9 Hilltop Arrivals

"Get up, Harry."

Hermione's soft voice gently permeated the highest bedroom of the Burrow, where Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley had been sleeping moments prior. The both of them had just been awakened by the third and only female member of the Golden Trio, as they were called, and both of them silently agreed to ignore the constant requests to wake up issued by their friend. Hermione, now thoroughly annoyed by the attempts to sleep, stormed out the door.

"We're leaving for the World Cup in twenty minutes, with or without the two you." she said, closing the door softly behind her. The two boys shot out of their respective beds as quickly as they could, which unfortunately wasn't all that fast. It felt as though not even five minutes had passed since they had been sent to bed.

When Harry and Ron had finished with their showers, the two of them got dressed in the muggle clothing Harry and Hermione had bought with Mr. Weasley from a muggle clothing shop two days prior. After changing into his clothes, Harry observed himself in the mirror.

He had never been the vain type, but he had to admit he was beginning to look fairly attractive (or at the very least he no longer looked like a small child). He quickly combed his hair to the side, and pulled his glasses off. He blindly edged towards the mirror and squinted with his eyes. A few moments later, his eyes widened in shock, rendering him once again unable to see.

The face he had seen in the mirror was uncomfortably similar to that of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

It wasn't the same. Tom had distinctly lacked the scar that marked Harry's forehead. Tom's eyes were closer to brown than the emerald green of Harry's. His cheekbones had been higher, his skin paler, his hair lighter and much neater. Their face shape was slightly different as well. Harry had enough honesty to admit that he was not nearly as attractive as the young Riddle once had. Tom had been the pretty-boy at Hogwarts when he had attended, amongst other things.

Squinting his eyes, he turned back to mirror. He focused his thoughts upon changing the way he looked. His week of practicing with his partial Metamorphmagus powers had led to him being able to change his hair, eyes, skin tone, and even his features. But only just slightly, to the point where it was barely any different in the first place.

His eyes darkened slightly. His cheekbones lifted slightly as well. His skin tone just barely lightened. The same happened with his hair. His face became slightly wider. It wasn't much of a change, but it was still something, even if anyone who had seen him recently would instant recognize him.

He now gazed upon a face very, very similar to one that had belonged to Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Crack.

Harry quietly cursed himself for not paying attention to his emotions. He looked at the small burn on the bathroom wall, created by a small spark of lightning originating from Harry's left palm. He felt a slight tug in his chest, his body straining from the power released. Harry ignored if for now; it was something that happened several times during his stay at the Burrow. Instead, the youngest and final Potter turned back to the mirror, gazing at his reflection.

The face wasn't the same.

Truthfully, it really hadn't been the same. He knew it hadn't been, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He carefully placed his glasses back on and stopped focusing on his metamorphing powers. It was not too much of a change, but it was now entirely the face of Harry James Potter.

Harry exited the bathroom and back into Ron's room, where he saw the redhead laying across his bed in muggle clothing, reading 'Flying with the Cannons' for what had to be the twelfth time. Harry quickly made sure that Ron had not heard the crack of electricity in the bathroom; it would certainly be hard to explain.

Harry had decided against telling Ron or Hermione about his heirships, abilities, or anything related to it. Harry knew for certain that Ron would get jealous, something he was not in the mood to deal with at the moment. As for Hermione, Harry wasn't sure.

She had never yet had any real reason to be jealous of Harry, so he did not truly know how she might react. Still, if her bossy attitude was in any way related to her potential reaction, Harry was not interested in triggering it. After quickly stroking Hedwig's feathers gently and saying he would be gone for the day, the Harry and Ron walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

All the remaining Weasley children sat by the table, with the exclusion of the eldest three sons. Hermione and Mr. Weasley also sat at the table, while Mrs. Weasley stood at the door, berating Fred and George for attempting to sneak Ton-Tongue Toffees to the World Cup.

A short five minutes later the group left the house, with only Mrs. Weasley remaining behind. After a quick yell at the twins to "BEHAVE!", the Weasley Matriarch vanished from view, having returned to the house.

The group set out along Ottery St. Catchpole's main path for a few miles before they began walking through the woods. The sky was filled with clouds, something that Harry rather liked.

Once they reached the center of the woods the group stopped. They had arrived upon a hill, which they were soon told to climb by Mr. Weasley. After an hour of climbing, the seven of them arrived at the top of the hill, where they were greeted by Amos Diggory, Cedric Diggory, and a mangy old boot.

After a quick series of introductions (during which Ginny and Hermione blushed furiously while shaking hands with the Diggory heir), Arthur quickly explained to Harry and Hermione what a portkey was, and how to use it. Following his lead, each and every member of the now newly formed group touched the boot, and a second later they vanished.

Another second passed, and the group now found themselves in a grassy field that must have been hundreds of kilometres away. Their camping arrangements were soon explained to them by a wizard by the name of Basil, who wore a muggle apron, as well as a pair of shorts. It had taken quite a while to get Hermione to stop laughing after seeing the man jog off.

They said farewell to the Diggorys upon arriving at campsite two, where they met a muggle named Mr. Roberts. Harry just barely managed to stop Mr. Weasley from handing over three silver sickles as payment. They soon made their way to their own tent, which they would only be using for a short period of twenty-four hours.

.....

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