Hey guys. this is the next chapter, please enjoy.

THE VANISHING GLASS

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.

"That sounds like Petunia," murmured Lily.

The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.

"No décor change in ten years," yelped Sirius. He was always keeping up with the newest styles when they were at Hogwarts. To keep something the same for ten years would be really boring.

Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets –

Laughter erupted around the great hall, each imagining the picture that had been described.

but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

"Maybe Sirius came and got him." James said to Lily, looking over to Sirius for confirmation. He shook his head sadly. James looked at him angrily. "You're his godfather why didn't you get him out of there?" Harry interrupted his dad before he could really have a go at Sirius.

"It wasn't his fault dad, he couldn't come and get me because he wasn't able to. Don't worry, everything will be explained in the third book." Sirius gave him a thankful smile.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.

Both Lily and Snape flinched. They both knew how annoying her voice was. To be woken up by it every morning for ten years was unthinkable.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.

"Wow good memory Harry," said Hermione. "I don't remember anything before I was five."

His aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly," said Harry.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Lily glared at the book.

"She made you cook breakfast?" her voice on that dangerous verge of yelling. Harry shrugged.

"Only sometimes he mumbled."

"Oh when I see Petunia again I'm going to have a word with her."

Harry groaned.

"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing..."

Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.

Ron stopped reading and shuddered.

"How can you put them on when you know a spider's been on them?" he asked. Harry shrugged, whilst Sirius laughed.

"It's only a spider Ron, they're small and Harmless."

"Not the one's we've met," he mumbled loud enough for Harry to hear. One word. Acromantulas.

Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

A stunned silence filled the hall. No, it couldn't be true. Angry eyes swept to Dumbledore who had the sense to look ashamed.

"You told me they would look after him! That he was safest there!" Yelled Professor McGonagall. Harry had never seen her look so angry. She was livid, and she wasn't the only one. Everyone that Harry cared about was on their feet yelling at the headmaster.

"Sonorus" All eyes turned to him. "Look, I know the stuff I went through at the Dursley's is not great, yeah I hated it there. But that's over now. There's worse stuff then sleeping in a cupboard to come and if your reacting like this then were never going to finish these books." At these words there was a quick scramble for everyone to get back to their seats.

"I am sorry my boy for forcing you to go back there every year. I was 0nly looking out for you. If I had known how bad it truly was I would have taken you myself. Can you forgive an old man his weakness?" Harry smiled and nodded his head. Before the battle he would probably have felt extremely angry, but now that the horcrux was out of him he no longer felt that rising anger, for which he was extremely grateful.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.

"What a spoiled brat," he heard whispered around the hall.

It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.

Hermione glared at him.

"He better not have punched you Harry." Harry said nothing, knowing he couldn't lie to her.

Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

Once again Harry found himself under scrutiny of the great hall. Maybe it was the fact that now they were being told that their hero's life had never been easy.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.

"Nope, that's just the Potter genes. Don't worry, you'll shoot up soon son." Harry gave his dad a small smile.

He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.

Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"You liked it?" Ron asked. As far as he could remember Harry had always hated his scar and the attention it brought. Harry nodded.

"When I was younger it made me different to the Dursley's. I didn't know about magic or anything back then remember."

He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.

"She lied to you," whispered Lily. Harry nodded giving his mum a hug. It was still quite weird to be able to hug his mum, but he was taking advantage of it.

"And don't ask questions."

Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

"How are you ever supposed to learn anything if you don't ask questions?" asked Hermione. She looked upset about something and Ron whispered to her, hopefully making her feel ok.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

"Comb your Hair Harry," shouted Gred and Forge. They both laughed. "I do believe that should be our new greeting for him." Harry stifled his laughter.

"Never going to happen. The Potter hair is untameable," said James. Lily nodded her head.

"I've tried everything."

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.

Ginny grinned running her hands through his hair. She kissed his cheek.

"Just the way I like it," she said.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

More laughing ensued. The twins were looking at him in wonder.

"Harry, we've never seen this side of you! You're all witty!" Ron and Hermione shared a look.

"Harry is extremely witty, not so much in first year, but he definitely got worse as we got older."

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

Looks of disgust covered the faces of the people near him.

"Even I don't get thirty-six," said the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy. For Malfoy to agree with everyone then something had to be wrong.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

Hermione looked sceptical.

"Harry I have never seen you eat fast once. Ron yes, you no." Harry grinned at her.

"At Hogwarts there is always loads, and if not we can go to the kitchens. At the Dursley's I never knew when my next meal might be."

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

"The idiot can't even count," shouted Dean.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

"Oh yes, encourage him. What a brilliant father he is." Tonks muttered. She was missing Teddy and couldn't wait to go and see him.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.

Ron looked at Hermione with a confused face. She explained that they were all electrical pieces of equipment that muggles used for fun.

He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

Harry grinned.

"She was nice, but for an eleven year old it was pretty boring. I didn't even know she was a squib until fifth year."

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.

"How could he?" huffed Lily, feeling extremely angry about how her sister was teating her son.

Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.

"But Harry, I thought you loved cats," purred Hermione. Harry shrugged.

"They like me, not the other way around."

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Oh please, no," murmured Harry.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

"Hate is such a strong word, more like loath" he muttered.

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

Both James and Lily growled, both looking at the book angrily.

"How dare they treat you like that" James shouted. Harry bowed his head, not looking at his father.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).

"Not a chance Harry," said Fred.

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"That's her normal look isn't it?" asked Snape causing Lily to grin.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

"I wasn't going to blow up the house," Harry muttered.

"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."

"He's not a dog," growled Sirius. Mooney smirked.

"Look who's talking," he said.

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"What a spoiled brat," muttered Parvati. The people who sat around her nodded their heads in agreement.

"Dinky Duddydums…

The twins grinned at each other as the hall once again burst into laughter.

"And I was worried about Ronniekins," said Ron grinning at Harry.

don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

Harry's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Her arms fit around him?" he questioned causing snorts to be heard all around.

"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

"Horrid boy," hissed Lily.

Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.

Sirius growled at the description of Piers. Anyone that looked like a rat was bad in his books.

He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.

Hermione looked at him sadly.

"You'd never been to the Zoo before?" Harry shook his head.

His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,

Harry saw all the Weasley's flinch at the picture of his uncles face close up.

"I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

"He's kidding right?" Lily asked him. Harry paled and looked down. Ron and the twins both looked at him, remembering the bars that were placed on his windows at the beginning of second year.

"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.

"Accidental Magic," chimed Lily and Mrs Weasley together. The both looked at each other and smiled.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

James reached over and ruffled his sons hair, smiling.

"You can never tame the Potter hair, your mother has tried every trick in the book," he said to Harry. Lily smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.

"A shrinking charm," Mooney informed them.

Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.

Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"You apparated?" Harry shrugged.

The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong.

Ron, Hermione and the twins groaned.

"You just had the jinx it," said Ron.

It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.

"Your one of his favourite subjects Harry," grinned the twins.

This morning, it was motorcycles.

"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

Hermione groaned.

"You didn't?" Harry blushed.

"Hey I was eleven. It just popped into my head."

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

"Yes they do," shouted Sirius. "Well at least mine does," he said smugly.

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

Both Fred and George grinned.

"Harry doesn't need to ask questions…"

"To get dangerous ideas," they said. Harry grinned, that was definitely true.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.

"They're yummy, much better than other flavours," Luna commentated. Harry gave her a small grin whilst Neville gave her small kiss on the cheek.

It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.

"The poor gorilla, being compared to that fat lump," muttered Hermione.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.

Both James and Sirius cracked their knuckles whilst Lily and Mooney just looked angry.

They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

"You were ALLOWED to finish it," screeched Lily making everyone stare at her. "How dare she, when I see her next, oh my sister is going to get a piece of my mind!"

Fred and George leaned over to Harry.

"Now we see where you got that temper of yours from," Harry smiled.

Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

"This is not going to be good," murmured Hermione.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

Lily looked to her son with love on her face. For him to compare his life to a snake it must have been bad.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked.

Hermione looked shocked.

"Snakes don't have eyelids," she stated. Harry shrugged. He was so used to unexpected things happening to him it didn't surprise him anymore. He looked over to his parents. He was worried about what they would think when they found out he was a parselmouth.

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

"You winked back at the snake?" asked James. Harry shrugged.

"Hey, I was lonely."

The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:

"I get that all the time.

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded vigorously.

James and Lily gasped.

"You're a Parstlemouth?" Harry nodded. "But only dark wizards can speak Parstletounge."

Harry felt as if he'd been stabbed in the back. They were making the same conclusions everyone else had been making in second year. Ginny squeezed his hand. He then felt her stand up.

"How dare you come to conclusions on your son just because he can speak another language," she shouted. The infamous Weasley temper coming into play. "You died, he was alone and he had to live his life without you. It has not been easy and he has already been on the receiving end of almost everyone's suspicions. You're his parents, you're supposed to support him." Both James and Lily looked downcast. They didn't really know their son, how could they make any assumptions about him. Lily placed her hand on Harry's.

"Harry, we love you, no matter what. Who cares if you can talk to snakes? You're our son. I know we didn't have much time with you, but we want to get to know you." James nodded.

"We've missed so much," he said softly. Harry nodded.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"You know, you keep describing him like animals," whispered Hermione. Harry grinned.

"That's because he is one."

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

"Accidental magic!" Sirius said grinning widely at Harry.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."

"Well, at least he said thanks," quipped George. Harry shook his head. He wondered if the snake had ever actually reached Brazil, he hope that it did.

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

"Into nothingness," said Luna.

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

"Idiot child,"

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

"They actually starved you!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "I know that you were too skinny, but to actually find out that they stopped you from eating."

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.

"You shouldn't have to," murmured Lily. Both Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. Now they knew how he was so good at sneaking around, he had plenty of practice at the Dursley's.

He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.

James turned to Sirius.

"Why didn't you take him in?" Sirius looked down, shame clearly etched on his face.

"It wasn't his fault," Harry told them. Both of his parents looked at him. "Look, just trust me. You'll find out in the third book what happened." They both nodded their heads.

He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burn- ing pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from.

"You remember that?" said Professor McGonagall, looking pale. Harry nodded.

"I remember more though now." Mooney nodded, remembering Harry's remarks from his third year.

He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.

"Dedalus Diggle!" Tonks giggled.

After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

"That's because they're wizards Harrykins. It's called apparition." The twins laughed.

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

"And that's the end of the chapter." Said Ron. "Who wants to read next?" Mooney nodded his head.

"I'll read it," he said. Ron handed the book over to Remus who's eyes widened at the title chapter. He chuckled.

"The Letters From No One,"