Chapter 1
Number 4 privet drive was very quiet, and considering it was quite early in the morning, this was not unusual. This is the way the Dursleys liked it, completely and utterly normal in every way. So it will not come as a surprise to hear that the Dursleys were more than a little bit peeved when they were woken up an hour before breakfast time by a high pitched squealed the clatter of footsteps as someone raced up the stairs. Shortly after there was a loud hooting from a room that was inhabited by none other than Harry Potter, who was currently living in the house.
Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast in the Dursley house; Mr. Vernon Dursley and his wife Petunia were not pleased to have been woken up at such an early hour and intended to make their opinions clearly known. "Third time this week!" Uncle Vernon roared across the table. "If you can't control that owl, it'll have to go!" Harry tried, yet again, to explain. "She's bored," he said. "she's used to flying around outside. If I could just let her out at night-" "Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy moustache. "I know what'll happen if that owl's let out." He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia. "And you!" he yelled turning his attention to a small girl picking at her eggs quietly. At the sound of his angry voice she looked up nervously."My I ask what exactly had you so excited at such an early hour?" he asked viciously. The girl looked down and mumbled something unintelligible, which made the Dursleys look even more vexed than they already did. Harry elbowed her in the side gently, "It's okay Meg, they asked so they can deal with the answer." Meg smiled nervously and looked up again, "I said that I received an acceptance letter to Hogwarts." she said this with such confidence that Uncle Vernon turned an even darker shade of purple than he already was. "WHAT HAVE I SAID," he roared, "ABOUT MENTIONING YOUR ABNORMALITY IN MY HOUSE!" "I'm sorry but you asked…" "I WILL NOT TOLERATE IT!" "All right," said Meg, "all right…"
Ever since last year when Harry had been taken from the Dursleys to attend the wizarding school, Hogwarts, the Dursleys had treated Meg like a bomb about to go off. They would not allow her to mention her brother for the entire year, and if the caught her writing a letter to him for when he sent Hedwig back with a letter or a sample of wizarding candy, they would take it and burn it. Because of this, Meg never got to write to her brother, eventually he stopped sending Hedwig with treats for her, out of fear that it would cause someone to get hurt. When Harry got back the Dursley seemed less than pleased to have him back in their house, and Dudley refused to even be in the same room as him; but Meg was overjoyed to have him back. He told her many stories, about Diagon Alley, the shops, the goblins, the magnificent castle that was Hogwarts, and the many adventures he had gone on with his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They way Harry talked about the place, it seemed more amazing than any other place in the world and Meg was finally able to experience it for herself. Although, she did hope that there wouldn't any any trouble like there was last year with an evil man named Voldemort, Meg was surprised her brother had lived through such a dangerous event. Harry said that this man had been the one to kill their parents, Harry had somehow survived the killing curse and Voldemort had been defeated, his powers destroyed and his body obliterated. The only mark of this miracle, was a small lightning shaped scar on His forehead. Meg had not been touched by the spell directly, but there had been some form of rebound that had struck her when she was only a newborn infant, its mark was a small crescent moon scar on the inside of her left wrist. No one knows why the two children survived the attack, but the ordeal did make them famous throughout the wizarding community.
The Dursley's however, did not treat them as celebrities; instead they treated them either as if they were dogs that had rolled in something smelly, or, simply as if they were not there. They didn't even remember that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday. Not that Meg thought they would, they never celebrated either childs birthday. At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, "Now, as we all know, today is a very important day." Meg looked up in complete shock. "This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon. Meg went back to her slightly burnt toast. Of course, she thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about his stupid dinner party. He'd been talking about nothing else for two weeks. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon's company made drills). "I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. "we should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia, you will be -" "In the lounge," said Aunt Petunia promptly, "waiting to welcome them graciously to our home." "Good, good. And Dudley?" "I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?" "They'll love him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously. "Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Meg and Harry. "And you?" "We'll be in our bedrooms, making no noise and pretending that we're not there." they said completely monotone, and in sync. "Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight-fifteen -" "I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia. "And, Dudley, you'll say -" "May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman. "My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Aunt Petunia. "And you?" said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry and Meg. "We'll be in our rooms, making no noise and pretending that we aren't there," they said dully and, once again, totally in sync. "Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?" "Vernon tells me you're a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason…. Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason…." "Perfect….Dudley?" "How about - 'We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you.'" This was too much for Aunt Petunia, Harry, and Meg. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, Harry dived under the table so they wouldn't see him laughing, and Meg almost choked on a piece of toast. "And you two?" Meg fought to keep a straight face and Harry emerged from the table. "We'll be in our rooms, making no noise and pretending we're not there," they said. "Too right, you will," said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back into the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten. We'll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow." Meg and Harry exchanged an unenthused look, they figured the Dursleys wouldn't like them any better in Majorca than they did on Privet Drive. "Right - I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," he snarled at Meg and Harry. "You stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."
Harry left through the back door, with Meg following close behind. It was a brilliant, sunny day. They crossed the lawn and slumped down on the garden bench, "Happy birthday, Harry…." Meg said softly, resting her head on her brother's shoulder. He sighed deeply. Meg understood immediately, he was lonely; he hadn't gotten a single letter from his school friends all summer, he was worried that they had forgotten him. They had slipped into a comfortable silence and Meg closed her eyes. Approximately five minutes later Harry sat bolt upright and jumped to his feet, accidentally knocking Meg to the ground. Just then a jeering voice floated across the lawn. "I know what day it is," sang Dudley, waddling toward them. "What?" said Harry, refusing to look away from the hedge. "I know what day it is," Dudley repeated, coming right up to them. "Well done," said Harry. "So you've finally learned the days of the week." Meg said sarcastically. "Today's your birthday," he sneered at Harry. "How come you haven't got any cards? Haven't you even got friends at that freak place?" "Better not let your mum hear you talking about my school," said Harry coolly. Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom. "Why're you staring at the hedge?" he said suspiciously. "I'm trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire," said Harry. Dudley stumbled at once, a look of panic on his fat face. "You c-can't - Dad told you you're not to do m-magic - he said he'll chuck you out of the house - and you haven't got anywhere else to go - you haven't got any friends to take you -" "Jiggery pokery!" said Harry in a fierce voice. "Hocus pocus - squiggly wiggly -" "MUUUUUUUM!" howled Dudley, tripping over his feet as he dashed back toward the house. "MUUUUUM! He's doing you know what!" Meg retreated back to the house, she knew that momentarily Harry would pay dearly for his little joke and would rather not get caught up in that. Moments later she heard the loud clang of a frying pan. When Meg next looked out of her attic window, she saw that she had narrowly avoided being put to work on trying to make the house look nice.
At half past seven in the evening, Meg heard Aunt Petunia calling for them. "Get in here boy! And walk on the news paper! Meg you come down here at once!" Meg walked down the stairs and looked sheepishly at an exhausted Harry. On top of the fridge stood tonight's pudding: a huge mound of whipped cream and sugared violets. A loin of roast pork was sizzling in the oven. "Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!" snapped Aunt Petunia, pointing to four slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table. She was already wearing an ugly salmon-pink cocktail dress. Meg and Harry washed their hands and bolted down their pitiful dinner. The moment they finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away their plates. "Upstairs! Hurry!" As Meg passed the door to the living room, she caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow ties and dinner jackets. She and Harry had only just reached the upstairs landing when the doorbell rang and Uncle Vernon's furious face appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Remember, you - one sound -" They then tiptoed to their rooms and slipped inside. Meg laid down on her bed and drifted off to sleep.