Harry Potter VS Murphy\'s Law

Hello; my name is Murphy Lawson. You won’t have any idea at all who I am, of course; no one in my year was noticed once the famous Harry Potter came on the scene with his cronies and his enemies and all that. But then I might never have stood out anyway; I'm the plain kind of guy who kind of fades into the background and most people don't even know I'm there even if I jump up and down and shout.

As I said, I did attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I had a fairly average first year; nothing really stood out to me as something I would shine at. My second year I had high hopes; I had studied all summer and was ready to step up and show them what I was really made of, but I never had a chance. That was the year that Harry Potter came to Hogwarts.

I know what you’re wondering; did I know him? I can tell you that I did, and that I wish I hadn’t. From the moment that he entered my life, things have been going wrong. I was in the same house as Harry Potter and everything he did changed my life; both him and his friends. You know them too; that irritating know-it-all witch he hung about with as well as that mass of redheaded Weasleys.

They all had such lovely luck; I couldn't even come near that kind of luck unless I'd managed to get that Felix Felicis potion. And I may be able to afford one next month. I’ve been saving for it for over three years.

Yes, it all boils down to luck, and how vengeance is a very sweet dish best served cold.

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Harry woke slowly, confused and disoriented. He'd been struck from behind by... something... he had no idea what, and was only regaining his senses now. He blinked, realizing his glasses must have fallen off his face, everything was blurry. He was seated and it wasn't until he tried to reach to see if he could locate his lost glasses that he realized that he was tied up. Not just tied, but bound up with silvery bands of… Merlin. Was this duct tape? His hands had been clasped with fingers interlaced and taped together heavily as well. If this was duct tape, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to tape him every inch to this chair. Only his head was free of tape; everything else was secured firmly by layers of the strong gray sticky stuff. He tried to move his fingers experimentally but found they barely had any feeling in them at all. Okay, what the bloody hell was going on...?!

"Waking up, are you? Good. I want you to be awake when I end this." a voice said to his left. Harry simply turned his head to look at the speaker. The man was his age but his face looked old and careworn; he had several scars on his face and hands, and he wore a funny little bowler hat on his head. The man wasn't particularly tall or short, wasn't dark or pale, had plain brown hair and brown eyes, no freckles or other distinguishing marks. Except for the scars he looked perfectly ordinary.

"End what?" Harry asked, not sure at all what was going on. He vaguely recognized this fellow; something told him he saw him at school once or twice, but he couldn’t place him no matter how hard he racked his memories.

The man drew a wand out of his pocket; Harry's wand. He made a point to show it to him, then he set it on the table behind him and picked up what was lying there; it was a huge gun. Even without his glasses he could clearly see the thing. The barrel was about ten inches around, and to Harry it looked to be a muggle missile launcher of some sort. What in the name of Merlin would a wizard be doing with a weapon like that?!

He stared at it in shock, and the man laughed. "Getting the idea now, are you?" he said with a crazed giggle. "I'm getting even with you, Potter." he said, stroking the barrel of the weapon. “Getting even for you for everything you’ve done to me!”

"Even? What the bloody hell have I ever done to you?!" he demanded in total confusion.

The man blinked at him, surprised. "You don't know?” he asked, astounded. “You don't even know! You ruined my ENTIRE BLOODY LIFE, Potter!!" he half-screamed at him, eyes almost bugging out of their sockets.

"I don't even know who the hell you are!" Harry yelled back at the man.

"My name is Murphy Lawson!" he snapped. "Gryffindor House; I went to school with you and your bloody friends for five bloody years!"

"Oh." Harry tried hard to pull up any memories of this fellow but he really could not place him at all. "...but I didn't know you. And I certainly didn't do anything to hurt you; maybe you have me confused with Malfoy?" He suggested, having absolutely no clue how he could have done anything to hurt this fellow.

"Oh no; it was all you, Potter. You nearly got me killed while we were at Hogwarts, more than once! You cost me my girl. You cost me the job I always wanted. You cost me my best grades and ruined the best years of my life! It wasn't Draco Malfoy who did all that, it was YOU!"

"How the hell could I ruin your life if I didn't even bloody know you?"


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Author's Notes: The story will continue soon!