Moving to New York
Harry woke up to his aunt banging on the cupboard door. He sat up slowly so he did not hit his head again. He pulled a couple spiders off his clothes as he got dressed. His summer clothes being his cousin Dudley’s old clothes were at least three sizes too large. The shorts were long enough to pass as pants that were a bit too short length wise. He dusted off the dirt that had fallen when Dudley and his Uncle Vernon Dursley walked up last night.
His cupboard door was opened by his Aunt Petunia as she walked into the kitchen. When Harry was one year old his parents were killed in a car accident. His aunt had told him that his dad was drunk and crashed killing himself and his whore of a wife but unfortunately Harry survived. That is how he got the scar on his forehead. He is not sure that is completely true because he had dreams about a woman screaming and a bright green light.
His aunt Petunia is a skinny woman with a very long neck. He often thinks she resembles a giraffe. Her hair is blonde, and she makes sure she dresses as nice as she can. She is often peeking out the curtains to spy on the neighbors. She made sure to let everyone know that Harry is a troublemaker and a stain on their normal family. Her sister was Harry’s mother and according to Petunia Harry is just as much of a freak as her good for nothing sister.
Uncle Vernon more resembles a whale than a human at this point. He is extremely obese and had almost no neck as his many shins covers it. He has thin hair and a mustache. He works at a drilling company called Grunnings where he is trying to work his way up to a higher position. He has a mister Marge who breeds dogs for a living. She is just as terrible as Vernon in that when she visits, she encourages her dog Ripper to attack and chase Harry. One time he got bit in the leg and then spent the rest of the day up in the tree. He missed his chores that day leading to another one of Uncle Vernon's beatings.
His cousin Dudley is only a month or so older than him. He is obsese and clearly resembles his father more than his mother. In his parents' eyes he can do no wrong. This led to him becoming one of the biggest school yard and neighborhood bullies. Of course, he just tells everyone Harry did it and he never gets punished. He gets rewarded for beating Harry especially in his group's favorite game of Harry Hunting. Dudley, Piers and their friends will chase Harry and beat him when they catch him.
As Harry began making a traditional English breakfast with extra sausage and beans. After making sure not to burn anything he set it on the table for the family while he went and started cleaning and packing the dishes away. The family was moving today to New York. They were moving to a town right outside the city called Mount Vernon where they are setting up a new office at Grunnings. Vernon was chosen as one of the employees to get a promotion and move to America.
After cleaning up and getting a dry piece of toast for breakfast Harry was handed a new outfit. Of course, the Dursley family couldn’t be seen having a nephew in clothes like he was wearing. The Dursleys made sure to get him a long sleeve shirt to hide as many scars on his body as they could. He got changed and put his other outfit in the backpack they had given him. Everything he owned fit into that backpack, including the couple of toys he stole from Dudley and fixed and the baby blanket he was found with. It was a blanket with the different constellations on it. Sometimes late at night he could swear they light up and twinkle, but he knows that is just his imagination.
After the moving company comes to get their furniture and what they cannot bring on the plane. It will be delivered in a few days to the house and until then they will be staying in a hotel in the city, courtesy of Grunnings. After a few hours the truck left with all their furniture and Harry loaded the five suitcases, his backpack and uncle Vernon's work case.
“Get in the car and I swear to you boy, no freakishness. If you cause us any problems on this move, I will leave you behind and you can find your own way.” Vernon said, grabbing Harry by the back of the neck and squeezing hard enough to bruise. Harry nodded quickie knowing saying anything would make it worse.
Sometimes when Harry got scared or desperate strange things happened around him. Like when his teacher was calling him a cheater and her wig turned blue or when he was running from Dudley and his gang, and he ended up on the roof. He honestly had no idea how they happened but each time they did he would get a worse beating. He was still black and blue from the last one a few days ago. His aunt had tried to put the ugliest sweater on him and every time she tried it seemed to get smaller until it would have been able to fit on a doll.
The drive to the airport was spent listening to Dudley complain about being hungry and bored while Aunt Petunia tried to bargain that they would get some food at the airport. He had his Gameboy in his backpack for the airplane. The drive took over an hour, but Harry wasn’t sure exactly how long because this was the farthest, he has been from the house.
Harry was made to get a cart and bring the luggage through to the security checkpoint. He struggled to push them through the airport and keep up with his aunt and uncle who, if not for the fact he has their belongings, wouldn’t care if he was left behind.
After waiting in a huge line to check their luggage they kept their backpacks with them for the airplane. The family got food in the cafe near the terminal they needed. The family even got Harry some crackers and cheese. He ate half and kept the other half in his backpack for the ride. The company got them first class tickets for the whole family, so they got to board early.
Harry was sitting next to someone he did not know but he was more than okay with that. His relatives sat in front of him a couple rows. The man next to him seemed to be about forty years old. He was very tall compared to Harry and had his brown hair styled neatly. He was wearing a three-piece suit in a navy color with a light blue tie. Harry settled with his backpack under his seat, and he was looking out the window.
“Hey kid, first time on an airplane?” The man asked when he noticed Harry squirming around nervous.
“Um yeah. I’ve never been on a plane before or traveled out of Surrey.” Harry said looking at the man’s shoulder. He had learned at a young age to never make eye contact and stay quiet unless spoken to.
“It will be alright. My name is Harvey by the way. We are going to be taking off in a few minutes so make sure you buckle alright.” Harvey said. He watched Harry try to buckle and ended up having to help him. As the plane took off, he saw Harry holding his ears with slightly watery eyes. He could hear another kid nearby complaining about the pain and heard the parents give him something to help. He reached into his pack for a stick of gum. “Here kid, chew on this and your ears should stop hurting. Did your parents not give you anything to help?”
“Thank you, um my parents died when I was only one, but my aunt and uncle are over there. They must have forgotten.” Harry said, trying to come up with something.
“Oh, I’m sorry kid. It’s alright they forgot just making sure you’re okay now. Now do you want to watch a movie?” Harvey said. When Harry gave him a nod he helped set up the headphones and movie for Harry. They spent the ride alternating between small talk and doing their own thing. Harry had even smiled for the first time in a while talking to Harvey about football, or as Harvey called it soccer. He talked about how he always wanted to play after seeing it on TV but there were no teams nearby, leaving out that his aunt and uncle would never let him play anyways.
Harvey helped him choose which foods he wanted and could have on the way. His aunt had told him he was allergic to seafood but since he never had any and doesn’t remember every having any he was not sure. He got a vegetarian lasagna with some cheesecake and bread. He was not able to eat much but it was one of the best meals he had ever had. When he told Harvey that he noticed a weird look on his face for a second that quickly disappeared.
After a meal Harry fell asleep watching Lilo and Stitch while Harvey went over the latest briefs for his next case. He just came back from a case that took them to London for a company called Grunnings. The rest of the flight went smooth with Harry sleeping and Harvey working until the seatbelt lights came on. After gently waking Harry and noting his reaction to flinch away he helped him get ready for landing including giving him another stick of gum. They split up getting off where Harry went to find his relatives and Harvey went to get his luggage and get back to his penthouse.