Harry was almost tempted to hide it away- maybe shove it under his hand-me-downs, which definitely baggy enough to hide it- when Dudley spoke up. Something, anything for him- and what a letter it was, in a thick, old fashioned envelope with an intricate wax seal on its back. H Potter in the Cupboard under the Stairs still filled him with excitement. All he had ever received was Dudley's scraps, and that was enough however, the letter addressed to one Mr. Of course, Harry didn't expect much from the world as of yet. Maybe they spent the budget on Smeltings sticks instead. The library at Smeltings may have been pretty good- it was a fancy private school, after all- and Harry was disappointed that Dudley would inevitably waste it. Of course, he didn't have a card for the public one, but it was a much better way to spend the day than fleeing from Dudley and his pals- they seemed allergic to the place. Of course, he knew better than to expect any gifts from the Dursleys, and the summer holidays meant he had to take the long walk to the public library as opposed to the school's. He was sure that if he could just get out of Privet Drive, he could really show the world what was he was capable of… and of course, he did eventually get out of Privet Drive around the time of his eleventh birthday, although he certainly wasn't expecting it.Ī week before his birthday, things seemed fairly normal, and Harry was a little excited- he was considering treating himself by staying as late as he could in the library. Of course, he hoped to change both of these things in the future.

It was frustrating, knowing that nothing was done, in the same way Harry couldn't change the circumstances of his life with the Dursleys. The logical next step was Mars, but other than some rovers… nothing. Of course, realizing that one of the greatest triumphs of human spaceflight was half a century in the past was depressing, along with the simple fact that nothing had happened since then. Books of course, retelling the trials and tribulations of the old missions- Mercury, Gemini, and of course all of Apollo- from the deadly conflagration in Apollo 1 to cooperation with the Soviets during Apollo-Soyuz, but he also read newspapers about more modern missions. Even then, Harry stayed as late in the library as he dared, consuming every book he could get his hands on, and the librarian was happy to accommodate him. At least the librarian tolerated him, although Harry wasn't stupid enough to check out any of the books to bring home. At the very least, Dudley-kins was predictably lackluster.īefore Harry realized that playing down his talents was in his best interests, teachers were encouraging him, and afterwards it was complaining about his wasted talent.

He supposed that he could just completely flunk himself and guess randomly (which wasn't too much better than Dudley's academic endeavors in all honesty) but Harry's dignity meant he felt obligated to try, and the Dursleys never noticed that he was always, consistently, a few points below Dudley's average. Of course, he wasn't going to leave something like that up to chance- he made sure he knew the answers, so he could just enough wrong. Harry learned quickly that the best way to avoid more beatings than usual was to play down his knowledge, score lower than Dudley. The Americans had sent men to the moon, Armstrong and Collins, and probes had been sent to many other planets. Learning that the other planets were too dangerous to live on, thick with deadly clouds or completely lacking in any air to breath, and were too far away to reach without months of travel through the depths of space… that was a disappointment, but it didn't dampen his enthusiasm. Strange.Įventually, Harry started going to school, and about stars, how they were great burning balls of gas in space, and how they were girdled by planets, planets just like Earth! Wouldn't it be amazing to just leave Earth behind, abandon the Dursleys, Dudley's friends, the students who ignored him and just fly away? Live on some distant world, where the lights of the cities didn't block the stars, where he could do what he pleased and eat his fill every day before falling asleep under the sky… Climbing up the stairwell, the stairs were still opaque and should have blocked the sky if the roof didn't. It could block the rain and snow, but it always showed the stars. Sure, they could lock him away in the closet under the stairs, but eventually, after a few particularly long punishments the roof itself seemed to fade away to show the stars- all around the clock. The stars were so far above everything, and the Dursleys couldn't just take them away. For years and years, looking up at the sky was a way to forget about Privet Drive for a while, and it was so easy to just look up and leave the world behind.

Harry Potter had always been fascinated by the stars.

Harry potter alarm clock