the boy that could have been

breakfast

Following their potions lesson, Crescent had been very withdrawn and barely spoke two words to anybody, terrified that they'd yell at her for losing points, but by dinner time McGonagall had somehow heard of what happened, and gave Cress thirty points for having her shirt tucked in, along with a wink. Once she'd left, the three of them stared at each other in amazement, before shrugging it off and going in to enjoy their dinner.

Now, the next day, it was like she was a new person, chatting and laughing away happily. Harry suspected this was partly because Fred and George had come over to congratulate her for insulting Snape, which gave her a bit of a confidence boost.

All of a sudden, a swarm of owls flew down into the room. Hedwig swooped down to Harry and dropped a letter onto his head, which he immediately eagerly opened.

Dear Harry [the letter read],

YOU GOT INTO GRYFFINDOR I DON'T HAVE TO DISOWN YOU WOOOOOOO!!!! 

Sorry about that honey, your father took the 

YEAH THATS MY SON, THE GRYFFINDOR MAN!!!! WOOOOO!!!!!

Oh, for pity's sake, why did I marry him? Professor McGonagall sent us an owl yesterday morning - I'm quite upset that you didn't

ME AND PADFOOT HAD A CELEBRATORY GALLON OF FIREWHISKEY AFTER MINNIE OWLED US, MY BOY'S A LION YEAHHHH!

that you didn't owl me straight away! Please ignore your extremely tipsy father, and reply as soon as you

I'M NOT TIPSY WHAT DO YOU MEAN TIPSY I'M LIVING MY BEST LIFE, MY SON'S GONNA FOLLOW IN MY FOOTSTEPS, OH YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!

He obviously is tipsy because he seems to have forgotten that we're in the same room and he can talk to me! Anyway dearest,

WHAT DO YOU MEAN TALK TO YOU I [large scribble across the page]

I'm getting very sick of this man, sorry about the mark on the page, I snatched the quill back. Please reply ASAP, we'd love to hear from you! I hope you've made lots of friends and

YEAH YOU BETTER MAKE FRIENDS, IF MY BOY ISNT POPULAR IM GONNA BLOW UP THE ASTRONOMY TOWER!

Oh, I give up. I love you Harry,

Mum x

AND DAD! AND PADFOOT, HEY POOCHYKINS!

He chuckled loudly, and Ron looked at his questioningly. He passed over the letter, and Ron snorted.

"Your dad sounds like a right handful!"

"That he is," Harry agreed as Fred and George began to read the letter over Harry's shoulder.

"Can we keep this?" Fred asked, to which George elbowed him. Harry looked at them in bewilderment.

"Why do you want my letter?"

"We don't want the letter." Explained George.

"Just the signature at the end." Said Fred.

"And preferably their address?" Asked George.

"Uh... sure, as long as I can borrow your newspaper?" 

The twins grinned at each other, delighted. Harry had no idea what was going on, but he decided not to question it as he ripped off the end of the paper and scribbled the address on the back. He swapped it for a newspaper, which he began to scan as Fred and George excitedly rushed off. Crescent looked over his shoulder.

"Look! Somebody broke into Gringotts on the day that I went with Hagrid!"

Harry and Ron immediately turned to her, along with a curious Hermione Granger across the table.

"It says that the vault was emptied the same day! That's weird, Hagrid emptied a vault whilst we were there."

Before they could respond, however, a ferret-shaped interruption arrived.

"Seen the news, Potter?" Spat Malfoy (Harry wiped saliva off of his glasses in disgust), "We've got flying lessons together this afternoon. Ready to fall of your broom? I, of course, have been flying since before I could walk! Why, only last month I had a narrow escape with a Muggle in a helicopter, father was-"

"Oh, stuff it Malfoy." Ron groaned, "You're talking out your arse, and I bet Harry will be loads better than you."

Harry looked at him doubtfully. He'd only learnt of the existence of magic just over a month ago, and he'd been so busy bonding with his family and helping to clean Sirius' house that the subject of Quidditch come up at all. Malfoy, however, had lost interest in them.

"Look, Longbottom's got a Remembrall!" He said, snatching it out of Neville's hand. Harry and Ron immediately leapt to their feet, hoping for a chance to batter Malfoy, but McGonagall seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Malfoy scowled and dropped it back into Neville's hands, "Just looking."

He sloped away with his entourage, which included Charlotte's friend from the train (who, he had now learnt, was called Lilia). Charlotte watched them longingly, but she didn't get up from the table.

"Well, now I'm really excited for this afternoon." Said Harry bitterly, as he too watched Malfoy's slightly dramatic exit.