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Harry read Spencer's letter in the restaurant bathroom again as was his new habit, then thought for a moment before turning off the electric light and trying to make light in his hand. He figured if Spencer was right the light would be brighter than he could make it in the cupboard last night. He was shocked when the room lit up like the middle of a sunny day in mid-summer. It was actually almost too bright to look at comfortably and it didn't feel like it was using any of the well of energy his power came from. He stopped the light, listening anxiously to see if someone was coming to investigate before climbing on the toilet seat to look out the window and see if someone outside was paying attention. It didn't look like anyone was in the alley so he climbed down, cleaned his footprints off the seat, hid his letter and went back to the restaurant to help out with preparing the vegetables for the night. He was still shocked that Spencer was right, and that his light was so much brighter than it had ever been. Did that mean his powers were that much stronger than it had been as well, or was he just so good at making light because it was one of the things he'd been doing in his cupboard almost every night.
Monday, 14/1/91
Dear Spencer
Thank you for the book. It explained physics better than anything I could find in the library. Though I have read several other physics books since then too. It is such an interesting thing to learn about.
The holidays are over and I'm back at school. The owners and staff at the restaurant all put in and bought me a pair of boots and a warm woolen jumper for Christmas. They're second hand thank goodness or the Dursleys would think that I stole them, but they're both warm and the shoes are waterproof and best of all they're way too small for Dudley so they can't force me to give them to him. It's amazing how much quicker I can run in shoes that fit and when the soles aren't falling off.
Petunia is angry about the new clothes and suspicious about where I got them. Thank heavens, because Marge wouldn't let Petunia let me leave the house for long enough to get to the restaurant and back, the staff didn't give them to me until after Marge went home or she would probably have thrown them out or marched me down the police station and accused me of stealing them. Petunia knows I didn't steal them but she is offended that someone bought me clothes thinking that I was a charity case or that the clothes the Dursleys provided weren't good enough for a freak like me. She tried to order me to give them back but I told her that would only draw more attention to the fact she refuses to look after me properly. I told her that the people who gave me the coat and boots didn't know her or that I was her nephew so them giving the clothes to me didn't reflect badly on her, and that returning them would be incredibly bad manners and I kind of threatened her that the people who bought them for me would want to come home with me and talk to my guardians if I wasn't allowed to have them, to try to convince her to change her mind. Then she said I could keep them to be polite but I wasn't allowed to wear them and I pointed out that my friends who gave them to me would notice if I kept wearing my broken shoes held together with tape and my worn out jumpers instead of their gifts.
It's the first time I've won an argument with Petunia about anything. She didn't feed me any dinner for the rest of the holidays though so I guess we are even. It's funny though, she deliberately told me not to set a plate for myself because I wasn't getting any dinner but she told me before I started cooking then she went upstairs while I was cooking so I cooked the same amount of food as I normally would and just ate mine while I was cooking. Dudley nearly caught me one night but I managed to distract him by opening one of the cupboards where Petunia had hidden the chocolate biscuits, and offering him a taste of the stew to see if it had enough salt and pepper so he didn't realise I was actually more than tasting it.
It snowed here today, nearly six inches. I spent the afternoon shovelling the driveway, and then I went to the restaurant and shovelled their front walk for them too. They gave me hot chocolate to warm me up while doing it though and a full meal afterwards. I wish I could just stay there in the restaurant if I can't live with you it would be the next best thing. They have a cupboard under the stairs but it's full of stuff for different themes and seasons. They aren't the sort of people who would let a child live under the stairs either. I don't think it's ever occurred to them to keep me, they don't want the responsibility of bringing up a child, or the legal headache of getting child protection to let them have me. You're the only person who has ever really wanted me. I know you think that doesn't change much in my life because you still couldn't keep me but it means more than you'll ever know.
You were right that the power limit thing hasn't worn of the house. I hadn't thought of that but after I got your letter, I thought of a way to test it to see if you were right. I should have known that you would be. I went to the staff bathroom at the restaurant and turned off the electric light and tried to make the brightest light that I could like I do in the cupboard. In the cupboard it makes a light bright enough to read by but only just, no more than a cheap light globe. In the restaurant bathroom it was blinding. Like the flashbulb from a professional camera. I could see spots for ages after I stopped the light. I also used my power to unlock the door when I came out and it was unlocked and open before I even really thought about trying. So whatever they've put on the house is actually making my power work harder and more strongly. I'll bet that's not part of their plan, whoever it was.
Your friend
Harry
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