Harry Potter awoke with a start. A piece of parchment was stuck to his face and a quill was in his hand. A book was open, on his pillow, to a page explaining the Draught Of Living Death. Harry Potter had had a nightmare about the events of the previous year and his scar was throbbing. He pulled the parchment off his face and tore a piece off. He quickly scribbled a note to his godfather, Sirius, but remembered Hedwig, his owl, was off delivering a letter to Ron.
He was startled by something tapping on his window. He looked up and saw four owls at the window. It was 12:30 AM, he had been 15 for thirty minutes, he went to the window and let the owls in. He recognized the snowy owl as his owl, Hedwig. It had a package tied to his leg. Harry took it off and Hedwig flew over to her cage. The next owl was a barn owl that had his Hogwarts letter and a package from Hagrid. He took the things from the owl and then the owl flew off. Harry recognized the next owl, an eagle owl as, Ron's brother, Percy's owl, Hermes. It had a package and a copy of The Daily Prophet, a wizarding newspaper, which was rolled up. Harry took the two things and Hermes flew off. The final owl was an old brown owl that had a package from Sirius. Harry took the package and the owl flew over to get a bite to eat with Hedwig.
He picked up the package Hedwig had brought him. It was from Hermione. It was shaped like a book though, and Harry groaned. But when he opened it he smiled, because it was a book of joke and revenge spells. He flipped through the book and then read Hermione's letter. Hermione had become a perfect (of course) and had studied all summer. Harry sighed and let out a little chuckle. "Hermione always studies." Harry said to himself.
Harry then picked up his letter from Hogwarts and it seemed thicker than normal. He shrugged it off and opened it. In it was a scarlet pouch with a gold Gryffindor lion on it. He picked up the pouch and opened it. When he looked in he saw a perfect badge. Then he scanned over his supply list and then set it to the side with his other gifts and his badge.
He then picked up the package from Sirius. It had a letter, which he set to the side with the other things. He opened the package and in it was a wizard radio and a silver chain with a scarlet Gryffindor lion pendant on it. He set this to the side with his other things and then picked up the Daily Prophet. He unrolled it and a letter from Fred and George fell out.
It read:
Dear Harry,
Thanks for the you-know-what. We figured we owed you one so we got you a 3-year subscription to the Daily Prophet. Thanks a bunch.
Signed,
Fred and George
P.S.- We got the dress robes for Rom like you said to.
Harry smiled and set the letter to the side with the other things. Then, he picked up the Daily Prophet and scanned the headlines. When he saw a picture of a teary eyed, smiling Sirius, he looked up at the headline and his jaw dropped.
It read; SIRIUS BLACK FOUND INNOCENT!! PETER PETIGREW ARRESTED AND QUESTIONED!!! Harry smiled ear to ear as he read the article and then set the paper to the side with his other gifts still smiling ear to ear.
Harry picked up the package from Hagrid and his smile slightly faded when he saw it had holes in it. He thought this couldn't be too good. He opened the package and in it was a note and a black kitten with a white mark on its chest with blue eyes and a pink nose.
The kitten seemed a little bit scared but he saw Harry and went to him and curled up in Harry's lap. Harry stroked the kitten and it purred. Harry then picked up the letter and opened it. It read:
Dear Harry,
I got your present when I went to check on Mrs. Figg. Her house was a wreck when I got there. A dark mark was in the air and a load of cats were lying there dead I saw this kitten poke its head out from behind a couch and I picked it up I thought you would like it. Yes, Harry, I am talking bout the Mrs. Figg that baby-sat you. The Kitten reminds me of your father so I called it James. I hope you like it. See you at Hogwarts.
Yours truly,
Hagrid
Harry smiled and said, "I'll call you James because you do look like my father." Harry Potter picked up his gift from Ron and opened it. It had a letter and a wizard watch. Harry opened the letter. It read:
Dear Harry
I knew you needed the watch so I got you this wizard watch. I hope you like it. We will be coming to pick you up tomorrow at 12:00 be ready. See you then.
Your Friend,
Ron
Harry read through this letter twice more and then smiled. "Only one more day with the Dursleys." Harry whispered to himself. This was great, Harry thought, going back to the Burrow in one day.
He picked up his quill and scratched off another day on a chart he had made counting down the days till September the 1st and his trip back to Hogwarts.
He suddenly looked as though he was hit in the face by a brick. It had suddenly dawned on him what was written in Hagrid's letter. Why would Hagrid have checked up on Mrs. Figg unless she was a…but that couldn't be, could it? Then Harry remembered something Dumbledore told Sirius at the end of last year "You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher..." So Mrs. Figg is Arabella Figg. Harry thought about this for a while then looked at his stack of presents and noticed a letter that was unopened from Sirius.
Harry picked it up and opened it. It read:
Dear Harry,
It's me Sirius. I'm at Lupin's house for now though I will be heading out on the 1st of August. He says hello and he hopes to see you sometime this year. If you didn't already know I AM FREE!!! WHOO HOO!! Ok that's done. Harry I have some more good news for you. I am now your legal guardian. The adoption papers are stapled to the back of this letter. Isn't that great Harry? I got a job in the M.O.M. in Arthur Weasley's department. I also got a house near the Weasley's. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Remus got you the chain. It is a protection amulet in case you run into danger, which seems to happen to you a lot. And the radio is from me you can listen to the latest news in the wizarding world while I wait for Dumbledore's ok to let you move in with me. It will be so great Harry I can't wait. See you soon I hope.
Yours truly,
Sirius and Remus
Harry was practically beaming with joy as he read over the letter five more times and then looked at the adoption certificate and then picked up the letter he had written to Sirius earlier. He crumpled it up and then got another piece of parchment and started a different letter.
Dear Sirius,
I am so happy for you. I can't wait till I get to live with you. It will be so great. I had a nightmare about all the stuff that happened last year. I'm going to the Weasley's on the 1st of August maybe we can see each other then. I hope so. See you later.
Your Son,
Harry
Harry looked over at Hedwig's cage and noticed the old brown owl was still there along with Hedwig. Harry scribbled a note to Ron about Sirius and then sent it with Hedwig. After that, Harry gave the note to Sirius to the brown owl and let it take it to him. Harry then fell asleep dreaming of the new life he could now have with Sirius.
"Traitor! Spy!" yells a raspy voice. Charlie Weasley turns around and all he sees is an odd looking dragon. "Hmmmm. This is an interesting species must me crossbred." Says Charlie walking closer to it, and the dragon steps closer to Charlie as well. "AW! You're a nice fellow aren't you?" Charlie says in a comforting voice. So nice and comforting that the dragon almost feels bad about what he must do but knows it is for the best. Charlie reaches out to pet the dragon and the dragon spews fire at Charlie burning him badly. Then the dragon rasps, "YOU ARE THE RED HAIRED TURN COAT!! YOU ARE THE SPY!!!" Charlie looks confused and hurt. Suddenly the dragon attacks Charlie and cuts him deep in his chest. The dragon disappears and Charlie falls to the ground after calling for help.
Harry awakes in a cold sweat but soon falls asleep remembering nothing that was in his horrible dream.
Chapter 2
Harry awoke the next morning feeling really awake and refreshed. He looks over at his clock and sees it is 10:00 AM, only two hours until he would be going back to the Burrow. Harry jumped out of bed and heard something meow and hiss at him. He then remembered James his kitten and scooped him up.
"I'm sorry James. Are you ok?" Harry says to the kitten. The kitten meows a meow like a yes. Harry then walks around the room gathering his school stuff with James walking at his heel.
Harry then puts his school stuff in his trunk along with his birthday gifts and cards and then puts his adoption certificates in a safe place, inside his Broom Servicing Kit.
"GET YOUR UNGRATEFUL BUTT DOWN HERE AND EAT THIS BREAKFAST YOUR AUNT HAS GREATFULLY MADE YOU!!" yells Uncle Vernon.
"COMING!!" yells Harry. Harry closes and locks his trunk and then heads down to breakfast. James follows him. Harry takes a seat at the table and James jumps up into his lap.
"What's that thing doing here?" yells Uncle Vernon.
"It's my pet cat. His name is James." Harry says.
"WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE IT AS LONG AS YOU ARE LIVING UNDER MY ROOF!!!!!" yells Uncle Vernon spit flying.
"WELL I WON'T BE LIVING UNDER YOUR ROOF MUCH LONGER!!! MY GODFATHER HAS BEEN CLEARED OF HIS CHARGES AND I'M GOING TO GO LIVE WITH HIM!!" Harry yells back.
"LIKE HELL YOU ARE, BOY!! WE ARE YOUR LEGAL GAURDIANS AND YOU ARE STAYING HERE SO WE CAN MAKE YOU MISERABLE!!!" Uncle Vernon yells growing purple in the face.
"YOU ARE NOT MY GAURDIAN ANYMORE!!!! AND YOU WERE A LOUSY EXCUSE FOR ONE WHEN YOU WERE!!!!!! SIRIUS IS MY LEGAL FATHER AND I WILL LIVE WITH HIM, YOU HEAR ME!!!!!!" Harry yells back at his uncle feeling more anger than he ever has suddenly rising from his seat sending James to the floor. James lands on his feet, like cats do, and lets out a surprised meow.
"Sorry James" says Harry quickly. He grabs his bacon and quickly eats one piece and gives another to James.
Uncle Vernon stands up quickly and grabs Harry by the collar of his shirt and slams him into a wall. Harry smacks his head hard against the wall when this happens and he bites his tongue, which starts to bleed, and his head is busted open.
"IF YOU EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN YOU WON'T BE SO LUCKY!!!" He yells as he lets Harry go.
Harry slides down to the floor and James gets in front of Harry. Uncle Vernon motions to grab Harry again but James hisses at Uncle Vernon and he stops. James gets Harry to wake up by licking his face.
Harry glares up at Uncle Vernon and says in a cool composed manner, "Next time you do that to me, YOU won't be so lucky." Harry gets up and storms off to his room, grabs his trunk and yanks it down the stairs his wand in hand and James on his shoulder.
"Touch me and you'll regret it." Harry says coldly as Uncle Vernon moves toward him, "I'm going to the Weasley's and I am not ever going to come near here again and once I'm 17 if I see you anywhere near me I'll curse you so bad you won't know what happened." With that Harry stormed out the front door and slammed it so hard the whole house shook.
Harry remembered suddenly that he had no way to get to the Weasley's. Then he remembered the Knight Bus so he raised his wand hand and the Knight Bus came.
20 minutes later he was at the Burrow and the Weasleys were glad yet shocked to see him.
"Harry dear why are you hear so early. We were getting ready to come and get you in an hour." Said Mrs. Weasley.
"I cou'n't 'ave sstay'd ther' anovver 'inute" said Harry with his swollen tongue.
"Why are you talking like that dear?" Said Mrs. Weasley.
"My da'ned Uncle slammed me into a 'all." Said Harry.
"That son of a.…. did what??!!??!!" yells Fred.
"FRED!!! Honey I'm so sorry I always knew they were no good." Mrs. Weasley says reaching to touch the spot on the back of his head.
James suddenly hisses at Mrs. Weasley and she pulls her hand back.
"James 't's ok. She's gonn' help." Says Harry "You can do what you err doing Mrs. Weasley."
"Ok Harry. When did you get that cat?" says Mrs. Weasley reaching to examine the spot on the back of Harry's head.
"I got him last night from Hagrid as a gift." Says Harry.
"That was certainly nice of him. Well, let's go inside and treat these wounds." Says Mrs. Weasley.
With that they all go inside. When inside Mrs. Weasley told Harry to sit down at the table while she flipped through a book titled Magical Cures For Muggle Made Injuries.
"AH here it is. Ok Harry stay real still." Said Mrs. Weasley putting her wand up against the injured place on his head. "CURAR CABEZA CORTAR!!"
Suddenly a white light emitted from Mrs. Wealey's wand and in an instant Harry's head was healed.
"Aw'ome what abou' my tongue?" said Harry
"Here take this and swish it in your mouth for a minute then spit it out. There's a cream that will do it in about 30 seconds and totally but we don't have it. I'll ask Arthur to pick some up on his way home. He has to go to work soon." Said Mrs. Weasley.
"'Ere's some money for it Mrs. Weasley I'll pay for it since it's my injuwy." Said Harry handing Mrs. Weasley 10 Galleons.
"I…I…" said Mrs. Weasley.
"TAKE IT PLEASE!" yells Harry with the mouthwash dribbling down his front "I DON'T NEED IT! TAKE IT PLEASE!!!"
Mrs. Weasley takes the 10 Galleons and walks off to find Mr. Weasley.
"HARRY! WHY DID YOU BLOW UP LIKE THAT AT MY MOM!?!?" yells Ron looking angry.
"Ron don't you yell at me too. I've had a bad day I'm sorry. It was just all built up and you all will never take my donations and it was my injury so I wanted to pay for the medical expenses. I just need to cool down. Be alone for a little bit if I can." Says Harry.
"Ok Harry. I'm Sorry. It's just well…" Ron trailed off.
"You can use Percy's room if you want. He's off on a trip for a week in America. He won't tell us why it's one his 'highly classified' type things. That's the way Percy is though highly unclassified becomes classified. Anyway his room is the first on the left after two flights of stairs." Says George.
"Thanks a lot. Sorry again for that outburst." Says Harry as he trudges off toward the stairs after grabbing some of his things.
Once in Percy's room he flops down on the bed and looks around at how neat everything is. Then, Harry took out his Wizard radio and flipped through stations until, shocked, he stopped at a song he recognized from muggle radio, All Or Nothing.
[Amazing] thought Harry.
Harry sat there for a good 5-6 hours until… "HARRY! TIME FOR SUPPER!!!!!" yells Ron.
Harry suddenly realized he was very hungry. "COMING!!" Yells Harry.
[What a day] thinks Harry. [Man I really shouldn't have done that to Mrs. Weasley.] Harry arrives in the kitchen a few minutes later and sees some of his most favorite foods. A smile lit his face as he sat down at the table.
"Glad to see you're feeling better mate." Says Ron.
"Yeah. Sorry about earlier Mrs. Weasley." Says Harry.
"It's ok I know you were a bit stressed out honey." Mrs. Weasley says.
After a delicious meal and a desert of treacle tart Fred and George set off some Filibuster's Wet Start No Heat Fireworks. Afterwards they sat around talking.
"That was delicious. Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Says Harry.
"So you like my cooking huh?" says a familiar voice from behind Harry.
Harry turns around and… "SIRIUS!" yells Harry as he runs up to Sirius and hugs him tightly.
"WOW! I didn't realize I was so popular." Says Sirius in a joking tone smiling wide and looking better than he has in a long time.
Harry lets go and says "What are you doing here Sirius?"
"I'm moving everything into our house Harry. I went to the muggle's house and checked your room for anything you might have left and I found Hedwig. And I thought 'Man that must have been some argument for you to forget Hedwig.' They had her out in the back yard and were about to shoot her. I heard her hoot just in time and I sent down a stunning spell at the fat one who was holding the gun."
Harry's jaw drops but he composes himself and says, "Hedwig was almost shot?? It was my fault. I should have remembered Hedwig."
"No Harry it wasn't your…" Sirius starts to say.
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Harry interrupts, "How did you know about my outburst with the muggles?"
"Everyone knows about it now Harry" Says Sirius holding up a copy of the DAILY PROPHET with such headlines like Harry Potter Abused For Last Time and Harry Potter Leaves His Muggle Guardians And Vows Never To Return.
"WHAT?!?! RITA SKEETER?!?! BUT I THOUGHT THAT HERMIONE…." Harry trailed off realizing he said that out loud.
Everyone was staring at Harry and Ron was giving him a Now-You've-Done-It kind of look.
"What's this about Hermione and Rita Skeeter??" says Sirius.
"Oh, ok. I guess I should be able to trust my best friends family and my godfather." Says Harry as he explains about Hermione finding out that Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus and that Hermione caught her and put her in an unbreakable jar and told her not to write any stories for a year and so on and so on.
"Oh. Interesting." Says Sirius staring at a beetle on the table.
"What kind of bug was she?" Sirius asks looking at the beetle on the table start to squirm around.
"A beetle." Says Harry.
"AHA!!" yells Sirius as he snatches the beetle up off of the table.
Then Sirius conjures a jar and puts a charm on it to make it unbreakable and he puts the beetle in it.
"Well I'm off to the Ministry I'll come back by tomorrow." Says Sirius.
"Ok" says Harry.
"Remind Arthur to get the stuff for Harry's tongue." Says Mrs. Weasley.
"Will do." Says Sirius as he exits the room holding the jar.
"Harry you didn't tell us you were going to live with Sirius." Says Ron.
"Uhh. I guess I forgot to." Says Harry. "Well let's go to sleep"
"Ok" the others agree. With that they all head upstairs and go to sleep.