The Dursley family prided themselves very much on just how normal they were. Mediocrity is the measure by which they lived. Vernon worked as a middle manager at a drill company called Grunnings, while his wife, Petunia pretended to be the perfect homemaker. Their son Dudley a carbon copy of his old man, was the spoiled, pampered son and was perfect in every way the Dursley's refused to hear otherwise. The family had spent the last ten and half years trying to keep anyone from finding out one thing though, their nephew Harry was a wizard. So, it was that Harry joined the family on Dudley's eleventh birthday at the London Zoo. Not that anyone wanted him to be there, they simply had no other option.
Harry who loved animals stood watching the python, while his cousin pounded on the glass of the reptile enclosure, "move." When the snake continued to sleep soundly, the pudgy boy looked at his father, "Make him move!" Vernon at a loss for what to do to make the python interact with his son repeated his actions. Finally, giving up on the snake Dudley declared, "he's boring." This left only Harry in front of the enclosure. The green-eyed boy with messy hair frowned, "Sorry about him, it must get old people pressing their faces against the glass, pounding, lying their day after day." Much to Harry's surprise the snake then raised it's head to look directly at him and seemed to nod yes. Always happy for something to talk too Harry continued, "Where you from?" The Python nodded towards a placard. It read, "Burmese Python." Harry nodded, "Is it nice there? Do you miss your family?" The snake nodded towards another placard, this one read, "bred in captivity London Zoo." The green-eyed boy with messy hair could not help but to empathize. So, he said, "I see. That is me as well. I never knew my parents either." Suddenly Dudley came rushing back to the enclosure pushing Harry out of the way causing him to fall, "come quick you'll never believe what the snake is doing!" As quick as a blink the glass enclosure was gone and the snake slithered passed Harry hissing, "thanks." Pulling the small boy by his unruly black hair Vernon who was himself no small man barked, "we are leaving now." The rest of the family followed much too afraid of the large man's temper to venture a word. The ride back to number four Privet Drive was done in anxious silence.
The immaculate home came into view just twenty minutes later. Vernon, whose face was still purple with rage got out and pulled the small boy out of the car and dragged him into the house. Once inside Vernon tossed the boy into the small cupboard under the stairs, barking, "there is no such thing as magic." Most normal people use that spot for cleaning supplies, but the Dursley family of number four used it as Harry's bedroom. This is evident by the fact that on the inside of the door was a standard sheet of eight by eleven writing paper that read, "Boy's" only to be crossed out to read, "Harry's Room." The mattress on which the small boy with dark hair and green eyes landed was thin and if one bothered to look they would see one of the springs attempting to poke through. The mattress had a number of stains too some rust in color others not. A ratty blanket made of blue silky fabric, a worn copy of Oliver Twist, and a broken toy soldier were the only other objects in the small space, which Harry kept on the shelf behind his mattress.
School had let out the week previous and so there was no hope of being let out for the week as Vernon had promised, Harry would not eat and so he would be in his cupboard for the duration. Harry had no friends, so there was no one to notice him missing. Dudley and his gang and made sure of that. Anytime someone was friendly to Harry, Dudley would threaten them, and that was it. No one disagreed with Dudley's gang. He was always picked last for teams in gym, not because he was not any good, but because again no one wanted Dudley to think they like him. Curling up on the mattress the small boy's mind began to drift, wishing for a friend.
Harry stood in a room that was made of white stone walls, on the other side of the room was a floo with a fire burning and two large, overstuffed chairs covered in a green material. The rug was also green as were the drapes on the window as Harry took in the room. Against the walls were placed several desks and bookcases of dark wood. A boy about Harry's age stood up from one of the overstuffed chairs. The boy had dark hair, only his seemed to lay neatly and framed his face, short on the sides and longer on the stop with a wavy look to it. His skin was pale, and he had an aristocratic look to his face, and build. Brown eyes met green, and the boy stepped forward a hand extended, "Theodore Nott, but I prefer Theo." Harry smiled, " Nice to meet you, Theo. Hadrian Potter, but I prefer Harry." Harry extended his hand which the other boy shook in much the same manner that he had seen his uncle use at business dinners.
In silent agreement the two boys moved back towards the chairs next to the floo. The raven-haired boy not used to conversation waited to see what the other boy might ask staring into the fire. It did not take long, "Any preference on what house you'll be sorted into?" Harry blinked, "what do you mean?" The other boy had a look of mild shock pass over his face before he schooled his features once more. Then he explained, "I thought surely you would know. At Hogwarts, which is the school for people like us, there are four houses. Gryffindor-distinguished as those who are brave. Ravenclaw- those who value wit and learning. Hufflepuff-those who value justice and loyalty. Then, there is the best! Slytherin- the house of cunning and ambition." Harry nodded, "I can't rightly say perhaps, we'll be in the same house." Brown eyes evaluated the smaller boy, "perhaps."
Harry could not help himself, "Is this place real? Did I actually wish myself somewhere else?" The other boy considered the question, "no this isn't a real place. I'm not sure how this happened specifically, but you sent your consciousness to look for someone else like you." Harry nodded; it made sense that he was still in his cupboard but in desperation his mind reached out for someone to be his friend. So, he kept on that stream of thought, "so you're like me. What does that mean?" Theo nodded, "We're magical when we are in a heightened emotional state, or when we channel our intention right, we can make things happen." Something clicked for Harry after that. It explained the snake, his teachers hair turning blue, his hair growing back overnight after a bad haircut, and ending up on the school roof to hide from Dudley and his gang.
It was Theo how spoke next, "How do you not know about Hogwarts you're the boy-who-lived and all of that?" Harry looked down at the ground, there it was the question that Harry did not want to answer, "I live with my aunt and uncle, and they don't exactly like me or welcome questions." Again, a look of shock flickered before the other boy regained control of his features, "You were raised not knowing who you were?" Harry nodded, "my aunt and uncle are not magical." It explained his uncle's reaction to the odd occurrences that happened around Harry. Theo continued, "I suspect father will be looking for me soon, I will owl you though and see if I can help you prepare for Hogwarts." Harry nodded as though he knew what the boy meant, "I am not available for a week outside of this space." Theo nodded, and suddenly the other boy disappeared.
Exactly one week later, Harry was indeed woken up to the sound of his aunt pounding on the cupboard, "Get up, get up, now." The cupboard unlocked Harry changed the set of oversized clothes his was in, and went to start the Dursley's breakfast knowing there would be trouble if Uncle Vernon didn't get his breakfast and coffee on time. Frying the bacon with the skill of someone who had done this for five years, Harry thought about the strange boy Theo and his promise to owl him. He served the food and got his list of chores from his aunt and went to start in the garden. Weeding the garden and pruning the hedges would take most of the morning and Harry didn't mind as it kept him away from his aunt and cousin.
It was as he was pruning one of Aunt Petunia's prized rose bushes that a large golden eagle owl flew down next Harry. Spying a letter and parcel attached it occurred to Harry that this was what the Theo meant by owling him. He took the parcel and letter and thanked the beautiful owl. Setting the parcel and letter aside to finish his work Harry, with new motivation, finished quicker than normal. He then took his letter and parcel to his cupboard and started on cleaning the kitchen and sitting room. Finally finishing his list of chores, the raven-haired boy went to his cupboard and opened the letter.
"Harry,
I sent you a journal it is one that connects to one I have. Do not worry, it's charmed so once you put your hand on the cover it reads your magic and won't show the messages to anyone else. If it is glowing that means that you have a new message from me. I also sent you a copy of the sacred 28 and wizarding customs. Both of which were written by ancestors of mine. We have numerous copies and so no one will miss them. If you have any questions ask. -T. N."
Harry hurriedly opened the parcel and did as the letter instructed by putting his hand on the cover of the journal. It flashed green and then returned to normal. Harry assumed that meant it worked, and scribbled on the first page, "Thank you. Message and package received, and I will start studying immediately." Harry spent the remainder of his day reading the wizarding customs book, up until it was time to make dinner. Once he was finished with the dishes though he returned to reading all about this strange new culture that he was a part of.
The first couple of chapters focused on the government. Harry read, "the British Magical government is divided into two parts. One being the Wizegamot and the other being the Ministry of Magic. The wizegamot is responsible for the creation of laws and oversees trials operating as legislative and judicial body. Whereas the Ministry of Magic is comprised of the Minister of Magic and the de facto executive branch that puts together regulations to support the various laws and policies. The Ministry of Magic also holds the station of the law enforcement of the magical world, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Aurors."
The third chapter went into various wizarding laws. Harry found this interesting, "The statute of secrecy is to be kept so that the burning times do not return. Harry continued to read learning more about how the British Magical society operated, and how laws were enforced. The chapter that followed outlined the holidays that were observed as part of Magical Society. As Harry continued he found the holidays and their customs and history fascinating. As he drifted off to sleep his mind began to think of questions that he had about what the difference might be in how some of these which would occur during the school term would be observed?