Harry was excited. Today would be his first day of school! Today, he would make friends! Today, he would get away from mean Dudley's pinches and grabby hands! He was very excited indeed. Aunt Petunia had even bought Harry new crayons and markers (since she had to buy them for Dudders anyway) and even though he wasn't allowed to use them at home, lest he ruin them or use them up, he was excited to get to use them with all the other kids to draw pictures and color. He hoped the teacher was nice, and not at all like his aunt. And most of all, he was excited to learn. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had often tried to teach Dudley the ABC's and counting (not that he succeeded in learning anything) but hadn't bothered to try with Harry and so he had looked on a bit jealously as, once again, Dudley got something Harry didn't.
But today that would change!
As the car pulled up to the Primary School, Harry found it hard to sit still. His cheeks hurt from smiling. Once the car fully stopped, he quickly unbuckled and untangled himself from the car rushing to class while Aunt Petunia worried and sobbed over her baby boy's first day of school. Harry was one of the first in the class room and hung up his backpack on one of the hooks on the wall and began to pull out his brand new school supplies. He stood there for a moment, his hands full, looking around the now filling class, unsure where he should go next. A boy already sat at one of the tables with fresh paper out and a box of crayons, so Harry made his way over and sat next to him, doing the same.
"Hi, I'm Harry, can I color with you?" Harry asked, remembering to be polite the way Aunt Petunia had kept reminding Dudley to be.
"Sure! I'm gonna draw a rocket ship, and it's gonna go to Mars and see all the aliens there, but they'll be nice aliens, and eat only ice cream, not mean ones that eat people." The boy smiled at him and then looked down at his currently clean piece of paper, concentrating.
Even though the boy hadn't introduced himself like he was supposed to, Harry didn't mind. He looked at his own paper wondering what he should draw. It was at that moment that Harry heard a familiar voice, and his heart sank as he remembered, Dudley was in this class too. He looked up to see Dudley at the class room door loudly boasting that he could already count to "eleventy." Harry looked away again; trying to ignore his cousin as he often did at home, and began drawing what he hoped would be a passible rainbow.
"Alright everybody! Let's hang up our things so we can get started, ok?" a cheerful voice called out. Harry looked up to see the teacher. She looked like a very nice older lady. Once everyone had hung up their things she had them all sit on the floor. She introduced herself and Mrs. Winstein and told about what they would be doing every day and when. She showed them around the classroom and where everything was, and then they played a circle game where everybody said their name and something silly starting with the first letter of their name. And just like that, it was time for recess.
Harry was excited to play with all the people he had met and, once outside, went looking first for the boy he had colored with that morning. In the excitement, he failed to notice something large rushing at him from the side. He was pushed to the ground hard and the wind was knocked out of him. He rolled over with some difficulty to find himself looking up at Dudley through glasses that were now broken at the bridge.
"Where do you think you're going? You aren't allowed to play with other kids! Mommy says you're a freak, just like your parents! Nobody's gonna like you." Dudley taunted him as kids gathered around the two of them.
"I'm not a freak…" Harry said quietly, trying to will himself not to cry in front of all these people and his mean cousin. All the same, he could feel tears starting to prick his eyes.
"Harry's a freak! Harry's a freak! Harry's a freak!" Dudley began to chant with force. He stopped to glare down some of the kids surrounding them who were quick to join in, lest they be on the ground with "the freak" being made fun of too.
"No! No I'm not! Stop it!" Harry put his hands over his ears and crouched over, wishing he couldn't hear the awful things his cousin was saying. It wasn't fair! This was supposed to be Harry's new start, his chance to get away from Dudley being mean, but now it felt like he would never escape his cousin.
By the end of recess, everyone had learned to stay away from Freak Potter for good, and even the boy he had colored with shied away from him in class. Everyone stayed away from Harry and he was just as alone as he ever was, although he felt more so now than ever after having his hopes dashed. That night Harry crawled into his bed in the cupboard under the stairs and wished with all his might that there was some place in the world where he would finally be accepted and that he could someday go there.