The day started like any other normal day in late June 1997, except for the fact that storm seemed to be brewing over Diagon Alley. As the day progressed the clouds became darker and darker yet no rain fell. The witches and wizards going about their daily business in the alley would occasionally glance up and wonder at the strange turn the weather had seemed to have taken. But, in the end the wonders would pay it little mind and return to their business. It was late in the afternoon when out of nowhere the sound an explosion high in sky rocked the alley and those in it. Many of the passerby fell to ground from the shockwave as it passed through the alley shattering windows and shaking walls. Again, another explosion, this time accompanied by a blinding light, that to the older more experienced magical beings, reminded them of dragon fire. Again and again, explosions rang out seeming to come more and more frequently, and sounding closer and closer. Witches and wizards began to cower in fear, many started run apparating and portkeying away as fast as they could. However a few remained either frozen with the fear that Voldemort was finally brash enough to attack the alley, or curious to see what was making all of the noise.
Then, the explosions and flashes of light just stopped. And for a brief few moments, silence rang out across the alley. Those cowering in the shops came out to look at the sky with wonder, whilst those still in the alley just stared awestruck at the sky. The silence was broken by the scream of a terrified teen who, when every looked upon her, pointed into the sky at what appeared at first to be a massive fireball fast approaching the alley. Wizards and witches alike scrambled for cover, hid in every place they could find. All the while still watching the spectacle unfold, moment later it became clear that it was no fireball, but rather a single burning form followed by two other indistinguishable forms both attacking it. As it came closer and closer, many more screamed in abject fright and terror as two of the forms coalesced into the form of dragons, and the third into the frame of a wizard. For the last few hundred feet the magical beings in the alley could make out the wizard and one of the dragons attacking the other dragon, with the wizard appearing to drive a long blade into the base of the dragon's skull before they hurtled into ground creating a blasting a massive crater and creating a tremendous shockwave.
As the dust and debris cleared, and the onlookers could get a clear view of the bottom of the crater, they were completely and utterly shock. There resting at the bottom of the crater, was the body of the largest dragon anyone had ever seen. To those who were learned in history, the great dragon Messanth, known as the slayer of wizards and started the great fire of London in 1666, was the largest dragon ever recorded, and this dragon was easily ten times his size, with a wingspan stretching 150 feet and easily 80 feet from snout to tail. As well as colored the deepest black imaginable, its' very hide seemed to leach the light from its surroundings. Standing around this obscenely large dragon was the figure of a young man who appeared to be around the same age as a 7th year at Hogwarts, and another dragon colored a beautiful glossy platinum.
To those closest to the standing pair a few could swear they heard a faint whisper "Farewell, my friend. Go now and hide, do not let them find you…" before the young wizard collapsed. The platinum dragon roared in anguish and then took off into the sky with surprising speed, fleeing before any could raise a hand to stop it. After a moment of stillness the onlookers burst into action. "Someone call the aurors and notify St. Mungoes, it looks like that boy has injuries!" a tall man in the crowd yelled out. "Help me get that boy out of that hole!" another shouted. Finally after a few minutes the boy had been levitated up out of the crater and being attended to by the emergency medi-witches from St. Mungoes, while Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) auror's and their head Amelia Bones were present and investigating what happened.
"What do you mean he just fell out of the sky?" Amelia said exasperated while pointing at the boy "random teenage wizards do not just randomly fall out of the sky. And you say he killed that dragon? That's impossible, no wizard has had the ability to do such a thing since Myrrdin Emrys, and even then I don't believe all those tales." The man she was interviewing just kept shaking his head and saying the same story that he had been sticking to. Amelia just shook her head and walked away from the man, every witness was saying the same things, and she just couldn't believe it. As she was wondering around the investigation Auror Shaklebolt came up to her and interrupted her musings "We still haven't ID'd the boy but the healers say that they are ready to move him to St. Mungoes. Shall I give them the go ahead?" Amelia looked up startled "Yeah, give them the go ahead we've gotten everything we're going to get for now." Shaklebolt nodded to the lead healer, who bustled off to get the boy to the magical hospital.
Amelia looked at Shaklebolt and said "Let's hope he wakes soon, because we are going to know what happened until he wakes, this is a complete mystery. And I hate mysteries." Shaklebolt looked on and nodded thinking the same thing.
Flashback:
"Come on boy, we have places to be," Vernon Dursley, an absolute whale of a man, snarled at Harry. It was the end of Harry's first year and he had just gotten off the Hogwart's express and went through the barrier having left his friends behind. "Where are we going Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked both meekly and politely. "I received a promotion from Grunning's and we'll be taking a tour of their world facilities to help me get better acquainted with my new position and its responsibilities. Now, while we're on this trip, no funny business you understand. You went to your freak school and learned to control some of your freakishness. Understand boy, or you'll regret every moment of your life until you get back to school and you better hope you never come back, we can't leave you because the neighbors would ask question if we left you alone or with that hag Figg." Vernon hissed "Yes, Vernon" Harry replied.
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Harry looked out of the window, it was late June and he was in a plane flying across the Pacific ocean after having spent several days touring Grunning's American facilities. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were all sitting in first class whilst Harry was forced into the back of the plane in the cheap seats. It was several hours into the flight and Harry was day-dreaming about Hogwarts when he was jerked out of his musing by the seatbelt signal coming on. Harry quickly belted his seatbelt thinking that he better be safe rather than sorry. Harry, had just finished buckling his seat when the Pilot came over the intercom, "ladies and gentlemen, I am going to warn you it looks like we are going to hit some major turbulence, please don't be alarmed." That's strange Harry thought, it sounded as though the pilot was panicking, I wonder why he could possibly be panicking.
A few minutes later, Harry was jerked from his musing by a loud crash and something vaguely reminiscent of a dragon's tail he had seen in a book smashed through the cabin of the plane breaking it into two halves and dropping it out of the sky. As Harry, spiraled down to the ocean he looked up trying to see anything but couldn't as he was so disoriented. His section of cabin hit the water hard and he was jolted in his seat before being quickly submerged underwater. Harry fought to get out of the seatbelt, while running out of air, for several minutes he fought and started to panic when he came free from the seat and began to swim to the surface, just as the edges of his vision began to blacken. Just as he was about to lose consciousness he broke the surface and gasped for breath. Treading water to stay afloat Harry looked around and found a life raft that had inflated was floating in the waves. He clambered into it to get out of the water and looked at the wreckage of the plane. To his great disappointment it appeared as if no one had survived other than him. He was jolted out of his depression by a very loud fierce roar from the sky. Looking up, Harry spotted the dragon that smashed his plane; it was very large, and very very black.
Back in St. Mungoes Amelia was sitting in the waiting room for the intensive care unit waiting for the diagnosis to come back from the healers. Finally, after 3 hours the head healer came out to confer with her. "I don't know if you are going to believe this, but we know it a miracle that boy survived to fall, well it's even more of a miracle that he survived to be ab le to fall." The healer told Amelia. "What do you mean?" she asked the healer, thinking great, another mystery, I hate mysteries. "That boy, 30% of his body is covered in scar tissue, and diagnostic charms show that there were at least 25 broken bones that were never properly set." "Oh my!" exclaimed Amelia. "He also has burns on his body that are indicative of dragon fire, this boy has been through a lot, he may not be stable when he awakes."
Amelia sighed "Great, now I may never solve this mystery…" The head healer looked like he had more to say but wasn't quite sure how he wanted to put it. "Out with it man!" Amelia barked at him. The healer seemed to take a deep breath before beginning, "We also took a diagnostic of his magical core," the healer explained "what we found was absolutely astounding, this boy has Magical Index off the charts!" "That's not possible," Amelia scoffed "Everyone has a number on that index, even Dumbledore, Merlin, and the Hogwarts founders had numbers." The healer was at a loss to explain that he wasn't kidding so he decided to show Amelia "I assume you know the charm to show the index, correct?" Amelia nodded, "then follow me" the healer told her. The proceeded to the intensive unit that housed the boy, this was the first time that Amelia had gotten a good look at the boy. He appeared to be around 6'4" in height and made of solid muscle. If she had to guess she would say that he weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 240lbs, and he appeared extremely fit. She couldn't see his supposed scars or burns because of the hospital gown he was wearing, but she had to admit she was curious. He also had a strong sharp feature and a thick head of raven black unruly hair.
The healer spoke "Now, Madame Bones, I ask you to please cast the Charm upon the boy and see for yourself the results." Amelia, looked at the healer with mild surprise but assented and proceeded to cast the charm "numeri virtutem" Amelia incanted. Her wand tip glowed with a soft blue light and a parchment appeared in front of Amelia. As she read the parchment she gasped loudly at what was shown. "That's impossible, I must notify Dumbledore and the minister, they will know what to do!" Amelia exclaimed as she rushed out of the room to the nearest fireplace, the forgotten parchment fluttering to the ground as she ran out the room. If one were to glance at it, they would see the number 999,999 followed by a +. Now to anyone ignorant of the spell, they would think nothing of it, but to others who were learned in the spell, the figure would have left them completely speechless.
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Dumbledore's Office:
Dumbledore stared out his window thinking deeply before telling Fawkes "All my plans are coming to fruition, the Longbottom boy believes he has to sacrifice himself, he believes it is the only way. It is only a matter of time before he weakens the dark lord enough for me to finish the job and be truly known as the greatest wizard since Merlin." Fawkes looked at the age headmaster and trilled a sad melody, as if he were regretful of how far the headmaster had fallen, there was a time when he wasn't so manipulative. But power had gone to his head, and Fawkes had no way of communicating such to anyone else. It had been millennia since anyone had enough magical power to be able to communicate with him. Both were startled out their own musings by the fireplace erupting and spewing out both Amelia Bones and Minister Fudge. "Headmaster," exclaimed Amelia "you recall the magical index charm correct?" "Why, yes Amelia, it is one that is cast upon every student here in Hogwarts." Dumbledore responded "Why do you ask?" "Well, we have a verified wizard who exceeds the scale!" Amelia spouted out. "Take me to him! I must know who this man is." Dumbledore exclaimed, while thinking to himself 'I cannot have this new piece endanger my plans, I must know if this wizard can be manipulated. "Follow us, headmaster. The wizard is at St. Mungoes, and I must say when Madame Bones came to get me I was quite surprised. I admit, that I am curious as to who this wizard is."
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St. Mungoes:
The boy stirred, opening his emerald green eyes and quickly taking in the room. 'So it begins, I have returned, I wonder what the magical world will make of the return of Harry Potter. It has been too long, I know Ron and Hermione will have changed, but will they still be my friend.' Harry thought to himself. Harry was startled out of his musings by the door flinging open to admit the Headmaster, Dumbledore, the head of the DMLE, Madame Bones, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Harry quickly reinforced his occlumency shields, he knew of the headmasters rumored legilimency skills and he refused to have the headmaster privy to his secrets. "Ahhh, you are finally awake," Amelia said "perhaps you can enlighten us as to your tale." "Yes, my boy, you have given us quite a scare," the headmaster followed up. Harry looked from Amelia to the Headmaster and back before replying "What tale, and who are you?" Although Harry knew all three, he had to keep pretenses up. "Perhaps we should start with introductions, I am Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and these two gentlemen are Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, and Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Now would you mind telling us who you are and what exactly you remember before waking up here?" "Well," Harry replied "I was battling and finally killed a dragon before I crashed into the ground. I managed to stagger a few steps from the body and then collapsed." Amelia looked astounded, no had been able to kill a dragon since the time of Merlin. "As for who I am," Harry continued "well, that's easy; I'm surprised that you haven't noticed, my name is Harry Potter." All of the adults in the room gasped, before Minister Fudge promptly fainted on the spot. Amelia looked just absolutely flabbergasted, and Dumbledore looked a little worried, while inspecting the boy a little closer he noticed the faint outline of the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, so faint that it looked like he had managed to remove the horcrux from it. That alarmed him immensely, he attempted to probe the boys shields, but when looking for the boys mind he encountered nothing, it was as if the boy wasn't actually in front of him. 'Hmmm, that is something to ponder for another day' Dumbledore thought "Harry, my boy, you've been gone for 5 years, we all thought you dead. How have you survived?" "Well," Harry replied "I've been stranded on an island for the past 5 years and when I had the chance I took my first ticket out." "Well, my boy" Dumbledore continued "you are going to have to go back to Hogwarts my boy, though we'll figure something out to get you caught back up to speed." Harry nodded, "I think I would like that headmaster, it has been so long since I have seen my friends I would love to catch up with them." "Yes, Harry, my boy, I believe they would like to meet up with you as well." Dumbledore responded "now, about your living arrangements for the rest of the summer, I'm sure that the Weasley's would be willing to take you in since your Aunt and Uncle are dead." Harry looked oddly at the headmaster but before he could say anything Amelia interjected "Dumbledore, I would rather we had Harry in protective custody in the ministry." While glaring daggers at the headmaster she turned to Harry and asked "Harry, would you be willing to stay with me?" Harry glanced and Dumbledore before turning back to Amelia and said "Madame Bones, while I thank you for your offer, I believe that I will be able to take care of my housing arrangements this summer I assure you." "Harry my boy, I must insist" Dumbledore continued. "No, headmaster, with all due respect, I need some time to adjust and I don't think being isolated from the world will do that, I'll just rent a room at the leaky cauldron, and I'll keep you abreast of where I am staying. Is that ok with you?" Harry could see that Dumbledore wanted to argue but then thought better of it and gave his assent.
The Next Day, The Burrow:
Molly Weasley was up getting breakfast ready in the morning, when her two youngest children came down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Mornin' mum" Ron mumbled sleepily, "G'mornin' mom" Ginny said. "Good morning dears," Molly gushed as she went to the window to receive the post. "Breakfast is ready go ahead and serve yourselves." Molly was walking back to the table when she abruptly screamed, dropped the mail, and ran to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and promptly flooed to the headmaster's office. Both Ron and Ginny looked at each other before looking at the mail. On top of the pile was today's issue of The Daily Prophet the headline reading "Harry Potter, Found Alive after 5 years!" Ron and Ginny both looked back up with horrified expression both thinking the same thing as the other 'Oh Crap, now what do we do?'
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Gringotts:
Harry was walking into Gringotts this morning; he had just gotten out of St. Mungoes and was hoping he could determine the state of his monetary affairs. He went up to one of the nearest tellers and said "Good day master goblin, may your enemies blood flow from your blade, I am here to humbly request your aid in determining the state of your affairs" in fluent gobbledegook. The Goblin looked at Harry, with his jaw hanging open for a few moments before responding in kind "May your blade be ever sharp, mr?" "Potter, Harry Potter" Harry replied. The Goblin jolted in his seat before continuing on "Very well, Mr. Potter, wait a moment while I notify your account manager." The goblin said, Harry looked at the goblin with mild surprise before continuing on "Thank you Mr…?" "Bearstabber is my name." the goblin answered. "Thank you Bearstabber" Harry replied as the Goblin left.
A few minutes later Bearstabber returned with Griphook, and another ancient goblin that Harry now knew as Ragnok, but couldn't let anyone know that "Mr. Potter," Ragnok announced "we have much to discuss, if you would please follow me"….
