Harry Potter was an ordinary boy, except for one thing. He happened to be famous, he also happened to be a wizard. He had defeated the dark Lord Voldemort when he was a baby, but could only remember one thing, a blinding flash of green light, and his mum screaming when Voldemort murdered her. So, now he lived with his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys'. He went away each year, to a school in North Britain. There, he learned magic. This was something that his parents had practiced. The Dursleys' disapproved of any form of magic, or anything to do with the wizarding world. So, each year, when Harry came home from Hogwarts, the Dursleys' would lock up all his magic supplies. The only things they kept out were Harry's owl, Hedwig, and his robes, for the wash. Harry hated it here and almost two years ago, he had thought that he would be leaving it forever. It turned out, that his godfather was Sirius Black. A convicted murderer, who actually did not murder any one person, it had been Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail, who had murdered the thirteen people. They had almost cleared his name, but when the dementors swooped down and grabbed Sirius, Wormtail had escaped. Harry Potter hated Wormtail and Voldemort for they were the ones who helped murder his parents. He had to go back to the Dursleys' house after Wormtail escaped, because Sirius needed to go into hiding.
Harry Potter was sleeping in his bed, in the smallest bedroom at number four Privet Drive, when Aunt Petunia started ramping on the door.
"Get up boy!" She screamed.
Harry grunted.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, Nothing, I'm coming," Harry replied madly.
Harry hated it here, he couldn't do his homework, and the Dursleys' didn't want to hear that he had gotten a lot of work over the summer holiday. So, one day, while the Dursleys' were at the market, Harry sneaked down, and picked the lock on the Cupboard under the stairs. There, he grabbed four books, a handful of parchment, some quills, and some bottles of ink. He also grabbed some food for Hedwig, and some galleons, with a catalog. Harry was going to order his school things by mail catalog this year. In case he couldn't get to Diagon Alley. He would still go to Diagon Alley, but he might not be able to buy his school things. He figured this would be easier than rushing it all into one day.
"Are you up yet!" called Uncle Vernon.
"Yes!"
"Well get down here then!" Uncle Vernon screamed.
Harry muttered something to himself. It sounded like a smart remark to Dudley, who ran downstairs to tell Aunt Petunia. Dudley always liked to get Harry in trouble. Yet Harry always happened to escape punishment. Suddenly, a large brown owl, carrying a letter baring the Hogwarts Symbol (a crest with a lion, snake, badger, and eagle, with a giant "H" in the center) entered the room. Harry grasped the letter, and let the owl rest with Hedwig. Harry opened the letter:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted as a
Hogwarts Prefect. Inside are your badge, and your form, listing the information you will need to fill out. Please take the certificate enclosed to Diagon Alley and purchase robes. As a Prefect, you receive 35% off all prices in Hogwarts affiliated stores, such as:
Madam Malkins Robes
Ollivanders Wands
Flourish and Blotts
And in the village of Hogsmeade, 20% off:
Honeydukes candy
Zonko's Joke Shop
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Minerva McGonagall
"Wow!" Harry said, just loud enough, that Uncle Vernon could hear him, "I didn't think that I would get picked as a Prefect!"
Suddenly two owls flopped in, one small one, which Harry immediately recognized as Pigwidgeon. But who was the other one? It was a rather large, tawny owl, carrying a parcel, and an envelope. Harry assumed this was from Hermione.
He opened Pigwidgeon's letter:
Hey Harry,
Harry! Guess what! George got Head boy! Isn't that great, and I'm not sure if you've heard, but Hogwarts is having two prefects per house this year because of so many new students. Instead of one, and Hermione was picked! Well, write back with a return owl.
Ron
Harry pulled on his shirt, and some pants and socks, and went downstairs.
"About time," Uncle Vernon said, "What have you been doing up there?"
"Nothing, muggle," Harry said, making sure to say the second word softly.
"What did you call me?"
"I didn't call you anything! I said I wasn't doing anything!"
Harry was feeling pretty mad now, but he knew, that the Dursleys' would lock him in his cupboard until Christmas if he argued. So he just kept to himself. He said that he "had to get his shoes" and went upstairs to read the letter from the tawny owl. It was lying on the floor, and the tawny owl and Hedwig were picking at it. "Geroff it," Harry said. He opened the letter, and read:
Harry,
Here is a birthday present from me, I trust everything there is ok? Reply with return-owl to reassure me.
Sirius
Harry opened the package, it was a new special Firebolt servicing kit. It was similar to Hermione's, but with special things for the Firebolt broomstick. It looks pretty cool, Harry thought.
As Sirius had told him, Harry wrote back, saying that everything was okay, and the Dursleys' were as normal as ever, if you can call them normal. Harry wrote back to Ron saying that he was made a prefect, and that he was ordering his things by mail order catalog this year. He also enclosed a catalog for Ron, and a discount number that he got, for buying owl food from them.
Harry Potter lay down in bed, thinking… This was going to be an eventful year, I mean, think about what happened last year, he had just happened to get away from the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry knew something bad was going to happen… It always did, even if Harry didn't want it to. Just then a Daily Prophet flew into his window, he tipped the owl, and started to read… "LORD VOLDEMORT DEFEATED!" Harry read on…
Just the other day, the evil Lord Voldemort was defeated, yes that means he is gone, dead, finite. But now a greater trouble has arisen, the person who defeated Lord Voldemort did it with only one spell, called the K-O Spell, for its effect. The spell causes the person or thing to disintegrate almost immediately. It has been labeled an Unforgivable Curse, and there is no cure to bring any thing or person back yet. The ministry is currently working on it… ---see p4 "Lord Voldemort Defeated"
"Wow! No more Voldemort! This will be a great year! Though, If that person is after me, it may not be…"
Harry laid the paper down, and fell asleep.
