The Scar
The scent of fresh breakfast foods filled the air surrounding 4 Privet Drive on this late summer morning. Bacon, french toast, pancakes, eggs, muffins and sausages (all for Mr. Dursley and Dudley of course), were piled up on the kitchen table. Mrs. Dursley stood at the counter squeezing fresh oranges into glass cups. Harry was upstairs in his room (as usual) packing his trunk to go to Hogwarts. It was late August and the Weasleys were picking him up later that week to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies. Then Harry would spend the rest of the summer holidays with them. He loved the Weasleys. They were so nice to him. He had a decent place to sleep, had three, sometimes four, meals a day. They even took him to the Quidditch Finals.
Harry's stomach growled viscously as the aroma of the bacon, french toast, and other breakfast goodies raced upstairs, but he ignored it because he knew he wouldn't get any of the delicious food. The Dursleys would gobble the food down without even noticing Harry was in the room. Suddenly, there was a rapping noise coming from under his floor. Mrs. Dursley was banging the broom on the ceiling downstairs to get Harry's attention to come to the breakfast table.
"I'll be right down!", shouted Harry.
He packed his last pair of socks into the trunk, shut the lid, pushed it to the corner of his room next to his carefully wrapped Firebolt 2000, and made his way downstairs.
"It's about time! Your breakfast is getting soggy!" shouted Mrs. Dursley.
Harry sat down in his usual place at the kitchen table and looked at his breakfast. "Old cereal, as usual", Harry thought to himself.
Once Dudley ate all the marshmallow treats out of the cereal box, he wouldn't eat anymore and the leftovers went to Harry. Mr. Dursley and Dudley were passing sausages back and forth under Harry's nose, but Harry wouldn't dare take one. He knew better that if he did, Dudley would whine and complain all day that he was hungry, and then he would probably get Harry's dinner portion. Harry's small dinner portion. Harry did manage to steal a little peice of bread, which he would give to his snowy owl Hedwig. Harry couldn't take another bite of his stale cereal and asked to be excused.
"Go on. Get out of my face", said Uncle Vernon from behind his newspaper.
Harry jumped up, put his bowl in the sink and began to run upstairs when-
"And later, the family and I are going down to the beach. You are to stay here and clean up the house", added Mr. Dursley.
Harry sighed and climbed the stairs to his room. He took the tiny morsel of bread and slipped it through Hedwigs cage.
"Eat well today. I want you to send a letter to Ron for me."
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed, took out a piece of paper and quill to write.
Dear Ron,
I hope your summer is going along well. I just wanted to
know when you are picking me up to go to Diagon Alley
this week. The sooner, the better! Send Hedwig back with a reply. Thanks!
Harry
PS- Have you heard from Hermione lately?
Harry tied the letter around Hedwigs leg and then let her out the small window. He watched her fly up into the sky until she was no longer in sight. Harry then looked at his bottle of ink for his quill and noticed he was running low. His paper supply was low too.
The Dursleys never gave him anything in his room. Not even a pen and paper. Harry stared out his window at the sky thinking about Ron and his other friends from Hogwarts. Hermione said something about spending her summer holidays in New York. That should be interesting. Harry wondered if he would run into Hermione when he went school shopping in Diagon Alley. This is where all the wizards did their shopping, mainly for school supplies.
The Dursleys never wanted anything to do with the magic world. Mrs. Dursleys sister, Lily, was accepted into Hogwarts, and there she became a witch. Mrs. Dursley, of course, thought this was absurd. She ignored her sister. Actually, she pretended she never even had a sister. When Lily got married to another wizard, James Potter, and Mrs. Dursley married Vernon, they never spoke anymore. Then, one tragic day, only a year after little Harry Potter was born; Lily and her husband were killed by the darkest wizard of them all. Lord Voldemort. Harry was forced to go live with the Dursleys who hated every ounce of him, just because he was from wizard blood. Harry never got anything he wanted, or needed for that matter. Dudley, his cousin, was a spoiled, overweight brat that got anything he wanted just because he wasn't a wizard. The Dursley family was anything but abnormal. They did their best to fit in, and if something was out of place, or weird, they would hate it. Harry used to have fun during the summer because the Dursleys didnt know Harry was not permitted to use magic out of school. So Harry would have a go with Dudley. He'd wave his wand around and chant some fake spells just to see Dudley squeal like a pig. But Mr. Dursley found a letter in Harrys room that stated "magic was strictly forbidden over the summer". Therefor, Harrys only means of fun during the summer holidays were spoiled. Of course, to Harry, this was unfair, but he lived with it and waited until he could rejoin his friends at Hogwarts, the best wizarding school in the world. Harry loved Hogwarts and couldn't wait till the next, and last, school year started.
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and though Hedwig wouldn't be back for hours, he anxiously awaited her return. He sighed and looked for something to pass with time with. Of course there was nothing to do in his room, so he just layed down on his bed and waited to hear Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernons screaming voice calling him downstairs to clean the house. Harry actually looked forward to cleaning the house when the Dursleys were not around. This gave Harry the freedom to do whatever he wanted without the Dursleys yelling at him. He could eat all the food in the fridgerator ("If you're a wizard, zap up your own food!"). He could go play Dudleys video games ("Mom! He broke it!"), and he could even go swimming in the backyard pool ("Go swim in the bathtub!").
Harry straightened up the house (without using any magic) and then he made himself a sandwich. He decided to take it outside and sit by the pool under the bright summer sun. He gobbeled down his sandwich and took a sip of his ice cold lemonade and rested back on a lounge chair.
"This is the life", he thought right before he heard a loud splashing sound. He sat up abruptly and looked to where the noise was comming from. In the pool, he saw Hedwig. She was using her wings as flippers, trying furiously to get out of the water. Harry jumped in, lifted her up and carried her to the side of the pool.
"Got tired on your long flight?", Harry asked. "I don't blame you, its a scorcher today." Hedwig just shook off all the water and stuck out her leg which held a soggy note. Harry opened it and read:
Harry,
I recieved your letter all right. I just wanted you to know that we are picking you up tomorrow at 1pm. Be ready with your trunk waiting outside. My dad is actually taking a normal car that he bought in a muggle antique shop in Hogsmede. See you then.
Ron
PS- Yes, I've heard from Hermione. She sent me a postcard from New York. I just got it today! Also! Can you tell Hagrid to meet us in Diagon Alley as well? He said he can get us a discount on the new books we have to buy for our 7th year! Thanks!
After Harry read the note, he folded it up and put it in his back pocket. He then got a towel and dried himself up after his short jump in the pool. Then he looked at Hedwig who was pecking at another soggy peice of paper. When he went to pick it up, Hedwig nipped at him.
"Hey! Hey! Whats wrong?" Harry asked half expecting an owl to answer back. Hedwig waddled away still dripping with water. "Must be the heat", Harry continued to himself.
He picked up the wet paper and saw a picture; a still picture, of the statue of liberty. He turned it around and read:
Dear Harry,
How are you doing? How is England holding up? New York is great! I met alot of muggles who were really nice. I actually also met a few wizards and witches! They all have funny accents though! I'm going to meet you and Ron this Friday in Diagon Alley. Meet me outside of Gringotts. See you soon!
Love always,
Hermione
Harry put the postcard in his back pocket next to Rons letter. He drank down the rest of his lemonade and told Hedwig to go inside. She obeyed and flew in Harrys room through the window. Harry prefered taking the door to get inside. He went up to his room, lyed down on his bed and dozed off. He only slept for a short while because after only 10 minutes, he shot up in bed and his scar was burning intensly. He had account like this before. He'd normally be in the same room, or even have a dream about a dark wizard, and then have his scar burn. But only now, he couldnt remember the dream he had while he was napping. Did he even have a dream? Everything was normal. His Hogwarts chest was in place next to his broomstick. Hedwigs birdcage sat next to the window and she was perched on top. A tiny box containing letters and notes were on his dressed next to another box filled with "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans" and "Chocolate Frogs". The only thing that seemed to be out of place was his quill (which he discover the next day underneath his bed).
Harrys scar still hurt, so the least he could do was to get a cold drink. He went down to the kitchen and sat in silence at the table while drinking down a cold glass of iced tea. The pain on his forehead decreased greatly. Harry supposed that he in fact had a dream about a dark wizard. Nothing big though. This happened to him in the past. He figured if it was important, he would remember it. It made him frusterated though, and in attempts to remember if he had a dream about a dark wizard or not, he did remember that he had to tell Hagrid to meet him and the others in Diagon Alley. He finished off his iced tea, and once all the pain in his scar was gone, he ran upstairs to write to Hagrid.
As soon as he got to his room, he searched it for his quill (of course he didn't find it yet). He thought he packed it away in his Hogwarts chest, so after 20 minutes of unloading it and then loading it back up went by, he decided to just pluck a feather from Hedwig.
"This won't hurt a bit! I promise!", said Harry as he quickly grabbed a tail feather. Hedwig didn't even flinch. Harry supposed she didn't even realize he took a feather from her. He grabbed a peice of parchment and began to write:
Dear Hagrid,
Hello! How is your summer? Mine is okay! The only thing worse then putting with with Voldemort is-
But he never finished his sentence. His body dropped to the floor and his scar was blinding him with pain. The moment he wrote the word Voldemort, everything inside him burst like a full balloon. It was too hard for him to concentrate. He ripped up the parchment in hopes to cure his pain and threw it out the window. Hedwig, thinking it was food, bolted after it and started pecking at it once it hit the ground.
"Good Hedwig! Eat it to the last drop! Get rid of this nasty old pain for me, will you?" Harry cheered her on from his upstairs window. Had he gotten all the pain just from writing the word Voldemort? That never happen to him before. Then again, Voldemorts power has risen, and come to think of it, Harry could not remember ever writing the name Voldemort. He vowed he would never even think of putting that name on paper again if it caused him this much pain. Maybe Harrys scar was just acting up. Afterall, it started hurting before when Harry was sleeping, and now it hurt from just writing a name? Maybe a dark wizard was nearby. Harry looked out his window to see if anyone was there. In fact, someone was there. A little boy playing down by the Dursley pool. He was admiring Hedwig, who was still pecking at the paper. Harry shouted at the little boy, and he ran away. Hedwig got scared and flew back upstairs to Harry in all the excitment. She nibbled lovingly on his finger and then curled up in her cage and went to sleep. Harry watched as the boy ran down the street and out of site. Who was that boy? Was he the cause of Harrys pain? The boy wasn't around before. Or was he?
Harry didn't want to think anymore. He just crawled into his bed, shut his eyes, and fell into a deep slumber.
The scent of fresh breakfast foods filled the air surrounding 4 Privet Drive on this late summer morning. Bacon, french toast, pancakes, eggs, muffins and sausages (all for Mr. Dursley and Dudley of course), were piled up on the kitchen table. Mrs. Dursley stood at the counter squeezing fresh oranges into glass cups. Harry was upstairs in his room (as usual) packing his trunk to go to Hogwarts. It was late August and the Weasleys were picking him up later that week to go to Diagon Alley for school supplies. Then Harry would spend the rest of the summer holidays with them. He loved the Weasleys. They were so nice to him. He had a decent place to sleep, had three, sometimes four, meals a day. They even took him to the Quidditch Finals.
Harry's stomach growled viscously as the aroma of the bacon, french toast, and other breakfast goodies raced upstairs, but he ignored it because he knew he wouldn't get any of the delicious food. The Dursleys would gobble the food down without even noticing Harry was in the room. Suddenly, there was a rapping noise coming from under his floor. Mrs. Dursley was banging the broom on the ceiling downstairs to get Harry's attention to come to the breakfast table.
"I'll be right down!", shouted Harry.
He packed his last pair of socks into the trunk, shut the lid, pushed it to the corner of his room next to his carefully wrapped Firebolt 2000, and made his way downstairs.
"It's about time! Your breakfast is getting soggy!" shouted Mrs. Dursley.
Harry sat down in his usual place at the kitchen table and looked at his breakfast. "Old cereal, as usual", Harry thought to himself.
Once Dudley ate all the marshmallow treats out of the cereal box, he wouldn't eat anymore and the leftovers went to Harry. Mr. Dursley and Dudley were passing sausages back and forth under Harry's nose, but Harry wouldn't dare take one. He knew better that if he did, Dudley would whine and complain all day that he was hungry, and then he would probably get Harry's dinner portion. Harry's small dinner portion. Harry did manage to steal a little peice of bread, which he would give to his snowy owl Hedwig. Harry couldn't take another bite of his stale cereal and asked to be excused.
"Go on. Get out of my face", said Uncle Vernon from behind his newspaper.
Harry jumped up, put his bowl in the sink and began to run upstairs when-
"And later, the family and I are going down to the beach. You are to stay here and clean up the house", added Mr. Dursley.
Harry sighed and climbed the stairs to his room. He took the tiny morsel of bread and slipped it through Hedwigs cage.
"Eat well today. I want you to send a letter to Ron for me."
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed, took out a piece of paper and quill to write.
Dear Ron,
I hope your summer is going along well. I just wanted to
know when you are picking me up to go to Diagon Alley
this week. The sooner, the better! Send Hedwig back with a reply. Thanks!
Harry
PS- Have you heard from Hermione lately?
Harry tied the letter around Hedwigs leg and then let her out the small window. He watched her fly up into the sky until she was no longer in sight. Harry then looked at his bottle of ink for his quill and noticed he was running low. His paper supply was low too.
The Dursleys never gave him anything in his room. Not even a pen and paper. Harry stared out his window at the sky thinking about Ron and his other friends from Hogwarts. Hermione said something about spending her summer holidays in New York. That should be interesting. Harry wondered if he would run into Hermione when he went school shopping in Diagon Alley. This is where all the wizards did their shopping, mainly for school supplies.
The Dursleys never wanted anything to do with the magic world. Mrs. Dursleys sister, Lily, was accepted into Hogwarts, and there she became a witch. Mrs. Dursley, of course, thought this was absurd. She ignored her sister. Actually, she pretended she never even had a sister. When Lily got married to another wizard, James Potter, and Mrs. Dursley married Vernon, they never spoke anymore. Then, one tragic day, only a year after little Harry Potter was born; Lily and her husband were killed by the darkest wizard of them all. Lord Voldemort. Harry was forced to go live with the Dursleys who hated every ounce of him, just because he was from wizard blood. Harry never got anything he wanted, or needed for that matter. Dudley, his cousin, was a spoiled, overweight brat that got anything he wanted just because he wasn't a wizard. The Dursley family was anything but abnormal. They did their best to fit in, and if something was out of place, or weird, they would hate it. Harry used to have fun during the summer because the Dursleys didnt know Harry was not permitted to use magic out of school. So Harry would have a go with Dudley. He'd wave his wand around and chant some fake spells just to see Dudley squeal like a pig. But Mr. Dursley found a letter in Harrys room that stated "magic was strictly forbidden over the summer". Therefor, Harrys only means of fun during the summer holidays were spoiled. Of course, to Harry, this was unfair, but he lived with it and waited until he could rejoin his friends at Hogwarts, the best wizarding school in the world. Harry loved Hogwarts and couldn't wait till the next, and last, school year started.
Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and though Hedwig wouldn't be back for hours, he anxiously awaited her return. He sighed and looked for something to pass with time with. Of course there was nothing to do in his room, so he just layed down on his bed and waited to hear Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernons screaming voice calling him downstairs to clean the house. Harry actually looked forward to cleaning the house when the Dursleys were not around. This gave Harry the freedom to do whatever he wanted without the Dursleys yelling at him. He could eat all the food in the fridgerator ("If you're a wizard, zap up your own food!"). He could go play Dudleys video games ("Mom! He broke it!"), and he could even go swimming in the backyard pool ("Go swim in the bathtub!").
Harry straightened up the house (without using any magic) and then he made himself a sandwich. He decided to take it outside and sit by the pool under the bright summer sun. He gobbeled down his sandwich and took a sip of his ice cold lemonade and rested back on a lounge chair.
"This is the life", he thought right before he heard a loud splashing sound. He sat up abruptly and looked to where the noise was comming from. In the pool, he saw Hedwig. She was using her wings as flippers, trying furiously to get out of the water. Harry jumped in, lifted her up and carried her to the side of the pool.
"Got tired on your long flight?", Harry asked. "I don't blame you, its a scorcher today." Hedwig just shook off all the water and stuck out her leg which held a soggy note. Harry opened it and read:
Harry,
I recieved your letter all right. I just wanted you to know that we are picking you up tomorrow at 1pm. Be ready with your trunk waiting outside. My dad is actually taking a normal car that he bought in a muggle antique shop in Hogsmede. See you then.
Ron
PS- Yes, I've heard from Hermione. She sent me a postcard from New York. I just got it today! Also! Can you tell Hagrid to meet us in Diagon Alley as well? He said he can get us a discount on the new books we have to buy for our 7th year! Thanks!
After Harry read the note, he folded it up and put it in his back pocket. He then got a towel and dried himself up after his short jump in the pool. Then he looked at Hedwig who was pecking at another soggy peice of paper. When he went to pick it up, Hedwig nipped at him.
"Hey! Hey! Whats wrong?" Harry asked half expecting an owl to answer back. Hedwig waddled away still dripping with water. "Must be the heat", Harry continued to himself.
He picked up the wet paper and saw a picture; a still picture, of the statue of liberty. He turned it around and read:
Dear Harry,
How are you doing? How is England holding up? New York is great! I met alot of muggles who were really nice. I actually also met a few wizards and witches! They all have funny accents though! I'm going to meet you and Ron this Friday in Diagon Alley. Meet me outside of Gringotts. See you soon!
Love always,
Hermione
Harry put the postcard in his back pocket next to Rons letter. He drank down the rest of his lemonade and told Hedwig to go inside. She obeyed and flew in Harrys room through the window. Harry prefered taking the door to get inside. He went up to his room, lyed down on his bed and dozed off. He only slept for a short while because after only 10 minutes, he shot up in bed and his scar was burning intensly. He had account like this before. He'd normally be in the same room, or even have a dream about a dark wizard, and then have his scar burn. But only now, he couldnt remember the dream he had while he was napping. Did he even have a dream? Everything was normal. His Hogwarts chest was in place next to his broomstick. Hedwigs birdcage sat next to the window and she was perched on top. A tiny box containing letters and notes were on his dressed next to another box filled with "Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans" and "Chocolate Frogs". The only thing that seemed to be out of place was his quill (which he discover the next day underneath his bed).
Harrys scar still hurt, so the least he could do was to get a cold drink. He went down to the kitchen and sat in silence at the table while drinking down a cold glass of iced tea. The pain on his forehead decreased greatly. Harry supposed that he in fact had a dream about a dark wizard. Nothing big though. This happened to him in the past. He figured if it was important, he would remember it. It made him frusterated though, and in attempts to remember if he had a dream about a dark wizard or not, he did remember that he had to tell Hagrid to meet him and the others in Diagon Alley. He finished off his iced tea, and once all the pain in his scar was gone, he ran upstairs to write to Hagrid.
As soon as he got to his room, he searched it for his quill (of course he didn't find it yet). He thought he packed it away in his Hogwarts chest, so after 20 minutes of unloading it and then loading it back up went by, he decided to just pluck a feather from Hedwig.
"This won't hurt a bit! I promise!", said Harry as he quickly grabbed a tail feather. Hedwig didn't even flinch. Harry supposed she didn't even realize he took a feather from her. He grabbed a peice of parchment and began to write:
Dear Hagrid,
Hello! How is your summer? Mine is okay! The only thing worse then putting with with Voldemort is-
But he never finished his sentence. His body dropped to the floor and his scar was blinding him with pain. The moment he wrote the word Voldemort, everything inside him burst like a full balloon. It was too hard for him to concentrate. He ripped up the parchment in hopes to cure his pain and threw it out the window. Hedwig, thinking it was food, bolted after it and started pecking at it once it hit the ground.
"Good Hedwig! Eat it to the last drop! Get rid of this nasty old pain for me, will you?" Harry cheered her on from his upstairs window. Had he gotten all the pain just from writing the word Voldemort? That never happen to him before. Then again, Voldemorts power has risen, and come to think of it, Harry could not remember ever writing the name Voldemort. He vowed he would never even think of putting that name on paper again if it caused him this much pain. Maybe Harrys scar was just acting up. Afterall, it started hurting before when Harry was sleeping, and now it hurt from just writing a name? Maybe a dark wizard was nearby. Harry looked out his window to see if anyone was there. In fact, someone was there. A little boy playing down by the Dursley pool. He was admiring Hedwig, who was still pecking at the paper. Harry shouted at the little boy, and he ran away. Hedwig got scared and flew back upstairs to Harry in all the excitment. She nibbled lovingly on his finger and then curled up in her cage and went to sleep. Harry watched as the boy ran down the street and out of site. Who was that boy? Was he the cause of Harrys pain? The boy wasn't around before. Or was he?
Harry didn't want to think anymore. He just crawled into his bed, shut his eyes, and fell into a deep slumber.