Far. One year old and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased

with himself. I’m enclosing a picture so you can see. You know it only rises about two feet

Off the ground but he nearly killed the cat and he smashed a horrible vase Petunia sent

Me for Christmas (no complaints there). Of course James thought it was so funny, says

he’s going to be a great Quidditch player but we’ve had to pack away all the ornaments

and make sure we don’t take our eyes off him when he gets going.

We had a very quiet birthday tea, just us and old Bathilda who has always been

sweet to us and who dotes on Garry. We were so sorry you couldn’t come, but the

Order’s got to come first, and Harry’s not old enough to know it’s his birthday anyway!

James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell – also

Dumbledore’s still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If you

Could visit, it would cheer him up so much. Wormy was here last weekend. I thought he

Seemed down, but that was probably the next about the McKinnons; I cried all evening

When I heard.

Bathilda drops in most days, she’s a fascinating old thing with the most amazing

stories about Dumbledore. I’m not sure he’d be pleased if he knew! I don’t know how

Much to believe, actually because it seems incredible that Dumbledore

Harry’s extremities seemed to have gone numb. He stood quite still, holding the

Miraculous paper in his nerveless fingers while inside him a kind of quiet eruptions sent

Joy and grief thundering its equal measure through his veins. Lurching to the bed, he sat

Down.

He read the letter again, but could not take in any more meaning than he had done

the first time, and was reduced to staring at the handwriting itself. She had made her “g”s

The same way he did. He searched through the letter for every one of them, and each felt

Like a friendly little wave glimpsed from behind a veil. The letter was an incredible

Treasure, proof that Lily Potter had lived, really lived, that her warm hand had once

Moved across this parchment, tracing ink into these letters, these words, words about him,

Harry, her son.

Impatiently brushing away the wetness in his eyes, he reread the letter, this time

Concentrating on the meaning. It was like listening to a half-remembered voice.

They had a cat… perhaps it had perished, like his parents at Godric’s Hollow… or

else fled when there was nobody left to feed it… Sirius had bought him his first

broomstick… His parents had known Bathilda Bagshot; had Dumbledore introduced

them? Dumbledore’s still got his Invisibility Cloak… there was something funny there…

Harry paused, pondering his mother’s words. Why had Dumbledore taken

James’s Invisibility Cloak? Harry distinctly remembered his headmaster telling him years

before, “I don’t need a cloak to become invisible” Perhaps some less gifted Order

member had needed its assistance, and Dumbledore had acted as a carrier? Harry passed

on…

Wormy was here… Pettigrew, the traitor, had seemed “down” had he? Was he

aware that he was seeing James and Lily alive for the last time?

And finally Bathilda again, who told incredible stories about Dumbledore. It

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 861