Alright, so I know I said that I would review what I had so far, and so far, I don't like it. So, I cleaved it all off. Expect slow updates, because i have to rework the entire plot, but I guess that I'm back again. I found this chapter relatively ok, so I left it as it was.
Chapter 1: A Change in the Plan
"Sleep, Little one. You can rest now. Mummy and Daddy are here." a taunting voice said in the child's head. "But when they leave, I will get you. And when I get you, I will kill you." The child could understand English, and could speak it, but never once said anything to anyone. He referred to himself as the child, because he had never found out his name. In all of his 3 years of understanding the English language, for he had finally gotten it when he was seven months old, his own name never came in a conversation. The adults assumed he was stupid, and called him boy, which the child knew was the generic name for a male child. This was also the reason that the child did not speak. If his parents did not tell him his own name, how could they be trusted with anything? The child was 3 years and 7 month old. But the child could not dwell over things right now. He had to get out of here. The voice had warned him it was coming, and when it came, the child would be prepared. The child would slay it. But it was too early. The child knew that he would need more training.
The child had begun what wizards had called Occlumency. He was a natural Occlumens and could stop things from entering his mind. But the voice was more powerful than the child. The voice used the child to find out where the child was. He knew exactly where to go. The child tried as hard as he could to get the voice out of his mind. Tried and failed; for the voice belonged to the most powerful wizard of that time, Lord Voldemort. Of course, the child did not know that. The child only knew that the voice was going to hurt him. So he did what any child would do. Instead of taking the responsible action, and finally talking to his parents, the child continued what he was doing. He was almost complete with his fifth Occlumency shield, and was finishing it up. The child did not know, for he was only three, but each person had a max shield number, some being higher than others. Voldemort's max shield was four, and the child was confident that if he were to gain a fifth shield, Voldemort would not be able to get into his mind. Voldemort had a lot of trouble breaking into the child's four shields as it was. The only reason that Voldemort could break into the shields was that he had so much more experience.
"Come on, James. Let's go," Lily said. "The party starts in half an hour, and I want to get there early."
"I'm almost ready," James said. He put on his jacket, and turned to the child and Eric. "Still not going to talk are you," he asked, to the child. Although it was normal for wizarding kids to start school at three, James did not want to be known as the father of a child who could not talk, and he therefore never sent the child to school. The child did not mind, for here, he could focus on his thoughts all day. When his parents weren't around, he could practice his magic abilities. "Eric, be good," James said. Eric was the child's younger brother. He was very fat for a seven month old baby, but at that age, it was still considered a sign of cuteness. James and Lily were not particularly cruel to the child, they just did not like him as much as Eric. He was a disappointment to them, as he could not talk.
The child calmly watched James and Lily leave. He then focused, and mentally finished his fifth layer shield, working furiously knowing that Voldemort would be coming at any time. When he was finished, he fell over exhausted. He was quickly woken up; however, by a loud banging sound. It was time. Voldemort had shown up.
The child watched, amused, as Voldemort's follower tripped on the stairs. He then watched as Voldemort raised a wand to his head. He laughed.
"Oh, you think this is funny. You think this is funny you dumb brat. In thirty seconds, you will be dead. You will not be on this planet anymore. And you have the nerve to laugh at me. You do not laugh at Lord Voldemort without paying the consequences. AVADA KEDAVRA," Voldemort said. The light hit Harry, and Harry realized that the light was attempting to break his fifth Occlumens shield. He quickly put as much mental power as he could into that shield, and blocked the light. Meanwhile, Voldemort was putting as much power in his spell as he possibly could. He knew that one more minute in the spell and the drainage effects would kill him. Yet, as he stared at the boy, he did not feel the boy's soul departing from the world. Voldemort kept going, and going, until he could not stop. He fell to the floor and died. The child fainted with exhaustion.
"Wake up Harry," a soothing voice said to him.
"Where am I. And is my name Harry?" he asked to the voice. "Uh-oh! I talked."
"Yes, you're name is Harry." the voice said. "And as to where you are, you'll find that out soon enough. And it is okay for you to talk."
"Who are you?" he asked. He opened his eyes and saw that he was looking at a woman dressed in all black, with a cloak, and a scythe. "No. You're not,"
"Ah, yes I am Harry. I am death," Death said.
"So does this mean that I'm dead," Harry asked.
"Yes, and no." Death said. "You should be dead, Harry. The killing curse did hit you, and you had no form of protection. However, I cannot claim you as my own. You are a level 5 Occlumens and I am only a level four Legimens. Therefore, I cannot separate your mind from your soul. Congratulations, Harry. You're immortal." She said.
"I don't understand," Harry tentatively said.
"What's there to understand. You see, Harry, most wizards have no Occlumency shields. Regular Occlumens have only one. Strong Occlumens have two. Extremely powerful Occlumens have three. Voldemort is the only person alive with four, and you are the only person in the history of time with five," Death explained. "What this means is that you will be immortal Harry until either your mortal body is destroyed, or you willingly submit yourself to me."
"But what about Voldemort. You said that he has 4 Occlumency shields. You are only a level four Legimens. Shouldn't that mean that you cannot control Voldemort," Harry asked.
"Very astute Harry. I cannot separate Voldemort's soul from the earth, but I can separate it from his body. Therefore, his soul will stay on Earth, but it will not have a body. Most of the level four Occlumens in the history of time, like Merlin, Ravenclaw, and Morgan submitted themselves to me, not wanting to go back as a spirit. Voldemort, however, did not. He, therefore, will go back to Earth as a spirit, and will remain there as a spirit until he can obtain a body and die normally. It is a terrible fate for a man." She said. "Oh, and Harry. If you do choose to go back, please don't keep quiet all the time. I understand your reasoning for doing so, but you will never be trusted if you stay quiet. You will never make friends."
"I understand. Death, if you don't mind, I will submit to you eventually; however, I have a whole life ahead of me that I want to live. So if you could please send me back to Earth, that would be helpful." He said. That was the last thing he said to her for a long time. His soul was flashed back to Earth, and he woke up and gasped. He saw the house crashing around him. This was no doubt the fat man's fault, the one who came with Voldemort. Harry went to sleep without another care in the world.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!" someone was pounding on Harry's door. He opened the door to see his parents towering over him. "What the hell happened?" James asked. He looked over to Voldemort's dead body, which had fallen next to Eric's bed. "Holy crap! My seven month old baby killed Voldemort."
"We need to leave. Now." Harry said. Ignoring their shocked expressions at him talking, he said "There was a fat bald guy here with Voldemort. He escaped, and he's probably going to bring followers. Do you trust anyone to let you stay with them," Harry said like an adult. James and Lily were still staring in awe. Harry said "James, can you please take us to Hogwarts. I think you two trust Professor Dumbledore."
"O-OK" James shakily said. He took the portkey he had for special occasions and used it, taking them to Dumbledore's office.
"James, James. Calm down. Now, tell me from the beginning what happened." Dumbledore said.
James told him what had happened from their perspective. "And Sirius, who was watching them, got drunk and left," he explained.
"Well its obvious," Dumbledore said. "One of the two children is the boy who lived. And I have a hunch that it's Eric. The body was over Eric, yes" Dumbledore said.
"Yes." They replied.
"And Eric has a scar over his forehead," he said. "Then its official. Eric Potter is the boy who lived. You must keep him protected at all costs." Eric had gotten that scar from a rock that fell on his forehead.
"You must not ever let Eric out of your sight. He is the light's greatest advantage," Dumbledore said.
James and Lily fussed over Eric, and did not realize Harry's sullen look in the corner.
*******************7 YEARS, 5 MONTHS LATER*********************************
"Happy Birthday Eric!" James and Lily shouted. It was Eric's eighth birthday, and also Harry's eleventh birthday. Harry, however, did not get the birthday celebration that was made for Eric. People visited from around the world to pay their respects to Eric.
"Hey Harry. I got another loser book from Dumbledore. You want it?" Eric taunted. "I don't need books. I'm the boy who lived. I defeated Voldemort."
Harry took the book and saw that it was a book on Occlumency. He could tell that the person reading it had only made one shield, and was a novice at it. Hah. He was a better Occlumens when he was 2.
An owl flew into the house. Harry took the letter, and it flew back away.
"Hey mom, dad. I got my Hogwarts acceptance letter," Harry said excitedly. Harry had always done magic before, without a wand, but this time it would be so much better. He heard that wand magic is much better than wandless magic. Harry had been a bit of a nerd his whole life. Although he was eleven, he was adept at both magic and muggle subjects. He knew advanced trigonometry and calculus at such a young age. He was self-taught. His parents had not cared to give him a set allowance, which suited him greatly, for he could decide how much he spent. He spent a lot of his time in muggle bookstores and in the Potter library. He had already figured out that it was rare for a wizard to have so much control over his wandless ability. Of course, his parents never believed he was special. His first magic use was when he was thirsty at three months old, so he summoned a bottle of milk, and drank it. Since then, he always used wandless magic.
"Not now, Harry. Can't you see that we're busy," James said coldly. He and Lily did not fully ignore Harry, but never bothered to do anything for Harry. Harry didn't mind, as he was not abused. James and Lily were just a little annoying, a minor inconvenience. His uncle Moony was always there for him, though. Moony took him to Diagon Alley to shop as a celebration for his letter coming. They had gotten all of the items required except for a wand. Harry also wanted to get a familiar.
"Harry, let's get you a wand," Lupin said.
"OK," Harry gleefully came along. Though this wasn't Harry's first time in Diagon Alley, this was the first time that he could actually buy something from Diagon Alley. As a result, he was practically skipping with joy. They entered Ollivander's wand shop.
"Ah, Harry. Take a seat." Ollivander said.
"How do you know my name?" Harry replied, curious.
"You are the brother of the boy who lived. Why wouldn't I know your name," Olivander smugly replied.
"Alright. So, what wand will I get?" Harry asked.
After a full hour of searching, Harry still could not find a proper wand. He settled for one that he used reasonably well, but not extremely well, and Lupin and Harry left to get a pet.
"OK Harry. Pick a pet that you want," Lupin said kindly to Harry. Harry walked through the aisles, searching for a good pet. None of them seemed interesting, and Harry kept walking when he saw a small egg-like rock. Harry felt something clawing at his Occlumency shields, and noticed it was coming from the rock. He let the shields down, and heard "Harry, I have been waiting for you. I will only be able to hatch in your presence. Release me."
Harry, shocked, gently touched the egg. Immediately the egg cracked. What came out was a beautiful white Phoenix.
"Greetings Harry Potter," the Phoenix said to Harry. By now, everyone gathered around Harry with the bird, including Uncle Lupin.
"Harry, what do you have there," Lupin asked. Harry showed him the ice Phoenix and he gasped. Of the seven elemental Phoenixes: fire, water, earth, air, shadow, light, and ice, ice was the most rare. It was entirely possible that Harry's ice Phoenix was the last in the world. Harry's new phoenix caught the attention of the entire store, and everyone stared in wonder at the rare specimen. Shaken out of his momentarily stupefied state, the poor shopkeeper decided that he wanted to monopolize on the bird being in his shop.
"What a wonderful bird you have there. Of course, you must pay for him though. We will give you a discounted price of 5000 galleons." he said.
Harry proceeded to laugh in his face. A very street-smart and savvy boy, Harry knew he was being swindled. "I think not. Besides if you do not sell the Phoenix to me, the Phoenix will flash itself out of whatever cage you put it in, and will return to my side," Harry said.
"Very well. I will give you the ordinary price for an owl. 15 Galleons," the shopkeeper said, trying to make some sort of a profit. Harry accepted the offer, even though he did not have to pay the shopkeeper anything. He proceeded to pay, and walked out of the shop with a Phoenix perched on his arm.
"So, it seems that you are my familiar," Harry thought to the Phoenix. "This means that I will let you into my Occlumency shields." Saying this, Harry lowered his shields and let the Phoenix in. Then, he closed his shields again. "How do you know my name," he asked, curious.
"I picked up a few things on my way. Of course, being a level four Legimens, I do have a bit of control over what I pick up. When I heard about Eric, I thought that he was the one who was destined to be my master. But, when I tried to access your Occlumency shields, I couldn't. So, I accessed your caretaker, Remus's mind, who told me who you were. With you being a level 5 Occlumens, I knew that you would be my master," the Phoenix explained.
"Do you have a name," Harry thought.
"No. Please give me a name that you see fit. After all, I am only a hatchling," the Phoenix said.
"I shall name you Hedwig," Harry thought. Hedwig trilled, obviously very happy with her new name. Lupin was just looking shocked.
The rest of the day was spent with Harry and Hedwig bonding. When Harry showed his Phoenix to his family, he received mixed reactions. His parents did not really care. Eric was giving him a look of insane jealousy, which he just smirked at.
The next day, Harry woke up ready to face whatever would happen on his first day at Hogwarts. It was September 1st, and Harry was ready. Since he couldn't practice wand magic until he got to Hogwarts, he practiced his wandless magic. He had gotten extremely good at wandless magic over the years. He used magic by thinking about what to do, and letting his magic flow through his hand. He was able to do complicated Transfigurations and Charms with his hands. He was not limited by spells; he could literally do whatever he wanted to. All he needed to build up was his magical stamina.
His uncle, Moony, took Harry to the train station. It wasn't that his parents didn't take him because they hated him; rather they did not take Harry because it was a Friday, they were both working, and neither wanted to skip work for such a trivial event. Harry told himself "I don't care," but obviously felt betrayed. Hedwig tried and failed to comfort him. Harry knew that his parents would accompany Eric to the train station. He knew that if Eric had gotten a phoenix they would care. Well he would show them. He would show everyone.
Harry boarded the train with high expectations. His expectations were met, when he met who would soon be his best friends.