The Road so Far
(Harry’s POV)
The Dursleys were a completely normal family or at least that’s what they wanted everyone to think. There’s Dudley, my cousin, in their eyes he’s the perfect upstanding young man who can do no wrong. In reality he's an overinflated idiotic blonde pig who gets his jollies off on bullying kids, when he can’t find me so that he can enjoy his very past time of Harry hunting he takes off with his little gang to find someone new to “have fun with”. There’s Aunt Petunia, the perfectly normal housewife with a spectacular garden who holds tea parties and lovely little gatherings with her friends and her husband's work associates. Except that’s not her garden or her cooking, it's mine, in reality she’s a horse faced long necked bint who likes to spy on her neighbors and gossip about the little ways that they are less than perfect and look at everyone as if they’re below her. Finally, there is the head of the family, my Uncle Vernon, the director of a drill company called Grunnings, a hard working man and a loving father. More like a walrus of a man who is the embodiment of everything wrong with men, he’s a fat, disgusting, sexist, abusive prick who feels the need to blame everyone else for his problems. Don’t say any of this to the Dursleys though, in their eyes they are the embodiment of a normal formal and they hate anything that can ruin that image, anything freakish.
Freakish, that’s me by the way. The black sheep residing in the perfect Dursley household apparently I was dumped on their doorstep after my useless parents got themselves killed in a drunk driving accident or at least that’s what the Dursleys tell me. Personally I think they’re lying, it’s not clear but I have this dream that feels more like a memory where a woman I think is my mom is begging someone not to kill me then there's a bright flash of sickly green light and a lot of pain. That doesn’t sound like a car crash to me, I asked the Dursley’s about it once only to get smacked upside the head and thrown into my cupboard with Vernon yelling at me that dreams aren’t real. I was locked in there for a whole month. I was only let out to go to the bathroom so that I didn’t make a mess, can’t have their normal house smelling gross now can we. Growing up anything and everything that could go wrong was my fault, Vernon didn’t get the promotion its the freaks fault, Dudley didn’t do well in school its the freaks fault, Petunia didn’t get invited to the book club the new neighbor started its the freaks fault. Anything they didn’t like it was my fault and they loved to punish me for it sometimes it was a quick slap upside the head, other times I was locked in the cupboard for an extended period of time, but more often than not I got one of Vernon’s special “lessons” they were his favorite punishment after all.
I was never a person to the Dursleys, no I was the freak, the scapegoat, the problem and the reason everything went wrong. I still remember the day I learned my name, I was sitting on the carpet excited to be in primary school hopeful to make friends. Noone knew anything about me here, surely they wouldn’t hate me like the dursleys do. I had sat quietly wondering which of my names the teacher was going to call freak or boy when suddenly the teacher was looking at me, “Harry when I call your name you need to say here okay?” she told me.
I looked at her confused before asking, “Who’s Harry?” After school that day the teacher talked to Vernon and Petunia about why I didn’t know my name and suddenly I was hearing a sob story about how I was slow and always had trouble learning and a tendency to forget things. Time progressed and instead of things getting better like I hoped they got worse, the lessons increased in frequency especially when I did better in school then Dudley because “How dare you make my son look bad”. I quickly learned to do just bad enough on my assignments to come in below Dudley in grades without failing and over time I gained the reputation of being the idiotic trouble making delinquent. The only place I found any peace was in the library where I made my first friend, Ms. Munroe was a kind woman with beautiful white hair who didn’t believe all the rumors about me. She would recommend new books for me to read and sometimes she would just sit with me and we would drink tea and talk. It was nice, but eventually she had to leave and she told me that she was needed back in America. I was sad to see her go, but I couldn’t ask her to stay. No one cares about the freak, not really.
Time passed and nothing really changed. Something happened and I’d be blamed, I’d get my punishment and just as I started to be able to move without pain the process would repeat itself. Most recently I was being punished for ruining Dudley’s birthday. I don’t know how the glass disappeared at the boa constrictor's habitat but I still feel like it was some kind of karmic justice, the rare blonde pig in his natural habitat. I giggled at the thought before quickly dissolving into a coughing fit. I've been locked in the cupboard ever since not even offered a glass of water on the rare occasion they let me out to do my business. It was a miracle I was still alive and a part of me wished I wasn’t. Just as I was thinking about how badly I wanted this punishment to end, the door to my cupboard was ripped open and my aunt’s face filled my vision.
“Come out here now freak!” she screeched, “you’re to start doing your chores again and no more freakishness or it’s right back in the cupboard with you!”
I quickly responded, “Of course Aunt Petunia” and rushed off to start making breakfast. The morning continued as normal and I was even allowed a piece of toast and some eggs. Then the post came.
“Get the post, Dudley,” Vernon grumbled from behind his paper.
“Make Harry get it,” Dudley whined as he greedily munched on his large breakfast.
“Boy get the mail,” Vernon growled peering over the paper at me, clearly not happy at having to acknowledge my existence. I let out a little whimper and nodded before jumping up and rushing to the door to get the post, not wanting to risk upsetting him. I picked up the mail and started flipping through it before suddenly coming across something I had never seen before. It was a thick envelope made out of some kind of weird paper and it was addressed to me! Not only did it say my name, but it went as far as to be addressed to my cupboard. I made a quick split second decision and slipped it under the door into my cupboard and went back into the kitchen giving Vernon the mail.
The day passed quickly and before I knew it I was back in my cupboard again. Once I was back in the cupboard I grabbed the letter and flipped it around reading the way it was addressed again.
Mr. Harry Potter
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey
I flipped it back around and quickly tore it open only sparing a moment to observe the weird crest on the wax seal, before pulling out the letter.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
UNIFORM First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK"
As I finished reading the letter I looked at it in shock, was this some kind of a joke? No way is this real, magic isn’t real and even if it was I’m not magical I’m just some kind of freak. As I sat there thinking about the letter I couldn’t help but think about the strange things that have happened throughout my life, could that have all been magic? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had no choice. I had to respond to the letter if there was even a chance that it was true. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. I snuck out of my cupboard and grabbed some paper before starting to write.
Deputy Headmistress McGonagall or whoever receives this letter,
I don’t know if this is some kind of joke, but if it is please find someone else to bother. My life is already hard enough as it is without having a stranger to get my hopes up that I’m special and have somewhere I can go away from my relatives. If this isn’t a joke then could you please send someone to help explain this all to me and to help me get my supplies. I’ve never heard of magic before and beyond writing this response I have no idea what to do with your letter.
Sincerely,
Harry Potter
I slipped my response into the extra envelope that came with the Hogwarts letter and then started to freak out a little. The acceptance letter said they await my owl, what did they mean they await my owl??? I don’t have an owl. Just as I was about to break down realizing how hopeless this was, a noise caught my attention.
TAP TAP TAP
I looked over towards where I heard the tapping come from and saw an owl tapping on the glass of the window. I rushed over and opened the window desperately hoping that my relatives didn’t hear the owl and slipped the letter into the little pouch the owl was wearing. I gave the owl a couple scratches on the side of her head and asked gently, “hey girl can you take that to hogwarts for me?” She nodded and I couldn’t help the smile that broke across my face, “thank you!” With that the owl quickly flew off and I closed the window. I went back to the cupboard and fell asleep dreaming of a magical life away from my relatives.
(Dumbledore POV)
I was sitting at my desk expecting to get the notification that Harry’s relatives had refused his acceptance letter. I knew that they wouldn’t let him come to Hogwarts willingly, I had kept an eye on the family over the years and while I felt bad about some of the more severe abuse little Harry had received, I knew it was all for the greater good. Harry needed to be beaten down and broken so that he would be easy to manipulate so that when the time was right he could be sacrificed to Voldemort and I could swoop in and save the day. So to say I was surprised when an owl flew up to me with a response from Harry would be an understatement. Oh well it looked like Harry was desperate to escape from his relatives, he’d still have to be returned to Privet Drive during the summer holidays but he didn’t need to know that, I could work with this. I just needed to send the right person to help Harry, someone who wouldn’t question too much and would help steer Harry towards the right house at the school. I didn’t like the idea that Harry was smart enough to hide his letter from the muggles.
(Harry POV)
A few days had passed since I sent the letter with the owl and no one had come and I hadn’t received any kind of reply. Looked like it was a joke after all, I was disappointed but I hadn’t gotten my hopes up to high anyway. Nothing good happened to me, it was just a fact of life.
Today is my birthday, I’m officially eleven. I had woken up early again and as I was waiting for the cupboard to be unlocked so I could start my day I started to hum happy birthday to myself. Just as I finished the whole house shook as if there was an earthquake and I heard the loud BANG of something slamming into the front door.