Hi!
I hope you enjoy chapter one of the hopeful book!
“Mom, Dad” I hollered. “Come quick!”
It sounded like a perfectly normal day at 12 Grimauld Place. Harry Potter was 11 years old. In his opinion that was almost an adult. This year he would go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Well, he hoped. The thought had run before his upcoming birthday multiple times. That what if he was a squib. A squib. Worse than being a muggle he reckoned. Of course, if he was a squib, he would throw a tantrum probably. He was prone to anger and irrationality like his dad. Actually, Harry was a lot like his dad. His hair, face, nose. Identical one might say. His eyes though were his mom’s. He wished secretly that he could be more like his mother. She was so beautiful, and he loved her dearly.
“Can’t it wait Harry” called a voice from the kitchen. “I’m doing the dishes.”
“Have you heard him Lily, he sounds like if dementors burst through the doors, and he realized that he was the only person left with happiness” chuckled dad.
He entered the living room, where I was waiting, on the couch. I loved the living room; it was so cozy. Couches, no books all those things. My only complaint was that there was too much red. I quite prefer green actually. It made his eyes stand out. His dad on the other hand loved red. He was in Gryffindor though. I wasn’t sure what house I wanted to be in tough. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. I didn’t mind Hufflepuff that much, really, which surprised me... but I didn’t like Ravenclaw. I hated reading, anything study related. I was exactly like his dad in that way, and in many others.
“James, you’re giving him too much attention, he needs to learn how to wait.” Said the voice from the kitchen.
“Mom, I can’t tell dad until you come so there.” I explained.
“Well, if you want me to come quickly, help me wash the dishes.”
Grudgingly I stood up, the carpet felt soft underneath my bare feet. He put on his duck slippers, which made a “QUACK” while you walked. I got them for my tenth birthday. I loved them. I walked and quacked into the kitchen and winced. The kitchen was always so bright. Too much light. I hated the kitchen. Too yellow. I was into darker colors. His mom loved yellow though. But his mom looked good in yellow. I looked like a duck in yellow. Not in a good way.
“Mom, we have magic, well, you do, can’t you clean the dishes with it?” I asked.
“What would be the fun in that?” she said, and turned to Harry, her green eyes piercing his. He looked at her, and he pouted.
“Well, for starters you could come quicker to be with me”
She threw her head back and laughed. Her laugh was beautiful, so beautiful. Just like her other features. Her eyes were a shimmering green. Her hair waved all the time. “Harry, you can’t do everything with magic.”
“Yes, you can” I pouted and stared into hers and said highlighting every syllable “You can.”
“You as well as I know, Lily, that you can.” I turned to face my Dad. He was leaning on the doorway, a look of amusement on his face like if he wanted it to be more complicated then it currently is. Mom hated that. Normally, when that happened, she would get angry with him, but they always ended up laughing. Always.
Last week, they got into an argument of which monster was the hardest to defeat. Mom said dementors, which was rational. Dad said unicorns. Harry didn’t understand, at first. They appointed me as official judge. They each explained their points but none of them made any sense. At the end, Mom got angry and gave dad a slap and then kissed him lovingly. I had gagged when they kissed, and they both laughed. Dad then changed from unicorns to mom. Both of them agreed on that.
“James” Lily said. All laughter gone from her eyes, she looked at him, her eyes screamed a warning. Then suddenly a look of mischief came on her face. She smiled sweetly and looked at James. If you didn’t know her you would have thought nothing of this. But me and dad knew her. Dad started backing away slowly.
“You know what Harry, you are right. Maybe you can do everything by magic.’ She said her voice as sweet and thick as syrup. She took out her wand and pointed it at dad.
“Lil, whatever you are about to do don’t do it.”
“What do you mean?” she said innocently.
“I mean…” he started
“Levicorpus” she said calmly. Her hand made quick graceful movements as dad flew into the air. It looked like he was being lifted by an invisible hand. Dad gave a yelp as he was being lifted.
“Wow, that is so cool, mom. I want to do it. Can I be next? Please mom, please.”
“Harry, instead I’ll tell you a secret” she said. My ears perked up. I loved secrets. They were the best. “Did you know your father...”
James interrupted. “Don’t you dare ruin my reputation Lily.”
“Is afraid” she continued, laughing.
“Lily” he said warningly.
“of Heights”
I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing as mom lifted da a tiny bit higher and he gave out a shriek, only it sounded like a mouse screaming. Even mom couldn’t help laughing.
“Guys, can we put me down now so I can laugh as well.” dad said, his voice wavering.
“Sure” said Lily smiling and put her wand into her pocket. The spell lost focus and James fell down in a thud.
“Ow.” He said, but this time laughing.
“Are you ok, dad?” I asked.
“Your mom has done worse. She is a scary person, Harry” he said in response
Mom just laughed and then looked at Harry and stopped.
“Now Harry, what did you learn?” asked mom.
“That dad is afraid of height.”
“And” she encouraged her voice cheerful and weird as if she was trying to contain a laugh.
“And levicorpus is a really cool spell.”
“And”
“That’ it.”
“That while I was using magic to do this stuff, I could have finished all the dishes right now. You are now going to have to wait even longer now.”
I pouted and went to the living room to wait for his mother to finish. He got angrier as the time went by, hearing his mother having fun and laughing. I got up abruptly and entered the kitchen.
“Can I help?” he said almost inaudible
“Sure, I could use an extra hand, or would you prefer an extra wand.”
Harry flushed “Let’s use our hands”
“Agreed.” She paused, pondering whether she should say something.
“Am I interrupting something” Dad asked from the doorway. He had finally gotten the courage to face my mom I guessed.
“No, nothing. Now, get a towel to start drying.” Mom said “NOW!”
“Fine, Harry what was it that you wanted to tell us?” Dad asked.
Mom stopped washing and looked at me curiously “What was it that you wanted to tell us, Harry?”.
“I-I-I” I stuttered. I didn’t know why but I did. My gut told me something was wrong with them. This evening… Mom was really mean to dad; she never was. Dad called me Harry; that he never did. They weren’t mom and dad. My gut told me to run. I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell them. No. “I want to go to my cousin Dudley’s house in Privet Drive and see Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.”
“Harry” Mom said sweetly. “Aunt and Uncle Vernon would not like to see us.”
“So, I can be there alone.” Harry reasoned.
“Let the kid meet his family, Lil” Dad said.
Maybe my gut was wrong. No. They were not mum and dad. Maybe it was stress.
“Great!” I tried to sound exited.
I waited until mom called them. I didn’t trust them. I didn’t. As soon as they did and I verified by talking a bit to Dudley, and I was set to go, I sprinted upstairs.
My room was green. I really liked green, there were pictures of owls, wands, The Hogwarts Express, and most importantly, there were pictures of my mom and dad. I looked at them. No, I stared at them in the eyes. I broke eye contact and looked down at my pocket. I went to the door and closed it. Then I locked and chained it shut. I was scared. I took out a letter and began reading.
Dear Mr. Potter,
You have been selected to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Suddenly the text changed, and it became red in color.
Dear Mr. Potter,
You are in grave danger. Do exactly as I say if you want to live.
