Summary: This intertwines the story of Harry Potter with Judaism. My very first fanfic so please give it a shot!

Disclaimer: All of the characters are mine, and so are most of their last names. The plot is the only thing that partially sticks to Harry Potter.

Chapter 1: Discovery

Riiing! Riiing! It was the sound of his alarm clock that awoke young Hershie Poterovsky in the cupboard under the stairs at 6 A.M. on that sunny Tammuz 13th morning. Hershie got up, stretched, said Modeh Ani, and finally shut off his alarm clock. He scratched his head to remember why he had set his alarm clock to 6 A.M.

He had had a dream. It was about a flying desk, a flash of Hebrew letters, and a horrible laugh.

Presently, there came a knock on the door of his bedroom and with it came the shriek of his Aunt Peninah.

"ARE YOU DRESSED YET?"

Angrily Hershie retorted, "Yes!"

"YES WHAT?"

"Yes, Aunt Peninah."

"Then get downstairs and get the gefilte fish ready. I want everything to be just perfect for Dudie's birthday." Of course, Dudie's birthday!

How could Hershie have forgotten?

He had lived for ten years, the most miserable ten years of his life, with the Dashevsky's, a greedy, selfish family who considered him as nonexistent. There was Uncle Velvel Dashevsky, a fat, vicious being who was the co-owner of Microsoft and therefore extremely rich. Then there was Dudie Dashevsky, Hershie's cousin, also a fat and vicious slob, and being so stupid that he didn't know how to put two and two together, liked nothing better than to eat candy bars and burgers, play on his computer and X-Box, and most of all, beating Hershie. Finally there was Aunt Peninah who, though being vicious like the rest of the Dashevsky's, was the only Dashevsky who was not obese - on the contrary, she was as thin as a broomstick. She was the nosiest person in the world and spent her whole day spying on the boring, law-abiding neighbors. She was Hershie's aunt and the only surviving member of his family.

Sometimes, people dressed in funny clothes said "Shalom, Hershie" to him when he was outside with Aunt Peninah. Every time this happened, Aunt Peninah would shove Hershie along, muttering "freaks."

Hershie had a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. When he had asked Aunt Peninah how he had gotten it, she had snapped, "by 9/11 when your parents died. And don't ask questions." Well, that was how life was going to be. Hershie got up and went downstairs just in time to seeDudie counting his presents which were virtually drowning him.

"Thirty-six," he said. "That's two less than last year."

Hershie could sense a Dudie tantrum coming on, so he quickly finished his gefilte fish in case the table would be turned over. Uncle Eliezer must have sensed it too, because he immediately consoledDudie in his gruff voice, "but you haven't counted this one from Aunt Fruma. It's under the big one from Aba and Ima."

"And we ordered two more presents from Toys-R-Us," said Aunt Peninah.

"So then I'll have thirty-eight, thirty-ten…"

"Thirty-nine, yingeleh," said Aunt Peninah.

After he opened the presents they drove to the Jewish Children's Museum. Hershie came along, but only because Aunt Miri said she broke her leg and couldn't take him. The instant they arrived, Dudie jumped out of the Mitzvah Tank and headed for Mendy's. Knowing and frightened about what was going to happen, UncleVelvel ran to take him away from the restaurant. But alas, he had come too late. Before he got halfway there, the owner of the restaurant had filed for bankruptcy, Dudie had put on fifty pounds, and one of the walls had been completely chomped through. A sobbing Dudie ran to his mother crying, "I-Ima, tell them to come here and give me more chicken."

"Your great puddin' of a son don' need any more blubber, Meyers," said a voice behind them.

Everyone turned around to see a freakishly huge man dressed in a Talit who introduced himself as "Reuvain Hecht." This humongous being now went over to Hershie with a scarlet envelope in his hand.

"It's time you got your letter, Hershie," he said. Hershie reached out to take it, but before he could do so, the envelope flew into his hand.

"How did that happen?" he asked Hecht.

"Chassidus," replied Hecht.

"Go on, open it."

Hershie did so, and as he read the letter his face brightened for the first time in his life.

Dear Hershie Poterovsky,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at United Lubavitcher Yeshiva's School of Gemara and Chassidus.

You will need the following items:

1 Artscroll Gemara, Mesechta "Babba Kamma," Perek "Hashoel Es Haparah,"

1 Gutnick Edition Chumash, Parshas Ki Saitzai,

1 Moshiach flag,

1 Baalabos cauldron,

1 pet of your choice (a chicken or a fish or a goose),

You will board the U.L.Y. Express from Penn's Station, at Platform Teisha U'Shloshet-Reevai on the 1st day of Cheshvan, 5766.

Sincerely,

Miriam Morosov.

Hershie looked up, his head spinning. "What's Chassidus?" he thought.

Hecht took a deep breath, and then spoke.

"Well, Hershie, it's a long story. I best start from the beginning."

Not all Chassidim are good, you know. Many are bad. There was one Chassid that went very bad - as bad as you can go.

"What was his name?" asked Hershie.

"His name was ... His name was ... well, alright. His name was Shpeevamort. (A/N: Original, huh?) And don' make me say it again."

Well, this Chassid just got worse and worse. He spent a few years gathering followers. Then he started to kill people. He got so powerful that no one could stop him. No one, until you came, Hershie."

Nobody knows why, but one night, he went after you, Hershie. Your parents went before you. They were the best Chassidim I'd ever known, Moshe and Chana Poterovsky."

"You told me my parents died by 9/11!" Hershie cried.

"By 9/11? That's an outrage, a chutzpa! " roared Hecht.

"We swore we'd squash the Chassidus out of him! We will have no more of this nonsense," cried Uncle Velvel, trying to outshout Hecht, but truly frightened.

"We'll see who's gonna be squashed!" roared Hecht, whipping a Moshiach flag out of his pocket. "GAIN COKENO!"

UncleVelvel scrambled back, but it was too late. A jet of Hebrew letters shot out of Hecht's flag and hit Uncle Eliezer in the butt. A second later,Velvel Dashevsky had transformed into a full grown African elephant.

"Help! Change him back!" squealed Peninah andDudie at the same time.

"No matter, it's just that he looks so much prettier with a trunk," said Hecht. And with a wave of his flag, he changed Uncle Velvel Elephant back to his own selfish, ugly, fat self. He backed twenty feet away from Hecht and then fainted.

"That's better," said Hecht. "As I was saying, one night he went after you, Hershie. For some reason, he couldn't touch you. That was the night you got that scar." He touched Hershie's forehead with his finger. "No one knows why, but that night he disappeared. That's why you're so famous, Hershie. That's why everyone knows your name."

Tomorrow, we'll be going to Kingston Alley to get your school stuff."

"You're not going to take him anywhere!" cried a terrified Aunt Peninah. "He's going to go to a normal school, and not look like one of those - those - those Chassidim."

"Hershie Poterovsky's gonna go to the finest Chassidic school, with the finest Lubavitcher Headmaster there is! And you ain't gonna do nothin' to stop him! Come on Hershie, let's go."

And with that, he took Hershie's hand and brought him to 770. Then they went upstairs to the roof.

"We'll be sleeping here tonight. Try to get a good night's sleep. You have a long day ahead of ya'."

Hecht took off his Talit and threw it to Hershie. "Use it as a blanket. You must be freezin'."

Hershie snuggled under the Talit. It was very thick, and no wonder, considering Hecht's size. He tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking about his parents, about United Lubavitcher Yeshiva of Gemara and Chassidus, and about what he was going to do tomorrow. Yet, slowly but surely he drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he could remember.

Finally finished. That took ages! Chapter 2: Kingston Alley will be up soon. Please review!