Unofficial Portkey Archive

An Effective Abstraction
By Muirnin Cocan

Chapter 001 - Accommodate

Upon reaching the boot of the pewter colored sedan, Harry waited patiently while his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his whale of a cousin Dudley caught up with him. Even after the various members of the Order of the Phoenix and his friends had said their piece to the Dursley's while they were still at Platform 9 ¾, their good intentions could not completely erase the uneasiness and hollowness Harry felt. Part of him however, truly enjoyed the outpouring of love and support; still it was not enough to ease the overwhelming sense of dread he had begun to experience, because all he wanted to do now was to get back to his room on Privet Drive and remain there until he was released from his yearly prison sentence.

None of his friends or members of the Order had a full understanding of what life with the Dursley's was like. Sure, they kept him under nourished, kept him inundated with a list of chores longer then the eye could see, but what they did not know was about the abuse.

For as long as Harry could remember, he had been violated and abused both physically and mentally by Vernon Dursley and his son Dudley. They had both found great pleasure in taking turns to break the 'freak' (as they called him) and to finding the amount of pain and agony they could issue upon the scrawny whelp of a boy.

His Aunt Petunia had seem to not notice beatings, instead turning a blind eye to the fact that there were times that his 'clumsiness' caused him to break his glasses or fracture an arm. Harry had often wondered how she could just not see what was going on, believing that there must be some small part of her that was as kind and loving as his mother, Lily had once been. There was some conciliation in the fact that Petunia no matter how angry she was never raised a hand to Harry. She yelled at him, scolding him for not doing a simple chore correctly or hollered at him to wake up when he had inadvertently overslept.

For the most part, Petunia Evans Dursley seemed to be indifferent to what went on around her. She had trained Harry to do a great number of different chores and jobs around her home held to her own high standards and was awarded with the well polished home she now enjoyed. Her pride and joy was her son Dudley and had an almost compulsive desire to please her husband Vernon. She never spoke of her childhood, her parents or her late sister. Her only concern was Vernon and Dudley.

As Harry watched them walk over towards him, he took note of the rage building within Vernon's facial features. His normal lightly flushed skin was now a ruddy puce and his eyes bulged in silent rage. Harry could see the upcoming storm brewing within his Uncle Vernon's face; again, he wanted nothing more then to find shelter within the confines of his small bedroom.

Uncle Vernon opened the boot with deliberate force then left Harry to handle the placement of his belongings. Harry had quickly opened up Hedwig's cage and let her out to fly back to Privet Drive, allowing him to store the large gage within the confines of the new sedan. He gently closed the boot lid and saw in astonishment that all three of the Dursleys had gotten into the car without making much of a spectacle. Taking his place into the back seat behind Uncle Vernon, he felt the engine start up and they began to make the slow passage through the car park; heading back home to Little Whinging in Surrey.

He caught a fleeting glance of his best friend Hermione Granger as she reached the elegant car that belonged to her parents. They had made eye contact quickly and Harry was rewarded with a tender smile and a final wave farewell before other traffic had separated them from view. He sighed quietly letting his hand stay upon the window of the car as he had returned her wave.

"So who is she? Your girlfriend?" Dudley asked in a quiet yet sneering contemptuous tone, startled Harry with his questioning.

"Just my best friend" Harry said quietly with a gentle smile, still staring out the window where Hermione had just been, to which he heard Dudley silently mutter a scathingly vicious slam about him being a 'poof' as well as a 'freak'. Harry ignored this remark instead dwelling on what Dudley had said before.

The idea of Hermione and being his girlfriend was something that he had never contemplated before. Not because he thought she was not girlfriend material, she was beyond anything he could ever dream of in a girlfriend. He would never want to lose her friendship, because to him there was nothing more important then her being in his life and after his rather unfortunately disastrous and short-lived relationship with Cho Chang, Harry found that he did not ever want to jeopardize what he had with Hermione. She was too important to him and he needed her far more then to cross that invisible line.

He could only dream of someday living long enough to have a girlfriend who was half the woman that his Hermione had become. No other female in Harry's life had even come close in comparison to what he saw or felt with Hermione.

In Harry's mind, he had come to some conclusions since hearing about the prophecy and why Tom Riddle wanted Harry dead. He currently did not feel like he would live long enough to ever experience what a real kiss should be like; nor would he ever have the option of finding a girlfriend who would like him for just who he was inside; or for just being able to live his life being Harry… Just Harry.

The car moved slowly along the English countryside as Harry leaned his head against the window next to where he sat. The silence in the car was deafening and this caused Harry to close his eyes and the gentle movement of the car drew his mind into an uneasy slumber.

He was back inside the Department of Mysteries and watched horrified, as Hermione had taken a hit from a curse thrown by a silenced Anton Dolohov, leaving her to slump to the ground. He relived his terrifying fear that she had been killed then his relief when Neville had found a pulse and knew she would be all right. His heart leapt for joy leaving his mind light headed when suddenly he saw the scenes within his memory change.

And Hermione's pitiful cries of "Harry save me."

Harry's head popped up, his heart pounding rapidly and he realized it was just a dream or was it. He knew some small part of what he had dreamed was real but why was Hermione included? Was it because he had been thinking about Hermione before he had drifted off to sleep? Was it because he had finally realized how important she was in his life? She had almost died because of him and that thought brought tears to his eyes, which he tried to hide.

Because of a damnable prophecy made before his birth by an abominable Divination Professor named Sibyll Trelawney, Harry Potter was now faced with what he believed an unbelievable situation. He had not the need to have as brilliant a mind as what Hermione possessed to comprehend that because of that prophetic utterance made more then sixteen years before, he had unwittingly become responsible for the deaths of not only his parents James and Lily Potter but also his beloved godfather Sirius Black.

He had very few memories of his parents Lily and James, what he did have came about because of Dementors or from pictures he had received of their life together. However, with Sirius, he had shared so many memories that ironically included Hermione Granger. Their shared memories included some that were bad and some that were very good, all of which were overshadowed by events that had happened just a few short days before.

Now in his grief and agony, he could only recall memories that were tragic and horrible images. His mind was plagued by the last few moments of Sirius Black's life and the torment and feelings towards the life that was lost of a brave and heroic man; his deep green eyes reflecting the sadness and sorrow that Harry felt of this tragic loss within his heart.

Now all that remained of the merry band of Marauders were his former Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Remus Lupin and the traitorous and presumably dead Peter Pettigrew - formerly the rat known as Scabbers. They along with Harry's father James Potter and his Godfather Sirius Black had caused mischief and mayhem during their time nearly 20 years previously at the very same school he currently attended with his two best friends Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jane Granger, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry silently cursed himself repeatedly for having saved the man's life from being killed by Remus and Sirius. Had he not done so and allowed the two men to kill Wormtail then the second of Trelawney's prophecies would not have come true causing the evilness known as Lord Voldemort to return in full force.

Despite what Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had said after the unfortunate incident at the Department of Mysteries, Harry bore a huge amount of agonizing guilt regarding the rebirth of Lord Voldemort. He had not only been the one who had saved Pettigrew's life, but also it had been his blood that had been used to help bring about the revivification of the man formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle.

As the sleek dark grey sedan made its way towards Privet Drive, Harry realized that his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were overly quiet on the ride home, as was Dudley. Aside from the comments, he had made early on in their trip from King's Cross Station he now sat with his massive body pressed as close to the car door, undoubtedly fearing that he would be Harry's next victim. Dudley had finally heard the whole story about the Triwizard cup outcome and about Cedric Diggory's death, he was positive he would be next. Dudley had quipped the previous summer that Cedric was Harry's boyfriend. Then the attack from the Dementors occurred and all thought of that incidental comment was wiped clean from Dudley's mind.

What torment Dudley's mind had suffered during the Dementor attack, Harry had no idea. Harry knew that the Dementors weapon was to suck the happiness out of you causing you to relive your worst memories. Harry was well aware of what memories he relived sadly enough but had no idea what possible memory could be so bad to Dudley other then being told to go on a diet.

As they pulled into the drive at Number 4 Privet Drive, the sight of the house was a welcome one to Harry. When the car came to a stop, he hurriedly jumped out to retrieve his belongings from the boot and head upstairs. Still nothing had been said to him by any of the Dursley's and he gratefully enclosed himself into his small sparse bedroom. Not bothering to unpack he lay back upon his small bed and closed his eyes trying to force the tears that were threatening again to cease.

"Harry? It's time for supper." Harry heard his Aunt Petunia's voice call to him through the bedroom door. He had no concept of how much time had past from when he had lain down and his aunt announcing dinner.

He quickly went and washed up then moved down to the dining room. His Uncle Vernon was already seated at the head of the table with Dudley next to him completely engrossed with a television program Harry did not recognize.

"You sit over here Harry." Aunt Petunia kindly said, directing him to a chair on her right side. Harry recalled that Aunt Marge had sat in same spot when she had been there 3 years previous.

"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry said quietly.

"Dudley and I are going to be going to Marge's for the next 3 weeks." Vernon announced to Harry. "Your Aunt Petunia has chosen to stay here to keep you out of trouble rather than be there with us in the country."

"Alright Uncle Vernon… if that is what you have decided." Harry quietly responded then added still in a quiet solemnity. "I really don't want to be an inconvenience to you Aunt Petunia. I'm sure that the Headmaster can arrange something so you can be with your family."

Petunia looked at Harry and saw sincerity in his eyes that she recognized. There was no disobedience in his tone or manner. He really did not want to be a burden to her or the family. She saw sadness amongst the shadows in his eyes.

"Actually it is all right Harry. I would prefer to stay here rather than go to Marge's home. Vernon and Dudley need a bit of father-son time as well. This is for the best." Aunt Petunia said directly to Harry, and then glanced over to Vernon making sure he understood everything she had said.

As they had finished their meal, Harry automatically got up from the table and began clearing the dishes. The startled look on Vernon's face showed that Harry had done this instinctively and not because it was forced upon him. After making sure that everything was cleaned up, Harry said good night and wandered back up the stairs.

He could hear his Uncle's voice saying "That was unexpected." Then heard his Aunt respond, "I am not sure what happened at that school of his this last term, but something has changed the boy. You can be sure I will find out exactly what has been going on there."

Shutting his bedroom door Harry laid back down upon his bed, not even bothering getting ready for bed and stared at the ceiling. As sleep took him, he began recalling the images he had seen earlier; replaying in his mind the last moments of his Godfather's life. He shot up out of bed when the dream ended the same way it had before with Hermione's pleas for help.

The clock on his desk showed that it was half past five in the morning. Going to his trunk, he pulled out clean clothes, then went and was showered and dressed for the day. Half-hour later, Harry went down stairs and put coffee on then began cooking breakfast for the family. He heard a noise in the hallway and realized that Aunt Petunia had gotten up. The eggs, toast and bacon were almost done so he poured a cup of coffee and held it out to his aunt.

"Breakfast will be ready momentarily Aunt Petunia." Harry said as he took a sip of his own cup of coffee.

Hedwig flew to the greenhouse window and sat on the ledge. Harry walked over to her and saw that she had a copy of the Daily Prophet for him. He gave her a bit of his toast and took the paper to the table. He saw her take wing to his bedroom window and disappear, most likely to get a long nap.

Internally he wanted to read the paper, to find out what else had happened in the Wizarding World, but knew that he would be yelled at for having such 'abnormality' in the house. Carefully he tucked the paper into his back pocket, went over to the stove, and finished preparing the morning meal.

"Your Uncle and Dudley will be leaving after breakfast," stated Aunt Petunia. "You know Harry, you did not have to get up so early to fix breakfast."

"I know, but I felt that I needed to do something to help out." Harry said sadly.

He could hear Uncle Vernon and Dudley coming down the stairs and by the sounds they were making they had their luggage with them. Harry got up and began plating the food for them so it would be waiting at their seats. Vernon and Dudley looked mildly surprised at seeing Harry serving their breakfast. Vernon walked over and kissed his wife upon the cheek. "Good morning dear."

"Good morning, you boys all packed and ready to go today?" Petunia said cheerfully.

"I don't know why we have to go so early." Dudley grumbled as he began eating his eggs.

"As I told you last night Dudders, it's so your father can beat the traffic."

Harry had poured himself another cup of coffee, and then refilled his aunts and uncle's cups. He then turned to Dudley and asked him if he would like a cup as well. Dudley stared at him and told him "No, I don't need coffee."

"When did you start drinking coffee Harry?" Uncle Vernon asked suspiciously.

"This past year at my school er… we were doing a great deal of late night studying for our um… exams." Harry stammered, trying desperately not to say anything in a magical sense to his uncle.

"Did you do well on your exams?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"We won't get our OWL… er… um exam results until middle of the month." Harry said, mentally scolding himself for saying OWL.

"Oh yes, I remember your mother saying something about the exams at the end of 5th year." Petunia remarked giving a warning looks at Vernon. "How do you think you did?"

"Umm, all right I suppose." Harry said slightly fidgeting. "We had to take them over two weeks… I think my best friend Hermione will get top marks for our year."

"Which one was she?" Vernon said suddenly.

"She's the one that was hugging Harry as we left." Dudley said between mouthfuls. Harry was suddenly reminded of Ron at the way he would talk and eat.

"She seems like a nice girl. What do her parents do?" Petunia said.

"Dentists. They were there at the station." Harry added.

Vernon looked mildly shocked at this announcement. "Dentists?"

"Yes, I'm not sure where their practice is, I think it is somewhere near London. They do quite well from what I understand."

"Really…" Vernon said then muttered, "didn't know your kind had dentists…"

"Hermione is Muggleborn." Harry muttered hoping that only Uncle Vernon had heard this.

"Perhaps you would like Hermione to visit this summer." Petunia asked.

Harry stared at his aunt in disbelief. Had she actually offered Harry a visit from one of his friends? "Umm that would be nice." He quickly got up from the table and began clearing things away. He could hear Uncle Vernon say something about "Look at the time… best be off Dudders." Then a great bustling as the Dursleys made their way into the hall and out to the car.

Clearing the remaining plates from the table he brushed the scrapes into a container to take up to Hedwig then began washing the dishes and pans. When Petunia had returned Harry could see that she had been a bit teary eyed.

"Aunt Petunia, you really didn't need to stay on my account. I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore could have arranged something for me… or I could have stayed at Mrs. Figg's house." Harry said.

"Actually Harry, you know how I am about the dogs… I really cannot stand the beasts. This is for the best, you have your protection and I can stay away from the 12 dogs at Marge's." Harry was positive that he saw his aunt cringe at the sight of being around 12 dogs all of which were just like Ripper.

"Oh… I hadn't thought about that."

"Now, one thing I want to make clear to you." Petunia said motioning Harry to sit down at the table with her, "I want you to feel comfortable while you're here. I understand that you may not feel comfortable talking to me given the way things have been since you started to live here and I will try to get over my own issues with your kind… I mean the W-wizarding World."

"Ok then… um… I'm going to take these scraps up to Hedwig then I'll go work in the garden." He said quickly quite uncomfortable at the changes around the house.

The old garden had been cared for by hired gardeners while Harry had been away at school, but even with his novice eye, he could tell that it had not been well kept. He quickly had gotten some hand tools out of the garden shed and set about working with the fragrant colorful roses.

A couple of hours had passed when Petunia had come out to check on his progress; quite surprised to find how well Harry had done with the garden. She had taken pride for many years over the beautiful garden; its stunning quality being one of the main reasons she and Vernon had bought this particular house nearly two decades before.

"Y-you work quite well with your hands Harry" Petunia stuttered with apprehension. After the earlier conversation that she had with Harry she had become uncomfortable herself at normal conversation.

Harry looked up into his aunt's horse-like face, the sun blazing low behind her. "Oh… thank you Aunt Petunia. I am curious about something." He said as he stood up and wiped his dirt-covered hands off on his worn out oversized denim trousers.

"W-what is that H-Harry?" She said handing him a glass of iced tea.

"Thank you" he responded taking the glass. "You and Uncle Vernon have hired gardener's over the years to take care of the yard and garden while I have been away at Ho… er… school, correct?"

"Y-yes, we hired the same company that has taken care of a number of the neighbors here. Why?" Petunia said sitting down on the wrought iron garden bench.

Harry took a long sip of the refreshing iced tea and then looked at his aunt, "I think they may be having one over on you… you may be over paying them."

"Why do you say that Harry? How would you know how much we are paying them?" Petunia said defensively.

"I study Herbology at school. It is not one of my better subjects but I have learned a few things about plants. Professor Sprout… uh… she's my Herbology instructor, has an amazing amount of greenhouses that are on our school grounds. Besides all of the different plants that we have to learn about for our er… other studies." He still found it uncomfortable speaking about the Wizarding world to his aunt and was trying to edit his own vocabulary to exclude all mention of what she had always termed his abnormality. It was not lost on him that he could tell Aunt Petunia was just as uncomfortable having a conversation with Harry. "She has an exquisite assortment of flora. My friend Neville has been helping her with the greenhouses and he is quite an exceptional gardener. He told me about some of the different diseases and infestations that he has had to help her treat some of the flowers."

Harry went on to explain about aphids as well as other indications of trouble with the roses that he had seen.

"You certainly have learned quite a lot about plants haven't you." Petunia said.

"I'm no where as good as Neville is, he's probably the best in our year." Harry said taking another long drink from his glass. "I want to apologize to you for any inconvenience that my living here has caused you and Uncle Vernon. I know that you don't like having me here."

Petunia looked at her nephew and saw a deep sadness radiating from his deep green eyes. "You have your mother's eyes… did you know that Harry?"

He chuckled slightly and said, "Yeah, I get that all the time. 'You look so much like James but you have Lily's eyes.' I only have a few pictures of them that were given to me by Hagrid when I left after…" he sighed, "Sorry. I know you don't want to hear about my school or anything. I don't want to make you anymore uncomfortable."

"Actually Harry, I will admit that hearing about all of that is a bit unsettling. However, you are a part of this family no matter what Vernon may say. I see a lot of my father in you… He and Lily used to always work together in the gardens back home even before she got her letter. In some ways… it was that closeness to Papa that began causing me to be jealous of her. She was always the pretty one, the smart one, she had all the talent." Petunia said wringing her hands slightly. "I've actually enjoyed talking to you just now. Dudley doesn't tell me all that he is getting on with these days, and it is nice to know that there is some things that I can actually talk to you about… like the garden."

"I understand what you must have gone through growing up with my Mum." Harry said with a knowing that came from growing up close to someone who had been showcased, while he had been locked away in a cupboard under the stairs.

As she turned and looked at her nephew she caught a glint of the sadness again, Petunia cautiously took hold of one of Harry's hands and held it. "Yes, I know you do understand. Harry, what is causing the sadness that I see in your eyes? Is it just because you are here with us or is there something else?"

Harry's hand started to tremble slightly with the emotion he had been bottling up inside of him. Petunia held tightly not wanting to let him go. She could see tears beginning to threaten those startling green eyes and quite suddenly, for the first time in his life she wrapped an arm around Harry and gave him a comforting hug. She could feel him stiffen beneath her touch.

Very softly she spoke again, "I know I have not been the mother that Lily would have been… but while it is just you and I here I will try and treat you more like the son that I should have all these years."

"I'm sorry to be such a burden to you and Uncle Vernon…" Harry said.

"Nonsense, honestly Harry, I know it is going to take us some time to get away from the past. I want to help you… talk to me… I know something happened to you this last year at school… I want you to talk to me and tell me what happened." Petunia said not letting him go from her embrace.

"I don't want anyone else to die because of me," whispered Harry tears starting to fall upon his cheeks.

"Come inside along Harry, we need to have a long talk." Petunia said showing more strength than Harry thought possible as she pulled him along with her by the hand.

After suggesting that Harry go and get cleaned up she fixed them a bite to eat and then sat down with him in the lounge.

"I know this will be difficult for you to talk about… I will admit that it will be hard for me to hear, however, I need to know what has been going on at that school of yours. From what it sounded like when you spoke to us last summer… It sounds like someone is trying to kill you."

"Lord Voldemort… he's the one that is trying to kill me… still trying to kill me that is." Harry said pointedly.

"Who died Harry? You said in the garden you didn't want anyone else to die because of you… what or whom did you mean?" Petunia's voice was a bit shaken speaking of death.

"When I was taking my History of Magic written exam I fell asleep… and Voldemort… he showed me my godfather being tortured…"

"What do you mean he showed you?"

Harry began explaining to her about how he was supposed to learn Occlumency to block Voldemort from his mind. He then began telling his aunt all about what had happened to him since the Dementors had attacked him and Dudley.

He spoke quite candidly about the lies that had been told about him by the Daily Prophet, abuse he suffered from Umbridge, his life-long banning from Quidditch… Harry kept going on not even aware of the affect his words had on Petunia. When he got to the part about the vision of Sirius being tortured, he his voice suddenly cracked from emotion.

"I should have listened to Hermione… I normally always do… I just thought I was right in trying to save Sirius's life. Hermione was right… she said I had a 'saving people thing'. I should have listened to her more." The tears that had threatened earlier now fell freely from his eyes. "Umbridge caught us using the floo in her office… Hermione and I that is… Madam Umbridge's inquisitorial squad caught Ron, Ginny, Luna and poor Neville outside in the halls… and dragged us all inside. Umbridge was going to use an unforgivable curse on me to find out who I was talking to… in my mind all I could think about was how Kreacher had told me that Sirius wouldn't be coming back… the damn house elf had lied to me and made me believe that Sirius had been captured by Voldemort…" Harry swiped a sleeve across his face to dry the tears that had fallen. "Hermione was brilliant though… she saw that Umbridge was going to curse me and Hermione came up with an excuse to stop her… I know what the curse is like… Voldemort used it on me during my 4th year… it's the worst pain… actually I've now discovered worse pain than that."

"How can your Headmaster allow these things to happen to you?" Petunia said angrily, when the phone rang she motioned to Harry that she would answer it and he wandered out to the back garden once again.

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor at any time own any of the Harry Potter characters which were created by J K Rowling with possible additional characters created by Muirnin Cocan. In no way is any money being made, nor copyright or trademark infringement intended. J K Rowling owns all rights as well as various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, with additional motion picture rights belonging to Warner Bros., Inc.

Author's Notes: Like any writer, I love to hear from my readers… that said if you review I will try as hard as possible to respond to your review… however, I won't beg (much anyway ;D)… I only will ask one thing… if you must criticize my work I ask that you do it constructively as any and all criticism is helpful to improve myself as a writer… For the most part this story is going to be PG 13… while I will attempt to keep it within that rating some of the language may be a bit rough…

As for Hogwarts and Beyond - Take 2, I regret that I am not able to complete work on it at this time… perhaps someday my muse will return and allow me to finish what had been my very first fan fiction… (I have since written many others.)
As Always,
Muirnin - "An imaginative mind is a terrible thing to waste..."
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