Chapter Text
A man with a long beard who was dressed in dark purple robes stood in front of number four, Privet drive. The man held a sleeping baby who remained blissfully unaware of what was happening around them. The cat that had been sitting on the garden wall beside the house hopped off of it and began walking towards the man.
As the cat walked it transformed into a woman who wore robes similar to the man's although hers were styled differently and were emerald in color. The man turned his attention away from the baby to address the woman.
"Good evening professor McGonagall."
McGonagall nodded and returned the greeting.
"Is that her Albus?"
"Yes."
Professor McGonagall looked towards the house. It looked exactly like all the others on the street.
"Is this really the best place for her? I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us."
"It's the best place for her. Her aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to her when she's older. I've written them a letter."
"A letter? Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand her. She'll be famous, there won't be a single child in our world who doesn't know her name."
"Exactly. Can't you see how much better off she'll be, growing up away from all of that until she's ready for it?"
"Yes, I suppose you're right."
Dumbledore walked up to the door of the house and gently set the baby on the front step. He placed the letter next to her.
"Good luck Holly Potter."
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A ten year old Holly was woken up by her Aunt Petunia pounding on the door of her room and demanding that she stop being lazy and get out of bed. Holly sat up, being careful not to hit her head as she did so. She put her glasses on and brushed her hair to the side so it was no longer in front of her face.
Holly was still moving too slow for her aunt's liking which made the older woman pound on the door once again.
"Up, get up!"
Holly quickly got dressed, putting on one of the few outfits she owned.
All of her clothes were bought from thrift stores that sold things that had gone through at least five others before winding up there. Even though her clothes were second hand Holly was thankful she wasn't made to wear Dudleys old clothes.
The only reason the Dursleys hadn't done that was because it would look too odd. They didn't like anything that was odd. That was the main reason why they didn't like Holly. A lot of strange things happened to her or to people around her that she wasn't able to explain.
One time when she was six Dudley had been teasing her about having red hair. He had said it looked like her head was on fire and that he could roast marshmallows with it. The next day Dudley woke up with bright pink hair.
Another time when she was seven Aunt Petunia had sent her in the backyard to hang up the wash on the clothesline. The only problem was that she had been too short to reach the top of the clothesline.
The only way she managed to reach high enough was by standing on her tiptoes on top of a stool. This led to her falling backwards. Holly had been sure she was going to fall and hit her head but instead she had somehow ended up on the roof of the house. She could still remember the look on Aunt Petunia's face when she had come outside to find Holly on the roof.
There were a bunch of other things that happened to Holly over the years that made most people think she was odd. Even Holly's appearance could be considered odd. She had a lightning bolt shaped scar on her forehead. When Holly had asked Aunt Petunia where she had gotten the scar she had been told that it was from the car crash that had killed her parents.
Any time the scar on Holly's forehead would be mentioned after that it would be because she was being yelled at to brush her hair to the side to cover it.
Holly didn't have any memories of her parents. The only thing she could remember from before she lived with the Dursleys was a bright green light. She didn't even know what they looked like because she had no pictures of them and no one had ever answered any of her questions about them.
Holly didn't know if her red hair came from her father or her mother. She didn't know if her brown eyes came from her father or her mother either. She didn't know anything about them.
Holly shook her head slightly and brought her attention back to getting ready for the day. She finished getting dressed and brushed her hair as best she could. For the most part her hair would stay neat but there always seemed to be one or two spots that would stick up no matter how hard she tried to brush them. Not being able to get her hair any neater Holly stepped out of the cupboard and into the hall.
Holly knew Dudley was awake when she heard what sounded like an elephant coming down the stairs. Dudley shoved her to the side and made his way into the kitchen. Holly stumbled for a moment before going into the kitchen. Aunt Petunia was fussing over Dudley who looked more interested in the pile of presents next to the table than hugging his mother.
As Dudley was being fussed over Holly went over to the stove and started preparing breakfast. Once Aunt Petunia let go of him Dudley addressed Uncle Vernon who was sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
"How many are there?"
"Thirty six, I counted them myself."
Upon hearing the number of presents Dudley started yelling.
"Thirty six, but last year, last year I had thirty seven!"
Aunt Petunia quickly began to placate Dudley.
"How about this, when we go out we'll get you two new presents. How does that sound?"
Dudleys face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to figure out how many presents he would have.
"So that's, thirty eight."
Uncle Vernon chuckled.
"Making sure he gets his money's worth, just like his old man."
Once Dudley was calmed down, Aunt Petunia went to the stove to oversee Holly's work. Her aunt soon left where she was standing over Holly's shoulder telling her not to burn any of the food by the phone ringing. As Holly served Uncle Vernon and Dudley their breakfast, Aunt Petunia talked on the phone. When she hung up she had a sour look on her face.
"Ms. Figg broke her leg. She can't take her."
Ms. Figg was an older woman who lived across the street from the Dursleys. Whenever the Dursleys were going somewhere and they didn't want to leave Holly in the house alone they would drop her off at Ms. Figgs house.
Holly liked Ms. Figg well enough. She was nice and never seemed to mind having Holly around. The older woman had about a dozen cats and seemed to do nothing other than flip through various magazines that had sat on her coffee table for the past decade and watch television.
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia began discussing what they were going to do with Holly now that Ms. Figg wasn't available. They spoke as if Holly wasn't standing a few feet away from them.
"We could leave her in the cupboard."
"And risk her getting out and burning the house down?"
"What about leaving her in the car?"
"It's a new car. I don't want it getting ruined."
Aunt Petunia's lips pursed and she looked as if she had just eaten something foul.
"Then we don't have any other choice but to bring her with us."
Their conversation was interrupted by Dudley who wanted to ensure his opinion on the matter was heard.
"But I don't want her to go. She always ruins everything."
Aunt Petunia held Dudley as he "cried". Dudley hadn't actually cried in years. He could make it appear like he was crying whenever he wanted though. Holly seemed to be the only person to have caught onto this.
Eventually Dudley calmed down after being promised that Holly wouldn't cause any trouble and he could get an extra present from the zoo gift shop for having to make such a "sacrifice" on his birthday by having her there.
Once everyone had finished eating Holly began washing the breakfast dishes. At one point Dudley complained that she was taking too long and that they wouldn't be able to get to the zoo before it got too crowded.
Holly thought everything would go faster if one of them were to help. She didn't voice this opinion though and simply continued doing the dishes, moving faster when Uncle Vernon said he didn't want to be stuck in traffic all day because of her.
By the time they did leave Holly was nearly jumping in excitement. She was never brought anywhere. The Dursleys plus Holly made their way out of the house and towards the car. Aunt Petunia and Dudley got into the car.
Uncle Vernon stopped her before she could get in as well.
"I swear girl, if there's any funny business, any at all, you won't be getting any meals for a week. Do you understand?"
Holly nodded.
"Yes Uncle Vernon."
Satisfied, Uncle Vernon got into the driver's seat and started the car. Holly slipped into the back seat next to Dudley. She stared out the window, looking at the different buildings and people as they made their way to the zoo. Holly was filled with too much excitement at going to the zoo for the first time to even mind much when Dudley shoved her against the car door during the drive.
Once they arrived Dudley took charge and the rest of them followed, going along with what he wanted to do, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia because they wanted to make sure he was happy and Holly because she just felt lucky at being able to go in the first place and didn't want to do anything to ruin it.
Dudley led the group, taking them from exhibit to exhibit, making everyone move on to the next once he got bored of whatever animal was in there. Holly trailed behind, taking in as many of the sights of the zoo as she could.
They saw tigers, giraffes, bears and lions. They went to the aquatic section and saw various types of fish and other sea creatures. Later in the afternoon they made their way to the reptile house where there were different types of snakes and lizards.
The group followed Dudley as he went up to the glass cage containing a Brazilian boa constrictor. The snake was laying over one of the rocks in its habitat and appeared to be sleeping. Dudley quickly became annoyed at the snake's lack of movement.
"Make it move."
Uncle Vernon knocked on the glass.
"Move."
Dudley banged on the glass much louder.
"Move!"
The snake continued to stay still, not being influenced by Dudleys yelling.
"This snakes boring."
Dudley stalked away, off to look at a different animal. Holly stayed by the snake exhibit and leaned against the railing next to the glass. Holly found herself talking to the snake, mostly out of habit from talking to herself when she was alone.
"Sorry about him. It must be hard, having to sit in there, people coming just to peer in at you all the time."
To Holly's surprise the snake perked up at the sound of her voice. The snake slithered up to the edge of the enclosure to look at Holly through the glass.
"Can you understand me?"
The snake nodded. Holly continued on with the conversation, being more interested than freaked out about the fact that she was currently conversing with a boa constrictor.
"You're from Brazil right? What was it like there?"
The snake turned and pointed its tail towards a sign that was next to the exhibit. Brazilian boa constrictor. Raised in captivity. Holly was about to ask another question when she was interrupted by Dudley who came running over upon seeing how the boa constrictor was now moving.
"Mum, dad come look at what this snake is doing!"
Dudley pushed Holly aside and leaned in closer to the glass to look at the snake. Dudley put his hands on the glass leaning forward onto it to peer in at the snake. Holly fell on the ground, her hands getting scraped when she tried to catch herself.
Holly glared up at Dudley who was now leaning against the glass to get a closer look at the boa constrictor. Suddenly the glass vanished and Dudley fell forward and into the snake enclosure. Holly watched as Dudley became soaked from falling into the small river. Her cousin began whimpering as the boa constrictor moved over him.
The snake slithered out of the cage and began moving towards the exit. Before leaving the snake turned to Holly.
"Thanks."
Holly nodded, still a bit surprised at everything that was happening.
"No problem."
Holly watched as everyone began yelling and scrambling to get out of the way as the snake slithered toward the exit of the reptile house. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were drawn over by the commotion and saw what had happened to Dudley.
The two of them ran over to the enclosure. Dudley tried to climb out through the way he had fallen in to get back to his parents but found the exit blocked. The glass that had disappeared moments ago was now back. Dudley pounded on the glass and Aunt Petunia became frantic, trying to find a way to get him out.
Holly found herself giggling as she watched the expressions of her cousin and aunt become more panicked as they continued trying to get Dudley out of the enclosure. Uncle Vernon turned to see Holly who was still sitting on the ground. She immediately stopped laughing.
Everything that happened after that seemed like a blur to Holly. One of the zoo keepers came to get Dudley out of the snake exhibit. An announcement was made and the other visitors were cleared out of the area while the zoo workers tried to catch the snake. The Dursleys and Holly piled back into the car and drove in silence all the way back.
Holly could hardly focus on any of it because all she was thinking about was how much trouble she would be in when they went back.
When they got to the house Aunt Petunia led Dudley upstairs so that he could get cleaned up and put on dry clothes. Uncle Vernon led Holly into the house by her arm and only stopped dragging her when they stood in the hall in front of the cupboard. He grabbed her hair to pull her head back so that she was looking up at him.
Uncle Vernon's face was a dark shade of red bordering on purple as he angrily questioned her.
"What did you do?"
Holly winced when her hair was tugged even harder.
"I didn't do anything. One minute the glass was there and the next it was gone. It was like magic."
Uncle Vernon pushed Holly into the cupboard and then slammed the door shut. The lock clicked.
"There's no such thing as magic."
