Harrison James Riddle
The sun rose over number three Kings Row in the town of Ellings. It was a nice and peaceful little town, with a touch of liveliness and oddity. Much better than their neighbors in Little Whinging. The idea of an entire town called 'Whinging' had made the older woman chuckle and shake her head in disbelief. She knew the magic of names, but surely no one would live in a place named as such unless they themselves were quite miserable.
A woman with raven black hair hummed to herself in the warm morning light pouring through the window as she made a full breakfast. She'd made sure to wake up particularly early this morning for today was a most special day. Today was the day her grandson Harry had been born.
She had dressed in her nicest dress, a rather nice bronze and blue sun dress her husband had said looked lovely on her. She smiled warmly before a mischievous twinkle shone in her eye before she cleared her throat.
"Birthday boy or not, I won't have any unwashed young men at my table."
A lighthearted sigh was her only response, followed by the quick patter of feet towards the wash closet beneath the stairs. A minute later, the chair at the table was scooted out as Elizabeth Myrtle Riddle plated the slightly large plates of breakfast foods and placed one before her beloved grandson Harry as she placed a kiss on his temple.
"Happy birthday, my little spark."
"Thank you, Mam Ma. It looks great!"
Elizabeth sat down and smiled to her grandson, with his slightly tussled coal black hair and smart looking eyes. While they themselves were a beautiful shade of emerald, his most distinguishing characteristic was his scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. It had been his only reminder of the terrible night she'd found him, but he had long since tried to accept it. He knew that his parents had loved him so much that they had died to protect him, and that while she wasn't really his grandma, she had raised him like her own and loved him 'as ought to be proper' according to her.
He made sure to eat all of his food and rinse his plate in the sink before sitting back in his chair and enjoying his full belly. Elizabeth smirked to Harry, a knowing look in her eye.
"Well, I suppose that if you only wanted a rather nice breakfast, I shan't stop you. Ooooor we could visit the Zoo and the reptile enclosure like you've been wanting."
Harry's eyes instantly went wide as he rushed up the stairs to his room to change. "No running in the house, Harry! No exceptions for the birthday boy!"
Only moments later, Harry returned neatly dressed in a smart looking polo and denim slacks. He grinned, his circle rimmed glasses slightly crooked. Elizabeth smiled, fondly adjusting Harry's glasses before twirling her wand slightly to clean away any lint or stray hairs.
"Now there's a handsome young man. Now go on, into the car or we'll be in traffic forever."
Of course, it wasn't long for the pair of them to arrive at the zoo and quickly made their way through. Personally, Elizabeth had always loved the penguins in the Aquarium, how they adorably wobbled on the ice. Harry, of course, liked penguins like his Mam Ma, but he absolutely loved snakes. They were crafty and their poisons could be used to defend themselves or to save others if brewed correctly. Mam ma had even promised to get him a pet snake when he was older.
They continued through the zoo, stopping by a frozen treat stand to both enjoy a pair of lemon ice pops after their lunch to help settle their stomachs before they moved to the reptile house.
As they walked around, Harry enjoyed the lizards and frogs, talking about some of the facts pertaining to certain species. Elizabeth grinned down to Harry as he enjoyed the day. They finally made their way towards the snake exhibits where Elizabeth had been particularly excited about. The two moved to the Brazillian Boa constrictor enclosure just as a rather rotund boy complained about the inactivity of the snakes he'd viewed. The boys beach ball like father tried to placate his son as they walked away with a rail thin woman to another enclosure.
Harry and Elizabeth both looked towards the Boa before Harry looked to his Mam ma. Elizabeth chuckled before turning to the reptile.
Greetings, Sir serpent. Do you enjoy your lounging this day?
The snake turned its head towards the pair, a look of near surprise on its face as Harry also spoke to the snake, a light hiss of greeting accompanied with a wave.
None of the three were prepared for the over weight boy to come barreling to the glass and shoving Harrison to the ground and smashing his glasses.
"It moved! It moved, Dad!"
The walrus of a man turned a disdainful eye towards Elizabeth as she began cleaning Harry's nose with a handkerchief before pulling out fifty quid and placing it in front of the pair.
"Should cover those glasses."
Elizabeth threw a glare to the fat man, anger in her eyes while Harry merely glared at the boy. He jumped back a little when he saw the portly boy tumble into the enclosure and the Boa slither out and send a nod of appreciation towards the pair.
A pleasure, speakers. I shall tell my friends in Brazil of your kindness. Hasta luego.
Harry grinned to Elizabeth as the parents of the baby elephant wailed and beat against the glass. Of course, Myrtle being who she was, picked up the fifty quid and slammed it back into the mans chest.
"Keep your money, Muggle. Perhaps it will buy you some manners. Come along, Harry."
If either of the two had turned back, perhaps they would have seen the look of shock and heartbreak upon the mothers face as she recognized the eyes of her sister.
Elizabeth sighed and knelt before Harry. "I'm so sorry about that, Harry. Is there anywhere you'd like to go to make up for that?"
Harry smiled and shook his head but then paused. "Well, do you think we could get some chocolate frogs?"
Elizabeth smiled and cupped Harry's face. "Perhaps once the car's back home."
Immediately, Harry's mood picked right back up. Little did he know of Elizabeth's surprise for Harry when they got home.
In fact, Elizabeth had been waiting all day to go home so that way Harry's day could end perfectly and that way they could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow. She always worried though. Elizabeth knew that she'd never been a law breaker, nor had she been swallowed up in that cult of Voldemort's, so she didn't truly have anything to be worried about. However, she knew in the back of her mind that someone may make the connection that Tom Riddle was her husband and that Harry was really Harry Potter.
It was a silly worry, as she knew eventually Harry's true identity would be revealed to the world. Either by himself or someone else. That was why she had made sure to tell him of his family and heritage, so that he knew that she loved him and didn't want to keep secrets from him. She needed to constantly remind herself of one step at a time. She had prepared Harry to learn and had taught him the importance of knowledge and temperance. That no knowledge was truly evil, merely how it was used or acted upon. Of course, certain knowledge had been kept from Harry until he was of age but that was more to preserve his innocence a bit longer.
When they'd finally reached home, Harry looked as if he were ready to nod off before they were even inside. Luckily for her, they'd made it inside the house where Harry could clearly see the letter set on the kitchen table.
His eyes lit up with joy as Elizabeth grinned and gestured towards it. "Go on then. It is yours after all."
Harry rushed forward and opened the letter, quickly at first before calming down and almost reverently reading the contents.
"Dear Mr. Riddle, we are delighted to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry!"
Elizabeth wrapped Harry in a hug as he giddily laughed and hugged her back.
"You know what that means then, my little spark? That we've to gather your supplies AND a big box of chocolate frogs and treacle tart to celebrate. After all, you only get accepted once."
Elizabeth only hoped her grandson would manage to fall asleep that night.