[Discontinued] When Shadows Collide, The Game Begins

Chapter Eight

Harry arrived home and flopped onto his bed, sad and bored out of his mind. Sherlock knocked lightly on the doorframe.

"Hey, Harry. Rough day?" Harry groaned in response. Sherlock sat down on the edge of the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Harry turned and sat up.

"It was sooo boring. None of the kids knew how to read properly and we spent the whole day going over the sounds of the alphabet. No one wanted to be my friend and several kids called me 'four eyes'." Harry sighed. "I thought school was supposed to be fun." Sherlock pulled the young boy into a hug. 

"Well," he said, "you don't have to go. I can homeschool you, then you can come on cases with me. You can do other things to make friends." Harry's face lit up immediately. 

"Would you really do that?" asked Harry

"Of course," Sherlock replied. Harry beamed and hugged Sherlock again.

"Thank you, Dad." 

From that day on, a new routine was formed. Every day, Harry would get up and watch some TV, then Sherlock would come and teach him all about the world, maths, English, and every other subject that came to mind. The one that they spent the most time on was chemistry. Then they would go on a case and Harry would try to solve it first, only asking if he was truly stuck. Then Sherlock would go over his deductions and point out any mistakes. Then they would go home and John would fill in the gaps of Sherlock's schooling with online courses. After that, the three of them would go through London. Harry would be searching for new friends, which rarely happened, and Sherlock and John would become closer.

This continued for around seven years, then Sherlock proposed. John, of course, said yes. Everyone was in high spirits as the wedding was planned. It was a glorious occasion. There were only around thirty guests, as neither John nor Sherlock had many friends, but they didn't mind. Harry was so happy to finally see his dads getting married. It had been years since he'd called either by their names and was excited that they were both going to be his legal fathers.

Many tears were shed that day, by Harry, Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, Molly Hooper and her new boyfriend, Jim, and the grooms themselves. Even Mycroft looked as if he might smile. The loudest sniffles were from the Holmes parents. Quite the opposite from their cold children, the Holmes parents were two of the happiest and emotional people Harry had ever met. It was quite funny.

When the day ended, Harry was exhausted and had a bit of a headache. John had let him have champagne as a treat, but Harry reckoned he might have drunk too much. He put all thoughts of his pain aside and went to congratulate his dads. They were grinning like fools as they climbed into a taxi. Harry almost climbed in with them, then stepped back and closed the door. He found Mrs Hudson and took a taxi with her back to the flat.

The next day, Harry woke at around midday. Sherlock and John had already left for their honeymoon. His suit was lying crumpled on the floor where he had left it last night. He picked it up and hung it back in his wardrobe, then he went to the living room and watched TV with a bowl of Coco Pops.

"Good morning, Harry," said Mrs Hudson as she walked into the flat. 

"Mornin'," said Harry. 

"Here's your post," she said as she threw a pile of envelopes onto the sofa. Harry thanked her and picked up the pile. He skipped through all the congratulatory letters from friends that couldn't make the wedding and all the bills. All that was left was a thick, yellow envelope that smelled faintly of lemon. The envelope was sealed with a wax insignia. A badger, an eagle, a snake, and a lion curled around an H. He flipped it over and in neat, green cursive, his name and address were written.

Mr H. Potter,

The upstairs bedroom, 
221b Baker Steet, Marylebone, London.

Harry looked at it suspiciously, then carefully inspected it. He could see no signs that it was dangerous, but he didn't want to take any chances. Going into the kitchen, he grabbed his chemistry safety gear that he never used and pulled on some thick rubber gloves and safety goggles. He carefully broke the seal on the envelope and tipped the contents into his hand. Nothing bad happened, so he unfolded the letter and began to read it.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRYHeadmaster: Albus Dumbledore(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)Dear Mr. Potter,We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

 Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Harry put down the letter and laughed. All this worry and it was just a prank. He chucked the letter into the bin and went back to watching TV.

The next day, another letter arrived, and the next, even more. Harry was starting to get annoyed. He wished his dads were home so he could tell them, but he didn't want to disturb their honeymoon. Instead, he just sat through it, every day throwing out dozens of letters. It got to the point where there were so many he began burning them in the fireplace.

When Sherlock and John finally came back, Harry was very happy to see them, but unbelievably annoyed at the sender of the letters. He gave his dads a day to settle back in, then told them all about the letters. They laughed at first, then got annoyed at the sender too. They decided not to do anything though, and instead decided to wait it out and see what would happen on the 31st. A date that just so happened to be Harry's birthday.

The day dawned and nothing unusual happened. Harry woke at a usual time and walked into the kitchen to see Sherlock making waffles and John arranging gifts on the table.

"Good morning guys!" he said and gave them each a hug. They sat down at the table and Harry opened his presents. Sherlock bought him a whole range of new chemicals and substances for his chemistry experiments, John got him a full box set of Horrible Histories DVDs and books, Lestrade gave him an old real police badge with a note saying to never let Sherlock have it, Mrs Hudson's gift was a large selection of games and a DS, the last gift was from Molly Hooper, it was the game operation. Harry thanked Sherlock and John, then went to his room to start reading the books he had received.

Around halfway through the day, after Harry had finished reading most of the books, there was a loud rumbling and the apartment shook slightly. Bloody lorries, he thought to himself, then he returned to his book. The rumbling didn't stop. Harry got up and walked to the lounge to see what was making the noise. After checking the window, he saw that it was not made by lorries. He walked around the room. The noise seemed to be coming from the fireplace. Suddenly, hundreds of letters flew into the room from the chimney, covering the floor and floating through the room. Harry looked out the window again and saw dozens of owls fly past.

"DAD! DAD!" he yelled. Sherlock and John sprinted into the room, then stopped when they saw the letters. John grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out of the room.

"I think we should leave," said Sherlock. Everyone grabbed their coats and left the flat. John hailed a taxi and the clambered in.

"Where do you want to go?" asked the cabbie.

"Scotland Yard, please." The cabbie nodded and drove off. Harry sat in the back, silently wondering why anyone would want to do this to him and his family.