At long last, the thirteenth chapter is here for your enjoyment!

* Review Response:
Quoba, I will not actively bash Hermione, but she certainly will have limited interaction with Harry at best - after all, they are in different houses and in different years, why would they interact much with each other? And that might or might not have a noticeable impact on some events that will be taking place at Hogwarts in the following years.
Cain Raiser, magitech, geetac, HuffPride, Ranmaleopard, MargaritaS, kaitenglory, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Thundramon, this will - eventually - be a Flora/Harry/Hestia story, though it will be at least another full year before anything really "interesting" happens between them. For now, they will be "just" friends.
Borg Colective, c'mon, is the map finding its way into the Weasley twins' hands a bit early is that important? As for the future Yule balls... Who knows... ;) Harry not getting to attend the previous one, though, isn't going to be forgotten - at least by the Malfoys - just yet, though.

* AN: It took me awhile to finish this chapter, but, in my defense, I just couldn't find a good spot to split it, so I kept going on and on until I had the entire summer covered... Thus, this chapter is much longer than the usual one.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.

"speaking"
'thinking'
written text

A Year Too Soon
Chapter XIII: Summertime

Much like Harry predicted, the Dursleys weren't exactly thrilled to have his 'freakishness' back in their house and their lives. Indeed, as soon as she recovered from seeing the new him, his aunt immediately ordered all of his obviously-magical things locked in the cupboard under the stairs. The same fate almost befell his textbooks as well, but the young wizard somehow managed to dissuade her from that idea and got the permission to keep them in his room… Thus, the time Harry spent at Number Four consisted of him doing his summer homework and reading ahead a little whenever he wasn't busy doing various chores his relatives saddled him with.

A couple of days after his return to the Dursley's, Harry received an owl from Flora and Hestia in which they asked about his summer plans: their grandmother still wanted to have a proper chat with him - something that didn't seem to be possible while he was stuck in the muggle world. In his response he told the girls that they will be able to negotiate the time and place for this meeting once he returned to the magical side. This seemed to satisfy Lady Carrow for the time being, and the Dursleys suffered no further owl-delivered letters...

Once the two weeks were over and the Blood Wards around Number Four were recharged, the young Potter saw no reason to stay at the house any longer. His aunt and uncle agreed with that decision and wholeheartedly supported it. They even showed some unusual generosity and gratuitously gave him enough money for a train ride to London!

Upon his return to the Magical world, Harry immediately rented himself a room in the 'Leaky Cauldron' for the rest of the summer. And while there likely was a better inn somewhere in Diagon Alley, he didn't actually feel like looking for it: the room he got at the 'Cauldron' was rather nice and very affordable. Plus, Tom the bartender was a cool old man and offered his help with whatever summer homework the green-eyed wizard still needed to do.

Anyhow, once he got settled for the summer, Harry sent a letter to the Carrow twins telling them that he was now ready to meet their grandmother at her earliest convenience. And, according to the response he received, this 'earliest convenience' would be the first of July…

And while he waited for the day X to come, the green-eyed wizard busied himself with trying to learn a bit more about the history of the house Potter as well as its place in the Magical world. Asking the Gringotts' goblins gave him an insight into the estate he was going to inherit once he came of age, but that wasn't exactly the knowledge he sought. Meanwhile, finding a good and not overly-prejudiced book on magical bloodlines turned out to be quite a large order for Harry. He ended up asking Gemma for advice, and the now-alumni witch quickly directed him to a somewhat less-known book on the topic that he actually found to be satisfactory.

~/ *** \~

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter." Lady Carrow greeted as she gracefully stepped out of the fireplace. Then, without waiting for him to greet her back she continued: "Shall we now head for the place we've agreed upon?" While the Leaky Cauldron was a great place to meet each other, the pub wasn't really the best place to hold serious and somewhat private conversations. Thus, the two of them decided to use a tea shop down the Diagon Alley as the actual place for their meeting.

"Good afternoon." The Potter heir greeted her back. "Yes, let's go." He then answered Lady Carrow's question. Without saying another word, the witch turned on her heels and headed out of the Leaky Cauldron. A moment later, Harry hurried after her…

A quick walk down the Diagon Alley later, the two of them were seated in a comfortable booth at the back of the tea shop. It was a nice place, the raven-haired youth had to admit. Whereas the pub part of Leaky Cauldron was dark and shabby, here everything was tastefully-decorated and bathed in warm light of great many candles. And the low buzz of chatter that always filled the Diagon Alley's most famous pub was absent here, allowing the few customers to enjoy their afternoon tea in relative silence. Also, while the prices here were certainly not as democratic, Harry couldn't call them outlandish either... All in all, this tea shop looked like a good place for a meeting.

"I'm sure that you are curious about my wanting to meet with you, Mr. Potter." Lady Carrow said. It wasn't even a question, but the green-eyed youth nodded affirmatively regardless. "Well, while I do trust my girls to make good friends for themselves, I still want to get to know the person that has attracted their interest, especially when that person is known for breaking the people's expectations of him." She said, clearly referring to Harry's sorting into Slytherin when everyone thought that he'd follow his parents' footsteps and end up under the Gryffindor banner.

"And so, here we are." The young Potter concluded.

"Indeed." Lady Carrow confirmed. "You are a very interesting young man, Mr. Potter, and I would like to know where you stand in our world." There was a small pause during which she took a sip from her tea cup. Then she continued: "I've heard from my granddaughters that you've managed to install some very interesting policies in Slytherin this past academic year, Mr. Potter."

"The use of such crude language is unbecoming of the future leaders of the Magical world and profanes the sacred halls of Hogwarts." Harry repeated his official reasoning for advocating a ban on the discriminatory slur, like the 'M'-word, in Slytherin.

"Of course it is." The elder witch agreed. "It is also one of the reasons for the bad reputation Slytherin currently has with the crowds." After a short moment of silence, she added: "But, admit it, you did what you've done for personal reasons as well, Mr. Potter."

"I… will not deny that." He confirmed carefully.

"Good." Lady Carrow replied. "Family is important. And one should defend the honor of their family members, especially of those who are no longer with us..." These words were followed by a rather long pause. Eventually, this uneasy silence was broken by the elderly witch: "Please forgive me if I brought up the things you'd rather not deal with at this moment, Mr. Potter." Harry shook his head.

"Everything's alright." He reassured, even if he indeed would rather not be reminded that he was an orphan. Yes, he has accepted that his parents have left the world of living, but… There was probably nothing he wouldn't give to have them back.

"Well then." Lady Carrow began. "Perhaps we can talk about something else then?" Upon Harry's nod she continued: "How about your other experiences with Slytherin? If it is anything like I remember it, there should be more to the Serpent's Den than just debasing everyone you think is below you with derogatory language." Harry nodded again.

"Yeah. There is quite a lot of talking - at least among the upper years - about politics." He confirmed. "And it sounds like no one is truly satisfied with the course our government takes. Though, there is no unanimous agreement on who is to blame for the perceived shortcomings."

"Now, this sounds a lot more like the Slytherin I remember." Lady Carrow said. There was a brief pause, before she continued: "I'm pretty sure that people are talking about the separation between our world and the muggle one a lot, too." And she was spot on.

"Yes, and quite a few are afraid that if muggleborns are allowed to join the wizarding society freely, they will destroy its… uniqueness? Culture?" Harry paused for a brief moment to gather his thoughts. Then he continued: "And while I can't say that those fears are entirely baseless - those who were raised away from Magic do have a different outlook on things - denying them their right to join the community doesn't sound like a good solution."

"Indeed." Lady Carrow agreed. "However, the fears that the outsiders will completely destroy our heritage are as old as the Magical world itself, and there is no greater outsider to us than a muggle. And now that their world is getting ever more different from our own, the fears that muggleborns will doom our culture are on the rise again." The witch fell silent for a couple of seconds, before continuing: "In fact, promises to promote the traditions of the old times, and to protect them from the muggle influence was how the Dark Lord began building his powerbase. Many of the older families either became his financial backers or outright pledged their allegiance to him. Carrows were among those families." She admitted. "And it was not until he started killing pure-bloods that disagreed with him that I finally saw past his propaganda and realized that he was not the savior many believed him to be."

"So… You don't support the Dark Lord, not anymore?" Harry asked carefully.

"No. I've seen what that man is… was, and want nothing to do with his insane quest for power. And I've raised Flora and Hestia to be better than the fools that knelt before that megalomaniac." Lady Carrow replied. "Unfortunately, there still are people in my house that believe the Dark Lord to be some sort of a messiah that they need to worship and serve."

"I see..." Was all that the green-eyed youth could say to this.

"But, enough about that." The older witch continued. "I would like to know a little more about your stance on the traditions issue."

"Well… I believe that the best way to preserve the traditions is actually to teach everyone, especially those raised in the muggle world, about them. At the very least, this will explain it to them why things are done in certain ways and make them more likely to accept the ways of the magical world..." There, Harry made a brief pause. "That said, perhaps, not every tradition of old should be continued. After all, the world we live in isn't the same as before." Lady Carrow nodded in agreement.

"That actually sounds very reasonable. The teaching about the traditions part, that is." She said. These words were followed by a few moments of silence as neither had a good idea, what else to say there… Then, Lady Carrow decided that the change of subject was in order: "What other interesting topics are being discussed in the Serpents' Den?" She asked. "I'm sure, the future of our traditions is hardly the only thing people talk about." Suppressing his desire to let out a sigh - he felt like this was an interrogation, and he didn't like this feeling - Harry began:

"Well…"

Harry's meeting with Lady Carrow continued well into the evening hours, and during this time he answered quite a number of her questions, a good deal of which were about his opinion on various political doings. But, of course, wizarding politics weren't the only thing they've talked about. The young Potter also shared his thoughts on Hogwarts and the courses offered to the students there - at least, the 'core' ones as electives didn't start until the third year and, thus, he hasn't had a chance to see what those were about yet.

In turn, Lady Carrow told Harry a few stories from her own time at Hogwarts, giving him a small glimpse at what the Britain's premiere school of Magic was like some fifty years ago. And he would lie if he said that he didn't enjoy those.

Once their meeting came to an end and the two of them were returned to the 'Leaky Cauldron', Harry couldn't help but notice that Lady Carrow appeared to be in a pretty good mood. It looked like he managed to make a good impression on her and the waves he has made within Slytherin weren't upsetting her. And whatever else it might mean for him, he was certain that he would be allowed to continue his friendship with Flora and Hestia freely. And he was really happy about this, as the twins became his close friends and he couldn't really imagine being at Hogwarts without them by his side anymore.

~/ *** \~

The next couple of weeks flew by rather quietly for the green-eyed Potter. Indeed, nothing much was happening around him these days and the letters he was exchanging with the Carrow twins and Gemma were about the only thing that broke the monotony of the hot summer days for him… At least until he ran into Quirinus Quirrell in the pub...

"Mr. Potter, it's an h-honor to finally meet you in person." The turban-wearing man said as he vigorously shook the surprised pre-teen's hand.

"You are Mr. Quirrell, right?" Harry asked, recalling his name from that small conversation he had had with his Slytherin upperclassmen back in spring. "I've been told that you taught Muggle Studies in the past." The older wizard nodded.

"Yes, yes, I did." He said. "And n-now Professor Dumbledore asked me to t-teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Such an h-honor… I've heard many g-good things about P-professor Armstrong, I h-hope I will be able to measure up t-to her." Upon hearing that, the green-eyed youth frowned a little: Professor Armstrong was a great teacher and he didn't want anyone else replacing her. Alas…

"I'm sure you'll do great." He said politely. "But, if that's not a secret, what happened to Professor Armstrong?" After a small pause, he added: "And should I be calling you 'professor'?"

"Thank you, and n-no, it's alright to not c-call me 'professor' during the summer holidays." Quirrell replied. "As for your question about P-professor Armstrong… Well… It was a f-family matter that made her r-retire. She's expecting."

"Oh." Was all that Harry could reply to this. It was so unexpected... Still, he was happy to hear that one of his favorite teachers didn't suffer some terrible fate like some of the previous DADA professors did, according to the rumors circulating around the Slytherin common room.

As it turned out, Professor Quirrell too was staying at the 'Leaky Cauldron' for the time being. However, the turban-wearing wizard was quite busy with his preparations for the upcoming academic year and Harry didn't get to see the man all that often at the pub, nor had he another opportunity to talk to him. Which was quite a shame too, as he could narrate some interesting stories about the dark magics and dangerous creatures he had run across during his sabbatical…

Thus, the next few days flew by without anything really noteworthy happening in the young Potter's life; a letter from Hogwarts with the list of books he needed to get for his second year there and the subsequent shopping were about the most exciting thing to happen during this time… Then, before he knew it, it was July 31st, his birthday.

And it was the first birthday - well, the first one he remembered - for which he got real gifts. From Flora and Hestia and Gemma. And even a few other people in Slytherin he associated closely with sent him something… Of course, these gifts were rather token ones, but that didn't matter to Harry; the mere fact that people, his friends, congratulated him and wished him best was enough to make him the happiest person in the world that morning.

Harry's afternoon started out pretty well too. He was having a nice time sitting in the warm sunlight outside Florean Fortescue's, eating some delicious ice-cream he got on the house as a birthday gift from the parlor's owner and reading ahead his Charms textbook when Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, approached him.

"Ah, there yer are, Harry." The gentle half-giant. "I've been looking for yeh; Tom said that yeh were somewhere in the Alley." He paused for a moment as he rummaged through the many pockets of his coat. "Ah, here it is. Happy birthday, Harry." He then said, while handing over what looked like an old photo. "I thought yer would like to have it." Curious about this gift, Harry took the picture from Hagrid's hand and studied it.

It was a magical, moving photo depicting a pair of people who: a dark-haired young man who looked a lot like an older version of Harry himself, and a red-haired woman with piercing-green eyes. They both were smiling and waving happily to an unseen audience. Or maybe even to Harry himself.

"That's James and Lily Potter, yer parents." The Hogwarts gamekeeper commented. There was a moment of silence, before he added rather bashfully: "I wanted teh make a whole album of their photos for yeh, but this is the only one I managed to find so far. I asked other people fer their photos of James and Lily but no one has shared any yet."

"Don't worry." Harry replied while doing his best to hold back the sudden tears. "And, thank you, Hagrid. This is the best gift I could've asked for." These words made the man smile brightly. There was a short pause, before the young Potter spoke again: "Anyway, what brings you to the Diagon Alley? You didn't travel all the way there just to wish me happy birthday, right?"

"No, no, this is alright, Harry. It would be wrong teh send a gift like this with an owl." The large man said. "'Sides, I'm also running an errand for Professor Dumbledore - such a great man - he asked me teh retrieve something very important from Gringotts."

"Ah… Okay..." The young Potter replied. And, really, what else could he say here? As suspicious as this whole fetch-some-secret-object-from-the-goblins task sounded, the headmaster's orders to his staff were really none of his business. "That sounds very important; I shouldn't be holding you up then, Hagrid." He said after a short pause. Then, he quickly added: "And, once again, thank you very much for the gift." As the Hogwarts gamekeeper nodded before continuing on his way, Harry took another look at his parents' photo, before stashing it inside his Charms textbook - it was something he'd really hate to lose, so he'd rather not wave it around in the open - and returning to his reading...

A few hours later, just as Harry was about to return to the 'Leaky Cauldron', a great commotion happened down the Diagon Alley. Apparently, the goblins were closing their bank down early for some reason. And they were doing so with armored and heavily-armed guards instead of the usual less-warlike tellers. Curious about what was going on, Harry joined the gathering crowd.

"Any idea why they are closing Gringotts?" He asked some non-descript wizard he ended up next to. "It's not the end of their workday yet."

"I've heard that some crazy tried to steal from them, even managed to get down to the vaults." The man replied. "But, I'm sure, those are just empty words - everyone knows that it's impossible to steal from the goblins." So, there was a break in in the Gringotts, and a rather successful one, Harry thought.

"I see… Thank you." While this indeed was a major accident, the young Potter really doubted that any real information will be shared with the public right now and, thus, there wasn't any reason for him to stand there with the rubbernecks. And with that thought Harry turned around and headed to the 'Leaky Cauldron'. Still, he needed to make sure that all of the Potter monies and valuables entrusted to Gringotts were where they were supposed to be, so he made a mental note to contact the Potter accountant as soon as possible.

The next morning Harry learned from the 'Daily Prophet' that while there indeed was a break in at Gringotts, nothing was actually stolen from the goblin bank... In fact, according to the newspaper, the vault the mysterious robbers broke into had been emptied just a few hours beforehand.

Immediately, the green-eyed Potter recalled Hagrid telling him that Professor Dumbledore had asked him to pick something very valuable up from Gringotts. Was it really just a coincidence that the break in occurred on that day? And what exactly that mysterious object Hagrid took away was? - It had to be something really valuable as, otherwise, why would anyone even think about risking their life trying to break in into one of the most secure places in the Magical Britain?

Still, as tempting as it was to try and take a shot at finding the truth about this mysterious object, Harry knew well that it actually was none of his business and decided against investigating it. He, of course, reserved his right to change his mind in case it somehow turned out to be a danger to him or his friends...

~/ *** \~

A week after his birthday Harry received a letter from the Flora and Hestia, in which they invited him to join them and some of their friends on their shopping for Hogwarts. And, despite having already bought everything he'd need for the upcoming academic year, he eagerly accepted this invitation as he was quite through with his textbooks.

As he sent his response, the green-eyed Potter couldn't help but wonder, who exactly will be joining him and the twins on their little excursion through the Diagon Alley. Indeed, Flora and Hestia that he knew weren't exactly social butterflies and preferred to stay in the background, so Harry actually had a bit of a trouble imagining them inviting someone from their class for this little shopping spree… Perhaps those friends where someone who would be starting their education at Hogwarts this year? Oh well, he'll be getting his answers soon enough…

Harry shot another look at the clock that hung on the pub's wall before letting out a deep sigh. It was still ten or so minutes before the meeting time, and he was so bored sitting there and waiting for the twins (or their friends) to finally show up. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the fireplace since he knew that the floo network was how the girls will be getting to the 'Leaky Cauldron'. Alas, it looked like he still needed to wait some more as the floo stubbornly remained inactive.

After five or some minutes - though, for Harry if felt like much more time has passed - the flames finally turned emerald-green, indicating that someone was about to floo in. And the dark-haired wizard really hoped that this time it indeed were the twins and not someone else… Thankfully for his sanity, a second later Flora gracefully emerged from the green blaze, her sister following her a moment later. Getting up from his seat, Harry walked up to his pretty classmates.

"Hello, beau-..." He began, only to stop as the flames once again turned green and Lady Carrow came out a moment later. Taking a brief moment to recompose himself, the green-eyed wizard tried again: "Good morning, Lady Carrow, Flora, Hestia." He greeted them properly, doing his best to pretend that he didn't just try to greet the girls in a way that so familiarly just now - an attempt that wasn't all that convincing due to the twins' giggles. "You all look wonderful today." He added then.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Potter." Lady Carrow replied with a small nod. "You too look quite handsome this morning." Flora and Hestia seemed to think so too, if their titter and light blushes were of any indication. Not that Harry, being a boy not even into his teens, could understand that…

The flames in the 'Leaky Cauldron's' fireplace chose this moment to turn green again, and a moment later a dark-skinned boy of his age stepped out of the floo.

"Morning, Blaise." The twins greeted him. Flora then turned to her green-eyed classmate: "Harry, this is our friend, Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this our classmate and friend, Harry Potter." She introduced them to each other.

"Delighted." The boy said, while offering Harry his hand.

"Likewise." The young Potter replied, while shaking his hand. "So…" He continued after a moment, trying to start some small talk. "You'll be starting Hogwarts this year, right?" Blaise nodded.

"Yes." He said. "And, until the last year, I was looking forward to being your classmate... Then, I read in the 'Daily Prophet' that you somehow managed to get in a whole year too soon." Harry let out a small chuckle: Blaise was certainly not the first one to be surprised by this.

"To be honest, I don't think there is anyone out there who really knows why this happened." He said with a shrug. "But, I'm most definitely not complaining about this." He added then, making Flora and Hestia to giggle a little at this somewhat-intended compliment. Any further conversation between them, however, was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of their group: one by one, four witches stepped out of the floo's green flames. The first one to appear out of the blaze was a pretty brunette of about Harry's real age, and a second or two later she was joined by a girl who, no doubt, was her younger sister. They were followed by a dark-haired girl, who was Harry's coeval. Unlike her companions, however, this girl didn't have that air of aristocracy about her. The final one to step out of the flames was a rather tall and regal woman, who looked to be in her late twenties or maybe early thirties. And if Harry were to make a guess, he'd say that this Lady was the mother of the sisters.

"Lady Greengrass." Lady Carrow greeted the other noblewoman with a polite bow. "I see that you've brought your youngest along." She observed.

"Yes." Lady Greengrass replied. "Astoria was very insistent that she comes with us." Flora and Hestia chose this moment to introduce the young Potter to the rest of their friends:

"Harry, allow us to introduce you to Daphne Greengrass..." The aristocratic brunette gave him polite bow. "And Tracey Davis." Her friend did the same while also giving him a small smile. "And the little minx over there is Daphne's sister, Astoria." Flora then added with a playful twinkle in her eyes. Then, paying no heed to the said girl's indignant 'Hey!', she leaned closer to Harry and whispered into his ear: "Watch out for that lass, she can be quite a troublemaker." Her sister, meanwhile, continued with the introduction, now addressing the Tracey and Greengrass sister: "And this is our friend, Harry Potter." She said, pointing idly in his direction.

"Charmed." Harry said, while giving the girls a small, polite bow. For a couple of seconds, the silence fell over the group with only Lady Carrow and Lady Greengrass talking about something in the background. Then, Astoria decided to ask a question that, likely, was on everyone's mind, even if they were too polite to actually ask it:

"Potter, you are supposed to be of the same age with my sister, right?" She asked rather bluntly. "Then why do you look like you're much older?"

"Astoria!" Her mother immediately scolded her, before returning to her conversation with Lady Carrow.

"As rude as my little sister was, she is right. You do look ...more mature than one would've expected, Potter. Why's that?" Daphne said. Tracey, Blaise and even the Carrow twins seemed to agree with it.

"I'm not sure..." Harry said with a shrug, doing his best to pretend to be telling the truth. Indeed, there was no way he was going to admit to using a self-brewed obscure potion that might not even be entirely safe to use… Unfortunately, this answer didn't seem to satisfy their curiosity, and it looked like more questions were on the way. He was saved by Lady Greengrass, however:

"We aren't waiting for someone else, are we?" She asked, having seemingly finished her conversation with Lady Carrow. The twins as well as Daphne and Blaise shook their heads. "Then, why don't we move into the Alley and start shopping?" She said next. "Everyone has their money with them, right?" She received a round of nods in response. And with that, the group began walking towards the entrance of the Diagon Alley...

Since he already had everything he needed for the upcoming school year, this outing was little more than an opportunity for Harry to hang out with his friends. Or to make a few new ones. And he was certainly having quite a lot of fun there.

Plus, just because he wasn't there to shop for his school supplies, it didn't mean that Harry didn't buy anything at all. Indeed, he got himself an extra set of quills and some fancy ink at Scribbulus', and, when the group hit Flourish and Blotts, he followed the advice of Lady Greengrass and purchased several books on wizarding history, traditions and politics.

He also followed the witch's other advice and picked a booklet talking about the most popular magical professions and what skills one needed to be qualified for them - after all, at the end of the coming school year Harry would have to pick the elective courses, and the coursed he picked would determine which careers he will be allowed to pursue in the future. This was an extremely important decision, and Lady Greengrass believed that one needed more than just a couple of weeks to evaluate all available options. And Harry definitely agreed with this point of view…

After the bookstore the group hit several more shops, and soon enough the only thing left on their lists were wands for Daphne, Tracey and Blaise. Thus, they dropped by Ollivander's. And while watching others trying out wands wasn't as exciting as doing that himself, Harry still got a few laughs from wands refusing to work for the three soon-to-be firsties in catastrophic ways.

Before long, though, everyone got their wand and, seeing as it was still quite early in the afternoon, Lady Greengrass suggested they stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice-cream parlour to commemorate this occasion. Obviously, everyone was for it as there probably wasn't a single person in the wizarding Britain that didn't enjoy Fortescue's delightful desserts. And having a great company only made them even better!

Afterwards, they made their way back to the 'Leaky Cauldron', where they bid each other farewells. Blaise, apparently being in a hurry, was the first one to leave, floo'ing away after saying everyone quick but polite goodbyes. Harry and the girls, meanwhile, stayed at the pub for a little while longer, having some chit chat about Hogwarts and other things… Eventually, though, the adults decided that it was getting late and it was the time for their kids to return home. Once the farewells were bid, the Greengrasses left first, with Tracey tagging along with them. The Carrows floo'ed away soon thereafter, though not before Flora and Hestia said Harry their own - and much more personal - goodbyes… And as the fire in the fireplace finally returned to its natural orange-ish color, he couldn't help but think that today had been a fun day.

~/ *** \~

The final three weeks of the summer were just as slow for the young Potter as were the days preceding his birthday with the letters he exchanged with his friends, both old and new ones, being about the only real excitement in his life. It wasn't like Harry complained about this, though: not having to worry about anything was really nice, and this period of calmness let him relax and gather strength for the upcoming school year. And he certainly wouldn't have minded it if his holidays lasted a little longer… Alas, Time is unstoppable, and before Harry knew it, the summer was over.

Since he had packed his things the previous night, Harry had little to do on the morning of September the first, but to sit in the pub and wait as there really was no point in arriving to the platform 9¾ before ten or so in the morning. Alas, for whatever reason he felt so skittish that he couldn't just sit back and relax. And this made the time drag on and on at a snail's pace for him, tormenting him mercilessly with this seemingly-eternal wait…

Eventually, the clock struck ten, telling the young Potter that the time has finally come. Thanking Tom the bartender again for the hospitality the man showed him over the summer and paying him for the tea and the floo powder, Harry picked his trunk and walked up to the fireplace that sat in the far corner of the pub. Taking a deep breath, he three a pinch of magical powder into the fire, causing it to turn emerald-green.

"Platform Nine and Three Quarters!" He announced loudly and as clearly as he could. Then he stepped into the flames and let the Magic catapult him towards his destination...

That's all, folks!
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