Chapter Two
Harry awoke quite suddenly the next morning. He quickly checked the clock on the marble mantelpiece; it read 6.30 so the Dursley's were not yet awake. He breathed a sigh of relief.
He decided he would start the breakfast early because Aunt Petunia had said something yesterday about going shopping and he guessed they would be up at about 7.00.
He started with the bacon and soon after he had the sausages sizzling in the frying pan. He had just finished the eggs when his aunt and uncle entered the kitchen. His uncle just walked past him as if Harry wasn't there and his aunt looked surprised to see he had already finished the breakfast.
Comb your hair!" his uncle barked, by way of a morning greeting.
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.
Harry placed his uncle's breakfast in front of him, and then turned around to flip the switch on the kettle. As he waited for the kettle to boil, Aunt Petunia took her plate and then took her place at the kitchen table. Dudley arrived down as Harry was pouring out the tea. He smirked at Harry making breakfast but Harry ignored him, he was too used to it by now.
`Is he going to Mrs. Figg's while you take Dudders shopping?" Uncle Vernon asked Aunt Petunia from across the table. He often spoke like this about Harry, as if he wasn't there. "No, we'll take him with us, there's no point forcing him on the poor woman, she's been spending too much time with him lately," replied Aunt Petunia. Too true, thought Harry. Uncle Vernon looked like he was about to argue but then thought better of it. He decided to tell the family about his sister's vacation in the Isle of Man. Harry was delighted to hear this; it had been a while since he hadn't been either at the Dursley's house or at school. Mrs. Figg had become a lot more interested in Harry, he thought maybe she had completely lost her marbles because she kept saying Harry should look forward to the future and that good things were to come. Harry just nodded his head in agreement every time she started these `conversations'.
Harry was interrupted from his musings as his uncle started getting ready to leave for work. After breakfast Harry cleared away the plates and washed the kitchen. He then showered and changed into some cleaner clothes. At ten o'clock, Aunt Petunia, Dudley and a Harry were at the packed bus stop. When the bus arrived, Harry was left standing as Aunt Petunia and Dudley shared the last seat. Just before the bus left its stop, four boys climbed on. They were all very large and all wore heavy jackets. Harry recognized them immediately as the remaining members of Dudley's gang. The moment he saw them, Harry's heart sank. This is going to be a long day. They all gave him menacing looks as they pushed past him to climb the stairs. Dudley gave a nod of recognition to which they all replied instantaneously.
When they reached their destination, which was a good hour's drive away, the passengers aboard departed quickly. They had arrived at the biggest shopping mall near Little Whinging. It was the size of four football stadiums and had everything ranging from restaurants to clothes shops to cafes to hardware shops. But after an hour of following around in Aunt Petunia's wake, Harry was beginning to get bored. He wished he could have gone off on his own, maybe to a bookstore or a music store. Dudley seemed quite on edge throughout their shopping trip. He kept glancing behind him, Harry was sure it was because of the presence of his gang, Harry was very curious to know why they were here and he was on his guard also.
It wasn't until they had entered yet another clothes shop that things started to unfold. Dudley asked his mother could he go and browse the music store. This didn't terribly upset Harry but when Dudley asked could Harry come, Harry knew something was amiss. Harry didn't have any choice considering his aunt didn't even want him there and she would probably insist he go anyway .When they had left the music store, Dudley grabbed Harry's arm in a vice like grip. Harry winced. "Dennis told us what you did to him, Potter, so now we're going to show you what happens when you mess with one of the gang," he said threateningly. Dennis, Piers, Gordon and Malcolm stepped out from behind a corner. Harry looked into their faces which were full of rage. Their eyes were narrowed in dislike and they were fingering their knuckles. Harry was full of rage, he was sick of being intimidated. "I wasn't messing Dudley," Harry whispered so only Dudley could hear. He then elbowed Dudley in the stomach and then slammed Dudley into the ground by using his legs to sweep Dudley off his feet.
Suddenly Harry felt a fist connect with the side of his head. He was thrown off his feet and slid across the floor. He heard one of the security guards yelling so Harry quickly picked himself up off the ground and started to run towards the nearest exit. He wasn't going back. Not if he could prevent it. He didn't want to live like this anymore, in fear.
When he reached outside he was caught by a frosty breeze. He turned around on the spot looking for some way to get out of the area. He didn't have any money so he couldn't get a taxi or a bus. He was panicking now. Dudley probably had told the security guard that Harry was a violent delinquent and had almost certainly alerted Aunt Petunia of the situation. Just then Harry heard an angry roar coming from behind him. He then felt a large hand grab his shoulder tightly. This all happened so fast that Harry lost control of himself.
The security guard wasn't quick enough as Harry bolted across the road. Harry heard the screech of the brakes before he felt himself being slammed into the bonnet of a car. The security guard watched in shock as Harry was being ploughed by the car. He was sent flying into the windscreen, rolled back down and fell limp onto the ground.
A bushy-haired girl also watched in astonishment as the boy was run down by the car. When he hit the ground she began screaming, a high-petrified scream that alerted her parents to the situation. Her father ran over to the boy as the driver climbed out of the car, very white and in complete shock. "Is he alright? I didn't see him, he just came out of nowhere, by the time I hit the brakes it was too late!" he said in a shaky voice. "I don't know, I'm only a bloody dentist!" Mr. Granger shouted at the driver. "Ring an ambulance and find his parents," said the security guard from the back of the crowd that had gathered around the scene.
Mr. Granger turned the small boy over and checked for a pulse. He found one. He let out a sigh of relief. But his relief was only short lived. The boy's right leg stuck out at an odd angle. It was obviously broken. Also his right arm had a very deep gash in it. Mr. Granger tried to stop the flow of blood pouring out of it. He pulled of his jacket and wrapped it around the boy's thin arm. He was sure the boy had broken a few ribs and was worried about his internal injuries.
Soon the ambulance could be heard not far away. Then the red and blue lights made an appearance. A few minutes later the boy was carried into the ambulance on a stretcher. The medics told Mr. Granger that the boy was in a serious condition as his internal injuries were critical. Mr. Granger returned to his family. He was saddened to see his daughter with puffy red eyes and clinging to her mother. "It's just so awful, he's only my age." Mr. Granger tried to console her in the only way he could. "I'm sure he's going to be okay honey, the doctors said that they were going to take good care of him." She didn't look too convinced but let her mother guide her back to the car. Mr. Granger looked around for the security guard and found him standing just inside the entrance. "Did you find the boy's parents?"
"Didn't have any. Was with his aunt. She didn't seem too affected by the whole ordeal. She said she'd ring later to see how he was doing. Bloody hell, some people just don't care," he said with a cold voice full of contempt.
At the hospital the doctors were working tirelessly on getting Harry fixed up. After many hours in surgery they managed to stop the internal bleeding. They moved him to a comfortable ward and now all they could do was wait. The ward was quite empty when the doctors left but soon after a two cracking noises were heard. But Harry was still in a deep coma and he didn't wake.
In the dark ward which was only lit by one small lamp, appeared a tall thin man with a long silver beard. He was wearing a long purple cloak which swept the ground and high heeled buckled boots. His usually bright blues eyes were full of concern. He was accompanied by another. She was a rather sever looking woman who was wearing square glasses and also wore a long cloak an emerald one. She looked very agitated. "Shouldn't we do something Albus, can't we move him to Hogwarts. Just until he fully recovers. Poppy can examine him," she said in a serious tone.
"No, he is being cared for quite well here, he should make a full recovery by the time he receives his letter." Dumbledore replied calmly. He bent over Harry's still form. It looked as if he was checking him over and Professor McGonagall knew that even though he kept a calm exterior he was very worried. After a few minutes of examining Harry, Dumbledore stepped back from the bedside looking quite reassured. "Yes, he should be okay. Remus was very upset earlier. He was there when it happened. Of course, he couldn't do anything, not in front of a crowd of muggles. He said that there was a man there who was first to help Harry. He seemed to take control of the situation. Remus said that Harry was running and didn't notice the car."
"But why was he running Albus, I mean he must be quite foolish to run out in front of an oncoming car." said Professor McGonagall mystified. Dumbledore looked at her, a smile on his face. "I don't know why he was running Minerva, but I assure you that Harry is anything but foolish. In time you'll come to see that." Professor McGonagall took a seat in the straight backed chair beside the hospital bed. Dumbledore drew himself a chair with his wand and then took a seat opposite her on the other side of the bed. They sat there for a while talking about the wizarding world. They then fell into silence. All that could be heard was the slow beeping of a machine which was connected to Harry. They both looked at Harry with thoughtful expressions. "Will he be powerful Albus?" Minerva asked, her voice almost a whisper. Dumbledore looked at her with a knowing smile on his. "It's getting quite late, we best be going."
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