October 31st, 1981
Lord Voldemort smirked evilly. This was it, he would finally get to kill the child who was prophesied to defeat him. There were two Potter children, twins, so he would kill both to make sure there was no possibility of his downfall. Through the window he could see the babysitter carrying the twins upstairs to the nursery to put them to bed. James and Lily Potter were at an order meeting that Peter Pettigrew had told them to attend. The meeting was not real. Pettigrew, though a coward, had been a useful spy. He had never failed to bring him valuable information about the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort opened the metal gate and glided up the stone path to the front door.
"Bombarda!" he yelled, his wand pointed at the door. The door was blown off its hinges with a loud bang. He heard a loud scream of terror and a baby crying from upstairs. When Voldemort arrived at the nursery, the babysitter stood in front on the crib, arms spread out protectively in front of the twins. Does she really think she can protect the children from me? He thought. He decided to dispose of her quickly.
"Avada Kedavra!" he hissed. The women fell to the ground, dead. Voldemort walked slowly to the wooden crib where the twins sat. One of them had hazel eyes and red hair and was crying loudly, which was not a surprise, but the other twin puzzled him. The small child was looking up at him with slightly glowing emerald green eyes, looking almost amused. This unnerved Voldemort more than he'd care to admit. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the child the prophecy spoke of.
"Prepare to die little Potter," he whispered, raising his wand slowly and pointing it at child's forehead. A green jet of light came out of his wand and hit the boy in the forehead. But then, to Voldemort's surprise, the beam of light was reflected and hit him instead. Then there was a loud explosion, a bright light, and Lord Voldemort was no more. All that was left of him was a robe and a wand, which were both lying on the floor.
The green-eyed child, whose name was Harry James Potter, had a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead where the curse hit him. His twin, Charles Godric Potter, had acquired a scar shaped like a V on his cheek from debris. Both children passed out, unaware that this would change their lives forever.
"Come on, James, we're going to be late, and I want to get home to the boys as soon as possible!"
"Calm down Lily, they are fine. We hired a perfectly capable babysitter."
James and Lily approached the stone gargoyle that was guarding the headmaster's office. "Chocolate Frogs," Lily said impatiently, and the gargoyle came to life and moved out of the way. She had a bad feeling about this meeting, but she had tried to ignore it. James was probably right, she was just being overprotective.
They walked up the stone steps to the office and knocked on the door. "Come in" said a voice from inside. Headmaster Dumbledore's office was a circular room. There were portraits of past headmasters on the walls, a large claw-footed desk with silver, magical instruments and tools on it, and a bright, flaming phoenix on a golden perch.
Dumbledore looked up from his book and smiled. "What brings you two here?" He asked, looking slightly surprised.
"What do you mean? We have a meeting." Said Lily, who was now suspicious and confused. "Where is everyone?"
"I am afraid there is no meeting" he announced gravely, "who told told you this?"
"Peter," said James, " but why would he-"
"I think we have found our spy."
James wore a look of disbelief. "No, no, Wormtail can't be a spy. He's my friend, a marauder, he- he would never." He said, sounding more desperate with every word.
"Has he acted any differently lately?"
James and Lily thought back to their recent meetings with Peter. There were very few though, because his mother was seriously ill and he always went to care for her. But was that really the truth? Now that they thought about it, whenever they saw Peter he was always jumpy and seemed very uncomfortable.
Lily looked stunned and James looked sad, then angry, and the defeated. They had trusted him and considered him one of their closest friends.
"So that means…" James started.
"That this meeting was a diversion." finished Dumbledore.
"My babies!" Lily gasped, running towards the marble fireplace. She took a large handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "203 Godric's Hollow!" She cried frantically. Green flames shot up in the fireplace and Lily stepped through them, followed by James and Dumbledore.
When they came out of the fireplace of the Potter household they were shocked. "No" James croaked, on the verge of tears.
"Charles! Harry!" She cried hysterically as she dashed up the stairs to the nursery, James and Dumbledore at her heels. It was destroyed. Walls were cracked and had fallen down and there was debris everywhere. The crib was one of the only things intact. Lily and James rushed to the crib while Dumbledore inspected the robes and the wand on the ground with fascination.
"They're alive!" James shouted joyfully while Lily started to cry in relief. "But how?"
"Somehow, one of the twins did something to Voldemort. The prophecy is being fulfilled." said Dumbledore.
"Well, what do you think happened? Is Voldemort dead?" James asked
"And what do you mean by 'The prophecy is being fulfilled'?" added Lily.
Dumbledore sighed. "I suppose I should start from the beginning. About a year ago I was interviewing candidates for the job of Divination Professor at Hogwarts. One of them, a woman named Sybill Trelawney, seemed to be a complete fraud, but as I was finishing the interview she told a real prophecy. It said:
'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…
born to those who have thrice defied him,
born as the seventh month dies…
and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,
but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…
and either must die at the hand of the other,
for neither can live while the other survives…
but you must be careful,
for many things will keep him from his goal…
the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord
will be born as the seventh month dies…'
This means that one of the twins has been marked as his equal." he said.
"Which one was it though?" asked Lily.
Dumbledore started to inspect the children. He checked their magical cores and Charles' was stronger than Harry's, in fact, Harry's was almost nonexistent, but what Dumbledore didn't know was that his core was week from the magic he used to block the killing curse. The fact that Charles' core was stronger and he had a scar in the shape of a V, which stood for Voldemort, persuaded the headmaster that Charles defeated Voldemort.
"It was Charles" he announced.
"How are you sure it wasn't Harry?" asked Lily, confused
"Well, Harry has a very weak magical core and does not have enough power the do something like block the killing curse. He does not currently have enough magic to go to Hogwarts and is probably a squib." Dumbledore explained. James and Lily gasped. A squib is someone with magical parents, but without magic. It would be a scandal for a line as prestigious as the Potter line to produce a one. "Also," continued Dumbledore, "Charles has a scar on his cheek, which is where the killing curse probably hit him."
"So did he do it? Is Voldemort really dead?" asked Lily.
Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid not. I think he is only temporarily gone. He will come back at some point, and when he does, we must be ready. When Charles gets older I will give him special training, but for now, just be as supporting of him as you can be. He will have a lot of pressure on him. Everyone will know his name. He will be known as Charles Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived."
"I am so proud of him." said James, smiling brightly. "My own son, the defeater of Voldemort!"
James and Lily picked Charles up out of the crib. "Well, I best be off." said Dumbledore. "I have much to do. We will have to tell the press what has happened."
"Of course," Lily said happily, "we will see you tomorrow"
For the rest of the night, Lily and James attended to Charles and played with him, making sure he knew his parents were proud of him. No one remembered Harry until the next morning. Harry's life had changed that night, and not for the better.