Disclaimer Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Chapter 17 Answers
The premise of awakening is fundamentally the emergence of consciousness, the self, of the entity beginning to perceive the reality in which it finds itself. In a fun twist of fate, dreaming is when the self, experiences a reality that is inherently not real or more accurately a reality that is constructed. So how does one react when they awaken to a dream when the reality they awake to is so dreamlike, so unreal that in the end you just know that it cannot possibly be real, but you're awake. Vernon Dursley experienced this exact conundrum, his mind was a blurred mess, he struggled to string a single cognizant thought into an idea let alone formulate a concept. Slowly the blur settled, and he saw his waking dream solidify, he was in his home, in his chair, there was a storm outside he could hear the distracting white noise of rain. A thunderclap had him flinch violently, memories of gunfire and unnatural screeching prickling in his mind.
"I am glad to see that you finally pieced yourself together Vernon… once more you surprise me, truly you are a stubborn man." A voice chimed up from the other side of the room, Vernon sluggishly shifted his eyes, his gaze shifting until he was looking across the room at a figure hunched over in a closet. The figure shifted and Vernon felt a pit form in his stomach as a skull-like head devoid of facial features turned to face him. Two burning green orbs of fire that were positioned like eyes on its head stared at him intently, as if by magic Vernon felt the dream-like sensation that had plagued him burn away. In its place was the horror of reality.
"YOU!" Vernon bellowed as he leapt to his feet, a pudgy finger jabbing at the figure accusingly as the thing continued to face him unflinching.
"Yes, me."
"You, you, you… Freak!" Vernon shouted belligerently.
"Ouch how scathing… and unoriginal," Harry snarked back as he rose back up to his proper height, his long bony neck still having to bend to keep his head from scraping along the roof.
Vernon decided that rather than continue with his verbal assault he should instead jump straight to hurling objects at Harry. A course of action that came to a swift halt when he reached for the telephone sitting next to the chair and his hand went straight through it. Vernon tried twice more before he felt the beginning stages of panic begin to take root within him. "What devilry is this?" He spat accusingly at Harry who was in the kitchen looking through the fridge.
"No devilry here… well that I am aware of anyway, contradictory to what you may think of me I am not a hellspawn… or well, actually I don't know exactly where witches and wizards get their magic so I might have been once, who knows?" Harry postulated as he closed the refrigerator door, apparently not finding anything of interest.
"Then why can't I bloody pick anything up!?" Vernon shouted demonstrating his inability by attempting to grab an empty teacup off of the coffee table.
"Because you're dead of course."
"Wha-"
"Dead, d.e.a.d, dead, killed, not alive, post-mortem, the end."
"I know what dead means you bloody monster!"
"Well do you remember how you died?" Harry cheekily asked as he strode across the lounge room towards the garage door, seeming to put some bounce in his extra-long steps.
"No, the wait wasn't I- there was a… no…" a dreadful realisation sparked in the man's brain as his face displayed a face struck by horror.
"Wow, you did that much faster than me Vernon!" Harry exclaimed kicking the garage door open, Vernon was just able to see a glimpse of what looked like a ball of scrunched up metal. Vernon lunged to his feet and sprinted across the room desperate to confirm what he already knew to be true.
"No…" Vernon gasped as he beheld the sight of his car utterly crushed as if some angry giant had scrunched the car up like a piece of paper. Vernon saw the garage floor utterly littered with glass shards and pieces of rubber from where the tires had exploded. Upon further scrutinization, Vernon saw that there was a trail of blood leading away from the car and a path through the glass as if something had been dragged. Vernon curiously followed the trail to the other side of the car only to behold that something had wrenched open the mangled mess of a wreck and pulled something bloody out. Oh, not on my watch! Vernon thought incensed as realization struck him like a slap to the face.
"Freak you better not be doing some weird shit to my body!" Vernon bellowed as he sprinted back out of the garage to behold Harry's monstrous form hunched over once more fiddling with something inside the cupboard under the stairs.
"I don't think what I am doing is that weird… why don't you give me your opinion?" Harry shrugged with his deadly arms as he took a long step backwards and gestured for Vernon to look inside the cupboard.
Vernon hesitated only for a moment before indignation and curiosity had him stomping over to the cupboard. Vernon took one look inside and was suddenly very grateful for the fact that he was dead, as he could no longer feel nauseous… even if he could feel disgusted. "What… what have you done," Vernon whispered his voice projecting nothing but horror as he saw what Harry had done to his body.
"… I am sending a message… announcing my arrival if you will," Harry stated after some deliberation, his long neck bending down so he was head height with Vernon.
"But… but that's my body," Vernon gasped pointing at the macabre display tears cresting in his eyes as he felt an utter sense of wrong overwhelm him.
"… Isn't nice is it… when someone forcibly changes your body… or hangs your corpse up on display. Be grateful I leave yours inside, rather than out in a tree for the buzzards to feast upon," Harry hissed rearing back up to his looming height as his eyes flared.
"But you- you- you defiled it! Look at it, look at me I can't even tell that it's me anymore!" Vernon raged.
"Can't you? I suppose it is a bit difficult to tell who it is but honestly, that's more the cars fault than mine." Harry stated already walking back into the lounge room and picking up the empty teacups that were sitting on the table.
"What happened to my fucking skin!?" Vernon screamed all but incensed.
"What did you think I hung you up with?" Harry snarked as he took the dirty cups to the kitchen.
"That's my skin… You're sick!"
"Says the man who hung a child from a tree and set him alight," Harry replied as he rinsed the cups out and left them in the sink.
"This is far worse!"
At that Harry appeared in front of Vernon suddenly and without warning, his form appearing as if blinked into existence. Harry wrapped one of his lengthy hands around his head, with a tight grip he forced Vernon to closely look at the macabre display that was his corpse.
"Look at it! Look at it and know this you wretch that I do this not for the horror you inflicted upon me but the violence you performed upon an innocent!" Harry snarled pushing Vernon until his face was just before his bodies own mutilated one.
"I did this to send a very clear message! That message Vernon is that you do not want to fuck with me! Ever!" Harry roared, finally dropping Vernon allowing the man to scamper backwards away from the horrifying cupboard. With finality, Harry slammed the door shut and seemed to stand there contemplating his next move for a moment before he raked his long, clawed hands down the door scarring it with slash marks. Slowly his head crept around to gaze at Vernon who remain on the floor on shaky legs, testing whether or not a spirit devoid of a body is still capable of being sick.
"You utterly baffle me… I mean seriously! Look at you, you sit there acting oh so innocent like I am truly so evil, so vile that it sickens you." Harry spat as he marched forward his dangerous-looking leg slamming next to Vernon making the man flinch. "But you! You dragged a child and an innocent woman out into the woods and murdered them in cold blood."
"You were a threat and had to die!" Vernon roared up at Harry his teeth bared like a rabid hound.
"… you're not wrong…"
"… what?"
"You are not wrong… I honestly had contemplated it a few times, how could I not?"
"Contemplated what?"
"Do not be thick Vernon, contemplated killing you all," Harry expressed as he walked away from the downed man, his long terrifyingly graceful gait leading him over to the front door where he ran his razor-sharp fingers down the wood lightly, not even marring its surface.
"I am willing to concede the point that I was indeed a threat… even before I met my lords." Harry continued turning to face Vernon, his crown of baleful starlight seeming to shine just a touch brighter for a moment.
"If you understood why I had to do it… then why are you doing this?" Vernon snarled as he got back to his feet with some difficulty.
"Just because I understand why you saw me as a threat Vernon, does not mean I forgive you for giving me a reason to be one. Nor do I need to forgive you for killing me, I just understand why your small putrid mind would believe it to be the correct course of action!" Harry hissed back his voice becoming akin to hot steam as he pierced Vernon with a look of utter contempt.
"But-"
"But nothing, because for all that you did to me, I have already returned the favour, an eye for an eye if you will. But we are not done, are we… Vernon." Harry growled his body seeming to shimmer for a second, like his matter pulsed against the space it was contained in. Suddenly Vernon felt an awful lot like prey like he was a target, and he was very much being threatened, all too quickly could he hear a deep orchestra thrumming in the depth of his soul as suspense filled him with its dreadful chill.
"What but you said-"
"That we were even, yes I did… But you see Vernon, uncle, wretched vile human filth… I am not the only one you wronged this night." Thunder crashed violently outside, the shockwave that followed shook the house and rattled the very ground Vernon stood upon.
"The libr-"
"ROSELYN! HER NAME WAS ROSELYN!" Vernon was blasted back his form crashing into the kitchen bar violently as the force of Harry's roar flung him about.
"You could not comprehend what you did Vernon, this day I was shown compassion by a stranger, for the first time someone showed me care… and then in the night you took them from me, you murdered them in front of my very eyes." Harry did not move but Vernon felt his body involuntarily curl up.
"I didn't kill her…"
"… you were there, you could have said stop… could have kept this between you and me, but now well as you seem to think involving additional parties is acceptable allow me to introduce you to some new friends of mine." Harry sneered as he pulled the front door open and Vernon knew, deep down as if by instinct, he knew that he was doomed.
"Vernon Dursley, meet death… or more accurately, Deaths."
Vernon couldn't shout, he couldn't scream, couldn't even breathe… his chest constricted, and his mind left him as he wanted nothing more than to make like a ghost and sink into the floor itself. He saw a mass of writhing black, with deep blood red eyes that glowed with intense hunger and worst of all was the gnashing teeth and the furiously swiping claws. It was like looking at a horrific wall of black flesh as they crawled over each other, crashing against some invisible wall as they lunged hungrily at his curled-up form. The noises were worse though, the things, for what else could he hope to call them, howled, chittered, shrieked, screamed, moaned, and made just about every damn horrid sound imaginable as they loudly slammed against each other with meaty thumps.
"I must apologise, you see I tempted them a bit too much it seems… word must have gotten around as I fed them your little posse," Harry explained taking two steps forward and behind him, the hungering mass surged violently at his heel, swarming about and trying to squeeze past whatever invisible force held them at bay in the entranceway.
"By the time I got finished setting up my little message in the cupboard under the stairs, well as you can see, they became somewhat… ravenous," Harry explained taking another step forward and clearing the entranceway, suddenly in an explosive rush they filled the entirety of the lounge room before once more colliding with the invisible wall. They were countless, numerous, horrendous… they surged up to the roof pushing against and in some cases through each other. Some looked like demonic creatures with squirming eyes and moving teeth, some looked like ghastly animals and chimeric monsters with wings and beaks and tails and claws. Some looked humanoid and they wielded long sharp implements and had crazed eyes and concealed faces, despite the more human appearance they shoved just as powerfully, eager to reach Vernon.
"No! No, no! Please no, get them away from me I'll do anything! Please!" Vernon pleaded to make to crawl towards the kitchen, but Harry would have none of that. With a simple gesture of his hand, Harry let the hungering hoard surge past him and into the kitchen with otherworldly speed. Vernon let out a strangled yelp as a swarm of teeth clamped down on where his hand had been mere moments before.
"… Anything?" Harry propositioned as he took another step forward closing the noose even more as whatever force kept them at bay pushed in even closer to Vernon.
"Anything!" Vernon screamed his face now blotchy as he freely cried panicked tears. Harry merely reached for a lounge chair with his long arms and pulled it over to himself as easily as one would a fold-out seat. Like a king with his throne, Harry reclined in his seat and pinned Vernon beneath his burning gaze, his eyes burning with terrifying ferocity.
"All right let's test that statement," Harry rose his hand and splayed his fingers, the air around his hand vibrating as the hungering hoard was pushed back slowly, their ravenous snarls dimming in time with the growth of the space. Vernon took a noticeably large breath as he heaved a sigh in relief. A single look from Harry though had his throat tightening in an instant.
"I am going to ask you some question's… you will answer them to my satisfaction, or you will quickly find yourself very intimate with this hungry lot understood?" Harry sneered, Vernon in turn responded with a very rapid bout of nodding.
"Fine then, first question…" Harry proclaimed before he tossed something in front of Vernon, rather than a decapitated head like before, this time it was something arguably more damning. "For someone who supposedly hates magic you seemed comfortable using this thing on me."
Vernon looked down at the familiar item and felt his heart skip a beat, he realised why Harry might be curious about the thing, but Vernon was not going to enjoy answering this. Shooting a timid look at the imposing form of Harry surrounded by a crashing wave of teeth and death made his decision to answer much, much easier though.
"It… when you first hurt Dudley, we panicked… I was furious, we thought we were protected but… but we weren't," Vernon explained from his kneeling position on the floor.
"Alright… so the magic protection didn't work I get it but then how did you get this little… trinket?" Harry asked unsure of what exactly the item was in the first place.
"… When the old guy with the beard showed up to do the magic the day after we agreed to your deal, he asked that we wait outside."
"I'm assuming you didn't?"
"And leave that shifty old fuck in there to loot the place, hell no," Vernon shot back at Harry's rhetorical question.
"Right so…"
"… So, the old guy is in there waving this stick around-"
"A stick?" Harry questioned unsure of what exactly Vernon was going on about.
"Yes! A bloody stick!" Vernon snapped back his patience frayed by his proximity to the swirling mass of salivating fangs that continued to crash against the invisible barrier.
Harry, having had enough of Vernon's continued attitude decided that perhaps a reminder of just what exactly he was dealing with was necessary. So, with little fanfare Harry slowly closed his splayed hand, the invisible barrier holding back the hungering hoard following suit. Vernon went from defiant to terrified very, very quickly as the black mass surged forward in a wave of flesh and fang, the entirety of the loungeroom became filled and clawed hands reached over from the kitchen wielding daggers and hooks.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please make them stop… please," Vernon's panicked shouts became terrified whimpers, but Harry relented, if only for the moment. But as he pushed the hoard back something startling happened to Harry, he no longer sat alone.
A singular Death had pushed through the rescinding hoard and placed itself next to him, it was by no means one of the more bestial ones they looked startlingly human, aside from the hole being a skeleton thing. They sat to the left of Harry, upon an old, rusted metal throne in a dirtied robe that appeared grey but may have once been white, upon its head rested a tarnished crown that was adorned with rusty iron leaves. In their lap rested a simple, downright plain-looking short sword that they lightly drummed their fingers across as they looked on keenly interested by the proceedings. Slowly its head turned about on its vertebrae to stare at Harry with empty sockets, Harry had to bring his head down quite a bit to be eye level with the sitting Death.
"Greetings."
The sitting skeleton did not reply verbally but rather gave Harry a deep nod that communicated a warm greeting to the Herald.
"I suppose you desire to watch the proceedings, old king?" Harry asked politely as he had no wish to anger the death that strangely seemed uninterested in eating.
Once more it did not reply verbally but instead gave a crisp nod and gestured for Harry to continue his interrogation as it reclined in its chair happily. Harry let his magic uncoil to get a feel for his new seating neighbour, what he felt was perplexing. The old king was by no means a young hungering thing but unlike Serenity, they did not possess a thrumming power that echoed in his core. This one felt somehow diminutive but all the same, they still had a sense of purpose about them, a drive but it differed far too much from Serenities for Harry to get a good feel on it.
"You promise you will not interfere before I have claimed that which is mine?" Harry enquired, letting his power uncoil a bit more as he stared at the old king intently, hoping his message would be more than clear enough.
The old king did not seem fazed though by the sudden display of power, instead of responding by drawing a cross over their left breast, a sealing of its agreement to abide by Harry's request.
"Thank you, old king," Harry stated gratefully as he would rather avoid having to fight any more Deaths tonight, especially cordial ones. Harry lets his head rise back to a comfortable height as he glared down at Vernon's shaking form.
"Vernon… you were talking about a… stick, was it?" Harry enquired with a deadly undertone to his voice as his eyes flared and the space around his hand vibrated violently.
"W-w-w-w… wand… they call them wands," Vernon answered after taking a moment to get control over his quivering tongue, his head bowed low.
"A wand you say? I must admit Vernon my education has always been somewhat… frayed. You can say that your efforts paid off in that regard." Harry snarked making sure to keep Vernon very aware of the facets of his guilt, not wanting the man to chance another bout of defiance.
"I-it's how they use magic… how they cast their spells and such," Vernon explained shrinking in on himself once more as Harry looked on unbothered by his pitiful state.
"Right, how interesting… I have never needed such an item Vernon, would you be capable of explaining that?" Harry asked his head resting upon one of his fists, clearly doubting the man's word.
"… Petunia…" Vernon whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Petunia explained that magical children have bouts of something called accidental magic… she said you did it quite a lot… more than your mother… at least that was the case before we started to reduce the amount of food you got," Vernon explained his voice and form both equally timid as he seemed hesitant to even utter Petunia's name in front of Harry's monstrous form.
"Of course, she would know more about magic, wouldn't she… Vernon, I have to admit you are beginning to irritate me, what you say isn't right… sure my magic might have been outside my control once upon a time, but can you honestly tell me that I look in any way out of control right now?" Harry interrogated flaring his magic and the invisible wall to emphasize his point as he rolled the flaming orbs he had for eyes.
"I don't know ok!" Vernon shouted not in frustration but panic as he punched the ground violently, the dull thump met with another one from the hoard as they eagerly banged against the barrier. Harry, despite lacking a mouth, let loose a heavy sigh at the lack of knowledge Vernon seemed to possess. Harry was considering just letting the ravenous scavengers have at him, but it was the old king who halted him. A soft touch of his arm, by no means a grab merely a light brush of his bony fingers drew Harry's attention back down to him. He gave Harry a meaningful look and Harry in turn opened his magic to hear the old king's counsel.
Harry found he did not mind the old king's 'voice'. He communicated with the scratching of charcoal on leather, the etching of stone, the ambience of halls and the sound of righteous steel. He did not speak like Serenity but seemed more than capable of projecting feelings and ideas. With a small nudge, he reminded Harry that he was asking of the ritual earlier, the wards and the wizard who delivered him to the Dursleys. With a start, Harry realised he was indeed getting off course and with a grateful nod he lightly held the old king's hand giving it a gentle squeeze with his dangerous fingers. "Thank you old king, your counsel is very much appreciated," Harry stated with earnest gratitude, the old king projecting a warm smile in return, it fit his eternally grinning visage well.
"Vernon, we are getting off-topic, the wizard, the man who brought me, you were talking about some magic he did in the house and how it relates to the trinket," Harry spoke with a commanding voice sitting straight once more in his chair.
"… right… it's like I said the old weirdo was in the living room, this room, waving about a stick over by the fireplace." Vernon explained pointing to where the fireplace would be roughly located behind the badgering hoard. With a wave of his hand, Harry immediately had the hoard hurry to be out of the way, using his long neck to his advantage Harry peered over at the fireplace with curiosity.
"Right the fireplace… was it electric then as well?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but it didn't seem to interfere with whatever witchcraft he was doing."
"Why the fireplace?" He asked curiously, wondering if there was some kind of significance to fire in the protection on the house.
"I-… I don't know." Vernon answered cringing at the expected punishment. Harry let a frustrated growl ring out at the lack of Vernon's knowledge once more getting in the way of his investigation.
Once more though the old king came to Vernon's unintentional rescue, with a light brush to his arm, the old king informed Harry that fireplaces are in essence hearths which in turn acted as powerful symbols and had a significance to family, safety, warmth, health, and protection. They also worked as altars for religious offerings to certain gods, hence the use of one in the placement of wards designed to protect property and a family is expected.
"I see… then how did it become so colossally cocked up?" Harry questioned, only for the old king to give him a silent shrug, which drew a buzzing chuckle from Harry. The noise naturally made Vernon flinch violently, but Harry paid this no mind.
"So, the old man did some magic at the fireplace, anything interesting about it aside from the location and wand-waving?"
Vernon looked up with a stern look his fat cheeks almost seeming to shrink as his eyes stared straight into Harrys flaming ones. "Blood… he used yours and some he had in a vile with him at the time," he stated just above a whisper his nervousness plain to see.
"…"
"He pricked your finger and used three drops, even said it out loud as he did it… poured the whole vile though into this weird symbol I couldn't see." Vernon continued.
"…"
"Did some more sti- wand waving, you cried at this point for some reason… and well then he said it was done, handed the baby to Petunia and buggered off." Vernon finished timidly as Harry continued to silently stare. Vernon's eyes darted around as he looked to the left and right rapidly, a fresh fear settling over him as the hoard of Deaths did something very strange. They all got very quiet and very, very still. Some even tucked their tales or lowered themselves to the ground as they shot nervous glances at Harry's still form.
"…"
"D-did you hear me?" Vernon whispered, his voice fretful.
"… So, this… wizard… just bled me, cast a spell and handed me over to you abusive bastards. Is that what you are saying?" Harry recapped with a very inhuman voice, it came out more like a pair of rocks grinding against each other than human speech.
Vernon did not trust himself to respond so he settled for nodding in reply.
"… I see." Harry hissed, his flesh seeming to writhe for a second as his rage seemed to resist being contained. This time the old king was slightly more forceful with his method of regaining Harry's attention, rather than brushing the boy's arm he settled for laying a steadying hand upon the one Harry was using to crush the armrest of his chair. Harry's head whipped around like a snake staring at the far more diminutive, small king, but to the skeletons credit, it did not even flinch but merely nodded at the trinket still laying prominently on the floor.
"The thing, the trinket, talisman whatever the fuck you call it! How did you get it if the baby bleeding wizard didn't give it to you?" Harry snarled flaring his power causing many of the Deaths outside the barrier to scamper back in fear.
"We made it," Vernon mumbled.
"I'm sorry I must have misheard you… what?"
"We made it, Petunia and I after you hurt Dudley."
"… How?"
"I remembered what the wizard did all those years ago, so I ran over to check, thinking maybe there was something there to contact the old fuck with. Or maybe whatever he had done got damaged or something… I was panicking, you hurt Dudley and I was afraid." Vernon hurried to explain his voice rapid and emotional.
"I… I lost my temper, I thrashed the electric fireplace, kicked the shit out of it. I was enraged you see I thought this was all some joke the wizards were playing on us, trying to see how much a single one of their kind could torment us." Vernon continued clenching his fists as he remembered the day Harry sent Dudley through the fence.
"Next thing I know Petunia is rushing over to pull me away when she stepped on a piece of curved glass." Vernon continued shaking his head as he explained the events in full.
"Then it happened, the blood dripped onto the old brick from the wood fireplace we had boarded up after we moved in and those marking appeared… so I took the brick out and low and behold the rest of it crumbled away except for that right there," Vernon explained pointing at the tiny cube laying on the floor his eyes shaking as a storm of emotion broiled behind them.
"And you just knew it would protect you from my magic?" Harry questioned his claws drumming along the crushed armrest.
"No, of course not… but I had to hope, that's actually why we branded you…"
"Oh, do explain why you seemed to think branding a fucking child was acceptable?" Harry verbally pounced eagerly to see if Vernon could ever hope to formulate a defence for that particular act.
"T-t-the plan was if we could make you fear the penalties of your magic, on top of the reduced feeding-"
"Starving," Harry cut in his voice leaving no room for argument.
"And all the chores we gave you, that you wouldn't even want to use it… and even if you did, not against us." Vernon finished lamely, once more refusing to look Harry in the eyes.
"That's where you discovered the… talisman seems like a fitting term at this point, that's where you discovered that it could keep you safe from my magic, right?" Harry question using his free hand to summon the cube back to his grasp.
"Y-y-yes."
Harry plucked it from the air like it was a piece of fruit and held it before him between his razor-sharp thumb and forefinger. It was an utterly perfect cube and once it might have had symbols of some sort carved into them, but they were utterly destroyed, they appeared to have been burnt, their design now undecipherable as scorch marks. Looks like it blew a fuse, Harry thought to himself as he examined the strange little object. Harry wasted no time in examining it further with his magic, using his power to feel out the essence of the object that Vernon had used to such great effect. What he found though was utterly baffling.
"This thing… the wards… they were meant for something else, they have been changed, reforged… mutilated," Harry mumbled as he looked examined the strangeness before him.
"…" Vernon remained silent as he had no clue what Harry was on about.
"I do not suppose the wizard explained to you what he was doing before he started bleeding baby's, did he?" Harry asked with his featureless skull once more focused on Vernon's submissive posture.
"… No, he stated only that he was installing wards that would protect you and your family from threats," Vernon explained softly.
"… Strange that it would protect you from me but not me from you."
"…"
"Did it ever not work?"
"… Once, when I went to grab you, your flesh burnt my hand…"
"Was there anything special about that particular event?" Harry pried.
"Not that I can think of, it happened about three or so months after the fence incident," Vernon replied shaking his head.
"Hmmm, funny I always think of it as the branding incident." Harry sniped his eyes flaring once more as his voice dripped with sinister hate as a distant thunder rumbled ominously.
Harry once again directed his focus back to the little burnt cube, he made it float in his palm as he observed it again, considering what to do next. Truthfully, he did not think there was much more to be known about the little thing and honestly, he couldn't work up the effort to listen to Vernon's retelling of a day that made his wrath bristle. The decision made Harry curl his fist around the floating object, putting more and more pressure on it until he felt the thing crack. Then he kept squeezing.
When he was finally done the cube was utterly crushed into a fine powder, Harry hadn't even used a Command, he let the newly made dust pour out of his hand and litter the floor. His gaze finally returned to Vernon, who was staring petrified at the destroyed object. His face was a pale white and his fists clenched as he licked his dry lips. Harry felt his amusement bubble up into a buzzing chuckle, it seemed Vernon had pieced together that Harry was done with this particular line of questioning.
"Save your fear, Vernon... I am not quite done with you yet, I have curiosities I will see settled before I let you truly embrace death." Harry explained as he gestured for the man to settle down, his own body reclining further into his seat. Leaning over Harry glanced towards the old king who happily nodded back to him, making Harry feel somewhat comforted at the fact that he did not have to do this alone.
Turning back Harry looked towards the slightly less panicked Vernon, seeing that the man had not taken his words to heart Harry decided to merely power on and hope for the best. With a gesture, he flared his magic and pushed the countless Deaths occupying the room back a little bit more. Vernon seemed to be a little more comfortable, the Deaths who were pushed further back from their prey let out disgruntled hollers but a glare from Harry settled them quickly. One dared to stick its tongue out at him, but Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that honestly.
"Right next question…" Harry finally voiced pausing only to allow Vernon time to gather his wits before he continued, "why didn't you just kill me?" Harry, enquire his voice devoid of any inflection save curiosity.
"What?" Vernon asked baffled, unsure of what Harry meant.
Harry explained nonplussed, "you put up with me for years, you just said what a bloody nightmare it was! So why not kill me? Why not put an end to all your problems? I would have been fairly easy I imagine when I was an infant, and easier still when you got that bloody trinket" Harry asked.
"… Because if the wizard came back, he would have killed us of course," Vernon explained as if the concept was obvious.
"Right, yes, of course… except for the fact that you just admitted that you had no idea how to contact them and the fact that I stayed with you all these years leads me to believe that he never exactly popped in for a check-up, did he?" Harry hypothesized as he leaned forward in his chair his long neck craning forward until he was face to face with Vernon.
"… no, he never checked in on you," Vernon answered after gulping loudly, his eyes unfortunately captured in Harrys burning gaze.
"Additionally, I have to assume the old bugger didn't have some form of monitoring system set up as otherwise I very much suspect he would have come down on you like a ton of very angry bricks… or maybe he wouldn't of, seemed alright with giving me to you lot in the first place…" Harry trailed off his long neck craning over to the old king who amused by Harry's dramatics patted his head lightly.
"I don't know if he did," Vernon responded honestly, it was always one of the few niggling fears that had lingered in the back of his mind, petunias too.
"So… why didn't you just kill me?"
"Because what if he di-"
"Vernon please do not be an idiot, if he did then your actions tonight would have surely signed your death warrant… it did sign your death warrant." Harry finished in a low growl his slouched, comfortable posture suddenly seeming far more aggressive to Vernon's eyes.
"… but we had a plan tonight," Vernon argued back avoiding direct eye contact, an action he regrated when he caught sight of one of the things surrounding him. It was an eyeless grub with two fat stubby legs and no other features, body formless except an outline until it opened its mouth, and its maw was filled with countless ruby red and bulbous eyes that drooled as they gazed at him.
"Oh, this plan… you only came up with it tonight then?" Harry enquired.
"That's right."
"Then explain these," Harry sniped reaching behind his chair with one of his long arms and grabbing a hefty bundle that he flung at Vernon. The hefty projectile slammed heavily in front of Vernon with a weighty thump, Vernon looked down at it only to feel a slither of dread emerge, but it was overshadowed by a sudden powerful longing.
"Petunia… Dudley…" Vernon mumbled running his hand across their names written in neat marker across the bug out bags in clear sight.
"It would seem that you have been ready to cut and run for a while Vernon, so how about we try again hmm?" Harry proposed turning his head an unsettling 90 degrees.
"… we have talked about it… me and Pet, we knew that one-day things would reach a breaking point. How could they not? No matter what we did you seemed to endure, and your freakish nature would not be curbed." Vernon spoke his focus still solely on the names of his family, so much so he didn't even seem to notice the slip of his tongue.
"So, you did have a plan then?" Harry prosed merrily.
"…No… or at least nothing concrete. All we knew was that we one day… one day we would have to do something." Vernon answered looking up finally, he found Harry resting his head in his hands, a feat that made his neck droop low.
"Explain the bags then?"
"Petunia, she was always more aware than I, she grew up with one foot in your world and it taught her some lessons," Vernon exclaimed gesturing between himself and the bugout bags.
"Hmm, so you were unaware of their existence… but that does not answer my original question then Vernon."
"We didn't kill you because we were afraid of what your kind would do to us in revenge that's as complicated as it gets bra-… I don't know what else to tell you." Vernon explained only pausing at one point to settle his nerves as he very nearly got himself into a world of trouble.
"… But mistreatment was fine, your logic seems flawed." Harry pried his confusion beginning to leak into frustration.
"Like I said it was necessary to control your magic."
"But you already stated that you couldn't 'curb my freakish nature' so that's simply not true is it."
"It doesn't matter we always suspected that one day we would have to flee your kind."
"Yes, but by your logic, the possibility of retribution for your actions would not have changed so what difference would it make in the grand scheme of you killing me!" Harry argued as a flash of lightning speared light into the room.
Vernon was silent after that, his cheeks puffed up and he felt the urge to rage and bluster but a single look at the monster, the abomination that had killed him so brutally and the unearthly rage that burned in its eyes halted any thoughts of exploding. Harry was not as restrained and once more his eyes burned with a furious rage and the many Deaths around him cowered in fear as his magic, invisible to Vernon, lashed around him just waiting to cut loose and splatter the man. What made this time different was the fact that the old king was not calming Harry but seemed to have leant forward in his old throne and be making his displeasure clear via the brandishing of his short sword. The small skeleton let out a harsh breath that sounded like sandpaper over wood as he pointed the blade at the rotund man.
"I agree… you're lying." Harry accused viciously, rising out of his seat his tall form looming over Vernon's.
"I'm not!" Vernon shouted back fretfully worming his way back all too aware of the salivating maws at his back.
"Then you're a bloody fool… you killed me today Vernon, quite slowly too, so why did you not strike earlier." Harry is getting down on all fours his head snaking forward like a lethal serpent, his words harsher than any venom.
"And what!? Just let them hurt my family, simply open the door say hello and watch them murder my loved ones!" Vernon argued back curling up under the kitchen bench as a couple of Deaths loomed over snarling softly at him, they too seemed warry of Harry's unrestrained rage.
"Then you lie," Harry spat his claws sinking into the floor violently.
"T-t-they have magic for that," Vernon rebutted grasping at straws.
"Well then I suppose that would be when you run away hmmm," Harry hissed raising a splayed hand before Vernon's face and taking a small amount of satisfaction in the man's noisy gulp.
"… They would catch us!" Vernon whimpered.
"You are avoiding the question."
"No, I'm-"
"Be honest!"
"I am!"
"Liar!" Harry bellowed and with a slash of his hand, the splayed fingers snapped closed like the teeth of a ferocious creature and Vernon curled up, closed his eyes, and waited for the surge of monsters to crash upon him.
But nothing came
Hesitantly Vernon opened a single eye and beheld no teeth, no claws, no sharp stabbing implements. So, he opened his other eye and still he saw no rushing hoard, no savage Death's eager to feast on him. Then he unfurled his form and saw that despite whatever wicked magic Harry had used to hold them at bay being removed, not a single one dared to rush forward.
"W-what?"
"Answer the question," Harry whispered his voice sinister and low, but his words clear and threatening.
"I-I don't know what you want me to say?" Vernon sobbed his hands shaking as he gazed at that haunting skull-like face.
"The truth Vernon… Why did you suffer me for all those years, why did you not just kill me when you realised that you had been duped, why is it that even after I hurt your son, your son!" Harry emphasised his words accusing and pricking at Vernon like barb wire, "why is it that you didn't do your little witch-burning then… why is it instead of that you branded me, beat me, starved me, isolated me… why is it Vernon that you chose to see me suffer in the end?" Harry laid his question the same way one might lay down a land mine.
Vernon trembled there, in his mind he was done for, the wall that was keeping him safe was gone and any answer he could hope to give this monster would in no way appease it. Looking into its burning eyes he saw nothing but hate, he saw savagery, he saw bloodlust. In its eyes, he saw his violent demise on repeat and worse, yet he saw a hell that he had yet to even begin to experience simmering like a shadow in the wake of his terror.
"I-I… I don't know," Vernon rasped.
"…"
"I-"
An audible rumble shook Vernon as Harry's head craned forward and stared at the bugout bags piled beneath him. In his eagerness to corner Vernon, he had crawled over them, but now they caught his attention as he looked at it from Vernon's perspective. Vernon stared in befuddlement as Harry used one of his long monstrous hands to pick a bag up and hold it before his face.
"Perhaps Vernon… you are not the one I should be asking." Harry drawled his disembodied voice laced with a terrible degree of foreshadowing as he turned his baleful gaze back and showed the man the bag he was holding.
Vernon's eyes shot wide open as he beheld his wife's name scribed on the side of the bag, and felt all fear flee his body in a violent rush.
"No!"
Vernon roared his defiance and flung his body forward at Harry hoping to tear his bony head off that long snake-like neck. But the instant Vernon got close enough to lay his hands on him Harry struck with unnatural speed and pinned Vernon beneath one of his large, razor-sharp claws. Vernon was confused, he was dead, bereft of body… but he hurt, the claw slashed at him and burned as it dug into himself. Vernon screamed and writhed as Harry silently pressed his slashing hand into his centre, trapping the man beneath his might.
"If you wish to spare them my inquiry then answer my question Vernon… last chance," Harry warned violently pushing his clawed hand against the writhing man's self, his splayed fingers cutting like knives as he writhed.
"Arghhh!... Fine! You want the truth! I needed it, needed you to suffer!" Vernon hollered in his face as the pain became too much.
"…explain," Harry urged relinquishing some of the pressure on Vernon's chest. Vernon winced as the weight disappeared, but the slashing burn lingered, yet he was still quick to keep talking.
"You- you were an actual nightmare to us, an amalgamation of everything wrong." Vernon began to explain, doing nothing to hide the venom in his voice but past the point of caring as he felt only hate for the thing that threatened his family.
"I looked at you and saw the death of any sense of normalcy, you ruined everything! We were happy! We had a child! And then… you!" Vernon continued his verbal assault to Harry's unflinching face.
"You took it all! We couldn't have friends over, couldn't travel, couldn't go out! Do you know the changes we have had to make, the friendships we have sacrificed!" Vernon continued to rant, Harry at this point was somewhat impressed at the man's rage, to think he had so much saved up that his actual soul would be stained with the stuff.
"You… you took our happiness!" Vernon screamed, not roared, not shouted but screamed with all his pent-up hate, all the stress of having a magical child thrust upon him, all the pain of having his family burdened by what should never have been their cross to bear.
"… So?"
"So… so I made you suffer a fraction of the pain you caused us, you think you were isolated ha! For years everyone thought you were one of our adulterous bastards, that took years to rectify! Then there was the fact that we became known as antisocial weirdos, couldn't have people seeing your freakishness now, could we! Our whole life became flawed, slurred, painted over with the simple fact that we were no longer the Dursley family… we were the Dursleys and that weird little mystery child." Vernon finished his tirade in a single breath, taking full advantage of the fact that he was not constricted by the need to breathe. Harry remained still even after Vernon finished, just digesting everything Vernon had just told him. After a brief pause Harry, without removing his claw from Vernon's chest posed a query.
"So, you hate me?"
Vernon snarled at him before he spat his response out, "yes."
"Did it feel good to punish me for ruining your life, Vernon?"
"It was without a doubt, the single act that kept me sane… knowing you suffered for all that you took from me, from us," Vernon growled his beady eyes quaking in his head, not from fear but unbridled fury.
"So… you spared me not for fear of a reprisal, but because in the end, you enjoyed your cruelty more than my removal," Harry summarized. A peal of buzzing laughter littered the air like white noise for a second before Harry spoke again, "thank you, Vernon, for your honesty." His piece said Harry rose back to his full height and turned to face the old king. But he did not approach his chair, he merely bowed at the waist and extended an upturned hand towards the skeletal being.
"Old king… I wish I had a name to refer to you by, but for now, know this... you have my gratitude for in truth I know not what makes you special but this day your council has helped me gain… perspective." Harry finished his hand still outstretched as his body maintained a stiff, even bow.
Slowly a hand wrapped around three of his fingers and pulled on Harry's hand lightly, asking for him to come closer. With eagerness, Harry took half a step closer to the gentle being who still held his hand in his. Slowly the old king pressed his head onto the back of Harry's fingers his crown shifting across the bone as he displayed his appreciation. Harry was befuddled until the old king communicated in a voice of a hall filled with cheers and warm sun after a harsh winter. It spoke of pride, for it was the first king to hear the Heralds voice, to share council with him, he was but a lowly departed ruler, but it was he who heard the exalted messengers voice before any other king, mortal or otherwise.
Harry truthfully found this act quite endearing, to think that this being who was both ruler and humble dead would treat him with such reverence. Harry felt the weight of his crown resting upon his brow, encircling the spikes he grew on this form like a halo or circlet. With gratitude in his soul, Harry brought his long arm around and gave the king a light embrace, cautious of his claws as he held the smaller being. The king was quick to return the act before he settled back on his throne comfortable, explaining he would stay until the Death's had finished with their last act.
His goodbye to the wise old ruler who had aided him finished, Harry turned his long bony neck around to gaze at Vernon who still laid upon the floor fear in his body by hate in his eyes. "… Welp… that's it, Vernon I am afraid it is time for me to depart."
"Good riddance! Take your freakish beasts with you." Vernon spat the tremble in his body seeming to rescind ever so slightly.
"My beasts, dear me Vernon, it seems you are operating under some very false pretences," Harry exclaimed jovially as he walked back over to the cupboard under the stairs his long neck slithering down to gaze at the floor in front of it.
"Wha-"
"Hush keep your mouth shut for a moment and I shall explain," Harry ordered in a distracted manner as he was in the process of closely examining the floor, once more in his head cursing the gaping holes in his education.
"You see Vernon the 'beasts' around you go by a few names from what I can discern, I believe to you the best fit would be 'Reapers' or perhaps just simply 'Deaths'," Harry explained as he laid one of his large hands flat on the floor and tried to Command his magic nonverbally as he didn't want to distract Vernon from the point.
"Now as I said you are sadly misguided, these fine scavengers are the things that feast upon the essence of death itself. Now you, a soul who has yet to take that next natural step after death and who remains on this mortal world… well you reek of the stuff," Harry explained glancing over his shoulder to see that Vernon had clammed up and the hate in his eyes had been replaced with a wariness. Whether that was because he understood Harry's explanation or the fact that many of the Deaths were starting to get rowdier as Harry explained things to Vernon was a point up for debate.
Harry turned back to the floor where his hand rested and gave up all pretence of trying to do what he was attempting the gentle way. "Anti-Fire!" Harry howled his Command with quite a bit of volume, startling Vernon and a few of the Deaths scattered about the room. "There that ought to do it… I hope," Harry mumbled to himself as he watched a sheen cover the floor and door of the cupboard as well as creep underneath it.
"Where was I?" Harry asked looking towards the old king. The smaller being seemed to chuckle on his throne before gesturing with his short sword towards Vernon and the surrounding scavengers. Harry let slip a light buzzing chuckle before he nodded to the old king in thanks and turned about to face Vernon.
"Now the reason I'm explaining this to you Vernon is I want you to understand what is about to happen with absolute clarity. See they are not my 'beasts', it would be far more accurate to say that they are your 'beasts', as in you… are theirs." Harry hissed with sadistic glee as he started walking to the door and all the deaths began to perk up realising that the only thing that had been holding them back from satisfying their hunger was about to depart.
"What! You bastard I answered your questions," Vernon roared at Harry's back, his voice filled with betrayal and fury. Harry for his part actually stopped, turned about, and marched back to Vernon with such speed the man tripped over his own feet trying to step back.
"Yes, you did, and I kept them from eating you while you did so, you're welcome. Now, Vernon, this is the part where you realise that I have no more questions for you, hence I needn't hold back these poor starving mouths." Harry snarled his magic shredding the carpet behind him as he no longer needed to keep his temper in check.
"But-"
"But nothing Vernon, you are dead, these are the things that see to the dead, they only halted in their duty so that I may see to mine."
"You can't do this!" Vernon blustered jabbing a pudgy finger up at Harry once again.
"Vernon… I already have." Harry spoke gesturing to the fact that many of the scavenging Death's had begun to slowly creep forward, wary perhaps of still inciting Harry's wrath.
"Please I-"
"Goodbye Vernon, enjoy whatever the afterlife holds for you… I have to go bid the rest of my family farewell." Harry sniped as he began walking back to the entry hall of the house the many Deaths quick to hop out of his way.
"NO!" Vernon bellowed inhumanly loud as he flung his body at Harry, ignoring the Deaths that nipped at him as he bolted by hoping to tackle the monstrously tall Harry to the floor. Instead, Vernon passed straight through him and slammed into the wall heavily, stunning him briefly. A buzzing noise filled the air, as Harry bent his long neck to look at the dazed man who was cradling his head.
"Vernon… did you forget that you're dead?" Harry asked highly amused by the idea. Vernon only looked utterly baffled shooting Harry a frustrated look.
"But you were able to grab me!"
"I am magic."
"…" Vernon could not for 'the life' of him formulate a response for that as language seemed to fall short of expressing his frustration and disgust at that statement. Harry could not even begin to hold in his laughter which permeated the air like the sound of an angry swarm.
Vernon seemed to recollect himself and barked up at Harry, "stay away from my family you bloody monster!"
"They are my family too you know, it's only fair that I say goodbye to them before I leave." Harry mocked shrugging his unnaturally long arms.
"Stay-"
"Vernon!" Harry roared violently cutting the man off his magic thrumming in the air as outside the storm that had been so silent exploded to life once more with piercing lightning, explosive thunder and howling gales.
"It's over… for you, and me." Harry ground out his burning eyes for the first time that night seeming to settle before Vernon, the hate and rage seeming to bleed out of them.
"What?"
"I'm done don't you get it… you killed me, you killed Harry Potter…" Harry expressed his view by grabbing his neck and letting his body go limp in a grim parody of his hanging.
"Then… then why don't these things eat you too!" Vernon snarled defiantly.
"Because… truthfully, I'm not Harry Potter anymore," Harry explained his posture straightening.
"…"
"Your confusion is to be expected… I'll explain it in a way you might be able to understand Vernon." Harry proclaimed taking a knee before the man and grasping his face with his long sharp claws making sure not to prick his hefty jowls.
"You killed a boy, a mere child, in a very violent fashion to boot… but you see, you also killed someone he cared very deeply about. So, when that boy changed, evolved, transformed into something else… a little bit of the boy naturally remained." Harry continued pulling Vernon's face close until he was but mere centimetres from Harrys own, their eyes level and Harry's glowing orbs casting an ominous green light over Vernon's features. "What remained Vernon was pain and hate."
"I am not that boy Vernon… I am something more, but you see the rage you infected that boy with, the hate you cultivated in him it remained. Tonight, I have taken that hate and bestowed it upon you and all those who slaughtered the boy." Harry snarled viscerally, but still, his eyes did not show hate, still, his claws did not inflict harm.
"I have tasted revenge and found it fair… so to those who killed the boy with violence and savagery, I have bestowed upon them a violent and savage death in equal measure. An act of fair revenge," Harry concluded releasing his grip on Vernon's face letting the man pull away.
"But this…" Vernon exclaimed gesturing to the many Deaths who were snapping at the air awaiting their chance to pounce, "how is this fair!" Vernon rebutted.
"Vernon as I have said, the price for killing the boy was death… but you didn't just kill the boy, did you?" Harry hissed his head twisting as it looked down on Vernon, at this point Vernon choked on whatever words were about to come from his mouth as the look of pure apathy in those eyes stunned him.
"Honestly you should be grateful that I have sated my appetite for revenge, because truthfully, I know I could go butcher Dudley, strangle Petunia and honestly hunt down the wizard who gave me to you lot as an infant, but you see… I am tired of having anything to do with you people." Harry explained, his voice laced with his feeling of utter apathy towards the idea of going on a murder spree. "After all there is a whole world out there… I better go see it before it disappears," Harry exclaimed glancing at the old king who saluted his idea with his blade.
"You should have killed the boy young Vernon… you let him grow… let his hate grow, well Vernon… reap what you have sown." Harry rose and strode out of the house, even as Vernon yelled for him to come back, begging for him to save him. Harry opened the door as the first of the scavengers pounced, listened as Vernon's begging, and pleading turned to agonised screams and exclamations. Harry without looking back closed the door and strode out to the street before he turned around to face his childhood home. Harry Potter's childhood home more accurately.
The raging storm and heavy rain blanketed all the noise from inside the house, Harry let the white noise wash over him happily. The duration of the storm had left large pools of water everywhere and even caused some gutters to overflow drenching the world around him. Harry let his head crane back, felt the water cascade against his face and run down his alien body. Bringing his head forward Harry gazed at number four Private Drive not with his sight but with his magic. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw them, the wards that Vernon had talked about before. They were practically non-existent, whatever their original purpose had been they had been moulded into something too abstract, too different to retain any of their former glory. Harry saw that the magic in them still desired to protect but the 'what' that it was supposed to protect was utterly warped beyond repair.
"Shame… I bet they were pretty once." Harry muttered as he gazed upon them, truthfully, he wanted to touch them, but they looked so delicate, so fragile that he decided against it. After all, he needed them for what he was going to do next, as when he was inspecting said wards, he saw the obvious tether that surrounded the wards and faded off in the distance.
"Well… time to send a message," Harry remarked excitedly as he took two steps back and let his magic swirl about him wildly, let it surge into the sky and deep into the ground. It swirled about him catching the rain and scooping up water as it pulled and intertwined with the ambient magic of the Earth, twisting, and manipulating it in time with Harry's will. As all the magic enveloped Harry he began to go through the old familiar steps, he had taught himself back when he was still but a poor lonely child.
Harry breathed, matching his pace to the rhythm of the storm, an easy feat as his choir were happy to aid him in keeping time with the swirling wrath of the heavens above, their eager symphony building in volume as he gathered power.
Harry let the word buzz about his mind, let all the concept of it emerge in all its glory as he could practically taste it. He could hear the word in his head, hear the word projected as a Command that his magic would eagerly obey.
He pictured the Command devastating his target, pictured its glorious formation and its beautiful conclusion… what happened between then was up to magic.
His preparation complete Harry reached out with his right hand and plunged it into the maelstrom of raw power that surrounded him, in an instant he felt his magic channel itself and the wild magic about him into his clawed grasp. The water turned to steam, wind-blasted about him, and lightning above launched into his grasping claw as nature was pulled along by the motions of Harry's magic.
With a lightning bolt dancing in his grasp, Harry found it surprisingly difficult to focus, at least until he reminded himself that this much power was nothing to his lords. He had seen better, and he would not let this meagre level of success impress him to the point of distraction.
Harry now focused solely on the Command he had prepared let the lightning dance between his fingers as turned his mind to what he wanted.
What he desired.
Wrenching his arm back Harry let the wrath of the storm swirl in his clawed hand and bubble with the ominous destructive intent he had bestowed upon the magic he wielded. The familiar Command did not bubble its usual bloody red colour, this time it shone with a baleful white that matched the crown of starlight he wore on his head. In his excitement, Harry let out a piercing shriek akin to what one would expect from only the greatest of raptors. In a violent gesture, Harry swung his hand down and directed his magic as he roared his Command with a degree of reverence.
"Rend!"
The Command launched from his clawed hand and crashed into the top of the building that had long been the personal hell of one Harry Potter, the moment it made contact it didn't just rip the roof apart. It obliterated the entire second floor. Lightning danced around the house devastating the driveway, the lawn, the garden, and anything else unfortunate enough to exist there. Thunder so loud it practically was an attack onto itself exploded around Harry and destroyed countless windows about the entire street, car alarms were set off, but their noise was lost in the roar of the thunder. Only after the second floor of number four Private Drive finally began to rain down across the neighbourhood, did the lightning finally begin to subside, the flaming debris was quick to be doused by the torrential rain. Number four was not so lucky as it lit up like a bonfire as thee arcs of plasma eagerly set anything that remained ablaze with an almost malicious degree of thoroughness. The fire that said lightning spawned burned with a deep hunger that spread quick and burnt with intense heat.
Harry finally satisfied that there was nothing left for him here turned and began walking down the street his form still very much invisible to all as he walked the border between realms easily. As he continued to mosey away, a satisfied pep in his step, he felt something mysteriously catch on his foot. Looking down harry was befuddled to see a bit of the road seemed to be sticking to his leg, with a tug, his foot came loose easily enough but Harry was still perturbed by the strange phenomenon. Placing his leg back down, Harry noticed the earth seemed to move slightly as if trying to embrace his foot once again.
"Strange…" Harry muttered perplexed, unsure of the cause but deciding to ignore it for now as it really wasn't that big a deal and it just meant he had to walk a bit quicker. A fact which suited him just fine, after all, someone had to deliver the tragic news to his aunt… better that it come from family.
A.N.
Harry has concluded his revenge, he got his answer's, he got his payback and more importantly, he got to say goodbye to a major portion of his old life. The Herald will not be tied down by the actions of others committed against him in his first life. HAHA!
What a chapter, it's such a challenge to write Vernon honestly, I mean the guy is a child abuser in official canon for fucks sake. Makes writing him frustrating sometimes but maybe that's just me… meh anyway dear readers I hope you all enjoyed it and that this particular chapter answered a few questions. Maybe, it made some new ones, eh?
What a chapter though this one got away from me at over 11, 000 words… yikes, I really need to get a better handle over my self-control it makes editing easier when there is so much less to go over.
Now for my favourite part… COMMENTS!
I love it when you guys leave these awesome comments, they are great so let's go through them.
Ngaothien7531- Thanks for the comment, just one thing I don't think I have ever hinted at anything to do with Hermione yet, even less so with relationships… she will be in the fic though this I can promise you with ease, so, by all means, stick around to find out how she will interact with the Herald.
bigbodybot- You're a dangerous one, a sweet talker indeed, I have to say though that I'm glad that you were able to take that away from my writing as I wanted to try and emphasise the fact that one doesn't need to be magical or have a damn prophecy to be evil. Evil happens every day for hundreds of reasons… sadly it may be a bit too common.
SentinalSlice- Now you… youuuuuu, I may need to make my writing vaguer as I feel you will definitely enjoy future chapters, but I will say this right now just in case anyone reads your comment and is curious.
- Spell appearance can be affected by a multitude of factors and even more so for the Heralds Commands.
- Commands are in fact for the majority more powerful than wizard magic… but there are exceptions, and this will be covered in more depth later on in the fic.
- The High Acolytes communicating with Commands is amusingly enough a lot like Dova and their Thu'um I hadn't considered that but then I haven't touched Skyrim in a while… we pray for elder scrolls six in this household.
- Other magical beings… stick around and find out
- Magic power being increased… stick around and find out, but yes battle magic for wizards will be enhanced or at least explored more.
- Harry is not going to be just a Gary Sue, Superman, invincible behemoth, nope, that ain't gonna happen, let's just say there are beings on earth who could happily stomp him… and people not on earth who would absolutely krump him.
I'll wrap up here lovely readers as I require sustenance, your comments are all awesome and I read everyone please feel free to keep the comments coming and they don't just have to be reviews, I like the conversational ones as well, hehe.
Thank you for all the support, together I hope we can make this a long successful fic, so thank you.
And as always!
Until next time.