The Vanishing Glass
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew…lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets
"Why would they have photos of a beach ball?" Ted asked tentatively.
"That's probably Dudley," Ron sniggered.
"He's that, er…round, that he looked like a beach ball?" Andromeda raised an eyebrow.
"He's currently almost as wide as he is tall," Harry told her dryly. All of the adults looked horrified while the younger generation all snickered.
but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed…room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.
"What?" Molly frowned in confusion. "How can it hold no signs of a second boy?" Each and every one of her children left a lasting mark on their house, especially while they lived there.
"And why are there no photos of you?" Bill asked Harry.
"Harry does hate having his picture taken," Fred pointed out, though his eyes were narrowed in suspicion.
"Yeah, but I think that's more to do with his fame," Neville said quietly. Harry nodded. Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"But I've never liked being centre of attention," Harry stated. When he was younger it meant drawing the attention of the Dursleys, or Dudley's gang which was never a good thing. Snape snorted in derision at this, but Dumbledore shot him a warning look.
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 grimaced, remembering all too well how shrill Petunia's voice could be.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.
"Do all mothers sound like that?" Tonks asked, trying to diffuse at least some of the growing tension. "I know mine does."
"I do not, Nymphadora," Andromeda stated primly.
"Don't call me Nymphadora," Tonks scowled at her mother.
"Up!" she screeched.
Harry rubbed his ears grimly. Honestly, he wondered how he was able to hear anything after waking up to that for over a decade.
Remus saw the motion and fought his own wince. If it bothered Harry that much, it really must be shrill.
Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.
"That sounds like a terrible way to wake up," Charlie muttered.
"The frying pan? Just how good is your hearing?" Ron asked. Everyone frowned.
Fred and George exchanged looks. Harry had had a bedroom when they had rescued him before their fourth year. But when they had retrieved his stuff, they had seen that cupboard. With a tiny mattress in there. There had never been a good time to bring it up with him before now, but they had gotten a very bad feeling, and that feeling was coming right back with a vengeance. The whole thing had been a swept under the carpet considering what had happened once they got to the Burrow and what had happened at school that year. Even when he'd come to them during this school year, they'd been happy to let him talk, and once he'd finished, they hadn't wanted to ask for more details. Now they felt terrible for not having talked to him about this before.
He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having…He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.
Sirius smiled.
"You have a very good memory," Ted noted. Snape snorted.
"Yeah," Harry muttered, wishing he didn't have such a good memory.
"Not in class he doesn't," the potions master grumbled.
His aunt was back outside the door…And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
"She's letting you cook?" Molly asked in disapproval. "You were eleven."
"Ten actually," Harry corrected without thinking.
"But she was going to be observing right?" Remus asked.
"I've been cooking since I could reach the stove." Harry shrugged. He didn't add that the Dursleys couldn't have cared less if he'd burnt himself.
"That's not a good thing," Andromeda scowled. Even Narcissa looked disapproving, while Draco looked completely confused about why Harry Potter would be cooking. He knew muggles obviously wouldn't have house-elves, but he still couldn't believe the so-called saviour of the wizarding world would be treated like a servant.
"Which was how old?" Mrs Weasley demanded. Harry shrugged, not wanting to answer. He sent pleading looks to Bill who read on, feeling bad for the kid.
Harry groaned…He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.
"You had to mention spiders," Ron shuddered unhappily.
"How messy is your room?" Charlie laughed.
"Harry's usually pretty tidy." Hermione frowned. "Much tidier than the other boys in the dorm."
"And how would you know that, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked sternly. Hermione blushed.
"I've been in on Christmas," She admitted. "But only when it's just Harry and Ron." The professor just gave her a stern look.
Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,
"What does that have to do with anything?" Tonks wondered.
and that was where he slept.
There was a confused silence.
Fred and George winced as their suspicions were confirmed. They exchanged looks, knowing the adults were likely to blow up about this which would make Harry feel worse. They both agreed they would talk to Harry later, and not let the adults, most of which barely knew the real Harry, make him feel more embarrassed than necessary.
"What?" Sirius asked. "What does it mean you slept in a cupboard?"
"I thought that was fairly obvious," Harry snapped. Embarrassment flooded his cheeks as his secret was exposed to an entire room full of people.
"You slept in a cupboard?" Remus asked, barely able to contain his rage.
"And you think these…these, people are the best ones to look after Harry?" Sirius raged at the headmaster, standing up to his full height and moving so he could glare down at Dumbledore. The look on his face was enough to scare many people throughout the room. Even if he was innocent, he still had the haunted look Azkaban had given him.
The headmaster was full of regret. He had known that the muggles might struggle to accept Harry like their own, but he had no idea they would be this awful to their own family.
Draco and Snape both inwardly gaped in astonishment. Draco also gaped outwardly, his jaw hanging in surprise. Snape had enough self-control to keep his shock contained. Both of them were completely surprised to hear that Harry Potter had been treated like that. Snape wondered how he could have missed the signs of abuse. Then he sighed to himself. He hadn't missed them. He had completely ignored them because he didn't want to notice Harry was so much smaller and thinner than the rest of his year. And hearing about Petunia was just driving home that Harry wasn't only James' son. He was Lily's too.
Narcissa's face gave nothing away, but her disdain for muggles grew even more. However, the slightest bit of sympathy grew for the Potter boy. She didn't want the Dark Lord coming back, and if these books gave them a way to stop that happening, she might have to align herself with these people. The thought bothered her, but Lucius was too far in, and would return to him if he came back. She could only hope that these books would allow her son to realise that his father was not as wonderful as he had thought and that his path was not one that he should follow.
Emmeline felt guilt wash over her. She hadn't bothered to check in on Harry or Neville over the years. Lily and Alice would both have hexed her within an inch of her life if they knew how she'd failed both boys.
"But…you had a bedroom when we came to get you," Ron stated, frowning at his friend in confusion.
"Yeah. They moved me when my letter came," Harry muttered quietly. Ron nodded, face grim. Everyone else was still looking between Harry and Dumbledore in shock.
"Those filthy muggles," Draco sneered. For once, nobody told him off as they all actually agreed with him.
"How could anyone do that to a child?" Andromeda questioned while Molly sobbed into Arthur's shoulder.
The Ministry officials exchanged horrified looks. How had the saviour of the wizarding world been left to live in these conditions, without anyone checking on him? The whole wizarding world had let Harry down, after he had done the unthinkable. Kingsley thought about what he'd heard of the incident the previous summer, when the boy had blown up his aunt. Accidental magic was almost unheard of once a witch or wizard started Hogwarts, but suddenly he found the whole thing a lot more understandable.
Amelia Bones started writing on her parchment, which was filling up rapidly and they were only one and a bit chapters into the first book. As soon as they were out of here, she would look into Sirius' possible freedom and getting Harry Potter away from those muggles.
"Did you know? Surely you checked Harry from time to time?" Emmeline looked accusingly at Dumbledore.
"I did not," Dumbledore said quietly.
"You didn't bother to even check on Harry Potter for ten years?" Amelia looked astonished. If that news got out, Dumbledore would be ruined. Sirius and Remus both growled.
"The blood wards protected him. I had tracking charms on him, and other monitoring charms."
"Fat lot of good that did," Mad-Eye snorted.
"You told me he was protected!" Remus snarled.
"Alright, alright, move on guys," Fred finally spoke up. Harry shot him a grateful look. "Lets finish the list of their crimes because-"
"-we need to know exactly how many pranks to play and how nasty to make them," George finished.
Molly only gave them a half-hearted scolding look. She was too shocked for anything else. She couldn't believe the muggles would do that to Harry…to their family. No matter how unpleasant they were, she couldn't believe their behaviour had extended to Harry. Then she recalled all the jokes Harry had made about how they would find it funny if he got stuck up a chimney, or if he got lost somewhere. Was it possible he was completely serious?
Sirius sat back down again, realizing this wasn't the right time to talk to Albus, but he would certainly add it to his list.
At some looks from the twins, Bill read on numbly.
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen…had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.
"He's what? Eleven? What does he need with a computer, a second television and a bike? Those are all expensive presents," Ted frowned. Arthur scribbled hurriedly on his piece of parchment.
"What does Dudley need a racing bike for?" Tonks snorted. "He doesn't strike me as the type to exercise."
"He isn't," Harry confirmed.
"And a second television. Surely one is enough," Hermione said.
Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.
Everyone tensed up, with the majority able to guess exactly who he would be punching.
Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry,
Everyone growled angrily at this, still furious about the cupboard revelation.
"Didn't you learn to punch him back?" Bill asked in frustration. Harry gave him a disbelieving look.
"Not only was he about four times bigger than me, but do you really think Uncle Vernon would let me get away with punching his precious Dudley?" There were more angry sounds at this.
Snape and Draco both felt like they had been the ones who had been punched. The revelations of the last few minutes were turning their worlds upside down. Snape was hit by a kinship he never thought possible with the boy he had hated for so long. He also saw the irony of James Potter's son being in this position, given James himself had been a bully in school.
but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
"We know!" Ron and Hermione said in unison.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.
Sirius scowled darkly but Remus chuckled.
"Na, that's genetics," he told Harry with a fond smile. "James and Lily were both tiny. Your dad eventually had a growth spurt in our fifth year. Lily grew a bit too, but she was average height."
Harry was pleased there was still some chance he would grow to a reasonable height.
"You mean he won't be a midget forever?" Fred asked, pretending to sound sad about that.
"I'm not a midget!" Harry protested.
"Unlikely. He might need some nutritional potions to make it to the height he should be, but he still has time to grow," Andromeda stated. "And like Remus said, his parents were on the short side until they were a bit older."
He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.
"You didn't even get your own clothes?" Andromeda asked in disgust.
"Is that why you always wear your uniform, even on weekends?" Neville asked Harry tentatively. Harry nodded glumly.
"We'll take you shopping prongslet. As soon as we're out of here," Sirius promised. The twins immediately perked up at the name prongslet. It sounded too similar to Prongs to be a coincidence, but how did Sirius know about the marauder nicknames?
Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes.
"You are –" Remus began, but he was cut off.
"He looks just like his dad but with his mother's eyes," Ron and Hermione quoted together, rolling their eyes.
"Why do you say it like that?" Tonks asked curiously.
"Everyone says that to Harry," explained Ron. "It's about the only thing they ever say."
"Actually, I was going to say a perfect mix of his parents," Remus corrected. "He's got Lily's nose and cheekbones too."
"I do?" Harry asked eagerly. Remus, Sirius and Emmeline all nodded. Harry looked curiously over at the stately witch, wondering how well she'd known his parents.
He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.
Most people in the room scowled.
"At least I know the repair charm now. And Dudley hasn't broken them since I got my Hogwarts letter," Harry spoke up.
"When was the last time you got new glasses?" Andromeda enquired.
"When I was about six."
"You really should get checked by a specialist for a new prescription," she suggested. "And magical glasses come with self-correcting prescription, as well as various other charms that would be useful for you."
"There is a good optician in Diagon Alley that your dad used to use," Remus told him. "We'll take you there this summer." Harry smiled gratefully.
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.
"You liked your scar?" Ron asked in astonishment.
"Before I knew what it meant," Harry muttered. "I thought it looked cool."
He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question…"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."
"Lily and James didn't die in a car crash!" Sirius yelled. A few people jumped at the volume and glanced nervously at the angry man.
"How could they lie about something like that?" Neville looked horrified. He hated what had happened to his parents, but he couldn't imagine his grandmother lying to him about it.
"Apparently that letter Dumbledore wrote, never made it to Harry," Kingsley said, glancing at Dumbledore. He was undoubtedly a great wizard, but his handling of Harry Potter so far had been atrocious. Even if the boy's muggle relatives were the safest place for him to be, Dumbledore should not have left him on a doorstep. And he certainly should have checked on the boy over the years, especially when he was aware of the family's attitude towards magic.
"So, everyone in the wizarding world knew the story, or grew up hearing it, except the one person who deserved to know more than anyone," Emmeline said sadly.
"Don't ask questions?" Hermione looked horrified. Her parents always encouraged her to question everything.
"That certainly explains a lot about Mr. Potter's behaviour in class," McGonagall muttered to the other teachers nearby. They all nodded in agreement.
"You can ask me as many questions as you like," Sirius told him in an undertone, trying desperately to take his mind off the fact that Petunia had lied to Harry about how his parents died. It was just wrong.
"And me," Remus spoke up.
Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
The teachers all shook their heads. That was a very poor attitude.
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon…Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut.
"Nothing will fix the Potter hair," Sirius laughed. "The only thing that tames it even a bit is your grandad's Sleekeazy Hair potion he invented."
"My grandfather invented a hair potion?" Harry questioned, thrilled to learn more about his family. Remus and Sirius exchanged looks at how little Harry knew.
"Yes. It's where a lot of the Potter fortune came from, although they were well enough off before then too," Remus informed him. "We'll tell you more when we stop for a break."
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.
Snape sneered while Sirius and Remus exchanged melancholy looks, recalling how James used to deliberately make it worse.
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother.
All the adults looked disapproving at the reminder that a ten-year-old was cooking.
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.
The twins began gagging theatrically.
"He's a looker," Ginny said sarcastically.
"Ginny," Arthur warned, seeing that his wife was in too much shock to pay attention to the children.
Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
They all snickered in amusement at that, except Narcissa, Draco and Snape.
"Nice one, Harry," George chuckled.
"We need you to describe things more often," Fred grinned.
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table…"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.
"What does anyone need with that many presents?" Percy queried in bemusement.
Draco was equally surprised. Even he didn't get that many presents.
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.
The Weasley children all winced, knowing how their mother would have reacted if they turned over a table in a tantrum.
"Is that actually a possibility?" Andromeda blinked in surprise. "He's eleven years old."
"It happened about once a week since he was four," Harry told her.
"He's going to throw a tantrum because he's only got thirty-seven presents?" Bill looked horrified.
"Merlin, and I thought James was spoilt," Remus muttered.
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"
"What?" Molly shrieked. "That is not how you deal with a child's temper tantrum."
"Thirty-nine presents?" Charlie gaped.
"While Harry gets a cupboard and hand-me-down clothing," Sirius growled furiously.
Harry was puzzled why they all cared. He'd begged McGonagall every year to stay at Hogwarts for the summer. He'd all but told Minister Fudge last summer his relatives hated him. Fred and George had even outright told Mrs Weasley they'd been starving him and that he had bars on his window. And now they all were bothered about his living conditions? The only people he could understand were Ron, Hermione, the twins, Remus and Sirius. And even Remus was a stretch, considering he was apparently one of his parent's best friends and he'd never even heard of the man until third year. Remus hadn't come to see how he was getting on over the last twelve years. But he hadn't spoken to the man to hear his explanation yet, so the jury was out on that one.
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty..."
"Merlin, he can't even add two and he's eleven," said Andromeda, looking appalled.
"How is he passing school?" Ted wondered.
"They made me do his homework for him in Primary school. I don't know how he's getting decent grades now." Harry shrugged.
"You had to do your cousin's work and your own?" McGonagall asked with a frown.
"I usually didn't have time to do mine," Harry admitted with another shrug. "And I wasn't allowed to do better than Dudley anyway." All of the teachers looked horrified by this. Now they all wondered if Harry was holding back at Hogwarts because he wasn't supposed to look smarter than his cousin. And his cousin didn't have much in the way of brains if this chapter was any indication.
"That explains so much," Hermione breathed.
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia…'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
"Seriously? That's all he has to say?" Sprout shook her head.
"It seems bad parenting runs rampant in that family," Flitwick said quietly. "Potter's situation is terrible, but they aren't doing young Mr. Dursley any favours either."
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry…a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.
Ted, Hermione and Snape all looked appalled at how many expensive presents Dudley had been given for his birthday, alongside the earlier even more expensive ones.
He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia…Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.
"Figg?" Sirius frowned, trying to recall why he knew that name. Many of his memories were foggy after spending so long in Azkaban.
"Arabella Figg," Remus said slowly. "Wasn't she in the -?" He cut himself off before he mentioned the Order of the Phoenix in front of so many people.
"Yes. I asked Arabella to keep an eye on Harry," Dumbledore stated. Many of the adults snorted in derision.
"Mrs Figg is a witch?" Harry blinked in astonishment.
"She's a squib," Emmeline corrected. "And clearly did a terrible job of keeping an eye on Harry."
"Why didn't you tell Arabella how the Dursleys treated you?" McGonagall asked Harry. He frowned.
"Because I didn't think she could do anything about it. And it would have been worse if the Dursleys found out I told anyone." All the adults, except Snape, Narcissa and Dumbledore, growled at that.
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.
"Torture that is," Sirius muttered. Remus rolled his eyes.
"What was that Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked sternly. Sirius winced.
"Nothing, Minnie." She gave him a stern look for the use of the nickname.
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.
"Oh yeah, that's just the sort of thing Harry would do, break some old lady's leg just to spend more time with you people," Ron said sarcastically.
"Sounds like something Dudley would do though," Sirius scowled.
Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg…"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.
Harry shuddered.
"Isn't she the one –" Ron asked with a huge grin. Harry nodded.
"The one who what?" Tonks asked eagerly.
"You'll find out. It was at the start of this year." Hermione cut in quickly, before Ron could retell the story.
"Is that when you were out on the street with your trunk?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded.
"You saw him?" Amelia immediately fixed Sirius with a stern look. He nodded.
"After I escaped, I wanted to check on him before I went to find Peter. I knew where Petunia lived so I made my way there. I found Harry walking down one of the streets with his trunk, but I startled him, and he summoned the Knight Bus. Sorry, by the way," he added, looking anxiously at Harry. The boy smiled and waved away the apology. Sirius had already apologized once, and he hadn't meant to startle him.
"Good thing Sirius wasn't after Harry then," Ron muttered. "Considering he found him before anyone else did."
The Ministry people were horrified that it turned out Sirius Black had found Harry almost as soon as he left his house. If Black really was after the boy, he would have been dead by now.
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."
"The feeling is entirely mutual," Harry muttered. Sirius frowned. It sounded like Harry hated her more than the relatives he lived with, and frankly it terrified him to think why.
"Come now, Harry…" Dumbledore began.
"Come off it, Albus," Remus snapped. "They kept him in the cupboard under the stairs and Harry hates her more than those people he unfortunately has to call relatives. I don't even want to know what she did to make him feel that way, but don't you dare tell him he shouldn't feel the way he does."
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.
The Weasleys, Remus and Sirius all glared angrily at the book. Harry sighed. This was going to be a very long reading if they were this upset after not even two full chapters.
"I think they will find that's their son," Charlie muttered.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"…"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
"What's he going to do?" Fred snorted.
"Blow up the house?" George suggested.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
The twins grinned over at Harry. He smirked and several people exchanged worried looks. Given who Harry's father and godfather were, the last thing they needed was him to encourage the Weasley twins.
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car..."
"No!" Hermione and Ted exclaimed.
"He's not a dog!" Ted stated.
"He could get heatstroke, or even die," Hermione added.
"What?" Several purebloods looked alarmed.
"Ron, think about how hot it was on the way to Hogwarts second year," Harry began, not wanting to give away what happened to those who didn't know. "But imagine that with no windows open, no AC and at the end of June rather than September." Ron shuddered at that.
"What's a zoo?" Draco couldn't stop himself from blurting out his question. Hermione gave a brief explanation, which outraged Charlie until she told him it helped to protect vulnerable animals that might otherwise go extinct.
"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."
"Oh yes, because that's the biggest issue," Arthur stated, shaking his head in disbelief. He looked over at Dumbledore, wondering how he could have left Harry with these people.
"They care more about the car than their nephew," Ted said grimly.
Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying…"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
"Dinky -"
"-Duddydums?" The twins burst out laughing at such an awful nickname.
"Even I didn't have a nickname that bad," Neville said with a laugh. Emmeline shot him a curious look.
"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.
"Bullshit!" Ron growled. "You spoil everything."
"Ronald!" His mother scolded angrily. "Watch your language or I will wash your mouth out." Ron cringed.
"What a little brat," Andromeda commented.
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically…was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.
Sirius and Remus both scowled.
He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.
"Git," Tonks muttered.
Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once
"Can't be seen as a baby in front of his friends," Bill sneered.
"You can show any emotions in front of real friends," Charlie stated.
"Yeah, but those emotions were fake. And I doubt they are real friends," Bill replied.
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck…and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"They wouldn't…would they?" Percy asked tentatively.
"Well, I went to Hogwarts in September, so that would put a stop to it," Harry tried for a joke. It fell very flat. Everyone decided they didn't want the real answer.
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly..."…so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar."
A few people couldn't stop themselves from laughing slightly at that image. Sirius looked completely horrified.
"For a woman who tries so hard to appear 'normal', that's a very strange haircut choice," Tonks pointed out.
Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night…even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.
"Petunia grew up with Lily. She knew he couldn't control it," Remus snarled.
"He was punished for accidental magic? He can't control that. It's not his fault!" Tonks cried out in outrage.
"Everything even remotely abnormal is my fault," Harry told her grimly. Sirius threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Once I'm free, we're going to Zonkos and we can pick out the best pranks to take back and play on your family," he whispered. Harry grinned.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).
Many people wrinkled their noses at that.
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become…Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
"How tiny were you to believe that?" Bill asked.
"I thought Dudley's huge clothes might have acted like a sail or something," Harry shrugged.
"You need to work on your excuses," Fred told him with mock seriousness.
"It's more likely you flew," Snape said before he could help himself. Harry turned to state at him.
"What?"
"Your mother flew once or twice before Hogwarts."
"You knew my mum before Hogwarts?" Harry was gobsmacked by this news. Snape inclined his head but refused to say more on the subject.
"However you got up there, that's some impressive magic, pup," Sirius told him with a smile. Harry beamed.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong.
"You just jinxed yourself," Hermione groaned.
It was even worth being with Dudley…and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
"Blimey I think he -" said Fred.
"- likes to complain about you, Harry," George finished.
"Whatever gave you that impression?" Harry asked sarcastically. They both laughed.
"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
"Really, Potter?" Snape sneered. "It seems you are clearly as much of a dunderhead as your cousin." Several adults shot him angry looks.
"Why would you say that out loud?" Remus asked Harry, deciding not to bother commenting on Snape's words.
"I was excited to be out of the house," Harry muttered. "And they often ignored anything I said, so I didn't think they'd be listening anyway."
Everyone shot him pitying looks at that.
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!"
"Yes, they do," Sirius stated petulantly.
Dudley and Piers sniggered…if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
"Harry doesn't need cartoons to get dangerous idea," Hermione stated dryly.
"What are cartoons?" Fred asked eagerly.
"Tell you later," Tonks promised.
"No, don't do that," Hermione said with a wince. "Those two don't need any ideas either." They both smirked.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families…they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.
Most people couldn't decide whether to be angry or pleased he had got something in the end.
"I like lemon things," Harry told Sirius, hoping it would calm him down. It didn't particularly, but Molly made a note to make more things with lemon in when Harry came to stay with them.
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.
"You shouldn't insult the poor gorilla like that," Luna said dreamily. Harry looked at her in surprise. It was the first time she had spoken, and there was a strange, dreamy look on her face.
"True," he agreed, not knowing what else to say.
"You seem to like comparing people to animals," Charlie noted. Harry shrugged. It wasn't like he did it on purpose.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time…Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
"How much was actually left?" George asked shrewdly.
"Not much, and what there was, was mostly melted," Harry admitted reluctantly.
Everybody sighed, not having the energy to be overly outraged over this small thing in comparison to their other behaviours.
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last…Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons.
"Wait, is this -?" Ron looked at Harry excitedly. Harry nodded.
Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place…Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
"He actually did as his son asked when he spoke to him like that?" Percy looked surprised. All the Weasley kids grimaced at that. Their parents certainly would not have reacted that way.
Mrs Weasley huffed at the terrible parenting. Honestly it was amazing Harry had turned out to be such a polite young man.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"Leave the poor animal alone," Hermione said with a frown.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away…hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
"Sometimes," Sirius scowled, thinking about the threat to lock Harry in the cupboard until Christmas.
"I can't believe you're comparing your life to a zoo animal." Tonks shook her head in disgust.
"And he thinks he's better off," Charlie agreed in an undertone.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly…It winked.
"What?" Several people looked confused.
"Snakes don't wink," Hermione stated.
"This one did," Harry told her with a shrug.
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.
"Of course, you would wink back," George laughed.
"Only you wouldn't even question a snake winking at you," Neville said with a slight smile.
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley…The snake nodded vigorously.
"You're talking to a snake?" Sirius asked in confusion. Harry winced. He forgot his godfather didn't know he was a parselmouth. After second year, he was used to everyone knowing.
"Er, yeah."
"But how? James couldn't do it, nor could his parents, and it's supposed to be an inherited ability." Remus wondered. Harry looked down. He didn't want to admit that Voldemort might have transferred some of his powers to him. What would Sirius, and Remus to some extent, think of him after that? And he certainly didn't want to say anything in front of Draco, Snape or Draco's mother.
"I think that is a discussion for another time," Dumbledore stated quietly. Sirius frowned at the headmaster. His list of things to talk to Harry about was growing too rapidly for his liking.
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked…"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
"Oh great." Ron winced.
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could…Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.
"Oi!" Sirius yelled.
"I've had worse," Harry assured him. This actually reassured nobody at all.
"That boy," McGonagall said, mouth thin from anger.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second…the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.
"That is some very impressive accidental magic, Mr. Potter," McGonagall informed him proudly. Harry smiled slightly.
"Good job, pup." Sirius ruffled his hair. "Just as impressive as when you were a baby."
"What sort of magic was I doing as a baby?" Harry wanted to know.
"Summoning toys when your mum took them away from you. Summoning your bottle when you were hungry. One time, you were going through a phase where you hated pyjamas, and your dad got you dressed for bed which you didn't like so you turned his hair pink," Sirius told him with a chuckle. Harry blushed slightly but grinned.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor…"Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."
"At least the snake is polite," Charlie said. "I wonder if dragons understand parseltongue. That would be really cool. They are reptilian after all." He was quite envious of Harry, he would love to be able to talk to any animal, even snakes, but it would be even better if he could talk to his dragons. Or even just being able to understand what they were saying would mean they could be cared for much more easily.
"That's wicked," Fred commented with a grin.
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
"Into non-being. That is to say, everything," Luna said serenely. Everyone stared at her.
"Very good, Miss Lovegood," Flitwick praised.
"I recall the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad being called out for that," Amelia said thoughtfully. "They were a bit confused as to why someone had vanished the glass and they thought it might have been someone deliberately breaking the Statue of Secrecy."
"I believe I got called in on that as well. They also thought it might be muggle baiting," Arthur added, trying to remember. It had been an odd incident.
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong…was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
"You couldn't have kept your stupid mouth shut, could you?" George groaned.
"Probably couldn't wait to get Harry in trouble." Fred scowled.
"The vanishing glass probably wouldn't have helped either, if they hate magic," Kingsley pointed out grimly.
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,"
"No meals?" Molly looked at Harry in concern. "No wonder you're so skinny all the time."
"It's alright, Mrs Weasley," Harry assured her. "I still got food."
"Not enough for a growing boy," Andromeda frowned worriedly.
before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy…Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.
Sirius and Remus were heartbroken that he had to use to valuable skills to get food in his own house from his own relatives. Even Sirius' parents, who hated him enough to disown him, gave him food.
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years…a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.
"You remember that?" Emmeline asked, going pale. Harry nodded. He couldn't bring himself to admit he remembered much more now, thanks to the Dementors.
Remus shot him a sympathetic glance, guessing what he was thinking.
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light…There were no photographs of them in the house.
"You didn't even know what you're parents looked like?" Tonks asked sadly.
"Not until Christmas in first year," Harry admitted. "At the end of the year Hagrid made me a photo album with plenty of pictures of them in."
"So that's why he asked," Remus realised. "I sent copies of all the photos I had of them." Harry shot him a smile.
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.
Sirius and Remus both flinched at that.
Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers…way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"What if those people had been Death Eaters?" Remus barked harshly. "I thought you said he was protected by wards?" He glared at Dumbledore.
"The wards only extend a certain distance from the house," Dumbledore explained. "To around the end of the street."
"So, he's really not all that safe there," Sirius stated. Dumbledore didn't answer, knowing this was not the time or the place for this discussion.
Bill frowned at the headmaster. He made a mental note to check the wards around the Dursley house when they finished here.
At school, Harry had no one.
Hermione and Luna frowned sympathetically. They both knew exactly how that felt.
"Now you have all of us," Ron told his friend, nudging him with his shoulder.
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.
"I do!" Fred muttered.
"I think we all would happily disagree with Dinky's gang," George stated. A few people chuckled at the nickname.
"Finished," Bill announced.
"Well, it's still accurate so far," Harry admitted reluctantly.
"I'll read," Charlie said. His brother gave him the book.
"How about we stop for a bit of an early lunch after the next chapter?" Molly suggested. "I think we could all use a break." They all agreed. Most of the Weasleys were hungry anyway.