"Tradition? Well in my opinion, I think these old timers are being unfair. It's not the Middle Ages anymore. I think men should cook too! Women are equal to men and we're not that different. We've got some different organs, but attitude wise we're the same. When I get older, I want a wife to be herself, not some maid who has to do my every bidding. We're equal, so we all deserve respect and…" He shut up when she hugged him firmly.
"Thank you."
"Huh…?" Harry said.
"Harry that was the most respected thing I had ever heard you say! You're really something Harry," Jasmine said smiling at Harry sweetly. She was definitely falling for him now. She may be young, but she definitely liked Harry. Her Harry. Not the old one. This new model was something else.
Harry scratched the back of his head while blushing.
"Yeah… well… err… uh huh," Harry stammered. She closed in on him.
"Harry?! Where are you?!" his mum yelled in the distance.
Whew. "In the library! Sorry, Jasmine, we'll have to continue this later. I'm sure my mum needs me for… something. Bye!" His body was too young for the signals his older mind was sending.
When the hell was puberty going to hit anyway?!!
...
Harry's birthday celebration seemed to go on all day. He was not pressed into service making lunch, and soon after it ended both families made their way to the Potter pool where they spent the next several hours playing, swimming, and sunning - well, as much sun as you could get in the British Isles. Harry had invited several neighborhood kids over but most had declined politely. Harry wasn't surprised: his alter ego had been a real jerk to most of the people in the town.
While swimming he got to see his parents wearing next to nothing. His father was still in pretty good shape with a flat stomach and an above average build in his chest and arms. He had heard that his father had been a Quidditch Player for a season before taking a serious injury and then going to Auror school. Rumor was that some teams sent him invitations to come to tryouts and end his retirement.
Sirius was near the same way with short hair and a clean face. He definitely looked different not having a beard. His mother, on the other hand, still looked like she was in good shape. Even after six kids, she had the shape to turn heads. After noticing his mother that way, he quickly looked somewhere else while turning bright red. Thank god no one saw. He definitely needed to think of something else, and fast. Unfortunately his gaze landed on "Aunt" Amy and his red face turned even redder. She was a babe as well.
Facing imminent mortification, he took in a lungful of air and went down for a dive, reaching the bottom of the pool and swimming for the other end. He made it about half way before coming up for air.
"Harry… have you been working out?" his mother asked looking at her oldest son.
Everyone stared. Of course the girls already noticed. The guys just realized it. No sense denying it now. "Yeah, I've been working out lately, trying to increase my pace for Quidditch," Harry said shortly.
"You're flying again, Harry? I thought that after last… month, you wouldn't continue flying. I thought you were afraid of heights," James said looking at his son. He wanted to see how Harry flew now.
"Yeah I'm flying grandpa's old broom. No I'm not afraid of heights anymore. I learned to not fear it while flying. Who knows, maybe I want to live up to your reputation in Quidditch, dad. I may just end up surprising you."
"Quidditch?" his mum replied. "But I thought you'd want to take after me and become a famous chef. Sirius? Why are you choking? You okay?"
James smiled. His son was so different these past several weeks. He had to admit, he liked his son's new personality. Except when he longer wanted to play pranks, but other then that, Harry was everything he wanted from a son. He just hoped Harry would become a powerful wizard in the near future and that he would be more interested in Quidditch like the rest of the family. He was so much like Lily it was scary.
How amazed his father would be if he knew how powerful Harry already was.
Magic was an interesting thing. You could weigh it, tape it, measure it, smell it, bottle it, see it, and in some cases, talk with it. Magic was also an intangible thing that couldn't be sensed when it didn't want to be. The magical community had long ago come up with means to measure a wizard or witch's worth. This was done at an early age to better prepare them for life. Truthfully, when Harry had heard about this practice (which happened at childbirth), he felt it was more of a way to weed out squibs than anything else.
Harry's original score on the magical aptitude test (MAT) listed him as an average wizard. This was before Voldemort came a' calling and infused some of his magical core with Harry's, start-jumping a magical core expansion that still showed no signs of slowing down. Around Harry's original 16th birthday, he came into his shadow abilities. He later started training with Nicholas and Pernelle Flamel to better understand these abilities. They ran another MAT test and found his score off the charts. And it was still rising. He had thought that the shadow abilities were the upper edge of what he would be able to do. Apparently that wouldn't be the case.
....
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