Chapter 2: Blimey!
Harry examined Privet Drive for a pathway or some indication of where to go. It's all very well running awayfromthe Dursleys, he thought, but that means I have to find somewhere to runto.
Choosing a random direction, he broke into a run along the snowy, lamp lit streets. Lit by lamps, but no Christmas lights. Residents of Little Whinging would never do something so "tacky". Harry's eyes searched the ground ahead of him. There was a forest about half a mile in that direction, he remembered. And just after the forest was a village where he could beg some shelter... His bruised nose stung with the cold. Or maybe not, he thought bitterly. If I show up anywhere looking like this then I'll be forced to go to hospital and Dudley said once after he went that they amputated broken limbs then ate them for dinner.(We must remember that Harry was only nine, and had never been to hospital, whereas Dudley made frequent trips to ensure that he didn't get even a little bit ill.)
And even if they don't chop me to pieces, they'll call the police and make me go back. Iwon'tgo back there!
But with the lack of a better plan, he set off for the forest. Tramping through slushy, ankle deep snow, his feet were frozen, but he didn't care. He was finally free.
It took him around an hour to get there in the snow, but he arrived in the forest flushed with victory. When his jubilation faded, he cast around hopefully for a shelter. He searched everywhere he could see, but with midnight approaching it was dark and getting cold. Defeated, he slumped against the trunk of a tree. His eyes prickled hotly and his throat was dry. He was cold all over, and his nose was in agony. The only positive side he could think of was that the cold meant he could no longer feel his many cuts and bruises. Harry was getting desperate. Slowly, a heat began spreading against his back. He didn't notice at first, but the heat built and built until it filled his entire body. Startled and confused, he spun around to see the tree glowing. A disbelieving snort escaped his lips, remembering too late that noises like that agitated his nose. I'm hallucinating, he thought. No way can that be real.Yet when he touched the trunk and examined it closely, he saw a hole in it that he had failed to notice before. Peering through it, he could see that the tree was completely hollow. The hole was small, but Harry was small and skinny for a nine year old, and he could often pass for seven. He threw his rucksack in, then clambered through himself.
It was a large tree, and it was as wide as his cupboard. It was warm, and his rucksack made a half decent pillow. Slowly, with the snow falling outside, he fell asleep.
He awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. His nose still ached, but he was warm, dry, and well rested. He was reaching for his bag to retrieve a snack when he heard voices right outside his tree. Instinctively he held his breath.
"-can't understand it, that can't be right. The wand-" Harry thought he must have misheard that part. "- points right at this tree." Harry's blood ran cold. They had found him! They would make him go back to the Dursleys and they would kill him for running away and stealing. He couldn't suppress a sob, then froze in horror.
A female second voice sounded acidly after a beat of silence. "Ash. Is it possible, that during and despite your "thorough" search of the area, it didn't occur to you to check inside the tree?"
The first voice-Ash- fidgeted and protested. "Blimey, Minerva! He's just a boy! Underage, untrained, there is no way he could have gotten in there!"
The female voice -Minerva- sighed. "Well, there's one way to find out. Specialis Revelio!"
They both gasped as the hole appeared. A male face poked through.
"Blimey! He's in there! Help me blast the tree open!"
"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING! You could blow the boy up!"
Harry stood up, shaking. He felt claustrophobic. A powerful need to get away from the people consumed him. He suddenly felt as if he was being pulled through a very narrow tube. His lungs constricted and the man looked on in shock.
"Blimey! He's appar-" Harry didn't hear the rest, didn't have time to worry about the strange people and how they had found him, as he had suddenly and inexplicably found himself in the Welsh countryside.