Another Hogwarts Tale

The young girl was standing in front of the house at number 4 Privet Drive.  

It was a warm afternoon, and the sun was shining on the street.  

A few of the neighbors seemed to be taking advantage of the good weather to tend their front yards. 

The usual stillness was interrupted by the sound of an engine.

But not from the sound of a car, which usually drives through the street, no. It sounded like a motorcycle. The girl looked down the street, but there was no motorbike to be seen. But the noise kept getting louder. Then the girl looked at the sky. 

Although she was blinded by the sun, she could still make out the silhouette of a motorbike... 

"Up! Get up! Now!" Within a few milliseconds, Lucy was wide awake. 

Her aunt had woken her brother and her with all her - of course nonexistent- charm. 

Lucy heard her walking back down the hall to the stairs. Harry, her twin brother, was already awake and looked around confused. Lucy lay down again and looked at the ceiling. She tried to remember details from her dream. 

"Are you two up yet?", Aunt Petunia asked. 

"Nearly", Lucy replied. 

"Well, get a move on, I want one of you to look after the beacon. And don't you dare to let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday." 

Dudley's birthday, Lucy repeated to herself. Still a bit sleepy, she ran a hand through her long, black hair. How could she forget Dudley's birthday?! How dare she not constantly look after Dudley's well-being?! Seriously, what a bad person she is.  

"How could we forget his birthday?", she said to Harry, mock shocked. 

He smirked and replied, "I'm really disappointed." 

After Lucy and Harry got dressed, they went into the kitchen. 

There, the two were almost crushed by the masses of presents that were on the floor. 

Dudley got a new computer, a SECOND TV and a new racing bike. 

Why did Dudley want a new racing bike? 

Dudley was fat and hated sports. Well, unless he could punch someone in the face. 

His favorite victims were Harry and Lucy. But mostly Harry. 

Fortunately, the two were usually too fast for him. Because the twins were smaller than the others their age. 

Although the two were twins, they didn't look very alike. The only things they had in common were black hair and glasses, although Lucy's weren't broken or from the last century. 

Harry had green eyes and Lucy light blue, almost gray eyes. Furthermore, Lucy's skin was a bit lighter than her brother's. He also had a scar on his forehead which looked like a lightning bolt. 

According to Aunt Petunia, she came from a car accident that also killed their parents.  

Just as Harry and his sister prepared the ham, Uncle Vernon walked into the kitchen with a fond "Comb your hair!" 

But even if Harry and Lucy went to the hairdresser's every week, their, but mostly Harry's hair grew like a wild garden. 

But most importantly, Dudley was perfect. Aunt Petunia said too many times that Dudley looks like a little angel. 

Lucy and Harry agreed that he looks like a pig in a wig. 

Despite the lack of space, I put the plates with ham and egg on the table. 

"Only thirty-six. That's two less than last year!" 

"Dudy, you forgot about Aunt Marge. Here..." 

"All right, Thirty-seven then." 

The twins seemed to have the same premonition and ate their ham as fast as they could in case Dudley threw a tantrum. 

Aunt Petunia said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we are out today. How's that, pumpkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?" 

Thirty-nine presents... Who the hell gave their kid that many birthday presents?, Lucy asked herself. Correct… her aunt and uncle. 

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like challenging work. 

"So I'll have thirty… thirty..."  

"Thirty-nine, little one," said Aunt Petunia. 

My goodness... how stupid a child can be, Lucy thought. Even a first year could solve that math problem without a problem.  

At the same moment, the phone rang, and Aunt Petunia answered it while Dudley continued to unwrap his presents. 

A few minutes later, Aunt Petunia came back into the living room in a worse mood. 

"Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg broke her leg. She can't take them," she said, nodding in our direction. 

Every year on Dudley's birthday they went on a trip and Lucy and Harry were placed with Mrs. Figg. She was a funny old lady.  

She showed them hundreds of photos of her cats each time. 

"Now what?" 

Aunt Petunia looked at the twins as if we were all responsible for this. 

The two were actually sorry, but they were also glad that they wouldn't have to look at all the cats again until next year. 

"We could phone Marge," suggested Uncle Vernon. 

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates them." 

The two often talked about us as if Lucy and Harry weren't there. 

Lucy wasn't interested in the conversation, so she concentrated on other things. 

Her interest was only piqued when Harry asked if the two could just stay in the house. Her aunt then looked as if she had bitten into a lemon. 

"And come back and find the house in ruins." 

"We won't blow up the house," said Lucy. She really had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

But Petunia and Vernon didn't listen to their niece. 

They never listened to her and Harry. 

Then Dudley started crying loudly. 

He didn't really, knowing that if he started whining even slightly, he would get it everything he wanted. 

He started complaining about Harry and Lucy messing up his birthday. 

Dudley stopped whining when his best friend Piers Polkiss walked in the room. 

Since there was no other option, Lucy and Harry were allowed to go to the zoo for the first time in their lives. 

~~ 

Half an hour later Lucy still couldn't believe that we were actually allowed to come along. 

But not without the twins being taken aside again. 

"I'm warning you... I'm warning you now, you two- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in your room from now until Christmas." 

"We are not going to do anything… honestly," Harry said. But he didn't believe Harry. 

Nobody ever believed them. 

The problem was that strange things were always happening around them. 

But nothing should go wrong today. On the drive, Uncle Vernon complained about the people in the office, Harry and Lucy, the council members, Harry and Lucy, the bank, and Harry and Lucy. 

It was great at the zoo when Dudley threw a tantrum because his sundae was too small, Lucy and Harry got to eat. Although they could only eat everything with effort. 

Remember: Lucy and Harry were two kids and Dudley was alone. 

And in the afternoon, they were still in the reptile house. 

They stop in front of a giant snake's terrarium. 

She was too boring for Dudley and after he and Uncle Vernon yelled at the snake, they moved on. 

The snake opened its eyes and gave Lucy and Harry a look that said, "I get that all the time." 

"I know. It must be really annoying", The snake nodded. 

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. 

Why was he talking to the snake? Lucy wondered. 

While Harry seemed to continue talking to the snake, Lucy read the info sign. 

The snake had grown up in the zoo and it was a boa constrictor. 

Suddenly Harry was pushed off by Dudley, Harry fell against his sister, and they fell to the ground. 

Piers and Dudley squeezed the glass tightly and Lucy hoped the glass wouldn't give out under Dudley's weight. 

Suddenly several things happened at the same time. 

The glass disappeared and the two jumped back. 

The snake snaked past the twins and the other people panicked. 

But the snake didn't seem to want to attack anyone and slithered peacefully to the exit.  

Lucy started laughing and Harry joined in too. 

Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon turned to them and seemed to want to strangle the two with his eyes. 

~~ 

By the time they got home, Uncle Vernon was so angry he could barely get a sentence together. 

He sent the twins to their room. And neither Lucy nor Harry wanted any more trouble than they already had. 

They lay up late that night waiting for the Dursleys to go to bed. 

Unfortunately, they did not have a watch with them so they couldn't risk sneaking down and had to wait. 

"What happened with the snake today, Harry?" Lucy asked quietly.  

"I dunno. It was strange and… I don't know... But didn't you hear the snake?" Harry replied. 

"How could I have heard the snake?"  

"Well, it spoke."  

Lucy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. She didn't have to say anything for Harry to know what she was thinking.  

'Animals can't talk, Harry.'  

"It doesn't matter," he murmured. 

For a moment there was silence.  

Lucy heard her stomach growl and that reminded her of the last few years.  

Those had been terrible years. 

Lucy and Harry came to the Dursleys when they were babies. But Lucy couldn't remember the car accident.  

Harry once said that if he focused, he could recall a ray of green light. 

Unfortunately, the Dursleys never talked about their parents.  

It would have been nice since neither Lucy nor Harry could remember them. 

There was also no photo of them anywhere in the house. 

Lucy used to dream that unknown relatives would pick them up.  

That would be nice, but that is what it was… a dream. 

But nobody came.  

Unfortunately. 

The Dursleys were the only family they had left.  

But sometimes she had the impression (or perhaps the hope) that strangers on the street seemed to know her and Harry.  

They were very strange strangers, by the way. 

Once when the twins were out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley, a short man with a purple hat bowed to her and Harry.  

Aunt Petunia, horrified, asked Lucy and Harry if they knew the man and hastily pushed her and Dudley out of the shop (without buying anything). 

Another time, a fierce-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved happily to them on the bus. 

And a bald man with a very long purple cloak had shaken hands with them in the middle of the street and then walked on without saying a word. 

The strangest thing about all of these people was that when Lucy or Harry tried to get a closer look, they seemed to disappear. 

At school, Lucy and Harry didn't have anyone either.  

Everyone knew that Dudley's gang couldn't stand that weird Harry Potter and his sister with their baggy old clothes, and nobody liked to get in Dudley's gang's way.