Prologue: The Truth

A/N: Some of you may have read my last reading-the-books story, but it was taken down. So, I decided to try again. I came up with new ideas and used some of my old ones and now, here you have it: A Different Life, the story of Harry finding out the truth and reading the books with his new alies. There will be Slash, but not until later. If you have any preferred pairings, or pairing ideas, I'm open for suggestions, though I do have a few ideas in the works. Now, enjoy the story, and Read and Review.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! J.K. ROWLING DOES!

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As Harry woke up, he was surprised to notice he wasn't at the Dursley's. Slowly sitting up, he looked around the room and noticed he wasn't alone. There was a mirage of people scattered around the room, but it seemed he was the only one awake. Quietly getting up, he started walking around the room to figure out who else was here. After roughly five minutes he knew who all he was stuck in the room with: Narcissa Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Tom Riddle, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Tonks, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and Percy Weasley. Luckily for him he didn't see a threat in any of them, at least not after he found out the truth after getting back from the graveyard at the end of the year.

*Flashback*

Harry was lying in a bed in the hospital wing when he heard voices outside the door. Pretending to be asleep, he listened to the conversation.

"Headmaster, how much longer do we have to keep up this act? I know we are being paid to be Potter's friend, but he is going to get us killed one of these days! Look what happened to Cedric?" he heard Hermione say in exasperation.

"Yeah, and now he's telling everyone You-Know-Who is back, he's gonna be the laughing stock of the wizarding world! They're gonna deface him in the Daily Prophet the second they get wind of this!" Added Ginny.

"What are we supposed to do Dumbledore?" asked Ron.

"Do not worry children, it won't be for much longer we have to keep up with this facade. With Voldemort back, it's only a matter of time before young Harry is, well, taken care of for us. You will get your compensation for putting up with him for so long at the end of the month, once Harry is back to the Dursley's." said Dumbledore.

"What about the fact that his parents were on You-Know-Who's side? What if he finds out? That would not be good for us, especially since they are still waiting for him to go back to them, where they believe he belongs." asks Hermione worridly.

"Do not worry, he will never find out his parents and their friends true sides, just like he will never find out that Tom did not kill his parents, but that I did. As long as Harry believes Voldemort is the true evil, then they will get rid of each other, and we will fix the wizarding world and purge it of everything dark." assures Dumbledore.

After that, Harry tunes them out, shocked. His whole life, a lie. Dumbledore killed his parents and framed Tom Riddle, by then known as Voldemort. His parents, Sirius, Remus: they were all on Tom's side. His best friends, Ron, Hermione and even Ginny were being paid to be his friends. He bitterly wishes he had taken Draco's hand that day on the train, and that he let the sorting hat place him in Slytherin like he belonged. He'd make them pay for wronging him, but for now, he needed to lay low, make them think he was still ignorant of their betrayal. He would secretly gain allies on the other side, and he would embrace his Slytherin side to get rid of Dumbledore and all his lackeys. They were going to destroy the wizarding world and everything it stood for.

*End Flashback*

Shaking his head to get out of the memory of the day it all changed, he walked over to the wall and, using his wand, tried to locate a light switch. When he found one, he flipped it and light flooded the room. With a silent nox, he put out the light on his wand. He opened one of the doors and found a hallway that held other doors, which were probably bedrooms, possibly a bathroom or two as well, he would look later. The next door he opened led to a kitchen, one he couldn't wait to cook in, it was magnificent, at least in his opinion, and much better then the Dursleys kitchen. He moved on, and behind the next door is what looked like a very big library, which he was going to check out later, because he knew once he started going through the books, it would be a task to keep him out of there cause despite what Ron and Hermione thought, he loved books. It helped him escape reality and learn new things. The next door he opened led to what looked like a training room, equipped with a dueling area, weapons varying from daggers to swords and bows and arrows to boxing. He smirked, he had trained himself with quite a few of these weapons when he had found Slytherin's own training room in the Chamber of Secrets, which he found when he had decided to go down there after he was released from the hospital in Second year. He was quite shocked to find out that he hadn't killed the Basilisk, only wounded it. After deciding that the giant snake didn't deserve to be in pain for what Tom Riddle did, he helped nurse him back to health. He and Callidus (The Basilisk, he had named her after the Latin name for sly, which Callidus most defiantly was) got along quite well, Callidus even helped him with school, as having been Slytherin's snake, she knew a lot about Defense, Dark Arts, and Potions, and having been alive for centuries, she also knew quite a bit of stuff that helped him with History of Magic, and also helped him understand Magic better. In Slytherin's library, there were books on something called Occlumency, which was a way to protect the mind from intruders. He studied that over the last few weeks second year, over the following summer, and during third year until he mastered it and it's counterpart Legilimency, which is used to intrude on other people's minds, near the middle of his third year at Hogwarts. Harry shook his head and quit thinking about what had happened after he started going to the Chamber a lot at Hogwarts.

Closing the training room door, he silently cast a quick tempus, which told him it was 6:15 in the morning. He looked around, it looked like no-one was going to get up soon, so instead of sitting in here wasting time by waiting for someone to wake up, he walked into the kitchen to start making breakfast, as he was sure everyone else would probably be hungryby the time they woke up, and he knew he needed to eat something, since he ate next to nothing while he was at the Dursleys. Taking out the necessary tools and ingredients that he would need, he started making breakfast for seventeen people. After an hour, he had finished. He had made pancakes (normal, chocolate chip and blueberry), waffles (normal, blueberry and chocolate chip), eggs (scrambled, sunny-side up, omelets and sandwiches), bacon and some sausage (patties and links). He also put out fruit (apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and oranges), milk (white, chocolate, and strawberry), orange juice, apple juice, some cereal, yogurt, and bagels. After he finished, he set everything up in the dining room that he had found through a door in the kitchen.

He washed his hands before walking back into the main room to see who still needed to be woken up. When he walked in, he noticed everybody was awake with varying looks on their faces: Curious (Charlie, Bill, Neville and Tonks), Hungry (Sirius), Confused (Remus, Percy, Lucius, Narcissa and Draco), Tired (Bellatrix and Luna), Bored (Severus, Tom, Fred and George). Harry chuckled and all heads snapped over to him. Harry was leaning against the wall next to the door to the kitchen with an amused look on his face. "Look," started Harry. "I'm as confused as to why we are here as all of you are, but, before we try to figure out why we are here, there is food in the dining room just waiting to be eaten." Sirius looked as if Christmas had come early, causing Harry to chuckle again. "Come on," said Harry, walking through the door next to him. Sirius was up in a matter of seconds, soon followed by everyone else. Once in the dining room, everyone's mouth dropped open besides Harry's, the twin's and Luna's, who have all eaten Harry's cooking before. Laughing, Harry, Luna and the twins started to get their food, with everyone else soon following suit. Once everyone was finished, Harry collected all the dished and put them in he sink after putting the leftovers into the fridge. With a wave of Harry's hand, the dished were done and put away in their rightful place. Turning around, Harry was faced with the surprised faces of many. He just chuckled again before going back into the main room, waiting for everyone else. After five minutes, everyone was back in the room and settled in.

"Okay, before we try to figure out why we are here, I have something to say. Most of you already know this, but Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione and Ginny have been stealing from me and lying to me my whole life. My parents were not beacons of the light as most believe, but two of Tom Riddle's trusted followers. There is a prophecy that most of you may have heard of, its fake. The real prophecy goes like this:

"The one with the power to save the Wizarding World approaches...betrayed by those thought to be his allies, he will find his true path...born as the seventh month dies, his life will be forever changed...true allies will be found, family forged in pursuit of a better world...The one with the power to save the Wizarding World will be born as soon as the seventh month dies..."

Together, we can bring the Wizarding World back to it's former glory. The creature races can live as equals to the Wizards, and blood purity will not matter. Its the actions that make a man, not how they are born or changed."

Silence followed this declaration. Everyone shared a look, and silently they all agreed that they would aid Harry on his task to change the Wizarding World to how it should be. The moment was broken when Bellatrix leaned forward and grabbed the note off the table.

"This appears to be a not explaining why we are here. Should I read it, or does someone else want to?" questioned Bellatrix. When no one stepped forward, she opened the note and started to read:

Dear everyone currently listening,

I know you are all curious as to why you are here, and that reason is simple: to learn about Harry's life in the forms of 7 books. After book 4, everything in it is what would've happened had Harry not found out about the betrayal and the true prophecy. Harry, your home life will be revealed, do not hide it from them, they are trustworthy and will not judge you. Also, I believe Ryan and Raven should QUIT HIDING and and introduce themselves before Harry makes you. Yes, he knows your there, he's not stupid. And Nagini and Vallidus will be joining you, Callidus would as well, but she, sadly, can't fit in the room. As will Aunt Petunia and Dudley, they were under imperious but the curse will break the second they get into the room. And Harry, tell them your relationship to Sev, Draco, Luna, Gred and Forge.

Sincerely,

The Future Harry Potter

After the note was finished reading, multiple things happened at once: Harry was tackled by two people who appeared out of thin air, Dudley and Aunt Petunia landed on a couch, 7 books appeared on the table, and two fairly big snakes appeared behind Harry's chair.

"Geez guys, you saw me a week ago, don't kill me! I can't breathe!" Yelled Harry beneath the two mysterious people. Quickly apologizing, they got off of Harry.

"Now, introduce yourself to the room, they look confused."

"Very well. I am Raven," said the girl.

"And I'm Ryan," said the boy.

"And we are, The Potter Twins" they finished together.

"Now, we aren't gonna explain our existence just yet, it will take too long. Besides, our little Harrikins need to explain something else, don't you Harry?" said Raven innocently. Harry glared at her.

"Lady, your lucky you're my sister, or I'd curse you. But you're right, I do have to explain something. Now, where to begin...Ah, second year will do. Validus, the snake that is now on my shoulders, is my pet. She is very friendly, and she is not mature enough to kill anyone with her eyes or her venom. When she grows older, she will develop a second eyelid which she can choose to use to block out the killing powers of her eyes. As I'm sure most of you have figured out, Validus is a Basilisk, but she is only a year and a half old, having hatched in the middle of my 3rd year. I am a true heir of Salazar Slytherin, as anyone who would actually look at my family tree would know. I found out in the end of my 2nd year, when I went back into the chamber after I was released from the hospital wing. When I went into the chamber, I found out that Callidus, that is the basilisk and her name which I will always refer to her by, was not killed, only seriously injured. I helped nurse her back to health, and we became good friends. I have been training in the chamber since the end of 2nd year. I taught myself how to use several weapons and also learned many new things over the past two years. In my third year, I asked someone I had grown to trust even though I had never had a truly civil conversation with him in my first two years of schooling. I knew he cared for me and I knew I could trust him with anything. So I asked him to train me in whatever he could, and he also helped me when I was learning Occlumency and Legilimency, which I had started studying at the end of 2nd year and the summer after. In the Gryffindor house, he is greatly disliked. The people I think dislike him the most, maybe even actually hate him, are Hermione Granger and Ron and Ginny Weasley, but I don't bloody care what they think anymore. Until I tell you who helped me train, though I know a few of you already know who he is, I will refer to him as Snake, because he is a Slytherin. Anyway, Snake helped me learn many things in the chamber and during detentions. If you haven't already guessed, yes, Snake is a professor, which might give it away, but I don't care. I trained with Snake throughout my whole 3rd and 4th years, and I have a great respect for him. I trust him no matter what, that's why he's one of the only people I ever told my biggest secret to. The only other people who I told are Luna, Fred, George, and, whether or not you will believe me, Draco. I became friends with Draco a week before 2nd year ended, and became really close with him, as well as Luna, Fred and George over the last 2 years." Harry took a deep breath, talking that much took a lot out of him. Harry briefly wondered how Granger did it on a regular basis. Shaking his head, he continued. "I think that's enough for right now, we do have 7 books to read, after all. But, before we continue, if it is okay with who helped me train, I will tell you who he is." Harry received a nod, though he knew he was one of the few that were paying enough attention to notice. "The man who helped me is, Severus Snape, as I'm sure a majority of you already figured out." He finished, smirking. Looking at the faces of everyone who he hadn't told everything to, made him want to laugh, and he could tell that Luna, the twins, Draco and Severus were gonna laugh, soon, as well.

"Now that everyone is speechless, who will read?" asked Harry.

When Luna raised her hand, he handed her the first book, and she opened to the first chapter. Before she could start, however, another note appeared.

Harry read it aloud:

Start with the second chapter, the first one just described the Dursleys and shows how Harry was left there. So, I'll just do a quick summary: We need to learn to blend in with Muggles, and Harry was left on a doorstep by Dumbledore. Now, Read.

From, HP

"Okay then, second chapter it is." says Luna.

"Chapter Two, The Vanishing Glass" read Luna.