Chapter Text
Harry was watching the street from his bedroom window. The street was quiet, not a single leaf was stirring.
Occasionally, he could hear the sound of the soap opera his aunt was watching downstairs, one of the rare moments he felt peaceful. Yet, his thoughts, awake and asleep, didn't leave his mind in peace and brought his tranquil moment to an end.
He vividly remembered Voldemort's return and Cedric's death. On top of these terrible memories he couldn't get out of his head, there was the Daily Prophet calling him a liar and a fraud. He didn't care what the Daily Prophet said; he knew everything written there was exaggerated or false (or both). But most people believed the Daily Prophet. He was also sure he would receive the same treatment as in his second year.
He moved away from the window and walked towards his trunk. He took a photo album out of his trunk. It contained moving and still photos of his family and friends. It was filling up with photos of his family every day. Sirius and Remus were helping him quite a lot with this.
Both couldn't tell him where they were due to a magical oath. Dumbledore had already told him that he shouldn't correspond with his friends or anyone else. That's why the three of them were using Muggle post. Sirius and Remus had charmed the envelopes they sent so that everyone except Harry saw them differently. Harry wanted to learn this spell one day. The Dursleys weren't interfering with Harry's letters. As long as he cleaned the house and prepared food, they didn't care who he corresponded with.
He looked at the first pages of the album. His mother, father, and he were smiling at the camera. He turned the other pages. In one, Harry was riding a small broomstick. In another, young Sirius and Remus were drawing a picture on his father's face with ink; they looked only a few years older than him. In others, there were pictures of the Marauders and his other friends. Towards the end, there were a few photos of Hermione, Ron, and Harry. Colin had taken a few for them.
He closed the album and carefully placed it back in his trunk. A little later, Aunt Petunia called him downstairs. "I'm cooking dinner, come and help me," Aunt Petunia said. When Harry came to her, she put a plate of vegetables in front of him and told him to chop them. As Harry started chopping the vegetables, the commentators on the kitchen television were talking about the superhero group in America. They called them the Avengers.
Harry had heard of them. He had been hearing about Tony Stark since his childhood. For Harry, science and technology were as interesting and marvelous as magic. He mostly heard about the other superheroes from other Muggle-born or half-blood students at Hogwarts: a soldier from World War II, two spies, a scientist who had gained a green personality due to gamma radiation, and a god. These still seemed somewhat unbelievable to Harry. But thinking about it again, he was a wizard. He wasn't very normal with all the things he had experienced either.
Harry listened curiously to the television while being careful to do what his aunt told him. They had destroyed the aliens that attacked Earth a few months ago and captured their leader. Harry only knew that the Leader's name was Loki and that he was a god.
Uncle Vernon grumbled about the freak superheroes while watching the news with Dudley.
When the meal was ready, Harry went up to his room with the food Aunt Petunia had prepared for him. A glass of water, a plate of vegetable stew, and a slice of bread was his dinner that evening. After eating his meal, he went down to the kitchen again.
The Dursleys had moved to the living room and were watching television. He placed his plate in the dishwasher and went up to his room. When he entered his room, he immediately changed his clothes. He knew that the Dursleys wouldn't call him for anything at this hour, so he lay down on his bed. Wishing Hedwig good sleep, he fell asleep.