-•AUREUS SERPENTES•-

Letters For A Nobody.

By the time Harry was let out of the (very cold, may I add) cupboard, summer had started. This was plenty long enough for Dudley to break his cine-camera, crash his remote control aeroplane and run over Mrs. Figg (an old neighbour who Harry was left with for l the Dursleys long vacations) who had broken her leg the other week.

Even though summer had begun, Harry still had to be careful as Dudley's gang came over almost daily. Their favourite sport had to be chasing Harry around on their bikes (Harry had to run) they called it 'Harry hunting'

This is why Harry spent most of his afternoons and multiple evenings wandering up and down the streets. He had chores in the morning and if he went back to number four later than Dudley, that was considered far too late (Harry also didn't like how cold the neighbourhood got after dark)

One small sliver of hope had been given to Harry; he was being sent off to a boarding school after summer. Even better, without Dudley. While he was being sent to the local comprehensive, Dudley had a place in Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings.

Dudley thought this was very funny and constantly jibed at him about it. Harry couldn't say anything, Aunt Petunia would make him do extra chores and he'd finished them early for a reason. So he sat there and suffered. He was so cold.

Sometime in July, Aunt Petunia and Dudley went to buy Dudley's Smeltings uniform. Harry was left with Mrs. Figg. Why Harry wasn't locked up is beyond him, too, but Mrs. Figg was a rather nice woman nonetheless. Turns out she had tripped over one of her cats and broken her leg. As such, she couldn't bake (this was her hobby) Harry offered to help her. They ended up making a nice batch of chocolate muffins. Mrs. Figg spent much of her time telling Harry to be wary of his health, obviously not used to brushing his ice cold fingers when reaching for the whisk.

That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room wearing his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also had a knobbly sticks used to hit eachother when the teacher wasn't looking. Harry had already been hit with it on multiple occasions.

Watching Dudley, Harry heard Uncle Vernon gruffly say that this was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and start blubbering about how grown up her Ickle-Diddykins looked. Harry was trying his damn hardest not to laugh. It wasn't often Dudley looked stupider than usual.

By the time Harry awoke the next morning to make breakfast, there was a horrid smell, like expired wall paint and rotten eggs. It was coming from a tub in the sink. When he went to have a look, he found dirty rags swimming in gray water.

"Uh, Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked, his voice hoarse from lack of use. His Aunt's lips tightened as it always did when he questioned anything. Harry continued, "What is this?"

"Your new school uniform," she answered curtly

"Uh, but I thought-"

"Whatever you thought, forget it," she snapped, "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. By the time I'm done it'll look just like everyone else's"

Harry rightfully doubted this, but arguing would take his chance at breakfast away. He went to the stove to start flipping the bacon and tried to will the thoughts of his future away, where he would show up at stonewall looking like he had donned old bits of Elephant skin.

Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in with wrinkled noses from the smell of Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon sat down heavily and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick on the table. Dudley has taken to carrying that stupid stick everywhere.

While Harry dished out the bacon and eggs, the sound of the letter-box and soft flop of paper falling was heard.

"Get the post, Dudley," Uncle Vernon said from behind his newspaper.