Harry was enjoying his Dursley free weekend. He was locked in his cupboard before they left but with his new wand, it mattered not. The Dursleys were going to be gone from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. Harry had nearly two and a half days free of them and he had never been more productive. The first day, Harry went through the house, especially the sofa, and found all of the spare money that the Dursleys wouldn't know about. He took this money and he went food shopping. He normally just took from the fridge and pantry but they would notice a lot of food missing when they weren't home to eat. Harry had gone shopping by himself enough that the grocer knew him and didn't blink at the sight of a nine year old buying groceries.

After he went shopping, Harry still had a decent amount remaining. He tucked it away in his cupboard. He took his groceries and left them in their bags. That way Harry wouldn't accidentally mess up the amount of food in the house. It was still relatively early in the afternoon and so Harry grabbed his whittling tools and his bird in progress. The afternoon air was warm enough to just sit and relax. There were birds chirping and it gave Harry an idea. He went to the shed and brought out a bag of bird seed. He scattered the seed in front of him. It was close enough for him to study the birds but far enough to not scare them. Harry had to sit still for a couple of minutes but soon enough they pecked at the seed. Harry looked at the birds and then at the chunk of wood in his hands. He grabbed the larger knife and started on the bigger details. He focused on the body and making the general shape. Harry thought about what a bird looked like and how they sounded. He thought about the birds in front of him and how his bird would be just like them.

Harry moved onto the head and thought about making a beak just like theirs. The beak and head were easy enough. In some parts of the wood carving, the wood resisted him. Harry knew from the books that grain direction was incredibly important. Harry needed to carve in the same direction of the grain to make it easier but in some parts, Harry needed to go against the grain. The cuts were easier and Harry only made a handful of nicks on his hands. Every time Harry nicked his fingers, he took a break. Harry didn't mind bleeding but the blood was getting on the wood and changing its color. Harry carved the wings as if the bird was in flight. The feathers didn't have much detail but the shape looked good. Harry thought about how even though his bird was made of wood, it should still be able to fly. Even though his bird will be able to fly, Harry still wanted the bird to come with him on adventures. His bird will stay with him and maybe it could deliver messages! Harry's thoughts guiding his magic in animating the bird.

Soon Harry was working on his feet. It was much harder than any other part of the bird due to their thinness. If Harry carved too much wood away then the bird wouldn't be able to stand on them. By the time that Harry was finished, the sun had set and the other birds had taken flight. Harry held the bird in his hands and as he finished carving out little eyes for the bird. Harry set the bird down to see if it could stand on its own. But as soon as Harry set the bird down, it came to life. It chirped and flapped its wings as if to test them. It shook its body and then gazed up at him.

Harry was frozen in shock. The bird chirped again and flew up to him. When it landed on his shoulder, Harry shook off his shock.

"Hey little fella. How well do you think I did? Are your wings sturdy enough?" The bird chirped in reply then took flight. It flew in circles and landed in the hand that Harry stretched out. Since it was dark out, Harry decided that they would try talking to the other birds tomorrow.

"Let's go inside and tomorrow we'll see how the rest of the flock react to you tomorrow, okay?"

Harry went inside and started fixing himself a sandwich. Harry ate half and put the rest back in the fridge. Even half of a sandwich made him uncomfortably full but Harry wanted to get in the habit of eating regularly.

Laying down for the night, Harry made a little nest on his shelf for his bird.

"You'll sleep here. Is the nest good?"

The bird didn't reply but instead nestled in for the night. Harry kept his cupboard door open and slept comfortably.

As the sun rose, Harry stretched out and wiped the sleep from his eyes. First step, breakfast. Harry went to his bag of groceries and grabbed some eggs and ham. Harry got the pan that he needed for breakfast. His bird woke up with the noise and flew to the kitchen. It landed on the counter and eyed Harry's eggs reproachfully.

"Oh…are you okay with me eating eggs? That's a bit messed up now that I think about it." Harry scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact. The bird chirped and turned away from him. Harry looked at the eggs. "Well the eggs can't hatch anyway so it'll be a waste if I don't eat them, right?" The bird didn't respond. Slowly, Harry grabbed the eggs and cracked them into the pan with the ham. Cooking up the eggs and ham were easy enough. Harry served them and made sure to wash all of the dishes he used and put them away in their spots. He grabbed a bit of bread and turned to his bird.

"Can I interest you in some bread?" The bird chirped and pecked at it. Looks like he has been forgiven. Harry breathed out a sigh. After the breakfast had been eaten, Harry stood and went to the backyard.

Now comes the important part of the day! Harry was going to see how realistic his bird was. Harry called his bird over. He once again spread the seed over the yard and waited for birds to arrive. At first they didn't notice the bird.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

His bird jumped off his shoulder and landed near the other birds. It let out a handful of chirps. The other birds just looked at it. Then one bird chirped back. Soon a cacophony of bird chirps were filling the air. The other birds slowly got closer to his bird. One of the bolder birds approached and pecked at it. Startled, his bird took a few steps back and seemed to yell at it. Scolded, the bold bird flew away. It had many minutes when the birds all resumed their previous behavior. They ate the seed and didn't treat Harry's bird any different.

Harry once again felt his hands itch for a notebook. He needed to record his findings! Soon Harry realized a solution. He asked for his second wand to have the ability to take him away from the Dursleys so maybe he can use it to go to a store that has notebooks. Also if he is going shopping then he should find a store that has more wood like the block he used for his bird.

Harry ran inside and grabbed the wand. He put the money from yesterday into his pockets and looked around to see if he should grab anything else.

"Do you want to come with me?" His wooden bird just tilted its head and hopped away. Guess it didn't want to come with him.

Harry held the wand and focused on arriving at a store that had notebooks and pens and wood for carving. Harry felt a rushing sensation in his ears and then a POP sound happened. He opened his eyes and realized that he was standing on a sidewalk. He was outside a store and Harry was confident that this was the one that he needed.

He walked into the store and smelled strong scents of cinnamon. At the front of the store there were many wreaths and other holiday decorations. Harry walked further in and saw many arts and crafts materials. Paper with different colors, gluesticks, poster boards, stickers, different yarn, and many other things. Harry was overwhelmed by the sheer variety offered. He wandered many aisles and he had no clue of how he was going to find what he needed.

"Can I help you find something?" It was a man with a green apron and a nametag that read 'John'.

"Uh…I am looking for blocks of wood and a notebook."

"The notebook is easy enough but you'll have to be more specific on what kind of wood you're looking for."

"Something for, uh, whittling or wood carving."

The man nodded. "Follow me!"

They arrived at an aisle full of notebooks. There were plain ones that were similar to the ones he used in school but towards the end there were more decorative notebooks. Harry looked around.

"Yeah, we sure do have a wide assortment. Are you looking for a notebook for class or?"

"I want a notebook to keep track of my whittling projects. I want to write down what I make and maybe the results."

John walked down the aisle, "These notebooks are great for journal taking. They have a bookmark built in and each page has a section for the date, weather, day of the week, and a title. It might be nice to write down that information to remember what you carve that day and what it was like. They are also soft bound and small so you can carry it around and it is more sturdy than school notebooks." John handed a small brown one to Harry.

The cover was both smooth and soft. There was even a small decorative tree on the cover. Holding it in his hand, Harry loved it.

"This is perfect!"

"Great! Now for the tricky part. Wood selection."

John led him down a couple of more aisles and Harry smelled the aisle before they arrived. When they got there, Harry was in awe. There were so many shapes and sizes! Even the colors were different.

"So I take it that you have never gone shopping for wood."

It wasn't a question but Harry shook his head, "I had a kit and there were two chunks of wood that already came with it. I also tried carving a couple of sticks, but I wanted something bigger again."

John nodded, "Since you're a beginner you might want to start with some softer woods like Balsa or Basswood. Some people also use pine because it is pretty cheap. I can tell you some information about each of the woods and then you can choose what you want. Balsa wood is pretty traditional and it's a soft wood. It is a bit more expensive though. Basswood is considered the wood for most carvers and whittlers. It is also a soft wood and the grain is nearly nonexistent. This is even more expensive than Balsa but most whittlers think it's worth it. THe final wood, pine, is the cheapest. It can be more tricky to whittle though. It has a lot of tricky grain directions and we only have dried out pine which is harder to carve."

Harry's head felt like it was spinning. SO MUCH INFORMATION!

John looked at Harry's expression and smiled, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in. If you have enough money then you should definitely get both Balsa and Basswood."

Harry looked at the price of the notebook, the woods, and then he checked his pockets. Smiling, Harry asked for a chunk of both Balsa and Basswood.

"Thank you for your help in choosing woods. I don't think any of my books explained it as good as you did. It is a bit confusing."

"No problem, kid. It's literally my job, but I also love helping a fellow whittler."

"You also whittle? So which wood is your favorite?"

John paused at the question and thought for a bit, "I really think that it depends on what I am whittling. But I think I might lean more towards Basswood, there is a reason why so many whittlers favor it."

Harry paid and left. Next time Harry needed something for whittling he was definitely coming back here. Harry held his bag tightly and grabbed his wand from his back pocket. It was now time to see if his wand could take him back home.

He held the wand and thought strongly about 4 Privet Drive. Once again Harry heard a POP. Opening his eyes, Harry once again looked at his living room. It was too late to carve his new wood so Harry put them away. Guess he might as well eat dinner.