A/N: Here we go! I haven't ever written a story on here even though I've had an account forever so I figured it's time to give it a go. This idea for a story has been floating around my head for the past couple days so I figured let's see where it takes us.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its affiliations sadly enough :(

Welcome to Hogwarts

As Harry James Potter got off the Hogwarts Express and looked up at the shining castle, he was awe-struck. Not fully believing that he was finally here, he fervently expected it all to be a dream and it to be brutally snatched away as soon as his brain registered that what was happening could not possibly be reality. Starting when he had been two years of age, his luck had done a straight 360, going from "unimaginable" to "unbelievable."

Nine Years Earlier

Harry had not always looked forward to tomorrow, in fact, when he was one year old, his parents had been ruthlessly killed by You-Know-Who, or as Harry and Neville liked to jokingly call him, "Voldie." Headmaster of Hogwarts and chief Warlock of the Wizengamot Albus Dumbledore had then shipped him off to his mothers sister, the Dursley family.

Being only two at the time, Harry always felt that he had escaped the punishment and abuse that no doubt awaited him as he got older, receiving only dirty looks, occasional slaps, and dirty nappies throughout his year of less than ideal life at the Dursleys. As his third birthday rolled around, the Headmaster finally had decided that it was about time that he check up on young Harry, and when he arrived, the situation looked quite ready to implode.

He had walked into the Dursley household to a sight that struck him speechless. It seemed that Harry, in a bout of accidental magic, had stuck his Aunt to the ceiling of the kitchen when she had tried to feed him porridge that was not fit for anyone to eat. When Albus had walked in, it was to the sight of Vernon Dursley getting ready to "teach his freak nephew" a lesson.

That day, the Dursleys and Harry learned why Dumbledore was acknowledged as the most powerful wizard of the last two centuries. His aura of power visible, he had only whispered two words.

"How long?..."

Vernon, not knowing quite what Albus was inquiring about, replied, "The freaks only just gotten started with this nonsense, me and Petunia decided when we took him in that we'd stamp it out of him if we had to!" As he said this, he raised his hand and got ready to bring it down on Harry's neck, who was still sitting with a scowl on his face directed on the offending porridge that sat in front of him.

Before he could reach his target however, Vernon was hit by a Body-Bind Jinx from behind. As he fell backward, he only fleetingly caught the look of pure loathing in Albus' face before he landed on his back and could only look up at the ceiling.

" How dare you? How could you possibly attempt to ever hurt a child? How would you want your son to be treated by whoever you would entrust him to if something where to happen to you and your wife?!" Albus demanded.

"And you!" He directed at Petunia, still stuck on the ceiling. "Is this how you honor your sisters memory? By neglecting and quite possibly doing significant damage to her son? Lily was a saint among humans, and I see now that all the spite that she never had in her seems to have gone to you."

She was silent, as if there was nothing she could say to refute his words. If one could read into her mind however, they would not hear thoughts of repent, but something along the lines of "Spite? Ha! Lily always was the bad egg of the family, glad I got shot of her at eleven, else who knows how I might have been affected..."

Albus had by now directed his attention to the boy sitting at the kitchen table. As he strode over to him, the boy looked up at him, and Albus found himself, for the second time in the last five minutes, struck speechless. Brilliant emerald green eyes flashed at him, squinting as though he were far away. Albus could see all the similarities between the boy and his parents, and it brought tears to his eyes. He blinked, and they were gone. He had work to do, and he could not let regret and grief cloud his judgement when it had to do with Harry. He could only hope the boy saw fit to forgive him in time for what Albus' actions had put him through. He was startled out of this pensive mood however when the boy suddenly threw up both arms.

"Grandpa!" He exclaimed with wide eyes at the old man standing looking down at him. He raised up both arms as high as they would go, asking without words to be picked up.

Albus bent down, picking up the boy, and surreptitiously did a once-over of him. He was wearing a shirt that should have been thrown in a bin several years earlier, full of holes and looking much to big for him, as though it had been carelessly cut to size to fit him. Albus took a sniff, and realized the boy smelled as if he had not been bathed in a couple of days. Thinking quickly and reviewing his options, he leaned in close to Harry's ear, and whispered;

"How would you like to see a magic trick, my boy?" He inquired.

Instantly, the tiny light in the boys eyes seemed to dim, and he gasped, covering his own mouth with one hand and attempting to cover Albus' with the other. His tiny voice piped out.

"You broke two rules grandpa! You not s'posed to ask qwestions and you not suppose to say the 'M' word!"

Dumbledore was flabbergasted. Not ask questions? For wizard-folk, that was akin to blasphemy. Questions opened the door to information, which was quite likely the most valuable currency in the world, atleast in Albus' eyes. He brought the boy up a little higher so he could look him him in the eyes. In doing so, he again a jab of remorse at the nostalgia his features induced. Steeling his nerves, he spoke.

"Harry, it's alright to ask questions, you know why?" Harry shook his head in a negative. "It's because you won't be coming back here again after we leave today, this I promise you."

At this declaration, Harry's eyes filled with something that Albus could only describe as gratitude and happiness mixed together.

"Really? I don't like it here Grandpa. Uncle and Auntie are mean to me and sometimes they hit me and they never say nothin' when Dudley hits me either..." As he said this, he looked down at the ground and sniffed a couple of times.

At that moment, Petunia decided to speak audibly for the first time since Albus had walked in.

"Well, now that you've both had your little 'moment,' will you let me down? There's work to be done and I have better things to do than try to feed that ungrateful freak. Especially after his parents went and died on him and he got landed here. Lily always was a selfish bi-"

"That is enough!"

All the eyes in the room snapped to Albus when he said this. Even Vernon, frozen on the floor, felt a shiver run down his spine at the anger in the headmasters eyes and the tone of voice to match.

"Now, I am taking Harry from this place, I see now that I was wrong to place him here, away from all the fame and notoriety that would no doubt have been introduced to him had he stayed in the magical world. It seems that I made a mistake, and my mistakes always seem to have much great impact than those of anyone else. I will do now what should have been done what Lily and James wanted done for their son. I would wish you a pleasant day, but I fear it would do no good." and with that he turned an about face, and walked out of the Dursley household, with Petunia's demands to be let down echoing behind him and a look of outrage still on the face of Vernon, Albus Dumbledore closed the Dursley chapter of Harry Potter's life for good.

Next chapter: Harry's childhood with his new family

A/N: Ehh, I'm not the biggest fan of this chapter. But every story has a slow start right? I hope to pick up soon, but for now it's just the setting of the scene which I'm sure will be both boring for you guys to read and boring for me to write. I also need a beta for this, so any takers? I have chocolate :D I really wanna go all the way with this potential series, so I hope my inspiration doesn't dry up 4 chapters. Until next chapter!"
- Skylight