HARRY AND THE CANARY CREAMS
The world and characters in Harry Potter are not mine. They belong to J. K. Rowling.
Harry was having a dream in which he was surrounded by eyes. It was all very clear in his mind. They seemed to float in complete darkness around him, no faces attached; but he could recognize each and every pair just as clearly as if it's owner stood in front of him. There were Dumbledore's eyes, twinkling with good humor, then changing as he watched to deep weariness tinged with a hint of mixed emotions covering the scale from sympathy to grief. Hermione's eyes floated in front of him, part worried, part aggravated, and partly just curious. Ron's eyes leaped forward, a mixture of excitement and awe in their depths. He could see Cho's eyes, tears welling from them as they had been the last time he saw her. The eyes of Professor Dumbledore's pet phoenix swirled around him, also weeping big, pearly tears. Behind these had come others—those of Snape, filled with disdain; the small, beady eyes of Wormtail, flicking nervously around like those of the rat that he had been; Mad-Eye Moody's mismatched set—one a normal human eye and one huge monstrosity that rolled constantly in all directions. Two by two the eyes of nearly everyone he knew approached him, then fell back to make room for others.
Suddenly a green light flashed eerily, sending all the eyes scuttling away into the darkness and Harry saw in the middle of it a red glow that grew larger as it approached him. His stomach lurched as he realized what it was. The malevolent, hate-filled red eyes of Voldemort rushing toward him with the speed of the Hogwart's Express. His hand moved to grab his wand and he awoke, sitting straight up in the bed, sweating. He automatically reached to touch the scar on his forehead, and was relieved to find there was no pain in it. It must have just been a dream, then, but he still felt as though he was being watched. Nervously he looked around, and jumped involuntarily when his eyes met a large, yellow pair of orbs fixed intently on him. Then he recognized their owner and laughed, feeling a little embarrassed to be caught off guard in this manner.
"Hedwig, you about made me jump out of my skin," he told the great white owl that sat on the head of his bed, shifting impatiently back and forth from one foot to the other. "I'm glad to see you though." He spotted a large parcel tied to the owl's leg. "I hope that's from the Weasleys. My food stash is getting pretty short."
Harry swung himself out of bed and untied the parcel, seeing that it was, indeed from his friend Ron Weasley. Tossing Hedwig a few owl treats, he unwrapped the box and read the note that fell out on his pillow.
"Dear Harry,
"Mum thought you must be getting low on supplies, so here's a new batch
of snacks for you. Fred and George sent you something too. They wouldn't tell
me what it was, but they said you might find a use for it. Mum's hoping to hear
from Dumbledore that you can come to us soon. In the meantime, she says to
keep in close touch with us and be sure to let us know if you have any more pain
in your scar or if anything else odd happens. Hope to see you soon. Ron"
Harry tore back the paper and two large cakes, a huge box of chocolate frogs, a big bag of every flavor beans, and a few jars labeled "Dehydrated Yorkshire Pudding, Just Add Water" fell out on the bed. At the bottom of the package he found a small box decorated with flowering vines and labeled "Weasley's Best Chocolate Creams". He raised the lid and grinned, for inside it nestled a dozen of Ron's twin brothers' canary creams—trick candy that turned it's victims into a large canary for a brief period. He wished he dared give them to his nasty cousin, Dudley; but Dudley would be afraid to take anything Harry offered him.
Just then a voice screeched from the kitchen below. "Harry! Harry Potter! Get down here to breakfast, NOW!"
Harry quickly gathered up his treasures and stuffed them into a space under some loose boards beneath his bed, quickly jumped into his clothes and turned toward the door, when he saw the box of chocolates still on the bed where he had missed them in his hurry to stow everything safely out of sight. "HARRY!" the voice came again, and he grabbed the box up and stuck it quickly in his pocket, opening the door and yelling "On my way," as he started down the stairs.
As he came into the dining room, he saw the rest of his family already seated at the table, his uncle and cousin glaring at the half piece of dry toast and cup of weak tea in front of them. Dudley's diet was certainly not doing anything to improve the already miserable dispositions of the male members of his family. He slid into his chair, careful not to meet his aunt's disapproving glare. "Looks good, this," he mumbled, devoting himself to his tea and toast as though it were one of Hogwart's famous feasts.
"When can I have some real food, Mum," Dudley whined. "I'm STARVING!" His chair groaned under the strain his bulk placed on it. Oversized seat though it was, Dudley managed to hang over it on both sides. "I've lost some weight." A pleading note crept into his voice. "Seems I should get something for my trouble."
"Yes, you've done very well, Duddy," his mother agreed. "Perhaps you do deserve a treat."
Harry felt a sneeze coming on, and tried desperately to push himself away from the table before it hit him, but he didn't have time.
"Maybe you can have a bit of jam on your…"his aunt began, when Harry's loud "ACHOO!" interrupted her. He felt the box of chocolates pop out of his pocket and grabbed at them, but they hit the floor and bounced directly toward Dudley, who managed to move faster than Harry had ever seen him. Scooping up the box and opening it in one motion, Dudley let out a whoop of delight.
"Where did you get that?" Harry's aunt yelled.
"Don't eat them!" Harry hollered.
"What the bloody…" his uncle started.
Dudley shifted his little pig eyes from the candy to Harry to his mother. "Why?" The question was aimed at Harry.
"They'll turn you into a canary," Harry said, speaking quietly now.
"Mum?" The fat boy held the box halfway to his mouth and waited for his mother's reaction to Harry's ridiculous claim.
"Sneaking candy into the house when you know Dudley is on a diet! How dare you! Then lying about it just so you don't have to share it with your cousin! You ought to be ashamed!" Her words came tumbling out angrily. "Just for that, you may have them, Diddykins." She scowled even more than usual at Harry. "Maybe that will teach you to…" While she was speaking, Dudley, as though afraid she might change her mind, stuffed a handful of candy into his mouth and swallowed it, only about half chewing it in the process. The reaction was almost immediate. "DUDLEY! Oh, my precious boy…what have you done to my son?"
Dudley's chair was suddenly occupied by a very large yellow bird, which immediately began shedding feathers all over the table and floor.
"You terrible boy! Harry's uncle yelled. "Is this how you repay us for all we've done, turning your cousin into a…a…" He choked on his dry toast and couldn't finish the rest of what he was saying.
"I tried to tell you," Harry said calmly. His mouth twitched, as he tried not to laugh.
Dudley's mother, for all the world like a large, worried mother hen, fluttered helplessly around her son, watching him drop the rest of his feathers and turn briefly back into a huge blob of a boy, only to immediately turn into a canary again. Pandemonium reigned in the dining room and Harry rose and started up the stairs to his room. Dudley must have eaten at least eight of the creams, so he would be busy popping back and forth from bird to boy for the next few minutes, long enough for Harry to reach his room and lock himself in, where he was able to give way to loud peals of laughter which caused Hedwig to turn her back on him disgustedly. Harry flopped down on the bed and laughed so hard his sides hurt. He'd have a good letter to send back to the Weasleys tonight. It couldn't have worked out better if he had planned it this way.
"Yes," he thought, "Maybe this summer will turn out all right after all."
THE END