Stay - Mattheo Riddle

Section 13 of the ICWSS

Aunt Petunia dug some ice cream out of the freezer and Kirra and Harry, still shaking, started scrubbing the kitchen clean, neither of them looking at each other or saying anything.

Uncle Vernon might still have been able to make his deal — if it hadn't been for the owl. Aunt Petunia was just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped two letters on Mrs. Mason's head, and swooped out again. 

Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee and ran from the house shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife was mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask whether this was their idea of a joke.

Kirra and Harry stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop for support, as Uncle Vernon advanced on them, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes. "Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letters the owl had delivered. "Go on — read it!" Harry took the one addressed to him while Kirra took the one that had her name on the front and began to read it.

It did not contain birthday greetings.

Dear Miss. Potter, We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine. As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).

We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.

Enjoy your holidays!

Yours sincerely, Mafalda Hopkirk

IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE Ministry of Magic

Harry and Kirra looked up from the letter and gulped as they shared a look, they couldn't believe it. How the hell could this happen, how could everything change this drastically in a matter of minutes.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it. . . . Slipped your minds, I daresay. . . ." He was bearing down on Harry and Kirra like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you two. . . . I'm locking you both up. . . . You're never going back to that school . . . never . . . and if you try and magic yourself out — they'll expel you!"

And laughing like a maniac, he dragged Harry and Kirra back upstairs. Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word. The following morning, he paid a man to fit bars on the twin's window. He himself fitted a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so that small amounts of food could be pushed inside three times a day.

They let the twins out to use the bathroom morning and evening. Otherwise, they were locked in their room around the clock, though, they had begun talking again though they still weren't on good terms. 

Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and the twins couldn't see any way out of the situation.

Dobby might have saved them from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, they'd probably starve to death anyway. The cat flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing two bowls of canned soup into the room. The twins, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off their beds and seized it. The soup was stone-cold, but they both drank half of it in one gulp.

Then, even though the girl was starving, she gave the rest to whiskers who purred gratefully as she began to drink it, she would have sent her cat out to steal food for them in the kitchen, but they had discovered that the cat flap was unfortunately only able to open from the outside.