Chapter 3: The Gift of Magic
Ron was waiting a Flourish and Blotts, the prescribed meeting place for the friends that year. So far it was just him. 'Where are Hermione and Harry?' he asked himself, getting impatient. Suddenly he spotted a girl with red curly hair running towards him, arms out as if to give him a hug. "Hermione!" Ron shouted, receiving her hug. "Hermione, I can't breathe," he gasped.
"Sorry, Ron," she said as she let go, "I'm just so excited to finally see you again."
"Yeah, I'm excited to see you too, but I don't want to die."
"Ron, you're a riot. Hey, did you get Harry's message?"
"The one about when he meets us here he's gonna have a surprise for us?"
"Yeah. Well, what do you think it is gonna be?" Hermione wondered.
"I don't know, maybe he was made a prefect or something."
"Hmmm, I didn't think about that but I guess. I thought that maybe he learned something about Hogwarts or the Dark Lord. Some kind of information. I don't know though."
"Well, whatever it is, it will be good. I could tell he was excited when I read his letter."
"Yeah me too." All of a sudden Hermione hugged Ron again, "I'm just so excited to see you again!" she squealed.
"Oh, get a room!" came a cry from about ten feet away. Both Ron and Hermione glanced over towards the shout. There was a teen wizard standing there smiling.
"Harry?" Hermione and Ron said quizzically.
"Yeah, don't you recognize your ol' friend?" he asked with a sad look on his face.
"HARRY!" they both yelled as they jumped on him, nearly knocking him to the ground.
"Wow!" said Ron. "You've grown a lot Harry."
"Yeah," said Hermione, "Taller, stronger. cuter."
"Hermione!" shouted Ron and Harry at the same time. She just smiled back.
"I'm only kidding you two."
But both knew she wasn't when a group of girls, 5th, 6th and 7th years passed them staring at Harry with their mouths open.
"Kidding?" asked Ron.
"Well." she left it at that.
"Well," said Harry, "I hope you are kidding because that has to do with the thing I want to tell you. Guys, this - is Angie." Angie came out from behind Harry and waved shyly at Ron and Hermione.
"Hello," she whispered.
"Harry! You got a girlfriend?!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed.
"Well sort of. It is a long story. Anyway, I asked Dumbledore and she will be coming to Hogwarts with us this year. Her parents took a little bit more convincing." He grinned at her and she grinned back.
Soon they all left together and went into the different stores, acquiring the supplies they needed, and getting extra entertainment. Hermione bought some books on the history of other wizarding schools besides Hogwarts, and Harry bought some advanced spell books, which he carefully hid from Hermione and Ron, of course. He didn't plan on letting them know about his summer quite yet. Angie bought some basic spell books that Harry had recommended.
Their next stop was robes. Angie picked out some black robes that were the perfect size. Harry caught himself goggling before anybody else noticed. She also bought some nice dress robes for herself. Harry was very pleased with the selections that she had made.
After acquiring her robes they headed towards Olivander's to get Angie a wand. Angie and Harry walked in first, followed by Ron and Hermione.
"Umm, Mr. Olivander?" Harry called.
"Be there in a minute!" came the reply.
The friends waited while Mr. Olivander lugged himself from out of the back of the shop. "Ah, Harry! Ron, Hermione." He said each of their names and bowed. "And who do we have here?" he asked eying Angie.
"Mr. Olivander, may I introduce you to Angie. She will be joining our terrible trio this year at Hogwarts." This was said very jokingly and Mr. Olivander chuckled.
"Yes, I've hear about you three and your - adventures," he said. "Miss Angie, take the advice of an old goon and find some more responsible people to hang around with."
"Hey, Mr. Olivander, we're not that bad," said Harry with a fake hurt look on his face.
"I'm just kidding around Mr. Potter. Now lets see what we can do about a wand for you Miss Angie."
Harry remembered getting his own wand five years ago. Watching Angie get hers brought back these memories. Nothing had changed. It had taken Mr. Olivander fifteen minutes to find the wand for Angie. The wand that was finally best for her was nine inches long, flexible, and with a core of a dragon heartstring. After purchasing her wand she lovingly packaged it and held it close to her. Then they proceeded to acquire potion ingredients, schoolbooks, various other protective clothing, and an owl. Angie decided on a black owl, so that she and Harry wouldn't get their owls mixed up.
After they had finished with all of their shopping, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Angie all met with Mrs. And Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley began to immediately fuss over Angie and both Harry and Ron laughed. All were tired and decided to spend the next week, while they waited for the start of school, at The Burrow. When they arrived they unpacked and went to sleep. Harry in Ron's room, and Hermione and Angie in Ginny's.
The next morning Ron woke up to find Harry missing from his bed. Wonder what he is doing up so early,' he thought to himself. He slowly raised himself out of his single bed and dressed. As he stumbled towards the stairs to go down to the kitchen he ran into Hermione.
"Ron, you're up early," she commented
"Harry is not in the room," Ron replied, "any idea as to where he is?"
"Angie is missing also. Hmm, maybe they are outside on his broom or something."
They grabbed a quick breakfast and then went outside in search of Harry and Angie. They didn't find him in the front yard on the Weasley's makeshift Quidditch field, nor did they find him in the back. They started to worry when they heard a soft "thud" come from the trees to the right. They crept over towards the tree line and saw Harry. Their mouths dropped open as they watched him. He had out a sword, and was swinging it around, with much control, and striking a tree as if it were a target. Then, to their amazement, he handed the sword to Angie who took it up and did almost as well as Harry had. Both Ron and Hermione watched them for some time before creeping back to the house together.
"Can you believe that?" Ron asked Hermione when they were back at The Burrow.
"No, he is very good," came the reply.
"Thanks," said another voice from the doorway. The looked in surprise as Harry stepped into the house. "Did you enjoy the show?" he asked them.
"Yeah," came the instant reply. "Where did you learn to do that Harry?"
"Well. I didn't have much to do over the summer and Hagrid sent me this sword. I figured that I might as well teach myself to use it. May come in handy against ol' Voldie. Then, when I met Angie I decided to teach her as well. We had quite a bit of extra time while we waited for you guys to get our stuff." He smiled at this last statement. "Anyway, what's for breakfast?"
"Oh, well, we just grabbed something to eat before going out to see where you had gone, we were starting to worry about you Harry."
"Nonsense, you don't need to worry about me, Voldemort has been trying to kill me for fifteen years. Do you think he is gonna succeed now?" he asked them laughing. "Besides, I got Angie here to protect me," he said hugging her.
"Well, anyway, you should be careful and tell us where you went."
"I know, I just needed some fresh air. My room att eh Dursley's became quite stuffy and I wasn't allowed outside much."
"Well, if you need some fresh air," said Ron with a smile, "I'm sure we would all like to hold a small Quidditch match."
"That would be wonderful! I haven't played Quidditch in too long. Far too long," he added sighing. He began to think about the sport he so adored. He loved the feeling of flying through the air on a broomstick, the wind biting his face. He loved the sound of the air whipping by him. He became lost in fond memories of the game, and the feeling it aroused in him.
"Harry. Harry. Harry, snap out of it!" Angie said tapping him slightly on the cheek.
Harry's eyes unglazed as he said, "Sorry, too many fond memories of Quidditch I suppose. Now how about that game?"
They quickly gathered the necessary components, brooms, balls, uniforms, and players, and a game began. Hermione and Angie sat by and watched as Harry looped, spiraled, swerved, and dived, enjoying the ecstatic look on his face. Harry's team won when he did a 500-foot dive and caught the snitch six inches from the ground. Angie and Hermione cheered.
That night both Harry and Ron fell asleep exhausted. They had played Quidditch almost the entire day. As soon as they said "Goodnight" to each other, they had crashed.
Harry was running through a mountain field, the wind biting his face. He loved the sound of the wind as it swept by his ears and loved the smell of the incoming storm. As the storm hit he began running in the rain. Its touch cooling and reviving him. Then there was a blinding flash; a clap of thunder then all went black. However, Harry did not wake up. He waited. Then a voice could be heard, an ancient voice, a voice that sounded like the wind itself. It sang a poem in a light voice. There was no happiness in its voice, nor was it sad. There was no humor, no harshness. It simply sang.
Once thought lost
Never found
Never seen
Always around
Powers old
Long since forgotten
Through you now
Again begotten
Harry awoke startled. He remembered having a dream, being struck by lighting, but nothing after. He knew that something else had happened. He cursed himself for not remembering what. He tried to think, but thinking just put him asleep faster.
Ron was waiting a Flourish and Blotts, the prescribed meeting place for the friends that year. So far it was just him. 'Where are Hermione and Harry?' he asked himself, getting impatient. Suddenly he spotted a girl with red curly hair running towards him, arms out as if to give him a hug. "Hermione!" Ron shouted, receiving her hug. "Hermione, I can't breathe," he gasped.
"Sorry, Ron," she said as she let go, "I'm just so excited to finally see you again."
"Yeah, I'm excited to see you too, but I don't want to die."
"Ron, you're a riot. Hey, did you get Harry's message?"
"The one about when he meets us here he's gonna have a surprise for us?"
"Yeah. Well, what do you think it is gonna be?" Hermione wondered.
"I don't know, maybe he was made a prefect or something."
"Hmmm, I didn't think about that but I guess. I thought that maybe he learned something about Hogwarts or the Dark Lord. Some kind of information. I don't know though."
"Well, whatever it is, it will be good. I could tell he was excited when I read his letter."
"Yeah me too." All of a sudden Hermione hugged Ron again, "I'm just so excited to see you again!" she squealed.
"Oh, get a room!" came a cry from about ten feet away. Both Ron and Hermione glanced over towards the shout. There was a teen wizard standing there smiling.
"Harry?" Hermione and Ron said quizzically.
"Yeah, don't you recognize your ol' friend?" he asked with a sad look on his face.
"HARRY!" they both yelled as they jumped on him, nearly knocking him to the ground.
"Wow!" said Ron. "You've grown a lot Harry."
"Yeah," said Hermione, "Taller, stronger. cuter."
"Hermione!" shouted Ron and Harry at the same time. She just smiled back.
"I'm only kidding you two."
But both knew she wasn't when a group of girls, 5th, 6th and 7th years passed them staring at Harry with their mouths open.
"Kidding?" asked Ron.
"Well." she left it at that.
"Well," said Harry, "I hope you are kidding because that has to do with the thing I want to tell you. Guys, this - is Angie." Angie came out from behind Harry and waved shyly at Ron and Hermione.
"Hello," she whispered.
"Harry! You got a girlfriend?!" Ron and Hermione exclaimed.
"Well sort of. It is a long story. Anyway, I asked Dumbledore and she will be coming to Hogwarts with us this year. Her parents took a little bit more convincing." He grinned at her and she grinned back.
Soon they all left together and went into the different stores, acquiring the supplies they needed, and getting extra entertainment. Hermione bought some books on the history of other wizarding schools besides Hogwarts, and Harry bought some advanced spell books, which he carefully hid from Hermione and Ron, of course. He didn't plan on letting them know about his summer quite yet. Angie bought some basic spell books that Harry had recommended.
Their next stop was robes. Angie picked out some black robes that were the perfect size. Harry caught himself goggling before anybody else noticed. She also bought some nice dress robes for herself. Harry was very pleased with the selections that she had made.
After acquiring her robes they headed towards Olivander's to get Angie a wand. Angie and Harry walked in first, followed by Ron and Hermione.
"Umm, Mr. Olivander?" Harry called.
"Be there in a minute!" came the reply.
The friends waited while Mr. Olivander lugged himself from out of the back of the shop. "Ah, Harry! Ron, Hermione." He said each of their names and bowed. "And who do we have here?" he asked eying Angie.
"Mr. Olivander, may I introduce you to Angie. She will be joining our terrible trio this year at Hogwarts." This was said very jokingly and Mr. Olivander chuckled.
"Yes, I've hear about you three and your - adventures," he said. "Miss Angie, take the advice of an old goon and find some more responsible people to hang around with."
"Hey, Mr. Olivander, we're not that bad," said Harry with a fake hurt look on his face.
"I'm just kidding around Mr. Potter. Now lets see what we can do about a wand for you Miss Angie."
Harry remembered getting his own wand five years ago. Watching Angie get hers brought back these memories. Nothing had changed. It had taken Mr. Olivander fifteen minutes to find the wand for Angie. The wand that was finally best for her was nine inches long, flexible, and with a core of a dragon heartstring. After purchasing her wand she lovingly packaged it and held it close to her. Then they proceeded to acquire potion ingredients, schoolbooks, various other protective clothing, and an owl. Angie decided on a black owl, so that she and Harry wouldn't get their owls mixed up.
After they had finished with all of their shopping, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Angie all met with Mrs. And Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley began to immediately fuss over Angie and both Harry and Ron laughed. All were tired and decided to spend the next week, while they waited for the start of school, at The Burrow. When they arrived they unpacked and went to sleep. Harry in Ron's room, and Hermione and Angie in Ginny's.
The next morning Ron woke up to find Harry missing from his bed. Wonder what he is doing up so early,' he thought to himself. He slowly raised himself out of his single bed and dressed. As he stumbled towards the stairs to go down to the kitchen he ran into Hermione.
"Ron, you're up early," she commented
"Harry is not in the room," Ron replied, "any idea as to where he is?"
"Angie is missing also. Hmm, maybe they are outside on his broom or something."
They grabbed a quick breakfast and then went outside in search of Harry and Angie. They didn't find him in the front yard on the Weasley's makeshift Quidditch field, nor did they find him in the back. They started to worry when they heard a soft "thud" come from the trees to the right. They crept over towards the tree line and saw Harry. Their mouths dropped open as they watched him. He had out a sword, and was swinging it around, with much control, and striking a tree as if it were a target. Then, to their amazement, he handed the sword to Angie who took it up and did almost as well as Harry had. Both Ron and Hermione watched them for some time before creeping back to the house together.
"Can you believe that?" Ron asked Hermione when they were back at The Burrow.
"No, he is very good," came the reply.
"Thanks," said another voice from the doorway. The looked in surprise as Harry stepped into the house. "Did you enjoy the show?" he asked them.
"Yeah," came the instant reply. "Where did you learn to do that Harry?"
"Well. I didn't have much to do over the summer and Hagrid sent me this sword. I figured that I might as well teach myself to use it. May come in handy against ol' Voldie. Then, when I met Angie I decided to teach her as well. We had quite a bit of extra time while we waited for you guys to get our stuff." He smiled at this last statement. "Anyway, what's for breakfast?"
"Oh, well, we just grabbed something to eat before going out to see where you had gone, we were starting to worry about you Harry."
"Nonsense, you don't need to worry about me, Voldemort has been trying to kill me for fifteen years. Do you think he is gonna succeed now?" he asked them laughing. "Besides, I got Angie here to protect me," he said hugging her.
"Well, anyway, you should be careful and tell us where you went."
"I know, I just needed some fresh air. My room att eh Dursley's became quite stuffy and I wasn't allowed outside much."
"Well, if you need some fresh air," said Ron with a smile, "I'm sure we would all like to hold a small Quidditch match."
"That would be wonderful! I haven't played Quidditch in too long. Far too long," he added sighing. He began to think about the sport he so adored. He loved the feeling of flying through the air on a broomstick, the wind biting his face. He loved the sound of the air whipping by him. He became lost in fond memories of the game, and the feeling it aroused in him.
"Harry. Harry. Harry, snap out of it!" Angie said tapping him slightly on the cheek.
Harry's eyes unglazed as he said, "Sorry, too many fond memories of Quidditch I suppose. Now how about that game?"
They quickly gathered the necessary components, brooms, balls, uniforms, and players, and a game began. Hermione and Angie sat by and watched as Harry looped, spiraled, swerved, and dived, enjoying the ecstatic look on his face. Harry's team won when he did a 500-foot dive and caught the snitch six inches from the ground. Angie and Hermione cheered.
That night both Harry and Ron fell asleep exhausted. They had played Quidditch almost the entire day. As soon as they said "Goodnight" to each other, they had crashed.
Harry was running through a mountain field, the wind biting his face. He loved the sound of the wind as it swept by his ears and loved the smell of the incoming storm. As the storm hit he began running in the rain. Its touch cooling and reviving him. Then there was a blinding flash; a clap of thunder then all went black. However, Harry did not wake up. He waited. Then a voice could be heard, an ancient voice, a voice that sounded like the wind itself. It sang a poem in a light voice. There was no happiness in its voice, nor was it sad. There was no humor, no harshness. It simply sang.
Once thought lost
Never found
Never seen
Always around
Powers old
Long since forgotten
Through you now
Again begotten
Harry awoke startled. He remembered having a dream, being struck by lighting, but nothing after. He knew that something else had happened. He cursed himself for not remembering what. He tried to think, but thinking just put him asleep faster.