Harry's birthday was the happiest day of his life, and the last exciting one of the summer. After the Dementor attack, nothing out of the ordinary happened, until August 31st when they did their school shopping. Ron and Harry had to constantly get new robes, as they kept growing at least four inches every summer, but they didn't really care that much. While fitting themselves for new robes at Madam Malkin's, Draco came in and stood next to Harry. "Hey Potty and Weasel King. Have a fun summer? I heard you two almost got some lucky lady to kiss you. It's a shame you sent them away though." Harry had to hold Ron back from pummeling the little ferret, but Madam Malkin got to him first by sticking a needle in his leg. "OUCH! What was that for?" Ron asked her. Madam Malkin replied "You've got to be still when I'm making adjustments to your pants, or I might accidentally poke you." She then looked up at Harry and gave him a wink.
They left Madam Malkin's with their new school robes, and went to Flourish and Blotts with everybody else to get their new school books. "It's going to be exciting having Sirius teach us Defence Against the Dark Arts." Hermione exclaimed. Harry then said "Hermione, everything I taught you guys, I learned from Sirius. So he's already been teaching you, you just haven't realized it yet." Hermione took that into consideration, then her excitement dropped down by a lot. "I guess you're right Harry." was the only thing she could say.
They walked to the clerk and said "Three copies of 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5', 'The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts', 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', 'Spellman's Syllabary', and 'Runes Dictionary'." The clerk got the fifteen books and told the three "That'll be ten Galleons ." Harry gave him the ten Galleons, and they went to the Leaky Cauldron with everybody else.
They decided to stay in the Leaky Cauldron the last day before school started so they could get to King's Cross quicker. They had a huge dinner made by Tom, and went to their respective rooms. Harry was looking forward to the trip to Hogwarts immensely, as he would be seeing his girlfriend of one year: Daphne Greengrass. "I really need to figure out what to give her for our one-year anniversary." Harry thought to himself, before he quickly fell asleep. He awoke the next morning feeling strangely refreshed, even though he's been having the same nightmare with the dark hallway and the door at the end of it. He was going downstairs by himself and debating whether he should tell anybody else about the dreams, but was stopped by a head of blonde hair rushing into him.
He could feel the air get knocked out of him, as his girlfriend tackle-hugged him. "Nice to see you too Daph." Harry said after he caught his breath. Daphne looked up at him with a smile on her face, and asked him "Are you ready to go to Hogwarts?" Harry replied "I'm always ready to go to Hogwarts. It just feels like something bad is going to happen again, like it has for the past four years." Daphne looked at him then gently kissed his cheek, then told him "Well you have me now and your friends. Remember you don't have to do any of this alone. That's the last thing you should do." Harry smiled at his girlfriend as they walked down to breakfast. "Morning Harry." Fred and George told him at the same time. "Hey you guys. How's the joke shop coming along?" Harry asked them.
Fred looked around at the table, then whispered to Harry "It's going fine. We don't want mum to find out or she might make us stop, but we bought the property and just need to decorate it a little." Harry nodded at this, and helped himself to eggs and bacon and some pancakes. It was a delightful breakfast as Sirius told them stories about his and James' endeavors at Hogwarts. Then Fred and George told Sirius about their endeavors at Hogwarts, and Sirius laughed while saying "You two really would've given us Marauders a run for our money. I mean pranking Harry's cousin like that, we never would've done that! We also wouldn't have tried getting past Dumbledore's Age Line either." Mrs. Weasley kept glaring at Sirius for encouraging her twin sons' behavior, but Sirius just ignored it. "Well it's time to head off to King's Cross Station, as we don't want to miss the train." Mr. Weasley said.
Everybody got their things and headed to the train station, which was right down the street. They had to be careful going through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, to make sure no Muggles saw them disappearing through a brick wall. The next thing Harry saw was the scarlet train that would take them to Hogsmeade Station, then the horseless carriages that would take them to the front steps of Hogwarts. Harry and the others put their trunks in the compartment they were sitting in, and waved goodbye to everybody else as the train. Sirius decided to ride the train with the students, and stayed in the compartment Harry and the others were in, which was the same compartment with Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley were in. "It's been ages since I been on the Hogwarts Express. Last time I was, I just graduated from Hogwarts. Those were the days. I was quite a lady magnet back then." Sirius told them.
The ride to Hogwarts went extremely smooth, until Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came into their compartment, like they do every year. "Well if it isn't Know-It-All, Potty, and Weasel King." Draco drawled. "What do you want you ferret?" Harry asked him. "I want to know why you haven't been chucked into Azkaban yet." Draco replied. Harry then retorted "And I want to know why none of your father's have been chucked into Azkaban yet. After all, they are all Death Eaters." Draco pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry "You'll pay for that Potter!" he snarled. Then Sirius spoke up and told Draco "Unless you want detention for a week, I suggest you put your wand away Mr. Malfoy." Draco looked at Sirius, and asked him "Who are you to be threatening me with detention?" Sirius replied "I'm Professor Black, your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, now unless you really do want detention I suggest you put your wand away and go back to your compartment."
Draco reluctantly put his wand away, and stormed off in the opposite direction while muttering "My father will hear about this!" Harry closed the compartment door, then asked Sirius "Were you telling him to put his wand away because he was about to attack me, or did you do it because you taught me and Ron, and Hermione wandless magic and I could've easily disarmed him?" Sirius then replied "A little bit of both, and the fact that I don't like his father. Even if they are related to me by marriage." This news shocked everyone in the compartment, as Harry asked him "How are you related to him by marriage?" Sirius answered "Draco's mother is my cousin who was born Narcissa Black, but she married ol' Lucius and became Narcissa Malfoy. I'm also cousins with Bellatrix Lestrange, who was born Bellatrix Black. I should really annul her marriage and kick her out of the Black Family." Harry looked at Sirius, then asked him "You can do that?" Sirius nodded and explained to him "As Head of the Black Family, I can do anything that involves a member of the Black Family. Annulling marriages and reinstating people kicked out are one of those things."
Harry then thought about this, and asked Sirius later in the train ride "Can you reinstate Tonks' mom into the Black Family?" Sirius nodded at him, then told him "I plan to visit Gringotts on one of the Hogsmeade visit days to do all of it. Just so you know Harry, I've also named you as my heir, just in case I haven't had a child by the time I die." Harry looked at Sirius, then looked out of the window. He thought to himself "I can't imagine what I'll do if Sirius died. Let's hope that never happens." The train pulled into Hogsmeade Station twenty minutes later, and they all got off of the train, and headed to the carriages. Hagrid rounded up the first years and got them ready for the trip across the Black Lake.
Harry got in one of the last carriages with Ron, Luna, Daphne, Neville, Ginny, and Sirius, and travelled to the entrance of Hogwarts Castle. When the journey was complete they all got out of the carriage, and walked to the front doors. Harry walked in front of the carriage and felt something breathing down his neck, and when he turned around he saw a skeletal horse standing behind him. "What's that? The thing pulling the carriages?" Harry asked. Hermione replied "There's nothing pulling the carriages Harry." Daphne grabbed his hand, and agreed with her "She's right love. Nothing is pulling the carriages." All of a sudden, Luna told Harry "You're not going mad. I can see them too."
Harry almost felt like he was going mad, because the only other person who saw them was known around the school as 'Loony Lovegood.' They walked into the school, and headed into the Great Hall for the Start-Of-Term Feast. He sat down at the Gryffindor Table with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny, while Daphne sat at the Slytherin Table, Luna sat at the Ravenclaw Table, and Sirius sat at the Staff Table. "It feels good to be back home." Harry thought to himself, as Professor McGonagall brought in the First Years.