Author's notes: This is a shorter chapter than usual as it's more of a singular event chapter and a round off of the Philosopher's Stone before I go onto the Chamber of Secrets. Anyway, I don't own Harry Potter, J. does. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the next chapter of the story...

Chapter 12: A Weasley Confrontation

Harry faked a smile as the Weasley family finally came up to him, but he gave Ginny a proper smile, which she noticed, but not the others, fortunately.

"Hello Harry, dear. I'm Molly Weasley, and this is my family. You've already met my daughter and Ron. I bet you got on tremendously. How was your year, dear?" Molly said, faking a motherly smile.

"I got on very well with Ginny, actually. As for my year, it was alright. I liked the lessons, but I wasn't too pleased with how some people behaved. Add the fact that Quirrell and Voldemort tried to kill me, and it wasn't an overly great year. Thank you for asking though," Harry said politely, emphasising Ginny's name as he wasn't too happy that Molly had said Ron's name, but not Ginny's, just calling her; 'her daughter'.

"I'm just glad to hear that you're alright. Ron was worried about you and wrote to us about everything. You shouldn't have needed to do that. You're far too young to be having to deal with such things," Molly said, faking worry, but also cringing at Harry's use of Voldemort's name. Harry could also see how she was always trying to make Ron sound so righteous. It seemed as though they were all trying to get him to befriend Ron and learn his secrets. Too bad that he wasn't stupid and saw right through them.

"I didn't see anyone else trying to do anything to stop Quirrell and Voldemort. If it wasn't for me and Hermione, Voldemort could've returned this year. I did what was necessary, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said firmly, folding his arms in annoyance before continuing, "And I've not been 'young' for a while, trust me. You have to grow up quickly when a self-proclaimed Dark Lord is trying to kill you and you have to deal with my so-called 'relatives'."

"You could've gone to Professor Dumbledore. He would've been able to sort everything out without anyone getting hurt," Molly said, getting slightly angry at Harry's total dismissal of her comments.

"The only people who got hurt were evil and deserved to die. Quirrell would've doomed the world if he had given Voldemort the Stone, and Voldemort has escaped in his spirit form once again. I know what you're thinking, but those sort of people can't be talked out of doing evil, even by Dumbledore. I don't give second chances, and neither should anyone else. People who kill don't care about humanity. They're monsters! The sooner the rest of the world realises this, the better. Less people will be killed if we take proper action now rather than later," Harry explained, delighting in Molly's reddening face. She was about to blow, and he knew it was because she knew that he was right, regardless of her own views or the great Dumbledore's views.

"You still should've got a professor to handle it! They have more experience in such matters than a mere first year!" the pompous Percy Weasley added angrily, obviously annoyed that Harry could dismiss the help of an 'esteemed' person like Dumbledore.

"Yet it was me that stopped Voldemort, not a professor! Neither was it a professor that noticed how suspicious Quirrell had been acting, but me! Just because someone might be older, doesn't mean that they are any wiser or perceptive, Percy! It's how you use your brain that counts, not how much is possibly in there! And trust me, there's some things that none of our professors know but others, even the students know about, so don't go preaching about things that you don't understand!" Harry exclaimed, shocking the entire Weasley family, minus Ginny, with his statements. They knew that he was true though, and the fact that he knew as such was what scared them. Harry seemed to know a lot more than what he let on.

"You shouldn't disrespect your professors like that, Harry! They know what they're talking about! That's why they're at Hogwarts teaching you! Percy is right, and I think that you should apologise for letting your temper get the better of you! It's not good for being social to your friends if all you do is shout at them!" Molly chastised, thinking that it would be enough to quiet Harry down and show him his place in respecting his elders.

"Respect is earned, Mrs. Weasley, not given on a silver platter. There's only a few professors that I know that have earned such respect. Those are Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout. Dumbledore should've figured out what was wrong with Quirrell from the start of the year, Snape is a biased arse, and Quirrell was in league with Voldemort. Also, you're not my mother, so stop acting like it! I will not be told what to do by someone who can't see what's in front of them and blindly follows her so-called 'superior elders'! Not all elders are 'superior'! In fact, there shouldn't even be any 'superiors'! All it leads to is prejudice and blood! Respect has to be earned by your mind and your actions, not by your age, skills, or anything else, just your mind and your actions!" Harry bellowed, growing tired of Molly's blindness to everything around her. She was terribly old-fashioned and blindly followed people like Dumbledore just because he did some 'great things'. If people knew what Dumbledore's 'great plan' was now, he wouldn't be held up so high in everyone's views.

The Weasleys, minus Ginny, were now completely flabbergasted by Harry's outburst. They didn't expect Harry to fight back so well. They had expected the boy to quickly deflate and apologise to Molly, putting him in his rightful place. He was supposed to be weak and feeble from being abused at the Dursleys, yet seeing him now showed just how badly things had gone. Dumbledore wouldn't be pleased if he found out that they weren't getting anywhere with Harry.

Ginny, however, was grinning at Harry. She was very proud that he had stood up to her mother and had succeeded in finally shutting her up for good. Molly had no retort to this as was shown in her shocked eyes. No-one had ever been able to do this in history, yet here was an 11 year old Harry Potter, and he hadn't backed down from Molly's bid for control. Ginny felt her heart flutter slightly as she felt the power radiating from Harry as he shouted at her mother. She realised then that she was slowly falling for the dark-haired, green-eyed boy, and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get home. It was nice to see you again, Ginny, and remember what I told you. Next school year, you'll be at Hogwarts for your first year. Hopefully your year won't be as crazy as mine. Goodbye," Harry said politely, faking the politeness to the Weasleys except to Ginny, who he gave a genuine smile to, which made her blush.

Harry quickly walked past the Weasley family towards where he could see his 'relatives' hiding away in a corner. Once he got to them, they all went to the car park, got into Vernon's car, then drove back to Privet Drive. When Harry entered Number 4 again, he felt an emptiness inside him. Come to think of it, he'd felt an emptiness ever since he left King's Cross Station after the confrontation with the Weasleys. What was this emptiness he was feeling? He just didn't know. As he watched the Dursleys walk in and begin to get on with the housework, ignoring him as usual in fear of him using magic on them or making them pay once more for abusing him in his childhood, he just knew that this would be a long summer, and to be honest, he couldn't wait to return to Hogwarts to see Hermione, and finally see Ginny in the flesh for more than a fleeting moment or just via her writing in letters. Yes sir, next school year was a year worth waiting for, despite Dumbledore, Snape, and the Weasley boys being annoying as hell, and as he packed his things away and went to sleep after the Dursleys had retired for the night, his thoughts were filled with the adventures that he, Hermione, and Ginny would have in the next school year.