Chapter 18

Susan watched in shock as Harry Potter flew over the heads of herself and her aunty, his body flipping like some kind of acrobat at a circus. He landed on the floor just a few feet behind them, crouching low with his hands splayed on the ground for balance, forcing them to turn around as he stood from his crouched position and dusted some residue from the floo network off his clothes.

"He certainly knows how to make an entrance," her aunty said with an amused smile. Susan could only nod along in agreement. She had never seen anyone exit the floo network like that, and she herself had only stumbled the first few times she had used the floo.

After dusting himself off, Harry Potter turned around and Susan couldn't quite restrain a gasp.

Harry had dressed himself rather nicely. He was wearing a pair of crisp black slacks that looked like they would fit in both casual and formal settings. His shirt was a button up collared shirt in a green that was several shades short of being black. The top two buttons were undone, showing a hint of muscle mass that did not look like it belonged on a boy of nearly twelve years old.

However, what caught Susan's attention were not his clothes, but his eyes. Harry Potter had always had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and everyone of the girls in her house (and likely many other houses) agreed with that sentiment.

His eyes were still beautiful, still the same shade of killing curse green that looked far more alive than anything else she had ever seen. But where before the eyes had only held a metaphorical glow, now they seemed to be glowing quite literally. It looked like someone had taken a muggle light bulb and supplanted them behind his eyes. The closest instance she could think of that matched what she saw now was the way Headmaster Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle constantly.

Had they always been like that? Or was this some kind of trick of the light?

"My apologies for the... entrance," he said, bowing low enough that his messy hair blocked his face. "For some reason, whenever I use the floo network, I always end up exiting in a rather spectacular manner. I have yet to resolve this problem."

"Don't worry about that," Aunt Amelia said. It was hard to tell with such a normally stern voice, but Susan could have sworn her aunty sounded amused. "It's not like it's something you can help."

Harry came out of his bow and tilted his head curiously at her. "What do you mean?"

"The way the floo network was enchanted makes it so that the witch or wizard using it is traveling under their own power," Aunt Amelia explained. "I don't know the specifics of how it works, but I remember reading in a history text many years ago that when the Ministry of Magic was originally trying to design the floo network, they had tried enchanting it to run off a runic array that worked similar to a muggle battery. The problem with this was that runes can only hold and store so much magic, and the amount of people who began relying on the floo meant the runes had to be recharged every few minutes or so, which caused many of those responsible for keeping it charged to suffer from magical exhaustion."

"I see," Harry murmured as his eyes began to glaze over. Susan recognized his look as one he gave when thinking 'magical jargon' as Tracey had once put it. "So you are saying that the floo runs off the magic of the user, in which case a person who has more magic would end up overpowering the charms and enchantments used on the floo network, thereby forcing them out of the floo faster."

Aunt Amelia raised an eyebrow at the boy, but he seemed almost oblivious to their presence now.

"But that wouldn't explain it all, would it? No. I doubt someone like Albus Dumbledore has such problems with the floo. That would make it a matter of control? Or maybe there is a charm that can limit the amount of magic a user puts into the floo network when traveling? Stabilizing charms, perhaps... or maybe some form of neutralizing charm... hm..."

Before Harry could begin getting too into his theories and whatever else he was thinking, Aunt Amelia coughed into her hand, causing Harry to blush a bit as he realized how he had been ignoring his host.

Susan thought it was adorable.

"My apologies... again. It seems I have forgotten myself."

"It's fine," Aunt Amelia waved his apology away. "I understand you are curious about magic. Susan has told me as much. That being said, I am surprised you are not in Ravenclaw."

"The hat said I would have been well suited towards any of the four houses," Harry said with a shrug, as if being a candidate for all four houses was a minor feet people spoke of as if they were talking about the weather. "I simply chose Gryffindor."

"Because of your parents?" asked Aunt Amelia, sounding curious.

"Partly, though there were other reasons for my decision..." Harry trailed off for a second, then shook his head. "Anyways, I believe we have gotten off track. It's a pleasure to see you again, Madam Bones. You are looking well."

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