Harry Potter and the Book of Impossibility

Chapter 2 - The new neighbours

When he came down again, the Dursleys were watching television. There was a breaking news on CNN, and they were watching it.

"Two hijacked planes crashed in the WTC, just after 9 am. Exactly when everybody started to work. A little later, there was another hijacked plane, and it crashed into the Pentagon. President Bush said: "evil, despicable acts of terror,". There are probably thousands of deaths. The whole world is shocked and in Holland was a television inquiry, 25% of the people think it will be a World War 3, 50% of the people think more attacks will be made, also in Europe, but it will not result in a WW3. The last 25% has no words for it, which is totally understandable."

So the muggles think the planes were hijacked? Harry thought to himself. He decided not to talk about it with the Dursleys, and he went back to his room to write a letter to Ron.

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the present, I really love it.

Anyway, hid you hear what happened in the US? Terrible, isn’t it?

I would love to come to your house, but how do your parents think I will get to your house? Not by Floo powder, because the Dursleys closed the fireplace with brick, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to destroy it again. Your father, can he arrange cars from the ministry again?

Harry.

Harry gave the letter to Pig, who flew away immediately. The Hogwarts owl also left, so only Hedwig and Errol where still here.

Hedwig was acting very strange, she was sort of crying over Errol. Harry went over to check him. And then he realised that Errol wasn’t breathing anymore. Errol was dead!

"Oh no!" screamed Harry.

He didn’t know what to do. What will the Weasleys says? Will they be angry, will they be sad, or will they be happy because now they have an excuse to buy another owl, if they can afford it. No, thought Harry, I will buy them a new owl. They’ve helped me so many times, they let me stay over at their place in the summer, they always gave me presents at my birthday and with Christmas. Harry had to do something in return, and this was the perfect opportunity to that it.

Harry remembered there was an advertise in the Daily Prophet where you could buy owl.

He filled in the form, he gave the address of the Burrow, said they had to take money from his safe at Gringotts, and he wrote a note to the Weasleys about how Errol had died, and that he bought them a new owl. He gave the form and the note to Hedwig, who flew off to London.

* * * * *

A few days later, he got an owl, it was from the Weasleys. It was a very beautiful snow owl, just as Hedwig, and Hedwig seemed to like it very much.

Dear Harry,

You shouldn’t have bought us a new owl, we wanted to buy a new one for a very long time, but we waited until Errol died. But anyway, thanks. We called him Yrrah, it’s your name the other way around. Pig likes him very much, and he seems to like Pig too, they are constantly together. - Strange, thought Harry, he likes Hedwig too, and Hedwig hates Pig - We asked Dumbledore if you could come to our house, but he said you will have to wait at least 2 weeks. Then you are aloud to come, Arthur can arrange a car from the ministry to take you here. He will be picking you up.

Love,

Molly Weasley

2 WEEKS!!! Why??? Harry was furious with Dumbledore, but he was sure he has his reasons, just as he had his reasons, when he said he can’t go to the Weasleys the whole summer.

He went down to tell the Dursleys about it, because since they were nicer to him, he was able to talk to them normal. When he came down Aunt Petunia was taking her coat to go outside.

"Where are you going?" Asked Harry.

"Meet the new neighbours, the are moving in right now." Said Aunt Petunia

"New neighbours? Can I come with you?" Asked Harry.

"Sure you can, but be nice to them and please tell nothing about your thing!"

"I will." Promised Harry.

They went outside. Harry saw two big vehicles. Fully loaded with paper boxes.

There were two people, and a very good looking girl of Harry’s age.

She had blue eyes, blond hear at her shoulders, the same length as he had and a good looking shape. Petunia greeted them.

"Hello, welcome to our neighbourhood" Said Petunia "I am Petunia, and this is Harry, my cousin who lives with us, my son Dudley and husband are at home watching television."

"Tanks, I’m Brigitte, and this is my husband Klaas, we also have a daughter, Karlien. She just turned 15." Said the women.

"It’s my 15^th birthday today!" said Harry.

"Karlien! Come over here, will you. You can meet our new neighbours!" Called Brigitte.

The pretty girl came and greeted Harry. Petunia and Brigitte left.

Suddenly she stared at him.

"You’re Harry Potter, aren’t you?" she screamed "So pleased to meet you, I’ve read everything about you, you’re my hero, you saved my parents from Voldemort!"

"I... I didn’t know you were a witch" said Harry. "You said Voldemort’s name, I thought people don’t say that name, Only Dumbledore, me and a friend of my calls him with his name."

"Well, my parents were colleges of your parents, and he wanted them dead too, but just before he could do it, you defeated him. So, I’ve said his name whole my life, because I know there’s nothing to fear." Said Karlien.

"Please come with me," said Karlien. And he followed here to the house next to the Dursleys house, they went upstairs, and Harry realised it was exactly the same as the house of the Dursleys, she followed him to the room at the end of the house, the room next to Harry’s. Only a wall was between it.

"I’ve chosen this as my room, my parents picked the largest, and I picked the second largest." Said Karlien.

"It’s next to my room." Said Harry.

"What! You have got the smallest room in the house??? The famous Harry Potter, the smallest room in the house???" she said angry.

Harry explained everything about his live before he was told he was a wizard. How the Dursleys hated him, how he lived in the cupboard under the stairs, everything.

Karlien was stunned. Her great hero, such a bad childhood. "Well, now you can stay with me if you want to." She said. Harry, who realised she was even more beautiful then Cho Chang, really liked that deal. "I’m in Gryffindor," she said "I’ve got sorted before." "I’m in Gryffindor too, that means were on the same house in the same year! And about the staying-with-you thing, I really want it, if it’s okay with your parents."

"We’ll ask later, first we talk, and you can help me bringing my stuff upstairs." Said Karlien "Okay" said Harry

They were walking up and down carrying boxes and talking the whole afternoon. They were talking about everything. Karlien moved here from Holland - Amstelveen (near Amsterdam), she was on a privet school, before she moved to England, now she will go to Hogwarts. Her birthday is one week before Harry’s, July 24. Harry told her all about his adventures with Ron and Hermione. About the Sorcerer’s stone in his first year, about the Chamber of Secrets in his second year, about Sirius Black in his third year, and about the Triwizard Tournament, but not about what happened right after the third task. He somehow trusted her with all his secrets, although he promised to Dumbledore not to tell it to anyone. He had this strange feeling about her, and he also noticed that she acted other then other girls, she tried to be as close as possible to him, she used every opportunity to touch him somehow. And he did the same to her.

They were having a break on her room.

They were drinking a butterbeer, and he saw her looking at him all the time, he did the same, but didn’t dare to do something. There was a sort of strange tense around them. They were just terribly in love with each other, but they didn’t tell each other, although he knew she was in love, and she knew he was in love.

Later that afternoon, half past 5, he went home to eat. He said goodbye to her and her parents, and left.

He was in his room, when somebody rang the doorbell, Petunia opened and he heard voices. Later he heard someone coming on the stairs, and entering his room, it was Karlien.

"They invited us to have dinner at your place, my parents and your Aunt and Uncle seems to like each other, and since we don’t have a kitchen yet, they invited us. Isn’t that great! Then we can ask if you can stay in my house!" Harry looked really happy, he looked as if he never looked as happy before. It was a big smile and his eyes were looking at her with immense love. She went to stand in front of him and grabbed his hands, they were looking in each others eyes.

Then she said: "At the moment I saw you, I was in love with you. Some people say there’s no such thing as love at first sight, but I believe in it. Do you love me to?" Harry said nothing. For a moment he only looked in her eyes, and suddenly he bent forward and kissed her gently on her mouth. She kissed back. They kissed for almost 5 minutes, once in a while they had to breath, but then they went on. "Can I see that as a ‘yes’?" she asked. "Yes, you can." He answered. Then they kissed again.

But suddenly someone opened the door. It was Dudley, he was stunned, he was looking at Harry in disbelieve. He also looked as if he was jealous of him. After a minute of staring, Dudley said: "D-d-d-d-d-dinner is ready." He went down and looked as if he was about to cry. Harry and Karlien followed him, hand in hand. When they reached the dinner room, they let go of each other and went in. Acting as if nothing happened, only Dudley looked different to aunt Petunia. They sat down on a long table. Harry and Karlien sat next to each other. They had their hands in each others under the table, so that nobody was able to see it.

The dinner was delicious, Petunia had made curly kale with smoked sausage, a Dutch recipe. Even Dudley got a little piece of smoked sausage and a very little tiny piece of curly kale. During dinner, Dudley still looked unhappy, although he got foot. So Petunia asked: "What’s wrong Dudley?"

"I don’t want to talk about it right now." He said.

"But you know you can always talk to us about your problems. Does it have to do with your school?"

"No, it doesn’t, I’ve got over that." Dudley murmured

"Well, maybe you have to be a big boy and get over this one!" Harry said.

"Do you know what wrong with him then?" Uncle Vernon asked, a little bit to lout, as if was getting his old hate against Harry back.

"No, I don’t, but Dudley is 15 now, and I think he will have to be able to solve his problems on his own, and I think he will just have to get over it. There’s probably nothing else to do about it." Harry said, as if he was a very wise person.

"I for once agree with you, Dudley is no cry-baby, that is not how I want my boy to be. And you aren’t, am I right Dudley?" said Vernon.

"Yes, your right, Harry’s right. I should solve my own love-problems in an adul..." Suddenly Dudley pressed his hands against his mouth to prevent himself from talking.

"Love-problems?" Petunia said, as if she just heard that her child is having a baby.

"Tell me, I really want to know. Do you have a girlfriend in school? Did she break up with you? Who is she? How does she look like? Is she the same sort of person as Harry is? Is she nice? Please... I’m dying to know." Petunia begged Dudley.

"I do not have a girlfriend, I never had. Although now, I met someone, who I... well... you know. Impossible love."

Karlien looked at Harry, she asked him if it was her, but not with words, but with the expression on her face. Nobody else saw it. Harry nodded.

Karlien looked stunned.

After dinner. When Dudley was gone in a hurry. Without having his dessert, which he was allowed to have on this special occasion. Karlien and Harry stood up. Karlien said:

"I was wondering if Harry could stay with me tonight, so we can talk, we can take that extra mattress which is supposed to be in the spare bedroom, and place it on the ground in my room."

Her mother reacted.

"Another love-problem tonight? Well I guess this one isn’t a problem," she laughed while she said that last sentence, "It’s okay, you can stay, as long as they agree." And she moved her head towards his Aunt and Uncle.

"You can go boy," Vernon said a little angry, it looked like he got back his old hate against Harry, "and please stay until you go to that redhead family."

Uncle Vernon started to take the dishes to the kitchen and get the dessert, Petunia helped him.

When they were both in the kitchen, Karlien mother said:

"Is he always that cranky? I only met him this dinner, you aunt seems nice to me, and I already talked to her this afternoon. But he... he’s just..."

"They are normally both like that, worse. They hate magic, they also don’t know you are wizard, otherwise they wouldn’t invite you for dinner. When they got me after my parents died, they hoped to take away my magic, I never knew I was a wizard, I knew nothing. Not about my parents, about there are wizards at all. They told me my parents died because of a car accident. On my 11^th birthday I found out about all this. And they didn’t like it at all. They knew I would be gone the whole year except for the summer holiday, but they just don’t like to make me happy. This year Dudley failed with school, and they got very angry with him, so suddenly they are nicer to me.

Dudley is in love with your daughter, and he saw Karlien and I... well..., he saw us kissing just before dinner. And I think Vernon knows why he is so sad, so now he’s just being his old self again against me. That’s why he wanted me to stay away whole summer. I would like to ask you if that’s possible, because it better for me, for the Dursleys and I think your daughter will like it to very much. But please don’t tell anyone about us yet." Harry breathed, because he said al this without breathing.

"Our Karlien... a boyfriend... Harry Potter as boyfriend... of course you can stay as long as you want... who are those redhead people he talked about?" Brigitte almost cried with happiness.

"Those redhead people are the Weasleys, their youngest son, Ron, is my best friend, his father works at the ministry. It’s the nicest family I’ve ever met. I am always welcome at their place. I wanted to go there right after the end of the term, but Dumbledore would let me go, at least not immediately." Harry told them.

"So would Dumbledore let you come to our house that long?" Brigitte asked.

"I have to write him an letter I guess, but I’m sure I can, because he said that I can go later to the Weasleys, so why not go to you?"

"That’s right, please write him tonight, then we can have a answer before tomorrow night."

After dinner, Harry and Karlien went upstairs to get his stuff. They heard Dudley cry in his room.

"Is he really in love with me?" Karlien asked.

"Didn’t you see how he reacted when he saw us kissing?"

"No, I’m not very good in reading peoples expressions. That’s why it took me a whole afternoon to realise you liked me."

"Well, he’ll have to get over it, not only this time, but more time. I don’t think any girl will ever like him. He’s very aggressive, fat, ugly. I think every time he’s in love, he will be heart broken."

They started to get all his stuff. He opened his trunk, threw all his clothes and robes on de bottom, then he placed al his schoolbooks, his invisibility cloak, which he got from his father, the Marauders Map, his presents of all those Christmases and Birthday’s since his 11^th birthday.

He took Hedwig’s cage with her in it. He had send Errol to the Weasleys carried by their new owl.

He opened the loose floorboard under his bed. Took his wand and his Firebolt ("Wow," Karlien said, "I play Quidditch too, I’m keeper, a very good one if I may say so. I have a Nimbus 2500, just new.").

He took the last little things, like pieces of parchment, a few quills and a bottle of ink that never was empty. He got it from Hermione after what happened after the third task.

They pulled the trunk down together, and Karlien’s father carried it by magic when he was outside and sure that the Dursleys couldn’t see him.

When they had placed the mattress in Karlien’s room, they went down to talk. When it was almost twelve o’clock, Harry and Karlien went upstairs, her parents too. they were very tired from the moving and fell asleep immediately, Harry however went to take a quick shower, because he was all sticky after a day of hard working. When he was showering, the door suddenly opened, and Karlien came in. She was wearing a bathrobe. Harry didn’t feel ashamed for her. She didn’t seem to have problems with it too, because she threw the bathrobe of her, and she came in the shower too. They started kissing, but nothing else happened. That was also not what Harry was hoping for. Maybe with Christmas, he thought.

He did however enjoyed to be able to see and touch the girl he loved, naked.

What was meant to be a quick shower, turned out to be an hour and a half.

They washed each other, the kissed, they talked, the laughed, they tried to be quiet for Karlien’s parent, which made it even more difficult and slow.

When they finally got out of the shower, the went to bed. Karlien slept on the ground to, because her bed wasn’t installed yet.

The mattress for Harry seemed to be worthless, because they both lay on the same mattress under the same duvet and on the same pillow. Yet nothing remotely to sex happened. They decided to do what Harry thought before. Wait with it for Christmas.