Freaks: Year One

The House Next Door

They both sat there staring at each other. Harry put the flashlight down, and turned on a lantern. "So do you live close by?"

"Um, right there actually." He pointed to the neighbouring house.

Harry gasped. "So people actually live in that house! I have only ever seen a man, and women come out sometimes, how come I haven't seen you until now?"

The boy hesitated. "I - I don't go out much..." He looked at the flashlight laying there. He looked at it in confusion. "What is that?"

Harry was confused by the question, and then realised this boy must have been a pureblood, and didn't know much about anything muggle related. "It's a flashlight, it um...well it lights up."

The boy's eyes widened. "That's amazing, and it doesn't use the lumos spell?" He quickly turned to face Harry. "You're a wizard right?" Harry nodded. The boy's face relaxed, and turned back to the flashlight. He picked it up, and examined it, turning it over in his hands. He clicked the button, turning it off.

He yelped. "What did I do?!"

Harry laughed. "You just turned it off. Press the button again, and it will turn on."

The boy cautiously pressed the button, lighting up the treehouse again. His eyes glowed, but not because of the light, it was because of the wonder in his eyes. "Wow." He breathed.

Another thought occurred to Harry, his mother had said the people next door were blood purists, people he should avoid being a halfblood himself, but he stared at the kid before him who was mesmerised by a flashlight. A muggle thing. That wasn't blood purist behaviour.

"So..." Harry started. "What's your name?"

The boy looked up from where he was still staring at the flashlight. "Well, I don't know if I should tell...my parents don't want me talking to strangers, and I am already disobeying them leaving the house, and talking to you, and-"

"But we're neighbours." Harry said. "We aren't technically strangers, not anymore."

The boy bit his lip. "Well...I am not supposed to be out here in the first place."

"What? Do they not let you go outside or something?" Harry asked him. He meant it as a joke.

The boy was quiet. "They are just very protective of me."

Harry nodded. "Well, don't worry." Harry told him. "I'm not going to kill you."

"Oh well that's good." The boy replied.

Harry was confused by that, but brushed it off. "So is this your first time in a treehouse?"

"I didn't know they existed." The boy replied, putting down the flashlight. "It is very cool, I didn't know houses could be in trees."

"It is more like a playhouse." Harry said.

The boy nodded. "What do you do in here?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I draw, and I read books too. Do you like to read?"

"Yeah, of course I do!" Said the boy quickly.

"What do you like to read?"

"Um..." The boy thought for a few moments. "The Beedle And The Bard?"

"Ah, the classics." Harry nodded. "Do you-"

There was a loud CRACK nearby. The boy quickly looked out the window. His parents were home. "Oh no."

"Well you better get going." Harry told him. "Do you think I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He said quickly. "Same time?" Harry nodded, and he jumped out of the treehouse, just jumped, and ran for his house, and seemingly snuck in by one of the lower windows.

They hung out daily in the evenings since, until one day the boy stopped coming out. Harry didn't know why, maybe his parents had caught him, and told him that Harry was halfblood, and that hanging out with someone like him was unacceptable. His parents were, to Harry's knowledge, blood purists, so maybe the kid was too.

Harry all of a sudden woke up in the Hospital Wing. He must have blacked out after falling off his broom.

"Harry!" Exclaimed a voice, Jasper's. "You're up! Are you okay?"

Harry stared at Jasper for a few moments, a bit disoriented, and nodded. "Uh, yeah." He yawned. "But I am never getting on a broom again."

"Well now you have an excuse not to fly I guess." Jasper said. Harry gave him a look. "What? You know you hate flying. Why are you so scared of heights, and flying anyway?"

Harry rubbed his eyes. It was a stupid story. "It is dumb Jaz, the first time I flew on my own, my dad was testing fireworks for something, and while I was flying one of them startled me, and I fell." Harry shrugged. "And I don't want that to happen again...well except it has, so I definitely don't want to fly again."

Jasper nodded, understanding this. Jasper knew if something scary happened to you as a child, it was bound to carry out throughout your life. "Well, how are you going to pass the class?"

"Honestly. I have no idea right now..." He gasped. "Please tell me I didn't miss History?"

"Well you're the first to say that." Said Madam Pomfrey as she came out of her office. "Any kid would have purposely hurt themselves to get out of that class, myself included."

Jasper laughed, and turned to Harry. "No, you just missed the rest of flying class, and a bit of lunch. Come on!" He turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Can he go now, miss?"

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Everything seems to be in order, off you go Mr. Warbeck, and Mr. Odair."

Harry, and Jasper left the infirmary, and walked to the Great Hall. Harry kept thinking of his dream, well more so his memory. He didn't understand why he had been reminded of meeting that boy. It was a few years ago, before he had moved. Harry had kinda forgotten about him, but for some reason his brain just decided to magically remember him. He wondered if he was at Hogwarts. He wished he knew the name of the kid. Maybe he could find him? The question was why did he suddenly remember him? Why now?