Prologue: Journey's Beginnings

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...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

Harry sighed wearily Those words had been running through his mind for days. Sirius was dead, Voldemort was public. And on top of ALL that. He had to become a victim a murderer.

"And Dumbledore knew" He thought "Dumbledore's known all this time. All this time he's lied to me and manipulated me"

But at the same time it made no sense to him, if Dumbledore knew the prophecy pointed to him after his parents were killed then why did the old man leave him with the Dursley's? Why not train him? Why not prepare him for Voldemort instead of leaving him to rot at the Dursley's?

Harry sighed again as he wandered the corridors. He hadn't been able to sleep with the prophecy rolling around inside his head since his talk with Nick a few hours earlier. He didn't believe it. He didn't believe that there was no way back from the veil. And if it took Harry the rest of his days he would find it.

"Sniff sniff my pretty, find the nasty brat for me, we may yet have a chance to use my precious devices before our years run done"

"Shit" Harry hissed as he tightened his grip on the invisibility cloak draped across his shoulders. Flitch was too close for him to run.

Then he heard a familiar trilling sound.

Looking up Harry saw Fawkes hovering in front of him.

The Phoenix hovered only for a second before it landed on Harry's invisible shoulder and they both vanished in a flash of flame a split second before the light of Flitch's torch hit them.

Fawkes reappeared in an empty and dusty classroom and Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off "What the hell is going on Fawkes?"

"A good question Mr Potter"

Harry spun around to the speaker in time to see Professor McGonagall, wearing a night grown and a robe, standing with her arms folded across her chest.

"P…Professor" Harry stuttered in shock as he lowered his wand

"Why aren't you in the tower Mr Potter?" McGonagall asked

"I…couldn't sleep so I went for a walk under the cloak" Harry replied "Fawkes brought me here when Flitch almost caught me"

Then Harry looked around himself, and saw Fawkes sitting perched on top of a familiar frame.

The inscription was just as he remembered.

Erised straeh ruoy tub, ecaf ruoy ton wohs I

(A\N I think that's what it saidI haven't the Phosopher's Stone in a while)

The only difference was that he was taller

"I show not your face, but your hearts desire" he whispered

"Do you have any idea where we are Potter?" McGonagall asked

"Location wise…no" Harry replied "But if you're wondering what we're in the room with then the mirror is called the Mirror of Erised. The Mirror of Desire"

"How do you know?" McGonagall asked

"I found it in my first year" Harry replied as he looked around again, finding no door he asked "How exactly did you end up here Professor?"

"The same way as you" McGonagall replied "Fawkessnatched mefrom my quartersand then vanished before he brought you here"

"What's the deal Fawkes?" Harry asked

The Phoenix simply responded by bending down and tapping his beak to the glass of the mirror.

"I think he wants me to look in the mirror" Harry concluded as he stepped forward.

"Be careful Harry" McGonagall warned.

Harry nodded as he stepped in front of the glass.

And just as before he saw his parents standing behind his reflection, but he also saw Sirius standing with his arms around his parent's shoulders and smiling out at him.

It was an image Harry knew he would be able to physically touch for a long time to come.

"But before that time comes" Harry thought "I'll fulfil Dumbledore's precious prophecy"

"Your time is coming Tom" Harry whispered "I promise"

Almost as soon as the words had left Harry's mouth his wand exploded in a blinding light and Fawkes began to trill and at the same time Harry's parents and Sirius smiled warmly at him and the mirror began to ripple and glow.

A strange impulse flowed through for a moment before he reached out his right hand and touched the glass and in that instant he knew what he had to do.

His hand seemed to sink into the glass, like water before he looked at McGonagall.

"What on earth are you doing Harry?" she demanded

"Finding my destiny" Harry said in a monotone voice, then he smiled and said "Finding what I need to do a job I never signed up for. Could you look after Hedwig for me please? I'm not sure how long I'll be gone"

"I don't understand" McGonagall said "What is happening"

"What needs to happen" another voice replied "Facing the Dark Wizard with the magic of this world will claim his life. If the boy is to succeed he must seek a new path with a new guide"

"I'll…see you when I see you I guess" Harry said "Look after my Firebolt too. I'll want it returned when I get back"

Minerva McGonagall watched helplessly as the son of her two favourite students stepped through the mirror, and then she gasped sharply. For a brief instant on the other side she saw Harry standing with James and Lily Potter and Sirius Black before the apparitions vanished and she was along with Fawkes and the Mirror.

She watched Fawkes for a moment before the swan sized bird burst into flames and a cloud of ashes fell to the floor, carrying with them a phoenix chick.

When Minerva checked on the Gryffindor Boy's Dorms the following morning, praying that what she experienced the night before had been a dream she discovered that all of Harry'smost preciousbelongings were gone, the Marauder's map, his photo album, his cloak and his broom servicing kit, along with his Firebolt broom which she had gone to retrieve from the Dungeons, were all gone, his faithful owl Hedwig was gone too, in her place was a pile of ashes beneath herperchin the Owllery floor.

It was true.

Harrison James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was gone.

At breakfast Dumbledore announced to the students that Harry was missing.

Reactions were mixed. Most were shock, some were scorn, some even said he had run away because he was afraid of You Know Who, or even worse that he had gone to join the Dark Lord, this resulted in several members of the DA hexing certain Slytherins and Ravenclaws, along with Zachariah Smith and Severus Snape, who's nose and right forearm were broken by Minerva and Hagrid for calling Harry an attention seeking coward Madame Pomphrey said she would never be able to get his nose completely straight again. This in turn resulted in a full scale war in the Great Hall that not even Dumbledore could control.

Several Death Eaters were revealed that day. Not among them though, was Draco Malfoy and not all of them from Slytherin.

Amidst the chaos of the fighting, Minerva McGonagall sat and pondered Fawkes' words from the previous night. By the Phoenix's own admission, Harry had been sent to another world in order to find the power to fight the Dark Lord. Minerva wondered if he would be safe, would he be the same person when he returned or would the experience harden him even further than the recent years. Minerva sighed to herself as she rose to her feet and stepped over the still bleeding Severus and made a move to restore order. But her eyes moved towards a spot near the bottom of the Gryffindor Table where a wonderful boy once sat and thought to herself "Good luck Harry"

Authors Notes: Done.

Next time we have a reunion.