October arrived, full of rain. Harry made sure to always stay with the rest of the team when returning from quiddich practice, in order to avoid being invited to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party. When Fred and George complained about how fast the Slytherins' Nimbus 2001s are, Harry reminded them that as long as the brooms have no extra hands to catch the snitch, hit the bludgers, or throw and catch quaffles, the Slytherins have no chance of winning.
Halloween passed without the chamber opening. The first quiddich game was against Slytherin. The bludgers behaved, so it was a regular game except for the rain. Harry caught the snitch easily as it whizzed passed Malfoy's ear.
The first semester went by fast, and Harry was excited when he went home for Christmas. Sirius went overboard again, and Harry was thrilled with the decorations and presents. Lupin came over to visit several times over the holidays, and Sirius made sure Harry wasn't bored.
School was normal when Harry returned. No students were attacked; Hermione never made polyjuice potion, and Valentines Day was ignored as it is every year.
During Easter holidays, it was time to sign up for classes for the next year. Harry wrote to Sirius, saying that he thinks he'll take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures as they sound like the two easiest subjects. Sirius must have apparated over to school as soon as he received the owl.
"Are you really trying to waste your brain power?" he asked Harry in front of everyone.
"I have quiddich practice almost every day," Harry told him. "I don't have time for extra homework. It makes no sense to take Arithmency or Ancient Runes, as they both sound like they give lots of homework. Muggle Studies would be a waste of time, as I grew up with muggles. Divination could be useful if Trelwaney ever makes another prophecy, and Care of Magical Creatures could be useful if I ever need to escape through the forbidden forest."
"Good excuses," Sirius told him. "I can't let schoolwork interfere with your quiddich career, but both of your parents took real electives instead of wasting their time with nonsense like divination."
Harry signed up for the same two courses he took in his dream, not wanting to deal with new subjects.
The quiddich match against Hufflepuff went on as scheduled, as the chamber of secrets was never opened, and no students were attacked. Gryffindor won as usual. They won the last match against Ravenclaw too, and it wasn't a surprise that Gryffindor has once again won the quiddich cup and the house cup.
Harry sat with the Weasleys for the train ride home. He still regretted not becoming friends with Hermione. He was happy that overall, he had a calm school year, but wondered if maybe there were some advantages to the original way things were done the first time. He didn't think it was worth anyone getting killed, and he was happy to be living with Sirius now instead of blowing up his aunt this summer, so he decided his way of doing things was still the best way.
Harry expected the summer to be boring with the Weasleys in Egypt, but he was wrong. Sirius made sure they did something fun every day. He also got together with Draco a few times, which wasn't very enjoyable, but with no Weasleys around, Sirius wanted him to have contact with someone his age. Remus came to visit often, and the summer passed quickly.
August 25th was Remus's last visit in the summer, exactly a week before the full moon. Harry was reading through his defense against dark arts textbook when he heard Snape's voice ask if Remus was there. Sirius invited Snape in.
"Here's your potion, Remus," he said putting it down in front of him.
"Thank you," Remus said, putting aside his book.
"I wanted to ask you something, Professor," Harry said, putting down his textbook.
"Sit down, Severus," Sirius said hastily. "Knowing Harry, it's going to be long."
"I was just reading about boggarts," Harry said, "And it's no secret what form Neville's boggart would take. I know that the way to deal with a boggart is to make it look funny. I'm assuming you wouldn't want to appear in a dress or a silly hat, and knowing Neville, he will be open to suggestions. What would you like me to suggest?"
As soon as Harry mentioned Snape in a dress, Sirius started laughing. Remus snorted in his potion, but managed to continue drinking.
"Sorry," Harry said, "I should have waited for Remus to finish drinking."
"Do you really think the boggart will take my form?" Snape asked.
"Neville is petrified of you," Harry said. "Every time you look at him, he messes up his potion."
"He would mess up even if I didn't look at him," Snape said.
"He's more likely to mess up when nervous," insisted Harry. "That's why I keep interrupting you when you yell at him. What should we do about the boggart?"
"I'll have to think about it," Snape said. "Definitely not a dress."
"Maybe a clown costume?" asked Harry.
"No," Snape said. "I don't want to look ridiculous."
Remus put down his empty cup.
"I don't think you should have a turn with the boggart," he told Harry. "It would scare everyone with Voldermort would appear in the classroom."
"I can handle Voldermort," Harry said. "My boggart would take a dementor's form."
"How do you know about dementors?" asked Sirius.
"Remember the first night, the first year?" asked Harry. "I asked Fudge about them when he mentioned that Peter and Voldermort were kissed. After that, I read about them and had nightmares about them for a while. In my dream, every time a dementor came near me, I heard my mother pleading with Voldermort not to kill me."
"Do you know how to deal with a real dementor?" Remus asked.
Harry took out his wand.
"I practiced in the room of requirement," he said. "I never tried against a real dementor, but it works in my dreams."
"Expecto patronus!" he yelled and a stag appeared from the end of his wand.
"My dad's was a stag," Harry said thoughtfully, looking at his patronus. "My mum's was a doe. I was wondering about why partronuses take different forms but couldn't find information on it. I was wondering if it depends on what makes you happy. My dad was an animagus; he must have been very happy when he learned how to do it. I don't know what the significance is of the doe, unless it's because it's a more feminine version of my father's and my mum was happy when she was with my father. I'm not sure why mine is a stag, unless it's because all my happy memories happened in this house, and the reason Sirius took me in is because he's friends with my dad. Is there any research to back my theory?"
Severus took out his wand. A doe appeared at the end of his wand.
"Yours is the same as my mother's," Harry said. "Do you know why yours is a doe?"
"I would imagine because all my happy memories concern your mother," Severus said. "One day I'll tell you about her."
"You would probably feel uncomfortable talking about her," Harry said. "I wouldn't want to put you in a difficult position in front of Sirius and Remus."
"It's probably better that I don't tell you yet," Severus said. "I still need you to respect me in class. Maybe when you graduate, I'll tell you."
"How do you know you'll still be alive?" Harry asked.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Snape asked, surprised.
"If Voldermort comes back," Harry said.
"He's not coming back," Sirius told Harry. "He was kissed by a dementor."
"Speaking of dementors," Remus said. "How will you handle a dementor boggart?"
"I'll do a patronus," Harry said. "Chances are it would trip over it, and I'll say riddikulus."
"I'll have to think about how to handle my boggart," Snape said.
"If not, we'll just do the dress and hat," Harry said smiling.