Chapter 8

Harry woke a half hour before dawn, his excitement at seeing the ocean for the first time not allowing him to sleep any longer. He felt so happy about his first real vacation, that he felt as if he could fly away without wings. When he made his way down to the kitchen, he discovered that he was not the only one awake or excited to start the day, though it surprised him who was there.

"Hi Harry," Emma said with a smile on her face. "I see that you are like Dan and I when we come to the beach. We just can't wait to get up and go meet the sun in the morning."

"Speaking of which Hun," Dan said as he came in. "If we want to watch the sun rise while on the beach, then we need to leave right now. Do you want to come with us Harry?"

Harry really wanted to go with them, but he was afraid that his friends would be upset with him if he went. He decided to decline when Emma interrupted his chain of thought with the answer he needed.

"Don't worry about Hermione and Dora. Hermione will not be up until at least 9 AM, and Dora's parents said she likes to sleep in as well. I will leave a not for them so that they will not worry if they wake before we come back." With that, Emma did just what she said, leaving a note and soon they were on their way to the beach.

Arriving on the beach, Harry was amazed at the way that the ocean went out as far as he could see. Although he had read about it, and had seen pictures in books and on the telly, nothing prepared him for the beauty and magnificence that was the ocean with its waves crashing in fury upon the beach. Harry decided right then that he was going to do most of his swimming back at the park until he was much more confident in his rather new and untested swimming skills. By the time he turned back to the Grangers, they had set up three chairs and Emma was pouring tea into three mugs that she had brought with her. With a sigh of enjoyment, Harry sipped from his cup while starring around in wonder as the sun lifted up over the beach and made everything sparkle and shine in the light of the new day.

It was quite a while before any of them felt the urge to talk or even move more than their head and neck muscles, but such moment are special because they are transitory and cannot last forever. Emma stood and gathered her bag and then turned to Harry. "I am going to take the van back to the campsite and get everything ready for the day. Would you like to stay here with Dan and help him set up his contraptions, or do you want to come back with me to wake up the girls?"

"If you think it will be alright with Dora and Hermione, then I would like to stay here with Dan. I really want to just relax and do my meditation exercises on that out crop over there with the waves breaking around it." Harry was embarrassed by his request, but he was just getting used to not being beat for impertinence when he made his desires known.

Emma laughed and turned to Dan. "Hear that Hun, Harry wants to have peace to meditate so you need to give him time to do that instead of using all of his time and energy. Have fun Harry, and don't be afraid to tell this fanatic no if he is pushing you too hard." With that, she kissed Dan and ruffled Harry's already messy hair before heading back to where they parked the van.

With a start, Harry realized that there were three substantial bags laying in the sand behind the chairs. He was going to ask Dan where they came from and what they were for, when Dan opened up one and pulled out a small sledge hammer, a block of wood with a hollowed out center and a strike plate on top, and three sections of pipe. With a grin of his own, Dan walked past Harry toward the water, knowing in that sneaky adult way, that Harry would not be able to resist following him. When he judged that he was in the right place, he took out a bandana and tide it to the first pipe, which he held into the air. Harry was at this point almost desperate to know what Dan was doing, but didn't want to interrupt in case whatever he was doing took concentration. Dan stared at the bandana for almost a minute before he lowered it down, and then drove it in to the sand at a 40 degree angle away from the way the bandana was blowing. He then picked up the sledge and the wood block, placing the wood block on top of the pole before using the sledge to begin to drive it in to the sand. It was half way buried when he pulled off the block and screwed in the next section of pole before once again pounding it in to the sand.

Harry was just watching him, when Dan turned and spoke to him. "Do you want to give it a go? All you need to do is keep driving it in until there is about a foot sticking out of the sand. Stop and screw in the next section and then continue driving it down until the second pole is completely in the sand."

Harry decided to give it a go and was soon hammering away. While Harry did not have the strength that Dan had, he did have the exuberance of youth making three strikes for every one that Dan would have used, and so he soon accomplished what Dan had instructed him to do. Harry paused to admire his handy work, when Dan startled him by laughing right behind him.

"I admire your work ethic Harry, but you forgot one thing." Dan couldn't help but continue laughing as Harry gave a look of puzzlement. "You forgot to add the new pole before driving that one almost underground." Now Harry just looked sheepish, though he grinned when he saw that Dan wasn't upset with him.

"No Worries Harry, just dig out the sand around the striking block, and then remove it so that we can attach the next pole." Dan attached the new section with a smile, and then added a section that had straps hanging from it.

"This is what I call the pilot's rig." Dan Explained as he untangled the different straps. "This is to keep you from flying away if the wind is too strong."

"You mean that we will have to be tied down so we don't get blown off the beach? Why would we come here if it is that dangerous?" Harry asked in a panicked tone as he worried about his friends and their safety as the day progressed.

Dan was laughing so hard that it took him a moment to gain enough air to reassure Harry. "No Harry, we are not in danger from blowing away in normal circumstances, but when we break out the foils, you will appreciate being tied to the stake. Either that, or you might end up out on the ocean with no way to get back to shore." Harry's puzzled look prompted him to continue. "Harry, I am talking about flying kites, and not the sort of kites that you make out of paper and a string and go to the park to join in flying them along with spontaneously breaking into song with the rest of the suspiciously cheerful people that seem to not have a life. I am talking about wings, foils, fighting kites, and other aerodynamic pieces of nylon that with the right wind could drag you to Dover if you aren't careful. I got into flying kites while serving in Her Majesty's Services, when I did a high altitude jump into some rather nasty weather in the middle of a pitched battle. I landed in the wrong area because of the cloud cover and was too close to enemy lines. When they started firing at me, I desperately pulled my back up chute hoping I could use it to obscure my movement so I could go to ground. It was just at that moment that a gust of wind came up and grabbed my chute, pushing it out and away from the front line. I of course was dragged behind it and was able to fire on the enemy, while moving away toward where our troops where set up. When I realized that I had lived through the day, I was ecstatic. As time went by though, I felt myself wanting to relive the feeling of being pulled by the wind, fighting its force and making it do what I wanted. So when I got out of the service, I went looking and found myself buying a kite that cost more pay than I made in a month. Every weekend during the time I was going through Dental School, I would spend at least an hour or so flying my kite. It is what kept me sane through that time, that and Emma."

Harry looked at him and Dan could see that he was debating on whether or not he should run from the demented man that was talking to him. "Sir, could I see one of your kites? I think that I might enjoy anything that makes you feel as if you are fighting the wind. I have dreamt of flying since I was a kid, on motorcycles, brooms, and even on the back of a winged horse/bird thingy with someone. Anything that allows me to feel like that even if it is not really me that is doing the flying; well that would be wonderful."

When the rest of the group finally arrived at around 10:30 AM, they found Harry flying a two tiered stunt kite with a smile that threatened to split his face in half. He was using it to chase birds across the sky, make roaring noises as he let it fight the wind going back and forth, and dive bombing people who were setting up their things on the beach. Even though he always pulled up inches before actually hitting anyone, there were several people who dove face first into the sand in fear of being decapitated by the swiftly moving kite. You could tell immediately who they were because they kept shooting glares at Harry and Dan as they laughingly enjoyed themselves.

Pru called a halt to Harry's fun, telling him that it was time to put on some sun screen and eat some breakfast since he had missed it back at the camp site. Harry was about to protest, when his stomach betrayed him by letting out a very loud and long growl. Sheepishly, Harry handed the control leads for the kite to Hermione, who enjoyed her father's hobby many times in the past; though never with the exuberance and flair that Harry had shown. It made the other adults laugh at seeing the forlorn look on his face as he walked away from his first kiting adventure.

Dan took pity on him and said, "Harry, I know that you want to continue, but you also need to take care of yourself and your needs. Getting badly sunburnt can ruin a vacation just as fast as bad weather or rude behavior by your neighbors or friends. Get a bite to eat and then we will play a few of the beach games that Emma brought for us. One that I am really looking forward to trying is from across the pond called Smash Ball. It is played with a golf ball sized rubber ball that doesn't have much bounce, and oversized wooden paddles, and I think that the object is to keep it up in the air as a team. Later on we will hook you up to the harness and let you try out the foil kite." Harry agreed that it sounded like fun, and so he sat next to Dora who handed him a plate with two egg sandwiches and some fruit. When Harry had finished eating, Abby waved him over and told him that Andi would take care of applying the sun block for him.

Andi smiled and pulled out a glass jar that had some horribly bright pink stuff in it. When Harry pulled away from her out of principle, she and Abby laughed before Andi spoke up. "Don't worry Harry, this isn't like the sun block you buy at the market. I brewed this myself, from a recipe that your mom and a good friend of hers came up with while they were still at Hogwarts. This potion alone should have gotten Selene and Lily their Mastery in Potions, but because of the bigotry in that profession, it was not even published nor is it allowed to be sold since they were both women and your mom was muggleborn. I just need to rub a little on your forehead, shoulders, and above your knees, and the potion will protect you from getting burned and will last for the next two weeks with no need to reapply. It is ingenious in that it absorbs into the top layer of your skin and spreads to your entire body, actually using the harmful rays of the sun to power its effect. I was given the formula by Selene a few years ago, along with both her and your mother's notes on their experiments for safe keeping. There is a man who was once a friend of your mothers who turned on her during their sixth year for some unknown reason. After your mom died, he published some of her work as his own, using it to gain his Mastery and also a teaching job at Hogwarts. While he is a gifted brewer, he has no imagination or spark of inventiveness in potion making, and always rode the coattails of your mother's brilliance. Selene and her husband are clients of ours and they wanted to keep the research away from the greasy git since he had come by their home with Albus Dumbledore a few times and someone attempted to break into her lab more than once."

Harry was amazed at how much she knew about his parents, and looked at her, pleading with his puppy dog eyes for her to continue. "While your father was gifted in Transfiguration and Arithmantic spell crafting, your mother was in a league all her own when it came to intelligence. While most children from the muggle world stop going to regular school when they attend Hogwarts, your mother finished up her O levels and A levels by the beginning of her third year, and began taking correspondence courses from two Muggle Universities while still attending Hogwarts. Three months after her graduation from Hogwarts, she was able to complete her PhD's in Chemistry and Biomechanics; all at the age of seventeen. Your dad asked her to marry him the next day, which happened to be her eighteenth birthday. There was not a subject that Lily could not master, and there was not a limit to the curiosity that drove her to learn."

Harry was really happy to hear stories about his parents, but he noticed that Dora, Ted and Dan, along with a recently returned Hermione, all seemed impatient to start playing the beach games that they had brought. Harry graciously decided that he could get more stories about his parents later, and leapt to his feet, tagging Dora on the head and shouting, "You're it," before racing off down the beach with a pair of girls hot on his heels, screams of children's laughter following them away.

The next few hours were spent playing games in the surf, on the beach, and even on a volleyball court that was set up near the parking lot. Dan and Emma were very pleased to see that Hermione was for once acting her age with her two friends. Usually when they went to a beach, Hermione would bring a book and act like a miniature adult, lying in the sun next to her mother or joining her dad in flying his kites from time to time. Now though, you could see the joy in her eyes as she realized that for once in her life, she had real friends who were not there to tease her or use her to get answers. It was all the adults could do to drag the three friends away from their games to eat a late lunch.

While eating, Harry became fascinated with the surfers on the waves, and the ones who were further out using sails to push themselves and their boards faster than mere waves could. Harry wished that he could go try it, but after an almost disastrous first time in the waves, he decided that he needed to improve his meager swimming skills before he would ever get to try it for himself. For now he had to be content with watching as he watched the surfers ride the waves that were bigger than normal because of a storm out in the ocean. While the waves were amazing, the undercurrent was also very strong, which is what made Harry so leery of going too far out from the beach. If not for Ted being near him when the undercurrent began to drag him out, he might have ended up needing to be picked up by one of the boats that were off in the distance.

With their late lunch over, Dan decided it was time to let Harry try out the foil kite. Leading him over to the post that they had driven into the sand that morning, Dan pulled out a smaller harness from the bag that was staked out next to the anchor post. "Harry," Dan said, "I want you to put both of your legs through these two holes, but please make sure not to let it touch the sand as the sand can cause damage that overtime can ruin this for use."

Harry did as he was asked and Dan continued. "Now pull it up over your shoulders and then lock it together with this carabineer. Now I am going to attach your tail lead to the anchor post using this locking carabineer, and then we can attach your primary rope to your front. This is the rope that goes from you to the foil and makes it not fly away from you. The other two sets of line are just like the ones you used for the stunt kite this morning, letting you guide it in the direction you want. Well will put the line out at one hundred fifty feet so that you don't get in to much trouble. I think it is also more intense and fun to have it that close, as the foil is much more responsive to your direction. Now if you are ready to try it out, I will walk it out and launch it for you." When Harry gave him the go ahead, Dan picked up the bundle of lightweight high tensile strength nylon and began to walk down the beach.

What came next for Harry was one of the most intense experiences of his young life. Dan got to the end of the cords length and unrolled the foil, then with a grin at Harry, launched the foil into the air. Harry was not quite ready for the speed that the foil would have in its ascent. One moment he was holding slack controls while standing on the beach, and the next he was two feet off the ground with the only thing keeping him there being the harness and anchor post that he and Dan had placed that morning. He dropped his left hand down in shock, and the foil dove in that direction, pulling him around by almost ninety degrees. When he realized his mistake, Harry over corrected and was soon 180 degrees in the opposite direction, still with his feet dangling above the sand. Ted, Andi, Pru, and Abby all began running to Harry to help him since Dan had not gotten back to him. Hermione inserted herself between the panicking adults and the boy who was being tossed about by the force of the wind like a ragdoll in the mouth of a playful dog. Ted was about to shove her to the side when Dora made a comment that stopped them in their tracks.

"Look at that grin," she exclaimed. "I don't think he could be having more fun if he tried."

When they took a moment to really look at Harry, they realized that not only was he having the time of his life, he seemed to be making a game of keeping his feet off the ground to the point that he had his knees bent and his feet tucked up behind him. Dan reached them at that moment, and stood stunned at the image that he was seeing. It was if Harry had some instinctive grasp on the way the wind would behave. When the wind ebbed at the level of the sand, he would send the foil up into the winds high above their heads. When the wind gusted at beach level however, that was when he would practically sweep the sand with one of the edges all while keeping his feet off the ground.