Harry Potter's parents survived that terrible night. However his brother became the boy who lived and he lived in the shadows. When Voldemort comes after him at the end of his sixth year instead of his brother what will he do? Will he help those who scorned him or stay true to the light and right? Warning, mention of abuse of a child.
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The Best Revenge:
As long as Harry Potter could remember he had been hated by his father and if not for the personal house elf assigned to him shortly after his brother was declared the boy who lived his life would have been hell. As his father and mother did not want him to take away from the fame of their "precious son" he was turned over to an old but wise elf named Muffy. She was tasked to protect and take care of him and that is what she did, more so after Harry was savagely beaten by one who should have taken care of him, his own father. All because at the tender age of three had had shown magic!
Muffy had taken her master's orders in keeping Harry safe by moving him from the nursery in the manor house that James had bought and made Potter manor to a cozy room of his own. Marcus Charlus was the only one who missed Harry but Harry was happy enough with the arrangement. If it meant he did not see his father all the better, and he knew that was wrong to thing that way but he was scared he would be beat again! His room was not large but not small either, he had a four poster bed with curtains hung in a rich deep green with matching curtains, a rag rug in greens, blues and purples. A quilt on the bed from his godfather Sirius Black was blue with a large red dragon on it bordered in green and Harry loved it.
From the age of three he had taken his meals in the kitchens as his parents did not want him at the table. They would have starved him if not for the charm that Muffy put on him to at least make sure he was fed. It was as if he was not a member of his family at all, well accept for Marcus who treated him as decent as he dared. He was a bit scared of his father as well as his life was not easy even if he was the boy who lived. From the time he was toilet trained he was trained to be the knight that everyone needed. Harry was recruited only to be a foil for his brother but even he enjoyed this time with his brother's tutors, until the day his father wanted him to dress as a death eater.
"You will wear this if you know what is good for you!" James shouted at the little boy.
"I would rather die than wear that!" Harry shouted back, "I will kill myself I will, I will, I will!"
"Why you ungrateful little shit, after all I do for you…"
"Maybe it would be best to not make him, if he does not wish to dress as a death eater their might be hope after all for him." Lily said coldly, "besides we might need him later, if something happens to Marcus."
"Fine, but do not think we are finished boy!" James snarled.
They were, Muffy saw to that he forgot about beating Harry, she was Harry's now and would protect her little master no matter what. This went on even in school, Marcus was no dummy and did very well in his muggle school but Harry was just a bit smarter and proved it time and time again, at school that is. His advanced class grades were charmed to show he was average in the same classes as Marcus, not top of the advanced classes. Marcus might not like him much but even he did not say a word to their parents. His father might not know but he had seen Harry beaten and did not want him hurt like that again. He was a stuck up, selfish boy but in that he did not want anyone hurt like that. Not even Voldemort and that was saying something!
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Harry should have been angry but he could not be anything but pleased. When he had headed to primary school he had been told he would go as Harry Evans not Potter so not to take away from his "perfect" brother. Now the letter to Hogwarts sent to him showed Harry Evans and he was quite pleased with that. He was now an average height thin eleven year old boy with long black hair that came to his shoulders that he tied back (one more way to not look a Potter) clear contacts to show off his green eyes and keep him from looking like his father and carefully mended clothing handed down from his brother. His brother was taller and a bit stocker so the handed down clothing could last him a year or more and was high quality. Any flaws Muffy fixed for him so he did not look bad at all.
He knew that soon he would be headed to Hogwarts and would meet up with Neville Longbottom, his only friend aside from Luna Lovegood, a strange but smart girl who would go to Hogwarts next year. He had a secret too, his parents had left him with a small trust vault of 100,000 galleons and he had transferred all that money to a new vault under the Evans name a year prior. He knew that sooner or later he would be disowned and had to take what he could before that happened. It was why Muffy had helped find two trunks, one was his grandmothers and could shrink and be put in a satchel sent to Marcus who had no need for yet another bottomless satchel. The other was his mother's and here he nearly shouted with joy for what he found inside.
"Master Harry what have you found?" Muffy asked walking up to the trunk.
"All the books I need, and look at this telescope and oh a cauldron and vials and cloaks I can use too!" Harry said happily, "I don't need to buy any books, unless I take muggle studies or Divinization! That and the wand I found, seems dear father and mother did not make sure all the wands were hidden in the Potter vault."
"Master Potter is coming," Muffy said snapping her fingers to hide the trunks and books.
"There you are, we are going to the Alley, you will stay here." James said coldly, "you can get your things later boy."
"Yes sir." Harry replied.
"Good, if you get into any trouble so help me I will kill you." James snarled.
"Yes sir." Harry said not afraid of death at all so the threat was no threat to him, "I will be good sir."
"See that you are."
With that James left and Harry was able to organize his grandmothers three compartment trunk with all his things. A few days later he was able to go to Diagon alley himself and get his school uniforms and the few things he did not have. He spent the last month at Potter manor reading his textbooks, Hogwarts a History, Household Charms for the Beginner and Basic Defense. Harry read through these and by the time he was to head to Hogwarts he was more than ready. He was surprised at the train station to get a letter shoved at him by his father with his mother glaring at him as if he were something dirty.
"Take that, your schooling is paid for but that is it." James said coldly, "the letter will explain everything."
"Yes sir." Harry said knowing what it contained.
"Leave, Marcus needs us." Lily snapped.
"Yes ma'am." Harry replied.
He got on the train, found the compartment Neville was in and after scooping up his toad and handing him back waited for the train to move before he read the letter. It was as he had thought, he was disowned, disinherited and no longer a Potter, as if he had been before. What was good though was that Augusta Longbottom now was his legal guardian and would be until he turned seventeen. He should have been unhappy but really she had taken better care of him than his parents and he felt happy and sad at that same time, sad his parents hated him and did not want him but happy someone did.
"Well I no longer am a Potter thank Merlin." Harry said, "been disowned but your gran, well gran wants me, she is my legal guardian now."
"That is great, we can be brothers!" Neville said grinning, "I always wanted a brother!"
"This means my, James Potter cannot threaten me or, well, you know." Harry said not wanting to say that he was beaten at times, though Neville knew he was, "I have Hogwarts then the world!"
"With me there with you brother." Neville said.
"Are you brothers?" A bushy haired girl asked at the door way, "you don't look alike.
"Well we are now, I am Neville Longbottom, this is my brother Harry." Neville said, "who are you?"
"Hermione Granger, can I sit here?" She asked.
"Sure, and celebrate my new brother and family, his parents were horrible, disowned him for not being Marcus Potter." Neville said being bold for the first time in his life, "too bad they did…"
"So you were the brother of Marcus Potter." Hermione said, "was he mean to you?"
"No, just James and Lily, he was decent as he could be, I hate what I must do, but I am going to destroy James and Lily for what they did." Harry said, "you will see in a week what I do to them!"
"I will help." Neville said.
"Are there child services in the magical world?" Hermione asked.
"Yes there is."
"Then you should contact them, even if they did not abuse you they did abandon you and that can't be legal!" Hermione said.
"Hermione I believe this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Harry said grinning.
The new friends talked all the way to school learning a lot about each other. Hermione was a very smart girl who had never had friends and was thrilled to have friends now. What sealed the friendship even more was when they were sorted. Harry was first of the three and ended up in Hufflepuff, then Hermione and Neville who all ended up in Hufflepuff with Harry. A few days later Harry's revenge came through, the Daily Prophet splashed the headline: Abusive Potters Disown Younger Son, Is The Boy Who Lived Safe With His Parents? Though no trial was called for of the Potters they were in disgrace for what they had done to him.
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Five years passed, and Harry and his friends flourished, they got the best grades in the school and made many friends. Harry was still marked by his time being abused by his own parents but his friends helped him through the worst of the flashbacks. He had little to do with Marcus who was not happy to have his parents disgraced though he knew deep down they deserved it. Still Harry was no friend of his, or those in his tight very small circle of friends. Now while Harry had a quiet peaceful five years of school Marcus most certainly had not.
First year Quirrell had turned out to be a servant of Voldemort fully and tried to steal the Philosopher's stone and tried to kill Marcus. The next year had been a tough one as Ginny Weasley had been in need of rescue and that was the only year that Harry had to save anyone, he was a Parselmouth and only his truest friends were in on that little secret. His brother had nearly been blamed for the attacks that year and only Harry saving Ginny Weasley proved the truth. Third year Pettigrew had escaped from Azkaban but had not got far before he had found Barty Crouch Jr. hidden with his father and had gone to help raise a dark lord. Marcus had been entered into the Triwizard tournament and on taking the cup himself had disappeared only to come back an hour later with a very dead Pettigrew and tales that Voldemort was back.
Harry had not believed him and refused to have anything to do with him at all the next year. Harry ended up as a prefect, while Marcus was forced to carve bloody lines into his hand by the evil hag Umbridge. It was only Marcus heading to the ministry and trying to "save" Sirius, finding out it was a trap and showing Voldemort was back that everyone found out the truth. Harry was at the ministry and for some reason Voldemort was not attacking his brother. No the evil dark lord had turned on Harry and shot the killing curse at him. It had struck and something happened, the curse connected to Harry who's shield just could not stop such a curse and both the dark lord and Harry fell to the floor. Harry got up first with the knowledge that it was he, not Marcus who was the true boy who lived.
"That bloody well hurt!" Harry snapped.
"Wait, you survived, but how?" Marcus stammered.
"Seems Marcus I am the one who survived, or we both did." Harry said, "though I doubt you want to find out if that is true. Damn if that is the case the prophecy is about me."
"What does it say?" Marcus said, "I have not been told it."
"Not a clue." Harry said, "I only know the part that says the one who is born at the end of the seventh month with defeat the dark lord. Or something like that."
"He is back!" Came shouts as Voldemort rose, "stop him!"
Voldemort Apparated out as the coward he was leaving but the damage was done, every paper would state that Harry was the boy who lived not Marcus. If the Potters had thought to get Harry back they were sorely mistaken as they found out the next day when lady Longbottom faced the Potters who had come to Hogwarts to get "their" son back. Rita Skeeter was there as well and she was going to fully ruin them and the headmaster who allowed this farce to continue on for so long. Harry was the real boy who lived, not Marcus, and now all focus was on the quiet Hufflepuff boy who did not want this kind of exposure at all.
"Why are you here Potter?" Harry said coldly as his former father came into the room.
"You are coming home with us." James said, "you need to be trained."
"You are not my father, nor my family." Harry said coldly, "leave me alone, once you get me alone what will you do, beat me again? Try to starve me? Nice try Potter, I do not need you or your wife."
"You are our son!" Lily said.
"No, you disowned and disinherited me, that is what!" Harry snapped. "I am now part of the house Longbottom, not house Potter!"
"How dare you, you ungrateful little shit!" James snarled moving to grab him, "I will teach you!"
"Touch him and I will kill you." Severus said stepping forward anger in his eyes, "you should never have made me swear to protect your boys Potter, I will do so with my last breath, not just Harry but Marcus too!"
"As will I." McGonagall said stepping to stand by Severus.
"Add me in, should not call children such names, not nice." Hagrid said stepping up.
"Count me in." Sprout said.
"And me!" Flitwick squeaked.
"I believe you have overstayed your welcome." Dumbledore said looking at the Potters in a way he never had before, one of anger and disgust, "Marcus stays until the investigation of you is over, one thing I will not abide is a child abuser, and if you harmed either of these children I will see you pay."
To say Harry was stunned would not do it justice, he had always thought Dumbledore knew about the abuse and condoned it. That he was glad Harry was no longer a Potter and not around his former brother. Clearly that was not the case, though Harry was not about to trust the man anytime soon as it was. The Potters looked shocked and James actually backed down, what was more with orders from Dumbledore Filch happily showed them out of the school, without their remaining son.
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The beginning of sixth year came at the end of a eventful summer. Things did not go as Voldemort had hoped, most of his followers were killed instead of just thrown in Azkaban, the ministry was over turned and reformed under Amada Bones and with Severus Snape inventing a cure for Lycanthropy he had very few Werewolves on his side. The Dementors could be destroyed, a fact the ministry had tried to keep secret and so they were on the run as well. Giants were easily killed with simple muggle weapons and so he had very few followers.
This was why he was at Hogwarts now on Marcus's summons to fight him. This was not Marcus's intent, to fight Voldemort, no he needed to get him to the school so that Harry could finish him off, or so Marcus hoped Harry would. What if he turned to Voldemort and joined him? After all he had every right to after what had been done to him. However Harry did not think that way, sure he was abused by those who should have loved him, and he was thrown out of his family but he was not evil. Nor was he dark, he was light and good and refused to give into evil or darkness as he was going to prove he was good, that he could and would do the right thing.
"Ah so there you are Harry." Voldemort said.
"The answer is no." Harry said, "I know what you will say, and yes I was abused, yes I was hated by my own parents, like you. However I found a new family, which you should have done as well. I have but one thing to say to you."
"What is that?" Voldemort said.
"Go to hell." Harry said.
The sound of a boom could be heard and at first Voldemort did not notice anything but a strange burning sensation in his chest. He looked down and put a hand on his chest and was shocked when it came away soaked in blood. He saw the strange muggle device in Harry's hand, and this was the last thing he saw as a bullet slammed into his head killing him at once. He fell to the floor dead and that was the end of Voldemort. What happened to Harry? He became an oncologist in the muggle world, married Susan Bones and lived happily ever after. Something his birth parents never could be happy about. Sometimes as Harry was often found saying, living well is the best revenge.
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So yes, in this despite how badly he was treated Harry refused to be evil or become evil. He does get his revenge in the end and it is true, living well can be the best revenge against those who wrong you. It can burn them up after all!