Over the next month, Harry exchanged several more letters with both Ron and Hermione. With Hermione, he asked her for help with the homework whenever he got stuck, and she readily gave it, although those instances were rare. Most of the coursework was rather simple to Harry, and he was picking it up very quickly. Again, vague feelings of having taken the course before stirred in his mind as he studied, helping him pick it up as quickly as he did. They also discussed what they should do with the beacon and if they were going to keep trying to improve it for the OWL project- or, in fact, whether they should present it at all, or keep it a secret. Hermione had also discovered what the winged horses were- they only appeared to those who had faced death before. The reasoning was obvious for Harry, but Hermione must have experienced something horrific in her memories, even if neither of them completely remembered the future.
His letters to Ron remained pretty simple, as Ron could hardly contain his excitement about the World Cup, and had filled Harry in on some of the details. Bulgaria had one of the greatest rising stars of Quidditch, Viktor Krum, whose fantastic seeking skills nearly carried the team to the championships. Ireland was known for having extremely good teamwork, to the point where some people had accused them of cheating using mind-linking devices (all of which were false, of course). The two teams were expected to face off at the World Cup Finals.
His birthday came and went with no celebrations from the Dursleys, as he expected. It was still an extremely good day for him, however, because he received a few gifts and letters he received from his friends. He was worried that the extra owls would make the Dursleys angry, but apparently Hedwig had the foresight to fly around the neighbourhood and warn the other postal owls to only deliver during the night. He gave her a dozen owl treats for that. One of his greatest surprises was a letter from Sirius. His godfather had remembered his birthday! He happily opened up the letter first.
Happy Birthday, Pup!
I'm so thankful you gave me a chance back when we met in the Shrieking Shack. All I want is to see you grow up to be a proud, powerful wizard. I'm sorry I can't give you very much for your birthday, but here's some notes on how your father and I learned to become animagi. We started training in fourth year, and we managed to complete the transformation in fifth year. I hope my notes help, and I hope you'll take the Marauders into the next generation at Hogwarts.
I'm out of the country for the moment, so I'm sorry to say that I can't see you for your birthday. I can't receive owls from you or else they might find me, and I'm already taking a small risk sending you this letter, but I just had to wish my godson a happy birthday.
Love, Sirius
Animagus training! He felt a little dejected that, although Sirius was out of prison, he still wouldn't be able to contact him. Sirius, however, still managed to give him the perfect gift- he could learn a useful skill, and it felt like connecting to his father in a roundabout way. Putting the notes aside, he opened up the package from Hermione next.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! You've made so much progress with Runes, I'm so proud of you! I decided to get you a basic rune-carver's kit, which should last you until we graduate from Hogwarts. I also got you the book, Cracked: The Craziest Curse Breakers, which has stories on some of the most intricate wards ever found and the people who managed to break through them. I wish I could present these to you properly at a birthday party, but maybe we can have a belated party when we get to the Burrow.
Speaking of the Weasleys, you know that we still haven't had any revenge on Fred and George for their betting pool? I still can't believe them! We really need to prank them back, and I have the perfect idea...
Harry had completely forgotten about the twins. He grinned at the thought of Hermione putting her mind to getting revenge on the twins, at their own game, and at their own house! She really didn't do anything by half-measures. Ron's letter was short and to the point, as usual.
Happy Birthday Harry! We're all set to see you next week at the Burrow, and Hermione too! I got you Quidditch Scores and Statistics so you'll know more about what's going on when we listen to the game!
Harry opened the book and saw that it was, quite literally, a book on the statistics of all the professional Quidditch teams in Europe, as well as records of their matchups and scores for the past several years. He was already pretty shocked at the fact that Ron had sent him a book as a gift, but was almost completely floored by the fact that the book Ron had sent him was more boring than Hermione's gift. He set the book down and picked up the curse-breaker book instead, immediately fascinated by the multitude of runes and schemes that some ancient pharaoh or dark wizard had set up to protect their earthly possessions. He was reading well past midnight before he finally fell asleep.
Harry Potter found himself sitting... no, cradled... in a large chair. He noted it was in an old, dilapidated, but formerly exquisite house, if the elaborate door was anything to go by. Looking down, he saw his own body, which was small, wrinkled, and deformed. Oddly enough, he wasn't shocked at the sight. He was feeling anticipation... Wait, thought Harry. That's not me... that's someone else feeling it... Realizing the emotions were not his own, he instinctively threw up his Occlumency shields. It dulled the images around him slightly, but he could now clearly tell what was happening. It was obvious to him that he wasn't dreaming- he was inside somebody else's mind.
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