Prologue
Ms. Cole was not a very superstitious woman. She didn't easily get frightened, didn't believe in luck, didn't believe in God. And yet, when the man walked in, she suppressed an enormous shudder. She had a feeling that something was going to be very wrong with this man.
"Hello," the man said, with an aristocratic voice and perfect gestures. It was clear that he knew how to conduct himself well and acted like a member of the upper class. "I am interested in adopting a child."
Suppressing all of her premonitions of the man, she reasoned that he couldn't be too bad, for he was interested in adopting a child, and he seemed to be very wealthy and well-mannered. "Alright," she said. "What age child are you looking to adopt?" she asked.
"I already know who I wish to adopt," the man said.
"You do, do you. And how- how may I ask, have you met this child." Ms. Cole said.
"Little rascal stole from my bookstore," the man said. "We've developed a friendship over time, and I already know that I want to adopt him."
"Okay, and who is this that you want to adopt?" she asked.
"Harry Potter," the man said.
Ms. Cole froze. Not Harry, he couldn't adopt Harry.
Harry Potter, from the moment his parents had dumped him in the orphanage, was a strange lad. He was already one year old when he was sent there, and his parents seemed to be relatively well-off. There were a few of those sort-of kids. Wealthy parents make mistakes as well as poor parents. However, why dump a baby that was already one year of age?
Regardless, Harry Potter was a strange boy. Growing up, he wanted to learn everything in the whole universe. Instead of reading picture books at age five, he was reading full-on science textbooks; he had a real knack for the subject. The orphanage couldn't afford to purchase books, but that didn't deter him; he visited the library on a weekly basis, eagerly switching in the books he had already read for new books. Ms. Cole questioned him multiple times if he would like to find a more entertaining activity, but he was always just fine with reading.
Harry was a shy boy, but he was not friend-less either. He interacted with the other students in the orphanage regularly despite his obviously higher intelligence. But Ms. Cole always noticed strange things going on near Harry. One time, Harry was hissing at the ground, and a snake, she assumed it was a garden snake, bobbed its head up and down, as if it could understand what Harry was saying. She questioned him about it, he told her that the creature could speak and understand English. She found that hard to believe, and attributed it to the whimsy of a young child. But even stranger events occurred in the future. One time, when she forced him to get a haircut, his hair immediately grew back the next morning. Another time, he had somehow managed to turn it blue, and it remained so for a week. She assumed that he used some sort of hair-dye, but where would he get it from.
Harry's love for learning did not go unnoticed by the other orphans either. Wool's orphanage had a severe bullying problem; Ms. Cole knew that, and yet she could do nothing about it. All of the younger kids were bullied, and in turn, became bullies when they grew older. She honestly cared for the kids, but what was she to do? Not allow any of the kids to go out?
In any event, on a trip back from the library at a tender age of five, Harry was attacked by the bullies. Ms. Cole didn't know of it at the time, but six fifteen-year old adolescent boys beat Harry up at once. Harry took the hits, did not even attempt to strike back, and when they were done, carried himself and his books back up to his room. The orphanage was buzzing with news of Harry the next day; it seemed that he was perfectly fine. The black eye he was sporting after the fight had disappeared, the bruises he had received were gone, and the rib that the bullies were sure they broke? Perfectly fine. Ms. Cole couldn't help wonder if there was something strange about the boy, she knew that it was highly illogical, but the way the kids were talking about how much he got beat up didn't seem like exaggerations.
Ms. Cole found out about Harry's ruthless side two years later. During the years five to seven, he had taken the pain that the various bullies had inflicted on him, and done absolutely nothing, healing perfectly the next day. The bullies managed to turn it into a game: who could get a permanent injury on Harry. Ms. Cole couldn't help but wonder if there was something about Harry that made him resistant to physical damage. He always looked smug after a beating; it seemed that he wanted to be beaten. It seemed somehow that he was counting.
On Harry seventh birthday, as was tradition at the orphanage, Harry was given one pound, and told to use it wisely. To most residents of England, one pound was petty cash, to Harry, it was more than he had ever had in his lifetime. Every birthday after seven, the orphans would each get one pound, but for Harry, this was his first. There was so much he could do with the money, Harry didn't even know where to begin. Ms. Cole remembered seeing the excitement on his face when she presented the large coin to him.
Of course, this money was easy picking for bullies, and Ms. Cole had forgotten that. Harry had left the building, eager to figure out what to spend his money on, and was tailed by two of the largest boys at the orphanage: Marcus and Tony Adams. They waited until Harry was outside of the building, and then pounced on him, right as Ms. Cole stepped outside.
She was going to yell at them to stop, but the most astonishing thing happened. Harry had somehow managed to evade both of them, almost as if he knew they were coming. He ducked under two punches, and dodged a couple of kicks. To Ms. Cole, it seemed that the bullies were going in slow motion to Harry, he seemed much faster than the other two, and it seemed he had much faster reflexes. But the next thing that happened was even stranger: the seven year old Harry Potter, who couldn't have weighed over fifty pounds, punched Marcus straight in the gut, who probably weighed over two hundred pounds. The punch was so strong that Marcus fell backwards, crashing into Tony. And Harry just shook his wrist and walked away, leaving the two lumbering fifteen year olds on the ground.
And after that, the bullying problem stopped. At first the bullies tried to go for the younger kids, but occasional frightened glances at Harry showed that Harry defended his fellow year-mates. Ms. Cole still couldn't understand how Harry was so powerful, but left it at that. She had tried asking her grandmother, Mrs. Cole, who had also worked at the same orphanage in the past if there had ever been a case like this. Her grandmother shuddered and told her to kill the devil's spawn, that she would regret it if she didn't. Ms. Cole, of course, did not take her grandmother's advice, and she never would have killed any of her orphans.
Shaking out of her stupor, Ms. Cole realized that the man must have been lying. Harry never visited bookstores, and never ever stole, having far too high morals for that. Harry couldn't leave, he was a role model to all of the younger children, giving them something to strive for in life. No, she had to stop him.
"I'm sorry, we don't have a Harry Potter. Perhaps you're mistaken." she said.
The man cackled, a low evil laugh. "No Harry Potter," he said. "Well, I was going to do this the easy way with an Imperio, but now, I guess there's no need for your life, is there."
"I'm sorry sir, Harry Potter does not reside here," Ms. Cole said, terrified.
"No? I'll have to check for myself." the man said.
Immediately Ms. Cole felt a raging headache, but it left as soon as it came.
"Hmm, the boy idolizes you. Perhaps you will be of use after all, if the boy ever misbehaves. Obliviate." the man said.
And Ms. Cole forgot all she knew of the incident, all she knew to do was to let the man come through and take Harry Potter. The man chortled "Useless Muggles," and went to take his prize.