By the time Vernon let us out of the cupboard it was already a week in to the summer holidays. Harry and I hated the holidays; it meant we were basically enslaved doing all the jobs for the Dursleys. The only job that Vernon ever did was mowing the lawn, as Harry and I weren't deemed strong enough to do it.
When we turned 11 we would do that too.
Dudley's gang came round every day, to join him in his favourite sport; Potter hunting. Harry and I would constantly get chased away from our jobs to escape kicks or slaps always coming our way, then get punished for not finishing, ending up locked in the cupboard, which was where we spent most of our summers.
This summer was different.
2 days before our birthday, Harry and I woke to an unusual discovery; two letters addressed to us at the door. I passed Harry his and read the envelope.
Mr S S Potter
Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
On the back there was a crest; a lion, eagle, badger, and a snake; with a large H in the centre. I looked at Harry's and it was the same.
Mr H J Potter
Cupboard Under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
I wondered what it was as I held it behind my back. "Hurry up, you two!" Vernon shouted from the kitchen. Harry and I hid the letters and I dumped the other mail on the kitchen table, and we then made to go to our cupboard.
"Mum! Dad!" Dudley yelled. "Harry and Sam have got a letter!" Vernon grabbed both of our letters from behind our backs. "They're-" I started. "Ours!" Harry said angrily. "Yours?" Vernon said scornfully. "Who'd be writing to you?"
The look on his face changed dramatically as he saw who the letters were addressed to. "Cupboard, now!" He managed to splutter out, waving his fist. Harry and I scrambled down the hallway and into our cupboard.
"They were ours," Harry stormed. "Vernon had no right to take them."
"We should have read them before he got them," I said angrily. "Now I can't even think of anything else."
We were given the rest of the day in the cupboard for not giving all the mail to Vernon. Harry and I pondered over what could have been in the letters, thinking of nothing else all day.
Suddenly, I heard a whooshing and letters started to stream in under the cupboard door. I grinned in delight but Uncle Vernon leant in and grabbed both of us by the neck.
"We're going away!" He screamed. "Somewhere hidden! Where they can't find us!"