Neurasthenia

The Vanishing Glass || iv

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Date: 24th July 1991

Current Location: Privet Drive

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The Dursley house had been the same as the night when a little child had been dropped down on their doorstep. Only the photographs on the mantlepiece really showed how much time had padded, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets – but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.

"Wait what do mean where Harry then," Lily was worried for her son.

Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His aunt Petunis was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
"Up! Get up! Now!"

Everybody in the hall flinched when they heard the awful shrieking noise that came out of her mouth.

Harry woke up with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

"UP!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.

"He must have really good hearing to have heard every little detail from the second floor," Molly commented. 

He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he's had the same dream before.

"He remembered that night?" muttered Lily sorrowfully

His aunt was back outside the door."Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned."What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing..."

Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He took a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders,

"Of course, he will be, when he can't even seem to clean his room" sneered Walburga.

Because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.

The silence was so loud in the great hall, until "You left my son with these magic-hating abusive muggles who treat him like a house elf." James roared out glaring straight at Dumbledore.

Suddenly Dudley Dursley, who Harry often said looked like a pig in a wig.

"He does." Sirius barks out laughing, with the whole hall joining in breaking the tension.

came stomping and jumping down the stairs above the cupboard. "Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!"

Harry looked up to see the amount of dust coming out of the joint of the stairs. As Harry tried to get out of the cupboard, he was pushed back in by Dudley running to the kitchen.