Harry had been waiting all week for Sunday. Never before had he been so excited to do yard work. Of course, he wasn't actually looking forward to the yard work but more like being able to use his treasures to create something new! If the book that Harry read was right, he would be able to create cool animals out of wooden blocks. He had decided on a bird and a fox, but he wasn't too sure about which one to do first. If he created a bird then he could have his little green men ride the bird into a faraway land. And if he makes a fox then it could be his sneaky little friend. Harry remembers reading a book about a fox who was afraid to make friends because the bunnies were scared of him, but he then got the courage and was able to show the bunnies that he wasn't scary. Harry desperately wanted more friends and if he made a fox then maybe it could teach him how to make friends.
Looking at his two blocks, Harry thought back to the book that Violet had let him read. The book started each project with an outline on the wooden block. Some of the examples told him to use a pattern on a piece of paper and then glue it on the block. Other examples had them using a pencil to draw the outline on the block. The outline was to help him remember to know what needed to be cut off and what needed to be left alone. Harry was a bit confused about how it was going to help if he was supposed to cut parts of the wooden block off. However, he was sure that it would make more sense after he started whittling.
In preparation for Sunday, Harry had stolen a pencil to draw on the wood. It was a small pencil that was in the back of Aunt Petunia's drawer so he was sure that she wouldn't miss it. Holding the block, Harry had to pause. He was going to make a fox, but Harry wasn't sure that he knew what a fox looked like from the side. From the side of the fox, he would be able to see the head, its legs, and the tail. From the front, he should only be able to see its front legs and face and from the back, he should only focus on the tail. Harry was trying to figure out what the fox was going to look like from each angle when he stopped.
Harry let out a sigh. Never mind. He was going to make a bird. The bird was going to be sitting down so he wouldn't have to whittle legs. Birds had skinny legs and he was too scared to whittle something so thin. Having the bird with the wings spread out would look cool. But all of the books that Harry had looked at yesterday, had the wings tucked. It was probably easier to do it that way. He put the pencil on the block and drew the shape of the bird. As he was drawing the outline, he realized that birds were pretty round and easy to draw.
Finishing the outline, Harry put down his pencil and double-checked the work. He had spent so much time on the outline that he knew that he had to go back to yard work. He put the block on a shelf and grabbed shears. If he spends too much time in the shed, then the Dursleys will become suspicious. He walked to a rose bush. Those always needed trimming. He tried to maneuver around the thorns, but he got stabbed by a few anyway. His trimming turned a bit more violent almost as if Harry was trying to get revenge against the rose bush and all of its violence against him. Harry knew that the plants weren't trying to be evil, but Harry was sure that if any plant was evil then it would be the rose bush. The garden had many flowers like petunias, lilies, roses, and hydrangeas. None of the other flowers were mean like the roses.
Harry knew a lot about all of the plants. Each of the plants came as seeds in little packets with pictures on the front and words on the back. He loved reading the packets because they had so much information. It said when to water them and how much sun each of them should receive. However, none of the packets said how mean the plants were.
The rose bush was thoroughly pruned so Harry put the shears back and started to de-weed. Harry would go back to whittling after Aunt Petunia checked on him. She usually checks on him every hour so if he waits for her then he will probably have a full hour before she comes back. Luckily, Aunt Petunia crossed the window shortly after he started weeding the yard. She stared at him for a couple of minutes, probably waiting for Harry to mess up. After she got bored, she left to do some other task in the house. Harry quickly got up and went to the shed.
He grabbed the wooden block from the shelf and then grabbed the box of whittling supplies. He slid the box open and grabbed the larger of the two knives. Looking at the two blocks, Harry grabbed the bird one. The bird was going to be easier not only was it a simpler animal but it was also a very familiar one. Harry grabbed the larger of the two knives and pressed it against the wooden block. Harry dragged the knife against the corner of the block and shaved off the corner. The blade slid across and Harry now had a thin shaving. The shaving reminded Harry of peeling carrots, both were thin and curled a bit. Harry went to the other corner and repeated the action.
Again and again, Harry put the blade at the top of the block and ran it against the length of the wood. It did not take much time for Harry to create a pile of shavings from all of the whittling. Harry grabbed the clumps and shoved them into the corner of the shed. It was a small pile for now, but if Harry kept at it, it would eventually be big enough for the Dursleys to notice. He shrugged, that would be a problem for Harry to solve later. Instead, he kept shaving away at the block to make it rounder. After cutting off the edges, Harry noticed that the knife wasn't cutting as smoothly compared to when he first started. He brought the knife to his eye level. The knife didn't look different so he kept at it.
Once again Harry drew the knife back and pressed it against the wood. But this time it was different, the knife was stuck in the wood. Harry pushed harder to see if it would cut through. It didn't. Harry added more pressure and it felt like the wood had cut through an obstacle. After that it kept going through the wood and with the added force, it kept going until the blade was stopped by Harry's finger. Stunned, Harry pulled his finger back and looked at it. Blood was quickly flooding into the cut and then welling up.
Harry wasn't sure what happened. It seemed like the knife got stuck in something. He thought about it and thought that since the knife already cut through it, it would be fine now. Harry tried once again to make a cut, this time it went smoothly. He ignored the blood on his fingers and kept whittling away. But then it happened again! A cut that was going smoothly felt like it couldn't go further. Harry didn't know what to do so he just kept forcing the knife through. And once again, the extra force would cause Harry to cut one of his poor fingers.
After trying to force the knife through the wood failed and resulted in five different cuts, Harry put the knife down. Harry felt like he was missing something. Nothing in the book said that he should be getting cut a lot and he didn't think that most people would want to have something covered in blood. He looked down at the block. Harry's efforts resulted in the block looking like an oval. It was something, but nowhere near finished. He double-checked whether he was holding the knife right. He was sure that it was. He looked down at his fingers and knew that some cuts were expected after a day of gardening so it wouldn't make the Dursleys suspicious. Harry would double-check the book the next time that he got a chance to see what he was doing wrong.
He rushed out of the shed and went back to gardening. The sky was darker than it should have been. Once Harry finished his gardening tasks, he looked into the kitchen window and realized why the sky was darker than he expected. It was past dinner. He had spent so much time whittling away that he finished his chores later than normal. Aunt Petunia must have checked on him and seen that he was nowhere near finished and left him out there. Hands shaking, Harry knocked gently twice. He braced himself for the door opening.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor could be heard. Then a shadow appeared in the back window, it was tall and skinny. Aunt Petunia flung the door open, "You dreadful boy! You took too long to finish gardening so you'll be given no supper." Her bony hands reached out and dug painfully into his wrist. Aunt Petunia then dragged him past the kitchen and into the hall. "You better think twice the next time that you think about lollygagging outside."
Harry was tossed into the cupboard. The sound of the lock snapping shut made Harry shrink into himself, wishing that he could disappear. Aunt Petunia was angry. He didn't think that he would be allowed to go leave the house with Dudley and Piers tomorrow.
The morning was announced by the cupboard door being yanked open. It was time for breakfast. Dudley wasn't there so while cooking breakfast, Harry had the opportunity to brainstorm. He needed to think of a way to go to the library even with Aunt Petunia being mad at him. While cooking the bacon, Harry realized that there was really only one choice. He needed to be seen by Ms. Polkiss who would invite Harry along. Aunt Petunia won't have any way to refuse while being polite. It came with a risk though. This plan was sure to make Aunt Petunia mad and she'll take it out on him later.
To make this plan work, Harry would need to keep an eye on Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and the clock. He needed to go to the library today. The anticipation and the uncertainty would kill him otherwise.
Harry pulled the eggs from the refrigerator. Shortly after that, he heard the usual thudding steps and Dudley walked into the kitchen. Uncle Vernon was working that morning so Harry was glad to not have to deal with him. Harry wasn't sure when the Piers and his mom would arrive, but he knew that Dudley would get more and more excited as the time nears. To add to the difficulties, Harry would need to make sure that neither his aunt nor his cousin noticed him keeping an eye on the clock and Dudley.
Breakfast was soon finished and Harry was set to clean the kitchen. He was wiping the counters and noticed that it must be getting closer since Dudley was visibly tapping his leg. Harry scrubbed harder at a pan and then rinsed out the sink. By the time it was 11:30 both Harry and Dudley looked visibly restless.
Fortunately for both of them, the doorbell rang a moment later. Harry tossed the rag in a basket to wash later. Dudley got up and waddled to the door. Aunt Petunia was in front of him so Harry followed as the last duck in a row.
Aunt Petunia opened the door and as she was about to greet them, Harry interrupted with, "I'm done with my chores, Aunt Petunia."
Harry could see Ms. Polkiss' eyes on him. He had succeeded. His glee was quickly tempered by the fact that he could also see anger in Aunt Petunia's eyes. He had done two things wrong. The first was interrupting and the second was being seen by Ms. Polkiss.
Dudley was oblivious to this tension, so he instead said, "Hey, Piers! Are you ready for another day at the park? I have a new idea for a game."
Ms. Polkiss smiled and said good morning to the entire group while Piers just said 'Yeah' to Dudley's question. The two boys ran to the car.
"Well, Petunia, if he is done with his chores then he could tag along again. It was more than fine last week."
In response, Aunt Petunia turned to Harry. Since her back was to Ms. Polkiss, she felt comfortable enough to glare at Harry. It was strange. Her face was full of irritation and a promise for future violence, but her voice was neutral, "Alright, Harry you can go. Remember to behave."
The forced pleasantness caused a shiver to go down Harry's spine. There would be consequences later, but he couldn't worry about it too much now.
"Thank you, Aunt Petunia. I will behave." Harry walked out the door without looking back.
Ms. Polkiss smiled at him, "I take it that you want to go back to the library again?"
Harry's nod was so strong that it nearly made him look like a bobblehead.
"Great! I can definitely arrange that."
The trip to the library was done in an instant. Harry only had his sights set on the library and ignored the two boys next to him. He was going to the library and that was cause for celebration.
The two boys were let loose in the park, Ms. Polkiss sat on a nearby bench, and Harry ran into the library. Opening the door, Harry could see Violet at the same desk as last week. At the sound of the doors, she looked up and smiled at Harry, "Hello, Harry. It's nice to see you back here. Did the book help you?"
More comfortable this time, Harry said, "Yes, it helped a lot! I don't think I could have figured it out without your help. I have more questions though. Could you help me find the same book again, Miss Violet?"
"Of course, this is a library so you can come here and read the book as many times as you would like. If you or your parents have a library card, you could even check it out and take it home."
Harry already knew this but he still nodded at her words. "I would just like to read it for now."
Violet walked to the same shelf as before and passed it to Harry. "It will be the same as last time. You can read the book and then when you are done please give it to me at the desk, okay? Also, if you have any questions then feel free to ask me. I probably will not know the answer but I can definitely help you find the answer."
Harry felt warm at her words. Violet walked away and Harry once again opened the book. The book was just like he remembered it. Harry went over the pages that he had already read. Harry was holding the tools correctly and he was cutting in the correct direction so his cuts were not because of that. He turned the page and reached the next section titled "Maintenance of Tools". It was in this section that Harry figured out what his problem was. His knife was getting dull. Harry needed to sharpen it so it would continue to cut easily. It made a lot of sense to Harry who had seen his Aunt resharpen her kitchen knives.
Harry kept reading the pages. The kit that he found had more things in it other than the knives but Harry had ignored them. As he was reading he found out what two of the other things were for. The soft green rectangle was a polish for the knife and the long strip that was brown was called a strop. They were both for sharpening the knife. Their presence was another clue that Harry was missing something in his understanding of his knives, but Harry ignored it in his excitement.
The book helped identify what he was supposed to do but the pictures about how to sharpen a knife were a bit weird. It looked like the book skipped steps or maybe Harry was misunderstanding them. He bit his lip and looked in Miss Violet's direction. She said that Harry could ask her for help but he was very nervous. Usually, when an adult told Harry that he could ask questions, they eventually got tired of his questions or mad that he was asking things that were obvious to them. Harry kept reading the book in the hopes that the future pages would help him understand. 30 pages later, Harry realized that he would have to ask for help or risk ruining his knives. He wasn't ready to ruin his treasures so he closed the book and went up to Miss Violet's desk. She had been typing on her computer when she caught sight of him. She immediately turned to Harry and focused on him.
"Do you have a question for me, Harry?" She was welcoming as she had been before and didn't seem irritated at him interrupting her so Harry stepped closer.
Harry stepped from one foot to another. He couldn't look her in the eye, "Um… Miss Violet, is there a better way to find out how to whittle." He opened the book to the section about 'Maintenance of Tools'. "This section talks about using a …stro-strop to sharpen a knife. The pictures aren't very good for figuring out how to use one." The stutter over a new word nearly made Violet chuckle but she didn't want to discourage him.
"When it comes to learning new techniques, books can be a bit difficult to learn from." Miss Violet leaned back in her chair thinking. There were only so many ways to teach children about new things, especially for something like this where you need to see to learn. Violet had an idea, but first, she would need to make sure that he was still there. She leaned close to Harry, "I think I know someone who can help you, but you need to wait here while I get him okay?"
Violet walked to the back of the library where there were tables for patrons. In the back left corner, there was a man with blond hair hunched over a book. He looked up when he heard her approach.
"Hey, John? Do you have some time to help me with something?"
The man, John, shut his book and sighed, "Honestly, I could really use a distraction right now. I think the words are blurring and my brain is turning to mush. What do you need help with?"
Violet smiled in amusement, "There is a young boy here who is trying to whittle. You work at a craft store, right? Would you be able to help him out?"
John, mindful of being in a library, chuckled quietly, "Not all craft store workers know how to craft, but you're in luck. My grandfather taught me how to whittle when I was a kid so I know the basics."
John stood stretched out his back and waited for her to lead the way. The two of them walked back to where Harry was waiting.
Violet walked to Harry and made sure to kneel at his eye level, "So this here is my friend, John, he knows how to whittle so he could probably help you out. Okay?"
John saw how Harry was staring at him a bit fearfully, so he also kneeled at his eye level. "What's up, little man? What do you need help with?"
Harry relaxed a bit when the man kneeled, but instead of speaking, he showed him the book opened to the section on sharpening knives. John nodded.
"That is pretty tricky. The key is to sharpen them at the right angle." He held out one hand flat and mimed holding a knife in the second one. "The green stuff is supposed to be put on the strop like a crayon and after that, you slide the knife back and forth like this."
Harry watched John as he mimed. Even though he was nervous about the man, he thought that he made a lot more sense.
"Thank you."
Smiling John said, "No problem! Do you have any more questions?"
Harry shook his head and so John stood, nodded at Violet, and went back to despairing over his book.
"Thank you Miss Violet for the help."
Now that Harry knew about sharpening his knives while he worked, he thought about what else he could read while at the library. Harry was going to be working on his bird, but while reading about the knives, he had read ahead. The book had different ways to use the knives. There were V-cuts, sweeping cuts, stop cuts, pyramid cuts, and so much more.
Harry had skipped to the bird, but maybe he should follow along with the books and make some of the smaller projects. One of the first projects was to make a wand. The book had a very simple wand but if Harry was going to make a wand, he should research what wands normally look like. He took to whittling book and put it on Miss Violet's desk.
"Miss Violet, do you have books about magic and wands?
I have rewritten this chapter (10/11/23) and addressed the one thing that people continuously complained about. In my original chapter, Harry used a computer to look something up. I have removed the computer and added John instead. According to JK Rowling's timelines, this chapter takes place in 1989 and so many of you said that computers weren't that advanced back then. I didn't exist in that year so I wasn't too sure what computers could do or not do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You live and you learn. Thank you for your comments and I hope you are satisfied with this change.