The Demon Who Lived
Chapter 1
by
Foz
Petunia hummed pleasantly as she opened the door to get the milk bottles. She glanced around the quiet street so early in the morning, and pursed her lips at one of the neighbours new cars opposite her house. A ghastly metallic orange! She couldn't care less if it was a "porch" car, it did not fit in! It did not deserve to be in the neighbourhood! She bent down while glaring at the offending car and her hand hit something.
Glancing down she saw a wicker basket and a baby wrapped up inside it. Taking a few blinks for such a thing to register in her mind, she did the only thing could: letting out an almighty shrill shriek and then fainting from embarrassment at seeing dozens of faces appear at all the windows of Privet Drive wondering what the commotion was about.
Petunia
woke up, with Vernon wafting smelling salts under her nose.
"Are
you alright Petunia?"
Petunia glanced around her mind still
not wrapping around what had happened, "Door... Baby...
Neighbours?"
"Petunia! Get a grip! Someone has offloaded
their problem onto us upstanding people. Don't worry about it. I'll
take it to the nearest orphanage and be shut of it."
Finally,
her head cleared and she swung herself off the couch. "Where is
it?"
"On the kitchen table with a letter addressed to
us. I haven't had a chance to open it yet."
Petunia stalked
into the kitchen with Vernon trailing behind her and watched as she
snatched up the envelope, tearing it open and angrily ripped the
letter out. Only to go very still and faint again.
Waking up
again, this time at the sound of Vernon Dursley raging about freaks
of nature who should mind their own business, he immediately
quietened down at the sight of Petunia sitting up on the couch and
glaring at him for being so loud.
"What do you think we
should do Vernon?" she asked quietly.
Spluttering at the very
concept of housing the baby, "We take it to the orphanage and
forget about it!"
"And abandon my only living family?
What would you think of me if I told you that we were shipping Marge
to the retirement home and forget about her?"
Vernon fell
silent before protesting, "But... but... he's a freak!"
"We
don't know that for certain Vernon! That might why we have had him
offloaded to us! The accident that blew up the freak that attacked
him might now have made him normal! If he was m...m...freakish and he
now isn't, wouldn't it be better to never have known about his
past... abnormality?"
Vernon conceded the point. "Alright,
he can stay. But any sign of freakish or abnormal behaviour and he
will suffer a permanent accident or be sent to an orphanage."
A few months later, Petunia was sorting out some of the house chores upstairs, and Vernon walked in from work, wondering if Dudley was putting Harry into his place by poking and pinching him. Vernon walked past the door to the kitchen where they were cornered off in Dudley's play pen, glancing in noting that Dudley and Harry were watching a huge carousel of toys, much to Dudley's delight, making him so wrapped up in the sight that Harry was no longer being pinched and prodded.
Walking away, Vernon chuckled at Dudley looking so enraptured, and clapping his hands in glee saying "Faster!"... wait a second... he never bought a carousel! Running back Vernon saw toys spinning around the room - with nothing holding them up! With a roar, Vernon grabbed hold of a knife and lunged at Harry, making him scream out in surprise, toys flying everywhere around the room. The surprise for Vernon didn't stop there though as he found himself being violently thrown in the reverse direction by an invisible force, and the knife was dislodge from his hand. All too soon Vernon slammed into the wall behind him, winding him and looked up to watch in horror as large knife flew directly at him, embedding into the wooden wall in between his legs, narrowly missing his crotch, making him whimper quietly.
Petunia
came skidding into the kitchen, after hearing Vernon roar with rage
followed by a thud that shook the house to its foundations, only to
find toys strewn around the room, a white faced Vernon on the
opposite wall from the children and a large vegetable knife still
vibrating from the force of impact, just mere centimetres from his
crotch.
"Vernon! What happened?"
"F-f-freakiness!
I WILL NOT HAVE IT!"
"VERNON!" Petunia screeched,
stopping her husbands rants in it's tracks. "Their sort will be
here soon to find out what is going on! If you mouth off at them or
find out that you nearly murdered their saviour, we will be dead
before you blink. We need an excuse... Collect all these toys and put
them back in the play pen!"
Quickly and efficiently, Petunia
wrenched out the knife from the wall, and retrieved several sorts of
vegetables, and half chopped them. Quickly, she got a glass of water
and purposefully dropped it on the floor near the infants, fetched
the mop and just started mopping up the mess when there was a knock
on the door.
"Vernon, finish mopping the floor, put the glass
pieces in the bin, and be nothing, AND I MEAN NOTHING else but
polite. You will agree with everything I say to them. Now MOVE!"
she finished with a venomous glare, causing her husband to move so
quick he left a motion blur behind him.
Petunia schools her
features to be very happy as she answered the door, to see, lo and
behold two men, dressed in navy blue robes.
"Hello Mrs
Dursley, we just monitored a banishing charm and we need to take a
look around, make sure that everything is alright and ask a few
questions."
"Of course! Come of in! We just had a small
accident in the kitchen where my butter fingered husband dropped his
glass of water and fell towards the children while he had a vegetable
knife in his hand. Can you believe it? Harry's done his first bit of
magic throwing my husband back, and protecting his cousin. Such a
clever and selfless boy!"
The wizards glanced around the
kitchen, finding many of it's contraptions unfamiliar, but seeing
Vernon carefully collect all the pieces in the dustpan.
"Oh
allow us Mr Dursley! Repario!"
Vernon squeaked in surprise as
the glass reassembled itself unnaturally, causing him to turn several
shades of red to white as anger followed by fear from his wife's
piercing look. "Oh, I'm sorry Mr Dursley, I suppose that you're
not used to the use of magic being used normally. Heh, how you
muggles live without it is beyond me. So this is Harry Potter eh?
Awww ain't he cute. The other one looks a bit podgy though. D'ya
think we can take a picture? Of little Harry I mean?"
Petunias
lips had pursed thinly calling her Dinky Diddy Dums 'podgy'. As the
wizards turned to face her back from staring at Harry Potter, she
schooled her features to be sickly sweet, "On his own? Heaven
forbid! Not, if you want a photo, it will be of all of us as family.
After all, that is the most important thing isn't it?"
"Oh
yes, of course, with his family, that's what I meant!"
Soon
a picture of Harry Potter with his family giving forced smiles was
taken and the wizards in robes decided it was time to leave.
"Er...
well, everything seems to be in order. Thanks for your time."
"Before
you go, as you have noticed, we aren't magical, but I do need to
speak with Headmaster Dumbledore. Harry was left here without any of
his families things by Dumbledore, so I want to see if there are any
heirlooms that we can pass onto Harry so he can feel connected to his
parents."
Vernon goggled at Petunia. She wanted more
freaks coming here? With freakish things? Was she out of her god
damned mind?
With tears in their eyes, one sniffed, "Of
course! It's the least we can do for allowing us that photograph.
We'll do it as soon as we get to a floo connection!" And with a
turn, they were gone with a couple of soft cracks.
"Er,
Petunia, darling..." Vernon started nervously.
"WHY
THOSE INBRED, GOOD FOR NOTHING, UNMITIGATED ARSEHOLES! HOW DARE
THEY CALL MY DUDDERS PODGY!"
"Erm...
Petunia?"
"WHAT?"
Vernon jumped
backward in fear and put up his hands and squeaked, "Why are you
asking for more freaks to come here?"
Petunia smiled evilly,
"I remember my sister working on the theory of a device that
stopped all freakishness. I bet in her belongings there is a working
version. We put it on Harry, and then he can't do anything
abnormal. He will learn his place here. He will know exactly who
his betters are. If it doesn't exist, then we dump Harry in the
Thames with a few bricks and we leave the country taking up that
place you've been offered in America."
Vernon smiled glinted
evilly in the sunlight. He still had his fathers reinforced teaching
cane in the attic. What a perfect way to test a family heirloom.
"Well, Mrs Dursley-"
"Please, call me
Petunia."
"Of course Petunia, well, I got the message
through, and here is a box of their immediate items that I was able
to scavenge from their house before it's contents was completely
destroyed. I'm sure Harry will appreciate them, however, your
acceptance of magic will be a far greater gift."
Petunia's
heart started beating a little harder.
Dumbledore continued, "I
didn't think that you would be accepting of magic, not the way you
and your sister fell out about it, however, love always finds a way.
With your support, Harry will be able to become the great wizard that
he was born to be."
"Yes, well, my sister is..."
Petunia purposely paused and sniffed, "she's dead now, and I
can't apologise for what I said directly to her," Petunia looked
up with a fierce determination, "but I can do it through the
care of her son."
Dumbledore beamed at her, "Excellent,
I'm always a believer of second chances, and I'm glad that your love
for your sister has won through. Well, I must be off. Time stands
still for no man... unless you put enough power into it. Good day!"
And with that he was gone.
3rd September 1981
Being cooped up in the house all day is a nightmare. As such, with literally nothing else to do, I've nearly finished the calculations. There is one bit I can't figure out though. The collar will only accept so much magic from it's host to regenerate itself, and being so small, it doesn't require a lot at all. After that, I have no idea where the remainder magic is going. It certainly isn't being allowed outside the host. My current theory is that it is simply being absorbed back into the wizards core, I can't think of anywhere else that is magical that it could go to without leaving the body. I'm going to build it now, and see if I can track it.
28th October 1981
Well, I've finally built it, all the runes, enchantments and charms are now in place. To test it I put it on James while he was asleep, once on it cannot be removed except from another wizard. The look on his face when he couldn't do any spells... He thought the fidelious had drained his power! It's even better as only one spell is keyed to unlock it - in this case a very obscure and ancient Aztec locking spell. ANY other spell cast on it will sever the head from the body (in theory, I haven't had a chance to test this as it would require a living wizard to test it on - a prisoner who has been kissed should be sufficient). I classify this as the ultimate security device. If each collar is keyed to a different spell, then the chances of not only knowing all the spells, but knowing which spells are on which collar are very small indeed.
30th October 1981
Hah! James thought he could trap me in my own collar! Little did he know I put a back door pass phrase on it! Sucker! I surprised him when I shot him a stinging hex in the balls!
"Here you go, filthy vermin, no escaping fate this time!" Petunia snarled, slipping the blue collar on the baby, and watched as it snapped together and shrunk itself to be a perfect snug fit and started to glow with power. Vernon tapped impatiently with his fathers cane. "Not yet Vernon. I want those wizards ability to take this collar off Harry removed. Get the petrol out - we're burning all this freakish shit."
Finally after making sure there was nothing left other than a fine white ash. Petunia turned to Vernon, "There you go Vernon, now, beat the living shit out of it!"
In one fluid, well practised movement, the thin wooden cane whipped towards Harry, striking him hard across the face. Except, instead of a red welt, or even a line blood, a dark grey line cross Harry's face. Seeing no other reaction, Vernon's rage overtook him and he rained down blow after blow upon Harry. Harry on the other hand didn't even flinch or cry out once. Finally, the cane could take no more and with a satisfying crack, the wood shattered on impact of Harry's body.
What was in the place of a previously healthy (if under nourished) toddler, was now a mostly grey, lumpy skinned toddler. Vernon seeing his fathers cane broken, unleashed a furious fist on Harry, only to hear a resound wet crack and a cry of pain from Vernon as he nursed his broken and bleeding hand. Unfortunately, still seeing red, and not knowing when to pack in, Vernon kicked Harry across the room, only to not only have his foot break on him, but also Harry to smash through the wall, destroying a ceiling support, causing a wooden beam to fall down on Vernon, knocking him out cold.
Waking up in hospital, their plans for leaving the country were scuppered after Vernon had to make an excuse that his house had never been safe from the ceiling collapsing and the news went out that if his home wasn't safe, then why should his drills and company be safe? Grunnings suffered heavily with Vernon nearly forcing the company to declare itself bankrupt after losing many of their current contracts due to this news, and receiving hundreds of complaints about his irrational and violent temper from his staff, Grunnings gave him the choice of being fired with no chance of getting another job anywhere else or to be demoted. Choosing demotion, he was assigned to the lowest of low jobs in Grunnings - working in the smelting pots.
This did not improve matters in the slightest, causing Vernon to become an alcoholic, which in turn made him more aggressive, and his attention was always turned to Harry. Of course, in the dark, Vernon never saw what the child turned into having beatings upon beating raining down on him. Being shot, electrocuted, cut by various swords, drownings, burnings, suffocation and crushing would kill a lesser man. But not Harry Potter, no, he grew with each attack.
Soon after the fall of Vernon, Petunia delved into the entire family holiday funds for some renovations, the most expensive of which was for Harry, who was now kept locked in a newly built, bomb proof reinforced cellar, all to keep the secret of what they had done to Harry Potter their best kept secret. To keep the government happy, and avoid the social services coming around, Harry was given self teaching courses and taught himself, always passing the national tests with 100 marks.
In short Vernon (when sober) and Petunia were terrified if Harry ever broke out of his prison and started to attack them. Vernon staggered down drunk with a new method of trying to kill him on a regular occurrence, and it was only the man's sheer size and power that kept Harry at bay. When Petunia lowered more school work, and vast amounts of books (the more books she passed, the longer he was subdued for) through the steel blast door for him to keep him occupied from trying to destroy his prison, she shivered in fear. She could have sworn to have seen horns across his skin, and heard wings flapping in the night. She now knew the answer to her sisters question of where the magic went. Into the body, magically enhancing it, and the result was not a pretty sight. They could only hope that the wizarding world would wake up soon and take their problem off them. But it would be a long 9 years to wait for this to happen.
"Ah, that's the post.
Run along and get it Dud-" Vernon flinched as a blast from
underneath them shook the house. "Petunia, you'll have to get
some more books later to quieten it down."
Dudley more used
to the odd bangs and the sulphuric smells by the cupboard under the
stairs grumbled while he got the post asking why grown ups couldn't
do simple tasks like this themselves. Taking them back, he plopped
the post on his dads plate and continued to eat his third helping of
breakfast.
"Ah, lets see, postcard from Marge, gas bill, council tax and... about time too! Petunia, it's his letter!" Another blast rocked the house causing Vernon to wince. Petunia whipped out a letter from the letters drawer and bolted for the front door.
"Owl! Yes owl, I mean you. Deliver this to Dumbledore. Immediately! It's an emergency!"
Before long, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid were all
walking up to 4 Privet Drive, in a somewhat heated
argument.
"I'm telling you Albus, they will not have changed
their ways! Harry must be in grave danger! Arabella has stated that
she hasn't see Harry once in 9 years!" McGonagall
insisted.
"Petunia was heartbroken with the fact that she
couldn't apologise personally to her sister and had decided to work
that apology through her nephew Harry! Also, I have kept an eye on
Harry's magical core and it is growing larger and more intense each
day, though on a regular occurrence, it gets boosted up dramatically.
I believe this coming year with Harry will be most eye
opening."
"Hmph! I'll believe it when I see it. Well,
we're here now..." McGonagall stopped as the house shook again
and a low rumble of thunder emanated from beneath the house.
"I'd
say there is a serious problem." Dumbledore's eyes
twinkled and he knocked on the door.
Petunia, Vernon and Dudley
appeared at the door with their bags.
"Finally, you're
here, he's-" But she was cut off as a battered five inch steel
blast door was hurled up through the stairs with large fist marks
clearly visible in the door.
"Oh Aunt Petunia! Uncle Vernon!"
a deep gravelly singsong style voice called out.
Petunia and
Vernon turned shades of white as they slowly turned to see a 5-6 foot
tall black skinned (with fiery lines criss-crossing in a volcanic
glow), horns sticking out along entire body, with a lot more covering
the neck, protecting it zealously, with a couple of large curved
horns from his forehead sweeping back and round, the hands and feet
had extensive talons extending several inches, and to top it off
there were a magnificent set of leathery wings on the back.
"Oh you have guests!" Flames licked out of the demons mouth as if it was a furnace. "Why don't you introduce me? No? Allow me to introduce myself... I am Harry Potter."
