Harry Potter: Keeper of the Lost Cities (crossover)

The Zoo

Harry Foster stared at the snake.

It was a boa constrictor, so large that its glass terrarium was almost too small. A tongue lazily flicked in and out, in and out of its green-brown head.

Both the boy and the snake were miserable.

Harry had lived with the Dursleys and their horrendous son since he was a little boy. His real parents, Will and Emma Foster had died in a car crash when he was only one. Emma's sister, Petunia, had agreed to adopt her nephew.

Sometimes Harry thought that his fate might have been kinder had he been in the car with his parents, instead of with the babysitter.

The Dursleys worshipped their only son, Dudley, who looked like a pig, although he was more the size of a rhinoceros. Harry was their servant. He wore hand-me-downs from Dudley, despite his scrawny build, and only got to go to school to take the blame for the larger boy's failed grades. Of course, Harry had been instructed not to do any better, but it was hard to always get failing grades with a perfectly flawless memory.

I'm sorry, he thought to the snake. I wish we could be freed. It was hard to hear Harry's own thoughts above the raucous thoughts of the crowd, so his apology was practically a mental shout.

The snake opened its eyes.

And it was crazy but Harry could've sworn he heard the snake's answering hiss, I know. I want to essscape too.

"Harry! Get over here!" Dudley yelled from up ahead.

Finally, he realized that the rest of the class had moved several exhibits down, and we're now looking thoroughly unimpressed by the lizards. Harry decided that he was much safer not being near a bored Dudley.

"Harry?" A new voice asked, causing Harry to jump.

There was a girl standing next to him. She had a petite frame, contrasted sharply by her wild brown curls. Sparkling blue-green eyes peeked out of the center of her face.

"Are you Harry?"

"H- how did you know my name?"

"Well, I assume that... boy... over there wasn't talking to the snake." The way the girl crinkled her nose made it seem like she had a similar opinion of Dudley.

"Yeah, I'm Harry Foster." He glared at Dudley. "I'm sorry that pig had to be the one to introduce me."

The girl smiled. "No problem. I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Harry wondered why this cute- ah, strange, not cute- girl was talking to him. He was a mess between his over-sized gray T-shirt, baggy jeans, and scraggly black mat of hair.

"I, well, there's no simple way to say this, but... Harry, you're an elf."

Harry blinked. He must have heard wrong. He couldn't be an elf. Elves didn't exist.

"Pardon me?"

"You're an elf, Harry."

"I, what... That doesn't make sense..."

"Really? Have you never felt like you don't belong?"

"Yes, but that doesn't make me an elf! Elves are tiny, with pointed ears, and- and they live in the North Pole!" Now Harry knew why the girl was talking to him. Obviously, she was insane. "I have to get back to my class."

"Okay, Harry, but..."

Harry didn't hear the last part, but he could imagine what Hermione said.

You're an elf, Harry.

That was when he realized that he had imagined those words. He hadn't heard them, like he could hear the thoughts of every other... well... human.

And he did always feel like he didn't belong, but that was probably just because of the Dursleys.