Chapter Thirty Three - Summertime

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Thirty Three - Summertime

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-==(oIo)==-

\""/

After the Davises and the Boneses left with Hannah in tow, the others all portkeyed back to Greengrass Estate; including Hermione. Now that the Grangers were protectees of the Greengrasses they had permission to connect their fireplace to the floo network. Cygnus organised it for them.

The Grangers sent an owl a few weeks earlier letting Hermione know to go back to Greengrass Estate with Cygnus and Isabel, and they'd expect her through the floo network before dinner.

Again, Harry landed in a heap on the floor.

Hermione said, "Honestly, Harry; it's not that hard to master."

Harry just grumbled in response before he said, "Portkeys hate me, the floo network hates me, and I hate side-along apparition. I can't win unless I travel on a broom. Brooms love me."

Well, kids," said Cygnus, "Trunks up in your rooms. Hermione, Neville, you can leave yours next to the fireplace in the parlour."

The four adults went into the study to watch memories.

Daphne looked at Harry with a coy smile and said, "Haaarrryy..."

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, dear." And, putting her trunk on top of his, floated them both up the stairs.

When the adults came out about half an hour later the five kids were all in the kitchen. Astoria was asking question after question about Hogwarts while the four students were eating sandwiches the house elves prepared for them.

Gran walked up to Neville, who didn't know what to expect, and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "They're right," she said. "It was a very nice thing to do."

He blushed and muttered, "Thanks, Gran."

She then looked up at Harry and walked around to him. "And you," she said before also kissing him on the head, "Also did a very nice thing for Daphne."

"However," she said stepping back a little and glaring at all four students, "I do not agree with such overt public displays of affection, no matter how innocent, in the Great Hall of Hogwarts in the middle of breakfast."

"Yes, Gran," said the two boys while the two girls said, "Yes, Madam Longbottom."

Having gotten her message across it was clear Gran was happy to leave it at that.

"If you'd like to stay here with your friends for a little while, Neville," said Gran. "You can head home in a bit. Just be home in time for dinner, alright."

Looking up at his grandmother in surprise, Neville said, "Thank you Gran; I will."

She gave him a nod and said, "Be good." A look at Harry and she said, "You too, Harry."

Harry just nodded in response.

When Gran left via the floo Neville just had to check she'd gone. He came back a little surprised and said, "I didn't expect that."

Knowing Neville's love of greenery, after they'd finished their sandwiches, Daphne said, "You've not had a chance to see our gardens, have you, Nev?"

Neville perked right up and shook his head with an expression of almost craving on his face.

Getting up from her chair, Daphne said, "Well, come on, then."

Neville was out of his chair like a rocket and following along, almost dancing with happiness.

Looking at the time, Hermione said, "I'd best be making a move home. Mum and Dad will be home from work, soon."

Harry frowned in confusion and said, "But, it's Saturday."

Nodding, she replied, "They sometimes work on a Saturday to cater to those people who can't get time off work to go to the dentist. It's quite profitable for them. I dare say that, since the Greengrasses were willing to bring me back here and I can floo home directly from here, they've used the opportunity before the summer break and we're away on holidays."

Nodding in understanding he stood with her as she rose to walk to the parlour.

Just before she reached for her trunk, he put his hand on her arm to halt her and said in a soft voice, "I'm truly sorry I upset you on the train, Hermione."

She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "I'm alright, now, Harry. It was just - confronting - at the time. Hexing you and Neville helped."

Returning the hug he just nodded on her shoulder.

Backing away and picking up her trunk by it's handle, she reached for the floo powder. Dashing the powder in she called, "Dentistry!" and was gone a moment later.

With a sigh of remorse, Harry headed out back to see how Neville was doing with Daphne's tour of the gardens.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

For Harry, summer was proving to be, in a word, 'Brilliant!'.

However, on the evening of his birthday, where he received a small cache of very nice gifts, Harry was lying in bed ready to go to sleep when a house elf popped in standing on the foot of his bed. It appeared to be trying not to tremble in fear, and it's fingers were bandaged.

"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts," it said.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts," it said more firmly.

"What on earth are you on about?" asked Harry with a frown.

"Great danger will be at Hogwarts, this year, Harry Potter Sir," the elf said.

"Oh, great," he said, sarcastically. "There was a possessed Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor when I turned up at the Sorting. What's it going to be this year?"

"Dobby cannot say, Harry Potter," said the elf. "The Great Harry Potter must stay away."

"Who's elf are you?" he asked.

"I is a Malfoy elf, Harry Potter," it said.

"So, Malfoy has something in motion to cause danger to me; right?" asked Harry.

"Dobby cannot say, Harry Potter," replied the elf.

"Well that's just naffing great, isn't it?" he half-snarled in a mutter.

Looking at the elf, Harry firmed his voice and said, "Thank you for the warning, Dobby. I'll take it on board."

The elf popped away without another word.

Harry laid back down and was wondering what the year would bring when he finally dropped off to sleep.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

The next morning, he approached Cygnus about the weird visit he received from the Malfoy house elf.

"I just cannot fathom why he would come here to warn me," muttered Harry with a frown. "And the warning, too, wasn't mentioning me in particular. It was 'Great danger would be at Hogwarts, this year.' Which leads me to believe he implies everyone at Hogwarts will be at risk. So, why would he come and warn me, in particular?"

"It sounds like you have a fan in a house elf," smiled Cygnus.

"Great!" grouched Harry. "It's bad enough I have young witches making moon-eyes at me whenever I go into Diagon Alley or walk the corridors of Hogwarts. Now I have house elves doing it."

"Is the Great Harry Potter getting annoyed with his fame?" asked Cygnus in a mickey-taking voice.

Harry just stuck his tongue out in reply.

Which, of course, made Cygnus laugh.

"But, what can we do about it?" asked Harry. "I don't like the idea of complaining to the Malfoys about it as the poor thing looked like it was being abused. I'd hate to learn they killed it for warning me."

"We do nothing, for now," replied a more serious Cygnus. "The warning is too - general - for us to do anything else. All we can do is monitor the situation and see what develops."

"So, it'll be a case of 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more'."

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-==(oIo)==-

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Three days later, the Daily Prophet carried a story of nine simultaneous raids on various properties of witches and wizards. Harry noticed one was on Malfoy Manor; or, more properly called, Black Manor.

Tapping on the article while he was sitting at the breakfast table, Harry asked Cygnus, "Cygnus? Have you heard of these raids carried out overnight by the aurors?"

Frowning, Cygnus picked up his own copy and read the article.

"No. I didn't know about them," he said. "But they're all homes and businesses belonging to those who claimed they were under the Imperious Curse to escape prosecution after the war."

"So, they're all Death Eaters, then?" he asked.

Nodding, Cygnus replied, "Yes. So, it seems the aurors decided a lightning raid on their properties might have turned something up to prove their guilt."

Looking a bit longer, he further said, "Arthur Weasley was heading the raids. He's the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office within the DMLE. I wonder why he was involved."

"Weasley?" asked Harry. "Any relation, you know of, with the Weasleys at Hogwarts?"

"Their father," replied Cygnus. "A good man, if a little henpecked by his wife."

"Cygnus!" scolded Isabel.

"Well, it's true," Cygnus defended himself. "Molly Prewett is a shrew, who is too quick to temper and voice. But, they do honestly love each other and their kids."

"Do you think they might have found anything?" asked Harry.

"I doubt it," replied Cygnus. "Malfoy is too shrewd and canny to have anything that might incriminate him in any wrongdoing easily found in his home."

The rest of the holiday passed with Harry spending time at Greengrass Estate, Longbottom Hall, Bones Manor, Grimmauld Place, an overnight at the Grangers, and even a couple of day trips to the Weasleys.

Daphne, and sometimes Tori, came along to each, except for visiting the Weasleys.

The twins sent him an invitation via owl to spend the day with them, and he was happy to go. Harry found their home, the Burrow, to be quite an eclectic jumble of jutting rooms and windows. But, it was a fun place to be, with it's rickety stairs and ghoul in the attic.

When the twins discovered he was offered a try out for the seeker position on the Ravenclaw team, they even offered to help him out. So, he spent a day with them in their backyard Quidditch pitch learning what they were willing to teach him about the position.

After he showed them some of the moves he'd read about in Quidditch magazines and learned how to do, they were amazed by his flying ability. Percy, however, appeared quite distracted.

When he asked the twins about it, they told him Percy received twelve owls and didn't even gloat about it. But, he was wearing out his poor owl with constantly flying back and forth to no one knew where.

Their sister, the youngest of the Weasley children, was starting at Hogwarts that year. Harry found her to be very shy. Every time he came close to her, she'd blush profusely and run away.

It wasn't until he had the guys offer her a try of his broom - after the twins and Ron tried it, of course - did she seem to come out of her shell a bit. And, it was only the offer of a ride on Harry's broom that also brought the youngest male Weasley out of his self-imposed funk about the 'Famous Harry Potter'.

While she, Ginny, was flying around showing off some of the things she could do, Harry said to the twins, "There flies a future seeker. You may want to help her develop that talent. Gryffindor will need her once I'm on the Ravenclaw team."

The twins could only nod in agreement, quite amazed by their sister's obvious talent.

At Longbottom Hall, Harry and Daphne helped Neville in the Hall's old, but functional, small greenhouse. Neville was happy to tell them all about the plants they were working with and how they played a part in various potions.

Both Harry and Daphne came away from the day having learned so much they both agreed a Professorship in Herbology was clearly in Neville's future.

When they visited the Granger residence, Harry was at first a little leery of the home. While it was a much larger home than Privett Drive it still had some similarities; such as the cupboard under the stairs.

Seeing him standing in the downstairs hallway, at one point, staring at the small door, Daphne came and hugged him from behind, reminding him that part of his past life was just that, in the past.

However, the small incident did not pass the notice of Monica; who vowed to herself to find out why Harry was so sad about and simultaneously afraid of the cupboard under the stairs. Based on what she heard Daphne tell him she knew it had to be important.

Bones Manor was similar to Potter Manor. The Boneses were once as wealthy as the Potters, but no longer. Unlike James Potter sinking much of the Potter wealth into land, overseas and muggle businesses, the Bones fortune was mainly in businesses that had been destroyed in the last war.

However, Aunt Amelia had learned from that and had made sure to diversify, as much as possible, the remaining wealth of the family. And their wealth was steadily regrowing. The stewardship of House Bones was in very capable hands; and Susan would inherit a greater wealth than was available when Aunt Amelia first took control.

At the Davis's Manor, the Davises warmly greeted Daphne as if she was a prodigal daughter. However, both Davis parents, Edmund and Petra, were a touch cool towards Harry; as was Tracey's older brother, Edward. It was not made clear to Harry why, but he firmly believed you can't expect everyone to like you, let alone love you. However, he treated them with respect and soon the coldness of their initial reactions faded to a grudging respect.

It was quite the abrupt change when Harry went with Susan and Daphne to the Abbott home, called the Rectory.

The Abbotts were a very warm and welcoming family. Both worked full time jobs, even though they really didn't need to, because they both believed a good day's hard work makes a person feel useful. It wasn't hard to work out that both parents were in Hufflepuff when they attended Hogwarts.

While Daphne, Susan and Hannah disappeared for 'girl talk', Harry sought out Hannah's father, Michael; finding him working in his study.

"Hello, Harry," Michael warmly welcomed him and indicated a chair on the other side of the desk. "The girls getting too much for you?"

"Normally, I'm alright with it," replied Harry, walking in and sitting in the chair. "But, as soon as they mentioned the 'three dreaded words', I made a bolt for it."

"Three dreaded words?" the older man asked.

"Yeah," replied Harry, holding up his hand and ticking them off on his fingers. "Teen. Witch. Weekly."

Michael gave a full throated laugh and said, "Maybe you should get in with Quidditch Quarterly first."

"I may only be twelve, Sir," said Harry with a wry grin. "But, I've already learned getting between girls and their discussing the latest issue of that evil publication is not conducive to one's health. All three have become way too ready and too fast with Stinging Hexes for me to be comfortable upsetting them when I'm outnumbered as much as that."

That elicited another laugh from his host.

The older man and the young boy sat down and began what would become an enduring friendship, irrespective of their ages.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Normally - well, as much as the previous year could be considered normal - Harry would have preferred to have gone in to pick up their texts for the next year, early. However, Daphne and Tracey preferred to go later in the summer. In this case, that was the 19th of August.

As Isabel escorted Harry and Daphne through the Alley, Daphne pointed out the crowd gathered around the entrance to Flourish & Blotts. Walking closer, they saw a placard that said a bloke named Gilderoy Lockhart was in the store signing autographs for his just released autobiography, 'Magical Me!'.

"It's his books we're required to purchase for DADA this year," muttered Harry. "Eight of the buggers."

"Language, Mister Potter," muttered Isabel, also looking at the queue outside the store, and clearly not concentrating on Harry and Daphne.

"Well," said Daphne with a frown. "Let's get the books out of the way so we're not carrying too much while we're queued up."

"You actually want to get your books signed?" asked Harry, a little shocked.

"Well, no," replied Daphne, a little uncertain.

"Then we need not queue up," said Harry. "Can we please just get the books and get out of there?"

"Alright, Harry," she said.

Entering the store Harry didn't realise they'd walked past the Weasleys who were in the queue and only a couple of people back from the front.

The only other text Harry and Daphne needed was 'The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2' by Miranda Goshawk. He already had a copy of it in his hands the previous year. However, he had to return it to Professor McGonagall. He didn't mind, though, purchasing a copy of his own.

He moved beyond the crowd and discovered Lockhart's books were only available from the stacks just behind and alongside the forget-me-not-blue-wearing 'woodpecker' where he sat at a table surround by photographs of himself.

'Sweet Merlin, the man's so vain he could be a wind-cock,' thought Harry.

He was thinking of sending Daphne into the crowd to collect the books, but realised that wouldn't have been gentlemanly of him. With a sigh, he threaded through to collect the books.

There was a man taking photographs and moving around near the front. His camera kept emitting puffs of purple smoke with each photo taken.

"Out of the way there," snarled the photographer at some unfortunate soul. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

And Harry heard a voice he recognised, Ron Weasley, snarl back, "Big deal!"

As he was about to pass Lockhart he heard him call out, "It can't be Harry Potter?"

The woodpecker surged to his feet, suddenly grabbed Harry and spun around. He felt himself then yanked in closer under the fop's arm

"Nice big smile, Harry," said the fop. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

Harry immediately ducked his head and dropped straight down and away. As he came up with his back to the camera and outside of the arm, he snapped out with his foot in a 'push' kick right at Lockhart's closest ankle.

As soon as he connected, Lockhart squealed like a pig and tried to lift his foot at the same time as bending to the side to grab his ankle.

There was another flash and puff of purple smoke.

"Never grab me like that, again!" snarled Harry in a near-shout right into the face of Lockhart where it was now level his own.

That drew quite a few gasps of outrage from those close by, whether they were there to get books signed, or were just drawn in by the crowd. Harry didn't know if they were outraged with him or Lockhart, and didn't care.

Trying to rescue the situation, Lockhart slammed his foot back down and stood up straight, with his smile firmly fixed to his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!

"When young Harry here stepped into Flourish & Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge."

The crowd, going with the flow, applauded.

"He had no idea," Lockhart continued, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry found himself being presented, by way of them being shoved into his chest, with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry just glared back.

He then collected the same set, but for Daphne, and took them away back to Daphne and Isabel.

"Are you alright, Harry," asked Isabel.

"Yeah, thanks," said Harry. "He startled me. I wasn't expecting to be grabbed like that."

"So, he's the new DADA Professor," said Daphne, clearly not excited by the prospect of the woodpecker teaching them.

"Don't worry, Daphne," said Harry, quietly. "We'll make good use of the Come and Go Room and do our own studies."

"But, what will we actually use to study with?" she quietly asked. "I mean, it's not as if it's an OWL year, so the test isn't set by the Examination Board."

"Then how about we track down some copies of previous OWL tests and work backwards from those?" asked Harry. "We have the text from last year, after all. And I'm sure we can track down previous Second Year texts from better teachers of the subject."

"That would work," she mused. "Yes, that's a good idea."

While queuing up to purchase the books there was a commotion back in the queue of those waiting to get books signed. There was the sound of raised voices before someone crashed into a bookshelf, and the sound of heavy spell books crashing down.

Harry heard Fred, or maybe George, yell, "Get him, Dad!" followed by Missus Weasley shrieking, "No, Arthur; no!"

There was a sound of more shelves being knocked over. Then one of the shop assistants cried, "Gentlemen, please - please!" and then, louder than all, the voice of Hagrid, "Break it up, there, gents; break it up!"

Looking through, Harry saw Hagrid wading toward the fracas through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled the combatants, Misters Weasley and some older gent who looked like an older version of Draco Malfoy, apart. Mister Weasley had a cut lip and Malfoy had been hit in the eye.

Malfoy thrust an old Transfiguration book at Ginny. His eyes glittering with malice, he snarled, "Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you."

Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip Malfoy senior beckoned to Draco, who was standing nearby, and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mister Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - bad blood, that's what it is. Come on now; let's get outta here."

The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/

Summer, as with all things, must come to an end. And Tuesday, the 1st of September, saw the Greengrasses and Harry back at Kings Cross Station and heading for Platform 9 ¾.

Harry was happy to enter by way of the muggle platforms as it would give him a chance to see Wendell and Monica again. They were taking the day off work and were bringing Hermione in by car. He found he actually liked them. They were in a minority of people around him who understood his references to the muggle world.

The Grangers beat them to the Station so the Greengrasses met them not far away from the barrier.

Harry was surprised when Daphne hurried forward and wrapped Hermione in a hug with both girls squealing and jumping up and down a little.

Hermione turned to Harry as he walked up and said, "How do I look, Harry?"

"Gahhh!" cried Harry feigning terror. Turning to Cygnus he said, "Cygnus, help! She asked me one of those questions!"

Smirking back, Cygnus said, "Sorry, Harry; you're on your own. This is one of those character building moments."

Showing mock-disappointment Harry turned back to face Hermione. He could see she was standing there glaring at him with her hands on her hips. And so was Daphne.

"Errr - Ummm..." said Harry. "You look wonderful, Hermione."

"Uh-huh. And why is that, Harry? What have you noticed different about me?" she ominously asked.

"Ummm - You've grown a little taller..." he said.

"Keep going..." she said.

"Ummm - Your hair is looking really nice. Errr - It looks like your new shampoo is really working for you," he tried.

"Getting better, but you're not there yet," she said.

Having a brainwave, he said, "Sorry, Hermione. But, you see that lovely young lady standing next to you? We're betrothed, see? And - I only have eyes for her; no one else. What I said is about all I can possibly notice."

Both sets of hands left hips. Hermione crossed her arms and looked back at Harry with a bit of a smirk. "Nice save, Mister Potter."

Harry's hand flashed up to pat himself on the chest as he rocked back a couple of short steps. "I survived! Sweet Merlin, I survived one of those questions without being hexed!"

The adults chuckled and Isabel ruffled his hair. "Good answer."

The Granger parents left a little later and the Greengrasses escorted the three kids through to the barrier. Hermione was in front with her own trolley and case on top. This time she had a pet carrier with what Harry assumed was an orange tortoiseshell cat inside. Daphne was walking alongside Harry who was pushing the trolley with the two cases on top.

Hermione passed through the barrier and Harry confidently pushed the trolley to the wall; and ran into it. He nearly somersaulted over the handle of the trolley and banged his forehead on the top trunk. He came away with a slight cut over his eye.

"Ow!" he cried.

"What in Merlin's name?" said Cygnus.

Harry backed the trolley away a little to make sure everything was okay. As surreptitiously as possible, Isabel held his head up facing her by his chin and used a minor healing charm, Episkey, to heal the cut.

Cygnus then gently pushed the trolley until it began to pass through the barrier. With a shrug, he pushed right through. Daphne also successfully passed through.

Once the healing was done, Harry walked up to the barrier and stuck his hand out first. The wall was solid.

Isabel pulled him back and said, "Wait."

She then walked up to the barrier and shoved her hand through until it looked like she was leaning against the wall. With her arm through the wall to her shoulder she gestured for Harry to walk through. He was able to pass through and Isabel followed him.

On the platform the others were waiting anxiously.

"What was that?" asked Harry.

"It must be malfunctioning," said Cygnus.

"No," said Harry shaking his head. "It was only blocked when I tried to pass through. If it wasn't for Isabel sticking her arm through and holding it there I have no doubt I'd still be out on the other side.

"Someone deliberately tried to prevent me getting on to the platform. What else could it be?"

"I'll be heading to the Ministry after you depart," said Cygnus. "I'm going to get someone to come and check the barrier and see if there's a malfunction; or, if someone really has tampered with it. It should only do that if a muggle tries to walk through."

"Well, we're now running a bit late," said Isabel. "You kids need to find your friends now or find them once you're on the train."

Hermione and Daphne nodded and led them down the length of the platform looking for the other four. They found them down near the rear of the train.

"You're late," said Susan. "What happened?"

"Trouble with the barrier," replied Daphne. "Harry couldn't get through."

"There was a problem with the barrier?" asked Aunt Amelia.

Cygnus nodded and said, "I intend to head directly into the Ministry and see if they can get someone out here to have a look at what happened."

"I'm heading directly in, too," said Aunt Amelia. "I'll join you."

"I think someone might have keyed it to reject me from entering," said Harry. "Maybe, have me seem as if I was a muggle and was refused?"

"Possible," said Cygnus. "I'll find out."

The Seven quickly boarded the train and found a compartment near the rear again.

Harry had his note out and stuck to the outside of the door while Neville and the girls were sorting themselves out inside.

Once done he entered, closed and locked the door. Sitting in the spot waiting for him next to Daphne, he took seat. Turning to the now locked door he placed the Door Sealing Charm on it and sat back.

"Well, that was a little excitement for the morning," he said.

"I've never heard of the barrier failing before," said Daphne. "It's a little worrying."

"There's always the slim possibility of it happening or failing altogether," said Susan. "That's why there's an emergency exit a little further along the platform. It's just a normal door that leads into a janitor's workroom, which then exits onto the outside Platform 9."

"Good to know," said Harry.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

\""/