The Children Who Lived and The Philosopher's Stone

Chapter Three - Letters to the Cupboard.

The catastrophe at the zoo earned the twins their longest punishment yet. By the time they were let out of the cupboard, the summer holidays had started. Dudley already broke most of his birthday presents, and for his first time on the racing bike he had knocked down Mrs Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.

Nellie was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley and his gang, who visited the house every single day. The whole lot of them were big and stupid. And because Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Potter Hunting.

This was why the twins spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and talking about the end of summer. When September came they would be going off to secondary school, and for the first time ever, they wouldn't be with Dudley. Whilst Dudley was going to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings, Harry and Nellie would be going to Stonewall High, the local public school.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilet on the first day at Stonewall," Dudley told Nellie and Harry, "want to come upstairs and practice?"

"No thanks," Harry said, "the poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it—it might get sick." As soon as he finished talking, he grabbed Nellie's hand and ran downstairs before Dudley could work out what he'd said.

There was an awful smell in the kitchen when they got downstairs, and it seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. Nellie went and had a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.

"What's this?" she asked. Aunt Petunia's lips tightened as they always did if she dared ask a question.

"You and your brother's new school uniforms," she said.

Nellie looked in the tub again.

"Oh," Nellie said, "I didn't realise they had to be so wet."

"Don't be stupid!" Aunt Petunia snapped. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. They'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."

Nellie seriously doubted this but thought it best not to argue. She made her way to the table and began to pour Uncle Vernon's coffee for him while he grumbled about ingrates from behind his morning paper. Nellie tried her best not to think about how her and her brother were going to look on their first day of school. Then there was the sound of the letter box opening and the flop of a letter on the doormat.

"Get the post, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his newspaper.

"Make Nell get it."

"Get the post, Nell."

Nellie huffed but made her way to the door, Harry following behind her. Three things laid on the doormat. Harry bent down to grab them.

"Post card from Aunt Marge, a gas bill..." Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the third envelope.

"What? What is it?"

"A letter for us!"

Nellie moved closer to look and there in beautiful writing she could barely read, was an address:

Mr H. Potter and Miss E. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

As Harry read it out to her, Nellie examined the letter, the envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp. Harry turned the envelope over, his hands trembling. There they saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms, a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter "H".