This last Monday morning in August was a busy morning in the Dursley household at Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, England. The couple who lived there, Petunia Dursley (a tall, stick of a woman) and Vernon Dursley (a short, walrus looking man with a mustache) awoke early. Today was the day their precious baby boy (if you could call the son of the two that, as he had unfortunately inherited his father's shape, and looked more like a beach ball with limbs) was starting primary school. Today was also the day that Vernon Dursely was being evaluated at his job (he worked for a drill company) and he was quite sure of himself that when his boss saw how he ran his department, he would be getting a sizable raise and promotion.

Said walrus combed his mustache in the bathroom mirror, smirking to himself, thinking of the money. He straightened the tie he picked out that morning, a bland, gray looking thing, and left the bathroom.

"Well, Pet, I'm off to work!" He declared loudly, thundering down the stairs, every step he took seemingly shook the house. Bumping his cheek with her bony one, he ruffled the hair of his son (who was about to throw a tantrum when he realized that they were not going to the circus as originally thought), and left the house.

The one other occupant of the house, a small boy with untameable curly black hair and green eyes, let out a silent sigh of relief as he heard the telltale slamming of the front door. He pushed open the door to his room and crawled out. His room was the smallest living space in the house, the cupboard under the stairs. He had an old ironing board without the legs as a make-shift cot and a dusty light bulb on the slanted ceiling served as the light. Though his rooming arrangement was far from the usual of a little boy's, the child had a beaming smile on his face. He clutched a bundle in his arms and ducked his head as Petunia's eyes narrowed at the sight of him, but didn't say a word. She wordlessly tossed a brown sack at him and turned back to her precious little boy, ignoring the existence of her only nephew.

That didn't wipe the smile off the boy's face though, actually the smile seemed to grow as he looked at the bag and quickly walked out the front door. Now, any parent or guardian would be afraid to let their six year old child out by himself at 7 in the morning, but Petunia Dursley didn't particularly care for her nephew because of one important factor.

He was Harry James Potter. His father had been one of them, a freak, and so had his mother, her worthless sister, and with all that on his shoulders, she didn't want much of anything to do with him. So she had him walk himself to school, not wanting him to spoil her own son's first day.

Little Harry walked down to the end of the street and screwed up his face for a second as he tried to remember the directions. Once they were in his head, he was once again on his way. Nothing could stop him from making the most out of this day!

He really couldn't believe his luck! Two weeks ago, he had been woken early (well, earlier that usual) by his Aunt and told he was to be starting school soon and if any complaints was heard about this, he was going to get it hard by his Uncle. Harry wasn't even contemplating complaing, in fact, this was a day he had wanted for a while! He would be out of the house, from the hateful looks of his Aunt and from the hitting and whining of Dudley! Then, after telling him the good news, Harry was even allowed to go shopping! His Aunt drove him to the local charity store and handed him a few crumpled bills and drove off, not wanting to be seen there.

He was told to buy clothes for school, and since he has been helping with the grocery shopping once, he knew how it worked. Harry was a very inquisitive and sharp boy. He knew if he observed in the background and learned quietly, he wouldn't get yelled at as much for not picking up a task quickly.

Alotough the store was a lot different than the small grocery shop, he was quickly able to find a few shirts and pants around his size that were still in good shape. They weren't new of course, but his! He had been so happy that day, and even was able to buy his own trainers that has actual soles in them! And he was excited to see that the prices were so cheap at the charity store that he could get a bag like he saw the older students have.

An hour later, his Aunt had picked him back up and sniffed in distaste at the bags, but didn't say anything. She may not like her nephew one bit, but more than anything, Petunia valued her reputation and how the other wifes in the neightborhood percieved her. And having the boy show up in school with clothes serveral sizes too big was definatly going to mar her pristine image.

So this morning, little Harry was quickly approaching the school building and he was smiling so much, his cheeks hurt. He was just so happy! He had new clothes, didn't have any chores that morning besides making breakfast, and was away from Dudley for the day as Aunt Petunia had said they were going to be in different classes! He was wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt with a tugboat on the front and shorts that didn't have to be rolled up and his new trainers. He carried a black messenger bag like the secondary school students he saw walking to their own school. He felt so grown up!

Standing in front of the school building, Harry took a deep breath and walked toward the doors.