The Mistake
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross Station after the long journey back from Hogwarts. A huff from the engine released a cloud of steam as the doors sprung open and children began to clamber out, saying goodbye to their spells and tricks, as well as their friends, and rushing to parents expectantly waiting. Harry glumly looked out of the window as Ron and Hermione grabbed their trunks from overhead and began to exit the compartment. Ron looked back as Hermione shuffled her way out.
“Come on Harry, we’ve got to go,” His friend told him with a small smile. Harry Potter wasn’t looking forward to getting off the train. There weren’t any parents waiting for him and he wasn’t entirely sure his Aunt and Uncle would have even shown up to collect him from the Muggle side of the station. He reached up to grab his trunk, and owl, Hedwig, before following his two best friends off of the train. Farewells and Summer promises were made to the Weasleys, and introductions and goodbyes to the Grangers, and Harry was feeling somewhat happier at the prospects of his Summer. It was difficult not to with the earnest and heartfelt promises of his friends; friends being something he’d never really had before.
He found his Aunt and Uncle waiting and with gruff words they departed the station and drove off for Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon was grumbling to himself, Harry could make out the words ‘punctuality’ and ‘traffic’ and something along the lines of ‘don’t they know….time of day to be…’. His sentence was cut off rather spectacularly by the truck smashing into the side of the Dursley’s car and pushing them sideways along the junction. Harry could feel a force slamming into his side, and whipped his arms up to protect himself as glass shattered and showered him, slicing his face. His head whipped side to side before smashing into the back of his seat and making everything blissfully go dark.
His eyes blinked open in what could only have been a few moments later, but the car had stopped moving, his Uncle was groaning in the front, groggily calling out to Petunia and Dudley while Petunia sat ramrod straight in the front, her breast heaving as she reached a hand out to her husband and then twisting it concernedly into the back of the car. Harry watched for a moment, his pounding head confused at the action and attributing more horror to the flexible motion than he thinks would have been necessary had he not just hit his head so hard. He moved his eyes up to Petunias face and could hear noise, but no distinguishable words, his eyes finally travelled to Dudley sat on the opposite side of the car and finally found a working sense of shock and mild concern at seeing his cousin slumped and his lumpy face dripping red into his lap.
His ears started tuning into the sounds around him and he turned to look out the window as the sounds of the street and human cries began to register to him. The flat, crumpled front of a big white truck sat compressed into the side of the car, and Harry was amazed that the car wasn’t more dented or even impaled into his side, it was a miracle he was even alive. After the year he’d had at Hogwarts though, he supposed miracles didn’t have much to do with anything. Petunia was sobbing at this point, and he turned back to look at Dudley, unbuckling his seatbelt as he did and feeling slight vertigo at the head motion. The car jolted again suddenly and Petunia let out a scream, puncturing Harrys ears as he felt the car being…pushed? away from the truck.
Harry scrunched his face up at the pain and noise created by Petunias cries and tried to peer out the front of the car to see what was going on. The door to his right however, was suddenly violently yanked out of its frame and Harry saw a man walking menacingly towards him. His head was hunched slightly downwards, and he wore dark, tactical clothes and boots under a long black leather trench coat. Harry noticed a wand at his side, but felt no comfort as this wizard clearly had menace in his gaunt, haunted eyes and his fast, controlled stalk towards Harry betrayed no prospect of someone here to help. Harry had no time to react to this stranger before his arm was grabbed and he was being hauled from the car and dragged along the ground to the front of the car as his legs gave out under him. The man stopped in front of the bonnet as Petunia let out a particularly gruelling scream and Harry just managed to get his legs under himself, stumbling slightly into the man who tightened his grip. A red light shattered the windscreen before a nightmarish flash of green seared Harrys mind and cut off Petunias voice. Looking up, he stared into his Aunts lifeless eyes which stared right back almost accusingly. He could barely choke out a strangled shout before another flash lulled Vernon Dursleys wobbling chin onto his chest, his wifes hand fisted in his shirt sleeve.
As the man began to drag Harry away again, his numbness and shock began to be pushed aside for pure adrenaline and something internally screaming at him to run. He began to struggle and throw his body around, doing everything he could to dislodge the hand, but it held on tight. The man seemed to at least be finding him more difficult, but Harry slowed his efforts in growing concern when the man picked up a brick and whipping around brought it crashing into the side of Harrys forehead, a sickening pain and nausea filled him as he crashed down into the tarmac, and another blow struck his head from above. He could see the car hazily in his vision and felt nothing as it burst suddenly into flames. He felt nothing as arms picked him up, except a screaming agony as the rhythmic motion of footsteps lulled his dangling head into an excruciatingly pounding motion, and then the very real screams of absolute torment he could hear from the backseat of the car, where Dudley had woken and was burning to death.