Disclaimer: nuttin's mine…all JK Rowling's…so don't sue me!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry's Birthday
"Lucius…"
"Yes, my lord," Lucius Malfoy answered, shaking slightly.
"Your son," hissed Voldemort. "He is in Potter's grade, you say…"
"Yes, lord, he is."
"Good…I have plans for him…
""What kind of plans?!?" Lucius asked with a hint of fear in his voice for what his son would be used for.
"You don't want me to use him? Perhaps you aren't as loyal as I thought? Maybe I will have to give you a taste of pain for your obedience…"
"Master, please, no! I will-" Lucius started, but was interrupted…
"Crucio!"
Not even a second later, the boy they called Voldemort's downfall woke, screaming.
Harry put both hands over his mouth, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in his scar, but it was too late.
"HARRY!" came Uncle Vernon's horrifyingly angry voice, just before he practically knocked down the door of Harry's room.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
"I…woke up…nightmares…" Harry tried to explain but the pain was impairing his speech.
"THAT IS NO EXCUSE! IT IS 2 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!" Uncle Vernon bellowed.
"I-I just…I didn't…" Harry started, but seeing the look on his uncle's face, also noticing the color of it (which was a horrible shade of purple), he stopped and waited for his punishment.
"YOU-" Uncle Vernon seemed to have become even angrier, eyeing the half a dozen owls that were now flying through Harry's bedroom window, which he forgot to close. Uncle Vernon's face was now turning a disgusting cream color.
After a few moment's time, Uncle Vernon spoke again as he left Harry's room, slamming the door. "I'LL DEAL…WITH YOU…TOMORROW…" and distinctly heard him mutter "Nightmares…2 o'clock in the morning…wake everyone up…"
Well, at least my punishment is postponed, Harry thought, climbing back into bed, totally forgetting about the six owls.
Just when Harry was closing his eyes, Hedwig let out a very loud hoot, which Harry took no notice of, but opened his eyes when he heard Uncle Vernon say, "AND SHUT THAT RUDDY OWL UP!!!"
"Sorry…" Harry muttered, more to himself than to his uncle, as he walked over to Hedwig.
She was carrying a pretty big package, and apparently had some assistance carrying it by another owl that Harry didn't recognize.
He opened the note first, that read:
Harry,
I hope you are alright, and that the muggles aren't being too awful to you.
As you have probably noticed at the Weasleys' house, there is a clock that doesn't tell the time, but tells where each Weasley is. Well, this is quite similar, except a little different. Well, I'll let you open and figure it out. I believe you will enjoy it.
Hoping to see you soon,
Your godfather,
Sirius
Harry placed the letter on his dresser and hastily ripped the paper off what looked like a clock, but had no use if you wanted to know the time.
It was quite smaller than the Weasleys', as theirs was a grandfather clock, but it was about as big as a plate.
There were tabs all around the round "clock", each with the names Ron, Hermione, Sirius, Dumbledore, Fred, and George. Harry wondered what he was supposed to do, and soon saw a P.S. on Sirius's letter that he had took no notice of when he read it.
Harry,
I know you're probably confused, but here's what you do.
You simply wouch the tip of your wand at one of the tabs, and instantly the background of the clock will become a moving picture of that person. The arrow will point to either Having Fun, In Trouble, Home, Traveling, Sleeping, or On Vacation. If they are for example at home having fun, there will be two arrows pointing to each. It's simple enough. I do hope you like it.
Sirius
Harry decided to try it out. Grabbing his wand from his desk, he touched the tip of his wand at Fred's tab, as Sirius said to do.
Immediately, a smiling and waving picture of Fred appeared, replacing the white background. Harry looked to see where his arrow was, expecting it to be on "Sleeping", but saw that there were 3 arrows pointing to "Having Fun", "In Trouble", and "Home". Harry expected Mrs. Weasley was probably screaming at them at the moment, either waking them up or catching them doing something they shouldn't, which is not rare at all for them. Harry laughed and saw that George's tab had the exact same thing, picture and arrows.
He spent about 10 minutes playing around with his new clock, and saw that Ron's arrows were on "Home" and "Sleeping", Hermione's were on "On Vacation" and "Sleeping", Sirius's were on "Traveling", and Dumbledore's were on "On Vacation". Harry wondered what on earth Dumbledore could possibly be doing at 2:30 in the morning to not have a tab on Sleeping, but then he realized that wherever he was on vacation at must have different times.
After Hedwig flew to her cage to eat, Harry remembered that he had five other owls.
He went to Ron's owl, Pig, first and opened his letter.
Harry,
Hey, and happy birthday! I hope the ruddy muggles are treating you well, which I believe I am right in thinking that they probably aren't!
Anyway, I hope you like your present, it's from Fred and George as well, and they included some of their "products". Be careful with them! I am not sure they are safe!
Dad is having a horrible time at the Ministry. He's been working major overtime. Fudge still doesn't believe You-know-who's back, and Dad, along with many others, are trying to convince him that he is. He's as stubborn as ever though.
Hermione's here, she arrived yesterday, and Hermes is bringing your gift from her.
I hope you can come stay pretty soon. Well actually, you are going to stay pretty soon if you want. Mr. And Mrs. Granger are going to come pick you up by car, Saturday at 3:00. They are staying with us as well. If you do want to come, and I'm pretty sure you want to get away from the muggles, ask for their permission, although even if they say no, Hermione's parents are still going to come get you anyway.
See you soon,
Ron
Harry put Ron's letter on the dresser as well, and untied a bag from Pig's leg. He walked over and spilled the contents on his bed. What he saw astounded him.
There were about a hundred brightly colored, strangely shaped, wrapped candies, spread all over his bed. Also, five fake wands. Attached to one of them was a short note:
Harry,
Here's some of our products, free of charge, as it's the least we could do. We bought Ron some new dress robes, he was really suspicious and demanded to know where we got the money. Now he thinks we stole it and told mom. Well, hope you're well and we'll see you soon.
Fred and George
Founders of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
Harry opened Ron's present, which was a poster of the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team, and his very own copy of Quidditch Through the Ages.
Next, he untied a package that looked very suspiciously like a really big book from an ancient owl that looked half dead.
He very carefully carried the owl to Hedwig's cage, who surprisingly very graciously moved over to let Hermes drink some water. Then he came back to Hermione's present, and as always, read the letter first.
Harry,
Happy birthday!
Look, if you haven't already opened your present, it is a book, but I know you will love it, and please open it before you read on.
Doing as Hermione instructed, tore off the paper to find a silver photo-album with the words "My Photo Album" engraved at the top, with a picture of Hermione, Ron, and Harry below it.
"Gosh, Hermione!" he said opening the book. It was filled with all the pictures Colin Creevey, an annoying, obsessed fan of Harry's who has taken his picture since Harry's second year, had taken, and some of which Harry had no clue that Colin was even there to take the picture.
He spent a long while flipping through the pages, looking at pictures such as Harry when his arm had no bones, one of Gilderoy Lockhart and himself, and many more.
Finally, he remembered that he had the rest of Hermione's letter to read, and picked it back up.
Well, now that you have looked at it, I'll continue.
I was having trouble thinking of what to get you for your birthday, when somehow my mind wondered to the photo album that Hagrid got you filled with pictures of your parents. Then an idea struck me. I wrote a letter to Colin Creevey, demanding all the pictures. I told him that as a prefect,
-Harry could just picture Hermione swelling with pride as she wrote this-I would take off 20 points from Gryffindor as soon as we got back to school and then I would tell you it was all his fault, if he didn't send them to me. Well, I guess he didn't want you hating him, so he agreed.I had better go, Ron's bugging me, so I'm going to go play Quidditch with him, his brothers, and Ginny.
Love from
Hermione
Well, Hermione was made a prefect. That certainly was no surprise! Harry wondered who the other one from Gryffindor was when he spotted an owl, a particularly dignified owl, and recognized it as a Hogwarts messenger owl.
He quickly untied the letter, and opened it a little too hastily, and got a nasty paper cut. He swore, but didn't do anything about it.
He read the letter out loud.
"Mr. H. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been made a prefect.-YES!-We know that you will do your duties and set a fine example for the rest of the school. Enclosed is your Prefect badge, which you must where at all times. Sincerely yours, Professor M. McGonagoll. Deputy Headmistress." Harry looked into the envelope to find a silver Prefect badge and set it on his dresser. He looked at it for a moment, then started a letter back to Hermione.
Hermione,
Hey. Thanks for the wonderful birthday present. I really love it.
So. You've been made a Prefect, eh? Can you guess who the other one is? ME! Can you believe it?
Tell Ron that it's alright to come get me. I haven't exactly asked the Muggles yet, but I don't care.
Your friend…and fellow Prefect!
Harry
Harry asked Hedwig if she was ready for another trip, and in reply, she nipped at his ear affectionately.
Harry still had two owls left, and he first read the letter that was attached to Hagrid's owl. In a very untidy scrawl, he wrote:
Harry,
I persuaded Olympe, Madame Maxime to you, to come with me.
Can't really tell you what we're doing, but we're doing our job pretty well.
Won't say no more here, but you will know pretty soon.
Hope you're alright and that the Muggles are treating you right.
Hagrid
In secret, Harry believed that he knew what Hagrid and Madame Maxime were doing, but he was not so sure of it. He believed that they were persuading the giants not to help Voldemort this time.
He walked over to the last owl, which turned out to be Dumbledore's. Harry read as quick as he could:
Harry,
Happy birthday. I hope the Dursley's are treating you OK and that you are alright.
Sorry, Harry, but if one of your friends ask you to visit, as I am sure that Ron already has, I would be a lot happier if you didn't go, and you would be a great deal safer.
With Voldemort back and gaining power, it is best if you stay where you are best protected, and that is at home, and of course at Hogwarts, but right now it is with the Dursley's. I know, you will now like this, but it is for your own good, Harry. Please understand.
If you have any trouble getting to King's Cross, send an owl.
Best wishes,
Professor A. Dumbledore
Of course, Harry knew that Dumbledore was right, that he was safest here, but he still couldn't help being angry. He had come face-to-face with Voldemort many times and managed to get away! Why should he stay here?!
He quickly wrote a note telling Ron that he couldn't come and why, and sent it back with Pig, who was now flying across the room, running into various things.
As the owls flew out the window, going back to their owners, Harry remembered his dream. It came as a shock at first that he was just now remembering it. He struggled to remember and finally it came to him…Voldemort asking Mr. Malfoy about Draco…something about him being in the same grade as Harry…Voldemort saying he had plans for Draco…Voldemort putting the Cruciatus Curse on Lucius…suddenly it was all slipping away as Harry fell into a dreamless sleep.
…I know..this first chapter is pretty uneventful..but it will get better! Please, no flames…although if I do get them, they will be used on my birthday candles in 5 days…