The Return to Hogwarts

"If you'd like, Harry, I'll let them stay in the closet for a few days too!"

"Don't do anything foolish, Sirius!" Remus's tone became much sterner. "Do you want to go back to Azkaban?"

“I don’t care!” Sirius shouted, his neck stiff.

Seeing the thin stick pointed at him, Uncle Vernon broke out in a cold sweat. His two strong arms seemed to have turned into willow branches, and the shotgun in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

"Don't do that, Sirius!"

Harry emphasized again, looking at Aunt Petunia, who was clinging to Dudley, and Uncle Vernon, who was trembling, his green eyes filled with pity.

“That’s all in the past, Sirius!” Harry said breathlessly. “Ever since you spoke with them last time, they’ve been very good to me this summer. I really swear, they’ve changed for the better!”

Uncle Vernon's face froze, and even Aunt Petunia, who had closed her eyes in fear, opened them and stared at him in disbelief. Clearly, she couldn't believe that Harry would cover for them.

"Really?"

Harry's words had an effect; Sirius's raised arm was no longer so hard, and he slowly lowered his wand, looking at Harry suspiciously.

“I assure you!” Harry said 'certainly'.

"So--"

Harry pulled Sirius behind him and forced a smile at the stunned Dursleys.

"See you next year, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley. Have a wonderful life."

Chapter 451 Burrow

2023-08-30

Harry rolled off the Knight Bus, which was speeding along to meet their demand of arriving in St. Catchpol Village before dinner. Stan Sampark even 'dropped' several passengers out of the windows midway just to satisfy Harry's needs.

"Goodbye, Mr. Potter!"

The ticket seller, whose face was covered in pimples, poked his head out of the window, waved enthusiastically to Harry, and then disappeared into thin air along with the bus.

“No way!” Harry, bent over and panting, said with difficulty to Stan Summer, who had already left. “This is absolutely the last time I’ll ever ride the Knight Bus!”

"Don't speak too soon, young man—"

Apparition didn't feel much better than the wizard's bus. Sirius and Remus weren't as disheveled as Harry. Hearing Harry's complaints, Sirius stepped forward, put his hand on Harry's shoulder, and said with a smile.

When Harry found himself breathing smoothly again, he found the three of them standing on a country road. The road led to a village on the left, and the surrounding land was mostly farmland and marshland. A not-too-high mountain stood in the direction where the sun was setting.

The path to the right led to a crooked, several-story building—the home of Ron, his best friend at Hogwarts, and his second favorite place in the world. Although riding the Knight Bus still made Harry uneasy, the sight of that building's slanted silhouette in the pinkish-gold sunlight instantly lifted his spirits. Ron also had Mrs. Weasley there, whose cooking was better than anyone he knew.

"Let's go, Harry."

Remus placed his hand on Harry's other shoulder; the sunset made his pale skin appear more normal. He smiled at Harry.

Your friends are all eager to meet you!

"Speaking of it,"

Harry let Hedwig out of her cage to let her feel the breeze in the moor, and then they walked together toward the Burrow. Harry asked curiously...

"Sirius, Remus, how did you come to know the Weasleys?"

"Oh, this one—"

A mesmerizing evening breeze caressed his cheek, and Sirius lazily squinted and smiled.

“We’ve been dealing with Arthur and Molly for much longer than you have, Harry, haven’t you, Remus?”

“That was probably before you were born.” Remus tightened the collar of his wizarding robes, a gesture that made Harry realize that Professor Remus was wearing a brand new robe. Back at Hogwarts, he always wore a faded robe covered in patches, which the Slytherins had often mocked him for.

"Back then, Voldemort hadn't fallen yet, you know, Harry. At that time, there weren't many people who had the courage to rebel against the most evil dark wizard in the world. Albus did his best to gather the strength of these people together. Sirius and I, and of course, your parents, met Arthur and Molly at that time."

"But Molly has never really liked me--"

It must have rained not long ago near Weasel Mountain. Although the ground was dry, it was still full of small puddles. Sirius nimbly jumped over a puddle and said with a smile.

“That’s because some of your ideas are always too radical. Molly doesn’t like overly risky solutions,” Remus said with a chuckle. “Besides, you always like to joke about Arthur’s thinning hair.”

Harry burst out laughing; he hadn't expected his godfather to have such a wicked sense of humor in his youth.

"Harry!"

Once the three of them had climbed over a small hill, the Burrow suddenly came into view, and two men were standing in front of the Weasleys' little stone hut where they kept their brooms, craning their necks and staring in their direction.

Both women were running towards him, but the girl was significantly faster and more agile. Ron hadn't run far before Hermione was already upon him.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

Hermione gave Harry a big hug, and when she let go, her face was full of joy and excitement.

Just like him, Hermione had grown much taller than last semester, making her appear much taller. Moreover, Harry was surprised to find that pink pimples had started to appear on Hermione's fair cheeks.

"Hermione?"

After shaking off the boring discovery from his mind, Harry grinned and said in surprise,

"What are you doing here? The World Cup is still a few days away."

Before the end of last semester, the three of them made a promise to go to the World Cup together. They agreed to meet at the Burrow, but now that the World Cup final is still a few days away, how did Hermione end up here?

"It's Black. Oh, it's Sirius!"

Hermione had run quite a distance, but her breathing was perfectly steady. This told Harry that Hermione had probably not forgotten Professor Blaine's instructions during the summer holidays and had continued to run. He, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about it after the summer holidays began.

"He wrote me a letter saying that you must want me to come and celebrate your birthday with you!"

Harry immediately turned to Sirius in surprise, only to see a face full of kind smiles.

"You have to have a proper birthday celebration, don't you?"

Sirius gently patted Harry's head and spoke softly.

"call"

Ron finally arrived, his cheeks flushed and covered in sweat, panting heavily.

"Phew—now I finally see the value in Professor Blaine's gym class. Hermione, you run really fast! Oh, buddy, how have you been these days? Are the Muggles still as fond of you as ever—"

Ron was interrupted by Harry's nervous cough before he could finish speaking. Harry had just helped the Dursleys smooth things over in front of Sirius and didn't want the truth to be exposed by Ron's unintentional words.

"Everything has been fine, hasn't it?"

"Harry said eagerly."

Judging from the thick plumes of white smoke billowing from the chimney, Mrs. Weasley was probably quite busy. After Hermione and Ron greeted Sirius and Remus, the group headed towards the Burrow.

"Hello, Crookshanks—"

As Harry passed the Weasleys' vegetable garden, he waved to the large ginger cat, Crookshanks, who was leaping around and sparring with the goblins. Crookshanks, after spotting Harry, lazily meowed twice and waved his paws at him in return.

"Seriously, Hermione—"

Harry said seriously, "You should check if Crookshanks is also an Animagus. It's less like a cat than any other cat I've ever seen."

“At least it’s really good at catching mice,” Sirius said with a chuckle. “I survived entirely on the mice it caught before Christmas last year.”

Ron opened the back door of his house and led Harry and the others inside. Breathing in the warm, homey atmosphere of the small, cramped room, a sense of comforting security washed over them.

"Oh, honey, was the journey smooth?"

As Harry walked through the living room, he glanced at the magic clock hanging on the wall. Except for Mr. Weasley's clock, which still pointed to 'work,' the other eight clocks all pointed to 'home.' Harry blinked, wondering what was wrong, when Mrs. Weasley, who had heard the commotion in the kitchen, rushed out with a still-smoking spatula in her hand. She quickly came to Harry and gave him a big hug, just like Hermione had.

"Ahem, everything is fine, Mrs. Weasley!"

"Harry said, panting."

"What a good child!"

Mrs. Weasley cradled Harry's cheeks in her hands (Ron rolled his eyes, while Hermione pursed her lips and chuckled), her face full of affection.

“I originally planned to have Arthur pick you up, but the department has been too busy lately, and Arthur couldn’t get away. Sirius insisted on going in person, so I had to agree.”

"I am Harry's godfather, Molly!"

Sirius said with a dark face.

“It is only right for me to pick up Harry, and I don’t need anyone’s permission.”

Mrs. Weasley raised one eyebrow, and Remus smiled at the opportune moment.

"Your scrambled eggs are almost burnt, Molly—"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, Remus--"

Weasley was much friendlier to Remus; she turned and rushed hurriedly toward the kitchen, shouting as she did so.

"We'll be able to eat soon, Harry. Arthur promised before he left this morning that he wouldn't miss your birthday dinner!"

"Oh, you're back already?"

Just as Harry was about to tell Mrs. Weasley that there was no need to go to such lengths for his birthday, footsteps suddenly came from the stairs behind them. Harry turned around and saw that it wasn't Fred and George, but two young men he had never seen before, who were also red-haired.

"Charlie and Bill—"

Ron laughed for no apparent reason.

"You surely remember their story from when they were both at Hogwarts, right?"