Harry Potter and the Curse of the Gypsy
Author's note-Hello, and thank you for reading my first fan fiction! I only recently found this site but have been writing fan fiction for as long as I can remember. This is a story that I started right after reading Goblet of Fire, and it has been really fun! I hope you enjoy reading it!
Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from these fine books. The only characters that I own are Cory Johnson and her managers. J.K. Rowling owns the others, and she has done a fine job with them, so I could never take her place as much as I would like to. The plot is mine, though. Got it? Good.
Chapter Two
"Can I have some more gravy."
"Pass the rolls, Ron."
"Mum! Fred just tried to slip me a Drooling Doublemint!"
"Fred!"
"Sorry Ginny!"
"Have some more turkey, Remus."
"No thanks, Molly. I am completely stuffed." Remus grinned apologetically as he patted his stomach. Harry watched from his seat, smiling. Ron sat to his right; Remus to his left. The twins had slipped numerous treats into his dinner but, forewarned by Ron, managed to pick them out as he navigated through the large mound of Mrs. Weasley's dinner.
"How've you been, Harry?" Remus said thoughtfully. "You're homework coming along?"
"Mm-hmm." He mumbled through a mouthful of chicken pot pie. He swallowed and frowned. "Well, except for the bit on Memory Potions Snape is making us write." Both he and Ron grimaced.
"Oy, I know what you mean, Harry. I couldn't find anything about them." Remus chuckled softly and both Harry and Ron turned to look.
"Well, trust Severus to give you an impossible assignment."
"Impossible?" they said in unison. The twins nodded from across the table.
"Yeah. Snape does that to all the fifth years. He we need to find the theories behind a Memory Potion." Fred frowned as he talked.
"One that can restore any lost thought." George continued, grimacing. "You work like mad on it,"
"And then when you can't find anything."
"You either get depressed, suck it in, and don't turn anything in."
"Or, as in our case, you make it up!" The twins shook their heads.
"He gets on to you." They gave each other marching looks of disgust. "And tells you memory potions don't exist."
"Don't they?" Ron asked darkly.
"Of course not." Remus answered brightly. "The only ones that do exist, well.are made by gypsies. Kept strictly secret, you know, and will only share with fellow gypsies. Other than that, all recipes are gone to dust-or too dangerous to try." He shrugged. "I guess that is his idea of fun, what with the O.W.L.S. coming up."
"Ugh." Ron moaned. "Don't remind me." He sat back, pushing his plate away. "You know, Hermione is going to be impossible this year." He sighed. "When do you think she is going to get her prefect letter."
"Erm.soon probably." He thought of his own badge, in his pocket, and shook his head. "I got mine today."
Silence fell over the table as every person, from Mr. Weasley to Remus to Ginny turned to stare at him. He flushed red and reached into his pocket, laying the badge out on the table. Ginny's mouth fell open and Ron shrunk back, shock written across his features. "Surprise?" Harry muttered, breaking the silence.
"Oh, Harry! How wonderful! I'm so happy for you, dear!" Mrs. Weasley beamed at him. "Such wonderful news."
"You have to be joking." Ron snorted. "We've managed to break as many rules as Fred and George in just four years."
"Well, considering that you did most of the things you did out of nobility and courage," Remus stated, "I think Dumbledore and McGonagall might be a little leniant." He then grinned smugly. "And don't forget, your father was a notorious prankster. And he turned out to be Head Boy."
"You had promise." Fred stated, shaking his head. "Where did we go wrong?" George nodded. "I had thought you would take our place. We're going to be gone soon."
"Nothing more than a legend."
"And we had counted on you to continue the pranking, so that Hogwarts does not descend into boredom in the absence of our presence."
George sighed ruefully. "And now you have gone and become a prefect. A shame, Harry. I'd rather you were a squib."
Mrs. Weasley snorted and told them off for their 'nonsense'. Ron grinned. "A perfect disguise, eh, Harry? It might be usefull. Take points off Slytherin." A tranquil look passed his face. "Every side needs it's spy." Harry grinned as the twins laughed raucously.
"Yeah." he said slowly. "Who would suspect me, after all? Besides Malfoy, and Snape, and McGonagall, and probably Dumbledore, even though he wouldn't care." The look of pure mischief on his face made the twins double over in hysterics.
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley frowned, though her eyes gleamed with amusement. "You aren't going to go looking for trouble, now?"
"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley." He smiled, the tiredness of the previous weeks now completely absent from his face. "I don't have to. I think I'm a magnet for chaos." She shook her head and sighed. Retrieving a large strawberry cake from the kitchen, she set it down for their eager looks. It was gone within five minutes.
They retired to the living room, satisfied. They all reclined into the sofas, as the twins continued to torment Harry on his 'betrayal'. Ginny, who had had a crush on him for four years, blushed when she found herself at his side.
Presently, Weasley's Wizard Weezes, or the WWW as it was now called, was mentioned. "A crazy venture." Mrs. Weasley stated as she talked to Remus. "I'm still hoping that the year will be enough to straighten them out, and get them looking for a real job."
"I don't know Molly." Remus stated. "The wizard who created Zonko's joke shop is living pretty well. I've met him-he's incredible, though his inventing days have left him smelling distinctly like Dungbombs."
"To Emery Zonko." Fred swore. "We never would have survived Hogwarts without him." Harry and Ron gave each other sidelong looks, snorting.
George grinned widely, winking at Harry. "More importantly, to our benefactor, who has given WWW the future it needs." He grinned cheerfully. "We've named him Co-Executive wizard, and he will be receiving a third or so of all profits from the WWW." Harry was unable to say anything. Only the twins knew that he was in fact the benefactor.
"I will throttle whoever it was that gave them the money." Mrs. Weasley stated wearily. Everybody stared at the twins and Harry. Apparently only they found this incredibly funny.
After a moment, Mr. Weasley smiled at them. "Harry," he said slowly. "Have you ever heard of the Starlight Festival?" Harry shook his head. He knew much about magic, but very little of the wizarding world in general. "Well, it's a popular festival held every ten years. It's going to last from Thurday to Sunday and I thought, since your birthday is Friday."
Harry goggled. He had never done anything for his birthday. In fact, except for the last two years, he had never gotten anything for his birthday other than Uncle Vernon's smelly old socks. "You.you mean it?" he said cautiously.
"Of course. I've got tickets for the entire herd.we'll even be meeting Bill and Charlie. Charlie is exhibiting young dragons, and Bill is working with Gringott's to exchange currency. Nobody knows why the Americans persist in keeping their money different from ours.I never will get used to the Quiggle." Mr. Weasley grinned. "So, everybody in?"
Every shouted happily. Since the Festival was held only once a decade, Ron had never been either. The twins remembered a trip from when they were eight, and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were looking at each other starry- eyed.
Suddenly, Harry thought of something. "Oh, Remus.you won't be able to go, will you?" The full moon was Friday.
"No. That is quite alright though. I don't think I could have gone anyway. Gypsies run the place and, unfortunately, they really aren't too fond of werewolves." "Why not?" Harry asked.
Remus shrugged. "Well, most gypsy clans dislike us for the obvious reasons-disturbing their place in the forest, and sometimes harming their camp. Some of them, though.well, after so many years being among the forest creatures, some gypsies inevitably fell in love with the ones that lived their-centaurs."
"Centaurs?"
"Hmm. When a centaur falls in love with a gypsy, he will forsake his entire face and become human. However, the moon and stars power remains in their blood. In that way, most gypsies have some bit of the powers of the moon in their blood. A fact which causes me to be violent, I am afraid, and them to hate me." He shook his head. "It was a gypsy, however, who invented the potion I take. I have Erica of the Roshani clan to be thankful for."
Harry shook his head. This was an interesting fact. However, since the rest of the Weasleys didn't look astonished at all, he supposed it was simply his absence of knowledge of much of the wizard world at work. "So.erm." he finally asked. "What goes on at this festival?"
"Everything." Ron grinned. "Quidditch matches, food, exhibits, a real zoo with magical creatures."
"Jokes." George said solemnly. "Many, many jokes."
"And I hear that this year Cory Johnson is going to be giving a concert." Ron said dreamily. "THE Cory Johnson."
"Who is that?" Harry said simply. Ron goggled.
"I.you.Cory Johnson.she's all the rage right now, our age.fantastic, really.gorgeous."
"He fancies her." Fred grinned. "A lot."
"I do not! I.admire her talent."
"Like Hermione admired Gilderoy Lockhart." Everybody snorted at the mention of the infamous bungler.
"Well, I guess we will have to see this, then." He smiled happily. "When do we leave?"
"Eight sharp, Friday morning. Don't be late." Mr. Weasley grinned.
"I wouldn't miss it for all the world." Said Harry simply.
***
Harry woke Friday morning with a heavy sense of anticipation in his chest, though he could not recall why. Then, suddenly, he remembered the Starlight Festival and his birthday. He was fifteen.
Ron snored loudly in the bed opposite Harry. He glanced around- everything was almost exactly as it had always been. With his glasses off, everything was a bright orange blur. He yawned as he slipped them on. The blurs formed into posters of the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team. He padded out of bed, thankful for a dreamless sleep. Since coming to The Burrow, he had only had one nightmare, about Cedric Diggory.but it was still too much for Harry to think about. It was still too early.
He opened his trunk and pulled out a black T-shirt and dark jeans. He had bought these, himself, tired of having Dudley's old clothes shrunk to fit him once he returned to his school. Mr. Weasley had used a spell to summon his things from the Dursleys, as Harry had arrived by a surprise portkey.
Ron stirred, blinking his eyes open. "What time is it?" he muttered. Harry glanced at the orange Chudley Cannons clock.
"Seven. Reckon we should get breakfast before we go."
Ron grinned as he rubbed his eyes. "I forget-you've never had a Weasley Birthday Breakfast. Well.you'll see soon." Harry could only guess what this meant.
He waited until Ron was dressed before he went down. Pleasantly, he noticed that he didn't have to look as far up as he once had to see into his friend's face-he had grown several inches over the last year. When they reached the living room it was empty.
Harry, used to the usual morning clamor, was flabbergasted. "Where.is everybody?"
"Wait." Ron stated, marching triumphantly to the kitchen. "Go on in." Harry stared at him strangely before slowly opening the door.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" The Weasley clan was standing in the middle of the room. Streamers of all colors fell from the ceiling, and on the table were all of Harry's favorite foods.
"Is.is this all for me?"
"No. It's to celebrate Ron's NOT becoming a prefect."
"George!"
"Sorry mum." He smirked at Harry, who grinned back.
"Harry, dear, have a seat, have a seat. We have all your presents right here. Breakfast first though." She pressed him into his seat and fixed him a large plate. To his surprise, she had even fixed a cake, replete with a miniature seeker who flitted about after a tiny golden snitch.
"Thank you.really." He said, still overwhelemed. "I've never."
"I know, dear." He saw that her ears were slightly red. "Well.eat up. We're leaving at eight!"
He downed his meal, enjoying every bite. Finally when he could eat no more, he sat back and sighed. "That was wonderful, Mrs. Weasley. I'm stuffed."
She beamed brightly. "Oh, Harry. You're welcome! And." she added with a kind smile, "why not? You are family!" Harry reddened when he saw everybody nod in approval.
"I.I."
"Presents!" Fred cheered, shoving a large pile of brightly colored packages at Harry.
"There are all for me?" he murmured. There were at least a dozen packages there, all wrapped in golds, emeralds, blues, and any other color under the rainbow.
He picked up a rather large one addressed from Hermione. He ripped off a note and read,
Harry,
Sorry I couldn't make it to your celebration. I'm so proud we're prefects together! I'm here with Viktor-he's just come in from Bulgaria. I'm showing him around London a bit. Tell me when you and Ron are going to Diagon Alley. Viktor will be gone by then, and I want to see you!
Hermione
He ripped open the paper revealing a large book. Ron moaned.
"She gave you a book? What a surprise."
Harry chuckled, pushing it at him. "Read the title." Ron picked it up and read it aloud.
"2001 Common Rules for the Uncommon Rule Breaker." Ron grinned widely. "Guess she figured we ought to do things right, s'long as she knows we're going to do it anyway."
Harry smiled as he began picking his way through his other gifts. He got a box of tricks, with instructions, from the twins, a watch to replace the one broken in the Triwizard Tournament by Ginny, and from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a set of school supplies, which would have been boring except that it contained a large quantity of invisible and color changing inks.
Hagrid's gift was large and knobby and the group, who were all well- acquainted with the things Hagrid thought of as "cute", scooted back as Harry tentatively opened it up. However, he had no reason to be afraid. It was a pair of gold gauntlets with bright rubies. The letter simply said that they had been found in a muggle antique shop and that they would be useful for the next year-a terrifying thought.
"Maybe he finally got those dragons." Ron moaned.
"There not so bad." Harry said thoughtfully. "I just wouldn't want to deal with one without my Firebolt." Ron raised a brow. "All right, all right.."
He got a new wizard chess set from Ron, including a book on strategy which surprised him. Even more surprising was a present from Fleur Delacour, a thank-you for rescuing her sister. It was a small foe glass on a long, thin chain.
He got a pair of handsome black dragon-hide boots from Charlie Weasley, and Bill sent him a curse-deflector, a pendant set with a large black stone. He put it on quickly-the note sent with it instructed him to wear it at all times. He wasn't going to complain.
Even Mrs. Figg seemed to be in the spirit of giving, and sent Harry a book on advanced level shield and defense charms.
Finally, only two gifts were left, and Harry recognized these. They had been left by Remus, who had gone home two days earlier-one had Remus' name in his handsome signature, and the other had Sirius' loopy writing-it said 'Snuffles'.
Remus' gift was incredible. Harry hadn't known what to expect from his ex-professor, another book maybe. But not.
"A Firebolt Booster Package." Fred gazed at it with reverent awe. "Extra braking capacity, speed booster, even a 360 degree turning mechanism." Harry stared at it.
"Erm.Mr. Weasley? Do you think?"
"I'll help you install it tomorrow." He smiled. And Harry turned to Sirius' package.
"Who's Snuffles?" Ginny asked innocently. Ron and his mother went red.
"A good friend." He quickly opened it. And his heart fell.
The wooden box opened at his touch. The name James E. Potter was scratched onto the surface. Silence fell as everybody watched.
It was full of things Harry supposed were from his dad's school days. A black leather notebook bore uneven lettering. "Quidditch Tips and Secret Plays, by James Potter." Harry read out loud.
He rifled through the box and found several bags of tricks, slips of paper, and a couple of hasty sketches Harry realized his father must have done. They were of his mother. They were beautiful. A prefect's and head boy's badge were wrapped in plain paper. To his amusement he found a list labeled enemies-with Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy at the top. He got the strong urge to add the name 'Peter Pettigrew'.
A letter from Sirius lay at the bottom.
Dumbledore took this from your house. He has given them all to me, and I will pass them on to you as the time comes. These were meant for you to get on acceptance at Hogwarts. He gave you the invisibility cloak that used to be in here-it is time you had the rest.
After a long moment Mr. Weasley spoke. "Well, let's go, then."
"Right." He followed them to the fireplace. Mr. Weasley handed around an old flower pot-Harry took a pinch of Floo powder. Mr. Wealey went first. "Starlight Square!" he shouted-and disappeared with a pop.
The twins followed, smiling evilly, pockets full of treats-Harry guessed that the WWW was getting a test run. They too went. Harry sighed as he stepped towards the fire and sprinkled the Floo powder in. "Starlight Square!" he shouted. He began spinning in darknesss, spinning until.
"Bugger!" He had crashed into a large white column. Fred and George smiled maliciously. He looked around as they continued to laugh. It was pleasantly warm. Bright colored fairies flitted back amongst trees that bore large, white blossoms.
Ron and his sister and mother arrived. Ron too crashed into the pole. Looking around, Harry saw the large sign that stood near the gate a few feet before him.
Welcome to Starlight Square!
**********************
Hey! I haven't gotten many reviews yet, but thanks kindly to my mentor Jasmine Black, who helped me figure out how screwed up my formatting and spacing was. I think this story is really good, and the upcoming chapter is going to be quite interesting, to say the least. I will have at least one old 'friend' show up. PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks! *hugs* MEGX
Author's note-Hello, and thank you for reading my first fan fiction! I only recently found this site but have been writing fan fiction for as long as I can remember. This is a story that I started right after reading Goblet of Fire, and it has been really fun! I hope you enjoy reading it!
Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from these fine books. The only characters that I own are Cory Johnson and her managers. J.K. Rowling owns the others, and she has done a fine job with them, so I could never take her place as much as I would like to. The plot is mine, though. Got it? Good.
Chapter Two
"Can I have some more gravy."
"Pass the rolls, Ron."
"Mum! Fred just tried to slip me a Drooling Doublemint!"
"Fred!"
"Sorry Ginny!"
"Have some more turkey, Remus."
"No thanks, Molly. I am completely stuffed." Remus grinned apologetically as he patted his stomach. Harry watched from his seat, smiling. Ron sat to his right; Remus to his left. The twins had slipped numerous treats into his dinner but, forewarned by Ron, managed to pick them out as he navigated through the large mound of Mrs. Weasley's dinner.
"How've you been, Harry?" Remus said thoughtfully. "You're homework coming along?"
"Mm-hmm." He mumbled through a mouthful of chicken pot pie. He swallowed and frowned. "Well, except for the bit on Memory Potions Snape is making us write." Both he and Ron grimaced.
"Oy, I know what you mean, Harry. I couldn't find anything about them." Remus chuckled softly and both Harry and Ron turned to look.
"Well, trust Severus to give you an impossible assignment."
"Impossible?" they said in unison. The twins nodded from across the table.
"Yeah. Snape does that to all the fifth years. He we need to find the theories behind a Memory Potion." Fred frowned as he talked.
"One that can restore any lost thought." George continued, grimacing. "You work like mad on it,"
"And then when you can't find anything."
"You either get depressed, suck it in, and don't turn anything in."
"Or, as in our case, you make it up!" The twins shook their heads.
"He gets on to you." They gave each other marching looks of disgust. "And tells you memory potions don't exist."
"Don't they?" Ron asked darkly.
"Of course not." Remus answered brightly. "The only ones that do exist, well.are made by gypsies. Kept strictly secret, you know, and will only share with fellow gypsies. Other than that, all recipes are gone to dust-or too dangerous to try." He shrugged. "I guess that is his idea of fun, what with the O.W.L.S. coming up."
"Ugh." Ron moaned. "Don't remind me." He sat back, pushing his plate away. "You know, Hermione is going to be impossible this year." He sighed. "When do you think she is going to get her prefect letter."
"Erm.soon probably." He thought of his own badge, in his pocket, and shook his head. "I got mine today."
Silence fell over the table as every person, from Mr. Weasley to Remus to Ginny turned to stare at him. He flushed red and reached into his pocket, laying the badge out on the table. Ginny's mouth fell open and Ron shrunk back, shock written across his features. "Surprise?" Harry muttered, breaking the silence.
"Oh, Harry! How wonderful! I'm so happy for you, dear!" Mrs. Weasley beamed at him. "Such wonderful news."
"You have to be joking." Ron snorted. "We've managed to break as many rules as Fred and George in just four years."
"Well, considering that you did most of the things you did out of nobility and courage," Remus stated, "I think Dumbledore and McGonagall might be a little leniant." He then grinned smugly. "And don't forget, your father was a notorious prankster. And he turned out to be Head Boy."
"You had promise." Fred stated, shaking his head. "Where did we go wrong?" George nodded. "I had thought you would take our place. We're going to be gone soon."
"Nothing more than a legend."
"And we had counted on you to continue the pranking, so that Hogwarts does not descend into boredom in the absence of our presence."
George sighed ruefully. "And now you have gone and become a prefect. A shame, Harry. I'd rather you were a squib."
Mrs. Weasley snorted and told them off for their 'nonsense'. Ron grinned. "A perfect disguise, eh, Harry? It might be usefull. Take points off Slytherin." A tranquil look passed his face. "Every side needs it's spy." Harry grinned as the twins laughed raucously.
"Yeah." he said slowly. "Who would suspect me, after all? Besides Malfoy, and Snape, and McGonagall, and probably Dumbledore, even though he wouldn't care." The look of pure mischief on his face made the twins double over in hysterics.
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley frowned, though her eyes gleamed with amusement. "You aren't going to go looking for trouble, now?"
"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley." He smiled, the tiredness of the previous weeks now completely absent from his face. "I don't have to. I think I'm a magnet for chaos." She shook her head and sighed. Retrieving a large strawberry cake from the kitchen, she set it down for their eager looks. It was gone within five minutes.
They retired to the living room, satisfied. They all reclined into the sofas, as the twins continued to torment Harry on his 'betrayal'. Ginny, who had had a crush on him for four years, blushed when she found herself at his side.
Presently, Weasley's Wizard Weezes, or the WWW as it was now called, was mentioned. "A crazy venture." Mrs. Weasley stated as she talked to Remus. "I'm still hoping that the year will be enough to straighten them out, and get them looking for a real job."
"I don't know Molly." Remus stated. "The wizard who created Zonko's joke shop is living pretty well. I've met him-he's incredible, though his inventing days have left him smelling distinctly like Dungbombs."
"To Emery Zonko." Fred swore. "We never would have survived Hogwarts without him." Harry and Ron gave each other sidelong looks, snorting.
George grinned widely, winking at Harry. "More importantly, to our benefactor, who has given WWW the future it needs." He grinned cheerfully. "We've named him Co-Executive wizard, and he will be receiving a third or so of all profits from the WWW." Harry was unable to say anything. Only the twins knew that he was in fact the benefactor.
"I will throttle whoever it was that gave them the money." Mrs. Weasley stated wearily. Everybody stared at the twins and Harry. Apparently only they found this incredibly funny.
After a moment, Mr. Weasley smiled at them. "Harry," he said slowly. "Have you ever heard of the Starlight Festival?" Harry shook his head. He knew much about magic, but very little of the wizarding world in general. "Well, it's a popular festival held every ten years. It's going to last from Thurday to Sunday and I thought, since your birthday is Friday."
Harry goggled. He had never done anything for his birthday. In fact, except for the last two years, he had never gotten anything for his birthday other than Uncle Vernon's smelly old socks. "You.you mean it?" he said cautiously.
"Of course. I've got tickets for the entire herd.we'll even be meeting Bill and Charlie. Charlie is exhibiting young dragons, and Bill is working with Gringott's to exchange currency. Nobody knows why the Americans persist in keeping their money different from ours.I never will get used to the Quiggle." Mr. Weasley grinned. "So, everybody in?"
Every shouted happily. Since the Festival was held only once a decade, Ron had never been either. The twins remembered a trip from when they were eight, and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were looking at each other starry- eyed.
Suddenly, Harry thought of something. "Oh, Remus.you won't be able to go, will you?" The full moon was Friday.
"No. That is quite alright though. I don't think I could have gone anyway. Gypsies run the place and, unfortunately, they really aren't too fond of werewolves." "Why not?" Harry asked.
Remus shrugged. "Well, most gypsy clans dislike us for the obvious reasons-disturbing their place in the forest, and sometimes harming their camp. Some of them, though.well, after so many years being among the forest creatures, some gypsies inevitably fell in love with the ones that lived their-centaurs."
"Centaurs?"
"Hmm. When a centaur falls in love with a gypsy, he will forsake his entire face and become human. However, the moon and stars power remains in their blood. In that way, most gypsies have some bit of the powers of the moon in their blood. A fact which causes me to be violent, I am afraid, and them to hate me." He shook his head. "It was a gypsy, however, who invented the potion I take. I have Erica of the Roshani clan to be thankful for."
Harry shook his head. This was an interesting fact. However, since the rest of the Weasleys didn't look astonished at all, he supposed it was simply his absence of knowledge of much of the wizard world at work. "So.erm." he finally asked. "What goes on at this festival?"
"Everything." Ron grinned. "Quidditch matches, food, exhibits, a real zoo with magical creatures."
"Jokes." George said solemnly. "Many, many jokes."
"And I hear that this year Cory Johnson is going to be giving a concert." Ron said dreamily. "THE Cory Johnson."
"Who is that?" Harry said simply. Ron goggled.
"I.you.Cory Johnson.she's all the rage right now, our age.fantastic, really.gorgeous."
"He fancies her." Fred grinned. "A lot."
"I do not! I.admire her talent."
"Like Hermione admired Gilderoy Lockhart." Everybody snorted at the mention of the infamous bungler.
"Well, I guess we will have to see this, then." He smiled happily. "When do we leave?"
"Eight sharp, Friday morning. Don't be late." Mr. Weasley grinned.
"I wouldn't miss it for all the world." Said Harry simply.
***
Harry woke Friday morning with a heavy sense of anticipation in his chest, though he could not recall why. Then, suddenly, he remembered the Starlight Festival and his birthday. He was fifteen.
Ron snored loudly in the bed opposite Harry. He glanced around- everything was almost exactly as it had always been. With his glasses off, everything was a bright orange blur. He yawned as he slipped them on. The blurs formed into posters of the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team. He padded out of bed, thankful for a dreamless sleep. Since coming to The Burrow, he had only had one nightmare, about Cedric Diggory.but it was still too much for Harry to think about. It was still too early.
He opened his trunk and pulled out a black T-shirt and dark jeans. He had bought these, himself, tired of having Dudley's old clothes shrunk to fit him once he returned to his school. Mr. Weasley had used a spell to summon his things from the Dursleys, as Harry had arrived by a surprise portkey.
Ron stirred, blinking his eyes open. "What time is it?" he muttered. Harry glanced at the orange Chudley Cannons clock.
"Seven. Reckon we should get breakfast before we go."
Ron grinned as he rubbed his eyes. "I forget-you've never had a Weasley Birthday Breakfast. Well.you'll see soon." Harry could only guess what this meant.
He waited until Ron was dressed before he went down. Pleasantly, he noticed that he didn't have to look as far up as he once had to see into his friend's face-he had grown several inches over the last year. When they reached the living room it was empty.
Harry, used to the usual morning clamor, was flabbergasted. "Where.is everybody?"
"Wait." Ron stated, marching triumphantly to the kitchen. "Go on in." Harry stared at him strangely before slowly opening the door.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" The Weasley clan was standing in the middle of the room. Streamers of all colors fell from the ceiling, and on the table were all of Harry's favorite foods.
"Is.is this all for me?"
"No. It's to celebrate Ron's NOT becoming a prefect."
"George!"
"Sorry mum." He smirked at Harry, who grinned back.
"Harry, dear, have a seat, have a seat. We have all your presents right here. Breakfast first though." She pressed him into his seat and fixed him a large plate. To his surprise, she had even fixed a cake, replete with a miniature seeker who flitted about after a tiny golden snitch.
"Thank you.really." He said, still overwhelemed. "I've never."
"I know, dear." He saw that her ears were slightly red. "Well.eat up. We're leaving at eight!"
He downed his meal, enjoying every bite. Finally when he could eat no more, he sat back and sighed. "That was wonderful, Mrs. Weasley. I'm stuffed."
She beamed brightly. "Oh, Harry. You're welcome! And." she added with a kind smile, "why not? You are family!" Harry reddened when he saw everybody nod in approval.
"I.I."
"Presents!" Fred cheered, shoving a large pile of brightly colored packages at Harry.
"There are all for me?" he murmured. There were at least a dozen packages there, all wrapped in golds, emeralds, blues, and any other color under the rainbow.
He picked up a rather large one addressed from Hermione. He ripped off a note and read,
Harry,
Sorry I couldn't make it to your celebration. I'm so proud we're prefects together! I'm here with Viktor-he's just come in from Bulgaria. I'm showing him around London a bit. Tell me when you and Ron are going to Diagon Alley. Viktor will be gone by then, and I want to see you!
Hermione
He ripped open the paper revealing a large book. Ron moaned.
"She gave you a book? What a surprise."
Harry chuckled, pushing it at him. "Read the title." Ron picked it up and read it aloud.
"2001 Common Rules for the Uncommon Rule Breaker." Ron grinned widely. "Guess she figured we ought to do things right, s'long as she knows we're going to do it anyway."
Harry smiled as he began picking his way through his other gifts. He got a box of tricks, with instructions, from the twins, a watch to replace the one broken in the Triwizard Tournament by Ginny, and from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a set of school supplies, which would have been boring except that it contained a large quantity of invisible and color changing inks.
Hagrid's gift was large and knobby and the group, who were all well- acquainted with the things Hagrid thought of as "cute", scooted back as Harry tentatively opened it up. However, he had no reason to be afraid. It was a pair of gold gauntlets with bright rubies. The letter simply said that they had been found in a muggle antique shop and that they would be useful for the next year-a terrifying thought.
"Maybe he finally got those dragons." Ron moaned.
"There not so bad." Harry said thoughtfully. "I just wouldn't want to deal with one without my Firebolt." Ron raised a brow. "All right, all right.."
He got a new wizard chess set from Ron, including a book on strategy which surprised him. Even more surprising was a present from Fleur Delacour, a thank-you for rescuing her sister. It was a small foe glass on a long, thin chain.
He got a pair of handsome black dragon-hide boots from Charlie Weasley, and Bill sent him a curse-deflector, a pendant set with a large black stone. He put it on quickly-the note sent with it instructed him to wear it at all times. He wasn't going to complain.
Even Mrs. Figg seemed to be in the spirit of giving, and sent Harry a book on advanced level shield and defense charms.
Finally, only two gifts were left, and Harry recognized these. They had been left by Remus, who had gone home two days earlier-one had Remus' name in his handsome signature, and the other had Sirius' loopy writing-it said 'Snuffles'.
Remus' gift was incredible. Harry hadn't known what to expect from his ex-professor, another book maybe. But not.
"A Firebolt Booster Package." Fred gazed at it with reverent awe. "Extra braking capacity, speed booster, even a 360 degree turning mechanism." Harry stared at it.
"Erm.Mr. Weasley? Do you think?"
"I'll help you install it tomorrow." He smiled. And Harry turned to Sirius' package.
"Who's Snuffles?" Ginny asked innocently. Ron and his mother went red.
"A good friend." He quickly opened it. And his heart fell.
The wooden box opened at his touch. The name James E. Potter was scratched onto the surface. Silence fell as everybody watched.
It was full of things Harry supposed were from his dad's school days. A black leather notebook bore uneven lettering. "Quidditch Tips and Secret Plays, by James Potter." Harry read out loud.
He rifled through the box and found several bags of tricks, slips of paper, and a couple of hasty sketches Harry realized his father must have done. They were of his mother. They were beautiful. A prefect's and head boy's badge were wrapped in plain paper. To his amusement he found a list labeled enemies-with Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy at the top. He got the strong urge to add the name 'Peter Pettigrew'.
A letter from Sirius lay at the bottom.
Dumbledore took this from your house. He has given them all to me, and I will pass them on to you as the time comes. These were meant for you to get on acceptance at Hogwarts. He gave you the invisibility cloak that used to be in here-it is time you had the rest.
After a long moment Mr. Weasley spoke. "Well, let's go, then."
"Right." He followed them to the fireplace. Mr. Weasley handed around an old flower pot-Harry took a pinch of Floo powder. Mr. Wealey went first. "Starlight Square!" he shouted-and disappeared with a pop.
The twins followed, smiling evilly, pockets full of treats-Harry guessed that the WWW was getting a test run. They too went. Harry sighed as he stepped towards the fire and sprinkled the Floo powder in. "Starlight Square!" he shouted. He began spinning in darknesss, spinning until.
"Bugger!" He had crashed into a large white column. Fred and George smiled maliciously. He looked around as they continued to laugh. It was pleasantly warm. Bright colored fairies flitted back amongst trees that bore large, white blossoms.
Ron and his sister and mother arrived. Ron too crashed into the pole. Looking around, Harry saw the large sign that stood near the gate a few feet before him.
Welcome to Starlight Square!
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Hey! I haven't gotten many reviews yet, but thanks kindly to my mentor Jasmine Black, who helped me figure out how screwed up my formatting and spacing was. I think this story is really good, and the upcoming chapter is going to be quite interesting, to say the least. I will have at least one old 'friend' show up. PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks! *hugs* MEGX
