Harry awoke rather early that
morning. With a loud yawn he stretched in his bed. Carefully he pulled
his feet over the side and touched the cold floor lightly. He usually wasn't
the first one awake, but since he hadn't been plagued by dreams for once,
he didn't need any extra sleep.
"That potion should have worn
off by now," Harry thought aloud, wondering why he hadn't had any dreams
since the night Voldemort had gained his body again. Harry shrugged his
shoulders and threw a tattered bathrobe around himself.
Creeping downstairs slowly, hopping
over the last stair, knowing that it creaked when you stepped on it. "Finally
I can eat anything I want," Harry said to himself entering the kitchen
quietly.
He opened the cabinets and
peered inside. Several boxes of cereal were near the top, but they were
all 100% healthy so Harry lost interest in breakfast. Scampering over towards
the refrigerator he swung it open to discover fruits and vegetables covered
most of the plastic shelves.
"Dudley, why couldn't you have
just played outside when you were little?" Harry grumbled to himself. Dudley
had been stuck on his diet ever since he came back from Smeltings. In order
to fit into their largest uniform he had to drop nearly twenty pounds.
Harry sighed and grabbed three
apples from a nearby shelf. Shutting the refrigerator door carefully Harry
walked back up the stairs and into his room.
Taking a rather irritated bite
out of his first apple he dropped the rest in Hedwigs cage and she thanked
him with a happy hoot. Harry wasn't in the mood for eating, he leaned over
to the side of his bed and grabbed at his trunk, unlocking it he grabbed
random spell book and turned to a page in which a piece of paper marked.
Although an invisibility
cloak is the easiest was to become invisible,
The opening paragraph read
there is also a potion;
the Malaness. It takes one full year to perfect, but the year must be a
leap year, and also the potion must be made on the night of a blue moon
in order to be 100% successful. The Malaness potion has nearly died out,
since leap years and blue moons are so uncommon at the same time.
Harry spirit dropped again,
he didn't have the desire to finish all the summer work he'd been given.
He'd finished a long essay on Toadstools and Fungi for Professor Sprout
last night and still was rather tired from all his studying.
He heard his aunt stirring
from the bedroom down the hall; quickly he jumped into his bed and pretended
to fall asleep. Her footsteps grew closer to his bedroom door as he closed
his eyes and began breathing slowly.
"You up?" Aunt Petunia asked
knocking on his door.
"Yes," Harry replied trying
his best to sound tired.
"That's good you can fetch
the letters for me then," she responded not even asking if he wanted to
or not. They still kept Harry at a distance from the rest of the family.
Even though they were still terrified of his godfather, they made him do
everyday chores without making Dudley lift a finger.
Reluctantly Harry got out of
bed and went out of get the mail. The usual bills arrived but there was
a small package that made Harry curiously lift it off the front step.
Mr. Harry Potter
Number 4 Privet Drive
Harry lifted the tiny package
and turned it over.
S.W.A.L.K.
He blushed reading the last
letters; 'Sealed With a Loving Kiss'. At first it seemed like a joke, since
no one ever showed any affection for him at school. Except Ginny, Ron's
little sister but even then, Ron would have told him about it, most likely.
He pondered who would have
sent him such a tiny package, it was no bigger then an index card, wrapped
in plain brown paper with normal string. Walking back inside the house
Harry dropped off the post to his family and headed upstairs again.
Aunt Petunia yelled for him to come
down but Harry was to lost in thought and didn't hear a word of it. Sitting
down on his bed he stepped on something soft, looking down he saw a long
silver feather that would make a perfect quill.
"Where did this come from?"
Harry wondered, putting the package next to him and picking up the feather.
It was nearly twelve inches long, and had a sharp pointed tip. Taking the
package in his hand he lifted up the feather and tore the tape the bounded
the edges.
He pulled the brown paper off
to reveal I tiny glass circle. It was very light and extremely elegant.
Inside the small box there was a tiny card. He lifted it up and read;
Smash the tiny bubble...
Harry read the card again and
followed the instructions throwing the bubble onto his bedroom floor. The
bubble shattered nearly instantly and a light haze filled Harry's room.
He closed his eyes and waited
for something to happen. After several moments of silence he opened his
eyes weakly, and looked around the room. Everything remained still. He
looked towards the floor, and noticed that even the glass shards had disappeared.
A loud and excited squeal from
the downstairs broke Harry's train of thought. Aunt Petunia's hurried footsteps
ran quickly up the stairs and past Harry's bedroom door.
"Vernon! Vernon, wake up!"
Harry heard his aunt yell forcefully to his sleeping uncle.
"What is it Petunia?" Uncle
Vernon's tired voice asked, the bed creaked loudly, and Harry assumed his
uncle had got up.
"Read this," Aunt Petunia said.
It sounded like she'd handed him a piece of paper, or maybe a letter.
There was a long pause. Harry
leaned closer to his bedroom door. He heard the floor boards creak as Uncle
Vernon must have stood up.
"Are you serious Petunia?"
he asked, apparently praying for her to answer 'yes'.
"I wouldn't put your hopes
too high about this being a joke," Aunt Petunia spat out rather astonished
at his remark.
"We're rid of it! we're finally
rid of it!" Uncle Vernon shouted nearly shaking the house apart. Aunt Petunia
joined in with his happiness, and laughed a wild laugh.
Harry guessed by this time
that somehow his aunt and uncle found a way to get him out of their lives.
Knowing them, they'd done in cheaply too -- they wouldn't pay for him to
get and room and board anywhere. They wouldn't even send him to school
if it cost them anything!
Footsteps trampled down the
hallway, and before he knew it, they'd burst into his room without knocking.
"Get your things packed," Uncle
Vernon commanded, addressing Harry's few personal possessions.
"Why? Are we going somewhere?"
Harry asked, completely lost.
Uncle Vernon reached into his bathrobe
pocket, and pulled out a rather crumpled letter. Tossing it to Harry who
caught it carefully, "Read," Uncle Vernon said coldly, with a massive happy
grin on his face.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,
I've observed over these past almost fifteen years that you do not treat
your nephew Harry Potter with great care and kindness. But I do not hold
this against you, you had a child dropped on our doorstep in the middle
of the night one can expect the problems that might get involved.
But I'm writing you so I can help you, you see I am a governess by nature
and I am willing to take Mr. Potter off your hands for the rest of your
lives.
If you would like to accept this offer please place Mr. Potter outside
on your front step with all of his school books and supplies, I will bring
him into my care and if will not cost you a pound.
Governess Yorkshire
Harry's chin dropped as he
read the letter. He wouldn't have to live with his aunt and uncle anymore!
At that moment Harry was as happy as he could possibly be.
"Well, get packing she'll be
here in less then an hour. Get moving!" Uncle Vernon yelled, bringing his
leg back to kick him.
Harry jumped away from his
Uncle's fake kick and watched them as they left the room.
"Yes!!!" Harry practically
yelled once he heard their footsteps go down the stairs, "Did you hear
that Hedwig?! we'll never see this place again!"
Hedwig hooted happily and Harry
let her out of her cage so she could join him in his enthusiasm. She landed
happily on Harry's shoulder and nibbled on his ear affectionately.
Then a horrid thought struck
Harry, What if this governess didn't know about magic? What if he'd have
to get ride of Hedwig, or he couldn't return to Hogwarts for the next term.
Even though these thought began popping up throughout all of Harry's worries
just the thought of never seeing his aunt and uncle again made him so happy
that they barely effected him.
"Are you packed yet boy?" Uncle
Vernon yelled from the downstairs.
"Nearly," Harry lied, throwing
a spell book into his trunk. Hedwig continued hooting and flapping her
wings. Harry hummed a song he'd heard at Hogwarts as he packed the rest
of his things.
Minutes pasted like seconds
as Harry still continued to bounce about his room full of joy. But once
he'd finished packing there was a moment of silence and a loud knock on
the door. . .