1990
December in London was always like this—grey and overcast, as if the sky would never clear.
At this moment, Harry Potter"s mood was every bit as bleak as the weather.
He stood beneath the porch of Number 4, Privet Drive, staring out at the fine drizzle, and let out a slow sigh.
"Hurry up, boy!" Uncle Vernon"s impatient voice barked from the sitting room. "Dudley says he wants chocolate, so you"re going to get it. Stop dawdling! Umbrella… oh, never mind—rain that light won"t hurt you."
Harry pulled his too-large coat tighter around him—one of Dudley"s cast-offs—and strode out.
Things like this were routine for Harry.
That was always his place in the Dursley household.
The rain quickly soaked through his trouser cuffs, and the chill crept up his legs.
Head down, Harry hurried along the pavement, the street lamps flickering dimly through the mist.
At least the corner shop wasn"t far; even a ten-year-old could get there quickly.
When the outline of the shop came into view—
"When did this place open?"
Harry stopped and frowned at the building beside the corner shop.
Next to the once-lonely convenience store now stood another structure that hadn"t been there before.
"Sunlight, Daisies and Sweet Cream?"
He read the sign above the door and guessed it might be a flower shop—or perhaps a sweet shop?
Peering through the display window, he saw several pots of very ordinary-looking plants.
Probably just a regular plant and flower shop. Nothing special.
Harry was about to leave when—
Wait!
One of the potted cacti caught his eye.
Under his gaze, the cactus began to sway—almost as if it were dancing.
Was this… a new variety?
Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry stepped to the door and slowly pushed it open.
Inside, the shop looked perfectly ordinary.
Shelves were filled with greenery and blooms; the air smelled richly of soil.
Several landscape paintings hung on the walls—empty, he thought; they"d look better with people painted in.
Strangest of all, though, was the single door standing right in the middle of the room.
It wasn"t attached to any wall—just a freestanding door.
A bit eerie.
The door looked old, the wood cracked, the brass handle green with age.
Harry moved closer, curiosity rising, and touched the handle.
Who would just leave a door like this here? he wondered.
Then, suddenly—
A vine shot from the crack, wrapping tight around his wrist.
Before he could react, more tendrils burst out, winding around him like snakes.
"Ah!"
Harry cried out and struggled, but the vines were impossibly strong.
They yanked him towards the door.
"No! Let me go!"
He kicked and fought, but the vines didn"t relent—they dragged him straight through the door.
————
Inside Wesson"s plantation.
A huge greenhouse stood there—Adrian Wesson"s first, filled mostly with common potion ingredients.
Adrian Wesson eyed the drenched boy before him and gave a wry smile.
He"d only gone to Diagon Alley to buy some dittany seeds, and when he returned, he"d found a small child caught by his security system—his Devil"s Snare.
Probably some local wizard"s kid who"d wandered off, Wesson thought.
"Children these days… far too curious."
Seeing the boy"s tense expression, Wesson shook his head, stepped forward, and patted the Devil"s Snare.
"Let him go."
At his command, the Devil"s Snare released Harry and affectionately brushed a vine against Wesson"s cheek.
"All right, all right, back you go," he said with a chuckle. "Good work keeping guard."
Praised, the Devil"s Snare waved a tendril like a hand and slithered away.
Then Wesson turned to the uneasy boy, narrowing his eyes slightly as he studied him.
"Whose child are you?" he asked gently.
Harry swallowed hard, fingers twisting together.
He could tell he"d stumbled into somewhere extraordinary—the man before him wasn"t normal. He"d controlled those vines, made them obey.
Yet Harry didn"t feel afraid.
There was something… familiar in the man"s presence. A sense of kinship.
"I"m sorry, sir," Harry said cautiously. "The door was open, so I came in for a look, and then those vines caught me."
Wesson nodded; the answer didn"t surprise him.
Harry"s hair hung in wet clumps over his forehead, his glasses askew, looking both bedraggled and anxious.
"No harm done, child. That"s my Devil"s Snare—it catches any wizard who wanders in by mistake." As he spoke, Wesson drew his wand from his robe and flicked it lightly.
The water vanished from Harry"s clothes and hair.
"Wizard?" Harry echoed, caught by the word. "What"s that?"
Hm?
Now Wesson looked puzzled. A Muggle child? But Muggles shouldn"t be able to see this shop at all.
Surely his Muggle-repelling charms hadn"t failed?
While Wesson was still doubting his own spells, the boy introduced himself.
"My name"s Harry Potter. I live just nearby…"
At that, Wesson froze.
"Harry… Potter…"
He murmured the name, and memories surfaced.
It had been so long he"d nearly forgotten he"d transmigrated into the world of Harry Potter.
He"d arrived in 1965.
Born into a Muggle family, he"d thought it was an ordinary rebirth—until, at eleven, he"d received his Hogwarts letter.
That was when he"d realised exactly where he was—only he"d come rather early; the protagonist hadn"t even been born yet.
He"d accepted it gladly—who wouldn"t, faced with real magic?
At Hogwarts, Wesson had been a capable student, though during the height of Voldemort"s power he"d kept a low profile.
Muggle-born students like him were frequent targets then.
Still, he"d graduated safely, and Voldemort had fallen not long after.
After leaving school, Wesson had travelled the world—six years of it.
Only two years ago had he returned to London.
And after all this time, he"d mostly forgotten the details of Harry Potter"s story.
No wonder he hadn"t recognised the famous boy at first.
But now, looking closely—messy black hair, vivid green eyes, and that lightning-shaped scar on his forehead…
It couldn"t be coincidence.
Wesson"s eyes widened slightly.
When he"d chosen a quiet Muggle neighbourhood to settle in, he"d never imagined it would be Harry Potter"s street.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium