Chapter Text
November 2nd had just barely arrived. The chilly night was all quiet; barely anyone was up at this time, and those who were were safe inside, hiding from the cold.
The quiet street of Privet Drive was no different, the street quiet and bare aside from a few parked cars.
But, while Privet Drive was usually a rather normal street, this night, it would receive some not-so-normal visitors.
At the very beginning of the street, under rather bright street lamps, a figure stood, a man, a very old man.
This man was someone no one on Privet Drive had ever seen before, and he most certainly did not fit in at all. Dressed in long robes and cloaks, with a large pointy hat and half-moon glasses, this man looked like he'd fit right in at a Renaissance fair or perhaps even a children's story book. The man looked just like a wise old wizard.
And that was because he was a wizard.
Albus Dumbledore, an old, wise, and powerful wizard, had come to Privet Drive this night for a very important reason.
As he moved from his spot under the street lamp, he took a small device from within his cloak, and when held up, it seemed to suck the light right out from the lamps, encasing the street in the natural darkness of night. No one could see that he was here.
Continuing down the street, walking with grace that came naturally. Dumbledore only stopped when he saw a little tabby cat sitting on a fence and watching him.
"Ah." Dumbledore began. "I was wondering where you were, McGonagall. I was worried." He said to the cat.
The animals stared at the old man with slight annoyance in their eyes before moving to jump off the fence, but as it did, it did not remain a cat, but instead suddenly transformed into a woman, who too was also dressed in long robes and a pointy hat, much like a witch would.
"When I heard about your plan, I felt the need to come here, see if it was safe, or even a good idea at all, and I must say, it isn't."
"It is the only plan, I'm afraid," Dumbledore replied.
"I have watched these people all day, Albus. Horrible, they are. Their own child is a complete and utter nightmare, screaming every hour of the day, and the parents, hard to believe Lily could be related to such a woman. I don't like it." McGonagall ranted.
"I'm afraid that we do not have the privilege at the moment to criticize this family’s behavior. It is right now the safest option, and safety needs to be our top priority. Many dangers still lurk out there."
"I understand, but still, I don't like it... Where is she anyway? You did not bring her yourself?" The witch questioned.
"It would have been far too obvious if I did, but worry not, I have entrusted Hagrid to bring her."
"Hagrid?!" Blurted out McGonagall. "Are you sure it was wise to-"
"McGonagall." Dumbledore interrupted. "I would trust Hagrid with my very life, and any life."
Just as Dumbledore finished reassuring his friend, the quiet of the night was disrupted by the sound of the rumbling of a motorcycle engine.
But, this rumbling did not come from down the street like most would expect it to; instead, it came from up above, and through the fog of the night, and down from the sky, a light could be seen.
A motorcycle, flying in the sky, a very large figure riding on top of it, soon came crashing to the ground, screeching as it hit the pavement. As the motorcycle came to a stop, the large figure atop it got off without much grace.
The rider of the vehicle was a large and very, very tall man, with dark, wild hair and an even wilder beard that nearly consumed his face, only allowing his dark eyes to peep through. One of his large arms was holding something, but it was covered by his large fur coat that could engulf anyone of a reasonable size.
"Hagrid, you're here," Dumbledore said to the man. "You were not followed or suspected I hope."
"Not at all Professor Dumbledore. Was as quiet and discreet as a mouse," the tall man boomed.
"Lower your voice, Hagrid, we mustn't wake the Muggles." McGonagall chastised as she looked around the street, making sure no lights went on.
"Sorry, Professor."
"Is she safe Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course. Crying up a storm at St Mungos, but fell asleep the second we took off." Hagrid explained as he opened his coat to reveal a small toddler wrapped warmly in a blanket.
"And, where did you get that thing exactly?" McGonagall questioned, worried he may have snatched the thing from a Muggle residence.
"Borrowed it, it was Si- I borrowed it," Hagrid said, stopping himself from naming someone, his face contorting in anger.
"I... see," the old witch replied, knowing exactly who the giant was talking about.
"Enough talk now, we've all been gone too long, here, Hagrid," Dumbledore said as he held out his arms and Hagrid placed the small child into them.
With child in arms, the old wizard walked over to a lovely yet very cookie-cutter home that had a number four on its door.
Gently placing the tot on the doorstep, Dumbledore took a letter out from his robes addressed to the residents of the house that would explain the reason for the child's sudden appearance on their stoop.
"Is this really okay, Albus?" McGonagall asked one last time, worry in her voice.
"I hope so," he replied. "Holly Potter, the savior of our world, with all my hope, I wish you safety and luck." With that, Dumbledore stepped away from the house. "We must go now, it is almost dawn, and I feel we will be very busy."
The other two nodded and quickly left, Hagrid on the loud bike and McGonagall, who simply disappeared with only a loud noise indicating she was even there at all. Dumbledore was the last to leave, but before he did, he revealed a long and ornate wand, and with a flick of it, the occupants inside the house suddenly found themselves waking up and with a need to step outside.
With that, Dumbledore, with one last glance at the small child, a hint of sadness and guilt in his eyes, disappeared into the night.
9 Years Later
Privet Drive was a perfectly normal street, with perfectly normal houses that all looked the same, with pristine gardens, nice cars, and normal families residing inside.
And the family that resided in the house labeled #4, thought of themselves as the most normal of them all.
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, according to themselves, were a picture-perfect family that lived in the most perfect house on Privet Drive, located in the perfect town of Little Whinging.
The father and husband, Vernon Dursley, a rather large man with an equally large mustache, was the breadwinner of the family, working in a very high and successful position at a company that made and sold drills along with other construction equipment.
Mrs. Dursley, on the other hand, was a lovely woman with blonde hair that was always perfectly done up. She also had a rather long neck that came in handy when peering over the back garden fence to spy on the neighbors in order to hear any new gossip going on.
And there was their son Dudley Dursley, the apple of his parents’ eyes. To them, there was no finer boy in all of England, and he could do no wrong.
Yes, the Durlseys were indeed picture-perfect.
But, despite the picturesque image they maintained, they did have a secret, a terrible, abnormal secret, and that secret was currently still asleep in a cupboard that was situated under the staircase, a young girl with auburn hair and lightning bolt shaped scar on her fair forehead slept restlessly, as her dreams were not ones of a flying motorcycle or fireworks in the sky like they usually were, but of terror and death.
There was yelling, the wind was howling, a baby was crying, there was screaming and begging, and finally, a horrid green light was all that could be seen.
Green eyes opened wide as their vision was filled with an equally green light. It was just a dream, that's all it was, the light was not real. That is what Holly Potter told herself every time she woke up from that dream, that none of it was real, just a nightmare.
She began to rub her scar as it was beginning to burn; it always did when she had that dream. Letting out a deep breath, Holly pushed herself up and looked around her small sleeping space. It was dark, but some light was peaking through a small air vent on the door.
As she sat in her small bed trying not to think about the nightmare, she was startled by a loud knocking on the “bedroom” door.
"Up! Up up up! Now! I need you to watch breakfast while I make everything perfect for Dudley's big day!" She heard her aunt screech from the other side of the door.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Holly answered as she picked up a pair of round spectacles she needed to see. The auburn-haired girl grumbled, hating that she needed them, mainly because of how ugly they were. Her uncle was only willing to get the cheapest pair for her, and that pair just happened to be round, dorky-looking glasses that only an old librarian would wear.
"Up! Now!" Her aunt yelled with another harsh knock on the door.
Holly huffed at this rude awakening.
This was how she was usually woken up, someone pounding on her bedroom door and demanding her to do something.
Holly didn't have a real bedroom; she slept in the small cupboard under the stairs. It was a cramped little room that at one point she could sit in comfortably, but she was starting to become too big for it.
It wasn't always like this. She actually used to sleep in a normal room upstairs since the house had four of them, but when she was seven, she apparently did something that caused her to be put in the cupboard on timeout, for three whole years now.
She hoped the punishment would be lifted soon; this place was becoming far too uncomfortable to actually get dressed in.
"Are you up yet?!" she heard her aunt yell.
"Nearly," she answered, rolling her green eyes. She hated her eyes.
Holly finished getting dressed and went into the kitchen where her aunt was.
"Watch the bacon, and try not to burn anything. I want this day to be absolutely perfect for Duddy. And fix your hair!" her aunt said.
Holly complied as her aunt started the coffee machine and then took a cake out of the fridge. The morning wasn't even at double digits, but she knew precious round Duddy would scarf that whole cake down, making him even rounder than he already was. She was surprised Dudley could even walk around.
Holly always thought that Dudley looked like Violet Beauregarde after she ate that gum, especially when he wore blue. Actually, no, he looked more like a tomato, really. With his pink face that turned red whenever he threw a tantrum. Holly stopped herself from laughing at the image in her head.
The auburn-haired girl then remembered the first time she called Dudley a tomato. They were both seven, and he was wearing a red jacket and throwing a tantrum over a toy or something. He was so red and shiny, combined with his round body, how could she not think that of him?
Now that she thought about it, calling him a tomato was what made her end up in the cupboard and not the bedroom, a timeout that never lifted. In fact, the word tomato was banned from the house, including the fruit itself; no tomatoes on sandwiches or with breakfast, Aunt Petunia even ripped up her tomato plant she had grown herself. Odd.
When she finished cooking the bacon and putting it on plates along with the eggs, Holly heard the unmistakable heavy footsteps of her uncle coming down the stairs.
Her uncle was a large man, with literally no neck, and a large mustache that gave him the appearance of a walrus, almost. Her aunt was the exact opposite, a thin woman with a long, slender neck and short blonde hair. Holly often thought her aunt was rather pretty, but her face was constantly looking displeased, or as if she had just eaten a very sour lemon, so it was hard to really tell.
Her uncle entered the kitchen first, kissing her aunt on the cheek, giving her a "Good morning," before sitting down and immediately barking at her to comb her hair.
She never understood what their obsession with her hair was. It was messy and thick, yes, but she couldn't control that, not even with gel or haircuts. Holly was certain she had had more haircuts than all of her classmates combined. But she couldn’t help it, it just grew all over the place.
Her cousin, precious little Dudley, came running in soon after his father, not greeting anyone, and instead going right to the living room, looking over into the living room at the ocean of presents that were waiting for him.
It was the precious tomato's birthday today, and like every year, he got a butt load of gifts he would play with for a few minutes before breaking them and then forgetting about them.
"Good morning Dudykins!" "Happy birthday, son!" her aunt and uncle said to the boy.
"Do you like your presents sweetums? Mummy wrapped them all just for you," her aunt asked, and, instead of being grateful, Dudley simply marched over to the kitchen with a sour look on his face.
"Are there more!?" he questioned. "I counted only thirty-six, and there was thirty-seven last year! I ALWAYS get one more than last year!" the large boy shouted.
"Oh but there is thirty-seven, Duddydums, your aunt Marge got you something, it's just hidden under the big one from mummy and daddy," Petunia said, trying to stop the tantrum that was sure to come.
"Fine, but that's still only thirty-seven!" Dudley continued to argue.
"Only thirty-seven?" Holly thought as she ate. "Some kids don't get anything you know."
"Well, how about this then, when we go into town later, we'll get you two more presents, how does that sound, darling?"
"Two more? So, that's thirty... thirty..."
"Thirty-nine, two more than last year!" Vernon said.
"Oh.. Alright then." Dudley agreed happily as he grabbed a box and brought it over to the table. Dudley messily unwrapped the gift as he ate his food faster than usual.
Holly rolled her eyes as she sat down to finally eat her own food, and ate fast, less her cousin pick off her plate.
When breakfast was over, Holly was washing the plates and putting them away while the Dursleys were waiting for one of Dudley's friends to arrive so they could all go to the zoo together. Dudley was always allowed to bring one friend with him on his birthday outings, while she was left behind because she was a "No good troublemaker," according to her aunt. Usually, Holly was sent to stay with a neighbor by the name of Mrs Figg, a kind but batty old woman who owned many cats.
Many, many cats.
Holly didn't mind the cats; they seemed to like her, but they were all very fluffy with too much fur, and Dudley loved to point out that one orange cat had the same "fur" as her.
But, as she finished her chores and was ready to be sent off to Mrs Figg before Dudley's friend arrived, the phone began to ring, and Mrs Dursley answered. "Dursley residence... Oh, hello Mrs Figg... oh... oh, I see... I understand, have a good day." Mrs Dursley then hung up the phone and turned to her husband. " Bad news dear, Mrs Figg has broken her leg; she won't be able to watch the girl."
"What?" Vernon asked in a tone full of annoyance. "Well, I guess we'll just have to leave her here."
"Oh no, and have her break something?" Mrs Dursley asked. She's never broken anything before. "Let's just leave her in the car."
"And have her muck it up? That's a brand new car! What about your friend, Yvonne? She doesn't work on Sundays,"
"She's on holiday. What about your sister?"
"You know Marge hates the girl, she'll laugh right in my face if I were to ask her that."
"Well, I guess, we just have to take her then?"
Was Holly hearing things? Was she really about to be taken with them to the zoo? This would be her first time at the zoo.
"B-but, I-I don't want her to g-go-gooo!" Dudley immediately began to cry upon hearing the news that his cousin may be joining them, and Holly couldn't help but roll her eyes at the spoiled brat. Was she really so awful to be around? Well, precious Duddykins wasn't a peach either.
Holly never could think of anything nice to say about her cousin. He was a spoiled brat and a pig at that, always stealing her lunch and the lunch of other kids at school. He was a no-good bully who always picked on kids smaller than him, and one of those kids was her.
Dudley had never hit her like he did to other kids, her aunt was at least smart enough to teach him not to hit girls, as it wouldn't look good for them to have a son who did such a thing, but that didn't mean he never called her names or made fun of her old hand-me-down clothes.
"Don't worry my sweet Diddydums, mummy won't let her ruin your special day." She's never ruined anything; they just think she will, because they suck. "Vernon think of something," she told her husband, but no thinking could be done as there was a knock on the door, "Oh no, they're already here."
At hearing the knock, Dudley stopped crying almost as fast as he started and ran to the door to open it and greet his friend, Piers Polkiss. Now, Holly was no longer excited for the zoo; she honestly hated Piers more than Dudley. He sat right behind her in class and would constantly poke her with his pencil or pull her hair, calling her carrot top or four eyes. Unlike with Dudley, she could go to the teacher and tell on him, but she was always told the same thing over and over again. "Boys will be boys." "Just ignore him." "Oh, he probably has a crush on you, isn't that sweet?"
She always wanted to throw up when she heard the last one. Piers had a face like a rat, a very ugly rat. Who would like him?
In the end, Holly was permitted to go, as the Dursleys had no other options and also needed to keep up appearances with Piers's mother, but not without a good minute of being threatened not to cause any problems or mess anything up, not that she would or ever had before. While Holly was excited to finally be included, she was not excited for the ride there, as she was squished into the backseat with Dudley and Piers, and while she didn't like Piers one bit, she was at least happy he was a lanky twig and not a hippo like her cousin.
When they got to the zoo, Holly was ecstatic, happily looking at all the animals, and was even able to ignore Dudley and Piers. She was even allowed to get ice cream, and while the boys were allowed to get the largest scoops of ice cream the vendor had, she was stuck with the cheapest option, a lemon ice lolly, but she didn't mind. Dudley also wanted to see the reptile house, but Aunt Petunia was against it, at least not before lunch.
There was a cafe at the zoo, and Dudley was allowed to get the most expensive meal that came with dessert and a large float, while she once again had the cheapest option, but again, she didn't mind. After they ate and saw more animals, they finally entered the reptile house, which was like a humid tunnel with numerous exhibits along the walls. Her aunt didn't look like she was enjoying herself at all, refusing to acknowledge any of the reptiles while her uncle was looking at a pamphlet, suggesting animal shows they could see or even the petting zoo in an effort to comfort his wife.
Dudley and Piers ran from display to display, looking at all the lizards and snakes, making fun of some of them or clearly ignoring the ones not to tap glass signs. A few people made comments about the misbehaving boys, and one mother with a stroller even said that Holly was a polite young girl in comparison to them. That was when Mrs Dursley finally rounded them up and had them stand closer to her. While she loved to spoil her son, she was also very conscious about her public image.
As they neared the end of the tunnel, they passed by an exhibit that held a large boa constrictor that did not look too happy to be there, or to be stared at by two ugly, misbehaving boys.
"This is boring, Dad, make it do something!" Dudley loudly complained, leading Mr Dursley to knock on the glass and yell at the poor animal to move, though it obviously didn't.
"Let's go look at the poisonous ones," Piers said as he pulled Dudley along, and his parents followed, but Holly chose to stay behind.
"Sorry about them, they don't understand what it's like to be locked up and having ugly rats and pigs gawking at you all the time." She told the snake, who perked up when it saw that it was being spoken to. Holly noticed this and wondered if the snake somehow understood her.
The snake then looked over at Dudley and Piers, and shook its head, as if to say it had to deal with that sort of thing all day long, all year long.
"Yeah, I understand, I have to live with the big one, truly annoying, isn't it?" Holly stated, and the snake nodded in agreement, much to her surprise. "At least you get a break when the zoo closes, but you're still stuck in this small case. Where do you come from anyway?" Holly asked.
The large snake moved its tail and used it to point to the plaque that was just outside its enclosure that Holly hadn't noticed until now. Brazilian Boa Constrictor, it read. "Brazil, did you like it there?"
The snake pointed to the plaque again, and Holly read on, "This specimen was bred and raised in captivity."
"I see, so you've never been. That must be awful, to never know where you truly come from-"
"Dudley, look! Look at what the snakes are doing!" Holly was interrupted by Piers, who noticed that the snake was now moving about.
Just then, Holly found herself being shoved out of the way by both Dudley and Piers, nearly knocking her over when they went to get a closer look at the snake, who now looked offended that their conversation was over.
Holly stood to the side and watched as Dudley managed to get his fat body over the railing and smashed e his pig nose into the glass. He was always doing this to her, pushing her, ruining friendships, making her miserable. She wished he would finally get punished, or at least humiliated.
And that's just what she got when all of a sudden the glass that kept the snake trapped suddenly vanished, just completely gone now, and Dudley fell into the small pond that was at the bottom of the enclosure, splashing Piers with the water in the process, drenching him just as much as Dudley now was.
"Yuck!" the rat-faced boy said as he tried to shake the water off himself. Meanwhile, Dudley was flailing about trying to get up, but he looked like a beach ball in the rough waters of the beach. Holly couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud at the scene.
While Dudley was struggling to get up the boa say this as an opportunity and gracefully slithered out of the enclosure and into freedom, stopping right before Holly. "Thanks, Amigassss," it said before slithering off, causing many people to panic and run. Holly could only hope that it found its way home.
It was then that her aunt and uncle finally came over, along with a zookeeper who was frantically asking where the snake went, but none of the children knew, or at least one pretended not to.
Petunia quickly got her precious beach ball out of the enclosure and began to yell at the zookeeper for having such an unsafe thing happen, complaining that the glass must have shattered and now her son was hurt and probably got a disease or something.
Holly just stood off to the side, not saying anything until her uncle finally addressed her. "Girl! What happened here?" he asked angrily.
"It's like Aunt Petunia said, I think the glass shattered," she said.
After a brief call on their radio, the zookeeper took them all to an office just outside the reptile house, where apologies were made to appease the angry guests, and free passes for both summer and winter were given. Now with both boys wrapped in blankets courtesy of the gift shop, Mrs and Mrs Dursley decided the day was done and took everyone home. On the drive home though, Holly often saw her uncle glaring at her through the mirror, as if this was all her fault, even though it wasn't, was it?
When they finally got back to Privet Drive, Piers' mom was already waiting for him there, having been called from the zoo, and she was not happy that the zoo had been so unsafe, both her and Mrs Dursley agreeing that a lawsuit would teach that place a lesson.
When they all went inside, Holly was immediately sent to her cupboard and told she was not allowed out for a week, why? Because how dare she laugh at Dudley when he was scared and in distress, and so now she sat in the small, cramped cupboard
Despite being locked in the cupboard, Holly that night had a much happier dream than the one she had woken up to that morning, dreaming of a large snake happily slithering through the jungle, free and in its true home.