"The Vanishing Glass," read Minerva.
"What does that mean?" Dean Thomas asked. "Is that some accidental magic?"
Harry looked at him grinning "Could be"
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.
"Well that doesn't sound very exciting!" exclaimed Fred.
"They're boring remember Gred?" George exclaimed.
"Ahh right you are dear brother right you are."
The Gryffindors laughed at their antics.
The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.
"Fateful news report?" snorted Draco Malfoy. "Bloody drama king."
"Says you" said Ron and then in a high pitched voice "My father will here about this"
Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets
The Great Hall howled with laughter.
"That's accurate" laughed Harry
but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle,
"He broke the bicycle" Harry announced to the hall
3/4 of the hall burst out laughing
on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.
"Why not" demanded Hermione rounding on Harry
"I just don't like my picture being taken" said Harry sinking down in his seat
Snape narrowed his eyes he was sure Potter was lying
Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
Snape winced sympathetically, but sneered quickly to cover it up. 'Nice to no Tuney hasn't changed' Snape thought bitterly.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
"Lovely way to start the day," Ron snarled sarcastically.
The horrible feeling Hermione felt grew even larger.
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.
"We hate to tell you this Harry" said the twins in unison grinning "but it wasn't a dream"
Harry rolled his eyes "I know that now"
"Good memory you've got there Potter" barked Moody
"err thanks" said Harry awkwardly
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Give him a minute" snarled Ginny
"Nearly," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon.
"They. Made. You. Cook?" Hermione asked in a deadly calm voice. "How old were you when that started?"
Harry shrugged nervously. "I don't know. Since I was about 4 I think"
Red began to spill on to her cheeks. Molly Weasley, McGonagall and Ginny all looked as equally angry.
And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
"Duddy?" Fred and George yelled then started laughing so hard they fell of the bench.
The rest of the hall snorted. All thinking the same thing. 'What an awful nickname.'
Harry groaned.
"I don't blame you mate," Ron said sympathetically.
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.
"Nothing, nothing…"
Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten?
Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,
Ron shuddered. "Why'd you have to mention spiders?" he whimpered.
Harry grinned, shrugged, and patted Ron on the arm comfortingly. "Sorry mate."
put them on. Harry was used to spiders,
Hermione turned to Harry. "Why would you be used to spiders?"
Harry just gestured to the book. 'I'm sure your about to find out.' He thought but inwardly he was nervous about how everyone would react. He tried so hard to keep where he used to sleep from everyone and now the whole school will know.
because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,
"What does a cupboard have to do with anything?" Ginny asked Harry, confusion written all over her face.
Harry didn't answer. They would all know soon enough.
and that was where he slept.
The silence that followed was deafening
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.
Dumbledore's Army glared at the book.
It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise
A few people snorted.
"I think he used it once and broke it" said Harry once again to great laughter
unless of course it involved punching somebody.
"That better not mean you," said McGonagall glaring at the book
Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry,
Three fourths of the hall snarled at the book
Mrs Weasley and Hermione were both turning red again
but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
"You bet he is!" Oliver Wood shouted proudly, breaking some tension accidentally.
Fred and George whooped, breaking some of the tension brought on by Oliver's sudden shout. "Youngest seeker in a century!"
The rest of Gryffindor house cheered with them.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard,
Many growls echoed around the Hall at the reminder. Ginny snarled ferociously, earning another strange look from Harry.
but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.
"No that would be James" said McGonagall fondly
He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's,
The growls started again
Harry looked around the hall I am glad I'm not the Dursleys he thought to himself
and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.
"More like eight times bigger," snorted Ron to general amusement.
Molly and Arthur were both still to upset about the way the Dursleys treated Harry to reprimand him.
Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair,
"James" said Remus smiling at Harry who smiled back
and bright green eyes.
"Lily," Remus said with a smile.
Harry again returned the smile.
Snape felt another pang of grief for his old friend. 'Oh Lily.'
He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape
"Why?" Hannah Abbott asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.
because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.
She shook her head, disgusted at the way the muggles treated Harry. 'Harry is such a nice boy, he doesn't deserve this.' She thought sadly.
The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.
Ron looked at Harry, shocked. "You liked that scar?"
"That was before I knew what it really meant. Once I found out why I had it and realized that everyone would stare at me for it, that's when i started hating it," Harry replied back.
The Slytherins all gave Harry weird looks. 'Does he really not like his fame?' Many of the Slytherins thought.
'Just trying to get more attention and sympathy.' Umbridge thought.
He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died,"
"THEY LIED TO YOU!" Hermione shrieked looking livid.
"Hermione it's fine! I found out the truth, please calm down!" Harry tried to calm his friend who seemed to be getting angrier every paragraph they read.
Hermione looked as if she was about to protest but she saw the desperate look on Harry's face and thought it best to drop it.
Remus, the professors and the elder Weasleys all looked just as mad.
Molly and Hermione were glaring so fiercely at the book Harry thought that it might explode.
she had said. "And don't ask questions."
"But how would you learn?" Hermione demanded.
The Ravenclaws looked appalled at the thought of not asking questions
Harry just shrugged and looked back to the book. 'When this is over I'm going to have no more secrets.' He thought.
Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.
"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.
"Were going to do that every morning" sing-songed the twins
Harry grinned at them
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.
Harry tried to pat his hair down which didn't work but succeeded in several Gryffindors to snort.
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.
Snorts and snickers rang around the Hall as people laughed.
"Wow gorgeous" said Lavender to Parvati both of whom looked revolted
Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
Everyone burst out laughing at that.
"Where has this sense of humor been hiding from us, Harry?" Fred gasped out in-between laughs.
Harry grinned at him. "Somewhere far away from you to corrupt it, I'm sure."
Ron snorted.
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."
Everyone was shocked that a child would receive thirty-six presents.
"I don't even get thirty-six," Malfoy huffed, frowning. 'Filthy muggles.' He thought.
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."
The twins and Lee snorted.
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.
"You aren't telling me that he actually does that?" Hermione questioned with a revolted look on her face.
"Does that really surprise you Hermione?" Harry asked. The adults looked appalled
Hermione just huffed then looked back at the book
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
"You've got to be kidding me! That is know way to raise a child!" Molly shouted.
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"
Hermione and the rest of the Ravenclaws looked offended at his math skills, while the Slytherins sneered and everyone else snickered or snorted.
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."
Harry rolled his eyes.
Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
"Dear god, that's encouraging him!" said Irma Pince the librarian.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.
Several pure-bloods asked "What?" but were shushed by the rest of the students.
"If anyone doesn't understand something muggle related, please feel free to ask me during a break," Charity Burbage told the hall.
Several students nodded.
He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
"Uh oh what did you do" asked Fred grinning
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.
Snuffles growled and Remus looked like he wanted to shout at someone.
Hermione and Ginny sniffed angrily.
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.
Ron looked at his best friend sympathetically.
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.
"Honestly!" Grumbled Hermione.
Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
Several people snorted at those names.
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."
"Do they ever call you by your first name?" Dean asked looking upset.
Harry look thoughtful for a moment before he replied, "On occasion."
"Wait," Ron said. "Marge, isn't she the one who..." He trailed off.
"Yes," Harry said trying not to laugh.
Ron and the twins, who knew about the incident before Harry's third year started laughing.
Hermione looked like she was trying to suppress a laugh. 'I can't blame them really. They treat him horribly!' Hermione thought.
The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.
Molly looked as if she would either start shouting soon or crying again.
"I don't think your a slug!" Fred stated seriously.
"Yes, he looks more like a flobberworm." George stated just as seriously.
The Gryffindors who heard started laughing. Even Harry cracked a smile.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).
"Of course not! That would make you happy!" Hermione huffed, crossing her angrily across her chest.
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. "
'That's how she always looks.' Harry thought.
And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
"It's not like he's going to blow up the house," Ginny frowned.
"Ya, Harry isn't Fred and George," Ron joked.
"Oi!" The twins exclaimed causing several people to snicker.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
"Of course not," Charlie Weasley muttered.
"Charles!" His mother yelled.
Charlie looked away sheepishly as his older brother Bill snickered.
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"
"That's not even legal!" Hermione cried.
"Calm down Hermione," Harry said trying to calm her down. "They didn't leave me in the car."
"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"
"Yes, I'm sure it'd be Harry's first goal to destroy the car!" Michael Corner exclaimed from the Ravenclaw table, not liking how his DA leader was being treated.
Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Horrible, horrible child." Minerva said to Pomona and Poppy Pomfrey who both nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
"Dinky Duddydums!" Fred and George shouted out in mirth.
Even the Slytherins laughed at the atrocious nickname.
"I can't believe her arms fit," Ron muttered to Harry after they both stopped laughing. That caused them both to break out in laughter again.
"I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.
"Revolting, horrific child!" McGonagall growled, shooting the Headmaster a glare.
"Our backsides would be sore for a week if we behaved like that," Ron grumbled.
Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
"Awful child" muttered McGonagall to Sprout who nodded her agreement
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.
He was shot many sympathetic looks which he once again ignored.
'I really wish they would all stop looking at me like that.' He thought to himself.
His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.
Snuffles growled once again.
"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"He didn't mean that Potter, did he?" McGonagall asked sternly.
Harry looked up at her. "No professor his threats tend to be empty."
McGonagall appraised him over her spectacles then nodded.
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"
'I don't know why I even bothered, they never believe me.' Harry thought dejectedly.
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.
"That's so sad!" Lavender gasped, looking over at Harry with sad eyes.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
"Strange things always happen around Harry," Ron said.
"Thanks mate," Harry mock glared at him.
"Anytime," Ron smiled at him.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar."
Ginny looked at his hair in horror, much to the amusement of the twins who began to snicker.
Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.
"That's the Potter hair," Remus grinned at Harry. "Your father was the same way."
Harry grinned back. He knew he got his hair from his father, but he still loved hearing things about him.
He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.
"A week!" Molly shrieked.
"That's inhumane!" Hermione yelled.
'Accidently magic as you very well know Petunia.' Snape thought bitterly. 'Potter wasn't a pampered prince like I thought. What else am I wrong about? No I can't think like that, Potter is exactly like his father. Yes that's right.'
McGonagall didn't look very happy at that but continued reading nonetheless after shooting a fierce glare at the headmaster.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).
Lavender and Parvarti blanched at the thought of such a hideous sweater.
Harry shuddered at the memory.
"That sounds worse than my Yule Ball dress robes!" Ron exclaimed tactlessly. Hermione hit him over the head. "Ow! What was that for?"
"You have no tact Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed.
McGonagall continued to read before a fight broke out between the two Gryffindors.
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.
"Oh good," Molly sighed in relief.
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.
"What were you doing on the roof?" Ron asked, amused.
"You'll see," Harry replied grinning.
Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.
The teachers looked at him appraisingly, most shocked at how powerful his accidental magic was.
"You apparated!" Colin Creevy exclaimed.
"I'm not sure," Harry replied looking thoughtful. "Either that or I flew."
"Either way that is very impressive accidental magic Mr. Potter," McGonagall said appraisingly. She made a mental note to keep an eye of the young wizard
The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard)
Molly and Hermione glared at the mention of the cupboard.
was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
Several people snorted at that.
"We must teach you-"
"How to lie better-"
"Little Harrykins!" The twins finished together.
"You two will do no such thing!" Molly scolded as many others laughed.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong.
Ron and Hermione both groaned, looking over at him.
"What?" Harry asked them.
"Every time you say nothing is going to go wrong something always goes wrong." Hermione stated matter of fact.
Harry just huffed and looked away stubbornly.
It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.
Hermione resumed glaring at the book when that line was read.
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.
"I gather that he likes to complain about Harry a lot," George said thoughtfully.
"I concur dear brother of mine," Fred replied.
Alicia, Angelina and Katie just shook their heads at their antics. Far to used to them to be surprised.
This morning, it was motorcycles.
"… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
Cormac McLaggen rolled his eyes.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Hermione groaned, smacking her head into her palm. "Harry."
"Oops," Harry said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache:
"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
"Bloody mental that one is," Ron stated matter of fact.
"You're just now noticing-" Fred began.
"That little Ronniekins?" George finished.
Ron just glared at them while Ginny snickered.
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
"Idiots," mumbled Ginny quietly so that her mother couldn't hear.
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."
"Actually mate," Ron began.
"I know it wasn't a dream now Ron." Harry interrupted knowing what Ron was going to say.
But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
George and Fred perked up at this.
"Cartoons?" Fred asked.
"Where can we get some?" George asked Hermione.
The muggleborns and half-bloods who knew of cartoons laughed.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.
"It was actually good!" Harry said before Hermione or Mrs. Weasley could start shouting.
It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
The hall burst into laughter.
"That's actually an accurate description!" Ron choked out between laughs.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.
The hall stopped laughing as everyone turned to glare at the book.
'I'm going to kill those muggles. I don't care if I get sent back to Azkaban.' Sirius AKA Snuffles thought angry at how his godson is treated.
They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
"Fat git," Ginny said angrily.
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.
"Oh no." Hermione and Ron both moaned.
"I told you mate," Ron said sympathetically.
Harry just glared at him.
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.
"Boys," Romilda Vane muttered to Demelza Robins while shaking her head.
Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.
"Of course," Daphne Greengrass murmured to her younger sister Astoria.
It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
The Slytherins looked angry at that.
"What did the snake ever do to you? Filthy muggles," Draco sneered.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
Harry rolled his eyes.
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
"You do realize you're comparing yourself to a snake, right?" Neville asked, looking at his friend strangely.
Harry shrugged. "I was eleven," he said as if it explained everything.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
It winked.
"But snakes don't even have eyelids! They can't wink!" Hermione shouted, frustrated.
Harry and Ron looked at Hermione amusedly.
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
Hermione shook her head. 'Only Harry.'
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:
"I get that all the time."
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."
The snake nodded vigorously.
"You're a parselmouth!" Several first and second years yelled, looking at Harry fearfully.
"Yes! But that doesn't make him evil!" Ginny yelled.
Most people looked away at that but some still looked unsure.
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
Ron looked over at him. "You're talking to a snake. About Brazil. How did you not notice that it wasn't normal?"
Harry sighed. "I don't know. I was lonely, and I guess strange things happened to me so I was used to it."
"Honestly," Hermione muttered fondly.
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"
Several people were now looking at Harry amused.
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"'Waddling'," Ernie snorted, smiling at Harry. "I love the way you describe things."
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.
Everyone who liked Harry glared at the book.
"Oi!" Ron shouted.
Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.
"Were you okay dear?" Molly asked trying to stay calm.
"Yes Mrs. Weasley I was fine," Harry replied smiling slightly at the Weasley matriarch.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
"What did you do?" Colin asked excitedly, leaning forward in his seat.
Everyone else looked excited to find out what Harry did.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.
The Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables cheered.
"Go Harry!" Dennis yelled.
Harry smiled at the memory.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
"Ridiculous muggles," Graham Montague said to C. Warrington over at the Slytherin table.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."
"At least the snake was polite." Hermione stated with a small smile.
Harry and Ron looked at her incredulously then turned to look at each other then promptly started laughing.
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"Of course he would be," Filius Flitwick said. "The glass just mysteriously vanished."
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
The Weasley twins snorted.
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed,
"Great memories," Harry sighed, smiling.
Those around him laughed at the comment.
Molly looked at him sternly but anyone who was looking at her could see a small smile tugging at her lips.
but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
Many people groaned at that.
"Of course rat-boy gets you in trouble!" Ron snapped.
Harry nodded.
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
"NO MEALS!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked. "STARVATION IS NOT A PUNISHMENT! ALBUS!" She turned to yell at the Headmaster with the other teachers, each one looking even more furious.
Snuffles began to once again growl. Remus had to hold him back from attacking the headmaster for leaving Harry with those awful people. Remus looked like he wanted to let Snuffles go but he didn't.
Amelia Bones began to write on her clipboard. "This is unacceptable," she said to herself.
Tonks' hair turned red and she turned to glare at Dumbledore.
Students stared at him in shock. "How long did you stay in there, Harry?" Hermione whispered quietly, not trusting herself to speak normally for fear of bursting into tears.
"A month give or take," Harry replied quietly.
Those around who heard gasped in shock. Even Seamus who was mad at Harry and who still didn't believe Voldemort was back looked angry.
After she and the other teachers calmed down McGonagall continued to read in an angry voice.
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.
"Oh Harry!" Hermione had tears in her eyes as she looked at him sadly.
He was shot many pitying looks.
'Was he really treated like this? I knew Petunia was jealous but even Potter doesn't deserve to be treated like this.' Snape thought reluctantly.
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died.
Many glared at the book.
"Car crash! As if!" Ginny muttered angrily.
Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.
"How do you remember that?" Several people asked shocked.
Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and continued to cry.
Ron looked like he wanted to say something to comfort his best friend but he couldn't think of anything so he just sat there sadly.
"I can't believe he remembers that," Minerva muttered to herself.
Umbridge was getting of all the sympathy the brat was receiving.
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.
"I have some now," Harry said quickly. He then turned to smile at Hagrid who beamed at him.
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family.
All of the Weasleys and Hermione scoffed, glaring at Harry.
"We're your family mate," Ron said sincerely.
"I know Ron," Harry said smiling at his best friend.
Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley.
After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"That's rude. Apparating away before Harry could see them," Lisa Turpin said frowning. Her fellow Ravenclaws nodded in agreement.
"Didn't that get annoying?" Neville asked.
"You have no idea," Harry replied.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.
"That is the end of the chapter." Minerva said sniffing angrily. "Who would like to read next?"
"I will Minerva," Poppy said grabbing the book from her colleague.
Many people once again either shot him pitying looks or glared at the book.
Amelia and the aurors were all thinking of ways to get the Dursleys arrested for child abuse.
Molly and Arthur were discussing ways to get Harry out of that house.
Sirius was feeling guilty. 'If only I hadn't gone after the rat. Harry would've grown up in a loving home.' He thought sadly.
Remus felt equally as guilty. 'I should've done something to help him, anything.' He mentally started berating himself.
"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked nervously.
Harry smiled at her. "I'm fine Mione.
Hermione looked unsure but let it go. She could tell her best friend didn't want to talk about it.
Harry sat nervously wondering what they would be reading next.