Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ McGill ❯ One Day More! ( Chapter 7 )

CHAPTER SEVEN: One More Day!

August 1, 1991

Daily Prophet, front page

Ever since his quick and all too easy defeat of the Dark Lord Grindlewald, Albus Dumbledore has been known as a symbol of the Light. He is a well known advisor to many people from our own Minister to Presidents of far off countries such as Russia . He is the example we point out to our precious children. How many of us have looked at ourselves in a crisis and asked, "What would Dumbledore do?" He so amazed us that we entrusted to him our very children for generation after generation.

This is why, perhaps, his betrayal is all the more cutting and cruel. This paladin of Light has lied to us for half a century. Hard to believe but this man who moved among us as an Avatar of Light is the origin of more harm to our world than any could have believed.

The first charge, and by that we mean merely the most recent to be discovered, is that he did knowingly allow a man to be thrown into Azkaban despite knowing of his innocence. Yes, Azkaban. He willingly left an innocent man to be feasted on by Dementors for almost ten years. Sirius Black, known for betraying the Potter as well as killing Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles during a vicious explosion that occurred only a day after the Potter's death, on a Muggle street. This well known fact is nevertheless… wrong. Sirius Black did not betray the Potters. He couldn't have. The Potters', it is now known, were under the Fidelius Charm. Headmaster Dumbledore was the caster. Sirius Black was supposed to be the Secret Keeper, however due to his flashy lifestyle it was decided to choose someone else, someone who was less likely to attract You-Know-Who's eye. Peter Pettigrew.

Peter Pettigrew is the one who betrayed the Potters. The next day, Sirius Black hunted Pettigrew down, was he going to kill him? We don't know. What we do know is that Pettigrew planned the confrontation. He allowed Black to find him in that particular area. Then he screamed out his accusation against Black and detonated a set of Muggle explosives that he had secreted in the street. Pettigrew had cut his finger off sometime during the night and threw it in the street before detonating the explosives.

The Minister of Magic at the time Barty Crouch Sr. put Sirius Black into Azkaban without a trial on November 1, 1991. Where was Albus Dumbledore? Why did he not insist on a trial for Black? As Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, he could have called on Minister Bagnold to produce the trial transcripts, if she wouldn't, when Fudge was elected, he could have tried again! He could have gone to the public, but he chose not to. Some have told this reporter that Albus Dumbledore did not do so because after so much fighting and death, he did not want to put the British Wizarding World through another scandal. In other words, he did not stand up for Sirius Black sanity and life, for the greater good. However, the greater good is made up of everyone's good. If we sacrifice one wizard's life or sanity, then next time will it be difficult to sacrifice one family's? Or maybe one house, such as Slytherin? Or perhaps one village, one city, or one town? How is that for the greater good? In ignoring one person, it made it easier to harm everyone else. After all, if he could, as he did, sacrifice Sirius Black for some idealized image of the 'greater good' then what else would he not sacrifice? It is a slippery slope Albus Dumbledore ran down.

Lord of Lies, definitely.

Lord of Light, supposedly.

For Amelia Bones' reaction, see page 2
For a transcript of Pettigrew's initial interview, see page 3
For a brief history of You-Know-Who's life and how Dumbledore impacted it, see page 4
For Cornelius Fudge's response, see page 5
For the Hogwarts Board of Governors' response, see page 6

August 1, 1991
6:00 am
Number 4 Privet Drive

Dayn popped into Number 4. Walking into the Kitchen, she noticed a letter lying on the table. It was Harry Potter's Hogwarts Letter. Picking it up, she popped home.

August 1, 1991
7:50 am
Alley Hangout
Diagon Alley

Carmus stretched and yawned. Perhaps he had been overcautious with Simon this summer. Now that he was but footsteps from Diagon Alley, the boy wanted to see it all. Simon was practically bouncing off the wall. Carmus growled, "SIT!"

Simon stopped in his tracks and sat down at the table.

"Eat, and then we shall go out. Keep your ears open. They have thrown the fox into the hen house. Look at the Prophet's front page. By the way, here is your Hogwarts Letters, both of them. Touch them so they will be 'received'." Carmus handed Simon the paper and started to fix another plate.

No sooner than he set it down than Severus appeared, dressed in his customary high collar black on black robes. The undervest was impressed with snakes biting each other's tails. His hair pulled back with a black velvet tie but left loose. Cutting his food precisely, he waved the knife at the paper.

"Front page?"

"Yes and no. Sirius' release is below the fold, above the fold is Albus Dumbledore's betrayal of all of the Wizarding Britain. Apparently Amelia Bones is going after Dumbledore and Crouch and Fudge, if they can get Fudge. At the least, she's calling for Dumbledore to be impeached as Supreme Mugwump and banned from serving in public office. She's also demanding that a portion of the reparations payment come from the Dumbledore vaults. So it will not surprise Dumbledore that there is no activity on his vaults, he can't access them while they are under dispute. He can have perhaps a thousand Galleons or the equivalent thereof but that's all. It will be hard times for Dumbledore. Which reminds me, did you know Barty Jr.?"

Severus frown, laying the flat of his knife against his bottom lip. "Vaguely. He was a rather cretinous follower. Why?"

"Because Crouch Sr. killed his wife rather than let his son accept his punishment. Apparently Mrs. Crouch was so grieved over her son's actions that she was bed stricken and wanted to die. Whether it was her idea or his, they fed her polyjuice. Gave her a flask of it. She traded places with her son and died in Azkaban. Crouch Sr. snuck his son out, polyjuiced as her, and keeps him imprisoned in his house while under watch by a very loyal house elf.." Carmus reached over the stack of pancakes for the juice.

Severus's knife clattered onto the plate. "And how exactly do you know? No, the book, fake Moody. I see, and you wish to somehow give this over to Bones. You need to find a way to do so, discretely. Since he is already under suspicion for throwing people into Azkaban without a trial… I'll talk to Lucius."

"At least, they'll get a trial; so many trials, so little time." Carmus snickered.

Simon rolled his eyes.

An owl flew in, several Muggle letters tied together. Carmus untied them and started sorting them. Opening one from Crown Prosecution Services, he paled and sighed. "Damn, I forgot to get you checked out, Simon. They need the medical files, I'm sorry."

Severus smiled. "I already sent them.

"Excuse me?"

"You probably didn't even notice that I left and came back during that first night I was here. I needed someone to give him a deep diagnostic check before I could refine the potions or give him the Asylum potion. I had her make a Muggle style copy and kept it aside, just incase you decided to deal with the Muggles through the Queen's Bench. I've already sent the prosecutor a copy. The mediwitch I used has Muggle credentials as well."

Carmus turned a small smile on Severus and held out his hand. "Thank you."

"His prophecies may be for you, but care of you has been left to me." Severus remarked before standing up and heading back to his room.

"Hedgehog." Simon complained.

"Yes, but if you tickle their stomach they laugh. It's worth a few stickings to get them to laugh. Eat up and then we'll go hit Diagon Alley, we still need to get your wand and go to Gringotts. I've never taken you there before, you'll like it. Goblins are fascinating. Eat up!"

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Main Hall
8:10 am

The school mail owls screeched as they came in, as well as several other owls. Some of the owls holding more than one or two envelopes. As Albus Dumbledore looked at them, he realized there were only a few that were not red. Several owls peeled off from the pack and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of each teacher. Minerva McGonagall picked up the paper and read over the article.

"Oh Albus, is this true? Did you know that Peter Pettigrew was the one who betrayed James and Lily? No, of course you did. How could you let Sirius Black suffer for so long when you had the power to change it?!" Minerva cried.

Seated next to her Aurora Sinistra snorted. "Simple, because no matter how Gryffindorish Sirius Black was, he was still a Black. A member of a Dark Family. Really Minerva, Dark doesn't mean Evil, but to our esteemed Headmaster, he couldn't see past the Dark Family."

Minerva turned towards her shocked. "Sin, but…"

Sinistra stood up, picking up her coffee and paper."I am Dark. Of a Dark Family and I challenge any of you to say that I'm Evil. Yet of all of us here, right now, who has tracking charms on their wands? Not you, Minerva."

Minerva McGonagall turned towards the Headmaster, who twinkling eyes had dimmed.

"Ah, Sinistra, my dear, perhaps we…"

"Oh look, your owls are getting impatient, Headmaster." Sinistra turned on her heel and left, "Minerva, it's a mistake to think that Dark children only go to Slytherin. I was a Ravenclaw."

The Deputy Headmistress stared at her friend and colleague as she walked away. Behind Dumbledore, several red envelopes dropped hurriedly from owl's talons as they exploded.

"TO THINK I BELIEVED IN YOU, YOU TWO FA-"

"-NOW WE KNOW WHAT PUT THAT TWINKLE IN YOUR EYE, YOU -"

"-T YOU KNOW I HAVE WRITTEN TO THE GOV-"

"NOW WE KNOW WHAT YOUR FRIENDSHIP IS WOR -"

"- DECIEVER, FALSE PRETENDER, LIA-"

Number 12
Grimmauld Place
Fire room
9:11 am

Sirius Black stared at the fireplace. His eyes barely focusing, beside him on the sofa sat Remus. His friend presence really reaffirmed that he was no longer in that hell called Azkaban. Seated on chairs and sofa around him were his family. He recognized Andi and Narci, so that meant the blonds were Lucius and… Damien? So the dark haired man was Ted and the young woman was Nymphadora. Sighing, he leaned back against the sofa, Remus' arm pulling him close. He knew that the wolf in his friend almost demanded that pack be close.

"So… it's been almost ten years. Remmy, why did it take Albus so long to work it out? I mean I don't remember much of the 'official apology' but it wasn't Crouch." Sirius' voice cracked.

Everyone looked at each other. Lucius had a disdainful look on his face and barely repressed a sniff. Damien shook his head.

Remus sighed tiredly, "It wasn't Albus who got you out. Albus did nothing for you, he left you there! Dumbledore… the ones who got you out are in this room,except for three others. Do you remember Sean Daton and Carmus McGill?"

Sirius turned to face Remus, "But… but their Slytherins and they hate me!?"

"Slytherin doesn't mean evil and they don't hate you. Andromeda and Narcissa still think of you as family. When McGill came to them with the information that you were innocent and people knew that you were, they decided to get you out. Although we do appreciate that he did stop Nymphadora from breaking you out."

Several of the group laughed.

"It appears that Daton is a haruspex. He knew. He knew and he apparently wrote it down in a book for McGill. McGill told us, he's following Daton's instructions and that you couldn't be freed until Harry was freed. The other person you should thank is Severus. Despite your cruel jokes as a child, even he was appalled by your being locked in without a trial. Though he has told me than while ten years was too long you deserved at least three. And I have to agree with him." Remus continued, stroking Sirius' hair. "Though I'm glad you're home."

"Remmy!"

"You led him purposefully to a room where a wild werewolf was. I know that all I could tell was 'fresh meat, so delicious', so don't tell me that I wouldn't have killed him. I was hungry, I would have killed him. He wasn't pack. And you knew it. You knew it and you led him almost to his death and still, he worked to get you out. So I'll not hear of it, Sirius Orion Black. Right now, you have to spend time recovering." Remus snapped his finger and asked the responding house elf to put breakfast on the table. Nodding to the others, he invited them to breakfast, taking care to stick close to Sirius. This was the fifth time this morning they had had this exact conversation, it was time to break the pattern.

"Remus, where's Harry?"

Diagon Alley
10:25 am
Leaky Cauldron

Carmus waved Simon and Severus to their seat and sat down. "Simon, can I see your wand for a moment?"

"Sure Dad. He said it was twelve inch honey oak with basilisk scales and unicorn hair. Severus, aren't they natural enemies, how can I have a core with both?"

Severus nodded. "They are enemies but not perfect opposites. It should be good for DADA, hexes, charm s, and more complex spells. A good wand for you. I talked to Lucius and Narcissa last night. They will be flooing Draco here in a few moments to spend the rest of the day with us."

Simon nodded, "What about Sirius?"

"Madame Bones ordered him immediately freed, so he was. They picked him up late last night. Remus is taking care of him at his house."

"Ok, um does Draco have his wand?"

"They got it yesterday before they confronted the Minister and the Headmaster. His wand is well suited for him as well. Ah," Severus raised one hand and waved.

Simon turned around to see Draco and he smiled. The pale boy was quick of wit and had a dry sense of humor. It could be mean but Simon could also just hit him when he gets nasty. Draco sat down with a quick smile at Simon and brought out his wand.

"Hello Mr. McGill, Godfather, Simon. Did you get your wand already Simon?"

"Yeah, Dad has it. The guy who runs the place… is odd."

Draco smirked. "Hawthorn and unicorn hair, 10 inches. Yes, Ollivander. I'm not sure he's entirely human."

Carmus raised one eyebrow while Severus frowned. Simon shrugged. "I don't want to date him. Who cares, but it might be why he's so good at his job. So what are we going to do today?"

McGill stood. "I'm going to London for a while. You two are going to spend some time with your godfather, he says he owes both of you a birthday present."

Both boys turned to look at Severus who was frowning at his friend. "Coward."

"Definitely, have fun boys!" Carmus wiped his mouth and stood up to go pay at the bar.

Severus sighed and stood up too, "If you are ready Simon, Draco."

The two boys were halfway to the door before Severus finished speaking. When he next caught Carmus…

11:10 am
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster's Office

Carmus stepped through the floo and walked over to the Headmaster's desk. "Headmaster Dumbledore, I do apologize for not keeping my appointment yesterday with you, however considering… the circumstances, I believed you would be busy with the Minister of the DMLE."

Dumbledore nodded, eyes looking weary but still with a twinkle in them. "Yes, dreadful business. It has been hard but school starts in a month and I must make sure that everything is ready. On the up side, giving up the Mugwumpship means I can devote more time to the administration of the school. One should always look to the lighter side of things. So, Carmus, if I may call you so, I was surprised to see your son on our list. I wasn't aware you had a son."

"Well, Headmaster, my son is quite special and dear to me. I didn't tell may people about his birth, save Severus, especially since his ummm… mother is dead. However, he's a good kid. He's a little reluctant to go to school. I really can't blame him, he's a home boy. He was raised out in the Muggle world but he's always been a wizard. However he has a friend in his year so it should all be good."

"I see, well I was hoping to meet, young Simon. He seems to be a very happy young man."

"I'm sorry, Headmaster but he's spending the day with his godfather. His godfather wanted to make up for not spending as much time as he wanted to with Simon on his birthday."

"I see… well I'm quite afraid I haven't heard much about you after school. Tell me, what have done since school?

"Oh, I took classes at Uni, got my qualification for teacher though I never sat my certifications. Sean… wanted me to. He said that it would stand me in good stead and his prophecies always came true. We lived together for a while, he and I. Sean Daton, same year, same house as I. Yes, we lived together but Sean was sick, he died about five years ago. I miss him. Sorry, I was getting lost in my memory."

Dumbledore looked at him, sadly and offered a cup of tea. "It is sad when we lose those we love. Truly."

Carmus shook his head as if to clear it of cobwebs and stood up. "Yes, it is. I was so happy that you allowed Severus time off to attend the funeral and reading of the will,Headmaster. I'm sorry but it is approaching noon and I have an appointment in London. So, I do apologize but I must go, may I use the floo?"

Headmaster Dumbledore waved at him and Carmus headed out.

Crown Prosecution Services
Room 1227
London
12:15 pm

Alistair Lockingen and Gabriel Horn sat in the room with Petunia Dursley. Fifteen minutes earlier, she had a cup of tea, well laced with Veritaserum. A knock on the door surprised them. Gabriel got up and let in Carmus McGill. The Queen knew of him, that was the only reason she was allowing this interview. Magic, Wizards, all this was incredible. No excuse for abusing a child but incredible itself.

Carmus sat down and nodded to Petunia. Turning on the recorder, he placed a small rock on the outer edge of the table. Gabriel was surprised to see it glow a nice yellow.

"My name is Carmus McGill, I am conducting the interview of Petunia Evans Dursley on behalf of the Crown and the Ministry of Magic in the presence of Inspectors Gabriel Horn and Alex Lockingen, both of which are privy to the knowledge of Magic as is the defendant.

"The accused is charged with numerous charges of child abuse, child endangerment, slavery, torture, violations of child labor laws, abusing a magical child, defrauding said child, illegal seizure of property, and funds that were not theirs to handle. The child in question is also suing for the sum of £116,000 pounds. Sum arrived as the £1000 per month paid to the Dursleys for the care of one Harry Potter that he did not receive. Harry Potter was delivered on the first of November 1981 and removed at the end of June 1991. The last two months of 1981, the 108 months of January 1982 to December of 1990, and the six months from January 1991 to June 1991. Two plus 108 is 110 plus 6 is 116. As well as the rent of a comparable house, the sum arrived at by taking the yearly average of rent for all houses on Privet Drive per year, which is found to be £890,24, so far that is 205,024 He is also suing for physical, mental, emotional, and psychological damage on the order of £290,000. For a grand total of £495,024. For simplicity's sake, let's make it a even half million pounds. I know you can't afford it; so all your possessions will be sold at auction, and all stocks will be cashed in, and any bank accounts will be turned over to Mr. Potter to pay off your debt.

"Now Petunia, face me. I want to let you know something. Your sister was an extremely powerful witch. That doesn't make sense, since you have evinced no magical abilities. But if a Muggle woman gives birth to a magical child, all her children are magical. The first born magical child of a Muggle woman is the weakest of all of her magical children. You were first born. You, Petunia are a witch. A weak witch but a witch none the less. A witch who has betrayed the Wizarding world. I can lock you up in Azkaban. I think Harry would like it. I know I would. A Dementor who would come every few hours and suck out any joy you could dredge up.

"Now, your husband mentions that you beat Harry to make sure the freak didn't use his magic on you. You really don't know what hell I saved you from. When a wizard's, When a wizard has been so abused as a child that they lose their unconscious control over their magic And their magic explodes from them, it's called accidental magic. Now some outbursts of magic are normal." Carmus slammed his hand down, startling Petunia, who looked at him with fear. "Pay attention, you rotten maggot sucking child abusing morally impaired bitch. Normal outbursts are normal but think of a basket, fill it with sand, it will leak a bit but that's normal, it helps keep it from bursting. Compress the basket, pack in the sand. BAM! It explodes. If Harry had exploded, a Dementor attack would feel like Christmas. You risked your life with every… single… beating."

Petunia brought her clasped hands to her mouth, eyes wide with fright before she started crying.

"Petunia, just so you know. If he had killed you by uncontrolled magic, he wouldn't stand trial. They would have examined him and his environment; they would have viewed his memories. You, your pathetic walrus husband, and that useless baby whale of yours would be tossed in some hole in the ground, with no marker. That's how the wizarding world deals with those who we credit as worthless. Now, you will start talking and tell us everything you did to that boy, not 'it', not 'freak', your nephew. Your blood nephew, Harry James Potter. Lord Potter, of the Ancient and Noble House of Protectors. Yes, that Harry. Just think Petunia, if you were good to him, he would have been good to you. Imagine a house elf who loves to clean. You wouldn't have to lift a finger. A magical potion that would allow Dudders to lose weight. A home the size of Number 4 but with forty rooms. Start speaking."

She cried and lowered her hand. "It w-w-was Nov-vember fi-i-irst, Vernon h-had go-"

Number 12
Grimmauld Place
12:17 pm

Sirius looked at all of them, eyes tired and half closed. "So everything he did was a lie. He's evil?"

Narcissa frowned. "No, I am sure that he did what he thought was right and Light. Light isn't always right, Sirius. A good three quarters of all healing spells are actually Dark Magic. If you develop a cancer, that's your body going wrong at a cellular level. However, your cells have it programmed into them to be able to develop into cancer. If I do a ritual and change how your cells are programmed, that's Dark. It does, however save your life. Light isn't good, Dark isn't evil. Oh yes, Aunt Walburga was Dark and Evil. Your friend Remus is Dark, he is Dark because his very nature changes, but is he evil?"

"No! It's… hard to think… Narcissa, you and Lucius for a while have been well my icons of evil. Everything is mixed up. I mean, you said that Snape helped out but he hates me. Everything I was ever taught at Hogwarts said that Dark is evil."

Lucius leaned forward. "And who controls what was taught at Hogwarts?"

"Dumbled--- oh, of course."

"Things will change, you can not avoid that but first you must rid yourself of 'Dark means Evil, Light means Good' mentality. You also tend to categorize people in terms of their house at Hogwarts. It is time for you to grow up. One of my better business managers is a Hufflepuff. I did not hire him because he was a Hufflepuff. I hired him because he is good. I tend not to hire Gryffindors because they tend to be a rather prejudiced lot. They still think Hufflepuffs as sweet but stupid, Ravenclaws as smart but distant, Slytherins as sneaky and evil, and themselves as the best and brightest. I guess it's easy in your house, where you are always lauded for being rash and quick to judge. It is not so in the other houses. In Slytherin, it can get you in trouble. Ravenclaws tend not to rush to judge, if you do, the others will work to convince you otherwise, and in Hufflepuff… it's just not polite. Now Narcissa and I have to pick up our son, he's spending time with his godfather and godbrother."

Narcissa stood up and walked over to Sirius. "Many policies of Dark families have been called evil or exclusionist because we, more than the Light families, worry about the changes in us. Do you think we restrict friends and mates to other Purebloods for fun? We do it because at least we know what those Purebloods have in their blood. Imagine the conflict of Malfoy Veela genes with that of Werewolf, can you imagine what would happen to that child? Muggleborns do not keep a clear record of their history, can you imagine what they might carry or how it'll interact? If you ask them to use a blood parchment to see what could possibly be in their tree, they take offense and the Light Wizard encourage them to, even to the point of attempting to pass laws forbidding it. What about Muggle diseases, genetic diseases that we never had? Instead of merely rebelling against your family, you should have sought other sources to answer your questions. Now, rest and think up your questions, we'll try to answer them later."

Narcissa took her husband's arm and walked to the fireplace. "Spinner's End."

Crown Prosecution Services
London
2:42 pm

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief, he never understood why people did what they did, even less when it's a kid. So what if the kid has magic, doesn't make him any less a kid. Leaning against the brick on the roof, he sighed. The door to the rood opened suddenly and a dark blonde head poked through.

"Rough, eh? People like that should not be allowed in polite society." Carmus McGill moved to stand beside him. "If you want, I'll apparate you to someplace where you can destroy as many things as you want."

"Nah, these people are scum, real scum."

"Yeah, but that old axiom holds true. Those who do evil, rarely believe they are evil. They don't understand why we like those freaks. Instead of admitting they were wrong, they rather believe that those godless freaks have somehow changed everyone else but not them. They hate and despise us because we have power they don't. I must admit Petunia is extreme but I once rescued a girl about four years ago. Her family was fanatically Christian. That in and of itself isn't bad, but when she was invited to Hogwarts, they flipped. They spirited her to a small island where they held an exorcism. If she did not repent of the magic, then they told her it would damn her soul. I popped in and was shocked. I moved over and ate the Host. I kissed their cross. I picked up the girl and shook my head. Then I cast an illusion of us flying away on white wings. was hurt by them It took me months to get her to agree to go to school. Then I sent her to a psychologist. She. Her family… were convinced that an angel had stopped them from hurting their child. The next year, her brother got his letter, they let him go."

"So sometimes you do win?"

"Yeah, if you call it winning. You didn't know about wizards before this, did you?"

"No, Alis did but… how is you exist all this time and we didn't know about it?"

"We, the Wizarding population, decided to take an act of secrecy. It's a Muggle protection thing. I mean you see how Petunia acted. A lot of people, not knowing anything about us would say, 'Oh, you have power, I can't believe it. You'll kill me in my sleep.' And why should we? Just because we have power you do not. You're a cop, are you going to abuse someone? One of my favorite books, a good character in it said it best in my eyes.

"It's a great series, by a guy called Spider. Anyways, in the book, Mike, a bartender says, 'I must have missed something: if a guy has truly absolute power, then what could you possibly corrupt him with? Acton got it backward: what engenders corruption is paranoia, the perception of inadequate power. Absolute power renders you completely immune to corruption.' Petunia and most other Muggles want to have power over something, anything. When they get it they want more power, and worse they know they'll never receive it and it pisses them off.

"But you're not afraid of us, are you, Gabriel?"

"No. You may be wizards but you're still human. You die, you live. Guess what?" Gabriel smirked.

"What?"

"I best I still play the best Kazoo in this building."

Carmus laughed, "Good, next time I need a kazoo player, I'm kidnapping ya! Oh and one more piece of advice from Spider. You see Petunia is a coward which is why I'm being so hard on her. She wanted Harry to fear her, when she was arrested, both she and Vernon puffed themselves up to make us fear them. They are cowards, and as such, I'll follow the advice of Spider. He said, 'Do not waste your fear on the mighty. Cowards make the deadliest opponents - and pacifists never fight fair: they can't- and the worst thing about terrorists is how weak they are: so weak that they have to monstrous to accomplish anything.'

"If you asked her, she would say she's a pacifist. That she never struck him except to defend herself. What he said about terrorists, that also applies to bullies because what is a bully except a terrorist who specializes in terrorizing a small specific group in their immediate area."

"Yeah. I get it, but don't you wish we didn't have to?"

Carmus shrugged, "Yeah but that would mean having to cure people of their perception of inadequate power, and to tell you the truth, I can't stand to listen to people whine that much."

Gabriel chuckled warmlyand headed for the door. It always felt good to squash terrorists, even if they were small fry, it's one less. What a wonderful day.

Surrey's Boy Home
Surrey
3:11 pm.

Dudley Dursley pushed the food around his plate. It was chipped beef in gravy or so they said. A girl sat next to him, smiling. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Finally someone to talk to! A boy passing by leaned down and whispered to her.

"You don't want to sit next to him. He's Dursley." The boy sneered.

The girl's eyes widened.

The boy nodded. With a glare of disgust, she got up and walked away with her tray.

Daniel stood inside the lounge door and waited for Russ and Nicole. As soon as they came in, he closed it.

"Dursley. The kids are isolating him."

Nicole shrugged. "I don't blame them, he's a bully and they know what he's done. No matter how much we try to keep them from watching the news, we can't totally cut them off. They heard most of the reports. He probably participated in it."

Daniel stared at her, "That's no reason for them to take it out on him. And, he's only 11, I don't think he could do much."

Russ sighed, "Unlike most of those kids or you, I did read the report. He was a fully participating member of the abuse. He isolated the kid at school, parroted his parents, punched him repeatedly. Slapped and pinched, tripped, encouraged others to beat him, had a game called Harry Hunting in which they chase him down and beat him. That child is just as guilty as his parents. He may have been merely parroting his parents when he was younger but he's old enough now to know that if he doesn't get treated that way, his cousin shouldn't be treated that way either. He just didn't care. Said the 'freak' deserved it for being so abnormal. While we should not let the others harass him, we can't stop them from isolating him either. They are free to dislike him all them want."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "What kind of sick freaks are these people?"

Dudley closed the door and ran down the hall. Trying doors, he found one that was open. Running in, he sat with his back against the door.

I am not a freak. I am not a freak. They are freaks! The kids in this place are FREAKS. I'm normal. I'm always Normal. I've always been NORMAL. I'M NORMAL. NORMAL. I AM NOT A FREAK!