23 The Housework

Harry almost ran out of envelopes. He was getting down to the last few as he finished writing the last thank you note. His handwriting had gotten much better and he was much faster using the writing implements, which was a bit weird, considering it was ink and a quill. He put the last note on top of the stack and counted the last few envelopes to see how many he had left. There were nine, so he wrote out a note to order more of them.

He put it in an envelope, leaving eight of them, then went to put the remaining envelopes back on top of the stack of parchment. He noticed that the top piece of paper had writing on it and picked it up.

What's this? Harry asked himself and read it. His mouth opened slightly as he read that it was a simple spell to make his own envelopes, as well as an explanation on how to perform it and the motion required. It looked like a page from the basic spell book and he knew that spell wasn't in it. When he looked at the description below the final illustration, he had to hold in his laughter.

It's a list of basic household spells to do the chores that Madam Malkin had already taught me! Harry thought in amusement. He opened the last note and took out the piece of paper, used the cleaning spell to remove the ink from it, then wrote out a different note to thank the man for being so considerate. He resealed it and then wrote out another note to order two more bags of premium owl treats.

Harry looked at the stack of parchment he had left and decided that he needed even more, just in case. He ordered the same amount as the last time and took out the money needed for both orders, then went out to the living room after locking the cupboard. He looked out the window and Hedwig wasn't there. He also forgot to use his new timepiece to time her, so now he didn't know how far she had to go to find Hagrid.

He thought about sitting there and waiting, then shrugged and went back to his cupboard. He really needed to write out those basic household spells, just so he wouldn't forget them. He smiled as he looked at the envelope instructions and decided to copy the same format. He sat down and started to write out the spells that Madam Malkin had shown him.

When he finished them, Harry put them and the envelope instructions into a folded piece of parchment. He knew he might need to reference it a lot, so he went down into his trunk a few steps on the ladder and placed the pages on the top of the bookcase. It was almost within reach of the top of the trunk, so he looked around for something to put them on. He saw the cake Hagrid had given him, ate some of it, then put the box on top of the shelf and put the pages on top of that.

Perfect. Harry thought when he left the trunk and could easily reach in and grab the sheets. He didn't want to just drop them in, since the trunk would sort them and probably put them on the shelf as individual sheets. He knew that he would eventually do the spells enough to not need the reminder, just like with Alohamora and Colloportus. After all that time practising them, he could cast them quicker than he could use his hand to lock and unlock things.

“Boy!” Petunia barked and Harry looked at his timepiece.

I forgot to go out and do the hoovering! Harry thought and stepped out of the cupboard, locked it, and went to the closet. He started to take out the vacuum and unravelled the chord to plug it in, then he chuckled and shook his head. He put the vacuum back into the closet and flicked his wrist to take out his wand. He pointed his wand at the carpet and spoke the cleaning incantation that Madam Malkin had taught him.

“Tergeo!” Harry whispered. A large amount of dust and ingrained dirt within a five foot radius of where he pointed was pulled out of the carpet into the air and disappeared. The spot where the dirt used to be, made the carpet look brand new. Harry laughed under his breath at how easy it was, then he kept performing the spell and duplicated the effect as he went through the hallway, then he went into the living room.

Harry ignored his aunt when she let out a little shriek of surprise and finished with the carpet. Of course, now that he knew the spell worked for general clean up, he used it all over the walls and the parts that he couldn't reach before. When he was done, everything in the living room was bright and clean and he also didn't have to speak the spell out loud anymore. He didn't stop with that, though.

He used the first year mending charm Reparo on the worn drapes over the window and they were restored to their original condition. He ignored his aunt's second shriek of surprise and started casting the spell on everything he could see. He needed the practice and would take advantage of not having his uncle around to do it. He started out saying the spell out loud, just like every other spell he had used so far, and eventually only mouthed the word to cast the spell.

Practice makes perfect. Harry thought with satisfaction and kept working.

*

Petunia was very glad that her husband had gone to bed to take a nap, because what she witnessed would have given him a heart attack. She had nearly fainted herself after her shriek of surprise. She couldn't believe that her nephew walked around the living room and waved his wand at the carpet and then at the walls and everything else to clean them.

Her mind couldn't grasp the mass of dirt and grime being lifted from everything, even though she knew that everything was clean. She always went around after the boy had done his chores to make sure he did them right, and now... now... she shook her head and wouldn't admit that he was using magic to make things even cleaner than when he used good old fashioned hard work.

Petunia let out another shriek of surprise when her ancient drapes, that she loved so much and couldn't bring herself to part with, changed from their faded and dingy white to a bright white and then all the little frays, wears, and pulls it sustained over the years, disappeared. Her mind warred between the use of magic in front of her and her desire to have him use that magic to fix everything in the house.

She caught her breath and covered her mouth to stop her next shriek of surprise as the boy did exactly what she wanted. He walked around the living room as he fixed and repaired everything he could see. She noticed that he didn't even look at her as he cast the spell on the couch she sat on. The cushions fluffed up to the way they had been two years ago when they bought it and she couldn't believe that he was doing all of that for them.

Petunia didn't know that he wasn't doing it for her, though. He only wanted to get as much practice with the spell as possible. Harry eventually finished with everything in the living room and went to the kitchen. There wasn't much for him to fix there, so he switched back to the cleaning spell and covered the whole kitchen with it. He went out to the hallway, Petunia following him to see what he was doing, and he cast the cleaning spell on the walls and pictures.

Harry opened the closet and did the same thing in there, then cast the mending charm on everything. Old coats and shoes now looked brand new and the vacuum looked like it had never been used, even though it was almost as old as Harry was.

Petunia moved away and went back to the living room. She wanted to see if he would have the gall to go up the stairs to do the things up there and peered around the door frame to watch. She saw the boy looking up the stairs and his hand hesitated on the banister. He shook his head and turned to walk down the hallway.

Petunia ran over to the couch and plopped down onto it, bounced a little from the couch's firmness, then she pretended to stare at the television as Harry walked into the living room and went by her. He sat down by the window and stared out through the glass, as if he was waiting for something.

*

Harry finished cleaning and repairing everything downstairs and he had seriously debated doing the upstairs as well. He couldn't risk making his uncle angry if he was caught blatantly using magic in front of him, so he changed his mind and went to the living room to wait for Hedwig. He hoped that she would show up soon, because the stack of letters were pretty high and getting them delivered was probably going to keep her busy for the rest of the day.

Almost as if she had heard him, a snowy white owl appeared and flew over to the house. Harry opened the window and Hedwig swooped in and landed on the sill. She had a package in her beak and Harry accepted it.

“Thanks, Hedwig.” Harry whispered and gave her a treat. He waited for a moment, then motioned to the large stack of letters. “How many of these can you take at once?” He asked and Hedwig reached out with a wingtip and tapped the fifth letter down. “That's still a lot of flying.” He said and thought about it. “What if we sort through them? You can tell me what ones are close by and you can do similar ones, that way you're not flying all over the place to deliver them and it won't take as long.”

Hedwig gave a soft hoot and they spent ten minutes sorting through them and put them into groups of five. Harry stacked them again and then handed the top five to her. She took off and he watched her until she disappeared from sight. He picked up the wrapped package from Hagrid and read the note that said he would really like the book and that it would have everything in it that he would need for his interest in speaking to magical creatures.

Harry opened the package and he heard a shriek of surprise from his aunt at the sight of the filthy book. He didn't bother telling her that he could clean it, not after she saw him doing it, and he cast the cleaning charm on the book. It was cleaned up and he still couldn't read the cover. He used the mending charm on the book to fix it and the letters filled in with gold lettering.

Legilimens Creatora: The Magic User's Guide To Listening To Animals. Harry read the book title and then stared at it. This can't be true, is it? He asked himself and opened the cover and started to read. The first thing you need to know is that not all animals are created equal. The second thing you need to know is that most of them are downright stupid.

Harry blinked his eyes and shook his head, then he read the first two lines again. He couldn't believe what it said, then he kept reading.

The previous sentence about stupidity is particularly applicable to normal and non-magical creatures. Most of which are only driven by instincts. When you ask them a question, they will respond with simple answers, so be prepared for some agonizing conversations when speaking to them. It's not until you start conversing with magical creatures that have a higher intelligence than normal that the true power of the ability can be shown.

Oh, wow. Harry thought and kept reading, enraptured by what the book was revealing to him.

Bokuboy