On a normal day, in a normal neighborhood in the town of Surrey sat a not so normal young man thinking quietly in a park at the end of Privet Drive. The reason the particular young man was not normal was because of the views of all those around him. The neighbors knew and thought of him as an extremely disturbed youth who attended St. Brutus' Institute for Incurable Criminal Boys. This rumor (started by his "loving" relatives) earned him snide glares and remarks from the adults and looks of fear from the children. Needless to say he did not have many friends.
His relatives were considered the most "normal" family on Privet Drive. Vernon Dursley was a stout, hard working, honest, and a generous man. Petunia Dursley was a petite woman who was a stay at home mom, cared deeply for her son and had the best garden every year. Dudley Dursley was a kind straight A student with a slight weight problem. Yes the Dursleys were the picture perfect normal family who out of the kindness of their hearts took care of their problem child nephew, Harry Potter.
"If they only knew" Harry chuckled to himself. The thought of the Dursleys every being considered normal brought a smile to his face. The only hard work Vernon had ever done was to hide the embezzling of his company's profits for years. The only honesty to come from his mouth was his name and address. Vernon's kind of generosity made the famous American criminals Bonnie & Clyde look like Mother Theresa and the Pope.
Petunia was the ice queen of Great Britain. She was only a stay at home mom because she was lazy as hell. Her garden, as well as her home was maintained by Harry himself. He was in essence her personal house elf. Dudley was anything but kind. If you asked any of the kids that lived in the neighborhood, they would tell you that "Big D" was the one who organized all of the beatings that they endured. That is if you could get them to talk. Dudley and his gang had all of the children of Little Whinging scared to talk about anything that involved the gang.
These were not the only people who saw Harry as abnormal. In the magickal world in which he was a member. There are many different views on him. One half of the general public saw him as "The – Boy – Who – Lived", the savior of their world. The other half saw him as an attention seeking, psycho-path who was to become the next dark lord. The general public's opinion was very fickle at best. One minute they're praising him the next they're slandering him. Nope there was no normalcy there.
Voldemort, the current dark lord who gave him the title of "The – Boy – Who – Lived" saw him as a threat that needed to be taken care of at all costs. Albus Dumbledore saw Harry as a weapon for his own fight against Voldemort. Thanks to the prophecy made by his nutters divination teacher made those fifteen almost sixteen years ago. There was no normal in their perception of him either.
Harry's only friends Ron, Hermoine, Ginny, and Neville were the only thought him as being even remotely normal. That was only because they actually new him. They still thought him a great wizard, but what can you expect when you have a hero complex and those are the ones you constantly save. There opinion did not bother him in the slightest. Harry thought the same about them as well. They have all saved him at one point or another in is tenure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Still they were just as susceptible to public opinion.
What a mix, criminal, freakish and unnatural, threat, weapon, angel and devil all at once. The only person who saw Harry for Harry was Harry himself. He thought himself average. He liked sports, girls, sweets, and just plain fun just like any other teenager. He had his own desires and needs, but it was in vain. Since he couldn't live his own life he would never be able to live like he wanted and deserved. From the age of one Harry's life has been manipulated by the forces around him, mainly from Dumbledore's influence.
As the sun set Harry left for "home" so he could get in before the Dursleys could lock him out of the house for the night. As he traveled the perfectly laid concrete sidewalk back to Number 4 Harry mulled over all that had happened since his return a week ago. The Dursleys had ignored him. They no longer had a long list of chores to do around the house. They still did not feed him like he needed, but they did feed him. So long as he was at the table when meals were served he would be fed, if he wasn't he would have to go with out until the next meal. They ensured no sneaking of food by placing a padlock on the refrigerator when they were not using the kitchen. They truly ignored him; the shocker of the week was Dudley. Since his return Dudley had actually been nice to him. He would sneak a very fool plate of food up to Harry's room when he could. If he couldn't then sometime around midnight he would slip his key to the refrigerator under the door so Harry could at least make a sandwich or two. When his parents weren't around they would have conversations with each other and play games. Harry's first attempt to blast the aliens away on Dudley's computer was one of the greatest things he had experienced. Harry found it very therapeutic being able to finally take his frustration out on something with out having to destroy something with accidental magick.
Dudley apologized to Harry for the years of abuse and privately admitted to him that he was interested in magick. In the hopes that this would continue their friendship he lent Dudley his first year history text, just to expand Dudley's knowledge of magick. Even though he couldn't do it Harry hoped that it would broaden his horizons. Hopefully this new relationship could continue through out the next school year.
Harry had just stepped through the door as the street lamps began to come on. As he closed the door he saw his Uncle Vernon walking out of the kitchen towards the front door. As soon as Vernon saw Harry his face turned a shade of red that made all of the weasley's hair look ghost white. Angry that he had missed his chance again Vernon turned around and made his way back to the kitchen muttering under his breath the whole way.
Harry smirked to him self and made his way to his bedroom not feeling very hungry and just wanting to try and sleep for a full night. Ever since the disastrous events two weeks prior Harry had only a combined total of 20 hours sleep. The nightmares had done a real number on him. First they had been about Sirius' death and the other events at the Department of Mysteries. Then they shifted dramatically. His nightmares changed to everyone Harry ever cared for dieing then he would hear their voices coming from everywhere blaming and taunting him. Harry was but a mere shell of what he used to be. He felt that the only way to keep his sanity was to stay awake. It worked at first, but then the lack of sleep was starting to take its toll on his mind. While he was awake he would stare off into space constantly. Then out of the blue he would start to laugh for no reason what so ever. Just yesterday when he and Dudley were just sitting talking about the latest chapter in Harry's book he started laughing and kept laughing until it started scaring Dudley and he was forced to slap Harry to bring him out of it. After that Harry went back to the conversation like nothing had happened. Things like this had been normal since Day 9.
As the night wore on Harry took note that he had not seen Hedwig his pet owl at all that day. Nothing out of the ordinary right now since she could only leave the house at night as to not attract attention to the o' so normal people of number 4. He just hoped she would come back soon just so Harry could have a comforting presence when he would try to sleep again.
Around midnight Harry looked out his window and wishing again that Hedwig would come back his wish was granted. Off in the distance he could make out a silhouette flying toward him. In the moonlight she appeared to have a silver aura about her as she majestically glided to the window of the smallest bedroom window. Along side her there was another bird. This one looked similar to a red and gold peacock with very ornately decorated tail feathers. Harry recognized this bird as Fawkes, Dumbledore's pet phoenix.
They both landed on the windowsill each carrying a letter. Harry quickly untied both letters and got some water for both. As they drank gratefully from the dish he opened the letter Fawkes had first. Recognizing the loopy script in green ink as the headmaster's Harry sat down to read what he new would be his sentence length for the year. Getting it out of the way now would only serve him to get over his anger sooner Harry reasoned and started to read
Harry,
Despite our last conversation I must impress upon you how
Sorry I am for my lack of trust in your ability to handle the
situation that has been presented to you. I hope that one day
That you will forgive me for my folly and we can begin to work
on rebuilding our friendship which I deeply cherish.
As a first step in the right direction I hope. I offer the services
Of Fawkes and his abilitys.
I received a letter from your cousin Dudley this morning (via Hedwig)
And he explained about your sleepless nights and you're current
waking mental status. Normally I would send you a couple vials of
Dreamless sleep potion, but under the circumstances I believe they are
to extreme. While it is good to just be able to sleep one needs to dream
to be able to keep ones self sane. This is where Fawkes comes in Harry.
The phoenix song has a very pleasing effect on the human psyche. Fawkes will
Come every night for as long as needed. Take advantage of this Harry for sometimes
We can only escape into our dreams and if we can not then we have no way to
Experience what life could hold for us all.
Also I would like to inform you that as soon as the blood magick has replenished
Itself you will be taken from your aunt and uncles to the burrow for the rest of the
summer. Unfortunately as you grow older the magick takes longer to work. So
by my estimate you can leave there on or about the second week of August.
That is all for now, Harry.
Sweet Dreams
Albus Dumbledore
"Well hopefully this works." Harry said as he numbly went onto the next letter. Not bothering to check who sent it he tore into the next one with out hesitation.
After reading the first lines he dropped the letter to the floor going very pale in the process. Sensing Harry's distress Fawkes started singing a few notes to calm his charge down. Taking a few shuddering breaths Harry picked up the letter again and began reading again.
Dear Mr. Potter,
As it has come to our attention recently, that one Sirius Orion Black has recently been confirmed and declared deceased by the Ministry of Magic. As such it is our solemn duty to inform you that you have been named as a beneficiary in Mr. Black's last will and testament.
As per the Wizard's Estate Decree of 1823ce. In order to accept said inheritance you must present your self to Gringotts' Primary Estate Executor no later than Seven days after your receipt of this notice. If not all monies, properties ect will be forfeited to the Ministry of Magic on the eighth day to do with as they deem appropriate.
We await your arrival at your earliest convenience. Please present your key and this letter to the head goblin Gapsnork of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, London Branch and he will direct you appropriately.
Gorspitt
Primary Estate Executor, Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Harry immediately dropped the letter again and flung himself onto his bed, crying everything he had left to cry. Harry didn't want anything Sirius had to give him except his company. Now he couldn't even get that. With this one letter Harry was forced to give up hope that Sirius was truly dead and never coming back.
With Harry's head buried in the pillow Fawkes began singing, pouring all the energy he could into the song. Hedwig being very protective over her master was hooting as comfortingly as possible along with the phoenix.
Along time after word Harry finally spent all his energy and fell asleep peacefully for the first time in over a year. Fawkes however did not stop singing. He would sing himself hoarse so long as it meant that this young man would sleep the way he deserved.
