Disclaimer: I don't the series, just the fanfic and my OC. The Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling! No copyright intended.

Author's note: This will be an AU story where Harry is paired up with an OC. Katie Bell will have a little sister, so Harry will meet them first. Manipulative Dumbledore, some Ron and Ginny bashing. I don't know if I'll bash Hermione, nor the other Weasleys (but I don't intend to bash the Weasley twins, nor Arthur). This will also be a story where Harry finds out about magic earlier than in canon. There will also be implied child abuse and neglect caused by the Dursleys, so the rating is likely to be an "M."

Harry Potter And His Hidden Power

fanfic by Brockster550

Ch. 1

Dudley's Tenth Birthday

The Dursley family of Number 4 Privet Drive of Little Whinging in Surrey was (in their minds) a normal family. Vernon and Petunia didn't like anything that seemed 'out of the ordinary.' They have a son named Dudley, who was the picture of 'innocence,' and there was no finer boy than him. The neighbors of Privet Drive believed the Dursleys to be a good family. But what the neighbors didn't know was that the Dursleys also housed another boy about Dudley's age. The other boy was named Harry Potter, and the neighbors didn't know (or knew very little of) Harry. What the neighbors also didn't know was that the boy named Harry was abused (physically and emotionally) and that he was treated like a slave, and got almost nothing in return for the impossibly long list of chores he had to do just about every day.

Harry, at the moment was asleep in the cupboard under the stairs, laying on his left side and trying not to lay on his back. That was because he was whacked in the back by his uncle Vernon's belt a countless number of times in one sitting because he had (what Vernon assumed) was bullying Dudley. Vernon, however, always blamed Harry for alot of things and always referred to him as 'freak,' 'boy,' or any nasty name he could come up with. Neither Vernon, nor Petunia would ever accept that Dudley, nor his friends would bully Harry. That's because Dudley and his gang would bully Harry and anytime he retaliated, Dudley would always lie about what had happened (making sure to exaggerate it as much as possible). Vernon and Petunia would never accept the truth coming from Harry because (in the Dursleys' opinions) he was a burden.

The day before, Harry was minding his own business during recess at St. Grogery's Primary School. Dudley and his gang were also the reason Harry never had any friends because they would always scare away anybody who tried to befriend Harry. Dudley and his gang would even tell the other students that Harry was a stick-like figure with clothes several sizes too big. That was because Harry was never fed proper meals, always getting hardly anything to eat and he would always get Dudley's old clothes. Dudley was very fat, which explained the cast-offs being several sizes too big for Harry. Harry tried explaining a couple of times that he needed clothes his size, which only got him beat up even more, with Petunia telling him to stop being ungrateful, and Vernon would also abuse Harry for 'being ungrateful' and once even held a hot iron to his chest for it (and he still has the scar from it).

Harry was told his own name a few times (by his teachers), but his aunt and uncle only called him insulting names. Harry tried his best but no matter what he did, he was never accepted. While he was smart, he could only work to barely passing grades since he always got punished for doing better than Dudley, and doing worse. Dudley wasn't very intelligent, but he somehow always stayed in the same grade as Harry. Harry always wondered how Dudley managed to pass, but he was forbidden to ask questions (especially about his parents). The only thing Harry knew was that his parents had died in a car crash, or so it seemed. Somehow, Harry knew it had to have been a lie because neither his aunt nor uncle looked him in the eye when they told him.

Harry (who was 9 going on 10) started getting up, even though it was 5:30 AM. He was always ordered to get up and fix breakfast. When he didn't hear any noise, he started drifting back to sleep, thinking that his aunt must've forgotten, until...

"Up, GET UP, FREAK!" screeched Aunt Petunia, knocking on the cupboard door rudely and unlocking the deadbolt.

"Getting up." said Harry groggily.

"Mind your attitude, boy!" snapped Aunt Petunia. "Now, get breakfast cooked. It's Dudley's tenth birthday today and DON'T you dare let it burn, or you'll be sorry!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." said Harry irritably.

"I said mind your attitude," snapped Petunia again. "I want Duddykins' birthday to be perfect. Got it?"

"Yes." said Harry in a monotone voice.

Petunia let out a "harrumph" at Harry's so-called ungratefulness. So Harry got up and put on his round-shaped glasses that were held with scotch tape, because of some occasions where Dudley punched him in the nose and broke them. Harry had once been told by a teacher that he was born on July 31st in 1980. The end of next month would be his tenth, but he never counted on the Dursleys remembering, instead he was given extra chores. Life just wasn't fair, Dudley would always get what he wanted and never worked for anything, in sharp contrast to Harry, who was always forced to do the chores, hardly given any food and always punished, even if Dudley did something bad. It was always Dudley, Dudley, Dudley! Dudley this, Dudley that, Dudley everything.

Harry went to the refrigerator and got out the eggs and bacon, and set one of the stove burners to the necessary temperature. He remembered once when he was seven, he accidentally burned the bacon and Dudley threw a nasty temper tantrum because of his breakfast being ruined, resulting in corporal punishment from Aunt Petunia, and the palm on his right hand was seared as well by Uncle Vernon, who threw Harry into the cupboard under the stairs not long after. This time, Harry remembered not to burn anything, not wanting another punishment.

Harry finished up when Uncle Vernon arrived in the dining room. The table was covered in presents for Dudley, which made it difficult to set plates down. Harry also went to the coffee pot to get some coffee for Uncle Vernon, then he poured some into a cup and set it down next to Uncle Vernon's breakfast plate. A minute later, Dudley arrived in the kitchen.

"Oh, here he is, it's the birthday boy!" cried Aunt Petunia happily, giving her son hugs and kisses.

"Happy Birthday, son!" said Uncle Vernon fondly, followed by a pat on his son's shoulder.

Then Aunt Petunia covered Dudley's eyes and led him over to his birthday presents on the table and on some of the chairs. Once she moved her hands away from Dudley, he looked at all the presents, then he turned to his father.

"How many are there?" asked Dudley.

"Thirty-five," said Uncle Vernon. "Counted them myself."

"THIRTY-FIVE?!" screamed Dudley, outraged. "I had thirty-six last year!"

"Yeah, but some of them were quite a bit bigger." Uncle Vernon tried defending.

"I don't care how big they are!" Dudley screamed again.

"Now, now, Duddykins," said Aunt Petunia. "Here's what we'll do, when we go out, we'll buy you another two presents. Hows that?"

"So, I'll have, thirty... thirty... um..." said Dudley.

"Thirty-seven, popkin." said Aunt Petunia.

"Well, o-o-okay." said Dudley, satisfied with having one more present than last year.

Harry looked over at Dudley with resentment. He knew his cousin was a spoiled brat, extremely ungrateful, always demanding something that he doesn't have, even yelling and screaming if his milkshake or hamburger wasn't big enough. Harry could never understand fully why Dudley was always pampered and spoiled. He knew better than to ask.

While Dudley was opening his presents, the phone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it. About half a minute later, she came back into the dining/living room, looking both angry and worried.

"Bad news, Vernon," Aunt Petunia started informing her husband. "Mrs. Figg is going out of town in an hour and a half to visit relatives. She can't watch him."

Dudley's eyes widened in horror, while Petunia and Vernon just eyed Harry as if he somehow planned that. Harry, of course didn't have anything to do with that, but Petunia and Vernon were always looking for excuses to blame him for all sorts of things. Dudley just started mock crying, playing on with his mother's habit of giving him anything he wanted.

"No need to worry, Diddykins," Aunt Petunia tried soothing her son. "We won't let him ruin your special day."

"He-He-He al-al-always d-does," Dudley continued mock crying. "I d-d-don't want him to come!"

"Maybe we can phone Marge." suggested Uncle Vernon.

"Don't be silly, Vernon," said Aunt Petunia. "You know she hates the boy."

They always spoke about Harry that way, as if he was a contagious disease. Harry's thoughts with Marge visiting returned. At Dudley's fifth birthday party, Marge whacked a then four-year-old Harry in the shins with her walking stick, to make sure he didn't beat Dudley at musical statues. A couple years ago, she visited for Christmas where she gave Dudley a computerized robot and gave Harry a box of dog biscuits. Harry would never have any idea what next thing she could do if he was ever around her.

"What about your friend, Y'vonne?" asked Uncle Vernon.

"She's in Brazil, on business." stated Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here!" Harry put in hopefully.

If he had the whole house to himself, he could watch anything on the TV. He could even have a go on Dudley's computer, play games on it. Aunt Petunia gave her nephew a look as if she had just swallowed a lemon.

"Yeah, right," Aunt Petunia sarcastically remarked, then continued on in a normal, but angry tone. "And come back later to find this house in ruins?"

"I won't blow up the house." said Harry.

But neither Petunia nor Vernon believed him, as Harry often made things happen somehow. Once, Harry accidentally turned one of his teacher's hair blue after he had insulted Harry. Another time, his aunt had shaved his head almost bald, due to frequent haircuts at a barber shop, but the bangs were left to keep his scar hidden. But overnight, it had grown back to where it had been before it was shaved off and he was given corporal punishment from Aunt Petunia, more brutal beatings from Uncle Vernon, and they both gave him a week in his cupboard. Another time, Petunia was trying to fit Harry with one of Dudley's old sweaters, but it started shrinking somehow, so much that it could only fit on a hand puppet. Petunia decided that the washing machine must've caused it to shrink and Harry wasn't punished, to his relief. However a few weeks ago, Harry got into big trouble for 'climbing buildings' at school, when Harry had been trying to escape Dudley and his gang and later that afternoon, Harry was given more beatings from his uncle and a week without meals. This time, Harry was more than determined to avoid any incident similar to those. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"They're here!" said Aunt Petunia as she went to answer the door.

She opened the door and Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss walked in with his mother and Dudley ceased his mock-cry act immediately. Piers Polkiss was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was also Dudley's second-in-command in the gang, and Piers was usually the one who would hold people's arms behind their backs while Dudley took to punching the victims. Every year on Dudley's birthday, Vernon and Petunia would take their son and a friend (usually Piers) out for the day, to hamburger restaurants, amusements parks, museums, movie theaters, or anything like that. But Harry was always left behind with Mrs. Figg, a seemingly mad old lady who lived a couple streets south of Privet Drive. Harry didn't care to be there all that much, but there have been a few times where it was better than Privet Drive.

Vernon and Petunia decided to take Dudley, Piers, and reluctantly, Harry to the Chessington World Of Adventures Theme Park/Zoo. Harry couldn't believe his luck (which was usually rotten), since Vernon nor Petunia couldn't think of anything else on what to do with him. Before leaving, Uncle Vernon pulled Harry aside to 'talk some sense' into his nephew.

"I'm warning you now, boy," said Uncle Vernon seriously, pointing a finger in Harry's face. "Any funny business, any at all, and you'll in that cupboard from now until Christmas, and you won't have any meals for a couple weeks. Now get in!"

Harry complied and got in. Being deprived of food is another punishment the Dursleys enjoyed giving him, leaving him malnourished. Harry had to adjust the buckle around his overly large pants to make sure they wouldn't fall down. His overly large shirt was hardly any better, as the neck collar could easily slide down and expose his scars and bruises.

Meanwhile in a certain castle miles and miles away, an old wizard with silver-gray hair and a silver-gray beard was checking certain instruments on his desk in his office. This wizard was named Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and he looked happy that the instruments were functioning perfectly (he also had a twinkle in his eye in his victory expression).

"As long as Harry is toughened up, he'll be able to face his destiny, for the greater good." said Albus to himself, with a smug grin.

To him, Harry Potter was going to be used as some weapon for whatever destiny he was supposedly due to face. Albus also had some other plans in mind for Harry, but Harry will soon find out when the time was right.

To be continued!