Harry Potter and the Powers of Evil

Chapter 2

The next week was full of Uncle Vernon's grunts of disgust, Aunt Petunia's sniffs of disdain, and the groans of the construction men. Uncle Vernon had hired some construction workers to take out the fireplace. The day before Ron was going to floo over to their house, the fake fireplace had been removed. Harry grinned at the sight of the Dursleys' faces at the sight of their very expensive fireplace gone.

Harry had recovered from the shock of the mentioning of his long gone godfather. Now he was all cheerful about Ron coming and taking him away from the bloody Dursleys. He was already done packing up, and was eagerly waiting for July 25th to come.

Before Harry knew it, Ron had popped out of the fireplace, and was helping Harry with his trunks and Hedwig's cage. Ron seemed to be looking for someone, and when he saw a big flabby shape coming from the gigantic doghouse from the backyard, a sense of understanding showed as it dawned on his face. It was Dudley, and he really was too fat to fit through the front door. Ron almost dropped Harry's trunks as he tried not to snort with laughter.

Finally, when Ron and Harry had stopped laughing, they hurriedly floo-ed to The Burrow.

"Ron! I was so worried! Don't worry Harry, I don't blame you. You were saying good-bye to your lovely aunt and uncle–" Molly Weasley huffed.

"Actually, Mrs. Weasley, I wasn't and I would nev–"

"Ron, you should have floo-ed and told me that this was going to take awhile because of the farewells! Don't worry Harry–"

"Mo-om! It wasn't mine or Harry's fault! And he wasn't saying good-bye to the Dursleys. They weren't even there. And we were just delayed because…" Ron argued.

"Well, why were you delayed?" Molly Weasley asked sceptically.

Harry answered, "Well, see, Dudley, who's my cousin, has gotten… very fat… over the years… and well I told Ron about him. So, Ron didn't really believe me, and when he saw Dudley, he and I kind of… well… cracked…"

"Well, how did your aunt and uncle react? I hope you didn't make them too sad. They must've been heartbroken that you were gone," sighed Molly.

"Oh you have no idea…" Harry muttered under his breath, amused at Mrs. Weasley's perception of the Dursleys. The Dursleys were going to a big party that night to celebrate Harry going away. They had been talking about it all week, acting as if Harry was already gone.

            Ron and Harry went up to Ron's room to set up Harry's bed.

"Fred and George are here for a week. Usually they're at their own flat at Diagon Alley to take care of their shop, you know, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They're out back playing Quidditch with Ginny. They earned enough money to buy us both new brooms! We've got Nimbus 2000s now! Come on, let's go play Quidditch! Get your Firebolt!" Ron said excitedly.

            Harry let Hedwig out of her cage and got his Firebolt out. They ran out back. Harry took in the blue sky and green grass. Then he got on his broom and flew up into the air. The feeling was great! It had been awhile since he had been able to fly. He sped after Ron and soon came to the Weasley's 'personal Quidditch field'. Fred, George and Ginny were flying passing apples to each other.

"Hey Harry! Ron! Get over here! We're showing Ginny some new moves! Like the Wronski's Feint. Watch!" yelled Fred or George.

            All three of them did a synchronized dive and all pulled back up at the last second. It was great. Especially with Ginny's long red hair flowing behind her as she dived. Harry clapped and whooped. Then he joined the Weasley clan in a game of monkey in the middle using brooms and apples. It was very fun. Soon, they all heard Mrs. Weasley calling them for dinner.

            All five of them tromped inside laughing about the game.

 "Remember when Ron was trying to catch the apple, but it just hit him in the face?"

"It was so funny!"

"Yeah, you could just roast something over his head!"

"He was so red!"

            Mrs. Weasley had made a feast. It was full of everyone's favourite foods. There was turkey and chicken wings and mashed potatoes and apple cider and much more. "Why the celebration mum?" asked George.

"Well, since Harry and Hermione are here –"

"What? Hermione's here? How come I didn't see her?" demanded Ron.

"Don't worry dear, she's in Ginny's room," said Mrs. Weasley soothingly, then turned to Harry, "Ron's been like this all summer, asking about –"

"MU-UM!"

"What dear?!"

"Hey Harry! Hey Ron!"

Everybody turned their heads to the direction of the voice. It was Hermione, "I was upstairs in Ginny's room reading The Predicaments of the Greatest Wizards and How They Solved Them. It was fascinating. You should really read it!"

"Hermione, it's dinner, come on. It looks bloody good!" Ron exclaimed.

Everyone dove in after that last comment. Everybody was starving, even Hermione was stuffing her face, and it wasn't because she wanted to hurry and finish so she could read her book.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

During the next few days, Harry, Ron and Hermione were busy catching up after the 2 months they had been away from each other.

"Do you reckon You-Know-Who is going to try and get Harry this year?" All three knew what the 'get' meant. Harry had told them about the prophecy.

"I don't know, maybe we should check some books and train Harry up in the Dark Arts? Not that I really approve of it, but this seems a right enough situation to do this kind of thing…"

"Yeah, you can go and practice the Unforgivable Curses on insects, so if you have to duel You-Know-Who, you'd be able to really get him!"

"Ron, remember fourth year? We can't duel each other, it'll just do that freezing thing…"

"Yeah, but V-Voldemort know that right? So, he'll probably use another wand. So maybe you should try the Unforgivable Curses…"

"Wow! Hermione actually agrees with me for once, especially over such a matter!"

"Ron, I'm agreeing for Harry's own good."

"What, so you don't care about my good??"

"No! Wait a second, maybe we should practice the Unforgivable Curses too, and then we'll be able to protect ourselves when the time comes!"

"Hermione, Ron, you're not going to be fighting with me, I don't want you to be in danger!"

"Harry, we've been with you in so many other adventures!"

"Fine! If you're there at the time, then you can fight. But I don't have to be happy about it!"

"Good, now, where can we go and practice Unforgivable Curses without getting caught?" Hermione wondered.

Ron gaped at Hermione, "Where have all our DA meetings been these two years? Duh, the Room of Requirement! Sheesh Hermione, aren't you a bit thick today?"

Hermione said irritatedly, "Please Ron, what if someone else happens to see that doorway and comes in? Then what would we do?"

Ron answered helplessly, "Well, maybe we can ask for a room that is invisible to everybody's eyes except ours??"

"Hey that just might work! Ron you are a genius!"

"Uhh…right…even though that was a joke…" muttered Ron under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Hmm? Oh…nothing…"

Harry had been thinking all this time. What was a mere insect compared to Lord Voldemort? How could they ever defeat him by just practicing on puny insects? Harry sighed. Well, at least they would have a little practice, unlike what had happened with Bellatrix during fifth year. He couldn't even do a proper Crucio, he would have to practice a lot. Maybe if he could have done it properly, he could've gotten his revenge on Sirius. But, he really needed to have good duelling skills to be able to match spells with Voldemort. He would also have to practice these.

"You know, we have a lot of work ahead of us. We really have to work on our duelling reflexes and reacting quickly to curses and hexes. Remember fifth year? Okay, maybe Ron doesn't, but Hermione, remember how quickly the Death Eaters threw spells at us? Well, we have to match that!"

"You're right, but how would we get practice like that?"

Ron joked, "Maybe we could go and pick a duelling fight with Malfoy every time we see him, and then we can get experience from a Death Eater!"

"Ron! That's nothing to be joking about! Although, do you really think that he's a Death Eater?"

"Of course he is! I mean, maybe he doesn't have the mark yet, but he will have it soon! Probably after he graduates or something!"

"Yes, you're probably right…"

            They all sighed and became silent. It was apparent that Lord Voldemort was gathering forces and was already gaining power, but soon he would be after Harry, the boy who prevented him from coming back. Surely Voldemort wouldn't be able to get into Hogwarts? Of course, he was much more powerful, and would probably do anything to get rid of Harry. Harry thought once more about practicing Unforgivable Curses.

Harry, breaking the silence, asked, "So, do you think practicing Unforgivable Curses on spiders and what not will help defeat Voldemort?"

There was a gasp at the doorway.