Harry's idea was a major success. Uncle Vernon came home and after an hour of whining from Dudley and one phone call, the plans were made. Marge would meet up with them at a beach house and all four of them would spend the weekend there. It was highly likely that Harry wouldn't even see them until Sunday or maybe even Monday. Harry was tempted to dance for joy and as soon as the Dursleys were gone he did.

The Dursleys did lock the door to his cupboard before they left, but with his new wand, it didn't matter. He opened it just as easily as they had locked it. Harry would have at least two full days to himself and he was going to make the best of them. The first thing that he thought that he should do would be to get food and to get food he would need to have money. Harry went through the house, especially the sofa, and found all of the spare money that the Dursleys wouldn't miss. He grabbed the coins from pockets, cushions, and under furniture. Once he gathered all of it he counted it and thought that he would have more than enough for food and if he could figure out a way to get there, he would be able to go to the store and get more supplies for whittling.

First, food. Harry checked the cupboard and the fridge and knew that there was too little food for him to take any. Harry would go to the grocery store. It was close enough for him to walk. Harry picked food that would be easy to eat and that he could finish before the Dursleys got back. Paying for the food, no one bats an eye at the sight of a child grocery shopping. They were far too used to seeing Harry getting ingredients for Aunt Petunia. Getting back to the house he put the food away and counted his remaining money.

Pleased, Harry knew he had enough money for whittling supplies. Harry looked out the window and decided that shopping for whittling things would be for tomorrow. It was past lunch and Harry wanted to spend time whittling free in the open air. He went to his cupboard and grabbed the whittling supplies and the block of wood which he outlined a bird on.

The afternoon air was warm enough for Harry to sit outside without any sweater. Birds were chirping and it gave Harry an idea. He went to the shed and brought out a bag of birdseed. He sprinkled some on the ground. He put the seed close enough for him to study the birds, but far enough to not scare them. Harry had to wait a couple of minutes for the birds to notice the seeds, but soon enough they arrived to peck at the seeds.

Studying the birds, Harry grabbed a large knife and tried to mimic their shape. He focused on the body making the general shape. Harry thought about what a bird looked like and how they sounded. Harry looked at the birds and thought that his bird would be just like them. Moving onto the head, Harry tried making the beak. The wood would on occasion resist him, but Harry knew that it was probably Harry's fault for going against the grain. That was what the books all said. It would be easier if Harry carved into the direction of the wood grain. He held the block away from him and tried figuring out the direction. Harry cut in a different direction and once again it was easier to whittle.

On occasion, Harry would still cut his fingers and every time he drew blood he would take a break. Harry didn't mind bleeding, but the blood was getting on the wood and changing its color. Some blood was inevitable though. Harry carved the wings as if the bird was in flight. The wings were plain and didn't have a lot of detail, but the shape was right. Harry thought about how even if the bird was made of wood, it should still be able to fly. It was important for the bird to be able to fly so it could join Harry on adventures and maybe even deliver messages! Harry remembered in one of his classes, they talked about how messages could be sent using pigeons. Harry's thoughts guided his magic and influenced the bird.

Soon Harry only had the feet left. It was much harder than any other part of the bird. The thinness of the feet made it risky. If Harry whittled away too much wood then the bird wouldn't be able to stand on them. If Harry didn't whittle enough then they wouldn't look like feet. By the time that Harry had finished the bird, the sun was setting and the other birds had taken flight. Harry held the bird in his hands and as he whittled eyes for his bird, he set it down and it came to life. The bird tilted its head and fluttered its wings. As the wings flapped, wooden dust shook off them revealing hidden details. Then it shook out each of its feet and it was a fully formed bird.

Harry stared at his bird in shock. The bird chirped at him and flew to his shoulder, startling him.

"Hey, little fella. How do you think I did? Are your wings sturdy enough?" The bird chirped in reply and then took flight. It flew in circles and landed in Harry's stretched-out hand. Harry wanted to see if the bird could talk to other birds, but since it was late he went inside. "We'll go inside and tomorrow we'll see how the rest of the flock react to you tomorrow, okay?"

Harry went inside and started fixing himself a sandwich. He ate half and put the rest back in the fridge. Even half of a sandwich made him uncomfortably full but Harry wanted to get in the habit of eating regularly. Laying down for the night, Harry made a little nest on his shelf for his bird.

"You'll sleep here. Is the nest good?"

The bird didn't reply but instead nestled in for the night. Harry kept his cupboard door open and slept comfortably and without worry.

The light from the sun shined through the windows and for the first time, Harry awoke to sunlight. It drew him from his rest and Harry stretched awake. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and prepared to have another good day. Harry went into the kitchen and grabbed an egg and a slice of ham. He got a pan and waited for it to heat up. As Harry prepared to crack the egg, his bird woke up and flew into the kitchen. It sat on the counter and seemed to be eyeing Harry judgmentally for his egg.

"Oh…are you okay with me eating eggs? Now that I think about it, it seems a bit messed up." Harry scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact. The bird chirped and turned away from him. Harry looked at the eggs. "Well the eggs can't hatch anyway so it'll be a waste if I don't eat them, right?"

The bird didn't respond. Slowly, Harry grabbed the eggs and cracked them into the pan with the ham. Harry served them and made sure to wash all of the dishes he used and put them away in their spots. He grabbed a bit of bread and turned to his bird.

"Can I interest you in some bread?" The bird chirped and pecked at it. Looks like he has been forgiven. Harry breathed out a sigh. After the breakfast had been eaten, Harry stood and went to the backyard.

Now comes the important part of the day! Harry was going to see how realistic his bird was. Harry called his bird over. He once again spread the seed over the yard and waited for birds to arrive. At first, they didn't notice the bird.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?"

His bird jumped off his shoulder and landed near the other birds. It let out some chirps. The other birds just looked at it. Then one bird chirped back. Soon a cacophony of bird chirps filled the air. The other birds slowly got closer to his bird. One of the bolder birds approached and pecked at it. Startled, his bird took a few steps back and seemed to yell at it. Scolded, the bold bird flew away. It had many minutes when the birds all resumed their previous behavior. They ate the seed and didn't treat Harry's bird any differently.

Harry once again felt his hands itch for a notebook. He needed to record his findings! Soon Harry realized a solution. He asked for his second wand to have the ability to take him away from the Dursleys so maybe he can use it to go to a store that has notebooks. Also if he is going shopping then he should find a store that has more wood like the block he used for his bird.

Harry ran inside and grabbed the wand. He put the money from yesterday into his pockets and looked around to see if he should grab anything else.

"Do you want to come with me?" His wooden bird just tilted its head and hopped away. Harry guessed he didn't want to come with him.

Harry held the wand and focused on arriving at a store that had notebooks pens and wood for carving. Harry felt a rushing sensation in his ears and then a POP sound happened. He opened his eyes and realized that he was standing on a sidewalk. He was outside a store and Harry was confident that this was the one that he needed.

Harry walked into the store and smelled strong scents of cinnamon. At the front of the store, there were many wreaths and other holiday decorations. Harry walked further in and saw many arts and crafts materials. Paper with different colors, glue sticks, poster boards, stickers, different yarn, and many other things. He was overwhelmed by the sheer variety offered. He wandered many aisles and he had no clue of how he was going to find what he needed.

"Can I help you find something?"

Harry turned around to ask the man where he could find whittling supplies when he saw that it was the man from the library. He was wearing a green apron and a nametag, which confirmed it.

"Oh hey, little man! It's John, y'know from the library." John was surprised to see the young boy from the library.

Harry nodded shyly, "Hello, Mr. John. Can you help me look for blocks of wood and a notebook?"

"Sure can do! We have a large selection of notebooks so you'll find what you are looking for. When it comes to a wooden block, it'll be easier to pick one if you know what kind of wood you are looking for."

Wringing his hands, Harry said, "After you helped me, I was able to whittle a bird and I need more blocks."

"Well, that helps a bit in figuring out what kind of wooden block. Let's pick out your notebook first then we'll go to the wood." John turned around and walked down an aisle. After a few turns they ended up in an aisle that was half filled with notebooks. They walked down and Harry took note of the different styles. There were a lot of plain ones that were similar to the ones that he used in school, but there were also more decorative notebooks that were colorful and made of different materials.

"As you can see, we have an entire aisle dedicated to notebooks. What are you planning on using the notebook for?"

Harry thought about the best way to answer. He couldn't say that it was for magical experiments, but maybe he could tell half of the truth, "It's for my whittling projects. I want to write down everything that I make and how I made them."

John let out a humming sound and seemed to be thinking. He walked a bit further down and grabbed a leather-bound notebook, "These notebooks are great for journal taking. They have a bookmark built in and each page has a section for the date, weather, day of the week, and a title. It might be nice to write down that information to remember what you crafted that day and what it was like. It is also softbound and small so you can carry it around and it is more sturdy than school notebooks." John handed it to Harry for him to inspect.

The cover was both smooth and soft. There was even a small decorative tree on the cover. Holding it in his hands, Harry loved it, "This is perfect!"

"Great! Now for the tricky part. Wood selection." John led him down a couple of more aisles and Harry smelled the aisle before they arrived. When they got there, Harry was in awe. There were so many shapes and sizes! Even the colors were different.

"I know that you are still learning about how to whittle, so let's start with what you know. What kind of wood have you used already?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't know, I have a kit and there were two chunks of wood that already came with it. I also tried carving a couple of sticks, but I don't know what kind of tree any of them came from."

John had a thoughtful look on his face, "Well since you're a beginner you might want to start with some softer woods like Balsa or Basswood. Some people also use pine because it is pretty cheap. I can tell you some information about each of the woods and then you can choose what you want. Balsa wood is pretty traditional and it's a soft wood. It is a bit more expensive though. Basswood is considered the wood for most carvers and whittlers. It is also a soft wood and the grain is nearly nonexistent. This is even more expensive than Balsa but most whittlers think it's worth it. The final wood, pine, is the cheapest. It can be more tricky to whittle though. It has a lot of tricky grain directions and we only have dried out pine which is harder to carve."

Harry's head felt like it was spinning. SO MUCH INFORMATION!

John looked at Harry's expression and smiled, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in. If you have enough money then you should get both Balsa and Basswood."

Harry looked at the price of the notebook and the woods, and then he checked his pockets. Smiling, Harry asked for a chunk of both Balsa and Basswood.

"Thank you for your help in choosing woods. I don't think any of my books explained it as well as you did. It is a bit confusing."

"No problem, kid. It's my job, but I also love helping a fellow whittler. When it comes to whittling, there are so many things that are best learned from others." He leaned down and whispered the next part, "Don't tell Violet, but books aren't everything."

Harry nodded solemnly, "Yes, Mr. John. I won't tell Ms. Violet."

John laughed at the seriousness of the kid, "Thanks. If you ever have any more questions about whittling you can always find me either here or at the library. See ya around."

Harry and John walked to the front of the store and went their separate ways. Harry went to pay for his goods, and John went back to patrolling the store for any confused crafters. Counting out the money, Harry had some money left but not enough to buy anything. As he was leaving with his bag of supplies, Harry thought that if he needed something for whittling he was coming back to this store. Harry held his bag tightly and grabbed his wand from his back pocket. It was now time to see if his wand could take him back home.

He held the wand and thought strongly about 4 Privet Drive. Once again Harry heard a POP. Opening his eyes, Harry once again looked at his living room. That was a massive success. He is able to travel without paying for public transit and he now has a notebook. Harry put away the wood and decided that it was time for lunch.