Chapter 1. Harry's Life
- Little Whinging, 4 Privet Drive ~ 2. July 1995 ~ In the smallest Bedroom of the House -
"Once again, I am here in my personal hell. Not even one day after Hogwarts ended." muttered a small-looking teenager to himself depressingly. At the same time, he looked around the small room he was sitting in. He hates it here and can't understand why he is once again forced to come here for his summer break.
Every year, it is the same.
Even when he told Dumbledore, the current headmaster of his school, how badly he was treated here in this house, it seemed like he didn't care one bit.
Dumbledore always looked at the boy with a stupid smile on his lips and told him how he shouldn't exaggerate so much.
The boy's name is Harry Potter, and he has messy black hair and what others call beautiful green eyes. He never saw anything special about his eyes, but in the end, the reason for this is probably his low self-esteem, which he was trained in since he was a little kid.
At the moment, he was lying curled up on the small bed in the room. The bed itself had already seen better days since it looked beaten down.
It was most likely because the bed itself was even older than the boy who was currently lying on it.
Many would think that Harry has worn down the bed over the years he has owned it, but that would be false.
His 'family,' who reluctantly let him use this small room, got all the things like the bed, the small nightstand, and the wardrobe that is situated in the room on one of the dumps that were close by.
They would never buy Harry anything new since they didn't want to waste their money on something like him. They are still mad that they had to sacrifice the small bedroom to the boy, but since the first Hogwarts letter was addressed to the 'cupboard under the stairs,' they were scared that the 'freaks' were watching them.
That was also one of the reasons that bothered Harry about Hogwarts and the wizarding world.
He was sure they saw the address on the letter they sent for him.
Of course, Harry knows that most of the letters are automatically written by an artifact inside Hogwarts, but he also knows that his case differs from that of other regular students.
Usually, a student would only get one letter per person, but in his case, there were more than 200 that were sent to him since his letters were burnt by his 'family' every time they came.
He was sure at least one of the teachers had to copy the letter to send it again, and there was no way they hadn't read to whom the letter was addressed too.
So they would have seen the address but obviously didn't care about the fact that he slept in a cupboard.
Harry suspected Dumbledore had done it like so many other things that had something to do with that annoying old man. Not that he would ever say something like that to Dumbledore in that direction.
He knew that he was not powerful enough to do anything against it. In the end, he just hoped that Dumbledore had a good reason for it, but after thinking about it for the last few days, he suspected he didn't and just used him in some weird way or purpose.
Like why would he send him back to the Dursleys every single year even though he had already told him about the abuse? There is no reason Harry can think of.
Dumbledore, of course, told him of the blood wards that were apparently protecting him, but Harry felt it was a stupid reason since he was only protected in the house and had gone to elementary school for years before.
It's not like he couldn't just live in another country altogether, and Harry even suggested it, but Dumbledore told him straight out NO.
He even seemed a bit angry when he suggested it.
In the end, Harry lost all his remaining trust in Dumbledore, which in the first place wasn't much since someone like him, who was raised in an abusive household, would never trust easily.
-----------
Harry was not even 'home' for one hour before the Dursleys gave him a list with all the chores he had to do that day.
His relatives called it earning his stay, but he called it Child labor.
There was no pause in the chore list he got. He could already tell that the chores on the list would at least cost him 10 hours; he could tell that quickly with his many experiences in that field.
They wouldn't even give him something to eat after all the work.
That was also the reason why he was so small for his age. The malnourishment of many years had some consequences for his body.
But this time, it was different. After two hours of hard work, Harry suddenly had an idea. He told them about his Godfather, the escaped prisoner, and even threatened them with him.
Of course, they didn't know that he was innocent, but in the end, they didn't need to know that.
He also didn't know why he couldn't sleep in the house his Godfather told him about in his letters. He only heard Dumbledore say no, so he couldn't sleep there.
He didn't blame his Godfather for that since he knew that his Godfather still hoped that Dumbledore would finally organize a trial for him.
Harry knew Dumbledore would never do that.
The last thing he heard from his Godfather was in a letter that told him that he shouldn't give himself the fault for Cedric's death.
Not that Harry gave himself the fault for that in the first place.
If someone asked Harry about it, he, of course, would say he is sad, and he even plays the sad and depressive boy in public, but the only reason for that is because he already heard some rumors saying that he killed that boy so he could win this stupid tournament.
He didn't care for the tournament even one bit, and the only reason he grabbed the cup at the end was because of some weird compulsion on the cup itself that ordered him to do it.
The funny thing about Imperius and Compulsion spells is that Imperius controls you, and Compulsion only gives you suggestions on what you have to do.
Harry has no problem fighting the Imperius, but the Compulsion that only gives him a suggestion is more challenging to fight against.
It was his first time encountering something like that, and he didn't stand a chance against the suggestion.
Now, back to the question of how Harry really feels about Cedric's death.
He wasn't happy about it, and maybe he was sad for some days, but he didn't care anymore after that.
They weren't friends, and Cedric even bullied him for some time after that fourth champion debacle.
That didn't mean he wished Cedric to die, but after some time, Harry just thought it was enough.
He didn't kill Cedric, so why would he give himself the fault for it?
It was clearly Voldemort and Dumbledore's fault.
Like why could a portkey even be installed in Hogwarts with all the wards erected?
-----------
After one further hour of just lying on his bed, Harry started to think about something.
"It's time to check the theory I had when I heard that pop in the garden some time ago..." Harry said to himself while already standing up.
Walking down the stairs and to the door, he could already hear the television in the living room and the angry shouts of Vernon, his Uncle, who is currently looking one of his favorite shows, even though it made him angry every time he looks it.
Ignoring that scene completely, Harry walked to the entrance door and, after opening it, started to step out, but just when he wanted to leave the property, he saw somebody suddenly appearing in front of him.
Looking at the witch with short pink hair that suddenly appeared before him, Harry didn't react since he already knew something was wrong and the theory he had just confirmed itself. Looking at her, he could see an invisible cloak in her hand that she probably stood under when she came to the house.
"Where do you think you are going, Harry!" She snarled to Harry, who now looked at her oddly.
'I don't even know who she is. Why does she speak like that with me?' Harry thought to himself while looking at her like she was stupid.