The Morality of the Young
Author's Notes: Well hello dear readers! This is a new Fanfic story that I started. It will be AU because James and Lily will live. But Harry won't be living with them. The first couple of chapters will focus on the emotional side of the characters and how they care for Harry. Harry will be in this chapter and in the next one, probably two. However, after that he won't be reintroduced until the sixth chapter, maybe a little earlier depending on how the story comes out.
I had a typo in here stating that Harry was three months old when he is in fact 15. I have corrected that. A thank you to all the reviewers who brought it to my attention.
Chapter 1: Vanishing Act
All-Hallow's Eve. Halloween. Celebrated by muggles (non-magic folk), where kids and adults would dress up as all sorts of fantastical creatures. They would then move from house to house, their faces gleaming with joy as they shouted "Trick or Treat!" Waterfalls of delicious candy in a myriad of flavors would fall into their buckets or bags of Halloween booty (chocolate treasure). Despite the ghoulish appearances of the houses, streets, and people themselves, this holiday was a cause for celebration.
However, this day was not celebrated by all people. In particular, a large group, hidden from the rest of the world; wizards, witches, places of magic and wonderment. For them, this day was a curse, a curse brought down upon them by one man. Lord Voldemort was his name, born Tom Marvolo Riddle, but that name was known only to a few. Every year on the same date, October 31, the day of All-Hallow's Eve, Lord Voldemort would commit an atrocious act in the world of wizardry. Acts that frightened children, made adults quiver in their shoes, infants cry long into the night. Each year, he would strike fear into the hearts of many, expanding his control over all of them in his desire to rule all. They would range from the burning of a village, to the murder of a high profile member in society, to the death of a powerful family, each year was different.
This year Lord Voldemort had taken special care into planning his day of fear. Ever since hearing the words of a prophecy, a prophecy that spoke of a possible savior, a possible end to his reign of conquest, he had plotted. He had spent a month in his chambers, running over the idea of who would be the child spoken in the prophecy. There were only two to be chosen from, but each had the power to take him to Death's Door.
On one side of Fate's coin, you had Neville Longbottom, child to Frank and Alice Longbottom. The parents were of pureblood, their entire family being a wizard, each one powerful as well. They commanded wealth and respect in the wizarding society. The parents had presented a thorn in his side for several years. Frank Longbottom was a servant of the people, an Auror dedicated to fighting the forces of the dark. Alice Longbottom shared the same profession as her husband and together they had managed to escape his wrath three times.
On the other side, you had Harry James Potter, son to James and Lily Potter. The father was of old stock, dating back to the time of the founders, a line that was powerful in every way. The mother, however, was a degrading animal, a filthy muggleborn, but she was immensely strong in her spell casting and she had a sharp mind to add to the matter. James Potter was also an Auror and quite possibly the best in his field. Lily Potter was not, but she was a constant on the battlefield, her powerful spellwork shielding any weakness that her husband had in battle. Those two had also defied him three times, their child fitting into the prophecy as well.
His first instinct was to choose the Longbottom child. His parents were magical, making him a pureblood, something that in his propaganda stated that those of wizard descent were stronger. But then, he considered himself. He was not a pureblood as many believed, he was half and half, his mother a witch and father a muggle. He was a half-blood and he was stronger than everyone else. This led him to the Potter boy, he had strong magical parents and the reports that he received from his spy indicated that the boy was unusually intelligent for his age and had already shown fits of accidental magic.
Voldemort believed that this child, the half-blood, would bring him to ruin. With his decision made, Voldemort called his servant, Wormtail otherwise known as Peter Pettigrew, friend to James and Lily Potter. The sniveling excuse of a wizard appeared before him, bowing and scraping at his knees, his head touching the hem of his lordly robes.
"Wormtail…," he spoke in a threatening hiss, promising retribution should his orders not be followed, and "…You are now the secret keeper of the Potter's home, correct?" A barely audible whimper escaped Wormtail's lips as he nodded his head. "Then reveal the secret to me. The end of the Potter's is at hand and you shall be justly rewarded for your part in securing their downfall," said Voldemort in a voice as cold as ice.
A peach-colored piece of parchment passed from Wormtail's fingers to his own. Pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, he raised the piece of writing to his eyes and mouthed the words aloud, "The Potter Residence can be found at Godric's Hollow." His eyes went back to Wormtail, "Follow me." He rose from the high-backed chair that was situated in his personal chambers and glided over towards the antechamber where all his death eaters were assembled.
Stepping onto the dais in the middle of the hall, Voldemort spread his arms out in a godly gesture and spoke in a voice of ice, a low whisper that still managed to be heard by all, "Tonight, my loyal death eaters, our time is at hand. Tonight, my reign of conquest shall be assured by the time the sun rises for the new day. Once the night is over, I, Lord Voldemort, shall lead all of you into the prosperity of the world. We shall no longer share our right, our privilege of magic with those of mundane ancestry."
A loud cheer rang throughout the room, the death eaters throwing décor into the wind as they whooped and hollered, reveling in the joy of their master's words. Voldemort watched on with a grand smile, his future as ruler of the wizarding Britain almost complete. He raised his arms again in a gesture to quiet the crowd and spoke once more, "I leave now to ensure our success. I shall be back within the hour and then we can go on a raid to let loose all that energy that you may have." Another terrifying smile before he swept away from the crowd, his long, black robes billowing.
A wave of his wand and he opened the doors made of black Damascus steel. He strode through and then closed them with another flick, his incantations silent, testament to his power. He stepped out of the manor where his forces were and breathed in the night air through the slits that were nostrils on his face. There was dark magic in the air, as if the magic could sense his intentions and what was about to happen on this night. With a small cackle Lord Voldemort apparated towards Godric's Hollow.
James and Lily Potter were in the living room of their small cottage, playing with their young child, Harry James Potter. Since it was Halloween they decided to dress him up in a costume. James wanted to put him into a little stag outfit, complete with horns and hooves, and call him Prongs Jr. The idea was immediately shot down by Lily who didn't want another generation of the Marauders, a group of James and his best friends who played pranks during their school days, existing in her lifetime.
So he asked her what she wanted and she responded with misty eyes and her eyes clasped in front of her, "A fairy. He has the dark hair and those radiant eyes. He'd be a perfect fairy."
James made a disgusted face which didn't go unnoticed by Lily when she smacked him upside the head.
"Well why don't we ask Harry?" a beaming James asked.
Lily only gave him an incredulous look, "He's only fifteen months old James. He won't understand what you're asking him.
"Well there's no harm in trying," said James as he puffed out his chest. He picked up Harry and held him at arm's length, "What do you want to dress up as little Harrykins?"
Harry, who had been giggling and smiling for most of the evening, suddenly gained something that could be described as a thoughtful look. He didn't answer for several moments and James started to pout childishly while Lily was looking smug, when Harry started giggling again. James throwing a little hopeful glance at Harry asked the same question. He thought he didn't understand when Harry started clawing his hands in the air and made meowing noises.
"See my Lilyflower? Harry wants to dress up as a cat," giving her a smug grin, he looked back at Harry, "and I think I know which one too." He had read Harry a bedtime story that involved a child who befriended a panther. Harry had started to nod off during the story until the part with the baby panther came up. Harry was too excited to sleep after that.
James set Harry down on the changing table and took out his wand. He changed the color of his bootie to all black, added a tail, and made it furry. He pulled the hood over Harry's head and added some ears onto the top of it. Painting his nose black and giving him whiskers, James held up Harry for Lily's examination. The smile he got showed that he had done a good job and with Harry making giggling noises, James was sure of it.
For the remainder of the evening, Harry tried to crawl around from place to place, making the same meowing noises that his father had made during the story. He went up to his mum and nuzzled her leg, feeling a sense of warmth coming from her. He felt himself being picked and being held to her chest. He gave a toothless grin and burrowed further into her chest, still making small meowing noises.
James wrapped an arm around Lily, pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head. He rested his head against hers and looked down on Harry who was busy putting one of his paws in his mouth, laughing as the fur tickled his lips and chin. He smiled at the sight of his son, glad that he was fighting in the war to bring about an age of peace for his son to grow up in.
He was about to ask Lily if she wanted to tuck Harry in for the night when he felt some of the wards around the cottage sound off in his head. He heard Wormtail squeaking, telling him that someone had gotten through the repelling wards around the cottage. He heard Padfoot's bark, telling him that it was a wizard that had gotten inside the wards. He heard Moony's howl, telling him that the wizard had threatening intentions towards his family.
Lily looked to James having heard the same alarms inside her head. Her expression turned fearful, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she looked from him to Harry who had grown quiet as if sensing the evil in the air.
"Lily, take Harry and run. Emergency portkey is in the nursery. Get it and go," said James in an amazingly calm voice. He felt Lily's lips crashing on his in a desperate, possibly final kiss. He tasted the honey on her lips from some candy she had been eating earlier. He broke away from her and turned to Harry.
Taking him away from Lily, James cradled him in his arms, savoring the joy that he felt from holding him. He felt Harry grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and snuggling closer into him. Pulling back, James placed a tender kiss on his forehead and handed him off to Lily. With a flick of his wrist, his wand shot into his hand, a familiar sense of power washing over him.
He heard footsteps running up the stairs, knowing that Lily was going to get Harry out of here. He closed his eyes and brought to the front of his mind an image of what he wanted his future to be. Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, all of his friends and Harry standing in a clear garden. All of them talking and laughing, having a good time with their children and grandchildren. He opened his eyes and made a determined wish to himself to see that dream come true.
Voldemort arrived in front modest cottage, the shingles in cinnamon brown, the body of the house in white, sides of the building slightly covered in ivy. He felt a wicked grin comes across his face as he curled his hand around his yew wand, a feeling of cold and sadistic pleasure exuding from the tip into his hand and filling his body. His magic was dark and ready for his call, anxious to bring about chaos.
He took slow measured steps towards the door. Right when he was in front of it and contemplating whether to knock or to just blast the door down, he felt a rise of magic from opposite the door. He turned to the side and avoided the door that was sent careening of its hinges and flying for forty feet, breaking into debris when it fell.
Stepping inside the house to come face to face with James Potter, his wand pointed at his face, Voldemort grinned manically, a row of sharp inhuman teeth glittering in the moonlight,
"Hello James. You should be honored that I have come to personally kill you, your wife, and your savior," said Voldemort in a malicious hiss, the last word carried with a note of disdain.
"It was Peter. Peter was the one who's been betraying us all along," the hate in James voice was unmistakable. His face carved into a scowl before falling back into the detached and calculated look he had adopted in the Auror corps.
Voldemort sent a severing curse at James' neck that was blocked with golden shield. He grinned, "Is it amusing Potter to learn that one of your so called 'Marauders' has betrayed you to the rightful cause?" With a wave of his hand he sent a powerful banishing curse at Potter aiming to send him towards a wall and break his spine. He raised an eyebrow in amusement when Potter sent a spell towards the wall behind him. His amusement quickly vanished when he discovered it was a rebounding charm that made him bounce back towards himself when the banishing curse hit Potter. He didn't expect for him to turn into a stag mid-flight and come crashing into him with his head.
He grunted as he took the force of the blow in his chest. Landing next to the debris of the ruined door, Voldemort hastily transfigured them into sharp stakes and sent them flying towards Potter. He dodged most of them but one hit his left leg.
Turning back into his human form, James pulled out the wooden stack and cauterized the wound with a fire hex. He spun his wand in a circle, and then brought it down in a vicious slash, the tip of the wand touching the ground. Two reams of raised earth went towards Voldemort. With a wide ranged explosion hex, James blew the two mounds to rubble, coupled with another wide-range spell, he sent the sharp rubble flying towards Voldemort.
With a snarl, Voldemort was able to deflect the majority of the barrage, save a few that grazed his thighs and shoulders. Calling up his magic in his empty hand, he fired a piercing curse at James chest. It was blocked but he didn't count on the wave of raw energy to come slamming into the exact same spot of the last curse. The shield didn't hold and James was sent careening through the air, breaking through the roof of the patio.
Standing on shaky legs with numerous cuts on his face and back from the jagged pieces of wood, James took aim and fired a light-oriented concussion hex that would put the victim into a coma for several days. He had to roll onto his back as the spell was coming back from Voldemort's barrier. He stood up and was about to take fire again, when another piercing curse came at him, hitting the palm of his wand hand. His grip on his wand slackened for a moment, but it was enough for Voldemort to hit him with combination disarmament and flinging hex to send him back into the house, his body knocking over some of the furniture pieces.
He turned his head only to have Voldemort's wand pointing at his eye. The wand was replaced with Voldemort's snake-like face, the slits flaring slightly, his lips in a cruel grin. He felt his arms and legs spreading, his body being lifted up into the air and pinned to a wall.
"Wonderful James! Just wonderful, you are creative and inventive when it comes to dueling. A combination of numerous charms and hexes to create physical attacks, which is a very ingenious way of dueling. Too many of my followers just focus on spells alone and don't take into account how to use a battlefield. Seeing how powerful you are in both magic and mind, I make you an offer. I shall leave you alive, if you take my mark and swear your loyalty to me."
For a response James spat a mixture of spittle and blood into his face. Voldemort ran a hand down his face, wiping away the mess, "I should kill you for that and for what you have done in the past, but alas that is not enough for all the trouble you have caused me. I shall take great pleasure in breaking the minds of you and your wife after I kill your beloved son," said Voldemort in an icy voice. Before James could respond he was hit with a dark-oriented concussion hex that left him in a deep sleep like its light-oriented counterpart, the main difference that nightmares would occur in the victim's mind.
Smiling in satisfaction, Voldemort looked around the house until he saw a set of stairs. Climbing them in a slow methodical pace, he felt his blood rushing, his magic coming up waiting for his command, his skin prickling with anticipation. Reaching the 2nd floor, he proceeded to open each door, checking for Lily Potter and the child.
Opening the last door on the right, he found himself in a nursery, the walls painted a light green, clouds and flying animals moving along the scenery. The innocence of it all brought a sneer to his face. His eyes went to the middle of the room to see Lily Potter frantically searching amongst a pile of toys for what he assumed to be a portkey. He fired a harmless curse that sailed past her ear to gain her attention. She turned around and Voldemort wasn't disappointed when he saw the look of fear on her face. She went for her wand, but with a silent casting it went flying into his hand.
Wandless, Lily moved in front of the crib, protecting her child, "You won't have my son."
He laughed cruelly and waved his wand, pushing her aside. He took one step towards the child, but Lily had already moved back in front of it, defending her son. He snarled, "It appears that you do not understand the mercy that I gave you. I pushed you aside, but you decided to come back and defy my wishes. You shall suffer the same fate as your husband."
Another dark-concussion hex was fired, this one aimed at Lily. Her last thoughts before she was hit were that of a dead husband and a wordless prayer that her son would live.
Another smile on his face, this one only wider in proportion, Voldemort turned his head to noise coming from the crib. The child, who had been silent up to this point, began to emit small sobs, somehow aware that something had happened to his parents. Peering into the crib, crimson eyes met emerald ones. For a moment, Voldemort swore he recognized some emotion in the child's eyes, some type of recognition in who he was looking at.
"That accursed prophecy says that you have the power to beat me. With your death, I will be assured that I will live and my conquest shall take place. However, I could raise you as my own and have the wizarding world's supposed savior being trained by the darkest wizard of its age. Tell me Harry, would you like to live with me?" Voldemort cackled lightly as he saw the boy's eyes narrow in something akin to anger, "Why young Harry, you are a smart one. I shall enjoy taking you and tainting your magic to my deeds. You shall grow to hate your family and to love me."
Voldemort laughed harder after his diatribe. He slipped a hand into the crib and held it over the child's face. He started to run it down his face, but immediately pulled it back with an angry hiss. He looked at the fingertips and saw they were burned slightly. He called up his magic and became shocked when the magic refused to accumulate in the fingertips of his burned hand. He looked at the child to see nothing out of the ordinary, but his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Well Harry it seems you refuse the mercy of Lord Voldemort. It is a shame, you could have grown to be a powerful wizard," said Voldemort in an icy hiss. He leveled his wand at the forehead of the boy and called up his magic again. The base of the wand drew power from his body, the wand lighting up in an eerie green glow. He looked into the eyes of the child and thought to himself how similar they looked to the color of the killing curse before he spoke, "Avada Kedavra!"
He gave an inward shout of triumph as the curse struck the boy, but quickly gave into caution then horror. The curse hit the boy true, but the boy's magic sprung around him in a golden glow rebounding the curse back into the wand. It traveled the length of the wand and into his hand. He gave a soundless scream as the curse traveled through his body like ice water in his veins. He looked down to his chest to his magic trying to combat the curse. Another scream as he felt pain worse than the crucio as his soul and magic were being split. His last thought before he vanished, his spirit being cast far away into the realms of magic was the power of the boy and how he turned his own spell back against him.
His head hurt. He was crying but his mum wasn't anywhere near him. Where was she? Where was his dad? He made the meow sound that his dad laughed at, but nobody came. He sobbed harder as he heard nothing. He couldn't feel them like earlier. Rubbing his eyes, he only cried more as no one answered him. He opened his eyes to see something black on the ground where that scary man had been.
His eyes looked to the right and he saw his mum lying on the ground. She was asleep. He stopped crying. He went to the bars of the crib and called for her again. She didn't move. He shook the bars. He wanted to get out. He wanted to go to his mom. He sobbed again and he felt his hands glow warm. He opened his eyes and saw the bars were gone. He crawled over to his mum and curled up on her chest, sniffling. He burrowed into her chest. She didn't wrap her arms around him. He started crying again. He fell asleep soon after.
A/N: I hoped you liked. I would like to think I gave a good battle scene. I've never been particularly good at doing the spell casting. I pride myself on doing more physical battles, hitting, sword fighting, more brutal actually. I have trouble finding spells and effects I want.
I know the ending might be sad. I hope I made baby Harry's emotions clear. I also hope you like the part with how James, Lily, and Harry when they were trying to get his costume.
Since this is my third HP story, update order is as follows; King and Queen is my priority, followed by You'll never have to, then this one. They've all been updated/posted. So next comes King and Queen and then follow the order. I'll try to update on a constant basis.