Chapter 2 – A Christmas Wish

Locked in a small cupboard, a little boy tried to keep himself from freezing. The thin blanket wrapped around his small frame did not do a really good job. His teeth were chattering and his body was shivering furiously. He hoped that his family would arrive soon and switch the heating on. They had left earlier to spend Christmas day with his uncle's sister. As usual, they did not take him with them. He did not deserve to come, because he was not a good boy. Sometimes he wondered why they kept him if he was unwanted. He had asked once and received a hard blow on his face by his uncle. Ungrateful freak he had shouted.

Since he was of age to understand, his uncle and aunt had kept telling him that he was an anomaly, a freak, that he was not normal. At first he had not understood. Why was he not normal ? He had a head, a mouth, a nose, ears, two legs, two arms, exactly like the others. Well not exactly. After all, he was not as huge and fat as his uncle and cousin or as tall and thin as his aunt. So to be normal meant to be either like a whale or like a giraffe, he had concluded. Therefore, to fit in he had tried and become like them. But despite all his efforts, he remained like he was. After all, how could you become huge or tall if you were not given enough food ? At first he had been depressed by his failure, but when he had been able to compare himself with others than his family, he realized that he was not that different. If anything, it was his family that was different. So he was the normal one.

Of course he had not said a word of his discovery to his relatives. He did not want to offend them after all. And so they kept on treating him like an undesirable. Although he did not find it fair, he understood that they might be uncomfortable with normal people. This belief did not last long however, because they were always at ease with other people. They did not glare or insult them. It was only him. Harry. But why ? He eventually had his answer at the age of four. He remembers it perfectly. He had woken up that morning with a cold. He had made his way to the kitchen, prepared breakfast and then sat at the table to have a toast and a glass of milk. And then he had sneezed. He had sneezed and his glass literally exploded, splashing milk all over the table. The moment was followed by a heavy silence. Harry, for his part, had been completely amazed. A sneeze did that ? He did not know a sneeze could be that powerful and dangerous. No one told him. If he had known before, he would have used it against Dudley ! However, he had not been able to marvel any longer at the power of sneezes as he had then been roughly grabbed by his uncle who proceeded to yell at him. He was not to do any of these freakish thing ever again. And to stress his point, the small boy received a violent beating and was shoved in his cupboard.

Trapped in his cupboard, he then understood that only he had the power of the sneeze. Well, it was more than that, but he only discovered it later, when he realized that he could do other things as well. These abilities made him different. A freak. That was when he understood why his family treated him differently. They were right after all. But he had wondered if they were others like him. Could his parents do the same things ? He had asked his aunt, but she had avoided the question and insulted the Potters. He had never asked again but kept imagining that his parents were also different.

As the years passed, he had come to understand his abilities (even if he had no name for them) and managed some degree of control over them. Except when his emotions were too violent. That was when he was caught and punished accordingly. Sometimes he was also punished just because he existed. He was not even allowed to have friend as Dudley made sure that no one approached him. So he found consolation in books. The public library became his haven. There he could immerse himself in all sort of fantasy. From adventures to love stories. From classic authors to modern ones. He also read history books and some science books, even he sometimes had difficulties to understand the latter ones. Thanks to this early introduction to literature and because he was not allowed much leisure, Harry had developed a vast imagination that made him the world see in a very different way. It also helped to escape the world.

However, despite his made-up world the truth was he was alone. It was Christmas and he was alone. Even his family did not want him and he was probably going to freeze to death. For the first time the little boy felt desperate and empty. He did not know if it was because of the cold or because the loneliness had become to heavy to bear, but he came to wish for someone. Someone who could be here for him. Someone who could accept him and perhaps understand him. He did not ask so much after all. Just someone. Unbeknownst to him, Magic heard him and decided to grant her child his wish.


Here was the 2nd chapter. I hope I did not do a too bad job. Anyway, I'll really begin the story in the next chapter. That would be Naruto and Harry's meeting.