Harry was happy. He had a roof over his head and a family who tolerated him. He also had clothes and because they were so big he would be able to wear them for a long time and that made him happy. He always did his chores and this weekend would be his 11th birthday. That meant that he would get food cooked by his aunt and maybe a coin as a present. Harry had been saving his coins and the ones he found in the cushions since he was little and he always hid them from his cousin Dudley so he had a lot of pounds that he could spend the next time they took Dudley to London and he was begrudgingly allowed to go along.

However.

There was trouble lurking and Harry would be completely unaware of it. He is after all almost 11 and he might not even receive that magical letter that he does not even know about. Let's follow him and see what he makes of everything…

It was freezing outside and Aunt Petunia was slamming cupboards looking for some or other chore for me to do because she couldn't send me outside to weed the garden. I stood next to my cupboard door waiting for her to bark out orders but instead she sighed and opened the fridge. I began twiddling my thumbs nervously waiting for her to lash out but instead of any of her usual reactions she stuffed one of the small milk cartons Dudley usually gets in his lunch box and a zip-lock baggy of cookies into my hands and told me to stay warm in my 'room' for the rest of the day. Not willing to risk doing something to get my treats taken away from me, I excitedly climbed under my blankets and shut my door turning the light bulb above me on.

She never gave me cookies, they were always reserved for Dudley. Maybe it was because he was spending time at his friends and Uncle Vernon was working late. Whatever, these cookies are amazing and some of them are even chocolate chip!

I had finished my meal and I was getting sleepy so I started to close my eyes. Strange footsteps on the stairs above me however wouldn't let me. They weren't any of the footsteps I had ever heard before and Uncle Vernon nor Dudley was home yet. Slowly I pushed the creaky cupboard door open and peeped around the edge of it: I couldn't see anyone.

I climbed out slowly taking a blanket for heat and I began walking to the front of the stairs so I could see what was going on. My socks shifted on the floor and a shock of cold came through the hole in my left one. A noise came from the second floor and I pulled my blanket tighter against me and quietly began climbing the stairs.

At the top I immediately noticed something odd, I didn't know we had an attic? It would have been so much better staying up there in the winter than in my cold cupboard! Shifting from one foot to another I struggled to decide whether I should go up and risk bumping into Aunt Petunia or if I should just go back down and take a nap. Rubbing my cold nose I push my glasses into place and decided to go up and see what aunt Petunia was doing.

The attic was strange and very dusty. It was filled with two old trunks and spare furniture. I stood on my toes keeping a lookout for Aunt Petunia but she wasn't there. I saw a window on the side of the room and shuffled over to it. It was even dirtier than it looked from far away. I wiped some of the dust off and looked outside and saw it looked into the neighbours next door's yard. I wonder why aunt Petunia never mentioned that we had an attic. Shrugging my shoulders I looked at some of the furniture and seeing nothing interesting I walked back over to the attic's stairs. But before I could climb down again it felt like my foot caught on something and I stumbled backwards. One of the trunks broke my fall but my back still hurt. I stood up trying to exit again but something next to me caught my attention.

It was a doll. Not like those porcelain ones you see in old shops but one made out of material. I picked it up and held it in the light coming from below. It sort of looked like me…

I shook my head and tucked it under my arm. I would ask aunt Petunia about it.

A month went past and I had forgotten about the doll that was still left in the cupboard when I had to move into Dudley's second room. I had been 11 for a month now and it felt the same as being 10 which I did not understand. I was excited to go to the magic school that the giant man Hagrid told me about but that wasn't until another 2 weeks. I had already read some of my books in between my chores and bed time but I was going to leave the rest until school began. I did not want to be ahead in class for fear of being sent home or punished for being smarter than the other kids.

It was a cold afternoon again and aunt Petunia was behaving strangely again. This time I received a sandwich and a juice box instead of the milk and cookies like last time. I didn't complain, only smiled at her and then ate what she gave me. Half an hour later I was bored and slid down the stairs and threw away my juice box in the kitchen. All of a sudden a bump sounded from my closet.

Looking around I saw no one around and padded over to it. The latch was unlocked so I opened it easily and looked inside expecting something to jump out at me. When nothing did I leaned inside and turned the light on. I couldn't see the cause of the noise and I leaned back inside to turn off the light when I found myself staring at the doll I found a while ago. I picked it up and went back to my room. It was strange that I forgot about it because it looked even more like me now than I remembered. It even wore the same oversized grey shirt and green corduroy pants as me. Laughing at my silliness that a doll could look like me I put it on my chair and reread one of my school books.

I had to have fallen asleep because I sat up shaking from the usual green light that was in my dreams. The clock showed 8PM meaning I had missed dinner. I wasn't hungry and I didn't want to sneak past aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon watching telly for nothing so I changed into my pyjama's and climbed back into my bed. I drifted to sleep again unaware of the green eyes watching me from my rickety desk.