Chapter 4
"We went to a hotel."
"My dad said he found you on the golf
course. Are you sleepwalking again?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
"Now that you're famous, you gotta
have a smoke."
Neville hands Harry a Marlboro Red and he takes it, looking
over at Ginny and Diane.
"What happens if you tell Mom and Dad
about this, Ginny?"
"You'll put Ariel in the garbage
disposal."
"So... grody."
Neville, Ron and Harry light up. Ron is the most amateur-
looking.
"Hey, Cho... want a cigarette?"
"Chut up."
(mimicking)
"Chut up!"
"Go back to China, bitch!"
"Leave her alone, man."
Cho looks over at Harry... her quiet devastation poorly
hidden.
In the
main school hallway and courtyard.
Harry and his friends as they pour out of the
back of the emergency exit of the school bus.
Teachers Nymphadora Tonks (twenty-seven) and Dr.
Remus Lapin (thirty) and Kitty Farmer (forty-two),
with Tom Riddle, as they make their way through the
hallways.
Swarms of girls surround Harry as he makes his way to his
locker. There is a huge smile on his face.
Hermione Granger (fifteen)... Principal Cole
(thirty-eight) and then Ginny's dance team (Sparkle Motion)
practicing their routine in the courtyard.
Ms. Tonks into English class... then time-lapse
dissolve through the doorway...
Ms. Tonks has been reading from "The Destructors" by Graham
Greene.
"There would be headlines in the
papers. Even the grown-up gangs who
ran the betting at the all-in
wrestling and the barrow-boys would
hear with respect how Old Misery's
house had been destroyed. It was as
though this plan had been with him
all his life, pondered through the
seasons, now in his fifteenth year
crystallized with the pain of
puberty."
Harry sits in the front.
"What is Graham Greene trying to
communicate in this passage? Why do
the children break into Old Misery's
house?"
Diane Carter raises her hand.
"Diane."
"They wanted to rob him."
"Diane, if you had actually read the
short story... which, at a whopping
thirteen pages must have kept you up
all night, you would know that the
children find a great deal of money
hidden in a mattress. But they burn
it."
The class gives an "Awwww." Diane blushes.
"Harry Potter, perhaps, given your
recent brush with mass destruction,
you can give us your opinion?"
"Well... they say it right when they
are ripping the place to shreds.
When they flood the house. That
like... destruction is a form of
creation. So the fact that they burn
the money is... ironic. They just
want to see what happens when they
tear the world apart."
"They want to change things."
Hermione Granger stands at the doorway to the classroom.
"May we help you?
"I just registered, and I think they
put me in the wrong English class."
Ms. Tonks studies her.
"You look like you belong here."
"Umm, where do I sit?"
Ms. Tonks thinks for a moment. There are several empty
chairs.
"Sit next to the boy you think is the
cutest. Girls, get up."
The whole class begins to freak out. The girls all get out
of their seats... eating this up. Ron fixes his hair.
"Quiet! Let her choose."
Without hesitation, Hermione scans the class for every guy.
As she gracefully takes her seat next to Harry, they make
eye contact. Harry grins ear to ear.
The class freaks out laughing.
James drives Harry down Old Gun Road, a windy back-road
that goes towards the country.
"So how was school today?"
"It was great. We had peanut-butter
sandwiches and apples and honey at
snacktime. And then during show-and-
tell, my stuffed walrus was a big
hit."
"Good Lord."
"So the construction guys say it'll
take about a week to fix the roof.
Damn airline better not fuck us on
the shingle match."
"Do they know yet?"
"Know what?
"Where it came from?"
"No... apparently they can't tell us
what happened yet. Something about a
matching serial number that got
burned."
"But I had to sign a form saying I
wouldn't talk to anyone about it."
"So we're not supposed to tell anybody
what nobody knows?"
"You tell Dr. Lestrange whatever you
want."
Suddenly, James slams on the brakes and the station wagon
comes to a sudden stop.
"Oh, shit!"
"Grandma Death."