WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:14.480 Husu Studios. Hello there, welcome back to Muggle Snuggle Why Nichel, 2 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:17.399 And this is a boring Harry Potter podcast to make 3 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:21.679 you sleep to night. We are continuing our journey through 4 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.160 the Chamber of Secrets. We left Harry locked in his 5 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.960 room at the Dursleys, with the little house elf named 6 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:31.879 Dobby sitting on his bed whispering terrible warnings about going 7 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.759 back to school. So just close your eyes, settle inn. 8 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:39.159 There is no rush. We have all night to night. 9 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:44.200 Harry gets rescued. Last time we met Dobby, a strange, 10 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.719 sad little creature who had been hiding in Harry's room 11 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.920 for months, watching him, worrying about him. Dobby begged Harry 12 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.600 not to return to Hogwart's. He said there was a plot, 13 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.159 a terrible dangerous plot, and if Harry went back, he 14 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:06.519 would be in mortal Beryl. Harry did not believe him, 15 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:11.079 not really, and Dobby, in his desperation, decided to take 16 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:15.640 matters into his own hands. He stopped the letters from 17 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.400 reaching Harry. He made a pudding full on missus Vernon's head. 18 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:22.840 He tried everything to make the Dursley so angry that 19 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:27.239 they would never let Harry leave, and it worked. The 20 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.760 Dursleys locked Harry in his room, put bars on the windows, 21 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.480 and Uncle Vernon stood in the doorway with a terrible 22 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:38.159 grin and said, no more of those bloody letters. Harry 23 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:42.879 was trapped. Summer had become a prison. The unie window 24 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.480 was sealed with metal rods. His owl head Wait sat 25 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.519 in her cage, looking at him with those big amber eyes, 26 00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:54.000 and there was nothing he could do, or so he believed. 27 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:57.959 Now let us drift into the night's story. Chapter two, 28 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.519 the burrough Harry lay on his mattress, staring at the 29 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:06.120 bars on his window. Four metal rods bolted firmly into 30 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:10.280 the wood. Outside. The sky was a deep, quiet blue, 31 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.400 the color of ink just before it dries. The Dursleys 32 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:20.159 were downstairs. He could hear the television murmuring its usual drone. 33 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:24.159 Aunt Petunia was in the garden, trimming something with her 34 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.639 pruning shears. The hedgehog Dudley had named sat on the 35 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:33.360 lawn like a little gray stone, not moving, not caring. 36 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:38.280 Harry sighed three more weeks, three more weeks of this 37 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:42.120 room of cold meals pushed through the cat flap in 38 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.639 the door of Headwig, rattling her cage and hooting softly 39 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.599 in the dark. He put his hand over his face 40 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:54.240 and breathed slowly in and out. The bars cast thin 41 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.159 shadows across the ceiling in the afternoon light, like the 42 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:02.479 stripes of some invisible animal pacing back and forth above him. 43 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:06.479 He picked up a magazine from the floor, a Muggle 44 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:12.479 magazine und Petunia had left it by accident. He flipped 45 00:03:12.520 --> 00:03:17.639 through the pages without really seeing them, cars, cooking recipes, 46 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:22.159 advertisements for things nobody needed. He let the pages fall 47 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:25.039 open on his chest and stared at the ceiling again. 48 00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:30.280 The house was quiet, too quiet. No Weasley letters, no 49 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.919 Hermione phone calls, just the hum of the refrigerator downstairs, 50 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.919 and the occasional creak of the house settling, like an 51 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:41.879 old person shifting in a chair. Then something tapped at 52 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:46.159 the window. Harry rolled over. There was nothing there, just 53 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:50.039 the sky, just the bars. He squinted, and then he 54 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:53.439 saw it, a large gray owl sitting on the sill 55 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:58.240 outside the bars, tapping one beak against the metal with 56 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:03.719 a soft, insistent rhythm, And behind it, further back, bobbing 57 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.240 gently in the evening air, something was floating, something that 58 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:12.039 looked very much like a car. It was orange, a 59 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:17.160 battered old forward anglia hovering silently over the back garden. 60 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:22.040 The paint was faded and scratched, the headlights flickered, and 61 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:26.160 inside it Harry could make out three faces. Man were red, 62 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:30.000 guinning faces pressed against the glass like children at a 63 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.160 sweet shop window. Fred and George Weasley and their brother Ron. 64 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.160 Harry scrambled to the window and pressed his face against 65 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.560 the glass. Ron gave him a big thumbs up. George 66 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:42.959 held up a pair of large bliers and waggled them 67 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:45.680 like a threat. Fred tapped the side of his nose 68 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:49.199 and winked that particular Fred and George wink that meant 69 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.600 something wonderful was about to happen. They were going to 70 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.120 break him out. It took a few minutes. George used 71 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:01.759 appliers on the bars while Fred kept watch from but 72 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:06.160 bolts squeaked and rattled, a high, thin sound that made 73 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:10.959 Harry's teeth ache. He heard Aunt Petunia slam something in 74 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.920 the kitchen. His heart hammered against his ribs like a 75 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:18.800 fist on a locked door. But George was strong, and 76 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.879 the bolts were old, and one by one the metal 77 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:27.120 rods came loose and fell unto the carpet. With soft, 78 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:34.000 satisfying thuds. Each one landed like a small victory ron 79 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.279 helped Harry climb through the window. The night air was 80 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:42.839 warm on Harry's face, the first real breath of outdoor 81 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:46.879 air he had breathed in weeks. It tasted of cut 82 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.480 grass and distant rain. He sat on the sill for 83 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.360 just a moment, feeling the breeze on his skin, the 84 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:56.519 cool touch of the stone against his palms, and then 85 00:05:56.600 --> 00:05:59.439 he stepped into the flying car. The back seat was 86 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:03.279 lumpy and smelled faintly a frog spawn and old socks, 87 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.120 which was exactly what you would expect from a car 88 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:10.399 that belonged to Fred and George Weasley. Harry settled in, 89 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:15.600 and Fred rearthed the engine, and the car tilted upward 90 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.879 with a lurch, rising above the garden, above the roof, 91 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:24.360 above the chimney pots, until the Dursley's house was just 92 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:28.920 a small gray shape below them, and the street was 93 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.560 a ribbon of orange street lights, and the whole world 94 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.600 was quiet and open and full of sky. Harry laughed, 95 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:42.120 He could not help it. The wind whipped his hair 96 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:46.120 across his face. The stars were coming out, one by one, 97 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:50.800 like tiny silver pins in dark velvet, and below them, 98 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.600 England rolled out in patchwork fields and dark hedgerows, the 99 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:59.920 Muggle world going about its business, oblivious to the car 100 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:04.519 full of wizards flying over its rooftops. They flew north. 101 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.639 The car hummed steadily, the engine making a low, comforting pair, 102 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.839 like a cat that had found a warm spot on 103 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.959 the hearth. Rance sat next to Harry and told him 104 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.480 about his summer, about the ghoul in the attic that 105 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:25.040 had been coughing all night, and keeping Ginny awake, about 106 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.759 Mum being furious when they asked to use the car, 107 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:32.199 About Percy, who had been even more insufferable than usual, 108 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:35.879 walking around with his head boy badge like it was 109 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.319 a shield, About Ginny, who had not stopped talking about 110 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.519 Harry since term ended. He asked me about your owl, 111 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.519 Ron said, and whether you had got her a new cage, 112 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:49.839 and whether you were keeping well, and whether you had 113 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:53.279 heard anything about the Chamber of Secrets, and whether you 114 00:07:53.360 --> 00:07:58.519 were wearing that same old shirt. She asked about everything, Harry, everything. 115 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.079 Fred and George in the front kept turning around to 116 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:07.000 make faces. They told jokes about Professor Snape. They made 117 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:13.560 rude noises about Percy. They were completely wonderfully chaotically themselves. 118 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:17.680 Harry felt something loosening in his chest, and not he 119 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:24.360 had not known he was carrying. It was relief, pure, simple, 120 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:30.519 delicious relief. He was not trapped any more, He was 121 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:35.600 not alone. He was flying through the night sky with 122 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:38.759 three boys who thought he was the most interesting person 123 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.840 they had ever met, and none of them wandered anything 124 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:47.759 from him except his company littles. The clouds parted and 125 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:51.639 the moon came through, fat and white and lazy, hanging 126 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.440 over the fields like a lantern left on by mistake. 127 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.759 The fields below were silver. The car's head lights cast 128 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.200 yellow beams across the under side of the cloud. Everything 129 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.840 felt soft, everything felt safe. The wind was warm, now, 130 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.039 carrying the smell of sheep and wild flowers and old wood. 131 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:12.759 And then Ron pointed down and said, there it is. 132 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:17.600 Harry looked below them. Nestled in a valley between two 133 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:21.759 gentle hills, there was a house. But it was not 134 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:25.200 quite a house. It was more like something that had grown, 135 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.159 a rambling, lop sided jumble of bricks and chimneys and 136 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:33.519 sagging roofs, leaning against each other like old friends supporting 137 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.200 one another after a long night. There were at least 138 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:39.759 five stories, each one added on top of the last 139 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.960 in a different style, a different shade of brick, a 140 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:47.559 different error. The roof tiles were mismatched, some red, some gray, 141 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.440 some the color of dried mud. A chimney stuck out 142 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.519 at an angle that seemed physically improbable, defying every rule 143 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.559 of architecture that Harry had ever ignored. The windows glowed 144 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.159 with warm yellow light, and the garden was a tangle 145 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.840 of flowers and herbs, and what appeared to be a 146 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.600 rubber chicken nailed to the fence. Welcome to the burrow, 147 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:13.639 ron said, and he sounded almost shy about it. The 148 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.879 car landed in the garden with a bump that rattled 149 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:20.519 Harry's teeth. A small, round woman came out of the 150 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.320 back door, wiping her hands on her apron. She had 151 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:28.480 red hair like all the Weasley's but hers, was pinned 152 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.080 up messily, and there was flower on her cheek, and 153 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:34.399 her slippers made a soft shuffling sound on the stone step. 154 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:41.679 Her face was kind, her eyes were sharp. Fred George 155 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:47.799 Ronald Weasley, what on earth are you lot up to? 156 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:53.440 Molly Weasley's voice could have silenced a thunderstorm. It could 157 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:58.759 have made a dragon sit down and behave Fred and 158 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:05.360 George froze Rn tried to explain, but Missus Wesley was 159 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:11.000 not listening. She pulled them all inside, one by one, 160 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.840 like a mother duck gathering her ducklings, and she stood 161 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:19.240 them in the kitchen, and she gave them all a 162 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:23.080 piece of her mind, which was a piece that came 163 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:28.519 in several very loud pieces. The kitchen was the heart 164 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:34.759 of the burrow. It was warm, it was cluttered, it 165 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:39.080 was alive. There were pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, 166 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.279 some of them gently swaying in a breeze that Harry 167 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:46.399 could not feel. A clock on the wall had nine hands, 168 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.879 each one pointing to a different place. Harry noticed that 169 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:56.039 one hand pointed to a small square marked mortal peril. 170 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.879 He tried not to stare at it. The sink was 171 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.879 full of dirty dishes. A kettle whistled on the stove, 172 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:08.639 a thin, shrill sound that missed wheezily, silenced with a 173 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:13.200 tap of her Wand there was a wooden table, scarred 174 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:18.240 and stained and full of character, with mismatched chairs around it. 175 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.720 A cat with a squashed face slept on the window sill, 176 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:27.759 its tail twitching in some dream of chase. The air 177 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:32.879 smelt of bread and something sweet like cinnamon and butter, 178 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:38.120 and the faint ghost of yesterday's roast chicken. A fire 179 00:12:38.200 --> 00:12:43.200 crackled in the hearth, throwing orange light across the stone floor, 180 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:49.519 and then Arthur Weasley appeared. He came in from the doorway, 181 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:58.000 thin and balding, with glasses that were slightly crooked, and 182 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:03.159 a tie that was slightly crooked, and a look on 183 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:07.039 his face like a child who had just been told 184 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:12.960 Christmas was coming early. He was wearing a dressing gown 185 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:17.799 over his were clothes, and his socks did not match 186 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.639 Harry Potter, he said, breathing the name like it was 187 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:27.120 something sacred, something precious, something he had been waiting his 188 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.919 whole life to say out loud. I cannot tell you 189 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:35.720 how delighted I am to meet you. Tell me what 190 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:40.240 is the exact function of a rubber duck? Harry blinked, 191 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:45.639 Ron sighed, Fred and George grinned, and Missus Wesley told 192 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.879 Arthur to stop being ridiculous and sit down for dinner. Honestly, Arthur, 193 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:53.799 she said, the boy has just climbed through a window. 194 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:59.240 Let him eat first. They ate, Missus Weesley had made 195 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:04.240 shepherd's past and there was crusty bread and butter and 196 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:07.480 a big pot of tea. The pie was thick and 197 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:12.960 hot and full of vegetables that Harry could not quite identify, 198 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.440 but which tasted wonderful. There was gravy. There was mashed 199 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:23.240 potato with a golden crust. There were pickled onions in 200 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.320 a small jar that George kept reaching for, and Fred 201 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:30.399 kept slapping his hand away from Ginny. A small, red 202 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:34.919 haired girl with freckles like constellations scattered across her cheeks, 203 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:37.840 sat at the end of the table and stared at 204 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:42.320 Harry with enormous eyes and went completely red whenever he 205 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.399 looked her way. She was Ron's little sister, and she 206 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.759 had apparently had a crush on Harry Potter since the 207 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.320 age of nine, which was three years longer than Harry 208 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.039 had known she existed. Harry did not know what to 209 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:03.120 do about this, just smiled politely and ate his pie 210 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.840 and tried not to drop gravy on himself. Percy appeared briefly, 211 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.639 nodded at Harry with the air of someone who was 212 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:18.120 doing him a great favor by acknowledging his existence, and 213 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:21.440 then disappeared upstairs to write a letter to his girlfriend. 214 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:27.440 The twins made gagging noises behind his back. Missus Weasley 215 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:31.720 threw a tea towel at them. After dinner, Missus Weasley 216 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.240 showed Harry to Ron's room. It was small on the 217 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.159 top floor under the eaves. The room was warm and close, 218 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:43.759 like being inside a blanket, thought. The posters on the 219 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.279 walls showed racing broomsticks and Shutley Cannon's logos, and a 220 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.759 poster of a witch in a bathing suit that Harry 221 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:54.840 suspected was not official quidditch merchandise. The room was a 222 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:58.360 comfortable sort of mess, with clothes on the floor and 223 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.120 books on the desk, and a quaffle sitting in the corner, 224 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:04.399 like it had rolled there and decided to stay. You 225 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:08.360 can have my bed, Ron said, pointing to the bottom bunk. 226 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:12.440 I will take the camping bed. Harry tried to protest, 227 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:16.399 but Ron was already unfolding a camping bed that looked 228 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:20.320 far too narrow for a boy of his size, and 229 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.600 Missus Wesley was already tucking extra blankets around Harry's pillow. 230 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:27.879 And the house was warm and full of the sounds 231 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:32.320 of the Weasley family. Moving about, creaking floorboards and distant laughter, 232 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.399 and the soft murmur of the clock on the wall. 233 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:39.960 Harry lay in Ron's bed and listened. The house made noises. 234 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.799 A creek here had grown there, the wind outside pressed 235 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:48.759 against the windows gently, like someone testing the glass with 236 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.320 a finger tip. Hedwig, who had been brought up to 237 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:55.519 the room in her cage, rustled her feathers and made 238 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:00.120 a soft hooting sound, then settled down. The camping bed 239 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.919 creaked under Ron as he shifted, trying to find a 240 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:05.839 comfortable position in a space that was roughly the width 241 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:13.440 of a broomstick. Harry remembered Dobby about the warnings about 242 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:17.000 the plot. He remembered the bars on his winter and 243 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:20.119 how far away they seemed now, like something from a 244 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:23.599 dream he had already started to forget. He remembered Missus 245 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.960 Wesley's warm kitchen and Arthur's excited questions, and the way 246 00:17:28.039 --> 00:17:30.960 Fred and George moved through the world like it was 247 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:35.440 their personal playground, a place made specifically for their entertainment. 248 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:38.759 And he thought about the house itself, the burrow. It 249 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.480 was not fancy, it was not ground. There was no marble, 250 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:48.680 no magic carpets, no enchanted ceiling. It was just a 251 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:53.640 house built by a family who loved each other, one 252 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:58.880 room at a time, one brick at a time, until 253 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:03.119 it leaned and bagged and groaned and felt more like 254 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.480 a home than any palace ever could. The Weaselas did 255 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.839 not have much money, but they had this. They had 256 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:15.119 the warm kitchen, and the mismatched chairs, and the cat 257 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.839 and the window sill, and the nine handed clock that 258 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:20.799 told you where everyone was and whether they were in 259 00:18:20.920 --> 00:18:26.000 mortal peril, and that Harry thought was worth more than 260 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:30.079 all the gold and grinkots. Harry closed his eyes. The 261 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:34.240 mattress was soft beneath him. The blankets smelled of lavender, 262 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:38.240 or perhaps that was the sachet Missus Wesley had tucked 263 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:43.279 under the pillow. Somewhere downstairs, a door closed. Footsteps went 264 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.799 up the stairs, light and careful so as not to 265 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:51.400 wake anyone. The floor board outside Roun's door gave its 266 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:55.640 familiar groan. The car in the garden ticked as it cooled, 267 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:00.559 metal contracting in the night air. The moon moved slowly 268 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:06.440 behind a cloud, and the room went dark, then light again. Outside, 269 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.559 somewhere in the distance, an owl gold hedwig answered with 270 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:16.079 a soft, sleepy hoot. Harry slept, and in the morning 271 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.680 there would be toast and tea and the sound of 272 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:22.480 Ginny practicing spells in the garden, and Fred and George 273 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.599 launching fireworks from the roof, and Missus Weasley shouting from 274 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.440 the kitchen about someone leaving their shoes on the stairs. 275 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.240 There would be a whole day of being somewhere that 276 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:36.200 was not the Dursleys, a whole day of being somewhere 277 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.119 that was warm and safe and full of people who 278 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:43.640 cared about him. But that is for another night, and 279 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.960 that is where we will leave Harry to night, safe 280 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:51.359 in the burrow, warm in a real bed, in a 281 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:56.559 house full of love, surrounded by people who know he matters. 282 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:02.759 Sometimes the best thing in the world is just being 283 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:11.039 somewhere safe, not somewhere grand, not somewhere magical, just somewhere 284 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:16.119 warm with people who care. So if you are still awake, 285 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:20.400 just close your eyes. Let the sounds of the butter 286 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:27.160 settle around you, the creaking wood, the distant wind, the 287 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:33.559 soft breathing of a house at rest. There is no rush. 288 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:39.279 You are safe here. Just sleep good night.