The Rules of the Game

When just five days were left before school started again I was left off from the beatings and the other \'games\' in order to be presentable for school.

*****

It was three days before school when I was returning from the store with some last minute new supplies(candy to sustain Dudley between break and lunch) when I ran into a police officer. I think he just wanted to stop me to offer to carry some of the big bags but as the officer grabbed my arm I winced and cringed back in pain from the wound I hadn\'t had the energy to heal earlier. Before I could say or do anything he lifted up my sleeve to reveal the nasty bruise with fingers marks that would match Vernon\'s hand.

\"Child, who hurt you?\" He asked in concern while his tone demanded the truth.

\"This other kid in my martial arts class, he grabbed me there yesterday and flipped me over onto my back, you should see the bruise on my ass.\" I said and gave a short chuckle and smile at the man.

I was astonished by what had happened; the words had just seemed to flow out of my mouth without hesitation, without thought and I could tell that the police officer couldn\'t sense a lie anywhere. He gave a small chuckle and smile as well before backing away from me again looking a little sheepish.

\"Well keep learning then, and you best be off.\"

\"Yes sir.\" I called to him, and as I turned my back to him all signs of happiness vanished again into a cold mask.

It had never occurred to me before how important it was to lie but more over lie flawlessly in order to survive this world. I had lied to Vernon about small things, to my teachers about what I knew but now I realized that I needed to learn to lie to anyone, about anything, no matter the situation, I couldn\'t let anyone see past my mask, and I would layer them on so high that even if they did take off one, there would just be another. It was that day that I added another rule.

Rule #6: Lie, and lie well, to protect yourself and your secrets from being revealed.

The key to lying is to tell people what they want to hear and deviate from the truth as little as possible. It was true that someone had grabbed me there and thrown me on my back, but it wasn\'t a kid and it wasn\'t in a martial arts class. But I knew the officer didn\'t want to hear about another kid being mistreated by his \'family\', he (like everyone else) wants to believe that the world is good and safe. Fools, but if that was what they wished to see then I wouldn\'t take away the blindness they wish for. Besides, I would never let them see or discover anything they could use against me, I didn\'t need them and I didn\'t trust them, I trusted no one.

*****

When school started up again I went back into my old routine, and though the new \'games\' didn\'t stop, they did decrease slightly. I found that I was having a harder time not flinching away from people again and had to work harder on that but still no one suspected anything. If I did flinch I would make up a quick and perfect lie or act like it wasn\'t a flinch but I had actually been about to reach down and get a pen.

Unfortunately my fifth grade teacher seemed more perceptive then the ones I had had in the past, but I enjoyed the challenge of deceiving him; unfortunately he did catch me once.

***

We had been doing our swimming unit in P.E. when someone from the office came to him with a note saying I was needed down there, so I got out and headed to change quickly. When I had heard that we were starting a swimming unit I had been worried about how I was going to hide all the scars that would surely arouse questions and so the night before we were due to start had worked out a way to cover them. It was really quiet simple, I just imagined how I wanted it to look and it was like the image I wanted was pulled over to cover it. Like all new thing it was draining at first for me to hold it to long and so when I entered the locker rooms alone I dropped the image revealing scars old and new covering my entire body along with some colorful bruises. I had just finished buttoning my pants when I heard a gasp from behind me and spun to see my teacher with horror in his eyes.

\"My God Harry, what happened to you?\" He gasped, I had a brief moment to curse myself and then without hesitating I went into his mind. I knew what I had to do, he couldn\'t know this, I had to take the memory away, and as I thought that the memory of what he had seen appeared in front of me and I destroyed it. When I pulled out I saw a blank expression in his eyes and took the time to put the image back over my body.

\"What was it you needed sir?\" I asked and watched as he gave his head a shake as if to clear it of something.

\"Uhh... oh yeah, here\'s the slip to get you down to the office.\" He said and still looking slightly confused walked out. As the door shut I let out the breath I had been holding, shaken by the whole thing but also excited by this new power.

It turned out that all the office wanted was to know if I had lost or forgotten to turn in my permission slip for the field trip that Friday. It seemed that they had gotten one for my cousin but not for me and were confused. I explained to them that I hadn\'t wanted to go on the field trip and just wanted to stay at school (yeah, cause going to the zoo just sounded like no fun at all.) Like always the adults drank up my lies and sent me back to class where my teacher didn\'t even give me a second glance assuring me that the memory was truly gone.


Rule #7: No person or thing can be trusted; there are always ways to be fooled.

I learned about deception a long time ago. I would stay in the shadows and watch people talking, promising to keep secrets, agreeing with points of views and then turning around, revealing those secrets or insulting the person they just agreed with because of an opinion. Everyone in the world does things to further themselves and there is no loyalty that would keep someone\'s mouth shut if they believed that they would gain something by revealing some knowledge that they knew. It was my own reflection on what I could do that made me realize the next thing, that it wasn\'t just people that you couldn\'t trust, but also your senses. Just because no one could see or hear me, didn\'t mean that I wasn\'t there listening to them, watching them. I wasn\'t foolish enough to believe that I was the only one in the world with these abilities; I had heard Vernon and Petunia whispering enough times about my kind to know that there were others that could be watching and listening as well.

After I realized that I increased my caution of when I used my gifts but also began to search out with my magic for another energy signature like me. I had noticed that most people (like my relatives) had a certain feel to them when I felt them with my magic, and one day when getting groceries I sensed a new and very different signature. It came from someone getting apples near by and when I \'looked\' at them I could see strings of light throughout their body with a ball of it in their chest. Normal people had the lines but no colors and they didn\'t glow, instantly I knew that this person was like me and was tempted to say something to them but knew I couldn\'t. So as I pretended to pick out some oranges I carefully reached out with my magic and slipped into the person\'s mind. I had been surprised that they didn\'t have shields up like I did but still made sure to mask my energy from them. What I found in their mind was very intriguing, it seemed that there was basically a whole world hidden right under the nose of normal people or... \'muggles\'. I scanned through the information and was surprised to find two things. First was that this person couldn\'t do the things I could without a \'wand\' and saying some words (I\'d have to remember to keep that secret) and also that there was a street not too far away where I could go and get all the info on how to do things that I wanted.

*****

After that day where I had been caught by my teacher I worked on increasing my magic ability as well as my control and within weeks I had no problem holding one of those false images over my entire body for an unlimited amount of time, even while keeping my shields up and doing other things as well. I began to wear one of the false images all the time making me appear how people wished me to be, at school I looked healthier and almost glowing with innocence and happiness. While at home I made it appear that the wounds given to me had not been healed and that I was very weak and broken.

It was one of these times after a brutal beating that I got the chance I had been waiting for since I met that person in the grocery store. The school was holding a special event for the families, some kind of Christmas fair thing, but seeing as how my \'injuries\' had not healed yet I was going to be left locked in my cupboard until their return. The entire thing went from noon until about 6:00 but after a quick search through my uncles mind I found he planned to go out to dinner after, meaning they wouldn\'t be back until 7:30 or 8:00; it was perfect.

*****

As soon as I heard the car engine start and pull out of the driveway I could feel the excitement grow in me, I would finally get a chance to meet people like me. With a quick thought I changed the image covering me from a beaten black haired boy to a boy around the age of 13 with long brown hair and hazel eyes and with a hard push managed to mask the scar on my forehead. It had taken weeks to learn how to conceal the scar and it still took a lot of energy out of me, that\'s how I knew it wasn\'t just another normal scar, something about that one was different. With the wave of my hand (though not necessary I think it makes it cooler) I changed my clothes from the rags they were to fitting black trousers and a white button up shirt. With a last glance at the mirror I changed my glasses to thin silver wire rimmed ones and with a \'pop\' vanished to the street I had seen in that person\'s mind.

I glanced around cautiously and was glad to see that no one had noticed my arrival, but I did see that everyone was wearing these odd robes. With a shrug of indifference I waved my hand again and found myself in a set of black robes identical to the ones the man who just walked by was wearing. As I continued to observe the street for a while longer I struggled not to loose my mask and stare at everyone wide eyed. This place had the strangest things, pictures were moving, and people were wearing hats that you would find at a Halloween store for witches\' outfits. I struggled not to burst out laughing at how bizarre everyone looked but the more I watched the harder it got.

Finally I got myself under control and taking a deep breath stepped out into this new world, my world. I spent the first hour simply wandering around the street looking through the windows of all the shops but not daring to enter one yet, but when I saw one that appeared to hold books I couldn\'t help it. I went through the door of Flourish and Blotts (all the stores seemed to have ridiculous names) and found what I was looking for, books, lots and lots of books. I slowly walked up and down the different isles looking at the different sections: astronomy, potions, charms, transfiguration and then a few recognizable ones like: politics, cooking, animal care, but after glancing in a few of these I realized even those were not really \'normal\'. I headed back to the sections that I was interested in grabbing two books on charms, two on potions and one on the \'transfiguration\' thingy before I was drawn back to reality by two voices.

\"Mommy, can I get this!\"

\"Sorry honey, that\'s too expensive, go put it back.\"

Damn was I an idiot, I didn\'t have any money! I glanced down at the five books in my hands not remotely interested in \'putting them back\' and so came to a conclusion... I\'d have to steal them.

Now normally I wouldn\'t do something like steal but I wanted and needed those books and not having money wasn\'t going to get in the way of me learning more about my powers. I began scheming of how I was going to do this, I didn\'t see any security cameras around, but then again if I owned a store and could use magic I would be putting things on the books to prevent them from being stolen. With that in mind I \'looked\' down at the book using my magic and could see almost like a red binding around it. A quick glance around the store showed that all the books had this but the one the owner was handing back to a customer didn\'t. I vanished my magic sight and watched as the person who had bought the book put it in her bag and then shrunk the whole thing. (Hmm, shrinking things, that will be useful.) I thought with a smirk and then turned back to the book in my hand with the red thing binding it still. Switching back to magic sight I looked at the book and carefully reached out with my magic and touched it. Information about it instantly poured through my mind and I saw exactly how to undo it, it was just like a knot or a code you had to figure out, and a simple one at that. With little effort I watched as the red binding vanished from the book and waited a few seconds to see if the owner would have noticed; nothing, perfect. With a couple more brushes of my finger I got rid of the red thing on all the other books I had and headed back down the isle away from any prying eyes. When out of sight I waved my hand slightly and the books shrunk down to fit nicely into the palm of my hand. With a smirk I casually put my hand in my pocket, dumping the books inside and went back to browse around some more. When I left I had 12 more books hidden on me, I got some on general information about the \'wizarding world\', about their politics, traditions, history and also some more interesting ones on the kinds of creatures, books on defensive and offensive spells and some in a section called dark arts that seemed very intriguing.

The next place I went was the apothecary but didn\'t \'get\' anything seeing as how it was unlikely I would be able to set up a caldron and make potions in the living room. I didn\'t see the point in getting any clothes either seeing as how I wouldn\'t be here often and I could just make my own when I did come. But I did go into a candy shop and \'buy\' a few items that looked safe to eat.

When I glanced at the clock in the candy store I realized that it was already ten after seven and quickly made my way out of the store and down an alley. When I was sure that no one was looking I \'popped\' back to my cupboard and listened for a moment for anything, relieved to find that they still weren\'t home. I conjured a light and sent it to the ceiling and began to pull the books out of my pockets and return them to their rightful size. When all of them were back to normal I found that there was barely enough room for me to move and knew I\'d have to come up with something. Remembering the way that many of the places I\'d been appeared small on the outside but upon entering were much larger I turned to one of my walls and placed my palms on it, closing my eyes and drawing up my magic. I began to envision an area big enough to hold all my books but that would be hidden from anyone else by a panel. When I opened them I saw no difference but could feel magically that there was something there, with a small thought the panel vanished revealing a book shelf that seemed built into the wall. I couldn\'t help but smirk at my success knowing that were that \'normal\' it would be protruding out into the kitchen. Pleased I began to place my books on the shelf before selecting one that was on the general history, figuring I should know about the background before I got to the good stuff.


Just a few minutes later I heard the car pull into the driveway and banished the light that was above me, I was annoyed because the book had been fascinating then the thought occurred to me to just change my eyes to those of a cats and continue reading, so I did, feeling pleased and sure that this was one of the best days I had had in a long time.

*****

Before even a week had gone by I had devoured all of the books I had \'permanently barrowed\' (most multiple times) and was aching to go back and get more. I was once again reading through the dark arts book at school which I had disguised as my history book and was trying to think of a way to get away for just a few hours. The things that I had found in the books so far had further incited my interested while other things had confused me. All of the books had mentioned that you needed a wand to perform magic which simply didn\'t apply to me, reaffirming my previous decision keep that quiet. There were also things like that transforming into more than one animal or \'animagus\' form was impossible, but it wasn\'t really as long as you organized through your brain the different processes for each. From some of the things that I read I wasn\'t even sure that other magic folk could see magic like I could, they always seemed to explain it in this complicated way when if they merely described the colors and feel you should be getting from the spell or charm it would be much simpler. More and more questions were coming up and the only solution would be more books. I had been toying with the idea of trying to create a kind of copy of me, one that I could leave in my cupboard or busy at chores to keep the Dursleys thinking that I was there. I had gotten to the point where I could get one looking like me, could make it touchable and able to touch and pick up things but was having trouble getting it smart enough to do more than basic responses and not look like nothing was going on up stairs. I knew I was getting close but I wanted it now, I\'d never been so impatient for something before. Hmm, guess I hadn\'t mastered patience, well here was my chance.


Three days after that I successfully created a walking, speaking, thinking, bruising and bleeding copy of myself, it was perfect if I do say so myself. So later that Sunday when I went outside to start the yard work I went in the shed, conjured up another me, turned myself invisible and with implanting the instructions into him \'popped\' off into Diagon Alley. I had learned in one of the books that children weren\'t supposed to be able to \'pop\' around or \"apparate\" as they called it so I would be careful no one saw me. As I placed the same fake appearance on me as last time I set off for the book store using all my restraint not to go faster than a walk. I had already been in the store for over an hour finding some interesting books like one about strange abilities and one on wards. I had always sensed that there was something around my house and hoped that this would explain what exactly. After \'taking\' a few more books that caught my eye I heard two wizards mention a better book store down somewhere called Knockture Alley. The prospect of finding more, and better books highly intrigued me and I unobtrusively followed them to a new area that seemed to be less reputable.

I didn\'t change any of the \"glamours\" that I had on me but changed me stance and the feeling I was giving off so it would seem that I belonged in this area. I followed the two men into the bookstore and was instantly intrigued. It was clear why this shop was in this area of the town as it clearly had darker books. A couple of the things in the other books had mentioned how dark arts were bad and this and that, but I seriously didn\'t see what the problem was, a lot of the spells seemed very useful and I had promised myself long ago that I would master anything that could be useful. I began to collect books that were interesting, the charm on them to prevent stealing was a bit more complicated than that at the other store, but wasn\'t any real trouble and again no one noticed. Two more hours passed before I managed to pull myself away from the store and after going down a deserted alley popped back into the garden shed. I reached out with my magic and sensed that the fake me was almost done weeding so I pulled out one of the books, returned it to normal size and waited for its(my) return. After a few minutes it came in and after changing my clothes and appearance to that of the fake me, banished it and headed inside. As I entered the house I got the sense that my uncle was in one of those moods and quickly headed towards my cupboard. I had almost made it when I heard my uncle\'s voice ring out making my body tense.


\"Boy, go take a shower.\" He shouted from the other room and a shiver went down my spine. He didn\'t need to say the other words in that sentence and a brief scan with my magic affirmed that Petunia and Dudley were out somewhere. Quickly I opened my cupboard door and set my magic to work quickly; books began to float out of my pocket and enlarge as the panel against the wall vanished and they went to where they were supposed to go. I hadn\'t realized I had taken so many books but with another thought another shelf appeared below the other and the rest of the books floated and settled along there. The whole thing took under 30 seconds and with another thought the panels reappeared and I turned to hurry upstairs and start my shower where I would be \'joined shortly\'.

*****

Being able to read people and know what they want can be quiet annoying at times I reflected as I bent over in the shower, water rolling down my back as my uncle slammed into me from behind. I don\'t know what he found pleasurable about this, perhaps it was just the idea that it was another thing he could do to give me what I deserve; it was definitely the worst. Even thinking about anything to do with that area made me feel sick. When he was done I collapsed to the bottom of the shower, but he ignored me, washed himself a little and then left. I lay there for a while longer, after all the things that I could understand, this I could not. With a sigh I pushed it from my mind as I pushed my body off the floor; I wasn\'t even sure if I wanted to understand it all.

When I returned to my cupboard I was in too much pain to even read one of my new books, I just tried to find the least painful position and force my mind to sleep.

*****

Months went by in this similar routine; my grades at school weren\'t influenced at all by my change in study subject, and the Dursleys never caught on to my trips to Diagon Alley or my growing library. Not even people in the magic world suspected me of anything though I think they were beginning to notice that books were beginning to go missing, but evidently lots of strange things happened in the wizarding world so no one gave it much thought. The only thing that had really changed was me, I had found out in one of the earlier books that evidently I was some hero to the wizarding world, hmm seems like they really care about their \'heroes\'. It sounded like a load of crap to me, but that Voldemort (took me forever to figure out his bloody name, all the books just said you-know-who, and I clearly didn\'t know who; fucking annoying) guy did intrigue me, it sounded like he had really gotten far on his use of magic and I felt a little sorry for destroying his potential, I truly hoped he survived somehow. Now I know I was supposed to hate him for killing my parents and all, but that\'s just how war was and they knew what they were getting into when they joined a side. I had managed to master every spell, curse or charm I had come across so far (though hadn\'t tried the cruciatus or killing curse), but really wished I could try potions, the whole complexity of it really interested me and I was once again having to work on my patience.

The school had also noticed a change in me, they had a meeting with the Dursleys saying that I was cold and distant to the other children, that I had no friends and barely talked to the teachers. The Dursleys of course listened and sounded concerned but then went home and Vernon \"taught me a lesson\" for wasting there time. It didn\'t matter anyway, the school year was almost over and I would be going to Stonewall High while Dudley (who knows how he graduated) would be going to Smeltings. At one point in time the idea of finally going to a different school might have interested me; the idea of being away from Dudley\'s gang, the chance to make friends. But those things really didn\'t matter and I didn\'t want friends anyway, all going to a new school would mean is showing people once again that I just wanted to be left alone. But I also realized that I would be turning 11 soon and so perhaps I would be able to go to one of those wizarding schools instead of Stonewall. I didn\'t know exactly when my birthday was, it had never been celebrated by the Dursleys, but I did know I was the same age as Dudley and he had turned eleven before the end of the last school year, so maybe I would get a letter or something.

A/N: Thanks, and PLEASE review!