this story was written by my dad and he wanted to put it up and hear what people think of it. he wrote it when book 3 came out, i think, and just posted it up so any mistakes please let me know so i can fix them. but he said...

This is a short back story to Harry Potter and the sorceror's stone. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are very welcome even flames, just please let me know what you think.

hope you enjoy!

Chapter One and Three Quarters

A Gust of Wind

Harry watched as the hands crawled across the face of the clock toward the end of class. Ms. Trieboe, his English teacher, was doing her best to make the story as interesting as possible. But with 15 minutes until the end of class, the fact still remained, it would soon be Harry's turn to read aloud. Harry hated to read aloud.

Dudley had "accidently" sat on Harry's glasses a couple of weeks ago and Harry had to tape them together until he got new ones. Uncle Vernon told Harry that he should be glad to have any glasses at all. And then drifted into the story about how Harry was dumped on their doorstep without any warning, and that he and Aunt Petunia never really wanted him.

As Harry looked at the page that he would be reading from, the words didn't quite line up and Harry found it easier to read them if he covered up one eye. At least that way he didn't have to deal with the ghost image of the words on the page. As Olivia Thomas drew nearer to the end of her page, Harry could feel his mouth go dry and his throat tighten. Olivia finished reading. Harry looked up at Ms. Trieboe hoping that she would say that was enough for today.

"Harry", was all she said.

Harry started to read, "Merlin was a great wizard and teacher of King . . .RINGGG" The sound of the bell startled Harry and cut him off in mid-sentence. As the other students jumped from their seats Ms. Trieboe reminded them of their homework assignment and spelling words. Harry was saved by the bell, and all to happy to see the end of another school day.

Harry walked from school to the Dursley's house in a very roundabout way. He was in no hurry to get there. He usually walked passed the stores downtown and looked in the windows. He didn't have any money, so going inside and touching the toys or smelling the delicious sweets, that he could not have, held no appeal. However, there was only so much to see and eventually Harry found himself walking up the walkway that lead to the Dursley's front door.

"I'm home", said Harry. Not that this place ever felt like home, he thought to himself. As expected there was no response to Harry's announcement. For Harry was invisible. Not really, it just seemed that way. Unless someone absolutely had to address Harry specifically, they simply pretended that he was not there.

"Where have you been?" snapped Aunt Petunia, "We're going to be late."

Harry was surprised to hear that he was going to be late, since he didn't know that he was going anywhere.

"Dudley has an appointment with the stylist at the hair salon. And its high time you had that mop of yours cropped too." ordered Aunt Petunia.

Harry couldn't imagine that he would ever be going to a hair salon to have his hair cut. The surprise on his face must have shown because no sooner had he started his expression than Aunt Petunia popped in, "You can walk over to the barbershop while I wait for Dudley"

At the salon Aunt Petunia gave Harry some change from her handbag, and clear instructions that he was to tell the barber he wanted a "military cut". Aunt Petunia also stated that, "she wanted her moneys worth". Harry took that to mean that the more hair removed the better the deal.

Harry strolled down the lane to the barbershop. Upon his arrival Harry told the barber that he was to get a haircut, short, but not to short. Somehow, the word "military" never managed to make it out of Harry's mouth. The barber went straight to work and Harry found himself laughing and giggling at the man's continuous stream of funny stories and jokes. It was not until the barber held up the mirror for Harry that he realized that he had forgotten to tell the barber to leave his bangs long. Aunt Petunia would be horrified with the prominent display of Harry's "Lightning Bolt" scar on his forehead.

Harry had been told that he received the scar in the same car accident that killed his mother and father. And truth be told, Harry was not any to excited about giving the children at school one more thing to tease him about.

Aunt Petunia went white when she saw the scar on Harry's forehead completely visible. "What would the neighbors think, if they were to see that." she whispered loudly. Beside herself with worry, she dragged Harry out to the car and made him duck down in the backseat until Dudley was done in the salon.

After listening to Aunt Petunia's complaining the entire time that she was fixing dinner and half way into the meal, Uncle Vernon proudly proclaimed the solution to the entire problem.

"Make him wear a hat" he stated clearly. Then happily went back to his meatloaf, knowing full well that to make Harry wear a hat at this time of the year would only add to the list of items Harry was already teased about. Harry was quite sure that he saw Uncle Vernon glance his way and snicker quietly to himself. Aunt Petunia stopped her complaining for a moment to study the proposed solution, then she broke into a giddy chuckle that continued on and off through the remainder of dinner.

After dinner Harry went to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs without being asked. He was already starting to imagine the teasing that would await him when he got to school in the morning.

After a rough night of tossing and turning Harry was awakened by a tap, tap, tap, against the cupboard door. "All right" Harry moaned, I'm getting up".

Harry crawled out of the cupboard under the stairs somewhat like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Harry was small and wiry, but he would not be able to fit in the cupboard under the stairs much longer.

Harry passed Dudley on the stairs as he made his way up to the bathroom. While still in a daze Harry brushed his teeth and washed his face. As Harry returned down the stairs he passed Dudley who was whining about not being able to find his favorite sock. Harry gave Dudley about as much notice as Dudley gave Harry.

At the breakfast table Uncle Vernon had his head buried in the morning paper, while Aunt Petunia finished making breakfast.

Uncle Vernon said, "the weather man says its going to be a sunny day today". Then half-mumbled some sports scores before returning to silence. Aunt Petunia turned to face the table and then let out a terrifying scream, letting the breakfast plates crash to the floor. Harry jumped straight up out of his chair and landed somewhere near the cupboard. Uncle Vernon lifted his head out of the paper with such force that he balanced on the back legs of the chair for a moment, and then continued over, landing flat on his back. Hearing his mother scream caused Dudley to run, for the first time in many years, down the stairs to see what had happen. Unfortunately, since he had only one sock on, Dudley was only able to negotiate the top three steps of the stairs before he came tumbling down, screaming almost as loudly as his mother.

As Uncle Vernon struggled to get up off of the floor, prepared to battle some unknown enemy that had invaded his castle, he saw Aunt Petunia dancing in a most peculiar way. It looked like a cross between the moves from her aerobics tape and the way she looked when she saw a mouse. She was pointing to the seat where Harry had been sitting, for it had not yet registered that Harry was no longer there. It wasn't until Dudley, still half crawling in from the living room, pointed to Harry that Uncle Vernon realized what caused Aunt Petunia to react so excitedly.

Harry's hair had grown back.

Once at school Harry's day began to settle down, at least compared to the scene at the breakfast table. The vision of Uncle Vernon's beet red face screaming in a squeaky forced tone actually made Harry smiled as he remembered the moment. The fact the he was grounded for the entire week was nothing new for Harry and really of no concern at all.

Mr. Bristow cleared his throat, returning Harry to the reality of his biology class. The life cycle of the spiny sea cucumber was of little interest to Harry. Fortunately, his lunch break was coming up, and since Aunt Petunia was in no state to make lunches this morning Uncle Vernon uncharacteristically tossed some money at Dudley and Harry and told them to just buy school lunch today.

Harry had learned to enjoy his lunch alone. Since Dudley's gang made it very clear that they did not like Harry Potter, and no one in the school wanted to risk trouble with Dudley and his goons. Harry sat in the corner of the lunchroom, at the corner of the table with at least two or three empty seats between himself and the other students.

"Can I sit with you", asked a strange round little boy.

Harry had never seen him around school before.

"Sure, if you want to." responded Harry.

"Today is my first day, I just moved here to live with my Grandma" said the round little boy. "How's the pizza?", he continued.

Harry wasn't sure how to answer. He had never had school lunch before. To him it was so much better then his usual lunch that he thought it was nearly a feast.

"Okay, I guess" is all he could muster for a response. As Harry looked closer at his plate he realized that the round "tator-tots" had smiley faces on them. And he assumed that the green gelatin qualified as the dessert portion of this government approved balanced school lunch. He wondered for a moment if the ketchup counted as a vegetable.

"My name is Nevell, Nevell Longbottom" I used to live in Hampshire, with my Aunt and Uncle. But they said I had to move to my Grandma's house", sprayed the little boy, in between mouthfuls of "tator-tots".

Harry returned, "I live with my Aunt and Uncle. My name is Harry, Harry P... "

"Hey, nice haircut Harry", interrupted Dennis and Piers, two of Dudley's gang, who had appeared from nowhere and plopped next to Harry and Nevell. Nevell was confused by their comment since it didn't look like Harry had had a haircut in weeks.

"What do you say we give you a haircut that won't grow back.", threatened Piers. Dennis looked threatening at Nevell, who looked terrified by the confrontation.

Harry dipped his wrist at Piers, and in his best feminine voice said, "Why Piers, you devil. I had no idea that you knew how to cut hair." This caused Nevell to looked even more panicked then before.

"I need to go now", said Nevell nervously, as he lifted his plate and hustled away, leaving Harry alone with his "friends".

Harry saw Dudley and the rest of his gang working their way through the tables. Harry was deaf to the continuing threats coming from Piers. Dennis reached over and took hold of Harry's glass of chocolate milk and started to lift it. Dudley and company were now rounding the corner at the far end of the table. Piers continued babbling angrily at Harry. Dennis started raising the glass of chocolate milk above Harry's head. As Dennis started to tip the glass Harry thought to himself, I really was looking forward to tasting that chocolate milk. Then Dennis poured the entire glass of chocolate milk onto Piers head. Piers was dumbfounded. Dennis was dumbfounded. Harry took the moment of confusion to jump up and start running for the door. As Dudley reached over Dennis to grab Harry, Dennis stood up, kicking the bench out from under him, and straight into Dudley shins. Dudley fell unceremoniously on top of Dennis, with Malcolm and Gordon soon adding to the pile of bodies. Harry looked back only for a second to see the confused look on Piers face as he sat covered in chocolate milk.

After Harry darted through the school kitchen, in an attempt to lose Dudley and his gang, he emerged into the hallway. Hearing Dudley crashing through the kitchen behind him, Harry decided to risk running down the hallway right passed the headmistresses office, Professor Looman. As he began to lean into his run, he was halted by the sight of Professor Looman as she stepped out of her office and directly into his escape path. A quick change of direction and Harry found himself running directly toward Dudley and Piers as they emerged from the kitchen. Not expecting to see Harry running toward them, they stood there looking at him with blank stares as he bolted passed them.

Harry escaped through the hall doors and onto the playground, only to find that Gordon had headed him off. Unable to dodge Gordon's long arms Harry was held tight in Gordon's grip. As Dudley blasted through the hall doors the winds blew his hair back, exposing a round menacing look. Without hesitation Dudley came right up to Harry and gave him a heavy punch, right in the stomach. Harry hung in Gordon's arms for a moment then was released and dropped to the hard asphalt of the playground.

"Make me look like a fool, will you?", Piers yelled at Harry, as he kicked him hard in the ribs. The wind was now blowing hard enough to cause the boys to shield their eyes from the blowing dust.

A crack of lightning, crashes near enough to startle the boys, leaving them nervously looking around. As Harry gets to his feet the boys are turning their attention back to him. Harry lunges full force at Malcolm punching passed him and breaks into a full run, the other boys falling in close behind. Harry sees the school doors to his left and runs toward them. The wind has knocked over some of the garbage cans that normally sit to the side of the doors. As Harry begins his jump over the cans, the hall door opens, Professor Looman is coming out. Harry closes his eyes tightly, and bring his arms in close to protect himself from the pain that is eminent.

But the pain never comes.

When Harry finally opens his eyes he is shocked to find that he is now looking down at Dudley and the rest of the boys, getting a stern talking to from Professor Looman. Then Professor Looman turned to lead the boys back into the school.

The entire student body came out to the school grounds to watch the fireman rescue Harry from the roof of the school kitchen. Harry was safely returned to the ground, and all the children returned to their classes. Professor Looman, having completely forgotten about Dudley and his gang, took Harry by the ear and dragged him into her office, slamming the door so hard that she nearly shattered the pane of glass with her name painted on it.

Without asking Harry for so much as a word of explanation, she began to compose a letter to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

It has been my misfortune to spend the better part of my afternoon tending to the discipline of Harry Potter. Harry has been caught climbing the school buildings and became trapped atop the roof. His safe rescue required the enlistment of our city fire department. This disruption of the school curriculum is unwelcome and unacceptable.

As Harry's legal guardians, if you cannot maintain greater control over this youngster, may I suggest that perhaps you should consider placing him in the care of St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Crimial Boys. The headmaster there is a personal friend of mine and I would be all to happy to put you in touch with him.

Signed,

Prof M. Looman,

Headmistress.

P.S. It is my opinion, that only hulagans and hippies have long hair. You may to choose to start there.

Harry decided to walk straight to the Dursley's house today. To postpone the inevitable would serve no purpose but to make matters worse, and he didn't have to wonder whether he was in trouble or not. As he approached the house he could tell by the look on Aunt Petunia's face, that Dudley had already given her all the details of the days events. All the details, except the ones that involved Dudley.

"I don't know about you, but I've had a heck of a day", said Harry to Aunt Petunia. She failed to see the humor in his comment, but then again, she usually did.

Grabbing Harry by the ear, the same one that Professor Looman used, Aunt Petunia hauled Harry into the house. She started off screaming and only got louder from there. Then she read the letter from Professor Looman. Harry lost interest in the discussion after the first couple of hours. He figured that he would be hearing it all again once Uncle Vernon got home anyway.

The part that did get Harry's attention was when Dudley reminded his mother that this all started over a haircut. And that Harry's hair was still as long as it was before his trip to the barbershop.

"That's right", Aunt Petunia agreed, with a vengeful look on her face.

As Harry tried to explain that he couldn't explain how he got on the school roof, Aunt Petunia was searching through the kitchen drawers for a scissors. Once she found the scissors she came at Harry like a woman possessed. He dared not move for fear that she cut of more than just hair. As the locks of Harry's hair fell to the floor Harry fought back the tears. Dudley heckled Harry mercilessly and all Aunt Petunia had to say was, "this will teach you". Teach me what thought Harry to himself, teach me how to be laughed at, teach me how to look like a fool.

The only place that Aunt Petunia used any care at all was as she carefully left plenty of hair for Harry's bangs. It was very important to her that his scar, that ridiculous scar, be covered up completely.

By the time Aunt Petunia had finished, Harry was broken. Any feelings of worth that Harry had struggled to salvage while living with the Dursleys, now lay on the kitchen floor to be swept up with the clippings of his dark, unmanageable hair. Dudley's laughter only increased as he saw the tears running down Harry's face. Harry never even looked up.

Without a word Harry walked straight to the cupboard under the stairs and crawled into his hole. Harry cried himself to sleep, making no attempt to silence the pain that he was feeling inside.

The Dursleys sat down to dinner with hardly a notice that Harry was missing. Uncle Vernon was told of the happenings at school. The description that Aunt Petunia recited lacked any drama or excitement. She almost seemed to play down the whole situation. Dudley was told to hush when he tried to add any details, and the occurrence of the haircut was only mentioned while passing Uncle Vernon a second helping of pie. Harry nodded off to sleep, in-between sops, as the Dursleys turned off the kitchen lights and went upstair to bed.

Harry dreamed that he was with his mother and father. He made funny sounds and laughed, and they smiled at him. They hugged him and kissed him constantly. Harry felt the love that his mother and father had for him as much as if they were right there with him now. In his dream, Merlin came to visit his parents and Harry tugged on his long white beard. But he wasn't mad, he just laughed and smiled at Harry and his parents. Then Harry's father looked right at him. Not at the baby that was Harry in the dream. But right at Harry as he was now. He told Harry that he was very proud of him and that he was watching over Harry every single moment. Harry's mother said that she was very sorry that she could not be with him now, but that she did what she had to do so that he would be safe. Then Harry's dream went dark, he heard his father yelling something. His mother was crying and then it went silent. Harry was jolted awake by a flash of green light. He hit his head on the pipe under the cupboard.

Was his father really talking to him? It felt so real. Harry wanted to go back into his dream and ask his father so many questions. He felt so much love from them that he didn't want it to end.

Harry felt drops of water running down his face. He got up to stretch his legs and wipe off his forehead. In the mirror Harry found that it was not water on his forehead, but blood. "I must have smacked it pretty good" he whispered to himself, as he brushed his hair out of the way so he could inspect the wound in the mirror. As he dabbed the blood he thought to himself. How did I get on to the school roof? The wind couldn't really have lifted me up there, could it have? What about my hair growing back overnight? What about my hair growing back overnight! Harry was holding onto a handful of his own hair. It had happened again!

With the Dursleys gathered in the kitchen for breakfast, Harry entered the room. Uncle Vernon was the first to not notice Harry. With his head buried in the morning paper he showed no surprise at all. Aunt Petunia was next. As she finished frying the last of Dudley's eggs, she glanced up, then very deliberately looked back at the eggs, making no comment at all. Dudley seems to be the only one not in on the joke. As he raised his head, presumably to see if the rest of his eggs were ready, he saw Harry sitting in his seat, calm as could be, with a full head of hair. Not just a head of hair. But a dark, unmanageable, point in every which way, full head of hair. With a surprised look on his face, Dudley opened his mouth to tell his mother. All that came out was a stiffled grunt. Harry grinned knowingly at Dudley. With out a word, Aunt Petunia gave some eggs and toast to Harry. Dudley looked bewildered, but said nothing.

"Well, boy", Uncle Vernon said to Harry, as he tipped his paper down. "You may think that this type of behavior is okay for you and your kind. But as long as your living under my roof, we will have no more flying around and such."

As Aunt Petunia sat in her chair Harry glanced in her direction. She seemed to have developed a slight twitch in her left eye, since Harry last saw her.

Uncle Vernon continued, "Your mother had some pretty strange ideas about what was normal. And your father may have even encouraged such activities. But I'm telling you here and now that I will not stand for anymore of your antics."

Is that what Uncle Vernon thought, that Harry could fly?

"Do I make myself clear?" Uncle Vernon snapped.

"Yes, sir" replied Harry, without really thinking.

"Fine." closed Uncle Vernon. With a snap of his wrists, his paper was back up to a raised position.

No!, Harry wanted to scream. So much had been said in just a few sentences that Harry's mind was reeling. He wanted to know what in the world Uncle Vernon was taking about. What did he mean, "you and your kind"? Why would he think that Harry could fly? What other activities were there?

"Excuse me, Uncle Vernon. But . . .", Harry began to ask.

"Case closed, end of discussion!", snapped Uncle Vernon, without so much as a movement of his paper.

Aunt Petunia twitched at the end of Uncle Vernon's statement. Harry decided this may not be the best time to pursue an answers to his questions.

*18+3/4*