Harry Potter and the Enchanted Scroll

Chapter 3- Eggs and Owls

When Harry came down the following morning for breakfast, the telephone was ringing. Uncle Vernon hauled himself out of his seat to answer it. "Dursley Residence," he said. "This is Vernon Dursley. Who is calling?" He paused as the person on the line responded. He looked up sharply at Harry, who sat down at the table. "Oh hello. Yes.... Well I must talk it over with my wife... When?....Well I will call you back in a few minutes with our answer... You too... Goodbye." He slammed down the receiver. He turned to Aunt Petunia and said, "Petunia, where is Dudley?"

"He's still sleeping, dear. Why?" asked Aunt Petunia.

"Go and wake up, please. Tell him to come downstairs immediately," said Uncle Vernon as he sat down and picked up his paper. Aunt Petunia went upstairs to wake Dudley. Harry could hear Dudley's complaints about being woken up early through the floor. Several minutes later, Aunt Petunia and a very grumpy Dudley walked into the kitchen.

Dudley had lost a lot of weight since the previous summer. His last year at Smeltings he had started to play football and had slimmed down considerably. He plopped down in a chair and glared at his mother while she placed some eggs in his plate.

Uncle Vernon folded his newspaper. "Mrs. Figg just called."

Harry looked up at him sharply. He hoped Mrs. Figg hadn't told him about last night.

Uncle Vernon continued. "She wants Dudley and Harry to come by and give her a hand today to move some stuff around." He looked at both of them.

Dudley gave a snicker. "Have fun. That old bag will make you work all day" he said to Harry.

Uncle Vernon looked at Dudley. "It would be good to get out of the house and do some real work." Dudley smiled evilly at Harry. "Now Dudley, go upstairs and get dressed and you and Harry can walk over...."

"DAD," yelled Dudley. "I'm not going!" He pointed at Harry. "He's going."

"Nonsense, Dudley. It's time you learned the value of hard work and Mrs. Figg said she would compensate you well. Now go upstairs," said Uncle Vernon.

Dudley turned to his mother. "Mom, please...."

"Vernon, dear, perhaps Mrs. Figg doesn't need Dudley..." Aunt Petunia started.

Uncle Vernon cut her off. "Petunia, he's going and that's final. Now go get dressed, Dudley." His tone implied that that was the end of it. Dudley muttered to himself as he stomped out of the kitchen.

Harry had just watched the exchange in silence. He wondered what he would really be doing at Mrs. Figg's that day.

* * *

Harry and Dudley had left for Mrs. Figg's right after breakfast. Uncle Vernon had called her back to let her know they were on their way. Dudley was still muttering to himself as he walked beside Harry.

Harry was humming Happy Birthday to himself when he felt something land on his shoulder. Dudley jumped back in fright. Harry turned to look up at Hedwig, perched on his shoulder. She had a letter tied to her foot.

"What's it doing here?" asked Dudley, in a frightened voice. "You're not supposed to be letting it out during the day."

"She's bringing me a letter," responded Harry, as he untied the letter from Hedwig's foot. He held up a finger to stroke her beak. "Thanks. Go and get some sleep now." She nipped at this finger before taking flight, heading back home for a long and deserved nap.

Dudley watched the snow-white owl soar away. "Who did you get a letter from?" he asked, trying to peer at the letter as Harry unrolled the parchment.

Harry scanned the letter from Sirius quickly and shoved into his pocket. "It's from my godfather. Sirius. Sirius Black." He grinned as he saw Dudley's eyes widen in surprise.

"You're not.... Dad said....You're not allowed to write to him," stammered Dudley.

"Well if he doesn't hear from me, then he worries about me. And then he might come see what's wrong and if I'm okay. I don't think you would want a murdering wizard to show up at your house, would you Dudley?" he said.

Dudley muttered a "No" before walking quickly to Mrs. Figg's house. Harry grinned to himself as he followed Dudley down the sidewalk.