The morning sun shone into a room on the second floor of 86 Eastwood Road, through its east-facing window.
Time seemed frozen at 6:59 in the morning. A boy of twelve or thirteen lay in bed beneath a cotton blanket, snoring softly.
The boy was lean, with neat short dark-brown hair, grey eyes, and facial features that still retained a trace of childishness.
This stretch of England's southern coast could be called the mildest region in all of Britain; Southampton Port, with the Isle of Wight serving as a natural barrier, was among the best of them. At least on this mid-July morning, there was not the slightest hint of heat.
Eighty-one years ago, the 46,000-ton liner that had claimed to be "unsinkable" had chosen Southampton Port as the starting point for its maiden voyage precisely because of its mild and pleasant weather... Then, four days after putting to sea, it collided with an iceberg. More than two hours later, the ship broke in two and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
A newspaper lay at the foot of the boy's bed: the July 11 issue of the Daily Prophet, opened to its third page.
The headline read: "Ministry of Magic Employee Wins Major Prize"
Beneath it were several lines of text: Arthur Weasley, head of the Ministry of Magic's Muggle-Worthy Items Department, had won the Daily Prophet's annual Galleon Award. An overjoyed Mr. Weasley told a Daily Prophet reporter, "We'll be spending the money on a summer trip to Egypt. Our eldest son, Bill, works in Egypt breaking curses for Gringotts Wizarding Bank."
More eye-catching still was a photograph that took up nearly half the page—a moving photograph.
In it, the nine members of the Weasley family stood together before the pyramids, smiling and waving enthusiastically at