Summary: I don't know what its wholly gonna be about yet, but its gonna have "early changes" that help harry out later on in life…

Chapter 1: Zoo Trip

Harry awoke from his sleep-induced coma that left him dreadfully tired every morning with a knock on his door. How typical, Dudley couldn't wait for Harry to hand over his gift. So, with no more restfulness apparent, Harry got up from his bed and wished his cousin a happy 5th birthday.

Dudley, for the most part, was actually happy that Harry was treating him like a brother, instead of just a "part of the family," as his mother was so intent to repeat every year at the end of July.

For a whole month, Harry had planned on giving his cousin a gift that would keep him happy for at least a month, because every other gift would work wonders for the day, or the week, but never more than that. Once school started, Harry and Dudley would be in the same boat, and nothing would be as different as their hair would be. Not a single kid on the street looked forward to school, no matter where it was, but Harry was different. He couldn't wait to prove that he wasn't a "freeloading freak of nature" that his uncle Vernon was constantly calling him. Just because he was "left" on his doorstep, Vernon Dursley was determined to make an acceptable person out of his nephew; his own son was already a worthy son, but Harry had yet to prove it to him.

From the first days that he could read, Harry was given books that Dudley has already read and forgotten about. Classic fairytales, old-school mystery novels, chapter-books, and even a few scary books…they were all second-nature for Harry, and a struggle for Dudley. But today was different; Harry found a new book that uncle Vernon's "precious Dudders" couldn't've read yet….it was a hidden book Harry found in his Aunt's room. It had weird writing on it, and it didn't look like a normal book, with chapters, a summary at the beginning, or even a single name on the book, just thw weird symbols.

"Harry, are you dressed yet?" That annoying but caring voice called once again. His Aunt Petunia, who still wants to be called "Tuney."

"Almost" Harry yelled down after his "Auntuney." It's something he learned that was a nickname, since at the tender age of two he couldn't string Aunt Tuney together without messing it up.

"Well, breakfast is done and the car is almost ready to go. Hurry up or you might have to stay with Old Lady Figg."

"I'm coming down! Don't leave me with her cats, they're mean!"

After that, Harry was motivated to speeds faster than even he thought possible. Less than a minute later and Harry was standing at the door, leaving his sanctuary for the day's plans. This was Dudley's birthday, and they were going to the zoo with the Polkiss family. Piers and Penelope were the only friends of Dudley's, ever since Harry got chased down the street by some of the neighborhood kids and both Piers and Dudley chased them back. Harry thought Penelope was too attached to Dudley for only a 3-year old, but who was he to know what she was thinking. Maybe she didn't have any friends either.

After the long drive, almost two hours of it, to the zoo, he finally got to see some of the animals that were in the books he and Dudley read as younger kids. To say that this was something that Harry was actually looking forward to was something of an understatement. The longest tripe he had ever had before this was to the creek two streets away from his house, and that was only because they had their bikes with them. Both Dudley and Piers were already there and having fun in the water at the time, until he heard that annoying voice calling for him and Dudley to come home for dinner. Who knew she could be heard this far away from the house; and to think his uncle called him a freak of nature.

First thing inside the gates were birds, and not even some rare species from a distant land, normal pigeons and crows. Boring, he could stay home and see them. So Dudley and Harry moved away from their parents as far as they could, and saw a Lion and a Panther on the trail. Now that was something to see.

"Noble Feline Kingdom" Harry read out.

Dudley looked over at Harry, Harry looked back with an innocent expression. "What? You can read that so fast?"

"No surprise there, Harry can read chapter books as fast as my mom can." Piers said nonchalantly.

"What do you expect, he reads almost every day, and all day when it rains."

"Yeah, but they are boring books; I can't wait to get home to read the new one I found. It's different from the normal ones." Harry's face showed nothing but the thrill of something completely new.

Dudley "hmm'd" and left it at that. Next was the reptile part of the zoo. Piers was into lizards, but not snakes. No one knew why, but the cousins thought it was because lizards had feet to move on, and the snake that bit his sister last year slithered away to God knows where. Dudley liked cats, hated dogs, and ignored birds, lizards, and spiders. Harry liked all animals except dogs. His "Aunt Marge" was the reason the whole family, except for Vernon of course, hated dogs.

When they passed the lizards and moved onto the more unusual of the reptiles, Harry's interest once again perked. "DRAGONS!" Harry yelled out to the others.

"They can't be real dragons; they don't exist anymore" Harry heard Auntuney say.

"But the sign does say dragons on it. Maybe they're what dragons turned into, or a different kind of dragon." Piers said.

This led Dudley and Harry to explore a bit more, and after a few feet, they heard someone call to them; at least, they were the only ones on this trail, so it had to be them the worker was talking to.

"What are you doing here, this area is off-limits." Harry turned to see the weirdest person he had ever seen. "How did you even get here?"

It was now that Dudley realized he was lost, since not a single person was around them. Harry and Dudley were lost, and the strange person was walking towards them with something like a twisted twig in his left hand, pointed at them.

An hour later

"What happened to them, you said"

"They went to an off-limits area; when I called out to them, they tripped and fell. I brought them to you, since you were the only ones looking for lost children. Try to keep them close, since some of the areas are off-limits for a reason."

Harry woke up from what seemed like a dream, but as soon as he thought the word 'Dream' he forgot everything that happened in the last few hours. Dudley was next to him, also looking a little tired, and a little confused. Did they run into a door or something? Harry's head was hurting a little, so he felt his forehead. Looking for a cut or bruise or something and finding none, he figured he might as well forget the whole thing.

"Harry, are you okay? You look like your head is hurting." It was then that he realized the voices he heard were his Auntuney and the worker that brought him to his family from wherever he fell at.

"I'm fine, just a little headache or something. Can we get some ice cream now? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, ice cream!" Dudley was clearly looking forward to something sweet and cold. It was close to 90 degrees, and not even 1:00 yet.

"Fine, but not too much; ice cream here is too darn expensive" Harry heard Vernon say to them. Harry looked over and saw a sign that read "Off-limits: free-roaming snakes" where he thought he say the same sign saying "Dragons" on it before. The sign was shining in the sun a little, like it was a mirror, or glass, with writing on it instead of the black background he thought he saw earlier.

"Harry? You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just thought I saw something weird."

When Harry looked back at his cousin, something in his eyes told him that whatever he was imagining wasn't just his imagination. Something weird happened, and Dudley knew something or someone was trying to pretend it didn't.

At the ice cream parlor, they each got the biggest cones they could imagine, with at least three stacked scoops of their favorite flavors. Chocolate mint for Harry, Butterscotch for Auntuney, French Vanilla for Dudley, and Strawberry for Vernon. Piers and his family got cookies, brownies, and a strawberry shortcake for Penelope. They all shared everything, but Harry thought Penelope would never grow out of her "I love strawberry everything" phase that her parents prayed to end. Any kind of berry was expensive for this area, strawberry even more so. Paying ten euro for only 10 strawberries was much more than if you lived near Manchester or New Castle. Little Whinging had no farmland to grow strawberries, and the weather didn't agree with the needs of almost any fruits or vegetables.

After everyone was done their sweets, the tour continued. Not a single person noticed the worker constantly watching the two families. Well, almost not a single person. The only one who did was a stranger to both families, but now was more curious than when he followed the family through the "off-limits" area where the two boys "fell." The follower now stalked his stalker with more interest as the day went on. One weird event that would eventually fade away, he though. But soon enough, the day was ending when all this effort would pay off.

Two hours later

Auntuney and the others were ready to finally leave, but not before turning to the Polkiss Family and wishing them a Happy weekend. It was as she was turning back to the car that she noticed the same worker in the corner of her peripheral, watching the departing family with more concentration than Vernon at a "Business Dinner" with the CEO of Grunnings. The worker didn't notice the hesitation in Petunia's movement, so she continued towards the car, leaning to Vernon and whispering something in his ear.

"But we're about to leave. Couldn't it wait?" Vernon said, louder than needed.

"No, and it's a two-hour drive; I wouldn't want to hold anything that long without a break….I KNOW you wouldn't."

"Fine, but hurry up, the Zoo closes the gates in five minutes." Harry took this time to look at his uncle in wonder. He never gave up an argument this easily….whatever was happening, it was something important or serious.

As the worker watched the mother turn into the restroom area, he moved his eyes back to the family in the car, patiently waiting for their mother to return so they could all go home. What he forgot to realize was that the loo had a back exit, with two other ways to get out. He quickly remembered when he heard a voice behind him force him to jump in surprise.

"Why are you watching my family?"

"Huh? I was making sure that you left without forgetting anything. I am responsible for making sure nothing or no one is lost when I lock up the gates." To prove his point, he dangled his keys from his pocket, even pulling them out so she could see.

"That's not it. I'm not stupid, and I know that look in your eyes. I grew up with that look."

To say he was officially intimidated would be like saying a lion could be overprotective. "Look, I just needed to make sure everyone got out alright before I shut down the gates."

"I'm sure that's what most people would believe, but I'm not most people. I'll only say this once: leave – my – family – alone."

"I'm not trying to stalk your family. I'm just doing my job." He stated. The look in her eyes after he was about to walk away told him she wasn't convinced. He ignored the look and escorted her to the other side of the gate. Closing and locking the gate, he gave her one last look before turning away from her and towards his next station; the guard shack next to the gate mechanics.

As soon as she reached the car, she saw Harry and Dudley looking at her with curiosity, and Vernon with concern.

"Something I need to be worried about?" Vernon asked her.

"No, just something I needed an answer to." She answered.

"What was that about? Did that man ask you something?" Harry poked at the back seat with his finger, ignoring the questions Dudley just asked. She could tell he was curious, but didn't want to be the one to ask anything.

"No, nothing much. Let's get home, I'm sure Molly will be missing you both already."

"A whole day and no one feeding her? I hope she doesn't bring a mouse again." Dudley said.

"Yeah, that thing stunk for two days before we saw it under my bed." Harry added, looking mildly disgusted.

"I hope not; we don't need any more pets. A cat is bad enough; just be glad she goes outside instead of using the kitty litter." Vernon said with conviction.

Auntuney looked over at her boys and added the last thing to say; "Well, if it is a new pet, I hope both of you get along with it."

The two-hour ride back actually took three, mostly because Petunia fell asleep for half an hour, and buy the time she woke up, Vernon needed a break. They stopped at a park just before the sun set for the night. There was only one other family there, still playing on the swing set and the monkey bars. She didn't think anyone could have that many red-headed children and stay sane. That poor father, having to deal with six boys; her two were a handful enough, but triple that amount would not be fun. The family left just before Harry and Dudley started to wake up enough to actually play with each other. Playing tag at sunset is something even she would do with her own sister growing up. They just didn't have the imagination to play Hide-n-Seek in the dark like Harry and Dudley had. As soon as they got home, the stumbling up the stairs began, and the flop on their beds was enough to relax her thoughts. So much happened today, and so many unanswered questions.

A/N: No, I will not be saying who the worker or the 'follower' will be/are, but ill tell you this: if I name someone and describe them, its most likely because they will come up again.

Most of my characters will be "cannon" since I don't like too much change. But, I will say that the little changes that have already happened will be listed at the end of this note…. Also, the little changes I have made to the story will make sense and will cause other changes, like a type of butterfly effect.. but not to the Nth degree like some stories.

Okay: my own vocabulary lesson….. I hate using the word "probably"….. its hard and slow to type, so I will replace it with prolly….. its easy, fast, and slang…
cuz will replace because..for the same reason.
Gonna is gong replace "going to"….
imma will replace "im going to" or "I will" ….

ill have more coming up, but so far that's the only obvious one so far.

Changes I have made so far:

Petunia, in her grief over a lost sister, and the realization of HOW Lily died changed her opinion, but not as soon as "immediately." It will come up later, and you can probably guess, but she had Dumbledore, and by extension Minerva, come over and explain more…. Well, more like black-mailed them to come over.

Vernon, after realizing what magic really is, is still "Slytherin" in his thoughts, so he doesn't automatically hate everything magic, and uses the term "freak" as a playful teasing. Youll see why later, but realize this, he loves his wife, and he has what I call "common sense." As in: he realizes that there are good and bad things that come from or are caused by magic, and that theres almost no difference between people like Voldemort and Hitler. If his own world has monsters and noble people, then so does Harry's world.

Obviously, they both know of magic and all that, just aren't willing to tell harry or Dudley until they see something that makes it obvious. Youll see what I mean later.