The Forgotten House

Misery Sweet Misery

My Pov

I lay sleeping and dreaming peacefully when the small slot on the cupboard opened, allowing a small amount of light to hit mine and my brother's faces. We were awoken by the screeching voice of our aunt.

"Both of you get up! Now!" she yelled. She banged on the door and then walked away. Harry turned on the small cupboard light so we could see. Yeah, our bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. Our uncle and aunt figured to just stick us both in there and it would be fine when we were little. Except now we're both almost eleven and it was so cramped in there. We couldn't go one night without kicking each other at least once. I reached up and grabbed Harry's glasses.

"Here Harry." I said. I handed them to him and he took them.

"Thanks Holly." Harry said. He brushed some of his hair away and my eyes instantly went to the scar on his forehead. It was shaped like a lightning bolt. I had a similar one in the same spot on my forehead. That's when we heard the thundering footsteps of our spoiled whelp of a cousin Dudley. He stopped short of the end of the stairs before stomping back up to the spot right above us. He then preceded to jump up and down and yell at us.

"Wake up Potters! We're going to the zoo!" Dudley screeched. Harry and I both struggled to move, but eventually got out of the cupboard. At least Harry did. When I was about to step out, Dudley came around the corner and shoved me back in and threw the door almost all the way closed. Harry quickly opened the door and helped me up.

"Are you okay, Holly?" Harry asked. I rubbed my head and nodded.

"Yeah." I whimpered. I wanted to cry. I cry real easily. In the environment I live in can you blame me? We walk into the kitchen and are demanded to make breakfast. We also have to do pretty much all the chores around the house. Dudley then starts throwing a tantrum about only having thirty-six presents when he had thirty-seven last year. One present less. He should be happy to get anything. They always spoiled him while they never gave Harry or me a present. We were lucky to get clothes! Well, they were hand-me-downs. Both of us always wore Dudley over-sized shirts and pants. After they ate breakfast, we all piled into the car, but not before Uncle Vernon warned us about 'causing trouble'. The whole trip seemed to be going well. It wasn't until we got to the 'Reptile House' that things went bad. It started when we were looking at a snake, who seemed to be asleep.

"Make it move." Dudley demanded. Uncle Vernon knocked on the glass.

"Move!" he called. The snake did nothing. Dudley then started banging on the glass.

"MOVE!" he screamed.

"He's sleeping!" I said in a pleading manner.

"This is boring!" Dudley complained. The three of them walked away, but Harry and I stayed next to the exhibit.

"Sorry about that Mr. Snake." I said.

"He just doesn't know what it's like. Lying there, day after day. Watching people press their ugly face in on you." Harry said. That's when the snake seemingly blinked, as if to say 'Yes'. "Can you hear us?" The snake then nodded. This wasn't a surprise to me. All through out my life, I had actually been able to understand animals. It was like they spoke plain English to me. Harry didn't seem to be able to understand animals. Aside from the snake in front of us right now. I noticed the sign by the exhibit that read 'raised in captivity'.

"You're just like us. We've been prisoners since we were small." I said.

"You never knew your parents either, huh?" Harry asked. It shook its head. Dudley noticed the snake's movements and ran back to the tank. He knocked me to the floor. Harry ran to me.

"Mum! Dad! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" he exclaimed. Dudley pushed his palms on the glass. Both Harry and I glare at Dudley. I felt mad for the first time in ten years. That's when it happened. The glass suddenly vanished and Dudley fell into the exhibit. The snake then slithered upward and then over the rail of the exhibit. He then looked at us.

"Thankssss." he hissed.

"Anytime." Harry said.

"No problem." I said. He then slithered away, scaring numerous people and causing others to run away. I heard frantic banging on glass. I looked up to see the glass had reappeared, trapping Dudley inside. He started screaming for help just as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon came back our way. Aunt Petunia screamed in terror as she tried to find a way to get Dudley out. Both Harry and I looked at each other and giggled. It was too funny not to laugh. We did stop when Uncle Vernon shot a glare at both of us. One of the workers came and got Dudley out of the exhibit, but by then he was terrified and soaked. We returned home with Aunt Petunia trying to calm Dudley and Uncle Vernon yelling at us.

"What happened?!" Vernon demanded.

"We don't know. One minute the glass was there and then it wasn't! It was like magic!" Harry exclaimed. The instant Harry said the word 'magic', Uncle Vernon grabbed us by our hair and shoved us into the cupboard. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

"There's no such thing as magic!" Vernon snapped as he closed the the vent, leaving us in darkness.

I hope this was alright. I might not update for a couple days because I'll be going home and my mom's boyfriend let the internet and cable get turned off. We're thinking of getting a cheaper plan, but they want to put it in my name. I'll try to use my phone if I have to.