Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Private Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud hooting noise from his nephews Harry and Eldon's room.
"Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can't control that owl, it's got 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 mustache. "I know what'll happen if that owl's let out."
Eldon was lucky enough to have already sent Night-eye out with a letter before Uncle Vernon had imposed the rule of not allowing them to let the owls out. Uncle Vernon had instead told him that if he ever saw the dark owl anywhere near their house that he'd call animal control to remove it. It was fortunate that Night-eye, as well as Daphne and Blaise's owls were smart enough to avoid detection from the Muggles and still got his letters delivered.
Harry still tried to argue back, but his words were drowned by a long, loud belch from the Dursleys' son, Dudley.
"I want more bacon."
"There's more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on the massive son. "We must build you up while we've got the chance . . . I don't like the sound of that school food . . ."
"Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when I was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily. "Dudley gets enough, don't you, son?"
Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned to the Potter twins.
"Pass the frying pan."
"You've forgotten the magic word," said Harry irritably, and Eldon's eyes widened in alarm of what Harry had just accidently done.
The effect of this simple senate on the rest of the family was incredible: Dudley gasped and fell off his chair with a crash that shook the whole kitchen; Mrs. Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth; Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples.
"I mean 'please'!" said Harry quickly. "I didn't mean -"
"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU," thundered the twins uncle, spraying spit all over the table, "ABOUT SAYING THE 'M' WORD IN OUR HOUSE?"
"B-but, Harry j-just -"
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" roared Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist.
"I didn't -"
"I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITIES UNDER THIS ROOF!"
Eldon stared frightened from his purple-faced uncle to his place aunt, who was trying to heave Dudley to his feet.
"All right," said Harry, "all right. . ."
Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros and watching the twins closely out of the corners of his small, sharp eyes.
Even since Eldon had come for the summer holidays, Uncle Vernon had been treating him and Harry like they were bombs that might go off at any moment, but they were not normal boys. As a matter of fact, they were as not normal as it was possible to be. Eldon and Harry Potter were wizards - wizards french from their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And if the Dursleys were unhappy to have them back home for the holidays, it was nothing to how Eldon felt.
He missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach ache. He missed having his own bed, not having to share with Harry who often woke up in the middle of the night. He missed learning new things, and he missed the potion Professor Snape made for him that allowed him to read, for the man had told him before the school year ended that it wasn't safe to deliver it to a muggle home. Eldon missed spending time with Daphne and Blaise, the letters they sent back and forth were nothing compared to seeing each other in person and being able to mass around freely.
All of the twins' spellbooks, wands, robes, cauldrons, and Harry's top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had been locked in a cupboard under the stairs by Uncle Vernon the instant they had come home. What would happen to the Dursleys if Eldon and Harry went back to school without any of their homework done? The Dursleys were wizards called Muggles (not a drop of magical blood in their veins), and as far as they were concerned, having a wizard in the family, let alone two, was a matter of deepest shame. Uncle Vernon had even padlocked Harry's owl, Hedwig, inside her cage, to stop her from carrying messages to anyone in the wizarding world. He had been furious to find that Eldon had already sent his own owl out.
The twins looked nothing like the rest of the family, they didn't even look like twins. Uncle Vernon was large and neckless, with an enormous black mustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and bony; Dudley was blond, pink, and porky. Eldon on the other hand was small, very small, and had long red hair the same color his mother's had been, and he had a soft face with emerald green eyes. Harry was small and skinny, still a fair bit taller than Eldon, with brilliant green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy. He wore round glasses, and on his forehead was a thin, lightning-shaped scar.
It was that scar that made Harry so particularly unusual, even for a wizard. And it was because of that scar that everyone thought of Eldon to be the less talented twin. This scar was the only hint of the twin's very mysterious past, or the reason they had been left on the Dursleys' doorstep eleven years before.
At the age of one year old, Eldon and Harry had been faced with the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldermort, whose name most witches and wizards still feared to speak. Harry had somehow survived a curse from the dark wizard, the same curse the twins' parents had died from, but Harry had survived with his lightning scar - nobody understood why - Volemort's powers had been destroyed that instant he had failed to kill Harry. Harry had then been considered a hero and Eldon had been ignored, only seen as the brother of the boy who lived.
So Eldon and Harry had been brought up by their dead mother's sister and her husband. They had spent ten years with the Dursleys, never understanding why they'd kept making odd things happen without meaning to, and believing the Duresleys' tale of their parents dying in a car crash.
But then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Eldon, and to Harry, and the whole story had come out. The twins had taken up their place at wizard school, where Harry and his scar are famous, and Eldon, like every other Slytherin, was resented for being placed in the same house as Lord Voldemort . . . but now the school year was over, and both boys were back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like dogs that had rolled in something smelly.
The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be the birthday that Eldon shared with Harry, they were turning twelve. Of course, Eldon's hopes hadn't been high; they'd never given him a real present, let alone a cake - but to ignore it completely . . .
At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his mind and said, "Now, as we all know, today is a very important day."
Eldon glanced up, hardly daring to believe it.
"This could very well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon.
Eldon went back to the small piece of toast he'd been given for breakfast, staring longingly at the bacon on Dudley's plate. Of course, Uncle Vernon was talking about his dinner party. He'd been talking of 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. He rounded on Eldon. "And you?"
"M-me a-and Harry w-will be in o-our bed-bedroom, m-making no n-noise a-and pre-pretending we're- n-not-there," Eldon stuttered out.
"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.
"I'll be with Eldon in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending I'm not there," said Harry dully.
"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 both Aunt Petunia and Harry. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Harry ducked under the table so they wouldn't see him laughing. Eldon forced him back up when Uncle Vernon's beady eyes searched the table for him.
"And you, boy?"
"I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending i'm not there," he said, rolling his eyes in Eldon's direction. Clearly finding the entire thing humorous and boring.
"Too right, you will, you both will." said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons don't know anything about you two and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around for 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."
Eldon didn't feel too excited about this. He didn't think the Dursleys would like him or Harry 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 the twins. "You both stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."
Eldon hurried up the stairs to the smallest bedroom that he'd been sharing with Harry for the past year, before that they'd slept in the cupboard under the stairs. The window was open, as it usually was during the day to let the warm air in, and a large blakc owl was sitting on the ledge, and a second brown owl just a bit smaller was tweeting quietly away with Hedwig. Eldon hurried quickly to his owls side, running his fingers through Night-eye's feathers and quickly untying the letter from his leg.
The owl used his beak to tap softly against Eldon's check before he took off, being careful to stay out of sight of Uncle Vernn as he drove off down the road. The second owl was calm as Eldon untied the small parcel that had been tied to both of the owls feet, and with a final soft hoot to Hedwig it took off out the window.
Eldon sat cross legged on the floor and unfolded the parchment, grinning at Daphne's familiar handwriting.
Dear Eldon,
Happy birthday, Eldon! I've sent Hoot with a gift to you. It's just something small. We decided to give you our gifts when we return to Hogwarts so you won't have to worry about your Aunt and Uncle finding out. I'll see you on the train.
Sincerely,
Daphne Greengrass
Daphne's letter was direct and straight to the point as they always were, and he was overjoyed that she had remembered his birthday when the Dursleys hadn't. He knew he should be spending the day with Harry, because he knew that he'd yet to receive any letters from his friends, but Harry had been weird to him all summer. It had started when Eldon didn't argue with Uncle Vernon about Hedwig being locked up. Harry had been expecting Eldon to have courage that he didn't have. That night he'd called him a no good Slytherin and hadn't talked to him unless necessary since. When he'd talked to Daphne about it she reassured him, telling him that it was just a sibling disagreement, she had them with her sister all the time.
Eldon didn't know what to do to fix things. He'd told Harry that he could use Night-eye to send a letter to his friends but he'd been ignored. Eventually he accepted that things were different between them now, and there was nothing he could do.
A commotion echoed up from the back lawn through an open window in the hall and Eldon crept out and peered his head out. Harry was standing with Dudley in the backyard. Dudley seemed to be taunting Harry.
"Today's your birthday," sneered Dudley. "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 cooly. Eldon furrowed his eyebrows, worried about what Harry was getting himself into. Dudley would tell their Aunt and Uncle and they'd both probably get in trouble.
Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom.
"Why're you staring at the hedge?" he said suspiciously, Eldon knew it was because he felt disconnected from the magic world with his friends not writing to him.
"I'm trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire," said Harry.
Eldon watched as Dudley stumbled backwards at once, a look of panic on his chubby 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 - an you haven't got anywhere else to go - you haven't got any friends to take you -" Eldon thought Dudley was being rather bold for someone so seemingly terrified of the person standing before him.
"Jiggery pokery!" said Harry in a fierce voice. "Hocus pocus - squiggly wiggly -"
"MUUUUUUM!" howled Dudley, tripping over his feet as he dashed back inside. Elden pulled away from the window while Dudley continued to cry out. "MUUUUM! He's doing you know what!"
Eldon paid dearly for Harry's moment of fun. Dudley had just been so 'terrified' that he hadn't been able to tell Aunt Petunia which twin he was talking about and both ended up punished. Aunt Petunia had swung a heavy soapy frying pan at them, which Harry had been able to avoid while it clipped Eldon's shoulder, leaving him with an aching bruise. She had then put them to work, with the promise of not eating again until they'd finished.
While Dudley lolled around watching and eating ice cream, Eldon cleaned the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the flowerbeds, printed and watered the roses, and repainted the garden beach. Harry was inside cleaning the rest of the house. The sun blaised overhead, prompting him to tie up his long red hair in a ponytail. He wasn't happy that Harry had risen to Dudleys taunting but he knew that Harry wasn't having a great summer so he couldn't blame him. He only wished he'd been able to open Daphne's gift before being put to work. Who knew when he'd get the chance to be alone if Uncle Vernon didn't get the deal. He would no doubt blame it on something the twins did.
It was half past seven in the evening when at last, exhausted, he heard Aunt Petunia calling him.
"Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!"
Eldon moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming kitchen. 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 two slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table. Harry was already sitting there, half way through with his own sandwich.
Eldon hurried to wash his hands and bloated down his pitiful supper. The moment both he and Harry were finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away their plates. "Upstairs! Hurry!" She was already wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress.
As they passed the door to the living room the twins caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow ties and dinner jackets. They'd 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 -"
Eldon slipped into their room as Harry quietly closed the door and froze. He'd been intending to find one of Dudley's old toys to pass the time with but there was a problem. Someone was sitting on their bed.