When Lily Potter first fell pregnant, her husband had doubts. Not the normal doubts which you may expect from a husband, and now a father to be. He did not doubt that the baby was his child. He did not worry that he and his wife were not ready to have children. No, he had much more sinister doubts.
However, what James potter was concerned about had no way of showing itself until long after the baby was born, in fact, if the books were correct, the condition would not begin to manifest itself until the child hit it's early teenage years. And anyway, by then, the child would have been taught self-control, much like James himself had been taught, when he was a young boy.
So, life went on, Lily's pregnancy continued, and everything returned to normal in Godric's Hollow. Well, as normal as can be expected, when your wife is pregnant for the first time. Then, they were called to an urgent meeting with Albus Dumbledore.
Albus Dumbledore, full name Albus Percival Wilfric Brian Dumbledore, was the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he was also the self-nominated leader of a highly secret organisation, know, to the few who knew of it, as The Order Of The Phoenix. They existed to fight in the wizarding war against the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, although most referred to him as You-Know-Who.
He gave them a grave message. Lord Voldemort had discovered a prophecy predicting the one who would be able to destroy him once and for all, and he believed that that person was the unborn son of James and Lily Potter.
Immediately, wards went up around Godrics Hollow, and the house itself. The Potters were on house arrest, and had at least one watch at all times. When the time came for the baby to be born, healers were called to the house, the couple did not make the journey to Saint Mungo's Hospital. Then, the baby had a constant watch too. It was never left with someone further than a few metres away. And slowly, but surely, every one of the members of the Order of The Phoenix, grew to love Harry Potter.
On Halloween night, when harry was a year old, the Potters had only one man on watch, James' best friend, Sirius Black. It was a solemn occasion, and in the end James, using all of his charm and willpower, practically begged the other man to go to Peter's and enjoy his Halloween.
The two adults sat together on their comfy old sofa, in their cottage, and waited. They curled into each other, and held their slumbering infant between them. They expected the worst, and it arrived. They heard the gate of their walled garden creak open, and they shared their last kiss. They heard the door crash open, and James chanced a look, confirming both of their fears. He sent Lily upstairs with Harry, declaring he would hold Lord Voldermort off, and knowing fully well that he would not be able to.
By the time the sun rose the next morning, three of the people who had been in that house were dead, and the other was gone. Voldemort had slaughtered the mother and the father in a quest to get to the child. But when he forced his wand upon the child, it was not the boy, but the man who died, leaving the planet in peace.
Lord Voldemort had left for good, but there were many who thought that he would return one day, and that is how the young Harry Potter came to be living with his muggle relatives, his aunt and her family. Dumbledore wanted him hidden, and where could be better?
The couple who he was thrust upon had been trying to have a child for a long time, but had been completely unsuccessful, so little Harry Potter came to be both loved and resented in the Dursley household.
He was spoilt, like any other only child, but he did not care for the material items thrust into his possession. In fact, he stashed them all in the larger of the two bedrooms available to him to choose from, and took the second one for himself. He kept the room bare, despite his uncle and aunt's protests. It contained only a small single bed, with and old, slightly worn sheet and duvet cover, a desk, where he did his homework, and a wardrobe, which contained, out of the clothes he was bought and given, the few pieces he was able to stand wearing, most of which were oversized and faded from overuse.
To some, this sort of behaviour may indicate an ungrateful child, and to some extent, that could be said to be true. However, this was not completely the case.
Harry Potter did not appreciate these material gifts for one reason. He wanted their love, not their money. He knew, as he was growing up, that he was spoilt and doted on. All the children from school always wanted to come to his house, because he always had the best junk food, the best computer games and generally the best of anything that a primary school child could want. And yet, it was obvious that he was being treated this way for all the wrong reasons. The Dursleys loved the concept of having a son to spoil, they did not love him, and the children at school, they loved his house and the objects inside it, but none of them loved him. Of course, that could be because he pushed them all away. He rejected all of their invitations, whether it was to sit with them at lunch or go to their birthday party, he still said no. No-one ever came to his house more than once, however much they begged. And when they were too persistent, things had a habit of happening. Suddenly, they would develop an inability to speak, or they would become irrationally scared of Harry. Either way, they would no longer be able to invite themselves to his house.
It was these things which really marked Harry as extraordinary, although he did not find out why until his eleventh birthday. On this day, a man arrived at the house where Harry lived with his aunt and uncle. He had neat brown hair, scars across his face, and must have been around the same age as Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. He introduced himself to be Remus Lupin, a friend of Harry's real parents, and a teacher at the school which Harry's name had been down for since he was born.
To Harry, this sounded like he was off to some posh public school, and he could not think of anything which he would enjoy less. Surely all the people there would be just like his Uncle and Aunt, constantly trying to impress with material items.
However, Professor Lupin went on to tell Harry that this was no ordinary school; it was, in fact, a school for young witches and wizards.
Harry left for the school, which he learnt was called Hogwarts, on the first of September, from the train at platform nine and three quarters. His aunt and uncle took him to the station in their brand new car, eager to show it off. They accompanied him through the barrier and to the station platform. Aunt Petunia insisted on holding Harry's hand the entire time, while Uncle Vernon pushed Harry's trolley, ignoring the strange looks that he was receiving because of it.
Because, you see, on the trolley was not a suitcase and a pet carry case. No, on the trolley was a large trunk, and a bright white snowy owl in the cage, both needed for Harry's wizarding education, and both presents from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, determined not to let him have anything but the best.
They pushed past a large family of redheads carrying shabby trunks and suitcases between them, and Harry was escorted right up to the door of the train compartment. He was given kisses on the cheek and wishes of good luck, which he accepted unemotionally. And then he was on the train, and his trunk and owl were on the train, and he was leaving the Durley's for the first time in his eleven years of life.