Another Hogwarts Tale

Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from the twins room.

"Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can’t control that owl, it’ll have to go!"

Harry tried, not for the first time, to explain.

Lucy stayed out of the conversation and just decided to have breakfast.

"She's bored," Harry said. "She's used to flying around outside. If I could just let her out at night-"

"Do I look stupid?" snapped Uncle Vernon, a fried egg dangling from his bushy Mustache.

Don't answer that. Do not answer that, Lucy told herself.

"I know what'll happen if that owl’s let out."

He exchanged looks with his wife, Petunia.

Harry tried to argue back but his words were drowned by a long, loud belch from the Dursleys' son, Dudley.

"I want more bacon."

"There’s more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son. "We must build you up while we’ve got the chance… I don’t like the sound of that school food…"

Typical, the girl rolled her eyes. As long as Dudley was okay, she and Harry could starve to death.

"Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when I was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily.

"Dudley gets enough, don’t you, son?"

Dudley, his bum hanging on either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned to Harry.

"Pass the frying pan."

"You've forgotten the magic word," said Harry irritably.

The effect of this simple sentence on the rest of the family was incredible:

Lucy took bigger bites of her toast.

Dudley gaped and fell off the chair with a kitchen-shattering crash.

Mrs. Dursley let out a high-pitched cry and covered her mouth with her hands.

Mr Dursley jumped up from the table; the blood pulsed wildly in his forehead veins.

"I meant 'please'!" Harry quickly followed up. "I didn't mean -"

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU TWO," her uncle raged, spraying spit over the table.

Lucy looked at Uncle Vernon in surprise. What had she done wrong now?

"ABOUT SAYING THE ‘M’ WORD IN OUR HOUSE?"

"But I-"

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" Uncle Vernon roared, pounding his fist on the table.

"I just-"

"I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!"

Harry's eyes travelled from the uncle's crimson face to the ashen aunt who was struggling to get Dudley back to his feet.

"All right," said Harry, "all right…"

Snorting like an exhausted rhinoceros, Uncle Vernon sat back down and watched Harry and Lucy from the corners of his small piercing eyes.

~~

Ever since the twins had come home for summer holidays, Uncle Vernon had treated him like a bomb about to go off, because Lucy and Harry weren't normal kids.

In fact, they were as far from normal as could be imagined.

Harry Potter was a wizard and Lucy Potter was a witch.

A witch and a wizard who had just finished their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And miserable as the Dursleys were at having the twins back for the holidays, that was nothing compared to Lucy and Harry's grief.

They both missed Hogwarts so much that it seemed to him they always had stomach aches.

They missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach-ache.

They missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, his classes (though perhaps not Snape, the Potions master), the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and, especially, Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world (six tall goal posts, four flying balls, and fourteen players on broomsticks).

All the twins spellbooks, their wands, robes, cauldrons, and top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had been locked in a cupboard under the stairs by Uncle Vernon the instant Harry Lucy had come home.

The Dursleys were Muggles (that's what wizards called people who had not a drop of magical blood in their veins), and they felt it was a shame to have a wizard and a witch in the family.

Uncle Vernon even padlocked the cage of Hedwig, Harry's owl, so she couldn't deliver messages to anyone in the wizarding world.

Because of this, Lucy and Harry didn't know they possessed magical ability for all these years.

And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had sent them two letters and the whole story had come out.

Lucy and Harry now went to wizarding school where the twins and their story were famous.

But now it was summer vacation and the twins had returned to the Dursleys - where they treated them like two dogs that had crawled out of a stinking hole.

The Dursleys hadn't even thought that today was Lucy and Harry's twelfth birthdays.

Of course, they didn't expect much; not real presents, let alone a cake - but ignore it completely...

At that moment Uncle Vernon cleared his throat with an important air:

"Now, as we all know, today is a very important day–"

Harry couldn't believe his ears and lifted his head.

Lucy leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow at Uncle Vernon.

"This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon.

Harry turned back to his toast.

Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about that stupid dinner. He hadn't talked about anything else for two weeks.

A wealthy businessman and his wife were coming over for dinner, and Uncle Vernon was hoping to land a big job (Uncle Vernon's company made drills).

"I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. "We should all be in position at eight o’clock. Petunia, you will be -?"

"In the lounge," said Aunt Petunia promptly, "waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Good, good. And Dudley?"

"I’ll be waiting to open the door."

Dudley gave an obnoxious fake smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

Lucy wasn't really listening. They had discussed it what it felt like hundreds of times.

"They’ll love him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.

"Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon.

Then he turned to Lucy and Harry. "And you?"

Lucy looked back at the others at the table.

"We’ll be in our bedroom, making no noise-"

"- and pretending we're not there."

"Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight-fifteen -"

"I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia.

Somehow Lucy was glad not to be there. The whole thing sounded very, very boring.

"And, Dudley, you'll say-"

"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" Dudley said, offering his fat arm to an invisible lady.

"My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Aunt Petunia.

"And you?" said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry.

"We’ll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending we're not there," Harry said dully.

"Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?"

"Vernon tells me you’re a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason… Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason…"

"Perfect… Dudley?"

The black-haired girl just wanted to get up. She wasn't even allowed at the dinner, so why should she listen to all that crab?

"How about - 'We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I

wrote about you.'"

This was too much for Aunt Petunia and Harry too.

Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son to her chest while Harry ducked under the table so they couldn't see his laughter.

"And you two?"

Harry reappeared, trying as best he could to keep a straight face.

"We’ll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending we're not there," said Lucy.

"Too right, you will." said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten. Be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow."

Harry wasn't too thrilled about that. The Dursleys wouldn't like him and his sister in Mallorca any more than they did in Privet Drive.

"Right - I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," he snarled at Harry. "You stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."

"At least we don't have to clean," Lucy murmured as they walked out the back door.

It was a bright, bright summer day.

They strolled across the lawn, sank onto the garden bench and Harry sang softly to himself,

"Happy birthday to us... happy birthday to us..."

No cards, no presents, and the twins would pretend not to be born all evening. They stared dejectedly at the hedge.

She had never felt so lonely. But even more than Quidditch, Lucy and Harry missed their friends.

They didn't seem to miss him at all though.

Since they'd been here, Lucy and Harry hadn't gotten a single letter from them, although Ron had promised he'd invite the twins over to his house.

Countless times, Harry had been on the point of unlocking Hedwig’s cage by magic and sending her to Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

Underage witches and wizards were not allowed to perform magic outside of school.

The twins hadn't told the Dursleys that; they knew it was only their fear of turning them all into dung beetles that kept them from locking the two in the closet with the wands and the broom as well.

For the first few weeks after his return, Lucy and Harry had enjoyed mumbling meaningless words to themself and watching Dudley flee the room as fast as his clumsy legs would carry him.

But now that they hadn't heard from her friends for so long, she felt so removed from the wizarding world that she even lost the desire to tease Dudley - and now Ron, Hermione, Stella, Ophelia and Louisa had forgotten their birthdays too.

Well, Stella and her family were probably too busy moving to write to the twins. Stella told them, on the train ride to London, that they were moving to Japan, because her dad got a job there.

But they all promised to write as often they could.

But what wouldn't they give for a message from Hogwarts? By a witch or a wizard, it doesn't matter who.

Harry would almost be grateful to see his archenemy Draco Malfoy once again, just to make sure he hadn't dreamed it all...

Not that his year at Hogwarts was always fun.

At the very end of the term, Lucy and Harry - more like Harry - had faced none other than Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort might be a feeble shadow of his old self, but he was still terrible, still cunning, and still determined to reclaim his power.

Harry had escaped Voldemort's clutches a second time, but this time by a hair's breadth, and even now, weeks later, Harry woke up in the night sweating to see Voldemort's ashen face and his wide, mad eyes.

Where could he be now?

Harry suddenly sat bolt upright on the garden bench. He had been staring at the hedge, lost in thought - and the hedge was staring back.

Two huge green eyes had appeared between the leaves.

Harry jumped up. Lucy looked at him confused - she hadn't seen the eyes.

The black-haired girl wanted to say something, but at the same moment they heard a jeering sound across the lawn.

"I know what day it is," Dudley sang, waddling towards her.

The huge eyes blinked and disappeared.

"What?" said Harry, not taking his eyes off where he'd seen the eyes.

"I know what day it is," Dudley repeated, nuzzling him closely.

"Well done," said Harry, "So you've finally learned the days of the week."

"We are so proud of you Dudley", said Lucy with a smirk.

"Today is your birthday," Dudley sneered. "How come you haven't got any cards? Haven't you

even got friends at that freak place?"

"Better not let your mum hear you talking about our school," Harry replied coolly.

Dudley pulled up his pants, which slid down over his fat ass.

"Why're you staring at the hedge?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire," Harry said.

Dudley stumbled back from him, a panicked look on his fat face.

And Lucy felt deep satisfaction. Her friends might forget her birthday, but teasing Dudley cheered her up.

"You c-can't - Dad told you you're not to do m-magic - he said he'll chuck you out of the house - and you haven't got anywhere else to go - you haven't got any friends to take you -"

"Jiggery pokery!" said Harry in a fierce voice.

"Hocus pocus - squiggly wiggly -"

"MUUUUUUM!," Dudley howled, and as he hastily backed away, he tripped over his own feet.

"MUUUUM! They're doing you know what!"

Lucy and Harry paid dearly for his little joke.

Since the hedge wasn't missing a leaf and Dudley wasn't a hair crooked, Aunt Petunia knew they hadn't done any magic.

Still, they had to duck when Aunt Petunia swung the suds-soaked pan at them.

Then she gave the twins jobs and promised them she wouldn't get anything to eat until they were done.

While Dudley lounged around and watched him slurp ice cream, Lucy and Harry washed the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, weeded the flower beds, trimmed and watered the roses and gave the garden bench a new coat of paint.

The sun blazed overhead, scorching their necks.

He shouldn't have taken Dudley's bait, Harry told himself.

But Dudley said exactly what he had thought himself... Maybe he and Lucy really didn't have any friends at Hogwarts...

"I wish they could see the famous Potter twins now," Harry muttered angrily, sprinkling manure over the beds with his back aching and his face sweating.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked.

"Well... it's weird we didn't get a single letter. What if we really don't have any friends at Hogwarts?"

The young witch frowned at her twin brother.

"Oh nonsense," Lucy waved her off. "I'm sure there's a good reason for that."

Lucy tried to sound convincing, but Harry heard her - well hidden - uncertainty.

And since he wanted to hope the same, he only replied: "I hope so."

It was half past seven when the twins finally heard Aunt Petunia calling, exhausted.

"Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!"

Relieved, Lucy and Harry stepped into the cool, sparkling kitchen.

On the fridge was tonight's dessert: a huge pile of whipped cream with candied violet leaves. A roast pork was sizzling in the stove.

"Eat up quickly! The Masons are coming!" snapped Aunt Petunia, pointing to two plates with two slices of bread and a piece of cheese on the kitchen table.

She was already wearing a salmon pink evening dress.

The twins washed their hands and ate their meal.

As soon as they finished, Aunt Petunia snatched their plates away.

"Upstairs! Hurry!"

As Lucy and Harry passed the living room door, they caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in tuxedos and bow ties.

Lucy had to shake her head slightly, the two still looked fat in their tuxedos.

They had just reached the top when the doorbell rang, and Uncle Vernon's angry face appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Remember, you two - one sound -"

The twins tiptoed to their room and slipped inside.

Harry closed the door and turned to flop onto his bed.

Only someone or rather something was already sitting there.