Gradual Acceptance I.

Gradual Acceptance.

Staring at the reflection in the mirror he couldn't help but feel lost, the roller coaster of emotions he was subjected to made the past couple of hours feel like a dream. "It all feels so surreal" with a sigh he returned to his bath, "seems like all those fanfics I read had a bit of truth to it", mirth lased laughter escaped his lips "why me?". Leaning back, he stared at the pale tiled ceiling in silence. "So what now? Do I get a system or something like that?' "Status!" He waited a few seconds but nothing happened.

"Menu, options, stats..." a slew of words escaped his mouth as he went through all sorts of commands, "well I guess it's safe to say I'm not getting a system, but then again if I needed a system in a world like Harry Potter to assist me then I must be pretty du..."

"Boy! What are you doing in there?! Get to the kitchen now!" Banging could be heard at the door as who he now recognised as Vernon Dursley yelled. "Coming uncle." Fitting into the supposed role he's found himself in till he could figure out what to do next.

Suddenly he notices something, different from the fanfics he's read he received no memories from Harry Potter, ["I guess that's one good thing, at least I'm not bombarded by the memories of a child."] Taking a perceived positive he got dressed in what could only be described as oversized hand-me-downs, he also realised he hadn't been wearing glasses the whole time. Choosing to contemplate it later on, he went out.

Upon arriving downstairs, he saw who could only be Petunia nee~Evans Dursley looking like she recently awoke, ["probably all that banging"], observing no deviation from her movie counterpart apart from being slightly skinnier "what are you looking at freak!" An irritated snarl on her lips as soon as she saw him, he tried to put on his best impression of what he presumed Harry would have been like, even though it's been years since he's seen the actual movie, eyes down and with a timid voice he uttered "nothing aunt Petunia", "get to the kitchen then I want something done quickly". ["Oh God her expressions are as disturbing as some of the fics said"].

The rest of the morning passed as his 'cousin' finally came down hours after the previous incident, half-asleep Harry observed as the child came down ["how can you be so big at such a young age, surely this will lead to some health issues, how can he even move comfortably"] but as soon as these thoughts came they went, the morning passed on as he made breakfast for the rest of the Durselys, barely left with much to eat he had to get ready for school as it was a weekday.

"I need to figure out where in the timeline I am, I'm not so much as bothered about how old I am, from how young I look I still have at least 4 years before Hogwarts. Do I even want to go to Hogwarts?" The morning blurred as he started contemplating his next moves, arriving at school he realised he'll be surrounded by little children "God give me strength!"

The day blurred and he kept his head down planning his next steps, ["first things first I need to see if it's possible to learn Occlumency on my own, then possibly find a way to get to Charing Cross, however seeing as I'm about 6 as I'm in Year 2 (First Grade), that's easier said than done."] A tired sigh escapes him as he thought on this "those fanfics made it easier said than done, who in their right minds would see a 6-year-old and not report it to the police or even stop me before he gets a block away from the Dursley's. And who knows where people might be spying on me"

During his lunchtime he quietly escaped to the library as he didn't want to test the theory on if his 'cousin' bullied him or not, especially with the current state of his body.

"It seems like Harry Potter really doesn't have any friends, none have tried to approach me throughout the school period. Oh well, at least I don't have to deal with any children." Finally arriving at the library he walked in as saw the receptionist, she noticed him then approached "excuse me young man, what are you looking for?" She was an average looking woman standing about 5'6 with curly brown hair, looked strict but also friendly as she did work in a library that catered for children.

"Hello miss I'm just looking for a place to read and relax for this lunchtime" he said in his most innocent voice, let it not be said he isn't cute. She smiled then directed him to the children's section which was pretty sparse considering most children would be playing outside, "thank you" after she left he sat and thought on every technique he's read from fanfics to movies on meditation,

["I should try clear my mind but that's never easy, especially with this young body my mind is in a constant state of activity"] he sighed and tried focusing, after failing multiple times due to him still trying to accept his current situation of being 'reincarnated?' He stood up and walked around the library looking at what they had in inventory, ["I refuse to pretend to be a child if I can help it".]

He continues walking around trying to find something to distract him from his thoughts but nothing seemed interesting, eventually he gave up and returned to his meditation. Eventually lunch was over and he was nowhere close to clearing his mind.

The rest of the day goes by with nothing of note happening and he droned most of what happened out, it also helped that no one really paid attention to him.

Later in the day as he got back 'home', the Dursley's immediately gave him a list of tasks to complete ["how the hell do they expect a 6-year-old to do this is such a short period of time?! This is child labour and abuse, how has Harry not run away from here?!"] Looking at the impossible list of tasks he couldn't help but be shocked "... and I expect you to be done by 6:00pm then start preparing dinner for 7:00pm" he stared at his 'aunt' and wondered what would make a woman treat a child this was as it could not be normal, no matter which angle you look at it.

["Is this one of this worlds where they are charmed to act aggressively against Harry?"] He silently mused but couldn't come to a conclusion with no way to verify. As it was currently 2:16 pm he had a few hours to spare, however with a full day of school with barely anything eaten and incorrectly healed injuries, the workload was too much for the body to bear. As it approached the deadline he'd barely completed half of his assigned tasks.

Suddenly he was hit in the head losing his footing as he was mid-step, he toppled to the floor, "you freak! Didn't I tell you should be finished by now, why aren't half the things I told you to do been done?!" He was so shocked he didn't react for a few seconds until he felt something else impact his head, "well! Got nothing to say freak! You ungrateful brat should have died with your whore of a mother!" She went on a slur of insults as she continued hitting him, he tried defending himself but his already frail body and lack of energy didn't help. He rolled up into a ball and she continued for a few more minutes.

"That's it no dinner tonight! Why do I put up with you ungrateful brat."

He was unceremoniously dragged into the cupboard under the stairs nursing the bruises that were forming over his body! "What the fuck! Is this what he went through on a daily basis! How dare she treat me like this!" His rage building up as she slammed the door, her still audible voice berating and insulting him as she walked away.

"I need to get away from here, if not I might end up killing someone!" Aggressive whispers escaped him, his mind working furiously while trying to calm his raging emotions, suddenly he felt the same feeling as before when he first woke up. It was being directed towards his bruises and slowly he watched as it healed him. This served to distract him from what had just occurred for a moment.

"I need to see if I can control my energy, I refuse to be treated like a slave especially by the likes of them."

For a grown man who was a previous political journalist, having to interview some of the most corrupt and cutthroat people, digging up dirt while making sure he remained alive after exposing some dangerous people, he knew when and how to act to get the best results.

His rage slowly simmered to calm anger ["it seems like it's true, this energy does react to emotions"] he tried controlling the energy that was currently turbulent, keeping it focused on healing his wounds.

["Hmm the first step really is to become aware of the energy, as how can you control what you don't know is there."] He had a predatory grin on his face and as he tried to direct the energy slowly, however, due to the ever-present anger the energy lashed out!

BOOM!!

The door to the cupboard exploded outwards! Screams could be heard as his relatives became frantic, his heart rate racing as he knew these people were not beyond murdering him from the previous experience, clearly they've already murdered the original Harry Potter.

"Boyy!" The enraged scream of Vernon Dursley rang out and he knew he had to escape or this day would be his last. Running out of the cupboard he saw Petunias fearful face shielding Dudley.

"That's it! I've had it with you and your freakishness and I'd be damned if I let you live another day!" Vernon ran as quickly as his body let him towards Harry, however Harry high on anger and adrenaline tried something, all thoughts about getting Vernon away from him filled his mind as his energy reacted!

VROOM!

Vernon was flung off his feet backwards as he collided against Petunia who was stood behind him, both crashed against the wall while Dudley tumbled to the side, Harry heard something snap. Unsure of their current status he steeled himself as he dashed to the door. Ignoring the screams of Dudley, Harry escaped into the evenings autumn breeze, he ran with no goal in mind.

Trying to get to a location he could be safe in, he knew he couldn't return to that house anymore when suddenly, his energy reacted once more and he felt a pull in his navel. The feeling of being squeezed into a straw came and as soon as it ended he landed on a clump of shrubs. Barely getting up, eyes noticing an approaching figure he tried to make out a face but his focus waning, he passed out.