A Wizard of a Different Color

By Little Elflet

Disclaimer: Not Mine! Dern it! The spell as well belongs to the people of ‘Charmed.’

Discoveries and Travels

November 4th - 1985

            Harry stared out the window at the fun his cousin and friends were having when they beat the piñata senseless, candy squeezing its way through the ripped seams. A tear dripped down those baby cheeks, down his chin to pool in the indentation of the five – year – old neck.

            It was Dudley’s birthday and he was having a great time, laughing and joking and eating many and many sweets. Harry was not allowed to join in. He was pushed into the conservatory – for it wouldn’t do for the guests to see his room – and promptly locked in with a box of Saltines and a six pack of orange juice. It was all the youngster would get for the day until his uncle saw fit to let him out for dinner.

            It was always like this, for as long as the lonely boy could remember. Which was pretty long, the boy knew. At least four years and to a boy at the tender age of five, that was a long time. He never got presents or sweets or friends. He never got anything… not even affection. These dreary and grey thoughts made the tears pour even harder down the little boy’s face, streaking shiny trails down to his pointy little chin.

            Suddenly, Harry noticed it was darker than it should be at this time. He wiped his eyes and cheeks, pushed the hair out of his vision, and looked up. His eyes widened in surprised incredulity at the dark, angry clouds blanketing the sky and the downpour of torrential rain splattering the ground.

            The backyard was muddy in seconds and Harry watched as his cousin, aunt, and their friends rushed around, trying to save the presents and sweets. Not even this vision could cheer up the poor boy. No, it just served to make him angry. Rushing around to rescue inanimate objects from the lashing rain when they wouldn’t even do the same for him.

            Harry’s anger darkened across the small face, his eyes flashing with loathing. As his teeth were bared, a furious streak of lightening severed the sky, ending with a resounding BOOM! As Harry breathed ragged breaths, his chest whooshing in and out in his fury, the wind kicked up and almost managed to blow Dudley the Ox away, so strong was the element.

            Harry turned around and buried his head into the curtain framing the left side of the window. His tears fell even harder as his misery engulfed him. Outside, hail started pelting the grass and the window pane. “OW!” Dudley wailed as he was bombarded with the baseball – sized ice. Harry couldn’t hear over the fierce winds.       

            As the wind, rain, lightening and thunder raged, Harry slipped into blissful unconsciousness…

            “WAHH! My birthday has been ruined! Why did it rain?! The weatherman said it would be clear and warm all day!” Harry jerked awake at the sound of his cousin whining about his ruined party. Harry blearily looked around, realizing he was still locked in the conservatory. Sighing, the boy looked out the window to see the storm still going strong.

            The raven haired boy’s stomach grumbled, indicating that his appetite hadn’t nearly been satisfied with the crackers. A groan escaped from the fragile throat, making more tears pour down his pale cheeks.

Hogwarts – same day…

            Minerva looked up in consternation as she noticed the rain, hail, wind, and lightening. Just two seconds ago it was bright and sunny. A nice clear day for the children to go to Hogsmead was ruined with… Minerva looked closer at the weather and gasped. The rain and hail had a slight tinge of color to it. It was green with swirls of lavender. The lightening, when it shot out of the sky, was an angry red around the edges.

            This wasn’t a regular storm. It was being controlled by an elemental. But that’s impossible! There hasn’t been an elemental since Merlin’s time! I must tell Albus. 

            Minerva grabbed her maroon knit shawl and scurried out her door and down the hall. She traveled the distance in a little less than three minutes, stopping in front of the stone gargoyle. The older woman cleared her throat and said in disdain, “Mint julep.” The stone guardian jumped aside and Minerva ascended the revolving stairs.

            As the professor came face to face with the wooden door, she raised her hand to knock. Before knuckles could hit wood, a confident voice called out, “Come in, Minerva.”

            With a shake of her graying head and a faint ‘How does he do that?’, the woman entered the room. A strained smile graced the woman’s features as she said without preamble, “Headmaster, have you looked outside lately?”

            The headmaster shook his head and announced, “I have been playing chess against myself all day and I am quite delighted that I am winning!” His hands reached for a decorative tin at the edge of his desk and offered it for inspection. “Lemon drop?”

            Minerva shook her head in the negative and sighed irritably. “Look out your window, if you please, Headmaster. Tell me what you see.” Twinkling blue eyes rolled at the Transfiguration professor and then the head of waist length beard and hair turned to gaze out the vaulted window.

            Albus gazed at the wind and rain, surprised he hadn’t realized it had started to storm. The old wizard could have sworn it was sunny and a clear sky less than two minutes ago. “Well, it’s storming. Nothing unusual, Minerva. Granted it was rather unexpected as we were expected to have a clear and sunny day all day, but other than that…”

            Minerva growled, sounding much like the cat she was at times. “Look closer, Albus. Do you see any colors?” She grit her teeth and waited. Albus furrowed his brows and looked harder, looked for color. A loud gasp alerted the female professor to the fact that her superior had finally noticed what she was on about.

            “That is impossible. No one else has that power other then Voldemort and…” The headmaster trailed off as his eyes connected with his Deputy Headmistress’. Simultaneously, the two professors exclaimed softly, “Harry Potter!”

            “Minerva, as soon as this terrible storm halts, I wish you to gather Severus and proceed to Little Whinging, Surrey to check up on young Mr. Potter.” The cat-like professor nodded and about faced. She exited the glaringly colorful office to search for her younger colleague.

# 4, Privet Drive-eleven that night…

            The storm continued to rage as Harry slept fitfully in the conservatory. His Uncle Vernon had forgotten he was in the conservatory and he hadn’t got any dinner. The conservatory, having three glass walls and a glass ceiling, wasn’t very warm and his aunt and uncle hadn’t supplied him with blankets or a pillow to cushion his head.

            Harry pulled his body into a small ball and pushed himself into the corner of the chez, trying in vain to get comfortable on the hard couch. The messy haired boy whimpered and another flash of lightening zoomed out of the sky. Subsequently, Harry jolted awake.

            The lonely boy looked around, seeing all sorts of sinister shadows creeping up and around him. Shivering, Harry pulls his knees up to his chin and rests his head down on the knobbley appendages. He starts rocking back and forth as the storm finally starts to calm.

            The Boy Who Lived starts to hum tunelessly. He remembered hearing somewhere that if you hummed, the monsters couldn’t get you. So the humming continued. And the shadows crept closer and closer. The humming escalated and Harry repeated over and over in his head I want my mummy and daddy. I want my mummy and daddy.

            Finally, unable to handle being a sitting duck for the shadow monsters, Harry ran over to the door to the kitchen and rattled the handle. The door wouldn’t budge. Harry started gasping and glanced back. The shadows had shifted and were following him! His small hands pulled on the door handle with all his might, twisting and turning it. Still, the door would not budge.

            Breaths coming in ragged gusts, Harry looked around. The young boy spotted a clear space of wall and ran on instinct. With his mantra I want mummy and daddy! repeating in his mind, Harry raised his hand and started tracing a door. As he did this, he whispered, “When you find your passage blocked, all you have to do is knock.” Harry completed the spell by knocking twice on the wall. Suddenly, a door that shouldn’t be there appeared.

November 4th – 1979

            Albus jumped when he heard the knock, effectively soiling his new violent purple robe with Earl Grey. Nineteen year old James Potter, his wife Lily, and their friends Remus Lupin and Sirius Black looked around curiously. Albus always knew when someone was approaching his office door, but the knock didn’t even come from there.

            Lily suddenly caught sight of a glowing rectangular shape in the middle of the room. “James.” She whispered, pulling on his sleeve to gain his attention. When he looked her way, a pale finger lifted and pointed in the direction of the vaulted window. Remus, Sirius, and Albus followed her finger.

            Suddenly, a door materialized out of nowhere. It was a small door, approximately four feet high. Only a child would be able to fit through for it was not only short but rather thin as well. As the surprised group watched, the door opened and a miniature James stepped through.

            Silence reigned as the baby boy’s emerald eyes met those of the grownups occupying the room. Slowly, the boy turned and shut the door, which promptly vanished into thin air. Turning back, the toddler shyly scuffed his right toe on the dark red carpet of the office. The child gazed up at the astonished group through lowered eyelashes and whispered, “Hello.”

            Lily, the first to be jolted out of her daze by the small, melodious voice, quickly stood up and walked towards the boy. He flinched back and the red head immediately slowed her pace. The semi-newly wed knelt down a mere two feet from the child. She caught his eyes and smiled gently. “Hello. And who might you be?”

            The waif of a child shocked the whole room when he said, “Harry James Potter.”

            Lily glanced up to her husband and saw a frozen look of disbelief on his face. Sirius had choked on his crumpet and was busy hacking it up while Remus and Albus just stared blankly. At the distressed look on Lily’s face, Albus snapped out of his daze and took over for one of his best students, albeit former.

            The old man patted his knee and cooed, “Come here, child. Would you like some tea and crumpets?”

            Harry gazed into the twinkling blue eyes of the silver haired man, measuring his kindness. The older men and women felt their hearts wrench at the wariness in the emerald eyes of the little toddler. Finally, Harry found what he was looking for and proceeded to hop up onto the old man’s lap. “Here you go, Harry. Two crumpets and a cup of tea. How do you take your tea, little one?”

            Harry shrugged his slightly chubby shoulders. After all, even though he was practically starved, the boy got enough to keep some baby fat on him. His cheeks flamed and the small child ashamedly admitted, “I’ve never had tea before. My aunt and uncle don’t let me.”

            Albus frowned. “Well, we will have to rectify that won’t we, young one. So, try this. Three lumps of sugar with a dollop of milk.” The headmaster set the fine bone china cup into the youngster’s small hands. Harry nodded in thanks. He sipped and his eyes lit up and a small smile, that looked like it had never been there before, lit the child’s face.

            He looked into the kind gentleman’s face and said, “I believe you have quite rectified my problem and I am grateful you allowed me to partake in this gathering. To me, it is a veritable feast.”

            Lily’s jaw dropped at such big words falling out of a toddler’s mouth and the younger men gaped as well. Albus just chuckled. “Well, my boy. You have quite a vocabulary for such a young person. How did you come by it?”

            Harry glanced quickly at the people in front of him and then looked at his lap. “I read a lot.”

            Quiet filled the room as the group contemplated what had happened, and then Remus asked the two questions foremost in all their minds. “Harry.” His soft voice drifted over the boy and relaxed him. “Would you do me the favor of answering a few of my questions?”

            Harry glanced up into the amber eyes of the kind looking man. “It depends on the question.” He softly replied. Again, the mistrust this displayed pulled at the grownups’ hearts.

            “Alright, first question. Who are your parents?” Remus sucked in his breath and Lily clenched James’ hands, her knuckles turning white. Sirius sat up straighter and Albus clutched Harry’s arms.

            Harry took a deep breath. “I never really got to know them because they died when I was one. But their names were James and Lily Potter.” An audible gasp alerted Harry that maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Maybe he was going to get in trouble again. Panic set in and Harry jumped off the nice grandfatherly lap and made a break for the big wooden door all the way on the other side of the room, only to be stopped by a pair of strong, leather-clad arms. He struggled, trying to break free of the grip and tears once again poured down his fragile cheeks.

            “Hey, shhh. Come on baby, no one here is going to hurt you. We didn’t mean to scare you with our reactions, but we couldn’t help it. So calm down love, yes?” The soothing, warm as southern molasses voice flowed over Harry, reassuring him and comforting him.

            Sirius sighed as the small body stopped wiggling and instead turned over, snuggling into his chest. The young rebel with a cause cuddled the body of his friends’ future son closer and sat back down into his chair. Lily looked on in amazement and James stared in disbelief. “I didn’t know you were good with children, Padfoot.”

            Sirius glanced up with an embarrassed grin. “Neither did I.” This response elicited chuckles from the rest of the room. Sirius shifted the little boy and surprised a snort out of the little nose. Glancing down managed to wrangle a soft, affectionate smile out of the young man. He looked up and announced softly, “All other questions are going to have to wait. Prongs Junior here has fallen asleep.”