Raised By Peculiar Circumstances

Prologue

The Dursleys of 4 Privet Drive led an average, mundane life. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing out of line, everything just as planned was just how they like it to be. The feeling of being in control comforted them; the predictable, the expected, was what they found comfort in. They hated the existence of magic. If magic was even mentioned, if at all in a conversation, the topic would quickly shut down. Which was why Petunia Dursley never mentioned her sister, Lily, who was a witch and went to a school just for magic.

At first, Petunia yearned to attend school with her sister. She marvelled at the fact that magic did indeed exist. In her youth, her relationship with her sister wasn't yet severed until her hopes to attend this famous wizarding school with her sister were to be shattered. Despite her not being a witch as her sister, that didn't stop her from enjoying her time with her at first. However as the years went by, she grew to despise her sister. Not for the sole reason of her being a witch, though it did add onto it, but for her being overlooked in her own family. Even by her own parents, she was put aside in favor of her sister. She was deemed special by her parents and so got more attention and praise from them compared to Petunia. Even though she wasn't the only one who was a muggle, she was the outcast. Which was why she moved out of the house to start her own life as soon as she could.

Now, she found herself holding a bundle that held her nephew and note containing the news of her sister and her husband's demise. All her efforts to push back and erase any existence, any mention of the wizarding world, had all been for nothing. It had somehow managed to catch up with her once more. On top of already having a child of her own to take care of, she was practically obligated to take in her sister's child, no doubt as magical as his mother and father.

She closed the door behind her as she went back into her home once more, still holding the baby, who was named Harry. She looked down to take a closer look at the baby she carried in her arms. No doubt that Harry had inherited his father's raven black hair. However, Harry had momentarily opened his eyes, only for a moment, had Petunia seen the resemblance. For a split second, Petunia had thought that it was Lily who was staring back at her; Harry had inherited his mother's bright green eyes. The resemblance was so uncanny that it managed to resurface old memories that Petunia had tried so hard to bury in the back of her mind.

She quickly recomposed herself and assured herself that this was not Lily. This was merely a child, a child that would disrupt the balance of the perfect,ordinary life she had made for herself if she would let it. No, she would not let anything get in the way of her perfect life, even if the child was that of her now dead sister. She almost felt sympathy for young Harry. Almost. She could not simply just forget all the years she was made inferior next to her sister. For her negligence of thinking, raising this baby as one of her own with compassion and care was what made the first few years of Harry's life absolute hell.

........

For seven merciless years, Harry Potter had to endure relentless abuse from not only his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia but also from his cousin Dudley, who was only around five weeks older than he was. He was seen as an outcast, as a freak, by the only family he had ever known. Even from a young age, Harry knew that this treatment was unfair; however, he couldn't get help. No one would believe him, brush off his testimony as nothing more than a mere child's nonsensical babbling. Even if he somehow would get help, where would he go? What would guarantee any better home than the Dursleys? He could be thrown into an orphanage with countless other kids and not to kind living conditions. On the other hand, he might get shoved into a foster family that might treat him as badly as the Durselys already did. So he decided to stick around and bare his mistreatment.

He thought it over during the countless times he was locked in his cupboard without supper, anything was better than living there another moment. Over the weeks, he slowly convinced himself to find a way to escape the ruthless, controlling grasp of his "family". So when the opportunity finally presented itself one early morning in June, he risked everything and took it.

He didn't expect to immediately , if at all, find a haven from the hell he had been living in for almost seven years; he didn't get his hopes up in fear of the inevitable disappointment he had grown accustomed to. However, life had its surprises for the young wizard. Somehow, by peculiar circumstances or by chance, he had found himself in the care of two nations. One that he would soon grow to call his own family.