Chapter One

Author's Note: This first chapter begins with one major change a a few minor ones. The major one is that Petunia and Dudley treat Harry much better than in the books. Vernon is the one who yells and insults him at every corner. The minor ones I plan to introduce in the chapter. I hope this story doesn't end up being complete shit, but I have no idea if it will be any good. I guess we'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters included in this chapter.

Another day, another lecture. Uncle Vernon just loved his lectures. Not as much as yelling, of course, but he still loved them a significant amount. Today's started when Harry let his snake, Sheldon, out again to feed on the neighborhood mice. Most of the time he could get away with it, but every once and a while one of the neighbors would come over screaming about a snake in their backyard or on their porch, and Uncle Vernon knew instantly who it belonged to. Every time he was caught he got the same lecture. Harry didn't understand how else he was supposed to feed Sheldon, it wasn't like he had money to buy mice and he certainly wasn't going to go hunting for him. He wished Uncle Vernon was more like his wife.

"Harry! Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes of course I was. What else would I be doing?" Harry, of course, hadn't heard a word Uncle Vernon had just said. But he wasn't going to admit that.

"Then what did I just say?"

Harry was pretty sure he knew, since he had been given this lecture hundreds of times, but he still motioned for Sheldon to feed him the answer.

"You said that I needed to be more responsible and stop letting Sheldon out to eat. Even if it's the only way." He added the last part under his breath, hoping Uncle Vernon hadn't been able to hear him. It would only make him more angry and possibly cause him to strangle Sheldon. That would not be pleasant.

"Good. Now go to your room before I revoke your dinner privileges."

Harry knew that Aunt Petunia would bring him food even if he wasn't allowed to come to the table, but he decided it just wasn't worth it today to provoke Uncle Vernon. He retreated to his room, locked the door, and sat Sheldon and himself on the floor. As always, the snake had something to say to him.

"One more of these lectures and I might have to bite him."

"You'd better not, or he might strangle you. Besides, you know good and well you aren't venomous."

"And? I know it would still cause him pain. And I also happen to know I can out slither that old lump any day of the week."

"Yes, but if you're not here then he's gonna end up strangling me."

Harry rose from the floor. The clock read 10:38 A.M. Aunt Petunia had informed him the day prior that his Hogwarts letter should arrive some time today, although who knows when. He hoped soon, but with his luck it would arrive just before midnight.

He yawned. Even with the reassurance from Aunt Petunia that as Lily and James Potter's son and the Boy Who Lived he was almost guaranteed to make it into Hogwarts, he still was too anxious to sleep much the previous night. He knew that as someone who wasn't aware he was a wizard until a few years back, the fact that he wasn't exposed to magic daily, and that he didn't have a wand, he wasn't going to be able to perform magic, he still felt like he was a failure in that he couldn't perform any spells. Aunt Petunia had given him his mother's old copy of The Standard Book of Spells, and he had tried without success to cast any of them. He felt useless. Harry wanted badly to get that letter and know for sure that he wasn't useless.

Two hours later, Harry was sitting on his bed, Sheldon in his lap and a book in his hands. He had begged Aunt Petunia to take him to the library, and she had agreed after much resistance. Uncle Vernon had not been happy, but Aunt Petunia convinced him by offering to go by the supermarket and buying him a six-pack of Bud Light. He had happily agreed. Much to Harry's surprise, Dudley had wanted to go too. Once that was settled, the three of them had headed off to the London Library.

The book he had wanted to check out was titled The Ruins of Gorlan, and it had been recommended by Dudley after his class had been forced to read the book. He had been intrigued by a summary that Dudley had provided, and he fell instantly in love with the book and it's characters. It was on his bed that he sat when he heard a quiet, almost inaudible tapping on his bedroom window. When he turned to look, he let out an audible gasp. An owl was at his window. Shaking off the shock he felt, he got up from the bed, and raised his window. The owl fluttered in. Harry glanced down, and saw the unmistakable red seal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Author's Note: I know, big surprise on the ending, right? If it actually surprised anyone, you probably should go get this thing called "common sense." Anyway, sorry I left it on a cliffhanger, but I need to keep people reading somehow, and I know my shitty writing skills won't do it. Speaking of that, if you guys want to give me some tips on how to improve my writing, feel free. If you haven't noticed, mine isn't the best, and I need all the help I can get, so go ahead. (Please)