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Chapter 3: An Overview Through the Years
Harry's life was hell. By the time he got back to his common room, everyone finally noticed he was gone. They approached slowly, trying to prolong his pain. When they were within feet, Professor Snape came in. Harry should have known better than to think that Snape was his saving grace. Snape knew all about Harry's abuse. He also knew how to make the other Slytherins increase their torture. He told Harry's fellow Slytherins all about his little escapade that night. Harry paid dearly for helping Hermione.
The Gryffindors also heard about the incident. Harry was thankful they weren't like the Slytherins. They gave a grudging respect to Harry, as if it left a bad taste in their mouth. Ron Weasley was fuming. He missed his chance to be hero. After all, he was the Gryffindor.
Hermione wasn't teased much lately, Harry saw. He took it upon himself to watch out for her from afar. He had saved her several times from the Slytherins harassing her without her knowing. Harry considered himself a bona fide hero.
Harry had to pay for those instances however. He had bruises on his face and maybe cracked ribs. He didn't go to the school nurse however; as he heard, she asked too many questions and was a mothering hen. Harry wasn't up for that kind of treatment.
Good things did come from the rescue Harry performed. The other houses picked on him less. That was good. He also became friends with Dumbledore. It turned out his detentions were to be with the headmaster. Harry thought that Dumbledore had great conversing skills, and he didn't ask questions. He didn't once ask why Harry had bruises on his face or why he didn't stop them. It was as if he knew exactly why, almost if he was reading his mind. The detentions mainly focused on keeping the headmaster company. He thought it would be good for himself to talk to a student, to keep him young, so to speak. At least that's what he explained to Harry. Apparently, Dumbledore thought the other professors were… boring. Except for Professor Flitwick, which Dumbledore said was because he was quite funny. Harry could definitely see where Dumbledore would say that.
Harry still had a great amount of respect for the headmaster, but didn't see him as the man Voldemort once feared. Harry considered him a grandfather figure slash friend. His only friend. There was Hermione, but he couldn't become a friend to her. He knew she would be more than happy to be his friend, but Harry didn't want to make her more of a target.
***
It was now a month after the troll incident. Harry continued to talk to Dumbledore on a regular basis. They had good discussions ranging to past wars Dumbledore fought in, to their favorite books and trivial matters such as that. Harry had to admit, Dumbledore was an amusing character. He also had to admit that it was pathetic that his only friend was a 150-year-old sorcerer.
Harry succeeded in making his beatings decrease once again. He got beat up pretty good for a while after his heroic effort. The other Slytherin's seemed to overlook the massive points he earned for it and in all of his classes. He earned an average of 50 points a week for his house. Slytherin house was in the lead for the house cup for the eighth straight year. Snape gloated constantly to McGonagall about this, feigning ignorance as to why.
***
The good ol' days as Harry referred to them. Harry was now gearing up for his sixth year. For some reason, he frequently reminisced about his earlier years. He remembered first year and the hell he went through. Stopping the troll and the beatings. Yes, he eventually stopped the beatings. He thought that he would take a gander at the Restricted Section of the library after he got quite a useful gift from a friend. He learned spells and incantations, how to conjure weapons and summon beasts. Most well above his handle, he was now just able to get a grip on a very few. However, he was able to perform some of them or some not wholly. He remembered trying to summon an Acromantula against a gang of Slytherins. It didn't work. Instead of a five-foot high spider with menacing teeth, he got a ghost of one about the size of a beagle. It was still enough to scare the living stink out of them.
While on his early escapades, Harry had a narrow escape with Filch and Snape. He entered a door he was unfamiliar with. Inside the barren room was a decorative, elaborate looking mirror. Harry examined the beautiful piece of work closer, only to discover its name was that of Erised. When Harry looked into the mirror, he was mesmerized by the fact that unfamiliar happy people surrounded him. The two closest to him was an enchanting woman with fiery red hair and eyes just like his. There also was a man, who looked remarkably just like himself down to his knobbly knees. Harry later found out they were his parents.
On the third night of his now nightly venture to the mirror, he ran right past Dumbledore in his rush to the mirror. Harry thought he would lose a ton of points, but just got a lesson on what the mirror was. Something that showed someone what they most desired. Harry found out Dumbledore wanted socks most. Weird Harry thought.
Also bailing his friend Hagrid out of trouble when he illegally acquired a dragon he christened Norbert. He couldn't even remember how he got rid of that horrid thing. His adrenaline was pumping so much with all the close encounters of that night. He thought maybe that he somehow got the blamed put on Filch. Finally, his most exciting and scariest adventure of that year was confronting Lord Voldemort.
He finally figured it out after visiting Hagrid at the end of the year. Harry rushed to the out of bounds corridor. It looked like Snape had beaten him there. Fluffy, Harry figured out earlier, was awake, and ready for battle. Harry just started humming loudly and put Fluffy asleep. He threw caution into the wind and jumped down the trap door, not knowing what to expect. He landed in Devil's Snare and was almost choked to death before he reached his wand and summoned a fire to quell the ferocious plant.
Next, he had to catch a flying key. Harry never realized his graceful flying ability since he chose to skip his flying lessons so as not to be teased by Malfoy or Weasley. It was liberating was all Harry could think, and that didn't even begin to describe it. He finally caught the key and was able to open the locked door.
The other side consisted of a giant chess set, where he had to replace one of the pieces. It was a good thing Harry frequently played himself when he wasn't studying or running for his life. He eventually beat the game and entered the door on the other side.
Across the threshold of the door was a simple table with about 20 potions resting on it. A purple fire erupted from the exit Harry just came through while at the same time a black fire erupted at the next door. Harry examined the contents of the table closer and discovered a piece of parchment. It had a riddle Harry had to figure out. After he read it over a few times, he finally deciphered the cryptic message and drank the black potion that felt like it made ice run through his veins.
On the other side of the door was the Mirror of Erised. When Harry walked in a little further, he discovered not Snape, but Professor Quirrel. They bantered back and forth a little while, Harry was just thinking of a way of escape, when he realized Quirrel couldn't figure out how to work the mirror. When that thought hit him, Quirrel began to unwrap his turban, showing the ghost of the most hideous face Harry ever saw, burning his scar. There in now what was his entire splendor, Lord Voldemort. Harry shook with fear, not even able to move. Quirrel approached quickly, grabbing Harry by the throat, but letting go almost the same instance seemingly burned. He waved his scorched hand, trying to cool it off, all the while as Voldemort was shouting to get Harry. Harry understood that Quirrel couldn't touch him, so he latched on to him, burning both. Harry held on as long as he could until he fainted. He later found out that Dumbledore came just in time to stop Harry from killing himself.
His next years weren't without excitement either. Some house elf named Dobby tried to keep Harry from entering his second year. Harry almost agreed, but thought being bullied by his peers was better than family. Less depressing at least. The elf just ended u getting Harry in trouble with a department of the ministry that dealt with juvenile magic usage.
When Harry went to board the Express, the barrier shut down, not letting him through. Harry, seeing the Weasely family come by a flying Ford Anglia. Harry waited for when no one was looking and stole the car. He felt bad, but he wanted a little revenge on the Weasely boy. Harry flew it all the way to the school, no being spotted once. He landed perfectly on a clearing near the lake. The only problem he faced was on the flight, the invisibility booster was failing so Harry gave it a magical power up he read about. It seemed to give the car a mind of its own, as it zoomed into the Forbidden Forest as soon as Harry got out. He would have been expelled if Dumbledore hadn't stepped in. he also paid the Weasely family 1000 galleons for taking their car.
His second year defense teacher was a dim-witted pretty boy for a professor. This same professor also had the idea to start a dueling club at school. It seemed like a good idea at first, until Harry had to duel. With his luck, Snape pitted him against Malfoy, whispering a secret incantation to the other boy. When the duel began, Malfoy used a weak level-summoning spell of an anaconda, something Harry learned quickly in his studies the year before. Harry decided to summon a lion, just to prove his superiority over his housemates and as an ironic twist. Since it was a high level Summon, the lion was only as big as a lynx.
Unnoticed went his lion, besides Hermione, and Lockheart, who thought he could banish it, banished it to a frightened second year Hufflepuff. Harry, not knowing why, rushed over to stop it. He shouted for it to leave the boy alone, and it successfully happened. Only the rest of the school thought he was some great dark lord now since he didn't speak English to the snake, but parseltongue. That was apparently really dark magic. The whole school, even the Slytherins, never messed with him again after that. His now acquaintance Hermione wouldn't look at him for weeks.
Then the attacks started. No one knew what was causing the strange paralysis of many of the students, one cat, and one ghost. Everyone thought it was Harry, since writings on the castle walls indicated it was the Heir of Slytherin. Since Harry had one of the "snake's" abilities, it seemed like he was a likely candidate.
It wasn't figured out who it was until Ginny Weasley, was taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Harry had heard the news and went to visit Hermione, who was paralyzed, to say goodbye since it was likely the school would be shut down. She was the only person he confided in once that he kept hearing a strange voice, threatening to kill. Examining her closer, trying to take in her image forever, since she was the closest thing he had to a friend his age, when he noticed a piece of paper in her hand. In it, it described a basilisk, and underneath, the word pipes was scribbled.
Harry rushed to Professor Lockheart, hoping he would stop the snake. Harry then found out he was a fraud and didn't do any of the things he boasted about. Harry didn't care, banished his wand out the window, and led him to where he thought the Chamber of Secrets laid. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
Harry discovered this place when he needed to talk to Hermione. He refused to talk to her where prying eyes could see, just so she wouldn't be targeted by association. He examined the faucets and found a snake etched into a pipe. Harry whispered, "Open up," and the pipe grew to a size that would allow a human to pass through. He forced Lockheart through first, and followed seconds later. Harry dropped his wand when he landed, having it quickly picked up by Lockheart, who tried to cast a Memory Charm on Harry. Harry, quickly pulled up a shield around himself he had read about. Being so complex and the time he used it, he wasn't able to absorb it, but only deflect it. Most of it rebounded on Lockheart, but a portion hit the ceiling, causing a cave in.
Harry was stuck on the bad side without a wand. Without much choice, he continued on, hoping to find an alternate exit and preparing to shut his eyes so as not to die if he made eye contact with the lethal serpent. All he found were rat skeletons and a giant shedding of snakeskin.
He came in contact with a giant snake statue that seemed life like with ruby eyes. Harry whispered a quiet, "Open up." And entered. At first, all Harry saw was a vibrant patch of red hair. Harry knew it was Ginny Weasely. He hurried to her aid, trying gently to wake her from her slumber. While doing this, he heard someone come up from behind him. He looked around, but only saw a shadow of someone. Harry questioned the figure. Harry was perplexed as to why one Tom Riddle was so interested in himself. Harry found out as he traced his finger through the air that this was a younger version of Voldemort.
Riddle quickly called the basilisk to his aid. Harry shut his eyes and ran blindly around, using his hearing to dodge the snake. Harry heard Tom laugh and gloat on how Dumbledore couldn't help him seeing as he was gone. Harry responded, saying that Dumbledore will always be here for those in need. After his speech, Harry heard a beautiful song. Harry opened his eyes a sliver of an opening, to see Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix with the Sorting Hat. Riddle laughed more at this.
Fawkes gouged out the basilisk's eyes, but it was still lethal with its fangs. He forced the Sorting Hat on, asking for help. All Harry got was a nasty bump on the head as a sword fell from the hat right onto Harry's head.
Harry slew the basilisk, destroyed the memory of Tom Riddle, rescued Ginny Weasely, and cured the poison from the snake that had stricken him. Well, not him, but Fawkes did. He got a hug from the matriarch of the Weasely family and a handshake from the father for rescuing their daughter. Harry was embarrassed for his good deed, as he never had praise before.
Harry also freed Dobby from Lucius Malfoy. Even though dobby tried to "help" Harry earlier that year during a qudditch game. Harry, on a whim decided to go out for the team, and beating out Malfoy. Harry only barely did as Malfoy's dad offered to buy the whole team new brooms. Snape wanted to win though and grudgingly appointed Harry as Seeker. 'Malfoy is still bitter,' Harry realized.
His third year was the most tumultuous. Harry learned the new defense teacher was an old friend of his dad's, the person who gave his parent's away to Voldemort was loose, Dementor's were everywhere, a black dog kept following him, he blew up his aunt, got his death predicted 121 times, learned a very advanced charm, received top marks in defense, won the qudditch cup with the hottest broom on the market, lost his old broom to the Whooping Willow, discovered he had a godfather, learned he gave his parents away, confronted his godfather, learned about animagi's, found out his godfather was innocent, was revealed that it was another of his parent's friend's, and heard an unnerving prophesy about how the dark lord would rise and be more powerful. In addition, taking a trip on a Time-Turner with Hermione to rescue his godfather, overall, Harry was surprised he didn't go bonkers.
Fourth year, he had to be one of his worst years ever. First, there was no qudditch. He also had to worry about his godfather on the run. Not to mention a little event called the Triwizard Tournament. Harry, along with Cedric Diggory, was the Hogwarts champion. It was the first time his other housemates seemed to like him. Seemed to like him was the key phrase. They were just exploiting him. In front of the school, they put him on a pedestal, in private; they were as mean as ever. During the first task, Harry used his prowess as a Seeker to steal a golden egg from an irate dragon. Between the first and second task, he had to be in the Yule ball. He argued and argued with Snape about hiss participation in the dance. Snape enjoyed making Harry go, but Harry found a loophole throughout the whole thing. They couldn't force Harry to stay at school, as it would violate his rights, so, as much as he detested the thought, signed up for the train home to the Dursley's. Snape was furious, and Dumbledore was tickled at Harry's resourcefulness.
The second task consisted of diving deep into Hogwart's lake and fetching something dear to Harry. Since nothing was too dear to Harry, he didn't know what he would have to get back. He figured it out way ahead of time, so he got cracking on how to conquer the task. Harry found an aquatic spell in the Restricted Section, and mastered that with a week to go before it began. He trekked to the bottom of the lake through crowds of merpeople, to find his Firebolt chained to a rock, with Hermione, a girl named Cho Chang, and a little girl that looked to be related to the beautiful contestant for the French school participating. Harry was unsure whether the clue was true and that these people would be lost forever. He decided not to take any chances and started undoing the bonds of the captives, which didn't sit well with the merpeople. They tried attacking Harry, which Harry threatened with his wand, and they backed off, but still following closely as Harry towed the prisoners to the surface. Harry later learned that the song was in fact untrue, and he felt like an ass, which in case he forgot, the whole school reminded him of. That task was thrown out of the competition, since none of the other students tally points for.
The third task was the worst. He had to navigate a maze filled with enchantments and monsters. Harry and a fellow named Viktor Krum, of the final school, and an excellent Seeker Harry got to witness during the qudditch world cup as a thanks from the Weasely's for saving their daughter, got to go first since they had the most points. The maze was rather easy and Harry got to the end fairly quick, as did Cedric Diggory, who Harry got on rather well with. They eventually decided for a tie, and took it together, which transported them to a desolate graveyard. That was where Cedric was murdered. That's where Voldemort was reborn. That's where he and Harry dueled. Moreover, that's where Harry got to see his parent's. Harry didn't like to think about that night.
His fifth year, Harry got to stay with his godfather. The happiest moment in his life was during those two short month's. It also came with some displeasure. The Weasely's also had to stay there since they were on Voldemort's hit list. The problem was that Harry was still on bad terms with Ron Weasely. Probably even more so since Harry's triumph in the tournament and the rescue of his little sister's life. Hermione Granger also had to stay there since she was a very prominent muggleborn. Harry had no problem with that either, except that he really only wanted to be with his godfather and Remus, who was also there. Dumbledore seemed out of sorts, more so than necessary with everything going on. It looked like some great knowledge he could hardly bare was placed on his shoulder's.
Harry also had to put up with some woman named Umbridge, who was hell and kept making rules up. She eventually ran Dumbledore out while Harry was just getting Occulmency down. It set Harry back a bit in his overall skill. One night, however, Harry forgot to pull his guards up, which led to the downfall of his godfather. Harry got his godfather killed dueling against his very own cousin. Harry meanwhile dueled and beat ten Deatheaters. One was Lucius Malfoy. Harry also confronted Voldemort again. Harry was frozen with fear and almost died if Dumbledore wouldn't have stepped in. they dueled and eventually ended in a draw.
Later that night, Harry learned of a prophesy that stated Harry would either die by Voldemort or Voldemort would die by Harry. The biggest bombshell Harry learned was that this wasn't his original reality. Harry got to confront this other Harry, or see him through a Pensieve. In it, Harry learned his was originally in Gryffindor; his best friend's were Ron Weasely and Hermione, which was hard to believe. Harry also learned why this other Harry passed up his happiness. Harry eventually agreed with the decision. It was still depressing though. It was a lot to take in that night. Harry didn't even know how he coped with it. Hermione wrote him letters, since she knew what Harry lost and of his godfather's innocence. They helped little, but it warmed Harry a little that someone took time to write little old him.
Yep, Harry sure was glad he was only a month away from school, 'maybe that will keep me occupied,' he thought.
AN: Sorry for the wait. I've been a busy little bee. First off, I hope it was all right. I didn't go into too much detail because you all have obviously read the books, and don't need a detailed recap. I hope everything was spelled right also. Secondly, just because Harry's in Slytherin, don't assume he's a rebel. Or gay. Or anything like that. If you have questions, read my bio first since a lot of that stuff is answered in it. And don't assume this is a romance story. Not everything has to be romantic and this most likely won't. When you read this story, throw every notion you have about Harry being in Slytherin out the window. No fatherly figure Snape or any of that junk. Just read. Don't try to predict what happens (even though I've updated slowly), read for the pleasure of reading. Thank you for reading, and if is your first story you've read of mine, read my Driving Force story or Pendragon Legacy to old you over. Those are the only ones I recommend. That is all. Peace.