Harry Potter and the Missing Piece

Harry Potter and the Missing Piece

Chapter 2

The beeping of his alarm clock slowly dragged harry from his peaceful slumber. The glowing red lights read six o'clock. For a brief moment, Harry wondered why he had set the alarm and why he felt so relaxed and happy. Like a waterfall, the events of yesterday flowed over him. He had gone to church, met a nice girl and her family, and now had a summer job. He knew he did not need the money, but it would be a good reason to get out of the house and to see Katelyn.

After showering and putting on some work clothes, Harry sat at his desk. He wrote a quick letter to Moody, saying that everything was going okay and two longer letters to Ron and Hermione, telling them about his day yesterday. Hedwig flew down from her cage as Harry folded the letters. He tied them to her leg and watched as she flew away. Harry went down to the kitchen. He grabbed a granola bar and an apple, made a sandwich for lunch, and left the house.

Slowly chewing the granola bar, Harry watched the sun rise in front of him. He reached the park and the church and sat on the steps while finishing the apple. As he tossed the core into a trash bin, he heard a door open.

"Good morning, Harry!" Mr. Powers looked very different in jeans and a T-shirt instead of the suit he wore yesterday.

"Good morning, sir." Harry was starting to feel a bit apprehensive, wondering what he was supposed to do.

Mr. Powers, however, seemed to have already thought this through. "Let's get started working. I'll leave a list of things for you to do on the table right inside the church doors. Mark off the things you do at the end of the day. I'll pay you at the end of every week. Any questions?"

"No, sir."

Mr. Powers smiled, "I'm glad you came to church yesterday, Harry, and I hope you will come back again."

"I'd like that." Harry really did like the idea, and he really appreciated Mr. Powers inviting him.

"I see you brought lunch today. That won't be necessary. My wife makes wonderful lunches for me everyday, and I've told her to make enough for you, too. You can eat lunch with me in my office."

"Sounds great." Lunch would be a good time to ask Mr. Powers some questions about God.

"Here's today's list. Everything you need should be in that shed. I'll see you at noon." With that, Mr. Powers disappeared into the church, leaving Harry to his work.

Harry looked down at the list. All of the tasks were simple things he had been doing for the Dursleys for years. The first two were:

Harry, smile spreading across his face, moved to the shed, found the lawnmower, and started mowing. After a few hours, he wheeled the mower back into the shed. His body was starting to feel a bit sore, and he was covered in sweat, but a nicely trimmed lawn spread before his feet.

The sun rose higher into the sky as he trimmed the hedges surrounding the building. He finished around noon and was about to enter the church when the house door opened.

Katelyn was carrying a tray containing a plate of sandwiches, chips, and cookies, a pitcher of lemonade, and two glasses. Harry liked how relaxed she seemed in shorts and a T-shirt.

"Hi. You look like you've been working hard." Katelyn smiled.

"Not too hard. Why don't you let me carry that tray so you can lead the way to your dad's office?" Harry was trying to be a gentleman, but with his main male role model being his uncle, he was not sure what all that involved.

"Okay." Harry grabbed his own lunch and took the tray from Katelyn. She opened the door and moved inside. They went through another door into a library. The next door led to Mr. Power's office. His desk was stack high with papers and books.

Looking up as the two teenagers entered, he smiled. "Good afternoon! Let me clear off a spot for that tray." Between Katelyn and Mr. Powers' efforts, the desk was soon cleared, and Harry set the food down. Harry and Mr. Powers thanked Katelyn, and she left.

For a few moments, the room was silent, except for chewing, crunching, and slurping. When both of them seemed to have finished, Harry decided to initiate the conversation.

"Yesterday was one of the only times I've been to church. My aunt and uncle don't bother going. Did you really mean what you said in your sermon about God's love and Jesus' sacrifice and all that?" The following silence made Harry wonder if he had said something wrong.

"I did mean it," Mr. Power said thoughtfully and took a sip of lemonade. "My father was a preacher, so I have always gone to church. It wasn't until I became a teenager and started to question what I have been taught that I really knew that God was real and unbelievably awesome."

"How can you be so convinced that there is a god in a world full of pain and suffering?" Harry really wanted to ask how a good and just god could take his parents and Sirius away, but he did not want to have to explain anything about his past.

Harry thought he saw sympathy in Mr. Powers' eyes. "I know he exists because nothing else makes sense. God did not create evil. He created a perfect world with a man and a woman made in his own image. He gave them a choice, and they chose to disobey him. Ever since, the world has been going downhill. Nevertheless, God is still here, and he loves all of his children. He wants us to love him back. Life may not always make sense, but with God, I know there is a reason for everything and that he will turn everything bad into something good."

Harry had never heard anything like this. Mr. Powers spoke with passion and straight from his heart. He wanted to know one more thing. His eyes started to water a little as he asked, "What happens after you die?" He wanted to know where Sirius, his parents, and Cedric were and if he might see them again some day.

"Well, of course, no one knows for sure, but I believe that good people go to heaven and live with God for eternity, while bad people go to hell and suffer for eternity."

Harry wondered where his parents were. Everyone, except Snape, always talked about how good they were. Sirius had his faults, but he also fought evil and was good enough to be in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. Cedric was kind and would have fought, too, if his life had not been cut short. Harry smiled as he imagined them all having a blast in heaven. The thought made him feel better. Why should he be sad if they were happy?

Harry finally smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Powers."

"You're welcome. Stay here, I want to give you something." Mr. Powers stood and went into the library. He returned with a small book and handed it to Harry. "This is a Bible. I don't know how familiar you are with the Bible, but it was written a long time ago by many different people. It tells stories about God and gives us guidelines for how we should live. You can have it. If you decide to read it and have any questions, let me know." Mr. Powers looked at his watch. "Why don't you work for a couple more hours and then go home?"

"Okay. Thank you, sir." Harry left the office and the church. For the next two hours he piled branches from the hedges together and swept the sidewalks surrounding the building. Tired, sweaty, and sore, he walked home.

"Harry! Come here!" Aunt Petunia called as soon as he opened the door. "Where have you been?"

"I got a summer job, doing yard work and repairs for the church by the park." Harry could not see why the Dursleys should care, but if they tried to stop him, he could threaten them with an owl to Moody.

"Oh." Aunt Petunia did not seem to know how to take this news. "Well, we still expect you to do your chore here."

Harry did not really mind doing chores, so he nodded and went to his room. Sitting on his bed, he looked at the book in his hands. He opened it to the first page and started reading.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...."