Harry Potter:blood legacy

Harry was currently standing outside the greenhouse with the rest of the Slytherins, waiting for Professor Sprout to arrive and start the Herbology lesson. They had arrived after the Hufflepuffs, but Harry stood in front of the greenhouse with his housemates, awaiting the professor and the arrival of the Ravenclaws. The Hufflepuffs looked apologetic when they glanced at the Boy Who Lived, while the Ravenclaws were slightly less so. After a few minutes, the Gryffindors arrived last, most of them displaying a range of mixed emotions, as if unsure how to feel about Potter. However, not every Gryffindor was troubled by such concerns.

"You think you're so great, don't you?!" Ronald spat, throwing a newspaper at Harry.

"Yeah, a little," the boy nodded with a faint smile. "At least more than you," he added, unable to resist.

"I can't believe you wrote all that about me!" Weasley growled.

"I didn't write anything about you," Harry remarked. "All I wrote was a letter, and if you recall correctly, I didn't even mention your name."

"But they did!" Ron fumed, emphasizing his point by pointing at the other Slytherins.

"I can't control what others do," Potter shrugged. "If they think you're an arrogant jerk, that's their opinion. Personally, I don't spend much time thinking about you because I don't think you're worth it."

"What?!"

"Don't you get the hint, Weasley?" Draco sneered. "Even Potter's outright saying you're not worth it."

"I..."

"Honestly, Weasley," Harry interrupted. "I'm sure you have more important things to do than bother us. And I definitely have better things to do than listen to you."

"You better watch yourself, Potter."

"Do you have a mirror?"

"You think you're so special, but I bet you didn't even defeat You-Know-Who!" Ron blurted out, making most of those around him gasp, largely because they couldn't believe he said such a thing.

"Maybe not," Harry replied indifferently with a shrug before anyone else could respond.

"You... what?"

"I said, 'Maybe not.' Honestly, Weasley, I was a year old then, and I don't remember what happened. People say I defeated him, and I take their word for it because I honestly don't know. But I think it's far more likely that my mum and dad did something. Either way, I don't think it matters whether I defeated him or not. I'm still a better student than you. Name one subject where I haven't outperformed you." Harry's tone was bored as he looked around and noticed everyone contemplating his words.

"You could..."

"Is there a problem, Mr. Weasley?" asked Professor Sprout as she approached.

"No, Professor," the redhead muttered quietly, stepping back from the Slytherins. He really couldn't afford to get into more trouble. Most of the house was already displeased with him—some for his comments, others for the number of points he'd already lost. Ron knew things would be much, much worse if not for the fact that he had three older brothers in Gryffindor. Considering Percy, who was a prefect and likely a future Head Boy, and the twins, known as the "mischievous devils," no one was willing to take serious action against Ron. But despite that, the entire house treated him coldly, as if he were a burden. If that wasn't bad enough, he was also dreading the Howler likely to come from his mother.

"I'm sure," Professor Sprout said skeptically before letting the class inside.

"Why did you say that?" Draco whispered as they entered.

"Because it's probably true. I don't remember that night. Besides, if I'm going to be famous, I want to earn it, not be famous for something I can't even recall," Harry explained before moving over to Blaise as the lesson began.

Albus Dumbledore was currently pacing back and forth in his office, lost in thought. In his personal domain, if he wasn't working, he would relax by gazing out the window at the beautiful landscape, perhaps reading a book or spending time with Fawkes. But now, his mind was consumed with thoughts about Harry Potter.

Dumbledore had read the Daily Prophet article, then reread it, then read it again, and then—hoping it might change something—read it once more.

Harry had been abused.

The Dursleys had mistreated him.

Dumbledore had known they wouldn't shower the boy with love and that it would be a difficult arrangement, but to shove the boy into a cupboard? To treat him like a house-elf and tell him that James and Lily were drunks? How could they?

Albus realized he had severely underestimated the cruelty of those Muggles. He thought that, at worst, they would treat Harry as a burden, and he hadn't anticipated the scenario described in the article. He had been avoiding Minerva since the paper came out, but a conversation with her was inevitable. She had tried to stop him from sending Harry to the Dursleys, had been vehemently opposed to it, and would remind him of it for years to come whenever she had the chance. A storm of "I told you so" was coming his way.

At the time, Dumbledore had dismissed her concerns because, of course, those Muggles couldn't possibly be too cruel to their young relative, could they? He thought that while Petunia didn't get along with her sister, she wouldn't be foolish enough to direct her hatred toward a child. Albus also believed the blood protection he created around the Dursleys' home would keep Harry safe from anyone who wished to harm him as long as he called that place home. The boy had to stay with his aunt for the protection to work, as she was his only close blood relative. And while the protection did work, it unfortunately didn't shield Harry from the people inside the house.

The blood protection would be invaluable when Voldemort returned. If possible, Dumbledore would have liked to help the Dursleys and Harry work through their issues, but he knew that wasn't an option anymore. After that article, it was almost guaranteed that Harry would end up in a different home. Albus couldn't tell people about the protection because he doubted it would make much difference; the public wanted their "Savior" removed from that place. The blood protection was also illegal, so he didn't want to explain it to the wizards. As much as he wanted to, he gave up on the idea and couldn't force the boy to stay there, risking making himself Harry's enemy and alienating the magical public.

The next issue was where Harry would live when he wasn't at Hogwarts. Ideally, he could turn to the Weasleys. Arthur was a kind and hardworking man, Molly loved children, and the two of them could treat Harry like family. Besides, if Dumbledore remembered correctly, they had a daughter who would start at Hogwarts next year. Who knows, maybe there could be green-eyed, red-haired Potters in the future? Unfortunately, that was unlikely, as not only were the Weasleys poor—leaving the argument of whether they could afford more children for others to debate—but their youngest son clearly didn't get along with Harry, which was made very clear in the article.

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