Disclaimer: I don't any of this, Harry Potter & co belongs to J.K Rowling

English is not my first language and I have no beta, so I apologise if my grammar isn't correct. Constructive criticism is of course always appreciated

Chapter 2

Harry had been sitting in the basement for hours now and his legs had cramped up. Not that he cared much at the moment. His attention was only on the box with his parents things. The first album he had opened was full of pictures, with all sort of people on them. There was a woman with beautiful red hair and fiery green eyes. Harry had concluded that that must be his mother. Next to this woman, - my mom, reminded himself- was usually a black haired man whose hair was even a worse mess than Harry's. He wore a pair of round glasses and had hazel eyes, that were full of love whenever he looked at Harry's mom. It took no genius to figure out that this man was his dad, seeing that in many ways he was an older copy of harry himself. Harry's eyes were full of wonder when he looked at the pictures, though it did not completely come from seeing his parents from the first time (as far as he remembered at least). No, it was also because the people in the pictures moved. Moved! Harry did not know that that was possible, and it had taken him awhile before he was convinced that he was not hallucinating. Maybe this was some strange new technology? And then the strange clothing the people in the pictures were wearing…

Harry continued looking through the pictures. There were many more with his parents, but a handsome man with long black hair, whose eyes sparkled with mischief, another man with brown hair, and a scar on his upper face, and a smaller and fatter man with small eyes and a pudgy chin were also often photographed. The man with the sparkling eyes had a bit of a rebellious look and was usually laughing on the pictures. The man with the scar seemed a contradiction to the man with the sparkling eyes, and was usually photographed gently smiling at the antics of the Harry's dad and the other black haired man, he extruded an air of calmness. Harry liked him instantly. The third man however, Harry did not like. The beady eyes of the man in combination with the shape of his face, reminded Harry of a rat. Harry did not like rats, they were scary and spread diseases. He preferred mice over them anytime.

Below one of the pictures was written Sirius, Remus and Peter at our new house in Godric's Hallow. After looking through a couple more Harry knew that the black haired one was Sirius Black, the kind-looking one carried the name Remus Lupin, and the man he did not like was named Peter Pettigrew. After more than an hour of watching the moving pictures, Harry put the album down. His hand went into the box again and he grabbed the an old looking book. After wiping the cover clean (again!). Standard book of spells; Volume 2, read the cover. Spells? Harry did not understand. Were his parents actors or something? That was the only explanation he could think of, but even to him it sounded farfetched. Hadn't his Aunt and Uncle told him that his parents did not have jobs? But remembering the photo album he decided that his aunt and uncle had probably lied about his parents. Still it did not fit completely. Opening the book he began to read;

The Patronus Charm (Expecto Patronum) is the most famous and one of the most powerful defensive charms known to wizardkind. It's an immensely complicated, very difficult spell that evokes a partially-tangible positive energy force known as a Patronus or spirit guardian.It is the primary protection against Dementors and Lethifolds, to which there is no other protection.

Harry stopped reading after that. He stared at the words on the yellowy pages till his eyes hurt, and then blinked a few times. Then he stared again. Wizardkind? Charms? Did that mean that.. That magic was real? Now to an ordinary person this conclusion would seem so farfetched they would laugh off as a joke. But Harry was no ordinary person. He had dreams sometimes of strange green lights and motorcycles that flew in the air. His favorite dream was about two men, who he now realized looked like the James and Sirius in the pictures, who turned into animals, a dog and a stag. Then there were also the unexplainable thinks that happened around him, like the time he was mad at a teacher and the teacher's hair suddenly turned blue. To Harry magic slowly began to sound a lot farfetched.

With his new speculations he began to look through the box again, coming across a another three books about spells, a book that seemed to be about potions, a book with all sort of strange animals in it (Fantastic beasts and where to find them the cover read), and a few weird object like a strange pair of dice, a chess set that moved on command and some ancient looking quills. Harry carefully studied all of his finds with such single mindedness that he didn't realize that the night began to draw to a close. The box was almost empty and when Harry looked in it again He saw that there was only one book left. This book looked different from the others. It was leader bound and on the top was spelled in golden writing "Journal of R.A.B". It looked both old and expensive and Harry carefully lifted it out of the box. When he took a closer look at the front he saw some stains that looked like blood. Frowning he opened the book. On the first page was written Property of Regulus Arcturus Back in a curly andorderly handwriting. Harry lifted his hand to turn to the next page when he heard a voice coming from the house.

'Petunia, the boy is not in his cupboard' Vernon's angry voice boomed through the house. 'Have you seen the freak'. Petunia's shrilly voice was soon heard too. 'No, I have not seen him. He cannot have run away, seeing that the doors are still locked.' Harry new that he was in trouble and quickly began putting the stuff back in the box. "There, look. There's light coming from the basement'. Dudley too seemed to have woken up from the commotion. Which honestly surprised Harry, seeing that it usually took until the smell of bacon spread through the house before Dudley got up.

The door opened and Harry quickly stuffed the dairy under his T-shirt. Light invaded the dark room and Harry had to avert his eyes because of its fellness. Vernon enormous silhouette could be seen walking down the stairs, all the while glaring at Harry. When Vernon was at the bottom of the stairs he turned his gaze too the box. He visibly paled when he realized what it was. 'Petunia, come here. Now. And make sure Dudley is in his room'. 'Something wrong darling? Did that blasted boy do something wrong again'? Petunia too went down the stairs. Which was rather a comic sight, seeing that her heels were much too high. Harry had too hold in his laugh. When Petunia stood in the basement, Vernon raised one fat finger and pointed it at the box. ''The boy found it'. The word it was laced with disgust. Petunia too took in the box. 'Boy, upstairs now, go to your cupboard' Her voice had become tight and her hand was clenched. Harry quickly jumped up the stairs, making sure that they did not see the diary hidden underneath his shirt.

Harry had been in his cupboard for two hours now. He was too anxious to concentrate on the diary. Then he smelled it. Like someone had made a large bonfire. The Box. Rage filled him as soon as he realized what exactly was burning. Tears began pooling in his eyes. The photos, the only ones he had ever seen of his parents, gone. The books about spells and magical creatures, and everything else that had filled Harry with such longing, gone. The cupboard door was openedagain and a meaty hand grabbed Harry by his shirt and dragged him outside. It was cold outside. Colder than one would have expected from a late summer night. And indeed in the Dursley's back garden was a huge fire, with all the stuff from the box on it. The flames licking at the paper as it turned black, the words becoming illegible. As Harry's sight became hazier he had the odd thought that the smoke looked like that of Indian signals in Dudley's western movies. Harry heard Vernon's voice, but did not really comprehend what his uncle was saying. Something about freaks, and no food if Harry ever spoke about the box again. Right now it didn't matter.

That night seemed longer than usual and Harry could not get to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the fire again, with all his new treasures on it. Except the diary, Harry reminded himself. He still had the diary, hidden under his pillow. He would've continued reading, but he had no light. He would have to steal a small flashlight from his aunt and uncle tomorrow. If Petunia and Vernon thought that he would just let this go then they were wrong. He knew now. About magic and his parents. There were more out there like him, there had to be. He had seen the books and pictures with all sorts of strange people in it. He would uncover the truth, even if he had to run away to do so. After all what had being with Dursleys ever got him, apart from missed meals and the occasional beating?

The next morning a strange mood hang over the Dursley household. Harry had been let out of his cupboard as usual to prepare breakfast. His aunt and uncle had not said a word about the incident of yesterday night, but they were more quiet than normal and casted a weary glance in Harry's direction so now and then. Dudley seemed confused, and did not understand what had happened the night before and why his parents did not want to tell him. This however did not diminish his appetite.

Harry was grateful when it was time to go to school, the tension in the dining room had only gotten worse. He had crammed the diary in his schoolbag, not trusting his aunt to not look through his stuff in the cupboard.

When Harry and Dudley got back from school the mood seemed have relaxed a tiny bit. Harry put his bag in his cupboard and began doing his chores while Dudley played some new videogame. Just before he started cooking dinner, uncle Vernon took him apart. 'Listen boy, what happened yesterday will never be talked about again. You will forget what you saw and if I ever so much as hear the m-word from you, you'll find yourself quicker out on the street than you've ever imagined, got it?' Vernon's grip on his arm had become painful, especially considering he still had the bruises from yesterday when he was dragged outside. Eyes downcast Harry answered 'yes uncle', making sure that his voice sounded appropriately meek. After dinner had been made and cleaned up again Harry went back to his cupboard, in his hand a small flashlight that he had grabbed from one of the kitchen drawers. When the house became silent and Harry could be sure that everyone was asleep he took the diary from under his pillow and opened it again. The faded pages were scribbled full and here and there was also a drawing. There also seemed to be pictures attached to some pages. Harry turned back to second page and began reading.

13 January 1978

My first journal, a gift from my friend Severus. I'm supposed to write my thoughts down here, so let me begin.

I will try to post the next chapter within two weeks. Please let me know what you think.