As the school year continued, Harry enjoyed his time at Windmere Primary School. Ron and Neville quickly integrated in his circle of friends, and the eight of them played together. On the weekends, they would all visit each other, taking turns as to whose house or flat they would stay in. Neville's parents were very nice people, and he had a younger sister named Diana, who was two years old. Ron's sister Ginny and Eileen's brother Keith would sometimes join in, as they were four, and the twins Fred and George would occasionally play some funny but harmless pranks or suggest cool activities to do.
Harry would also visit Uncle Remus and Aunt Amina, and their daughter Layla, who was the same age as Diana Longbottom. Uncle Kurt would also drop by on Sunday, and Harry was happy to be able to spend more time with him. Previously Uncle Kurt had been away at a Jewish theological seminary, and so hadn't been able to visit much except during the summer. Now that he had graduated, however, he had some more free time, and he was living in Windmere and taking over some of the duties of Rabbi Goldberg, who was elderly and planning on mostly retiring within the next few years.
Christmas came and went. Harry received a training broom and a practice quaffle and snitch from his godparents, and various toys and books from his relatives, friends, and other 'aunts' and 'uncles'. Mrs. Weasley sent him a green jumper that had a Snitch worked in the front and a box of nut brittle. Her accompanying note (which Aunt Petunia helped him read), said that she made jumpers every year for her family at Christmas, and was now including Ron's friends. At that, June immediately opened her parcel from Mrs. Weasley, to reveal that she had a jumper as well, hers a pale blue with a cluster of juniper berries worked in the front, and a box of fruit drops.
In June, the school year ended. While Harry was excited to be promoted to first grade, he was also sad about leaving kindergarten and Mrs. Weasley, who was kind, motherly, and an all-around wonderful teacher. "It's all right, Harry dear," she said when he hugged her tightly on the last day of school and wailed that he was going to miss her. "Just because I'll no longer be your teacher doesn't mean you'll never see me again. Or have your forgotten that you are friends with Ron and are always welcome to visit?"
"But what if my first grade teacher isn't as nice as you?" Harry asked.
"Don't worry, Miss Susanne Heliat is a very nice teacher and you will learn many new things in her class," Mrs. Weasley assured him. "All her students like her and many don't want to leave her when they finish first grade."
Harry thought this over for a minute, then said, "Okay. But no teacher will be as good as you, Mrs. Weasley."
Mrs. Weasley smiled at the praise, then bid Harry good-bye, as the school day was over.
During the summer holidays, Petunia and Tau took Harry and June on two-week trip to Brighton, a seaside city in Britain. With them was Stella, Arista, and their families. They had fun going to the beach, visiting attractions such as amusement arcades, the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, and the Booth Museum of Natural History. It was the first real holiday trip that the children had ever been on, since before that, they were too young to properly enjoy anything that wasn't a trip to the local zoo or something similar, and visiting family friends didn't count.
After that, Harry celebrated his sixth birthday, with a party that all his friends attended. As a special birthday gift, Uncle Sirius and Fiona presented him with tickets to the Holyhead Harpies-Chudley Cannons Quidditch match next week, and all his friends were invited to go with him. Ron was especially excited about that, since the Cannons were his favorite team, and he got into an argument with Arista, who supported the Harpies.
"Your team hasn't won a League Cup for 'most a hundred years," Arista said, sounding superior. "They're a bad team."
"You take that back!" Ron snapped, face turning red. "The Cannons are great! 'Sides, your team has all girls."
"What does that mean?" Arista snapped back. "Girls can do anything boys can, and better too! I can kick a ball farther than you."
Ron chose to ignore that and instead said, "Well, the Cannons are the bestest team ever! They're gonna win!"
Arista laughed. "Ron, their motto is 'Let's just all keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best!' If the Cannons win, then I'll give you my stuffed dragon."
"Deal," said Ron. "The Cannons will win, and I'll get your dragon."
"But what if the Harpies win?" Harry piped up. "Then you have to give Arista something."
Ron looked annoyed at this, but Arista thought for a moment, then said with a wicked smile, "If the Harpies win, Ron has to kiss me."
"What? No!" Ron exclaimed, making a disgusted face. "I'm not kissing you! That's too gross."
"All right, that's enough," said Sirius, a frown on his face. "Arista, stop teasing Ron. He's not going to kiss you if the Harpies win the match. Have him give you some sweets or something."
"Fine, Daddy," said Arista. "Ron, if the Harpies win, you have to give me two chocolate frogs." Ron agreed to that.
As it turned out, after an hour long match, the Harpies did win, three hundred eighty points to ninety. Ron looked sulky at the loss, but said he would give Arista the two chocolate frogs the next time they saw each other.
"That was a good match, wasn't it?" asked Fiona (she, Sirius, and Neville's parents had come along as chaperons). "I am sorry that the Cannons lost, Ron."
"Look on the bright side, they did manage to make nine goals," Mrs. Longbottom said.
"I guess," said Ron. "I still wish the Cannons had won, though."
"Maybe they will in their next match," Sirius said, and shot his daughter a Look before she could say anything against it.
The group then returned to the Okoro home and the children spent the afternoon playing before returning to their respective homes for dinner.
Author's Note: Yes, the same of the first grade teacher is a reference to the Discworld character Susan Sto Helit, the adopted granddaughter of Death. However, other than some similarities in appearance, choice of job, and not talking down to children, they aren't quite the same. Miss Heliat smiles quite frequently and doesn't teach the same way that Susan Sto Helit does.