Harry Potter and the Circle Of Enchantments

Harry Potter and the circle of enchantments

Chapter one - The Burrow

Harry Potter looked out of the window and saw the neat patchwork of lawns that made up Privet Drive. He was a tall boy for his age and had jet black hair and almond shaped eyes of a vibrant green. The only thing that distinguished him from other wizards his age was a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead. The most evil wizard of all time had given him that scar sixteen years ago, when he had been a helpless baby. Yet he, Harry, had survived a lethal spell before he had seen his first birthday, and others older than he had died instantly. This made him not only special, but famous.

A piercing shriek shot through the night air like a bullet, and a white shape appeared amongst the blackness. Harry's owl had returned.

'Hedwig!' cried Harry, watching as his bird gracefully fluttered onto his shoulder and nibbled his ear affectionately. The snow white owl stuck out her leg, and Harry untied three scrolls of parchment and three parcels from it.

Harry recognised the first letter's untidy scrawl as Hagrid's hand, and quickly read through it.

Dear Harry,

Can't say much, the owls are being intercepted. But there's something really important that you should know about Lupin and Sirius. I'll have to go; I'll see you at Hogwarts.

Oh, and Happy Birthday.

All the best,

Hagrid

'Sirius and Lupin?' Harry felt his stomach turn over at the sound of his Godfather's name. He felt like it was his fault Sirius had died. Harry felt guilty and quickly scanned the letter to take his mind off those thoughts.

'There are no clues whatsoever,' Harry sighed, 'but then I suppose you have to be careful.' He picked up the other letter and was delighted to find it was from one of his best friends, Ron Weasley.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! I hope you like your present.

I've really missed you over the summer. Fred and George are wishing you were there too - only they want to test Diarrhoea Doughnuts on you.

Anyway, guess what? Mum says you can come and stay. So if you're not doing anything on Saturday at 12:00, we'll be expecting you.

See you soon, Ron.

Harry grinned at unwrapped Ron's present. It was a small china snitch on a stand that rotated. On a piece of newspaper that was evidently used as padding, Ron had written a short paragraph.

Harry, this is a Snitch Wind Detector. It spins in the way the wind is blowing.

'Cool!' Harry smiled. The second parcel, from Hagrid, contained a furry toy otter.

Harry laughed.

'Trust Hagrid to come up with original gifts.'

There was a loud thud and Harry saw another owl had landed on his bed. He recognised it as Hermione's, and untied the post from her.

Dear Harry,

How are you? Did you enjoy your birthday?

I hope you've got your school supplies. I'm halfway through my third text book already! It's really interesting.

Anyway, I thought you might like to read my article.

Well, see you,

Hermione

'Hey, Hedwig! Look at this!' Hermione had sent Harry a book on Quidditch.

Hedwig clicked her beak and looked at her cage longingly.

'Yeah, it is probably time we went to bed.' Harry unlocked the cage door and watched Hedwig glide in. She hooted at him and he ruffled her feathers.

'Oh, before I go to sleep, I'll put these away. I can read Hermione's article tomorrow when I go to the Burrow.' Harry prised up the loose floorboard where hid his letters and slipped the new arrivals inside.

'Night Hedwig,' said Harry, and fell into a deep sleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

*

When morning came, Harry pulled his fat trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs and left them in the hall way.

'Haven't you got rid of that ruddy owl yet?' Uncle Vernon glared at Hedwig through the thin bars and turned to snatch the morning paper off the door mat.

'I've got to take her to Ron's,' Harry said coolly, aware that his Aunt was standing behind him and silently fuming.

'I'm surprised you've even got any friends.' Uncle Vernon pushed past his nephew and marched into the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs floating towards Harry made him hold his breath.

'Yeah, well, we all know you don't have any.' Harry, muttering under his breath, followed his uncle and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Aunt Petunia frowned down at him.

Harry let the milk drip off his tilted spoon and sighed. He was desperate to get to Ron's but found he was too drowsy to do anything - let alone eat the soggy cornflakes that lay in his bowl.

Uncle Vernon frowned.

'What are you doing, boy? We pay good money for that food, so you had better eat it.' Harry, feeling very sleepy, ignored the Dursleys and continued gazing at his breakfast. Perhaps he could practise reading the tea leaves - or rather cornflakes - for professor Trelawney, even though it was unlikely Harry would have her in his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

'Hey, Harry, are you going to eat that?' Harry's cousin, Dudley, was leaning towards Harry's breakfast, looking hopeful and eager. Harry pushed the bowl towards him. Dudley's piggy eyes were fixed on Harry, and his paunchy fists trying to grab at the dish.

'Mum?' Whined Dudley, 'Do we have any muffins?'

Aunt Petunia peered at her son, her long neck stretching over the newspaper she had been reading.

'Yes, I'll just go and get them, Diddums. How many?'

'Three!' Dudley said greedily, watching his mother as she hurried over to the breadbin. Dudley had lost interest in Harry's cornflakes and said pathetically,

'Hurry up Mum, I'm starving.'

Harry glared at his cousin. Evidently, he didn't know the meaning of the word. Harry had been denied of food and shut in a broom cupboard under the stairs for most of his life. Harry's grip tightened on the wand he had stowed in his jean pocket, and felt his anger boil inside him.

'Here you go, Dudley. Chocolate Chip - your favourite.' Harry's Aunt looked at Dudley's face for a smile, but her son turned away and crammed a muffin into his mouth.

'I wish I was at Hogwarts,' Harry said aloud.

'So do I. If you don't go back, you'll be on the streets because I'll certainly not provide meals for you,' Aunt Petunia threatened, but Harry knew that the day she had taken him in, she had made a deal. Harry wouldn't be able to leave Privet Drive until he'd finished Hogwarts, as much as he'd like to.

'Your meals aren't a patch on Hogwarts',' Harry muttered a little too loudly for his Uncle's liking.

'I'm warning you boy,' said Uncle Vernon, drawing himself to his full height, 'You'll be punished if you think you can get away with rudeness in this house.'

*

Harry and the Dursleys set off in Uncle Vernon's big family car. In contrast to Dudley, though, it was very small. Harry's cousin had to be pushed through the car door; he had gained so much weight.

'Why do I have to go in the same car as him?' Dudley complained.

'Believe me, the feeling's mutual,' Harry murmured.

'Now now, boys,' Aunt Petunia turned round and shot her nephew a look of disgust.

'When I was young, we all got along fine,' Uncle Vernon said, 'so try to make some effort Harry.'

Harry clenched his fists.

'You didn't have a sister like Lily, Vernon,' Aunt Petunia said, 'So it wasn't too difficult for you. But Harry's just like his mother, so it makes it just as hard for Dudley as it was for me.' Harry's mouth sprung open. If his Aunt thought she could bad-mouth his mother, then -

'Harry, behave!' Barked Uncle Vernon, as Harry's fist came into contact with the car door and Harry's right knuckles slammed into the leather interior.

'HARRY!' Aunt Petunia had squashed herself up into the corner of the car and was bellowing at him like a mad boar. At this thought, Harry nearly laughed. The pig family.

'GET OUT OF MY CAR! NOW!' Uncle Vernon's face was purple.

'But - ' Harry started, and then realised he was at Ron's house. Without another word, he collected his trunk, broomstick and Hedwig's cage, and clambered out of the people carrier. It left with a cloud of dust in its wake.

*

'Harry!' Ron greeted one of his closest friends with a grin and pushed Harry inside.

'Hello Mrs. Weasley,' Harry said with a smile. Ron's mother was busy cleaning the house - but with magic.

'Harry, dear! Oh, it's been ever so gloomy here without you.'

'Oh - er - right.'

'Harry!' Ginny, Ron's sister, ran down the stairs and beamed at him. 'Hi! What did you do all summer?'

Harry started to answer her question, but Mrs. Weasley interrupted. 'In case you were wondering, Harry dear, we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow so we can collect our school things.'

'I didn't get a supplies list!' Harry cried.

'Use mine, Harry; we have to take the same books anyway,' Ron told Harry calmly.

'Locomotor trunk!' Harry said, feeling better, pointing his wand in the right direction and watching it fly up the stairs.

'Whoa, careful Harry!' Fred and George, the identical Weasley twins, had ducked beneath Harry's trunk as it zoomed past them.

'We escaped brain damage by inches!' George smiled.

'Or maybe,' Fred added, 'We had enough anyway and were spared.' Harry laughed with the rest of the Weasleys and went up to his and Ron's room.

'It's hot up here, isn't it?' A girl with curly brown hair looked up from her book and smiled at Harry.

'Hermione!' Harry ran towards her and gave her a hug.

'Harry, I have so much to tell you! And did you read the article? Was it good? Did you get a letter from Hagrid?'

'Slow down, Hermione! I have the newspaper with me but I haven't read it yet. And I did get a letter from Hagrid. Didn't say much did it?'

'No. Ah, well, maybe he'll explain everything when we get to Hogwarts.'

'Maybe.'

'Was it fun at the Dursleys'?'

'Not really, but the post really cheered me up.'

'Great! So, are you going to read the paper?' In reply, Harry pulled out the edition of The Snitching Witch Hermione had sent him.

'It has Quidditch updates too,' Hermione smiled.

'Wow! Your article's been printed and everything?'

'Yes,' Hermione looked offended.

'I didn't mean...well, that is to say...'

'Let's read it, then.' Ron had come into the room.

Harry swallowed. 'It's in the obituary, Ron.'

Sirius Black's Death

Sirius Black was a good man with a bad name. He was kind, thoughtful and anxious to help people.

He was accused - wrongly - of the murders of Lily and James Potter, but was cleared shortly after his death in July this year.

Sirius will be greatly remembered. He contributed greatly to an organisation against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and fought bravely against his Death-Eaters before being murdered by his own cousin, Bellatrix, who had also been in Azkaban.

I hope Sirius will be happy for his friends and family.

'Hermione, that's - '

'Great, yes, I know.' Hermione beamed.

'No, it's...horrible.' Harry looked away at his best friends' shocked faces.

'I mean, how could you think of doing it so soon after - '

'Really, Harry. I did it for you. We need to accept the fact that he's gone. People die, you know.' Hermione shook her head.

'Yes, but not many are murdered - and even less by relatives. Now everyone's going to read it,' protested Harry.

'That's the point, Harry. And I can't believe you think that! You're meant to be happy for your friends, even if they do things you don't like.' Hermione marched off tearfully, her hair streaming behind her as she went.

'You've done it now!' Ron said. 'You beat me to it...gosh, I was really looking forward to messing the day up!' Ron followed Hermione out of the door, slamming it behind him.

Harry sighed and went over to his trunk. He opened it up and unpacked his clothes, putting them into a wooden set of drawers carefully.

'I didn't mean to upset her,' Harry thought aloud, 'but she asked my opinion.'

'You shouldn't have fought her then,' a voice said. Harry spun round, but to his surprise the room was empty. There was no one in sight.

'Look at the frame, silly.' Above Harry's bed was a painting of fields and trees. In the middle of it was a tall witch.

'What do you mean? I didn't fight her!' The witch looked at Harry's indignant look and smiled. 'You fought her with words. They often hurt more than physical fights.'

'LUNCH!' screamed Mrs. Weasley. Harry turned away from the painting and walked towards the door. His hand hovered over the handle and after a split second, the sixteen-year-old wrenched the door open and disappeared through it.

*

'Harry, I'm sorry about earlier. I just thought you'd be a bit more pleased for me.'

Hermione peered at Harry nervously from the other side of the table.

'Don't worry about it. I'm the one who should know better.' Harry ladled gravy onto his plate and sighed. Ron, sandwiched between his parents, tried to smile at his best friends.

'The gravy's a bit...'

'Yes, Ron? So you'll be making it next time?' Mrs. Weasley said. Everyone laughed.

'Molly, if I may say so, I'm feeling quite full.' Ron's father tried to get up from the table but with an icy glare from his wife, he was forced to sit back down and plough his way through the rest of the meal.

'Looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?' Mrs. Weasley asked Harry as she cleared the plates away.

'Yeah, I can't wait to see what's happened to Dolores Umbridge,' Ron smiled, wiping the table with a damp cloth.

'RONALD WEASLEY!' Screamed Mrs. Weasley, wagging her finger at her son crossly. 'I was asking Harry.'

'Oh,' Ron replied.

'Err, yes, I can't wait to get back,' Harry said, collecting the cups and dumping them in the sink. 'I'm looking forward to the Quidditch matches we'll be playing later on.'

'Yes,' said Mr. Weasley distantly, 'those were the days.'

'Do you want a hand with the washing up?' Ginny asked.

'No, dear, it's okay, my wand will sort it. But if you're a good girl, you can de-gnome the garden later.' At this reply, Ginny beamed.

*

Harry had experienced the thrills of de-gnoming the Weasley's garden before, and was looking forward to flinging the gnomes over the fence. They were horrible creatures with sharp tongues and a tendency to bite people.

Ginny pulled a gnome out of a rhododendron bush and showed it to Harry.

'Yeah, I've seen them before.'

'GERROFF ME!' shouted the gnome, trying to squirm its way out of Harry's firm grasp.

'Oh no you don't!' Ginny grabbed the small creature and hurled it over the fence. There was a shriek and then a loud thud and a deep 'ouch!' as it hit the grass.

'They look like potatoes,' Harry laughed as he spotted a bald, fat gnome disappearing into a gnomehole.

'They're like rabbits - they have networks of burrows underground, you know. They're really stupid things. As soon as they realise one's being de-gnomed, they'll all come out to spectate,' Ginny explained, but Harry, who had had the pleasure of de-gnoming the Weasley's garden before, knew everything already.

'I know. They can be really vicious; last time I had bites all the way up my arm.'

'Bet you slept well!' Ginny laughed hard as one gnome flew into a nearby field and hit a tree stump.

'I bet I can get mine further than that!' Ron said, as he joined them. He picked up a leathery-looking gnome and flung it over the fence. His gnome, however, seemed to enjoy the experience.

'Wheeeeeeeeee!' The gnome's high-pitched cries startled Harry, who thought that they all sounded gruff.

'That was a female,' Ron said.