Chapter 2

Owl Post

Harry awoke from his dream in a cold sweat, his scar mildly aching. He looked up at the clock and realized it was 7:00, already morning. He absentmindedly got dressed and was about to go downstairs for breakfast (usually the only meal he ate these days) but was delayed by Hedwig, tapping on his window. She had a letter from Ron and Hermione, who were apparently already at Grimmauld Place.

Dear Harry,

How are you? You're not blaming yourself for what happened at the Ministry, are you? If you are, (which we bet) don't, it wasn't your fault. We both agree that we would have done the same thing. So how are you? We hope your relatives are treating you ok. Professor Lupin says you'll be coming over to Grimmauld Place soon. When? We're both already here (Ron-because my parents are in the order Hermione-my parents are on holiday). Mrs. Weasley is sending some homemade cakes to cheer you up. Well, don't get yourself down, Harry. See you soon!

Love,

Ron and Hermione

P.S. Love was Hermione's idea, not Ron's, who is very intelligent and would not write something so stupid.

P.P.S. Ron is just sore that I'm going to stay at Viktor's house sometime over the summer.

P.P.P.S. No I'm not.

P.P.P.P.S. Yes you are.

P.P.P.P.P.S. No I'm...

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Why don't we just say "Repeat".

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Ok.

Harry laughed at Ron and Hermione's written argument, the first time he had laughed in days. He put their letter in his secret compartment underneath the loose floorboard, going downstairs in his best mood since school got out. His good mood vanished, however. As he was walking down the stairs, he heard an enraged yell from Uncle Vernon and a terrified shriek from Aunt Petunia. He ran down the rest of the stairs to see Errol, the Weasely family's owl, land in Uncle Vernon's cereal.

"Boy! That ruddy owl flew into my face and dropped a package on Petunia's head! That's it! Out of the way!!" He pushed Harry aside as he stormed upstairs. Harry knew what he was going to do: take his school things out of his room and either burn them or lock them in the cupboard under the stairs. He resolved to sit down at the table and at least eat some cereal. Sure enough, Uncle Vernon came downstairs a minute later and heaved Harry's trunk into the cupboard. Dudley came in to view the scene; he always liked watching Harry get punished. But this time, he didn't want to just watch. As Harry helplessly watched Vernon stuff a shrieking Hedwig into her cage and lock the cupboard door, Dudley took Harry's cereal bowl and flipped it onto his head. Aunt Petunia looked over to see Harry covered in milk, wearing an upside-down bowl on his head. She shooed him away after giving him his package and told him not to play with his food.

"I can't take it any more!! I'm going for a walk!!!!" Harry screamed.

"Whatever," his aunt replied.

While outside, Harry was fuming about Uncle Vernon. He planned to use the muggle hairpin trick he learned from Fred and George the second he thought the Dursleys were asleep. As he kicked sticks across the sidewalk and thought of many tortures he could put the Dursleys through if he was allowed to use magic, he was totally unaware that he was being watched. All throughout the neighborhood, people were spying on him, hiding behind bushes, in houses, in trees in the park, everywhere. There were even some underneath invisibility cloaks. They followed him at a distance, sometimes diving behind objects to ensure they weren't seen. They followed him through the neighborhood as Harry walked farther and farther away from his Aunt and Uncle's. He finally stopped when it started to rain. But when he turned around, all of the people got out of their hiding places, stepping out from behind trees, walking out of houses, and taking off invisibility cloaks. Even though it was starting to get very dark as the clouds covered the sky, Harry could see what the people were wearing: black cloaks with masks covering their faces, their wands out. They were Death Eaters.

Once again, we'll edit this once we get the nice little intro and closing sheet we wrote out of Emmerdoodles's locker. RR Please!