Chapter 2-In hot soup
Harry stared at the note and a look of amusement dawned on his face. "I should've known it was Fred and George all along! Who else could come up with such brilliant ideas?" thought Harry aloud. He sat on his bed and pulled out a piece of parchment from under his bed and took his quill, dipped it in his ink bottle and started writing his note back to Fred and George. "There." He rolled up the note and tied it up.
He walked over to Hedwig who was asleep in her cage and stroked her snowy head with his finger. She rustled her feathers and stared up at Harry with her black beady eyes, a look of annoyance on her face.
"Sorry, Hedwig. But I got to send a letter over to Fred and George urgently. Please understand." Harry said as he fed her a few owl treats. She nibbled them and flew out of her cage and perched on Harry's bed side, with her leg sticking out, allowing Harry to tie the note to her leg.
"Thanks Hedwig. I really appreciate it." He stroked Hedwig on her head and off she flew out of the open window where Errol flew out just minutes ago. He watched her flying into the clouds until she was only a tiny speck and was gone. Harry stood there looking at the scenery outside. A cool morning breeze met his face and he suddenly found himself thinking of Sirius Black again.
Sirius was Harry's godfather. He had died last year when he fell through the veil while battling with Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry still didn't want to believe that it was true. Sirius, the one and only person who truly care for him and protected him were gone. All his dreams of one day living a happy life with his godfather were gone. Sirius had risked his life many times to protect Harry. In his third year at Hogwarts, Harry, with the help of Hermione, had saved Sirius from the Dementors and their deadly Kiss. Harry would never ever forgive Bellatrix. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes when suddenly the door rumbled and shook.
Harry looked away from the window and looked at the door. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! The sound of Uncle Vernon stomping loudly up the stairs could be heard, snorting and having a terrible fit.
"HARRY POTTER!!! COME OUT HERE AT ONCE AND FIX DUDLEY BACK!!! RIGHT NOW, BOY OR YOU'LL NEVER EVER BE ALLOWED TO GO BACK TO THAT RUDDY SCHOOL OF YOURS EVER AGAIN!!!"bellowed Uncle Vernon.
Harry quickly ran to the door and unlocked it. He swung it open just in time, as Uncle Vernon was about to knock it down. Harry slowly looked up at his uncle and a mix of fear and humor ran through him. Uncle Vernon was looking down at him; his face was a mixed color of blue, green and red. His moustache was twitching ferociously and he was snarling. Harry would have laughed on the spot if it weren't at a time where Uncle Vernon was going to pound him into minced meat and feed it to the dogs.
"WHAT IS THIS..THIS THING YOU DID TO MY DUDLEY?!" demanded Uncle Vernon, giving him a deadly glare full of venom, with his fists balled tightly at his sides. It looked as though Uncle Vernon was using every ounce of strength he had to restrain himself from punching Harry's teeth off.
"This surely wouldn't happen if Dudley wasn't such a pig to gobble everything up in that box without knowing where it came from." Harry said, risking a glance at Uncle Vernon. His uncle looked like he was about to explode and his face was turning purple.
"Ok, uncle, I'll try to fix him." He added hastily while trying to stifle a laugh. "I'll have to write to my friends for the cure. It'll just take a few days."
"YOU BETTER DO THAT, BOY, OR YOU"RE DONE FOR!!! I"LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON"T FIX HIM RIGHT!!! HE'LL HAVE TO SKIP SCHOOL FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS JUST BECAUSE OF YOU! WHAT WOULD PEOPLE SAY IF THEY SAW HIM?! FOR ALL THIS TROUBLE, YOU'LL NOT GET LUNCH AND DINNER!!!"yelled Uncle Vernon, pointing an accusing finger at Harry, as he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry's previous year schoolbooks, which were stacked at the corner of the table, collapsed on the floor with a loud thud, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Harry picked up his books and arranged them neatly in the corner. He slumped on his bed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, something furry slammed into his right cheek. He opened his eyes in alarm and saw a very tiny, gray ruffled owl on his bed. Harry picked it up and saw that it was Pig, Ron's owl. As he was untying the note, another larger and grander owl flew in and perched beside Harry's bedside table. Harry recognized it as the Hogwarts owl. Harry put Ron's note on the bed and reached for the Hogwarts's owl. After Harry took the note, the owl flew out of the window without stopping a minute to rest.
Harry opened the Hogwarts letter and saw that it was next year's book list. He put the note with the attached list aside and pulled up Ron's letter. He opened it excitedly wondering what it was about since it was the first time in months he got any letter from Ron or Hermione.
Harry, I heard all about Fred & George's sswwweeet prank! Did it work
on your cousin-what's-his-name? You have got to tell me all about it
in the Hogwart's train next week! Fred & George's prank shop is a
major hit in the Wizarding world at the moment. They're huge and
totally popular! Until then, take care! Xoxo Ron
A broad smile spread over Harry's face. He could just imagine Ron's enthusiastic, red-eared face when he was writing the letter to Harry. He really missed his friends at Hogwarts; Hermione, Hagrid, not forgetting the great and wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore and all his teachers at Hogwarts, excluding Snape. Harry reached under the bed to pull out another piece of parchment to write his replying letter to Ron but his hands found nothing but cobwebs. He leaned over, crouched down on all fours and peered cautiously under his bed, not knowing what he might find under there. Cobwebs, more cobwebs, dust bunnies, last week's barely-eaten moldy sandwich which he had thrown under there when Aunt Petunia forced him to eat it with weird stuffing in the sandwich. It was just one of many ways to punish Harry for teasing Dudley last week about his stupidity and porkiness. At the far end corner of the bed, Harry spotted a few pieces of parchment. He looked around for anything long enough to reach under his bed so he could poke it out.
His eyes landed on Uncle Vernon's golden trophy he had recently won for the best selling drills in town. Uncle Vernon had probably used many dirty tricks to sell his lousy drills. It was almost a foot long, with a long, pointy top. At the top was a miniature man holding drills. Uncle Vernon had carried it up to Harry's room last week because Aunt Petunia was doing an extremely early spring-cleaning. Harry got up and walked across the room. He took the trophy carefully and held it by its head. He crouched down on all fours again and using the trophy's long top, he managed to take out the parchments stuck together with a lot of cobwebs and an unusually large spider on it. The spider crept off the parchments and scurried back under the bed. Harry got back up on his feet and brushed away all the cobwebs and dust sticking on him. He picked up the parchments and blew away all the dust and cobwebs growing over it. He put it on his bed and placed the trophy back on the shelf.
He was only a few steps away from the vase when a hollow thunk came from behind him. He swung around and saw the miniature man holding the drill's head lying on the floor. He ran back and picked up the head. He roughly tried to stick the head back on the headless miniature man.
"Come on, you dumb thing! Stick! Stick!" he muttered furiously as he failed putting the head back on as it kept falling back off. He tried to come up with a way to hold it in place before Uncle Vernon comes back up anytime to bring it back downstairs. He paced up and down trying to come up with a way when he spotted Hedwig's cage. He peeped inside and saw Hedwig's droppings. An idea suddenly hit him. Harry took two plastic bags, covered it over his hands and reached inside Hedwig's cage.
"Here goes nothing."he mumbled as he picked up the droppings. He went over to the trophy and carefully stuffed the droppings on the headless man's neck. He took more droppings and stuffed it on the neck until a whole gunky, sticky pile was covering the whole thing. He placed the head on and squashed it on the neck. Harry held it in place for about twenty seconds and slowly let go, praying it wouldn't fall off. It didn't. Harry took a few steps back, admiring his masterpiece. The miniature man looked normal enough with a head and every other body parts on.
Harry sighed a contented sigh as he pulled off the plastic bags and threw it in the trashcan. Harry had just finished cleaning up Hedwig's cage, refilled her water bowl and food bowl, when Hedwig flew in. She dropped a bag on the table and perched on Harry's shoulder and seeing that Harry had cleaned up her cage nicely, she nibbled his ear appreciatively and flew in to drink some water and take a rest. Harry stroked her and went to open the bag that Hedwig had just brought in. Inside were some of the most mouth- watering, delicious-looking cookies and brownies ever imaginable. There was a short note attached.
Harry, thanks for helping us with our experiment! This sweet is going
to earn us big bucks!
You might need the cure for it. Just add two teaspoonful of lime juice
in a fresh coconut and drink it all up. Just leave your cousin like
that for a while first and enjoy the torture! Here are a few cookies
for you! It's made by Lee's mum. You'll find just one cookie as
filling as a complete meal!!! (It's not one of our experiments! Cross
our hearts!) Hope that the Muggles aren't treating you too bad by
starving you or something. Anyway, take care of yourself and write to
us if you have any ideas how to improve our products! The Weasley Twins
Harry felt so grateful and his tummy gave a loud grumble. He looked over at the bedside clock and realized it was already almost noontime and hadn't had lunch. Harry picked out a nicely decorated cookie and took a bite. The taste was irresistible. Chocolate spilled out from the cookie and Harry closed his eyes while savoring the delicious rich chocolate taste. He ate it slowly and by the time he had finished the cookie, he felt really full but couldn't resist trying just one more. He sealed up the bag and hid it at the corner well hidden from Uncle Dursley. He was going to keep the rest for dinner and other days as he remembered he wasn't going to get any dinner. He didn't want to tell Uncle Vernon the cure yet; he wanted to wait for a few more days until he ran out of cookies.
Harry stared at the note and a look of amusement dawned on his face. "I should've known it was Fred and George all along! Who else could come up with such brilliant ideas?" thought Harry aloud. He sat on his bed and pulled out a piece of parchment from under his bed and took his quill, dipped it in his ink bottle and started writing his note back to Fred and George. "There." He rolled up the note and tied it up.
He walked over to Hedwig who was asleep in her cage and stroked her snowy head with his finger. She rustled her feathers and stared up at Harry with her black beady eyes, a look of annoyance on her face.
"Sorry, Hedwig. But I got to send a letter over to Fred and George urgently. Please understand." Harry said as he fed her a few owl treats. She nibbled them and flew out of her cage and perched on Harry's bed side, with her leg sticking out, allowing Harry to tie the note to her leg.
"Thanks Hedwig. I really appreciate it." He stroked Hedwig on her head and off she flew out of the open window where Errol flew out just minutes ago. He watched her flying into the clouds until she was only a tiny speck and was gone. Harry stood there looking at the scenery outside. A cool morning breeze met his face and he suddenly found himself thinking of Sirius Black again.
Sirius was Harry's godfather. He had died last year when he fell through the veil while battling with Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry still didn't want to believe that it was true. Sirius, the one and only person who truly care for him and protected him were gone. All his dreams of one day living a happy life with his godfather were gone. Sirius had risked his life many times to protect Harry. In his third year at Hogwarts, Harry, with the help of Hermione, had saved Sirius from the Dementors and their deadly Kiss. Harry would never ever forgive Bellatrix. Tears were starting to well up in his eyes when suddenly the door rumbled and shook.
Harry looked away from the window and looked at the door. STOMP! STOMP! STOMP! The sound of Uncle Vernon stomping loudly up the stairs could be heard, snorting and having a terrible fit.
"HARRY POTTER!!! COME OUT HERE AT ONCE AND FIX DUDLEY BACK!!! RIGHT NOW, BOY OR YOU'LL NEVER EVER BE ALLOWED TO GO BACK TO THAT RUDDY SCHOOL OF YOURS EVER AGAIN!!!"bellowed Uncle Vernon.
Harry quickly ran to the door and unlocked it. He swung it open just in time, as Uncle Vernon was about to knock it down. Harry slowly looked up at his uncle and a mix of fear and humor ran through him. Uncle Vernon was looking down at him; his face was a mixed color of blue, green and red. His moustache was twitching ferociously and he was snarling. Harry would have laughed on the spot if it weren't at a time where Uncle Vernon was going to pound him into minced meat and feed it to the dogs.
"WHAT IS THIS..THIS THING YOU DID TO MY DUDLEY?!" demanded Uncle Vernon, giving him a deadly glare full of venom, with his fists balled tightly at his sides. It looked as though Uncle Vernon was using every ounce of strength he had to restrain himself from punching Harry's teeth off.
"This surely wouldn't happen if Dudley wasn't such a pig to gobble everything up in that box without knowing where it came from." Harry said, risking a glance at Uncle Vernon. His uncle looked like he was about to explode and his face was turning purple.
"Ok, uncle, I'll try to fix him." He added hastily while trying to stifle a laugh. "I'll have to write to my friends for the cure. It'll just take a few days."
"YOU BETTER DO THAT, BOY, OR YOU"RE DONE FOR!!! I"LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON"T FIX HIM RIGHT!!! HE'LL HAVE TO SKIP SCHOOL FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS JUST BECAUSE OF YOU! WHAT WOULD PEOPLE SAY IF THEY SAW HIM?! FOR ALL THIS TROUBLE, YOU'LL NOT GET LUNCH AND DINNER!!!"yelled Uncle Vernon, pointing an accusing finger at Harry, as he stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Harry's previous year schoolbooks, which were stacked at the corner of the table, collapsed on the floor with a loud thud, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Harry picked up his books and arranged them neatly in the corner. He slumped on his bed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, something furry slammed into his right cheek. He opened his eyes in alarm and saw a very tiny, gray ruffled owl on his bed. Harry picked it up and saw that it was Pig, Ron's owl. As he was untying the note, another larger and grander owl flew in and perched beside Harry's bedside table. Harry recognized it as the Hogwarts owl. Harry put Ron's note on the bed and reached for the Hogwarts's owl. After Harry took the note, the owl flew out of the window without stopping a minute to rest.
Harry opened the Hogwarts letter and saw that it was next year's book list. He put the note with the attached list aside and pulled up Ron's letter. He opened it excitedly wondering what it was about since it was the first time in months he got any letter from Ron or Hermione.
Harry, I heard all about Fred & George's sswwweeet prank! Did it work
on your cousin-what's-his-name? You have got to tell me all about it
in the Hogwart's train next week! Fred & George's prank shop is a
major hit in the Wizarding world at the moment. They're huge and
totally popular! Until then, take care! Xoxo Ron
A broad smile spread over Harry's face. He could just imagine Ron's enthusiastic, red-eared face when he was writing the letter to Harry. He really missed his friends at Hogwarts; Hermione, Hagrid, not forgetting the great and wise headmaster, Albus Dumbledore and all his teachers at Hogwarts, excluding Snape. Harry reached under the bed to pull out another piece of parchment to write his replying letter to Ron but his hands found nothing but cobwebs. He leaned over, crouched down on all fours and peered cautiously under his bed, not knowing what he might find under there. Cobwebs, more cobwebs, dust bunnies, last week's barely-eaten moldy sandwich which he had thrown under there when Aunt Petunia forced him to eat it with weird stuffing in the sandwich. It was just one of many ways to punish Harry for teasing Dudley last week about his stupidity and porkiness. At the far end corner of the bed, Harry spotted a few pieces of parchment. He looked around for anything long enough to reach under his bed so he could poke it out.
His eyes landed on Uncle Vernon's golden trophy he had recently won for the best selling drills in town. Uncle Vernon had probably used many dirty tricks to sell his lousy drills. It was almost a foot long, with a long, pointy top. At the top was a miniature man holding drills. Uncle Vernon had carried it up to Harry's room last week because Aunt Petunia was doing an extremely early spring-cleaning. Harry got up and walked across the room. He took the trophy carefully and held it by its head. He crouched down on all fours again and using the trophy's long top, he managed to take out the parchments stuck together with a lot of cobwebs and an unusually large spider on it. The spider crept off the parchments and scurried back under the bed. Harry got back up on his feet and brushed away all the cobwebs and dust sticking on him. He picked up the parchments and blew away all the dust and cobwebs growing over it. He put it on his bed and placed the trophy back on the shelf.
He was only a few steps away from the vase when a hollow thunk came from behind him. He swung around and saw the miniature man holding the drill's head lying on the floor. He ran back and picked up the head. He roughly tried to stick the head back on the headless miniature man.
"Come on, you dumb thing! Stick! Stick!" he muttered furiously as he failed putting the head back on as it kept falling back off. He tried to come up with a way to hold it in place before Uncle Vernon comes back up anytime to bring it back downstairs. He paced up and down trying to come up with a way when he spotted Hedwig's cage. He peeped inside and saw Hedwig's droppings. An idea suddenly hit him. Harry took two plastic bags, covered it over his hands and reached inside Hedwig's cage.
"Here goes nothing."he mumbled as he picked up the droppings. He went over to the trophy and carefully stuffed the droppings on the headless man's neck. He took more droppings and stuffed it on the neck until a whole gunky, sticky pile was covering the whole thing. He placed the head on and squashed it on the neck. Harry held it in place for about twenty seconds and slowly let go, praying it wouldn't fall off. It didn't. Harry took a few steps back, admiring his masterpiece. The miniature man looked normal enough with a head and every other body parts on.
Harry sighed a contented sigh as he pulled off the plastic bags and threw it in the trashcan. Harry had just finished cleaning up Hedwig's cage, refilled her water bowl and food bowl, when Hedwig flew in. She dropped a bag on the table and perched on Harry's shoulder and seeing that Harry had cleaned up her cage nicely, she nibbled his ear appreciatively and flew in to drink some water and take a rest. Harry stroked her and went to open the bag that Hedwig had just brought in. Inside were some of the most mouth- watering, delicious-looking cookies and brownies ever imaginable. There was a short note attached.
Harry, thanks for helping us with our experiment! This sweet is going
to earn us big bucks!
You might need the cure for it. Just add two teaspoonful of lime juice
in a fresh coconut and drink it all up. Just leave your cousin like
that for a while first and enjoy the torture! Here are a few cookies
for you! It's made by Lee's mum. You'll find just one cookie as
filling as a complete meal!!! (It's not one of our experiments! Cross
our hearts!) Hope that the Muggles aren't treating you too bad by
starving you or something. Anyway, take care of yourself and write to
us if you have any ideas how to improve our products! The Weasley Twins
Harry felt so grateful and his tummy gave a loud grumble. He looked over at the bedside clock and realized it was already almost noontime and hadn't had lunch. Harry picked out a nicely decorated cookie and took a bite. The taste was irresistible. Chocolate spilled out from the cookie and Harry closed his eyes while savoring the delicious rich chocolate taste. He ate it slowly and by the time he had finished the cookie, he felt really full but couldn't resist trying just one more. He sealed up the bag and hid it at the corner well hidden from Uncle Dursley. He was going to keep the rest for dinner and other days as he remembered he wasn't going to get any dinner. He didn't want to tell Uncle Vernon the cure yet; he wanted to wait for a few more days until he ran out of cookies.