Harry Potter and the Gift of the Magi

Chapter Four

"The early bird needs to get his head checked." -Garfield

The next day Harry woke up to the ear piercing screaming of his aunt, "Boy, get down here now. I have chores for you to do. And you won't get anything to eat till you finish."

Harry rolled out of bed and pulled on some fresh clothes. He trudged down the stairs to see what Aunt Petunia wanted.

" I want you to redo the lawn, clean the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and dining room, then I need you to-"

"I'm not gonna do all of that without pay." Harry didn't know what possessed him to say that. Maybe it was the sudden realization that he was tired of being pushed around and he wanted to be rewarded for his painstaking labor.

"Pay, PAY. You expect me to pay you after we put food on the table for you and put a roof over your head and get nothing in return for the past 15 years!" she screeched.

"Oh so that's what you wanna call it."

"Okay that's it. I want you out of my house now." And with that she picked up the phone. "Hello, Mrs.Figg. Harry was wondering if he could spend the rest of the summer with you... Oh thank you so very much. Will it be okay if he came today...Thank you again very much." All this was said in a sickening sweet voice.

"You want me to spend the rest of the summer at Mrs. Figg's!?"

"Yes and you will be going over there as soon as you finish packing. I should make you do all the chores before you go, but I don't want to see your face. Now. Go. Pack."

"And if you aren't done packing in 10 minutes you will be leaving your stuff here and it will all be burned." Aunt Petunia yelled as Harry retreated up the stairs to his room to pack.

Harry didn't know what he hoped to achieve by making that demand, but that was certainly not what he expected. Ten minutes later Harry was on his way to Mrs. Figgs' house, tugging his luggage behind him. His aunt didn't even have the courtesy to drive him the five blocks to Mrs. Figgs house.

By the time he got there he was sweating from the hot sun and lugging his trunk. He rang the doorbell and a very surprised Mrs. Figgs opened the door. "Harry what are you doing here?!"

"Didn't Aunt Petunia call to ask if I could stay for the rest of the summer" By this point standing on the porch was a very confused green-eyed boy.

"Oh yes, yes, but I didn't expect you to be here already. Oh dear what to do, what to do."

"Would you rather me come back later Mrs. Figg?"

"Oh, you might as well come in now. You would have found out sooner or later." By this time what you though was confused before paled in comparison to how confused Harry was now. She led him inside. Harry didn't know what he was going see, but he knew of all the things he thought he would see it wasn't this.