"Get up! Wake up!" A sharp knock and the click of the door opening. "Hurry up!"
Barry woke up instantly. The man felt a sharp pain in his back and the back of his head. The memory of his conversation with the Monitor was still fresh in his mind... Allen felt a strange weakness in his body. Raising his hands, he saw that they were... children's hands? Only now did he realise that he couldn't see anything beyond his hands. There was a light switch nearby, which Barry immediately turned on, and on the bedside table were the glasses he had just seen. And then it was as if a great seer had struck him on the head.
"Wake up, cousin!" Something began to fall on his head, and Barry raised his head and saw a staircase. "We're going to the zoo!"
"What..." he muttered quietly, still hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was.
He tried to get out of the closet, but suddenly the door closed from the outside. But the barrier was short-lived. The corridor he saw also seemed familiar to him.
"Come on..." Barry whispered, realising that his voice had also changed significantly.
"Here's our birthday boy," he heard a voice say and walked towards it. Then he entered the kitchen, which was connected to the living room. Everything was really familiar.
"You know her. You've seen her. You've read about her." The Monitor's voice rang out again in Barry's memories, and he seemed to begin to understand the meaning of the words.
"Oh, you're awake!" said the burly man in a suit as he entered. "I told you, Petunia, he'd be fine!
"Wonderful," replied the same Petunia who had been fussing over her son. "That means you'll make breakfast. And make sure nothing burns!"
"Me?" Barry pointed to himself. "Yes, you," nodded the woman with a face that looked as if he was braking hard and she had to explain the obvious. "Get moving, Potter!"
"Yes, and bring me my coffee!" Vernon added.
Now Barry finally understood what the Monitor had said. But he still couldn't believe what was happening. The boy ran to the stove to check on breakfast, but only one question was spinning in his head: what the hell was going on here?
"How many presents?
"Thirty-six, I counted them myself!
"Thirty-six?! Last year there were thirty-seven!!!
"But some of them are much bigger than...
"I don't care if they're bigger!
Barry, who had been watching the Dursleys, who for some reason were now considered his family, quietly wondered. It was a terrible sight, really — a spoiled child throwing a tantrum because he didn't get enough presents, while his parents just cooed over him. Harry was unlucky with his family. And Barry was once again convinced that these clichéd bad relatives were still kids.
And yes, what happened to the real Harry Potter? As far as Barry could remember, there was no line in the film like, "I told you he'd be fine!" What happened to him? Why are they saying that? So many questions, and not a single answer.
Nevertheless, Barry was still in shock.
***
They were at the zoo: the Dursleys, Dudley's friend Pierce Polkiss, and Barry... Harry. When Barry was left alone with the terrarium where the snake was sitting, he approached it and looked at it.
"Hello?" the boy asked quietly. He knew that Harry could talk to snakes, but he wasn't sure if he had inherited this ability.
The snake raised its head and began to look at him.
"Can you hear me?" Barry asked. The snake nodded in response, and he widened his eyes. "So it did pass on to me... Well... how are you?"
He could have sworn he saw the snake look at him in confusion.
"To be honest, I'm in shock myself," Barry shrugged. "I woke up in someone else's body, and now I'm talking to a snake. It must look strange, to say the least."
"S-s-s-s-s-strange," hissed the snake in a human voice.
"Yes, strange!
"Mum, Dad!" Dudley suddenly appeared from somewhere and immediately pushed his cousin aside. "Come here, you won't believe what the snake is doing!"
It hurt, and Barry hissed softly. Well, Harry's body was weak, he'd have to get used to it. But his attention was more focused on Dudley, who, with all his childish curiosity, pressed himself against the glass, which disappeared in the next moment, and the boy, unable to keep his balance, fell. The snake crawled out of the terrarium and slithered towards Barry.
"T-t-t-t-t-thank you," hissed the snake.
"You're welcome," he replied quietly.
There was a scream: it was Dudley, squealing like a pig when he realised he was locked in the terrarium, because the glass had been put back in place. His parents, finally noticing what had happened, rushed to their precious son, and the whole zoo was in an uproar — the snake that had crawled out immediately attracted the attention of onlookers.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were making just as much noise, which made Barry smile slightly. But Vernon's stern look made him quickly hide it...
..."What happened?!
"I don't know! The glass disappeared... as if by magic!
"There's no such thing as magic!
***
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