Harry Potter and the Magic Within

Please write to me and tell me what you think or even point out mistakes! I'd love to know what people think very much. Thank you.


* * * * *

Harry Potter and the Magic Within!!

Chapter 1: 'Back at Number Four'

The scent of summer lay thick around Privet Drive in the early hours of one morning in mid August. The sun was about to rise. Not a sound could be heard in the street. Everyone was still fast asleep. Or were they? No, someone was wide awake and pacing their bedroom. In the second bedroom of Number 4, Privet drive, Harry Potter was pacing around anxiously. He had woken up not long before with the memories of a vivid dream. The dream had someone he knew in it. Someone he certainly didn't want to meet ever again.

Harry walked over to his wardrobe, opened it and started getting changed out of his pyjamas and in to some clothes for the day. He looked briefly in the mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door. A rather skinny 15yr old boy looked back at him. He had untidy, jet-black hair and bright green eyes looked out from behind his round glasses. Harry closed the wardrobe door again and sat down on his bed. He idly looked around his room.

Harry's Aunt and Uncle would be awake soon. Not long after them

Harry's awful cousin Dudley would also be awake. His Uncle Vernon Dursley owned a company that sold drills called Grunnings. He had a very large moustache, very little neck and his face turned red very quickly when his anger was aroused. Harry's aunt Petunia was extremely thin and bony and often wore an expression that would make one think she was sucking a lemon. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon exept that he was quite a bit wider. He had in fact been put through a strict diet, to his great unhappiness, last summer. It had not had much effect. Dudley still took up a whole side of the breakfast table on his own, but Aunt Petunia stopped putting him through what she had said was nothing but a waste of time as her Dudikins had never needed a diet in the first place.

Harry had lived with the Dursleys since he was one year old. His parents had died and they were the only living relatives he had. The Dursleys told Harry that they had died in a car crash but that wasn't true.

On his eleventh Birthday, Harry found out the whole truth. He found out the reason strange things had often happened around him. He found out that he was a wizard! He was still marvelling at this when he learned that his parents hadn't died in a car crash at all, they had been murdered by an evil wizard who had been on the rise to power. His name was Lord Voldemort. A name that witches and wizards didn't like to say or hear if they could help it.

On Halloween, when Harry was only one, Voldemort came to where the Potters lived. He killed Harry's father, James Potter first and then killed Lily Potter as she tried to protect her son. But when Voldemort turned his wand on Harry the deadly spell didn't work. It somehow rebounded upon Voldemort and so, barely alive, Voldemort had fled. Harry Potter was famous but knew nothing of it. The only visible mark of Voldemorts attack was a thin lightning shaped scar upon Harry's forehead beneath his untidy black hair.

After finding out all about his strange past, Harry was taken far away from the Dursleys to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he was to spend his first year learning magic.

Harry missed Hogwarts terribly. He missed the castle with its long corridors, its Great hall where all the feasts took place and also missed Quiddich (wizards sport - played in the air on broomsticks) an awful lot. Harry was on his school house, Gryffindor's, Quiddich team. Still, more than all of that Harry missed his two best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

Harry now wished he was at Hogwarts with them in the middle of a term more than ever. He had experienced a great many bad dreams since he came back from school at the end of last term. This was, no doubt, due to the fact that Harry had been entered into a wizard's tournament in which three rival wizarding schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, each entered a student to perform 3 extremely difficult magical tasks.

Harry's name had come out of the magical goblet used to pick the competitors and so, according to the rules, became the 4th contestant and had no choice but to compete. When Harry and the other Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory, managed to get to the winners cup they both picked it up and it transported them to a graveyard. Cedric was then killed in a blinding flash of green light. Harry was tied up and witnessed Voldemort's rebirth, as it was called, into a physical body again. Harry just managed to get back to the Triwizard cup before getting killed. It was no wonder that Harry was having nightmares. His great cause for anxiety was that, since Voldemort once again had a body, he would try taking over once more which would mean terrible dark times would come to pass. He also feared that Voldemort would try to kill him again since he had tried a few times now and seemed to be making it a regular thing.

Harry sat for a long while deep in thought. His dream had featured Voldemort. He had seen his awful red eyes. He had seen green flashes, and had once again heard screams. He had heard these screams before; they were his mother's. He had heard them when the fiendish Azkaban (wizard prison) guards had been stationed in the Hogwarts grounds for a time in Harry's third year at Hogwarts. When one of them had gone too close to Harry his vision had gone cloudy and he heard the last moments of his parents lives.

Harry jumped. He had heard the first movements of the house. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia must have woken up.

There's no reason to worry yet, he thought, when Voldemort tried taking over last time there were lots of Muggle (non magic folk) deaths and though I can't hear about what is going on in the wizarding world, I would have heard about any strange muggle deaths on the television or in the newspaper here at the Dursleys. Harry walked across his bedroom, past his trunk holding his school books, his top of the range Firebolt broomstick, an enchanted map of Hogwarts, an invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father, and parchment and quills for his homework. He walked past his desk on which the cage for his beautiful snowy owl lay empty, then he stopped at the window. Hedwig normally came back to her cage in the morning after a night of hunting outside. He couldn't see her. He left his bedroom and went down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Uncle Vernon was reading The Daily Mail and Aunt Petunia was busy cooking breakfast. As per usual, they made no recognition of Harry being there at all. Harry sat down at the small square table. A moment later Dudley came in. He lumbered over to a chair, sat down and started complaining.

'I want some breakfast,' Dudley wailed.

'It's just coming, Dudley dear,' said Aunt Petunia.

When Harry and the Dursleys had finished their breakfast, Harry went upstairs to his room again. To his surprise, Hedwig was sitting on her perch and clicked her beak happily as he came in. Harry sat at his desk next to Hedwig and looked over the letters he had received over the summer. He had three from Ron, one from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and a good friend of Harry's, another three from Hermione and two from his godfather Sirius. Sirius had been jailed in Azkaban in spite of his innocence but was now escaped, thanks to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and was in hiding. He still kept in touch with Harry though.

Harry was now waiting for a letter from Ron that would invite him to stay. At the end of the last term Mrs Weasley had asked if Harry could go straight to their house and stay with them for the whole summer, but Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and said to be the greatest wizard of the present time, had said that Harry should go back to the Dursleys for at least the start. Harry knew that when Dumbledore thought Harry could stay with the Weasleys he would tell Mr Weasley straight away.

Harry's eye wandered over the birthday cards his friends had also sent him which he had stood on his desk for display. Harry's gaze was then distracted when something small, fluffy and brown hit the window pane. Harry jumped up and pulled the window open. In shot a brown owl the size of a fist and as it twittered loudly it dropped a letter at Harry's foot. Harry had recognised the owl instantly, it was Ron's owl, Pigwideon (Pig for short). He pulled the letter open and read.

Dear Harry,

I've got great news. My Dad got a letter today from Dumbledore and he said we could go and get you to stay. Me and Dad are coming to pick you up at midnight on Sunday. My Mum wanted to send the Dursleys a letter in the muggle post asking them to let you come like she did last summer but I think Dad changed her mind. Just tell them you are going and we'll come to pick you up. Hermione told me she is going to Diagon Alley to pick up her school things the day after we pick you up and I think we are going the same day.

See you soon,
Ron

Harry felt as happy as could be. He always loved the feeling he got when he knew he was leaving the Dursleys. As Ron and Mr Weasley were coming on Sunday night, which was tomorrow, he didn't think it necessary to write a reply so he just sent Pig out through the window and watched him zoom off out of sight. Hedwig was clicking her beak at the silly visitor, who she obviously believed to have acted in a very undignified way. Harry sat on his bed unable to stop smiling. He was leaving the Dursleys and wouldn't see them until next summer.

At about 5pm Harry went back downstairs to tell Uncle Vernon that he was leaving at midnight the next day. He wasn't looking forward to it. He walked in to the living room and stood in front of his Uncle.

'Uncle Vernon?' said Harry cautiously.

Uncle Vernon grunted from behind his newspaper in answer.

'I got a letter from my friend Ron', Harry began, 'and he says that he and his dad are coming to pick me up tomorrow at midnight.'

Harry could see his uncles forehead reddening as he spoke.

'Why are they coming at midnight?' he demanded.

'I don't know', said Harry, taking a step back.

'Are they coming the same way as last time', said Uncle Vernon, his voice shaking with a mixture of fear and plain annoyance.

This was a point Harry hadn't thought of. He remembered the time the Weasleys had come to pick him up last summer. Mr Weasley had tried to use something called Floo Powder, which, when a pinch was put in the fire in the grate, would turn the fire green and enable a witch or wizard to step into the fire, name the place they wanted to go, and turn up in the fireplace of that location. The Dursleys had an electric fire so their fireplace was actually boarded up. Mr Weasley had to blast his way out of the fireplace, which sent the little electric fire shooting across the room. Mr Weasley had had to magic it all back to normal before he left.

Harry doubted that Mr Weasley would wish that occasion to be repeated but he still wasn't sure how they would be collecting him.

'I don't think they are coming like last time,' said Harry.

'Well they had better not', said Uncle Vernon irritably.

Harry knew that the only reason Uncle Vernon was being so casual about the Weasleys coming to pick him up was because Uncle Vernon wanted Harry away as soon as possible, and because the pickup time was at midnight and therefore the chances of anyone noticing were very small. Harry left the room. He felt very happy indeed. He jumped up the stairs, three at a time, and shut himself in his room to finish off some of his left over homework. Harry didn't want to have to do any of his school work at the Weasleys, there would be much more interesting things to do there.

It was about 11pm when Harry had finished his last sentence of his

'Invisibility Potions' essay so he put his school things away, took off his glasses and got into bed.

Chapter 2: 'The Alley Again'

Harry had his trunk packed before afternoon was changing into evening the next day. He stayed in his room with Hedwig for company. When he went downstairs for dinner, the Dursleys were all slightly quieter than usual. Dudley had received bad luck in each encounter he had ever had when meeting a grown up witch or wizard. It was not surprising, therefore, that he ran up to his room to watch the television as soon as he had finished his third helping of dinner.

Harry ambled up to his room not long after, he couldn't stand the tension in the sitting room. Harry lay on his bed staring at the ceiling and absentmindedly stroking Hedwig. He heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia go to bed at about 10.30. He wondered where he should wait for Ron and Mr Weasley. He thought about going downstairs to the sitting room but decided against the idea. He would just wait in his room. Harry double checked that he had packed everything. He was just putting Hedwig in her cage when something tapped his window. Harry spun around to see Ron's face smiling through the glass at him. He ran to the window and opened it.

'Hi, Harry,' said Ron, grinning.

Harry then saw that Ron was riding a broomstick. He could also see Mr Weasley hovering behind Ron.

'Get your broom and then climb out the window', Ron said.

'But what about my trunk and Hedwigs cage?' Harry asked.

'I'm going to send them on ahead,' said Mr Weasley, pulling out his wand. 'A simple little spell I picked up a few years ago, very useful, but not to be used on people.'

Harry opened his trunk and pulled out his Firebolt broomstick.

He got on to it, then flew it out the window to hover next to Ron. Mr Weasley flew closer to the window, muttered something and pointed his wand at the trunk and Hedwig's cage. The next moment, the trunk, the cage and Hedwig were all gone.

'Come on, Harry,' called Ron as he sped away.

Harry followed and Mr Weasley followed after. Harry had to admit it was a good deal more fun than driving in a car to someone's house. He caught up with Ron's news of the holidays, which were more interesting than anything Harry could say about his summer with the Dursleys.

The time went by much quicker than Harry would have guessed. When they had been flying for a good while and Harry's talk with Ron had died down a little, he decided to ask Mr Weasley the thing that had been on his mind so much over the summer holiday.

'Mr Weasley, has there been much news about Him since last term?'

Unless Harry was much mistaken, Mr Weasley turned a little paler, under his balding, red hair.

'Er, well,' started Mr Weasley. But the whole subject got changed when Ron saw a road close to the Weasley's home, a moment later. The rest of the journey seemed only minutes though it must have been half an hour at the least.

Harry, Ron and Mr Weasley walked in to the slightly lopsided house of the Weasleys at 2.30am. Then they all went to bed and slept until it was late in the morning.

It took Harry a moment to realise where he was when he woke up at 10.30am. He was in Ron's room at the top of the Weasleys' house and had to blink a few times before he could look directly at Ron's brightly coloured, moving posters of his favourite quiddich team, The Chudley Cannons.

Harry went down many stairs to the kitchen to find round, kind-faced Mrs Weasley piling scrambled eggs on Ron's plate. Ron looked up and called Harry over to the seat next to him. Mrs Weasley gave Harry a big hug and told him how nice it was to see him again. Then she piled scrambled eggs on his plate before going out of the room to do some chores.

'I think we are going to Diagon Alley to get our school stuff soon,' Ron informed him.

'Did you write that Hermione is going today as well?' Harry asked.

'Yes, she is,' said Ron nodding.

Harry, still wanting to hear any word of Voldemort, decided to try Ron for some news.

'Ron, Has there been any news on Voldemort?' said Harry, quietly.

Ron sat silent for a moment, avoiding Harrys gaze.

'Yes,' he said slowly, at last. Harry waited for more. 'There have been lots of sightings of hooded figures which could have been -'

Harry shivered. He had hoped and hoped that nothing would have been seen of him, even though he suspected the opposite to be the reality. He and Ron finished their breakfast just as Mrs Weasley came back into the kitchen holding her purse and wearing a coat. They were obviously going soon, Harry noticed that she carried letters with the Hogwarts crest on them, that must be the lists for their new books he thought.

Ron's older twin brothers Fred and George, the family pranksters, came into the room behind Mrs Weasley.

'Hey, Harry,' said George happily. Then he winked.

Harry remembered the last conversation he had had with them before the summer very well. He had got the prize money from the Tri-wizard Tournament last year in spite of his offers to Cedric's parents and Mrs Weasley, he hadn't wanted it at all. Fred and George had wanted to open a joke shop and had even started inventing joke products. They had already got orders last summer, but Mrs Weasley had found out and put a stop to their ambition. Harry had given the whole 1000 galleons to Fred and George when they left the Hogwarts Express last term. It was not surprising that they were still happy about it. Harry knew that Mr and Mrs Weasley couldn't know, though he found it hard to imagine how they could have hidden it from them.

'Now, lets get going,' said Mrs Weasley. Presently, Mr Weasley and Ginny the youngest of the family and the only girl, came in. Ginny went rather red in the face. She had always had a bit of a crush on Harry and this had obviously not changed.

'Alright, we'll go by floo powder as usual,' said Mrs Weasley as she picked up an old flowerpot from the window sill and offered it to Harry to take a pinch of powder from. He did, and then he walked over to the fireplace. He threw the powder in and the fire instantly turned bright green and rose up high enough to step into. He stepped into the flames, it felt rather tickly, and said 'Diagon Alley'.

At once, Harry was spinning round and round in a swish of green.

Harry didn't like travelling this way very much. He started to feel rather dizzy. He could soon see glimpses of rooms from behind the fireplaces. Then quite suddenly he stopped at a small fireplace in to a room which he knew to belong to The Leaky Cauldron, a pub behind which the secret entrance to Diagon Alley was hidden. A moment later Ron was climbing out of the fire, then Fred, then George, Ginny, Mrs Weasley and finally Mr Weasley. They all walked out the back of the Leaky Caldron and Mr Weasley tapped the third brick up and second to the left. The brick wobbled and became a hole, the hole grew until it was an archway.

They walked through and were once again in Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron went to look around for Hermione, after agreeing to meet up with Mrs Weasley, a few minutes later at Gringotts, the wizarding bank. It didn't take them long to find Hermione. She was standing in front of the Apothecarys. They ran up to meet her.

'Harry! Ron! How are you?' she said, smiling broadly.

'Fine,' said Ron, 'We need to go to Gringotts to get our money, we'll meet you in Flourish and Blotts a bit later,' he finished.

'Alright, see you then,' Hermione replied.

Harry and Ron went off around the corner to Gringotts. They met the rest of the Weasleys in the main entrance area. Gringotts was run by goblins and a few moments later a goblin called Gandalik was leading them in to a small cart on a set of tracks. The cart whizzed off at great speed and stopped at the Weasleys vault.

Harry felt extremely uncomfortable as he saw that there was only a small heap of sickles and a few mounds of knuts in their vault. Harry had his small fortune from his parents in his vault and would have shared it all with the Weasleys. He knew they wouldn't take it, he still felt awkward at times like these though. The cart went speeding along once more after the Weasleys had taken out their money and it stopped at Harry's vault. Harry went in hurriedly, filled up his little leather bag used to keep his money and got back into the cart as quickly as he could.

Once they were back in the alley, the group separated all over the place. Mrs Weasley went with Ginny to get her new supplies, Fred and George, who would be in their seventh and last year at Hogwarts, went to get their things but seemed to go more toward the direction of the big joke shop than the school supplies shops. Mr Weasley wandered off to look at the shop windows to waste some time.

Harry and Ron set off towards Flourish and Blotts, the spell books shop, to find Hermione again.

Harry suddenly felt an odd prickle on his forehead, his scar felt like a pin had been stuck through it.

'Ouch!' he said clapping his hand over it.

'What is it?' asked Ron, while looking over the heads of shoppers to see Hermione.

'Oh, nothing,' said Harry lied. Ron then caught sight of Hermione further along the street. Harry dropped his bag, coins rolled everywhere.

'Oh no,' said Harry, 'You go on, I'll catch up.' Harry started picking up the coins and Ron when on ahead to get Hermione's attention.

After a few minutes of searching on the ground Harry had collected all the fallen coins. He started off up the alley following the way Ron had left. Something caught his eye in the alley between two shops. He thought it looked like a hunched figure or perhaps a large dog? He walked closer.

There was a purple flash and Harry's vision went cloudy, then he remembered nothing.