Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated characters are property of J.K.
Rowling, not me.
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 3: Letters & the Beginning
Two weeks passed before Harry received a response from Ron and Hermione. It was July 23rd, and Harry was asleep when he was woken by the sound of tapping on his window. He looked at the window, only to see 2 owls, one was a tiny owl that looked like it was on a caffeine and sugar high as it kept banging its head against the window. The other was Harry's owl, Hedwig, who was attempting to keep Pig under control and kept whacking him with her wings, but that didn't help much as he always flew into the window before being hit by her wings again. Harry quickly let them in before Pig lost anymore of his brain cells from banging it against the window for so long, what was left of his brain anyway.
He took the parchments from their legs and allowed the owls to get some water for the return journey. Pig was still acting as hyper as ever and kept flying around the room, while Hedwig kept looking at him with a bit of scorn. Harry then opened the letters he received. The first one was from Ron.
Harry,
Nice to hear from ya. Hope the muggles aren't treating you too badly. Unfortunately, you can't come over to the burrow this year. My family is going to visit Charlie in Romania this summer and we won't be back until a week before the term starts. Maybe you can come over then, and if not, I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron 2 days before the term starts. We can get our materials then and I'll be sure to send you a birthday present.
-Ron
Once he finished reading that, he put it away and looked at the one that was attached to Hedwig. This one, from the neat and precise writing, he could tell it was from Hermione.
Dear Harry,
My stay in Bulgaria wasn't at all pleasant. All the talk of Quidditch, between Krum and his friends, its like I'm not even there and honestly, its starting to sound like you and Ron talking on the train already. I miss you both. I do hope the Dursleys are treating you alright, they sound horrible. I also got an owl from Dumbledore that says you can come over to my house until the start of the term and he will give us further instructions when you arrive. My parents say its ok for you to come over. Maybe I can come and get you on your birthday. Then I can give you my present in person. 3:00 on July 31st, how does that sound? I may come earlier than that. I am also glad that you are safe and are actually doing your work ahead of time for once, since the papers say that you-know-who has started killing more people and gathering more followers. Cornelius Fudge hasn't done much, he thinks that its all a hoax and he's not putting any faith in Dumbledore's abilities. How did such an idiot get put into office? I mean he used to rely on Dumbledore so often for advice on daily activities. Do owl me with your response.
Love from,
Hermione
Harry then got out his quill and some parchment and started writing his responses, starting with Ron.
Ron,
I'd be glad to meet you at the Leaky Cauldron 2 days before term starts and we can get our supplies. Until then, I'll be at Hermione's house and we'll meet you there.
-Harry
Harry rolled up the scroll and, after spending about 5 minutes chasing him around the room, he finally caught him and attached the scroll to his leg for delivery. He then returned to the table and wrote his response to Hermione.
Dear Hermione,
I'd be glad to come over and sure you can come and get me on July 31st, but hopefully earlier than 2:00, I'd like to get out of here as soon as I can. I shouldn't have a problem convincing Uncle Vernon of letting me go, after all, they've been wanting to get rid of me since, well, my entire life. As for Voldemort, I think Dumbledore knows what he's doing and he'll do what he needs to do for our safety. I look forward to seeing you on the 31st.
Yours truly,
Harry
With that, he called over Hedwig, who flew over to him and put out her leg so that he could attach the letter to it. She nipped his ear affectionately before flying out the window to deliver the message. He then went downstairs, which he hadn't done in 2 weeks since he locked himself in the room. Uncle Vernon was sitting in a chair, reading the newspaper.
"Um, Uncle Vernon," said Harry timidly.
"What is it boy?" said Uncle Vernon, agitated that he was disturbed while reading his morning paper.
"My friend Hermione offered to let me stay at her house, so I was wondering if I could go."
"I don't want any of your abnormal friends around here, coming to visit" cried Uncle Vernon, recalling the time that Ron's father had come though the fireplace and terrorized the Dursleys.
"Her parents are normal mu- I mean, people, like you and Aunt Petunia," countered Harry.
"Alright boy, when do you leave?"
"The 31st, they'll come and pick me up."
"The sooner you get out of here the better, now get out of my sight before I change my mind," Uncle Vernon said with a sneer.
Harry then went back upstairs and to his room where he went over to the Book of Elements, which he put on the bed. In the 2 weeks since he had gotten the book, he had already mastered all the spells up to level 4 and was now working on the level 5 spells. He opened up to the Air Magic section and started reading.
[Level 5] Summon Air Guardian: Easiest of the 4 guardians to control. Summons an air guardian to do your bidding. Hold wand in front of you while saying incantation. (Accersitus Caelum)
Harry decided to try summoning an Air Guardian. At least he didn't need water or anything to create it from. He held his wand in front of him and said "Accersitus Caelum." His wand started to glow and a silver beam of light shot out of it before forming a humanoid creature that almost blended in with the wall on his room. Only a faint outline and the light blue tint of the figure was any evidence that it was there.
*Your bidding, my master?* said the Guardian, which appeared to be bowing to Harry.
Harry jumped back in surprise at the voice that appeared to come from his head.
"You can talk to me? And please, don't call me master, my name is Harry," he said to the creation that was before him.
*Master is kind, and yes, Harry, I can talk to you, but only in your thoughts, no one else can hear me. You command me, and I must follow your wishes as you are my master*
"Alright, so what can you do?"
*Whatever you wish, if it is within my powers, I will grant it*
"Thank you, I only summoned you because I wished to know if I could actually do it."
*As you wish Harry, you are a powerful one indeed, very few can summon me, even though I am the easiest to summon. I will disappear now. If you need anything, summon me again.*
With that, the guardian disappeared and Harry was left in amazement at what he had just seen. He then went over to the Elemental book and looked through it again. He had another 8 days before Hermione would come and get him. Even she must not know what he was capable of since the fewer people that knew about his newfound abilities, the less likely they would become targets of Voldemort who was killing those that he considered to be a threat, and even though Harry was one of those on his target list, he couldn't bear to put his friends in danger.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Over the next 7 days, Harry continued to experiment with the Elemental spells and tried to transform into a phoenix again. He managed to summon the water guardian, which he needed a glass of water to do, however, he wasn't able to summon the Fire or Earth Guardians since he needed either a fire or some dirt to be able to summon them. As for the transfiguration, he was able to change every aspect of himself into something resembling a phoenix, but his mouth. It still looked the same as it was when he was a human and when he looked at the mirror, he looked like a phoenix with a flat face, but he was still farther along than he was when he first started with Sirius in the alley 3 weeks ago.
On the 31st of July, Harry once again heard the tapping of an owl at his window. There were 2 owls, one, he knew as Pig and the other, he recognized as one of the school owls, probably Hagrid. He went over to the window and opened it. Pig flew in with a parcel attached to it and Harry made to remove it before allowing Pig to drink some water and take off through the open window. Then he went over to the other owl and did the same thing. The parcel was rather heavy and Harry assumed it was because Hagrid had sent him some rock cakes, which were only useful if you wanted to break your teeth. He opened the parcel that was attached to Pig and read the note.
Harry,
I wish I was coming with you to Hermione's house, I've been wanting to see her all summer, but I'm stuck in Romania now. I sent you a birthday present. Its in the parcel. Happy Birthday.
-Ron
Harry looked over at the package that Ron sent him and opened it. In it was a box of chocolate frogs and a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He put it aside, saving it for later when he was hungry, maybe he'd give some to Hermione when she came to get him. Next came Hagrid's present. Harry opened the note attached and read it.
Harry,
Happy Birthday! You don't think I would forget your birthday now, did you? Hope the muggles are treating you right. I sent you some rock cakes and a birthday cake that I baked meself. Hope you like it.
All the best,
Hagrid
Harry opened the package and saw some of the rock cakes.
*Maybe they'll come in handy when I need to summon an Earth Guardian. They are rocks anyway* he thought as he put aside the rock cakes and opened the box with the birthday cake. It was chocolate cake with red and green frosting and it said "Happy 15th Birthday Harry" on it in blue icing. It reminded him of his 11th birthday where Hagrid made him a cake and ended up adding a nice pigtail to Dudley's backside. It was a nice cake, but he decided he should save it until he got to Hermione's house. So he took out his wand, pointed at the cake said "Murus Glacialis" and when he looked at the cake, it was surrounded by a thin sheet of ice on all sides, which would keep it preserved until he was able to eat it later.
By the time Harry was done with his presents, it was 11:00 so he quickly created some food for himself and ate an early lunch. He then packed up his belongings and put Hedwig back in her cage. He then took a glass and filled it with water using the create drink spell. He then pointed his wand at it and said the words needed to summon a water elemental.
"Accersitus Aquarius" and a beam of blue light shot at the glass of water. The water level in the glass then started increasing and soon enough, it was overflowing, making the carpet rather wet. After a while, the water stopped and it gathered itself up into a rather shapely woman made completely of water and looked almost as beautiful as an elf.
*You summoned me master? *
"Yes, and please, call me Harry as I told your brother, the guardian of the air"
*As you wish Harry, now what is it that you want me to do? *
"Uh, if it doesn't sound too strange for you, do you think you could give me a bath? A friend of mine is coming over in about 3 hours and I would like to make myself look at least somewhat presentable for her"
*No, nothing is too strange for me. I haven't given a master a bath in several centuries, so I'll be more than happy to do so, besides, this female friend of your is special, isn't she? So you'll want to make yourself look good. *
"Yes she is special, but she's not my girlfriend or anything, just my best friend."
*I see, well, leave it to me and I'll have you looking great in no time. *
"Thanks."
After Harry undressed, feeling embarrassed at undressing while a woman was in the room, water guardian or not, he got into a tub, which he created out of the glass that was filled with water earlier and the water guardian started giving Harry his bath. Once that was done, he decided he should dress is something better than Dudley's old clothes, so he looked through some of his things and found a nice dark blue collared shirt and a pair of khaki pants. He put those on and let the water elemental look at him.
*You look a lot better than before, but you would look even better if you could do something about that hair of yours, * said the water guardian looking at his hair.
"It's always been like that, I can't do anything about it, even if I wanted to."
*Oh, well, you look fine then. Is there anything else you need? *
"No, you can go if you want. Or you can stay and talk until Hermione gets here."
*So, how long have you known her? *
"Since well, forever. She's a very good friend. She stayed by me last year in the Triwizard Tournament when everyone else abandoned me, even my friend Ron."
*Sounds like she's very loyal and will stay by you no matter what. Say, you sure you don't have feelings for her? * said the water guardian as Harry went over to the window and looked out to see if Hermione would come earlier.
"Yes, I'm sure. She's just my best friend, but I still wouldn't want anything to happen to her. Enough people have gotten hurt because of me."
*Why's that? *
"There's this evil wizard named Voldemort who just came back to power and he started killing people just to get to me because when I was one, he came and killed my parents and tried to kill me, but it didn't work. My mom cast some protection on me when she died, so when Voldemort tried to kill me, the killing curse backfired on me."
He was now looking back at the water guardian, with a pained expression on his face caused by remembering his parents and how he wasn't able to live with them because they were killed.
*I'm sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry. *
"No, its ok. Everyone's curious at one point or another, and I've gotten used to it by now. Besides, with you and the other guardians on my side, it'll be harder for Voldemort to kill anyone else."
*I am glad that I can help. *
Harry heard the sound of a car park on the street and doors opening. When he looked outside, he saw Hermione running up to the door and knocking.
"BOY! GET DOWN HERE! YOUR FRIEND IS HERE!" yelled Uncle Vernon from downstairs.
"I think you should go now, wouldn't want anyone to know you're here or that I'm talking to you," Harry said to the water guardian.
*As you wish Harry. Just call me when you need me again. It was nice having someone to talk to for once. * said the guardian before disappearing back into the cup, which was once again full of water. There was a knock on the door. Harry went over and opened the door, revealing Hermione in a white blouse and a black skirt that stopped at just above her knees. She looked a lot different than the last time Harry had seen her. Her brown hair, which was normally unruly and bushy, seemed more under control and Hermione had gotten more of a figure it seems, over the summer. Harry was staring at her for a while before Hermione ran up to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"HARRY!" she exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'm happy to see you again!"
"So am I," he replied, after recovering from the shock of being hugged by Hermione.
"Who were you talking to earlier?" she questioned.
"No one, I was just talking to myself about what we could do when we got to your house.," replied Harry, blushing at the fact that he had been staring at Hermione earlier. Fortunately, she didn't notice, since she was still hugging him.
"Hermione, could you let go of me, I'm having a hard time breathing with your arms wrapped around me," Harry managed to choke out after a while, even though he really didn't mind Hermione hugging him so much.
"Sorry," she said as she let go of him and took a good look at him. Harry wasn't exactly the scrawny kid she met 4 years ago on the train as he had become a bit more athletic. Probably due to all the manual labour the Dursleys made him do she thought.
"I have some candy that Ron sent. He says he misses you too and Hagrid sent me a birthday cake. We can eat that when we get to your house," Harry managed to say after a few moments of the two silently staring at each other.
Hermione blushed at the mention of Ron before saying, "Great. I'll give you your birthday present when we get to my house. I think you'll like it."
"Ok, let me get my things and we can go."
"Let me help you with that."
"Thanks."
Harry and Hermione managed to lift his trunk and brought it downstairs. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were in a corner and Aunt Petunia was hiding herself behind Uncle Vernon. They were looking at Hermione's parents as if they were aliens from another planet. The Grangers, however, were muggles like the Dursleys and Hermione was the only one who had any magical powers in their family.
Mr. Granger then took Harry's trunk from them, once they brought it downstairs and took it to the car while Harry and Hermione went back up to get the rest of his things. Hermione took Hedwig's cage and Harry picked up the rock cakes that Hagrid sent and put them in his pocket before picking up the cake, which was still preserved in the thin sheet of ice. Hermione apparently noticed it because she questioned him about it.
"What is that?" asked Hermione.
"It's the cake Hagrid sent, I preserved it like this so we could eat it later and it would still be fresh," Harry replied as they walked down the stairs.
"Where did you learn to do that? How come you haven't been popped by the Ministry of Magic for violating the underage restriction?"
"I found it in a book that I came across in the Hogwarts Library. I thought you'd have read it already, Hermione. You've read pretty much every book in that library," Harry said, though he too was wondering why he hadn't been owled by the Ministry for underage magic usage.
Hermione hit Harry on the arm at his comment before replying, "I am not a walking library and I haven't read all the books in the library yet."
Harry grinned at her. "The day you don't read a book for fun or for school is the day I date someone who doesn't go to Hogwarts."
"I'll hold you to that," she replied while grinning evilly at him.
When they got downstairs, Uncle Vernon and the others still hadn't moved from their place in the corner and the Grangers were looking confused as ever. They said good bye to the Dusrleys before walking to the Grangers' car. Harry and Hermione got into the back while Mr. Granger drove with Mrs. Granger sitting in the front. Once everyone was situated, they started to drive to Hermione's house.
"So you're Harry Potter, I believe we've met before. Hermione tells us so much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hermione's father, you can call me Edward and my wife's name is Helen," said Mr. Granger while they were driving.
"Thank you for letting me stay at your house. Its been horrible living with the Dursleys, and I don't think I could bring myself to call you by your first names," replied Harry, surprised at how nice the Grangers were.
"Oh its no problem dear, any friend of Hermione's is more than welcome to stay over. You're such a polite child. I'm surprised the Dursleys don't want you around," said Mrs. Granger, turning to face him in her seat.
"They don't like me because of my abilities. They're as normal as people could get and they look upon anyone who does anything out of the ordinary or anyone that associates with people like that with disgust."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that, we don't do that to people. It's rude and it shows a lack of character," said Mr. Granger.
Once the conversation with the Grangers was over, Hermione turned to Harry and started conversing with him.
"Harry, did you get any letters from Hogwarts yet?" she asked him.
"No I didn't, you said that Dumbledore would send us letters when I got to your house."
"That's right, I was just wondering if I'd be made a prefect and who the other prefect is."
"I'm sure you'll be made a prefect, Hermione, you have the highest grades in our year. I'd be surprised if you weren't made Head Girl in 7th year."
Hermione blushed at that comment, before returning to the conversation.
"I guess we'll find out then. It shouldn't be long to get to our house. It was only a 15 minute drive to your house to begin with," she said.
Harry then turned to look out the window. He had never been over to Hermione's house before and he was feeling a bit shy about staying with a girl, even if she was his best friend.
"Wait until you see the house, I think you'll like it. Your room will be across from mine and it's a lot nicer than the one the Dursleys' gave you, I think," said Hermione, drawing Harry's attention back to her.
"I'm pretty sure that I'll like it, since its your house. Everything you do is always perfect," Harry said in response.
Hermione's cheeks turned a bit red and she smiled at him.
After another minute, they arrived at her house. Mr. Granger helped Harry with his trunk while Hermione and Mrs. Granger went up to prepare Harry's room. As he stood downstairs, he was still feeling a bit uneasy, but his feelings vanished when Hermione came down and took him upstairs. He dragged the trunk with him and Hermione showed him around upstairs. First he dropped the trunk off at his room before going across the hall with Hermione so that he could see her room.
She opened the door and the room was decorated in light blue wallpaper. Her bed was a twin, which was up against the wall on the north end of the room with a lamp table next to it. Hermione's favourite book, Hogwarts: A History was set on it.
*Typical Hermione* thought Harry to himself as he looked around some more.
There was a walk-in closet to the left and two shelves of books on the right wall, which covered the entire length of the wall that didn't have a window. Each shelf was full of books, Harry noted. In between the shelves, there was a desk right below the window and the window itself overlooked the garden. There was also another door on the north end of the wall, about three feet to the right of the foot of the bed. The frame of the door was forest green and through the windows, Harry could see it opened into a balcony.
"You have a very pretty room. Let me guess, you read Hogwarts: A History, every night," said Harry.
"Oh be quiet, if you read as much as I did, you wouldn't be asking me for help with your homework," Hermione retorted.
"Hehe, well, I changed that one this summer, didn't I?" Harry said with a smirk.
"It's about time too. Now let's show you to your room."
They walked to the other side of the hall to Harry's room.
"My parents' room is down at the end of the hall on the right. Here's your room," she said, as she opened the door and they walked into his room.
A/N: Well, I'm technically not done, but I ended it here otherwise it'd be too long. You'll get the rest in chapter 4. R&R plz.
Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
Chapter 3: Letters & the Beginning
Two weeks passed before Harry received a response from Ron and Hermione. It was July 23rd, and Harry was asleep when he was woken by the sound of tapping on his window. He looked at the window, only to see 2 owls, one was a tiny owl that looked like it was on a caffeine and sugar high as it kept banging its head against the window. The other was Harry's owl, Hedwig, who was attempting to keep Pig under control and kept whacking him with her wings, but that didn't help much as he always flew into the window before being hit by her wings again. Harry quickly let them in before Pig lost anymore of his brain cells from banging it against the window for so long, what was left of his brain anyway.
He took the parchments from their legs and allowed the owls to get some water for the return journey. Pig was still acting as hyper as ever and kept flying around the room, while Hedwig kept looking at him with a bit of scorn. Harry then opened the letters he received. The first one was from Ron.
Harry,
Nice to hear from ya. Hope the muggles aren't treating you too badly. Unfortunately, you can't come over to the burrow this year. My family is going to visit Charlie in Romania this summer and we won't be back until a week before the term starts. Maybe you can come over then, and if not, I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron 2 days before the term starts. We can get our materials then and I'll be sure to send you a birthday present.
-Ron
Once he finished reading that, he put it away and looked at the one that was attached to Hedwig. This one, from the neat and precise writing, he could tell it was from Hermione.
Dear Harry,
My stay in Bulgaria wasn't at all pleasant. All the talk of Quidditch, between Krum and his friends, its like I'm not even there and honestly, its starting to sound like you and Ron talking on the train already. I miss you both. I do hope the Dursleys are treating you alright, they sound horrible. I also got an owl from Dumbledore that says you can come over to my house until the start of the term and he will give us further instructions when you arrive. My parents say its ok for you to come over. Maybe I can come and get you on your birthday. Then I can give you my present in person. 3:00 on July 31st, how does that sound? I may come earlier than that. I am also glad that you are safe and are actually doing your work ahead of time for once, since the papers say that you-know-who has started killing more people and gathering more followers. Cornelius Fudge hasn't done much, he thinks that its all a hoax and he's not putting any faith in Dumbledore's abilities. How did such an idiot get put into office? I mean he used to rely on Dumbledore so often for advice on daily activities. Do owl me with your response.
Love from,
Hermione
Harry then got out his quill and some parchment and started writing his responses, starting with Ron.
Ron,
I'd be glad to meet you at the Leaky Cauldron 2 days before term starts and we can get our supplies. Until then, I'll be at Hermione's house and we'll meet you there.
-Harry
Harry rolled up the scroll and, after spending about 5 minutes chasing him around the room, he finally caught him and attached the scroll to his leg for delivery. He then returned to the table and wrote his response to Hermione.
Dear Hermione,
I'd be glad to come over and sure you can come and get me on July 31st, but hopefully earlier than 2:00, I'd like to get out of here as soon as I can. I shouldn't have a problem convincing Uncle Vernon of letting me go, after all, they've been wanting to get rid of me since, well, my entire life. As for Voldemort, I think Dumbledore knows what he's doing and he'll do what he needs to do for our safety. I look forward to seeing you on the 31st.
Yours truly,
Harry
With that, he called over Hedwig, who flew over to him and put out her leg so that he could attach the letter to it. She nipped his ear affectionately before flying out the window to deliver the message. He then went downstairs, which he hadn't done in 2 weeks since he locked himself in the room. Uncle Vernon was sitting in a chair, reading the newspaper.
"Um, Uncle Vernon," said Harry timidly.
"What is it boy?" said Uncle Vernon, agitated that he was disturbed while reading his morning paper.
"My friend Hermione offered to let me stay at her house, so I was wondering if I could go."
"I don't want any of your abnormal friends around here, coming to visit" cried Uncle Vernon, recalling the time that Ron's father had come though the fireplace and terrorized the Dursleys.
"Her parents are normal mu- I mean, people, like you and Aunt Petunia," countered Harry.
"Alright boy, when do you leave?"
"The 31st, they'll come and pick me up."
"The sooner you get out of here the better, now get out of my sight before I change my mind," Uncle Vernon said with a sneer.
Harry then went back upstairs and to his room where he went over to the Book of Elements, which he put on the bed. In the 2 weeks since he had gotten the book, he had already mastered all the spells up to level 4 and was now working on the level 5 spells. He opened up to the Air Magic section and started reading.
[Level 5] Summon Air Guardian: Easiest of the 4 guardians to control. Summons an air guardian to do your bidding. Hold wand in front of you while saying incantation. (Accersitus Caelum)
Harry decided to try summoning an Air Guardian. At least he didn't need water or anything to create it from. He held his wand in front of him and said "Accersitus Caelum." His wand started to glow and a silver beam of light shot out of it before forming a humanoid creature that almost blended in with the wall on his room. Only a faint outline and the light blue tint of the figure was any evidence that it was there.
*Your bidding, my master?* said the Guardian, which appeared to be bowing to Harry.
Harry jumped back in surprise at the voice that appeared to come from his head.
"You can talk to me? And please, don't call me master, my name is Harry," he said to the creation that was before him.
*Master is kind, and yes, Harry, I can talk to you, but only in your thoughts, no one else can hear me. You command me, and I must follow your wishes as you are my master*
"Alright, so what can you do?"
*Whatever you wish, if it is within my powers, I will grant it*
"Thank you, I only summoned you because I wished to know if I could actually do it."
*As you wish Harry, you are a powerful one indeed, very few can summon me, even though I am the easiest to summon. I will disappear now. If you need anything, summon me again.*
With that, the guardian disappeared and Harry was left in amazement at what he had just seen. He then went over to the Elemental book and looked through it again. He had another 8 days before Hermione would come and get him. Even she must not know what he was capable of since the fewer people that knew about his newfound abilities, the less likely they would become targets of Voldemort who was killing those that he considered to be a threat, and even though Harry was one of those on his target list, he couldn't bear to put his friends in danger.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Over the next 7 days, Harry continued to experiment with the Elemental spells and tried to transform into a phoenix again. He managed to summon the water guardian, which he needed a glass of water to do, however, he wasn't able to summon the Fire or Earth Guardians since he needed either a fire or some dirt to be able to summon them. As for the transfiguration, he was able to change every aspect of himself into something resembling a phoenix, but his mouth. It still looked the same as it was when he was a human and when he looked at the mirror, he looked like a phoenix with a flat face, but he was still farther along than he was when he first started with Sirius in the alley 3 weeks ago.
On the 31st of July, Harry once again heard the tapping of an owl at his window. There were 2 owls, one, he knew as Pig and the other, he recognized as one of the school owls, probably Hagrid. He went over to the window and opened it. Pig flew in with a parcel attached to it and Harry made to remove it before allowing Pig to drink some water and take off through the open window. Then he went over to the other owl and did the same thing. The parcel was rather heavy and Harry assumed it was because Hagrid had sent him some rock cakes, which were only useful if you wanted to break your teeth. He opened the parcel that was attached to Pig and read the note.
Harry,
I wish I was coming with you to Hermione's house, I've been wanting to see her all summer, but I'm stuck in Romania now. I sent you a birthday present. Its in the parcel. Happy Birthday.
-Ron
Harry looked over at the package that Ron sent him and opened it. In it was a box of chocolate frogs and a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He put it aside, saving it for later when he was hungry, maybe he'd give some to Hermione when she came to get him. Next came Hagrid's present. Harry opened the note attached and read it.
Harry,
Happy Birthday! You don't think I would forget your birthday now, did you? Hope the muggles are treating you right. I sent you some rock cakes and a birthday cake that I baked meself. Hope you like it.
All the best,
Hagrid
Harry opened the package and saw some of the rock cakes.
*Maybe they'll come in handy when I need to summon an Earth Guardian. They are rocks anyway* he thought as he put aside the rock cakes and opened the box with the birthday cake. It was chocolate cake with red and green frosting and it said "Happy 15th Birthday Harry" on it in blue icing. It reminded him of his 11th birthday where Hagrid made him a cake and ended up adding a nice pigtail to Dudley's backside. It was a nice cake, but he decided he should save it until he got to Hermione's house. So he took out his wand, pointed at the cake said "Murus Glacialis" and when he looked at the cake, it was surrounded by a thin sheet of ice on all sides, which would keep it preserved until he was able to eat it later.
By the time Harry was done with his presents, it was 11:00 so he quickly created some food for himself and ate an early lunch. He then packed up his belongings and put Hedwig back in her cage. He then took a glass and filled it with water using the create drink spell. He then pointed his wand at it and said the words needed to summon a water elemental.
"Accersitus Aquarius" and a beam of blue light shot at the glass of water. The water level in the glass then started increasing and soon enough, it was overflowing, making the carpet rather wet. After a while, the water stopped and it gathered itself up into a rather shapely woman made completely of water and looked almost as beautiful as an elf.
*You summoned me master? *
"Yes, and please, call me Harry as I told your brother, the guardian of the air"
*As you wish Harry, now what is it that you want me to do? *
"Uh, if it doesn't sound too strange for you, do you think you could give me a bath? A friend of mine is coming over in about 3 hours and I would like to make myself look at least somewhat presentable for her"
*No, nothing is too strange for me. I haven't given a master a bath in several centuries, so I'll be more than happy to do so, besides, this female friend of your is special, isn't she? So you'll want to make yourself look good. *
"Yes she is special, but she's not my girlfriend or anything, just my best friend."
*I see, well, leave it to me and I'll have you looking great in no time. *
"Thanks."
After Harry undressed, feeling embarrassed at undressing while a woman was in the room, water guardian or not, he got into a tub, which he created out of the glass that was filled with water earlier and the water guardian started giving Harry his bath. Once that was done, he decided he should dress is something better than Dudley's old clothes, so he looked through some of his things and found a nice dark blue collared shirt and a pair of khaki pants. He put those on and let the water elemental look at him.
*You look a lot better than before, but you would look even better if you could do something about that hair of yours, * said the water guardian looking at his hair.
"It's always been like that, I can't do anything about it, even if I wanted to."
*Oh, well, you look fine then. Is there anything else you need? *
"No, you can go if you want. Or you can stay and talk until Hermione gets here."
*So, how long have you known her? *
"Since well, forever. She's a very good friend. She stayed by me last year in the Triwizard Tournament when everyone else abandoned me, even my friend Ron."
*Sounds like she's very loyal and will stay by you no matter what. Say, you sure you don't have feelings for her? * said the water guardian as Harry went over to the window and looked out to see if Hermione would come earlier.
"Yes, I'm sure. She's just my best friend, but I still wouldn't want anything to happen to her. Enough people have gotten hurt because of me."
*Why's that? *
"There's this evil wizard named Voldemort who just came back to power and he started killing people just to get to me because when I was one, he came and killed my parents and tried to kill me, but it didn't work. My mom cast some protection on me when she died, so when Voldemort tried to kill me, the killing curse backfired on me."
He was now looking back at the water guardian, with a pained expression on his face caused by remembering his parents and how he wasn't able to live with them because they were killed.
*I'm sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry. *
"No, its ok. Everyone's curious at one point or another, and I've gotten used to it by now. Besides, with you and the other guardians on my side, it'll be harder for Voldemort to kill anyone else."
*I am glad that I can help. *
Harry heard the sound of a car park on the street and doors opening. When he looked outside, he saw Hermione running up to the door and knocking.
"BOY! GET DOWN HERE! YOUR FRIEND IS HERE!" yelled Uncle Vernon from downstairs.
"I think you should go now, wouldn't want anyone to know you're here or that I'm talking to you," Harry said to the water guardian.
*As you wish Harry. Just call me when you need me again. It was nice having someone to talk to for once. * said the guardian before disappearing back into the cup, which was once again full of water. There was a knock on the door. Harry went over and opened the door, revealing Hermione in a white blouse and a black skirt that stopped at just above her knees. She looked a lot different than the last time Harry had seen her. Her brown hair, which was normally unruly and bushy, seemed more under control and Hermione had gotten more of a figure it seems, over the summer. Harry was staring at her for a while before Hermione ran up to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"HARRY!" she exclaimed as she hugged him. "I'm happy to see you again!"
"So am I," he replied, after recovering from the shock of being hugged by Hermione.
"Who were you talking to earlier?" she questioned.
"No one, I was just talking to myself about what we could do when we got to your house.," replied Harry, blushing at the fact that he had been staring at Hermione earlier. Fortunately, she didn't notice, since she was still hugging him.
"Hermione, could you let go of me, I'm having a hard time breathing with your arms wrapped around me," Harry managed to choke out after a while, even though he really didn't mind Hermione hugging him so much.
"Sorry," she said as she let go of him and took a good look at him. Harry wasn't exactly the scrawny kid she met 4 years ago on the train as he had become a bit more athletic. Probably due to all the manual labour the Dursleys made him do she thought.
"I have some candy that Ron sent. He says he misses you too and Hagrid sent me a birthday cake. We can eat that when we get to your house," Harry managed to say after a few moments of the two silently staring at each other.
Hermione blushed at the mention of Ron before saying, "Great. I'll give you your birthday present when we get to my house. I think you'll like it."
"Ok, let me get my things and we can go."
"Let me help you with that."
"Thanks."
Harry and Hermione managed to lift his trunk and brought it downstairs. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were in a corner and Aunt Petunia was hiding herself behind Uncle Vernon. They were looking at Hermione's parents as if they were aliens from another planet. The Grangers, however, were muggles like the Dursleys and Hermione was the only one who had any magical powers in their family.
Mr. Granger then took Harry's trunk from them, once they brought it downstairs and took it to the car while Harry and Hermione went back up to get the rest of his things. Hermione took Hedwig's cage and Harry picked up the rock cakes that Hagrid sent and put them in his pocket before picking up the cake, which was still preserved in the thin sheet of ice. Hermione apparently noticed it because she questioned him about it.
"What is that?" asked Hermione.
"It's the cake Hagrid sent, I preserved it like this so we could eat it later and it would still be fresh," Harry replied as they walked down the stairs.
"Where did you learn to do that? How come you haven't been popped by the Ministry of Magic for violating the underage restriction?"
"I found it in a book that I came across in the Hogwarts Library. I thought you'd have read it already, Hermione. You've read pretty much every book in that library," Harry said, though he too was wondering why he hadn't been owled by the Ministry for underage magic usage.
Hermione hit Harry on the arm at his comment before replying, "I am not a walking library and I haven't read all the books in the library yet."
Harry grinned at her. "The day you don't read a book for fun or for school is the day I date someone who doesn't go to Hogwarts."
"I'll hold you to that," she replied while grinning evilly at him.
When they got downstairs, Uncle Vernon and the others still hadn't moved from their place in the corner and the Grangers were looking confused as ever. They said good bye to the Dusrleys before walking to the Grangers' car. Harry and Hermione got into the back while Mr. Granger drove with Mrs. Granger sitting in the front. Once everyone was situated, they started to drive to Hermione's house.
"So you're Harry Potter, I believe we've met before. Hermione tells us so much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hermione's father, you can call me Edward and my wife's name is Helen," said Mr. Granger while they were driving.
"Thank you for letting me stay at your house. Its been horrible living with the Dursleys, and I don't think I could bring myself to call you by your first names," replied Harry, surprised at how nice the Grangers were.
"Oh its no problem dear, any friend of Hermione's is more than welcome to stay over. You're such a polite child. I'm surprised the Dursleys don't want you around," said Mrs. Granger, turning to face him in her seat.
"They don't like me because of my abilities. They're as normal as people could get and they look upon anyone who does anything out of the ordinary or anyone that associates with people like that with disgust."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that, we don't do that to people. It's rude and it shows a lack of character," said Mr. Granger.
Once the conversation with the Grangers was over, Hermione turned to Harry and started conversing with him.
"Harry, did you get any letters from Hogwarts yet?" she asked him.
"No I didn't, you said that Dumbledore would send us letters when I got to your house."
"That's right, I was just wondering if I'd be made a prefect and who the other prefect is."
"I'm sure you'll be made a prefect, Hermione, you have the highest grades in our year. I'd be surprised if you weren't made Head Girl in 7th year."
Hermione blushed at that comment, before returning to the conversation.
"I guess we'll find out then. It shouldn't be long to get to our house. It was only a 15 minute drive to your house to begin with," she said.
Harry then turned to look out the window. He had never been over to Hermione's house before and he was feeling a bit shy about staying with a girl, even if she was his best friend.
"Wait until you see the house, I think you'll like it. Your room will be across from mine and it's a lot nicer than the one the Dursleys' gave you, I think," said Hermione, drawing Harry's attention back to her.
"I'm pretty sure that I'll like it, since its your house. Everything you do is always perfect," Harry said in response.
Hermione's cheeks turned a bit red and she smiled at him.
After another minute, they arrived at her house. Mr. Granger helped Harry with his trunk while Hermione and Mrs. Granger went up to prepare Harry's room. As he stood downstairs, he was still feeling a bit uneasy, but his feelings vanished when Hermione came down and took him upstairs. He dragged the trunk with him and Hermione showed him around upstairs. First he dropped the trunk off at his room before going across the hall with Hermione so that he could see her room.
She opened the door and the room was decorated in light blue wallpaper. Her bed was a twin, which was up against the wall on the north end of the room with a lamp table next to it. Hermione's favourite book, Hogwarts: A History was set on it.
*Typical Hermione* thought Harry to himself as he looked around some more.
There was a walk-in closet to the left and two shelves of books on the right wall, which covered the entire length of the wall that didn't have a window. Each shelf was full of books, Harry noted. In between the shelves, there was a desk right below the window and the window itself overlooked the garden. There was also another door on the north end of the wall, about three feet to the right of the foot of the bed. The frame of the door was forest green and through the windows, Harry could see it opened into a balcony.
"You have a very pretty room. Let me guess, you read Hogwarts: A History, every night," said Harry.
"Oh be quiet, if you read as much as I did, you wouldn't be asking me for help with your homework," Hermione retorted.
"Hehe, well, I changed that one this summer, didn't I?" Harry said with a smirk.
"It's about time too. Now let's show you to your room."
They walked to the other side of the hall to Harry's room.
"My parents' room is down at the end of the hall on the right. Here's your room," she said, as she opened the door and they walked into his room.
A/N: Well, I'm technically not done, but I ended it here otherwise it'd be too long. You'll get the rest in chapter 4. R&R plz.