Chapter 2

On the next day late afternoon, Harry was lying alone in the grass, trying to find a shape to each woolly cloud moving slowly in the sky when he saw a small gray point falling down on him like a bomb on its target. He just had the time to realise what it was, to stand up and to catch what was a hurt and bleeding Pigwidgeon, clenching a torn letter in his beak.

"What has happened to you?" Harry said to the bird who, at that very moment, passed out in his hand. He ran to the house, went upstairs four at a time and lock himself into his bedroom. Hedwig, who was usually never really happy to share her cage and food with another owl, realised that, this time, it was kind of an emergency case and flew out to land on Harry's bed head. The small bird's two legs were broken and he was shaking all over as if he experienced the scariest trip in his young life. Harry let the bird rest in Hedwig's cage and sit down on his bed to read, or try to read, to be exact, the torn letter.

It was coming from The Burrow, but it was not written by Ron, as usual, this time he recognised the handwriting of Mr Weasley, Ron's father. The letter was actually written on the back of a page taken from a book of magical cooking recipes that probably belonged to Mrs Weasley and the words looked like written in a hurry. Despite the fact that some parts of it were missing, he managed to read most of the letter :

Harry,

We are quite busy this summer because of the new events. I can not tell you more about that for we may be spied by one of our ennemy. We can not come to pick you up in a muggle usual way because it would take too much time and we would better have you back with us as soon as possible.(Besides, I kind of broke off with the ministry of magic which usually lend us a car.) This is the reason why you will have to go across the street by Mrs Figg at 6 pm on your birthday. She is going to help you joining us this time.

See you at The Burrow.

Mr Weasley.

There was a Post Scriptum at the end of the letter but the end of it was missing, all he could read was : " Harry, be very quick to ..."

Harry was trying to figure out why the Weasleys wanted him back as soon as possible, what the hell could have happened to Pigwidgeon and how was it possible that the old lady living in the house just across the Dursleys could be in touch with the wizarding world, when his eyes fell on the clock hanging on the bedroom wall. His heart jumped as he realised that it was 5.45 and that today WAS his birthday! What a stupid git he was not to have read the letter first! What was going to happen if he missed the rendez-vous by Mrs Figg.

He opened his trunk and filled it with all his school staff ; mixing books, quills, robes, pullovers, under wears in such a mess that he had to use a magic spell to lock the trunk.

He asked Hedwig to go back in her cage and to share it with Pigwidgeon and rushed downstairs. Only 5 minutes left.., he really had to hurry up.., he had to make it, he could not fail or he would spend the rest of summer stuck here with the Dursleys. He was so concentrated on going fast that he didn't realised that Dudley was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him to come down and slide on a banana skin he laid on one of the steps.

Harry ran downstairs and indeed slid on this bloody banana skin, but at the moment he should have fallen on his back hardly, Harry heard the door bursting open and felt he was stopped in mid-air and slowly brought back to his feet. He could see the outline of Mrs Figg drawn by the light of the sun. She stepped forward and, without a word, she took the other handle of Harry's trunk and waved him to follow her outside. Harry was so amazed that it took him a few seconds to realise that Dudley didn't scream to alert his parents that he was sneaking out of the house without permission. Mrs Figg and himself were outside the front yard when he heard Mrs Dursley scream and turned back to see something which rewarded him for 14 years of persecution : Dudley was transformed into a giant fat banana and it was not even the result of his own action. Somebody else did that for him and this was the most funny scene Harry had ever seen and one of his wishes that came true. He looked up to Mrs Figg and that was the first time he saw her smile.

"That will teach him not to stamp on my flowers when he thinks I'm not at home."

It seemed to Harry that, by the sound of her voice, she had been waiting for a long time to do that. So they have at least something in common.