I read my first Harry Potter book on a trip to Australia (actually, the first two). Very much enjoyed the series, but of course there were frustrations with the plot. Over the past couple of years, my wife and I discovered just how incredibly much Harry Potter fanfic there is out there, and how much of it is quite good. It started out with Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, which was great fun. Then The Arithmancer, which was even better, and the Accidental Animagus, and Delenda Est, and The Green Girl.

But of course, we each have our pet plot holes, and the particular itch I wanted to scratch is that a lot of the bad characters in the book are very two-dimensional. As an actor, I would constantly be asking "what's my motivation here?" Hence my first foray into writing a fic, Vernon's Lament.

I want this to ultimately be Harry-centric, but to use Vernon the way a lot of fanfic writers use other adults in Harry's life, like Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, or Sirius Black. Some fics make Harry into more of an adult, which can be satisfying, but in this one I want Harry to be a child—a precocious child, but still a child—who grows up and into his agency starting from the basis of a loving family instead of a trio of monsters.

Oh, and the meditation/Buddhism stuff comes from my own practice. I hope it's interesting and not annoying. Let me know in the reviews if it trends toward annoying. There's just so much in there that would have helped Harry to have a better experience at Hogwarts, that I can't resist exposing him to it. I'll also be using it as a basis for exploring the nature of magic and the difference between Light and Dark wizards, and how one becomes a true sorcerer or sorceress of the Light. This will explain some things about Dumbledore's puzzling behavior in the novels as well (I hope).