A Not So Normal Farmboy...

Chapter 1

A/N: This was originally just on one certain site. If you've seen it, don't worry. This is in fact my story, I am that person on that site so I'm not stealing this fanfiction. I decided to have this on here though as a thank you to someone who gave me a gift. Thanks!

This story takes place the summer after the twisters in Smallville, and during the summer of the fourth book and during the fourth book of Harry Potter. I have changed some things to fit the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Harry woke up to the sound of tapping on his window. He looked over and a large barn owl was perched outside looking in at him. A large parcel was with him. Harry went to open the window and took the package from the owl and allowed him to get some water from Hedwig’s tray. She wouldn't mind since she was still out hunting. It was still dark outside, but as soon as Harry saw whom it was from he cheered up. It was from Ron Weasley, one of his best friends from Hogwarts. He must have borrowed his brother's owl, since it wasn't the one Sirius had given him or the family owl. Earlier that week Harry had sent out letters for help. His Aunt Petunia had started them all on a diet because of Dudley's weight problems. He couldn't take it any longer so he sought out help from his friends. Hermione had already sent some sugar free snacks, since her parents were dentists. Ron's package contained an assortment of sweets from berttie botts to chocolate frogs. He grabbed one of the chocolates and eagerly ate while he placed the rest under a loose board under his bed.

Harry sat for awhile watching the night turn to a hazy dawn. Hedwig came back from her nightly hunt with a mouse clamped in her beak. She placed it down and gave a questioning hoot to Harry.

"I'm fine girl, just wanted to stay up after that owl came." He stroked her feathers and she nibbled his fingers affectionately. She then picked up her mouse again and glided over to her cage.

Harry listened for any movement from the Dursley's. His uncle was obviously up, because he didn't hear his low snoring anywhere. He waited for another half-hour before he came out of his room and went downstairs.

Aunt Petunia had set out grapefruit for them again for breakfast. Harry now knew how much he loved his friends for sending him food. If they hadn't, he probably would have wasted to nothing before he went back to school. He sat down at his spot and looked down at the quarter of grapefruit on his plate. Obviously it was the smallest. Even if they had proper food he would get the smallest amount. Dudley had joined them and was eyeing everyone else's pieces hungrily. Uncle Vernon was hidden behind his newspaper as usual. After a few minutes of eating in silence he placed his newspaper down and cleared his throat.

"Everyone, I have some exciting news. We will be having an exchange student staying with us for the rest of this summer." Dudley looked excited and he forgot about the rest of the grapefruit for the moment.

"Where are they from, Dad?"

"America. A little town called Smallville in Kansas. Now, they will arrive in two days and I want everything prepared for them."

“When did you decide this, and why didn’t I hear of it first dear?” Uncle Vernon’s supposed cheeriness disappeared for a moment at Aunt Petunia’s question.

“It was rather sudden. My boss was to have the exchange student at his house, but his wife had a sudden urge to remodel the entire upper floor and he’s not even staying in his home at the moment. I had no other choice but to accept when he asked me to take the boy in.” Of course when he said no other choice he meant he’d probably be put on the boss’s list of “those to fire in near future”.

"Where are they going to sleep though dear? We certainly can't put them in with Dudleykins. He needs his growing space," she looked at Dudley in a way that made Harry want to throw up his poor excuse for a breakfast. "But I don't see how we can put them in with him." Harry didn't need to ask who him was. They always talked about him like that. Uncle Vernon now had a frown on his face.

"I'm afraid we'll have to put the exchange student in with him. Dudley wouldn't have any room anyway," That was an understatement for Dudley's room. His was twice as large as Harry's and where Harry now slept used to be Dudley's toy room. Harry didn't argue though. The thought of having an American in his room for the rest of the summer excited him, but dread filled him as he realized what would come next. Uncle Vernon turned to Harry now, "Don't think that you can try any of your funny business when they're here, Boy. Everything that tells what you are is to be locked up in your trunk for the remainder of the summer and that dang owl of yours must be locked up somewhere too."

"But...."

"Don't even think you can leave out one think boy, or you'll be locked up with them."

"Hedwig needs to be out once in awhile though," he protested.

"No, that bird will not be let out. If someone from another country knew that we had a nephew that was not normal it would be catastrophic." When Uncle Vernon said not normal he meant everything having to do with the wizarding world Harry belonged to. It was to be his fourth year at Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry this year.

Harry remained quiet for the rest of the meal, if that's what you could call it, and then went up stairs to hide some more things of his underneath the board in his room. He would send Hedwig to the Weasley's and ask them to watch her until their guest left. He hoped that whoever they were, that they wouldn't be too much like the Dursley's. Three of them were bad enough.

In Smallville that evening:

"Clark, are you sure you want to do this? You've never liked heights and flying is pretty high." The Kent’s were gathered in the living room where Clark had a letter in front of him. He smiled at his mother in what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"I'll be fine mom. I need to face my fears eventually. I won this free trip to England for an experience of different cultures and I plan to take it. Besides, I think I need it now." He had been trying to get rid of some of the memories of the storm that spring all summer long. This was his chance to get away from some of it for a time, even if it meant flying thousands of feet above the ground. His father looked at him now, his face stern.

"Clark, I want you to be careful. You'll be living with this family for a while and you don't want to make a mistake and reveal anything about yourself to them."

"I won't Dad. I'll be just as careful around them as I am around everyone else in this town...... I have to go pack now." Clark got up and went up stairs to his room. Martha Kent turned to her husband and smiled at him.

"You have nothing to worry about Jonathan. He's a responsible boy that can take care of himself. Eventually he'll have to go out into the world by himself."

"I know Martha, but every time I look at him I still remember that boy we found during the meteor shower; so young and innocent. What if he makes a mistake, says the wrong thing?" Martha put a reassuring hand on his.

"It's going to be all right. They won't notice anything out of the ordinary about him. Maybe they'll just push it off as American teenager behavior." This made him chuckle a little but he was still worried.

Two days later:

"Here we are, and just in time too," said Uncle Vernon as they reached one of the gates. An airplane was just pulling up outside. Harry had never been to an airport before. Each time anyone came to visit them he was usually left with their neighbor, a crazy but nice old lady with cats. Of course with the way wizards could travel he figured that this would probably be the only time he’d come to an airport.

He turned his attention to the people coming out of the door to look for anyone that might be who they were picking up. The sign that Dudley held up had the Americans name on it; Clark Kent. Most of the travelers that came off were either too young or too old to be him. Then out of the corner of Harry's eye he caught sight of a red jacket. He turned his gaze toward it to see a tall muscular youth, just a couple years older than himself he guessed, with dark hair and light blue eyes. The boy caught sight of the sign the Dursley's were holding up and made his way to them with a nervous smile on his face.

"Hi, you're the Dursley’s I presume. I'm Clark Kent." He offered Uncle Vernon his hand and they shook.

"Yes we are Mr. Kent. I am Vernon Dursley," Uncle Vernon gestured to everyone else one at a time, "This is my wife, Petunia, My son Dudley, and our nephew Harry Potter." Harry noticed that he didn't say his name with much eagerness. Clark smiled at all of them and said hello. They all stood there before Aunt Petunia finally broke the ice.

"Shall we get you to our home now? You must be tired from your flight."

"That would be nice thank you. I've never been fond of flying." Harry looked at Clark strangely. He couldn't see how anyone could not like flying. Of course he was referring to broomsticks, not airplanes.

Clark had truthfully not liked the flight. He forced himself not to look out the window but it still didn't help much. When he'd finally gotten off he was surprised that he didn't kiss the ground as soon as they landed. Now, his thoughts were turned to the family in front of him.

The father and son, well let’s just say he’d seen livestock thinner than them. The woman, Mrs. Dursley, was as skinny as a plank. The three had one thing in common though, their over-groomed appearance. It was obvious that they tried to impress everyone about them every second of the day, and would do anything to remain on the good side of anyone with lots of money in their pocket. Clark had seen the same thing in some of the men and women Lex did business with, which happened to be the ones that Lex referred to as his “easiest business associates”. It was easy for him to read the expressions of these types of people though they seemed to always think they had the best poker faces ever.

Clark then looked at the family’s nephew, Harry Potter. It was obvious that he didn’t like his relatives that much, but they didn’t give him any reason to from the way they looked at him. Disgust was in his relative’s eyes when they looked at him, even fear, which confused Clark. Why would they fear Harry? He didn’t look like he was dangerous. His clothes were baggy, and his messy dark hair went everywhere. There was tape wrapped around parts of his glasses, which continued to slip off his nose. He just seemed… normal, though when Clark looked into those dark green eyes he noticed a wild intelligence, and pain Clark knew reflected in his own eyes, that none of the Dursley’s seemed to possess. And that strange scar, like a lightning bolt, upon his forehead confused Clark. That, did not seem normal. He suspected that it may be connected to some of the pain in Harry’s eyes.

Clark’s thoughts were cut short then as he followed the family out to a car and he was soon on his way to a world he’d never seen.

At 4 Privet Drive:

The house was much like its owners; well-kept and perhaps even too kept. The lawn was neatly manicured, nearly identical to its neighbor, as was the front of the house. Clark had never seen such small houses and so close together. It was nearly suffocating compared to the open spaces of Smallville. When they went into the house the first thing he noticed was the several pictures on the wall. Each showed the boy, Dudley, or him and his parents. Clark took note that none showed Harry. He was led up some stairs and they stopped in front of one of the first doors.

“Alright, Mr. Kent…”

“Please call me Clark. Mr. Kent makes me feel old.” Vernon nodded and continued.

“Ah Yes, Clark this will be your room while you stay here. I’m afraid you’ll be sharing it with my nephew though.” A scowl crossed his face as he said the last part and his gaze shifted to Harry, who was looking the other way in a way that Clark knew he didn’t care what his uncle was saying and was making it obvious. Clark just smiled and gave a quick nod of approval.

“Sounds great. I’m sure me and Harry will get along fine.” Vernon Dursley plastered on a fake smile as his gaze fell upon Clark once again.

“Then I’ll just leave you to unpack. Dinner will be soon so you can wash up and then come downstairs,” he then looked over at Harry, who Clark had noticed had slightly turned his head to look at him out of the corner of his eye during the conversation. “Remember what I said this morning.” Harry gave a short nod and Vernon then gave Clark another fake smile and headed down stairs.

Harry led Clark into his room. Now that all his school stuff and anything from the wizard world had been locked away in the cupboard or was underneath his bed, there wasn’t much there. A few books lay on the small shelf he had, all old and mostly torn from when Dudley had had them but never actually read them. This was pretty much all that was there besides his bed and one extra set up beside it, a small dresser, desk and tiny closet, which didn’t hold many items either.

“I cleared a few drawers out for you to put your things in. Er, sorry about the room, it isn’t much.” Clark set his bags at the base of the extra bed and turned back towards Harry with a smile on his face.

“It’s great actually. One of the few things I’ve seen here that remind me of home. No offense to your relatives but their house seems too… neat.”

“You think that’s a bad thing?” Harry didn’t make it obvious, but inside he was nodding and grinning in agreement. Clark shrugged, flashing another smile.

“I grew up on a farm. Mess is unavoidable sometimes. You have to get use to it.” Harry finally let the smile he was holding out and laughed a little.

“I know what you mean. I’m used to a little clutter. I sometimes don’t get my aunt and uncle’s need to keep dirt off the floors every second of the day.” He didn’t understand it and didn’t like it since he had to do most of this cleaning. For people who thought he wasn’t good at anything, they were hypocrites for having him do the cleaning.

Clark had wandered over to the shelf and picked up one of the books. It was one of the books about aliens that had belonged to Dudley. He’d actually seen Dudley get past a few pages in that one before he discarded it also. It had one of those spaceships that you usually see associated with aliens and three tall green figures in front of it with giant heads. Something like amusement flashed across Clark’s face before it quickly disappeared and he looked up.

“This looks interesting. Are you into alien stories?” Harry shrugged.

“Not really. It’s not like they exist. The book belonged to my cousin but he isn’t much of a reader.” Clark nodded in understanding and placed the book back on the shelf. Harry noticed another flash of amusement cross his face and felt an urge to ask him what was so funny. He restrained himself though. He’d promised to behave. Uncle Vernon hadn’t given him many other options other than spending the rest of the time he was here during the summer in the cupboard. Then a flash of something Harry had hidden most of from his eyes, pain, crossed his face but was gone as fast as it had appeared. Again, Harry restrained himself but wondered what could have caused this older boy’s pain.

“Maybe I’ll check it out some time when I get back home. So, how long have you lived with your relatives?” Harry frowned and avoided the older boy’s gaze for a moment.

“Since I was barely older than one. That’s when my parents died and I was sent here.” He could tell the boy regretted asking now.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s really all right. I can barely remember them anyways.” Clark nodded understandingly.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he paused for a moment as Harry looked at him questioningly. “I’m adopted.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t worry. My parents now are the best anyone could ask for.” They stood in silence before a clinking was heard from downstairs and they both realized that dinner must be ready.

“Er, well that’s dinner. We should go wash up.” Clark nodded and they went to clean up and then headed down the stairs.

Aunt Petunia had made a better dinner than they’d had in awhile. Instead of just salad they had some chicken and mashed potatoes along with it. This was another advantage of having an exchange student in the house, though Harry could tell that he’d gotten most of the bruised lettuce and the smallest piece of chicken once again. He just shrugged though and sat down to eat. Clark quickly took the seat beside him and they were all soon eating silently.

Finally, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat to get attention and turned to Clark with one of his stupid smiles on.

“So, Clark, what’s it like in America?”

“I live in one of the smallest towns there actually. It’s named Smallville for a reason. I don’t see much of the big towns except for Metropolis when I’m able to. School and farm work keep me busy though.”

“Ah, so you live on a farm? I’ve always found wide open fields very refreshing.” Harry had to hide a snort as he heard this. His uncle was lying through his teeth, and it was obvious that Clark knew that too. The man hadn’t been out of this cramped place except for business and that one time he’d gone mad when Hagrid had sent all those letters. Clark just nodded and continued with a bit about his town.

“I’ve lived there practically all my life, since the time of the meteor shower.” Harry saw a small wince cross Clark’s face as he said this, which drew his curiosity. Perhaps that’s when he’d lost his real parents.

“Meteor shower? I’ve seen those, very beautiful,” Petunia put in as she cut her chicken.

“Not this one. The meteor rocks were far bigger than you’d usually see. It killed many when it hit, and it caused strange things.”

“What strange things?” Harry couldn’t keep himself from asking, which earned him a glare from his uncle but he ignored it. Instead he stared expectantly at Clark.

“Mutations. My friend, Chloe has several theories on it and there have been certain people with odd abilities.” This made Harry freeze for a moment, and he saw the Dursley’s pale slightly too. These odd abilities could mean a sloppy wizarding community was near their town or magical creatures. Just to clarify, Harry asked another question.

“What sort of odd abilities?” Clark seemed to think for a moment before he began to list off things.

“A bug boy, a girl who could change her appearance, a boy who absorbed heat from people in order to keep warm, the list has more but I’m afraid there’s going to be more if something isn’t done. What makes it worse is that practically all of them turn evil.”

“Sounds dreadful,” Aunt Petunia said, though she looked more relaxed since he hadn’t mentioned magic.

“Yeah, but as Chloe says: Land of the weird, home of the strange. Nothing’s quite normal in Smallville.” Harry nodded. He hadn’t heard of things like that in the magic world. The shape-shifting did sound like the polyjuice potion, but this girl apparently changed without it. This town sounded strange. He’d have to research it more some time.

“So, Clark… have these mutants been restrained? It would be dreadful if these freaks were to contaminate the world,” asked Aunt Petunia. Her voice held a venom, as if she had a personal reason to hate these mutants in Smallville. She was probably comparing them to witches and wizards, which she also judged unfairly. Clark’s eyes seemed to darken as he looked at Aunt Petunia and his lips formed a scowl.

“I wouldn’t call them freaks. Many of them turned bad because of the treatment of others. Revenge and hate was most of their greatest fuels. Calling them misunderstood and unfamiliar with the kindness of others would perhaps be the best way to describe most them.” Clark seemed very offended, it was obvious, but Uncle Vernon didn’t seem to see this.

“Well, they probably were treated the way they were for a reason.”

“Really,” Clark’s voice was as cold as steel, “and I suppose wanting acceptance for who you are, wanting love and friends, was a reason to be persecuted by everyone around you? The boy who absorbed others body heat, now he probably deserved what he got, but most of the others had been mentally scarred.” Uncle Vernon was about to say something, his mouth open, but nothing came out and he just clamped his mouth shut.

Harry felt like he’d just won the Quidditch cup. Twice. Someone had actually gotten his uncle to shut up and had taught him something. Clark sounded a bit scary. He was defending these people, despite the fact that he had just said they were all villains, as if they were close friends. Some of them may have though, now that Harry thought about it. Clark had said that he lived in a small town and so it was very likely that he knew every single person that had those mutations.

They all ate in silence after that. Clark was the first to excuse him self from the table, saying that he was tired. They all bid him good night and as soon as he disappeared up the stairs, Uncle Vernon turned on Harry with a scowl.

“I hope you got all of your things out of that room and in the cupboard, Boy.”

“I did, Uncle Vernon.” Harry wasn’t up for much arguing at the moment, so he put up no fight with his uncle.

“If I find out that you’ve left even a quill out, you’ll be locked up before you can say that drat name of your poor excuse for a headmaster.” Harry bristled at this and quickly stood up.

“Albus Dumbledore is a respectable man. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go before what happened to Aunt Marge happens to you.” Harry said this through clenched teeth and swiftly left the room and went outside to cool off.

Clark still felt a little on edge after his heated monologue at the dinner table, but that didn’t prevent him from hearing part of the conversation downstairs. Apparently the Dursley’s didn’t know that sound easily traveled up their stairs. He still didn’t understand what they were talking about though. From what he heard though, apparently Harry’s relatives didn’t like the school he was going to. What was that about leaving a quill out though?

Silence had soon fallen upon the room downstairs and Clark quickly checked to see what was happening. With his x-ray vision he saw three skeletons still sitting at the table in the kitchen while another moved outside, probably Harry. Clark then, on a whim scanned the rest of the house. What he saw came as a shock to him. Underneath the stairs was a trunk full of random objects. This would have seemed normal if it hadn’t been for what seemed to be a cauldron and a certain book that looked like it was breathing. His eyes then quickly darted to the broom leaning against the trunk with the word “Firebolt” printed on the side. This nearly distracted Clark from noticing that there was something in the floor underneath Harry’s bed. There, he saw more books, paper, quills, and an assortment of strange treats.

Clark finally switched back to normal sight but continued to stare at Harry’s bed. Finally, one thought popped up out of Clark’s muddled mind.

What are you Harry?