Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

CHAPTER FOUR: First Day On the Job

The next few days until Harry's job started went fairly slow. Saturday he did his usual running and swimming. Sunday he slept in 'til around ten, then took a short run and watched TV the rest of the day. (The Dursleys were at some quilt show Petunia wanted to see.) Finally Monday rolled around, and Harry got up and ran to the pool. The day couldn't go fast enough, for him.

FINally five o' clock came, and Harry jumped off of his chair where he had been tanning. He showered off and dressed in the clean clothes he had brought for his job. At 5:30 he walked into the video store. There was Bud, standing at the counter, looking like he hadn't moved from the place Harry had found him the previous week.

"Hey Bud!" Harry called cheerfully as he walked in. Bud looked up.

"Heya' Harry! How's it hangin?"

"It's goin' alright. I showed up early so you can, um, how did you put it, "show me the ropes?" Bud grinned.

"That's raht. Ye're getting' pretty good at this. Ya'll bay muhstaken fer a native Texan if ya go ovuh t' the USA."

"Well thanks-I think. I'm planning on staying on this side of the Atlantic, though." Bud laughed.

"OK... yer choice. But ye're missin' out, I tell ya. The US is a pretty cool place."

"Maybe someday..." Harry wasn't quite sure what he thought of the idea. He walked over to the counter.

'Well, maybe we should show ya how things work 'round here and get some work done, whaddaya say?"

"Erm... sounds good."

For the next half an hour, Bud took Harry around the store, showing him how to work the computer, how the videos were sorted and kept track of, what to do with new releases, and how to check them out and in. Harry tried everything and didn't have any problem with it. It was all fairly basic stuff. His favorite part, though, was the sound system Bud had installed. He could listen to whatever music he wanted to, and there was a big screen TV hooked up to it about 15 feet from the front counter, so Harry could pop in any movie he wanted and watch it during his free time. Even better, for the kids who came in to visit, there was a couch right in front of the TV where parents often parked them. He saw several movies he wanted to watch. He didn't really like the action or thriller movies. He actually kind of liked the comedies and the romantic/comedy ones. He also liked some of the family ones. A few actions ones caught his eye though; The Patriot, for one. And a couple scarier ones also: The Sixth Sense and The Others. For a magical person, those movies were bound to catch his attention. Well, for that matter, any scary one would, since they were mostly about ghosts and haunted houses and stuff. Finally Bud left, telling Harry,

"I lave everythang in yer capable hands. Ah'll come back a'round 11 to show ya how ta close up the place. Don't blow t'all up maynwhile, 'k?" He winked roguishly and left, leaving Harry grinning.

There were several movies on the front counter by the computer that Bud had apparently been working on putting into the system. Harry took over where the work had left off, and soon had the several new ones in place on their shelves. (Serendipity, Holiday in the Sun, Training Day) Not wanting to slack off only half an hour after he arrived, Harry put himself to work sweeping the floor behind the counter. When he was about half done, the bell on the door jangled, signaling that someone had entered. Quickly leaning the broom against the counter, Harry did his best to look like he knew exactly what he was doing and that he was old enough to be here, working. The customer, a younger woman with two young boys tagging along with her, went straight to the front counter.

"Can I help you?" It was the first time Harry had said the words and there was a kind of thrill that went with them. He was actually working now. His first job. And he was going to do great.

"Oh, could you please?" The woman was obviously at the end of her rope. "These two," she indicated the two young boys, one pulling at her purse strap, the other wrapped around her leg and sitting on her foot, "have been running me ragged. I told them I'd get them a movie each to watch tonight, under the condition that they actually behave. Usually when I get them movies they're just glued to the TV, so I don't get them that often- but..." she trailed off. "I'd like to look for a movie for myself, and I only have a short amount of time- could you possibly pick out two kid-oriented movies for me?" Harry nodded.

"Absolutely. That's what I'm here for. Did you have one in mind for yourself?" She shook her head.

"No, I don't watch movies too often. I'm too busy but I have the next three days free since my kids are going to their dad's tomorrow morning, so I need something to do. I don't have a job right now, so..."

"Wow, three days. OK... well, I'm new here, but I saw one movie you might like. It's about 11 hours long so it'd last you a long time- have you ever read Anne of Green Gables?"

"No-but it was my little sister's favorite book. She read that thing over and over again. There's a movie about it? I can't stand reading, it hurts my eyes, but if I could watch the movie, it'd be great. And my sister would be thrilled." The bell jangled again, but Harry ignored it- if the new customer needed help, he could wait.

"Well, let me get it for you and a couple for your kids." He walked over to the children's section, picking two movies that looked suitable for young children. The two boys looked like they were about two and four, so maybe just a plain innocent one and then something a little older for the other boy. Quickly looking through the selection, he picked a Winnie the Pooh movie with some bad guys, (Heffalumps and woozles, to keep the older boy interested; bad guys always thrilled little kids.) and flipped through the Disney ones quickly, looking for a good one. At length he chose Toy Story. He was sure the boys would like that. Every kid likes Buzz.

Quickly grabbing the four tapes that compiled the Anne story, he headed up to the front counter, where he found the young mother browsing through a rack of romance and comedy. She glanced up when Harry walked over, and a smile of relief filled her face.

"Oh, thank you so mu- Johnny, put that down! -I really appreciate this. And I was looking through these movies and I found these-" she held up Kate and Leopold and Miss Congeniality- "and I think I'll rent them too. Have you seen them?" Harry shook his head.

"No, but my boss has, and he said they're both really great movies. Funny but romantic. They're a couple of favorites. They should suit you well." She smiled.

"Great. How much do I owe you?" Harry rang up the total on the computer in front of him.

"Ten seventy-three. And let's see- Kate and Leopold is due in two days, but the others are all due Saturday, so take your time."

"Thanks, I will. Here's your check," she said, ripping it out of the booklet. "Thanks for everything. It'll make my night a lot easier."

"No problem. Have a good evening." As she left, another customer approached the counter. Soon the after dinner rush was coming in. People wanted movies for the evening and they all came at the same time.

When Harry had a few free minutes he put Kate and Leopold on the main screen, so he could watch it for himself and find out how good it was. He was kept busy checking out movies to people, and wasn't able to watch it very well. There were several customers also watching it. It seemed like a favorite, and Harry mentally noted the fact so he could tell Bud later. Finally around 9:30 the rush cleared out. By now people were at home watching the movies, not at the store renting them. Except for the occasional 'clack' as people dropped their expired videos in the slot, the store was now empty. Harry rewound the movie, and started it again, determined to watch it correctly. As it played, he checked in a last few movies and walked throughout the store, straightening and sorting out mixed up movies, picking up trash, and generally putting the store back together. Lastly he finished sweeping the tile floor he had started three hours earlier, and ran the carpet cleaner over the rest of the store.

Finally done with everything, he sat down on the bench provided close to the TV for young children, mainly, and enjoyed the movie. It was good-interesting story line, good acting- good people for the parts-and it wasn't just fluff, but it had some fun to it too. He fully enjoyed it.

Finally, at eleven o'clock, he closed up the store. Bud, he assumed, was probably asleep by now, and he didn't know where he lived anyway, so he headed for home.

Half an hour later he let himself in the foyer very quietly, hoping the Dursleys would stay asleep. Apparently they did, because he made it into bed with no trouble.

He thought back on his day-he had thoroughly enjoyed it. He was getting in shape, tan, and he had a great job- and he got to watch all the new movies that came in for free. He was set to jet, all summer long.

The days rolled into each other, Monday becoming Tuesday, Tuesday becoming Wednesday. Nothing spectacular happened to define them from one another, other than Sunday, when Harry had no work and could sleep in. He continued to enjoy his job, and the young mother he had met on his first day returned two days later to return the movie that was due. She seemed a great deal more relaxed, and she thanked him for the movies he had chosen, declaring that she had never had a better two days. Harry grinned and told her she was welcome and she left. The store was especially busy Friday and Saturday nights, but Harry had nothing against it. Busy meant money for Bud and money for Bud meant a paycheck for Harry, so it worked out well for everyone involved.

Then, one day at the end of June, the bell on the door jangled.