"With all these interruptions, we will never get through all these books. I say that the next person to speak when they aren't reading should be removed from the Hall. Agreed? Good!" said Umbridge without looking to anyone for approval. Madame Bones sat and looked at her colleague with disgust.

"Who would like to read?" said Madam Bones, trying to ignore Umbridge. When Madam Hooch raised her hand, she levitated the book to the flying instructor and she started.

Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass

People silently edged forward, one of every student's favorite conversation topics was accidental magic. It was always so hilarious when one talks about it. But Harry Potter's, they thought excitedly, should be amazing.

Nearly ten years had passed..

"Why did it skip so many years?" said Umbridge with furrowed brows.

The entire school went silent looking at her with amazement. Fudge smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and Percy groaned. Several of the teachers started to snicker into their hands and Madam Bones looked smug.

"What? What is so funny?" said Umbridge indignantly.

"You just said that the next person to speak, that wasn't reading, would be kicked out. No one else spoke, just you." said Kingsley with his deep calm voice.

"I'm exempt from that rule of course. I'm the High Inquisitor." she replied with a sneer.

Down where Harry sat, a small recollection came to his thoughts.

"Exempt...do...I...want...Minister..." it was fuzzy and not very clear, so Harry let it go.

"I think it would be better to just let the students and guests voice their opinions. I will not have that sort of behavior here, Delores." said Dumbledore sternly.

since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.

"Surprise, surprise." said Ginny sarcastically. Mrs. Weasely sent her only daughter a scolding look. That however didn't seem to have much effect.

The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets -

Laughter rang through the Great Hall.

"Harry, you are freaking hilarious!" yelled the twins

but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,

"Oh yes he is!" said Ron loudly. Creating another round of laughter.

and now the photographs showed a large blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

"Aren't you there anymore?" said the same first years that almost frozen in panic when Harry smiled at him at the start of school term. Harry nodded.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.

"Why is it that you never seem to get to wake up peacefully?" asked Dean.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Harry woke with a start." His aunt rapped on the door again.

"I can understand now how come you don't sleep very soundly anymore." said Lupin with a concerned tone. "I wouldn't be able to sleep all through the night if I had to wait for her to come knocking." Harry, nor Lupin noticed Snape nod in agreement.

"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.

"You've got a damn good memory there Potter, very impressive." said Moody approvingly

"Too bad I can't remember what happened two weeks ago." said Harry quietly. Lupin gave him a small hug.

His aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly," said Harry.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn,"

"They made you cook? You could have burnt yourself!" said Hermione incredulously.

"I haven't burnt myself for over ten years." shrugged Harry.

"What?" yelled Mrs. Weasely.

"I've been cooking for eleven years at the Dursleys. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Aunt Petunia never cooks anymore, unless I'm occupied."

"Define 'occupied'" said Lupin questioningly. Harry didn't answer.

"I actually really enjoy cooking. Funny thing is, they know I love to cook. They would rather have me happy at that one aspect, then eat Aunt Petunia's cooking. She sucks at it. Last time I remember her actually working in the kitchen was...when she baked Dudley a cake for his sixth birthday. Chocolate with strawberry icing. She wanted it to look real fancy, Dudley took a big bite out of it and spat it out on the floor. I tried it real quick, she got sugar and salt mixed up. It was real bad.

"She thought I threw the salt in it. Wasn't me, I was told that I had to weed the garden that day while she baked the cake. Wasn't pretty, what she did." said Harry, unconcerned about the past hint of abuse, but focusing on the fond memory of cooking over the years.

His friends and the adults around were concerned. How was he punished for something he didn't do?

I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned.

"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing..."

Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.

"Harry, mate, did you have to mention you pulling off a spider from your sock." cringed Ron. The twins snickered, until their brother Charlie walked behind them and with both hands, cuffed his younger brothers.

Harry groaned, he knew what was coming.

Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

Once again, the same thick silence covered the school. Harry looked through his fingers at the Head table. Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey were hugging each other crying silently. Madam Hooch and Professor Vector looked as if they were about to be violently ill, and Professor Flitwick was fingering his wand viciously. Harry however didn't take much notice of them but focused on five other teachers.

Snape was snarling at the book that was now laying on the table. Professor McGonagall had turned as white as a ghost and had a hand covering her mouth. Hagrid was grasping the armrests of his chair, that is until he snapped them off. Dumbledore's mouth was hanging open and stared at Harry in shock and horror, his tense face matched the color of his beard. Umbridge was the only person in the entire room that was shaking with silent laughter.

Harry then looked around at his surrogate family and friends. Every Weasely, including Percy who had come down to where his family was, deciding that family was more important than a Ministry who didn't care for the well-being of a child, were muttering darkly. Then they turned to him.

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you come to us?" said Bill quickly

"You had a room when we came to get you! What happened to change that?" yelled Fred.

"How long did you have to sleep in there?" shouted George.

"A cupboard?" screamed Mrs. Weasely.

Harry didn't know what to say. He remained silent. The silence fell over all of them again, waiting for an answer. Umbridge started laughing out loud, people threw her quite a few murderous looks.

"May I ask what you find so funny Delores?" said Kingsley, calmness gone from his voice.

"I was under the impression that Muggles were common and not worth even an ounce of our time. Now I have finally found some that I actually admire. I applaud them, they seem know how to treat a worthless brat. They were even kind to the boy, I wouldn't have even let him sleep in the house." she smiled to all who were in the room.

When she received no smiles back, but only glares and snarls, she looked towards the Minister, who looked back with eyebrows raised and mouth opened in shock. She simply shrugged and leaned back in her chair majestically.

The dog that was sitting beside Harry took this opportunity to rush up to her and bite her on the leg. She let out a scream and kicked the dog away from herself, she looked down, there was a gash, not very deep, but it was bleeding moderately. She sent a curse after the dog, but he skillfully dodged it and ran back to stand in front of Harry. Guarding him and growling fiercely, showing all of its white, sharp teeth.

"MR. POTTER! HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME WITH YOUR FILTHY ANIMAL!" screeched Umbridge, without a moment's hesitation, she whipped out her wand and sent a red shaft of light down to Harry. Everyone was frozen in shock, no one could whip out their wands, not even Dumbledore in time to stop the curse. However when it reached about a foot away from Harry, it bounced off, flying straight up into the air. Lupin looked down at the young boy, his wand halfway out of his pocket. Harry had already drawn his wand and casted a protective shield around himself and Sirius, Moody was highly impressed with this, the boy even beat him in whipping out his wand. That was it, that boy was going to be an Auror, if he had anything to say about it.

He sat there, just as calmly as can be. She screamed again and brought her wand up again to send another spell down his way, but with small flick of his wand, Harry sent hers flying out of her hand and sideways towards Kingsley. Kingsley caught it and pocketed it. Umbridge threw a dirty look his way, but the Minister stood up.

"Delores, I think you better calm down. You're not acting yourself." said Fudge soothingly.

"She's acting exactly like herself. She's a psychotic nut!" yelled both Fred and George. Raising their scarred hands.

Madam Hooch trying to diffuse the situation and blowing her nose at the same time, tried to continue on with the reading.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all of Dudley's birthday presents.

"Holy Holyhead Harpies! That's a lot of presents! How many people actuallylike this kid, Harry?" asked Charlie with his mouth hanging open.

"Five are from his friends, twelve are from Aunt Marge and nineteen are from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia." said Harry without hesitation.

"How do you remember that, Potter?" said Snape coldly.

"Dudley always brags how many presents he gets for his birthday. All day, every day, for two weeks straight. That year, he didn't brag about the presents, except right after he got them. It was an unusual spring, so I remember it very well." said Harry with a small smile.

It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.

"If I find out that he's hit you, even once, I'm going to make sure I introduce him to a few, fifty feet tall, scaley friends of mine." said Charlie with a low growl.

"Then I'll take some time out of my busy schedule and have a little hand to rear 'talk'." muttered Lupin.

Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,

"Wait'll we get a hold of that little brat." said Lupin and Charlie together.

but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.

"We can barely catch up with you when you're goin' somewhere in a hurry." said Ron and Hermione. Harry laughed.

"Yeah, I know seven other people who had a hard time keeping up too." said Harry with a smile.

"What do you mean." said Ron with raised eyebrows.

"I'm Britain's Junior Track Champ, I've won it every year I've entered. I've set several Junior National records for running." Harry said proudly.

"Where are your medals? Your cups? Can we see them." said Hermione excitedly. Harry's smile fell off slowly.

"Uncle Vernon keeps pile-driving them to the ground. Every time I win something, and I get a commendation, he breaks it." he ignored the snarls that went around the Hall. "I saved one however, had to dig for it out of the garbage and glue it back together, but I still have it on me." He reached deep into his cloak and pulled out a golden medal. Hermione and Ron saw a delicate picture of a man running with wings on his feet. It was cracked all the way through in several places. It even had the Queen's seal on the back, with Harry's name etched on the bottom and the year. It was his latest victory. "I'll tell you all about it later." he said to Ron and Hermione.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.

"It doesn't have anything to do with living in a cupboard, Potter! But it really doesn't help!" said Madam Pomfrey fearfully.

"She's right Potter," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Your Father and Mother were of average height, but we will have to do some magical diagnostics to find out just how tall you are supposed to be and rectify it. We can do that soon." Harry smiled.

He looked even smaller and skinnier then he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.

"They didn't even give you your own clothes? Is your cousin really that big? Were the shirts shrunk to fit you?" asked Madam Bones Harry blinked and shook his head. He then took off his cloak, then uniform shirt. Underneath was a casual t-shirt. He stretched it out to show how large it really was.

"Dudley wore this about nine years ago." said Harry plainly. Mrs. Weasely turned a deep red after she uttered a curse that made Harry and the Weasely family stare at her.

Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.

People who knew the Potters sighed and smiled at him. So did quite a number of girls in the school. His eyes were so lovely, but like Ginny, most of them couldn't look at him for long or they would start to blush.

He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.

"That boy, if he was here now." said Mr. Weasley with a grumble.

The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"SEE! I WAS RIGHT! HE IS ATTENTION SEEKING!" yelled Fudge to all who would hear.

"OH, WILL YOU SHUT UP!" yelled quite a few students, including Madame Bones herself.

He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.

"In the car crash when your parent's died," she had said.

Again the room went silent. Lupin looked to Harry, who was just sitting there, unconcerned. Lupin on the other hand, had his mouth open and his eyes were watery.

"That is what you thought happened to your parents? For over ten years?" Harry nodded.

"A CAR CRASH?" That scream came from in the back of the Hall, but no one could seem to locate it. Only Harry and Lupin knew who screamed it, for then Snuffles came trotting back to them, climbed into the bowl and laid down on Harry's lap, whining.

"And don't ask questions."

Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

"Is this the reasons you don't ask questions in class Mr. Potter?" Harry looked away from the Herbology Professor and nodded. The teachers, excluding Umbridge looked horrified.

Good, these Muggles have the right idea. I wouldn't want the little beast to talk to me anymore then he absolutely has to. And even then it's too much.thought Madame Umbridge.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.

Hermione let out a very, very rude phrase, that caused her to have her hand fly to her mouth in shock. Ron and Harry just sat in wonder of her. Then they looked at each other.

"We ruined her." they gulped. The students and even some of the teachers laughed.

About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.

"Your dad's hair stuck up in the same way, even your grandfather's hair was identical." said Lupin, running his hand over the trademarked Potter hair.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.

"Hey Potter, can't your cousin find the kitchen without help?" said Malfoy with a smirk. Harry thought for a moment.

"I really don't think so." with a mock frown on his lips. The twins took a break from sitting at the house table to roll on the floor laughing.

Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.

"Doesn't he sound like a heartthrob?" said Lavender, Pavarti, and Padma giggling.

Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

"YOU ARE FREAKING AWESOME!" yelled Fred and George getting up hugging Harry. However it was way too tight of a hug and he could hardly contain a yelp of pain. It went unnoticed by the rest of the school except the people that were sitting close by. Fred and George immediately released him and Lupin conjured up another cushion, to ease some of the pain. Lupin looked up to Madame Pomfrey and that was the 'magic' signal to summon her to him. She lifted the back of his shirt and administered some more healing salve. Whatever was on the object that caused the poor boy such extensive injuries, was not allowing him to heal quickly.

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

"Are you freaking kidding me? What a spoiled brat!" said Draco, he then looked at the stunned looks gazing at him. "What?" Nobody answered him.

"Darling, you haven't counted Aunt Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

"What would happen if he had overturned the table Harry." said Mrs. Weasely. Harry cringed.

"I would need to make the Dursley's more food, and I would have to eat the stuff on the floor. Then spend the rest of the morning cleaning the floor." said Harry shrugging his shoulders.

"YOU AREN'T AN ANIMAL! NOBODY SHOULD EAT OFF THE FLOOR LIKE THAT!" screeched Mrs. Weasely.

He merely shrugged again. "It was either that or nothing, I went ten years without having any dignity."

Teacher, guests and students alike all paled. Umbridge smirked from where she was sitting.

Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents. Is that all right?"

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he slowly, "So I'll have thirty...thirty..."

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."

"Can't your cousin count?" asked a Ravenclaw with wide eyes.

"Actually, no. He can't read either. He's dyslexic, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't want him to be made fun of at school for going to special classes. I wanted so bad to tell them they were idiots, the classes would help him, not hurt him. They never listen. So they do his homework for him. I should say, they make me do it. He's getting better though. He now can count up to a hundred and is starting to read some small second year primary books." said Harry seriously. No joking manner in his eyes.

Uncle Vernon chuckled.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

"Nothing good will come of that boy. Or that family." mumbled Dumbledore. His eyes were lacking that twinkling luster, until he looked at Harry. Then his eyes grew bright again. He was so proud of Harry, coming through all of this just as innocent and pure as the day he was placed on their doorstep.

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Here comes the famous Harry Potter luck." laughed Hermione.

"Actually, I was somewhat lucky that day." said Harry smiling slightly at her.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parent's took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.

"What's wrong with cats Mr. Potter?" smirked McGonagall.

"My heart belonged only to 'Tootsie,' Professor." beamed Harry.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.

"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."

"Feeling is mutual." snarled Harry. The twins looked between themselves excitedly. That was the one who...they could hardly wait.

The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.

Ron flinched, the word 'slug' still made him feel quite nauseous ever since his second year curse mishap

"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"

"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).

"Harry, they can't leave an eleven year old alone in the house." scolded Hermione.

"They wouldn't be leaving an eleven year old alone, they'd be leaving a tenyear old." said Harry playfully. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

"Want a stamp for that?" teased Harry. She blushed and lightly smacked Harry on the back of his head.

Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.

"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.

"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.

"We will!" cheered the twins. All four houses clapped. Harry couldn't believe that the Slytherins were all of a sudden, since the start of the books, were on his side.

"If I hear anymore horrible stories about the Dursley's, I'll help you." said Mrs. Weasely, earning gasps from her children.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, " ...and leave him in the car..."

"They better not have." growled Lupin, gently pulling Harry closer to him.

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."

"Who gives a damn about a stupid car?" said Dean.

Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.

"I call first dib's on smacking this brat upside the head!" yelled Malfoy over to the Weasely family. His dislike for Potter was being stripped away line by line thanks to this book.

"You'll have to beat us to him first!" yelled Ron.

"Dinky Diddydums"

It took the entire school fifteen minutes to stop laughing. Not even the teachers could contain their amusement at the name. What only made it worse was Umbridge speaking out loud and in a very serious tone, "I think it's a lovely nickname." It was a while till they could start again."Dinky Duddydums,"

"don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I...don't...want...him...t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp...spoils everything! He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.

Growls could be heard all over the hall.

Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

"Prat" growled several people in the Great Hall.

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley's car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left. Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,

"Get out of his face, you fat walrus!" yelled Michael Corner from the Ravenclaw table.

"I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."

What? thought the people in the Hall. They were hating the Dursleys more and by the second. If anyone here was going to go to Privet Drive to beat these...things...up, they wanted to either get in on the action, or go to watch.

"That's it, Fred, George, let me know how you want the house blown up, I'll get what I need." she whispered viciously over to them. The twins looked at her in shock, but then grinned evilly. Oh the things they would do!

"I'm not going to do anything" said Harry, "honestly..."

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one did.

This made people shift guiltily in their seats.

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursley's.

Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard and an hour of whipping with a belt and electrical cord for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.

"They...wh...whi...whipped you? Oh, Harry!" cried Hermione and she covered her eyes and began to weep bitterly. Harry wanted to reach over and comfort her, but Lupin pulled him back down and had Harry lean on him. Lupin wasn't going to let Harry move away from him. He couldn't protect him the way James and Lily would have wanted. To make up for it, Lupin was going to offer Harry all the comfort he possibly could, and he knew Sirius felt the same way.

Umbridge sniffed indignantly at the affection Potter was getting. Filthy wolf, enjoy his company while you can. Pretty soon, Potter will be out of here, and back with the Muggles that obviously have the talent of handling the brat.

Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.

The last statement reduced Mrs. Weasely to tears once more. Her husband had to rub her back slowly in an attempt to calm her down. No child should be that relieved.

On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.

"Merlin, Harry! You apparated!" yelled Lee.

"I don't think so, from what the first book put it, I didn't spin in a circle like Dumbledore did."

"I think what happened is a very rare ability indeed. I believe that you had just flown, no broom, no thestral, no aid, but your own magic." said Dumbledore, grinning broadly.

"No way! Can one do that?" yelled a few seventh years. Dumbledore motioned Madame Hooch to continue.

Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's , there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursley had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school building. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.

"Whoa! You did fly! AWESOME! Can you do it again?"

Harry frowned at them, stood up and tried to remember what was going through his mind at the time. He then remembered, a feeling, no, more like a desire to get out of reach, out of harm's way. Then, what sounded like quite a distance away, he heard cheering and yelling. Harry opened his eyes and was face to face with a beam on the ceiling. He slowly looked down and noticed the floor, about twenty-seven feet below him. His eyes widened and then, like a stone, he fell to the floor. About five feet from the ground, he summoned up the feeling, and he hung there in midair. Lupin took ahold of him and brought him back down to the bowl-chair.

"Don't do that again." said Lupin with a small smile. The rest of the school laughed and cheered.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He like to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.

"I'll give him something to complain about." snarled Bill.

This morning, it was motorcycles.

Again, Sirius barked and wagged his tail.

"...roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums, " he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle, " said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

"Potter, you should have waited for the ride to end before bringing up the subject of imagination." sneered Snape.

"I always sort of daydream when I'm in a car. I get to see the whole world go by my eyes. That doesn't happen very often when you're stuck under the stairs." with a dreamy look on his face that would have done Luna proud. Snape flinched at the reminder of the cupboard.

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

"Laugh it up, losers." mumbled Charlie. Listening to this book and watching his mother just barely endure was harsh. Harry came to their house plenty of times, he was family, and if he had anything to say about it, he was going make these Dursleys pay.

"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.

"Hermione, I forbid you to tell the twins anything about cartoons." said Mrs. Weasely quickly as she noticed the excited spark in their eyes.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.

"Overstuffed cheapskate." growled Bill.

It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratched its head who looked remarkably liked Dudley, except that it wasn't blonde.

A cascade of laughter and cheers rang through the school.

Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.

The laughter quickly died and was replaced by growls.

"They wouldn't hit you in front of your uncle and aunt, would they?" asked Ginny, shock washing over her face.

"They've done it before, Uncle Vernon even joined in once."

Tonks and Moody were whispering darkly in the corner, as Madame Bones was busy writing down charges of abuse against the Muggles. Rita Skeeter, her quill malfunctioning due to the magical pressure of the books, was trying to come up with flowery words on her own. She looked down at what she had written, and tossed it. Without her Quick-Quote Quill she couldn't write in the same manner as she was used to. Finally she gave up the endeavor.

They ate in the zoo restaurant , and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.

"What the heck is a knickerbocker glory? asked Malfoy, many purebloods also looked a little curious. Hermione was about to answer, but Harry beat her to it.

"It's an ice cream sundae, it's in a tall glass or clear bowl and it's got gelatin, and cream layered underneath the ice cream. On top, you put different kinds of syrups, nuts and whipped cream. And finally you put a cherry on top."

"And they let you have one of those?" said Draco with his blonde eyebrows raised. Harry laughed.

"Dudley left me the last few spoonfuls of gelatin and cream."

"So he ate two of them? How big was it?" Harry showed with his hands. Crabbe and Goyle both blinked, not even the both of them could eat two of those things.

"After this chapter is done, I can go down to the kitchens and make everybody one, smaller version then what Dudley had though." Everyone brightened up at that, they were always up for something special for a treat.

Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.

"Gee, mate, you never catch a break do you?"

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.

"I would be more than happy to show them to them, if given the opportunity." mused Snape sitting with his fingertips drumming themselves against each other.

Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

"That's right, ignore them, they aint worth your time." yelled Charlie, an avid animal lover. Hagrid nodded approvingly.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Bet he looked attractive on the other side of the glass." snickered Lavender.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered.

"Did that boy just order his father to do something? If he was here right now, he'd go over my knee right now!" said Mrs. Weasely.

"Mrs. Weasely, he's so big that you would need to magic him in the air and just smack him with a broom." said Harry.

Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

"Gee, so sorry that, maybe we should have talk to the zookeeper and advise him to teach the animals some tricks." said Charlie sarcastically. He wasn't happy in any sense by the way the Dursley kid was acting.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

"I didn't need to hear that you feel pity for a snake." said Lupin sadly

"Why?" asked Harry

"You have had harder life then that snake ever will."

"Yeah, Harry." said Neville, "It was most likely looking at you thinking at least I get meals"

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.

It winked

"How can a snake wink? They don't have eyelids. You probably just incorporated the feeling with an action you understood." said Hermione logically.

Dumbledore smiled down to her, "Actually Miss Granger, when an animal comes into contact with a wizard/witch that can comprehend it. That wizard/witch's magic will grant the animal special abilities that they normally never have. And once the wizard or witch is gone, they lose the ability."

Hermione looked shocked. Harry chuckled.

Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

"Of course you would," said Ron, shaking his head. Harry only shrugged.

The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:

"I get that all the time."

"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

The snake nodded vigorously.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"

"Harry..." said Lupin.

"Did I fail to mention to you that I was a parselmouth? Oops." said Harry with wicked grin.

Lupin laughed "Don't smile like that, it scares me. You look like your dad plotting another prank." Harry laughed.

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.

"A Shooting Star broomstick would have been faster." smirked Harry. The Quidditch players and enthusiasts all laughed.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs, breaking at least two.

"OI!" yelled Ron and Hermione.

Mrs. Weasely and Madame Pomfrey hurried to where the teen was, pulled Harry to a standing position and lifted his shirt. The entire school watched as they both took off Harry's shirt and they gasped. Harry was very, very skinny and his wounds from the mysterious attack were still wrapped up tightly. He had some muscle tone, but only on his chest and stomach. Madame Pomfrey felt his ribs to see if there was any breakage, and her face fell.

She couldn't believe she didn't notice it before, she could feel old breaks that hadn't healed properly and more recent ones that were still in the middle of the self-healing process.

"Potter, where did you get these muscles from? This is the only actual meat on your bones that you have." asked Madame Pomfrey, after healing the old and new breaks.

Harry blushed. "It's the only way I can keep weight on me. Everything else doesn't stay."

Girls all over the school pouted, they half-heartedly wanted his metabolism. Then they wouldn't have to try so hard to lose weight.

Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had lept back with howls of horror.

"Whatever it is Harry, get out of there!" yelled Lupin. Harry sat back down in the bowl and looked at his old Defense Professor curiously.

Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.

"Impressive Mr. Potter, no sound, no breaking. Just vanished very good." said Dumbledore nodding approvingly.

The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come...Thanksss, amigo."

"I can't believe it..."said Fred in in false shock.

"...a polite snake." said George in a similar attitude.

The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.

"But the glass, he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"

"It went bye-bye." said Ginny with a smirk.

The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.

"Liars, snake wasn't even near you."

But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"

"Why the heck did you bring that up, you jerk?"

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go-cupboard-stay-no meals-deal-with you-in a moment," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.

"Drunkard." growled Madam Pomfrey angrily.

Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, feeling stiff and finished putting the last Band-Aid he had on his temple, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food and an ice pack for his bruises and bumps.

People acrossed the Hall actually started to yell even louder than any other time before. Harry looked at Lupin and then over to Dumbledore and McGonagall. All three of them were pale and their hands were tensed.

He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years,

Dumbledore covered his face in his hands, tears coming down. What have I done?

as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash.

THERE WAS NO CRASH! yelled both McGonagall and Lupin. Sirius growled and bared her teeth.

He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.

"How can he remember that?" asked Madame Hooch, worriedly.

This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.

"Dear God." Everyone looked around, it came from Fudge, his face pale and tears pricking his eyes. 'Bout damn time, moron thought Harry, Hermione, the Weaselys and the rest of the Order.

When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursley were his only family.

Lupin and Sirius both looked down, guiltily.

Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.

Dumbledore looked up quickly, "How could random people find him?" then his eyes widened in shock. "The Blood Wards weren't working! But why?"

Then he thought a little more carefully. "Of course, it was because Harry never considered it his home."

At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

"I'll disagree with them! Let me at 'em" yelled several students and were joined in angry protest against the cousin of The Boy Who Lived. Harry stood up and sent a rainbow of sparks over the students. They stopped and turned quickly towards them.

"If you lot calm down, I'll go and make you all some knickerbocker glories." he said with a big smile. The entire student body yelled and cheered. He took a quick headcount left. Lupin and Sirius wanted to go with him, but Harry assured to them that he was fine. He worked better alone.

"Dumbledore, he isn't going back to those monsters, ever." said Mr. Weasely sternly.

"Absolutely not," said Lupin.

"I couldn't agree more, I have a lot of making up to do, especially to Harry." said Dumbledore quietly.

When Madame Hooch turned the page to read the title of the next chapter, a clear, glowing scroll blossomed out of the book and the book itself sealed shut.

"What is that thing Albus?" said Moody quickly, wand aimed at it.

"It's a Recollection Scroll, they show us a part of Harry's history that the story can't put into words. It can either be a glorious memory, or a horrible memory. If we wish to continue on with the book, we must watch it." said Dumbledore with a puzzled look.

"Should we wait till Harry gets back?" asked George.

The scroll unfurled itself and blackness enveloped the entire room.

"I take that as a 'no'"