Chapter 3)
Tonks was trying to wriggle her way through one of the window slots, despite the fact that it was only a miniscule rectangle. Harry began to help pull her into the window, until they both plopped unto the ground.
"Why didn't you just come through the front door Tonks?" asked Harry
"I'm trying to use more muggle like means of transportation instead of apparating everywhere that I go. Training for the order," replied Tonks.
"Well now you're going to be turned into a frog, we have to go tell Ms. Figg right now," spat Harry hastily.
"Calm down Harry, Arabella saw me through her window, I even waved at her as I began to crawl into your window. Plus I thought climbing through the window is just a bit more exciting than walking through the front door," remarked Tonks.
"Whatever you say," replied Harry as he realized that he was only dressed in his skivvies. He saw Tonks glance down at him, and he ran to the side of the bed where he threw his clothing. Hastily, he pulled on his pants, now too embarrassed to look at his visitor.
"So, you might be interested in what I have to tell you," said Tonks.
"Yeah, I am," replied Harry as he became a little bit more comfortable. He sat on the side of his bed as Tonks fell down onto the desk chair.
"As it turned out, there was nothing that Dumbledore could do about your usage of magic. He said that maybe you could plead self-defense, you know against the storm. But he said that would probably not work since you have broken the underage rule so many times. Sorry Harry," said Tonks as she thumbed her hair.
Harry felt a twinge of panic but then remembered about the odd letter that he had received not too long ago.
"You know, I received a really odd letter earlier this evening," said Harry, as he shuffled to give it to her.
As Tonks read the letter, her eyes became wider at every word, until she finally was through.
"The Ministry of Magic is the signature? How weird," replied Tonks. "Usually Cornelius or Mafilda or someone else of the like will be the one to sign the letters. Never is it the Ministry of Magic simply," explained Tonks.
"I know. I agree with you about the letter being strange. I wonder if it's real or a fake," said Harry.
"No it is definitely a real letter, see if it was a fake your wand would have already been destroyed by now. Consider yourself lucky. I wish that I was the one who had gotten you out of this mess but I guess you have a special guardian bigger than Dumbledore, since he couldn't even help you," said Tonks with levity. Harry wished that he could think about this situation lightheartedly but he felt as if something was just not right.
"Well Harry, I believe that I will now take my leave. And you should try and get plenty sleep, big day tomorrow" said Tonks as she stood up from her chair.
"What is it about tomorrow, I don't kn-," started Harry before he was interrupted.
"I'm not telling," retorted Tonks with a girlish grin.
"Alright bye," said Harry as Tonks disappeared with a pop.
Harry once again slipped into bed with an even heavier mind. Before, he thought that maybe Dumbledore had something to do with his good luck, however now the letter remains a mystery. And mysteries involving Harry Potter are never positive or what they seem. After contemplating many different elements of his life, Harry finally drifted off to sleep...
"Alright we have thirty minutes until we have to get back unto the bus to Hogwarts. We have time to go to one more store," shouted Ron over the Hogsmeade crowd and chatter. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Cho, and other members of Dumbledore's Army, a self-made defense club started by Harry and peers, ran along the cobblestone path.
"It's about to storm big time," shouted Luna to the group. Everyone looked up at the sky. The sky was turning gray pretty steadily and rain began to sprinkle down upon the grounds.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks and grab a few butterbeers. Quick, it is about to pour down," proposed Dean as the group began to run up along the long cobblestone street.
Harry jogged along with his friends, until he began to notice that they were running a little faster than him. He began to fasten his step, but the faster he got the more rapid they became. He eventually had to run at top speed, however, they ran so fast that he was not physically able to catch up with them.
"Wait up guys," screamed Harry, however no one looked back, but seemed to speed up.
Harry stopped to catch his breath and watched his friends as they ran up the long and winding cobblestone hill to the butterbeer bar. Not only had his friends been moving fast, it seemed as if everyone was moving a little faster, leaving him more and more alone with time.
Harry looked down at his legs, however they looked normal. He wondered why he could not catch up with his friends and why had they left him. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes as he stared into the sky. Round and round he began to spin. He tried to catch his balance, however it was a futile attempt as he began to sway. The sky got darker and moodier, lightning bolts piercing the ebony clouds. Harry continued to sway, his eyes transfixed upon the sky, until he began to fall.
He didn't fall unto the ground however, but into the sky. He was twirling and spinning and screaming as he fell deeper and deeper into the dark sky. Lightning bolts struck all around him as he spun up. His hair became matted to his face and his glasses fell from his hands. Harry screamed louder and louder until he realized that he would never see the light of another day...
"Harry! Harry wake up! HARRY!" exclaimed Arabella. It was the following morning and the sun was just beginning to creep into the guest room. Harry was thrashing wildly in his bed while screaming at the top of his lungs.
Harry abruptly opened his eyes and continued to scream, however at a lower volume. When he calmed down, he just laid still staring at the dust particles illuminated by the beam of sunlight streaming onto his face.
"Did you have a nightmare Harry?" asked Arabella
"I don't know how to explain what just happened to me. It seemed so real. I've had nightmares in the past but none so real. I'm sorry if I startled you Ms. Figg," answered Harry.
"That's okay. I've made breakfast Harry, so go ahead and freshen up. Griddle cakes, smoked sausage links, coddled eggs, and a tall glass of OJ's waiting on you. Come on Harry, it was only a nightmare, you'll forget about it soon," said Arabella. She stood up from the side of Harry's bed and walked down the hall into the kitchen. Once inside the kitchen, she slowly shook her head in pity. She believed that Harry was at the receiver's end of awful and destructive luck.
Harry fell back into bed and began to think about his dream. It seemed so real. So real…so real…and very scary… He stood up and traipsed to the bathroom. After throwing three handfuls of cold water onto his face, he realized that he was extremely hungry. He hadn't been able to eat any of his food, which happened to be stuffed under loose floorboards in his room at the Dursley's.
The steps creaked and croaked as Harry practically ran down them to the kitchen table. What he saw was when he reached it was a terribly horrid surprise.
All three of the Dursley's were seated at the small table, looking very agitated and flustered. Harry hesitantly sat down at the table along with his family.
"Alright, it now seems as if everyones here. So let's eat," she said as she sat at the table next to Harry and Aunt Petunia.
"Oh. I think I've made a mistake," exclaimed Arabella, "Harry was supposed to get the biggest plate. He missed dinner yesterday you know," remarked Arabella as she switched Harry's plate with Dudley's. After making this move, Dudley wore a look of pure surprise that transformed into one of loathing.
"Ummm, Arabella," said Uncle Vernon, "my son is a boxer, he needs full breakfasts, more than that mena- uhhh Harry," explained Uncle Vernon as he attempted to switch their plates once more. As the plated were being moved, Arabella quickly popped Vernon's hands with a wooden spoon. He quickly released the plates and let out a loud AHEM and an abrupt sorry.
"I believe that this is my house Vernon," explained Arabella "and inside of my house today, Harry gets the largest portion of food. While speaking of Harry, I called you all this morning and arranged for breakfast because I was curious as to why Harry felt the need to retreat to my house yesterday," said Arabella with a rather sharp tone.
Harry knew that his Uncle would have to make up an explanation, and a good one at that. After all he didn't know that Arabella was affiliated with magic, she was as 'normal' as him for all he knew. And because of that, he did not want to make himself or his family look bad.
"Well, I asked Harry to look outside and fetch, uhhh I mean get the garbage bins that had rolled down the street. I thought that Harry had simply gone to a friend's house or something. I had no idea that Harry was in some type of danger. I would have got the pails myself if I had've known that would be the result," chucked out Vernon, now turning red from his obvious lie. "I'm sorry if you've been inconvienced," said Uncle Vernon. After speaking that blatant and outright lie, Uncle Vernon gave Harry a look that spoke a thousand words.
"Well, I hope that next time, Harry shouldn't be put into that type of dangerous situation. But from what you said, it's not your fault. I know that you're a responsible man who wouldn't ever let harm touch his family. Eat up now," said Arabella. She felt as if she had got the message across to her neighbors and that she expected them to be a little bit more humane than previous times. However Harry knew that it would take more than a scolding and a pop on the hand with a wooden spoon to transform his relatives. It would take a miracle.
"So, Harry," started Aunt Petunia, "are you feeling alright…from yesterday, you know your dear Aunt cares about you," asked Petunia, giving a quick glance at Arabella. Her neck was long and her back unnaturally straight, Harry knew that she was putting on airs to save face.
"Uhhhh, yeah, I'm great, glad to know you care," replied Harry, dripping with sugary sarcasm.
Dudley was sitting in his chair, cracking his knuckles and rubbing his brows after a hearty breakfast, he was pretty ecstatic about having received a full meal instead of the bird meals he was used to at home,
"Can we come here every morning Ms. uhh Figg?" asked Dudley.
"Dudley, you know that you can't come over here in the mornings," replied Petunia.
"But I get to eat over here, and as a matter of fact, if you don't start feeding me, I'm going to have make a special little appointment with child social services; I'm being neglected you know," said Dudley with an upturned nose and a quiet "hmmmph."
"Quiet up Dudley, and thanks Miss Figg for the food, it was interesting but I believe that we are going to be going now," said Vernon as he stood up, scraping the chair against the wooden kitchen floor. The rest of his family did the same except for Harry. He was still sitting down in his chair, looking down at his finished ceramic plate. His mind had left the sight of his scrapped coddled eggs and had once again entered the realm of his past dream. He had never had one like it. Memories of dark clouds and running feet, striking lightning…falling against gravity…cluttered his mind.
"Harry, you didn't hear me call you? Let's go. Bye again Ms. Figg," said Vernon as he left the cluttered kitchen.
"Yeah, bye Ms. Figg, thanks again for yesterday, I wish I didn't have to leave and go back there," said Harry after his family had left the room.
"Take care Harry and remember don't let them get you down and stop pondering over that dream, it was only what it was, a bad dream. Get some rest," said Petunia as Harry left the kitchen,
He knew that he should probably take Arabella's advice and stop mulling over the details of his nightmare but he couldn't, the dream was just too eerie. It wasn't scary but it wasn't pleasant either…far from it; it was disconcerting.
"I always did think that she was a batty old lady," spoke out Vernon as Harry and his family walked to the car.
"She had the nerve to invite us to breakfast while her hair rollers were still tangled into that bird nest of hers. How horrid," replied Petunia.
"I like her," simply replied Dudley as he gave his enlargened belly a pat.
Now their true colors return thought Harry as he followed them to the car.
