Harry Potter and the Really Cool People He's Related To

It was dark, and very cold. A bone-chilling scream ripped through the chill night, closely followed by others. The stench of blood rippled through the still air in agonising waves, making Harry feel sick. A high, cold laugh echoed out from the field of battered corpses, then faded as the tall, pale figure vanished into the darkness without a sound.

Chapter One- Sixteen At Last

Harry sat up in bed, panting. His nails dug into his forehead as he gripped his scar, which was burning. He knew what that meant. Voldemort was up to something and, judging by his dream, it wasn't pleasant.

He swung himself out of bed and crept downstairs. He collected some ice and placed it in a towel to soothe his still throbbing scar, then went back to his room and sat at his desk. He wasn't sure what to do. He glanced around for some parchment and a quill. Write to Dumbledore.

As he swept his eyes over the dark room, his gaze caught the glowing green numbers on his digital alarm clock- 11:58. In two more minutes he would be sixteen. Not that there was any kafuffle around the Dursleys- they always studiously ignored his birthday. Harry watched the clock nervously. 11:59. He counted down the seconds. Six, five, four, three, two, one... Harry was sixteen. He smiled sadly. Normally he would have been glad to reach sixteen, when he would be able to use magic outside Hogwarts, but this birthday was tainted with Harry's sadness at losing Sirius. Most nights he dreamed of Sirius coming back, taking him away from the Dursleys and never coming back. Harry grabbed the quill from his History of Magic homework sitting on his bedside table, and the spare parchment in the top drawer.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I thought you should know that my scar hurt just after I had a dream about Voldemort murdering loads of people. Could you follow this up please?

Thank you,

Harry Potter

Well, Harry thought; it was blunt, but it got the to point. He rolled it up and put it to the side. He'd have to send it in the morning- Hedwig was out, probably hunting. Just as Harry got back into bed, something tapped at the window. He opened it and five owls flew in. Two-he knew- One was his own, Hedwig, a large snowy owl; the other was Pigwidgeon, the owl of his best friend Ron Weasley. Pigwidgeon resembled a fluffy tennis ball zooming around the room, hooting excitedly, still managing to carry a large package (that was about three times his size) and a letter. The other three were large and dark brown, and bore medallions that confirmed them as an official Ministry of Magic owl, a Hogwarts Owl and a public Post Owl. They shed their letters and flew out of the window. He untied the letter and package from Hedwig, who hooted with pride, nibbled his finger affectionately and flew to her cage to have a drink.

When Harry had managed to catch Pigwidgeon, the fluffy midget hooted and fluttered out the window, presumably back to Ron's house, The Burrow.

Harry opened the Ministry letter first, which was signed 'Cornelius Fudge, Minister For Magic' in large flamboyant lettering at the bottom. That was curious, thought Harry; what had he done now to deserve a letter from the Minister?

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Sirius Black, your godfather, has been acquitted from the charges of the murder of Mr Peter Pettigrew. He has also been appointed your legal guardian, although he passed away last year, as Dumbledore thought it would let him rest in peace.

Yours sincerely,

Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic

Harry's heart leapt; Sirius was acquitted! This was the best Harry had felt all summer. Though he would never see Sirius again, it lessened his grief a little to know his late godfather wasn't a criminal. Harry turned and grabbed another package. Harry ripped open the Post Owl's package. A letter and a small wrapped parcel fell out. The letter was in Hagrid's customary scrawl.

Harry,

Happy Birthday! Hope yer relatives ain't giving yeh too much trouble. By the by, get yer dress robes out, yeh'll need them.

Hagrid

Dress robes? Harry shrugged and picked up the parcel, which was flat and thin, and opened it up. It contained three gold quills and another piece of parchment.

Harry- They're Quick Quotes Quills. Not the ones that Skeeter woman uses- proper ones. Use them for taking notes in class.

'Good one, Hagrid,' whispered Harry. He put the quills in his desk drawer and opened the letter Pigwidgeon was carrying. It was from Lupin. The Weasleys must be a Grimmauld Place.

Dear Harry,

As you probably already know, Sirius has been acquitted. If he were still alive, he would have come to get you as soon as he could. I would love to come and carry out what he would have done but, as you know, you cannot leave your Aunt's house. Sorry about that. I'll see if we can bring you to Grimmauld Place a week or two before you have to return to Hogwarts. Also, in the package there's a present Sirius never got to give you. It was your father's.

All the best,

Lupin.

His heart leapt again -one or two Dursley free weeks! He ripped open the package. It contained was a tarnished silver band. Squinting to read the inscription, he made out- 'Lily and James'. 'Oh, wow, Lupin,' Harry gasped. He slipped the ring onto his ring finger. It fit perfectly. Hermione's letter was brief.

Hello Harry! I just heard about Sirius, its great to know that he can rest in peace, if you know what I mean. I hear you're coming to stay at Grimmauld Place before we leave for Hogwarts. So am I! We can do our homework together! Well I've already done mine. But you and run can your homework together. Have you heard from Ron? Has he mentioned me? I'm sorry, but I'm on the train, so I can't spend long with an owl in my compartment, someone will notice. Bye! Hope you like the present!

The little box attached contained a wooden clock with golden hands, exactly like the Weasley's, with hands for Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron's hand was pointed to 'Home', and both Hermione's and Harry's pointed to 'Out'. Harry grinned.

Ron's package didn't have a letter on it. That was strange, Harry thought. He's not telling me something. The package contained a large glass paperweight. As Harry, looked at it, colours danced within it and formed pictures- Cho, moving towards him under the mistletoe (Harry blushed), Sirius, Malfoy the amazing bouncing ferret, himself holding the Quidditch Cup.... Great memories from Harry's life. A slip of parchment was stuck to it.

Found this in the attic. Hope Pig can manage it.

Harry looked at the Hogwarts letter. Harry thought of Hogwarts lots more than ever before, mainly to keep Sirius off him mind. He missed it there. He also missed Quidditch. Harry wondered if Dumbledore would cancel his life-long-ban that Umbridge had given him the previous year. He imagined the look on Malfoy's face if Dumbledore did and grinned. Harry opened the Hogwarts letter. It was the usual 'School commences September the first' and 'The books you need for your sixth year are...' But this time there was another piece of parchment. He wondered what it was for, and then he remembered about the OWLs.

OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) were tests that all fifth year students took to find out what subjects they would carry on studying in their final two years at Hogwarts. Harry opened the parchment with trembling hands.

Dear Mr. Potter,

Here are your results from last year's OWL exams:

Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding

Divination: Exceeds Expectations

Potions: Outstanding

Transfiguration: Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic: Poor

Defence Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding

Charms: Exceeds Expectations.

Astronomy: Poor

We hope you are pleased with your results. Should you have any queries about your mark, owl Hogwarts as soon as possible.

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress Hogwarts School

Harry was shocked. He had expected low marks in History of Magic and Astronomy, but he also expected low marks in Divination and an appalling Potions grade, thus crushing his dreams of becoming an Auror. He didn't need good marks in Divination to be one, but to get Outstanding in Potions meant he could still have a chance. He thought of what Snape would say when he found out. He grinned and put his presents on his bedside table. Still smiling, he took the towel and the remains of ice off his forehead, and crept down stairs one more. As Harry crept into the kitchen, he started with surprise.

'Would you like some hot chocolate?' said Aunt Petunia.