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Harry was sat with Ron and Hermione in a quiet corner of the library, surrounded by piles of books on dangerous creatures and useful spells, which were all being ignored in favour of the letter, written on paper, which had arrived for Harry that morning.
“Quitting at this point would be a perfectly reasonable response, Harry,” Hermione said anxiously. “You don’t have to go through with this.”
“He’s family, Hermione. Now that I know I have family outside the Dursleys, how can you expect me to stay away?”
Harry was tired of arguing about this. He understood Hermione’s misgivings, but he wasn’t willing to give up. She had supported him getting in touch with his Muggle uncle – a half-brother of his mother’s that Aunt Petunia had only revealed existed last summer. But now that Harry was making plans to spend the summer with him, she was full of doubts.
“Italy’s a long way away mate. And what if he won’t let you come back here in September?” Ron asked.
“Then you can rescue me in a flying car again. And he’s said that he doesn’t mind me coming back to Hogwarts. It was one of the first things I asked.” Harry was willing to risk a lot of things for this new family, but Hogwarts wasn’t one of them.
“But Harry, he’s a criminal! Surely getting away from the Dursleys isn’t worth getting involved in Muggle crime,” Hermione said.
Harry sighed. He should have known that the criminal part would be what put Hermione off. “He warned me about it, didn’t he? He could have kept it secret until I was already there and couldn’t back out. He’s giving me the information to make my own choice.” Unlike pretty much every other adult in his life had. That alone won Uncle Kikyo a lot of points.
“I’m sure Snuffles would love to have you for the summer,” Hermione insisted.
“He’s already said I have to stay at the Dursleys, probably for at least a month. And after the Aunt Marge thing, they’re not going to be too happy to see me.” Harry couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his tone.
“Why would Snuffles send you back there? I thought he’d jump at the chance to have you all summer.” Ron sounded as confused as Harry had been.
“Dumbledore says I need to stay with a blood relative to be protected.” Harry knew he could have told Dumbledore about Uncle Kikyo, but he was scared that the Headmaster would find a reason to stop him from coming. Adults didn’t have the best track record of coming through for him.
“If that’s true, then running off to Italy is really irresponsible Harry! What does Dumbledore say about this?” Hermione asked. Ron looked around for Madam Pince as Hermione’s voice got shriller.
“It’s not his business Hermione! Look, Kikyo is my Uncle. He’s my mother’s brother so the blood protection thing works. I’ve warned him about Voldemort –“
“Harry! What about the Statute of Secrecy?” Hermione shrieked. Ron hushed her urgently as Madam Pince peered suspiciously around the shelves at them, glaring for a moment before shuffling away.
Harry waited a moment to make sure they were alone again before replying. “He’s family, and family get to know. Anyway, that was why he told me about the Muggle criminal thing. So he can defend himself, and I’ll be protected, and surely the safest place for me is somewhere that no one else knows about.”
Hermione looked ready to argue some more, but Harry had reached his limit.
“Look, I want you to accept this, alright? You know I’ve been in touch with him all year, and he sent the Muggle diving gear so I could do the second task, and he’s coming to England to meet me and pick me up. It’s happening, Hermione.”
“Just be careful?” she asked.
“You know me, always am.” Harry grinned as Hermione snorted, smiling despite herself. The heavy tension between them lifted.
“Why don’t we all meet him then? Where are you meeting him?” Ron asked.
“I’m taking the Knight Bus to London the first day of the summer holidays. We’re meeting in that little Muggle café across from the Leaky Cauldron.” Harry outlined the plan he and Uncle Kikyo had hashed out over a series of letters.
“There’s no way Mum will let me come,” Ron moaned. “Not on the first day.”
“My parents will take me if I write them about it now,” Hermione said, looking a lot happier now that she could inspect this mysterious criminal Uncle in person.
“Alright. Now that’s sorted, can we please focus on how I’m going to survive a giant maze filled with Hagrid’s pets?”