Chapter 1

"Do you think it – wise – to trust Hagrid with something so import-?"

There was a loud roar that quite rudely interrupted Minerva McGonagall and, quite possibly, woke half the people sleeping in Little Whinging. Albus Dumbledore had his wand out and approximately thirty to fifty spells pushing themselves out of his lips in response to this as-yet unseen threat when he realized that it was simply a large, flying motorcycle. The roar of the motorcycle did not diminish, and indeed seemed to build more than the Doppler Effect would suggest, but no lights came on in the houses around. So that's where Sirius' bike is. Good. Dumbledore thought to himself as he put his wand away. One less loose end. The flying motorcycle thumped as it landed, but that was nothing to the crunch made by the massive man's boots assaulting the asphalt as he got off the bike.

"Hagrid! At last!" Dumbledore allowed enthusiasm to suffuse his voice. "And where did you get that motorcycle?"

"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," Hagrid's voice rumbled, "Young Sirius Black lent it to me." His voice lowered to a kind of reverence. "I got him, sir."

"Fantastic." Dumbledore gave a smile as he looked at the lumbering brute. "Was he any trouble?"

Hagrid looked lovingly at the small bundle in his arms. "No trouble at all, sir. Fell asleep just as we was flying over Bristol." Hagrid neglected to mention that the baby had actually fallen to the ground just as they were flying over Bristol, but the baby had been fine, happier even, and so Hagrid had concluded that all was well. The large man surreptitiously brushed a little of the dried blood off of the baby's face as he handed the bundle to Dumbledore.

Albus, not for the first time, was more than a little irritated that the oaf's half-giant nature prevented him from looking into the man's mind. He was obviously lying. With a muffled sigh, Albus took the bundle and rested a small letter in the folds of the blanket. He walked up to the door where lived the muggles that Harry would live with for the next ten years. The muggles that had been vetted by Minerva as the perfect sort of people that Dumbledore wanted Harry to grow with.

Dumbledore placed the bundle in a basket that he pulled out of his robes. After enchanting the basket with a silent Permanent Warming Charm, Dumbledore placed the whole kit and caboodle on the top step. He crouched and rubbed a thumb on the baby's forehead, overcome with a sense of Destiny. "You carry the fate of us all, little one." His words came from his role, but they carried significance that none present would understand.

The Leader of the Light stood and turned towards his most faithful lieutenants. "Now!" He said in as cheery a voice as he could get away with, "Back to Hogwarts! Back to the first year of a new era!"

Harry Potter woke to the now-familiar sounds of his Aunt Petunia banging against his bedroom door.

"Get up! It's time to cook Daisy's breakfast!" came her voice through the door.

Harry grumbled to himself as he pulled his glasses on and looked at the way too early time on his alarm clock. Though why he needed one was beyond him when Petunia woke him up regardless was beyond him. He opened the door and glanced at his aunt with a baleful stare.

"Hey," she said with a smirk, "This is what happens when you help your mates break into the school kitchens." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Now hurry! Go!"

Harry kept his little grin to himself as he quickly descended the stairs to the kitchen. Just because the punishment was totally fair didn't mean he would smile at his aunt for the next hour. He had the butter sizzling and the bacon frying as his cousin Daisy came tiptoeing into the kitchen. She did this every time she thought he wouldn't be able to hear her. What she didn't know was that the linoleum always crrrked when anyone walked on it.

Harry waited until she was standing in the middle of the kitchen before casually saying, "Happy birthday or whatever."

"Ugh, can't you give me a break for one day from your freaky ears?" Daisy Dursely huffed in frustration.

Harry deftly flipped the bacon in the pan. "No. Can't be letting you get spoiled now, can I?" He glanced over at his cousin and smiled.

Daisy grinned. "Oh shut up." She walked to the other side of him and leaned against the counter. "The zoo should be super fun, huh?"

"Yeah!" Harry nodded. "Love all them animals, you know. Can't help but hug some of them sometimes."

Harry had been deeply touched when Daisy had chosen him as the friend she brought to the zoo. Granted, his aunt and uncle would have brought him regardless, but he thought it very sweet that she had asked for only him. Besides, Daisy's best friend Priscilla Polkiss always ended up quietly complaining that she never got as many presents as Daisy, making Daisy feel bad.

Harry and Daisy bantered a bit more until the bacon and eggs were ready and dished up onto the kitchen table.

"Uncle Vernon! Aunt Petunia!" Harry called, "It's ready!"

Harry's Uncle Vernon walked into the dining room, dressed as he was wont, in a well-fitted white button down and dark brown slacks that toed the line of "too-tight" with all the grace of a master ballerina. His cheeks were just-shaved smooth and his mouth was already curled into the smile that he reserved for birthdays and report cards.

"There's my birthday girl!" he said, grinning, "And there's the beautiful breakfast made by my favorite nephew."

Petunia came in shortly after, carrying the stack of presents they all had bought for Daisy. As soon as her mother placed them on the table, she started counting them.

"Ten?! Really?" Daisy sighed. "Seriously, don't get me so much next year."

Amid her parents' protestations, Harry ruminated that Priscilla didn't even need to be present to make Daisy guilty.

Daisy was one of those girls that never said what she wanted and so Harry had become gifted in the area of guessing gifts. Her squeals of delight at the blouse he got her, it conveniently came with a detachable collar, made him smile.

After breakfast was finished, Uncle Vernon having received an earful from Harry about not eating enough, the whole family piled into Vernon's company car and drove to the zoo.

"Race you to the Snake Pit!" called Daisy as she took off towards the Reptile House.

"Cheater!" returned Harry and he ran off after her to the bemusement of their guardians.

The two cousins quickly found the largest snake in the whole house, but found that it was being ogled by possibly the fattest boy either of them had ever seen. The child was petulantly tapping on the glass, utterly ignoring the "No Tapping" sign, and calling for his father to awaken the "boring, stupid thing."

The boy lost interest before too long and waddled off to look at something else. Harry and Daisy crouched down next to the railing to get a better look at the large boa constrictor. The snake blinked its eyes rapidly and raised its head to look at Harry. Harry frowned at the look the snake was giving him. It looked almost like it wanted him to speak.

Harry nodded at the retreating fat boy. "Bit annoying, isn't he?" Had he looked to his right, he would have seen Daisy's face freeze in shock.

The snake jerked its head downward in what was, unmistakably, a nod.

"You get a lot of them, like that one?" asked Harry, trying to empathize.

The snake nodded again.

Harry glanced at the identifying plaque for conversation inspiration. "Oh, you're Brazilian? Is it nice there?"

The snake tilted its head and tapped the plaque with its tail, indicating something on the bottom.

Harry read aloud, "'Bred in Captivity.' Oh, so you've never been there?" If he had looked at Daisy now, her face was the picture of amazed excitement.

The snake nodded again and its eyes took a wistful expression.

"I wish there was something I could do to hel-" Harry was cut off by the enormously overweight boy running back over, screaming to his father.

Daisy had the good sense to dive out of the way, but Harry was bowled over by the boulder of a boy. Harry reached out a hand to catch himself against the glass, but after a second of touching it, the glass disappeared. The boy let out a scream worthy of a two year old and fell head first into the small pond in the enclosure. The snake wasted no time.

"Off to Brasssil," Harry, for the first time, heard both the hiss and the words, "Thanksss, amigo!" The snake trailed its way out of the Reptile House, ignoring the screams and cries of the passersby.

Harry felt Daisy's hand on his shoulder and he turned to face his cousin.

"You can talk to snakes?!"

"I mean, we knew you were weird, but that's crazy!" Daisy was saying as they were getting in the car. This was, in fact, the sixth time she had said it.

The debacle at the Reptile House had taken far longer to resolve than it should have, mostly because the insane father of that fat child had railed against the Dursleys, insisting that Harry be "shoved under the stairs" at the "first opportunity" or some rubbish. The Dursleys had been appalled that anyone could suggest that about an eleven year old and Vernon had privately decided to talk to his friends at Social Services about that particular family.

"Teleporting behind the school kitchens was cool, but when you couldn't do it again, it was kind of whatever," she said, the excitement making her babble.

"Right, but this is different because I did it reliably and you saw it for yourself." Harry forestalled the subsequent illuminating points.

Daisy's face fell. "Yeah. That."

Harry grinned at her. "It is pretty weird, huh?"

Meanwhile, in the front of the car, the adult Dursleys were having a very different sort of conversation. It was the sort you can only have after years and years of marriage. It was, in fact, the telepathic sort.

Petunia, dear, we'll have to tell him soon.

Oh Vernon, we still have a month or so before he's supposed to get the letter.

Right. The magic letter that a magical owl will leave on our doorstep, telling us that a magical school will teach our nephew magic.

Exactly. That one.

Right. Well, my lovely wife, you can be sure that I'll be having a conversation with him before that business happens.

Ok, Vernon. Whatever you feel you need to do.

Harry was lounging in his bedroom, having finished his chores before his cousin; he had little to do this lazy Sunday afternoon. He was reading a wonderful story about a wonderfully quaint race of people who kept getting their lives bollixed up by Wizards. He could almost hear the flutes playing in his head when his uncle rapped on his door.

"Yeah, Uncle Vernon?" Harry called.

"Listen, you good for a chat?" his uncle's voice sounded anxious. That couldn't be good.

"Yeah, all right," Harry replied, not a little confused.

The door opened and his uncle walked in. Vernon had changed out of his work clothes and was wearing a well-fitted tee-shirt that said "College" on it, along with navy blue sweatpants. He walked into Harry's room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Listen, Harry. I've been meaning to talk about this with you for some time." He took a deep breath. "There's...something... that you need to learn about."

Harry tilted his head. "Won't I learn it in school?"

Vernon scratched his head. "It's not that sort of thing, my boy." He took a deep breath. "It's not knowledge, per se. It's more," he searched for the right word, "Personal."

Harry frowned. "Well, what is it?"

"I'm not rightly sure how to say it, honestly." Vernon shook his head. "Look, I think you've noticed some...changes... recently. Some things that Daisy hasn't experienced."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I have actually."

Vernon looked relieved. "Fantastic. I'm not really sure how you could have missed them." He rubbed his hands together. "What have you noticed?"

Now it was Harry's turn to feel not a little awkward. "We-well, what am I supposed to be feeling?"

Vernon rolled his eyes. "I hear it's different for everyone, son. Just tell me."

"Well," Harry began before switching to a whisper, "I noticed a hair...where I haven't had one before..." He bounced his eyebrows significantly.

Vernon frowned. "Well that's new. I was told you'd be inflating elderly women, turning peoples' hair different colors, that sort of thing."

"OH." Harry said, turning redder than Petunia's prized tomatoes, "You meant the magic."

Vernon finally caught on. "OH. Yes, hair is normal and fine and good yes."

They both took some deep breaths and emphatically avoided eye contact for five solid minutes. Vernon was the braver of the two and broke the silence. "I'm not entirely sure how to tell you this, but...well..." He took a final deep breath and looked Harry in the eyes. "You're a wizard, Harry."