Disclaimer: JKR, Scholastic, Time Warner are the real owners and
money makers, not I.
Warnings: Contains SPOILERS for all seven published Harry Potter
books. And, also, this story will contain homosexual/heterosexual
relationships, as well as mention of "cross-species" relationships,
though all relationships are with individuals of "human" appearance.
Something More Than This
Prologue
The Fairytale of the Boy Who Lived
If the story of Harry Potter—the Boy Who Lived—is a fairytale, it will begin "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away." And, if it is to mimic modern fairytales, it will end with something akin to "Good triumphed over evil, and they all lived happily ever after."
If the story of Harry Potter—the Boy Who Lived—is a fairytale, it will be a complex one. Harry will be as Cinder-slut, forced into drudgery by uncaring family members who are extremely jealous of him, because his beauty, temperament, and empathy cause all who meet and know him to love him. Cinder-slut is barely allowed their castoffs to comfort him, and has no hope of changing his life but for the aid of outside, magical interference, the help of an archetypal prince-on-a-white-horse, and his fairy godfather.
(Eventually enter Albus Dumbledore, Rubeus Hagrid, Ron Weasley, and the boys of Gryffindor, who will show Harry right from wrong as the ultimate authorities on such matters.)
Despite the fact that Harry has been forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs—and been locked in said cupboard for things like "punishment" and "his own good"—he seems to harbor no ill-will towards his relations other than occasional sub-vocal grumblings, no phobias of the dark, of small spaces, nor of the spiders that highly outnumber him, crawling with barbed many-legs across too-pale skin. In this paragon role, he fulfills saint-like imagery, the good and faithful child forgiving the bad and unfaithful so that they might be redeemed. And despite the fact that he has had no positive adult roll model, he will listen (within reason, for he must maintain some rebellion in order to fulfill his role) to and believe every adult wizard or witch he comes across (excepting the ones that ooze ill-temper and menace, of course).
And when he finds out the truth—that he is a wizard, and special because he defeated a powerful Dark wizard when he was barely a year old—Harry's life is suddenly a bit more like the Goose Girl crossed with Snow White; the kinder, simpler versions, because he seems untouched by the ugliness in the world. He will not dwell on the lies, the half-truths, or the omissions; he will simply take them at face value, and assume that everyone knows better, and that his ignorance is both all right and important. His lack of knowledge will not frustrate him until later in life, and by that point, people will apologize for the oversight, explain that it was in his best interests, and he will accept without complaint.
When he enters the "wizarding world" the fairytale will continue, because things are clearly black and white. Harry and his friends are avatars of the forces of good and Light. There are trials and errors in getting to that position, but it is a kind of destiny that seems to fall in place around them, three together, in accordance with older strictures of Light-based ceremonies, and symbolic of Christian traditions.
In contrast Harry's childhood arch-nemesis, Draco Malfoy, is spoiled and nasty, clearly bad, though not yet evil. Draco and his Slytherin cohorts will never pass a scheme by Harry and his friends—good always triumphs over evil in the end, and the triumvirate of Harry and his friends clearly outclasses Draco Malfoy in accumulated knowledge, bravery, cleverness, and physical prowess. After all, the only three-dimensional figures are obviously on the side of good and Light already, so the reasons that Draco Malfoy and other Slytherins may have for not being a part of the Light, Dumbledore, etc., are obviously unimportant, and make them less "real people" than Harry and his friends.
So to end the fairytale, Harry will redeem the bad who are not yet evil; will marry the pretty, spunky girl, sister of his best friend, who has always stood by him; his best friends will marry as well, always together in harmony; he will defeat the Dark Lord and his minions in a stunningly clever yet nearly obvious way; and he will live happily ever after in the Golden Age that he helped bring about.
But that's just a fairytale. Real life is always something else.