Chapter Two: Stonewall High, Friends and Sinking Ships
Finally after two weeks they finally let him out again. In those weeks he'd barely eaten, meaning his weight had steadily decreased. He was malnourished and dehydrated. He drank as much as he could but he could barely eat a thing. His bruises had mostly healed up but he had been going crazy. By now his friends would be heading back to Hogwarts. They'd be on the train about now heading back to Hogwarts. They'd soon be enjoying the start of term feast and watching the house sorting ceremony and listening to the sorting hat singing a new song. Then they'd start lessons in magical education again and there'd be quidditch try-outs and other things. Everything he was going to miss. His friends, his education, quidditch and just a place where he felt he did belong. How he longed to be with them.
Several days later uncle Vernon came into his bedroom, looking agitated. He thrust some money into his hands; he'd never done this before. Ever. Harry stared at the money not knowing what he should do with it. "Go to the second hand shop and get some school uniform" he spat "For stonewall high, that's where you're going tomorrow"
Then he left the room again, leaving Harry staring at the money he'd thrust into his hands. They'd never given him money to buy himself anything he needed before. They'd never bought him his own clothes or shoes, he'd always worn hand-me downs before. This was new to him. Eventually after staring at it for ten minutes he stuffed it into his pockets and pulled himself off his bed. He pulled his tatty baseball shoes on and reached for his favourite jumper. He left the room and headed downstairs. He could see aunt petunia tidying in the kitchen and Uncle Vernon watching the news in the living room. He pulled the front door open and left the house. He headed to the bus stop so he could get into town where the second hand shop was.
The only bus he'd ever been on before was the night bus, he'd never been on a muggle bus before so he wasn't sure how it worked. "I want to go into town" he said to the driver.
"Adult or child?" he asked.
"Child I think" he replied.
"That's 60p" the driver explained. He handed the driver sixty pence and he gave him a ticket. He found a seat and sat down. He stared out of the window, watching the world go by.
Once they reached the town he got off and went to find the second hand shop. He'd been there before, that's where any clothes that hadn't been Dudley's had come from, even this had been a rare occurrence. Once inside he looked around. The shop assistant seemed to notice and came over to him. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"Err… I'm looking for uniform" he said. "For stonewall high school. I'm starting there tomorrow"
"We have some of that over here" she smiled. She took him over to the corner of the shop where he noticed there was a range of uniforms for different schools. "I think this is what you're looking for" she gestured to a black blazer.
She left him to figure out what he needed. All of the blazers he tried on just seemed to hang off him. In the end he chose the smallest then picked up a tie, a jumper and some blue shirts. He took it over to the counter and paid for it.
After leaving the shop he saw he still had plenty of the money Uncle Vernon had given him, left. So he went into food shop and got a packet of biscuits and some crisps. He could store these under the floorboard in his room so when he was locked up he would have something to eat other than the stale bread he'd survived on last time.
After this he headed back to the bus stop and got on the bus to go home. Once home he gave the change to Uncle Vernon who begrudgingly, very begrudgingly thanked him. Then he headed upstairs and stored his biscuits and crisps under the loose floorboard.
He rested down on his bed and thought about tomorrow. He was dreading it more than he'd dreaded it age eleven before he'd known he was a wizard, before he'd known he'd be going to Hogwarts. He knew that his bullies went to school there and he still hated them as much as he had five years ago. He was used to boarding at school, having his best friends around all the time. He was used to learning about defensive spells, charms and how to brew potions not English, maths and science. He was used to sports like quidditch not football. He was used to drinking unusual drinks at school not plain old water and enjoying massive feasts not blobs of meat that tasted of nothing.
That night he didn't sleep well, enduring a flashback dream to the night cedric had died in the graveyard. After that he struggled to fall asleep again, spending several hours tossing and turning viciously before finally falling asleep.
The following day he started at stonewall high. Uncle Vernon was on a tight schedule and prepared to make him feel alone and pressured. He was woken by his uncle who burst through the door with such force it almost took the door off its hinges. "Get up!" he shouted "NOW!"
He jumped out of bed and flew into the bathroom to have a wash and brush his teeth. He even jumped in the shower because he'd been locked out of the bathroom because they considered him showering, when they were feeling particularly hateful, stealing from them. So after having a quick, hot shower he got out and went to get dressed. But uncle Vernon was already become agitated and therefore angry with him. "Hurry up boy!" he shouted up the stairs as harry dressed as quickly as he could. "I TOLD YOU. HURRY UP!"
"I'M COMING!" Harry yelled back. He was soon ready. He looked down at his new uniform and sighed. His blue shirt buttoned up almost to the top was itchy and loose, hanging off his shrinking frame. His black trousers held up by a thick black belt made his legs itch too and they didn't actually seem to be long enough so he fiddled with them and they came down a bit. His blue tie was tied loosely around his neck, it was faded and a bit smelly if he was honest. It was weird and somewhat uncomfortable compared to his Hogwarts robes, which were the comfiest things he had ever owned. He grabbed the black blazer off his bed and put it on and instantly hated it. "COME ON BOY!" Uncle Vernon yelled up to him. He wanted to take his tie off and use it to strangle uncle Vernon. Rolling his eyes and clenching his teeth he grabbed his school bag and made his way downstairs. Aunt petunia pushed a plate of toast towards him. "Eat that quickly. I am on a very tight schedule boy" uncle Vernon hissed.
"I know" Harry replied before shoving the toast into his mouth and eating it as quickly as he could. Soon he was done and uncle Vernon ushered him out of the house and to the car. "Do that shirt up properly and that tie right now" he hissed.
"Why?" he asked
"Because you look a mess" sneered aunt petunia "And sort your hair out!"
"Any more problems with my appearance?" he asked sarcastically.
"Get in the car" uncle Vernon hissed. As they drove along in silence Harry did his shirt up and tied his tie properly and fiddled about with his scruffy brown hair, which seemed to have a mind of its own.
Finally they pulled up. "Get out" said uncle Vernon "Behave yourself boy. I mean it. You know what you'll get if you don't. A bloody good seeing to."
Harry climbed out of the car taking in the threat uncle Vernon had just issued him and headed away from the car. He went through the gates and looked around. It was nothing like he was used to. The massive Hogwarts castle and the history it held. He didn't know where to go at all so he just stood there looking around looking completely dumbfounded. A girl came over to him. She had long flaming red hair, big brown eyes and big smile. "You ok?" she asked "You look totally lost in this place"
"What?" he frowned "Oh I'm new? This my first day and I don't know where I'm supposed to go"
"Right" she smiled. She studied his face then frowned as her eyes appeared to rest on his scar. "Interesting scar"
"Yeah" he nodded before fiddling with his hair so it covered his scar.
"Sorry. I'll take you to reception" she replied "Follow me"
"Ok" he shrugged before following towards the school.
"I'm Gabrielle, Gabrielle summers by the way" she said "I was the new girl in year eight. Don't worry it's not that bad. What's your name?"
"Harry" he replied "Harry potter."
She looked over her shoulder at him giving a look that he simply could not read. Something about it told him she was thinking something or was adding something up in her head, but he wasn't sure what. She lead him inside and over to reception. "This is Harry. He's new here"
"Ok" the receptionist smiled
"I better go. I'm meeting my friends" Gabrielle smiled "Nice meeting you though… maybe we could be friends…"
"Maybe" he nodded. She smiled before heading off. He turned back to the receptionist.
"What's your surname?" she asked
"Potter" he replied "Harry Potter. I'm in fifth year…"
"Do you mean year eleven?" she asked.
"I suppose" said Harry.
"Take a seat over there" she smiled. He nodded and rested down in one of the seats. A few minutes passed by and he took in his surroundings. Then a tall man with glasses very much like his own, with slicked back ginger hair walked over to him. He looked a bit like Ron actually. "I'm Mr Pryke; I'm going to be your form tutor. Follow me" Harry took his bag and followed Mr Pryke. "What did school did you go to before stonewall?"
"I've never been to high school before" replied harry
"You were home schooled?" asked Mr Pryke.
"Yes" harry shook his head "I am very socially awkward and I had a rough time at primary school with bullies that's all."
"Oh" said Mr Pryke "That is an interesting scar"
"Yes I suppose it is" Harry put his hand to his scar.
"How did you get it?" Mr Pryke asked cautiously.
"I got in the car crash my parents died in. I never knew them" he sighed moving his hair back over his lightning bolt scar.
"I am sorry to hear that" said Mr Pryke leading him into a classroom. He told harry to sit down before the rest of the class arrived. "Who are you?" asked one boy sitting down to him. He had scruffy black hair and was a bit taller than himself.
"Harry" he shrugged
"You must be new here?" he asked
"Yeah" harry nodded.
"How come?" he pried. But harry shook his head and declined to answer. He didn't really feel like talking to them, choosing to remain mute. They said hello and he did say hello and tell them his name but after that he refused further conversation.
Gabrielle turned out to be in his form 11PR and she sat on the table behind his with another girl who had shoulder length blonde hair, big blue eyes and a peach lips. "Hi again" Gabrielle smiled "See you got put in our form"
"Yeah" he nodded.
"It's the best form" she smirked "Mr Pryke is such a soft touch. I mean he lets you get away with all kinds of things"
The day slid by and he got on with it. It was ok for a muggle school but some of Dudley's pals attended there, Malcom, Dennis and Gordon for instance. However they didn't come near him once.
Gabrielle offered to show him around. It turned out they had the same first lesson. "Maths with Mr Fitzgerald" she said "That guy is such an idiot. All he does is snap and tell people off"
"Do you get told off a lot?" Harry asked her.
"Yes. He particularly hates me" she laughed "He thinks I'm a lazy, pain in the butt who never does any work and has severe bouts of verbal diarrhoea. He'll probably like you. You're not too talkative"
"One of the teachers at my last school really hated me" he shrugged "We never saw eye to eye."
"There's always one teacher that's a complete asshole" she replied as they lined up outside Mr Fitzgerald's classroom. He came out, he had black hair, piercing black eyes and cold smile. He reminded him of Snape. It made him wonder if he was like him. "When you go inside I want you to sit down in silence and get your books out in silence and wait for me to start."
"Yes sir" they all replied before filing in. He went to go inside but Mr Fitzgerald stopped him. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Harry Potter sir… I'm new" he replied. "It's my first day"
"I didn't know I had a boy joining my class" he said, with an irritated tone. "I'll fine you a book. Go in and find somewhere to sit. I advise you do not sit next to Miss Summers. She has a habit of distracting everybody"
"Ok sir" he nodded before going inside. He sat next her though because she was the only person he knew. Mr Fitzgerald gave him a disapproving look when he dropped a book for him at the table. Gabrielle gave him a quick glare and stuck her tongue out at him when he turned his back which made Harry laugh. "What are you laughing at?" Mr Fitzgerald snapped turning around giving him a furious look.
"Nothing sir" he replied.
"I told him a joke" said Gabrielle.
"Behave Miss Summers. It is the first day of term and already you are misbehaving." He hissed "Then again what else can I expect from you. You always have been a misbehaving layabout."
She glared angrily at him before he walked off. "See what I mean" she sighed resting her head in her hands. He nodded in agreement. She helped him with his work because he simply didn't understand it.
He got through the day ok and he sat with Gabrielle at lunchtime, her friends made an effort to talk to him. When he got home, as he'd expected, they didn't ask him about his day and only saw him for dinner before sending him up to bed.
The days slid by and people made an attempt to talk to him but he subtly refused. He just wanted to be at Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione. That was his home that was where he belonged.
Finally when the Dursleys were out he sneaked to his cupboard and found his wand and broomstick. He needed money, to live off; for the essentials, clothes and food. Taking it into the garden he made sure no one saw him before mounting and kicking off the ground. He flew to London and found a safe place to land. Not wanting to be recognised he pulled his hood over his head and pulled the string tight to conceal his face. He went through the leaky cauldron and through to Diagon Alley, the Wizarding Street. He went to gringotts and asked to exchange his money to muggle money, which the goblins did quickly and with great efficiency. He found his way again, found a safe place mounted his broom and kicked off. He flew back to surrey and was home before the Dursleys. He put his broom back and headed upstairs, stashing his wand under the lose floorboard for the time being.
On Monday he got himself some lunch but struggled to eat it so he sat there picking at it. Gabrielle, who he was sitting with, noticed. "Are you ok?" she asked
"Yeah fine" he nodded
"You seem to be struggling with that" she said
"I'm not just feeling hungry now" he replied
"Ok" she nodded "How's your first week been?"
"Yeah…ok" he said
"Good to hear that, mine sucked to be honest. I just lied to make you feel better. By the way these are my friends" she smiled "Georgie, Bobby, Patterson and Kyle. I know three boys. So why'd you come here"
"I just moved here" he replied, lying through his back teeth "with my family"
"Nice. Nice family?" the other girl, Georgie, asked looking at him with big blue eyes.
He didn't know what to say. Of course they weren't nice. They'd spent the whole summer locking him up, starving him and beating him. "I live with my aunt and uncle. They're ok I guess. It could be worse."
"How come?" Georgie asked. He gave her a look which told her he didn't want to talk to about it so she stopped talking, gave him a small smile and turned away. It was the first time someone had smiled at him in a very long time.
Harry looked at his plate and sighed. It could be worse but he knew it was worse than he had just said it to be. He was being abused after all; treated like he wasn't human. And he had to hide the fact and get on with it. He stared at his food and felt sick; he'd barely eaten a thing in the last few weeks. Knowing he wouldn't be able to eat it he got up and chucked the food away. Such a waste of his money he knew he'd need to survive living with the Dursleys.
Over the next few days he talked to Gabrielle and her friends and they quickly became friends. He would hang around with them at break times and they would talk, have a good laugh. He got on very well with flaming ginger haired and trouble making extraordinaire Gabrielle.
But while his school life was good, his home life was anything but good. It was going from bad to worse. Uncle Vernon was still hitting him but in places people wouldn't see them. Days after starting there Uncle Vernon gave him a black eye, not very large but not quite as painless. He easily lied it away, he had gotten out of bed without his glasses on and walked straight into something.
Bruises on his arms were frequently appearing, from being grabbed and hit and people noticed, especially in P.E. his least favourite subject. He lied them away, walking around without his glasses, fighting with his cousin (who wasn't even in surrey), P.E. lessons and other excuses. He was desperately trying to conceal the abuse but it just didn't work.
Then a couple of weeks after making friends with Georgie, Gabrielle, Bobby, Patterson and Kyle they went to park after school and stayed out very late. They'd gotten a couple of pizzas and Patterson had smuggled some beers from home and they chilled out at the park. Time got away from them and by the time they left the park it was nearly midnight. Upon leaving the park they split. Kyle, bobby and Patterson headed off one way whilst he, Georgie and Gabrielle headed another way. They walked down the dark, desolate streets which were eerily silent. "Fuck why did we leave so late?" Georgie hissed "Its pitch black out. Someone might be freaking lurking ready to kill us!"
"Oh calm down" said Gabrielle. Harry looked at them, well at their barely visible outlines. Someone was probably lurking ready to kill him. But he tried not to think about that possibility. "You're such a scaredy cat"
"Oh and you're fearless superwoman!" Georgie scolded back
"Well now you mention it" replied Gabrielle.
"This your fault" said Georgie "I told everyone we should leave ages ago but you're like no fuck it let's stay out well late and get drunk"
"You could've gone" said Gabrielle "No you couldn't you didn't want to walk home on your own"
"Not true" said Georgie sulkily
"It is" Gabrielle laughed slightly "Hey do you think someone's taken harry he's gone all quiet"
"He never talks anyway" replied Georgie
"Hey" harry piped up "I do talk"
"Oh thank god I thought someone had kidnapped you!" said Gabrielle "Owh Georgie that hurt"
"You asked for it" she replied "Seriously you're going to lead him astray"
"That is very insulting" stated Gabrielle "Just because I like to mess about and get myself into a little bit of trouble does not mean I will lead anyone astray"
"When he first showed up he was as quiet as a mouse" Georgie exclaimed "He didn't talk to people. Then I introduced myself and he met you and he follows your lead half the time"
"I can hear you" said harry "I'm not deaf and I don't need anyone to lead me astray thanks. I'm good enough at getting myself into trouble. I did at my last school. I was expelled…"
"You were expelled from your last school?" Georgie asked "What did you do?"
"I broke the rules… a lot" he replied quickly fabricating a story out of what had happened "It was fun and then I supposedly told a lot of lies about things that couldn't possibly have happened to everyone so they had me expelled. Probably to make an example of me or just because they hated me. This is what we do to liars and people who repeatedly break all of the rules. I didn't think it was fair. It deeply shamed my aunt and uncle. So much so they had to move away"
"I cannot get my head round the fact that you were expelled" said Gabrielle "I mean you behave better than Kyle and Patterson, bobby's pretty well behaved. You must have had a behaviour transplant"
"No my aunt and uncle sat me down and said if didn't behave at this school they were sending me to a boarding school for hopeless cases and I'd rather not go there" he lied, this was getting easier. "I was expelled from a school before that for being a trouble maker"
"So this is like your last chance?" asked Gabrielle
"Yeah I guess" he sighed "My uncle can be a bit short tempered with me. I mean he has a son with my aunt and he is worse than me. A lot worse. He is a bully and when we were in primary school he and his friends bullied me every single day for six years. He never behaved either. Yet he's never been expelled and my uncle has never threatened him with a boarding school for hopeless cases. I guess that's the way it goes"
"No that's sods law" said Gabrielle "I would like to meet him and see what he's like"
"He's like a Yorkshire pudding. He eats his weight everyday" harry laughed "My aunt lets him stuff his face"
"And yet you're as skinny as a twig" said Georgie
"Yeah well I don't stuff my face" said harry "Or eat very often at all." He thought to himself. "He goes to boarding school so at least I don't have to deal with him all the time."
"Lucky. I have two brothers and two little sisters who drive me nuts. I wish mum would send them or me to boarding school" said Georgie
"My brothers are alright most of the time. But my little brother can be such a shit bag sometimes" said Gabrielle "He hogs everything. I wish they'd send him away or get him help for his hogging problem… this is my road bye and don't get lost. Again"
"Fuck you" Georgie hissed before Gabrielle disappeared down her road. "She winds me up on purpose"
"That is probably the point" said harry
"Shut up harry" she replied "You're not helping. You shouldn't let her lead you astray"
"I don't care" he shrugged "Trouble making runs in my family. I think my dad was a bit of trouble maker when he was at school. Well he was according to people I've met. They say I have his knack for trouble but my mother's heart. She was kind and apparently she passed it on to me. This is according to their friends that I've met because I never knew them."
"Oh you've never said before" she replied quietly "This your turn off"
"Oh yeah… I'll see you tomorrow" he yawned "Night"
"Night" she replied before disappearing into the darkness. He headed down the road and the roads that followed it before reaching number four.
When harry got home he let himself in with his key. Only to find his uncle sitting at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him. He stood up and exploded with anger "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN BOY!"
"At the park" he replied
"IT'S GONE MIDNIGT!" He roared "I WILL NOT HAVE YOU WANDER INTO MY HOME AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT"
"Why you don't about care me, you'd rather I stayed out and got killed by some thug" he replied spitefully, even though it felt true.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SOD!" he exploded grabbing Harry's shirt and slamming him up against the wall. "You listen to me boy. I let you live here be grateful"
"I should be grateful for the beatings should I?" retorted Harry. The next Harry knew he was flying face first towards the wall opposite. He landed in a heap on the floor, blood trickling down his face from a deep gash on his forehead. "I should be grateful for the verbal abuse should I?"
Uncle Vernon kicked him in the face with his foot, directly hitting Harry's nose, making it bleed. "I should be grateful that you neglect me?" said Harry pulling himself to his feet and looking uncle Vernon directly in the eyes. "I should be grateful that you starve me to the point I can barely eat anything anymore?"
Uncle Vernon's fat fist flew at his face and landed in Harry's dented left cheek. But harry did not fall he remained standing. Uncle Vernon threw several more sturdy punches at the teenager who stood still and took them. Took punches to the face and abdomen and did not complain once. For this boy was used to pain.
Finally Uncle Vernon stopped and stormed upstairs. Harry heard their bedroom door slam shut and he sunk down on the step. He hunched his knees up underneath his chin and stared aimlessly at the floor. He was just a punch bag for Uncle Vernon.