Harry Potter and the Orphaned Serpent

Chapter 3

It had been a couple of days later when Harry was healed enough to leave. Harry didn't have the bandage on his head anymore, and he could walk around without any pain. One of the nurses was curious about the scar on his forehead, and Harry told her he'd had it since he was a kid. The nurse put some cream on his head and told him not to pick at it so it could heal properly. Harry just sighed and nodded with her even though he knew it had been like that forever.

Nurse Johnson had made sure to visit him every day, and for that Harry was glad. She was even trying to help him learn how to read, it took some time but Harry was learning more and more. Harry hadn't received any new information from Officer Smith, but he was happy to see the officer every time he visited, and it was on the 5th day of his stay in the hospital that the officer arrived to take him somewhere else.

"It's good to see you're looking better Harry," Officer Smith said smiling as he waved to the boy.

Harry watched as the officer's face fell slightly as he came up to him.

"Harry, I haven't been able to find any of your family, it's been several days now, and things aren't looking good," Officer Smith said slowly.

Harry knew what he was saying, the officer thought his family was dead. He had thought they were dead the five days ago. Harry knew the police were looking hard for them, the officer said what they had done was illegal, so if the police couldn't find them in this time that meant they were probably dead.

He wasn't really sure how he should feel, his emotions were confusing him. A part of him was afraid this was a dream and tomorrow he would wake up in his cupboard, while another part thought that he would see Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia come through the hospital. A small part of him was sad and a small part was glad. If this was real he would never have to see them again. Harry really hoped this was real.

"Harry with the war going on the hospital needs every bed it can spare, and you're well enough now that we need to get you out of here," Smith said slowly as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"The Orphanage," Harry muttered to himself.

Officer Smith nodded at the boy's words. Harry wasn't sure what this orphanage would be like. He knew it was a home for kids without families and that's what he was now. The nurse had comforted him some by saying there would be lots of kids he could play with, and that made him a little hopeful.

Harry got up out of the bed and put on his new pair of shoes. Well new to him anyway, all his clothes were new to him and at least they fit better than Dudley's old things. The clothes seemed well made too, they didn't have holes or anything. Harry didn't understand how somebody could lose these nice clothes but he was glad they did.

Saying goodbye to the nurse, Harry followed the officer out of the hospital and to his car. This had been the first time Harry was outside and the city wasn't as nice as he remembered. There weren't as many people out and about, and their clothes weren't as vibrant. What people were out had grim expressions. Harry could see it in there faces the pain of war. There wasn't much rubble around the hospital, it seemed they had been lucky enough to not have much damage. Harry could still remember the siren's at night, the first time it happened he had leaped out of bed. A kind nurse explained to him what was going on and put him back to bed, the alert was for the south side of the city.

The car wasn't parked too far from the hospital, the officer had said he parked far enough away in case any emergency cars needed to be at the front. Harry quickly got in and Officer Smith buckled him in. After Smith got in, the pair set off.

Wool's Orphanage was a rather grim-looking place. The dark grungy building was a shadow of its former self. Built-in 1844 by a wealthy factor owner, Samuel Wool, the orphanage was built to house the children that worked in Wool's Canning. By 1878 children under 10 had been banned from working, and it was then that Wool's Orphanage functioned as a proper orphanage. Years of mismanagement weren't kind to the building and now it was in constant need of repairs.

The black police car arrived at the large front gate. The words Wool's Orphanage were Spelled out in the metal. Seeing this place now it didn't look like how he imagined it to look, but Harry knew that being anywhere would be better than with his aunt and uncle.

The building was large, two or three stories, made of dark red brick. As Harry got out of the car he noticed a small woman standing at the gate. She had short brown hair and a tight face.

"Your late," She said pointedly to Officer Smith.

"Sorry, ma'am," Officer Smith said quickly.

"Is this him, then?" She followed up.

"Yes, this is Harry," Officer Smith said smiling down at the black-haired boy.

"My name is Mrs. Cole, and I'm the matron of Wool's Orphanage," Mrs. Cole said smiling at Harry, "if you would follow me."

Mrs. Cole led them inside and stopped at the front desk. She entered a room on the right and returned with a piece of paper in her hand.

"I pride myself in keeping thorough records on every child," Mrs. Cole said quickly.

"What is the boy's full name," She continued.

"Harry," Officer Smith responded slowly.

"Harry, what?" Mrs. Cole said as she started to write on the paper.

"Just Harry ma'am," Officer Smith said gently.

"What do you mean just Harry?" Mrs. Cole said stopping her hand.

Officer Smith turned to his right and looked at Harry. He knelt down and whispered to the boy.

"Harry, why don't you go find some of the other children, while I talk to Mrs. Cole?" Officer Smith said carefully.

"Y-yes sir," Harry somberly said.

He knew they were going to talk about him. Before he left he turned back to the officer and said goodbye.

"T-thanks for your help, Officer Smith," Harry said slowly.

Officer smiled and shook his hand. Harry left the two of them in the foyer and wandered down the halls. He looked into a couple of rooms, but he didn't have to wander very far to see where the other children were. After passing three rooms, on the left-hand side of the hallway, he came upon a large opening. There must have been doors here at one point in time, but they weren't here anymore. He could hear the kids talking to each other and playing so he crossed the threshold.

All the chatter ceased. Maybe this was a bad idea, he thought in hindsight. He looked around and all the faces were staring at him. Harry blushed red and looked down.

"S-sorry," Harry squeaked out as he started to back away.

Suddenly he bumped into something and stopped. He looked up, it was Mrs. Cole. She quickly gripped his shoulders and pushed him forward. Harry looked down again.

"Everyone, this is Harry, he's going to be staying with us," Mrs. Cole said gently.

"Make sure you all play nice with him," Mrs. Cole continued.

"Yes, Mrs. Cole," the children all responded.

Mrs. Cole didn't let go of Harry instead she brought him over to the group on the left of the room by the window.

"Dennis, Harry will be your new roommate, make sure you show him around," Mrs. Cole said.

"Yes, ma'am." the boy Harry assumed as Dennis replied.

Dennis was a tall thin boy. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Dennis quickly stuck out his hand and smiled down at the boy.

"Hello, Harry I'm Dennis," Dennis said.

"H-hello," Harry said slowly as he took the boys hand.

"Good now you boys play nicely while I go work," Mrs. Cole said quickly leaving Harry with the group.

The group consisted of 3 boys. Dennis was on the right and two boys were on the left.

"Harry these are my friends, Eric, and Billy," Dennis quickly started, "They're in the room next to ours, room 29."

Harry nervously shook their hands as they introduced themselves. He thought Dennis was the leader of the little group because he did most of the talking.

"Hiya Harry," a shorter blonde-haired boy started, "I'm Eric."

"Harry," A lanky red-haired boy said nodding at him, "Names Billy."

Harry thought this didn't seem so bad, they seemed nice enough. Nurse Johnson and Officer Smith had seemed so nice to him, maybe this was how people were all the time. Maybe his Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin had been the weird ones.

A large part of Harry wanted to hope this was true, wanted to believe this was true. Not all of him did though, a small part in the back of his mind told him it wasn't true, but he tried to keep that part quiet. Harry was quickly taken out of his thoughts he heard Dennis address him again.

"Do you want to come outside and play with us, Harry?" Dennis asked smiling at the black-haired boy.

Harry nodded his head and returned the boy's smile. Harry had never been asked to play before! He had never been allowed to play before! This was his chance to play and to make friends. He had always watched his cousin and his friends play together while he was forced to work inside the house. He had seen them from the window and he longingly watched them.

Harry quickly followed the boys out of the big room and out into the hallway. The boys went left and out the back door of the orphanage. They arrived in a large courtyard. It was enclosed by a large brick wall. The ground was half brick at the front and half grass and shrubs at the back. The sun was hidden behind some clouds on this overcast day. The small group of boys went to play on the grassy half of the courtyard in the back.

"Alright boys," Dennis started with a smirk, "let's play tag, and since it's Harry's first day, let's make him It."

Harry wasn't sure what Tag was or what being It meant, and he was confused when the boys quickly ran away from him laughing. Dennis seemed to notice Harry's confusion and quickly stopped. His face matched the black-haired boy and he slowly walked back over to him.

"Harry, haven't you ever played Tag before?" Dennis asked confused.

"N-no, sorry," Harry quickly said looking down.

His first chance to make friends, and he was already messing it up. He was sure they wouldn't like him after this.

"Oh, that's okay," Dennis quickly started, "It's easy, you just chase after us and try to touch one of us, and when you do they become It and then you have to run it's fun."

Harry took in the boy's words and nodded then he smirked as he thought of something. He slowly put his hand up and touched Dennis's shoulder.

"Your It," Harry said and ran away not even noticing Dennis's smirk.

"You little sneak! I'm only coming after you now!" Dennis shouted as he ran after the black-haired laughing.

The boys played outside the rest of the day and it was turning into the evening when a woman Harry didn't recognize called them to come inside.

"Boys, it's time for dinner, you can play again tomorrow," the short woman said.

"Okay, Martha," Dennis shouted back.

"Let's go, guys," Dennis quickly said to the group.

He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and led the boy back into the house. Dennis led Harry to the first door on the left. Harry walked into the kitchen where a line of kids was standing. Martha, as Harry now knew her, was ladling out the soup into bowls for the children to take. Harry got to the front of the line and was handed a bowl, a spoon, and a piece of bread. Harry didn't know where to go so he waited for Dennis who was right behind him. Harry followed the tall brown-haired boy back into the large room where they first met. Dennis sat on the floor and Harry sat next to him as his other friends came and sat too.

"Here Harry," Dennis said handing out his bread, "It's your first day here so you can have my bread."

Harry looked at him in confusion. He was giving him his food. Harry had never been given food like this from anyone.

"I-it's yours," Harry said trying to refuse.

"Take it, you'll want it for the soup trust me," Dennis said with a smirk.

Harry reached out his hand and took the piece of bread slowly. He smiled and felt his eyes starting to water. He had never met anyone this kind. Harry looked down, to not show his eyes, and focused on his food. He slowly scooped some onto his spoon and into his mouth.

Sure it was a little watery, sure there wasn't much meat in it, sure it needed seasoning, but to Harry, this was the best-tasting meal he had ever had. He dipped his bread in it savored the taste of it. He quickly devoured his entire piece. He looked at the piece Dennis gave him and smiled again. He broke it in half and handed half back to the boy. Dennis took it and smiled at him.

He had made a friend...

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter. I think there should be one or two more only Harry chapters, and then I'll start introducing some more POVs. A time jump or two will happen soon too. Thanks for all the follows, favs, and reviews!