Avacyn Lily Potter

Little Shack

On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. He said "No post on Sundays. No damn letters today..." at that moment Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. The next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry and I leaped into the air trying to catch one..." uncle Vernon screamed "Out! OUT!" and threw Harry and me into the hall, When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. We could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor. He was pissed "That does it, I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" we all rushed upstairs to do as told. Ten minutes later we were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag. We drove and drove, even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.

We didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall, Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer. Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley, Harry, and I shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry and I stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars I looked up at my big brother and in a quiet voice said "Harry, what do you think is gonna happen to us?" he wrapped his arms around me as I leaned against his chest he said "I don't know, But Avacyn, I swear to you, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll always protect you." In the morning we were eating stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast when the owner of the hotel came over to our table." she said "' Scuse me, but is any of you, Mr. H. Potter and Ms. A. Potter? I only got about a hundred of these at the front desk." she held up two letters so we could read the green ink.

Mr. H. Potter

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth

Ms. A. Potter

Room 17

Railview Hotel

Cokeworth

Harry made a grab for the letters but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared. Uncle Vernon said "I'll take them," stood up quickly and followed her from the dining room. After he got rid of them we got back in the car and headed back onto the road. I laid my head on Harry's shoulder, we had been driving for hours when Aunt Petunia said "Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of us knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage. Dudley said, "Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked us all inside the car, and disappeared. It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled and said "It's Monday, The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."

Monday. That means that tomorrow is my and Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, our birthdays were never exactly fun... last year, the Dursleys had given each of us a coat hanger and a pair of socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day. Uncle Vernon came back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought. He said "Found the perfect place! Come on! Everyone out!" It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television there. Uncle Vernon clapped his hands together "Storm forecast for tonight! And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat! I've already got us some rations, so all aboard!" After what seemed like hours we reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house. The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms. Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. 

He cheerfully said, "Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" He was in a very good mood. He thought nobody stood a chance of reaching us here in a storm to deliver mail. As night fell, the promised storm blew up around us. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Dudley was sound asleep but I lay curled next to Harry and neither one of us could sleep. I counted down the last three seconds before we turned 11, "three... two... one..." suddenly I heard a BOOM. I quickly sat up "Harry?" he said "I think someone is outside." BOOM. someone knocked again this time waking Dudley who said "Where's the cannon?" a crash came from behind us and uncle Vernon came into the room with a rifle in his hands. He shouted "Who's there? I warn you... I'm armed!" a pause and then SMASH, the door was hit so hard it hit the floor with a loud crash making me hide behind my brother.