Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
"…" = Speech
/…/ = Parseltongue
italics = Thoughts
Chapter 2:
Harry soon forgot his irritation, however, when he read through his letters. There were the expected ones from Draco and Blaise, but also a couple from Fred and George Weasley. Neville Longbottom had also, surprisingly, sent a birthday card and Harry couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. He didn't want the clumsy boy clinging to him the whole school year, but he wouldn't mind making friends with him. As he read what his two best friends had written, he grew extremely nervous. The tone of Blaise and Draco's letters became increasingly irritated, and Blaise had threatened to send him a charmed package that would turn his skin bright orange if he didn't reply soon. Harry wasn't so frightened about his change in skin colour, as he hardly ever went outside his room. However, he was nervous of other side effects the charm might have. Blaise had a gift of turning even the most benign charms into death-threatening curses. In her charms exam, she had enchanted a pineapple to rampage around the room and charge repeatedly into Professor Flitwick before blowing up in his face. And it had honestly been an accident.
Harry scribbled a hasty reply to both Blaise and Draco (who had merely threatened to send him a Howler) assuring them that he had not intentionally ignored them and begging humbly for Blaise's forgiveness. Harry then turned to the twins' letters. After watching them warily for a couple of minutes (Harry knew Fred and George well enough to be suspicious of anything they sent), he decided to get it over with. Opening an envelope and pulling out the parchment inside, Harry was happy to note that he had not changed colour, sprouted feathers or in any other way changed. He wondered why the twins had passed up a chance to prank him, but the letter answered his questions. Fred and George had written to tell him that he had been "cordially invited" to stay for a couple of weeks at their house and would not be given any chance of declining. The twins were going to arrive at around 12 o'clock that night to escort him back to the Burrow. That meant that they would have ample time to prank him in person.
The Dursleys were utterly relieved when Harry informed them of the twins' arrival, and were in a great rush to get him out of the house. Aunt Petunia offered to help him pack and Uncle Vernon asked if he could Drive Harry somewhere more convenient, no doubt fearing their neighbours' reactions if "that lot" came to the Dursley's front door.
So, after packing all his things and bullying Dudley one last time, Harry was ready and waiting when the specified time arrived.
What Harry wasn't sure about was how the twins were arriving. Their letter was not very informative, being full of jokes and little else, so Harry was left guessing. After going through all the possibilities in his head (apparation, floo powder, broomsticks etc) and dismissing them as being illegal or impractical, Harry was left without a clue. However, he didn't have long to find out. Hearing the sound of an engine followed by shouting, Harry looked outside and was met with a sight of utter confusion.
An old turquoise car was hovering in mid-air, around 20 feet off the ground. Fred (or George) was hanging on from it with one hand, swinging about wildly, while George (Or Fred) was frantically twisting the steering wheel, narrowly missing a lamppost. To add to the chaos, the car kept blinking in and out of existence, sometimes leaving Fred (or George) apparently hanging in mid-air.
/Okay, thissssss provessss it/ hissed Isis. /Thossssse two are officially insssane./
/Can't argue with you there/ replied Harry, watching in amusement as Fred bashed into a tree. /But remember, hide out of sight of the other Weasleys. Only Fred and George know about you, and even then they don't know I can speak Parseltongue./
/Yeah, yeah, you've told me that hundredssss of timesss. I'm not featherbrained like that bird of yourssss/ hissed Isis huffily, glaring evilly at Hedwig. /Or your friends/ she added, after turning back to Fred and George.
After almost crashing another 4 times George (or Fred) finally managed to manoeuvre the car to touch down in the middle of the garden, squashing Aunt Petunia's precious flowerbeds. Fred (or George) landed sprawling in an undignified heap beside it. Jumping to his feet Fred (or George) said cheerfully,
"Hi mate! Hop in!" as if it was perfectly natural to fly around England in an invisible Ford Anglia.
"Well, don't just stand there!" called whichever twin was behind the steering wheel. Shaking off his surprise, Harry grinned back and started heaving his trunk into the car. After all his things were safely stowed away, Harry jumped in and George (who under close inspection really was George) accelerated out of the Dursley's front gate (knocking over even more flowers on the way.)
Just as they were preparing to take off, the Dursleys crept cautiously outside to see what all the commotion was about. Seeing her destroyed flowerbeds, Aunt Petunia let out a high-pitched wail while Uncle Vernon mustered enough courage to shake his fist angrily at his departing nephew. Harry just waved airily at his Uncle, while George slammed his foot down and the car suddenly shot upwards.
"See you next summer!" yelled Harry to the shrinking forms of his odious relatives.
"So- what's the story, Harry?" asked Fred impatiently, as he unlocked Hedwig's cage. "Why didn't you answer any of our letters?"
"We thought it was your Slytherin git side taking over," put in George, swerving round a stray eagle that squawked indignantly at them.
"I never received any of the letters. A house-elf nicked them," explained Harry, and told them all about Dobby and his crazy warning.
"Very fishy," said George finally.
"Definitely dodgy," agreed Fred. "Are you sure Malfoy didn't just send his house-elf as a twisted joke?"
"Yes, I'm sure," replied Harry. "Draco would never plan something that could be traced back to him. He is way too subtle for that."
"Well, I guess you know the sneaky bastard better that we do," admitted Fred. "I definitely wouldn't trust him, though. His father, Lucius Malfoy, was a big supporter of you-know-who."
"So?" said Harry dismissively. Seeing the twins staring at him incredulously he sighed and continued. "Look, there are loads of Slytherins that have deatheater parents. There are at least four in my year alone. But that doesn't mean that they themselves support the Dark Lord." Seeing that the other two were still sceptical Harry said, "Let's change the subject. You've been brought up too Gryffindorish to understand a Slytherin's point of view."
"Fair enough," said George, shrugging. "So, what do you think about staying with us for the rest of the holidays? Ron's visiting a friend of his, Seamus Finnegan, for the next two weeks, so he won't be there acting like a complete prat."
"Sounds great. Anything is better than the Dursleys," said Harry, stretching out in the back seat, ignoring Isis' hiss of annoyance as she was dislodged from around his neck.
"Percy will also be out of our way. He's been spending a load of time shut up in his room. Hardly ever comes out except for meals. He hardly gloated at all when his OWL results came. Something must be seriously wrong," said Fred, not sounding very concerned.
"Percy is the one in sixth year, right?" said Harry.
"Yeah, and he's a prefect now," said Fred with a horrified shudder.
"Oh the shame of it all!" cried George theatrically, hiding his face in his hands as if in embarrassment. This turned out to be a bad idea, though, as he let go of the steering wheel and the car plummeted down 50 feet before George gained control again.
"I can't believe that you two managed to drive this thing without crashing or being seen." remarked Harry. "Isn't it illegal?"
"Well, yes," admitted Fred. "Technically. And we had a few near misses on the way here. But no muggle actually saw us. And as for the ministry, well, what they don't know won't hurt them."
"There's the main road," said George, peering down through the windscreen. "We'll be there in just over ten minutes. Just as well, its getting light."
A faint pinkish glow was visible on the horizon.
"We live a little way outside the village," added Fred. "Ottery St Catchpole."
Lower and lower went the flying car. They were nearing a tumbledown house that looked like it had once been a large stone pigsty, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as if it was about to collapse any second. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard and didn't even look up as, with a slight bump and a squeal of breaks, the car hit the ground.
"Touchdown!" cried Fred happily, as they all climbed out. "Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly and wait for Mum to call us down for breakfast. Then George, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and no one need ever know we flew the car. Okay, let's go."
"Wait a second," said Harry. "Is that it? Is that your only plan?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?" asked Fred, perplexed.
"The problem is that it's crap. What happens when your mother asks how I got here for example? Or if she's already noticed your missing?"
"Well, uh… We didn't really think that far ahead," admitted Fred sheepishly.
"Gryffindors!" said Harry, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Sometimes I really have to agree with Draco when he says-"
Harry never had the chance to impart some of Draco's infinite wisdom, as at that moment the twins' faces took on a greenish tinge, their eyes fixed on the house. Harry spun around.
Mrs Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a sabre-toothed tiger.
"Ah," said Fred
"Oh dear," said George.
"Told you so," said Harry.
Mrs Weasley stormed up to them, her hands on her hips, glaring from one guilty face to the next.
"So," she said, her voice carrying the threat of momentous pain in the very near future.
"Uh, morning Mum!" said George, edging slowly behind Fred.
"Explain yourselves," said Mrs Weasley in a deadly whisper.
"Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to-"
Mrs Weasley exploded.
Harry was convinced that the following tirade, which could be heard for miles around, would be a very effective method of torture. Prolonged exposure to Mrs Weasely's yells was sure to send anyone mad or deaf. Probably both. Luckily, the formidable woman seemed to be directing her anger at her sons instead of Harry. That looked like it was about to change, though, as, after yelling for what seemed like hours, she finally turned towards him. Gulping, Harry took a step backwards, his Slytherin instincts screaming at him to run away, but all she said was,
"Pleased to see you, Harry, dear. Come in and have some breakfast." She turned back to the house and Harry, who was wondering whether she had opted to poison instead of deafen him, reluctantly followed.
The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle of the room and Harry sat down on the edge of his seat, looking around for another exit in case things became violent.
Mrs Weasley clattered around, cooking breakfast haphazardly and throwing dirty looks at the twins as they slunk into the kitchen and sat down next to Harry.
"I don't blame you dear," she assured Harry, tipping a dozen sausages onto his plate. "It wasn't your idea to steal an illegal car and fly it half-way across the country. Eggs?" This last was said as she waved a frying pan in his face.
"It was cloudy, Mum!" said Fred.
"Keep you moth shut when you're eating!" snapped Mrs Weasley, cutting Harry eight slices of bread and buttering them for him. While Fred protested Harry idly wondered if Mrs Weasley was trying to make him eat himself to death.
"More bacon, Harry?" asked Mrs Weasley.
At that moment there was a welcome diversion in the for of a small, red-headed figure in a long nightdress who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small yell, and ran out again, but not before glaring angrily at the twins.
"Ginny," said Fred in an undertone to Harry. "Our sister. She's been obsessing about you all summer."
"Bet she's annoyed with us 'cause we didn't tell her you were coming over. Probably wanted to be ready with a pen and paper for you autograph, Harry," grinned George.
"She's completely hero-struck," added Fred.
Harry wasn't entirely sure if the twins' assessment was right. Ginny seemed more afraid of him that anything else. In fact, she seemed downright terrified. Harry decided it was just because she believed Ronald who had, according to the twins, spent his entire holidays whining about Slytherins in general and Harry in particular. Apparently he kept ranting about Harry becoming the next Dark Lord or something equally ridiculous. To be on the safe side Harry made extra sure that Nemesis stayed hidden from the girl. He didn't want to make her even more frightened of him.
Over the next couple of days, however, Ginny seemed to relax a bit, although she was still wary of him. This could well have been because Fred, George and Harry had been pranking everything in sight. Even the chickens hadn't escaped unscathed.
On the second day of Harry's visit they had enlisted Ginny's help in pranking Percy Weasley. This was a highly successful venture as Percy, after eating a cupcake offered to him by an innocent looking Ginny, spent an entire day turning into an animal every five minutes. After transforming into a walrus for the 3rd time, Percy locked himself in his room and refused to come out. However, Ginny managed to take some photos of him by flying up to his window on an old Comet-Two-Sixty belonging to Fred.
What surprised Harry the most was that Ginny managed to slither her way out of any punishment or even suspicion. While Harry and the twins were relegated to weeding the garden for a whole weekend, Ginny just bust into tears. After sobbing onto a sympathetic Mrs Weasley's shoulder, claiming that she "di- didn't know the cake was sniff jinxed," and that she felt "s-so awful about it", her mother gave her a plate of biscuits and let her off her ordinary chores for the day. The unfairness of it all astounded Harry. But one good thing was that after this event Ginny seemed to decide that Harry was not evil incarnate and even deigned to speak to him without flinching.
Three weeks later, Harry picked his way across the minefield that was the bedroom he shared with Fred and George. The room was filled to bursting with cursed or jinxed food, cauldrons full of evil looking mixtures, and cackling twins that, every so often, caused small explosions with their so-called 'experiments'. These seemed to Harry just an excuse to create more havoc. Wandering into the kitchen, Harry sat down next to Ginny and started helping himself to some bacon.
"Letters from school," said Mr Weasley, a thin balding man who was head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. He passed Harry and Ginny identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "You two've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pyjamas.
"Are you also starting Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny. At her nod he continued. "Poor teachers having to put up with another Weasley."
"Bet you McGonagall will have a heart attack by the end of the year," said Fred, grinning.
"McGonagall? Well, you may be right. I was more thinking of how Snape will react when he finds out there's yet another one of you inept redheads," said Harry, smirking.
"He'll probably take off twice as many points as usual," said George gloomily, eating some toast to raise his spirits.
Fred, who had finished his own Hogwarts letter, peered over Harry's shoulder to look at his."You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defence teacher must be a fan."
Looking down at his school book list, Harry read,
"Second year students will require:
The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2, by Miranda Goshawk
Break with the Banshee, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wandering with Werewolves, by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti, by Gilderoy Lockhart
"Not very good at thinking up titles, is he?" said Harry, raising an eyebrow in mild disgust. "I really can't take anyone who writes books called 'Gadding with Ghouls' seriously."
"Lockhart sounds like a complete prat," said Ginny decidedly. "What, he does!" she continued, seeing her mother looking at her in disapproval.
"That lot won't come cheap," said George, obviously deciding to help Ginny out by changing the subject. "Lockhart's books are really expensive."
"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs Weasley, though she looked worried. "We can pick up a lot of Ginny's things second hand."
Beside Harry, Ginny made a face of disgust while her mother's back was turned. Fortunately, no one else saw, as at that moment an eagle owl swooped into the kitchen.
"A letter from Draco!" said Harry, slightly apprehensive. He wasn't sure if his friend was still annoyed with him for not writing all summer. Gingerly, he picked up the letter the owl dropped on his plate and carefully opened it.
'Harry' it read.
'After long consideration I have decided to accept your explanation for your lack of correspondance earlier this summer. Although I am still highly displease I-' Here there was some meaningless scribble and then a change in handwriting.
'Hiya Harry!! (Aka. Defeater of Voldemort, Saviour of Wizard Kind, the Boy-Who-Lived, etc.)
How are YOU!? I am so HYPER!!! Guess what!? I've made up my own song! It's all about goblins living at the bottom of ponds. You know, where all the Green Gunky stuff is. Here, I'll write it out for you- SHUT UP DRACO! Just cause you don't appreciate my musical talent doesn't mean Harry won't!? You're just jealous. Why am I writing this down!? Well, same to YOU!! Okay, fine. I'll sing it to you, Harry, the next time we meet. I might even have an accompanying dance routine by then! I am on FIRE!
Can't wait to see you again. Draco is sulking and being his usual spoilt-brat self. I mean, just cause I spilt hot chocolate, ice-cream, and some sticky stuff I don't recognise, on his favourite set of robes doesn't mean he should act all huffy and immature-'
Here again there were some wild scribbles that looked like there had been a short, violent struggle over who held the pen.
'Well anyway, Draco's yelling at me to stop getting sidetracked and to get on with it. So, we were thinking, right, that we could sorta, you know, meet up in Diagon Alley tomorrow. So, what do you say?! Huh? Please say yes! It'll be so much FUN!!! Well, let us know!!
Goodbye! Farewell! Aurevoir! Ciao (hey! I never knew I could speak Italian!) Aufwiedersehen! Hejdå! (I think that's Swedish or Norwegian; I'm not quite s-'
The writing again changed and Draco seemed to have managed to steal the pen off Blaise.
'Just ignore Blaise, Harry. She keeps on managing to get her grubby hands on chocolate and has been completely high on sugar for her whole stay at Malfoy Manor. I don't know where she gets it from. Look, I'll be frank with you. I really need you to come tomorrow. I'm desperate! I can't stand much more of this. I haven't had a full night's sleep in weeks! (well, four days, but that's not the point.)
Blaise came over on Sunday and hasn't stopped talking once. I'm being driven insane, Harry! You're my only hope now. Everyone else runs away when faced with Blaise. (sensible of them. Wish I'd thought of that first, but it's too late now.) Please help me!
From your soon-to-be-crazy friend,
Draco.'
"Wow, Draco really does sound desperate," remarked Harry to no one in particular. "He normally doesn't ask anyone for anything. He just orders people around."
"Can I see?" asked George. Without waiting for a reply he leant over and grabbed the parchment out of Harry's hands.
"Ooh, fancy!" said George. "It's got the Malfoy emblem on it and everything."
"George! It's not polite to read other people's mail!" snapped Mrs Weasley. "Give it back at once."
"It doesn't matter," said Harry hurriedly, before she could start yelling again. "By the way, is it possible for me to go to Diagon Alley tomorrow? You know, to get books and stuff."
"Of course, dear. Actually we may as well all go. That lot need to buy their school things as well," she said, indicating Ginny, Fred, George (who was laughing hysterically at the letter) and Percy, who had just walked into the kitchen.
"Morning all," he said briskly, pointedly sitting as far away from the twins as possible. "Lovely day."
"Simply spiffing!" said Fred, not about to pass up an opportunity to tease his older brother. "Absolutely top-hole."
"I like that girl, Blaise," said George before Percy could start ranting. "Anyone who annoys that git, Malfoy is automatically at the top of my Favourite People list."
"Do you really have a list?" asked Fred eagerly, abandoning Percy for this new topic. "Who's at the bottom of it?"
"Shut up, that's not the issue here," said George, handing the letter back to Harry. "My point is that I really have to try and make friends with her sometime. I've met her, of course, but never really talked to her and she sounds fascinating."
"Really, George, she's a Slytherin!" said Percy disapprovingly.
"So is Harry," scowled Fred. "And you don't object to him."
"Well, dear, Harry is not a true Slytherin," said Mrs Weasley firmly. "I'm sure the hat just made a mistake. All the Potters have been Gryffindors for centuries."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought that it was just Ronald that discriminated against all Slyths. He was obviously wrong. Mrs Weasley was insulting his friends, house, and, worst of all, his mother.
"I am a true Slytherin!" he exclaimed angrily, scowling across the table at Mrs Weasley.
"You can't be, dear," she said, shaking her head. "After all, you're Harry Potter, not some dark wizard!"
To Harry's consternation, Mr Weasley and Percy were nodding their heads in agreement.
"So what are you saying. That all Slytherins are pure evil?"
"It is a well-known fact that all of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers were from Slytherin," said Percy pompously.
"We're not saying you're dark, dear," said Mrs Weasley gently, in what seemed to Harry a very condescending tone of voice. "You must have been sorted badly."
"You are wrong," said Harry coldly. "I belong in Slytherin." He got up from the table and swept out of the door, shaking with anger. As he stormed up the stairs he heard Mr Weasley say, "The poor boy must be in denial," which just served to infuriate him even more.
How can they, thought Harry, raging. How can they believe that a quarter of Hogwarts is evil! It's insane!
As he was pacing around his bedroom he heard a knock on the door. Cautiously, Fred entered the room, closely followed by George.
"Um, Harry?" said Fred, for once serious.
"Yes!" snapped Harry in reply, still pacing.
"Just ignore our parents, they're talking nonsense," said George.
"How can I? They insulted my mother's memory. She was a Slytherin herself," said Harry bitterly, his anger ebbing away, only to be replaced by depression.
"I'm sure they didn't truly mean the things they said," said George, but he sounded doubtful.
"Yeah right. If you think that then you may as well go back to you precious Slytherin-hating, Gryffindor family!"
"Harry, that's ridiculous!" burst out Fred. "Look, Mum and Dad may be extreme, but Bill and Charlie aren't. We aren't. So stop feeling so sorry for yourself and pull yourself together. I'm sorry the subject came up; we were hoping it wouldn't, but you're blowing it way out of proportion. Why do you care what Mum, Dad and Percy think? You'll soon be able to get away from them. School is starting in just five days."
"I guess you're right," said Harry reluctantly.
"Of course I'm right," said Fred, grinning in an attempt to lighten the situation. "When have I ever been wrong?"
"How about always," said George, playing along.
"It was a rhetorical question," replied Fred, sounding miffed.
"Whatever," said George. "Now, lets stop moping around and instead go and play some Quidditch!"
"Yeah, great idea. I want a go on your Nimbus Two Thousand, Harry," said Fred.
Between the two of them, the twins managed to drag Harry out of the house and to their makeshift Quidditch pitch which was situated on top of a hill and was surrounded by trees. They were soon soaring through the air and Harry gradually forgot his anger as he pulled off a series of spectacular dives.
They missed lunch and by the time they made their way back to the house it was getting late and the sun was setting on the horizon.
They grabbed some dinned, thankfully managing to avoid the rest of the family, and then, exhausted, made their way up to bed.
/Tomorrow you'll be back with Slytherins again/ hissed Nemesis,comfortingly, from her place on his pillow. /Which I for one am definitely looking forward to. I hate having to stay silent and out of sight./
/I've noticed/ replied Harry, managing a tired grin before falling fast asleep.
A/N So, what do you think? REVIEW! Please! I really want to know your opinions. Constructive criticism is also very welcome.
Sorry I took so long to update. Well, in my defence, this was quite a long chapter.
Next chapter Harry goes to Diagon Alley. Maybe even Hogwarts, I haven't quite decided yet.