Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [15]
“HARRY! RUN NOW!” yelled Sirius again. This time, Harry did run. He ran to the door, and reached for his broom that was right next to it. As he put his arm out towards the handle, a tiny snake jumped up and but him in the arm. It was not very painful, but lots of blood was pouring out of Harry’s arm where the snake gotten him.
Harry wrapped the fingers of his other hand around the snake, and ripped it off taking a little bit of his flesh with it. Harry threw it back into the sea of the snakes that Mrs. Figg and Sirius were trying to keep back.
Harry grabbed his broom and ran outside. He immediately mounted it, and flew into the sky, not knowing where he was going, just wanting to get away from there. As he flew higher and higher, the sounds coming from Mrs. Figg’s house got fainter and fainter until Harry couldn’t hear them at all.
Harry flew higher than the clouds, and then zoomed down. As he was flying, his mind flew faster. What had just happened? What was that thing in Professor Lupin? What happened when Sirius used that spell on it? Harry certainly knew a general answer to all of these questions: “Nothing good.”
Just then, Harry realized he was back on the ground. He must have flown while he was thinking, lost track of what he was doing... again. He looked around to see where he was, and recognized the area as Diagon Alley, one of the largest wizard-only villages in the world. It was like a wizarding market where anything that you wanted could be found. How did he get there so fast?
Only, Harry had only experienced Diagon Alley in the daytime and crowded with people. As Harry looked around and saw the closed shops and clear streets, another question came across Harry’s mind: how did he get to Diagon Alley so fast? It was all the way in London and Mrs. Figg’s house is far away from London. Harry must have been a better flier than he thought.
Harry walked around looking for a sign of anyone, anyone at all. Suddenly, he saw a light in a store. It was Vold’s Worm’s Tails. The name of the store sounded familiar, but Harry’s brain felt hazy at the moment, so he couldn’t put his finger on it. But, since it was the only store that looked open and inhabited, Harry went up to the door and opened it.
“Hello?” asked Harry. “Is anyone here?”
Just as he put one foot in, he felt something cold touch his face, then curl around over his mouth and pull him back. Harry couldn’t breathe, he was being kidnapped!
The kidnapper pulled Harry into a room in the back of the store with his silver arm still around Harry’s mouth. Harry was trying to pull it off, but the metallic arm was too strong. As they entered the room, Harry saw a tall red chair turned away from him. The person holding Harry shut the door behind him, and let go of Harry’s face. Harry immediately turned around and saw Peter Pettigrew, the man who was the reason he had no parents.
Peter was looking different though. He used to be bald and a little large. Now, he had a full head of hair and large muscles, gifts that Voldemort had evidently given him for being a faithful servant. Peter had a smirk on his face, and he walked backwards toward the door, fading into the shadows.
Harry’s attention now turned to the chair. It was the only object in the room so Harry was naturally drawn to it. The chair slowly spun around, and when Harry’s scar began to tingle, then sting, then hurt, he knew who was in that chair: Voldemort.
Harry’s guess was confirmed when the chair turned all the way around and Harry, once again, came face to face with his enemy. Voldemort, who now looked more like a skeletal snake than a man, stood up, and glided on the air, rather than walked, over to Harry. When he was within a foot of Harry, his pale, snake-like face contorted into what Harry assumed was a smile, though it was hard to tell expression from the small slit in Voldemort’s face.