Harry was startled awake as the stairs over his head shuddered, small flakes of wood and dust fell down on top of him and it felt like an earthquake. With a groan he sat up and wondered what on earth was so important that his cousin was up this early. It wasn’t even 8am yet and during the summer holidays it was almost unheard of to see Dudley before 11am. Reaching for his glasses and pulling his clothes on as quickly as he could, Harry opened the cupboard door just in time to hear his cousin shout.

“C’mon Freak! Hurry up! I want pancakes and syrup and bacon and eggs and toast and milkshake for breakfast, it is my birthday y’know and that means it’s important” Dudley yelled “Mum! Dad! The Freak hasn’t got breakfast ready and I want to open my presents!”

Harry sighed and pushed his anger as deep as he could, Dudley was the one person other than his Uncle Vernon that could make him want to lose his temper but the consequences just weren’t worth it. He had forgotten that today was his cousin’s birthday – they both turned eleven this month. With a few economic movements Harry soon had breakfast cooking and he smirked to himself as he felt his power surround him.

Over the last three years he had secretly been learning to control his ‘freakishness’ in small ways, teaching himself to use it to help him. Sometimes it went wrong and he was noticed and got punished but more and more his ‘wishes’ were working properly and he was able to use it to avoid any major problems. His wishes helped him cook better and quicker and strangely even helped him hide portions of food so he was eating better and looking a lot less sickly and frail.

He was learning easier and quicker at school – though he still had to hide the fact – and was avoiding getting caught by Dudley and his gang more so he was bullied less. The fact that he never had to go without the soft glow of a nightlight in his cupboard meant he was sleeping better and was more rested and able to keep up with his schoolwork and chores better too. He still thought the best benefit though was he was doing better at evading Dudley’s ‘pranks’ and that meant he hadn’t broken any cups and glasses for ages or spilled any food or drinks so on the whole he was generally avoiding punishments.

The downside was as his confidence grew he sometimes forgot himself and ‘talked back’ to Uncle Vernon. This would cause his uncle to go purple in the face and a particularly nasty punishment to happen. Even Dudley rarely got away with ‘cheek’ though his punishments were being denied a treat, not a thrashing followed by being locked up outside or in the shed for a night or two.

As Harry was getting older Vernon seemed to think his punishments needed to grow in severity. Thankfully Petunia was a little more reasonable – or at least unwilling to deal with a child that needed hospital – and would allow him enough water and food to prevent medical interference, even when he was being punished. On occasion she had even slipped him antiseptic cream and painkillers as well as extra food though her care was sporadic and generally centred around Halloween or April.

He knew he had been left with the Dursleys on November 1st so he assumed his parents had died around then – Vernon complained that November 1st 1981 was the day his life was ‘ruined because his Freaky Nephew was dumped on them without even a by your leave’ and reminded Harry of this on an almost weekly basis. Over the last year he had managed to snoop in some of Petunia's files and found references to Lily Evans and a newspaper clipping about Lily marrying James Potter - so he had his mother's name for the first time. Further searching showed her birthday as the 9th of April.

With these extra pieces of information Harry was fairly certain that Aunt Petunia's random bursts of apparent conscience coincided with his mother's birthday and the anniversary of her death. Maybe his Aunt had loved his sister once though even at ten-nearly-eleven Harry knew it would be suicidal to ask her what had changed. At least now he had their names he could try find out more details on his rare trips to the library, they had news archives that were free to access and he would be able to look up the reports of the accident if nothing else.

As Harry finished Dudley’s special breakfast along with the usual toast, bacon and eggs for his Aunt and Uncle he made his plans. The family normally went to a theme park or wherever for Dudley’s ‘special day’ and either left him to his own devices, left him with a list of chores or left him with Mrs Figg over on Magnolia Crescent. Harry hoped that today would be either on his own or with Mrs Figg as he planned to head to the Library again as soon as he could, previous trips had turned up no trace of his parents in any of the local papers or those for nearby towns. 

He hoped he found what he was looking for soon as the Librarian was starting to give him funny looks having noticed that when he came in it was for a full day and he never left for lunch, simply reading quietly for hours on end then leaving – not to say he only read the news archives – he also studied and read for pleasure, pleased to have the chance to do so.

Taking the opportunity while his relatives were busy eating their expansive meal Harry quickly ate the slightly dry bread from the end of the loaf, a banana and a glass of milk, finishing just in time to take their dishes and clean them before getting reprimanded for laziness. Half listening to Dudley’s excited chatter he mainly focussed on staying out of the way and being ignored as Petunia went to the phone, with a mental sigh he realised she was calling Mrs Figg.

“Oh hello Mrs Figg, it’s Petunia Dursley here. I do apologise for calling so early but I need to ask a favour. It’s my Dudder’s birthday today and we were planning on taking the boys on a fantastic outing to the zoo, the whole family you know? But Harry has a tummy ache and it’s just not fair to take him but poor Duddikins can’t miss out on his special day! It’s all paid for... can you take Harry for the day?... You can’t?...why ever not?...oh you poor dear!...no of course you can’t look after him. Well feel better soon. Bye!” Petunia rang off with a scowl and joined Vernon in the lounge.

“What’s wrong Pet?” he asked, worry colouring his features.

“That Figg woman!” Petunia half screeched “she can’t take the boy, she’s fallen and broken her arm the stupid bint and now she knows we’re going out so we can’t just leave him”

“Well what are we going to do with him?” Vernon was flustered “I’ve had today booked for weeks, I can’t have any more time off, not with that holiday to Spain you want as well in the Autumn”

"We'll just have to take him - maybe we can leave him in the car or just let him roam on his own so we don't have to put up with his freakishness for the day" Petunia sniffed, scowling at Harry who was trying to appear as small as possible as he wiped down the breakfast table.

“Oh bloody hell, the things I have to put up with because of that freak” Vernon grumbled “Very well, let’s get going or we’ll get stuck in traffic for hours, it’ll be bad enough as it is”

Harry tuned out the rest of the moaning and grumbling as his mind raced. On one hand he wouldn’t be able now to go to the library for the foreseeable future, on the other hand he had never been on one of Dudley’s outings and the zoo sounded amazing and there was no way he would ever have another opportunity to go.

Deciding to make the best of it Harry quickly popped into his cupboard and changed into his ‘best’ clothes normally reserved for school – they were the closest in fit and had the fewest scuffs and rips – and grabbed his small, tatty backpack with sketchpad and pencils that he had rescued when Dudley had thrown them out in a fit of anger. Despite needing a full change and gathering his things Harry was still the first ready so he dared a hurried trip to the bathroom and went to the toilet and washed up knowing that his relatives would only stop en route if Dudley demanded it and never for him. At the last second he grabbed two of his bottles of water and stowed them in the bag too as it was unlikely he’d be eating today.

After much wailing and moaning from Dudley who was very indignant about his cousin joining them on their outing and various last minute panics and demands they finally got on the road a good hour behind schedule. Stopping to pick up Dudley’s best friend Piers Polkiss along the way only made the journey even more insufferable for Harry.

Both Dudley and Piers were eating vast amounts of sweets and taunting the smaller boy who was huddled against the door and trying vainly to stay out of their way as they tried to come up with more and more gruesome ways to murder him on the trip.

“How about… how about right, we drop ‘im in the lion’s pit? They’ll eat ‘im right up they will” Piers suggested, smirking.

“Nah” Dudley replied, looking sideways at his pale cousin “I reckon chuck him in the snake tank, they squeeze their food til its eye’s pop out – what d’ya think? Pop-out-Potty?”

The obnoxious boys were soon rolling about laughing so hard their sides hurt and they spilled most of their sweets. Harry held himself as small and quiet as he could knowing that if he angered his cousin or uncle and got smacked he would definitely be relegated to the car for the day as they wouldn’t risk taking him in public with marks showing. It was already warm and that was with the fans on, there was no way Harry wanted to be shut in the car’s stuffy confines for a full day! Instead he focussed on stealing as many of the fallen sweets as he could without being noticed, by this point not even noticing the familiar tingle as he ‘wished’ to go undetected.

Due to the various delays and Vernon's horrendous driving they arrived at the zoo over two hours late after being stuck in slow moving traffic with everyone getting more and more frustrated. As usual Harry was getting all the blame for every problem going but he refused to let it get too him. Simply being this far from Privet Drive was an adventure of immense proportions for him and in contrast to the bland cookie cutter neighbourhood in Little Whinging - London was glorious, multi-coloured, noisy, semi-organised chaos.

Harry just kept silent and kept his head down as they finally made it into the zoo itself. The queues had been quite long as it turned out they were visiting on the day the new reptile house was opening and it was proving to be very popular. The zoo was already full of children running about with the free snake and lizard cardboard masks in place or holding various toys from the gift shop.

Almost before they had fully entered the park and past the people milling about the entrance reading their maps and discussing routes around or favourite animals there was a brewing argument in the Dursley party. Vernon wanted to give Dudley and Piers a fistful of money then go sit in the bar restaurant for the day, Petunia wanted to plan a route and stay as a family in case 'some horrible pervert' took the chaos as an opportunity to steal her 'poor little angel away' while Dudley and Piers wanted to run wild like the other kids and Dudley was insisting that he also needed an ice-cream this instant as it was so hot.

Harry was happy just to follow quietly and gape at the amazing sights that surrounded him. The happy families, the bright kiosks and shops with gifts and food and of course the amazing animal enclosures and their occupants. He was desperately hoping to be told to 'make himself scarce' and just meet them back at the car at closing time though another side of him niggled that he should stay close or he would be abandoned here as an ideal opportunity to 'lose' him forever.

In an attempt to keep the peace Petunia sent Vernon off to the bar while she took the boys off to the ice cream kiosk. There she ordered large cones for Dudley and Piers and sniffed in disgust when the attendant gave one to Harry too assuming her order was for all three boys that accompanied her.

As soon as they were out of shot Petunia turned to her nervous nephew.

"I don't know what you did to get that, boy, but mark my words I'll be telling Vernon about your trickery. I paid just because you'd already had your filthy hands on it but I won't spend a penny on you at lunch so you'd better be happy you got that!" she hissed quietly so other visitors didn't hear.

"Of course Aunt Petunia" Harry nodded "Thank you very much for the ice cream"

He licked it slowly at first, savouring every taste as he had never had one before, seeing Dudley had finished his though and Piers was also almost done Harry decided he ought to speed up. He started eating his ice-cream as fast as he could but was still only just over half way through when Dudley ‘accidentally’ knocked into him roughly and caused the frozen dessert to fall off the cone.

“Oops!” Dudley cried out in fake shock “So sorry Harry, you should ask mum to buy you a new one… oh yeah she won’t cos you’re a good for nothing Freak”

Harry stared at the fallen treat sadly before eating the remaining part and the cone before hurrying after his aunt. He’d decided it wasn’t worth being left behind and he was going to stick close to them all day, even if it meant putting up with the taunts and sneers from his cousin and Piers.

They marvelled at the tigers in their leafy enclosure, stunned at how well the orange and black cats could blend in with their surroundings, shuddering in childish glee as they watch Raja as he lunged at a suspended beef leg and gnawed on the meat. 

After the tigers there were lions and leopards and other big cats, then the apes and monkeys, then the giraffes and elephants and so on. Harry was in absolute awe though he was also slightly sad to see such magnificent animals in captivity, at least until he read the information on how London Zoo was part of a worldwide conservation project breeding these amazing animals to protect them and bolster wild populations.

Finally they were ready for lunch and headed over to the bar restaurant that Vernon had spent the morning in, they had arranged a party table there for Dudley and it came with the meals, cake, party favours and a few gifts included – for the guests as well as the birthday boy. Harry sat quietly in the corner and tried to just stay out of his uncle’s line of sight as Dudley and Piers started to tell him all about the animals they had seen.

The waitress came and took their orders, not seeing Harry in the corner, which suited Petunia and Vernon just fine. However when she came back with the drinks she suddenly realised there was a third boy at the table and was astonished that nobody had drawn her attention to him before.

“Oh I’m sorry Hun!” she gasped, staring at the thin, quiet boy with pity in her eyes “I didn’t see you back there, what can I get for you?”

 “He doesn’t want anything” Vernon snapped, flushing red “He…ah… didn’t bring any money and… umn… I don’t have any left” he blustered as the waitress just looked at him in shock.

“Well you’re in luck Sir” she managed a bright smile “As the package you prepaid for covers up to five guests so this lil’ guy’s meal will also be free, as are any drinks he orders, so what would you like to eat and drink Hun?” she smiled at Harry warmly.

“Umn…” he looked up through his fringe shyly, nervous due to the quiet rage he could feel coming off his uncle “Water please… and some chips?”

“OK Hun” the waitress replied, supressing the urge to glare at the rest of the birthday party “I’ll be right back”

She came back with a tall, cool glass and handed it over to Harry and let them know their food would be following shortly. Harry was shocked at his first tentative sip through the straw showed it to actually be lemonade, the waitress had obviously figured out he wanted a flavoured drink from his longing looks but found a way to hide the fact from his aunt and uncle. When the food came he had another pleasant surprise, his plate had a huge mound of perfect, golden chips and a large side salad full of beautiful fresh greens and a few hidden slices of ham. As all the other dishes also had a side salad the Dursleys and Piers didn’t pay any attention to Harry having a salad on his plate and were soon ignoring him in favour of eating their own feast of pizza, lasagne, pie and battered cod that all came with their own chips in addition to the greens.

Harry ate as quickly as he could manage knowing that this would likely be the last time he saw food for several days. He had already had most of an ice-cream and now this! But he also realised that his uncle was convinced that Harry had embarrassed him in front of the waitress and drawn attention away from Dudley. The drinks that Vernon had slowly but surely been drinking all morning had him ruddy and more aggressive than usual which made these infractions see far more significant than normal to him and he was determined to ‘put the boy in his place’ one way or another.

After the main meal a huge chocolate cake came out, covered in candles. Dudley of course wasn't impressed and just demanded the biggest slice. Harry in complete contrast was awed by the cake but after a glance at his uncle's face warned him of the man's dire mood and Harry declined politely, claiming to be far to full. The waitress looked at him sympathetically, she could tell there was something severely wrong here but there was nothing she could do. No-one would listen to a waitress about suspected child abuse, she didn't even know if the boy belonged to the family or was just a party guest being treated poorly.

When it came to giving out the gift bags she made sure Harry's bag had a second slice of cake hidden at the bottom underneath the balloons and paper padding. Dudley's bag contained a large plastic model snake, one of the nicer models from the new gift shop. Piers had a model tiger crouched as if ready to pounce. Harry opened his gift eagerly, it was the first present he remembered receiving, inside was a beautiful sketchpad with pencil set that came with an information booklet that contained photos and facts about many of the zoo animals.

Harry loved it, it was something that Dudley was unlikely to want and therefor unlikely to try to steal, hopefully he would find it boring enough that he wouldn't even try to damage it out of spite. He carefully put them back in the bag and held it protectively. It was after this that the meal was officially over and he could hope that the zoo's further delights would allow everyone to forget that he actually had something.

Leaving Vernon at the bar again the rest of the group headed into the reptile house. With the post lunch lull the zoo was a bit quieter as everyone was resting in the shade or just watching their children in the play area.

Dudley and Piers were immediately running around the large glass enclosures, leaning up against the glass and smearing them with sticky smudges from their hands that still bore traces of the chocolate cake. Harry stuck close to his aunt and was quiet and still, looking into each vivarium with curiosity as she passed the,

Another woman entered the same area with two young children that also stayed with her, she stood by Petunia and sniffed as she watched Dudley and Piers stumble into another viewing window.

"Oh goodness!" she said "Where's the guardian with those little hooligans?! They should be ashamed.... at least your little one is being well behaved. That big lad could learn a few lessons from this one"

With that she smiled to a tight faced Petunia and went on to the next zone with her own children. Harry wished as hard as he could that his aunt would ignore him and once again he felt that warm tingle surround him. 

Petunia just shook her head and glared after the woman, her face becoming even more pinched as she called Dudley and Piers over to her, giving them moist napkins to clean up with.

"How dare that...that harpy!" she spluttered to herself "Just because Dudders and Piers are lively boys and not mindless robots like her brainless little brats... what right does she have to insult them?"

She led the boys into the large snake room which held several types of python, boas and an anaconda. Harry was fascinated by the emerald tree boa that was draped over a huge branch. The glistening green scales and large yellow eyes made him look almost alien and Harry ached to reach out and touch the scales.

"Mum! The snakes are boring, can we go back to the lizards?" Dudley whined "They don't even move"

Harry moved on to the Burmese Python, the second largest snake in the room. As he watched the snake came closer and reared up, staring into Harry's eyes.

"I know how you feel" the scruffy haired boy said "Trapped in here, no escape and people always just wanting more from you. I bet you wish you could just get out of here don't you?"

"Hey Piers! Look... the Freak got that monster snake to move! Let’s go see" Dudley yelled and started charging towards Harry.

Harry heard them and turned as he saw both boys running full speed towards him and leant back against the glass, eyes closed in fear as he waited to be crushed - fear locking both his legs and his lungs so he was unable to flee.

Just as he expected the other boys to crush him Harry felt a sudden weightlessness and fell backwards, landing on a slithering mass of muscle. Dudley and Piers screamed and tried to change direction, ending up in a heap as they started babbling in terror.

Opening his eyes, Harry realised he was lying on the snake, the glass had vanished and due to him being pressed so hard against the front of the vivarium he had fallen a fair way inside when it had gone. The snake had coiled loosely around him and was looking down at him with those large catlike eyes, tongue flickering out as it hissed.

“Sssssmellssss like food, and fear…. Not food though sssssmellssss like magicsssss” it hissed, tone curious.

“I’m not food!” Harry hissed back "How can you talk? Snakes can't talk!"

"Ah Ssssspeaker" the Boa replied, tilting his head "Thanksssss for letting me out... be sssssafe"

Harry could only watch, completely baffled, as the snake slithered out of the enclosure and passed the screaming figures of Dudley, Piers and now Aunt Petunia who had caught up. More screams from the next room showed the boa had found more people and panic was spreading.

Once she was certain that Dudley was in fact safe and in one piece she turned on her hapless nephew.

"You...you worthless little freak! You should have died in that accident with your worthless parents? Why did I even take you in? Too soft hearted, that's why! Should have let Vernon take you to the Police or an Orphanage first chance, like he wanted. Come on, Dudders, Piers; let's go get Vernon and tell him what happened here and get you boys home"

With that she dragged Harry behind her, leading the other two gleeful boys as she headed to the bar. Summoning Vernon for a hushed conference, she shook Harry and watched as Vernon turned an alarming shade of purple.

"But Mum!" Dudley started whinging again "Me n' Piers wanna go to the gift shop! This sucks, the Freak always ruins everything!"

"Now now Duddikins, of course you may go to the shop, it's your special day, after all!" Petunia simpered. "Here you go now, find something nice to get over that nasty shock."

She pressed a handful of money into his pudgy hands, and the two boys ran off, shouting to each other about everything they were going to buy. Harry was left with his livid aunt and uncle. He clutched the bags from the party and various small bags from the gift kiosks around the zoo that his aunt had bought. He was terrified and knew that as soon as they got home he was going to get the worst punishment yet - even though he hadn't done anything wrong, he just knew they were going to blame him for ruining their trip and that this time, it was going to be bad.

As they ranted at him in hisses and lowered voices, trying to keep their faces reasonably bland as they were in public, their hands and bodies held carefully to avoid touching him even accidentally.

Once Dudley and Piers returned, heavily loaded with bags full to bursting with toys from the gift shop, the family headed to the car. As usual, Harry was made to carry almost all of the purchases and he made quite the sorry sight with his taped up glasses sliding down his nose, baggy clothes swamping his slight frame and carrying a mound of bags that almost matched him in size.

At the car, he stealthily slid the contents of his gift bag into his backpack - added one of his larger water bottles into the gift bag with the paper wrappings and balloons and things to add bulk and make it still look full. His years of sneaking around had encouraged a type of stealthy intelligence, and he smirked to himself as he turned to his uncle.

"Umn...Sir?" he asked quietly "Where should I put my bag?"

"Your bag?!" Vernon spluttered, once again turning puce. "You don't think after this fiasco that you'll be allowed to keep that gift, do you?!"

Vernon snatched the bag away and threw it into the nearest trash container, luckily not stopping to look inside and see the faked contents. The obese man smiled maliciously as he hustled his nephew into the car, his moustache bristling with self-satisfaction.

"That's the first part of your lesson boy" he said "But you'll be getting reacquainted with my belt when we get home, causing all this freakishness when we take you on a great day out - out of the goodness of our hearts I might add!"

Harry huddled in on himself as they headed home, ignoring Dudley and Piers as they came up with more and more outlandish punishments that they thought he should suffer. Dudley of course kept coming up with more and more elaborate tales about how Harry had tried to kill him using the boa and how the smaller boy should be locked away for life.

Back in Little Whinging, Harry was glad to see the back of Piers as he was dropped off, and a few short minutes later, they were home. He slowly trudged inside and unloaded all the bags, taking Dudley's toys up to his room and leaving Petunia's purchases in the kitchen, as he wasn't allowed to set foot in the lounge.

He slipped his backpack into the cupboard under the stairs and made sure he had as many bottles of water as he could find and fill, as it was unlikely he'd be seeing daylight anytime soon and he wanted to be prepared. A quick internal debate had him leaving his glasses there, too, as he wasn't sure just how many more times he would be able to repair them, and he knew from experience he flinched less when he couldn't see the blows coming, which reduced the number he got and how much they hurt.

That night, Harry was left alone; his family were all tired from their day out. He had been merely locked in his cupboard after being sent to the toilet, while his relatives all had a huge meal, as Dudley claimed to be starving after the first day of exercise he’d had in months. This led to Petunia worrying that her ‘darling’ would be wasting away before her eyes and feeding him a full dinner of pizza, chips, coke, ice cream and more cake.

The next morning was a tense affair for the dark-haired child. He cooked breakfast with shaking hands and, to his horror, broke two eggs and burnt a rasher of bacon. In his attempts to save the produce, he had also cut his hand and burnt his wrist, but from the look on his uncle’s face, that was not good enough. He served the food and fled back to his cupboard, not even cleaning the pans in his panicked state.

All too soon, he heard his uncle leave the dining table and go through to the kitchen looking for him, the angry exclamation letting the cowering boy know that the unwashed pots had been seen. Angry steps then came towards the hallway.

“Please don’t find me; please don’t look!” Harry wished frantically but no comforting tingle came through for him, this time.

“Boy!” Vernon roared as he ripped the door open. “How dare you disrespect us even more? Especially when you already have a punishment coming?”

He dragged the shaking boy into the hall and ripped his ragged t-shirt and shorts away, leaving him in just some dingy grey y-fronts that were also far too large on his slim frame.

“We take you in when your freak parents kill themselves, feed you, clothe you, give you a roof over your head and this is how you repay us?! You try to murder my son with your unnatural ways, torture my wife through fear, try to drive me to an early grave, waste our food and money through clumsiness and throw our kindness back in our faces?! Well, no more, you ungrateful whelp!” Vernon had twisted Harry’s arm up high behind his back, ignoring the crying, struggling boy, even as something gave in his wrist with a snap, and the child choked out a shocked cry.

“Oh no, you’re not getting away with your normal punishments this time, boy” Vernon growled with malicious glee, shifting his grip so Harry’s back was exposed. “I’m making sure you learn, this time; you’ll be learning respect and how to behave around your betters. You are nothing, will always be nothing and deserve nothing. You exist only because you need to pay back what you owe, and I'll take one payment, now."

With that, Vernon proceeded to give Harry the worst beating in his life, not stopping when the belt drew blood and shredded the boy's delicate skin. Petunia had sent Dudley out while her husband was still shouting and stood in the kitchen, white faced and trembling, as Harry's screams turned to whimpers and gasps before becoming silent.

Harry gasped as the first stroke hit; it burned like ice fire from shoulder to hip, and he managed to keep quiet, apart from harsh gasps, right up until the sixth strike, when the belt broke his skin for the first time. After that, his screams got louder and harsher as he fought his uncle’s grip, choking out pleas for mercy whenever the huge man stopped for breath, praying for it to stop or for unconsciousness. His legs had given out very early on, but Vernon held him up to get his favoured angle. After what seemed like an eternity of unbelievable agony for the child, his body was finally merciful to him and allowed him the bliss of oblivion as he passed out from the pain and blood loss.

Vernon wiped his face and dropped the belt, looking down at the unconscious form in disgust; he then stomped up the stairs for a shower, panting and shaking from fatigue and left his nephew in a pool of his own blood on the hallway floor. As her husband went out of sight, Petunia hurried from the kitchen, covering her mouth in horror at the spectacle that greeted her.

The broken and almost still form of her nephew lay there, his thin back looking like mince-meat, shuddering breaths wracking his body at uneven intervals as the only sign of life. Gathering her supplies that she had prepared after sending Dudley out, Petunia quickly went to work, washing the blood from his back gently and quickly to try to reduce the extra suffering caused. Once clean, she smeared a thick layer of Aloe Vera gel over the wounds; it wasn’t the best treatment, but it was all she had at hand and was antibiotic. There was no way she could risk a doctor or pharmacist finding out what had happened. Once the wounds were dressed, she went to his cupboard; inside, she spread a shower curtain over his cot mattress and then laid him on it, positioning him so he couldn’t roll onto his back. Several bottles of fresh water were left by his head, and she left him, shaking her head in a mixture of distaste and distress.

She was just starting on cleaning the hall by scrubbing the carpet when Vernon came back down the stairs, flushed and with a disturbing glint in his eye.

“Now, Pet, you shouldn’t be doing that; wake the boy up, and make him clean his own mess up,” he said, looking pleased with himself. “I should think that’s the last of his nonsense we’ll be dealing with; I’ve taught him a proper lesson, now.”

“I would, dear, but he’s completely unconscious, and I don’t want this to stain. Don’t worry about it; mind, I will make sure he has plenty of extra chores to make up for it, once he’s well again, but he’s probably going to take a few days to get better,” Petunia ventured. “You were very… ah… thorough, dear, and he didn’t take it well.”

“Spoiled, that’s what he is,” Vernon blustered, moustache quivering. “A good spanking never caused any real harm. Don’t be letting him lie about too long, and mind he doesn’t get fed, if he doesn’t earn it!”

Petunia wrung her hands together as he went into the lounge and poured himself a large drink. She held no great liking for her nephew, barely even tolerated him, but she never deliberately caused him harm and merely ignored much of his neglect to avoid the guilt. This couldn’t be ignored, but at the same time, she had no way of contacting them, or he would have been sent back years ago. If only Lily hadn’t gotten herself caught up in all this unnaturalness, then this would never have happened.

~#~

When Harry woke properly, it was almost five days later. He had hazy memories of waking to drink and use the bucket and even of eating his cake from the zoo, but it was all jumbled with his waking nightmares about his uncle, flying motorcycles, a man with red eyes shouting and a woman screaming. There were even snippets of being chased by dogs and a man with a long grey beard who kept handing him over to Uncle Vernon for more beatings.

Occasionally, there had been blessed coolness, as his aunt has spread more ointment on his back and even held him, at one point, as he cried for his mother, shushing him with a curious mixture of comfort and scolding. For the first time ever in the Dursley’s household, Harry felt like someone cared whether he lived or died.

For Petunia, it was like a fragment of the wall around her heart was broken, and she could suddenly see Harry for who he was, rather than a burden and reminder of a jealous and spiteful past. She saw a little boy, a hurt child with no mother or father or anyone to love him. She had treated him well as a toddler, loving him and playing with him, teaching him alongside Dudley, even. That was before the first incident, though. When she had caught him floating toys around the room, she had screamed, and of course, that had set Dudley off crying. After that, it was never the same. She had feared the child, and Vernon had resented him and decided to ‘work the freakishness out of him’ by any means necessary. Petunia hadn’t realised just how bad things had become until she saw him broken and bleeding in the hall.

As Harry moved, pain lanced through his back, but the wounds didn’t reopen. His aunt’s care and his own innate magic had him healed to the point he could move – albeit slowly and carefully – without any further injury being caused. The green eyed boy was amazed at the care he had received but was too young to realise it was his aunt’s way of trying to make amends; he merely saw it as her trying to cover for his uncle and keep the episode from the neighbours.

Over the next few days, he allowed her to tend to him and feed him in secret, as he regained his strength and planned for the future. There was no way he could stay here, after the latest beating; he was now totally convinced that his uncle would kill him sooner or later.

He didn’t realise it, but his aunt was thinking along the same lines and trying to think what she could do to help him. She wasn’t a complete fool and knew that he would never truly trust her. Not yet at least, and although she was starting to see her husband in a new light, she had no desire to leave him and didn’t see why she should; after all, he was good to her and her child.

As it was, Harry woke feeling almost fully healed on the morning of July 18th, to a strange sight. By his bed lay a new backpack, much larger than his normal ratty one, with a note pinned to it, addressed to him in his aunt’s neat script.

‘Boy,’ he read, ‘I have packed this bag for you, it has clothes, food and money. You are no longer safe here. Go to the main town, find a policeman and say you are lost. Do NOT use your real name, do not say anything about us. With any luck, you’ll find a new home and never see us again. If anything goes badly wrong, you may write to me or just to let me know you are safe’

Harry was astounded; his aunt was helping him escape? He’d only decided for certain that he would run away, the day before. He had considered going to the police here and reporting his family, but he knew that he would get no-where with them. Vernon had too many friends in high places, and too many adults were already convinced that Harry was a lying, troublemaking, bullying child.

With a sigh, he looked around his cupboard and made sure he had everything. All his drawings, the precious few books and, of course, his treasured new drawing supplies had gone into his new rucksack. The night before his ‘punishment’ he had seen Dudley’s new toy snake in the bin and pilfered that, too, and as the only unbroken toy, it was packed carefully alongside his tattered blue baby blanket, the only gift left from his parents.

He waited until he heard the car leave so he knew he was definitely going to avoid his uncle before coming out of the cupboard. With a nod to his aunt, he stepped out of the front door, closing it carefully behind him and stepping onto the pavement. He had only painted the door a few weeks previously, so it was still looking crisp and clean, and that gave him a strange sense of satisfaction, a feeling that he was leaving with nothing unfinished. 

~#~

It was a long walk from Privet Drive to the main bus station in Little Whinging, around four miles or just over an hour in travel time for an eleven year old boy with a stuffed rucksack. From there, he was able to easily catch a bus to Greater Whinging and rest for a while, as the bus made its journey.

Once in the larger town, Harry stopped to make some plans. There was no way he would go to the police, as his aunt had told him; he couldn’t trust them to not put him somewhere even worse than the Dursley’s. He’d heard enough tales of orphanages and foster homes from his relatives, and the video about abuse at school had featured a boy in foster care being touched by his foster dad. So he was on his own.

First of all, he needed a disguise. That’s what they did in the books he read when ‘getting out of town’; they hid anything that made them easy to spot. In his case, that was easy; he just needed a hat to cover his scar and some better fitting clothes.

Checking his wallet that his aunt had given him, he could see she’d actually been pretty generous, considering she told him to go straight to the police. Maybe she had considered the possibility he wouldn’t, he wondered. He had just over forty pounds, as well as a supply of camping cereal bars that Dudley had wanted then didn’t like; enough for several days, if he rationed them.

A quick stop in a charity shop later, and he was able to hand in his far too large hand me downs from Dudley and buy a few new outfits that fit for just less than ten pounds. He had kept the coat that Petunia had given him, as it was fairly new and very good quality, despite being so big, and Harry thought that the extra room would be useful as a sleeping bag, nearly, if he decided to sleep rough.

With new clothes on and a baseball cap firmly in place, Harry set off for the train station. It was still only lunchtime, and he wanted to get as far as possible before finding somewhere to spend the night. In the ticket office, he looked at the various destinations in wonder; there were so many places to go! With a grin, he booked a single to London. There was a special offer on for the day, and he could get there for only £2 rather than the normal £4, and he wanted to preserve his money for as long as possible.

Once in Kings Cross, Harry was once again struck by the beautiful chaos of London. Everywhere, there were people in business suits, tracksuits, dressed as Goths and Punk Rockers, people on roller skates and people with boom boxes.

Wandering out of the train station, he just went where his senses led him, following the amazing sights, sounds and smells of the city. He wandered for hours, eventually coming to a part of the city that looked a little less well travelled, just off Charring Cross.

There, he saw the most amazing mix of people yet, and all of them were either entering or leaving the same dingy-looking pub. They wore supremely weird combinations of fashions from the Victorian period, 1970’s, a few in what appeared to be Regency Romance and even some in bizarre outfits that looked like over-large dressing gowns. 

Curious, Harry crept closer, sticking to the ever-growing shadows. Although the sun didn’t set until late in the summer, the shadows within the labyrinth of the city grew deep and cool by early evening. As the young boy edged nearer the pub, he squinted to read the sign.

“Leaky Cauldron?” he whispered to himself. “What sort of a name is that?”

Just then, the most appetising smell wafted towards him, as someone entered the bar. Harry’s stomach growled; a long day of walking around and the emotional turmoil had led to him being famished, despite the energy bars. He decided to venture inside and buy a meal; if anyone asked where his parents were, he thought he could just tell them he had to meet them after dinner.

As he slipped inside, he saw that the weird clothing was only the start of things, in this Aladdin’s cave. Inside was a joyful, noisy chaos filled with people in even more wondrous garb and eating the most delicious smelling food. Every now and then, the enormous fireplace suddenly flared green, and someone would step out of the flames, or in a few cases, step in and disappear!

Harry couldn’t believe his eyes and just gaped until the jovial man behind the bar greeted him, leaning on the worn counter as he polished the glass wear.

“Hey there, sonny,” he said, smiling warmly at the boy. “What can I do for you?”

“Um… hi,” Harry ducked his head, suddenly feeling very shy. “I…ah… could smell the food, outside? And… I’m hungry.”

He backed towards the door, a lot more nervous now he’d actually been noticed, eyes darting between Tom and a couple of patrons that were watching him. Tom saw how scared the young boy was and quickly set about calming him down.

“Now, lad, no need to be worried,” he said softly. “Come here, and let’s get summats in you, you look fair peaked.”  

He gently ushered the green eyed boy into a quiet corner near the bar and gave him a steaming bowl of stew with a fresh crusty roll of bread. Harry fell on it like a starving wolf and was soon using the bread to mop up the last of the gravy. No matter how delicious he found the hearty stew, though, he always kept a wary eye on the landlord and anyone else between him and the door.

Tom sighed, he saw runaways all too often in his trade - all too often children frightened by their magic and running away from the muggles. He simply kept his movements open and slow, as to not scare the boy, and gave him a large glass of milk and a slice of warm apple pie with cream, to follow the stew.

“There you go, lad, you’ll feel better with that in you,” he nodded as Harry began to eat, slower this time and savouring the taste of the food. “Once you’ve finished that, I’ll sort you out a room if you like, as you’ve likely noticed from the signs this ‘ere is an inn as well as a pub. You can stay the night and we’ll sort you out in the morning for somewhere more long term, alright?”

Harry stared up through his messy fringe, he’d turned his hat so the peak was at the back, so it didn’t impede his vision while he ate. He hadn’t been threatened in any way since getting here, and the food had been delicious. As he narrowed his eyes, considering the man - Tom, he reminded himself - the innkeeper spoke again.

“I know you’re worried, son; if it helps, all the rooms bolt from the inside, so no-one can get in, if you don’t want; not even me. You’re near dead on your feet, lad. Let me help?” Tom’s eyes were shadowed with a genuine sadness at the wariness the boy displayed.

“K…” Harry whispered, deciding it would be ok to trust him, for the night, at least. “Thanks, Mr Tom.”

“Ach, away wi’ ye,” Tom smiled. “It’s just Tom. Come on then, I’ll show ye to your room.”

~#~

After Tom had showed him the small room with en suite washroom Harry pretty much collapsed. Although he had started the day feeling like it was a grand adventure and initially had loved being back in London with its wild whirl of people and sights, sounds and noises, it had rapidly worn thin and he had realised just how alone he was.

Stumbling into the Leaky Cauldron had been an incredible stroke of luck and there was something about the man that felt safe. Harry had learnt to trust his instincts much of the time and they had often helped him escape his cousin and the rest of the bullying gang.

A quick wash later and Harry was snuggled down into the comfiest bed he could ever remember touching, never mind sleeping in. Despite the strange surroundings and his worries he was asleep in moments.

~#~

Tom sat nursing a steaming cup of coffee, a warming charm was all that kept it fit to drink as he’d been staring into it for over an hour. 

His eldest son, Jeremy, was minding the bar while Tom had a break and thought about the boy upstairs. Tom hadn’t even attempted to ask the lad’s name or any other details, he didn’t want to risk frightening to poor kid away.

He remembered his father bringing in waifs and strays from all over London, magical kids with nowhere to go all seemed to gravitate to the city. Tom’s father had always supposed it was the magical pull of Diagon Alley and the Ministry that attracted them.

Just after Tom left Hogwarts he had taken an opportunity to study runes in more depth and using that knowledge had covered a large portion of London in hidden runes, focussing around the main transport links. These runes formed a complex web that encouraged those with magical blood that felt lost or alone or scared to come to the Leaky Cauldron. They never felt compelled, it was simply a case of their wanderings eventually ended up there. 

Once in his pub Tom was able to give whatever help he could, whether it was a listening ear, a warm meal or in children like the waif upstairs’ case, help finding somewhere to accept them.

~#~

The following morning Harry woke slowly, initially confused by the warm and comfy bed he was in. It all came back to him in a rush and he suddenly remembered the strange pub with the oddly dressed customers, the bizarre green fire. 

He smiled as he remembered Tom, he was the first adult that Harry had felt completely comfortable with in a very long time and his calm friendliness had been a very welcome change. Thinking about the last twenty-four hours he quickly got dressed and headed downstairs, bag packed and ready to run just in case.

There he was greeted by Tom who made no comment about his bag and simply gave him a hearty bowl of porridge laced with honey and another glass of milk. Surprised by the fact he was still being treated well and not being questioned, Harry once again sat with his back to the wall and ate quickly, keeping an eye on his escape routes as he did so. As he finished eating Tom finally spoke.

“There we go lad. Now you’ve got that in you we can see about getting you some protection” Tom watched his flighty young guest carefully, making sure he didn’t scare him. “We can also get you checked over and make sure you’re ok, I guess they hurt you before? Well you’re safe now lad and we look after our own here, follow me and I’ll show you a world you never imagined.”

Seeing the sceptical yet scared look on Harry’s face at these words he went on to reassure him. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave these doors open and I’ll go first so you feel safe, you can always run back to your room or out into London if you feel you can’t trust me.” The landlord’s eyes were sympathetic “But this is the way to help, I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you”

Weighing his options Harry watched the man carefully. So far his instincts had been right and Tom had not hurt him in any way. With a decisive nod he stood and grabbed his bag ready to follow. At worst all he had to do was turn and run and his previous life had left him well equipped to do that.

A few moments later he was stood in the alley behind the pub, gazing in wonder as Tom opened the bricks themselves to reveal an entire hidden world. As his green eyes shone in wonderment Harry could only suppose that London was truly the most magnificent place on Earth and that this was only the beginning of his adventure