You-don't-know-who's story:
I studied in this very school, potter.... many years ago. I walked in those hall in which you walk daily, I dined in the great hall just like you, I sat in those class rooms..."
"And So did other thousands of students!" harry said impatiently.” With the batch strength of Hogwarts i would need a supercomputer to calculate the number. Will you tell the story or not??"
You-don't-know-who opened his mouth as if to say something, then changed his mind.
"Well, I was an average guy potter. Not handsome and not exceptionally ugly either. I was a bit shy type, but i wasn't an introvert. I kept to myself but i wasn't a loner. I was not a jock; i wasn't good at playing any sports. I was not particularly funny. My conversations were not full of impromptu witticism and funny observations..."
"Wow! You sound like a dozen guys i am not friends with" Harry couldn't help observing.
The boy's face hardened but he carried on.
" I was a simple boy, potter. I used to fell in love often. I loved many girls during the seven years of my stay: Juniors, seniors. classmates.. i never discriminated against anybody. But never was i able to speak to any of them or even approach them. Do you know why, potter??"
What harry wanted to say was," I don't know, may be you are a crazy nerd??"
But something told him that the boy may not take this answer in right spirit. So he just said,"Why?"
The boy came close to him, held harry's collar with his hands and dragged his face toward his and
shouted in rage " BECAUSE ALL OF THEM WERE BUSY SNOGGING LIFE-OF-THE-PARTY GUYS LIKE YOURSELF!!!"
Harry understood where this is going. But he decided to play along.
"Um, life-of-the-party-guys??" he inquired.
"You know... the macho dudes with impossible muscles, people who rocked the quidditch pitch, people who can turn any boring conversation into a flurry of jokes and anecdotes: I call them life-of-the-party-guys"
Harry nodded. The boy continued.
"Girls were all over them. Nobody cared about this meek boy who has no special talent, but could love them with all his heart!"
"May be they were repelled by your cheesy lines like this one" harry thought to himself. Then he said to you dont know who.
"Come on,man! There is more to life than girls!"
"Easy for you to say" the boy snapped " You schedule appointments and release waiting lists to them for your snogging sessions!"
"Fair enough" harry thought.
"Anyway, its not just about girls" The boy said,"Its about everybody. Do you know what my name is,Potter?"
"Hell, No!"
"Neither any of my teachers, Neither the girls i dreamed of, neither the cool guys i aspired to be friends with. I roamed around like a ghost in these hogwarts corridors for seven long years,potter, and nobody even knew my name. Nobody had my phone number, Nobody knew where my room was,nobody knew any details of me, nobody cared.... Its... Its as if i didnt exist"
There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute. Then the boy continued.
"It hurts,Potter! If anybody needed to refer to me, they would say,"oh, that guy we don't know!" . One day somebody thought it would be cool to call me "You-dont-know-who" and it stuck. For some it became "He-who-can't-be-named"
"The ugly truth is,potter, people used to shun me. I wasn't cool enough to be their friend. I yearned for popularity, I yearned for the "cool dude" tag. But at the end of seven years, i was just as invisible as i was in my first year. Even dumbledore, the wise old man who knew everything and every one, when i greeted him hello one day, greeted me back with "Hi...um, there!"
At this point, harry couldn't help pitying this hopeless boy.
"That was when a small part of my soul split from my body. The part which yearned for popularity and fame. The part which wanted to be recognized and to be popular. It got buried in the class yearbook of hogwarts.
Ginny weasley found that book in a old bookstore and nicked it. She brought me back to hogwarts. The place has awaken me from centuries of sleep. I sensed the presence of life-of-the-party guys all around me. I saw little you dont know whos in the making. I craved for revenge.Thats when i started taking people down"
"Yeah, about that" harry interrupted. "how did you do that?? we thought it was the basilisk!!"
"It was nothing" The boy waved his hand dismissively. "I sneak up on them and recite and utterly boring and entirely useless, complex scientific fact or trivia, and their brains blow up sending them into coma-like state!"
"How cruel!" harry gasped.
But my ultimate target was you,potter" The boy snickered."The boy who lived. The epitome of life-of-the-party-guy"
Suddenly harry started sweating.
"What are you talking about?? I am no life of the party guy. I am not handsome, i am not macho,See, i even have an ugly scar on my forehead!!"
"Do you really want to bring the topic of your scar,potter??" The boy hissed and slowly moved towards him. He pushed harry's hair backward and touched his scar.
"This,potter is a chick magnet. I think both of us know that. You just show up with that stupid thing and chicks drool all over you"
Harry couldn't argue with that. He always knew that his scar WAS a chick magnet. Especially when he pretended like it was hurting and cooked up stories about visions of Voldemort!
The boy spoke on,"I took away ginny to lure you into chamber of secrets, so that we can have this talk. You are going down,potter. I reserved my best,or should i say worst, obscure,complex stupid,useless scientific fact just for you, It will be painful than cruciatus curse,potter!" There was a wicked smile on his face!
"No.." Harry thought. "I gotta stop this!" He dived and reached for the ancient yearbook lying on the floor. He frantically flipped the pages till he found the page with the boy's photo on it.
Thanks to the B-grade horror flicks he has seen as a muggle, he knew what to do!
As the comprehension dawned on you-dont-know's face, he tore up the page from the book and kept tearing up the page into smaller pieces.
A painful shriek echoed in the great chamber of secrets. The body of the boy burst into flames lighting up the whole room.
4
Harry sighed with relief. Yet strangely, he felt a bit of guilt when he thought about you-dont-know-who's pathetic story. May be he will bring into light this poor boy's story. He certainly remembered his details from the yearbook before tearing it up! Yes. He will tell the world about the boy and make his soul happy. He will...
"Harry!" Ginny woke up with a start.
"Oh, harry!" she ran to him," You came to rescue me, how sweet! Have you killed the deadly monster?? I am sure you slayed it, you are so brave, oh harry!!" She was jumping up and down like a puppy.
"Hmmmm" harry thought. "Screw the nerd! There are countless snogging sessions and endless fame waiting for me!!"
He held Ginny's hand,looked into her eyes and spoke in his best husky voice,"Fear not, Ginny! I slayed the dangerous monster! Hogwarts is safe now. OO, i also encounter the soul of Lord voldemort,but dont worry. I took care of that too!"
"WoooooW" Ginny moaned, in a way only a girl could.
Harry exactly knew how to play from that moment.
" I am tired of all these battles Ginny, My life was one big war ever since i was born. All i want now is to be held in somebody's arms ....."
