| Chapter One The Dursley's Vacation |
| It was a warm, sunny morning in August when Harry Potter woke up from a surprisingly peaceful night�s sleep. He sat up and reached for his glasses on the bedside table next to him, and put them on. He rubbed his forehead, astonished to feel no pain emitting from his lightning bolt shaped scar. He sat in his bed, wondering how long it had been since he had had such a nice rest. Ever since Voldemort, the wizarding world�s most evil enemy, had risen, Harry had many nightmares and often found himself waking up in a cold sweat, his scar searing with pain. This caused him to hardly get any sleep and he often woke up tired and irritable. Usually he would let out his frustration on Hedwig, his snowy owl. She would give an angry hoot and nip his hand when he annoyed her. Usually, he would let her out just so she didn�t have to deal with his bad moods. However, Harry had no one else to let out his anger on. If he ever tried to yell at any of the Dursley�s, he would most likely find himself locked in the small cupboard under the stairs. The Dursley�s were quite afraid of Harry, especially because they knew his godfather was a convicted murderer, but they had power over him. As Harry was not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, they didn�t worry about him doing any magic in their house. Homework also caused a problem for Harry. The Dursley�s wanted no trace of Harry�s �abnormality� in their home, so Harry was forced to do his homework at night. His teachers had given him a great deal of homework to do, and he was often up late into the night working on the seemingly endless writing tasks. But today, Harry was well rested and it looked like today would be a good day. He got dressed, tried to straighten his jet-black hair, (to no avail) and walked downstairs. As he entered the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs overwhelmed him. His stomach growled, and he looked over at his aunt Petunia, who was making what seemed like a very large breakfast. She scowled at him, and he looked away. He looked at his uncle Vernon, who was reading the paper. Dudley, Harry�s overly large cousin, was counting something, his brow very furrowed. Curious, Harry began to walk over to see what he was counting, but stopped when Dudley suddenly let out a ferocious yell. �24 PRESENTS? That�s IT?� he hollered, his face turning red. A small, purple vein stuck out of his temple. Harry cautiously backed away, not wanting to get caught in the middle of one of Dudley�s tantrums. Suddenly, Harry wasn�t so cheerful. He realized that today wasn�t going to be a good day. Today was Dudley�s birthday. �Now, now Dudley, listen here,� Uncle Vernon reasoned, �We�ve gotten you a very expensive gift this year and we didn�t think you�d mind if maybe you didn�t have as many gifts this � � �I WANT MORE!� Dudley roared. �Dudleykins,� Aunt Petunia cooed, �Would you like to know the big, very expensive gift Daddy and Mummy got you this year?� Dudley stopped yelling for a moment and looked at his parents. �Yes, and it better be good,� he threatened. �This year,� Uncle Vernon began, �We�ve gotten you a first-class, two week trip to Germany! And you can take a friend! Isn�t that spectacular?� �Really? So that means Piers can come?� Dudley said excitedly. Piers was Dudley�s rat faced friend, who Harry disliked very much. �Yes, of course dear,� Aunt Petunia stated, �Anything that will make you happy.� Harry rolled his eyes, and Dudley shot him a sharp look. �What about him?� Dudley snapped, �He�d better not be coming.� Uncle Vernon sneered at Harry, as if he was something smelly stuck to the bottom of his shoe. �Of course not, he�ll be staying with Mrs. Figg, we have it all planned out,� he reassured Dudley. Harry�s stomach dropped. Mrs. Figg was their next-door neighbor. Her house smelled of cabbage and she had countless cats running all over the place. Her favorite thing to do was to show him the photo albums of her favorite ones. �Can�t I just stay here?� Harry pleaded, �I wont blow up the house or anything.� �Out of the question!� snarled Uncle Vernon, �And if you ask me any thing else like that, you�ll be in locked in the cupboard until we leave.� Harry glared at Uncle Vernon with pure hate in his unnaturally green eyes. �And when is that?� Dudley interjected. �Three days! We�d better get packing, eh?� said Uncle Vernon cheerfully. He looked fiercely at Harry. �As for you, you�d better stay out of our way if you want to eat for the next three days.� �As if I�d want to get in your way, you�d probably flatten me,� mumbled Harry under his breath. He stormed upstairs and flopped down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling and let out a deep, heavy sigh. �Boy, this is turning out to be one lousy summer,� he moaned. |
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