NOVEL WEB Chapter 3: Dursleys
February 20th, 1987; Surrey, England
"GIRL!"
Jasmine sighed at the sound of the familiar bellow as she left her cupboard towards the living room where her uncle waited.
At 6 years and 6 months old, Jasmine Potter had black hair, emerald eyes and was slightly smaller than someone her age should be. She was also much smarter than most children here age usually were. Most of it was due to the fact that she had an eidetic memory, also helped by the fact that she read a lot. However, there were times she wished she didn't have such a perfect memory. Then, she wouldn't remember how it was to be treated with love by her parents. That is, until her brother was named the Boy-Who-Lived and they spent more time with him for some reason. She still remembered the three months before she woke up in this... hell. Her mother had been coddling her brother and forgot about her more often than not. Her father was barely around and when she was, he worried over her mother. Memories like that were what made her wish that she didn't have eidetic memory.
It had been five years and one month since she was abandoned by her parents and Jasmine had grown up a smart and quiet girl that had eyes older than her years. Jasmine couldn't help but be resentful of her twin despite logically knowing it wasn't his fault. Her parents had only chosen Nathan over her because they thought he was the Boy-Who-Lived. However, Jasmine knew better. She remembered the dark man's face, the dark words, and the green jet of light that hit her and caused a burning both from without and from within her before the green curse was rebounded back at him. However, Jasmine never said anything. She knew they would never believe her. She was sure that if she had stayed, she would have eventually been forgotten completely. At least with the Dursleys she didn't hope of receiving love that was never given.
With a sigh of resignation, Jasmine entered the living room to find her uncle standing with his hands on his hips and glaring at the girl. Uncle Vernon was a big, beefy man with a large purple face. He has thick, dark hair, and a bushy black moustache, with hardly any neck and small, blue mean eyes. For as long as Jasmine remembered, those eyes always looked at her with hate and disgust, and she knew that wasn't going to change any time soon, if ever.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon?" said Jasmine quietly. While quite stupid, her uncle was smart enough to detect any disrespect in her voice, so Jasmine kept her hatred of him carefully hidden. Her uncle had always been physical in his hatred of her, and Jasmine still had scars from some of his more enthusiastic attempts of 'beating the freakishness out of her'. It didn't help that Jasmine was so obviously smarter than his son, something he claimed was due to Jasmine's freakishness since his son was such 'a perfect human being.' Note how the last statement was said with heavy sarcasm.
Vernon frowned deeply at the sight of her which was a change from his usual smack across the face. "We are all going to New York on a business trip for Grunnings. We want to see if we can secure a contract with a Dr. Stephen Strange who lives there. He's a retired doctor but my boss is sure he'll be back in the business soon. The company is expanding to medical drills and with Dr. Strange buying from us, we stand to make big money." Vernon then glared at Jasmine as if he wished she would disappear. "Unfortunately, we can't leave you here since it will take about a month and we don't trust you alone for so long, so you will be coming with us." Here, Vernon scowled and glared at her. "You better be on your best behavior or else."
Jasmine nodded her understanding. Her uncle always blamed Jasmine for everything that went wrong in his life and took it out on her physically at least once a day. In response, Jasmine had secretly been practicing her magic so she could one day defend herself. While strong, she wasn't sure she had enough power to keep them in line indefinitely which is why she hadn't tried yet. That and despite hating them she didn't want to hurt them permanently. Maybe humiliate and temporarily harm them but nothing permanent. She hated them but hurting them the way they hurt her would only make her sink to their level, something she refused to do no matter what.
From his position on the couch, Dudley snickered at Jasmine's misfortune. Dudley was a 5-year-old boy and unlike Jasmine, was slowly growing to be fatter than he was tall. He had blond hair like his mother and blue eyes like his father and threatened to be just like him in terms of personality. Dudley had always liked the fact that Jasmine was picked on by her relatives and was growing to be as big a bully as his father. Jasmine feared the day Dudley would join in on her monthly beatings because she doubted, she would survive it for long.
Sitting beside him was her Aunt Petunia. Petunia was as thin as Vernon was large and had blonde hair and seemed to be trying to make up for Vernon's lack of neck by having twice as much as normal. Jasmine often internally called them the hippo and the giraffe with a baby gorilla. Petunia was looking at Jasmine with undisguised loathing and she knew she would be degrading her the entire time they were in New York. While Vernon abused her physically, Petunia attacked her emotionally and mentally. Jasmine could grudgingly thank them for her strong will. If she hadn't had such a strong will, she would have become a broken and beaten child a long time ago. She would need that will to survive them outside of this house for a month.
With that in mind, Jasmine turned around and went to her cupboard to pack up her few belongings for the trip.
March 13th, 1987; New York City, New York
After weeks of waiting for an appointment, the Dursleys finally got an acceptance from Dr. Strange to meet. Jasmine was left in the hotel room while the three Dursleys went to talk to Dr. Strange at the appointed restaurant. The appointment was for an expensive restaurant and they had dressed in their best clothing. However, even their best clothing couldn't hide the greed in their eyes, something which anyone with any sense could see.
They were quickly led toward the table that was reserved for the meeting and saw the doctor in person. He was dressed in a fashionable long-sleeved white shirt with black pants that he looked uncomfortable in. He had black hair with silver streaks on the side, as well as grey eyes that seemed to see right through you. Those eyes made them uncomfortable, but they put on their best fake faces and greeted him.
Vernon stepped forward and shook Strange's hand firmly "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Strange. I am Vernon Dursley and this is my wife, Petunia, and son, Dudley. I'm glad you could make time for us."
Dr. Strange smiled thinly at the presumptuous man. "Well, after twenty messages through various people how could I say no?"
Vernon just smiled and sat, completely missing the admonishment in his tone. Or if he did hear it, he completely ignored it as inconsequential.
Dr. Strange cocked an eyebrow at his rudeness but sat down with dignity. "So, do you wish to eat first or talk business?"
Dudley was looking around greedily at all the foods around him and Vernon chuckled good-naturedly at his son. "I think we should eat first; don't you think?"
Strange nodded in acceptance and they ordered.
Thirty minutes and an obscene amount of food later, they were sitting down talking business. Dr. Strange shook his head for the third time. "I'm sorry but you must understand, I am no longer a neurosurgeon. While I am still a licensed doctor and neurosurgeon, I am now following... other pursuits."
Vernon was unrelenting. "But surely you need drills for whatever it is you are doing. What is it that you're doing now anyway? Research, perhaps?"
Strange was slowly losing patience with the rude and insistent man. He had been polite for the entire time, yet this man offended his sensibilities at every turn. "I am studying the occult and the effects it has on the brain."
Vernon slowly turned red, Petunia went white while Dudley just continued to eat his chocolate sundae, oblivious to his parents' reaction. Vernon was the first to speak in angry, accusing tone. "Magic? Freakish stuff like that? Why would a respectable man like you study abnormal stuff like that?"
Strange's eyebrow twitched at the unintended insult to his profession. "Because there is a relation between this so-called magic and certain healing rituals. I simply wish to find the reasons why."
Petunia quickly regained her natural color and looked angry. "That sort of stuff is against God's will and any who practice it should burn."
Strange's eyes hardened. "I'm sorry if you feel that way. Now I'm sorry but I can't accept your offer. I have no need for drills at this time. I'm sorry for wasting your time."
Vernon turned purple in anger but managed to force a fake smile. "As you wish but if you change your mind, be sure to contact Grunnings."
Strange just nodded as they left, leaving him with the bill. He sighed and muttered under his breath. "Some people have no understanding of respecting another's way of life. I pity that poor child and any other raised by them." Stephen frowned since he had been sure the one who told him of them had said they had two children with them. It was strange that they would leave a child alone and the way they acted didn't bode well for what that may mean. Shaking those thoughts from his mind, Stephen turned his mind to pursuing his latest magical quarry who had been hitting jewelry stores across the Eastern seaboard.
The next day, the Dursleys were packing their bags for their last-minute flight back to Surrey. Petunia was just finishing up her bag when she sighed. "I forgot to wake the freak up to make her bag. I'll do it now."
However, Vernon quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving as an idea came to his mind. His failure with Dr. Strange had made him especially angry and just crazy enough to do something he always wanted to despite the freaks' warnings not to. "No. This is our chance to get rid of her for good. It's because of her kind that I lost that deal with Dr. Strange and I refuse to let her live under my roof any longer!"
Petunia pursed her lips and closed the door. She hated the girl as well but also feared the reprisal she might receive for doing this before now. However, she had never seen another freak since the girl was left on their doorstep and now started to wonder whether they would do anything at all. They had, after all, beat the freak often and yet nothing had happened. Perhaps they could be rid of her for good and they wouldn't even have to kill her themselves. She would probably die of starvation and they would be free and clear. "You're right. We're far from my whore of a sister and there's nothing they can do about it. Let's go before she wakes up."
With that decided, the Dursleys quickly packed up in silence and left the hotel, leaving Jasmine behind.
Some time later, Jasmine looked around in panic as she walked the streets of New York trying to find her relatives. She had awoken that morning in their hotel room to find that her relatives had already left to the airport. If it was on purpose or an accident, Jasmine didn't know but she wagered on the former. They had always wanted to be rid of her and this was the perfect chance. While she hated her relatives and wanted more to be free of them, she was smart enough to know she wouldn't survive long without them. She couldn't work, had no skills beyond her magic and worse still was the fact that she was in unfamiliar territory. She didn't even know if there was a magical world in America.
Jasmine was currently walking down Main street with her small bag of clothes trying to see where the airport was. She hoped that if she explained her situation, they would help her or at the very least give her somewhere to stay for a few nights. She had heard horror stories about orphanages and had no wish to end up in one. The Dursleys were at the very least familiar and she knew how to live with them. Orphanages were outside of her experience and one she had no wish to have.
Jasmine was starting to panic as the thought of going to an orphanage started to seem more and more likely when the jewelry store next to her exploded. Her last thought was of her family and how she wished she could see them one last time before darkness consumed her.