The Deck of 53

Disclaimer: Don't own it and won't write it again.

Chapter I: Joker Comes to Visit.

He blinked. It was the only outward reaction that was visible. He could not believe what he was reading.

'Dear Mr. Potter,

I doubt I need to remind you that we are coming upon some dark times. With the return of Lord Voldemort at the end of last year, we must get ready for the upcoming war. This task is only made more difficult by the fact that our current Minister of Magic is refusing to acknowledge the Dark Lord's return. I wish to ensure that you remain safe, so I must implore that you stay with your relatives for the entire summer. I am sorry, but there is nowhere else that is safer than there. I will arrange for you to go get your supplies at a later date.

Have a good holiday,

Professor Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry couldn't believe that the Headmaster, arguably the authority figure he trusted the most, was trying to get him to stay at this house for the entire summer. How was he going to stand being around his relatives for that long. He hadn't had to stay with them the entire summer since he turned eleven.

Harry sighed. He didn't have time to be angry at his headmaster. He could find time for that later. There were more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. The first and foremost thing on his mind was his position at the very top of Voldemort's 'People Who Must Die' list. Why in the hell was he so important that Voldemort wanted him dead even more than Dumbledore?

Harry sat back in his desk chair. He tapped his pen against his leg as he thought about his situation. That wasn't the right question, he determined after careful thought. There was a more important question. How was he going to survive the war if the Dark Lord himself wanted to kill him, personally? He had dueled against him in the graveyard a few months ago and been completely out classed. The only thing that saved him was the priori incantatum due to the brother wands. He didn't beat himself up about it. He was dueling against someone with fifty years of knowledge and experience on him. He had no chance. Now the thing is somehow evening those odds.

The next thing he was worried about had something to do with Dumbledore's letter. He didn't know if this place wassafe anymore. The wards around here were based on his blood protection. The same blood protection that stopped Voldemort from touching him. Since that was no longer an issue for him, Harry wondered if the wards were still effective. For some reason, he wasn't willing to hinge his survival on it.

He needed a plan to get out of the house and go to a place where he couldn't be found. He had a few galleons stashed in his trunk, so money was not a problem. The problem was getting out without anybody finding out until it was too late.

A very loud sound from outside distracted him from his thoughts. It didn't sound like someone apparating, so he didn't become too concerned. He started to look out the window to catch a look at whatever the hell it was.

Before he could get a good look, the curtains magically shut. His eyes widened for a split second as he became aware of somebody in his room. He grabbed his wand and spun around, pointing his wand at the new arrival.

All that was visible on the stranger was a dirty, beat up brown travelling cloak. He had the hood up over his face. He held his wand in his hand, but wasn't pointing it at him.

Harry relaxed, but didn't lower his wand. This man didn't look like a death eater, and he wasn't making any threatening moves.

"We need to talk Mr. Potter, and we don't have much time." the cloaked man said. He flicked his wand three times and conjured a small circular table and two chairs. "Please sit." With that being said, he sat down in a chair and placed his wand on the table with the handle facing away from him.

Harry recognised it as a gesture of peace and did the same. "Who are you and why are you here?" he asked.

"I would love to tell you who I am, but time is short. I am here to offer you a way out of here. Your fears were correct, Harry. Dementors are on their way here. You have about five minutes to decide what to do." the stranger said. "You can trust me and get the hell out of here alive, or you can stay and risk life and limb waiting on Dumbledore to arrive."

Harry was shocked. He wasn't sure whether he should believe him, or not. It was confusing. He didn't know this man, and Dumbledore didn't send him. He was sure of that because Dumbledore would have came and gotten him himself.

"I know this is hard to believe, Harry, but we don't have time. You have three minutes to make up your mind. Trust me, or don't." the man said, his voice reflecting his urgency.

"How many dementors are there?" Harry asked. He was decently skilled with the Patronus charm.

"Forty. Give or take. I know what you are thinking, but it is too much for you to handle. Let me take care of it, and you get the hell out of here." he said. "You have two minutes."

"Voldemort sent them?" Harry asked. He had a hard time believing that Voldemort would leave it up to Dementors. He would want to do the honors himself.

"I don't think so. He would have came himself." he replied, unknowingly echoing Harry's thoughts. "It still doesn't change the fact that you are in very real danger. You won't be much help in the fight against Voldemort with your soul sucked out."

At that very moment, a very sudden chill crept into the room. The sunlight that had been coming through the window was suddenly blocked out, and Harry began to hear a woman screaming.

"Make your decision Harry."

With the screaming growing ever louder in his head, Harry decided to trust the stranger. "How do I get out of here?" he asked.

"You could say that I'm going to buy you some time." he said, holding up a golden chain.

Harry instantly recognised the small hourglass dangling on the chain, having used a time turner in third year to save his godfather. He took it from the man and threw the chain around his neck.

"This time turner works in minutes. Go downstairs and turn it eight times. No more and no less." he said, grabbing his wand and flicking it a few times. All of Harry's possessions flew into his trunk. Even the things hidden under the loose floorboard flew out and neatly packed themselves. "Call the Knight Bus. Go to Diagon Alley. Go to Florean Fortescue's. I'll meet you there."

Harry reached for the handles on his trunk when it promptly shrunk to the size of a matchbox and flew into his hand. He placed it into his back pocket as he was rushed out of his room and down the stairs.

"Remember Harry. Eight turns." the stranger said as he walked out of the front door. Harry took a glimpse out the door and saw the black robes of the darkest creatures he had ever come into contact with. Without another thought, Harry spun the hourglass.

***

Harry sat at Florean Fortescue's eating an ice cream cone. He had been waiting on his mysterious saviour to arrive for the past five minutes. Just as he was about to take another bite of his ice cream, an envelope plopped down into his bowl.

He frowned and picked it up. It was addressed to him. He turned it over. It had the seal of the Ministry of Magic on it. Why would the Ministry send him anything? He didn't remember getting a letter like this since Dobby, the house-elf, had magically floated and dropped a cake on one of the Dursley's guests in second year.

'Dear Mr. Potter

We have recently detected that a Patronus Charm was cast. As this is a clear violation of the Underage Sorcery Law and the International Law of Magical Secrecy, you have been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hoping you are well,

Mafalda Hopkirk,

Department for the Improper Use of Magic.'

"I didn't cast a Patronus..." Harry said, confused.

"But I did."

Harry looked up, startled by the sudden appearance. He hadn't seen the brown cloak while the man was walking up.

"The tracking charms on your wand notified the Ministry of the casting. Here's your wand back by the way." he said, presenting a familiar holly wand to Harry.

Harry's eyes widened as he dug the wand out of his pocket. It was eerily similar to the wand being handed to him, but it felt different from his. It was such a small difference that he didn't notice it in his rush to get out of the house.

"My wand is ten inches of holly and dragon heart. Yours is nine and a half inches of holly and phoenix feather. They're both creatures of fire, so it is a very small difference in the magic." he said in response to Harry's unasked question.

"Why did you use my wand and not yours?" Harry asked, glaring at the man as he snatched his wand back and threw the other one at him.

"I needed a way to get Dumbledore to get you out of that house. If I had used my wand, he would never have known about the danger and would have insisted you remain."

"I could have told him about the dementors."

"Wouldn't have worked. He would just assume that since you didn't cast a spell in defence, that you were safe within the house and command you to remain inside. The fact that you had to defend yourself so close to your relatives house will force him to see that his precious blood wards are not infallible."

"Why didn't you tell them about it then?" his voice just a tad bit accusing.

"My plans hinge on me staying in the background. No one can know that I exist except for those I choose."

"Okay. What are those plans and what do they do with me and what the hell am I supposed to do about this?" Harry asked while waving around Madam Hopkirks letter announcing his expulsion.

"Let's start with the simple question first. When a student is expelled, who do you think gets notified?" he asked.

"The Headmaster!" Harry exclaimed after a moment of thought. "Dumbledore wouldn't let me get expelled."

"Got it in one!" he replied. "He's going to appeal to the courts that the decision be overturned. If my guess is correct, and it always is, he will send somebody, probably a group of people, to pick you up from your relatives later today and bring you to a safe house."

Harry nodded and took the last bite of his ice cream. "So, I'm going back to my relatives and waiting for Dumbledore to come pick me up."

A chuckle was what answered him. Harry didn't like the sound of it, and his narrowed eyes let the chuckler know that he was becoming wary.

"Come on Harry, use your brain." he said, pulling down the hood of his cloak.

This was the first time Harry had ever seen this man's face. He would be remarkably handsome if not for the long, deep scar that started from beneath his bangs all the way down through his eye that branched off into a fork just below his right eye. Other than that one blemish, he had a very aristocratic face with sharp angles and a strong jaw. He had dark, reddish brown hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to look through Harry.

Harry suddenly felt very exposed by looking into those sky blue eyes. He dropped his gaze to the table.

"If I had intended to send you back there so soon, I wouldn't have told you to collect your stuff. You will go back eventually. It will just be when I believe you're ready to go." he explained.

Harry was reasonably alarmed. Here was this man that was basically telling him that he wouldn't be going anywhere. "I'm sorry if this offends you, but I don't think that's a good idea. I'll be taking my leave." He got up and was about to make a brisk exit, but the man's voice stopped him.

"J'invoque la droite ancienne d'une dette de vie sur Harry James Potter." he called out.

Harry didn't see anything visible happen. He simply felt something happen with his magic. He glared at the man. "What did you do to me?" he spat.

"I'm sorry, but you forced my hand. Please sit down, so we can discuss things better." he said politely, but there was a hint of steel behind the kindness. Once Harry was again seated, he continued talking. "I just invoked a life debt, which you owe me for saving your ass a half an hour ago."

Harry's eyes widened at the revelation. He didn't know a lot about the subject, but he knew that this was some serious business. You couldn't exactly weasel out of a life debt. He groaned and slumped in his chair. "What are your terms?"

He leaned back in his chair and smiled at the boy-with-too-many-hyphens. "I'm not asking much. Three things is all I require. First, with my help, I need you to train and learn, so that you can be half-ass useful in this war. Second, you help me organise an army to fight Voldemort."

"And third?" Harry asked after a long pause.

"Simple," he replied with a devilish smirk, "Help me kill Tom Marvalo Riddle."

Harry smiled. Even if he wasn't bound by the life debt to do whatever was asked, he had been trying to figure out some way to do that very thing. Now he had the means to do them. "Agreed." he said and held his hand out to shake.

The look in his eyes seemed to lighten and a twinkle, not unlike a certain Headmaster's, started up as he grasped the offered hand. He decided not to mention that Harry didn't have a choice anyway due to the life debt. "Glad to here it. Let's get out of here."

Harry nodded, but before they left he asked, "So what do I call you?"

With a smirk he threw a card into Harry's hand. It was a playing card. It was the joker out of a muggle deck. "Just call me Joker." With that, Harry felt a familiar tug behind his navel and was whisked away.

T.B.C.

First story. Tell me what you love, what you hate, and if you want more. I doubt the updates will be regular, but I will try to keep them coming in a timely fashion.