"Harry Potter Makes His Own Destiny"

Chapter 1 "The Final Straw"

A birthday is a special time in a child's life, well for most children. Harry Potter was different. It would be more accurate to say he was treated different. He lived with his Aunt and Uncle and their brat. He had no choice in the matter, they had taken him in after his parents died. They always treated him like something that should be scraped off their shoes. Today, he had promised himself things would change. If he must live with this treatment, he would finally know why. They would have to justify their actions to him if they expected him to tolerate one more day of this abuse.

”Why didn't you just send me to an orphanage!” Harry yelled at his uncle Vernon. Harry couldn't understand why his aunt, uncle and cousin hated him so. If they didn't want him around why did they take him in when his parents were killed in the car crash?

Harry wasn't always fighting with his relatives, but sometimes it became too much for him to take. At seven years old, Harry was small for his age, so he tried to not cause trouble, although sometimes he just had to try and stand up for himself, even if unsuccessful.

His cousin had just walked up to Harry and punched him in the gut knocking him to the ground right in front of his aunt and uncle. ”Good boy Dudley, put people in their place and they will learn to respect you.”

But Harry never did learn, he refused, he knew he never did anything to deserve what happened to him. Not even the weird things that sometimes happen around him should warrant this sort of treatment. There were times like this one when he had to speak out. On the verge of tears, he asked the one question he always wondered but was afraid to ask.

"It was your Aunt Petunia's idea," Vernon yelled back. "A FRIEND of your mothers requested we take you in, I still don't know why, but if I had known what a troublesome little brat you were going to be I would have said ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"Troublesome?" Harry yelled back as he started to sob, "When have I ever been trouble? I do all the chores around here while Dudley sits on his fat arse. Because of him I can't have any friends at school. Because he needs a second bedroom for all the junk he breaks. I'm crammed into the cupboard under the stairs. I never get any new clothes like the other kids. The cat next door gets more to eat than me!"

Vernon had started to turn red and curled up his large fist with anger. Without even realizing what he was doing, Uncle Vernon backhanded Harry. The boy still sitting on the floor, he had no way to balance himself and he ended up hitting is head on the hardwood floor. Harry was stunned if not a little dazed. Vernon had never hit him before, he slapped him around but never actually hit him. Vernon stood there for a minute, white as a sheet, jaw gapping at what he had done. He pulled himself together, burying any sympathy for Harry. Vernon allowed his anger to well up again. ”Next time remember your place here and be quiet!” He poked at Harry's chest with a fat finger then stomped off.

The enormousness of his situation was too much so he really started to cry then. No boy his age or any age should go through this and he didn't know what to do. He looked to his aunt who appeared shocked, but she just quickly turned away without a word, which made Harry cry harder. His mother's sister wouldn't even help him. He had heard that blood was supposed to mean something but apparently not for him. Well, for the first time Uncle Vernon had given Harry something on his birthday. Now all he could think of was finding a way to give it back.