Entropy: Prologue
AN: This is basically an idea that has been floating around my head for a while and I finally decided to take a shot at writing it down.
This will be a series rewrite but a large part of the story will take place outside of Hogwarts and will feature an AU setting and OC's who I will do my best to write believably, despite (probably) not being at Hogwarts Harry will still be effected by cannon events.
"All passengers with children are welcome to board the plane at this time"
Five year old Harry Potter heard the announcement come over the PA system at London's Heathrow airport. Picking up the small bag of his valuables that the Dursleys had allowed him to carry, he followed a flight attendant along with several other children onto a British Airlines Boeing 767.
Harry Potter was unlike the rest of the children that were following the thirty some year old woman onto the plane. The other children were flying without their parents or guardians who would surly be anxiously awaiting the arrival of their kin at their destination in Warsaw.
The Dursleys, Harry's relatives were at the same gate, waiting for the same plane. They however were perfectly normal and respectable people and were wished only to associate with a similar sort. Their young nephew didn't fit this description. An uninterested observer looking at the child would be hard pressed to find any thing wrong with him. He was well dressed, wearing tan slacks and a white shirt, he recalled his relatives instructing him to wear the clothes that were reserved for the rare church or community function that they were compelled to take him to. He was reading a novel, The Rifle at the time that he was called.
An elderly man sitting nearby commented to his wife on how well behaved the boy was, especially for one so young. The family sitting several rows behind them thought differently
"What time is it Petunia" asked an overweight man that would appear to be in his late thirties.
Looking at her wrist watch, a skinny woman with an abnormally long neck replied, "About half past five dear"
Her husband Vernon Dursley nodded his head in understanding. Checking his ticket he saw that their flight was scheduled to leave at six forth five and smiled.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the voice of his young son, "Daddy I don't want to go"
"Well you wouldn't want to be away from daddy from a long time would you" Vernon asked his son in a matter of fact voice.
"No" responded the boy.
"Well then why don't you look at that comic you got from mom while we wait" Vernon replied in a kind tone hoping to shut his son up, since he wasn't in a good mood today.
The son obviously wasn't in the mood for reading but had more pressing concerns. "Why dose the freak get on the plane first?" whined Dudley in a voice that was beginning to grate on his fathers nerves.
"Because son, the good people that fly the plane know that good boys like you can wait their turn while his sort can't" Vernon reasoned.
His son appeared satisfied with his father's praise and said "So, I'm a good boy" happily.
"The best" replied his father messing with his son's hair up affectionately.
The boy stayed silent for a few moments but soon realized that he was going to be away from his TV for a while.
"Daddy, will I still be able to watch transformers?"
"I'm sure we can arrange something" replied the father becoming more irritated.
"But I need to watch it" Dudley stated emphasizing the word need.
"I said don't worry your self with it boy, I need to hear the announcements, you don't want the plane to leave without us do you?" replied Vernon visibly irritated by this point.
The son seemed to understand and merely nodded his head and turned his attention to his mother asking her if she was sure that she had packed all the toys that he was going to need.
Vernon understood his son's discomfort. It was unusual for him to take his family along on his business trips but this was a special case.
With the recent fall of the USSR a huge opportunity in the former soviet sphere of influence had presented itself. Many engineers and skilled machinists were employed by the former communist governments of Eastern Europe. Now that Communist had essentially collapsed on itself many of these people suddenly found themselves unemployed.
His company, Grunnings was looking to expand its production line to include several new types of low cost industrial grade drills that were to be aimed at the home owner that like Vernon himself demanded quality. They hoped to beat the foreign competition to this market.
The management of Grunnings soon discovered a problem with their latest business plan. With the current wages that they paid their employees they would never be able to match the cheap prices of the competition, this is where Vernon came in.
The company had sent him to Poland an entry point to the rest of Eastern Europe to inquire into the possibility of tapping into this work force. Since Grunnings was one of the first companies to attempt to do this Vernon was told to bring his family along with him since they weren't sure how long his stay would be.
Vernon thought that hopefully all he would have to do is talk to a few local officials and obtain a list of suitable prospects. He was well aware that he would have to use quite a bit of money in order to get anything accomplished in this country. After he had a list of people with the skills that he needed all that he had to do was convince them to come to England. 'That shouldn't be difficult though Vernon. The problem however wasn't getting the men to agree but for the English and Polish governments to agree. However the man that was supposed to be his contact assured him that it wouldn't be a problem.
"People of the most wretched sort" he thought thinking of the people that he was sure that he would have to deal with. From what he heard about the man, his contact was going to be as bad as the worst of them. Vernon was rather upset that he was supposed to meet and work with some young bloke about matters as important as the fiscal health of his company.
Vernon resigned to the fact that he was going to have to deal with the situation as it stood for the moment. The alternative of having to stay in a foreign country longer then absolutely necessary wasn't acceptable.
The worst case scenario of course that his fact finding mission would turn out into a permanent situation. This would only happen if it was decided that it would be more cost effective to open up a new plant in Eastern Europe. However Vernon would see to it that the statistics he sent back to management wouldn't reflect this unless proper compensation for his troubles could be arranged.
Harry made is way down the jet way after handing his passport and boarding pass to the man that was controlling the gate. Harry made sure to be extra careful with these documents as he took them out of and put them back into the plastic airline provided pouch that hung around his neck. His aunt and uncle and uncle had made it clear that they weren't going to help him if they were lost.
Walking down the jet way Harry was glad that he was going to be away from his relatives for the flight. He remembered his uncle saying that it was bad enough that they had to take him with them. His aunt had tried to convince Mrs. Cofern from down the street to watch Harry. But he remembered her saying that she couldn't take a child under her care for such an extended period of time.
Harry remembered his uncle taking him aside that evening and telling him that since they were doing him a favor by not simply leaving him locked in his cupboard he would be traveling in coach by himself. The rest of the family would be traveling business class but kids like him didn't deserve any sort of amenities.
Harry was rather excited by the prospect of going into another country. The farthest that he had ever been away from the Dursley's house was school, besides that he had never been allowed to go with his family on the numerous excursion that they went on for their son's benefit. He tired to make the best of the opportunities that he did have. He liked exploring his school and the bit of forest that surrounded it at any chance that he had. This lead to a rather large number of detentions for showing up late from recess. The teachers tried paying him more attention to make sure that he didn't slip away from their sites but Harry always managed.
The group of kids soon reached the end of the jet way and stepped aboard the plane. The flight attendant sat them in a group of seats towards the middle of the plane near the galley in the right side aisle. Harry noticed that nobody was seated in the seat next to him. He wasn't particularly upset since he figured that he could get some sleep since Aunt Petunia had him dusting the kitchen the night before so that everything would be in the best possible condition when they got back home.
"Welcome to British Airlines children" began the flight attendant, Harry tuned into her speech, "The plane will be leaving as soon as we get the rest of the passengers have an opportunity to get on the plane. In the mean while please look through the catalogues in front of you or play with the toys that were in the bag that you received earlier. If you need any thing, feel free to call one me or one of the other flight attendants by pressing the red button above your head."
Harry looked above his head to see a red rectangular button with a flight attendant on it. Harry then shifted his gaze to the window to see a bunch of workmen running around the plane.
He turned his attention back to the book he was reading earlier. A few minutes latter a voice caused Harry to look up from his book.
"Hey kid, anybody sitting here" asked a well dressed man of average build and height Harry noticed that he was wearing a long sleeved shirt along with thin leather gloves; he thought this was odd given that it was the middle of summer but knew better then to ask.
"I don't think so sir." Replied Harry simply.
"Mind if I sit, flying stand by you know," the man said using an nonchalant tone but Harry didn't think that he was actually asking his permission.
"Sure" Harry replied.
"What's your name kid" the man asked, with that Harry's thought of getting sleep went out the window but Harry though the man seemed nice enough.
"Harry, what's yours sir" Harry asked deciding that it was best to be nice to this guy since it seemed that they were going to be stuck together for the next few hours.
The man looked as though he was about to make a rude comment but then for some reason he seemed to restrain himself and simply said. "Call me Ulan
Ulan tried to make small talk with the kid sitting next to him. His friends would say that this was rather unusual behavior for the man that was usually best described as cold.
Ulan however was drawn to this kid the moment that he saw him. Physically the kid wasn't impressive by any standard. He seemed to keep his head down and it wasn't until he was addressed did he notice that somebody was standing over him. This was despite the considerable stir that Ulan had caused by placing his bag in the over head bin.
He seemed skinny, even for a kid. Ulan though that he probably encircle Harry's arm with his thumb and pinky. Not to mention the fact that the kid was in his opinion long overdue for a visit with his barber.
There was one feature that stood out. The boy's eves seemed unusual. Kids did generally tend to have eyes that were brighter then those of adults but something about Harry's were different. The way that the cabin lights reflected of his eyes was odd, light seemed to reflect alright but only on a certain part. One half was perfectly normal but when Ulan look for all of two seconds he noticed that when it reached certain spots on his eyes light it seemed to only half reflect and the other half seemed to refract right into Harry's cornea's, giving a shade of green that Ulan had never seen before.
This was the reason that he decided to tell the kid to call him by his first name, a privilege that was generally reserved for his close friends and his daughter.
He has seen similar eyes of different color before, and the difference was hardly noticeable to those that head never seen a similar thing before. It was where he had seen the same anomaly before was the thing that captivated him.
Ulan took the in flight magazine out from the seat pocket. He happened to see an advert for an African Safari. 'Kids like animals, right?' he though.
"So, have your parents ever taken you to a zoo?" Ulan said trying to start a conversation.
Notes:
The book Harry is reading is not significant in any way.
Ulan is a semi important OC for the next chapter or two but will soon fade into the background.
Brooklynight