Harry Potter and the Unwanted Cousin

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝟐 - 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒌

Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Belle and Daisy, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle who weren't smart enough to think of anything else to do with him, allowed Harry to come as Daisy suggested, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.

"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas." "I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly . . ."But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did. 

The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen. Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." 

Daisy had been aghast and cried for Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater (brown with orange puff balls).

 The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally, it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Daisy's friend Belle to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. 

This morning, it was motorcycles.". . . roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them."I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" Belle sniggered."I know they don't," said Harry. 

"It was only a dream."But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families.

 The Dursleys bought Daisy and Belle large vanilla ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Uncle Vernon, except that it wasn't blond. Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. 

He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Daisy and Belle, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of making him sit still so they could sketch Harry. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Belle had a tantrum because her knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought her another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first. 

After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. 

Daisy and Belle wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Belle quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood.

In fact, it was fast asleep. Belle stood with her nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils."Make it move," she whined. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge."Do it again," Belle ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Belle moaned. She shuffled away. Harry and Daisy moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up, or Daisy and her everlasting journey to make the perfect sketch of Harry— even though Harry thought all the drawings Daisy made were great—; at least he got to visit the rest of the house. 

The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked. Harry stared. Then he glanced around to see if anyone was watching. It was only Daisy sketching the snake— when Daisy gets into drawing she doesn't hear anything. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Belle, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: 'I get that all the time.' "I know," 

Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."The snake nodded vigorously."Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked. The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil."Was it nice there?"The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. 

"Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made all three of them jump. "MR. DURSLEY! MRS.DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Daisy got out of the way as fast as she could."Out of the way, you," Belle said, punching Harry in the ribs. 

Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Belle was leaning right up close to the glass, the next, she had leapt back with howls of horror. Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. 

As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come. . . . Thanksss, amigo." The keeper of the reptile house was in shock."But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Belle could only gibber while Daisy comforted her. 

As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at her heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Belle was swearing it had tried to squeeze her to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Belle calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?" 

Daisy had shot Belle a look before she had left but Uncle Vernon waited until Belle was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a brandy.

(1500 Words)