Parchment and Ink
Angelkatt
nightgate6@yahoo.com November 30, 2002
Rating: G
Disclaimer: HP belongs to JK
AN: I think this is a part of a series I'm starting to write. I don't know if I'll actually get to finish it or if this side piece fit into it, but I like the idea. And yes, I know I'm posting it May 2003 when it was written a while ago.
Summary: All Harry Potter has is a name.
*****
Parchment and Ink
I stared at the words I had written on the parchment. The two words, lonely in the middle of the page, had no meaning to me anymore. The rest of the world didn't understand who I was. Did anyone even want to try? I don't think they ever thought twice about me. Harry Potter...Harry Potter...the boy who lived. Harry Potter the hero. Harry Potter the legend. Who wants to be Harry Potter? Apparently everyone did. I was lucky man. My name came with so many other things that I didn't need to fashion my own life. Nothing I accomplished was worth anything in the grand scheme of destiny. I'm sure no one would miss me if I'm gone.
I had no choice when I was a baby. I didn't know what happened with Voldemort and I certainly didn't intentionally make myself famous that night. Things just turned out that way. When I was at Hogwarts, I didn't ask to be given a different set of rules to follow. The teachers didn't have to treat me any differently from the other students. Once again, it just...turned out that way.
I didn't have a burning desire to defeat Voldemort. Yes, I was against what he believed in and I hated him for what he did to me, but I was satisfied being left alone. He hurt other people, I know that, but it wasn't my fight. At least, it wasn't supposed to be. Unfortunately I didn't realise that fact until I was too involved. The world tricked me into taking responsible for that monster while I could have walked away. All because I was Harry Potter.
The world had their hero. I had fulfilled my purpose and was now only a memory. I was going to stay a boy, noble and brave, in their minds. They had no use for the man who had grown out of their model champion. They didn't want to see the adult who was bitter and lifeless. They didn't want to realise I was drained because of their taking. I suppose I should have been happy because they helped my figure myself out. I knew who Harry Potter was and I knew the difference between him and me.
I picked up my quill and held it above the parchment. I tested the ink on the paper, hesitate to write it down. I tried to write the name a few different ways. An illegible scrawl, a classic flourish; I finally settled on a type that was familiar and suiting. A slight flourish on the R and subtle curl on the L's. Tom Riddle. Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle, Tom, Tom, Marvolo, Riddle. I looked at the filled page with satisfaction. They could keep their hero. Who wants to be Harry Potter? Not me.
*****
End
Angelkatt
nightgate6@yahoo.com November 30, 2002
Rating: G
Disclaimer: HP belongs to JK
AN: I think this is a part of a series I'm starting to write. I don't know if I'll actually get to finish it or if this side piece fit into it, but I like the idea. And yes, I know I'm posting it May 2003 when it was written a while ago.
Summary: All Harry Potter has is a name.
*****
Parchment and Ink
I stared at the words I had written on the parchment. The two words, lonely in the middle of the page, had no meaning to me anymore. The rest of the world didn't understand who I was. Did anyone even want to try? I don't think they ever thought twice about me. Harry Potter...Harry Potter...the boy who lived. Harry Potter the hero. Harry Potter the legend. Who wants to be Harry Potter? Apparently everyone did. I was lucky man. My name came with so many other things that I didn't need to fashion my own life. Nothing I accomplished was worth anything in the grand scheme of destiny. I'm sure no one would miss me if I'm gone.
I had no choice when I was a baby. I didn't know what happened with Voldemort and I certainly didn't intentionally make myself famous that night. Things just turned out that way. When I was at Hogwarts, I didn't ask to be given a different set of rules to follow. The teachers didn't have to treat me any differently from the other students. Once again, it just...turned out that way.
I didn't have a burning desire to defeat Voldemort. Yes, I was against what he believed in and I hated him for what he did to me, but I was satisfied being left alone. He hurt other people, I know that, but it wasn't my fight. At least, it wasn't supposed to be. Unfortunately I didn't realise that fact until I was too involved. The world tricked me into taking responsible for that monster while I could have walked away. All because I was Harry Potter.
The world had their hero. I had fulfilled my purpose and was now only a memory. I was going to stay a boy, noble and brave, in their minds. They had no use for the man who had grown out of their model champion. They didn't want to see the adult who was bitter and lifeless. They didn't want to realise I was drained because of their taking. I suppose I should have been happy because they helped my figure myself out. I knew who Harry Potter was and I knew the difference between him and me.
I picked up my quill and held it above the parchment. I tested the ink on the paper, hesitate to write it down. I tried to write the name a few different ways. An illegible scrawl, a classic flourish; I finally settled on a type that was familiar and suiting. A slight flourish on the R and subtle curl on the L's. Tom Riddle. Tom Marvolo Riddle. Riddle, Tom, Tom, Marvolo, Riddle. I looked at the filled page with satisfaction. They could keep their hero. Who wants to be Harry Potter? Not me.
*****
End