AN: Well, It's been awhile since I first wrote this. So, I updated it. I do not own the Harry Potter books or any OCs within.

Harry was lying in bed alone at 6:30AM, thinking about things that flooded his mind. Very rarely was there ever a silent moment in his head. He was always thinking about something, calculating the possible outcomes of a situation. He was, from the very beginning, very different from other people. His ability to see a person for who they truly were allowed him to make Dudley, who was once his worst nightmare, a very close friend over the years. With his Aunt and Uncle, however, he was less successful. Any attempt to befriend them on their own terms ended up in rather severe punishments, accusations of trying to get inside their head, and the replacement of his name with 'boy' or 'freak'. This is one of the reasons why his room is the broom cupboard under the stairs.

Dudley, upon becoming Harry's friend, eventually used his birthday and Christmas to ask for presents he would give to Harry. Harry had been caught only once in having one of his toys. The punishment was no dinner for a week. He still ate, though, as Dudley always slipped food through the door. Dudley didn't mention that he wanted Harry to have it, because if either of Dudley's parents discovered that Harry was mixing with their precious child, Harry would likely discover himself living on the street or in an orphanage. Harry was playing with one of those presents now, it was a wood puzzle. There were six pieces and all of them were exactly the same. This puzzle was his only toy that wasn't broken, and helped him stimulate his thoughts.

After a while, a loud and obnoxious rapping on the door woke Harry from his daydream. "Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!" A latch being pulled back told Him that Dudley had unlocked the door. His cousin was always one to hide that he was Harry's friend.

Harry got up to make breakfast for the family, as he had to everyday. Vernon and Petunia came downstairs. Petunia said, "Don't you dare burn the bacon," before hugging and kissing Dudley, and Vernon commented, "Comb your hair!" before settling down to read the newspaper. The breakfast went better than usual. Neither Vernon nor Petunia spoke to him. Dudley didn't eat all of the food on his plate while Harry did. Given the amount of food his parents gave him every day; Dudley should be about the size of a baby whale by now. But, since he and Harry were friends, some of his food always found its way to Harry. Harry, probably for this very reason, wasn't as skinny as he would be if he never got food from Dudley, and was much taller.

Harry was interrupted from one of his daydreams when Dudley asked Vernon, "How many are there?" -Speaking of the presents at the fireplace for his birthday.

"Thirty-Six, counted-em myself!" Vernon said proudly. Dudley smiled nicely and said, "Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Petunia, having spoken of this to Vernon before hand, warning him that he got thirty seven last year, was amazed at her son's lack of selfishness, "But, Dudley, you got thirty seven last year! You aren't at all mad at that?"

"No, mum, the presents this year are a little bigger than last year, after all." He said innocently, attempting to hide the personal changes that came about because of his friendship to Harry. Harry didn't dare smile, fearing that Petunia would notice and take offence. He feared in vain, as Petunia immediately began sobbing and hugging Dudley ferociously.

"M-my D-Dudikins is growing up s-so fast!" Petunia sobbed into an embarrassed Dudley's shirt.

"Stop, mother, you're getting my nice clothes wet!" Dudley silently claimed, trying to pull her off. Petunia calmly released him while wiping her eyes, Vernon said;

"That's our boy! Growing up to be a big, responsible man!" And with that, Harry began thinking of other things again while quietly eating his eggs.

-oOoOo-

The morning passed quickly, taking with it the dew on the grass. After breakfast, things went by quickly. Dudley quietly slipped two strips of bacon into Harry's pocket and they all go into the car. Harry ate the extra bacon in the car, and then began daydreaming again. He came out of the daydream when they got to the zoo. Harry, not thinking, immediately set off for the 'reptiles' section.

"Boy! Come back here at once!" Vernon called. Harry realized what he was doing and came back. "Listen to me, boy," Vernon started, "You just lost your dinner for that little slip-up. I want you and Dudley to stick together with Petunia. If I hear of any funny-business, any at all, you will be in that cupboard for a week."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon."

"Go, then."

"Yes, Uncle." He said, turning around and following Petunia and Dudley into the Zoo. Harry didn't care for much of the wildlife, but the life he did care about was typically deadly. Harry had a nearly morbid fascination for living things that could kill him. Among these were; lions, bears, sharks, and snakes. He harbored this strange love of deadly creatures for as long as he knew, and the bigger they were, the more beautiful they seemed to him. His favorite memory was touching a common garden snake that had somehow gotten into Petunia's flower bed. It sent a shiver up his spine to feel the muscles under the snake's scales, and was in his thoughts for weeks afterward.

Harry came back from a daydream involving snakes, feeling the same shiver he had remembered feeling just weeks before as he laid eyes on a huge snake. He immediately recognized it as a boa constrictor.

Dudley immediately tapped on the glass, knowing that Petunia was watching his and Harry's behavior. "Hey, you! Move!" Dudley shouted at the boa. Harry flinched at Dudley's callous behavior, but said nothing. Petunia's ever-watchful eye was present. Getting board, Dudley and Petunia moved off, leaving Harry simply to stare in awe. Feeling silly at first, he talked to it.

"Sorry about them. They don't understand what it's like, sitting there all day, having people sticking their ugly faces at you."

That's when something strange happened. It looked at him. "I get that all the time." Harry's amazement lasted for a few seconds as he just stared at it, but was quickly interrupted by Dudley's silent question.

"Were you just talking to it?" He asked, awed. Harry jumped in surprise, and then calmed a little to say,

"Yes, but please don't tell them." Harry said desperately.

"Of course not. What do you think; I'm some kind of git?"

"No." He replied, grinning slightly and looking back at the snake briefly. Dudley had found out that Harry could do some strange things in the past. This was one of the things that led to them becoming friends. Curiosity overruled fear and pride and they eventually got along. Petunia noticed her Dudikins was behind.

"Oi! Boy! Get over here!" She called to Harry, frowning sternly at him, not willing to yell at Dudley. Harry quickly caught up and the day passed without another strange incident.

-oOoOo-

A few months later, during the summer, Harry woke up in the broom cupboard, as usual. He made breakfast and sat down to eat. The noise of springs screeching and then metal clanging against metal told them that the mail had just been delivered. Harry smelled something disgusting, but didn't bother to check what it was because he was daydreaming about the snake at the zoo.

Coming to his senses about the mail and not wanting to tax Dudley's precious form, Vernon grunted at Harry, "Go get the mail, boy."

"Yes, Vernon." Harry replied. Dudley looked guiltily at Harry and Harry knew that Dudley would have gladly gotten the mail for him. Thinking on this as he went to the mail, Harry realized that the most likely reason that Vernon decided to get him to bring the mail, rather than Dudley, is because he knew that Harry would get it willingly. It seemed to Vernon that the boy was finally becoming normal, and he overlooked some obvious signs that Dudley and Harry were getting along for this very reason. It never occurred to him that the real reason behind Harry behaving well was because Dudley and Harry had become close friends when Dudley recognized and enjoyed Harry's curious ability to do strange things. It was very good that Vernon didn't know it, as that may have caused him to have a heart attack. The mail, at least at first, seemed as normal and boring as all mail seemed to Harry. Until he found a letter for him.

Harry's only friend was Dudley. No one else really cared for him, which means that no one would write him. But someone did. The letter was made of parchment and written in green ink. The first line of the destination address made his heart skip a beat. The second one sent shivers up his spine and made him gasp

Mr. H. Potter

The Cupboard Under The Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

A half-second was all it took for Harry to decide to stuff it down his massive trousers, hiding it from view. There was no reason why his Aunt and Uncle should see this letter. It was his and no-one was allowed to see it without his permission. Considering that the writer knew where he slept, and that it was made out of parchment, Harry knew that it was strange enough to Vernon that he would burn it as soon as he got his meaty hands on it, and that was not happening. This did, however, launch Harry into another daydream. Who could have possibly sent the mail? No. He had to stay focused. Can't let them know something's going on. Can't let them see the letter.

Breakfast was finished quickly. Dudley stuffed toast down Harry's pocket in a covert way before going upstairs to play on his computer. Vernon noticed, but said nothing, reminiscing on how Dudley was bending Harry to become normal. Perhaps he should allow Harry to eat more. Besides, He was a growing boy and was likely aspiring to become like Dudley. Vernon smiled as he felt pride for Dudley's sense of leadership.

Harry cleaned up after breakfast and went to his cupboard in as normal a way as possible. Vernon noticed, however, that Harry was rushing, and immediately assumed that he was dying to eat his toast. Petunia noticed as well, but didn't see the toast incident.

"Harry, why are you rushing?" Petunia questioned loudly. Instantly, Vernon said,

"Harry, go to your room. I'll have a talk with Petunia." Harry paled and began to shiver, having no idea what was going on and assuming that it had something to do with the letter. When he got into his room, he immediately hid the letter under a loose board under his bed and went to the door to listen to the conversation. It started with Vernon.

"Petunia, I think Harry is becoming normal." Almost immediately, Harry gave a sigh of relief. They didn't know about the letter.

"How is that even possible? He's," and at this, her voice dropped to a whisper, and Harry could barely hear her, "One of them." Vernon carried on in the same whisper.

"Of course he is, but when is the last time he did something strange?" Harry had to smile at this. If it weren't for his friendship with Dudley, they would know that he did strange stuff every day.

"I really can't remember, but what is your point?"

"Petunia, hear me out. When is the last time Dudley behaved in a nasty way towards Harry?"

"Well… we can't know what's going on at school…."

"No more bruises, Petunia. Harry doesn't get hurt at school anymore. At the same time, Dudley miraculously stopped bullying Harry. Then, Harry stopped doing strange things. Do you not see?"

"See what?!" She impatiently yelled. Vernon raised a hand for peace. Petunia calmed down.

"I think Dudley and Harry became friends, which is what caused Harry to give up all of the strange stuff in the first place. I think Harry's friendship with Dudley is making Harry more like Dudley."

"But, how can you possibly know this?"

"I just saw Dudley shove a piece of toast into Harry's pocket and Harry didn't react, then Harry began to rush to his cupboard, likely starving to eat it. Petunia, they are friends… wait, where…."

"I must see this for myself, Vernon." Petunia said, her voice getting noticeably louder to Harry. It was too late when Harry realized that Petunia was coming to confirm that he had the toast. Harry barely stepped back before the door opened and Petunia demanded the toast. Harry guiltily handed it to her and she looked at it in shock, but quickly recovered and brought it upstairs to Dudley. This is what Harry heard.

"Dudley, did you give Harry this toast?"

"Um….uh."

"Dudley, you are not in trouble, now tell me-"

"I know I'm not in trouble, mother, but is Harry?" That warmed Harry's heart. It also stopped Petunia's questioning. A few seconds later, Harry heard;

"Oh, Dudders!" Dudley's groan told Harry that Petunia was giving him a bone-crushing hug. Harry heard lots of sobbing and quiet whispering, likely about how happy she was that Dudley was growing up to be a reliable and responsible man. Then, he heard slow footsteps leading down the stairs. The door to his room opened and Petunia gave Harry the toast back and quietly shut the door. Harry listened to the door again.

"You're right, Vernon. They are friends. What do we do?"

"It's simple, really. Since he is becoming one of us, we treat him like one of us, but it needs to be slow. To start off, let Harry have more during meals. That should also stop Dudley going behind our backs. I don't want him thinking he can just do things against us. We should also begin treating him like we treat Dudley. No more mean words, and no more 'boy'. He is a respectable lad and his name is Harry, and we need to show him that we accept him if he behaves that way."

"And what about his room? We could use Dudley's second room."

"No, that's too fast. Maybe in a week or two. And, if Harry does anything weird, everything extra we give him for being normal goes away." And with that, Petunia got up again to slowly walk over to the cupboard. It was a slightly timid voice that greeted him.

"Harry, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

"During meals, serve yourself some more food, but don't take away from Dudley. We are doing this because you mixing with Dudley seems to be improving your behavior."

"Thank you, Aunt Petunia." Harry said sweetly, hoping it sounded sincere.

"You're welcome, dear."

Then she walked out to Vernon and said, "He seems to like the idea. Let's see how far it goes." The conversation ceased after that. That was the signal for Harry to read the letter. Harry got under the bed and retrieved the letter from under the floorboard, opened it as quietly as possible, and read it.

Immediately, his mind began racing. If this was a gag, the consequences wouldn't be severe. If it wasn't, it could be a whole new world. The problem was that they seemed to think that he had some kind of trained bird, an owl, which could deliver his reply. Perhaps it was sent with the typical Hogwarts greeting, which means that all they needed to do was fill in a few blanks. Therefore, if they had enough information to be able to tell that he lives in a broom cupboard, then they will know that he doesn't have an owl. Because of this, if they want a reply, they will have an owl posted outside, or they will simply have people posted in the post office.

Well, that's easy enough, all he has to do is write a reply on the back of the parchment, get outside, try to find an owl, and then just send the mail through the post office if he fails. He decided to keep the parchment sheet that told him what materials he needed. On the back of the first parchment sheet, he wrote with a pen he found randomly;

Dear Minerva McGonagall,

I'm afraid that I don't know what this school is. My first instinct is to throw this letter in the trash, but I would probably regret it later. If this isn't a prank, then I would be happy to go. There is a problem, however. My Aunt and Uncle don't know about this letter because if they found out, I would likely be severely punished. They hate anything that is 'abnormal', and this definitely qualifies. Under no circumstances can they know about this school, this letter, or that I have been contacted by what they call 'her crowd', which is a term they give to my mother's friends, I guess. Also, now that I mention it, do you know how my parents really died? My Aunt and Uncle claim that they died in a car crash because Dad got drunk. Is that true? Hopefully Hogwarts isn't fake. This place is terrible and could get worse in the future. If you want me to attend, you will have to send someone to pick me up. This person has to look normal. Talk about taking me away to a school that they will not see me for a while for free, they will love to hear that. This school must seem as normal as possible. And, please, come get me quickly. I cannot stand it in here much longer.

Sincerely, and with timid joy,

Harry Potter

PS: Where am I supposed to get all this stuff for school? Also, why is it that I'm not allowed a broom? Is the manual labor too hard for us or something?

With that written down, he folded it back up and wrote on the envelope "Return to Sender. Read Contents!" On the way to the mailbox, Harry noticed Mrs. Fig standing in front of it. Harry approached at a normal speed, hoping not to be noticed as strange. Maybe she would move out of his way? No. She just stood there with a small grin on her face. As soon as they met, Mrs. Fig said,

"Quickly, Harry give me the letter and I will give it to McGonagall. Don't ask questions."

"It's real?"

"Of course, now give it here, Harry." That snapped him to attention. Without saying another word, he gave her the letter and walked to the park in order to avoid being suspicious. At the park, there was a bench there and four yew trees planted together. Two years ago, the bench wasn't there and the trees were only saplings. Harry found this spot, roughly measured the distance between the trees, then got to work. Harry seemed to be able to do lots of weird things. One of the coolest things he can do is manipulate and create growth just by thinking about it. Dudley caught him on a day not much different from this. That day, Harry made the four trees come to adulthood and intertwine their branches above to form a giant shade, and then made their roots come together in such a way that formed a bench. The low-hanging branches surrounding the trees provided greater shade. No plant life grew on four paths leading from the bench.

It was there that Harry sat every time he rested outside of the house, thinking about things. He recently found a way to boost the tree's oxygen production greatly, which helped with thinking, especially during the summer, as the heat usually made him feel tired, and the oxygen-rich air cooled everything down. Harry was there now, his head in his hands and knees up to his chest, using this position to allow him to think as quickly as possible about what went down today. Without Harry's knowing, Dudley walked up

"What was that all about?" Dudley asked while sitting down

"What do you mean by 'that'?" He replied, nonchalant, thinking that he may have seen him hand the letter to Mrs. Fig.

"The thing with the toast. And they reacted positively. I thought for sure you were going to be punished."

"Yeah, I did too, especially since I first thought they found out about the letter."

"What letter? Can I see?"

"No, I already sent it. In the mail this morning, there was a letter that told me that I had been accepted to a school."

"Oh, well why would you need to hide it? They would be ecstatic, probably try to get me to enroll."

"The school's name is the 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"

Dudley gulped, "Well, what if it is a prank? Although, that would explain all of those weird things you can do."

"It's not a prank. Mrs. Fig was at the mailbox today and asked for the letter, telling me to be quick and that the school is real."

"Whoa! She's one of them?"

"Apparently. Now that I know that it's real, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Asked Dudley, concerned.

"Well….In the letter I wrote back, telling them to pick me up and take me away to the school for a very long time. The longer, the better."

"Oh." Said Dudley, looking slightly hurt, but it changed to anger. "Man, I have never been angrier at my parents."

"Don't worry, Dudley," Harry said with a smile, smacking him on the back, "As soon as I get there, I'll figure out if I can come back to visit sometime." Dudley smiled at that. They sat there for a few hours and then went home.