Harry, hearing his name, froze solid, like a video game character bugging between two animations. He turned around slowly, his green eyes sweeping the crowd until they fell on Aiden.
His gaze instantly became questioning, that kind of look you have when someone greets you in the street and you wonder if it's a childhood friend or a potential serial killer.
I'm sure I've never seen him in my life, Harry thought, his thoughts perfectly audible to Aiden. But he knows my name. How does he know my name?
Aiden gave him his brightest smile, the one he usually reserved for big occasions, or when he was about to do something particularly twisted.
- "I don't think you know me, but you are a very famous boy," he said laughing, before turning around and walking away.
Harry remained planted there like a construction cone, mouth slightly agape and brain in Windows 95 blue screen mode.
What did he mean by "very famous"? thought the boy with round glasses, his thoughts looping like a hamster in its wheel. Nobody finds me famous. The Dursleys just find me... existing. And even then, on their good days.
Aiden returned to the orphanage group with the nonchalant gait of someone who had just dropped a mental atomic bomb and was savoring the explosion from a distance. He instantly established connection with Edgar through his golden thread, the mental image forming as naturally as breathing.
Edgar, my old winged accomplice, he thought toward his raven. You see the kid with impossible hair near the snakes? Watch him for me. I want to know everything.
Edgar emitted a small mental croak that vaguely resembled "Understood, boss," before flying discreetly to perch on a branch that offered a perfect view of Harry Potter.
From controlling him mentally so much, this raven has become a bit human... That's interesting.
And damn, that was exactly it, Harry Potter. THE Harry Potter. The one from books, movies, all that fucking saga that had rocked Marcus's adolescence in his previous life.
The excitement that invaded Aiden was so intense it felt like an electric shock going up his spine. His orange eyes began to glow behind his dark glasses like headlights in the night, and something extraordinary happened.
The wind rose.
Not just a little breeze but a real gust that came from nowhere and began to gain power.
Edgar, perched on his observation branch, began to panic mentally:
Wind too strong! Flight unstable! What the hell is happening?
His frantic thoughts reached Aiden with crystal clarity, like an SOS sent by distress radio.
Miss Pemberton, who was explaining something about lions' eating habits to a group of inattentive children, suddenly felt her hat fly into the air like a lost flying saucer.
- "Oh no!" she cried, her thoughts betraying her sadness. My favorite hat... the one my mother had given me...
Aiden immediately realized what was happening. His excitement had triggered something, a chain reaction that directly affected the elements around him.
Shit, shit, SHIT!
He breathed deeply, closed his eyes, and let himself slide into his inner world like diving into a pool.
The floating brick platform welcomed him, but this time, it was apocalypse weather version. The wind was blowing with power that would have made Hurricane Katrina look like a spring breeze. Aiden barely avoided being ejected from his own mental platform, which would have been the height of ridicule.
Calm down, damn it! he ordered himself while fighting against the gusts. You're supposed to control this, not get carried away like a dead leaf!
He forced himself to sit cross-legged, hands on knees, adopting the lotus position like a particularly stubborn Buddhist monk. Deep breathing, mental emptying, the whole basic meditation arsenal he had learned during his long sleepless nights in his previous life.
Slowly, very slowly, the wind calmed. The orange clouds stopped streaming at the speed of light, and the platform became stable again.
When Aiden reopened his eyes in the real world, calm had returned. Edgar had regained his balance, and Miss Pemberton was sadly picking up her hat that had fallen near the flamingo enclosure.
Holy shit, thought Aiden, cold sweat running down his back. My emotions directly affect the weather. That's new. And completely freaky.
He had never read anything like that in Harry Potter. Wizards could do lots of things, like turning people into ferrets, making cars fly, playing Quidditch with balls that try to decapitate you, but controlling weather through emotions? That was divine level.
What exactly am I? he wondered, excitement slowly regaining control. A steroid-boosted wizard? An X-Men mutant lost in the wrong universe? Or just a completely messed up guy developing crazy powers?
But this time, he kept his emotions under control. No way he was triggering a new cyclone because he had an adrenaline rush.
The zoo visit continued around him, and Sarah noticed his distracted look. She approached with that maternal smile she always wore with him.
- "My little prince with golden eyes," she said ruffling his hair, "listen a little more. Why are you so distracted?"
Aiden looked up at her with that innocent smile he had perfected, the one that allowed him to pass for an angel while he was usually plotting something diabolical.
- "Sorry, my queen of dreams," he replied with amusing teasing that made Sarah laugh out loud. "I was just thinking about... snakes. They look so intelligent."
Sarah blushed slightly and patted his head affectionately before returning to take care of the other children. Aiden pretended to refocus on Miss Pemberton's explanations about big cats' reproductive habits, but in reality, all his attention was tuned to Edgar.
And damn, what Edgar was sending him as images was exactly the confirmation he was waiting for.
A glass pane disappearing as if by magic. Dudley finding himself on the other side of the enclosure, behind the glass wall, eyes wide as saucers. The boa constrictor escaping from its terrarium with the grace of a ballet dancer, and above all, ABOVE ALL, the snake stopping in front of Harry to talk to him.
A real conversation in Parseltongue between the boy and the reptile.
Aiden burst out laughing.
A frank, loud laugh, completely inappropriate in the context of a school outing, but he couldn't help it. It was so perfect, so consistent with what he knew of the story, that his stomach cramped.
The other orphanage children looked at him strangely, but they were used to their "prince with golden eyes'" eccentricities. Aiden had this perfect image of the slightly strange but endearing kid, the one who says weird things but you like anyway.
Well, almost everyone liked him.
Eddie Morrison, twelve years old and self-proclaimed leader of the orphanage, chose this precise moment to open his big mouth.
- "Look at this weirdo laughing alone," he sneered loud enough for everyone to hear. "He's going completely crazy, the four-eyes."
Aiden's laughter continued for a moment, completely ignoring the child. However, he then turned slowly toward Eddie, and something in his gaze changed imperceptibly but Eddie reacted as if he had the black plague.
Aiden smiled.
Eddie Morrison, twelve years of concentrated stupidity and misplaced superiority complex, suddenly felt his tongue stick to his palate. The words he was about to pronounce transformed into a pathetic gurgle, and he closed his mouth with a sharp snap, as if someone had pressed a switch in his brain.
Aiden said nothing. He just looked at him for a few more seconds, that smile still on his lips, before turning away as if nothing had happened.
Eddie remained silent for the rest of the visit, he seemed to be rethinking certain things.
Meanwhile, the announcement echoed throughout the zoo: "Ladies and gentlemen, please calmly evacuate the reptile sector. A technical incident requires immediate intervention. Thank you for your understanding."
Miss Pemberton and Sarah quickly gathered all the children to put them to safety, their voices tinged with professional concern but no panic. Just a routine evacuation, nothing dramatic.
Except Aiden knew exactly what had just happened. Harry Potter had just freed his first snake, discovered he could talk to reptiles, and scared the life out of his cousin Dudley.
The story had officially begun.
And he, Aiden Mortensen, former neurosurgeon reincarnated with powers that defied all logic, had front row seats to watch the show unfold.
Welcome to the Harry Potter universe, old Marcus, he thought looking one last time toward the snake enclosure where Harry Potter was probably being yelled at by the Dursleys. This is going to be one hell of a ride.
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(PS: A friend suggested I create a P@treon account. If you'd like to see advanced chapters posted on Webnovel, that's where you can find them! I'll also mention all the supporters at the end of each chapter!)
Search StoryLabo or click the link on my bio