Walking out of the Potions classroom, Harry felt like a withered plant struck by frost. His shoulders drooped, and he sighed heavily.
"David, I'm sorry. I got you into trouble."
He felt deeply embarrassed. Professor Snape had been targeting him, but because he couldn't answer Snape's questions, David had been dragged into it too.
Fortunately, David had answered correctly, so no points were deducted. But the little dispute between him and Hermione afterward had led to deductions, and Harry wasn't sure if that was his fault.
"This has nothing to do with you. It's Snape's own issue," David replied, shaking his head.
There was another truth that was hard to say aloud—this was a classic case of "the son paying for the father's debt."
After all, Harry's father, James, had stolen Snape's childhood sweetheart, humiliated him in public using Snape's own invented spells, and left him dangling upside down, exposing his underwear and hairy legs for the entire school to see. That incident alone had likely been the most humiliating moment of Snape's life.
"I don't understand," Harry muttered, frowning. "Ever since I first met Snape, he's treated me horribly. Today was even worse—like he wanted to dig out my eyes or something."
Harry slumped into an emo state, unable to extricate himself. Most of his professors were kind to him, but Snape was an exception.
"You could ask your aunt about it," David suggested.
Harry blinked. "My aunt? Why?"
Snape was a Hogwarts professor. Aunt Petunia was just an ordinary person. What possible connection could they have?
"Well, think about it," David explained patiently. "You said Snape disliked you from the moment he saw you. That means you two didn't know each other before Hogwarts, and yet, he holds a grudge against you. Why?"
Harry frowned, deep in thought.
"Who could that grudge really be against?" David prompted.
After a moment, realization dawned. "My parents?"
"Exactly," David nodded.
Harry mulled it over. His parents had been wizards, left him a considerable inheritance, and had attended Hogwarts around the same time as Snape. If there was any old hatred involved, it was probably connected to them.
"But what does my aunt have to do with this?"
David smirked. "You don't think she knows anything?"
"She's a Muggle!" Harry protested. "What would she know about Snape?"
"She called Snape a 'freak' once, didn't she?" David reminded him. "That means she knew him when they were kids. And if she knew him, she probably knows what he thought of your mother."
Harry's frown deepened. He had never considered that.
"But my aunt hates me," he muttered. "Even if she knew something, she wouldn't tell me."
David rolled his eyes. "Do you really think so?"
Harry nodded without hesitation. The Dursleys had never treated him well. They had forced him to live in a cupboard under the stairs, dressed him in Dudley's oversized hand-me-downs, and made him do endless chores. And when Dudley bullied him, they either ignored it or encouraged it.
David sighed. "Think about it logically. First of all, you're not your aunt's son. Why should she raise you? Did your parents leave her any money for that?"
Harry blinked. "I—well—"
"It costs a lot of money to raise a child," David pointed out. "And your father didn't exactly have property in the Muggle world. So why would your aunt take you in at all? There's no financial benefit."
Harry opened his mouth to argue but hesitated.
Even in the Muggle world, there were plenty of cases where relatives abandoned orphans or took them in only to exploit them for financial gain. Yet, despite everything, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had kept him in their home, fed him, and even taken him along on family outings.
Maybe it wasn't ideal, but was it really worse than an orphanage?
"But they were never good to me," Harry said quietly.
David leaned against the wall. "They treated you differently from Dudley because of two things: jealousy and fear."
"Jealousy?" Harry repeated, bewildered.
David nodded. "Your aunt wanted to go to Hogwarts when she was a child. She even wrote to Dumbledore, asking to be accepted. But she wasn't magical. Your mother was."
Harry's eyes widened. "She… she wanted to go to Hogwarts?"
David smirked. "Surprised? She was jealous of your mum. And later, when your mum married a wizard and got caught up in the dangers of the magical world, your aunt must have realized how unsafe it really was."
He continued, "Then, one day, she found out that your parents had been murdered. She knew they had enemies in the wizarding world. And then Dumbledore dropped a baby—you—on her doorstep. She must have been terrified."
Harry clenched his fists. "So what? That doesn't mean they cared about me."
"They did care. In their own way," David insisted. "They raised you even though they didn't have to. Your uncle could have sent you to an orphanage. Plenty of people would have. But they didn't. And they didn't know how to treat you because they were afraid of what you might become."
Harry stayed silent, absorbing this.
"So what should I do?" he asked finally.
David shrugged. "Explain things clearly. Show some appreciation. Maybe send some small gifts back during the holidays—like Chocolate Frogs or something. Just don't send anything magic-related. They'd freak out."
Harry hesitated but then nodded. "Alright… I'll think about it."
After a moment, he brightened. "By the way, David, do you want to come to Hagrid's house with me this afternoon? He's the giant who led us to the station."
David grinned. "Sure! I've got nothing else to do. Besides, I'd love to see how rich he actually is."
Harry laughed. "Rich? Hagrid?"
David smirked. "He's got a whole forest full of magical creatures, connections to Dumbledore, and access to some rare and valuable items. You never know."
With that, the two headed off to lunch, their conversation lingering in Harry's mind.
For the first time, he wondered if he had misjudged his aunt all these years. Maybe—just maybe—there was more to the story than he had ever realized.
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