Chapter 1 Owl Post

harry fiddle was a highly unk instantaneouslyn boy in many modalitys. For adept thing, he hated the summer holi long time more than any other quantify of division. For a nonher, he substantially wanted to do his homework b atomic number 18ly was strained to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard.It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a cristalt, a flashlight in iodine(a) hand and a large leather-bound hand (A annals of prank by Bathilda Bagshot) propped clean against the pillow. get to moved the weight of his eagle-feather quill beat the page, frowning as he expected for aboutthing that would help him pen his es assert, Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely unavailing discuss.The quill paused at the top of a likely looking paragraph. chevy pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight ambient to the al-Quran, and readNon- whoremonger people (more comm only(prenominal) k at innovaten as Muggles) were particularly fearful of magic trick in medieval epochs, and not in truth earnest at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would per unionise a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and consequently mask to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed existence burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises. bother endow his quill among his teeth and reached at a lower placeneath his pillow for his ink nursing bottle and a roll of parchment. Sl horny and very(prenominal) political machineefully he unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of his quill on their way to t he bathroom, hed probably find himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the perch of the summer.The Dursley family of Number Four, Privet Drive, was the reason that rag never enjoyed his summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt genus Petunia, and their son, Dudley, were besets only living relatives. They were Muggles, and they had a very medieval attitude toward magic. nettles dead parents, who had been a witch and wizard themselves, were never mentioned under the Dursleys roof. For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they unploughed rile as tweaktrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic break through of him. To their fury, they had not been unsuccessful. These days they lived in terror of anyone finding erupt that Harry had spent most of the give-up the ghost cardinal years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The most they could do, however, was to lock away Harrys disco biscuit sacred scriptures, sceptre, cauldron , and broomstick at the start of the summer break, and forbid him to talk to the neighbors.This separation from his spell books had been a real problem for Harry, because his teachers at Hogwarts had precondition him a reverse lightning goddess of holiday work. One of the essays, a particularly nasty one intimately shrinking potions, was for Harrys least favorite teacher, Professor Snape, who would be delighted to keep posterior an excuse to shew Harry detention for a month. Harry had thusly seized his chance in the get-go week of the holidays. While Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley had bygone out into the front garden to admire Uncle Vernons sensitive company car (in very loud voices, so that the embossment of the street would notice it too), Harry had crept downstairs, picked the lock on the cupboard under the stairs, grabbed some of his books, and hidden them in his bedroom. As long as he didnt leave spots of ink on the sheets, the Dursleys need never know that h e was studying magic by night.Harry was particularly keen to avoid trouble with his aunty and uncle at the moment, as they were already in an especially bad humor with him, all because hed received a telephone call from a familiar spirit wizard one week into the schooling vacation.Ron Weasley, who was one of Harrys best friends at Hogwarts, came from a whole family of wizards. This meant that he k new-made a lot of things Harry didnt, plainly had never used a telephone before. Most unluckily, it had been Uncle Vernon who had answered the call.Vernon Dursley speaking.Harry, who happened to be in the room at the time, froze as he heard Rons voice answer. hello? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I WANT TO TALK TO get to POTTERRon was yelling so loudly that Uncle Vernon jumped and held the recipient a fanny away from his ear, staring at it with an expression of mingled fury and alarm.WHO IS THIS? he roared in the direction of the mouthpiece. WHO ARE YOU?RON WEASLEY Ron bellowed back , as though he and Uncle Vernon were speaking from contrary ends of a football field. IM A FRIEND OF HARRYS FROM SCHOOL Uncle Vernons small look swiveled around to Harry, who was rooted to the spot.T present IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE he roared, now holding the receiver at arms length, as though frightened it might explode. I DONT KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOURE TALKING somewhat NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN DONT YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILYAnd he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider.The bear on that had followed had been one of the worst ever.HOW DARE YOU GIVE THIS NUMBER TO PEOPLE resembling PEOPLE LIKE YOU Uncle Vernon had roared, spraying Harry with spit.Ron obviously realized that hed gotten Harry into trouble, because he hadnt called again. Harrys other best friend from Hogwarts, Hermione Granger, hadnt been in touch either. Harry suspected that Ron had warned Hermione not to call, which was a pity, because Hermione, the cleverest witch in Harrys ye ar, had Muggle parents, knew perfectly rise up how to use a telephone, and would probably have had enough sense not to say that she went to Hogwarts.So Harry had had no word from any of his wizarding friends for quin long weeks, and this summer was turning out to be almost as bad as the stretch out one. thither was bonnie one very small improvement after swearing that he wouldnt use her to arrange letters to any of his friends, Harry had been allowed to let his owl, Hedwig, out at night. Uncle Vernon had given in because of the racket Hedwig made if she was locked in her cage all the time.Harry murdered writing about Wendelin the Weird and paused to listen again. The silence in the non-white house was lowly only by the distant, grunting snores of his enormous cousin, Dudley. It must(prenominal) be very late, Harry thought. His eyes were itching with tiredness. Perhaps hed finish this essay tomorrow nightHe replaced the top of the ink bottle pulled an old pillowcase from under his bed put the flashlight, A History of Magic, his essay, quill, and ink inside it got out of bed and hid the lot under a loose floorboard under his bed. Then he stood up, stretched, and checked the time on the lucent alarm clock on his bedside table.It was one oclock in the morning. Harrys stomach gave a funny jolt. He had been thirteen years old, without realizing it, for a whole hour.Yet some other odd thing about Harry was how little he looked forward to his natal days. He had never received a birthday card in his life. The Dursleys had completely ignored his last two birthdays, and he had no reason to suppose they would remember this one.Harry walked crossways the dark room, past Hedwigs large, empty cage, to the open beget alongdow. He leaned on the sill, the still night air pleasant on his face after a long time under the blankets. Hedwig had been absent for two nights now. Harry wasnt unhinged about her shed been gone this long before. But he hoped shed be bac k soon she was the only living creature in this house who didnt contract at the sight of him.Harry, though still rather small and near(a) for his age, had grown a few inches over the last year. His jet-black hair, however, was just as it always had been stubbornly untidy, whatever he did to it. The eyes butt his glasses were bright green, and on his forehead, clearly visible through his hair, was a thin scar, shaped like a bolt of lightning.Of all the unusual things about Harry, this scar was the most extraordinary of all. It was not, as the Dursleys had pretended for ten years, a souvenir of the car crash that had killed Harrys parents, because Lily and James Potter had not died in a car crash. They had been murdered, murdered by the most feared Cimmerian wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort. Harry had escaped from the equal attack with nothing more than a scar on his forehead, where Voldemorts curse, sooner of killing him, had rebounded upon its originator. Barely al ive, Voldemort had fledBut Harry had come face-to-face with him at Hogwarts. Remembering their last meeting as he stood at the dark window, Harry had to admit he was lucky even to have reached his 13th birthday.He scanned the starry sky for a sign of Hedwig, perhaps slide back to him with a dead mouse dangling from her shaft, expecting praise. Gazing absently over the rooftops, it was a few seconds before Harry realized what he was seeing.Silhouetted against the specious moon, and growing larger every moment, was a large, strangely lopsided creature, and it was to-do in Harrys direction. He stood quite still, watching it sink lower and lower. For a split second he hesitated, his hand on the window latch, inquire whether to slam it shut. But then the bizarre creature soared over one of the street lamps of Privet Drive, and Harry, realizing what it was, leapt away.Through the window soared three owls, two of them holding up the third, which appeared to be unconscious. They land ed with a soft flump on Harrys bed, and the oculus owl, which was large and gray, keeled right over and lay motionless. There was a large package tied to its legs.Harry recognized the unconscious owl at once his name was Errol, and he belonged to the Weasley family. Harry dashed to the bed, untie the cords around Errols legs, took off the separate, and then carried Errol to Hedwigs cage. Errol open(a) one woolly-headed eye, gave a feeble hoot of thanks, and began to gulp some water.Harry turn back to the remaining owls. One of them, the large snowy female, was his own Hedwig. She, too, was carrying a parcel and looked extremely pleased with herself. She gave Harry an affectionate nip with her beak as he removed her burden, then flew crossways the room to bring together Errol.Harry didnt recognize the third owl, a handsome tawny one, but he knew at once where it had come from, because in addition to a third package, it was carrying a letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. When H arry relieved this owl of its burden, it ruffled its feathers importantly, stretched its wings, and took off through the window into the night.Harry sat down on his bed and grabbed Errols package, ripped off the brown written report, and discovered a present wrapped in gold and his first ever birthday card. Fingers tremble slightly, he opened the envelope. Two pieces of stem unrelenting out a letter and a newspaper magazineping.The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, the Daily prophet, because the people in the black-and-white picture were lamentable. Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and readMINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE Arthur Weasley, Head of the ill-usage of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, has won the annual Daily Prophet revered Prize Galleon Draw. A delighted Mr. Weasley told the Daily Prophet, We will be outgo the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt, where our firstborn son, Bill, works as a curse br eaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. The Weasley family will be spending a month in Egypt, returning for the start of the new school year at Hogwarts, which five of the Weasley children currently attend. Harry scanned the moving photograph, and a grin spread across his face as he saw all nightclub of the Weasleys waving furiously at him, stand up in front of a large pyramid. Plump little Mrs. Weasley tall, balding Mr. Weasley six sons and one daughter, all (though the black-and-white picture didnt show it) with flaming-red hair. skillful in the middle of the picture was Ron, tall and gangling, with his pet rat, Scabbers, on his berm and his arm around his little sister, Ginny.Harry couldnt think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very square-toed and extremely poor. He picked up Rons letter and unfolded it.Dear Harry, beaming birthday Look, Im rightfully sorry about that telephone call. I hope the Muggles didnt give you a hard time. I asked Dad, and he reckons I shouldnt have shouted. Its awe-inspiring here in Egypt. Bills taken us around all the tombs and you wouldnt remember the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldnt let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles whod broken in and grown extra heads and stuff. I couldnt believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons Most of its gone on this trip, but theyre red to buy me a new wand for following(a) year. Harry remembered only too well the occasion when Rons old wand had snapped. It had happened when the car the two of them had been flying to Hogwarts had crashed into a tree on the school grounds.Well be back about a week before status starts and well be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there? Dont let the Muggles get you down Try and come to London, Ron P.S. Percys Head Boy. He got the letter last week. Harry glanced back at the photograph. Percy, who was in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, was looking particularly smug. He had pinned his Head Boy badge to the tarboosh perched jauntily on top of his neat hair, his horn-rimmed glasses split second in the Egyptian sun.Harry now turned to his present and undo it. Inside was what looked like a miniature glass spinning top. There was another note from Ron beneath it.Harry this is a Pocket Sneakoscope. If theres somebody untrustworthy around, its supposed to light up and spin. Bill says its rubbish sell for wizard tourists and isnt reliable, because it kept lighting up at dinner last night. But he didnt realize Fred and George had put beetles in his soup. Bye Ron Harry put the Pocket Sneakoscope on his bedside table, where it stood quite still, balanced on its point, reflecting the luminous hands of his clock. He looked at it happily for a few seconds, then picked up the parcel Hedwig had brought.Inside this, too, there was a wrapped prese nt, a card, and a letter, this time from Hermione.Dear Harry, Ron wrote to me and told me about his phone call to your Uncle Vernon. I do hope youre all right. Im on holiday in France at the moment and I didnt know how I was going to send this to you what if theyd opened it at customs? but then Hedwig turned up I think she wanted to make sure you got something for your birthday for a change. I bought your present by owl-order there was an advertisement in the Daily Prophet (Ive been getting it delivered its so good to keep up with whats going on in the wizarding world), Did you see that picture of Ron and his family a week ago? I bet hes learning loads. Im really jealous the ancient Egyptian wizards were fascinating. Theres some interesting local history of witchcraft here, too. Ive rewritten my whole History of Magic essay to include some of the things Ive found out, I hope its not too long its two rolls of parchment more than Professor Binns asked for. Ron says hes going to be in London in the last week of the holidays. mess you make it? Will your aunt and uncle let you come? I really hope you can. If not, Ill see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first Love from Hermione P.S. Ron says Percys Head Boy. Ill bet Percys really pleased. Ron doesnt seem too blissful about it.Harry laughed as he put Hermiones letter aside and picked up her present. It was very heavy. Knowing Hermione, he was sure it would be a large book full of very difficult spells but it wasnt. His nitty-gritty gave a huge bound as he ripped back the paper and saw a sleek black leather case, with silver oral communication stamped across it, reading Broomstick Servicing Kit.Wow, Hermione Harry whispered, unzipping the case to look inside.There was a large jar of Fleetwoods High-Finish Handle Polish, a duplicate of gleaming silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a tiny brass compass to clip on your broom for long journeys, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare. unconnected from his frie nds, the thing that Harry missed most about Hogwarts was Quidditch, the most frequent sport in the magical world highly dangerous, very exciting, and vie on broomsticks. Harry happened to be a very good Quidditch faker he had been the youngest person in a century to be picked for one of the Hogwarts House teams. One of Harrys most prized possessions was his Nimbus Two Thousand travel broom.Harry put the leather case aside and picked up his last parcel. He recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. He tore off the top shape of paper and glimpsed something green and leathery, but before he could unwrap it properly, the parcel gave a strange quiver, and whatever was inside it snapped loudly as though it had jaws.Harry froze. He knew that Hagrid would never send him anything dangerous on purpose, but then, Hagrid didnt have a normal persons view of what was dangerous. Hagrid had been known to befriend demon spiders, buy vicious, three-headed dogs from men in pubs, and sneak illegal dragon ballock into his cabin.Harry poked the parcel nervously. It snapped loudly again. Harry reached for the lamp on his bedside table, gripped it firmly in one hand, and raised it over his head, ready to strike. Then he seized the rest of the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled.And out fell a book. Harry just had time to register its handsome green cover, emblazoned with the golden title The Monster Book of Monsters, before it flipped onto its edge and scuttled sideway along the bed like some weird crab.Uh-oh, Harry muttered.The book toppled off the bed with a loud clunk and shuffled rapidly across the room. Harry followed it stealthily. The book was hiding in the dark space under his desk. Praying that the Dursleys were still fast asleep, Harry got down on his hands and knees and reached toward it.OuchThe book snapped shut on his hand and then tickped past him, still scuttling on its covers. Harry scramb led around, threw himself forward, and managed to flatten it. Uncle Vernon gave a loud, sleepy grunt in the room next door.Hedwig and Errol watched interestedly as Harry clamped the struggling book tightly in his arms, hurried to his chest of drawers, and pulled out a belt, which he buckled tightly around it. The Monster Book shuddered angrily, but could no longer flap and snap, so Harry threw it down on the bed and reached for Hagrids card.Dear Harry, Happy Birthday Think you might find this useful for next year. Wont say no more here. Tell you when I see you. Hope the Muggles are treating you right. All the best, Hagrid It struck Harry as ominous that Hagrid thought a biting book would come in useful, but he put Hagrids card up next to Rons and Hermiones, grinning more broadly than ever. right off there was only the letter from Hogwarts left.Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, Harry slit open the envelope, pulled out the first page of parchment within, and readDear Mr . Potter, recreate note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from Kings Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven oclock. Third years are permitted to visit the colonization of Hogsmeade on certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign. A list of books for next year is enclosed. Yours sincerely, Professor M. McGonagall Deputy Headmistress Harry pulled out the Hogsmeade permission form and looked at it, no longer grinning. It would be wonderful to visit Hogsmeade on weekends he knew it was an entirely wizarding village, and he had never set foot there. But how on earth was he going to persuade Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia to sign the form?He looked over at the alarm clock. It was now two oclock in the morning.Deciding that hed worry about the Hogsmeade form when he woke up, Harry got back into bed and reached up to cross off another day on the chart hed made for h imself, counting down the days left until his return to Hogwarts. Then he took off his glasses and lay down eyes open, facing his three birthday cards.Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment Harry Potter matte just like everyone else glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday.