Chapter 3-1 Owl Post

• Harry is back at the Dursleys', reading A History of Magic. He has to write an essay on Witch-Burning in the Fourteenth Century. He reads about the pointlessness of it. Muggles were not very good at recognising it. On rare occasions when they did catch a real witch or wizard, the witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and pretend to be in pain. Wendelin the Weird was famous for having himself caught and enjoying the frozen flames.
• The Dursleys locked up Harry's spellbooks, wand, cauldron and broomstick. Harry managed to 'steal' a spellbook back, since he needs it to write an essay about Shrinking Potions.
• On his birthday three owls fly in; Errol, Hedwig and another, unknown to Harry, wearing the Hogwarts crest. The first letter is from Ron. It has a cutting from the Daily Prophet saying that Mr. Weasley won the annual Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. Mr. Weasley stated that they will be spending the gold on a summer holiday in Egypt where Bill works as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Wizarding Bank. It also has a letter from Ron, asking to meet in London next week and mentioning that Percy has become Head Boy. In the letter he also finds a Pocket Sneakoscope which looks like a miniature glass spinning top, with a note explaining that it is used to notify the owner when there is someone untrustworthy around. Hedwig brought a letter from Hermione. Hermione also included a Broomstick Servicing Kit as a present, containing a jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a pair of Tail-Twig Clippers, a compass to clip onto your broom and a Handbook of Do-it-Yourself Broomcare. The last parcel was from Hagrid, containing a book called The Monster Book of Monsters with a note. The last letter was from Professor McGonagall. It is said that the new school year will begin on September the first and third-years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends if they bring a filled-in permission form from a parent or guardian.