Disclaimer:
that should be obvious! Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, and if
you're reading this, you better know that. Also, if you've never read all four
Harry Potter books, please don't read this!
Chapter
1
Harry
was awake, staring at the ceiling at 3:00 that morning. He was thinking about the newspaper article
he had read last night. The sightings
of Voldemort were becoming more frequent now. A young woman who was named something like Henrietta Marchbanks had seen
the first sighting. She said that
Voldemort was horrifying, his face was like that of a snake, and his eyes were
a gleaming red. Harry agreed with
everything this woman said.
Harry
sat up when Hedwig hooted and a small feathered being tapped on the
window. Harry got out of bed and opened
the window to find a very small owl carrying a parcel almost as large as the
owl was. Harry recognized the minuet
owl as Pig, the Weasley's owl. Harry
hoped that a letter from his best friend Ron was in the parcel. He took out a letter and looked at the
handwriting on the envelope, it was small, but clear and Harry figured that it
was Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother. Harry
opened Mrs. Weasley's letter and read:
Dearest Harry,
I
certainly hope this reaches you, as I'm not sure this little owl is up for the
trip. But if and when it reaches you, I hope it finds you in good health and
having a fun summer.
I
thoroughly apologize for not allowing you to come stay with us this summer, as
Arthur tells me that the Dursleys don't treat you very well, and we would have
loved to have you for the whole summer.
(Harry sighed as he read this, remembering
the last summer's encounter between the Dursleys and Arthur Weasley, in which
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had refused at first to even say good-bye to Harry.
He knew Mr. Weasley was a good father and gladly would have taken Harry to
relieve him from the Dursley's treatment had he not made the decision that it
would be safer for Harry at the Dursleys', in case it would be more difficult
for Voldemort to find Harry at non-magic residence. Upon hearing this news for
the first time, Harry, in great disappointment, had not been able to understand
this- wouldn't Voldemort know, now that he was back and in perfect health and
mind, that Harry was staying with his aunt and uncle? But sure enough, after
most of the summer, no sign of Voldemort had turned up anywhere near the
Dursley household, though they had not too far off. Harry had started ordering
the Daily Prophet just recently to arrive at his house at nighttime (so as not
to startle the Dursleys into stopping his order) so that he could keep track of
any sightings of Voldemort. This had been at the advice of Harry's wonderful
godfather, Sirius Black, to which Harry had at first wondered why he himself
hadn't thought of that, then later if that would do any good at all, as Harry
was sure Voldemort wouldn't be stupid enough to let himself be seen. But, sure
enough, a week after Harry had started ordering it, Harry saw with a start an
article headlined: SIGHTINGS OF VOLDEMORT- REAL AND NOW OR JUST BAD MEMORIES OF
THE PAST? A few sightings had been made, and later more and more articles of
that same type. But they did not seem to be moving any closer to Harry, and
that relieved him a bit.
So it had
turned out that Harry had been proven wrong a few times. Harry got back to
reading the letter.
"Anyway,
we hope that you are enjoying your summer and think it might be good for you to
go and stay with the Grangers for a while, because that is also a Muggle
residence and it might be nice to meet them and get out of the house. Perhaps
you should ask Hermione about it. And if you would like me to write a letter to
the Grangers to ask that, I would be happy to do so (or rather Arthur
would, he's fascinated by the Muggle post). And anything else you might need,
don't hesitate to ask. I'm always here to act as a motherly being when you need
one!
Sincerely,
Molly
Weasley
P.S. If you need a ride to Diagon Alley
or King's Cross if you are not going to stay with the Grangers, please just
send me a note back with Pig. Thanks, and have a happy holiday!
Harry
looked up from the letter to see that Pig had landed and was cocking his head
at Harry as if asking for another delivery mission. Harry smiled and took the
next letter out of the package. He grinned when he recognized the scribbly
handwriting as one of his best friend's, Ron Weasley.
Hey
Harry! Sorry for Mum's little over-protective note, if you've read it yet. Gag
me. Anyway, what she says is true, if you need anything like a ride to Diagon
Alley, just send a note. In fact, why don't you just plan on us picking you up
at 11:00 AM on the 31st? Then you can spend the night (I don't care what Mum
and Dad say, I haven't seen you for TOO long! ) and we can drive you to King's
Cross the next morning, as Dad finally was able to get a car with no
invisibility button or flying abilities. Dang.
(Harry
remembered with a laugh the Weasley's old car which had had those special
features that Ron and Harry had taken advantage of in an attempt to fly the car
to Hogwarts, Harry's school, without Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knowing about it.)
So there! Count on that, unless you send
us an owl saying you'll stay with the Grangers, which I hope you will, because
I feel bad that you have to spend a whole summer with whale-boy, beanpole, and
turnip-face just because of my stupid parents.
Anyway,
I hope they're not starving you like before, but just in case I've sent a big
pack of pretzels and some...err...ok, there's a few chocolate frogs and Bertie
Bott's Every-Flavored Beans in there that I swiped from Fred and George's
stash, but I'm sure they'd donate to a worthy cause if they... um... knew about
it.
Harry
plunged his hand into the package once more and pulled out a large bag of pretzels
and the wonderful magical candies. He hid them immediately under his loose
floor-boards, as, yes, the Dursleys were attempting to put the whole family on
a diet again, and, no, it wasn't working on Dudley a bit, he could now be
easily mistaken for a large bear, and, yes, Dudley would quickly devour any
ounce of food he could get his hands on, especially candy, even if it meant he
had to brutally murder his poor cousin. But Harry couldn't resist nibbling on
one of the chocolate frogs as he finished Ron's letter.
Well,
everything's as usual here, Percy's even more work-devoted than usual (barf)
because, he claims, "Now that my dear, *sniff*, wonderful, fabulous Mr. Crouch
has gone forever, I must work my hardest to uphold the department, and maybe I
might even get another promotion." Ok, ok, you can tell which part of that
quote is true and which isn't. Fred and George have finally dropped the whole
Ludo Bagman business, after much argument from my mother, who curiously found
out about it, and are now back to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which still
remain in secret from the folks, though not for long, I'm sure, as Mum's on
their trail there, too. And Charlie's back to Romania, Bill to Egypt, and
Ginny's here at home, sitting in her room, reading a magazine (a new hobby of
hers), and sighing over you. Me? I'm just, I don't know, doing nothing, a
little bit of Quidditch practice here and there. Well, got to be off, Pig is looking anxious to deliver something.
Send me an owl about the 31st, and make sure you keep following those sightings
of You- Know- Who!
Ron
Harry
smiled and quickly turned the note over, grabbed his pen, and scribbled: Ron-
thanks for the letters and snacks. 31st sounds great, though you should ask
your mum about it. Yes, I'm watching out for (here Harry started writing
"Voldemort", then thought better of it, crossed it out, and wrote
"You-Know-Who" to please Ron, who insisted in sticking to that nickname for the
Dark Lord.) You-Know-Who. Thanks again, and see you soon (hopefully),
Harry
There.
He set the note down on his bedside table so he could continue reading the
other letters. Then he turned to the piece of paper the barn owl had dropped,
wondering whom he knew that owned one of those. He opened the letter and
realized that Hermione had sent it, and she must be staying with Viktor Krum,
the boy from Durmstrang that she had met that past year and had gone to the
Yule Ball with.
Dear Harry,
How
are you? I'm having a lovely summer, though I doubt that you can say the same.
I'm staying right now with Viktor's family, who is quite nice, and the only
other wizard family I've ever met besides Ron's! The house is humongous and
beautiful, with lovely gardens, and… Well, anyway, I'm sure you don't want to
hear all of that at a time like this, which I know must be really stressful for
you. I've been ordering the Daily Prophet as well, and I'm really worried about
all those sightings of You-Know-Who! [Yep, thought Harry,
that was Hermione, worry, worry, worry...] You really should go stay with
the Weasley's for the last three weeks of summer, at least there's a few grown
wizards to protect you there! I myself will be staying with the Krum's for the
rest of the summer, until, of course, a couple days before the 1st of
September. But we really should meet up with Ron and go to Diagon Alley
together sometime before then. Well, I want you to keep me posted on how things
are going and if you're worried and if your scar hurts... IF YOUR SCAR HURTS AT
ALL I want you to go straight away to Sirius or Dumbledore (Harry knew that
Dumbledore, Hogwarts' headmaster, was said to be the only wizard Voldemort was
afraid of.) and then write me and tell me right away, okay? I miss you, and
look out for yourself, Harry! And go stay at the Weasleys' if you can! If you
can't, write me and I'll figure out something.
Hermione
Oh,
great, thought Harry. Now he was really in a fix: Ron wanted Harry to stay with
the Grangers, Hermione wanted Harry to stay with the Weasleys, and he knew that
if he didn't, they'd both freak out and get worried...He knew there was no
possible way he could stay with either of them...There was only one thing to
do, Harry thought, for his friends' sakes. He would simply stay here, with the
Dursleys, for the rest of the summer, and get a ride form the Weasleys to
Diagon Alley... it was the best he could do for the time being. Great. Harry
grabbed the note he was writing to Ron off the bedside table and scribbled on
the bottom: P.S. It turns out I can't go stay with Hermione, but it's
alright, don't worry, I'll just stay at the Dursley's till the 31st. Dumbledore
seems to think this is the safest place for me anyway. See ya.
He sent the letter
off in Pig's beak, scribbled a similar one to Hermione, and sent that too with
the Barn owl.
Harry
sighed and looked at his watch. 3:00 AM! He should get some sleep... He hid the
letters and chocolate frog wrapper with the candy and pretzel stash, and was
just climbing back into bed, when he heard something tap at the window. What?,
he thought, looking out the window at the familiar, minute owl that sat on his
edge impatiently, I've already gotten the Daily Prophet for today! He
pulled open the window reluctantly to discover that it was not the wizard
newspaper, but a rolled up letter. He pulled it open hurriedly while giving the
tiny owl a drink.
Dear
Harry, (Harry recognized the loopy writing as
Sirius's, and realized that the owl must be an owl from the post office at
Hogsmeade, the wizarding village where Sirius had been living now for a while.)
I can't write much now, hope all is well with you. It seems that Voldemort
has discarded Peter Pettigrew from his ring of followers, and Peter is out on
his own, wandering around aimlessly somewhere, and I'm on his trail. As soon as
I catch him, I can have my name cleared, and you can move in immediately.
Harry's
heart leapt at this statement the way it had when he first figured out that
Sirius Black was his godfather, and Sirius had offered for Harry to live with
him.
But however close to catching him I am, I
hope you will forgive me that I will not be able to have you live with me until
probably next summer, as it takes time to have my name cleared, reclaim my
house and vault at Gringotts, and change my home to an appropriate living space
for a 15-year-old boy! Please inform me immediately at anything-strange
happening, and keep up your order of the Daily Prophet. Have a good summer,
Sirius
Harry
sighed. The solution to his problem had been right there- if only Sirius could
find him soon! But at least that was something to be happy about- his godfather
was going to have his name cleared! He would no longer be known as the criminal
escaped from Azkaban that everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore
believed him to be. He could be recognized as the honest, wrongly accused man
that he was. And Harry was going to live with him! No more Dursleys! Harry
sighed, with his heart weighed with worry, sorrow, and a faint ray of
happiness, sent the owl off to the dark skies, and fell into a deep sleep,
preparing to face the three weeks that remained of summer.
The
next morning, Harry trudged down to breakfast rubbing his eyes, to find that
Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley were already seated at the table,
watching Dudley's new DVD player he had received for his birthday. "Well,
finally!" shrieked Aunt Petunia as Harry sat down at the table. "Now get over
there and fetch us our breakfasts, we're in the middle of a good show! What was
this called, Dudley-dear?"
"
The Matrix, Mum."
"That's
right, now go on, they're on the counter."
Harry
grudgingly stood up and went to the kitchen to get the nasty, orange-brown
protein drink that was the Dursley's "breakfast". Harry brought in all four
glasses in one trip, now used to the Dursley's new habit of having Harry do
everything for them while they claimed to watch the movies. He slammed them
down on the table and fixed his eyes on the TV screen. Harry had watched Dudley
watch this movie before; he knew it was right at the good part, where...
Petunia's shrill voice interrupted the movie.
"All
right, it looks like it's over, right?! Let's turn it off." And with that,
ignoring Dudley's protests, she reached out and clicked off the TV. Harry was
used to this as well, as it happened almost every morning: Aunt Petunia would
use the DVD player as an excuse to get Harry to do the work, and when Harry was
done and would sit down to watch too, she would snap it off. Well, typical.
"Now,
who wants to go get the mail? Dudleykins?"
"Don't
call me that."
"Oh,
now, baby, why not?"
"I'm
not a baby! Don't call me anything!"
"Now,
Dudley-"
"Not
even that! Now I want to be called, um, how 'bout Fang." Harry started laughing
so hard, not even being an expert at keeping a straight face would work now, he
thought, looking at Dudley. Fang? That was a more accurate description of
Dudley than Baby, at least, but it certainly didn't suit him. He looked more
like a Fatty McGee, or maybe Big-Fat-Rolly-Polly-on-legs.
"Silence,
boy!" Uncle Vernon intruded.
"Yes."
agreed Petunia, "this is no time to laugh! You should be supporting Dudley's
decisions, you cruel, cruel boy!"
Harry
snorted even louder at this, and was glad for Aunt Petunia's interruption,
"Someone, go and get the mail!"
So
Harry was finally the one to stand up and retrieve the mail. Sometimes he liked
this chore, as he got to see what everyone was receiving for the day. He
flipped through the small quantity of letters. None for him, that was usual...
those looked like bills...some letter in scroll writing, probably from Aunt
Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister who despised Harry, but loved taunting him. She
had managed to squeeze onto the envelope: For "The Whole Dursley Family, and that doesn't include anyone of the
name of Harry Potter." Harry chuckled a little at this, remembering the time a
few summers ago when he had gotten so mad at her that he had accidentally made
her inflate like a balloon and pop. He kept flipping through. Aha, here was one
that looked interesting: "For the Parents/Guardians of Dudley Dursley". Harry
held it up to the light to try and read what it said- "HURRY UP WITH THAT MAIL,
BOY!" shouted Uncle Vernon. Harry sighed and shoved the letter into the middle
of the pile, crossed back to the table, and dropped them next to Mr. Dursley's
plate.
"There,
your highness." Harry mumbled.
"WHAT
was that?"
"Nothing."
Harry didn't want them to go into a fit now, not after Dudley's little
name-announcement. Aunt Petunia snatched the mail and started looking through
it, opening every one hurriedly.
"Not
more bills! Ah, here's one from Marge, Vernon. It's for Dudley, you and I..."
she through an icy look in Harry's direction. "It reads 'Dearest Vernon,
Petunia, Dudley,-'"
"Fang,"
Dudley mumbled angrily, as if Aunt Marge was already supposed to have known
this.
"
'Fang,'" Petunia corrected, " 'I hope your summer is going well, and I am sorry
to inform you that you won't be graced with my presence on this holiday.
Forgive me, but I will be on a new business trip with my new job.'"
"Pity,"
Harry thought, and wondered what her new job was. He could just imagine her as
a stewardess, trying vainly to fit the cart and herself, down the aisle, and
getting stuck. His visions were interrupted by Petunia continuing:
"
'I hope to come visit you during the school year, however, while that awful
delinquent is out of the house. Please enjoy the rest of your vacation, and
forgive me for not coming to visit. Sincerely, Marge.'"
"Ah,
Well, that's ashamed," sighed Aunt Petunia.
"Any
more mail?" mumbled Uncle Vernon.
"Oh,
yes. "For the Parents/guardians of Dudley Dursley."
"Oh,
Fang I do hope this is your Report Card!" Aunt Petunia opened it excitedly, and
read out loud: "Oh, yes here it is! Science…F, Math…F, English…F, World Studies…D+,
oh, well that's pretty good, Physical Education…F, Art…A+. Well, um… Fang… I'm
ever so proud of your Art Skills, but-"
"Dudley!
I can't believe you-"
"Wait,
now wait, these Fs might accidentally mean as, and…ah, here, another note was
included in the envelope. It says: For the Parents of Dudley Dursley-"
"FANG!"
"Whatever,
we regret to inform you that your child has not been invited back to Smeltings
High School this year. This is for the following reasons-
1. His report card shows that he failed
almost every subject in school-"
"NOT
TRUE!" shouted Uncle Vernon, enraged.
"Oh,
Vernon," Aunt Petunia wailed, wiping tears from her eyes, "You read the rest
out loud. I can't bear it."
"Okay,
okay:
'2. He has been exhibiting unacceptable
behavior towards his fellow students, as you know, because we sent home the
letter about poor Wilfred Banks' nose.
3. His uniform was specially made last
year, and there will be no more exceptions made, now that his uniform size is
XXXXXXXXXL Super-Size. We are sorry, but your son is, to put it bluntly,
expelled. Have a good year, and good luck in finding another school for your
son. Sincerely, Arnold Smelting.'"
"Ex-ex-expelled?!"
screeched Aunt Petunia. "Surely that doesn't mean, that can't mean that-" and
she burst into tears.
"WHAT?"
roared Uncle Vernon. "EXPELLED?! From SMELTINGS! Dudley-"
"Fang,
Dad, Fang!"
"I'll
call you whatever I damn well please!"
Harry couldn't bear it anymore. He dashed out of the house and
into the yard, and fell down on the lawn with laughter. Expelled? Dudley? Harry
could hardly believe it. Where would he be able to go to now?, Harry
wondered as he calmed down and went inside. When he reached the kitchen, the doors were closed and Harry felt that
he should not intruded on this delicate conversation. Harry's smile broadened at that thought. He could faintly here an ANGRY (imagine!)
Uncle Vernon scolding Dudley. He headed
up to his room and collapsed on the bed feeling considerably happier than he
had in a while.
