Harry Potter: Switching to the Other Side
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and Raincoast Books, and Warner Brothers Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to Harry Potter.
Summary: After the events of Harry's fifth year and the tragic loss of Sirius, he realizes that its time to step up and take control in order to reorganize his life. An unexpected event forces him to lead a different lifestyle, one that he never believed could happen to even the "Boy-Who-Lived."
Chapter One: Summertime in Surrey
It was the beginning of June and the neighborhood of Little Whinging was engulfed in an unhealthy heat wave. The lawns of the nearly identical square houses on Privet Drive and the various other streets provided evidence of the current weather, as they visibly appeared with yellow blades of grass and sun scorched patches. The normally active and noisy streets were currently void of all people; parents and children either remained indoors depending on air-conditioning and fans to ride out the heat, or vacationed to more cooler and promising locations.
Only one person in the neighborhood did not have this luxury that everybody else overlooked and took for granted. This person is known as Harry James Potter, a skinny, bespectacled, fifteen-year-old boy, with shiny raven-colored hair that stuck out in every which possible angle. A boy that was and is still treated as an outcast, since almost all the residents believed he attended St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, and his wardrobe of castoff clothes that were oversized and torn (compliments of his "loving family") helped reinforce that image perfectly. If one were took seek the boy out, they would find him inside the residence of #4 Privet Drive, in the room that would probably always be referred to as "Dudley's second bedroom."
To make matters even worse his Uncle Vernon decided that after last year's intense summer heat, that he would spend the Christmas bonus he received as a director from his job at the drill company Grunnings, and spring for air-conditioning for the whole house. Of course Harry was not even surprised when they arrived home from the trip back from King's Cross and saw the numerous cooling units throughout the household, and the apparent absence of one in his room. He chalked this up as payback due to the fake All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition that coaxed the Dursleys out of the house, and allowed for the members of the Order of the Phoenix to get him out of there in a secure and quiet fashion. He chuckled after thinking this, and reminded himself to congratulate and thank the young Auror Nymphadora Tonks for her brilliant scheme the next time he saw her.
That was probably the only amusing thought that passed through his mind, for while he was unpacking the few things he could call his own he came across the small, square mirror that Sirius gave him. 'If only I was smart enough to unwrap the blasted thing and use it maybe Sirius would still be alive today…' was his thought as he wiped away at the tears that started trickling down his cheeks. He then closed his trunk and fell onto his bed, where he then cried himself to sleep while still wearing his clothes and not even attempting to clear his mind with Occlumency.
It was just before dawn when Harry awoke sharply and realized he was covered in sweat and his heart was racing, and he slowly remembered that his nightmare was the reliving of that cursed night at the Department of Mysteries. He shut his eyes tightly, and in his mind he could visualize the image of Sirius's shocked face and curved body disappearing into the veil, and the brief flutter the veil made before returning to its normal state, and he knew that this would always be permanently burned in his memories. He also recalled the images and feelings during his duel with Bellatrix LeStrange, and Dumbledore's battle with Voldemort, and then a part of the prophecy took over his thoughts; "…And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"
Shaking his mind of these thoughts while getting out of bed, he quickly showered and got dressed, and decided that he should go cook and eat his breakfast as fast as he could so he would not have to spend a second in the presence of his relatives. After washing, drying, and putting the things he used to make breakfast back in their original place, he quickly made his way towards his room, and just as he plopped back down on his bed he heard them waking up. Since being used to living with them after so many years, it was almost impossible not to hear them with all the noise their routine movements made (especially Vernon and Dudley). 'At least I'm not locked up in cupboard like I used to be…' his thinking leading him every which way, 'ah yes, Dumbledore…what was it he said?'…"I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed." After thinking this, Harry was more than upset and wanted to break something, anything, and he clenched his fists trying to control his emotions while his thoughts ran amok. 'My happiness, oh yeah, ten years in a cupboard, never being loved, no friends, treated like a house-elf, that makes a person feel so special!…peace of mind! When the hell has my mind been peaceful over the last few years!…Voldemort trying to do me in year after year, the Ministry trying to have me expelled or arrested, newspapers calling me insane, an attention seeking brat…he knew I would eventually come face to face with Voldemort…no training whatsoever, great job…' And that's when it him, like a slap in the face he realized he has to kill Voldemort, or there is no possible way in having a decent future.
Lying on his back and staring at the various cracks and spots where chunks of plaster had come loose, he reflected on past conversations he had with Dumbledore trying to discover any hints or clues that he might of overlooked. He hit upon one significant revelation. "I never dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands." Harry's eyes widened after remembering Dumbledore saying this that night in his office. 'Holy shit…that's how it is, he's never just looked at me and considered for a single moment that I'm a human being, that I ever could be "just Harry," that I too have feelings, that being alone and unloved for ten fucking years wouldn't of messed me up emotionally and physically…I'm not some built up hero or icon!…Merlin! That's that huh? I'm just some tool that's only good enough to be brought out when it's time to kill the big, bad, evil, Dark Lord, and until it's time for that, just put me in the cupboard till then…I do have to give him some credit though…manipulated me like a pawn with half-truths, and tested me to see if I could hack saving the day…Bravo! Good show old man…very good show…but I think it's time for me to pull a couple of moves myself…if I'm destined to be a tool so be it, but I'll definitely be doing things my own god damn way…oh Sirius, I can't believe how things got so screwed up!…the old man pulled the same exact shit on you too…locked you up in your house, even after serving twelve years in Azkaban for crimes you didn't even commit…well, there's definitely only one thing to do now…Voldemort…oh he's going to wish he never fucked with me, he's killed my parents, you, Cedric, and so many others!…oh yes, even if I die I'll still take the bastard down with me!…there's others too, Bellatrix and Wormtail…I'll get them…'
