After the Dawn
Chapter Five: School
"But Sirius! Why do I have to go to school?" five year old Harry Potter whined at his godfather, as they stood at the front door of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.
"Because you need to have a proper education," Sirius replied sternly. "Now, what's your name?"
Harry rolled his eyes and replied, "Feon Evans," he replied, his voice taking on an Irish accent. "And you are my dog, Snuffles."
"Good," Sirius said, examining his godson critically. Good, no one would recognise the boy. Black hair had been replaced with dark brown, and green eyes were now grey. The tell-tale lightning bolt scar had been hidden by some concealing cream.
Not that anyone would recognise Harry Potter anyway, these days. After all, the boy had been missing for the past four years, and the Ministry had told everyone he was dead … But you never could be too careful.
"Where are you going after you've dropped me at school?" Harry asked suddenly.
"I'll be hanging around near by, to make sure you don't get into any trouble," Sirius replied, smiling slightly.
"But I'll be good!" Harry said, grinning, though he knew that Sirius meant a different type of trouble.
"You'd better not be! You're my godson, which means you should be getting in lots of trouble," Sirius replied jokingly. "Alright, come on, we'd better get going," Sirius decided, shifting form.
Well used to this phenomenon, Harry just walked down the steps of Grimmauld Place, then turned to wave a small hand at Kreacher. The house elf was watching them leave from just inside.
Kreacher's face split into a wide smile and he waved back at the boy who had, to all appearances, won his heart, although Sirius would have said that the elf didn't have a heart to win.
Harry was nervous. Apart from Sirius, he hadn't met another human in four years now. He was comfortable with the house-elves and Sirius, but where other people like?
He'd heard from Sirius about how the Ministry had betrayed his godfather, believing him to be a Death Eater. Were all people like that?
No, they couldn't be. Sirius had said that his parents were good people, and that so was Remus Lupin, even though he was a werewolf.
But Sirius had also said that everyone thought Peter Pettigrew was a good person, but then he'd turned out to be bad.
How could you tell a good person from a bad one? The five year old wondered. If Sirius could make a mistake, and think that a bad person was a good one, everyone must be able to.
A typical five year old, the boy was convinced that Sirius could do no wrong, and that nothing Sirius said could possibly not be true.
Walking beside the dog that was actually bigger than he was, Harry was given a wide birth by some of the passers-by, whom he was watching inquisitively.
There were lots of people, Harry realised. Loads of them, in fact. Living with Sirius in the Potter mansion, he'd wondered if most of them had died out or something, since he hadn't actually seen any of them.
He was somewhat surprised to learn this was not the case. If anything, humans seemed to be flourishing.
For a five year old, Harry was a little more intelligent than average – he'd been able to write his name for a whole two and a half years now, and could read simple books, thanks to Sirius's and the house elves careful tuition over the past few years.
Walking beside his godson – towering over the boy – Sirius watched with dislike as people cowered away. Why did people have to be so afraid of different things?
He looked down at his godson. Harry obviously noticed nothing wrong – why should he, when he had nothing else to compare this behaviour to?
Sirius had decided that Harry should go to a Muggle school because his godson needed to meet people, learn how they acted, and how he should interact with them.
He knew that Harry didn't like the idea of being parted from him for long, but Sirius had decided it was necessary, and he knew that one day, Harry would thank him for it… And so would the rest of the world.
The school came into sight ahead. Cast iron gates bared the entrance, and over them was the name "Uppchurch Elementary". Sirius whined softly, and Harry turned to him.
"You're not coming any further?" Harry asked. Sirius shook his head slightly and turned, heading towards a little alleyway, and then looking back at Harry.
"You want me to come?" Harry asked, and Sirius nodded. Harry hurried after the dog immediately.
In the alleyway, hidden from view, Sirius resumed human shape, and quickly created a mirror to examine his own appearance. Wearing Muggle jeans and shirt, with his hair cropped very short –he'd always preferred it long- Sirius knew that if a wizard saw him, he was unlikely to be recognised.
"I have to come in and make sure you are settled," Sirius explained. "And remember, my name is?"
"Lewis Evans," Harry replied dutifully.
"Good, come on then," Sirius led his godson into the school yard. There were children playing, and most of them stopped to look at the new kid.
Harry clung tightly to Sirius's hand, clearly not liking being looked at by so many people. Sirius squeezed back reassuringly.
"Be proud kid," he muttered out of the side of his mouth.
Harry immediately squared his shoulders and stood up straight, looking around him with a challenging green stare. He wasn't afraid of these people.
"Ah, you must be Mr. Evans, and this is little Feon?" a fawning woman's voice came from behind them. Sirius turned quickly, and so did Harry.
Standing beside them was a middle-aged woman with a happy smile and mousy-brown hair. "Yes, that's us," Sirius said, speaking in a light Irish lilt.
"Oh! Aren't you adorable?" the woman cooed, crouching so that she was at Harry's level to address the boy.
Harry gave her a surprised look, but then held out his hand, to shake hers. Surprised, the woman gave him her own hand. "Good morning Miss," Harry said, smiling brightly.
"So well mannered! My name's Holly, so please, call me that!" the woman – Holly – said. "Mr. Evans? You'll have to sign some forms in the Headmaster's office."
The bubbly woman led the way into the school, chattering the whole way. Sirius continually felt the urge to raise a hand to check his ears, which had to be aching from the sound that was assaulting them.
Finally they arrived. "I'll be taking Feon with me, shall I?" the woman asked.
"If
you must," Sirius replied stiffly. "But he grew up away from other children, so
just be careful of that, will you?"
"Of course Mr. Evans!" the woman replied
cheerily, steering Harry away from his godfather.
Harry cast one look, filled with longing, back in his godfather's direction, but Sirius had already disappeared inside the headmasters office. Harry knew he'd not see Sirius until that afternoon when he could go home. The five year old found himself filled with a wish that he could speed up time.
"A bit shy are you?" Holly asked brightly. "Well, I won't introduce you to too many of the kids just yet then, don't want to overwhelm you. Come and make some play dough with these kids."
Harry ventured closer to a table where some other people, who looked about his age, where playing with a malleable substance he hadn't come across before.
One of them was trying to eat it, Harry realised. He wondered if this was what you were supposed to do with this stuff, but the woman, Holly, hurried over to the boy who was eating it. "No, no Harvey!" she scolded gently. "Not for eating. Not for eating."
She spoke as if the boy was really thick, Harry noted, and wondered why. Maybe other people, people that weren't him and Sirius, were thick.
He certainly didn't consider himself the odd one in this group – the rest of them were just not like him. They were all odd ones. "What do you do with this?" Harry enquired.
"Why, you make shapes and things," Holly replied, smiling widely down at him.
Harry was unsure how this would help anything, especially since schools were where you learned things. "Aren't we supposed to learn stuff here?" He asked doubtfully.
"Yes, of course. But it isn't time to start learning yet. Enjoy the free time you have," Holly advised him.
Harry sat down slowly at the table with the 'play dough' on it, and picked some of it up. He wondered what to make, and his mind settled on a broomstick. That would be easy.
Taking some of the play dough, he settled down, ignoring the other students, he fiddled with this odd stuff called play dough.
Harry remembered that Sirius had told him this was a Muggle school, therefore there was no magic things, and he wouldn't be able to talk about Quidditch. Harry wondered what he was supposed to talk to these people about, if he could talk about Quidditch.
Suddenly a loud bell rang. Harry blinked and looked around. Most of the younger people were running in every direction. Harry sat still, not knowing where he was supposed to go.
"Come on, Feon," Holly was back. "Your classroom is this way."
Harry stood up, frowning slightly at the play dough stuff that he'd been trying to make into a broomstick. It didn't look much like one, Harry decided critically. Oh well, maybe he'd be able to finish it later.
Holly offered a hand, and, after a moment's consideration, Harry took it, allowing the woman to lead him away towards a classroom. Holly stopped outside a door, and Harry looked within and saw lots of children inside.
He suddenly didn't want to go inside. He was nervous, he didn't like that there were so many people. After all, before this morning, he'd only know himself and Sirius.
"Come on," Holly smiled encouragingly at him. "It'll be fun, I promise."
Harry was doubtful, but remembered that Sirius had wanted him to come here. If Sirius wanted it, then it must be ok. His father had gone to school, a new thought came suddenly. His father had had fun at the school called Hogwarts.
With this in mind, Harry squared his small shoulders and walked into the class beside Holly. Everyone turned to look at them, and Harry felt like ducking back out of the room again.
"Professor Cambill, this is Feon Evans, he'll be joining the class," Holly said, smiling at that man, who looked about Sirius's age and hight, and who was standing at the front of the room.
"A new student, is it?" the man asked, and his voice had a cheery note, again reminding Harry of Sirius. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all. Harry nodded shyly.
"Well come in and sit down then. We were just going to start some writing practice," the man, Professor Cambill, stated.
"I think that's all I'll be needed for. I'll come and pick up Feon after class," Holly said, before she left the classroom, leaving Harry in a room full of strangers.
"You come and sit over here in the back row," the teacher said, smiling encouragingly. Harry made his way slowly across to the seat that had been indicated, and slipped into it.
Professor Cambill walked around the class, setting sheets of paper on everyone's desks. He paused to give Harry an encouraging smile as he passed. Harry returned the smile.
Back at the front of the class room, the teacher turned to the black board. Harry watched with interest as the man sketched letters on the board, the entire alphabet, in capital letters and in lowercase.
"For now, I want you to practice writing those, try and get the form right, then write a few words down, I'll come around and make sure you're writing the letters properly.
Looking down at his lined paper, Harry made a face. Sirius had taught him this ages ago. He'd been able to write his name, and Quidditch, since he was three and a half, and he'd been writing proper words for half a year now.
Resentfully, Harry wrote the letters down, using a Muggle pen. It was very different to write with than quills were, but Sirius had insisted that he learn to write with both.
Suddenly Professor Cambill was standing over Harry's shoulder. "Let me see your work please, Feon," the man asked. Harry shoved his paper in the other mans direction.
"This is very good," Cambill stated slowly, sounding surprised. "I suppose you've been writing for a while?"
"Si-Lewis taught me when I was three and a half," Harry replied, trying to sound polite. Didn't everyone learn this stuff then?
"Did he now? There's not that many people who actually teach their children to write these days. Most often it's left to the schools. Well, you have a very good hand, Feon. You won't be needing any more practice at this. Have you been taught to do write in running script?"
Harry shook his head no. "Ok, I'll get you some sheets that show how letters are joined together, and you can start practicing that," Cambill said, moving away.
A few moments he was back, with the said sheets. "Here, see if you can work those out on your own, if not, signal me with a raised hand," Cambill told Harry, already moving away.
Harry turned his attention to the sheets and made a face again. The letters were so big – just like the lines on the paper had been. Harry could write much smaller than that.
Slowly, he traced his pen over the letters on the sheets. He liked the flowing motion of the pen when it didn't have to come away from the paper. Abcd, he traced on the paper, then went back to the paper previously provided. He wrote this again, in 'running script' as the teacher had named it, on the paper, and was a little dismayed by the messier response.
Why won't it work right? He wondered. Should try again, I guess, another thought came after a moment. With this thought firmly in place, Harry went back to writing this 'running script'.
Slowly, he was improving, he decided after a few more attempts. "Good Feon! You are quick to pick up on this!" Cambill said warmly on his next time round the classroom. "The rest of the class will be starting on this in about half an hour, until then, you can practice, if you want to, or just sit quietly."
Neither, Harry decided, sounded that interesting. He ended up practicing – sitting still was much too difficult.
Finally, the teacher moved on to writing in running script on the blackboard, and giving them combinations of letters to join together. Harry found this a little more interesting than sheets had been, but not much.
Suddenly the bell went again. Harry jumped slightly – the bell was loud. His ears, though he did not know it, were overly sensitive, thanks to the life he'd lived up until now.
He did not know that most children did not spend their time creeping around trying to startle their parents, or that most children's parents didn't sneak around trying to play pranks on them.
At least, not the extent that he and Sirius did.
Holly turned up at the door again. "Feon, come on. Next class is maths," she said. Harry got up and dutifully followed her, hoping that the next class would be a little more interesting than the one he had just left.
Maths, it turned out, was not. The teacher was showing them the signs of minus and plus, and how they were used … Never on numbers over ten. Harry spent the lesson writing things such as '1+2=3' which he knew some of already. He also knew most the two times table, up until eleven anyway.
Though Harry didn't really pick up on it, the students in his class were looking at him with dislike in their eyes. This new boy was far ahead of them in terms of learning, it seemed, and they didn't like it.
Lunch time, when it came, was as difficult as the lessons were, in some ways. Some of the people in Harry's classes had older siblings, who they ran to, telling them that the boy with glasses was a stuck up little prat who knew everything.
"Hey, you!" Harry heard a voice from behind him. Not realising that it was addressing me, he walked on, looking around this odd new place, with people and cars, and lots of loud noises.
Suddenly a hand caught his shoulder and yanked him around. Harry was now facing some five older kids who looked at him distastefully. It was the exact same expression that house elf and master wore when Sirius in the same room as Kreacher.
Harry didn't like this. The older boys looked scary. "Hey, you!" One of the sneered at him. "Think your smart, do ya?"
Harry frowned slightly, looking up at the older boys. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully, trying to understand the situation.
"Whadaya mean whatawe mean?" another snarled, mean eyes narrowing.
"I mean, what do you mean, I think I'm smart?" Harry asked again, patiently.
"You cheeking us?" a third demanded.
"Cheeking?" Harry inquired, wondering what this meant.
One of the boys raised a hand to punch Harry in the side of the head, but Harry, having watched Sirius practicing fighting, saw immediately what was coming, did the first thing that came to him:
Dropped to the ground as the fist whistled past him, and yelled as loudly as possible. Holly appeared immediately, running to see what the matter was. When she saw the five older boys menacing her young charge, Holly's temper flared up.
While she was a cheery, chatting person normally, Holly did have a very formidable temper, when someone could do enough to make her unleash it.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice suddenly dripping icicles as she stared at the would-be bullies, freezing them with her glare.
"We … we … uh … that is …" stuttered one of them.
"I hope you weren't trying to hurt this young man," she said. "What was going on Feon?"
"He said something funny," Harry replied. "He asked if I 'thought I was smart'. I didn't understand what he was talking about, but when I asked, he," he pointed to one of the boys, "tried to hit me. I dropped and yelled."
His sounded as earnest and naïve as only a five year old can be.
"Well, we can't have that going on here. We are respectable school which has no tolerance for bullies," Holly said. "Come on Feon, and you lot to, we'll go and see the Headmaster, he'll deal with you lot."
Harry listened to the headmaster, a stout, middle aged man who looked, Harry thought privately, like a Santa Clause, as he vented his spleen over the bullies.
Harry cowered back a little. He was fairly sure that Santa Clause wouldn't be shouting so loudly and angrily, however. "Come on Feon, we'll get you out of here," Holly said. "Such a horrible thing to happen on your first day. Would you like to go back home, and recover a bit?"
Harry nodded immediately. He'd like nothing more than to leave this place – it was scary. He'd nearly gotten hurt, and he still didn't understand why those boys had been doing that.
"Well try and get in touch with your guardian, Lewis Evans, wasn't it?" Holly said.
"You don't need to, he's over there," Harry pointed. Sirius was indeed walking over towards them.
"Hi there, Holly, wasn't it? Since it's lunch time, I thought I'd drop by and see how Feon was adjusting – like I said, he hasn't been around this many people in a long time," Sirius said.
"Oh, I'm very sorry, Mr. Evans. It seems that a few of our older students took it upon themselves to try and bully your godson … The Headmaster is dealing with them presently. I assure you, we don't uphold any form of bullying – I'd be surprised if the boys weren't suspended, if only for a little while," Holly babbled. "We were just about to ring you to come and get Feon – I thought it would be best for him to go home and recover a bit."
"Yes, yes, I think that would be best. I'll bring him back in a few days and see how things go then," Sirius said. "I do hope that the ones responsible for this are duly punished!"
"I'll inform you of their punishment the next time I see you, Mr. Evans. I assure you, when Feon comes back to school, I'll keep by him and make sure no one else tries anything!" Holly said.
"Thank you. We'll see you in a few days," Sirius said, swinging Harry up to hug him briefly. "Come on kid, let's get you home."
"I don't think I like school," Harry remarked.
"What don't you like about it?" Sirius asked reasonably.
"They're only just learning to write," Harry complained. "It's boring. And the other kids look at me like Kreacher looks at you."
Sirius stifled a laugh. "They mustn't like you much," he remarked.
"Why not?" Harry wanted to know.
"Because you're new, you're different, you aren't like them … People have a habit of picking on those who are different."
"I don't think I like people," Harry remarked doubtfully.
"Of course you do! I'm a person, and so were your parents," Sirius laughed. "But there are good people, and there are bad ones, and there are those who are neither, just don't know what they are doing with themselves."
"Like Snivellus?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, just like Snivellus," Sirius said, smiling at his godson. "Come on, at home I'll show you some things you can do to people who are trying to hurt you."
***
Well, I'll end off there, this chapter is already longer than most in this story, and all of the In Every Darkness chapters. 3700 words! That's pretty good, huh? Review please!
~WolfMoon~