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	The Order of the Phoenix.net Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 - Dudley Demented

The beginning of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix has our boy hero, Harry Potter, now 15 years old spending a hot summer night trying to walk off yet another run in with his wretched Aunt Petunia and rotund screaming Uncle Vernon. Not only are the Dursley’s upsetting Harry, but Hermione and Ron’s letters, carried by the usual Owl network, have been devoid of any real information about what is happening in the Magic world let alone the recent rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, (Lord Voldemort-shhhh!) We are going to be brave and use his real name! So far Harry has had a frustrating summer trying to listen to the Muggle news for any strange news items that could be linked to something magical. You might recall that at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, our hero had witnessed the rise of the evil Lord Voldemort and return of his Deatheaters.

Harry then runs into Dudley, his portly cousin, who makes his life ambition to give Harry Potter the hardest time possible. Dudley had spent the evening carousing the neighborhood with his thug band of buddies. Just as Dudley harasses Harry about his recent very vocal nightmares about Cedric’s death, Harry and Dudley have a one-on-one encounter with one of those scary Dementors (the guards from Azkaban, the wizarding prison). In order to save his cousin’s life, Harry breaks the strict “do not use magic outside of Hogwarts” rule of Underage Wizardry by performing a Patronus Spell.

Poor Harry knows the Ministry is going to put him on report for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery. And poor Dudley is left stammering curled up on the ground whimpering and shaking as Mrs. Figg, the neighbor who watched Harry for the Dursley’s whenever they went somewhere, appears on the scene mumbling something like “oh, I am going to kill Mundungus Fletcher”.

Editor’s Comments: Harry continues to take care of others whenever danger comes his way, to his detriment. Harry knows he is not supposed to do magic outside of school, yet he saves his cousin, Dudley, from the Dementor’s Kiss, the final kiss that takes away all hope and happiness from the person they are kissing. There has been much speculation about Mrs. Figg and her relationship to Harry. Some thought she was going to be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She sure would have a heck of a time as a “Squibb” trying to teach spells. This first chapter, with its “dark” implications, is just a forewarning of the “dark” things to come!