Chapter 4

An exhilarating fifteen minutes later, Harry began a new chapter in his life full of books, knowledge, and critical thinking. He began his journey in the Smythe family library which contained all the books that generations of bibliophiles could collect for themselves. Harry was in awe, as the library was bigger than the Dursley's house, and three stories high. Every nook and cranny was filled with books, from the most ancient of tomes and scrolls written by hand, to the newest Tom Clancy thriller. Set in the middle of what a room that Harry thought might reflect his idea of heaven, was a reading desk that had a stack of books on it that were threatening to tip over from the height they had reached. Harry wanted to head straight to that desk, but Lady Abigail pulled him through a door into a ladies sitting room where Ms. Prudence waited with a few books of her own. Wasting no time, the two sisters began to question Harry about what he had read the day before in the library near his home. Each question was a bit more esoteric in its subject, with each answer being more involved in the understanding of the subject versus just answering verbatim what the book said.

Lady Abigail and Ms. Prudence had spent much of the night coming up with the questions they were asking Harry, as they both believed that the memorization of facts and figures without understanding how that knowledge interacted with reality was useless. What point was there in knowing the periodic chart, if you did not understand how each element reacted to others. Or how the heart pumped blood without understanding why it was so essential to a delicately tuned and balanced machine like the human body. Facts were good, but without understanding of the mechanics of that knowledge and how it related to other facts and subjects just meant you were a walking text book with no practical use except to play trivia or annoy those around you. After a grueling three hours, the two sisters were amazed that Harry was able to learn all that he did, and better yet, to apply it to reality such as when he told them about how he had been able to tell the time at the park that morning. The other fact that they established, was that Harry was eager and desperate to learn more. They broke for lunch, taking the time to relax and enjoy their time together, before Harry was finally allowed to roam free in his personal paradise. Lady Abigail and Ms. Prudence spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns fetching books for Harry to flip through. They found that Harry's most efficient speed, which made sure that none of the books got damaged, averaged about a book every forty-five seconds. By the time dinnertime had rolled around, Harry had gone through more than 450 books and was eager for more.

After a forced break for an early dinner, Harry wanted to continue but Ms. Prudence insisted that he take a break and watch a movie with her. The VHS that she chose was Disney's The Sword and the Stone which she thought Harry would like. Lady Abigail told them that she had seen it, and as sisters who are close often do, she had a silent conversation with Pru before announcing that she needed to run a few errands. Harry found himself mesmerized by the movie he was watching, and the concepts it sparked in his head. Harry knew that common knowledge said that magic didn't exist, but the evidence of Elric, Hedwig, and Whiskers led to the conclusion that common knowledge was wrong. This was not the first time, far from it. At one time, common knowledge stated that the Earth was flat, that the sun revolved around it, and that man would never walk on the moon. Common Knowledge was often disproved in the face of reality, and from what Harry had read, 6oo years ago everyone believed in magic, and less than 2oo years ago they were still burning witches at the stake. Using deductive reasoning, if there were magic in the world, and magical people existed, then why would they not use magic to hide themselves from normal humans to keep from being prosecuted or put to death for being different. This excited Harry, as he came to the realization that there were other people like him out there in the world. A whole hidden world of freaks who could do magic were hiding out there just waiting for him to find them. The question that next came to Harry's mind was why Whiskers was so focused on him. Was it because Harry was magic too, or was it for some much more sinister purpose? He felt that Whiskers had probably patterned his look after Merlin to gain peoples trust. After all, if magic was real, than someone like Merlin would probably be revered.

After the movie ended, Harry and Ms. Prudence went back to the library to continue filling him with knowledge, trying to find if he had a limit. Harry became so immersed in scanning through the stacks of books on his desk, that he did not notice how late it was or that Lady Abigail had returned. When he had finished with his stacks and noticed that there was no more waiting for him, he finally looked up and noticed that it was really dark outside, and that his eyes were struggling to stay open. A shot of adrenaline woke him up as he realized that he was late getting home and that he would probably get another beating for inconveniencing his Aunt and Uncle. He jumped up and ran toward the door, then ran back and straightened out his work area, and then ran back to the door. Harry held up short when he heard two giggling women behind him, and his recall allowed him to know that they had been laughing behind his back for some time.

Feeling hurt, and a little betrayed by his friends laughing at him, Harry turned to them while fighting the tears that came with the thought of the beating he would get for being late and spoke. "I have to get home. Would one of you please drive me so that I am not later than I already am. I probably will not be able to come to the library for a few days because I missed my curfew, but I must say while I can that the last two days were brilliant and I would not trade them for the world." With his statement finished, Harry lowered his head and began to shuffle toward the front door.

Without any discernible pause, the two women were on their knees on either side of him, hugging him and crooning his name, Harry only realized he had been shaking and holding in his sobs, when the comfort and care he was being shown managed to help him get himself under control. When the crisis had passed, Ms. Prudence led him over to the couch in her sitting room, pulling him up into her lap instead of letting him sit on his own. Lady Abigail had followed them in and pulled a chair in front of him so she could look into His eyes. Once Harry was settled and seemed to be accepting the arms of her sister wrapped around him, Lady Abigail drew in a deep breath and began to talk.

"Harry, we are so sorry for making you think we were mocking you or laughing at your fear. It was just that when you realized the time and started to panic, the look on your face was just too comical not to set us to laughing. Your face kept shifting between remorse at leaving the books, to desire to continue learning, to fear that you were late, and then the cycle would begin again." Here Lady Abigail stopped and leaned over to take both of Harry's hands in her own and continued. "Normally it would not be amusing for us that you were late getting home, since it would result in you getting punished. However, in this case there is something that you don't know that changes how you should react. You see, while you were reading after dinner, I made a trip over to your relative's house to have a chat with your Aunt Petunia. Through a series of well-founded arguments and strategies, I convinced her to allow you to spend the summer with us as we visit some rare public and private libraries in London and the surrounding areas."

Harry was a little distracted, by the fact that the lap and person he was sitting on was shaking as if she was having a fit. With an unladylike snort, Ms. Prudence burst into laughter and then said, "Well founded arguments my foot, you threatened her and told her you would blackmail her if she didn't agree. I wish I could have seen the look on that horse-faced harridan when you said we would join her little tea circle and tell them the truth about her precious Dudley. Did you also mention that we own majority stock in Vernon's golf club? Getting kicked out of the club for conduct unbecoming a member would be a stone around the neck of their social ambitions for years to come."

"Well," Lady Abigail tried to maintain a prim and proper look on her face which lasted only long enough to finish her sentence before she broke into giggles herself. "I did mention strategies were used when the arguments failed to sway her. The only thing this will cost us is to hire a yard service for them. I felt that was reasonable since we own one of those too."

Harry felt like he had been hit by one to many punches, but did he really hear them say that he would be staying with them this summer, could that be right? "Beg your pardon Lady Abigail; did you say that I could stay here with you this summer? Does that mean I don't have to go back to the Dursley's tonight?" Harry was too scared to hope, and yet much too excited to hold his hope in check.

"Yes dear Harry, we have arranged to have you stay with us this summer. We were really worried about leaving you here while we went on our summer library holiday. We had arranged to visit many private family libraries, all throughout London, but we were going to cancel so that you could come to us each day to get away from your cousin and family. About three weeks ago Ms. Perkins came to us and told us that Petunia had been lamenting to her friends that they would not be able to go on vacation because someone named Mrs. Figg was not available to watch you while they were gone. When she was asked why they didn't just take you with them, Petunia derisively said that they had tried that once and you caused all kinds of trouble for them and they had to call in someone she called Dumb-old-dork or something like that, to come fix the problems you caused. When Ms. Perkins told us what she had heard, we began to plan to include you. Then you came up with this brilliant memory trick of yours and last night we decided that if it was real, then we would do anything it took to bring you with us."

Lady Abigail continued, "We have investigated your family and found that the most important thing in the world to them is status. Petunia gathers information on everyone, and then uses it to shove her family past others in the social hierarchy. Vernon and his friends from school, who were just like your cousin Dudley and his gang when they were boys, have bullied their way into positions of influence in the community to the point where they can get away with anything that does not bring Scotland Yard down upon our little town. While we do not have enough to get the Yard to come and arrest them, we do have enough to get Scotland Yard interested their dealings and behavior. We decided that I would go tonight and present some of the more damning evidence to Petunia, but only when Petunia wouldn't do what was right by you and let you come with us. What was more upsetting than anything else was that she wanted to know who would clean and do the yard if you were gone. She seemed horrified when I mentioned that Dudley could get of his bum and do some of the chores around the house. Once she was promised a yard service, she couldn't sign the papers our lawyer drew up fast enough. Once that was complete, she went and got what she said were your clothes. Before I go any farther Harry, Pru and I would like to apologize to you. We always thought that your wearing all of those baggy clothes was a fashion choice like those grunge kids on TV from Seattle in America. When Petunia brought out that stack of rags, I realized that you just wore the clothes that were in the best condition after they were handed down from the baby Orca that lives with you."

"Tomorrow, before we go to the library, we will head into town and buy you a few outfits to get you through till London. While we are in London, we will take you to Harrods and get you properly clothed." Ms. Prudence said that as if it were an everyday occurrence that they would just nip out and get clothes, NEW CLOTHES, for someone like Harry Potter. She also had a look in her eyes when she mentioned Harrods that frightened Harry on some level he didn't quite understand. He had not seen that kind of look of intensity mingled with desire from either of the sisters except when they were talking about their latest rare acquisition for their library. Harry had never been shopping for new clothes, or new anything for that matter, but at that moment he learned an important lesson that would serve him well all his life; no matter what else a woman loved, nothing replaced the thought and deed of shopping.

Everything seemed to be happening so fast, that Harry seemed to be caught in the middle of a tempest. He imagined that this was what a small boat would feel like in the middle of a big storm on the ocean; though he had never actually seen the ocean to really do justice to that analogy. All he really knew was that his life was about to change, and he felt it could only change for the better. For now, he felt really tired from his rather emotional day and would just have to wait to see what tomorrow brought. A big yawn clued the sisters in to Harry's state, and Ms. Prudence stood and carried him up the stairs to a bedroom with a giant bed in the center of the far wall. With all the care of a loving mother, Ms. Prudence pulled the covers back and lay him down. She clucked her tongue as she removed his shoes that were a couple sizes too big for his feet, then pulled his shirt over his head and kissed him goodnight on the forehead and covered him up with the blankets. Harry's last thought in the waking world before entering into his mindscape, was that with this night, everything in the world of Harry Potter was starting to change for the better. With that thought, his eyes closed and for the first time in as long as he could remember, Harry was able to sleep feeling totally safe.

Harry was absolutely right about his life changing for the better after that night. The rest of that summer was a blur of motion, books and fun. The first week, the three of them got used to being around each other as a quasi-modern family unit. Harry continued to spend a good portion of each day speeding through the books in the Smythe Family Library, absorbing tomes, scrolls, books, and even a couple of movies every day. The week after saw them in London, staying in a house located on a street that had guards at the front door of almost every house. When Harry asked, why that was, one of the officious government drones passing by stated that it was Downing Street of course, and then muttered about the stupidity of children as he sped up on his way to a house several doors down. The two sisters laughed when he told them about what the man had said, and then told him that he should find out about the street while in the library that day but they were staying there as guests while they were in London. A few hours later, Harry found himself in the London Library; left with a friend of Ms. Prudence's who would watch over him while the two sisters went to meetings that they had to attend. The librarian was introduced to him as Mrs. Tonks but she insisted that he call her Andi when it was just the two of them. Andi was a great source of knowledge, but she was constantly asking him questions about his home, family, school, and his likes and dislikes.

On Thursday, Andi said that they were taking a trip to see an exhibition with her family that was taking place in St. James Park which was not far from where they were. When they arrived in the park, Andi introduced him to her husband Ted and her daughter Nymphadora. Her daughter glared at her with her hands on her hips while protesting being call that name. Harry didn't want to see his new friends fight, so he asked if he could call her Dora instead. After a few moments of thought, Dora conceded and soon she and Harry were having the time of their lives watching a group of performers do tricks on their BMX bikes and skateboards that seemed to defy gravity and normal physics. They had a structure set up that was fifteen feet high on either side which they called a half pipe, and it seemed to Andi and Ted that the purpose of its existence was to try and kill anyone foolhardy enough to try and ride on it; all Harry saw was the performers coming close to flying as their stunts got bigger and bigger air. After the show was over, Harry approached one of the board riders that seemed better than the others and asked him if he could try out his board on the thing they called a half pipe. At first the young guy was reluctant, but seeing Harry's look of total longing, decided to let him give it a try, and to give him a few pointers to keep him from hurting himself. He figured that the little boy with the intense green eyes would just push himself back and forth on the bottom portion of the half pipe, trying to get used to the board and the thrill of riding it. Boy oh boy was he ever wrong.

Harry had watched every move that the team had performed with a total sense of focus, absorbing every twist, turn, flip, jump, kick, and grind that was attempted, whether it was successful or not. When his foot was placed on the front and his back foot kicked off giving him momentum, a sense of rightness flowed through him. Harry began to pick up speed, going further up the sides of the half pipe until he was reaching the top. His next time up was right on the edge of the lip of the structure before he turned the board at the top and ground his way along the edge to the other side before dropping down the pipe and gaining speed for the trip up the other side. During the next 5 minutes, Harry tried every trick he had seen the team try while around the half pipe a crowd began to gather. While Harry's face was split by a grin that threatened to split the top of his head off, Andi and Ted were rather worried about him getting hurt or even dead. They say that overconfidence can kill you, but when you are a kid, there is really no such thing as death. Harry had been hurt many times when he was caught by Dudley and his gang, and each time it had been because he was playing it safe. This had taught Harry that pushing the edge was in fact the best way to stay safe. So when Harry felt like he had enough speed, he launched off the ramp spinning his body in a twisting, rolling motion that had the crowd holding their breath and Andi screaming out his name, sure he was going to injure or kill himself. Instead, Harry just turned a final time and came down on the board after a perfect 540 degree twisting flip and turn. Unfortunately, on his way down the ramp on his way to trying another big air move, the right front wheel came off the board and Harry lost control and fell off. His momentum carried him halfway up the other side before he came sliding back to the bottom not moving. It seemed that everyone was holding their breath as Andi, Ted, and Dora pushed their way forward to get to Harry to see if he was alright, only to come up short when a sound rose above the noise of the crowd and stopped them in their tracks. It was the sound of an excited and delighted and giggling child who had just had the time of his life. Harry paused for a moment and asked the now silent crowd, "Anyone got another board so I can go again?"

The crowd broke into relieved laughter and an over excited little man with the energy of a frenetic terrier came bustling out of the crowd talking a mile a minute in a difficult to understand American accent. When he finally took a breath, Dora nudged Harry and told him that she thought he wanted to have Harry's babies. Everyone laughed at her comment and then the guy who had let Harry borrow the board told the little guy whose name turned out to be Jerry to calm down, and then turned to Harry to talk. He introduced himself as Tony and he wanted to know where Harry had learned to ride, and then laughed all the more when Harry said that it was by watching him. Andi was anxious to get Harry out of the crowd and back to the library since she didn't want the wrong people to see him considering who he really was. She made polite but firm excuses and turned to guide Harry out of the park, before she could escape though, Tony went and grabbed a new board from their stock and gave it to Harry, and also handed Harry the card of the little guy who was in charge of their tour, just in case Harry was interested in joining them in a couple of years. Harry was ecstatic about his new board and asked Tony to sign it for him. Tony laughed and did so, and then had Harry sign his own board as well; saying that someday Harry would be famous and now he had his first autograph. Dora laughed and said that Harry was already famous, which left both Harry and his new friend Tony a bit puzzled about what she meant, though they both assumed that she was talking about the crowd who had just watched Harry do his tricks. Andi was at this point desperate to get Harry out of the park and away from the crowds that had watched him. Sensing that, Tony moved back to the vertical ramps and began practicing moves that soon drew the watchers back to him and away from the astounding little boy who had looked like he was born to ride a skate board.