Days later, we received some surprising and worrying news regarding Harry. He had run away from Privet Drive, after performing serious magic, which had apparently resulted in his Aunt Marge being blown up. Thankfully however, he wasn't missing for long, as he turned up at the Leaky Cauldron a couple hours later, having used the Knight Bus. He also wasn't expelled from Hogwarts, despite having been given an official warning from the Ministry for this exact offence the previous year, which left all my brothers relieved but confused. I knew why though, it was because of Black being after him. I wasn't about to tell them this though. I had escaped punishment for my eavesdropping by promising not to tell anybody what I had heard.
"If his Aunt Marge is anything like his Aunt Petunia, then I really hope he did blow her up. It would serve her right!" said Ron.
"I agree. Maybe we could do the same to Auntie Muriel one day. When Mum and Dad aren't there with us of course" I replied
Soon the 11th arrived though, and I was officially 12 years old. I woke up to presents at the foot of my bed, just like on Christmas at Hogwarts.
Something that struck me right away was the long, thin package. It was my parents present, and I was pretty sure I knew what this was! I opened it up, and sure enough, it was the Cleansweep Eleven, the broom I'd asked for! I was slightly confused, as Dad had said we'd be buying it in Diagon Alley if we spent our money wisely while we were out here. I wasn't complaining though, and I still had more presents to open. Honestly I'd have been happy with only the broomstick!
Hermione's present was a diary, which contained a note saying "Don't worry, this one isn't possessed!", though I obviously knew she wouldn't send me something like that anyway. I did start writing in it though, and I have kept one ever since. She also gave me a eagle feather quill. Demelza gave me the 1993/94 Harpies shirt with Gwenog Jones printing as well as a renewed membership pack. Amy gave me a book called "The Professional Chasers Guide" which contained detailed instructions on how to perform some very advanced moves that pro players used. I felt extremely flattered by this as it showed that she and Demelza still had unwavering faith that I was on the path to Quidditch stardom. I would certainly be putting the guide to good use in the upcoming year's Hogwarts games!
Luna's present was of course very unorthodox, but I was happy with that! It wouldn't be Luna if it wasn't! It was a pair of glasses which she claimed would give me the ability to see various invisible creatures. She'd found them in a tourist shop in Greenland near where the "Obbsgurg" sightings had taken place. Nothing whatsoever happened when I tried wearing them though, even in various different locations. I was pretty sure Luna would simply tell me that I wasn't equipped with the sight or something if I tried to point this out to her.
I thought those were the only presents I had, as Harry was clearly and unsurprisingly focusing on himself at that moment in time, and the rest of my family would have found it very difficult to get me a present out here in Egypt without me seeing it beforehand. When I went downstairs for breakfast though, Dad surprised me with my new barn owl, which he had ordered from Eyelops Owl Emporium. She had been delivered overnight. I decided to name her Savannah, after Holyhead's 1953 European Cup winning captain Savannah Sanders.
Then it was on to the day's order of business, attending the Quidditch game in the desert. We flooed from the hotel to the stadium's public entrance, where Dad bought us our tickets on the gate, as this was only a pre season friendly, and Egyptian League Quidditch Games are almost never sell outs anyway.
The Cairo team were dressed in all white robes, with the Gibraltar team in all purple. It was a very aggressively played match, with a huge amount of very hard hitting bludger impacts, and a lot of violent fouls. I couldn't understand why the game was being played in such a manner, as it was only a friendly! After about an hour and a half, the score was 180-160 to the Gibraltar team, when suddenly, a man sitting about 2 rows away from us pulled out his wand and yelled "Incarcerous!"
Ropes shot out of his wand and bound themselves around the Gibraltese keepers body. The man gave a swift tug, pulling the keeper down to the stands, and they disapparated. Instantly, all hell broke loose. The Gibraltar team seemed to think this was an attack by the Cairo team, so wands were drawn and duels began all over the place. I found myself being pulled away from it all by Dad, who held on to me as he started running away down the stairs of the stands, and out into the desert. My family made it out just in time before an explosion forced us all off our feet, and I landed awkwardly on top of Dad, with our faces digging in to each other. We sat up. Dad pulled out a cheese grater from his pocket (he carries around a Muggle object at all times for emergency portkey use) and said "Portus" to it with his wand, and it glowed for a minute before he thrust it into mine and Ron's hands.
"This will take you back to the hotel, now go!"
"I hate Portkeys Dad-" but I was cut off as that was the moment our travel commenced. Ron and I landed roughly on the grass by the hotel pool, and minutes later everyone else followed in groups of two. We all went and sat down in the lobby, and took a few moments to recover from what had just occurred.
"What, the bloody hell, was that all about?" said Ron eventually.