Harry pulled out his quill and a bit of parchment and turned to Ron and Hermione.
“This is called a telephone number,” he told Ron, scribbling it twice, tearing the parchment in two, and handing it to them. “I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer — he’ll know. Call me at the Dursleys’, okay? I can’t stand another two months with only Dudley to talk to. . . .”
“Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won’t they?” said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward the enchanted barrier. “When they hear what you did this year?”
“Proud?” said Harry. “Are you crazy? All those times I could’ve died, and I didn’t manage it? They’ll be furious. . . .”
And together they walked back through the gateway to the Muggle world.
Text copyright ? 1998 by J.K. Rowling.
Cover illustration by Olly Moss ? 2015 Pottermore Limited
Interior illustrations by Mary GrandPré ? 1999 by Warner Bros.
Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and ? Warner Bros. Ent.
Harry Potter Publishing Rights ? J.K. Rowling.
This digital edition first published by Pottermore Limited in 2015
Published in print in the U.S.A. by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-78110-647-1
TO JILL PREWETT AND
AINE KIELY,
THE GODMOTHERS OF SWING
CONTENTS
ONE
Owl Post
TWO
Aunt Marge’s Big Mistake
THREE
The Knight Bus
FOUR
The Leaky Cauldron
FIVE
The Dementor
SIX
Talons and Tea Leaves
SEVEN
The Boggart in the Wardrobe
EIGHT
Flight of the Fat Lady
NINE
Grim Defeat
TEN
The Marauder’s Map
ELEVEN
The Firebolt
TWELVE
The Patronus
THIRTEEN
Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw
FOURTEEN
Snape’s Grudge
FIFTEEN
The Quidditch Final
SIXTEEN
Professor Trelawney’s Prediction
SEVENTEEN
Cat, Rat, and Dog
EIGHTEEN
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
NINETEEN
The Servant of Lord Voldemort
TWENTY
The Dementor’s Kiss
TWENTY-ONE
Hermione’s Secret
TWENTY-TWO
Owl Post Again
CHAPTER ONE
OWL POST
Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways. For one thing, he hated the summer holidays more than any other time of year. For another, he really wanted to do his homework but was forced to do it in secret, in the dead of night. And he also happened to be a wizard.
It was nearly midnight, and he was lying on his stomach in bed, the blankets drawn right over his head like a tent, a flashlight in one hand and a large leather-bound book (A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot) propped open against the pillow. Harry moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as he looked for something that would help him write his essay, “Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless — discuss.”
The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book, and read:
Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing 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 burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.
Harry put his quill between his teeth and reached underneath his pillow for his ink bottle and a roll of parchment. Slowly and very carefully he unscrewed the ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, and began to write, pausing every now and then to listen, because if any of the Dursleys heard the scratching of his quill on their way to the bathroom, he’d probably find himself locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the rest of the summer.