𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 1)

𝓩𝓸𝓸 -𝓭𝓪𝔂

Happy children walk hand in hand with their parents, as Dudley presses his pudgy nose to a gleaming plate of glass.

"Make it move." He says.

Uncle Vernon looks over a zoo map at the huge burmese python curled beyond the glass. Raps his knuckles. Nothing.

"He's asleep." Says Y/n.

"He's boring."

Dudley waddles away and the others follow, all but Harry and Y/n, who step forward and rub Dudley's noseprint from the glass.

"Sorry about him. He's a dick."-Y/n

"He doesn't understand what it's like." Says Harry.

"Lying there day after day, watching people press their ugly faces in on you..." Y/n continues.

The snake nods. The children stop, look at each other, then back.

"Can you hear us?" says Y/n.

The snake cocks its head and...winks.

"It's just, We've never talked to a snake before. Do you, I mean...do you talk to people often?" Questions Harry.

The snake regards Harry...then slowly shakes its head no. Harry and Y/n nod, looking a bit unnerved.

"You're from Burma, aren't you?" asks Harry.

"Was it nice there? Do you miss your family"?Y/n asks.

The snake jerks it's tail to a sign that says 'Bred in captivity."

"I see. That's us as well. We never knew our parents either..."says Harry.

"MUMMY! DAD! COME HERE! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" Yells Dudley.

Dudley jabs Harry and Y/n hard in the ribs, sending them tumbling to the concrete, floor. Angry, They look up as Dudley leans against the glass and it...vanishes. Dudley flops forward, the snake slithers out, and people run screaming.

Stunned, They watch the python slip into the sunshine, muttering a quick "Thankss", then glance back to the snake tank. The glass had reappeared and Dudley sat within, face pale, eyes frozen in terror.

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Uncle Vernon, face purple with rage, drags the kids by their ears.

"I swear, we don't know how it happened!"-Y/n.

"One minute the glass was there and then it was gone. It was like magic."-Harry

Uncle Vernon hurls them into the cupboard and stares hard.

"There's...no...such...thing...as...magic!"

The door slams. Harry and Y/n sit quietly. Then, from his pocket, Harry removes the damaged soldier Dudley had discarded earlier.

Reaching up, he places it on a dark shelf, next to half a dozen others.

The kids smile at eachother.

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