A Snake's Son

The letter

The Dursley's relented about 8 days after the incident at the zoo, Harry was stick like at this point, dehydrated and malnourished. They would throw him dried bread and a glass of water occasionally, whenever they remembered, or he collapsed from utter exhaustion. When they finally released him, they put him straight to work cleaning, cooking, weeding, he was only allowed food when they ate. His portions were even smaller than they were before, this led Harry to stealing food every night to keep himself going. His whale of an uncle had taken to lashing out at Harry when he passed, every time he ducked he lost food, so he eventually just let Vernon hit him. By the end of the month he was covered in bruises and cuts as evidence of the Dursley's cruelty.

One day, Harry woke up like usual with his horsed faced aunt banging on his cupboard door telling him to get up and go get the post from the mat at the door. He got out of bed with a groan and turned to discover that his newest cut had left blood on his thin coarse sheets, and he left through the small, thin wood door that made up the front of his cupboard.

Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen and didn't even look at him as he passed almost as quietly as a ghost, wincing. He heard a soft hiss through the open window but didn't think much of it. Uncle Vernon gave him a threatening look that screamed of violence and left searing indents on the back of his small skull. It hurt to bend, Harry soon discovered as he reached out for the letters on the mat, there were three letters. Two of them were plain and boring to look at, the had all the official looking signs that the Dursley's loved so much. And the one behind, was everything they hated; it was a thick paper, but it had a rougher texture to it and held a lot of weight, it's front housed only the address and Harrys name, all in bright green ink. Harry stood and stared at it for a second while coming to a decision in his head, he would not let them see it, it was his and although he knew they would probably find out about it in the long run he still just couldn't stand the thought of handing it over to them. 'What's mine is mine, and that is how it stays.' thought Harry 'I will never bow to their will.' His eyes burnt a brilliant crimson and striking emerald in anger as he thought on the pain they had inflicted on him and yet how they still sought to take more from him.

His magic flashed before his eyes and he jumped. The red bled from his irises as he stared trying to comprehend what he had just seen. A smoke that was half white half black had flashed before dissipating, he had also registered in his shocked state that it felt like there had been two separate smokes the black-and-white one he knew already, and another darker black smoke smaller than the one in front. It felt as if the darker of the two had only just appeared and was not all there yet.

With a start, he remembered the letters and hurried toward the kitchen, not before he had stuffed his letter up his top. He handed to other two to uncle before trying to retreat into his cupboard only to be stopped by a frail boned hand and heard the shrill voice of his aunt telling him too weed the bushes at the end of the garden. So, feeling fed up, he walked past his fat pig of a cousin who was pigging out on chocolates and stepped outside in the back garden only to hear the door slam shut and lock behind him.