The Curse of the GateKeeper (James Potter #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

walk backwards, fuming at her. Finally, Angelina tripped him.
    "James, why don't you go gather your brother and cousins for dinner?" Harry said, ruffling his son's hair. "Your grandfather will be home soon and we all want to be there for the big surprise."
    "Now look what you did, Dad," James said, trying to matt his hair back down. "I look like an old picture of you."
    "That rotten apple's even better than Hermione's hair gel goo," Ted commented. "You should tell her about it. Ron says she spends more money on Muggle hair potions than she does on food."
    "What?" Hermione shrilled, bumping Ron with her hip. "You did not!"
    James didn't wait for the rest. He tossed his Thunderstreak to his dad and turned toward the sound of his cousins' voices.
    "Hey, it's almost dinner, you lot," he called as he entered the shadow of the Weasley family's small stone garage. As always, the doors were thrown wide open. The cool, familiar smell of the dirt floor and dusty shelves surrounded him. He sighed happily.
    "Nice grab, James!" the twins, Harold and Jules, called in unison as James approached.
    "Thanks!"
    "Too bad you spoiled it by getting intimate with an apple tree," Rose said from where she sat, kicking her legs idly. "What a downer."
    "Hey," James said, ignoring Rose's remarks. "That's Merlin's car! What's it doing here?"
    Rose glanced down at the bonnet of the car she was sitting on. The old Anglia had been meticulously cleaned and was half-repainted, but one headlight still hung askew from its socket. "This isn't Merlin's, you nitwit," Rose chided. "It's Grandfather's. Don't you remember the stories about the flying Ford? Your dad and my dad took it for a joyride back when they were in school. They ended up losing it in the Forbidden Forest. All Merlin did was find it. When he discovered whose it was, he arranged to have it returned here. Grandfather's been getting it back into shape over the summer."
    "He's making some pretty keen modifications to it too!" Hugo announced, popping his head out the driver's side window. "Watch this!"
    He disappeared again and the car rocked a bit as he and Albus moved around in the front seat.
    "That's probably not a good idea—" James began, and then jumped back as a pair of wood and canvas wings shot out of the sides of the automobile, squeaking and ratcheting as they unfolded. They began to flap up and down violently, making the entire car bounce and rock. A moment later, they screeched to a stop.
    "It's a good thing you know how to turn those off!" James exclaimed, his eyes wide.
    "I didn't!" Albus answered, working buttons and levers on the car's dashboard. "They stopped on their own. Looks like they aren't quite finished yet. I hope we didn't break them. Hey, Hugo, climb back there and jump on them a little, why don't you?"
    "No, let us!" the twins cried, scrambling toward the wings.
    "No!" James called, throwing up his hands. "Nobody jump on anything! Granddad will leather you with a hex if you break his stuff!"
    Hugo scowled, ignoring James. "Too bad Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey aren't here. Lucy's the mechanical one. I bet she could get this thing in the air."
    "I wonder why it needs the wings anyway," Rose commented. "I thought it flew on its own."
    "Uncle Harry smashed it into the Whomping Willow at Hogwarts, remember?" Hugo called out. "Totally crippled it. That's why it ran off into the Forest and turned all feral."
    "You've got it all wrong," Albus said. "Your dad was driving. If my dad had been behind the wheel, they'd have made a four-point landing."
    "Yeah," Rose agreed, "probably right through the windows of the Great Hall."
    The twins guffawed and ran around the car, pretending to fly and crash. Harold mimicked the Whomping Willow, thrashing at his brother, who feigned death and keeled over.
    "Anyway," Hugo continued, "everybody knows about the Alma Alerons and their flying cars. I bet Granddad wanted to see if he could make this fly even better."
    James grinned. "Come on, you lot.