Not Such An Obscure Possibility
A Oneshot
A/N: Slight spoilers for Fantastic Beasts. If you you what an Obscurus / Obscurai is you're good. This was my honest reaction to the movie XD
It was fortunate that the Dursleys did not "believe" in magic. They were normal people. Magic "didn't" exist. It did not matter that they had seen it, or if they knew that there was a world of witches and wizards. The only words they would say around their nephew was that magic was not real.
It was lucky that Harry never noticed. He never understood the things that happened around him. Magic didn't exist. His aunt and uncle accused him of "funny business" but that wasn't fair at all. It wasn't possible for him to do anything. Since Harry never thought he was the cause of all the weird incidences around him, he never exactly tried to stop.
But magic did exist. And the Dursleys did want to stamp it out of Harry Potter. So what if they had? To the best of their ability? If Harry realized that he had power and that he wasn't supposed to ever use it?
What if Harry did something when he was young? Something big that neither his aunt or uncle could explain away? In this universe, Harry learns why he's a freak. He pays attention to the lightning in his soul. He can feel a part of his that wants to get out. He knows the feeling of being trapped well. He lives in a cupboard after all. Doors are locked, then bolted, then barred. There's always suspicious eyes, starring eyes, angry eyes.
He finds that he could either lock his magic away or that the rest of him would never escape.
Dudley fears him. He knows that his cousin isn't just a weakling. The word freak starts to mean more than just someone below him. Harry Hunting stops. Harry's rarely out of the house enough for it to have a chance. If Dudley really wanted to, he knows that he could push Harry into using his magic. He knows just how to hurt him but he can never know how he'd retaliate. Dudley could get him in trouble at any time. That should be power. It should make Dudley feel better. It doesn't. His mom and dad get scary when they deal with Harry's freakishness, his magic.
After all, Petunia and Vernon have no illusions to keep anymore. Harry knows what is wrong with him. They know he has a power that they won't be able to control. Dudley didn't understand when his parent moved them to a stormy rock on an ocean to avoid letters, he certainly doesn't feel comfortable with what they'd do to stop magic from being preformed in their house.
Maybe Harry could hide his magic? He become secretive and learns how take care of himself. The lesson is that the only person he can rely on is himself, and that includes his magic. Maybe he could use it in little bursts? It sprinkles almost imperceptibly throughout his life. He learns to control his desires and emotions so that his magic can never be used against him. Perhaps he'll see how beautiful it could be. He can light up the darkness he lives in. His broken toys sometimes give him company. A blanket will be wondrously warm despite it's threadbare state. He survives until his letter and he never wants to come back.
Maybe Harry gets angry? Maybe he gets desperate? He can't take the fear and rage at him all the time. He wants people to love him but he doesn't even know how to put it into words. He sees the other children at school, he sees Dudley, he knows that his treatment isn't right. There's already a spark of someone else's darkness in him, a fragment all too used to feeling the same way. Perhaps Harry can deal with his problems similarly? After all, his aunt and uncle are scared of him. It's because he has power they never can control. If they can't control magic, then why should they control Harry? He strikes out. The Dursleys learn just why they were so scared in the first place.
But no, maybe he tries to follow their demands. He's a young child. He knows that something's wrong but his aunt and uncle say that it's him. They say there's evil in him. He doesn't know if he can believe them but it doesn't matter. His cupboard feels smaller every day. He's named all the spiders. He doesn't understand why his family hates him so much. Harry learns that things are better if he keeps all his freakish ways inside. No matter how upset he gets, he tries his hardest to not let anything out. He closes up so his opportunities can open up.
He never stops being watched. Petunia puts her nose into everything and Harry doesn't get a chance to relax. His uncle accuses him of every misplaced sock, of every minute of traffic. Harry can never argue. He can't control his magic. He just needs to push it down, away. His life would be better without it.
He thinks that if he had never been cursed with magic then his family would have loved him.
Harry is given a reason why his life is terrible and it's a part of him.
Harry was placed with Petunia for his protection. An old man with a prophecy wanted to keep him safe. Voldemort, Death Eaters, magical threats, those were what Dumbledore prioritized. Dumbledore wanted the best for Harry and he saw the Dursleys as the boys best chance. He'd learn later that chance is not always on his.
There's strange attacks in Little Whinging. Dumbledore thinks this proves that he was right. Death Eaters were active and targeting Harry Potter. It scares him that they were able to get so close to the boy. They'd even found his school. The boy's classroom was rubble. Witnesses claimed to see a dark figure destroying everything. Harry's teacher had been turned blue from lack of air. Oblivators has a lot to do that day.
Aurors never find the Death Eater responsible.
Maybe Harry realizes he's doing it? He finds it proof that the magic needs to be stopped. This is Harry Potter, the boy who was shielded by love. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. He can't stand being out of control. He used to fear his aunt and uncle's retribution. Now he's terrified of himself. He tries even harder to deny his magic. He has no idea that it's only making it worse.
Petunia has no idea what she and her husband have created. Lily never told her stories of Obscurai. Lily never had reason to think of them. Britain keeps careful track of magical children after all. Every name appears on Hogwarts records. The magical quill never misses a name. It's been decades since an Obscurus has been created anywhere in the world, even longer since it happened anywhere near Great Britain.
However, Petunia does realize something did go wrong. She remembers Lily's childhood magic. She dreams about the innocence of it. She knew that Lily could only have done so much. Lily's magic was small then, blooming flowers and levitating toys. Petunia has always wanted her beautiful power. She knows what her sisters limits had been. Lily could not have destroyed a building. It's hard to believe her son can.
She doesn't know what to do. So she does nothing.
She's not entirely surprised when her husband pokes the monster they've created with a metaphorical stick and he doesn't walk away from it. She runs away. She puts her sobbing child in the car and drives. There is no one to help her. She fears judgement for her sins. She's always known what she was doing was wrong. She just didn't know when it crossed from pettiness to manslaughter.
Magic alarms go off everywhere. Dumbledore fears for the chosen one. The Ministry fears exposure. Minerva McGonagall's words of how the Dursleys were the worst sort of muggles have yet to echo.
Harry is still an innocent child. He not a killer. He's not.
But now he has to deal with the fact that he turns into an uncontrollable mass of magic which only knows destruction. He's hurt people. That's not ok.
The wizards don't stop saying Death Eater until they find Harry. No longer protected by blood magic, no longer human in shape. Muggles flee as their homes are ripped apart with the apathy of a tornado.
Neither can live while the other survives. Does the prophecy mean anything anymore? One half is a soul in seven pieces while the other is being torn apart from magic itself. Neither is what you would consider whole anymore. Maybe a fragment of an accidental soul keeps Harry alive for a little longer? Maybe Voldemort's magic is taken by the storm? Maybe this line meant all along that Harry was never destined to live as long as Voldemort hung on somewhere? Either way, Harry never learns about prophecy. He never learns the name of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. None of that matters to a little boy losing himself to a part of him that only gets stronger the more he fights it.
How young is he? He's under eleven for sure. Harry has not celebrated enough birthdays regardless.
How can that much magic be hidden in the eighties? How can it not leak across the world? How far will wizards and witches go to keep their secret? No matter what the answers to these questions, a young boy will not be the only death to go back to the stars quo.
What happens without Harry to fulfill his destiny? Every single life he would have touched is left empty there.
An Obscurus is formed when a young witch or wizard suppresses their magic so much that it turns into a chaotic, uncontrollable concentration of wild magic and destruction. Is this really such an unimaginable fate for a boy who lived with muggles who swore he would never practice magic under their house hold?
But luckily, none of that ever happened.
Fortunately, the Dursleys officially didn't believe in magic.
Harry is saved because he thought that wind could blow him all the way up to a roof.
A/N: So... this was my main take away from Fantastic Beasts. Harry could have been an Obscurus. If his childhood was twisted a little differently, if he was just slightly a different person. I found that his best defense was quite honestly that he didn't believe in magic to begin with so he never worried about suppressing it. We should all rejoice that Harry wasn't always the most observant XD
I almost want to rephrase this idea into a one shot where I dig in more to the wizarding world discovering Harry turned into an Obscurus. The Ministry has no idea why Little Whinging of all places is being targeted while Dumbledore freaks out that somethings after Harry when jokes on him because it is Harry. I don't know, bring out the mystery and horror there. It could be a thing.