Chapter 3

Harry was ready before the Dursleys were.

Dudley had lost his extra, extra large plus size tutu, Uncle Vernon couldn't tie his tie, and Aunt Petunia was throwing a fit because he couldn't concentrate.

In the middle of all of this, Harry was sitting in the living room with his chin resting on his hand.

'Should I talk to Ron and Hermione?' Harry thought. 'Why should I? They told me that they couldn't make it because they'll be gone fore the week, but there they they are, eating ice cream at Diagon Alley. They betrayed me. But what if they had a good reason? After all, they did try to explain. Why should I let them expl-'

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by a rushed Aunt Petunia. "Harry! Come on! We're leaving!" she scolded.

When they arrived, Aunt Petunia was taking all sorts of pictures of Dudley in hi tutu, which reminded him of a gigantic flower.

In Harry's opinion, the recital was boring until Dudley had came on stage.

When Dudley first had come on stage, all he had done was turns and lifting his partner into the air.

'I guess Dudley did learn to be more graceful,' Harry thought. But then, Harry had learned that he was wrong.

Dudley's partner had walked off stage, leaving Dudley to do his solo.

He had done all sorts of leaps and jumps that made the decorations throughout the room fall off, or go out of place. A trophy that was at least 2 feet high for the best dancer had fallen on top of a poor old woman.

Finally, had done his last leap, which made the whole auditorium feel like an earthquake was starting, startling some people.

There were very few claps from the audience. They were mostly from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

"That's my b-boy!" Aunt Petunia sobbed.

"I always knew he could do it! Way to go Son!" Uncle Vernon said loudly.

All Harry could do was clap and laugh at Dudley's performance. He stopped when he noticed that Uncle Vernon was glaring at him, but was still keeping a wide grin on his face.

'That's Dudley for ya!' Harry thought.

~*~*~*~*~

Harry spent most of his summer with Mrs. Figgs, always finding an excuse to "help" her around the house.

They usually talked about Hogwarts and things that have been happening in the wizarding world during the summer.

"I'll never forget the day I received a letter telling me that I was chosen to be a Gryffindor Prefect!" sighed Mrs. Figgs, staring off into space.

"You were a Gryffindor Prefect?!" Harry said in amazement. "I am too! I mean, I will be once term starts!" Harry said excitedly.

"Well, congratulations!" Mrs. Figgs laughed. "Who is the other Prefect?" she asked.

"Oh, well, it's R-" Harry stopped. He had totally spaced out that Ron and Hermione, his so called best friends, were the two other Prefects. "Uh,… er… I'd rather not say." He was obviously still mad at them.

"Well, uh, that's ok,… I guess,…" answered Mrs. Figgs curiously.

There was an uneasy silence filling the room.

Mrs. Figgs finally broke the silence saying, "So, is your uncle going to take you to Kin's Cross?"

Harry gasped. "Oh my gosh! September 1st is next Friday, isn't it?!"

Mrs. Figgs nodded.

"I have no idea! The last three years, the Weasleys have taken me…" Harry flinched at the thought of Ron. "But after what happened… I don't know." Harry said, still in shock.

"Well, you're gonna have to figure something out soon," warned Mrs. Figgs.

When Harry got home, he brainstormed possible ways to tell Uncle Vernon, with out him getting mad.

It was then time for Harry to wash up and get ready for dinner.

~*~*~*~*~

"Happy Anniversary!" Aunt Petunia announced the 50th time at the dinner table.

'Oh, that's good.' Harry thought. 'I'll just ask him tomorrow so that he doesn't get mad at me for 'ruining' his anniversary.'

Harry, for the first time at the Dursleys, had a fairly good dinner. They had mashed potatoes, chicken, rolls, and corn on the cob. It was the first time he had a full stomach since he got back from Platform 9 ¾.

"Well, let's go into the living room so that we can open our gifts." Uncle Vernon announced.

Harry rolled his eyes as Dudley, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and himself got up and left the kitchen.

"Petunia, honey, ('Oh brother!' thought Harry.) We have been together for 16 years now, so here is my gift to you." Uncle Vernon said, as if he was proposing to her for the second time.

"Oh Vernon!" Aunt Petunia squealed. "It's beautiful!" It was a bracelet entirely made of diamonds. "Oh Snuggles! Come here!" ('Snuggles?!' Harry thought, trying not to laugh.)

When they stopped hugging and kissing, Aunt Petunia gave Uncle Vernon an envelope.

"What's this?" Uncle Vernon asked, looking confused.

"Why its my present to you!" Aunt Petunia smiled.

Uncle Vernon smiled and opened the envelope. Inside, he found three airplane tickets.

"Happy Anniversary! You, Dudley, and I are going to Hawaii for three weeks. Now, Harry, before you complain, let me explain." said Aunt Petunia. "Before we received that letter, I only planned on the three of us going, while you spend time with Mrs. Figgs. ('No surprise there!' Harry thought.) But when we received the letter, I tried to get another ticket, but it was too late. It looks like you're going to have to stay with Mrs. Figgs. We'll be leaving tomorrow, and won't be back until September 8th."

Harry was thrilled. He didn't have to ask Uncle Vernon to take him to King's Cross after all. But Harry wanted to make things more interesting.

"September 8th?!" Harry asked, trying ever so hard to keep a straight face. "I'm supposed to be at Hog- uh school on September 1st! How am I supposed to get to Kin's Cross?!"

"Mrs. Figgs can take you," said Aunt Petunia, not looking at Harry because she was admiring her new bracelet on her wrist.

"What would she think if I brought an owl inter her house?!" Harry argued.

"I don't care what she would think." Aunt Petunia said impatiently.

"And what if she sees me walk through Platform 9 ¾? She's not supposed to know that I'm a wizard."

"DON'T SAY THAT WORD IN THIS HOUSE!" Uncle Vernon roared.

"Sorry Sir, but still, how am I supposed to go to her house and not have her find out I'm a you-know-what?" Harry said, trying to resist the urge to laugh.

"Well you figure it out!" Aunt Petunia snapped, and Harry knew this conversation was over.

'Thank goodness!' Harry thought as he was walking upstairs to his room with a wide grin on his face. 'This worked out perfectly!'

That night, everyone got packed for their three week vacation, or in Harry's case, his 5th year at Hogwarts.

The next day, everyone woke up early to get ready to leave. Harry, of course, was ready before everyone else was. As usual, he would sit in the living room waiting for the Dursleys to get ready to leave.

When they arrived at Mrs. Figgs' home, Harry "threatened" Uncle Vernon to help him carry his stuff into the house.

When Mrs. Figgs opened the door, she screamed. "Aaahhh!' An owl! Vernon, What is he doing with an owl?!" she asked. She glanced at Hrry and winked.

"Uh… uh…," Uncle Vernon started.

"It's for a… a…a school project! I'm supposed to study an owl and learn what it eats and how it lives." Harry interrupted.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so?!" Come on Harry! Come in!" Mrs. Figgs said, obviously trying not to laugh.

"Arabella, if you don't mind, would you be willing to take Harry to King's Cross on September 1st? He starts school soon, and will be needing a train to get there." Uncle Vernon explained.

"Oh, really? Well, I guess I can!" she said smiling.

"Ok then, off we go! See ya later Arabella!" called Uncle Vernon.

Right after Uncle Vernon closed the door, Mrs. Figgs and Harry started to laugh and couldn't stop laughing for a long time.

When they had finally calmed down, and owl came through the window and landed on one of Mrs. Figgs' sofas.

Mrs. Figgs walked over to the owl and picked up the letter.

"Harry," she said. "This letter's for you."

"For me?" Harry repeated, looking confused.

Harry opened the letter and read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

Because you have been chosen to be a Gryffindor Prefect, we ask you to be on the Hogwarts Express before 10:00 AM on Friday, September 1st for a meeting with all of the Gryffindor Prefects.

~Professor M. McGonagall

"Mrs. Figgs," Harry said, looking up from his letter, "do you think you could geme to King's Cross before 10:00 on September 1st?" Harry asked.

"Why? The train doesn't leave until 11:00, right?" Mrs. Figgs said, looking puzzled.

"I know, but Professor McGonagall wants all of the Gryffindor Prefects on the train before 10:00 because there's supposed to be some sort of meeting that I have to be at." Harry explained.

"Yeah, I think that'll be fine." Mrs. Figgs replied.

~*~*~*~*~

Mrs. Figgs and Harry had gone to Diagon Alley for lunch and to buy any last minute things that Harry might need before he went to Hogwarts.

While Harry was there, he saw Neville, Dean, and Seamus. When Harry tried to say hi, they all stammered and ran away.

'I guess I was right, no one likes me. They only said that they were my friends just because I'm the 'famous boy who lived.' Now they just runaway like they're afraid of me or something. Does any of this have to do with Voldemort?' Harry asked himself o the way back to Mrs. Figgs' home. 'I'll write a letter to Sirius explaining and see if he has any good advice for me.' Harry thought, making a mental note.

When Harry got home, he went to the guest room (The room where he would be sleeping) and pulled out some parchment and a quill.

Harry started to write down all of the events that had happened, then re-read his letter three times to make sure he didn't leave out any details. Then he signed it and walked over to Hedwig and tied it around her leg.

"It looks like you and Sirius are my only true friends." Harry whispered as he stroked the top of Hedwig's head. Then he opened the window and watched her soar until she was nothing but a black dot in the sky.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning at breakfast, Mrs. Figgs asked him something that he's been wanting to hear since the school year ended.

"Harry, how would you like to go to a new Quidditch Field that just opened last week?" Mrs. Figgs asked.

"I'D LOVE TO!" Harry exclaimed, saying it louder than he meant. "I mean, I'd love to go, but, just what is it?" Harry asked excitedly.

"It's where any witch or wizard can go to practice their Quidditch skills. I know you haven't played for a long time, especially because the Tri-Wizard Tournament was last year, so I thought it would be fun if you'd like to practice before the Quidditch season starts." Mrs. Figgs explained.

"Cool! Well, let's go!" Harry said, heading toward the door.

"Wait just a minute young man!" Mrs. Figgs said sternly. 'What did I do?!' Harry thought. "We're not leaving until you promise that you're going to let me try that Firebolt of yours." she said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing.

Harry smiled. "Ok, but let me get my broom and playbook." He wanted to have a taste with the Wronski Defensive Feint.

Soon, they were on their way to the new Quidditch Field.

~*~*~*~*~

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed when he saw the Quidditch Field for the first time.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Mrs. Figgs said, looking at Harry's amazed face.

Harry wanted to say something, but he couldn't.

There were quaffles, bludgers, snitches, and goalposts everywhere.

As Harry and Mrs. Figgs got onto their field, Harry just stood there and admired the whole thing. 'Whoever invented this place is a real genius!' Harry thought.

Harry mounted his broom and felt the familiar grip and steering of the broom. Harry flied around the field to get used to his broom again, for it had been so long since he had last used it.

When Harry returned to the ground, Mrs. Figgs was smiling. "you fly great! Seeing you fly is easier to visualize than reading the Daily Prophet and trying to picture it!"

"What do you mean?!" Harry asked, starting to blush.

"Oh! Well, after the first task, the Daily Prophet tried to explain every move you did. Boy was it hard trying to picture it all!" she explained.

After this remark, Harry was turning hot pink.

"Oh, here ya go! It's your turn!" Harry said, handing her the Firebolt.

"Thank you." she said.

She rose high and said, "Wow! This broom is a whole lot better than I thought!" and she too took a few laps around the field.

'Wow!' Harry thought. 'She's great on a broom!'

"Hey, Harry!" yelled Mrs. Figgs. "Could you toss that quaffle to me?"

Harry looked around and saw a box full of quaffles. He grabbed one and tossed it to Mrs. Figgs.

She caught it and started to race toward the goal posts.

"Goal!" she yelled. She returned to the ground with a wide smile on her face.

"How come you never told me you played Quidditch?" Harry said, still in shock.

"Well, I did. When I was in my 3rd year at Hogwarts when the Gryffindor team captain chose me to be one of the new Gryffindor chasers. If I dare say, I was actually pretty good. Now, let's see how you are with the snitch!" Mrs. Figgs said as she handed back the Firebolt.

Harry still had his touch. He caught the first one within less than a minute. Soon, he decided that it was time to teach himself the Wronski Defensive Feint.

It was a lot harder than Harry thought. Mrs. Figgs helped him by giving him suggestions. Soon, every time he tried it, he got better and better at it.

Then came his moment in glory. Harry successfully did the Wronski Defensive Feint.

As Harry got off his broom to rejoice with Mrs. Figgs, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Harry! Harry! Is that you?!" the voice called.

Harry looked around and saw his old Quidditch captain.

"Oliver! Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?!" Harry exclaimed.

"I'm the owner of this place." said Oliver. "Was that the Wronski Defensive Feint you just did?!"

"Yeah, it was," Harry said, feeling himself go pink.

"Wow! How long have you known how to do it?"

"I just taught myself how to do it. Harry explained.

"If only you had known how to do it while I was at Hogwarts!" Oliver said, obviously fantasizing how it would look if the seeker on the Gryffindor team just did the difficult move.

They continued to talk and get reacquainted until it was time for Harry to go home.

It was the most fun he had had in a long time.