Susan Walsh ran home. Anyone seeing her would think she was a respectable middle class lady who just happened to be in a rush. They would think she probably left something on the stove or forgot to pick up her child from school. The more progressive minded might even think she was late for an important business meeting. The truth however is none of those things. Susan Walsh was on the verge of tears. The only thing keeping her composure was that the only thing greater than her sorrow was her anger.
As she turned unto Privet Drive she made her way not to her home, but across the street to her friend Amanda Cross's home. As she stood at the door ringing the bell repeatedly she resisted the urge to run across the street and commit murder. Before her thoughts could get darker than even she realized was possible; Susan Walsh answered the door. Susan's smile died as she looked into the face of her friend. "Oh my, what's wrong….is it Mark and the kids." Susan took a couple cleansing breaths and replied "No, everyone is fine. Can I have a cup of tea and I will tell you all about it"
As Susan sat at her friends kitchen table her thoughts drifted between sadness, anger and guilt. Since she has never been in a situation where she had to hide her feelings, all of them played across her face. This only caused her friends apprehension to rise. After the teas was made, the two women sat across from each other for a moment before Susan finally broke the silence. "We were so wrong" and then she started crying. Amanda could not understand what they could be wrong about but looking into her friends eyes as the streamed tears, she was determined to find out. "It's OK honey, just start from the beginning"
Susan began her tale. "Well, you know I had a meeting with my lawyers to go over the divorce papers." Amanda nodded and started to think that this distress had something to do with her impending divorce. This surprised her because despite the rumors that Petunia Dursley loved to spread around the neighborhood, Amanda was under the impression that Susan's divorce was amicable. Before Amanda's thoughts could stray, Susan continued. "One of the lawyers in the office had his daughter with him and I overheard her say that she had met Harry Potter and how nice he was to her." That name froze Amanda on the spot. Harry Potter was the neighborhood's local hooligan. He seemed to be as clever as he was horrible. No one could ever catch him committing his crimes but everyone knew who was to blame when something bad happened. The Dursley's tried to keep him in line by giving him chores around the house but he would just sit quietly doing whatever chore was his responsibility until he was released and then only the devil would know the madness that would occur when no one was looking. She couldn't imagine anyone describing the little terror as nice. Susan could see the doubt creep into Amanda's eyes. "Please, let me finish before you say anything." She added hurriedly.
"So I overhear this young woman talking to her father about Harry Potter and she says to her da that she is sure the Dursley's aren't treating him right. So I interrupt them and tell them that the Dursley's are fine people and that I live across the street from the terror that is Harry Potter and that everyone in the neighborhood knows that he causes nothing but trouble, which is why he goes St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. So I am standing there expecting to see realization but instead they look at me as if I am insane. The gentleman replies to me that he knows for a fact that Harry Potter goes to an exclusive boarding school in Scotland. One that both he and his daughter graduated from. I could almost feel his anger in he and his daughter at the thought that someone could mis-represent their school in such a way. He even went to his computer to find out more about St. Brutus and discovered that it doesn't exist."
At the close of the tale clarity hit Amanda like a baseball bat. She realized that all of the signs that she previously understood to prove that Harry Potter was a hooligan, in fact were signs of the worst types of child abuse. Susan recognized the dawning horror in friends face as it was the same thing that brought her there that. How could they have misread the signs so badly.
What neither of them knew was that there entire neighborhood was under an area wide compulsion spell meant to keep Harry Potter feeling alone and unloved. Unfortunately for the manipulative old headmaster that created the spell, the truth that Susan Walsh discovered and shared with her friend was powerful enough to break the spell on them. Since these two women were as adept at gossip as Petunia Dursley on her best day, Little Whinging was about to be rocked by scandal and young Harry Potter was about to have the best birthday week ever.