The Snake and the Emerald Apple

Lost

Harry was awakened by a loud knock on his door. "Wake up, Freak! Today we are going to the caves."

Harry heard his cousin walk away with heavy footsteps. He sighed, preferring to stay in bed today. Harry has spent the whole weekend in his room. The Dursleys had gone out twice without him and hadn't missed him. However, a number of guests noticed that this little teenager was left alone in his room. If the Dursleys didn't like something, it was gossip. At least as long as the gossip was negative about themselves. Petunia had heard people whisper about her nephew the night before and decided right away to show that they were wonderful people. She had spoken excessively loudly about the caves located at the Heights of Abraham. She even put an arm around Harry and told him in front of all the guests that he had to come now, she did not accept "no".

Harry would have loved Aunt Petunia's play, if he hadn't known she hated him, he would have believed she had tender feelings for him. In fact, he thought it was pretty smart of his aunt. In a few words, she had managed to portray Harry as a typical teenager who wanted to hang out with his 'parents' as little as possible and looked like a caring mother who yearned for the attention of her dark-haired nephew.

He got out of bed groaning. He really didn't feel like the outing. The brochures of the caves had shown beautiful photos, so these were not his objection. No, Harry knew the caves were interesting, but he didn't feel like spending a day with the Dursleys. He would probably have to carry the bags with provisions. Not only that, he would have to listen to nagging and groaning from his family for a day. He would rather spend a day with Ginny while she updated her "Harry my Savior" scrapbook. He would even add personal comments to her extensive photo collection. Harry shuddered at the thought of writing under another uncomfortable photo: "Love Harry" or "I'm thinking of you, Ginny."

Harry brushed his teeth extra well and washed well. He sprayed himself lavishly with deodorant, at least he wanted to smell nice during this active activity. He didn't want to be confused with his cousin's smells. He put on shorts with a blue short-sleeved shirt. The outfit suits him well, it belonged to Dudley, but from two years ago. As a result, he did not have to tighten his belt tight and looked reasonably smart.

After breakfast, the foursome hit the road. The Dursleys went by car, of course, while they could have walked easily. Anyway, they were already going for a walk in the caves, which was more than enough exercise for the Dursley family. After the short drive, Uncle Vernon had to park quite far from the entrance, so they still had to walk for fifteen minutes.

They signed up for the tour, led by an expert. Vernon thought that was the least, he was not overly impressed by such a damp, dripping cave. The tour was fascinating, however, and Harry was amazed. He had never seen anything like it before. They had beautifully illuminated the cave so that all kinds of colors could be seen on the high walls. There were complicated corridors, with all kinds of stairs going up and down. At one point there was a very narrow passage as the group climbed the stairs. Uncle Vernon and Dursley eventually had to get on their hands and knees to get through a sloping but narrow opening. The space on the ground was very wide. Harry could have moved past the heavy rocks without difficulty, but Vernon was immediately trapped. Harry had watched the spectacle with wide eyes: he would not have missed a thing.

Uncle Vernon had later stated that only real men could end up in such a dire situation, their large muscle mass had caused the two men to get stuck. Aunt Petunia had supported her husband and had proudly proclaimed that her Dudleykins would later become a tremendously strong guy. The situation was meant to be very serious, as a time to boost the egos of Dudley and Vernon. Unfortunately, this was ruined by the flatulent-sounding noises from inside the cave when flood water is draining away. They had arrived at 'Devil's Ass' , named after these flattering sounds. Harry had laughed tremendously at hearing the farts after his uncle and cousin's idolization and resolved to cherish this memory forever.