I don't own Harry Potter. Sorry about the rush, Have a lot to do today ;P
The next day, Harry woke up and began to plan out his day, Hedwig had just arrived with his order from Flourish and Blotts but he didn't feel like reading at that point. He wasn't sure if Inspector Homes was back from his in-laws and the Queen wouldn't be at the Palace till tomorrow.
He didn't want to stay home either, the Dursleys were still avoiding him if all possible and only leaving a small amount of chores written down on a piece of paper taped to the door. Today was a rare easy day of work. All he would have to do was wash the morning dishes, vacuum the front door rugs, wash the windows on the front part of the house and make lunch for the Dursleys
Despite having a dishwasher, the Dursleys didn't like touching it. Aunt Petunia liked cleaning but she was far from mechanically inclined. The last time she had touched the new dishwasher she swore that it shocked her, so, it was Harry and Harry alone that could load and maintain the appliance.
Harry was happy to do it actually, he hated doing dishes but this machine did it for him, so he took very good care of it. He memorized the manual on the machine and by reading a few maintenance books at the local library; he learned how to fix it if it did have problems.
That chore was done in less than ten minutes.
Vacuuming was another story, despite there only being two rugs in front of the door, they would have to meet Aunt Petunia's standards, and her standards rivaled that of a sterile room in the hospital. When Aunt Petunia says 'vacuum' she means: sweep the rugs, beat the rugs, shampoo the rugs, dry the rugs, vacuum the rugs, deodorize the rugs and lay them perfectly in the hall.
That chore would take an hour at the very least, and that's with the rug shampooer on the fritz and unable to be used.
Window washing was easy, years ago Harry had to climb a ladder and wash the windows the old fashioned way, or taking the window completely out of the wall and clean them in the room he was in. Now, he had shown Uncle Vernon a better way that he had seen at the local market. All he would have to do was stick the water hose in a spray bottle full of a special kind of soap and spray the windows.
Aunt Petunia didn't want to try it, but Harry used some of the money from selling food and bought one, and when she saw the windows shine twice as much as they did washing them by hand, she bought a year's supply of the stuff.
Lunch was the easiest of all, as it was so hot out, the Dursleys wouldn't want anything warm for the lunch or their dinner, so he made a nice cool fruit soup for their lunch and made up a summer salad. All he would have to do was mash all the fruits and berries that he needed together and then chill it for a few hours.
Once he was done with that, he threw his shoes on and before he left he called into the house. "I'm done with the chores and made your lunch, I'll be back soon." said Harry.
He walked down to "The Keep.". His mind was racing with several different ideas of what to impress the people at the restaurant with. It was nice to have others besides the police department appreciate his cooking.
it wasn't quite the time for them to be open for lunch so the doors were still locked. He knocked on the door and was allowed in by the wait staff.
"What brings you today?" asked the waitress as she placed a folded napkin down on one of the tables. "You were just here the other day."
"I'm sort of bored." said Harry with a shrug. "Also, I just had a brainstorm last night before I went to bed."
"Well, the kitchen's all yours." said the chef that came out go get a cup of coffee. "Just don't burn yourself."
Harry hurried into the kitchen, he had a while till the restaurant opened for dinner but he still couldn't wait till his brilliant idea would come to light.
"I can't wait to see what he made for us this time!" said one of the waitresses as they sat in the booths.
Then the door to the kitchen opened up and Harry came out with a large serving tray, with a silver cover.
"What have you come up for us this time?" asked one of the men in the booth.
"Something I came up with last night, I call it "Sunken Treasure." said Harry with a smile as he lifted the cover. Inside was what looked like eight giant clams.
"What are they?" asked one of the women in the booth.
"They're cakes!" said Harry. "Lift the top of the clam, and see what's inside." said Harry excitedly.
The people in the booth lifted the top of the clam and saw that it was indeed a sort of soft cake. Inside was a creamy pink custard and a white pearl sitting carefully on top.
"See, it can either be strawberry or cherry custard, and a sugar pearl in the middle." said Harry opening his own.
"These look awesome!" said one of the busboys excitedly.
"And they taste great!" said one of the waitresses. "I don't know where you get all these amazing ideas, and actually follow through with them.
The people in the pub finished off the clams and sat back completely filled with the delicious cakes and custard.
"That was delicious. It's definitely something that has to go on the children's menu." said one of cooks, thankfully he was wearing an apron, a small bit of custard had just avoided from falling on his expensive black pants.
"Forget that, it's going on the regular one." said one of the waitresses.
"Now, you better tell us all about how that last job went." said one of the waiters excitedly.
"But I've already told you." whined Harry.
"Tell us again, Harry, they're always so exciting!" said one of the waitresses.
Harry spent the next hour telling them about his latest caper, and they sat drinking in every word.
"I don't think I could do half the stuff you do." said the chef shaking his head.
"It's like you're a spy or something!" said the busboy with a laugh.
"Not even close." said Harry with a smile. "I'm just really bored and kind of smart."
"Kind of?" said the head waiter. "And I'm kind of a red head." He ran his fingers through his fiery red hair.
Suddenly, a loud banging knock came at the door.
"Who the heck is that?" asked said one of the waiters standing up and walking towards the door.
He came back and was followed closely by a young woman, who was obviously distraught.
"Emily? What's wrong?" said one of the waitresses worriedly.
"I…It's…" said Emily frantically.
"What is it?" one of the waiters.
"It's my Aunt's necklace! It was stolen!" said Emily.
"Have you called the police? Haven't they been able to figure out who took it?" said Harry quickly.
"Who's he?" said Emily calming down enough to look about and seeing Harry for the first time.
"He's…he's uh…" said one of the waiters.
"My nephew, and he's smart as a whip." said the head waiter. "You can tell him anything and he'll do his best to make your life easier."
She looked at Harry and then continued on with her frantic rant. "I did call the police, and they did find the person that has it, but the man said that my mother sold it to him, he has a bill of sale and everything! But she would never sell that! Especially for the price he said she got." said Emily finally answering Harry's question
What was it?" asked one of the cooks.
"A thousand pounds!" said Emily.
"That's a heck of a lot, are you sure she didn't sell it?" said one of the waitresses.
"No! That necklace has been passed down in my family for over two hundred years! It's priceless!" said Emily. "A thousand pounds isn't even enough to take care of the solid gold chain! The strange thing is, when Mother checked the bank balance, there was the thousand pounds!"
"So what's the name of the guy who stole your necklace?" said Harry from the back.
Suddenly, a telephone rang from behind the counter. The barkeep went behind the counter and answered the phone.
"Hello? Yeah, he's here. Harry! It's for you?" shouted the barkeep. Harry walked up to the counter and took the phone from the older man.
"Wonder how someone knew he was here." said a waitress.
"Hello?" said younger Harry.
"Harry, I've got a job for you." said the voice of Inspector Homes.
"Does it have something to do with a necklace?" said younger Harry quietly with a small smile.
"Okay, how'd you figure that part out?" said the Inspector, his voice sounding amused.
"Miss Emily came in and told the people here at 'The Keep' what had happened." said Harry.
"I see, well…meet me at the pond in the park, I'll clue you in on the details." said the Inspector.
"Sure thing sir, happy to help." said Harry as he hung up the phone.. "I've got to go, I hope that you get your necklace back Emily."
He ran down the five blocks till he reached a large spacious park, with a calm pond in the center. There were little ducks waddling about, the ones on the water dipped their bills into the water and coming up with little bits of water grass. There on a bench, staring out onto the water was Inspector Homes.
"Thanks for coming, Bud." said the man standing up and shaking Harry's hand and then gave him a hug. "Haven't seen you about in a while, I had something all planned for your birthday, and you never showed up." he said with a smile.
"The Dursleys…decided to go for a…road trip." said Harry.
"And they took you with them? That's a shocker." said Inspector Homes. He remembered seeing Harry the day before the boy's birthday, but he had expected the lad to stop in the next day. After his Uncle had gone completely off the deep end, but it didn't happen.
"Well…" said Harry looking slightly uncomfortable.
"You're not telling me something again." said Inspector Homes with a stern look but he had a smile on his face.
"Well, my parents signed me up for a certain school before they died and the Dursleys didn't want me to go. It's a boarding school and they wouldn't have me to do all the cooking and gardening. So they tried outrunning the…the representative from finding me and telling me that I was to go to their school." said Harry with a smile.
"Don't the Dursley's get to decide where to send you?" asked Inspector Homes, slightly confused. He didn't want to show his disappointment that his young charge would not be going to the school where he himself graduated from so many years ago.
"It was my parents' wishes that I get sent to that school, and I'm sort of really excited to go." said Harry. "I'll finally be away from the Dursleys, at least for most of the year."
The Inspector looked sideways quickly, his face clouded. If the Dursleys weren't going to see him, then he himself would also have to go several months without seeing the boy. He would miss him, and miss him awfully, but the boy was excited to go, and getting him away from his abusive family was best for him. He just wished getting him away from the Dursleys meant that Inspector Homes would take him into his own house. Putting on a brave face and willing his heart to let go of the boy for his own good, he then turned his head back towards the small boy with a forced smile. "Well, as long as you're happy…but if you ever want to come back, just give me a call, I'll come and fetch you….where is this school of yours?"
"Scotland, I believe." said Harry sitting down on the bench.
The Inspector blinked and sat slowly down beside the boy, "Well, I'll still come and get you anyway." he said with a smile. "You just let me know if you get homesick."
"I can send you letters in a different sort of way." said Harry with a bright smile. "That way I don't homesick much."
"Different sort of way? How's that?" asked the Inspector.
Harry looked up into the tree and called Hedwig's name. From the higher branches, she came fluttering down. She had stalked him all day, and he knew it. She didn't like letting him out of her sight and even swooped down when people got too close she deemed untrustworthy.
"This is Hedwig, she's brilliant." said Harry proudly, "This way, I don't have to wait on the postman to come, and she can make the trip in a blink of an eye."
The Inspector stared at Hedwig and then at Harry. "Harry, where did you find her?" If this was a wild animal, then how did he get her to come when she was called, and…was it right for him to have her?
"We sort of found each other. Hedwig, this is Inspector Homes."
She looked up at him and landed lightly on his shoulder, giving his ear an affectionate nip.
"I've never seen an owl behave like this." said the Inspector hesitantly stroking the top of Hedwig's head. "Well, alright then…" She seemed tame enough.
"Now about this necklace…" said Harry.
"Right, well, the person that took it, you know all too well." said Inspector Homes, he watched as Hedwig flew back into the tree she had come down from.
"Not Mr. Buckthorn…" groaned Harry. Shouldn't he be in jail?
"The very same, we found out that the bill of sale was forged and bullied him into admitting that he took it. He's sitting in a jail cell, but there's a problem with getting the necklace back." said Inspector Homes.
"He keeps sending forgeries huh?" said Harry.
"Right on the nose, we sent the one his lawyer said it was to Miss Emily, the real owner and she said it wasn't it. Though a jeweler said the necklace itself was worth about a thousand pounds, she said it wasn't it. I think the necklace in question is still in Buckthorn's house. So? Do you remember how to go about the place." said Inspector Homes.
"Like those gossiping ladies down at the supermarket say, you always remember your first." said Harry with a smirk.
The smirk slowly faded away, Harry looked up slowly to the Inspector.
"Something you need?" said the Inspector kindly.
"Can…can you do something for me?" asked Harry.
The Inspector smiled. Does he need to ask? "Anything you need, you've got it."
"While I'm gone, can you look after Officer McFinn?" said Harry shyly.
"I would be honored to, I'm glad you can trust me with his care." said Inspector gently.
The next day, back at 'The Keep", The wait staff and the cooks were gathered about once more at one of the booths. They were busy trying to console Emily, who was still upset over the loss of her family's priceless heirloom.
"It'll be okay, Emily, they'll get your necklace back." said the waitress soothingly.
Suddenly the police Inspector came in, with Harry lagging behind. The wait staff and the cooks watched as Harry dodged behind the counter.
"Miss Emily, I have your necklace, and we took it to the jeweler, this time, he matched it perfectly to the picture you gave us." said Inspector Homes.
"Just to double check." she said with a choked voice, she took the necklace gently and turned it over. "Yes! This IS it! It has my teeth marks on the gold!"
"There's what?" said the Inspector In shock.
"I accidentally gnawed on the gold when I was little, it was the worse paddling I ever got, but here they are!" said Emily. "They weren't on any of the copies."
"What about that guy that took it?" said one of the waiters. "What are you going to do about him?"
"He's already in jail for having stolen objects in his possession." said the Inspector with a smirk.
"Thank you so much!" said Emily happily.
"Don't thank me, we had help." said the Inspector. His eyes flittered over to the counter, where Harry was crouched down, hiding behind it with a satisfied smile on his face.
Thanks for reading! Please review!
Hmm...Do I have time...oh what the hell...
QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER! For those of you who celebrate Independence Day, what is it that you and your family do?