AN: Sorry this took much longer than I had hoped. I meant to take 2 days off from writing so i could get over the block that was forming, but then life happened at work... twice... so been a bit stressed out. However here is my next installment, and with luck I will get more out tomorrow as well! Husband has a Mage Game to get to, so the house is all mine... no distractions from writing other than my 4 cats...
So please enjoy, and i hope this answers some of your questions that might be popping up, and more will be answered. Just remember there was a lot of paper added to that binder by Fatima and Discordia...
Chapter 7
With the world moving once more he crept quietly back into the house. He didn't want his relatives hearing him and getting upset that he dared to disturb them. If he did then he would have to deal with being yelled at, given another chore, or just outright locked into his cupboard again.
One he finally reached the trunk set neatly in the hallway next to his little door, he carefully eased the latches open. Carefully he opened it and slid out the drawer that contained his private library, well one of two drawers. The question then became what to read first, Hogwarts: A History, Quidditch Through The Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, one of the many cookbooks, or one of the books on how to brew potions for beginners.
The Quidditch book was in his hands and open just in time to hear his cousin coming down the stairs. While his mind was much older, muscle memory is a frightening thing, once you are taught and go through the same situation over and over the body remembers. So while he wanted to quickly close the trunk and get back into the kitchen so that his cousin wouldn't see him, a logical choice, his body froze in place, as if hoping that by not moving he would be passed over by the bully as unimportant.
When the small land bound whale reached the base of the steps and saw his cousin, he smirked and headed over to make some comment or another. Though that thought fled the large boy's mind as he saw the image on the cover of the book move, a man doing a flip on the broom to keep some kind of ball away from a hoop, a flip that imitated a goalie trying o keep the football from entering the net. Opening his mouth to speak he was stopped at the sound of hearing his mother laugh at the sitcom they were watching.
"What's that?" he said quietly while motioning to the book.
"It's," he looked to the book then lifted it to show is cousin better. "It's a sport that's really popular in the magical world, called Quidditch. They play it at the school, so I thought I should look into it." Harry kept his voice low as well, while watching the face of his cousin. In all his current memories he never recalled having a conversation like this with his cousin before.
"That goalie there, he's on a broom." It was a statement as if he wanted to make sure he was seeing what he was, and not going mad. "The picture moves. That normal there?"
"From what I can tell, yeah, some of the school books have moving pictures in them. Might make it easier to learn some things easier to learn, being able to see it done over and over like that." Taking another chance he set the book down and drew out Newt's book on creatures and opened it to the dragons. He knew his cousin loved games, and dragons were usually one of the boss fights. "Oh, and Dudley, dragons are real," he said as he handed to book with the pages open for his cousin. The picture was of the Welsh Green taking off into flight on one page and on the other spitting fire.
Dumbly his cousin to the book and stared at the pages in awe and wonder. There were no words to be said by the large boy as he stared at something that looked so much like the dragon from Dragon's Lair, and he had yet to beat that blasted game.
"You get to learn about all of this in school? You get to study dragons? Do you think you will get to get near one?" His eyes were wide as he looked to his scrawny cousin.
"Learn about, yeah, but I don't think I want to get close to a dragon anytime soon. Maybe they do field trip and the like, but I'm not sure. If they do, I'm sure I'll have to get your parent's permission," he said with a sigh.
The two sat in silence for a moment, before Harry's eye caught on something. It was the package for a chocolate frog, something that might entertain his cousin.
"Hey, wanna try a candy from the magical world? You wouldn't be able to tell your parents though," Harry said almost pleadingly to his cousin. "I know they don't like the magical world, and well, I'm not sure they'd be happy to know I was sharing any of it with you, but, well," he reached in and pulled out the package.
"Chocolate frog?" he asked confused as to if it was a chocolate covered frog, like they did with ants or grasshoppers.
"Its chocolate shaped like a frog, and it has a spell cast on it, so that it can leap around like an actual frog. I had a few today, and not only is it really good chocolate, but its fun too." He offered the confection, and his cousin warily took it, "open it in your room, with the door closed. That way it can't get away from you. I lost my first one, it leapt out an open window," he said with a bit of a grin. "I had no idea, startled me, but when I opened the second one I was ready for it."
"Thanks," his cousin said with a bit of a nod before pocketing the candy. "You mind if I borrow this book with the dragons in it?"
"Sure," harry said stunned by the way his cousin was right now. "If you like I can get you some more books the next time I can get into their shopping district."
Dudley nodded then with a broad smile walked into the living room.
"I'm gonna go to bed," he told his parents during the first commercial break.
"Sleep well," his father gruffed.
"Goodnight Diddydums, rest well," his mother said in her saccharine way when she talked to her son.
When he passed by to head up the stairs he nodded to his cousin, then stomped up the steps giving Harry the noise he needed to cover the sound of him closing and latching the trunk. Once he had it just as it had been he retreated to the washroom on the main floor and prepared himself for being locked in the cupboard overnight, but at least it would be the last night. Tomorrow he would have his day cut out for him cleaning that spare bedroom.
As quietly as he could he tried to make it to his cupboard, but his Aunt's stern gaze found him in the hallway.
"Into your room Freak. Be happy it will be your last night in there, and that we are going to be kind enough to let you borrow Dudley's spare room. If you do anything freaky, it will be back to the cupboard with you. Now get in!" she snapped at him and pointed to the tiny door.
Not wanting to be cuffed about the head he quickly entered the small space. The door was smartly slammed and locked behind him. Holding still he heard his aunt move about and then head upstairs for the night.
With no light creeping in under the door, reading a book was out of the question. With that plan ruined he went on to the next order of business, his memories. Since he had nothing but time to kill until he was actually tired, he would let time move forwards while he looked them over.
For a cost of zero points he could review the memories of this childhood, and his last go around. So since he knew that this time was shorter he purchased it.
Memories flooded his mind filling in gaps here and there, and due to the Occlumency skill not only were they sorted quickly but each memory was much clearer than it had been. Now that he had refreshed his memories of what had happened in this life, he could be able to see what was different in his last time round.
Once more he opened the menu and chose the memories from his lat time, that childhood, should be almost a duplicate. What could have changed? It couldn't have been worse than this time, could it? He recalled his Death stating that he hadn't met Hermione until the train last time, but surely they had met on the platform or the station ahead of time? Soon he would find out, and he would see everything right up until he went onto that platform. So taking in a fortifying breath, he resolutely accepted that past into his mind.
Once more his muscle memory had to kick in, this time to keep him from crying out at the many differences in the two lives.
In both lives he had been beaten, forced to do chores, treated as less than human. However in this life his cousin had not come after him at school as much, and looking through it with his more capable mind he saw things he wouldn't have noticed before. Moments where his cousin would glaze over in the eyes for a moment before looking at him with the same loathing his parents had for him, moments where he had managed to get away with little things.
In this life, after the first letter they had not sent him to that small room, instead he was still kept here. After the next day he had heard them considering the thought, but then the next batch of letters, and his uncle had almost needed the doctors, he had gone purple with rage. His aunt had eventually taken him just after dinner, since he had still been shaking, but he had been locked in his cupboard all day. It hadn't been until the next morning he had been let out to clean, and he had found one letter his guardians had missed, stuck under the sofa all the way in the back by the wall where the hoover would not have a chance of reaching it. In this life he had gotten a letter, but not been able to do anything with it, and then like the life before it became too much and they ended up on that rock on a stormy night.
Watching his memories and finding so many varied differences was harder on him than he had thought. Some things were so slight like a different color shirt, or some other small thing, but then there were the big changes.
The longer stay in the cupboard, the punishments where he was starved more often than the last go. The number or bones that must have gotten broken this go round, the arguments he had overheard this time through, last time his aunt had never pushed issues, this time she had on some things. Last time she had sometimes treated harry with a small bit of kindness, this time there was nothing but ice and thorns towards him. Last time Dudley had taken to using him as stress relief and his personal punching bag whenever he was bored, or just for fun with his friends, and this time, well, there were times where in the previous times he would have gotten floored, but this time he just seemed to ignore him instead.
Then there was Hagrid and doing all the shopping and the visit to the bank. If his account had been flagged, then why didn't that goblin stop him from taking money out? Why had he not taken him to where he was supposed to go? It made no sense, unless the goblin had been in on some plan to keep him from knowing things. That was going to need answers, and in order to get those he would have to view all of his old memories, and hope something in them would give him a clue or tell him why.
The biggest change he had seen was in his early childhood, it seems Lily had paid Petunia a visit in a park. Dudley had been off with his father and aunt Marge, so that she could have a day to herself. Every detail was now burned into his memories, the sunny cloudless day, the way his mother played with him while they waited, and how his mother had set him on a blanket to play with some non-magical toys with they had talked, or later argued.
"Petunia, please," his mother had said offering her the seat on the bench.
"I thought I had made it clear that I want none of that nonsense," she responded sharply.
"I left it all in my car. Listen, I know we had our falling out, and we had our differences as children, but," she sighed softly and giving a pleading look to her sister. "Mum and Dad are worried about you sis. You haven't posted or phoned them in months, not since Dudley was born."
"Don't you say my son's name! You might curse him!"
"Just call mum and dad, okay? I know that you," she had to pause as she took in a fortifying breath, "love Vernon. I also know that you understand that I cannot stand him, nor can our parents."
"I wont hear this! You asked me out here for a chat, and we have. You leave my marriage and family out of your freakishness! Perhaps you married for money, or maybe you had been knocked up already, but I shall not listen to you besmirch the name of my loving and successful husband, you bitch!" With that his aunt slapped his mother and then stormed off.
Lily cried before a big black dog had come up and snuffled her and got her moving off to the car with her beloved son and belongings. She kept whispering to baby Harry how wonderful he was, and a treasure.
This one memory was only in this life, not his last one. They had never met with him around in the last timeline. It gave him all the more reason to hate his relatives, not that he really needed more
Once more he brought up the grid, may as well get his first school year done. That way he would know what books to look at and begin understanding things, even if the homework assignments weren't the exact same, he would have a bit of a head start on things.
He thought he had been ready, and he was a fool for it. The help from the Weasley's to get to the platform, sitting with Ron, the way he looked at Hermione when she came in, Malfoy and his bookends, the sorting, classes, the troll, potions class with Snape, flying, Quidditch, Quirrel, the tests, the mirror, getting the stone, the last minute points, the homework, and all the snide comments, the way that he only had two friends really and how odd that seemed.
As he came out of the memories that flashed before him he found his face wet. He had cried from some of the things he had gone through, but it was strange that he had never questioned anything. The way some people seemed to come towards him and then Ron would lead him away, the looks Ron had shot others coming near their table from other houses, and so much more.
All of it mad his happy, sad, angry and confused all at once. Why would you place a valuable object behind a bunch of traps, other than the troll, that a bunch of firsties could get past? Never mind that a seasoned wizard would have no trouble until that mirror. It was insane! Was this what awaited him in the magical world? A friendship with possibly only two people, even though he was supposedly famous, and teachers that ignored him or mistreated him, or perhaps now that he knew something, maybe he could change his luck a bit? He had already made friends with his soul mate, so maybe if he didn't sit with Ron, but a cabin with other students instead of trying to sit by himself he could make more friends right away. This time it would be different, and he would not put up with Ron's snoring.
After all of that it had to be late, and his mind was still in a bit of turmoil sorting memories from a whole lifetime thus far and a school year he had yet to do. Now he understood why it was a good idea to not do all his old memories at once, even what he had done was a bit much, and since he had already had an attempt at his life in his first year, and from what he had been told he had died many times before, so each year might be more dangerous and hard to stomach. So he would have to wait until he knew he had enough time free to deal with everything that might come from those memories. With luck Hermione would be a big help in getting through everything, and know how to make heads or tails of things.
Turning over on his small makeshift bed he tried to get comfortable enough for sleep so his brain could have some time to rest. However just as he was about to drift off he could hear someone creeping down the stairs. Had he been asleep he might have missed it, but with the amount of dust that came down, he probably would have sneezed himself awake had he been on his back.
Listening as hard as he could he could hear the person stop outside his little door. Then he heard the latches on his trunk open. The thunk as the trunk opened made him and the person outside hold their breath for a few moments. Then he reached over and tapped on the door.
"Dudley is that you?" he whispered
"Yeah," he replied after sound of muffled surprise. "One sec." Then the lock slid free and the door opened.
Dudley was in all black with a black bandana covering the lower half of his face, and a small flashlight. He looked like he was dressed up from one of those spy movies where they were about to break in and steal the Queen's Jewels.
"So, um," his cousin began. "I looked at some of the creatures that are magical, and read up on the dragons that were in the book, seems like the video game people might have a person like you on staff to get it right, some of the stuff in games is a bit different, but most of the basics are still the same."
"So you snuck down here to return it?" Harry asked now completely confused by his cousin.
"Yes, no, well," he sat down and pulled the fabric off the lower part of his face. "I wanted to return this one, and see what else you had. The moving pictures and all is wicked cool. Would've helped in history class to see the battles played out, moving and all, probably would've helped my grades."
"Would've helped a lot of people stay awake," he replied with a grin, earning him a grin and a snicker from his obese cousin.
"Yeah, probably," he said and then sobered up a bit. "Harry," he started the name feeling almost awkward from him, "what was it like to shop in the wizard place? I mean do ads and such move too?"
"It was amazing. To get in you have to tape a series of bricks and then the whole wall just moves and opens up into an archway into what they call Diagon Alley. Some of the stores have these large signs outside, and yeah they move. People on posters wave at you, or show you the newest product and what it does," he started feeling himself get happy just thinking of the bustling alley. "They have this ice cream parlor that has so many different flavors, it would take a year or more to try every combination, though the toffee flavor is rather good.
"Then there is the clothes shopping, I thought it was going to be a pain because of all the trying on and all that. I see how much you hate it, but here it was so different. They have magical tape measures that measure you all over, and then it records the measurement on a pad they have. They take down what it is you need, and ask you to put on a few things, and while they are on you they can change how they look or the colors. After you make your choices they tell you how long, and then you go do other stuff and come back and they have everything made. I mean everything, it was the least painful clothes shopping I have ever heard of. They even put a charm on all of my clothes so that if I have a growth spurt I wont have to rush to them during winter break. I can just wait until next summer, or maybe even the summer after that. Plus if I need anything while I am at school," he grinned at his cousin, "I can mail them what I need and since they have all my measurements they can just charge my bank account and send me the clothes."
"So all that stuff I have to go through tomorrow, all the measuring and such for my school uniforms?"
"The magical world would need you on the stool for five minutes and have it ready in about half an hour, or less," he said with a grin. "Plus of course the charms on it so if you gain height, or if you gain or lose weight, your clothes always fit just right."
"I'd rather go there than to where mum is planning. She blocked off the whole day for me to get fitted for uniforms, and other clothes for school," he sulked. "Dad's off to work all day, and mum and I will," he stopped.
"What?"
"Your mum was my mum's sis, right?" Dudley had an idea, and though Harry was certain he knew where this was going, he would wait and see for himself just what came from his cousin, so he nodded in the dim light. "So my mum should know where this place is right?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know if you can get in without a magical person," he said actually uncertain of this.
"Well then what if I talk mum into bringing you with us? Then we could go to where you went, and afterwards get some ice cream and then come back here without the whole day being a boring waste."
"I'm not sure," he replied rather reluctantly. "I'd like to show you around the shops, but I'm not sure your mum would like the idea very much."
"Harry, I always get my way," he said with a grin. "You let me handle mum and dad. Tomorrow you can show me all over the place, and the candy store too. That frog was the best chocolate I have ever had."
"Okay," he said still uncertain this was a good idea but his cousin was now set on his course. "If you can get them to agree to it, then I have no problems with it."
"Deal," he replied with a grin and held his hand out to seal the deal. With that done he stood back up and put the cloth back over his face, "right, well, see you in the morning."
"Night," Harry replied still a bit stunned. This had not happened before. It was a new development, and he would have to write Hermione first thing in the morning, well once he found out if he was going to be locked in the cupboard all day, or back off to go shopping.
For now however he merely put eh book back where it belonged and resealed his trunk, that done, he moved back into the cupboard and closed the door before heading off to sleep himself, because now he was exhausted.
