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"Privacy charm. Hermione found it somewhere." Harry scratched behind his ear nervously, while Neville waited patiently. "When I say I'm not as good as you, I'm not talking about magic or schoolwork or any of that. I'm talking about ..." He paused and shook his head. Then, he laid back on the grass and looked up at the sky while struggling to express himself. "When I was little, I used to imagine my parents. The Dursleys said they'd died, and I accepted that. People die and leave their children as orphans. It happens. But they also said my parents were worthless horrible people, and I just refused to believe that bit. I liked to imagine that my mother was beautiful and my father was brave and, I dunno, that they both died heroically saving my life or something, and that one day, I'd do something great and prove to the world that their sacrifice wasn't in vain. But that was when I was a little kid. Over time, I had all that beaten out of me, literally and figuratively."
He looked over at Neville. "I know what it's like to feel worthless, Neville. If my parents had really been dead and Dumbledore had sent someone else to fetch me, I'd have never believed that I could be something as incredible as a wizard. How could I be? I was just ... Harry. And I'd have accepted whatever rubbish I was fed about Hogwarts and my parents and I'd have probably gone into Gryffindor for all the wrong reasons and been a complete outsider. And I certainly would not have spent a whole month cramming about etiquette and Wizengamot law in order to fit in around here. I'd just have shown up for the train and been completely hopeless."
His expression hardened.
"But ... they weren't dead. James showed up and told me everything including the fact that I had an identical twin who they'd put on a pedestal while throwing me into the gutter. And I was just so ... angry! Because it felt like everything I'd been through had been for no reason at all. Like a big joke. So I decided then and there that I would not be 'just Harry.' That whatever it took, I would make James and Lily Potter realize that they picked to wrong son to throw out with the garbage."
"You know," said Neville softly. "It's not very Slytherin of you to reveal such personal details, especially to a Gryffindor."
Harry snorted. "Oh, I am definitely a Slytherin, Neville. Meek earnest insecure 'just Harry' is gone for good. Sytherin Harry is cunning, he's ambitious, and he's a bit ruthless and manipulative and occasionally even cruel. And it's been hatred for the Potters that's turned me into him. But ... I don't want that hatred to eat me up, like it did your Uncle. I don't want to end up ... evil, like a Dark Lord or something ridiculous like that. I need... I need a compass."
Neville crooked his head. "A compass?"
Harry looked deeply into his friend's eyes. "A moral compass, Neville. When I said I wasn't as good as you, I meant ... that I'm not as good a person as you are." Neville tried to interrupt but Harry stopped him. "No, seriously, I mean it. You had someone who had tried to kill you completely at your mercy. If I'd been in your shoes, Algernon Longbottom would be in a cell waiting for his Dementor's Kiss, and I'd have insisted on a front row seat to watch it! But instead, you took pity on a would-be murderer because you felt sorry for his kids and grandkids, and you gave him a house in another country and a job and even money to retire on. This may not seem like it means much because most of the people in my life have been completely awful, but ... you're easily the best human being I've ever known. And that's why I need you to be my friend, Neville. Because I want you to watch after me. And if I ever start to fall into real darkness..."
"You'll have me there to catch you and pull you back," replied Neville simply.
Harry relaxed and smiled. The two looked back towards the lake at the sound of some more antics from the Squid. "Mind you, I am still planning on making the Potters pay for what they did to me," said Harry after a long pause.
"No death, dismemberment or permanent injuries," Neville replied with mock sternness.
"What about public humiliation and financial ruin?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that's fine. I'll even help with that," Neville said genially.
The two laughed as the waters of Black Lake lapped against the shore.
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