NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: The Zoo
Harry liked to sleep in during the Summer though that wasn't something that he was often allowed to do, while they couldn't force him out of his room they could make him miserable, just like now, his Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day. "Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again. "Up!" she screeched. Harry saw her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having, he dreamed of things often but most of all he dreamed of sheep. Or maybe it was a Ram, it had large white horns that seemed to glow, it would trot over to Harry and he would stroke its head but eventually, it would turn into light and disappear into the stars.
Harry put these thoughts to the back of his mind as he kicked open the door of his cupboard and rolled out. "Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry as he stood up and stretched, his muscles flexed and rippled as he cracked his joints.
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday." His Aunt screamed. Harry walked into the kitchen still shirtless "Put some clothes on will you!" She said with a slight blush as she walked out of the kitchen but before she did she took an envelope out and placed it on the counter not saying another word.
Harry picked it up and looked inside '£40, a bit short but I expected that' he thought to himself. He had made it clear when he had the strength to that he didn't mind doing things around the house but for chores like the garden or picking up Dudder's uniform he expected to be paid, and after breaking Uncle Vernon's they agreed, though on the condition he never do anything freakish in the house again or tell Dudley.
Harry sighed as he placed the money in his back pocket, he had forgotten it was Dudley's birthday, hopefully, they wouldn't notice him slip out after breakfast. He looked towards the living room the table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise, unless, of course, it involved punching somebody.
Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry, and cause of his stupid deal with his Aunt and Uncle he had to run from him or Dudley might break his hand punching him. While Harry was the same height as Dudley, he was about four times wider than he was, Harry was pretty slender only having lean muscle from his time running and fighting against the monsters that showed up. He picked up another pan and in the reflection, he saw his hair was white again and he sighed 'Dye burned out again' No matter how much his aunt or he had tried to dye his hair it would always go back to its snowy white colour.
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel 'If Angels looked like that I might need to start fantasising about something else' he thought to himself with amusement.
Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. Uncle Vernon came down the stairs at the same time "Thirty-six " he said, looking up at his mother and father "That's two less than last year" he crushed the box of one of his games as he said this, Harry could sense a tantrum about to erupt which amused him when it was coming from a now 13-year-old boy.
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy" Dudley nodded his head sagely as of mentally calculating the new number of presents he had now, though as he did he realised he was still one-two presents short of beating his record, his face started to turn read as he looked up at his parents. Aunt Petunia scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, Popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?" She asked hopefully.
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally, he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty... thirty ..."
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," Aunt Petunia said with a loving smile. It seemed to placate the 'baby angel' as he sat down with a large thud grabbed the nearest present and started opening it. Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair, though the boy quickly shook it off believing himself to be too old to be treated like a kid.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine camera, a remote-controlled aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. At this moment Harry sat down next to Dudley having finished putting all the breakfast on the table. Without even turning he could see Dudley was looking at him expectantly "Is the breakfast not enough Dudley?" He asked with a sigh.
"No!" He shouted at him slamming a meaty paw on the table, he then reached towards his face and by instinct, Harry caught his arm and stopped him from going any further "Boy!" Vernon shouted as he narrowed his eyes, Harry knew what that look meant 'No Freakishness or no money' Harry let go of his arm and Dudley ripped his glasses off his face.
Harry sighed "Will have to buy another pair..." he thought to himself. Harry's glasses weren't anything special just a pair of tinted ones they make for blind people, except he needed them because his eyesight was so exceptionally good, he could wear a blindfold and still be able to see pretty far, and he could pretty much watch the whole house from where he slept. But all that information was exhausting and covering his eyes made it a bit more bearable.
*Ding Dong*
The doorbell rang and Harry got up before they asked him to get it, since Aunt Petunia was still on the phone and the other two were fat and lazy it meant he'd have to answer it. He walked towards the door before reaching into his cupboard throwing a shirt on and then shutting it fully, he already knew who was at the door but it still surprised him that she was there "Hey Beth, you here for Dudley's birthday" Harry said with a smile.
For the moment she just stared at him with her mouth agape, Harry just raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers in front of her bringing her out of her trance "Yes! I am" she said quickly before coming in 'Weird' Harry thought to himself but didn't give it another thought.
"Hello, Duddy Happy birthday!" She said with visible excitement as she came in and kissed him on the cheek, though he didn't reply to her and just gave her a grunt and continued eating his food "Good morning darling! Please you must join us for breakfast, you will be coming to the zoo later? Yes?" Aunt Petunia asked as she came into the front room and took Beth by the arm sitting her in Harry's seat.
Beth looked a bit overwhelmed but smiled nonetheless "Oh well if you don't mind I'd be glad to come" she said with a bright smile. Harry found Beth to be quite peculiar, especially now that he had gotten a better look at her, he noticed that both she and him shared the same type of energy. It swirled around in the centre of her chest just like his though hers was a lot smaller, she also had a stick in her pocket that seemed to be linked to her energy 'Weird' he thought to himself.
Harry took a seat at the bottom of the table and started eating some toast. At this moment Aunt Petunia decided to walk next to her husband and whisper into his ear "Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction. Harry found a grin forming on his face, maybe he didn't have to sneak out after all.
He didn't have anything against Mrs Figg but every year on Dudley's birthday, Harry was left behind with her, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.
Harry tuned out the rest of their conversation smiling at the fact he did not have to go to the hell that would be Dudley's birthday, however, the smile would soon drop when he heard "I suppose we could take him to the zoo," Aunt Petunia said slowly, "and leave him in the car ..."
Vernon snorted "That's likely... and have him burn that new car to smithereens, no I don't think so," he said while shaking his head, and Harry was welcomed to an HD image of his various chins jiggling around.
"I think it's a grand idea! It's always fun when more people come to the party! Right Duddy" Beth said with a fake smile, or at least it looked fake to Harry, the rest of the family ate it all up though and therefore Harry was going to the zoo.
"Yay..."
———————————————————-
Harry sighed as he trailed behind the happy party at the zoo, his eyes were beginning to slightly ache. Usually, he would've put a blindfold on around this time but his Uncle had stopped him and said 'What kind of Freak walks around with a blindfold'. Harry didn't think he could handle too much of this, he'd been saving money and soon he'd leave it wasn't as if the Dursleys could offer him anything, he wanted to explore and have adventures, not live in this boring town.
"Psst"
Harry turned his head with his eyebrows scrunched 'There's no way' he thought to himself.
"Hey! You heard me right" A ram with trimmed-down horns seemed to speak to him, Harry walked closer to the pen where he was kept "You can hear me!" It said loudly making Harry step back a bit 'I guess it's not the weirdest thing that's happened' he thought to himself as he stared at the ram, he noticed there was nothing unusual about it... it was just a ram "Can I help you?" Harry asked though he quickly regretted it as he was talking to a sheep.
"Yeah, see that fine piece of female over there" The Ram said gesturing his head over to the other pen where the female sheep were kept "Am I going mad or are you actually speaking to me?" Harry asked though he didn't know whether it was to himself or the ram.
"You stupid or sumthin? Who else would I be talking to now get ya bitch ass over here and do me a favour" the Ram said.
Harry looked at the ram blankly before turning around and walking away "Hey! Where ya goin! I need your help man! Please!" Harry sighed and walked back to the Ram "What do you want?" He asked as he leaned on the pen.
The ram walked up to him and whispered in his ear then gestured over to the female sheep pen "I'm not saying that to her..." Harry said with a blank face. "C'mon be a pal... she's in season... I can smell her from here" the ram said as its tongue fell out of its mouth.
Harry decided to do the best thing for everyone there and walk away, he didn't want to think too much about the fact he could talk to goats. He was just glad that his landlords hadn't seen him as he was sure that would count as freakish behaviour.
When Harry caught up with them they were at the next exhibit. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at a sleeping snake with glistening brown coils. "Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. Harry couldn't help but snicker at the way Bath looked at her 'Duddy' as he acted like a child, though he guessed that it wasn't a surprise to her as she admitted she was only with him as a form of protection from bullying.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. "This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away most likely moving on to the next exhibit with his friend Piers close behind. Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake, he couldn't help but feel a strange kinship between himself and the snake "Looks like both of us are bored to death of where we live" he said with a smirk.
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's and it winked at him. Harry was only shocked for a moment before running his hands through his hair "Let me guess... you can talk to me as well" he said to the snake.
"Don't get many people like you around these parts" The Snake said as it slithered up to the glass pushing itself up from the ground "Can't say I've met many snakes like you" Harry replied.
"I don't suppose you could free me from here? It's a pretty boring place" The snake asked.
"I can sympathise with that, sometimes it feels like I've already died and gone to hell" Harry replied, he had to admit though he did have some slight reservations about freeing the massive boa constrictor in a zoo full of people.
"DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" The rat-faced friend of Dudley shouted out. Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could. "Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Though it didn't hurt his fat frame pushing into him did manage to send him to the floor.
At that moment Harry seemed to have a completely different thought process than he did a minute ago as he picked up a small pebble from the ground and covered it in his energy, he flicked it at the corner of the glass enclosure and it all shattered. Both Piers and Dudley fell into the enclosure, Harry tried to hold it in but the laughter escaped his lips as they both screamed. The snake crawled over them as it slithered out of the enclosure "Thanks" The snake said as it moved past him.
Harry looked back to see a zoo keeper helping Dudley and Piers out of the enclosure as Aunt Petunia screamed for her baby, he saw that Beth was snickering at the sight but quickly put up a stone-cold facade.
Uncle Vernon was looking straight at Harry who was picking himself off the ground, he didn't think he'd ever seen such a bloodthirsty expression before 'Wow he might try and hit me again' he thought to himself.
———————————————————
Harry was lying down on a bench in the park he sometimes cut through, to save himself some hassle he decided to make himself scarce and just go home when they were all asleep. Sometimes he wondered why he dealt with all the shit that the Dursleys put him through 'Not like I have anyone else' he thought to himself.
"Oh?" Harry sat up on the bench with a light smile as he looked off into the distance 'I've never seen that before' he thought to himself as he looked up to the sky which shimmered a purplish colour. He sat still on the bench looking out into the field in front of him he then quickly stood up and jumped to the side, a few seconds later the bench blew up as what looked like a bolt of energy hit it. Harry pushed his hands off the ground and flipped to his feet in time to avoid another reddish-looking bolt.
Harry ran forward but as he did he had to jump high as a wave of energy was sent his way, as he landed he dodged to the side. Finally, he jumped into the air with his feet forward and while it looked like he'd fall on the ground, his feet seemed to connect with solid air "AHHH" someone screamed as they seemingly appeared out of nowhere and onto the grass.
Harry walked up to the person "Hey Beth, shouldn't you be home by now" He said with a cheeky grin as he squatted next to her. She immediately tried to point her wand at him but he caught her wrist and with a quick amplification of his hand he made her drop it and then promptly caught it with his other hand "What's this?" He asked as he scanned the wand, there were intricate runes that were both on the inside and outside of the wood.
"You're the same as me, how were you able to shoot those lasers?" Harry asked, his curiosity was simply bursting from inside him what he saw in his hand was an opportunity to escape his boring life "I saw how you did it, maybe it means I can" he said as he stood up. He saw how Beth's energy moved just before she fired it and so he recreated those same conditions and pointed the wand at the ground. A smaller explosion triggered at the location and he couldn't help but laugh "You're a monster!" Beth shouted as she stood up.
Harry raised an eyebrow "Who are you anyway" Harry asked as he started to approach her, she walked backwards as if death himself was approaching "I have a lot of questions that I'd like answered" he said with a smile as he tapped her wand against his palm. Beth's face started to morph and change which made Harry take a step back, inside of her from what he could see her bones were starting to change and enlarge. Beth threw up a hand sign and the purple sky shattered.
*CRACK*
Harry raised his eyebrows once more as the world seemed to rip open and suck Beth in before instantly fixing itself less than a second layer. Harry sighed with disappointment, but he held up the wand that Beth used and smiled as it was something new and interesting he could play with.
He then looked to the ground and picked up a see through material 'This could be useful' he thought to himself with a smirk.
(AN: Okie another chapter done, this is pretty boring ngl that's why I changed some of it and tbh I'm having trouble balancing Gojo and Harry's personalities as they are pretty much the opposite of each other. Anyway Incase you couldn't tell Harry could read the flow of her magic which is how he recreated the spell though it was weaker because he wasn't the owner of the wand and other factors. Hope you enjoyed it)
If you like my stuff consider supporting me.
Patreon.com/captainalfie78works