Spiders Make Good Friends

Thanks for all the reviews.

Due to popular demand, I am extending this story. However, I’m not going to write on it every day. I have another story I’m working on. Also, I’m probably going to do a lot of time skips. So be warned.

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“By the way, kid, what’s your name? I don’t think we caught it,” Fred asked, thinking he knew but wanted confirmation. If he was correct, this was the Boy-Who-Lived. He didn’t want to be right though. If he was, then the wizarding world had dropped the quaffle and let their boy hero suffer.

“Oh, um, I’m Harry Potter,” Harry said, rubbing his nose in embarrassment. He really didn’t want them to make a big deal over it. The people at the Leaky Cauldron had made him quite uncomfortable. He hoped these fellows didn’t do that.

“Are you really?” Lee asked, looking at his old and too big clothes in disbelief. This was not what he pictured when he thought of the boy hero. He thought the boy would be a spoiled brat that put on airs. This kid was shy and probably abused.

“Yeah,” Harry said, looking down at the floor in shame. He didn’t want them to feel pity for him either. Both were bad. He just wanted to be normal.

“Here now, don’t go looking like that. There’s no shame in being who you are,” George said, nudging his chin up so he was looking them in the eyes. “It’s not your fault your guardians are arseholes,” he added, making the kid giggle.

“No, I guess not,” Harry said, tugging at one of his sleeves, and looking around for something else to talk about. “So, you lot like to play pranks?” he asked, desperate to change the subject.

“Yeah, we like to prank our youngest brother most of all,” Fred said, a smirk played at his lips.

“I met your brother. He’s the one who told me about the tarantula,” Harry said, smiling at the twins. “Why do you like pranking him? He seems like an alright bloke. I mean, he’s a bit sloppy, but seems like a nice kid,” he said, looking back and forth between the twins.

“He’s a lazy prat,” Fred said, his tone one of repulsion.

“He has no manners to speak of,” George stated, his nose curled in disgust.  

“He doesn’t have any regards for others,” Lee finished, folding his arms in a bit of defiance.

“Oh,” was all Harry could say. They’d know better than he would. He’d only met the boy for a few moments. Then again, they might be a bit biased. He’d make up his own mind about the boy. They were in the same year, and he’d be spending time with him. If they were in the same House, he’d be rooming with him, so best not to judge him too harshly on what his brothers were saying.

To take his mind off it, he dug into his bag of candy and pulled out a Chocolate Cauldron. He started eating it and let them wax on about how much of a lazy bum Ron was. He finished his sweet and just listened to them bicker. He was trying to ignore them and come up with something else to talk about.

It was about three minutes later when the door opened, and the kid he’d met at Madam Malkin’s came in, followed by two overweight bruiser looking boys. “I heard Harry Potter was in this compartment. Are you him?” the boy asked, looking straight at Harry.

“Yes,” Harry said, not sure how to handle this situation. He remembered what Lee had said earlier, so he kept his face neutral and tried not to show any hostility. He remembered this boy was a bit of a prat.

“I’m Draco Malfoy. This is Crabbe and Goyle,” he said, pointing to the two overweight boys. “You’ll find some families are better than others. I can help you there,” Draco said, holding out his hand.

Harry got up and shook the hand, a bit more firmly than necessary, but shook it, nonetheless. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll sort out my friends on my own, thanks,” he said, his tone calm and smooth. He made sure to keep his face blank and not show his distaste at the thought of shaking the other boy’s hand. He didn’t like the bigot at all.

“I’ll not make this offer again,” warned the blond, taking his hand back and backing away. He too had a neutral face on.

“Again, I appreciate it. However, I feel that I know right from wrong and have a strong moral compass,” Harry said, his head held high. He didn’t even look at the people behind him, who were keeping quiet.

“On your head it be,” Draco said, jerking his head to the side and leaving the compartment. The two bruisers left with him.

“Well, that could have gone better, but it didn’t go as bad as it could have,” Lee said, his tone jovial.

“I’d watch out for Malfoy,” Fred said, his tone wasn’t quite as cheerful as Lee’s.

“Yeah, the whole family is dark,” George said, putting his two Knuts in.

“Do you think he’s going to cause trouble?” Harry asked, his voice worried. The last thing he needed was an enemy at school. He had had enough of that with Dudley. He didn’t want a repeat here in the magical world.

“Nah, you were cool as a cucumber. Just be careful around him, is all,” Fred said, clapping him on the back and guiding him back to the bench. “We’re getting close, is there anything else you want to know about Hogwarts before we get there?” he asked, settling back down in his seat.

“How do we get sorted?” Harry asked, leaning forward a bit to hear the answer. It was something that he’d been worried about for ages. None of the books he read told how it was done. All they said was that they were sorted into the House that best fit their personality. Hogwarts: A History said it was a magical experience, but that was it.

“I’m not going to tell you that. It’s a secret, that is,” Fred said with a laugh. He leaned back on the bench and stretched. This was something he loved to tease first-years about.

“We told Ron he had to wrestle a troll,” George laughed, slapping his knee. They had had a great time trying to convince Ron of that. The boy was so naïve.

“Do you think he believed you?” Harry asked with a bit of awe, wondering if the boy was that gullible. He’d hate to think anyone his age would believe that. Then again, Dudley would believe that.

“I think a part of him did,” Fred said, honestly. It had taken a lot of convincing on their part.

“Well, I sure don’t,” Harry said, smirking at the lookalikes. “You’ll not fool me that easily.”

“That’s good,” George said, smirking back.

“That means you’re smart,” Fred said, his smile matching his brothers.

“I’d better put Herbert up,” Lee said, taking the box with his tarantula and putting it in his trunk. There was a special place where it wouldn’t get knocked around. He placed it there and made sure it was secure.

The four of them talked about Quidditch for a while and soon the train was pulling up into the station. It was dark and cold when they pulled in. The stars were shining in the sky and there were clouds trying to cover them. There were a few lantern lights dotted along the sidewalk, but they didn’t block the starlight.

“You need to go with Hagrid,” Fred said when they got off the train. He, his twin, and Lee were starting off to the carriages. They stopped long enough to point Harry towards Hagrid.

“First years, over here!” Hagrid bellowed, waving a lantern around showing where he was standing. It was like a large beacon in the dark. Hagrid stood tall over everyone, and all the short kids could see him. The crowd was diverting around the giant man, only a group of small first-years were see going in his direction.

“Thanks for taking the time to talk to me,” Harry said to the trio with a winning smile. He rushed over to the gentle giant before they could answer. He pushed through the crown and stood with his first friend. “Alright, Hagrid?” he asked the man, giving him a friendly grin. He had missed the man.

“Alright, Harry,” Hagrid said, smiling down at the boy. “First years, over here!” he called again, waving his lantern high above his head.  “Come along now,” he bellowed, waving his arm back and forth so they could see him.

“Thank you,” the bushy-haired girl said, coming up to Harry. She seemed a bit timid but determined to speak to him.

“For what?” he asked, looking at her in the dark of the night. He could barely make out her face in the lantern light. She did look very thankful though.

“For suggesting the loos. Neville found his toad,” she said with a brilliant smile, holding out her hand and saying, “Hermione Granger.” She was a nice-looking girl with frizzy hair and slight buckteeth. She was wearing her uniform properly, not just a robe thrown over her causal wear.

“Oh, um, Harry Potter,” he stuttered out, shaking her hand, and then nodding to the blondish boy holding the toad, who he assumed was Neville. The toad squirmed in the boy’s tight grip. He was a blondish boy that was a bit overweight.   

“Follow me,” Hagrid said, before she could say anything else.

They went down the dark trail to the boats and got in four to a boat. Hermione, Neville, and Harry shared a boat with a dark-skinned boy named Dean Thomas.

Hermione harped on Harry’s heroism the whole ride over, which made the boy blush and stammer.

“Really, I didn’t do any of those things,” he protested, making Dean and Neville look at him with sympathy. She really was going to town on him and his so-called heroism.

“But it’s in all the books,” she stated, looking like she wished she had said books so she could prove it.

“I was there, I think I’d know,” he said, lifting his eyebrow in a ‘I should know’ manner. His tone was a bit waspish.

“Really, Hermione, he’s right,” Neville said, his voice was low and shy, but he looked her in the eye, earning Harry’s gratitude.

Just then the giant squid surfaced, scaring Neville into almost falling out of the boat.

“Oh,” Harry said, leaning over the side and running his hand along a tentacle. “I’ve never seen a squid this big. Well, I’ve never seen a squid, but I never heard of them getting this big. It’s marvelous,” he stated, still running his hand down the squid’s arm. “Hogwarts: A History didn’t mention him. Just the merpeople.”

“Harry, I don’t think you should be touching that,” Hermione stated, leaning away from the creature. “You don’t know what it’ll do,” she chastised, pulling on his robe as if to pull him away from it. “It might pull you in and you’ll drown,” she stated, fearing for her new friend’s life.

“Oh, he’s just a big baby,” Harry said, caressing the tentacle as if it was a kitten that needed cuddling. It felt slimy and smooth to the touch, like a snake that had been swimming in seaweed.

“Here now,” Hagrid said from up front of everyone. “Leave off the squid,” he ordered, not really upset, but not wanting the boats capsized. “He needs to be going,” he added, hoping the boy would listen.

“Aw, alright then,” Harry said, patting the arm one more time and sitting back in the boat and folding his arms in a pout. He was only making friends with the squid. He wasn’t hurting anyone.

“You can feed him when you have free time after classes,” Hagrid said, hoping to placate the boy. “He likes bread and peanut butter,” he said, like he was sharing a secret with the class.

There were some giggles from the girls and chuckles from the boys. There were also some ‘ewws’ and ‘ughs’ so not everyone was happy to hear that.

“Really?” Harry said, perking up and sitting up straighter. “I’ll do that,” he said, happily. He did wonder were he’d get peanut butter sandwiches, but he’d figure it out. He was sure the twins would help him. If anyone knew, they would. He was really glad he had met them. they were going to be a great resource.

The boat ride continued, with Harry’s classmates giving him queer looks. He was a strange boy to them. Who liked giant squids?

They got to the castle and walked up the massive number of stairs. In through the gigantic door and into a large waiting room. There they listened to McGonagall give them a speech on Houses being part of your family. She left them alone to be scared by the ghosts, and then they had to wait for the sorting to commence. Most of them were very nervous. Ron wasn’t helping with his fear of the troll. Once they were in the Great Hall and found out that they only had to put on a hat, they all relaxed.

The hat sang a long song about unity, and when it was done, McGonagall started calling names. Harry fidgeted waiting for his name to be called. He was concerned that it was all a mistake and that he would be sent home. He wondered if he could stay and help Hagrid. That would be neat. He’d learn all about animals and he could start his own suitcase like Newt Scamander’s. He didn’t need an education for that, right? He just needed to know how to handle animals.

Then he heard his name called and moved to where McGonagall was holding the hat. He sat on the stool and the hat fell onto his head, covering his eyes.

“Let’s see,” it said inside of his mind. “Where to put you?” it continued. “You are ambitious,” it said, sorting through his thoughts.  “Quite a mind you have,” it said, moving a bit over his head, musing up his hair.

“I’d rather not go into Slytherin, if you please,” Harry said, in a calm manner. “I don’t think I’d be well received there,” he added, lifting the hat, and looking at the green and silver table. “No, I don’t think I’d be well liked there at all,” he stated, seeing many students glaring at him.

“Probably not,” the hat agreed, moving around some more. “You’re not well suited for Hufflepuff,” he stated, rooting around his mind a bit more. “Ravenclaw is an option, you do have the mind for it, but not the disposition,” he said, a bit of laughter in his tone.

“Gryffindor then?” Harry asked hope in his voice. The twins and Lee were in Gryffindor.

“Yes, it had better be… Gryffindor!” the hat said, shouting the last part out loud.

The Great Hall exploded with applause as Harry took off the hat. The Weasley twins were standing in the aisle jumping up and down shouting, “We got Potter!!!”

“Sit down,” McGonagall snapped at them, shooing Harry to go and sit at the Gryffindor table.

The twins sat and scooted over to make room for Harry. He smiled and ran to sit there. “How was the boat ride?” Fred asked Harry as he sat next to him.

“You didn’t tell me there was a giant squid in the lake,” the kid said, enthusiastically. He was all but bouncing off the bench.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about Frank,” Lee said, who was sitting across from the twins, smiling at Harry’s excitement. “I haven’t really seen him since second year, so I tend to forget he’s there,” he said, happy to see Harry so joyful.

“How could you forget something so cool?” Harry asked, his eyes filled with wonder. “I mean he’s huge,” he said, his arms thrown wide as if to encompass the whole hall.

“I just did,” Lee said with a shrug.

“Anyway,” George said, looking at the sorting and seeing his brother about to be sorted. “Ron’s about to be sorted, shush,” he said, watching the hat.

They all sat and paid attention to what was happening at the front of the Great Hall, after a few minutes the hat called out. “Gryffindor!”

The twins and Lee clapped with the rest of Gryffindor. Harry was happy for the kid that he got to be with the rest of his family.

Ron smiled and ran to the table, taking a seat next to his older brother, Percy. Hermione was next to him, with Neville next to her. Dean was across from Hermione with another boy next to him.

There were others that Harry didn’t recognize, so he shrugged and went back to looking around. He glanced at the Teachers’ Table and noted they were looking at the students. Two of the professors seemed to be staring at him. One was a greasy-haired man and the other was wearing a turban.

“Fred, who are those two?” he asked, pointing them out, making both of them look away.

“The dark-haired one is Professor Snape. Watch out for him, he’s a greasy git,” Fred said, glaring at the man’s head.

“The other one is Professor Quirrell,” George said, tapping his finger on the table waiting for the feast to show up. “He used to be the Muggle Studies professor, but he’s now the DADA teacher.”  

“I wonder why they were staring at me?” the young man said, peering at the two men again, they both looked his way again, and his scar flared in pain. “Ouch,” he said, his hand flying up and rubbing said scar.

“What happened?” both twins said, putting their hands on his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he confessed, rubbing his achy forehead. “My scar hurt all of a sudden,” he stated, glaring at the two men like it was their fault. He then looked away when food suddenly appeared on the table. “Blimey, that’s a lot of food,” he said, distracted from his pain.

He’d never seen so much food before, and he’s fed the Dursleys. He started serving himself up some of the rich fare and began eating his fill. He kept up a lively talk with the twins and Lee about all the animals he wanted to meet and see. They promised to introduce him to Professor Kettleburn before the week was over.

After the feast was over and the headmaster gave a speech about the rules and they sang the school song, the first years were shown where the common room was by Percy Weasley. Harry was beginning to wonder how big that family was. He remembered the twins mentioned another brother named Charlie. Did they have more siblings? He’d have to ask.

On the way, they ran into the school poltergeist, who Percy scared off, and the school cat.

“Kitty,” Harry said, running to the scraggly cat and picking it up.

“Put Mrs. Norris down,” Percy said, hoping the cat didn’t scratch the first-year as she was wont to do. “She belongs to Mr. Filch,” he said, trying to make Harry put the cat down.

“Aww, but she’s a sweetheart,” Harry said, petting the purring cat, making it arch it’s back and flick its tail.

“Harry, it’s not your cat,” Hermione said, trying to reason with the boy.

“Very well,” the disappointed child said, putting the cat on the floor gently. It wound its way around his legs, then took off to go and do what it normally did, which was terrorize the students. As he watched her go, he noted there were a ton of spiders in the rafters. He wondered if he could make friends with them too. He’d have to come at night and see if they were open to it.

“Come along,” Percy said, glad that was over, and he took them to Gryffindor tower.

Once they were shown were they were going to sleep, Harry decided he was very tired, and he’d have to make friends with spiders another time. He slept hard that night. He had dreams that he couldn’t remember, but knew they weren’t nice.

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In Harry’s first Transfiguration class he and Neville walked into the classroom and Harry spotted the cat sitting on the desk. It sat stiff and still, almost like a statue. It was a grey tabby with weird markings around its eyes, kind of like glasses.

“Kitty!” Harry cried, running up and grabbing the feline, dropping his books to the ground.

Unlike most of the other cats Harry accosted, this cat squirmed and twisted out of his grip and jumped out of his arms. Halfway to the ground, it changed into Professor McGonagall. “I’ll thank you not to do that again, Mr. Potter,” she said with a sniff. She was not used to being manhandled in such a manner. Usually, the girls would come and pet her, but rarely would anyone come and pick her up.

“Wicked,” the preteen said, his eyes blown wide. “Can I do that?” he asked, all but jumping in place.

“Not until you are much older,” she said, her voice softening. “Take your seat and let me be for now,” she said, and turned back into a cat and jumped back on the desk.

Harry picked up his books and sat in the front row with Neville and that Hermione girl. They were the only students in the room at the moment. “I’m going to learn how to do that,” he promised himself, vowing to learn as soon as possible.

“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Neville said, hearing his friend’s promise.

Harry just grinned and watched his teacher watch the rest of the room. He was going to learn to be as many animals as possible. That was a promise.

He later learned that it was called Animagus Transformation. Fred and George said that only a few adults learned to do it. They hadn’t even tried yet, but their heroes all had a form. Harry said he was going to be one before he graduated, and they believed him.

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A week went by before Harry found time to meet Professor Kettleburn. It was after the nightmare that was Potions class. Snape hated him, no doubt about it. His class was horrible. The man picked on him terribly. He was mean to Neville too.

He had no idea why, but when he made friends with some spiders, or snakes, he was going to sic them on that man. Let him be mean to an Acromantula. Harry knew they were in the Forbidden Forest, he just needed to get in there and find them. Maybe once he made friends with the little ones, they could talk to the giant ones, then he’d sic them on that man. That sounded like a plan.

Anyway, Fred and George were taking him to meet the professor now.

“I warn you not to stare,” Fred said, talking to Harry as they walked to Kettleburn’s classroom, which was outside, since he worked with animals.

“Why?” Harry asked, wondering if the man was hideous.

“He’s missing all but one arm and half a leg,” George said, with a knowing nod. “He’s got prosthetics, but they’re not pretty,” he added.  They were all cumbersome and it was a wonder the man could get anything done.

“I’ll be polite,” Harry promised.

They continued on until they got to the area where Kettleburn housed his nifflers. They were creatures that were small with a long snout and a coat of black, fluffy fur. He had twelve of them that he loved with a fiery passion.

“Ah, the Weasley twins,” the man said, upon seeing them. “And young Harry Potter,” he added, seeing Harry behind the lookalikes. “What can I do for you gentlemen today?” he said, coming away from the cage and stomping on his peg legs to a chair and seating himself slowly down.

“Harry here wants to be a Magizoologist when he grows up. We thought you’d give him a head start,” George said, nudging Harry forward and introducing him at the same time.

“A Magizoologist you say? My, that is ambitious,” Kettleburn stated, folding his good hand over his belly, and making his clawed hand rest on his legs. “What made you think of that?” he asked Harry.

“I like animals,” Harry said, a bit meekly. “I have spider friends and I think animals are simply misunderstood. If we can study them and take care of them better, we can be better friends with them,” he said, his voice getting stronger the longer he talked.

“My, you are passionate,” Silvanus stated, leaning forward a bit. “However, we’re going to have to toughen you up quite a bit. Animals are nothing to sneeze at. Look at me, boy. Do you think I got this way because I was mean to them? No, it was my own recklessness that got me injured enough to lose my own limbs. I understand that you want to make friends with them, but they are dangerous, and they need to be handled carefully. Do you understand?” the crippled man asked in a very serious voice.

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, his tone sober. He looked at the man hard. He didn’t seem like a cruel man, so he took his words to heart. There was a warning in there that he needed to hear.

“Let’s start you off with the gentler animals. Like my nifflers,” Kettleburn said cheerfully, standing with great difficulty and going to the cage. He waved the trio over and started explaining what a niffler was and how to keep and train them.

Harry was in heaven. He was learning about a magical animal and this teacher was going to teach him more. It was great.

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The year went by with Harry going to classes and learning all about the gentler animals, like unicorns, nifflers, kneazles, flubberworms, and such. They were going to learn about hippogriffs, thestrals and other flying animals next year. Then they were going to progress to dragons and more dangerous animals in later years. It depended on how strong Harry got. It might not be until his seventh year, and that was if Professor Kettleburn was even around then. He was thinking of retiring.

The only thing that happened that interrupted Harry’s studies was when the troll got in the castle on Halloween. Harry ran to see if he could corral it. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to fight it, but he hoped he could at least tempt it away from being killed.

All he wound up doing was knocking it out and saving that Hermione girl. She became one of his friends, along with Neville, who had followed him to keep him out of trouble.

Neville had taken it as his mission to keep Harry out of trouble. Once he found Harry climbing the walls to go and talk to the birds and spiders in the rafters. He had been so worried that the boy hero was going to fall and break his neck, that he vowed to keep an eye on him ever since.

The trio had been best friends ever since. They had studied together and played together. When Harry wasn’t with the twins, playing pranks or learning about animals, he was with Hermione and Neville.

Professor Kettleburn said something was killing the unicorns and they couldn’t study them anymore since they were hiding. Hagrid was taking care of them and trying to hunt down what was killing them, but he was having little luck.

He did get an invisibility cloak for Yule, which he used to get around the castle looking for more animals. He promised Professor Kettleburn that he would restrict himself to the smaller animals, so he didn’t go into the Forbidden Forest. He did find some interesting insects, like doxies, pixies and a few such things. They were fun to watch, but they weren’t interested in being friends with him just yet.

He had heard a rumor that Hagrid had a dragon, but that couldn’t be right. His friend would have told him about it, would he? There was no dragon on the grounds now, so it must have been just a rumor. Though, the gentle giant did seem mopey for about a week a while back. maybe Harry would ask the man about it.

He really didn’t spend much time with Hagrid. He was too caught up in his Magizoology studies. Professor Kettleburn did hint that Hagrid might take his place if he retired, so maybe Harry should spend more time with him now. That and he was a friend. Harry felt a bit guilt for ignoring the other man, insomuch as he just didn’t have time for him.

“Harry, did you study for the History exam?” Hermione asked as they sat in the sun. It was just starting to get warm as summer approached. It was getting close to the end of the year exams, and she was getting nervous.

“Of course,” Harry said as a spider crawled across his hand. It was one of the many that stuck around him all the time when he was outside. He was getting quite a name for himself as a bug boy, since the spiders seem to seek him out whenever he sat still for more than five minutes. Not just the spiders, but Mrs. Norris, other cats, his owl, other owls, birds, the giant squid, and other animals. Mostly the spiders though.

“I’m just checking,” she said sniffing at bit, like she was offended that he was offended.

“Hermione, Harry is always prepared for the tests. You asking is an insult,” Neville said, closing the book he was studying. He, on the other hand, needed to study a lot more than Harry ever did.

“I know, it’s just impulsive,” she sighed, giving Harry an apologetic look.

Harry shrugged. He was getting used to her bossy ways, but he didn’t like it when she treated him like an idiot. He worked hard to get his grades, and he would appreciate it if she recognized that.

“Anyway, it’s been quite the year,” Neville said, thinking of how hard it had been to study with Snape as a teacher. He still melted his cauldron when that man was around. Thank Merlin for Harry’s tutoring after class or he’d fail the course.

“Almost getting drafted onto the Quidditch team would have made it ten times harder,” Harry said, looking lost for a moment. “I’m glad I turned that down. The twins were mad at me for a minute until I explained that I needed that time to study for my profession,” he said, remorse in his voice as he remembered that argument.

It took a week for the twins to calm down and understand that Harry needed all his time to study, but they came to the conclusion soon enough and apologized for trying to push him into doing something he really didn’t want to do. That, and Quidditch was dangerous. As much as he loved to fly, he didn’t want what was equal to bowling balls thrown at his head.

“We’d better get inside, it’s getting dark,” Hermione said, gathering up her books and standing.

“Yeah,” Harry said, putting the spider down and doing the same. Neville followed and they trooped to the castle. It was when they got to the Entrance Hall that Harry was grabbed from behind and hauled away.

“Harry!” Hermione called, running after the man who was carrying her friend away. She tried to grab him but was pushed down to the ground.

“Put him down!” Neville yelled, throwing his books at Quirrell, missing him by a large margin.

Quirrell was quicker than the two first years and was dodging all the other students who were looking around like they didn’t know what was going on. He carried Harry up to the third floor and into Fluffy’s room. The Cerberus was already asleep, so he closed the door, spelled it shut, and jumped through the trapdoor.

Getting through the traps was child’s play for the wizard, even dragging Harry with him. He’d already done it twice before. It was the reason he grabbed the brat in the first place. His master demanded that the boy be used to get the stone from the mirror.

“You’re going to get me that stone,” he told the boy, who was squirming for all he was worth.

“What stone?” Harry asked, pounding on the man’s arm like he was trying to break it with his little fist. His scar was exploding with pain, like it always did around this man. He’d complained about it to the nurse, Madam Pomfrey, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

“Never you mind, just do as you’re told and you might live through this,” Quirrell said, lying through his teeth.

Past the dead troll they went and through the frozen fire. Into a room with a mirror. Quirrell placed Harry in front of the mirror and said, “What do you see?”

Harry glared at him and then looked in the mirror. In it he saw himself grown up with a magical suitcase that had all the animals he loved in it. He was a Magizoologist, and a stomping good one at that. He stood tall, around 6’5” and was handsome as well. His bright green eyes shone with happiness. He wore a proud look and there was a woman by his side, though he didn’t know who she was. She was tallish; however, he couldn’t quite make out any of her features other than that.

“Well, boy, what do you see?” Quirrell demanded, coming up behind him.

So, Harry told him, only to be shoved aside. He listened to the man complain that he couldn’t get the stone for his master for a few minutes. He was wracking his brain on how to get out of this situation, when he felt a spider crawl on his skin.

It was a magical false widow spider, which unlike their non-magical counterparts was quite deadly, though still pretty rare. This one was found in the rafters, and he had come to an agreement with it. She wouldn’t bite anyone, and he’d take it home with him.

He looked at the spider and looked at Quirrell. Did he really want to take the risk of hurting his friend to save his life?

The matter was taken out of his hands, when the spider jumped to the floor and scurried over to the complaining man and bit him. Quirrell’s hand came down and smacked the spider, killing it instantly. However, the deed was done. The turban wearing man started convulsing and clutching his chest.

Harry ran for the door. He didn’t want to watch someone die. An ethereal scream emerged from behind him, but he didn’t stop. He continued to run the way they had come through until he got to the trapdoor. Then he was stuck. Until he remembered the brooms in the flying key room, so he ran back and grabbed one and flew out the hole, past Fluffy, who was awake, and out the door.

He ran into Dumbledore coming down the hall and stopped flying. “He tried to kill me,” Harry said, then he passed out, falling off the broom.

Hphphp

They were on the train, and Harry was telling the story once again. This time to the twins and Lee. He’d already told Hermione and Neville. Well, first to Dumbledore and the Aurors, then to the Head of the DMLE. He thought they were going to arrest him, but since Quirrell died of a spider bite, they couldn’t pin anything on him. Besides, he’d been kidnapped in front of a whole bunch of students.

At first Dumbledore tried to cover it all up, but someone had called the Aurors when Harry had been kidnapped. Susan Bones had seen it and called her aunt. At least that was what Harry was told. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the headmaster wanting to keep it in house, but it wasn’t so he let it go.

“So, that’s what happened,” Harry said, finishing with him fleeing. He was getting tired of retelling the tale, and hoped this was the last time.

“Wow,” Lee said, his eyes wide. “You got really lucky,” he stated. “Those spiders are really rare,” he added, nodding his head knowledgably.

“Don’t I know it. I’m just sad that she got killed,” Harry said regretfully. He had been going to give her a home in his cupboard. She would have loved it there.

“What do you think was screaming when you left?” Fred asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Dumbledore says it was Voldemort,” Harry said, making everyone flinch.

“Why does he think that?” George asked, flabbergasted. As far as anyone knew, You-Know-Who was dead and gone.

“Beats me,” Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. “He says I’m too young to know.” The headmaster had not been forthcoming in his knowledge. Just stating that Voldemort was not dead, and Harry needed to know that. Harry was not happy that the old man was so tightlipped about it.

“I think the old man has lost his marbles,” Fred stated, shaking his head in disbelief.

“You might be right, my uglier brother,” George said, nodding his head in agreement.

“I hope you’re both correct,” Lee said thoughtfully.

“Anyway. I wish you all a good summer,” Harry said, a sad smile on his face like he knew they would have a better summer than him. He got up to find Hermione and Neville.

“You’d better write, Harry, or we’ll come and get you,” Fred threatened, mockingly shaking his fist at him. The other two boys did the same. The smiles put paid to the threat.

“I will,” the boy assured them, and then left. It promised to be a good summer for once. At least this time he had friends that could write to him.