Snakes and Spells: The Dark Storms Early Years

II

After a year of magic school, it was hard for Harry to adapt to living with the Dursleys again. 

He tried to pay closer attention to the monsters he saw, wondering if they were real or merely in his imagination. 

Harry didn't understand why none of his friends were sending him any letters, but he figured they might have been in a similar situation. 

The Dursleys had locked him and Hedwig up, and he couldn't leave his room, let alone send any letters. 

~

Harry was very confused by the creature in his bedroom. At first, he thought it might be another monster. They'd never come inside the house before. 

Then Dobby started talking... and screeching.

~

Harry didn't know what to think when he saw the Ford Angela outside his bedroom window. 

He hoped this meant that he and Ron were still on good terms. 

~

Harry was appalled by Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy's behavior. He truly felt bad for the Weasley children and, to a lesser degree, even Draco, who looked just as disgusted by his own father's actions. 

Then, to make matters worse, some egotistical author decided to grab Harry up, like a child, and take a picture with him without his consent.

Then he discovered he was going to have to deal with this narcissist for ten months.

Harry was not having a good day. 

~

Harry could not believe he had let Ron talk him into this. He questioned all his life's decisions while holding on to the car door's handle for dear life. 

Meg would have thrown a fit.

~

Harry was almost relieved to discover that his ability to speak with snakes was a thing. 

Until then, he had no way of knowing if what he had experienced with Meg had been accurate, but parseltongue and dragons, both being real, couldn't be a mere coincidence. 

Meg and her stories were not just a figment of Harry's imagination. 

Unfortunately for him, just as he was making progress in figuring out that he wasn't insane, he started to question his sanity for a whole other reason. 

He didn't think there were any excellent outcomes to legends about hearing voices.

~

Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

Tom Riddle, the boy who he had gotten to know and learned to trust. Who had become his first-ever crush was Voldemort. 

His worst enemy. The man who had despised him from the beginning and who wanted him dead.

He was heartbroken. 

~

Harry looked at the massive basilisk that he had slain and the girl whose life he saved and envisioned himself as a tragic Greek hero. 

He fell to the floor, dropped Gryffindor's sword to the ground, and collapsed. 

At least he managed to save Ginny and kill Tom's memory. 

As Harry was ready to give up completely, Fawkes swooped in and started crying on his wound.

He was saved.