Iris
For most people, today was an ordinary day.
So most people did not notice when a raven-haired middle-aged man with thick glasses appeared in the narrow alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk.
But they never did.
The raven-haired checked his watch.
It had stars circling the face instead of hands.
He was late.
As the man picked up his speed with his book bag swung after him.
It was a warm summer day.
The first this year.
The sun shone in his eyes as he walked over the pavement in front of a typical street in the suburb.
Number 4 Privet Drive had not looked the same since his aunt and uncle moved out.
It looked less like his childhood, his years of abuse.
The house now looked more like a fresh start.
Someone had planted pretty yellow flowers in the front yard.
Harry hoped with all his heart that they had either thrown the aged large hydrangea bush out or had lit it on fire.
He walked up to the door.
Never had he met his niece before and hoped she was not like Dudley at this age.
With his hand on the bell, he hesitated.
What if Dudley had the same opinion about people like him as his parents?
His finger pushed the button for the bell.
There was a rumble upstairs and fast footsteps on the stairs.
The front door swung open.
A young girl stood in the hall.
'Hello, sir!' The girl sounded like she had had a lot of sweets. 'Good morning-' 'Iris?!' Dudley's voice chimed through the hall. Harry heard a chair scraping against the floorboard.
'Iris, dear, who is at the door, honey?' Dudley entered the hall.
'I don't know, Daddy.' She said to her father. 'Mas I ask who you are, sir?
She looked up at him with big brown eyes.
Dudley had walked up behind her.
His big frame easily overshadowed the frame of the eleven-year-old in front of him.
His face had gone pale.
'Well, I am Harry,' He said, 'And what is your name?'
'It's Iris.' Iris said, 'It is my birthday!'
Dudley, who had come from the shock, tilted his head down a little to talk to his daughter; 'Iris, honey, can you go into the salon for a bit?'
'Why, Daddy?' Iris looked away from the raven-haired man standing in the doorway.
'I would like to talk to Mr. Harry here,' Dudley said. 'We will come inside in a minute. Alright, honey?'
Iris nodded and went into the salon.
Harry stepped inside.
Dudley closed the door behind him.
'It's good to see you.' Harry said.
'Good to see you as well.' Dudley responded.
The two men stood awkwardly in the hallway.
Dudley had not changed too much.
He still had his round face.
The same face he gave to his daughter.
The most noticeable difference was that he now had a full beard that hid his face.
'So she is eleven already, huh?' Harry gave the man standing in front of him a small smile.
'Yeah,' Dudley chuckled, 'Sometimes I can't believe it.'
'It just feels so short ago when she was still sleeping in my arms.'
Harry gave him a forgiving smile.
He felt that way with Albus and Lily a lot.
'So, what are you here for?'
Harry was a little blown off by that question.
'Oh, can't I visit my niece for her birthday?' He said with a bit of a mucking smirk on his face.
'Well, you haven't visited once since she was born, so it's a bit unusual.' Dudley said, crossing his arms.
Harry laughed.
'That indeed sounds unusual.' He said.
'Okay, so why are you here?' Dudley repeated.
Harry rummaged through his book bag and pulled out a deck of letters.
He pulled out one of the tops and handed it to Dudley.
Dudley took it and let his thumb flow over the red seal.
He turned it in his hand.
-
Ms I Dursley
The biggest bedroom
4. Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
-
His tiny eyes grew wide.
‘No,’ He muttered, ’No, that’s impossible.’
‘Yet it’s true.’ Harry said.
Dudley shook his head.
‘Father, he will be disgusted.’ Dudley said.
‘But will you?’ Harry said with a stern face.
‘No-no of course, not she’s my daughter I will always love her.’ Dudley looked shocked.
‘That’s what matters most.’ Harry looked at him with a deepened gaze.
‘How?’ Dudley asked.
Harry grabbed one of the letters from the stack.
‘Uh-uhm.’ He cleared his throat and read; ‘Dear Harry, how are you? I'm doing well. Iris is growing fast. She can already walk! Sometimes, she walks over to our pet bunny and babbles with him. It made me think of the time at the zoo. You know when you freed that snake you were talking to?’
Dudley looked dumbfounded at the piece of paper in front of him.
Harry grabbed another letter off the stack.
‘Dear Harry. I am doing great, thank you. Do you recall the irises we planted in our front yard? Well, last week, the flowers were looking down while Iris was playing in the garden, and I swear Iris was touching the plant, and it looked pretty and healthy again. I found it quite strange but assumed that the plant and Iris had some connection because of their shared name.’
Dudley now looked like Harry had just recited his morning routine step by step.
His big frame seemed to have shrunk quite a lot as he looked at his nephew with a pale, scared face.
Harry, who had just put the letter away somewhere under in the stack, looked at Dudley with a calm expression, ‘Would you like me to-‘
For the second time this day, he was interrupted by one of the Dursleys as little Iris peeked her head around the door and interrupted him by asking; ‘Daddy?'
'Are you almost done talking to mister Harry?’
‘I would like to speak to him as well!’
Her big brown eyes flashed to Harry.
‘I boiled some water for tea, mister Harry.’
‘What kind would you like?’
Harry gave her a polite smile.
‘Thank you, Iris.’ ‘That sounds delicious.’ 'Just green tea would be great, thank you!’ He said.
‘We will be in the salon in a minute, Iris, dear.’ Dudley said. ‘And do not forget the milk and sugar, sweetheart!’
Dudley turned to Harry.
‘Alright, I believe you, but what will Dad think?’
The hairs on Harry's neck stood right up at the mention of the cruel, old man.
With even more determination than intended, he said, 'He doesn't matter.' 'It matters that Iris is where she best belongs.'
‘Now shall we go in?’
Iris was seated on a comfortable sofa as Harry walked in.
Her feet touched the ground with the tips of her colourful sandals.
In front of her, on the glass coffee table, stoot the green tea, milk, sugar and a plate of homemade biscuits with a lot off hundreds and thousands.
‘Hello, mister Harry!'
‘I made biscuits and green tea special for you!’ Her voice bright and welcoming.
The two men sat down with an awkward silence roaming between them.
As Dudkey sat down next to his daughter, Harry sat opposite them in one of the comfortable armchairs.
‘Thank you, Iris.’
Dudley started filling the antic teacups up with tea.
Harry recognised them as his aunt Petunias.
'So as I already told you, I'm Harry, Harry Potter.'
Iris nodded, and Dudley handed Harry a teacup filled with grassy green tea.
'And you might not know this but.'
Harry resumed while the teacup warmed his hands.
'I am your father's nephew.'
Iris her big eyes lit up.
'So you are my uncle!?'
Iris bounced up and down from excitement.
Harry relaxed at being addressed with something different as 'Mister Harry'.
It was polite of her, and Dudley and his wife had undoubtedly done a great job raising Iris, but it was also a bit unsettling to be addressed 'mister' the whole time.
Even more so as she was the same age as his daughter.
'I am not exactly your uncle, but you can call me "Uncle Harry" if that suits you.'
Iris nodded.
Her long curly blonde hair jumped up and down as she did so.
Harry was about to add milk and sugar to his tea when he heard muffled voices in the hall a few seconds after the sound of keys in the lock.
Dudley hurried to the hall.
Iris watched her dad to the door before looking back to Harry as soon as the door fell shut behind him.
Harry coughed.
'So, Iris,' He began.
'I heard it is your birthday.'
'Yes!' Iris said, and as she nodded, her hair jumped up and down again.
Harry hesitated to address the topic he needed to discuss. 'Well, happy birthday.' He said.
'And, of course, I have a present for you.'
He rummaged through his bag.
'Really?!', Iris exclaimed.
Harry pulled out two blue presents with pretty flowers on the paper and handed them to Iris.
They had been wrapped by Ginny because even with the chores he had had to do in his youth he was awful at wrapping presents.
Heavy footsteps on the stairs drowned out the muffled sounds in the hallway.
Iris looked up but was too eager to open her presents to care.
As Iris carefully opened the presents (she made sure not to rip the wrapping paper), Dudley and a sceptical-looking woman walked into the salon.
Harry stood up and took out a hand for the woman to shake.
The woman, who passed on her eyes to Iris, shook his hand sceptically.
'I am Harry, Harry Potter.' Harry said for the second time that day.
'I am the nephew of Dudley.'
He added when the woman did not say anything and just kept sceptically looking at him.
'Oh yeah, of course,' she said as if she woke up.
'I am Marguerite, Marguerite Lopes.’
‘It is a pleasant meeting you Mar-gue-rite.’ Harry stumbled over the name as he said it.
‘Mar-gù-ri’ she repeated.
‘It is French.’
‘Oohhhhh, these are so pretty.’
Iris had opened her present and was holding a pair of dragonskin gloves.
She let one of the gloves glide on her hand.
'What kind of material is this?' she said.
'Well, about that...'
While pondering, Harry scratched behind his ear, considering the best way to explain his point.
'It's dragonskin.' 'And it will be useful for you.'
'Dragonskin?' Iris asked.
'Yes.' Harry nodded.
Marguerite looked fascinated at the gloves.
Harry sat back down in his chair.
'Dragon skin is a strong and durable material.' He said.
'Is dragonskin a code name or joke for the actual material?' Iris asked, looking confused.
Her eyes were still studying the reptile-like gloves.
'No.'
Harry answered her question, drawing out the o little.
'Iris.' Harry asked.
'Do you ever read stories about wizards and magical creatures?'
'Yes.' Iris answered, not quite looking at Harry still looking at the gloves on her lap.
'I've read stories like the Wizard of Oz or Peter Pan.'
'Well,' Harry hesitated.
'Do you think those could be real?'
Iris looked up from the gloves in her lap.
'What could be real?'
'The wizards?'
Harry nodded.
Marguerite's mouth fell open.
Iris examined him.
'Are you a wizard, Uncle Harry?'
Harry nodded again.
His hand went into his bag again and pulled out a tin stick.
Dudley looked like he still had to fight the urge to jump and scream for his dad.
The stick appeared as if its outer layers were peeled away, leaving only a few around the centre.
The thicker part of the stick still seemed to have the bark on it and formed a nice place to hold it.
Harry aimed it at the stack of tissues and made a tricky gesture with it.
The tissues in the stack started to flote and fold into a complicated origami.
Iris looked with big eyes as a bouquet of origami Irises formed before her eyes.
With another swish of his wand, Harry placed the Irises in a vase he summoned in from the kitchen.
Iris looked at him in disbelief.
‘Can you do more things like that?’ She asked.
Without saying a word, Harry made another gesture aimed at the flowers and transfigured them into real Irises.
‘Wow.’
'How did you learn that?'
'Went to school for it.'
‘Do you want to open your other present?’ Harry said, moving away from the current subject. Iris laid the gloves on the table and picked up the present.
With no hesitation, she tore off the paper in one swift motion.
Her eyes fell on the pretty cover of One thousand magical herbs and fungi.
Her fingertips glided over the cover.
She opened the book.
On the first page lay a letter.
-
Ms I Dursley
The biggest bedroom
4. Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
-
She furrowed her brow at the sight of the second line.
‘What is this?’
‘A letter.’ Harry said.
‘An invite, to be correct.’
‘An invite to what?’ Iris asked.
Her eyes flashed between Harry and the letter.
‘An invite to go to a school.’
‘A school?’ Iris asked.
‘Yes, the same school I went to.’
Iris, as clever as she was, connected the dods almost immediately.
'The school where you learned how to do magic?'
'Yes.'
'Can I learn magic?'
'Yes.'
Iris fell silent.
'Iris, dear.' Dudley said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence.
'Would you like to open the letter?'
'Oh, yeah.'
When Iris spoke again, her voice different.
She could not keep it the same as her brain was working overtime.
Her thumb grazed the seal before, with as much precision as she did with the first present starting to open the letter.
The letter opened with the seal still intact.
Iris gently slipped the letter out of its envelope.
Her glitter-coated fingers opened the parchment of the letter.
"A letter."
Iris looked at Harry.
'Uncle Harry?'
'What is Hogwarts?'
Harry smiled.
'That's the school for wizards.'
'Oh.' Iris said before reading the letter.
'Will I be there all year?'
Harry's smile faded a little.
As a kid, he had not cared about being away from what he had to call his home.
His home was Hogwarts from the moment he had ever foot in the place.
That was not the same for Iris, a child who had grown up with loving parents and a loving brother.
'Yes.' Harry said.
'Oh.' Iris repeated.
'But, you can go home on Christmas and Easterbreak and have to go home with summer break.'
‘Oh.’ Iris said again.
She looked at the letter again before looking over to the cage next to the archway towards the kitchen.
‘Can I take my bunny Daisy?’
‘I think we can get that sorted.’ He said.
‘Okay.’ Iris nodded as she drew out the ay.
Iris looked between her parents.
‘Mommy, daddy?’
‘Are you okay with me going to this school?’
‘Yes, my dear.’ Dudley said.
‘I-I think it’s the best place for you, Cheri.’ Marguerite said, hesitation coating her voice.
‘You will need school supplies.’ Harry said.
‘So,’ He eyed Dudley now.
‘I thought it would be a good idea to invite Iris and, if you would like, to come supplies shopping on the 14th.’
He handed Dudley a note with the data.
Dudley looked at the note.
‘August 14th, 13.00, Charing Cross road?’ He recited from the note.
‘We are free that day, bijou.’ Marguerite as she had already pulled out a little planner out of her purse.
‘Well,’ Dudley began.
'As we don't have anything scheduled and could use some help while shopping, I think we should go.
'Really?' Iris said.
'Yes, we can go.' Dudley said.
'Alright, then.' Harry said.
'We will be shopping with my family, so they will be delighted to meet you.'
He smiled at the people sitting in front of him.
'Can Aster come with?' Iris asked, looking at her parents.
'Yes, I think he could, if that will be okay with Uncle Harry.' Marguerite said.
'Absolutely, that will be just fine' Harry said.
'Will you tell him today?'
'Yes.' Marguerite said.
'Okay.' Harry said, turning his attention to Iris.
'The book I gave you is one about herbology.' He said
'I heard from your father that you are interested in plants, so I thought you might like this.'
Iris nodded.
'Yes, it looks interesting, thank you.'
Harry stood up and slung his book bag over his shoulder.
He looked another time at Iris.
'I hope you have a happy birthday, Iris, and thanks for the tea.' He said.