Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Lady Rowling does; if she hasn't been given or bought a knighthood, she should get one for creating our favorite sandbox and its King.

A/N: Slight bashing of one of my favorite characters this chapter.

A/N1: Trigger warning; mentions of child abuse, child molestation and rape. No actual action.

A/N2: In this chapter, I use temperature degrees several times; I'm using Fahrenheit rather than Celsius. As my butchered attempt at accent probably gave away, I'm an American. Sorry. 😊

A/N3: I would like to thank these individuals for responding to my chapter trivia and making me laugh with their answers:

Underland98

Bahnannah

Kutiepie1

Demonboy121986

Acapellapop

To those who didn't get the reference; It was a reference to The Wizard of Oz.

Please keep an eye out for my next chapter trivia!

"Talk"

'Thought'

"Phoenix telepathy"

~ quotes from the book ~

The next morning Harry woke up to tapping on his window. Seems she got impatient for Harry to collect her and she came to him. As Harry was getting out of bed Dobby popped in and opened the window for Hedwig. He then checked to letter Hedwig was carrying for threats before handing it to Harry with a bow. While Harry opened his letter, Dobby popped in a roost for Hedwig and got her water and owl treats. He then popped down to the Kitchen to let Maple know Harry was up and would be wanting Breakfast soon.

The letter was from Neville:

Harry;

It's been a few days and Hedwig is getting antsy. I called for Dobby and asked if it was safe to send Hedwig back and he said you were at Potter Manor. That was a surprise, but I'm glad you managed to find it, I'm happy for you. Just so you know, Luna came back yesterday with a pet; I can't wait to see Hermione's reaction to it! She also said you've had some interesting developments, not even at school and your already on another adventure it seems. Looking forward to seeing you, I'd love to visit your Manor, maybe send us an invite. Hope to hear from you soon,

Neville Longbottom

After Harry read the letter, he got dressed and headed down for breakfast. While he walked, he thought about what to tell them and if he should bring them here. He trusted both of them, but he had only just found his way here and wasn't sure if he wanted to share it. He also wasn't even sure how to get them here; he didn't know the address so the Night Bus was out, he didn't know the Floo address or if the Manor was even able to use the Floo, he also didn't feel confident about Flaming someone with him, he would have to ask Fawkes about that. "Tomsy!" Harry called out as he got to the first floor.

Tomsy popped in next to Harry and started walking beside him, as Harry hadn't stopped, towards the informal Dining Room. "Master Harry, call Tomsy?" "Yes Tomsy, a few of my friends would like to visit and I was unsure what the best way to do so would be. What would you recommend and would I have to do anything to let them in?"

Tomsy was silent for a few moments while he thought of how-to best answer. "For Master Harry's friends to visit without being led in you would need to adjust the wards, which you can do from the Ward room. Given they are Master Harry's friends, I would presume they are too young to apparate, I would advise sending one of the elves to Pop them here or they could use the Floo. I would advise against the Floo though as you would need to adjust the Floo entry and I was ordered not to by your Grandfather, Master Fleamont. There is only a simple sealing ward on the door, so I would advise waiting till you learn more and can modify the defenses, which would require you to do wand magic."

Harry nodded, thoughtfully. He didn't want more trouble with the Ministry, and activating his Floo after its been unused in over 13 years would be quite noticeable. Not to mention them detecting him using magic so far from Diagon Alley. "After Breakfast, please take me to the Ward room and walk me through adjusting the Wards, Tomsy." Harry said, as they neared the Dining room. As Harry walked in, the table flashed and platters of Harry's favorite breakfast foods appeared. As with Dinner the night before, Harry had Tomsy gather the elves so they could have breakfast together. The elves looked nervous for a few moments, but after Harry fixed himself a plate they relaxed and enjoyed breakfast with Harry.

Harry smiled as he finished, then looked to Maple and Dobby, who were sitting next to each other. "Thank you, Maple, Dobby, for a marvelous breakfast. I'm glad to see the rest of you getting comfortable with eating with me." Maple and Dobby blushed at Harry's praise, but both wore broad smiles. All the elves at the table smiled and thanked Maple, following their Masters lead. Tomsy was pleased, Harry was much like his parents and grandparents; amazingly skilled and kind to his staff. It had been years since he had seen his fellow elves so happy.

Once everyone was done, with Dobby and Maple popping away to do the dishes, Harry had Tomsy lead him down to the Ward room and directed him to a glass case with a book, ink and quill and the Potter crest at the base of the glass. "Since Master Harry isn't allowed to use wand magic yet you need to enter their names into the Ward book. As you are still the Heir you can open the case, but the book cannot be removed, only the Lord of the House can do so. Press you palm on the crest and flare your magic briefly, though if I may Master Harry please control the heat you give off when you do so, it would be rather bad if you turn the book to ash." Tomsy instructed with a small smile. Harry smiled and did as he was instructed, while keeping a tight lease on his temperature control. After a moment of flared magic, the lock clicked and opened.

Harry opened the book to the last page, where there were several names that were written and not scratched out or blurred. "To add someone to the be allowed to pass through the wards you must write their name. To remove someone from the allowed list, merely scratch their name out and they won't be able to approach the Manor without the wards detecting them and alerting those within. If a name is blurred, that person died before they were removed from the book, so that intruders could not use their image to gain entry." Harry added Luna, Neville, Madam Longbottom, Hermione and Ron to the list. He then scratched out one of the remaining names: Albus Dumbledore.

"Tomsy, is there any way to check who passes through the Wards, and how has the tracking of the missing books coming?" Harry asked. Given what Fawkes had said the night before last, Harry had a nagging feeling he didn't like.

"There are several drawers in the desk of the Lords study that can only be opened by the Lord of the House. In one of those drawers there should be a self-updating list of those who pass through the Wards. There were several books from the list that were in the various reading areas and lounges around the house, those Tomsy returned to the Library. There are a few in the Potter Family Vault, but Tomsy isn't able to take them from the Vault without being told. The remainder of the missing books are located in Headmaster Dumbledore's private study, Tomsy was unable to retrieve those. Tomsy is very sorry, Master Harry."

"Do not punish yourself for this, Tomsy." Harry said, quickly. "I told you to find the books and let me know who, if anyone, took them from the house. Thank you for your hard work Tomsy." He could see Tomsy was still troubled but didn't look about to punish himself.

Harry made a mental note of the remaining people allowed through the wards and closed the book and case. After considering his options he decided to Flame to Longbottom Hall to talk to Neville directly. So, Harry called for Dobby to go ask if he may come over, and went back to the main entrance and waited. When Dobby returned with permission, Harry asked Dobby to cover for him today, then Flamed to Longbottom Hall.

FG

Harry arrived at almost the same spot he had two nights before, at the base of a long driveway leading to Longbottom Hall. He didn't know if it was subconscious or magical but accepted that would be his arrival point when Flaming. When Harry got to the front doors he knocked and waited. Moments later the Longbottom elf allowed him to enter.

The elf took him to the greeting room he had arrived in when he first visited. After a minute Madam Longbottom came in, wand out, and asked "What have you been studying this summer with my grandson?". Harry answered, "The Bond of Valor." Madam Longbottom gave a sigh of relief and lowered here wand. "Sorry Harry, but you know how cautious we are and you came through the front door rather than get transported by your elf."

"Not a problem, Madam Longbottom. It's always best to be cautious when visitors aren't scheduled. Thank you for letting Hedwig stay here the last few days." Harry said, with a smile. Over the summer, Harry had found out more about what happened to Neville's parents, so he could definitely understand her caution. It's one of the reasons he agreed with Tomsy to leave the Floo off at Potter Manor.

"No problem at all, Harry. Thank you for letting us know what was happening. I'm sure Neville would have been worried if you just stopped coming without warning." Madam Longbottom said, as the door behind her opened. "Welcome back, Harry. Glad to see your safe." Neville said, walking into the room to greet Harry. As he reached Harry, they grasped each other's fore arms, like they had done since they initiated the bond by accident.

"Sorry to worry you Neville. I just couldn't risk the trouble with the Dursleys and then had a very busy day in Diagon Alley yesterday morning and Potter Manor yesterday afternoon. Tomsy, the Potter Head Elf, took me on a tour of the Manor after I got home and I spent three hours in the Portrait Gallery getting to know my parents and previous generations of Potters." Said Harry, as they moved to the couches.

"How did you go from being unable to leave your relatives," Neville knew better by know than to refer to the Dursleys as Harry's family, "to finding Potter Manor. As far as I know, nobody knows where it is." Neville said, eager to hear about Harry's last week.

Harry told Neville and Madam Longbottom about Marge's visit, his escape, Flaming for the first time to escape the magical dog, being taken to Potter Manor by Fawkes, his trip to Gringotts, his shopping trip, being found by Fudge, and his tour around Potter Manor. Neville and Madam Longbottom were shocked and outraged when Harry told them what Marge did and said, this time managing to control his temper so he wouldn't cause the room to heat up. The news had both Longbottoms blood boiling without Harry adding more heat to the equation.

As Harry finished his tale the Longbottom elf popped in with refreshments and calming droughts for Neville and Madam Longbottom. "Well young man, that certainly is quite the tale. And Fudge just swept the reasons for the outburst away and is insisting you return there next summer? Well, I'm certainly going to be having some rather strong words with him, and if that undersecretary of his gets uppity about it I'll roast here hide and send her to France." Madam Longbottom said, calm as could be if you didn't count the storm clouds in her eyes. Harry was slightly curious about this 'undersecretary', both Madam Longbottom and Fawkes seemed to hold a great deal of irritation towards her.

Just as Harry was about to ask about the undersecretary, the Floo activated and out stepped Luna Lovegood. "Good morning, Madam Longbottom, sorry to intrude. I had the feeling Harry was here. The answer to your question is Pandora." Luna said, in her usual airy voice. Harry noticed a touch of annoyance and sadness in her eyes, while Madam Longbottom stuttered. With a huff, Madam Longbottom motioned her towards the couch.

"Good morning, Harry." Luna said, while giving Harry a light hug before sitting down. "Did you like the pictures I sent you?" A slight blush to her cheeks.

Harry saw the blush and figured she was talking about both the photo and the card. He smiled lightly and said, "Yes, both were beautiful. I can't wait to see Hermione's reaction. Did you get to bring it back with you?"

Luna giggled. "He's asleep in my room. I took a page out of Newt Scamander's book and had daddy make a pocket dimension inside my trunk, so I can take him to Hogwarts."

"I was just telling Neville and his Grandmother about my last week, and why I'm not staying at the Dursley's anymore this summer. They needed calming droughts after I was done, so I hope you don't mind waiting till later to hear. Suffice to say; things went south rather quickly after my Uncle's sister arrived for a stay the afternoon of my birthday, she was rather rude, things got a bit heated, and I had to leave. I was attacked by a magical dog after I left, used a new gift to get away, Fawkes showed up and took me to Potter Manor."

Luna didn't need Harry to retell his birthday weekend, she had Seen most of it. What she saw had her demand they end their trip early, after scaring off every magical creature in a mile radius of their campsite. The only reason she didn't go straight to Surrey was because she had Seen the results. That didn't mean she didn't have plans to get back at the Dursleys for them allowing Marge to assault Harry like that. And she had separate, more interesting, plans for 'Marge the Barge'. Ripper had already been punished for daring to bite Harry. All this passed through her mind for the briefest of moments before she pushed it to the back of her mind. This promised to be a fun day, she didn't want to ruin it with more dark thoughts than needed.

"This morning I added all of you to the Ward Book, so if you'd like to visit or need a quick escape, call for Dobby, Tomsy, or one of the other Potter elves you get to know and they'll take you to the greeting room at Potter Manor. My Grandfather locked the Floo before he died and told Tomsy not to open it until the Greeting room could be better secured, which didn't happen before they died. Madam Longbottom, I suppose you could also apparate there after you've been taken, though I would rather you call for an elf. I still don't know everything about the Manor and its defenses.

Neville and Luna smiled broadly. Every old family took pride in their Ancestral home, so each of their estates was rather grand, no matter how humble the family. Each Lord of the House adds something to improve the estate and the Potters were older than the Longbottoms. Madam Longbottom was surprised and grateful for the invitation, at least as surprised as she could be after taking a strong dose of calming drought. "Thank you, Mr. Potter, for the invitation. I'm sure we would love to visit and will call for one of your elves when we do. Neville, if it's okay with Mr. Potter, would you like to go today? I still have some matters to take care of, I might visit Sunday." Madam Longbottom said.

"Not a problem, Madam Longbottom, that was one of the reasons I came over today, to invite you and Neville. I was going to visit Luna next, but she's already here." Harry said with a smile, turning slightly to look at Luna. She was smiling sweetly, her eyes shining with mirth. She didn't want Harry to visit yet, her dad might let slip some of her creative ideas.

"I'd love to visit today." Luna and Neville said at the same time. They blinked, looked at each other, and laughed. Harry chuckled and called for Dobby and Tomsy. "I would like you two to take Luna and Neville to Potter Manor in a moment. I'm going to share one more thing with Madam Longbottom today and trust she keeps it to herself."

With a nod from Madam Longbottom and her promise to keep what he was about to reveal secret, Harry continued. "When Fawkes saved my life by giving me some of his tears, he did more than neutralize the venom and heal my body down in the Chamber of Secrets. After I got back to my dorm and fell asleep, the magic of Fawkes tears did more, they didn't just get absorbed by my blood but by my magical core. When I awoke, I had grown slightly, could see clearly, and all but the two magical scars were gone. After that I could see magic and understand it better, that was how I could tell Neville's wand was fighting him. When I visited the Headmaster the last week of school, I was nearly blinded by all the magic in his office and especially Fawkes. Fawkes noticed and realized what was happening, he reached out to me and taught me how to control my sight. Over the summer so far, he's visited my mind each night and has been training me; he gave me several gifts when he saved my life and has been teaching me how to control them. One of these gifts is the ability to Flame travel like a Phoenix, it's how I got to Potter Manor and how I got here this morning."

Madam Longbottom looked skeptical, but Harry could understand. He had just told her he had been hearing a phoenix's voice for more than a month. She appeared to be thinking over what he'd said, considering if it was even possible. She looked over to Neville, who looked shocked but seemed to believe what Harry said; that meant Harry believed what he had said, the Bond of Valor prevented those that share it from lying to each other. She looked to Luna, who nodded her head and smiled.

Augusta Longbottom had seen and heard a lot in her long life, but this was certainly up there with the hard to believe. Although, it did explain the triggering of the proximity and magical travel relocation wards the night before last. She looked at Harry, with a raised eyebrow, and asked "Why are you telling me this?"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief he didn't notice he was holding. "Because, Madam Longbottom, I trust you, Neville, and Luna. I don't want to hide my secrets from everyone, and I don't want to put Neville in a position where he has to keep my secrets from you. I know I need to trust some adults in my life, there is still so much I need to learn and I know I might need your help dealing with things I'm not old enough to handle. I hope you believe and trust me."

Madam Longbottom smiled and looked at Harry fondly. She was proud he understood that he couldn't do everything yet and honored he trusted her enough to keep his secrets and guide him. She nodded to Harry, who smiled back.

"Thank you, Madam Longbottom. I look forward to your visit. Neville, Luna, I'll see you there soon." With that, Harry stood and Flamed back to Potter Manor. Madam Longbottom and Neville looked to where Harry had just been with amazement. Luna just smiled and grabbed Dobby's hand. She said "Dobby, would you mind taking me to Potter Manor?" With a slight pop she vanished leaving only the Longbottoms.

"Be safe and respectful, Neville. You might be friends, but your visiting his ancestral home. If Mr. Potter really is being trained by a phoenix, I'd hate to get on his bad side." Madam Longbottom said.

"Don't worry, Gran, I will. And don't worry, so long as you don't attack him or those he cares about, you don't need to be afraid of Harry. There are two at Hogwarts that might need to worry, but not us. Though I do hope Ravenclaw learned their lesson last year, I don't want to think what Harry would do if they messed with Luna again." Neville replied.

"Thank you for your patience, Tomsy. Would you mind taking me to Harry?" Neville said, holding out his hand towards the elf. He smiled and grabbed Neville's hand and they disappeared with a soft pop.

Augusta looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded and returned to her office. As she walked, she made a silent prayer to magic for the safety of Ravenclaw house and that she never betrayed Harry's trust. If she hadn't just promised him to keep his secrets, she would have Floo called Flitwick to let him know what he might have to deal with.

FG

Once they had all arrived Harry gave them the tour. Harry enjoyed watching their reactions to the different areas of his Manor. Neville marveled at all the magical plants cared for in the greenhouse, his praise drew out the elf that took care of them and they eagerly discussed how the plants were cared for. When Neville and Woodsy finally noticed Harry and Luna chuckling both blushed, before Woodsy gave Harry a low bow and popped away to continue his tasks.

Neville and Luna enjoyed the tour and it took several minutes to get Luna out of the Library after Harry let them each have a go at the Index; Luna searched for books containing other creatures she and her Father had been looking for and several books came flying. Harry let her borrow one book and she chose a book about Crumple Horned Snorkackes, while making a mental note to borrow a book about wracksports. Needless to say, she was very happy touring Harry's Manor and spending time with them after a month away.

After lunch, Harry took them to the outdoor pool, where Dobby fetched swim trunks for Harry and Neville and a sky-blue one-piece for Luna. After swimming for an hour, Harry took them over to the Quidditch Pitch to fly till three. Then Harry apologized to end the day there, but explained that he needed to catch a nap before Dinner and his evening training with Fawkes. He also invited them back the next day, which both eagerly accepted. Neville calling for his family's house elf and Luna being taken back by Dobby before he visited the Alley again.

FG

When Harry woke that evening from a relaxing nap, he called for Dobby to see what he had been up to in his trips to the Alley. "Dobby was very active, visited many shops. Mr. Fortescue is very nice; gave Dobby free ice cream every time I passed by; Dobby tried many flavors to see what Master Harry might like." 'Well,' Harry though, 'that explains why Dobby looks to be on a sugar high.'

"Thanks for covering for me today, Dobby. You were a big help." Harry said. Dobby smiled widely and hugged Harry. Harry patted Dobby's shoulder after a minute so he could continue. "I think I'll take the last shift of the day before Dinner, what flavor would you recommend?"

"Dobby recommends the Strawberry and Peanut Butter ice cream; it was interesting and Dobby thinks Master Harry will like it." Dobby said, quickly. He then bowed and popped down to the Kitchen to help Maple with Dinner. Harry chuckled lightly while getting ready. He then Flamed to his room at the Leaky Cauldron, and walked down to grab a light Dinner at the pub before going out into the Alley to do a little exploring of his own. He stopped by Fortescue's to try a scoop of the ice cream Dobby recommended and found he quite enjoyed it. When Harry ordered it, he mentioned it was so good he had to get another after his Dinner; Fortescue sold out of that flavor before he closed for the day.

Harry walked around for another half hour and returned to his room at a quarter till seven. He Flamed back to the Manor, where he and his elves had a proper meal together. After Dinner, Harry went back up to the Portrait Gallery to visit with his parents some more. At half past Nine Tomsy popped in to inform Harry Fakes had arrived for their training. Harry walked down to greet him, then they made their way down to the training room. They trained for three hours, with a thirty-minute break, calling it a night at One.

Fawkes left back to Hogwarts and Harry went up to bed, after a hot bath, heated by his powers. That night, while they continued dream training, Harry asked Fawkes about Flaming with someone else. Therefore, they focused on the theory and mental exercises needed to Flame with someone tagging along. They agreed it would be a while before Harry was ready to try Flaming with someone unless it was an emergency, Fawkes informed Harry the results of failing were considerably worse than splinching while Apparating.

FG

The next morning Harry woke up at Seven, had a nice Breakfast with his elves, then Flamed to his room at the Leaky Cauldron. After a light meal at the pub, Harry walked out into the Alley for an hour's stroll. When Harry returned to the Manor at half past Eight, he found Neville and Luna waiting for him in the Library. They asked where he'd been, so he told them about his meeting with Fudge and the aftermath.

"So, I have meals here, Flame to the Leakey Cauldron for a light meal and an hour of walking around the Alley, then return to my room at the Leakey to Flame back here. Yesterday, I had Dobby disguise himself as me, while I showed you all around. I can't do that all the time, as I believe the Ministry might be watching to make sure I actually stay in the Alley." Harry explained.

Neville looked dumbfounded; Luna was giggling. Harry was right of course, he had been followed as he walked this morning by some rather shoddy Aurors, namely Dawlish and some trainees. One particularly clumsy trainee managed to knock over the barrel of eye of newts, causing a massive mess and a chewing out from Dawlish. She was the one stuck watching Harry's room till the next shift.

Since they were all already in the Library, they each grabbed a book that interested them and sat together in the central reading area. Neville chose a book on advanced Herbology, Luna chose the book about wracksports, and Harry retrieved the Invisible Book of Invisibility. Harry was interested in the magic that made it work and knew his fathers' cloak wasn't without drawbacks; you were only invisible under it, it could be summoned off you, you could still be heard, and you could still be smelled. He also still suspected cats could see through it, due to Mrs. Norris still seeming to see him back in his first year.

There were many useful spells listed in the table of context; spells to mask sound, spells to erase scents, spells to turn yourself and others invisible, and spells to make objects invisible to all but the caster. They read in the Library for several hours, occasionally repeating what was in the books they were reading, till it was time for lunch. Harry invited them to stay for lunch, which they graciously accepted, and sat down to eat with his friends and house elves.

As lunch was finishing up, Harry thanked Maple and Dobby for another fine meal, and got ready to make his second appearance at the Leaky Cauldron. Luna and Neville asked if they could come with him. Harry thought about it for a moment; he couldn't take them with Flame travel yet, he didn't want to connect his fireplace to the Floo network yet, and if someone was watching his room it would look rather odd for two new people to walk out when only one walked in so popping them in with house elves was out. Then it came to him, he could have them return home with help from elves and then Floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry shared his idea with them and they both grinned. "Now, do we meet there by surprise or intent?" Harry asked.

"I have an idea," said Luna. "You can go down to lunch and wait at a table by the fireplace, we'll wait a few minutes and then Floo to the Leaky Cauldron. When we get there, you'll see us and invite us to sit with you. We'll each have some tea while you eat your snack and then we can walk around the Alley together and return to your room when it's time to come back. Then we can be brought back to the room when you're about to take your afternoon nap. It might be a good idea for you to come back to the room for a moment, just in case there is someone watching your room and they try to peak or sneak inside."

Everyone at the table grinned. Harry was so happy he gave Luna a sideways hug, causing her to blush lightly, nowhere near Weasley red, and causing Neville to smirk knowingly.

FG

Harry Flamed to his room at the Leaky Cauldron, and as soon as he opened his door, he noticed the magical outline of a person. Needless to say, he was not surprised but not exactly pleased. He kept his thoughts and emotions in check though as he passed them and made his way downstairs. At least now he knew someone for sure was watching his room. As he walked down the stairs, he quietly called for Dobby, who appeared with a quite pop. "Dobby, there is someone outside my room here. Would mind making things a little colder in that hot hallway for them?" Harry said, with a mischievous smile.

Dobby smirked and snapped his fingers. In the hall behind them there was a sudden cold snap, lowering the temperature of the hall by a nippy 30 degrees. They quietly laughed as they heard a woman exclaim in surprise. A wink from Harry and a snap from Dobby, and the hall was back to its previous temperature. "BLIMEY!" They both heard and they had to hold the walls to not fall down laughing. Clearly the witch watching his room, for that was most certainly a woman's voice just then, had quickly cast a heating charm to combat the cold snap just in time for the temperature to jump back to its previous toasty summer usual.

With a smile, Dobby popped back to Potter Manor while Harry continued down the stairs, grinning. After a full lunch already, and knowing his friends would be joining him in a few minutes, Harry requested a Bakewell tart and tea. Shortly after he had sat down, the Floo activated and out stepped Neville. Luna followed seconds after. Once they were both through, they made their way to Harry.

Harry told them about the invisible woman watching his room and the prank he played on her with Dobby. Both smirked at the poor watchwoman's misfortune. After a minute of waiting the Bakewell tart and tea was served and they all enjoyed the treat. It took them nearly 10 minutes to finish the tart, halfway through the invisible Auror trainee tripped at the second to last step, causing a racket.

Once they were done; Harry, Luna, and Neville went out the back and into Diagon Alley. They started off their visit with a trip to the Apothecary. They browsed its wares for several minutes before purchasing what they were low on for their next year's stock and Neville got some seeds for his greenhouse.

After they left the Apothecary, Luna led them down the Alley a way before turning into a side alley. Harry and Neville hurried to catch up, and almost ran into Luna standing in front of a building shaped like a pair of rainbow glasses. The sign above the glasses said The Quibbler. Luna beamed at her friends and walked in, Harry and Neville following a few moments later. As they entered, they saw a large amount of paintings featuring magical animals they had only heard described to them by Luna.

Moon frogs on a pond bathed in a full moons light. Blibbering Humdingers, Heliopaths galloping out of volcanoes. Clouds of black Wrackpurts floating about someone. Umgabular Shashkilter, Nargles zipping about mistletoe. Aquavirius Maggots, Gulping Plimpies swimming in what looked to be the Black Lake at Hogwarts. And Crumple-Horned Snorkackes with a wall sized copy of Luna holding one next to the painting.

Luna was standing at the reception desk talking to a young witch, barely out of Hogwarts, wearing spectrespecs. "Is my father in, April? My friends and I were in Diagon Alley and I wanted to introduce them." Luna asked

"Sorry, Ms. Lovegood, but your father received a Floo call about a Blibbering Humdinger sighting and rushed out to investigate. He said he'd be back in a few hours. Would you like me to let him know you were here?" April replied.

"Yes please, April. There is always another opportunity. Enjoy the latest edition." Luna said with a smile. She wasn't that surprised her father wasn't in; he was always busy with the many responsibilities of running a newspaper.

After leaving The Quibbler, they walked the stalls to kill time. After they walked the length of the Alley they stopped in at Flourish and Blotts to look for some new books. Neville browsed the Herbology section, and chose several books on advanced care for magical plants. Luna looked through books about magical painting. Harry looked for elemental magic and books on phoenixes.

Nearly thirty minutes later, and nearly a hundred Galleons lighter, they left the book shop. Harry decided to grab some ice-cream before they headed back to Potter Manor, so lead the group to Fortescue's to try some more new flavors. Florian Fortescue was pleased to see Harry stopping by again, this time with friends, and once again gave Harry free samples.

Three bowls of ice-cream and three happy pre-teens later, Harry and his friends headed back to the Leaky Cauldron so they could continue fooling the Ministry. They went up to Harry's room and called for Dobby and Tomsy, who would take Luna and Neville while Harry Flamed back to Potter Manor.

Out in the hall, the trainee was back in position to wait for the three kids to come back out. Surly they couldn't stay in there all afternoon, right?

FG

Once they were back at the Manor, Harry convinced Luna and Neville to try out the exercise room. Neville looked a bit unsure, but agreed when Luna pointed out they had just enjoyed a Bakewell Tart and ice-cream. They used the in-door exercise equipment for two hours, then went out to the greenhouses for an hour to relax.

Harry accompanied them back to the Leaky Cauldron. When he opened the door to his room, he heard snoring coming from the hallway. He focused on his true sight and found the trainee Auror that had been tailing them asleep under an invisibility cloak. Harry shut the door quietly and told the others what he found.

After a short planning session, with some help from Tomsy, they decided what to do. Harry went back to the door and opened it. "Thanks for coming by, guys. How about we meet up again tomorrow?" Harry said loudly.

"Sure Harry, we'll stop by tomorrow. About the same time." Neville agreed, loudly.

"Thanks for a fun day, Harry. I can't wait till tomorrow." Luna agreed, giggling loudly.

"I'm going to take a nap. See you tomorrow." Harry said, closing the door. Harry slid down the door silently laughing. The Auror looked totally lost and miserable, holding her head from waking up to such loud noise. With Luna and Neville on their way home, Harry Flamed back to Potter Manor to actually take his afternoon nap.

FG

After a three-hour nap, a house elf woke him for dinner. Harry and his elves enjoyed a lovely meal before his third trip to Diagon Alley for the day. To keep up illusions, he got a bowl of stew and bread, with butterbeer to drink. In the corner of the pub he could see what looked like the watcher he messed with being chewed out by her commanding officer. As the privacy spell they had put up came down Harry heard the end of their conversation.

"I'm warning you, Nymphadora, if I find out you've fallen asleep at the watch again, you're out. I don't care what Moody says, you're still a trainee and on probation!" Dawlish exclaimed, smirking at the trainee. She was a metamorphmagus and despite keeping her mouth shut her hair had turned a deep red. Then he noticed Harry looking their way and grimaced. "Carry on, Tonks." He said, before briskly walking towards the Floo.

As Harry ate, he watched to trainee, Ms. Tonks, picking at her food while carefully sneaking glances at Harry. He felt a little bad for her, it must have been rather boring watching a door all afternoon, he couldn't fault her for falling asleep. Once Harry finished his food, he brought his bowl up to the counter, said something quietly to Tom, then walked out the back with his butterbeer. A minute after he left and as Tonks was about to get up to follow, Tom came over with a butterbeer and said it was already paid for.

She thanked Tom, then took the bottle it was in and moved to follow Harry out the back. Harry wandered the shops still open. He spent a few minutes watching as the workers at the magical menagerie fed the animals in their care. Harry then spent the last ten minutes of his hour in the Alley enjoying another new flavor from Fortescue's.

Harry thanked Mr. Fortescue and returned to his room at the Leaky Cauldron. He said goodnight to Tom as he headed up the stairs, knowing the trainee was still following him. Once he was in his room, he Flamed away back to Potter Manor. Tonks made a note for her report of Harry's activities and settled in to wait out her shift. While she had been following Harry, she picked up some reading material in Flourish and Blotts.

FG

After Harry returned home, he went up to the Portrait Gallery to spend more time with his parent's portraits until Fawkes came for their nightly training. While he was there, he noticed that his great grandfather was out again. He tried to ask Fleamont about him, but for some reason all the portraits were unwilling to discuss him.

Just before 10, Tomsy came up to get Harry for his training with Fawkes. He said good night to the portraits and walked down to the entry hall. On the way down he tried asking what Tomsy knew about Henry Potter. "Very sorry, Master Harry, but Tomsy cannot say. Every time I try to focus on him, I'm forced to think about something else." Tomsy said sadly. "It's ok, Tomsy. If you can't remember, I understand." Harry reassured Tomsy it was ok, but he couldn't help thinking it was a bit odd.

Once they arrived in the entry hall, Harry found Fawkes snacking on some shredded fish, much like Tomsy brought him the night they arrived here. "Good evening, Fawkes. Touch hungry?" Harry said, with a smirk.

"Good evening, Hatchling. I hope you had a pleasant day." Fawkes replied while eating his fish. He saw the amused gleam in Harry's eye and wasn't about to take the bait.

"Not bad. My friends came to visit and followed me to Diagon Alley. Messed with a trainee Auror that was assigned to tail me. Felt a little bad for her, so I paid for a bottle of butterbeer for her and spent a bit of time in Flourish and Blotts so she could find something to read while she watches my empty room." Harry said, with a smile. He was still amused to be proven right about someone wasting their day watching his empty room.

"Well, that was nice of you. So, ready for this evenings training? I figure we'll work an hour on each on your previous lessons, then move on to something new tonight." Fawkes said, as he finished his fish.

With that they set off towards the basement for Harry's evening practical training. For the first hour they worked on summoning and controlling fire, Harry could now manipulate the flames quickly and by the end of the first hour he had a small ball of white fire zooming around the edge of the room while he kept his eyes on Fawkes. After the first hour ended Harry retracted his fire and they started on pin-point Flaming, if Harry wanted to Flame anyone with him Fawkes wanted Harry to master Flaming with accuracy, ease and precision. By the end of the hour they were playing a game of tag by Flaming behind each other.

"Now Harry, what I'm about to teach you is a version of Occlumency. This skill has many uses, key among them are emotional control, memory improvement, and protecting your mind from being invaded by Legilimency. There are two kinds of Legilimency; passive Legilimency allows you to view your targets surface thoughts by making direct eye contact, frontal Legilimency is used by pointing your wand at your target and casting Legilimency, allowing you to see all of your targets memories and for those skilled in the talent modify memories." Fawkes said, as they moved into their third hour of training.

"We will need to practice this in the real world, if you succeed in using this skill it would block my connection to you while you sleep, since while we train in your dreams, I am technically invading your mind to do so. Now, to start we shall focus on meditation to order the mind. While you meditate, I want you to form the image of a fire in your mind, as bright as you can make it." Fawkes continued, making eye contact with Harry.

And so, Harry focused on an image of a bright fire as he meditated. It was actually much harder than he thought to focus on the image while he could feel Fawkes looking into his mind but not entering. By the end of the hour he was mentally exhausted from the exercise. At the end of the hour, Fawkes told Harry to flare the image of the flame in his mind. "If someone gets into your mind without you knowing you can still force them out. If any creature is blinded, most will attempt to retreat to safety while they recover rather than attack blindly. Those that do not run from being blinded can also be driven off by intense heat." Fawkes explained, intensifying his gaze into Harry.

Harry forced all his remaining focus into increasing the bright flame into a blinding white inferno. At that moment two things happened; Fawkes let out a surprised squawk and fell over while Harry crumpled in exhaustion. Fawkes laid on his back stunned for a full minute before righting himself and looking to Harry. When he saw Harry unconscious, he got worried and called out for a Potter elf. Tomsy popped in and squeaked when he saw Harry collapsed and rushed to his side.

Checking Harry over with elf magic and finding him magically exhausted but otherwise fine, he called for Dobby and together they cleaned Harry, switched his clothes with his pajamas and Dobby popped him up to bed. Once Dobby had left with Harry, Tomsy turned his attention to the still dazed Fawkes. If Fawkes wasn't immortal, he might've been afraid of the look in the little elf's eyes.

"WHAT WAS YOUS THINKING?!" Berated Tomsy, hands balled in anger. "Yous will tells me right now why Master Harry collapsed from magical exhaustion, or so help Tomsy I will tells Master Harry yous secret!" Tomsy demanded and threatened Fawkes. Fawkes sighed and tried to fly to a perch that had been brought there for him only to lose his balance as soon as he took off. Tomsy stood there with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, much to Fawkes ire.

"I was teaching Harry the beginnings of Occlumency, so that Albus and his pet bat couldn't find out where Harry has been this since his birthday and what he has been doing over the summer. I had him focus on the image of a bright fire in his mind for an hour while I looked into his mind. As our face to face training for the night was coming to a close, I told Harry to flare the image of flame as I explained the basics of removing someone from your mind. I can only assume Harry took it as a challenge to make me leave his mind and overestimated how much I would resist. The white-hot fire he was holding in his mind, which would already keep out most passive Legilimency attempts flash flamed into a blinding Inferno, ejecting me from his mind and knocking me out for a full minute. He must have pushed a considerable amount of his magic into the attempt." Fawkes explained, the tips of his wings against his head, as if massaging his head. He was definitely going to have a migraine tomorrow.

Tomsy was still mad but took pity on Fawkes. He snapped his fingers and Fawkes floated onto the perch he had attempted to fly to. He popped away for a moment and return shortly with an eyedropper full of headache relief potion. Fawkes saw the potion in the dropper and inwardly grumbled about the amount, but he couldn't fault Tomsy's loyalty to Harry and meaning to or not he had hurt Harry. He sighed again and took the potion.

"Theres be no dream training tonight or until he wakes up. Yous will not push him that far again or yous will not be welcome back here until the Lord of the House says otherwise. Yous may be able to pass through the Wards but that doesn't mean we elves can't keep you out." Tomsy said, brokering no argument. Fawkes nodded his head and then held it in his wingtips again, the dosage Tomsy had provided was rather on the short side for one his size.

"Yous might want to have Henry's portrait visit, Master Harry be noticing and asking." Tomsy said, before snapping his fingers. After a flash of magic, Fawkes and the perch he was on were out on the front yard. His head still hurt too much to Flame safely so he attempted to take off again. Successfully doing so, he set a course for Hogwarts, it was going to be a long flight and he had to be back before Albus woke up.

FG

Harry slept through the night and the next two days. During that time, Neville and Luna visited and found out what happened to Harry. Neville looked worried but Luna looked disgruntled, which made Neville worry even more. "I'm going to have words with that bird when I get a chance." Luna said. Over in Scotland, in the Headmasters office, Fawkes woke from his nap with a start and looked worriedly towards Potter Manor. The Sorting hat noticed Fawkes reaction and chortled softly; when Fawkes had returned very late the Sorting hat had made him tell what had happened.

Dobby made sure to make Harry seen throughout Diagon Alley, including meeting Neville and Luna at the Leaky Cauldron to keep up that additional appearance. All the elves were rather subdued while Harry was unconscious and more than a little miffed with Fawkes. They did their tasked and took meals together as they had since Harry had arrived, but they were quiet and concerned.

Rather than leave Harry's Manor while he slept, they decided to keep him company. They each grabbed a book from the Library to read while Harry slept. When they returned the second day to find Harry was still recovering, they grabbed more books from the Library to sit and watch over Harry. Neville was both a little interested and concerned when Luna retrieved a rather large tome on Phoenixes. As they read Neville would occasionally look up to see Luna's eye twitching and muttering.

Sunday morning, Harry woke up just as the sun was rising. As soon as he sat up, he was surprised as every Potter elf popped into the Master Bedroom. They were all excited to see that Harry had woken up. After getting them to settle down, he thanked them for their concern and asked they go back to what they were doing. Maple announced Breakfast would be ready in 15 minutes, which gave Harry plenty of time to take a shower and get dressed. Harry was happy to see all his elves smiling and laughing as they had Breakfast with him.

At half past 8, Dobby and Tomsy popped off to retrieve Harry's friends. When they returned, they brought Madam Longbottom as well. She greeted Harry formally, so Harry returned in kind, then smiled and started giving her a guided tour. He asked Tomsy to come along in case Madam Longbottom had any questions he didn't have answers to. Tomsy bowed and followed right behind Harry, providing additional information as they went.

It took them two hours and when they were done it was time for morning tea. They sat in one of first floor lounges while they waited for Dobby and Tomsy to get the tea, when they returned Madam Longbottom was surprised when Harry asked them both to join them. Seeing her surprise Harry said, "I treat my elves like they're all a part of my family. I appreciate all their hard work and taking meals with them helps me connect with them and learn about them individually and as a whole. It's only been a few days, but I'm glad they're all willing and starting to enjoy our meal times."

They all smiled at Harry and Madam Longbottom thanked both elves for their hard work. She then thanked Harry and Tomsy for a splendid tour and complimented his Manor. "Well, Mr. Potter, I'm glad to see you are up and about. Neville told me about what happened, I hope you'll be more careful moving forward with your training."

"Not to worry, Madam Longbottom, I'll be careful. I'm sure Fawkes was just as surprised as everyone else. I still plan to practice Occlumency though, it sounded interesting and it was a challenge holding the image until Fawkes told me to flare it. I guess I might have put too much force into repelling him." Harry said, shyly.

Madam Longbottom huffed. "The eagerness and impatience of youth." She said, shaking her head with a wry smile. "If you're going to insist on learning Occlumency, I'm going to start training Neville in it. The Bond you share helps both you learn what the other learns, so you'll both get it twice as fast if the both of you train the skill." She looked to Neville to make sure he understood.

"Yes, Gran. I guess since he was training a mental magic, we can both learn, that would explain the dream I had the same night Harry collapsed. I was in a large, humid, jungle, filled with all the plants I'd ever seen. Then I suddenly woke up, sharply, just before 1." Neville said, while nodding.

"That will make this much easier, that you already have a mental image you can focus on. We'll discuss when I'll train you when we get home." Madam Longbottom said, with a smile. "For now, Mr. Potter, would it be ok to visit the Portrait Gallery? I would like to speak to some old friends." She asked.

"Not a problem, Madam Longbottom, it's on the top floor. I'll lead you." Replied Harry, happy he could help her. While they walked up the stairs, they talked about his parents and grandparents. She told Harry about letters her son, Neville's Father, sent home about Harry's dad and his group of friends, the Marauders.

When they reached the Portrait Gallery, Harry led them to the back where his recent relatives hung. It was a happy, if teary, Madam Longbottom that left an hour later after many stories were shared. Harry noticed though that whatever kept Tomsy from talking about his Great-grandfather also affected Madam Longbottom. He noticed her eyes slide over the empty portrait several times, as if she couldn't see it.

As it was lunch time, Harry invited Neville and Madam Longbottom to join him for lunch, which they happily agreed to. Madam Longbottoms surprise passed more quickly as all the Potter elves joined Harry for the meal. Their smiling faces and bright eyes showing how much they care for their Master, though he would never make them call him that. After a wonderful meal they all thanked Maple and returned to their duties, with a bow to Harry, who took it with a smile.

"Dobby," Harry called out as he spotted him about to leave, "Thank you for taking care of my appearances while I was recovering, but I'd like to go to the Alley today." Dobby nodded and bowed. "Any issues with our watcher there?" Harry asked.

"Lady Auror not a problem, though has much problem with balance. Dobby actually had to call for help to keep here safe following Dobby. She's odd though, every time something happens her hair changes color. Dobby doesn't think she's noticed it not really be Master Harry." Dobby responded.

At hearing that, Madam Longbottom broke into the conversation. "It sounds like the girl is a Metamorphmagus, a witch or wizard with the rare gift to shape-shift without transfiguration. It's a rare skill to have; very useful for spying but has two major drawbacks, unless you're a master Occlumencer the color of your hair changes to match your mood and you have terrible balance because you constantly change your center of balance when you use it. Odds are, when you saw her having trouble, she didn't look like how she was born."

"I wouldn't doubt she uses her ability when she doesn't need to, she walks around with bubblegum pink hair. Looks just out of Hogwarts too." Harry said, remembering how she looked after tripping down the stairs and her hair changing color when she was talked down to.

"Well, best be off if I want to keep my schedule. Madam Longbottom, you may stay here while I'm gone or you can ask an elf to take you home. Neville, would you like to come with?" Harry said, addressing Madam Longbottom before asking Neville. Neville looked to his Grandmother for her opinion.

"Thank you for a wonderful morning and inviting me to remain while your away, but I really must get back. While we're here or at Longbottom Hall feel free to call me Augusta if you like Mr. Potter. Neville, if you would like to join Mr. Potter you may, though we will still talk when you return." Replied Augusta.

"Thank you, Augusta. In that case, feel free to call me Harry if you like." Harry said, receiving a small nod and smile from Augusta.

"Thanks Harry, I would love to go. Gran, I'll be home after the trip to Diagon." Neville said, getting up and helping his Grand-mother out of her chair.

"Even though Fawkes taught me how and trained me more in Flaming, I'd prefer to wait till he thinks I'm ready before I try to Flame with others. So, you'll still have to use the Floo. See you there." Harry said, as he walked them to the Entry Hall.

After saying goodbye to Augusta and seeing her off, he Flamed to his room at the Leaky Cauldron. Before going down stairs he checked for the Auror and found it was a male one today, the one who Auror Tonks reported to. Harry decided the rude man looked a little too relaxed so increased the temperature of the hallway by fifteen degrees as he walked by. The Auror immediately started sweating and cast several feeble cooling charms.

Harry walked down the stairs and saw Luna at his usual table with three light lunches waiting for him. As Harry reached the table Luna stood up and pulled Harry into a soft hug saying softly, "I'm glad you're better Harry." As they both sat down the Floo activated and Neville arrived, immediately spotting them and moving to join.

After they ate their light lunches they wondered around the Alley for an hour before stopping by Fortescue's for ice cream. As they were getting up to leave there was a commotion a few tables away, Harry turned around and found the waiter on the ground and the ice cream they were carrying floating in air. When Dawlish saw Harry and his friends moving to stand, he quickly stood up, not paying attention to his surroundings and forgetting he was invisible. When he stood up, he bumped into the waiter carrying a full trey of ice cream, sending them to the ground and covering him with ten different flavors.

With Dawlish's concentration broken, the disillusionment spell broke and he stood there, covered in ice cream and red as a cherry. He was about to tell the waiter off when Fortean Fortescue briskly walked out the front door, a look colder than his ice cream on his face. "What is the meaning of this, Auror? Why was my employee knocked to the ground? And why were you disillusioned in my establishment without my knowledge, as the law states you must inform me!?" Fortean asked, sharply.

While Dawlish muttered and spluttered, trying to come up with a way to save his arse, the rest of the customers gave him dirty looks and muttered darkly. Harry decided to lead his group back to the Leaky Cauldron while Auror Dawlish was trying to get out of hot water at the ice cream shop. In the end, Dawlish was made to pay for the spilled ice cream, pay for the replacements, and was told in no uncertain terms a complaint to his superior officer would be made about him. After paying for the ice cream, Dawlish was free to sulk his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, hoping he would still be able to ensure Harry didn't leave the Alley or get attacked.

Once Harry and his friends were in his room, they traveled back to Potter Manor, where Neville excused himself to return to Longbottom Hall. He knew his Gran would be waiting for him to return, so they could go over starting his Occlumency training. He called for the Longbottom Elf and returned home, leaving Harry and Luna. Luna said she wanted to go for a swim, so they headed to the out-door pool; Harry unconsciously holding Luna's hand while they walked, while Luna just smiled at their hands.

They spent two hours swimming, until it was time for Luna to return home so that Harry could take his afternoon nap. When they returned to the room at the Cauldron, they found Dawlish standing across from him room, half invisible and grumbling angerly to himself. Harry had had just about enough with being tailed by these Aurors, and more than enough of this one. He looked to Luna, who's eyes unfocussed momentarily and let out an exasperated sigh before nodding.

*Triger warning start*

Harry nodded and said, "Sir, why are you following us and waiting outside my room? Were you told to spy on me or something? I hope you're not the kind of man my uncle warned me about, the kind that has an unhealthy interest in young boys and girls, then again he kept saying he was looking for one to give me to." Slowly moving Luna behind him, he didn't see the look in Luna's eyes. If he had, he might have felt the slightest bit scared for his uncle.

"You ungrateful brat, my name is John Dawlish, and I'll have you know I'm an Auror. The Minister himself ordered a squad of Aurors to watch you round the clock, and his Senior Undersecretary Madam Umbridge hand-picked the team with me leading them. She trusts me to watch over you and train the trainees she assigned to my team. We're to make sure you don't go into muggle London and ensure you don't get attacked by Sirius Black." John Dawlish said, smugly. "What on Earth are you talking about with that comment?"

"Hmm, I guess the magical world really lucked out. It sounds like there isn't pedophiles in the magical world." Harry answered, still eyeing Dawlish warily.

"Sadly, no Harry. I know what you're talking about, but it's harder to prove than in the muggle world. Spells and potions able to control the victim and make them forget anything ever happened and leaving almost no evidence. For spells the primary offenders use Imperio, Obliviate, and Episkey; Control, Erase the memory, and repair wounds. For potions, Amortentia is very common and easy to get, if not brew, causes the drinker to become infatuated or obsessed with the person who gave it to them." As Luna talked, with a mixture of embarrassment and outrage on her face, Dawlish's face paled as he realized what had been said and implied. His face turned from porridge white, to deaths looking at you white, as he saw the look on the two teens faces.

While Luna looked like she wanted to curse someone, Harry looked like he wanted to incinerate anyone who thought about using those methods. Dawlish, who barely passed his qualifications as an Auror, could actually see Harry's magic stretch out and envelope Luna, as the temperature around them rose to uncomfortable degrees. Realizing she might have said too much, Luna put her arms around Harry and pulled him to her. "It's alright, Harry. I'm safe and no one will get you with them, I'll make sure of that."

It took several minutes, but eventually the temperature dropped back to normal, and Harry was hugging Luna tightly. Dawlish, who had enough survival instincts to stay silent, had slid down the wall he had been leaning against drenched with sweat and a rather obvious dry stain on his pants. When he saw it was safe to speak again, he stammered, "I…I…I swear I have never, nor would I ever do anything like that. The very thought sickens me, and that you know more about that than I do scares the hell out of me. I must ask, as an Auror, how you know so much about this."

Luna gave the man a stern look and said, "I have the gift and curse of being a Seer, Mr. Dawlish. That means I see glimpses of what can and what will happen. I know about this subject because, much as I would avoid it, Loony is not the worst I'll be called before all is said and done. Humans, by their nature, are petty, greedy and jealous creatures, having magic just means we have more options to take what we want. Ms. Skeeter makes a living off it. I would advise you to let the matter drop and leave Harry be for the time being."

*Trigger warning ends*

Getting the sense that he shouldn't push he luck any further, Auror Dawlish walked down to the pub and Floo called a replacement. After that encounter he felt the need for several showers and several more bottles of Ogden's Best Firewisky. From what he had seen and heard from those two he pitied any that tried to hurt either of them and infinitely more so for anyone Lestrange level insane enough to try to hurt the other. As soon as Proudfoot, the third member of their team, got there he gave him a warning to not bother Harry right now and fled to the safety of his house.

"I'm sorry that got a bit out of hand, Harry. I thought you would take a different path and hearing what you implied got me rather angry. I truly hate those potions and the first two spells, and down another road you would have faced all of them while narrowly escaping being trapped by the potion and in the process saving a life. You don't need to worry about me, I would know if someone was going to try, and with Fawkes gift no potion can control you and you'll have an even easier time throwing off the Imperious Curse." Luna said, still holding Harry tightly.

When Harry finally let go, he looked at Luna with awe and concern. She just smiled at him, as if they had been discussing what they wanted to do tomorrow rather than such dark topics. "Would you like to walk to my dad's office, I'm sure April is still there and would rather not be alone at the moment and you need your nap for tonight." Luna said, her own awe and concern hiding behind here serene smile. Harry quickly agreed and they walked to The Quibbler office in Diagon Alley.

As they were entering the building, Luna stopped suddenly, her eyes going wide and unfocussed. When they focused again, she looked at Harry with concern and conviction. "Harry, I must tell you something and don't interrupt. Before the anniversary of their deaths, the truth of your parent's betrayer shall be made known. When it is, you must not kill them, or two souls will never know freedom again. When an old flame attempts to shackle you, it will break the bindings on your House, allowing you all that is yours to claim, but only if the betrayer lives."

Then as quickly as it had come, the tension eased off. Luna looked to Harry with a smile, but concern in her eyes, and Harry looked confused and worried. "Don't worry if you don't understand now, you're not a Seer and it will only lead you to migraines and a labyrinth of nightmares trying to figure it out before its time. Would you like some pudding? When I see something troubling, I always eat pudding, with a few drops of dreamless sleep potion if it's before a nap or bed." She told Harry. "Oh, and April, not a word of this to anyone. Am I clear?" She asked, seeing the secretary with awe and confusion.

April blinked for a moment before responding, "Of course, Ms. Lovegood. Unlike some at the Prophet and Witch Weekly, I know when to keep my mouth shut."

"Speaking of, are all the wards working? Especially the Animagus ward?" Luna asked, giving a quick glance towards Harry.

"No sign of anything trying to sneak in, Ma'am." April answered, knowing what she was getting at. Luna had specifically instructed the installment of anti-bug and anti-Animagus wards in the Lobby and on the windows. She wouldn't say why, but Luna occasionally let little things slip that she was able to put together.

Luna took Harry into the back and up some stairs to a loft they had installed at the office in case of late nights and snacks for when Luna came by. She fixed Harry some pudding and added the dreamless sleep potion before giving it to Harry. Once he had finished it and looked drowsy, she called for Dobby. "Please take Harry home and put him to bed, he should be asleep in a few minutes and up in time for dinner. Also, please inform Fawkes that I want a word."

With a bow, a snap, and a pop, Dobby took Harry back to Potter Manor and put him to bed. Harry was out before his head hit the pillow. Luna tidied up the lofts kitchen before going back down the stairs to tell April she was taking a nap. She wanted to be alert when she talked to Fawkes and she know waiting till the school year started wasn't the wisest course of action.

FG

When Harry woke, it was time for Dinner, so he went down to join his elves. He was feeling out of sorts and didn't really want to run into Auror Dawlish again today so he sent Dobby to the Alley for his evening visit. He told his parents portrait about the encounter and what Luna said at the Leaky Cauldron and later at The Quibbler. While they were concerned with Harry being tailed and troubled with the subject which brought about Harry's and Luna's anger, they were quite impressed with Luna's handling of the situation. When Harry got to Luna's prediction about their betrayal James cursed so vehemently his mother walked over to his portrait and joined Lily in slapping him upside the head. Lily was rather angry about the subject as well, but they were in front of their son.

After taking a few moments to calm down, James and Lily told Harry what really happened leading up to their murder. The fact they made Peter Pettigrew the secret keeper instead of Sirius Black was as great a shock to Harry as Sirius being blamed for their deaths and thrown in Azkaban was to his parents. "How could everyone believe Sirius betrayed us, Albus Dumbledore was the one to cast the Fidelius Charm, there is no way he wouldn't say anything." James said, heatedly.

Fleamont looked towards James and sighed while shaking his head. Turning to Harry he said, "James always did buy in to everything Dumbledore said; after he defeated Grindelwald everyone viewed him as a hero and 'leader of the light' that could do no wrong. When Voldemort rose to power, Dumbledore was able to counter him for the most part with his Order. Wouldn't let them really fight on an even level though; Stunners, expeliarmous, and jinxes only and what death eaters they managed to apprehend were quickly released. It was Albus that convinced them to leave the safety of the Manor and move to Godric's Hollow." James looked like he wanted to argue but Lily's and his mother's glares kept him quiet.

"What about our wills?" James asked, "We made sure to claim Peter our secret keeper in our wills. Were they never read? You should have grown up with Sirius if something happened to us, or Alice and Frank Longbottom if something happened to him. There was long list of people that should have taken you in. Where did you grow up after our deaths?"

"The Dursleyes, Petunia and Vernon with their whale of a son Dudley. I don't know what happened to your Wills, as far as I can tell they were never read." Harry said. As soon as he said that, the vulgarities started flying again. But this time, while James looked livid, it was Lily's turn to blow her top. Needless to say, his admiration and fear of his mother increased tenfold, every portrait within hearing distance winced at the volume, intensity, and venom coming from Lily.

After several minutes and quite a few pointed questions asked, James and Lily manages to rain in their fury. "We'll get to the bottom of this. For now, know that Sirius is your magical godfather and couldn't hurt you even if he wanted to. Sirius, Peter, and I were all Animagi, wizards and witches with the ability to change into animals; Sirius was a big dog resembling a grim, I was a dear, and Peter was a rat, guess we should have seen that as a clue to his true nature. Have Augusta, Madam Longbottom, come back at her earliest convenience, she'll help. Once we fix this situation with your Godfather, he will be able to help you get into the Family Vault. In there you will find a copy of our Will, have the goblins read it." James said, his painted eyes showing the anger wasn't gone, just focused.

It took a moment for Harry to comprehend everything James had just said, but nodded and promised he would request she come at her earliest convenience as soon as he left. After that they tried to talk about lighter subjects, but the mood was tense for the remained of the night.

At 10 o'clock, Tomsy popped in to inform him Fawkes was here. He asked Tomsy to let Fawkes know he would be down in a few minutes. Tomsy bowed, then popped away. Harry said good night to his family and went next door to the Lords Study to write his request for Madam Longbottom. Once he was done writing, he called for Tomsy to deliver his letter, figuring it would state the importance of the letter more appropriately. Tomsy bowed before popping away with the letter, leaving Harry to walk down to the greeting room.

When Harry got down to the greeting room, he found Fawkes on the perch that the house elves moved around for him whenever he visited. "Good evening Fawkes, sorry I was out for so long, I didn't realize how much force I used."

"Good evening, Harry. I'm glad to see you well again, you gave us all quite the fright. I am sorry, I should not have pushed you so far on your first night of Occlumency training. It is a mentally and emotionally taxing training, when I asked you to attempt to force me from your mind, I underestimated the force you would use and was not prepared. Do not worry, I will not force you that hard again and you did extraordinarily well for your first time." Fawkes said, bowing his head. Before going to Potter Manor, he had heeded Luna's request to visit her; he now had a new level of respect for, and fear of her. He just knew he was going to be having nightmares of the young witch for weeks.

Rustling his feathers, Fawkes blinked hard before turning to look at Harry, forcing his new boggart level memory to the back of his mind. "Well, Harry. Now that you are well again, I think it's time we get back to training. I think well follow the first two hours from our last training session, try something new, then work on Occlumency for half an hour; please don't force me out with everything you have, if you wind up magically exhausted again from our training I might need to go into hiding."

Harry couldn't tell if Fawkes was joking about that last part, but let out a sheepish chuckle before promising not to over-do it. After agreeing to the plan for the night they made their way down to the training room to start on flame manipulation. Then they played Flame tag for the second hour. After the second hour was over, Fawkes asked for a house elf to bring refreshments for them while he talked Harry through what he was about to teach him.

"There will be times that you may need to shield others from harm, but do not want to put your body in harm's way. What I am about to teach you is known as a Haze Shield, to put it simply it is a compression of heated air that blocks most physical attacks. Now, all shields have their limits, and it will tax you magically to hold the shield in place against force; so, I wouldn't advise playing tag with another mountain troll with this." Fawkes explained, chuckling with Harry about the Halloween night of his first year, where Harry saved Hermione by jumping on the trolls back.

"Well, I certainly don't plan on it. Although, I might have a chat with Aragog or play tag with Fluffy again though." Harry said, cheekily before he was double over holding his ribs from laughing. When Harry had mentioned playing with Aragog, Hagrid's pet Acromantula, and Fluffy, Hagrid's Cerberus, Fawkes squawked before falling out of the air in shock.

After taking several sips of his amber liquid to calm and fortify himself, he didn't even want to think about how Harry know those two XXXXX creatures by name, he glared at Harry before talking. "Now see here, I'm not teaching you this so you can go looking for danger, but keep yourself and your friends out of it. I know rather well the Potter Family draws enough trouble with-out its members looking for more." Fawkes mumbled something to himself, while continuing to glare down Harry from a lower vantage point. When Harry finally stopped laughing, Fawkes continued to try to teach Harry the Haze Shield.

"Now, how you use the Shield is to focus on the area you want it to form in; most time that will be between someone in danger and what is threatening them, such as an enraged animal. How we will practice is by forming it in front of you while one of your house elves tosses a ball towards you. Dobby, would you please bring us one of the medicine balls from the physical training room?"

Dobby popped in with the requested item, glaring at Fawkes. None of Harry's elves were very happy with him at the moment. When Fawkes told Dobby what the ball was for, Dobby looked aghast and then ashamed. He started to ring his ears before Harry intervened. "Dobby, you know my rule about not punishing yourself goes for all my elves, especially you. You just remembered when you tampered with a bludger in my quidditch match to make me leave Hogwarts. Don't worry, though heavy I don't think a medicine ball will weigh as much or move as fast as a bludger; unless it's made to."

"I plan to only have it at regular weight and moving as fast as if thrown. You should not have too much trouble stopping or deflecting the ball, and if you do get hit it should not hurt too much. As I just alluded to; this skill, with enough practice and intent, can be used to deflect physical items, such as balls, or more dangerous physical items like stone or furniture. It is a good counter for someone attempting to attack you with a banishing charm." Said Fawkes, gently.

They trained like this for half an hour, with Harry achieving a measure of success, and dodging most of the balls that got through his Haze Shield. As the time finished up, Fawkes caught the ball with his talons and forced it to the ground. He then nodded to Dobby, who had stayed to make sure Harry didn't get hurt, and the little elf removed the ball from the room.

"You did very well for your first session Harry, it is not an easy skill to master. I'm positive that before long we can start increasing the speed with no trouble. Now, on to the last part of tonight's training, Occlumency. I want you to once more focus on the flame in your mind. Tonight, I will only intrude lightly, so you do not feel the need to eject me." Fawkes said, landing on his perch while Harry got into a lotus sitting. They continued this until one in the morning, when Fawkes left Harry's mind and Harry stood up.

"You did well, Harry. Your focus is coming along nicely. Now, got get a bath and get set for bed, Haze Shield is rather tiring to learn. I would suggest you make use of the physical training room for the remainder of the summer; you will find you get stronger not only physically but mentally and magically. The more endurance you have, the stronger your shield will become and the easier it will be to maintain. Good night, Hatchling." Fawkes said, before Flaming out.

Harry did as he was told; took a nice hot bath, brushed his teeth, and went to bed. When he dreamed, Fawkes was there to continue their fire control and mental control exercises. During their breaks, Fawkes would tell Harry stories of his Family.

FG

The next morning Jules, Harry had finally gotten the name of the Longbottom house elf, popped in with a response from Madam Longbottom while Harry was eating breakfast. She agreed to come over that morning at Nine. Harry thanked Jules and asked he relay his understanding and appreciation of a quick response. Harry finished his breakfast shortly after and made his way to the Leaky Cauldron for his morning appearance. After a light meal of poached eggs and hash with a glass of Orange Juice, Harry was off into the Alley.

He spent half an hour walking around, exploring the Alley further. Harry then moved on to Flourish and Blotts, where he spent the remainder of his morning visit. Occasionally he would look for his watcher, but either they had all been scared off or the third member was much better at not being noticed without the use of magic. Personally, Harry didn't care which, he was glad he didn't have to deal with Auror Dawlish or protect trainee Tonks this morning. At five till Nine, Harry headed back towards the Leaky Cauldron, and his room.

Harry arrived back at the Manor with one minute to spare, so decided to head towards the greeting hall to welcome her. Madam Longbottom arrived promptly at Nine, with Neville right beside her. After greeting them, Harry led them both up to the Portrait Gallery to talk with his parent's portrait. "Good morning, Augusta, Neville. Good morning, Harry." James' portrait said as they got near.

"Good morning, James. Harry sent me a letter last night, requesting I come here today with considerable urgency on your behalf. He even went so far as to use his Head Elf, rather than his owl or Personal Elf. What pray tell has caused such urgency since I was here yesterday morning?" Madam Longbottom said, respectfully but with a hint of irritation. She was not accustomed to urgent requests of her time.

"Thank you for responding so soon, Augusta. From when you visited last, I understand your usually very busy. Harry's visit last night revealed some rather troublesome revelations that Lily and I aren't able to ignore, neither can we act upon them. We have a rough plan, but need your help. Harry, Neville, would you two care leaving so we can talk bluntly and get this business sorted out?" James replied, causing Augusta to raise an eyebrow and Neville to look concernedly towards Harry.

"Come on, Neville, Fawkes advised me to start using the physical training room and you can join me. To be honest, I'd rather not work out in there alone and Fawkes said we would be stronger magically if we got in better shape." Said Harry. Neville didn't look too thrilled with this but looked towards his Gran. She gave a sharp nod before saying, "Neville, go with Harry and help him work out. Most wizards and witches don't think about it, but what Fawkes told Harry is true. That's why Aurors are able to uphold the laws, they are required to train physically during their training, those that keep up with it after they finish training go on to be better Aurors than those that start slacking off."

Neville gave his Gran a sharp nod and followed Harry out the door. "Now that they're gone, what happened?" Augusta demanded, decorum giving way to serious business. James told Augusta what Harry had told them last night, and what they had shared with Harry. Before they were done, they had to break for tea, laced with a strong calming potion. By the time they were done it was just short of lunch and the look in Augusta's eyes would have rivaled the Basilisks gaze, despite having nearly half a litter of calming potion in her. Before Augusta left to join Harry and Neville for lunch, they had started to refine James and Lily's plans. Several of the portraits were reminded why it wasn't just their magical and physical prowess that people don't mess with the Longbottoms, and why even Lucius Malfoy didn't mess with her; she was Cunning and Ruthless enough to talk down the infamous Walburga Black.

While Augusta and his parents were planning, Harry and Neville made use of the training room with the help of training exercises stuck to the walls of the room with permanent sticking charms and an old elf that popped into the room as they entered. He introduced himself and Herkie and was clearly quite muscular for being as old as he was. After finding their limits in each area of fitness, he patiently walked them through a training regimen to improve. By the time lunch rolled around they were hurting and tired but impressed by how much they managed. A quick, hot, shower latter and they met Augusta in the dining room for lunch. She was still outraged from what she had heard, but their planning had helped compress that anger into a molten rod to beat and scald those that she planned to punish.

As lunch was served, Augusta nodded approvingly to Harry and Neville. She even allowed a small fond smile for the elves that joined them for lunch. When she wasn't focusing on Harry, Neville, the elves or the food, she had a fierce, calculating, smirk on her face.

In a tall black house, shaped like a rook, just outside the town of Ottery St. Catchpole, Luna Lovegood laid in her bed with a faraway look in her eyes, smiling wickedly. The confrontation with Dawlish yesterday would set in motion events that would see those that hurt Harry and the one who put him there punished severely. If they hadn't hurt Harry so bad, and tried to hurt him even more, she might have felt sorry for the poor fools.

FG

After lunch, Neville joined Harry on his visit to Diagon Alley while Augusta went back up to the portrait gallery to continue planning with Harry's parents. As they came down the steps, the Floo activated and Luna stepped out, smiling at them. The lunch visit passed quickly, with only occasional sightings of their tale. They enjoyed a treat at Florean Fortescue's before returning to Potter Manor. Once there, they returned to the Library to study together for two hours.

When Harry took Luna back to the Leaky Cauldron, he asked if she would like to join Neville and him for their morning exercises. She smiled and agreed before skipping to the door. When she got down the stairs, she found their tail for the afternoon and nodded to him. Walking up to Tom to get some Floo powder, Luna subtly ordered a butterbeer for the Auror. Once she was gone and through the Floo, Tom walked over to the Auror and handed him the butterbeer with a toothy smile. "I think they approve of you. They haven't pranked you yet and Ms. Lovegood just bought you that. Good kids, those three."

Auror Proudfoot stared at the bottle in front of him in surprise before chuckling softly. 'I wonder what Dawlish did to annoy them if this is their approval. Poor Tonks, she'd do a lot better if she wasn't such a klutz.' He sat back in his booth, facing towards the stairs to watch for his charge coming down or any suspicious people walking up, cracked open his butterbeer and the book he had gotten that morning and waited. From the reports, Harry only came down three times a day unless he visited Gringotts, so he knew Harry wouldn't likely come back down for another three and a half hours.

FG

After Harry's nap he had dinner with his elves, Neville and Madam Longbottom, who had still been planning with his parents while he napped. After dinner, Harry walked them to the door before making his evening foray into Diagon Alley. Augusta assured Harry she would set his parents plans into motion, a wicked smirk on her face, before she Apparated herself and Neville back to Longbottom Hall. Harry was intrigued, but figured his parents and Madam Longbottom would let him know eventually. After deciding to wait and see, Harry Flamed to his room in the Leaky Cauldron for his evening walk.

Harry ordered a light dinner at the pub before exploring more of the Alley. He was getting to know the shops rather well and most of the shop keepers were friendly to him, despite not purchasing anything. He finished his evening stroll with a cone from Fortescue's before heading to his room. As he was passing Tom, Harry tossed a Sickle to him and nodded, causing Tom to nod back. As Proudfoot walked in moments later, seeing Harry walk up the stairs and retaking his seat, Tom came over to him with another butterbeer and a slice of pie. Tom smirked before walking back behind his bar, leaving Proudfoot to ponder if all his shifts would be like this while watching Harry.

After returning to the Manor, Harry went up to the Portrait Gallery to see if his parents would share what they had been cooking up all day with Augusta. They resisted Harry's questions but all the portraits nearby looked shocked, scared, amused, irritable, or exasperated; some showing signs of more than one. James did say he would like the fireworks, but asked Harry to wait and see. Lily smiled knowingly as Harry pouted for a moment before moving on.

Harry stayed with them until it was time for Fawkes arrival, then bid them good night. "Good evening, Harry. I hope you did as I suggested and made use of the physical training room." Fawkes said, cocking his head sideways as he finished.

"Not a problem, Fawkes. Neville joined me for training this morning and Luna will be joining me and Neville for morning exercise before studying in the library after lunch. It actually wasn't bad, though I was a bit sore after." Harry replied, which got a chuckle from Fawkes.

"That will happen for the first few days, until you get used to it. But don't forget to have some fun still, you all are still young. Maybe save some time in the morning for a swim in the pool after working out, you'll probably enjoy it." Fawkes said. He chuckled again before leading Harry down into the training room to continue his training.

FG

The days started to flow together after that. Meals with his elves and anyone visiting, trips to Diagon Alley to keep his secret, working out for two hours before swimming in the pool for an hour, studying with his friends in the Potter Library, and learning the Family history from the portraits of his ancestors. Harry was happy; he had two of his friends with him for most of the day, he had his freedom, and he was getting better with his training. By the last week of August, Harry could see a definite improvement with his control and his stamina while exercising and training to use the Haze Shield.

On the 25th of August, Harry got a letter from Ron saying he was back, while he was eating dinner with his elves. He found it odd he hadn't heard from Hermione since his birthday, but decided not to pry. Last year, Hermione had done her school shopping with the Weasleys, so it was probable she would do so again. He would most likely meet up with her when the Weasleys visited the Alley for their shopping.

Thinking of Diagon Alley reminded him of his latest purchase, the Firebolt. It had been released for sale on the 16th, and Harry wanted it as soon as he saw it; ~ State of the art racing broom sports a streamlined, superfine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration code. Each individual selected birch twig in the tail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving the Firebolt unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision. The Firebolt has an acceleration of 150 miles an hour in 10 seconds and incorporates an unbreakable breaking charm. ~

If Harry hadn't known how much was in his account and how much went into in every year on his birthday, he might have resisted. Unlike the galaxy globes, this was a luxury item he didn't need, he had never lost a match on his Nimbus 2000. When he had asked his parents what they thought, James loved the idea and was impressed that Harry waited to talk to them, he knew he wouldn't have had he been in his son's shoes. Lily was concerned, remembering what James was like on a broom and Harry's antics on the junior broom Sirius had gotten Harry for his first birthday.

Fleamont decided to add his two Knuts, saying, "If you're going to buy the broom, make sure you remind them of your investment both in their shop and in Bolt Brooms. Knowing James interest in quidditch and race brooms, I gave them 5,000 Galleons for 20% after they got off the ground," Several of the male portraits chuckled along with Fleamont while their ladies groaned at the bad joke, "So, you should get a nice discount on that broom."

"Thank you, I knew about the stocks for the store, but I wasn't aware there were also stocks for individual broom companies. From what I can tell, that was defiantly a great investment." Harry said, smiling up at his Grandfather. Fleamont chuckled and returned his smile, he had hoped to get this reaction from James when he told him, but never got the chance.

With the discount from both investments, Harry was able to get his Firebolt for 5,000 Galleons, saving 3,000 off the asking price and got his name and team number emblazoned on the handle. One week after his bought it, it arrived at his breakfast table; on the handle, in gold, HARRY POTTER 007. Harry sent Dobby to Diagon that morning for him, while he tried out his new broom. Worth. Every. Galleon.

Bringing his mind back to the present, Harry read Ron's letter. Ron said his family would do their shopping for the new year on the 31st, stay the night at the Leaky Cauldron, and travel to Kings Cross for their return to Hogwarts. He looked forward to seeing Harry and his Mother was excited about it as a well. Ron finished off by telling him Percy was named Head Boy, and the twins couldn't stop pranking him; one time, while they were still in Egypt, they had tried to shove Percy in one of the tombs before their mother caught them. He smiled, then put the letter in his pocket before returning to his meal.

FG

Before Harry knew it, it was the morning of the 31st of August. Knowing Harry would not be able to return easily before the Christmas holidays, Maple and Dobby had gone all out on the breakfast that morning. After breakfast, and a teary goodbye with most of his elves, Harry went up to the Portrait Gallery once more before returning to Diagon Alley for the last night of his Summer. They all wished him a great school year and asked that he tried to stay safe. When Lily had said that, every Potter in hearing snorted, earning a laugh from Harry and an aghast response from Lily. It was Fleamont who said, "Potters don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds us. We can't help we always rise to the occasion." Everyone who had snorted, laughed.

As Harry left the Gallery, Dobby popped in beside him to inform him all his clothes, school supplies, and Harry's personal book collection were in his new multicompartment trunk, waiting in his room at the Leaky Cauldron. With a nod, Harry walked down to the Entrance Hall, where Tomsy waited to see him off. Harry wished him well till his return and Flamed to the Leaky Cauldron.

Once Harry was down in the pub, he was greeted by Luna and Neville. They planned to spend the entire day with all their friends. Of course, when were the Weasleys ever on time? After a light meal, they walked along the Alley, while they waited for them to show up. They had visited every shop in the Alley shy of entering Knockturn Alley, they could walk the Alley blindfolded and still find their way.

After two hours the group stopped at Fortescue's for some ice-cream. As they were finishing up, they all heard the unmistakable voice of Ron Weasley, his brothers, Mother, and Hermione behind him. "Oi! Harry, Neville, Luna!" Ron called out, quickening his already lanky step. As he reached them, he wrapped all three in a group hug.

Once the rest of the Weasley family, plus Hermione, joined them Ron released his hug, only for his mother to crush them in one of her hugs. "It's so good to see you dear. I heard your summer got a bit exciting, but I hope you've had a good summer. We looked all over for you; first the Leaky Cauldron, then Flourish and Blotts and Madam Malkins'." Mrs. Weasley said, not letting Harry answer.

When Mrs. Weasley took a breath, Harry answered. "I got all my supplies weeks ago and I've been reading ahead. I usually walk around the Alley after a small meal at the Leaky then study until lunch. I then take a walk along the Alley before studying till dinner. Neville and Luna visited me, so we got all our summer work done and then some."

Ron looked like he wanted to speak out about so much studying but held his tongue, he hadn't forgotten how protective Harry was of Luna and seemed to solidly support Neville now. He also took a moment to notice how all three looked slightly muscular. "You three look a bit different than when I saw you at the end of school. What have you been up to?" Ron asked, causing the rest of their group to look. Three weeks of physical training with Herkie had seen great improvements with all of them, they had lost baby fat and now showed the begin signs of muscles.

"I read in one of my books that better physical condition allows for stronger magic and better control. For the last three weeks, Neville, Luna, and I have been working out for three hours a day." Harry said, bending the truth slightly with Mrs. Weasley there and Harry's watcher, Tonks today, nearby. Ron looked at him like he was bonkers, but held his tongue. Everyone else looked confused; in the wizarding world, magic does anything you need so why improve yourself physically? Hermione nodded approvingly.

"Well, come along," Mrs. Weasley said. "Do you three already have your school supplies for tomorrow?" After Harry, Neville, and Luna all said they had, she invited them to join them anyway. The three finished off their treats before joining their friends and Mrs. Weasley.

They didn't have much shopping left to do, by the time they found Harry they had already gotten fitted at Madam Malkins and gotten their books from Flourish and Blotts. They only needed to get potion supplies and Ron reminded his mother they needed to visit the Magical Menagerie to see if there was anything that they could do to help Scabbers, who was looking sick. "Egypt didn't agree with him." He told Harry.

When Ron brought up the magical pet shop, Hermione remembered she wanted to get an owl and said so. "I've got a bit of birthday money left and Harry's is so useful. It would really help to stay in touch with my parents." With that, Mrs. Weasley gave Ron a little money for a remedy for Scabbers before guiding the rest of their group towards the Apothecary for potion ingredients. Ron, Hermione, Harry, Neville and Luna went across the street to the Magical Menagerie.

~ There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, Hermione, ~ Luna, and Neville ~ waited, examining the cages.

A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.

The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.

"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt."

"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.

Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.

Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was second-hand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.

"Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "He used to belong to my brother."

"What powers do he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.

"Err -" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.

"He's been through the mill, this one." She said.

"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron, defensively.

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so." Said the witch. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these –"

She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."

"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.

"Okay," said Ron. "How much - OUCH!"

Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.

"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed.

It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.

"What was that?"

"It was either a very big cat of quite a small tiger," said Harry.

"Where's Hermine?"

"Probably getting her owl -"

They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.

"You bought that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.

That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run head long into brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.

"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron.

"He didn't mean to, did you Crookshanks?" said Hermione.

"And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"

"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him."

"I wonder why?" said Ron sarcastically ~

As Ron was about to walk off towards the Leaky Cauldron, Luna and Neville came out of the Menagerie. Luna was carrying the rabbit and Neville was carrying an aquarium. When they caught up, Luna smiled and hugged her new rabbit, saying, "I couldn't resist, he's just so creative and cute. I think I'll name him Louis." Neville caught up a moment latter and when asked about his purchase he said, "I told the shop keeper about how Trevor is always escaping and she recommended this. It's enchanted to be unescapable, humid, and dark."

They set off to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron saying as they went that they were staying there to make it easier to get to 9 and ¾ tomorrow. While they walked, Ron and Hermione talked about their summers. Hermione apparently had a ball visiting most of the Magical and non-magical popular sites in France. Ron and visited the Sphinx, the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Valley of the Kings. Harry shared he visited Neville a lot during July and Neville and Luna visited a lot while he was staying in Leaky during August and why he was there.

"I can't believe you blew up you Aunt, Harry. You could have gotten in a lot of trouble. After the letter you said you received last year about underage magic, I'm surprised you're not expelled." Hermione said, rapidly.

Before Harry could respond, Luna said, "She deserved it and more, Hermione. Harry told us what she said and frankly, lesser wizards would have done worse to her." There was a hardness in Luna's eyes as she said that, as if daring Hermione to argue. Ron and Hermione looked at Luna with shock.

"What could she have said that would warrant being blown up or worse? Harry is kind and patient, unless your Malfoy." Hermione asked. Harry sighed disgruntled and Luna scowled before stepping up to Hermione and saying, "If you must know, and Harry wants to let you, we'll tell you later. If that night's argument was said in the middle of the street like this, Marjorie Dursley would be assaulted and worse by nightfall." With that, Luna turned away from Hermione and stomped toward the Leaky Cauldron. Harry and Neville rushed after, leaving Ron and Hermione dumbfounded.

"You know how I'm always saying you're brilliant, but scary? Well, I think I think Luna just terrified me more." Ron said, stuttering. Hermione frowned, then scowled, before looking determined and setting off for the Leaky Cauldron after their friends. Ron quickly keeping pace with her.

FG

Luna and Neville joined Harry, Hermine, and the Weasley's for a large dinner that night at the Leaky Cauldron. With eleven people, Tom had to stick three tables together to make one large enough for everyone to sit together. Tom needed Mrs. Weasley's assistance, she had insisted, and together they made and brought out a five-course feast.

Everyone enjoyed, talking and laughing at jokes the others told. As they were working through desserts, several different puddings, Percy asked his father how they were getting to Kings Cross tomorrow. Mr. Weasley said they were sending Ministerial cars to pick them all up as they didn't have one any more. "It's very fortunate they're sending cars; I shudder to think what the muggles would think if we all had to take the underground to get there. There is so much luggage between you five, and that's just counting my kids. Then there is Harry's and Hermione's trunks and equipment. How are you two getting there?" He finished, asking Luna and Neville.

"My Gran said I could spend the day with Harry, but I'm to come home tonight. She'll bring me there tomorrow by Floo." Neville said. "My dad is going to Apparate me and my trunk to the station before going in to work." Luna said, before turning her head towards her friends. "I'll save you all a seat in the second compartment. I do hope you're not late, I look forward to your reaction to meeting my other pet." Luna said, smiling and petting Louis. Harry and Neville grinned, looking forward to Hermione's reaction.

"If you're able to Floo to 9 3/4, why do you run late, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked hoping he wasn't being rude. Mrs. Weasley blushed rosily before answering. "There are several fireplaces at the station, but given the amount of people who would Floo if they could, you need to organize with Floo department you'll be Flooing there, when you plan to, and how many will be coming through. There is also a Galleon per person cost to Floo there, given the Floo department would need to organize and schedule when people arrive; if two people try to Floo to the same location from different connections, it can be rather messy. Easier and cheaper to simply go through the gate in Kings Cross." By the time she finished, most of the Weasley family's ears were red.

When they finished dinner, Neville and Luna said goodnight to Harry before Flooing to their respective homes. Mrs. Weasley stood and said, "I hope you all have your luggage packed. The cars will be here at 9 tomorrow and I don't want to make them wait." "I packed my luggage this morning, I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts." Harry said.

"Ron still hasn't packed all his new stuff. The twins threw everything on my bed." Percy said, frustrated. Fred and George smirked at each other, but ducked down when their mother turned her attention on them. "Boys, I want you all to go up and pack your trunks. If I'm embarrassed by us running late, I won't be the only one." Mrs. Weasley said, giving all her children a stern look. Each of her children got up and all but ran up the stairs to their rooms.

Harry decided to head up to his room and read one of his books before bed. He said good night to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley with a smile and walked up the stairs. As he was pulling out a book, Harry heard shouting from the room next to his. He put his book away and went to the room next to his to find out what the matter was, only to find prim and proper Percy Weasley tearing everything out of Ron's trunk. "I put my Head Boy badge on my nightstand to polish, now it's gone! You must have it!" Percy yelled at Ron.

"I swear I didn't take it; I can't find Scabbers rat tonic either!" Ron yelled back as he searched under the beds. Harry shook his head; he could guess what happened. He knocked on the door to get their attention. "Ron probably left his rat tonic down stairs, and Ron wasn't the only one in this room lately, remember Percy. You said at dinner the twins dropped all the purchases on your bed."

When they heard Harry, they both stopped, looked at each other, then ran out of the room. Harry followed along to watch. Half way down the hall, Harry found Percy yelling at Fred and George to return his badge, which they had managed to modify to say BIGHEAD BOY. Harry continued on, knowing Ron would need help finding the tonic; he could never find anything he needed in his trunk.

After a few minutes of searching they found the rat tonic, and Ron ran back up to his room. On the way back, Harry heard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley quietly arguing near the stairs. He was going to ignore them until he heard his name mentioned. When he heard Mr. Weasley say Sirius Black was after him, he had heard enough and decided to correct them. He had heard a lot about his Godfather from his parent's portraits.

"Your wrong about that. If my Godfather had really wanted to kill me and was able to escape at any time, why wait till now? While I've been here, I've learned a lot over the month. I visited Gringotts to learn about my account and found out about Sirius; according to them, magic still sees Sirius Black as my Magical Guardian, which they told me would be impossible if he was found guilty of betraying me." Harry said, rapidly, not giving Mrs. Weasley a chance to interrupt.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were caught speechless for a moment. Everyone was so shocked and scared that Black had escaped, they never thought about why he waited this long. "What do you mean Black is your Magical Guardian? That should have been stripped from him when he went to Azkaban for betraying your parents and killing those muggles. I know for a fact your Magical Guardian is Albus Dumbledore." Mrs. Weasley said, before quickly covering her mouth, realizing what she had just said. Mr. Weasley raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Now, I don't know what you think you know, but Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban for betrayal and murder and your Guardianship was taken up by Albus Dumbledore before he hid you away. It is very rude to eavesdrop on private conversations, young man. Get off to bed, dear, you have a long day tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley said, with the authority of a mother with many children. Mr. Weasley looked shocked at Mrs. Weasley; it wasn't like her to brush off Harry's argument. While it was mildly rude of Harry to interrupt their private conversation, they were talking about him and his wife really shouldn't have tried to treat Harry like he was one of their children.

With a stiff bow to them both, Mr. Weasley a bit softer, Harry turned around and headed up the stairs. Mrs. Weasley gave a huff and turned back to her husband. "Great, now he knows. I would never have expected Harry to eavesdrop on us. Come on, up to bed." Mr. Weasley gave his wife a consoling smile and let her lead him up to their room.

Neither of them realized that Harry's Auror watcher was still on duty and had followed Harry invisibly. When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gone up the stairs, Tonks let her disillusionment charm drop. She couldn't believe what she had just heard, her cousin might not be as guilty as everyone seemed to think. As soon as Proudfoot arrived to relieve her, she would need to let her superiors know what she had just learned, and she didn't mean Dawlish. She was going to take this to Alister Moody, and with his help Madam Amelia Bones…

And with that, we have the summer done. Thank you all for your patience in waiting for this chapter and reading through this mammoth 19k word chapter. I'm sorry it took so long, but I made a promise at the end of last chapter that we were going to finish summer this chapter and I wasn't going to go back on my word. That being said, I don't think I'll be making any more plot-based promises in my footnotes any time soon. I can certainly understand DZ2's reason for falling short of them so often. Of course, despite his darker tendencies he's still one of my favorite authors, so check him out. If you'd like something light and hilarious check out Pokémon Trix: The Tales of Soot and Ash by Ohirume.

I will however keep trying to leave call out trivia in my chapters. Trivia of the chapter: Why did Luna name her rabbit Louis? Also, any suggestions for what to name the Snorkack? Once again, those who answer will receive a callout at the start of the next chapter.

As I mentioned at the top, I'm looking for a Beta and have no idea how to use the system, if you're interested please PM me.

As I posted on my profile, I'm a little lost as to what the creatures should look like, if anyone would like to suggest their images, please pm me. I would very much like to have what a Snorkack looks like before writing the next chapter. If I like the ideas, I'll edit this chapter and give the people who suggested them credit for the ideas; if you took them from the internet, please give who originally made them so we all don't get in trouble.

No-ones said it yet, but some of you probably catch that Luna's a little OOC. This is because she has someone to focus on, rather than being forced to view random points of possibility. Luna had to grow up when she lost her mother, her father threw himself into his work. With moments of her future with Harry popping into her head, she wants to move those along and gets EXTREAMLY protective of him. Also, to be fair, The Queen of the HP universe didn't introduce us to Luna till book 5; a year that was hell for Harry and she had put up with the bullying for 4 years.

Last note before I let you all go, if your reading my footnotes, the next chapter might be delayed slightly as I'm starting another multi-chapter fanfic, a crossover of Static Shock and InFamous, that doesn't want to leave me alone. This isn't being abandoned, I haven't tortured Umbridge nearly enough; we will see her early, but not in third year, so the potshots will keep on flying.

Thanks for your time, hope you enjoy, and please review!