Chapter 2: Chapter 02
Harry loved Richards. Well, as much as he could love anyone after the what the Dursleys did to him. To him, Richards was not the old man who lost his marbles in Berlin, no, he was the connection to a greater world that existed,one beyond the ultra normal Dursleys and their petty worries, beyond Surrey, Dudley and even the 'normal' school they went to. It was his taste of the life that was there beyond the cupboard under the stairs.
Now, some may wonder what business anyone had telling a seven year old war stories that involved such weighty concepts. But the thing was, Harry appreciated it. Sure it didn't have the same punch as unicorns and fairies, but it was better than anything the Dursleys had done for him. Also he loved the man because even though he knew what was going on, he trusted Harry enough that he did not go to the authorities himself. If Harry said he had a vague and unspecified plan that would work in the end, that was that. Because, Richards trusted his word. Consequently, this smidgen of irresponsible trust made him the only adult that Harry trusted on a personal level. And it was the most amazing feeling for the boy-who-lived-in-hell. To be treated seriously as an equal, to have your word accepted at face value, to be able to trust the man back, even if it was very hesitantly at first. It was a small thing. But verily, a truly powerful one.
And so the boy spent all the time he could in the library, in breaks and an hour after school. Not only did this give him a refuge from the world around him, it solved his 'Harry hunting' woes to a tremendous extent. Of course, all it took for the extra school time to be heartily approved was for Harry to glumly state that he had detention. The Dursleys promptly left him alone to celebrate.
Literally, they were partying with food they forced him to make.
It was at the end of his seventh year, that Harry had his most life changing event yet. He had been working on organizing the books from a particular shelf when Richards swung over, motioning for him to follow the old man. It was after all, only a week to go for the end of the year, and there would be no opportunity at all for Harry to leave the cupboard for anything other than chores, food (meager as it was) and his occasional bathroom breaks (once a day). And considering that Richards really didn't want Harry to kill himself (or his family), he had decided to give the one kid he really liked a gift. Something simple. Something inconsequential. Something that then proceeded to warped the future beyond imagination.
It was a cardboard box. It was in the back of the library, amongst all the other junk that accumulates in a public school library from damaged and just plain destroyed books, old registers, lost items etc. The box itself was plain, a simple brownish cardboard construct, a foot high with a rectangular cross section. Richards smiled . He told Harry that this was his reward for keeping an old man company. In the box, were a bunch of comics, some plain, black and white, on not too yellowing pages, and written on each, was the word
NARUTO
....
Harry Potter took the books home in three days, And the box itself, all folded up on the fourth. It was not that the books themselves were a huge weight, even if some would have said so, considering his frame or lack thereof. No it was more a question of sneaking them past the occasionally eagle eyed Dursleys. After all they would have no guilt attacks if anything that Harry called his own disappeared in flames, in pieces or into a black hole. They barely paid for his necessary school supplies as it was. Instead this was a smuggling operation where, his over sized clothing proved their worth for once. Richards was persuaded to and had stapled a few cloth bags on the inside of his clothes, where the bagginess just served to hide the fact that contraband was stowed away. After all, who would question the puffiness that came from his frayed cords wrapped over a shirt a couple sizes too large?
After he had safely secreted the whole crate of books, Harry had mentally expressed his unequivocal gratitude, that Whale Jr. was a barely disguised idiot, Horse face couldn't stand to look at him at all and finally that Whale Sr. went to his normal job and had drinks at a 'normal' pub and consequently came home at a "normal" time, by which time his cargo was safely unloaded. He also thanked Richards for his flashlight. Reading in the dark was one venture that he did not really fancy trying a hand.
The holiday was just like his previous ones. It was not much of a holiday at all. Yet again, Harry was expected to maintain professional levels of quality control in gardening, cooking, house painting and other chores. Being the first day, Petunia was quite smug as she happily watched over him struggling to complete a full seven hours worth of chores, with just a glass of water being given to him the whole day. Oh how Harry loathed those accursed Dursleys...
Unfortunately, this opening salvo, accompanied by the usual vitriol, ensured that Harry just fell asleep, praying that he would not die for want of water. No book, no matter how enthralling in its very possibilities could sway the overwhelming might that of sleep after a tiring day. The next morning, he woke with parched throat and sandpaper tongue. After his ritual curse on his relatives, he tiredly went on to do his chores for the day. He was very careful to do absolutely everything perfectly. Nothing would keep him away from his booty that day. Eventually, his hard days work ended with dinner, food that was barely enough to satiate a hamster. Harry was beginning to suspect that the Dursleys would just drop dead from the sheer amount of malice he was mentally directing at them. One could only hope.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone