A/N: This should be fun. It'll be interesting, that's for sure. I am not J.K. Rowling, and I own none of the Harry Potter Universe. That said, this idea for this story is of my own creation.

Please enjoy.

-TMITH

Harry Potter: Man of Magic

Chapter One

Survivor of Death

At the young, tender age of 15 months old, Harry Potter's life was forever changed. Up to that point, he lived with his parents, James and Lily Potter, at their house in Godric's Hollow. However, a Seer had spoken a prophecy, and unfortunately for the Potters, young Harry fit the description:

"The one with powers to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have powers the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with powers to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"

Upon the night of October 31st, 1995, Lord Voldemort broke into the home of James and Lily Potter. A flash of red light and the sound of crumbling stone gave entrance to the Dark Lord. A squirming and uneasy Peter Pettigrew followed after his Master, stepping carefully over the rubble that was the front wall of the Potter's cottage.

James perked up at the sound of the explosion, sounding directly beneath them.

"What was that?" asked a nervous Lily, cradling her infant son in her arms. Harry was crying, Lily trying to soothe him.

"I dunno… I think they've found us!" He panicked. "Run! Go upstairs! Get out!" urged James. He gave his wife and son a quick kiss, and as he ran out the door, he turned.

"I love you, Lily. Keep Harry safe." Then, he ran down the stairs.

Voldemort was taking his time entering the home. It was three levels, after all, and he wanted to know his enemies better before they died at his feet. He looked at a few of the magical photographs around the room. Harry playing with a black licorice wand. Lily and James' marriage. Sirius and James playing with Harry.

"Thank you, Wormtail. Tonight, we will have our victory, and I shall fear only Dumbledore. Were it not for your betrayal, I may never have found the Potters," Voldemort said. Wormtail shuddered at the utterance of 'betrayal', but was more frightened of his Lord than James or Lily. "You are absolutely sure they are home?"

"Ye-yes, my Lord. They are," Wormtail meekly stuttered. The man that jumped from around the stairwell corner confirmed Wormtail's information.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted James. Voldemort strafed to his left, letting his servant take the spell squarely in the face.

"Reducto!" he returned, destroying the foyer. James dove behind the couch, out of the way of the spell, only to be hit by a falling chunk of wall.

"Sectumsem-" James started, jumping up from behind his defense. He would never get to finish another spell.

"Crucio!" Voldemort interrupted. James fell over, writhing in agony as the Dark Lord closed the gap. He had a terrible sneer on his face. "Now, James Potter, your time to die has finally arrived. I shall kill your Muggle-born, and your heir. The Potters will be no more!"

"Over my dead body!" James replied, taking a weary kick at the wizard. As it fell short, Voldemort merely smiled.

"That was the plan, actually. Avada Kedavra!"

And with a green flash of light, the life of James Potter was extinguished.

Lily Potter was on the third floor, cradling her infant son, laying him into his crib. She had no way out, no place to go. Harry continued to cry, reaching for his mother.

"Hush, Harry. Everything will be alright. Mommy promises," a tearful Lily said.

"Actually, my dear, I'm afraid that they won't," Voldemort said, entering the room.

"Reduc-" Lily began, but with a wordless flick of his wand, Voldemort sent hers flying.

"Now, now. I'll be having none of that dear. Expelliarmus." Lily was flung against the far wall, away from the crib. The Dark Lord looked into the crib, to find young Harry silent but red-faced. "Ahh! Here's the boy! Wormtail, I've found him." Pettigrew walked in shamefully, to the betrayed look on Lily's face. "Look at your black hair, so cute," Voldemort patronized, "just like your daddy's. Your eyes are like your pretty mum's, Harry." Harry's eyes welled up, and he began to cry loudly. Voldemort shifted Harry into one arm, cradling him, and turned to Lily. She began to wake up from her momentary blackout.

"No, please, don't kill him! You've already taken James and Severus from me! Peter too! Take my life instead! Harry is no threat to you! Please, spare him!" she sobbed, extending her arms for her boy.

"But he has been foretold as my killer, Ms. Potter. Why should I do that?" he replied. "No, I think I'll kill you first, and you can watch helplessly from the afterlife as I kill him."

"You can kill me, but spare him, PLEASE!" she sobbed again. She started to climb up, trying to stand.

"Happy Halloween, Ms. Potter. Avada Kedavra!" and with that, Lily Potter slumped over, dead. Harry began to cry furiously. "Shshshshshshhhhh, Harry. No need to cry! I've got you," Voldemort said. He laid Harry down in his crib, and pointed his wand at the child. "Avada Kedavra!"

The spell formed a ball at the end of his wand, growing larger for just a moment. Then, it rushed forth, like a dam bursting, and hit the boy. Upon contact, it did something no one had ever seen before.

It rebounded.

Voldemort's eyes grew wide in the split second he had before the spell came back and destroyed his body in an explosion. Wormtail was flung far from the house, out the hole where the roof had been. Harry passed out, but as he fell asleep, something appeared on his head. Something that defined him as the only person that ever lived through the Killing Curse.

There was a scar on his forehead, in the shape of a lightning bolt.

The legacy of 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' began.

A/N: Well, I hope that was okay. I encourage you to continue reading, and to read my other recent stories if you enjoyed this one. I also encourage you to review so that I may know what was good and what was less than good.
Also, you'll note that the word is 'powers,' not merely 'power,' in the Prophecy. This is important.

Source for the Prophecy: harrypotter(.)wikia(.)com/wiki/Prophecy