Trouble
By: ReynaAtTheEnd
Harry Potter is a thief and a lawbreaker long before he gets his letter. Upon discovering he's a wizard, he sets out for the wizarding world - but he's doing things his way. Dumbledore has no idea what his decision to leave Harry with the Dursleys has wrought. Harry/Multi, darkish, some Dumbledore bashing, rating may go up later.
Rated: Fiction T - English - Drama/Crime - Harry P., Astoria G., Daphne G. - Chapters: 19 - Words: 95,011 - Reviews: 1,835 - Favs: 7,214 - Follows: 4,357 - Updated: Nov 3, 2013 - Published: Aug 30, 2013 - Status: Complete - id: 9643914
Trouble
Alright, this is another plot bunny that ambushed me in the night, I hope you guys like this one as much as Runaways. I do not own Harry Potter, only my idea.
Chapter 1: Criminal
Six-Year-Old Harry Potter was standing on the roof of the Dursley's house, watching as Dudley and his band of friends tried to climb the walls to reach him. He had no idea how he had gotten up here, but he knew it meant he wouldn't be eating tonight, because not understanding what happened = freakishness, the highest crime you could commit in the Dursley household.
Uncle Vernon had made it clear that he wouldn't tolerate any of Harry's 'freakishness' inside his house, and any forthcoming would be met with being locked in the cupboard that served as his room or not being fed that day. Usually a combination of the two. Petunia would also deliver earsplitting lectures in a high pitched voice that never seemed to end. Other crimes included backtalk, outclassing their precious 'Dudders', and not doing his chores when he was told to. If he made them angry enough, they would hold a hand under hot water for a while, until it hurt so much he almost cried.
Vernon made sure everyone knew he was a freak so no one would want to be friends with him. He also didn't care that Dudley and his friends went after him and beat him up together. He would come home bruised and battered and usually to add insult to injury he would get in trouble for 'starting it'.
Harry didn't know what he had done to make Dudley hate him so much; was it just because he existed? But he hardly stole any of his aunt and uncle's attention; he didn't get more presents than Dudley and he would get in trouble if he ever got higher grades than his cousin. So why? Why?
He had asked himself that question so many times. Why? Why had his parents abandoned him to these people? Why did these strange things keep happening around him? Why did everyone hate him for these things, which he seemingly had no control over?
Harry was sad and lonely but today he was mostly angry.
Petunia and Vernon said he was a freak and a troublemaker. He had no idea what he had done to warrant that but apparently it was so.
And the last time he had been thrown in his cupboard a thought had snuck into his head; maybe he should do something bad. Something wrong. Something he wasn't supposed to. He could get back at them by breaking these things they liked so much, their precious 'rules'.
He was going to be punished either way, so why not do something? Why keep shying away from it when nothing he did could convince them he wasn't a bad boy?
He'd shooed the thought away, at first. He was appalled at the thought of deliberately antagonizing the Dursleys. They were hard enough on him as it was; deliberately disobeying them could only make it so much worse! Why give them extra reasons to hate him?
But two days later, shut up in his closet again for getting praised over Dudley for his artwork, the thought returned to him, more powerful than before. Dudley didn't deserve praise, and he did good work, why was he getting shut up? It wasn't worth being good, he just got in trouble anyway.
Do the dishes, do the weeding, do the mopping. It never ended. Paint the fence, do the laundry, stop getting better grades than Dudley, stop outrunning Dudley. Something was always wrong. Always. No matter what he did, they were always angry. They were never happy. They were never proud of him. He was just a freak and a burden. He never did anything right.
He was absolutely sick of it.
Maybe I can make something freakish happen. Screw just sitting here and waiting for whatever they're going to punish me for next. If I'm going to be a bad freak, I'm going to be a bad freak!
Harry glared hard at Dudley and John's hands. He felt something stir within him. Suddenly, with a scream, they fell from the roof, hit the alcove over the back porch and rolled off it onto the ground. Dudley started screaming his head off, summoning Petunia from the house.
Emboldened by his success, Harry glared down at his aunt's head, attempting to repeat what he had just done. Sure enough, he felt that strange pressure inside him.
Petunia screamed, and with a loud CRASH every window in the Dursley house, and every house on either side four houses down shattered.
Harry couldn't help it, he giggled. He had always thought Petunia's scream was like shattering glass; now he had proof!
Vernon waddled out of the house, shouting at the top of his lungs, Petunia was screaming uselessly and leaning over his whale of a cousin, and John's mother ran over from the house next door having heard her neighbour shriek.
Eventually Dudley – the little tattletale – pointed at the rooftop where Harry was sitting and giggling. John's mother shot to her feet and said, "that boy's gone too far, I'm calling the cops on him!"
"N-No Olive, don't worry, we can punish him," Vernon said, flustered. He didn't want the cops coming into his house and asking too many questions; he didn't want them to see the cupboard.
But Olive was vehmently shaking her head, and declared, "No, this is a professional case, he's broken my boy's wrist, bruised him terribly and knocked the wind out of him! That's criminal behavoir! Some time in Juive will set that little horror straight, I think!" She determinedly ran back into her house to get her phone, John whimpering pathetically on the lawn.
Harry had frozen at the words cops. He hadn't expected them to be called! Vernon always handled his punishments! But, what could the cops do that Vernon hadn't already done? They couldn't come up with anything he couldn't. There was no way they could be any worse.
The car came thirty minutes later, sirens blazing, an ambulance right behind it.
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Officer Linda Parker was at a loss. She stared at the black haired boy in front of her, no more than six. She had never gotten an attack from someone this young in all her years as a police officer. Bone breaking had always been an accident. The boy didn't seem the malicious type, either: small, slight and downcast. She took a deep breath. There were protocols for dealing with child offenders; she just had to follow them. "Hello Harry, I am officer Linda Parker. I'm here to talk to you because - "
"I'm a freak?" The boy asked, his harsh, cold tone at odds with both his face and his age.
Linda blinked. That...wasn't what she was expecting. "I'm sorry?"
"I'm a freak." The boy repeated, his tone still angry and resolute. "My aunt and uncle always say that. Bad things happen because of my freakishness. Everyone says so. I'm always in trouble for it and no one ever cares."
Linda made a mental note to interrogate the boy's guardians afterwards. Calling a young boy a freak? That was not a good sign, he could be making it up but he sounded so raw and angry. She said calmly, "No, that's not what I was going to say. You understand you did something wrong? Your cousin could have been seriously injured when you knocked him off the roof."
"And they'll do what?" Harry challenged. "Toss me in my cupboard? Scream at me? I'm always in trouble. I'm always wrong. So I might as well be bad. At least I get something out of it then." He looked defiantly at her. "So send me away. Lock me up. It can't be worse than what I've already had to put up with for things I can't even control!" He scowled. "Dudley always hits me. It's time I hit him back."
In any other scenario Linda would have added 'disrespect to an authority figure' to the list of breaches Harry had committed, but the tone of it held her back. If this family was abusing him – and what Harry had just said was more than suspicious – she was going to throw them in jail. "Well, Harry, I'm going to talk to your aunt and uncle afterwards." She looked the boy up and down. "You're going to be moved to a temporary schooling place for other boys like you. You'll go there tomorrow, it won't be for long and it won't interrupt your schooling. Okay?"
Harry nodded, and Linda could have sworn he was smiling.
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Vernon blinked. The policewoman who had been talking to the freak had now turned towards him and looked serious. She approached him just as the ambulance holding Petunia, Dudley and John was getting ready to leave.
"Sir, may I have a moment of your time?" She asked, sounding like she was trying to hold her temper.
"Yes ma'am?" He asked.
"I was just speaking to Harry, and he's said some things that have left me a little concerned." The policewoman, Parker, said.
"What kind of things?" Vernon asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Well, according to him, you call him freak instead of Harry, you punish him for things he hasn't done, he sleeps in a cupboard, and Dudley attacks him." Parker responded.
"He-He's exaggerating!" Vernon said, praying the woman couldn't see his hands shaking or the sweat starting to pour down his forehead. "The b-Harry has always been a troublemaker but he hates being punished, so he tries to make us look bad."
The Parker woman's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "May I see his room, then?" She asked in a tone that said, 'asking is a formality, refuse and I'll order you.'
Vernon's mind raced; he had to find a way to satisfy this woman. "O-Of course! This way please," He said, leading her up the stairwell.
With a burst of thought, he took her into Dudley's second bedroom. It had toys there and looked like a young boy's room. He turned and opened the door.
Officer Parker looked around the room, frowning. There were plenty of toys in here, but it looked unused. Maybe she was imagining it, but she was going to give these people the benefit of the doubt for now. She'd come back later. "I see. Thank you Mr. Dursley, I'll be here tomorrow at 9:00 to pick up your nephew." She turned and left the house.
As soon as he was sure she was gone Vernon sagged against the doorframe in relief. That had been a close one. Once the freak got back from the correctional facility he'd have to move him to Dudley's second bedroom...the woman was clearly suspicious and would probably come back. He'd tell Petunia about the switch as soon as possible.
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Harry stared out the broken window frame at the Dursley's house from Figg's place. Vernon had gone off to see Dudley at the hospital and that left him stuck here. He stared at the screens that had been put over the broken windows and he smiled.
He waited until Figg was asleep, grabbed a leather bag and went back to the house that was his prison. He took a kitchen knife and pried one of the screens open. He pushed past it and climbed into the house.
Harry walked up the stairwell towards Aunt Petunia's room. He figured that if he could grab some of her jewelry he could sell it and buy himself some decent clothes and a new pair of glasses. The drawer wasn't hard to find. He grabbed some golden necklaces and a handful of earrings and went back to outside.
It took some walking about, but he found a man named Ryan DeSantos, who traded things for money or favours. Harry had heard of him from one of Dudley's friends.
"Hey kid," Ryan grinned at the small boy, he had heard Petunia yelling at this poor kid many times he had passed her house, he had figured it was only a matter of time before he turned to criminal activity to get away from it. "Got something for me?"
"Yessir." Harry responded, opening the bag with Petunia's jewlery. Ryan's grin widened and he reached into his pockets for the appropriate amount of money.
"Good luck kid. Some advice for you – try not to get caught too many times, or they'll transfer you to an adult system."
"Thanks. I'll remember that."
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Eventually Harry opted to buy himself some books after deciding to show up for the police as his usual ragged self, no one had cared before so why would they care now? The policewoman from yesterday had sighed when she saw his glasses and clothes and declared that she'd have to replace them when they got to Juvie. Harry just shrugged and entered the police vheicle.
It took an hour but they eventually reached their destination. Harry stared up at Juvenile Hall, eyes wide. It was a cold iron building that looked as forbidding as a haunted house, with bars on the windows and grey paint. Linda stepped out of the car and held out her hand expectantly. Harry accepted it in silence and let her pull him past the doors.
"Potter, Harry?" The receptionist asked. Harry nodded and watched as she handed him a grey outfit with a prison number written on it. It was better than anything Vernon had gotten him, and that made him smile. "Now, there aren't many offenders in this area, so the girls and boys are in the same room together. You'll get regular meals but no deserts. Your teachers and warden will explain more when you go inside." She indicated the door to the right.
Linda shuffled Harry through the door and closed it behind him.
Harry took a deep breath and looked around the room. There was a long table in the middle where the other inmates were already eating lunch. He counted at least thirty two in total.
He took a nervous breath and walked over to the edge of the table, the only seat being next to an intimidating blonde girl who looked about a year older than him.
The girl looked up and raised an eyebrow. She had the bluest eyes Harry had ever seen, but there was barely any warmth in them. "You can sit down. I don't bite."
"Yeah, right." The boy across from her muttered. "You might not bite but your punch so makes up for it."
The blonde skewered him with a glare, and Harry, despite his nervousness, found himself stifling a giggle. He sat down next to the girl and started eating, causing one of the other boys to look at him in awe.
"You don't look like a troublemaker." The boy said, looking over Harry critically. "In fact, you look like a breeze will carry you away."
"Get stuffed, Pierce. We can't help what we look like." The blonde retorted. She turned to Harry and frowned. "You do look thin, though. Eat up. You don't want to be weak around here." She glanced further up the table where several of the older boys and girls were looking at Harry as though he were their next meal.
Harry nodded obediently and dug into the rice and peas on his plate. They were dry but they were better than any food he'd eaten in a month. Pierce exchanged a shocked look with the girl sitting next to him. No one ate prison food that willingly.
"What's your name, kid?" The intimidating girl asked.
"Freak." Harry responded without thinking. When her eyes widened, he caught his mistake. "I mean, it's Harry. Harry James Potter." He said the last bit happily. He had written it on the inside of his door to ensure that he had a link to his mysterious parents, even as weak as his name.
"Why...?" Pierce started asking warily, before trailing off as though guessing the answer before Harry could answer.
"If we're going with middle names, then I'm Carrie Anna Fawkes." The intimidating blonde girl told him. "Welcome to jail."
"I'm Pierce Daniel Collins." Pierce offered. "Please, no James Bond jokes. And this is my twin sister, Miranda Collins."
Harry looked curiously at Pierce. "Nice to meet you...who's James Bond?"
Pierce looked aghast. "You're British, and you've never heard of James Bond? Treachery! High Treason!"
"Don't be such a drama king." Carrie rolled her eyes. "He's a fictional spy, Harry. And a damn good one at that."
"Oh," Harry said, feeling a little stupid.
Miranda, with identical brown hair and brown eyes to her brother, asked, "Why did you say your name was freak?"
"'Cuz my cousin and my aunt 'n uncle always call me that." Harry mumbled, not looking at any of them. "They don't like me."
Miranda curled her lip. "And it just goes to show what the justice system of the world is like that you're in jail instead of them."
"Don't say that in earshot of the warden." Pierce muttered. "You'll be running laps around the parking lot until your legs fall off."
Carrie snorted. "Some things are just fundamentally stacked against you. Want a piece of advice Harry? Never trust anyone over 25 years old. They have very different priorities, and you're always going to suffer for them."
"You think so?" Harry asked carefully. Pierce said Carrie's punches hurt a lot, and she looked like solid muscle.
Carrie snorted. "I'm speaking from personal experience, kid. They're not going to care until its their ass on the line, and even then their attempts to change anything are pathetic and hollow."
Harry looked curiously. "Why are you here?" He asked.
Carrie tossed her blonde hair and smirked down at Harry; she was a good head taller than him. "I trashed my dad's pickup truck." She said with a smirk. "On purpose. I also get into fights...a lot. I have a temper on me." She scowled. "A few years with my family and you'll have one too."
"I knocked a boy unconscious with a chair at school." Pierce offered. "But he was a bully, and a mean one at that."
"I'm a kleptomaniac, and our parents won't get me looked at." Miranda said flatly, an undercurrent of fierce anger in her words.
"Kleptomani?" Harry asked, tripping over the big word.
"It means I steal. I steal and I steal and I steal and I can't seem to resist the urge or stop doing it, no matter how much trouble I get into." Miranda explained. "It's when you feel compelled to take things, not for personal gain but for reasons you can't explain."
"Oh." Harry thought about that. "I knocked my cousin and his friend off the roof of our house. They were chasing me and they were going to attack me. They at least broke their wrists when they hit the ground," He added, hoping to impress his new cellmates.
Carrie smirked and roughly ran her fingers through his messy hair. "Cool. I think you'll do fine here. Do you know how long you'll be here?"
"A few weeks, I think?" Harry responded, trying to remember what the receptionist had said.
"Great! We'll make a hell-raiser out of you yet." Pierce said happily.
"Attention!" A new voice barked.
Carrie, Pierce and Miranda immediately sprang to their feet. Harry look at them in confusion before Carrie roughly grabbed his arm and yanked him up too. After a second Harry saw what had them on edge; the warden had appeared.
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After a week in correctional facility, Harry wondered if there was something wrong with him. You weren't supposed to enjoy being in jail, after all.
He had Carrie, Pierce and Miranda, who took care of him and protected him from the older boys. Carrie had been right to warn him about the older delinquents. The leader, a huge boy named Mark, had immediately singled Harry out due to his small size and meeker nature and started going after him.
Harry had fully expected to suffer but Carrie and the others had protected him. Pierce had been right to be afraid of Carrie's punch; she hit Mark hard enough to send him sprawling and spitting out two teeth. Pierce and Miranda had dealt with Mark's three thugs and sent them packing.
Carrie had rubbed the bruise on her arm that Mark had given her and waved off Harry's frantic apologies. "Some times you have to defend yourself, kid." She had said. "It can't be helped. Never be afraid to defend yourself."
"Why'd you help me?" Harry asked back, staring up at the three older kids.
"Because we wanted to," Pierce had said, at the same time Miranda had said, "because we like you."
Harry couldn't help it; he started to cry. When a bewildered Carrie knelt down and hugged him and asked what was wrong, Harry had told her, "No one liked me before this. I'm just happy I have friends."
Later that night, Harry overheard Carrie and Miranda talking about making the Dursley's life hell the minute they got back out of Juvie.
After that, Harry started to thrive. The teachers at the facility enjoyed working with him because he was so focused whenever he was given assignments. The food they gave him helped as well; after a little he started to fill out from the healthy meals he was getting.
He talked to the inmates a lot. He told them about Harry Hunting and about all the chores he had to do. He admitted they were the first people he could remember saying they liked him, and knowing he could believe them.
Carrie taught him how to fight after she heard about Harry Hunting. It was gruelling, but Harry was a fast learner. Carrie told him about the weak spots on a human body and how to fight someone bigger and stronger than you. "Put all your weight into the blows. Don't attack from the front, they'll waste you. Go for the legs or the nose. Hit the nose hard enough and you could knock them out."
Harry had also spent time observing Miranda's kleptomania in action, and after a little he started emulating her, hiding the stuff he'd stolen from Mark and the Kitchens under his pillow and in his suitcase. He got better at it as the days went on, and the laps he was forced to run whenever a supervisor or the Warden caught him helped to strengthen his legs.
Pierce taught him to read and write in his spare time. He had snuck Harry a copy of Les Miserables, since the number of words would make it a good exercise. Harry would spend hours reading it and would talk to his friends about the characters. Harry was a fast learner; one of the teachers complained that he could easily skip a grade if he felt the inclination.
And it was here that Harry began to feel his 'freakishness' coming closer to the surface. Mark's desk caught fire when he insulted Carrie in class. The plumbing erupted when the older boys tried to give Pierce a swirly, knocking them across the room. The door to the roof slammed shut and locked Darla out when she tried to attack Miranda.
It went on and on. Mark started avoiding Harry like he had the plague; he didn't have to be a genius to figure out that Harry was somehow causing these things and was afraid that Harry would make him disappear. One day, when Mark screamed when seeing Harry turn the corner, the boy felt himself smile. Being bad felt nice.
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"You know, most people aren't depressed when their stay in Juvie is over," Carrie remarked dryly when she saw Harry moping in his room.
"But I like you guys," Harry mumbled. "And this is where you are."
Carrie laughed and ruffled Harry's hair. He had only managed to make her laugh a few times, and each time was like music. "Hey, I only have another week here before I go out too. Pierce and Miranda leave in two days. You know where we live and we'll stay in contact with you."
Harry managed to smile. Carrie looked seriously at him, "Now, remember everything we've taught you. Don't let that fat whale hit you anymore."
"I won't," Harry promised seriously. He hugged Carrie around the middle, and a moment later Officer Parker entered the room and gestured for him to come.
Dudley watched his freak cousin stroll back up to the house, smiling. His wrist still stung from when the freak had knocked him off the roof. What did he have to be so cheerful about? He had just spent time in jail. That should have been horrible; taught him his place. He hoped the other inmates had beaten him up a lot.
Harry walked into the house, politely thanked Officer Parker and closed the door. He turned to Vernon and Petunia and smirked. "I'm back," he proclaimed airily. He dropped his bag and walked over to his cupboard. "That was amazing! I went to this big grey place, and there I met Carrie and Pierce and Miranda and they like me! They've taught me to do all kinds of things and they protected me from the older guys who would have hit me. Also, Miranda likes to call me 'Wizard' because somehow bad things happen to people who don't like me or them. I don't know if I'm magical or not but I think I understand those 'freaky' things that make you so mad, I think I'll do them less often now! And that'll be good, right?"
Vernon and Petunia both gaped at their nephew. He didn't sound cowed, he sounded positively jubilant. Obviously this Juvie had been lenient on its prisoners; he also looked reasonably well-fed and fit. There were no bruises visible on his arms or legs.
Petunia was terrified that this Miranda freak called Harry a wizard; if the boy found out what he really was who knew how he'd make use of that information.
"W-Well, Harry, we've decided that now that you've served your punishment...and you've turned six, it would be time to move you upstairs." She started.
Harry turned around, eyebrows raised. "U-Upstairs? You mean I get a room now?" He asked.
"Y-Yes, of course," Vernon said, as though the words pained him. "P-Pet, how about you show him his new room?"
Harry looked around the room. It was Dudley's second bedroom. It was small and a little cramped. It was dull, too, but Harry could spruce it up. He'd been saving money, after all.
Time Skip
At eight years old, Harry had been sent back to Juvie four times. And that was because he had been caught. Officer Parker had become resigned to seeing him and they could both recite the lecture about misbehaving and running afoul with the law by heart at this point. She had warned him that having a criminal records wasn't something to be proud of.
Harry had just nodded and smiled at her before returning to his 'home', if you could call it that. He was grateful that Parker's appearance forced Vernon to put his energy into making sure she didn't know he was abusive, it made things much easier. Six years of abuse had come to roost in the house; Harry turned to crime to get happiness and pleasure where it was denied everywhere else.
Carrie, Pierce and Miranda kept their promise to stay in touch. It was like having three older siblings in everything but blood, especially Carrie. They would often meet up in the park; Harry spent little of his free time inside the house.
"So, how's school Harry?" Pierce had asked, handing him a bottle of chocolate milk. Harry sat back on the bench. His hair and grown out since his first stay in Juvie; it was long and fell past his shoulder. Miranda would often tease him for being 'bishonen'.
"Good. Ruby threw a fit when she realized that her cellphone was missing, and my teachers have started noticing that it's Dudley who's misbehaving, well except Miss Cope." Harry said. "Too bad she spends too much time yelling at me than watching her desk."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "You're insatiable, Harry."
Harry grinned. "Also, I spiced the food I was supposed to serve the bridge club...a lot. Check this out." He reached behind his back and revealed Little Whining's newspaper, open to the parenting column. "An article in a newspaper denouncing me as 'a symbol of the lack of respect, honesty and good value in children these days'. Written by Petunia's gossip buddy, Olive."
"You couldn't buy that kind of publicity." Pierce said disbelievingly.
"Couldn't buy it?" Harry asked innocently. He pulled three cellphones out of his pockets, one gold, one red, and one green. "I guess I get to keep these then."
Carrie stared for a second and laughed, taking the gold cellphone from Harry. "Don't push your luck, trouble." She said fondly.
Dudley never seemed to learn, no matter how many times Harry knocked him out and Carrie tossed his friends around like ragdolls when she saw them chasing Harry. They supposed stupidity was a generic trait in the Dursley house. He would wail and scream and shriek like there was no tomorrow, but at last, aside from being confined to his room and denied dinner Vernon couldn't strike or burn Harry unless he was absolutely sure Officer Parker wouldn't be able to see it.
Cooking meals was one thing Harry had come to like doing, though he'd rather die than admit it. So he kept cooking for the Dursleys, though sometimes he would deliberately go overboard and leave then running for the sink.
Petunia eventually stopped forcing him to weed the garden after her plants started withering and dying. The rose bush had disappeared entirely. Petunia was distraught over this, while Harry had merely shrugged and said that he didn't understand plants, how about she do something about it?
Harry knew that his relatives would never buy him things, so he stole to buy what he wanted. Aside from the cellphones that he had enchanted for his friends, he bought himself books and whatever toy amused him he also bought clear contacts so he wouldn't have to worry about loosing his glasses when dealing with 'Harry Hunting' or the Warden.
He had become an excellent pickpocket and liar. He got it from Miranda. Harry could smile in someone's face while pulling something out of their bag. He used the money he got primarily to train at the gym near Carrie's house.
Harry was used to getting by alone and without support at this point.
Time Skip
When he turned ten, Harry had been planning for Aunt Marge's visit for a while now. This was probably going to get him sent back to Juvie...again...but hey, Carrie and Miranda were going to be there!
Harry had walked through the house, preparing the meals and being careful not to look either his aunt or uncle in the eye, because he was fairly sure he'd crack up if he did. He had greeted Marge politely when she'd entered the house, smirking a bit when she looked at his healthy, well-built form in shock. He'd set the table and cleared the living room. And then he set off his first trap.
He rushed up the stairs and onto the roof, listening to Ripper's barking growing louder and louder. Pierce was right, the paintball gun had been a brilliant idea.
Climbing onto the roof, Harry turned and saw Ripper rush onto the roof. Smirking wickedly, Harry turned, ran and jumped onto Olive's roof. Ripper rushed after him, jumped, fell short and promptly dropped two stories. The vicious dog lay whimpering on the ground. Didn't kill it, Harry thought with some disappointment. He had no ill will against dogs – quite the opposite, in fact – but this one was cruel and yet another symbol of how much the Dursley's hated and mistreated him.
Eventually, Marge stumbled out of the house, soaked in orange paint, screaming, "THIEF! RAT! SOMEONE GET THAT BOY! EVIL! RAT!"
Harry smiled innocently at an exasperated Officer Parker who appeared at the house twenty minutes later.
Time Skip
"Dudley, get the post."
"Make Harry get it."
"Boy, get the post."
"Make Dudley get it," An eleven-year-old Harry said absently, still cooking the bacon. Parker hadn't been kidding when she had said a year in Juvie would wear on anyone. Carrie and Miranda got released early for reasons Harry hadn't caught, leaving him sulking there for three months before his sentence ended. They had kept calling him, but it was lonely in there without them.
"BOY!" Vernon shouted.
"Fine, fine. But don't blame me if your bacon burns," Harry warned, irritated. He set down his cooking untensils and walked to the door, sighing and wishing there was someone else out there who could do what he could. Carrie figured there were other people like him out there, but they weren't in Surrey. No, there was nothing wrong with Surrey, it was perfectly ordinary, with perfectly uniformed houses and perfectly normal residence, and he hated all of it. It was so irritating. He couldn't wait until college rolled around, if only so he could take residence and leave this hateful house and everyone in it...
Harry picked up the mail and stared at it. It was a letter addressed to him. To him. He never got mail; Carrie, Pierce and Miranda always called him on their phones and no one else cared about him. Wouldn't be Parker, either, she didn't send letters.
To Harry James Potter
Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whining
There was a crest on it. It looked like a school emblem.
Harry was about to rip it open and read it when Vernon marched over, saw the letter, and went from red to green faster than a traffic light. He snatched the letter and shouted, "It's nothing! Nothing at all!"
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Harry was very annoyed with his uncle Vernon right now. He couldn't imagine why a simple letter addressed to him would drive Vernon to drag them out to a shack in the middle of the ocean. It was absolutely ridiculous. Carrie had called him about it and decided there was something big Vernon didn't want him to know.
She was probably right.
Of course, he was sleeping on the floor because Dudley always got the bed. Sighing, he turned to the floor and began to draw a cake on it. If they'd at least stayed in a populated area he could have bought himself a few donuts to celebrate his birthday with, but no.
Thunder crashed outside and rain hammered down on the shack. Harry sighed heavily again and muttered, "Make a wish, Harry." He then blew over the drawing, fading it.
Suddenly, there was a massive crash, like someone trying to get in.
Harry sprang to his feet in an instant. Vernon came down the stairs with a shotgun, Petunia right behind him. Dudley looked around fearfully. "Where's the cannon?" He asked. Harry frowned. It didn't sound like a canon. It sounded like a person. There was a second crash, and he corrected himself, a very big person.
"I'm warning you! I'm armed!" Vernon shouted at the door. There was a momentary pause, and then a great crash and the door came right off its hinges. A huge man stood in the doorway – bigger than anyone Harry had ever seen. He had shaggy dark hair and was wearing a huge coat. He had an umbrella in one hand.
"Sorry 'bout that." He said. He turned around and set the door back in place.
Harry stared blankly at the huge figure as he walked into the house and said, "Couldn't make a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…" He walked over to where Dudley was and said, "Budge, you great lump." Dudley immediately ran to hide behind his mother, who in turn was hiding behind Vernon.
The giant turned to Harry, who was standing by the firepit, tensed and ready to run incase things went south. "An' here's Harry! Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yeh dad, buy yeh've got yer mum's eyes."
"What?" Harry blurted out, momentarily forgetting himself. He had never met anyone who knew his parents. "I mean, I'm sorry?"
"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" Uncle Vernon demanded, making a funny rasping noise. "You are breaking and entering!"
Hagrid walked up to Dursley and eyed the shotgun disdainfully, "Ah, dry up Dursley, yeh great prune." And with that, he effortlessly bent the barrel of the shotgun upwards, twisting it out of shape.
Harry watched the scene in front of him in disbelief, though some part of him was crowing at seeing Vernon so terrified.
"Uh, sir?" He tried again. "Who are you, and how do you know my parents?"
The giant look surprised. "'Course, f'rgot to introduce meself. Ruebeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. I knew your parents when they were students there!" He handed Harry a small box. Harry-a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here-I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." He opened the box to reveal a cake that said 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on it in green icing.
Harry was stunned. There was too much going on at once and he didn't know where to start. "Um – thank you. Thank you." He managed, sitting down and helping himself to the cake.
"What about that tea then, eh? I'd not say no ter summat strong if yeh've got it, mind."
"I'm sorry, we left in rather a hurry, so we don't have anything to drink," Harry said slowly.
"S'alright, I've got summat here." Hagrid said, turning towards the fireplace and then back once he got a roaring fire going. He then proceeded to pull a good dozen or so things out of his coat pockets.
Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."
Hagrid chuckled darkly. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry."
At that, Harry did smile. He was starting to like this strange giant person. It couldn't hurt him to ask a few questions.
"You said my parents went to this Hogwarts place," Harry said, "What exactly is that?"
Hagrid looked at Harry in absolute shock. "You don't know about Hogwarts? Why, didn't you wonder where yer parents learned it all?"
"Learned what?" Harry asked, though a sneaking suspicion had sunk in. "Does this have anything to do with the weird things that always happen to me?"
"Now wait jus' one second!" Hagrid thundered, leaping to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys cowered against the wall. "Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that you told this boy - this boy - nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"
Now, Harry felt that was going a little far. He didn't get the best grades, but he wasn't an idiot. "I know lots of things," he protested, "I'm good at math and English and Science."
But Hagrid waved a hand and said seriously, "About our world, I meant. Your world. My world. Your parents world."
"World?" Miranda's laugh and cry of 'go, wizard!' echoed in his mind. "You mean – am I – are you trying to say I'm a wizard?"
Hagrid looked like he was going to explode. "DURSLEY!" He boomed.
Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like 'Mimblewimble.' Hagrid stared wildly at Harry. "Of course you're a wizard, Harry! You're mother and father – they're famous in our world! You're famous."
"I – I am? For what?" Harry was bewildered. He had a fair bit of notoriety within his neighbourhood, but he could hardly imagine anything he did would have made him famous across a whole world.
"I'll tell yeh all about that, but I think you should read this first." Hagrid said. Petunia moaned, but Harry ignored her. He accepted the letter from Hagrid, which read,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It went on for a while, but all Harry cared about was the first line. He turned his ire on his guardians. "Is this why you didn't want me to have this?" He demanded, waving the letter over his head. "You knew, didn't you! You knew what I was! All those things – those freakish things you kept punishing me for – that was magic, wasn't it? Why would you do this to me?"
"PUNISHING YOU?" Hagrid roared, making Vernon stagger backwards. "Yeh've been pushing the poor boy for magic? ! He can't control it! No one can at his age!"
"Stop!" Vernon managed to find his voice at last. "We promised when we took him in we'd put a stop to this."
"Why?" Harry challenged. He turned his eyes to his aunt. "Is this why you never talked about my mother? Because she could use magic and you couldn't? I'm not a freak, then! I'm a wizard, like my parents."
"Freak?" Hagrid repeated in shock. "Freak? Is that what you've been calling him?"
Petunia squeaked. Harry wasn't done yet, "Yeah. I didn't know my name was Harry until I was four, I was used to being called freak, boy and stuff like that."
That did it for Hagrid. He roared again and pointed his umbrella at Dudley. A second later, a pig's tail sprung out from his behind, and he started oinking like a pig.
Harry laughed, he couldn't help it. He was a wizard. He was going to a wizarding school. Carrie would love to hear this.
End Chapter
So what do you think? I wanted a story where Harry is a darker character but not going into 'evil death eater in love with voldemort' or 'doesn't care about innocent people suffering'. So I made him a chronic lawbreaker with a disrespect for authority, and I'll go from there. No, it is not Harry/OC, he and Carrie have a brother/sister relationship. Also the muggle OCs play a different role later.
Chapter 2: Getting Started and Making Enemies
Harry was awake long before Hagrid, chatting on the phone outside with Carrie and Pierce. The reception was really, really crappy but he couldn't wait to tell them what had just happened and he wasn't sure if a cellphone would work in a magical community.
Miranda, for her part, was ecstatic. She triumphantly proclaimed that she had been right about Harry's abilities from the start and demanded he tell her about his school and the things they used as soon as possible. Carrie had wished him good luck and warned him to be careful who he stole from; he should scout out the people he was going to be around first. Pierce just asked him to learn how to fix things magically, so he could break his math teacher's irritating educational DVDs and not have to worry about paying for a new ones when he was eventually discovered.
He had just finished with his last phone call and headed inside when he was approached by an owl.
"Wants payment for the mail," Hagrid said sleepily. "Give 'im five knuts."
Harry dug around the massive coat and grabbed a handful of coins, a few gold, some silver, and some bronze. "Which?"
"They're bronze."
So this was what wizard currency looked like. Harry put the Knuts in the owl's pouch before discreetly pocketing the rest of the change. He wondered if he could exchange muggle money for wizard money. The gold coins could probably go for twice their amount in muggle money; after all gold was highly sought after. Would be easier than having to constantly go through the bridge club's bags for keychains, phones and bracelets when they were visiting his aunt.
Hagrid slowly got up and collected his coat. "Well, best be off then, Harry, lots ter do today. Gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff for school,"
"How am I going to buy anything?" Harry asked. "I have some money, but it's muggle, and I'm not sure it would cover everything if I exchanged it -"
"Don't worry about that," Hagrid said, waving a hand. "D'yer think your mum and dad left you with n'thing? First place we're headed is Gringotts."
"Gringotts? Is that a bank?" Harry was relieved to hear this; he'd been worried that if wizards did things too differently from normal people, he'd have to spend a whole year reworking his skills to suit his new environment.
"Only one in Britain. Run by Goblins."
"Run by Goblins?" Harry echoed.
"Yeh. So Yeh'd be mad to try 'n rob it." Hagrid said. "Safest place in the world, 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter 'o fact, I havta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts buisness." The giant held himself up to full height when he said this.
Harry collected the backpack he carried everywhere and followed Hagrid outside. He didn't see another boat. "How'd you get here? Did you teleport or something?" He asked.
"Flew." Hagrid responded. He took in Harry's impressed look and said, "But 'm not supposed to use magic now that I've got you. We'll go back in this."
Harry felt slightly disappointed, but got into the boat nonetheless. The boat sped back towards land. "Why exactly is it mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry questioned.
"Spells – enchantments." Hagrid said, unfolding his newspaper. "They say there's dragons guarding the high security vaults. Then yeh havta find your way out – it's miles underground."
Harry continued to pester Hagrid with questions all the way back to land and through the streets. He learned about the Ministry of Magic and its current head, Cornelius Fudge. He heard about wands and robes and the courses he'd learn at Hogwarts – Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration.
Harry went over the list of things he would need for school. It was a novelty to not have to steal half of them – he'd almost forgotten what that was like. He was debating whether or not to get an owl or a cat when he and Hagrid reached the Leaky Cauldron.
It was a pub much like the one Carrie's troubled older brothers usually went to buy alcohol, The World's Ending. It didn't look to be in much better condition either, though to its credit its occupants looked a lot less unscrupulous.
Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; the bartender asked if he wanted the usual. "Not today Tom, on Hogwarts business." Hagrid slapped his knee and put a massive hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry was busy looking around, trying to see if there was a back door to this place that he could use to sneak into it at a later date.
The barman peered down at Harry and said, "Bless my soul – is that Harry Potter?"
As if on cue, every conversation in the pub suddenly went dead. Harry turned to see everyone staring at him, or more specifically, his forehead. A second later, he was immediately assaulted by dozens of people babbling, bowing to him and shaking his hand.
"Welcome back, Harry Potter, welcome back!"
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm finally meeting you."
"So proud of what you did, Mr Potter."
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, can't tell you how delighted!"
This was insane. How on earth was he going to keep a low profile with this kind of treatment? It was hard to do much of anything when this many people were watching you. Harry had an ingrained dislike of large crowds due to most of his exposure with them being either Dudley's gang, the bridge club or Juvenile Hall, the correctional facility being the kindest of the three. Why on earth were people reacting this way?
On the other hand...Harry felt himself smirk ever so slightly. People who had this kind of blind adoration behind them could get away with anything. He knew that from personal experience, after all, his cousin was a perfect example of that.
He met his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher here, and honestly Harry was kind of disappointed. He was expecting someone who taught that course to be an adult, magical version of Carrie – not a stutterer who jumped when tapped on the shoulder.
It took Hagrid a while to finally get Harry out of the Leaky Cauldron. "What was all that about?" Harry asked. "I know you said I was famous, but that was crazy – what could I have done to have people bowing at me?"
Hagrid grimaced. "Well – 'member when I told you that your mum and dad were famous too? It's because when yer were born, a wizard gone bad went after yer parents."
"Wizard gone bad..." Harry muttered. He didn't like the sound of that. "How bad?"
"Oh, he wanted to rule Britain. He'd got it in 'is head that only a certain type of wizard should be allowed to practice magic...got 'imself some followers, some 'ere scared o' him, other wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettn' it for himself, all right. Dark days, those were, Harry..."
"Then mum and dad...they tried to stop him?" Harry could guess from the tone exactly where this was going. He'd read in history books about Germans who had attempted to resist the Nazi movement, and it had rarely ended well for them.
"Y-Yes," Hagrid said, swallowing. "Yer mum and dad – nicer people there weren't. He 'ent to their house for sum reason, maybe to get them to join, but in the end he killed 'em."
Harry stopped walking and turned that thought over in his head. For so long he had believed that his parents had died because of drunk driving – and now he learned that they died protecting him from someone who wanted to kill them. Harry wasn't sure if this was better or worse.
"'Ere's the strange bit, though. He tried to kill you too – to make a clean job, pr'baby. But – somehow, no'ne knows how, you survived. And he died that day. That's why you're famous. That's 'ere you got that scar"
Harry's hand immediately went to the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. "I see." He said quietly. "What was this wizard's name?"
Hagrid gulped. "Hard to say – people are still scared – all right, Voldemort." He shuddered. "No one uses his name these days. Still call him You-Know-Who."
Voldemort. So he hadn't lost his parents – they'd been taken from him. Knowing this somehow made the last ten years feel so much worse.
%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&&%
Harry stared up at the Gringotts building, specifically at the sign on it.
Enter stranger, but take heed
of what awaits the sin of greed
for those who take, but do not earn
must pay most dearly in their turn
so if you seek beneath our floors
a treasure that was never yours
thief, you've been warned, beware
of finding more than treasure there
At this point, Harry made a mental note that if he ever had to rob a bank, he was going to stick to the muggle ones.
He walked in with Hagrid and looked around. There were goblins everywhere, counting and weighing the wizard coins. They were smaller than him, but looked very nasty; he didn't want to be on the bad side of one of those.
He'd been distracted but a comment from Hagrid brought him back.
"It's about You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."
If Harry had been a cat, his ears would have swivelled towards Hagrid in uttermost interest. You-Know-What? What was Hagrid looking for?
If he felt the need to move it from here – supposedly the safest place in Britain – it must be something extremely important, but why on earth would a school headmaster take a highly sought after object into a, for all intents and purposes, boarding school? For that matter, how could a school headmaster have that kind of power?
What could this thing do, and how much would it be worth?
Perhaps he could snatch it later, get a look at it. Would be easy to get it off his guide.
A minute later, Harry stepped into his vault and stared. There were stacks of gold and silver coins bigger than him, with heaps of bronze scattered everywhere. If the Dursleys had known about this place, they never would have called him a burden; they'd be begging him to share with them. He got out his backpack and packed more coins than Hagrid seemed to think necessary, but it never hurt to be prepared.
They went down to the super-secret vault, and Griphook said something that re-affirmed Harry's new 'never steal from goblins' policy. "Go in there and you'll be trapped – and we only check once every ten years." He bared his teeth when he said this.
Definitely stick to muggle banks.
The vault was empty except for a single package sitting in the middle of the table. Hagrid picked it up and Harry watched which pocket he put it in. One rickety ride back to the surface and Harry stuck right behind Hagrid, holding onto his arm as though he were rather younger than he was.
"Whatsammater, Harry?" Hagrid asked in concern.
"It's just overwhelming," Harry mumbled. That much was true, at least partially. "There's so much to look at. I...it's just a little frightening. I don't understand very much."
"Ya will in time, Harry, don't you worry 'bout it." Harry pattered him on the head, "Now, let's go get you your wand."
When he started to walk again, Harry carefully slid a hand into the front pocket, pulled out the package, stowed it in the still-open compartment of his backpack, and zipped it up the rest of the way.
%&%&%&%&%&%&%%&%&%%&
Harry kept toying with his wand as he walked away from the wand shop, thinking about what Ollivander had said. He didn't really like having only one wand – Dudley was liable to snap it if he ever got the chance. He had been tempted to snatch another one but the way they were boxed hampered him, so he had to leave with one.
He was getting a headache from trying to memorize the streets and different directions they'd walked in. One of Miranda's cardinal rules was always know your way around a place before you do anything.
Next was robes. Harry had resisted the urge to groan; robes trailed near your feet and increased the likelyhood of tripping. Jeans would have been much more practical, in his opinion.
"Hogwarts too, young man?" The lady asked him. "Many have been coming in – stand here," She indicated a place next to an angular, blonde boy who was also getting fitted.
Harry looked at the fabric for the robes. It wasn't that bad he'd been afraid of, actually.
"Hullo," The blonde said, "Hogwarts too?"
"Yeah," Harry said, "Bit overwhelming – I've been stuck with my aunt and uncle for my entire life, and I've basically spent today playing catchup. It's incredibly irritating."
"Muggles?" The blonde echoed in his drawl voice, "You're a muggleborn then?"
"A what?" Harry echoed.
"Muggleborn. Means you don't have wizarding parents." The blonde explained, his head tilted back slightly in a gesture of superiority. Harry had seen that look before, and it never boded well. "My parents are both from respectable, ancient wizarding lines."
"My mum and dad were both wizards," Harry said.
"Were they purebloods?"
"I...don't know. Aunt Petunia never talked to me about my mother and father." Harry was starting to feel a little agitated. "It matters?"
"Of course it matters! Only people with two wizarding parents will be able to make great achievements." The blonde said. "We're of noble breed. You probably are too, if both your parents are wizards."
Harry wondered, if wizards knew anything about muggle history, if this boy was aware of how much he sounded like a junior Neo-Nazi.
"Which house do you think you'll be in?" the boy asked with that same pompous drawl. "I'm going to be in Slytherin, I'm sure of it, my whole family has been there."
Harry thought about what little Hagrid had told him about the four houses inside Hogwarts. "My best guess is either Gryffindor or Slytherin."
"Head for Slytherin. It only accepts the best. I really don't think they should let the other sort in. Most of them hadn't even heard of Hogwarts before they got their letter. What's your surname anyway?"
"No! I'm not going to talk to him!" An angry girl's voice startled both of them. Harry and the blonde boy both turned their heads to the right. At the door of the shop were two adults and two young girls, one their age and the other slightly younger, who was glaring daggers at the blonde boy. They were both blonde-haired and green-eyed, though the younger girl's angry expression distracted from her otherwise pretty features.
"Astoria, for Merlin's sake!" The father whispered in an unhappy tone, "He's your intended. You should get to know him better."
"Get to know him? I already know all I need to – he's a horrible, stuck up snob!" The blonde girl snapped, yanking her arm away from her father. "And I never, ever ever want to marry him!"
"Sweetie, the discussions have already occurred," The woman said in a pained tone. "He's born to an old, powerful family. It would be the best for you! Show him some respect."
"I give respect to people who earn it." Astoria said highhandedly, turning to glare up at her parents. Her sister looked aghast at her behaviour, frantically looking around for some way to change the subject. Her green eyes fell on Harry, shot to his forehead, and she yanked on her father's sleeve.
"Father, father, look. Isn't that Harry Potter?"
All four family members stopped what they were doing and looked at Harry, who was now feeling very put on the spot.
"It is," Her father murmured, starting to walk towards him. He looked past him, saw the blonde boy and said, "Hello Draco, fancy seeing you here."
"Hello Mr. Greengrass." The blonde boy, Draco, said politely, though he looked like he was trying to hide his annoyance at Astoria's not-so-quiet comments and at Harry.
Mr. Greengrass then turned his attention to Harry. "You must be Harry Potter." He took Harry's hand and shook it. "My name is Daniel Greengrass. Off to Hogwarts, aren't you? I'm on the Board of Governors."
"Y-Y-Yes, I am." Harry managed. He felt like he was stuck in Buckingham Palace when he really shouldn't be there, talking to people who would squash him socially and legally if they were malicious enough to do so.
"My two daughters have just made their societal debut." Daniel Greengrass said. "The older one, Daphne -" he gestured to Astoria's older sister, who hadn't stopped staring at Harry since she'd spotted his scar. "-will be in the same year as you. If there is anything you need to know, she'd be happy to fill you in."
"Uh – okay, thank you." Harry said, rooting around for the right words. Politeness and decorum really weren't up his alley, but judging by the man's clothing and attitude he was probably high class, and thus would care very much about it. "I-I'll keep an eye out for her." He nodded at Daphne and gave her the lopsided smirk he was famous for. Daphne's cheeks flushed and her eyes immediately dropped to the floor. Astoria was scowling even more fiercely than when she had spotted Draco.
Speaking of whom, Harry shot the blonde a quick glance and saw the other boy glaring at him, all pretences of friendliness dropped.
Mercifully, Madam Malkin broke in and said, "you're all done, dear."
Relieved to escape the shop and calm his burgeoning blood pressure, Harry stepped off the stool and bowed to Mr. Greengass and his family. "I-I'm sorry I have to take off, but I'm running out of time and I need to get the rest of my school stuff." He said rapidly. "Nice to meet you, sir and ma'am. And Daphne and Astoria." He bowed again and left the shop in a dead sprint.
Astoria watched Harry Potter leave and resisted the urge to glare at her older sister, who was still blushing like crazy.
Her father looked extremely pleased with himself; he was probably planning to get in early, try and marry Daphne to Potter before the other pureblood families got wind of his return and started trying the same thing.
That smirk! There was so much personality in that smirk! Astoria had learned from her mother how to understand someone just by looking at their eyes; she could see the devil-may-care spirit that he was hiding for the sake of politeness. There was a life in Harry that Draco certainly didn't share. Astoria was willing to bet he was much cooler person than her betrothed.
Her scowl deepened and she wanted to stamp her foot at the injustice of it. It figured her older sister would get someone interesting to spend her life with while she got stuck with Draco Malfoy, an egoistical spoiled brat. It just wasn't fair!
%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&
Luckily for Harry, the rest of his trip passed without another unpleasant encounter. He collected his parchment, ink and quills and headed into the pet shop, doing his best to put both Draco and the Greengrass sisters out of his mind.
While he was in there, a little grey kitten caught his eye. She looked pleadingly at him. He pointed at her and asked, "How much for that one?"
The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow, "Dearie, you'd be better picking something else. That kitten is a troublemaker of the highest order."
"I'll pay top gallon for her then," Harry said brightly, pulling out his bag. The shopkeeper looked at him with a little disbelief but gave him the kitten's cage.
Harry smiled at the kitten and said, "Troublemaker, huh? That makes two of us, doesn't it?" He gave his new pet a mock serious look. "Don't rat me out ever, okay?" The kitten mewed and rubbed her head against the cage. "What would be a good name for you...better think on it for a little..."
Time Skip
Harry walked back into Privet Drive loaded down with his stuff for school. Dudley opened the door, saw him, screamed and ran further back into the house. Harry smirked, rolled his eyes and headed up to his room. He wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school, but Dudley didn't need to know that.
He shut the door and opened his kitten's cage. "I'll call you Maria." He whispered. "Welcome home." Maria bounced out and purred, rubbing against Harry's ankles.
Harry organized his trunk and then set down his backpack. He dug through the money and books and eventually pulled out the package from Gringotts.
Harry unwrapped it, and a large red stone dropped into his palm. It glimmered slightly in the light of his room.
"What is this?" Harry whispered. He lay back in his bed, turning it over in his hands. "Is it a ruby?" As quick as that thought came he dismissed it, "No way. Even a ruby as big as this wouldn't receive that level of security...but then, what is it? Some sort of artifact?"
He thought for another moment, and then said, "What do I know about this? Okay, it's a magical stone that Headmaster Dumbledore was going through great pains to see wasn't stolen. What kind of thing could..."
He trailed off. The only stone he knew of that was associated with magic was the Philosopher's stone. Was that what this was?
Harry got off his bed and walked over to his desk and his questionably-legally obtained desktop computer. He quickly booted it up and googled 'Philosopher's Stone'. Then he switched to 'Images'.
Sure enough, the images on the screen matched the item in his hand. He switched back to 'Web' and read the wiki article. And read it again.
"Bloody hell." Harry swore, staring at the innocuous-looking red stone. "I could get anything I wanted with this thing, if it could make gold out of nothing. Hell, I could use this thing to make the Dursley's do whatever I wanted! No wonder it was so high-security. It also makes you immortal? Crazy...I gotta tell Carrie about this..."
He paused and then laughed. "I just pulled off the greatest theft of my life and it was by far the easiest! Man, if the whole wizarding world is this easy, I'm going to have a ball this year."
Maria hopped up on his lap and mewed in agreement. Harry absently stroked her fur while looking at the legendary stone on his desk.
"I wonder..." Harry muttered, "does this have anything to do with that guy...the one who killed my parents? I return to the wizarding world for the first time, Headmaster Dumbledore asks the guy taking me shopping to bring him this precious stone, and I meet a bloodline elitist who will be at my school? This might be paranoia, but it's seems strange...the guy who killed my parents is dead now, Hagrid said, but he had followers...what happened to them?"
Maria licked his hand and stared up at him with wide yellow eyes. "You're right, Maria. I should talk to Carrie and the others about it tomorrow. In fact, I think it's time I invited them over."
Time Skip
Petunia looked like she had swallowed a wasp two days later when Harry's juvenile friends appeared on her doorstep after lunch. Carrie didn't say hello, she just said, "We're here to see Harry, he told you were we coming right?" Without waiting for an answer she pushed past his aunt and walked upstairs towards his room. Pierce and Miranda followed immediately, only Pierce deigning to be polite enough to acknowledge Petunia.
Carrie opened the door and looked in surprise as a grey kitten padded up to her and nuzzled her leg. "Hi, who are you?" She scooped the kitten up and looked at Harry. "You look cheerful."
"That's Maria, my familiar. Pierce, could you close the door? I've got a lot of stuff to tell you guys about."
Immediately, the three older kids sat down and Harry began showing them his wizarding things.
"You're rich!" Pierce said joyfully when Harry spilled some of his gallons and sickles onto the floor. "Filthy stinkin rich!" He suddenly looked hopefully at Harry. "I don't suppose you'd mind paying my college bills? You know, for being such a nice friend?"
Harry laughed, knowing his friend was at least half joking. "Come on, Pierce. I haven't even gotten to the good part yet." He removed the Philosopher Stone from the desk. "This, my dear friends, is a real, true-red Philosopher Stone."
"No." Miranda said disbelievingly. Pierce laughed for a moment before seeing Harry's expression and realizing he was completely serious. "That thing that creates the Elixir of Immortality? That can turn anything into gold?"
"Yes." Harry said smugly.
"How'd you get it?" She demanded.
"Swiped it from my guide's pocket." Harry chuckled. "It was ridiculously easy for something with that high security. He didn't suspect a thing!"
It was Miranda's turn to laugh; she lightly batted Harry around the head. "I'm so proud of how much you've learned from me!" She squeed.
Carrie hesitantly reached out and touched the smooth surface of the Stone. "Well, you'll never be short on cash, at least." She remarked.
"Yeah, the problem is I don't know what to do with it while I'm at school." Harry explained, "I don't feel like taking it with me – I get enough attention as it is. I'll be exposed fast."
"Enough attention?" Carrie enquired. More seriously, Harry explained the story of the Leaky Cauldron, the story of his parents and his encounter with the Draco and the Greengrass family.
Carrie sat up straighter and let out a resigned sigh. "Bigots are bigots, magical or not, I guess. You were bound to run into one sooner or later."
"That stuff about your parents...oh, that's terrible, Harry." Miranda said, eyes wide. Maria took this as a sign she needed comforting and jumped from Carrie's lap to hers. Miranda immediately started petting her. Harry had a feeling that the general intelligence of any given human dropped twenty percent when confronted with an adorable kitten. "At least the guy who did it is dead."
"So you're basically a celebrity?" Pierce theorized. "I have to admit, I don't envy you Harry, the life of a celebrity isn't as cracked up as it makes itself out to be."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Harry said with a scowl. "My point is, I don't think I should bring this with me and I don't want Dudley finding it when I'm out." He then reached out and put the Stone in Carrie's hands. "You hold onto it, Carrie. If anyone needs gold, you do."
Carrie's eyes widened. "You...you're okay with that? You have a stone that makes gold – and you're just giving it to me?"
"For safekeeping." Harry said. "But seriously, use it to upgrade your house and pay off your brother's alcohol debts. You deserve better than that."
Carrie looked shocked, touched and thankful. She leaned over and kissed Harry on the forehead. "Thank you Harry."
"Now what's this about two girls? You'll be a regular ladies man; you haven't been in the wizarding world a day and you've already scored a pair of sisters!" Pierce added teasingly.
Flustered, Harry retorted. "That's not what happened! I just met them today! I'm not looking for a girlfriend, not yet! Older people do that!"
Miranda groaned. "We're you listening, Harry? 'My daughters just made their societal debut'. Before muggle women were allowed to pick who they married that was code for 'I'm interested in creating an alliance between our families by marrying you to my daughter."
"M-M-Marry? But...she's eleven! I'm eleven!" Harry protested, now beyond alarmed. "Hell, forget out ages, how exactly is he going to convince Uncle Vernon to let me marry another magic user? He hates me, but he's still my guardian, and I don't think he'll want a witch around here besides me."
"I suppose you could refuse. And if he finds out you have a criminal record there's a good chance he'll change his mind, especially if he's from high society. Most lords and ladies would die before associating with a criminal, let alone marrying one, unless they were sufficiently well-off and canny." Miranda said thoughtfully, "But if they read that as an insult that would make you enemies."
Harry groaned. "Oh, this is just great, I've met a bigot, heard about a mass-murderer and met a guy who wants me to marry his daughter and I haven't even gotten to school yet!"
"Speaking of the school, how exactly are you going to get there?" Miranda enquired.
"Oh – I have to go to King's Cross station..." Harry dug out his ticket and showed it to them. "Platform Nine and Three Quarters."
Miranda looked confused. "I'm pretty sure King's Cross doesn't have that platform."
"Maybe they do, we just can't see it." Carrie said. "That makes sense, it keeps the muggles away."
"Right." Harry stared at his ticket. "Could you guys get me there?"
"Sure. I'll 'borrow' dad's new car."
Harry tilted his head slightly, and Maria mewed again. "Going to crash this one too?"
"...Maybe."