Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 1

"Freak! Go and get the mail!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen.

Now, when one hears the word freak, he will not reply nor act as such since there is such negative connotation with the word that nobody in the right frame of mind will connect the word to their name. Yet at that very instance, a boy reacted and went out of the door as instructed.

This boy was very unusual. He was dressed in such ill-fitting clothes that he could grow more than twice horizontally and the clothing would still fit him. His wildly out-of-control and jet-black hair had a fringe that almost shrouded his most distinct feature. In another world, you would see the markings of a lightning bolt on his forehead. Yet his forehead was unblemished.

However, all those described were not the main reason why he looked out of place. It was his eyes – the darkest shade of emerald that if you were to stare into it, you would get haunted. He looked totally emotionless, as if he was not capable of feeling like all human does.

As he went out to retrieve the mail from the letter box, Freak's irises were seen revolving around, observing and absorbing everything in the neighbourhood. There on Uncle Vernon's car was an anomaly – an owl was perched on the side mirror, unmoving and staring straight towards him.

An almost inconspicuous frown could be seen on him before it was replaced with the previous mask of coldness. Freak looked down upon the mails he collected and saw one addressed to Harry Potter with a house crest of four different animals, with the word "Hogwarts" marked on it.

The gears in his mind turned the moment he saw the letter and knew that whatever that has happened in the past that were of supernatural occurrences were in fact related to this very letter. Knowing that his uncle would not allow him to keep the letter, he stuffed it inside his oversized clothing and went in to pass the rest of the mails to his uncle and acted his usual behaviour.

Soon, his relatives finished their meals and went about doing their stuff, and Harry immediately took to task cleaning up the mess created especially by his cousin, an oversized teenager who would care less about table manners.

He went back to his room – cupboard under the stairs and opened up the letter gently and cautiously in case his relatives decided to barge into his privacy.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorceress, Chief. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

The moment he read it, he knew that his life was about to change dramatically.

It was five minutes to July 31. Harry had a tingling feeling that something was going to happen as soon as the clock chimed twelve. He was turning eleven after all, and after finding out his was a wizard, anything would be possible.

Harry had not replied to the letter because he knew that he needed someone to come down and see for themselves the living conditions he was in. Hopefully, it would be a powerful witch or wizard who could threaten the hell out of his relatives so much so that they would not slave him around anymore. Or maybe, if he was rich enough, he could just not return to this accursed place, finding a home for himself somewhere else. Regardless, Harry needed someone down as well to bring him along, explaining to him how to get to the Wizarding World which apparently was hidden well since he had not heard heads nor tails about it before in his entire eleven years of life.

The minute-hand ticked. Now it was just a mere four minutes. Harry had never celebrated his birthday before in his past ten years living at his relatives' house. His relatives hated him to the core, calling him all kinds of nasty names like freak, monster or demon. In his heart, he should be in anguish and sadness for being named such derogatory terms by his only known closest family members yet he did not. He merely took it in stride, feeling at times proud of being a monster or demon since that would mean his relatives were afraid of him when he trained on his power – magic in this case.

Yet another minute passed. He was feeling very anxious now. He could feel the magic in his body, more so in his blood thrashing about wildly, untamed. He could not wait to unleash the devil on his relatives, enjoying those moments hearing them scream out in pain! Harry cackled devilishly, rubbing his hand and plotting his revenge for the abusive ten years when he was just a child.

Two minutes left. There was a bright flash seen outside his room. A distant rumble could be heard. A thunderstorm was coming. A second flash, and a boom followed instantaneously after it. It was accompanied by a scream on the second floor. A discord of shuffling and creaking sound could be heard.

One minute to midnight. There was an evil gleam on Harry. His mind now concentrated fully on the clock. He could see through the darkness in his "room". His emerald green eyes glowing eerily.

BOOM! The whole house shook. A second BOOM followed and the Dursleys could be heard running down the house from their room. Vernon was holding on to a shotgun while Petunia, Harry's aunt could be seen cuddling and protecting their son, Dudley.

At the next moment, the door flew opened, broken from its hinges. Lightning flashed, showing the silhouette of a gigantic man. He was about seven feet tall, with a body that was as wide as that of the door. Vernon gulped in fear at the person… no monster in front. Water could be seen flowing down the fat youngster's legs, forming a pool of yellow on the floor.

The "giant" took a step and another before entering the house, squeezing through the door. He had a long bushy beard and was holding onto a pink umbrella.

"Sorry fer the door. 'Ello there 'arry," the giant spoke to Harry in quite an amiable way, contrary to his intimidating appearance," I'll be bringin' yer ter Diagon Alley ter get yer stuff!"

"NO! He won't be following you freaks! I won't stand here allowing you to act as if you owned this place, as if you owned him!" Vernon bellowed loudly, pointing his shotgun towards the giant. He turned off the safety, cocked and was about to pull the trigger when he realised even with his strength, he could not push that last bit of trigger to fire off the shot.

Vernon realised he was falling backwards. He had no idea what happened and was trying to balance himself, yet in futile. He could only stare into space as he fell.

"You! You monsters! You killed him! My dear husband!" Petunia screamed like a banshee, running towards Vernon.

"That was a full body bind curse. It'll wear off in a few 'ours time. No worries there young lady!" Hagrid bellowed.

During that interval, Harry made use of his chance and unlocked the door to his room using wandless magic, went off with the giant and leaving the Dursleys behind, hopefully forever.

Outside Number four, Privet Drive was a motorbike. It was weird seeing such a big man on it.

'It's all magic. Everything is possible,' Harry thought.

"Come on! We don' have all day 'arry! I'm Hagrid by the way."

Jolted out of his thoughts, Harry replied suavely," Pleased to make your acquaintance Hagrid. Thank you for coming to pick me up on such a short notice."

Harry then went onto the sidecar, buckled up before Hagrid started the motorbike and went off to Diagon Alley in the most magical way – by flying.

As they reached a most peculiar pub and inn in London – the Leaky Cauldron as could be seen on the sign overhead the place, Hagrid landed and parked his bike. Harry went along with Hagrid into the building.

The moment Harry entered, he could feel a shiver in his body. He regarded it as being in touch with magic much denser than his past accommodation for the first time in his life. He felt joy for being in a place where nobody cared nor gave him any second glance at all. But best of all, he felt free here without being shackled by his relatives!

He looked around, taking note as he walked past the pub into a corridor. People here were wearing robes that were totally out of fashion in muggle twentieth century.

'Wizards' dress code I guess. I have got to learn more about Wizarding Customs and Etiquette,' Harry mused to himself as he wanted to fit in as much as possible into this society for here is where he belong.

As they neared a wall of brick in front, Hagrid took out his umbrella and tapped on the wall in a seemingly random motion. The wall soon gave way, folding by itself to open up an entire town behind.

It was dawn and shop keepers could be seen busying themselves opening up the shops. The whole street was quite deserted for it was still quite early at this time. Harry let his curiosity out of the bag as he looked around, keeping close to Hagrid and taking note of all the magical shops for the first time. There were plenty of things he had not seen before such as flying brooms, potions and many more!

As they reached their destination, Harry could see that they were before a majestic white building with a sign 'Gringotts, Wizarding Bank' overhead. They entered and Harry could see rows upon rows of creatures working. They had hideous-looking face, ears and noses out of proportion with the rest of their features. Being Harry, he asked Hagrid what creatures are they.

"These are goblins. Nasty lil creatures they are. If yer are not careful enough, yer could get yerself tortured with a fate worse than death." Hagrid whispered to Harry.

As they reached the teller, Hagrid gave the key for Harry's trust vault. Harry immediately frowned and asked in polite, "Hagrid, may I inquire as to why the key to my vault is in your hands?"

"OH!" Hagrid replied, waving his hand. "This ain't kept by me. I got it from 'eadmaster Dumbledore. Good man he is an' a powerful wizard I say."

Harry kept his façade at this moment, feeling a turmoil internally as to why somebody has his key without him knowing. It was his personal property and he decided to find out and resolve this matter as soon as possible.

"Alright Hagrid. I believe you but I shall be keeping the key from now on."

With a nod of his head, they followed another goblin called upon by the teller onto a cart. The cart moved down the dark mines at quite a fast velocity. Hagrid could be seen getting sick from the motion. As they reached the vault, the goblin inserted the key and twisted it. There were sounds of an internal mechanism unlocking itself behind the door.

Hagrid decided to stay outside and wait for Harry while he entered his vault and to say that he was shocked was an understatement. He was rich as seen by the heaps of gold, silver and bronze coins in his vault. He then asked the goblin for how much there are in his vault before getting a reply of fifty thousand galleons approximately.

"Is there any way I can carry more of the galleons out without coming back here countlessly?" Harry asked the goblin.

"Yes," the goblin sneered," you can purchase this money pouch from us. It is charmed to be connected to your trust vault so that you could withdraw any amount so long you have that amount within your vault."

"Hmm… Alright then, I would like to have a money pouch purchased then. Could you exchange some of the galleons into pounds as well?"

"Considered done. We will give you this muggle credit card that is attached to this vault as well. Time is ticking and every minute wasted is a galleon lost. Let's go," the goblin hurried them to the next stop where Hagrid could be seen taking a small pouch of object.

"What is that?" Harry asked curiously.

"I can' say 'arry. It's a task given by 'eadmaster Dumbledore." Hagrid replied while shaking his head.

'Hmm… Maybe I could use it to my advantage. Time for some little persuasion,'Harry thought.

"Hagrid," he started," you do know that with such an important object on hand, you could be attacked anytime? What if you lost that object? What do you think Headmaster Dumbledore will do to you?"

"'arry… What yer said make sense. We should 'urry up with e' purchasing of yer firs' year materials then," Hagrid replied.

"No Hagrid. I am suggesting that you go back to Headmaster Dumbledore first to secure that object. Merlin knows how disappointed he will be if you lose it." Harry persuaded Hagrid," you can trust me with buying of these stuff. I can be quite independent."

"But…" Hagrid started before he was cut off by Harry.

"Go on Hagrid. Do not break the trust given by Headmaster Dumbledore. Your task is of utmost important. Furthermore, I am old enough to enter school, and so I will be old enough to know my routes and purchasing of the stuff for Hogwarts."

"If yer say so… Thank yer fer lookin' out fer me 'arry," Hagrid said appreciatively, before he sniffed and continued," If yer need any help, yer remember to ask aroun'!"

"I will Hagrid. Thank you for bringing me here. See you soon!" Harry bid Hagrid farewell before he hurried off to buy his Hogwarts' equipment.

'Hook, line and sinker. What a simplistic man,' Harry thought.

Next, he decided to buy his clothes from Madam Malkin's. Deciding to purchase the highest quality types since he could afford it, he ordered five sets of acromantula silk robes, dragonhide boots and gloves. Harry then went off to buy a trunk with an extension charm placed such that it could fit a library of books inside. It had quite an extensive security such that if someone intruded upon the trunk, they would be in for a nasty surprise. With the help of the trunk-maker, the trunk had a feather-light charm placed on it, as well as a charm to shrink the trunk into a pocket-sized object for easier baggage activated by voice.

He decided his next stop would be Flourish and Blotts. He could spend the rest of the day here reading and purchasing the books. From young, Harry has developed an unhealthy obsession with gathering knowledge and reading is still one of the best ways.

And so, he decided to buy several other interesting books that were out of the required list such as – Mind Magicks, Beginner's Guide to Magical theory, Introduction to Ancient Runes and Wizarding Customs and Etiquettes. However, as much as he search, he could not find any books regarding his ability to hide in the shadow, and the reason why he is at peace whenever he was in the dark.

After buying a pewter cauldron – 'why would anybody waste their galleons on gold cauldron when a cheaper alternative works the same?' and the required potions ingredients and collecting his robes, he decided to visit his last stop – Ollivanders' Makers of Find Wands.

As he opened the door and entered, he was met with an empty counter. The place was filthy with cobwebs around the corners of the room. There were lots of boxes packed upon rows of shelves. If harry was to reckon a guess, there could be as many as a few thousand wands already made and ready to be sold. However, then comes the question as to where the shop keeper – Ollivander was? Harry walked up to the counter and looked around.

"Greetings Ollivander sir. Would you…" Before Harry could finish the sentence, he heard a soft tapping sound behind him and Harry immediately turned, muscles tensed and ready to react in the shortest possible moment.

"Well… Look who do we have here…" an old bespectacled man spoke, looking at Harry at such a way as if he could pierce through his soul, eyes twinkling. "Mister Potter… Eleven years had passed since the defeat of the dark lord. Eleven years since your family was thought to be annihilated by the death eaters and here you are, alive and well. Curious indeed as to how you survive the fire."

There was a subtle cringe before Harry covered up with his emotionless mask.

"What do you know of the fire?" Harry asked.

"Mister Potter, I know everything about it. I know how you have an affinity to fire and … to shadow. I know …" Before he could continue, Harry cut him off since he did not want more of his secrets out. Yet he did not know that if only he waited a few more seconds, he could solve the great mystery as to the origin of his special affinities and power.

"Keep everything you know a secret Ollivander or you will regret it." Harry threatened the old man. His eyes glowing slightly as he spoke. There was a slight vibration in the whole shop, signifying the danger Harry posed towards Ollivander.

"But of course Mister Potter. We…" Before he could continue, Harry noticed the slight twinge in the old man's finger, the slight difference in the heaving frequency of his chest and knew he did not regard his threat much if at all.

"I mean it!" Harry bellowed. A dark aura formed around him and fortunately or unfortunately, Ollivander was a person who could see the aura with his unique ability of sight.

The old man could be seen cowering from Harry. He gulped before nodding.

"I will trust you this time. Betray my trust and you will know the consequences."

Harry motioned towards Ollivander, "Shall we continue then?"

Ollivander felt slightly appeased from that action before squeaking out slightly," Left-handed or right-handed?"

"Neither. I am ambidextrous."

Ollivander then took out his magical measuring tape which automatically flew towards Harry, measuring whatever that needed to be measured.

"Alright then. Let's try this. 12 inches. Oak with dragon heartstring. Nice and flexible. Give it a wave"

Harry took the wand and gave it a wave. Nothing happened. Ollivander immediately took back and gave Harry another wand to try," How about this. Maple with phoenix feather. Great wand for charms."

Harry tried once again without any noticeable result. This continued on with more than twenty wands.

"Hmm… Curious indeed. Let's see you try this wand. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. Nice and supple."

Harry waved and yet again, there was no effect seen as a result. Ollivander took back the wand, a disappointed look etched on his face.

"Mister Potter. In my many years as a wand maker, you are the very first customer I see to not have any connections at all with any of the wands here. I think I would have to sell you a custom-made wand after all. Follow me." Ollivander beckoned to Harry to follow him into the back of the shop. He waved his hand, changing the direction of the sign hanged on the door to show that the shop is closed.

As Harry entered the back of the shop, he found out that there were a lot of ingredients in the many boxes placed. He was awestruck though he did keep that aloof expression. He walked past the many ingredients, curiously looking at it – he saw Dragon heartstrings, Unicorn tears, and even Thestral hair!

"Go on Mister Potter. Tell me when you feel any connection at all with the ingredients. You would have a feeling of your magic calling out to you that that is the right ingredient to make your wand."

Harry nodded before resuming his walk along the aisle. As he almost reach the end of the shop, he had that feeling of something pulling his chest. Thinking it was a connection, he turned and pointed towards the ingredient.

"Oh my… You sure are a special customer eh Mister Potter? Dementor's blood this is. Hard to obtain but powerful and dark magic it holds."

About a few steps later, there was another pull and he reached out to Ollivander to tell him to come and collect that ingredient.

"Basilisk venom. One of the strongest poison in the world. One drop is enough to kill even the strongest of wizard if left without treatment. Now let's go and pick you the wood for your wand."

Harry went over to the other section that was filled with different kinds of wood. There were woods of many different shades of colours, and some had never seen nor heard of before. The moment he found "his wood", he told Ollivanders.

"Blood wood. The wood found only in Vampire's territory, evolved from the many absorption of blood in the ground as a result of the nature of those creatures. Comeback in about an hour's time. I will have your wand ready by then Mister Potter."

Harry gave a slight nod of his hand and went out of shop. He breathed in deep bouts of fresh air, feeling suffocated from the cramped and confined shop he just left. With that, he decided to go back to Leaky Cauldron to make a few arrangements seeing that there was no reason for him to go back to Privet Drive anymore since he can afford renting a room now.

As he entered Leaky Cauldron, he made a beeline towards the barkeeper, also known as Tom as he heard other patrons calling him.

"Hello Tom. I would like to have a room until the first of September," Harry asked politely.

"Hello sir. I have a room for you ready. The rates would be at 3 Galleon per night. If you want any meals made, tell me and I will have it prepared. If you want, I could send it straight to your room."

"That is fine. So 32 days from now to September first would mean a total of 96 Galleon," Harry calculated before giving Tom 50 Galleon as deposit. "I will pay the rest on the middle of August Tom. Could you make me lunch for now?"

"That will be fine. You have any specific requirements sir?"

"As long as it is not fried and I would be fine. Thank you," Harry replied before moving towards one of the corner table that was empty. He took out his book from his trunk before starting to read up on Beginner's Guide to Magical Theorysince that was what he was most interested in currently. After meal, he went back to Ollivander's to collect his wand.

"Here is your wand Mister Potter. Thirteen inches. Blood wood with Basilisk Venom and Dementor's Blood. This is one of the darkest wand I have ever made over my many years in service. Be warned that any light magic used in conjunction with the wand would have a significantly weakened effect, such as a healing spell would not be effective much. I believe this will be 65 Galleon."

Harry handed the exact change before walking back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron. He was totally exhausted for he had not sleep much the previous day what with Hagrid visiting him in midnight. Moments later, Harry was totally knocked out.

Over the next month, Harry spent his time going to Muggle London to purchase interesting books with subject like Psychology and Persuasion and influence. After all, if he wanted to survive in a new world like this magical world, he would need every weapon he could find in his arsenal.

Harry did visit Knockturn Alley as well to purchase on several of the books on Dark Arts. After all, he had a wand that specialised in those spells and there was no reason for him to hold back on that subject. He was able to avoid the attention garnered by releasing his dark aura as well as by walking in the shadow.

Harry was a genius from young. An average person would spend a few days before digesting a book on Psychology. Yet Harry could glean everything he needed within a day. Coupled with his need to only sleep for 4 hours per day, you could say that he had a lot of time for readings to be done.

He found out that through mediation, one could find out about his magical core thus enabling him to better understand his magic and control it without any magical foci while at the same time, powering up any spells he did.

Through comparison and cross-referencing, he deducted that magic is like muscles. The more you use it, the more you put unduly stress on it, the stronger it would grow when it is recovered. He had been using magic since a tender age of 6, doing amazing things that seemed impossible – calling out to a book which flew towards him, disappearing from certain danger and appearing on the roof of the school and the most amazing of all, to hide in shadows which nobody could see him. Thus he would assume that his magical core as of now would be quite strong.

Also as seen from the book Beginner's Guide to Magical Theory, he gleaned of the knowledge that being a healthy and physically strong wizard would improve his magical abilities by leaps and bounds. Thus, he decided to start exercising whenever he could. Waking up early in the morning to run in Muggle London of course. He began doing push-ups and sit-ups after running so as to gain strength in his core and arms. Furthermore, having a physically attractive side would allow him to gain more influence and persuasion from the opposite gender. So all in all, there is much motivation for him to exercise as much as possible.

However, the biggest change in his life was the moment he found and read a book Deception – A lost Art. Deception was a very important skill set he should have. By deceiving others, he could lower the opposition's guard. At the same time, when they thought that he was weak, he would strike at their weakest point thus overcoming them. This works even with a much stronger opponent be it in duels, or in political sense. When the opposition underestimate you, it would be their very downfall.

As a result, Harry decided to have a magical suppressing rune tattooed onto his skin. This would ensure his magical abilities are restricted, thus showing to the others that he was a weak and average wizard. At the same time, with his magic supressed, it would be like having weights on your body. His magic would grow tremendously as his magic – a muscle – get restrained. In a nut shell, it would be a kind of resistance training albeit one on his core switched on 24/7. However, he would have to learn more about ancient runes so as to allow him to adjust the amount supressed when his magic grew. He decided to continue wearing baggy clothes to make other think he was poor, and at the same time, hid his physique from unwanted eyes.

Although it would be good to show off his power, he still had much to learn so as of now, it was pointless to show off too much power. Deception, after all could mean life and death for him.

A/N: I know the Harry I portray here seems much more mature than his age. But that is what living in an abusive environment does to you. You are forced to grow up and become independent. Even though in some cases Harry is more mature than people his age, he does not know how to react for social situations. Thus, he acted suavely that way to Hagrid because he tried mimicking others in persuading. Anyway, this is my first fiction so yeah...