DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS HEREBY DECLARED A "FANFICTION." AS SUCH, THIS MERE AUTHOR HAS NO RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER OR THE SEVERAL MEDIA REFERENCES MADE FORTHWITH, AND INSTEAD IS COPYRIGHT J.K. ROWLING, WARNER BROS., AND ALL PARTIES RESPECTFULLY.
Opening summary quote belongs to Everclear, from their song "Wonderful," which was one of the inspirations for this story.
Full Summary:
Since he was little, Harry Potter has been living between worlds: his real life, with the abusive Dursleys, and the one he created in his head to escape them, where he lived with his loving family. Now that Harry is in his fifth year at Hogwarts and tortured by Professor Umbridge, he has begun to escape to his alternate world more and more often. Which means the blackouts and long periods of sleep he has been experiencing are lasting longer; and if something is not done Harry will be lost to his fantasy world forever…
The Looking Glass
By QuicksilverWitch
Prologue: Down the Rabbit Hole
August 1987
It always seemed like Harry was blamed for everything that went wrong at number 4 Privet Drive…
"YOU LAZY LITTLE LEECH! GET IN THERE-I SAID-GET! IN! THERE!" roared the purple faced Vernon Dursley as he shoved his battered nephew, (the results of the latest "game" of "Harry Hunting" by Dudley) into the tiny cupboard under the stairs. Whimpering silently, ("Don't cry! Don't cry or scream, else he'll come back, and then you'll REALLY get it!" Whispered the inner voice in his mind anxiously), Harry Potter, aged seven and a half, curled into a ball on his army cot, his bottle green eyes closed in horrendous pain as he clutched his broken arm and his sprained right ankle sent tremors up his short legs. Trying to control himself, he wiped his bruised face to rid himself of the embarrassing tears ("BABY POTTER! CRY, WITTLE BABY!" Dudley and his gang jeered and kicked at him on the playground while the teachers had their backs turned).
Calmed down, but still wary of the angry voice that had now died outside his locked cupboard door, he shut his eyes as tightly as possible, and began silently to say the words he had found in a book during library time last Friday. Most children, like Dudley, hated library Fridays, but Harry loved getting a chance to look at the picture books and imagine he had someone to read them to him, like Aunt Petunia did with Dudley after he had a nightmare…
"There's no place like home…There's no place like home…There's no place like home…"
The colors that usually sprung up under his eyelids when he clenched them too tightly swelled and swirled, consuming his darkened vision. Suddenly, Harry was not in the dark, spider infested cupboard, but sitting in a slim woman's lap, clenching the white apron she wore over her pale, yellow dress; and the tears he had kept at bay were suddenly flowing down his porcelain cheeks.
"There, there, Harry, everything will be fine; I spoke with those nasty boys' mummies and they'll all be in time out for a long time, I promise. Shh…here, drink your milk and eat your scone like a good boy, shh…"
Hiccupping softly, Harry turned so he was sitting properly in the woman's lap, then drank his milk and ate his delicious chocolate chip cookie, just fresh from the oven. A slender, pale hand with well-kept nails and a gentle touch brought the corner of her apron up to his face, and dried up the rest of his tears. Turning to look at her face, Harry smiled tremulously.
"Thank you, Mummy," he lisped through the gap in his front teeth, where both babies had fallen out just a week before, and Harry had gotten a shiny copper penny for each.
"Mummy" smiled tenderly.
"You're welcome, darling. Eat up now."
Since that sunny summer afternoon, Harry and his Mummy would spend all day playing fun games and teaching Harry how to bake cookies and little cakes for playing tea with his brothers and sisters.
And as time passed, Harry's second family grew to include more and more people who he could play with and who also loved him without question.
And the more different than his real life family, the better.
July 1991
Harry laughed as his father bounced he and his twin sister on the trampoline he had set up earlier that day for their birthday, while his other two siblings splashed around with their teenage friends and chattered about teenager things. Then, Mummy called everyone in, for it was time to cut the cake and open all the lovely presents…
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Harry and Minnie, Happy Birthday to you!" the entire assembly of dark haired family members cried out in joy as Harry and his younger twin sister Minnie blew out their candles on the home made butter crème cake their mother had made with their older sister Olivia.
Laughing as he watched Minnie steal one of the M & M's Olivia had carefully outlined the edge of the round cake in, Harry mischievously swiped some for himself, while Olivia and John, their sixteen year old brother, tried to nick some of the rainbow sprinkles. Scolding her children with a grin, Mummy shooed them away with a smile, telling them to wait until it everyone was served. "Let everyone have a go at it, my hearties!" she laughed in her lilting Irish brogue. Scooping up the cake as her rich, waist length blue black hair swirled away behind her, Mummy went into the kitchen to divide the cake evenly, so all of Harry and Minnie's friends and family could share some.
"Stupid child, always lazing about! Get back to work, you useless heathen!"
Pausing in his laughter with Minnie and his two uncles, who had taken eleven year old Harry and Minnie into each of their laps, Harry paled and his smile faded as the shrieking voice rent the air. Looking about him, Harry wondered if anyone else had heard her. Seeing the long face, his Uncle Albert bounced Harry again, making him laugh and smile, his worries forgotten.
No one else had seemed to hear the shrieking voice, so why worry about it?
Yells of excitement passed through his numerous cousins.
"Yay! Mummy's got the cake! Cake! Cake! Cake!" Minnie chanted, ever the miniature copy of their mother.
"Here you are, my birthday babes!" she said, putting down two thick slices before Harry and Minnie.
"I said: GET BACK TO WORK!"
SMACK!
Tumbling from the elevated portion of the garden where Harry had dosed off in the sun, he was surprised when he saw his Aunt Petunia stood above him, tapping her heeled foot and glaring at him in that pinched, annoyed manner that always seemed to be on her face when she saw him.
Turning on her heel, she spoke over her shoulder, "For the last time, get back to work, you lazy little idiot! Or Uncle Vernon will have words with you!"
Snorting silently, (Harry had learned to be silent; that way his relatives could not hurt him for something he had not done; not that they had not before…) Harry went back to work. Wincing as he looked up at the pale blue sky and into the harsh sunlight, he sighed, wishing he were somewhere else.
After all, there was still the birthday cake to be had…
And presents to open…
Oh if only he had hidden that strange letter! Then at least he would have had one present here…
Two Weeks Later…
"E-excuse m-me, I-I'm a what?"
Harry Potter had had a very rough week.
The day after his "birthday" had been interrupted by not only more of those funny letters coming from all sorts of odd places like the chimney and the Saturday milk bottles, but Harry had not been able to see his family for two weeks. And he was desperate to talk to his Dad about them.
What would they say about the letter?
Now the gigantic fellow, (who had baked him a very squishy chocolate cake as a belated birthday gift), was telling him, he was, of all things, a wizard.
As in, one who could do magic.
As in, do wonky things like turning his teacher's hair blue when she had snidely remarked on Harry having no proper parents.
Or suddenly appearing on the school roof to escape Dudley's torture game, "Harry Hunting".
...or have another, better family…for an aching moment, Harry wondered if this meant it was all real.
The next day, the giant and small boy headed to Diagon Alley for the young one's school supplies. He was surprised to met Professor Quirrel; was bursting with curiosity as Hagrid removed the grubby little package from vault 713. Was awed as he received his first gift in this world…
September 1, 1991
Platform 9 and ¾
Waving excitedly from the window of the train, Harry and Minnie Potter yelled their goodbyes to their parents and older siblings. What a surprise it had been for them to get identical letters written on aged parchment in (of all things) green ink!
They were both going to Hogwarts…
SLAM.
"Umm, excuse me, can I sit here? The rest of the cars are full…"
Jerking out of the brief nap he'd been enjoying, Harry was surprised to see the face of the boy whose mother had helped Harry find the platform after his relatives had left him at the front of Kings Cross Station, eager to get Dudley's piggy tail removed.
"Sure, go ahead," he replied, stifling a yawn and smoothing down his shoulder length black hair. "I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley," the young, freckled red head said, holding out a grubby hand. Smiling slightly, Harry took it. "Harry Potter, at your service."
Suddenly, the red head's eyes bugged out, but before he could utter nary a word, his twin brothers burst in. "Alright here, Ronniekins? Hello again, Harry! All settled in now, are ya?" said the twin on the left, Fred. "Oi! Don't call me that, Fred!" blushed Weasley junior as his brothers snickered. "Anyways, we'll be in Lee Jordan's car; he's brought a pet tarantula this year!" said George giddily.
"See ya, blokes!" they yelled, and shut the car door behind them.
Staring at each other silently, contemplating each other's appearances, Harry broke the silence with a small smile. "Wish I had two older brothers," he said quietly. Ron only flushed and bowed his head, electric blue eyes hidden beneath his red hair. "Five," he muttered, making Harry frown. "Five what?" he asked curiously, "Five older brothers, not two; and there's my younger sister Ginny, too…"
Encouraged by Harry's enthusiasm, Ron continued on speaking about his family and some of the many nuances of the wizarding world.
They were later joined by Minnie, who had gone looking for a few other girls, and had returned with another first year girl, Hermione Granger. When it came time to disembark to Hogwarts, the four of them sailed across the lake, chattering excitedly.
Standing on the entrance hall steps, they went silent at the approach of Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House. Delivering her speech, she led the first years to the Sorting Hat to claim their futures.
Fifteen minutes later, it was Harry's turn. Debating with the hat over the virtues of a Slytherin over a Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat finally decided.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Potter, Minnie!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
After the last first year, ("Zabini, Blaise!), went into Slytherin, the Beginning of the Year feast started.
And the rest, as they say, was history…