Disclaimer Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling

First story and one that is intended to be grand in its size and hopefully in its quality.

Chapter One - Humble Beginnings

He had once heard that the normal children fear the dark…

Harry could not help but think they were wrong to fear that encompassing blanket. That veil that covers all, hiding it and concealing it. Protecting all that it shrouds equally leaving the world in a state of rest. Giving the creatures that spurn the light a chance to enjoy the freedom that the darkness bestows upon them.

Harry felt he must have been one such creature… for he rejoiced at night, not out loud naturally, he did not desire more punishment. Punishment for breathing, for being a living thing, for daring to exist… for being a freak. That was what he was, of course, his 'family' would never let him forget that. When he was little at some point he might have cherished them, sought after their affection, to feel like he belonged.

Now, why would he ever desire something so putrid as their retched attention?

So, it was with his callus covered hand that he reached for the handle of his door, the lock on it long since broken from the abuse of his uncle and slipped out into his prison, from his claustrophobic cell. He was short for his age and he knew it his thin bony body was just one indicator of how his family treated him, the others were hidden underneath long-sleeved shirts that would be baggy on a normal child, same going for his pants. He had no need for shoes or socks seeing as both had holes and where tattered, his skin was always pale, but his hair was like coal. But the true attraction of his face was his eyes, they were enchanting, captivating and one could even say gorgeous but that would be if one could get over how strange the lightly glowing jewels were. His aunt would never admit it, but their beauty was one of the reasons she took him in when he was a baby, also why she bought him glasses to cover them up as he got older. His footsteps where quitter then a cat, he knew from experience. Thus, he crept to the back door and found it locked, as usual, it was here that arguably the second most enjoyable part of his night occurred. He reached for the lock his hand softly cupping around it and his eyes closed, he focused deep within himself before whispering so quietly it could have been mistaken for a breeze over the wood.

"unlock."

And with the command, he felt the bolt inside the door slide away allowing him to open the door and sneak out to the fresh night air. This was his habitat, surrounded by shadow and darkness the true elements of the night like a wreath around him. Finally, at peace he just let himself bask in this gift of nature the soothing feel of the cold creeping into his flesh and causing it to become bumpy and flushed on his face. The darkness allowing his eyes a break from having to shift focus to see something clearly.

He must truly be a freak to only find such solace in the dead of night but that mattered not to Harry, he had tried to make friends once with other people, other kids when he attended school. They were all cowards and fools believing everything his family said about him and fleeing at the mere sight of his fat blob of a cousin. But that was fine with Harry he didn't want to hang out with them, not if that was how they truly were. Harry forgot about reminiscing about the past and just relaxed in the dead of night wrapped in darkness and caressed by cold. Until the moon reached its apex, that was his cue to retreat inside so as not to incur his violent family's wrath. They took any excuse and sometimes just made one up.

So, standing Harry looked up at the moon and smiled at it letting the only light he felt comfortable around wash over him he whispered goodbye to the moon and the night, a cool breeze being his farewell in return. He crept back inside relocking the door and heading for the cupboard under the stairs to rest and recover. Then the day came it was a weekend, he would work and work hard at that chores upon chores kept him going and with the little food he got it was exhausting. He knows his family's twisted idea was to drain from him all his energy, so he wouldn't be able to do freaky things, like use his gift, for they were afraid of it.

Sometimes Harry thought they were right to fear it and him. As it was one of the few days where he had finished his chores and had eaten well at school, thanks to a party or some such event with food but Harry retreated to a park and hid to play with his gift. He was playing with a rock wishing he was strong like a superhero, so he could protect himself… his small scared hand clutching the rock tightly when he mumbled, "crush."

The rock was reduced to pebbles and dust surprising Harry as until that point he had only used his gift on his body to heal himself quickly and make the pain go away. It was the first time Harry had a real idea of what he could do.

And it filled him with a burning desire to do more.

But he would not unleash his hate on his family, not yet anyway. They were annoyingly right about one thing, he had nowhere else to go. Therefore, he would leave them be if only to stay in a location he knew and was 'comfortable' with. But he knew that the day would come when their allowance of him to reside with them would end and when it did Harry would really give them a reason to fear his freakishness. Let them carry the brand of vengeance upon them delivered on swift and cruel hands.

Harry was shocked out of his stupor of thought when the stomping of heavy feet, that would likely be amputated in the future for medical reasons… or his rage whichever came first, down the stairs. Followed by a giggle from a cruel fat child, next Harry counted down to the yell that would fill the house from his aunt telling him to get out of his cupboard and make them all breakfast. Heaven forbid that the walking bag of skin filled with bones do anything at all. Harry thought to himself with spite.

"Pest! Get out here now and make breakfast or so help me!" His aunts squawk rang true and reverberated around the house causing Harry to leave his closet and approach the kitchen making the usual spread for his family he would trim the crusts of toast, cook the bacon into equal splits of crispy and chewy the eggs all sunny side up cooked in the fat of the bacon, the sausages to. The orange juice had to be filtered to remove the pulp, a practice they started simply to make his life more difficult. All this cooked to their bloated sense of perfection and if they found something wrong he would be punished. Then came the task he despised most watching them eat, Dudley and his uncle Vernon where revolting shovelling food into their open gobs like the bloated animals they were. His aunt would pick at it chew it slowly and look as if she despised it, trying to get a rise out of Harry as if he could give a single damn if she choked and keeled over. Then when they were done they would order the table cleared a task that had to be completed briskly less Harry be punished. Then for their own spiteful enjoyment, he was ordered to scrape the scraps and leftovers into the bin. They always bloody smiled to Harry's annoyance, the fact that they still took pleasure from watching a hungry boy throw out food that said boy would happily eat just proved exactly what sort the lot of them were. Then he could eat by their own graciousness. A meal fitting of the freak that was Harry.

Bread and water.

They truly were a sadistic and repugnant group of people.

"Now boy, you listen here you are to do the dishes and take out the trash after which you are to make yourself very, very scarce. I have some business partners coming over today and if I see even a single hair of yours. Well boy, I will make sure you can't move for a week." Uncle Vernon hissed at Harry spittle speckling his face. A nod was his response. "Good, get to it." The order given Harry moved to make it so and at a brisk pace to boot seeing as he was being given permission to leave. Once completed he exited the house so swiftly and silently he wasn't even sure if anyone knew he was no longer inside. All the better for him if he was being honest with himself. He headed to the park the one place where he couldn't be kicked out of… surrey was a small place infested with the lies and hate of his relatives and thus no place for Harry.

Once at the park Harry rushed for his hiding spot it was secluded from others as it was an old shack off the path of the park surrounded by thorny bushes and animals didn't like the smell of the plants as they were somewhat poison, the white stuff inside them was anyway. It was here Harry hid and relaxed it was where he kept his few treasures. A collection which was made up of Books, pictures and stuff he found interesting. His favourite books were ones in other places. He couldn't read to well as he stopped learning after a rather harsh hiding for achieving something, how dare he, but that was when he ceased to even try and thus his intellect suffered after all if one doesn't wish to how are they meant to learn. But his books had nice pictures with the large splotches of numerous words and these pictures showed such interesting wonderous place. Any of them better than the Dursleys.

It was also here that he could practice his gift unhindered.

"Ignite." His hoarse voice commanded to the candles and thus they alit with little dancing flames upon their wicks. Harry sat down and pulled out the crusts he stole and held them over the flame to make them a tad more enjoyable. Once cooked to his satisfaction he reached back for a sauce satchel and spurted it onto his meal. Once his stomach was fed he reached for his sword. It was just some sticks he had crafted together to look like a sword, but it got the job done. His weapon in hand Harry left his hideout for the woods outside and saw his dummy. It was a pudgy bag filled with dirt and leaves. It was round and barely resembled a human. It looked just like Dudley. Harry spent his morning beating and attacking the dummy with his sword before growing weary of it only so much rage could be let out through this manner.

It was then Harry realised he wasn't physically tired his stolen crusts helping him stay energised it was with this realization that he looked to the dummy with a malicious grin adorning his face. Harry wanted to try something new with his gift, he heard recently of a word he wished to turn into one of his commands. This one would be different than the others it would be made for one purpose and that was to protect him from others. Rend was defined in the dictionary as to tear, rip, wrench or at least something along those lines as Harry had seen it. So, it was with this word in mind and the action it was meant to perform on the dummy circling his mind Harry began to slow his breathing, his focus turned inwards searching for his gift, time inconsequential at the moment for him. Once he found his gift he grasped it within his mind and channelled it towards his thoughts on rent. Or at least that's how he imagined it, imagination was not something Harry was short on he practically survived on it after all. His gift, the word and the picture of what this command was meant to do secure in his head Harry turned to the dummy and opened his eyes staring intently at the dummy.

"Rend." He commanded forcefully… only for nothing to happen. Staring at the dummy unimpressed Harry looked inwards again searching for what went wrong. It was not hard to see, as the command in his head was pretty big he needed to give it more energy. "fair enough," Harry mumbled and shrugged in acceptance. Looking towards the dummy he went through the processes again. Breathe, word, image, channel, channel, channel and "Rend!" shouted firmly this time causing little tears to appear in the bag. "Oh, great well that's useless," Harry complained sarcastically, annoyed he couldn't get this. Then his mind flashed to a cartoon Dudley was watching once of a superhero or villain making their fingers into claws before slashing them at something. Harry glanced down at his hand grinning his idea rekindled. He prepared to begin the process. Breathe, word, image, channel direct. He could feel his gift in his hand looking down his gift had appeared as claws of light dancing around his fingers sparks of light shooting between the tips he smiled before quickly shifting his face back to one of stern focus as his gift almost started to recede into his body.

To his frustration it didn't stop receding, then his frustration became anger and it stopped fading away grasping the emotion Harry watched his claws return. It made sense to him it wasn't a simple command like 'push' or 'pull' that required little imagination and where self-explanatory. No this was an attack command and should be thought of as such. So, Harry didn't waste time he channelled all his anger and frustration at this difficult process into his gift watching it wrap around his hand again. But that was when the floodgates opened, there was a reason Harry tried to control his emotions less his gift act up and get him in trouble, which often times was responsible for the worst of his scars. But once he thought of his anger it just kept coming, his anger at the Dursleys, at the other children, the bullies, the school, surrey and worst of all his parents for abandoning him to the Dursleys and then the anger at himself for blaming his dead parents, his own self-loathing caused the gift in his hand to become hot and gain weight. Looking down Harry saw it was no longer mere light but a glowing, red-hot maelstrom of crimson wisps and arcs of energy dancing between his fingers and centred in his palm. With tears blurring his vision and his face flushed and a command charged with all his rage, anguish and hate he let the words tear out of his throat in a brutal, high pitched, furry filled roar of a child.

"REND!" the scream left him as his clawed hand swiped at the dummy the energy launching forward tearing up the ground and splitting the air causing a screeching sound to occur before it impacted the dummy shredding it to tattered pieces and launching its detritus stuffing in the air… then the command continued onwards impacting a tree and felling it. Harry on his knees stared mouth agape at the desolation caused by his newest command. Getting back unsteadily to his feat Harry traced the trail of destruction with his eyes while walking alongside it. It looked like some enraged beast had slashed its claws at the tree and the dummy was just in the way leaving massive gashes in the ground. Harry approached the tree to see it smoking, seems all the extra anger turned the command hot.

"… cool," Harry stated amazement plastered to his face. He looked back at the dummy waving his hand over the broken remains and in a firm voice ordered "repair." Only to get no results at all, seems his command made it difficult for other commands to fix its carnage… that or it was just too destroyed… food for thought. Harry suddenly felt exhausted and just decided to crawl back to his hideout and sleep rolling onto his side Harry looked at a picture. It was something he thought about getting rid of often, it was a picture showing the shadows of a family holding hands on the beach. A dad, a mum and a little boy between them holding their hands. Harry still shook from his rage and sorrow rolled over and whispered: "extinguish." And his little retreat was plunged into darkness, Harry rested to recover all the energy he had just lost as a result of his violent commands and to try and forget about his rage.

...

Harry didn't know what time it was when he awoke only that it wasn't morning anymore and that it wasn't midday yet crawling out of his hideout he decided to walk the park and look for stuff and something to do. Harry walked away from his safe little secret out of the back of the park and onto the path heading back towards where the play equipment and picnic areas were. Once there he found it littered with people. Sticking to the outskirt and trying not to get too much attention drawn to his person Harry wandered looking for money, food, items of interest. He didn't go near the kids as they would annoy him anyway, finding a box of matches Harry scooped them up hiding them in his pockets along with a metal spoon, three pounds and a ball. A really luck hall, which was all quickly stashed away on his person. It was then that he saw something that brought back his rage, Dudley was extorting kids out of their toys while parents ever ignorant just kept minding their own damn business paying no attention to a gang of kids going around and picking on their kids. Typical.

Harry wanted no part of this walked away until he heard something that made him take pause. "What? No, you can't have my spade its mine." A young girls voice sounded out offended

Harry looked back his curiosity garnered to see who would rebel against his fat lump of a cousin. He saw a young brown-skinned girl with pitch black hair going down to her lower back and clasped in her hand away from his cousin was a spade, pretty good quality one seeing how it wasn't a toy but an actual gardening tool. Harry approached slowly to hear better it was then that he got a better look at the girl's clothes, they were ratty, to say the least, and covered in patches. Dudley's gang had encircled her their confrontation escalating the circle ensured no parent would see what was happening. "Now listen here you little runt, I'm Dudley and if I and my friends want something you have to give it to us," Dudley said confidently what he had just said was true.

Idiot. Harry thought.

"Dudley? That's a stupid name it's like your parents were planning on you being a dud, guess they were right." The girl quipped angrily glaring at Dudley's beady little eyes. This girl was quickly growing on Harry. She was not making herself a friend of Dudley however. Once the collection of lard that made up his brain realised what she had said he grabbed her, his friends the following suit and dragged her away from the park off to a garden backed by a wall. Harry not wanting to see the only kid with a lick of sense come to harm quickly followed them to the space between the hedges and the park wall where they had the young girl pinned to the floor. Harry's anger spike upon witnessing Dudley pry the spade from her hand while the other bullies held her down.

"There see was that so hard you little freak," Dudley spoke down to the interesting young girl.

"Freak, you look like a purple potato with arms and legs, you're the bloody freaky one." Strong cockney accent and a mouth that couldn't stay shut. Harry definitely liked this girl.

"Wait a minute, I know you… you're homeless Hayley." Piers Polkiss a friend of Dudley mocked.

Ahhh the naming abilities of children. Harry's snide sarcasm quipped within his own mind.

"Yeah what of it ya limp noodle looking turd." The newly named Hayley responded.

"My dad told me about you, said that your mum and dad didn't want you, so they kicked you out, kept complaining because he said it's one more dirty curry muncher on the street." Piers mocked causing tears to form in the girl's eyes as she growled and struggled harder. "Well since you're so eager to get away how about we see how you run without clothes?" suggested the brat a vile grin on his face. At this point, Harry couldn't let anything more happen as the fear on the girl's face became too much. Walking into the clearing he made sure the others heard his last footstep.

"Huh, oh it's you buzz off freak we're busy or did you come for the show." Dudley taunted, Hairy merely quirked an eyebrow at his annoying cousin before tilting his head to glance down at the girl struggling on the dirt who was now looking to him with trepidation. "Hey, freak I said- "

"I heard what you said Dudley I merely didn't care… let the girl go." Harry ordered his voice devoid of any emotion and his eyes showing only absolute boredom.

"Oh, don't worry freak we're about to after she gives us her clothes of course first," Piers stated jumping into the conversation his hands grasping at the girl's ratty top.

"No, she will be leaving with her clothes and you're going to let her," Harry stated, the monotone never leaving his voice as he stared the group of boys down.

"Yeah well…" Dudley trailed off as he finally met his cousin's eyes and was suddenly sucked into them. Dudley always knew his cousin was a freak if you ever took the chance to gaze into his eyes you would understand. No one normal had eyes like Harry, oh there were people out there with green eyes, he was sure there were even people out there with bright green eyes. But how many people had bloody glowing green eyes? Eyes that when you look at them, just sucked you in and made the rest of the world cease to be. Because once you were in they refused to let you go, it was while staring into Harry's eyes at this very moment that Dudley began to feel a fear that had to be non-existent since that time he had broken Harry's hand under his foot.

When he had broken his cousin's hand those couple of years ago he had gotten lost in those same eyes and seen a fire burning in them. A twisted evil flare, one that desired nothing more than to clutch Dudley's flesh in its burning grasp and turn him into a bubbling charred corpse with sizzling fat and blood pooling around it. It soon followed being lost in his eyes those couple of years ago that he then experienced his cousin whispering something before he was tossed 5 meters backwards into a sand pit. When he got up he saw his cousin had a look on his face daring him to keep coming, but it was something deep inside Dudley that told him to walk away that day and so he did.

Today was not so different, he saw that fire felt that pull urging him to leave but he also remembered the thrashing that his father had given the freak when he told him of what had happened. How he had felt empowered to see Harry thrashing under his father's heel, that feeling lingering in the back of his cruel mind that he and his family owned this freak. It was this same feeling that leads to a sense of misbegotten courage that fuelled the next words out of his mouth. "No, I won't be." And with that Dudley reach down for the girl tossing her up and forwards where she tripped and fell to the dirt, while in his hand remained here dirty tattered top. This was funny to him so naturally, he and all his friends laughed. Harry didn't get the joke. Dudley sneered at his cousin in a way his aunt would be proud of before tossing the former shirt at Harry, confident in his superiority.

The moment Harry saw the sneer he snapped. It wasn't exactly noticeable but the signs where there, the slight raising of the right side of his face showing off his teeth, a narrowing of the eyes through his glasses and a new trait his right hands fingers moving into a claw as if to cast 'rend' not to mention maybe a solitary spark of his gift dancing between his fingers. Harry was glad he had chosen to take a jacket out today as he slid it off and dropped it on top of the girl as he walked past her. His burning eyes never left the group of bullies. "There you got to have your fun now leave." Harry didn't growl but he sure didn't ask politely.

"Nah we can't do that she still got her trousers on." Piers who was starting to show the signs of a truly deplorable pervert gleefully pointed out his eyes pinning the girl with a look Harry couldn't recognize. The other kids where paying Harry a bit more attention since he appeared to be spoiling for a fight with them all.

"Come near her and I will hurt you." Harry hissed at the group.

No one moved a stare down occurring before Dudley sneer turned to a smile. "Get him!" he shouted charging Harry himself. Followed by two boys a short one about Harry's height only beefier and a lanky one close to piers width ways but about as tall as Dudley, Piers was in the back. The lanky one met Harry first and was sidestepped and tripped to the dirt below Haley scampering out of the way. Next, the stocky one tackled Harry the two tumbling to the ground, Harry's tolerance for pain allowed him to ignore the impact so he could focus on driving his elbow into the side of the boy's throat eliciting an exclamation of pain. Harry tried to roll away from the stunned boy but his cousins boot caught him in the face sending his glasses flying while his nose began to gush blood. Dudley tried again but Harry got free of the other boy and evaded the stomp. Seeing the blurry form of Piers running at him Harry scooped up some dirt and threw it at the boy's eyes, Piers blinded by the assault ran straight into the park wall. Harry was trying to get to his feet when Dudley's shoulder checked him into the wall, Harry felt the back of his head bounce against the same wall as Piers but rather than let the ache bother him Harry lunged off the wall with a child's battle cry and tackled his cousin around the head, forcing the fat bully to fall backwards. With all the boys on the ground, Harry looked over to the girl to makes sure she was safely away or at least running but instead all he saw was her standing there watching. Harry was honestly shocked she was wearing his jumper but rather than bolt away from the danger she was there watching it all happen before Harry could even form a comment or urge her to leave the lanky one had taken advantage of his stupor to smack him in the cheek with a rock.

"Get him!" One of the boys shouted before Harry was beset on all sides by punches and kicks, his small body crumpled to floor his hands protecting his head and his legs his soft stomach. The blows just kept coming down upon him till after at least a minute or two of nonstop blows the kids grew tired and shifted their focus. He heard some talking followed by a scream of a girl and running looking up he saw them chasing the frightened foolish girl farther from the park.

Of course, now you run. Was Harry's thought process as he laid on the floor beaten and bloody. Harry just rested there in the dirt and mud, eyes closed and focused on his gift as he tried to channel it around his body to fix the pain.

But why does it matter? This was just another day in the life of the freak.

Lucky me.