A.N. And now for something a little different. This is something that will likely incorporate bits and pieces from anywhere that strikes my fancy, like some kind of patchwork monstrosity. Hopefully it will come together, but who can say?
As per usual, regardless of whether characters are 'good' or 'bad', I intend to avoid character bashing. Romance isn't something I'm thinking about, currently, but I can say Hermione most certainly won't be involved in such a capacity.
So, to start off, I'll say straight out there are bits of Omamori Himari present from the get go. I'm not putting this in the crossover section, at least right now, since plot elements from that won't show up/for a while and other series may make just as much of an appearance.
The Dursley family were perfectly ordinary. Everyone on Privet drive would agree that all the Dursley's were fine upstanding citizens. However, the same could not be said of their nephew. Everyone who met him felt a strange sense of unease at being near him, and thus everyone avoided him, and this solitude singled him out as a target for the other children to bully. Everyone was aware of this bullying, but the weirdness he gave off ensured that no one would interfere with it.
Dressed in a perfectly ordinary suit, except for the eccentric colouring was an old man named Albus Dumbledore. This man had come to this perfectly ordinary neighbourhood to see the one out of place thing on the street – one Harry Potter.
For Harry Potter was a wizard, and was now of an age to be told about the magical world hidden from the boring, ordinary people. Normally it would be Professor McGonagall dealing with this sort of situation. However, the situation of young Harry Potter was as far from ordinary as could be.
For Harry Potter had become the target of the Dark Lord Voldemort. His parents had been unable to stand against the Dark Lord's might, and the Dark Lord had turned his wand on the child Harry Potter. Due to his mother's actions, the killing curse was reflected by the child, supposedly slaying the Dark Lord. Ordinarily such an occurrence would be met with joy and celebration, however the means Lily Potter used to save her son were not well received. Albus's thoughts were drawn towards the house where young Harry Potter lived.
Said house was, to a wizard, utterly boring. Wizards (and Witches) preferred to make their houses interesting. Even an ordinary house such as this would have ornamentation, whether ornate carvings or gothic grotesques, or even plants growing over the walls, to mark that the house was a home, and to display their magical talent to any guests. If a wizard were told that they were expected to live in a house identical to someone else's, they would look at you as if you were mad. A house should have 'character' was a common saying among magical folk.
It was not the first time he had seen this particular house, nor the identical houses on each side of it, as far as the eye could see. He had been here several years' prior, dropping young Harry into the resident's care. The woman, Petunia, had been as foul tempered as he recalled from when he had met her at young Harry's parents wedding. Alas, he had no recourse but to bring young Harry here, as much as it pained him to leave Harry with such people.
Marshalling his thoughts for what promised to be a difficult conversation, Albus approached and knocked on the door. After a small wait young Petunia opened the door, paling as she got a good look at him.
"Ah, good morning Petunia. I hope the day finds you well?" he asked cheerfully.
"You! What are you doing here?"
Albus frowned "I would have thought that that would be obvious. I distinctly recall you having a sister who received an invitation at around the same age as young Harry is now. You cannot have forgotten?"
Petunia shot glances around, before almost manhandling him inside, closing the door behind him. Albus was distinctly amused. Even young Lucius Malfoy would not dream of showing him such disrespect were he to suddenly drop by for a visit.
"The fr- boy is in the garden. Take him and go. I don't want to see him again."
Albus sighed. She was as unpleasant as he remembered. He rarely used it, but the flashes he caught in the woman's mind about young Harry pained his heart. Depending on how well Harry progressed this year, hopefully Albus wouldn't have to expose young Harry to these… people. Either way, when his business was concluded, he would leave some interesting surprises for the family.
"You know that he may need to return here for the summer holidays, but I will see what I can do Petunia. Now then, if you'll excuse me I must go and speak with young Harry."
With that he turned his back on Petunia and made his way out to the garden, where young Harry was sat in a tree solitarily, save for the small cat sat upon his lap, basking in the feel of the young lads hands through its fur. The complete lack of emotion on his face gave Albus pause. In addition to that, he felt the wrongness radiating off the boy. His heart clenched at the reminder of the arts that young Lily had sunk to exploring in her desperation to save her child's life.
He cleared his throat to get the boys attention. The lad turned to him with those brilliant green eyes that had bewitched so many from his mother's face.
The boy looked at him for a moment before speaking "Is there something I can help you with sir?" There was a pleasant expression on his face. If Albus had not known better than he would have considered that his earlier expressionless was a trick of the light.
"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster at a school for special children. Your parents were both past students at my school. Regardless of what your… relatives have told you, they were not drunks nor did they die in a car accident." Albus paused to think how he should proceed.
"We met several years ago." At the boy's confusion Albus elaborated "I was the one who brought you to this house after the passing of your grandparents." The boy's eyes narrowed at him.
"Before you get alarmed, allow me to apologise. Under ordinary circumstances I would not have done so, however it was of upmost importance that you live with blood relatives. While they fervently wished against it, your grandparents accepted the importance of this and agreed for you to stay here."
"I see." The lad said with a guarded expression.
"The school I speak of is a school for those with a special ability, the ability to use magic."
The boy's eyes widened slightly "the things I can do, they're magic?"
Albus paused again. "In a manner of speaking. Your… abilities are the reason you need to be with blood relatives. However, before I go into that, there are other things that must first be discussed. When you were but a child, an evil wizard who calls himself Lord Voldemort attacked your parents. His attempt to kill you backfired and he has not been seen since."
Albus sighed "This part is somewhat… difficult to speak of. Your mother used an obscure art called blood magic to save you. That is why you have been living with blood relatives this whole time, even if it has been… unpleasant." Albus paused here, not particularly wanting to reveal the next bit, but he couldn't not know. "Blood magic is also heavily illegal, and the ministry somehow found out the nature of what your mother did to protect you. Your mother has spent the past ten years in the wizarding prison of Azkaban for what she did to you, and it took a lot of effort on my part to make the ministry accept that your existence is not a sin and should not be punished. You have likely noticed that you're different than other people, that you have some connection with blood that others do not. I will not force you to attend my school. But I will not lie to you; many of the students will fear you. Many may hate you. You may not make friends, and people may try to victimise you. But even so, I would strongly recommend you come to Hogwarts. You may have noticed that your presence… offends people. I am not an expert on blood magic, but I suspect that you should be able to find a method to seal off that 'aura'."
The boy looked down at his hand, or perhaps the cat his hand was resting on. His thoughts were hidden from Albus, though he could make a guess.
The boy said nothing for a long while. "You said my mother is in prison, what of my father?"
Albus paused, trying to think of how to explain this. "Your father is alive." The boy's eyes narrowed again so Albus quickly continued "While I counted your parents among my friends, after your mother was imprisoned, your father formally ended our friendship. He did not explain why, however his friend tried. Apparently the family magic of the Potter family means that the Potters had to send you away, and could not try and help you in anyway. He implied that there was something you had to do, and no 'friend' of the Potters can help you. I suspect his termination of our friendship was so I could offer you any help I was capable of."
"What is this task I must apparently do?"
Albus shrugged. "Honestly I don't know. I received a small book to pass to you when you attend Hogwarts. I also have several books regarding blood magic due to my… positions. While I cannot offer them to you, I would not notice if they were to go missing for a while."
The lad stared at him, clearly understanding that it was a clear manipulation. That was good, Harry needed to understand that anyone he met would have ulterior motives given his nature.
"Himari." The lad said. Albus raised a questioning eyebrow, "My friend." He gestured at the cat, "Can she come too?"
Albus nodded, "Yes, students are allowed to bring certain pets, and cats are one of them."
The boy's eyes flashed angrily, "She's not my pet, she's my friend."
Dumbledore concealed his smile, seeing the boy claim a friend, even given his circumstances, it truly did his heart good. "It is not permitted to bring friends to Hogwarts, however, so long as she's registered as a 'pet' she will be able to come."
With a resigned sigh, the boy made his decision.
Harry made a grimace at the unpleasant feeling of apparition. It wasn't something he would be looking forward to experiencing again. He felt Himari's claws dig into his arm, she clearly didn't like the feeling either.
"Don't worry, everyone finds the first side-along apparition to be unpleasant." Came the jovial voice of Dumbledore next to him.
He had a vague recollection of an old man taking him from his grandparents' house, but it wasn't really clear to him. He had been upset about it and didn't remember much from the period between his grandparents failing health and his move to Privet Drive.
"I would rather have just taken you to within the alley, but alas, tradition dictates that the first time to Diagon alley must come through the Leaky Cauldron." Dumbledore said.
It didn't matter. Harry just wanted to get this over with. Dumbledore had mentioned it earlier. The magical world would be no different from the non-magical one. People would resent him, either due to knowing about him before hand, or from the unsettling aura he seemed to give off.
That said, he would admit that he was slightly curious about it. He vaguely remembered about his grandparents teaching him about the existence of demons (or monsters, they used both terms) and training him as a demon slayer. However, from what he remembered they never mentioned anything about human magical society. He guessed they must have known, but they never told him.
"Well, shall we be off?" Dumbledore asked, leading him through the dingy entry.
His first impression was a little impressed. The interior of the pub was far less dingy then the exterior suggested. The moment he was through the door all the customers seemed to stiffen and look around nervously.
The barman called out to Dumbledore "Good morning Headmaster, can I get you anything?"
"No thanks, I am showing a new student around the alley today Tom."
The barman's attention was drawn towards Harry, gaining a thoughtful look before his eyes widened in surprise, taking an unconscious step backwards. "Is- Is that Harry Potter?" he asked nervously.
The noise in the pub was instantly silenced, everyone turning to look at Dumbledore.
"Indeed it is." Dumbledore confirmed gaily.
The reaction was instant. Chairs scraped across the floor as the entire pub rapidly took a step back with fearful eyes. Harry's face betrayed none of the irritation he felt, maintaining a pleasant expression.
Ignoring the change in atmosphere Dumbledore continued light heartedly "Anyway, if you'll excuse us, we must depart."
The barman stuttered out his response, "R-right, just go on through headmaster."
Dumbledore led Harry through the pub into a small courtyard out the back. Tapping on the wall with his wand the door revealed itself and Harry took his first steps into Diagon Alley. The first stop was Gringotts. Apparently his mother had set aside some money for him. After receiving his key and drawing out some money they hit the shops. The scene from the pub, entire rooms stepping back at the sound of his name was repeated in pretty much every shop they visited.
After retrieving everything he would need for Hogwarts, Dumbledore stopped to treat Harry to an ice cream. While Harry ordered a relatively normal one, Dumbledore received a positively monstrous looking ice cream. Over a dozen colours, bits and pieces sprinkled all over with chocolate sauce dripping down it. Harry stared amazed at the sight of the Headmaster eating such a thing. What was even more amazing was that the headmaster managed to finish it without even getting a drop of chocolate sauce in his beard. Harry resolved if he was ever going to return here he would order a 'Dumbledore Special'.
"Now Harry," Dumbledore said once they were both finished "I can arrange for you to spend the time until September first here, you can make your own arrangements, or you can stay at Hogwarts until term starts."
Harry paused to think it over, finally deciding "I'd like to stay at Hogwarts if that's all right, sir."
Dumbledore nodded. "Usually students are not permitted to stay at school outside of the school year, but I can make an exception for you. Now, I'll have an elf deliver your things to Hogwarts," with a clap of his hands Harry's new belongings vanished, "there is just one more stop I have to make. If you'll accompany me to Gringotts?" He said, standing up to lead the way.
As they were passing Quality Quidditch Supplies, they stopped to avoid two men who swiftly walked out the shop. Harry's eyes met the eyes of one of the men and they both froze, unable to look away from the other.
"Ah, James, Sirius. It has been some time since I last had the pleasure." Dumbledore spoke.
"Sorry about that headmaster, but I'm sure you know how it is." The other man, Sirius, replied.
"…Indeed."
Dumbledore glanced over at Harry. "I was just showing young Harry around. I was about to take him to Hogwarts after one more stop."
The man looked over at Harry. "I see. I hope you have a good time at Hogwarts, Harry." He laid an arm on the other man, James' shoulder. "James, come on, time to go."
'James' nodded. "Right, let's go, Sirius." He spoke in an odd tone. Harry couldn't identify the emotions behind it.
Without another word the two men turned and left. Harry and Dumbledore watched them go. Harry's fist clenched and began trembling. Dumbledore looked over at him with a sad expression, before turning away. "I apologise. I did not expect to run into them here. Anyway, come, I need to withdraw something from Gringotts." He said, leading him away.
Harry stood patiently in the ground floor of the bank. Dumbledore had gone off to retrieve something, leaving Harry alone. His mind was filled with various thoughts. For one, he considered all the information he had about this 'magical' world, and his place in it. He had always known himself by the name Harry Evans, the name of his Grandparents, his mother's maiden name. Yet this world seemed to know him as Harry Potter.
He wondered if this was because he chose his grandparents name or if his 'father' had withdrawn the name 'Potter' from him. He wondered if it actually mattered.
He wondered if the wizarding world knew of the existence of demon hunters. Since there were apparently magical creatures, maybe the monsters he had been told about were just magical creatures?
He glanced over at some armed goblins. They were glaring at him while holding onto their weapons. Well, he assumed they were glaring, it seemed to be their default expression. He idly wondered how difficult it would be to bait them into a fight. He reckoned that they would respond with hostility to even something as non-threatening as him waving at them.
He glanced down back at his hand. It seemed to hum with energy. Other people seemed to hum less. It was his blood, calling out to him. If he cut himself, it would respond to his call, taking any shape he willed it to. He could then close the wounds with his will. This was probably a result of the blood magic that Dumbledore was talking about.
Speaking of Dumbledore, he hummed in a manner more similar to himself than any other person he had met before coming to this place. The goblins hummed in a completely different manner to the humans he had met. Theirs was a song of violence and pain. Well, it was difficult to put into words in the first place, but it sounded about right.
He looked up, sensing that Dumbledore had returned, still wearing the flamboyant suit he had worn at the Dursley's. "Are you done with your errand, Sir?" he asked pleasantly. It had been drummed into his head that people were just looking for an excuse to punish him due to his 'aura', so being unfailingly polite meant people needed to actually try to find an excuse.
"Yes, indeed I am. Now that that is out of the way, come, I shall escort you to Hogwarts." He said, leading Harry out of the bank. Dumbledore reached over, grabbing him by the shoulder as they left the bank, the two of them disappearing with a crack.
Dumbledore led the boy up to his office. They did not run into anyone on the way, though whether that was a good thing or not was up for debate. Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk, conjuring a chair for Harry on the other side.
"Now Harry, first things first. Take good care of your wand. It is an incredibly important tool. It can be used in almost any branch of magic. The first five years of your schooling here will be testing your affinity for various wand arts. Your performance in those classes will determine what sort of advanced magic you can study in your sixth and seventh year, and those can influence your career choices. As such, keeping your wand in good order is an important task."
"Thank you for the warning, sir." Harry replied.
"On that note, please don't take me for a fool. I can see right through your act. At least when we are alone, there is no need for it, I assure you."
The pleasant expression on his face dropped immediately. His facial structure didn't change, but he somehow looked completely different. "Fine. What else." He said with little emotion.
Dumbledore felt his heart ache, but pressed on "Second, there were several voices that were opposed to your coming to Hogwarts, both in Britain and on an international scale. Some of those voices were of the opinion that you should be pressed into service for the sake of the International Confederacy of Wizards, or the ICW. I would advise that you don't do anything that they could use to draft you into service. I do not want to see a child forced into duties that may as well be considered warfare."
"Understood." The lad was clearly quite good at stoicism at the very least.
"Finally," Dumbledore flicked his wand, causing several books to fly over, landing on the desk, "These are the books I have obtained that discuss blood magic, as well as the book your father left in my possession for you. I cannot teach you about their contents, and I cannot let you look at the books on blood magic." He got to his feet, "That said, I must go and visit Professor McGonagall for a matter of some little importance. I am afraid that in my old age, I sometimes find myself misplacing things. Do you understand?" He asked.
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"Good. I must go now; I shall have an elf escort you to your rooms. I hope you enjoy your time here." The headmaster said as he left the room.
Harry watched him go silently before he turned to the books. The top book was a small leather bound book with 'to Harry' written on the front. Then there were a few books that were clearly aged. Harry picked them up, turning to leave the room. A small creature popped into existence in front of him. He stopped himself from lashing out. The training from his grandparents had been harsh, but Aunt Petunia's was clearly channelling her hatred of him.
He stared at the creature. "If Harry Potter sir will follow me".
The creature led him to a room before it disappeared. Harry stared at the door for a moment, before turning to the books. He opened the book addressed to him that was apparently from his father as Himari jumped up into his lap.
He spent the next couple of hours reading through it repeatedly while idly stroking Himari, enjoying the gentle thrum and sound of her purring.