Previously:

Hermione took a deep breath.

"That's the end of the chapter," she handed the book to Ron, "you should read next."

"Ok." Ron grumbled.

"Chapter 3 – Letters From No One…"

Now:

Ron took a deep breath before diving in. He didn't like reading at the best of times and constantly moaned when Hermione gave him reading to do for his homework. But this… this was Harry's story, and he would take every word gratefully. He knew Harry was a reserved person and didn't talk much about his home life.

"The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches."

"Vicious child…" Narcissa muttered.

Molly nodded in agreement.

"I have a question…" Hermione said.

Harry nodded, giving her permission to ask.

"How long were you in there?"

Harry gulped.

"Well… Dudley's birthday is June 23rd and I was allowed out a week before my birthday so… 3 weeks I think…."

Remus growled again but Sirius quieted him. No one commented on the length of time; most were plotting gruesome and bloody deaths for the people that abused Harry. Ron, sensing the shift in mood, quickly continued reading.

"Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting."

Severus glared at the book, and for once. Ron was glad looks couldn't kill. He certainly didn't want that look directed at him, even though it had been in the past.

"This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny."

Hermione had a pensive look on her face as she began speaking almost to herself.

"That's something I don't get about the magical world…"

"What Mione?" Ron asked.

"Well, magical children get no formal education before the age of 11… before they come to Hogwarts. I am sure some parents teach their children certain things, but it means there is a huge lack of knowledge, especially for those not raised in the magical world like me and Harry."

"I don't understand." Arthur said.

Harry took over for Hermione.

"In the muggle world, children begin schooling between 3 and 5, depending on the family. Some children will go to preschool very young and begin learning how to interact with other children before starting their formal education…"

Harry looked around and found many including Arthur, Narcissa and Sirius were listening intently.

"After starting nursery, they learn the basics of reading, writing, mathematics and play. We then progress to primary school, which is giving us the skill for comprehensive or high school, which we start at the age of 11, when magical children start their formal education."

"So… what you're saying is non-magical children have at least 6 years more school than magical children…" Arthur said.

"More than 6." Hermione added.

"After we finish comprehensive school at the age of 16, a year younger than the magical schools we can go onto college and university to further our education. College is like comprehensive only slightly more advanced as it prepares you for university where you can get a degree…" Harry continued.

"Yes, and a degree is almost the equivalent to a Mastery in the wizarding world." Hermione added.

"Exactly. Take Hermione's parents, they both have degrees in order to practice their profession. I also have qualification well above what I should have at this age."

Many heads tilted in confusion.

"So… you remember I said I didn't do well in school because of Dudley…"

There were several nods.

"Some of my teachers noticed what I was doing and tutored me privately without the knowledge of my relatives. Due to my memory, I soaked up every piece of information I was given and by the time I was getting ready to go to high school, I had already taken my GCSE's which are similar to OWL's and was in the middle of doing my A Levels, which are comparable to NEWT's, and between learning here, I have been finishing them. and in the next few months I will start my degrees."

Hermione gasped.

Most didn't understand the significance of that, not even Severus. Despite being raised in the muggle world, he has a magical parent so most of his schooling was home-schooling and was focused on the magical world.

"How many do you have?" Hermione questioned.

"I have 16 GCSE's, including all the basics, plus advanced mathematics and 3 languages, which are French, German and Japanese."

"Amazing…" Hermione whispered.

"I have 4 A Levels in Japanese, English Literature, History and Chemistry."

Hermione nodded eagerly.

"That's brilliant Harry."

"What are these subjects?" Sirius asked shyly.

"Japanese is obviously a language, English Literature is the study of various books, plays and poems, History is the muggle version of History of Magic and Chemistry is most comparable to Potions."

Sirius nodded, taking in the new information.

"What grades did you achieve, Mister Potter?" Minerva asked.

"In my GCSE's I achieved mainly A*'s and a few A's and one B… when you translate those into the grades we achieve here, I had mainly O's and one E."

Minerva looked shocked as Harry continued.

"In my A Levels I am hoping to achieve all A*'s as they are subjects I am extremely passionate about, especially Japanese and Chemistry."

"You've never shown any aptitude in my class." Severus said.

"Dumbing down… remember…" Harry said sarcastically.

"I love chemistry… finding the balance between the ingredients used… finding new combinations to create brand new solutions that can advance the knowledge we have of medicines… it's glorious." Harry mused.

Severus' mouth hung open. Harry's views on muggle chemistry perfectly mirrored how he felt about potions.

"What are you planning to do for your OWL's and NEWT's, Harry?" Ginny asked.

Harry thought about it for a moment.

"In my OWL's, I took all of the electives, which has only been done by a few students in Hogwarts history, and for my NEWT'S I am planning to take Ancient Runes, Arithmancy as it is like mathematics, History of Magic, Charms, DADA, Herbology, Transfiguration and Potions. Depending on how I do, I may also take a NEWT in Care of Magical Creatures since my ability as a Parselmouth might come in handy there. From there, depending on the grades I achieve, I aim to pursue 4 masteries in Charms, Transfiguration, Defence and Potions."

The teachers and most of the adults looked at Harry in awe.

"But… Mister Potter that workload is impossible…" Minerva said.

Hermione nodded in agreement; she had only been able to attempt that with a time turner.

"I did my OWL's didn't I?" Harry asked.

"But how? I had help and even I couldn't do it." Hermione said.

"Well for the classes that conflicted with others, Arithmancy which conflicted with Potions and Ancient Runes with conflicted with Charms, I spoke to Professors Babbling and Vector, and together we worked out a timetable, which meant I had their classes one to one before or after my normal classes, mainly disguised as detentions. Where that wasn't possible. I was assigned reading material and assignments to complete in my own time in the evenings, weekends and the like."

Harry paused for a moment.

"I have also started my NEWT's early as it would normally be impossible to take all the ones I want to in the time period allowed to students. In fact, next week I was planning to sit both my Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Charms NEWT'S leaving me with History of Magic, DADA, Transfiguration and Potions to do in the normal time frame. After that I would immediately start working on my Potions and Charms Mastery as they require the most work, which I would hopefully complete before leaving Hogwarts."

Minerva stared at Harry before speaking.

"That would mean you would have 2 Masteries before leaving school, which would be a first in Hogwarts history, and if you did manage to achieve both of those you would also take Severus' title as the youngest Potions Master in Europe. Severus was 19, you would be under 17."

Harry smiled and nodded.

"That's the plan."

The room was utterly silent until Arthur spoke.

"Can I ask how you did this Harry? Normally if you performed poorly in class, you wouldn't be able to test out early… it is Ministry policy."

"Ahhhh…. I spoke to Kingsley and explained my situation, although I told him that I was dumbing myself down in class to fool Voldemort into thinking that I had no exceptional magical ability and needed to take my exams early with the utmost confidentiality and he agreed. It seems my fame is good for something." Harry explained with a smirk.

Everyone stared at Harry in utter shock. This boy they had all thought to be average was actually excelling beyond most of them. In fact, it was Minerva that worked out with his current qualifications, Harry was more qualified than some of the teachers currently employed by the school, those with Masteries like herself, Severus and Filius were excluded from that.

"On that note… I think it's time for Ron to start reading again…" He said quietly, nudging his friend in the ribs.

Ron shook his head trying to focus on the book before him as he began to read again.

"Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it — it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said."

The twins chuckled but it was Ron who spoke.

"Seriously, Harry, we need to see more of this sassy Harry."

Harry blinked in shock.

"I think I can do that." He said with a smile.

"One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life."

Harry frowned at the book.

"Violence only leads to more violence… it teaches children nothing about what they need in later life."

No one commented on Harry's statement but many nodded in agreement, most surprising was Narcissa.

"As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh."

"I would too mate." Ron chuckled.

"Who are you kidding Ron, you'd be rolling around on the floor, laughing your head off."

"Can't argue with that."

"There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.

"Your new school uniform," she said.

Harry looked in the bowl again.

"Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."

This time it wasn't Ron or the twins that laughed, but Severus. Harry watched in awe as his deep, rich laughter filled the room, causing a few heads to turn in his direction. Sirius' eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

The other teachers just smiled at seeing the normally dour Potions Master coming out of his shell.

"Sarcasm doesn't work on Petunia, Harry."

"Well, I know that now!" Harry huffed.

"Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High — like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat."

Harry swallowed hard, remembering what came after.