(Dursley's house)
(Harry's pov)
My dreams always end up like this. First it's a motorcycle flying, then two people in a house screaming and then a flash of green light with a long thin brown stick producing it.
But now it's a different sort of light.
Now it's a clear sort of light that would be anywhere so people could see better.
It's the light that turns out outside my cupboard.
Since apparently someone turned it on.
And by someone I mean my aunt Petunia.
She's the only one who bothers waking me up.
But it's never a gentle or soft 'wake up' you would expect someone in your family to do. It's more like a harsh 'get up or else' wake up call.
"Up!"
Well my eyes are now up and open, if that counts.
But she means get out the door and do her dirty work for her and her husband, who is also my uncle Vernon.
"Get up!"
Now she's banging repeatedly with her hand without stopping for even a second.
Suddenly my lock outside is being ,you know, unlocked and she bangs her thin wrist on the door one last time for good measure.
"Now!"
All right I hear you. Now shut up. Of course I'd never say that to her face to face. Even if I did which is damn tempting, I'd get sent back to this dreadful cupboard under the stairs for god knows how long with starvation.
Hearing her walk briskly to the kitchen, probably all happy for my only cousin, Dudley's, birthday and then gently closing the door but still loud enough for me to hear throughout these dusty thin walls of underneath the stairs.
(Ok. We get it. You live in a cupboard)
Sorry I'm mentioning it so many times of basically living in this dreadful place. I just hate it that much.
No matter how many times I've told my relatives that it would be wonderful to room in that other bedroom where Dudley's toys are, they will simply never allow to see me happy.
...It's like she's right near me, breathing down my neck, or perhaps her eyes are engraved in these walls watching me sleep.
'Up...Get up!'
I can still hear her shrill voice but it's mixed with my brain telling me to get up as well.
It sounds just a little distorted with two voices at once.
But all right I'll get up. Especially on a day like this.
Maybe one of these days I'll disobey her and sleep in for once.
But if I get a chance to look in the future, if ever, there would be a slim to none chance of that happening.
I'm probably just imagining this but if I wasn't I would swear to you that I heard the poor wooden door shaking with my aunts fist banging against it one last time.
But all right I'll get up for everyone's sake including you guys who are in my thoughts.
But it's ok, I don't mind really.
Sitting up from my small twin sized bed and throwing the blankets off, yes surprisingly I do have blankets, and my visions blurry still ever since I opened my emerald like eyes.
So doing my daily routine of putting my glasses on and also socks, ... I had to shake the tiny looking spiders off.
To be honest with ya, I consider these daily visiting spiders more of a family then my actual family.
(Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud)
Heavy footsteps are coming. Which would mean one thing... Dudley's coming down the stairs.
My uncle and cousin are both fat people but I bet my cousin outweighs my uncle. If that's possible.
"Wake up cousin! We're going to the zoo!"
Oh I'm definitely up all right. From your skinny horse faced mother to your insistent, heavy, loud,annoying footsteps which are causing dust to rain down above me.
But the zoo? I don't think I've been there since I really never get to go anywhere. Sad sigh.
I still can't grip the fact that I'm hated by my own family.
I also think that every year their hatred blossoms more and more into loathing.
But hey if almost ten years of loathing and disrespect to me got me here with still nothing then I'm absolutely sure it will be the same until I move out.
I can hear his heavy chuckle and then laughter from down here.
It gets louder and louder with each weighty footstep
until it's coming closer and more, what's the word here... more thunderous.
His footsteps are so loud, his voice is so loud, and it just rattles the house. He's that fat and porky.
My senses now alert and awake, I was ready to get out of the messy cupboard with the also surprisingly cozy bed.
If I ever told them that the bed was nice but firmly in place and also cozy warm when you sleep despite the chilling air and the decency of having only two hand me down ragged blankets, they would take the bed and throw it out the window and run it over with their car until it's nicely destroyed for their taste.
Then I would sleep on the frozen floor with no pillow and no blankets.
They would certainly be more pleased seeing me miserable.
But anyway as I was about to open the door and probably go make breakfast, I was caught off guard by a beefy hand touching my chest and easily pushing me to the ground. And when I got up my door was slammed right into my face just inches away from my nose.
Pushing it away from me , I raised a hand to my messy black hair and walked to the kitchen which was only some steps away.
As I walked those steps while running a hand through my hair I heard Aunt Petunia say to her son,
"Here he comes, the birthday boy"
The way she said it was slow and to the point but also full of cheerfulness.
As I open the door as Uncle Vernon says to his son a happy Birthday also, I can feel the atmosphere change as it was happy when I wasn't there, and now it's different as soon as I walk through the door.
It's now full of deep hatred and anger.
I look on at my uncles face and it's in a stony glare with his small blue eyes darkened from anger at seeing me.
I look over to my right side and for a blinking moment their faces are in icy hard glares as well.
But before I could say anything since I did catch it and didn't blink, Aunt Petunia does some kind of Eskimo kiss several times to her sons nose.
I'm surprised that her face could shake that quickly.
Having done with kissing her sons nose after rubbing her nose on his a hell of a lot, she puts her hands on her sons shoulders and leads him away from me as if I was something disgusting to look at.
In fact when I walked over to the frying pan with sizzling crisp turkey bacon in it, Dudley's face turned into a grimace as if I really was disgusting.
Even though I should be used to it, I always feel that sad pang in my heart.
"Why don't you just cook the breakfast and try not to burn anything" My aunt Petunia said in gritted teeth.
Looking down at the ground instead of her, I grabbed the spatula and obeyed her order.
"I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day"
When she said special day it was used in a off key sing song tone.
And since she looks like a horse why doesn't she neigh and get it over with.
But as she said her sentence with overly sweet joy, I turned the heat and oven off and flipped the bacon.
You know I'm not allowed to eat until they say it's fine.
I only get leftovers and scraps of food like I'm some dog.
But if I was a dog I bet I'd get more love then I do right now and all those other years of spending time with the Dursley's.
Grabbing the frying pan with an oven mitt so I don't get burned by the ovens heat, I walk with the spatula to the kitchen table, flipping the bacon one last time to make sure it's not burned and to my relief it isn't.
"Hurry up!"
Now my uncles annoyed with me.
He's usually the one who always has a short temper with me.
But I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can.
I know. How about you get your cheap fat ass over and do my work for at least a day.
The words were basically on my lips, and if I opened them up, I bet without my permission they would say what I just thought and gave to you guys.
"Bring my coffee, boy!"
My lips tightened and fell into a thin line and with a lot of self control , I forced that thought to my mind instead of my mouth.
My face turning into a annoyed look with a complete 'why bother doing this' kind of look I replied with a simple, "Yes Uncle Vernon", without any attitude or just any negative emotion I feel as I always do this work.
As I give my uncle his share of beautifully constructed bacon, my eyes are placed firmly on the food.
My uncle catching this, as he notices that I'm still standing there, he shoos me off by threatening me with a fork.
Quickly running to the coffeemaker I start to brew a nice cup of coffee for my nasty uncle.
I think only nice people should get a nice tasty cup of coffee.
Not nasty ,mean, and not to mention ,totally bloated uncles.
As I hand Uncle Vernon a fresh cup of black coffee with some sugar I hear Aunt Petunia ask the other kid in this room, "Aren't they wonderful darling?"
Well I certainly think it's wonderful to have all those presents while I on the other hand when it's my birthday get nothing and they seem to think it's totally normal to let my birthday pass without a care in the world.
"How many are there?" Dudley asks in a rude tone, giving your first fact of him that he's totally spoiled.
"36" Uncle Vernon announces proudly.
"Counted them myself"
My cousins face contorts in rage as he hears that number.
How can he with all that blubber and fattening?
"36?! But last year I had 37!"
Rolling my eyes, ignoring the fact that I'll be seen, I'm also not a doormat so don't expect to walk all over me, but as I did roll my eyes while refilling Uncle Vernon's cup of soft black coffee... what can I say I'm a coffee liker, I also relieved the fact that I wasn't seen as my relatives were too busy reacting timidly, well my aunt was, to Dudley's temper tantrum.
"Well s-some of them are q-quite a bit b-bigger than last year," my uncle said quietly while stammering in nervousness.
I guess I take that sentence back of only my aunt being nervous. Both of them were worried of how this was going to turn out.
I wasn't.
I could use a laugh at how bratty my cousin is and doesn't appreciate of how much my aunt and uncle do for him and only him.
Dudley took a step closer and yelled in Vernon's face, "I don't care how big they are!"
Aunt Petunia probably sensed some sort of danger because she told him sweetly, like the over exaggerated mom she is, that he will get two more presents.
And just like every year my face contorts into jealousy and anger at how differently I'm treated compared to their prescious son.
I mean, as always, I think what did I do wrong to make them hate me so much?
But every time I ask a question, its always this.
'Don't ask questions'
And I think we're done with that.
I was about to reach the back door of the car since we decided to go to the zoo now but before I could even get to the car and sit down since the door was opened, my uncles large mass of a body blocked my path.
He even closed the door right in front of me.
It was like my arm was outstretched to pull the door more open and then boom! Door closed and possibly locked since my uncle has the keys.
"I'm warning you now boy" my uncle started with the first word with pointing the sharpest key at me as a threat.
"Any funny business. Any. At. All. And you won't have any meals for a week"
When he ended his sentence or so I think he said 'week' with full of spite and spit in my face.
He then pressed a button and the door loudly unlocked.
"Get in"
Well you didn't have to say it with gritted teeth.
(Reptile house, zoo)
It was a snake we were looking at. Not just some ordinary boring snake like a garden snake.
I didn't know what kind of snake it was but it looked big and long enough to wrap itself around a car and with little effort or effortlessly could crush it into pieces.
That would be cool to do to my uncles car.
The snake was surrounded by fake plants of ferns and grass and a stream behind it with rocks surrounding the display but with enough room for it to slither through.
I was grateful and happy that I finally could get to go somewhere besides going to Mrs Figg's cabbage smelling ,cats at every corner, house.
But Dudley obviously wasn't happy like someone might think. Actually I think you know him well enough to know that something will always be wrong in his wanting of something. He wanted to go to the zoo, he got it but it's still not enough for him since the snake was asleep and he wanted it to be awake and vicious to others.
"Make it move" Dudley ordered to his parents in a nasty little kid tone.
God, nothing stops this kid from complaining.
Uncle Vernon , who was reading the newspaper, obeyed his son's order.
He lifted a hand and roughly banged the thick glass of the snakes natural small habitat too many times for my taste and I bet for other people in this air conditioned dimly lit reptile house.
"Move!"
I look over at my cousins face and search for any sign of gratitude or thankfulness that his father is giving in to his every command.
Earlier he asked for a large chocolate ice cream with four huge scoops, he got it. He asked for his father to push me down when we walked down the steps, he did.
While I'm the miserable one here with lots of bruises and possibly a fractured leg bone.
And a lot of cuts around my face.
But anyway as I looked over at my cousins face, it was full of anger.
He banged the glass as hard as he could to get the snake awoken and commanded the snake to move as angrily as he could.
"Move!!"
My hand grabbed my right ear that was hurting from Dudley's scream.
Covering my ear as a sign of comfort and a sign of protecting it from more yelling , I speak for the first time since we got here.
As Dudley raised his fist to annoy the snake and me even further, I yell , "he's asleep!"
Dudley I think finally got the message that the snake wanted to be left alone.
If it wasn't for this thick glass I bet the snake would've squeezed Dudley's neck so hard his head might fall off from the pressure.
I wouldn't be too upset if that happened. You could always hope right?
"He's boring" Was all that Dudley said after he looked at the snake one last time angrily disappointed.
He then walked over to a other snake that was awake.
If he did what he did with that other snake like he did to this one I'm still looking at, I bet that snake would snap viciously at him trying desperately to break through the hard thick glass.
I guess snakes just loathe being disturbed by humans.
And some other animals.
Taking one last risking glance at my cousin to make sure he doesn't do anything more stupid, I'm pleased to see he's just looking over at the different reptiles without being foolish, so now I can look at this particular snake alone.
It's color consisted of large brown spots on either side and the rest of it was very light greenish white. I really don't know what its rest of colors were.
Some parts on its lower body were white though.
But now me and the snake could just stare back at each other.
All of Dudley's fist banging woke the snake up but I bet the snake knows it's foolish to try to break the glass since there's always someone worse than the person you hate and it's just pointless to break something that's likely unbreakable.
"Sorry about him," I told the snake sincerely, actually sorry about how Dudley was treating the snake on the other side.
"He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there day after day, watching people press their ugly faces in on you,"
The snakes slitted eyes and face lift up at the same time to look at me.
It hasn't slithered away from its cozy spot on the small boulder, but it did lift its body to look me straight in the eye.
It even winked.
That's strange. Don't snakes not have eyelids?
But somehow one of its eyes closed and reopened in the form of a wink.
My eyes were widened so far they almost fell out of their sockets I was that shocked.
"Can- can you hear me?" I whispered amazed.
Before my eyes can widen even further, if that was possible, and fall out of my face and land on the floor with blood pouring out, because the snake nodded understanding my every word.
You'd be shocked too if you can talk to and reason with a deadly snake even without its venom.
The snake stuck it's hissing tongue out and sucked it back in.
I guess the snake wanted an answer from me.
But at least we have a conversation going on.
"It's just, I never talked to a snake before,"
I looked to the side before asking my animal buddy if it talks to people often.
It shakes its head no before giving a look that said,
'you're my first'
Mouthing the word 'oh' , I thought for a quick moment for my next question.
"You're from Burma aren't you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?"
Make that three questions. But hey I'm just curious, nothing wrong with that.
It looked to the right, showing me what to look at.
There was two signs.
The first one was slightly larger then the one below it. It had more height. While the second one had more width.
In the first one though, it said, "London zoo" and in tiny red letters it read, "conservation in action"
On the side of those words was a tiny blue zebra, a red lion, and a green eagle.
The second one was more important. In black words it said "bred in captivity"
So the snakes in here to keep from becoming extinct, I see it now.
"I see, that's me as well. I never knew my parents either."
Talking about my parents was something that makes me more sad then the times I was always emotionally and even physically abused by the Dursley's.
They can slice my arm or leg off for all I care but they will never insult my parents.
Even if I never got a chance to know them, I can sometimes imagine what they must have been like.
How loving they could be, how kind and generous and brave.
I don't want to cry in front of a bunch of people or in front of the animals.
They might think somethings the matter with me.
Taking a deep breath and letting my emotional feelings drift away and letting my more calm feelings come back, because I felt like just thinking of my parents strikes a depressing cord in my body.
Before I could say anything more to the snake, I heard Dudley's intense heavy voice from the other side of the room.
"Mom! Dad! Come quickly! You won't believe what this snake is doing!"
My ear, that had stopped ringing from Dudley's earlier screaming, came back ringing since each word of Dudley yelling now was louder and louder.
He wasn't just walking. He was running.
That was laughable just thinking about it. But actually seeing it you might crack a rib for trying to hold in your laughter.j
But I never got to laugh or even catch a glance at Dudley.
I felt myself falling down, no, I felt myself getting pushed brutally then felt the fall of the push.
Dudley got the laugh instead as I hit the ground hardly.
But it was full of cruelty.
But now as he's busy gazing at the snake, I push myself up from the ground and sit there and carefully put my eyes on the glass, wishing it would vanish or just break and make Dudley fall into the snakes habitat, wanting Dudley's porky body to be eaten and ripped apart by the snake.
As I look at Dudley next, a sign catches my eye.
It says it's a Burmese python and it can contrict humans and it's bites are not that poisonous and doesn't have venom.
Well maybe the snake can choke Dudley instead.
But it somehow magically worked.
As I wished for the glass to disappear, it soundlessly went away and Dudley has his hands on the glass, so when the glass vanished, he lost his balance and fell into a tiny stream of water that was in the front of the snake.
I was shocked at first at how the glass obeyed my wishing but it turned into a childish smile as Dudley was struggling in the water as if someone invisible was holding him down but in reality he was just trying to sit up.
When he did get up, the snake was watching him closely like it should.
Maybe it will choke my cousin's neck and then swallow him whole.
I just really want Dudley to feel something terrible after all he and his parents did to make me feel terrible pain physically and emotionally.
But the snake didn't constrict him.
Instead the snake slithered up to its exit and as it did it looked at me and nodded it's head in approval as if it knew what I just did and is congratulating me for it.
Hell, even I don't know what I just did.
I just stared at the glass, secretly wishing for the glass to dematerialize. I didnt think it would actually work!
You all saw me, you know I'm telling the truth. I stared at the glass and then...Bam! Vanished glass.
But as the snakes body slithered just a little creepily to the ground and staring at me like I was a meal, it changed its look into gratitude, nodded its head in appreciation, and spoke.
"Thankssss." It dragged the s out with its tongue like the classical snake does.
But was I the only one hearing this?
Surely I couldn't be with all these other people around and Dudley the closest by.
But the other thing is Snakes. Don't. Talk. They hiss and bite.
But the snake still hasn't left yet. It's like it wants another answer from me.
Well if it said thank you, I should return the favor by saying you're welcome or something along those words.
"Anytime" I say finally looking between the snake and Dudley. Dudley was looking at me if I was insane. Well maybe it is a little insane to talk to a snake but the snake was talking and actually thankful that I freed it from its scenic cage. How else should I respond to the animal? I'm not gonna ignore it like other people are ignoring this conversation between us two and be rude like Dudley was.
The snake gave me one last look of thankfulness, and slithered away to the our exit door.
People were screaming and running away as the snake was creeping it's way closer and closer to the doors of the reptile house. It did playfully but not actually bite their ankles and people took it totally exaggerated. They were acting as if they actually got bitten and it was just chaos in here.
I was watching the snake go outside and even the people outside were making chaos happen by making dramatic screams. But then a the sound of something hitting glass was right behind me.
The only thing behind is Dudley... so why is he hitting something that he can just get out of?
But I turned around and the vanished glass materialized itself and it's stubbornly holding Dudley in its body. In short, Dudley's trapped.
And as I watched Dudley panic and calling out for his mother, his mother and father were walking by and Aunt Petunia screamed just as loud or even more so than the people outside being chased by a snake.
Aunt Petunia was making such a fuss over Dudley being trapped within the small walls of the snakes scenic habitat. She was banging on the glass, crying and yelling in the same question, 'how did you get in there?!'
Meanwhile I was having a little laugh. I couldn't believe I got two things I wished for in the same day.
Dudley getting a little payback or karma and the glass to disappear which involved Dudley as well as he was being such a rude jerk to the animals.
If the animals don't want to move or entertain the humans then they won't. They deserve something akin to respect.
But then as Uncle Vernon looked over at his son in concern I saw something click in his brain because his face showed suspicion as he looked down at the ground. It's like he knew only one solution to this mess.
Me.
My smile instantly left me as if it was scared of the look on my uncles face.
But my brain and body was just waiting to see what would happen since when my uncle's suspiciously angry like he is now, you know when he looks like that you're about to get screwed over.
But as the years go on I get less timid and more of standing up. There just has to be a good explanation for this incident. There just has got to be.
I need to think. But even if I did say the truth they would think I'm planning something dangerous or something totally moronic and lock me up with no meals or snacks.
(Back at the Dursley's House)
I think the car ride was more uncomfortable than the situation I was in. It was an all silent negative emotional atmospheric ride home.
When we pulled up on the driveway, Dudley was wrapped in a red lined with white and grey blanket that looked very soft and comfortable but Dudley was still crying about how the snake was looking at him as if he was lunch, and how it was totally wrong for him to be in that 'cage'.
He couldn't even open his own door he was still that petrified. He's acting like the snake followed us home and is stalking its way closer to his door and when he opens it, it will immediately constrict him.
I would've said something to help his fear, but Uncle Vernon almost ripped open my door in a rage and pushed me to the sidewalk. Before I can get up he threw me back down and kicked my side.
Yelling in pain, and Uncle Vernon stopped real quick to give me a unfeeling, serial killer looking smile and kicked me one last time but more hardly in the stomach this time.
Grabbing me by the collar, he lead me to the door and was almost choking me back in the neck, and kicked it open when it was about to close on him.
The door almost ripped open from Uncle Vernon's tough kick to the wood. Leading me or more like dragging me inside now, he throws me to the wall right next to my cupboard door by the stairs.
Before I could fall to the ground he grabbed me by my hair and kept a firm grip on me.
"What happened?!" He demanded showing murder in his eyes if I dared say the wrongful words.
But now I'm just as confused at what happened.
I really didn't know what just went down.
"I swear I don't know!" Was all I exclaimed to my uncle.
He gripped my hair even harder and I felt some pieces of black hair leave my head and into my uncles hand.
But it was barely noticeable that some of my hair is gone.
I used to get haircuts so much and so often. But my always grows back as if all the work the barbers did meant nothing.
"One minute the glass was there, and then the next minute it was gone, it was like magic!" I tried explaining desperately to my uncle.
But he wasn't listening.
Especially since I struck something in him and he got even more angry as I said the word 'magic'
He let go of my hair, thank god by the way, and threw me into the bed in all of the space of three seconds.
My back hit the wood and I gasped a little more in pain, I'm getting hurt a lot today, not that it's a surprise since this happens a lot but not really on Dudley's birthday.
My door slammed into my foot and I had to pull my foot up at once to keep it from breaking off as the door didn't slam all the way as it hit my foot.
But as the door slammed for real this time closing the space between me and the hallway to the kitchen, my uncle locked my door and savagely spit out to me through the door, "there's no such thing as magic!"
He closes my door slot that was my only source of light and then the darkness swallows me and my room as I'm just sitting there, touching my body and making sure there's a place where I didn't get hurt after all that happened today.