Chapter 5-Exhibitions of Magic Quite Unbelievable

“Mummy! Lily and I are going the playground! We’ll be back in time for lunch!” Petunia called behind her shoulder as she chased after her little sister. Answering an unvoiced question she stopped and yelled at the open window, “No Mum, I won’t let her do any of those stunts! Gotta go, otherwise she’ll do as she pleases! See you later Mum!” Jogging rapidly, she saw Lily race right for the swing set. “Oh no,” she murmured, “not again. Mummy told her not to!”

By the time she got to the spare swing, her sister’s hair was swishing back and forth as she swung higher, and higher. Using all of her energy, she furiously pushed herself so that her height would match her sister’s, but to no avail. Something was going on to have Lily go so high without being pushed. And though she wouldn’t admit it, Petunia was scared.

“Tuney! Isn’t it marvelous? I can see everywhere from up here!” Lily gleefully shouted. As gravity pulled her to the ground, a gleam graced her emerald eyes that didn’t escape her sister. Muttering under her breath she asked herself, “Could I do it again?”

“Lily Marie! I know what you’re thinking! I’ll get in trouble! Lily, don’t do it!” Petunia shrieked as her sister’s face molded itself to resemble one of a determined athlete. Her cries were in vain as Lily let go of the swing’s chains at the very height of its arc. Unbelievingly, she flew through the air, literally. A great shout of laughter echoed below Lily’s flight path. Like an experienced trapeze artist, she soared. Strangely, she was airborne for far too long and didn’t crumple on the asphalt; instead she landed on her feet catlike.

Dragging her sandals’ heels in the ground, wincing at the grinding sound, Petunia halted her swing. Storming over to her sister with hands on hips she chastised her sister who had been acting peculiar over the past few months, “Mummy said you weren’t allowed, Lily! You could have died, you could have been seen!”

Giggles were still escaping from Lily’s mouth as she responded, “But I’m fine. Tuney, you & Mum worry too much. I know what I’m doing.” She looked at her hands and then down at her feet as if she could have lost a finger or toe. Looking around, she fed some of her hair into her mouth. A Glare worthy of her mother followed that action, so the hair immediately was brushed away. Looking around, she seemed to spy what she was looking for. Walking toward a bush, she gently said, “Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do. Not all of this cool stuff involves jumping off swings. Some of it is perfectly harmless.”

Edging closer to her sister, Petunia checked to see that no one was witnessing her sister’s strange behavior. When she was easily able to see the flower in Lily’s outstretched palm, it occurred to her that it was opening and closing its petals. “Stop it!”

Lily looked hurt. “It’s not hurting you.” Shrugging, she closed her hand and then flung the flower to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Petunia’s head subtly move with the blossom’s descent to the dirt.

“How do you do it?” Longing oozed out of her voice.

A sallow, stringy boy jumped out from behind a bush and cried, “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Petunia justifiably shrieked and fled to the swings, for the newcomer’s appearance was alarming, especially when compared to the girls’ tidiness. Overlong hair shielded his face. Jeans not even reaching his ankles and a shabby coat over a smock-like shirt gave him the appearance of a vagabond. Seeing the gaze of the sisters, a brick red flush colored his pale cheeks.

Tilting her head in curiosity, Lily asked, “What’s obvious?” Puzzlement was apparent on her face. Petunia sneered at the stranger, but bewilderment also graced her features.

Lowering his voice to a barely audible whisper, Petunia had to crane her neck to hear the stranger’s words, “I know what you are.”

If Lily had been puzzled before, she was utterly baffled and bewildered now. She inquired, “What do you mean?” Searching his face for something, she crinkled her nose.

“You’re,” the boy hesitated in anticipation, “you’re a witch.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say to somebody!” Indignantly the cross girl turned, made a show of sticking her nose in the air, and marched over to Petunia. They shared a look of disapproval directed to the bizarre boy and clenched one of the swing poles in hope that the act would make them safe from his comments.

Bat like with the large sleeves flapping, he pleaded with Lily. “You are. You are a witch. I’ve been watching you for a while.” All color drained out of Lily’s face, making her hair look even more vibrant. She turned to him in shock, but he continued on, “But there’s nothing wrong with that.” He tried to look consoling. “My mum’s one, and I’m a wizard.”

Petunia laughed, a cold bucket of water dousing make-believe dreams. She drew herself to her full height and felt adrenaline course through her veins. “I know who you are. You’re that Snape boy! They live down Spinner’s End by the river,” she lectured Lily in a tone that made very clear to Snape that she thought his home gave him no credibility. Tersely she demanded, “Why have you been spying on us?”

Snape shuffled on his feet, trying to regain his composure, “Haven’t been spying. Wouldn’t spy on you, anyway,” he looked as if he were about to spit before venomously hissing, “you’re a Muggle.”

The malevolent scowl that looked etched on his face told Petunia that whatever a ‘Muggle’ was, he thought her worse than worms. Sharply she ordered her sister, “Lily, come on, we’re leaving!” They were halfway home when Petunia stopped her sister and took her shoulders. “Lily, don’t mention this to Mum or Dad or anybody! Forget that Snape boy! Everyone knows they’re not right in the head. Being around him, maybe even thinking about him will only hurt you.”

“But Petunia!” Lily protested. “What if he’s right? It might explain—”

“NO!” Petunia barked. Realizing her tone she added, “Lily, I’m only trying to protect you.”

x-x-x-x

“Now sit still boy!” a purple-faced beefy man barked at Harry whose alarming emerald eyes were those of a frightened deer. “You’ve been wasting our money with your freakishness. So, your aunt will give your hair a much needed cut! You will not whimper, make a noise, move or do anything unnatural after you answer me. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Spittle flew at the boy’s forehead from the large man’s mouth.

“Yes Uncle Vernon. No noise, no movement, no unnaturalness,” Harry bit his lip and stared ahead at the cabinets of the kitchen. He didn’t flinch at the snickers coming from the dining room. Dudley loved watching him get punished; he decided not to give him the satisfaction.

Bony fingers yanked his glasses off of his face. Then, they picked up the green handled kitchen scissors and began to work away at his hair. Aunt Petunia quickly worked, all the while with a disgusted expression on her face. During a pause, the boy stole a glance to the tiles, internally wincing at the amount of black hair on the tile that he would have to sweep up next. Finally, after a round of distasteful looks from his aunt, the dreaded haircut was over.

“Hmm. I don’t think anything good could come of that hair at any length,” Vernon stroked his mustache. “Bad genes don’t you agree Petunia?”

“True, but at least that horrible scar is hidden,” Aunt Petunia pursed her lips.

Rolling on the ground as his parents discussed the train wreck of a haircut, Dudley shrieked, “You’re bald Potter! Bald! I can’t wait until Piers sees you, he is going to crack up!”

Late that night, Harry tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep as he saw visions of jeers and taunting haunting his brain. Having raggedy clothing was already a problem and his glasses’ constant state of needing repair added insult to injury. What would become of him when he left Number 4?

The next morning when Aunt Petunia let him out, she screamed to Uncle Vernon. The couple had a shouting match that both Harry and Dudley left alone, one of the few times the cousins would have a truce. A week of cupboard confinement followed after he couldn’t explain what caused his hair to grow back overnight.