A/N As usual, big thanks to everybody at DLP - Fuegodefuerza, yojorocks, jbern, Stalicon, ip82, niceplay, and Alayna - for commenting on the chapter.

I got a slight case of writer's block with this one, so hopefully I'm through it now.

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"Have either of you guys seen Sirius today?" Asked Jack as he walked out of his room. It was three weeks into summer vacation, and overall it had been a very relaxing time for the three siblings.

"He said he had some things to do," Row replied from behind a book. "I'm sure he'll be back later, though."

Jack just grunted noncommittally and turned to watch as Harry carefully arranged a number of small objects around him.

"What's he doing?" Jack whispered to his sister.

"It's a ward, or at least it will be, if he gets it right." Abruptly there was a series of flashes from the objects and Harry looked up with a satisfied smile.

"Did it work?" Row asked eagerly.

Harry shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Jack, walk over here."

"Alright," Jack grumbled as he got up and approached Harry. "But if this turns me into a frog or something, I'll..." The next thing Jack knew, he was standing in the hallway leading to his room, completely the opposite direction that he had been walking in. "Hang on, what just happened?"

Row giggled. "It's a confundus ward, it's meant to make people confused and direct them away from something. I'd say it worked."

"Did I walk over here, or did it teleport me?" Jack asked, still confused.

"No, you definitely walked."

"Huh," Jack looked skeptical, but finally shrugged. "Guess it worked then. What are you gonna do with it?"

"Nothing," Harry answered. His face took on a look of concentration and suddenly there was a bright flash from directly in front of him accompanied by a cracking sound. "I just broke it. It was really just for practice anyway." With another wave, the stones collected themselves and flew into a small box, which Harry banished back to his room. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Half past," Jack answered. "Why?"

"I'm supposed to meet Blaise at noon," Harry said with a sigh. "Probably wants to talk about the thing with Daphne."

"He really doesn't like her, huh?" Row mused. "Do you know why?"

"I think their families have a history," Harry replied with a shrug. "Whatever it is, he says I can't trust her, no matter what."

"He sounds almost as paranoid as you," Row teased. "What do you think?"

Harry frowned. "I don't know what to think. She's been one of Malfoy's idiot cronies all year, but after what I saw on the platform, I can't just leave her. It's confusing."

"Wait," Jack broke in with a confused look. "I don't get it. Can't you read her mind and find out what she's really thinking like you did with Sirius?"

Harry shook his head ruefully. "I wish. Unfortunately, most of the pureblood families teach their children about occlumency, and hers is the strongest out of all the students I've seen."

"If you think about it, it makes sense," Row broke in knowingly. "Legilimens are extremely rare, but there have to be some out there. Wizarding politics is all about furthering hidden agendas, so anyone who could find out what a guy like Lucius Malfoy is really after would become powerful awfully quick." Her expression darkened. "Occlumency helps you remain calm and lie better too, and we all know how important that is to a guy like Malfoy."

"Couldn't you just, you know, overpower her?" Jack asked skeptically. "Force your way into her head?"

"I could," Harry agreed. "But not without being detected, and that's the real problem. There isn't a student in the school who is a strong enough occlumens to keep me out if I really wanted to get in, but that would mean exposing my legilimency, and I don't want to risk that."

"Why not?"

"Legilimency is something of a forbidden art," supplied Row. "Something only dark wizards can do, supposedly. It's ridiculous, of course, since Dumbledore can do it, but the fact that he's kept it hidden just shows how important it is."

"The frustrating part is that I'm almost certain I could find away around basic occlumency barriers, but I don't have anyone to practice on," said Harry before turning to his sister. "That's why I was trying to get you to practice this summer, Row."

Row shrugged. "I'll practice if you think it will help, but I still think you should be careful how often you use it, Harry."

"And you know I agree with you. In fact, I've hardly used it all this year, except the few times I really saw the need to."

"With great power comes great responsibility," Jack said sagely.

"That's from Spider Man, you great git," Row said, slapping him on the arm.

"So?"

Harry just rolled his eyes and summoned his shoes. "Alright, I'm heading out to meet Blaise. If Sirius comes back just tell him I'm having lunch with a friend."

"Will do," Row said, turning back to her book. Harry gave the room one last look before exiting the apartment building and making his way up Diagon Alley. As he approached the outdoor café Blaise had suggested, he saw that his friend was already there waiting for him.

"Ah, the hero arrives," Blaise said as he approached. "Feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Harry answered slowly as he sat down.

"You sure? Nothing strange has happened lately?"

"Alright Blaise," Harry sighed. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing much," Blaise said nonchalantly. "Just that you're making the biggest mistake of your life with Greengrass," he shrugged. "No big deal."

Harry groaned. "I thought that was it. Honestly, what did you expect me to do?"

"Mind your own business, maybe? Try to avoid a scene instead of creating one?"

"So I suppose that I really didn't see her getting beaten on the platform?" Harry said evenly. "I imagined it?"

"Or she staged it so you'd feel sorry for her," Blaise said simply. "In which case, it's working rather well, wouldn't you say?"

"That's ridiculous," Harry scowled. "You're saying that she somehow got her own mother to hurt her just on the off chance that I would be there to see it?"

"I'm not saying anything," Blaise replied casually. "At least, not anything definite. What happened on the platform may have been real or it may have been fake, the only thing I know for sure is that you can't trust her."

"So, because you say I can't trust her I should leave her to be cursed by her mother?"

Blaise laughed. "Potter, I think I know you well enough by now to know that would never happen. I'm not saying you should have left her, and I'm not saying you should completely ignore her if she asks you for help. What I am saying is that you need to be careful around her, even if she seems weak and fragile, I assure you, she's not. I've seen her act meek before, and that's exactly what it was, an act."

"It's not like I want to be bosom buddies or anything," Harry replied sarcastically.

"Good thing," Blaise laughed. "You'd be awfully disappointed."

"What's it to you, anyway?"

"I'm the Harry Potter expert, remember?" Blaise smirked. "I have to protect my investment."

Harry snorted. "Afraid?"

"Afraid? Never," Blaise answered. "Cautious? Always. Especially around Greengrass." He shook his head ruefully. "I still can't believe you gave her a way to contact you. Has she, by the way?"

"Just once, mainly to say that she's ok and thank me," Harry replied. "She wouldn't say where she ended up, though, or what's happening with her mother."

"Nothing is happening with her mother, that much I know for sure," said Blaise. "If she'd been charged with something, I would have heard about it."

Harry frowned. "That doesn't make any sense, the aurors were there and everything."

Blaise shrugged. "She probably has enough influence to make that go away, at least the first time. If nothing else she'll be more careful in the future, especially if she had to call in some favors."

Harry's frown deepened. "That's a pretty worthless legal system."

Blaise laughed. "That's the wizarding world, I'm afraid. Corruption is the name of the game. Luckily," he smirked. "I know how to play."

Harry continued to frown, but remained silent.

"Harry?" A voice from behind startled him out of his dark thoughts, and he turned to see Cedric Diggory approaching from up the street.

"I though that was you." He said as he approached. When he saw Blaise, he nodded slightly. "Zabini."

"Diggory," Blaise returned the gesture.

"I haven't seen you around much, Harry. Jack said you were living around here?"

"Yeah, just up the street actually," Harry replied, indicating for Cedric to take a seat. "You wouldn't happen to be the reason Jack came home pissed last weekend would you?"

Cedric laughed. "Guilty as charged. I told him I'd never been to a muggle pub before and he insisted we go. Apparently he knows the bartender at a few places so we didn't have a problem. I hope I didn't get him in trouble."

Harry shook his head. "Sirius thought it was pretty funny, actually."

"Do my ears deceive me?" Blaise said in mock astonishment. "The Golden Child of Hufflepuff getting himself piss drunk?"

To his surprise, Cedric just smirked. "Jealous?"

"Of a Hufflepuff? Never."

Cedric just shrugged and turned back to Harry.

"Actually, I'm glad I ran into you, Harry. I have it on good authority that you're one hell of a flier, and was hoping I could convince you to come out play some Quidditch."

Harry shrugged. "I can fly, but I'm really not that good at the actual game, so if you're talking about a league you might want somebody else."

"Naw, it's nothing so formal. It's usually just a bunch of us from different teams that get together and play. It's actually a lot of fun since we don't stick with house teams, and I get to play with people I normally fly against."

Harry considered that for a moment before nodding. "In that case, it sounds fun. Where do you play?"

"Pretty much wherever we can. We'll probably get a game this weekend, if you're interested."

"Sure. Like I said, I'm not very good, though."

"We'll see about that," Cedric said with a grin. "I'll talk to you later." With that, he turned continued on his way down the alley.

"I can't believe Diggory got pissed with your brother," Blaise said when he had gone. "He's destroying my Hufflepuff stereotype."

"Not surprising since you don't know any other Hufflepuffs," said Harry.

"I guess," Blaise shrugged and was about to say something else when he noticed that Harry had a strange look on his face. "What?"

"There are two girls across the street that haven't moved for a while and keep looking over here when they think we're not looking."

Blaise snorted. "Some of your fans?"

"Yeah, it's probably nothing, but it makes me nervous. They're older too, definitely out of Hogwarts, which makes it strange."

"Older women eh?" Blaise said, turning around to get a look. "The brunette is cute, too."

"Really? I like the blonde."

"Gentlemen do prefer them," Blaise said, turning back around. "Never would have pegged you as a blonde man, Potter, what with your groupies and all."

Harry scowled. "I hate it when you call them that. They're friends, and more importantly they're Row's friends."

Blaise just grinned and shook his head. "Friends or not, every single one of them has a crush on you. Of course, since your planning to be seduced by Greengrass it really doesn't matter, I guess."

Now it was Harry's turn to snort. "Seduced? Is she a succubus now?"

Blaise gave an exaggerated sigh. "It's just a shame, that's all. Here you could have just about any girl at Hogwarts and you'll end up with Greengrass. I guess she's pretty enough, but so cold. It's sad, really."

"Oh, sod off."

"Seriously though," Blaise said, losing his mirthful expression. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I wouldn't put it past her. I wouldn't put anything past her, in fact." Suddenly he laughed. "Listen to me, I sound as paranoid as you."

"A little paranoia can be a good thing."

"You would say that," Blaise said, shaking his head. "Just be careful, Potter. I'd hate to see something happen to you just when you're getting interesting, so watch your back."

"I always do."

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As promised, Harry joined Cedric and a few other Quidditch players the following week for a pick-up game at the Jones house. Jason Jones was a recent Hogwarts graduate that had played chaser for Ravenclaw and hoped to play Quidditch professionally. Upon hearing that Harry liked to play chaser but had no training, Jason took it upon himself to give Harry a crash course in chaser skills. As a result, Harry earned himself more than few new fans by the end of the day.

"Merlin Harry, I heard you could fly, but I didn't know you could fly like that!" Cedric said as the group walked back towards the manor house after the game. "I thought you said you weren't very good?"

"I wasn't before today," Harry replied honestly. "The first time I played my aim was terrible, but thanks to Jason it's a lot better now."

"Don't look at me, all I did was give show him some basic moves and mechanics," Jason said from in front of them.

"Well, I almost don't want to say this, but you should definitely be on your house team," Cedric said.

Harry shrugged. "We'll see. Malfoy pretty much owns the team, so that probably won't happen." Harry looked up and saw Sirius motioning for him to come over. "Looks like Sirius wants to talk to me, I'll see you guys later?"

"We're going to meet up at The Broken Wand later for butterbeers, if you want," offered Cedric with a sly grin. "Tell Jack he's welcome to join us too."

"Will do," said Harry. He said a general goodbye to everyone else before making his way over to his waiting godfather, who immediately began chattering incoherently.

"..absolutely amazing!" Harry finally managed to make out. "You were incredible! Where'd you learn to fly like that?"

"I'm not really sure," Harry admitted. "I'm just a natural, I guess."

Sirius's face took on a forlorn expression. "Your father was a natural flyer, too. From the minute he sat on a broom he flew like he belonged on it." He gave Harry a wink. "He was one hell of a chaser too, you know. He'd be proud of you, Harry."

"I'm glad," Harry answered. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what else to say. In fact, Harry had to admit that he found it slightly unnerving that talking about his parents still seemed to provoke such emotional reactions in Sirius, whereas he was never able to look at the matter with more than simple curiosity. He enjoyed the stories, sure, and it was nice to know that his parents had been good people with such loyal friends. But when everything was said and done, they were gone, and they weren't coming back. For Harry, it was just that simple.

"So, are you kids going somewhere now?" Sirius asked.

"They're heading over to The Broken Wand. I told Cedric I might meet them there." Harry said with a shrug. "I think Jack's going too, actually."

"You should go then, it'll be fun. I'm sure a couple of those girls wouldn't mind either," he said with a grin.

"I'll think about it. Are we taking the floo home?"

Sirius nodded and the two made there way to the main fireplace and flooed back home.

"Hey guys, how was the game?" Row asked as they stepped through the fireplace. She and Jack were currently stationed in front of the TV Sirius had just hooked up for them.

"Incredible, what else?" Sirius answered immediately. "Your brother single handedly won 2 out of three games, and would have won the third but Diggory got beat to the snitch."

Row quirked an eyebrow at Harry. "Is that so?"

"He's exaggerating, of course," Harry answered. "But I did do much better than last time thanks to a few pointers from Jason, and I have to admit it was fun. How was your day with Padma?"

"We had fun too," Row answered dismissively. "You know, girl stuff."

"Actually, I don't know."

"And that's a good thing," Sirius joked. "Trust me."

"What she means is they spent the whole day whispering to each other and giggling," Jack broke in without turning away from the TV.

"And you didn't try to eavesdrop?" Sirius asked, aghast.

"Meh, I don't like her that much," said Jack. Row just stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the TV.

Harry chuckled and started towards his room before stopping suddenly.

"Oh, Cedric said that he and some guys were going to The Broken Wand tonight, if you want to go."

"Really?" Jack perked up and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ok, thanks."

"No prob."

Harry took a quick shower and grabbed a snack before returning to the living room to find Row and Sirius engaged in a game of exploding snap.

"Good, Harry's here," Row said, dealing out an extra hand. "It's always better with 3."

"Just to warn you, I'm considered somewhat of a master at-" Sirius's boast was abruptly cut off as the cards exploded in his face.

"You were saying?" Row said innocently.

"Beginners luck" Sirius grumbled, giving his cards a dirty look.

"No offense Sirius, but I think you might be in over your head here," Harry said with a shake of his head. "When it comes to card games, Row doesn't lose."

"Really?"

"Yup," Row said proudly. "Even when we were really young, I used to beat Jack at gin rummy all the time."

"Of course, Jack isn't exactly known for his prowess at cards either," Harry said as the cards once again blew up in Sirius's face.

Row laughed. "That's true."

"What's true?" Jack asked as he stepped out in the living room.

"You suck at cards," Harry said succinctly.

"That's because we don't play poker," Jack said defensively. "I'm good at poker."

"Do wizards even play poker?" Row asked Sirius.

"Of course," Sirius said, contemplating his next move. "From what I hear it's almost the same as muggle poker, except sometimes the cards don't do what you tell them to."

"How does that work?" Questioned Jack.

"Like if you try to discard a king, say. Sometimes he won't want to go and will just come right back."

"Sounds….interesting," Jack said, giving Sirius a look that said it sounded anything but. "Anyway, I'm off. Don't wait up."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Sirius answered, still thinking. Jack waved goodbye to his siblings just as Sirius finally decided what card to play. As Jack closed the door, the last thing he heard was a loud explosion and a frustrated groan from Sirius.

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Jack arrived at the pub and immediately spotted Cedric and the rest of his gang in the corner and made his way over.

"So, I hear my little brother flew circles around you boys today?" He asked with a grin as he approached.

"Oy, Jack! Good to see you mate!" Cedric greeted. "I won't lie to you, Harry's probably the best natural flyer I've ever seen."

"His technique is still pretty bad, though," Jason said, passing Jack a butterbeer. "Not as bad as it was at first, of course."

"Well, what do you expect? That was only the second time he'd played."

"The second time?" Jason asked in astonishment. "I knew he didn't have much experience, but Merlin! Where'd he learn to fly like that?"

Jack shrugged and took a drink. "He said it just comes naturally, and Sirius agrees. Supposedly his dad was the same way."

"How's that going by the way?" Cedric ask suddenly. "My dad seemed concerned that things weren't going well."

"Things are fine," Jack said bemusedly. "What gave him that idea?"

"I don't really know," Cedric admitted. "He just asked me out of the blue if I though Harry was doing ok living with Sirius. Kinda strange, really."

Jack snorted. "When it comes to Harry, strange is normal."

"I suppose."

"Hey, are we going to sit around chatting all night, or are we going to this party?" Hufflepuff chaser Adrian Stevens jumped in suddenly.

"Party?" Jack's ears perked up.

"A few people who just graduated from Hogwarts are throwing a party at their new flat," Cedric affirmed. "It's walking distance, which is why we met up here."

"Girls?"

Cedric laughed. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"She understands."

"Really?"

"Well," Jack paused before flashing a grin. "She'll understand if she doesn't know."

Cedric gave a wry chuckle and shook his head in amusement. "In that case, yes, there should be several girls there."

"Well then," Jack quickly downed the rest of his butterbeer and slammed the mug back on the bar. "What are we waiting for?"

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A short distance away, Daphne Greengrass was beginning to think that coming to this party had been a total waste of time. She wasn't one for parties normally, but drunk people tended to talk rather freely, and she was hoping to catch some young aristocrat after a few too many drinks. Thus far, she had been disappointed.

She'd actually considered giving up and leaving, at least until she remembered that she didn't have anything else to do tonight. Surveying the room once more, she gave an exasperate sigh before returning to her perch with a view of the door. She hated being bored. It was just so….boring.

Unfortunately, boring had been the story of her summer. When Potter had handed her over to the aurors, she'd been worried that she had taken her act too far. That is, at least until the aurors took her directly home instead of a Ministry department. In hindsight it was silly of her to worry; her mother was nothing if not thorough, and apparently more than one member of the auror corps owed her a favor. What type of favor, Daphne didn't care to know.

Still, with her plan for ensnaring Potter moving along glacially slow, Daphne found herself with a lot of time and nothing to do with it, so she'd taken to contacting various people just to see what she could find out. Which was how she ended up here. Bored.

Her musings we abruptly broken when the front door opened and Cedric Diggory entered. Daphne's eyebrows rose slightly in astonishment, but only for a moment. Diggory was a Hufflepuff, to be sure, but Daphne knew he wasn't the golden boy her housemates thought he was. He had helped with prank on Malfoy, after all.

Daphne was considered what she could possibly use Diggory for when she caught sight of his entourage and abruptly forgot all about him. She had only met Jack Thomas once before, on the platform after her little act, but she never forgot a face. Smirking silently to herself, she slipped out of her hiding spot and moved into the crowd just behind him.

"Hey, why didn't Harry come with you?" Cedric asked Jack as Jason went to the kitchen to grab them drinks.

Jack shrugged. "Not really his style yet, I guess. He's never exactly been sociable."

"I guess that's true," Cedric chuckled. "Still, he's definitely lightened up at least a little, right?"

"Are you kidding? He's lightened up a lot," Jack said, grabbing his shot of firewhisky and shooting it. "Whew! That's some strong stuff!"

"Ogden's finest," Cedric smirked as he shot his own. He cringed slightly as the liquid burned its way into his stomach.

"So, whose party is this anyway?" Jack asked, surveying the room.

"I'm not really sure myself," Cedric admitted. "I'm sure I've met them at some point, though."

Jack shrugged. "Good enough for me. Let's meet some girls."

Daphne watched for the next hour or so as Jack and Cedric walked around the room engaging various groups of girls in conversation. Inwardly, she was impressed at the squib's confidence considering he was in a room full of wizards, and filed that information for use later. Finally, Cedric broke away to talk to another group of people as Jack made his way over to the kitchen bar. As he was pouring himself a drink, Daphne approached him from the side and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you Jack?" She asked timidly.

"Uh, yeah," Jack said, studying her stupidly. Finally recognition seemed to dawn and he snapped his fingers. "Hey, you're that girl from the platform, the one Harry saved!"

"Daphne," she replied shyly. "Yeah, that's me."

"Whatever happened with that, are you ok now?" Jack asked with concern.

"They didn't charge her with anything, if that's what you mean," Daphne said, looking down. "But at least they're making sure it doesn't happen again."

Jack frowned. "They didn't charge her? Why not?"

"My mother, she's rather well connected," Daphne trailed off uncertainly.

"Bollocks!" Jack snapped, slamming his hand down on the table. "I don't care what they say, if she so much as touches you again, you let Harry know and we'll take care of it."

"I, I really don't want to think about it anymore, if that's ok," Daphne said timidly. This was not where she wanted this conversation to go.

"Of course it's ok," Jack said, regaining some of his previous cheer. He gave her a wink. "It is a party, after all."

Daphne gave him what looked like a hesitant smile. "Yeah. What's that you're drinking?"

"I have no idea," Jack answered merrily. "Someone was kind enough to make up a bunch of it, whatever it is."

Daphne giggled. "You're drunk. Shouldn't you be able to handle your liquor by now?"

"What?" Jack asked, aghast. "I'll have you know I have not yet begun to drink!"

"I don't know," said Daphne, sounding unconvinced. "I bet I could drink as much as you, and I'm just a girl."

"You?" Jack scoffed. "I could drink twice as much as you, no matter what it is!"

"Really?" Daphne gave him a playful smile. "Ok then, how about we make a bet? If I can do more shots than you, you have to refer to me as mistress and do what I say for the rest of the night."

"And if I win?"

"Same deal."

Jack scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I don't exactly think you calling me mistress would be a reward."

Daphne forced a laugh at his lame joke and playfully swatted his arm. "I'd call you master, you git!"

"Ok, then you're on!"

After a little shuffling around the table, each of them grabbed a pitcher of the firewhisky concoction and sat down across from each other. They took turn doing shots until it was clear that both were quite intoxicated.

"Ugh," Daphne groaned as she finished yet another shot. Swaying slightly, she ducked until her head was under the table and pulled a vial of sobering potion from her pocket, quickly downing it before snapping back up looking slightly unbalanced.

"That one almost did it," she said, holding her head to make it look like she was about to lose.

"Told ya I'd win," Jack slurred, eyeing the shot in front of him in distaste. He managed to get it down, but it was only a matter of time now, and he'd been pretty drunk before the game had even started.

It took only 2 more shots before Jack simply couldn't get himself to do it, and reluctantly declared Daphne the winner.

"Told ya so," Daphne slurred, acting quite drunk herself. Of course, with the potion in her she was completely sober.

"What are your orders, my mistress," Jack asked with a sloppy bow.

Daphne laughed. "Actually, I don't really want to move, so let's just talk."

"Good idea," Jack said, laying his head on the table.

"You know, Harry really saved me that day," Daphne said carefully. "I don't really get to talk to him that much at school, what's he like?"

"Ruddy amazing," Jack said, opening his eyes slowly. "He saved my life, you know. Mine and Row's. I love that guy."

"Don't you ever get worried though?" Daphne asked intently. "I mean, he's always in some kind of danger."

Jack laughed. "Ain't nothing can touch Harry, magic or whatnot. He'd just – ZAP!" Jack flung his hand forward and shook it. "Blow it up or whatever. Ruddy amazing, he is."

"He can't be that amazing," Daphne prodded gently. "He's just a wizard, after all, and I heard that the thing with the sword was an illusion."

"Pfft," Jack scoffed. "It's no illusion, it's wicked old too, made by a Griffin or something." Jack guffawed.

"Godric Gryffindor?" Daphne asked in astonishment.

"Ha! Godric!" Jack snorted. "How dumb is that? Sounds like a bad dog's name."

Daphne laughed with him while thinking furiously. Surely he can't mean…

"It did look pretty wicked," she said with a grin. Then she scowled. "But everybody talks bad about him behind his back, saying he's evil and everything."

"Bastards." Jack slurred.

"Did he tell you he fought a teacher?" Daphne asked, trying to sound eager. "Professor Snape, he beat him up in Hogsmede."

"FUCK Snape," Jack said, sitting up abruptly. "He shoulda killed that bastard."

"Why?"

"Why? He's a sodding asshat, that's why! He coulda killed him too, evil git," Jack shook his head angrily. Suddenly he shook his head and seemed to forget what he was talking about before shooting a grin at Daphne.. "Why you want to know so much about Harry, anyway? We're having all the fun right here!"

"Well, I just feel really grateful to him," Daphne said slowly. "And I was hoping you could give me an idea about what he's really like, outside of school, and I'd really like to thank him."

"Don't even worry about it," Jack said, waving his hand wildly. "Harry's Harry, you know? He saves people, does the hero thing and all that. You try to thank him, he probably won't even know why you're doing it!" Jack laughed hard at that and slapped the table. "Probably think you're crazy or something, you know?" Jack chuckled again to himself. "But don't you worry, you need anything, you call and Harry'll be there like, POOF!" Jack snapped his fingers and then spread his hands with a flourish.

It took a moment for Daphne to realize what Jack was alluding too, but she finally did. "That's right, I heard that he can apparate," she said carefully. "That's impressive for someone so young."

Jack froze for a moment and his mirthful expression turned to one of suspicion. "He can what?"

Deciding to gamble, Daphne continued. "He can apparate," she said innocently. "I heard Professor McGonagall talking to Professor Dumbledore about how impressive it is. It's not like it's a big secret," she finished with a laugh.

"It isn't?" Jack said, clearly confused. "Well, that's a relief," he said, relaxing back into his drunken stupor. "I'm not supposed to talk about the stuff Harry can do, but if you already know, well," he shrugged and regained his smile. "It's bloody brilliant though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Daphne said, trying her best to retain her innocent exterior. She was about to see what other things Jack wasn't supposed to reveal when Jack was jerked backward by a hand on his shoulder.

"What's this, Thomas? Robbing the cradle?" Cedric asked with a slight slur. "Come on, we're going to Jason's summer house, and they're coming with us," he said, jerking a thumb a group of giggling girls.

"Well then," Jack said, standing shakily as he eyed the girls appraisingly. "Mistress, I shall have to leave you for now," he said, bowing to Daphne. "And I definitely want a rematch."

Daphne moved to protest but her words fell on deaf ears as Cedric pulled Jack away from the table and they made their way back through the crowd. Daphne made to follow but found that she had much more trouble forcing her way through the crowd than the boys did, and soon she had lost them. Swearing to herself, she reversed her direction and made her way to the fireplace just in time to see the group disappear.

With a most unladylike curse, Daphne took a seat near the fireplace and began to calm herself. Her time with Thomas had been cut short, but she'd still made some major discoveries, and established herself with Potter's brother, assuming he remembered, of course. As she considered what she'd just learned, her anger was slowly replaced with satisfaction and, strangely enough, curiosity. Daphne Greengrass was not surprised often, and yet it seemed that Harry Potter did nothing but surprise her. Not for the first time, Daphne found she was quite looking forward to September 1st.

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With Harry's birthday approaching rapidly, Sirius took it upon himself to plan what he considered 'The Ultimate Party,' and set out to get Jack's help.

"Wait, a surprise party?" Jack said, interrupting Sirius's description. "Bad idea. Harry hates surprises of any type, better to just tell him about it."

"Oh, come on," Sirius said with a snort. "A little surprise party never hurt anybody, and I want to see the look on his face when everybody jumps out at him."

Jack frowned. "Harry doesn't really like crowds, either, you do know that, right?"

"I'm not inviting that many people," Sirius said defensively. "But this is my chance to really do something cool for Harry, I want it to be perfect."

With a sigh, Jack agreed to help Sirius plan the surprise party and decided he would personally tell Harry in advance. That way he could be sure that Harry wouldn't zap them all to oblivion for jumping out at him. For a moment, Jack had a vision of himself at a party talking about Harry zapping something else, but it was very hazy.

Musta been pretty drunk, he thought to himself. Oh well, probably not important.

The day before the scheduled party, Jack caught up with Harry and told him what Sirius had planned. Harry was slightly put out that Sirius had planned him a surprise party, but agreed to go along with the plan for his godfather's sake. He even managed to refrain from rolling his eyes when Sirius randomly asked him to pick up some supplies from a couple of stories in Diagon Alley, knowing it was just an excuse to get him out of the house.

Returning from the shopping trip, Harry paused outside the door to their flat and took a deep breath before finally walking in.

"SURPRISE!"

As planned, Harry dropped the bags he was holding and did his best to look surprised.

"What's all this?" He asked.

"It's your birthday party, what does it look like?" Sirius said, coming forward to usher Harry into the middle of the room. "You didn't think you'd get off without a party, did you?"

Harry just shrugged as he started to greet the multitude of guests that his godfather had invited. He frowned as he realized that Tracey and Blaise seemed to absent, then his eyes landed on the group in the corner and he scowled fiercely.

"What are they doing here?" He hissed to his godfather, motioning towards the Weasley family.

"Harry, it's a party," Sirius said pleadingly. "What better way to bury the hatchet than to invite them?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "You're assuming I want to bury the hatchet at all. Follow me." He politely excused himself and made his way purposefully towards the Weasleys.

He was almost there when Albus Dumbledore seemed to materialize in front of him and held out a wrapped present.

"Hello Harry, happy birthday," he said jovially. "It certainly seems to be quite the affair. Your doing, Sirius?" The headmaster smiled.

"It's the least I could do," Sirius replied.

"Well, it seems to be a rather smashing success," said Dumbledore. "Well done. Ah, Molly, Arthur, so good to see you."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley greeted the headmaster before greeting Harry somewhat stiffly, but he barely noticed.

"I need to speak to you," he said to the twins. "Come with me."

Fred and George seemed slightly disgruntled, but complied, and Harry led them out of the main room and into his room, shutting the door behind them.

"Look Potter, we don't want to-"

"Shut up and listen," Harry interrupted coldly. "I don't know why Sirius invited you here, but now that you're here, let's get something straight. If you EVER endanger my sister again, I will bury you. I don't care how innocent or funny you think it will be, if you want to keep breathing, you will leave her alone. Am I clear?"

"We said we were sorry for the hippogriff thing," Fred began.

"Sorry?" Harry spat. "Now where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, 'we're sorry, we didn't know the boggart would do that, it won't happen again, we promise!' Sound familiar?" Both twins cringed. "This is twice now that your so-called innocent pranks have put my me or my family in serious danger, and you have exhausted my patience. If you attack us again, I guarantee it will be the last prank you ever pull. Understand?"

Both twins had paled significantly and gave identical nods.

Satisfied, Harry nodded. "Good, and don't forget it." With that, he turned and made his way back to the living room.

The party continued without incident for the rest of the day, and even Harry had to admit he was enjoying himself, although he spent most of the party chatting with Jack and Cedric in the corner. Even though Sirius had invited a fair number of people that Harry knew little of nothing about, he decided that he couldn't really be angry with his godfather. The man had been locked up by himself for the last decade, after all, which made Harry realize that Sirius needed the party more than he did. At least the Weasleys had left early.

Finally, the guests began to clear out and before long Cedric, Jason, Hermione, and Padma were the only students remaining. In the kitchen, Sirius was engaged in a conversation with Lupin and the headmaster that Harry was certain involved him in some way, but found he was too exhausted to care.

"So why didn't Zabini come?" Cedric asked as they lounged around the television.

"I don't think Sirius invited him," Harry said with a frown. "He's still not completely over the fact that I'm a Slytherin, or that I have Slytherin friends."

"He'll come around eventually," said Jack. "But for right now I think he still thinks of Slytherins as being like Snape."

Jason laughed. "Oh man, I hated that git. He's the reason I didn't try for a NEWT in potions."

"You're not the only one," Cedric replied. "There isn't a single Hufflepuff in his NEWT class, and there probably won't be for quite a while."

Suddenly there was a loud squeal followed by laughter from the direction of Row's room, causing the men in the living room to look at each other questioningly.

"Think we want to know?" Cedric asked.

"In this case, I think ignorance really is bliss," Jack replied, shaking his head. "Although I have to say it pains me to see my little sister starting to act like an actual girl." Suddenly he smirked. "At least I know she's safe when you're all off at school, what with Harry around."

Jason laughed. "You know, eventually you're going to have to accept the fact that your sister is growing up. I have a sister, and I know it's not easy, but something tells me Row can take care of herself. Now, don't look at me like that," Jason said, raising his hands in surrender as he found himself the recipient of two hard stares. "I'm just saying that she's going to grow up, whether you like it or not." Harry looked thoughtful but Jack continued glaring, so Jason decided to change the subject. "What about you, Harry? Got your eye on a special witch?"

Harry snorted. "Like who? Most of the girls at Hogwarts are terrified of me."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that for too long, though," Cedric argued. "After the thing with Malfoy came out it got better. Then the hippogriff, well…" He trailed off. "Still, people have a short memory for stuff like that, especially after summer. Who knows, maybe you'll hit it off with one of the Beauxbatons girls."

"Beauxbatons?" said Harry, genuinely perplexed.

"The French school?" Asked Jason. "How would he meet one of them?"

"You guys don't know?" Cedric said, leaning forward conspiratorially. "Well, I guess I'm not supposed to know either, so you can't tell anybody I told you, ok?"

"We still don't know what you're talking about, you know," Jack said sarcastically. "And what's this about French girls?"

"Beauxbatons is a French Academy of Magic," Cedric explained. "A long time ago, students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, another mainland school, would compete in a magical contest called the Tri-Wizard tournament. There were three tasks, and each contestant was scored by a panel of judges. Whoever had the highest score at the end was declared the winner, and regarded as something of a national hero. Unfortunately, the tasks were downright brutal, and a lot of students died, so they stopped doing it." Cedric paused to dramatic effect. "Until now. The schools have decided to bring back the tournament, and it's happening at Hogwarts this year."

"Sounds cool," supplied Jack. "So you get so hang with students from other schools for a whole year?"

"That's the general idea, yeah," Cedric replied.

"Why now?" Harry asked. "I mean, why did they decide to bring it back now, if it was so dangerous before?"

Cedric shrugged. "I'm not sure, really. I do know that they have a bunch of people designing the tasks to be less dangerous than before, though. My dad said that Dumbledore refused to allow Hogwarts to take part if it was too dangerous."

"So, are you gonna enter?" Jason asked Cedric. "I assume that's why your dad told you, isn't it."

Cedric nodded. "It is, and I am." Jason smiled and clapped him on the back.

"You think they'd let me come watch?" Jack asked uncertainly. "It sounds like it's going to be one hell of a show."

"I don't see why not," Cedric answered. "They'll be a lot of families and other random people there, but I'll ask my dad to be sure. I'd suggest you enter too, Harry, but they decided only to allow entrants that are over 17. Sorry."

"Fine with me," said Harry honestly. "That's about the last thing I need right now."

"Yeah, that's probably true," Cedric agreed. "And who knows, maybe with all this going on, you can finally have that quiet year you're always talking about."

Somehow, Harry doubted it.

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The weeks after his birthday passed leisurely for Harry. He continued to play Quidditch with Cedric and Jason, and spent a considerable amount of time just walking around Diagon Alley with various friends that came to visit. Overall, it was exactly the sort of lazy summer that he had hoped for.

Harry's relaxed attitude did not go unnoticed by his siblings, and one afternoon Jack asked him about it.

"You know something?" He said as he and Harry sat outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, "I hardly ever see you with your nose buried in a book anymore, at least not like last summer."

"You're right," Harry admitted. "I mean, I still study and practice on my own, but it's been a lot harder with Sirius around."

"You could always just tell him, you know."

"Not yet," Harry replied. "I'm still not sure exactly how he'd react. You saw how amazed he was when I told him I was reading 7th year Transfiguration material. I thought he was going to floo McGonagall on the spot just to brag."

Jack snorted. "That's true."

"I'll tell him eventually, but I don't want to dump it all on him at once, which means I can't let him see me practicing. Since I can't use my wand either, well…" He shrugged. "It's funny, if this would have happened last summer I would have been really upset, but now, it just doesn't seem like that big a deal. I feel, I don't know, safer I guess. Less apprehensive at least. Compared to our old problems, the ones we have now seem like a piece of cake."

"I think it's good for you," Jack replied. "I mean, we all had it rough, but you had it the worst. If it wasn't for you…" He trailed off. "Maybe this is fate's way of making up for everything we went through before, you ever think of it that way?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't believe in fate. I see your point though, but the way I see it, we earned this. If we hadn't worked together like we did to survive, we never would have made it here. So don't thank fate; thank yourself."

"Don't mind if a do," Jack said, taking another bite of his ice cream. "Ah, life is good."

Harry nodded in agreement and dug into his own bowl.

"Is that Sirius?" Jack asked, gesturing with his spoon. "Oy! Over here!" He called, waving his hand in the air.

"There you guys are," Sirius said as he approached. Suddenly he broke into a wide grin. "You'll never guess what I just got." He pulled a wad of shiny papers from his back pocket and waved them wildly.

"Tickets? What for?" Asked Jack.

"Only the first Quidditch World Cup to be hosted in England for over 30 years!" Sirius said, practically hopping with excitement. "Cost a bloody fortune too, but the seats should be worth it. I got one for all of us, plus a few extras, in case you want to bring friends. I got us a campsite and everything, it'll be great!"

"Sweet!" Jack exclaimed. "Ced mentioned something about it last weekend, he said it's like a giant wizard party."

"Yup," Sirius affirmed. "Even people who can't get tickets come just to enjoy the festivities."

"When is it?" Asked Harry. "How will we get there, and where will we stay?"

"Got it all covered," Sirius answered proudly. "Our portkey leaves Monday morning, the game is in the afternoon, and I got us a band new wizarding tent, complete with a Jacuzzi. We're all set."

"A Jacuzzi in a tent?" Jack asked, mind spinning with possibilities. "How is that possible?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was magic?"

Harry snorted. "That was lame."

"Made you laugh, didn't it?" Said Sirius.

"At you, not with you," Jack supplied helpfully, earning him a scowl from Sirius.

"So we leave on Monday then?" Harry asked. "We'd better get Row and decide who else we want to bring."

Jack and Sirius agreed, and the three made their way back to the flat to fire-call Row, who promptly flooed home from Padma's so that they could decide who to bring with them to the match.

In the end, they decided to invite Hermione, Padma, and Sarah, as they were the only three friends of the group who weren't already going to the match. Sirius had managed to reserve a campsite close to several others however, including the Diggorys and the Weasleys. Blaise, it turned out, was also going, but doubted that he would be able to get away from his family at any point during the day. The way he described it, the Quidditch world cup was something of a 'see and be seen' event for him, and Harry had no wish to interfere. Considering Sirius's opinions of his Slytherin friends, he figured it was probably for the best.

The Saturday before the match Harry was asleep when he was suddenly assaulted by flashes of a strange place and a stranger conversation.

"… closer to the fire, Wormtail…"

"… The Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?"

"… It could be done without Harry Potter, My Lord…"

"…this suggestion of abandoning the plan..."

"…But you seem so much stronger, My Lord…"

"… Harry Potter is as good as mine. It is decided…"

"… Nagini has interesting news…"

"…Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, muggle…"

"…why not? I will face you…"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry awoke with a start, immediately clapping a hand to his stinging forehead and trying to determine why his scar was hurting. After a moment of examination, he realized the pain wasn't coming from the scar, but rather through it somehow. It almost felt like….

With a start, Harry began to systematically adjust his occlumency shields to block this strange intrusion. After several moments, he felt the pain in his scar lessen, and slammed his full shield into place using this new configuration. Immediately, the pain in his scar vanished and he promptly summoned a pen and paper to write down everything he could remember from his dream. When he was satisfied he had it all, he got himself a glass of water and returned to bed, deciding to examine his findings in more detail the following morning.

When he read over his notes the next morning, Harry felt a cold ball of dread settle into his stomach. Although he only had bits and pieces of the conversation, he had enough to know what was being said. Voldemort was alive, Wormtail had found him, and they were planning something for the Quidditch World Cup. Something that apparently involved him. Considering all this, the solution was obvious: they shouldn't go to the World Cup. Sirius, however, didn't quite agree.

"Stay home, are you mad?" Sirius asked when Harry suggested it. He looked at Harry and his face softened. "Harry, I know it was a bad dream, but that's all it was. Wormtail escaped right out from under our noses, so it's only natural that it would be on your mind. I've even had a few dreams about it myself, but that's no reason to miss out on the World Cup!"

Harry shook his head. "You don't understand. It's not just a dream, Sirius. I think it has something to do with my scar, since it hurt when I woke up, but all I know for sure is that it wasn't just an ordinary dream."

"How do you know?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Because I don't dream."

Sirius looked completely baffled. "What?"

Harry sighed. "I haven't had a dream since I was very young, Sirius. I don't know if it's a result of occlumency or what, but it's the truth."

"B-But..how?"

"I used to get nightmares when I was younger…bad ones. So bad I could hardly sleep some nights, and I wanted them to stop. I remember wishing that I could take all the nightmares and fast forward through them, that way they would be over and I could get some sleep, so one night I tried it. I still don't really know how to explain it, I think it has something to do with occlumency, but basically before I go to bed I force all the thoughts out of my mind like I'm fast forwarding, and then I sleep straight through the night without dreaming." He looked at his godfather seriously. "That's how I know this wasn't just a dream, Sirius. Because I don't have normal dreams."

"B-But you've had nightmares before, I thought…"

"I've had things that qualify as nightmares, I guess, but they only last as long as it takes me to force them out of my mind. Once that's done, I don't dream. Ever. Until last night."

The look on Sirius face was a mixture of shock, curiosity, and pity. When he finally spoke, Harry realized he should have been expecting it, but it still made him scowl.

"We should tell Dumbledore."

Despite his personal feelings on the matter, Harry had to admit that his godfather was probably right. If Voldemort really was planning something for the Quidditch World Cup, the headmaster was in a lot better position to prepare everyone for it than Harry was. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

A quick fire-call later, Albus Dumbledore stepped though the floo and into the living room, where Harry reluctantly relayed the contents of his dream. When he had finished, Dumbledore sat back with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you a complete explanation," the headmaster began. "Since there is no precedent for surviving the killing curse, the best I can offer is my own theory." He began to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "As you know, I believe that the failed curse created a link between you and Lord Voldemort through your scar, and had the unintended consequence of transferring some of Voldemort's abilities to you, such as the use of parseltongue. However, it would appear that the link goes much deeper than anticipated, and it will likely get worse as Voldemort gains strength. It is a truly a blessing that you are already a proficient occlumens, Harry."

"What about the World Cup?" Sirius asked. "Do you really think he'll try something there?"

Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "Voldemort is not a fool. He will know that the security forces at the World Cup are already on high alert, and would not want to risk an attack with such a low probability of success. Harry said that he only got flashes of the actual conversation, no doubt as a result of his occlumency barriers, so it is possibly that the World Cup was merely mentioned in passing." Dumbledore paused for a moment and looked thoughtful. "Still, I will mention it to Cornelius, as well as some friends in the auror department. It cannot hurt to be too careful where Voldemort is concerned."

"But you would say that it's still safe for us to go, right?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"But of course," Dumbledore smiled.

"They mentioned me by name," Harry broke in, frowning. "They mentioned a plan, the Quidditch World Cup, and me. Don't you think it's a little irresponsible to just waltz in like nothing's wrong?"

"I understand your concern, Harry, but if ever there was an unlikely target for Voldemort, it is the Quidditch World Cup. Remember, his priority is still regaining his body, and his Death Eaters are either keeping low profiles or in Azkaban. Nearly every Auror in the Ministry will be at the match, as well as Security forces from Ireland, France, and several other nations. You have nothing to worry about."

"Besides," said Sirius with a grin. "With you and I there, the Death Eaters wouldn't have a chance anyway, right kiddo?"

Harry shook his head in exasperation. "You're crazy."

"Like a fox," Sirius answered.

"Or like a lunatic," Harry shot back. "I'll go along, but I want emergency portkeys distributed to all the girls."

"Done."

The two shook hands and Dumbledore made his way back to the floo with Sirius, leaving Harry to contemplate what lay in store for them the following day.

Much to his amazement, the day of the match passed almost completely without incident. Their guests arrived on time, they made their portkey, found their campsite, and set up camp just as Sirius had planned. Although Harry spent the afternoon subtly scanning the area for danger, he found none, and soon it was time for the actual match.

Harry spent the majority of the match the same way, always on the lookout for potential threats. He was scared for a moment when the veela mascots walked out onto the field and he felt a foreign compulsion in his mind, but a little concentration and some powerful occlumency ended that quite quickly. Of course, he still had to prevent his brother from running out onto the pitch.

As the game continued, Harry began to relax enough to follow the action, but was sure to stay alert. Suddenly he heard the crowd around him gasp and he looked up to see the two seekers diving at breakneck speed towards the ground. Harry looked to where they were going and frowned.

"There's nothing there," he said to the rest of the group. "What're they diving for?"

Sure enough, not a second later, the first seeker, Victor Krum, pulled up and skimmed along the top of the pitch. The second seeker wasn't as lucky, and plowed straight into the ground.

"What an AMAZING Wronskei feint by Victor Krum!" Shouted the announcer.

"That has to be the most dangerous move I've ever seen," breathed Row.

Harry shrugged. "I thought it looked like fun." He ignored the incredulous glances he got at that and continued scanning the area.

The game finally ended when Krum caught the snitch even though his team was behind by 160 points, resulting in a loss. Harry's group cheered as the teams took a final bow and then headed back towards their campsite. As they walked, Harry began to think that Dumbledore had been right after all, and started to join in the jovial conversation.

Harry stayed up for the next several hours, engaging in conversations with many people from his group and others, until he and Sirius were the last people still awake.

"Well kiddo, what'd you think?"

"You did good, Sirius," Harry answered honestly. "Everybody had fun, and Voldemort didn't try anything, so it looks like Dumbledore was right after all."

"Yeah, it was a good day," Sirius said, inhaling deeply. "Too bad Moony couldn't come." Suddenly he snorted. "I heard Hermione say something about 'Professor Lupin' today and I couldn't help thinking how strange that sounded."

"It shouldn't, he was a good teacher."

"He always was," Sirius replied wistfully. "He was our unofficial study leader."

"That's how Hermione is for our study group, except it's pretty official."

Sirius chuckled and started to reply but was cut off by the sound of a distant explosion.

"What was that?" Harry said, instantly on his feet.

"I don't know," Sirius answered, also rising. Suddenly the two began to hear screaming, punctuated by more explosions and a large flash of green light. People started coming out of the tents around them, including Arthur and Bill Weasley. Harry saw Arthur walk up to a Ministry Wizard who had just arrived and ask him something. Whatever the answer was couldn't have been good, because the redhead paled immediately and hurried back towards the tents.

"Arthur? What is it?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"Death Eaters," Arthur answered, visibly shaken. "They've taken the muggle family who operate the campsite and are using them for sport. You should get the children up and get to safety."

"Good idea," Sirius said, turning to do just that only to find that Harry had beat him to it.

As soon as Harry had heard Mr. Weasley's answer, he had immediately sprinted straight back to the tent. As he threw open the flap, he cast a loud canon blast charm, followed by a sonorous on himself.

"THE CAMPSITE IS UNDER ATTACK. EVERYONE, GRAB WHAT YOU NEED AND MEET OUTSIDE, DON'T FORGET YOUR PORTKEYS." As he spoke, he wandlessly opened the doors to all the private rooms and turned the lights on, walking around to make sure that everyone was up. When he was satisfied that everyone was following his orders, he made his way back outside, bumping into Sirius as his godfather ran in.

"Everyone is getting ready and will meet up outside," he said quickly, edging his way outside. "Where are the Death Eaters?"

"There," Harry looked to where Sirius was pointing and was able to make out a very large crowd surrounding a group of men in white masks. Hanging in the air above them was the muggle family they had seen on their way in, their eyes wide with terror as their bodies were expanded, shrunk, and transfigured as the crowd below laughed and jeered.

Harry had to fight down the urge to simply march over and decimate the group with blasting curses, but his family and friends took priority. As he watched, Arthur, Bill, and Charlie Weasley draw their wands and marched grim faced towards the oncoming mob. Harry found his respect for the older Weasleys increasing.

Harry continued to monitor the mob as well as scanning the surrounding area for other threats as he waited for everyone to exit the tent. When he was sure that everyone was accounted for, he pulled out his own portkey and had everyone grab a hold.

"Sirius?" He asked when his godfather hesitated.

"I'm going to help the Ministry wizards, Harry," Sirius finally answered. "I think they need all the help they can get, and you've got things in hand here."

"Ok," Harry nodded. "Be careful. Activate."

Sirius watched as Harry and the rest of the group vanished before turning and sprinting towards the oncoming mob.

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A/N Well, there we go. Summer is almost over, and Harry is starting to come out of his shell. Next chapter we get back to Hogwarts and Harry runs into a potentially very serious problem.