Chapter 1
It had been a dark fateful night on Godric’s Hollow, when Lily and James Potter had been murdered by one of the darkest Wizards of all time. Everyone died, but a young boy named Harry James Potter. No one knew how he survived the killing spell, that will forever remain a mystery. What happened after however was not.
“Are you sure we should leave him with these people? These are the worst kind of muggles!” Minerva McGonagall had asked solemnly.
“I’m sorry dear, but this is the best thing we can do for the boy. He needs family, even if they aren’t going to be the best…” Albus Dumbledore had said carrying the small boy in his arms. The youngster looked fine and healthy other than the lightning bolt scare on his forehead, it was red and inflamed.
McGonagall frowned but did not say anything. Leaving the boy on the doorstep of the Dursleys they apparated away.
-five years later-
The day has been terrible for Harry. He woke up late to make his family breakfast, causing Uncle Vernon to scream at him for ten minutes straight on how incompetent he was. Then Dudley ‘accidently’ tripped him in a mud puddle on the way to school, his clothes where soaking wet. The kids and the teachers ignored him as usual, other than the Dudley and his friend group who whispered “freak” to him whenever they passed him in the halls. At least Dudley was a year older than him. Harry was in first grade, and Dudley was in second grade. Harry was intelligent, he picked up reading and writing fairly fast. He wasn’t as good at math, but he was still better than average kid. This made the Dursleys angry. Whenever he got a better grade then Dudley, they would take his food away for that day for ‘cheating’. As result everyone thought Harry was stupid, the teachers scoffed at him every time he had a question.
When Harry got home, he was told to clean up and do the weeding in the garden, while their “Dudders” had a after school snack. ‘Fat whale’ Harry thought to himself as he grabbed a weed out of the dirt. It has been poring rain all day, Harry was wet, sweaty, and was covered in dirt. His hands where sore and calloused as he was not allowed gloves to protect his hands. It was miserable. That was until he saw a garden snake slithering towards him, his name was Atticus, they have been friends for a little over week now. Well not friends, the snake referred him as a “ally” as friendship was a sign of weakness for snakes. Harry knew it wasn’t normal to talk to snakes, but Harry wasn’t normal.
Harry could always do things that made no sense. It usually happened when he was sad, angry, or desperately needed something. He remembered that one time Dudley had gotten a puppy for his birthday last year; Dudley was being particularly cruel that day. He had his friends pin Harry down while he threw rocks at him, Harry internally wished death on his dog as revenge that day. His perfectly healthy puppy randomly died later that day. No one else knew it was him, but he did. He felt bad about it later though, he knew it wasn’t the dog’s fault. Nor was he actually expecting the dog to actually die, it was just something he said in the heat of the moment. He had little to no control over it, but he was practicing. Now he can lift up a rock in the air willingly. By some miracle though these bouts of power never happened in front of the Dursleys, Harry was so grateful for that.
“Hello Atticus, what do you need?” Harry asked turning his attention towards the snake.
“Helllloooo Harryyy, I jusssst sawww youu out. I came out for a vissssit, I’m bored.” The snake said bluntly. Harry chuckled a little bit before replying,
“Ah yes, glad I could be great entertainment to you. Not like I matter at all!” The snake only hissed in reply, Harry learned that was the equivalent to a human laugh. They started talking about anything, it was funny to see Atticus complain about Harry’s living situation saying he “Deserves better.” They must have been talking for a while, because when Harry looked up, he saw Aunt Petunia looking at him with pure disgust. Harry paled. Without time to react she had grabbed Harry by the hair and started dragging him inside, screaming at him. That attracted the attention on Uncle Vernon and Dudley, who were both watching the television in the living room. Aunt Petunia yelled, “THS FREAKS BEEN TALKING TO A SNAKE.” Vernon paled, and his eyes widened. Harry couldn’t help but feel proud over seeing his uncle act like that.
Though the pride Harry felt was replaced with a sharp pain on his cheek. Uncle Vernon gad hit him; he had never actually done that before. Before he could react, he was pushed to the floor. Harry quickly started feeling kicks hitting him, the loud voices of Vernon screaming at him attacked his eardrums. Harry curled up in the fetal position to attempted to protect himself from the kicks. It wasn’t doing much. The kicks were starting to get stronger; he could feel his ribs cracking under his malnourished body, his vision became fuzzy, and he could only see red. He soon faded into darkness.
When the six-year-old woke up he was in unfamiliar place. He could see white walls, and Iv’s in his veins. He must be in a hospital. He was proven correct when a nurse had come in the room. She had dark skin, and black curly hair that was put in a messy bun, and she had a too cheery smile on her face. Immediately anxiety and questions flooded into his head.
“Hello Harry. I’m Nurse Katelyn, but you can call me Katy if you want! I just came here to ask you a few questions while I check your vitals. Hold this with your good arm if you are scared.” She said happily while handing me the stuffed toy.
“Nurse Katy how did I get here? I remember everything that happened, but I can’t imagine them calling the hospital.” Katy frowned. She had not been expecting the boy to be so blunt, she simply blamed it on shock. Noticing the boy was looking for an answer she stated, “A neighbor had contacted the police when she heard you scream. Tomorrow you will have some visitors to talk about your living situation, you are strong Harry. You’ve been healing faster than any patient I’ve seen. You had 3 broken ribs when you came, now they seemed just bruised. If it where up to me, I would have at least waited till next week.” She said with words of encouragement. It was supposed to be comforting for Harry, but it wasn’t, if anything it made him annoyed. He didn’t need pity, and the faster this is over with the best.
Conversation after that was awkward. It was mainly Nurse Katy trying to get Harry to talk, and Harry giving one-word replies. Not because he was in shock, because she was annoying. Blabbering about anything, from asking about school, to straight up just being unprofessional. When she left, Harry closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Whatever they were putting in his system made it nearly impossible for Harry to stay awake.
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Harry was jolted awake by the same nurse who checked on him last night. She was holding a tray of food, which contained a bowl of cereal and orange juice, she hastily handed it to him claiming he needed to “Fatten up”. Looking up he realized that she had company, Nurse Katy frowned again when he witnessed them. She gave a weak smile and left the room. The two people there walked forward his bed with pitying smile, Harry scowled shamelessly at them. One of them was a tall skinny girl who was wearing a well-tailored suit, she seemed to be around forty-two years old. The man looked slightly younger, though he was short and pudgy. The woman was the first one to speak up, she said in a sweet soft voice,
“Hello Harry, my name is Angelia. I am here to talk to you about your childhood, we need to know if you are safe at home. Harry, we won’t judge you, you can tell us anything.” Harry was hesitant to say anything but agreed. He told her everything, from the starvation, name calling to the abuse Dudley was giving him. He told her everything, other then the magic. When he was done, she looked at him nodded. The two whispered for a bit, they then said their goodbyes.
A week later he was sent to Saint Arthur's orphanage.
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