Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 20: Navigant cupboard under the stairs

After Harry and Nio put away the bucket, rags, and ladder, Harry returned his little friend to the Agapanthus in the front yard and tried to express how thankful he was for his help. The little snake had saved him from a tirade from his Aunt. He also didn't feel quite so alone with Nio draped around his neck and while Hedwig also gave him a feeling of companionship and a connection to the magical world, with Nio, he had someone to talk to.

Granted their conversations so far had been focused on the layout of the garden and figuring out what they were talking about. Even with a shared language, there was a lot that didn't translate between the serpent and human perspectives. Still, the conversations were a relief from the toxic spew or stony silence Harry endured with the Dursleys.

A bit forlorn after leaving his friend, and with his legs shaking from hunger and weariness, Harry made his way to the ironing board to start in on the napkins before Vernon got home. It was always better to be employed in some task when his uncle arrived.

He knew that he'd be able to get something to eat once the Dursleys left to fetch Dudley from Smeltings. He assumed that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would go out for dinner with Dudley, and so, arrive home late.

Maybe I won't even have to see Dudley until tomorrow. Saturday. A month ago I was still at Hogwarts, I didn't know about the Basilisk, Ginny was okay, and I was able to see. A lot can change in a month, he thought.

Finally, after enduring a lengthy invective from Uncle Vernon about what he could and couldn't do while they were gone, Harry heard the car squealing out of the driveway and he was able to finally breathe easily.

Maybe the directions for the staff will include some household cleaning spells and I'll be able to speed through the ironing! Oi! Ron would take the mickey out of me if he knew I was fantasizing about learning spells for doing chores, he thought laughing at himself and craving time with his friend.

For a second, he was in Gryffindor tower, goofing around with Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville—pushing and shoving each other, telling bad jokes, and laughing until his sides hurt. He thrust the bruising thought away, the tower seemed so distant, so unattainable. He forced himself to focus on finding something to eat so that he wouldn't be trembling when he read through the literature from the hospital, eager though he was to get started.

oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo

Up in his room—he still felt safest in his room, even knowing he had the run of the whole house for a couple of hours—Harry pulled the literature and the anagnóstis out from under the floorboards.

He sat down on his bed and spread the leaflets out on the table by his bed. He didn't know where to start, so ran the anagnóstis over the three pieces of literature to see what they said. He figured out that one of them was upside down, righted it and tried again.

A pompous wizard (not unlike Percy Weasley) said the titles as he slid the anagnóstis over the fronts of the leaflets. They were titled: Getting Around: Using Your Guidance Staff, Why Learn Muggle Braille? For the Low Vision or Vision Impaired Witch or Wizard, and Adjusting to Your Magical Malady. Harry decided to get started with learning how to use his staff and pushed the other two aside. After determining there was no other useful information on the front page, he opened the leaflet and a voice erupted into his room, much louder than his anagnóstis. "THIS IS A LISTENING LEAFLET FOR THE WITCH OR WIZARD LIVING WITH VISION LOSS. TO ADJUST THE VOLUME, STROKE THE PAGE EITHER UP (LOUDER) OR DOWN (QUIETER). TAP IT TWICE TO TURN THE AUDIO ON OR OFF."

Harry immediately stroked the page down and was relieved when the volume of the voice was more tolerable. He was also thankful that he never opened the leaflets while the Dursleys were in the house. The leaflet kept going. Harry decided that he preferred the anagnóstis as he could more easily control the pace and tapped the leaflet twice. He wondered if the volume on his anagnóstis could be adjusted in the same way and was pleased to learn that it could, then he walked swiftly to the corner of his room where he kept his staff and tried to adjust the volume on it as well on it. He cast "Tempus" and was pleased with the softer "Quarter to two" response.