Author's Note: And now we move on to Harry's first day of primary school. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. I apologize if some of the speech is a little advanced for five-year olds, since I haven't interacted with any for years and have mostly forgotten how they normally talk.
"Doesn't you hair ever lie straight, Harry?" Petunia asked, trying to flatten her nephew's rather messy hair with a wet comb.
Harry shrugged. "Uncle Sirius says my dad's hair was always messy."
Aunt Petunia sighed, and after managing to get his hair to neaten up somewhat, set down the comb. "Okay, go put on your shoes and grab your backpack while I do June's hair. June, it's your turn."
Her daughter moved to stand in front of her mother, who picked up a brush and began brushing her somewhat wavy black hair, which was a compromise between her father's curly hair and mother's straight hair. The hair was then quickly divided in two and braided into two braids, to be tied at the ends with red ribbons. "There!" said Petunia when she was done. "All right, June, you can grab your backpack."
June grabbed her backpack and stood next to Harry, and that was when the doorbell rang. A minute later, their Aunt Fiona and a very excited Arista walked into the kitchen. "Hello, June and Harry," said Aunt Fiona. "Ready for your first day of school?"
"Uh-huh," said Harry, while June nodded next to him. "I can't wait to meet other kids like us."
June added, "An' our friends will be there too."
"It's going to be fun!" exclaimed Arista. "Mummy said she had fun at school and we would too."
"All right, I have the Portkey ready," said Aunt Fiona. "We'll be leaving in a couple of minutes.
Petunia hugged the three kids. "Have fun at school, guys. June and Harry, try to behave. I love you and will see you when you come home."
"We will, Mummy," said June, smiling up at her mother.
"And I love you too, Aunt Tuney," said Harry.
"See you later, Aunt Tuney!" Arista said, and then the three children reached out to touch the book Fiona was holding. A minute later, they felt a tug on their navels and disappeared.
Several seconds later, the group arrived in the entryway of Windmere Primary School. The three children, not being accustomed to Portkeys, lost their balances and fell, but Fiona was able to stay on her feet. She tucked the book Portkey in her purse and helped the three up. "Now, let's go to your classroom, guys." She led the way to a small classroom at the end of the hall, where a plump, motherly-looking woman with red hair greeted them. There were two boys and one girl, Harry's godsister Eileen, with her in the room.
"Hello, I'm your teacher, Mrs. Weasley," said the woman with a kind smile. "Welcome to kindergarten."
The three children said hello, and Fiona said, "Hello, Mrs. Weasley. I'm Fiona Black. This is my daughter, Arista. The boy is my godson, Harry Potter, and that's his cousin, Juniper Okoro, who goes by June."
Mrs. Weasley's eyes widened a bit when she heard Harry's name, but otherwise she showed no reaction to it. "It's lovely to meet you all. Why don't the three of you hang up your backpacks in the cloakroom there and then sit down at that table?"
The three did as told and then sat down at the table Eileen was sitting. "Hi, guys!" she exclaimed, looking very excited. "It's going to be fun being with you at school."
"Do you know the two boys, Eileen?" asked June, looking at the other table where the two boys were, one with red hair and blue eyes that looked like he might be the son of the teacher, and the other with brown hair and eyes.
"The red-haired boy is Ron Weasley," Eileen replied. "His mummy is our teacher. He has five big brothers and a sister. Bill an' Charlie are already at Nightwind School, an' Ginny won't start school till next year. The other boy is Neville Longbottom. His dad is a teacher at Nightwind School, and his mummy is a sub-sub'stute teacher when Uncle Remus can't teach."
Harry recalled Eileen mentioning the two boys before, since as she lived in Windmere, she had played with them frequently. He opened his mouth to say so, but was distracted by Aunt Cissy arriving with Draco, with Aunt Katya and Stella right behind them. Both Draco and Stella were a little disappointed to find out that the first table was full, since the tables only sat four students, but willingly sat down at the other table with Ron and Neville.
The other mothers left, and a minute later, as the clock ticked to nine o'clock, the bell rang, signifying the start of school. "Good morning class," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling at the eight students. "As I said, I am Mrs. Weasley, your teacher. We are going to have a fun school year, and you will learn to read and write."
Draco raised his hand, and when he was called on, said, "Mrs. Weasley, I can already write my name. And I can read a little, too."
"That's good," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'm sure all or most of you can do that. But just being able to write your name isn't enough, Draco. You'll learn to write other words, and learn to read different words than the ones you already know. Now, to start with, I would like everyone to stand up and tell everyone your name and something about yourself. Neville, you can start."
The brown haired boy stood up. "Hi. My name is Neville Longbottom. My daddy is a teacher at Nightwind School. I like chock-late ice cream an' frogs."
Ron was next. "I'm Ronald Weasley, but ev'rybody calls me Ron for short, 'cept when I'm trouble. Mum is our teacher, an' I have five big brothers an' a little sister. My fav'rite Quidditch team is the Chudley Cannons."
Draco then stood up. "I'm Draco Malfoy. I have a baby sister named Carina. I like apples and flying on my training broom."
After him was Stella. "I'm Stella Black. Draco and Arista are my cousins, and I like to read. My fav'rite books are the Dr. Seuss ones."
Mrs. Weasley then moved on to the next table. "My name is Harry Potter. I live with my Aunt Tuney and Uncle Tau, 'cause my mummy and daddy were killed by a bad wizard. My fav'rite color is green, and I like treacle tart."
June was next. "My name is Juniper Okoro, but you can call me June. I'm Harry's cousin, an' my Uncle Yun is a teacher at Nightwind School. My Aunt Makena is the fourth-grade teacher here. My fav'rite foods are strawberries an' chock-late frogs."
Arista stood up. "Hi, I'm Arista Black. I was named after a star, but my daddy didn't know that when I was born, 'cause he hates Astron'my. He didn't like it when he found out, 'cause the bad people in his family, 'cept for Aunt Cissy, who's nice, liked to name their kids after stars. Stella and Draco are my cousins, an' Harry is my godbrother, 'cause his parents were my godparents an' my parents are his."
Eileen was last. "My name is Eileen Prince-Nightwind. My many times great-grandparents founded Nightwind School. My daddy teaches Potions and my mummy is a Healer. Harry's my godbrother too, 'cause my parents were his other godparents. My favorite color is purple."
Once everyone was done introducing themselves, Mrs. Weasley showed them where the bathroom was and then ascertained how much they all knew. All of them could write their own names, and could also print the alphabet. June, Harry, and Arista could write a few more words as well, though it consisted of the names of their friends, 'mummy' and 'daddy', 'love', and 'dear'. They all knew the alphabet, and were learning how to read simple words, though Draco and Stella were the only ones that could actually read a book, even if it was a simple one like The Cat in the Hat, by the Muggle children's author Dr. Seuss.
For their first assignment, Mrs. Weasley handed out a list of short, simple words, like 'rat' and 'stop' for them to practice reading. When they were done with that, she picked up a Dr. Seuss book, this one titled Horton Hears a Who, and read to them from it. When she was done with that, it was snacktime, and everyone was given a cup of pumpkin juice or orange juice (depending on their preference) and slices of apple dipped in peanut butter.
After snacktime, they were allowed to play. Harry and Draco walked over to Neville and Ron. "Want to play with us?" asked Harry. "Draco's the only boy I could play with before. 'Cept for Keith and Peter, but they're not old 'nuff for school."
"Sure," said Ron, while Neville nodded. "Who's Peter? I know Keith, 'cause he's Eileen's brother."
"Peter's the son of my Aunt Yuki and Uncle Dylan," replied Harry. "They're not really my aunt and uncle, but I call them that 'cause they were friends with my parents. Peter's named after the actor that played the Fifth Doctor in Doctor Who, 'cause he's their favorite Doctor."
"What's Doctor Who?" asked Neville curiously.
"It's a show on the telly," Draco said, as the four boys started building a tower out of blocks. He and Harry did their best to explain the television show, and said that Aunt Yuki and Uncle Dylan liked science-fiction a lot. They also had a daughter, who was two, named Leia, after the character in the Star Wars movies, and two months ago, had another son, who was named Hikaru after their favorite character in the television show Star Trek, the helmsman Lt. Sulu (whose first name was revealed in a Star Trek novel published four years ago.)
Ron and Neville were aware of what a telly was, and the same for movies, though as they lived in Windmere and rarely went out into the Muggle world, they had only seen a couple of movies. As for television shows, they had seen a couple of episodes of a children's show called Sesame Street when they visited some of their parents' friends, who happened to live in the United States, but that was it.
After playtime was lunch, and the kindergarten class walked to the other end of the primary school, where the school cafeteria was. Ron pointed out his twin brothers, Fred and George, who were second grade and liked to joke around and play pranks, and his brother Percy, who was in fourth grade and more serious, being quite focused on doing well in school.
For lunch was a selection of sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit cups, milk and juice to drink, and a cookie/biscuit or a small pudding cup for dessert. Harry selected a turkey sandwich, a handful of carrot sticks, a fruit cup, a cup of milk, and a biscuit for his lunch, and sat down at the kindergarten table between his cousin and Draco. Mrs. Weasley sat a table with the other teachers, and Harry and June waved to the fourth-grade teacher, their Aunt Makena (though she was really June's aunt), who returned the wave.
When lunch ended, the kindergartners had a half hour rest period, and then Mrs. Weasley handed out paper and crayons and had them draw pictures of their bedrooms. When they were done drawing, they were told to put their pictures in their backpacks to take home, and she moved on to have them practice writing the alphabet. After that, she read another book, this time a wizarding book about a boy learning to fly on his broom, and passed out cups of water to drink. This was followed by another play period, this time outside on the school playground, and then school ended for the day at half past three.
Harry was rather disappointed that school was over, since he had enjoyed playing with Neville and Ron and had decided to include them in his group of friends. "Harry, you'll see us again tomorrow," Neville pointed out. "An' you can ask if you can come visit."
Harry cheered up at this, and then Fiona and the other mothers appeared to take their children home. The children bid good-bye to each other, and then to their teacher (with the exception of Ron, as she was his mother and they were going home together). Fiona took the book out of her purse and had Arista, Harry, and June touch it again. A minute later, the Portkey activated and they were whisked back to the Okoro kitchen.
Petunia was waiting with a snack of orange slices and some pretzels and milk. "How was your day, guys?" she asked. "Fiona, please join us for a few minutes before going home with Arista."
"It was fun!" said June enthusiastically. "Mrs. Weasley was our teacher, an' she was very nice."
"We made two new friends," said Arista. "Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom."
"Ron's mummy was the teacher," Harry said. "He's got five big brothers and a little sister. The two biggest ones, Bill and Charlie, are at Nightwind School. Percy's in fourth grade, and Fred and George are in second grade. They're twins and Ron says they're really funny and like to play pranks. Ginny's only four and goes to the day care center with Keith and Peter and the other little kids."
"Neville's dad is a teacher at Nightwind School," June added. "His mummy is a sub'stute teacher for Uncle Remus when he's sick. Here, Mummy. Mrs. Weasley had us draw pictures of our bedrooms." She took out her picture from her backpack, and Harry and Arista instantly followed suit.
"The pictures are very nice, Harry and June," said Petunia, smiling over the two pictures before hanging them up on the refrigerator.
Fiona looked down at her daughter's picture. "Your picture is very nice too, Arista. Can you please put it back in your backpack so you can show it to Daddy when we go home?"
"'Kay, Mummy," said Arista, doing as asked. A few minutes later, she finished her snack, and her mother finished the cup of tea and pretzels that Petunia had given her.
"All right, it's time for us to go home now, Arista," Fiona said. "We'll see you all tomorrow."
Arista waved good-bye to her friends, and then she and and her mother left the house, got into their car, and drove home.