Chapter One: Summer of '95
Even though he had not known it; Harrison Potter's life had been mapped out for him, ending with him in an early grave all because there were certain people who entered into his life who never learned how to keep their crooked noses out of matters that did not concern them. He was thankful when he encountered a man named Romulus Mayfield. An older gentleman who looked to be in his late eighties had popped into his life so abruptly but he would not have it any other way. If it were not for Romulus he would have still been on a path that he was never meant to be on.
He had been minding his own business laying in the grass near the garden on the front lawn underneath the window listening to the news when a large shadow loomed over him, blocking the sun. Harrison froze on instinct, expecting the worst to come seeing as he did not have a proper chance to defend himself with his wand. He had come to realize that he would die by Voldemort's wand at a young age, but he hoped that he would have at least a fighting chance, die a hero's death like everyone believed he would. Harrison also hoped that he would have been finished Hogwarts by the time their final battle approaches. He was about to start to his fifth year and he still didn't have a clue on how to defeat the newly resurrected Dark Lord. He was fifteen and he didn't have the skill nor the power to take him on.
He also knew that without his friends Ron and Hermione it would have died years ago.
He waited for the taunting and torturing but nothing came. He opened his eyes slowly expecting to see a Death Eater, he knew that Voldemort was still recovering, but what he found was an old withering face that held a bright smile and teal eyes. Harrison didn't know this man, he had never seen him around Privet Drive before which made him all the more wary, just because he had the face and body of an old man does not mean it was not a Death Eater in disguise who was hoping to catch him off guard.
"Well hello there young wizard, I was wondering if I could use your assistance." The old man said jovially.
Harrison took his time standing up to face the man; looking at him suspiciously. "What would I be able to help you with?" he asked.
"I just moved across the way and I would love to have the companionship while I settle in. It is not very often you meet another Magical in such an area as this one."
Harrison was still not ready to put his trust in this stranger. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.
"I had not until I seen that scar upon your forehead, you are indeed Harry Potter."
"So you can understand why I am not willing to trust you. For all I know you could be a Death Eater."
"Yes, that could very well be true, but if I wanted to take you to Voldemort, I could have done so without announcing my presence. But you are very smart to be wary of strangers, and I can assure you that I am not in league with Voldemort. But since I know you are smarter than to take me for my word alone I will swear an oath to you."
It seemed to Harrison that this man was trying really hard to convince him that he is a trustworthy man. He wished that his life was simple enough that he could greet and help his new neighbour without suspicion, but his life was no longer that simple and he hated it. But this stranger was willing to swear an oath than how bad could he really be? After a well worded oath that left no room for loophole he followed the man to his house across the street to get to know a fellow wizard that was not out to kill him.
It was not long before he found himself in Romulus' company everyday, always learning something new. It was not long before they turned into full on lessons after Romulus realized the state of the boys' education, which should have been more advanced than it was. While he had not gone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he knew many people how had and they received an excellent education. He also decided that he would be pulling a few strings to make sure something about done about all the negligence that had been occurring over the last few decades. He did not want to see the next generation of Magicals become incompetent; he would even build his own school if he had to, if that's what it took to make Wizarding Britain on top again. Because if they were not careful their entire community will crumble before their eyes.
He had been alive long enough to know that they were becoming stagnant in a world that should have been thriving, but they chose not to evolve, they were scared of change, but what they don't understand is that will eventually kill them in the end. Romulus was glad that he could influence one young mind in a time of absolute despair. He was not expecting to stumble upon Harrison when he moved to Privet Drive, he was not expecting anything, he just wanted to live out his days in relative peace. He had nothing else to live for, no family and no friends to fill his life with; that was until Harrison arrived. He did not see what most people saw, he did not see a saviour that was prophesized to save the world. He saw a sad and confused young boy who had too much weight placed on his small shoulders, a young boy who was looking for someone to lean on, to guide him in the right direction. He saw a young boy looking for something positive in his life, something that he seemed to be lacking his entire life.
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As the summer wore on the two wizards had grown close, Harrison had shared things with Romulus that he never considered sharing with even his best friends, and in return Romulus told Harrison all about his childhood and his wife and children and what had happened to them so long ago. They had reached a point in their new relationship that Harrison no longer slept in his room with his relatives, While the Dursley's were out Harrison and Romulus went to collect his things before they made it home, if he was ever going to learn he would need to wand and books even though they were of no use to him.
Harrison wished that he had meet Romulus sooner, wishing that he had a mentor when he first entered the Wizarding World, he was sure that he would have done things differently, but he wouldn't change the past if he got the chance because he liked who he was becoming. Harrison supported his idea of creating his own school if the school governors' decline his proposition of changing the schools curriculum. He knew that Romulus would be great at it. Even though the lessons were hard they were things that every witch and wizard should know, he was shocked when he realized how worse things have gotten once Dumbledore took over as Headmaster of Hogwarts.
Romulus had gone to see the Goblins about installing a Time Compression Ward for the summer, he needed more than a month if he was going to teach Harrison how to be a proper wizard and have the knowledge to back up his rapidly growing powers. The training that Romulus had put him though was rigorous, but Harrison knew by the time summer was over he would be able to take his seventh year N.E. . and then some.
They had started with basic Magical Theory all the way up to Advanced Magical Theory. Which Harrison used to find dull when he had to take it in his first year of school, but the more Romulus told him the more fascinated be became and wondered why they didn't offer this as a course for more than a year when there was so much to learn. By the end of the subject Harrison liked to believe that he was in on a very obvious secret that to many Magicals are oblivious to. There was a lot of reading and a lot of confusion and discussions, but he knew that he was better for learning it, he now knew how complex magic truly was. It was something that he used to take for granted after the shock and excitement wore off, it was always there, he did not realized how much potential everyone had inside of them, if only they were not so scared of the changes it would cause.
After that very enlightening lesson, they moved on to Wizarding customs and traditions of the Old World that not many hold dear anymore. Most of them had been lost and forgotten throughout generations while others had been banned for because the newer generations did not know of the meanings behind them. Many even got tossed and replaced with Mundane customs and traditions which did not sit right with Harrison. He was sad to know many of the seasonal customs that held a real meaning for witches and wizards were replaced by ones that they didn't understand. He swore to himself that he would honour the old ways that have been lost.
Next on the long list of subjects was Wizarding Etiquette seeing as he was the heir to a Ancient and Noble House there was a certain way he had to carry himself, a certain way he needed to interact with other people who hold the same position as him. He needed to attend the right meetings and parties so he could meet other rising Lords and Ladies. Harrison was upset to realize that this was the sort of his Magical Guardian was suppose to guide him through, and was even more upset to realize that he didn't know who his Magical Guardian was. That prompted another trip to Gringotts.
"Key?" said the gruff voice of a goblin, holding his hand out impatiently.
Harrison was caught off guard, realizing Molly Weasley still had his key in her possession. He cleared his throat. "I don't have a key in my possession, but could I bother you for a new one?" he asked.
The goblin looked up at him in annoyance. "It will be ten gallons to have a new key made." He said before pulling out a small gold key and a blade. "I need to prick your finger." After the key was made he passed it back to Harrison. "Never let another person have possession of your key again, keep it safe. I have had the other one destroyed. Now what is your business here?" he barked.
"I came here to find out who my Magical Guardian is. I was told here would be the safest place to gather information." Harrison told the rude goblin politely.
The goblin stood from his stool abruptly and walked down the corridor, coming back a few moments later with another goblin. "This is account manager Redclaw; he had been in charge of the Potter accounts for the last three centuries. He will take you to his office." The goblin quickly dismissed them by returning to his paperwork, not giving them another glance.
Harrison and Romulus moved out of the line as they waited for Redclaw to lead them to his office. Redclaw waved them forward to follow him to an empty room. Once seated, he looked between the two men in silence before setting his gaze on Harrison. "Are you sure you trust this man in the room for our conversation?" Redclaw asked.
"Yes. I trust him not to repeat anything said here today."
With a snap of his fingers a large file appeared on the table. "I was unaware of the fact that wizards who live with Mundanes have an appointed Magical Guardian. I was wondering if anywhere in my file said who was mine."
Redclaw looked shocked but he hid it quickly, it was not a common occurrence for something like this to happen. Once a child was appointed or gained a Magical Guardian they play a very crucial part in the child's life. But Redclaw remembered hearing about how the Potter boy was brought to Hogwarts by that half giant Hagrid. Nothing about this sat right with the Potter account manager. That was the first strike against the man who claimed to be taking the best care of his charge. Redclaw was going to be very business for the next couple of days trying to get all of this madness sorted out. He sighed deeply before looking at the young boy.
"I don't need this file to tell who your Magical Guardian; it is none other than Albus Dumbledore himself. He had petitioned to become your Magical Guardian the night your parents died, and while he was not the only one who wanted to guide your introduction to the magical world, but had the backing of the Ministry, and no one wanted to go against them. Are you telling me that he has not been performing his duties to help you grow into your role as Lord Harrison Potter of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter?"
"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. I learned about my magic and the wizarding world when I turned ten by a half giant who really didn't tell me anything."
"I guess it is also safe to assume that you have not been getting your mail?" Redclaw asked with a murderous expression on his face.
"That would be correct Redclaw."
"We have been trying to contact you since your tenth birthday. You have only entered our bank once not including today and no one had informed me. There were plenty of things that I wanted to go over with you, along side your Magical Guardian, but that has never happened, and now I find myself very upset. Albus Dumbledore as your Magical Guardian gives him access to your trust vault, and he had been making withdrawals and depositing them into a number of different vaults. But there is no need to worry because I intend to take every last knut back from him."
Harrison's face was turning red and Romulus was having a hard time just sitting back. But he knew that he couldn't contribute to the conversation because it had nothing to do with him.
"I want a new Guardian."
"I can assure you young Lord that Albus Dumbledore will be removed immediately. We have tangible proof of his wrong doings so there will be no need to take this to trial, all we need a confession under Veritserum that you had no knowledge of these transactions before today and he will be stripped from the title, never allowed to hold such a position again. In fact I am sure many of his other positions within this world will be called into question as well. As for your need to have a guardian that no longer matters, once your name came out of the Goblet of Fire last year you became emancipated, you are considered an adult within this world.
To say that Harrison was shocked would be a little bit of an understatement. He was sure if Dumbledore knew the results of letting him continue with the Tri-Wizard Tournament would mean complete freedom, he was sure the old man would have tried harder to keep him out of it.
"Good." He managed to say calmly.
"You are fifteen years of age now, coming of age early is not common but it does happen. There is a lot of responsibly resting on you now. At a later date before the summer season is gone we will get together once more to go over the proper channels to announcing your Lordship Status. I know that you have more questions that want to be asked, but let us leave them for later, I believe that you have got the answers that you were seeking."
Redclaw dismissed them by getting up and showing them the door with a promise of setting up another appointment with him. The old goblin watched as the pair of wizards left his office, he could feel the bond that was growing between them getting stronger. He knew that the two of them were going to change the world, and it would shake everyone to their very cores.
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Romulus and Harrison had left the bank feeling a lot better and decided to take the rest of the day off from their lessons. Romulus had decided to give him a different type of lesson because he was positive that he had never been out of Diagon Alley. It was time for Harrison to expand his magical horizons. He was slowly suffocating and he did not even realize it.
Romulus stopped Harrison on the steps of the bank. "We are not going straight home, I believe that a little field trip is in order. We are going to take a little stroll through London's Mystic District."
"Where is that?" Harrison asked, never hearing of such a place before.
"It is right here, though from what you have told me not many of the people you know ever venture there or even know of it like that Hermione girl you always talk about. You have to go through Knockturn and Cryptic Alley which are two of the worst Alleys to venture through. But there are several entrances that will get you to the same place. If I did not know you so well I would have found another entrance, but I know you want to explore everything. Place a glamour upon yourself and we shall leave."
Harrison smiled at the man widely, he was officially emancipated, and had been since his name came out of the Goblet. He would place money on the fact that Dumbledore probably had known the outcome, just believed that he would never find out for himself. He cast the spell upon himself and he and Romulus turned towards Knockturn Alley.
Harrison remembered the last time he had been there in Second Year, and he was not afraid to admit that he had been scared, but he trusted Romulus and knew that no harm would come to him. As they walked Romulus had pointed out shops to him, like Emer's Wand Crafters, unlike Oilivander's Jacob Emer actually crafts his wand to fit the person, it costs more but you get a better fitted wand. He pointed out a formal robe shop called Msaw Ætare. Romulus pointed out its importance because that is one of two formal robe shops in the Great Britain. He pointed out Borgins and Burkes and Harrison had told him about his first experience using the Floo Network. They made their way past The Coffin House, The Starry Prophesier, Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos and The White Wyvern before they finally made it to Cryptic Alley.
Harrison looked around the place with a weird sense of wonder, not knowing why he had never heard mention of any other alley or the Mystic District before today; he thought that it would be something else that the pure-blooded children would be bragging about to the mundane born witches and wizards. The entire place looked to be abandoned but Harrison knew that to be untrue by the way Romulus' eyes would shift from side to side as if he was waiting for something or someone to surprise them. Harrison was surprised that it seemed to be a normal housing district, there was not a single shop in this alley, just houses and apartments that looked they were getting ready to keel over at the slightest breeze.
Romulus had told him about the kind of witches and wizards that live in this alley, he had nothing good to say about them, and he had been speaking from experience from a time when he too had been holed up in one of the dingy apartments. Harrison did not press any further at the moment knowing that this was not the time for such heavy discussion this was a time for exploring. Once they were out of Cryptic Alley everything seemed to change, the sky was bluer and clear and what surprised Harrison the most was all of the people milling about. What he noticed the most was unlike Diagon Alley, no one seemed to be wearing wizarding robes, the one thing that usually distinguishes them from mundanes.
"This is Merlin Square." Romulus said to him, holding his arms out in a grand gesture. "This was built in honor of Merlin, if you look right over there you can see the statue of him." he said pointing to the center of the square where a marble statue of Merlin stood high and proud. Harrison had never seen such a beautiful place before, he loved it, whoever had done the landscaping, he was impressed, it was like a work of art come to life. Romulus led him through the picnic area and over to a large building. "This is Concert Green; this is where many people in Britain come to see live bands and shows. It is still early in the morning so they should be playing a live show for the children until late noon."
Romulus dragged him further until they came to Carkitt Market. He had not been here long but Harrison already enjoyed it more than Diagon Alley, he liked the openness of it all, the vendors were always smiling and seemed to have a very energetic attitude, they engaged with the customers. It was like a maze that Harrison never wanted to find his way out of. They had your traditional fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs but they also catered to your wizarding needs as well, they had everything from toadstools to fish eggs, to gardening plants. And even some vendors provided you with live fish and animals for sale.
They continued until they came to a new alley, Parsh Alley, the alley that would forever be partially finished. Harrison did not have a great interest in the place, as far as he was concerned it was a place that Merlin may or may have not really lived at, and while the Ministry had not demolished it, they were not really helping it either. The place was slowly falling apart on its own, it was nothing but ruins, and a quarter of a mansion where squatters live. The way Harrison sees it, the Ministry should cut their losses and demolish the place, he was sure that Merlin would rather have his mansion removed so they could put some decent housing, instead of the homeless living in such a place.
The last stop of the day was Whimzick Alley. Harrison looked around in wonder, this had to be the most colorful alley had had stepped foot in yet. Everything was so vibrant and full of life. There were people on the street painting, singing and dancing, they were so full of passion, it was like they were untouched by the outside world. The alley was full of twists and turns, there were people eating at cafes, there were art galleries and live theatre. Harrison could see himself spending a lot of time in this alley, getting to know the locals.
"Can we come back here again tomorrow?" Harrison asked, he wanted to get to know the place better.
"Sure we can, there are still a few more places I want to show you." Romulus responded.
They walked to the end of the alley where a multicolored brick wall stood in their way. Romulus took out his wand and tapped a few blocks before the wall opened. After they made it through the wall closed before them. They were in a storage room filled with painting. "We are in the storage room of an art gallery, we will apparate from here." Romulus said before taking hold of his shoulder.
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Once back home under the Time Compression Ward they got back to their lessons. Arithmancy was a class that Harrison wasn't not fond of, but like the good student he now was he sucked it up and did what was asked of him. He didn't like the idea of people predicting the future, and he knew he was never going to use this subject once he was finished with school. He could see why this was one of Hermione's favorite classes, with Divination you needed at least some form of seer ability, but with Arithmancy it was just calculations, something Hermione enjoyed to no end. Harrison passed this subject quickly and wondered why he never gave it a chance in third year.
Next on the list was Charms.
Romulus was a great teacher, he taught in a way that was easy to understand, letting you find your own way of learning the information and going from there. It seemed that with the right technique Harrison was a relatively fast learner; soon he was picking up the material in a snap, even the Advanced Charms that would have no doubt given him trouble if Professor Flitwick had tried to teach him. After surpassing the seven year curriculum they had moved on to Transfiguration. This process continued through Defense, Potions, Herbology and Runes.
History of Magic seemed to take a bit more time which was why Romulus had decided to teach that last, and seeing as their Professor had never actually provided them with real lessons Harrison was lacking more than he should have been. By the time his lessons were over he was exhausted and his brain hurt. They still had plenty of time left in the Time Compression Ward, it would ware off a week before the beginning of September so it would give them a little bit of time to adjust.
And since they still had some time before Harrison was back at Hogwarts Romulus had taught him Occlumency so that the Headmaster and his Potions Professor would not be able to spy on him through his thoughts. He also taught him Healing Magic because he was sure that it would come in handy with all of the trouble he manages to get himself into. And surprisingly Romulus had taught him Parselmagic. They had both been trying to gain the attention of snakes that loitered around the green house. He taught him how to speak and write fluently, before they were done it was like he had been doing it his whole life. He also taught him about how people like them came to be and learned that everything Dumbledore told him was a lie. It was family magic, which meant it could only be passed by blood, and there was not just blood line that had it, there were many. And Harrison was going to learn more about them during the Winter Solstice.
The summer was drawing to a close and Harrison found himself back at Gringotts with Romulus by his side. They had received an owl telling them the date and time of their meeting the day before, and to make sure the letter was received he had it addressed to Romulus. They sat down side by side across from Redclaw with a few large folders sitting before them.
"Why don't we get right into business Lord Potter, you are here today because you are no longer considered to be a minor in this community even though you are still quite young. Am I right in assuming that before your meeting with Lord Mayfield you were not aware of what standing you held?" After confirmation he began again. "We will be going over your accounts and over your properties and titles, and I can assure you, there are many, some quite surprising." He said with a feral smile.
Harrison had left the bank feeling worse than when he left, he had leaned of things that were going to make it that much harder to go back to school as if nothing had changed. How would he be able to look anyone in the eyes again, especially Dumbledore who is one half of all of his problems since before he was even born? His friends would know that something is wrong, and how would they take the news if he had tells them the truth? He just didn't know anymore, but he was going to be taking matters into his own hands for now on with the help of his mentor and friend Romulus.
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The summer was over and it was hard for Harrison to say goodbye. He did not understand why he needed to go back to Hogwarts when he would no longer benefit from it. Romulus reminded him of Ron and Hermione and how they would want to graduate Hogwarts together. Harrison argued that he would be board in his classes, but Romulus made him a promise to send him a project every week to help keep him mind stimulated. Harrison really could not object, he knew that he would miss his friends as well and that if he wanted to keep certain people off his back he would have to continue on as if things haven't changed.
Romulus and Harrison had apparated to Kings Cross Station. Romulus stayed until Harrison went through Platform nine and three quarters to the Hogwarts Express.