Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  That would violate anti-slavery laws.

Harry thought that maybe his aunt and uncle would let him sleep in a little on his birthday.  However, at the ordinary time of 7:30, Aunt Petunia's voice called out, "Get Up!"  What a way to start your birthday, Harry thought.  However, Harry was let in on the biggest surprise of the summer, including the visit from Lucius Malfoy the week before.

As he walked into the kitchen, Harry noticed that breakfast was already made.  Even more amazing, there was a cake on the table, bearing the words, "Happy Birthday."  Harry felt his jaw drop, and it sank even further when he noticed a small present on the table.

"Well, don't just stand there!" ordered Vernon.  Harry looked up at them, and wished he hadn't.  He saw in their faces that they gave him a present for his birthday only because he had saved them from the dementors.  Oh well, Harry thought, I might as well enjoy it.  He ripped open the present to find a tiny little lamp.  Ordinarily, he'd expect something like a dead rodent.  But this appeared to have cost them some money!

"We were thinking," Vernon replied, "That maybe magic, er, might have uses after all.  So, maybe you can use this to study it while you're here."  Harry knew what it took for his uncle to say that.  For his entire life, Harry's aunt and uncle had tried to stamp the magic out of him.

Harry then did something he had never done in his life.  He hugged his uncle, who clearly didn't know what to do.  "Er, well…" Vernon stammered at his appreciative nephew.

Harry decided to save his uncle, and let go.  He gave his aunt a quick hug, and ran up to his room.  He could practice his magic at ordinary hours!

The next day, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had to take Dudley to the doctor for the flu.  Harry was eating some food at the table, when he noticed an odd note.

Vernon and Petunia Dursley,

I am writing about the incident which occurred last night.  You were host to an uninvited guest of creatures called dementors.  Dementors are some of the most foul creatures on the earth, and they exist solely to take positive emotions from people.  Although you could not see them, if they had stayed at your house for long, you would've become unimaginably sad, angry, depressed – every negative emotion you can imagine.

I know you will not want to admit this, but Harry saved you that night.

As you might have noticed, it will be quite impossible for Harry to leave early this summer.  He would be in enormous danger if he left.  I ask you to consider letting some of his friends stay part of the summer.  Understand that they will also not be allowed to do magic in public.

I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry let out a grin.  The Weasley's might be coming over for part of the summer!  When Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came back with Dudley, Harry fought to keep a straight face.  I can't let them know I've read the letter!

"Well, we've been thinking about having a visitor this summer," Uncle Vernon started.  Harry was practically jumping with joy.  "What do you think, Dudley?" Vernon asked.

"You don't mean…" Dudley sputtered anxiously.  Harry was about ready to die from excitement.

"That's right," said Vernon, "Piers Polkiss is back from America, and he'll be staying the rest of summer, in your room."  Dudley sported a great big grin, while Harry's face fell.  His aunt and uncle didn't notice, as they were taking in Dudley's enthusiastic face.

Harry wanted to ask them if he could invite over the Weasleys, but knew he'd have a hard time explaining why he'd asked unless he had seen the letter.  Disappointed, Harry decided to wait.  Maybe they'd bring up the issue on their own.

Several weeks passed, but the Dursleys made no mention of the letter, let alone inviting over friends.  At least life at 4 Privet Drive wasn't quite so bad.  He was allowed to practice magic and Dudley was leaving him alone.  But he ached to see his friends, and he still had several weeks left before he'd get to go back to Hogwarts.

Finally, Harry decided to throw caution to the winds.  "I was wondering", Harry asked Vernon, "whether I could invite some of my friends over for the summer."

Uncle Vernon stared at him blankly, before finally loudly saying, "Some of your friends?  You mean your kind?  Why would we do that?"

Harry gulped.  This wasn't going as he hoped. "Well, Dudley is having Piers over for the summer.  And I…" Harry hesitated to mention the letter.

"You…" Vernon prodded angrily.

"Well, I saw the letter Dumbledore sent," Harry admitted.

Uncle Vernon went into a rage.  "You think," he bellowed, "that Puddlemore, or whatever his name is, gets to say who comes over here?  And why were you reading my mail?!  Go to your room!"

Harry sighed; he had blown it.  He had the chance of a merely mediocre summer, but he threw it away, and now his Uncle and Aunt would be mad at him.

Harry sat in his room, trying to decide what to do.  Uncle Vernon had again locked up his magic gear.  But he must have changed the lock, because Harry couldn't pick the door open to get them back.  He was suddenly forced to spend 10 hours a day in his room, and he had nothing to do.  Luckily, he at least had his wand in his pocket when they locked up the rest of his gear – neither his aunt nor uncle knew that he still had it.  Unfortunately, not even an Aloha Mora spell worked to unlock the cupboard.

Looking around, he noticed Dudley's old books.  Figuring he had nothing to lose, he picked on out at random and flipped it open.  A black and white drawing of a trumpet appeared, and Harry looked at it.  You know, that might be just what I'm looking for he thought.

He pulled out his wand, and pictured the trumpet clearly in his mind.  "Elicio Trumpet" he called, but was disappointed on what emerged.  Sideways, it looked just like a trumpet, but the depth was completely off.  The bell looked normal, but the tubing was all merged together.  He studied the drawing some more, and found another drawing several pages later, which he studied carefully as well.

Ok, let's try this again.  He muttered, "Elicio Trumpet" again, and was rewarded by a much better object.  The tubing looked normal, but the little pipes around the valves looked skewed.  Still, it looked playable.  As he put the instrument experimentally up to his lips, he found he couldn't blow into it.  Of course, he realized, the instrument is hollow.  One last try with Elicio, and Harry had a crude trumpet in his hands.

Harry wisely decided to cast 'Mutus' on the room before he tried playing it.  He didn't want his aunt and uncle to yell at him some more.  When he put the instrument to his lips and blew, he grew disgusted.  He didn't even really make a note, just a blob of sound.  He tried a bit more, and was finally able to get a note out.  What was really weird was that if he tried harder, the note went high somehow.  And if he calmed down and didn't try very hard, the note was very low.  Lastly, the notes seemed to skip.  If he tried harder, the note stayed the same, until a certain threshold where it jumped up to a higher note.  Oh, he thought, that's probably what those push buttons are, looking at the top of the instrument.

He tried pushing the buttons, but none of them would move down.  Harry then realized that he didn't know how the inside was made, and couldn't have summoned a working trumpet unless he had an intimate knowledge of its inner workings.  Disgusted, Harry began turning the pages for an easier instrument to conjure.

But before he left the trumpet section of the book, Harry's attention was caught by a page.  It contained a picture of a disassembled trumpet!  He could conjure each individual piece, and assemble them together.  It was slow work.  Most of the parts needed to be transfigured to fit together.  He also had to carefully study the cylinders, since they appeared to route flow through the horn.

However, putting together the horn in such a detailed manner gave him an idea of how it worked.  Each of the cylinders appeared to push the air either straight through (if the push button was up), or through a little detour (if the push button was down).

Harry began experimenting with his new trumpet.  It would take him a long time to learn it, especially since he didn't have a teacher, but the one thing he had in abundance for the summer was time.

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I think some recognition is order for Suzanne, who managed to read and review every chapter of the two draughts in one day!

Thanks also to Kyle L and Phoenix Flight.

Something I enjoy about putting these stories up is helping fellow students procrastinate from writing papers and studying for tests.  I'm sorry, Kyle L, Suzanne, and JKButcher.  Well, not really…

Please review!