The Prodigy Trilogy

A Story in three acts.

Summary: Choices define us, not just our own, but those around us. When a different choice is made, events are set in motion that open the curtain on an entirely new play, one that affects not just wizarding Britain, or even muggle Britain New choices, new friends, and a new enemy means the intrepid heroes of our adventures must set on an adventure far beyond any of them expected.

A/N: This is a personal idea that has been spinning around my head constantly, evolving as it goes, but the basic storyline has stayed the same. Since Its been there long enough, I have decided to get something on paper and see what people think of it. Characters are blatantly borrowed from places, both in principal and directly. Don't expect canon for anything after the beginning of the story (summer before fourth year) or from any external characters. Names have been changed to protect the idiotic. Starts a bit slow, but picks up as we go.

This story is un-betaed, and is probably rife with errors. Anyone with suggestions, comments, or anything else, please feel free to review, though I reserve the right to ignore you. I hope this story is as entertaining to you as it was in my head, but if its not, feel free to leave.

Content/Pairings: lots of OC/OC, HP/HG NL/LL are the only canon pairings I will confirm at this time, though there will be others. Smut will be implied most definitely, written smut is possible, though if it is there, it will most likely be terrible. Violence and such are also expected. Also expect politics and backstory. I plan to write this in a style similar to Steinbeck in Grapes of Wrath, separating story with details, so I expect not all chapters will appeal to all people. Read what you want, skip what you don't.

Note: My brain is a DJ, and most of my thoughts have a soundtrack. Therefore, many of the scenes I will be writing will have soundtracks to them. This does NOT mean I am writing songfics, but I will note if a chapter has an associated track at the beginning, and if it ties to a scene, I will note where that starts.

Disclaimer: I am not making money from writing. Any characters, alive or dead, fictional or actual, implied or otherwise, are completely fabricated. I will not be responsible for any deaths or lawsuits resulting from reading this document.

introduction: Three Scenes, Three Choices

Somewhere in England if you look hard enough you can find a small suburban neighborhood known as Little Whinging. It is a small, clean suburb, one that has managed to avoid a lot of the more 'modern' trends that have seen homes of rather dubious construction and even more dubious residents. In this neighborhood is a street that could very easily have been taken home for home from your typical fifties and sixties TV show, with immaculate lawns, well tended gardens, and smiling and happy neighbors. Like most Hollywood sets, some of this was a false veneer, of course, hiding a few busybodies and gossips, and some slightly dubious characters, but all who lived on Privet Drive accepted this, with the unspoken rule that any cracks in the veneer would be scrutinized yes, but never spoken of. At least, nowhere where anyone would admit it.

One of those homes, however, one Number Four, was the exception to this rule. Not outwardly, of course; The elder residents of this home, a couple by the name of Petunia and Vernon Dursley, did try their best to follow along with the well established way of things in their neighborhood, however one of the residents in the home wouldn't allow them to truly fit in to their existence, through no fault of his own. You see, that boy, one Harry Potter, was a rather extraordinary character. Delivered to the Dursley household in a basket on a Halloween some years ago, the boy, from the time of his arrival, was in many ways the antithesis of the normality presented on Privet drive much to the Dursley's frustration. You see, Harry, through no fault of his own of course, was actually a Wizard. To him, this means a world could be open to him of possibilities and adventures unimaginable by most. The Dursleys, however, saw Harry as nothing but a threat to the existence they had coveted so much for so many years. They felt that the 'perfect' existence they had been working on for so long, and had nearly achieved with Vernon's promotion at Grunnings, was put completely on hold due to the abandoned spawn of James and Lily Potter. This is why they chose to hate Harry, to hide him away. Though they did not outright abuse him as a young child, as they both agreed early on that regardless of the "freakishness" he often exbited he was not to be physically abused. Instead, he was often neglected, while their own child was spoiled and given all the things that he could possibly want.

This is why he lived in a cupboard with little knowledge of his own past until his eleventh birthday. This is why he is currently locked in what was once his cousin's second bedroom, receiving his food from a cat flap in the door. And this is one of the reasons why he was pacing the floor of this room deep in thought late at night.

The past several years had seen many changes in Harry Potters life, from the discovery of new friends and family, to the pain of loss caused by the recent separation from his godfather, Sirius Black, at the end of the previous year. It was these changes, and what he has done in his past, that was running through his head at that moment. As he paced in his small room, looking to the observer rather like a tiger prowling his cage, his mind was whirling, thinking of those who have sacrificed for him. His closest friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, have (with few exceptions) stood by him through three years of what even he would even admit were a long list of trials and tribulations. His parents so many years ago sacrificed their very lives to Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort to protect him, their very sacrifice creating a protection that has guarded him against those who would harm him for most of his young life. Those closest to him had given so much of themselves for him, and though he had grown up in an environment where love was certainly not on the list of things he experienced regularly, he did understand what that meant. His parents loved him and cared for him even after their passing, Ron treated him as good as a brother and Harry cared for him as such as well. Hermione was a true and good friend and Harry...

Here Harry shook his head to clear it slightly, a small grin on his face. He would often do that when thinking about Hermione recently, though he wondered often what exactly that meant. Passing it off, yet again, as a moment lost in thought, he moved on. Sirius, his recently discovered convict slash godfather had spent over a decade in the worst prison in the world, haunted by his worst nightmares come to life, simply because he cared for Harry. All of these people had come together in his mind, a group of people who he knew he would give anything and everything for.

In contrast to these, he took stock of his situation here with the Dursleys. He was aware, of course, that he was here because of protection established by the headmaster of his school, Albus Dumbledore, shortly after the death of his parents. Professor Dumbledore had once or twice inquired of his home life over the years, and he inferred from the conversations that he was aware of the neglect he suffered, but felt that it was a fair trade for protection from much darker forces at work in the world. Though he could respect that decision, he still didn't like it, and wished that he could instead take those protections and shove them up Vernon's arse (he snickered momentarily at this thought) and go to live with his "roguishly handsome, very cool godfather" as Sirius had described himself. At one point, he would have simply smiled and moved on after thinking this, thanking whatever fates put them in his life and accepting that there were some things that just had to happen, but tonight his thoughts drifted from this path. Tonight, the thing that was keeping him up was a single thought, a small snippet of conversation that came from those few precious minutes he was able to spare alone with his godfather before his rather dramatic escape...

"Harry," Sirius said, his change of tone immediately dousing Harry's rather good mood considering the circumstances "I want you to know, I am so sorry for how things turned out. I did wrong by you by going after the rat. I should have stayed with you." Harry immediately started to vehemently protest, knowing that Sirius could not have known how things would have gone, but Sirius raised a hand to stop him. "You have to understand Harry, I had a duty to you, and I made a promise to James and Lily when I first agreed to be your Godfather, that I would do whatever I could to keep you safe. I thought I was doing so, but unfortunately, I let my anger take hold of me, and made a decision that ended up dishonoring that promise. I just want you to know that from now on, I am going to do everything I can to make things right between us. For you, for your parents, and for myself. I know I can never really make it up to you, but I hope that I can do my best for you from now on... you know, you could come live with me..."

And on the conversation went until the unfortunate full moon came out from behind the clouds, putting a damper on any thoughts of having a new home that Harry might have had. However, those few moments, where his newly discovered godfather, one of the few tenuous links to his family, gave him that promise, those words stuck in his head long after all the excitement had faded.

Harry's thoughts drifted from Sirius to all those who had stood by him, his friends, his family, his godfather, and he made a decision there in that moment. Harry was going to do the same thing that his godfather promised him to do. It was only right, after all. He looked over at the small desk that the Dursleys had "gifted" him, where a small cracked mirror was propped up on some of last year's schoolbooks. Through the cracks he looked, right into his own green eyes, and promised himself then and there, that he would do right by those who stood by him. He would make the best of what he had, and do the best for those he cared about, whatever it took to make them, and himself, happy.

He had read a little about magical contracts while doing some research for some of his schoolwork, and he recalled the words that often sealed oaths. He felt it fitting, as this truly was an oath even though it was only to himself, and with a tiny grin "So mote it be." Feeling the magic that sealed the promise to himself come forward for just a moment, he was only slightly surprised to see the glow that accompanied such an oath surround him. It was magic after all. With a new resolve, he nodded to himself in the mirror, the three copies of his face shown by the partially broken glass nodding back, and he climbed into bed to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, he said to himself, tomorrow everything changes.

Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore was in a pickle. Though one would be hard pressed to note it, the ever present twinkle in his eye was slightly forced this evening, as he found himself once again in the International Commission of Education head office in the Geneva headquarters for the International Confederation of Wizards. The commissioner was leaning back in his chair arms folded across his chest, with a self satisfied smirk on his face.

"I have already told you, Albus, that isn't enough! Unless headmaster Karkaroff comes here directly to deliver the paperwork, I cannot consider Durmstrang's entry into the tournament binding. You knew when you decided to bring back this tournament how dangerous it was-"

"I believe I have already proven the point to the commission that I am fully capable of mitigating the risks associated with the tasks."

"Yes but not the hazards associated with the goblet itself! You know as well as I do how dangerous an artifact like that could be. Damn thing would be classifieds as dangerous and destroyed if it wasn't for these tournaments and you know it. No, I refuse to put the world's best and brightest through any unnecessary risk, so you had better hope Igor will be here before midnight, or you can forget about having the tournament."

"I assure you, commissioner, that Igor will be here shortly." Of course, Dumbledore could truly assure the commissioner of any such thing, as Igor Karkaroff, former Death Eater and current headmaster of Durmstrang Academy, was nowhere to be found. It appears that after Albus' eventually successful attempts to convince the man to return to Britain for the tournament, he had decided to disappear for some time. Albus cursed his lack of foresight for not getting him to commit in person while he had the chance. He had hoped by getting what was widely considered the "darkest" students in Europe to come to Hogwarts, he and his staff could subtly convince them to take up the cause of the light, or at least remain neutral in the war to come. Now it appeared that his well laid plans were going to be all for naught. His mind scrambled for a solution, any ray of light that would shine on a solution to this dilemma, but as the clock counted down the moments to midnight.

At five minutes, the sweat started to build on Dumbledore's brow as he seriously contemplated obliviating the man in front of him and implanting a memory of Igor arriving with the proper documents.

At four minutes, he coughed to cover the pang of regret that ran through his head at the thought of doing so. He supposed that the spectre of Gellert's ideals still liked to assert itself head even now, decades after their falling out. He always thought that there was no reason to obey the rules when the end result was all that mattered. It was this corruption of the "Greater Good" that caused the rift between the old friends, and in part was the eventual cause of the last Great War, both in the muggle and wizarding worlds.

At three minutes he realized that he was wasting time reminiscing when he should be thinking of a better way out of this mess.

At two minutes the commissioner leaned forward in his chair and gave Albus a almost sympathetic look. "Well, sir it seems that you are, unfortunately without a third school, and as such, without a tournament-"

"I believe you may be mistaken, commissioner."

Both of the seated wizards turned to look at the source of the new voice in shock, albeit for completely different reasons. The commissioner because he expected that Boone would be willing to participate in this charade willingly, and Albus had already pulled out all the stops convincing the two headmasters that originally committed as it was. "I beg your pardon, miss?"

The woman, dressed in a rather sophisticated looking sleeveless dress in a style more in line with muffle fashions than wizard ones, though still of a conservative length and cut, stepped into the room with a polite smile.

"Good evening, commissioner. I have here all the paperwork you require to enter our school as the third competitor in the tri-wizard tournament" she said, gracefully steeping forward to lay the paperwork on the desk, remaining standing next to he chair Dumbledore was seated in. The chair's occupant was thinking a mile a minute, trying to casually observe this new entry into the game. He was certain he had never met her before, and as such was unsure of what school she might be representing. Her posture and walk spoke of an economy of movement, and her eyes when not focused directly on the commissioner darted around the room, observing everything in her line of sight. His initial opinion of the young woman, whom he believed most people would consider strikingly beautiful he thought, was that she was not someone to be trifled with in any way. She continued to command the attention of the commissioner until Albus cleared his throat loudly, startling him momentarily.

"ah, yes of course" he said, shuffling through the paperwork. Everything seems in order here... representing America? I thought Salem had already turned down the offer to participate..."

"They did, commissioner. The headmaster at Salem felt that the potential risk to the students was too high, regardless of the... assurances of safety." She replied, sparing a sidelong glance at Albus, and what might have been a bit of a smirk, though it happened so quickly it might have been imagined. "However, Salem is not the only educational institution in the Americas, and after some consideration, my sisters and I have decided that the Prodigy school would be willing to take on the risk to represent our country in such a prestigious tournament. Now, I apologize for my forwardness, but if everything is in order, I really must be going, as we have much to do to prepare for the tournament. Sir?" she said, the commissioner, still stunned could only nod his head towards the woman, who nodded, bid the two good evening, and quickly walked out of the room. Both remaining inhabitants remained stunned for a moment until Albus quickly shook himself and bid the commissioner good evening, racing out of the room to catch up with the mysterious woman. He finally caught up with her as she was walking the hallways to the international Floo connections.

"Excuse me miss, a moment if you would, I would like to discuss details around the tournament-" he began, but she interrupted him as she continued to walk to the American connection point.

"I know you most likely have many questions, Professor Dumbledore, and I assure you, we are more than willing to provide you with answers, however I regret to inform you now is not the time for most of them. I need to return to our campus quickly in order to finish our initial preparations, and tell our students of the arrangements, allow them to speak to their families. My sisters and I will be in contact before the next full moon to arrange a meeting with you and Headmaster Maxine to finalize details, and you may ask any questions you wish then. In the meantime, Professor" she said, turning suddenly and facing him directly. He noted with some surprise that her demeanor, changed completely from the strict businesswoman she was in the office to one rather close to a lioness protecting her young. "I suggest you remain true to the words you spoke to the commission, and work to ensure that this tournament is as safe as possible. My sisters and I do not take kindly to our students being put at unnecessary risk. Now, good evening, professor."

And with that, she was gone. Albus stood there for a moment, wondering what exactly had happened just then. It was not often that someone was able to take command of the conversation like that around him, but even more so, she was able to insert herself in the tournament, something that had been painstakingly hidden until the last moment to avoid undue scrutiny by the wrong sort, with what appeared to be very little effort. He had made sure the headmaster from Salem was... disinclined to attend the tournament earlier in the month, since he was sure the position of the American ministries would be one of neutrality in any coming conflict, meaning that having them as an entry would have been counterproductive to his cause. Apparently, some other American school had found out and set themselves in a position to enter the tournament without his knowledge. In fact, this Prodigy school was one that he wasn't entirely sure he had heard of before.

With that, Albus turned and headed back to his ICW office and portkey back to Hogwarts. After a good night sleep, he would have a full day ahead of him tomorrow. He needed this tournament to go by smoothly to ensure that as many resources would be available to him if the war were to resume, as he was sure it would.

It was only a matter of time.

*giggle*

"Oh fantastic, she's giggling again" An eye roll, followed by a punch in the arm

"Stop it, Dee, its not often she's this excited anymore, and I prefer it to her mopin' around all the time."

more giggles "don't worry AJ, it shouldn't happen as much now. Things are changing."

Two blinks "...what?" "You mean..."

*giggles* "Yep, the winds have changed. I can feel it, it kinda tickles a bit. Even better, I think things might be okay now... or at least they might be better than they were."

"W-w-well that's good right? AJ what do you think"

"Dee, we don't know what it means, we never know what it means till she stops her giggling and tells us what it means."

*giggle* "Not this time, this time I need to talk to him first!"

Two more blinks

"But, Pink, the last time you tried to talk to him like that... remember what happened?"

"Yeak Pink, AJ is right, we don't want to you get hurt again."

Suddenly the giggles stopped. Wide eyes turned to the pair. "You don't understand... he's made his choice. He's started on the right path. I have to do this now. It's time for me to make my choice. I have to do my part to help, just like we all do."

"... "

*giggle*

AJ sighs. "Well, you won't stop giggling until you talk to him, will you."

*giggle* "Noper noodle!"

Another eye roll "Alright already, let's go find Dex and get him started on the machine before she starts rhyming everything she says."

*giggle*

So begins the trilogy of Prodigy. A new school, a new resolve, and some new players. The stage is set. Act one will begin soon, take your seats for the opening number.

End Prologue.

A/N: I know its pretty awful. But its an introduction. And its setting the stage for the real stuff, which starts soon. I'm starting the writing on chapter one now. R&R, many thanks!