This is the prologue to what I hope to be an interesting series

Albus Dumbledore had made many a mistake in his life. He cursed Gellert for spitting on their friendship and bringing war upon the wizarding world. He wept over how one of his own students, Tom Riddle, became the greatest Dark Lord in over three centuries. He looked in the mirror and only saw the murderer of his younger sister, Ariana.

And as he looked at the parcel of mail about to be strapped to the collar of a Hogwarts owl, he knew that he could finally fix one of his mistakes; Harry James Potter.

In the dalliance of James and Lily's time at Hogwarts, they, unintentionally of course, conceived the boy during the middling of their seventh year at the young age of seventeen. Hogwarts did not provide materials for a contraceptive potion at the time; the war required that all mandrake leaves, one of the main ingredients of the potion, be given to Saint Mungo's to be used medicinally. The pair had to be let out of Hogwarts early when Lily's stomach started to swell. They had a shotgun wedding, as the yanks would say; Lily was more reluctant than James but they did what they felt was best for the life they would bring into the world. He was born on the 31st of July in the year 1977 and both parents, young they may have been, were delighted.

At the time Albus thought that this was a happy accident. The elder Potters, Fleamont and Euphemia, were, while not the wealthiest of people, definitely comfortable enough to support their son, his wife and their newest grandson with relative ease.

Then that blasted prophecy came and ruined everything.

Sybill Trelawney wasn't what Albus would call a clever woman. Oh, he admired her beliefs and how heavily she kept to them, as well as her desire to teach and bring Divination back into the forefront of young ones minds. He had even done her a favor; she'd splinched herself in apparition to Hogsmeade and Albus allowed her interview take place in Aberforth's bar while reattaching her missing foot. Albus hadn't even intended to let Divination through, he wanted to replace the elective with Alchemy, and yet when she started talking she didn't stop.

Born as the seventh month dies…

Harry was the only person that was born that late in July in his generation, and even still there were two more on the way. Young Neville Longbottom and Eustace Potter, Harry's younger brother, were both expected to be born in the later part of July. When they were born, both on the 30th of July in the year 1980, the plan came to fruition. It was obvious that with two people pertaining to the prophecy in one household that they become targets, so with a heavy heart Albus made a suggestion that haunted him for the rest of his life.

Hide Harry.

It was a fair thought at the time; Tom was going after any and everybody born at the end of July. Albus heard that Sabastian Lestrange, one of Tom's most loyal followers, had been slaughtered by Tom's werewolf enforcers simply because he was born on the 29th of July over sixty years ago. The plan was simple; Albus and Lily would set up blood wards based around Harry's connection to his maternal aunt, Petunia Dursley, which would keep any magical with ill intent far away from her home of Number 4 Privet Drive. Petunia was reluctant to agree, she did not care for magic whatsoever, and only the promise of a generous monthly stipend made her agree. Lily didn't have the heart to bring Harry to the Dursley's herself, she feared she couldn't go through with it if she did, so she slipped him a sleeping draught and Albus had offered to bring the boy to Privet Drive.

And every time he thought about it, it was like a stab in the gut.

Then it finally happened; Tom was defeated. Somehow, Eustace Potter at the tender age of one was able to banish the Dark Lord. Albus had the personal theory that it was through the sacrifice of Remus Lupin, the boys godfather, that it occurred, a sentiment that the Potters and Sirius Black all took to.

The Potters were ecstatic. They would finally be able to live with Harry once more. The day after, on November the 1st, the Lily and James along with Sirius Black and Albus himself went to the Dursley home with bright, hopeful smiles.

And then everything came crashing down.

The Dursley's were the absolute worst sort of muggles Albus had ever seen; even worse than the boys that harmed his sister when she was seven. When the party of four learned that Harry wasn't even there they immediately began a Legillimency assault on the muggles that left tears to their eyes.

They had been absolutely terrible Harry for the entire time he was there! The moment Albus had dropped him off they stuffed him in a stair cupboard and set him to chores most ten year old children would have difficulty with. Cooking, cleaning, gardening, and so on and so forth, and when he had trouble they didn't help, no that would be the simple thing; they hurt. It started simple; small smacks around and gruff explanations of how the chore was done. Then it escalated to the point of Petunia smacking him over the head with a cooking pan for burning the breakfast he cooked!

It was no wonder that when Harry accidentally spilled manure on his younger cousin during a gardening session that a bout of accidental magic came out. He apparated to Merlin knows where, leaving only part of an ear behind from a splinching.

Lily had given into her temper, and before Albus could stop her, not that he likely would have, she had transfigured the couple into a pair of pigs and shipped them off to a butcher while simultaneously sending their son, Dudley, to an orphanage with a compulsion tied to him so that a good family would adopt him in short notice.

Losing their firstborn was a hard pill to swallow, and the Potters reacted the same way they did in the war when they learned they were targets. Albus didn't know the details of where they moved to, all he knew was that it was in Wales somewhere and they didn't trust him, let alone anyone with any more information on their location, and spent the majority of their remaining time and leftover finances looking for Harry in both the magical and muggle channels. They knew he was alive, his blood was bound to the Potter Tapestry and his named had never dulled in color.

And yet, as the years passed and nothing was found, their enthusiasm for looking for Harry had dulled. They still searched and if they found a lead they would go at it with fervor, but their spirits were drained. With the addition of a daughter born in early September of 1986, Albus believed her name was Aster, it was with a heavy heart the Potters found a new focus. All Albus knew for a fact was that they had gone to the continent and gotten a secondhand wand for Eustace to practice and train with on his seventh birthday.

And now here he was, looking at the owl in front of him that was eagerly waiting for a command. The letters for children that were marked at birth to attend Hogwarts were magick'd by the Book of Names onto a parchment that would always find its target unless that target was dead; and the Book of Names also marked whether those students were still alive; which Harry was, thankfully. Albus had no clue how the Book of Names did either of those things, but he was hopeful that the artifact would help him right a wrong that he wrought.

Reaching into his pocket, spelled to be able to hold much more than physically possible without feeling the weight, Albus pulled out a broomstick; A Nimbus 1700. He put the broom between his legs, his wand still in hand, and finally spoke to the owl.

"Take your letter and I will follow you on broomstick."

The owl hooted and shot up into the air. The parchment strapped to its neck glowed blue and began to pull the bird south.

Albus shot into the air after the owl, disillusioning his body with his wand and holstering it back onto his wrist in one quick motion.

He would find Harry Potter.

He'd flown for over four hours, past the Scottish Highlands that Hogwarts was settled into and over Loch Lomond. Over the coasts of the Firth of Clyde and even when so many kilometers away Albus couldn't help but shiver as he passed over Girven; Azkaban was located directly west of the town on an unmarked island. Almost half of his flight from then on was over the Irish Sea, and at one point Albus needed to apply a cushioning charm to his buttocks; he was not as young as he used to be.

It was here that the owl finally began to slow, and Albus was able to discern where the boy was.

The Isle of Man.

Located directly on the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the northern tip of England. It was a fairly large island, 572 kilometers in total size, and was infested with highlands, medieval castles and tourists.

It was also the dumping ground for the Ministry for Magic of a sort. The United Kingdom didn't have direct control over the land, instead it was noted as a Crown Dependent state, but the magical portion of it was an entirely different story.

Squibs of prominent families were sent to the Isle of Man; Molly Weasley's second cousin, Bartholomew Prewett was one such case, as was Argus Filch the caretaker of Hogwarts.

Children turned into werewolves were sent to the Isle of Man; most of the time at least. Remus Lupin was an exception because his parents hid his nature from the Ministry, and Albus was all too happy to enroll the boy to Hogwarts and prove that just because somebody was a werewolf didn't mean they shouldn't receive schooling.

Muggleborn boys and girls that weren't capable of paying for Hogwarts tuition were sent to the Isle of Man for schooling. Pureblooded students that were of the poorer sort, such as the Weasley's, had the option to pay for the schooling of their children bit by bit instead of all at once; a luxury the muggleborn crowd did not share. The official name for the school was Ellan Vannin Institute of Spellwork, and it was notoriously disliked by the Ministry due to its acceptance of any magical being that could use a wand or other form of magical foci. Not only were the poorer muggleborn children being schooled, so were mixedbloods, veela, werewolves and vampires. Albus was just glad that part of the Ministry charter was quite clear on that they couldn't influence magical institutions unless they had reason; such as the school having poor marks or needing a professor; neither of which did Ellan Vannin have issue with.

Albus dearly hoped that Harry was in the home of a muggle or magical family, and not associated with the other denizens of the Isle of Man. While he had no problems with other races, they were notoriously bad when it came to raising humans. Hagrid was one of the few half-giants that wasn't killed due to the negligence of his giant parent. Similarly, for him to be associated with the vampire covens or werewolf packs of the Isle meant that Harry had to be one.

His musing was cut off as the owl made a sharp descent. Eyes twinkling happily, Albus followed post haste. They shot past Churchtown and began their descent near the base of Snaefell, the largest mountain on the Isle.

The owl came to a sharp dive and disappeared in an instant. Albus knew that there was magic involved, so he followed.

The feeling of his body crossing a set of wards caused gooseflesh to sprout over his arms, and upon taking in the sight of what the wards were hiding he couldn't help but goggle.

It was a house, half made of wood and half buried in the side of Snaefell. The wooden portion looked like a quaint little loghouse, but based on the wards Albus was sure that there was some magical tunneling inside the mountain. Not that that was frowned upon here; the Ellan Vannin Institute of Spellwork was located under the Douglas Bay and the only reason that students were able to survive in that underwater environment were due to wards that had to be powers monthly by the school's professors.

Albus landed at the front of the home, shrunk his broom and placed it in his pocket. Quickly putting on a scent freshening charm, since four hours of flight tended to leave an old man stinking something foul, Albus walked to the front door and knocked on a doorstopper.

There was a silence for just a moment and then came a set of cursing; Albus could clearly hear the sounds of footfalls making their way towards the door. The door swung open, revealing the face of a handsome and aging man. He had slicked grey hair, high cheekbones and narrowed golden eyes. He wore a simple black cloth robe. Albus recognized the man before him, though he remembered the eyes were hazel and he'd always presumed him to be dead.

"Sebastian Lestrange," Albus started, only to be cut off not a moment later.

"What the bloody hell do you want, Dumbledore? How did you find me?!" Sebastian demanded, a harsh scowl on his face.

Albus was not the type of man to shuffle in his robes, not when he'd come this far. With a smile that some would call grandfatherly, Albus spoke as if he didn't hear the second question. "Why, I decided to follow an owl; it has been so long since I've personally been able to deliver a Hogwarts letter and I found myself reminiscent of the good old days."

The owl chose that moment to fly over to Albus' shoulder, the letter still attached to its collar. Albus genially untied it and presented it to the scowling man. Lestrange snatched the letter from his hands and looked it over; his narrowed eyes widening then thinning into slits.

"He's been missing for a time," Albus continued, ignoring Sebastian's quickly darkening mood. "And I thought it best to make sure there was nothing to keep him from receiving his letter."

There was a twitch in Sebastians eye, "He's not in."

But that was enough; Albus knew that Harry Potter truly was here. "I will wait however long it takes."

The two stared each other down, blue meeting gold, and with a grunt Sebastian opened the door further and walked inside. Albus took that as an invitation and followed the man inside. The inside of the home was similar to the Ravenclaw common room; a circular room with a firepit in the middle and chairs and couches and cushions of all manner surrounding it with walls of books and tomes and scrolls. Albus mused that Sebastian was emulating his Hogwarts years; he was a Ravenclaw whereas his wife and children were Slytherin.

He watched as Sebastian went to a bookshelf that had a set of drawers on it. He pulled at one of the drawers and dug his hand into the storage space; pulling out a small, white tube of sorts. He walked back to the door, put the tube to his mouth and blew. Albus couldn't hear anything, but Sebastian looked like he was having a small migraine as he continued to blow on the tube. Sebastian then returned the tube to the drawer, closed the drawer, and sank into a chair with a hand over his head.

"He'll be here in a moment." He said.

"What was that?" Albus asked, and he was truly curious. He knew what most magical objects were, even the most obscure ones, so for him to see something he'd never heard of was a treat.

"Dog whistle."

The front door banged open, and from it a wolf the size of a horse barreled in. Its fur was white as snow, its eyes that looked to be chipped from amber and it had a long tusked jaw that looked strong enough to snap an iron bar. It had a majestic air to it that had Albus' eyes bulging; he knew what this was. When a pair of werewolves that were both transformed under the light of the full moon mated, their offspring would not be a werewolf nor would it be a human, instead it would be this; a dire wolf. But what would a dire wolf, a magical rarity, be doing near this man?

The dire wolf bounded into the house and sat on its haunches right in front of Sebastian. The man offered a hand and began to stroke the wolf, earning a rumble of approval from the beast. Albus knew that just because a dire wolf couldn't speak didn't mean they weren't intelligent. They had the same sort of intelligence Fawkes had, in that they perfectly understood what others were saying and had a limited ability to respond in kind; through Legilimency.

Albus hoped that he would be able to have a conversation with the creature; never before had he seen a dire wolf before.

"Where did you find him?" Albus asked, only to receive a growl from the lumbering beast. "Err- Her?" The dire wolf nodded sharply and returned its attention to Sebastian.

"She's my daughter, Hedwig."

Albus found his eyes bulging, "I'm sorry, what?!"

Sebastian sighed, "When the Dark Lord started hunting people born at the end of July, he didn't bother do it himself. No, he sent his hunters after us; Greybacks pack. I was able to escape by the skin of my neck but I was still bitten by the end of it." To further prove that, Sebastian lifted the hem of his robe to reveal a nasty scar on his calf.

Albus frowned, "Is that the reason you went into hiding?" Werewolves were largely oppressed in the wizarding world, and even when they were prominent purebloods prior to being bitten, the moment they were turned they lost any power and prestige they might have held in an instant.

Sebastian shrugged, still rubbing his hand through Hedwig's fur. "Partly," he admitted. "When I got bit I knew I wouldn't have a place in the wizarding world outside of being mocked, so I went into the muggle world; I knew enough from Muggle Studies and liberal use of Legilimency to get by. Things were fine for a few years, then everything changes. This kid apparates into my yard, which shouldn't have been possible since I warded that plot the using the same wardstone that I tied this one too, and just passed out with half his ear bleeding all over my garden."

Hedwig let out a deep bark of amusement which made Sebastian swat her nose, earning a yowl of displeasure. Albus didn't particularly care for their byplay, not when he had the first bit of news about Harry Potter in six years.

"I wasn't going to just leave the kid there, so I took him inside and healed him up as best I could. I didn't know much when it came to healing, the strongest spell I knew was Episkey, so I just blotted the ear with a muggle newspaper. The problem was that that day I was feeling especially weak-" the sound of heavy footfalls from the outside patio quickly silenced him.

"Well," Sebastian continued, sounding a mite contrite. "Best you see for yourself."

Albus needed no further encouragement and hopped to his feet and strode to the door. He hoped to finally see Harry Potter.

Instead, what he saw would keep him up for many a night.

The first thing Albus thought was big. It stood half a head taller that Rubeus Hagrid himself! It's fur was midnight black. Its devilishly clawed fingers were connected to a pair of large and powerful arms that seemed more like tree trunks than they did limbs. Its legs were thicker than its arms and they were warped, looking more like the lower half of a satyr with clawed feet instead of hooves. Its torso was muscled and defined and only adding to the powerful figure that Albus was seeing.

Its head and neck were absolutely massive; larger than the whole of Filius Flitwick. Razor sharp teeth lined in straight rows were covered in saliva and its nose was breathing heavily onto Albus' head, blowing his hair in all manner of direction. What truly astounded him were the eyes, a color of green so vivid he'd only seen them in one family; the Potters.

With a quick eye, Albus looked to the beasts ears. One was pointed and elfin, while the other was stunted and cut at the base.

"…Harry?"

The beast roared and shrank. There, looking right as rain, was a tall boy of eleven years with batch of cropped black hair and brilliant green eyes that could belong to only one person. He was clothed in a thick, hooded grey jacket, blue jeans and a pair of white trainers. The boy looked over Albus curiously, and Albus could see the resemblance. He looked quite a lot like James, though he didn't need glasses and he shared Lily's nose.

"Harry," Albus breathed out, and without warning enveloped the boy in a strong hug. Harry stiffened but did not push Albus away, nor did he respond in kind; he simply stood there, unsure of what to do. Albus let the boy go and rounded on Sebastian, a murderous expression on his face. "What did you do to him?!"

"Bit him."

Albus inhale deeply and exhaled slowly, "You have five seconds to start talking."

Sebastian frowned, as did Harry from behind Albus, but did as the Mugwump bade; it was never a smart idea to have Albus Dumbledore well and truly pissed. "To continue where I left off…" Sebastian motioned for Albus to return inside, which he did with a protective arm around Harry's shoulders. Sebastian couldn't help but be amused by the frustrated expression on his wards face.

They took their seats, Sebastian took a chair and Albus took a couch and tried to get Harry to sit by him, but the child broke away and found a cushion on the floor. Hedwig bounded over to him and Harry began to scratch at her chin.

"As I was saying," Sebastian said. "I was feeling especially weak because the day he apparated on my lawn was the same day the full moon was to come out. I barely had enough time to put him up in my bed and bound down to my basement; the walls of the basement were coated in silver so that I couldn't get out and the door has a locking charm from the inside. I don't remember, but I was able to get it out of Harry. He woke up in a strange house with bandages over his head and ear, and as any child would be, he got curious. He started opening doors and looking around and eventually he found me; I didn't remember to add a second layer of locking charms so that he couldn't get in."

Sebastian looked terribly shamefaced about that, and Albus couldn't find fault in his tale. He turned to Harry, and flinched as the boy pulled on his jacket sleeve, revealing a truly nasty set of scars on his forearm.

"It was my fault and I owned up to it; I took him in as a ward. Brought him to Diagon Alley, went to Gringotts and had them determine who he was; he knew his name was Harry but didn't know his surname. The goblins took a bit of blood and checked if it matched any of their vaults, only to tell me he was the eldest Potter child. I would have just given him back to them, but the war was still going on and they were in hiding, so I just packed up. Took most of the gold and trinkets out of the vault and left with Harry."

Albus kept his face neutral, but he couldn't help but frown. "Why didn't you inform the Potters when the war ended?" He stole a glance at Harry and couldn't help but feel pity; the darkened expression on the boy's face was not a good sign.

"Couple reasons," Sebastian said, ignoring Harry's quickly worsening mood. "First, I didn't know where they were; they went off the map, remember? Nobody's been able to contact them aside from Sirius Black, and there's no way in hell I would try and contact that man; he'd sooner throw me in Azkaban for spawning my sons than he would listen to my story."

A sigh escaped Albus' mouth, but he could not refute that statement. At the time, Sirius was against everybody that was or had to do with the death eaters, including parents. Sebastian Lestrange was a former death eater himself, albeit one that didn't partake in raids due to his social status.

"Second, the kid was a werewolf now. I know that the Potters are fine with them due to Remus Lupin, but being friends with one and raising one are two entirely different things; werewolves need a pack and if he couldn't run with others it would have been like torture."

"James Potter is an Animagus, as are Lily Potter, and Sirius Black. James and Sirius would run with Remus when they went to school and while Lily didn't complete her Animagus until they were well into hiding she would have been able to aid." Albus quickly refuted.

Sebastian blinked, surprise overcoming his features, "Truly? What are their animals?"

"James is a stag, Sirius is a dog and Lily is a lynx."

"Huh…" Sebastian said. "Well, then there's only one reason. Still, it's a bloody good one. Now let me finish so you can get to your business and leave my house."

Albus nodded quickly, he too wanted to get the story set.

"Well, after I packed up the vault, I decided to settle here. I didn't think I could raise a werewolf properly, so I might as well bring him near a pack. They run the hills of Snaefell every full moon and have for over a century, undisturbed. I went back to my house, packed up my belongings and brought the wardstone from there to here. I explained to Harry as well as I could what was happening, and he was naturally scared; wouldn't stop sniffling. I let him dig through the trunk that held the valuables from Gringotts and keep one item if it would make him stop crying."

"I wasn't crying," Harry cut in, a mutinous look on his face.

"You were bawling like a babe," Sebastian shot back, and the mutinous look turned to outrage. Before Harry could leap at Sebastian, Hedwig tackled the boy onto the floor and began to lap at his face with her large tongue.

Albus watched the byplay with a small smile. He was glad to see that the boy was safe and able to play around like this.

Still...

"Sebastian, what happened to Harry?" A normal werewolf was a sickly thing when transformed. Harry's form, however, was massive and hulking. The form of a werewolf was connected to the full moon. Harry's form was not, the sun was still out and the full moon wasn't to occur for another nine days.

Harry's form wasn't just wrong, it wasn't possible. There had been extensive research done on the lycanthropy curse, Nicolas Flamel himself commandeered the project, and the only thing they were able to do was make the afflicted less reactive to silver, and even then it involved a highly expensive and painful ritual. What happened to Harry was such an impossibility that if anybody learned of his form… Albus wasn't certain, but he wouldn't put it past the Ministry to ship the boy off to the Department of Mysteries, giving the Unspeakables free reign to pick at the boy piece by piece until they learned whatever it was they wanted to learn.

Sebastian sighed, going through the pockets of his robe and pulling out his wand.

"Accio Harry's cup."

A cup flew into view and Sebastian caught it with his free hand. It was decorative, a silver cup with yellow gems on the front and a…

A badger was openly displayed on its back.

"The Cup of Helga Hufflepuff…" Albus said reverently, shock and awe on his face. He reached out in hopes of holding the founders treasured item, but Sebastian snatched it away.

"Turns out," Sebastian said, twirling the ancient cup around in such a manner that made Albus more than a little indignant. "One of my sons hid this in our vault, maybe my daughter-in-law, Bellatrix; don't know which and don't particularly care. This was the item Harry took from my chest. I didn't think much of it at the time, I just thought it was a ceremonial thing or a fake that my family made, and let him have it."

He shook his head, "We spent a month working the property, waiting till the next full moon. When it came, It was difficult to put it bluntly. The first transformation is always the hardest; the body's magic changes during it and certain physical features, such as the eyes, also go through a change; Harry's eyes had turned completely amber. Luckily the packs let us run with them; Hedwig was conceived that night."

Albus looked Harry in the eye and noted that, upon closer inspection, his green eyes had flecks of amber; the same color that Sebastian possessed.

"And then, just before the next full moon, the wolfsbane potion was announced. I didn't have anything to lose, so I bought a batch; it was ridiculously expensive since it was a newly developed potion. Harry, being the cheeky brat he was, drank his portion from the cup he took from my Gringotts chest."

Albus turned to Harry with wide eyes. The chalice of Helga Hufflepuff was so coveted because it was enchanted in such a way that any potion or elixir drunk from it would be enhanced. It was said that drinking a pepper-up potion using the artifact would keep a person awake for three days straight.

"I didn't know it was the real thing, but something else happened. Wolfsbane is a naturally yellow concoction, but when it touched the cup it turned black. Harry still drank it, fool that he was, and then let out a scream; the cup was possessed by something, somebody, and latched onto Harry the moment the potion went down his throat. I am not certain as to the effect, but I like to think that what happened was that the soul that possessed the cup ran afoul with the wolf inside Harry and they duked it out in such a way that destroyed whatever possessed the cup and the wolf was destroyed."

"It wasn't destroyed, It's still there," Harry cut in. "The wolf I mean. It's just… It's like, instead of being the wild beast it used to be it became tame, and now only comes out when I want it to. Kind of like an Animagus, only instead of wearing the skin of an animal I'm sharing the skin of one."

Albus put a hand to his beard and stroked the hair in thought. An abnormality caused another abnormality; there truly were no limits to the wonder that was magic.

"And before you ask," Sebastion said, a hint of humor in his voice. "No, you may not have the chalice. Drinking wolfsbane from it makes it so I feel no pain from my transformation, and there is no way I'll give up a painless transformation just to make you look good."

Silently, Albus decided that the cup was Harry's to do with as he pleased, not Sebastian's.

He would ask the boy when he was older.

"Do you mind if I perform a test?" Albus asked Harry.

"What kind?"

"It's a charm to determine whether or not somebody is an Animagus, and then another to determine whether or not somebody is a werewolf."

"No need," Sebastian said. "I performed the spells myself when this whole thing started. The Animagus revealing charm, which turns red if there's an Animagus and blue if there isn't, turned purple. The werewolf revealing charm, which turns yellow if there's a werewolf and blue if not, turned green."

Albus scrunched a brow in thought. Colors only combined in the case of the Animagus revealing charm if the person in question was in the middle of becoming an Animagus; but Harry had never had the training and even if he had, he was too young physically to maintain the transformation.

"Uh, sir?" Harry asked, making Albus start as he was cut off from his musings. "Can I ask you a question?"

Shook himself out of his stupor; better to discern what the colors of the revealing charms meant at a different time. "But of course!"

"Who are you?"

Albus blinked once, twice, then thrice before letting out a full bellied laugh. "I never did tell you did I? No, I suppose not. I'm Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I came here to deliver your acceptance letter, if you lived here of course. Your parents will be quite happy to find you happy and whole."

Harry immediately let out a scowl, "I don't care about them."

Albus frowned, "They're your parents, and they've been looking for you for over half a decade."

"They gave me to the Dursley's to be treated like dirt, why should I care if they're looking for me? I bet they just want to stuff me back in that damned cupboard." Harry retorted viciously.

Albus found his frown deepening. Clearly the boy held the Potters quite low esteem.

"We will talk of the Potters another day," Albus decided. True, Sebastian Lestrange had raised the boy decently by the looks of it, but Albus didn't trust him with the details of how the Potters hid. The family was able to escape mentioning the fidelius charm when questioned, and he had no intention of giving such information to a death eater, reformed or not; Severus Snape didn't even know. "I came in hopes that you would attend Hogwarts."

Harry paused for a moment, his brow scrunched in thought, before slowly shaking his head negatively. "My parents'll be there the moment I'm sorted; I won't do it."

"I intended to send him to either Ellan Vannin or Durmstrang." Sebastian admitted after a moment of silence.

Albus felt his hopes shatter. Ellan Vannin was a logical choice, but it was closed off from the world at large and only bothered with its students; barely any outsiders were welcome. And the less said about Durmstrang the better. It would be terrible if Harry went to either institute; that would make it all the more difficult for the boy to meet the Potters.

And then, like a flash of lightning in the night sky, and idea came to mind, one that would at least keep Albus in the boys good graces and perhaps have Harry lean towards neutrality with his parents.

"Well," Albus said. "Maybe you won't go to Hogwarts, but what would you say to an apprenticeship?"

"With you!?" Harry asked, incredulous. Albus understood his incredulity; he'd never had an apprentice. Truly, Albus would love the chance to personally teach his crafts to an apprentice, but he didn't have the time for one, what with his having three full time jobs and all that rot.

"I'm afraid not, but I have a dear friend that I'm sure would be interested in teaching you. Sebastian, do you mind if I use your floo?"

Sebastian waved a hand, "The address is Snaecave."

"Truly a wonderful specimen." Said a rotund man with a combed patch of greying blonde hair and a close cropped beard. He was looking over Harry's werewolf form with untold fascination. Harry looked quite annoyed at the man, but learned that pushing him away only made him exam the arm of Harry's form.

It was truly vexing.

"So, what do you say? Will you take young Harry as an apprentice?" Albus asked, looking amused.

"Maybe not an apprentice, that will be determined after he's taught the basics, but I'll happily teach him through his NEWTs. He's far too interesting to not keep close by, and children have always been a passion of Nelly's."

"Excellent! Thank you Nicolas, you won't regret this."

"No, I don't think I will."

It was surreal to Sebastian as he watched the two ancient men speak. His ward was going to be instructed by Nicolas Flamel! The oldest man in the world and the foremost expert on all this alchemy, potions and rituals while his wife Perenelle was renowned as the best historian in all of Europe; primarily due to her documenting nearly everything of interest that has happened in the wizarding world over the last five centuries.

"Ah," Nicolas muttered. "But for my sake, I won't call Harry here a werewolf; the differences are far too great regardless of his origin… Mmmm…"

"Might I suggest something?" Sebastian asked.

"Of course, m'boy!" Nicolas replied jovially.

"I like to call him a Lycan." Sebastian admitted, a small amount of embarrassment in his voice.

"Mm... I like it. Though I wasn't born till many centuries after lycanthropy came around, Nelly and I like to believe that it was meant to be a way for the Celts to get closer to nature and was perverted into the curse we know now."

Albus smiled genially, pleased that things were going as he hoped. "I'll make my way out then."

"Ah, Albus m'boy?" Nicolas called out.

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor before you leave, swear to tell no one where Harry is."

"What?" Albus asked, incredulity in his tone of voice. He could finally apologize to Lily and James with this bit of news, and yet Nicolas wanted him to swear to the secrecy of the boy's location?

"It's nothing personal, I had you swear an oath when you apprenticed under me to never let anybody know about our partnership until you completed your dues. Sebastian, if you wouldn't mind would you swear the same oath?"

"But-" Albus said, only to be cut off.

"This is nonnegotiable Albus." Nicolas said, his voice firm and hard and nothing like it had been earlier.

Sebastian offered a shrug, "It's not like I have anybody to tell aside from Hedwig, and I've a feeling she'll be over most of the time."

"The dire wolf you mentioned? Oh, do bring her over! The breed is so difficult to study; I've only seen fifteen in all my years."

The pair made their oaths in short time and Nicolas turned to Albus with an expectantly raised brow. Albus furrowed a brow and, after a moment of deliberation, exhaled in defeat and he too gave his oath.

Albus could only hope that when the chance came, Harry Potter would be willing to be with his family.

A/N: So… That happened. I really shouldn't be writing, I have to finish up this online class and the semester ends tomorrow, but I had this idea in my head and I couldn't finish my essay until I had it to paper.

So, I had this thought. I was on google, looking at picture of the Underworld movies for no reason whatsoever, when I came upon the Super Lycan from Underworld Awakening. And right next to it was Remus Lupin's werewolf form and I was like "Alright, that's gunna be a story."

So, here's the premise. This is not a WBWL story, Harry is not the BWL, but that doesn't mean he wasn't marked by the Dark Lord; his magic and werewolf forms were marked and cleansed by the soul of the Dark Lord that was housed in the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff. Before you ask, yes, he is a parselmouth, just as Eustace Potter will be.

The Potters are alive and Remus Lupin was the sacrifice this time; I know some people like him but, personally, I'm not a fan of the character. I liked him well enough up until the Deathly Hallows and then his character was ruined for me. I think it's fair that if the Potters had two kids born at the end of July, and both were on Voldemort's shit list, they'd try to make sure one was protected through other means. The Blood Wards are over done, but Harry got out of there quick enough that they didn't even matter in the long run.

I didn't specify where Sebastian Lestrange lived because that's a hassle. I was looking up so much detail for the Isle of Man that I didn't feel like looking through districts close to Surrey for the guy to live in.

Hedwig in this case is not an owl. When I was on the HPwiki and was looking up werewolves I saw that if two transformed werewolves mate they produce these wolves that are unnaturally intelligent. I took it a step further and turned her into a dire wolf from the Warcraft movie; if you're curious as to what she looks like go to google and type in Warcraft Movie Dire Wolf; I based her off the wolf Durotan rides.

Albus is not a bad guy, so no, I will not have him play master manipulator; dude's just trying to get some self-repentance. Harry doesn't like the Potters because they sent him to the Dursley's, and didn't bother to check up on him. What he doesn't know is that they sent letters all the time that Petunia was all too happy to destroy. Sebastian is an OC, obviously, but one that I hope has a little more depth.

A~~~nd, Nicolas Flamel. I love the guy, he inspired my favorite anime (Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood) so I have to bring him into the fold. He will be Harry's teacher and eventually he will be his master and Harry will become Nicolas' apprentice in turn. So, when Nicolas dies due to the Philosopher Stone being destroyed by Eustace Potter… Well, I'll let you figure out the response.