The Potter Twins and Hogwarts: Year One

Saturday, July 14th, 1991, 7am

A banging on a door startled the two children sleeping, uncomfortably, inside the very small space, causing Ivy to bang her head into Harry's, and Harry to bang his head on the underside of the steps, from reacting to the first collision with Ivy. They were facing the door, backs pressed against the cold wall, in identical positions. Both had their slim, almost nothing but bone and skin, arms wrapped around their shins, as their knees where pulled up to their chests. Ivy, had, had her head, leaning on Harry's shoulder, while Harry had his head resting on hers. Now both were rubbing sore spots on their heads, to ease the slight stinging of pain, from the small bumps, that the banging had caused.

“Up!” Aunt Petunia yelled, high-pitched, from the other side of the door. “Get up!” There was the familiar sound of a lock sliding back, and a very small, almost non hear-able ‘clink’ of metal touching metal.

Harry, the taller of the two, had leaned forward and twisted the door knob and was about to push it open before the familiar sounds of heavy, running feet came from above them, causing the door to be immediately pulled shut again, so no one would run into it. Dust, and other particles, fell onto the both of them, as the footsteps went up and down the stairs, and then jumped on one stair for a few seconds, causing both occupants inside to cough slightly. There was loud laughing, and finally the steps were vacated. Both of the occupants knew that the person, who’s feet had been running up and down the stairs was now in front of the door.

“Hurry up, you freaks!” yelled, Dudley, in a slightly rough but childish voice, followed by more banging on the poor abused door.

Sadly the two were used to such harsh words, they also knew it wasn’t normal to be sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs, but according to their Aunt, and Uncle, bad, abnormal children, didn’t get such privileges like a bedroom. It didn’t help of course that, Dudley, their over-weight cousin, would constantly blame them for the things he did. So all in all, their room, was a cupboard, not very big, as they got older, and now, the two weeks till eleven, ten year olds, where cramped, inside, and had to sleep sitting up.

For the first six years of their life, they had thought their names where Freak, and Brat. It wasn’t until primary school that they had found out, that Brat was really supposed to be Harry, and Freak, was really supposed to be Ivy. It took all of one beating for them to make sure they answered if they were ever to be called upon in school, and then another beating to make sure they realized that they were to never be noticed, and one final one for them to make sure they failed everything, as to not upset their cousin, who was rather dense when it came to anything other than food, and bullying.

Harry James Potter, a 5’5”, skinny boy, with short, wild, un-tamable, raven black hair, and shocking green eyes, came out of the cupboard first, while shoving round, taped at the nose, black thin framed glasses on his face. He had nice lightly tanned skin, but it was hardly noticeable, due to the fact that his clothes where five times bigger than him. His pants had to be held up by a piece of rope in order to stay up, but what would you expect from only ever receiving his whale of a cousins ratty old clothes. Right now he was wearing what he had worn yesterday, a tatty red plaid shirt, and ripped in both knees jeans.

Ivy Seraphina Potter, came out next. She was 5’3”, and like her brother, skinnier then most children their age. She had mid-shoulder blade length, extremely straight and flat, deep burgundy hair, that looked black unless it was under lights, and even then it had to hit her hair at the right angle. She was a complete opposite of her brother, in skin tones, as she was pale but it was a healthy pale. She couldn’t get a tan even if she wanted one, not that she did, in fact she hated being out in the sun. Ivy had emerald green eyes, but no glasses to hinder their brilliance. She was also wearing some of Dudley’s old hand-me-downs, which would have drowned her, had they not been rolled up multiple times, so that she could walk, and cook. Right now she was wearing a stained grey shirt, and blue jeans with holes scattered here and there.

Ivy shut the door to their room, and quietly followed her brother out to the kitchen. Dudley was waddling around his mother, demanding to know what was for breakfast. Aunt Petunia came over to them, a brown brush in her hand, and none to nicely brushed Ivy’s long hair, pulling it harshly every time it got snagged on a snarl. Ivy wisely didn’t complain least she want to get hit with the brush. She had tried to brush Harry’s hair, but no matter what she did it refused to lay flat, giving up she set the brush on the counter and faced the two of them, a disgusted look on her face.

“You, get cooking the bacon, and don’t burn it.” Aunt Petunia, a skinny by choice, brown haired, mean black eyes, horsed faced woman, with a too long neck, ordered, pointing at Ivy. Ivy just nodded and set off to do it. “And you, start weeding the gardens, and then mow the lawn.”

Harry left with a quick, “Yes, ma’am.”

Ivy would have been doing the gardening, along with the cooking, and other chores that most consider to be a woman’s job, but ever since Petunia had forced her to stay outside, when she was six, with just a very oversized sleeveless shirt, causing her to get a horrid sun burn, she refused to go outside when the sun was shining, and no amount of beatings changed that.

So, Uncle Vernon, a whale of a man, with a bushy mustache, and no neck, had made her brother do the outside work, while Ivy stayed inside, cleaning the house, except for her Aunt’s and Uncle’s room, since she wasn’t, under any circumstances, allowed in there. Then again, no one, other than Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon where allowed in there, not even Dudley, even after his fake tantrum, but that’s neither here nor there.

That left Harry to do all of the outside work. Which included, painting the fence, weeding the garden, watering the plants, mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, and washing Uncle Vernon’s car, just to name a few. Harry had no problems with working outside, then again he wasn’t subjected to the same burning as Ivy had been, and had also confided in Ivy that, he preferred to the outside work then the inside because that meant he didn’t have to hear Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon yelling at him so much.

Though, he did understand that Ivy had contracted a fear, although strange as it was, about being outside when it was sunny. He also sympathized with Ivy about fears, as he hated the dark, as much as she hated brightness. Harry told Ivy that, that was the main reason he loved being outside, because it was bright. They both hated loud noises, and being touched by others they didn‘t know, courtesy of the Dursley’s. The loud noises where from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, as they took immense pleasure in yelling at them for the slightest mistake, or for no apparent reason, and partially because of Dudley, as he liked to announce to them that he had the better of everything, and when he didn’t get his way throwing a fit.

The being touched thing, was really only because of Dudley, and Uncle Vernon, though largely from the latter, then the former, for the simple fact that Uncle Vernon often resorted to hitting them when they became “ungrateful” or did “freaky things”. Dudley often bullied them at school, and with his friends they played a game called “Freak Hunting”. Those became rarer as the years went on, not because Dudley grew tired of it, but because he was so fat that he couldn’t keep up with the two, and his friends, didn’t want to feel Dudley’s wrath if they caught them first.

Their personalities where different but not as different as their looks where, because of a mind-link they had with each other, that they discovered at the age of five. Because of the mind-link, and the fact that they could talk with each other no matter how far from each other they were, they were both intelligent, and understood things that children their age could barely grasp the concept of. They were highly observant, though that was mostly because of the way they grew up more than anything, and they always had to pay attention to everything around them. Also, because of the way they were raised, they could read other people really well, and could tell from the tone of their voice, what they were really feeling, even if their face never showed it.

Harry though intelligent, had a bit of a quick temper, and threw away all rational thinking when he extremely angry, or when Ivy was being bullied, by anyone. Ivy preferred to make others feel insignificant, without yelling, and often made those that bullied her cry. Harry preferred to be blunt about things, Ivy liked showing her intelligence, and more often than not, took to explaining things in a complicated way, and so Harry would often have to explain things to those that didn’t understand a thing Ivy said, seeing as he was really the only one their age that could understand her.

They both had a good imagination, though how they showed it was slightly different, Ivy liked to sing and dance, while Harry would give her the music by playing either the piano, violin, flute, or guitar, depending on the song Ivy wanted to sing. Ivy was, according to her teachers, an excellent artist, and would often draw pictures for the stories that Harry loved to write. They both could talk, and understand snakes, which they found out one cloudy day early this summer, while Harry was weeding the garden, and grass snake slithered over. They talked to it, and learned that they were both Parseltongues, which meant they could both speak snake, and understand them as well, though to them it sounded as if it were in English.

While they were the same in a lot of ways, their likes and dislikes were almost as different as their looks. Ivy preferred the night, Harry liked the day. Harry liked clear sunny, slightly windy, weather, Ivy liked the darken gray clouds, and the rain that came with them, as it was the only time she went outside willingly. Ivy loved cats, of any kind, while Harry loved dogs, of any kind. Though that didn’t mean Ivy hated dogs, and Harry hated cats, since Ivy liked wolfs, and Harry liked panthers, but strictly speaking it was more than them liking those particular animals, that made them like them. It was because Ivy could understand felines, while Harry understood canines.

They found that out about Ivy’s ability to understand cats, when they were dropped off at Mrs. Figg’s house, for the first time after they learned to talk, properly. It wasn’t weird at all, well not to Ivy anyway, as she always could understand the meows of the cats, but could never actually have a conversation with them, because of the limited speech she had. Ivy always enjoyed speaking to them or any other cat, ever since then, knowing they could understand, even if it made her look crazy to others, except Harry. Well, that was after Ivy explained to Harry that yes she could understand the cats.

Still though that was nothing compared to the first time they discovered Harry’s ability, at eight years old. It happened with a visit from Uncle Vernon’s sister, Marge, or Aunt Marge as they were to call her. Aunt Marge had sent Ripper after the both of them, chasing them out of the house, and up a tree. It had been a sunny day, but because Ivy was terrified of the dog, and so was Harry, they ran out the door, and up a tree as fast as possible. Imagine both theirs and the dogs surprise when Harry had yelled at him to stop because his sister was frighten, and Ripper did. Harry ended up having a very interesting conversation with Ripper, and had come to agreement that neither one of them like Aunt Marge, but they also knew that they had to make it seem like Ripper was the evil terrify dog that Marge wanted him to be, otherwise he would be punished.

So Ripper and Harry came to an agreement, Ripper could be “terrifying” to only Harry, and Harry would let him catch him at times, so that he would be rewarded with steak, and other things the dog enjoyed, as long as he left Ivy alone. It was a good thing that Ripper was so excited at having found someone who could understand him, and the Harry wasn’t speaking loud enough, because to the adults that where watching, it looked as if Ripper was barking and growling threateningly while jumping at the tree, instead of having a pleasant conversation. Harry ended up jumping out of the tree, causing Ripper to “chase” him, distracting the dog long enough for Ivy to run back into the house, much to the displeasure of the adults.

It also annoyed them greatly when Ripper simply refused to go after Ivy, after that, and it also caused Ivy to get a beating from Uncle Vernon, because she had to have done something to the dog to cause him to act that way. Ivy took the beating, without so much as a sound, and also had to listen to Harry constantly apologizing to her, because he blamed himself. It was only after Ivy had said she was more than willing to get the one beating, then to have to go back outside, in the sun light, and be afraid of the dog, every time Aunt Marge came over to visit, before Harry had stopped apologizing.

They didn’t understand why their mind-link wasn’t able to translate the barks of a dog to Ivy, or the meows of the cats to Harry, so they could both understand them. Then again, they really didn’t question it too much, considering they liked having something that wasn’t shared by the other.

Ivy was brought out of her musing when Petunia yelled at her. “You’d better be making breakfast, and not getting any strange ideas.” She yelled, after noticing Ivy’s faraway look, though she was still able to cook.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ivy said, her tone of voice made her sound almost bored.

“Ungrateful freak.” Petunia growled as she shoved Ivy out of the way as soon as the eggs where done, and put them on three separate plates.

Ivy stood up, and pulled her sleeves back down to her wrists, not even phased by the rough treatment. She just stood, and looked at Petunia with an indifferent look on her young face, waiting for her next order. Petunia, after setting the plates at the table, and looking outside, at the graying clouds coming across the sky, shoved four slightly stale pieces of bread, into Ivy’s hands.

“It’s not sunny out, so get out, and stay out, that’s your brother’s and yours breakfast.” She ordered, and literally shoved Ivy out the door.

Ivy just walked over to her brother who was still pulling some stubborn weeds, without so much as a backwards glance to the house she was now locked out of, unless she was called back in, or it turned sunny again, whichever came first.

That’s right, they didn’t care if they got a cold from being outside in a down pour, however, after Ivy made her point clear, a month after the sun burn incident, that she refused to be outside when it was sunny, they always allowed her back in when it became that way. Making her point clear involved breaking the glass of the sliding door, and yelling at them, that she didn’t care if they beat her, or starved her, every time she broke the glass, she would do it, because it wasn’t her money they were wasting, when they refused to let her in, it was theirs. Oh, she paid for that outburst dearly, she got one of the worst beatings of her young life, and no food for two days, and wasn’t allowed out of the cupboard, except to use the bathroom, for two weeks. She didn’t care though, since she was now allowed in the house when it was sunny out, in her eyes she won.

“I have breakfast for you brother.” Ivy said, her voice softer, and less bored sounding, as she handed Harry two pieces of bread.

“Thanks Ivy.” Harry replied, stopping his weeding and taking the hard bread. “So you’re out here till it becomes sunny again?” Harry asked, while eating the bread.

“Yes.” Ivy answered. “Brother?”

“Hm?”

“Why don’t we ever just run away?” Ivy asked, it wasn’t the first time she had asked.

“Sis, you know why. How are we to get food, shelter, and all that we need to survive?” He asked back, knowing that every once in a while he needed to talk Ivy out of wanting to run away.

“I’m sure we would find a way, I know you aren’t smart, but I happen to be very good at thinking.” Ivy said, teasing him, because Harry just hid the fact that he was smart more often than not, but otherwise was completely serious.

“Ivy, we’ve been over this before.” Harry said, tiredly. Ivy knew he wasn’t tired physically, but more tired of a repeated conversation.

“I know.” Ivy said, and after a moment whispered. “Harry?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t care what happens, I’m not staying here another day. I’m just so tired of it. We both get treated like crap, well worse than crap, but my point is, we’d both be better off, fending for ourselves and free, then being here and getting closer and closer to starvation.” Ivy said with determination. “I’m leaving tonight, you can either come with me, or not, but I am going, and you are not stopping me.”

“How are we supposed to leave the cupboard?” Harry asked, it’s not the first time Ivy said she was going to leave, and yet, today was also different, and she sounded more determined than ever before. “You now they always lock it.”

“Yes, but that’s only if we are in it.” Ivy stated. “We just have to make sure that tonight they lock us out of the house instead of in the cupboard.”

Harry thought about it, and she did have a good point, “Okay, but where are we going to go? And what about money?” He asked.

“First we are going to Mrs. Figgs house.”

“What? Why? She’d just turn us back over to Aunt and Uncle.”

“She would, but her cats however, can’t. Also, I have been planning this for a while. Snowy said that she could snatch a few pounds from her purse and bring it to us.” Ivy explained.

“Why would they do that?” Harry asked, now more confused than before.

Ivy sighed, and looked at Harry, “Well obviously, she wants to help us, you dolt.” Harry glared at her, but she just ignored it. “Plus, it’s not like Mrs. Figg will miss it. Apparently she has a bit of money to spare, since according to Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty, someone else is paying for the house.”

“Who?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, whenever I would ask, all of them would run off or just stay quiet.” Ivy said. “But, if from what the cats have told me is right, I can only bet it’s someone from the magical world.”

Both Harry and Ivy, knew of the magical world, because of a silver tabby cat, that looked as if it was wearing glasses because of the markings around its eyes, had told them, after learning that Ivy could understand cat’s, and that Harry could understand dog’s, and that both speak and understand snakes. The silver cat, never told them her name, but did visit during the summer, and would talk to Ivy, asking about her home life, to which Ivy would lie about, and Ivy would ask the cat about the magical world.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “How come? I mean it’s not as if she’s magical, is she? Don’t you think if she had magic her house would, I dunno look and smell better?”

Ivy sighed, “Harry, you really need to stop hiding your intelligence, it’s starting to happen all the time, and it’s just us, so come on, smarten up already and think. Where do we go when Aunt and Uncle both leave the house?” She asked.

“To Mrs. Figg's.” Harry answered easily.

“Do you know why?” Ivy asked.

Harry opened his mouth, then shut it for a moment. “Well,” He said after a bit of silence. “Aunt Petunia, says it’s because she didn’t want to burden any of her neighbors, with us ungrateful freaks.”

“True, but according to Tibble’s, it’s because she has to. Apparently, he overheard a conversation between Petunia and Mrs. Figg. Petunia was asking if Mrs. Figg was spying on her for someone, and Mrs. Figg said, that she was supposed to just watch over us, until…” Ivy paused.

“Until what?” Harry prompted.

“Not sure, Mrs. Figg had chased him out of the room because Petunia had seen him and freaked.” Ivy stated.

Harry sighed, “Well, whatever that can be answered later maybe. In any case you believe that Mrs. Figg’s house is being paid for by someone from the magical world because we are magical, and Mrs. Figg has to be magical, or at least knows about magic, so someone who definitely knows about magic wants us to be watched. Am I right?”

Ivy nodded, while relaxing against the tree, thankful that Harry started to use his brain again, since she hates that Harry constantly hides his intelligence. “I’m not completely clear as to why, but I’m sure we can get answers from someone at Hogwarts.” Ivy said mostly talking to herself at this point, though she saw Harry nod his head in agreement from the corner of her eye. “That’s it!” Ivy said, sitting forward fast as if struck by lightning.

“What’s it?” He asked, very curious as to what his sister was thinking, since she had blocked him from her thoughts so he would use his own brain to come to the same conclusion she had about Mrs. Figg without using her thoughts.

“We leave here, and go to Hogwarts.” Ivy said looking at Harry.

“How?” Harry asked, though it sounded like a good idea.

“When we leave tonight, we go to Mrs. Figg’s house. One of the cats are bound to know where or how we can get there.” Ivy stated.

Harry looked at his sister for a long moment, he never remembered agreeing to them leaving, heck he was surprised that Ivy wasn’t being talked out of it, then again she hadn’t been this determined before either.

He mentally shrugged, ‘Well, if she’s really going to go, I’m not letting her go alone.’ Harry thought, to himself, since Ivy still blocked him.

“Okay sis, so we leave tonight. How are we going to get locked out of the house?” Harry asked.

Ivy smiled, and Harry instantly felt chilled at the sight. Ivy hardly ever smiled, and when she did, she was planning trouble, and with knowing that, he instantly knew they were definitely sleeping outside tonight, whether or not they ran away. Well that is unless something else happened that changed her plans.

Harry sighed in defeat, this was going to be one hell of a day.