Harry Potter is the property of JKR I don't own it and never will.
Author Notes: This is the first chapter in the first story I have ever posted. This story is about Harry Potter being physically abused as well as emotionally abused while at the Dursleys. He will be sorted into Slytherin and be ridiculed by most of the house for his half-blood status. Harry will be a natural expert in the field of potions while not as good at other more magical exploits. Harry is not the boy who lived in this story, Neville is. I believe that I will have Harry go dark. Not sure.
"FREAK! Get down here right now, Mr and Mrs Grant will be here in three hours and they'll be greeted to a house so clean they could eat off the floor!" shouted Uncle Vernon.
Harry Potter was eight years old but he looked more like he was four years old, scruffy, unnaturally thin, undernourished and generally mistreated. He slowly got off the cot in the cupboard under the stairs wincing at the pains in his stomach, Harry could hardly tell whether the pains were from hunger, or the beating he had received last night at the hands of his Uncle. As Harry opened the door to his cupboard and squinted at the bright light he heard Uncle Vernon coming towards the cupboard.
"Boy, I warned you last night about being slow, I think it's about time that somebody taught you a lesson" screamed Uncle Vernon,
As Harry struggled to walk down the hallway he saw Uncle Vernon's face go purple with rage and he barely had time to wonder what he did this time before he felt the dull thud of Uncle Vernons meaty, fat fist land in his ribs. Harry fell backwards and knocked his head against the floor as he fell over and saw another meaty fist come towards him. When it connected, the world started to black out for Harry and he slowly closed his eyes.
* * *
Harry woke up in the cupboard and he could feel something very sticky and wet oozing out of his mouth, it didn't take long to realize that this was blood. Harry really wanted to know why he was treated like this and Dudley wasn't, but he couldn't ask Uncle Vernon, questions were against the rules. He got better grades than Dudley and he was better behaved and he was still beaten. Harry sometimes wished he would just die, that Vernon would take it too far and he would die and be with his parents who even if they were drunks, were still better than the Dursleys. Hopefully.
A Year later
Harry woke up to his Aunt Petunia screeching at him to make breakfast and he slowly got out of the cupboard. Harry had been waiting for this day for a very long time. Vernon (Who had lost the title of Uncle in Harry's eyes) would be out until about 11pm. Aunt Petunia always went to bed at 10pm and he would have an hour to escape. Harry actually felt hope, an emotion that hadn't hit him for a very long time. Harry cheerfully left the cupboard but made sure to mask his happiness as he always masked well, any emotion.
"It's about time freak, make my precious Diddikins some bacon now!" Aunt Petunia snapped.
"Yes, Ma'am" replied Harry.
Harry prepared the bacon and as Petunia went to wake Dudley up he slipped a piece into his pocket, after all, he needed all the food he could get, there was no way Vernon would feed him.
"Muuuuum, I'm hungry, tell the freak to hurry up!" whined Dudley.
It wasn't his fault that Vernon's latest beating had broken one of his ribs. Anyone would work slowly after that, but Harry knew it was best to be silent.
"Freak! Hurry up or else you'll regret it" his Aunt screamed.
Dudley smirked at this knowing if he kept complaining then Harry would get another beating from Vernon. Harry just nodded as blandly as possible and got two plates out. He dished the bacon out as nicely as possible and gave a plate to both Petunia and Dudley. The perfectly fried bacon was just the way Dudley liked it but he still made Harry's life horrible.
"Muuuuuuum, the freak overcooked my bacon!" whined Dudley.
Harry was tempted to punch Dudley, but he knew he would lose, Dudley was a massive mound of fat and he was a twig. Dudley had people who liked him. Harry was the freak, the dog, the dirt. Harry was just a slave. He was just contemplating revenge when...
SLAP! Aunt Petunia slapped Harry across the face as hard as she could and screamed at him.
"Just you wait until Vernon gets home, he'll sort you out FREAK, how dare you ruin anything for Dudders!" Aunt Petunia screamed.
Harry just nodded and left for his cupboard. Once safely inside he started to plan what he would do, Harry had snatched the clock that was kept in the library which was never used either because it was so far away from anywhere important in the house or because it was full of books. Harry imagined it was the latter. Once he had the clock he could safely know when it was 10:25pm, that was the time Harry planned on leaving as it was late enough that Petunia would likely be asleep and early enough that Vernon wouldn't spot him sneaking out. He had been taking money out of Aunt Petunia's purse for two weeks now, Vernon loved boasting about business meetings and he was going to be kept late on company matters as he had told everyone continuously for the last two weeks. Obviously Vernon expected either a pay rise or a promotion. Hopefully he got neither.
Harry was given a small list of chores for the day including one that he would use for his own purposes. Harry was sent to the local shops to buy Dudley's favourite snacks and some milk. Harry took the money and 80 pounds of his own money that he had stolen over the years from Petunia's purse to the store. On the way he wondered just where he would hide. Harry knew that while Surrey was an upper class district it was still dangerous at night. Harry was looking around in several alleys and all he had spotted was a large number of dumpsters and manholes leading to the sewers. He ran into a dead end alley with an open manhole and decided that he needed to find a place to stay or his plan would flop. He looked into the manhole and saw a faint light. Slowly going down he realized he was in the sewers. He made sure to explore the dark, dingy sewer until he saw a small vent on the wall. Harry looked at it and took the cover off. Once he had reached the end of the vent he was in a small room. Harry couldn't believe his luck. Once Harry realized it was way too dark in here he saw a small drain leading to the outside world. He opened them and saw a small light come in through the drain. He was definitely underground...
Harry was scared, he spent more time then he would have liked in the sewer and being late meant beatings. Petunia could be awfully inventive when she wanted to be. Harry ran to the shops, he bought all Dudley's snacks and the milk as well as several bags of food and water for himself, candles, and a new shirt. He dumped all his shopping into the sewer room and went home. Gulping he went inside and could hear a hand coming towards him.
For the second time in one day, he had been slapped.
"Why were you so late freak? After all we do to care for you...." yelled Aunt Petunia.
Harry just ignored here, he always got this lecture and it really was just boring. Didn't she realize that he didn't care. Probably not or else she would have stopped lecturing him and started beating him....
After she was finished Harry went to the cupboard, he got no dinner but that wasn't a surprise. He rarely did. He could just tell that his Aunt was listing all todays "offenses" so that Vernon could administer a "suitable" punishment. Harry picked up Dudley's voice from the lounge room and he knew that Dudley only talked when he wanted to not-so-subtly ask for something. As predicted, Aunt Petunia came in and said that they were going to the local amusement park and that he was not to leave the cupboard or Vernon would make sure he never went anywhere again.
While his relatives were out Harry went to Dudley's room and stole his sleeping bag, he stuffed it full of spare blankets from the linen cupboard and some of the books from the library. After hiding it in the cupboard he contemplated leaving the house right then but realized that the neighbours would spot him and tell Vernon. So Harry waited.
Several hours later.
Harry heard Petunia finally go to bed and he waited, it was ten thirty when he finally managed to exit the house. Harry ran using parks to escape notice of any late night people and got to the sewer. It was still bright because of the lights but it looked very eerie. Harry realized he had no choice and went in. He was just glad it was a small place or else he really would have been scared. Harry took the vent cover off and lit one of his candles it actually lit the entire vent up and he pushed it along as he crawled into the vent. When Harry reached the end he slid back in slightly and put the cover on to keep rats out.
Harry put his candle in a corner and dropped the sleeping bag. It was very dry but very cold in his small room and he arranged the blankets into a bed and got into his sleeping bag. Harry might only have 300 pounds to live off until he got more money, but it was something. He was just settling into his new bed to go to sleep when he heard a disturbingly familiar voice coming from outside the drain on the roof of the room. It was Uncle Vernon. Harry realized he was talking to some friends of his and walking past rather than to him but he was still extremely scared. He started listening to Vernon's conversation.
"Good to hear Dudley's taken up boxing Vernon, he'll be a real man just like any kid should be" said a man talking to Vernon.
"Yeah Dudders is doing great, but the freak is starting to get on my nerves now, he might have worn out his welcome." said Vernon.
"Isn't be useful for chores though?" said the man.
"That's all he's good for, he costs too much to keep now, I think it's time to teach the freak a permanent lesson..." said Vernon.
"Well it's your life so you do what's best, just send him to an orphanage" said the man cautiously, hoping Vernon wasn't suggesting murder.
"Yeah, I'll do that, see you at work John" said Vernon.
"...Just watch me, that freaks gonna get it now, I bet he never wakes up again after what I have in store!" muttered Vernon as he walked away.
Harry fell back on his sleeping bag shaking uncontrollably at the thought of his Uncle murdering him. He realized that if he hadn't left the house tonight then the odds of him ever being seen again were very, very slim. He shook at the thought of it. What if Vernon looked for him? He was already close. Harry realized that Vernon couldn't fit through the vent that lead into this room and neither could Dudley, he let out a shaky laugh and curled himself into a ball. He realized that he could choose whether to get up early or late, eat breakfast or not and live life the way he wanted to live it. Harry knew he had done the right thing by leaving and he would have to tackle one problem at a time. With this thought he went to sleep.
* * *
Vernon got home at 12 o'clock thinking that he must have stayed at the pub too long, he walked towards the stairs when it hit him. The freak! He had to remove the freakishness that invaded his house once and for all. Moving towards the cupboard he thought of Dudley.
"Little tyke must be asleep" he muttered.
"I'll deal with the freak tomorrow then and we can be a family again." said Vernon.
After all, he didn't want to wake his precious son up. Oblivious to the sound of video games coming from Dudley's room, he went to bed.
* * *
Harry woke up and looked at the clock next to him, it said 11am. Panicking Harry leapt out of bed and slowly realized that he did not usually have a clock next to him. Or sleep in a room without an exit. He saw the small drain leading to the outside with very bright light coming through it and he remembered the adrenaline filled night he had just had. Smiling Harry opened one of the bags of items he bought the day before and took out some potato chips. Having breakfast Harry made a plan for the day. He would take some of the money and get his hair dyed and cut, he would also get contact lenses to replace his glasses. This would ensure that nobody recognized that he was the freak who lived at number 4 Privet Drive. Harry had a hard time not thinking of himself as the freak after hearing it for so many years on end, but those days were in the past. He could start a new life and he truly felt safe knowing the Dursleys couldn't get him in the sewers. None of those would ever think to look here anyway. Though hearing Vernon last night was what made him want his appearance changed. Getting up, he felt refreshed and ready to start the day.
* * *
Vernon woke up at 7am as was his usual and was about to get the freak to make him breakfast when he remembered. The freak needed to be punished and it would be permanent this time. He could go live with those freak parents of his. As he prepared to get up Petunia stirred. He considered what she would do if he killed the freak. He heard her start to talk though and was cut off.
"Vernon, you need to teach the freak a lesson. He was rude and took two hours more than he needed to return from the store and Diddikins was hungry" she said sleepily.
That was the last straw. He was planning on disposing of the freak anyway but this left him no choice. He had insulted the entire family he stormed downstairs ready to beat the freak to death when he heard Petunia run downstairs after him.
"Vernon wait, you can't kill him what will the neighbours think!" cried Petunia as she ran after Vernon in her night clothes.
"We'll say he was picked up by his family members and we were just looking after him" said Vernon.
"They will investigate Vernon I know they will, just teach him a lesson with the belt like you usually do, please" cried Petunia fearing the neighbours reactions to the freak vanishing.
"Fine he'll just get a beating then" said Vernon fully intending to go too far with the beating and kill the freak.
"If you say so Vernon, just remember not to kill him" said Petunia as she walked off.
Vernon walked to the cupboard and slammed the door open.
"FREAK! I'm going to punish you like you've never been punished befo...." Screamed Vernon, trailing off as he noticed the freak wasn't in the cupboard.
"PETUNIA! The freak isn't here! Find him and bring him to me" screamed Vernon as he walked up the stairs to find Dudley.
"Dudders it's time to play Harry Hunting! You get 50 pounds if you catch him!" said Vernon as nicely as he could do in such an anger.
"Wow Dad, 50 pounds...really?" said Dudley his eyes glittering with greed.
"Yes Dudders, 50 pounds now find the freak" said Vernon still trying to stay calm.
An hour later
"Dad, I've looked everywhere, he's not in the house, not even in the library" said Dudley his face wrinkling in disgust at the last word.
" Well Dudders he must have tried to run away, get your group of friends and find him, 10 pounds for all the people in the group that finds him!" said Vernon, even now he was furious, it's amazing how long a face can stay purple in rage but Vernon was managing quite well.
"But Daaaaaad, you said 50 pounds!" whined Dudley
Vernon could sense a tantrum coming and managed to prevent it.
"The 50 pounds is for you Dudley, 10 for everyone else" said Vernon quickly.
"So I get....thir...thirty pounds more than they do? Said Dudley wrinkling his face as though it hurt to talk.
"No you get fourty pounds more than the other people do" said Petunia walking into the room.
"Oh so I get 60 pounds then?" asked Dudley looking confused.
"If you say so dear..." said Petunia.
* * *
Harry was walking in the commercial area of Surrey looking for s hairdressers salon. He avoided anywhere that Vernon was known to be around and finally found a small old, dingy looking salon near an alleyway. Harry went into the store and looked around.
"So what can we do for you today?" said an elderly man standing near a chair.
"Ummm, I would like my hair trimmed and dyed please. Can I get it somehow smoothed as well?" asked Harry nervously.
"Of course you can, now may I ask when your parents will be coming in to pay for this?" said the man.
" I'm here alone sir but they gave me the money to pay for my haircut" said Harry
"Well this will total to 20 pounds do you have that much with you?" asked the man
"Yes sir" said Harry.
"Well lets get started then shall we?" said the man.
* * *
Half an hour later Harry left the salon with smooth dark brown hair which was fairly short and now all he had to get were his contact lenses. Leaving the dirtier half of the commercial area he found a glasses store.
Entering the store Harry noticed lots of pairs of glasses, as well as a case full of contact lenses on a cupboard to his left. Harry contemplated whether he should just grab them and run away or not. Harry thought about it and then thought that somebody must have noticed how mistreated he was and not done anything about it. He started to get angry at the thought of this and grabbed the case. He walked out of the store calmly and was walking as fast as he could towards the alley that contained his sewer. As he neared the alley he heard the voices of Dudley and his gang. Slowly ducking behind a dumpster he saw Dudley walk past with three members of his gang and heard what they were talking about.
"....and Dad was really mad, if I didn't know better I would have thought he would beat the freak to death" said Dudley.
"It would serve him right too, I just want the 10 pounds we were offered to get him. Said Piers Polkiss.
"The freak just seems to have vanished though, maybe he's in the sewers" said another boy that Harry didn't remember.
"Serves him right if he is, he can stay down there" said Dudley.
As they walked off Harry ducked down and snuck into the sewers, he opened the vent and crawled into his room at the end of the small tunnel. Harry lit one of the candles and had his dinner. A small packet of potato chips. After this he opened one of the books he took from the library, this one was about chemistry and he started to read.
Later that night Harry was climbing into bed and he was shocked that he had almost ran into he Dursley's twice so far. Making sure that he was always careful he made a vow to himself never to trust anyone again.
* * *
When Harry woke up the next morning he reached over and grabbed his chemistry book from beside his makeshift bed and started to read. He loved chemistry and it was certainly his favourite subject but he just couldn't concentrate. What was worrying him was the same thing that worries most people. Money.
Harry knew he needed more of it but who would employ a small 10 year old who didn't even have a house. After a muesli bar for breakfast he left the sewers and was wandering around Surrey when he saw it. A wallet lying on a table in an outside cafe, right on the edge of the table, the owner was sitting with the menu in front of him and the wallet out of his sight. Foolish man.
Harry casually walked up to the table and pretended to be interested in a shop across the street. Nobody saw him snatch the wallet and place it in his pocket. Pleased with his success he walked down a nearby alleyway and hid behind a dustbin. Harry opened the wallet and saw 150 pounds inside. Almost crying out in hapiness Harry took the money and credit cards out and threw the wallet in the dustbin. As he wondered what to buy he realized that he really did need food other than chips. He went to the supermarket and bought a loaf of white bread, some canned vegetables and a battery operated microwave, it was an odd device, small microwaves existed but battery operated? Oh well, as long as it worked. After taking five sets of batteries for the thing he went to pay for his items.
"Okay... this purchase comes to 68 pounds exactly" said the salesgirl at the counter.
Harry handed her the money without speaking.
"Do you need some help getting this back to your house?" asked the salesgirl.
"No ma'am" said Harry
"If you say so... just take a break if it gets too heavy okay?" said the salesgirl.
"Yes ma'am" said Harry in the same tone he always used to deal with people.
As Harry left the store he realized that the girl was right, it did weigh quite a bit. No matter. He went down his alleyway and slowly lowered his purchases into the sewer. Unknown to Harry he was not alone.
* * *
Miranda was following the boy that that had just left the store she worked at, she knew the look on his face and knew that he was an abandoned child, likely an orphan. She followed him and watched as he turned down an alleyway. At first she wondered if it was worth asking her boss to fill in for her but now she knew it was. She watched as the boy lowered his items into....a manhole? He lived in a sewer? Poor boy, she would have to collect him and call the police so he could be sent to an orphanage where he cold be looked after by people who knew how to care for children.
As Miranda approached the boy he went down into the manhole and closed it. She waited a minute thinking whether she should just call the police but then decided to go in herself. She opened the manhole and went down.
* * *
Harry had the feeling that he was being watched, he took his microwave and food and opened the vent quickly. He shoved it all into the vent and crawled in. Replacing the cover he crawled to the other side and shut the shutters so it was completely dark inside of the room. Hoping he was wrong about being followed he didn't move a muscle and almost thought he was safe when he heard something... no... someone moving outside his vent.
* * *
Miranda saw that there was light in the sewer and looked around, she saw no signs that anything lived in here at all, not even a rat but she knew he was in here. After all there were no exits other than the manhole. She looked around and saw it. A vent that hadn't been closed properly. She had him!
Opening the vent Miranda started to crawl through, she knew he was in here now because she could see some bags hastily thrown on the floor, as well as a sleeping bag and some candles. Not too bad a set-up really, she had to give him credit for finding a safe place to stay. But it was time he lived among people, safe and happy.
* * *
Harry heard the vent door slide off and let out a small whimper, he knew the tracker had found him and he had nowhere to run. Suddenly the woman from the supermarket appeared after crawling through the vent.
"Come on child, don't be scared, I'm going to take you to live with people who will love you and care for you" said Miranda in the nicest voice she had.
"NO" Harry yelled.
"Excuse me? Don't you want to be loved, cared for?" said Miranda.
"Other people will just use and betray me like Vernon and Petunia and you!" Harry yelled accusingly.
"Are Vernon and Petunia your parents dear? And me? I'm just going to make sure that you're looked after." said Miranda.
But Harry wouldn't budge.
"You're leaving now and you stay away!" yelled Harry.
"Fine dear, I'll leave" said Miranda.
Miranda was throughly upset with this child. Couldn't he see that she had his best interests at heart? She just wanted him to be happy. Just like the other children she had rescued. She crawled back outside and called the police.
"Hello. This is Officer Brown speaking how can we help you?" asked the policeman obviously named Officer Brown.
"Hello, there is a homeless child in the sewers he is in a small room on the other side of a vent and the poor dear needs to be placed somewhere he will be cared sewers are just in an alleyway off the main streets next to the toy store. " said Miranda.
"We'll send a car down to pick him up now. That's three children in one year Miranda, great work." said Officer Brown.
"Thank you officer" said Miranda.
* * *
Gordon Brown was looking forward to a relaxing evening at home when that blasted woman phones with another homeless child for them to send to an orphanage. He was officially annoyed. This child would be going to St. Mary's for daring to interrupt his evening. He got two other officers and they drove to the alley next to the toy store.
Getting out of the Car Gordon and his men walked to the manhole, climbing down they saw that damned woman Miranda smiling at them. He's just through there. Gordon was glad he took some of the smaller officers with him.
"Smith, climb through that vent and get the child, hurry up!" snapped Gordon.
The man named Smith went through the vent and saw the child sitting in a corner shaking. It was very dark in this room but he always could see fairly well in the dark. He didn't waste time with talking and instead grabbed the child and crawled back out of the vent. The child behind him struggled but he was too strong.
Officer Smith crawled back out of the vent with the child behind him.
'So, another homeless child. Thank you Miranda, I'll take care of this now." said Gordon.
"What's going to happen to h-" said Miranda but she was cut off.
"I said that I'll deal with it" said Gordon.
And without another word he left the sewer dragging the child behind him. Gordon got into the car and drove back to the station. Normally you would go through a procedure for dealing with orphaned, abandoned children but he wasn't in the mood. At all.
"Want a drink boy?" he asked.
"No sir" said Harry.
"You need one, drink this" Gordon said putting a hint of a threat into the words.
"N-n-no sir" Harry said, he had heard words like that all too much.
The man then walked over and forced the drink down his throat. As Harry's world went black with unconciousness Gordon smiled. One less problem for him to deal with. He loaded the unconcious Harry into the back of his car and drove away...