The Vanishing Glass
10 years later...
Harry's POV
4, Privet Drive
"Back to Prongslet again..." Sirius hummed.
The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. Yet, Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
"Up! Get up! Now!" Harry woke with a start.
Lily's eyes widens in shock as she hears her sister's shrill and rude voice.
Severus stared at the screen in disgust, he already hated her, but hearing her voice makes him want to drown in the Black Lake. Other students covered their ears, the woman's voice sounds like a screaming banshee, much like Walburga.
His aunt rapped on the door again. "Up!" , she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it.
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Damn woman... so demanding..."Barty muttered.
"Nearly", said Harry. "Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And dont you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddys birthday. Harry groaned. What did you say?" , his aunt snapped through the door. "Nothing, nothing..."
"He's not a house elf!" James shouted angrily. Minerva was shocked and livid that the boy that Albus and her let stay at the house treated the same as a house elf. Everyone shouted at the screen, the Slytherins (more specifically the purebloods), sneers at the muggles for using one of their kind as a house elf.
Dudleys birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
"What!? This is outrageous!! He sleeps under the cupboard!?" Lily and James almost fainted then and there.
"Those mudbloods have a death wish," Bellatrix spoke with disgust. "Treating a young wizard like a house elf, such despicable."
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudleys birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it in-volved punching somebody. Dudleys favourite punching bag was Harry, but he couldnt often catch him. Harry didnt look it, but he was very fast.
"Ohh, I'll turn that boy into our personal punching bag," Barty spats.
"What's a computer?" Arthur Weasley asked.
"How about you write down what you don't know and I'll explain to you during our break?" Lily says as Molly shook her head in amusement as her husband was interested in muggle items.
Arthur smiles and took out a piece of paper and a quill and wrote, "Compweter."
Some of the purebloods looked at Arthur with disgust and sneered at him.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudleys, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.
"He doesn't even own his own clothes!!" Euphemia almost cried as she bit her lips. The marauders and their friends decided that they will buy him nice outfits when he grows up.
Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.
"I'll break your nose, you fat walrus!"
The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it. In the car crash when your parents died, she had said. And don't ask questions.
"He liked the cursed scar?" Regulus muttered in concern.
"Car crash!! What the hell!" James' anger rose as Lily tears up with sadness.
"How are children going to learn if they don't ask questions?" the parents were horrified.
"Don't ask questions"— that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.
"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.
"It's the Potter curse, our hair is always messy!" Fleamont stating the obvious with an eye roll.
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.
"It's untameable," James and his father commented in unison.
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.
"He looks like a pig in a wig!" James and Sirius cringes with disgust.
Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
Both James and Sirius bursted out laughing as they thought the same as Harry.
Everyone followed along and laughed continuously, even the professors.
"Haha! He has Lily's sass," Marlene laughed.
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasnt much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. "Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father.
"What... He wants more?"
"That's a lot of presents, that is definitely a overly spoilt child," everyone scrunches their nose.
"I don't even receive that many presents on my birthday," Evan Rosier says with shock.
Thats two less than last year.
"Huhh!?"
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, its here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.
"Eat properly, disgusting pig!"Sirius shouted.
"Spoil brat!" Severus muttered with disgust.
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And well buy you another two presents while were out today. Hows that, popkins? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally, he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty . . . thirty . . ."
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
"What's with all the weird nicknames!" A Gryffindor student cried.
"He can't even count!" the professors exclaims with wide eyes as the students deadpanned at the scene.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel.
"All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Attaboy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
"Don't encourage him!" The adults in the room protested.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap his presents. Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. "Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figgs broken her leg. She can't take him". She jerked her head in Harry's direction.
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies.
Harry's parents and their friends promised to take him for holidays when he grow up. Wishing to provide and spoil him as much as they want.
Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats shed ever owned.
"Ewww..." everyone exclaims in disgust.
"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasnt easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbies, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
"Why can't she give normal cat names! Merlin!!" Sirius exclaimed with wide eyes.
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. "Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."
The Dursley's often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldnt understand them, like a slug.
Lily felt sad that her sister treated her son like that. Her sister's jealousy really went overboard just to mistreat her child. Marlene who sensed Lily's distress hugged her tightly while James squeezes her hand to reassure her with comfort.
Severus watches from the corner of his eyes in disgust. "Keep doing that your face will stay stuck that way." Rabastan snickers, earning a few chuckles from his friends and brother who were keeping up their composure.
"What about whats-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudleys computer). Aunt Petunia looked as though shed just swallowed a lemon. "And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, ". . . and leave him in the car. . . ."
"You can't leave him in the car, he can die of overheating!" The muggleborn students shouted angrily.
"That car's new, hes not sitting in it alone. . ." Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since hed really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Disgusting fake!"
"Spoil brat!"
"Attention seeker!"
The mothers comments about how Petunia raises her child, and the behaviour is unacceptable.
"Dinky Duddydums, dont cry, Mummy wont let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
"Dinky Duddydums..." the Prewett twins and the marauders bursts out laughing at the funny nickname the woman gave her son.
"I . . . dont . . . want . . . him . . . t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. He always sp-spoils everything! He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mothers arms.
"Disgusting pig..." Some people twisted their face in disgust.
"My mother would have hexed me until tomorrow if I act like that." The purebloods said in shock.
"My mother would have Avada me." their friend replied back.
Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.
Peter gasped as he looked offended since his animagus form is a rat. His friends laughed at his shock.
He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadnt been able to think of anything else to do with him, but be-fore theyd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. "I'm warning you, he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's , I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and youll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
James stood up from his seat with rage and says," If that walrus touches a single strand of hair of my child, I'll shave his and shove it down his throat."
Everyone looked at him with disturbed, but they understand that even if it was their own child, they would do the same. Sirius and Remus also agreed to help him, hurting a child who is not theirs is unacceptable when they did nothing wrong at all.
"I'm not going to do anything", said Harry, "honestly . .".
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursley's he didn't make them happen. Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left to hide that horrible scar. Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.
James and his girlfriend shares a smile while the professor were shocked by the news. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement.
"It's accidental magic, my dear," Euphemia says softly with a smile etched on her face.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudleys (brown with orange puff balls).The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldnt fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.
Everyone was laughing in amusement. His accidental magic does wonders and it amuses the audience.
On the other hand, hed gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudleys gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone elses, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all hed tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cup-board) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
"He apparated!" James yelled in glee, as his parents were proud of him.
Minerva was amazed that Harry's accidental magic was so strong that results into him apparating.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursley's bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. 'It wasn't bad, either,' Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasnt blond.
Hearing this made everyone laugh, Potter's son was definitely amusing. The sass and insults were spot on.
Harry had the best morning hed had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernons car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
The Slytherin students puffed the chests proudly, amazed to see their Hogwarts house animal. Some of them who loves reptiles, were staring with stars in their eyes. Those who disliked the muggles wishes that the snake would wrap and squeeze them until they burst, mainly Bellatrix and Lucius.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. "Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didnt budge.
"Do it again", Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. This is boring, Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
"You're boring," the Prewett twins exclaims as they deadpanned at the child.
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked.
"Snakes don't wink, right? They don't have eyelids."Remus says as Peter stares in fright.
Everyone was shocked at the snake.
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They werent. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.
"Say what??"
The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: I get that all the time.
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him.
"Is he seriously talking to a snake," Remus says.
"No, I'm Sirius," Sirius answered as a shoe flew and hit him on his forehead while Remus stomped on his foot hard, making him hiss.
Sirius picked up the shoe and turned towards his cousin, Bellatrix who transfigures her popcorn that he had no idea where she got it from, she threatened to throw another one if he makes the lame joke.
"It must be really annoying." The snake nodded vigorously.
Everyone in the hall were shocked. The families that were close to the Dark Lord were frightened that the child shares the same gift as their master. Dumbledore's eye twinkled in interest as he recalled one of the students he taught in the past was also the same.
"Mum, dad, our family does not speak Parselmouth, right?" James asked his parents.
"I don't think so, but it could be a possibility," Fleamont answered.
"Where do you come from, anyway?"Harry asked. The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. 'Boa Constrictor, Brazil.' "Was it nice there?" The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: 'This specimen was bred in the zoo.' "Oh, I see — so youve never been to Brazil?"The snake shook its head no. Harry sighs, "I see. That's me as well. I've never knew my parents, either."
Everyone's hearts broke for the boy. James and Lily were fighting to not cry, unable to bare the pain that their child endure. In that moment, they vowed in their hearts that they would do what what ever it takes to prevent their future children to grow up being an orphan, no matter what.
"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT ITS DOING!" Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"Waddle...Waddle...Waddle..." Barty jokes as Evan snickers. Regulus and Rabastan rolled their eyes at them as they were used to it.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.
"Hey!" Everyone pointed and shouted with anger as the fat boy injured him.
What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictors tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
Laughter fills the hall, mainly the marauders and the Prewett twins. Even some purebloods, such as the Black patriarch, Bellatrix had smiles on their faces feeling satisfied that the muggle boy got what he deserved for putting the Potter spawn through hell.
"That's one powerful accidental magic," Minerva pointed out with a small smile on her face.
"Thank you, professor." James and Lily thanked her with a grateful smile.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo." The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, werent you, Harry?"
"Snitch!"
The Potter family including Lily glared hatefully at the screen along with their friends.
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
Minerva, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Marlene, Euphemia, Fleamont, Molly, Arthur, Cassiopeia, Alphard and Andromeda were glaring and scoffed at Dumbledore for what he did to the child in the future. Hagrid was sad and disappointed in Dumbledore. He was mostly disappointed in himself, he should have let Sirius take Harry in. He admires that he saved him, making him the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, but leaving him with the muggles who hates magic is saddening. Leaving Harry on a doorstep was already the first straw, leaving him with the Dursley's was another, the abuse from them was another one. The child should be relocated by the Ministry of Magic not the headmaster of Hogwarts, he has no right in doing this. They were disappointed in him even if some admires his powers.
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didnt know what time it was and he couldnt be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.
"Poor child..." Molly says sadly.
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since hed been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldnt remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldnt remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.
"He still remembers what happened during that day." Remus and Regulus pointed out as they stared at each other and quickly turned away.
The Potters were sad that their legacy doesn't know who they are. No pictures and memories, but only the trauma during the death of his parents. James and Lily were crying and hugging each other, Sirius thought that he should have fought harder with Hagrid to take in Harry, but instead he left him and his precious little girl home alone with her familiar as she was taken away to his mother. Remus was sad, he knew that due to his condition he couldn't take in Sirius' and James' child, he was wondering where was he during that time.
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursley's were his only family.
"Poor child..." most students and professors muttered.
"My poor baby..." Lily cried sadly.
Yet, sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"Way to expose the Wizarding World!" Walburga exclaimed with anger.
Bellatrix sneers at the wizards and witches, hoping to send curses their way.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudleys gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudleys gang.