The Original Order reads Harry Potter Book 1.
Chaper Five: Letters From No One.
Previously in the last chapter.
"Since everyone is traumatized from listening to this chapter, why don't we take a snack break?" Dumbledore asked, hoping having food will be enough to calm everyone down. "Once we calm down from eating, we'll read the book again."
Everyone was going to say they don't need to eat food since they wanted to talk about Harry's Parseltongue ability when their stomachs let out a growl, making them greatly embarrassed. Grumbling a bit, everyone stood up and made their way towards the refrigerator, intending to eat something and talk about what they learned in this chapter.
(In the Present)
"Are we all ready to begin reading again?" Dumbledore asked, looking at everyone in the Room of Requirement with a hidden concerned look in his eyes. He knew everyone was still angry for what the Dursley's did to Harry ever since he dropped him off on that door step, but he didn't know the anger was this extreme to the point they wanted to harm the people who was responsible for the child abuse.
Dumbledore never liked violence and he certainly didn't like child abuse, given how those Muggle boys attacked his innocent sister when she was practicing magic, but there was little he can do without aggravating everyone more since he was responsible for this. The only thing he can do is remind people they can change the future by the reading the book.
Everyone gave the old wizard nods of agreement and he smiled. "Then who would like to read?"
"I'll read," Marlene offered, raising a hand up. She had wanted to read the second chapter after Lily read the first chapter, but Andromeda beaten it to her. This time, she was going to make sure she read the book.
"Darn," Nymphadora grumbled on her mother's lap, crossing her arms over chest and pouted. She wanted to read the book.
"Here you go, honey," Sirius said, leaning forward to grab the book and pass it over to his fiancée.
Marlene gave Sirius a smile before opening the book to the chapter she needed to read out loud. Once she reached the third chapter and silently read the title to herself, she let out a surprised gasp, causing everyone to become alarmed and worried. What did she read that caused her to gasp?
"What?" Everyone asked, hoping to get an answer from Marlene, who was still staring at the book's chapter in surprised. "What is it? What is the chapter called?"
"It's called Letters From No One."
Everyone's anger at the Dursley's vanished the moment they heard what the chapter was called and all of them felt excited grins appearing on their faces, even Narcissa. They had a very good feeling what this chapter is about, but to avoid spoilers, they stayed silent. However, it didn't mean they could still have the same thought everyone was thinking about.
The arrival of Harry's Hogwarts letter.
Seeing no one was speaking anyone, Marlene turned her attention to the book and began reading the third chapter.
The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest punishment ever. He had punishments before, but never had a longest punishment. This might be the first time he had done something bad to earn such anger from his relatives.
"Longest punishment ever?" Lily repeated with a shock, yet outrage, look on her face.
"Lily, please don't start," Alice said with a bit of plea in her voice. "We haven't even got past the first page of the new chapter and you're already getting angry. Just reign in your anger until the end."
"Fine."
By the time Harry was allowed out of his cupboard – the only time he was allowed out of the cupboard was either using the bathroom or going to school – the summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane and knocked down old Mrs. Figg when testing out his racing bike. She had been walking across Privet Drive on her crutches and Harry cringed from remembering the loud howl of pain.
"The nerve of that kid!" All the women exclaimed, greatly shocked and aghast from what the Dursley's son did with his things over the summer, including running over Arabella Figg. That was definitely not the appropriate way a child should behave. The women made a mental note to never spoiled their children rotten in the future once Voldemort was defeated.
Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang who visited the house every single day during the summer. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were all big and stupid, but since Dudley was the biggest and the stupidest, he was the leader and all of them were happy to join in a sport Dudley created: Harry Hunting.
"The fuck is Harry Hunting?" Sirius asked with a deep frown on his face, not liking the sport's name.
"Language, Sirius!" Andromeda hissed, giving the man a scathing glare, along with Narcissa. She will not let her daughter hear such words from anyone in the room, especially from Sirius.
"I think Harry Hunting is a game where Dudley's gang would chase Harry and beat him up when they catch him," Dumbledore explained, also not liking the sport's name. He looked pain from saying those words.
"Maybe this game is the reason why Harry's so fast," Ted stated, earning incredulous looks from everyone. "What? Remember in the last chapter where Dudley couldn't catch Harry?"
"Yeah, you're right," James said, remembering in the last chapter how Harry can run very fast. "Even though I'm not happy with the sport's name and the explanation of it, I am glad Harry is staying in top shape."
"Even when he's skinny and short for his age?" Dorcas asked a bit bluntly.
James paused, obviously haven't consider that fact. "Um…"
"Let's just keep reading," Lily said, feeling a wave of annoyance at everyone. Why are they talking about a stupid game a spoiled kid created when they should think about Harry's Hogwarts letter? Perhaps she should've read the book.
The sport was the reason why Harry spends much time as possible out of the house, wandering around the neighborhood and thinking about the end of summer holidays where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came, he would be going to a secondary school and wouldn't be with Dudley for the first time in his life. Dudley had been accepted to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers was going there as well, but Harry was going to Stonewall High, the local public school.
'Of all schools Harry is being sent to in the Muggle World, even though he won't be there, why did it have to be that school?' Lily thought, placing a hand on her eyes and releasing a groan, making everyone turn towards her in worry or confusion. Stonewall High was a terrible school for children; it didn't provide great education and the teachers can be mean to the children if they misbehave.
Lily didn't understand why Muggles would build that school, but since she was living in the Magical World, it wasn't her problem.
Dudley thought Harry going to Stonewall High was very funny.
"How is going to that school funny?" Emmeline asked, wondering why Dudley would think going to a different school was funny.
"They stuff people's heads down the toilet on the first day of Stonewall High," Dudley hsaid to Harry. "Want to come upstairs to the bathroom and practice?"
"…" Emmeline didn't say anything but openly gaped at what Dudley said. 'Did…did he just say the children at Stonewall High stuff people's heads…down the toilet? What the hell is wrong with him? That's not funny, that's plain cruel! I regret asking my question.'
"No thanks," Harry said, shaking his head. "The poor toilet upstairs never had anything as horrible as your head in it. It might be sick." He then ran away from Dudley before he could register the words.
Everyone let out an amused chuckle from hearing Harry's cheeky response. It appears he can be mirthful, despite being neglected.
One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings outfit, leaving with Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Staying at her place wasn't bad as usual. It turned out Mrs. Figg broke her leg by tripping over her cats and didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. Either way, it was good for Harry because he was allowed to watch television and eat a piece of chocolate cake Mrs. Figg had in her fridge for probably several years.
"Ugh…" Everyone scrunched up their noses at the last sentence. Eating a cake that has been in a fridge for several years was something no one would eat.
During the evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for a family picture in his new uniform. Smelting boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobby sticks that are used for hitting each other when the teachers aren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.
While everyone was wondering how a knobby stick for hitting people is good for later life training, Dumbledore was interested in the Smeltings outfit. It looked to be more fashionable than the robes he's currently wearing. Maybe he should go to the Muggle World and see if he can buy a pair of those outfits.
As he looked at Dudley in his new uniform, Uncle Vernon had said gruffly it was the proudest moment of his life and couldn't be happier for his son taking after his footsteps. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and couldn't believe it was her precious Ickle Dudleykins in that uniform; he looked so handsome and grown up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak a single word because he could've sworn two of his ribs crack from how hard he was trying not to laugh.
There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry walked in for breakfast, making him scrunch up his nose. It seemed to be coming from a metal tub in the sink where Aunt Petunia was. He walked over to have a look. Inside the tub was what looked like dirty grey rags.
"What's this?" Harry asked, making Aunt Petunia tighten her lips whenever he dared ask a question.
"There's nothing wrong asking a question, Petunia!" Lily snapped, finding the rule of no asking questions stupid.
"Your new school uniform," Aunt Petunia replied, stirring the dirty rags with a wooden spoon.
Harry looked in the metal tub again. "Oh, I didn't know they would be so wet."
"Don't be stupid!" Aunt Petunia snapped. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old clothes for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I'm done."
Harry seriously doubted this but thought it was best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look at his first day of Stonewall High when wearing those hideous rags…like bits of old elephant skin.
Soon, Dudley and Uncle Vernon walked into the kitchen, both wrinkled their noses because of Harry's school uniform, and sat at the table. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual, and Dudley banged his Smelting stick on the table. Ever since he had gotten the stick with his uniform, he always carried it everywhere.
Everyone heard the mail slot click and the flop of letters onto the doormat.
"Get the mail, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his newspaper.
"Make Harry get it."
"Get the mail, Harry."
"Make Dudley get it."
"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."
"Don't hit Harry with a stick!" Everyone exclaimed, outrage at what Mr. Dursley said.
Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to go collect the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: A postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and…a letter for Harry.
At once, everyone's anger turned into happiness the moment they heard the last sentence and excited grins once again appeared on their faces. It has arrived; Harry's Hogwarts letter has arrived.
Harry picked the last letter up and stared at it, his heart twanging like an elastic band. No one in his whole life had ever written to him. Who would write to him? He had no friends, no other relatives and certainly no brothers or sisters. He didn't even go to the library, so he never received any rude notes for asking back the books. But that didn't stopped Harry from reading the letter.
Mr. H. Potter.
The Cupboard under the Stairs.
4 Privet Drive.
Little Whinging.
Surrey.
"Minerva, I don't mean to criticize you here and the future," Filius said, turning towards his colleague. "But how could you possible missed the address when you always signed the letters?"
"I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you are, Filius," Minerva replied, cringing at the looks she was getting from everyone, including a furious Lily and an upset James. There goes the excited grins on everyone's faces. "Either my future self didn't see the address because I was busy working on the other letters, or she did see the address but chose not to believe it. Despite this, I am deeply sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, for not doing something for your son."
While James may have already forgiven the Transfiguration Professor a bit reluctantly – he wasn't that type of person to hold a grudge for so long – Lily didn't because of two reasons. One, she was still pissed at the letter's address. And two, she didn't like how her former Professor didn't even notice it in the future. She was considering taking a job at Hogwarts to not only teach students but sign letters for the next generation of first years.
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment and written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp on it. Turning the letter over with a shaky hand, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding the letter H.
The excited grins, which had once vanished, appeared on everyone's faces again and grew larger when Harry saw the back of the letter, which represents the school he was heading. Though, some people were inwardly sad he wasn't shouting out like every excited magical child when they get their Hogwarts letter. All he was doing was staring at the said letter in disbelief.
Well, that was going to change; Harry will be shouting excitedly when he gets his Hogwarts letter.
"Hurry up, boy!" Uncle Vernon shouted from the kitchen. "What are you doing out there? Checking for bomb letters?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Harry walked back into the kitchen, still looking at his letter. He handed the brown envelope and postcard to Uncle Vernon, who had put down his newspaper, before sitting down at the table and slowly began opening the yellow envelope.
'Damn it, Harry! Don't read your letter in front of the Muggles!' Narcissa shouted in her mind, resisting the urge to curse loudly. Why, oh why, is Harry opening his letter in front of Muggles? They would no doubt take the letter away! 'Read it somewhere else!'
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust after reading the contents and turned the postcard over. "Marge's ill, Petunia, ate a funny whelk…"
"Dad!" Dudley shouted suddenly, finally spotting something in Harry's hand. "Dad, Harry's got something!"
Everyone groaned loudly at the rotten kid's voice. They would very much like to hear one chapter without him.
Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was snatched sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.
"Hey, give it back!" Harry yelled, trying to take the letter back. "It's mine!"
"Who would write to you?" Uncle Vernon sneered, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at the parchment to read the contents. The moment he did, his face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights and it didn't stop there. Within moments, his face was grayish white like old porridge.
"Well, after hearing that sentence, I won't be eating porridge for a while," James said, feeling a bit nausea in his stomach. Everyone else agreed with him, but they were curious at the strange behavior Mr. Dursley was showing.
"P-P-Petunia!" Uncle Vernon gasped out.
Dudley tried to grab the letter so that he could read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. He would not let his son read this letter. Aunt Petunia, curious at her husband's behavior, took the said letter and read the first line. The moment she did, she looked on the verge of fainting. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and her whole body was shaking.
"Okay, these reactions from the Dursley's are starting to unnerve me," Andromeda stated with a look of worry on her face.
"Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen a Muggle family frightened because of reading a Hogwarts letter," Minerva seconded, also feeling unnerved. She had never seen a Muggle family react so badly to a Hogwarts letter before and it honestly scared her. She was making a mental note to always have her wand out for self-defense whenever she visits Muggle-born first years during the summer.
Aunt Petunia immediately gave the letter back to Uncle Vernon as if it was a disease, clutched her throat with both hands and made a choking nose. "Vernon! Oh, my goodness! Vernon!"
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stared at each other, seemingly forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored by his parents in his life, so he gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.
'Thank Merlin I didn't spoil Nymphadora to start doing that to me,' Ted thought with a mental sigh of relief, casting a discreet glance at his daughter.
"I want to read that letter," Dudley said loudly.
"I want to read it," Harry said furiously. "As it's mine."
"Ooh, do you think Harry has inherited Lily's temper?" Sirius asked amusingly, even though he was slightly dreading the answer.
"Possibly," Alice replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But we won't know if we keep interrupting Marlene."
Said woman took that as a cue to resume reading.
"Get out, both of you," Uncle Vernon croaked, stuffing the letter into the envelope and putting it in his pocket.
But Harry didn't move from his spot at the table and all but shouted, "I WANT MY LETTER!"
"Yep, he has definitely inherited Lily's temper," Sirius chuckled, glad to see Harry has inherited his mother's temper instead of her green eyes. Although he wished he, Harry, has inherited more of James's traits, namely a prankster.
"Let me see it!" Dudley demanded, wanting to read the letter.
"OUT!" Uncle Vernon roared, grabbing Harry and Dudley by the necks, carried them to the kitchen door and threw them into the hallway before slamming the door. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole.
"Harry's going to lose because of his size," Narcissa stated bluntly, earning angry looks from everyone.
"Cissy!" Andromeda scolded.
"What? It's the truth."
"Don't say it like that!"
"Enough," Dumbledore said, his voice not loud but stern enough to make the two women silent. "Marlene, would you please continue reading?"
Marlene nodded and resumed reading the book.
Unfortunately, due to their sizes, Dudley won the fight, so Harry lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between the door and the floor, his glasses dangling on one ear.
'Smart idea, lad,' Moody thought, praising the boy.
"Vernon," Aunt Petunia said in a quivering voice. "Look at the address. How could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"
"We don't watch the houses," Minerva stated stiffly, seeing the questioning looks on her former student's faces. "We only observe the area if people cast magic foolishly."
"Watching, spying, might be following us," Uncle Vernon muttered wildly.
"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want-"
Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen, apparently deep in thought about what to do.
"No," Uncle Vernon said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer, they'll probably leave us alone…yeah, we'll do that. It's the best course of action…"
"But-" Aunt Petunia started to say.
"I'm not having a single letter of those in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear we would stamp out that dangerous nonsense when we took him in?"
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, greatly horrified at what Mr. Dursley said, especially Dumbledore. How could he leave Harry with those…terrible people? One thing was certain, Harry was never going to be raised there.
"Did Mr. Dursley say about stamping out Harry's magic?!" Andromeda shrieked, hugging her shell-shock daughter close to her chest, afraid to let go. To stamp out magic from a magical child is very dangerous and could possibly kill said child. That is something all wizards and witches fear above all else, not even becoming Squibs, getting disowned or being tortured under the Cruciatus Curse.
"He did," A very pale Ted replied, shaking from head to toe. When he first learned magic after he got his Hogwarts letter, he studied it all he could so that he wouldn't be behind in class like the rest of his peers. However, when he was studying magic, he became confused about children not liking their magic and wondered why. Magic was a brilliant thing, right?
It wasn't until Ted asked his former Head of House about the topic that the answer to his question shocked him to the core. The reason why children don't like their magic is because they don't have total control over it, making them do things they didn't mean to do, such as destroying breakable stuff or causing harm to a person. The fear had gotten so bad the parents had decided to punish their children to stamp the magic out of their bodies, which was to make them normal people. But doing this will cause the magic to repress inwards before it leads to a child's downfall.
It was because of the answer he had gotten from his Head of House Ted made sure to never fear his magic at all. He will cherish his magic like a family heirloom until he dies.
"This just proves the Dursley's aren't human beings and unfit to raise Harry," Moody growled, already planning to track down the Dursley's with a team of Aurors, arrest them and sentence them to the Dementor's Kiss.
"Agreed," Emmeline seconded, glaring very angrily at the book in Marlene's hands. "We need to track them down and arrest them for child abuse, as well as poor parenting for their son. That child is so spoiled and rotten to the core I don't even want to imagine when he becomes an adult."
Everyone in the Room of Requirement wholeheartedly agreed with Moody's and Emmeline's statements, while shuddering at the image of an adult Dudley still being a spoiled kid. They did not need that in their heads. They cursed Emmeline inwardly for saying those words.
But despite the Dursley's being unfit guardians for Harry, everyone had a question in their minds, a question they were all wondering…and a question they weren't sure if they want to know.
What else is this chapter in the book going to provide when everything went bad in the second chapter?
"So…are we not going to resume reading the book?" Sirius asked hesitantly after a very long period of silence.
"To be honest, I don't want to after hearing what Mr. Dursley said," Ted replied, still looking very pale. Andromeda and Nymphadora were doing their best to calm him down by offering sympathy pats on the shoulder or arm in the latter's case, but their actions only did little since they were also pale at what Mr. Dursley said.
"Yeah, me too," Frank seconded, a noticeable tremor in his voice. "We haven't gotten to the other books and we're still on the first one. If what we are reading is terrible, I don't even want to imagine what the other books are going to be once we start reading them."
"Come on, guys, we have to keep reading if we're going to end the war," James stated, even though he had a tremor in his voice. He didn't want to read the book as well, but since there was a war going on, the Order needed to keep reading the books to learn about You-Know-Who in order to defeat him and his followers.
"How can we keep reading the book, James, if we're just going hear Harry's shitty childhood the whole time?" Emmeline asked with a note of anger in her voice. She hated child abuse. It was one of the reasons why she became an Auror; to protect children from aggressive parents. She was considering talking to Dumbledore about creating a law where Aurors would go around the Muggle World and check out for abusive magical children, including Muggle children.
"I hate it as much as you do, Emmeline, and I want to go after the Dursley's for what they did to my son the last ten years, but we have a war going on and we need to learn about You-Know-Who in order to defeat him. I know we have been told a few times to endure whatever we're going to read, but let's face it, we haven't once endured what we read."
It was true, not once had everyone in the Room of Requirement been prepared for what they're about to read in the very first book. They hadn't expected You-Know-Who to be defeated two years in the future, James and Lily being murdered by You-Know-Who, Harry being dropped off at the Dursley's, Harry having a terrible childhood at the said family for ten years, Harry speaking Parseltongue without knowing what the magic was, and Harry being denied reading his Hogwarts letter. But the one thing everyone wasn't prepared for at all was what Mr. Dursley said about Harry's magic. They can still remember the ominous words.
"Didn't we swear we would stamp out that dangerous nonsense when we took him in?"
"Well, it's not our fault the people who wrote these books made us unprepared," Alice said with a loud huff. "They could've at least given us a warning about Harry's childhood. If we had known, our reaction wouldn't be so bad."
Alice's words caused Dumbledore to gain a pensive look on his face. He was starting to consider there was another reason why books were here, not just to learn about Voldemort's secrets. But he won't know until he learns about the other books with everyone in the Room of Requirement.
"Let's just keep reading the book," Filius said, releasing a long sigh and placing a hand over his eyes. Despite being a time bubble, he was already feeling tired, anxious, sad and angry. This wasn't how he imagined the day would start. Sure, it had been exciting to read about the future, but that went downhill very quickly after reading the second chapter. It got worse after hearing what Mr. Dursley said about stamping out Harry's magic in the third chapter and he was starting to wonder what other bad things everyone was going to learn.
Everyone really didn't want to read the book, especially Lily, who wanted nothing more than to track down the Dursley's and kill them – damn the no killing policy; she will kill those filthy Muggles for harming her son – but since James brought up a good point about learning You-Know-Who, they have no choice. They must keep reading the book, even if they don't want to.
It took a few moments for everyone to get comfortable since they were busy muttering not nice words to the Dursley's under their breath. Once they were comfortable, Marlene resumed reading the book.
That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he had never done before: He visited Harry in his cupboard.
Despite the very tense atmosphere, everyone laughed or snickered at the image. They couldn't see a fat Muggle fitting his whole body into a cupboard. They assumed Mr. Dursley put his head through the cupboard door.
"Where's my letter?" Harry asked the moment Uncle Vernon fitted himself in the cupboard. "Who's been writing to me?"
"No one, it was addressed to you by mistake," Uncle Vernon replied shortly. "I have burned it."
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, greatly horrified once again at what Mr. Dursley said. Did he just say he had burned Harry's Hogwarts letter?! That's horrible and cruel!
"Why would he do that?!" Alice exclaimed, feeling tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. It was traditional for magical children to cherish their Hogwarts letter and have it framed on a picture. "It's not even his!"
"Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it," Dumbledore said, not liking what he was about to say next. "Mr. Dursley has the right to read Harry's Hogwarts letter since he and Mrs. Dursley are his guardians."
"Don't even say that word, Dumbledore!" Lily screamed, pointing a finger at the old wizard. "Those filthy monsters are not my son's guardians!" There was no way in absolute hell those…things are her son's guardians. She will not have it.
"It was not a mistake," Harry said angrily. "The letter has my cupboard on it."
"SILENCE!" Uncle Vernon's shout made a couple of spiders fall the cupboard's ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and forced his face into a smile, which looked painful. "Er, Harry, while we're on the subject, it's about this cupboard. Your aunt and I had been thinking lately – we notice you're really getting a bit big for it – and we thought it would be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."
"Why?"
"Harry, what do you mean why?" Sirius asked, aghast Harry would ask such a question. He, along with everyone else, had been extremely angry when they learned the Dursley's had a bedroom for Harry but didn't bothered to give it to him. "Just take it so that you can finally have a bedroom."
"The boy was doing constant vigilance, Black," Moody replied, giving the black-hair man an annoyed look, while appraising Harry. "He was right to question his relatives, wanting to know who's writing to him and when it was going to happen again."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean Harry should ask a question when he has the opportunity to have a bedroom for the first time."
"Don't ask questions! Take your stuff upstairs now before I change my mind."
The Dursleys had four bedrooms; one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one for Dudley and one for Dudley's toys and things that would fit into his bedroom. It only took Harry one trip to move everything he had in his cupboard into his new bedroom. He sat down on the bed and began looking around. Nearly everything in the room was broken.
There was a month-old video camera lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next-door neighbor's dog, a broken television set, which had been Dudley's very first one before he smashed his foot through it when his favorite program got cancelled, an large birdcage that once had a parrot until Dudley traded it for a real air rifle at school – the gun was now broken and sat on a shelf with the end all bent up – and books on top of shelves. The books were the only ones in the room that hadn't been touched in years.
"Good lord," Minerva breathed out in shock. "Not only this kid is so spoiled and rotten to the core, but he's so dumb he never bothers to pick up a book. It makes me wonder how he does at school."
"I really don't want to think about that," Emmeline stated, shaking her head a few times so that she won't have the image in her head. It would only give her a massive headache.
From downstairs came the sound of Dudley brawling at his mother. "I don't want him in there…I need that room…make him get out…"
Harry sighed and stretched out the bed. Yesterday, he'd have given anything to be up here in this bedroom, but today…he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than being up here without it.
"Don't be upset, Harry," Narcissa said comfortingly, despite talking to a book. "You'll get a chance to read your letter." That is, if Harry can get a letter first before the filthy Muggles.
Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet and tense. But not Dudley, who was shocked. He had screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof but he still didn't get his room back.
Everyone just shook their heads in disgust at the horrible behavior.
Harry was thinking about this exact time yesterday and bitterly wished he had opened his letter in the hall instead of the kitchen. That way, he would've seen who was writing to him and what it was about. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.
When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to try being nice to Harry for a change instead of being angry, made Dudley go get it. Everyone in the kitchen heard him bang his Smelting stick on things as he walked down the hall to collect the mail. Then he shouted a moment later, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive–"
"Dumbass kid," Sirius muttered quietly under his breath, causing the people near him to snicker loudly.
With a strangle cry, Uncle Vernon leaped from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground in order to get the letter from him, which was difficult since Harry wrapped his arms around Uncle Vernon's neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.
"Damn!" Everyone, except Nymphadora, swore. They had hoped Harry had gotten the letter during the weird fight in the hallway.
"Go to your cupboard- I mean, bedroom," Uncle Vernon wheezed at Harry. "Dudley, go. Just go."
Harry walked round and round in his new room, thinking furiously. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and seemed to know he hadn't received his letter. Surely that meant they would try again? If they did, then Harry would make sure they wouldn't fail. He had a plan.
"Oh, this isn't going to go well," Remus stated with an amused chuckle. "If Harry has James's looks, then he has inherited the bad planning trait and we all know James's plans don't work at all."
"Hey!" James exclaimed, greatly offended of what his friend said about him, while everyone was snickering at the statement.
The repaired alarm clock rang six o'clock the next morning and Harry quickly shut it off so that the Dursleys won't wake up. He mustn't let that happen or else his plan won't work. He got dressed silently, exited his bedroom and went downstairs without turning on the lights. He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters first before the Dursleys. Harry's heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall towards the front door, but when he got closed...
"ARGHHHHH!"
Everyone became startled when Marlene suddenly screamed, only to realize she was copying whatever she was supposed to say out loud. They were not amused, especially Moody.
"Don't do that, Marlene!" Lily hissed, narrowing her dark green eyes at her friend who had the decency of being sheepish.
"Sorry, I was only doing what the book was instructing me to do. It won't happen again."
Harry leaped into the air; he had stepped on something big and squashy on the doormat – something alive!
"Please be his uncle," The Marauders, Nymphadora and the Prewett twins whispered in unison, crossing their fingers. "Please be his uncle."
Lights clicked upstairs and to Harry's horror, he realized the big, squashy something he stepped on had been his uncle's face.
"YAY!" The Marauders, Nymphadora and the Prewett twins cheered triumphally and excitedly, causing everyone else to chuckle amusingly.
Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure Harry didn't do exactly what he'd try to do. He shouted at Harry for half an hour before telling him to go make a cup of tea. Harry walked miserably into the kitchen, stumped his plan didn't work. By the time he got back after making the cup of tea, the mail arrived right at Uncle Vernon's lap. He could see three letters addressed in green ink.
"I want-" Harry began to say, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.
Everyone either let out a horrified gasp or a strangled sob, the good mood vanishing instantly. It was bad enough that Harry couldn't read his letter, but to see three letters get torn up before his eyes was extremely horrible and cruel.
But everyone knew one thing about the Dursley's. They shouldn't be arrested; they should be sentenced through the Veil of Death.
Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.
"Why would he do that?" Narcissa asked, confused at the action.
"Because Muggle postman delivers mail through those slots," Lily explained, trying her absolute best to calm down but failing miserably. "Without them, Muggles won't be able to get their mail."
"See, dear?" Uncle Vernon asked through a mouthful of nails. "If they can't deliver the letters in person, they'll just give up."
"I'm not sure that'll worked, Vernon."
"She's right, it won't work," Ted agreed.
"And why do you think so?" Dorcas asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because owls deliver mail and unlike Muggle postmen, they always make sure the letter is delivered."
"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia," Uncle Vernon said, trying to knock in a nail through a piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had brought him. "They're not like you and me."
"Is nailing up fruitcakes a common thing?" Dedalus asked curiously.
"No," Ted and Lily replied with deadpan looks.
"I'm so glad our minds don't work like the Muggles," Andromeda said with a sniff. "That's just plain stupid."
On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. Since they couldn't fit through the mail slot, which is nailed up, they had been pushed under the door or slotted through the sides while a few had been forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom. No one in the house could understand how the letters got through the downstairs bathroom window since it was always shut.
Uncle Vernon stayed home again. After burning all the letters while making sure none had fallen into Harry's hands, he grabbed a hammer with nails and started boarding the front and back door so no one in the house could leave. He hummed Tiptoe Through the Tulips as he worked and jumped at every small noise.
"Okay, the man is starting to go insane by doing this," Emmeline stated, finding the situation a bit worrying. "Wouldn't the right choice for the family to do is let Harry read his Hogwarts letter?"
"He's desperate, Emmeline," Remus said with a frown on his face. "He wants to keep a single letter away from Harry."
"But keeping the letters away will only increase the pressure and the desperation."
"Maybe," James agreed with Emmeline. "But there could be a chance Mr. Dursley might let Harry read a letter if the teachers at Hogwarts keep sending more. And once he reads a letter, then the letters will stop being sent to him."
"I really hope you're right, James," Alice said quietly, hoping what James said about the Dursley's letting Harry read a letter if the teachers at Hogwarts keep sending more was true. She wants Harry to read his Hogwarts letter.
On Saturday, things are starting to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside the dozens of eggs the very confused milkman had delivered to Aunt Petunia through the living room window, due to the front door boarded up with nails. While Uncle Vernon was making furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy company to find someone to complain, Aunt Petunia was shredding the letters in her food processor.
"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement. Harry wished he knew.
Sirius was about to make a snide comment until everyone gave him looks that dared him to say something. He only pouted in response.
On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill. But he did look happy.
"Why?" Nymphadora asked curiously, finding the fat Muggle's behavior weird.
"Because Muggle post doesn't arrive on Sundays," Ted explained to his confused daughter.
"No post on Sundays," Uncle Vernon reminded everyone cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspaper. "No damn letters today –" Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and hit him sharply in the back of the head, causing everyone at the breakfast table to become deathly still.
The action the Dursley's and Harry did cause everyone in the Room of Requirement to become deathly still as well. They had one question in their minds: What hit Mr. Dursley in the back of the head?
Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets.
"Well, that answers the question," Filius said with a smile, not bothered at what was happening. "It was just letters."
"Oh, that's going to make a mess in the house," Lily said with a sly smirk. "And we all know the Muggles like keeping their house very clean. They'll go very ballistic."
The Dursleys ducked to avoid the letters, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.
Everyone shook their heads at the rather stupid act. Why catch one when you could just pick one off the ground?
"Out! OUT!" Uncle Vernon sized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall where he landed on his back. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley ran out of the kitchen with their arms covering their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the kitchen, bouncing off the walls and the floor.
"That does it," Uncle Vernon said, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts of his moustache. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away; far away! Where those blasted letters can't find us! Just pack some clothes and nothing else! No arguments!" He looked so dangerous with half of his moustache gone no one dared argue.
If only the Dursleys and Harry knew the letters would always keep finding them, no matter how hard they tried to hide.
Alright, I'm done. I'm ending the chapter there; it may not be the entire chapter from the book, but it's good enough for me to update the story and to get this chapter out of the way. The next chapter will be the continuation of the Letters From No One, which will not be a part chapter but part two. Writing another part chapter will only give me a headache.
Write a review if you like this story and enjoy the chapter.
Next Chapter: Letters From No One (Part Two)