Even as Harry felt the unfamiliar pang of homesickness, he was looking forward to seeing Ron and Hermione alone for the first time since the term ended. He remembered that they had their Prefect meeting first, and as far as he was aware, there was no such meeting among team captains.
Well, he thought ruefully, what would they talk about? Slytherin might pretend not to play like gits, and the others would roll their eyes and yell, or not.
No, meetings between the Quidditch captains would be utterly useless.
Even their games were decided by the heads of houses, largely dependent on how each match went. Ron had once told Harry that there were seven matches in one year, according to Charlie.
Neville and Luna joined Harry in his compartment, and while he was glad to see them, it meant he wouldn't be able to speak privately with Ron and Hermione until that evening, at the earliest. He found that he was looking forward to telling them about his Occlumency and Potions lessons with Sirius, if only to show how horrible a teacher Snape really was. Not that Ron had any hesitations about that, but Hermione still never liked to abuse (most) Hogwarts professors.
After the three of them discussed the Quibbler's newfound success, and then about Quidditch, Ron and Hermione returned from their meeting. Ron was practically jumping with the news that Malfoy had not been at the meeting.
Before they could speculate too much, though, a third year girl came in with two rolls of parchment for Harry and Neville.
"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his.
"An invitation," said Harry, trying not to roll his eyes as he showed it to Ron and Hermione, who was sitting next to him. "Slughorn wants us to have lunch with him."
"Who's Professor Slughorn?" Neville asked, looking at his own invitation with some disbelief.
"The new Potions professor. Can't be worse than Snape, right?" he explained, smiling at Neville, who still looked worried.
"But what does he want me for?"
Harry shrugged.
"Are you going to go, Harry?" asked Luna.
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione, willing them to understand what he was thinking.
"No, I don't think so. You should, though, Neville," Harry added, quickly. "Luna, d'you want to go?"
"Yes, I think it would be very interesting," she said, happily. "But are you sure you don't want to go?"
"I'm sure. Here, just take my invite. If he asks..." Harry trailed off.
"You could say that you asked to go instead," Hermione offered.
"Yes, that's a good idea. Thanks, Harry!" Luna beamed.
Harry smiled back at her, relieved (and only a little guilty) that he would have some time alone with Ron and Hermione before the train ride ended.
Neville and Luna left the compartment, invites in hand.
"So, how was your summer, Harry?" Hermione asked, smiling at him. "You seemed happier than ever at your birthday party!"
"Yeah, and Sirius was happier than I had ever seen him!" Ron chimed in.
Harry grinned. "It was brilliant. We had to spend the first two weeks with the Dursleys, because of the blood wards, but after that, we got to go to Grimmauld Place. Sirius had ordered Kreacher to remove the portrait of his awful mum, and that made it so much better!"
"Far less noisy, I expect," Hermione noted.
"How did Sirius handle him, after he nearly got him killed?" Ron asked, rather eagerly.
"Sent him to work with the house elves at Hogwarts, and ordered him not to reveal anything he knows. If he disobeys, he'll have to end his own life," explained Harry, "but Dobby is keeping an eye on him."
Hermione pursed her lips, but then relaxed a bit. "Perhaps the kitchen elves will be a good influence on him."
"Maybe. Just so long as we don't have to deal with him." Harry shrugged.
"What did you do all summer after getting rid of the hag's portrait and Kreacher?" asked Ron, eagerly. "No cleaning, I hope?"
"Naw, the house is pretty inhabitable, at least the rooms we use," Harry said. "There are hundreds that we don't bother with."
"Hundreds?" Hermione and Ron echoed.
"Probably. The Black family is like the Malfoys, you know, super rich and showy about it. Sirius said that each generation adds more rooms and stuff to the house. Kind of silly, since only Sirius and his mum and dad and brother actually used it when he was living there, but that's how it was," Harry explained.
"You'd need at least ten elves like Dobby to clean that kind of a house," Ron marveled.
"He said that Kreacher wasn't the only one they had," Harry recalled. "Probably the worst of the lot."
"Well, being shut up alone for over a decade..." Hermione began, but grew quiet as Harry and Ron glared at her.
"Anyway, we had a lot of fun. He told me lots about my parents and his time at Hogwarts, and even borrowed Dumbledore's Pensieve so he could show me some of his memories," Harry continued. "It was brilliant."
"Oh, Harry, that's wonderful!" Hermione murmured.
Neither of them had ever been inside of a Pensieve, but Harry had told them about his experience seeing Dumbledore's memory of the trial.
Not the memory he had seen of Snape's. He didn't plan on ever sharing that with anyone else.
"Yeah, it was," Harry murmured. He added, "He also tutored me in Potions. The Black house has a potions lab. He's probably at least as good as Snape. Knew what book I'd need, and made a look of notes to improve on making the potions."
"You actually made potions during your holiday?" Ron asked, looking bewildered. "Well, I suppose it was a lot better with Sirius than Snape."
"He's a great teacher. Explained everything way better than Snape could. I learned loads I hadn't known about before, like why you're supposed to mix clockwise or counterclockwise," Harry explained. "We studied other stuff, too."
"Like what? Hexes?" Ron asked, rather enthusiastically.
"Ron, Sirius wouldn't want to get Harry expelled by having him do magic outside of Hogwarts!" Hermione looked aghast.
"Well, you see...promise you won't get mad," Harry began.
"I promise," said Hermione, sincerely.
"I promise," echoed Ron.
"The ministry can only detect underage magic if you're the only magical person in a house. And then, they just think it's you because you're the only one who can do magic. Like when Dobby did the Hover charm? The ministry thought it was me because they didn't know there was a house elf with me," Harry tried to explain. "But if you're underage and your mum or dad is a witch or wizard, you can do magic without them knowing. Some parents get their kids a second wand that they don't register to be on the safe side."
Harry waited for the news to hit.
Ron swore loudly, earning himself a dark look from Hermione.
"I can't say that I am surprised, given how much corruption goes on in the ministry!" she said, with passion.
"It's a Hogwarts rule!" Ron protested.
"I don't think so," Harry said, hesitantly. "They give us the reminders, but my warning came from the ministry, not Dumbledore or McGonagall. Same with my trial. I could have been expelled last year, sure, but they didn't exactly make it a priority to have someone from the school at the trial."
"Yes, because it's a ministry rule, not Hogwarts specific!" Hermione insisted. "Remember what Hagrid said? Dumbledore insisted on keeping him on to train him as Gamekeeper. If the decision was entirely up to Hogwarts, if it was really a matter of school discipline, he wouldn't have had to ask."
"I still can't believe we could have done magic all this time," Ron grumbled.
"You, maybe. If your mum didn't find out about it. Not me or Hermione," Harry reasoned.
Ron looked a little chagrined. "Oh yeah. That's right."
"Anyway, you become of age in March, and Hermione in a few weeks," Harry pointed out. "I would have had to wait the longest."
"We shouldn't have to wait at all," Ron grumbled, and Hermione nodded.
"So, Harry, what did Sirius teach you during the holidays? Aside from Potions?" Hermione asked, nearly as enthusiastic as if she had been offered summer lessons.
"Nonverbal magic, which we will be using a bunch this year. Takes awhile to get the hang of, so we started with easy spells, like lumos, and then worked up to Shield charms. I reckon I got a pretty good handle on it," Harry confessed. "Oh, and he taught me Occlumency."
"Occlumency?" Ron and Hermione gasped.
"Yeah. Turns out I am not rubbish with a decent teacher." Harry grinned. "He walked me through clearing my mind, and once I had a grip on that, I asked if we could start with the next bit."
"You mean the mind attacks?" asked Ron, bluntly, earning himself a sharp nudge in the side. "Ow!"
"Yeah, only with Sirius, they weren't as bad," Harry answered.
"He started off slowly, I expect?" Hermione wondered.
"Well, yeah, but even then, it didn't really feel like an invasion. I felt him in my head, knew I had to repel him, but..." Harry shrugged. "It wasn't like Snape."
"Sure, because Snape was a prat who probably enjoyed it," Ron answered, bluntly.
Hermione didn't disagree.
"I don't think I am as good as him, but I didn't have any visions from Voldemort, and I reckon I can keep Snape out if he tries something," Harry concluded. "Sirius is a great teacher."
"Sure, but what did you do for fun?" Ron teased, grinning.
"Oh, plenty. Practiced Quidditch a lot--they had a pitch at the house. And we read these cool muggle books. I didn't have many books at the Dursleys, so Sirius thought I should have a chance to catch up. There's this one that you'd get a real laugh at, Ron. It's called 'The Witches' and they're all bald and want to kill children," Harry recalled.
Hermione snickered. "Oh, yes, I read that ages ago! And again after I got my Hogwarts letter, just for fun, of course. I was very glad that my feet and hair didn't change."
This got a chuckle out of Harry, but Ron just looked bewildered.
"I'll lend you it, if you like," Harry promised.
"Sure! We'll probably have loads more free time this year, and I expect you more than the rest of us," Ron told Harry.
"Yes, how far did you get in Potions? I would love to see the notes Sirius made, if you don't mind," Hermione put in.
"You can both see them. Er, I think I made fifteen potions in all. A couple I had to do more than once," Harry recalled.
"But he didn't give you a zero for the first," Ron teased.
"Yeah, good thing, that," Harry laughed. "He does do a good impression of Snape, though. Umbridge, too."
Hermione shuddered. "Ugh, that horrid woman! Oh, look, there's the trolley!"
"Good, I've starved!" Ron said with enthusiasm.
Harry took out the money bag Sirius gave him. "Sirius wanted me to treat you," he said, before Ron or Hermione could grab theirs. "Insisted on it, in fact."
"Oh, tell him thank you from us, won't you?" Hermione asked, looking both enthusiastic and a bit anxious.
"Yeah, same here," added Ron, face a bit red.
"It is his first time treating us," Harry added, sensing Ron's unease. "I mean, he couldn't before, what with being in Azkaban."
Ron nodded, looking rather abashed. "Oh, right. Yeah, that, er, makes sense."
"Any thing you want in particular?" Harry asked. "I fancied chocolate frogs and some cauldron cakes, myself."
"I heard Bertie Botts has a few new flavors," said Ron, with a bit more enthusiasm than before.
"What sort of flavors?" Hermione asked, rather curiously.
"Mud, cat and dog droppings, and salad as the bad ones. But they also have chocolate sundae and peach pie as good ones," Ron explained. "The twins are thinking of trying to sell their products if they can get a good deal."
Hermione looked ill, and Harry couldn't blame her. Ron loved Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans for the adventure, but Harry rather preferred knowing that his sweets wouldn't risk tasting like earwax or something equally foul.
When the cart arrived, Harry ended up getting a bit of everything, with a little more of the Bertie Botts Beans, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pastries, and cauldron cakes for Hermione. As he paid, he got a glimpse of just how many sickles and galleons had included. This would certainly cover Hogsmeade for the year for the three--if Ron and Hermione would allow it.
The cart total came to twenty-one sickles and three knuts, which he paid without any difficulty.
As they dug in, Hermione pressed Harry to tell her more about nonverbal spells.
"Do the wand motions still matter as much?" she pressed.
Harry shook his head. "You just think the word and intention in your head. Then, you point your wand at your opponent or, if you're not dueling, the object or whatever it is you want," he concluded, rather untidily.
"Why don't they teach us this first?" Ron wondered, taking a bite of a pink bean before eating the whole thing. "Nice, lemonade!"
"Why don't they sell just the nice flavors separately?" Hermione wondered, giving the beans a disgruntled glance.
Crookshanks began to play with a dark brown discarded one after giving it a wary sniff.
"There's no fun in that," Ron grinned.
Harry wasn't so sure about that.
"Dunno why they don't teach us nonverbal magic first, 'specially with the emphasis on the right pronunciation and wand movements." He shrugged.
"I'll do some reading about it," Hermione offered, now taking a bite of her chocolate frog.
"Better you than me," Ron grumbled.
Harry tried his best not to snicker.
Neville and Luna returned much later from the lunch with Slughorn, and even though Harry was glad he hadn't gone, he was interested to see how it went.
"He was rather disappointed that you weren't there, Harry," said Luna, serenely, "but he was quite nice to me. Asked about my father's magazine and how he came to have such an interest in publishing."
A brief look at Neville told Harry that this was true, that Slughorn had been decent to Luna. He was glad to hear it.
"He wanted to hear all about us and our families," Neville put in, helping himself to a chocolate frog that Harry offered.
"I heard there was a club he started up when he was teaching last time. He might do it again," Harry suggested. "What did you think of him?"
Neville shrugged. "He seems a lot nicer than Snape."
That, Harry thought, was putting it mildly.
A/N:
Next up…some mixed feelings at the feast, a chat with Sirius, and the first day of classes. Will Harry's hard work over the summer make him a match for what Snape has planned?
Reviews are always welcome!
