Harry Potter and the Summer of Surprises
Chapter 1: Drudgery and Post
Harry straightened his back, raising his stature to a height of 6' dead. Caring little for the grime that covered his hands, he massaged his spine, trying to ease the ache that had developed over the morning. Perspiration covered his brow. Beads ran into his eyes causing them to smart and this distorted his vision. Harry took off his glasses and placed them on a nearby rock, so as to prevent them from damage. He took the hem of his t - shirt in his fingers and used it to wipe his stinging eyes. Taking up his glasses again with his left hand, he cleaned the lenses free from sweat, and deposited them back on the bridge of his nose.
Harry looked around. The street was busy today. People were out on their lawns enjoying the sunshine. Children played in paddling pools, whilst parents read and drank ice cold drinks. It was the middle of a heat wave. "Temperatures have soared to a sizzling thirty three degrees centigrade", he had heard at 6 o'clock that morning, on the radio, whilst he prepared the Dursleys' breakfast. He silently cursed his Aunt and Uncle for the unrelenting manual workload he was forced to do.
What fun Ron and the rest of the Weasley's would be having, now he thought. He cast his mind back to the holidays before his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had spent the last two weeks with the Weasleys at their home near Ottery St Catchpole.
This year he had no such luck. There was no stream to paddle in, no Ron, no Hermione. He missed his friends dreadfully, but after the end of his fifth year and his discussion with Dumbledore, it seemed extremely unlikely that he would spend this summer anywhere other than number four, Privet Drive.
Harry sighed, picked up the fork that was lying on the parched ground next to him, and once more continued the laborious task of digging the flower beds.
An hour later he had finished turning the earth in the flower beds. He made his way into the house via the back door, being careful to remove the muddy, oversized boots that adorned his feet. Yet another Dudley cast off. Being careful not to brush any mud onto the meticulously polished floor, Harry moved his boots though the kitchen and placed them in the cupboard under the stairs. "At least he didn't have to sleep in there anymore", he thought to himself, being thankful for small mercies. Harry checked the floor for any sign of dirt. The last thing he needed was to annoy his Aunt Petunia and earn himself extra work. He was lucky, the floor remained spotless.
After reading the note left for him by his Aunt, Harry opened the refrigerator and removed the cheese that had been left for him. He combined the meagre lump of cheese with thick slices of bread that he cut from the loaf which he took from the bread bin. Harry then proceeded to spread liberal amounts of Branston's Pickle over the oddly shaped sandwich. Placing his crude lunch on a plate, he sat on the back door step and enjoyed a welcome rest and started on his sandwich.
A grass snake slithered out of a bush and took up a position in the centre of the dried up lawn. The sun reflected off the snake's scales and glinted as the snake moved. It curled up and went to sleep, basking in the sun's rays. It looked so content lying there, seemingly with no cares in the world, that Harry found himself wishing that his life was that simple. But alas, it wasn't. He was of course "The Boy Who Lived" and had to deal with all the baggage associated with it.
He finished his sandwich and washed up his plate, putting it on the side. Placing his trainers on his feet (he had collected these when he put his boots away), he walked outside. Around the side of the house he went, and proceeded to continue the gardening in front of the home. This afternoon, he had to weed the flowerbed in front of the bay window. He'd only been outside for a few minutes, when he began to sweat again. "Damn this heat", he said to himself, as he removed his shirt and lay it down on the lawn. Again he set to work.
At four o'clock, his Aunt and Uncle returned from the shops with Dudley, their son. Dudley waddled up to the front door and dropped the bags he was carrying. He proceeded to ring the doorbell incessantly until an annoyed looking Harry opened the door. By this time, Petunia and Vernon had brought their bags from the boot of the car and had deposited them next to Dudley's. The three of them stepped over the threshold, pushing Harry rudely aside. "Take those bags up to our room now and then start on the tea", Aunt Petunia said in a shrill voice that was laced with malevolence.
Harry did as he was told; not wanting to get into the Dursley's bad books so early on in the summer, and trudged upstairs with the heavy bags.
His tea consisted of baked beans and a jacket potato, not a bad meal for number four, Privet Drive. He wolfed it down, not wanting to spend his evening sitting and watching Dudley eat. The nearest likeness that Harry could think of was a vacuum cleaner, but even that would be complimentary.
After completing the washing up, Harry retired to his bedroom. The television blared out from the lounge. An action movie was on one of the film channels. In other circumstances Harry would have enjoyed watching it, but he was still deeply traumatised by the death of his godfather, Sirius, and just wanted peace and quiet at the moment. He sat on the bed and drew out a book from his trunk. It was his transfiguration textbook. Skimming through the pages, Harry found what he was looking for. Information on the animagi transformation. He read the section before replacing the book in his trunk and shutting the lid. Sliding his clothes from his weary body, Harry placed them in the wash basket in the corner of the room and sunk onto his bed unceremoniously.
At that moment, Hedwig fluttered through the window. She dropped an envelope bearing the Hogwarts seal and the school crest onto his lap and proceeded to nibble at his fingers. He ruffled her feathers and gave her an owl treat. Tentatively, he picked up his letter. After breaking the seal, a folded piece of parchment fell from the envelope when it was inverted. Carefully, Harry was about to unfold the parchment when an unfamiliar owl flew through the window and landed on his bed. The owl was very different to his snowy owl. For starters, it was larger and had brown and grey markings. The visitor also possessed startlingly yellow eyes.
The strange owl had brought with it a long roll of parchment. Harry plucked it from the owl's leg and the owl took flight once more out of the open second story window into the sunset. The parchment read as follows:
Dear Harry,
How are you? I have just returned from New York, where I spent a week's holiday. My parents took me to see the Statue of Liberty. It was presented to America by France after they won independence from the British. It is amazing. We also saw the Empire State Building. Mum didn't like going up it very much, as it sways at the top. My favourite thing that we did, apart from the shopping, was when we saw Oklahoma on Broadway.
Anyway, I am getting off topic. How have you been? If there is anything that I can do, don't hesitate to owl me about it, and I'll do what I can to help.
Now that's said, how did your O.W.Ls go? I have just received my results and below is a copy:
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Charms O
Defence Against The Dark Arts O
Care for Magical Creatures E
Astronomy A
History of Magic O
Divination -
Herbology O
Arithmancy O
Ancient Runes O
I can't believe that I got 10 owls!!!!!
Mum and Dad were so pleased with my results, they bought an owl so that we can communicate more easily when I am at school. He's a handsome fella isn't he. We named him Mercury.
I hope you did well in your O.W.Ls, even though you failed to complete the history of magic exam. Please send me you O.W.L scores as soon as possible as I would be thrilled to see how you did.
Finally, I have to say that I will see you soon and to get all your homework done (seriously, there is a reason, and it isn't just me nagging). Hope the Dursleys aren't treating you too badly.
Love
Hermione.
P.s. The summer might not be so bad after all!
Harry sat there deep in thought, contemplating the content of the letter. What did she mean by "the summer might not be too bad after all", and "get all your homework done"?
He sat there milling ideas around in his head, but nothing sprung to mind, so he put Hermione's letter on the side and returned to his Hogwarts letter.
He opened it with trepidation realising that it must be his O.W.L grades. It read as follows:
Dear Mr Potter,
Your O.W.Ls have been marked and the results have been gathered together. They are as follows.
Potions O
Transfiguration O
Charms O
Defence Against The Dark Arts O
Care for Magical Creatures O
Astronomy A
History of Magic P
Divination O
Herbology E
We would like to inform you that you have the option of taking any of these subjects through to N.E.W.T level with the exception of History of Magic and Astronomy, as you did not achieve the required results in these two disciplines.
It is possible to take up to six subjects to N.E.W.T level, but it is recommended that you only take five.
We await confirmation of receipt of your results and your choices of subject for next year's study. You have until the 21st of August to reply to this letter.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday and well done on your excellent results.
Minerva McGonagall
(Deputy Headmistress if Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)
Harry looked up after reading the letter in amazement. He had passed all of his exams apart from History of Magic, and he now had eight O.W.Ls. He had three and a half weeks to decide which courses he wanted to study, and decided to ask Hermione's advice.
Picking up his quill and a new role of parchment, Harry started to compose a reply to Hermione's letter. After twenty minutes of writing, Harry felt satisfied with his response, attatched it to Hedwig's leg, and sent her off into the night.
Fluffing up his pillow, about to get into bed, Harry was again interrupted by a bird with a message. "It doesn't rain, it pours", he thought to himself as the third letter of that evening was dropped onto his bed.
The jet black raven sat on the window sill for a while and watched him as he opened the black envelope that had been delivered. The message was short and to the point. It read:
Dear Mr Potter,
I trust that you have enjoyed your summer so far. I just thought that I should congratulate you on your O.W.L results. Make the most of your quiet summer
Your caring and ever present friend
Tom Marvolo Riddle
P.s Sweet dreams!
Harry sat there transfixed in shock. His face slowly drained of colour. How had Voldemort managed to get a letter to him passed all of Dumbledore's defences? The part that most worried him was the postscript - "sweet dreams". He was already having nightmares about Cedric and Sirius and his parents; the last thing he needed was for Voldemort to start messing with his head while he slept.
Whipping out another sheet of parchment, Harry began a message to Dumbledore, describing the letter from Voldemort and asking for advice.
Harry, completely exhausted by this point, got into bed, thoughts and worries still plaguing his consciousness. After what seemed like hours, due to the heat and humidity as well as the worries he possessed, he fell into an uneasy sleep.