AN: Another quick flash-fic, inspired by a Quora question
Harry's Favourite Book
Harry James Potter leafed through the pages of the book which he had sneaked home in his book bag from the school library. With any luck, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia wouldn't notice it among his schoolbooks, because they would probably make him take it back to the school library if they found out, as they had when they had caught him reading The Hobbit (thankfully, he had at least been able to finish The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe without them ever being the wiser).
It was hard to read the book in his cupboard-under-the-stairs, because the cupboard didn't have a light—he was usually forced to do his homework with the rusty old flashlight in one hand and his schoolbooks in his other.
But he could see well enough in the circle of dim light to look at the pictures and read the words, and that was good enough. After giving the pictures a bit of a look, Harry sighed wistfully when he turned back to the beginning and began to read properly.
He could almost recite the book by heart, as he had read it so many times. It was his favourite book, because the boy in the story reminded him so much of himself.
Like Harry, James Henry Trotter lived with two horrible relatives (not counting Dudley), his nasty, mean old aunts, Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge. And like Harry, James Trotter was forced to sleep in less than ideal conditions. … Harry felt almost lucky to be living in a cupboard with a tiny little broken cot to sleep on and a threadbare cover full of holes; James Trotter had nothing but bare floorboards to sleep on in an empty room.
And like Harry, James's horrid aunts would sometimes beat him, and forced him to do all of their housework. And like Harry, James never had any toys to play with and wasn't allowed to have friends.
There were many other ways in which Harry James Potter and James Henry Trotter were alike, and most of all, they both wished that someone would rescue them from their horrible relatives.
Harry kept turning the pages until he reached his favourite bit—the day when James's Giant Peach rolled down the hill and squashed his horrid aunts dead…
