Brandi Russell

Due: 12-12-12

FYS: Harry Potter

Tue/Thu 11:20-12;25

Character Musings

Draco: "Have you heard? Harry Potter, the boy who lived, is on our train." He heard a voice walking by his compartment say excitedly. He would have to remember to introduce himself; people like him and Potter should stick together. He heard similar comments of awe and surprise as students on the train realized that they were sharing this train with someone famous. 'Yes' he thought to himself 'I definitely have to make friends with him' as he realized how quickly the boy's popularity spread. Finally the train arrived and the old wrinkly woman left the group of first years alone. He took this chance to introduce himself only to have the damn boy deny him. He tried to shrug it off. He was a Malfoy after all; he didn't need stupid Harry Potter as a friend. But it did sting, quite a lot.

Draco walked the empty corridors of Hogwarts. 'Stupid Harry Potter' he thought to himself. After six years at Hogwarts it was still all he ever heard anyone talk about, stupid freaking Harry Potter. "That's all anyone ever talks about." He spat. He looked around to make sure no one would witness him talking to himself. Here he was about to perform the greatest task for the Dark Lord, and that's all He ever talked about also. He was so sick of it, wasn't there other things going on in the world? Voldemort was making a comeback, but of course all anyone cared about was Potter. He kicked a pebble he saw lying on the ground, angrily; he pretended it was Harry's head. "I'm just as good as Potter." He said aloud as he passed a glance at himself in the mirror. What's so great about the Potter boy anyway? That's right, absolutely nothing. "Better even." He murmured and straightened his posture. He was a pureblood after all, and rich. 'Filthy rich' he amended. He thought back to that first year when Potter had denied his friendship. "This is mostly your fault." He said, and he meant it. If the boy had just let Malfoy befriend him, the world would be a very different kind of place, he may not be the one having to kill Dumbledore, and the wizarding world wouldn't revolve around Harry Potter.

He supposed he couldn't really hate Potter now; he had, after all, saved his life. Despite the fact that Malfoy had been trying to kill him, Harry went and pulled him out of the burning room. 'Damn good hearted people.' He had thought to himself at the time. At the time, he had wanted the flames to take him, he wasn't quite ready to die but he didn't exactly want to live either. But he supposed it worked out, saved his entire family, made it so he could live with himself. Yes the world still continued to rave about Harry Potter, the boy who defeated the Dark Lord, but it didn't seem to bother him so much anymore.

Hermione: It was her first year at Hogwarts, and she was so excited. Hermione sat, well more like fidgeted, nervously in her seat she couldn't sit still. She had done as much research as possible. She'd always loved school, but now she was going to a wizarding school. She was a witch! It was still so hard to believe, she'd always been rational, but it was true. She wouldn't have to be a dentist growing up and the thought made her heart sore. She hated teeth she decided as she got up from her seat anxiously, she wanted to go meet other people… and she had heard Harry Potter was somewhere on the train. She'd only heard rumors about him, but she was curious. The boy who lived, he survived a killing curse, and she'd read about them. Didn't take her long to find him, he was sitting in a compartment with a redheaded boy with something on his nose and his face stuffed full of food from the trolley. She couldn't help but grimace, he looked awful, as she pointed out gently enough so that he could wipe his nose. She made an excuse for interrupting; claiming a friend of hers had lost a pet. She decided she was going to sit with them, they liked to talk. And she'd heard rumors about the Weasley's too. She forgot how many there were but she knew there were a lot of them, a whole family of wizards. She was fascinated. It was as she took her seat that she noticed that Harry's classes were broken, and she offered to fix them. 'I can't believe he's actually letting me.' She thought to herself with surprise as she readied her wand. He was cute when he smiled.

Three years later Hermione sat across from Harry in the dining hall. She let out a small laugh in her head as she thought back to the day where she thought she might end up having a crush on him, boy had she been wrong. She looked at the boy who had become like a brother to her, she trusted him with her life. She briefly wondered if she'd actually had a brother, if she would trust him as much as she trusted Harry and then she decided probably not. She wondered if he'd be bothered that he had been 'friend-zoned' not that it had ever been spoken out loud but she doubted it. He never seemed to be interested in her that way. It seemed like they both knew where their relationship was. Ron however, he was a different story, where did their relationship stand? She was never really sure, and her brows furrowed in her confusion. It seemed they both always felt awkward when around one another, she felt like Harry was the glue that kept them together. If Harry hadn't been part of the group she and Ron definitely wouldn't have been friends. Then again, if she hadn't made herself tag along on their quest to prevent Professor Quirrell, well they thought it was Snape at the time, from stealing the sorcerer's stone. She thought back, and other then the time on the chess board she can't think of a time when her and Ron had been alone together, just the two of them. She began blushing at the thought of her and Ron alone. They wouldn't have anything to talk about; they had absolutely nothing in common other than their third best friend. She moved her thoughts to something that was safe as compared to thinking about Ron (her thoughts liked to run amuck when she thought of him too much), like her potions exam in a few weeks or how Hagrid was stuck in Azkaban, or how to free house elves.

Luna: Luna remembered the when she had officially met Harry Potter. 'Nice fellow' she thought to herself after their first encounter. She had been sitting alone in the common room reading a book. He pointed out, very kindly, that her book was upside down. She liked to read that way she had told him and he had shrugged accepting that answer. He sat in the couch across from her and took out a book, he had looked tired. She wanted to say something to him, let him know that he wasn't fighting alone but it looked as if he didn't want to talk about that, let alone think about it, she could respect that. She would wait, they would talk again soon and she would introduce herself and let him know that he wasn't alone. Luna knew that everyone thought she was weird, not that she really cared too much. Harry thought she was weird too… but he accepted her for it, as if it were perfectly alright to read a book upside down. 'Nice fellow' she repeated as she resumed looking for her shoes.

It was a few years later and the battle with Voldemort was over. Luna looked back on her time fighting alongside of Harry. She decided that if he hadn't been the type of person he was, he wouldn't have had so many people on his side, willing to fight with him. He was a good person, never unkind to anyone. When he had taught them all, Dumbledore's Army, he had always been patient and kind in his teachings. And he had been willing to give up his life for all of them. She decided that had she been in his shoes, she didn't think she could have handled the hand he had been dealt as well as he had. She would have broken down at some point, even with the support system that Harry had. She wondered if that was what had kept him sane and on the task. She would have to remember to thank him one day. She assumed a lot of people would be dead if it hadn't been for him, along with several other people. She liked to think she helped, they all said she did. She could tell when she was being lied to anyway.

Voldemort: He paced constantly, all the time. He hated to admit it to himself, but he was afraid. More afraid of the boy (A BOY!) then he had been of the headmaster, and he had been afraid of him. At least without the old man in the way, he was less afraid then with the two of them together. That was a dangerous combination, dangerous to him and his mission. He grew angry at himself, how could be afraid of a child, not even yet legal. He hasn't even graduated from Hogwarts; he'd killed older and wiser wizards in his time. But he was still afraid. Yes he was frightened of the boy, but he was also confident. The boy was young; he hardly had any experience in dealing with magic. Seven years? Pah! That was nothing compared to his years of experience with magic and in the Dark Arts, the most powerful magic there was. The boy was nothing. A nuisance, a simple fly, easily dealt with, soon to be dealt with. The problem with the boy is that he wanted to save everyone, where Voldemort, he just wanted to make sure he survived. 'Yes' he thought 'that will be the boys destruction.' And he called out to the boy. Potter would meet him in the forest and accept his death, his life to save all his precious little friends. How pathetic. But it got the boy out of the way, the boy would come.

He paced angrily in the forest as he waited for the boy to come and meet his death. Where was the damn boy? He was so sure that he would come. What would he say to him? He wondered. It would have to be clever, what with so many years of this little dance they had been doing. What was it that his admirers call him? Ah yes now he remembered, 'the boy who lived' he scoffed, interesting that he would now come to die. And he grinned, stretching the skin where his nose should be, he was tempted to scratch it but with so many others looking, he resisted the urge "Where is the boy?" he yelled instead to distract himself. This was taking too long, he was so close to his victory, he could practically smell… err well taste it anyway. He was so sensitive about his lack of nose. Not soon after had someone, he wasn't really sure who, had answered then the boy walked into the forest. "Ah, the boy who lived…" he paused dramatically, why not milk it for all it was worth the boy was going to die anyway "come to die." He finished and another grin stretched across his face. It looked unnatural on that gruesome face. The boy didn't seem impressed with his clever phrase. No matter, he would be dead soon enough.

'Where did I go wrong?' he thought angrily to himself as he faced the boy once more. How had he come so close only to fail? He screamed with rage, everything was wrong. The elder wand was not working properly and the damn boy had lived, how had he lived?! He was distracting himself, he was going to lose. He was going to die. He was going to die at the hands of a seventeen year old boy. That was embarrassing, his life legend would be a great Dark Wizard who was feared for many, many years until he was destroyed by an adolescent 'Where did I go wrong?' he thought once more before his life ended.

Bellatrix: Her master had an obsession with this teenager, and well she had an obsession with her master. She admitted it. She was drawn to him, drawn to his evil spirit, infatuated. He fascinated her, captivated her. He was exciting. Everyone thought she was psycho, oh she knew that, but she found herself quite sane. Just because a person enjoys killing, doesn't make them crazy… and if it did, well she would embrace the title of insanity, it was in her name after all Lestrange. She laughed a little maniacally at her little joke. She wished she could kill the boy herself, than the master would be pleased with her, and he could focus on other things, mainly her. But he said he wanted to do the job himself. A matter of male pride she supposed. The boy bothered her. He had followers, yet none of them feared him. You are supposed to fear your leader; yes they would have no trouble getting rid of the boy. Even she was sane enough to be weary of her Lord. She hoped the boy would be dealt with soon; he was starting to get under her skin.

Ron: Ron couldn't even remember what had made him choose to sit in the same cart as Harry. He supposed it was because he had been sitting by himself, and he had seen his mom help Harry get onto the platform. Harry had been all alone, no parents to say goodbye or show him how the platform looked. Then he learned that the lonely boy had been Harry Potter and it made a little more sense. He hadn't intended to befriend someone so popular, but Harry was pretty average. He wanted to see the scar, and Harry happily obliged. He couldn't resist the "wicked" that escaped from his mouth. Harry smiled and Ron could tell they were going to be friends. It didn't take him long to learn that Harry had no idea that he was a wizard until quite recently. Ron took it upon himself to explain everything. He was stuffing his face when the girl walked by and then stopped into their compartment. She politely informed him that his nose was dirty and he quickly wiped it off. The girl looked like a know it all, so he wasn't too fond of her but even he wasn't going to look a fool in front of a girl if he could help it. She sat down with them, wasn't she supposed to be looking for some animal. Then she offered to fix Ron's new friends glasses, he could have done that. Damn know it all. He waited for her to mess up, but she quickly fixed up his glasses, and Harry smiled 'thanks' and now he had to share this cart and his newfound friend with this lion-haired girl. He smiled to himself as he glanced at her poufy hair; it was definitely a lion's mane.

Ron looked happily at his wife and his best friend as their children boarded the train to Hogwarts. He'd done okay in life as far as his friends and family. He thought back to the day on the train when he'd sat with Harry, before he'd even known who he was. He couldn't have picked a better set of friends, despite all the trouble Harry had attracted throughout their time at Hogwarts. He shuddered as he remembered the giant spiders. He put his arm around his beautiful wife; he'd definitely gotten lucky there. 'But so did she' he decided.

Snape: He wondered what the Potter boy would look like; more specifically he wondered who he would look more like. When he finally got a glimpse of the boy his eyes narrowed. He looked like James, but then he made eye contact and all he saw was her eyes. Oh well, the boy would know no mercy from him. He was bound to be like his father in every way. He doubted that Dumbledore knew what he was doing, there was no way this scrawny boy could possibly save them all from the horrors of Voldemort. They all knew he would rise again; they were just waiting for the moment when… why'd he have to have her eyes, now every time the boy looked at him he would see the way Lily used to look at him. Old feelings rose as he thought about her name and he shoved them back, far back, to that corner of her mind he didn't allow himself to visit. He refused to think of her. Potter would be a problem.

Ginny: She was saying goodbye to her brothers, watching as they exited onto the platform. It was her brothers first year; she couldn't wait until next year when she would go. A boy with shaggy hair and glasses walked up to her mum, he looked confused. She blushed, he was kind of cute. She blinked and focused on the conversation, he didn't know how to get to the platform. She looked around and realized that he was alone. She wondered what his story was.

She was searching her room, she couldn't find her jumper. Maybe mum had seen it. She rushed down the stairs yelling her question and stopped cold as she saw Harry Potter sitting in her kitchen. What was he doing here? Was she imagining things? No, no she wasn't. He was saying hello, her flight response took over and she ran back up the stairs horrified. Had he really just seen her like that? She stared at the mirror as she was dressed in her bathrobe; she hoped Ron didn't say anything about her obsession with Harry.

Ginny opened her eyes to see Harry Potter standing there. She was cold and wet, and very confused. Once she was caught up she was horrified at what she had done, but he had saved her. This certainly wasn't going to make her crush go away. Why would someone like him want to be with her? Young little Ginny Weasley, she sighed.

He kissed that Asian girl. He had told Hermione and Ron about it, and Hermione had told her. Ginny had gotten very upset with Hermione and now she felt bad, it wasn't her fault. Hermione didn't even know about Ginny's crush… except maybe she knew now. Ginny wondered if she should talk to Hermione about it but she hesitated, if Hermione didn't know then she would just be letting her in on the secret… and she was Harry's best friend after all, she might tell him. She shook her head decidedly; no she wouldn't talk about it with Hermione. But she would apologize… just not right now.

Neville: He saw Ron, Hermione, and Harry sneaking out again. He sighed, hadn't they got in trouble last time? What were they out and about doing that was so important they had to sneak out. They were trouble makers he decided. Wasn't being a wizard and learning magic exciting enough? He thought it was in fact he found magic and life at Hogwarts quite exciting. He glared at the backs of the disappearing troublemakers. He would stop them the next time, he was ruining it. If it wasn't for them they would actually have a change at the house cup at the end of the year. He would love to be part of the house that won. He thought back again to what they could possibly be doing. He wondered if it was drugs, and he felt a little bad at accusing them of something so harsh. They all seemed nice enough, maybe they were just exploring. Neville sighed as he walked back up to his room. It didn't really matter what they were doing, they were getting in trouble and ruining Gryffindor's chances at winning the house cup. They would be stopped next time.

He sat in the chair with Trevor waiting for them to sneak out. Then he stood, "I won't let you go." He said but his voice was shaky and he cursed himself. Hermione sighed, telling him they didn't have time for this and cast a spell on him. Suddenly he couldn't move and he fell to the ground. They all whispered sorry as they left but he wondered if they really were.

Neville looked back to that moment when he had thought they were trouble makers and felt embarrassed, they were eleven years old and they were trying to save the school, and the world from the wrath of he-who-must-not-be-named. He shook his head; he should have gone with his first instinct. He was always good at judging people, and he had thought they were nice enough. However, his bravery did get them more points to beat Slytherin. He briefly wondered if Dumbledore wasn't in fact playing favorites because he liked Harry and Harry had saved everyone. It didn't matter anyway, it was all over and after seven years, life was finally a lot safer.

Dumbledore: He looked at the small baby boy in his arms. He was going to do great things, not just because of the prophecy, but he could just see it. He agreed with Professor McGonagall's worries, this family was not fit to raise such a special boy. But he was safest from he-who-must-not-be-named with a muggle family. He put the baby on the doorstep and forced himself to leave, it was not an easy task.

The time had come for the boy to come to Hogwarts. He sighed as Hagrid left his office, he hadn't foreseen it being this difficult to get the boy here, his uncle certainly had tried and Dumbledore chuckled. 'Muggles' he thought to himself. He pulled himself out of his chair as he began readying for the arrival of the students. Soon he would get to meet the boy Harry had grown to be.

McGonagall called for Harry Potter and he stepped up to the sorting hat looking very nervous. He saw the young boy beginning to whisper to himself, and the sorting hat began talking to him. He resisted the urge to laugh; the boy didn't want to be placed into Slytherin! He had hopes for this one.

Harry: Harry was laying on the floor of the some cabin his aunt and uncle had drug him too. He drew a birthday cake in the ground; he was actually quite surprised he even knew when his birthday was, considering they never celebrated it. He whispered a happy birthday to himself and made a wish on his dirt candles. 'I wish I was free from them' and then blew out the candles on his imaginary cake. That was when Hagrid had chosen to burst through the door. He remembered feeling scared for a moment, but when the large man spoke to his cousin calling him Harry, he felt at peace he'd known Harry's parents after all.

That first week was a roller coaster for Harry. He learned that his parents had been murdered, and he was famous. He didn't like that everyone knew his name, he was so used to just blending in. Everyone looked at him as if they expected something for him. He'd met Ron and Hermione, and despite the fact that she was a know it all Harry thought she was beautiful. Harry slowly adjusted to life as a wizard. He was a wizard!

Harry sat at home, it was a Saturday and his son had just received his letter to Hogwarts. He smiled at the excited boy. He thought back to all the decisions that had led him up to this moment. From leaving that wretched island is uncle had tried to hide him on, to his decision to save the sorcerer's stone, to his decision to walk into the forest alone that day so long ago. He wondered if he could go back if he would do things differently, he wondered how his life would have ended up his parents had lived. People still sometimes looked at him like he was a celebrity and it made him uncomfortable, but he'd learned that people needed a hero. He looked at Ginny and smiled as he caught her eye. He decided that, as unfortunate as some events had been, everything had turned out okay. No, he was happy where he was. Knowing how his life ended up, if he could go back he wouldn't do a damn thing different, except maybe forgetting Ginny's birthday last year. That he would undo if he could, and he would save Sirius. He shook his head of his thoughts, at least he had always known everything would turn out alright otherwise he didn't think he would have made it to this point.

I bolted up in my bed, sweat dripping in my hair. I wiped a hand over my face. What a strange dream, I had seen what all my friends and acquaintances were thinking at some point that I've known them. Then suddenly I was looking at my own thoughts as if I were a ghost. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and reached for my glasses. That's when I realized something was wrong. Ginny was gone.

"Ginny?" I called out but got no answer, and then I realized I was in a smaller room then the one we shared. I found my glasses and put them on, when I heard a drilling sound. I opened the door to walk out of the staircase and to see Uncle Vernon drilling wood over the mail slot. He grinned and said something about no mail being able to get in and I stared horrified. I needed to get to a mirror, and fast. As soon as I had a moment alone I rushed to the bathroom to find ten year old me staring back in the mirror. "Whoa" I whispered, amazed as I touched my young face. And then I watched as my face fell in the mirror, it had all been a dream. All of it. I let out a large breath of air as this realization sunk in.

I spent the rest of the morning moping. The dream had seemed so real, and so long. I thought it was my life, I had wanted that life. I thought I had been free of them, of all of this. I was starting to feel bitter, but had no one to take it out on. It was my own subconscious that had the dream in the first place.

It was tea time and Uncle Vernon was in a great mood this morning. "Sunday's a great day." Vernon said beaming as I served him some cookies, "why is that Harry?" he asked me.

"Because there's no post on Sunday's." I answered robotically, and he laughed gleefully. And then suddenly it clicked the drilling of the mail slot, Vernon's glee at the lack of post and I understood. It hadn't been a dream. I am a wizard. I tried to hide my smile, as I waited for the letters to come bursting through all over the house, and I wasn't disappointed. I jumped around in the rain of letters, not really trying to catch one. I knew what it would say. And I would have to remember everything would turn out okay. With every difficult that I face, every obstacle, I will cling to that knowledge that it will be okay. I could save Sirius, I thought gleefully, because that death had been my fault. I felt eager to begin my new life as a wizard, and I smiled at where I would end up, picturing Ginny's beautiful face and our beautiful children.

As the year went by I found it harder to remember everything and I was beginning to panic. I clung to what memories of that dream I could. Sirious' death and mine and Ginny's wedding, but even those memories were becoming blurred. I knew I had said that I wouldn't do anything differently so I guess all the forehand knowledge was too tempting. I remembered my promise to cling to the idea that everything would be alright and so I tried to focus on that as the memories slipped away. By the time the first quidditch game had ended, I couldn't remember a thing, only that I had a dream about the future, and it was all going to be okay. I thought angrily about Snape, he had tried to kill me! I wasn't entirely sure but I was going to find out.