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Harry potter stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes. He was lying in a narrow bed in the corner of the smallest room of number four privet drive.
He had been dreaming, dreaming about his home. Not the place where he stayed for part of every summer with the Dursleys, no. He would never call that his home. He was dreaming of his real home. A magical castle with its tall turrets and long corridors. Moving staircases and talking pictures. Single paned windows and floating ghosts. He was dreaming about his school; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He got off of his bed and crossed the floor to his window. A cage, occupied by a snowy owl, stood on a table by the window. Hedwig, his only friend at Privet Drive, opened her enormous, round eyes in greeting. He stroked her head appreciatively. He opened the cage door and carried her towards the window. She soared out of the window into the frigid night, and Harry, wishing he could fly off with her, turned and headed toward the door.
He looked at his desk. His recently finished Potions essay and an unfinished model of a Sneak-o-Scope lay scattered over the surface. He noticed the alarm clock which stated that he had been 17 for 2 and a half hours!
He savored the feeling of finally being the age to use magic outside of school—legally! He decided to go downstairs for a late night snack; he snatched up his wand and descended the stairs, skipping the squeaky stair near the landing. He entered the kitchen and received quite a shock. A rather large, blubbery bottom was in full view. Dudley Dursley's large mass was bent over in the fridge and Harry swore he heard grunting noises.
He cleared his throat abruptly and a dish clattered to the floor.
"Well, well, well," Harry said smugly, "with the farmers at bay, the pig shall play!—that's you Dudders, in case your as dense as I think you are."
Dudley Dursley had been placed on yet another diet by his school nurse. So, he had taken to raiding the fridge at midnight, and letting the blame fall upon Harry in the morning.
Dudley grunted, "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you." He said with his mouth full of lasagna.
"And why shouldn't I be cocky, diddykins?" Harry questioned his cousin, his hands itching to whip out his wand and curse Dudley into oblivion—revenge for the 16 years of pain and torture Dudley and his gang had forced Harry to endure.
"I'm the Under19 Senior Boxing Champion in Surrey, don't you know?"
Harry decided to be a bit cheeky with Dudley.
"Yes, well, I'm the Under19 Senior Wizarding Champion in Surrey."
"But y-you c-c-can't use Th-that against m-me… y-you'll be expelled!"
"Not any more, I'm 17 now Dud, I'm an adult, and according to wizarding law I can do this!" He whipped out his wand and said carefully, "Wingardium Leviosa." Suddenly and a cherry pie flew out of the fridge, rose about 7 feet and fell down with a splat on Dudley's round, pink face.
Suddenly two fat hands reached out from nowhere and wrapped themselves around Harry's throat. "Drop it!" A voice whispered from behind him, "Drop it now!"
"Let go!" Harry managed to choke out, gripping the pair of hands in an attempt to pry them from around his neck.
All of a sudden Uncle Vernon hollered in pain and removed his hands from Harry's throat. They were red and raw as if they had been burnt, but that didn't calm his uncle down. He continued to glare at Harry. "How dare you!" He screamed at him, his face now a magnificent shade of purple, "How dare you use that…that… that you-know-what in this house! How can you! They'll expel you, that freak school of yours. They'll expel you for using that…that freak stuff!"
Harry struggled not to laugh at Vernon's rambling. He really just didn't care anymore. He could use magic now; he didn't have to take this! No more ill treatment. No more doing homework in the dark of the night, no more torture, no more ridicule! He'd had enough!
"SHUT…UP" Harry shouted over his uncle's voice. He looked at Harry in disbelief.
"Uh……y…" Vernon was speechless.
"Finally!" Harry said breathing a sigh of relief, "I was wondering when you were going to shut up!" He rolled his eyes. "Now, Vernon, to make a long story short I can now do magic legally outside of school, so a few things are going to change around here!" Harry said, a sly smile playing at his lips, "It's a new day and it's a tight ship were running here! I'm tired so I'm going back to bed but I will make a list of demands for you to fulfill in the morning"
"I will do no such thing!" Vernon said.
"Oh I think you'll change your mind, actually, you'd better change your mind or else I'll be delighted to put on a magic show for the neighbors!" Harry smiled sweetly, loving the look on his uncle's face! He knew that he couldn't really use magic irresponsibly in front of the neighbors, but taunting his uncle was just too hard to resist.
"Goodnight all! Have fun cleaning this mess up. And I expect it to be clean when I awake—just so you know" Harry went to the fridge picked up the last cherry pie and hit his uncle in the face with it. He laughed, "I've always wanted to do that!" Then he picked up an apple and returned to his room slamming the door behind him.
Harry awoke for the second time that morning, feeling thoroughly pleased with himself. The first thing he noticed was a small pile of parcels at the foot of his bed and he knew immediately where they had come from. He looked at Hedwig's cage and saw a sleeping pigwidgeon. Hedwig hooted alerting Harry to her presence atop his wardrobe.
Harry picked up the first parcel and read the note attached to it. He recognized Ron's handwriting even before he opened it.
Dear Harry,
Happy birthday mate! Can you believe it? Were finally of age! Mum's been talking to Dumbledore about getting you out of that place. I bet you're having the time of your life now that you can use magic on their fat asses.
Oh and guess what! We're going for our apparition test as soon as you get to the burrow. Fred and George are going to give us some pointers. And speaking of Fred and George they moved out of their apartment above their joke shop. They've met a pair of twins and are moving in with them! Mum doesn't approve. They're still going to visit a lot though.
Hope you enjoy your present. I've got to go, Ginny's rushing me so she can send her parcel to you.wink wink
See you soon
Ron.
Harry smiled as he read the part about Ginny. After all that time, they'd finally gotten together at the end of Harry's sixth year. He finally realized that she was more than a friend to him when they battled a group of Voldemort's Death Eaters, side by side, before the summer break.
Ginny was young and in-experienced, but Harry saw her true potential when she took down Avery, Nott, and an escaped Malfoy. Her fiery red hair, from what Harry could see, matched nothing to the fire inside her. She emitted a glow, full of warmth and life and that was what attracted Harry most to her.
He snapped back to reality since he was in Ginny-land—a place he'd been visiting a lot this summer. He hastily opened Ron's gift- a kit from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. "Kloning Klay Kit" The instructions said to model the clay into whoever you wanted to clone, get a piece of D.N.A. from them (hair, nails etc.) then say the spell enclosed on a slip of parchment inside. He smiled at the very cool gift his best friend had given to him.
He put it aside and lifted a rather small parcel. A note with Ginny's handwriting was attached. He hurriedly read his girlfriends note.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday. I miss you so much. I can't believe we've been together for a whole month. I hope you love this gift as much as I love the idea of it. Anyway, enjoy.
Love,
Ginny.
"Short and sweet huh? I though she'd at least say a bit more." Harry complained.
He opened the parcel and saw a red banded watch fall out, or at least, he though it was a watch. He looked a bit closer and realized it was a band with a face that resembled that of a watch. He hadn't realized a piece of paper in the parcel… a closer look confirmed that it was another note of Ginny's.
Hi Harry,
I've just come back from Diagon Alley with mum. This is a two way communicator. It's sort of like those muggle "Wickie Walkies" Dad told me. You say the spell along with the name of the person wearing the second matching band of the set and a holographic image of the person's head materializes over the screen. The spell is "communius replectus" Now we can communicate with each other even if your not in the burrow (even though you'll be here soon) and guess what? I hope you like this bit! It works in Hogwarts! Happy Birthday!
Love
Ginny
"Wow Ginny!" Harry whispered, overjoyed at the thought of communicating with his girlfriend even when she was miles away. He decided to try it out a little later lest he looked overly eager.
He set Ginny's gift aside and picked up the last parcel. It was rather heavy and thick. He opened the note that was attached, it was from Hermione;
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! How are you? I hope its not too bad staying with the Dursleys. I'm vacationing with my family in the Isle of Majorca, but I'll be in burrow around the end of the holiday. I hope you'll be able to be there. Anyway about your gift, Harry, it's high time you read this. I've sent one to Ron too so both of you will have something to read over the holidays and, during the school year too!
On a more serious note Harry, I urge you, as your friend, please be responsible when using your magic. I know you must be delighted to finally be of age, but Harry, do be careful in front of muggles. Happy birthday!
Love
Hermione
"Typical Hermione" thought Harry, "couldn't she have just wished me happy birthday and sent my gift?" He sighed and shook his head. Harry put the letter aside and picked up the parcel that seemed to way a ton. He unwrapped it and was not surprised when he saw what was inside it. Inside the colorful gift paper lay a thick hard covered book entitled "Hogwart,s A History"
Harry had to laugh. Hermione had been bothering him about reading this book ever since he'd met her. "It's high time you read this" he recalled a line from her letter. Maybe she was right, maybe he would read it. Besides torturing the Dursleys and talking to Ginny he really had nothing else to fill out his day. A little reading might do him good, but not now. He put down the book, got out his wand and ignoring Hermione's warning, went downstairs to have a little fun with the Dursleys.
