Another Ignored Birthday
Chapter 1
Harry still couldn't believe it. The Dursleys have managed to ignore his birthday for the fifteenth consecutive year. To ignore it once was bad enough, but fifteen times? He didn't know how it could be possible, but on his birthday the Dursleys were at their very best behavior, well, at least to Harry that is. On any other normal day, Harry would be worked out of his skin. Harry was worn out every day because of the amount of work he was forced to do. But on his birthday, he was ignored. The Dursleys acted as though Harry never even existed. No one asked Harry to do this or to do that. Uncle Vernon didn't demand his usual morning cup of coffee. Dudley didn't even scamper when Harry entered the kitchen, instead, Dudley just sort of quivered in his seat. Harry tried hard not to laugh. Harry didn't particularly enjoy being ignored, but if you spent 15 years of torture with the Dursleys, you would quickly learn that anything was better than the Dursleys. Harry felt like he was in pure heaven, he hadn't felt this relaxed and happy during the whole summer. It was probably one of the best birthdays that Harry ever had with the Dursleys.
To Harry, being 15 meant the world to him. It was an age that Harry had particularly looked forward to. He didn't know why, but being 15 was special. Fortunately, Harry's friends thought so too.
Now, Harry wasn't just a fifteen-year-old boy. He was also a fifteen-year- old wizard in his 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had attended the school ever since he was 11; much to the horror of the Dursleys since they thought the whole wizard and witch thing was a whole load of bunk.
Ron had sent Harry a huge parcel that arrived during midday. Harry had ripped away the brown paper to find two different sized packages. Ron had sent him a large chocolate cake with golden icing that said "Happy Birthday Harry" in swirled lettering. It smelled absolutely wonderful. Harry could just taste the cake melting in his mouth.
He quickly ripped the second package open. Curiosity and excitement filled Harry's green eyes. There was a small bottle that had a bright yellow label. Its bright lettering said, "Iscream" and underneath that, in small black writing, it said, "open with caution." Harry felt confused and a teensy bit scared. As far as he can tell, all he could see in the bottle was a thick bluish liquid. Nothing that could make a noise could have fit into it. He wondered if he should open it. Harry then realized that Ron wouldn't have sent him anything that would of hurt Harry, but he started to have second thoughts.
Slowly, Harry gripped the bottle's tiny cap, scrunched up his eyes, and twisted it a little. What Harry had anticipated for didn't come. Nothing happened. Harry sighed a sigh of relief and popped open the bottle.
A huge blast of wind knocked Harry into the wall. The bottle got thrown out of his hands. A massive surge of screams yells and shrieks bellowed out of the bottle. The noise was absolutely incredible. It was so incredible that the room vibrated dangerously. The noise sounded like a roaring crowd in a quidditch match, only magnified one hundred times. It was like a million howlers set off at once.
Harry felt as though his eardrums were going to burst. He had never heard anything that came close to this volume of noise. Harry strained to put the cap back on to the bottle. Harry tried to come close to the bottle, but each time he did, he was thrown off by the level of noise. At last, Harry managed to screw the cap back on. His ears were ringing. Silence never felt so good or so peaceful. Lucky the Dursleys weren't home, thought Harry thankfully. They had gone to a fancy cocktail party, and had tried to leave Harry with Mrs. Figg, an old lady from down the street, but she was out. The Dursley's had no choice but to leave Harry in the house. Harry didn't know what he would have done if they were home. They probably would of shut him from the house for a month.
Breathing heavily, Harry hid the bottle underneath the floorboards. Harry vowed to himself that he was never going to touch that bottle again. He didn't know what Ron was thinking when he had bought the bottle.
There was a larger bottle in Ron's package. Harry carefully and cautiously picked it up. It was a pretty green bottle with a heavy liquid inside. A glittery label read, "DoubleTrouble". Harry turned the bottle to squint at the tiny instructions.
"Double the Trouble, Double the Fun!
DoubleTrouble is a whole new creation from Zonko's!
Just swallow one teaspoon of DoubleTrouble and become an exact duplicate of a person of your choice!! Just enter the person's name into the bottle, mix, and DoubleTrouble is ready. One teaspoon lasts for ten minutes.
Warning, DoubleTrouble only has effect on the desired person. Imagine seeing yourself and no one else noticing another 'you'!!"
Harry laughed, this was more like it! He could just imagine the look on Malfoy's face when he sees his exact double wondering around the school.
The last thing that Ron had given Harry turned out to be "Bertie Bott's Special Edition Every Flavor Beans". It contained the most popular flavors. Even though Harry loved Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, he had a bad history of them. Harry hoped that it didn't contain any boogey, vomit or earwax flavors.
Harry didn't know if Ron's owl would ever recover from the delivery. Pig was still lying unconscious at the bottom of Hedwig's cage. Even the noise from the "Iscream" bottle didn't wake it up. It was then that Harry noticed that there was a letter tied to Pig's leg. Carefully, Harry un- tied the letter and unrolled it. He recognized Ron's untidy scrawl.
"Hullo Harry! Wow, you're finally 15! I hope you enjoy the cake, mum says its her best recipe. I hope you opened this letter first 'cause I'm warning you to not open the small bottle! It will seriously deafen you. I'm sorry but I can't ask you to stay this summer. Dad and mum are really busy with something that they wont tell about. They are acting so weird these days. But I can ask you if you can meet me in Diagon Alley on August 30th at around 8 am to buy our books. Just send Pig back with your reply. Happy Birthday!
Ron
Ps. You should see the new dress robes I got!"
Harry was mildly disappointed. He had hoped to get away from the Dursleys and see Ron again before school starts. Harry only managed to cheer up a little when he bit into a generous piece of Mrs. Weasley's chocolate cake.
Hermione had also sent Harry a large package. It was very heavy and Harry took a lot of effort to get it up onto his bed.
Harry managed to rip the paper off Hermione's parcel. A huge glowing book lay in Harry's lap. Hermione had sent Harry a book about the Firebolt's history, special functions and moves. Harry was breathless, but smiled at the thought of his Firebolt. He loved quidditch, even though Harry hadn't had a chance to fly all summer. Harry flipped through the glowing book for a while and then decided to read Hermione's letter. In Hermione's neat handwriting it said;
"Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! I hope you are enjoying your summer. I really hope you like your present; it took me ages to find! Have you seen the size of the amount of books we have to read? I think I am going to fail every single subject this year. I don't know how I'll manage. I'm already studying for my O.W.L.s now, of course.
I'll meet you and Ron at King's Cross station before we leave for school.
Love, Hermione"
Trust Hermione to think about schoolwork already, thought Harry. There were two more parcels that were still unopened. Harry selected one and opened it. It contained a box of chocolate marshmallows and a golden unicorn's horn. Harry was quite pleased with Hagrid's gift.
The last remaining parcel was the smallest and lightest one of them all. Harry had no idea whom it may be from. With great curiosity, Harry carefully unwrapped the parcel. A small black ball rolled out of the wrappings. Harry frowned in puzzlement. He picked the ball up to examine it more closely. There was nothing odd about it at all, apart from a finger sized hole that was outlined in gold. Harry was tempted to poke his finger into the hole, but thought better of it.
Harry looked for a note or a letter but found nothing. It was curious indeed. Harry thought maybe Dumbledore had sent it to him, but Dumbledore would of written a letter. Perhaps it was Sirius, Harry wondered. The ball seemed solid and it didn't look like it was supposed to hold anything. He had no idea what it was. Maybe Hermione or Ron would have an answer, Harry decided.
Harry turned his back to the ball as he started to clear his room from the brown wrapping papers. With his back to it, Harry didn't notice it starting to glow a deep shade of red.
Chapter 1
Harry still couldn't believe it. The Dursleys have managed to ignore his birthday for the fifteenth consecutive year. To ignore it once was bad enough, but fifteen times? He didn't know how it could be possible, but on his birthday the Dursleys were at their very best behavior, well, at least to Harry that is. On any other normal day, Harry would be worked out of his skin. Harry was worn out every day because of the amount of work he was forced to do. But on his birthday, he was ignored. The Dursleys acted as though Harry never even existed. No one asked Harry to do this or to do that. Uncle Vernon didn't demand his usual morning cup of coffee. Dudley didn't even scamper when Harry entered the kitchen, instead, Dudley just sort of quivered in his seat. Harry tried hard not to laugh. Harry didn't particularly enjoy being ignored, but if you spent 15 years of torture with the Dursleys, you would quickly learn that anything was better than the Dursleys. Harry felt like he was in pure heaven, he hadn't felt this relaxed and happy during the whole summer. It was probably one of the best birthdays that Harry ever had with the Dursleys.
To Harry, being 15 meant the world to him. It was an age that Harry had particularly looked forward to. He didn't know why, but being 15 was special. Fortunately, Harry's friends thought so too.
Now, Harry wasn't just a fifteen-year-old boy. He was also a fifteen-year- old wizard in his 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had attended the school ever since he was 11; much to the horror of the Dursleys since they thought the whole wizard and witch thing was a whole load of bunk.
Ron had sent Harry a huge parcel that arrived during midday. Harry had ripped away the brown paper to find two different sized packages. Ron had sent him a large chocolate cake with golden icing that said "Happy Birthday Harry" in swirled lettering. It smelled absolutely wonderful. Harry could just taste the cake melting in his mouth.
He quickly ripped the second package open. Curiosity and excitement filled Harry's green eyes. There was a small bottle that had a bright yellow label. Its bright lettering said, "Iscream" and underneath that, in small black writing, it said, "open with caution." Harry felt confused and a teensy bit scared. As far as he can tell, all he could see in the bottle was a thick bluish liquid. Nothing that could make a noise could have fit into it. He wondered if he should open it. Harry then realized that Ron wouldn't have sent him anything that would of hurt Harry, but he started to have second thoughts.
Slowly, Harry gripped the bottle's tiny cap, scrunched up his eyes, and twisted it a little. What Harry had anticipated for didn't come. Nothing happened. Harry sighed a sigh of relief and popped open the bottle.
A huge blast of wind knocked Harry into the wall. The bottle got thrown out of his hands. A massive surge of screams yells and shrieks bellowed out of the bottle. The noise was absolutely incredible. It was so incredible that the room vibrated dangerously. The noise sounded like a roaring crowd in a quidditch match, only magnified one hundred times. It was like a million howlers set off at once.
Harry felt as though his eardrums were going to burst. He had never heard anything that came close to this volume of noise. Harry strained to put the cap back on to the bottle. Harry tried to come close to the bottle, but each time he did, he was thrown off by the level of noise. At last, Harry managed to screw the cap back on. His ears were ringing. Silence never felt so good or so peaceful. Lucky the Dursleys weren't home, thought Harry thankfully. They had gone to a fancy cocktail party, and had tried to leave Harry with Mrs. Figg, an old lady from down the street, but she was out. The Dursley's had no choice but to leave Harry in the house. Harry didn't know what he would have done if they were home. They probably would of shut him from the house for a month.
Breathing heavily, Harry hid the bottle underneath the floorboards. Harry vowed to himself that he was never going to touch that bottle again. He didn't know what Ron was thinking when he had bought the bottle.
There was a larger bottle in Ron's package. Harry carefully and cautiously picked it up. It was a pretty green bottle with a heavy liquid inside. A glittery label read, "DoubleTrouble". Harry turned the bottle to squint at the tiny instructions.
"Double the Trouble, Double the Fun!
DoubleTrouble is a whole new creation from Zonko's!
Just swallow one teaspoon of DoubleTrouble and become an exact duplicate of a person of your choice!! Just enter the person's name into the bottle, mix, and DoubleTrouble is ready. One teaspoon lasts for ten minutes.
Warning, DoubleTrouble only has effect on the desired person. Imagine seeing yourself and no one else noticing another 'you'!!"
Harry laughed, this was more like it! He could just imagine the look on Malfoy's face when he sees his exact double wondering around the school.
The last thing that Ron had given Harry turned out to be "Bertie Bott's Special Edition Every Flavor Beans". It contained the most popular flavors. Even though Harry loved Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, he had a bad history of them. Harry hoped that it didn't contain any boogey, vomit or earwax flavors.
Harry didn't know if Ron's owl would ever recover from the delivery. Pig was still lying unconscious at the bottom of Hedwig's cage. Even the noise from the "Iscream" bottle didn't wake it up. It was then that Harry noticed that there was a letter tied to Pig's leg. Carefully, Harry un- tied the letter and unrolled it. He recognized Ron's untidy scrawl.
"Hullo Harry! Wow, you're finally 15! I hope you enjoy the cake, mum says its her best recipe. I hope you opened this letter first 'cause I'm warning you to not open the small bottle! It will seriously deafen you. I'm sorry but I can't ask you to stay this summer. Dad and mum are really busy with something that they wont tell about. They are acting so weird these days. But I can ask you if you can meet me in Diagon Alley on August 30th at around 8 am to buy our books. Just send Pig back with your reply. Happy Birthday!
Ron
Ps. You should see the new dress robes I got!"
Harry was mildly disappointed. He had hoped to get away from the Dursleys and see Ron again before school starts. Harry only managed to cheer up a little when he bit into a generous piece of Mrs. Weasley's chocolate cake.
Hermione had also sent Harry a large package. It was very heavy and Harry took a lot of effort to get it up onto his bed.
Harry managed to rip the paper off Hermione's parcel. A huge glowing book lay in Harry's lap. Hermione had sent Harry a book about the Firebolt's history, special functions and moves. Harry was breathless, but smiled at the thought of his Firebolt. He loved quidditch, even though Harry hadn't had a chance to fly all summer. Harry flipped through the glowing book for a while and then decided to read Hermione's letter. In Hermione's neat handwriting it said;
"Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! I hope you are enjoying your summer. I really hope you like your present; it took me ages to find! Have you seen the size of the amount of books we have to read? I think I am going to fail every single subject this year. I don't know how I'll manage. I'm already studying for my O.W.L.s now, of course.
I'll meet you and Ron at King's Cross station before we leave for school.
Love, Hermione"
Trust Hermione to think about schoolwork already, thought Harry. There were two more parcels that were still unopened. Harry selected one and opened it. It contained a box of chocolate marshmallows and a golden unicorn's horn. Harry was quite pleased with Hagrid's gift.
The last remaining parcel was the smallest and lightest one of them all. Harry had no idea whom it may be from. With great curiosity, Harry carefully unwrapped the parcel. A small black ball rolled out of the wrappings. Harry frowned in puzzlement. He picked the ball up to examine it more closely. There was nothing odd about it at all, apart from a finger sized hole that was outlined in gold. Harry was tempted to poke his finger into the hole, but thought better of it.
Harry looked for a note or a letter but found nothing. It was curious indeed. Harry thought maybe Dumbledore had sent it to him, but Dumbledore would of written a letter. Perhaps it was Sirius, Harry wondered. The ball seemed solid and it didn't look like it was supposed to hold anything. He had no idea what it was. Maybe Hermione or Ron would have an answer, Harry decided.
Harry turned his back to the ball as he started to clear his room from the brown wrapping papers. With his back to it, Harry didn't notice it starting to glow a deep shade of red.