Five years… It had been five long and miserable years since Albus Dumbledore 'lost' The-Boy-Who-Lived and his twin brother. One day they had been perfectly safe at their Aunt and Uncle's home, then Dumbledore's alarms had started blaring from a large amount of magic coming from the Dursley residence, far too much for it to just be another ordinary bout of accidental magic. He had of course immediately set out to rescue the young wizarding saviour but by the time he arrived at Privet Drive it had already been consumed by a raging inferno and the young Potter twins were nowhere to be seen. He had spent the past five years searching high and low for The-Boy-Who-Lived, spurred on by an extremely furious Minerva Mcgonagall in a manner that made the elderly headmaster mentally compare his protege to a rather grumpy nesting dragon. Yet now, after all his options had been exhausted, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva Mcgonagall stood in one of the most well protected rooms in all of Hogwarts - the Hogwarts Magical Mail Enchantment Mailroom. The Hogwarts Mail Enchantment Mailroom was created by Rowena Ravenclaw herself and no Witch or Wizard alive knew how it worked. As to what it did and why the two most senior members of the Hogwarts staff were so desperately huddled inside it… The Hogwarts Magical Mail Enchantment Mailroom ensured that every single last student of Hogwarts received their official Hogwarts mail such as exam results, book lists, and most importantly, admission letters. Somehow the magic of the Hogwarts Magical Mail Enchantment Mailroom was able to detect exactly where a student was with barely any outside input. You would simply place the official Hogwarts letter into a small rune circle and after a moment a envelope would appear with the letter already enclosed. Normally Professor Mcgonagall would simply place all of the letters into the rune circle at once and then send out all the letters in one massive push. This time however, Albus Dumbledore gently placed only the admittance letter for one Ignotus Potter and prayed to all the gods he knew, and all the gods he remained ignorant of, that this would work, that young Ignotus Potter was not dead as he had begun to suspect. There was of course a letter for his twin brother Harry, but it was Ignotus, The-Boy-Who-Lived that was truly important. Dumbledore knew that Ignotus Potter would be needed to vanquish Voldemort for good
All it took was a slight flash of light, and the two elderly teachers snatched the letters from the rune circle, Professor Mcgonagall managing to win out by a mere hairsbreadth. "Ser Jory's Or-Orphanage… They're at an Orphanage Albus!" The Deputy Headmaster shot the Headmaster a glare that came just short of a Basilisk's. "Merlindammit Albus! Do you have any idea what those muggle orphanages are like? I've seen them," Minerva Mcgonagall started ranting, "I've been to them! To dozens of them searching for the boy that YOU lost! And they're all the same! They are all dirty, and poor, and broken down. The children, Merlin Albus, the children! They all looked miserable, utterly miserable! I am going to this- this orphanage and speaking to Mr. Potter right now, and don't you dare try to stop me!" With her piece spoken the Deputy Headmistress turned on her heel and stormed out of the Hogwarts Magical Mail Enchantment Mailroom, leaving a very shamefaced headmaster to finish with the rest of the students mail.
"Minerva wait," called out Albus Dumbledore "the address on the other letter is different." Minerva stopped and slowly turned around, staring at the two letters and their two very different addresses. The first was addressed to Harry Potter at 'Ser Jory's Orphanage, Second Floor Dormitory, Corner Bed.' The second letter was addressed to Ignotus Potter at 'Tyran Estate, West Corridor Loft.'
"Why would they be in different locations Albus? What has happened to the Potter Twins?" Minerva voice shook ever so slightly as her mind brought forth various worst case scenarios.
"I do not know Minerva… Go check on young Harry. I will go to Ignotus." Dumbledore spoke with a tired, hollow voice. The years of frantic searching had taken their toll, but the venerable wizards with far too many names and titles felt assured that everything would return to business as usual once he retained The-Boy-Who-Lived. So he hadn't spent ten years with the Dursleys being molded into a perfect follower, so he possibly had found guardians who loved him, they were still muggles. Of that Dumbledore was sure, and muggles, no matter how intelligent or resourceful simply had no power in the magical world. They had no voice, no contacts, nothing at all with which to influence the magical world. Thus Dumbledore was confident that he would easily be able to mold The-Boy-Who-Lived into an acceptable follower of the greatest wizard of their time.
Minerva Mcgonagall arrived in front of Ser Jory's Orphanage with a slight pop and immediately saw that the situation was likely as she had feared. The old three story building was creaking in the wind, as though a strong breeze might send it toppling down. The walls were grey and brown, covered in muck and grime from having gone unwashed for an untold number of years. Some of the windows had bars on them, while others were simply boarded up. Those windows that were whole and uncovered were nearly as filthy as the walls and the old witch found herself unable to see inside. With an angry huff Minerva Mcgonagall walked into the delipidated building, quickly taking notice of an extremely tall lanky woman. The woman in question had limp brown hair that seemed unevenly cut, as though she cut it herself. Her tired dull brown eyes looked up at Mcgonagall, sizing her up for a few moments before tiredly speaking. "Is there something I can help you with ma'am?"
"Yes," Mcgonagall replied shortly "I need to speak with one of the children in your… care," Mcgonagall spoke the last word with a disdain that the other woman could practically feel wash over her. "I believe his name is Harry Potter. He is 11 years old." The other woman's dull brown eyes widened in what Mcgonagall surmised was surprise for a moment before she carefully asked why she would be looking for a specific boy at an orphanage. Losing her patience Mcgonagall cast a quick and discreet compulsion charm on the muggle to simply go and retrieve the young wizard. It was far too early in the morning to be dealing with lazy, incompetent muggles.
Harry Potter woke quickly, far too quickly for it to be natural. As such Harry continued to lay in bed, feigning sleep as he stretched out with all of his sense to try and learn what had woken him.
"Be quiet!" Harry heard someone whisper softly. So softly that he could barely make out the words.
"SHHH!"
"You'll wake the damn freak up!"
*Too late for that you bloody idiots.* Harry thought darkly as he planned how to intimidate them this time. *I would just fry the dumb pricks if they wouldn't scream so loudly. If only there was a way to stop sound from leaving a room…* Harry could hear the group of teenage orphans slowly getting closer, taking a deep breath Harry realized that he could smell them getting closer too. *Great, smells like Ronny decided not to shower last night. Or the last few nights before that either… Gross! You would think a fifteen year old would be able to bathe himself but noooo! Smelling like a human being rather than a dirty animal is too girly. He must be overcompensating.*
"Come on, let's get him!" One of the voices that Harry identified as the extremely smelly Ronny. Whispered enthusiastically. Ever since Harry had taught Ronnie why the "freak" was best left alone last year he had been trying to rope the other boys into his revenge scheme. Obviously the extremely tall, disgusting, pimple faced boy had finally succeeded in his task. Harry opened his eyes and quickly assessed the situation. There were four boys standing less than a foot away from his bed, with Ronny being the closest. Ronny's hand was raised and he was holding a long dirty grey sock that held a large lump at the end and the other three boys each held a similar weapon. Ronny saw Harry's eyes open and shouted "GET HIM!" while swinging his hand down, the rock filled sock trailing slightly behind. Harry rolled off the foot of his bed, narrowly dodging the DUI sock flail. With a smirk Harry thrust his hands out and all four boys were sent flying across the room, each of them landing roughly, knocking over dressers and bed frames alike. It was at this point that Harry noticed his dorm room was conspicuously empty when there should have been half a dozen other boys about his age sound asleep and his face darkened.
"S-s-s-st-stay away from m-m-m-me freak," one of the boys -Jerome - called out as he saw the look on Harry's face. Harry merely gave Jerome a soft playful smile and the older boys face blanched. Harry raised his left hand and Jerome flew up until he smashed into the ceiling and was held there by some unseeable force until Harry lowered his hand. Jerome fell to the floor with a loud 'thump' and he immediately started crawling away. Harry's face twisted into a snarl as he saw all four boys cowering on the ground, hiding under the beds and tucking themselves into the corners of the room as though not being able to see him would somehow protect them from him. Looking around him Harry quickly spotted Ronny shivering in fright behind a bed that had been knocked over in the scuffle. Harry thrust out his right hand and Ronny started sliding towards his feet as though some invisible force were dragging the bully towards his intended victim.
"W-wait! You can't do anything to me, they'll kick you out!" Ronny spluttered his pitiful defence with a voice that had become laughably squeaky due to his currently overwhelming fear. The plan had been to get the Potter brat before he could wake up and pull any of his freakishness on them. Then they would beat him so badly that he would never dare do any of that stuff ever again! Everything had gone so terribly wrong, and yet the idea of being kicked out onto the streets made Harry pause, and then back away. Or so Ronny thought. "Ya that's right you dumb freak. You can't do anything to me or everyone will tell the grown ups and you'll never be allowed in here again!" Ronny started to stand up but was quickly pushed down by the same unseen force that had dragged him to his current spot on the dirty hardwood floor.
*Hmmph. The idiot thinks I actually care? Or that the grown ups can even do anything? I'll show him.* Harry thought to himself with a dark smile as he walked back towards Ronny with a pillow in his hands. Harry reached down and pushed the soft pillow against Ronny's face, then tapped it with a finger and stood back. The pillow managed to stay perfectly still on the older boys face as the other boys started on, not knowing what was about to happen. Harry glared at each of the boys, all of them older and larger than himself. Then, without warning, Harry raised his foot and stomped down on the pillow clad face of Ronny the smelly bully. One stomp turned into two, which became three, which became five before Harry roughly smacked his foot down onto the beaten boys chest and glared at each of his attackers yet again, his vivid green eyes screaming bloody murder. Then he walked away as though nothing had happened and the three boys that remained conscious collapsed as the tension vacated the room and their bodies.
Harry turned down the stairs after leaving the room, noting yet again how each step seemed to squeak from the slightest pressure, the walls were dark and dank looking, and if you looked at them long enough you would swear they looked like they were starting to bow under the pressure of holding up such a large house for so long with little to no upkeep or maintenance.
"Potter!" Harry snapped to attention, broken away from his mindless morning musings to see the Orphanages Matron Ms. Wreck standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hands placed on her hips imperiously. "There is someone here to see you! You haven't gotten into more trouble have you boy?" Harry shook his head no as he descended the speaking staircase, remaining silent but glowering at the old hag as she grabbed him by the shoulder and started to pull him towards her then push him towards the door behind her. "Go talk to the woman, and for heaven's sake don't scare her!"
Minerva Mcgonagall was getting quite impatient despite only waiting a scant few minutes. She had after all been searching for the Potter twins for the past several years. Albus hadn't even told her he had lost them until she started to badger him about their welfare one day and refused to let up. But that didn't matter at this moment, what mattered was finding Harry Potter and ensuring he was safe and preferably moved away from this Morgana-cursed hovel. As Minerva Mcgonagall saw the young, less famous Potter twin however all her hopes fell crashing to the ground. Harry Potter, and it was unmistakably Harry Potter, had vividly bright green eyes, similar to his mothers but brighter, almost luminescent. His hair was raven black, quite long for a boy, and currently pulled back into a ponytail. She could see how he should look just like his father, the features were there, but they were hidden under scars. Harry had a long vertical scarn starting just above his ear, running behind it and down to his shoulder. Another two small lines adorned his face just above his right eyebrow, running up along his temple and into his hairline. There were several marks on each of his arms, she could see where he had been bitten by some sort of animal, and several jagged lines along his forearms and upper arms. There were likely more underneath his clothing but as they were underneath his clothing she could not confirm her suspicions. While the Deputy Headmistress was taking stock of little Harry Potter, he was simply standing and staring at the woman who somehow looked different from anyone else he had ever seen. She seemed brighter somehow, like she was glowing, yet Harry could tell that she was not glowing. Ms Wreck would have thrown quite the fit at seeing something so 'freakish'. As Harry tried to focus on where this glowing was coming from he noticed that the old lady's 'aura' for lack of a better word seemed to be tinged with red and blue colorings. As he focused more he could see a slight outline that somehow seemed distinctly furry. *Weird… But- what if she's like me? Am I getting away from here?*
"Mr. Potter… Harry. I was a friend of your parents and I have been searching for you for a very long time." Harry stared up into Professor Mcgonagall's eyes but didn't say a word. "I have so much to tell you, there's a whole other world waiting for you." At this Harry's eyes shone with hope and a large smile escaped Harry's control. Harry was completely silent as the patient Professor Mcgonagall explained all about how magic was real, the amazing things that it could do, as well as admitting it could do terrible things too. Even as she spoke of Hogwarts and the four houses, and all the lessons that Harry would get to become a world class wizard Harry did not speak a word. He did not make a single sound apart from what noise he made from breathing even when he was reading his Hogwarts acceptance letter and required items list. As Mcgonagall finished she could see the joy clearly reflected in Harry's body language, yet he still had not spoken. "Is there something wrong Harry? Why won't you speak to me?"
Harry frowned slightly and tilted his head, then placed his acceptance letter in front of him and pulled a small pencil from his pocket. Harry took a few moments to quickly scribble something on the back of the paper and held it up to the witch. There were only two words, two very simple words. "I can't."
AN: That's right folks, Harry Potter is mute. Something that will lead to a great deal of frustration for him. Now you may be asking where Ignotus Potter is and why he isn't with Harry, well that will be explained when we meet him. Now Harry is going to be "Dark". He won't be torturing people for kicks but will not be adverse to getting his hands dirty. Now while Harry is going to be powerful, this is not a "Super Harry" story. I plan on giving Harry several opponents that can properly challenge him aside from You-No-Poo.
This is my first fanfiction after spending years reading them. Some of my favorite are Dark Harry stories but my problem is that most of them get abandoned or are slash and pair Harry with Moldyshorts. I don't understand why people think it works but I have never felt that it does. I have a few possible pairings thought up but have made no decisions. So since I find myself in need of a good Dark Harry fic I figured, why not write my own? Do all the awesome things I wish were in other stories. Strangle Dumbledore with his beard, drown Ron in a massive plate of mashed potatoes and gravy, kill off Snape with a rampaging herd of Stags, make Voldemort slip on a banana peel and land in front of his own killing curse... Okay so that last one won't happen but the others could. Maybe. Let's wait and see...
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