A few days before Harry's eleventh birthday, the mail arrived.

This wasn't an unusual occurrence, and the the resulting conversation was nearly a routine by now.

"Someone get the mail," Vernon grunted.

"Dad, make Harry get it," Dudley whined.

"Harry, get the mail."

Dudley waved his new Smeltings Academy stick menacingly (nearly knocking a vase of fake flowers over,) and so Harry grudgingly walked over to the front door, bending over to pick up the various letters.

Water bill, postcard from Marge ("Ew," Harry muttered under his breath,) Another bill and- what.

What.

A letter…. Addressed to him?

Harry stared. He'd never gotten a letter before. It was addressed properly, too- it was to be delivered to 'The Cupboard-Under-The-Stairs.'

It was, undeniably and unquestionably, his. He noted the nice shining green ink.

Harry was nothing if not at least mildly clever, and so tucked the letter into his waistband and returned to the living room, walking a little stiffly. He set the mail down on coffee table, and quickly slipped his letter into the darkness of the back of the cupboard, while he got his schoolwork ready for the day.

Nothing could ruin his good mood, not even Dudley and his Harry Hunting.

The day passed boringly. School was easy, Dudley was dumb, school was boring, Dudley was dumber. Harry had to fake a low grade on a test, but he was used to that.

When Harry got sent into his cupboard after dinner, it was all he could do to keep the glee off his face as he closed himself inside.

Using the faint hall light, he used a finger to carefully tear open the thick, expensive-feeling, and oddly heavy paper.

He opened it and slowly began to read.

Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list all necessary books an equipment.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

A packet of paper that was curiously larger than the original envelope promptly fell out of the letter. Harry stared. It all sounded absolutely ridiculous, but he'd done some strange things in the past. The whole not-dying thing, being more or less invincible. He decided to let them come to him, if they were real. After all, he didn't even have an owl.

Another handful of days passed, and it was Dudley's birthday. He glared resentfully at the absolutely massive pile of presents on the rug. Who needs thirty-seven presents?! Who gets that many presents, and still asks for more?! Dudley did.

The phone rang, and Aunt Petunia picked it up.

Harry couldn't hear the conversation, but he could tell it was nothing good as her face grew more and more angrier by the minute, before she slammed the phone back into the receiver. Her lips pursed into an angry line, she turned to her husband. "Arabella's bedridden— broke her leg yesterday. Tripped over one of those horrible cats of hers, no doubt. The boy'll have to come with us."

Vernon's face darkened a shade, but he looked to his son to see what would happen.

Dudley screwed his face up, and started to do a decent imitation of crying. "Don't— want to— go with him!" He choked out with a watery wail. "He ruins everything!"

Harry quietly shook his head in disgust.

Vernon looked at Petunia. "Could we leave the brat at home?"

Harry's hopes were dashed when Petunia shook her head and grimaced. "We can't— he'd probably burn down the house."

Vernon's face turned an ugly red color, but before he could say anything, the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia answered it.

It was Piers Polkiss, and his parents. (For some reason he couldn't quite explain, Harry never thought of him as either just Piers or Polkiss- for some reason, he was definitely both.) Dudley waddled up to greet his friend, and the family of three shut the door behind him. Piers Polkiss's father, a thin man with a long nose, shook Uncle Vernon's hand. "Good to see you again, Vernon," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, but something's come up and we can't go with you to the zoo today. Do you think you could watch our boy for us?"

Uncle Vernon, never one to back down from a challenge, merely said "Of course I can. Don't worry about it." Privately, Harry was impressed with how well that worked.

Harry did his best to melt into the background, not wanting to cause a fuss. After another minute, Piers Polkiss's parents left with a wave. Dudley was boasting about his present count to Piers Polkiss, who was looking a little envious of the massive pile. Harry looked down at his shoes, and waited.

The car ride was bumpy, and since Harry was the thinnest of them all, he got to sit in the center of the bench seat. It was a bumpy ride, but he didn't feel it. A feeling of excitement started to bubble up through him- he was going to the zoo!

They rolled to a stop, and Harry got out last. Dudley tried to slam the door shut on his fingers, but the just bounced off- Dudley looked disappointed for a moment.

Harry looked up at the large letters. The London Zoo.

Nice, he thought, as he trotted behind Dudley.

A/N So yup, this is my first story. To my first reviewer, TheShardsOfDarkness2138, thank you, it means the world to me!

This might sound a little like one of ShayneT's fics, I did get a bit of inspiration from that. However, it's going to be different.

The first 3 chapters were mostly written a few months ago- I promise, my writing's gotten better!

I have no concrete updating schedule... but I'll likely post Chapter 4 before the end of next week. Thank you for reading!