As Harry Potter stepped off platform 9 3/4, he was shocked to see that
Uncle Vernon was not there; instead it was his Aunt Marge. If this was any
other year, it would have bothered Harry, but this just wasn't the time.
Cedric. Dead. And it was all because of him. What did he do to deserve
this? Why couldn't Voldemort have killed him when he killed his
parents? Why had his mother sacrificed herself for him? Why was her love
so strong? Harry was startled as Ron hit him on his head. Ron was staring
at Harry like something bad had just happened.
"They're not here yet. Do you think they forgot about us?"
Ron's parents were never late, but Harry had other things on his mind. Like how on earth was he going to spend the summer with her? Assuming that because Aunt Marge was picking Harry up, she was going to be staying with them the whole summer. This could be catastrophic. He was a depressed teenager, who just happened to be one of the most famous wizards in all of magical history. She didn't know what he was capable of doing. As far as she knew, he went to a school for troubled young boys, and was a troublemaker. This was going to be a horrible summer. Again Harry was snapped back into reality, this time, by Ginny.
"Harry, oh dear, I don't know how to say this, but I think that it would be best if you didn't write to me during the summer, or talk to me at school. I know that it sounds strange, but please do it."
She kissed Harry on the cheek and ran off crying. As she was running away, Harry couldn't help himself staring at her as she was running. It looked very nice from his point of view. She turned the corner, and Harry snapped back to reality.
"Ron, what's wrong with Ginny? She's acting really weird. It's like she's afraid to be seen with me or something."
"Ginny, not wanting to be seen with the famous Harry Potter? Not a chance. I just think that it's her time of the month. But Harry that's not the point. The point is that MY PARENTS STILL AREN'T HERE!"
As if they were listening to the conversation, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared around the corner.
"We're sorry everyone, but we go caught up in the ministry. Another witch got herself lost, and the neighbours got worried. When they went in her house to check out what happened, they found all her magical stuff. They found her wand, and her broomstick, and it was just a very bad thing to clear up. When the lady got back, we hit her with a memory charm by accident, and that was a tough cookie to fix. Enough about that, we better get going. Harry, we'll call you during the summer to come and get you."
"You'd better not call, owl me. The Dursleys will flip if they get another phone call."
"Yeah. Harry I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know how to use a phone."
"Don't worry about it Ron. So when I get your owl, I'll gladly come."
"Harry, you have to admit though, it was pretty funny the way your uncle reacted. I should do it just to get him annoyed. I hope you didn't get into too much trouble when I called."
"Are you kidding me Ron? He was so mad at me! I had the best time laughing about it though. He was so close to sending me back to my cupboard instead of my room. You know what else was funny? That time that you sent me a letter to the Dursleys asking them to let me come to the Quidditch final? Do you remember how it had 50 stamps on it? The postman personally delivered the letter to our house. Apparently he thought it was funny. What made me crack up, though, was that my aunt took some of the stamps off and used them for her own mail. That cheap woman always wants to get her greedy little paws on some money. It's not like she needs it or anything. Uncle gets more than enough money. And she doesn't even work. She might be richer than those millionaires down in Wales."
"I wish I knew what that felt like. My dad tried this thing called a muggle lottery? You know anything what that's about?"
"Yeah, you pick some numbers, and if the person who is picking the numbers picks the numbers that you picked, then you get a lot of money. My Aunt plays that ruddy thing every Wednesday. It's really rather annoying."
"She wastes all that money and is still loaded? Wow, she must be richer than the king. Anyway, what I was saying was that my parents played the lottery and they won all this muggle money. We don't know what were going to do with it yet, but hopefully we'll get to go somewhere this summer. I miss Bill. He's coming later this summer with Charlie. I can't wait."
"How is Charlie? The last time I saw him he was watching me at the tournament."
"He's all right I guess. Can I let you in on a little secret? Charlie has been writing to some girl all summer too. Her name is Emma. I wonder if we have another love writer in the family."
"Your family is full of love affairs. I'm never going to see that. No girl her right mind would go a meter near Dudley."
"I can just imagine it. Dudley reminds me of Draco. Kind of a loner, but has friends even though everyone in his grade hates him. He acts tough so everyone listens to him. He'll never get a girlfriend either. Harry, my parents are leaving know. I'll be sure to send your invitation the minute I walk into my house and get to a desk."
"See you in a day, I hope. I think that it would be best that I ask the Dursleys. It's not like they are going to let me go or anything. Unless I unleash my secret weapon, Snuffles! I think that one of these days they are going to figure out that he can't do anything to them. Oh well, let them figure it out. I'm holding you up, leave!"
With a smile, Ron left. Ginny was still there though. Harry was about to say bye to her when she gave him an awful look. A look of hatred. Harry walked over to her, but she ran to the car. Oh well, thought Harry, he would see her soon when he would go visit the Weasleys.
Now that he was away from Ron, it was time to deal with the horrible woman, formally known as Aunt Marge. He started to approach her with all of his school supplies and saw that she had a nasty expression on her face. She pointed her stubby finger at Hedwig's cage and gave Harry a look of pure evil. It reminded Harry of Draco's mum back at the Quidditch finals.
"What an ugly duckling! What is it, and overgrown parakeet? You will not bring that horrid creature into Vernon's perfectly clean house. I will not allow it."
Harry didn't know what to do. He couldn't bring Hedwig? What was he supposed to do with her? He couldn't exactly get rid of her. They had been through too much, and besides, he liked his owl thank you very much. He wasn't just about to get rid of her like that. What if he sent her on a delivery? Then Marge couldn't yell at him. Who to send it to though? The Weasleys. They would surely understand his situation. Harry went up to the information stand, and asked the clerk for a map. He was about to pay for it in sickles when he remembered that he couldn't use that in the muggle world. He put his money away and took out muggle money. When he received his change, he used a quill to write a short note on the back of the map. On the front, he boldly circled where he was staying. Harry didn't want anything getting in the way of him and being rescued to civilization. Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched her as she flew away. By looking at his Aunt Marge's face, he could tell she was not at all amused.
"You let it go just like that?! We could have sold it for at least ten dollars! Dumb boy."
Feeling satisfied enough, Aunt Marge approached the car. She looked back at Harry and motioned for him to come as well. Nobody in their right mind would argue with Aunt Marge. She always got her way. Once, she even sat on Harry as a punishment.
"You're too fat, you need some skinning up." She had said. At that time, the only things that Harry was eating in school was bread. Of course if you ate nothing but bread for 5 years you would be fat too. That was the day that Harry vowed never to eat another piece of bread again. When they reached the car, Harry was getting scared. The thought of having to spend the whole summer alone with Marge made Harry's stomach turn.
"Aunt Marge, where is Uncle Vernon? I was so saddened that I didn't get to meet him here in person. However when I saw you here I was very excited and happy, but it's just not the same. I miss him."
"So, that school taught you something for once, and since you asked, he had to work, and he didn't want you walking home all by yourself. He mumbled something about using a fireplace if nothing was here. So I was stuck doing this instead of relaxing in the new pool."
"We've got a new pool? Wow, I can't wait to take a swim in it. It's been so long since I.."
"What? You? Take a swim in Vernon's new pool? Dream on! You are not allowed to go in it. You would make the water all filthy. You are not to go near the pool this summer. Do you hear me?!"
"Of course Aunt Marge."
Harry was not surprise at the answer he got. The only way that Harry was going to get into the pool was if Uncle Vernon, Marge, and Aunt Petunia were to suddenly drop dead and Harry would have the house to himself. Like that was going to happen anytime soon. Oh well, maybe during the middle of the night he could sneak out and take a quick dip. He could always perform a drying spell, and they won't ever know that he was in there. The thoughts of swimming in the pool were quickly driven out of his mind as the sight of the car made Harry snap back into reality. Of course Harry had to load his own luggage in the trunk. Hedwig's empty cage didn't fit into the trunk. He thought about taking it into the car, but then thought that Dudley would probably want it for himself. Harry called over Angelina's parents and asked them to perform a shrinking charm on the luggage. The performed it and told Harry that it would wear off in an hour. Harry thanked them and got into the car with Dudley. Dudley was playing his game boy. He looked up when Harry got in the car.
"So, you're back from that freak school? Don't worry; I can talk about your school. I won't get punished or anything. So tell me what it's like. Who are your friends there?"
"Why such a sudden interest in my friends and my life?" said Harry in suspicion.
"You wouldn't want me to tell Dad that you did illegal magic while you weren't at school. Yeah that's right; I saw what you did with your luggage. Now I want to know about your life at Hogwarts."
"First of all, it wasn't me who did the charm. It was a friend's parent. I had nothing to do with it."
"I know, I know. Calm down, your acting like your about to go on trial in Azkaban in a few hours." He said casually.
"What did you say? How in bloody hell do you know about Azkaban?" Harry was very startled.
"And they say that you're smart. I'm a wizard."
"Yeah, and I'm the King of England. No way. How can you be a wizard? Your mother isn't a witch and I definitely know that Vernon isn't a wizard. Did you get cursed or something?"
"Believe it Potter, I'm a wizard."
"Potter? Ok, you have to be Malfoy taking the Polyjuice potion. There is no way that you can be a wizard, not with those parents." Harry's head started to swim with all of this.
"You're right. There's no way that Vernon and Petunia had a child that was a wizard." He stated smugly.
"You're not making any sense." He was getting more confused by the minute.
"Their son would never be a wizard. Come on Potter. Put two and two together."
"It can't be. You're not their son?"
"Wow, you're slow. Of course I'm not. They don't know that of course. Imagine what kind of shock that would be for them. They would have a heart attack." He stated, pleased to have gotten the better of Harry.
"How do you know that you're not their son?"
"We had to do a research paper in grade school and we had to look up our family trees. Well, let's say that after some blood tests, and snack money for a month, I found out that they were not my parents."
"Do you know who your real parents are?"
"Of course I do. It's pretty funny as a matter of fact. You know them. Or at least you know their son."
"Who?"
"Their son is Neville Longbottom."
"Hah! That's a laugh. Neville doesn't have a brother. There is no way. I don't believe it. I think you're lying to me."
"He does too! Why would I lie to you? The only reason I'm telling you this is because I need your help. I know that you are really good friends with him. You apparently live in the same dorm as him."
"What are you getting at? You're not suggesting that I get into this crazy lie of yours?"
"This isn't a lie Potter. Watch this." Dudley took out a wand from his pocket and whispered some words that Harry couldn't hear. Then there was a small fire in the palm of his hand. "See? Would I be able to do that if I wasn't a wizard?"
"Okay maybe not. But that's not the point. There was no way that you and Neville are related. You look like Vernon, and nothing like Neville."
"Oh come on! You put 200 pounds on any kid our age and they would look just like Vernon. I could have taken a shrinking potion on my stomach any day. Then I wouldn't look like Vernon and I would be given away. Do you think that I want that to happen? Get real Harry, I am Neville's brother and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Who said I was going to do anything at all? I don't want to help you. Neville is a lot better of without you. We don't need you coming to Hogwarts."
"Me, come to Hogwarts!? Harry you must be dreaming. I don't need to go to Hogwarts."
"If you're a wizard, you have to go to a magic school. It's the law."
"I know very well what the law says. And no, I did not break it. I am not going to go to Hogwarts because I already to another school. Beauxbatons. It's a great school, much better than Hogwarts. We haven't had one person die while they were attending your school."
"You know about Cedric?"
"Of course we do. We know everything that goes on at Hogwarts."
"How?"
"Harry you're not the only one who gets the Daily Prophet. I keep up with times. By the way, don't you just love Rita Skeeter?"
Thinking about how Hermione has her in a jar somewhere in her room, made Harry smile.
"Oh yeah. Definitely love her. Especially all the times she said that Hermione was cheating on Krum for me. And all the times that she twisted my words. Not to mention the time that she almost got Hagrid fired." He said sarcastically.
"Potter, I need you to write a letter to Neville. It might make him want to talk to me. I would write to my parents, but I don't know where they are. Come on Harry." "Yeah, well I am not really in the mood of talking to people from my school. They aren't the most considerate and caring people in the world you know."
That was a lie, but Harry didn't want Neville to get hurt. He didn't want Neville to ever meet Dudley - if it was possible.
"Harry, I know that you're hiding something from me. It isn't right. You shouldn't keep me from seeing him. It's best that he knows that he has other family."
"Look Dudley, he has enough problems as it is. I don't want to see him getting hurt. You're not worth it. How could I look him in the face and tell him that my dreadful cousin that I have been telling everyone about is his own brother? That would kill him."
"You told him that I was dreadful?"
"I told him everything that you did to me. You deserved it. It wasn't fair what you kept doing."
"Are you kidding me? Even though I did all those bad things to you, you shouldn't have told anyone. It was supposed to stay in this family!"
"Oh come on. That wasn't fair? You get to beat me up and I can't complain about it? That's not going to happen. How about you leave me alone for the rest of the trip, and I get back to trying to fall asleep."
"Oh come on Harry, can't you help me out just this once? I really need to talk to Neville!"
"Why don't you just write him a letter?"
"I would need an owl genius. And besides, if he gets a letter telling him that he has a brother whom he had no idea existed, would he believe it? I know that if I got a letter saying that I had a brother, I wouldn't believe it. Come on Harry. Just get him to talk to me and I'll do the rest."
"Okay, okay. I'll write him one letter. But just one. I don't care if he doesn't believe you, but I will have nothing more to do with it. Got it?"
"I get it. Thank you so much."
Harry was getting tired, so he turned away from Dudley and faced the window. Harry watched as the trees went by and tried counting them. The car was going so fast that he lost track. Harry was about to snooze off when he heard the weirdest hooting noise. It was coming from outside of the window. The car was going much slower now, and he saw that there was an owl down on the ground. It looked like it had a broken wing. Harry opened the door and jumped out. Aunt Marge started screaming for Harry to get back into the car, but he had to get the owl. Harry scooped up the owl in his hands, and carried it to the car. Without listening to the constant yelling of his Aunt Marge, he looked over the owl. Strangely, it wasn't an owl. It was a falcon. It was a golden falcon. It was obviously magical. It appeared that the falcon had a broken wing, and that it was dehydrated. Harry found an old scarf in the back of the car and wrapped the falcon in it. The falcon was also holding a letter. Wondering who that falcon was flying to, Harry took the letter and read it. The funny thing was it was for him. As Harry opened the paper, words started popping up. Dudley got interested and pulled the paper away from him.
"Ruddy thing is blank." He said in disappointment. And he threw the paper back at Harry. When Harry looked at it, he saw words. It must have meant that it was enchanted so that only Harry could read it.
Mr. H Potter:
This is an anonymous letter. Do not bother trying to send this bird back for it has been poisoned. I have written to tell you to be warned. You have another enemy, this time he's alive. I am aware that you know that Voldemort is back, but it is important that you know that Voldemort had two brothers when he was younger. The ages of the other brothers are not important. I am writing because I need to warn you that one of his brothers is going to be at Hogwarts this year. Just so you don't try to accuse the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, it's not him. You need to make sure that you will be in good hands when you go back to school. You will not hear from me again. Make not, Harry, that I am your friend and that I don't want to hurt you. I know that you are a caring person. You just proved to me by jumping out of a moving vehicle to save an owl. Yes it was an owl, but once it was in the car, I changed it back to a falcon. I thought that you would go for an owl because you thought that it was vulnerable. Now Harry, I know who the brother is. If I tell you, then he would know. Just make sure that you are with somebody at all times. Even if you are with Hedwig, you will be protected. That's all that I am saying. Good bye Mr. Potter and Good luck.
"Wow."
"Wow what?
Dudley was pointing to the bird.
"It just said thank you to you Harry, and then it just died."
"I wish that I had time to thank it. Did you know that this parchment was enchanted so that only I could read it?"
"Well, what did it say?"
"Well you must know Voldemort by know?"
"Shhh! Don't say you-know-who's name!"
"Grow up Dudley! Anyway, Voldemort had two brothers, and one of them is going to be at Hogwarts this year."
"Well, it was nice knowing you Harry. If it was Voldemort, you might have had a chance because his wand was connected to yours, but its his brother.."
"How did you know about the wands?"
"You have got to be kidding me Harry. Do you know how much time we spend learning about you? After all, you are the boy who lived."
"You learn about me?"
"Like it or not Potter, you're famous, and there's nothing that you can do about it. There are prices to being famous. By the way, I liked that issue of the Daily Prophet that had the picture of Lockhart and you in it. That was one of the funniest issues yet. I cracked up when I saw the way you were standing. It looked like you were trying to get away from his grip."
"I was! He heard the words Harry Potter Fan Club, and told me that I was going crazy. This kid named Colin Creevey had his camera with him, so he took a picture and sent it to the Prophet. That was not my best day."
"Yeah, well I didn't ask for your life story. I know too much about you already." Said Dudley.
"How do you deal with being called the boy who tortured the famous Harry Potter?" asked Harry.
"I don't. They don't call me Dudley Dursley, they call me Dudley Longbottom."
"Clever. Real clever." Harry was trying not to laugh.
"Why thank you."
"Now if you excuse me, I want to get back to sleep. So, go back to playing your game boy."
Harry turned away from Dudley, and this time actually fell asleep. He dreamed about his parents. They were back in his house, and they were watching TV. Harry's face had a big grin across it. Then everything went black. Harry saw Voldemort. He wasn't alone though. There was another cloaked figure right next to him. Voldemort started talking.
"It feels so good to be back. Thanks to our faithful servant Wormtail I am back in business. I can't wait for you to be initiated into my clan of Death Eaters, brother."
"I can not wait to serve you brother. I know just the plan to get Harry."
"Not even a death eater and already you have plans to kill Potter. Very well, tell me." Voldemort seemed very pleased.
"First, I would go to his school and..."
He didn't finish his sentence because everything went black again. He was being shaken by Dudley.
"We're here. Get out of the car."
Harry opened the trunk of the car and took out his suitcase. Surprisingly, Dudley helped him carry it inside. When they were inside, it got much worse.
"Dudley, why on earth are you helping him with his trunk?"
"I'm not. I have my books in there too. I thought that I should at least take my books."
"Why? You could just make Harry carry them. He's here to be disciplined, not to have a merry old time. Next time, let Harry take care of it."
"Sorry dad must have forgotten. I'm going to go to my room and do my homework for school. Come Harry."
Harry had no other choice but to carry the suitcase up the stairs. The spell started wear off and Hedwig's cage was getting bigger by the moment. Dudley noticed this too and started to yell at Harry to hurry up. When they were up the stairs, Harry plopped onto his bed. Dudley also came in the room and sat in a nearby chair.
"I was wondering if you wanted to do homework together."
"Why? I have different homework than you."
"How do you know that? For all you know we might have the exact same thing."
"Okay, let me get my things out."
"I'll be right back. I need to get my school books."
Dudley left the room and scurried downstairs. Harry didn't really want to do homework, but its not like he was going to get out of it anytime soon. It took Dudley a while to get up the stairs. That was probably because of his weight. When he opened up his trunk, Harry saw that all of his books were in French.
"You know how to read French, Dudley?"
"Of course. Do you?"
"That's too bad. I don't know how, so I guess that we can't do our homework together."
"Nice try Potter. There is only one book in French. That's my book for French class. We talk in French with our friends, but we talk in English in most classes. Some books are in French, but most of them are in English. I can do my French homework by myself, but I need help in some of my English lessons."
Dudley took out one of his English books. It was Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart.
"That's your book from last year? We used those books our second year!" said Harry surprised.
"What! No way, you can't be that much ahead of us." Exclaimed Dudley, just as surprised.
"Look at my school books. Did you even do dementors yet?" Harry stated.
"No. That's next year." Muttered Dudley.
"You're really behind Hogwarts. It doesn't matter though. Can we do your homework so I can start mine?"
"No, I can't let you do that. I'm leaving. I can't believe that. I am going to write an owl to my headmaster." Said Dudley, getting up to leave.
"You do that Dudley. But first, you might need an owl."
"Oh please! I can just tell Vernon that I want a pet owl and they'll by it for me. You know how they are around me."
Dudley left and closed the door behind him. Harry took his trunk and locked it. He put it in a corner of his room. Vernon hadn't been up yet to take his school stuff away. He probably thought that it was no use since he kept on getting it out year after year. Harry was falling back to sleep when a small owl flew into the room. It was Pigwidgeon. He had a letter from Ron.
Dear Harry,
I told you that I would write to you as soon as I got home. Well, there have been some problems. I am writing to you from the Ministry. Our house is gone. It's not here where it was last year. There are police investigations, but I know that there is no way that it was muggle. It was definitely a Death Eater because there was a dark mark over the place where our house was. My parents are going to Egypt, and everyone is going to stay over their friends' house this summer, so I was wondering if maybe I could stay with you until this whole mess is cleared up. I know that you're really disappointed that you can't stay this summer, but that's the way it has to be. Ask the Muggles please. I will pay them if they don't let me. If you want me to stay, then you can tell them that Sirius will occasionally drop in to make sure that were all happy, so maybe that will work. Okay, I need to get back. Other people need to write letters, so I'll hear from you soon. By the way, I hope you don't mind, but Ginny needed to write a letter to someone important before, so she used Hedwig. I told her not to do it, but I'm sure that Hedwig will be back really soon. Thanks again Harry, bye.
-Ron.
Ron was asking to stay with him? That was something that Harry didn't expect. Well, there were a lot of things to prepare. For one thing he had to go to Vernon and convince him to let Ron stay. Harry ran down the stairs. Vernon was sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Uncle Vernon? My, have you been losing weight?" he said, trying to act surprised.
"Yea, actually I have." He replied smugly.
"You look like a million bucks!" Harry said, trying not to drop his tone.
"Yes, well finally somebody noticed. Anything you need?"
"Actually yes there is. I need to ask you a favor. There is this little thing that's been bothering me. Before you say no, hear me out. My friend Ron, he has a problem with his house, making it unsuitable to live in for a while. So he wrote to me asking if he could stay here this summer. But before you say no, he can pay you 200 dollars and he won't make a mess. He can stay in my room, and you won't even know that he's here. So, can he stay?"
Vernon's smile went away and a frown came across his face.
"One of you!? Stay under my roof! NO!"
"That's fine. I'll just tell him to stay with my godfather, Sirius Black. You remember him right? I just hope that when Sirius finds out, he won't be so mad that he'll come here to talk to you and settle things. Oh well, better go write my letter..."
That was it. The mad face of Vernon Dursley quickly changed to the worried face of Vernon Dursley.
"Oh, your still writing to him are you? Well, you know we really could use the money. I mean, with the new pool and everything. By the way, you are allowed to go in it. Tell him that in your letter would you Harry. "
"Thank you uncle Vernon!"
Harry ran up the stairs to write his response. When he opened the door, Hedwig was sitting on his bed holding a letter on her foot. Harry took the letter off and opened the parchment up.
Dear Harry,
I am sure that you are quite aware that my house has disappeared and that Ron has already asked to stay with you. I think that you know what happened to Hermione's parents. Well, Hermione and I also need a place to stay, so we were wondering if maybe we could stay with you as well. To make your uncle say yes, we are making dad write a letter to him this minute - pretending that he is his lost uncle's lawyer who just passed away. He would give them a summer house so that we could stay there. Dad just finished it, and he is going to deliver it personally with Ron. Hope to see you soon. Hermione and I will come the day after your uncle leaves.
With Love Ginny
This summer wasn't turning out to be so bad after all. Harry would be able to have full use of the pool and his friends would all be able to stay. Now this was starting to sound less like summer and more like Christmas by the minute.eHeafsadasdasdasdasd
"They're not here yet. Do you think they forgot about us?"
Ron's parents were never late, but Harry had other things on his mind. Like how on earth was he going to spend the summer with her? Assuming that because Aunt Marge was picking Harry up, she was going to be staying with them the whole summer. This could be catastrophic. He was a depressed teenager, who just happened to be one of the most famous wizards in all of magical history. She didn't know what he was capable of doing. As far as she knew, he went to a school for troubled young boys, and was a troublemaker. This was going to be a horrible summer. Again Harry was snapped back into reality, this time, by Ginny.
"Harry, oh dear, I don't know how to say this, but I think that it would be best if you didn't write to me during the summer, or talk to me at school. I know that it sounds strange, but please do it."
She kissed Harry on the cheek and ran off crying. As she was running away, Harry couldn't help himself staring at her as she was running. It looked very nice from his point of view. She turned the corner, and Harry snapped back to reality.
"Ron, what's wrong with Ginny? She's acting really weird. It's like she's afraid to be seen with me or something."
"Ginny, not wanting to be seen with the famous Harry Potter? Not a chance. I just think that it's her time of the month. But Harry that's not the point. The point is that MY PARENTS STILL AREN'T HERE!"
As if they were listening to the conversation, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared around the corner.
"We're sorry everyone, but we go caught up in the ministry. Another witch got herself lost, and the neighbours got worried. When they went in her house to check out what happened, they found all her magical stuff. They found her wand, and her broomstick, and it was just a very bad thing to clear up. When the lady got back, we hit her with a memory charm by accident, and that was a tough cookie to fix. Enough about that, we better get going. Harry, we'll call you during the summer to come and get you."
"You'd better not call, owl me. The Dursleys will flip if they get another phone call."
"Yeah. Harry I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know how to use a phone."
"Don't worry about it Ron. So when I get your owl, I'll gladly come."
"Harry, you have to admit though, it was pretty funny the way your uncle reacted. I should do it just to get him annoyed. I hope you didn't get into too much trouble when I called."
"Are you kidding me Ron? He was so mad at me! I had the best time laughing about it though. He was so close to sending me back to my cupboard instead of my room. You know what else was funny? That time that you sent me a letter to the Dursleys asking them to let me come to the Quidditch final? Do you remember how it had 50 stamps on it? The postman personally delivered the letter to our house. Apparently he thought it was funny. What made me crack up, though, was that my aunt took some of the stamps off and used them for her own mail. That cheap woman always wants to get her greedy little paws on some money. It's not like she needs it or anything. Uncle gets more than enough money. And she doesn't even work. She might be richer than those millionaires down in Wales."
"I wish I knew what that felt like. My dad tried this thing called a muggle lottery? You know anything what that's about?"
"Yeah, you pick some numbers, and if the person who is picking the numbers picks the numbers that you picked, then you get a lot of money. My Aunt plays that ruddy thing every Wednesday. It's really rather annoying."
"She wastes all that money and is still loaded? Wow, she must be richer than the king. Anyway, what I was saying was that my parents played the lottery and they won all this muggle money. We don't know what were going to do with it yet, but hopefully we'll get to go somewhere this summer. I miss Bill. He's coming later this summer with Charlie. I can't wait."
"How is Charlie? The last time I saw him he was watching me at the tournament."
"He's all right I guess. Can I let you in on a little secret? Charlie has been writing to some girl all summer too. Her name is Emma. I wonder if we have another love writer in the family."
"Your family is full of love affairs. I'm never going to see that. No girl her right mind would go a meter near Dudley."
"I can just imagine it. Dudley reminds me of Draco. Kind of a loner, but has friends even though everyone in his grade hates him. He acts tough so everyone listens to him. He'll never get a girlfriend either. Harry, my parents are leaving know. I'll be sure to send your invitation the minute I walk into my house and get to a desk."
"See you in a day, I hope. I think that it would be best that I ask the Dursleys. It's not like they are going to let me go or anything. Unless I unleash my secret weapon, Snuffles! I think that one of these days they are going to figure out that he can't do anything to them. Oh well, let them figure it out. I'm holding you up, leave!"
With a smile, Ron left. Ginny was still there though. Harry was about to say bye to her when she gave him an awful look. A look of hatred. Harry walked over to her, but she ran to the car. Oh well, thought Harry, he would see her soon when he would go visit the Weasleys.
Now that he was away from Ron, it was time to deal with the horrible woman, formally known as Aunt Marge. He started to approach her with all of his school supplies and saw that she had a nasty expression on her face. She pointed her stubby finger at Hedwig's cage and gave Harry a look of pure evil. It reminded Harry of Draco's mum back at the Quidditch finals.
"What an ugly duckling! What is it, and overgrown parakeet? You will not bring that horrid creature into Vernon's perfectly clean house. I will not allow it."
Harry didn't know what to do. He couldn't bring Hedwig? What was he supposed to do with her? He couldn't exactly get rid of her. They had been through too much, and besides, he liked his owl thank you very much. He wasn't just about to get rid of her like that. What if he sent her on a delivery? Then Marge couldn't yell at him. Who to send it to though? The Weasleys. They would surely understand his situation. Harry went up to the information stand, and asked the clerk for a map. He was about to pay for it in sickles when he remembered that he couldn't use that in the muggle world. He put his money away and took out muggle money. When he received his change, he used a quill to write a short note on the back of the map. On the front, he boldly circled where he was staying. Harry didn't want anything getting in the way of him and being rescued to civilization. Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and watched her as she flew away. By looking at his Aunt Marge's face, he could tell she was not at all amused.
"You let it go just like that?! We could have sold it for at least ten dollars! Dumb boy."
Feeling satisfied enough, Aunt Marge approached the car. She looked back at Harry and motioned for him to come as well. Nobody in their right mind would argue with Aunt Marge. She always got her way. Once, she even sat on Harry as a punishment.
"You're too fat, you need some skinning up." She had said. At that time, the only things that Harry was eating in school was bread. Of course if you ate nothing but bread for 5 years you would be fat too. That was the day that Harry vowed never to eat another piece of bread again. When they reached the car, Harry was getting scared. The thought of having to spend the whole summer alone with Marge made Harry's stomach turn.
"Aunt Marge, where is Uncle Vernon? I was so saddened that I didn't get to meet him here in person. However when I saw you here I was very excited and happy, but it's just not the same. I miss him."
"So, that school taught you something for once, and since you asked, he had to work, and he didn't want you walking home all by yourself. He mumbled something about using a fireplace if nothing was here. So I was stuck doing this instead of relaxing in the new pool."
"We've got a new pool? Wow, I can't wait to take a swim in it. It's been so long since I.."
"What? You? Take a swim in Vernon's new pool? Dream on! You are not allowed to go in it. You would make the water all filthy. You are not to go near the pool this summer. Do you hear me?!"
"Of course Aunt Marge."
Harry was not surprise at the answer he got. The only way that Harry was going to get into the pool was if Uncle Vernon, Marge, and Aunt Petunia were to suddenly drop dead and Harry would have the house to himself. Like that was going to happen anytime soon. Oh well, maybe during the middle of the night he could sneak out and take a quick dip. He could always perform a drying spell, and they won't ever know that he was in there. The thoughts of swimming in the pool were quickly driven out of his mind as the sight of the car made Harry snap back into reality. Of course Harry had to load his own luggage in the trunk. Hedwig's empty cage didn't fit into the trunk. He thought about taking it into the car, but then thought that Dudley would probably want it for himself. Harry called over Angelina's parents and asked them to perform a shrinking charm on the luggage. The performed it and told Harry that it would wear off in an hour. Harry thanked them and got into the car with Dudley. Dudley was playing his game boy. He looked up when Harry got in the car.
"So, you're back from that freak school? Don't worry; I can talk about your school. I won't get punished or anything. So tell me what it's like. Who are your friends there?"
"Why such a sudden interest in my friends and my life?" said Harry in suspicion.
"You wouldn't want me to tell Dad that you did illegal magic while you weren't at school. Yeah that's right; I saw what you did with your luggage. Now I want to know about your life at Hogwarts."
"First of all, it wasn't me who did the charm. It was a friend's parent. I had nothing to do with it."
"I know, I know. Calm down, your acting like your about to go on trial in Azkaban in a few hours." He said casually.
"What did you say? How in bloody hell do you know about Azkaban?" Harry was very startled.
"And they say that you're smart. I'm a wizard."
"Yeah, and I'm the King of England. No way. How can you be a wizard? Your mother isn't a witch and I definitely know that Vernon isn't a wizard. Did you get cursed or something?"
"Believe it Potter, I'm a wizard."
"Potter? Ok, you have to be Malfoy taking the Polyjuice potion. There is no way that you can be a wizard, not with those parents." Harry's head started to swim with all of this.
"You're right. There's no way that Vernon and Petunia had a child that was a wizard." He stated smugly.
"You're not making any sense." He was getting more confused by the minute.
"Their son would never be a wizard. Come on Potter. Put two and two together."
"It can't be. You're not their son?"
"Wow, you're slow. Of course I'm not. They don't know that of course. Imagine what kind of shock that would be for them. They would have a heart attack." He stated, pleased to have gotten the better of Harry.
"How do you know that you're not their son?"
"We had to do a research paper in grade school and we had to look up our family trees. Well, let's say that after some blood tests, and snack money for a month, I found out that they were not my parents."
"Do you know who your real parents are?"
"Of course I do. It's pretty funny as a matter of fact. You know them. Or at least you know their son."
"Who?"
"Their son is Neville Longbottom."
"Hah! That's a laugh. Neville doesn't have a brother. There is no way. I don't believe it. I think you're lying to me."
"He does too! Why would I lie to you? The only reason I'm telling you this is because I need your help. I know that you are really good friends with him. You apparently live in the same dorm as him."
"What are you getting at? You're not suggesting that I get into this crazy lie of yours?"
"This isn't a lie Potter. Watch this." Dudley took out a wand from his pocket and whispered some words that Harry couldn't hear. Then there was a small fire in the palm of his hand. "See? Would I be able to do that if I wasn't a wizard?"
"Okay maybe not. But that's not the point. There was no way that you and Neville are related. You look like Vernon, and nothing like Neville."
"Oh come on! You put 200 pounds on any kid our age and they would look just like Vernon. I could have taken a shrinking potion on my stomach any day. Then I wouldn't look like Vernon and I would be given away. Do you think that I want that to happen? Get real Harry, I am Neville's brother and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Who said I was going to do anything at all? I don't want to help you. Neville is a lot better of without you. We don't need you coming to Hogwarts."
"Me, come to Hogwarts!? Harry you must be dreaming. I don't need to go to Hogwarts."
"If you're a wizard, you have to go to a magic school. It's the law."
"I know very well what the law says. And no, I did not break it. I am not going to go to Hogwarts because I already to another school. Beauxbatons. It's a great school, much better than Hogwarts. We haven't had one person die while they were attending your school."
"You know about Cedric?"
"Of course we do. We know everything that goes on at Hogwarts."
"How?"
"Harry you're not the only one who gets the Daily Prophet. I keep up with times. By the way, don't you just love Rita Skeeter?"
Thinking about how Hermione has her in a jar somewhere in her room, made Harry smile.
"Oh yeah. Definitely love her. Especially all the times she said that Hermione was cheating on Krum for me. And all the times that she twisted my words. Not to mention the time that she almost got Hagrid fired." He said sarcastically.
"Potter, I need you to write a letter to Neville. It might make him want to talk to me. I would write to my parents, but I don't know where they are. Come on Harry." "Yeah, well I am not really in the mood of talking to people from my school. They aren't the most considerate and caring people in the world you know."
That was a lie, but Harry didn't want Neville to get hurt. He didn't want Neville to ever meet Dudley - if it was possible.
"Harry, I know that you're hiding something from me. It isn't right. You shouldn't keep me from seeing him. It's best that he knows that he has other family."
"Look Dudley, he has enough problems as it is. I don't want to see him getting hurt. You're not worth it. How could I look him in the face and tell him that my dreadful cousin that I have been telling everyone about is his own brother? That would kill him."
"You told him that I was dreadful?"
"I told him everything that you did to me. You deserved it. It wasn't fair what you kept doing."
"Are you kidding me? Even though I did all those bad things to you, you shouldn't have told anyone. It was supposed to stay in this family!"
"Oh come on. That wasn't fair? You get to beat me up and I can't complain about it? That's not going to happen. How about you leave me alone for the rest of the trip, and I get back to trying to fall asleep."
"Oh come on Harry, can't you help me out just this once? I really need to talk to Neville!"
"Why don't you just write him a letter?"
"I would need an owl genius. And besides, if he gets a letter telling him that he has a brother whom he had no idea existed, would he believe it? I know that if I got a letter saying that I had a brother, I wouldn't believe it. Come on Harry. Just get him to talk to me and I'll do the rest."
"Okay, okay. I'll write him one letter. But just one. I don't care if he doesn't believe you, but I will have nothing more to do with it. Got it?"
"I get it. Thank you so much."
Harry was getting tired, so he turned away from Dudley and faced the window. Harry watched as the trees went by and tried counting them. The car was going so fast that he lost track. Harry was about to snooze off when he heard the weirdest hooting noise. It was coming from outside of the window. The car was going much slower now, and he saw that there was an owl down on the ground. It looked like it had a broken wing. Harry opened the door and jumped out. Aunt Marge started screaming for Harry to get back into the car, but he had to get the owl. Harry scooped up the owl in his hands, and carried it to the car. Without listening to the constant yelling of his Aunt Marge, he looked over the owl. Strangely, it wasn't an owl. It was a falcon. It was a golden falcon. It was obviously magical. It appeared that the falcon had a broken wing, and that it was dehydrated. Harry found an old scarf in the back of the car and wrapped the falcon in it. The falcon was also holding a letter. Wondering who that falcon was flying to, Harry took the letter and read it. The funny thing was it was for him. As Harry opened the paper, words started popping up. Dudley got interested and pulled the paper away from him.
"Ruddy thing is blank." He said in disappointment. And he threw the paper back at Harry. When Harry looked at it, he saw words. It must have meant that it was enchanted so that only Harry could read it.
Mr. H Potter:
This is an anonymous letter. Do not bother trying to send this bird back for it has been poisoned. I have written to tell you to be warned. You have another enemy, this time he's alive. I am aware that you know that Voldemort is back, but it is important that you know that Voldemort had two brothers when he was younger. The ages of the other brothers are not important. I am writing because I need to warn you that one of his brothers is going to be at Hogwarts this year. Just so you don't try to accuse the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, it's not him. You need to make sure that you will be in good hands when you go back to school. You will not hear from me again. Make not, Harry, that I am your friend and that I don't want to hurt you. I know that you are a caring person. You just proved to me by jumping out of a moving vehicle to save an owl. Yes it was an owl, but once it was in the car, I changed it back to a falcon. I thought that you would go for an owl because you thought that it was vulnerable. Now Harry, I know who the brother is. If I tell you, then he would know. Just make sure that you are with somebody at all times. Even if you are with Hedwig, you will be protected. That's all that I am saying. Good bye Mr. Potter and Good luck.
"Wow."
"Wow what?
Dudley was pointing to the bird.
"It just said thank you to you Harry, and then it just died."
"I wish that I had time to thank it. Did you know that this parchment was enchanted so that only I could read it?"
"Well, what did it say?"
"Well you must know Voldemort by know?"
"Shhh! Don't say you-know-who's name!"
"Grow up Dudley! Anyway, Voldemort had two brothers, and one of them is going to be at Hogwarts this year."
"Well, it was nice knowing you Harry. If it was Voldemort, you might have had a chance because his wand was connected to yours, but its his brother.."
"How did you know about the wands?"
"You have got to be kidding me Harry. Do you know how much time we spend learning about you? After all, you are the boy who lived."
"You learn about me?"
"Like it or not Potter, you're famous, and there's nothing that you can do about it. There are prices to being famous. By the way, I liked that issue of the Daily Prophet that had the picture of Lockhart and you in it. That was one of the funniest issues yet. I cracked up when I saw the way you were standing. It looked like you were trying to get away from his grip."
"I was! He heard the words Harry Potter Fan Club, and told me that I was going crazy. This kid named Colin Creevey had his camera with him, so he took a picture and sent it to the Prophet. That was not my best day."
"Yeah, well I didn't ask for your life story. I know too much about you already." Said Dudley.
"How do you deal with being called the boy who tortured the famous Harry Potter?" asked Harry.
"I don't. They don't call me Dudley Dursley, they call me Dudley Longbottom."
"Clever. Real clever." Harry was trying not to laugh.
"Why thank you."
"Now if you excuse me, I want to get back to sleep. So, go back to playing your game boy."
Harry turned away from Dudley, and this time actually fell asleep. He dreamed about his parents. They were back in his house, and they were watching TV. Harry's face had a big grin across it. Then everything went black. Harry saw Voldemort. He wasn't alone though. There was another cloaked figure right next to him. Voldemort started talking.
"It feels so good to be back. Thanks to our faithful servant Wormtail I am back in business. I can't wait for you to be initiated into my clan of Death Eaters, brother."
"I can not wait to serve you brother. I know just the plan to get Harry."
"Not even a death eater and already you have plans to kill Potter. Very well, tell me." Voldemort seemed very pleased.
"First, I would go to his school and..."
He didn't finish his sentence because everything went black again. He was being shaken by Dudley.
"We're here. Get out of the car."
Harry opened the trunk of the car and took out his suitcase. Surprisingly, Dudley helped him carry it inside. When they were inside, it got much worse.
"Dudley, why on earth are you helping him with his trunk?"
"I'm not. I have my books in there too. I thought that I should at least take my books."
"Why? You could just make Harry carry them. He's here to be disciplined, not to have a merry old time. Next time, let Harry take care of it."
"Sorry dad must have forgotten. I'm going to go to my room and do my homework for school. Come Harry."
Harry had no other choice but to carry the suitcase up the stairs. The spell started wear off and Hedwig's cage was getting bigger by the moment. Dudley noticed this too and started to yell at Harry to hurry up. When they were up the stairs, Harry plopped onto his bed. Dudley also came in the room and sat in a nearby chair.
"I was wondering if you wanted to do homework together."
"Why? I have different homework than you."
"How do you know that? For all you know we might have the exact same thing."
"Okay, let me get my things out."
"I'll be right back. I need to get my school books."
Dudley left the room and scurried downstairs. Harry didn't really want to do homework, but its not like he was going to get out of it anytime soon. It took Dudley a while to get up the stairs. That was probably because of his weight. When he opened up his trunk, Harry saw that all of his books were in French.
"You know how to read French, Dudley?"
"Of course. Do you?"
"That's too bad. I don't know how, so I guess that we can't do our homework together."
"Nice try Potter. There is only one book in French. That's my book for French class. We talk in French with our friends, but we talk in English in most classes. Some books are in French, but most of them are in English. I can do my French homework by myself, but I need help in some of my English lessons."
Dudley took out one of his English books. It was Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart.
"That's your book from last year? We used those books our second year!" said Harry surprised.
"What! No way, you can't be that much ahead of us." Exclaimed Dudley, just as surprised.
"Look at my school books. Did you even do dementors yet?" Harry stated.
"No. That's next year." Muttered Dudley.
"You're really behind Hogwarts. It doesn't matter though. Can we do your homework so I can start mine?"
"No, I can't let you do that. I'm leaving. I can't believe that. I am going to write an owl to my headmaster." Said Dudley, getting up to leave.
"You do that Dudley. But first, you might need an owl."
"Oh please! I can just tell Vernon that I want a pet owl and they'll by it for me. You know how they are around me."
Dudley left and closed the door behind him. Harry took his trunk and locked it. He put it in a corner of his room. Vernon hadn't been up yet to take his school stuff away. He probably thought that it was no use since he kept on getting it out year after year. Harry was falling back to sleep when a small owl flew into the room. It was Pigwidgeon. He had a letter from Ron.
Dear Harry,
I told you that I would write to you as soon as I got home. Well, there have been some problems. I am writing to you from the Ministry. Our house is gone. It's not here where it was last year. There are police investigations, but I know that there is no way that it was muggle. It was definitely a Death Eater because there was a dark mark over the place where our house was. My parents are going to Egypt, and everyone is going to stay over their friends' house this summer, so I was wondering if maybe I could stay with you until this whole mess is cleared up. I know that you're really disappointed that you can't stay this summer, but that's the way it has to be. Ask the Muggles please. I will pay them if they don't let me. If you want me to stay, then you can tell them that Sirius will occasionally drop in to make sure that were all happy, so maybe that will work. Okay, I need to get back. Other people need to write letters, so I'll hear from you soon. By the way, I hope you don't mind, but Ginny needed to write a letter to someone important before, so she used Hedwig. I told her not to do it, but I'm sure that Hedwig will be back really soon. Thanks again Harry, bye.
-Ron.
Ron was asking to stay with him? That was something that Harry didn't expect. Well, there were a lot of things to prepare. For one thing he had to go to Vernon and convince him to let Ron stay. Harry ran down the stairs. Vernon was sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Uncle Vernon? My, have you been losing weight?" he said, trying to act surprised.
"Yea, actually I have." He replied smugly.
"You look like a million bucks!" Harry said, trying not to drop his tone.
"Yes, well finally somebody noticed. Anything you need?"
"Actually yes there is. I need to ask you a favor. There is this little thing that's been bothering me. Before you say no, hear me out. My friend Ron, he has a problem with his house, making it unsuitable to live in for a while. So he wrote to me asking if he could stay here this summer. But before you say no, he can pay you 200 dollars and he won't make a mess. He can stay in my room, and you won't even know that he's here. So, can he stay?"
Vernon's smile went away and a frown came across his face.
"One of you!? Stay under my roof! NO!"
"That's fine. I'll just tell him to stay with my godfather, Sirius Black. You remember him right? I just hope that when Sirius finds out, he won't be so mad that he'll come here to talk to you and settle things. Oh well, better go write my letter..."
That was it. The mad face of Vernon Dursley quickly changed to the worried face of Vernon Dursley.
"Oh, your still writing to him are you? Well, you know we really could use the money. I mean, with the new pool and everything. By the way, you are allowed to go in it. Tell him that in your letter would you Harry. "
"Thank you uncle Vernon!"
Harry ran up the stairs to write his response. When he opened the door, Hedwig was sitting on his bed holding a letter on her foot. Harry took the letter off and opened the parchment up.
Dear Harry,
I am sure that you are quite aware that my house has disappeared and that Ron has already asked to stay with you. I think that you know what happened to Hermione's parents. Well, Hermione and I also need a place to stay, so we were wondering if maybe we could stay with you as well. To make your uncle say yes, we are making dad write a letter to him this minute - pretending that he is his lost uncle's lawyer who just passed away. He would give them a summer house so that we could stay there. Dad just finished it, and he is going to deliver it personally with Ron. Hope to see you soon. Hermione and I will come the day after your uncle leaves.
With Love Ginny
This summer wasn't turning out to be so bad after all. Harry would be able to have full use of the pool and his friends would all be able to stay. Now this was starting to sound less like summer and more like Christmas by the minute.eHeafsadasdasdasdasd