Life with the Murphys.
Harry's life was basically the same. He still stared at the sky, and drew, and went to the same school, but now when he got home he didn't have to cook, clean and garden. He had guardians who said they were proud of how he did on an exam when he got the best mark, as he still did, and who sometimes hung his drawings up on the fridge, or asked for him to draw specific things. Like the stars instead of the sky, birds or specific places. And Harry had a room now, a big room which he didn't really need. He didn't really need any of it, but it was still nice to have.
He had asked Susan if he could garden once, and she had told him he didn't have to do chores here. He had shrugged, gardening was quite nice, but he didn't want to upset her, and it wasn't very important. Harry got offered new clothes as well, anything he wanted, or at least that was what it felt like, but Harry had enough clothes. Two dresses, one shirt, one pair of pants and a jumper. What else would he need? So he had declined their offer.
They did buy him a new school bag, though, as his old one was Dudley's second hand one for Kindergarten, and was only held together by duck tape and will power.
School was different too. Kids were nicer to him, and the teachers who had used to sneer now looked on with guilt. Harry wasn't exactly sure why, since everything seemed basically the same, but he supposed the Dursleys had been on the news, for 'horrendous child abuse', and people had realised that what they had said about him wasn't true. Harry didn't mind either way, people could think what they wanted, it was up to them.
Mrs. Figg had died, he had read it in a newspaper one morning, but hadn't paid much attention to it.
Sometimes kids asked him if he wanted to play with them, and Harry would simply smile and tell them he was busy. He knew he should befriend someone but he didn't feel like it. They all felt so... different to him, and they couldn't understand the things he did. Harry simply sat and stared at the trees, the beauty all around him, just as he did before. Because life was still beautiful, and he would still think so even if he had everything in the whole entire world.
Some days he would lie and stare at the sky for hours, imagining himself flying, or swimming, or turning into a chicken. Some days he would sit in his room, on his bed, and look through his window, out onto the street. Some days he would draw in his tatty book, more and more pictures. Ted had once asked if he wanted a new one and he had said he didn't mind, they settled that when he ran out of pages they would buy him a new one. Some days he didn't do anything at all, and he would lie in bed, with his homework finished, and simply look at the paint on the wall. It was like how the wind blew, he just flowed with it, preferring to exist in the moment, rather than worry about the petty problems of the future.
He got to eat a lot as well. Three meals a day. And he showered a lot too, and always got to clean his clothes. Although, it was actually Susan who cleaned them as he wasn't allowed to do any chores at all, even when he offered.
He had foster siblings now, which were nothing like cousins, and they often said they worried for him. They often said they were proud, loved him and hoped he liked himself. That the Dursleys were terrible people who lied. Harry had thought his ex-relatives had lied for a while, for years before he was taken away, and didn't really have low self-esteem, but he simply didn't care much for other's opinions anyway to correct them.
They sometimes played board games, or read books together, or watched movies. But Harry didn't really mind what they did, even if he preferred his sky, grass, drawing and garden. His guardians, even though they wished he called them parents, took him places too. The cinema, amusement parks, zoos, all the places he wanted to go before he realised that there was something so much more important that materialist living.
Harry was happy with what he had, and didn't want anything else.
His therapy with Mel continued as well, and soon he stopped calling her 'miss' and started calling her 'Mel', mostly because that was how he thought of her in his mind. When she asked how he was so happy, Harry asked what reason was there to be sad. She told him that the world was sometimes cruel, unfair and painful and it was okay to be sad and Harry said,
"I can't be sad. Not when the world is so beautiful. When life is so beautiful. Everything around us is amazing. Every-single-thing, and finding something to be sad about when everything is so incredible just seems impossible. Because its not important."
Mel had asked him if he ever got sad, and he told her when his friends died he was sad for a while. She asked who had died, and he said the spiders he used to share a cupboard with, who all had names.
Mel asked about school, home, how he felt and what he wanted. Especially the last one. And he would always tell her the same thing,
"My heartbeat, in my neck, so I can listen to it. The sky so I can watch it change, and clouds move past. The trees, so I can count the leaves and watch them fall over the seasons. The small birds that are always moving, always hopping, always singing. But, even then I don't need them, all I need, and want, is the knowledge that life is beautiful. I like some things, but I don't want them, because I already have them, and if I lost them, I would still be happy, because I don't need them. I like to draw, to sing. I like my foster siblings, and my guardians. I like the flowers in the garden, and the spiders in the corner of my room. I like to garden, but I don't want or need to, because I am content with how things are."
One time Harry asked her if she wanted him to be sad, and that was why she wanted him to want something. And Mel said that she didn't want him to be sad, but she was worried that he was suppressing his emotions, other than happiness, as a coping mechanism for the Dursleys abuse and that if he was, then he needed to accept them.
Harry had smiled and shrugged.
He didn't think happiness was that wrong, and it wasn't even really happiness, but contentment, something much more long lasting.
Once he told Susan that he liked to garden, she finally let him, and he would then spend hours out there, helping the flowers to flourish, sometimes with his family watching him from inside the house, most of the time wondering how such an awful thing could have happened to such a wonderful boy.
…
Almost eight months had passed, his eleventh birthday was nearing, and the move into high school was close at hand. Ted and Susan had recently adopted him, finding him too much like a son to let him go into the foster system, and be given new parents. They had, of course, asked him first, and he had said okay, because 'why not'. Harry had asked why they would adopt him, since they would lose the foster money from caring and they replied 'we care so much more for you than we ever would for money'.
Joan and Rick were excited, although Rick was going to head away from home that year to live with his fiancée, Sarah, but would still visit often. Joan had turned fifteen in May, and was in tenth grade. She was happy to finally be Harry's real sister, but Harry thought it would take a while for him to think of her as such. The Murphy's had asked him if he wanted to keep his last name, and he had agreed, mainly because 'Harry Potter' sounded a lot cooler than 'Harry Murphy'. Although, he wouldn't have really minded if it had changed. They did add a middle name, so that his new name was changed to Harry James Murphy Potter. Which Harry also thought was cool.
'Cool' was becoming his main describing word, because Rick used it so much, even though Harry didn't care about much of anything. He had acknowledged in therapy that sadness was okay, but he honestly was pretty sure that he wasn't suppressing emotions and was actually just happy with life. Which he had managed to get Mel to admit was a 'possibility'.
That morning Harry got up, had a shower, slipped on his green dress (which he thought he was growing out of a bit), and headed downstairs to have some breakfast. Mel had okayed him making breakfast sometimes, which Harry didn't mind doing at all, but the family still didn't let him cook much as they didn't like how he was the best chef in the house, as it reminded them of his past. Which he still didn't care about, which worried them as they thought he had low self esteem.
Harry didn't know why they made things so complicated.
That morning everyone was sitting at the table, Rick dressed in a suit for some reason, but Harry was dressed in a dress... so, he supposed it didn't matter, even if Rick didn't normally wear a suit. Susan had made bacon and eggs for breakfast, and Harry served himself some eggs on toast, with no bacon, ignoring the slight glare he got from Joan and the muttered,
"You are worthy enough to eat bacon, Harry."
Ah, the self-esteem issue again.
Mel thought he had self-esteem issues as well.
Harry simply didn't need bacon. How hard was that to understand? He shook his head slightly, before giving everyone a bright smile and happy 'good morning'. His guardians smiled back, but Rick simply said,
"I don't get how you can be so happy this early in the day."
Harry shrugged,
"Well, I used to get up at five so this is alright."
The others nodded in understanding, and Harry thought they were just so serious all the time. Life was beautiful, enjoy it, stop worrying. But, no matter how many times he explained it they didn't seem to understand. He just wanted his family to be happy, but he already knew that it might not even be possible for anybody else to understand the secret of life.
Ted was sorting through the mail, flipping letters down onto the table, before he stopped. Harry turned to him, smiling as usual, Ted holding out a letter, saying a little confused,
"Its for you."
Harry never got letters, because no one knew where he lived. When the Dursleys abuse case had come out to the public, a lot of people wanted to mail sympathy letters, which Harry didn't want, so where he lived was never shared.
This was an odd occurrence.
"Thank you."
He said, taking the letter from his father's confused hand. The man shrugged before continuing on with the mail. Harry turned the letter over, reading his exact address which was a bit creepy.
Harry Potter
Bedroom at the end of the hall,
Number 12 Acres Street
Sutton
But, he shrugged, counting it as some stalker probably and opened it up, interested in what his stalker wanted. Would it be interesting to have a stalker? Harry was curious.
The letter was not what he had expected, at all.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Conted. 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 the necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress.
Oh.
Well then.
That actually explained a lot. Before Harry had his life changing revelation, there had been a few incidents which he just couldn't explain. Before he didn't care about his appearance at all, when his aunt had cut his hair terribly, it had grown back the next day. Harry had thought he had superpowers for a while, but when he couldn't get it to work again, he thought it might have just been a fluke. Back when he still cared about what people thought of him, and the teachers accused him of cheating, their hair had mysteriously turned blue.
Was all 'magic' about hair?
Hair magic?
It would be interesting.
He turned to the supplies list on the second page, seeing out of the corner of his eyes that the rest of his family was interested in the contents of the letter, just like he had been.
UNIFORMFirst-year students will require: 1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) 2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear 3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) 4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings) Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT 1 wand 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) 1 set glass or crystal phials 1 telescope 1 set brass scales Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Harry looked up from the letter and said,
"Hey guys?"
The family turned to him, curious as well. Harry said, without a falter,
"Magic is real, I'm a wizard and they accepted me into their magic school. Can I go?"
They stared. Ted and Susan left the room, while Joan and Rick took the letter from him and read it. After reading through it they looked up at him, Rick said,
"Is it a joke or something?"
Harry shook his head,
"I don't think so. I've done magic in the past, but I can't do it on command."
Joan asked,
"What magic?"
Harry said,
"I made my hair grow a lot longer one night, and I dyed my teacher's hair blue from a distance."
They stared at him.
Harry was glad he had such trusting foster siblings, but he could understand. Harry didn't see the point in lying, so they knew he was telling the truth.
…
In the kitchen...
Susan said sternly,
"I say let him go."
Ted rose an eyebrow,
"We don't even know if its real!"
Susan paused,
"Then we write them a letter, and tell them we don't know, and they will come and show us."
Ted said,
"What if its all just a joke?"
Susan sighed,
"Then he will go to ordinary secondary school. Like we planned. Its an easy enough thing to do. And if Harry wants to go, and its real, then he sure as hell will. He's never lied, you know that Ted, and that means he honestly believes this. Harry is not an idiot, he's the smartest kid in his year, in perhaps the next year too, you've seen his test scores, he wouldn't believe in something like magic with no reason."
Ted nodded,
"Maybe he saw it before or something."
"Exactly, and if he wants to go, he will. Because Harry normally doesn't want anything, and we need to assure him that he is worthy to want things. I have a feeling that if magic is real, and we allow him what he wants, he will want more things, and he will start to understand that he deserves things. Like bacon!"
Ted smiled at his passionate wife who loved that boy so dearly. If he wanted to go to a magic school then that was okay by them.
Susan wrote a quick letter to the deputy, hoping to clear it up, and she sent it in the post that afternoon.
…
Minerva McGonagall sat in her office, sorting through the last of the letters she needed to send off. The quill was an automatic quill, and all she had to do was hand the letters to the owls, which were positioned and ready to go. She had been doing it all morning, as there seemed to be more and more muggleborns every year. She didn't understand why, mostly because she hadn't taken Muggle Studies in her Hogwarts time so she didn't know much about their society.
But she knew more than most, as she was the teacher to introduce them to the magical world. She was also the one to give them a book on how to handle their magic without learning spells, if they didn't want to attend Hogwarts. As some muggle parents didn't want their children in that world.
A few owls had returned with letters straight away, from pure-bloods, whose acceptance was simply a formality as all of the prestigious families in England wanted to go to Britain's best magical school. She stood, once again, to collect the letter from the owl flying through her wide open window.
McGonagall pulled it from the owl's leg, and noticed there was no House Ring Stamp, which the letters usually came with. Probably a muggleborn one then.
She opened the letter.
Dear Minerva McGonagall,
My name is Susan Murphy, and I am the mother of Harry Potter. We received a letter, just this morning, about a 'magic school' and... were wondering if someone could come and explain it to us in more detail. Since we have never heard of magic, do not know where to get school supplies, how to travel to the school, or if magic is actually real.
Please reply at your earliest convenience,
Mrs. Murphy.
McGonagall dropped the letter to the floor. Who was the mother of Harry Potter? What of the Dursleys?
And had Harry never heard of magic?
…
Harry was sitting in the dining room, at the edge of the table, drawing the symbol that had been on the emblem of his letter. Ted and Susan had explained that they sent a letter to the school, and if Harry wanted to go then he could. Harry sort of understood what they were doing, trying to get him to want things, and he didn't necessarily want to go to Hogwarts, but he didn't necessarily not want to go.
He thought learning about magic would be interesting, and perhaps he would be able to see even more beauty in life, that he hadn't been able to see in the normal world. Like if zombies were real or something.
"I win!"
Harry turned to see his fo- just sister, jumping up and down, dancing, and out of her chair. They had been playing Yahtzee, and had just counted up the scores. They had said Harry could play too, but he was already busy drawing up the logo, something that seemed quite important in his mind. For some reason. Harry wasn't sure why yet.
"I win! Oh yeah! You lose you lose! I'm a winner!"
Harry jumped out of his seat and took Joan's hand. She looked a little shocked for a while, before she took his other hand and they started to dance. Just swaying basically, and sometimes twirling. Because Joan was taller she always wanted to lead, and Harry just didn't care, so he let her. Susan turned on the music, and started to dance with Ted, whilst Joan swung Harry around and around.
Rick just stared, as he normally did, at the chaos that his family sometimes became, and packed up the board game, mumbling 'she got a lucky roll' under his breath.
Harry giggled as Joan dipped him, and she smiled brightly, happy to know her brother was always so happy when dancing. But then she faltered slightly... Harry was always happy. She knew that wasn't right, and they had all talked about it, but... he still was. And she wasn't sure if that was good or not.
Half way through the song there was a ring on the door and everyone seemed to freeze. Ted turned off the music. Joan took Harry's book and packed it away. Rick placed the Yahtzee back on the shelf. Susan went to answer the door. And Harry just stood there, staring at the chandelier, which was so beautiful.
Joan came back and placed Harry back down in his seat, as sometimes he could just stare at things... for hours. When he had first came they hadn't told him what to do at all, and after school he had just stared at the sky for... eight hours, and then gone to sleep. They had all been so shocked that they had forgot to get him dinner.
Something they never forgot ever again.
Susan came in, looking a little nervous, trailed by a purposeful looked woman, with a very stern face, hair tied harshly in a bun, and a weird green dress, which didn't look like much of a dress at all. Susan looked vaguely happy, and said,
"This is Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress that invited our Harry to the magic school."
Harry turned to look at the new woman, not really that fussed, and once he had, went back to looking at the ceiling like he had been. Joan giggled slightly, at how cool her brother was with everything that happened, and Rick sighed, used to the behaviour by now. After a few moments, Harry stood up, walked over to the woman, and held out his hand for her to shake. She took it and said,
"Who might you be, young lady?"
Harry smiled brightly,
"Its nice to meet you. I'm a boy by the way, and my name is Harry. I believe you think I'm magic?"
McGonagall blinked in shock, staring at Harry's dress, before she composed herself and said,
"Yes. That would be right."
Harry let go of her hand and sat back down, wondering to himself. She was very stern looking, a bit like his aunt in that regard. But, she could be nice. Harry would smile to her anyway, of course, as he liked smiling.
Susan said abruptly,
"I'll get some tea. Would you like some Minerva?"
McGonagall nodded politely, and she asked,
"What about everyone else?"
Joan said she would. Rick said he didn't want any tea. Ted said yes. And Susan didn't ask Harry, as Harry never wanted anything, and he would simply say 'I don't mind'.
…
McGonagall noticed that Harry wasn't asked, but didn't say anything, thinking that the boy looked happy enough and nothing seemed too amiss. She took a seat, to the right of Lily's boy, who was simply smiling at her in a very sweet way, and she couldn't help but smile back.
The other's sat as well, a girl who was around fifteen, right next to Harry, and took a hold of his hand, at which the cute boy giggled. A dark haired boy, that looked a bit like Regulus Black as a child, sat next to, who she assumed was the father, looking like Remus Lupin except a bit fatter. Susan, Harry's 'mother', came back with a tea tray and gave everyone but Rick a cup.
Even though Harry hadn't been asked.
But, the boy didn't argue at all, and simply sipped the drink like everyone else, smiling happily, his green eyes gleaming. He looked so happy, around these people, and McGonagall had to wonder what had happened to the Dursleys. So she asked,
"If you don't mind me asking, I was wondering what happened to Mr. Potter's previous guardians, the Dursleys? Have they passed away?"
Suddenly the atmosphere around the table was a lot cooler. And the girl next to Harry tugged his hand a little tighter. The Regulus-look-a-like narrowed his eyes at her. The father placed his cup back down on the table. Susan's skin tightened around the eyes, and her jaw clenched.
And Harry was still perfectly happy, without a care in the world.
He made her wonder a bit.
The girl next to Harry was the one who spoke, a voice of absolute hate and disgust,
"Those animals have been put in prison for what they did to Harry! Where they belong!"
McGonagall's eyes went wide and she stared in disbelief. Had it really been that bad?
"What happened?"
This time Susan spoke, sending a look to her daughter for her to keep her temper. The girl simply held Harry closer to her, and to McGonagall's amusement, Harry simply stood out of his chair and sat onto her lap, whispering to the girl who was staring at him in surprise,
"It was what you wanted, and you were going to pull my arm off if you continued like that."
She smiled at Harry, hugging him tightly, and Harry smiled back, a little brighter than before.
Susan explained, ignoring Harry and the other girl as if it happened often,
"They locked him in a cupboard, starved him, called him a freak and a burden, and made him work like a slave. And now now he doesn't believe he deserves anything and is under the impression that he isn't allowed to want anything! Harry has such low self esteem and we love him to pieces. Those disgusting people are gone from his life now, and everyone is better off for it."
McGonagall glanced at the smiled child, sitting in the young girl's lap. Low self-esteem? Isn't allowed to want anything? Is that why they didn't ask Harry if he wanted tea?
She heard the young boy say,
"I don't have low self-esteem, I'm perfectly happy."
Everyone at the table rolled their eyes at that, and the father said,
"It is okay to be sad, Harry."
And Harry smiled at them, an honest smile if McGonagall had ever seen one, and a few of them sighed. They descended into a familiar silence, except for Harry who was humming.
After a few moments McGonagall broke it,
"So, what would you like to know?"
Susan smiled at her, so many smiles in this house hold!, and said,
"Could you show us some magic, so that we know its real? And tell us where to buy school supplies? And how to get Harry to Hogwarts? And when the school year ends? And is it a boarding school? And maybe explain some things about the magical world?"
McGonagall nodded, pulled out her wand, making everyone look a bit confused, and explained,
"This is a wand. It is an instrument every witch or wizard needs to control their magic and make it work."
She cast aguamenti spell and filled up her own empty tea-cup with water. The family sat, shocked, as most muggles got, when she showed them magic. Harry simply smiled at her, unchanged or shocked by the event, which made McGonagall a little wary. Saviour of the wizarding world or not, if a child wasn't excited about magic, it was less likely they'd want to learn it.
Then she explained the the family about Diagon Alley, and how if they held Harry's hands, or another limb, he would be able to lead them through the muggle repelling ward and into the magical world. She explained Gringotts bank, and how Harry should do a blood test, just in case he was heir to some other families. It would also show potions or spells at work on the boy, but she didn't think that would be important as his parents and Dumbledore wouldn't have placed any harmful spells on him.
She talked about how magic outside of school was forbidden, and how Hogwarts started on September first and ended June fifteenth. How they caught a train to and from Hogwarts, and there was a barrier, in between Platforms 9 and 10, with muggle-repelling wards. She explained muggles, pure-bloods, half-blood, muggleborns, and the prejudices, all in very basic form. Along with the Statute of Secrecy, which didn't apply to Harry since they were his family. The muggle-repelling wards could be ignored if Harry showed them the wall, so they knew it was there, and then they could all walk through to see him off onto the train, which left at 11 'o' clock.
McGonagall also spoke about Harry's fame, his name the Boy-Who-Lived, the war and You-Know-Who. She suggested that Harry wear a hat or something to cover his scar, which was famous, whilst they travelled around the alley.
Then she left, with intent to forestall Dumbledore from finding Harry's adoptive family, because he was the one to leave Harry with the Dursleys in the first place, and didn't deserve to know about his life.
…
After McGonagall left, to go who knows where, the family descended into silence, all listening to Harry singing happily under his breath. They had never been able to find out where he learnt so many songs, and sometimes he simply seemed to make them up, but when he would sing they often stopped to listen because his voice was so sweet. Even if the songs often didn't make much sense.
I've got a bee in my bonnet,
Or did I lose it in my pocket,
In a locket, what a racket, break the habit,
That a rabbit? That just jumped oughta that hat,
And I can't say that it mattered,
It sure splattered, that applause, and the cause,
Of the raucous.
Those tricky, picky magic makers,
They make the gangs go a quakers,
Cause magic is real,
What a steal,
And my last meal,
Was made, by a paid, magic fairy,
With no dairy, cause I requested,
It'd be bested, with more juice and jam,
More fish and ham,
And they made it tasty,
So there's no wasting,
With their magic sticks,
And sticky tricks,
So I ate it, and I paid it,
That magic fairy, With the canary,
And she said 'oh dear oh die',
Cause she can fly, and I saw the sky,
It was pretty, eyes of a kitty,
With those pretty fangs, and sharpened bangs,
They say haircuts have no spells,
But I can see the shampoo smells,
Of frosted water from a stream,
That had a certain witchy gleam,
So I drank it, before I thanked 'em,
And they said,
'Little head,
Its time for bed'.
Harry yawned, and walked over to his room, flopping down onto the covers, ignoring the smiles his family sent each other as they said how 'cute' his song was.
Harry liked singing.
