Summary: Seven of the miracles that help an emotionally-abused Harry Potter believe in the world and himself again. [A Companion to This Is the Other Story]
Notes: You should definitely read "This Is the Other Story" before reading this, as that piece reveals important details about Harry's pre-Hogwarts childhood. I'm continuing with somewhat of an experimental style here, so do let me know what works and doesnt as far as storytelling goes.
This expansion will, unlike the "This Is the Other Story", include my full headcanons/ships/etc. for this concept, so be ready for things like AU-events/deaths, Severitus, LGBT+ and racial representation, as well as whatever else occurs to me as I flesh out the world.
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Warning: Expect everything you saw in This Is the Other Story, likely in more explicit detail. First few chapters are pretty chill, though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and JK Rowling can take my money any time she wants.
Prologue: Year One
The problem with pretending everything is fine is that eventually you get good enough at lying that you actually believe it. You grow up learning that the world is one way, and then one day a posh-looking letter slips through the mail slot and suddenly, all the rules have changed and nobody's waiting for you to catch up. You've got to learn on your feet, stay alert.
The point is not that Harry doesn't notice the other mums and dads at the platform hugging their children good-bye, because he does. The point is that Aunt Petunia is telling him to make her proud and Harry is scrambling to figure out how he's going to become a great wizard when he doesn't know how to write with a quill and he's still not sure how to hold his wand. The train is whistling too loudly and the crowd is pushing past too roughly and Harry feels like his life has not ceased it's breakneck pace for even a minute since the letter arrived—and Harry's not even at the school yet.
But Harry is going to make Aunt Petunia proud, so he shakes off the uncertainty like it was never there and buries the image of the other families' heartfelt goodbyes in the graveyard at the back of his mind. It's the place where he banishes everything he can't think about if he wants the world to continue making sense. Like how angry Aunt Petunia got when Dudley interrupted her explanation of the magical world to ask why she never told them before. It all goes into the graveyard, and the longer it stays there, the easier it is to pretend it never happened. He's fine.
The point is… Harry Potter is associated with a lot of graveyards.