Harry once again punched his pillow and rolled over onto his back. Things had been going so well. The Dursleys seemed to be, well, not necessarily showering him with love but at least accepting him as a family member. They had accepted wizards and even small bits of magic in the house.

Then the prejudice against werewolves had cropped up. It wasn't even the full moon! Fortunately, neither Aunt Petunia nor Dudley had mentioned anything to Uncle Vernon, though he seemed to sense something was off.

And Tonks' visit went south almost from the start. Tonks was a bright, funny witch, but Harry had to admit she was clumsy. He turned his head and looked at the vase, sitting on the middle of his desk. That may have been a disaster for Aunt Petunia, but it had been a miracle for him. He'd never had anything from his mother, and now he had a vase that she had picked out. When he ran his hands down its side, he could be putting them where hers had once been. How could he have ever thought it was ugly?

But then Tonks had brought Dwarf Fever into the house. And that had brought Professor Snape. Harry wasn't sure which had scared the Dursleys more.

Now the Dursleys were standoffish again. In the past, he wouldn't have minded. He would have enjoyed them leaving him alone. But he'd now experienced them differently, and as much as he wanted to ignore the feeling of being accepted, he wanted it back.

He stared at the vase. It had been repaired, though imperfectly. If rebroken, could it be once again repaired? Could his relationship with the Dursleys be repaired, even if imperfectly?

Although it was still early, he went downstairs and out of habit started to get breakfast ready. Dudley was the first one down. "Hey, Harry," he mumbled as he turned on the telly.

"Hey, yourself," Harry responded. At least his cousin wasn't treating him as a pariah. His aunt and uncle nodded to him as they began breakfast but spoke only to each other. Dudley glanced over to Harry at one point and shrugged before turning back to his program.

Uncle Vernon pushed away from the table, kissed Aunt Petunia on the forehead, and patted Dudley on the shoulder. To Harry's surprise, he received a nod.

Uncle Vernon turned back to his wife. "I shouldn't be late tonight, Petunia," he said as he headed out the front door.

Only to stumble into a very short, elderly man about to knock at the door.

"So sorry," Uncle Vernon said as he recovered his footing. "But be off, now. I'm sure you're collecting for a good cause, but I gave at the office."

The man chuckled and replied in a squeaky voice. "Oh, I'm not here to collect money. I'm here to see Harry Potter."

Harry came rushing from the kitchen. "Professor Flitwick!"

Uncle Vernon looked down at Filius before giving a gruff "Harrumph. You look harmless, at least. Not like that vampire. Well, go on in then."

"Vampire?" the Charms Professor squeaked. "Oh, dear, the Headmaster never told me you were being visited by vampires. Mr. Potter, have you reported this?"

Harry couldn't hold back a snicker. "He means Professor Snape."

Professor Flitwick had to pretend to cough to hide his own laughter. "Oh, jolly good. Just wait till I tell Severus he was mistaken for a vampire."

"He'll probably view it as a complement. After all, it's intimidating." Harry ushered the Charms Professor inside as Uncle Vernon got into his car. "Aunt Petunia, Dudley, this is another of my teachers, Professor Flitwick." Dudley immediately turned off the telly.

Aunt Petunia put down her coffee. "You don't look like much of a teacher. How do you keep control in the classroom when you're so, ah, so…"

Harry turned red in embarrassment at the rude question, but the professor didn't seem to mind.

"Old?" suggested Professor Flitwick. "Oh, I have no problem. People seem to respect my age. With age comes wisdom, as they say."

Dudley was staring at him with wide eyes. "I think she meant to say you're kind of short." He ignored the kick that Harry gave him under the table.

"Ah, but in comparison to what, that is the question. I'd consider myself exceptional in some talents, extremely knowledgeable in my areas of expertise – only a fool would claim to know everything – and have been consistently rated among the best professors." The Charms Professor sounded matter-of-fact, but Harry, who had seen him in class for the past five years, saw a twinkle in his eyes.

Aunt Petunia narrowed her gaze at him. "Are you one of those dwarves with their terrible diseases?"

"Heavens, no, my dear. I'm not ashamed to say I'm part Goblin. Goblins are, in general, highly intelligent with a civilization that goes back millennia. Dwarves, on the other hand, are much better known for their physical strength." The Charms Professor chuckled. "Now that's one area I'll admit I'm weak in, if you'll excuse the pun. We're both more related to humans than we are to each other."

Aunt Petunia sighed. "All right, then. How long are you staying?"

Professor Flitwick smiled at her, and ignored it when she did not smile back. "Only overnight. I'm afraid I have other obligations and can't stay longer."

At that, Aunt Petunia relaxed. "How nice. Harry can show you to your room. Boys, I'm going out for a while."

"Jolly good, don't mind me," the Charms Professor responded. As soon as she was out the door, the professor turned to Dudley. "Now, I've always found the best way to get to know people is by the books they read. Where's your collection?"

Dudley was startled. "My what? Well, we do have a bookcase in the sitting room."

"Right this way, Professor," Harry said. Dudley followed the two out of curiosity.

Professor Flitwick began with the books on the lower shelves, which were primarily the books the Dursleys actually read, though they'd deny it – well-worn paperback romance and detective novels, and true crime tales. "What's this?" he cried excitedly.

Harry looked at the book he pulled out, "1001 Riddles that will Make You Laugh" while Dudley peered over his shoulder. "I'd forgotten about that one," Dudley said. "I got it a long time ago. Some of the riddles are pretty lame."

"May I read it?" the Charms Professor squeaked. "I'm always looking for new puzzles."

"Professor Flitwick is head of the Ravenclaw house," Harry explained. "In order to get into their common space, you need to solve a riddle."

Dudley looked impressed. "Rather than knocking? That sounds pretty cool."

Professor Flitwick had opened the book at random. "Listen to this one!" he said excitedly. "Two in a corner, one in a room, one in a shelter, but none in a house. What am I?"

Harry and Dudley looked at each other then back at the professor.

"The letter 'R' of course!" exclaimed the Charms Professor. "And this one. What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never eats, and has a bed but never sleeps?" When the two didn't answer, he triumphantly said, "A river!" He looked back down at the book and turned the page. "Oh, this is a good one – let me write it down." He conjured a quill and parchment.

Dudley was startled. "Um, Mr. Flitwick? I'm done with the book You can take it if you want."

The Charms Professor beamed at him. "Thank you, Mr. Dursley!" Dudley was startled again at being addressed that way, but Professor Flitwick didn't notice. "Such a wonderful gift. You know, there's a saying, ordinary people give things, exceptional people give books. I could tell the minute I met you that you are an exceptional person."

Harry thought his covered up his snort with a cough, but that drew the Charm Professor's attention to him. "No cheating now if you hear something from this book," he admonished.

Harry, who in the past hadn't been allowed to touch anything of Dudley's, nodded.

Professor Flitwick then used the Ascendio Charm to lift himself up. Dudley gaped at the pink light and then at the sight of the professor ascending into the air and nonchalantly perusing the higher shelves where the leather-bound, never read classic books were kept, occasionally muttering to himself. "Amazing!"

Dudley glanced at Harry and then back up at the Charms Professor. "Wow! Can you fly like that, Harry?"

Professor Flitwick heard him and called down. "Oh, this isn't really flying, Mr. Dursley. Flying is a very rare skill and to do it you have to use skills most find to be … dark. This is merely a controlled Ascendio." His attention was caught on a title. He took it out and flipped through it. "Marvelous! I didn't realize muggles had heard of Shakespeare, but here's an almost complete collection!"

Dudley, who was still staring at him floating in the air in disbelief, shook his head. "Shakespeare was a wizard?"

Professor Flitwick let himself down. "Not a wizard, but a squib, so he knew of our world."

Dudley was confused. "He was a squid?"

Harry swallowed his laughter. "Squib. That means he had wizard parents but wasn't one himself."

"Oh." Dudley looked back up where the Charms Professor had been floating. "That was incredible!" He looked down at his feet as if he was about to confess something embarrassing. "I sometimes wish I could fly," he said softly. "Harry's told me about the sport where he flies on a broom."

Professor Flitwick eyed him. "Well, you might be too big for a broom, but maybe…" He looked around and then smiled. "Lead the way to the back yard!"

Dudley and Harry looked at each other and shrugged. When they went out the back door, Harry looked back at the Charms Professor, hoping he would explain. "Professor," he began, and then stopped and stared, for behind the small teacher the runner from the front hall was floating, following behind like a faithful dog.

Dudley, who had also turned, was speechless for a moment. He finally cleared his throat. "That's our rug" he pointed out unnecessarily.

"Very good, Mr. Dursley!" Professor Flitwick. He motioned with his wand and the runner laid down on the grass.

Harry caught on immediately. "But Professor, magic carpets are illegal!"

"All this time we've had a magic carpet in the house?" Dudley said stunned.

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "Not to fear, boys. No, this is not a flying carpet. As Mr. Potter knows, those were banned not too long ago after being defined as a Muggle Artefact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects. I'm just going to put a very temporary enchantment on this one to enable it to float and then I'll direct it."

To Harry, this sounded very much like charming it to fly, but he wasn't going to argue with his teacher.

The Charms Professor rubbed his hands together. "Now, Mr. Dursley, if you would, just sit down in the middle. It's important to balance your weight – the need to do so is one of the disadvantages of this form of transportation. That, and it can be chilly since, like a broomstick, they offer no protection from the elements. On the other hand, they can seat a number of people or luggage with ease, and are far more comfortable to ride on even without having a Cushioning Charm placed on them," He looked off into the distance. "I remember when I was young. My family…" He stopped and cleared his throat. "Well, hop on, Mr. Dursley!"

Dudley looked at him in askance, and then at Harry. "Go ahead, Dudley," Harry whispered. "Professor Flitwick is our Charms Professor. He knows what he's doing."

Dudley tentatively took a step onto the runner. When nothing happened, he put his other foot on it, holding his arms out in anticipation of having to balance. Professor Flitwick just nodded and gave him a look of encouragement. Taking a deep breath, Dudley sat down in the middle.

Professor Flitwick raised his wand, and the carpet floated a few feet above the ground. Dudley reached for the sides of the runner and grasped them so hard his hand turned white. After a moment, though, he relaxed his grip.

"Ready to go higher?" asked the Charms Professor.

Dudley gave a determined nod.

Professor Flitwick raised the runner until it was at the height of the eaves of the house. Dudley peered over the side. Harry thought he could see his cousin gulp before quickly pulled back his head.

The Charms Professor gently twirled the runner until it was facing the back fence, and then pushed it forward. "Are you all right, Mr. Dursley?" he called out.

"Yeah, I guess so. Can you make it go a little faster?"

Professor Flitwick smiled. "Of course!" He directed the carpet to make a loop of the back yard.

"This is fun!" called out Dudley. "Faster!"

With another flick of his wand, Professor Flitwick sped up the runner. From above came Dudley's voice yelling "Wheee!"

When the Charms Professor brought the runner down to earth, Dudley's smile lit up the back yard. "Thank you, Mr. Flitwick!" he shouted, and to Harry's surprise he knelt down to embrace the wizard. "I'll remember this forever!"

Professor Flitwick mumbled something unintelligible, crushed as he was against Dudley's chest. When Dudley finally let him go, he straightened out his vest and cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I'm glad that went well. Time to return the runner I believe," and he had the rug lead the way back in.

When Aunt Petunia returned from her errands, she noticed the runner immediately. "How on earth did it get so dirty?" She looked suspiciously around but didn't see any tracks around it so shrugged and just told Harry to give it a thorough vacuuming.

Professor Flitwick wasn't familiar with vacuuming but caught on to what Aunt Petunia wanted. He waited until she was in the kitchen, then held his finger up to his mouth before casting a Scourgify.

Dinner that night started off quietly. Professor Flitwick had piled up books from the sitting room to sit on but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon avoided looking at him. Suddenly Uncle Vernon spoke up. "Say, I heard a joke today. What do you get when you cross a drill with a snake?" The others just looked at him. "Give up? A bit of venom. Heh, heh, get it? A bit, like a drill bit?

Aunt Petunia smiled at him. "A bit of venom – how clever! Say, the most marvelous thing was happened to me today – I was going to surprise you later, but the bakery had a special on Madeira cakes so I picked one up for dessert."

"Wonderful, Petunia! And Dudley, did you have a wonderful day as well?"

Dudley was startled, but then smiled. "It was actually pretty great, Dad. I, um, learned about a new mode of transportation."

Harry felt he had been transported into an alternate universe. His relatives were not acting normally. They were entirely too …

He looked over at Professor Flitwick, who winked back at him. He had taught the Cheering charm to third year students, and a question on it was on the written Charms O.W.L. test. Harry smiled as he remembered how Hermione fretted afterwards that she hadn't written enough about it. Harry tended to overdo it, but of course the Professor would have complete control over it. He raised his glass to his teacher.

He got worried, though, as dinner proceeded. The charm didn't appear to be wearing off. His aunt and uncle continued to be convivial.

After the cake had been consumed, Professor Flitwick patted his stomach. "That was a wonderful repast!" he exclaimed. "Now, I think I'll head outside to enjoy the glowworms. Would anyone like to join me?"

Uncle Vernon pushed away from the table. "Not me. I'm going to catch up on some programs in the living room."

Aunt Petunia got up too. "I'll join you dear. Harry, I assume you'll get the clean up?"

"Of course, Aunt Petunia," Harry responded with a sigh.

To Harry's surprise, Dudley spoke up. "I'll carry the dishes into the kitchen. Clean-up will go quicker, and then we can join Mr. Flitwick outside."

When Dudley brought the dishes to Harry, he took a quick look around to make sure his parents were in the sitting room. "Do you think he'll show us more magic?" he whispered.

"We can ask him," Harry replied, thinking how much Dudley had changed over the summer.

When Harry and Dudley went outside, Professor Flitwick was sitting on a flat stone that had not been there earlier, smoking a pipe. He waved the two over. He conjured up two more taller flat rocks, which Dudley eyed with distrust. He waited until Harry sat down before he followed his cousin's example. He was surprised when he did so. "Hey, this is soft!"

"Of course, Mr. Dursley. You wouldn't want to sit on a hard rock, would you?" the Charms Professor replied. He puffed on his pipe before continuing. "I always enjoy the gloaming, seeing the passing of the day and the coming of the night. There, do you see the glowworm?"

The boys nodded, and for awhile the three sat in silence before Professor Flitwick clapped his hands. "You know what's even better? A nice cup of warm butterbeer."

"What's that?" asked Dudley.

"You'll love it!" replied Harry. "It's like less-sickly butterscotch."

Harry expected Professor Flitwick to Summon three bottles, but instead the professor clicked his fingers and conjured a circle of fire.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Dudley. He leaned forward as if to touch it but drew back from its heat. "You didn't even have to stoke it!"

Professor Flitwick chuckled. "And now we need some butterbeer." He waved his wand and three cups appeared and danced over the flames.

"Wicked!" whispered Dudley in awe.

A minute later, the Charms Professor Summoned the cups over, directing one in front of each person. Dudley reared back. "Do you want me to burn myself?"

Harry shook his head and grabbed the cup in front of him. "Magic, remember?"

Dudley tentatively touched the cup. "It's cool!"

"Yes, but be careful, Mr. Dursley, for the butterbeer itself it hot," Professor Flitwick cautioned, before drinking from his own cup.

Dudley took a careful sip and licked his lips. "Mmm. This is wonderful!"

By the time everyone had had two cups, they were all a bit tipsy, Professor Flitwick because of his size (and, Harry suspected, because his cup contained more beer than butter) and the other two because they were not used to even the small amount of alcohol in each serving. The Charms Professor began to hum to himself, and then sang softly. "Double, double, toil and trouble…"

Harry leaned over to Dudley. "Professor Flitwick directs the frog choir."

Dudley's eyes became round. "Your frogs sing?"

Harry shook his head. "Well, actually it's a student choir with toads that croak along."

"They … I didn't know toads could croak to music!"

Harry shrugged. "To tell you the truth, they're pretty terrible, but if you tell their owners that they get pretty upset. I think it's a status thing. The ravens are much better."

"The ravens …" Dudley was quiet for a moment before turning to Professor Flitwick. "Can you teach me a song?" he asked.

The Charms Professor smiled. "I'd be delighted! At the beginning of the year, this is the first song I teach the choir to sing. It goes like this:

In a world of wonder and delight,

Where dreams come true both day and night,

A touch of magic fills the air,

With secrets that are only fair.

Let us keep this feeling near,

In every moment, every year.

In our hearts, it will reside,

And fill our lives with joy and pride.

A spell is planned, a wand is waved,

A charm is said, a person's changed,

Harry was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He looked at his cousin to see how he was reacting to the song.

But magic's more than tricks or show,

It's in the feeling we all know.

Let us keep this feeling near,

In every moment, every year.

In our hearts, it will reside,

And fill our lives with love and pride.

A flick of wrist, a whispered word,

"Uh, Professor Flitwick?" Harry tried to interrupt, but the teacher was caught up in his song.

A spell is cast, the magic heard.

From ancient books and mystic lore,

The power flows forevermore.

An embarrassed Harry leaned over to Dudley. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Dudley just shrugged and whispered back. "It's OK. I like the song, but from what I've experienced and seen of your life, I don't think I'd want to be a wizard and live in your world. I wouldn't want someone telling me I'm going to die and expecting me to believe it, or have vampires or werewolves after me. And I never want to experience another distemper again!"

"Dementers are awful," Harry quietly agreed.

"Yeah," Dudley nodded vigorously. "Besides, your bullies have magic that really hurts, like that big guy who gave me a tail or those two jerks who almost suffocated me by blowing up my tongue."

Harry started to defend Hagrid and the twins, but paused. "Yeah, you're right. Though even without magic, bullies can hurt."

Dudley gave Harry a look he couldn't decipher. Meanwhile, Professor Flitwick continued singing.

Dudley began tapping his foot. "This tune is catchy!" he said as he joined the Charms Professor and Harry in singing the chorus.

In his enthusiasm, Professor Flitwick stood up and with his hands began to direct an imaginary choir. "One more time, boys, and with feeling!"

Inside, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon heard the boys' singing as their voices got louder. She was able to catch some of the words.

Let us keep this feeling near,

In every moment, every year.

In our hearts, it will reside,

And fill our lives with love and pride.

"Isn't that sweet, Vernon?" Aunt Petunia asked. "Our little boy is growing up and becoming interested in girls. He's singing about love."

"A chip of the old block," Uncle Vernon agreed.

Outside, Professor Flitwick sighed. "This was fun, but all good things must come to an end." He clicked his fingers again. The fire and the rocks they'd been sitting on disappeared without a trace. "Time to go in, boys."

Harry waited until Dudley had gone inside before turning to his teacher. "Professor Flitwick? How long will the Cheering Charm last?"

The Charms Professor emptied out his pipe. "Oh, it wore off a couple of hours ago, Mr. Potter."

"But everyone is still so … mellow," Harry objected.

Professor Flitwick shrugged. "That can happen. If people have been recently wound up, the Cheering Charm can erase the lingering feelings of unease. Do you wish me to counter that effect?"

"No, that's all right," Harry hurriedly replied.

"You'll be picked up next Monday, Mr. Potter, unless you've changed your mind and wish to stay here?" the Charms Professor asked.

"I'll be ready," Harry promised.

The next morning, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon politely wished Professor Flitwick safe travels. After he was out the door, Uncle Vernon turned to his wife. "Such a harmless little man."

Harry had to turn away to keep his grin to himself.

Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving, I will be posting the final chapter in two weeks. As always, all reviews are appreciated!