Choices and Consequences

Chapter 5:

Albus Dumbledore stepped through the secure Floo connection that he had temporarily established between Arabella Figg's house and his office at Hogwarts. From his previous conversation with Harry he anticipated that he would have to make a number of journeys to Little Whinging during the summer, and with the house otherwise unoccupied it seemed to be the most sensible method of making that journey.

He carried his Pensieve carefully so as not to spill the memories that Harry had placed there a few minutes previously, but the care was merely precautionary, as the many years of practice using magical transportation had enabled him to develop an easy sense of grace and balance.

He set the Pensieve down and slid gracefully behind the elegant mahogany desk, allowing himself to sink into the comfortable embrace of the leather chair he preferred for contemplation.

He closed his eyes and considered the enigma that was Harry Potter.

Such a polite and helpful young man most of the time; however, the increasing responsibility that the world was placing on him as he grew up and the way that the world had treated him of late, had made him bitter toward authority figures, and moody even around those he felt able to trust.

Despite that, he was still a responsible and mature young man for the most part, if somewhat impetuous, who took responsibility for dealing with the consequences of his actions, and of actions that other people had taken that had affected his life.

The Headmaster relaxed a little at these thoughts. Even though the world had placed it's burden upon Harry Potter, Harry was still looking to come out fighting, to accept that if he wanted to be able to live life without fear, he had to face up to the desperate measures that he would be required to take; to ensure the safety of his friends, he had to take the initiative in working to develop the skills that would hopefully make him the saviour of the wizarding world a second time.

'Now he is ready to adopt the mantle of saviour,' Dumbledore thought, smiling gently, pleased that he had waited to lay this final burden upon the young man, despite Harry's displeasure at being kept unaware for so long.

Dumbledore put his musing to one side and pulled the Pensieve towards him, placing his finger into the bowl and allowing himself to be drawn into the first memory.

He found himself standing in a room he had not previously visited. It was the living room of a suburban Muggle house, by Dumbledore's guess, presumably Number Four, Privet Drive. Snow was falling outside the window and a large artificial Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room, with what seemed to be hundreds of presents stacked beneath it. As Dumbledore stood there, the door opened and a young child, perhaps three years of age, walked in, allowing the sounds of the Dursleys eating their breakfast to briefly permeate the silence and stillness of this typical festive scene.

There was no mistaking that this was a young Harry Potter. His messy black hair and bright green eyes were unmistakable, but the one thing that confirmed it was the lightning bolt-shaped scar on the boy's forehead.

Harry looked at the pile of presents and sighed.

Dumbledore was taken aback by this: surely a young boy should be happy on Christmas morning, full of enthusiasm and vigour as he eagerly anticipated tearing the wrapping paper off his Christmas presents?

A voice wafted through from the kitchen, unmistakably that of Vernon Dursley:

"Boy! Get back here and help your Aunt clear the table!" he shouted. "Don't be messing with Dudley's presents in there!"

Harry sighed again and dragged his feet back through the door and out of Dumbledore's sight once more.

'Most unusual behaviour,' Dumbledore thought to himself, as he pondered the situation.

Any further thoughts along that line were firmly pushed out of Dumbledore's mind as a much larger boy came bursting through the door, with a huge smile on his face. He ran over to the pile of presents and began rummaging through them.

Dumbledore chuckled at the innocent charm of the youngster. This was much more the sort of behaviour he expected to see on Christmas morning.

This was obviously Vernon and Petunia's son, Dudley, who Dumbledore recalled was a few months older than Harry. He looked a lot older though, much more developed and, even at this young age, significantly overweight. Where Harry had looked to be three or four years old, Dudley looked as though he was around seven, and the significance was not lost on Dumbledore. The question was whether this was a case of genetic difference between the two boys, or if, as Harry had intimated, they had been brought up entirely differently.

As Vernon Dursley waddled into the room, the first of those explanations certainly seemed plausible. Whereas James Potter had been of average height and had a wiry build, it was clear that Vernon was a much bigger man. His significant girth testified that the Dursleys certainly didn't go without in any manner, and his son's build closely resembled Vernon's.

"Daddy, can I open my presents?"

"Let's wait for your mother first, Dudley," Vernon told the excitable boy.

"But I want to open my presents NOW!" screamed the youngster.

Dumbledore winced as Dudley's voice reverberated in his head, his demands echoing around the room. Surely the Dursleys didn't encourage such ungrateful behaviour in the children they had raised? In his experience he had always found Harry to be most grateful for anything he was give, and he had rarely shown signs of such rudeness.

Vernon looked at Dudley with pride. "Ah ya little tyke," he said affectionately. "Can't deny you what you deserve, eh?

"Petunia!" Vernon called out. "Dudley's waiting to open his presents."

Petunia Dursley scurried into the room in a hurry, followed by Harry, who moved at a more lethargic pace, and as soon as Petunia had entered the room, Dudley started pulling presents to himself and opening them rapidly. Dumbledore watched entranced as he saw Dudley open a number of packages, revealing all sorts of expensive items, including a train set, a portable television for his bedroom, a designer label children's denim jacket, and various other top-selling toys.

As the list went on and the presents and used wrapping-paper piled up, Dumbledore turned back to look at Harry. Harry had made no move to join Dudley in unwrapping his presents, but sat listlessly next to his Aunt on the sofa vaguely watching Dudley's antics as he unwrapped each new, expensive toy.

Finally, Dudley got to the end of his haul, leaving the area under the tree, so recently filled with boxes and packages, bare aside from the odd scrap of paper that had drifted across as he had unwrapped his presents. He started taking each of his presents out of their display packaging to play with while Vernon collected together the waste wrapping-paper to dispose of. While Uncle Vernon was otherwise occupied, Dumbledore noticed Harry pulling lightly on his Aunt's arm to attract her attention.

"Aunt Petunia?" he asked in a soft voice. "Is there anything for me?"

"No there isn't!" Petunia replied sharply. "Father Christmas didn't bring you anything because you've not behaved yourself this year! Go to your room and don't ask stupid questions!"

Harry's face dropped, but rather than the tears that Dumbledore expected to see being shed from being treated so insensitively, a mask of stoic determination replaced the brief look oh hope that had flickered there, and seeming resigned to his lot, Harry slunk out of the room and the memory started to fade and drift into another one....

Pulling himself out of the Pensieve, Dumbledore decided to involve other key members of staff before viewing the rest of the memories that Harry had provided. He had a bad feeling about what he had just witnessed, and if the other memories were at all similar, he wanted some independent views before he decided what specific action might be necessary.

After calling for Professor McGonagall, as Harry's Head of House, and the other two teachers who would be working with Harry at NEWT-level, Professors Snape and Flitwick, the Headmaster carefully separated out the memories of Harry's childhood from those of his treatment at the hands of Dolores Umbridge.

The latter would need to be dealt with in a separate, less urgent timeframe, once Umbridge's location had been discovered and she could be brought before the Wizengamot. Dumbledore had received a number of messages via owl from outraged parents about the way Umbridge had treated the students, both as Headmistress and as teacher in Defence against the Dark Arts. He was uncomfortable remembering how he had been politically outmanoeuvred by Minister Fudge regarding Umbridge's appointment. At least this year he already had a teacher in place for the subject, even if it was still a secret from the rest of the staff.

The Heads of Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaw Houses made their way to the Headmaster's office swiftly, and Dumbledore explained the purpose of the exercise to them: to identify problems with Harry's upbringing, and the reasons for his reluctance to return to the Dursleys each summer.

Professor Snape was initially rather disparaging of the need to do this, still thinking that Harry's upbringing had little to do with such reluctance, but was somewhat mollified by Dumbledore's re-iteration of the explanation he had given the Potions master when they had discussed Harry earlier in the week.

Nonetheless, when the four professors re-emerged in Dumbledore's office, after viewing Harry's selected memories of life with the Dursleys, they sat in stunned silence for a moment, before all trying to speak at once; in their disgust at the way the Dursleys had treated Harry.

As Dumbledore had expected, it was Professor Snape that took the more calm and measured approach to the situation.

"Well, that's not exactly how I expected the 'Boy Who Lived' to be treated by his own family. I ... I ... Perhaps I have underestimated him, Headmaster. Having seen these memories, I have a new understanding of his ... lack of respect ... for authority. I can hardly believe the arrogance of those people, treating him like a servant. Even House Elves are traditionally better looked after than that!"

"Severus!" McGonagall interjected. "I can't believe that you can just sit there and say that. He's been living in fear of his life for sixteen years simply because those dratted Dursleys were too selfish to treat him with care and attention, let alone love! When I saw Petunia's reaction when Harry broke his arm, I could have cursed her myself. How could anyone treat their own flesh and blood like that - she dotes on her own son and treats Harry like dirt!"

The Deputy Headmistress's face was flushed red with anger, not at Snape's mild reaction to Harry's life, but at the way that the Dursleys had treated him over his childhood years.

"Please be calm, Minerva," Dumbledore requested. "I have to admit that I too was shocked by the way that Vernon and Petunia Dursley appear to have treated Harry over the years. As Severus says, his faith in adults was sorely tested from an early age, and in many ways, his somewhat unorthodox adventures here at Hogwarts have helped him trust authority figures little more-"

Dumbledore was interrupted by a snort from Professor Snape at this point, but continued relentlessly.

"-The way that he has been treated by the media and the Ministry, over the past year particularly, has made him revert to his natural distrust. He has felt that there is nobody to turn to, no adult that he can place his trust in to make things right."

Professor McGonagall interrupted to interject her opinion that he could have come to her, but Dumbledore looked back at her with a sympathetic expression.

"I think, Minerva, that you portray yourself as being too strict with the students," he said sadly. "They are loath to come to you with what they consider to be minor problems, thinking that they are wasting their time, by all accounts. Even then, of all your Gryffindors, Harry would be the least likely to want to approach you with such issues, no doubt thinking them mere trivialities with which you wouldn't wish to be bothered."

McGonagall looked a little flustered at that explanation, while Snape smirked a little, understanding the situation. Both the Gryffindor and Slytherin Heads of House had cultivated a fairly distant relationship with their respective students, both as a means of encouraging them to solve their own problems, but also to defend themselves from having to get involved in micro-managing their activities.

"When Harry and his friends approached you about the threat to the Philosopher's Stone, you rebuffed them, Minerva," the Headmaster continued gently.

"But they shouldn't even have known about it!" she exclaimed.

"And yet they did. And finding that the staff were unwilling or unable to help them, they acted on their own initiative."

McGonagall looked down at the floor of the Headmaster's office, abashed at the gentle rebuke.

"I do not blame you for that," Dumbledore continued. "I cannot ascribe blame to others when I am much at fault. Of everybody in the wizarding world, I have probably failed him more than any. I should have made sure that I was available to him when he needed me. Now that he knows his destiny, he needs us more than ever, but he doesn't fully believe that he can trust us."

There was a pause in the conversation as Dumbledore completed his sentence and the three teachers present looked at each other questioningly.

"I have to say, Headmaster," piped up Professor Flitwick eventually, "that I'm disturbed that we had not been aware of Harry's situation earlier. Although he wasn't physically abused to any great degree, or very often, the neglect that the Dursleys treated him with in his formative years may well have left severe psychological scars. His physical well-being is not really the issue at this point, since he has survived so well, but his mental state may be somewhat fragile."

"I quite agree, Filius," responded Dumbledore. "When I spoke to Harry this afternoon, he experienced a number of severe mood swings. I suspect that he continues to struggle with his godfather's death, and probably also with the events of Voldemort's re-birth. His part in those events must have been traumatic, and I doubt now that he received anything in the way of comfort from Vernon or Petunia Dursley.

"I thought the whole point of leaving Harry with his relatives was to ensure that he was brought up in a safe, loving environment, with a family that would care for him and see to his needs as he grew?" McGonagall asked sharply, as she was still recovering from the understanding of her own failings with regard to Harry. "If I'd known how they really treated him, I would have insisted on having him placed somewhere else. With the degree of inter-marriage in the wizarding world he could have been placed with any number of appropriate families that would have been honoured to raise him as their own son."

Dumbledore sighed heavily.

"I didn't know it at the time, but you were right, Minerva, when we left Harry there in Privet Drive; the Dursleys have been the 'worst sort of Muggles' and, in retrospect, it was a big mistake to leave Harry with them. He hasn't been brought up in a loving environment," Dumbledore finished contemplatively.

"Worst of all," he continued, "I think that misunderstanding the Dursleys' treatment of him led me to compound the mistake. Insisting on his return to that environment after his horrific experience last June must have been traumatic - he had nobody to talk to about what he had seen, and no way to let his emotions out."

"What about Granger and the Weasleys?" Snape asked. "Surely he could have talked to them?"

"Alas, for the security of the Order, I could not allow him to correspond with his friends in a manner that would allow it. If Umbridge was good for only one thing, it was that her actions led us to remove Harry from Privet Drive before we had originally planned."

The teachers looked at each other in confusion, and Dumbledore briefly explained that the former Headmistress was rumoured to have been behind the dementor attack on Harry and his cousin.

This provoked an explosion of questions, but the Headmaster waved them all away.

"I don't yet have the evidence to support such an accusation, but it appears to be true. A discussion for another day, perhaps," he concluded vaguely.

"The question is: what should we do about it, Headmaster?" McGonagall asked him. "Would it be wise to have him moved to a more secure location?"

"No, I don't think it would help at this point. Harry is no longer in any physical or psychological danger from the Dursleys; he outgrew his emotional need for them years ago and it's too late to do anything that would redress that. For now, he is safer at Privet Drive where the blood magic that Lily's sacrifice invoked still protects him," Dumbledore advised. "I'm taking steps to ensure that he is provided with an atmosphere more conducive to his mental health however. Even though he will remain at Privet Drive for the majority of the summer, I have arranged for Harry to have some short visits to his friends, and I'm working on getting him some ... alternative ... tutoring during the summer."

Although Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were intrigued as to what tutoring the Headmaster had in mind for Harry, they still looked as though they wanted to apparate directly to Little Whinging and teach the Dursleys a lesson or two. Instead, they limited themselves to commenting that, despite the manner in which he had been raised, Harry had turned out reasonably well, with such strength of character.

Professor Snape looked at the Headmaster with surprise, however.

"What sort of training are you talking about, Headmaster? Despite all this furore I still can't see why Potter needs so much special attention."

Dumbledore considered his words carefully for a moment, then realised that he needed to entrust the contents of the prophecy to his senior staff members, since they would need to know in order to help Harry prepare to face Voldemort.

He allowed them to view the memory of the prophecy as Sybil Trelawney had given it, and summarised his interpretation of it, along with the reasons why Harry would need extra training.

"He's accepted this, already?" McGonagall asked incredulously. "How can he have this responsibility thrust upon him at this age?"

"I would say," began Snape slowly, "that Potter has now matured to the point where at least he realises the implications of not accepting the inevitable."

"What do you mean, Severus?" McGonagall asked.

"He understands that, even if he is not prepared, the Dark Lord is still going to come after him because he is both a talisman to the wizarding world and probably his biggest threat," Snape responded.

Dumbledore chuckled to himself. "And how much did it cost for you to admit that, Severus?"

"It's not a question of what it costs me, Headmaster," Snape said, with a superior expression crossing his features. "Merely recognition of what the prophecy infers - that Potter is the only one that can defeat him. It should have been obvious, on reflection, given Potter's previous interactions with the Dark Lord: the original curse that backfired; the Philosopher's Stone; the defeat of the basilisk in the chamber; the resurrection and duel."

"Indeed, Severus," the Headmaster agreed, "it may even be that fate conspired to arrange these previous confrontations between Harry and Voldemort as a way of attempting to resolve the prophecy as early as possible."

Dumbledore's face contorted in frustration for a brief moment as he realised that he might have missed a trick. Despite a momentary lapse in concentration as he schooled himself to maintain his customary benevolent façade, he didn't miss the sour look on the face of his Potions Professor, which spoke volumes about Snape's faith in the concept of fate, and its role in previous events. He could sense that the Slytherin Head of House preferred to maintain that it was Harry's "idiotic Gryffindor hero tendencies" that had led to the previous confrontations.

"Anyhow, I needed you to see this so that you are aware of Harry's situation. The three of you will be involved in Harry's NEWT-level studies-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Albus, but only three NEWTs? Are you sure that's sufficient? I would have expected Mister Potter's scores to be good enough to attempt five or six at least? What about Defence against the Dark Arts? Isn't that one of his stronger areas?" Professor Flitwick peppered Dumbledore with quick-fire questions.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore reassured him. "Harry will also be taking a NEWT in Defence against the Dark Arts, but I'm not yet in a position to ask the new Professor for their opinion.

"Anyhow, although Harry has elected to take just four NEWTs, I don't think that will provide a problem in terms of finding sufficient work for him to do, nor will it hinder his ongoing education," he explained. "I have some other training in mind for him, beginning during the summer, which will be more effective for him than studying the likes of Herbology or Care of Magical Creatures at NEWT level. That's part of the reason why I've asked you all to be here this afternoon: I'm looking for instructors to work with Harry during the summer, and beyond, mostly on a one-to-one basis.

"I've already got someone in mind to work on duelling, potion-making, physical skills, and Occlumency, but I would be grateful for suggestions of suitable people to train Harry in some of the darker arts, elemental control and transfiguration," he continued.

Snape looked a little affronted at the thought of someone else teaching a Hogwarts student in potion-making, but just stirred restlessly and didn't raise a fuss.

"I'll be happy to assist once he's back at Hogwarts, Headmaster," McGonagall agreed, "but as you know I've already made arrangements to be away since you advised you would be content for me to do so. Perhaps Alastor Moody might be in a position to help?" she suggested.

"I may be able to get him to help out at times, but unfortunately I have greater need for Alastor's skills elsewhere at present," Dumbledore replied regretfully. "I have no wish to prevent you or any of the staff from honouring arrangements or commitments you've already organised. I was hoping that some of you might have suggestions from outside the Order, since as it is, our resources are somewhat stretched?"

The three Professors sat silently for a short period whilst they scoured their memories for contacts who might meet Dumbledore's requirements. Finally Snape's drawl broke the silence:

"I do know of one person that might fit the bill, Headmaster, but I think you had better approach him rather than I."

"Why would that be?"

"Because he dislikes me intensely, and was part of the Auror team that was originally detailed to have me brought in after the Dark Lord's fall. He'll be retired now, but I'd bet he knows a deal more about the dark arts than he has ever been prepared to let on, and was definitely useful with elemental magic."

"Are you talking about Fabian Gaarder, from the Danish Ministry of Magic?" asked Flitwick excitably. "He's the only one I know that would fit that description, but I thought he died years ago in a raid by Russian Aurors?"

"Yes, that was who I had in mind, Filius, but rumours of his death have been greatly exaggerated."

"I didn't realise that you had studied Mark Twain," Dumbledore chuckled.

Snape paused a moment to allow the Headmaster to compose himself, then continued.

"He actually started the rumour of his death personally, because he was fed up with all the Eastern European Ministries that wanted his services. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, many of the former communist countries struggled to maintain law and order in their magical communities," Snape explained.

"Since then he's been teaching at Durmstrang. Karkaroff told me that he's had a horrible time dealing with him, but hasn't found anyone in the same league as a teacher, so he can't really sack him," he added with a snort.

"Then perhaps it's time I paid a visit to our friends at the Durmstrang academy. Perhaps Igor's successor as Headmaster would be amenable to allowing his Dark Arts Professor a sabbatical here at Hogwarts."

"Gaarder's not teaching Dark Arts, Headmaster," Snape noted with a smirk. "He's specialising in Transfiguration, which is what made me think of him."

Dumbledore shrugged. "For my purposes, I don't suppose it matters all that much. Thank you for your input, Minerva, Severus, Filius," Dumbledore dismissed them, and returned to his contemplation.

* * *

That evening, whilst Professor Dumbledore was making arrangements to travel to Durmstrang academy the following week, many miles south in Little Whinging, Harry was busy reading the keep-fit book that Dumbledore had lent him, and at the same time, keeping one ear open for the ring of the phone.

Hermione had promised that she would ring him back this evening to find out if he was allowed to visit her the next weekend while her parents were away, and Harry was keen to be in a position to get to the phone as quickly as possible so that his relatives couldn't prevent him from taking the call.

He'd had two false alarms already. The first time, it had been a call from Piers, one of Dudley's friends, to make arrangements for them to go to the cinema in nearby Guildford, and he'd been rather surprised to hear Harry's voice at the end of the phone, but didn't cause any trouble.

The second occasion had stirred up Uncle Vernon somewhat. Uncle Vernon had got to the phone first, as Harry's focus had been elsewhere, trying some of the exercises in the book. When Harry had thundered down the stairs to see if it was Hermione that was calling, he had almost run into Uncle Vernon, causing him to rant and rave at Harry. Even worse, the phone call had been from an insurance salesman, who wound Uncle Vernon up even more, and Harry had to put up with another lecture about how he was supposed to act "normal".

Finally, the call from Hermione came through. Fortunately this time, Harry didn't have any interference from the Dursleys as the phone rang while they were sitting in the back garden enjoying the sunshine and a glass of Pimm's. By this time, Dudley had already gone to meet up with Piers.

"Hi Harry! How are you?"

Hermione sounded even more enthusiastic than normal, and Harry wondered idly whether she had also received her OWL results, and was still in the process of coming down from the ceiling at the (expected) grades.

"I'm good thanks. Dumbledore said it was fine for me to come over on Friday, but I have to travel accompanied. He said he'd find someone to come with me. I thought I'd keep things simple and get a bus - better than asking Uncle Vernon to drive me."

"Oh, that's great! Did you get your OWL results from Dumbledore as well?" she asked, as Harry had predicted.

Harry thought he'd wind her up a little, while he had such a priceless opportunity.

"Yeah, I guess," he said in a monotone. "I'm only doing four NEWTS," he added, hoping to get some sort of reaction.

"Come on, Harry, you can do better than that," Hermione responded, unconvinced. "I know you did well enough to take more NEWTS than that - what gives?"

Harry snorted down the phone. "Can't fool you, can I? Okay, okay, I got six OWLS, including one "Outstanding". Happy now?"

"Not really. I still think you could have done better. What did you fail? Divination, I assume, but what else?"

"Umm, Astrono-" he began

"You know you can re-take that, right Harry?" Hermione cut him off.

"Yeah, but it still counts as a fail, as things stand. I failed History of Magic as well."

Hermione tut-tutted down the phone at Harry, but he wasn't too fussed about having failed those subjects and although he knew that Hermione was disappointed in him, he'd already decided upon a strategy to distract her from any extended haranguing about his results.

"So anyway, I'm taking four NEWTS: Defence against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions. How did you do, Hermione?"

He could tell that she wanted to go into further detail about his results, probably to insist that he took Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures at NEWT-level as well, but the mis-direction ploy worked sufficiently well for the time being, as Hermione launched into a detailed analysis of her own results.

Unsurprisingly, she had passed all ten of her own OWLs with flying colours, including "Outstanding" grades in five of them. By the time she'd finished, Harry had also learned that she would be doing NEWTs in Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Defence against the Dark Arts and Arithmancy, and was torn about whether or not to re-take the Astronomy OWL, since with seven NEWT classes she wasn't sure if she wanted the distraction of trying to improve on her "Exceeds Expectations" in Astronomy. By the time that Harry managed to get a word in edgeways, she'd worked herself up into a bit of a flap.

"Hermione," Harry tried to calm her down. "Do what you think is best. If you're worried about the impact on your NEWT studies, then you're probably best not re-taking it. After all, when you leave Hogwarts people are going to be primarily interested in your NEWT results, not your OWLs."

He hoped that this line of thinking would appeal to Hermione's logical mind, but as long as she was content with whichever decision she reached, he was sure she'd still end up with good grades in all her NEWTs as well.

"Well, that's true," Hermione replied, somewhat mollified by Harry's seemingly practical solution to her worries. "We'll still have three NEWT classes together - I hope you don't think you're going to get good grades by simply borrowing my notes, though?"

Harry rolled his eyes at this, a somewhat futile gesture, considering that Hermione couldn't see his expression, but it was an instinctive reaction, nonetheless.

"Actually, I'm hoping to get a headstart on everyone this year. Dumbledore's arranging for some extra training for me during the summer, so hopefully that'll help me prepare for my NEWT classes."

Hermione seemed a little disgruntled by this, knowing that someone else was going to have a jump on her when it came to studying, but she wasn't about to make a fuss about it, it was difficult enough getting Harry to study properly during term time, let alone during the holidays.

"What do you need extra training for, anyway?" she asked. "I know you get into a lot of awkward situations, but what sort of things is Dumbledore planning to have you taught? Is this something to do with your scar hurting again? Is Professor Snape going to be teaching you Occlumency again?"

Harry laughed at Hermione's list of questions. "I've no idea yet. When I find out I'll be sure to let you know. It's not really anything to do with my scar hurting again though," he reassured her. "Anyway, enough about schoolwork; what have you got planned for Friday?"

"I've invited Ron and Ginny as well, and I thought we'd keep things simple - I thought I'd order pizza for tea and maybe get a video, or we could go out into town and see a film then get food while we're out. Unless there's something else you'd like to do?"

"No, that sounds fine, to me. I haven't really seen any decent films. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia don't let me watch all that much TV. Whatever you want to do is fine with me."

"Good, well I'll check with Ron and Ginny, but I can't imagine they'll have any better ideas."

"No. I'm not even sure that Ron knows what a film is," Harry chuckled, "though if I remember correctly, Ginny takes Muggle Studies so she might have some idea. I'm sure they'll both be intrigued though."

Harry started thinking that this get together might also be an opportunity to tell his friends about the prophecy, but he wasn't sure if it would spoil the evening, so he put this idea to one side for the time being.

He could hear voices from the back garden, rumblings as though the Dursleys were making their way back into the house, so he quickly said goodbye to Hermione and disappeared up to his room before Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could catch him using the telephone without permission.

As he looked out his bedroom window, he heard a gigantic crack of thunder, and watched, entranced, as a bolt of lightning threw itself from the heavens to strike the ground a few hundred yards or so away. He'd been on the phone to Hermione for quite a while and hadn't seen or heard the storm closing in, but this was obviously what had stirred his relatives from their lounging in the garden.

As the storm hit Privet Drive, the rain came streaking down, and Harry stifled a snigger as he watched Uncle Vernon staggering across the garden with the sun lounger and parasol under one arm while trying to shield his face from the rain with the other. Harry hoped that Uncle Vernon didn't think of sending him outside to reclaim the remainder of the garden furniture from the throes of the storm.

As he watched, he realised that the rain was streaming in through the open window so he slammed it down quickly, hoping the noise wouldn't alert anyone to his presence, but realising that it really wouldn't do for Aunt Petunia to see the open window allowing the rain to soak her beloved carpet.

Because he was so focused on getting the window closed and clearing up the sodden ledge on the inside, it took Harry a few moments to realise that he had a visitor.

Ron's owl, Pig, was fluttering around the room looking rather like a grey, flying mouse, obviously agitated by the storm. Harry hoped that Pig wasn't fretting to get outside again because the rain would probably weigh his fluffy feathers down so badly that he wouldn't be able to fly very well. He wasn't sure how he would be able to explain to Ron that he had allowed Pig to drown.

He retrieved the two letters that Pig was carrying and coaxed him to Hedwig's perch, offering an owl treat or two to get the enthusiastic bird to calm down somewhat. Harry thought idly to himself that it was a good job Hedwig was still out delivering letters, since she had something of a disdainful attitude towards Ron's little post owl, probably feeling that it was beneath her to acknowledge such a hyperactive and undignified little creature.

Even if Hedwig wasn't enamoured with the miniature owl, Harry was always happy to see him, since it meant news from The Burrow, and Harry was always keen for news from the Weasleys.

He opened Ron's letter first to find it bubbling with enthusiasm for his OWL results, which were broadly similar to Harry's. The most significant difference was that Ron had managed to scrape an "Acceptable" grade in his Astronomy OWL, and therefore had passed seven OWLs to Harry's six.

Harry didn't begrudge Ron his success though. Ron had obviously concentrated a little harder in a few subjects the previous year, whilst Harry had been distracted with Umbridge, visions and Occlumency lessons; having said that, Harry's grades in Charms and Potions had turned out better than Ron's, which Harry put down to his practical score.

He was somewhat disappointed that he would only be sharing NEWT lessons in three subjects with Ron: Charms, Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts. Ron hadn't qualified for Potions, even with Snape's reduced requirements, and had elected to take Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures to round out his choices for NEWT-level study.

Harry thought it was a bit of a shame that he, Ron, and Hermione wouldn't be sharing all their classes as they had in the past, with the exception of Divination and Hermione's additional OWL electives. Still, he realised that you had to move on in life, and at least he still shared all four NEWT classes with Hermione, and that she would be in all of Ron's classes.

Turning back to Ron's letter, Harry learned that Ron was looking forward to visiting Hermione's house the following weekend, though a little bit worried about the propriety. Harry figured that as long as he watched his manners, Ron would be fine. Mr and Mrs Granger would already have left by the time he arrived, and provided they didn't damage anything he was sure there wouldn't be a problem. Ron was still worrying though, probably mindful of the number of times that Hermione had needed to remark on his manners while eating at the Gryffindor table.

Ginny's letter was equally enthusiastic at the prospect of visiting Hermione. Not knowing any of the other girls in Ginny's year meant that Harry didn't have any idea of the sort of relationship that Ginny had with them, but it appeared that she was keen to be friends with Hermione, whoever else she was friends with.

Ginny remarked that Mrs Weasley had been fairly happy with Ron's results, a fact that Ron had left out of his own letter, and that she hadn't been too upset that he had failed two subjects. Ginny was fairly happy for him as well, though she felt a little guilty about being glad he'd failed something, since it put less pressure on her to be overwhelmingly successful. At least now expectations were more subdued than when Percy had achieved his 12 OWL haul. She still felt that the coming year was going to be hard work, though.

Harry put the two letters away and scribbled a quick note in response to each, explaining his own OWL results, and looking forward to seeing them in less than a week.

Looking out the window, he could see the storm continuing relentlessly, and decided not to send Pig back out again in such miserable weather. He only hoped that Hedwig hadn't been caught in the downpour.

He had finished working his way through Dumbledore's book on clearing his mind, though he knew it would be a text that he would refer back to on a regular basis while he was taking his Occlumency lessons, just to ensure that he could maintain a clear head and control his thoughts.

Rather than move onto the second Occlumency book the Headmaster had provided, he picked up the keep-fit book and read a few chapters, trying out some of the simpler exercises. These proved more strenuous than he had anticipated. He obviously hadn't been using those muscles very often over the past few years and the vast majority of his exercise had come from flying his broom. Although that required a certain amount of concentration, it was not a particularly physical activity.

Perhaps if Tonks was up to it, she would be able to show him some of the exercises that the Aurors used to keep in shape, Harry thought to himself, remembering that the young metamorphmagus was due to be meeting him in the morning. If nothing else, she would at least be able to keep him on his toes.

Harry looked forward to the thought of getting some more practical training. Although they had practiced defensive spells in the DA the previous year as a reaction to Umbridge's refusal to give them any practical defence training, it wasn't quite the same as duelling in realistic conditions, as Harry and the others had found out in the Department of Mysteries. Even Gilderoy Lockhart's short-lived duelling club in Harry's second year had been little more than a formalised practice.

No, Harry definitely looked forward to getting something in the way of actual training in areas like duelling, and hopefully picking up on some more advanced spells that would be useful in battle situations. Even though Ron had found a really good way of braining a Mountain Troll in their first year using the levitation charm, the spells they had learned in Charms class seemed very theoretical in nature, and he hoped that he would find some that had more practical offensive applications.

Even though it was still early, Harry drifted off to sleep while these thoughts were going through his mind.