Chapter 2
Having been unable to continue starting his homework, Harry had decided to owl Ron to find out when he could visit him at the Burrow. He wrote:
Dear Ron,
Your brothers told me about the Self
Apparator. Can I come over tomorrow
(Thursday) around twelve to one P.M.?
Where should I meet you?
Harry
As he watched Hedwig soar out of site into the milky night, Harry felt a surge of happiness at the prospect of an interesting summer.
This'll be the best summer yet, he thought, purposely forgetting about last summer. I'll escape from right under the Dursley's nose while they get pranked to the fullest extent. I don't even care if they kill me after the school year. It would be worth it.
With that last thought Harry fell asleep right at his desk. He then started to get up from the floor, and, looking up, saw that Bellatrix had sent a jet of bright red light that went for Sirius. He tried to call out, but nothing came out. The jet hit him square in the chest. If only if he could stop his fall, he could block him from the curtain. He was still falling- there was still time-then he fell through, never to be seen again….
Harry woke up to the hard sensation of just having ridden the Knight's bus, and had found that he actually was on the floor. His heart was beating faster than he would have thought possible, and he breathing was shallow and quick.
And at once he remembered why he had woken up this way. Last night he had been so preoccupied with the next night's events that he didn't even worry about having any dreams. He wondered why he kept having them, but couldn't think of any logical explanation.
As he got up, Harry wondered what time it was. He was sure that the Dursleys wouldn't care if he showed up for breakfast or not: it wasn't like they wouldn't be happy if he starved to death.
So Harry decided to eat a Pumpkin Pasty that he had brought back with him from the Hogwarts Express. As he did, he thought of what he needed to do before he left for the Burrow.
Orla had asked for a list of what he did. Now that he thought of it, he didn't even know. He might have thought that he just tolerated it, but he realized that he did many other things. He usually threatened them with magic if they threatened him, and he normally annoyed them by agreeing with them, though he wasn't sure how that affected them. He also normally went to his room and started trying to start his homework, or else wrote a letter (not about his problems) to somebody. He hadn't realized that there were actually things that he regularly did. So he wrote them down.
As he was thinking about what to do next, Harry saw about three barn owls flying towards his window. Noticing that it was closed, he quickly got up and opened it. Too many times Errol, Ron's family owl, crashed into his window after his long flight there.
One owl landed on his arm, one in his lap, and the last next to him on the windowsill. At once all started to peck at him, each trying to give him their own letter first. As he reached for the one on his arm, the other two just increased their effort of damaging him. Harry then grabbed the one next to him, ran towards his closet, and shut the door behind him before the other ones followed him.
The contents of the letter just disgusted him. It was only two weeks into the summer holidays, and Hermione seemed to expect him to have done some of his homework.
As he threw the letter aside, Harry braced himself for retrieving the next owl without getting himself seriously hurt. But, as he raced out towards the window, he found that the other two owls were taking turns at drinking out of Hedwig's water dish-peacefully.
Harry edged warily toward them, wondering whether sudden movements triggered them. As he neared them, he reached out for the one nearest to him and gently picked it up. It didn't seem to mind, so he started untying the scroll attached to it. He read:
Dear Harry,
You haven't even touched
Your homework, you know.
And you've been destroying
all of the letters I've sent you,
I can tell. I put a Flimane charm
on each one, to tell how long you
held them, and after the first one
they were about two seconds each.
You really should get started on
your homework, you know. You
could get behind again, just like
last year, and the year before
that, now that I think of it. Actually,
you've always…………………………...
…………………………………………………..
…………………………………… …………..
Harry didn't even bother to read the rest, no matter how true it might be. He couldn't stand it when Hermione pestered him about his schoolwork. It's not like he didn't have enough time. He wondered if he should tell her about the Self Apparator.
I'll think about it another time, he thought.
He was in the process of throwing the letter away and reaching for the next one to do the same, when he thought better of it: it might just anger the owl. What he read was a complete oddity. Quickly scrawled, it read:
Dear Mrs. Beligite,
No matter what the circumstances,
don't take the post. If you do, an
innumerable amount of misfortunes
may come to rest upon you. I hope
you enjoy them.
As Harry had no idea whatsoever who Mrs. Beligite was, and of what post the letter was talking of. For all he knew, it could be a fence post.
I must have gotten the wrong owl, is all, thought Harry, though he thought he should save it to show Ron and Hermione anyway.
When he thought that he would have no more of his fluffy, yet vicious, visitors, Harry saw yet another owl flying towards him. In fact, the swaying barn owl was Errol. Harry quickly threw out his arms and caught the owl, who seemed to stagger while flying, in mid fall. He took off the letter as quickly as possible while trying not to tip the precariously perched owl. He read the note quickly.
Dear Harry,
Meet me in the backyard
at 12 to 1 o' clock tonight.
I'll make sure nobody'll
be disturbed.
Ron
Harry put the note in his trunk along with the other ones he collected (not including Hermione's pestering ones). He didn't want the Dursley's to be seeing any of his conversations with the wizarding world, though he doubted that they would want to.
As Harry was deciding what to do yet again, he realized that he had better clean up and put away his stuff before he had to leave for Ron's. He hadn't noticed that his stuff was cluttering the room up, though he didn't really care.
After he had an old backpack from Dudley filled with only the things that he would need in the course of about two to three days, he sat back down and examined what was in it. He had put his wand (just in case), his broom (sticking out), and some clothes. He guessed that he should leave Hedwig here, though he didn't really want to. He knew she was out hunting right now, and would ask Orla to take care of Hedwig when she got back.