Disclaimer: Any and all settings, characters, material, and anything else recognizable are the property of their owners. Any and all Original settings, characters, material, etc, are the property of the author and its use should be, at the very least, respectfully inquired about by the interested party. No copyright infringement was, is, and ever will be, intended.

WARNING: AU after OoTP; Slight cross-over from The Old Kingdom series (mostly only concepts and magicks will be taken and will most probably be abridged to suit the plot) I did not finish all three books of the Old Kingdom Series, stopping at Lirael due to my failure to find a copy of Abhorsen.

Some Needed Information:

The Cipher – to be explained, but for those that read The Old Kingdom series, this is basically my version of The Charter.

Prologue

A low grumble could be heard in the midst of the moss and the rock. High on top of a barren mountain, more than fifty leagues above sea-level, Amry Howel sat beneath the stars. He was young; not more than thirteen years of age. His blonde hair and brown skin contrasted greatly with the grey and green expanse of his surroundings. He sat, half-naked, in the middle of a wide five-point circle. His entire body was sitting still, not a muscle twitched, except for his lips that were whispering the names of marks that he called upon from The Cipher.

Amry was sweating profusely as he continued the ritual. He had been waiting, had been training, his whole life for this day: the day he turned thirteen. His throat was dry and he was extremely tired, having had started since the time the sun had risen and continued well-past the time it had set. Whispered encouragements came from his companion outside of his circle, a large black canine with a shining collar and blue eyes. Above them the sky was starting to fill with falling stars, increasing in number as Amry hastened his pace.

"Only a few more Amry, do not stop for anything." Lryall, the large black dog, barked to his companion.

Amry gave no reply but continued to whisper and search for the remaining fifteen markers that he would use to complete the remaining three circles. His ritual would end once he ingrained its final design.

Another hour had passed before he had finally chosen his last mark. Going over his chosen from the Cipher, he closed his eyes and called upon the Primary Marks of all of the Governing Circles in his Ritual. As he felt them begin their task of ingraining, he opened his mouth, titled his head back, and let out a scream of pure pain and fear.

Lyrall stood on all four legs, his fur standing on end, and started to bark at Amry.

"Amry!"

To Amry, it felt like it had taken years, not seconds, for the seal to finally set. As Amry lost consciousness in exhaustion and pain, Lyrall took a long cloth from a travel bag Amry had carried with him up the mountain and put it on Amry's naked shoulders. As Lyrall dragged the rest of their things within the five-point circle that had and would protect Amry atop the mountain, Lyrall touched his nose on each five points and watched them come to life, creating a space of safety for them to finally rest.

Lyrall watched as a very bright falling star erupted a ways away from the mountain, eliminating the location of the one person who could and would help Amry.

"With rock it was designed, A falling star would engrave it, Metal its resting site, The purpose of a warning."

Lyrall looked to his companion and hoped that all his efforts would not have been in vain.

Chapter 1

Harry Potter was having another one of his typical summer vacations at Number Four Privet Drive. He stared at the locked door of his bedroom and at the slightly broken cat-flap at its base. He had been locked inside ever since he had arrived from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Uncle Vernon had not taken to the threats of the Order very well.

Anything that was Magic related was safely locked inside his cupboard and to make sure he was not hiding anything in his room, his loving family emptied it and only laid his old cot from the cupboard, a few muggle books and notebooks that Dudley had either destroyed or forgotten about and an old basin he was supposed to use to relieve him during the day. He was only allowed two meals and one bathroom hour a day. Luckily, the neighbors saw Hedwig being unloaded from the trunk and inquired about a nocturnal owl being mishandled. He was allowed to write to Ron so he asked him to take care of Hedwig and to keep her presence a secret. He also swore in the letter that the Dursley's were treating him better and told him that he would not be able to send his one letter every three days to the Order. Harry had given Ron a stack of letters addressed to the Order and asked him to send them in his place instead. After repeatedly begging Ron to keep Hedwig's presence and his favor a secret, Harry had sent Hedwig off.

Despite all of his restrictions and new living arrangements, Harry had not minded being restricted to the confines of his room. Soon after the Dursley's locked him inside his small room, the temperature outside started to rise so he was allowed to open his window during the afternoons and at night. That was when he noticed markings over the newly installed ultra-durable bars on his windows. His loving Uncle had gotten them installed over the school year, making sure to tell the construction men to ensure that only a large amount of force could pull them off.

At first, he had thought the markings were just scratches that occurred while the bars were being installed but as Harry felt them with his fingertips, he noticed that they were something of marks that could have been runes. He had not bothered himself with them until one night when his nightmares had gotten too strong a hold of him. He decided to sleep as little as possible and wandered around the nearly empty room. That was when he noticed that they gave off a soft, barely noticeable, silver glow at night that would allow him to actually see them. He had been doubtful at the beginning, thinking that his Uncle had them carved and put glow-in-the-dark-liquid to confuse him but even when Dudley had looked right at it when he went into Harry's room one night to mock him and his nightmares he seemed unable to see them. That fact solidified Harry's theory that the marks were magical in nature.

Ancient Runes was not a subject that Harry had taken so he didn't know what the markings meant. To relieve his boredom everyday, and not to mention every night, he would take a piece of paper and a pencil and start drawing the runes on it as he felt around the bars. It had been weeks since he had completed sketching the entire first bar but he was no where near deciphering the piece of steel. He also noticed that the more he thought about and worked on the markings, the more occupied his mind was so he was not attacked by nightmares and was actual able to get a decent number of hours of sleep every night as long as he worked on them before he went to bed.

Harry saw the early rays of the sun start to touch the perfectly trimmed lawn of Number Four and sighed. He tried to finish the second bar that night, there were only four bars out of ten that had markings, it had taken him so long because the marks were small and he tried to perfect writing them on separate sheets of paper before putting them down in a notebook he had salvaged from Dudley's things. He wondered whether or not he would be able to decipher them when he arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione would probably want to help him but first would question him about where they had come from in the first place. He did not know and in all honesty, he was glad to have something occupy his thoughts even just for a little while, not concerning himself in the least about their origin.

He hid the notebook and his sketches under the loose floor board, where he always put them to hide them from his relatives. He lay face down on his old cot that had become too short for him. He bent his knees and put the tattered blanket on top of himself. He put his glasses down on the floor next to his bed and drifted to a fitful sleep.

Three hours later, he was shaken awake by his Aunt Petunia and was told to shoo away a black dog that had apparently been staring at the house since dawn. Harry shot up at the mention of a black dog. It had only been a few weeks and he had not thought about the incident since.

'Sirius…'

Harry put on his glasses and flew down the stairs. Throwing the door open, Harry ran to the lawn and stared as he saw Snuffles, Sirius' animagus form, sitting down on the pavement and staring at the house. His eyes began to water and he started to walk slowly towards the large canine.

"Sirius… You… You're real, aren't you?"

Snuffles merely stared at him as he approached him. Harry's heart started pumping faster and faster as he took each step closer to his Godfather. But as he had came only a mere arm's length away from Snuffles, he realized with a heart-breaking pang that this dog had blue eyes, not the grey that Sirius had. This dog also had a collar; something that he was sure meant that this dog had an owner. Sirius never wore a collar around his neck as Snuffles, preferring the disguise of a stray. Harry fell to his knees in front of the unknown dog and started to cry.

The dog merely stared at him for a few more minutes before looking back at the house.

Harry wiped his tears on the large t-shirt that he was wearing and stood. He grabbed the collar of the dog in hopes to find an address that he could return it to. As soon as his fingertips touched the simple black collar, Harry's eyes rolled into the back of his head. His head was literally swimming in the markings he had taken great painstaking efforts in to write and sketch. He understood nothing as hundreds, no, as thousands of markings ran past him in a seemingly never ending cycle. All he could think about was how warm and how full of energy he suddenly felt. Some markings were familiar, having had copied them down repeatedly, while others... most of them were new, having never seen anything like them. He had drowned himself in the markings, unable to turn himself away.

The next thing he knew, he was being kicked awake by Dudley and the rest of his crew.

"Hey Freak, Mum says you shouldn't infect us normal people by your freakishness. She told me to lock you back in your room. And since my friends feel generous, they say they'll help me escort you there." Another kick to his chest and the boys started to punch him randomly as they basically beat him back to his room. As soon as he was thrown inside, Dudley shut the door with a bang and locked it from the outside, laughing as he did so.

Harry was bloodied and bruised as he crawled back to his cot and lay in a fetal position. It wasn't the aches or the pains that had gotten him shaken up. Sirius was gone. He hadn't thought about it in a long time. Not once that summer, ever since he discovered the markings on the bars. But now, as he put them both side by side, he couldn't help but feel like he ignored his Godfather's memory.

Fresh tears sprang in his eyes and slid down his face onto his pillow as he fell asleep once again, shaking.

Harry did not wake until the next day, surprisingly, all of the evidence of Dudley's efforts to harm him had gone and all that was left were a few muscle pains. There were no signs of the gashes he knew he had when the group of boys had dropped him to the cement or on the stairs. He looked himself over more closely and found a few disappearing marks that looked like his injuries were already healed or were on their way to being.

Almost immediately, as he had done everyday since summer had started, he bent down and took out his notebook, pencil, and sketch papers. He knelt next to his window and started to feel around the second bar, he was already at the bottom with only a few lines left.

The second his pencil touched his sketch paper, he stopped and remembered the large black dog from the day before. He remembered all the markings that had whizzed past him and the sheer volume of the markings had left him breathless.

He didn't know how or what happened exactly but he wanted to find that dog. He found that the more he dove into the markings, the more curious he had gotten and the more he continued to not understand. He shook his head from his line of thinking and started to sketch more, perfecting the symbols before drawing them on his notebook.

A humble serving of oatmeal and a piece of stale bread was pushed inside his room through the cat flap and Harry realized how hungry he had become. He almost dove to the food and finished the whole meal in just a moment. He swallowed a last spoonful of oatmeal before heading back to the bars.

His daily routine of waking up at the middle of the day and going to sleep at dawn continued for the rest of the summer, his questions about the markings growing in number. He realized that a few of the markings were repeated while some were only ever written once. And he realized a little too late that the markings were placed in specific areas which led harry to believe that they were supposed to form a shape or were to be written in a specific sequence if they were to be used.

This led Harry to stop his inspection of the third and fourth bars, choosing to rearrange the markings he already knew from the first and second. He finally settled on choosing five markings at a time and placing them one after the other, left to right, forming chains. It took him a while to rewrite all of his chains at the back of his notebook, going towards the center. He had the inventory of the markings at the front, going towards the center, he had also listed the number of times so far that the markings had appeared; leading him to believe that some were probably lesser used or were very specific, while some were probably more generally used.

Before Harry could believe it, it was his birthday the very next day and it would also be time for him to leave Privet Drive and rejoin Ron and Hermione at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He both dreaded and anticipated his return to the Wizarding World, mostly because he knew that he would receive nothing but pitying glances or disapproving stares from the adults.

Aunt Petunia stiffly gave him a letter she had received from the postman addressed to him and the key to the cupboard under the stairs. It was from Ron, telling him that they would pick him up at midnight that very day. Harry went straight to his room, choosing not to touch his magical things until before he had to go. He had lasted that long without them and he needed not to pack his never unpacked things.

Harry also realized that this meant he had to hurry and finish the fourth bar before Midnight had come. That only gave him Nine hours to complete a whole bar, which meant he could not practice or perfect markings before writing them down in his notebook. He furiously went into trying to copy the markings as closely as he could without spending too much time on them.

He balled up another piece of paper, seeing as his notebook was already full and he had begun to write the symbols and chains on spare pieces of paper and inserting them at the center so that they were still chronological, and threw it behind him. To his misfortune, the markings engraved on the fourth bar were even more complicated than any on the first three.

Finally, when the eighth hour drew in, Harry took his pieces of paper and placed it against the bar. Using the little lead left in his pencil, he used the contrast to copy the markings onto the paper. Since the markings were so small he had to be careful not to miss a single line, often times having to change the direction of the lead to show some lines on certain markings. Finally, when the Weasley's were due to arrive any minute, he took his notebook and pieces of paper and went to his cupboard. He pulled out his trunk, Hedwigs cage, and all his other Magical items before putting the notebook into his trunk and pocketing his wand.

A simple knock alerted the residents of number Four to the group of people standing outside their door.

His Uncle Vernon had apparently stayed up just for the occasion of Harry's departure. He went up to Harry and glared at him as harshly as he could, "Remember boy, not one word or the next summer will be a lot worse than this one." He threatened.

Harry had half a mind to thank his Uncle for being so preoccupied at some big project at his firm and not being home as often as he used to. But Harry merely nodded and thanked his Uncle for the Summer.

He tore open the door and instead of finding Ron, as he was expecting, Mr. Weasley, Professor Lupin, Professor Moody, and Tonks greeted him.

"Well, Harry! Glad to see you're doing well. We best be going before Alastor blasts another trash bin thinking there's a Deatheater behind it." Joked Tonks.

Moody just snarled at her and his magical eye was darting from place to place, high on alert.

Mr. Weasley merely put his hand on his shoulder and tightened his grip in assurance before going into formation beside Tonks. Professor Lupin smiled at Harry and gave him a hug before handing him a Comet 360 broomstick.

"Minerva said that she has your Firebolt waiting for you at Hogwarts." He explained.

Harry just nodded as he watched Tonks once again strap his trunk to her broom.

Professor Lupin motioned for him to get ready to kick-off. Harry took his place in the formation at the very center. Moody cast another Disillusionment Charm on him as they took off and Harry cursed himself for not remembering to put on a warm cloak.

The trip going to Grimmauld Place had been relatively uneventful, taking the almost the exact same course as the year before. Harry was shivering heavily until Mr. Weasley put a heating charm on him. He spent most of the trip staring at the stars above him. He would also hear Moody still grumbling about the lack of change in the flight course. Tonks mumbled just loud enough for Harry to hear about how no one knew their flight course before so it was still perfectly safe, not to mention there were four more back up teams flying around them, hidden in the dark and the clouds.

Harry felt himself spacing out as they made their way, not noticing that they were already quite near the headquarters. As they touched down Tonks approached the house and once again, it came into existence right before his eyes. Harry stared at the dark house and suddenly felt dread. He did not want to enter that house.

"Move along, boy! We haven't got all night long!" Moody grumbled.

Harry closed his eyes, desperately trying to will away the violent tremors that suddenly plagues his body. He felt two hands on his shoulders and he immediately stopped shaking; he opened his eyes and found himself looking at Professor Lupin.

"Don't worry. I know exactly how you feel." He said as he smiled an extremely tired smile.

Harry nodded as he summed up the courage and mechanically put his feet in front of the other, walking into the home of late Godfather. As they entered the home, Harry had to fight back the urge to run away when he saw the long hallway lit with lamps and a large overhead chandelier that was the Black Family Entryway.

Without a word, Professor Lupin led him up the stairs and into the room he had shared previously with Ron. As soon as he entered, Ron was waiting for him with a smile on his face. Harry smiled back and Mr. Weasley came in with Harry's things.

"We'll leave you boys to catch up." He said as he patted Harry on the back and left the room.

Professor Lupin was about to follow when Harry stopped him.

"Thank you… Professor Lupin." He said.

Professor Lupin looked at him and smiled slightly, "Call me Remus, Harry. Or even Moony."

Harry just nodded and Remus closed the door as he left.

"Hey mate. Hedwig is in Si-, uh, in one of the empty rooms. I don't think anyone suspects so that's good. How was your summer?" Ron said, conversationally.

Harry didn't answer him and went over to his things. Under the ruse that he was just going to put on his night clothes, he pulled out his notebook hidden in his nightclothes. He changed into his nightclothes, being careful to keep his notebook out of sight. He discreetly put the notebook under his pillow and turned to Ron.

"I'm sorry Ron but I'm really tired. Do you mind if I head in early?"

Ron just nodded and Harry lay on his bed, placed his glasses on a table next to his bed and closed his eyes. He was in Sirius' house. The place Sirius was in before he rushed to the Department of Mysteries. The last place Sirius stayed before falling into the veil. Harry desperately wanted to open his notebook and start sketching the markings he had engraved on the last few pieces of paper. He wanted to do something, anything at all, to distract himself from the knowing that he was at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

After an hour, he heard the door creak open and a few timid footsteps.

"How is he?" it was Hermione.

"He's alright. Said he was tired so he turned in early."

"He must still be grieving." She said matter-of-factly. "Do you have any idea what he did at his relatives house? Do you think he's getting over... what happend?"

"I dunno. Wasn't able to really chat. I think he's just tired. I don't think he even noticed I was all better from those brains."

"We have to be careful around him. We don't want to remind him of Sirius too much. He might go suicidal."

"I almost did a minute ago. I think I covered it well-enough though."

"You what? Oh, Ronald."

"What? I'm human. I make mistakes. Besides, he might have been tired enough not to have noticed. He's got huge bags under his eyes. I don't think he's been sleeping well. I was a bit afraid he might still be having nightmares until now. But he's been quiet so far."

"Yes, well. I really hope he's okay."

"I think he is… and if not, I'm sure he will be. You know Harry, he's one of the strongest people we know."

"Which makes me wonder about what will finally break him and when."

After a few more hushed conversations, Harry heard Hermione leave and Ron's gentle snoring soon followed.

Harry stood and put on his glasses. After finding a lamp, he turned it on and took a new piece of paper. He didn't have enough led to sketch the markings so he took a quill and a bottle of ink from his trunk. He took extreme caution not to make too much noise.

Every marking on the fourth bar was different, with only one or two that repeated, and every marking got more and more difficult as he continued. He was almost an eighth of the way done when he felt the suns warm caress. He quickly closed the lamp and hid his notebook under his pillow once again. He took off his glasses and lay down. He fell asleep quickly, his hand cramped and his head full of the strange and exciting markings that plagued his every thought.

"Why don't you wake him Ronald?"

"Well, why don't you wake him?"

"Because! You're already used to it. You sleep in the same room most of the time!"

"So, why don't you take a crack at it then?"

"Why is he sleeping in so late anyway? He slept early."

"How should I know? He already missed breakfast. We should probably wake him."

Harry groaned, letting the two feuding friends know that the one they were fighting on who would wake, was already awake.

"Oh. Well, that's done then." Ron said.

Harry reached over to his glasses and put them on.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"You missed breakfast. Mrs. Weasley is already preparing lunch. She told us to call you down." Hermione told him, sitting down on his bed.

Harry felt that she was too close to his notebook and instinctively backed up a bit to put it in a more secure position. He had already decided that he would not ask Hermione about the markings until he absolutely exhausted his own resources. It was about time he looked out for himself in the research department.

"I'm not hungry." Harry told them. He was used to just eating a meal a day ever since he had seen the black dog. Aunt Petunia had decided to punish him for falling asleep on the pavement.

Ron looked at him incredulously. "Not hungry? You missed breakfast!"

Harry didn't answer, choosing instead to stare at the wall behind his two best friends.

"I guess we'll come up after we have a bite to eat?" Hermione inquired to Harry.

He nodded at her and she stood, dragging Ron with her.

As soon as the two were gone, Harry pulled out his notebook and resumed his work. It was intoxicating, every line and every curve of the marking would bring him to admire its design. He truly wished he could understand what the markings were or what they represented. If only he had a book to go by or a translation tablet like he heard some Archeologists used to translate some Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Harry was able to draw a few markings before Ron and Hermione returned. As the three chatted about their summers, Harry withheld most of his. He only told them of how Vernon had barely been home. Hermione and Ron continued to argue and Harry couldn't help but think of all the markings he was itching to draw. Even as he looked at and spoke with Hermione and Ron, ribbons and chains of the markings were revolving around his mind.

As his two friends bickered and he nodded politely, his mind was running on a seperate train of thought. Amidst all his questions, he only knew one thing for sure: He was going to learn how to Occlude his mind soon. He had forgotten about Snape and Dumbledore's techniques of Legilimency which they would surely not hesitate to use on him. He couldn't let them into his mind now that he had something to hide, to protect. He would not let them see the markings, no one would ever see his markings.

End of Chapter 1

Authors Note:

So that's the end of the First Chapter: Harry's Obsession with the Markings and Lryall showing up at Privet Drive.

Please Read and Review. I'll update as soon as I can.