The Quiet Morning That Wasn't
The two little troublemakers were, for some reason, sitting surprisingly quietly that morning, settled into small chairs right at the entrance of the house.
Sally, as she passed by the window, observed them with a certain curiosity. She frowned slightly but returned to her chores. Even so, every few minutes she peeked out again, unable to help herself. There they remained, talking in low voices, as if waiting for something or someone.
She finally thought that perhaps they were simply having a rare moment of calm, behaving like exemplary brothers, so she decided to give them their space while she continued cleaning the house.
Percy and Harry stayed in their spots, speaking in a conspiratorial tone.
"Do you think she'll come today?" asked Harry, glancing toward the Dursleys' house.
"I'm sure of it. She always shows up around this time of year" Percy stated, nodding with total confidence.
"But… I think it would be dangerous" murmured Harry, a little shyly.
"Don't worry, I'm here to save you if it happens again. We have to make it clear who's in charge" Percy replied with a seriousness unusual for his age.
"Well, I'll protect you if you're in danger" Harry answered with a sincere smile.
"Shut up, I'm the older one. As the younger, you should let me take care of you" Percy said, a bit embarrassed.
"That's a lie" Harry shot back immediately. "I'm older than you… by many days" he added, standing up.
Sally, who had promised not to intervene as long as they weren't causing trouble, peeked out again. She saw nothing unusual, only her children chatting, so she smiled and returned to her tasks.
"Respect your elders, Harry. I didn't raise you to be like that" said Percy, shaking his head with feigned disappointment, which on his childish face looked almost comical.
Harry puffed out his cheeks in pure anger, frowned, and let out a loud "hmph" before sitting down with his arms crossed, looking away.
"See? That's why you're a child" Percy said with a mocking smile.
"You're a child too" Harry muttered without looking at him.
"Harry… she's here" Percy announced, pointing to a taxi approaching. The vehicle stopped right in front of the Dursleys' house. The driver, looking tired and grumpy, opened the trunk and began unloading some heavy suitcases.
Percy and Harry stood up at once, as if about to face their greatest enemy.
The taxi's rear door opened, revealing first a pair of swollen, fat feet. Then a large, heavyset woman stepped out, with a round, flushed face, plump cheeks, a high chin, and small, slightly sunken eyes, topped by short, curly hair dyed a dull reddish tone, styled stiffly. She wore a brown, sturdy, unfeminine outfit paired with large boots. In her arms, she held an English bulldog that looked like her miniature reflection, even in its scowling expression. The dog, upon seeing Percy and Harry, began barking furiously.
The woman turned her head toward them, her gaze dripping with contempt.
"What do you two want? Wasn't it enough to hurt my little Ripper? Filthy brats… You'd better stay away from my dog, because if anything happens to him, I'll make sure the same or worse happens to you" she spat harshly.
"Your dog attacked Harry. We only defended ourselves" Percy replied firmly, even though the woman was nearly three times their size.
"Hmph… Rude brats. You need a real lesson" she scoffed, taking a couple of steps forward.
At that moment, Sally, alerted by the voices, came out of the house. Her expression tightened as she recognized Marge Dursley.
"Here's the mother of the brats" Marge said with a sneer. "You'd better correct these things. A few good hits would set them straight. Of course, blood will tell. Where's their father?" she asked with poisonous mockery.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Dursley, if my children have bothered you. I'll take them inside" Sally said calmly, motioning to the boys.
"Hmph… Probably a drunken unemployed man leaving the mother to raise two brats alone" Marge muttered with contempt.
"Don't insult our parents" Percy and Harry shouted in unison, with such force that the echo seemed to carry down the street.
Sally quickly grabbed them to calm them down, while they kept glaring at Marge with restrained anger.
"Parents?" Marge repeated, throwing Sally a look of disgust. "Hmph… and you so calm" she said before walking toward the Dursleys' house, moving away as if afraid Sally might contaminate her.
Percy and Harry kept staring at her furiously. Then, as if fate itself decided to intervene, a roof tile from the Dursleys' house came loose, slid down the others, and fell right onto Marge's face. The impact was sharp; the woman let out a cry as blood began to flow from her nose. Immediately after, more tiles began to loosen one by one, falling on her without mercy.
The boys froze, eyes wide, slightly frightened by the sight of the blood.
Sally didn't wait another second. She grabbed both of them by the arms and pulled them inside the house, shutting the door quickly.
Just a second later, from the neighboring house, came the hysterical shouts of Vernon and Petunia calling for an ambulance.
She put a hand to her chest and, still shaken, looked out the window. Then she turned to Harry and Percy. Both had their eyes fixed on the floor.
"We're sorry" they said at the same time.
"We just wanted to try to make Marge leave, so she would take her dog with her and not attack Harry again" Percy explained.
"We didn't think it through" added Harry in a low voice.
Sally watched them in silence. After all, they were only children of no more than six years old, and their thoughts were still simple. She couldn't be angry with them, especially since she remembered perfectly what had happened the last time Marge came to visit. The dog she brought had slipped through a hole in the fence and, for no apparent reason, had gone straight for Harry, clearly intending to bite him. Percy, trying to help, hit the animal with a stick to drive it away. Later, Marge had shown up at Sally's door and spent nearly two hours complaining and yelling at her, refusing to listen to any explanation. Sally, however, had felt proud that Percy had defended his brother.
That is why earlier she had not punished or scolded them. She only made sure they were all right. And the same now.
She smiled softly, approached them, and wrapped them in a warm hug.
"Are you all right?" she asked gently.
"Yes" they both replied, returning the hug with force.
"It's better if you stay away from those people. They are not good people" Sally said as she stroked their heads.
Harry seemed thoughtful, as if something had been on his mind for a long time.
"Mommy… what were my parents like?" he asked suddenly. Percy looked at him in surprise.
Sally looked at him with a slight tremor in her gaze. It was clear that Harry already knew, somehow, that she was not his biological mother.
"I… saw them. In a memory. It's blurry, but…" Harry said in a whisper.
Sally looked at Percy. He met her gaze and, without saying anything, took his mother's hand and placed it over Harry's, as if giving her the moment, even if only for an instant. That simple gesture made Sally give him a loving smile.
"Harry, it's true. You have other parents… but I am also your mother. Please never forget that" she said tenderly, stroking his hair.
Harry lifted his gaze and met his mother's eyes. He nodded without hesitation.
"I didn't know your parents" Sally began as she led them to the living room. "I met your grandmother" she added once the three of them were seated on the sofa.
"My grandmother?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Yes. She gave you to me. She asked me to take care of you as my own son, and I did so without thinking twice. You were so small and round" she said affectionately, giving him a gentle poke in the belly, which made Harry laugh with ticklish giggles. Then she looked at Percy and stroked his head. "I raised you both as brothers, and that is what you are. Let no one dare say otherwise" she said with seriousness.
Both nodded without hesitation.
"What happened to my grandmother?" Harry asked.
"She is a special person. She told me that when you turn eleven you will know… but I don't know much more than that. I only know that she cannot be near you because she would put you in danger" Sally explained softly.
"Eleven years?" Percy said. "That's like a million years from now."
"No, silly. It's only…" Harry began counting on his fingers. "Five years" he announced.
"It's still a lot" Percy replied while Sally watched them patiently.
"So when I'm eleven I'll be able to ask her what my parents were like?" Harry pressed.
"Yes. I'm sorry I can't tell you more" Sally replied.
"It's okay, Mom. It doesn't matter" Harry said, shaking his head. "I still want to be with Mom" he added, clinging to her hug.
Sally smiled at him tenderly. Percy muttered with a half-smile, "Mama's boy."
She caught him too, hugging them both in a family embrace.
"So… who is my father?" Percy asked suddenly.
Sally froze, as if the air had caught in her throat.
…
"Well… technically we did it… or something like that. I think. I'm really not sure" Percy said as they were both crouched in a corner of the backyard, as if holding a secret strategy meeting.
"Maybe it was just luck. Like when that man came into the school to chase us and seemed to want to kidnap us. The teachers called the police because he ran away… but he didn't seem like he was going to give up, and then we heard that a bus hit him" Harry commented seriously.
"Are you talking about the man with one eye?" Percy asked, frowning.
Harry nodded. After all, they had both seen him. And although the adults insisted it was perhaps a product of fear or a memory distorted by trauma, they knew perfectly well what they had seen.
"Maybe we have superpowers" Percy said suddenly, with a spark of excitement in his eyes. "Like in the comics" he added, now more animated.
"But we didn't even do anything" Harry replied calmly.
Percy fell silent, thinking about that. He was right. The tiles that had fallen on Marge had been… different, as if something had moved at just the right moment. But the other times, like the water fountain breaking, the man being run over, or the strange hair growth of the teacher, seemed more like external events. Nothing like the typical comic book powers, such as super strength or shooting fire from your hands.
"Maybe we have… different superpowers" Percy finally said, with a mysterious air.
"So?" Harry asked, letting a hint of excitement creep into his voice.
"Then we'll train to discover what our superpower is" Percy declared, standing up and raising a hand to the sky in a heroic pose.
"Oooh" Harry exclaimed, clapping enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Sally, who was sitting not far away, enjoying the sun and typing on her typewriter, glanced at them from the corner of her eye. Her expression mixed confusion and tenderness. Finally, she smiled, shaking her head gently.