Happy Birthday

Harry got up early for his birthday. Today, the Dursleys had - believe it or not

promised to make him a cake, since it was his seventeenth birthday. Harry jumped into his finest suit and put on some cologne. When he got to the kitchen, he noticed that Dudley was smiling at him. 'Odd,' Harry thought, and sat down on a chair. The birthday cake looked absolutely lovely. Harry put his finger in the glaze on top and tasted it. It tasted good - sweet,with pieces of chocolate and nuts in it. 'Well, what are you waiting for, boy?' said uncle Vernon, and passed the cake-server to Harry. 'Help yourself to a large piece now, Harry!'.

'You should take the one with the little marzipan flower on it,' said Petunia, and pointed it out with her skinny skeleton-like finger. Harry cut it out and put it on his plate. He couldn't believe how nice the Dursleys were to him. They even offeredhim the marzipan flower! Harry took a big bite of the cake. It looked like the Dursleys had finally accepted him. And Dudley too; he kept smiling, watching Harry eat.

He took another bite. Suddenly, the cake got a weird sub-flavour. He chewed once more. Yes, he could definitly taste something weird. He lowered his hand to take another bite, and started screaming when he saw what laid hidden in

the cake: a monkey-embryo. Harry looked up at the Dursleys, shocked. They laughed their evil laughs, and Petunia yelled: 'Eat it up you ugly bastard child!' And with her skeleton-like hands, she forced him back in his chair, while Vernon sat on him. Harry felt like his ribs were about to break. Dudley forced the monkey-embryo into his mouth. Harry threw up and choked in his own vomit.

He woke up in the Hogwarts hospital, hours later. His godfather Sirius was looking down at him, talking to Madam Pomfrey. 'Poor boy. Those devils forced it into him so hard that his gullet may be damaged permanently.'

'Sirius....' Harry said, and found that his voice sounded like a grandmother-frog.

'Poor Harry,' Sirius said, and patted his head. 'You need to rest. Remember that we all love you because of who you are, not because of your voice.' Harry felt no comfort in those words. He decided to be mute. When it looked like it couldn't get worse, Ron and Hermione entered the room.

'We heard all about it,' Hermione said, and sat down on his bed.

'You must learn to stand up to them, Harry,' Ron said. He looked worried. Harry nodded, hoping they wouldn't ask him a question that he couldn't answer with a nod or shake of his head. But he didn't have to worry, because Madam Pomfrey soon shooed them all out. 'The patient needs rest!' she yelled.

Harry slept a little, but woke up in the middle of the night, extremely thirsty. He got out of his bed and went down the stairs to the nearest toilet. But suddenly, he got knocked over by a sleepwalking ghost and fell all the way down the stairs, passing out.

Again, he woke up in the hospital, wearing Professor Trelawney's glasses... This time, Ron sat beside him. 'Your own glasses were destroyed when you fell,' he said. 'Trelawney was kind enough to lend you hers.'

'Why couldn't I borrow Dumbledore's instead?' Harry thought bitterly.

He finally got the permission to get out of bed, and the first lesson on his timetable was Defence against the Dark Arts with Severus Snape. Harry really hoped that Snape was ill or something, but he knew deep inside that this day would not get any better, and that thought was confirmed as he walked past Moaning Myrtle's toilet. She took him by surprise and dragged him inside and locked the door. She tickled him and tried to kiss him. Harry tried to call for help, but it was too late. Moaning Myrtle dragged him down the toilet and into the sewers. Harry Potter was never seen again.