Harry Potter and the Emerald Raindrop

AkashaWinters

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potterverse. Anyone who doesn't know that should be exiled to Mars. I only make exceptions for poor people in remote corners the world who cannot read and don't have the money to buy the over priced 1,000 page books. I'm not making any money from my poor attempt at fanfiction. Also for this page, Joan Aiken wrote A Necklace of Raindrops and I do not own any of the rights.

Chapter 3

The Manor

Harry gazed up at the approaching Manor. It was truly impressive. It was very old and very large, with numerous turrets, which reminded Harry strongly of Hogwarts. There was a buzz of magic coming from the ground beneath them and Harry could almost see faint tendrils of colour seeping out of the ancient stones, although the magic was faint in comparison to that of Hogwarts or Diagon Alley.

Magic was not a living being, but none the less it was alive. It was like energy, it never died, it was always transferred from one thing to another, it was drawn to strong emotions, that's why it can be seen so strongly among children. Even muggle children have magic surrounding them, within them, they just lack the ability channel that magic. Harry had never been taught this; it was just something he knew. This was why the Manor walls were filled with magic, the magic was drawn to the emotions from many generations that were ingrained on the Manor walls, even though it was unlikely any wizard had ever lived in the Manor or any magic had ever been done within it.

They arrived at the Manor and Vernon parked the car out side a large set of wooden doors. As the group began to climb out of Vernon's car, the heavy doors swung open and Tall man dressed in what Harry always referred to as a 'Penguin suit' approach a heavily panting Uncle Vernon who had just managed to win the battle with the car seat and climb out onto the gravel drive.

"May I help you Sir?" asked the man Harry presumed to be the Butler.

"My name is Vernon Dursley, L-E-Y. I'm the Director of Grunnings, 'technology of the future'. I'm here to meet with the Sir Michael Wood and the European Building Committee." Vernon puffed himself up proudly and looked down his nose at the Butler.

"Of course Mr Dursley, if you and your family would like to come this way, your luggage and possessions will be brought to your rooms shortly." The butler made a slight bow and turned to walk into the Manor, with the Dursley's following obediently behind. Harry could tell he was less than impressed with the Dursley's.

Harry looked up as they entered a huge hallway three meters wide and three times as long, several grand double doors led of the hallway with a pair of intricately carved oak doors at the far end of the hall. To either side were flights of stairs, the butler turned and began to climb the left flight and turned to Vernon while continuing up.

"Since you have arrived very late this evening, Sir Michael and his wife, Lady Caroline have already eaten, however I'm sure you will all be very hungry after your long journey, therefore Dinner will be served in the reception room, along with breakfast and lunch tomorrow, so you will have time to recover from your journey. Feel free to wander the grounds during the day and do not hesitate to ask for assistance from an of the staff during your stay." The butler smiled warmly at the guests as they reached the first floor, Harry was impressed that the Butler's smile was so convincing, he suspected he had had a lot of practice. Harry observed that this floor was very similar to the last one with the grand hall way and two flights of stairs. They did not stop here however and the butler urged them up to the second floor.

"Sir Michael will be expecting you for Dinner tomorrow at 8pm, the dinning room is situated on the ground floor at the far end of the hall," the butler explained. So that's what was behind the carved doors, Harry thought, it was all very grand. These people must be some of the richest in Muggle Britain. The Butler had black hair and very dark eyes with a almost exuberated expression permanently plastered across hi face, he reminded Harry very much of Snape.

"Have the other guests arrived yet?" Petunia asked.

"No Ma'am. They will be arriving the day after tomorrow, which is when the first Committee Meeting is to be held. I'm sure Sir Michael will further inform you of the week's set up at your Dinner tomorrow evening." The butler paused and waited for the group to catch up as they reached the second floor.

The hallway of this floor was only half as long and there was only one staircase on the right that led up further. The butler proceeded to the doors directly in front of them and held them open while the Dursley's and Harry filed in. Directly in front of them stood a largish table, which was laden with food, there were also several sofas, a few bookcases and a fireplace in one corner. All together, Harry thought the room was very welcoming.

"This is the reception room," the butler announced, "the staircase out side leads to the third floor, which is the visitor floor. The butler gestured to the two doors on the other side of the reception room. "the door on your left also leads up to the third floor and will take you straight to the main visitor bedroom, the door on the right is mostly kept looked, this leads to Sir Michael's study on the floor below, please do not enter without his express permission. If you need any assistance there is a telephone in each of the bedrooms, dial 0 and a member of staff will assist you. Please tuck in and enjoy your stay."

"Thank you very much," Petunia returned politely and the butler did a half-bow and left. It all seemed overly formal to Harry, but then he'd never stayed in aristocratic home before, the Dursley's at least seemed impressed.

"I'm starving!" Dudley exclaimed and launched himself at the food. Harry frowned and gently took a seat at the table and began to eat his food. Dudley was such a pig.

When all hunger had been satisfied, the Dursley's and Harry decided to explore the 'visitor floor', taking the staircase up to the main bedroom they began to explore. Harry ignored his relatives and looked around. The room he had just arrived in seemed to be the main bedroom; off this was a large dressing room, a very large bathroom and toilets, with several cubicles. Exiting this room Harry arrived on an average sized hallway. On the opposite side were three doors one led to a room, which contained only stairs, this confused Harry at first then he guessed this must lead to a tower or something. The next led to a lounge area with a TV, computer and piano, Harry guessed this was where Dudley would be spending most of the week. The third door led to a small library with a table and sofa, this was nice, Harry thought, just like Hogwarts. Opposite this was another hallway with two bedrooms leading off it, the first contained Dudley's things, and the second contained Harry's.

There were two very large windows and Harry gazed out across the front gardens and further onto the wild moorlands, maybe staying here wouldn't be so bad after all. It was only a week and he might as well make the best of it. Harry, turned and observed his room, there was a bed in the left hand corner, a chest of draws and a couple of wardrobes to his right and behind him by the door was a sofa, desk and table. Well, Harry thought this was defiantly bigger than his room, in fact it was bigger than any of the Dursley's rooms including the lounge!

Harry let out a yawn and quickly striped off. Finding his nightclothes neatly folded on top of his pillow he pulled them on and climbed into bed. No, this defiantly wasn't so bad, Harry thought with a grin; he was planning to make the most of his stay.

YAY! Ok…. not much happens this chapter, but I really wanted to describe the Manor set out, you'll see more of the Manor as Harry stays there. Next Chapter…The Knight, his Horse and the Stable Lad. This should be a little more interesting.