Disclaimer: I do not own any of this, which I'm sure everyone knows.

A/N: Just a little warning. This is my first fanfic. While I shouldn't have a problem updating this story once or twice a week, be prepared for some dry spells.

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Chapter 1

An excerpt from the journal of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

July 30, 1991

After years of study, I have come to a rather monumental discovery…

Well, "monumental" may be a bit of an understatement if I do say so myself. But this isn't the time to toot my own horn, as the muggles like to say, but to document my discovery for later generations of wizards.

Through a series of enlightened discussions, countless years of experimentation, and not to mention, numerous blunders, (poor Aberforth is still being harassed over that unfortunate goat incident) I have found that the world we live in is not alone. Or I should say, the "reality" we live in is not alone. It is merely one of an infinite number of realities, each one unique in it's own way.

I've come to the conclusion that these realities' differences are based upon the choices being made by people every day. This conclusion alone brings to light how many of these realities could exist. Just think of the number of choices one makes any given day then multiply that by the world's population. Literally trillions of these realities would be created: On a daily basis!!!

But as I sit here pondering over this discovery, a certain question keeps popping into my head…

What about Fate or Destiny

As I consider this question, I'm led to believe that no matter what the situation is, there are some choices we have to make!

If this is true, these key points may not affect only our own lives and reality, but ALL realities. As to how big of an effect, I couldn't say. It could be similar to the ripples caused by a stone hitting the surface of a pond. As the ripples spread out their affect diminishes until finally they are no longer present. On the other side of the spectrum, it could be catastrophic, wiping every single reality in existence…

This realization makes me believe that this is where Fate or Destiny comes into play. These "powers" will seek to achieve a balance or harmony. A gentle nudge in the right direction you might say, or if the situation calls for it, a bludger to the head!!! We must simply let Fate guide us along our path and hope for the best.

And now I think it is time to end this entry. It seems that Harry Potter still hasn't received his Hogwart's letter. I feel it is time that the Dursley's meet Hagrid and discuss the proper etiquette involved when handling another person's owl post.

Albus Dumbledore.

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Harry James Potter looked up in irritation as the morning sun made its way through his bedroom window. Determined to grab at least another hour of sleep, he pulled the blankets over his head to shut out the light.

"You'd think the sun would have the decency to let a guy sleep in on his birthday." He mumbled to himself.

Wait a minute… he thought. Birthday? Holy crap, it IS my birthday!!!

In a flash, Harry was out of bed and running down the hall to the bathroom. As he stood there brushing his teeth, Harry took a good look at his reflection in the mirror. He was instantly reminded of what everyone said, "Looks just like his father, except for the eyes." Even though he found this rather annoying, he had to admit it was actually true. With his mop of messy black hair, he was the spitting image of his father, until you got to the eyes. He had the same icy blue eyes as his mother, what Sirius like to call, gunslinger's eyes.

With a grin his face, Harry turned his mind raced to more important things, as in what he might be getting for presents this year. Even though he was raised to believe in the saying, "It's the thought that counts", he couldn't help himself dreaming about a new racing broom. With this thought, he quickly rinsed out his mouth, put in his contacts, and made his way down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Happy Birthday, kiddo!" exclaimed James Potter, looking up from his newspaper as Harry entered the room.

"Thanks, Dad" Harry said, as he took his seat at the table. "What's for breakfast?"

"Anything you want, sweetie" his mother Lily answered. "After all, it IS your birthday."

"Well then, I think I'd rather enjoy this fine establishments waffles." Harry said with grin. "I hear the chef is quite talented."

At hearing his son's remark, James turned to look at his wife while trying to hold in the laughter building in his chest. Lily on the other hand, was simply standing there with a stunned look on her face. With a shake of her head, she turned towards James and asked, "So did you put him up to that?"

"Oh no! Not me! I learned my lesson a long time ago." He replied.

"Who put who up to what?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Harry turned around to see his father's friends, Sirius and Remus, enter the kitchen. "Padfoot! Moony!" he yelled, as he jumped out of his chair and rushed over to the two men.

"Morning Harry!" replied Sirius, as he ruffled his godson's hair. "And Happy birthday, too."

"Yes, happy birthday, Harry." said Remus with a grin.

"Thanks you guys."

"Now back to who putting who up to whatever it was…" mentioned Sirius.

"Well" said James. "Lily asked Harry here what he wanted for his birthday breakfast."

"What's so big about that?" asked a confused Sirius.

"Let me guess" Remus said with a chuckle. "He asked for waffles."

Everyone turned to look at Harry who simply nodded. Immediately, the kitchen was filled with laughter, while an embarrassed looking Lily just stood there fuming.

"I swear, I burn ONE batch of waffles 3 years ago, and I still hear about it!" she huffed.

"Oh Lils, you didn't just burn them. I mean, the fire department had to come just to put out the waffle iron," laughed James.

"Only because you three hid my wand, and wouldn't put it out for me!"

As the men and her son burst into another round of laughter, Lily shook her head and tried to hide her grin. She'd never admit, but it had been a good prank. She turned back to the stove and with a couple of waves from her wand, started cooking breakfast.

Back at the table, the three Marauders, as they were known back in there school days, reminisced over some other pranks they had pulled. As Harry sat there listening to the tales, he couldn't envision a better start to his birthday than this.

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After everyone had eaten their fill and the dishes done, the four adults gathered around Harry at the kitchen table.

"Now Harry," Lily started. "You know that usually you would have to wait until your birthday party before you get any of your gifts. But, seeing as how these three are more excited about this than you are, I think it's best we get this out of the way."

The Marauders shot hurt looks at one another and pouted a bit before bursting out in laughter.

"You always knew us the best, Lily" Remus confirmed for her. "Ol' Padfoot here probably would have made a puddle if you had said no."

"I would not!" laughed Sirius. "Oh who am I kidding, I would have!"

"Anyway…" said James as he laid a long slender package on the table. "This is a gift from the four of us."

With a huge grin on his face, Harry tore off the wrapping paper to reveal the most breathtaking broom he'd ever seen. It had a long black handle made of ebony, silver foot pegs, and the twigs appeared to be made silver as well. At the end of the handle, stenciled in gold lettering, was the name, "The Marauder".

"The Marauder?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Yep!" Sirius replied. "You are now the proud owner of a Marauder. The newest broom made available by Marauder Brooms."

"You see, Harry." Remus added. "We've been working on this design for the past 6 years. And now that we've finished, we've decided to go into business for ourselves."

"That's great! But what took you guys 6 years to figure out?" Asked Harry, his eyes never leaving his new broomstick.

"Only this," James said taking his wand and tapping the handle.

Harry yelped as the broomstick fell into pieces. The twigs came off in one solid piece as the handle separated into three sections.

"What happened?" yelled Harry.

"Only the greatest innovation in broom design in the last 100 years." Sirius replied as unrolled a large piece of parchment onto the table. Taking a look, Harry could see it was a schematic of The Marauder. With a listing of the charms and measurements of each of the separate parts, it was quite detailed.

James sat down across from Harry and began talking. "See, the thing with brooms is that every year something better comes along. Do you know why?"

"Umm… because someone made improvements, I guess" Harry answered.

"That's partially right, son. The thing is that there really isn't much to improve on the overall design of a broom. It's actually the charms on the broom that has been improved. But, with all those charms you run into a problem. They tend to counteract with one another if not done precisely. That's why there are new models every year. You can't just remove on charm and replace it. It screws up everything that way."

"And that's the beauty of The Marauder," continued Remus. "Each section of the broom holds a fraction of the charms placed on a regular broom. That way, if someone comes along with a better one, the customer will only have to replace that section and not the entire broom. It will save the customer a lot of gold."

"And making us a ton." Sirius added with a grin.

"That's brilliant!!!" Harry yelled. "Thank you so much guys!"

"Well, you had better thank your mother too," James said. "She improved upon every charm available, making The Marauder the fastest and most agile broom in the world."

"Really Mom?"

"Well," Lily blushed. "It wasn't that big of deal… I mean I always did have a knack for charms…"

Harry walked over to his mother and wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug. "You're the best, thanks for a great birthday." He said.

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After going over the broom's plans with Harry, Remus and Sirius said good-bye, leaving the Potter's to them selves. As Harry sat looking at his broom, Lily caught James' eye and mouthed, "It's time."

James nodded and left the room. He returned shortly and placed a letter on the table in front of Harry. Tearing his eyes from the broom, Harry glanced at the letter and saw that it was addressed to him. He quickly opened it, thinking it was a birthday card, and was shocked to see it was a Hogwarts acceptance letter.

"I thought we'd already talked about this." Harry sighed. "I'm not going to Hogwarts."

"We know you don't want to go Harry, but we just don't understand why." James replied.

"Listen, Dad. What good would it do me? The whole reason you and Mom moved to America was so you could start training me as soon as I performed accidental magic. I mean, I could probably take the N.E.W.T.'s right now and pass."

"But Harry, we just want you to have something resembling a normal childhood." Lilly pleaded.

"What's the point of having a childhood if I don't live to be an adult!" Harry yelled. "You both know that Voldemort is still out there. I need to keep training if I'm going to stand a chance against him someday. There's nothing Hogwarts can teach me I don't already know."

"Now Harry, I'm sure there's plenty you can still learn, and besides, wouldn't making some friends be worth it?" James asked.

"Dad, think about what you just said. How many seventh years, let alone first years, can do wandless magic? How many have mastered the Animagus transformation? Not many, I'd guess. And who would even want to be friends with me while there's a lunatic trying to kill me." Harry said as he stood up.

"But son"

"No buts, Mom." Harry answered shortly. He grabbed the letter of the table and left the room. His parents followed him into the den where he stopped in front of the lit fireplace and threw the letter in.

Turning around to face his parents he said, "I am happy here. Hogwarts has nothing to offer me. I'm not going, and that's it"

Having said those words, Harry Potter collapsed to the floor as his entire world went black.

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Eleven-year-old Harry Potter still couldn't believe it as he followed Hagrid out of Eeylops Owl Emporium. He was rich, famous, and a wizard too!!! He was amazed at everything he had seen of the wizarding world so far. Well, except for that boy he'd met earlier while getting his school robes, anyways.

Even though he felt this day couldn't get any better, it still wasn't over yet. He was on his way to Ollivanders to get a real magic wand.

But, as most good things must come to end, so did his day. For as soon as entered Ollivanders, Harry suddenly collapsed as a huge rush of magic erupted from his body.

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Harry could hear voices as he struggled to open his eyes. The pounding in his head made in unthinkable so he gave up on the effort and tried to focus on whoever was speaking.

"Not sure wha 'appenned, Professor…"

"… He just collapsed? You didn't see…"

"…at all. But there was a big…"

"… could feel it even from here."

But as hard as he struggled to keep listening, Harry eventually passed out again.

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Later on, Harry eventually awoke to find himself lying in a bed. Taking a look around, he found himself in a hospital of some sort. As he tried to sit up, as sharp pain shot through his head, forcing him to lie back down.

Ouch!!! That hurt… he thought to himself.

You don't have to tell me!

Hey! Don't shou… Wait a minute… Who are you?

I think a better question is who the hell are you?

What do you mean who am I? I'm me!!!

Well, that was really informative…

Where are you?

I'm right here!

Now who's the one being informative?

Ok, ok… My name is Harry Potter. As to where I am, I'm not sure…

But… you can't be Harry Potter…

And why the hell not?

Because… I am.