This choice: Harry wakes up to an owl at his window, carrying a familiar letter • Go Back...Chapter #5The Koi who Lived and the Alley Cat by: Jubal   Harry awoke to a tapping sound. Not quite conscious, he began his usual routine of rolling off of the floor mat in his cupboard to get the door only to tumble over the end of his new bed with a startled yelp. Wincing at the sting in his elbows and knees, Harry quickly scrambled up and moved to face the door.
It was at this point that he realized two things. First, that it was still very dark. And second, that the tapping was coming from his bedroom window. Harry quietly padded over to the glass pane, and stared dubiously at the fluffed-up owl perching just outside. It glared back with what he'd swear was an impatient look, and stuck out a skinny little bird leg that...seemed to have an envelope tied to it.
Harry considered his options for a moment, including going back to bed, as it was far too early in the morning for something like this to be happening. He almost immediately decided that this was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him and that he didn't really care if the owl outside was supposed to come to his room or not. He quickly slid up the lower pane and watched with a grin as the owl struggled to fit through the tiny opening.
He laughed a bit as the owl squeezed down, but couldn't fit through as every time it lost balance it flared its big wings and became too wide for the opening. The owl glared again, and shuffled as if about to leave. Biting his lip, Harry did the bravest thing he'd done so far this morning and thrust his arm out the window. The bird made no move to peck him, and allowed him to remove the letter without difficulty.
Hurrying over to his desk, Harry flicked on the lamp and started in surprise at seeing the same green ink, the same odd paper as the envelope he'd gotten in the mail.
Harry Potter
The Littlest Bedroom
Harry huffed a bit at the address; the room seemed plenty big to him, after all! But he put that thought aside quickly as he continued to read the letter with wide eyes.
"I'm...a wizard?" He asked quietly.
What did that even mean? Was it some sort of joke? He didn't think the Dursleys would go to the trouble of getting a trained bird to play a trick on him, and they'd treated the last letter pretty seriously. Harry was very confused. Thinking fast, he scribbled a quick response with far too many questions on the back of the letter and thrust it back out at the bird.
The two had a brief stare-off.
The bird took the letter and flew away.
Harry went back to bed. It really was far too early for this.
Hours later Harry woke for the second time, and continued where he'd left off tidying his room. The Dursleys had been very clear; he was to have the room, but stay out of their way as much as possible, preferably inside the room where they wouldn't have to hear or look at him. And he was on reduced meals for the trouble with the letter. His stomach gave an unhappy grumble at the thought. He couldn't really be sure if he hadn't dreamed what happened before with the owl and the second letter. It seemed like a very nice dream, if a bit strange.
The question of whether or not it was a dream was answered near lunchtime (he hoped) by a smart knocking on his door. Harry quickly hid the construction blocks he'd kept of Dudley's under the bed for safe keeping and scampered over to the door. Opening it, he looked up into the face of a strangely dressed older woman. She ran her eyes up and down him a moment, went back up to his face again, and the she cleared her throat.
"Mr Potter, my name is Professor Minerva Mcgonagall. I'm hear about Hogwarts, and your letter"
Harry blinked, before he started and tried to tug the woman into his room. He wasn't strong enough, but she started walking right away.
"You're...it's real, then?" he asked. "Hogwarts, and magic?"
In answer, the older woman pulled out a stick and waved it at his desk. The mallet he'd used as a splint popped off and the desk leg mended itself. A second wave had the mallet turn into a backrest for the desk chair, and a third was directed right at Harry.
Harry wriggled a bit as his extremely over-sized clothes shrank on him, sliding over his arms and legs until they fit his body. It was a strange feeling. Almost tight after what he was used to; he wasn't sure how he felt about that. But the older woman...the witch had fixed his things!
"I have taken today to explain your heritage to you," Professor Mcgonagall stated briskly, as she seated herself on the edge of Harry's bed. creak
A fourth wave of the wand, Harry guessed, fixed the creaking in his mattress.
"Your relatives were meant to explain things to you themselves; we've...spoken" her tone grew a bit chilly, "about it this morning. You will be allowed to attend Hogwarts and learn magic. However, they have insisted that you keep all school things and activities in your room, and your cousin is not to be told about magic at all. They don't want him to know."
Harry nodded, still mostly wrapping his head around the 'magic is real' bit.
"There was a list of school things," Harry mentioned hesitantly.
"So you want to go, then?" The professor asked, her lips quirking slightly.
"YES!" Harry shouted. "Er, I mean yes please ma'am."
"Good." McGonagall stated, holding out her arm. "Take my arm then, and we will travel by magic to get your things."
No sooner had Harry taken her arm then he felt like he was being squeezed through a tiny tube. He found he absolutely hated the feeling. The world went dark and when light returned he and the professor appeared inside a red stone square in a wide open building with a pop.
McGonagall explained that they were in Gringotts, and that between his father's family inheritance and the "Ministry" paying full value for his family home after it was destroyed to be used as a monument, he had enough money to not need to worry about it if he was sensible.
That explanation led to more questions, and by the time they were properly shopping the older woman had told Harry about his parents, the night of their death, and all sorts of other things that he thought to ask about. She guided him through the shops, letting him buy the odd extra item but mostly telling him with a frown 'not to be too silly with his money' when he started toward the next shiny, noisy, or extremely expensive object.
An oddly loud rumble from his stomach saw the two of them seated in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry shocked himself by polishing off a full adult meal with dessert and an extra side. McGonagall only said he looked too skinny anyway, and after he'd sheepishly admitted the Dursleys weren't providing much in food she'd quickly taken him back to the alley to pick up a magical cold box for his bedroom and stocked it with healthy meals. She'd even let him buy an irresponsible (her words) amount of Florean's Ice Cream for snacks.
Harry's one request at the end of the day was to not "apparate" home; he'd rather never feel squeezed like that ever again. He thought the Knight bus was even more fun to ride than the goblin carts.
His school shopping done at last, a much happier Harry was returned to his room and given all of his school things with a stern warning from McGonagall to study ahead a bit in his subjects to make a good start at school.
After she left, Harry cheerfully chucked his school books in a pile for later and had an ice cream.
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