After that initial shock from the strange vision he had experienced in his dreams, Harry was very attentive to them, hoping to see another Death Eater attack before it was committed. For the moment, however, this was not the case. Still, despite the lack of such ominous visions, Harry continued with his dream diary, writing about anything he saw in his sleep, finding amusement in what his mind created.
While it was true that for a few days his studies seemed to suffer after learning about the attack, very soon it not only seemed that he returned to his usual life, but it also appeared he was overcoming it by learning even faster than he normally had, much to the fascination of the teachers who honestly didn't know what to do in the face of the fact that very soon they would run out of curriculum to teach him. Perhaps most fascinating to them was the fact that Harry was now much busier than he had been the previous year, being able to be part of his House Quidditch team.
In fact, Quidditch had become something important in his life – not transcendental, as it seemed to be for some of his friends and classmates, but important nonetheless. He couldn't deny that he had a good time playing with the members of his House; Morris was a taskmaster when it came to training, but it was quite satisfying when they achieved the set objectives... although, in part, the training was more about getting used to playing as a team and what strategies would be effective against Ravenclaw, the first team they knew they would have to play against, who were very good from what Morris said.
The first Quidditch match was scheduled for October 30th, a Saturday and just the day before Halloween. As the date approached, the castle seemed to be a hive of excited whispers about the match. Since family members could be invited to matches with the permission of their Head of House, Harry didn't hesitate to send a letter to Remus to see if he could be present and waited anxiously for his reply, which arrived two days before along with another letter he did not enjoy so much.
"Whose letter is it, Harry?" Athenea asked him at breakfast.
"From Remus... He's coming to the game. He says he's looking forward to seeing me play." Harry replied.
"You're happy, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And the other letter?" Jonathan asked anxiously.
"What other letter?"
"It's here."
Harry was silent for a few minutes as he read the second letter that had gone largely unnoticed until now, and he frowned in disgust. Whoever it was from, it was not very pleasant for him.
"From my parents. Dumbledore warned them about the match, and they'll come too." He said after reading the missive, to which his friends frowned in disgust. "Actually, what they'll do is be with Brian, and they'll hardly see what happens during the match while they listen to Brian complaining about everything he dislikes about school, or how badly I've behaved with him... you know, the usual." He finished with a sigh, ignoring the surprised looks given to him by the rest of the Hufflepuffs who had overheard his conversation.
When it was time for the game two days later, Harry was looking at the people in the stands watching it. He was looking for his honorary uncle, who, if everything went as it should, ought to be there by now, though where he couldn't say... With the students? From what he had seen, he wasn't there, nor was he with his parents who had also said they would come. He was surprised when he saw the three of them sitting on the steps reserved for teachers and important guests; his parents were having a torturous-looking conversation, while Remus was having a fairly quiet chat with Professor Snape. It was curious to see how the rivalry between the two men had disappeared after Harry's entry into Hogwarts... Almost as if they had put aside their differences for the young Hufflepuff.
Calmer, Harry went out onto the pitch, ready to have as much fun as possible. After all, he didn't care if they won or lost; he just wanted to have a good time. The team's strategy had been quite simple: staying out of the rest of the game and waiting for the Snitch to appear, and that was exactly what he was planning to do. Although Ravenclaw's Beaters made it quite difficult for him since at every opportunity they had they threw a quite aggressive Bludger.
It was not an excessively long match... it only lasted twenty-five minutes; although it was full of action by both teams, with fair play. Ravenclaw's team proved to be quite good, although Hufflepuff had managed to assemble a good team as well... The Badgers won by 80 to 240, after a very impressive pursuit of the Snitch by both Seekers, which Harry actually won by a rather risky manoeuvre in which he almost crashed to the ground.
"Harry!"
It didn't take long for Remus to come out to meet him as soon as the match was over, and give him a big hug, though careful not to hurt him. He had a smile of joy from ear to ear and his eyes shone with delight.
"Hello, Uncle Remus... Did you like the game?"
"Like? It was fantastic! You're an exceptional player! That last move before catching the Snitch... it was heart-stopping. I hadn't enjoyed a Quidditch match in a long time."
"I'm very glad, Uncle Remus," said the boy happily. "Will you stay a while longer, or will you leave at once?"
"I'll stay a while..." the werewolf said, winking at him. "Severus and I are going to have a talk about a possible improvement to the Wolfsbane Potion."
"Harry..."
His mother's voice behind him made the boy tense unconsciously. He didn't know what they wanted, but he didn't really care either... his parents had shown a total lack of interest in him since he started Hogwarts again, even though they had pretended to want to know what he was interested in during the end of the summer... It was obvious that they hadn't cared much.
"Yes?" He said as he turned around, and it didn't even bother him that they didn't go to hug him or that his father had an arm around Brian's shoulders, who was smiling with satisfaction as he looked at Harry.
"An excellent match," his mother said. "You played well."
"Thank you," said the boy, looking at his parents suspiciously.
"Harry, we'd like you to talk to your teachers so that they can lift your brother's punishment," his father said. "After all, it was just an argument between brothers."
"I'm sorry, Father, but I'm not going to do it." He replied coldly. "You can say that it was an argument between brothers, or rather, Brian can say that it was and you justify it, but when one argues, it doesn't include petrifying the other from behind and starting to kick him all over the body... No, Father... For once, Brian will be punished and serve his punishment."
After that, Harry turned to leave, knowing that his parents had to be furious at his refusal. Not wanting to be found by anyone other than his friends, he went straight to his special room, instead of to the Common Room where the victory would be celebrated and where he would be easily found. He was about to read a book about controlling the elements when a small explosion of fire behind him announced the arrival of the Headmaster's phoenix: Fawkes.
"What are you doing not having fun, novice?" said the phoenix. "You should be celebrating your victory."
"Then they would find me easily, and I don't want to. Not when my parents are at school."
"Ahh... Yes, your parents. Now they are in the office with my brother. They're complaining because you've refused something..."
"To have Brian punished for attacking me and beating me up..." he replied. "I don't know why they complain; the whole school comments on the insignificance of the punishment for what he did... with any other student, it would have been immediate expulsion, but he has only been given detentions..."
"But remember that they are deceived by a simple error of interpretation... My brother will not risk expelling him as long as he is wrong. Although it is funny to see how he justifies himself that he has not shown the same or more capabilities than you..." The bird chuckled.
Harry said nothing to what Fawkes had said, and only put the book back in its place, and then sat down in one of the most comfortable seats in the room; the phoenix was surely going to take advantage of the fact that he was there to give him one of his now theoretical lessons, after all Harry would take a long time, if at all, to have a 'fiery day'.
"I see that you have become comfortable, rookie, perfect for a lesson."
"I suppose you would like to show me something, seeing as you've come to see me."
"Hmmm... Are you implying that I'm only here to act like a teacher? You talk as if I don't enjoy your company."
"I haven't said that, just that you usually just come to teach me something new, at least lately."
"That, for your information, is because you're too busy for leisure visits," Fawkes replied indignantly. "If it weren't for that, I'd come more than once so that we could go flying."
"I know..."
"Well, shall we begin? Today I want to teach you some phoenix history."
"History?"
"Sure, rookie. Don't you think that we don't explain history to our young ones?"
"I didn't imply the opposite... it's just that I was surprised."
The phoenix story was something that had not yet been taught to a human, as Fawkes told him, although perhaps it was because a human had never managed to transform into a phoenix-Animagus and had been able to understand them. It was a surprise for Harry to learn that the phoenixes had been born 500,000 years ago when humans were much more animalistic than anything else, as well as their evolution and why he had decided to bond or remain with some human beings.
By the time night came, Harry knew far more about phoenixes than any human who could be considered an expert on them. And Harry remained much calmer, not only because Fawkes had that effect on him, but also because his parents had already left and had not been able to tell him or do anything else. It was a pity that because of that, he hadn't been able to be with Remus either, but he knew that his uncle would have enjoyed his conversation with Professor Snape, and he didn't mind not having been able to spend more time with him. That night he went to bed with a smile, knowing that the next day he would be able to enjoy a privilege that due to age he would still have to wait a year for: visiting Hogsmeade.
That Saturday, when the visit to the only magical village in Great Britain was scheduled, it started being quite cool and making more than one consider taking out their warm clothes in order not to get cold later... and despite the obvious disappointment of the first and second years of not being able to go, there was a clear festive atmosphere for the upcoming visit to Hogsmeade... Harry was no exception... he felt elated, since he had never been able to go with his parents when they had ever taken Brian for something.
After saying goodbye to his snared companions who also wished they could go with him to the village, Harry ran to where the Weasley twins were waiting for him to travel to the village. To be able to go to where the carriages were waiting, you first had to go through Filch who had a list of who had permission and who did not, which was not easy considering that the caretaker, seeing Harry, refused to let him pass and threatened him with a good punishment for wanting to break the rules. It took the intervention of Professor McGonagall, who had decided to supervise the process, to convince the man that although Harry was 12 years old, he was in the fourth year and had permission to go to Hogsmeade.
The drive to the village was filled with excitement for both Harry and the twins, who were eager to arrive to show their younger friend the wonders of the village. And as soon as the carriage where they were travelling with their friend Lee Jordan (who did not fully understand the deep friendship of the redheads with the boy) stopped, the two young redheads abandoned the vehicle, dragging the Hufflepuff along with them to their destination: Zonko's Joke Shop.
Although the boy was not adept at playing pranks on his classmates, he enjoyed his visit to Britain's most famous joke shop to the fullest, although the twins assured that they would soon be unseated by themselves. Still, the two red-haired Gryffindors stocked up on all the products available inside the shop; When the Hufflepuff asked them why, they shrugged their shoulders before answering.
"Despite our ideas, our studies and theories, we don't have the necessary ingredients to be able to make them, so we have no choice but to buy the ones that Zonko's offers us," Fred explained.
"But if instead of buying what Zonko's has, you saved up and bought ingredients..." Harry began.
"Oh, do you think we spend everything we have?" laughed George. "No, our little friend... We only spend a tenth of what we have, and the rest we save... although at the rate we're saving, it will take a long time to be able to start the shop."
That, in a way, made the boy sad; after all, he knew how important the issue of the shop was for them, and knowing that it was very difficult for the boys to start their business was a pretty hard blow. Deciding that he would try to help them in some way, he began to pay attention to the different things the Gryffindors were telling him about each of the pranks and their effects, storing the information away for later.
After the obligatory visit to Zonko's, the three Gryffindors showed Harry all the nice things in the village, such as Honeydukes, where Harry bought himself some sweets and also a few for his friends, so they couldn't say he hadn't remembered them. After that, they took him to the Post Office, to the Shrieking Shack, and finally to the Three Broomsticks.
"You'll love the Three Broomsticks, you'll see. You have to try the hot Butterbeer... It's delicious," Fred commented as he guided the young Hufflepuff to a table, followed by Lee and George going to order.
"But I don't..."
"Come on, Harry!" exclaimed Lee, "you can't come and not try a Butterbeer! It would be sacrilege..."
"It is sacrilege to go too far, Lee... but you are right in saying that he cannot leave without trying it," George began, after sitting down. "Now Madam Rosmerta will bring us the drinks."
"Her in person?" Lee asked, surprised.
"Anything for her favourite twins," George laughed as he looked at the bar and saw how the owner came with four drinks.
"Well, this is new," Madam Rosmerta said, amused. "There's a new member of the group... although a little small, right? Do you mean that he has authorisation to have come?"
"I'm a fourth-year, ma'am. I have authorisation," Harry replied politely.
"Fourth-year? I would have sworn you weren't more than 12 years old..." She said, looking closely. "Yes, no more than twelve, maybe even eleven..."
"I'm twelve, but I'm in fourth year, and I have permission," he said somewhat resentfully.
"I'm sorry, boy, I didn't mean to offend you." She said with surprise. "It's just that I didn't expect it... tell me, are you related to James Potter?... You look a lot like him."
"Yes," the boy said with a sigh. "I'm Harry Potter, his eldest son."
As he listened to the witch's surprised comments, Harry couldn't help but think that he shouldn't have come to the village. He couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts!