Chapter IV — Childhood
Harry woke up the next morning, wrapped comfortably and warmly in the large bed. He glanced around the room, unsure of where he was at first, and then he remembered. A grin shot across his face at the realization that it hadn't been a dream. He really had been rescued from the Dursleys by his Da, and he had been given lots of new clothes and toys. He was in a mansion, and had been given hugs and kisses and his Da had said he loved him. He climbed out of bed and carefully tip-toed across the room, opening his bedroom door carefully and peaking out of the door to see if he was allowed to go downstairs. He noticed that the two big oak doors that led to the master bedroom were closed. He knocked softy but there was no answer. Harry carefully pushed open the door and looked at the bed.
James was sleeping soundly, snoring a bit as he snuggled between the pillows. The blankets were in a huge heap around him and he had one leg hanging off the king-sized bed as if he didn't have enough room to sleep. Harry stood in the doorway, hesitating. He wasn't supposed to go into rooms without permission. But that had been at the Dursleys and his Da had been so different. He gulped and then he tip-toed over to the bed and poked James in his bare chest. James let out a snort and Harry jumped. Then he poked him again. This time, he opened his eyes.
"Harry?"
"Da." Harry said carefully.
James noticed the hesitation in speech and he could see the fear in his son's eyes. He was still afraid to do anything because he didn't know the rules. James sighed; he was going to fix that. He grabbed Harry and tossed him into the big bed next to him, tickling him in the stomach as Harry let out a giggle. Then he rubbed his stubbly chin on his face, making Harry squirm in delight. After tickling him until he begged for him to stop, he rolled over and tossed his arm over his eyes. "It's not morning yet."
Harry grinned. He had never been tickled like that in his life. It had been fun. "Da sun is out."
"Nuh-uh!"
Harry laughed, bouncing on the bed now. "It is. I could see it shibing in da window."
James grinned and snuggled into his pillow. "I guess that means that you want me to get up and give you some breakfast?"
Harry smiled. "Only okay."
"Harry, it's always okay. Yeah, alright, I'm getting up. But I can't cook at all." James replied as he climbed out of bed. He stretched lazily as he walked to the dresser for a t-shirt. The black pyjama pants that he wore were slightly faded at the stress points. At twenty-two, James felt like an old man. He turned to look over at his son and grinned. "Come on, Harry, let's go see what we can con Maddy into making. I bet if you ask her she'll make French toast."
"What's French toast?" Harry asked curiously.
James laughed as he scooped his son up into his arms and kissed his forehead. "Only the greatest breakfast food ever invented! Let's go!"
After breakfast, Harry got dressed in some of his new clothes and came downstairs, just as a tall man with light brown hair and brownish gold eyes came out of the fireplace. He looked up in surprise at the sight of Harry just as James came into the room.
"Moony, I was wondering when you would get here." He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled warmly. "Harry, this is one of my best friends, and your honourary uncle, Remus Lupin, you used to call him Uncle Remus or Uncle Moony."
Harry smiled at the man, but Remus didn't fail to notice the hesitation. "Hi."
Remus grinned and knelt down so that he was eye-level with Harry. "Hello Harry, welcome home." He tugged the boy to him and hugged him close, pleased when Harry's small hands fisted in his shirt.
Harry grinned up at him when he pulled away. He felt that same instant trust from this man as he had felt from his Da. He also felt a sense of unwavering love both towards and from the two men in front of him. "Where do you lib?"
James laughed. "He lives here with us. But he had to go away on some business."
Harry nodded. "Oh. Uncle Remish, Da said dat he was gonna show me how to play something called Kidditch. Are you gonna pway with us too?"
Remus grinned and turned his attention to James. "Why am I not surprised to know that that's your first priority?" He turned back to Harry with a grin. "Of course I'll play!"
Later on that evening, after Harry was in bed, James sat in the living room with Remus. "Well, what do you think, Moony?"
Remus smiled. "He's wonderful, James. He looks an awful lot like you. He's smart too and he learns quickly. But he's… hesitant I suppose is the word, to do anything."
James nodded. "They were terrible to him. Petunia and Vernon… I thought that they would take care of him, as did Dumbledore. Though I have yet to confront him about it, but they were horrible. They beat him, Moony, I mean physically beat him. When I got there he had apparently broken some dishes. His hands were cut up and bleeding. I healed them and cleaned up the wounds. He was sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs on a dirty cot. They told him that Lily and I were dead and they gave all the toys that I sent him to their son Dudley. I suppose they pocketed the money themselves."
"How badly did they hurt him?!" Remus asked, concern shining in his eyes as he thought of that small little boy who still held a piece of his heart.
James sighed. "Bad. Last night after his bath I cleaned his wounds. I almost died when he undressed and I saw his body. God, Moony, he has welts on his back and he's covered in bruises. It looks like someone took a belt to him or a bat, maybe both. I punched Vernon Dursley before I left but it's not enough. From what I could tell it was only Harry who was abused. Their son seemed in perfect condition, though he's a little chubby. Harry wasn't even well-fed. He didn't have any toys or any clothes of his own."
Remus nodded. "He'll be safe now, Prongs. We'll take good care of him. He won't ever have to go back to those horrible people again!"
James nodded. "I know. We've got to start school for him as well. I was hoping that you would help."
"You know I will. I think that we should teach him the stuff that he would learn in the muggle world as well. More then the basic math and English skills. And of course basic wandless magic, no one teaches their kids that anymore."
"Lily always said that she wanted him to learn that. The best of both worlds she calls it. Besides, if I start him early it will be easier for him to grasp everything when he's older."
Remus laughed. "We'll take care of it. All we have to do is figure out where to start. And we should probably get some muggle things as well."
James laughed. "Merlin, help us when we try to figure out how to use them!"
Remus grinned. "They can't be that hard!"
A few weeks after moving into Glasgow Hall, Harry still expected to wake up one morning and find himself back in the tiny cupboard under the stairs. But every morning he woke up in the huge bed with a small black stuffed dog that he had apparently loved when he was a baby. He liked to wake up knowing that it was lying in the big bed next to him.
But this morning, Harry was most anxious to go downstairs. A friend of his father's was coming over and bringing a little boy for Harry to play with. Harry was a little scared as well though because he had never really had any friends before. Every time that he had attempted to make friends Dudley had scared them away. But Dudley wasn't here anymore! He got dressed and hurried downstairs for some breakfast.
James grinned when he came into the room. "Good morning, Sport."
"Hi Da," Harry replied as he smiled up at Maddy as she poured him a bowl of oatmeal. "When are dey coming ober?"
James laughed. "They should be here any minute. Just eat your breakfast and be patient."
Maddy nodded at Harry. "You better be eating all of that, Harry. It is good for you. It is making you strong."
Harry nodded. He had quickly figured out that it was impossible to argue with Maddy. She was like a mother hen and was constantly making sure that he was well taken care of. She did the exact same thing with both James and Remus. He had only eaten half of his breakfast when he heard sounds from the entrance hall, which meant that someone had flooed in.
He followed his father out and looked up at the old woman in front of him in alarm. She wore a dark green dress and had a huge vulture hat on top of her head. It was the ugliest and scariest looking hat that he had ever seen. The woman was pretty though, or had been at one time even if she now had wrinkles that lined her face. Her hair was dark brown streaked with grey, and she had blue eyes. Harry averted his attention to the tiny boy next to her.
He was small and a little chubby. He had dark brown hair and kind blue eyes. He gave Harry a small friendly wave and Harry waved back.
James grinned. "Augusta! I'm so glad that you made it. This is my son Harry. Harry, this is Mrs. Longbottom and her grandson Neville."
Harry nodded. "Nice to meet you."
Mrs. Longbottom smiled at him. "Nice to meet you too, dear."
James smiled. "Harry, why don't you take Neville up to your room to play?"
Harry nodded and he motioned for Neville to follow him upstairs. Once they were in his room, he pulled out his train set and some cars and people. "Want to pway?"
Neville nodded. "Okay!"
They played quietly for a few minutes, getting into character as they built a tiny village and played with the people. Then Neville spoke up.
"I like your house. It's really nice."
Harry smiled. "Thanks. I haven't libbed here for very long. I had to lib with my aunt and uncle. Dey were muggles."
Neville nodded. "'Cause your dad was taking care of your mum. My Gran told me."
"Yeah. She was reabby sick."
Neville nodded. "Gran says dat it was safer for you to lib with da muggles."
"Yup. Why do you lib with your Gran?" Harry asked.
Neville sighed. "My mum and dad are reabby sick and dey lib at St. Mungo's so Gran takes care of me."
"I'm sorry. I hope dey get better soon."
Neville nodded. "Me too. Do you have building blocks?"
"Yeah." Harry pulled them out of his toy chest. "Let's build a castle!"
"Okay and a hideout for da bad guys on da train."
Harry nodded eagerly and they spent the rest of the morning crashing things and building things. Both of them happily enjoying each other's company and not really understanding why they couldn't have both of their parents around them.
On Harry's first Christmas with his Da and Uncle Moony, he was surprised to wake up in the morning and find gifts for him. The Dursleys had never once given him a present. He stood in the middle of the living room, looking at all of the gifts around the big tree in awe. James just grinned at him. He knew that he might have gone overboard on the gifts, but he hadn't been able to stop himself.
"Well, Harry, where do you want to start?"
Harry looked shocked. He stared up at his father as if he was saying – these are all for me?
James nodded. "Come on; let's start with the best one. This is from Uncle Remus too."
Harry nodded as he looked at the huge moving box that James had sat in front of him. There were holes poked in all of the sides of it. Harry carefully opened the box and grinned as a tiny black Labrador puppy jumped out and into his lap, licking his face in his excitement. "A puppy!"
James grinned. "Yeah, you'll have to take good care of him."
Harry grinned as he cuddled the tiny black bundle to him, tears rolling down his cheeks. No one had ever given him such a wonderful gift. The puppy was cuddled close and nuzzled his nose up to Harry, sliding his tongue over his cheek. "He's silly!"
"He certainly is a bit foolish. What are you going to name him?"
Remus grinned as he stepped into the room. "Well, if he's silly and foolish he should have a foolish name."
Harry grinned. "Foolish."
James laughed. "Now that's an interesting name for a dog. Alright, Foolish it is."
The puppy seemed to accept this name because he let out a bark and jumped into James' lap. Foolish then jumped back down, ran around Remus' legs in circles and then slid on the floor, sliding into the plant in the corner before promptly peeing all over the floor.
"Hmm… I guess he needs to be trained up a bit." James replied as he quickly cleaned up the mess and scratched Foolish behind the ears.
Foolish barked happily and jumped into Harry's lap. Harry just grinned. This was his best Christmas ever.
Harry loved his new life living with his Da and Uncle Moony. James and Uncle Remus were the greatest in Harry's opinion. They taught him how to do wandless magic and harness his powers a bit since he wasn't suppose to use a wand yet. By the age of six, Harry could make fires, summon things, and make things move with only a thought. Of course, that was basic elemental magic that his Da said most people could do but a lot of people didn't bother to teach their kids anymore. Harry thought that it was great, making things move was his favourite. He especially liked to levitate Foolish from the floor to cuddle in his bed with him. James didn't seem to mind that he slept with the dog snuggled close every night. He also was taught all about Quidditch, his dad's favourite sport. He had been a natural-born flyer and James was thrilled when he realized his son's great seeking skills. Harry was well-equipped for all positions but he seemed to do best in seeking and chasing.
He had soon become a big fan of Scotland's Pride of Portree as well. He and James went to most of the games and Harry had gotten a new bedspread for his bed with a huge snitch on it that said he was a fan of Portree.
Remus was also helping Harry to harness his other skills. He bought books on muggle history, mathematics, geography, science, chemistry, sociology, biology, physics, Latin, English, French, philosophy, and literature. Harry studied it all, learning more than what he would have in a muggle primary school. He also studied magic. He read about the history of magic and a lot of basic spell books. James and Remus answered as many questions as they could for him, but he knew that once he was old enough to go to Hogwarts, he would learn it all.
Harry had convinced James to buy a television, a V.C.R., a computer, and a stereo as well as a Nintendo system. They would spend hours playing games and watching movies and listening to muggle music. They had watched some movies on martial arts, and when Harry had expressed an interest in it, James had found an instructor to teach him. He started at the age of six and he learned quickly. By the time he was ten, he was a black-belt champion; his instructor was surprised at how quickly Harry had learned it. He also did a bit of studying on other forms of fighting. He never used it, but it was good exercise and he thought that it was fun. Especially when James and Remus would wrestle or fight with him!
Why was he learning so much about defence and about fighting at such a young age? Because Harry knew that at some point Voldemort would return to power and come after him. His Da and Uncle Remus wanted him to be as prepared as possible even though they prayed that he wouldn't have to face him for many years to come. But Harry didn't know the full-story. He remembered the story that his Da had told him about the prophecy but he didn't realize the full extent of it. Neither James nor Remus planned to tell him anytime soon. They wanted him to learn, to play, and to enjoy his childhood. And Remus still didn't know the full-extent of the prophecy as James had never shared that burden with him.
Since Harry was so famous, James didn't want him to be around magical children too much because of the awkwardness of the questions. He knew that he would get enough of that when he went to Hogwarts so every few days they would go to a muggle playground or water park or amusement park or to an arcade. Harry made a few friends there and he had fun playing with the friends that he made but he knew that he was different because he was wizard. Even the muggles in nearby parks were impressed since Harry lived in the famous Glasgow Hall, the huge mansion on the hill. Harry only shrugged at this and told them that Potter Manor, also known as Glasgow Hall; had been in his family for centuries. People were still amazed though which made him different from others. However, Neville Longbottom came over to play or Harry would go over at his house to play on a regular basis. The two had hit it off pretty quickly though Harry had trouble believing that Neville wasn't allowed to fly on a broomstick. Apparently, his Gran had thought that it was too dangerous (which made sense as Neville was extremely accident-prone). The two of them always found fun things to do though.
But his childhood with the Dursleys was not long forgotten as he was loved and welcomed by his Da and his Uncle Remus. He sometimes was brought back to the childhood with the Dursleys in his dreams. But he would wake up, snug in his bedroom with Foolish curled up at his side and he would remember that he was loved and that he was safe. The scars on his back had mostly faded though he did have small white lines on his back in snatches. He knew that those scars would never fade, even if most of them had. The scars reminded him of his time with the Dursleys and made him remember always how lucky he was to be loved and so well cared for by his family.
He had met Albus Dumbledore only once and he had found him an odd guy with his long silver hair and beard and his twinkling blue eyes. He had also met a half-giant named Hagrid. Hagrid had become one of his favourite people because of his gentle nature and because he was fun to play with whenever he came over for a visit; especially because Hagrid was the tallest person that he knew. He knew that people called him the Boy Who Lived and when he met witches and wizards they would stare at him with awe and wonder. But James made sure that he wasn't in the spotlight and that he wouldn't get too full of himself. He wanted his son to have a normal childhood and he worked his hardest to make sure that he did. James worked as an Auror (having picked up his career again) and whenever he wasn't home Remus would keep Harry company, or he had Maddy and Mickey. Mickey would always play with him when he had a chance. James sometimes came home from work looking exhausted and was suddenly called back in. He was busy quite often during the day so Harry had to find things to amuse himself with during the day until his Da came home in the evenings.
Harry had also taken up reading as a past-time when he was alone. He liked mystery and suspense novels as well as science-fiction and historical-fiction. He had even read a few romantic-suspense but he quickly came to the conclusion that those weren't his style unless of course, he had nothing else to read. He had really become quite an avid reader! James told him that he got that from Lily as James never read anything but the newspaper.
But Harry was happy and he was loved so that by the time it was time for him to start up at Hogwarts, he was ready to go as a normal well-loved child and his fame and wealth were the furthest things on his mind.