Thanks to Natalie for beta'ing this for me.
Italics denote Ron
Bold print denotes Hermione
Underlining denotes Harry
CAPS DENOTE THE WEASLEY TWINS
That being said:
*****
Harry rolled over and looked at his alarm clock. 8:15 a.m.
"Happy Birthday to me," he thought. He lay flat on his back and stared at the ceiling, rubbing a fist lazily across his eyes. His thoughts almost started to wander but he was interrupted by something tapping at his bedroom window. He had already received birthday owls from Sirius and Hagrid at midnight, so he supposed this one was from Hermione or Ron. He reached over from his spot on his bed and undid the latch on the window. A large eagle owl flew in and stood on Harry's bedside table. The owl looked much like Malfoy's
"Why in the world is that wanker writing me?" Harry wondered aloud. The owl looked slightly hurt, that is, as much as an owl can. Harry undid the letter from the owl's leg and unrolled it.
Harry
The handwriting was unmistakably Hermione's.
"Malfoy's kidnapped Hermione," came Harry's first thought, but he continued reading.
Harry,
Happy 15th birthday. I hope Sebastian didn't give you much of a scare, as he does look quite a bit like Malfoy's owl. My parents bought him for me as a reward for being made prefect, so I didn't get a say in what he looks like. At any rate, how has your summer been? Mine has been all right, if not slightly boring. I can't believe we're all prefects this year!
Harry had received his letter a few days before, saying that, due to special circumstances, he, Hermione, and Ron had all been made prefects.
Anyway. I was mainly writing to tell you that my parents want to get to know you, Ron, and Ginny. As Mrs. Weasley has already invited us to the Burrow on August 10th, my parents would like the three of you to come visit from the first till the day we go to the Burrow.
"How do I ask the Dursley's about this one?" Harry wondered.
As the trip is part of a birthday present to you and Ron (although his birthday isn't for a while,) Ginny and I have already arranged everything with the Weasley's. Ron will be finding out today, too. My parents don't really understand about the Dursley's though, so they said we had to have their permission too.
"Oh Shit!"
However, if they don't let you come, Fred and George said to be prepared for a "Twin-style" break out sometime tonight. Also, Dumbledore said you visiting was perfectly okay.
"Just like Hermione to think of everything."
At any rate, I'll see you tomorrow if the twins manage to get you out in one piece. I have no clue what they've planned. Good Luck
Love Always,
Hermione
By the time Harry had finished reading Hermione's letter, a dignified looking barn owl had joined Sebastian on the nightstand and a feather covered tennis ball rocketed around the ceiling fan.
"Harry!" Uncle Vernon roared. Pig was making more noise than an owl of his stature should physically be capable of making. Harry's bedroom door banged open and Harry's red, porcine Uncle waddled into the room,
"Yes, Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked, as innocently as he could manage.
"Get the ruddy owls out of here or leave!" Vernon roared.
"Will tomorrow be soon enough?" Harry asked, quite seriously.
"Absolutely not! You're not going to see any of those friends of yours from that school!" Vernon's head turned a darker shade of purple as he spoke.
"I'm going and you'll not stop me!" Harry countered. He stood to face his uncle. At his full height, Harry was a good six inches taller than Vernon, but Vernon was twice Harry's width. Vernon stepped towards Harry. Harry reached over to his bedside table and picked up a stick Hedwig had carried in two days earlier. The stick was, conveniently enough shaped somewhat like a wand so he pointed it at Vernon. Vernon turned on his heel and ran from the room, squealing like a little girl. Harry turned back to the owls. Pig was still flying around like someone had put coffee in his water dish, so Harry took the letter from the barn owl.
Harry,
We'll be there at three in the afternoon. Have all of your things in your trunk and leave it right under your bedroom window. This is imperative for our plan to work… well… as planned.
Fred & George
The letter scared Harry a bit more. Fred and George never gave warning when they were going to play any sort of prank.
"Pig! Get down here!" Harry shouted at the caffeine infused tennis ball. The tiny owl rocketed into Harry's outstretched palm. He removed the owl's letter and released him again.
Harry,
We're going to Hermione's! Bill, George, and Fred will be there at three today to pick you up. Be ready. You'll stay here tonight and we'll floo to Hermione's in the morning. Happy Birthday!
Ron
Harry grabbed a quill and drafted quick replies to Ron and the twins simply to get Pig out of his room. Then he went to work on a longer letter to Hermione.
Hermione,
Evidently the twins and Bill are breaking me out of here later today. I'm only slightly worried that I've been forewarned and Bill is involved. "At any rate" this birthday hasn't been so bad so far. I pointed a stick at Vernon. He thought it was my wand and flipped. My summer has been relatively boring. I run a lot to keep in shape and that's about it. Thank you for planning all of this out for me. This is all for now.
Love Always,
HarryHedwig emitted a rather irritated hoot from her cage on Harry's desk. Harry noticed that the three "strange" owls had eaten most of her food and drank all of her water. He set himself to refilling her food and water when a flying dust mop collapsed onto Harry's bed. Harry instantly recognized the ball of feathers as the Weasley family owl, Errol. He flipped Errol onto his back and pulled a piece of parchment from the owl's leg
Harry,
Under no circumstances are the Dursley's to know that you're expecting visitors or even really that you're planning on leaving. It's imperative to the success of the plan. Keep Errol there with Hedwig. We'll get him this afternoon, as flying back would most likely kill him. Again, not a word to your family.
George and Fred
Harry's fear of the twins plot increased with the arrival of the latest letter. Luckily, his aunt shrieking "BREAKFAST" from the bottom of the stairs moved him from his thoughts. He slowly walked down to the dining room. The Dursley's were already gathered in the room. Vernon and Dudley both had their heads half-buried in plates of eggs and bacon.
"Good morning!" Harry exclaimed cheerfully on his way to the refrigerator. He poured himself a glass of orange juice and joined his uncle and cousin at the table. Dudley's diet had been abandoned, as he didn't bother to stick to it at Smeltings. Dudley warranted Harry's presence with a grunt, but Vernon pretended not to notice him. Petunia scooped the last of the bacon and eggs onto a plate for herself and threw Harry a couple of pieces of cold, dry toast. Harry chewed on the toast while his relatives conversed as though he wasn't sitting right there.
"Marge is coming to visit next week," Vernon said, smiling at Petunia.
"Whatever shall we do with Harry?" Petunia asked.
"Send him to school early," Dudley suggested.
"Marge will like him to be right here where she can see him at all times. He can make himself useful. With her knee like it is, she needs someone to watch Ripper. Harry can do it," Vernon said, a tone of finality in his voice.
"I'll not," Harry insisted.
"You will too," Vernon said, glaring at Harry.
"It will be good for you. Teach you some responsibility," Petunia added.
"Heaven knows he doesn't get enough of that at that school of his," Vernon muttered under his breath.
"I'm leaving for Hermione's later this afternoon. I'm leaving for Hermione's later this afternoon," became Harry's silent mantra in the wake of his aunt and uncle's comments. "I'm going upstairs," Harry said, grabbing his toast and orange juice and leaving the room really before Vernon or Petunia could protest. Harry took the steps two at a time and locked himself in his room so he could pack relatively undisturbed.
Undisturbed, he was. Vernon headed to work shortly after the episode at breakfast. Dudley settled down for yet another long day in front of the TV. Petunia went out to "water the garden," but only in the sense that she held the water hose as she peered into the back yard of her neighbors. Harry busied himself in packing all of his school things and arranging Errol and Hedwig both in Hedwig's cage. Finally he decided to send Hedwig ahead to the Burrow with a letter to Ron so that Errol could have the smallish (for two full grown owls) cage to himself. He hardly noticed how long packing was taking, as he had to make sure he emptied each and every hiding spot in his room. Finally, at 1:30, the growling in the pit of his stomach became more important than his packing, so he snuck downstairs for a sandwich. Dudley hadn't moved from his position in front of the TV. Petunia had moved around to the front of the house to water the roses and spy on the neighbors across the street. Harry made himself a jelly, banana and cheese sandwich in relative peace, and then went back upstairs to finish his packing. At 2:45, Harry dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage, containing Errol over to his window and began pacing. About five minutes till three, Vernon arrived home from work and he and Petunia joined Dudley in the TV room for a few minutes conversation on how their respective days had been. Harry took to nervously peering out his bedroom window hoping it would give him an early glimpse of the twins and their older brother. He wasn't quite sure, though, that the twins would actually first show up in the area he could see from his window.
At exactly 3:00, a typical muggle police car pulled up in front of the Dursley's household. Well, the car would have been typical had the setting been 1950's America. As it was, the 1954 model car looked sorely out of place on Privet Drive. Harry immediately paid more attention to the car and its occupants. Three policemen exited the car. Harry knew instantly who the three were from the tufts of fiery red hair sticking out below the hats of two of the policemen, and the long red pony tail hanging down the back of the third. Unfortunately, whoever had transfigured the police outfits had made them look like something, again, straight from the 1950's. Harry dropped his head into his hands at the dismal state of his "rescuers". Then again, he was thinking about the Weasley twins. Titles like "the best pranksters since the marauders" weren't necessarily easy to come by.
A sharp knocking at the downstairs door interrupted his thoughts. He crept closer to his door so he could hear what was happening.
"May I help you?" Vernon asked the two antiquated police men he found on the other side of his door.
"We're here to arrest Harry Potter," came the voice of a Weasley twin. Harry wasn't quite sure which had spoken.
"Arrest?" Petunia gasped.
"Yes, arrest," came the same voice as before.
"What has he done now?" Vernon queried.
"He's wanted for, for," the other Weasley twin stuttered to make up an excuse.
"He's wanted for a particularly gruesome matter involving a toaster, a spork, a hamster, and several human eyeballs" came the first twin's lie. Harry could only imagine the looks on the Dursley's faces.
"He's upstairs," Dudley said, smiling broadly, and pointing towards the stairs. A minute later, Harry found himself faced with Fred and George Weasley. They both smiled broadly at him through thick, orangey-red handle bar moustaches.
"You're under arrest!" Fred called loudly in the general direction of the stairs.
"Cause a stink," George whispered under his breath. Bill crawled in through the window. Harry did the first thing that came to mind and kicked his metal wastebasket into a corner. This gave Bill enough time and sound cover to both shrink and lighten Harry's trunk and the owl cage. He slipped the two miniature objects into his pocket and crawled back out of the window as quickly and silently has he had entered. Harry kicked the wastebasket again.
"Do we need reinforcements!?" George yelled at the steps.
"No wait George, our reinforcement probably hasn't finished climbing back down the drain pipe!" Fred hissed under his breath. George looked scared. Harry, not knowing what to do, kicked the wastebasket one more time.
"Do something besides kick the bloody trash can!" George hissed at Harry.
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Harry screamed. He grabbed a book off of his desk and tossed it into the wall.
"You're under arrest!" Fred insisted towards the stairs. "What's he under arrest for again?" he hissed to George.
"A spork, a toaster, a hamster, and some eyeballs," George replied.
"Damn George, why didn't you come up with something better than that?" Fred asked. Harry took the opportunity to look out the window.
"Guys, your reinforcement is back at the car," he hissed right before he crawled under his bed.
"What are you doing?" Fred asked as George sprinted from the room screaming something about reinforcements.
"Making you need a reinforcement," Harry replied before fully withdrawing into the dusty space below his bed. Fred hung his head out the window.
"REIFORCEMENTS! HURRY UP! HE'S GONE UNDER THE BED!" he bellowed for the entire neighborhood to hear. Harry had to work to suppress his laughter.
"I have to warn you, he is deranged," came Vernon's passive voice as footsteps, presumably George and Bill's, drew closer to the stairs. George and Bill ran into Harry's room equally breathless.
"Right you, out from under the bed! On the order of the, the," stuttered Bill.
"The police chief," hissed Harry.
"On the order of the police chief!" Bill called at the stairs. George and Fred grabbed either end of the bed frame and shook it violently. Harry rolled out from under the bed, taking Fred's feet with him as he rolled. Fred fell forward and split his head open on the headboard of the bed. Blood trickled down next to his right eye.
"Oh gosh Fred, I'm sorry!" Harry whispered as he and Fred both stood back up.
"HE GOT ME!" Fred screeched for the benefit of the audience at the bottom of the stairs. George tried to kick the wastebasket, but missed and kicked a hole into the wall.
"Hey wait, you said I couldn't do that," Harry hissed. George smiled sheepishly and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.
"Now if one of you could just figure out what to do with these band-fluffs," he began, holding them out in front of his face as though they smelled horrible.
"They're hand-cuffs, George! Give them here!" Harry insisted. He took the handcuffs from George and snapped them onto his own wrists behind his back. He screamed and laughed maniacally as he did so, and George kicked the wastebasket again, this time with his other foot.
"Take that!" Fred called, in an almost dead-on Sir Cadogan impression. Bill grabbed Harry's shoulder roughly and half marched, half shoved him down the stairs. Fred and George followed closely. Fred still had blood over his eye, and George was limping slightly from the blow to the wall. Bill pulled Harry around the corner and into view of his family. Harry hung his head and stumbled along, trying to look the part of a true criminal.
"Shouldn't you read him his rights?" Dudley asked. He looked at the twins rather suspiciously.
"Shouldn't you nose out?" Fred replied quite acerbically.
"I KNOW you guys!" Dudley exclaimed.
"You should. We're your neighborhood police men," George replied.
"No, you're Harry's friends from that freak school that were here last summer!" Dudley said, pointing a pudgy finger at the twins.
"What school?" Fred asked, but at that moment the adhesive charm holding his moustache on his face decided to run out. Fred's moustache tumbled to the floor. George clamped his hands to his face to make sure his moustache stayed in place.
"He's right!" Vernon roared at the twins. Bill and Harry quickened their pace towards the car. If anything, Harry was dragging Bill. The neighbors certainly had a sight to behold, as criminals don't usually seem eager to jump into police cars and moustaches certainly don't fall off in once piece and roll around in the floor.
"RUN!" Bill cried from out in the yard. Fred didn't need to be told twice, but at George's foot was still a little sore, he didn't escape Vernon Dursley's grasp. Harry dove into the front seat of the car next to Bill who was in the driver's seat. Fred jumped through an open window to land in the backseat. He immediately scooted over so George would have room. Only then did he realize that George hadn't followed him.
"Fred, do something!" Bill exclaimed.
"What?" Fred asked
"You're the brains behind this operation!" Bill cried.
"You're the magic!" Fred insisted.
"They're muggle," Harry reminded his friend. Luckily for all of them, George devised his own spur of the moment plan. He pulled the moustache from his face and stuck it up Vernon's nose. Vernon's hands immediately let go of George and went to his face. He was overcome with a round of sneezing. George took his opportunity and half ran, half hopped over to the car. He opened the door and slid into the backseat next to Fred. Bill jammed the gas pedal to the floor and the car took off towards the end of the street amidst the sounds of screeching rubber and screaming Dursley's.
"That was close," Fred exclaimed from the backseat.
"You're telling me," George said. He rubbed his wrist where Vernon had initially taken hold of him.
"Seriously Fred, 'you're the magic?'" Bill asked.
"Leave me alone, I don't do well in situations like those without a wand," Fred spat.
"Touchy," Bill muttered.
"Thanks guys, but, can we, uh, get me out of these things?" Harry asked. His hands were still cuffed behind his back.
"Sure," Bill replied. He took both hands off the wheel of the car and pulled his wand out of his pocket. He pointed it at Harry's hands and muttered "Finite Incantatem." Instantly the handcuffs dissolved. In their place were two glittery pink bracelets.
"We borrowed them from Ginny to make the handcuffs," George explained.
"She hasn't worn them since she was a little kid," Fred added. Harry tugged at both bracelets with no avail. Both lacked clasps so the only way off was over his hands. Neither would budge.
"Way to go captain obvious. Now how do you three propose I get these off?" Harry asked. He tugged at the bracelets again.
"We don't," Bill replied, grinning evilly.
"We don't?" George asked.
"We don't!" exclaimed Fred, glaring at his twin.
"Oh, right, we don't," George and Fred's twin smiles equaled Bill's in evilness.
"You mean you're going to rescue me but then stick me wearing glittery pink bracelets?" Harry asked.
"Something to that effect," Bill laughed. Fred and George joined in his laughter, but Harry scowled at the three of them.
"Fine then, I think they're stylish," Harry said, leaning back in the seat and admiring his bracelets. He closed his eyes and thought about the offending metal on his wrists. He pictured them both with clasps, and then concentrated on the images as hard as he could. He tried to direct his thoughts toward the actual bracelets, as he would if he had been using a wand. He was still surprised, though, when he felt both bracelets transforming on his wrists. He opened his eyes and examined the clasps he had just created on his bracelets. Quickly he undid both of them and handed them to Bill, who was only half concentrating on driving.
"Here you go," he said. Bill took the bracelets.
"How in hell did you do that?" Bill asked, examining the clasps on the bracelets.
"Harry just did wandless magic!" Fred and George exclaimed.
"What would you two goofs know about wandless magic?" Bill asked.
"We know enough to know that it is possible with enough concentration. And it looks as though Harry has just done some," Fred explained.
"Fred, have you actually been reading your summer homework?" Bill asked. He looked over his shoulder at his younger brother in the backseat.
"So what if I have?" Fred asked, glaring at Bill.
"I haven't touched a book since we left Hogwarts!" George exclaimed proudly. Bill wheeled the car into the driveway of a house and pulled around into the back yard.
"What are we doing at Ms. Figg's house?" Harry asked. He was more than a bit surprised to find himself in an antiquated police car in the back yard of his childhood babysitter.
"Ms. Figg is really Arabella Figg. She was friends with your parents when they were in school and she has been living here posing as a babysitter since you came to live here. Mainly to keep a watch on you and such. Added precaution, really," Bill exclaimed as he climbed out of the car. Harry, Fred and George did the same.
"We're going to floo back to the Burrow from here," Fred explained.
"What about the car?" Harry asked.
"Finite Incantatem," Bill said, almost lazily. The car shrank in size to a small model car.
"Ron's," Fred explained as he pocketed the toy.
"Yeah, what did you think of the police man idea?" George asked.
"Well, your costumes were a bit out of the time period," Harry admitted.
"That's what I told Ron. He's been working for this muggle chap in town and on lunch break they watch American police shows. Evidently, they're old American cop shows because he insisted that this is how police men really look," Fred muttered as the four of them headed into Ms. Figg's house.
"Bella!" Bill exclaimed and threw his arms around the woman who let them in the house. She really looked nothing like Harry's old babysitter. She was tall, about 5'6" with chestnut hair that hung to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her hair wasn't stick straight, but not curly either, more just kind of bouncy. She had bright blue eyes set in smooth white skin. She was very slim, and wore muggle jeans and a green tank top, making her look much younger than her 30-something years.
"Bill Weasley!" Ms. Figg exclaimed.
"How are you?" Bill asked.
"I'm doing well. It's nice to be able to not be an old woman once in a while," Ms. Figg replied. Bill noticed the quizzical look on Harry's face.
"Polyjuice," he explained. "Arabella and all of these cats would look sorely out of place if she looked like this all of the time."
"Won't you boys sit down and have some tea?" Arabella asked. She led the four of them into her kitchen. They all took seats around the small kitchen table as Arabella set herself to making tea for all of them.
"So how do you know Ms. Figg?" Harry asked Bill.
"Please Harry, when I look like this, call me Arabella. Ms. Figg makes me feel old."
"So how do you know Arabella?" Harry rephrased his question.
"Bella was three years older than me in school. She was a year younger than the marauders and your mother, but she and Lily were still close friends, as Lily got sick of both her roommates and hanging out with all boys," Bill explained.
"Bill was a little cutie who would do what we said and usually didn't ask any questions. Made some of our pranks quite a success, really," Arabella replied.
"So you knew my parents?" Harry asked.
"So you pranked with the infamous Marauders?" Fred and George asked at the same time.
"Yes, and yes," Bill replied, smiling at the three younger boys. Harry silently digested the information and made a mental note to question Bill further when not so many people were present. Fred and George instantly launched into a round of questions about what made the marauders so good at what they did. Both Bill and Arabella collapsed into laughter at the twins' enthusiasm. Soon enough, the tea was done and Arabella presented them each with a cup and then took a seat next to Bill. She and Bill proceeded to tell the twins all about some of the Marauders' more famous pranks. Harry half listened to the conversation, but thought more about the fact that Bill Weasley actually knew his parents. He was slightly amazed that he hadn't realized before the possibility that Bill had gone to school with his parents. Bill, who had been a ready source for the past year, ever since he had met him at the World Cup last year really, had known his parents when they were still in school.
"Harry?" Fred asked.
"Harry?" George echoed, waving a hand in front of Harry's face.
"HARRY!" Bill exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table and rattling the teacups. This broke Harry out of his trance.
"Uh, yes?" Harry asked.
"Are you ready to go to the Burrow?" Bill asked.
"Oh, sure. Thanks for the tea Ms. Fi-, I mean Arabella," Harry stuttered. He stood up and smoothed his muggle clothing.
"Not a problem Harry. If you're back at the Dursley's next summer, you'll have to come visit me sometime," Arabella said warmly. She enveloped the young boy in a hug. Harry missed the jealous look on Bill's face, but Fred and George didn't. They smiled deviously at each other. Harry moved towards the fireplace and Bill instantly stepped towards Arabella.
"Bella, it's been great seeing you!" he said, and hugged her again.
"It's been nice seeing you, too, Bill Weasley," Arabella said, returning his hug.
"Can I owl you sometime?" Bill asked.
"Of course, anytime," Arabella said. They still hadn't let go of each other. Harry took notice of the looks Fred and George were shooting each other. These looks were accompanied by much eyebrow raising on both of the twins' parts, and some kissing of the back of his hand on George's part. Fred and Harry collapsed in silent laughter.
"BILL!" Fred finally shouted.
"FLOO!" George added, and they both looked expectantly at Harry. Finally Fred mouthed the word home.
"Oh, uh, HOME!" Harry said, at the same volume Fred and George had.
"Ron and Ginny know what to say in that case," George said, laughing at Harry's stuttering.
"Do I have red hair?" Harry asked, "And on the other hand, am I a girl?" Bill finally let go of Arabella. Arabella ran into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a tin of coffee. She pulled the lid off of it and held the tin out to the twins. Harry noticed it was full of floo powder.
"So my muggle visitors don't get suspicious," Arabella explained when she noticed Harry eyeing the coffee tin. Fred and George both grabbed handfuls of floo powder and stepped towards the fireplace. "Send Bill next," Fred mouthed as he and George both threw their floo powder into the fire Bill had conjured in the fireplace. The fireplace instantly grew to a size big enough to accommodate Hagrid and Fred and George stepped in. "THE BURROW!" they both shouted, and they were instantly swept out of sight.
"Right Harry, in you go," Bill said.
"Uh, actually Bill, I want to ask Ms. Arabella something rather personal. So if you could you please go next?" Harry asked. He was amazed at how smoothly his lie had come out. Bill and Arabella both looked slightly disappointed by Harry's insistence on sending Bill first, but Bill grudgingly accepted the floo powder.
"See you later, Arabella," he said sweetly as he stepped into the roaring green flames.
"Bye Bill," she said with a sweet wave. He waved back and then disappeared after saying "the burrow."
"So what did you need to ask me?" Arabella asked Harry when they were finally alone.
"Actually, nothing. The twins told me to send Bill first," Harry sheepishly admitted.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Arabella shouted. Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and jumped into the fireplace.
"Bye Ms. F-, Arabella!" Harry said sweetly. "THE BURROW!" At the last moment he remembered to grab his glasses and hold them to his face. The last thing he saw was Arabella standing in her living room with her hand on her hip glaring at Harry like he was the scum of the earth.
Seconds later, Harry found himself lying at the feet of Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Ginny.
"Where are Bill and the twins?" he asked as he stood up. Ron and Ginny both pointed out the kitchen window into the garden. Mrs. Weasley busied herself with brushing the soot and ashes off of Harry.
"What happened?" Harry asked. He watched as Fred and George ran by at a break neck speed followed closely by Bill.
"Fred and George were doing an 'oh Bill,' 'oh Arabella,' kissing act when Bill popped out of the fire place," Ron explained.
"Care to tell us what that was about?" Ginny asked.
"Uh, well, Bill and Ms. Arabella seemed really happy to see each other when we got to her house to use the fireplace," Harry explained. The three teenagers turned so they could watch Bill and the twins through different windows looking out on a different side of the house. Bill finally managed to catch George and tackled him to the ground. George's mouth flew open in a silent scream, and Fred turned back and jumped on Bill. Soon the three boys were rolling around in a ball of dust, limbs, and red hair rivaled only by those seen on cartoons.
"Man, it's great to be home," Harry thought to himself.