The Scourge

On Listing Enemies

Rage, anger, a need for vengeance. Yes, he could definitely get behind those ideals.

- September, 1987 (7 Years Old) -

- Little Whinging Library -

“Young man, you’re going to need to get ready to go home now,” the old librarian said quietly to Harry as she approached him.

Harry looked at her quickly and then back at Frank… who had faded into the shadows so that he wouldn’t be seen. (Neat!) Harry could still see him just fine, but apparently the librarian couldn’t see Frank anywhere. Honestly, Harry was pretty happy about that because he didn’t want to be the one to explain the huge Marine with tons of weapons on him that looked like he belonged more in an action movie than in a quiet library.

“Yes, ma’am,” Harry replied. He got up off the floor and put Frank’s comic book back on the shelf. (He made sure to put it in the correct spot with the p’s instead of behind the s’s.) Looking back up at Frank, he gave a small wave. “Thanks for the story, Frank. Do you think it would be ok if I saw you again? I would really like to learn about guns and the rest of the stuff we talked about.”

Frank’s lips curled up into a smirk and he gave a small nod. “I’ll be around, kid. Don’t worry. We’ll get you trained up and ready to take ‘em all on. But until I see you again, keep out of sight as much as you can. Try not to let anyone take advantage of you. Avoid any fight that you know you can’t win, and start to think. Think about your life. Think about all of those people who have told you things about yourself that might not be true. Think about things that people have done that hurt you, and have made your life what it is today. Start a list. You have to start somewhere. We’ll work on getting you stronger so that you can become a better fighter, better strategist. But until then, start planning.”

Harry doesn’t remember having smiled so much in his short life, but he knew he was smiling up at Frank right then. He nodded at the big man and then started to walk out the big library doors. Turning to look back once, he saw Frank watching him leave and he waved. Frank didn’t wave back (that was probably not something menacing Marine fighters do) but he did nod again as Harry left.

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- Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging -

Later that night, as he huddled in his cupboard, Harry thought about all that Frank had said. He started to list the people who had hurt him. He started to think hard about some of the things that they said to him or about him. Harry sat there thinking about Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and Cousin Dudley, who were all sitting outside Harry’s cupboard watching the telly. He couldn’t hear the program, but it wasn’t like he would know what it was anyway. He had never been allowed to watch anything on the telly. That sort of thing wasn’t for ‘Freaks’. There they were, enjoying their evening, while he was not even able to get out and go to the restroom. To top it all off, his stomach was growling since he came back late and wasn’t able to steal any food before it was binned.

When Harry had come home, they had yelled at him for being gone so long. They said that he should have been there to do his chores and make dinner for them. Harry scrutinized Uncle Vernon’s face as it turned a nice shade of violet.

After being yelled at… (And hit and choked a little – not too bad, really. Could have been much worse. It had been much worse many times before.)… Harry was unceremoniously shoved into his cupboard. The door was slammed and locked. Harry thought that this was probably one of the situations Frank was talking about when he said that Harry needed to make a list of the wrong things that were happening to him.