Chapter 2

The Witch, the Wardrobe and the Lion

Harry's hands were shaking as he lifted the flap of the envelope and struggled to pull out the parchment that was inside. There were three pieces, all folded in to one. Reminding himself to breathe, Harry put his thumb on the join and opened out the parchment to read the first page that was on the top.

"Harry!" Uncle Vernon bellowed up the stairs "Stay in your bedroom till we get back. We're going to get Dudley's GCSE results".

"Yes Uncle Vernon!" Harry called back, and after hearing the thud of the front door, three car doors slamming and the sound of Uncle Vernon's car starting, Harry turned his full attention back the pieces of parchment that he held in his hands.

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that your OWL examination results have been received from the Ministry of Magic Examination Board. You will find

them enclosed along with an application form for you to enter which NEWTs you

are going to study this year at Hogwarts. Please bear in mind any information that you may have been given during your careers discussion and your enclosed results.

If it is determined that you have picked a subject that you are not up to standard in, to study then we will contact you shortly.

Book and equipment lists will follow your return owl, when your final timetable has been confirmed.

Term begins on 1 September. We are awaiting your return owl.

Yours sincerely

Minerva Mcgonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Okay, this is it Harry told himself, then he lifted the top piece of parchment away and put it to one side of the desk.

Ministry of Magic Examination Board

OWL Results

Harry Potter

Subject Grade

Astronomy E

Care of Magical Creatures O

Charms O

Defence Against the Dark Arts O

Divination A

Herbology O

History of Magic A

Potions O

Transfiguration E

Grading System: O - Outstanding, E - Exceeds Expectations,

A - Acceptable, P - Poor (Fail),

D - Dreadful (Fail)

"Oh my god!" Harry said to himself, throwing his hands up on his head in disbelief.

"I did it Hedwig, I passed" he shouted as he bounded across the room to her cage. Harry flung open the cage door and she flew out, soaring around his bedroom ceiling. Landing on the window ledge she looked out longingly in to the grey day.

I'm sorry Hedwig, you know I can't let you out yet, it won't be long". Harry sat back down at his desk and looked again at his examination results; if only he had someone to share this moment with. He never dreamed that he would get an 'O' in Potions, an 'E' if he was lucky. He would probably never have even got that if Snape had been in the examination room with him. Professor Snape had picked on Harry ever since the first year and Harry had learned that it had started because Harry's father James had bullied Professor Snape when they were at school together. In the last year, however, it had become more of a personal hate-hate relationship between Harry and Professor Snape and it looked set to continue. Harry looked at the rest of his results. The 'As' in Astronomy and History of Magic seemed very generous as Harry had not completely finished the papers. But surely Dumbledore had no influence on the Examination Board. As for Divination that was a complete miracle! Maybe they took pity on the entire year because of all the upheaval with Professor Trelawney and Umbridge.

Harry looked at the third piece of parchment that he had to enter his NEWT subjects on. He got up and walked to the window. He knew that he wanted to be an Auror and now he knew that he had the right OWL grades to be able to take the right NEWTS, but he still didn't feel right about sending it off without talking to Ron about his subjects first.

But it had to be done, so Harry returned to his desk and filled in the form. As he sealed it in to the envelope he realised he had no way of sending it. Feeling frustrated he sat on the bed. No he thought to himself, this is important; so he called Hedwig over, addressed the envelope to Hogwarts and then tied it too her leg.

"You'll have to stay out Hedwig, till dawn tomorrow, that way Uncle Vernon may not notice that you have gone. Stop at Ron's if you need to rest".

With that, Harry opened his bedroom window and Hedwig flew out. Harry leant out of the bedroom window and watched her go. Across the road Mrs Figg waved from her front doorstep, Harry ignored her. Just as he was pulling his head back in through the window he glimpsed the Dursleys' car turning on to Privet Drive. Quick as a flash he was back in with the window shut, praying that they hadn't noticed him.

Clunk, clunk, slam!!! The car doors closed and the front door flew open, banging against the table that held the mail, beside it.

"I still don't believe it! How can they say he failed, I thought they were all complaining they were too easy! Eight GCSEs, he took EIGHT, and he only scrapped through three.

And English, HOW can he fail English, he SPEAKS it every blasted day! I want them remarked; I don't care about the cost".

Harry guessed that Uncle Vernon was not happy. Curious as to which three exams Dudley had passed, he ventured out on to the landing so that he could hear more clearly.

"Private school, I sent him to and they can't even help him pass a couple of exams. What WAS the point? Hmph. What use is History, media studies and general studies to him? What's he going to do now?"

"Well, he could come work for you" suggested Aunt Petunia.

"Work for me?!" roared Uncle Vernon "according to them, he can't count and he can't speak English, HOW can he WORK for me!"

Harry giggled to himself; this day just could not get any better. Harry guessed that Dudley passed history because it was about fighting. He walked downstairs and went in to the kitchen. Walking in to the living room while Uncle Vernon was in mid-rant was not a good idea even if it wasn't about Harry, for a change. As Harry was getting himself a glass of water, Aunt Petunia came in and went to switch the kettle on. As she turned to leave she looked back to Harry "I expect that letter was your OWL results earlier" she stated rather than asked.

"Um yes. I passed all nine of them, I got five 'O's" replied Harry.

Aunt Petunia's face remained passive but she answered "well that's good" and then as she was turning and walking out she added "Lily would have been proud". As the living room door shut again Harry wasn't sure what to do. It was the very last thing he expected to hear his Aunt saying but he was happy all the same. Because it came from her, it just seemed to feel truer. Harry wasn't sure whether to smile or cry. Hearing Uncle Vernon start bellowing again in the living room, he headed out of the front door and down the garden path.

It had stopped raining now but it was still very wet. As Harry went through the gate at the end, he saw Mrs Figg again shuffling down her path. "Harry!" she called,

"Could you give me a hand for a moment dear?"

"Yes he will" Uncle Vernon called from behind Harry; he must have heard the front door click Harry thought to himself. "Keep him as long as you want, bout time he made himself useful" and with that he shut the front door again.

Harry took himself in to Mrs Figgs' house, not wanting to have another session of her asking him questions about the Department of Mysteries, and then refusing to answer his. 'I can't tell you Harry, Dumbledores' orders. He doesn't want you to risk leaving that house. If something really important happens that he thinks you must know, then he will tell you himself'. That was all Harry had heard so far this summer when he had asked her any questions.

"Come in, come in, sit down" she said ushering him in to the living room. "What's with the paper chains?" Harry asked.

"Ah, that's your surprise! But don't tell me how you did yet, I need you to come upstairs and help with the wardrobe".

Harry followed Mrs Figg upstairs in to the back bedroom. It was decorated with lots of little porcelain cats and she had put photographs of her own cats all around the walls. "Do you want it moved?" Harry asked her.

"No, no, just give it a minute" she replied. Grinning to himself and wondering what the wardrobe could possibly do by itself, as Mrs Figg was a squib; Harry watched it intently.

All of a sudden there was a bang and the doors burst open. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were piled on the floor in a heap or arms and legs.

"Surprise!" they called. "Quickly, quickly shut the doors for the next lot"

Mrs Figg cried. Harry jumped over them and closed the doors. No sooner had they stood up and moved to the side than the doors burst open again and Mr Weasley, Remus Lupin and Tonks spilled out. "Surprise!" they called out as well. Harry was grinning from ear to ear, "What are you all doing here?"

"It's a joint party" Hermione explained "It's a passing our OWLS, Happy Birthday Harry party!"

"Yeah" said Ron "Just your luck to get the exam results the day before you birthday! Mum wanted to have the party tomorrow but we figured you'd already be crawling the walls by now".

"Lets all move downstairs, shall we dears, there's not enough room to swing a cat in here" Mrs Figg called over all the heads from the doorway.

They all went downstairs and Mrs Figg opened the double doors dividing the living room from the dining room. Harry gasped. Inside, the table was covered with food and a pile of presents were stacked nearby. The whole room was covered with paper chains like the living room.

"I got 10 'O's burst Hermione, unable to contain herself any longer. "I win" laughed Ron and Hermione spun round confused. "Ron bet it'd take you six minutes before you told Harry" laughed Fred "I said two minutes and George said thirty seconds, so Ron was the closest". Everybody laughed while Hermione went bright red. "What did you get Ron?" Harry asked, happy now that he had people to share his results with. "I got 5 O's, 3 E's and 1 A. I can't believe it" Ron answered.

"Yeah they must have got his results mixed up with someone else's" added George.

"How bout you Harry?" Ron asked. "I got 5 O's, 2 E's and 2 A's; I've got my results here" Harry took his results out of his pocket. "Me too" shouted Ron and Hermione together, and they passed the parchments around.

"You got the same ones as me Ron except for History of Magic" Harry said.

"These are really good Harry" added Hermione. For the first time in ages Harry genuinely felt happy. He was with his friends again, with the people he loved.

"What NEWTs are you all doing" Harry suddenly thought to ask. "Well I've applied for potions, transfiguration, charms, defence against the dark arts, care of magical creatures and herbology" said Ron. "That's what I put!" screeched Hermione and Harry at the same time. "I'm taking arthrimancy too" said Hermione "I figured I could drop one again if it was too much and I'm not entirely sure what I want to do yet anyway". "Oh Auror training definitely" said Ron.

"That's if their still desperate" quipped George from behind him. "I can just see you standing in the middle of a muggle street aiming your wand at a death eater Ron, repelling a jinx and hitting Harry with it!!!" laughed Fred from across the room.

"I think Ron would make a good Auror" huffed Hermione.

"Depends if they've got you to help them" replied George. "Well they may do, I haven't decided yet".

"Oi, when you four have finished, what about the food and the presents!" called Fred now at the dining room table, cautiously poking a cheese and pineapple chunk stick with one finger and a mini sausage roll with another.

"Presents first" Lupin answered, and they all joined Fred in the dining room.

"Okay, this one is from me" said Ron picking up the present on the top of the pile and passing it to Harry "Happy Birthday". Harry tore off the paper and held up 'Advanced Quidditch for the Seriously Talented' by Ludo Bagman and Matilda Claiborne. "It's new out" said Ron. "Matilda Claiborne used to be a chaser for England twelve years ago" said Fred. "Yeah she's written almost all the book but the publishers took on Bagman to try and boost sales" added George. "Supposed to be really good though".

"Thanks guys" said Harry as Lupin passed him another rectangular present. "That's from me Harry" said Hermione. "I'm guessing it's a book!" laughed Harry. He ripped back the silver wrapping paper to find 'Advanced jinxes guaranteed to get you out of any sticky situation". "Gee thanks Hermione, we can use these for our meetings". "Oh we're still having them then?" asked Ron. "Well we kind of really need them now more than ever don't we!" replied Harry.

Harry carried on opening his presents. He had a box of assorted sweets from Fred and George that had 'Weasleys Wizardly Wheezes' on the front. There were canary creams, ton tongue toffees and new ones called smokey joes, that made your ears steam and square surprises that made different parts of your body flash red. He also had a pair of socks with different colour lions on them from Dobby and Winky. Tonks had bought him a book of practical disguises and Mad Eye Moody sent him a foe glass with an extra note attached to it.

Dear Harry,

remember CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!! Keep this

out somewhere where you can always see it. Trust no one, except

Dumbledore, and always be on your guard. Look forward to seeing you

soon, have some jinxes to teach you.

Alastor Moody

Lupin passed him the next present. It was in a shiny purple cardboard box. Harry took off the lid and lifted aside the purple tissue paper that was on the top.

"It's from me, Arthur, Molly and Arabella" said Lupin. Harry lifted out a black leather photo album; it had a gold embroidered Gryffindor lion on the front. Harry guessed what would be inside and didn't really want to open it but as he looked up, all his friends were looking at him and smiling and he knew that he had to. On the first page someone had written in big gold letters 'My Family'. On the second page was the photo of the Order of the Phoenix that Mad Eye had shown him while he was at Sirius' last year. Faces of witches and wizards smiled up at him waving, some of them he knew and some he had never had the chance to know, including his parents. Harry carried on turning the pages. There were pictures of him growing up that, he guessed, were taken by Mrs Figg as they were muggle 'still' shots and had cats in the background. Then there were pictures of him, Ron and Hermione around Hogwarts and some of all the Weasleys too. "We got the one's of us at school from Colin" piped up Hermione leaning over Harry's shoulder as turned over another page to come face to face with Sirius. It was a young Sirius in a Hogwarts uniform and he was stood beside Lupin, Wormtail and Harrys' father.

"We found that in with Sirius' things, along with some of the others" said Tonks. The next six pages were all old photographs of Sirius, James, Peter, Remus and Lily. Dumbledore and Mcgonagall were in a few too. Harry's heart sank as he looked at another photograph of a smiling, happy Sirius.

"Um maybe we should move on to the next one" Lupin suggested, seeing the sad look on Harry's' face.

He passed Harry an envelope and a silver box. The envelope had Harry's' name on it in emerald green ink. Harry knew that this was from Dumbledore. He opened the envelope first, and a birthday card and a letter came out. "Ah if you give me that card Harry dear, I'll put it with the others. We thought you could save them for tomorrow" said Mrs Figg. Harry passed the card over and turned his attention to the letter.

Dear Harry,

I know how much use you are getting out of your fathers'

cloak and because of recent events I thought it was time you had this.

I confiscated it off your father and Sirius when they were in their last

year at hogwarts. It will show you anyone who is disguised or invisible

and will only show magic folk. I am sure it will not take you long to

work out how to use it!

All Sirius' belongings have been boxed so that you can sort through them

when you are ready. You only need to remain at your aunt and uncles'

house for one more week. You can remain there of course if you wish,

but you are more than welcome to join us all at headquarters if you are

feeling up to it. There is plenty of work to do and as you are of age

tomorrow, there is much that you can learn.

Yours sincerely

Albus Dumbledore

Harry put the letter aside and opened the box. He lifted out a silver hand held mirror that it had paw prints etched around the sides. "Ah" said Lupin "I wondered what had happened to that. Have you got your wand Harry?"

Harry pulled out his wand from under his t-shirt and tapped the top of the mirror. Silver writing appeared on it.

"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of aids to magical mischief-makers

are proud to present

The Mirror of Reflection

Tap once with your wand and say 'illusion revealum' to see

those around you for what they really are."

All the writing faded from the surface of the mirror. Harry lifted it up and put it in front of his eyes. As he looked around the room he saw that everyone had a white light surrounding them. All except Mrs Figg whose light was a pale green. Harry carried on turning, looking round the room when he came to Tonks. He moved the mirror away from his face to look at her just to check and then moved it back. "You have light brown hair normally" Harry said bemused. "Yeh, I get easily bored, thought I'd be orange today" said Tonks.

Before Harry could ask Lupin about Mrs Figg and what the light meant, Fred and George shouted in unison "FOOD!" and everyone proceeded to fill their plates with sandwiches and sausages rolls.