Meanwhile, the bickering ceased and the glare evaporating from Hermione's face, while Theo's smirk disappeared, replaced by a look of unmistakable horror.
"What are you talking about...?" Theo whispered.
"He never died," Harry said, "He's probably waiting out there somewhere, until he's powerful enough again..."
They both looked very alarmed.
"And then he'll come back to finish what he couldn't do ten years ago."
Both of his friends looked very pale at that.
"Harry," Hermione began shakily, "How could you possibly know that?"
Yes Harry, how could you possibly know that? You stupid, reckless little boy. Maybe you did belong in Gryffindor.
"Because," Harry began tentatively, "My scar hurts. It burns, sometimes, like fire in my head. I've been doing some reading, and...it's a curse scar, you see...it's got dark magic in it, and it still hurts me. That means the dark magic in it is still active, and that means -"
"That the one who cast it is still alive," Theo finished for him.
Take that, Tom. He had a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Harry nodded. "I don't know how much time I have. So I need to learn, Hermione, everything I can. Light, dark, it doesn't matter. What matters is how you use it. And I just want to protect myself."
Hermione shook her head. "But Harry, what about the teachers? What about Professor Dumbledore? Surely they'll protect you!"
Harry scowled reflexively, at that.
"What's that look for!?"
"They never helped before. I don't trust them," he blurted out.
Theo frowned. "What do you mean, they never helped before?"
Yet another hole for you to dig yourself out of.
"I - nothing. Just...adults miss things. They think they always know what's best, but they don't. And I might be safe here at Hogwarts, but when I leave, I'm on my own."
"But what about your family?" cried Hermione.
Harry laughed a bit, at that. "I'm pretty sure they'd hand me over to Lord Voldemort themselves."
Hermione looked extremely alarmed at that. "Harry -"
"I'm just kidding, it's ok. They just don't like me much."
Hermione looked a bit unsure. "If you say so..."
"Anyway," he said, ignoring Theo's calculating stare, "I want to be able to protect myself, and Lord Voldemort won't try to kill me with a tickling charm. At least, I don't think so. That would actually be pretty cruel, now that I think of it...death by self-imposed suffocation, I guess it would be?"
"Harry! Don't joke like that."
He frowned. "I'm not joking. I'm completely serious."
Both of his friends grimaced at that.
"But what I mean to say is...I just want to stay alive. So...don't think poorly of me, because of it. Please."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't think poorly of you, Harry. But I'm worried about you, and I can't let you practice the dark arts! You could hurt yourself, or someone else. It's wrong, and it's not safe."
"Hermione..."
"And if I catch you doing it, I'll have to tell a teacher."
A very sad look came over Harry's face, but beside him, Theo bristled.
"No you won't, you filthy little mu-!"
Harry's hand shot over to squeeze Theo's arm in warning, silencing the other boy.
"Alright, Hermione, I understand. Either way, we should head back now, it's getting late," he said, eager to escape that particular conversation.
Eager to avoid detention, Hermione had, thankfully, agreed.
Once Harry and Theo had parted ways with her, Theo spoke up.
"They're muggles, aren't they? The family you live with, that you never want to talk about."
Harry nodded slowly, risking a glance at his friend..
A troubled look came over Theo's face. "My dad used to tell me about the terrible things muggles do to witches and wizards. He told me about how cruelly magical children are treated in muggle orphanages. He never did tell me how he knew all that, so I figured he was just trying to scare me."
Harry looked away.
"But he wasn't, was he? These muggles of yours, they don't treat you well, do they?"
"They hate me," replied Harry simply.
Theo scowled. "You shouldn't have to live with people who hate you."
Harry shrugged. "It's better than an orphanage, I think. I have my own bedroom, and a bed."
Theo sent him a withering stare. "That's not saying much, Harry."
"It's really not so bad. I usually get to eat three meals, and if I'm tired or want to be alone, I can just do something that will get me locked away, because being locked away means I don't have to do any chores. "
"You get locked away?"
Harry didn't know why Theo sounded so surprised. Tom got locked away too, when he was young, so Harry knew it wasn't all that unusual. What did people call it - a time-out? Though...the Notts were purebloods, and he'd gathered that pureblood children tended to have more in common with Dudley than with him. Now that he thought of it, Theo was probably one of those kids never got hit by their parents, and got to eat whenever he wanted without doing chores first. Yes, Theo probably would not understand at all.
"I really don't mind it...I used to be scared of them, but now...they're scared of me. And if I really need something, they'll do what I want them to."
"Then why don't you make them give you more food!"
Harry flinched a bit. He wasn't that thin."I can't ask for too much, or they'll send me to an orphanage. It's simple strategic thinking, really. After all, you can only use a threat so many times before it become idle," he added on, quoting Tom.
Theo shook his head. "That's messed up."
Harry scowled at him. Honestly, kids can be so naive. "That's life."
The two boys fell silent for a few minutes.
"Say," Theo said. "You mentioned threats. You said they're scared of you, but you used to be scared of them. What changed? How'd you manage it?"
Theo looked almost hopeful at the prospect, and though he didn't understand why his friend seemed so excited at the idea, he was pleased to be an encouragement, and a small smile crept onto his face.
"Well, magic."
"Magic?"
"When I was eight, I started learning to do things, you know? Like making things blow up, or disappear, or catch on fire."
Theo's eyes were wide.
"Didn't you do stuff like that?"
"Not on purpose, Harry."
"...oh. Well, anyway, I learnt all sorts of things, and then showed them, the muggles, and then they became scared of me."
Theo looked rather baffled, at this point. "You mean you can do magic without a wand?"
...
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