Chapter 165

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Dear Spencer

Seamus' mum and dad have invited me to spend the month I'm at Scoil Draiocht with them and the weekend before school starts the same as I did last year. I asked Seamus if that was what he really wanted after I got the letter from his parents and if he is okay with me staying. Seamus apologised for not being a true friend during the school year and wants me to come. I think Seamus and Dean and their families realised how bad it is for me at the Dursleys last summer and don't want me to go back there. Things are a lot better between us over the last few weeks and I think, or at least I'm hopeful, that getting away from Hogwarts will help us rebuild our friendship to the level it was last summer though I feel a little guilty doing that when I'm not going to tell them I don't plan to come back to Hogwarts. I'll tell them before I go because I don't want to just disappear on them but not until we're away from here. I'm looking forward to staying with both their families, especially Dean's mum.

Just about half the students in my year level have told me that they never believed that I was the heir of Slytherin or that I was behind what was happening with the petrified students. None of the Slytherins have said anything of course, though they've also stopped hexing me in the hallways (I think that might be because they no longer think that they'd get away with it rather than any change of heart about me) It would have been nice if just a couple of the people that have claimed to support me had decided that before Dumbledore announced that I'd saved the school. They must all think I'm stupid, or that I didn't remember that some of them were the same people sneering and throwing insults as I walked past. Even some of the people I saw curse me out of the corner of my eye or that Dean and Seamus swear they saw trying to curse me in the back have tried to claim they knew I was innocent. None of them actually apologised for the way they treated me though. Bloody cowardly sheep!

Ron's come around too and is loudly proclaiming himself my best friend throughout the castle and sticking to my side like glue again. He hasn't thanked me for saving his sister either. I almost prefer his pretending to be my friend only when there weren't other people around. I think that part of the reason things are still a bit awkward with Seamus in the common room is that we can't get more than 5 minutes to talk on our own anymore without Ron butting in making sure I haven't become better friends with anyone else than with him while he was being an idiot and that is pissing Seamus off nearly as much as it pisses me off, and I'm not often able to escape and meet them in the classroom we've been using. Or at least I hope it's partly because of that and we can work things out quickly enough once we leave and can talk privately. I take that back, Ron is an annoying git and I definitely would prefer he not trying to be friends, even if it was genuine, and knowing that it isn't almost makes me want to hex him every time he calls me mate.

I don't know about Myrtle moving on. I haven't seen her since the day it happened but then again I haven't been near her bathroom. No more hanging out in girls bathrooms for me. I'm a reformed character. The most dangerous thing I've done since that night is attend potions with Snape. I hope she does move on into the 'next great adventure', she isn't happy here but I don't know why she stayed. If her reason for staying is fulfilled she might move on but some of the ghosts seem stuck. They wouldn't have much chance of fulfilling their purpose after hundreds of years. Sir Nicholas said that most ghosts leave in the first century and very few stay more than 200 or 300 years.

Nothing seems to be being done about the fact that Justin and Colin missed most of the year's classes. It I wasn't planning on going back there I'd send both of them an anonymous note suggesting they should spend a month at Scoil Draiocht this summer to catch up.

I feel selfish for not telling them about summer schooling anyway but Colin would never keep it a secret, even if I explained why it was important and asked him not to say anything, he'd tell someone. He's likely to tell everyone as soon as I'd told him which might let Dumbles find me before I could do the term or he's likely to go just because I'm there and if he went, he'd have photographic evidence to back up his claims that I'd spent the summer with him in a school in Ireland. And he'd have proof that I was really good friends with Dean and Seamus who spent the summer term at Scoil Draiocht with me, and that Dean and Seamus and their families would be most likely to know where I've gone. I cannot risk making them all targets like that.

It is less easy for me to predict Justin's behaviour, I just don't know him well enough, he might be loyal enough to keep my secrets or he might think that keeping secrets from his existing friends would be disloyal to them. He was also one of the first to believe that I was behind the students being petrified and though he wasn't involved of course, other than the Slytherins his best mate was one of the worst at hexing me in the back whenever he thought he could get away with it after Justin was petrified. I know judging Justin on Ernie's behaviour isn't right, I would hate to be judged because of Ron or Hermione's behaviour, or Seamus's for that matter but I cannot bring myself to trust him.

I would also feel bad telling Justin and Colin and not Hermione, even though she's missed a lot less classes and I know she will easily catch up without help but if I told her she would probably march straight up to the headmaster and check whether I had permission to go to Scoil Draiocht and why her parents hadn't been given that as an option when they were told about Hogwarts.

I really do think that all the muggleborns all might be better off going to Scoil Draiocht for a month each summer than attending Hogwarts, especially students like Hermione and Justin who are intelligent or whose families are wealthy enough for a really good nonmagical school. Justin told me last year that his name had been down at Eton so one of his parents must be someone important in the nonmagical world and I'm sure Hermione had scholarship offers to some good schools. I'm sure that their parents would have preferred that they received a top notch muggle education, and in Justin's case met all the right people, to do anything they wanted and kept magic as a hobby on the side.

Maybe if I manage to get away from here I'll ask Dean and Seamus to keep an eye out for how they're coping next year and have Seamus mention it to them if they still seem to be struggling at the end of the year.

Unless something else crazy happens, this will be the last letter I write before we leave. I'll email you from Dean's place when we get there.

Did you know that Superman originally was drawn with a red cape too before his creator developed the black cape with the ears.

Your friend always

Harry

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.

Please stay safe everyone.