(Harry Potter) Worthy of you:Chapter 2 – Written on Parchment

A/N: I know this chapter is a little short, and I promise the rest of the story will include chapters in the usual size I write them.

Chapter 2 – Written on Parchment

Summary: Harry's letter to Remus.

To Remus Lupin,

I think you know who I am, but I’ll introduce myself anyway. My name is Harry Potter, and I believe you were good friends with my parents.

I learned your name by accident. Now, before I tell you how I found out about you, I want to say that from what I’ve read, there are some conflicting ideas about your views on rule-following.

I mean, I read in the library records that you were a prefect with my mother since your fifth year, but at the same time, you were in the same group as my dad, who played endless pranks around the castle.

I got a little sidetracked there. I was about to tell you how I heard your name, and even though you may not approve, I’m not sorry for how I did it.

I was in the hospital wing visiting my best friend, who’s been lying there petrified for the past couple of months. I’d already used up my visiting hours for the day, so I decided to sneak around under my invisibility cloak (yes, the same one my father used). While I was there, Snape and Professor McGonagall came in and started talking about how Snape tried to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts post again, but McGonagall told him the headmaster was planning to offer the job to you.

Snape seemed to hate the idea and mentioned something about a “beast” teaching children, but McGonagall shut him down. That’s when Snape mentioned that you were friends with my dad (he said it like it was some kind of insult).

It wasn’t much to go on, so I spent a lot of time in the library trying to find whatever I could about you, which paid off.

Now, you’re probably wondering, why is he telling me all this? Well, it’s because I really need help, and I have no one else to ask. To be honest, I consider you a bit of a long shot, but it’s the only chance I’ve got.

Let me give you a little background about my home life with my relatives. From the moment I was left on Aunt Petunia’s doorstep, she and her entire family hated me.

I was made to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, which was my bedroom until last year. Whenever I asked about my parents, Aunt Petunia would scream at me, saying they were good-for-nothing drunks who died in a car crash and didn’t have the decency to take me with them.

At first, the abuse was emotional, but when I turned six, it became physical. They never hit me hard enough to leave visible marks, but it was enough to leave scars all over my body.

That same year, they decided I’d been living for free in their home for too long, so they began making me do what they called “chores.” I was in charge of cooking, gardening, and pretty much everything else except cleaning, which my aunt was too obsessed with to leave to me.

Meanwhile, my cousin Dudley had two rooms to himself, got everything he wanted, and I was stuck wearing his hand-me-downs (and let’s just say, three of me could fit inside them with room to spare). He was also allowed to bully me as much as he liked, often with the help of his gang. There was nowhere I could escape from him.

When my Hogwarts letter came, they refused to let me go. They even took us all to hide on some island until the whole thing blew over. It took Hagrid literally breaking down the door for them to let me go.

And that was just my home life. Now let’s move on to my two years at Hogwarts.

To keep it brief, in my first year I dealt with a mountain troll, smuggled a dragon out of the grounds, survived an assassination attempt during a Quidditch match, and got detention in the Forbidden Forest with only Hagrid for company.

But all of that was just side stuff. The main issue was the Philosopher’s Stone hidden in the castle. On the same day someone tried to steal it, the headmaster conveniently went to the Ministry, so my friends and I had to go after the thief ourselves.

It turned out that the would-be thief was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but worse than that—he was possessed by Voldemort. I had to fight him, and the result of our fight was the professor’s death and Voldemort’s escape.

When I returned to my relatives, they locked all my belongings and my owl in the cupboard and put bars on my window. A few weeks after my birthday, the Weasleys came in their father’s flying car and ripped the bars off the window to rescue me. That summer, I even had to beg Hagrid for food because my aunt refused to feed me.

Throughout the entire summer, I didn’t get a single letter from anyone, which terrified me because I’d only just made friends for the first time. It wasn’t until the last day before school that a house-elf showed up, warning me of danger at Hogwarts.

He told me he’d stolen all my mail to make me think I had no friends to return to, and when that didn’t work, he used magic in the house and blamed me for it. The Ministry believed him.

On the day of the train ride back to Hogwarts, my friend and I were locked out of the barrier (care to guess who was responsible?). My friend had the brilliant idea to use his father’s flying car to get to Hogwarts instead of just sending a letter to a professor.

Then, to summarise: an incompetent Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, another near-fatal Quidditch attack, missing the Halloween feast to attend a ghost’s Deathday Party, and that same night, an attack that left Filch’s cat petrified with a message on the wall: “Enemies of the Heir, beware.” Later, during a Dueling Club session, I accidentally spoke Parseltongue, which sparked rumors that I was the Heir of Slytherin and behind the attacks. One of the victims was my best friend.

It all came to a head a few weeks ago when a new message appeared: “Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.” I figured out where the Chamber of Secrets was and took my friend with me. My friend convinced me to take the Defense professor with us, but he turned on us and tried to erase our memories. The spell backfired, leaving me separated from him and my friend.

Long story short, I fought a basilisk, killed it with a sword, was healed by a phoenix, and rescued the girl.

Now I, along with a few other students, am waiting for Snape to finish the potion that will unpetrify everyone.

To top it all off, I discovered that Lucius Malfoy was behind everything this year, and it was his house-elf who had been warning me. I managed to trick him into freeing his elf, but he was so furious that he tried to use the Killing Curse on me. Luckily, the elf intervened before he could finish the incantation, and Malfoy left the castle in a huff.

I’m telling you all this because I’ve realised that I’ve allowed my relatives to destroy who I really want to be, and because of that, I’ve had to rely on luck for the past couple of years. I can’t keep doing that, especially after what I learned in the Chamber of Secrets.

I know I need help, but I have no one to ask. Snape is out for obvious reasons.

Professor McGonagall assigned us detention in the Forbidden Forest and refused to believe me when I warned her about the stone. She also stayed silent while the entire student body bullied me this past year, so I don’t trust her much either.

The headmaster has his own plans, which I’m starting to think aren’t really in my best interests.

My best friend is very clever and skilled, but she has her limits too, and I don’t want to be a burden on her—especially since she’ll have three months of school to catch up on once she’s awake.

It might only be by chance that I heard your name, but you were friends with both my parents, and I’d like to believe that means you care about me too. From what I understand, it was the headmaster who kept you away from me, so I’m willing to give you a chance to be part of my life now, if you want to.

Well, that’s all I have to say for now. I hope to hear from you soon (preferably before the end of the year for obvious reasons). By the way, the beautiful owl delivering this letter is mine. Her name is Hedwig, and she’s a bit spoiled. If you don’t want bloody fingers, I suggest giving her some bacon as your first course of action.

Truly,
Harry Potter

When Harry finished reading over what he’d written, he nodded to himself. It might be long and detailed, but it had to be. Harry was afraid that if he didn’t include so much detail, Remus might go through Dumbledore, and the headmaster would spin some tale to keep the man away from Harry again.

This way, the headmaster wouldn’t have any wiggle room. Harry had recounted everything from his own perspective, so there was no way to claim that there were things he simply didn’t know.

Harry folded the parchment and looked at the white owl sitting on the table next to him. “So, Hedwig, think you can find this Remus Lupin?”

The snowy owl gave him a hard look and an indignant hoot. Harry chuckled and smiled. “Sorry, girl, just a bit nervous. He really is my only shot.”

Hedwig’s gaze softened, and she gave a softer hoot as Harry tied the letter to her leg. He grinned and said, “Thanks, girl. Now, be careful and have a good flight.”

The owl bobbed her head before spreading her wings and flying out of the window. Harry watched her until the small white dot disappeared into the grey Scottish sky.