Chapter 2
Petunia Dursley was nothing if not a composed woman, but when she opened the door on that fateful November morning, she couldn’t help herself from letting out a shout of surprise.
“Vernon, Vernon come down here now at once!”, she shouted to the man upstairs.
“What is it pet? You’d think the wine cabinet was empty”, he answered her
“Oh ha-ha very funny. No look at this, someone left a baby at our doorstep.”
“WHAT?! Is this a joke of some kind pet, cause you know what will happen if you bother me with nonsense!”
Petunia shuddered at that, remembering all those times Vernon found things to punish her about. Dinner being late could be a slap, a missing item a punch to the gut. She had thought that when Dudley had arrived Vernon would change, but he still was the same old man he’d always been. At least he adored Dudley, for now.
“Look Vernon there is a letter with the child, do you think we should open it?”
“No I think we should just leave it there… Of course you should open it you silly cow!”
Petunia was used to all the name calling but that didn’t mean it hurt less every time she heard it. She reached down and picked up the letter. Opening it slowly, not knowing what it contained, she started to read it. As she read further and further down tears started to pool in her eyes. Her sister dead at the hands of a madman, her nephew being orphaned and put in her care. The feeling soon turned into fear as she feared Vernon’s reaction.
“Well? What does it say?”, Vernon sad impatiently.
“It’s my sister Lily and her husband. They got themselves killed by those people and now we have been entrusted with their child Harry.”
“Oh… well uhm I’m sorry for your loss pet even if she were one of them. But that child is not going to live in this house as long as I provide for everything, we just have enough as it is!”
“But Vernon he is a child, more than that he is my nephew. Even with that freakish white hair and green eyes he’s the last of Lily’s I’ll ever have. We can feed him as little as possible and throw him in the cupboard under the stairs, but I will not compromise about this Vernon.”
“Fine then but he will be your responsibility, and don’t think I won’t discipline you or the child if he grows up to bother me. That is the last word about this!”
And that is the sad beginning of life at the Dursley’s for little Harry Potter, bargained for by his aunt to a life of misery. But sometimes misery and neglect can give someone the strength to carry on, let’s see how Harry is turning out in a couple of years.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP thundered over the head of a boy living in the smallest of spaces under a stair. The daily stampede of the hippo’s to the feeding area woke him up as usual. The space under the stairs was dusty, but when the men in the house ran down the stairs, it always poured down from the ceiling as well.
Great, Harry thought to himself, another day in paradise. Soon the cupboard door was pulled open and his aunt started shrieking at him about being lazy, and to get up as soon as possible. Slowly, just to bother his aunt, Harry got dressed and walked into the kitchen, joining the rest of the family.
Now Harry was a slim boy, that certainly was underweight and malnourished. His body being fairly tall for his age always ached after Vernon’s punishments, and his small sleeping area kept his limbs from spreading out enough. Inversely his cousin Dudley and uncle Vernon, were two of the biggest persons you would ever see, it really was a miracle of nature that the Dursley’s kitchen chairs could hold the weight of these two walruses. Petunia was also slim but not sickly so as Harry, she also was fairly tall for a woman, with a long neck that certainly was of help when she spent the day spying at the neighbours.
Harry sat down among them at the table, getting his miniscule serving of breakfast, while Dudley and Vernon got full english breakfasts, and Petunia a healthy amount of fruit and yoghurt. Knowing not to complain he ate his small portion, before standing up, thanking his aunt, and got to work doing the dishes for all of them. He wasn’t trusted enough to cook in the kitchen since it was a disaster every time he tried to something food related. He set the curtains on fire when lighting the stove, he had caused an explosion of dough after using way too much rising ingredients, that had him cleaning out dough for hours. Of course after a beating from Vernon first as expected. Petunia never hit him but she threatened him with it every time something went wrong.
Something Harry did enjoy was gardening. Another of his endless chores, but one he didn’t mind. He loved the feeling of putting his hands in the earth while working. Seeing how the garden came alive every year and the whole thing in bloom, always put a smile on his face. This was his domain. He helped everything grow, and made sure no weeds could take root and harm the plants. Being outside certainly was a positive as well, he hated that awful cupboard they made him sleep in. He never could understand why he didn’t get a room just like the others, after all they had two spare rooms, other than the Dursley’s own bedrooms. How many times had he been punished by being locked in that cupboard and not being fed, well he had stopped counting since it did no one any good.
When the dishes were done it was time to go to school, he had a bit of a walk to do, so he went out into the hallway to start putting his things on. Dudley got to be driven by his father while he was on his way to work, but Harry had to walk. To be honest it didn’t bother Harry, since it got him both exercise and fresh air, something his uncle and cousin never could tolerate. On his way to school he stopped at their neighbour Mrs. Figg’s house. He loved her cats and she had always been kind to him when the Dursley’s left him there, when they did something together. After petting the cats he had to hurry to get to school in time for the first lesson.
Harry loved going to school, it got him away from the house and he got to learn things. Harry took to books like a fish to water. He wanted to learn everything he could, so one day he could have a good life away from the Dursley’s.
Now everything wasn’t perfect. To avoid his uncle’s wrath he had to purposely do worse than Dudley, who really was the proof of someone being as dumb as a rock. He learned what would happen otherwise early on, when he came home proud over his result on a maths test, but the only thing he got for it was being severely punished, and he had to promise never to try again to do his best. Harry was also the target of bullying by his cousin and his gang of hoodlums. They had invented the game of “Harry Hunting”, where the goal was to corner Harry and beat him until they got tired of it. Being a good runner Harry often got away, but once in a while they split up and caught up with him. Because of this no one dared to be friends with Harry, to avoid being the next target for Dudley’s gang, but Harry had gotten used to it, even if his biggest wish was to find friends.
After a long day of school, and a walk to get home, he finally got home to Privet Drive, immediately being shoved into his cupboard until dinner. While resting in the small, cramped space, he started to think back on strange things that seemed to happen around him. Once he made his teacher’s hair turn blue, after a snide comment about his grades, that wasn’t even his fault, cause Dudley had to outperform him. Another time he was being hunted, so he hid among the dumpsters near the school. Only to find himself on top of the school’s roof, which caused a commotion and of course a beating when he got home.
When it was time for dinner he was let out to go wash himself off and use the bathroom. Going into the kitchen he could feel the tension already in the room. He saw the wine bottle on the counter top and the glazed eyes of his aunt. Oh goody this will be a pleasant evening, he thought to himself, while sitting down at the table. As soon as he thought this Vernon started talking to Petunia.
“So I see you’ve finished another bottle of wine, was it a treat for doing chores? No wait I know it was because you are an ungrateful bitch, who doesn’t understand how lucky she is! I work everyday to come home to my lush of a wife, that disrespect me while day drinking and being a disgrace to the Dursley name!”, he shouted.
“Oh bog off Vernon, I have to drink just to be able to stand you, you horrible man.”, she answered back.
Uh oh, yeah this is going to be really ugly, Harry thought. Time to retreat. Without having any dinner he hurried back to his cupboard, listening to the shouting and things being thrown in the kitchen.
“You ungrateful cow”
“You fat pig of a man”
“You horrible harpy”
“You oafish oaf”
“You freak, you’re no better than that sister of yours”
Ouch bringing up her sister that is the worst thing he could have done. 3… 2…. 1….
“How dare you compare me to that freakish slut of a woman, she was no sister of mine when she turned to those people! Take this you bastard!”
Yup there’s the frying pan hitting him, and him slapping her back. The joys of married life.
Harry decided there was no point trying to do anything else tonight, so settling down on his tiny mattress, in a tiny corner, of the tiny cupboard, he closed his eyes listening to the arguing and tried to fall asleep.