Harry Potter and the Destruction of a Home

7

The next day - Monday - came, Charlie and Harry left the children's home so they could go to the local school - St Gregory Primary School - alongside the other kids under the age of eleven. They were to be in class R6, which was one of the classes for reception-aged children.

When they arrived at the classroom, escorted by William, the boys were introduced to the class and seated at a table alongside two girls and two boys, who were called Dudley and Piers. They spent the first hour of the day learning simple Maths, which Harry found extremely simple and helped his peers with.

During break-time, Charlie hung out with Dudley and Piers while Harry joined in the game of football that was happening in the playground, which ended in a tie. Charlie quickly bonded with the rest of Dudley's friendship group and soon he had settled into life around the playground picking on the other kids who had no friends, which unfortunately included Harry.

At lunchtime there were no games of football for Harry to fall into as the older boys had taken their ball half way through break and hidden it. Instead, he took out a book, which Chloe had lent him, to read. He was about a third of the way through it when Charlie and Dudley chased after him and he would have gotten away but after tripping over a rock, he was unable to get up again. Finding, himself pinned, Harry attempted to roll over onto his side and protect himself better but was unable due to both his arms being held tightly behind his back by one of Dudley's friends.

By the time the bell rang and Harry was offered respite from his tormentors, he had blood and tears streaming down his fact from a well timed punch by Charlie. He waved a hand over his face and felt the blood and tears dry up and vanish. Unfortunately, he didn't have the skills to rid himself of the new blood that was slowly falling but it would be easy enough to fake a nosebleed so he ran off to join the rest of the class and hoped the teacher didn't ask too many questions.

* * *

By the end of the day, both Charlie and Harry were exhausted. They barely managed to pay enough attention to the paper that contained their homework for the night that they were sticking into their homework books.

After school, Harry followed timidly behind Charlie as he went to wait under a tree on the school field. "What are you doing loser? Why're you following me around?" Charlie hissed.

"I- I'm not a loser a- a- and I'm not following you!" Harry muttered as he lowered his gaze to his feet.

"Prove it then. I dare you to climb this tree!"

In his exhausted state, Harry should not have been decision making as he grabbed hold of a branch that was within his reach from the ground and pulled himself onto it with one hand. Climbing a tree with one arm in a cast was not easy but somehow, he managed it. Just as he reached the top of the tree he heard Charlie call out to someone, "Oh Micheal, it's so good that you're here. I tried to stop him but-" here he sniffled, "he just had to prove that he is better than everyone else."

An unfamiliar voice responded, "Who? Your brother? What's his name...Harry! Where is he?" there was a brief pause and Harry could just imagine Charlie was pointing up at the tree, "Up there? But...why? Hey, Harry? You okay up there?"

He sniffled slightly as he felt his hand slip slightly and began to panic. This wasn't how he wanted to die.

"Harry? I'm Micheal; it's nice to meet you. Are you ready to get down from here?" The voice said as a head poked up next to him.

He nodded frantically.

"Okay, grab hold of my shoulders with your good hand and wrap your legs around my waist nice and tightly. I'll do all the work."

If there was one thing that Harry was good at, it was following instructions, so he did as was asked. By the time they reached the ground, the adrenaline had finally worn off and Harry found himself with very little energy remaining. They walked back to the orphanage with Michael holding Charles and Harry's hands in order to keep them from running off.

It was when they arrived back at the orphanage that William and Chloe first discovered how different the boys were. While Charlie went into the living room to play with one of the other children, Harry disappeared off to their shared room.

Little did they know that he had settled himself under his bed in order to stay hidden — safe — and complete his homework before grabbing a book and settling down to read.

* * *

"Harry? Are you in here? William asked me to fetch you for tea," the voice Harry was beginning to associate with Micheal rang out through the room.

Sliding out from under the bed, Harry offered the older boy a slight smile before following him down the stairs, ignoring the stream of questions as they went.

"What were you doing under the bed anyway?" Micheal inquired as they reached the table.

"Oh he always sits under the bed. What a freak!" Charlie called out from the opposite side, causing Harry to flinch away from him slightly and turn to the food in front of him. Micheal frowned at the hostility Charlie showed towards his brother. Something was defiantly not right here.