Fursuit

The first time Harry Potter heard of Freddy Fazbears, was when he was invited to Matthew Gould’s birthday party, back when he was 10, before he had ever heard of Hogwarts and magic. He vividly remembers the lights, the food, the atmosphere, and the animatronics. Back then, they hadn’t been all that special, just metal robots wearing clunky fur suits and spitting out preprogrammed songs, but little Harry had been enamoured with the show. It was the first time he had an inkling of what he wanted to pursue a career in, no matter how much the Dursleys insisted that all he was good for was dealing with rubbish or being a criminal.

Even going to Hogwarts hadn’t killed off that dream completely.

Now, here he stood, 18 years old and fresh from war, before the gates to a theme park, resume in hand for a job he hoped would be the first step to moving towards that childhood dream.

Green eyes stared up at the entrance sign, drinking in the details of the main four characters cartooned. On the left was a red fox, caught between maroon and burgundy in colour, and bright gold eyes, wearing a blue trench coat, white ruffled shirt, and brown, knee-length trousers. His feet were depicted as paws, instead of the old boot-covered feet that Harry remembers. Still had that iconic eye patch and hook though, as well as a new hoop earring in his left ear. This was Foxy.

Next came a dark purple rabbit with scarlet eyes, dressed in a cropped, black leather jacket and black shorts decorated with purple stars. Surprisingly, he was shirtless other than the jacket, showing off the lighter lavender colour that his belly, muzzle, inner ears, hands, and lower paws had. His eyes were a crimson red, with his left one having a lavender star pattern around it. Around his neck was a spiked choker, finishing the outfit. This was Bonnie, the guitarist of the main band.

Leaving the main star for last, Harry diverted his eyes to the brightest member of the band, Chica. Banana yellow feathers, a far cry from the mustard yellow of the past, tipped with taffy pink in select places (head feathers, tips of the fingers, and dotted around like freckles). She wore a lavender dress decorated with a rainbow confetti pattern and her signature “LET’S EAT!” on a white apron.

Finally, the main star and namesake of the park, Freddy Fazbear himself. Unlike his previous incarnations, with their dark brown fur, this one was depicted with a lighter coffee colour, with soft tan accents around his muzzle, ears, and paws. He wore a black vest, black shorts and a black top hat, comically small on his head. He carried a black and silver microphone.

Beneath the quartet, the words “Welcome to Fazbear Funland! Where Fantasy and Fun come to Life! Have a Faztastic Day!” greeted everyone in bright blue letters. Harry felt the corners of his lips pull up, fondness swelling up inside him.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forwards to his future.