Disclaimer: I'm only gonna do this once so here: Harry Potter, and all characters that are in the books are the property of Jo Rowling

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Chapter One, Late Night Letters

On the night of July 24 during the summer holidays before his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter was laying on his bed at the Dursley's, reading a letter from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, when he heard a very loud crash coming apparently from the kitchen. Snatching up his wand from his bedside table, he ran to the door and wrenched it open in time to hear his uncle Vernon yell, "Damned bloody birds!"

"What the bloody hell are you people doing?" Harry yelled at the top of his voice. But instead of his uncle yelling at him, his aunt Petunia came to him, pleading. She was crying so hard that he could only understand little bits and pieces of what she was saying.

"Please...Vernon...owl...addressed to you...Dudley tried...give...you...Vernon hit...," She began to regain her composure, "Him and knocked him out."

Harry guessed what she had said at first: Please help, an owl flew in through the kitchen window with a letter addressed to you. Dudley tried to take it and give it to you, but Vernon hit him and knocked him out.

Harry had never liked any of the Dursley's much, but he was not about to let his uncle start hitting his aunt or his cousin.

"Where's the letter?" Harry asked his aunt.

"Vernon threw it in the fireplace," she told him, "Harry, please, Vernon is still in there with Dudley."

"It's ok, Aunt Petunia. I'll take care of it," he said in a heated tone.

When he reached the kitchen door, Harry saw Vernon on top of Dudley, hitting him repeatedly in the face.

"Sectumsempra," Harry shouted the first curse that came to his mind. He realized a split second too late, that he had used to the wrong spell because deep gashes appeared all over Vernon's body, covering the floor in blood. Harry quickly ran over to his uncle and started running his wand over his uncle's body, muttering the counter-curse under his breath, as Dumbledore had taught him just a week before Severus Snape killed him on top of the astronomy tower that horrible night. Snap had invented the curse Harry had just used.

Once Harry finished mending his uncle's wounds, he immediately thought, Levicorpus and flicked his wand as if he were trying to dislodge a fly from the end of it. As Vernon was being lifted up by the ankle, another owl flew through the window and dropped a letter at Harry's feet. When he picked up the letter, Harry immediately saw that it was from the Ministry of Magic. He had been expecting this; since he wasn't seventeen yet he wasn't allowed to do magic outside school. He had already been warned once and to a hearing once for doing underage magic. The hearing was because of a dementor attack during the summer of his fifth year, but that had been Fudge being the fucking prick that he was.

Harry noticed his uncle squirming around in the air, having woken up from the shock of the spell. He turned back to the letter in his hands and opened it. It read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

We, at the Ministry, received a possession from your parents at the time you were left with your aunt and uncle. Your parents left a message with this possession, saying that you were only to recieve it when you had learned the levicorpus spell. Having just found out that you just used the levicorpus spell, we have given you this item along with a letter explaining it's properties, but we were not able to read the letter because your parents sealed it with a spell that makes it so only you can open it.

Signed,

Cornelius O. Fudge

Minister of Magic

Harry put the letter down, looked into the envelope, and noticed another letter appear. He withdrew the letter and tapped it with his wand; when it unfolded, he read:

Dear Harry,

The ring of courage will appear in the envelope only after you have finished this letter. Having learned the levicorpus spell, you are now entitled to use the ring. The ring of courage is a powerfully magical object that when worn on the ring finger of your right hand, can issue much power to the wearer. To wear the ring, your courage, honesty, nobility, and will to act must be unwavered and unmatched. To fully activate the ring's potential, you must give it to your one true love or v. As for what powers it issues, we'll leave that for you to find out.

Love,

Your Parents,

Lily and James Potter

P.S. Don't worry about getting in trouble for using underaged magic at home; as long as you possess the ring, the Ministry won't be able to find out.

P.S.S. Only and your soulmate can read this letter.

As Harry finished the letter from his parents, a small bulge appeared in the envelope. He stuck his hand into the envelope and his fingers closed around the ring. Harry examined the golden band with a lion's head on it. The ring seemed to emanate power and Harry could make out a strong magical aura. He slipped the ring into his pocket, not thinking twice about trying to wear it on his finger. Harry released his uncle from the levicorpus spell and bid his aunt and cousin goodbye, before apparating to the burrow.