Disclaimer: Anything in this fic you don't recognize theoretically belongs to me, but everything else in the Harry Potter world belongs to the fantastic author J.K. Rowling. So please don't sue.
A six-year old Harry Potter cowered in front of his Uncle Vernon, bravely doing his best to hold back tears. He had brought home a letter from the school nurse, saying he needed glasses, which had set his uncle off. Harry knew that he would get his glasses eventually, for it wouldn't do for the school nurse to comment on his not getting them, but his uncle would be angry over the expense.
"You worthless freak!" shouted Vernon Dursley. "We take you in out of the goodness of our hearts, and now you have to burden us with providing you with glasses!"
"I-I'm sorry!" stammered Harry. "Mrs. Jenkins t-tested us and-"
"I don't care!" yelled Vernon. "You still have burdened us with an expense! You are going to do extra chores and go without dinner for two weeks to pay for your glasses, you worthless boy! Now go make dinner and then stay in your cupboard until it's time to wash the dishes."
Harry flinched as his uncle punched him, then went into the kitchen to cook. As he strived not to cry, he silently thought, Why is this happening to me? Why do my aunt and uncle hate me? Why can't somebody come to rescue me?
As he set a pan on the stove and turned on the burner, his thoughts turned to God. The Dursleys weren't church-goers, but they did go the Christmas and Easter mass and had brought Harry with them to impress on the neighbours the charity they were doing in taking their nephew in. So now he silently prayed, God, please help me. Surely You can find some way for me to leave the Dursleys. Maybe I have other relatives somewhere that can take me in. Or my parents had friends. But please God, rescue me from my aunt and uncle. In your name I pray, amen.
He felt better after praying, but Harry wasn't sure if he believed that it would come true. He finally decided that having some hope for a better life was better than none, and finished making dinner in a better mood. When he was done, he went to his cupboard and sat on his cot, waiting until the Dursleys had finished dinner and it was time for him to wash the dishes.
The next afternoon, Aunt Petunia dragged Harry to the optical store, where after the free eye exam, bought the cheapest pair of glasses avaiable, which was six pounds. Upon arriving home, he was given a list of chores to do, which included making dinner and washing the dishes.
While washing the dishes, Harry accidentally broke a plate. Aunt Petunia shrieked at him and slapped him once, Uncle Vernon hit him with his belt, and Dudley joined in and punched Harry a few times. Then Harry was locked in the cupboard after he'd finished his chores.
Once lying on his cot, Harry gave in to his tears, soaking the thin pillow. He once again prayed to God, asking Him to deilver him from the abuse. By midnight, he had cried himself to sleep when suddenly there was flash of light and the cupboard door flew open. A man with golden hair and calm blue eyes and a woman with light brown hair and intelligent gray eyes stood there.
"Why have we been summoned here?" asked the man in a soft whisper.
"Who knows?" replied the woman, also in a whisper. "God works in mysterious ways." She pulled out her wand, whispered, "Lumos!", and gazed into the cupboard. She gasped upon seeing the boy huddled on the cot, tears on his cheeks and a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
The man gasped as well. "That can't be Harry Potter! Why is he sleeping in a cupboard? And is that a black eye on his face? Emily, do you think Harry has been abused by these Muggles?"
"I wouldn't put it past them," said Emily. "I think this is the Muggle home that Harry was left at. Stuart, you were Lily Potter's cousin. You must have some idea as to what her sister was like."
"Petunia was jealous of Lily after she got the Hogwarts letter," replied Stuart. "And she wasn't happy to find out I was a wizard, either. After that, she saw Lily and me as freaks and would have nothing to do with us. At her wedding to Vernon Dursley, she made it quite clear that she wanted to have nothing more to do with me or Lily. In fact, she never attended my wedding or Lily's, despite the fact that we had sent her invitations."
"Well, we can't let Harry remain here," said Emily. "What did the Potters' will say?"
"That if anything were to happen to them, Harry was to live with his godfather, Sirius Black. If that couldn't happen, Harry was then to be sent to live with Frank and Alice Longbottom. If anything happened to the Longbottoms, Harry was to go to his next of kin besides the Dursleys. In fact, their will plainly stated that they didn't want Harry living with them, and that I was probably Harry's closest relative besides the Dursleys, unless James had first cousins he didn't know about."
Emily's eyes flashed. "Then Dumbledore has circumvented the Potters' will. Sometimes I wonder if he would have turned out this way if he had attended Merlin Academy rather than Hogwarts. He certainly had the qualifactions, according the previous Headmaster."
"True," said Stuart. "Well, seeing as that I am Harry's closest relative besides his horrible aunt and uncle, I will take custody of my first cousin once removed and bring him to live with me at Merlin Academy. If that is agreeable with you, Headmistress."
"Of course you may bring Harry to live at our school," said Emily. "He will attend Merlin Academy when he is eleven, anyway, if I have anything to say about it. He certainly has the qualifications, and I won't have him be under Dumbledore. Albus may have good intentions, but he will most certainly use Harry and form him into a weapon to fight Voldemort when he returns to power. We will not. Of course, we will inform Harry about Voldemort and teach him well so he can defeat Voldemort once again, but we won't use and manipulate Harry."
Stuart quickly conjured parchment, quill, and ink and wrote a letter to the Dursleys informing them that he had taken custody of Harry. Emily scooped Harry up in her arms and with Stuart Apparated just outside of school grounds. At that point, Harry woke up, which was fortunate, for Emily would have had to wake up Harry anyway so she could tell him the location of the school, which was under the Fidelius Charm, with her as Secret-Keeper. Actually, there were two Secret-keepers, the Headmaster or mistress, and the Deputy Head. Whenever the Headmaster/mistress retired or died, the Deputy Head would take over and reconfigure the Fidelus Charm to include the new Deputy Head as Secret-Keeper. Mostly it was the Head retiring and removing him/herself as Secret-keeper. Only one had died as Head, and that had been due to an accident.
"Where am I?" asked Harry, sounding nervous.
"I am your Uncle Stuart Evans, a cousin of your mother," said Stuart. "This is Emily Kennedy, the Headmistress of the school I teach at. We have taken you away from the Dursleys."
"My prayer came true?" exclaimed Harry, looking delighted. "Thank you, God!" then he looked wary again.
"Nobody will ever hurt you again, Harry," said Emily soothingly. "You can call me Aunt Emily, but only until it's time for you to attend school. Then you'll have to call me Headmistress or Professor Kennedy like the other students do. Now, the location of the school is in County Cork, Ireland. Well, it's within the boundary of Cork, though most people don't know about it."
Harry blinked in confusion. "Are we in Ireland, now, Uncle Stuart?"
"Yes," responded Stuart. "We have a special way of travel that can take you long distances in only a few seconds. Now, think about what Aunt Emily told you, and you'll see the school."
Harry did so, and a second later, he saw a very large building appear, followed by four greenhouses and some smaller buildings. The large building looked like a five-story castle with a tower at each corner.
"That castle is the school, Merlin Academy," said Emily. "The building next to it is the library. Now come with us. We'll get you settled in a room, and tomorrow we'll explain everything."
Harry soon found himself installed in a bedroom next to Uncle Stuart's. It was about the size of Dudley's room, and the furniture was more elegant and ornate. Harry was given a set of pyjamas that was a size to big for him and he collapsed into the bed, thanking God once again for granting his prayer before he drifted off into sleep.