This is a reeeeaaaaally short ficlet one shot. Inspired by an assignment I got for uni.
"It seems an odd notion to us now that a royal court would have kept a child for the purpose of beating him when the crown prince did wrong. Though that is exactly what did happen."
The teacher's voice came from the front of the classroom as he outlined the structure of the older British monarchies. Harry raised his head a bit, something he never really did in class. The teacher didn't like meeting the classroom hooligan's eyes and Dudley was always watching, waiting to report to Uncle Vernon any discrepancies.
"The "Whipping Boy" was an established position at the English court during the Tudor and Stuart monarchies of the 15th and 16th centuries."
Harry suppressed the hysterical giggle that seemed determined to come up. Who knew that they actually had a term for it.
"This may not have been quite as bad as it sounds. The whipping boys weren't hapless street urchins living a life of torment, but high-born companions to the royal princes. They were educated with the princes and shared many of the privileges of royalty."
Oh that wasn't fair, even an actual whipping boy from the 15th century got better treatment then he did. It made the giggle stuck in his throat turn into a scream. He almost wanted to let it out to see the reactions. But it wouldn't be worth the punishment at home.
"The downside was that, if the prince did wrong, the whipping boy was punished. It was considered a form of punishment to the prince that someone he cared about was made to suffer."
Only Dudley didn't give a shite about him, Harry knew that. No Harry's punishments were meant to make him suffer, not his cousin. His cousin would often stand there watching and laughing as Harry was punished for Dudley's misdemeanours. He almost couldn't wait till they sent him to St. Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys. It would be a welcomed relief.
"The modern day term is scapegoat."
Yeah that was him. Harry Potter: Scapegoat.
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