AMSL Ch: 13

To most kids—to most ten-year-olds—five weeks felt like an eternity. Five weeks was enough time to meet somebody and become best friends with them.

It was also possible for the opposite to happen, but children weren’t known for holding onto grudges…. Right?

“Hey, Harry, is it just me, or does your cousin look extra murderous today?" Luke casually leaned over and asked his friend in a whisper. Said boy looked up from his nearly completed worksheet in front of him, took one look at Dudley sitting a few rows in front of them, glaring at them, and couldn’t help but look at Luke as if he were blind.

“Are you kidding me? You just now noticed?” Harry smirked playfully at his friend. The clock on the wall read 2:32. In less than half an hour, school would get out, and Harry found it incredibly amusing that his friend had somehow missed Dudley’s homicidal rage all day until now.

“What?” Luke asked shamelessly before smiling widely. “He always looks like that. How was I supposed to know today was somehow different?”

Luke and Harry weren't your average kids in any sense of the word. They didn’t need five weeks to become friends; they barely needed a day, though that might be because neither of them had ever had friends their age before and didn’t know how to tiptoe around each other.

It took practically no time for the two socially awkward boys to become fast friends, and that bond had only grown since then. It was now Thursday, October 11th, six weeks into the school year, and things were going great for the two boys. It was so great that it was easy for Luke to forget that Dudley was even in the same class as them.

The overweight bully still tried to mess with them whenever humanly possible, but at this point, he was more like an annoying mosquito than anything dangerous. All Luke had to do was swat at him occasionally, and Dudley would buzz off like the pest he was. Luke genuinely forgot he existed at times, a fact that pissed Dudley off to no end.

Meanwhile, Harry loved watching his horrible cousin get what he deserved. Six weeks ago, he would’ve been terrified of even thinking about antagonizing Dudley any further than he already did by simply existing. But, nowadays, Harry didn’t let any of that bother him anymore.

Things had changed so much since he met Luke that he still woke up some days, questioning if it was all a dream. More than once, Harry sprung up in his new bed in Dudley’s old spare bedroom in a panic, only to smile when he realized he was no longer sleeping under the stairs and that everything that had changed was indeed real.

Harry’s aunt and uncle still looked at him with scorn whenever they saw each other, but since Luke confronted them that one morning, they'd been much less vocal about their distaste for him. It didn’t solve everything for Harry, but it was good enough as far as he was concerned. They still didn’t buy him any new clothes or toys, but at least they fed him more regularly now that they were afraid Luke might report them to the authorities for mistreating him.

“So, what do you think is up his massive butt?” Luke quietly snickered to his friend.

"I'd thought you'd never ask," Harry smirked back, leaning closer to his friend so their teacher wouldn't overhear them.

Professor Harris sat at his desk in front of the classroom, his head down, grading papers. Luke and Harry weren't the only ones talking, but so long as no one was overly loud, their teacher was content to pretend he didn’t hear anything. After all, while Professor Harris was a strict teacher, he wasn’t overtly curl and was used to dealing with children Luke and Harry's age. He only really got mad when people were talking while he was teaching or if they weren't doing their assignments. Speaking of which—

"Professor Harris called my aunt and uncle last night during supper," Harry said excitedly. “Apparently, he asked them to come in today after school to discuss Dudley’s homework and grades. Vernon had to ask for time off."

“Well, that explains a lot,” Luke turned away from his friend to shoot Dudley Dursley a cocky grin that made the boy turn a deep shade of crimson in his seat. “I wonder how bad he’s doing?”

“I don’t know, but Vernon and Petunia think they’re coming to discuss my cousin’s achievements.”  

“No,” Luke mouthed in disbelief. "They can't be that stupid—Wait, I take that back,” he quickly corrected himself with a chuckle. “They really don’t know?”

Harry shook his head. “Ever since we were kids, Dudley’s been copying or stealing my homework. But since I always leave it at your house now—” Harry left the rest unsaid, but his smile spoke volumes.

“God, I wish we could listen in on that conversation,” Luke said, offering Harry a fist bump, which he returned happily. Afterward, the two boys returned to working on their worksheets as the clock slowly ticked away. 

Ten minutes before class ended, Professor Harris stood up from his desk and scribbled their homework assignment on the chalkboard, which made Dudley glare at Luke and Harry even harder as if it was their fault he never bothered to do his work in the first place.

Eventually, the end-of-day bell rang, and Professor Harris dismissed them for the day. Dudley was the only person who didn't get up from their seat for obvious reasons.

After a few minutes of gathering their things, Luke and Harry were walking down the third-floor corridor, side by side, chatting about the homework they needed to do, when they ran into Petunia and Vernon Dursley walking up the stairs towards them.

Both adults stopped in their tracks as soon as they recognized the two boys in front of them, but as there were too many witnesses around, neither of them said anything to the duo. Instead, Vernon and Petunia choose to walk around them with their heads held high like they are the most important people in the school, never acknowledging Harry or his friend.

Luke watched the hated couple walk away with their backs towards him and Harry with a particularly smug smile. He briefly considered tripping them with magic but decided against it at the last second, content knowing what they were in for when they reached his and Harry’s classroom.

“Ten pounds says Professor Harris is forced to throw them out,” Luke grinned cheekily to his friend.

Harry didn’t take Luke’s bait. “Yeah, right, I'm not giving you my money," Harry smirked.

"Fair," Luke nodded with his friend as they descended the stairs. “Think they’re going to try and blame everything on you?”

“Probably,” Harry sighed briefly before giving Luke a 'what can you do?' shrug. “Do you think Professor Harris will fall for it?”

Luke took a moment to think about it, but no matter how he looked at things, he couldn’t see Professor Harris siding with the Dursleys on this, not with all the progress Harry had made changing his image around the school.

Since starting his magic training, Harry hadn't once performed a single act of accidental magic, and with Luke's sister slowly convincing everybody that Harry was being framed by his cousin, most of the kids in school no longer looked at Harry like he was a lepper.

The teachers were the hardest to convince, but even they were slowly starting to look at Harry like a normal child, none more so than Professor Harris. It helped that Harry was smiling more and was no longer hunched over himself, always hiding. Confidence was half the battle, and Harry was winning the war.

It wasn’t a stretch to say Harry was a completely different person than he was six weeks ago, something Luke loved reminding him of. “I don’t think so,” Luke reassured Harry. “Professor Harris is smart and observant; I don't think he'll believe anything your aunt and uncle say without proof. The Headmistress, on the other hand—” Harry smiled at his friend’s discussed expression.

“Anyway,” Luke shrugged helplessly as they stepped foot on the second-floor landing where they had to wait for Hailee to say goodbye to the humongous group of friends she’d managed to accumulate over the past six weeks. “How can they blame Dudley’s lack of homework on you?”

“Trust me, they’ll find a way,” Harry rolled his eyes, sounding quite sure of himself. Meanwhile, Luke was second-guessing his decision to not trip Harry's guardians when he had the chance. They really were the worst kind of people out there.

Well, maybe not the worst, Luke corrected himself after thinking about things for a minute. Undoubtedly, the Dursleys were horrible but weren't the worst people imaginable. Some children had it way worse than Harry, as hard as it was to believe; for example, Luke would take growing up with the Dursleys over several pure-blood households without question.

“Ready,” Luke’s sister, Hailee, pulls him out of his thoughts with her cheerful voice.

“Then let’s go." As usual, Luke led their little group to the bottom floor of the school and out into the perfect October weather waiting for them. It was just above 60°F with little wind and no cloud cover. It was slowly getting colder as the weeks passed, but they still got some relatively nice days every now and again.

“We’re supposed to have a nice weekend," Luke said, making small talk while they walked. "It should be perfect weather for some gardening. Do you remember what jobs we have scheduled?” he asked his friend.

“Not off the top of my head, no,” Harry grinned happily at the thought of making more money.

Most kids would complain if they had to do chores over the weekend, but not Luke and Harry. Walker/Potter Handymen's service was booming; it took a few days for word to spread around the neighborhood, but once it did, Luke and Harry never had to look hard to find work.

90% of what they were asked to do was landscaping, but they’ve had a handful of other jobs mixed in with all the gardening, like helping paint a room, cleaning, or washing various pets. The last was the worst, particularly helping Mrs. Figg bathe her various cats. Those fleabags were smart enough to see them coming a mile away and weren’t afraid to let their displeasure known.

Helping Mrs. Figg was by far the most challenging job they've done, hands down. Hearding any of the magic cats into a tub without receiving at least a dozen scratches in return was virtually impossible. Both boys would've loved nothing more than to turn Mrs. Figg down, but because she was Luke's neighbor and was friends with his mom, they felt obligated to help— Well, that and the money.

The point was that the boys had been busy, but the reward was very much worth it. Luke and Harry only worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and never the entire day, but they still managed to make a decent amount of money in that short amount of time. They split everything evenly three ways, with the third portion set aside for the boys to invest in their growing business. Luke and Harry did this to buy new equipment to increase productivity and make things easier for themselves later.

The boys worked twelve days, averaging £35 a day. After an entire month of work, that was around £140 each, which was nice, but Luke and Harry were working hard to increase that number—especially Harry.

Until now, Harry Potter relied on his aunt and uncle for everything, which sadly meant that other than underwear, everything he owned was secondhand or worse. But now that Harry was earning his own money, he could finally buy the things most kids took for granted.

On Luke’s recommendation, Harry’s first purchase was a pair of brand-new shoes that fit him for a change. They were just cheap off-brand sneakers with no logo, but they were comfortable, something Harry didn't even know he was missing until he bought them and started wearing them.

From there, Harry bought a lot more things that, at first glance, seemed simple but were, in fact, game changers for the boy. Along with his new shoes, Harry bought new socks and could finally throw away the ones he inherited from Dudley that had more holes than fabric. After that, Harry continued buying things for his feet by buying a pair of work boots so that he didn’t accidentally ruin his new pair of shoes working with Luke.

Speaking of Luke, he also spent his first payday on new work shoes in solidarity with his friend. All in all, both boys spent their first £50 on new footwear, even though Luke technically didn’t need them.

After the shoes, Luke didn't need anything else, so he started saving what money he made to invest later, while Harry continued to buy things he once only dreamed of. After the shoes and socks, Harry bought a jacket that fit him and wasn't comically oversized on his thin frame.

Next, he kindly asked Luke’s family to drive him to the nearest thrift store, where he bought multiple used shirts and pants as work clothes. Harry wasn’t against wearing used clothing so long as they fit him properly, as there was a massive difference between buying used clothes that fit you and not whatever the cheapest option was, like his aunt Petunia always did.

Finally, with the last of his money, Harry recently bought two sets of used school uniforms from the same thrift store where he got his work clothes, again in his own size.

It’s often said that clothes make the man, and Luke had to agree. The boy walking next to him was entirely different from the sad ten-year-old he met at the beginning of school. The clothes he was wearing were just big enough for Harry to grow into without looking like they belonged to somebody else. Harry didn’t hesitate to smile now, and it made all the difference.

After all his shopping, Harry only had a few pounds to his name, but it was worth it because of all the confidence his new clothes gave him. Life was good, and it was only getting better.

-X-X-X-X-X-

“Can’t we play a game?” Hailee whined loudly as she hung upside down over the edge of Luke’s bed.

“In a minute,” Luke told her with an exasperated chuckle. “Just wait patiently until we are done.” They were all back up in Luke's room after walking home, grabbing a snack, and finishing their homework.

“Boring,” Hailee blew a raspberry at her brother, but at least she quieted down afterward.

Luke and Harry had religiously stuck to their daily magic practice schedule, though neither called it that.

In the beginning, Hailee participated, too, but she didn’t have the same level of patience as the boys. Every day, she would meditate with them for a short time before inevitably growing bored and begging them to do something more fun instead.

They rarely gave in, but Hailee wasn't the type of person to give up— or sit silently for long.

While his sister quietly groaned from atop his bed, Luke kept his eyes closed as he cycled his magic throughout his body. Across from him, Harry sat silently, trying to feel the fleeting sensation of magical energy coursing through his body. Harry had only been trying to sense his magic for a month and a half now and wasn’t likely to see any results anytime soon, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade him from trying.

Harry’s unwavering perseverance only made Luke want to try even harder— That and the knowledge of what awaited them at Hogwarts pushed him to new heights he wasn't expecting. He kept track of his progress daily in his training notebook, and the results spoke for themselves.

Luke spent hours every day practicing his telekinesis with his hands and feet, and the results were mindboggling, to say the least. When it came to focusing magic into his hands, Luke could now keep 7.3 times the amount of magic there for 102 seconds consecutively before it became too painful to continue, allowing him to lift intimate objects up to 140 pounds so long as they weren’t too big.

As for concentrating magic into his feet, Luke had improved to the point he could now keep 5.1 times the amount of magic there for just under a minute until he lost control.

As he practiced, Luke grew used to moving things with his feet instead of his hands and could now push or pull objects up to 75 pounds. Lifting things was trickier because he needed both his feet to stand correctly, but he could levitate things with them so long as he was sitting or lying down.

The only aspect of Luke’s training that wasn’t progressing as fast as he would have liked was concentrating his magic in his head. Luke practiced channeling magic into his head just as much as his hands and feet, and yet, while they’ve experienced significant growth over the past six weeks, his head continued to be a problematic subject for the boy.

A measly 15% increase— that's all Luke could manage after a month and a half of practice. In the end, he could only handle doubling the amount of magical energy in his head for a measly 16 seconds before he was forced to endure the worst headaches of his life. It made Luke want to tear his hair out in frustration, but he refused to give up that easily— Not when he was supposed to be setting a good example for Harry and his little sister.

At the rate he was going, Luke was going to need at least another seven months before he'd be able to reach the bare minimum requirement of magical energy needed to try moving things with his eyes or tongue— And that was only if he could keep up his current progress without any setbacks.  

On a brighter note, Luke was getting closer to levitating his entire body. He could almost telekinetically lift his sister if she didn’t resist his magic, and she was around 50 pounds. After crunching the numbers, Luke was happy to learn he was 67% of the way to his goal. His progress wasn't enough to slow his falling speed yet, but knowing he was over halfway to reaching his goal offered him a huge mental boost after his difficulties with the magical energy in his head.

Just then, one of Luke’s pillows struck him in the face with pinpoint accuracy. “What the hell, Hailee?” Luke opened his eyes to glare at his sister, who was snickering at him atop his bed. "I said we can play in a few minutes."

“It’s been a few minutes,” Hailee shoots back victoriously. “And you were doing that creepy smile thingy with your eyes closed again.”

"Was not," Luke grumbled.

“Was too,” Hailee sat up straight, puffing out her chest in defiance. “You can’t fool me; I felt your emotions clearly.”

Luke had to awkwardly look away from his sister after that, which Hailee rightfully took as her victory. Across from the two, Harry watched the siblings playfully argue with each other with a faint smile on his face. He'd long since grown used to the siblings bickering in front of him and knew when to step in before things got too bad.

“Maybe it’s time we stop and play a game,” Harry suggested diplomatically, no longer afraid to place himself between the two siblings.

"Yeah, let's do that," Hailee cheerfully agreed with Harry as she jumped off Luke’s bed, heading straight for the bookcase in his room with all the games they’ve slowly acquired over the past few weeks neatly stacked on its shelves.

“Fine, but we’re not playing Mousetrap,” Luke reluctantly agreed since he could not convince Hailee to sit still another minute longer now that Harry had suggested they play a game.

"Are you cool, cutting our training short?" Luke asked his friend while his sister talked to herself, considering which game to grab.

“It’s fine,” Harry assured Luke with a wide smile. “We can practice some more later once your sister gets bored; besides, I like playing games with you guys.”

“You spoil her too much,” Luke jokingly admonished his friend.

“Not as much as you,” Harry bantered back, which made Luke grin. Every day, Harry grew increasingly more comfortable around others and acted like a kid his age should. It was almost enough to bring a tear to Luke's eye.

“I got it!” Hailee interrupted their moment by slamming a box labeled "Sorry" between them.

“Of course, this is the game you would choose,” Luke shook his as if he should have known better. "Sorry" was one of those games that really brought out his little sister's competitive spirit, so he knew what they were in for as she quickly opened the box and immediately started grabbing all the red pieces. Harry took green, while Luke chose blue before they all started playing.

As usual, the game started to get heated once Hailee drew the first Sorry card, so to distract her, Luke tried to make small talk to get her to focus on anything other than the game. “You know, it’s going to be Halloween in a few weeks,” he casually remarked as he drew a card and moved his piece forward. “I think we should start discussing plans,” he suggested.

Hailee immediately took the bait. “I can’t wait to dress up and get candy,” she cheered excitedly. But before she could start jumping in place, she had a sudden epiphany. “Wait, they do trick-or-treating here, right?" Hailee turned to Harry with a horror-stricken look, making the boy laugh.

“Yes, we have trick-or-treating here." Harry struggled not to appear rude when Luke's sister expressed relief.

“Oh, that’s good,” Hailee nodded seriously as if free candy was the most important thing in the world. “I’m going to dress up as The Emperor,” she confidently proclaimed.

"Who?" Harry asked, confused.

“The big bad guy from Star Wars,” Luke helpfully tells his friend.

“Oh,” Harry nodded in understanding.

"That's right; Harry still needs to watch the Star Wars movies!” Hailee shouted in shock. They talked about him needing to watch them all the time, but they keep forgetting to do it for some reason.

“You’re right,” Luke nodded along with his sister. “We’ve put it off long enough. We need to find a way to watch them.”

Luke and Hailee’s parents bought a VCR player for the living room a few weeks ago, so all the kids needed to do was find a video store that rented movies.

"Then afterward, we can all dress up as Star Wars characters for Halloween," Hailee excitedly suggested. “Luke can be Luke, obviously, and Harry can be Han Solo!”

“You can at least pretend to ask for our opinions,” Luke rolled his eyes exaggeratingly as he drew another card once it was his turn.

“Harry doesn’t mind, do you, Harry?” Hailee turned to Luke’s friend with a massive smile on her face. “Besides, Han Solo is probably way cooler than anything Harry has ever dressed up as before,” she stated confidently.

“Well, actually—” Harry said awkwardly. “I’ve never actually been trick-or-treating before, so I wouldn't know." And like that, all the energy was sucked out of the room.

“Really?” Hailee asked in a disbelievingly sad voice.

Harry nodded, looking down. "Every year, my aunt and uncle take Dudley out and leave me home alone,” he told them, sounding ashamed of himself, like it was his fault his guardians were assholes.

“That’s horrible!” Hailee proclaimed, jumping to her feet, unable to contain her anger. “How can they— That’s just cruel.”  

“Then this is kind of like your first Halloween,” Luke noted calmly, but inside, he was just as angry at the Dursleys as his sister.

“I guess,” Harry shrugged lazily before faintly smiling at his friend. "I'm just happy my first-time trick-or-treating will be with you and your family,” he told them honestly, making the siblings blush.

"Then this will be the best Halloween ever," Hailee clenched her tiny fists in front of her, looking like she’d do anything to make her words come true.

“I’m sure it will be,” Harry smiled brightly at Hailee, feeding her already massive ego.

For a minute, they all just sat on the floor of Luke's room, silently taking everything in before Luke broke the silence again. “Well, I guess we’ll have to find those Star Wars movies and start preparing our outfits.” Luke no longer felt like arguing with Hailee about dressing up as Luke Skywalker; after all that, the only thing he cared about was helping Harry have the best Halloween of his life. The bar wasn't very high, but Luke and Hailee only needed to share a single look back and forth to communicate that they’d do everything in their power to make October 31st a night to remember.

“Thank you," Harry told them from the bottom of his heart, grateful to whatever higher power let him meet Luke and his sister in the first place.

Later, after Harry left the Walker residence and headed home for the day, Hailee and Luke told their parents about their plans for Halloween, and they were instantly on board with the idea. Raymond Walker promised to stop by a video store after work tomorrow to see if he could find the movies they needed, while Shannon promised to help the kids with their costumes.

Everyone fell asleep happy— Everyone except the Dursleys, that is.

-X-X-X-X-X-

Luke wasn’t afraid to admit that he loved Fridays at his new school; it was his favorite day of the week now. Knowing they were getting out early made the day fly by, and not even the tests and quizzes Mr. Harris liked to spring on them could bring down his mood.

Getting out early on Fridays made the weekend feel twice as long, which everybody loved and looked forward to— So it was strange that Luke couldn’t muster up his usual excitement today.

Besides Luke, Harry was the same, and the reason for their downcast expressions was sitting a few rows in front of them— Dudley.

Both boys had come to school expecting Dudley to be extra horrible today after his parent-teacher conference yesterday, so it was a shock to both when Dudley showed up to class with his friends, not with a persistent scowl on his face, but a nasty smirk that made the hairs on the back of Luke’s neck stand up.

All day, Dudley had been shooting them looks that said they’d be getting their own later, but it wasn’t until the end of class that the two boys realized why Dudley was so happy.

“Alright, kids, the only homework I’m assigning you this weekend is to look over last week’s test I handed back and try to figure out why you missed the questions you did. I'll recollect all of them Monday morning to check if you actually tried or just wrote rubbish, so I expect results,” Mr. Harris shot accusatory glances at a handful of students in the classroom, particularly Dudley, who was too busy turned around in his seat grinning at Luke and Harry to notice their teachers pointed stare.

Luke expected Harris to say something, but his following words weren't what he was expecting. “Also,” Professor Harris added as if an afterthought. “Luke and Harry, stay behind and see me after class.”

The class immediately broke into a symphony of 'Oh's' and 'Busted's.'

“The rest of you are dismissed as soon as the bell rings,” Professor Haris added, ignoring all the gossip erupting around his classroom.

Luke and Hary didn't even have a chance to process what they had just been told when the bell rang overhead. Everyone jumped out of their seats and headed for the door, excited to start their weekends.

Professor Harris waited for the last person to leave before he got up from behind his desk, walked over, and shut his classroom's door with a soft click. After that, he walked to the back of the classroom and stood in front of Luke and Harry with a neutral yet firm expression that gave little away.

“Do either of you know why I asked the two of you to stay behind?” Harris asked slowly, but all Luke and Harry could do was shake their heads.

When it became apparent that neither boy would incriminate themselves, their professor decided to stop beating around the bush. “I’m sure you’re both aware that I met with your guardians the other day,” Harris said, focusing primarily on Harry but keeping Luke in his peripheral vision.

Luke and Harry both nodded, still looking just as confused as they were a moment ago.

“We had a long talk about your cousin’s failing grades—" Harris spoke slowly, enunciating every word.

“Let me guess, he blamed everything on us,” Luke couldn’t help but comment.

Both boys expected Professor Harris to get mad at Luke for talking out of turn, but instead, their teacher just eyed the two boys intently.

"They tried," Professor Harris finally said, making both boys sit up in their seats in surprise. "But I stopped that quick enough,” he assured them. “After all, it’s impossible for them to blame Dudley’s test scores on the two of you when you don’t even sit next to each other.”

“Then why are we here?” Luke asked, more than a little confused. If Harris didn't believe the Dursleys, why did he ask for them to stay behind?

“Because,” Harris continued. “While they unsuccessfully tried to place all the blame on Harry, Dudley did mention something I needed to look into that was confirmed by Harry’s aunt and uncle.”

“According to Dudley, Harry, Luke does all your homework for you and gives it to you before class starts. I even got here early today to confirm this and witnessed everything. Do either of you wish to explain this?” Professor Harris’ stare could shatter glass, but it didn't elicit the kind of reaction he had expected.

As one, Luke and Harry let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, is that it?” Luke openly smiled at his teacher.

“Explain,” Professor Harris didn't raise his voice; he didn't have to, but it was evident to the two boys that he was deeply confused by their reactions.

“It’s simple, really,” Luke explained. “I don’t do Harry’s homework for him; I just hold onto it until school starts.”

For a second, Professor Harris's strict demeanor shatters, and his eyebrows disappear into his hairline in shock. "Come again?"

“You see, Harry comes to my house every day after school," Luke was happy to explain. "Where we do our homework separately at my kitchen table. We help each other if either of us runs into any problems, but we don't do each other’s work. If you want, you can ask my mom if you don't believe us. She often makes snacks and watches us while we do our homework.”

"I see." Professor Harris slowly processed all this but still had valid questions for the two. "Be that as it may, that doesn't explain why you hold onto his homework for him,” he looked suspiciously at Luke and then Harry.

Finally, it was Harry’s turn to speak up. "That's sort of my fault," he said sheepishly. "My homework tends to go missing or get ruined if I take it home.”

Professor Harris was a wise man with many years of teaching experience; he could immediately read between the lines of what Harry was saying. "Is that so?" His eyes once again hardened. “And how does that happen?”

Harry looked to Luke for guidance, only to have his friend nod at him encouragingly. Luke knew this was the moment they were waiting for. Everything they’ve done to change their teacher’s opinion of Harry was for this exact moment so that their teacher would listen to them when Harry told the truth.

“Dudley steals or copies my homework if I take it home,” Harry finally admitted after a long pause, holding his breath afterward, not 100% sure if Professor Harris would believe him.

For a tense minute, Professor Harris doesn't say anything; all he does is stare at Luke and Harry as if searching for signs of deception.

“And why have you not told any of your previous teachers this?” Harris asks, slightly accusatory but not outright dismissive.

“They all said I was lying,” Harry frowns sadly, remembering all the trouble he’s been put through due to Dudley’s bullying. “A few of them called my aunt and uncle, but they always say I’m lying too," he sniffles, trying not to cry in front of his teacher.

“That’s why I’ve been holding onto all his homework at my house,” Luke stepped in when his friend was having trouble talking. “It’s probably also why Dudley hasn’t turned in a completed assignment all year, not without Harry to cheat off.”

"You know you boys are making some serious accusations here," Professor Harris crossed his arms in thought.

“It’s why we didn’t say anything,” Luke explained hotly. "It's our word against theirs, and if Harry’s aunt and uncle always side with Dudley, there isn’t much we can do.”

“I see,” Harris nods stiffly, looking slightly troubled. He considered himself a fair teacher, so he asked Luke and Harry to stay behind to get their side of the story before he dished out any punishment. He already told the Dursleys that if Dudley didn’t change things fast, he would likely be held back if he didn’t improve. Vernon Dursley had yelled in his face that it was his fault Dudley was failing, but Harris was used to dealing with parents like that.

When their initial threats didn’t work, Dudley's parents tried to blame Harry for their son's failing grades, but that made even less sense. He liked to think he had a good judge of their character. The only reason Harris confronted the two boys was because Dudley told him that Harry never did his homework the same as him, which his parents quickly collaborated on.

“And you’re telling me you go to Mr. Walker's house daily to do your homework?" Harris asked Harry again for confirmation once he stopped sniffling, as that was a lot of time to spend at another person's house.

Luke and Harry nod together as if their answer is obvious.

“And if I call your mother, she’ll tell me the same thing?” Harris asked Luke.

“You can ask her yourself,” Luke told his teacher confidently. “It’s Friday; she's probably standing outside the school wondering what's taking us so long.”

"Is that so?" Harris nods, quickly making up his mind. "Then you won't mind me following you out then?" He asks challengingly.

“Not at all,” Luke doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“Then let’s be off," the boy's teacher motions for them to follow him, which they do hurridly.

At this point, the hallway outside their classroom was nearly empty, so reaching the stares took only a minute.

“Ohhhhhh, Luke, you’re in trouble.” Hailee only looked at the man standing next to her brother and Harry and his serious expression for a second before messing with him.

“And who is this?” Professor Harris only raises a single eyebrow at the giggling girl before him.

“This adorable monster is my little sister,” Luke ruffles his sister’s hair playfully as he introduces her to his teacher.

“You’re so grounded,” Hailee teases her brother in a singsong voice before turning to Professor Harris with a manic smile. "So, what did my brother do? Was it bad? Is he being expelled!?"

Hailee’s rapid-fire questions are enough to surprise Luke and Harry's teacher into taking a step back, but he quickly recovers. “Nothing like that, I assure you,” Harris disappoints Hailee with his bland answer. "I merely have a few questions for your mother, whom Mr. Walker assured me would be outside.”

“Is that all?” Hailee puffed out her cheeks in disappointment. “Laaammmmme,” she stretches the word out obnoxiously long.

Harris doesn’t know how to respond when, out of the corner of his eyes, he spots Luke smirking at him as they descend the last flight of stairs. "Is something funny?"

“Just thinking, I bet you're happy you ended up with me in your class instead of my sister,” Luke smirks knowingly. “Then again, you still might have her in two years. Who knows, maybe she'll calm down by then.”

"Luke's going to get in trouble. Luke's going to get in trouble," Hailee skips in front of them, giggling like a demonic child.

“Maybe not,” Luke continues to smirk at his teacher.

Professor Harris doesn’t show it on the outside, but in his head, he’s praying to God he isn’t saddled with the youngest Walker in a few years.

In no time, the three kids and their teacher escort reach the front of St. Grogory's Primary School and walk outside together. As soon as they’re through the front doors, they all see Mrs. Walker standing patiently in a lovely sundress, the perfect outfit for the fabulous weather they are having.

“Hello, Mrs. Walker,” Professor Harris greets her with a polite upturn of his lips, but before he can say anything else, Luke’s mother turns toward her son with fire in her eyes.

"Luke. Jakobs. Walker. What did you do?" She asks sternly with her hands on her hips.

“Told you you’re in trouble,” Hailee smirked at her brother's nervous, forced smile.

"What? No, I'm not," Luke tries to defend himself before his sister can give the wrong impression, but it is too late.

“Really, Luke, I thought you knew better. I expect this from your sister, but you?" Shannon Walker sighed loudly before turning to her son's teacher, who was equally caught off-guard by her energy. “I apologize on behalf of my son. Whatever he did, I’m sure he’s sorry.”

“No, I’m—" Professor Harris tries to explain but is again cut off by Shannon.

"You know, my son loves being in your class," Luke's mother rambles. "Says you're the best teacher he's ever had."

"Really?" Professor Harris was flabbergasted. Most of his students do nothing but complain to their parents about him, so to hear the opposite was quite a surprise.

“He really does,” Luke’s mother assured his teacher with a smile brighter than the sun. “I promise you, whatever he did, he’ll be thoroughly punished at home.”

“But, Mom, I didn’t—"

"Wait till we get home, Luke." Shannon holds up a hand to stop her son before he can say anything else. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Harris." She shakes his hand energetically before gesturing for the kids to gather up and follow her home before she starts walking.

They manage to get a few feet away from Luke and Harry's frozen teacher before Professor Harris realizes what is happening. "Please wait up, Mrs. Walker," he shouts after them, making the group pause.

Harris doesn’t hear Luke's mother because he is out of earshot, but the kids do. "Damn, that usually works with Hailee’s teachers,” Shannon Walker grumbles under her breath with a sour expression before smiling and turning back around as Professor Harris catches up to them. "I'm sorry, but was that not all?" She tilts her head, pretending to be innocent.

And you wonder where Hailee gets it from, Luke thinks to himself.

“I’m sorry to keep you, Madam,” Luke’s teacher profusely apologizes, slightly out of breath as he reaches them. “But your son isn’t in trouble yet. I just had a few questions to ask you. Can you spare a moment to answer them?” He asks, oblivious to the fact that Shannon had tried to escape with the kids before he had the chance to issue any punishments.

“Oh, so he’s not in trouble,” Shannon visibly relaxed upon hearing that.

“Not yet,” Luke’s teacher clarified. “The boys were telling me a few things, and I was hoping you could confirm them for me.”

“Like what?” Shannon asked curiously. Usually, at this point in her conversations with her children's teachers, she was trying to convince them not to give her daughter detention, so this was a pleasant surprise to her.

"Well, for one, your son told me that Harry comes to your house every day, and they do their homework together?” Professor Harris asked, trying not to sound like he was fishing for information.

“Is that all?” Shannon smiled more naturally this time. “It’s true, Harry and my little Luke have grown rather close since they became friends. I think Harry spends more time at our house than he does with his aunt and uncle," Shannon said, trying to sound playful while simultaneously dropping hints for her son’s teacher about Harry's home life. "They always do their homework together at the table before they go upstairs to play games.”

"I see," Professor Harris nods before growing slightly more cautious. "And were you aware that your son regularly holds onto his friend's homework for him?"

“I did not," Shannon looked out of the corner of her eye at her son, who was shrugging helplessly. “But it doesn’t surprise me in the least. Harry usually doesn't even take his backpack home with him; it sits by our front door until Luke hands it to him the following day. You don't think they are cheating or anything, do you?”

“I briefly considered it,” Professor Harris admits before shaking his head. “But it appears I was mistaken. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Walker; I hope we meet again under slightly better circumstances.”

"As do I," Shannon said, reaching out to give Professor Harris a polite handshake—nothing like the one she had given him when she was trying to distract him.

After that, Harris turns to walk back into the school building, but before he can take a single step, Luke calls out to him. “Professor Harris, before you go, is it okay if I keep holding onto Harry’s schoolwork for him?” Luke asks nervously.

For a second, it looks to everyone like Luke’s teacher is about to say no, but he catches himself at the last moment. “Normally, I’d say no,” Harris stresses. “But I think circumstances dictate an exception. Don't get me wrong," he says when he sees Luke and Harry about to celebrate. "If I catch either of you two copying each other's work, there'll be repercussions. Understood?”

““We Understand.”” Luke and Harry reply together with giant smiles.

“Good, then I’ll see you both Monday." Harris nods goodbye to Luke's mother one last time before walking away. Once he was out of sight, Harry let out the biggest sigh of relief of his life while Luke smiled proudly next to him.

Before all this, Luke was on the fence about calling Professor Harris his best teacher ever, but not anymore. Not only had Harris proven that he wasn't quick to jump to conclusions without evidence, but he’d also proven incredibly fair in his judgments. It took a special kind of man to do so, and Luke couldn't be more relieved that his teacher was one of those special kinds of individuals.

“I take it you boys have had a busy day," Shannon joked playfully when she noticed the kids relieved looks.

“You have no idea,” Luke chuckled.

“Then why don’t the two of you tell me about it on the way home?" Luke’s mom smiled lovingly at the two boys, which they were happy to do.

More and more, the world was slowly changing for the better around Harry Potter. He had friends who cared for him, a teacher who didn't immediately blame him for everything, and a place to relax away from the Dursleys. He didn’t know it yet, but this was just the beginning. 

Not even fate knew what would happen next as the crack in Harry’s prophecy deep underground in the Ministry of Magic grew slightly larger every day.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

End of Chapter Notes:

A Magical Second Life continues!

Sorry for the recent silence; I hurt myself pretty bad helping my grandpa last week and spent quite a few days lying in bed depressed and in pain, but I'm back now with multiple updates.

I posted the chapters I owed on RoyalRoad and updated my various tiers on Patron for those of you who donate only one or three dollars. As for Magic-Smithing, I'll post a nice long chapter tomorrow for everybody else.

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay safe and comment below.

P.S. Quick question: How do you feel about the upcoming Harry Potter reboot? I just saw an article about the three kids chosen to play Harry, Ron, and Herminie, and at first glance, I couldn't believe how perfectly I felt they fit their characters.

I know some people are complaining about Herminie’s new actor and her skin color, but unlike Snape, Herminie’s skin tone is never deliberately stated in any of the books. I’m still nervous about Paapa Essiedu taking on the role of snape and all that entails, but I’m choosing to remain optimistic.

As a fan of the franchise, I want this reboot to work and can only hope they don't stray too far from the material. That's my two cents, but what's your takeaway?