The next morning, Harry woke up in his dorm room. It was late. He had slept straight through the night. He got out of bed, showered, and dressed. Then he walked to the living room, where he found Ron and Hermione already up. They were sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

"Morning, Harry," said Ron.

"Morning," said Harry.

He sat down and put his bag on the floor.

"So, how was it?" asked Ron.

"Pretty cool, I guess," said Harry.

"What do you mean, 'I guess'?"

"I mean, I don't know if it's going to be like this every year or not."

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Hermione.

"Well, remember what Mrs. Figg said about Lord Voldemort's return?"

"Yes," said Ron, "she said that it might happen whenever he felt like it."

"Yeah," said Harry, "that sounds like a maybe."

"I don't mean to be rude, Harry," said Hermione, "but this is a ten-year-old prophecy. Who are we to question it?"

"Okay, how about this," said Ron. "Let's agree not to question it or anything like that, all right?"

"Fine with me," said Harry.

"So," said Hermione, "are we all going to be there every year?"

"Dunno," said Harry.

"Maybe not," said Ron.

"Probably not," said Hermione.

"Okay, then," said Ron, "we've got a plan. Now, we assemble on the Quidditch field at midday, all right?"

"Perfect," said Harry.

"See you there."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the Quidditch field at midday. A massive crowd of about a hundred and fifty students had already gathered there. Everyone was talking about the duel.

"Just came over on the train with Harry and Ron," said Seamus Finnigan to his friend Dean Thomas. "I hear it's going to be great."

"It's going to be awesome," said Dean, "if Neville wins."

"I'm rooting for Neville," said Seamus, "he's a cool guy."

"I can't wait to watch it," said Dean.

"Did someone say there was going to be a duel?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived. They walked to the centre of the Quidditch field where Krum and Fleur were standing.

"Good morning, everyone!" said Krum.

"Good morning!" everyone else shouted.

"Today, we are going to be playing a game called Quidditch!"

There was a burst of enthusiastic shouting.

"Rules are simple," said Krum. "There are two teams. To score, your team must catch a Quaffle and take it past the fifteen-yard line without dropping it. You can also score by making a goal with your Snitch."

"Cool," said Ron.

"We'll start with a simple practice game. Everyone pair up with someone they know. Remember, this is a friendly match, so don't try too hard to win."

Harry looked over at Hermione, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. He shrugged, and she shrugged back. They had decided not to tell anyone they had fought a duel or what had happened the night before. They had decided it was better that way. So far, the only people who knew about the duel were Ron, Seamus, and Dean. He hoped they wouldn't be talking about it at the assembly.

Krum led them into an actual game of Quidditch. It was great. Harry had never realized how much he enjoyed Quidditch until he played it with the Gryffindors.

"Come on, Harry!"

"Yeah, go, Harry!"

The match was great. Everyone was having fun. It was like an incredible adventure, and it was amazing to be a part of it. Harry began to relax for the first time all morning. He had been too wound up before. Now he just wanted to enjoy the moment.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He turned around to see a grinning Hermione.

"I can't wait till it's your turn, Harry," she said.

"I know," said Harry, grinning back. "It'll be awesome."

The assembly was an incredible success. Everyone was happy. The only downer was that the Trio were told that they would not be returning to the original trio for their third year. Harry felt a little bummed out, but he knew it was for the best. He had learned so much in two years, and he wanted to continue to grow. After all, he had a choice. He could either return to the trio he had been in for his first two years or go to a new trio with Ron and Hermione.

He decided he would go with the original trio. He felt that it was best if he got to know them better before he made any decisions. He knew that would make it hard to be in the same trio as Ron and Hermione, but he decided he could handle that.

"Well," said Ron, "that was one awesome assembly. I'm looking forward to it, even if I have to go back to my cell afterwards."

"Yeah," said Harry, "I'm glad you're looking forward to it, Ron."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the rest of the day in a study hall.

"Well," said Hermione as they left the Great Hall, "I guess we should go to our dorms and get our owls."

"Right," said Ron, "or we could do something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you and Harry go and explore the castle?"

"Really?" said Harry.

"Sure," said Hermione.

"Okay," said Ron, "we'll see you two later."

"Bye, Hermione," said Harry, grinning from ear to ear.

They left the dorms and went off to explore the castle. They went through several floors, looking at all the rooms and which ones were which. They even went up several hundred stairs and down several hundred more. They saw the dungeon, the trophy room, the kitchen, and the Great Hall. They even went to the very top of the tower, though they didn't go any farther than the edge of it.

"This is fantastic," said Harry, "but we're going to have to do it all again tomorrow if we want to do all of this."

"Yeah," said Ron, "let's go."

They went back to the dorms.

"Well," said Hermione, "that was fun."

"Yeah," said Ron. "So, where are you guys going to sleep?"

"We were thinking about the prefects' dorms."

"Yeah," said Ron, rolling his eyes, "because I was thinking the same thing."

They laughed. It was nice to have fun, just the three of them. Harry felt very content.

It was time to sleep. They all undressed and got into their comfortable, soft beds. They each grabbed one of their four pillows and turned it into the most comfortable position. Ron turned off his lamp, and the room was cast in darkness. Harry lay in the darkness and thought about all the fun he had just had.

A few moments later, he felt something land on his bed. He sat up and saw an owl on his pillow. It was the most amazing owl he had ever seen in his life. He went over to it and looked at it carefully. It was a snowy owl, with a thick, white tail and a broad, pure-white forehead. It was beautiful. Harry lifted it and fit it comfortably in his hands.

"Wow," said Harry, "this is the most amazing owl I have ever seen."

"You like it?" said Ron from his bed.

"Yeah, I love it," said Harry. "Will you guys be getting owls too?"

"Maybe," said Ron. "Let's just see how they do on our first try."

Harry laughed. This was going to be fun.

"So," said Harry, "when do we leave?"

"Leave?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "For Hogwarts. When do we start our first year?"

Harry laughed.

"Well, we're not going to, like, you know, actually leave for another six months, but we can start planning. We should probably start shopping for school supplies."

"Yeah," said Ron. "We should get those owl boxes."

"Definitely," said Harry, "definitely."

They talked for a bit longer about what kind of things they wanted and what they would need. It was at this point that Harry realized he had a few things to take care of at home. He would have to write a letter to his parents and give it to Kingsley to take to Hogwarts for him. He would also have to write a letter to the Daily Prophet. Luckily, Harry already had a newspaper to give to Kingsley, so that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Then they talked about the summer.

"Do you think we'll be able to do all this?" asked Ron. "Going to all these places, meeting all these people, doing all these things?"

"I hope so," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron, "me too."

They talked for a bit longer about it. The next thing they knew, they were falling asleep.

Harry's owl, Hedwig, came for him at exactly the right moment. Harry had never had such a good friend or companion. Hedwig knew exactly when he was getting up, when he was hungry when he was sleepy, and when he needed a hug. She would sit on his shoulder and wait for him to fall asleep, and then she would fly off to explore the castle, explore the school, and explore the wizarding world.

Hedwig was a truly magical creature. She had her magical abilities, which she had received from her human ancestors. She could change her shape and go through walls. She could travel, fly, and hover. She could also talk, though this was a skill she had acquired very early in her life. When Harry was sad, she knew. When Harry was happy, she knew. She knew everything he needed to know.

He would never have survived his first year at Hogwarts without her.

Hedwig was also a great comfort to Harry when he was feeling sick. Harry still remembered the day Hedwig saved his life.