Chapter 3

Harry moved toward the Leaky Cauldron, a happy smile on his face at the prospect of beating Ron and Hermione to the meeting place.

As he walked towards the brick archway, his thought turned towards the butterflies he had seen earlier that day, had they really been a tick of light? They had looked so real…

He suddenly ran into a tall man that had been walking in the opposite direction. As Harry stooped to pick his and the man's things off of the ground, he glanced at the man. He was wearing a dark robe, and horn-rimmed glasses. He looked like someone from the Ministry, but when Harry looked into his eyes, pain flashed through his scar. The man moved away quickly as if burned, grabbed his stuff from Harry, and huffed past him, apparently in some hurry. Harry stared after him.

"Well, apparently some people don't have manners," he muttered. "And why was he wearing a thick cloak in the middle of July?" He shrugged to himself and walked on.

To his disappointment, Ron and Hermione were already at the Leaky Cauldron, enjoying butterbeers.

"Hey, mate,' Ron said as Harry stepped up on the side of him. "What took you?"

"Oh, the usual hustle and bustle of a street full of people," Harry sighed. He propped his stuff on the side of him. "You beat me, I suppose."

Ron smiled. "Yes, I did."

"Well, if Ron had not taken so long to look at the new racing broom models," Hermione stated, casting a glare at Ron. "We would have gotten here even earlier. Did you find all of your school supplies?"

"Yeah," Harry said, sipping on his butterbeer. "I also saw—"

He paused as something he saw made him double take. There they were, the butterflies he had seen earlier. They were floating around a man at the back table. Harry saw that the man didn't notice them floating around his head. One suddenly strayed from the rest and flew towards him. It lightly landed on his nose, and he suddenly felt a peace that he had not felt in a long while. It felt like when he first realized he would be leaving the Dursleys to go to Hogwarts. Something he had not felt since before Sirius's death…

Someone was shaking him and calling his name. He stirred out of his thought and looked around, realizing that he was still in the Leaky Cauldron, and Ron and Hermione were in front of him, looking anxious.

"Hey, he's back to normal," Ron breathed.

"Back to normal?" asked Harry. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you started telling us that you saw something, and then you turned your head toward that bloke over there," Ron said, pointing to the man Harry had seen the butterflies around. "Then your eyes changed colors, and you got a real sleepy look in your eyes. Then we shook you, and your eyes changed back to normal."

"What color did they change?" Harry asked worriedly, thinking that Voldemort had something to do with this.

"They changed to gold, like an eagle's eyes," Hermione said, still looking worried. "And you went all cross-eyed, like you were looking at something on your nose.

"Are you sure that you're ok?" Ron asked, still watching Harry closely.

"What did you see, Harry?" Hermione added.

Harry stared at them for a moment, and then sighed.

"Well, it all began when I saw the butterflies in Diagon Alley," he began.

He told them of what he saw, and after he was done, they stared at them. He sighed again, and turned around to finish his butterbeer.

"Harry," Ron began as he sat back down at his seat by Harry." Do you think that Voldemort is doing this to you?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Hermione said thoughtfully. "But you mentioned that when the butterfly landed on your nose, you felt a great peace. Do you think Voldemort really wants you to have peace?"

"I'm sure he would find someway to use it against me," Harry said miserably. "But what if Voldemort doesn't have something to do with this? What if it is something more sinister?"

Each was lost in their own thoughts for a moment, until Harry spoke first.

"Well, you mum and dad probably went home already," he said. "So should we go back now?"

"Not yet," Ron said slyly. "Let's go get something to eat."

"Why?" Hermione asked suspiciously. "Isn't your mother cooking dinner?"

"Well, I wanted to try a milkshake," Ron said as he finished his butterbeer. "I've heard that they're delicious, especially the chocolate crème pie."

"Well, I suppose, since you've never had one," Hermione sighed. "But we have to hurry, we could get into some serious trouble with the Order for putting Harry in danger!"

"Relax," Ron said. "I'll just tell them that it was all my fault. I'll try to deal with the consequences. Now come on, I just saw a shop outside."

They finished their butterbeers, thanked Tom, and left for the muggle world.