rang again.
"Ah! That's probably the package I'm expecting," Vernon said enthusiastically, "Well, boy, go get it!" Harry sighed, and hoped the package wasn't too heavy.
However, it was Carol and Steven again, and Vernon noticed them as he came into the hall. "What," he growled, "are you two doing back here? Harry isn't safe, and you shouldn't be around him!"
At this, Steven grew very angry and yelled, "My brother goes to Hogwarts!" Vernon went white, and Steven advanced on him. "I told my brother about how you treat Harry, and my brother was very upset. Do you know what stuff my brother is capable of? DO YOU?" Harry was amused that his large uncle was cowering before a 14 year old kid.
Harry though, felt a little sorry for his uncle. "Stop," he said softly.
"But… he…" sputtered Steven, still angry.
"No, it's ok. You don't need to bring Terry into this. It's alright," Harry calmly said. After all, he though, this is my last summer with the Dursleys.
Carol lightly said, "Harry, we wanted to know if you could come over."
Vernon looked like he was about ready to refuse, until he saw the glare Steven's face. "Ok, boy. You can go." Harry smiled, and left the house with Steven and Carol.
However, Harry's smile disappeared as Steven and Carol got on bicycles that they had ridden to get to his house. Although Dudley never used his racing bike he got six years ago, Harry knew he'd be in deep trouble if he rode it. And he didn't want to hold up Steven and Carol by having to walk.
However, Harry quickly thought of something and hollered, "Hold on, I'll get my bike. It's in the garage." Harry, once inside the garage and safely out of view, pulled out his wand. "Elicio!" he intoned, concentrating hard on the image of a bicycle. It took a couple more tries, but Harry finally conjured a working vehicle. Harry hadn't thought much about how a bicycle worked before, but marveled how the pedals turned a gear, which pulled a chain, that turned another gear attached to the rear wheel. I've got to show this to Mr. Weasley! He'll love this!
As Harry pedaled out of the driveway along with Carol and Steven, he noticed that his bicycle didn't appear to be working correctly, or at least how it was supposed to. Pedaling didn't require hardly any energy. Harry smiled in amusement. I must have made have unconsciously made it partially self-propelling!
However, Steven and Carol's bikes were obviously not, as Harry noticed they seemed to look a bit tired. Harry wasn't surprised, as the two had just got done pedaling to his house, and now they had to make the trip back, which appeared to be at least a couple of kilometers. Harry watched them start to climb a large hill, and felt sorry as he heard Carol grunt.
Harry concentrated on the other two bikes, and was rewarded by yelps of surprise from Steven and Carol. "What the? What happened?" Carol exclaimed, now easily pedaling up the hill. Steven looked back at Harry with a look of suspicion, and Harry grew a guilty smile.
"Does Terry practice his, er, craft at home?" Harry asked. He had always wondered what normal magic families did during the summer. He knew that the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry prevented them from going out and using magic wherever they wanted, but he knew that magic in certain conditions was allowed.
Carol answered his question with a curt, "Yes," and then added, "but we're not supposed to talk about it."
When the trio finally reached their destination, Terry was waiting for them at the door. Harry discretely removed the enchantment from the other bicycles. He didn't Mr. Weasley to have to deal with enchanted muggle objects because of him.
Terry invited held the door for them, and the four sat down in the living room. "Mum and Dad had to go off for the day," Terry said, "Don't remember why, but they left a note on the kitchen table."
Carol absently said, "Ok."
Harry grinned sheepishly at Terry and said, "Listen, Terry, about last year in class, I'm sorry about stunning you like that."
Terry wouldn't hear of it, and brushed away his apology, "Don't worry about it. You were doing that for the lesson, I understand."
Carol and Steven were looking at the pair with odd expressions and Harry suddenly realized that they had been talking about a Hogwarts class in front of muggles.
Terry seemed to realize Harry's problem and said, "Don't worry, we're allowed to talk about Hogwarts and Magic, as long as there aren't any muggles outside of the family that can hear. Steven and Carol know all about Hogwarts. In fact, they won't quit pestering me to tell them all sorts of stories about what happens there."
Harry started to ask, "But the Decree for the Restriction…"
"Have you read the actual decree?" Terry asked, and then explained, "The Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry isn't as strict as the Hogwarts professors lead you to believe. Simply put, you're not allowed to do magic in front of any muggles that aren't in a wizarding family, which includes some muggles if you're muggle-born. You're allowed to do magic at home as long as there are no guests, but it's really frowned on because there's the chance that a neighbor will notice, for instance."
Harry was about to point out about the two times he got in trouble with the law, but realized the first was when they were host to some company contacts for Grunnings, Vernon's drill company, and the other was when he blew up Aunt Marge, who technically wasn't family.
Carol piped up, "Harry, that's twice you've said something about knocking Terry out. What happened?"
Steven and Carol immediately sat forward. So this is what Terry meant about them always requesting stories about what happens at Hogwarts. "Well," he started, "we have a class called Defense Against the Dark Arts. And we were training to combat this spell that makes you do stuff you don't want to – it's called the Imperius Curse." Harry expected to have to explain something at this point, but clearly the pair knew a lot about what happened in the wizarding world.
"So anyway, the professor came up to me before class started. I was the only one in the room with her, and she asked me to help out with the class. I was supposed to only pretend to be under her control. You see, I was playing the part of an evil wizard, who pretends to be good all along. So a little bit into the class, I started stunning people, making them go to sleep. Well, someone did the counter-curse, and I pretended like I got better. It was just an act though – I was in control the whole time."
"Well, Terry," Harry continued, gesturing to his peer, "knew what happened, and that I was just faking it. Everyone else was a little confused, but I could see he worked out exactly what had been going on. So the next time I started stunning people, I made sure I got him first."
Terry laughed, and said, "I knew you weren't under the control of the spell. I mean, you managed to throw it off your fourth year. Why would you have problems last year? Anyway, I really enjoyed those lectures. It was so fun watching everyone twitch nervously after her class!"
Steven and Carol were looking at the two with expressions of awe. Finally, Steven asked, "Can you two duel or something?" Carol burst with joy, clearly imagining all the cool spells she was about to see.
Terry turned and whispered to Harry, "The only thing they enjoy more than the stories is making me do magic tricks for them." He turned back to the pair and said, "I don't know. I don't think that would be very fair, Me vs. Harry Potter."
Harry could see the disappointment in Carol and Steven's eyes, and said, "Come on, Terry. I've been improving – I could stand a chance!" He then shot a discrete wink at Terry.
Terry looked confused, but sighed and said, "Ok. Close the drapes." Steven and Carol were giddy with excitement. Terry slowly got up to face Harry in dueling position.
Harry, instead of the traditional dueling position, got into a dramatic pose. Although it looked intimidating, it really didn't help out in dueling. Terry gave him a quizzical look, then fired off "Stupefy."
Harry easily blocked the bland brown beam, and cast "Hilarulum," back at Terry. After looking a bit oddly at Harry's spell choice – a cheering charm – Terry blocked the bright orange beam. The two traded spells back and forth. Terry would cast solid hexes and curses, and Harry would shoot back ridiculous curses that had bright colored beams. Finally, when Harry yelled, "Capillusi Rego", which would merely make the other person's hair stand on end, Terry understood what Harry was doing.
With a large smile, Terry blocked the spell and yelled back, "Cutis Depingo". Harry realized that Terry had caught on. Instead of a real dueling spell, Terry had cast a spell that would change a person's skin color. Harry decided to 'miss' the block, and was rewarded by his skin turning a deep green-blue.
Harry grinned as well, and tossed back another spell. A little bit later, Terry let one of Harry's spells through, which made water sprout from his head. Terry finally ended the duel by casting "Expelliarmus!" at Harry. Harry decided that was enough, and didn't block it. When the spell hit, Harry threw himself backward dramatically, putting on a show for Terry's siblings.
Terry loudly laughed and handed Harry his wand back. "You have improved!" Terry said, while trying and failing to keep a straight face.
Harry chuckled, and reversed the hex on Terry's head and his skin. Carol and Steven burst into applause, and Carol exclaimed, "Wow! You were great, Terry!"
Steven said, "Yeah! And, er, you were pretty good, too, Harry."
Harry laughed again and said, "You know, I might have to come back here again! The Dursleys absolutely hate magic and refuse to let me do any, or even mention it at the house." At this, Harry realized that Vernon was likely to kill him as soon as he returned home. No doubt that Vernon was angry about being threatened by a 14 year old kid!
Harry quickly said, "Shoot! I'm sorry, but I think I should get back now. I promise I'll come back as soon as I can, though!"
Terry said goodbye, but as Harry left the door, he could see very odd looks on Carol and Steven's faces, and wondered what the pair were thinking.
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Sorry about the inconsistent chapter length (already), but there was no good place to break in this one, so it ended up twice as long as the first.
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!