Enjoy themselves, the hours of solitude had been a rare treat. Pausing only to sneak

something tasty from the fridge, he had rushed upstairs to play on Dudley’s computer, or

put on the television and flicked through the channels to his heart’s content. It gave him

An odd, empty feeling remembering those times; it was like remembering a younger

Brother whom he had lost.

“Don’t you want to take a last look at the place?” he asked Hedwig, who was still

sulking with her head under her wing. “We’ll never be here again. Don’t you want to

remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories … Dudley

sobbed on it after I saved him from the dementors … Turns out he was grateful after all,

can you believe it? … And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door … “

Harry lost the thread of his thoughts for a moment and Hedwig did nothing to

Help him retrieve it, but continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry turned his

Back on the front door.

“And under here, Hedwig” – Harry pulled open a door under the stairs – “is where

I used to sleep! You never knew me then – Blimey, it’s small, I’d forgotten … “

Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas remembering how he

Used to wake every morning looking up at the underside of the staircase, which was more

Often than not adorned with a spider or two. Those had been the days before he had

Known anything about his true identity; before he had found out how his parents had died

Or why such strange things often happened around him. But Harry could still remember

the dreams that had dogged him, even in those days: confused dreams involving flashes

of green light and once – Uncle Vernon had nearly crashed the car when Harry had

recounted it – a flying motorbike …

There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened

Up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame. Pausing only to

employ a few of Uncle Vernon’s choicest swear words, he staggered back into the

Kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden.

The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one,

Figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted. Dominating the

Scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous

Motorbike with a black sidecar attached. All around him other people were dismounting

From brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses.

Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a

General cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the

back, and Hagrid said, “All righ’, Harry? Ready fer the off?”

“Definitely,” said Harry, beaming around at them all. “But I wasn’t expecting this

many of you!”

“Change of plan,” growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous bulging

Sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with

dizzying rapidity. “Let’s get undercover before we talk you through it.”

Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they

settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia’s gleaming work surfaces, or leaned

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 818