The Curious Event of the Dog on Privet Drive
The small black haired, green eyed boy is standing on the sidewalk out side of Number 4, Privet Drive. His hair sticks up as though it has just been caught in a windstorm. He is petite, small for his age. People are often startled when this small Harry Potter begins to talk to them. They often expect the garbled words of a three year old toddler and not the complete, if unsophisticated, sentences of a five year old. It is something that he has learned to use to his advantage. This boy, only five years old, has already learned how to manipulate the adults around him. It is a survival tool.
So here is this wide eyed child standing looking out across the street at a scruffy black dog. He watches the dog closely and notices that the dog watches him. He has not been allowed out of doors often, nor has he been allowed to have friends, or play dates, so he doesn't have much experience with dogs. But this child is clever enough to realise that this is not normal behaviour for a dog, so, he just watches and waits.
He hears some movement in the bushes from the park across the street. He doesn't want to take his eyes off of this strange dog but the noise garners his attention. It seems to do the same for the dog as it slowly turns around with its hackles raised. It bares its teeth and crouches down as though ready to attack. Harry watches it.
A large man with a crooked nose steps off of the path that runs behind the bushes. Harry notices that he is holding a stick. The man has long black hair and black eyes. He is wearing a long coat that looks almost like a dress and Harry chuckles at the sight of him. At the sound of his laugher the dark man looks at him. Harry is a bit frightened of him but watches anyways. The dark man points his stick at the dog and Harry thinks they are about to play catch. He wants to cross the street to play too, so looks both ways to make sure there are no cars. There is a truck coming so he continues to watch while he waits for the truck to pass. He hears the man snarl "Black". The dog growls and the truck pulls over to the side of the road. Still pointing the stick at the dog, the dark man steps behind the bushes.
The truck stops. It is a large square van with windows on the sides. The windows are high and small and have bars on them. There are words on the side but Harry can only read the word that says 'Dog'.
Harry watches as a man with a blue uniform gets out of the driver side of the truck. Another man gets out of the passenger side. He also has a stick. This one is long with a loop at one end. The dog crouches down again, facing the men and growls. The men approach the dog slowly and the one with the stick lunges at the dog catching its head in the loop, and tugs. The loop tightens around the dog's neck. The dog starts to thrash and white foam forms at its mouth. Harry is a bit afraid now and is glad he didn't cross the street.
"We're going to have to neuter this one" one man says to the other and the dog goes still. Harry watches as the dogs yellow eyes open really wide. He feels sorry for the dog because the dog looks like it's afraid of being hurt. He knows what that feels like. His thoughts are interrupted by a sudden loud noise from behind the bushes and the dark man steps out his eyes crunched up in mirth. He doesn't have his stick anymore.
The man holding the dog asks if the dog belongs to the dark man. The dark man laughs even harder. "No. He's yours to do with as you will".
At this, the dog growls, barks and then to Harry's astonishment there is a man standing where the dog once was.
The man is naked and now he has the loop around his neck. The two men from the truck stand and stare at him with their mouths open.
The naked man looks over at Harry and notices that the small boy is staring at his rather long, naked penis. He covers it with his hands and says to the two men, "you will NOT be neutering me!" The dark man laughs even harder. The naked man turns around and growls at him as though he were a real dog. "Snape."
"Black. I'll leave you to it then!" He turns to Harry, nods "Potter" and wiping his eyes, he disappears with a CRACK. Harry looks around for him but he does not see the man. The naked man is still yelling and thrashing about while he's being pulled into the back of the van. Within minutes, the man is locked away and the truck is gone. Harry just stares at the space where it all happened trying to figure out if he dreamt it all. He snaps out of his reverie when a large hand grabs his shoulder and shakes him. "Get inside now, boy, before the neighbours see you!" And with one last look down the street, wondering how the dark man knew his name, Harry followed his uncle into the house.
Thanks for reading! Please review!