Chapter 1. The Day Harry Became Potter

'You are a wizard, Mr. Potter.'

'You're kidding, right?'

But there were clear words on the wax-sealed letter

From: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

To: Harry Potter (known as Harry Evans in the muggle world)

Cokeworth, Spinner Avenue, 18, the room under the roof

Letters buzzed and lined up into the single word 'NO'

Harry couldn't deny the magic didn't exist anymore.

Oh shit.

/*/*/*

Harry found out he was adopted in his second year of primary school. He was 7, and he couldn't believe it had just happened to him. Alright, he often didn't listen his teacher and caused mischief with Dudley keeping in the farthest corner of his mind the fact that naughty boys always got what they deserve. Was it fair to make his mum not really his mum, though? Apparently, karma was just waiting for the right time.

It was all Dudley's fault, of course. After spending his autumn holidays with aunt Marge he grasped her acid language that she didn't hesitate to use for those who wasn't to her liking. Which was to say, barely anyone. 'Drunkards! Bums! Filthy thieves! And the girl was surely a whore!' That and many other things were heard by young Dudley Dursley, almost always regarding Harry's biological parents.

It was a great opportunity for him to harvest awes from his mates. By sharing this information about his brother, it didn't take even two lessons for the whole class to talk about Harry's adoption, and by the end of the day the whole school already knew.

The boy tried to deny it but the more he thought about it the more he doubted his judgment. He was far from alike from Vernon or Petunia. He never considered it too much, but there were no more than 2 months between his and Dudley's birthdays. Harry was only a primary school student but he knew for sure it takes 9 months to give a birth to a baby.

'Mum, was I really... adopted?'

'How did you..?' It was all she managed to say. Her hands trembled on the teacup she was drinking out off, threatening to drop it.

'Aunt Marge told Dudley and Dudley told me that my real parents were irresponsible drunkards — or drug addicts — and left me at the doorsteps of the random house.'

'Dudley, you buster!' Petunia yelped ready to show him what Hell means. But Dudley went with his father to family friends and wouldn't show up till the evening. As for her other son... she felt a wave of dreadfulness covering her. He would know he was adopted regardless all her denials anyway. What should she tell him?

'Harry, dear... It's...'

/*/*/*

Petunia heard crying in the middle off the night. Her husband slept through the noise as usual. She groaned to herself, getting up. It was probably Dudley. Walking to his room, she switched the light on. To her utter surprise he was fast asleep with a chubby finger in his mouth. Woman made a face and put out his finger from his mouth.

The cry still didn't stop. Who did take a baby for a walk at such ungodly hour — and under her house no less? It would wake up everyone! If it's Mary with her brat she would give her a hell! Petunia put her robe on, made her hair into the quick bun and pushed the front door, ready to unleash her righteous fury.

Surprisingly the door didn't open. It seemed something was blocking it from the other side. Petunia pressed the doorknob harder and it finally budged, moving the thing. She expected a package. What she didn't expect to see were big green eyes shining like two emeralds at her.

Green eyes were hereditary traits of Evanses. Her late dad and grandfather had them and so did her sister who disappeared in the wizardry world. Petunia always envied her, and it didn't only start when that slimy boy said that Lily was a witch. With her brown eyes and blond hair she was the only black sheep in the family. When Petunia got pregnant she hoped at least her son would inherit Evanses' trait, but she met a disappointment again. Dudley appeared to be the exact copy of his father. It wasn't that she loved him less because of it. But secretly she dreamed about the second child — her child — that would resemble Evanses even if slightly.

And here, right before her, as an answer for her prayers, this child appeared having the raven hair like her mother and bright green eyes like her father and cousins. It could be hers, no it must be hers, and let Lily be sucked with her magic all she wants!

Petunia took the boy into her hands and lulled soothingly. The poor thing was trembling with fear. He nuzzled his face into her neck craving for protection he was denied before.

After some time the boy went silent completely. Taking a closer look at the blanket he was wrapped into Petunia noticed a name embroidery.

'You are Harry, right?'

The child smiled shyly for the first time.

"Ally. Am Ally.'

'So little and already so smart.'

Petunia kissed his cheek and a ringing giggle came as her reward. What a sweet thing! And it seemed he liked her too. Thus, the only thing left was persuading Vernon. Oh, that she could deal easily.

/*/*/*

'I will not go.'

'Excuse me, Mr. Potter?' McGonagall couldn't believe her ears.

'It's Evans.' Harry corrected her. 'And I'm not going to waste my time and money to learn a couple of tricks.'

'A couple of tricks!?'

Blood rushed out from the woman's face, her breathing became sporadic. Harry became alarmed. A heart attack was not rare at her age after all. There would be no time for the ambulance to come before she had passed away. Did witches even have the same biological system as normal people did? Harry wondered, debating whether or not to to offer her a seat. Her reaction worried him much worse than a confirmation that a magical school really existed.

To his relief, the woman pulled herself together and returned to her natural, pale, face color. He wasn't her first student raised by muggles, she thought, reassuring herself. Though the other children had taken the news much better, she must admit.

'I understand it's not a easy decision to make. You have lived in a non-magical world for 10 years. How about this: we will wait for your adoptive mother and talk about it together?"

'What my has my mum got to do with it?' Harry nearly hissed like a threatened snake. He didn't want to disturb his mother with such nonsense. They had already had too much problems to worry about.

The boy remembered throwing his first letter from Hogwarts to the trash bin just looking at the sender name. Partly because he thought it was someone's joke. Partly because he was afraid magic really existed. He became good at ignoring the little issues that appeared around him mysteriously. Even when he heard snakes talking during his school trip to the London Zoo, he considered it to be a figment of his imagination. However, he never went back to the terrarium since then. Just in case.

Above all Harry wanted to be normal. His mum didn't need additional troubles. He had already made enough of them for her. Who would think they will send a Headmistress to fetch him?

'She has to do everything with it. Petunia Evans was your late mother's sister. Of course, she will see the importance of the studying at the proper institution for the young wizard, Mr. Potter.'

'Wait, what? Did you just happen to say my biological mother was my mum's sister and a witch?'

Harry didn't know what to make of this information. Should he be happy he and mum were blood relatives? Or should he demand answers why his real mother died and where his father was? Could it even be that these wizards folk, whoever they were, acted like cuckoos, dropping their children into the hands off normal people?

Looking at the questions displaying on the boy's face Minerva couldn't help asking.

'Didn't Dumbledore explain everything in the letter for the Dursleys we left in the basket with you?'

'Basket?' Harry asked slowly. "And what letter are you talking about exactly?'

TBC…

=/=/=/=/=/=/=/=

Hi, everyone! Sorry for taking it much more time I expected to edit and translate the first chapter. I hope you'll find some irony in the dialogues and plot. I also came to kinda like Petunia and decided there will be more about her after Harry comes to Hogwarts. It seems Snape will fully appear in the 3d chapter and I'll let you know what happened with Dursleys but not at once so please be patient. ;)

Also I noticed there is no reference to the street Lily and Petunia lived on so I just came up with some name regarding it was near Spinner's End.

Funny thing happened in the end of translation: I really didn't know how to translate a verb 'наїжачитися' that literary means to become like hedgehog. It stands for to become alerted and go to defensive state. So hedgehog was converted to snake. Somehow it felt right to give Harry some snakish description. Sometimes I really love translate this story to English )