Silent Compassion

Prologue

Harry Potter was only five years old when it finally happened.

It had been his birthday just last week, not that he was allowed to celebrate, he had overheard his Aunt Petunia mentioning it to Uncle Vernon and them both tutting disgustedly at what a waste of day it was. Harry knew that his Aunt had been planning something for him since his birthday and he couldn't help hoping that maybe, for the first time, she was acknowledging their relationship and he was finally going to get his first-ever birthday present from her.

So when Uncle Vernon yanked Harry roughly out of his cupboard one day and told him to get into the car, the very car he wasn't allowed to enter, he had hope that this was finally his very first present.

He went to the car without a fuss, looking over his shoulder he saw his Aunt saying goodbye to Uncle Vernon before closing the door without looking over at him. Despite never having been in the car before he knew his Uncle's rules on making a fuss, so he tried his best to contain his excitement.

Uncle Vernon lumbered his way over to the car, pushing Harry into the back seat and snapping at him to not touch anything of Dudley's before getting in and starting the car.

Harry pulled his knees close to his chest and hugged them with spindly arms to stay as small as possible, if he behaved then maybe he would receive his present.

Harry wasn't sure how long they had been driving but the little suburb he'd known all of his life had turned into the sprawling fields of the countryside with houses few and far between and then finally into the dense woods.

Something felt wrong to Harry when his Uncle turned onto a dirt road that had a sign saying 'Dead End' at the beginning of it. He could feel a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach and his throat felt like it was slowly closing as they came to a stop, Harry was too afraid to voice his concern to his Uncle though as he seemed to be getting happier the farther they drove onto the 'Dead End' road.

When they reached the end of the overgrown dirt road Vernon turned the car off and Harry looked around to find ... nothing. Nothing but the woods and the road the car was parked on leading back through a maze of towering trees.

No trails, houses, or cars as far as Harry could see.

The bad feeling grew within Harry to the point he felt he couldn't breathe, a nauseous feeling replacing the leaden weight that was previously tugging at his stomach.

"Get out of the car freak!" Vernon bit out harshly as he pulled himself out of the car. Harry didn't have much of a choice but to listen to his Uncle, so he got out of the car as quickly as his shaking hands allowed him.

He tried to listen to what was around him since he just couldn't see past the trees, they felt like they were slowly closing in on him but despite everything there was nothing, it seemed as if even the wind had gone silent, holding its breath in anticipation of what was to come. The only thing he could hear was Vernon's laboring breathe and heavy footsteps as he approached him.

"You have been nothing but a danger and a lazy nuisance to my good and normal family since you were dumped on our doorstep!" Vernon yelled, grabbing Harry by the front of his baggy hand me down shirt and shaking him "Not even your parents wanted you! They dumped you off with us and I have had enough of your freakish presence!"

Harry was scared of what his Uncle was going to do, never had Uncle Vernon been this angry at him before, and he was confused at his Uncles words, what did he mean his parents had dumped him? His parents were dead ... weren't they?