The Universe Everything Went Right

by Dream Painter

Time and again, Harry and his friends narrowly avoid meeting an unfortunate end. Many are the times they emerged virtually unscathed – truly, most of these escapes boil down to sheer dumb luck. But what if things hadn't gone right? What if the laws of the universe held firm? Following is a series of somber tales. Don't let the title fool you. These are the times things went wrong.

2. No One Cared

A/N: Here is the long ago promised second story in this collection. I wish to remind everyone that canon has reset itself before the start of this short little tale, so the events of the previous chapter have no longer happened. Secondly, I just want to say that this installment is told from the perspective of a young child, so I've endeavored to write it in the sort of language such a character would use.

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No One Cared

Everyone was quiet in Mrs. Nelson's class. Three of the seats in their room were empty and so was another in Mr. Jones' class. Dudley Dursley, Piers Polkiss, and Malcolm Ryerson were absent because they'd been expelled. Harry Potter was absent because he was dead.

The teachers had held a big assembly to talk to them about what happened. They said Harry died because bullying had been allowed to go too far. The teachers said that if any of the kids were being picked on by others that they should tell an adult.

Sadie knew better. Harry tried to tell the teacher that Dudley and his gang were going to beat him up and then the teacher asked Dudley if this was true. Dudley said that Harry was a liar and the teacher believed him. Everyone knew Dudley and his gang would beat up Harry even worse for grassing on them and now Harry was dead.

They were supposed to be doing maths, but Mrs. Nelson had given them all a piece of paper and told them to write or draw about how they felt. Sadie hadn't written anything on hers. She didn't know how to feel. Some of the other girls had cried. One of the boys had cried, too, but Sadie thought that was because Dudley and his gang had said they'd beat him up for talking to Harry.

Sadie didn't cry, though. It wasn't because Sadie wasn't sad. She had liked Harry. He was nice and sometimes he said things that were funny. Most people didn't know that, though, because they were too scared of Dudley. No one cared about Harry as long as Dudley didn't bully them, instead.

And then Sadie knew what to put on her paper. Picking up her pencil, she wrote in big letters, "I wish someone cared when Harry was still alive."

End.