Notes:
This is the second chapter of Snake in the House of the Lions, please leave reviews and corrections before leaving! Also, I would like to acquire a beta if anyone would like to volunteer or recommend someone.
"speech"
'thoughts'
~parseltongue~
An Unexpected Letter
Harry carefully turned the bacon over, he couldn't burn it for Dudley's birthday. Last time he did, Aunt Petunia had blindsided him with a pan. He almost preferred being hit though, it was the only time his family ever touched him willingly. It was the words that hurt the most. All his carefully crafted expressions and attempts to ignore the Dursley's disgust of him were shattered with their sneering words and ridicule of his efforts to be good enough. He pulled the bacon off the heat and divvied it up among the plates. He carefully carried Dudley's and Uncle Vernon's heavy plates over to the table, the fragrant scent tantalizing his empty stomach. None of his resentment of being denied the food that he had made showed on his face, he would pretend to be pleased at his one piece of unbuttered toast and small glass of water.
A series of thuds interrupted his thuds, and Harry started wolfing down his toast before Dudley could reach the kitchen. He had learned early on that Dudley would knock or take any food from his hands and accuse of him of taking from Dudley's plate. Dudley burst through the door and waddled over to his seat with a mean glance towards Harry. He had his Smelting stick, having not let it go since he had been accepted to Vernon's Alma Mater. Harry was carefully maintaining his distance so as to stay out of Dudley's range, when Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came in to take their seats, giving Harry their customary glares. Harry took up his place, waiting to fill any drinks for them.
A flap of the mail slot sounded halfway through the Dursley's meal.
"Go get the mail boy!" grunted Vernon, not even looking up from his kippers. Harry slunk out of the room, glad for a reprieve. He picked up the letters and started sorting them. 'Bill, bill, letter from Marge, letter for Aunt Petunia, Harry Pott-' Harry stopped flipping through the letters and stared at his name on the envelope. 'Harry Potter, cupboard under the stairs, 4 Privet Drive..? What is this?'
"Boy! What is taking you? Checking for letter bombs?" Uncle Vernon called, and laughed at his joke.
"Coming, Uncle Vernon!" Harry hurriedly shoved his letter through the vent of his cupboard with his heart racing. He hurried to the kitchen and handed the mail to his aunt and uncle, and returned to his corner, waiting impatiently for them to finish so he could clean up and return to the cupboard and his letter. He was blindsided with his aunt declaring that they would have to take him with them to the zoo for Dudley's birthday. Feeling ecstatic, getting his first letter and going to the zoo, Harry decided to put off the mystery until later and enjoy his first trip to the zoo.
After the disaster at the zoo, Harry curled up in his cupboard and waited for the house to settle, nursing his bruises as best he could. He had accidentally let a snake loose (that could talk!) and locked Dudley in its tank. His amazement and amusement faded when Uncle Vernon had caught the smile on his face at Dudley's misfortune. Luckily, Uncle Vernon had been so angry that Aunt Petunia had just locked him in his cupboard with a cuff about his head, and the bruise on his back from Uncle Vernon slamming him against a wall. He was to have no supper for a week, and was not to leave the cupboard except for chores and bathroom breaks. Usually Harry would be frustrated (as this happened a lot, and he missed meals more often than not) and ill at the thought of how else he was to be punished, but he had a mysterious letter with his name and cupboard on it. He examined it more closely now that he had the time and privacy. It was written with a green ink, and was sealed with a wax crest. Harry looked at it dubiously, because it looked very official, and not at all something he would ever imagine being sent to him of all people.
Harry went to open the strange letter, but hesitated. 'Could this be a joke from the Dursleys?.. no.. they wouldn't waste their time on something like this. Suppose I should open it to see what it is.' With some trepidation, Harry carefully peeled the seal open and pulled out the contents.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Harry stared at the letter incredulously. 'Wizardry, order Merlin! What is this?' He looked at the second page.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic
by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory
by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration
by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions
by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
Harry blankly gazed at the letter and all of the strange things it said. His first instinct was to dismiss it as an exceptionally well thought-out and cruel prank from his relatives. 'But, it makes sense, almost. I turned my teachers hair blue, ended up on the school roof running away from Dudley… the snake and the glass...' Harry began to see his relatives behavior with startling clarity. They always called him freak, and spoke about his "freakishness" and punished him whenever something strange happened. Harry was suddenly furious. 'How can they know and not tell me? Is that why they hate me so much? but how do they know?' Harry's thoughts were still for a moment. 'how do I find out?' He asked himself. 'How about a casual mention of owls? That isn't too ordinary, nor too obvious that I am asking about magic. It would also have to wait until his relatives were less angry at the recent freakishness that had happened. He nodded to himself and tucked the letter away so it could not be found by anyone but himself.
The next morning, however, a massive amount of letters, seemingly identical to the one he had first received, were found by his uncle. Harry never did get to ask his question before they were leaving to avoid the letters.
The little hut on the bare rock was cold and inhospitable. Uncle Vernon seemed pleased, confident that the owls bearing the Hogwarts letters would never reach them there. Harry curled up on the floor, wrapped in a single ratty blanket. He was watching the time tick by on Dudley's wrist watch. 'I'm going to be eleven in less than ten minutes. We've been running from these letters, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have no idea that I already read one… At least this birthday is exciting.' Harry finished his drawing of a cake in the dirt in front of him, and looked over at Dudley's watch again, just in time for it to start beeping at the new day and Harry's eleventh birthday. He blew out at his drawing, imagining that they were real candles and that he was surrounded by warmth and love, instead of the cold and desolation of the hut.
*THUD* *THUD* Harry jumped and looked at the door to the outside, shaking on its hinges.
*THUD* *THUD* And the door fell open, knocked out of the frame. A huge figure stood there, illuminated by the flashes of lightning. Harry's panicked mind appreciated the effect of it on his thrumming heart.
"Well, 'ello there. Sorry 'bout the door. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry." The giant man smiled into the room with a gaping Dudley and Harry.
"YOU ARE TRESPASSING!" Uncle Vernon bellowed from the stairs with a shotgun in his hands. "LEAVE AT ONCE!"
"Dursley, ye great prune. I'm to deliver this letter to Harry from Hogwarts." Hagrid growled. He turned to the two boys and said to Dudley, "Well Harry, you're a lot bigger than I saw ye last."
Dudley looked horrified as Harry came up to him instead, "Actually, sir, I'm Harry."
Hagrid beamed and handed him his letter, "Yer a wizard, Harry. Ye look jus' like yer father, but with yer mum's eyes o' course. Ye'll be going to Hogwarts jus' like yer parents did."
"No, he's not going. We swore when we took him in that we would stamp that nonsense out of him." Uncle Vernon blustered.
'So they do know!' Harry thought furiously, as his mouth caught up with his brain. "You knew!?"
Aunt Petunia sneered, "Of course we knew. My sister, perfect Lily was a witch. Mummy and Daddy were so proud, but I knew what she was: a freak!"
Harry was so stunned that he managed to miss Uncle Vernon's exchange with Hagrid, and only then at the shot that put a hole in the roof. His mind whirled with fury at his relatives, joy in learning something about his parents (they weren't drunks, they were heroes!), and hope at his escape from his relatives. Hagrid pulled him away, announcing that they would go get his school things. Harry eagerly followed.