All in his mind.
The Potter verse belongs to the amazing JK Rowlings, I am just using it for fun.
A piecing scream was what had awakened the sleeping baby in a bundle of blankets. Harry gave a surprise cry at the horrible noise. A loud thundering a heavy feet, was soon at the door looking at his wife. She pointed to the two people in smart suits standing on their porch step.
"Vernon they said Lily and her worthless husband were killed in a car accident and we are stuck with their son." She told him feeling fear rise up in her at the idea of taking on her sister's brat.
"As we told you a moment ago you are his only living relative, if you do not take him he will go into an orphanage." The woman told Petunia a look of doubt crossing her face.
"Dear we are going to have to take this thing in, the neighbors, are most likely watching us and see it." Vernon whispered to his wife, fear of their neighbors thinking anything less of them.
"Oh very well, if we must but an orphanage would be a better place than here! Who cares if he grows up there?" She placed her arms out to the couple taking the baby and carrying him into the house. She opened the closet door looked around and grumbled. "It needs clearing out." She placed baby Harry on the floor with a thump causing him to cry.
"Shut up my darling boy is still sleeping." She snarled at her nephew. She hurriedly clear out the closet and pushed Harry with her foot into the small room. She shut the door before going to prepare breakfast.
After breakfast was enjoyed by the family of three and everything was cleaned up and put away Petunia mosey over to the closet she found him sitting up and looking scared.
"Come on, I guess I better feed you." She told him the disgust quite clear in her nasally voice. Harry came crawling out from the closet sniffling. He tried to get this unknown woman to pick him up she leaped back from him hissing.
"Do not touch me!" She walked into the kitchen where she had a small bowl of oatmeal waiting on the floor. "Well eat up; I don't have all day for this." Harry looked unsure until the bowl was pushed none too gently at him. Harry started eating it between sniffles. Petunia mean while played with her, own son and talked happily to him. Afterwards she placed Harry back into the closet. When the time came she would begrudgingly clean his diaper and feed him, very little food. Harry at first would try to join in her play time with Dudley, he soon learn to never do that again. He was always shoved none to gently back into the closet. Petunia though soon came up with a brilliant idea, leave him in there and shove some food and water into the closet for him. Harry though soon developed diaper rash and would cry for hours with pain from his bottom. She would take him out clean him up add some ointment to his bottom and place him right back into the closet.
As harry grew up he would listen at the door for the others. He would cry in fear when Dudley opened the door to beat on him, his mother laughing behind him. She would take her turn hitting him soundly and when the tall scary man arrived he would take a turn hurting Harry.
The closet would remain dark except for one hour a day when he was allowed the light on inside the closet. One time while he was taken to his weekly bath he happens to find some of Dudley's toy soldiers on the floor in the bathroom. He had never had any toys so he scooped them up into his arms and hurried into the closet. Harry soon learned to leave the diaper on the floor and to do his business above it. He would always leave it in the corner so he would not tread upon it once more. Harry was punished the last time it happened. He soon learned that the large blonde boy who always beat on him did not use a diaper he was taught to use something called a toilet. Harry in a little scared voice asked the angry woman if he could use it. She laughed at him.
"You are too stupid to learn." She promptly slammed the door in his face.
So went the days for Harry Potter getting beaten daily by one of the three angry people. Several times all of them would hit him for no other reason than they enjoyed it. He was fed very little food and he would have to use a well soiled diaper on the floor. He would play with the few toys he had snuck out from the bathroom. They were his only companions.
He would listen to them talking. This was when he learned Dudley went to a place called school. It sounded wonderful to him. He was sure he would have made friends there. Harry listens with longing to go to some place called school He would hear Dudley talking about math and wonder what it was. He could never ask since they would tell him he was stupid and slam the door on him.
One day Dudley was telling his parents about a magician who had come to the school to show them magic. Harry sighed with happy thoughts. Magic sounded wonderful. He wanted to learn magic. Even if he didn't know it, it sounded wonderful to him. He grinned at the idea that the rabbit became a dove. He had no idea what they were but it too sounded wonderful to him.
The time when the light was turned on he was staring at the soldiers. He wondered why some had no heads and another had his partly removed. He grinned and told the soldier that he was nearly headless. He only knew what a head was because the beating one told him his head was ugly while hitting the top of his head and told him he was worthless.
He soon gave them all names. He told them a large man who was a giant was going to come save all of them from this room. He would be so big with wild hair and black scary eyes for the mean people but his eyes would change to one of love for him. He would then take him out of here to find things to go to school with. He didn't know what he would need but the friendly giant would help him. He wondered what it would be like, he was sure the school would be massive and things would always change inside it. People would talk all the time to him. He would have a friend. He smiled thinking what his friend would be like. He would be a ginger; he decided when he remembered the mean woman talking about his mother being a ginger. he didn't know what it meant but it must have been something good for his mum was a ginger he wanted his mother but he had no idea where she was or why she left him here with this mean bunch of people. He sighed there was so much to know and he had never been taught anything. He chuckled at another word heard from the big boy who beat on him daily he was complaining about a teacher named Hermione Granger who gave him some detention. He had no idea what that was but it must have been terrible since his tormentors left for the school. Once they came back home they all took turns hitting him and shouting at him. Harry huddled, in the corner in fear. It did him no good.
Then another thing happened the large boy who beat him daily was given a thick stick to beat him with. Harry cried out in pain and fear, he was sure that this mean person would do something horrible to him like kill him. Although he didn't know what it meant he knew from hearing them talking it was not a good thing and something to be feared.
Another thing happened to him to cause him even more pain. A large scary woman showed up at his door. He didn't know her and she had a small something with her.
"I see this filth is still with you, Vernon. Take a taste of him Ripper." She laughed hard and loudly as the small thing leaped upon Harry biting his arm and leg painfully. He leaps back from Harry with a horrible sound. He quivered in fear that it would attack him again. He lay bleeding from small holes in his body. The tears flowed freely down his cheeks. They were all laughing while they once more slammed the door shut on his tear streak face.
It was another day when he heard them talking about going to the zoo. He heard the one saying to another that he wanted to see the large snakes that could crush things. Harry didn't know what that was but it sounded interesting. He imagines a large snake biting them all. He laughed happily with the idea.
He was left alone all the time in the closet with no one to check to make sure he was doing ok inside there. The neighbors never knew a boy was living under their stairs abuse daily by all of them.
Harry was becoming more unhinged as he thought of being in a school with friends and making things appear out of nowhere. He would also eat lots of food; at this school. He didn't know what kind since they never told him what the food was it was shoved into the room most times spilling out so he would have to eat it from the floor. He didn't mind though since he was always hungry. He also knew no other way to eat but from the floor and a small plate or bowl.
One day he was given a beating by the large woman who yelled at him to be quiet or she would do worse to him. Harry lay in his cot sniffling. He thought of some magical thing coming to tell him he was important and needed by all who were worse off than he was. He giggled at the idea of this thing making the mean people beyond the door upset and ruining whatever they had planned. He heard the mean ones laughing and talking beyond the door he wondered what it would be like to be out there eating whatever it was that smelled so good his stomach rumbled with need. He forgot to stay quiet and started talking about his school. He named it Hogwarts. It was funny to him when his tormentor complained that he would get warts from hogs. He didn't know what either of those was but it sounded like something for mean people to catch but someone like him could go there and never be infected by it. All the loud noise from outside the small room scared him. He was sure there were more mean ones out there waiting to hurt him once more. He asked one of the soldiers who was a magic one named Dobby to help him. He was sure he would because he loved him so much. He was quite pleased to hear the door opening and the mean ones leaving now. He curled up on his cot to sleep under the thin blanket that never kept the cold at bay, he lay shivering into the night until he fell asleep.
One day he heard the beater speaking to another.
"It smells because of my stupid cousin." The door was flung open to reveal the boy with another one who looked down right shocked to see Harry. Harry though cringed in fear waiting to feel the pain.
"Why is he in here?" Piers asked too stunned for words.
"Because he's stupid, why else." Dudley then brought out his large stick and wracked Harry several times with it. Piers leaped back in fear at this horrifying show of brutality.
"Come on lets go have fun." Dudley told his friend. "Do you want to hit it a few times?" He asked feeling generous. "For luck?"
"Ah no that's fine." Piers told him. He watched with fear and sadness as the door was shut on the other boy.
Harry was now talking to his imaginary friends daily and they were out to save others from evil wizards. He was brave and kind so he always helped those in need. He would laughed with them and talk about how awful life was so that he would be invited to go to their homes where he was fed more food than he could hold. He also brought the spiders into his life they were large and could eat anything but were best friends with the giant who he named Hagrid. This was another teacher the cousin had talked about. He had not known until a few days ago that they were related to each other. Cousin meant they were but he had no idea why they were. He would ponder this while talking to his toys and the spiders.
One day though the door was flung open to reveal a woman in a smart suit with three other people. The mean woman was behind them glaring at him. Harry sunk back into the cot pulling the thin blanket up around him in an effort to be invisible to them.
"Why is this boy in here?" She asked sharply.
"Because, it's the best place for him." Petunia snarled angry that someone had found out about their shame.
"Come out boy its ok." The kind woman told him holding a hand out to him. Harry cringe in fear ready to be struck again. "I won't hurt you come out it's alright." She told him moving into the closet to tug on his arm. Harry obeyed her she seemed like a good teacher. Harry winced as he walked since the broken bones had never healed properly. He stumbled a few times coming out of his room.
"Oh my god, this boy has bruises all over him and his legs are misshapen. What has happen to him?" the horror in her voice was quite clear.
"Nothing bad I assure you, he's a mean nasty little brat who tries to make me look bad." Petunia told the officials.
"Well he doesn't have to try very hard now does he?" A man told her angrily.
"Hogwarts?" Harry asked hopeful. He didn't look like a giant man but he seemed to scare the mean person. That was good enough for him.
"Where are his pants?" Another woman asked appalled this boy was wearing no pants.
"He has no pants there is no need for it." Petunia sniffled indignantly. "Stop that." She shouted to another who started to take pictures of the closet and of Harry.
"Gathering evidence against you." Another went to make a phone call and had the police come out to the house.
Petunia shouted in anger and fear as they arrested her and Vernon who had just shown up after work. "My son he needs me, you can't take me from my Didders." Petunia screamed causing the neighbors to all come from their own homes to see what was all, the commotion.
Petunia put up a good fight before she was shoved none too gently into the police car. Vernon didn't protest he got inside easily enough. Another child welfare offical waited for Dudley to arrive home from school to take him to foster care.
"Mr. Snape?" The woman asked the tall dark hair man who had just arrived.
"Yes, I'm the one who called you about the boy." He shook her hand. "I knew his mother we went to school together. I knew she died from a car crash. I had figured the boy had gone into an orphanage until I learned that he was living here. I never saw him and one day they went out. I looked around. I could hear the boy laughing and talking to himself. I was scared for him so called right away." He sighed seeing them bringing the frail looking boy from the house. "His mum would be horrified to know how her sister treated her son." Severus told her. "Thank you for coming to his rescue." Snape told her once more.
"Thank you for alerting us to him. I am not sure though if he will ever recover mentally, he is in his own world now." They watched Harry placed into a car to be taken to foster home.
"So how did you learn of his entrapment exactly?" She asked curiously.
Severus looked at her sadly he would never forget the looks on the boy's face.
"I was out for a stroll when I saw Petunia's large son Dudley laughing with some other boys. I stopped in the shadows when I heard another skinnier boy asked Dudley how his cousin Harry was doing under the stairs. The two large boys laughed happily at this, the other unknown large boy said that he had helped Dudley beat on Harry with a club and he was sure he heard bones breaking while doing it." He shook his head sadly. "I could see the look of horror on the one boy's face he, soon made an excuse to leave. I followed him to his home where I overheard him speaking to his mother about Harry. I am sad to say his mum did not believe him and called Petunia who laughed happily and told her there was no boy living under her stairs. The boy Piers had gotten into trouble for lying. But I knew that he had to be there, for there was no other reason for the two boys to laugh over beating on him." Snape shook his head sadly once more feeling horrible for Harry. "Had I known his aunt didn't want him I would have taken him in and giving him a loving home?" He told her honestly. She smiled at this kind man wishing for the boy's sake that his aunt had not taken him in.
"What happens now?" Severus asked curious.
"He will be evaluated to see what kind of physical and mental condition he's in and then we'll proceed from there." She told him she shook his hand once more before leaving with the others. Severus watched them leave glad he could save Lily's son from his life of torment. He went home thinking of her and wishing she was still alive.
Harry at age fifteen was placed into a mental institution where he continue to believe he was in a magical school with friends and would wander the halls talking to them and going on adventures with his friends. It was not easy for him to walk with his bones so misshapen from so many beating but he never seemed to notice it, he just hurried through the halls to get into class.
Petunia and Vernon were both sentence to prison for child neglect, endangerment and abuse. They both protested loudly that it was not their fault but the others fault and they were innocent of the crimes against their nephew. But bringing them to see Harry and the way the boy screamed in fear and cringed in a corner told them all they needed to know. Dudley was placed in a foster home where he was made to actually learn things and to not hurt others. He hated it at first but soon came to love living there and actually learning things. Once he was eighteen he went to find his cousin. He was dismayed to see that his cousin was still in his own world and had no idea who he was. Harry was though willing to let this boy come with him to save the girl from the evil monster in the Chamber of Secrets. Dudley wondered if Harry even knew what age he was now. He found it odd that his cousin kept referring to him as Lockhart. Once he left Harry he went straight to the prison to see his mother. He had to know the truth about his cousin.
Petunia gushed happily seeing her son come to visit since she had not seen him in three years.
"Mum, please tell me, why did you allow me to beat on my cousin Harry?" He asked scared to hear the truth but needing it all the same. Her demeanor changed immediately at these words.
"He's a filthy little brat who deserves that and worse." She snarled angrily. "Look what he's done to me, I'm in prison, I'm a good mum I don't deserve this, he brought it on himself." She told Dudley hoping he would understand. "His mother was horrible, she had all the friends and the boys all liked her, he was just like her I knew it horrible self-centered."
"Mum he was a baby when he came to us. You didn't even teach him to use the toilet or allow him to go to school." Dudley said pitifully wishing his mum had something anything better to say to him about his poor cousin.
"See what a horrible brat he is, he's turned you against me. He turned your father against me as well; he's just a horrible brat." She sniffled once more wondering why her beloved son was sticking up for his terrible cousin.
"Mum, your wrong, you and dad kept him locked up in a closet under the stairs. He lost his mind. I went to see him, he has no idea what reality is and that is on you." Dudley stood up looking sadly at his mother. "I shall never visit again, good luck in here." He turned on his heel to leave with his mum leaping up screaming shrilly. "You leave now and believe that filthy brat and I'll disown you, you hear me I'll disown you."
"I lost my parents that day you stuck a baby into a closet." Dudley told her leaving the room full of shock inmates. That night several of the inmates gathered together and beat Petunia Dursley to death for abusing a baby. No one likes a baby abuser.
There were others who came to see Harry besides the doctors. His other visitor was Severus Snape who felt obligated to watch over the boy of his first love. He too was dismayed to see the boy was not improving in the least; he was still trapped within his own mind. He though felt that at least he could help him learn about magic by telling him what different magic there was and how he could perform the magic. He felt sure the boy saw him as different teachers as he would address him thus. He hand carved a wand for Harry telling him it was made of holly with a phoenix feather inside to add to the magical powers and this wand had chosen him. Harry was thrilled and called him Mr. Olivander of all names. He was glad to make the boy smile in wonder and happiness as he moved the wand through the air seeing his own magic that no one else saw. The other visitor he received was Miss Hermione Granger a local teacher. She was brought in to see if she could help him learn to spell, read, write and with luck draw him out of his head and into the real world. She was surprised to find the boy seemed to see her as a friend of his and hugged her happily asking her how did she like her vacation back home and was she glad to be back at Hogwarts. She too was dismay to find he was not leaving his dream world and was quite pleased to stay there. She did manage to teach him a few things like basic spelling, writing and some reading by encouraging him to learn to read so he could do his magic properly. At these times he would call her McGonagall or Sprout, at other times she would be Flitwick or Dumbledore. Severus was often times Hagrid. Or even Binns. He was once a half man half horse called Firenze. They told him it was called a Centaur. Harry loved it as he would ride on Snape's back talking to Firenze like a friend. Snape was quite glad he didn't see him as the centaur to often as the boy was now better cared for so had put on some weight and was heavy to pack around on his back. He would need to stretch out his back after lugging him around. A massage and chiropractor always helped too.
The most disturbing time for them was when Harry was Voldermort an evil wizard bent on killing Harry and taking over the world. He confessed to Hermione that she was in trouble too because she was not a pure blood but was a Muggle born. They had him explain what that was and he told them that she was a witch not born to a wizarding family like Ron was and he was half wizard family and half Muggle family but that made him very special.
They all agreed with this.
Since they were not able to draw him from his fantasy world they all agreed it was best to help him in it. They talked to him about the names of his friends.
"So what is Ron's last name?" Hermione asked him.
"What is a last name?" Harry asked curiously. She smiled she knew he was very curious and wanted to learn more. She just wishes he had learned from the beginning since there was so much he had never learned from being a prisoner in a home. It was something they all worked on with him to help him learn more words and meanings. The doctors all agreed he needed his bones fixed so he would not walk so unsteadily and in evident pain. They came up with a plan for doing this that would not scare him. They all enjoyed seeing how much he loved learning about family and were interested when he told Severus who at the time was Dumbledore that he saw his family in the magic mirror. He didn't have a name for it but Severus said it may be the mirror of desire or maybe even erased which he explained was desire spelled backward. Harry loved that and they were interested to see him expanding on the idea for it.
They told him he broke his bones from falling from his broom stick and had to fix them. He never knew that he was put under by the doctors and they reset his bones and placed him in cast to help him heal properly. They kept him under to give him time to heal. Once he had awake and his bones were now mended they helped him celebrate his winning the game on his broom stick. Harry loved it. Time marched on with Harry always in his fantasy world at different ages. They never knew what age he would be. They were surprised that Harry had picked his own birthday and that the bad wizard Lord Voldermort was going to try to kill him because that was when he was born.
None of them liked it when he took on Lord Voldermort's persona. He had cried that Voldermort had killed Cedric Diggery and mad eye was not really Mad Eye. These were some of the new ones he used in his world. All of them were amazed at how complicated his world became over time with more characters added in all the time. They also found it heart breaking when his god father Sirius had died and he wandered through the halls asking for him to come back. Another one died in some battle only Harry knew about and this too made them feel terrible for him. Some of the nurses even cried with him when he shouted "No" and told Hagrid that Snape had killed Dumbledore. Severus was surprised he was brought into this fantasy and that he would kill someone the boy cared about.
It was several month later that Severus had died but not before bestowing Harry with his memories. No one knew what had happen but Harry was telling them all that Severus was not a bad wizard after all. Severus was glad for that.
One day Harry was moving through the halls shouting that Ron's little sister Ginny was trapped within the Chamber of Secrets and they had to go save her. The nurses watched him fondly going off to save someone else once more. They watched and took care of patients wondering when Harry would come back into the room with a Ginny crying with relief to be saved. After all they had all seen him go there many times before.
Harry meanwhile had gone into his room to stand upon the bed brandishing his wand.
"Try for some forgiveness Tom." He told the evil dark wizard who was really named Tom Riddle. No one knew that he had given Lord Voldermort or You-Know-who an actual name.
Harry leaped to the side waving his wand while shouting "expelliarmus."
Harry stood looking down upon the body lying dead and broken on the ground.
"I have defeated you Tom Riddle, you are no more." Harry chuckled softly before it left him. He felt tired but glad the war was finally over and some were still alive and well.
"Harry, my son." A soft gently voice spoke up behind him. Harry spun around to see a beautiful woman with dark red hair, green eyes and a loving smile.
"That is not Voldermort my darling but you. You stumbled and when you hit the back of your head on the metal railing of the bed it broke your brain stem. You died instantly" She moved over hugging him closely. "I am so sorry we left you so young." She cried holding her son close. James moved over hugging him tightly as well.
"Welcome home son." He told him softly his tears joining his wife. They hugged him closely glad to be reunited with this only child.
Harry was not sure what to say, after all his parents had died. His friend Hermione had told him what that had meant and that it was not a bad thing like he had believed. There was some noise at the door behind them harry turned to see what was going on. He watched in sadness as his teacher McGonagall found his body. He really liked his teachers.
"But I can't be dead, I'll be ok right?" Harry asked his mum and dad pointing to his body who was no longer looking like an old bald red eyed evil wizard.
"You are going to be just fine my dear." His mother took his hand leading him away from the only place he knew as home, school and refuge from the scary things going on inside his own head.
The nurses soon went looking for Harry since he had never taken so long to return with Ginny and Ron. The head nurse found him first laying on the floor his eyes no longer seeing.
"Oh my dear, no." She hurried to him to check his vitals while calling for help. They were all upset to see him go and hoped he found peace in the afterlife. They called his regular visitors to tell them what had happen. Dudley being his only relative was in charge of his funeral arrangements. He had him laid to rest beside his parents. Severus had shown up to show his respect and to grieve for the young man. Hermione had also shown up with her family to grieve and give respect to him. The nurses and doctors were in attendant for his funeral. They all hoped he found peace and happiness on the other side.
The End
April C