Invisible (III)

ONE

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
chapter one

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E M P T Y   C A G E

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"Uh-oh."

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Harry and Lily Potter are highly unusual kids in many ways. For one thing, they hate the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, they really want to do their homework but are forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And they also happen to be a wizard and a witch.

It's nearly midnight, and the Potter twins are lying on their fronts in bed, the blankets drawn right over their heads like a tent, torches in their hands and a large leather-bound book (A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot) propped open against the pillows. They move the tips of their eagle-feather quills down the page, frowning as they look for something that will help them write their essays, 'Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless - discuss'.

The quills pause at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Harry pushes his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moves his torch closer to the book, and the two of them read:

Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognising it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burnt so much that she allowed herself to be caught no fewer than forty-seven times in various disguises.

Lily grimaces in disgust, understanding at once how the witch got her name. Harry puts his quill between his teeth and reaches underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and two rolls of parchment. He hands one to his sister.

Slowly and very carefully he unscrews the ink bottle, they dip their quills into it, and begin to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys hear the scratching of their quills on their way to the bathroom, the twins will probably find themselves locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of the summer.

The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, is the reason that Harry and Lily never enjoy their summer holidays. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son, Dudley, are the Potter twins' only living relatives. They're Muggles, and they have a very medieval attitude towards magic. The twins' dead parents, who had been a witch and wizard themselves, are never mentioned under the Dursleys' roof.

For years, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had hoped that if they kept Harry and Lily as downtrodden as possible, they would be able to squash the magic out of them. To their fury, they had been unsuccessful, and now live in terror of anyone finding out that the twins have spent most of the last two years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The most they can do, however, is to lock away their spellbooks, wands, cauldrons and Harry's broomstick at the start of the summer holidays, and forbid them to talk to the neighbours.

This separation from their spellbooks has been a real problem for the twins, because their teachers at Hogwarts have given them a lot of holiday work. One of the essays, about Shrinking Potions, is for Lily's favourite teacher (and Harry's least favourite teacher), Professor Snape, who would be delighted to have an excuse to give Harry detention for a month.