The Boy Who Couldn't See: Year 1

The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-quarters

Harry is five when he realizes something is very wrong.

Ever since he was born, he hasn't been able to see at night. He thought it was normal, that nobody can see at night, but he brings it up at four to his aunt and she informs him, very rudely, that he's not normal and even more of a freak because of it. He gets glasses later that year but they do nothing to help him at night.

When he finally goes to school, it's his teacher who notices he's acting differently. His teacher notices how he's squinting so much that his eyes are almost closed behind his glasses. His teacher notices that when he writes something on the board, Harry will stand up and get closer to the board just to see it. His teachers notices all of these things and places him at the front of the class and further up without him asking him to. It definitely helps for the remainder of that year.

When he turns six and goes back to school, his new teacher has already been informed by his old teacher that he needs to sit at the front. But the front doesn't help anymore because he can't see, his glasses don't help. He has to stand up and almost place his nose against the board to make out what might be in front of him.

When he turns seven, he starts going to special classes every other day to help him learn how to live now that he's totally blind. None of the adults think the rate at which his blindness fully settled in is normal but they don't have any reason to say something or call someone because this boy is the sweetest boy they've ever met, nothing could have possibly caused the rate to speed up.

Luckily for Harry, the Dursley's aren't informed of this class because they all assume the Dursley's know, that it was them who suggested he take the class. Unbeknownst to them and Harry, it was Harry's first teacher who suggested Harry start learning braille and how to navigate properly.

He spends all year in pre-Braille training and the next year actually learning the language. When he's nine, the teachers pitch in to buy him a cane because for some reason, he doesn't have one yet. He stopped wearing his glasses the year before and gets complimented all the time on his green eyes. He's glad he has a distant idea of what green looks like because nobody seems to know how to describe it.

He's honestly surprised by how little this has affected his life with the Dursleys. He used to drop things and burn things and mess up the garden but now that he's had a few years of getting used to being blind, he doesn't do those things as much. Sometimes he burns the food, sometimes he messes up the garden, sometimes he bumps into Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon and they yell at him, but not much has changed, if he's being honest, other than Dudley grabbing his cane and whacking him with it sometimes.

When he turns ten, he makes a friend who isn't totally blind like him but still understands him better than any other kid or teacher does.

When he turns eleven, Hagrid tells him about a new world he's not used to. One he doesn't know how to navigate, one where people like him and praise him.

It's the first time his blindness truly affects him. It's the first time he realizes that he can't talk his way out of this one. He can't make up excuses or push people away because people are going to be watching his every move. His every uncoordinated move.

He has his first panic attack in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron. People were touching him and calling his name and thanking him for something he doesn't know anything about and it was just too much. Hagrid helps him through it with expertise, something that should be unusual but isn't. Afterward, Hagrid keeps a soft grip on his shoulder and guides him through Diagon Alley, making sure to keep him away from hands and feet and anything else that might make him feel uneasy or make him panic.

When he gets his wand, Harry realizes he might be able to do this. Magic isn't all about sight, like he previously thought. He could feel it coursing through him, could feel it run all the way down his arm and out of his wand, and he loved it. He tells his owl all about it later, about how it felt, and he doesn't care if she's asleep or not.