Chapter 3 Harry's Surprise

"SURPRISE!" yelled a group of people as Harry landed in the fireplace of the order headquarters. "Happy birthday Harry," said Remus Lupin as he stepped forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Wow," Harry managed to stammer as her looked around. All of his closest friends were here, Lupin, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Charley, Bill, George, Fred, Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and Mad-eye Moody. It was a wonderful party. Mrs. Weasley had cooked mouthwatering snacks, and there was enough butter beer for everyone to have at least five, not to mention the gifts. Fred and George had compiled a sort of gift basket for Harry. It contained at least one of every product in their shop. When Harry told them it was too much, the twins insisted that Harry should take the gift. They simply reminded Harry that without his Triwizard Tournament money they wouldn't even have the shop. Lupin gave Harry a very interesting book on defensive curses, Dumbledore gave Harry a pair of socks along with a wink, and Mr. Weasley gave Harry some plugs and some rusty batteries. The rest had all pitched in to give Harry an official Firebolt broomstick case. It was beautiful. It was made of polished mahogany and the inside was lined with a spongy sort of material.

Harry couldn't stop stammering "Thanks" to everyone a million times each. It was the best day Harry had in a long time. In fact, Harry hadn't had a good day in long time. All summer Harry has been grieving the death of his godfather, Sirius. Not to mention the prophecy that Harry found out about his previous year at Hogwarts. The prophecy said that in the end Harry's fate was to kill Voldemort or be killed by Voldemort. Naturally, Harry wasn't too keen on this idea. He had been thinking about it all summer. He knew his friends would always be there to comfort him, but he had to kill Voldemort alone. Harry had a sort of longing to have a normal life and he wanted a real family. Now that Sirius was gone, Harry didn't have a grown-up he could talk to when he needed. Sure, there was always Lupin. Harry knew Lupin was trying to be a father figure, but Lupin wasn't always around when Harry needed him. Besides, now that Voldemort had come back, Harry couldn't send any personal letters, incase it was intercepted and had information about the order. He longed to have a family like Ron's, but he was lucky. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had taken in Harry and tried to treat him like their own son. First things first, Harry needed to ready himself for Voldemort, and Harry finally came up with a plan that would prepare him. A plan that Harry would need some help with, but he couldn't bother anybody about it right now. Infact, Harry wasn't even thinking about any of these problems. Harry had a wonderful day today, and he wasn't going to spoil it by worrying about Sirius's death or Voldemort. Harry thanked and said goodnight to everybody as they left. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione went upstairs to go to bed, and for the first time all summer, Harry felt on top of the world.