The Value of Ignorance

Rating: K
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Summary: While ignorance is often viewed as the only true evil in the world, it does have its benefits. Take, for example, young, friendless Harry Potter. His cousin, Dudley, has succeeded in frightening the other children into avoiding Harry. Only the new student, ignorant to the extent of Dudley's nature, dares become his friend.

At Little Whinging's Primary School, every young child had his or her own group of friends, a group of other children with which to laugh, play, and grow. Even Sophie Whitman, who had only attended the school a little more than a week, had made friends easily enough.

Little Sophie, like any child would, had moved to Little Whinging with many worries about making new friends. However, she had fit in nicely enough and had gained two new friends by lunch her first day. There was Alice, a tiny, shy brunette, and Mackenzie, who was not nearly as shy, though just as kind.

This day found Alice, Mackenzie, and Sophie sitting at a lunch table near the jungle gym, munching on the sandwiches, pretzels, applesauce, and other things their mums had packed for them. Sophie was oddly quiet, not partaking in the conversation about whether the zoo or aquarium was better. Her puzzled eyes were locked on one of the young boys in their grade.

Harry Potter, as Sophie had been informed he was called, sat alone on one of the swings. He swung slowly back and forth, one foot dragging in the gravel. His eyes were focused on the other students, much like Sophie's. His gaze, however, was envious as he watched them eat merrily. You see, his lunch had been stolen yet again by Dudley Dursley, the school bully.

Harry, Sophie noticed, was an odd boy. On top of the fact that he seemed to be the only person in the whole entire school without a friend, Harry looked funny. He was dressed in shabby clothes that seemed at least five sizes too large and hung limply off his body. These clothes had many holes and patches. The state of the patchwork, with its much too large stitches and off placements, seemed to suggest Harry had attempted to sew them himself. His black, round glasses were held together with copious amounts of tape and didn't even seem to be the correct prescription, as Harry still squinted when he read. He had unruly black hair that refused to lay flat and he was simply a thin, scrawny bloke.

But, as Sophie's mum always lectured, it was wrong to judge someone by their appearance. Harry might turn out to be a very nice boy, despite his ragged appearance. And so, what Sophie found to be the most curious piece of it all, was the fact that everyone refused to go near Harry, let alone talk to him.

When Sophie had first asked about the silent boy, Mackenzie had simply said, "Dudley hates him." And that was that. Of course, Alice and Mackenzie had warned Sophie about Dudley and his gang her very first day. They were a small group of incredibly large boys who thought themselves to be superior to the other children and were very fond of using violence to get what they wanted. Fear and force were their first resort, as opposed to their last. However, Sophie had not yet suffered their wrath and did not think much of them.

He must be hungry, thought Sophie as she observed Harry. Every single day, Harry was cornered by Dudley and his gang at the start of lunch. Unless he somehow managed to slip past them and find a quality hiding place, Harry was forced to hand over his lunch. He rarely ate at school, though he always seemed just so hungry.

Sophie made a sudden decision. She picked up her sandwich and stood. Her friends seemed confused over her actions at first. But then they noticed the direction in which she was heading.

"Sophie, no!" Mackenzie whispered frantically. "You'll end up on Dudley's bad side!"

Sophie ignored her and marched over to the swing set. When he heard the gravel crunching in his direction, Harry's head snapped up. And when he saw it was Sophie, not Dudley, heading toward him, his jaw dropped. Sophie noticed for the first time that Harry had brilliant, emerald eyes. And, partly hidden beneath his messy black hair, a faint scar was visible on his forehead. It was the shape of a lightning bolt.

Sophie wrapped one arm around one of the poles of the swing set and stuck the other out at Harry.

"I'm Sophie," she said. The boy simply gaped at her. Sophie giggled and withdrew her hand. She figured it didn't matter if he introduced himself properly. She already knew his name, after all.

Sophie took her uneaten sandwich and ripped it in half. She held one piece out for Harry, who continued to gawk at her.

"Take it," Sophie encouraged. "It's peanut butter and jelly."

Hand shaking, Harry took the sandwich from her, but seemed at a loss for what to do next. It was as though no one had ever shared anything with him before.

Sophie sat in the swing next to Harry and began to eat her sandwich. Very cautiously, Harry did the same. His eyes never strayed from Sophie, as if he was afraid she would vanish if he so much as blinked.

"Why does Dudley hate you so much?" Sophie asked curiously between two bites of sandwich.

"He's my cousin," Harry explained simply.

"You don't look much like him," commented Sophie, glancing over at Dudley, who was currently waddling around with his friends, terrorizing a younger student.

"I think I must look like my dad," Harry said wistfully," 'cause I don't really look like much my Aunt Petunia either."

Sophie frowned. "Haven't you seen pictures of your dad?"

Harry shook his head. "I've never seen a picture of my mum, either. I'm not even allowed to talk about them."

"Why don't you live with them?" she asked curiously. Sophie didn't realize, like many children don't, that the question was personal, almost imposing. Harry didn't mind in the least, though.

"They died in a car crash when I was one," Harry explained. He brushed his bangs away and pointed at his scar, "That's how I got this."

They ate in silence for a few moments, swinging with the cool breeze.

Sophie was thinking hard. She had been right about Harry; he was really nice. But, it seemed she would lose her other friends if she was his. The other kids were just too afraid of Dudley. Maybe she and Harry could be friends without letting anyone else know. That way she could be friends with Harry, as well as Alice and Mackenzie.

"Would you like to play after school?" Sophie asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Harry looked shocked, "Really?"

Sophie nodded.

"I don't think I can," Harry said sadly, watching Dudley steal the lunch of another student. "Dudley would be really mean to you if he thought you were my friend."

"Dudley doesn't have to know," Sophie suggested hopefully. "No one does."

"I really don't-" Harry started to protest, but Sophie interrupted him.

"I'll meet you in the park after school," she said determinedly, leaving no room for argument. Sophie jumped up from the swing. With one last grin at Harry, she skipped back over to Alice and Mackenzie. This left Harry sitting alone with the revelation that he had, for the first time in his life, just made a friend.

Awful? Wonderful? Leave me a review and let me know what you think!