"The thing that really gets me is how easy it would have been to get Petunia and Vernon to treat me a little better. And I'm not talking about anything like a compulsion or Imperious charm to treat me better. After all, it only took one letter addressed to 'the cupboard under the stairs' for them to get terrified that someone would find out about how they had been treating me. One letter and I was moved into Dudley's crappy second bedroom. One letter, that's all it took. All you had to do was let them know that there was someone out there who was going to be checking up on me. Someone who cared to see that I was treated well and not made to do all the cooking and cleaning while my pig of a cousin lolled around. Perhaps it would have even stopped them from locking me in that damn cupboard after every little bit of accidental magic, and the endless verbal abuse, being called a freak and a burden. All you had to do was let them know that there was someone who would hold them accountable for their treatment of me. That's all, and you couldn't even be bothered to do that," sneered Harry.
"Harry, I know I failed you but..."
"No, that's not all you did. Perhaps, I should explain why I was laughing," said Harry. "You see Dumbledore, here I was listening to you, explaining about how much you loved me and all the other bullshit you were spewing. I was getting angrier and angrier and I was actually fantasising about wreaking a painful revenge upon you when a thought suddenly popped into my mind..." He stopped and looked at Dumbledore expectantly.
"What thought was that Harry," asked Dumbledore knowing that Harry was waiting for him to ask.
"I suddenly thought - What if the prophecy was true? Now, there is just so much wrong with that prophecy that I could probably spend hours picking holes in it. Everything from how my parents defied Voldemort a lot more than three times..."
Dumbledore interrupted Harry "No Harry, I am absolutely certain that your parents fought Voldemort only on three occasions. Each time barely escaping with their lives"
Harry gave Dumbledore a withering look - "You don't have to face someone in battle in order to defy them. My father was a pureblood who married a muggleborn. Every day he remained married to her was a day in which he defied Voldemort and everything Voldemort stood for. For that matter every single day my mother lived as a witch, every single spell she cast was in direct defiance to Voldemort and his views on blood purity. I would say that counts as a lot more than three times. But like I was saying - everything from that to that rubbish phrase 'neither can live while the other survives' - I mean, really, what sense does that make? I'm living and so is he. I could go on and on but it suddenly occurred to me - What if? What if the prophecy is true and I am really the only one that can defeat Voldemort? That's when I realised; I don't have to do anything to you. Your own actions have already condemned you and wreaked a far better revenge than I could ever do. That's what I found so funny and that's why I was laughing."
Harry sat back and grinned in satisfaction at the look on Dumbledore's face.
"You see professor, thanks to you I grew up in the muggle world. Thanks to you, I only lived in the British Magical world for four years. Most of that time was spent at your school where let's face it - in between the constant assassination attempts, teachers like Snape, students like Malfoy, other students accusing me of being a dark lord who makes it a habit of going around petrifying muggleborns to half the school proudly wearing badges that showed exactly what they thought of me... Let's just say I don't have the fondest memories of Hogwarts or its students. As far as actual magical society, well, I never really experienced that apart from the few weeks when I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron. I have absolutely no ties of any sort to magical Britain."
"So, thanks to you and the Dursleys, I have no fond memories of muggle Britain and I barely even qualified as a tourist in Magical Britain. Now, what makes you think I have any intention or reason to fight Voldemort? As far as I'm concerned, he's welcome to Britain. May he choke on it."
Dumbledore was stunned. His plans had just crumbled to dust and blown away in the wind. He would never have believed in a million years that Harry Potter would refuse to do his duty. Not him, not Harry. How could he have been so wrong? How could he persuade Harry to fight Voldemort? How?
"Harry, I...I refuse to believe that you truly believe that. You, the boy who was willing to face a basilisk to save someone he barely knew. No, there is no way you would condemn so many innocents to suffer under Voldemort's reign."
Harry gave Dumbledore a puzzled look. "What innocents are you talking about? Even though I no longer live there, it's not as if I've totally ignored the events that have happened in Britain. I know that most if not all of the people that would have suffered under Voldemort - the muggle borns and the half bloods, left Britain years ago. Hell, anyone with half a brain left Britain and the rest...well the rest made their choice. They can live with it."
"But Harry, you must see..."
"Professor, even if I had stayed in Britain, I sincerely doubt that I would have bothered to fight Voldemort. Well, I might have done it just for a desire for revenge...to get justice for my parents if nothing else..."
"Yes...yes...your parents," said Dumbledore, eagerly snapping at that point. "Would they not want you to fight Voldemort, Harry? They were among his most adamant opponents and..."
"And they died," interrupted Harry. "Frankly, I don't think they would have too much of a problem with my actions. I like to think my parents would have been more concerned with the fact that I'm leading a happy and healthy life as compared to embarking on a pointless and dangerous quest for revenge."
Harry smiled ruefully. "You know professor; it took a lot of therapy for me to believe that way about revenge and Voldemort. My therapist, who I had to tell that my parents were murdered during a robbery, was especially fond of the saying - 'When you first seek revenge - Dig two graves'. Have you ever heard that one?"
"Yes, but...therapy? Really?" said Dumbledore looking extremely puzzled.
"There is another one that I prefer - 'If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by'."
"I'm not quite sure...," said a confused Dumbledore.
...
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.