The letter had said that a professor from the school would meet them at their home to take them to Diagon Alley: a place for witches and wizards to shop. There, the twins would be able to get their school supplies, wands, and even wizard currency. The professor was due to come to the house the day after their 11th birthday which was less than a week away.
"Harry, what if this is too good to be true?" Kassel asked. Harry was able to detect the worry that Kas was trying to pass off as curiosity.
"What do you mean?" Harry replied.
"I mean, what if we find out that, even in the Wizarding World, nobody wants us?" Kassel elaborated.
"Hey. None of that." Harry told him. He moved to sit beside Kassel on the bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "You're supposed to be the optimistic one, remember?" He joked.
Kassel smiled briefly at Harry. "I'm serious, Harry. These people, our family," Kassel spat the word like it was dirt in his mouth, "are not going to welcome us back here, and I will never willingly come back to this." He said fiercely.
"No one will make us. Even if we aren't wanted in the Wizarding World, we'll find a way to make it on our own." Harry responded just as fiercely. "I'll do everything in my power to make sure that we never come back here." He felt Kassel relax against his side.
"Thanks, big brother." Kassel said, smiling slightly.
"So, you finally admit it." Harry teased.
"Shut up." Kassel rolled his eyes and pulled away, moving to lay out on the bed since they had no more chores as it was night, and the Dursleys were already asleep.
Harry shifted so that he was still sitting on the bed, but he was leaning against a wall next to Kas's feet. "No matter what, we stick together." Harry told him somberly.
"Always and forever." Kassel nodded.
"Always and forever." Harry repeated. He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily as he fought with himself to contain his hope that they were truly going to be rescued from this god forsaken place. "Alright," Harry said as he opened his eyes, "off to bed." He got up from his spot and laid down on the floor.
"Just 3 more days with these disgusting excuses for humans and then we'll be free." Kassel told him, smiling. "Goodnight, Harry."
"Night, Kas." Harry answered, smiling.
For the next 3 days, the twins did as they were told. They kept their heads down and tried to stay off the Durselys' radar for the remainder of their stay. The twins' birthday passed by without any acknowledgement from the Durseslys, and Harry and Kassel were okay with that. Today was the day that they would be leaving and hopefully never coming back. "Pack whatever you don't want to leave behind. Everything else we can always replace." Harry told Kassel as they packed whatever they could into their small bag that they stole from Dudley's toy room.
As soon as they finished, they heard the doorbell ring. They heard Vernon open the door, and there was speaking before Vernon was full on yelling. "Get out of here, freak!"
They chose that moment to step out of the cupboard, bringing their one bag with them. "Did we forget to mention we were leaving, Vernon?" Harry asked as they approached the door. Standing outside was a man with straight black hair to his shoulders. He was pale, but quite tall. "I'm sorry for the rudeness of my uncle, sir. Are you here to take us to Diagon Alley?" Harry spoke directly to the man, not even waiting for Vernon to answer.
Vernon, however, would not be ignored. "Who told you to come out from your cupboard? You're not going anywhere." He practically snarled at them. "Stealing from Dudley are you?" He asked rhetorically once he noticed the bag in Kassel's hand. "You know what that means."
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Uncle Vernon, but we're leaving. And we won't be coming back." Kassel said. "Come on, Harry." He grabbed Harry's arm and practically ran over the stranger in his haste to get out of the house.
"Just know that if you leave now, you'll never be allowed back." Vernon yelled at their retreating backs, Kassel pulling the other two along behind them. With that said, he slammed the door behind them.
"I'm sorry about that, sir." Kassel told the stranger, apologizing as they came to a stop at the park in the neighborhood. "I'm just so happy to finally be away from them."
The professor stared at them for a moment before answering. "From what I've seen, I would be eager to leave as well." He drawled. "My name is Professor Snape. I am the Potions professor at Hogwarts, and I will be taking you to Diagon Alley today."