Wild cards
Chapter 02
…
He awoke with a start in an unfamiliar place. It took his bleary mind a few moments to focus and remember, he was not at the Dursley's. A great broad grin spread across his face. He was not at the Dursley's. He was filled with indescribable joy.
A 'hoot' off to his right reminded him of something else that made him happy.
"Good morning Hedwig" he said to his owl.
His owl, it seemed too good to be true. Something that was actually his.
Harry kicked off the sheets and got out of bed. He had to. If he sat there much longer thinking on how drastically his life had improved he might just explode. Figuratively, not literally, probably.
After a proper English breakfast, and learning his owl was a fiend for bacon, he'd wandered back out into Diagon Alley. Full of food he was also full of a great sense of exploration and adventure. He'd gotten the abridged tour of the alley with Hagrid, now he was on his own. No directions. No schedules. No place he 'needed' to be. He had all day to see everything.
By early afternoon he'd been through every store he could find that he'd not been through yesterday including the used clothing store, which he needed to revisit, the stationary store, which he had narrowly escaped with his sanity, and a street cart where he'd decided to have lunch.
While making a wide circle around the stationary store and its overly enthusiastic proprietor he happened to stumble and lose his glasses. A few moments of feeble groping located them and Harry found himself on an unfamiliar street.
Looking up the signpost said Knockturn Alley. Looking behind him, he saw the light and cheer of Diagon Alley, a beacon against the shadow and gloom.
It was perfect. Just what he'd been looking for. Diagon Alley with its vibrant colors and happy glow was the thing of children's dreams. Knockturn Alley, dark and smudged and gloomy, this was where adventure lie.
At least, that was Harry's thinking as he picked himself up and looked around. The entire place seemed to be covered in a thick layer of filth which was most prevalent on the windows. Filth, grime, and the odd bit of fungus appeared to be the staples of Knockturn Alley
Harry was undeterred, and pressed further in.
The cobblestones were in terrible need of repair, jutting up randomly at odd angles Harry was forced to step carefully as he traversed the streets of the gloomy place. He was starting to have second thoughts about his earlier contemplations on adventure when the universe decided to intervene.
"Ello there young man" a voice called out of the dark.
"Hello" Harry replied, looking around till a man extracted himself form the shadows.
Harry had never been given the 'don't talk to stranger's' lecture so he saw nothing wrong in striking up a conversation with the dirty vagrant who'd appeared out of nowhere.
"Well now, what brings a fine young gentleman like yourself down to Knockturn Alley?" the man asked in a disarming tone.
"Exploring" Harry said with a happy grin.
"Spirit of adventure, is it?" Harry nodded like a bobblehead, "over the river and through the wood, just be wary of bridges if you know what I mean" he said while flourishing a familiar card with a troll on it.
"You have duel cards" Harry exclaimed.
"Oh indeed, I'm part of a… local club let's call it. Pay to play, that sort of thing" he said nonchalantly.
"Wicked."
"Quite" the man agreed, hiding a sinister smirk behind his card, "perhaps you'd like to take a gander?"
Would he!
"Afternoon Simon!"
"Stanley" the man at the counter said with disinterest, "and friend."
"Ah yes, Simon, this is Harry."
Harry waved at the disinterested man who halfheartedly returned the greeting.
"Come to play then?"
"What's the format today?" Stanley inquired.
"King of the hill, one sickle in, up to fifty."
"How far are we?" Stanley asked.
"48."
"Who's King?"
"John."
Harry's guide soured, "I thought he was out of the country."
Simon shrugged, "He came in about an hour ago. Been King since then."
"Who's John?" Harry wondered aloud.
"John the Destroyer" said Simon blandly.
"Bloody buggering bastard" Stanley added.
"So, you going in?" asked Simon holding up a board with various card sized rectangles etched into it.
"What's that?" asked the ever-inquisitive Harry.
"A duel board" said Simon.
"They're fairly common" said Stanley, "Duels, the card store, includes a cheap paper one with their starter decks."
Really? Then why hadn't he gotten one, Harry wondered.
"Going in?" Simon asked again.
"Might as well" said Stanley taking the offered board.
Harry gave one last wave to Simon before following his new friend. He opened the door and a blinding light filled the dingy room. Just as Harry's eyes began to adjust something exploded and his whole world was… feathers?