He was waiting at the Leaky cauldron for Hagrid. It was a dark and shabby looking place with its only claim to fame being the entrance to Diagon alley. He had never been here before though, since his mother and him always came to their shop directly via floo powder. Five minutes later, Hagrid walked into the bar, crouching as he did so. 'Hi there Darius! Thanks, fer agreeing to come along. Hope I didna' make you wai' for a long while. I got held up a bit. Let's get goin' now. Don't want to waste time now, do we?' 'You still haven't told me what we're supposed to be doing, Hagrid.' 'Right yeh are! Well, what d'yeh know about Harry Potter?' 'I know about the story. About how Voldemort tried to kill him and was vanquished himself, leaving nothing but a scar on Harry's forehead. Everyone in the wizarding community knows about the Boy who lived.' 'Absolutely righ'. What we are goin' to do is go and explain to him about Hogwarts an' help him ter get his stuff. I think it will be simpler if yeh are there with me when I have ter talk to him.' Hagrid sent the letters to Harry, like canon and then we finally left for the rock-on-the-hut to get him. Hagrid's knocks rattled the doors and we could hear Vernon inside screaming something about how he was armed. Hagrid broke the door by the hinges and strode inside and I just followed him to see the Dursley's all crowding together with Vernon holding a gun and Harry sitting on the floor staring towards us. Hagrid walked over and sat on the sofa looked towards Harry. 'An’ here’s Harry! Las’ time I saw you, you were only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mom’s eyes.' Vernon chose that moment to try and interrupt after having gathered up his courage. 'I demand that you leave at once, sir! You are breaking and entering!' Hagrid shut him up by merely taking the gun from his arms and twisting it in a knot as if made of rubber and flung it back at him. 'Anyway – Harry, a very happy birthday to yeh. We got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.' It was a cake we got for him and I selected a much better than the one in canon. Harry finally brought himself to speak. 'Who are you?' 'True, I haven’t introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. And this 'ere is Darius Icarus, a personal frien' o' mine and the topper o' the firs' years. He came along to help me out.' 'I’m sorry, but I still don’t really know who you are.' 'Call me Hagrid, everyone does. An’ like I told yeh, I’m Keeper of keys at Hogwarts – yeh’ll know all about Hogwarts, o’ course.' 'Er, no. Sorry.' 'Sorry? It’s them who should be sorry! I knew yeh weren’t getting’ yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn’t even know abou’ Hogwarts, fer cryin’ out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents leaned it all?' 'All what?' 'ALL WHAT? Now wait jus’ one second!' Hagrid leapt to his feet in anger and the Dursleys cowered against the wall. He looked ready to tear them limb from limb. I stepped in then to placate him and get this episode over with.' 'Hagrid, he doesn't seem to know anything. From what I can tell his relatives have kept everything a secret from him. It will be simpler if we just lay it out to him straight and get this over with. Harry, there happens to be a certain part of society magical in nature. We wizards and witches have been around for ages and co-exist on some level with muggles I.e., non-magical people. You are one of us and we are here to invite you to greatest wizarding school in the country.' 'How? What? What do you mean? I m-mean I can't be a wizard?' 'You are a wizard, Harry. Haven't you had strange incidents or occurrences around you when you are upset or angry. Of course, you have. You are a wizard and will be going to Hogwarts like we said to be taught how to use your magic.' Hagrid then explained to Harry his significance in the magical community and how his parents finally passed away. After a bit more of an altercation with Vernon, Harry finally knew about his history. Hagrid also tried to tell Harry further about Hogwarts. 'You'll learn real magic an’ you’ll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled-' 'I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!' But Vernon Dursley had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head in a positively scary fashion for a mere umbrella and jabbed it towards Dursley. 'NEVER- INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!' And promptly transfigured a pig's tail onto Dudley's rear, exactly like canon. It was hilarious. I bet the twins would have loved to see this. We spent the night in the hut, I sneakily used some magic to make it more comfortable for ourselves. The next morning, I dropped the two of them outside the leaky cauldron and headed to Ollivander's. I had promised to meet him after a year and it was time. I stepped into Ollivander's and the place was just as eerie as last time. 'Mr Ollivander, it's Darius here. I came with my wand as you had asked.' 'Ah, Mr Icarus! A pleasure to see you. I have been looking forward to meeting you again. And I can already see that the resonance between your wand and you has increased.' 'I thought the resonance was something you used to tell the affinity between a magician and a wand. What do you mean it has increased?' 'What I mean to say, Mr Icarus, is that the resonance between a wand and its owner isn't static. It may increase or even decrease, though the latter is extremely rare. The similarity of essences, time spent together and the power of the wand itself are factors in how the wand develops. And I have to say, Mr Icarus, as far as I can tell, yours is developing rather nicely.' 'How exactly does this benefit me?' While I can tell using the wand is a bit easier for me and the spells are a bit more powerful, what else can you tell me?' 'Your wand is still developing, Mr Icarus. I know the rate now. Come back after another 2-3 years and bring the wand. I'll tell you about one of the greatest wands in history......and how your wand is following in its footsteps.' I was shown out the door after that cryptic comment. Well, maybe cryptic according to him but the only wand I know of that can be called the greatest would be the Elder wand. What could my wand have in common with the Hallow? I put all that out of my mind for the moment and headed for the Burrow. The Knight bus took me till the village of Ottery St Catchpole, where the twins and Charlie were waiting for me. Charlie cast a disillusionment charm on the trunk and they took off for the Burrow levitating the trunk along with them. 'So, Darius, are you going to be joining our year soon?', Fred asked. Darius was startled. 'How did you know about that Fred? Professor McGonagall did make an offer to me last year but I hadn't accepted at that time but changed my mind over the summer. I sent her an owl asking about it and am expecting a letter back any day now.' 'Don't underestimate the elves at Hogwarts, Darius. They hear everything. One of them whom I know well overheard Flitwick and McGonagall talking about it.' I turned to Charlie to talk to him. ' So, Charlie, what are you doing now that you have completed school? Working with dragons somewhere, no doubt?' 'Actually Darius, we get to select our profession before clearing the N.E.W.T.s itself and if our grades are satisfying the requirements, we go ahead and start the job. I should be receiving the grades by owl soon. I already have a job in Romania as a dragon-wrangler lined up and only need to get the grades before moving there.' Meanwhile, we had made it to the Burrow already. It was quite a strange sight. The building had a normal design at the bottom and then different room seemed to be just added on top at random. There were chickens clucking around in the yard and a collection of wellingtons and rusty cauldrons next to the yard. As they came near the house, they could see Ron flying on his broomstick and Ginny sitting on the lawn and watching. Percy wasn't visible, probably studying in his room. Mrs Weasley just waked out and headed towards them. 'Hi dear, the twins mentioned you quite a few times and I am very pleased to have you over at our house. Make yourself at home and enjoy your vacation.' 'Thanks, Mrs Weasley. I am looking forward to it. And I have a lot of plans I need to work on with the twins.' 'Just take care not to blow up the house. You should also meet my youngest son and my daughter. Ron, Ginny, come over and meet Darius. He'll be staying over for the rest of summer.' 'Hey Ron, Ginny! Fred and George mentioned you a couple of times before. Ron, I suppose you'll be starting school this term. And don't look so glum at that Ginny, it'll just be another year before you can join as well.' Ron was just as I expected him to be. He seemed to be lazy and had no motivation. Ginny on the other hand, was a delight to meet. I spoke to her further for a while more and she was very pleasant. I admit I had a bit of a crush on Ginny's character before. But this is a real world now, let's see how it goes. We headed in for a sumptuous lunch after that. I spent a pleasant few days at the Burrow and got to know all the people personally. Percy had gotten his prefect badge a few days ago and we had another celebration about that. Ginny and I got along swell and I had taken to giving her magic tips when I had the time. Though not as obsessed with magic as I was, she did love it and listened to me very carefully. Bill was off for work and Gringotts and rarely came home. Charlie also got the letter about his N.E.W.T.s. He had gotten the required grades and immediately owled a letter of to accept his job in Romania. He would be moving out in about a month to work with the dragons there and seemed really excited about it. I myself got a letter from Professor McGonagall, citing the acceptance of my transfer from 2nd year to 3rd and a request to send a letter with my choice of electives asap. The given choices were Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. I filled in Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Care of Magical creatures as my electives and sent it to the school. I didn't need to worry about buying the books as I have had the required books for quite a while now. The twins had chosen the electives of Muggle studies and Care of Magical creatures and we would have the rest of the classes in common. I wonder if they chose muggle studies because of their father or were just trying to slack of. Though they did have a muggle tricks part in their shop later so they likely were familiar with muggle knowledge. They had also bred miniature puffskeins and dealt with other magical creatures in their shop, so, I suppose their care of magical creatures paid off as well. We had started working together on some of the goods for our Owl Order service and made quite a lot of progress. My proficiency with potions coupled with the twins' genius and we came up with the entire set of skiving snackboxes. Fainting fancies, Nosebleed nougat, Puking pastilles and Fever fudges – we had them all. The twins promised to handle the trials themselves. Our work was clear-cut, I would do the initial financing, I was filthy rich after all, and the twins would handle the other work. We worked together on the products. The twins kept surprising me with their ideas and I realised just how much they were underestimated. They were honestly brilliant and it was a treat seeing them come up with their ideas. George was working on the extendable ears while Fred tinkered with fake wands and canary creams. It was awesome to see all this being made and we were in full swing seeing the ideas come to fruition. I even showed them the Marauder's map version that I was making and they were mighty impressed. We were going to sell it off as self-filling maps. I wasn't going to sell the advanced version which tracks others, even when I managed to create it. It might end up in the wrong hands. Meanwhile, I also received an owl, or rather, several owls carrying a single package from my mom. It was rather obvious due to its shape and the other Weasley kids crowded around when they saw it. The Nimbus 2000 was admired from every single angle before it was finally back in my hands. My mom must have felt I deserved a reward for my performance last year and congratulations for skipping a grade, and sent this to me. All of us took turns flying in the garden. Ginny was spectacular, as I had expected, leaving even her brothers stunned. All too soon, it was the last week of the vacations. We were going to go to King's Cross in the Weasley's Ford Anglia. The car had an excellent extension charm on it and we all fit into the car easily. We all left for the station on September 1st and reached there with 15 mins to spare. Time to go to Hogwarts again!