'Great to see you Potter,' Wood said, grinning.

'Should still be in the bed,' Hermione grumbled with Susan and Hannah nodding in agreement.

Fred and George stepped forwards, physically picking Harry up off the ground from his group with Fred saying, 'Well, if you don't want him...'

'We'll be happy to take him off your hands!' George finished.

A loud cough from behind brought them around. 'Are we quite done?' Hooch asked.

'Yes ma'am!' Wood answered, the team falling into line and Neville dragging the other three towards the stands. The build-up of cheering around the pitch grew further as the Ravenclaws began to file out in time with the announcements.

The last out was a small girl, a little bigger than Harry, and she stood opposite him. 'I look forward to an honourable match, but I do expect to achieve victory over you,' she coolly said. Based on the extensive background information from Wood, Harry knew she was Cho Chang, a second year who had natural talent rivalling his own as well as much more experience having been raised in a magical household and an active participant in the Ravenclaw teams' training the previous year. Their old seeker was replaced by her, after he had a remarkable school career, since he was offered a reserve position on a professional team and left school to take it up over the summer. He had been her mentor for her first year and apparently invited her along to some professional training sessions over the summer.

However, Harry wasn't quite sure what to make about all that, so he smiled at her indifferent expression and gave a shallow nod in recognition of what she said. This time he was only under the constraint that he had to catch the snitch before her and hopefully that wouldn't be required if they could get enough of a lead, something Wood was confident they could and, he thought in hindsight, was probably the main reason why he was going to let them play without a seeker.

Standing still despite the yearning to fly was annoying, but Harry listened to the recap of the rules without fidgeting. His heart began to beat furiously as he mounted his broom. Finally, it had begun.

Seconds passed and he already had a good lead on the others onto the pitch. Glancing back, Cho was ignoring him in favour of her own path for now. His arms were a little stiff and he felt a bit sluggish, but it was wearing off with each lap.

If he was honest, he wasn't too sure if he liked quidditch as a sport – after all, he thought, as a seeker, all he did was fly around for as long as it took while avoiding the occasional bludger. It would be incredibly boring if he didn't enjoy flying itself so much.

A glint behind the distant goalposts.

Diving, he topped out the broom in moments, sliding through the air. Already his target was on the move, gradually arcing to his right, but he knew it could change at any point so kept heading towards it rather than aiming to cut it off.

A blur appeared in his peripheral vision, he guessed it was Cho. While she had the slower broom, she was approaching from the right side of the pitch, allowing her to keep up. He wasn't entirely sure if the snitch had any kind of intelligence, but if often seemed like it did: when they were getting too close for its comfort, it sprang upwards and aiming between them.

Pulling up, Harry felt like he at least doubled his weight as he looped around. Cho had opted for a diagonal turn, putting her off to the side, but at the right level for the snitch. What Harry quickly realised was that they were in the main play area now, narrowly avoiding a bludger aimed at Katie who he had just passed.

The snitch continued onwards, darting around the rush of Ravenclaw chasers. Cho found herself losing ground on it, forced to evade the more active play, but Harry kept gaining. In what seemed like no time to her, she watched Harry glide passed her and skim a bludger, his clothes rippling from the close call.

Still forward the snitch went, nipping passed the Ravenclaw keeper and heading to the boundary. Harry knew it would soon have to change direction and, if he could get close enough, it would be easy to catch when it did. He slowed to pass passed the goals.

'Potter! Five sharp!'

Harry swerved and rolled to the left, the bludger glancing off his thigh mid-roll and pushing him down off course. He knew nothing was broken, but it hurt and gave the snitch too much time. Slowing further, he watched the snitch disappear against the backdrop of the stands.

'Potter! Condition?'

He held his right hand up displaying all fingers, their signal that he was capable to continue flying without a problem. Despite losing the snitch, he was glad to see Cho watching him rather than seeking.

Back onto his standard route around the pitch, Harry rubbed a bit of pain out of his leg while maintaining his watch. Listening in to the score, Lee announced another superb goal by the gorgeous Angelina Johnson, putting Gryffindor in the lead by seventy and a score of two-hundred and ten. Nothing happened for a while apart from Cho trying to pull Harry into a couple of false chases until she realised he wasn't going to fall for them.

'Gryffindor have nearly reached the magic lead with one-thirty over Ravenclaw. Twenty more sees them draw the match and win on points difference even if the young Chang gets the snitch or can she steal victory from the lions' mouth before then?'

Apparently, she could, Harry thought before pulling up slightly and leaning forwards. He knew she would be on his tail and this time she wouldn't get left behind because of running into other players.

'Spinnet for Gryffindor! They only need to get and keep one more goal on Ravenclaw to nearly guarantee victory!'

Harry levelled out, fully aware that Cho was sticking behind him to catch a wind break - Katie had later told him it was called "slipstreaming" - and it meant Cho was fully prepared to take advantage of any mistake he made.

The snitch seemingly decided it was time to start fleeing, snapping to the left and gradually diving. Minute adjustments set Harry back on course, his eyes focused.

'A one-two between Bell and Johnson puts Gryffindor up to six-twenty and a lead of one-fifty!'

Closer and closer he flew, while the snitch sped up, giving the tiniest of ground each second. Harry kept with every twitch, Cho having no opportunities to get passed.

Barely out of arms reach now, Harry knew the snitch was preparing to shift. With a second to go before he could grab it, it did just that, shooting to the side. He was too close to follow it smoothly, but he didn't lose ground. Cho managed a better line, putting her the same distance from it as him, both beside each other. Both reached out.

'Davies scores for Ravenclaw, bringing Gryffindors lead down to one-forty!'

They clutched, the snitch trapped. From his side, he heard Cho laughing, even if it was difficult at the high speed, but it became more prominent while they slowed. Harry suddenly became very aware that he held the snitch in his hand, while her own small hand was clasped around his, but she released it.

'Potter with the snitch! Gryffindor win, six-hundred and twenty to three-hundred and thirty! The youngest Gryffindor squad in decades reclaims the Quidditch Cup from Slytherin!'

Lee began to list various statistics afterwards, but Harry was stuck thinking, 'Three for three!'

Before he was even back on the ground, Wood tackled him off his broom in a bone-crushing (or at least bruising) hug. Harry honestly didn't know if Wood would ever let go until Fred and George prised them apart.

Harry wasn't aware Cho was still there, but she moved in front of him and said, 'Thank you for such an exciting match. I look forward to our next time.' She finished with a slight bow and scampered off to join her team. Shortly thereafter, the three chasers crowded around him, giving him a kiss on the cheek,

'Thanks for saving us, would've lost if Chang got it first,' Katie said afterwards, thought it didn't help the sudden overwhelming blush Harry had.

'Us next!' George said, both leaning over and pursing their lips in a mock-kiss, but keeping their distance.

Any further congratulations was ruled out by the emerging masses of Gryffindor students, who promptly swept the team along to the common room, with Lee arranging for food to be delivered. It was a few hours later that Neville and Hermione finally found Harry and dragged him to the infirmary to get his bruised leg looked at.

'Good evening, Harry,' Dumbledore calmly said, though quickly added, 'Apologies, Mr Potter,' when Harry gave him a weak glare.

'Good evening to you too, headmaster,' Harry wrote, placing the note on the desk.

From his position, Dumbledore observed the mannerisms of the child before him. 'Are you feeling well? It has been a most, shall we say, busy week after all.'

Harry replied, 'I am, sir, and it has been a bit busy.'

There was a moment after Dumbledore read the page before he asked, 'I am sure it is an event you wish to leave in the past, but you appreciate that it is of importance to me as headmaster?'

After a nod, Harry removed the pages on the night, patiently watching the phoenix while Dumbledore read and a bit longer after. 'That is Fawkes, my familiar for over fifty years. Beautiful, is he not?' Harry nodded. 'Has anyone yet told you that Quirinus has moved onto the next great adventure that is death?'

'No, but I thought he did.'

'How do you feel about it? To kill someone at such a young age is a great shame and I am sure the guilt is overwhelming, but one must not get lost in it.'

Harry thought for a moment before writing, 'I think I'm okay. He was trying to kill me and I didn't mean to kill him, only stop him from killing me. My friends have already told me how stupid I was nearly getting myself killed, so I guess, even if it sounds horrible, rather him than me. Why was he trying to kill me anyway? I mean, it was only after he knew who I was, or would hehave triedeven if I was someone else?'

The wait for Harry to finish was filled by Dumbledore thinking with fingers steeped and furrowed brow. Once finished reading, he calmly said, 'Based on what I have read tonight and pieced together before, I believe the second voice you heard was that of Voldemort who bonded with Quirinus in a parasitic relationship of sorts.' At Harry's confused look, he added, 'They shared a body, though Voldemort drained the life from him, hence the attack on the unicorn as they say its blood extends life though many believe it leads to a cursed life no better than death. While Voldemort's body may have been destroyed those years ago, it seems his soul itself has lived on.'

With a frown in place, Harry wrote, 'How did he do that?'

'There are ways to cheat death, but all belong to the dark arts and are so evil and vile that one should never even think of them, much less learn of them unless they must do so in order to defeat them.'

'The Philosopher's Stone?'

There was a flash of emotion on the headmaster's face as he read it, but Harry couldn't place – he thought it may have been disgust. 'Nicolas and I are close friends, but we do disagree upon it. While he insists that it was not borne in dark magics, the thirst for immortality and the greed that comes with it most certainly are far from the light.'

Harry paused with an uncomfortable thought. Slowly, he noted, 'Will Mr and Mrs Flamel die without it?'

'They have enough elixir to prolong their lives a further few years, but indeed their time will be at its end.'

Downcast, Harry added, 'I didn't mean to break it.' A further line ran through his head, 'It's my fault they're going to die.'

Dumbledore observed the trickling despair. 'Augusta, Mr Longbottom's grandmother, has agreed that you may visit upon his birthday which is the day before your own. I believe Miss Bones and Miss Abbott will be attending as well.' There was a slight pause before he added, 'Minerva has asked me to pass along a, shall we say, polite demand to train for the last week of the holidays from Mr Wood. Molly, who is the mother of Ronald, Fred, George and Percy attending here, has kindly offered to take you in for the time considering your lack of available wizarding facilities.'

It had an effect on Harry, bringing a weak smile along with a chuckle at the phrasing used to describe Wood's insistence. 'Thank you sir, I'll send Mrs Longbottom and Mrs Weasley an owl to accept and thank them in the morning. How will I get there'

'It is not a problem, Harry,' Dumbledore subtly smiled at the repressed grimace before continuing, 'I will send a muggle letter to your Aunt so she is aware of the arrangements and I will meet you out the front of your home at nine o'clock sharp to get you to the Longbottom's or Weasley's. Molly has agreed to take you shopping for your second year supplies and bring you to the Hogwarts Express at the start of term as well, so ensure you have everything required packed and with you.'

There was something bothering Harry after a short break in writing and listening. Nervously, he wrote, 'How much trouble am I in, sir?'

Once done with a quick chuckle, Dumbledore said, 'What makes you think you are in trouble, my boy?'

Harry cringed at the use of "my boy," but ignored it in favour of writing, 'I'm not sure which ones, but I must have broken some rules.'

There was a pregnant pause as Dumbledore leaned forwards, his spectacles tipping so his eyes snuck above. 'There are no rules barring students access to the area. While you were only found after curfew, you also had an exemption note and your story, along with the facts, suggest you were,' he waited a fraction of a second before saying, 'adventuring before curfew and it was your lack of consciousness which prevented your timely appearance. As far as Quirinus is concerned, you were not the aggressor and I can't fault you in self-defence, even if it was extreme. I would not be permitted to deduct points for casting as the protections were established in converted classrooms and the rules allow for unsupervised use of magic in disused classrooms for the purposes of practice.'

A silent minute went passed before Harry replied. 'You're treating me like Malfoy.'

'I beg your pardon?' Dumbledore said back.

'I did something very stupid and dangerous and I'm not getting into trouble, just like you tried to do with Malfoy.'

Another momentary flash of emotion swept Dumbledore's face – Harry thought it looked like amusement. 'Harry, what would you do if you were in my place?'

Harry thought it a trick question, much like when Hermione asked him if he had finished his homework and she would either scold him for not doing it yet or get him to start reading a book if he had. However, he knew the answer to this wasn't "I think so, can you check I didn't mess it up?" He penned, 'Be fair.' It was short, to the point and unquestionable, he thought.

'So Harry, if I were to, say, hypothetically discover Hagrid had a pet dragon, I should "be fair" and report him to the aurors and have him arrested for breaking the law, most likely resulting in him being sent to prison?'

It took Harry a moment to recover from shock before he wrote, 'I think Hagrid wouldn't mean to break the law, just care about making the dragon happy.' While waiting for a reply, he realised one way Dumbledore would have known.

'Still, should I report him to the aurors or not?' Dumbledore watched as Harry thought and then shook his head in frustration. 'Sometimes to be fair, we must treat each person differently. It is a difficult balance and one fraught with opponents who don't know what you do and so blindly oppose.'

The gentle silence stretched; slight crackling from Fawkes' flames a peaceful backdrop.

'I have given you much to think of and I apologise. Sometimes someone as old as myself forgets the youths of today haven't had to handle as much as I have. If you have no other questions for me, you may go.'

Harry sat alone in his bed that evening, the others still in the common room. The recorder was in his hand as he skipped around over the last few days after realising it had sat there for everything. He heard Dumbledore commenting on his collapsed body, Snape picking out the misplaced potion for getting back, Pomfrey's organised panic, Hermione's first bout of crying. That Pomfrey was understating Hermione's commitment to him occurred when he noticed Hermione was always involved with any conversation going on.

When it came to the argument with McGonagall about the test, Harry wasn't sure if he should laugh or give her a hug, which she always seemed to want. It made him feel like he hadn't felt before to know that she cared about him more than a test. He wondered if her parents made her feel the same way, because he knew how much they undeniably cared about her.

When it came to her shouting at a group of bystanders, that feeling returned. He liked knowing that Hermione was there to watch over him and look out for him.

When she asked "He will wake up, won't he?" his heart missed a beat. Despite telling him how much of an idiot he had been, it didn't really settle in until he heard the unmistakable pain in the question. Her cold defiance the following morning at breakfast twisted the knife.

When Hermione summarised the incident with Ron, Harry definitely did not want to make any of the three girls upset with him.

So it was that he struggled to sleep, thinking about how nice it was to know that he really did have friends who truly cared for him and what he could do to show them that he cared too.

Hermione found herself very much confused the following afternoon. Harry, after spending the morning supposedly revising for their rescheduled tests, had dropped an official looking and sounding letter on her table. 'What exactly is all this about?' she asked.

He grinned, writing, 'It is a contract stating that, if I do something stupid, I will repay you, Susan, Neville and Hannah with something we agree upon. I was thinking a chocolate frog or some other sweet, but it doesn't have to be.'

Smirking, she said, 'You couldn't possibly get enough frogs for that.' After he scowled, she added, 'It is a most ludicrous idea, but if you insist.' Absently pouting while she thought, Harry hoped she didn't ask for something embarrassing. 'Perfect! You can transfigure a wooden animal for me. That way I can have cute little collection and you get lots of extra practice.'

His head tilted slightly before nodding. Delicately, he appended the payment to the contract before jotting, 'Not copies of Hogwarts: A History?' on a scrap bit of parchment, giving his own smirk as Hermione gave her own scowl.

'Is that contract in effect now?' she asked. When he nodded, she put on an innocent smile and said, 'Good, because that was an awfully stupid question you just asked and I think I want an otter as my first of many.'

In the common room, Neville looked up from his herbology book and the contract that was dropped on it. 'I-I think I would get sick of ch-chocolate frogs very quickly.'

Harry glared at Neville and then Hermione after she started giggling and said, 'Too right.'

'Hermione's idea is n-nice,' Neville said, 'I would go f-for plants though.'

Rather than add that though, Harry wrote, 'How about plant seeds? There's good muggle ones.' After Neville agreed, Harry amended the contract before adding, 'No petunias though,' to his notebook. The joke was lost on Neville, but Hermione chuckled.

'Maybe a Bott's Bean, otherwise I doubt you could afford enough,' Susan said with a sly smile. Rather than maturely respond, Harry chose to stick his tongue out. 'Oh? How about a smoochy kiss then?' She, along with Neville, Hermione and Hannah, happily giggled as he blushed and shook his head. 'Fine. I'll settle for a chocolate frog card. Have to watch my weight after all.'

Harry nodded and updated the contract before turning to Hannah. She clasped her hands behind her back, twisting slightly. 'It's okay,' she timidly said, 'I don't need anything. Knowing you're sorry or not gonna do it again is enough for me.'

Susan groaned. 'Hannah! Of course he's going to do that, no need to waste a perfectly good bribe.'

Hannah's reply was so quiet that Susan had to ask her to repeat herself. 'I said "Harry already gave me back my best friend and I can't ask for anything from him."'

The boy in question looked away, slightly embarrassed and overly humbled. Susan's guilt took over and she dropped her head. 'Not that good of a friend...'

'Susan Amelia Bones,' Hannah scolded, 'I have forgiven you and that is that. If you keep being so silly, then I will have to get Harry to write up a contract for you. Understand?' After Susan quickly nodded, Hannah blushed at the laughter from the other three, slipping back into her shyness. 'S-sorry Susie.'

'S'okay,' Susan replied, smiling, 'I needed a bit of a kick, didn't I?'

Neville and Hermione said, 'Yes!' in unison with Harry nodding vigorously.

'Well, Mr Potter, are you ready?' McGonagall asked on Monday morning – the rest of the lower school had a week off exams to recover. With a nervous smile, he nodded and stepped towards her desk. 'Very well. For your practical exam, you shall be transfiguring this toad into a small goblet. The more intricate the artistic detailing, the higher your score; likewise, the greener or slimier it is, the lower your score.'

The toad attempted to hop out of the little box it was kept in, but couldn't make it to safety. Harry took a calming breath, remembering the three "S's" for animate to inanimate transfiguration: split; shape; set. Focused, he eyed the toad and tapped it on its head. He found the sight somewhat gruesome as it opened its mouth wide, elongating with its hind legs merging and feet widening where as his front legs shrunk into its body. Its colour drained, leaving a gold-looking goblet.

'Marvellous,' McGonagall said, 'Most ornate too. I especially like the lions,' she added, running a finger over the slightly protruding images. 'Sturdy too. Miss Granger will be disappointed to hear her score was beaten.' His grin amused her. 'Remember you still have the practical exam to go, so perhaps you should avoid gloating. At least for now.'

After a thank-you bow, Harry strode out the room beaming. There was a bit of a walk down the hall, but the charms classroom popped up soon enough. Hermione exited after a couple minutes of waiting.

'Good luck Harry, I'll see you at the rock,' she said as they passed. He spared a moment to wave as she disappeared around a corner before knocking on Flitwick's door.

'Come on in, Mr Potter,' said the professor in his squeaky voice. 'Ready for a challenge?' he asked when Harry was before his table. Tentatively, Harry nodded. 'Excellent! As you have no doubt heard, the others were making pineapple's dance. However, as I'm sure Minerva did, I've changed the practical slightly to make sure you had no unfair advantage.'

Flitwick hopped off his seat, scurrying to a corner of the classroom and beckoning Harry over.

'Here is my hurdles course,' he proudly said. Harry looked around the metre by half a metre oval track with sixteen hurdles evenly spaced and a miniature grandstand complete with quietly cheering crowd. In the centre of the one long side, a small orange sat behind the starting line. 'It's a timed circuit with each hurdle knocked over adding an extra second to your overall time. Miss Granger managed it in twenty-three seconds, putting her equivalent score just above the top Ravenclaw. When you're ready, Mr Potter.'

Harry held his wand a bit above the orange. With two swishes and a twirl, the orange sprang to life and started rolling. A flick propelled it up, momentum carrying it over the first hurdle. Flitwick squealed in delight watching the race with one eye on the muggle-looking scoreboard that showed the timer. By the time he was three-quarters of the way round, Harry felt the orange resisting the forced actions, tipping a hurdle. Added effort kept any others from being toppled, but at the cost of a bit of speed.

'Finished!' Flitwick announced to the otherwise empty room. 'Twenty-six seconds and three-hundred and ninety-two milliseconds with a single one second penalty. Not quite as fast as Miss Granger, but a strong time nonetheless.' Harry smiled meekly. 'Come now Mr Potter, I'm mighty impressed considering your hindrance. In all honesty, I wouldn't think you would have done half as well as you did today if asked at the start of the year.'

Repeating his earlier actions, Harry gave a polite bow before exiting the room, a little cheered up.

Author notes

The final quidditch match for a while and the final one-on-one with Dumbledore for a while too. Of course, Dumbles couldn't let Harry enjoy the conversation and had to leave him feeling much more confused than when he entered. Also, a wrap-up of the Susan and Hannah reconciliation that I wanted to put in earlier chapters, but it never quite slotted in well. Rather than leave it out, I thought it belonged in this light little bit. The first school year should be wrapped up in the next chapter and Harry's summer plans somewhat revealed too, so hopefully a bit more fun.

Unstorily, apologies for the delay. Let's pretend I typed up some random and unimportant excuse/conspiracy theory here. I'll try to get an extra chapter up to make up for it, but I can't make any promises. A reviewer also pointed out how not-so-humour-category the story has become, which is something I thought I corrected earlier. My original plan was to have a snarky Harry who would sarcastically reply in his head before writing something more appeasing, but the darker sort of humour didn't really fit with an eleven year old. I have gotten passed the main "dark" parts of the early story though, so it should lighten up somewhat.

Until next time, transfiguring trees makes comfortable and weather-resistant benches.