Chapter one of Dauntless is here!

If you haven't read the prologue, "a veiled reset" I would recommend that you do so, otherwise there will be parts of this that do not make sense.

I will put a warning here as well. This story has very dark parts, especially concerning Harry's character. There are references to events that can cause and thereby trigger PTSD and anxiety. I will be keeping the rating at Mature for these reasons.

Anyways, let us begin with the first chapter!

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Humanity unanimously agrees on many different things that are otherwise unimportant. For example, the color red is red. However, one may perceive the color red as I perceive the color green. Because there is no distinct way to describe a color, we all agree that the one color is in fact red, but why?

By our very nature, humans are pack animals. We follow the word of whoever is stronger, hoping that they will lead us to a better way of life.

Of course, there is still the situations that rise when one member of the pack, group, or family disagrees. If something is different, then the first response of the strong is to fear it. A disagreement is a weakness, something to be stamped out by making fun of it, insulting it, or even cutting it off at the source.

Such moments have been seen throughout history, with political assassinations, conquest, and even holy ideologies. At our very core, the human need to be selfish even trickles into one's benevolence, as true kindness does not come without a price or reward to either party. This incredible disposition of right and wrong when put into terms with the logic of the made up systems of the world would be the basic end enlightenment of the human condition, what those who found peace did end up discovering before their time ended. Life is suffering, you cannot have one without the other, and you cannot truly live without the knowledge that you eventually will die.

Of course, there are opportunities for one to betray what we would consider normal. One who accepts change and does not limit the discussion on what is and isn't possible. Such individuals exist at the cusp of of life, unable to glimpse true meaning unless placed within dire straits.

They may laugh, they may cry, or be otherwise hollow in their everyday life, because once one gets a taste of the truth, they hunger for it ever stronger, unable to feel excitement unless they can see and feel death hanging before them. The rush they have come to feel is the feeling of living, that they too may eventually end, because in time, we all must end. To grasp that truth and push yourself ever closer to it, showing nothing but a gleaming eye and a wild grin,

That is what it means to be dauntless.

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Vernon Dursley, a large whale of a man who could be rather unpleasant at times. He was a supervisor in a company called Grunnings. They made drills, saws, levels… any sort home building equipment you could think of.

Vernon Dursley lived in a house with his wife, Petunia, and his son, Dudley. Their residence was located in Surrey, in a small neighborhood known as Little Whinging.

Petunia kept the house in tip top shape, would always know the latest town gossip, and cooked the best meals that one could find. Their son was a bit of a bully, but there are bullies in every sort of part of life, and the two parents believed that their child was perfect in every way nevertheless.

One would think, that despite the sometimes unpleasant attitude, that Vernon and his family were picture perfect. Vernon prided himself in keeping that family presentation.

See, despite all of this perfect little life, Vernon and his wife Petunia, had something completely unnatural in their house, something that was a smear upon their picture perfect life. Their nephew, Harry Potter.

Harry Potter was Dudley's age, a small child with a very thin frame, for he ate very little. Vernon and Petunia whipped him like a slave and made him do chores. They would gaslight and groom him in the hopes of driving the boy mad. In their eyes, Harry was a freak of nature, a thing that didn't belong.

Could you blame them? After all, odd things always seemed to happen around the boy. Once, when he was little, he got angry at Dudley for taking a toy. The larger boy wound up stuck to the wall, as if glued there, and wouldn't come off until Harry calmed down.

His hair would grow back immediately after Petunia cut it. It was rebellious in its own way, and it angered her like nothing else could.

But then there were the boys eyes. They were an unnatural sort of green, glowing in the dark like the eyes of a cat. Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, Petunia would catch the boy watching her, his eyes an evil, blood red.

The strange freakishness of the child terrified the Dursleys, and so they decided to simply beat it out of him.

Force had always worked for Vernon. He was much like Dudley in his youth, and captained the rugby team in highschool.

For what it was worth, their strategy seemed to work. The constant abuse kept the child from using his freakishness by forcing him to heal broken bones and burns. The mental torture was getting him close to some sort of breaking point as well. He no longer lashed out at Petunia, Dudley, or Vernon. Sometimes they would catch him muttering of odd things, working on chores with misty eyes as his back bled from the days fifty lashes.

There were some days where he would only respond to freak, and it was beginning to satisfy Vernon that he knew his place. Harry Potter was a slave. He was good for nothing but cleaning and making meals, or the occasional fun when Petunia was tired. And to the world, he was as dead as his parents.

Yes, Vernon delighted in that fact. The boy was forgetting all that had come with him. No freakishness. No crackpot magicians. Not even a name. Harry Potter would cease to exist as soon as the boy forgot it all, and then Vernon and Petunia would be able to shape him into an adequate human.

Oh… how the evil of a Horcrux can twist the human mind…

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Chapter one, short yet good. A good introduction to the Dursleys and Harry's own issues.

I'll touch more on all of that in the next chapter, as you can see, the Dursleys are worse than in the books. Harry is a bit more broken. The worst of this is yet to come.

Until then, adios.