Dumbledore was staring at the boy who he had sought for years. Harry Potter was currently sitting across a table from him and was laughing his head off. Every once in a while he would stop laughing take a look at Dumbledore's face and would start laughing again. Needless to say Dumbledore was a bit worried. Poor Harry had not taken the news of his destiny well. No doubt, the boy had cracked under the strain caused by Dumbledore's revelations.
Unfortunately, there was not much he could do. The restrictions that Harry had placed on him meant that if he cast as much as a calming charm on Harry then the wards would immediately expel him from the house. He could do nothing but stare at Harry's laughing face and wait for him to stop.
It probably took only a few minutes for Harry to stop laughing but it felt like forever to Dumbledore. Eventually though Harry's laughter finally petered off and he straightened up, wiping tears from his face.
"Sorry, sorry, I just couldn't help it," said the boy as he let out a few more chuckles.
"Are you okay?" asked Dumbledore worriedly. "Perhaps a glass of water...?"
"No, no, I'm fine," said Harry. "I just had a funny thought..."
"What did you find so funny Harry? After all, we were discussing an extremely serious topic."
Harry sobered up a bit and stared at Dumbledore. "Yes, yes we were and the thing is...Well, most of what you told me got me really angry. You have no idea how many times you were close to getting hexed. Just that remark about the ten dark and difficult years..."
Harry stopped and shook his head. He held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger held just millimetres apart. "I was this close to tossing you out that window right there when you said that."
Dumbledore was bewildered. "Why did that upset you so much Harry? You were too young to remember living in the magical world. You could not have missed what you did not remember so... I mean, even now you choose to live in the muggle world. Surely it could not be as bad as I imagine."
Harry looked at Dumbledore as if he was crazy. "Is that what you meant by dark and terrible? Living in the muggle world?"
"Why yes. Of course," said Dumbledore. "Living without the warmth and life of magic surrounding you, in the cold sterile muggle world. I know it must have been absolutely terrible but..."
"Are you bloody crazy..." exploded Harry. "I wasn't talking about living without magic. I was talking about the bloody Dursleys. You...you went on about how closely you watched me...You knew that my aunt didn't want me. Surely you knew about how they treated me?"
"When I said I watched you closely, I was talking about your years at Hogwarts. Before that...I did have someone watching you but they assured me that you were healthy and relatively happy."
"Really?" asked Harry. "Who exactly was this delusional person?"
"An acquaintance of mine who lived quite close to Privet Drive. A squib by the name of Mrs Figg, she assured me..."
"THE CRAZY OLD CAT LADY?" shouted Harry. "That's who you relied upon to make sure I was well taken care off. No bloody wonder! What is with you and the incompetents you seem to rely on for everything?"
Dumbledore started to say something but before he could get more than a couple of words out he was interrupted by Harry.
"Let me tell you something about the Dursleys," said Harry. "Have you ever been inside their house? Do you know how many bedrooms they had?"
"Well, the last time I was there was the night you disappeared, that was ten years ago, so I don't recall the exact number but it seemed to be a reasonably large house..."
"They had four. Four bedrooms! One for Petunia and Vernon, one Guest bedroom and two...two bedrooms for Dudley. So where do you suppose they made me sleep? Which was my room?"
Dumbledore was once again stricken dumb. He had no idea what Harry was talking about. If the Dursley family had lived in a house with four bedrooms why would they have not given one to Harry? Where could Harry have slept? Aah but of course...
"Then I assume they made you and your cousin share a room. Surely this was not such a great hardship..."
"WRONG!" yelled Harry. "Don't you ever listen. I already told you Dudley had two bedrooms. Do you know where they made me sleep? Do you? In the cupboard under the frigging stairs. That's where."
"What? A cupboard? But...But...Harry I assure you I had no idea..."
"Stop bloody lying to me... .My Hogwarts letter was even addressed to the 'The Cupboard under the stairs'. Don't you dare sit there and claim that you never knew anything about it."
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