Harry's Day at the Zoo
Harry Potter was enjoying his day at the zoo for Dudley's birthday. He had never been to the zoo before, and the Dursleys had agreed to let him walk around on his own (more like they wanted him out of their sight as soon as possible, so he wouldn't ruin Dudley's big day), provided he was back at the retile house by two PM. The retiles were Dudley's favorite and the house was next to where the Dursleys had parked their car.
Harry walked off in pursuit of the hippos – his personal favorite. He was just passing the giraffes when he heard someone talking. "I can't wait to start at Hogwarts," the voice said. It sounded like a girl about his age, but he couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from. Harry had never heard of Hogwarts before, but for some inexplicable reason, he felt a sense of comfort and welcome flood him at the mention of the place. He made a mental not to figure out what Hogwarts was.
As he was about to give up on finding the person who had spoken, his eyes lighted on a girl with large front teeth and brown hair that was bushy and almost as unruly as his own. She was standing hear two adults – most likely her parents – and holding a rather large book tightly to her chest. The little group of three began to wander off to the next exhibit and Harry decided to follow them to see if the small girl, or her parents, would speak of that place again. He rather enjoyed the feeling of coming home that flooded him when he thought about Hogwarts.
The trio came to a stop near a cage of monkeys and Harry stopped a little ways away. He edged closer, trying not to draw their attention to him. Just as he was about a meter away, the man spotted him and asked if he would mind taking a photo of their family. The little girl put her book down in order to pose between her parents; after snapping the photo, Harry made a pretense of seeing the book for the first time. He read the title aloud, "Hogwarts: A History. What is Hogwarts?" he asked.
The little girl promptly responded, "It's a school for w—"
"Wonderful, special people," the mother quickly interrupted.
The girl looked confused for a split second and then repeated her mother's words. "Er, yes. It's a school for special children. It's in Scotland and was founded over 1,000 years ago by four wit… witty people. There are four houses you can be placed in – representative of one of the four… witty founders. The houses are pictured as a lion, an eagle, a badger, or a snake. I hope I'm a lion."
"That's enough, Hermione. I'm sure this young man needs to get back to his parents," her dad said, almost a little apologetically.
Harry wanted to tell the man he didn't have parents to get back to, and that he would gladly listen to anything the girl, Hermione, would tell him about Hogwarts, because he was experiencing a delicious felling of deja vu while she was speaking. But he rather thought that might be rude. So, instead, he said, "I quite enjoyed hearing 'bout Hogwarts. Hope you become a lion," then, turning slightly toward the man, he continued, "my aunt and uncle are meeting me near the snake house in a bit. They wanted to spend time with just my cousin and said I should go on without them."
"Be careful walking around by yourself, Dear," the lady told him.
Without further ado, the trio escaped to the next exhibit. As they were leaving, he overheard the man saying, "Good on you for remembering so much, Hermione! But don't forget that muggles can't…" They had gotten too far away at that point for him to hear the rest.
Harry was elated and disappointed the interaction was over. He hoped someday to see Hermione again, but even more, he knew he needed to find out more about this Hogwarts.
Harry decided to watch the lions and tigers for a while on his way to the hippos. As he was watching two tiger cubs wrestle, he saw something blindingly white out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and found a little boy, no older than eleven, with the whitest blond hair he had ever seen. Before he could stop himself, he blurted, "Is your hair real?" Harry blushed as the little boy turned to him instantly, a sneer marring his face.
"Of course it's real! You can't get this color out of a box," and he turned away disgusted.
Harry quickly apologized, "I'm sorry! I have just never seen anyone with that hair color, but it was rude of me to ask. Are you here by yourself?" Harry sort of hoped this new boy was at the zoo alone, too, so they might walk around together.
The young boy responded, "'Course I'm here by myself; my father would never step foot amongst all these mugg – would never come here!" The boy corrected himself quickly, before mentioning muggles to someone who probably was a muggle. "Do your parents hate the zoo, too?"
"I live with my aunt and uncle; they brought me here for my cousin's birthday. But they don't prefer me, so I get to wander on my own," Harry told him solemnly.
"My name is Draco," the blond-haired boy proclaimed. "My father thinks I am out shopping for school supplies, but I like to come watch the lions whenever I get the chance and can sneak away. My father hates… animals… so he never brings me to the zoo." Draco chose his words carefully, for he couldn't be sure whether this boy was a wizard, or a muggle. He didn't know why, but he felt drawn to befriend the boy next to him.
Harry stuck out his hand and replied, "I'm Harry. I like the lions, too, but the hippos are my favorite."
They stood quietly for a few minutes, both preoccupied, but seemingly enthralled with the lions. All of a sudden Harry burst forth with, "I've just met a little girl who wants to be a lion at school."
"What? She's going to lion school?" Draco asked, feigning confusion. He was pretty sure he knew what Harry was referring to, magical folk often came to this zoo as it was right around the corner from Diagon Alley, but he wasn't sure Harry was a wizard. He would have to be sure before continuing.
"No, no, no. She is going to this school and there are four animals you can be: a lion, a badger, some bird, and – "
"A snake," Draco said before Harry could finish.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Harry asked, confused.
"She must have been talking about Hogwarts. She's a witch; that's the only way she could know. All magical people in the United Kingdom can go there. I start in September; I'm a wizard. But she's barmy for wanting to be a lion; I'm going to be a snake," Draco declared.
"Magical? Like magicians? Do you go to learn magic tricks? What a wizard?" Harry had so many questions and he couldn't get them out fast enough. This boy knew about Hogwarts!
"Draco, already a pale person, turned even paler, realizing his mistake – this Harry was NOT magic! He had just spilled some beans to a muggle. He tried not to panic and thought quickly, saying, "Haha! Just kidding. Magic isn't real – everyone knows that! Just havin' a bit of fun. But I really should be going; Father will be expecting me." And before Harry could respond, Draco had taken off and was quickly making for the exit.
Harry was crestfallen; when Draco had mentioned witches and magic, his heart had thundered with elation. He had felt on the verge of something HUGE. But he had just been joking; Harry felt as through the rug had been pulled from under him. He walked along dejectedly toward the hippos.
Once he arrived at their pin, he couldn't even get close – a family of red heads was blocking the entire view! Harry stopped to count them. One, two… four…seven. Nine! Nine people! And they had to all be related. Their shiny red hair was exactly the same shade, and they all seemed to be wearing sweaters with large Ws on them. Harry decided to watch them until the hippos were available.
They seemed to be quite a loud and boisterous family, but they all were having such a grand time! Two of the boys looked exactly alike and seemed to be teasing the hippos. And there was a boy who might be his age chasing the only girl around the outside of the hippo enclosure.
Harry continued watching them as the mother laid out food for a picnic. As they sat down to eat, she noticed Harry all alone. "Would you like a sandwich, Dearie?" she queried. He was about to say no when his stomach rumbled. She insisted he join them, saying there was plenty to go around.
He felt awkward sitting with them at first, but they quickly introduced themselves and were so welcoming, he quickly felt he wanted to belong to them. As the family of gingers kept up a lively conversation, Harry found himself deep in thought about Draco's magic 'joke' and Hermione's Hogwarts.
"Have you all ever heard of Hogwarts?" he asked.
The family paused for a second before Molly responded with a hesitant, "Yes."
Harry hadn't been expecting that response, so he followed it quickly with, "Do you think magic is real?"
They all looked briefly shocked before Arthur countered, "Why do you ask?"
So Harry told them about his encounters with Hermione and Draco. While explaining his run in with Draco, he heard the youngest boy, Ron he thought his name was, say something like, "Malfoy; he's a right foul git." Harry made a mental note to ask about that after finishing his story.
When he got to the end no one said anything. Molly broke the ice. "I think some magic is real. Like the feelings you got when hearing about Hogwarts. And the love people have for their families. Even a lovely sunset could be considered magical; it's a feeling inside of you."
This answer provoked positive responses from the rest of her family, but left Harry vaguely disappointed. He raked his fingers through his hair, revealing his scar, and consequently his identity, to them.
Before anyone could reveal his wizarding heritage to him, the bell began to toll and Harry jumped up. "I have to go! My aunt and uncle are expecting me and if I'm late I will be in so much trouble! Thank you for lunch!"
As he was racing away, Molly called after him, "Something magical is sure to happen to you soon!" This comforted his heart and he ran back and hugged her, throwing a last grin her way before scampering off to meet the Dursleys.
Not even she knew how right she was, for just a few days later, a letter arrived addressed to:
Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey