In an attempt to distract himself from what he had read in the newspapers, Harry flipped over onto his stomach and mulled over the dream he had the night before. He tried to remember what he had seen, but only snatches of the dream lingered still in his memory.

So much of it was hazy to him, one great blur of colors that ran together and sounds that mashed and echoed. He could clearly remember there had been a man in white robes who said something (unfortunately, Harry could not clearly remember what), and there had also been another person with Voldemort.

It doesn't seem right, Harry thought. He vigorously scratched his head. The top of his scalp tingled from thinking too much. Voldemort wouldn't allow anyone to sit beside him like an equal, unless that person's very powerful and can help Voldemort in some way.

In any which case, that did not bode well for Harry. The last thing he or anyone else needed was someone powerful enough to be considered an equal helping Voldemort.

THUD!

The noise from the stairs snapped Harry's chain of thought into pieces. Harry closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his scar as Dudley bound down the stairs for breakfast. His weight had certainly not changed from a diet that did not work for him. Dudley, being roughly the same size as a baby elephant, tromped down the stairs, and Harry could hear every heavy footstep.

Having steadfastedly ignored Harry since he had arrived, the Dursleys had adapted a chilling attitude to him when forced to recognize the fact that yes, Harry was living in their house. Harry felt invisible when they ignored him, and when their attention was on him, Harry felt like an ant about to be squashed. Why did they continue to let him reside in their house if they hated him so much?

The only conclusion that Harry could draw was Dumbledore must have done something. The fear the Dursleys had for anything remotely wizardly had to have roots in some unpleasant encounter.

"Dudley, dear!" Harry winced at his Aunt Petunia's shrill call of delight, which seemed to fill the entire house. "I made your favorite Chocolate Cheese sandwiches!" Harry gagged at the thought of chocolate cheese sandwiches. That's, what? An extra thousand calories that Dudley can pack on to the rest of his fat self? Harry was not in a charitable mood.In the meantime, I'm practically starving to death!

Harry got down on his hands and knees before his bed and pulled his trunk out. He grabbed its handles and lifted it to knee-height before dropping it. It landed on the floor with a loud thud. Aunt Petunia's voice stopped. There, Harry thought smugly, that should remind them someone else in this house needs to be fed. If there was one bright spot in being locked up in his room all summer, the Dursleys had to do things for him, rather than make him to things for them.

Harry could hear Uncle Vernon mutter something as he moved up the stairs from the kitchen below. "Harry!" he yelled. "What have I told you about being a nuisance?" He unlocked the door and stepped into the room. His face was red from anger and his fists trembled at his sides. "What are--" He stopped and stared wordlessly at Harry. The blotchy redness of his face faded into pasty white as he watched Harry twirl his wand wordlessly through his fingers. After a moment, he frowned and straightened upward. "You can't use magic!" he declared hotly. "You'll be expelled from that school of yours."

Harry shrugged as he scratched his head with the tip of his wand. "And after I've been expelled, I'll have to live here rather than at Hogwarts," he said. "And even if I'm expelled, does that stop me from doing any more magic?" Harry smiled at Uncle Vernon, though it was more of a show of teeth than a smile. "By the way, what's for breakfast?" Harry plastered an innocent look on his face and smiled charmingly, though the effect of it was lost on his uncle.

Uncle Vernon turned his heel and left the room. Harry noticed how his bedroom door was left unlocked as Uncle Vernon trudged down the stairs to the kitchen, muttering the entire time beneath his breath of the costs of feeding other people's ungrateful kids, and wouldn't it have been nice if those other people had tried practicing birth control?

Harry made a special note to turn Uncle Vernon into a toad after he graduated from Hogwarts. He closed his eyes and savored the idea of giving the formerly-Uncle-Vernon toad to Snape for a potions class.

His fantasy was interrupted by Aunt Petunia's slipping into the room and dropping a plate of toast and marmalade on his desk. She locked the door when she left.

While toast and marmalade, by and of themselves, wasn't very filling, there was enough on the plate for Harry to eat to a full stomach. He hummed with satisfaction as he rubbed his stomach before getting up and carrying the plate over to the door. He stooped over to shove the plate under the door's crack and paused at the sound of rising voices.

"--he threatened me with his wand! I'm having difficulty tolerating the insolence of that brat, Petunia. You always stopped me from giving him the treatment he deserved, but if we don't do something soon, he's going to--he's going to. Well, he'll just do it! We have to do something, and you know it!"

Do what? Harry thought. Was he really that intimidating to Uncle Vernon to make him lose control and shout loud enough for Harry to hear him? Harry's heard the hum of Aunt Petunia's voice as she quietly tried to placate Uncle Vernon. Harry pushed the plate under the door and slowly stood up.

Uncle Vernon's words worried Harry. It was bad enough Voldemort and his minions were out to kill Harry, but his own relatives? Harry sank down on his bed and fought against an overwhelming wave of depression. The whole world's out to get me, Harry thought gloomily as his gaze dropped upon The Daily Prophet. To what lengths would Uncle Vernon go to hurt Harry?

Harry forced his trembling hands still. Maybe it's merely his imagination. Perhaps Uncle Vernon was feeling bitter about Harry, and there was really nothing to worry about. Harry took a deep breath and held it. He was paranoid, that was all. His dream of Voldemort was putting him on edge, and what he needed to do was take a drastic action to have a more comfortable summer. Since school had a habit of getting worse each year, Harry had a feeling that he was going to need a good break.

Harry released his breath. He walked over to his window and opened it to let in fresh air. He flopped back onto his bed and stretched out across it. He needed to do something constructive, like Hermione would.

A plan trickled into his mind, forming slowly. Harry turned the plan about in his head, tweaked it in a few spots, and then nodded in satisfaction. Outside help would be needed to carry this though, and who better than the twin propitiators of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes?

Harry rummaged through his school books until he found an old spiral notebook. He ripped a page out of it and hastily scribbled his note.

Dear Fred and George:

How's the business coming along? I hoped you kept your promises to Ron. I want to give you an opportunity to test a few of your inventions. You know as well as I do that underage wizards are not allowed to use wands. The only sources of magic remaining for me to use is an Animagus transformation (and, seeing as how I know nothing of that we all know the likelihood of that), or one of your joke things.

I'm in a bit of a spot here, and wonder if you are capable of sending me certain objects from the list you sent me a couple days ago . . .

Please sent them as soon as possible, and don't tell Ron or anyone else please. I want to know more of what new pranks you've invested in. And do protect my businesses.

Your partner in crime,

Harry

Harry walked over to the cage where Hedwig was in a deep slumber. He opened the cage's door and prodded her in the side until she roused herself long enough to nip his fingers testily. "Come on, Hedwig, I've got mail for you to deliver." He waved the letter in his hand. She glared at him. "I'll give you an owl treat." Hedwig hooted softly and turned her head from him. "Two owl treats?" Hedwig perked. "Three?" Hedwig hooted and fluttered out of the cage. "Feeling stubborn today, aren't you?" Harry muttered as he fished his box of owl treats out of his trunk.

"I also have a letter you need to send to Hermione," he added as he gave her the treats. "I'll have that finished by the time you are." He quickly scribbled out a thank-you note to Hermione for the cakes he received, and sent it off with the Weasley twins' letter.

It was so late at night that it was early morning. It was a stifling hot night, and Harry's window was open for some cool, desperate breeze to come drifting in. Harry snapped awake at the sound of beating wings just in time to see Hedwig slip through the bars across his window and flap over to her cage. She swung in a wide arc and dropped her the small parcel she carried onto Harry's bed. He sat up and reached for it just as another owl, this one with a large parcel, entered the room. The owl dropped the parcel directly onto Harry's head.

Definitely one of the negatives of Owl Post, Harry thought darkly as he rubbed his hand. Harry grabbed the parcel to see whom it was from. "Fred and George," read the note. "Figures," Harry muttered.



Harry put his plan into action as soon as Uncle Vernon had left for work, and Petunia to do some shopping. He watched as Aunt Petunia, wearing a little embroidered cap on her hair, drove away. As soon as she was out of sight, he pulled his parcels from out beneath his bed and opened them. From the largest parcel, he withdrew what looked like a small rubber ball. As soon as Harry placed it on the bed, it started inflating and twisting to form a life-like dummy of Harry.

Harry whistled in awe and reached out to trace the dummy's lightening bolt-shaped scar. It nodded its head and blinked at him. Harry grinned and placed a special sparkle wand in one hand, and a book, titled 1001 Blasting Curses in the other hand. The sparkle wand was a Fred & George presentation that emitted strange sparks every few minutes, and the book's pages self-turned.

With the decoy set up, Harry launched into phase two of his plan. The smaller parcel contained a bone-carved key. Its little handle was shaped like a skull. Harry supposed it was a pun on it being a skeleton key. Harry threw open his trunk and removed the invisibility cloak and his Firebolt.

Harry carefully wrapped the cloak around himself until he was completely invisible. With the Firebolt tucked beneath one arm, and the key tightly grasped in his free hand, Harry knew it was time for a sojourn. The door to his room had a latch with a curved door handle and a small keyhole. Unsure of how to use the key, Harry nervously pushed the skeleton key into the keyhole. He had carefully planned his sojourn such that he wouldn't have to use his wand and break the underage laws that prohibited him from using magic during holidays.

The blank eye sockets in the skull handle of the key glowed. There was a soft click, and Harry pulled the key out. He tried the doorknob. It twisted easily and the door opened quietly. Harry crept out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the stairs. A single light shone in the entire house, and that was from the telly Dudley was mesmerized with. He was too engrossed with his new X-box gaming console to realize that Harry quietly sneaked down the stairs and then out the door.

Harry smiled and threw his arms wide to bask in the golden sunshine. He inhaled deeply, drawing the cool, fresh air into his lungs. With the call of freedom ringing clear in his mind, he secured the Invisible Cloak around his body, mounted the Firebolt, and kicked off into the air.