Chapter 1
Harry was so done. It had been two months since the end of Fourth Year. Two months and six days since Cedric's death. He couldn't get it out of his mind. The image of Cedric falling to the ground so suddenly with those cold, lifeless eyes. Everything had happened so fast. One minute, they were arguing about who should take the cup. The next, Cedric was dead.
His last six days at Hogwarts seemed to pass by in a dull, gray haze. He couldn't remember much, though he remembered the looks the people had given him. Everyone, especially the Hufflepuffs, only seemed to know how to glare at him. Their eyes harbored so much hatred, more than they ever had before. He remembers how no one seemed to believe him, once again. Even with literal battle wounds on his body, people always choose to believe what was easy over what was right.
Sure, a few people believed him. Hermione and Ron even made it a point to express that they believed him. Yet Harry knew. He knew they only believe him because Dumbledore said it was true. If Dumbledore hadn’t said a thing about this whole situation, they would believe all the words the Prophet spewed, just like everyone else.
While Harry would like to blame the defamation the Prophet had dragged him through on Dumbledore, he knew that even without Dumbledore's meddling, the Prophet would continue to tarnish his reputation. He understood it though. The Prophet must make a fortune slandering the Boy-Who-Lived name in the paper while simultaneously removing some of the fear Dumbledore had instilled onto the people from his ‘Voldemort is Back’ speech. There aren't many logical reasons as to why a boy would suddenly appear with a dead body, but there are certainly less scary reasons than a Dark Lord rising from the dead.
When Harry returned to Number 4 Privet Drive at the end of the school year, it seemed the Dursleys were content to ignore his entire existence, save for the never ending list of chores he received every morning. It was as if Aunt Petunia expected him to be their house elf, which if she knew what those were, she definitely would. He did all of the cleaning, cooking and gardening. They didn't feed him regularly, and when they did, the food given was never enough. He wasn't allowed to socialize like a normal human being, and even if he could find someone who would want to talk to him despite the horrible reputation the Dursley’s have given him, he wouldn’t be able to meet them for long before Dudley ruined it all by physically assaulting them.
Overall, Harry was in a less than favorable situation and very much wanted out. He had sent many letters to his friends and Sirius, but no one had sent him any back. It left Harry confused and feeling like he was about to go insane. Without any letters or anyone to distract him from his thoughts, he has had a lot of time to just think, so think he did. He thought about everything that has happened to him in his life, but more specifically, he thought about his time since he found out he was a wizard.
When he found out he was a wizard, he thought that it would finally be his chance to escape the Dursley’s. To escape the abuse he had been suffering. While Hogwarts is nothing like the Dursley’s, he can't say Hogwarts has been all that great either. Sure, it was definitely better than being treated like a house elf, but that didn't mean it was enjoyable.
At the Dursleys, he could expect what was to happen. If he messed up this way, it was a slap to the face. A different way, a hit in the head with a frying pan. The worst way, locked in his room for weeks without food. He knew what to expect and how to handle each situation.
At Hogwarts, he didn't know if it was going to be Voldemort or exams next. There was always something bad happening, some type of horrible problem, and the solution to that problem always seemed to revolve around him. What was more, all the problems appeared to revolve around Dumbledore.
For starters, the whole reason he was even living at the Dursley's in the first place was because of Dumbledore. Why was Dumbledore the one dictating where he went? Also, why didn’t he go with a magical family? There was absolutely no reason to keep him totally away from magic. Harry could understand to a point the reasoning of raising him away from fame, but he was certain Dumbledore could have found a better family than the Dursleys. Why does it matter if he is blood related to them or not? He could have gone with his godfather, and if Sirius had gotten the trial he deserved, he most likely would have. Even Remus would have been a better option, although he isn't familial in any way to Harry. So what if he was Dark creature? He was a much better candidate than the Dursleys, even if that wasn't a high bar to reach. Truthfully, literally anyone would have been better than the Dursleys.
Secondly, he fought Quirrelmort because Dumbledore decided to bring the stone to Hogwarts. Why did he bring it to Hogwarts, a place full of innocent children, if he knew someone was after it? Also, who makes a trap designed to stop the Dark Lord beatable by eleven year olds?
In Second Year, Ginny was taken because of Dumbledore's refusal to properly protect the students after the first petrification. Furthermore, why did he allow Gildory Lockhart to teach? Surely he knew the man was a fraud, and if he hadn't knows at the time of hiring him, Dumbledore definitely knew by the time he allowed Lockhart to try saving Ginny. That meant Dumbledore didn't actually care if Ginny lived or died, but for what reason? She was a child for Merlin's sake. If Dumbledore was as smart as he said he was, then Lockhart would have never been allowed to set foot in the school. It had been obvious Gilderoy was incapable since day one.
As for Third Year, all of those events never could of possibly happened if Dumbledore had used his position of Head of the Wizagmont to get Sirius the trial he deserved. It would have been a simple fix, but a fix Dumbledore didn't seem to want at all.
Fourth Year just shouldn’t have happened. There was a reason the Triwizard Tournament was discontinued, and Harry knew it had been Dumbledore who originally suggested restarting the tradition. Also, Dumbledore totally could have pulled him out of the Tournament if he truly wanted. According to the written rules of the Tournament, the participants must be willing and of age. Harry was neither. If Harry had refused to participate in any of the trials, nothing bad would have happened to him because the Goblet would have deemed him an invalid participant. Yet, for some reason, Dumbledore, who probably knew this, had neglected to mention it to Harry.
As he thought more and more about Dumbledore's involvement surrounding everything, it was becoming harder to ignore how Dumbledore seemed to be the root cause of most of problems Harry had to fix. Another thing he had been thinking about were his friends, mainly Ron and Hermione. While he was grateful that they had stood by him for quite some time, he was starting to doubt whether they had ever really 'stood by him'. They only really ever seemed to want to be near him when he was on some grandiose adventure.
Ron literally abandoned him this year and only came back when Harry was no longer hated by everyone. Hermione tried to be neutral, but she spent a much more time with Ron instead of him. Whenever Harry wanted to talk or hang out like normal friends did, they both never seem interested, and this had been an increasing trend ever since first year. Originally, they would agree to some of his requests, like asking Ron to play chess or talking to Hermione about something that happened in class. Now, it seemed that Ron always had a reason he needed to be somewhere else and Hermione always had something to do in the library. If they ever did, for some mysterious reason, stick around, they only ever talked about Voldemort or something of that nature. It could never be a conversation about something menial anymore.
That wasn't the main issue though. The main issue was the things they said about him behind his back. Some of the things he had heard first hand and others were just rumors, but either way they hurt. He remembers hearing Ron call him a selfish, stuck-up prick whose head is diluted with fame he doesn’t deserve. Hermione isn't one for gossiping much, but he has heard her make comments on how ‘if she were the one to face Voldemort or go through this certain situation Harry has been in, everything would have turned out better.’
While it hurts to say it, Harry thought that his first two friends, his only friends really, weren't really his friends. This revelation made Harry come to the understanding that he was truly alone. Who had ever actually cared for his well being without an ulterior motive? Certainly not the Dursleys. Not his 'friends'. Not Dumbledore. He would like to say Sirius, but where had Sirius been? They exchanged a few letters over the course of 4th year, but where have those letters been now? Sirius hadn't sent him a letter since the end of the school year. And what about Sirius’s promise to invite him over during the summer? What happened to that? There was no one there for him, so why should he be there for them? Why should he continue to be the ‘Golden Boy’ or the ‘Savior’? They always took everything he had done for them for granted.
Due to all of his thinking, Harry had decided he was finally going to be himself. He didn't care about who he was supposed to be. He was going to be Harry now. Just Harry. Not the Boy-Who-Lived or whatever title the Prophet has bestowed upon him now. Just. Harry.
Suddenly, the sound of a large group laughing broke him out of his thoughts. Aunt Petunia’s chore list had been shorter than usual today, probably because she wanted him out of the house on the hottest day of the year. Because of this, Harry had taken refuge on a swing-set on the neighborhood playground. He didn't know how long he had just been sitting on the swings, though it must have been quite a while because the sun was a great deal lower in the sky than he last remembered.
A moment later, big feet entered his line of vision from where he had been looking downward. Harry looked up to see Dudley and his gang, Piers Polkiss, Dennis, Malcom and another boy Harry didn’t remember the name of. They were all standing in front of him, trying to look intimidating, but miserably failing.
"What do you want, Dudley?” Harry said in a tired voice.
He hadn’t gotten a proper night's rest since Cedric’s death.
“The gang and I were feeling a bit bored and decided we wanted some punching practice. Luckily for us, a punching bag seems to be right here in front of us,” Dudley responded while cracking his knuckles.
Harry was supposed to be a normal person. The sight of Dudleys large size and the large group should have been a bit scary for him, but Harry had literally faced what was called the ‘greatest evil of all time’ multiple times. Dudley was going to have to try a bit harder than that to actually phase him.
“Fuck off. I’m not in the mood right now,” was all he could say.
“What did you say to me, you freak?,” Dudley snarled, "You think you can say no to me? You are powerless here. You can’t use that thing outside of school."
His gang looked a bit confused at the mention of a ‘thing’ but decided to just follow their leader like good little lambs.
“I really don’t care about what you say, Ickle Dudleykins. I’m not in the mood.”
Dudley's friends chuckled a bit at the name Harry had called Dudley before abruptly stopping, realizing that they were supposed to stand by their leader. Meanwhile, Dudley’s face turned a funny shade of red. It was like a pig who had put on blush several shades too dark. Harry didn’t know if edging Dudley on was a great idea, especially since he really was powerless at the moment, but he really didn’t care. If things went south, he could always just run.
“P-potter!” Dudley sputtered out in outrage, “At least I have a mum! Where’s your mummy, huh? Is the bitch dead? Is she dead? Poor Harry Potter, crying for his dead mum at night. Or are you screaming for your dead boyfriend? ‘Don’t kill Cedric!’ I’m sure he died just so he wouldn’t have to deal with you, just like your parents!”
Normally, Harry’s anger would have ignited rapidly. He would have jumped at Dudley, pulling out his wand, not caring for the consequences at the mere mention of his mother or Cedric. Yet, Harry was so tired. The only emotion he could muster up was some amusement over how fragile Dudley's ego seemed to be.
“Wow, getting awfully defensive after one nickname. Got some insecurity issues there Dudley?” Harry asked.
Dudley seemed to be more outraged than before. He took a step toward Harry as though to hit him before Piers spoke up.
“Hey, is it just me or is it suddenly getting really cold here?”
That made Harry notice that yeah, it was getting really cold. Being the hottest day of the year, it should not be getting this cold. There was a definite chill in the air and Harry found himself wishing for a jacket. Something was wrong. The temperature was continuously dropping and Harry could only equate this feeling to that of Dementors, but that was crazy, right? Shouldn’t they be at Azkaban?
“Potter, is this you're doing?” Dudley whispered a tad bit fearfully.
“No, but I think I know what it is, and that means we should definitely be running,” Harry responded.
He didn’t like his cousin or his group, but he wasn't cruel enough to leave them to Dementors. Now though, it would be up to Dudley to follow his advice because he started sprinting away from the park as fast as he could. He had warned Dudley enough. That boys fate was in his own hands, just as Harry's fate was now in his own hands. It was getting colder still, and Harry knew he had to run as fast as he could.
Distantly, Harry heard Dudley and his group start running as well, but they went in the opposite direction of Harry, possibly to Malcolm's house since Harry knew it was closer than the Dursley residence. If Harry was on the smallest bit of friendly terms with Malcom, he would have ran there as well, but Malcom hated him, just like everyone surrounding Dudley did. That left Harry no other sanctuary than the Dursley's, which was a sad thought in itself.
He was running under the bridge that connected to the Dursley's street when he saw them. Two Dementors. Their bodies, clothed in dark cloaks, were floating several feet up in the air. Their mouths were wide open and they were rushing straight to Harry, ready to take his soul.
The temperature was now frigid and if Harry hadn’t gone through as much trauma as he had, he would have been frozen in fear. However, Harry had been through a lot and that is what allowed him to keep enough thought to draw his wand before the creatures got to him. With his wand in hand, Harry shouted out the Patronus Charm as loud as he could while pushing all the magic he had into the spell.
First try, he was able to conjure his fathers stag. The marvelous creature shot out of Harry’s wand and ran antlers first at the Dementors. Immediately, the Dementors were chased away, and Harry watched as they retreated back to wherever they came from.
“Well, shit,” Harry said out loud in a ‘what can you do’ sort of matter.
He had just performed magic outside of school.