Growing up too fast

"Harry would you like to walk to the store with me and help me carry some packages back?"

"Of course Mrs. Figg. I haven't been to the store in quite some time." Actually ever, Harry thought to himself. "Aunt Petunia doesn't like to be seen in public with me."

Mrs. Figg chuckled and said, "Now Harry, I can't believe Petunia would treat you like that."

Harry thought it was best to keep his opinions to himself. It was a nice day so the walk was going quickly. When they were up to the last block before the store, he noticed a little Muggle girl run out into the street grab her puppy that had gotten away. Suddenly Harry noticed a large truck coming down the street. The truck was going way too fast and the little girl wasn't moving. Harry started to yell and realized there was no way the girl could get out of the way and it didn't look like the truck driver saw her at all. Things seemed to be moving in slow motion. Harry heard the girl's mother scream and noticed Mrs. Figg finally turn to see what was happening. Without realizing what he was doing, Harry's fingers began to burn and all he was thinking was Allancia truck, Allancia truck.

The truck instantly stopped with the girl looking up to the truck right in front of her. The little girl's mother ran and picked her up hugging her tightly. The girl was still holding her dog in the same manner. Harry turned to see Mrs. Figg staring at him strangely. Worried about someone seeing him, he quickly said, "Mrs. Figg I'm suddenly not feeling very well. Would you mind if we went back? I'll come back to the store with you tomorrow if that's ok."

"Of course Harry," said Mrs. Figg without further comment. They walked back without saying a word to each other. When he was leaving she added in a cheerful voice, "I'll see you tomorrow Harry. I'm very glad you came with me today."

The rest of the day was a blur to Harry. Did he really stop that truck? It was so large and moving so fast, he didn't think it would have been possible. He was glad none of his friends were around. He didn't want any more things to come out where they had to say, "Oh Harry, that's unusual" or "Oh Harry, how did you do that?" All he really wanted was to be just Harry. Sleep came early for him that evening and fortunately it was free of nightmares.

Uncle Vernon was reading the paper when Harry came down for breakfast. Just as Harry was about to grab some bacon and go directly to Mrs. Figg's, Uncle Vernon started speaking loudly.

"Did you hear about the remarkable thing that happened yesterday Petunia? A young girl was nearly run over by a truck just a few blocks over."

Harry started to cringe. Had someone seen him?

"It says the truck driver is a hero for stopping his truck just in time. They don't know how that truck got stopped so quickly."

Harry relaxed a bit. Muggles he thought.

"It's quoted here that after the mother of the little girl stopped hugging the driver he said 'Well as soon as I saw her, I just pushed on the brakes as hard as I could. It's a good thing I was paying attention and do regular maintenance on my truck that's for sure.'"

"They should give him an award or something. That's the kind of people we need living around here," Aunt Petunia said looking in disgust at Harry.

Harry thought to himself, "Yeah, that driver was paying attention alright. His foot never even touched the brake. He wouldn't have realized the girl was there until he had already run over her." Harry leaned over Uncle Vernon to see if the driver's name was Lockhart.

"What are you doing boy? Don't you need to be getting to Mrs. Figg's? She better not say any strange things are happening while you are there or you'll be back in the cupboard," bellowed Uncle Vernon

On the walk to Mrs. Figg's Harry was worried that she may mention to Aunt Petunia that she and Harry were right in front of that truck yesterday. Would Uncle Vernon begin to think that Harry had done something? That didn't seem likely since something good had come of it. There is no way they would believe that his magic had caused something good to happen.

When Harry arrived at Mrs. Figg's she was inside and called out, "Harry could you please come inside?" Harry walked into her house for the first time in many years. Without the cats, it seemed much more pleasant.

"Yes Mrs. Figg, is there anything I can do for you?" asked Harry.

"How would you like to go shopping in London with me today? We won't walk all the way, I assure you."

Harry thought this seemed strange but said, "That would be great. But, you don't have a car, how are we getting there?"

"Well by floo powder of course," she said bluntly.

Harry nearly fell over. "What, but how do you ... Wait a minute... You're a witch!" Harry finally got out.

"Well of course I'm a witch Harry. Do you really think Professor Dumbledore would let a Muggle who wasn't your relation ever watch over you?" the woman asked this as if was obvious.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Harry asked dumfounded. "There would have been so many questions I could have asked you. Do you know what it's like being with the Dursley's all day? They hate anything to do with magic."

"I'm sorry Harry but there were reasons," the older woman said sounding remorseful, "Actually I hadn't planned on saying anything quite yet but your performance with that truck yesterday was quite astounding and I think a change of plans is quite in order, yes indeed," she looked at him with a warm, motherly expression and continued. "I'm very proud of what you did Harry you saved that girl's life you know."

"Truck?" exclaimed Harry, "You knew I did that? Are you sure you didn't do it, you're much more skilled... I... I just can't believe it was me."

"Oh Harry there is no way I could have gotten my wand out in time and I can assure you I couldn't do anything like that without my wand," she said with a bit of pride in her voice. "Of course the Muggles think the truck driver is a hero and everything."

"How did I do that then? I just found out a couple weeks ago that I could do the summoning charm without a wand and then just assumed this was something all wizards and witches could do".

"Well Harry most witches and wizards can do some wandless magic. Taking riding a broom for example. A Muggle couldn't just jump on a broom and fly. That is one type of wandless magic. The real trick is controlling it and focusing on what you want to do. I have never known a witch or wizard who could have stopped that truck like you did." The woman looked intently at Harry. "I was thinking if you would like, maybe we could explore this talent a bit more over the next few weeks."

Harry was still stunned that this wasn't a common talent but was very anxious to learn more about it. "Could we really work on making me better? I have a feeling that I should learn as much as I can before I meet up with Voldemort again. In fact I've been told by a very serious sounding house-elf that I need to learn as much as I can before the next year starts".

This took Mrs. Figg by surprise. "House-elf? Harry, do you trust this house-elf? Do you know who owns him? It's not like house-elves to say things like that."

"I trust this house-elf fully. No one owns him. I was able to get him freed during my 2^nd year at school and he gets paid for working now. He has tried to protect me from harm before." Then Harry thought, "Of course he nearly killed me trying to protect me."

"Well then Harry that just makes me surer of what we should be doing. Are you ready to go?"

Mrs. Figg tossed the floo powder into the fire then stepped in and said, "Diagon Alley" and was gone. Harry quickly followed her.

"Where are we going Mrs. Figg?" Harry had normally been here with Ron and Hermione while all the students were picking up our books for the year. This was the first time he had been here when it wasn't packed with students. He wondered how much of this was due to normal school shopping schedules and how much was due to Voldemort's return and people being worried.

"We're going to a book store Harry. I'm not sure you've been in it before, it's down in Knockturn Alley".

"Oh, I've been down Knockturn Alley before. I fell out of the wrong grate the first time I used floo powder," Harry said, chuckling. "Actually I saw Lucius Malfoy selling some items in one of the shops."

"Lucius Malfoy huh? That doesn't surprise me. You did leave the area directly didn't you?"

"Oh yes. Hagrid noticed me and dragged me directly back to Diagon Alley," Harry just thought of something and asked. "Mrs. Figg, what do you do in the wizard world? If you don't mind me asking."

"No Harry I don't mind. I was an Auror. Quite good if I don't say so myself. Does that surprise you?"

Actually this did surprise him. Harry had pictured most Aurors looking like Mad-Eye Moody, all scarred up. "I guess it surprised me a bit. The only other Auror I've been around much has been Professor Moody, and that turned out to be Barty Crouch Jr. using polyjuice to impersonate him."

This visibly bothered Mrs. Figg a bit. "Yes, Barty Crouch Jr." she said sounding annoyed. "Did you know that Professor Moody is my brother Harry? He is one of the best Aurors there has ever been. He was sorry he didn't get to thank you personally last year. Being locked in a trunk for that long made him even more cautious I'm afraid."

"I didn't know he was your brother, but my godfather and Professor Lupin respected him very much."

"Your godfather would be Sirius Black wouldn't it? And Remus Lupin is a werewolf isn't he? My you do seem to have quite a range of friends. House-elves, half-giants, werewolves, escaped convicts," Mrs. Figg said sternly.

Oh great Harry thought. Talk about your relationship with a wanted murderer to an Auror. "You do know that Sirius is innocent don't you? Peter Pettigrew is alive and is the true murderer. He is still murdering people. He is the one who used the killing curse on Cedric Diggory after the 3^rd task last year. He killed him right in front of me before tying me to a gravestone," Harry said this with more force than he intended to.

"I don't believe Sirius Black betrayed your parents or killed all those people Harry." Mrs. Figg stopped walking and looked at him warmly. "I'm sorry there is nothing we can currently do to prove his innocence." They started walking again. "And I don't think the, say variety of your friends is a bad thing at all. Ah, here we are Akzon & Delize Unique Books. Come on in Harry."

This looked like any bookstore on Diagon Alley would if they had let 100 years of dust build up on everything. "What are you looking for Mrs. Figg?"

She didn't respond and kept running her hands down the rows of books examining the title of each one. Harry noticed titles such as 'Curses Without Cures' and "Potions for Every Desire".

"Ah, here it is!" said Mrs. Figg pulling out a book. Harry noticed the title 'What Makes Magic Dark'. This reminded Harry of the note saying, "The soul of the wizard controls the evil of the magic".

Mrs. Figg paid for the book and before he knew it they were back in the pub having lunch. "Would you be interested in taking another trip with me tomorrow Harry? I have a friend who would like to meet you and may be able to give you some pointers."

"That'd be great. This has been the best start to a summer I've ever had," he exclaimed.

After lunch they used floo powder to return to Mrs. Figg's house. "Now Harry, how about moving those stones for me?" she asked.

"I really don't think I could lift them Mrs. Figg. Maybe we cold get Dudley to help," Harry said sounding like he hated having to ask Dudley for anything.

"If you can stop a truck surely you can move a few stones! You really should think like a wizard first and then a Muggle second," said Mrs. Figg sounding very stern.

Of course Harry thought. He had been so used to acting like a Muggle outside of school it was difficult to think any other way.

They stepped outside and Harry could tell Mrs. Figg was watching him. This made him extra nervous. Would he be able to do it on something so heavy with her watching? Harry focused on one of the stones and then on a spot on the other side of the yard. Then he though Placio stone, Placio stone. His fingers got quite warm and the stone rose up and went to the spot he had chosen.

"Quite nice Harry. Now move the other 4 at one time if you would."

She had said this like it was the obvious thing to do. Harry suspected that she had been a teacher before being an Auror. He wouldn't want to disappoint her, but he had never moved more than one thing at a time. He didn't know exactly how to do this.

Almost as if she could read his mind, she added, "Just do it like you have been Harry except see each stone going to specific spots. I have complete confidence that you can do this. You can see 4 stones and you can see where you want them. Just focus."

Being around her gave him a boost of confidence. He pictured all 4 stones and where he wanted them. Placio stones he thought. He felt the heat in his fingers quite a bit more this time but sure enough, all 4 stones moved to the exact spots he had pictured.

"See Harry, moving a stone is no more difficult than moving a book and moving multiple stones is as easy as picturing each one individually. That is how it works for me with a wand and I'm assuming that's how it works for you. How does it work for you with a wand?"

"I've never moved more than one thing at a time with my wand. And, I've never moved anything much heavier than a pillow with it either."

"Well Harry, I'm fairly certain you will always be able to focus your magic better with a wand which should make the magic more powerful that way. But it seems you have a natural talent for wandless magic. "

She was looking into Harry's eyes, which started to make him uncomfortable when she said. "I believe your greatest asset and biggest liability is your mind Harry. If you really believe you can do something, I'd bet you could. However if you doubt you can succeed, then the outcome would already be determined." This seemed to bother her a bit. "You didn't know how rare it was to do wandless magic, so you didn't start off thinking it couldn't be done and you just did it. I'm guessing it was the same with flying. You didn't know that it wasn't as easy as some people make it seem and you flew your first time like you had been doing it all your life."

She gave him an appraising look and said, "I'm giving you the book I bought today. It talks about how most wizards think anything other than very basic wandless magic is a myth. It also talks about other types of magic that most people don't believe exists anymore".

"Thank you," Harry said still amazed at how this summer was going. "Mrs. Figg how is it that the Ministry of Magic hasn't sent me any letters about my underage use of magic? A couple of years ago I received an official warning because a house-elf smashed a dessert in the kitchen."

"I'm guessing that the Ministry watches for common magic signs Harry. Since what you've been able to do is so rare, I doubt the Ministry is watching for it. Or it could be that they are so busy right now that they have let some things slip by."

"I have another question for you Harry. Before you found out you were a wizard were there any things you caused to happen that you couldn't explain? Anything at all? This may help give us and idea on things to explore this summer. "

Harry thought back to all the times with the Dursleys where Dudley and his gang would pick on him. "Well when Dudley and his gang used to pick on me I ended up on the roof at school when I was just trying to jump over the fence. And then at the zoo, I set a boa constrictor loose when it told me it had never been to Burma before."

Mrs. Figg look shocked. "You're telling me that Rita Skeeter's article was true? You really are a Parslemouth?"

Harry laughed and said, "Oh, you're a fan of Rita Skeeter are you? I'm surprised you will have anything to do with me then."

Mrs. Figg blushed. "Well I just read that section when I have nothing better to do," she added quickly."

"Yes, I can talk to snakes. Professor Dumbledore guesses that Voldemort accidentally gave me that ability when he tried to kill me the first time. I didn't know that was seen as a bad thing until Draco Malfoy set a snake on me during dueling lessons. The snake was going after another student until I told it to stop. Everyone thought I was egging the snake on to attack him. That's when they all thought I was the Heir of Slytherin."

"Well then are there any other things you can remember happening? Anything different?" she asked.

Harry thought for a moment and remembered how Aunt Petunia had always cut his hair and by the next morning it was back to exactly the same before she had cut it. "There is one thing. Aunt Petunia hates my hair. She said it was always unruly so she kept trying to cut it, but the next day it was always back to exactly the same before she had cut it. Even when she almost shaved my head, it just came back by the next morning. It drove her crazy and she finally gave up. I never really have to get a haircut or anything, it just stays the same."

This seemed to interest Mrs. Figg quite a bit. "I wonder," she mumbled.

"What is it Mrs. Figg? Is this another bad sign?" Harry asked instantly thinking that this would be yet another thing strange about him.

"Oh it's no bad sign Harry and it's probably nothing. I guess you had better be getting back home. I think it would be wise to keep your new talent to yourself for a while. I think it will benefit you most if you use it only when it is necessary. You've seen for yourself what happens with people start talking about your unique talents."

When Harry got home there were 3 letters on his bed and Hedgwig was asleep in her cage.

The first one was from Hermione:

Harry

I just got a letter from McGonagall telling me that I'm going to be a prefect this year.

Like there was ever any doubt about that he thought.

I'm going to have to work extra hard to keep up my grades with all the extra duties. I do hope you and Ron will try to follow the rules a little better this year. I don't want to take points off of my own house you know.

Would she really do that? He quickly answered his own question: Yep without a doubt.

I'm not sure Ron is happy about this he thinks I'll be worse than Percy.

I've got to go, much to do.

Love

Hermione

Harry was really happy for her. It didn't surprise him at all that Hermione was going to be a prefect. She was the smartest and hardest working witch he knew.

The next letter was from Ron:

Harry

Did you hear that Hermione is a prefect? That's just bloody great, now we won't get away with anything. She'll be worse than Percy; the power just goes to their head.

You know she'll take points from Gryffindor don't you. She's not going to play favorites, even for us. This is bad.

She did seem very happy about it. I bet this got her over the disappointment of not going to visit Viky over the summer. I imagine she wrote to him first though.

Harry doubted this. He knew Ron really liked Hermione and the thought of her going to visit Viktor Krum bothered him a lot. Harry thought Hermione really liked Ron also but getting either of them to admit it would be nearly impossible.

I think you'll be able to visit us later in the summer. I was hoping it would be before your birthday but it looks like it may not be until a couple weeks before term starts.

I think they are going overboard on the protection thing. I mean you've gotten away from You-Know-Who every time so far. Why can't they just let us have some fun?

Don't let the Muggles get you down.

Ron

P.S. Mom is still really worried about you. You're like her youngest son now. I don't think there's anyway to get out of that!

Harry felt really warm knowing how Mrs. Weasley felt about him. The only time he felt part of a family was when he was with them. He also felt very guilty since he knew that their fondness of him made them a more likely target of Voldemort. Harry couldn't let anything happen to them.

Then he remembered the 3^rd letter, it was from Ginny. Ginny had had a crush on Harry since she saw him when Mrs. Weasley helped him get onto the platform before his first year. It even became a bigger crush when Harry saved her from Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets during his second year at school. Last year she seemed to have grown up a lot and didn't act as nervous around him. He assumed the crush was fading and that she was just becoming a friend. He always felt a special connection with her though. Maybe if things weren't so crazy right now.

Harry

Nice try with the questions about school on your last note, but I'm not letting you get away that easy.

Everyone is worried about you. We know that you're blaming yourself for what happened to Cedric, that's what you do. No one else blames you Harry. We are all very proud of how you handled yourself and that you got his body back for his parents. That is what you should think about.

How could I? It was me who suggested that Cedric take the cup with me so it would be a tie for Hogwarts. If I had just taken the cup by myself Cedric would be alive today. They can't understand how it is. Every year someone has been hurt because of me. I drug Ron and Hermione down the trap door in the first year. Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets because of me in the second year. Ron's leg was broken, the Dementors nearly killed Sirius and Hermione, and Wormtail got away, which means Sirius, is still on the run in the third year. And then last year it was Cedric dying and the real Professor Moody being locked in a trunk all year. All of this was because of me.

Mom says there is a good chance you can come here for the last few weeks of break. You will come won't you?

If you ever want to talk about anything, remember I'm here. I won't tell anyone else anything that you don't want me to.

Miss you

Ginny

This nearly made Harry cry. With each new letter from her, he missed her more and more. If things were normal, how would this have worked out? Would she still have a crush on him if he weren't 'The Boy Who Lived'? What would the rest of the Weasley's think about him liking Ginny? They'd probably kill him on the spot.

He decided to wait until tomorrow to write back. The rest of the evening was spent making things fly across the room. He concentrated on making multiple things move at one time. A few times he even managed moving some things and summoning other things at the same time. Things ended up crashing together in the air and not going where he wanted most of the time though.

The dream came to him again. He was tied to the gravestone with Voldemort having just come out of the cauldron with his body back. It was just how he remembered it but he didn't feel as afraid. He saw the people and the actions much clearer but wasn't terrified by what would happen. Just before Voldemort put the Cruciatus Curse on him he woke up. He wasn't sweating and his scar wasn't hurting, he was just angry that it had happened and there was nothing he could do about it.

Arriving at Mrs. Figg's house he knocked on the door. "Mrs. Figg its Harry".

"Come in Harry, but be prepared," she said.

Be prepared? What could she mean by that? He stepped inside and noticed pillows flying at him he using his Quidditch skills; he dodged a couple before being hit by the majority of them.

"Not quite prepared were you?" she asked. "Why did you dodge them? Why didn't you stop them? Muggle thinking, that's why." She sounded disappointed. Just yesterday she had sounded so proud and now that's gone.

"I didn't expect to be attacked by pillows and just thought about getting out of the way," he said forcefully.

"That's right you didn't expect to be attacked and didn't think about how to handle it. This is what we need to work on. You could have easily handled this if you had been prepared. You have the talent; we need to work on making you use it just as second nature. You stopped that truck with magic. Why did you think to use it then and not just now?"

"I knew I couldn't get to the girl before, so I thought about magic. I don't know why I didn't think of magic just now though," he said, letting the disappointment show.

"That's ok Harry. You exceed my expectations on the big things and I just assume you will handle everything the first time. We will work on these things," she was back to sounding positive again.

"Well, are you ready to go? We have a big day ahead of us. I think you'll enjoy this a great deal Harry."

"Where are we going Mrs. Figg?"

"The Ministry of Magic Harry. Have you ever been there?"

The Ministry of Magic he thought? This didn't actually make him happy. He couldn't understand why she would want to take him there. Did they know about the unauthorized magic he had been doing? "Ah no I've never been there. Why are we going there?"

She must have sensed the concern in his voice. "That is where my friend who wants to meet you works. I thought you would also enjoy a tour; it is a very historic place you know. We will be visiting areas that are not on the tour list though; I can assure you of that," she added that last bit slyly.

Tossing floo powder into the fire she said, "Department of Mysteries Ministry of Magic" but just then a ghostly voice came from the fire "Identification please:" Mrs. Figg responded with "Arabella Figg". The voice said, "Granted" and then she was gone.

Harry had never seen the fire ask questions before. What if he wasn't granted? Where would he end up? Or would the fire just spit him back out into Mrs. Figg's house.

He tossed the floo powder into the fire and said. "Department of Mysteries Ministry of Magic". Then he heard "Identification please:" "Harry Potter" he tried to say forcefully. The fire didn't respond instantly like it had for Mrs. Figg and this began to worry him. But just as he was about to step out of the fire he heard "Granted" and the familiar feeling of traveling by floo powder came over him.

He stepped out of the fire into what looked like the reception area for an office. It was mostly white with what looked like eyes in the walls.

"Welcome to Department of Mysteries Harry," said an older man standing next to Mrs. Figg. "I'm Mundungus Fletcher. I used to work with Arabella here until she began doing special assignments." He shook Harry's hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I knew your parents and thought the world of them. I hear you've become quite the wizard in the past 4 years. I can't believe you didn't find out about being a wizard until starting school. Not sure I would have left you with those Muggles myself, but it looks like it turned out ok."

"Pleased to meet you sir. Sorry but what exactly is Department of Mysteries? I've never heard anyone mention it before."

"Well maybe you've heard it by another name. This is the Unspeakable department Harry. We don't talk much about things that go on here. Others in the Ministry know us, they know our positions but until our Department of Mysteries chief decides to tell the Minister of Magic about something we've been working on, we don't discuss it outside of the department. There is...ah...special security in this area and we don't allow many visitors."

Harry remembered Mr. Weasley mentioning people working in the Unspeakable department while we were at the Quidditch World Cup last year.

"But then why did we come here Mrs. Figg? I think this is great being here and everything, I just don't understand why we're here." Harry asked.

"Well Harry I was being truthful when I said I had a friend who wanted to meet you. Mundungus here is a good friend of mine and had wanted to meet you. Also, he agreed with me that there maybe some things we can do to help you out."

Harry didn't quite understand what kind of help they were talking about but it was great being around other wizards. He was going to try and enjoy it as much as possible in case he never got back in again.

"Let me give you a quick tour Harry." Mr. Fletcher said. "First of all if you had lied when you were asked for your identification while coming here you would have ended up in a special security area. It's not the nicest of places so people don't often try to sneak in here. We've had you added into our access list for a little bit. However, you can only get here once per day. If you try again later today you'll be sent to security. I wouldn't recommend that."

"Excuse me Mr. Fletcher but what are those eyes in the walls for?" Harry asked pointing to the eyes on the wall.

"Not Mr. Fletcher Harry, call me Fletch, just Fletch. No need making me feel older than I already do, right." Harry saw the smile on the man's face. "Those eyes are extra security. Won't be fooled by polyjuice potion, invisibility cloaks or anything else we know of. We take our security pretty seriously here Harry. So, if I ask you to not mention something to anyone, I will mean anyone. If you have any questions on what you can or cannot mention, just ask up. Is that ok? We'd hate to have to modify your memory."

"Yes sir," he responded not feeling quite as comfortable as he would have liked.

They spent the next hour walking around the department. It was amazing; there were many areas that he could hear loud bangs and strange noises coming from. It reminded Harry of Fred and George's room at the Weasley's. Harry met many people who congratulated him on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and he had to keep pushing the feelings of guilt out of his mind. These people were just being nice and were only considering the tournament itself.

"Ok Harry, let's get down to some real work now, shall we" Fletch said while leading Harry into an office with 4 other people. "Let me introduce the people who will be working with us for a while."

"Bill McGentry here has been a Auror and with us for 6 years, Larry Smythe has been in our department for about 15 years now, Rose Douglas has been here only a year and was the top of her class at a private school, and of course you know Arabella Figg who has been officially away from us for a while but is still a quite capable Auror."

Harry greeted each of the people and couldn't read any emotions except for Mrs. Figg who seemed quite happy.

"Mrs. Figg suggested that due to recent events, it might be wise for us to see if we can teach you some things in a short period of time that you wouldn't normally learn at school. We've heard rumors that you have had more than your initial run-in with the Dark Lord and those of us in this room do indeed believe he is back." Finally Harry thought; he hadn't met anyone at the ministry other than Mr. Weasley believed what had happened.

Fletch went on, "Now there are many here who either don't believe or don't want to acknowledge the Dark Lord's return, but in this department we don't have the luxury to ignore the signs. If you wouldn't mind Harry could you please tell us about each time you have met the Dark Lord or any Death Eater? This may give us some idea on what types of things to focus on."

Harry started with the first year. A centaur had stopped Voldemort from attacking him in the forest when Harry had found him drinking the blood of a unicorn. He then told them about Professor Quirrell not being able to touch him and that Dumbledore thought it was the protection his mother gave him by sacrificing herself to protect him. This visibly bothered Fletch and Mr. Smythe.

Then he went onto the second year and how the memory of a 16-year-old Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets and set a basilk on the school. They seemed very interested in Fawkes' role and how the sword of Godric Gryffindor came out of the hat.

The third year was a little harder to explain since most of the people in the room thought Sirius Black was an escaped murderer and that Peter Pettigrew was dead. "So you're saying that Peter Pettigrew killed all those Muggles and that Black was framed for it?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Harry said as forcefully as he could. "Sirius Black is my godfather and I have seen Peter Pettrigrew in person twice now. I asked Remus Lupin and Sirius not to kill Peter because I didn't think that is what my dad would have wanted. But, Peter ended up escaping and then the Dementors were coming to do the kiss on Sirius and Hermione Granger but I was able to chase them away with the Patronus charm."

At this there was audible laughter. Bill McGentry spoke up. "Do you mean for us to believe that a 13 year old boy was able to create a Patronus that drove away that many Dementors? There aren't many adult wizards who could do that alone."

This really bothered Harry. He was tired of everyone treating him like a child. However it happened, he had done it. He had faced Voldemort 3 times now and these people wouldn't even say his name. "I'll tell you what," Harry said while staring at Bill, "if there is any way you can get some Dementors while we are finishing here I'll gladly demonstrate what I can do with them. You seem to want to just think of me as the little boy of some old friends of yours that by some stroke of luck is alive today. All I know is what happened, not why. I don't know how my Patronus was able to do that, it just did."

"Now Harry," Mrs. Figg stepped in, "it's not that they don't believe you. You have to understand that even though you lived these events, they sound like grand stories when they are being told".

"Actually Harry I think we can get some Dementors in here today." Fletch walked to the hallway and spoke to someone who quickly went down the hall. "I don't want anyone here to either have any doubts or too high of expectations of you. I appreciate your offer to show us some of your talent and I hope you don't take our skepticism too hard. We see and hear a lot of things in this department, but we have to be focused on facts as much as we can. Please continue."

This was fine with Harry, he would rather just show them anything they wanted and get on with this. Reliving these experiences isn't what he had planned on doing today.

"Well after the Dementors were gone, we went to the hospital and Sirius Black escaped again." He wasn't going to tell them that Hermione and he had helped Sirius escape.

"Last year was the Tri-Wizard Tournament and at the end of the third task, Cedric Diggory and I decided to make it a tie since we had helped each other out of some tight spots during that task. We grabbed the cup at the same time; however it had been turned into a portkey. We ended up in a graveyard, and Peter Pettigrew used the killing curse on Cedric and tied me to a gravestone. He then made a potion where he put what looked like a baby in a caldron and then needed some "bones of the father", so he took some dust from the bones of Voldemort's father. He needed "flesh of the servant" so Peter cut off his own hand and it dropped into the caldron. Then he wanted "blood of the enemy" so he cut open my arm with a dagger and put my blood in the caldron." Harry pulled up his robe to show them the scar from the cut. "Then a fully grown Voldemort came out of the cauldron and summoned the Death Eaters. Many of them showed up. He then did the Cruciatus curse on me so the Death Eaters could see that he could harm me. Then he showed them that he could now touch me. By taking my blood I no longer had the protection my mother gave me. Then he untied me and said we were going to duel. My leg was broken so it was hard to stand. I tried to disarm him but he was faster and did the Cruciatus curse on me again. Then he came over and asked me if I wanted him to stop doing that. I wouldn't answer so he tried to put the Imperius curse on me to force me to answer him. But I can throw that curse off without much trouble so he wasn't able to force me to do it."

Once again Bill McGentry laughed and said, "He can't be serious. Throwing off the Imperius curse from the Dark Lord, I can't sit here and believe that."

"Now Bill, I know that you have your doubts about this but I'm sure Harry thinks that is the curse which was used and..." Harry cut Fletch off and said, "That's it, let's prove this right now. I'm not going to set here and be as honest as I can and have you not believe me. I give you full permission to use the Imperius curse on me right now. If I can't throw it off, I'll leave and not take up any more of his time." Harry was staring at Bill now.

Mrs. Figg stepped in again, "Now Harry are you sure about this? Bill is very skilled in this curse it may not be pleasant".

"I'm sure Mrs. Figg. He can't be any better than Voldemort was, let's get this over with".

Bill pointed his wand at Harry and said, "Imperio". Harry felt no different and then heard "Come on Harry just tell us that you have been lying all along". He felt that saying he had been lying sounded like a good idea and would be great to do. Then in the back of his mind he heard 'Now really you haven't been lying, why would you want to say that?"

"Harry you should really just admit you've been lying."

'You haven't been lying and you know it. Just tell him so'

Bill was right in front of Harry now and Harry said slowly and clearly "I don't lie and I really don't like you at all."

Bill stumbled back at this and looked at Harry like he had never seen anything like him before.

Mrs. Figg and Fletch both started laughing. Larry had a look of satisfaction and Rose just sat there with her mouth wide open.

"Well now where were we?" Fletch said while still holding back his laughter. "Can you finish now Harry? I can assure you there will be no more interruptions."

"After I wouldn't do what Voldemort wanted he said he was going to kill me now. He started the killing curse but I was able to dive behind a gravestone. The Death Eaters were laughing and I knew with my broken leg I couldn't run away. I stood up to duel him face to face. I did the disarming charm again and he did the killing curse. Our spells met in the middle and then very strange things happened. They connected and moved us away from the others. A cage of light came from our wands and surrounded us. The Death Eaters couldn't get through. His spell pushed mine back towards my wand and it was shaking very hard. Then my spell pushed his back and when my spell touched his wand the ghostly figure of Cedric Diggory came out and told me to hold on. Then some old Muggle man came out followed by my mom. She was telling me to hold on that my father was coming. Then my dad came out and told me that they would be able to hold Voldemort off for a few seconds why I go back to the portkey. Cedric asked me to take his body back to his parents. Once I broke the connection I stumbled to Cedric's body but knew I couldn't get to the portkey. I used the summoning charm to bring the portkey to us while Voldemort was trying to say the killing curse. Then we were back at Hogwarts."

"Those are all of the times I've fought Voldemort or any Death Eaters." Harry felt very bad. Reliving all of the pain Voldemort has caused really bothered him.

Mrs. Figg put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Harry. I know this has been hard but it has given me a couple of ideas on what we need to work on."

There was a knock at the door and then Fletch turned around and said, "Harry, are you sure about the Dementors? We have access to some right now if you'd like."

"Yes I'm sure. If you're all willing to help me I don't want you to have any doubts about what I've been saying. "

They walked to a larger area. Fletch said, "Ok now we're going to be in the next room and in a couple minutes some Dementors will enter this area. I know you said you can handle this but just in case there are other wizards right outside the door. If we see you are having any problems they will step in."

Harry felt alone now. Knowing what was coming, he started thinking about his happiest thoughts. Then he felt the dreadful feeling of being near Dementors. Like all the happiness was being sucked out of him. Harry turned and saw not 5 but 10 Dementors. He stood his ground and concentrated on how he felt when he thought he was going to live with Sirius and yelled "Expecto Patronus". A huge silver stag erupted from the end of his wand. This seemed much bigger than the last time he had made one. The stag charged down the Dementors who quickly left through the opening they came in. Harry felt very satisfied at this but was going to ask for some chocolate anyway.

"All right Harry, nicely done," Fletch exclaimed while entering the room. "What's say you and I got get a bite to eat while the others talk about how to proceed. And while Bill figures out how he's going to face you again."

They entered an area with rows of tables and sat down in the corner. Harry could see many witches and wizards setting around talking and eating. He had never been around any wizard office before. This was all fascinating to him.

"Well Harry, what would you like? Just say what you'd like into the table."

"I'd like a hamburger, pumpkin juice and a chocolate bar please." As soon as the words had left his mouth a plate appeared with his food along with a glass of pumpkin juice.

Fletch had the same but without the chocolate.

Harry ate his chocolate bar first trying to get over any lingering effects of the Dementors.

"Fletch, I'm sorry about getting upset back there. It just seems that everyone treats me like a kid and is always making sure I'm all right. Bills attitude just reminded me of someone from school who always brings out the worst in me."

"Don't mention it Harry. We see you as a fourteen-year-old boy and don't realize all that you've been through. I know Dumbledore has the highest confidence in you and I can understand why. Don't worry about Bill; he lost a good deal of money on the Tri-Wizard Tournament and kind of blames you. He bet on Krum to win and for you to finish last."

Fletch and Harry sat there talking for a few minutes. Actually it was Harry asking many questions about working in the wizarding world and types of careers they held.

Harry was taking in all that Fletch was saying and the surroundings when he heard, "Well Harry, what are you doing here?" He turned to see Mr. Weasley and Percy walking over to the table.

"Hi Mr. Weasley, it's good to see you again. Hey Percy how are you? I'm just..." but then he was cut off.

Fletch quickly stood up. "Ah Arthur, good to see you again. Just giving Harry here a behind the scenes tour today. Come on Harry we better get back to it." He had a hand on Harry's arm pulling him along.

Harry called back "See you later. Tell the others I said hello."

Once back into Department of Mysteries, Fletch pulled Harry aside.

"Sorry about that Harry. We don't want any details of what we're doing getting around."

"You don't think Mr. Weasley would say anything do you?" Harry asked.

"Oh no, we could trust Arthur with anything. However, Percy seems more politically inclined if you know what I mean."

Harry knew exactly what Fletch meant. Percy had always been sucking up to his bosses in the Ministry. It had bothered Percy that the Minister of Magic had treated Harry like a son and didn't even know Percy's name.

Fletch went on "You can tell Arthur you are working on some special projects with us. Also tell him that I'm quite sure he would personally approve what we will be doing. But, he needs to know that as far as Percy is concerned, you are getting a tour. Nothing more. I'm sure Percy won't believe this but that's not my concern. Is that ok Harry?"

"Sure, as long as I don't have to lie to Mr. Weasley it's fine with me. His family has treated me better than anyone else ever has."

"Right then, let's join the others and see what we can teach you."

They joined the others in a large room but noticed Bill wasn't there.

"Well, we think we have some good ideas," Mrs. Figg said. "We only have a few weeks so we need to concentrate on what will get the most results. I'll be working with Harry at home so I won't need any of his time here."

Rose started off by saying, "I'll be trying to teach him some shield and blocking charms. We'll work on both blocking spells and objects." This was the first time Harry had actually heard her speak. She sounded very confident when she did.

Larry continued with, "I'll be working with him on the Cruciatus curse. We know this is a favorite of the Death Eaters and it has bothered Harry before. We'll work on throwing it off and then on some new techniques we're working on. If he can come as close to throwing it off as he did the Imperius curse, we can make some serious progress."

Mrs. Figg added, "Fletch, we thought it would be best if you worked with him on dueling. What to expect and some unconventional responses."

"Ah dueling, my favorite," Fletch added. "Don't worry Harry; we have a hospital wing right down the hall." The worry must have shown in Harry's face because they all started laughing.

"Ok then. I'll arrange everything and we'll see you back here tomorrow. Say 9:00am?"

"This sounds great to me," Harry said. "I don't know how to thank you for letting me come here and learn. Basically I live like a Muggle during the summer. "

"Now Harry," Fletch added seriously, "When we start tomorrow, we will need to be very serious about the training. We are taking time out of other tasks for this. We all agree it is very useful to help you out here. More than likely you will meet the Dark Lord before any of us do. If there is anything we can do to help you prepare, it is in all of our best interests. If we ask you to do something, please do it. It will be in the best interest of your training. Also, none of us will treat you like a kid. You will be treated like an Auror in training and we expect you to act accordingly."

"Thank you Fletch, I will do my best and I won't mess around."

Once back in Mrs. Figg's house Harry said, "I really can't believe you were able to get me Auror training. I'll do my best, I promise."

"Don't thank me yet Harry. It won't be easy. I imagine you'll quickly get tired of having curses put on you. If you had been able to stay with the Weasley's this summer I wouldn't have suggested it. I would you rather spend time having fun with your friends. But given the choice of being cursed all day or staying with the Dursley's, I guessed you might pick being cursed."

Once back in his room Harry began wondering what all he would be doing tomorrow. If he was able to learn everything they were going to teach him that may give him a slight advantage the next time he faced a Death Eater or Voldemort. They would only expect him to know what the school has taught him.

Harry decided to write a letter,

Sirius

How are you and Remus doing? Has there been any news about Voldemort or the Death Eaters? I never hear anything staying with the Dursley's.

I have a question about something I saw in a book. What do you think of wandless magic? Some parts of the book make it seem like a myth but others seem to show it being very powerful. I'm not turning into Hermione and studying all the time or anything; I was just bored one night.

Do you know Arabella Figg? She is the Mrs. Figg that the Dursley's used to leave me with. I found out the other day that she is a witch. I'm going to try and spend some time with her to see if I can learn anything. I wish I could spend more time in the wizard world.

Love Harry

Say hi to Remus and Buckbeak

Harry really wanted to ask about his dreams and why he hasn't woken up scared in a while but didn't think Sirius would understand and would probably just find some reason to worry more.

Harry tied the letter to Hedgwig and watched her fly out the window. He spent the next few hours practicing his wandless magic. Harry couldn't see how this was so unusual; it even seemed easier than using a wand.