Horrid Henry's Computer

"Horrid Henry's Computer" is a short story by American author Francesca Simon.
==Synopsis==
Horrid Henry hacks into his parents' computer.
== Plot ==
The story begins with Mum and Dad telling Henry off for attempting to play games on the new computer, which is strictly for work only. Henry insists that everyone plays games on their computer, but Mum and Dad will only let him play educational games. When Peter says he only wants to play educational games like Name That Vegetable, Henry transforms into the Horrid Loch Ness Monster and leaps on him, pretending to gobble up a thrashing duck. Dad responds by sending Henry to his room and banning him from the computer for a week.
Later that night, Henry sneaks downstairs and looks for hidden games on the computer, but is prompted to set a password when he attempts to log in. Henry types in 'smelly socks'. He searches high and low, but can't find any games, only Mum's spreadsheets, Dad's reports, and Peter's homework essay. Curious to see what he's written, Henry opens Peter's essay, titled 'Why I Love My Teacher', and reads:My teacher is the best. She's kind, she's fun, and she makes learning a joy. I am so lucky to be in Miss Lovely's class. Hip hip hooray for Miss Lovely.Henry decides to improve Peter's essay and renames it to 'Why I Hate My Teacher'. He then changes the body of the essay to:My fat teacher is the worst. She's mean, she's horrible, and she makes learning a misery. I am so unlucky to be in Miss Ugly's class. Boo hiss for Miss Ugly.Satisfied with the edits, Henry saves the new essay, turns off the computer and goes back to bed. The following morning, Henry is awoken to Mum, Dad and Peter panicking because they are unable to log in to the computer to access the documents they need to hand in. Henry remembers he set a new password that night, and agrees to 'fix' the computer on condition his ban is lifted. After typing in the password, Henry prints out Mum's spreadsheet, Dad's report and Peter's essay and hands them out. Peter somehow fails to notice the changes to his essay and takes it to school.
At school, Miss Lovely goes to read Peter's essay to the class, but is horrified when she sees it for herself. She sends Peter to the Head, and phones Mum and Dad to tell them about his rude essay. They respond by banning Peter from the computer for a week and allowing Henry to play the games he wants. Peter blames Henry for his essay being forged. Henry blames the computer.
==Characters==
*Horrid Henry
**Horrid Loch Ness Monster
*Perfect Peter
*Mum
*Dad
*Miss Lovely
*Mrs Oddbod (mentioned)
*Rude Ralph (referenced)
*Dizzy Dave (referenced)
*Moody Margaret (referenced)
*Beefy Bert (referenced)
==Behind the Scenes==
"Horrid Henry's Computer" was written by Francesca Simon and features art from Tony Ross.
==Appears In==
*Horrid Henry: Perfect Revenge (2001)
*Horrid Henry Rules the World (2007)
== Trivia ==
* It is unknown how Peter didn't notice the changes Henry made to his essay, especially as there is an illustration of him beaming at it before putting it in his school bag.
* Given that they know Peter would be the last person to insult his teacher, it is unknown why Mum and Dad didn't suspect that Henry had anything to do with his essay being forged.
Category:Stories