A.N.: I hope that you all enjoy this fic so please review. Every opinion
will be appreciated.
Thanks for my reviewers go to Orianne, Zaz, White thunder Dragon, Epholge, Alex, Sew2100, jbs0518 and Desert hacker.
Spoilers: All the four books.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything - all the characters and places used in this fic belong to J.K.R. The Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wonder Woodenbox isn't my idea. I saw it in a Fic but I can't remember which one, so if you are the owner of this wonderful idea, please don't sue me.
Chapter 4 - Birthday Party
Harry awoke, remembering his last three weeks. They were very busy. His training didn't stop but he was rewarded and his body was very different from when he started. He became taller, but this probably started before the training. He supposed that he had been getting taller during the school year but had just noticed it now. He was now at least 5'9" tall. He wasn't a muscular boy but he wasn't so skinny anymore. But he wasn't flat like the other teenagers. He had a few muscles in his abdomen, and his legs and arms were well defined and not flabby like his friends' arms and legs. Yes, all that training was paying off.
Not only had his appearance improved but also his skills. He was a lot faster than he was at the beginning of the training and he was swimming gracefully, using a lot less movement to do a lap around the pool. His fighting skills improved to a new level and instead of fighting defensively, Harry now took the initiative and knocked the doll before it could do almost anything.
In the animagus department, the progress had improved dramatically only the day before, and he could finally see his inner beast. It was a huge griffin which was at least three metres long and it's front paws were eagle claws which were huge. It's fur was dark brown and didn't shock against the black feathers, a few of which stuck out at odd angles just like Harry's hair on the eagle head. It's tail was dark brown like it's body and it's wings, each one at least four meters long, were made of black feathers. It's piercing green eyes could see further than he ever saw, especially as the griffin didn't need glasses. It's huge beak could take off the arm of a man with only one bite, could send a powerful shriek that made those who heard it shiver in fear, and allowed him to scent prey from miles away.
Once Sirius heard that Harry had already discovered his inner beast, he started to look for someone who could find a griffin so Harry could make the bonding as soon as possible. He also taught Harry the ritual that he had to perform every day until he did the bonding. Sirius and Harry were very excited about his animagus form, and Sirius already had a nickname for Harry: Featherduster.
His 'classes' in the afternoons were going so well that he didn't had any homework left. His telepathy was great but he still couldn't break all the shields that Arabella did. But when he practiced this skill on other people he discovered very funny things. He was capable of controlling his wandless magic easily but he still needed to use his hands. Arabella wanted Harry to be able to use this wandless power with his will and not his hands.
Arabella also tutored Harry in Potions. She taught Harry what the most used ingredients did, how to modify the most useful potions to make them better or more lethal and lastly taught him how to repair a potion that it was going to be ruined before it happened.
Harry also received a few letters from his friends and from his personal goblin. He was getting more fan mail but these were easily solved using his Quick Notes Quill. Harry was thinking on buying another Quick Notes Quill because if he received any more mail one Quill wouldn't be enough to answer all the letters. At least at Hogwarts he was safe from this kind of mail. The letters that he received from Hermione and Ron were the funniest; they didn't stop arguing with the other and keep thinking that Harry would solve their problems. Harry knew that they loved each other but he couldn't make either of them confess their feelings, so this complicated things a little bit.
His personal goblin, Icaro, wrote stating every deposit that was made into his account due to the rents, or the profits of the WWW. This was another letter that took him by surprise. Gred and Forge Weasley had sent Harry a contract stating that he was now owner of 25% of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and they also said that in case he didn't accept this contract he would be their new favoured Guinea Pig. Laughing so hard that he couldn't sit up, he signed the contract and became Vice-President of the WWW.
But the letters that he liked the most came from Ginny. At the beginning she thought that Harry was only toying with her, but then Harry wrote asking if she thought that he was a person capable of doing that. She send an apology very quickly. After this little incident she opened herself yp a little to Harry. Harry also told her some things that she didn't know about him but he didn't tell her about Sirius: it was too risky to tell her that so soon.
Harry got up from the bed, put on his shorts and T-shirt, and as he was going out to do his exercises an owl from Hogwarts. As soon as Harry saw it he realised that it was his birthday. He wasn't disappointed that his friends didn't send him any present because Arabella told him that she was planning a little party for him. He relieved the owl of its burden and she took off on the spot.
Harry noticed that the envelope was a little heavier and bigger than usual. He opened it and a small silver badge fell to the floor. Harry picked it up and saw that he was a prefect. He then picked the parchments out of the envelope. There was three letters. The first, as always, said that he should be at Platform 9 ¾ on September the first, and it also had the list of materials that he would need for the next year:
The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5
High Levels Transfiguration
1001 More Fungi and Plants
How to Defend Yourself
Divination for Those Who Don't Want to See the Future
How to Stay Alive Near a Class Five Beast
And all the students of the fifth year will need: Dress Robes; And a copper cauldron.
The second letter, exactly like Harry suspected, said:
Dear Mr. Potter. I'm proud to announce that you have been made one of the new prefects of Gryffindor House. Your duties and benefits will be explained at the prefect meetings which are to be held in the prefect carriage at 2 PM. Your presence is mandatory.
Enclosed is the list of new Prefects:
Gryffindor House: Granger, Hermione Potter, Harry
Hufflepuff House: Abbot, Hannah Finch-Fletchley, Justin
Ravenclaw House: Boot, Terrence Patil, Padma
Slytherin House: MacDougal, Morag Zabini, Blaize
Harry, I know that your parents would be proud of you. Both of them were Prefects too.
Sincerely, Prof. McGonagall.
The third letter said the following:
Dear Mr. Potter. We are proud to announce that you have been chosen as the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditcht Team. Since your team is the last school champion you have preference when booking the pitch for practices.
Prof. Hooch.
Harry was thrilled that he was going to be a prefect and Quidditch captain. This was great! He was already making plans for the practices when he remembered that he had to go to Arabella's.
Once that he arrived there, he told her that he was captain and Prefect. She hugged him saying that she was very proud and for the first time Harry realised how much she cared about him. She told him that he should go and get cleaned up and dress in one of his new robes as they were going to have a small party for him.
Harry rushed to the room where his things were stored. Putting his badge in his trunk, he got out his best pants, his best T-shirt, the dragon leather boots and his simplest dress robe. This robe was black but it didn't have the crest of Gryffindor on it, was made of a better material that his school robes, and its design was a little different.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry was in front of the mantlepiece to go to The Burrow by floo powder. The travellng was uneventful and Harry thought that he was getting good at it.
But Harry wasn't ready for what greeted him on the other side. All the Weasleys, Hermione and several other friends from Hogwarts were waiting. Harry arrived and yelled surprise.
Ron was the first to get to Harry. Ron was taller to he was, but he was lanky and didn't had any muscles. He had more freckles, probably for staying too long in the sun. Under his nose you could see that a moustache was beginning to appear. The thoughts that Harry could read in his mind were 'ooh! Harry changed a lot over the summer. This training of his is definately paying off.'
"Happy birthday mate!" Ron said to Harry while shaking his friend's hand.
Hermione ran to him and hugged him. She was very small and probably hadn't grown too much in the months that they hadn't seen each other. But she also had changes, as Harry could tell while she pressed against him. Her skin was tanned and she had a new haircut. Her hair as shorter, going only down to her shoulders and it wasn't bushy anymore and this was probably because of this new style. Her smile and clever face were enhanced by this new haircut. She gave him a quick kiss on the chick and wished him a happy birthday. Harry who was scanning everyones' thoughts heard Hermione thinking, 'now Harry is looking like a Triwizard tournament champion, he going to be in for a lot of trouble with girls this year.'
Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a motherly hug and held him by the shoulders, looking from his feet to his head, and said that he looked like a man now. Then she let go of him wishing a happy birthday.
Mr. Weasley shook Harry's hand and asked him how he as feeling. He too then wished him a happy birthday.
Fred Weasley hadn't changed at all. Even his grin was exactly like Harry remembered. He shook Harry's hand and with an evil smirk he said, "tet me introduce you the new and improved Forge Weasley." Harry look at George and saw that he had let his hair grow just like Bill's, and he also had a goatee.
"We were a little tired of looking exactly like the other, so I decided that it was time for a little change," said George to the now stunned Harry.
"Yeah," said Fred. "We don't want any other girl mistaking who is who," while looking at Angelina. Angelina blushed a little and Harry had to control himself so he didn't fall on the floor laughing.
Charlie Weasley also greeted Harry. Charlie was looking exactly like the last time Harry had seen him, except for a new burn on his right arm. Bill did the same and he too hadn't changed.
When Percy went to greet Harry, Harry had a shock. Percy looked the same but his clothes were totally different from the old Percy. He was dressed exactly like a young muggle bank manager. He was wearing a shirt, grey pants and black shoes.
"Well I can't work with the muggles wearing robes can I?" said Percy when he noticed how shocked Harry was.
"Yeah. It's true. But how did you chose this clothes? They look normal! You are the second Pure-blood wizard that I have seen that wears something that can pass unnoticed by muggles," answered Harry.
"Well, Penelope is muggle born and helped me choose my new clothes," said Percy while his ears went a little red.
The Weasleys were so easy to read, Harry thought. And then he saw Ginny.
Ginny had also changed over the summer. She was a taller, her body was slender, and since she was wearing a muggle dress Harry could see that she had grown in other places as well. 'Ooh! Ginny, you look beautiful.' Harry used his telepathy to send this thought to her.
Ginny's eyes went wide but before she could say anything Harry sent her another message. 'Don't say anything, Ginny. I learned how to use telepathy with my godmother. I can teach you how to do that when we are back at Hogwarts.' Ginny nodded her head.
'Ginny, if you relax a little bit I will be able to read your thoughts without calling attention to us. So we could speak using telepathy,' thought Harry to Ginny.
'Can you hear me now, Harry?' Harry saw that Ginny was sending her thoughts to him.
'Yes Ginny, I can. But I'm not trying to read it. You sent your thoughts to me. You learn really quickly,' Harry thought to Ginny.
'Thanks,' Ginny thought back to Harry while getting closer to hug him. When she put her arms around him, he lowered his head and kissed her. Ginny was stunned for a moment but quickly answered the kiss. An instant latter Harry and Ginny ended the kiss and saw that everyone was stunned.
"Ginny and I decided that we should start dating as soon as I got too see her, so this didn't come out of the blue. Ginny is my girlfriend," said Harry while holding Ginny's hand.
"He finally came around," said Bill while smiling to both of them.
"Yeah. It's about time! I was thinking of using a dragon to knock some sense through his thick skull," said Charlie teasingly.
"Our little sister finally got the man of her dreams," said Fred while wiping away mock tears.
"My little sister is dating the Harry Potter. I'll ask her to get an autograph for me. Do you think she can get one?" asked George, teasing them as well.
"Take good care of my little sister, Harry," said Percy, who once was in the same awkward position.
"Why didn't you say anything to me?" asked Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"Now stop with that. We all will give Harry his presents, have a nice lunch and then you all can have some fun."
The Creevey brothers gave Harry an album full of pictures of him since his second year. It had pictures of all his friends; while he was playing chess with Ron or studying with Hermione; pictures of he playing Quidditch; one of him facing the dragon on the first task; one of him while he was going into the lake; and the last one of him dancing with Parvati at the Yule Ball.
Neville, Seamus, Dean, and Oliver had given Harry the new edition of the 'Which Broom'. They explained that it was Wood's idea since he knew that Harry would be the new Gryffindor Captain. Oliver told him that he found the trio looking for something to give to Harry and asked them to pitch in. He also told Harry that he should have a look in the new brooms section - not to buy since his Firebolt still was top of line - but to know what his opponents could use against him.
Lavender, Parvati and Padma gave to Harry perfume. They explained that their original intent was to help Harry to be a little more desirable to women in general, but with his new look and having a girlfriend he should use it when he was on a date with Ginny.
Angelina, Katie and Alicia gave Harry a case in which he could place and guard his Firebolt. They told him that the case had a few preservation spells on it so that his Firebolt was well protected when he wasn't using it.
Charlie gave Harry a dragon-leather belt with a wand holder and few a pockets with enlargement charms on it. It was useful to use as a wallet as well. There was also a canteen, with enlarged capacity as well. Charlie explained that could be useful in case something happened or just in case Harry wanted to camp.
Percy gave Harry a new copy of the 'Prefects Who Gained Power'. He told him that his 'sources' said that Harry would be a Prefect. Everyone gaped when Harry said that he indeed was a Prefect. And the twins didn't let this opportunity to tease pass by.
Molly gave Harry a new hug and congratulated him. Ron complained that it would be no fun, but went quiet when Harry reminded him that his dad was also a Prefect. Hermione congratulated Harry and he gave her his congratulations too. And Ginny gave Harry a big kiss to congratulate him.
Bill gave Harry a silver ring in form of a snake. He said that this ring was believed to have belonged to Set himself. He explained that Set wasn't a god, just a dark wizard. It was also believed that this ring protected its user against any poison but apparently it never worked so it was very cheap. Oh yes, there was a rumour that the ring only worked for Parselmouths. That was why Bill gave the ring to Harry.
When Harry put on the ring, the snake moved and tried to bite him. Harry started to hiss in Parseltongue. "Once and again the ring of Set should protect its user." Everyone looked in surprise at Harry, because they couldn't understand what he said.
"Well the ring is now protecting Harry," said Ginny. Everyone looked at Ginny gaping. "What? You all heard what Harry said: Once and again the ring of Set should protect its user. Didn't you?" said Ginny to everyone who start to stare harder at her.
"The problem, Ginny, was that I was speaking in Parseltongue," said Harry, looking into Ginny's eyes.
"I'm not a parselmouth," said Ginny looking ready to cry.
"No you weren't Ginny. But you became one just like me. But it is useful and the first snake that I talked to was really nice and polite.," said Harry, giving a quick kiss to encourage Ginny.
Once the commotion was over Lino, Fred and George gave Harry a Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wonder Woodenbox. It contained every trick the Weasley's twins had created and a few things from Zonko's. They said that they were giving him that so the next master prankster of Hogwarts would be trained.
Hagrid gave Harry a book about snakes, knowing that Harry was a parselmouth. He said that he knew that it was a good gift being able to talk to animals. They, Hagrid said while looking to Harry and Ginny, would just have to learn more about snakes and discover which ones were nice.
Arabella gave Harry a new trunk, exactly like the one he saw 'Mad-eye Moody' use the last year, but it had a huge H and huge P written on the lid. She said that with all the clothes that she had had given him he would need a compartment just for them to them. With the other other five spaces he would have to use his time to discover what to do with them. And the last one he could use to do his homework in peace.
Remus gave Harry a silver (mind you the present was wrapped - he wasn't touching it) pocket watch that he said that had belonged to James. It was time to pass it to Harry. He explained that the watch had three functions. The first gave the normal hours, and the second as like the wizard clocks, and had words that were saying what he should be doing. The third had four hands, and James had the hands saying Lily and the other Marauders' names. When Harry touched the watch it changed to show the names of Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Sirius.
When a stranger approached Harry, he used his telepathy to discover who it was and what he wanted. He read that is was Sirius using poly-juice potion. He gave Harry a new pair of glasses: there was a few modifications on the glasses. They had the same ability as Moody's eye, and the only way to remove them was for Harry to want to take them off. Harry gave him a hug and changed his glasses while Sirius said that James also had owned a pair of glasses like those.
Ron gave Harry gobstones and said that they would be playing with them later. He said that he remembered that Harry wanted one but couldn't have bought, so he bought it to his friend.
Hermione gave Harry a miniature of a Quidditch pitch, with all fourteen players. She explained that it was a game where you could emulate several famous players and climatic conditions. Harry and Wood were drooling over the game thinking of the possibilities of practicing new moves on this game.
Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a new set of Quidditch gear of high quality. It had gloves that tightened his grip on the broom and the snitch, and new protective items so he didn't get too badly hurt when he fell.
Ginny gave Harry a silver chain with a little red gem attached to it. She said that it was to protect him.
"Good because I will need it soon," Harry said out loud.
Everyone looked in Harry's direction, all looking very concerned.
"Why Harry? Does your scar hurt?" asked a very concerned Ginny while giving a quick smile to try to better Harry's mood. When she looked in his face she got very worried he was grinning like a maniac.
"No, my scar doesn't hurt. I will need protection because I will kiss my girlfriend in front of her six brothers," answered Harry and when everyone was trying to understand what he said he kissed Ginny. Ginny was surprised at first but then recovered herself and answered the kiss. It was a kiss full of passion. Harry opened his mouth and with a little pressure of his tongue Ginny also opened hers.
The kiss deepened and their hands started to trying to pull the other nearer. After everyone recovered from the shock. George tapped Harry on the shoulder. Harry stopped the kiss, but didn't remove his hand from Ginny's shoulder.
"What do you want?" asked Harry pretending to be annoyed.
"Nothing. You just had a Ginny all over your face but it's gone now," answered George. Everyone started to laugh hard except for Ginny, who was ready to kill her brother.
After everyone recovered the teasing started. It was mainly aimed at Ginny. Harry, to stop this, yelled, "I'm kind of hungry when we will eat?" Everyone nodded that they also were hungry so Mrs. Weasley said that she had already prepared lunch.
Everyone followed Mrs. Weasley to the back yard where a huge table was burrowed under the food. Everyone rushed to the food in the usual Weasley style. A few guests were surprised at first but then recovered from the shock and went after the others. The meal was wonderful. After everyone had eaten his or her lunch, Mrs. Weasley brought out the cake. The only problem came when the twins killed the song "For he is a jolly good fellow." Harry couldn't believe that they were this bad at singing, but before they could finish Sirius cast a silencing charm on them. Bill asked why he hadn't thought of it before so he could do it and everyone laughed.
After this everyone went to the paddock where everyone was making a lot of noise to decide who would play Quidditch. They chose Harry and Charlie as captains and these two agreed that it was going to be a game of the Weasleys against the other Gryffindors. Harry and Charlie wrote the name of the players on a piece of parchment and gave they gave the parchment to Lino who would comment on the game.
"The Weasley's team will compete with Ron as keeper; Fred and George as beaters; Percy, Bill and Ginny as chasers and the legendary Charlie as seeker. The Marauders? Harry! What the hell? You can't use this name to your team," said Lino as soon as he realised what name Harry was using for his team. The twins were looking a little bit put out.
"Why not? I have two original Marauders on my team and the first of the second generation," yelled Harry to Lino. The twins were looking like they would fall of their brooms. But Lino resumed his comments.
"The Marauders will play with Wood as keeper; Moony and Padfoot as beaters." When Lupin and the disguised Sirius got up on the air, the twins really did fall off their brooms but luckily for them they were very near the ground so weren't badly hurt and still could play. "Angelina, Katie and Alicia as chasers, and the youngest Quidditch player in a century, the legendary and uncanny Harry Potter, also known as Featherduster."
When the Quaffle was realised, Harry went higher and faster than all the other players but in a moment Charlie was up there with him. They both were paying attention to the game in case of the snitch appeared.
Harry saw that Ginny probably was better than his chasers but his chasers had played as a team for five years now so their knowledge of their teammates helped them to pass by Ginny, Bill and Percy. They couldn't score, however, because Ron as very good and when it appeared they would be able to do so the twins stopped them with bludgers. Ginny didn't have much luck as although she was good, her brothers weren't, so she had only three shots at Oliver. Oliver was a great Keeper so he didn't have any difficulty in blocking those shots.
The game was playing for half an hour when Harry's new glasses helped him. He saw through Ginny and there, under her. was the snitch. He started to dive. Charlie went after him and when he saw that Harry was going to Ginny he thought that Harry as feinting him. When Charlie started to pull out of the dive, the snitch appeared from under Ginny. Charlie resumed the dive but he knew that Harry had a better broom and a huge lead. Then he saw two bludgers going in Harry's direction and speeded so he could use the bludgers help him capture the snitch.
Harry saw that Charlie was after him and he also had seen the bludgers. The first was coming, and Harry used spin without changing the direction of his dive to chase after the snitch. He caught the snitch and when the second bludger attempted to hit him in the head, he dodged it easily.
The talk about the game went on and on. Even Hermione was talking about it. She was impressed with Harry and Charlie's dives to the snitch. Alicia, Katie and Angelina were trying to convince Ginny to try out for the reserve team. She was great and with a little practice or better teammates she could have scored. Fred and George were drooling over Remus and Sirius, until they learned everything about the pranks the Marauders got up to while they were at Hogwarts.
After the game they went back to the back yard. As hey arrived there Mr. Weasley had put the wireless in the table. Harry asked Ginny to dance and after they started everyone started to dance too. Hermione was dancing with Bill, shooting daggers at Lavender who was dancing with Ron. Ron was shooting daggers at Bill. Charlie was dancing with Angelina, Fred as dancing with Padma and George as dancing with Parvati. Harry thought that it was funny and cute that the twins were dancing with twins as well.
But the party had to finish. They wished Harry a happy birthday before they went back home.
Before Harry could get back, all the male Weasleys said that they would have a little talk about their sister. Hermione gave Harry a last hug and Ginny gave Harry a huge kiss. Harry laid in the bed asleep thinking in what he would do with Ginny at Diagon Alley in a week.
Next Chapter: First Date.
Thanks for my reviewers go to Orianne, Zaz, White thunder Dragon, Epholge, Alex, Sew2100, jbs0518 and Desert hacker.
Spoilers: All the four books.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything - all the characters and places used in this fic belong to J.K.R. The Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wonder Woodenbox isn't my idea. I saw it in a Fic but I can't remember which one, so if you are the owner of this wonderful idea, please don't sue me.
Chapter 4 - Birthday Party
Harry awoke, remembering his last three weeks. They were very busy. His training didn't stop but he was rewarded and his body was very different from when he started. He became taller, but this probably started before the training. He supposed that he had been getting taller during the school year but had just noticed it now. He was now at least 5'9" tall. He wasn't a muscular boy but he wasn't so skinny anymore. But he wasn't flat like the other teenagers. He had a few muscles in his abdomen, and his legs and arms were well defined and not flabby like his friends' arms and legs. Yes, all that training was paying off.
Not only had his appearance improved but also his skills. He was a lot faster than he was at the beginning of the training and he was swimming gracefully, using a lot less movement to do a lap around the pool. His fighting skills improved to a new level and instead of fighting defensively, Harry now took the initiative and knocked the doll before it could do almost anything.
In the animagus department, the progress had improved dramatically only the day before, and he could finally see his inner beast. It was a huge griffin which was at least three metres long and it's front paws were eagle claws which were huge. It's fur was dark brown and didn't shock against the black feathers, a few of which stuck out at odd angles just like Harry's hair on the eagle head. It's tail was dark brown like it's body and it's wings, each one at least four meters long, were made of black feathers. It's piercing green eyes could see further than he ever saw, especially as the griffin didn't need glasses. It's huge beak could take off the arm of a man with only one bite, could send a powerful shriek that made those who heard it shiver in fear, and allowed him to scent prey from miles away.
Once Sirius heard that Harry had already discovered his inner beast, he started to look for someone who could find a griffin so Harry could make the bonding as soon as possible. He also taught Harry the ritual that he had to perform every day until he did the bonding. Sirius and Harry were very excited about his animagus form, and Sirius already had a nickname for Harry: Featherduster.
His 'classes' in the afternoons were going so well that he didn't had any homework left. His telepathy was great but he still couldn't break all the shields that Arabella did. But when he practiced this skill on other people he discovered very funny things. He was capable of controlling his wandless magic easily but he still needed to use his hands. Arabella wanted Harry to be able to use this wandless power with his will and not his hands.
Arabella also tutored Harry in Potions. She taught Harry what the most used ingredients did, how to modify the most useful potions to make them better or more lethal and lastly taught him how to repair a potion that it was going to be ruined before it happened.
Harry also received a few letters from his friends and from his personal goblin. He was getting more fan mail but these were easily solved using his Quick Notes Quill. Harry was thinking on buying another Quick Notes Quill because if he received any more mail one Quill wouldn't be enough to answer all the letters. At least at Hogwarts he was safe from this kind of mail. The letters that he received from Hermione and Ron were the funniest; they didn't stop arguing with the other and keep thinking that Harry would solve their problems. Harry knew that they loved each other but he couldn't make either of them confess their feelings, so this complicated things a little bit.
His personal goblin, Icaro, wrote stating every deposit that was made into his account due to the rents, or the profits of the WWW. This was another letter that took him by surprise. Gred and Forge Weasley had sent Harry a contract stating that he was now owner of 25% of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and they also said that in case he didn't accept this contract he would be their new favoured Guinea Pig. Laughing so hard that he couldn't sit up, he signed the contract and became Vice-President of the WWW.
But the letters that he liked the most came from Ginny. At the beginning she thought that Harry was only toying with her, but then Harry wrote asking if she thought that he was a person capable of doing that. She send an apology very quickly. After this little incident she opened herself yp a little to Harry. Harry also told her some things that she didn't know about him but he didn't tell her about Sirius: it was too risky to tell her that so soon.
Harry got up from the bed, put on his shorts and T-shirt, and as he was going out to do his exercises an owl from Hogwarts. As soon as Harry saw it he realised that it was his birthday. He wasn't disappointed that his friends didn't send him any present because Arabella told him that she was planning a little party for him. He relieved the owl of its burden and she took off on the spot.
Harry noticed that the envelope was a little heavier and bigger than usual. He opened it and a small silver badge fell to the floor. Harry picked it up and saw that he was a prefect. He then picked the parchments out of the envelope. There was three letters. The first, as always, said that he should be at Platform 9 ¾ on September the first, and it also had the list of materials that he would need for the next year:
The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5
High Levels Transfiguration
1001 More Fungi and Plants
How to Defend Yourself
Divination for Those Who Don't Want to See the Future
How to Stay Alive Near a Class Five Beast
And all the students of the fifth year will need: Dress Robes; And a copper cauldron.
The second letter, exactly like Harry suspected, said:
Dear Mr. Potter. I'm proud to announce that you have been made one of the new prefects of Gryffindor House. Your duties and benefits will be explained at the prefect meetings which are to be held in the prefect carriage at 2 PM. Your presence is mandatory.
Enclosed is the list of new Prefects:
Gryffindor House: Granger, Hermione Potter, Harry
Hufflepuff House: Abbot, Hannah Finch-Fletchley, Justin
Ravenclaw House: Boot, Terrence Patil, Padma
Slytherin House: MacDougal, Morag Zabini, Blaize
Harry, I know that your parents would be proud of you. Both of them were Prefects too.
Sincerely, Prof. McGonagall.
The third letter said the following:
Dear Mr. Potter. We are proud to announce that you have been chosen as the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditcht Team. Since your team is the last school champion you have preference when booking the pitch for practices.
Prof. Hooch.
Harry was thrilled that he was going to be a prefect and Quidditch captain. This was great! He was already making plans for the practices when he remembered that he had to go to Arabella's.
Once that he arrived there, he told her that he was captain and Prefect. She hugged him saying that she was very proud and for the first time Harry realised how much she cared about him. She told him that he should go and get cleaned up and dress in one of his new robes as they were going to have a small party for him.
Harry rushed to the room where his things were stored. Putting his badge in his trunk, he got out his best pants, his best T-shirt, the dragon leather boots and his simplest dress robe. This robe was black but it didn't have the crest of Gryffindor on it, was made of a better material that his school robes, and its design was a little different.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry was in front of the mantlepiece to go to The Burrow by floo powder. The travellng was uneventful and Harry thought that he was getting good at it.
But Harry wasn't ready for what greeted him on the other side. All the Weasleys, Hermione and several other friends from Hogwarts were waiting. Harry arrived and yelled surprise.
Ron was the first to get to Harry. Ron was taller to he was, but he was lanky and didn't had any muscles. He had more freckles, probably for staying too long in the sun. Under his nose you could see that a moustache was beginning to appear. The thoughts that Harry could read in his mind were 'ooh! Harry changed a lot over the summer. This training of his is definately paying off.'
"Happy birthday mate!" Ron said to Harry while shaking his friend's hand.
Hermione ran to him and hugged him. She was very small and probably hadn't grown too much in the months that they hadn't seen each other. But she also had changes, as Harry could tell while she pressed against him. Her skin was tanned and she had a new haircut. Her hair as shorter, going only down to her shoulders and it wasn't bushy anymore and this was probably because of this new style. Her smile and clever face were enhanced by this new haircut. She gave him a quick kiss on the chick and wished him a happy birthday. Harry who was scanning everyones' thoughts heard Hermione thinking, 'now Harry is looking like a Triwizard tournament champion, he going to be in for a lot of trouble with girls this year.'
Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a motherly hug and held him by the shoulders, looking from his feet to his head, and said that he looked like a man now. Then she let go of him wishing a happy birthday.
Mr. Weasley shook Harry's hand and asked him how he as feeling. He too then wished him a happy birthday.
Fred Weasley hadn't changed at all. Even his grin was exactly like Harry remembered. He shook Harry's hand and with an evil smirk he said, "tet me introduce you the new and improved Forge Weasley." Harry look at George and saw that he had let his hair grow just like Bill's, and he also had a goatee.
"We were a little tired of looking exactly like the other, so I decided that it was time for a little change," said George to the now stunned Harry.
"Yeah," said Fred. "We don't want any other girl mistaking who is who," while looking at Angelina. Angelina blushed a little and Harry had to control himself so he didn't fall on the floor laughing.
Charlie Weasley also greeted Harry. Charlie was looking exactly like the last time Harry had seen him, except for a new burn on his right arm. Bill did the same and he too hadn't changed.
When Percy went to greet Harry, Harry had a shock. Percy looked the same but his clothes were totally different from the old Percy. He was dressed exactly like a young muggle bank manager. He was wearing a shirt, grey pants and black shoes.
"Well I can't work with the muggles wearing robes can I?" said Percy when he noticed how shocked Harry was.
"Yeah. It's true. But how did you chose this clothes? They look normal! You are the second Pure-blood wizard that I have seen that wears something that can pass unnoticed by muggles," answered Harry.
"Well, Penelope is muggle born and helped me choose my new clothes," said Percy while his ears went a little red.
The Weasleys were so easy to read, Harry thought. And then he saw Ginny.
Ginny had also changed over the summer. She was a taller, her body was slender, and since she was wearing a muggle dress Harry could see that she had grown in other places as well. 'Ooh! Ginny, you look beautiful.' Harry used his telepathy to send this thought to her.
Ginny's eyes went wide but before she could say anything Harry sent her another message. 'Don't say anything, Ginny. I learned how to use telepathy with my godmother. I can teach you how to do that when we are back at Hogwarts.' Ginny nodded her head.
'Ginny, if you relax a little bit I will be able to read your thoughts without calling attention to us. So we could speak using telepathy,' thought Harry to Ginny.
'Can you hear me now, Harry?' Harry saw that Ginny was sending her thoughts to him.
'Yes Ginny, I can. But I'm not trying to read it. You sent your thoughts to me. You learn really quickly,' Harry thought to Ginny.
'Thanks,' Ginny thought back to Harry while getting closer to hug him. When she put her arms around him, he lowered his head and kissed her. Ginny was stunned for a moment but quickly answered the kiss. An instant latter Harry and Ginny ended the kiss and saw that everyone was stunned.
"Ginny and I decided that we should start dating as soon as I got too see her, so this didn't come out of the blue. Ginny is my girlfriend," said Harry while holding Ginny's hand.
"He finally came around," said Bill while smiling to both of them.
"Yeah. It's about time! I was thinking of using a dragon to knock some sense through his thick skull," said Charlie teasingly.
"Our little sister finally got the man of her dreams," said Fred while wiping away mock tears.
"My little sister is dating the Harry Potter. I'll ask her to get an autograph for me. Do you think she can get one?" asked George, teasing them as well.
"Take good care of my little sister, Harry," said Percy, who once was in the same awkward position.
"Why didn't you say anything to me?" asked Ron and Hermione at the same time.
"Now stop with that. We all will give Harry his presents, have a nice lunch and then you all can have some fun."
The Creevey brothers gave Harry an album full of pictures of him since his second year. It had pictures of all his friends; while he was playing chess with Ron or studying with Hermione; pictures of he playing Quidditch; one of him facing the dragon on the first task; one of him while he was going into the lake; and the last one of him dancing with Parvati at the Yule Ball.
Neville, Seamus, Dean, and Oliver had given Harry the new edition of the 'Which Broom'. They explained that it was Wood's idea since he knew that Harry would be the new Gryffindor Captain. Oliver told him that he found the trio looking for something to give to Harry and asked them to pitch in. He also told Harry that he should have a look in the new brooms section - not to buy since his Firebolt still was top of line - but to know what his opponents could use against him.
Lavender, Parvati and Padma gave to Harry perfume. They explained that their original intent was to help Harry to be a little more desirable to women in general, but with his new look and having a girlfriend he should use it when he was on a date with Ginny.
Angelina, Katie and Alicia gave Harry a case in which he could place and guard his Firebolt. They told him that the case had a few preservation spells on it so that his Firebolt was well protected when he wasn't using it.
Charlie gave Harry a dragon-leather belt with a wand holder and few a pockets with enlargement charms on it. It was useful to use as a wallet as well. There was also a canteen, with enlarged capacity as well. Charlie explained that could be useful in case something happened or just in case Harry wanted to camp.
Percy gave Harry a new copy of the 'Prefects Who Gained Power'. He told him that his 'sources' said that Harry would be a Prefect. Everyone gaped when Harry said that he indeed was a Prefect. And the twins didn't let this opportunity to tease pass by.
Molly gave Harry a new hug and congratulated him. Ron complained that it would be no fun, but went quiet when Harry reminded him that his dad was also a Prefect. Hermione congratulated Harry and he gave her his congratulations too. And Ginny gave Harry a big kiss to congratulate him.
Bill gave Harry a silver ring in form of a snake. He said that this ring was believed to have belonged to Set himself. He explained that Set wasn't a god, just a dark wizard. It was also believed that this ring protected its user against any poison but apparently it never worked so it was very cheap. Oh yes, there was a rumour that the ring only worked for Parselmouths. That was why Bill gave the ring to Harry.
When Harry put on the ring, the snake moved and tried to bite him. Harry started to hiss in Parseltongue. "Once and again the ring of Set should protect its user." Everyone looked in surprise at Harry, because they couldn't understand what he said.
"Well the ring is now protecting Harry," said Ginny. Everyone looked at Ginny gaping. "What? You all heard what Harry said: Once and again the ring of Set should protect its user. Didn't you?" said Ginny to everyone who start to stare harder at her.
"The problem, Ginny, was that I was speaking in Parseltongue," said Harry, looking into Ginny's eyes.
"I'm not a parselmouth," said Ginny looking ready to cry.
"No you weren't Ginny. But you became one just like me. But it is useful and the first snake that I talked to was really nice and polite.," said Harry, giving a quick kiss to encourage Ginny.
Once the commotion was over Lino, Fred and George gave Harry a Weasley Wizard Wheezes Wonder Woodenbox. It contained every trick the Weasley's twins had created and a few things from Zonko's. They said that they were giving him that so the next master prankster of Hogwarts would be trained.
Hagrid gave Harry a book about snakes, knowing that Harry was a parselmouth. He said that he knew that it was a good gift being able to talk to animals. They, Hagrid said while looking to Harry and Ginny, would just have to learn more about snakes and discover which ones were nice.
Arabella gave Harry a new trunk, exactly like the one he saw 'Mad-eye Moody' use the last year, but it had a huge H and huge P written on the lid. She said that with all the clothes that she had had given him he would need a compartment just for them to them. With the other other five spaces he would have to use his time to discover what to do with them. And the last one he could use to do his homework in peace.
Remus gave Harry a silver (mind you the present was wrapped - he wasn't touching it) pocket watch that he said that had belonged to James. It was time to pass it to Harry. He explained that the watch had three functions. The first gave the normal hours, and the second as like the wizard clocks, and had words that were saying what he should be doing. The third had four hands, and James had the hands saying Lily and the other Marauders' names. When Harry touched the watch it changed to show the names of Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Sirius.
When a stranger approached Harry, he used his telepathy to discover who it was and what he wanted. He read that is was Sirius using poly-juice potion. He gave Harry a new pair of glasses: there was a few modifications on the glasses. They had the same ability as Moody's eye, and the only way to remove them was for Harry to want to take them off. Harry gave him a hug and changed his glasses while Sirius said that James also had owned a pair of glasses like those.
Ron gave Harry gobstones and said that they would be playing with them later. He said that he remembered that Harry wanted one but couldn't have bought, so he bought it to his friend.
Hermione gave Harry a miniature of a Quidditch pitch, with all fourteen players. She explained that it was a game where you could emulate several famous players and climatic conditions. Harry and Wood were drooling over the game thinking of the possibilities of practicing new moves on this game.
Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a new set of Quidditch gear of high quality. It had gloves that tightened his grip on the broom and the snitch, and new protective items so he didn't get too badly hurt when he fell.
Ginny gave Harry a silver chain with a little red gem attached to it. She said that it was to protect him.
"Good because I will need it soon," Harry said out loud.
Everyone looked in Harry's direction, all looking very concerned.
"Why Harry? Does your scar hurt?" asked a very concerned Ginny while giving a quick smile to try to better Harry's mood. When she looked in his face she got very worried he was grinning like a maniac.
"No, my scar doesn't hurt. I will need protection because I will kiss my girlfriend in front of her six brothers," answered Harry and when everyone was trying to understand what he said he kissed Ginny. Ginny was surprised at first but then recovered herself and answered the kiss. It was a kiss full of passion. Harry opened his mouth and with a little pressure of his tongue Ginny also opened hers.
The kiss deepened and their hands started to trying to pull the other nearer. After everyone recovered from the shock. George tapped Harry on the shoulder. Harry stopped the kiss, but didn't remove his hand from Ginny's shoulder.
"What do you want?" asked Harry pretending to be annoyed.
"Nothing. You just had a Ginny all over your face but it's gone now," answered George. Everyone started to laugh hard except for Ginny, who was ready to kill her brother.
After everyone recovered the teasing started. It was mainly aimed at Ginny. Harry, to stop this, yelled, "I'm kind of hungry when we will eat?" Everyone nodded that they also were hungry so Mrs. Weasley said that she had already prepared lunch.
Everyone followed Mrs. Weasley to the back yard where a huge table was burrowed under the food. Everyone rushed to the food in the usual Weasley style. A few guests were surprised at first but then recovered from the shock and went after the others. The meal was wonderful. After everyone had eaten his or her lunch, Mrs. Weasley brought out the cake. The only problem came when the twins killed the song "For he is a jolly good fellow." Harry couldn't believe that they were this bad at singing, but before they could finish Sirius cast a silencing charm on them. Bill asked why he hadn't thought of it before so he could do it and everyone laughed.
After this everyone went to the paddock where everyone was making a lot of noise to decide who would play Quidditch. They chose Harry and Charlie as captains and these two agreed that it was going to be a game of the Weasleys against the other Gryffindors. Harry and Charlie wrote the name of the players on a piece of parchment and gave they gave the parchment to Lino who would comment on the game.
"The Weasley's team will compete with Ron as keeper; Fred and George as beaters; Percy, Bill and Ginny as chasers and the legendary Charlie as seeker. The Marauders? Harry! What the hell? You can't use this name to your team," said Lino as soon as he realised what name Harry was using for his team. The twins were looking a little bit put out.
"Why not? I have two original Marauders on my team and the first of the second generation," yelled Harry to Lino. The twins were looking like they would fall of their brooms. But Lino resumed his comments.
"The Marauders will play with Wood as keeper; Moony and Padfoot as beaters." When Lupin and the disguised Sirius got up on the air, the twins really did fall off their brooms but luckily for them they were very near the ground so weren't badly hurt and still could play. "Angelina, Katie and Alicia as chasers, and the youngest Quidditch player in a century, the legendary and uncanny Harry Potter, also known as Featherduster."
When the Quaffle was realised, Harry went higher and faster than all the other players but in a moment Charlie was up there with him. They both were paying attention to the game in case of the snitch appeared.
Harry saw that Ginny probably was better than his chasers but his chasers had played as a team for five years now so their knowledge of their teammates helped them to pass by Ginny, Bill and Percy. They couldn't score, however, because Ron as very good and when it appeared they would be able to do so the twins stopped them with bludgers. Ginny didn't have much luck as although she was good, her brothers weren't, so she had only three shots at Oliver. Oliver was a great Keeper so he didn't have any difficulty in blocking those shots.
The game was playing for half an hour when Harry's new glasses helped him. He saw through Ginny and there, under her. was the snitch. He started to dive. Charlie went after him and when he saw that Harry was going to Ginny he thought that Harry as feinting him. When Charlie started to pull out of the dive, the snitch appeared from under Ginny. Charlie resumed the dive but he knew that Harry had a better broom and a huge lead. Then he saw two bludgers going in Harry's direction and speeded so he could use the bludgers help him capture the snitch.
Harry saw that Charlie was after him and he also had seen the bludgers. The first was coming, and Harry used spin without changing the direction of his dive to chase after the snitch. He caught the snitch and when the second bludger attempted to hit him in the head, he dodged it easily.
The talk about the game went on and on. Even Hermione was talking about it. She was impressed with Harry and Charlie's dives to the snitch. Alicia, Katie and Angelina were trying to convince Ginny to try out for the reserve team. She was great and with a little practice or better teammates she could have scored. Fred and George were drooling over Remus and Sirius, until they learned everything about the pranks the Marauders got up to while they were at Hogwarts.
After the game they went back to the back yard. As hey arrived there Mr. Weasley had put the wireless in the table. Harry asked Ginny to dance and after they started everyone started to dance too. Hermione was dancing with Bill, shooting daggers at Lavender who was dancing with Ron. Ron was shooting daggers at Bill. Charlie was dancing with Angelina, Fred as dancing with Padma and George as dancing with Parvati. Harry thought that it was funny and cute that the twins were dancing with twins as well.
But the party had to finish. They wished Harry a happy birthday before they went back home.
Before Harry could get back, all the male Weasleys said that they would have a little talk about their sister. Hermione gave Harry a last hug and Ginny gave Harry a huge kiss. Harry laid in the bed asleep thinking in what he would do with Ginny at Diagon Alley in a week.
Next Chapter: First Date.