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The Ruins of House Potter

Chapter 3 – A Disciplined Life

By Jamnaz79

Notice: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not claim to own it or wish to make any money off of it. I am merely using the characters to write some hopefully enjoyable stories. All rights belong to the sacred lady, may she grace us with future stories someday.

The voice of the woman dragged Harry's attention upwards. His emerald gaze looked up and met the gaze of the woman. When that happened Petunia let out a gasp. "Her eyes… Vernon, he has her eyes…"

Vernon looked from the little boy to his wife. He could see the loss and pain on her face but the eyes of the woman were filled with something else. He might dare to call it love, love for the lost sister and friend she once had. He knew for certain that moment that the boy would be staying. He let out a sigh before looking back at the boy. He studied the little thing and figured if this was to be done it would be done properly. Discipline, hard work and determination would be what they would need to keep the freakishness away. He would teach the boy to value hard work and discipline. The boy would be raised in a military lifestyle. The decision made in his mind he spoke firmly to the boy, "Alright boy, you will be living here for now on. Here are the ground rules…"

~~~RoHP ~~~

Six year old Harry Potter stood before the gates to the boarding school. His Aunt , Uncle and younger cousin just behind him. It was a military school that the Evans family had attended previously named Langston Academy. The school had been around for over three hundred years. For young Harry it was the first time away from his new home.

The boy had been raised with a strict disciplined approach. He was taught to take care of himself right away since his Uncle worked hard every day and his Aunt had to take care of little Dudley. Harry was taught to do his own chores and clean his own room. He was expected to be disciplined and determined, to consider every action he would take. The young man lived by the Dursley set of rules.

The rules were very simple. A Dursley is self-reliant. A Dursley is determined to get what they want. A Dursley will always be upstanding in public. The family must be loyal, disciple and accept punishment for failure. Harry was a bright young man and rarely ever had to receive corporal punishment from his Uncle. He worked hard at his chores, he learned everything that they would put before him. He was already far ahead on his numbers, letters, history and sciences. He was expected to be prepared for this school that Uncle and Aunt were willing to pay for him. They were giving him the chance to perform and live up the Evans family legacy.

Did he love his Uncle and Aunt? Perhaps in the way that every child might love a family member, even if they did not send full love towards him. He could not fault them for their support though, even if it was cold and detached sometime. They put expectations on him, gave him the tool to succeed and required that his hard work produce the results. Failure was not an option. So perhaps he didn't grow up into a world of love, hugs, and laughter. He was taught morals and discipline to last him a lifetime.

The young boy turned around towards his relatives. He wore polished black boots, black pressed slacks. His shirt was a white undershirt ironed to perfection, his work overseen by his Aunt. His uncle had made certain that the black tie was correctly tied up to Dursley family standards. The young man wore a red overcoat and actually had a bearskin cap under his arm. He had stared at himself in the mirror for hours at how silly he looked at the time. Still he was ready with just one more thing to do. Harry slowly opened his mouth to speak but nothing would come out. He wasn't certain what he should feel about the situation. He felt excited, hopeful and determined. But, he also felt a loss, a bit of fear in his stomach.

Perhaps it was the fear that showed on his face because Aunt Petunia stepped for and leaned down towards him. She actually wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him to her in a hug. Harry was surprised at the action as he could count almost the number of times she did this. Normally it was reserved for holidays and birthdays. She wasn't the warmest woman in the world. Her voice whispered softly to him, "We are proud of the boy you are and the man you will become Harry. We may not show it but we are. Remember you are the fourth generation of Evans to attend this school. Hold yourself with pride and be the best. It is what we expect from you. Understood?"

The young man nodded his head swiftly at her words and swallowed. His voice cracked with emotion as he stated, "Yes Ma'am."

His Aunt stepped away and was replaced by his Uncle. The large man's dark gaze lingered on the boy inspecting him for a moment. He nodded his head firmly once and reached out offering his hand to the boy to shake. Harry quickly reached forward to clasp it with a squeeze and shake. "You will do well boy. I expect you to uphold your family. Understood?"

"Yes Sir." Harry stated firmly at once to the large man.

The final member of the Dursley's stepped forward and looked at Harry. The boy was only four years old but was already large for his age almost coming up to Harry's height. Harry and Dudley had a difficult relationship. Dudley since a young age was a child that required special attention. He always wanted his mother's attention. Luckily Harry learned to be self-reliant so he never really fought for attention much with Dudley. The large round boy was now getting exactly what he was hoping to get. Despite this the pair didn't hate each other. There was always an uneasy truce where the kept away from each other normally and talked little, weird perhaps for two boys in the same house. But, it worked. Dudley cleared his throat then simply stated, "Have fun Harry. We will see you at the holidays."

"Thank you Dudley. Don't get into too much trouble." Harry smiled for the younger boy.

The trio of Dursley stepped away from the young man without much more for goodbye. They left the young man there alone before the gates of the school with a single bag of luggage. Harry watched them go with the uncertainty gnawing in his stomach before he turned towards the school and picking up the bag of clothing to go on to the new future.

~~~RoHP ~~~

For the next three years Harry went to the Langston Academy. He was the top student in his school year. In fact he was so far ahead he actually skipped two great years in the time. The young man considered it to be what was expected of him. He was the newest Evans, so he was expected to succeed. Unfortunately due to his jumping grade levels he didn't make many close friends. In fact it was quite the opposite since he was smaller in size then most students his grade level he was often left to the side in physical activities.

Then there were the strange occurrences that happened around Harry. There were rumors that it was not wise to make him mad, strange things happened when Harry was emotional. One of his teachers hair actually changed colors after she accused him of cheating. Another student that had been bullying him was thrown across ten feet away into a chain link fence. There were other rare instances but not many. Still it was enough to keep others away from the smart young man.

But now it was summer holiday and Harry had arrived back a few days ago. Tomorrow the Dursley family was off to visit Aunt Marge, yet since she didn't like Harry he was to be left behind. He could hear his Aunt and Uncle talking in the kitchen even now. Harry sat in the living room with midnight, his mother's cat curled up on his lap. The pure black and emerald eyed cat had barely left the young man's side since he came back. Every time he came back from school she would react this way trying to be around Harry every second. The young man rubbed Midnight's ear lightly as he listened to his Aunt and Uncle argue.

"I am telling you that we can't bring him. She hates and torments the boy." Vernon said firmly.

"It is her own fault if she doesn't like him. Her and her smelly mutts both get on my nerves." Petunia stated back with a frown.

"She is my sister and we need to visit her. Would you rather her come here?" Vernon asked testily. This had been an old argument with his wife about his sister.

The grimace on his Aunt's face showed her own concern for the issue. "We can't leave him here alone. He is only a boy."

"He is a strong willed boy. That school of his taught him to take care of himself. I am sure we will come back to a house in perfect order." Vernon replied calmly knowing he had won the argument now. He smiled towards her and innocently offered, "What about that new doctor that moved in? Didn't he offer to help with the boy?"

"Yes, but I get a feeling that there is something strange about him." Petunia calmly stated to herself as she tapped her chin lightly in thought. She took a deep breath as she considered. The new doctor did seem to be an upstanding man, he was polite and friendly and helped Sally Anderson's boy down the street when he fell off of a swing. It would only be a week that they would be gone and the man would just have to check up on Harry. Finally she reasoned enough to give in with a sigh, "Very well Vernon. I will bring the boy over to meet him later today."

Author Note: Another chapter down for this little story, I should have another done tonight too since I am posting up small chapters for me. I actually am considering making this into a full story if enough folks like it. Perhaps this will be a Hufflepuff Harry with a military mindset behind him. I think the hard work and loyalty would fit that type of character. If I do expand this to a full story I would have to add in a chapter or two of Harry at the school perhaps or at least a few flashbacks. Next chapter would bring him up to Hogwarts time period hopefully. I was thinking a pairing of Fleur and Susan Bones perhaps?