The boys had a wonderful time at Disneyland and also visited several attractions in Los Angeles and its surroundings.
Disneyland is such a magical place that both a child and an adult can visit it with delight. No Diagon Alley could compare in magic to the theme park spread across two hundred hectares of land. Positivity, meetings with beloved cartoon characters, adrenaline—visitors to the park receive all of this in abundance.
Every adult, at least for a moment, dreams of turning into a child again or returning to childhood. Richard remained a child only outwardly, although he tried to live up to his father's expectations. But it was during the visit to Disneyland that he managed to become a child for real.
No one remained indifferent: both adults and children immersed themselves in a fairy tale for several days. Not long ago, Harry Potter had thought that moving away from the Dursleys and starting to live with Uncle Scott was the best thing that could have happened to him. But when he found himself in Disneyland, the boy realized what it truly meant to be happy. Delight filled him until the very end of July. He had never expected such an eventful summer. A picnic in Scotland, meeting the heirs of the British crown, a trip to California, and hikes through forests and mountains with his uncle. The boy had plenty to remember.
Richard's birthday coincided with Harry Potter's. When this fact came to light, the boys agreed to celebrate together at Eaton Hall. Everything was modest: about five entertainers, a table overflowing with delicacies, and only about a dozen guests—the same people who had gone to Disneyland, plus Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry Potter arrived at Eaton Hall with his uncle on the evening of July thirtieth so they wouldn't have to spend time on a long journey on the birthday itself. He and Scott were given a comfortable guest cottage.
All evening Harry was anxious and couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Because of that, on July thirty-first the boy woke up near eleven o'clock and missed breakfast. But he didn't have time to be upset about it—food was waiting for him in the living room.
Then lunchtime arrived, and Harry, dressed to the nines, headed toward the main house of his best friend's estate with anticipation.
Richard was standing not far from the entrance.
"Harry," he greeted the guest with a smile. "Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, Richie. Happy birthday to you too. Here."
Harry handed Richard a gift wrapped in festive paper. Richie set it aside with the stack of other present boxes and picked up one of them.
"Thank you, Harry. And this is for you."
"Thanks!"
Harry Potter was itching to unwrap the gift, but he knew it would be impolite. The present from Uncle Scott, however, he had opened immediately—and had been delighted with the Swiss folding knife. Now he wondered what Richie might have given him.
"Let's go to the ballroom. The others want to congratulate you too."
Richard and Harry walked into the spacious hall.
Harry Potter did not immediately understand why Richard led him toward an elderly lady wearing an elegant blue dress and a hat decorated with blue flowers. The boy thought the old lady looked vaguely familiar.
"My lady, allow me to introduce my good friend and fellow birthday boy, Harry Potter," Richard began. "Harry, meet Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second."
For a moment Harry thought he had misheard. He looked carefully at Richard, expecting laughter, but didn't see even the slightest hint of a smile on his friend's face. Remembering whom he had recently ridden roller coasters with, Harry realized his friend was not joking.
"Pleased to meet you, young man," the Queen said in a polite and pleasant voice.
Harry turned pale as chalk and had no idea how to behave. His palms treacherously grew damp. He tried to recall what one was supposed to do when meeting the Queen, but realized he had never known that information. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had never explained anything like that. They could never even imagine that their abnormal nephew might one day personally meet the Queen—and they certainly would never have believed she would come to his birthday and congratulate him! And Uncle Scott didn't care about etiquette at all, so he hadn't bothered filling his nephew's head with such things either. Somewhere in Harry's thoughts floated a vague notion that ladies were supposed to have their hands kissed, but he was afraid to try it.
While Harry Potter was frozen in place, the world did not stop moving. A court attendant brought the Queen a gift, which she handed to Potter.
"Harry, happy birthday."
"Huh?!"
Potter rebooted and awkwardly accepted the gift from the hands of the Queen of Great Britain herself.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Harry mumbled.
His cheeks flushed red. The boy wanted to sink through the floor out of embarrassment for his ignorance of etiquette. Something that had always seemed completely useless for an ordinary boy suddenly turned out not to be so unnecessary after all.
"What a shy young man," the Queen said with a smile.
"Granny, don't embarrass Harry," Richard added, finishing Potter off with his remark. "He isn't used to high society yet."
"Potter…" the Queen drawled thoughtfully. "A very familiar surname. Richie, would you remind me who your friend's parents are?"
(End of Chapter)
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