Content Warning: Implied child abuse

On a playground, a small child was cornered by seven larger and older children. The isolated corner was out of the sight of the teachers, and they all knew it.

"So, freak, what game do you want to play today?" asked the largest of the kids. "There's always Harry Hunting, but I'm sure we could make up a new game if you wanted," he said with a laugh. Stomping over, he reached down to pick up his cousin. Before he could, though, Harry shot to his feet and threw a punch into Dudley's gut. There was a moment of dead silence.

This silence was soon followed by laughter as Dudley shoved Harry back to the ground. "You call that a punch? Ha, I didn't even feel that!" Dudley said, launching a kick into Harry's left side.

Probably because you've got so much fat there, Harry thought, more to avoid thinking about the pain than anything else. With a sudden crack, Harry shouted as he felt the bones in his wrist snap under the massive weight of his cousin. With quick looks of panic, the older kids turned and ran, with Dudley shouting "Just wait 'til after school, Potter, this ain't over!" as he ran. Harry slowly sat up and cradled his arm as he leaned against the wall of the school. He leaned back and stared at the sky with tears falling down his cheeks.

Had Harry been looking, he would have seen a soft green glow covering his wrist, writhing up and down his entire forearm in twisting ropes. Then, the twisting cords of light snapped straight and Harry gasped. Looking down now, his hand was no longer hanging at a strange angle, and the remaining pain was simply a dull ache rather than the previous throbbing. He slowly flexed his hand, feeling as even the ache slowly faded.

The bell rang, and Harry stood and ran back to the school.

Dudley crashed through the front door of Number 4 Privet Drive and slammed the door behind him just as Harry was crossing the threshold. Running into the living room, he found his mother and began sobbing loudly. "Mo-o-om, Harry beat me on the quiz today in math," he choked out between his tears.

"FREAK!" Petunia screeched as Harry walked into the room. "Who did you cheat off of today, boy? We all know you're not smart enough to do this on your own. On Monday, you're going to admit it to your teacher, you hear me? And I expect your uncle will want to have words with you when he gets back from work. Go to your room, NOW!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said. He shut the cupboard door behind him, curled into a ball in the darkest corner of the room, and began to sob quietly.

That weekend was the worst of Harry's short life. He had been trapped in his cupboard from Friday afternoon until Saturday night, only being let out once by his aunt to use the loo. At almost midnight on Saturday, his uncle stomped to the cupboard, wrenched the door open, and yanked Harry out by one leg. The smell of alcohol was overwhelming as he dragged Harry into the kitchen.

"Boy, we have made so many sacrifices for you. Your damn parents went and got themselves killed, and we took you in out of the kindness of our own hearts. We could've dropped you at an orphanage, or even on the side of the highway somewhere, but we let you stay. We've kept a roof over your head, fed you, and done our best to raise you right. Then I hear that you cheated at school. Well, boy, I've had enough. It's clear that your parents influenced you more than we could have expected, and now I've got to deal with you. I have had ENOUGH!" Vernon Dursley raised his fist.

Later that night, Harry laid on his mattress, unable to move. He was covered in bruises, and could barely muster the energy to pull his tattered blanket over his legs. Falling back, he stared up at the ceiling. Why does this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this? he thought. He closed his eyes. With his entire being, the boy had one wish. I don't want them to be able to hurt me anymore. I want to be strong. But nobody will help me… I need to be strong on my own. I won't let them break me!

With a flash of green, the boy's partially bound magic got to work on making his desires a reality. Unknown to Harry, his magic's inability to drain into the earth was causing it to build up within his body. While it was a slow build up, with small bits of magic such as growing hair and healing injuries doing their part to drain it, eventually his core would fill to a critical point. This would cause Harry's core to, quite literally, explode from the excess pressure within it.

A normal witch or wizard had a single magical channel down each limb and one to their head. Over time, the channel in their wand arm would expand, allowing for the use of more magic in a short amount of time. Harry's magic decided that, in order to fulfill its master's command, there needed to be channels to every location in his body. The five main channels expanded, and smaller channels went to the tips of his fingers, coated his skin, and even permeated his eyes and teeth.

Harry gasped as he saw green light fill the room and felt warmth expand through his entire body. His bruises faded, and fractures in his bones, both new and old, mended themselves. Torn muscles flowed back together and strengthened. After several minutes, the glow faded, and Harry was able to relax. With a contented sigh, he sank back into the thin mattress and let his eyes close.

As the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed midnight, Harry Potter turned six.

Author's Note: Updates will be sporadic and since I'm moving into finals week. Afterwords, it should pick up a bit during winter break. As always, reviews are welcome. Hope you're enjoying Unbreakable so far!