Harry Potter and the Hidden Kingdom

by QuibbleMeThis

What if instead of locking Harry in his cupboard whenever they didn't want to look at him, the Dursley's had locked him out of the house instead? Maybe this. Self-Sufficient, Independent!Harry.

6. Chapter 6, A Place to Lay His Head

Harry Potter and the Hidden Kingdom.

ch6 A Place to Lay His Head

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Courage is the capacity to conduct oneself with restraint in times of prosperity and with tenacity when things do not go well.
James V. Forrestal
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Harry considered the amount of space around him, then turned and tapped the Archive door with his wand, picked up the box that resulted and put down Edwards box in its place. He gently tapped the lid and stepped back. Somewhere in the back of his head he was somewhat bemused by how quickly he had become accustomed to things expanding and shrinking on command. The structure that appeared in front of him was virtually identical to the archive, only the words on the Door were different

Edward James Potter,
B.12th March, 1798
D. 21st December, 1929

Harry confidently opened the door and went inside, then stopped. This, on the other hand, was different. He was in a small vestibule with two doorways in front of him, one labeled 'Personal Effects' and the other simply labelled 'Work'. Harry hesitantly stepped through the 'Work' doorway and looked around in growing approval. In front of him was a very large, very well organised room, almost a small warehouse, with the walls on either side lined by low cupboards with open shelves above and the wall opposite the door covered with tall cupboard doors that reached from the floor to the roof, all in a rich golden wood. In the centre of the room was a big, solid looking work table, the surface very clean, but well used and lightly pitted with scratches and gouges. It was, essentially, Harrys dream work-space. Harry shook himself, he could investigate more thoroughly later. Right now he needed to find the tents.

He walked over and scanned the shelves on the right, somewhat bemused to see boxes the size of a document box labelled with things like 'red bricks', 'oak beams', 'granite boulders' and 'unworked teak logs'. However none of them said 'finished tents', so he crossed to the other side of the room. Here there were no boxes, there were books and folders labelled with things like 'Safari 1-12', 'Merchant 1-8' and several bulging folders labelled 'Custom Commissions' with a year label. Harry once again stifled his curiosity and kept searching along the shelves. Promotional leaflets... advertisements... posters... There! Finished tents! Harry looked at the 'tents' bemusedly. They looked like simple wooden boxes. He laughed at himself, well of course they did! Each box was about the size of a pack of cards and was wrapped in an old fashioned looking handwritten paper label, which appeared to describe what kind of tent they were. Two were labelled 'Happy Camper, two bedrooms, kitchen, bathing room, combined dining and living area. Standard ward package.', another was the 'Extra Happy Camper' which was the same, but with three bedrooms, and there was an 'Extra, Extra Happy Camper' with four bedrooms. Harry smirked slightly and looked at the others.

Tent number five was an ornately gilded box with two labels, one a piece of parchment with the words 'Commission #65. Cassius Lockhart, 'Big Game Hunter', 40% deposit paid 18th Jan, 1862' and below that 'Deposit defaulted' 18th Jan, 1872' on it. The other, fancier, label claimed the tent was a 'Safari Special' A sumptuous ten bedroom tent with kitchen, pantry, dining room, living room, sitting room, library, lecture room/theatre, and game storage room. Built in Climate control and 'High Security' ward scheme'.

Tent number six was a 'Back to Basics' One main room with cooking area and window seat. Bathroom. Basic wards'. That sounded like a pocket motel room, probably not as good as the Happy Campers.

Tent number seven was just wrapped in a scrap of parchment that said 'Commission #89. Arboram Spore. Traveling Herbologist/Dealer. 40% Deposit paid 23 May, 1899', and then scrawled below that 'Deposit in Default, 23 May, 1909'. So he had five 'standard' tents and two special commissions that were never collected and never sold. That must have been annoying.

Harry considered for a moment, then picked up the 'Extra, Extra Happy Camper, the Safari Special and Commission #89, carefully sliding off the labels so he could replace them later. He turned and went back outside, closed the door and tapped it with his wand. He placed Edwards box next to the main archive, and put the 'Extra Extra Happy Camper' on in its place, tapping the lid with his wand and taking a step back.

This time what appeared before him was not a tall cubicle with a door, but something which did actually resemble a tent. It was was only as tall as his shoulder, about two meters long by one meter wide and made of a bright turquoise material. There was a guy-rope at each corner, terminating in a block of stone about the size of a mans head. Harry looked at it sceptically then walked forward and ducked through the tent flaps. The inside was exactly as described. A comfortably sized, undecorated living area with plain white plaster walls and two windows. How could there be windows on the inside, but not outside? The room was just big enough for a couple of sofas and a small table. A doorway opened into a small, basic kitchen which contained an antique looking cast iron oven and hotplate, with a small panel of symbols where the dials and knobs would usually be. A sink. A sink? Harry turned on a tap and raised his eyebrows at the water gushing out the tap and running down the drain. How on earth did that work? The bedrooms were basic, just plain unfurnished rooms, each with a small window. The Bathroom had a claw footed bathtub, toilet and washbasin. All in all he felt that, although it was a little dull looking (it reminded him of Mrs McKinty's apartment) he could be quite comfortable in here. The walls were nice and solid looking and it felt like he was in a real building. Harry took a last look around then headed back outside. He tapped the tent flap with his wand. Nothing happened! Harry frowned and examined the tent door more closely, eventually spotting an odd looking symbol right at the top of the door flap. He tentatively tapped it with his wand and sighed with relief as the tent turned back into a box. He replaced it with the 'Safari Special' and once again tapped the lid, took a step back... and gaped.

"Ho-lee shi..."

He blinked in stunned shock at what had appeared in front of him. It was bigger than the 'Happy Camper' had been. Much, much bigger. It filled up the entire paved area and hung out over the stream, and it was... it was... Harry couldn't think of words to describe it. It looked a bit like some kind of crazy Hollywood temple tent. The walls were bright gold canvas with a glittery metallic sheen, and were covered with pictures. Moving pictures! Of stylised lions, elephants and giraffes and zebra and monkeys. There was an awning held up by two solid looking carved stone pillars with torch sconces and in front of him were two ornately carved gilded wooden doors. Harry blinked again and hesitantly walked inside.

Harry stared around wide-eyed, no longer even able to blink. The inside was even fancier than the outside. He had walked into a mansion! There was a massive entryway with a golden marble floor, a grand staircase in front of him, an actual crystal chandelier sparkling above him... Harry walked around dazedly taking in the huge sitting room, fancy dining room... Everywhere he looked there was shiny gold gilding and polished marble and exotic animal skin rugs and enormous mirrors and couches upholstered with more exotic animal fur and strange looking animal heads on the wall. The bedrooms upstairs were just as opulent, with each room lushly carpeted and extravagantly furnished with yet more exotic fur upholstery and each with a huge ensuite bathroom all done up in gold and fur and polished stone and... It was too much. Way, way, WAY, too much. There was no way he could live in a place like this! He couldn't imagine how anyone would want to! No wonder Edward hadn't been able to sell it! He turned and half jogged swiftly back out the doors. After a short search he found the same symbol hidden among the carvings on one of the pillars, and tapped it, sighing in relief as he picked up the little gilded box and returned it to the pile. That one was definitely out.

With some trepidation he picked up the other 'Commission' box, set it on the ground and tapped it. He was pleasantly surprised to find a solid looking wooden door, complete with doorstep and doormat, in front of him, the door frame was set into a tall slightly odd looking tent, similar to the archive boxes but with dark royal blue canvas walls, sloping out slightly, with four guy-ropes stretching out from each corner and terminating in four solid stone pillars each reaching just below hip height. The roof of the tent sloped up to a point in the centre and the side facing the door had an odd looking round glass window set into the fabric. Harry opened the door and walked inside.

He looked around appreciatively, liking the place instantly. It was spacious without being too big. Rustic looking, but well finished. Just inside the door there was a small vestibule area, which opened onto a nicely sized unfurnished living area with a solid slate stone floor, and walls panelled in the same golden wood as Edwards work room. To his left was what appeared to be a study alcove, a wide, semi-circular shaped recess with a skylight overhead, the alcove was lined with empty shelves and was just deep enough to comfortably hold a desk and chair. Straight ahead was a well proportioned stone fireplace, with large picture windows on each side. Oddly, the windows didn't show the view outside, instead he was looking out at a picturesque view of a lake on a sunny day. Harry walked further in, seeing a doorway into what looked like the kitchen. He slowly turned, seeing three closed doors and a... Greenhouse. Harry stopped and stared, openmouthed, before dashing forward to open the glass door set into the glass archway. He stopped and stared again. He was dreaming. He had to be dreaming! He was standing in an absolutely enormous glass roofed greenhouse. It was the size of a football field! Big enough to grow everything he could ever want and more, with tall drystone walls around the sides and sun shining down through the glass arching above him. Dozens of neat, rectangular garden beds, each with an odd stone block on one corner topped in more of those odd symbols. There were tidy gravel pathways between each plant bed. The roof was high enough that he could grow trees if he wanted. There was a big shallow pond in the centre. At the far end was a door that looked like it opened out onto the far side of the tent. It was perfect. It was beyond perfect! He HAD to be dreaming!

Harry wandered around the greenhouse for almost an hour in a happy daze, mentally stocking the plant beds, examining the corner with the tool stands, potting bench and seedling racks, before he pulled himself together enough to investigate the rest of the tent. Not that it mattered, he'd already made his choice! He exited through a second door he had noticed on the left wall and found himself in a very long, narrow room with broad counter tops on one wall and tall storage cupboards lining the other. Not seeing any other way out he walked, with a gait that looked remarkably like skipping, back through the greenhouse (HIS Greenhouse!) and re-entered the main tent.

Opening the first door on the right, he found himself in a well appointed bathroom, with a shower alcove, a very large irregularly shaped bath tub set into the floor, a hand basin, a tall linen cupboard, and a separate alcove for the toilet. Walking back towards the door he noticed that there was a small, strange looking, multicoloured dial above the inside doorknob, a bit like the occupied/vacant dial he'd seen in public toilets. There was a blue segment facing up, and green and purple segments facing down. Harry shrugged and opened the door, passing back into the living area, and opened the next door onto an empty room with a wooden floor, plain white walls, a large window on one side and another door on the other. A bedroom. He walked back into the living area and opened the third door onto another empty room, identical to the first, including another door. Thinking it might be some kind of walk in wardrobe Harry walked over, opened it, and was surprised to find himself in the bathroom again. He looked back at the dial on the door with a frown. The green side was now facing upwards. He closed the door and turned the dial so the blue side was upwards, opened it, and looked into the living area with disbelieving eyes, he closed the door again, spun to the purple side and opened the door onto the first bedroom. Harry laughed giddily. That. Was. So. COOL!

Harry played with the door for a while, discovering that turning the dial so that a dividing line was facing up would lock the door, before wandering back out into the living area and across to the kitchen. It was a good sized room with the same slate floor as the living area, it was well lit by a huge window on the left, this one with a view of a mountain meadow covered in wildflowers. The walls were lined with benches topped with the same slate as the floor, but smooth and polished. There were cupboards below the benches and shallower cabinets above. On the wall opposite the doorway was another, slightly larger, antique looking oven and stove top and next to that was a door which opened into a square room with a skylight and walls entirely lined with floor to ceiling shelves. A pantry. Excellent. Turning back into the room he spotted a book sitting on the counter top. Curiously he picked it up, and then smiled happily. It was an instruction manual. Perfect!

He was about to pull himself up onto the counter so he could sit and read, when his stomach gave a sudden rumble. Frowning he glanced at his wristwatch and nearly dropped the manual in shock! It was 7pm! With that realisation came another. He was absolutely ravenous! He glanced consideringly at the strange stove then shook his head. He could play around with that tomorrow. For now he would go back outside, throw together a quick meal, skim through the manual while he ate, then put away the other tents and decide what to do next.

One thing was certain. Harry wasn't going back to the Dursleys tonight. Harry was going to stay right here. In fact Harry wasn't going back to the Dursleys ever again!

Harry had found his new home.

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Authors note - I readily admit, I stole the idea for the bathroom door from 'Howls Moving Castle' by Diana Wynne Jones. That door is the epitome of coolness. I want a door like that!