Getting to School

Older Harry was hiding at King's Cross Station. He wouldn't allow for Harry to get into trouble, thanks to Dobby's well-meant, but badly executed, plan to protect Harry. Like he was used to it, the Weasleys were late as usual. He really wondered why they didn't use the floo to get to the station. There were four fireplaces that could be used, one just needed to get a time registered for one's use, as otherwise the network would overload with the mass of travel on September First.

The older Weasleys and Ginny got through the barrier without any problems, but when Harry and Ron wanted to go through, it had closed. Older Harry watched the two boys. He wanted to see how this played out, as he needed to see if his influencing of Harry had changed anything so far. Ron and Harry argued about taking the car to Hogwarts, which Harry didn't think to be a good idea and Ron thought it was. Older Harry put a spell onto the car, in case Harry couldn't convince Ron to stay and wait for the Weasley parents, to ensure that it wouldn't be seen by any muggles. The Statute of Secrecy had to be kept. Muggles weren't ready to know about magic in general.

Finally, Ron and Harry's argument turned into a shouting match, with Ron taking his luggage and basically throwing it into the car again and taking off to Hogwarts on his own, leaving Harry standing alone, not really comprehending that his supposed best friend had abandoned him in London. Older Harry decided to wait for five minutes before he would reveal himself to Harry. During those minutes neither the Weasleys came back, which was a bit confusing, but perhaps they had met friends and stayed a bit longer to talk for a while. As far as they knew, there wasn't any reason to hurry back after all, what with all children on the Hogwarts Express.

"Ah, so you are one of the students that I was alerted about missing the train, Harry," Older Harry stated when he approached his younger self.

"Professor Peverell, please, I didn't want to miss the train, but the portal was closed, and Ron and I couldn't get through," Harry explained desperately.

"Don't worry. I don't know yet what happened, but I will have it investigated. Where is Ron?" Older Harry asked.

"He took his father's enchanted car, it can fly I found out, and decided to fly to Hogwarts instead of waiting for his parents," Harry sighed, "I tried convincing him that waiting was a better idea, but he got angry and just left me standing here. I'm so glad you're here. How did you know we missed the train?"

"Well, you did tell me during our talks about how you met the Weasleys and how they helped you find the platform last year, as Hagrid forgot to tell you about the way to the platform. This year we wanted to make absolutely sure that none of the first-years had the same problem and had a counting spell on the portal and the train each. Sadly, the alarm was too late to stop the train. I really didn't expect anybody to come this late to catch the train, to be honest. I checked the platform ten minutes before the train left and escorted a new first-year girl to the other side and had another look outside five minutes later again," Older Harry explained.

"That makes sense. It would have been a huge help last year to have somebody here to tell me where to go. It was pure luck that the Weasleys were there," Harry agreed, "How will I get to Hogwarts now?"

"I will take you in my car, don't worry. As there aren't any good apparition spots around here outside of the platform, and I need to buy a few things for my wife before I go back, I decided I could as well take the car. Not to mention that I like my car," Older Harry grinned.

"It's a seriously cool car," Harry nodded, liking the car as well.

"We should also wait for the Weasley parents. They should know what's going on," Older Harry stated.

"Yes, they will probably worry about Ron, I wish he hadn't got so angry. I really don't know why," Harry sighed.

"I don't know him well yet, so I can't really give an opinion on that, Harry," Older Harry commented.

In truth, he knew exactly what was going on, but he couldn't tell Harry that. Ron's issue with being jealous and easy to anger was acting out again. Last time around, Harry had been too cowed by the Dursleys to really speak out against Ron's stupid decisions or his nasty habits. He had wanted to keep his first friend at any cost. It had cost him too much in the end. Ron wasn't worth it. But his younger self still needed to come to that realisation. If things went similarly as they did the last time around, Percy would start influencing Ron and Hermione to his opinions after the end of their third year.

Back in the future, there hadn't been any real friends left to help them. Neville had joined the group loyal to the Ministry and had influenced things in political circles to go the way the Ministry had decided they should go. With Harry under control. Well, as much as possible at least. Luna was the only one among his previously closest friends that hadn't gone over, but she was always somewhere else in the world, searching for her mysterious creatures. She had found love in Rolf Scamander and Harry and Ginny had truly been happy for her. While she would miss them, if this would start a parallel dimension, which was the most probable possibility, she wouldn't suffer from the actions of Ron, Hermione, Percy, Neville, and so many others. And she would know why they did it. She was Luna after all.

Well, this time around, Ron alone would be in trouble for flying the car to Hogwarts. And he would make sure that it would be suitable punishment. Something that actually taught a lesson and stuck. He would let Ginny help out with that. She knew her brother better and how he could be made to behave at this age. It stood to question if they would be able to reign the older Ron in. The current one was very much still just an immature brat that tried how far it could act out. Ginny had told him that her mother never punished Ron as much as the twins, Bill or Charlie. Percy didn't get punished a lot, as he normally followed his mother's instructions.

But Ron was coddled and overlooked at the same time. Being born in the middle between the twins, who needed constant supervision, or they would cause too much trouble, and Ginny, the only girl in the family, he neither got a firm hand in how to behave when he was at the age he should have learned it, nor did he get the attention he craved from his mother. It was simply very difficult to manage seven kids at any time, even if Bill and Charlie went to Hogwarts already when the youngest started running around. Charlie had graduated the year before Harry had come to Hogwarts, together with Nymphadora Tonks. While they had been in different houses, they had known each other.

And at Hogwarts, with Professor McGonagall hopelessly overworked and drowning in the work of three positions, plus what she took over from the headmaster, to let him manage his three jobs, which was needed to keep the school protected from outside influences, well, Ron, being in Gryffindor, also didn't get a firm lead from his head of house. Older Harry planned to rectify many things now that he was head of Gryffindor.

Then his musing was cut short, as Arthur and Molly Weasley appeared, looking surprised and confused.

"Professor Peverell? Harry? What happened?" Arthur asked.

"Somehow the barrier to the platform locked up before Ron and Harry could get through. I got an alarm that two students didn't get onto the platform, but it was too late to actually get them onto the train. I have to admit; I didn't expect any student to be that late in going to catch the train. I was there, as Harry told me about his trouble in finding the platform last year, as Hagrid had forgotten to tell him, and we wanted to avoid that with new first years. I did find a first-year girl that needed that help too this year and I checked again five minutes before the train left. But the alarm was triggered only one or two minutes before the train left and I couldn't get them in time. I found Harry out here and he told me how your son Ron suggested taking your flying car to Hogwarts, which he didn't want, instead wanting to wait for you two to return to help them," Older Harry explained.

"He didn't!" Molly exclaimed horrified.

"He did, I'm sorry, Mrs Weasley. I tried convincing him that you had to come back some time soon, but he worried that the portal wouldn't let you and we would be stuck and not get to Hogwarts. He got angry when I didn't want to come with him and left with the car," Harry told them.

"Oh, wait until I get him into my hands," Molly growled, not happy in the least, as this could seriously damage the family reputation and get them in trouble. She would also give her husband a piece of her mind about enchanting muggle things and enabling this stupidity.

"I will inform you as soon as he reaches Hogwarts. If he is smart, he will try following the Hogwarts Express, as it will lead him to the right place. But I have no idea if he will manage to do so unnoticed," Older Harry told them, making them blanch.

It would be good for Arthur to think about his habit of enchanting muggle things without really knowing what it could cause. And Molly needed to take some responsibility for lack of proper parenting. Sure, they had a lot of children, but that didn't excuse not raising all of them properly. And from the future he knew that there were many faults in the Weasley children. Bill was too convinced he was invincible, but he was very responsible about things concerning other people. Probably because he had had to help raising his younger siblings from the time he was young, as their mother wasn't a big help, what with being pregnant all the time. But he was drawn to the high life and thrill of action and after he had escaped the clutches of his mother, he wasn't really invested in what happened to his younger siblings while being away.

He never really understood that Fleur's behaviour got on Ginny's nerves and that his brother couldn't keep his mind when she was around. Not to mention his mother's dislike for her. Letting her stay full-time at the Burrow before their wedding was stupid. It would have worked out much better to have Fleur visit with him for some hours over the week to get to know her future in-laws. And Fleur wasn't good at accepting other people's opinion. She was a bit full of herself as well. She did love Bill deeply, but they matched each other in thinking themselves above a lot of others and fondly looking down on many of them. Never maliciously, but the looking down in itself got on one's nerves quickly.

Charlie just wanted to get away and the farther away he was and the more often he had nothing to do with his family and their demands, the better he felt. Short visits, like for the Quidditch World Cup, were okay, but never longer than a week at a time. Percy, well, enough said about his worshipping of the Ministry and getting those he thought could help him and profit as well into that camp.

The twins were rebels that didn't care too much about what was going on around them. They did what they wanted, be it at school or at home. While they would protect their family and friends against opponents from the outside, they never really did much to help them out at school or at home. After Fred's death, George had been lost and overlooked a lot of things going on in the background. At least he didn't give Harry and Ginny trouble over their relationship. He had half died on the inside and it took a lot of time for him to at least function again.

And after the incident with the diary, Molly Weasley had mostly blamed her daughter for falling into the trap and Arthur had also not really protected Ginny against accusations and overbearing behaviour. It had left scars on Ginny's soul, scars that Harry had only started to heal when they got together. While it made Ginny stronger in the end, it also harmed her a lot. There were much better ways to gain that strength than the way things went. And Older Harry would see to it that this time around things worked out for the better.

"It seems we can only wait right now," Arthur sighed, "We can apparate back to the Burrow and then see what we do."

"True. I'm going to do a few purchases for my wife and then take Harry with me to Hogwarts," Older Harry told them.

"Purchases?" Molly asked.

"Well, she wanted to get a few things, but the amount of studying she had to do for her mastery prevented her to really get them before the school year started. And today she needs the time to get the classroom ready," Older Harry explained.

"She's going to be a teacher too?" Harry asked, not having heard about that so far.

"Yes, which was why getting her mastery in time for the new school year was so important. My wife is going to take over the position of Potions teacher, while Professor Snape switches to supplying the hospital wing and the new apothecary that is owned by Hogwarts down in Hogsmeade with potions, next to doing research into new ones. It was a solution that worked well for everybody involved," Older Harry nodded.

Harry beamed at the thought of not having to suffer through Snape's classes anymore.

"That's a surprise," Arthur stated.

"Well, Ginny wanted to teach, and she studied Potions for a long time in self-study. As you probably know, next to the traditional model of having a master of the craft you want to learn taking you on as an apprentice, until you can gain your mastery yourself, there is the option of doing self-study and then being tested by the guild if you are at the needed level. The former Potions Professor Horace Slughorn helped her out in refining her skills to the level where she could easily pass," Older Harry explained.

"Your wife's name is Ginny?" Molly asked.

"Yes, it's short for Guinevere. I know the coincidence with your daughter's name," Older Harry nodded.

"Okay, I can see that happen, as both full first names are the same, just in different languages," Arthur accepted.

"Well, we're off. Your floo address is 'The Burrow', correct?" Older Harry asked, as he had always apparated there for the meetings with his younger self.

"Correct," Molly nodded, and the group separated.

The two Harrys went to Diagon Alley, where Older Harry pulled out a shopping list from Ginny, and then leading Harry from shop to shop to get the things. Many of them in Espen Alley, which Harry took a quick liking to and bought several things for himself as well, including more comics, as he had grown to like reading some series over the month he had spent at the Burrow. And one shop sold muggle comic series that were made to move with magic, next to magical ones. It was ultimately cool for the young teenage boy.

When they arrived back at Hogwarts at half past one, they were greeted by Ginny, who was quick to greet her husband with a loving kiss.

"Welcome back, love, I see you got a passenger?" She asked.

"Yes, Ginny, you already know Harry Potter, who had bad luck with the barrier malfunctioning in some way shortly before the train left. I took him with me to get to school and he helped me buy the things you wanted. We also took a small detour to buy him a few more comics and other things, as he started collecting some over the last month," Older Harry explained.

"I can see that. The potions and good food that Mrs Weasley is known for seem to have worked wonders," Ginny agreed, "It's a good thing that the clothes from the Fashion Palace come with growth charms for two sizes, otherwise you would have needed to buy more clothes."

She could acknowledge that her mother was a fantastic cook.

"Was there any trouble with any of the new students and the platform?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, one first-year girl couldn't find the platform. I helped her get through. Sadly, the alarm for Harry and his friend Ron Weasley was too late, as it was only two minutes before the train left, to reach them in time to get them onto the train. I really didn't expect anybody that late," Older Harry explained again.

"True, it is very late. Why were you that late for the train, Harry?" Ginny asked, having to act her part, even if she knew what had happened.

"There was chaos this morning, as everybody seemed to be running around all over the house to find things they wanted to take with them and then we had to return for Ginny's diary and Fred's broom, which made us late," Harry answered.

"Really? Well, next time you should let those things be sent after you by owl," She advised.

"I will voice that opinion. I'd rather not miss the train again. Though I would like to know why the portal was closed suddenly," Harry stated.

"Me too and we will look into it," Older Harry promised.

"Another question, if two of you missed the train, where is your friend Ron?" Ginny asked.

"He took his father's enchanted car that can fly to get to Hogwarts," Harry answered.

"Really? That's very irresponsible. Hopefully nothing happens to him. Does he know how to drive the car?" Ginny wanted to know.

"I don't know. He didn't tell, but it looked a bit shaky when the car took off at the station," Harry admitted, worrying about Ron, next to being annoyed by his behaviour.

"I have told his parents that I would call them once he arrives here. It's difficult to track down a flying car that can turn invisible, according to Mr Weasley. Otherwise we could send disillusioned flyers on brooms to intercept him," Older Harry commented, "I just hope he thought of following the train to find Hogwarts."

"I see. Nothing we can do right now. Well, we still have some hours until the train is set to arrive. And I think you could both do with some food. I doubt you got lunch in London," Ginny suggested.

"True. Well, first food and then I'll take Harry up to the Gryffindor common room and give him the new password," Older Harry agreed, and the group went inside, with Hedwig flying up to the owlery, after Harry let her out of her cage, to take a nap.

Harry sat waiting for the other students to arrive at the Gryffindor table. He was really glad that Professor Peverell had got him to school, even if he wished he could have been on the train to catch up with Hermione or spend some more time with Ginny. He hoped she had found some nice company to sit with. He had actually planned to look out for her a bit, as she had become a friend over the last month. She was great at Quidditch and had a lot of common interests with him, like animals and exploring places. She even liked one of the comic series he read.

The teachers, except for Hagrid and McGonagall, already sat at the head table. He found the two Peverells sitting next to each other, talking softly, with Mrs Peverell giggling at something. Professor Dumbledore sat in the middle like always, the spot to his right being left open, which belonged to Professor McGonagall. Finally, the first students entered the Great Hall and went over to their tables, giving him curious looks, as to why he had already been there. He didn't like the stares, but he was used to them by now. Finally, Hermione appeared and made a bee-line to him.

"Harry, I was so worried when I couldn't find you or Ron on the train," She exclaimed.

"The portal closed before we could get through. I wanted to wait for Ron's parents, he wanted to take the car to go to school on his own. We got into an argument that ended with him taking off in his father's enchanted car, it can fly, and me waiting and being found by Professor Peverell, who was there to make sure everybody could find the platform. It was bad luck that we were so late that he couldn't do anything about it," Harry explained in a short summary.

"What? That's really irresponsible of him," She scoffed, "He'll be in so much trouble. Is Professor Peverell the new teacher for Defence?"

"Yes to both," Harry answered, "He's really nice and is going to be our new head of house. Professor McGonagall decided to let him take that position, as she has too much work with three positions."

Hermione clearly wanted to ask more, but others from their year sat down around them and greetings were exchanged, together with questions about Ron's whereabouts. Thus, Harry had to answer them first and signalled Hermione that they could talk about things later. And then the doors opened, and the new first-years were led inside. Harry found Ginny's hair standing out of the group. He was glad that, thanks to the money he had paid the Weasleys for taking him in for the month, as he didn't want to stay there that long for free, she could get a few things she needed for school. Not to mention that they had done a few easy jobs for the muggles in Ottery St. Catchpole over the month to earn themselves some spending money.

Ginny had bought herself two nice outfits in a muggle second-hand shop in the village from that money, ones that were much better suited for her than the ones her mother got her. And she had been delighted at his birthday present. The kitten had been named Joyce and had immediately taken a liking to Ginny. It was a small black one with white paws and a white tipped tail. While the Weasley parents had at first protested to Harry spending that much money on a birthday present, they had accepted it when he told them about the circumstances he got the cat. Having got a kitten that was given away for free to a good home was something they couldn't give him grief about. The only thing he had bought was the basket for the kitten, and some nice Gryffindor red bowls for its food and water. They didn't like charity for them.

And the food for the kitten wasn't too problematic. Once it was older, it would be able to hunt mice and Ginny had got some more food for kittens in the muggle village for little money. And she was told by the shop assistant in the pet shop that dry food was good for a kitten to eat, as it trained her chewing muscles properly and allowed the kitten to eat as much as it needed. And dry food was cheaper than wet food. She had two packages of it in her trunk, which she had bought with her own money, which made her feel good about it. The two packages should also last her for a while, as Joyce didn't eat too much at her age.

Harry had spent his money on comics, especially the Japanese mangas that were becoming more and more popular. He loved the Dragon Ball series. The story was entertaining and there were a lot of volumes already. Too bad it wasn't available in the magical variant yet, that would have been incredible. Next to that he had stocked up on some of his favourite muggle sweets, like mars bars. Things like helping weeding gardens and buying groceries for old people weren't hard to do and find people offering to pay for after all. And it got them out of the Burrow for hours on end, as, as nice Mrs Weasley could be, Ginny's mother tended to be overbearing. They had offered Ron to join them, but he had refused, not wanting to do more chores than he had already needed to at home, even declaring them barmy for wanting to work voluntarily. He still complained about Ginny being able to buy all those clothes, not wanting to see that he just needed to get off his arse if he wanted the same.

Harry applauded when a new student was sorted into Gryffindor and especially when Ginny joined their house. Ron still hadn't appeared. He only hoped that nothing bad had happened. He then got lost in talking and enjoying the food that was served for the feast. He was hungry and dug in heartily. He listened to Neville's story about a trip with an uncle to a magical botanic garden in Paris, which he had loved to see. Dean told them about getting a spot for a youth football camp that had lasted a week at his favourite club Westham's stadium. He had had lots of fun playing football there with other boys his age.

Seamus had visited relatives in Sweden for two weeks, while Parvati had gone to see hers in India for four weeks. Lavender had gone on vacation to Austria for two weeks with her parents and sister. Harry found it interesting to hear stories about the things his classmates had done over the summer break. He didn't think his story was good material to be told at the table, so he just decided to tell them that he had spent August at the Burrow with Ron's family, as they were nice enough to allow it. It brought back the question where in the world Ron was.

After eating way too much dessert, but he simply couldn't resist the wonderful treacle tart, he looked towards the head table, where Professor Dumbledore had now stood up.

"I'm sure that you all enjoyed the wonderful feast as much as I did. Now I have a few things to inform you about, like at the beginning of every year. The new first-years please take note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden for all students if they aren't accompanied by a teacher. Some older students might want to remember that rule as well," Again he looked towards Fred and George, who grinned unrepentantly, "Magic in the halls is forbidden and we have created a new system to prevent hexing of other students. Any kind of dark magic, as defined by the list that the Ministry of Magic keeps updated, will result in an automatic alarm that will bring a teacher to the site where the spell was used immediately. The one found to have used the spell will get an automatic suspension of two weeks for the first offence, one month for the second and the third time means expulsion. Though for the dark spells of the highest classification, there won't be any warnings, it will be straight expulsion and possible handing over to the DMLE."

Many students gasped at hearing that. While everybody knew about the rule, it was broken more often than anybody cared to remember.

"Dark magic is dangerous. Not only for the victims, but it also warps the sense of right and wrong of those using it. The wards of the school got a thorough check and upgrade over the summer months. For normal spells, like for example prank spells, you will get detention. And be sure that if the spells do serious damage, no matter if dark or not, you won't like what kind of detention we came up with over the summer. During the last years, Madam Pomfrey has complained about the increasing level of damage done by this, therefore, we have decided to act. This is a school, not a place to harm each other," Dumbledore stressed, "Now to more pleasant news, I'm happy to greet two new faces among our staff. Please greet with me Professors Harold and Guinevere Peverell. They will take over teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions respectively."

Both stood and waved, the applause being thunderous among the houses of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. Nobody had liked Snape and now they knew why he was gone. Dumbledore had to fire off a noise spell to be able to continue. Harry took a galleon from Professor Flitwick, who hadn't believed him that it would be necessary after the news of Snape no longer teaching broke.

"Well, Professor Harold Peverell will also be taking over as head of Gryffindor house and Professor Septima Vector, our Arithmancy teacher, will be the new head of Slytherin house. Both new heads will be seeing you at your common rooms to introduce themselves," Dumbledore continued, "Mr Filch has also asked me to inform you that he has added new items to the list of forbidden items and the whole list can be viewed at his office."

Older Harry had suggested to exchange the caretaker, but Dumbledore wanted to let him spend the few years missing to normal retirement age at Hogwarts. While he could see where the headmaster was coming from, the man was unsuited to be in contact with magical children. Well, at least he didn't have a supporter for his ideas of punishment anymore among the staff.

"The last new face is Miss Sarah Vessington. She won't be teaching a class, she is the new assistant for Professor McGonagall and myself in all things that concerns administration and paperwork for the school, to reduce our work loads. I hope you will welcome her like all new members of the staff. If she finds you doing things worthy of giving or taking points, she has the same authority as all members of the staff," There was some polite applause, "Now I think it is time to go off to bed," Dumbledore ended his speech and the prefects were calling up the first-years to follow them.

Harry went along with his classmates, after telling them about getting the password earlier in the day from Professor Peverell.

Older Harry sat in one of the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room, having taken a shortcut from the Great Hall that only opened for teachers. He wanted to get his new students to get to know him a little and he had a few changes to announce that he and Ginny had thought about when they had had time together. Both before and after travelling back in time. Things they had thought could make the experience at Hogwarts much better for the students. His remodelling of the common room was part of it. It would be immediately obvious, as he had taken away all tables for homework and added more couches, armchairs and seat groups where games could be played on smaller tables. Then he heard the portrait opening and the first students entering.

Most stopped in surprise of seeing him sitting there, in front of the fireplace, with a few rows of chairs being placed in a half circle in front of him.

"Please find seats, I have a few announcements to make, which you all need to know," Older Harry told them, and they did so, wondering what this was about, as Professor McGonagall had never appeared in their common room.

It took about twenty minutes until everybody, including the new first-years, which Jackson Price, the fifth-year male prefect, had led upwards, was present and sat on the chairs.

"Good evening, everybody. I know that many of you are tired and full of good food, but I think this is the best time to inform you about a few things you will wonder about. The older students might have noticed that the common room looks different this year," Older Harry mentioned and got nods, "This is because from now on, you won't be allowed to do your homework in here anymore."

Some students protested, but he got them to be silent again.

"Hey, I'm not out to sabotage your homework, I did something to help you make concentrating on homework much easier. You see, when you look towards the exit of the common room, you will find a new door on the left. This door leads down a staircase, which leads to your new study rooms. You may explore them after the meeting if you want to. There are eight rooms overall, so you will all have a place where you can study without being distracted by others being loud or playing games inside the common room," He explained and many older students nodded, seeing the advantages of this arrangement, "The study rooms are open for every student and nobody may bar others from going in there. I have wards on the doors to prevent it actually.

"Down there are three normal study rooms with tables that seat four people each and each room has a shelf with common reference books for the core subjects up to third year. One room has NEWT level reference books on the shelves and is set aside for the sixth and seventh years. It has an age line on the doorframe to keep those younger than sixteen out. This is because you need a certain maturity of your magical core to safely use some of the spells taught at NEWT level. Another one has OWL level books and is open for the fourth and fifth years. The same restriction of age, in this case fourteen years old, is valid for this room. I ask everybody to leave the books down there, as this way you will all have access to them when you need them. If you have more books of your own, it would be great if you agreed to place them down there as well as reference books for the other students.

"To make sure they stay in the condition they were in when you did so, come and see me to place some protective charms on them, similar to those on the library books. The books should also have your name written inside the envelope, to make sure they aren't confused at the end of the year, when you will want to take them back home with you. This way it will make it much easier to get your homework done. I have also set up one shelf in the common room for books that have nothing to do with studying but are for recreational reading.

"The same conditions for putting your own books there apply. I think it would be great to have popular books circulate among the house. If you want to borrow one of those books, you may keep them for two weeks before they have to be returned. And books can only be taken from the common room if you have filled out a card for borrowing the respective books and you will get a message two days before the books is due to be given back. Next to an alarm that the book has to be given back the day after it is due, which will be very loud, so you will want to avoid triggering it.

"I also know how much it can distract you if you have to concentrate on studies for exams, so I decided to help out with the years that have the most pressure on them. Next to those five rooms there is one room for the electives, where books on those subjects will be available. You may of course also go to the library if you need more books, but this will help with better time management for normal studies and homework. The next room is a potions lab, where you may practice brewing the potions you covered in class before at the time from four in the afternoon until six and then again from half past seven until half past nine on weekdays. Additionally, my wife will be offering open hours in the new lab for Potions classes on Saturdays for all those that want to improve their brewing."

"You are married, sir?" One of the seventh-year girls blurted out.

"Yes, happily married since this summer. Your new Potions teacher is my wife," Older Harry told them happily, "Or why did you think she and I shared the same surname?"

"We thought she might be a cousin," Some girls admitted.

Older Harry had to grin. Well, too bad for the girls. They would have to look for other love interests. He wouldn't ever start a relationship with a student, even if he wasn't married yet. But he could understand that a young, good-looking teacher would interest the older students. And both he and Ginny were good-looking.

"Sorry to disappoint you," He replied, "The last two study rooms are for general homework and are open to all years and I encourage study groups to form. Well, the next part is that each year will get a medical check-up by Madam Pomfrey. We don't want to overlook any problems, as there have been reports in the past about problematic situations not being noticed early enough and the children suffering from it. Among those issues are extreme diets of students that worry about being too fat and then dropping from exhaustion. One thing many don't know about is that practicing your magic properly burns more calories than anything else you could do. So, if you are worried about your figure, rather practice the spells you learned in class than dieting. It only harms your bodies and magical potential while being in puberty. We don't expect many cases, but this is a new mandatory policy for all students. The other heads of houses are informing their students about this as well."

Most students nodded. It would take away an hour of their time, but most didn't have a problem with it. Some girls also looked interested in that bit of information. They hadn't known that.

"The next point is that I'm going to personally train the Quidditch team and have a reserve team set up. The try-outs for both teams will take place in two weeks and are open to anybody that wants to join, even the first-years. Madam Hooch will hold a small test to see if you are advanced enough in your flying to join the team. This test has to be passed to be allowed to participate in the try-outs. If you manage that, you may have your brooms sent here by your parents. All parents will get a letter tomorrow about the new rules at the school to be prepared. And the first-years only get their brooms sent if a written confirmation of Madam Hooch is sent to your parents. Said conformation comes with a charm that will allow the brooms to take off from the ground."

"What do you mean with that, Professor?" Katie Bell asked, never having heard about it.

"Well, I hope you didn't think that the school simply left enforcing the rule about no brooms for first-years to coincidence," Older Harry began and some students looked sheepish, having thought exactly that, "When you put on the Sorting Hat to be sorted into your houses, a spell automatically is placed onto you, which lasts exactly one year. This spell makes all kinds of brooms spelled for flying fail to take off from the ground, if a teacher didn't previously lift the spell, which Madam Hooch always does for the flying classes. You pass through a ward that nullifies the spell. Inside that ward you may fly, but it won't work outside of it."

"But how did that work for Harry last year?" Seamus asked, "He was on the Quidditch team after all."

"Professor McGonagall lifted the spell on him once his joining the team was confirmed. There is a counter spell that all heads of houses and Madam Hooch, as the flying instructor, are informed about, in case special circumstances come to pass. It doesn't happen often, so it had to be done manually."

"Isn't that unfair for other students that would like to fly too?" Parvati asked.

"No, it isn't. During all the past years, it was always possible for first-years to ask Madam Hooch if she would supervise free flying or pick-up Quidditch matches where first-years participated. And for those she could temporarily lift the spell or activate another ward around, for example, the Quidditch pitch. The pitch actually has a standing ward for that, which only has to be activated. That always happens during the matches, simply to not have any nasty surprises," Older Harry explained.

The students nodded, understanding that part.

"Madam Hooch has also agreed to set up hours when those first-years that don't make it onto either the starting team or the reserve team may fly for fun on the weekends. The ones making it onto the team will get the no brooms rule waved in full. The other ones may choose to have Madam Hooch keep their brooms to get them during the supervised flying hours," Older Harry explained, and got many appreciative comments about the possibility to fly more.

"As a side comment, the school managed to buy forty new brooms for the flying lessons, which are previous models of the Cleansweep series. They aren't top class racing brooms, but they are good brooms to learn flying and have pick-up Quidditch matches for example. Those interested in playing some for fun are invited to come down to the Quidditch pitch on Sundays. My wife or Madam Hooch will referee those matches. They take place from ten to half past twelve in the mornings. Anybody passing the competency test is allowed to play. If there are more players than fourteen, the matches will be timed to half an hour and then the next group may play. Otherwise the catching of the snitch ends a match like it normally does."

Many were happy to hear that.

"I would like to have the Quidditch Captain meet with me tomorrow, so that we can work out something for the try-outs," Older Harry stated, and Oliver Wood confirmed it.

"Now I would like to have the prefects stand and give your names, so that all of the younger students know you, in case they have a problem," Older Harry announced, and the six prefects stood and gave their names and year.

Older Harry and Ginny had practically only known Percy during their first years among the prefects and he was a git and not approachable for the younger years with problems. Thus, the simple measure of having the prefects introduce themselves the first evening.

"Good, which of you are scheduled to lead the first-years down to breakfast tomorrow morning?" He then asked, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, surprising the prefects.

"Uh, we didn't know that we should arrange for that," Melinda Farsight admitted. She was the seventh-year female prefect.

"Well, how else would the first-years find the Great Hall in time for breakfast and getting their schedules?" Older Harry asked, "Well, then we will simply arrange for it now. Tomorrow the fifth-year prefects will be ready to take all first-years down to the Great Hall at a quarter past seven. Classes start at eight. You should all have packed the general things for classes, meaning quills, parchment and ink. You won't get into trouble for not having your books on the first morning, but for the afternoon classes it will be expected to have them with you. The day after tomorrow I want the sixth-year prefects to take the first-years down and the day after the seventh years. I will ask Sir Nicholas to be their guide between classes for the first two weeks, once the time-table is finalised."

"Aren't they already finished, sir?" Hermione asked.

"The slots for each class are filled, but we always need to see how many students are sorted into which house to know which houses to partner up for which class to have similar numbers in them. It could after all happen that one house gets a lot more students than the other three and that would have to be taken into consideration. Thus, the schedules for the first-years get their finishing touch tonight, the first evening after the welcome feast is done," Older Harry answered, "That's also the reason why we always hand out the timetables the first morning."

Hermione nodded, understanding the reasoning.

"Alright, any questions?" Older Harry asked.

"When will the check-ups take place for each year?" Percy asked.

"We will start tomorrow after classes for the first-years. The second years are due the day after and so on. For the NEWT level students, you may use any free time between classes to get them done but be aware that Madam Pomfrey has lists of all students that are to go to her and we will collect the ones that don't have appeared by dinner on Friday. Could be embarrassing when you get collected in the Great Hall," He casually commented.

The older students nodded solemnly. They didn't want to have that happen.

"I will take the years up to fifth year myself after the last class of the day. So be ready twenty minutes after class ends. You don't need to take anything with you, but you may take a book or something like that to pass time. No 'Exploding Snap' cards, as they are too loud for the hospital wing. Normal cards are okay though."

"Do you think we will need that long?" Fred asked.

"We have four houses to examine at a time, so yes, it will take some time," Harry nodded.

"All houses at the same time?" Lee Jordan asked, shocked.

"Well, it is simplest to go by alphabet to make sure we don't overlook anybody. And I expect you to behave while we are there, otherwise you won't like the results. I'm a pretty easy-going person, but it is unadvisable to get on my bad side," Older Harry warned.

His serious look on his face made the Gryffindors nod at the warning.

"Okay, then I'll leave you to whatever you want to do, just make sure to get enough sleep to be up early tomorrow morning. Good night," Older Harry told them and got a number of good nights back.

He stood from his armchair and went out of the common room through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"That was different," Lee commented.

"But he seems nice," Katie Bell added.

"But the medical check-up sucks," Angelina moaned, "I could do better things with my time."

"Well, it's one day for a short amount of time, so we will survive. And Madam Pomfrey is right to warn about consequences of people acting stupid. I mean, do you remember Rosella Dwight? Two years ago, she nearly starved herself to death, just because some idiot had called her fat, when she had a great figure," Alicia reminded the others.

Many older girls nodded, having seen the girl getting worse until it was nearly too late to help her. Some of the teachers should have acted before. A few students, among them Hermione, went down to see what the study rooms looked like, others went to their dorms to go to sleep. The day had been long for them after all.

The arrival of Ron Weasley was very different to the last time. With Harry not being there to tell him how to find Hogwarts by following the train early on, Ron had got lost big time. He had got the idea after some hours, but by then he had already lost any track of the train. He had tried flying north, at least knowing that Scotland was north, but he hadn't managed to find anything he knew to find his way. He actually was in a very bad mood when he finally, around midnight, spotted a large forest with a lake in the distance. Thankfully the moonlight let him see that much, as he had already had some narrow misses with tall buildings that weren't alight when he was flying lower, as he couldn't see much from high up. Hoping it to be the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake, he had flown over there. The car had again malfunctioned, but not over the grounds of Hogwarts, but already at the far end of the lake, letting Ron take a very wet nosedive.

He was lucky that the merpeople and the giant squid helped him out of the sinking car, otherwise he would have drowned. Scabbers, being outside of his cage at the time, managed to swim to the surface and both boy and rat were transported to the shore close to Hogwarts by the squid. The car sank to the ground of the lake, with all of Ron's school things still in the trunk on the backseat.

When Ron reached the shore, he was freezing, had lost feeling in his limbs and was really, really hungry. He was angry at Harry for not coming with him, thinking that if Harry had just followed his lead, he wouldn't have got lost that terribly and wouldn't feel this miserable. He made his way over to Hagrid's hut, the closest place to his position, and thankfully the huge man wasn't asleep yet.

"Blimey, Ron, where the hell have you been?" Hagrid asked sternly.

"C-c-car," Ron brought out with clacking teeth.

"You'll be in real trouble, Ron, but first I'll take you up to the hospital wing. You need at least some pepper-up potion," Hagrid decided, "Where are your things?"

"L-l-la-k-ke," Ron stuttered.

"Lake? How did they end there? Well, later. We were really worried when you weren't there at the feast. Your parents will be relieved to hear that you're safe now, but I can't imagine them being happy about you not waiting for them."

Ron just let Hagrid lead him up to the school, wrapped into his large furry coat. He didn't notice anything. He just wanted to be warm again and get something to eat. He had really imagined his adventure going better. Like arriving at Hogwarts like some great hero.

As head of Gryffindor, Older Harry was pulled from his bed when a house elf informed him about Ron having arrived at the school. According to the house elf, Ron had appeared at Hagrid's hut, drenched to the bone and with chattering teeth. Harry got up, told Ginny to keep sleeping and then made his way over to the hospital wing. There he found Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore already talking to Ron, who had clearly got some pepper up potion from Madam Pomfrey already, as his ears were smoking.

"What have you been thinking, Mr Weasley?" McGonagall asked reproachfully.

"I w-wanted to get to H-Hogwarts," Ron answered, his teeth still chattering a bit.

"You should have waited for your parents to come. Really, the journey to Hogsmeade takes several hours. They would have returned in that time. You could have gone home with them and called us by floo," Harry spoke up.

"I didn't think about that. I thought the barrier w-wouldn't let them through," Ron told them.

"You were very lucky that no muggle spotted you," Dumbledore now stated, "We will have to see if it stays that way. Had anybody seen you, it would have been a major breach in the Statute of Secrecy. And we can't afford that the muggles find out about us."

Ron shrank under the disappointed look of the headmaster.

"I did use the invisibility booster that Dad installed," Ron mumbled.

"At least your father had enough sense to think that far. Still, you will serve two weeks of detention for this," McGonagall declared.

Ron groaned. That much detention right at the beginning of the school year.

"Uh, what about my things? They were all in the car," He asked, panicked what his mother would say if they were all lost.

"I will ask the merpeople in the morning to bring them up. I fear several books could be too damaged to be used anymore," Dumbledore replied, "Harold, what do you think, should we send him to the Gryffindor dorms tonight?"

"I think it would be best if he went there early in the morning. Poppy will probably want to keep him for observation anyway, as he did spend a long time in the lake before the merpeople and the squid saved him. We can floo the Weasleys to give them relief that Ron arrived here, more or less safe, and then arrange for them to see him before he goes down for breakfast. Perhaps they can find an old school uniform for him to wear at their home before we can see what of his things can be salvaged," Harry answered, "And getting him some parchment, a quill and ink for the morning classes wouldn't be too difficult. He can go back to the common room after the meeting and see his friends."

"That is probably the best solution. Just be aware, Mr Weasley, you are on very thin ice right now. This kind of stupidity won't be tolerated. You should have just waited with Mr Potter. Or sent Mr Potter's owl in case your parents didn't return for a long time," McGonagall told him off, "One more rule being broken, and we will have to send you home."

"Yes, Professor," Ron shrank again. On the inside, he cursed Harry. If only he had come with him, this wouldn't have been this bad. Harry always got away with things, just because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

This was a longer chapter, as I wanted to wrap up the whole return to school and the differences that I put in compared to canon. I hope you liked it. Until next time.