Chapter 2! Luffy meets an old friend!
The second Aunt Petunia had drug Luffy through the door she insisted that he give her the Mystery Letter. Luffy gave her the envelope keeping the letter to himself. She had gasped and choked like Luffy remembered doing on fish bones. She had then ushered him into the cupboard and locked the door.
Uncle Vernon had been very upset about the Mystery Letter. Luffy had laughed at the different colors the man had turned and earned a sharp smack to his head for it. The boy couldn't figure out why they were so worried about the letter especially the fact they knew about his cupboard.
Still, when Uncle Vernon had demanded he move into Dudley's second bedroom upstairs Luffy didn't argue. Dudley, however, threw a fit. Luffy was forcefully reminded of the Captain's son from when he first met Zoro. A sniveling baby that whined to get his way. Dudley had always acted like the blond stupid son.
Luffy just ignored the crying coward and gathered his few possessions and hauled them up to his new room. The room was rather small but it was at least bigger than the cupboard. Luffy sighed happily and flopped down on his bed. The mattress was the same from his cupboard but it had been put on a rickety old bed frame Uncle Vernon had found in the garage. Not that it mattered to Luffy. The important thing was that he had room to move now. He could stretch out on the floor and not touch the walls. It was perfect.
The mystery letter was changing his life for the better already.
"Boy! Get the door!" Aunt Petunia directed waving her hand in the direction of the front door. She was just beginning to take dinner off of the stove top and his uncle and cousin were not about to get off their butts and get it.
Luffy shrugged and bounced out of his seat and headed to the door. The Dursley's didn't normally get visitors at dinner time, something he could hear Uncle Vernon muttering about at the table. Still, it got him away from Dudley who had taken to whacking Luffy with his smelting stick every chance he got. It didn't hurt much but it was annoying and Luffy didn't want to get sent to his room without dinner for hitting Dudley back.
Luffy pulled the door open and his eyes went straight up, and up and up. The man at the door was the tallest person Luffy had seen since his pirate days.
"Wow, mister, you sure are tall," Luffy pointed out sticking his pinky in his ear.
"Yohohohoho," The man laughed. "I am!"
Luffy froze in place. That laugh… The former pirate captain peered up at the man and gasped. "Brook?"
The man, somehow not a skeleton, blinked down at the boy in shock. "How do you know my name?"
"Boy!" Uncle Vernon yelled stomping to the door. "Who is at the door?"
Luffy continued to stare at the man who could only be his musician, and ignored his uncle.
"We don't want what you're selling," Uncle Vernon said roughly going to shut the door.
Brook stopped the door with his hand. "Yohohoho, I'm not selling anything, sir!" Brook said. "I'm here to speak with your family about a letter this young received a few days ago."
Luffy whip around to watch his uncle turn funny colors and laughed. "Shishishishi," He giggled not seeing Brook's surprised look.
"You-you! You're one of them!" Uncle Vernon hissed peeking around the extremely tall man as if to see if the neighbors had somehow heard.
"Them?" The man asked. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Vernon dear? What's wrong?" Aunt Petunia asked joining them at the door.
"It's one of them," Uncle Vernon whispered having shot a frightened look at the tall thin man with an afro.
"Get in here!" Aunt Petunia said ushering Brook into the house. "Before the neighbors see you!"
Luffy watched as Brook ducked low to make it in through the doorway. The nine-foot-tall man had to stand hunched over because the ceilings were almost two feet too short. "Er, if we may take a seat? I can explain my presence?"
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia looked furious. Luffy smiled gleefully. This was the most fun he'd had in ages.
"We are in the middle of dinner!" Aunt Petunia said angrily.
"Oh! I'll join you then!" Brook decided with a smile. Brook looked strange with skin, Luffy decided as he followed his crew mate into the kitchen. Dudley gaped at the tall stranger who made himself at home in Petunia's chair.
Luffy's aunt looked like she was about to start screaming. Her lips were pressed together so tightly they were white. Uncle Vernon was growing steadily redder like his head was about to pop.
"Boy go get another chair," Uncle Vernon growled his eyes never leaving the interloper at his table.
Luffy rushed off to get a chair from the den and pulled it into the kitchen. Chair in place Luffy slipped into the seat next to Brook and waited. It was time to get some answers.
Brook had been at Hogwarts for nearly 45 years now. Time was a funny thing to an immortal man, it both didn't matter at all and was the most important thing in the world. Over his rather extended lifetime Brook, known as both the Humming Swordsman and Soul King, had very few precious moments and each one sped past like nothing.
Brook remembered his time as a pirate with a soul aching fondness. His time as a member of the Rumbar pirates and then as a Strawhat were his most precious memories.
After losing everything twice Brook hadn't been sure he would survive (not that he did, because he was already dead! Skull joke!). The death of the Strawhat pirates had driven Brook nearly insane. He remembered what had to be centuries wandering the earth as it changed around him. It wasn't until nearly 150 years ago when Brook met a young man named Albus Dumbledore that he found a home again.
The rise of witches and wizards had been a shock but to a centuries-old skeleton, but the shock wasn't hard to get over. After young Albus had brought Brook home with him and the pirate musician explained his situation the elder Dumbledore's gladly cast a glamor over him to replicate his appearance from when he was alive. They then hired him to be the children's music teacher.
For many years until the children were grown and off to school Brook had a place again. Leaving when the children no longer needed him was one of the hardest things to do. It wasn't until years later that young Albus sought him out and brought him to Hogwarts to teach music.
Brook wasn't the first choice to send to muggle raised students since he had no magic himself but when the only other option was Hagrid Professor McGonagall made an exception. Honestly, Brook was excited to meet the young Boy-Who-Lived. Brook could easily remember his parents, Lily had a beautiful singing voice and James was...enthusiastic at least.
The good news, McGonagall had told him, was that while Harry Potter didn't know anything Hogwarts his Aunt and Uncle did and the boy was eager to learn. His job was to pick the boy up, take him to Diagon Alley and ensure he had his train ticket. There wasn't supposed to be any problems.
There ended up being a problem. Brook got lost. It wasn't his fault all of the houses looked the exact same! The numbers, the only thing that made the houses different, were so tiny the tall man had to get up very close just to see them. This led to a few awkward situations. The nice woman from Number Eight hadn't appreciated his asking to see her panties and neither did her husband.
Thankfully, he had managed to find the proper house Number Four. Brook knocked on the door and waited patiently.
The door popped open and Brook was given his first look at the Boy-Who-Lived. The soon-to-be-eleven-year-old was of average height and a little on the skinny side. Brook watched as the boy's head craned back as he looked up at him with wide green eyes. Strange, hadn't James worn glasses? Maybe he got Lily's eyesight.
"Wow, mister, you sure are tall," the kid said, sticking his pinky in his ear.
"Yohohohoho," Brook laughed, what a funny child. "I am!"
Brook noticed the child pause and peer up at him confusion. "Brook?" Harry asked.
The skeleton glanced down at the boy. There was no way this child should know his name. "How do you know my name?"
Brook ignored the fat man who came marching to the door from inside the house. Instead, he focused his attention on the child standing in front of him. He looked remarkably like James from what Brook could remember. Messy black hair, their faces were the same but he might grow out of that. The lack of glasses took away some of the resemblance and the scar Brook could see on his forehead was a difference.
But the more he looked at the boy the more Brook could sense something. Something about Harry Potter was familiar in a way it probably shouldn't be. It struck Brook like lightening. Harry Potter looked like Monkey D. Luffy. The only difference was the scar placement and the green eyes. Brook was sure if he plopped a straw hat on the boy's head it would as if Luffy was standing before him again.
"We don't want what you're selling," The fat man said roughly going to shut the door.
Brook stopped the door with his hand, he wasn't about to let the annoying man interfere with his job. Especially after the resemblance between the young wizard and his long dead captain.
"Yohohoho, I'm not selling anything, sir!" Brook said. "I'm here to speak with your family about a letter this young received a few days ago."
"Shishishishi," Brook heard Harry laugh. That was Luffy's laugh.
"You-you! You're one of them!" Harry's uncle hissed peeking around the extremely tall man as if to see if the neighbors had somehow heard.
"Them?" Brook asked curiously did he mean wizards? "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Vernon dear? What's wrong?" A thin harsh looking woman joined them at the doorstep. What a strange family to have such meetings at the doorstep. Even the woman at Number 8 had invited him in.
"It's one of them," Brook heard the man whisper.
"Get in here!" Brook happily shuffled into the house ducking as he did so. "Before the neighbors see you!"
Homes on Privet Drive were not meant to hold people as tall as he was so Brook leaned over cheerfully. "Er, if we may take a seat? I can explain my presence?"
The musician saw a familiar smile spread across Harry's face.
"We are in the middle of dinner!" Harry's aunt informed him.
"Oh! I'll join you then!" Brook decided with a smile. Not only was he obligated to tell Harry about Hogwarts but the former pirate wasn't going to leave until he figured out why Harry resembled his late captain so much. The boy followed Brook into the kitchen into the kitchen. Once there Brook ignored the rather obese child who gaped at him and settled into a chair.
Brook ignored his hosts and instead focused on the boy as he ran off to retrieve another chair. It was rather nice of Harry's aunt and uncle to invite him to eat with them, but Brooks discovery took precedent over that.
Brook watched the boy drag the new chair into the kitchen and smiled happily when Harry slipped into the seat next to Brook. It was time to begin.