Looking out of the open window, Harry saw how it was a beautiful summer day and he longed to go out and just have some fun - best without running into Dudley and his friends - but he forced himself to go back to his book. He could go out once he was done with this self-imposed lesson. Though of course he did have another reason he did not want to admit to himself.
"The summer is not running away," Harry told himself.
Downstairs meanwhile, the mood was a bit annoyed as well.
"I'm a bit baffled that Harry is trying to improve his reading instead of being outside like the other children," Veronica told her husband while playing with her son.
Thomas looked up from his crossword puzzle. "Oh, I know why he's doing this. He's not seeing it, but subconsciously he wants to avoid running into Dudley. You know what his teacher told us how things are in school, even if they have no proof."
"Honestly, it's like Petunia trained her brat to annoy Harry, something I could actually see her do," Veronica said while rolling the bright ball to Mark, who caught it while laughing, oblivious to the mood of his parents.
"Sadly, at school they can't prove anything, but the other students don't want to become too close friends with Harry because of that brat. Petunia must be proud of herself." Thomas was not thrilled with what the teacher had told them.
Veronica's opinion of the Dursleys had sunken even lower after hearing it herself. "Harry is such a good and well-behaved student. But now this brat destroyed any chance of him making friends in the near future."
"They certainly can't put him into a different class, unless something does happen they can prove. Despite being not well-liked, the Dursleys do hold a certain influence in the neighborhood," Thomas said in regret.
The teacher had been quite frank with them, that while Harry was a good student, Dudley was not and affected the entire class with his attitude. And while nothing could be proven, he was sure the Dursley boy was already proving to be a hooligan. She added that that would explain while Harry was well-liked in class, no one wanted to become his friend; it was sad.
Accepting the ball from Mark, Veronica shook her head. "That boy won't stop until feeling the consequences of his actions."
"Fat chance, considering who his parents are," Thomas waved the idea off, having no illusions where Dudley's behavior towards Harry came from.
Veronica meanwhile had rolled away the ball again, but this time Mark didn't run to it, and instead held out his hands. After some moments the ball all on its own started to roll to him, before jumping into his hands. His parents watched this in surprise, suddenly realizing that several small displays of accidental magic perhaps didn't come from Harry.
"Did you see that?" Veronica asked her husband.
"I did see it." Thomas was surprisingly calm, considering what he had just witnessed. "Thank all goodness we already have experience with raising a magical child."
"You think we should tell Sirius and Remus?" Veronica asked, knowing this would be important.
Looking at his laughing son, Thomas nodded slowly. "We better do. It's better to be prepared right from the start than stumbling into things."
o
The summer day also was nice in Devon, where the Burrow, the home of the Weasley family, was located. However, the two youngest of the Weasley children, Ron and Ginny Weasley, sat by the pond near the house. The house was a bit too full for their tastes and the weather was good. Also, they both knew Fred and George had way too much pent-up mischief to vent, especially with their parents currently being absent, so they wanted to stay away from that.
"Really?" Ginny asked her brother. She would start school after the summer and thus had asked him many questions about it. His answers however were surprising for the girl.
"Yes, the school stuff is kind of boring, but now I know why Fred and George like to bring Muggle stuff home. That stuff is awesome!" Ron told her. "Learning how to read is worth for these comics. They're nothing like these lame Martin Miggs comics from Diagon Alley."
Ginny wouldn't know what was written in these, not yet having learned how to read, but the characters in the comics Ron had shown her over the months surely looked interesting. A man dressed like a bat fighting crime? A man from outside Earth who can fly and is really strong? A woman from a mystical island with powers from the gods? That certainly wasn't something she would have seen before, especially since Fred and George were not in the habit of sharing their finds, while Ron was.
"Mum lectured you a lot however," Ginny remembered. "She thinks you aren't learning well enough."
"She's always lecturing me. That's no news," Ron waved it aside. In his mind, his mother was holding him to an impossibly high standard. The actual schoolwork was not something he was terribly interested in, despite his mother's efforts.
"Well, OK. It's you who gets yelled at." In fact, Ginny actually felt a bit jealous of her brother, since she felt as being the only girl, their mother was coddling her too much. That, and with so many older brothers, her interests simply were not stereotypically female, despite her mother's best attempts.
"Oh, I remember! I have one comic still in my bag. It's about a superhero witch who speaks spells by talking backwards. Want to see?" Ron then remembered.
Ginny loved it when Ron shared these comics with her, even if she couldn't yet read them herself. "Oh yes!"
And off they were into the house.
Down in the town meanwhile, Arthur and Molly Weasly were talking to Ron's teacher.
"So, to understand you correctly, our Ron is smart but not a good student?" Arthur asked, hoping he'd understood correctly.
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