Hi!.- Some of the people in the story are kids from my school, that's why
I thought it was so funny.
Chapter One- Birthday Gifts
There was nothing unusual about the
appearance of 4 Privet Drive. It looked exactly like
every other house along the street, with its boringly
normal windows, and off-white stucco walls. There
were neatly trimmed hedges (a bit unnaturally neat), a
nice, shiny new car parked in the driveway, and most
importantly, it was quiet. If a house did not fit this
description, the Privet Drive inhabitants in question
were scorned. The only 'unusual' thing about Number
Four was that there was often an owl swooping about,
as now. This was especially odd, as it was about 2
o'clock in the afternoon. And it was carrying five large
packages on a harness.
The brilliantly white owl landed softly with a gentle
whoosh of wings and cooed quietly in the window.
There was the sound of the window being opened,
and the owl hopped inside. A thin, black-haired boy
with round glasses and an odd scar was to be seen
holding the owl on his arm.
"'lo Hedwig. I was starting to worry, you'd been gone
for so long." The owl hooted gently in reply as the
packages were removed and she was placed inside a
large cage. The boy smiled and turned to the
packages. He reached for one wrapped in light blue
paper, and by the shape of the package (which
resembled a book), he could guess who it was from.
"Hermione, so predictable," he laughed as he turned it
over. Sure enough, beneath the "To Harry on his 16th
Birthday!" was "From your friend, Hermione." Harry
paused for a minute, wishing once again that he was
back at Hogwarts with his friends. He turned quickly to
his closet door, upon which he had tacked a calendar
counting down the days left until start of term. Still a
few more weeks to go. He sighed, turned back to the
package and opened it. Expecting another chiding
homework planner, like he had received from her at
Christmas, he almost reluctantly opened the package.
However, he received quite a shock. He peeled back
the wrap to reveal the words, "Dark Wizard Catching: A
Prospective Auror's Handbook by Ursula Ledger "
"Wow... Hermione must be a
Legilimens," Harry thought, but then remembered that
he had actually acted rather obvious about his
occupational ideas. He set it on his bedside table; he
would definitely be reading that later. He then picked
up the letter and tore it open. He sank down onto his
bed to read it.
Dear Harry,
Hope you're well. My family is fine. At the moment, I'm in the Americas, and it is really quite... cool! I've been to Chicago (great city- honestly, I might move here when I'm older!) and San Francisco already. Right now I'm in New York, and it is absolutely brilliant, though not quite so cool as Chi-town (the Field Museum was brilliant; I got to see this huge dinosaur skeleton). I visited the Met and it was great. Muggles aren't that stupid, you know. We went to a lot of different places, including the Manhattan Magic School. We got rather lost yesterday and ended up by this place called Sing Sing Prison. The best part was that we ran into this witch, a student at the MMS, named Adetoro Adeyemi and she's about our age, but her family is all wizards and witches. She was able to help us figure out where to go, but only after some really delicious Nigerian food! Anyway, we're going by plane (you do know that much about muggle transportation, don't you?) to Boston tomorrow. We're going to visit the Salem Witches' Institute. Sounds rather frightening, doesn't it? We're also going to this school called Groton because I have a cousin going there. His name is Andrew Fulham and you can tell we're related because we both have the same bushy hair. He's a few years younger than us, and he's already received his schooling letters. He declined, though. A great thing about America is that you can start your wizardry school at any age! And training can go on for years and years! Anyway, I really hope you like the book. I thought that you seemed rather keen on becoming an Auror, so I figured that this would be fitting. And don't worry about Hedwig! I sent it by muggle post to Ron's house as I didn't figure that the Dursley's would give you a present even if someone else had sent it. You're probably getting this about a month after I delivered, as I left ample time in which to be delivered properly. I suppose you'll see us soon (can't say more here, obviously). I'll write again once I get back home, maybe all of us can do the usual- you know- meet with the Weasleys in Diagon Alley?
Love from,
Hermione P.S.- I met with a few witches at the Manhattan Magic School and they seem interested in S.P.E.W. too! Of course, they don't really understand it so well as elf slavery is illegal in America. They said that they'd heard quite a bit about house elves, though and said that they might start some programs to help raise funds and awareness of House Elf rights in their school! I figure that it might be minor now, but, "drop by drop, you can fill an ocean!" I also enclosed a copy of the Daily Prophet, just in case you need to keep up with the news!
Harry smiled happily. He was glad that the Grangers
were having a nice holiday. He thought it was funniest
that there were little witches roaming around in
America, too. What an awesome name, Adetoro
Adeyemi...and he never knew Hermione really had
any relatives. How stupid of him.
He turned to the next gift, which was from another
great friend, Ronald Weasley. It was rather large and
covered in brown paper. He set it atop his desk and
carefully opened it. On top he found a large tin of
pasties and a large cake reading, "Harry's 16th" but
with the '1' written with a lightning bolt." There was a
huge orange-iced lion on it, too. Harry smiled and set
that aside, too. He found a bunch of comic books
reading, "The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad
Muggle," in a special 50th anniversary edition box. It
had to be from Ron, who was a Martin Miggs fan.
There was a piece of parchment attached and Harry
pulled it out to read it.
Harry!
Hope the muggles are treating you right. Haven't heard from you in ages! Has Hedwig been off on a job or something? We're all fine here in the Burrow. Charlie, Bill, Fleur, and Gabriel are here at the moment. I'll bet you Bill and Fleur are close to engagement- I can't believe I was such a berk about her back in fourth year. Urghh, so embarrassing it was at first. But now everyone is pretty used to it. We spent a good fraction of the past two weeks at Headquarters, but now we're back home.
Gabriel is actually quite nice. Remember, you rescued her in the Second Task? Well, she regards both of us as heroes. Quite flattering, really. She and Ginny get on really well. I think both Ginny and I wish she was our little sister. She's really quite cool! She plays seeker in our practices (we got a new quidditch set from Quality Quidditch Supplies from Fred and George) and she might give you a run for your money come start of term (she's coming to Hogwarts)! She also plays beater, though, and she's pretty damn good! She could easily compete with the twins! I'm getting better at keeping; Ginny's been helping me practice. Ginny's definitely going to be a chaser this year. She's really good- I never knew!
One bad thing, though. Dean Thomas came to pay a call in the beginning of holiday. You know, him and Ginny are going out now. It had to be one of the most embarrassing things ever! I would never have imagined my sister and a dormmate who wasn't particularly my top choice (*cough, cough*-Harry). He didn't stay very long, though- only a couple of hours, thank god. Anyway, I hope you're a Martin Miggs fan! He's one of my favorite muggles. Mind you, I don't exactly know that many... I saw Hagrid and Madam Maxime at the headquarters last week! I don't want to spoil the surprise for you, so I'll wait til you receive Hagrid's letter. Another thing! Guess which idiot arrived at dinner yesterday- Percy Ignatius Weasle, largest prat to ever go through Hogwarts. Came and apologized, although I must say, it was rather half-heartedly. I don't suspect he can believe that he's wrong. Only mum and dad are lapping it up, but dad did seem a bit resentful. He was such a prat before he left, I don't know how he could expect even that much of a welcome. He even admitted that you aren't as bad as the Daily Prophet made out! Thought you'd be glad to know that! I'll see you later, then, Harry! Only a short while left to go! We'll pick you up a week before term starts and you can come back to the Burrow!
See you, Harry! -Ron P.S.- did you hear? Hermione's started 'spew' in the Unitted Statues of Amirrorca! What a blast! Who'd have thunk it?
Harry laughed out loud at Ron's idea of America.
Harry turned to a brightly wrapped package
reading, "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes" and his
stomach flipped. He excitedly broke open the box and
saw what was inside. Buried under oodles of joke
sweets and trick wands and fireworks was yet another
package with a piece of parchment stuck to it.
Hey, Harry!
We hope the muggles aren't getting you down! If they are, just let off a couple of 'strike-em-dumb-sours' and they won't bother you for the next few hours! And we'd like to thank you, because you're the inspiration for... dadadadaaah! Vanishing Creams! You'll find something- and that you're even more famous than you think!
You'll be visiting the Burrow soon, did Ron tell you? We'll have to have a big quidditch match- it'll be a blast! Bill's girlfriend's sister has bet us a spell that she could beat us in a match with you and us against her playing beater and seeker at the same time! We'll see you soon! We're off to go Percy-pranking. It's a new sport we invented. See you- Fred,
George
Harry couldn't help being a bit confused about the
vanishing stuff they had mentioned. He reached
farther inside the box to find a small vial full of some
green liquid with a label reading, "Vanishing Cream: a
simple, safe way to temporarily 'get rid of' those
annoying, unwanted, pimples, scars, cold sores, etc.."
There was a small post-it reading, "Have fun, Harry!"
He set it on his bedside table. It might come in handy
in Diagon Alley. There was also a badge reading, "VIP
pass in WWW." Harry knew he would definitely need
this in Diagon Alley.
The next package was from Hagrid. It was
a bunch of old French maps. Harry wasn't quite sure
why. He hurriedly opened the letter, hoping that his
worst fears were not met.
Harry!
How've yeh been? I'm doin' just fine. I'm off in France again, but not on Order-work. With all yer normal snoopin' this won't come as a shock, but I'm engaged to Madame Maxime! Yer definitely invited to the wedding! It'll be over Christmas holiday. I'll keep up me gamekeeper duties and teachin', don' worry. I'm givin' you these maps because after the weddin' I'm going to spend holidays in France. I'm going to stay gamekeeper, and keep me hut as a shed, but live in Hogsmeade. Olympe's gonna stay headmistress fer a while, but she might come teach here.
I 'spect to see yeh soon! Olympe sends regards, and I hope yer summer goes well.
-Hagrid
Harry finally reached the last package. It
was from Lupin. He opened it to find a bunch of
defense against the dark arts books, but no letter.
Maybe it had fallen off on the way. Harry happily
arranged all of his gifts. He'd have to ask the Dursleys
for permission to go with the Weasley's for the last
couple weeks of term. He sighed and went
downstairs. Another small argument with Uncle
Vernon was definitely worth a week with the
Weasleys. He entered the living room to find the
whole family sitting in front of the television in a
stupor. It was probably that movie, Breeding
Elephants in England! that Aunt Petunia had been
ranting on about because she used to go to school
with the director.
"Er- Uncle Vernon-" Harry said, breaking
the family out their trance.
"What, boy? Can't it wait? We're watching
a very important film!" Aunt Petunia said through
gritted teeth, obviously annoyed.
"Well, my friend wrote me asking if I could
come for the last week in term."
Uncle Vernon turned slowly in his
seat. "No!"
"But-"
"Boy, we're busy! You're not going to
some weirdo's house!"
Harry thoroughly regretted disturbing them
for the first time-really-ever. Then he got an idea. It
had worked once before, it could work again.
"Oh, well, Mad-Eye Moody said that if I
wasn't able to go, he'd come check up on me before
school starts. Is that all right?" Uncle Vernon seemed
able to put a face to the name "Mad-Eye Moody" and
spoke immediately, his face an ugly purple.
"Pack your things. Ask him if you can go
tomorrow." Harry was stunned.
"Wha- really?"
"Of course, boy! Don't be stupid! Tell him
that we don't give a damn if he takes you or not, just as
long as he doesn't set foot here!"
"All right." Harry nearly laughed. Uncle
Vernon's history showed him to be a very pathetic and
easily-scared man. Harry ran up to his room and
plopped down onto his bed. He picked up the Daily
Prophet copy from Hermione and began to read it. He
scanned the front page article about prospects for the
turnout of the (aghhh! I'm just going to say world cup.
We're going to pretend that people were so depressed
that the department of magical games and sports
decided to hold the world cup every year!) world cup
semifinals: Bulgaria again against
Japan. Supposedly there were so many
accidents and injuries that the tournament would be
held August 30th. Many of the Bulgarian and
Japanese team members were severely wounded and
would require a long time to recover. On the next
page, to his surprise, was an article by Rita Skeeter,
called "Gilderoy Lockhart's Fraudery." He read it for
laughs.
Not many people know that Gilderoy Fridlow Lockhart was a liar. It was discovered three weeks ago that he didn't do any of the brave deeds that he explained in his books. His books, such as Ghadding with Ghouls, Weekend with a Werewolf, and Magical Me were all autobiographies in which he constantly praised himself.
This was discovered when a warlock from Dunharrow said that he was in fact the slayer of the Bandon Banshee. Nobody believed this (or rather wanted to believe this) until other people said similar things. They accused Lockhart, who, after a year teaching at Hogwarts is now in St. Mungo's permanent ailment ward after a memory charm backfired, of charming them after learning about what they had done. Apparently the charms wore off..."
Harry quit reading. It was all rubbish he
already knew.
He turned to the advertisement page and his jaw
dropped. There was an advertisement for World Cup
Tickets. It read:
"Quidditch World Cup Tickets; advance
bargain top box tickets - book by August 3rd and
reserve up to five seats per party! Only 30 galleons!"
This definitely topped off Harry's day. He practically
dove into the loose floorboard in his room and took out
a huge money bag which he had been meaning to
reserve for a treat. He had allowed him some extra
spending money for random things last year and had
saved quite a bit, so he decided that he would treat
himself- and a few others. He felt a bit guilty spending
so much money, but he was doing quite a good deed.
Who would come, though? Bill and Charlie would
probably be too busy. Mr. Weasley and Professor
Lupin wouldn't be able to go either- what if there was
an emergency in the middle of the game? Well, the
twins could come. That would work.
Harry grabbed a piece of parchment, scrawled down
the required information, and stuck this to a
disposable satchel with the money Harry quickly
attached the note to Hedwig's leg and bade her
goodbye.
"Safe Travels, Hedwig," Harry murmured
as his owl took flight. He watched as the bird
swooped out of sight, above the gray tiled roofs of
Privet Drive. Harry turned back to his gifts. He sat
down on his bed and switched on the lamp. As Harry
turned to retrieve the Auror's Guide book from the
table, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. There
was his scar, disturbing as ever. He turned away and
opened the book to the first chapter, entitled, "The
Auror Divisions."
"Wow," Harry said. "Look at this..." He
flipped the pages, astonished. "I never knew..."
The first thing to note about being an Auror is that there are many divisions, each with its own requirements in school exams and post- school training. There are very few sorts involved with out of country work. The British division of this group has probably accepted the most people in the past twenty years out of any other division: 24 students- 19 men, 5 women, natives of 12 countries in all, majority of them from our own British Isles. Although their names are undisclosed in this book due to M.O.M. law, their records are held in the main office. The location of the main office is also kept secret, but its public office can be reached by port- door in the Ministry building.
Contrary to common belief, there are many different classifications of Aurors: most widely known are the dark wizard catchers, then the spies, secret agents, defenders (bodyguards), special services for defending, secret keeping, charming, stealth, tracking, establishing bases in foreign countries, rescue missions, etc. Probably dark wizard catchers are most common as many are needed to finding You-Know-Who at the moment. The most difficult and selective divisions involve charming and secret keeping. Often they find themselves in very dangerous positions, and only two people have been taken on in the past twenty years, and both are believed to have either died or been murdered on the job. However, there are still two professional secret keepers living who were taken on within the past one hundred and thirty years. Both are supposed to be in good health at the moment.
Harry had a very good idea of who all of
these four people were. He shut the book and set it
aside. He glanced at his clock and saw that it read
7:00. Aunt Petunia would probably want him to make
dinner. He proceeded downstairs, but on his way
collided with a very big mass of pale skin, topped with
a piggish face and blonde hair.
"Why if it isn't our ickle boxing champion-
Dudley the Dull." Harry muttered. "That stupid
movie's finished, then?"
"It wasn't stupid, that woman's famous,
and mum says that she could help me get into ________ (insert crap university name here) on a boxing scholarship."
"Yes, Dudley," Harry said
scathingly. "That's just about the only way you'd ever
get in anywhere." Dudley looked as though he was
about to punch Harry. "You'd better not do anything,
Dud, or you won't get any dinner." Dudley looked as
though it was taking a lot of effort for him to turn
around and walk down the stairs. Harry took this
chance to run back upstairs to his room. He quickly
bolted the door shut. He wasn't panting, but his face
was all sweaty. He shook his head; he was becoming
paranoid.
'After all the experiences I've had, I can't
really blame myself,' a voice inside his head said. He
had to say that he agreed.
It was getting rather late, and Harry
supposed that he would get to sleep early after
reading some of his Martin Miggs comics and eating
some of the cake. He took off his glasses and
switched off his lamp. It's been a really good birthday,
Harry thought.
Okay, People! PLEASE REVIEW! Pleeeeeease!
Chapter One- Birthday Gifts
There was nothing unusual about the
appearance of 4 Privet Drive. It looked exactly like
every other house along the street, with its boringly
normal windows, and off-white stucco walls. There
were neatly trimmed hedges (a bit unnaturally neat), a
nice, shiny new car parked in the driveway, and most
importantly, it was quiet. If a house did not fit this
description, the Privet Drive inhabitants in question
were scorned. The only 'unusual' thing about Number
Four was that there was often an owl swooping about,
as now. This was especially odd, as it was about 2
o'clock in the afternoon. And it was carrying five large
packages on a harness.
The brilliantly white owl landed softly with a gentle
whoosh of wings and cooed quietly in the window.
There was the sound of the window being opened,
and the owl hopped inside. A thin, black-haired boy
with round glasses and an odd scar was to be seen
holding the owl on his arm.
"'lo Hedwig. I was starting to worry, you'd been gone
for so long." The owl hooted gently in reply as the
packages were removed and she was placed inside a
large cage. The boy smiled and turned to the
packages. He reached for one wrapped in light blue
paper, and by the shape of the package (which
resembled a book), he could guess who it was from.
"Hermione, so predictable," he laughed as he turned it
over. Sure enough, beneath the "To Harry on his 16th
Birthday!" was "From your friend, Hermione." Harry
paused for a minute, wishing once again that he was
back at Hogwarts with his friends. He turned quickly to
his closet door, upon which he had tacked a calendar
counting down the days left until start of term. Still a
few more weeks to go. He sighed, turned back to the
package and opened it. Expecting another chiding
homework planner, like he had received from her at
Christmas, he almost reluctantly opened the package.
However, he received quite a shock. He peeled back
the wrap to reveal the words, "Dark Wizard Catching: A
Prospective Auror's Handbook by Ursula Ledger "
"Wow... Hermione must be a
Legilimens," Harry thought, but then remembered that
he had actually acted rather obvious about his
occupational ideas. He set it on his bedside table; he
would definitely be reading that later. He then picked
up the letter and tore it open. He sank down onto his
bed to read it.
Dear Harry,
Hope you're well. My family is fine. At the moment, I'm in the Americas, and it is really quite... cool! I've been to Chicago (great city- honestly, I might move here when I'm older!) and San Francisco already. Right now I'm in New York, and it is absolutely brilliant, though not quite so cool as Chi-town (the Field Museum was brilliant; I got to see this huge dinosaur skeleton). I visited the Met and it was great. Muggles aren't that stupid, you know. We went to a lot of different places, including the Manhattan Magic School. We got rather lost yesterday and ended up by this place called Sing Sing Prison. The best part was that we ran into this witch, a student at the MMS, named Adetoro Adeyemi and she's about our age, but her family is all wizards and witches. She was able to help us figure out where to go, but only after some really delicious Nigerian food! Anyway, we're going by plane (you do know that much about muggle transportation, don't you?) to Boston tomorrow. We're going to visit the Salem Witches' Institute. Sounds rather frightening, doesn't it? We're also going to this school called Groton because I have a cousin going there. His name is Andrew Fulham and you can tell we're related because we both have the same bushy hair. He's a few years younger than us, and he's already received his schooling letters. He declined, though. A great thing about America is that you can start your wizardry school at any age! And training can go on for years and years! Anyway, I really hope you like the book. I thought that you seemed rather keen on becoming an Auror, so I figured that this would be fitting. And don't worry about Hedwig! I sent it by muggle post to Ron's house as I didn't figure that the Dursley's would give you a present even if someone else had sent it. You're probably getting this about a month after I delivered, as I left ample time in which to be delivered properly. I suppose you'll see us soon (can't say more here, obviously). I'll write again once I get back home, maybe all of us can do the usual- you know- meet with the Weasleys in Diagon Alley?
Love from,
Hermione P.S.- I met with a few witches at the Manhattan Magic School and they seem interested in S.P.E.W. too! Of course, they don't really understand it so well as elf slavery is illegal in America. They said that they'd heard quite a bit about house elves, though and said that they might start some programs to help raise funds and awareness of House Elf rights in their school! I figure that it might be minor now, but, "drop by drop, you can fill an ocean!" I also enclosed a copy of the Daily Prophet, just in case you need to keep up with the news!
Harry smiled happily. He was glad that the Grangers
were having a nice holiday. He thought it was funniest
that there were little witches roaming around in
America, too. What an awesome name, Adetoro
Adeyemi...and he never knew Hermione really had
any relatives. How stupid of him.
He turned to the next gift, which was from another
great friend, Ronald Weasley. It was rather large and
covered in brown paper. He set it atop his desk and
carefully opened it. On top he found a large tin of
pasties and a large cake reading, "Harry's 16th" but
with the '1' written with a lightning bolt." There was a
huge orange-iced lion on it, too. Harry smiled and set
that aside, too. He found a bunch of comic books
reading, "The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad
Muggle," in a special 50th anniversary edition box. It
had to be from Ron, who was a Martin Miggs fan.
There was a piece of parchment attached and Harry
pulled it out to read it.
Harry!
Hope the muggles are treating you right. Haven't heard from you in ages! Has Hedwig been off on a job or something? We're all fine here in the Burrow. Charlie, Bill, Fleur, and Gabriel are here at the moment. I'll bet you Bill and Fleur are close to engagement- I can't believe I was such a berk about her back in fourth year. Urghh, so embarrassing it was at first. But now everyone is pretty used to it. We spent a good fraction of the past two weeks at Headquarters, but now we're back home.
Gabriel is actually quite nice. Remember, you rescued her in the Second Task? Well, she regards both of us as heroes. Quite flattering, really. She and Ginny get on really well. I think both Ginny and I wish she was our little sister. She's really quite cool! She plays seeker in our practices (we got a new quidditch set from Quality Quidditch Supplies from Fred and George) and she might give you a run for your money come start of term (she's coming to Hogwarts)! She also plays beater, though, and she's pretty damn good! She could easily compete with the twins! I'm getting better at keeping; Ginny's been helping me practice. Ginny's definitely going to be a chaser this year. She's really good- I never knew!
One bad thing, though. Dean Thomas came to pay a call in the beginning of holiday. You know, him and Ginny are going out now. It had to be one of the most embarrassing things ever! I would never have imagined my sister and a dormmate who wasn't particularly my top choice (*cough, cough*-Harry). He didn't stay very long, though- only a couple of hours, thank god. Anyway, I hope you're a Martin Miggs fan! He's one of my favorite muggles. Mind you, I don't exactly know that many... I saw Hagrid and Madam Maxime at the headquarters last week! I don't want to spoil the surprise for you, so I'll wait til you receive Hagrid's letter. Another thing! Guess which idiot arrived at dinner yesterday- Percy Ignatius Weasle, largest prat to ever go through Hogwarts. Came and apologized, although I must say, it was rather half-heartedly. I don't suspect he can believe that he's wrong. Only mum and dad are lapping it up, but dad did seem a bit resentful. He was such a prat before he left, I don't know how he could expect even that much of a welcome. He even admitted that you aren't as bad as the Daily Prophet made out! Thought you'd be glad to know that! I'll see you later, then, Harry! Only a short while left to go! We'll pick you up a week before term starts and you can come back to the Burrow!
See you, Harry! -Ron P.S.- did you hear? Hermione's started 'spew' in the Unitted Statues of Amirrorca! What a blast! Who'd have thunk it?
Harry laughed out loud at Ron's idea of America.
Harry turned to a brightly wrapped package
reading, "Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes" and his
stomach flipped. He excitedly broke open the box and
saw what was inside. Buried under oodles of joke
sweets and trick wands and fireworks was yet another
package with a piece of parchment stuck to it.
Hey, Harry!
We hope the muggles aren't getting you down! If they are, just let off a couple of 'strike-em-dumb-sours' and they won't bother you for the next few hours! And we'd like to thank you, because you're the inspiration for... dadadadaaah! Vanishing Creams! You'll find something- and that you're even more famous than you think!
You'll be visiting the Burrow soon, did Ron tell you? We'll have to have a big quidditch match- it'll be a blast! Bill's girlfriend's sister has bet us a spell that she could beat us in a match with you and us against her playing beater and seeker at the same time! We'll see you soon! We're off to go Percy-pranking. It's a new sport we invented. See you- Fred,
George
Harry couldn't help being a bit confused about the
vanishing stuff they had mentioned. He reached
farther inside the box to find a small vial full of some
green liquid with a label reading, "Vanishing Cream: a
simple, safe way to temporarily 'get rid of' those
annoying, unwanted, pimples, scars, cold sores, etc.."
There was a small post-it reading, "Have fun, Harry!"
He set it on his bedside table. It might come in handy
in Diagon Alley. There was also a badge reading, "VIP
pass in WWW." Harry knew he would definitely need
this in Diagon Alley.
The next package was from Hagrid. It was
a bunch of old French maps. Harry wasn't quite sure
why. He hurriedly opened the letter, hoping that his
worst fears were not met.
Harry!
How've yeh been? I'm doin' just fine. I'm off in France again, but not on Order-work. With all yer normal snoopin' this won't come as a shock, but I'm engaged to Madame Maxime! Yer definitely invited to the wedding! It'll be over Christmas holiday. I'll keep up me gamekeeper duties and teachin', don' worry. I'm givin' you these maps because after the weddin' I'm going to spend holidays in France. I'm going to stay gamekeeper, and keep me hut as a shed, but live in Hogsmeade. Olympe's gonna stay headmistress fer a while, but she might come teach here.
I 'spect to see yeh soon! Olympe sends regards, and I hope yer summer goes well.
-Hagrid
Harry finally reached the last package. It
was from Lupin. He opened it to find a bunch of
defense against the dark arts books, but no letter.
Maybe it had fallen off on the way. Harry happily
arranged all of his gifts. He'd have to ask the Dursleys
for permission to go with the Weasley's for the last
couple weeks of term. He sighed and went
downstairs. Another small argument with Uncle
Vernon was definitely worth a week with the
Weasleys. He entered the living room to find the
whole family sitting in front of the television in a
stupor. It was probably that movie, Breeding
Elephants in England! that Aunt Petunia had been
ranting on about because she used to go to school
with the director.
"Er- Uncle Vernon-" Harry said, breaking
the family out their trance.
"What, boy? Can't it wait? We're watching
a very important film!" Aunt Petunia said through
gritted teeth, obviously annoyed.
"Well, my friend wrote me asking if I could
come for the last week in term."
Uncle Vernon turned slowly in his
seat. "No!"
"But-"
"Boy, we're busy! You're not going to
some weirdo's house!"
Harry thoroughly regretted disturbing them
for the first time-really-ever. Then he got an idea. It
had worked once before, it could work again.
"Oh, well, Mad-Eye Moody said that if I
wasn't able to go, he'd come check up on me before
school starts. Is that all right?" Uncle Vernon seemed
able to put a face to the name "Mad-Eye Moody" and
spoke immediately, his face an ugly purple.
"Pack your things. Ask him if you can go
tomorrow." Harry was stunned.
"Wha- really?"
"Of course, boy! Don't be stupid! Tell him
that we don't give a damn if he takes you or not, just as
long as he doesn't set foot here!"
"All right." Harry nearly laughed. Uncle
Vernon's history showed him to be a very pathetic and
easily-scared man. Harry ran up to his room and
plopped down onto his bed. He picked up the Daily
Prophet copy from Hermione and began to read it. He
scanned the front page article about prospects for the
turnout of the (aghhh! I'm just going to say world cup.
We're going to pretend that people were so depressed
that the department of magical games and sports
decided to hold the world cup every year!) world cup
semifinals: Bulgaria again against
Japan. Supposedly there were so many
accidents and injuries that the tournament would be
held August 30th. Many of the Bulgarian and
Japanese team members were severely wounded and
would require a long time to recover. On the next
page, to his surprise, was an article by Rita Skeeter,
called "Gilderoy Lockhart's Fraudery." He read it for
laughs.
Not many people know that Gilderoy Fridlow Lockhart was a liar. It was discovered three weeks ago that he didn't do any of the brave deeds that he explained in his books. His books, such as Ghadding with Ghouls, Weekend with a Werewolf, and Magical Me were all autobiographies in which he constantly praised himself.
This was discovered when a warlock from Dunharrow said that he was in fact the slayer of the Bandon Banshee. Nobody believed this (or rather wanted to believe this) until other people said similar things. They accused Lockhart, who, after a year teaching at Hogwarts is now in St. Mungo's permanent ailment ward after a memory charm backfired, of charming them after learning about what they had done. Apparently the charms wore off..."
Harry quit reading. It was all rubbish he
already knew.
He turned to the advertisement page and his jaw
dropped. There was an advertisement for World Cup
Tickets. It read:
"Quidditch World Cup Tickets; advance
bargain top box tickets - book by August 3rd and
reserve up to five seats per party! Only 30 galleons!"
This definitely topped off Harry's day. He practically
dove into the loose floorboard in his room and took out
a huge money bag which he had been meaning to
reserve for a treat. He had allowed him some extra
spending money for random things last year and had
saved quite a bit, so he decided that he would treat
himself- and a few others. He felt a bit guilty spending
so much money, but he was doing quite a good deed.
Who would come, though? Bill and Charlie would
probably be too busy. Mr. Weasley and Professor
Lupin wouldn't be able to go either- what if there was
an emergency in the middle of the game? Well, the
twins could come. That would work.
Harry grabbed a piece of parchment, scrawled down
the required information, and stuck this to a
disposable satchel with the money Harry quickly
attached the note to Hedwig's leg and bade her
goodbye.
"Safe Travels, Hedwig," Harry murmured
as his owl took flight. He watched as the bird
swooped out of sight, above the gray tiled roofs of
Privet Drive. Harry turned back to his gifts. He sat
down on his bed and switched on the lamp. As Harry
turned to retrieve the Auror's Guide book from the
table, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. There
was his scar, disturbing as ever. He turned away and
opened the book to the first chapter, entitled, "The
Auror Divisions."
"Wow," Harry said. "Look at this..." He
flipped the pages, astonished. "I never knew..."
The first thing to note about being an Auror is that there are many divisions, each with its own requirements in school exams and post- school training. There are very few sorts involved with out of country work. The British division of this group has probably accepted the most people in the past twenty years out of any other division: 24 students- 19 men, 5 women, natives of 12 countries in all, majority of them from our own British Isles. Although their names are undisclosed in this book due to M.O.M. law, their records are held in the main office. The location of the main office is also kept secret, but its public office can be reached by port- door in the Ministry building.
Contrary to common belief, there are many different classifications of Aurors: most widely known are the dark wizard catchers, then the spies, secret agents, defenders (bodyguards), special services for defending, secret keeping, charming, stealth, tracking, establishing bases in foreign countries, rescue missions, etc. Probably dark wizard catchers are most common as many are needed to finding You-Know-Who at the moment. The most difficult and selective divisions involve charming and secret keeping. Often they find themselves in very dangerous positions, and only two people have been taken on in the past twenty years, and both are believed to have either died or been murdered on the job. However, there are still two professional secret keepers living who were taken on within the past one hundred and thirty years. Both are supposed to be in good health at the moment.
Harry had a very good idea of who all of
these four people were. He shut the book and set it
aside. He glanced at his clock and saw that it read
7:00. Aunt Petunia would probably want him to make
dinner. He proceeded downstairs, but on his way
collided with a very big mass of pale skin, topped with
a piggish face and blonde hair.
"Why if it isn't our ickle boxing champion-
Dudley the Dull." Harry muttered. "That stupid
movie's finished, then?"
"It wasn't stupid, that woman's famous,
and mum says that she could help me get into ________ (insert crap university name here) on a boxing scholarship."
"Yes, Dudley," Harry said
scathingly. "That's just about the only way you'd ever
get in anywhere." Dudley looked as though he was
about to punch Harry. "You'd better not do anything,
Dud, or you won't get any dinner." Dudley looked as
though it was taking a lot of effort for him to turn
around and walk down the stairs. Harry took this
chance to run back upstairs to his room. He quickly
bolted the door shut. He wasn't panting, but his face
was all sweaty. He shook his head; he was becoming
paranoid.
'After all the experiences I've had, I can't
really blame myself,' a voice inside his head said. He
had to say that he agreed.
It was getting rather late, and Harry
supposed that he would get to sleep early after
reading some of his Martin Miggs comics and eating
some of the cake. He took off his glasses and
switched off his lamp. It's been a really good birthday,
Harry thought.
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