Survival - Chapter 3

Harry shivered slightly. He may have layers of clothes on but it was still cold out. He wished for somewhere warm where he could make a fire and warm up. He needed to find a shelter and pick up some stones and wood and paper, as well. He could make a fire with that. First, though, he needed to find somewhere abandoned, somewhere no one would look or come to investigate the smoke and fire that he hoped to make.

He walked on for a good while until he found an area that seemed deserted. Even better, there was a wooden sort of hut there and a barrel that used to contain god knows what. There was a building a good bit away that, by the looks of things, was no longer in use. Thinking the hut would be warmer, he put his food down and decided to make a small fire. Harry dragged the barrell into the small hut and started kicking it, making it bend and become smaller so he could use it; it was far too big for it to work the way it had been.

He found coal at the very bottom and raised his eyebrows - that was something he could use. He took most of it out, leaving only some in, and put dirty dried yellow paper over it. He got his stone and stick and got started trying to light a piece of crumpled paper. He spent nine hours altogether trying to get the fire started, but it was only when the wind died down that he actually succeeded.

Harry dumped the flaming paper into the barrel as quickly as he could without putting it out. He shivered. It was getting colder out an he was not sure what to do. He had been ill last year when this weather came. Really ill. He had not been able to get up or do anything.

The fire started to build up and he finally was able to get some heat. An hour later he decided that being next to the fumes and smoke was not a good idea; the smoke was literally choking him. The barrel was too hot to touch now so it had to be him that left; he hoped that it did not burn down the small hut. Even though there were spiders in it, it was a nice cosy spot. He was not scared of spiders as they had been in his cupboard all the time.

It was too cold to stay outside so he took the five-minute walk to the large building. Walking in, he saw bits of coal lying in different places. Eventually, it dawned on him that this was a coal factory that must have been shut down. He could use this place, though it would take a long time for him to get it in decent shape. If this was going to be his home, there needed to be some changes made.

Harry spent the rest of his day collecting all the coal and putting it at the colder side of the building and using pieces of material, that had obviously had coal in them at one time, to seal off the broken windows. He could not do all of them as there was not enough material to seal the never-ending row of windows all the way around the building.

He found a barrell full of dirty water outside; it was obviously rainwater that had been caught by the barrell. Harry rolled it into the area he was thinking about sleeping in and let the barrell tip. Using some leftover material, he cleaned a spot until it looked good enough to sleep in. He was relieved when it was no longer dirty; he wanted these clothes to last.

The food he had bought at the supermarket lay on the clean part of the floor. He settled down and began eating a packet of biscuits, moaning at the taste. Gods he had missed food! He ate the whole packet somehow, even though he was not used to eating big rations of food. He practically downed the juice he opened, giving a burp when his stomach finally settled down.

He suddenly wished he could have brought with him the mattress that was in his cupboard. In fact, he had thought about that when he had been in the cave, at least until he had started using cardboard. It may not have been the softest material, but it sure as hell was better than spiked and jagged rock bits hurting him. Moreover, it was a little bit soft and would have been good here, too. He was going numb with cold lying here but he was not moving now. He might not find another sheltered place such as this, and it sounded and looked as if it was going to rain soon.

Sighing, he tried to find a more comfortable spot but nothing seemed to work. Harry blinked when he realised his teeth were actually clattering together. He was either ill or it was cold and, not being able to feel his body, he guessed it was the latter.

"Fuck this for a shit hole," said Harry as he crawled out of the building. He was going to go back to the hut. Inhaling fumes was better than being freezing cold.

His jaw dropped. The hut was in flames! Well, he could hardly go in there now, could he? Groaning miserably, he shivered and crawled back into a corner in the building; it was cold and he had nowhere else to go. He needed to get warm before he got sick again.

Harry was unaware of how much time passed; he was practically unconscious from the cold. He did not know that it started to rain nor that flashes of light soon started up, followed by thunder. It was actually not that cold a night, nevertheless, Harry started to turn blue a couple of hours later.

It was obvious he may not survive the night…

Soon he stopped moving altogether….

His heart started beating slower….

And slower….

Just as his heart should have taken its final beat before it gave out, something happened. Harry all of a sudden gasped and watched through blurred eyes as he glowed a brilliant golden colour. He felt amazing! Whatever it was was rushing through his veins.

Memories started going through his head a mile a minute, memories that no eight-year-old should remember. He remembered his mother and father, everything that had happened at the Dursley's, his happiness at being away from them, and, most importantly, his time out in the street.

Gasping, he came back to himself and the glow disappeared. Shaking his head, he wondered how his mother had gotten the dishes to wash themselves. He must be going mad! Closing his eyes, he concentrated on trying to figure out what he was missing. He got memories of his mother cleaning him up with a wand, his spilled food disappearing from the tray and himself. He even remembered the exact spell she had used.

He wondered if he could do it.

Concentrating on the floor, he wished away all the remaining coal. Jumping off the floor as though it had bitten him, he looked around wide-eyed. The floor was clean! Practically sparkling! Breathing heavily, he walked over and touched the floor as though he thought it was a trick. He did not even get a speck of dirt from the floor.

He suddenly felt drained; it was obvious he had used far too much magic, especially for his first time. Suddenly his future seemed so much brighter. He did not have a problem falling asleep this time, and with a yawn fell into an exhausted slumber. His body would take a while before it got used to channelling the magic he had just done.

He had good dreams….

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Dream

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"Magic," said Harry as his mum spelled the floor to clean itself.

"That's right, sweetheart, it's magic," said Lily, twirling her son around.

"Dada!" shrieked Harry upon hearing the door opening.

"That's right, Harry, come here," said Daddy, coming in and tickling his son. Harry laughed and laughed until he started hiccouphing.

"Guess what, Harry?" said James, sitting down with his son after giving Lily a kiss on the cheek.

"What?" asked Harry, wide eyed.

"Uncle Padfoot is coming!" said James.

"But I want Uncle Remy," pouted the one-and-nearly-a-half-year-old.

"He will be here some other time. Don't you want to see Uncle Padfoot?" asked James, smiling. Harry loved Sirius, but since Sirius had dropped Harry, Harry had been scared of him. Not even turning into his animagus form could make Harry forgive Sirius. Harry was very smart for his age and he liked listening to his Uncle Remy tell him stories.

"No," said Harry, crying. Lily took Harry to his highchair and, as soon as he saw the food, his crying stopped and he started eating the chips and chicken nuggets.

"He will get past it," said Lily, smiling sadly. Harry did not like Peter and now he did not like Sirius. He was clinging to Remus a lot. James was disappointed that Harry did not like his friends. He remembered when he had put Harry in Peter's arms; Harry had literally screamed and the hospital felt like it had shook.

"Hey guys," said someone coming in. it was not Sirius, though, but Remus.

"Remy!" said Harry, squealing in delight. He used magic to get out of his highchair and ran to the man. He smiled at his Uncle Remy and was cuddled in a warm embrace.

"So, what is happening about the whole prophecy?" asked Remus.

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Dream abruptly ending

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Breathing heavily, he realised that if his parents were magical, why did they not magic themselves out of the car they died in? They did not look like alcoholics to him. He was so confused! Could it be possible that his family had lied to him? Could his parents have died another way, and his Aunt and Uncle had told lies? It would not have been the first time.

He could not help but feel a pang of hurt. He had never met Remus. Why had the man never come to see him? He had just let him be abandoned after loosing his family. If he got his hands on the man, he would tear him apart! All he would have needed to do was see him once and he would have known!

Then he remembered something from a couple of months later. It seemed his memories were slowly putting themselves together. So they had not died in a car crash, after all. He could not help but feel glad. As he watched the memory, he frowned. They were murdered. Just like he was nearly murdered. So, Sirius had at least tried to get him. Who was this Dumbledore to decide were he went? Sirius was his Godfather and it was he who should have decided! So, that was two people on his dislike list: Dumbledore and Remy. How dare they just abandon him on a doorstep! They did not even see if his Aunt had wanted him! Harry growled low in his throat in anger.

So he was magical. And, there seemed to be a lot of magical people. How did they learn? Did they learn on their own? They must have. That meant he was going to have to learn alone as well. It did not look too hard. After all, he had just cleaned a floor. It had exhausted him, but he had still done it.

He was curious to know what else you could use magic for…