Light in the Dark

And so our Story Begins

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Welcome back my darlings, ready for the real story to begin? Then let us continue. This is the story of a young boy, who was born special. And while his life may not always be happiness and laughter, he would still shine brighter than any star in the night sky. This boy's name is Hadrian, or rather Harry Potter...

For as long as he could remember, he has always lived in this tiny cupboard, locked in most of the time. Only allowed out to cook and clean, to perform grueling and impossible chores to the amusement of his relatives, punished if he messes up or fails to complete them, and sometimes, for no reason at all. The only thing he owns that is truly his, is only a baby blanket that is now a faded grayish blue with his name sewn into it. It was still very soft and warm, hidden in a loose floorboard under his cot. His cupboard space was shared with cleaning supplies and other dangerous chemicals, a small pile of old worn hand me down clothes, a hard lumpy pillow and a threadbare blanket.

He used to wonder why he was there, why his aunt and uncle never sent him away even though they so obviously did not want him. But then he asked one day and received a beating so terrible he had to be taken to a free clinic to get his bones reset after his uncle had broken them. He was told never to ask questions, to do as he was told, to never speak unless spoken too. He also didn't know his own name until he went to school, where he learned to read and write. He honestly had thought it was Freak, since that is what his relatives called him.

It had worried his teacher, who came over to the house to speak with his Aunt and Uncle. He doesn't know what they said, but they seemed to have convinced her that he was joking about his name being Freak. And after she had left, his Uncle had beaten him black and blue, broken several of his bones and he missed a week of school because he was locked in his cupboard, left to rot. He got more and more punishments as time passed, if he got better grades than this cousin, spoke about how he was treated at 'home' or if he asked questions.

He also got punished for things that happened. Like one time his aunt shaved all his hair off, leaving only his bangs to cover his scar. He had hated it so much, cried well into the night, but the next morning his hair had grown back and his aunt had screamed in hysterics. Another was when his cousin and his gang were chasing him at school. He had only wanted to jump behind the dumpster to hide, but suddenly he ended up on the roof of the lunchroom. The principal had to call the Fire Department to get him down, though they were clueless as to how he got up there. He had suggested magic and got beat so badly he missed an entire month of school for it.

His Uncle told him constantly to behave, to not do anything freaky. And he believed he was a freak because his Aunt, Uncle and cousin couldn't do what he did. None of their neighbors could either. He honestly tried to be normal, to be good, but no matter what, he was never good enough. He sighed, today was the 14th day he spent in his cupboard, his stomach was no longer growling, demanding food that would never come, after his latest bout of freakishness.

The Dursley family had gone to the Zoo for Dudley's birthday and had to bring him along since they didn't want to leave him home alone and his usual sitter had previously broken her leg tripping over one of her too many cats. It had been a good day, he cooked breakfast perfectly, his aunt even made him 2 PB&J sandwiches, on soft fresh bread too! The only reason he got them was so his 'family' did not have to waste money on him at any of the restaurants that Dudley may have wanted to go to, but he didn't care! It was the first meal he could remember enjoying outside of his school lunches, when Dudley didn't steal them!

It was also his first ever trip somewhere! The animals all amazed him and when he waved or spoke to them, they reacted or attempted to wave back! They had even gone to the reptile house and he spoke to a snake, who talked back! But then his cousin had shoved him and suddenly the glass on the snake's cage vanished and Dudley fell in, while the snake climbed out and escaped. When they got home, he was beaten to within an inch of his life and left to rot for two weeks in his cupboard.