Chapter 3: Treasures
"For goodness sake, Harry. Walk on the newspaper." Harry had just sprinted in from the garden, making sure to come in after Dudley had. Otherwise, Dudley may have gotten a chance to punch him. Unfortunately, Mrs Dursley had just finished cleaning the floor. And both Dudley and Harry had rather muddy shoes. Both of them had come running in, creating muddy footprints all over the shiny clean floor. But of course, Harry had gotten the blame. "Just finished washing my nice clean kitchen floor when you come stamping in, smearing it with mud!" "Sorry, Aunt Petunia. I didn't mean to," whispered Harry. "Humph." Said, Aunt Petunia.
"What's for lunch, mummy?" asked Dudley putting on his adorable kid act. Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia could never believe the stories that Harry told about Dudley bullying him. "Chips, Pumpkin." But of course the chips were only for Dudley. Harry ended up with some watery tinned chicken . It tasted disgusting.
After lunch, Aunt Petunia gave Harry a piece of paper. Harry looked at it. He saw a brand-new list of chores to do. Polish the silverware, take the rubbish out and do the laundry… Harry sighed and went to work. First Harry got the polish out of the kitchen cupboard. Next, he piled up the silverware on the kitchen counter and began to polish. Then he put the silverware back into the drawer. Harry went outside and emptied the rubbish into the rubbish bins. Finally, he sorted the laundry and put it in the washing machine. "I finished my chores, aunt Petunia" said Harry - knowing what was coming. "Cupboard, then," said aunt Petunia. "Go on, shoo!" Harry slipped off to his cupboard.
If truth be told, this was the best part of Harry's day. But if the Dursleys knew that, they would destroy it. So Harry kept a straight face all the way to his cupboard. Then Harry sat down on the floor of his cupboard. Next, he retrieved his shoebox from under the bed. Harry had few toys, but those he did have he treasured. Harry had a few toy soldiers, which he had rescued from the bin. He also had a teddy, which he'd found on a park bench when he was five. Harry spent a few happy hours playing a quiet game with his toys.
Suddenly Harry heard the front door bang. That meant that uncle Vernon was home. Every day, aunt Petunia tried to get dinner ready as soon as he came through the door. "Hello, Vernon. How was your day?" asked aunt Petunia in the kitchen. "Excellent," replied uncle Vernon. "Look, I've got your dinner all ready for you," said aunt Petunia cheerfully. "Dudley pumpkin! Dinner is ready!" she called. "Get out of that cupboard!" bellowed uncle Vernon. Harry shoved his toys under his bed. Then he walked out into the kitchen. Harry had a small portion of wormy spaghetti in front of him. "So did the boy behave today?" asked uncle Vernon. "Yeah, he did," said aunt Petunia - although Harry knew that she longed to say that he had behaved terribly. He felt satisfied that she had nothing to report.
After they had all finished uncle Vernon stood up. "Right, clear the table and wash and put away the dishes," he barked at Harry. Harry sighed. It was always the same. But Harry had to do as he was told.
When the these chores were done, Harry retired to his cupboard. As he lay in bed, he could hear uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia talking in the kitchen. Harry remembered his hopes of a family. Harry thought as hard as he could and sent a message through his thoughts. "Please, come get me from the Dursleys," he thought as hard as he could. Although Harry knew no one could hear him, there was nothing else he could do.