Hello People! First of all, I would just like to say that this is my first ever fic that I've actually bothered to upload, so I'd love reviews telling me how to improve. The ideas behind it may sound cliche but I'm hoping I do things differently enough that it'll still be interesting to read.
Child of the Trickster: A Different Point of View
Ch. 1
Harry Potter lived in a cupboard under the stairs. He didn't like this, but things had been this way so long he'd slipped into apathy some time ago. Besides, complaining made Uncle Vernon angry, and that was something to be avoided. Another fact of Harry's life was that he worked in the yard almost every day, watering, weeding, fertilising, pruning, mowing and still more. By the time he was done, his hands often stung, he was exhausted and he still had many chores yet to do. This was how his days went, he would do the housework, acting as a butler, maid and gardener whenever he wasn't at school. School unfortunately was no relief for Harry, with his whale of a cousin Dudley forcefully driving away anyone who might want to strike up an acquaintanceship with dear Harry, whilst Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would punish him if he ever scored higher marks than their 'Dudders'. Given the intelligence of Dudley Dursley, this meant aiming very low.
Whilst working in the yard one day in his seventh year of life, something odd happened to Harry. A girl emerged from beneath the hedge. Needless to say, anyone might find such an event odd, however in the case of Harry Potter, the fact that someone would then approach him, and willingly engage in a conversation went against many of the things the Dursleys had tried to drill into him.
"Hi" said the girl. Harry stared. She smiled. "New to this whole conversation thing?"
"Uh, I, Yeah, my name's Harry" Harry stumbled out. There was something strange about this girl.
"Really? Neat. I'm Mi" the girl replied, casually settling down onto the porch bench.
"You're you?" Harry was confused. The girl started laughing.
"No silly, I'm Mi. I think I met a Yu once though"
"...what? But I've never seen you before" Harry was seriously beginning to question the girls' sanity. And she was laughing harder.
"Okay! Sorry! That was just...too funny!" The girl managed after her giggle fit had passed. "My name is Mi. As in M-I. A lot of people make that mistake or try and crack a joke, so now I like to have a bit of fun with them".
Harry paused. In a way, this made sense. It seemed to be the only thing about the girl that did. Previously, he'd been too distracted by first the fact that a person was in the garden and then that extremely confusing conversation but now, actually looking at her, her appearance made no sense. Her dark red hair was long and messy, yet also looked relatively well cared for. The white business shirt she was wearing looked both very expensive and several sizes too large. It also had dirt and grass stains all over it. Brown pants, also too big, held up by suspenders. The only thing she wore that fit her was her boots. Mustard yellow boots with ridiculously large brown socks.
"Hey, you done staring?" Asked Mi. Harry looked away quickly. "Anyways, I was wanting to know why exactly you're doing all this work. I mean, you're practically rebuilding the entire garden. I'm not one for the big folk, useless lot that they are, but shouldn't they be doing some of this?" The strange girl asked. So Harry explained about Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and how a freak like him needed to earn his keep. The smile had vanished off Mi's face when he was done, replaced by a mixture of anger and curiosity.
"Why would they think that you're a freak? You don't seem freakish to me, and believe me, I've known some real freaks" Mi mused. For some reason, Harry wasn't comforted.
"You know what, I think I might just stick around here for a while, I still have some things I want to do anyway. Want some help with the garden?"s
