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Growing in the gardens of number 4 Privet Drive was an interesting experience, Peachleaf realized.
Unlike most flowers in the street, Peachleaf and it's garden neighbors were watered exactly when they needed to be. Unlike number 7, who's grass maybe gets watered every week and should be considered lucky that the plants living there haven't died already.
Peachleaf also realized, that unlike the other plants in the street, Peachleaf had a magic-user as a gardener. The other gardens were fed only by water and sun. Peachleaf and the other plants in number 4 Privet Drive were fed by water, sun, and the rich sweet magic of Harry James Potter.
Of course, it wasn't until Harry was seven that he was allowed into the garden. And that was when the garden was finally able to feel the sweet power of his magic.
It wasn’t on purpose of course when he fed the garden with magic. It was like any accidental use of magic a child has: an accident.
He would get emotional sometimes when working in the garden. Cry when the Dursley’s weren’t looking. Rage at the world when he came to realize that other children in the neighborhood were treated far better than he was.
And with every emotional outburst he had in the garden, the more magic he fed it.
The grass became greener, and the flowers bloomed longer.
But unknown to Harry James Potter, the flowers also became sentient.
While sentience was one side effect of magic, another was longevity.
Peachleaf wasn’t the oldest flower in the garden, but they sure were old. Maybe two or three years old. Which wasn’t old compared to humans, but old compared to other flowers that lived in the garden before Harry Potter came to live there. Or compared to the neighbor’s plants that lived even shorter lives.
Living long in the garden, Peachleaf learned the secret nuances of the household number 4 Privet Drive.
While Harry did have the most control over the garden, it seemed like the same was not true while he was inside the house itself.
Anytime he exited the house, unanimously the plants noticed how small he seemed to be. Not only in size, but also in how he portrayed himself.
The Dursley’s seemed to have made it their main goal to make Harry feel the worst he could possibly feel.
Peachleaf thought that maybe since he was so thin, he just needed more sun or water! But whenever Peachleaf tried to tell him that, Harry never seemed to understand what they were saying.
The only creatures in the garden Harry Potter seemed to understand were the snakes. And while they were severe pests in Peachleaf’s opinion, they seemed to make Harry happier when they conversed. So maybe snakes were good for something besides stealing sunlight from the grass.
Watching Harry from the garden while he was inside always made Peachleaf feel bad. They wanted to help, but there wasn’t much one could do as a simple bellflower.
While Peachleaf did miss Harry while he was away at Hogwarts, they could tell that it was better for him.
Harry always looked glad to leave for Hogwarts, and Peachleaf could never begrudge Harry for that.
So when Vernon Dursley tried to prevent Harry from leaving one summer, Peachleaf did everything in its power to help Harry get away safely.
If it meant that the whole garden had to help, then so be it.
All it took was when Harry was off the lawn with his luggage, all the garden had to do was slow down the Dursley’s. The grass would wrap itself around Vernon’s feet, the weeds that Harry hadn’t yet plucked would scratch at any piece of Vernon they could reach, and the flowers would yell the best insults they knew.
And it worked!
They managed to slow Vernon long enough so Harry could get away from the wicked family, and even when the Dursley’s went back inside, the plants still kept a lookout. Hoping that Harry was still safe in the crazy world outside of Privet Drive.