| Subject: (FF) Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (C1) |
Author:
Alison
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Date Posted: 03:10:39 09/20/02 Fri
Chapter 1
“Get up… Now!”
Petunia Dursley’s footsteps died away as she walked down the corridor into the kitchen. Harry Potter reluctantly prised open an eyelid and he raised himself slowly up. What day was it today? All the memories of the evening before gradually flooded into his tired and sleepy mind. He remembered about his Uncle Vernon’s big dinner. Apparently, some old chap had a large order in mind and Uncle Vernon had showed off by inviting him to dinner. Harry had to spend the whole night inside but it was all right, he had spent all night writing letters to his friends and doing some nasty homework given to him over the summer holidays.
And it was partly because of his school that Harry was despised so much by his relatives. He wasn’t an ordinary boy. In fact, Harry Potter was anything but ordinary. He was, in fact, a wizard about to begin his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And even by wizarding standards, Harry was still unusual. He lived with his horrible aunt and uncle and spoilt cousin because his parents had been murdered by the evil wizard Voldemort when he was just one. However, when Voldemort had tried to finish Harry off as well, the curse rebounded and Voldemort was left just a powerless evil spirit. Harry had become the most famous boy in the wizarding world, but he never knew that he was famous until he received the fateful letter on his eleventh birthday telling him that he had been accepted in to Hogwarts.
But Voldemort’s spirit had not been entirely powerless. He had spent his fourteen years in hiding scheming and attempting to come back to power. All his attempts had failed, and Harry had somehow always been involved in trying to stop any attempts of Voldemort to regain power. However, last year, Voldemort had succeeded. He had succeeded in gaining a body and he had become more powerful than he had ever been. Now, again, all the wizarding world lived in terror of what could happen in Voldemort came knocking on their front door.
Aunt Petunia’s footsteps were approaching again. “Aren’t you up yet?” she barked.
“All right, all right I’m up,” Harry said sleepily.
“Well hurry up! I need you to fry some bacon and eggs for breakfast so get a move on!”
“Yes Aunt Petunia.”
Harry got up, put on a pair of glasses over his startling green eyes and didn’t bother to brush his hair. It stuck up anyway. He pulled on a pair of oversized jeans, a hand-me-down from his cousin Dudley. Harry was small and thin, but he had grown a bit over the holidays. As he looked in the mirror, he slowly fingered a scar on his forehead, a relic of the evil curse that had touched him when he was still a baby. He then put on an old pair of trainers and went to the kitchen.
“What took you so long, boy?”
Uncle Vernon seems in a good mood today, thought Harry sarcastically. Without saying a word, he began to fry some eggs and bacon. Aunt Petunia was outside pretending to water some roses whilst spying on the excessively boring neighbours. Privet Drive wasn’t the liveliest of streets. Harry turned the bacon over n the pan. If only he was at his friend Ron’s house. But for some reason, Dumbledore, his headmaster at Hogwarts, had wanted him to spend his summer at the Dursleys’, much to his disgust. His thoughts were interrupted as Dudley, Harry’s cousin, waddled into the room.
“Where’s my breakfast?”
Aren’t we all polite today?, Harry thought. He scooped out the bacon and eggs, put them on a large plate and placed it on the table. Dudley’s face lit up at the sight of he food. Aunt Petunia had given up on his diet and so he had returned into being the fattest boy on earth. When will his legs snap under all that weight, Harry wondered. He sat down as his aunt came in. Dudley was scoffing his bacon at top speed as he stared at the television. Harry took a single piece of bacon and a fried egg and munched slowly. Uncle Vernon looked testily over The Surrey News.
“Why are you taking so long?”
“I’m ready, Uncle”
“Good, clean up the frying pan and go to your room” barked Aunt Petunia.
“Yes, Aunt Petunia”
Dudley sniggered, spraying pieces of fried egg everywhere. He choked and his parents turned in alarm. Panic arose, but Harry didn’t care. He scrubbed the pan, dried it, and left the room. What’s new?, he thought, they haven’t remembered my birthday this year either. He opened the door to his room and went in. On the window, there was a small bunch of owls, one of them Hedwig.
Harry walked to the window sill and carefully pulled at the letters and parcels tied to the legs of the owls. He noticed Ron’s owl, Pigwidgeon, or Pig, as Ron called him hooting excitedly with an enormous parcel tied to this tiny leg. When Harry had rid all the owls of their burdens, one flew away, and Harry gave them a couple of Owl Treats. He then sat on his bed and opened the largest parcel, Ron’s.
Dear Harry [it read]
Happy birthday! How are your holidays? Mine are as boring as hell. Weather’s horrible. You can come to my place to stay from the 10th of August. Hope you can make it. Send an answer back pronto. Hope you like your present.
Ron
Harry turned to open Ron’s parcel. He tore off the brown paper and out fell a big box. Harry opened it eagerly. Inside were seven moving figures wearing bright orange robes. They moved and waved, then climbed onto miniature broomsticks and took off. They were models of the Chuddley Canons, Ron’s favourite quidditch team. Quidditch was perhaps Harry’s favourite thing in the world. It was a wizarding sport played on broomsticks, and Harry was Seeker on his house’s quidditch team at school. Harry noticed a note at the bottom of the box.
Dear Harry,
The only way to stop the figures flying around is to point your wand at them and do a Freezing Charm. Hope you like them! Sorry I couldn’t do better, but I really am broke this summer. Fred and George don’t stop splashing money around, though. Mum’s worried, she can’t figure out how they got all that gold! They even bought me these new dress robes!
Ron
Harry gazed at the seven flying figures and felt a pang of guilt. Ron wasn’t the richest guy around, but he still had managed to get enough money together to buy him a nice gift! He turned to open another letter which had his other friend Hermione’s neat curly handwriting.
Dear Harry, [Hermione’s letter read]
How are you? Happy birthday! I really didn’t know what to get you for your birthday, so I thought that you had better choose for yourself! Enclosed is a gift voucher for five galleons from Flourish & Blott’s, maybe you can find a good quidditch book or something of the like!
Can you make it to Ron’s house? I can, so we’ll meet on the 10th if you can come. Oh, and how are your studies for the O.W.L. s going?
Hermione
-P.S.: I’ve been made a Prefect! Have you got your Hogwarts letter yet?
Harry stared at the letter. Hermione was studying for her O.W.L. s? Already? His eyes strayed to the postscript and smiled. Of course Hermione was to become a Prefect, she was the cleverest and most hardworking girl in the whole year! He looked inside the parchment envelope and took out the gift voucher. He looked at it for some time and put it back in. Then he reached out for what looked like his Hogwarts letter.
Harry thought that the envelope was a bit heavier than usual. He opened it slowly and took out two sheets of parchment, a train ticket and, to his amazement, a small round, golden badge. As he stared at the badge, it suddenly hit him…He must have been made a Prefect! Hands trembling, he unfolded the first sheet of parchment. It was his book list. He skimmed through it impatiently and threw it aside. He picked up the second piece of parchment. It was his usual Hogwarts letter, only it was slightly longer than usual.
Dear Mr. Potter [it read]
You are due to start school on the 1st of September. Enclosed is the Hogwarts Express train ticket on which there are all the details of your journey and your school book list. Please note that dress robes are necessary this year.
Also, we would like to congratulate you on being made a Prefect. Enclosed is your Prefect badge. You will receive a list of duties on your first night at school.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Harry grinned uncontrollably to himself. The fact that he had just become a Prefect had finally sunk in. Wait till I tell Sirius, he thought. Sirius Black was Harry’s godfather, an escaped convict out of the wizarding prison, Azkaban. He had been framed for killing a large number of muggles (non-magic people), and had met Harry in his third year at Hogwarts.
Harry threw aside the Hogwarts letter and turned to pick up another one. Now, there were only two left. One was a big parchment envelope with an untidy scrawl attached to a fairy large parcel which Harry assumed was from Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts and Harry’s Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The second was from Sirius. Harry ripped Sirius' open.
Dear Harry, [it read]
I’m safe lying low at Remus Lupin’s. All well. Hope you have a very happy birthday. I couldn’t really buy you a fabulous birthday present, but I think you’ll be happy enough with this until it’s safe enough to buy you a big gift.
Write back and see you soon!
Snuffles
Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione always referred to Sirius as Snuffles when they talked between them so that they would not get Sirius into trouble. His name had not yet been cleared because the real murderer, Peter Pettigrew was believed dead.
Harry looked inside the envelope. Inside were a few photos. He pulled them out and saw that they were moving photos of his parents. He looked at them one by one and slowly put them aside. Then picked up his quill and scribble a reply on the reverse side of the parchment.
Dear Sirius,
Thank you for the great gift. You really don’t have to buy me anything else, the photos were enough. What do you mean by ‘see you soon’?
Harry
He took Hedwig out of her cage, tied the letter to her leg, and watched her fly away into the night.
After Hedwig had gone, Harry turned to open Hagrid’s parcel. There was an old-looking crimson book. Along the spine was written: “All about Phoenixes”. Harry looked curiously at the book. Why would Hagrid want to send him a book about Phoenixes? He flicked through it and a note fell out onto his lap.
Happy birthday Harry!
Hope you like the book. It’s not much, but I was on an errand to Dumbledore with Madame Maxime. It’ll come in useful, I guess.
Hope the muggles are treating you well.
Hagrid
Harry read the note twice and put it aside. The book certainly seemed interesting. Harry supposed that he would need it for the following year’s Care of Magical Creatures. He was reading the foreword when he remembered that he had to reply to Ron’s letter. He closed the book and went downstairs to ask the Dursleys if he could go.
Uncle Vernon turned a bright shade of purple as he read the letter.
“I am NOT going to have these people in my house again!”
“But Uncle…”
“No buts! I do not want my fireplace blasted into a million pieces by… abnormal people!” he said, flecks of spit flying out of his enormous mouth.
Harry wiped his face. “Uncle, what if I ask them to come by car?”
“They don’t even know what a car is!”
“My friend’s dad works at the Ministry, he can borrow a Ministry car”
“Well, just you tell this friend Rod or whatever his ruddy name is to bring a decent car, not some shabby, derelict dump!”
“Yes, Uncle Vernon.”
And Harry ran to his room to write the reply.
Dear Ron [he scribbled]
The muggles let me come on condition that you come by car… can you make it please? If so, tell me how you will get here and I’ll try to negotiate with them. Also what time shall I wait for you?
Thanks for the great present. You shouldn’t have.
Harry
Harry turned to see where Pig was. The little fellow was rocketing around the room, bouncing off the walls, and hooting loudly. Harry could hear Uncle Vernon yelling from the living room so he leapt on the bed and quickly caught the owl. He forcefully tied the note to Pig’s leg, went to the window, and let him go. The little owl was soon a small black dot in the clouds.
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