Chapter 1
Seven years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their niece on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Seven years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different colored bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another child lived in the house, too.
Yet Harriet Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Her Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
“Up! Get up! Now!” Harrie woke with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again.
“Up!” she screeched.
Harrie had learned early on that her aunt and uncle disliked her, though she really never really understand why. She tried to do everything they said, but they were never satisfied. As the years went by, she learned that she had to look out for herself, because no one else was going to do it, certainly not the Dursleys.
As Harrie was cooking breakfast for the Dursleys, she concentrated on the warmth inside her. Harrie didn't know what it was, but sometimes, she could make odd things happen around her that no one else could do. When her aunt tried to cut off all her hair, it grew back in overnight even longer than before. About once a week her Uncle Vernon would glare at her and yell that she needed another haircut. She wasn't sure why they kept trying, it always grew right back overnight.
Eventually, Harrie learned she could control how her hair grew. She never admitted as much to the Dursleys, knowing how much they hated anything "abnormal". She was careful to never let them see any of the things she taught herself to do. She could unlock her cupboard door, from the inside. She could tiptoe silently through the house, and even when she stepped on the boards that always squeaked, she made no noise. In short, Harrie learned how to take care of herself.
After breakfast, Harrie was sent outside by her aunt to work in the garden. She didn't mind gardening so much, though it was very dull work. Today, however, something unusual happened.
"Nice rats, here rats," Harrie hears a soft voice say. She paused, knowing the voice didn't belong to any of the Dursleys, but not knowing who else could be in the garden with her or why they would be looking for rats.
"Who are you?" Harrie asks, her voice nearly a whisper.
"Speaker!!" the voice sounds much more excited now. And to Harrie's astonishment, a snake appears in the flowers next to her. "I've never met a Speaker before."
"I've never met a snake before. I'm called Harrie, what's your name?" Harrie hisses back. Unfortunately, at that precise moment, Aunt Petunia screeched loudly and dropped the glass she'd been carrying, shattering on the ground.
When Harrie looked up at her, Aunt Petunia's face was white with fear. But before Harrie could so much as say anything else, Aunt Petunia was pulling her up roughly by her arm.
"That is it!" Aunt Petunia screeched. Screeching seemed to be her aunt's only method of communicating with Harrie. "We have tried to stomp out this nonsense, but - but this is just too far!" Harrie was quickly bundled into the car, with a pillowcase full of some of Dudley's old clothes. Aunt Petunia was muttering to herself as she drove, and Harrie wasn't sure what had happened, but she began to get a cold, dark feeling in her stomach.
Her feelings were validated when Aunt Petunia abruptly pulled up at a large, stone building that was clearly past its prime. There was ivy growing along the side of the building, and there were lots of places where the stones had been chipped or broken entirely. Harrie did not like the look of this place at all. She followed behind Aunt Petunia into the building silently, but was observing everything she saw. Aunt Petunia stepped into the front office and closed the door behind her. Harrie could see her aunt and another lady speaking, but couldn't hear what they were saying.
After a few minutes, Aunt Petunia leaves the office with a very smug look on her face and without even glancing at Harrie, walks right out the front door.
"Hello, child. My name is Mrs. Smith and this is Lowood Orphanage."