Chapter 9: School
Harry sat in the window, pretending to read a book. But really, he was too anxious to read. It was the 30th of August and Harry knew soon he would have to start school. He didn't want to go, full stop. He had always hated school. Everyone had either ignored him or bullied him. But he knew that it was the law. He would have to go to school. Harry sighed. He swung his legs down. If only he didn't have to go to school…. Maybe if he wished it hard enough, he wouldn't have to? But it was not to be.
At dinner that night, Sirius brought the topic up. "I've enrolled you at the local primary school," he said. Harry groaned. "What's the matter?" said Sirius, concerned. "I just don't want to go to school," said Harry. "Please Sirius, it will be horrible. All the other children will bully me. No one will like me," said Harry desperately, nearly in tears. "Firstly, Dudley isn't at the school, so you won't get bullied. Secondly, why would they not like you? You're such a nice kid. Don't worry Harry. You'll be fine," Sirius said consolingly.
That night, Harry couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about what the other kids would say and do. And what the teachers would think of him. What the teachers would say of him. School had always been so horrible when he was at the Dursleys. He didn't think it could be any other way. Harry clutched his teddy tight. Maybe he could sneak his teddy into school? No, that wouldn't work. It would only get him into trouble. Harry sighed. He just supposed he would have to plough through. Harry wondered whether, if the teachers and students were really mean, he could tell Sirius. Harry was sure Sirius would listen to him. He had been so lovely at dinner. He had been so lovely all this time.
The next day, they went to get Harry's school supplies. Harry chose a backpack with a dog on it, some nice colouring crayons, a nice bendy ruler, a cool red notebook and a lovely neat blue pencil case. Choosing took Harry's mind off things. It even made him smile a bit. When he left the shop though, Harry's moment of happiness was shattered. It was replaced by the worry that had been there before.
The next morning, Harry woke early. He lay in the dark, thinking about the day ahead. He got dressed quickly and brushed his hair and teeth. Breakfast was quiet. Finally, Sirius spoke."It'll be okay, Harry. I know it will." Harry tried to smile but couldn't quite manage it. They walked to school in silence.
When they got there, Sirius gave Harry a hug. "Be good, mini-marauder. Have fun." "Bye," said Harry quietly. Harry walked slowly, listening to the other children giggle and chatter. He cheered up slightly when he saw the swings and a slide in the playground. It was a simple primary school, so he had no trouble finding his classroom. This was also made easier because all the classrooms were labelled with their respective year numbers. Harry sat down and waited. A pretty woman with brown hair wearing a nice blue skirt walked in the door. "Good morning, children," she said cheerfully. "Good morning, Miss Greenfield" the children chanted obediently. "Now, we have a new student with us today. His name is Harry Potter. Would you like to come and tell us about yourself Harry?" she said sweetly. Harry stood up. He felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach. No, they had been butterflies - now they were snakes. Harry shook with fear and shyness. He didn't want to say the wrong thing. Harry spoke tentatively, feeling a bit shy. "Well, my name is Harry and I like stuffed animals and holidays." Harry opened his eyes. He had close them all the time he had been speaking. To his surprise, all the children were smiling and nodding at him. Perhaps this wasn't so bad after all. Harry felt the fear in his stomach diminish a little.
"That was lovely, Harry. Now, while all the others complete a worksheet I'd like you to write about yourself," said Miss Greenfield kindly. Harry was given a piece of paper and a pencil. This is what he wrote: "My name is Harry Potter and I am seven. I live with my godfather, Sirius Black. I used to live with the Dursleys - my aunt, uncle and cousin. They were really horrible. They made me do chores and live in the cupboard under the stairs. I am really happy with my godfather. My room is lovely. It has the coolest wallpaper ever and bedcovers in red and gold. My favourite toys are my toy soldiers and my teddy bear and my stuffed toy lion. My godfather is really nice and he plays with me lots. We went to Disneyworld on holiday. We took lots of pictures and went on lots of rides. It was great. My favourite parts were when we met Rapunzel and when we went on Splash Mountain because Sirius screamed because he thought it wasn't a rollercoaster." The teacher wrote: "This is fabulous. Keep up the good work!" Miss Greenfield handed Harry's work back to him. Harry looked at what the teacher had written. Suddenly, he didn't feel fear or sharp shyness anymore. All he felt was like crying. Because someone other than Sirius thought that he could do something good. Even thought that he could do something really, really good. No other teacher had ever written something like that. Pride filled Harry like he was a balloon and his pride was the air. Harry didn't know it, but right then a smile covered his face from the corners of his mouth almost to his ears. Because before then, the only comments on his work were: "Could do better. Try harder. Poor. Fine. Dreadful. Okay, but if you tried harder, you could do better."
Meanwhile, the other children had been discussing Harry in whispers. They were all curious who this new boy was. And why he was so afraid and shy. Mostly, new children were shy but not this shy. "Who is that new boy?"" said a girl in the back row called Lily. "Well, his name is Harry Potter" said her friend Tom. Lily glared at him. He could be so irritating at times. "No, I mean, he is… different." Tom thought for a minute. He couldn't think of anything that made Harry Potter different from all the others. He wore the same clothes. He had a perfectly ordinary schoolbag. But, at the same time, he could see what she meant. Harry Potter was different. But what was it? "Oh! I've got it!" said a girl with black hair sitting next to Tom. Lily glared at the girl. "Shush! Do you want to have Miss Greenfield after us?" "Sorry, sorry... but anyway, I know why he's so different," said the girl. "Why?" asked Lily. She was interested. "It's because he's so shy. I mean, all the new kids are shy. But they're not usually this shy." "Good point, Beth," said Tom. "It's true. I have never seen a kid that shy before. Did you see how he was shaking when he went up to give that speech about himself to the entire class?" said Lily. "So what? Some people are scared to give speeches," said Tom defensively. He himself was a bit scared of speeches. "That's because you're scared of it yourself," said Lily impishly. Tom blushed. "Hehem. Anyway, he's definitely too shy." "Do you know something else? I noticed something else about him. He's got a weird scar on his forehead," said Beth excitedly. "So? Lots of people have weird scars. I have one in my armpit," said Tom. Everyone stared at him. "Okay, definitely didn't need to know that," said Lily, grimacing because she was grossed out. Disgusting! And also weird. Beth coughed. "So, what makes the scar weird?" "Well, it's shaped like a lightning bolt." "Ha… okay that is really weird. Kinda interesting as well," reflected Lily thoughtfully.
Suddenly a bell clanged, signalling break. Harry felt the pride that had filled him disappear. It was replaced by a cold fear filling him from his ankles to his chest. "Okay class, it's playtime," said Miss Greenfield cheerily. The children rushed out into the playground. Immediately, a large group formed around Harry who tried to run off into a corner. He was frantic. He looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. But there was nowhere. Contrary to Harry's beliefs, the children had only curiosity and kindness in the pursuit of Harry. Then one of the children spoke up. "Why do you have that weird scar on your head?" asked Lily outright. Beth glared at her. Immediately after she said it, Lily realised that it probably had come off as rude. She had only said it because she couldn't think of anything else to say. Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again. And again. Finally, he managed this: "Um er um… I don't know. I got it when I was a baby."
"Wow, that must have hurt," said a dark-haired boy sympathetically. Wait, this boy was being sympathetic? This was definitely not what Harry had expected. "I don't remember it, so…" said Harry trailing off hesitantly. " Why are your glasses broken?" asked a girl with long, red curly hair. "Because my cousin punched my nose," said Harry, his confidence was growing now. "He sounds really nice," said the girl with red hair sarcastically. "What do you mean Katie? He punched the kid in the face! That's not nice?" said a boy with a big nose, confused. " It's called sarcasm, Robbie," said Katie.
"So, you wanna play with us?" said a girl with golden brown hair. Harry stared at her. He'd never been asked by another child if he wanted to play with them before. He didn't really know what to say. Then, he slowly nodded. "Okay." "So, what are we playing?" said Katie. "How about tag," said Tom eagerly. The others groaned. "We played tag all last week," said Lily. "Let's play something else. How about a skipping race?" " I can't skip," said Tom. "How about Apple Tree?' said the girl with the golden brown hair. "Good idea, Margaret." "Do you know how to play, Harry?" asked Margaret kindly. "N-n-n-no. How do you play?" "Well, first some of us need to join hands. How about Katie and Lily and Tom and Robby over there. Then, the rest of us make a train by holding each other's shoulders," Margaret explained. The four children assembled into what looked like two small arches created by two people holding each other's hands then lifting their arms up into the air. Then all the children left over - Harry, Margaret and the others - put their hands on each other's shoulders, creating a train. "Now, here's how the game works. The kids creating the arches have to sing a song - I'll tell you about that in a moment - while the train passes underneath the arches. When they reach the end of the song, all the people who are holding their arms up in the air bring their arms down. If their arms land on somebody's head, that person is out and has to create another arch. The last person left is the winner," said Margaret. Then, Margaret taught Harry the song. It went like this:
"Apple tree. Apple tree. Let your apples fall on me. I won't squeal. I won't shout. If your Apples nock me out!"
On 'out', the arms of the people in the arches went down. Then the game started. Lily, Tom, Robbie and Katie sang the song while Harry, Margaret and the other kids went under the arches. Suddenly, the kids hit the 'out' part but no one was knocked out. So they played again. This time, one of the boys was knocked out. Then one of the girls. Finally, Harry and Margaret were the only ones left in. Suddenly, someone's arm hit Margaret's head - and Harry won. Harry had been having fun until this point, but he was now worried that Margaret would be upset because he had won instead of Margaret. He liked Margaret, and he wouldn't mind having her as a friend.
"Well done Harry! Three cheers for Harry! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hip hurray! Hip, hip hooray!" Harry looked around. Suddenly, he realised that all the kids were cheering him. Wait, they were cheering HIM - the person who never got cheered for! And Margaret was cheering loudest of all.