Chapter 1- Harry Wayne and the Shadow of the Bat.
Rubber. Rubber? "Why does it smell like…ouch!" Young Harry was awoken from his slumber in the worst possible way; by having a Ticonderoga pencil shoved up his nose while he was asleep.
Dudley: "Ha ha! This time I got it all the way to the R! I usually only get it to the M on most kids!"
Ten-year-old Harry was once again the victim of being bullied by Dudley Cobblepot. Dudley was the only misbegotten biological child of Harry's Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; making Dudley his cousin. A fact that he was certainly not proud of; especially when he was on the receiving end of his tortuous bullying. Harry balled up his fist to punch Dudley in the face but somewhere along the way, his fist came un-clenched and he ended up slapping him with the inside of his hand instead. Dudley looked shocked for a second that Harry actually had the guts to hit him. He stood there with his hand on his cheek where Harry had slapped him. When he took his hand away there was a big red handprint on his cheek. Dudley's expression quickly changed from shock to all out rage as he jumped on top of Harry and started pounding on him. Dudley was a portly boy to say the least. There was never an after-dinner snack that he skipped. Or a before dinner snack for that matter. Once Dudley was on top of Harry there was nothing he could do but pray. Pray for it to be over as soon as possible.
The praying must have worked because just then, Aunt Petunia burst into the bedroom. "What is all this confounded commotion!?" Aunt Petunia exclaimed. Just then Dudley went from pounding relentlessly on Harry to wrapping his hands around his own throat and hyperventilating. "Mummy, he…..he…..hit me right in my face! Oh, mummy I can't breathe! My asthma!" Aunt Petunia saw the red hand print on Dudley's face and she believed his act. "Oh, Dudley! Are you alright my poor baby!? What has this mongrel done to you!?
"If he wasn't such a jerk, Dudley might win the Academy Award for acting one day," Harry thought to himself.
"Well, in all my years I never! I have NEVER seen such ingratitude! Your Uncle and I go to all the trouble to take you in after the untimely demise of your parents and this is how you repay us!? It just goes to show, there are some juvenile delinquents that just cannot be helped, no matter how much you may want to! I am so glad my dear sister Lily is not here to see the wretch that you have become! It would truly break her heart!" Aunt Petunia declared.
Even though Harry knew that what Aunt Petunia said about his mother was not true, it still made him very sad. Harry's parents died when he was only a one year old. He was told they died in a freak car accident but he didn't really have any proof of that. It was hard not really knowing his parents. He had a few pictures of them and some of their belongings; like a pen that belonged to his father with his name inscribed on it and a broach that belonged to his mother and a briefcase that belonged to his father; but other than that, he had nothing to remember them by.
Harry had been raised (if you can call it that) by his Aunt and Uncle ever since his parents died. Harry knew that they were certainly not taking care of him out of love. In his parents will, it was outlined that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would be compensated very well as long as they took care of Harry. You see, Harry's parents were very rich. Very rich indeed. The last name "Wayne" was synonymous with wealth and renewal. In fact, "The Gotham Renewal Corporation" was the name of the program that James Wayne started to give back to the city that he loved so much. Now though, with his passing, the money for the Renewal program was being fought over and squandered by the underworld of Gotham. None of this really mattered at all to Harry though. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon spent the money they received lavishly on themselves every month and of course on Dudley, buying him the newest and most expensive clothes and shoes. His closet had a huge shoe rack that was full of exclusive Jordan's that you can't find in any store (even though Dudley had never even set foot on a basketball court in his life). He also had all the newest and most advanced game systems. Playing games was Dudley's only form of exercise. That, along with the fact that he also had his own pantry full of all of his favorite snacks were reasons why Dudley had grown into such a tubby and portly fellow. Meanwhile, Harry only got discounted clothes and hand me downs and had to practically beg for anything extra outside of that. In fact, Harry didn't even have his own full-sized bedroom. He slept in a tiny room (if you could call it that) that was under the stairs and referred to as "the cupboard." This was done partly as cruel punishment to Harry and partly to keep him concealed away from the letters that kept arriving with more and more frequency. First, the letters arrived through the mail, but eventually, they were literally coming through the walls of the house. Dudley, even opened one of the letters once and upon reading it, promptly burned it in the fireplace. The rest of the letters were stashed away where Harry couldn't find them.
A few days later, the Cobblepots, along with young Harry, went to the Gotham Zoo for a day out. After making it through all of the outside exhibits, they came to a section called "The Nocturnal World." This section was filled with nocturnal animals like mole's, owl's, porcupine's and of course…bats. As the Cobblepots walked through the nocturnal section, Dudley was startled and let out a little scream when a bat flew too close to the glass.
"I knew the glass was there….I wasn't scared. I was just trying to communicate with the stupid flying rats. They like high pitched noises," Dudley said. Harry knew he was lying.
While Dudley appeared to be frightened of the bats Harry was fascinated. To him, they were remarkable and fascinating creatures as well as great survivors. By not using their sight and operating by using sonic frequencies, it was almost like they lived on some whole other level that humans were not a part of. Almost like a form of magic. Plus, Harry always thought the birthmark on his forehead resembled the shape of a bat. His lengthy bangs covered the birthmark most of the time, but he liked to pull his hair back with his hands and look at it in the mirror. Dudley would sometimes tease Harry about the birthmark.
As Harry daydreamed while he looked through the glass at the bats, Dudley started to make fun of him. "What do you see Bat-boy? Maybe your mommy and daddy are flying around in there. Maybe one day you'll all be together as one stupid Bat-family! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Harry closed his eyes trying to hold back the tears. He could feel the blood rush to his face. He wanted to just disappear. To be invisible. Maybe one day he would be able to be invisible. More than anything though, he wanted Dudley to shut up.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Is that Dudley screaming?" Harry thought.
Harry opened his eyes to see the glass case of the bat enclosure had somehow….disappeared? The bats were flying everywhere. They were attacking Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and especially Dudley.
"Help me! Help me! Get them off of me! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Dudley screamed. One the bats even managed to leave some "guano droppings" on Dudley's head.
Harry smiled and then burst into laughing. The bats did not attack him and he was not afraid. In fact, the largest bat perched itself upside down onto the hood on the back of Harry's sweater. When the bat extended its' wings they almost looked like they were a part of Harry from the front view.
Just then, the door to the nocturnal room burst open and in came a huge fellow with a long beard. As the man walked through the area the bats did not attack him either. In fact, they parted as he walked through just like when Moses parted the Red Sea.
"Who are you?" Harry asked.
"My name is Hagrid. Hagrid Pennyworth. And you best be comin' with me my boy. I think you've caused enough trouble for one day wouldn't you agree?"
To be continued…..
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