Harry Potter and the Eye of Tae Nan
By Kyizi
Disclaimer: I own none of the main characters and only a few of the minor ones. J.K. Rowling created these characters, and as far as I know, they are still her property. Only the story is mine.
Rating: If you can read the books then you can read this.
Timeline/Spoilers: Starts in the summer holidays after the fourth book and will continue through Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Therefore, there will be spoilers for all four books.
Notes: I'm attempting to write this in the same style as J.K. Rowling writes the books. I'm basically trying to write, in essence the next book. Well, where my imagination takes it at least! I realise that to do what she will is an impossibility, but I'm just having a bit of fun and *need* to get this out of my head! You may notice that a lot of the first chapter will simple rehash the last book, but as I'm planning on integrating it all into my story, I felt it needed to be done.
Summary: Harry and his friends are back at Hogwarts for their fifth year. But with Voldemort back, what lengths will they have to go to to protect the ones they love? Cemara stones, Atlantis, interschool exchanges and Animagi, what can possibly go wrong.?
Feedback: Please let me know how I'm doing as I'm attempting a completely different style and pointers, praise, tips and ideas are all welcome, as is constructive criticism. Please send no flames.
Email address: kyizifanfic@hotmail.com
Yahoo Group:
Notes: A big thanks to my betas Heliona and Loriel who spent ages trawling through this! Love ya! *mwah*
~x~x~x~x~x~
Part Two
Catching the Floo
~x~x~x~x~x~
Harry was pacing his bedroom floor. All in all, it could be considered a typical day at Privet Drive, except for the complete and utter silence. There was no Dudley plodding around, moaning that he didn't have enough toys or chocolate, no Aunt Petunia pottering about the kitchen, and most out of the ordinary, no Uncle Vernon huffing and puffing about the living room. No, things were perfectly out of the ordinary.
The reason Harry was pacing was simply because the three Dursleys were seated in the kitchen having tea and cakes. They were acting as if everything was perfectly normal. And that just wasn't normal! Harry checked his watch again, and again. But no, the small, slightly crooked hands of Dudley's old watch were still in the same place. It had stopped. He sighed and wound it again, estimating how much time had passed in order to set it - he felt sure it must have been days.
Walking around the room again, he made sure that his rickety old cupboard was empty before casting a longing glance towards Hedwig's cage. Despite the fact that he couldn't have a conversation with the snowy owl, Harry was sure that she knew exactly what he was saying and sympathised with him. He had sent her to Ron's house earlier in the day, knowing that she hated to be locked in the cage, which is exactly where she would have had to stay until the Weasleys arrived. With nothing to do, however, he found himself missing her company.
Harry glanced again at his watch. No, even with his hopeful estimation in setting it, it still read five minutes to go. Tapping it to make sure it was still ticking, he sighed and sat down on his bed, only to grunt in frustration, stand and start pacing again. In the far corner of his room, next to his wonderful Firebolt, lay his trunk, which (after some more huffing and puffing from his uncle) was now filled with his school things, his homework and school robes. Sighing again at the time - still four minutes to go - Harry slumped to the floor, knowing that he could just go downstairs, but he was unwilling to spend any longer than was necessary in the Dursleys' company.
Frowning, he noticed something lying on the floor by his bed, and bent to pick it up. Leaning back against his bed, he was about to open the purple envelope again, feeling compelled to stare at the illegible scribbles, when there was a tap at his window. He folded the envelope and placed it in his pocket before opening the window for Hedwig. He patted the owl on the head, completely aware that she was more than a little disgruntled at being back in Privet Drive, and removed the letter from her claw.
Harry,
Slight change of plans. There's a bit of a disaster at home so we can't bring the Ministry cars like we'd hoped. So you really will have to clean out the fireplace! Dad's having you connected to the Floo network for the afternoon again and someone will come get you. You'll have to wait another 1/2 hr as well.
Sorry, mate.
Ron
P.S. Someone will come meet you in the Dursleys' living room and make sure you get here okay, but when you see what's going on here, you might want to go straight back!
Harry frowned at his friend's ambiguous note and shrugged. He figured that whatever it was, it couldn't be any worse than staying at Privet Drive. Besides, Harry had seen the Weasleys, he knew them; they were like a second family to him. Whatever it was that was wrong, they'd get through it.
Hearing a hoot behind him, Harry turned to smile at Hedwig. The owl was cocking her head slightly to the side, as if asking permission to leave the house again. Harry walked towards her, holding out an arm and taking her to the window.
"Off you go. I would leave now if I could, too." With a small hoot, Hedwig was soaring through the air, back towards The Burrow. Harry looked after her for a long time, wishing she were big enough to carry him all the way to The Burrow itself.
Sighing, he gently closed the window and sat on his bed, resisting the urge to scream. He was used to places being silent, he often had to work in complete silence at school, but he was not used to the Dursleys being quiet when they were expecting abnormal visitors.
Glancing again at his trunk, he decided to find his birthday present from Hermione and start reading it. After all, it was never a bad idea to know a little more about chess when visiting the Weasleys and, if he wanted to catch Ron by surprise, he'd have to hide the book from him, which meant no reading it at The Burrow. After a few moments of searching, he found it and returned to his bed, lying on his back and opening the book.
Harry skimmed through the introduction, thinking it was best if he read that first, but his impatience soon got the better of him and he prepared to open the book at the first chapter. There was something strange about the book. For the first time, he was actually feeling rather competitive. With this book he might actually beat Ron. It was never really something that had bothered him much in the past, but now that there was a chance that he might win, Harry was looking forward to playing his best friend. Smiling to himself, he began to read the first chapter, "Preparing The Perfect Pawns."
BANG!
Harry jumped, almost falling off the bed. There was a sudden scampering in the hallway quickly followed by a small scream from downstairs - Aunt Petunia. Harry could soon hear Uncle Vernon huffing and puffing again. Things were back to normal, whatever had happened. Shaking his head, he placed his book back in his trunk and headed to his bedroom door, deciding that he should investigate. If nothing else, it would give him something to do for the next twenty-two minutes and forty-nine seconds, forty-eight.not that he was counting.
Running down the stairs as quietly as he could, Harry made his way to the living room, not at all prepared for what was there to greet him. He stifled a giggle at the predicament Dudley had got himself into. The large boy had somehow managed to scare himself into an extremely small chest by the window, where he was currently jammed half in, half out. His flabby legs were waving in the air with a ridiculous flubbing sound, accompanied by pig-like squeals coming from his mouth which was currently drowning in his fat somewhere inside the trunk.
Turning his gaze to his aunt and uncle, he noticed that they, like Dudley, were acting as normal as could be expected. Aunt Petunia was currently edging her way along the wall, desperate to run across the room to her 'poor little Duddykins', but terrified to move into the path of the two visitors. Uncle Vernon was, however, edging away from the men, huffing and puffing with inaudible words.
"Ridiculous.mumble-mumble-mumble.not normal.mumble-mumble-mumble. Can't even use a door? .huffle-puffle. appearing out of thin air! .mumble-mumble. Why I've a mind to."
Harry smirked and walked further into the room, his eyes still wandering occasionally to Dudley, finding the flubbing of his huge legs a strangely compelling sight. He shook his head at the antics of the Dursleys and walked straight past his Uncle and reached a hand out to the younger, and smaller, of the two ginger haired men.
"Hey there, Harry!"
"Hey, Charlie, Bill." He smiled as the eldest Weasley also extended a hand. "I wasn't expecting either of you. I wasn't expecting anyone for at least another twenty minutes," Harry said, offering them a seat, much to his aunt's dismay. She had finally made her way to her 'precious Dudley-wudley' and was attempting, with the help of Uncle Vernon, to pull the boy from the trunk.
"Couldn't wait to get out of the house. Hope you don't mind," Bill said, smiling a little. It was obvious to Harry that there was something still going on at the Weasleys', but he didn't dare ask what it was. If it were Ron, or possibly the twins, he would have had no problem asking them, but he barely knew Bill or Charlie, and he was uncomfortable even thinking of asking them.
"Yeah, things are a little, eh, tense in the house at the moment, but I'm sure you'll see for yourself when you get there." Charlie grinned and winked at Harry. "You get used to it, but that doesn't mean you want to stay around and watch."
Bill snorted. "Well, you were worse!"
"Hey!"
"Okay, okay," Bill relented. "Not worse, but almost as bad. Together, you were a nightmare."
Now more confused than ever, Harry was about to ask when there was a thump behind him. He snickered as he saw his aunt and uncle lying on the floor, their legs in the air. They had obviously pulled rather hard, but to no avail. The chest, despite their respective sizes, had decided it wanted to eat Dudley.
"I could get him out of there, if."
"No! Absolutely not!" Uncle Vernon yelled and Harry flinched, cursing his uncle under his breath for his manners, or lack thereof, towards Bill. He didn't care how the Dursleys acted towards him, he was used to it, but when they treated the Weasleys like this, he felt utterly embarrassed. He was sure that the large burns on Charlie's bare arms weren't helping them to feel safe with the man, nor the fact that Bill had long hair and wore an earring. It was a different one than Harry remembered. A chip from a dragon tooth if Harry wasn't mistaken, and, given his close proximity to a rather large Hungarian Horntail in his previous year at Hogwarts, Harry was sure that he wasn't. Perhaps Charlie had got his newest burns removing that part of the tooth.
Deciding it was best not to mention dragons to his Aunt and Uncle, (they'd only be disappointed he hadn't been eaten), Harry decided on a different topic of conversation to that which he had on his mind. Ignoring the rest of his uncle's tirade about abnormality, Harry turned back to the eldest Weasley brothers and smiled as best he could. "So, when can we leave?"
Charlie snickered and, despite the look Bill was sending his brother's way, Harry was sure that the eldest brother was smirking as well.
"We won't be connected for another ten minutes, so not for a little while yet," Bill said, smiling at him. "Not too long, don't worry."
Harry refrained from mentioning that any time spent with the Dursleys was too long, and instead took a seat on the edge of the small sofa that Bill and Charlie were sitting on. The three of them looked across the room trying, in vain, not to smile at the rather military style rescue mission that the Dursleys were putting into effect to rescue Dudley from the evil clutches of their window chest.
"Pull, Petunia, pull!"
"I am pulling, Vernon!"
Harry snickered, hearing the moans of pain that Dudley was emitting. It was obvious that his uncle, being about ten times the size of his aunt, was pulling on Dudley's right leg a lot harder then his aunt was pulling on the left. It almost looked as if his right leg was longer than his left, or would be, when he was finally freed.
"Are you sure - "
"They won't let you help them," Harry said to Bill. "Besides, watching this is much more fun."
Charlie laughed at that, earning himself a glare from Uncle Vernon. Harry's eyes narrowed. He was getting angrier by the second and, for what seemed like the hundredth time this summer, he couldn't help but wish that he was allowed to do magic over the holidays. He was completely mortified by his uncle's behaviour.
Suddenly, the watch on Charlie's wrist began a small countdown. 20, 19, 18, 17. Harry smiled and stood up, surprised that watching the floor show the Dursleys had provided had taken up most of ten minutes, but glad that he was about to leave Privet Drive for another year. Remembering that his things were still upstairs in his room, he frowned. He was loath to leave the Weasley brothers with the Dursleys, but he needed his things.
"Where's your stuff, Harry?" Charlie asked with a smile. Harry instantly relaxed and replied, glad when Charlie quickly exited the room, Apparating back a moment later with Harry's things. There was a loud squeak from behind him.
Turning to see what Bill and Charlie were trying so hard not to laugh at, Harry snorted. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had succeeded in freeing Dudley from the trunk, but when Charlie had Apparated back into the room, they had obviously had another shock. Now, in place of Dudley's head, the trunk had swallowed Uncle Vernon's behind. The grown-up version of Dudley was now huffing and puffing and wriggling in the trunk, while Dudley wailed and Aunt Petunia pulled and pulled to free him.
Bill raised a hand to help, but Charlie was quick to stop him. "They don't want any of our abnormal help, now, do they Harry?" His face was serious, but there was a definite twinkle in his eye.
"No, no, I'm sure they don't." Harry grinned, and picked up Hedwig's cage, nodding a thank you when Bill gave him a small sprinkling of Floo powder.
"The fireplace should be connected now, Harry. Remember to keep your hands and arms safe by your side."
"Jeez, Bill, you sound like Mum." Charlie rolled his eyes and prepared to Apparate when Bill stopped him.
"Didn't the twins give us a gift for Harry's cousin?"
Harry was immediately interested, but had already sprinkled the powder and announced 'The Burrow'. The room began to spin, and the last thing he saw was Dudley turning blue, while his face began to morph into something that rather resembled a horse. Trying not to laugh, Harry struggled to keep himself still, his elbow scraping against the rough wall beside him. He was still struggling with his laughter when the world began to still again.
Harry sneezed, and rubbed his eyes, happy when his vision of The Burrow cleared. Without getting the chance to step out of the fireplace, the force of the trip threw him onto the floor. Groaning and pulling himself up, Harry quickly dusted himself off, cleaned his glasses, and smiled. It felt good to be back. He glanced around, the homely feel of the Weasleys' house making his grin widen. He walked through the kitchen, glancing up at the clock to see where the Weasleys were. Mr. Weasley and Percy were apparently still at work, and Bill and Charlie were 'visiting'. Harry laughed at that, knowing that no one in their right mind ever wanted to visit the Dursleys. Looking at the other clock hands, Harry frowned, not sure what to make of it.
There was a noise to his left, and Harry cautiously walked toward it, peering through the opened back door. There was no one there, but the sound was louder. It was coming from outside. He was sure that whatever Ron, Bill, and Charlie had been talking about was about to reveal itself, but Harry wasn't sure what to expect.
Frowning, Harry walked through the open back door and looked into the large garden. It took a moment to focus on exactly what was happening, but as soon he did, his eyes widened. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but whatever it was, nothing could have prepared him for what greeted him.
~x~x~x~x~x~
End of Part Two
By Kyizi
Disclaimer: I own none of the main characters and only a few of the minor ones. J.K. Rowling created these characters, and as far as I know, they are still her property. Only the story is mine.
Rating: If you can read the books then you can read this.
Timeline/Spoilers: Starts in the summer holidays after the fourth book and will continue through Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Therefore, there will be spoilers for all four books.
Notes: I'm attempting to write this in the same style as J.K. Rowling writes the books. I'm basically trying to write, in essence the next book. Well, where my imagination takes it at least! I realise that to do what she will is an impossibility, but I'm just having a bit of fun and *need* to get this out of my head! You may notice that a lot of the first chapter will simple rehash the last book, but as I'm planning on integrating it all into my story, I felt it needed to be done.
Summary: Harry and his friends are back at Hogwarts for their fifth year. But with Voldemort back, what lengths will they have to go to to protect the ones they love? Cemara stones, Atlantis, interschool exchanges and Animagi, what can possibly go wrong.?
Feedback: Please let me know how I'm doing as I'm attempting a completely different style and pointers, praise, tips and ideas are all welcome, as is constructive criticism. Please send no flames.
Email address: kyizifanfic@hotmail.com
Yahoo Group:
Notes: A big thanks to my betas Heliona and Loriel who spent ages trawling through this! Love ya! *mwah*
~x~x~x~x~x~
Part Two
Catching the Floo
~x~x~x~x~x~
Harry was pacing his bedroom floor. All in all, it could be considered a typical day at Privet Drive, except for the complete and utter silence. There was no Dudley plodding around, moaning that he didn't have enough toys or chocolate, no Aunt Petunia pottering about the kitchen, and most out of the ordinary, no Uncle Vernon huffing and puffing about the living room. No, things were perfectly out of the ordinary.
The reason Harry was pacing was simply because the three Dursleys were seated in the kitchen having tea and cakes. They were acting as if everything was perfectly normal. And that just wasn't normal! Harry checked his watch again, and again. But no, the small, slightly crooked hands of Dudley's old watch were still in the same place. It had stopped. He sighed and wound it again, estimating how much time had passed in order to set it - he felt sure it must have been days.
Walking around the room again, he made sure that his rickety old cupboard was empty before casting a longing glance towards Hedwig's cage. Despite the fact that he couldn't have a conversation with the snowy owl, Harry was sure that she knew exactly what he was saying and sympathised with him. He had sent her to Ron's house earlier in the day, knowing that she hated to be locked in the cage, which is exactly where she would have had to stay until the Weasleys arrived. With nothing to do, however, he found himself missing her company.
Harry glanced again at his watch. No, even with his hopeful estimation in setting it, it still read five minutes to go. Tapping it to make sure it was still ticking, he sighed and sat down on his bed, only to grunt in frustration, stand and start pacing again. In the far corner of his room, next to his wonderful Firebolt, lay his trunk, which (after some more huffing and puffing from his uncle) was now filled with his school things, his homework and school robes. Sighing again at the time - still four minutes to go - Harry slumped to the floor, knowing that he could just go downstairs, but he was unwilling to spend any longer than was necessary in the Dursleys' company.
Frowning, he noticed something lying on the floor by his bed, and bent to pick it up. Leaning back against his bed, he was about to open the purple envelope again, feeling compelled to stare at the illegible scribbles, when there was a tap at his window. He folded the envelope and placed it in his pocket before opening the window for Hedwig. He patted the owl on the head, completely aware that she was more than a little disgruntled at being back in Privet Drive, and removed the letter from her claw.
Harry,
Slight change of plans. There's a bit of a disaster at home so we can't bring the Ministry cars like we'd hoped. So you really will have to clean out the fireplace! Dad's having you connected to the Floo network for the afternoon again and someone will come get you. You'll have to wait another 1/2 hr as well.
Sorry, mate.
Ron
P.S. Someone will come meet you in the Dursleys' living room and make sure you get here okay, but when you see what's going on here, you might want to go straight back!
Harry frowned at his friend's ambiguous note and shrugged. He figured that whatever it was, it couldn't be any worse than staying at Privet Drive. Besides, Harry had seen the Weasleys, he knew them; they were like a second family to him. Whatever it was that was wrong, they'd get through it.
Hearing a hoot behind him, Harry turned to smile at Hedwig. The owl was cocking her head slightly to the side, as if asking permission to leave the house again. Harry walked towards her, holding out an arm and taking her to the window.
"Off you go. I would leave now if I could, too." With a small hoot, Hedwig was soaring through the air, back towards The Burrow. Harry looked after her for a long time, wishing she were big enough to carry him all the way to The Burrow itself.
Sighing, he gently closed the window and sat on his bed, resisting the urge to scream. He was used to places being silent, he often had to work in complete silence at school, but he was not used to the Dursleys being quiet when they were expecting abnormal visitors.
Glancing again at his trunk, he decided to find his birthday present from Hermione and start reading it. After all, it was never a bad idea to know a little more about chess when visiting the Weasleys and, if he wanted to catch Ron by surprise, he'd have to hide the book from him, which meant no reading it at The Burrow. After a few moments of searching, he found it and returned to his bed, lying on his back and opening the book.
Harry skimmed through the introduction, thinking it was best if he read that first, but his impatience soon got the better of him and he prepared to open the book at the first chapter. There was something strange about the book. For the first time, he was actually feeling rather competitive. With this book he might actually beat Ron. It was never really something that had bothered him much in the past, but now that there was a chance that he might win, Harry was looking forward to playing his best friend. Smiling to himself, he began to read the first chapter, "Preparing The Perfect Pawns."
BANG!
Harry jumped, almost falling off the bed. There was a sudden scampering in the hallway quickly followed by a small scream from downstairs - Aunt Petunia. Harry could soon hear Uncle Vernon huffing and puffing again. Things were back to normal, whatever had happened. Shaking his head, he placed his book back in his trunk and headed to his bedroom door, deciding that he should investigate. If nothing else, it would give him something to do for the next twenty-two minutes and forty-nine seconds, forty-eight.not that he was counting.
Running down the stairs as quietly as he could, Harry made his way to the living room, not at all prepared for what was there to greet him. He stifled a giggle at the predicament Dudley had got himself into. The large boy had somehow managed to scare himself into an extremely small chest by the window, where he was currently jammed half in, half out. His flabby legs were waving in the air with a ridiculous flubbing sound, accompanied by pig-like squeals coming from his mouth which was currently drowning in his fat somewhere inside the trunk.
Turning his gaze to his aunt and uncle, he noticed that they, like Dudley, were acting as normal as could be expected. Aunt Petunia was currently edging her way along the wall, desperate to run across the room to her 'poor little Duddykins', but terrified to move into the path of the two visitors. Uncle Vernon was, however, edging away from the men, huffing and puffing with inaudible words.
"Ridiculous.mumble-mumble-mumble.not normal.mumble-mumble-mumble. Can't even use a door? .huffle-puffle. appearing out of thin air! .mumble-mumble. Why I've a mind to."
Harry smirked and walked further into the room, his eyes still wandering occasionally to Dudley, finding the flubbing of his huge legs a strangely compelling sight. He shook his head at the antics of the Dursleys and walked straight past his Uncle and reached a hand out to the younger, and smaller, of the two ginger haired men.
"Hey there, Harry!"
"Hey, Charlie, Bill." He smiled as the eldest Weasley also extended a hand. "I wasn't expecting either of you. I wasn't expecting anyone for at least another twenty minutes," Harry said, offering them a seat, much to his aunt's dismay. She had finally made her way to her 'precious Dudley-wudley' and was attempting, with the help of Uncle Vernon, to pull the boy from the trunk.
"Couldn't wait to get out of the house. Hope you don't mind," Bill said, smiling a little. It was obvious to Harry that there was something still going on at the Weasleys', but he didn't dare ask what it was. If it were Ron, or possibly the twins, he would have had no problem asking them, but he barely knew Bill or Charlie, and he was uncomfortable even thinking of asking them.
"Yeah, things are a little, eh, tense in the house at the moment, but I'm sure you'll see for yourself when you get there." Charlie grinned and winked at Harry. "You get used to it, but that doesn't mean you want to stay around and watch."
Bill snorted. "Well, you were worse!"
"Hey!"
"Okay, okay," Bill relented. "Not worse, but almost as bad. Together, you were a nightmare."
Now more confused than ever, Harry was about to ask when there was a thump behind him. He snickered as he saw his aunt and uncle lying on the floor, their legs in the air. They had obviously pulled rather hard, but to no avail. The chest, despite their respective sizes, had decided it wanted to eat Dudley.
"I could get him out of there, if."
"No! Absolutely not!" Uncle Vernon yelled and Harry flinched, cursing his uncle under his breath for his manners, or lack thereof, towards Bill. He didn't care how the Dursleys acted towards him, he was used to it, but when they treated the Weasleys like this, he felt utterly embarrassed. He was sure that the large burns on Charlie's bare arms weren't helping them to feel safe with the man, nor the fact that Bill had long hair and wore an earring. It was a different one than Harry remembered. A chip from a dragon tooth if Harry wasn't mistaken, and, given his close proximity to a rather large Hungarian Horntail in his previous year at Hogwarts, Harry was sure that he wasn't. Perhaps Charlie had got his newest burns removing that part of the tooth.
Deciding it was best not to mention dragons to his Aunt and Uncle, (they'd only be disappointed he hadn't been eaten), Harry decided on a different topic of conversation to that which he had on his mind. Ignoring the rest of his uncle's tirade about abnormality, Harry turned back to the eldest Weasley brothers and smiled as best he could. "So, when can we leave?"
Charlie snickered and, despite the look Bill was sending his brother's way, Harry was sure that the eldest brother was smirking as well.
"We won't be connected for another ten minutes, so not for a little while yet," Bill said, smiling at him. "Not too long, don't worry."
Harry refrained from mentioning that any time spent with the Dursleys was too long, and instead took a seat on the edge of the small sofa that Bill and Charlie were sitting on. The three of them looked across the room trying, in vain, not to smile at the rather military style rescue mission that the Dursleys were putting into effect to rescue Dudley from the evil clutches of their window chest.
"Pull, Petunia, pull!"
"I am pulling, Vernon!"
Harry snickered, hearing the moans of pain that Dudley was emitting. It was obvious that his uncle, being about ten times the size of his aunt, was pulling on Dudley's right leg a lot harder then his aunt was pulling on the left. It almost looked as if his right leg was longer than his left, or would be, when he was finally freed.
"Are you sure - "
"They won't let you help them," Harry said to Bill. "Besides, watching this is much more fun."
Charlie laughed at that, earning himself a glare from Uncle Vernon. Harry's eyes narrowed. He was getting angrier by the second and, for what seemed like the hundredth time this summer, he couldn't help but wish that he was allowed to do magic over the holidays. He was completely mortified by his uncle's behaviour.
Suddenly, the watch on Charlie's wrist began a small countdown. 20, 19, 18, 17. Harry smiled and stood up, surprised that watching the floor show the Dursleys had provided had taken up most of ten minutes, but glad that he was about to leave Privet Drive for another year. Remembering that his things were still upstairs in his room, he frowned. He was loath to leave the Weasley brothers with the Dursleys, but he needed his things.
"Where's your stuff, Harry?" Charlie asked with a smile. Harry instantly relaxed and replied, glad when Charlie quickly exited the room, Apparating back a moment later with Harry's things. There was a loud squeak from behind him.
Turning to see what Bill and Charlie were trying so hard not to laugh at, Harry snorted. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had succeeded in freeing Dudley from the trunk, but when Charlie had Apparated back into the room, they had obviously had another shock. Now, in place of Dudley's head, the trunk had swallowed Uncle Vernon's behind. The grown-up version of Dudley was now huffing and puffing and wriggling in the trunk, while Dudley wailed and Aunt Petunia pulled and pulled to free him.
Bill raised a hand to help, but Charlie was quick to stop him. "They don't want any of our abnormal help, now, do they Harry?" His face was serious, but there was a definite twinkle in his eye.
"No, no, I'm sure they don't." Harry grinned, and picked up Hedwig's cage, nodding a thank you when Bill gave him a small sprinkling of Floo powder.
"The fireplace should be connected now, Harry. Remember to keep your hands and arms safe by your side."
"Jeez, Bill, you sound like Mum." Charlie rolled his eyes and prepared to Apparate when Bill stopped him.
"Didn't the twins give us a gift for Harry's cousin?"
Harry was immediately interested, but had already sprinkled the powder and announced 'The Burrow'. The room began to spin, and the last thing he saw was Dudley turning blue, while his face began to morph into something that rather resembled a horse. Trying not to laugh, Harry struggled to keep himself still, his elbow scraping against the rough wall beside him. He was still struggling with his laughter when the world began to still again.
Harry sneezed, and rubbed his eyes, happy when his vision of The Burrow cleared. Without getting the chance to step out of the fireplace, the force of the trip threw him onto the floor. Groaning and pulling himself up, Harry quickly dusted himself off, cleaned his glasses, and smiled. It felt good to be back. He glanced around, the homely feel of the Weasleys' house making his grin widen. He walked through the kitchen, glancing up at the clock to see where the Weasleys were. Mr. Weasley and Percy were apparently still at work, and Bill and Charlie were 'visiting'. Harry laughed at that, knowing that no one in their right mind ever wanted to visit the Dursleys. Looking at the other clock hands, Harry frowned, not sure what to make of it.
There was a noise to his left, and Harry cautiously walked toward it, peering through the opened back door. There was no one there, but the sound was louder. It was coming from outside. He was sure that whatever Ron, Bill, and Charlie had been talking about was about to reveal itself, but Harry wasn't sure what to expect.
Frowning, Harry walked through the open back door and looked into the large garden. It took a moment to focus on exactly what was happening, but as soon he did, his eyes widened. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but whatever it was, nothing could have prepared him for what greeted him.
~x~x~x~x~x~
End of Part Two