No, I still don't own anything you recognize. Except my own character.
The spell hits her but, like she expects but can't exactly explain how, it rebounds on the hooded figure and she hears him screaming in rage or pain, she doesn't know.
She can't explain what happens next. She feels this horrible and dark thing attach itself to her and she fights it. She had completely forgotten about the bit of Voldemort's soul that ended up inside Harry. At least, she tries to fight as best as she can. It - no, the soul. His soul - feels like oil and it's heavy and really, really dark and it tries to overwhelm her body and soul but she fights back as best as she can. It curls around her and squeezes, his dark magic intertwining with this body and she can't breathe-
And there's this warm feeling washing over her and over her soul and she wonders if this light magic that she's feeling it's this body's or perhaps Lily's magic within her because of her sacrifice rejecting the evil soul.
But it doesn't go away, not completely.
The light magic weakens it to the point that it doesn't fight anymore and the soul goes dormant in the very back of her mind but she still feels it there, its oil like presence. Vaguely, she thinks to herself if it'd have a different reaction to her. It was dormant for the most during the books but she wonders if it'll be the same. Her vision begins to darken, her new tiny body crumbling and succumbing to exhaustion and her eyes lock on the cloak beside her mother's still body. There's nothing underneath it, she realizes. He simply vanishes? She can't remember what exactly happens to him, her memories are a bit foggy concerning the whole story. She knows the basic but some details are completely out of reach.
And stay dead, she thinks but of course he won't stay dead. According to the story, he'll return in the future but she'll think about it when it comes.
For now, she sees the bushy haired giant that she recognizes almost immediately as Hagrid coming into the room and pick her up as gently as possible.
Feeling safe and trusting him, she shut her eyes and lets the world turn dark.
(It was a few moments after Voldemort had vanished. She had been still on her back, too tired to move but hearing footsteps fast approaching, she had tired her best to look towards the doorless entrance of the nursery. A man wearing black robes and with greasy looking long hair had arrived but didn't even as much as glance at her. He had kneeled beside her mother's corpse and picked her up, holding her tightly against him as his body shook with not so well contained sobs.
She had then remembered who that man was. Severus Snape.
The man that had loved Lily so much and spent his life devoting himself to protecting her son, even if it wasn't the most thought out way. She remembered that there had been a time where, when she first read about him, she had hated him. And when she had learned about the reason behind his actions, she had hated him less but still kind of hated him. Sure, he was a good man in the end but that didn't justify the way he treated students, most importantly Harry and Neville.
Nothing he did compensated the fact that he was a bad person all those years before the moment that he was a hero.
When he did let go of her mother's corpse, he had stood up, glanced once at her or most likely at her still bleeding scar and then with a sharp turn, he left. She would've sneered if she could. Sure, just leave behind a damn baby. Yup. That's exactly the normal behavior that a human being should have.
But then again, if she remembered correctly, someone else was coming for her, wasn't it?
She had gotten her response when Hagrid showed up in the nursery, eyes wide and filled with sorrow and pain and tears.)
Waking up with a shrill scream, she realized then, is a lot worse than with an alarm.
She supposes it's was a surprise for the Dursleys to find their niece at front of their house, with nothing but a letter but they could be less loud, God fucking damn it. Surprisingly, Petunia Dursley didn't pick her like she was a sack of potatoes or something. She picked her up like the baby she was and she was surprised but still grateful for it. She heard Vernon Dursley bark something like 'Who left a damn baby in our front door?! Do we look like a orphanage?' and she resisted the urge to scream just to make him shut up.
Living with her new 'family' was awkward to say the least. She still got the cupboard under the stairs as a room, they didn't celebrate her birthdays which she didn't mind to be honest, they would feed her somewhat (when they didn't starve her as punishments, which they regularly did) and Petunia was the one that did all the work when she was a baby because Vernon had refused to touch her and little fat Dudley was as annoying and crybaby as he was described. He kept pulling her hair and hitting her with his toys but she didn't pay him any mind. She pretty much ignored him. Her idea was that, maybe if she didn't show any signs of being 'magical' then she'd be treated somewhat better? than in canon. If she could prove that she wasn't a 'freak', then perhaps it'll go better. Accident magical was a big no, no for the plan to work and it'll probably be the easiest part. If she didn't feel angry or threatened, then she'd be fine.
Or so she hopes.
She didn't utter a single word. At home, at least. She did her best to be quiet. She didn't speak or try to pronounce words. She spoke when Lily and James were trying to get her to say Mom or Dad but not anymore. But sometimes, her body's instincts to cry and have a tantrum were bigger and she was not able to control herself (oh, how Vernon hated when she wailed out of nowhere and for some fucking reason, he thought that screaming back at her to shut up would work. Stupid fat man) but no magical stuff happened when she burst out crying like the baby she was.
She wonders once again if she does have any magic at all.
She supposes she does because she managed to survive the Killing Curse but there was definitely something wrong.
She'll probably find out when she turns eleven.
Going through primary school was a pain. She had to speak to answer questions and talk about things but she didn't speak except to do those very things.
The kids were these brats that complained about anything and anyone. Some picked on her because she wouldn't speak or because she was always alone. The teachers tried so many times to make her communicate and play with the others and they always complained (although more formally) that she needed to make friends. She didn't pay any mind to them. She didn't feel like she needed any friends. Dudley in school was a lot worse than at home, because at least home, his parents controlled him somehow. At school, he was always chasing her and throwing her to the ground and mocking her, especially when she told the teachers to call her Harry instead of Harriet.
("Now, Harriet," her teacher had began saying, touching her shoulder, "I want you to-"
"Harry," she had interrupted quietly.
Her teacher had faltered, eyes wide for a moment before she had laughed a fake laugh, "But, Harriet honey, Harry is a boy's name. You're a girl."
"So?" she had asked, staring straight at the woman.
"Surely, you don't want to be called a boy's name," the teacher had tried to persuade her, kneeling in front of her.
"I do," she had replied.
"But why?" the older woman had asked.
"Because I am Harry and I don't want to be called Harriet. It's not right.")
After that, her cousin had used every chance he could to mock her about her 'boy name' but she couldn't care less.
She didn't feel comfortable being called Harriet. This is Harry's story. Harry's place that she took. She took his place even before he was born and she doesn't feel comfortable being called a name that isn't his. Calling her Harriet just makes it seem like she's discarding Harry away and she doesn't want that. Sure, she's a girl and Harry is a boy name but she couldn't care less. She'd use his name. She doesn't care about this world in the way he did and she may make different choices than he did but his name would remain. The only thing that she could do was use his name to make it seem like he was still here; still in his place. And the fact that James had called her Harry when he was alive was a heart warming thought that she kept with her at all times.
The Dursleys didn't prevent her from calling herself Harry. They didn't say anything but Vernon had showed his disgust of her calling herself a boy's name and had sort of mocked her but didn't stop her. 'If you want to call yourself that then do it! I don't care!' he had said. And the fact that for years, until she was about eight or nine, she had to use Dudley's old clothes didn't help. But she got used to the disgusted looks she received from her uncle and the mocking at school because of Dudley. They didn't like her, even when she didn't do anything out of the ordinary and the feeling was mutual. If they couldn't get over the fact of a girl using a boy's name and using boy clothes at that, then they were more childish than she thought.
Petunia… was another story.
She didn't say bad things or insult her. Well, not as much as her husband and son. She still said some bad things when she got annoyed and angry. And yelled a lot. And she still favored Dudley and babied him, obviously but in regards to her, her aunt wasn't exactly as mean? as she was described as. There's these times when she found Petunia staring at her when she's writing in this old, unused journal that Dudley got on one of his birthdays and never used and she had picked it up without him noticing that it was gone. She also kept it almost all the times inside the cupboard so he wouldn't find it. She didn't know why her aunt would stare at her like that and when she asked, Petunia just got defensive and didn't answer.
(She had been five and in the living room, in the couch. Vernon had yelled at her for using and contaminate the couch and it was Petunia that had said that as long as she didn't ruin anything, she could sit there. Needless to say, Vernon had been way too shocked at his wife to say anything back. She had stayed in the couch, writing carefully, to train her writing when she felt that Petunia hadn't exactly left the area. She had looked up to the woman.
"Is there something wrong, Aunt Petunia?" she had asked with the politeness that wouldn't get her in trouble.
The blond woman had turned away, huffing, "There's nothing wrong, girl. There's dishes that need to be cleaned."
"Then why were you staring at me?"
"I wasn't staring at you!" Petunia's voice had risen to an hysteric shout, body tensing, "I was just going to ask you to do those dishes!"
She had done what she was asked without saying anything else and she had still been able to feel her aunt's gaze on her back as she worked.)
Petunia had the habit of staring at her. But seriously, all the damn time. She never really understood it.
Maybe it's because she looked like her dead sister? Because, despite everything, she was sure that Petunia loved her sister. So maybe that was why her aunt always stared? Because she looked like Lily? She did have dark red messy hair and the emerald eyes. But she wasn't sure if that would be reason enough for her aunt to stare so much at her. She got used to them eventually and learned to not ask about it. It would lead nowhere.
Then, there were also the times that she had to spend with Mrs. Figg when the Dursleys wouldn't want her to go with them somewhere and didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone inside the house.
She supposed she didn't mind the woman. She wasn't bad and let her watch TV and eat chocolate but she wouldn't do it, instead writing in her journal like usual. Mrs. Figg also fed her when she was hungry and talked about her life on and on. She knew that there was something about Mrs. Figg, something that had to do with watching over Harry, on Dumbledore's orders she suspected? She can't remember exactly but she thought that it was something like that. She also noticed sometimes that Mrs. Figg would watch her intently, like she was expecting her to do some sort of trick or some shit.
Mrs. Figg must've been really surprised when she was as normal as a Muggle would be.
And now, back to the present and to the so expected (but not really) day.
She is turning eleven soon (in about a month) and currently, it was the day that she is going to the Zoo. Everything went pretty much the same. From Dudley whining about the presents to his friend going with them and the fact that Mrs. Figg couldn't stay with her. They're in the car and Piers and Dudley are making fun of her and insulting her but she doesn't give two damns of what these two idiots were talking about. She's too focused on the fact that it was the time of the truth. If she remembers correctly, in this trip, Harry had spoken to a snake which was then later on revealed to be his Parseltongue ability and then he had caused his cousin to be stuck inside the snake's cage.
It would be an experimentation and if it worked, then maybe, she does have magic within her.
When they arrive at their destination, she doesn't care to look at the other animals. She follows the Dursleys because if she goes alone and out of their sight, she'll receive probably some punishment and she doesn't really want to be yelled at, thank you very much. It takes time to get to the reptile part, mainly because Dudley wants to see every single thing and make fun of it but when they actually do get there, she moves immediately towards the big glass cage where so infamous cobra was. She eyes the animal, who still remains asleep and looks from one side to the other. No one is looking.
"Uh, hello?" she tries but it's still English. How do you even speak it anyway? Does she have to actually hiss?
The cobra blinks its eyes open and raises its head to stare at her.
Oh, the hell with it. She'll try hissing, "Uh, how do I do this? C-can you underssstand me?"
And she feels silly. And must look silly. She looks around to see if anyone's staring at her but the people around her are focused on the animals. She looks back to the snake.
"I don't know how I'm supposed to do this," she sighs, shaking her head. What was she thinking? She eyes the snake, which is still staring at her and decides to try one more time, "Can you understand me?"
And then milagoriusly, the snake nods its head as if responding and she feels something burst inside her which she doesn't know if it's relief or fear. And she didn't even notice a change in the way she spoke so she doesn't really know if she had spoken Parseltongue or if the snake just nods because it's responsive to people talking.
She'll probably never know.
She stares at the snake, finding it surprisingly beautiful. She wasn't that big of fan of them Before but then again, she'd never see them in the flesh. The scales have this shine to them and she kind of wants to touch it. Or maybe just have the snake for herself.
"I wish I could take you with me," she sighs, eyes still on the snake's, "You'd be a very nice, er, fellow."
The snake nods again as if agreeing with her.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
She jumps at the sudden shout and doesn't even have time to think before she's thrown to the floor, her ass hitting the floor and her stomach burning in pain from the punch she had received. She looks up to find Piers and Dudley with his big, fat hands on the glass, eyes locked on the cobra.
She feels all the anger she's felt all these years in their 'care' surface and it makes her blood boil. All the anger and hate. Yes, she spent her whole life trying her best to ignore them but that doesn't really stop her from hating them for the way they've treated her (treated Harry) and feeling like they deserved something really bad happen to them. Oh, she hates them so much. She wishes she could've done something to them but that would've ruined her cover.
Oh, how she wishes she could've done something to them. Hurt them like they've hurt her.
Hurt them hurt them hurt them hurt them
She feels something humming around her, on her skin and it's almost comforting and then- she watches the glass between Dudley and the snake shatter in tiny pieces.
The response to it was almost instantly. Screams erupt around her but she can't take her eyes away from the screaming and crying boy that had fallen backwards when the glass shattered. His face is covered in blood, cuts everywhere and there's tiny pieces of glass sticking out from his skin. But it wasn't just his face. His shirt was now teared apart because of the glass and filled with blood as well. Piers seems to be in some sort of alike state but she just decided to focus on her cousin.
She can feel her body ache as well, probably because of some glass that hit her too but she just couldn't focus on that. She just focuses on the thrilling feeling that is going through her body, the way something is going through her veins. The way she can feel something around her. It feels exhilarating. It's like a bottle had burst open inside her. Is this what magic feels like?, she thinks to herself feeling the warmth around her. She can't see anything on her but she can feel it.
She has magic.
She has magic!
And even as the Dursleys cuddle around the bleeding Dudley screaming along with some people and as the snake is freed, she feels a smile curl in her lips.
"What did you do?!" Vernon yells at her, when his wife is holding their son as they wait for the ambulance to come.
She just stares at him, the smile still on her face. He keeps yelling stuff at her and grabbing her by the shirt, but she just remains quiet and when the ambulance does finally appear, his attention is on it and taking the opportunity, she just runs.
She runs out of the Zoo, going through the barricade of people that were surrounding them.
She just runs and doesn't turn back.
It took so long for this chapter, damn. There were times in which I didn't know what to write and I had a major writer's block and just ugh.
Writer's block is a pain in the ass.