Wow! What a truly unique and amazing story! I don't know why, but it left me just a touch melancholy. I agree that it was best for Harry, to be left to believe that his time in Durskaban was the dream and that his new life was the reality, but will this Harry turn out to be the same grateful and unreservedly loving child without having lived thru hell?
Well, it's just a story, but it's a really GREAT story!
Thank you for sharing!
MelJ
Author's Response: Good question. Who knows how this Harry will turn out? Though I don't think it's a requirement to go through childhood hell to become a good person either, and some people end up turning out more like Snape than Harry after suriving such a childhood. Not that Snape didn't kind of redeem himself in the end, but the bitterness, and general inability to move on from what he'd gone through as a child, did not make for a very good, or long life. And then there are some who end up perpetuating the abuse they suffered, and some who end up in prison because they've killed others. There is no perfect fix for any of it. I think that Harry might have turned out to be loving, and kind without having to go through abuse as a child. Then again, I've seen too many children who are abused (neglect, physical, sexual, etc) and so many of them are not very kind, or loving, or grateful as of yet (maybe they'll get there someday), and I don't think that they should be, because they have a lot to work through. I have not turned out like Snape, myself, but I don't think I would have become a bad person, or less grateful, if I had not gone through the childhood that I had. I think I would not have as many hangups as I do now, had I been given a different, slightly better, childhood. Perhaps that's why I like to write these types of stories. And, wow, sorry for the long reply. I hope that I've not offended you, because I like your review. Your question sparked some meditation, and I hope that you don't mind that I've shared it with you.
Thank you!