Chapter 4- Hell
Harry laid in bed, thinking back on the past few weeks as sunlight began to peek through his curtains. Bo's existence had become a constant in his life, almost always with him either in his pocket or out in the room with him. He'd tried to investigate how he was able to talk to Bo, however it hadn't led to much in the form of results. He'd taken the time to arrange a 'chance' encounter between William, a boy a couple of years younger than Harry who lived in the orphanage, and Bo.
The boy had seemed rather upset when he'd arranged it though. Then again, perhaps his experiment of waiting until the boy was alone and letting Bo slither up to William while getting Bo to try to converse with him was a mistake. The four-year old had certainly seemed terrified if his running out of the room and crying about the "scary snakey" was any indication. Luckily no one believed the toddler when he'd told them of the snake he'd found in his room when further investigation had shown it was empty.
"Not that talking to other animals had any more success," Harry thought to himself, recalling with a shudder the rather demented rabbit who, upon ignoring his attempts to talk to it, proceeded to run straight at him and tried eating his shoe laces until he'd kicked it away.
That attempt alone had made him suspect that the rabbit had actually understood him and simply been having a go at his expense, although the next rabbit he'd tried speaking to had no success either. It was a mystery, one he'd resolved himself to unraveling eventually. Still, his only other theory, that it was snakes specifically he could talk to, was hard to prove due to snakes being fairly difficult to just come across, even on the edge of town where the orphanage was. He'd already gotten lucky finding two rabbits in York.
So far, his only clue as to how he was speaking with Bo was the mysterious feeling he'd felt filling his body whenever he spoke with the snake. He could feel a… power in his body when he spoke with Bo. It felt like electricity almost yet not quite the same. All he knew was that it only seemed to come to him when he spoke with Bo, or was looking at him at least. While he'd tried replicating the feeling, he hadn't had any success as of yet.
"Ssspeaker! It is your hatchday get out of bed!" Harry heard Bo hiss from his place under the pillow he was laying on. Sighing slightly to himself, he sat up, knowing if he continued laying in bed he wouldn't be up in time to avoid Michael and Derek.
"Perhaps if I too start bullying people, I'll gain superhuman motivation to get out of bed early each morning like they have?" He pondered to himself for a moment before shrugging away the thought. His stick-like limbs and four foot height didn't lend itself well to fighting, not that he was particularly inclined towards beating up his fellow children anyway.
"I'm up Bo, relax," Harry said tiredly, reaching under his pillow to retrieve his companion and setting him on his shoulder. He tiredly threw on a shirt that had Bo hissing in protest as he was covered by fabric and winced as his shoulder protested the movement. While almost no injury he received seemed to stay for long, his shoulder had never been quite the same after John had lost his temper the day before he'd left.
"Ssseven winters today, right ssspeaker?" Bo asked from under his shirt.
"Seven years old, yes," Harry answered calmly as he finished dressing. Bo, for all his apparent intelligence as a practically newborn snake, had a strange pattern to his speech. It was almost locked if that was possible. His attempts to teach Bo words, such as years, seemed fruitless, yet the snake seemed always able to understand what he said. Bo was certainly intelligent, but he was strangely rigid in how he communicated.
Moving Bo and ensuring he was properly hidden in his pocket, where he preferred to hide during the day, Harry hurried out of his room and into the hallway .His eyes widened in a panic, as he saw Derek coming down the hallway, rather quickly at that, with Michael following behind him, both walking towards him at a strangely sedate pace.
"Harry! We're glad we ran into you!" He heard Derek shout, the faux friendly tone causing Harry's stomach to drop in fear. Bolting, he ran down the stairs and into the small cafeteria of the orphanage, leaving the duo in the dust. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw Greta, the orphanage's matron sitting at the table's head, attempting to finish setting up the table before any of the children arrived. For the moment at least, he was safe.
"Ah! Harry, I was actually waiting for you to come down today!" The matron greeted him, offering him a small smile. Surely she didn't actually remember his birt-
"With John and the others leaving last month, there's been some chores around here that need attending to," She explained. "Oh, so that's what she'd meant.," Harry thought to himself, biting back a laugh of mockery towards himself for his slight hope.
Derek and Michael told me just yesterday that they were struggling to keep up with doing the younger children's laundry, so I'll need you to start doing your part around here by helping them, beginning today after lunch for two hours for non-school day going forward," She continued, oblivious to his thoughts. Harry froze, his eyes widening as he began to feel slight tremors rock his body, unable to keep his composure.
He debated with himself for a moment, considering begging her, or once more explaining that he was being bullied, albeit by two different people now. In the end though he kept his silence, he knew it would end exactly the same, he never had the bruises to prove it. Surely this had to be some kind of cruel joke, some sort of prank that went too far. Time with his two tormentors for two hours each day, with no supervision to keep him safe. It would be hell for him to deal with that!
Hearing the door to the dining room swing open, he shook himself from his thoughts, looking towards the door. Standing there, smiling in the doorway were the subjects of his thoughts, Derek and Michael.
"Hey Harry, did Miss Brenda tell you the good news!" Michael greeted cheerfully from over Derek's shoulder. Harry slumped down, his posture dropping as he froze for a moment before he nodded towards the matron.
"Of course I'll do my part to help the orphanage Miss Brenda," Harry told her dutifully, ignoring that she failed to follow her own duties at the orphanage. He walked stiffly towards his seat, the food tasting even blander than usual as he took in the news he'd just received.
Linebreak
Going through his day, trying to act normal was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He had a constant pit in his stomach that he idly recognized as dread, and his food tasted even blander than the matron's mediocre cooking would've caused naturally. It wasn't just that he knew they'd hurt him in some way. It was the knowledge that it would be guaranteed every day until the duo left the orphanage that haunted him. Sitting through lunch, he did his best to ignore the looks both the boys sent him, though the smug smirks did threaten his calm more than once. After lunch, Harry rose from his chair with dread, silently following the two boys as they called for him.
"Come on Harry, we use the furnace in the basement to dry the clothes, it's faster that way," Michael explained calmly, with Derek smirking happily from behind him as they led the way. A few of the older children sent him pitying looks as all the kids trickled out of the lunchroom. Harry had to struggle to hold back a sneer. They knew full well he was going to be tormented then, knew full well he already had been being tormented, for years. Yet he was too insignificant, too inconsequential to care about enough to help.
"It's just through here," Derek explained cheerfully as Harry followed the two towards the door he was vaguely aware led to the basement. Michael swung open the door with a flourish, stepping through and pulling a long chain hanging from the ceiling, causing a yellowish light to start shining from somewhere in the basement's depths. The duo began walking into the dank basement, not even bothering to look back towards Harry, knowing the matron would be more than happy to punish him if he didn't show up to help. Bracing himself, Harry followed after them.
He walked into the basement, wincing as the stairs creaked noisily, causing Derek to glance back at him with a chuckle. He glanced around curiously, having never gone into the basement prior to that moment. The walls were an ugly maroon whilst the floor was still the gray concrete that was used as its foundation. In the center of the room, a single lightbulb resided, causing huge shadows to be cast by the three clotheslines taking up the majority of the basement.
"Perfect! You're here! Now, Derek and I are bloody sick and tired of everybody else's trousers so you're going to do it all and the two of us are going to play with some cards in the corner," Michael said, retrieving said cards from his pocket as he gestured towards the lines of clothes. Harry narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing towards the laundry. He doubted it would be all, but frankly, if it avoided him getting more pain, he would happily do all the laundry. Harry walked over to the racks and began taking the laundry down.
He took care to fold each item properly, glancing back towards the duo that was so fond of tormenting him while he did so. The last thing he wanted was them to find problems with him over his supposed laziness. Grimacing slightly at the thought, kept folding, taking down the clothes one by one. It wasn't hard work and if he was being honest, so long as he drowned out the noise of the two morons in the corner talking, it was actually pretty peaceful. After about two hours, he glanced around the room in satisfaction as he saw all the dried laundry had been folded neatly into the baskets.
"I'm finished," Harry said simply, looking towards the two in the corner. They glanced towards him in surprise, dropping down their cards as they exchanged a glance. Knowing he'd done more than enough to stop the matron from punishing him, he turned around and began walking towards the stairs. However, before he could even step foot on them, Derek was blocking his way.
"Where do you think you're going, Runt? That laundry was folded terribly! Look at that mess!" He said with a smirk, gesturing towards the baskets behind Harry. Looking over his shoulder, he turned just in time to watch as Michael kicked over the last of the baskets, the laundry all spilling onto the floor. Harry held back a snarl as the hours of work he'd performed was undone in mere seconds by the bullies.
His eyes widened slightly as he felt Bo shifting in his pocket, forcing him to shuffle his feet in place for a moment to hide the movement. Not for the first time, he regretted carrying his friend in his pocket, but it wasn't like he had any other choice. He couldn't risk leaving Bo alone in his room, it was ransacked by the other children too often when he was gone, they'd have found Bo within a matter of days.
"Better get back to work Potter!" Michael cackled as he and Derek walked back towards the table they'd been playing cards at. Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm himself only to fail miserably.
"No, I don't think I will," He replied, his temper finally getting the better of him. straightening upright, the constant slouch he had around his bullies gone, as he looked towards them. They both whipped back around clearly shocked, and, if it had been any other time, Harry might've laughed. They both openly gaped at him, with their mouths wide open as they stared at him in shock. Still, as it was, Harry was struggling to keep his lunch down. He was far too terrified from his own daring stupidity to laugh at the moment. With a glance towards each other, the bullies advanced on him as he scrambled backwards towards the stairs.
"We'll show you what happens when you don't listen," Derek growled menacingly, his expression dark. Harry started getting ready to run, an angry matron be damned, when they both lunged forward, grabbing his arms before he had a chance to react. "I'm sick and tired of being bullied by these douches!" Harry thought with a snarl, lashing out with a kick towards one of the two bullies as they latched onto him. It didn't seem to do much damage, though Derek did yell in pain for a moment, slightly lifting Harry's spirits. The two suddenly released his arms and Harry felt a moment of hope. Perhaps the two had decided not to hurt him for once, shocking though it may've been. It was a short-lived feeling though, thanks to the fist that drove its way the side of his head, courtesy of Michael mere seconds later. Harry staggered backwards, barely managing to stay on his feet.
"Might as well fight back for once even if it won't do much, they're clearly pissed already," He thought to himself, resigned to yet another series of painful bruises. He hadn't actually dared to hit any of his bullies back since he'd hit John once in the privates and caused the boy to collapse. It had certainly given him the time he'd needed to get away, the problem was in the nearly life ending beating he'd gotten from John the next day. He'd had a limp for days and his shoulder wasn't quite right to this day from the event.
He ducked as Derek swung at him to follow up Michael, barely fighting through his dizziness to dodge the punch from the older boy as he took advantage of the miss with a jab to Derek's wide-open side. The moron clearly hadn't expected Harry to dodge the hit, although given his size he was quite confident it did almost no actual damage. He wasn't quite so lucky with Michael's follow up punch though, having been too focused on Derek. Michael hit him solidly on the head again, sending him sprawling, unable to take the second punch. He managed to catch himself from hitting the floor though, instead simply falling onto his hands and knees. It was more than enough for the duo though. Their kicks slammed into his sides, laughing all the while as they kicked him, causing Harry to fall to the floor in agony.
Suddenly though the kicks stopped as the two's laughter died. Harry moved his head to look up from his position on the floor, struggling due to his newly formed injuries and instantly spotted the problem, mostly from the rather loud hissing accompanying it. There, on the floor mere inches from his pocket was Bo, slithering towards the two boys in a rage.
"Disssgusssting vermin! You dare hurt my ssspeaker!" Bo hissed furiously, though Harry could see the blank looks on the other two's faces as they stood, uncomprehending of anything Bo said.
"Snake! It's a disgusting snake, what kind of freak are you, keeping a snake in your pocket!" Michael shouted, stepping back slightly as Bo continued his advance.
Faster than the duo could react, Bo struck, lunging out and biting the leg of Derek as he finally went within range. His fangs sank into the boy's leg, venom pumping into the leg. Derek screamed, louder than Harry could remember anyone, even himself screaming in his life. He thrashed his leg, spamming Bo's body into the ground repeatedly as Bo's fangs kept him attached to the leg.
"Get this damn snake off of me!" Derek yelled, looking at Michael with fear in his eyes. Michael hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the snake with obvious hesitation. Harry would've laughed at the sight of one of his bullies afraid of such a small animal if it hadn't been for the immense amount of pain he was experiencing pretty much everywhere. He attempted to get to his feet, pushing his arms under him, only to collapse a few moments later when his arm throbbed from trying to support his weight.
"Bo, be careful!" Harry shouted from the ground, as he watched Michael seem to gather his courage. Derek was looking towards his friend and doing his best to stay still to accept his help in removing Bo from his leg. His warning didn't seem to do much, although Michael did give him an odd look. Michael grabbed the end of Bo's body, the snake clinging onto Derek's leg for dear life as suddenly Michael began to pull.
"Don't worry Derek, I'll get this filthy thing off your leg and then we'll go beat that freak for keeping it in his pocket and hissing at it!" Michael said confidently. "Hissing? That's what my words to Bo sound like to them?" Harry wondered to himself for a moment, still struggling to get up.
Harry tried putting his right arm under him again, only for agony to shoot up through the limb as he attempted it. "Did those bastards actually do enough damage to break my arm? It would be evidence at least," He thought, trying to look on the bright side of things. Still, he had other priorities for the moment. He switched to laying on his right arm, ignoring the sharp pain it sent through him, and used his left arm to push up off the floor, managing to sit up although it was a close thing. As he did so, Bo was finally pulled free from Derek's leg, causing Derek to scream. Michael winded back his arm and threw, sending Bo flying into the wall head first with a sickening crunch. Harry froze in place, still barely sitting up off the floor as his eyes settled on Bo's ominously still form.
"Bo? Bo? Are you okay little guy?" He shouted, staring towards his friend. Yet it didn't feel right, something wasn't the same. The feeling he got whenever he spoke to Bo, it wasn't there anymore. Something was missing, and he had a sinking suspicion he knew what it was.
"Bo? You named the little bastard who bit me? It was a pet?! You're dead for that, you little freak!" Derek roared, sprinting towards Harry with Michael right behind. Harry scrambled away, trying to get closer to Bo's prone form. Reaching the wall, he found the answer to his unasked question as he picked up Bo in his hands, feeling a distinct lack of even the slight movements. "He's dead. My first real friend and they murdered him," Harry thought in shock, barely registering as the bullies caught up with him, their legs and fists battering away at him in their rage. His mind was already elsewhere, the scene of Bo's death replaying in his mind as his anger grew.
He didn't care about the injuries they were inflicting on him, simply curling into a ball, with Bo's body protected in his arms as he ignored their hits and kicks. With each hit they inflicted on him, his anger only grew more and more. He wanted them to hurt, to suffer. "I want them to feel all the pain I've felt from their torture!" Harry thought furiously. The moment the thought crossed his mind, a strange feeling flooded his body, soothing his aching body and at the same time the two boys were blasted backwards, flying into the opposite wall from the one he was curled up against. Harry sat up slowly, looking towards them in wonder as the mysterious feeling seemed to soothe all the aches and pains they'd caused him, his arm in particular, which he was now able to use normally. Both boys were pinned, helpless against the wall, eyes wide as they seemed to struggle against invisible bonds.
Locking eyes with Michael, suddenly, Harry wasn't in his own body. He was seeing himself on the floor, almost as if it was him pinned to the wall. "What the hell is going on!?" What did the little demon do to us!?" Harry heard suddenly. Perhaps heard wasn't quite the right word for it, it was different in a way he couldn't put into words. It was similar to whenever he was thinking to himself, yet he knew that those weren't his thoughts.
"I'm… in their minds somehow?" He realized, in wonder. He saw his jaw drop from his bullies eyes, still pinned against the wall, although it didn't really register. He needed to make them somehow forget he ever did this, whatever he was doing, they couldn't remember, they'd kill him or worse report his witchcraft to the matron. He focused, trying to will their memories of the event to go away, and they both began screaming, the screams louder than anything he'd thought could possibly come from a human being.
"Good; they deserve every second of this pain," He thought sadistically, looking down at Bo in sorrow. He felt an irrational terror start to overtake him, a fear so strong it was slowly overtaking his sense of reason and couldn't get it to stop-oh-god-make it stop-. And just as suddenly as the whole experience had started, Harry was back to seeing from his own eyes again, with the two boys collapsing to the floor, out cold as the mysterious energy he'd felt filling his body ever since the two boys had been pinned to the wall faded away.
As he laid on the floor, he felt oddly drained from whatever he'd just done to the two boys, despite not having actually done anything physically. Harry glanced down towards his friend's body in his arms. Bo laid there, eerily still, his head broken open and clearly dead. Killed by two children out of sheer cruelty. Staring at his friend's body, Harry recalled the words the matron had said to him the last time he'd tried reporting the bullying, back when it had been John and his friends bullying him. They were perhaps the wisest words the matron had ever said to him.
"Harry, I understand that children can be cruel sometimes. Working here, I know that better than most. To be frank, with how often you complain to me, I have little doubt you are being picked on. However, they're not even leaving bruises on you so I doubt it's all that bad. Things won't get any easier later in life. The world is a harsh place too, and it's much more cruel than the children of this orphanage. The strong get stronger and the weak die or end up serving the strong. You must learn to solve your own problems," She'd said to him. When he'd first been told that, he'd been bitter, angry at her for refusing to do something, basically admitting that she knew he was being bullied but ignoring it in the hopes of toughening him up. But, in that moment, as he recalled her words, he realized what she'd meant for the first time.
The only way he'd ever be safe is if he learned to take care of his problems on his own. He'd tried letting others solve his problems. First the matron, who'd simply ignored him. Then his only friend tried to help him and got killed for trying. He needed to learn to help himself. Pushing himself to his feet using his good arm, Bo's corpse in the other, he walked up the stairs and out of the basement. After managing to sneak out of the orphanage, it only took him fifteen minutes to reach the small clearing on the edge of town. It was there, surrounded by the trees with the only sound being that of the babbling stream, that Harry buried his friend. It was on that very day that Harry made a promise to himself; a promise that would shape the rest of his life.
"One day, no one will ever be able to hurt me again," Harry vowed to himself, a single tear trailing down his cheek as he stared at his dead friend's grave. He forced his eyes away from the grave, instead beginning his walk back towards the orphanage. There was work to be done, and it wasn't going to get done on its own.
AN: Just to be clear, Harry's view here and what the orphanage matron said are awful, and not respective of my own views. That being said, this story is supposed to feature a heavily emotionally stunted Harry that's been traumatized by an awful childhood without responsible parents and his descent into darkness as a result. Hence, he's not exactly the most stable. If you guys read this far, please leave a review and give me feedback. It means a lot to me and, assuming you don't have private messaging disabled, I respond to every review.