“I still don’t think this is a good idea,� said Harry, as he waited for Ron to get ready to go the Dursley’s house. “I mean, they probably burned all of my stuff as soon as they could.�

“I doubt it,� said Mrs. Weasley briskly, “And if they did we can always get you new things in Diagon Alley.�

“But…I don’t have any money,� said Harry, “And I doubt that the Dursley’s are going to give me some to buy school supplies. They’d much rather just ship me off to Kinselton again.�

At that moment, a large owl with slightly orange feathers crashed through the open window and into the kitchen. A huge, bulging bag was tied neatly to its leg, as well as a short note tied to the other leg. Harry was surprised that the owl didn’t drop on its flight to the Burrow, because it certainly looked like it was carrying a heavy load. Mrs. Weasley looked just as surprised to see the owl as Harry did.

“I can’t imagine who that’s from,� she said, looking curiously at the owl, “I wasn’t expecting any owls.�

“We’ll never know unless we open it,� said Ginny, smirking slightly. “Unless you’d all rather just stand here and admire that terribly ugly owl.�

Harry laughed in spite of himself, and Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and tore the packaging off the bundle that it was carrying. She also carefully removed the letter from the owl’s scaly leg.

“It’s for you, Harry,� she said after a moment of examining the letter. “But I’m not sure who it’s from.�

Harry creased his forehead in confusion, trying to imagine who’d want to send him a letter. He tore off the envelope, and read the letter slowly:

Dear Mr. Potter,

We recently received your letter detailing your need to withdraw from Gringotts bank. After carefully reviewing your letter, we’ve concluded that it is legitimate, and not forged. We’ve included a small portion of the money in your vault. Please keep in mind that if you want to withdraw any more money you will need to bring your key to the bank. We will not accept any more letter withdrawals from you, as you have reached your limit.

We look forward to seeing you at your next visit to the bank.

Sincerely,

Griphook, Chief of Goblin Staff

“So…this is all mine?� Harry asked, looking at the fat bag that he supposed was full of money.

Mrs. Weasley looked over Harry’s shoulder and quickly read through the message. “My goodness,� she said under her breath, “I suppose it is.�

Harry opened the bag and spilled some of its contents onto the table. Several fat gold coins clinked together as they came out of the bag. Harry suddenly felt embarrassed, as he watched Mrs. Weasley’s eyes open wide at the sight of the money.

“I guess we won’t have to worry about your school supplies,� she said, “It’s taken care of.�

Harry stopped staring at the gold for a moment, and looked at Mrs. Weasley. “S-Shall we be off then?�

Mrs. Weasley stopped looked at the gold for a moment too. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. We wouldn’t want the day to get old.�

At that moment, Ron appeared in the room, and set his eyes on Harry’s gold. “Blimey! Where did all the gold come from? Does this mean Dad got another promotion?�

Mrs. Weasley laughed softly, “Of course not, Ron. This is Harry’s money. The bank just sent it to him.�

“Oh,� Ron looked slightly crestfallen as he watched Harry scoop the rest of it into a bag.

“Are we all ready to go now?� asked Mrs. Weasley.

Ron perked up when he heard this. Harry noticed that he pushed his pockets in further when Mrs. Weasley looked his way.

“You weren’t actually getting ready, were you?� Harry asked Ron under his breath, even though he had no idea what was in his pocket.

“I grabbed these from Fred and George’s room on my way down,� he whispered, pulling a couple of pranks out of his pocket. “I can’t wait to see Dudley’s face when he sees these. It should get him back for all the times he’s been horrible to you.�

“Thanks,� said Harry, not wanting to spoil the moment by adding that he couldn’t remember most of these horrible times.

Ron snickered, causing Ginny and Hermione to look at him suspiciously.

“Ginny, you’ll be doing side-along with Hermione. Harry, you’ll be with me,� said Mrs. Weasley.

“Why can’t Harry do side-along with me?� asked Ron indignantly, glaring at his mother.

Mrs. Weasley turned red, “Well—�

“No offense, Ron,� said Hermione loudly, interrupting Mrs. Weasley, “But the last time someone tried to do side-along with you, they ended up splinched into eight different pieces.�

Ron turned a bright shade of red, “That was an accident!�

“You can tell that to your sister,� said Mrs. Weasley sternly, “After all, she did have to spend two days in St. Mungo’s.�

Ginny looked at the ground embarrassedly Harry smiled lightly. It wasn’t really funny, but for some reason he felt the need to smile every time Ginny’s name was mentioned.

“Are we ready to go then?� Hermione broke in, her wand in her hand.

“Yes, you’re right,� said Mrs. Weasley, “We’d better be going.�

“On three then,� directed Hermione. “One…two…three.�

Harry held tight to Ron’s arm, and felt the familiar sensation of being sucked down a small rubber tube. He felt a thousand rubber bands squeeze him tightly, and he couldn’t breath. He gasped for air as hard as he could, but there was no air to be found. His lungs were screaming, and he was about to become unconscious.

After a few seconds, although Harry could have sworn it was a few minutes, the tube loosened and Harry could breathe. He loosed around. There were standing at the end of Privet Drive. Harry looked around at the familiar surroundings and pulled out his wand.

There was a small pop, and Harry could see that the Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley had shown up.

Mrs. Weasley looked around for a second, and then nodded. “Everyone’s here…and all in one piece.�

“Shall we go in then?� Ginny said loudly, grinning at Harry mischievously. Harry had a very shrewd suspicion that Ron wasn’t the only one to grab pranks from Fred and George’s room.

He noticed her pushing her pockets away from Mrs. Weasley, confirming his suspicions. He followed Mrs. Weasley to the door, and waited anxiously as she knocked lightly on the door.

There was no answer, so she knocked on the door again. They waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.

“Maybe they’re on vacation?� suggested Harry, who was happy that his visit with the Dursley family had been delayed.

“No, I don’t think so,� said Mrs. Weasley. “They’re still here.�

Harry didn’t bother asking how she knew that. “Should we go inside?�

“Yes, I suppose so,� answered Mrs. Weasley.

She pushed open the door, and stopped abruptly. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stood directly behind the door.

“Don’t come any closer!� said Uncle Vernon, his mustache twitching.

Harry stepped forward. “Uh, Hullo.�

Uncle Vernon looked at Harry like he was some kind of disgusting bug. “What do you want? I thought we’d gotten rid of you for good when your school called and said you were gone.�

“Anyway,� said Mrs. Weasley, glancing at Harry with a look that plainly said, no arguing until we get your things, “We just stopped by to get Harry’s school things.�

Uncle Vernon looked at Harry like he was mad, “You left all of your things at that school when you ran.�

“You know that’s not true!� said Harry loudly, “You have my broom and my wand and all of my text books!�

“Broom and wand?� repeated Aunt Petunia in a surprised sounding high-pitched voice. “What on earth are you talking about?�

“All the stuff Harry left here!� said Ron loudly, pulling out his wand quickly and pointing it at the Dursley’s.

Mrs. Weasley pushed his wand down. “There’s no need for that. We’re just here to get Harry’s stuff, and then we’ll be on our way.�

“We don’t have any of this stuff your asking for,� said Uncle Vernon loudly, “So leave!�

“Very well,� said Mrs. Weasley, pulling herself up to her full height. She quickly pulled out her wand and pointed it into the house.

“Accio Harry’s possessions!� she said loudly.

As soon as she said it, a crash came from above them. A trunk, a broom, and several more of Harry’s possessions came soaring into the room, landing in front of Mrs. Weasley with a satisfying thump. She looked at the Dursleys to see their reaction.

Uncle Vernon scowled at Harry, “All right, we stuffed it all up into the attic.�

“We thought we could keep it hidden, especially after he came home without knowing about magic.�

“You knew I’d lost my memory and you still didn’t do anything?� said Harry loudly, even though he’d already realized that the Dursley’s were trying to squash the magic out of him by hiding his stuff and sending him to a public school.

“Well,� Aunt Petunia looked uncomfortable, “There was really nothing else we could do.�

“You could have contacted someone!� said Hermione loudly.

Uncle Vernon looked rather taken aback by Hermione’s outburst, “That’s it! I will have no more talk of magic while my son is around. Take your filthy magic stuff and get out of my house!�

Harry took a step forward, grabbed his things, and was about to turn around to leave when Mrs. Weasley pushed him back.

“Wait,� she said determinedly, “You should let Harry go up to his room and see if any of his other possessions are here.�

Uncle Vernon looked as if he was about to refuse her request, but then he eyed Mrs. Weasley’s wand with particular distaste. “All right then, hurry up. I better not hear any of your rubbish magic in this house, or I’ll kick you all out and keep whatever Harry might have left behind.�

Harry scampered past him to his cupboard and pushed it open, hoping there would be some remnant of his things. Unfortunately for him, it was empty. The only thing that resided in his cupboard was a few empty boxes and a heap of cleaning supplies that belonged to his Aunt Petunia.

“Where’s all my stuff?� he said loudly, looking at his aunt and uncle in disgust. “It was all here when I left!�

Uncle Vernon’s mustache twitched, but it was Aunt Petunia who answered, “It’s all in your bedroom upstairs. I-We moved it.�

“Make sure you get all of it!� called Mrs. Weasley after him, “Because we won’t be coming back here again.�

Harry pulled out his wand in case he met Dudley, and went up the stairs, stepping softly. Meanwhile, he saw Mrs. Weasley and the rest of them invite themselves into the house, much to the dismay of Aunt Petunia, who did not approve of unimportant guests in her perfectly clean household.

He pulled open the door to Dudley’s second bedroom, and looked around. There wasn’t anything of importance in this room, just some old rubbish and a calendar tacked up on the wall. Harry checked the closet, and saw a little box that was marked, H. Potter. Harry picked it up and shook it. It rattled a bit, so Harry opened it.

There was a thick photo album with a picture of two middle-aged people dancing around a plaza. There was a man with hazel eyes and dark black hair that sat up in the back. A pretty woman with bright green eyes and red hair stood next to him. In her arms was a small baby boy with jet-black hair like the man and green eyes like the woman. It looked just like Harry.

With a start, Harry realized that the two people in the picture were moving. They waved at him. After a moment or two, Harry realized that the people in the picture were none other than his parents, and that the baby in the picture was himself.

“Mum? Dad?� he asked softly, even though he knew they couldn’t hear him.

To his surprise, and great delight, they nodded. Harry smiled at them in silence for a moment, before tucking the photo album under his arm and walked out of the room. As he walked out, he looked back into his room for the last time, and smiled. He was never coming back to this horrible house.

There was a loud crash, and a girlish scream that sounded like his Aunt Petunia coming from the downstairs parlor. Harry remembered Ron and Ginny’s plan to get Dudley back for him, and hastened downstairs. He didn’t want to miss any of the action.

A startling sight caught his eye when he arrived in the parlor. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were shielding Dudley from view, a feat which proved hard because he was several times wider than both of them together. But it wasn’t this sight that made Harry laugh, as Dudley was perfectly unharmed.

No, Harry laughed because Aunt Petunia’s once perfect living room was now reduced to a smell, messy, disgusting swamp. Harry was slightly crestfallen inside when he saw this—he’d been expecting a prank directed towards Dudley.

Aunt Petunia shrieked extremely loudly, making everyone in the house cover their ears.

“My Parlor! I-It’s ruined!�

“Not to worry,� said Mrs. Weasley briskly, “We’ll be on our way now>�

“But you’ll fix it, won’t you?� cried Aunt Petunia throatily, sounding on the verge of tears.

“Of course not,� said Mrs. Weasley, “No, I think leaving this here would be the best idea.�

And with that, she took her two children by the arms and led them out of the house. Hermione and Harry followed, making sure that all of Harry’s things were picked up. Harry noticed that Ron ‘accidentally’ dropped a very large amount of candies and sweets from his pocket and onto the front rug outside the door, and Harry smiled. Maybe this visit wasn’t such a bad idea after all.