Chapter 19

Harry drew in a slow breath. His eyes were fixed on the flickering candlelight as he began.

"When I was homeschooled, I was only ever allowed to learn the theoretical part of the curriculum. My mother was terrified I'd hurt myself with the Practicals. Funny thing about the law there. In schools like Hogwarts, the subjects are mandatory. A student cannot get out of testing for both Practicals and Theory. However, if a student is homeschooled, by law, the Head of House decides which subjects the student is permitted to take. That's how it was when my OWLs year came: James signed me up for exams that didn't have practicals. History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Divination. That was it."

"No Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Severus's brow furrowed.

Harry shook his head. "I wasn't allowed. They said I might overexert myself. No Potions either, because apparently I'd burn the house down. My mother would slap my hand if I so much as touched a knife or stove. I was well past twelve when she was still doing it. I can still clearly hear my dad say that I did not need to test in those subjects because, as his heir, I would need accounting and business management more than Potions or DADA. That I could just buy an apothecary or hire potion masters and bodyguards if needed."

Harry's voice grew quieter then. "The Potter elves taught me some skills in secret. Cooking, basic charms, and even a few defensive spells. They wanted me to have a chance in the real world. But when James found out... he had them executed. For 'endangering his heir,' and 'undermining his authority.'"

Severus was staring at Harry with a mixture of disbelief and fury. "Executed. For teaching you."

Harry nodded, "Mother said nothing. She was too horrified that I was even near a flame. She let James just do what he wished to those poor elves, even the one who was her favorite. That was the moment I knew I couldn't stay. I didn't even know that I was preparing for it for years. I had unconsciously memorized the safe combination James stored my wand in. I waited until the OWL results came in because one of the elves had told me that my wand wouldn't be snapped after that. I gathered what I could in a duffel bag, grabbed my wand, and flooed out of that house the night James and Lily attended a charity gala. The only address I knew was the Leaky Cauldron."

"I wish I could tell you that Tom let me stay in one of his rooms, or that some sympathetic witch or wizard took me in. But no. I didn't have that luck. With no money, I was on the streets. The only thing I had was my wand and my father's invisibility cloak, which I swiped from the safe before I left, thinking it might come in handy. It did. The cloak seemed to stop location spells from attaching to me. But I was broke, hungry, and desperate."

His fingers tightened around his wine glass before he took a swig. "There were nights I thought about going back to the Potter estate. Submitting to their rules. I was desperate enough to imagine licking my father's and mother's shoes if it meant they'd forgive me. That's how low I was."

"It was in that desperation that I met Draco. He was alone, shopping, flaunting money like he always did. I... yanked him into an alleyway, intent on robbing him blind."

Severus's brow arched at that statement, but Harry pressed on. "Draco recognized me. He talked me down. Instead of hexing me or calling the Aurors, he bought me a hot meal. And I told him everything, about the estate, about the elves, about running away. He listened. For the first time in my life, someone listened."

"Draco didn't just feed me. He invited me to Malfoy Manor. He introduced me to Lucius. And Lucius... he was appalled at James's behavior. He helped me file for emancipation, and he arranged for remedial OWLs so I could cover the core classes, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Potions. Everything I had been denied."

"I had to sit down with a mind healer from St. Mungo's," Harry went on, "To explain what James had done to me after I was sorted into Slytherin. Before Hogwarts, my parents were strict, yes, but not to the point of controlling my bathroom breaks. That only happened after the Sorting. That night, when James dragged me home, he beat me with a belt. And Lily... she handed it to him."

Severus's knuckles were whitening as he fisted them against his jeans. Harry's voice wavered, but he forced himself to continue. "My own mother said that Slytherins were foul. That she couldn't believe she had raised a son like that. She said she wouldn't have a blood purist in her family, and that they would beat it out of me."

"I got the emancipation, but considering James's dual lordship, the matter was swept under the rug and never reached the press. I was free, yes, but still powerless. Living at Malfoy Manor, using their assets, eating their food... I didn't feel good about it. I was grateful, but I hated being dependent."

"Then roughly seven months later, Voldemort won the war. The Ministry fell, Hogwarts fell, and he declared himself monarch of the British magical world through obscure laws no one had bothered to fix since Victorian times."

Severus nodded as he remembered that day. "I was outed as a spy by Mundugus of all people, but Lucius helped me escape to a safehouse."

"The most surprising thing was Ginny Weasley," Harry stated. "She became one of Voldemort's right hands. I only found out later why."

"I couldn't stay at Malfoy Manor after Voldemort sent Bellatrix to inspect the estate. It seemed he already suspected them of treason. Draco barely managed to hide me in one of the secret rooms behind the walls. Bellatrix found nothing, but I knew then it was too dangerous to remain. So I ran."

"I ended up in Godric's Hollow, where I met Lady Longbottom and Neville. They sheltered me for a night, but I couldn't stay. Lady Longbottom told me Voldemort was sending out his Death Eaters to take the heirs from the light families, to make them more... pliable to his rule. I couldn't risk being found."

"So I kept moving. I wandered until I was huddled in a cave one night, cold and starving. That's when I heard a voice addressing me. I thought I was hallucinating at first. But when I walked deeper into the cave, I met him, Oberon."

"Oberon? As in..."

"Yes, that Shakespearean Oberon," Harry stated.

"I knew enough of Shakespeare to understand how dangerous a fae lord could be. Deceiving, commanding, beautiful, and terrible all at once. I'd been forced to memorize all of his works."

"He was chained to a glass spire deep within the cave. His magic burned along the chains, but nothing melted. When I approached, he told me he knew of a way to free me from the authority of my family. That the only way to escape their chains was to become a higher authority myself."

"He proposed a deal?"

"Yes," Harry stated. "Oberon said if I could retrieve a fae queen's crown for him, he would lend me his full power. Enough to burn away any opposition. Enough to make me untouchable."

"I was weak... I admit it. I was very likely being hunted just because of my surname. I might have been too trusting, but at the time I also had nothing to lose." Harry paused, "Oberon offered me freedom. Power. A way to never be at anyone's mercy again. And I was desperate enough to listen."

"You took the deal?"

Harry nodded. "I took the deal. Oberon said that if I could deliver him a fae queen's crown, he would be my loyal ally. He would lend me his full power."