Author's note: Please note, I got the idea of this story using the first 6 plot bunnies that Exceptional Incongruous posted in his collection of "Harry Potter 'What If' Plot Bunnies" on FanFiction . net . It may also contain text and quotes from that source as well. Also, I do not own Harry Potter or any of the familiar characters, quotes, or text in this story (nor does Exceptional Incongruous). I'm just some insane fan mutilating J. K. Rowling's work that is building on Exceptional Incongruous' ideas.

Chapter 1

The trip to the zoo was going smoothly, or at least as smooth as Harry could hope for. Harry Potter, nearly eleven years of age, was at the zoo with his last living relatives, the Dursley family; his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and their son Dudley. With them was Dudley's friend Piers. It Dudley's 11th birthday, and although the Dursleys hadn't wanted Harry to be there to 'ruin Dudley's perfect day,' his aunt and uncle had had no choice but to bring him along.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for Harry), at the last minute all the babysitters that the Dursley's knew had some excuse and couldn't watch Harry. They couldn't leave Harry to his own devices at their house, he'd probably destroy it within a matter of minutes. His Uncle Vernon, before they had gotten into the car, gave Harry a stern message that he did not want anything 'strange' happening while they were at the zoo or there'd be no food for a week.

Right now, Harry was in the reptile house at the zoo. Dudley and Piers wanted to see the huge poisonous cobras and giant pythons so they ran over the the window that had the largest snake they could see. The snake was asleep at the time and was not at all interesting, no matter how big and powerful it was. Harry deigned to go look at something that was more…alive.

He found it. He was immediately drawn to it, the moment he saw it – it was a Diamondback Rattlesnake. It was smaller than the snake Dudley was ogling, but venomous, and, in Harry's mind, a lot more dangerous. It was trying to hide in the fake foliage of its cage.

"What are you staring at, human?"

"The design on your body is amazing," Harry replied automatically.

Wait.

Had he just talked to a snake?

"A speaker?" If the snake could have showed emotions, it probably would have shown mild curiosity just then. "How interesting. What's a young wizard like you doing here?"

Harry's eyes darted around the room, making sure no one was watching. "Wizard? What are you talking about? I'm just…normal."

"No non-magical human has ever known the great language of the snakes. You're not normal, boy. Accept that now. Normal has never changed anything in the world, and you could probably do great things, if you stopped being such an unmotivated, uninteresting, bad-at-pretending idiot. Now leave me. I wish to sleep."

Harry gaped. Was this really happening? Talking to snakes? Wizards? Being told he was an idiot by a caged rattlesnake?

"Stop standing around with your mouth hanging open, boy, and hurry up!" His uncle yelled, making a few young girls near him jump. "We're going back to see the wolves."

Harry followed his relatives around the zoo on autopilot the rest of the day, wondering all the while if he was completely insane.

A few rather uneventful weeks went by. Harry, in his spare time, which he didn't have a lot of, thought about the incident with the snake at the zoo. Maybe the snake was right. Maybe he wasn't 'normal.' But that's assuming that the snake was really talking to him and it wasn't just his imagination. It had felt real to him, though. And it would explain so many strange past situations – he was sure those were real, if the at-least-week-long punishments were any indication.

And if those strange things were real, then why not a snake talking to him? Maybe that's one of the reasons people always distanced themselves from him. Thinking back, every odd thing that had happened was when he was scared, frightened, or upset, with the exception of the snake. These thoughts didn't get him very far, though. The only thing he could conclude was that he would never fit it, and that it would be easier for him if he just kept to himself.

However, one morning, during breakfast, everything started changing. The members of the Dursley Household were eating breakfast when they heard the telltale plop of the letters hitting the mat.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.

"Make Harry get it."

"Get the mail, Harry."

"Make Dudley get it."

"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley," Vernon grunted again, shifting around his newspaper. He was referring to the seemingly pointless stick Dudley had gotten from the private school Dudley had been accepted to.

Harry's thoughts weren't on Dudley's school, though. He didn't want to get the mail for Dudley. He always had to do things like that for his 'family,' like a servant rather than a relative. But he learned a long time ago that it was next to useless to argue with his relatives. If a pointless fight can be avoided, avoid it he believed, so he decided to just get the mail. Flipping through some inane letters, he paused at an old looking envelope without a stamp and with emerald-green ink on it.

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Harry blinked in surprise. He had never before received a letter. Not from friends, nor relatives. Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H. He started opening the letter slowly, treasuring the arrival and reading of his first ever letter, no matter how strange.

"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Harry quickly shoved the letter into is back pocket, heading to the kitchen to give the remaining letters to his uncle. He would read it later in private – another early life lesson of his was to not let Dudley know that he had something he could call his own.

That evening, Harry was exhausted. He had spent the rest of his day doing a larger-than-normal list of chores. Aunt Petunia must have been annoyed with something and let it out on him. Perhaps she had seen nothing of interest when she had craned her neck earlier in the afternoon to look into the neighbors' house.

He retired to his cupboard and pulled out the slightly crumpled letter from his back pocket along with a stolen flashlight. Quickly fishing the letter from the envelope, he starting reading:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

He noticed vaguely that there was also another paper besides that, one with a list of magical school supplies, like a wand and spellbooks. He noticed, but he didn't comprehend. How could this even be possible! Magic? Did someone really expect him to believe that?

But didn't the snake a few weeks ago say he was a magical person? Even so, this had to be some kind of elaborate prank.

But why would someone go through the effort? He wasn't well liked, true, but he wasn't well known either. An elaborate prank like this wouldn't be wasted on him. And, as illogical as it sounded, it explained some things. It explained why he could do strange things, like growing back his hair and disappearing onto a roof. It explained the reasons he was different, why he was shunned, why he was never allowed to be happy…

He shook his head wildly, tears being held back at the corner of his eyes, hands clenching the letter tightly in his hands.. It was never that easy, not for him! How could someone be that cruel to him? Cruel enough to make him wish for a chance at acceptance for the first time in a long time.

He would have guessed that Dudley made this up, as Harry's pain brought Dudley joy, except Dudley wasn't smart enough for something like this. His cousin might constantly call him a 'freak,' but it really didn't hold any meaning to the boy. He was only repeating what he heard his parents say.

This just didn't make any sense. No one could really know how much a letter like this would affect him, and he knew of no one that would bother spending time making up a letter like this.

It was there, in his tiny, dark, sparse cupboard, clutching a letter and a flashlight as though they were lifelines, hunched over so that only his hair brushed the ceiling, tears close to trailing down his face, that Harry Potter, an eleven year old wizard, the unknowing Boy-Who-Lived, savior of the wizarding world, defeater of Voldemort, allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

Bringing the letter back up close to his face, the emerald-eyed boy mouthed the words 'await your owl.' He had no clue what that meant. Did it mean that he had to catch an owl and send it to this school? That might end up being problematic, as that he didn't know of any owls that lived in his area, and even if he did, he didn't know how to get ahold of one.

The next day, three more letters came for Harry, all of which were identical to the one he got. This time, though, the letters were seen by his other relatives. When his Aunt saw the letters, she seemed to have a small heart attack as she clutched her heart. He and Dudley got kicked out of the kitchen, but both stayed to eavesdrop at the door.

"Vernon! They're sending him that letter! Just like my dratted sister! I knew this would happen!"

Vernon was more worried about his reputation at the moment. "Petunia, do you think they're watching the house? How else would they know that he's in a cupboard?"

"Maybe we should move him into Dudely's second bedroom. Just in case..."

Harry's aunt and uncle told him the letters were sent to him by mistake and moved him to Dudley's second bedroom without explanation. Harry had no objection there. His cupboard had been too small for years. But he wished his aunt and uncle had done more about the letter.

Harry still had no clue what 'await your owl' meant. Nor did he have any clue of how to reach the ones sending him the letters. As the days went by, he kept getting more and more letters. Eventually, his Uncle got so fed up that they left the house. They tried to stay in a hotel but when they arrived, a bunch of the same letters were waiting for him. His Uncle decided that maybe a small shack out to sea that he had seen maybe a good place to stay. The eve before his birthday, Harry stayed awake, laying on a hard floor, cold, with only a ragged blanket to cover him. He was on his back, staring at his watch, hoping for…something. Something better than what he had now.

Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmed if it did. Four minutes to go.

Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes go go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?

One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds…twenty…ten…nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him – three…two…one…

BOOM.

The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.

Soon, the door was busted down and standing in the doorway was the largest man Harry had ever seen. He was at least two times as tall and three times as wide as any person Harry had ever seen.

"Sorry about that. Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..." the man said as he walked toward the sofa in the room that Dudley was sleeping on causing Dudley to get up and hide behind his parents. "An' here's Harry! Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes."

Harry scared as to who this stranger is and how he knew who he is, looked at the stranger's fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.

Vernon made a funny rasping noise. "I demand that you leave at once sir! You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune." the giant said as he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked a gun that was in Vernon's hands. The giant then bent the gun into a knot as if it was made of clay before tossing it into the corner of the room.

"Anyway, Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here. I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it and found inside a sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.

Harry looked up at the giant wanting to thank him but the words got lost on the way to his mouth and what he said said instead was, "Who are you?"

"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

'A person from Hogwarts!' Harry thought to himself. 'Now I can get some answers!'

"I was sent here to find out why you haven't replied to yeh letters Harry. I'm sure yeh'll know all about Hogwarts."

"I know its a school a school for witches and wizards but that's about it." Harry replied.

Harry's aunt and uncle expressions were that of pure shock.

"How do you know about Hogwarts? We never let you have any of those letters and we never mentioned that school my dratted sister went to!" Petunia exclaimed.

"I hid one and read it while in my cupboard..." Harry nervously said.

"Yeh mean to say you told him nothin'? And what were yeh doin' in a cupboard?" Hagrid asked.

"That was my bedroom before the letters came..."

"YEH MADE HARRY POTTER, THE BOY-WHO-LIVED, SLEEP IN A BLOODY CUPBOARD! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! A SCANDAL!"

The shack seemed to shake. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the store or not but next thing Harry knew, Dudley had a pigs tail sticking out from a hole his trousers. Harry's aunt Petunia let out a scream when she saw it.

"The boy-who-lived?" Harry asked confused.

"Yeh don't know that yeh famous Harry?"

"Uh... No."

"What do yeh know?"

"When we agreed to take him in, we... uh.. decided to put an end this magic non-sense. We told him uh.. nothing that old man said to tell him." Petunia said.

"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"

"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU TO SAY ANY MORE!" Vernon yelled.

"Ah, go boil yeh heads, the both of yeh," Hagrid said. "Harry – yer a wizard. An' thumpin good 'un I'd say once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would ye be?

"Where was I? Ah yes. It begins, I suppose with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in the wizarding world knows -"

"Who?"

"Well - I don't like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does Harry. People are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was a wizard that went as bad as yeh can get and his name was – Voldemort. Don't make me say it again. Anyway, this – this wizard about 20 years ago now started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em too – some where afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his powers cause he was getting' power himself. Anyways, it was dark days Harry. Didn't know who to trust. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.

"Now yer mum an' dad were as good a witch ah' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the mystery is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before... probably they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anything ter do with the Dark Side.

"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village you were all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' -"

Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.

"Sorry," he said. "But it's sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway...

"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then -an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches and wizards of the age an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."

Mad, Harry turned to his aunt and uncle and said, "You told me my parents died in a car crash and you knew!"

"We need to tell the freak something. He was asking questions..." Petunia quickly explained.

"And he's not going to that freaky school. I'm not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!" Yelled Vernon.

"Then…then he was telling the truth! That snake! I'm not normal! I'm…I'm not normal," Harry was mumbling to himself by then. Hagrid stared at him strangely.

"Can we leave now?" the young wizard asked suddenly.

"I don't- What? There's a huge storm out there, Harry, and I reckon it's really not safe."

"You can do magic, can't you?" he asked impatiently. "I don't want to stay with them," he jerked his head towards his relatives, "any longer than I have to. So can we leave?"

Hagrid was staring at him, eyes wide.

"Yeah, alright. It'll take a mo,' though, I need to make sure the boat's goin' to be safe for us."

Harry smiled to himself as they walked out the door, pulling the thin blanket around his shoulders tighter. He'd have to go back and thank that snake someday. He'd become great, he was sure of it.


Chapter End Notes:

There's chapter one. I would like to thank Exceptional Incongruous for proof reading and giving me feed back on this.I'll hopefully have another chapter done soon. Please review. Also, any ideas for a better title will be greatly appreciated.