"Up! Get up! Now!"

Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.

"Up!" she screeched.

Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He tried to remember the good dream he'd been having. There had been a flying motorcycle in it, and he had a funny feeling he had the same dream before.

His aunt was back outside the door. "Are you up yet?" she demands.

"Almost," Harry answers.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Dudley's birthday. Not that he cared much about it, but at least he'll see Liliana today! Harry slowly got out of bed. When he was dressed, he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden underneath all of Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten most of the things he'd wanted.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. He put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult since there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. When he finished, his face fell.

"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.

Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.

"And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?" Aunt Petunia reassures.

Dudley thought for a moment as if it was hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty...thirty..."

"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia. "And don't forget about Liliana's present! She gave you one last year, remember? So that'll be forty!"

"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "Yeah, all right then."

At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap his presents. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."

She jerked her head in Harry's direction. Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. That'll mean that he'll get to go with Liliana!

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as if he'd planned this. "I suppose we could take him to the zoo...and leave him in the car..."

"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."

Dudley began to fake cry loudly.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.

"I...don't...want...him...t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!"

He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically.

A minute later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.

Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. "Piers, Liliana's coming."

"Alright," Piers answers. At that moment, the doorbell rang again.

"Must be her," Piers comments. Sure enough, Aunt Petunia opened the door, revealing Liliana in a cute dress and a large present.

"Liliana! Nice dress!" Dudley exclaims in a tone that Harry could tell was faking sweet.

"Thanks. Happy birthday," she replies as she sets the present down. "Hey Piers."

"Hey, Lil."

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' van with Liliana, and Piers and Dudley in the seats in front of them.

Piers and Dudley were chatting loudly, occasionally inviting Liliana into their discussions, which Liliana politely declined. Harry tried many times to start a conversation with Liliana, but only earning single word answers or nods. The longest went like this.

"It's my first time to the zoo, you know."

"Really, your first?! Well, I haven't really gone either. Aunt Arabella's usually too busy to take me anyway. But I do love animals!"

"Cool."

"Yeah."

While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. People at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry, were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.

"...roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."

Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache. "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered.

"I know they don't," Harry replies. "It was only a dream."

But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than Harry asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't-

"I don't think it was just a dream," Liliana comments, interrupting Harry from his thoughts.

"What are you on about?" Dudley snaps, turning around on his seat. "I mean, who's ever seen a motorcycle fly before?!"

"I've rode one before," Liliana answers. "And I know for a fact that cars fly too."

"Prove it," Piers replies icily, glaring at Liliana.

"Oh, don't worry, I will," was her reply, and she turned to stare out the window, completely ignoring everyone else.

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance. Liliana got a strawberry sundae. Then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley. Liliana, however, talked to all the animals as if she could understand them speaking back to her.

After eating lunch at the zoo restaurant, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can. Unfortunately, it was asleep. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the snake.

"Make it move," he whines at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. Again, Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"He's asleep!" Harry snaps.

"He's boring," Dudley moans. He shuffled away.

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself, no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up, at least he got to visit the rest of the house.

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes.

"Whoa!" Liliana breathes, and only then did Harry notice that she was right beside him.

Very slowly, the snake raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry and Liliana's. It winked. Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. Nobody was. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Liliana asks. The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass.

Harry peered at it. "Boa Constrictor, Brazil. Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on. "This specimen was bred in the zoo. Oh, I see. So you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made he and Liliana jump.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"

Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.

Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. Liliana sprang down next to him, her bright green eyes full of worry. "Are you okay?"

Harry briefly nodded, and they both stared hard at the glass. Then, it had suddenly vanished, and the great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor.

People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry and Liliana heard a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come! Thanks, amigo."

"Anytime," Harry and Liliana answered.

As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry and Liliana were talking to it, weren't you?"

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers and Liliana were safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak.

He managed to say, "Go! Cupboard! Stay! No meals!"

Harry tried to point out that Liliana was talking to it too, but his uncle wouldn't listen, instead, shoving him in the cupboard.