As he emerged from the warm darkness he had developed and grown in for the last nine months, Harry experienced a brilliant bright light. He found himself in the arms of a brown haired, blue eyed person wearing a white robe. He was drawn to a shiny elongated object pinned to the white robe. Curious he reached for the object. Unable to reach it, it began to float to him. His inability to knowingly grasp the object in his infant hand it fell to the floor. At the gasp of surprise he looked back into the blue eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber dreaming of shiny objects dancing around in the air.
With the first flutters of Harry's eyes, he saw a blurry image of a woman's face. The image grew nearer becoming clearer and more defined. He looked into the most beautiful and loving green eyes. This would become his first and most cherished memory of Lily, his mother. Her long flowing red hair falling forward onto his face, her smile filled with such joy. She began cooing at him in a soft soothing voice. A face filled with weariness yet radiant. Another image began to form in front of him, "Hello, son." It was a face filled with such pride, topped with messy black hair and round glasses over striking hazel eyes.
At the young age of five Harry was subjected to horrible cruelties by his guardians. His only escape was to use his memories to comfort him.
Harry has the amazing gift and at times a terrible curse of remembering every moment of his life since birth. As punishment Harry was forced to spend many hours sometimes days locked in his bedroom, the cupboard under the stairs. The memory of his mother nurturing him, reading to him or the feeling of the soft skin of her fingers gripped in his tiny clumsy hand were always there when needed. He shared joyous moments with his Da playing on the nursery floor with Padfoot never far away. Experiencing Padfoot shifting into Sirius was such a delight. His favorite memories were his mother's laughter at his father's antics. One particular incident when Da turned Mooney's hair green gave her such a fit of laughter. These memories were what Harry held onto desperately.
While Harry played in his cot he would listen to his parents reminiscing of places and people they were acquainted with. Da would recall with such fondness his memories of himself and Sirius fooling around with someone named Slytherin and Ravenclaw.
Such strange names for people Harry thought.
His parents would at times receive guests, one such person was Professor Dumbledore. He remembers him as an older man with a long white beard and a twinkle in his eyes. Often his parents spoke of a place which held many memories for them, Hogwarts where they had attended school.
Harry always impatiently awaited his father's return from Diagon Alley where he went to purchase needed items. These places he had no recollection of, none he could recall anyway.
Harry was also able to recall every word spoken around him or at him. He could remember the words or conversation although he did not always understand their meaning or their content. Every year as he matured he began to slowly understand and was able to interpret their meanings.
One evening after being laid to bed in his cot, Harry heard his Da cry out, "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off -". His mother frantically entered his room and closed the door behind her. As the door burst open a cruel laughter echoed throughout the room, terrifying him. A man with a snake-like face appeared thru the opened door. "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" "Stand aside you silly girl … stand aside now.""Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -""Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy… ". Avada Kadavra was the word spoken then a blinding green light flashes, He looks down and sees his mother lying motionless on the floor. Again the cold cruel laugh split the air. Avada Kadavra will always remain words that fill Harry with anger, fear and loss.
This is his last memory of his mother and most frequent nightmare, her body lying motionless on the floor. She was gone. He would later learn that he also lost his father that night. He was taken from his parent's home by a huge bear of a man with a face full of dark messy hair and placed with strangers by Professor Dumbledore.
These strangers he would come to know as his Aunt and Uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley. The Dursley's always told him that his parents died in an automobile accident, Harry knew this to be a lie. He had the memory of his mother's death. His new guardians constantly spoke hatefully about his parents, "Drunkards, nothing but Drunkards". Once Harry was old enough to defend his parents he questioned these accusations. That is when the thrashings began and with them came the long days in the cupboard.