"Good morning, Harry," the large man said. "Do you know what today is?"

Harry slowly looked around in the darkness. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Just a bit past midnight, Harry, my boy!" was the cheerful response.

"Why did you wake me up so early?" he asked, sleep still heavy in his voice.

"It is a very special day, Harry!"

"Well it can't be Meán Samhraidh because we just celebrated that last month," Harry said, trying to determine what could be so special, "and it isn't Lúgnasad, because that isn't for another two weeks." he said earnestly.

"This is a special day about you, Harry. It's your fifth birthday! And young men only turn five once in their life!"

Harry's face lit up. "Really?" he asked excitedly.

Harry's uncle mussed Harry's hair with a smile. "Yes, Lad, it really is your birthday. I thought perhaps you might want to get up a bit early and enjoy as much of the night sky as you can," Vernon said, his smile not leaving his face as he thought of the first time his parents had woken him to wish him a happy birthday.

Harry put on some trousers, a jumper and his black trainers and went out into the backyard with Uncle Vernon and Dudley. Aunt Petunia was already outside with a blanket on the ground and hot cocoa in steaming mugs waiting on her three men. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Petunia said, giving Harry a gentle hug.

Harry hugged her back for all he was worth. "Thank you, Aunt Petunia!" he exclaimed.

"Well, time to make it so we can see the stars," Uncle Vernon said, putting a scoped rifle to his shoulder. Vernon took careful aim at the street lamp in front of Number Six Privet Drive and gently squeezed the trigger. Other than a slight whisper of compressed air, the only thing to be heard was the sound of bits of plastic hitting the pavement. He had learned through research that the photocell unit on the lamps was much less expensive to replace than the globe and lamp itself but that destroying it was just as effective in turning the lights off when he wanted it to be dark.

His second shot took out the photocell on the lamp standard in front of Number 8 Fulford Road. His next ten shots all hit their intended targets as the neighbourhood was no longer illuminated. Satisfied, he put the safety on, removed the large gas cylinder and emptied the pellet magazine. He then placed the rifle back in its soft case and took it back into the house.

"Blessed darkness," he said upon returning, then looked at his boys, both of whom had worshipping smiles on their faces. "You see, boys, sometimes rules have to be broken," he had told them the first time he had taken them into the backyard to enjoy the stars.

Tonight, the sky was clear and the waning crescent of the moon was now softly illuminating the group. They heard a slight pop and the rattle of the side gate. "That should be Uncle Robert," Vernon said. True to his words, a tall, thin man with a dark brown hair shook hands with Vernon as the two of them came back to the blanket. As he had done last month on Dudley's birthday, Uncle Robert had a large box under his arm which was brightly wrapped. He gave Harry and Dudley each a hug and then bent down to kiss Aunt Petunia's hand.

Harry wanted to ask about the box, but knew it would be rude. His patience was rewarded a few moments later when Uncle Robert set the box down on the ground. He then stood between the boys and the box and waved his hand at the box. Harry thought he could see the box glow for a moment but thought it was probably just a trick of the moonlight.

"Harry, this is for you to help you celebrate turning five," Uncle Robert said with a smile, standing back from the box, which seemed to have grown some since it had been put on the ground.

Because it was so much bigger than he, Harry asked Dudley if he would help him unwrap it, much to the pride of the three adults.

Knowing Harry was very careful about such things, Dudley followed Harry's lead and carefully pulled up the tape on the paper so as to not tear it. Once it was unwrapped, both Harry and Dudley stood back with opened-mouth, wide-eyed surprise. Inside the box were two pedal cars, one in blue, which was Dudley's favourite colour and one in red, Harry's favourite colour. Dudley had received two pull wagons for his birthday in the same colours.

"Uncle Robert!" both boys exclaimed, "Thank you!" They ran to their uncle who'd bent down in expectation of this, and hugged him for all they were worth.

"Now you'll have to wait until daylight to drive them, but you should know they also have hitches on them so you can hook up your wagons," Uncle Robert explained.

The two boys spent the rest of the night having the stars named and described to them by Vernon and Uncle Robert.

-oOoOo-

Dudley had a split lip, which was bleeding and dripping down onto the ground where Harry lay doubled over, his bag of candy spilt all over the ground. Harry's glasses were broken, as was his nose. Both of his eyes were blackened. He was silently crying.

Piers Polkiss, however, was unconscious. Dudley had come running out of the candy store at the sound of Harry's yell for help and came around the corner to see Piers hit Harry first in the nose, breaking his glasses, and then punched him in the stomach.

Piers saw Dudley coming and lined a punch up, hitting the large boy in the mouth, splitting his lip. Dudley never noticed. All he could see was a boy who he thought of as a brother lying on the ground because of the school bully. Dudley grabbed Piers in a headlock and did to Piers what Dudley and Harry had seen on the telly. Dudley repeatedly struck Piers in the top of the head until his body went limp. Dudley then threw him down onto the ground and stood over him, vociferously daring him to get up. Dudley then helped Harry up and helped him walk home.

To say Aunt Petunia was upset was an understatement. The thought never crossed her mind that Dudley had struck Harry. She knew the boys were inseparable. How someone else could do this to her two boys was just unthinkable. Once she got them cleaned up and a cool cloth on Harry's face, she called Vernon, who called Robert and twenty minutes later, all three adults were sitting down with the boys.

Uncle Robert started the discussion because of Harry's obvious discomfort. "Harry, I am not a doctor, but I am going to fix your face for you, okay?"

Harry couldn't nod because of the pain, but Robert took his grunt as approval.

Harry and Dudley watched as their Uncle Robert pulled a stick out of his coat pocket then waved it over Harry's face while singing, or so it seemed. Dudley was shocked as he watched the transformation of Harry's bruises fade away and his nose being off to one side was returned to normal.

Harry felt the pain subside almost instantly with only a slight ache when Uncle Robert was done.

"Now Dudley, let's take a look at your lip and your hand," Uncle Robert said. He then pointed his stick at Dudley's lip then waved it over the bruises on Dudley's hand and they, too, disappeared. Dudley stretched his hand back and forth.

Harry and Dudley had a million questions, but Uncle Robert's stern gaze held their silence. "Boys, I understand one of the school bullies attacked you today," he said, looking at Harry, who nodded. "Dudley, it sounds like you beat this," he looked at Petunia.

"Piers," she said.

"Yes, this Piers boy unconscious and then you left him to get Harry home. While I commend your zeal to get Harry back home, Piers is still a human being who deserved to at least have his injuries looked after," Uncle Robert explained. "I am going to go and check on him to make sure he is okay and then I'll be back and we can all have a nice chat about this," he said, then got up and left the house.

"Boys, go upstairs, get your showers and change into some fresh clothes before dinner," Uncle Vernon said.