Hogwarts Year Two

Summer

It felt good to be out of school for a few months. Harry, Hermione, and Neville had enjoyed the quiet ride on the Hogwarts Express back to London. They had discussed several of the happening the from the past school year all three agreed they were glad it was over. When they got off the train it wasn't long before the threesome saw their families all standing together, of course it was hard to miss Augusta Longbottom's hat even in the crowd.

Harry made sure that he invited Neville over for the summer, in his mind trying to decide if Neville would like to go to Peaks if he and Hermione went. Augusta said that it should be fine for Neville to visit often, she was so proud of her grandson now. As everyone was getting ready to leave Fred and George came up and said they wanted Harry and Hermione to come visit, or at least send prank suggestions. In the background they could hear Mrs. Weasley yelling about a zipper on Ron's mouth; maybe she needed one Harry thought.

Hermione and her parents would be over to the Potter Manor later, they were going home first to spend some family time. That night Rick, Remus, Lucy, and Sirius listened to Harry tell about his term since his last visit home. They were all very interested in what happened to Quirrell, but were glad Voldemort had been captured. Remus was amazed at the spells Harry and Hermione had learned from the books in the Gryffindor library. Both Remus and Sirius, even though he had been there, wanted to hear more about the founders quarters and what else might be found there.

At breakfast the next morning Harry was surprised to receive a letter from Ragnok asking if Harry could come see him. Harry showed the letter to the adults and it was agreed that Remus would accompany Harry to see Ragnok, Sirius had to work and Rick was still hiding his relationship with Harry from the public.

When they arrived at the bank Harry and Remus were shown to Ragnok's office almost immediately. Ragnok didn't waste any time and got down to business. "Harry, it has come to our attention that you have fought and defeated Voldemort once a gain. By doing this for a second time you have the right to claim the Magical Heir status for the house of Slytherin. That would give you control of that house. We would need to do a simple test of course to validate your claim", Ragnok said.

Harry looked at Remus for his opinion, Remus thought for a few seconds before saying he didn't see any reason not to do this. Once again Harry used the silver needle to prick his finger and place the required drop of blood on the parchment. The parchment glowed and a small box appeared on Ragnok's desk. The box had a serpent carved on top and it didn't seem to have any type of lock that Harry could see. Ragnok tried to open the box but could not so he handed it to Harry saying maybe only the heir could open it.

As soon as Harry had the box in his hand it glowed briefly and Harry heard a voice in his head, the voice of a snake. The voice asked if he thought he was entitled to the contents. Harry answered "Yes". The box opened to reveal a snake-head ring silver in color with a green stone in the center. Harry removed the ring and examined it closely, and then asked if maybe it should be tested for curses and such. Remus appeared proud that Harry had thought of that, he didn't think most 12 year old kids would.

The ring was checked by both Remus and Ragnok and no curses were found. Harry put the ring on his right middle finger, it re-sized to fit him. Harry glowed green for a few seconds and got a surprised look on his face. Remus asked if anything was wrong but Harry just said he had received a better understanding of his Parseltounge ability and that he now seemed to know several more spells. The spell knowledge was worrisome to Remus; what if the spells were dark? Remus asked what type of spells and Harry said one of them allowed someone else to understand Parseltounge for a short time, but not speak it.

What Harry didn't tell Remus was that two of the spells were the same as the spells he had learned from the Gryffindor books, the one to end possession and the one to capture the possession. That seemed to make him feel better knowing that Godric and Salazar both knew the spell, and it seemed that they had been the ones to create it.

It was a week later when Hermione came over, with her parents, for supper. The two spent time flying and playing catch until supper was ready. During supper Dan and Emma both mentioned their concern that the three kids had to discover that their professor was possessed, shouldn't the headmaster have been able to see that the concerned parents asked. Then the conversation turned to what the kids were going to do that summer. Hermione said she thought it would be a good idea to go back to Peaks and that they should invite Neville too.

Harry agreed that going to Peaks was a good idea as there he could get answers to questions he couldn't ask at Hogwarts. He really liked the idea of taking Neville with them, if Neville could go and was interested of course. It was decided that Harry would talk with Neville the next day about Peaks, and see if he was interested. Hermione was asked if she had been able to copy that book of Gryffindor spells and she said she had it with her on her bracelet, along with a couple of others.

After the meal Harry, Hermione, and the adults sat in the library and looked over the books Hermione had copied from the Gryffindor library. Remus was especially interested in the possession spells, both detection and removal. Sirius was interested in the Imperio detection spell, he said that one would really come in handy to the DMLE and the Wizengamot. Rick said his people would be interested in that one too.

The next day Harry called Neville and invited him over. When Neville showed up the two boys and Hermione went outside to talk and to have fun. "Neville, I'm sure you noticed that Hermione and I seem to have an easier time in school than most. The reason for that is that we both have been going to a school in America each summer and are really two years ahead in our studies. It was at this school that we learned about elementals and found out how to call them. We wanted to know if you would be interested in going with us this summer. It is a full year compressed into a month due to time compression usage. And since the summer term has less students, usually, it allows the teachers to spend more time with the ones who need extra help, plus they cover a lot of things that Hogwarts doesn't. So, what do you say mate?", Harry explained, much to Neville's amazement.

Neville said he would love to go, but he had to ask "Gran" and she would probably have many questions. Harry was sure Rick, Sirius, Remus, or Lucy could answer those questions. The kids went inside to call Neville's "Gran" only to find her sitting there talking to Sirius and Lucy. Neville asked about going with Harry and Hermione for the summer and was surprised when "Gran" said she thought it would be a good idea. She went on to say that Neville being friends with the other two had made him up and learn more, and she wanted it to continue. Augusta Longbottom was a surprise to Neville and she did have a few hundred questions. Most of the questions were answered by Lucy, since she had been one of the staff there in the past.

Harry whispered a question to Neville, "Does she know about your elemental?", Neville said "no". "Mrs. Longbottom, I think there is something you need to know. If you don't mind, could you step outside with us for a minute. Sirius and Lucy already know this, well most of it, but since Neville is to go to Peaks then you should also", Harry said rather politely.

Everyone went outside and Harry asked the adults to please hold all questions and comments until after they finished, it would save time for everyone. Harry called first his Fire elemental, that caused Augusta to step back, then he called his Air elemental. Next he asked Hermione to follow suit, now Augusta looked very surprised. When Neville called his elemental Augusta Longbottom almost fainted, even Lucy and Sirius were taken back.

"If you learned this at that school in America then how did Neville learn it", Augusta asked, once she got her strength back.

Harry explained how that had happened and when. When Lucy heard that Harry had been able to create the elemental rods, with the help of the Goblins, she was almost speechless. Her first comment was to ask if Alana knew about this; Harry told her no, nobody but the five of them, and the Goblins, knew about it. Lucy asked if Neville had named his elemental yet and he replied that he had.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce my Earth elemental Rocky. Rocky this is my "Gran" she is the one who raised me, "Gran" this Rocky – next to Harry and Hermione my best friend", Neville explained.

Harry continued that line by introducing Firebeard and Windford next Hermione introduced Windy, followed by Lucy calling and introducing Windermere to Augusta. After the introductions Lucy explained how she acquired an elemental to Augusta, who looked at Sirius expecting him to do the same – but he just shook his no. Hermione explained that the older the witch or wizard was the harder it was to learn to call an elemental. Augusta said she was too old to worry about calling an elemental but she was very proud of Neville.

That same day they contacted Alana to ask permission to attend the summer session and to have Neville join them there. Alana said she was hoping that the two best students were coming that summer and she would be glad to accept Neville (as long as his parent or guardian came to sign the forms) and would send the book and equipment lists out that very day. Augusta asked if they could get everything in Diagon Alley and was informed that what wasn't available there was available close to the school.

It was the weekend before the 1st of July when three students, 2 old and one new, plus three adults, Sirius, Lucy, and Augusta, arrived at Peaks school. Alana met them and escorted them to her office to do the paperwork for Neville. After getting the admission forms filled out, Alana asked if Neville knew what classes he wanted to take. This was a surprise to Neville and his Gran, they had assumed that he would just take 2nd year classes. Alana explained that she had acquired a copy of Neville's scores from Hogwarts and some of the classes he had taken didn't exist at Peaks, and some of them were below standards. Alana suggested that Neville take some placement exams the next day so they could get him setup before school started on Monday.

The next thing was to get Neville sorted into a house at Peaks. This was when Harry spoke up and said Neville should be in the Earth house as he could call an Earth elemental. Alana was surprised, as most transfer students had no idea how to call elementals. Harry explained that he had been able to, with Goblin help, create all four elemental rods and Neville had called an Earth elemental and had a weak attraction to Water.

Alana asked if she could see these rods sometime and Harry pulled them out and expanded them before handing them to her. When she looked at the construction she saw they were very well crafted and the Air Rod seemed almost alive to her, she was an Air Elementalist after all. She asked Harry how he had made them and was told that the Water and Earth were made by a Goblin, but the Fire and Air were made by him and his elementals.

"Are you saying that the elementals help make these two themselves? That is most unusual, in fact I don't believe I've ever heard of it happening.", Alana replied. Alana just shook her head and handed the rods back to Harry. "Now how about you two, Harry and Hermione, what classes are you wanting?", Alana continued.

Harry said he wanted to take Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Runes, Arithmancy, Defense, and Occlumency. Hermione wanted the same except instead of Occlumency, she wanted something related to spell-crafting. Alana said that their choices shouldn't be any problem. Harry added that if there was time enough he would like to talk with Grimstead about wards, as he had a few questions. Alana said the Grimstead was going to be at the school for the summer session so that shouldn't be a problem either.

The next morning while Neville took his placement exams, Harry and Hermione went flying. Sirius, Lucy, and Augusta took a tour of the school and surrounding area. Augusta was quite taken by the amount of space the school occupied. It was around 3pm before Alana summoned them all back to her office to go over Neville's scores. His Herbology score was at a fourth year level, while his scores in the basics (Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Defense) were average for a student going into 2nd year.

Neville decided that he wanted to take Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defense, and Herbology. Alana suggested he also include Occlumency so nobody at Hogwarts could pull the fact he had attended Peaks from his mind, Neville agreed to taking the entry level course. That afternoon they went to get supplies for the three students. Neville and Augusta were both surprised to see what was available in the magical shopping area and how modern it was – they even had computers in the stores to ring sales on.

Sunday night Neville was introduced to his head of house and his housemates. He was shown to the house table and heard Alana explain that the house tables were only used for opening and closing meals, the rest of the time students sat where they wanted. Neville was nervous, he wasn't sure about this time compression thing.

When Neville woke up the next morning he didn't notice anything different, maybe they didn't activate the time compression yet. When he got downstairs he found that Harry and Hermione were already there and had another student sitting with them. Hermione introduced Terri as one of her housemates and a friend from before at Peaks.

Harry, Hermione, and Terri had Charms first, while Neville left to go to Herbology. When Neville got to the greenhouse he found that there were only 9 other students in the class for 3rd years. The instructor was his head of house and told Neville to see him that night to get to know each other better. The first class was a review of what had been covered in 2nd year by the other students, but Neville had few problems keeping up. It was then that Neville sadly realized that Harry and Hermione wouldn't have many, if any, classes with him.

The four met up at supper and reviewed their day with each other. Harry and Hermione both told Neville if he had any problems to let them know and they would help him with his studies, Terri even said she would be glad to help out too. Harry mentioned that he and Hermione had been drafted to help out with 1st year flying lessons again. That was when Neville noticed the badges and patches on both Harry and Hermione's robes and asked about them. Hermione explained all them to Neville.

That night Neville met with his head of house and was asked to call his elemental and offered a wand. Neville just asked Rocky to appear, this shocked his head of house as most second years still had to use the wand. The head of house was further surprised when Rocky was so large and well formed. The teacher went over some of the stuff Neville hadn't covered before so Neville would be up to date.

When the teacher showed Neville a sample of some new plants, Neville recognized it right away as his hybrid and told the teacher so. The teacher didn't believe him and challenged Neville to prove he had been the one to create the plants. Neville thought for a few seconds and then simply asked Rocky to get a cutting from one of the other hybrids in Neville's private greenhouse. Rock was only gone for about 30 minutes before returning with the cutting, the teacher still didn't believe Neville. Neville swore an oath on his magic that he had created the plants, this convinced the teacher.

Meanwhile, Harry was meeting with his head of house who had heard about Harry creating his own elemental rods and he wanted to see them. After examining the rods for a few minutes the head of house for Air was summoned, he too examined the rods and told Harry there was no way a 3rd year student created those rods. That argument didn't last long when Harry asked his elementals to see if the ones who had helped would make an appearance. The adult elementals showed up and now both heads were convinced of Harry's claim.

It was the second weekend before Harry was able to catch up with Grimstead and talk with him. Grimstead suggested that Harry spend some time with him each Saturday so they could explore Harry's questions and expand Harry's knowledge of wards. When Harry mentioned the moving of the ward stone at Hogwarts Grimstead said someone was a fool, "You never move a ward stone while the wards are active". Grimstead said he would be glad to teach Harry how to correct that mistake.

Over the next few weeks Harry learned how to safely move the ward stone at Hogwarts back into contact with the Earth so it would draw power correctly. Harry also made arrangements to connect the wards at #4 to Petunia instead of himself permanently, instead of just temporarily like they were now.

Since they were in different years and classes, the threesome only saw each other during meals and on weekends. Hermione was helping Neville with some of his studies while Harry was learning from Grimstead. But Neville was teaching Hermione and Harry about Herbology so they would be more prepared when they went back to Hogwarts in the fall.

Neville was so used to seeing Harry and Hermione play on the same team that it was interesting to see them play on opposite teams, even if they played the same positions as usual. Neville just wished he was better with a broom, Harry and Hermione looked like they were having a ball out on the pitch.

o~o~o~o

Meanwhile back in England, Dumbledore was at the Weasley house talking with Molly Weasley. Dumbledore suggested that Molly make sure that Ginny take a strong interest in Harry, he even suggested the use of a "love" potion if needed. Ginny had overheard this and decided that Harry needed to know what was being planned. She liked Harry but not that way.

While Snape didn't really care for Harry Potter, he wasn't too happy when the headmaster suggested he make several "love" potions for the Weasley kids to use on Potter and Granger. That went against what Snape thought was right; after all, Potter was Lily's son and he still carried strong feelings for her.

It wasn't well known, but Lucius Malfoy had only received a short sentence in prison and was scheduled to be released just after the 1st of August. Malfoy Sr. had plans for that brat Potter, he had a cursed book that had belonged to The Dark Lord and he intended to somehow sneak that book into Hogwarts and let it cause as much trouble as it could. Since nobody was aware of the capture of the spirit of Voldemort, Lucius didn't know that what he was planning would be upsetting to The Dark Lord – very upsetting.

o~o~o~o

The summer session was just about over, only two weeks left and all the students were getting ready for exams. It wasn't unusual to see Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Terri together in the library or the great hall studying together. The three 3rd years were helping Neville with 2nd year work and Neville was teaching them Herbology. Neville had really progressed in his Charms and Transfiguration under Harry and Hermione's tutelage, he was third in his house and fourth overall in the school for his year.

It was the last weekend before exams and Harry and Hermione had been summoned to see Grimstead. When they got to his office they were told they were to take an exam on staff usage to see if they had improved. Grimstead took they outside and had them each do a series of spells using their staff. Grimstead was disappointed, their level wasn't much above what it had been last year. This showed that they hadn't been using a staff much. Grimstead explained that if they didn't use it more they would never reach their potential.

Harry and Hermione tried to explain that Hogwarts didn't allow the use of staffs, in fact they were not even mentioned. That was all the more reason to practice Grimstead told them, that way they would have an advantage if they had to defend themselves, or others. Then Grimstead told Harry something, the fact that Harry's staff contained Earth compounds showed he should be able to work with the Earth better and draw on the Ley lines easier than most wizards.

This reminded Harry what had happened in the great hall, he had used his staff and had drawn much more power than he had ever used before. In fact it was that extra power he had put into the ward stone in the great hall after the battle. When he told Grimstead about that, Grimstead told Harry to show him that he could tap into that power. Harry slammed his staff onto the ground and pulled power. Harry started to glow, and the glow got brighter and brighter until both Hermione and Grimstead had to look away.

Then Grimstead said to return the power to the Earth instead of just using it to make fireworks or something as wasteful. Harry said he didn't know how to do that, Grimstead said to just reverse the process – instead of pulling power in, push power out and into the ground. Harry took a deep breath and started to push his power into the staff and into the ground. There was an earthquake that was felt in several places within a 100 mile radius of Harry. Students and staff came running out of the school, even Alana came out. Grimstead just told everyone not to worry it was just someone's first attempt to release power.

After everything had settled down, Grimstead explained what Harry had done wrong. Harry had put too much power back too fast. "Don't push so hard, it doesn't come that fast so it can't go back that fast", was the explanation given by Grimstead. Now it was Hermione's turn to try.

Hermione didn't slam her staff onto the ground but placed it firmly. She felt the power flowing into her and started to glow brighter and brighter. When told to release the power back into the earth she gave a small push and it started to leave her and return to the Ley lines. There was no earthquake, just a dimming of the power she had drawn. Grimstead told her that was the way to do it; Hermione just smiled at Harry. Harry said she had the benefit of Grimstead telling her how to do it first, where he had to figure it out by himself. All three of them started laughing then.

Summer session was over and they were at the leaving feast. Neville got an award for his work in Herbology and the other two got recognition again for being the top of their class and year. The next morning the threesome would wake up and be in normal time again, then it would be time to go have fun, and celebrate Harry and Neville's birthdays.

A/N: Okay, we now have the start of the second year, I will follow JKR example and start each year with the summer activities. Well Neville has named his elemental. What do you think of their courses?

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