Hey guys :)

New chapter. This one is a bit rushed. I hope that is okay. I just want to move on with the story.

Enjoy

Harry Norwood

Chapter 7

The first few weeks back at school went by quite fast. Harry went to his classes,hung out with his friends and went to study group. They decided that after the break they would only have study group twice a week as they now had a pretty good routine and homework wasn't so difficult anymore. During the first week back Harry decided to pay Professor Sprout a visit to see where he stood in his classes. Turned out he was under the first five in his year and the first three in his house. His best subjects were Potions, where he is tied first with Hannah, Transfiguration and Defence against the dark arts. In charms he was third right after Hermione and Susan. His worst subjects were History and Herbology. Harry also found out that most of the study group were the top students in their year. On the 25 of January was Hannah's birthday. Luckily it was on a weekend so they were able to celebrate it a little bit. Sadly there was no common room for all the houses so they mostly spend the day either outside playing in the snow or in an unused classroom playing some games. As a present Harry got her a muggle chemistry book which she found rather interesting.

It was during the first week of February that things got more interesting. During breakfast Susan received a letter from her Aunt stating that she and the board of Governors and some Aurors were planing an unannounced visit to the school to investigate the third floor corridor. They were supposed to be ready for some questioning. Susan quickly replied telling her that they would wait in the library for them. Two days later, while the study group was in session, Susans aunt Amelia arrived with the Board of Governors as well a a hand full or Aurors. They walked straight up the the third floor corridor. Professor Snape saw them come in and went directly to Dumbledore. Two hours later Amelia arrived at the Library.

"Aunt Amelia" Susan exclaimed happily. Amelia hugged her niece and Susan introduced her to everyone. The four Hufflepuffs then explained once again what they saw that night. Amelia sigh. "Auntie...Why was it there?" Susan asked carefully.

"Well...I am not really allowed to tell you guys" she answered. Everyone looked at her disappointed.

"We won't tell anyone. We promise" Hannah said. Everyone nodded. Amelia sighed again.

"Alright but you HAVE to keep it quiet alright?" she asked the group. Everyone nodded again. "Alright. Dumbledore use the corridor to hide something that belongs to an old friend of his. He had the Professors set up a bunch of different protections for it. The one you saw was the first one. It was set by Hagrid. The creature you saw was a Cerberus. Underneath it was a trapdoor. There you found yourself trapped in some devil snare set up by Professor Sprout. If you survived that one you had to find a key to unlock a door. They were charmed by Flittwick. The trick there was that there were hundreds of keys flying around. Then there was a giant chess set. You had to play your way through it but you had to play as one of the pieces. That one was McGonagall's. Then you had to fight a Troll but it was already dead. That was Quirrell's protection. Next was Snape's potion riddle. You had to find the right potion to pass though some flames. After that was an almost empty room. It only contained a mirror. That were all the protections. But it was not all we found down there. Tell me has anyone seen Grant Potter and Ron Weasley today?" Amelia asked. They all looked at each other but mostly the Gryffindors.

"We didn't have any classes with the Gryffindors today" Harry said.

"We tend to ignore them" Hermione explained.

"We last saw them when they went to bed last night but not this morning. We thought that they were already down at breakfast but we didn't see them there either. Now that I think of it I didn't see them in any class today. Not that I pay much attention to them. Have you seen them?" Dean asked his fellow Gryffindors. The all shook their head no.

"Well that is because they decided to sneak down the trapdoor. We found them in the room with the flying keys. They couldn't get back out. They found out about it shortly after their Troll incident." Amelia explained. They all gasped at that.

"Wow they are so stupid" Hannah said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"What will happen to them? And what about Dumbledore?" Harry asked curious. Amelia looked at him.

"Well both boys are in the hospital wing right now and I think their parents arrived by now. And Dumbledore well we are not sure what to do with yet but we arranged a emergency board meeting to discuss it." Amelia said.

"Will you let us know what happens?" Susan asked hopeful. Amelia nodded.

"Of course. Well I have to go now. I would advice you to stay away from the corridor until everything is removed" Amelia said stern. They all nodded. They said their goodbyes.

"Wow I didn't expect that" Neville said shocked.

"Yeah but at least thats over" Harry said. But it wasn't. The whole school somehow found out about it and were speculating what was inside and what kind of punishment Potter and Weasley would get especially since the howler from halloween stated that next time they will be taken from school. Filch let it accidentally slip that both boys were staing at school but had to serve detention for the rest of the year. On Monday after lunch the Hufflepuffs were on their way to Defence against the dark arts. Once they arrived the classroom door was locked. They were a bit surprised but thought nothing of it. Fifteen minutes later the door was still locked and there was no sign of Quirrell.

"We should tell someone" Susan said.

"Yeah but who?" Justin asked.

"I think Sprout is free right now" Megan said.

"Alright. I'll go" Harry said. Five minutes later Harry arrived at the Greenhouse. He found his head of house in the backroom.

"Ah Mr. Norwood. Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked him.

"Well yeah but Professor Quirrell hasn't shown up yet. We've waited for twenty minutes now" Harry explained. Sprout looked at him for a minute.

"Alright Mr. Norwood. I see what I can do" she said. They both went up the the defence classroom. Everyone was still there waiting outside the door. "Alright class you will wait here while I go see where your Professor is" Professor Sprout said. They all nodded and she walked off. She walked of to his office but also found the door to be locked. She quickly cast Alohomora and the door opened. What she saw inside shocked her. The room was almost completely empty. She quickly walked back to the first years. "Alright I want you all to go back to your common rooms until your next class" she said. They all reluctantly agreed. Professor Sprout than made her way to Dumbledores office.

Turnes out that Quirrell left the school at some point over the weekend and was nowhere to be found. Dumbledore made the announcement that evening at dinner that he would be taking over the defence class until they found someone to fill the position. The first thing Dumbledore did was remove all the garlic from the classroom which made it much easier for almost everyone to concentrate especially Harry. He no longer had the headaches. Dumbledore was quite the good teacher as it turned out much better than Quirrell at least but he favoured Grant Potter over everyone else which resulted in Grant now being the top student in that class pushing Harry to second place. Everyone found that to be highly unfair. Susan even wrote her aunt about it.

Amelia then replied telling them that the board had already thought of that when they were informed about the absent teacher and arranged with the ministry that the defence exams were to be marked by the Wizarding Examinations Authority that normally do the fifth and seven year exams. That turned out to be a brilliant idea as it resulted in Grant being very low on the list and Harry being back at the top. The rest of the school year went by quietly. In March Hagrid's hut burned down. Rumour was he was he had a dragon in there but no one really believed that. On April the 6th was Susan's birthday. Sadly it was a Monday so they waited until the next weekend to celebrate. Harry got her another muggle History book but this time about the royal family. Harry and his friends grew much closer and Daphne and Tracy seemed to have joined their little group of friends. Harry and Neville felt a bit left out being the only boys in their group and decided to hang out with their other dorm mates as well as Dean, Seamus and Phillip from time to time.

Thanks to the study group the end of year exams were quite easy. Professor Sprout posted the list of the marks on the black board in the common room. Harry was top student in Potions, together with Hannah, Transfiguration and Defence against the dark arts in not just his house but his year overall. Neville was top in Herbology, Susan in History and surprisingly Ernie was top in Astronomy. Sadly they didn't win the House cup. They only placed second place right after Slytherin. Gryffindor came last. Harry was happy to be going back home for the summer as his sibling was supposed to be born sometime in July. On June 20 the Hogwarts express took them back to London.

When they arrived in London and crossed the barrier Harry immediately spotted his family. Bella once again ran to him and jumped into his arms. Harry then proceed to hug his parents which was a bit difficult since his mum was heavily pregnant. Harry said goodbye to his friends and they left for home. The first few days of summer were spend catching up with his family as well as his old friends not that Harry was able to tell them much. His Parents told him that during the first week of August they would be moving into a bigger house. Luckily it was in the same neighbourhood. During the second week Harry did all his homework. He also got back around to read some of his books. He wanted to know all there is about the wizarding world especially the politics, laws and ministry.

He learned that there are 25 noble houses in Britain. And over 50 Pure-blood families. They are decided in three categories. High Lords, Lords and Commoners. There were seven High Lords, like the Potters, Black and Longbottom and 18 Lords. The other 25 houses were considered Commoners. They used to have a noble status but lost it over the centuries for some reason like suporting or marring muggle or muggleborns like the Weasley's. The High Lords and Lords also had a seat in the Wizengamot. There are 50 seats overall. 25 to the noble families and the other half to the Heads of the Ministry departments. The Wizengamot works both as a Legislative and Judiciary. Meaning they both passed laws and held trials. Each seat counts as one vote however some families have more that one vote if they hold another seat. That happens if a noble family dies out or marries into another noble family. Some seats were empty because they couldn't find a relative like the Gaunts, Prince, Peverell and Prewett families. Harry also learned that most of his year mates were from noble families. Neville is from a High Lord family just like Grant and Malfoy. Hannah, Daphne, Tracy, Ernie and a lot of others were from Lord families.

He also learned of the so called sacred-twenty-eight. Those were families that were still pure by the 1930's. Hannah's, Neville's, Daphne's and Ernie's families were also on that list just like Weasley and Malfoy and lot of others Slytherins. However the list hasn't been updated since the 30's as Hannah is a Half-blood and not so pure anymore.

Harry found this very hard to understand and decided to ask his friends next time he sees them. Durning the next week things started to slow down a little. Harry had by then finished all of his homework and grew quite bored. On the 16th of July however everything changed. That morning Harrys grandparents arrived to stay with them for a while. That was because the baby was due any day now. And they were right on time as that night Harrys mum went into labour. Harry and Bella stayed behind with their grandparents as his parents went of to the hospital. In the early morning hours they welcomed a little boy with the name Maximilian, Max for short, Norwood. When Harry visited he immediately fell in love with his new little brother. Bella was a little upset that it wasn't a girl like she hoped for but found him adorable.

Life really changed after that. Max was a very loud baby. When he wasn't sleeping he was either screaming or crying. Harry and Bella decided to spend most of the day at the local park nearby. On the same day that his brother was born Harry received and invitation to Neville's birthday on July 30. Harry decided to get him another book about muggle plants and some more seeds. Neville's party was lots of fun. Harry was amazed at the place that Neville lives at. It was a huge old stone manor somewhere in the countryside of Yorkshire. The Greenhouses in the back were huge and much bigger than the ones at Hogwarts. They were filled with all kinds of different plants. The other ones invited were all of the Hufflepuff first years, Daphne, Tracy, Blaise, Dean, Seamus and Phillip. Sadly Harry didn't find the time to ask his friends about politics but that was okay. He also invited everyone to his party two days later. Most of them were a bit hesitated because they have never been to a muggle house but Harry explained everything as best as he could.

On the day of the party Harry awoke early. He was excited. His family was already down in the kitchen. They sung Happy Birthday to him and Harry blew out the candle on the muffin. He had his favourite breakfast and opened his presents. He got more shirts a cool jacked, video games, books and some money. They would have a barbecue and pool party again, like every year. His friends arrived around 10:30am. Harry thought it would be best if they arrived before everyone else so they could get used to everything. Luckily some of them were muggleborns as well. Harry was wearing one of his new shirts...a loose Nirvana shirt as well as his red swim shorts. His friends were quite shocked by the style of clothing. They didn't had shirts with prints on them and nothing hung loose except for the robes. Harry showed them around the house and explained all the different devices to them. Last was his room where the opt to hang out until the party started. There Harry opened his presents. There were some more books about different kind of subjects like Transfiguration, Potions, Politics, laws and History.

"Hey Daphne why do you always give me Politics and Law books?" Harry asked confused. Daphne looked away shyly.

"Well...When you told us that you were adopted I started thinking. I don't know why but i have that strange feeling that you are from a Wizarding family. I know it sounds weird but i can't shake it of. There is a reason muggleborn's don't get good jobs within our worlds and that is because they don't know the etiquette and customs. They simply aren't told. I just thought that if my feeling is right you should know about it" she said blushing slightly. Everyone looked at her.

"Do you really believe that?" Tracy asked her best friend. Daphne nodded. Harry just looked at her.

"Do they really not tell anyone of these things?" Dean asked shocked. Daphne nodded again and everyone else who grew up in this world nodded in agreement.

"Well we best learn everything then right?" Dean asked Megan, Phillip., Justin and Charlotte. They all nodded and turned to Daphne. She nodded as well. Harry was still shocked.

"Is there a way to find out?" Harry asked suddenly. The others looked at him.

"Yeah there is but its quite expensive" Susan said slowly.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Well...its with the Goblins. My aunt told me about it. It's a heritance test. I think it cost around 100 Galleons" Susan said.

"100 Galleons! Thats, if I calculate correctly, around 500 pounds" Harry exclaimed shocked.

"I'm sorry I can't help you more" she said with a small smile. Harry got up and walked over to his desk. On it was a piggy bank in the shape of a red super Mario mushroom. He opened the lit on the bottom and got all the money out. He quickly counted it. Around 150 Pounds not counting the money he got for his birthday which were around 30 Pounds so 180 in total. With the usual amount he gets for his birthday and on christmas it would take about 3 more years until he had enough. Sadly he didn't get pocket money anymore since he started Hogwarts as he didn't needed there. Slightly disappointed he sat back down on his bed next to Neville and Dean. Harrys grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins arrived soon later. Harry got some more games, books and shirts as well as money. Happily he put the 20 quid into his piggy bank. It was difficult for Harry and his friends not to talk about the wizarding world and it was more than awkward at first but soon the party was in full swing. They played around in the pool, ate some burgers, sausages and rips. Had some delicious birthday cake and finished the day with a film in the living room. Harry introduced his friends to Star Wars. Dean, Phillip and Megan were also huge Star Wars fans and the four were able to talk along the actors which annoyed everyone else to no end. They had a great deal of fun. Afterwards they couldn't stop talking about how awesome the muggle world was.

Two days later found Harry packing up his things in boxes. He was both excited and nervous about the new house. He spend his whole life in this house and didn't want to leave but at the same time in the new house he would have a bigger room. Hedwig was watching him from the window. It was early just past 7am. He hadn't had breakfast yet. When he finished packing his books he finally took a break and went down to have breakfast. Just as he was about to finish a tiny brown owl flew through the window and landed in front of Harry. He recognised the envelope and took the letter from the owl. The Owl flew off. Harry opened the letter and found his Hogwarts letter.

Second year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a 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

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

As well as potion ingredients

Harry sigh. So many books by that Lockhart guy. Maybe his new Defence teacher likes that guy...or it is that guy. Harry showed his parents the letter.

"I think it's best if we go today and get it over with. The next few days will be quite hectic" William said.

"I think that is the best idea. If you want Harry you could go alone?" Clara asked her oldest son. Harry looked at his parents with big eyes.

"Really? I can go alone?" He asked in disbelieve. They both nodded with smiles. "Thank you. Can I go right now?" Harry asked. They again nodded. Harry ran upstairs to get dressed. When he came back down his parents were waiting for him by the door. His dad handed him some money.

"This should be enough for everything as well as a new uniform...you've grown quite a bit. If your lucky there might be some left for you to spend" William said. Harry smiled and left the door. When he reached a small empty side street he raised his wand. Within second the knight bus arrived. Harry told them his destination and payed them with some left oder sickles he had. Five minutes later he arrived at the Leaky cauldron. Once inside he quickly made his way through the pub. He quickly opened the passage to Diagaon Alley. He was still amazed by the sight in front of him. He truly loved this part of magic. He quickly made his way over to Gringotts. There he sadly had to wait in line for quite a bit. From a distant he saw the Weasley's and what he presumed were the Potters. They were coming from deeper inside the back and were on their way back out. after fifteen minutes of waiting he finally exchanged his pound into Galleons. He exchanged 400 Pounds which were 80 Galleons.

When he left the bank the sun stood high. It was going to be a very hot day again. Luckily he was wearing a star wars cap. He didn't understand how these wizards and witches survived this heat in their robes. He first made his way over to madam Malkins. There she measured him once again and his dad was right he did grow a few inches. Luckily his robes would still fit so he only needed the shirts, jumpers and trousers. Once that was done he went to get his potion ingredients. he didn't like the apothecary. It smelled quite strongly in there. he paid around 15 Galleons for them as he still had some from last year. After that he only needed the books. From the outside he saw that the shop was quite full. With a sigh he made his way inside. He had trouble making his way though the shop to the desk. There were so many people. Near the shop he saw Neville, Hannah, Susan and Hermione talking. He decided to join them.

"Harry" they all exclaimed happy and hugged each other.

"Hey guys. Whats going on here?" Harry asked curious.

"Oh this guy Lockhart is having a book signing. I can't believe we have to get so many of his books for school" Hannah said.

"Yeah I wonder if our new teacher is a fan...or maybe it is him" Harry joked.

"Don't jinx it Harry" Neville joked. Hermione looked agitated.

"I read that he is quite the great wizard. We should be honoured if he is going to be our teacher" she said.

"Hermione haven't we tough you not to judge someone by what is said about them...especially in books?...Remember Potter" Hannah said. Slowly Hermione nodded.

"I know but how can it be wrong...he wrote them himself" she argued.

"Just wait until you actually read them and maybe had a change to observe him okay?" Hannah asked. Hermione nodded slightly defeated. Suddenly it grew very quiet. They looked around. In the main part of the shop was big crowd. They saw the Weasley's and Potters at the front of the crowd. Behind the counter was now a tall man with wavy blond hair. He was dressed in elegant lilac coloured robes.

"Welcome. Welcome everybody to the signing of my new book Magical Me" He said with a big toothy smile. He looked around. "My is that truly Grant Potter" he exclaimed both happy and excited. Harry saw over to Grant and saw that his parents were pushing him a bit forward. "Why don't you stand next to me...Together we are worth the front page" He told Grant and they both posed for a few pictures. Lockhart seemed to enjoy every moment of it but Grant didn't seem to like it too much. "Why, I remember the time when I was writing my second bestseller, Gadding with Ghouls. I believed that the more exposure I got in the press, the better my career would progress. Trouble was, I became overexposed! And it wasn't until I went mysteriously missing for three weeks, subsequently leaking the story to the Prophet that I'd been captured by Trolls in the wilds of Stockton-on-Tees, that I managed to regain my former prominent position as the world's most popular wizard" he said looking at Grant.

"When young Grant here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge" the crowd applauded. "He had no idea" Lockhart continued, giving Grant a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose. "'That he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolfellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that, this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" the crowd went ecstatic at that. Hermione smiled like christmas had come early. Lockhart sat down and started signing the books. Hermione got in line. Out of the corner they heard Ron Weasley's voice.

"Mum fancies him" he said with a chuckle.

"Alright thats enough of you Ronald" said a plum looking woman with the same red hair as the Weasley's. "Why don't you wait outside while I get these signed" she added. The others nodded and moved towards the door.

"I think it is best to wait for a while until getting our books" Harry said. The others nodded. They also made their way towards the door but stopped at the sight in front of them. By the entrance were the Weasley's, Potters and to their surprise Malfoy and what looked like his father. They seemed to be arguing about something. The Hufflepuffs decided to say by the side to see what would happen. They saw how, what seemed to be Malfoys dad, took out some books out of the cauldron of the Weasley girl.

"All those raids...I hope they are paying you overtime" Mr. Malfoy said and reached into the cauldron and pulled out a very old, very battered copy of A beginners guide to transfiguration. "Obviously not" he said. "Dear me, whats the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't pay you well for it?" he added. The faces of the Weasley's turned a darker shade of red than their hair.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard Malfoy" said Mr. Weasley.

"Clearly" Mr. Malfoy said with a sneer. "Here girl...take your book...it's the best your father can give you" he added and placed the book Back in the cauldron. The Malfoy's than left. Harry looked at his friends. They saw how the Weasley's and Potters finally left the shop.

"Well that was interesting" Harry said.

"Yeah. It's always interesting when these two meet" Hannah said.

"I take this wasn't the first time?" Harry asked.

"No sadly not. This has been going in for decades maybe even longer who knows. No one knows how it started but everyone thinks it's because the Weasley's have always been more supporting of muggles and mugglebornes" Susan said. The other nodded. At that moment Hermione came over to them smiling happily.

"He is soo nice and handsome" she sigh. Hannah chuckled at her.

"I think she has a crush" she teased the other girl.

"Oh stop it" Hermione said still smiling. "Anyway I got to go. My parents will wonder where I went" she added. They said goodbye and she left. Finally it looked like the shop cleared out and they went about getting their books. The books were quite expensive and cost them around 27 Galleons. After that Harry went to collect his uniform which cost him 25 Galleons. He now had 13 Galleons left and decided to stock up on some stationary items as well as owl treats. They were around 10 Galleons in total. After that the group of Hufflepuffs decided to get some Ice cream for 10 sickles. They parted mid-noon.

When Harry arrived back home he saw that his family kept very busy packing everything up. His room was completely done as was his sisters room. So after a quick snack Harry helped them. For dinner that night they ordered pizza. Early the next morning the moving van arrived. Luckily his dad hired a company to help with the moving. The only furniture they were taking with them would be the office, living room, dining table and some stuff from the garden. The rest would be new. Since they waited for Harry to return and the baby to be born until the picked out new furniture, Harry was now on his way to a furniture shop with his mum and siblings. Fortunately the shop had a deliver and set up the same day option if you order at a certain time. Luckily they did and the furniture would arrive at the new house later that day.

When they reached the new house Harry was amazed. The house was huge but not to big. From what he saw it had three levels. The moving van was already there an men were carrying box after box inside. Harry went inside. The ground floor held the Kitchen, living room, a small bathroom and the office. The kitchen was on the left side and no longer separated from the living room like in the old house. It was just around the corner. Harry also saw the big garden from there. It was full off plants and trees. The bathroom and office were right from the entrance. Upstairs were 5 bedrooms and two bathrooms. His parents had their own bathroom connected to their bedroom which was on the right. Next to their room was the nursery. Across from the stairs was another bathroom and on the left to that was Harrys room.

He went inside. It was indeed bigger than his old room. The walls were already painted a dark blue. The room had two big windows. One on the right side of the room overlooking the garden and the other near the right corner across the wall inside a small niche. He also had a walk-in wardrobe right next to the door. His trunk was already lying in there. Harry went inside the room on the left to his. It was Bella's room. The walls were painted pink and white. She also had a walk-in wardrobe which was slightly bigger than his but Harry didn't mind. Overall the room looked just like his just mirrored. Harry then went up another flight of stairs. On the last level was one room with a connecting bathroom. It was very bright due to the big roof windows. Harry figured this was a guest room.

About an hour later the orders from the shop arrived. Luckily the offer included setting up so the three men that delivered them helped them. Harry was happy that he got to help his dad set up his furniture in his room. He got a brand new dark wooden queen size bed with blue covers which went right across from the door. Under the window the overlooked the garden he put his new desk. Between the wardrobe and the door was now a huge bookcase and in the niche was a love seat. All furniture were made from dark wood and all the fabrics were in dark blue. By early evening they had set up most of the furniture.

They once again ordered in for dinner and went to bed quite early as they were very tired. The next day they continued setting up the rest and unpacking. Harry sort of enjoyed it. When Harry left the bathroom that evening after a shower he saw that his mum was in the nursery. She was telling Max a story. Harry loved the nursery. It was mostly green and had lots of animals. Wether it was stuffed, paintings or drawings on the wall. There were also drawings of trees on the wall. It reminded Harry of the forbidden forest at Hogwarts not that he has ever been in there but just the way it looked from the outside. Overall Harry was now glad that they moved into a new house.

I hope you liked it. I know it was a bit rushed and all but I want to move forward with the story. The first year was really all about Harry getting to know things and making friends. Next chapter will be back to Hogwarts.