It's the early hours of the morning, and Harry Potter's been thirteen years old for all of one hour. Harry isn't really expecting much from his birthday; he certainly doesn't expect any presents. So imagine his delight when he looks out the window and sees three owls flying toward him, one of which has a parcel attached to its leg. Inside the parcel is a letter from Ron Weasley, complete with a newspaper clipping concerning his father's winning of the Ministry of Magic's Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. For their prize, the Weasley family will spend a whole month in Egypt, from which Ron sends Harry his parcel.

As well as the letter and a birthday card, there's also a little gift inside Ron's parcel—a Pocket Sneakoscope. This strange little gadget looks rather like a miniature glass spinning-top. According to Ron, it's for detecting people who aren't trustworthy. When that happens, the little glass object lights up and spins. Bill thinks it's just fake magic, says Ron in his letter, a piece of junk sold to tourists. He doesn't think it's reliable, as it kept on lighting up and spinning at dinner. But unbeknownst to him, there was a good reason for that—Fred and George had put beetles in his soup.