All A/Ns from Rachael's POV/ImAParrotDontEatMe
Er...Hey, you kinda run out of things to say in these things after a while.
Sirius: *looking around* Where am I?
Me: My bedroom.
Sirius: And whys that. *Wiggles eyebrows suggestively*
Me: Behave Sirius, I borrowed you from J.K.R and now you need to sit still and read this book, don't forget to be expressive with what you thinks cause I'm writing it down.
"Now my mind is an open book, and my heart is an open wound, now my life is an open soul for all to see.."-Bonus track-Good Charlotte
"(parcel tongue)"
"The Vanishing Glass," Harry read bursting with suppressed laughter.
"Harry is this when-?" Draco asked laughing.
"Ye." Harry replied letting go of his laughter as Draco, Ron, Hermione and Ted burst out laughing.
"Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets
"Poor kid." Draco Said, understanding after being babied by his own mother.
but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,
"I should hope not." Lucius drawled in his 'I'm a pure-blood and bored voice'.
and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.
"Does that mean I came to get you?" Padfoot asked hopefully.
Yet Harry Potter was still there,
"Damn" He muttered resentful but worried of what happened to him.
asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
"Joy" Snape, Sev and Lily muttered, knowing what it was like to be woken by that voice.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.
"It's a memory." Moony and Remus said together.
"I know." Harry said as if he were talking to Teddy.
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
Harry groaned.
"We would groan too, mate." Ron said sympathetically.
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.
"Nothing, nothing…"
Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten?
"Quite easily really." Harry muttered, not looking forward to the revelation coming soon.
Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider
Narcissa and Ron both shuddered and glared at Harry for mentioning them. Harry ignored them, gave Teddy and the book to Draco who was beside him, and turned into his animagus form, a black wolf. Teddy squealed happily, clapping his hands. Draco smiled and placed the baby on the wolfs back, holding on until Teddy took handfuls of hair and tugged on them causing Harry to start wandering around.
off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
"WHAT!" The entire room shouted startling Teddy who let go and began to fall. Harry feeling Teddy fall rolled over, changing back at the same time, and caught the laughing baby.
Looking around Harry noticed that the room was completely silent. This wasn't the reaction he was expecting.
"You should be more careful with Teddy." Lily scolded, hand over her heart.
"You guys were the ones that scared him, besides Siri did it with me all the time when I was a baby."
"So that's where the brain cells went?" Draco asked mock seriously.
"I'd say of course but I'm pretty sure I should be offended by that." Harry said standing up and sitting back down next to Draco.
"Why didn't you tell me?" The blond asked quietly, playing with Teddy's hair. "You know Mum wanted you to come stay with us, especially with the bruises, not to mention the manor is protected against Voldemort himself, how else would my father survive?" Draco laughed bitterly, it really upset him that he didn't trust him with this.
"How about I tell you before we go to sleep later, and right now you protect me from the wrath of angry Cissy cause she looks murderous and it's likely to be worse back in our time." Harry negotiated glancing warily at the blonds mother.
"Fine tell me later and if you keep reading she wont do anything." Draco handed Harry the book and he began reading again.
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.
Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise
A few people snorted while others, like Snape, Lucius and Regulus just rolled their eyes.
unless of course it involved punching somebody.
"That had better not be you." Cissy and Lily said together glaring at the book.
Dudley's favourite punching bag was Harry,
"Hey Pads,-" Prongs started looking at his best friend.
"I'm on it." He replied scribbling on a piece of parchment.
but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
"You really didn't look it." Ron told him, grinning.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.
"No, Prongs was like that too." Moony said happily, munching on a piece of chocolate.
He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair,
"That's you Albus, they were right when they said you looked most like dad." Lils said happily patting Al on the head.
and bright green eyes.
"See, you even got Grandma's eyes." James said watching his grandparents cheerfully.
He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.
"But you hate your scar." Neville said looking at Harry.
"Now I do, but know I know what it is, and what it is, is a pain in the forehead." Harry explained cheerfully, bouncing Teddy on his lap.
He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.
"And don't ask questions."
"Well how else do you learn?" Hermione asked, offended by the rule.
Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.
"Comb your hair!"
"Wont work." All the potter men muttered, much to the amusement of everyone else.
he barked, by way of a morning greeting.
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.
"Ye, genetics." Moony said, still munching on chocolate.
"Shame really, he just had to look like his father." Padfoot added mock sadly.
"Hey, what's wrong with looking like his father.
"Nothing dear." Lily said consolingly, patting him on the arm.
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.
Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
Everyone laughed at this description, even Bella to most peoples surprise.
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.
"Thirty-six,"
"What, that's more than me!" Regulus, Lucius and Draco shouted in surprise.
he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."
The three generations of Marauders sniggered quietly. (A.N Gen 1 Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and counterparts (I don't like Peter). Gen 2 The twins and Harry. Gen 3 James, Fred, Rose and Scorp.)
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.
"Ah," Hermione said, as if that explained everything, "that's why you always eat so quickly."
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"
"Oh merlin, the thing cant count." Narcissa muttered in disgust, with many agreeing nods.
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."
Uncle Vernon chuckled.
"Little tyke
Snorts filled the room at anyone ever calling Dudley little.
wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control air plane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.
"I dunno what they are but they sound expensive." Many pure-bloods muttered exchanging glances while Snape surreptitiously watched Harry. He had been wrong about the boy, he wasn't his father at all, not that he'd ever say that out loud.
He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."
"Do they always talk about you like that," Lily asked looking at Harry sadly.
"Mostly but you get used to it." Harry shrugged.
"You shouldn't have to." Sev snarled looking furious.
Ignoring him Harry looked back to the book and continued.
She jerked her head in Harry's direction.
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.
"Lovely." Tonks muttered sarcastically glaring at the book.
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
"I hate cats." Sirius and Padfoot sad together.
"We know, get over it." Remus and Moony said looking at them pointedly.
Chuckling slightly at the four Harry continued.
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."
The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"
"She's still friends with her." Snape, Sev and Lily said, looking half shocked, half horrified,
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).
"Not likely dad." Jay and Al muttered glaring at the book fiercely.
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.
"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
He didn't blow it up moldywart did
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"
"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"
Dudley began to cry loudly.
"Baby." Reg and Paddy snorted, before glancing at each and bursting out laughing.
"I don't want to know." Remus muttered, rubbing his eyes and glancing warily at Sirius who had started sniggering too.
In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Dinky Duddydums,
Snickers ran around the room while Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily and Harry read on.
don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
"I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.
Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkis, walked in with his mother.
Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.
"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,
"Ewe images." Neville muttered closing his eyes tightly.
"Ewe Nev!" Draco and Luna called in disgust while Harry hid his head in Teddy's back.
"I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"Child abuse." Lucius snarled scaring Pettigrew who was sat near him.
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.
Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.
"Well done Harry." The marauders cheered loudly.
"That's pretty powerful." Dumbledore told him, still twinkling.
He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,
"Why she would know that its accidental magic." Lily said in exasperation.
"Lily that is why." Sev muttered rubbing her back soothingly.
even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).
"That's gross." Bella and Cissy said looking disgusted.
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.
Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.
"Oh thank Merlin." everyone sighed, happy Harry wasn't punished.
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.
"That's impressive." Snape muttered almost distractedly as he watched Harry.
The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
"Oh very likely." Regulus snorted while Padfoot tried not to laugh.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.
While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
"But Motorbikes are awesome." Sirius shouted bumping fists with his younger self.
"Paddy," Teddy said in a scarily sweet voice, "Jay, Al and Lils don't need any more influencing than Uncle George, please stop giving them ideas."
"But Teddy you give us ideas too." Lils told him blinking innocently.
"You and Uncle George were the first people that helped us prank anyone." Al added grinning.
"Mum was furious, Uncle George was terrified and dad defended you telling her it was in your blood." Jay told them through his fit of laughter.
"… roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
"Mine does." Sirius shouted, ducking Remus' hand as he reached to smack him.
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."
But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
"Oh and he really needs help with that," Hermione muttered smiling fondly at Harry.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.
"They're pretty nice." Lily said, still looking sad.
It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
"Don't insult the gorilla." Tonks said grinning broadly.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him.
"Good idea" Peter muttered rubbing his left arm subconsciously.
They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
"Why?" Cissy asked narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.
"Shame really." Harry muttered, shifting Teddy off his dead leg onto his other.
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
"When your not locked in." Moony snarled, angrily glaring at the book.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked.
"What?" The people from the past asked simultaneously.
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
"Why did you do that?" Draco asked curiously.
"Dunno really." Harry shrugged turning back to the book.
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."
"Oh merlin your a parcel mouth." Prongs and Padfoot gasped together.
"(no really)" Harry hissed sarcastically, well as sarcastic as a snake could sound.
"What?" Moony asked looking fairly interested.
"He said 'no really'" Narcissa explained rolling her eyes.
"Wait your a parcel-mouth?" Regulus asked spinning to face her.
"(no really)" She hissed raising an eyebrow.
Harry and a few others who recognised what she said to be the same as what Harry said sniggered.
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying." The snake nodded vigorously.
"Alrighty then, little odd, but what the hell." Prongs said grinning at Harry.
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"I like penguins." Dumbldore said randomly, pulling apart two sherbet lemons.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.
"Ouch." Sirius winced, rubbing his ribs in remembrance of a similar incident.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.
"Why, what happened?" Lily and Alice asked panicking.
"I hope it hurts." Bella muttered, her hate for the people in the room overthrown buy her hate for the muggles.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.
"Cool." All three generations of marauders shouted, grinning madly.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
"It vanished, twit." Frank muttered sniggering.
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
"Evil git why rat on him." Teddy muttered glaring at Pettigrew.
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals,"
"Child abuse." Cissy said indignantly looking at Harry critically.
before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.
"Oh no, he has marauder blood." Lily muttered sadly before glaring at the book. "On second thoughts, go ahead."
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.
"You survive the avada kadavara." Moony said in shock.
"I didn't know you remembered that much mate." Ron said looking sympathetic.
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.
"Which is why I'm here." Harry announced looking around the room happily, "To help change things."
His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;
"Sorry cub/pup." Remus and Sirius said together, looking guilty.
the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.
A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"Apparition." some-one muttered, obviously.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.
"Meanies." Padfoot said pouting, he didn't like this book.
A.N. Sorry guys took longer than I planned hopefully there won't be such a long delay for the next chapter, Rachael will keep pestering and poking me until I post it. Hope you liked it.