In the Cupboard
In the Cupboard
By HarryDude85
I don't own any of the characters.
Keeping all of your suggestions close, here we go again.
There was silence. Nobody said anything. The only sounds that could be heard were the rumbling of the train and the far off chatter of the people who hadn't heard the blond boy's statement.
Harry saw that every eye was fixated on him. He just stood there, trying to make himself less visible and failing miserably (he wished he didn't have his father's invisibility cloak in his trunk) and trying to understand why he had this kind of impact.
Finally, a black girl who had peaked around the door way broke the silence by softly asking, "Are you really Harry Potter."
Harry could tell that this was the question the crowd was waiting for, that it was longing to hear the answer to. Even the stern prefect couldn't hide the look of intense anticipation from his face.
"Yes, but," whatever else he was going to say was drowned out by the explosion of talking.
"Wicked!"
"Oh my god! I can't believe it's him.
"My sister is going to be so jealous."
"Can you see his scar?"
"Yeah, like lightning."
"Do you think he remembers You-Know-Who?"
Harry just stared. He didn't know what to say, but luckily, the prefect was able to help.
"Alright people, move on. Back to your seats! He may be Harry Potter, but he is also a student and a person, so give him some room."
Slowly, the hallway thinned and the only people left in the compartment were Harry, Hermione, Padma, Parvati, the blond boy, and the red haired prefect.
"There now," the prefect said, "They seemed to have gone." He turned to Harry, stuck out his hand and said, "It is a real honor to meet you, Harry. I'm Percy Weasley," in such a manor that Harry thought Percy thought he was meeting the prime minister, not an 11 year old. But Harry shook his hand anyway. "Now I must be off. I have other corridors to inspect. But if anyone gives you a hard time, try and find me." He turned to leave, but before he was gone, turned around and said, "My little sister is a big fan of yours. She won't believe it when I tell her I shook your hand." He closed the door and was gone.
Harry just stared at the door, not believing what just happened. He slowly turned to the other occupants of the car and said, screwing politeness for the moment, "What. The. Bloody Hell! Is going on!!"
The four just looked at him, unsure what to do or say.
Then, "Don't look us," said Padma, indicating her and her sister. "We have as much an idea what that was about as you do,"
"Harry, why don't you sit down," said the boy.
"No. First thing's first." Harry looked at the boy, who tensed up as if he was afraid Harry would punched him, and asked, "What's your name? I mean, everyone in the world seems to know mine, so it's only fair I know yours."
The boy relaxed and said, "My name is Ernie. Ernie MacMillian,"
"Alright. Now, Ernie, would you please answer my question? Why does everyone know me? Why are sisters going to be jealous? Why a do I have fans!?"
Ernie looked at Hermione, the only other person in the car who seemed to know the truth. Hermione than said, "We'll tell you, Harry. But Ernie's right. You are going to want to sit down for this. It's… it's pretty big."
Thinking that was fair, and glad to know that he was finally going to be held what was going on here, Harry started to calm down and he took a seat next to Ernie. Hermione sat across from them next to Padma.
"First, Harry," began Ernie, "do you know about the dark wizard who's name no one likes to say?"
"What, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Yeah, I know about him."
"What do you know, Harry?"
"All I know is that he was an immensely powerful wizard who tried to conquer the country or something not long before I was born. He was eventually defeated, right."
"Yes, Harry," smiled Hermione, although it seemed forced somehow. "He was defeated."
"Alright, Harry," said Ernie. "I'm going go against everything I was brought up believing and tell you the wizards name, but only because you have to know it. But I'm only going to say it once, so listen carefully."
Harry nodded in agreement. Ernie motioned for him to lean forward, so he did, and so did Padma and Parvati. Then, as if he were forcing something horrible from his mouth that he never wanted to taste again, Ernie whispered, "Voldemort" and shuddered, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione flinch.
"Voldemort," repeated Harry.
"What did I just say!" asked Ernie, who had just flinched. "Never say that name. Ever."
"Sorry. But what does Vol – I mean, You-Know-Who have to do with me."
Ernie gave Harry an apprehensive look, but continued anyway.
"You see, Harry, You-Know-Who was very powerful. Incredibly powerful. So powerful that even Professor Dumbledore couldn't defeat him, and he is the most powerful wizard the good size has had in 200 years. But he was able to hold him off. They say Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of."
"Anyway, my point is that no one was able to beat him, and he killed some of the most powerful wizards of the time – the Bones', the Prewett's, the McKinnon's – no one was able to stop him."
"Until, that is, Halloween in 1981. You-Know-Who showed up at this married couple's house. They were good people, this couple: young, well liked, had a kid. Nobody knows why he went there, but he did. Hell, he probably just loved killing by that point. He murdered the man and woman, and turns his wand on the baby."
Parvati gasped, the first time anyone in the car made any sound since Ernie started talking. Harry also felt horrified, but for an entirely different reason. He thought he could see where this story was going, and it left an empty pit in his stomach.
"He said the killing curse, Avada Kedavra. That should have been that, right? Another dead, completely innocent family for who know why. There was no reason it shouldn't have worked; the killing curse has never failed to kill its target after all. Never. It took out the mom and dad, so why not a baby?"
"But, instead of killing the baby, the curse rebounded off of him, and hit You-Know-Who instead. And just like that, a war that had gone on for 10 years, a monster that had killed hundreds, thousands, of people, over and gone for reasons nobody knows."
"And the baby was sent to live with his dead mother's muggle sister and her family. And all he had to show for it was a scar on his forehead, the shape of a lightning bolt."
"And that's why you're famous Harry. That's why every body knows your name. I'm pureblood, and I was born around the time this happened, so I have grown up learning this story, so have every other pure and half-blood on this train. It's because you did the impossible, even if you didn't mean to, even if you didn't know how or why it happened, just like the rest of us. It's because you're Harry Potter. You're the Boy-Who-Lived.'
With the end of Ernie's story, the car was dead quiet again. The five of them could still hear the other students through the walls, but in their car, nothing. Just four pairs of eyes watching as Harry looked out the window, but not really paying any attention to what he was seeing.
So. Finally. The truth. The real way his parents died and how he wound up with this scar. He always knew, even before he found out he was a wizard, that the Dursley's story about the car crash wasn't true. It never made sense, when Harry thought about it. And he thought about it a lot. Sometimes, when he was in his cupboard at night or when he was being punished, he would think about the green light he would see in his dreams and how that could possibly have anything to do with a car crash, about what the likely hood for a baby to be in a car crash bad enough to kill his parents, to come away from it only with a scar shaped like a lightning bolt would be and how one could get a scar that small shaped like that way from a car crash.
But after all these years of thinking the truth would be preferable to the lie, he now would have preferred the lie. In a car crash, it would have been an accident, either from his parents or another driver. There would be no malicious intent involved. But now, Harry knows that the most evil and feared wizard of the century hunted and brutally murdered them in front of their son, after killing countless others, and the only reason Harry was still alive was that somehow, the wizard's curse rebounded.
Harry closed his eyes to try and drive the images in his head to go away, but all he saw has the green light he usually saw in his dreams. And this time, from somewhere deep in his mind, as if it was waiting for the right time to make its appearance and decided that time was now, a sinister, heart-stopping laugh joined the light, both getting louder and brighter as time went on, until he snapped his eyes open in a desperate attempt to drive them away.
"Harry!" three voices exclaimed.
He looked around and saw Hermione, Padma, Parvati, and Ernie eating what looked to be candy.
"What?" asked Harry. He looked out the window and saw that the sun and bright blue sky that had been there when he closed his eyes had been replaced with the moon and a dark blue one. "What happened?"
"Well," began Parvati, as if she were afraid that the truth would break him, "after Ernie finished his… story, you looked out the window."
"And we didn't want to disrupt you because you had just learned a lot and it had to be processed," continued Padma, "but when we looked again, you were asleep.'
"Oh," said Harry. "How long was I out?"
"Three hours," answered Hermione.
"We're nearly there," said Ernie. "Look Harry, I'm sorry that you had to find out now and from me. It should have been from someone else like Dumbledore or McGonagall or –"
"From a friend like you," said Harry. "Don't be sorry, Ernie. I needed to know the truth, preferably before we arrived at school. I'm just glad it was from somebody that I could be friends with."
"Well, I'm happy I could help," smiled Ernie.
"Where did you get all of these?" asked Harry, looking at the sweets on the seats.
"A witch pushing a trolley came by," said Hermione. "Ernie paid for it all, even though we all offered."
"A gentleman should always pay when ladies are around," smirked Ernie. "Isn't that right Harry," he asked winking as he tossed a thing of candy at him.
Harry caught it and said, "Yeah. Seems about right."
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to the Patil's, "Boy's always think have to show off."
"Speak for yourself," said Parvati as she bit in to a cake shaped like a cauldron. "I was only half serious about paying. I didn't want to pay that much." She smiled to show she wasn't being serious.
Harry laughed, the first laugh since he got on the train, and looked at the candy Ernie threw him. Chocolate Frog, the wrapper said.
Intrigued as well as hungry, Harry unwrapped the sweet. Inside was, as the label promised, a piece of chocolate formed to look like a frog, along with a card.
Eating the frog, Harry looked at the picture on the card. It was of a short, round man, whose blond hair stood out against his small, black eyes, an awkward smile, and a rat like nose. Under his picture was his name: Peter Pettigrew.
Flipping the card over, Harry saw that there was a brief description underneath his dates 'b. April 30th, 1960 – d. November 2nd, 1981'. The description read:
Peter Howard Pettigrew
Probably one of the youngest and most tragic people to end up
on a trading card, Pettigrew, known to his friends as Wormtail for
reasons unknown, was a close friend to James Potter. After James'
and his wife Lily's murder on the night Harry Potter defeated
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Pettigrew became inconsolable.
Maddened by grief, Pettigrew sought out the man responsible
for their death: The Potter's close friend turned traitor, Sirius Black.
Black murdered him. He was posthumously awarded
the Order of Merlin, First Class
Just when Harry thought nothing else could surprise him today, this happened. He just sat and looked at the picture of Pettigrew as scratched his nose and looked around nervously, not really noticing that the picture was moving. His father's friend, murdered by another friend for trying to avenge Harry's father in the first place. How he wished he could say something to the man, about how he was grateful for the sacrifice he made in name of his father, and how he wished he hadn't, so Harry could talk to him about his parents.
"What's up, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing. Just looking at this card," said Harry as he pocketed it.
"Oh yeah, isn't it weird how the pictures in this world move? I'm not used to it," said Parvati.
"Muggle pictures don't move? Weird," said Ernie.
"Yeah," said Hermione. She looked at her watch and exclaimed, "Geez, we're almost there. Quick, we have to change into our robes."
Cleaning up their sweets, everyone quickly pulled out their robes and put them on over their muggle clothes.
The five of them sat a talked for the last few minutes until the Hogwarts Express slowed to a stop.
When the doors to the compartment opened, it was like an avalanche of kids pouring out of the train, taking up all the room on the platform so their was barely space to breathe.
When the crowd started moving Harry said, "What about our stuff?"
"They'll bring it up to your rooms during dinner," on of the older kids said.
"Who's 'they'?" asked Hermione. The kid shrugged and moved up in crowd.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All firs' years come over to me," a loud booming voice called over the din of students.
Harry saw the source of the voice, and decided to get rid of the notion that nothing would surprise him anymore this night, 'cause he just kept being proven wrong.
The man in front of Harry was holding a giant lantern, but that was nothing compared to the size of the man himself. He was easily the biggest man he had ever met. About 10 times Harry's height, he only came up to the man's knees. He had a large beard, sort like Santa Clause's but black and unmanageable. His eyes were black and beady, but they were full of warmth that Harry would never have expected from someone like him.
"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Me name's Hagrid. I'll take ya up to Hogwarts. Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
The crowd of nervous 11 year olds followed the giant down a steep, narrow path. Harry though that light had ceased to exist, it was so dark. Nobody seemed to want to speak, although Harry thought he heard someone sniffing behind him.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Ooooooh!"
Where the path ended, began a great, black lake. In the lake were many little boats. On the other side of the lake, a giant castle, with many sparkling windows, towers and turrets was on top of a mountain.
"No more'n four to a boat," Hagrid called.
The five of them looked at each other wondering how they would do this.
Harry stepped up and said, "You guys take this boat. I'll take one of the others. It's alright," he said when he saw Hermione was about to interject. "We'll meet back at the castle okay."
With that, the four of them got in one of the empty boats.
Looking around, Harry saw most of the other boats were full. Finally, he saw one boat that had a seat left.
Rushing over to it, he asked, "Can I sit?"
Two of the boys, both hulking and rather muscle bound, looked at the smaller third boy, as if he were their leader. This boy had slicked back blond hair, and a pale face.
"By all means."
Harry quickly got in. After he did, Hagrid shouted, "Everyone in? Right then – FORWARD!"
The boats jerked to life and began to move on their own, gliding across the lake.
Harry was taking in the castle and its vastness, but the blond boy only glimpsed at it before looking at Harry. You've seen one castle, you've seen 'em all, he thought.
Harry turned to the other boy's and introduced himself, this time preparing himself for a reaction.
"Hello. I'm Harry Potter."
There was nothing but a smirk from the smaller boy and deep chuckles from the other two.
"I'm Draco Malfoy," the boy said. "And these are my friends, Vincent Crabbe," he gestured to the boy with gorilla like arms and a pudding bowl haircut who grunted in greeting, "and this is Gregory Goyle," Draco indicated the other boy, who had short hair, and looked lighter than the other boy, but still as strong.
Draco held his hand out, which Harry took.
"So it's true then, what they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."
"Yeah, it's true," said Harry, who was unable to tell what kind of look Draco was giving him in the darkness.
"So, Harry, which house do you think you'll be in?" asked Draco.
"I don't know. I don't know much about the houses other than what I've read in a book I have. I think Gryffindor would be nice, but I don't really have a preference."
'Oh, this is too perfect,' Draco thought.
"Well, I can see why you would want to be in Gryffindor," he said, trying to hide the interest in his voice. "People tend to want to be in the house that their parent's were in. Our parents were all in Slytherin, so that's where we want to go."
This certainly caught Harry's attention. "I didn't know my parents were in Gryffindor. How do you know."
"My parents went here with them," he looked into Harry's eyes and said. "They were both in different years than yours, of course, so they didn't know them that well, but still, I'm sure that if you were to meet them, they would love to tell you everything they knew."
They had reached shore before Harry could say anything. Wanting to meet up with his friends, Harry said to Draco, "I have to catch up to my friends, but can we talk later?"
"Of course," said Draco. And with a gracious wave Harry ran off to find Hermione and the others.
"That was easy," he said to Crabbe and Goyle, who both chuckled before following Malfoy up the stairs with the rest of the first years.
Harry caught up with his friends, who smiled as they joined him.
"Find a friendly boat?" asked Padma.
"Yeah, I did," answered Harry.
"Good."
Before they could say anything else, everyone crowded around Hagrid and the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" he asked a trembling, round face boy, who was holding onto a toad so tight he looked like he might break it in half.
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
The truth is out there! Quickly followed up by more lies, both deliberate and accidental, and deception. How will Harry respond to what he learned about Pettigrew and Sirius, finally knowing the truth (or at least the non-Dumbledore truth) about his parent's murder, and Draco Malfoy's "pleasant" attitude?
Keep reading to find out. Later.
