Snape The Cobra

by Great Ace

Harry's at the Dursleys... but a mysterious black snake threatens to change his life for the better. Watch as Snape manages to overcome his misconceptions about young Harry and develop a mentoring relationship with him, all the while hiding it from his boss... and the rest of the wizarding world. Mentor!Snape ABANDONED!

1. Chapter 1

Which One is the Chosen One?

In a small, dirty bar on the outskirts of a tiny, all-wizarding town called Hogsmeade, a job interview was taking place. Headmaster for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was sitting bored in the tiny back room of his brother's pub. He knew there were better places to conduct interviews, but the woman clearly could not afford to stay anywhere else.

Dumbledore reluctantly turned his attention back to the woman in front of him. He couldn't help but feel as if he was wasting his time. Divination was a ridiculous subject, and he had already decided to not run the subject anymore. However the woman desperately wanted an interview, and common courtesy required him to provide her with one… didn't it? Yet he couldn't help feel disappointed at her obvious lack of talent. Sybil Trelawney was talking about her famous ancestor and seer, Cassandra Trelawney, ignoring herself. Dumbledore repressed a groan. This was a waste of time. They had been sitting there for an hour and she was yet to turn her attention to herself. He tuned her voice out and turned his attention to her clothing. She looked like an oversized dragonfly, and that was saying something! He himself was known for dressing in… odd… clothing, but he felt relatively normal beside her. Finally, he plucked up the courage to say what he had been planning on saying the entire interview…

"Ms… Sybil Trelawney, I regret to inform you that…" but he broke off. The woman's eyes had rolled into the back of her head and looked as if she was having a seizure. He leapt up to try and assist when she began to speak in harsh tones. Dumbledore froze. He had read about this before. She was making a real prophecy- in his presence!

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those that have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall be born as the seventh month dies… left alone and friendless to all but a few until he reaches his 11 year, he shall be marked by the elves…The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall be marked by himself and the elves… born as the seventh month dies…" Trelawney coughed, before looking up at Dumbledore, confused.

"I'm sorry, did you say something? I must have missed it," she said. Dumbledore shook himself out of his stupor before realising how much danger she was in. He had heard scuffing at the doorway.

"Ah, yes, you must have missed me offering you the position as Divination Professor at Hogwarts… your quarters will be ready by tomorrow morning if you accept," he said dazedly.

"Oh, thank you, Professor, my, my, Cassandra would be so proud of me right now… Did you know that she got her fist teaching position when she was 19? So young, she was talented with her Inner Eye… it was so clear…" Dumbledore tuned her out once again as he thought over the prophecy. Left alone and friendless… the parents would have to die… that meant that Voldemort would have to hear a section of the prophecy. Who was it referring to? Born as the seventh month dies… that would have to be either the little Longbottom- Neville! Or… the Bones' had a little girl… the Potters-born as the seventh month dies… little Harry was born only a minute before midnight. His blood chilled. He liked Lily Potter, though he couldn't say the same about her husband. Wait, he was getting ahead of himself. Born to those that have thrice defied him… the Longbottoms' qualified for that, as did the Potters. The Bones' only once- it wasn't little Susan- yet. It was sounding suspiciously like Harry Potter was going to carry the weight of the prophecy. He was the closest in terms of birth. Dumbledore shivered, and suddenly wished he had not heard the prophecy, he could just leave it to unravel itself. Dumbledore made his way slowly up to the school, intent on calling Severus Snape to him when he got there.

On the way, he thought about it. Dumbledore had long ago stopped thinking about individual people as capable of making their own decisions- as being capable of living their own life. He had spent so long having everyone come to him with their problems that he had grown accustomed to deciding things for everyone else without permission- like he was the king in a life-sized game of chess with far too many players. Just recently, he had decided that no one else was going to be strong enough to defeat Tom Riddle, so he was going to do so himself. To hear the prophecy was… disconcerting to say the least. Now they would have to wait, for not only a baby to grown old enough to defeat him, but it was someone other than himself! He was frustrated. He was the Dark Lord vanquisher in this word! It was his job! Maybe he could train the boy to act as his Martyr, to do exactly as he was told- then Dumbledore could claim all the credit of defeating Voldemort… but that might not work. He had a back-up plan, but it was… messy. And dangerous for his reputation. Finally, he reached his office. Grabbing a handful of Floo powder, he threw it into the flames.

"Severus Snape!" he stuck his head in the flames and closed his eyes as the world began to spin around him. Finally, the spinning stopped and he opened his eyes.

"Severus!" he called. A tall man with long, lanky hair and sallow skin turned around.

"What?"

"Severus, it's just me, you may drop the glamour charm," said Dumbledore mildly. Severus Snape grumbled to himself before waving his wand. His hair lost the greasy look and began to look clean and well cared for. His skin looked cleaner and brighter. He looked- younger. And nicer.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"Severus. Are you still looking to spy for me?" Severus spluttered for a few moments.

"Of course! I've been gathering all that information; it might as well go to some use!" Dumbledore regarded him for a few moments before nodding.

"Right. You get the Potions position you were looking for. Also, the prophecy that you may or may not have overheard in the Hogs Head earlier…"

"Yes, that was me at the door, Headmaster," he said sourly.

"Ah, good! How much did you hear?"

"All of it… including you appointing her as Divination professor," he said smoothly.

"Excellent, excellent. Well, I will give you your first mission. Voldemort will expect you to give him the prophecy as it regards him. Tell him only the first little bit; the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those that have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…" and leave it at that. Tell him you got kicked out for eavesdropping or something similar."

"Yes," said Snape sarcastically, "that would make him so pleased with his spy… kicked out of the Hogs Head for being caught spying. That would go down really well."

"That's your problem, not mine," snapped Dumbledore irritably.

"Fine, fine, I'll tell him, you get the people he might consider safe."

"Will do," said Dumbledore in a fake cheery voice before stepping back into the floo and re-entering his office. Very quickly, he dropped his grandfatherly appearance and scowled at the walls. Snape thought that he could tell him what to do!

Snape stared at the fireplace that Dumbledore had just disappeared into and frowned. Something was going on with that man and he wasn't quite sure what it was. Still frowning, he grabbed his Death Eater robes and mask before walking to the edge of his wards mentally trying to come up with names. He thought of only two. The Potters and Longbottoms. Once he reached the edge of his property, he disapparated to Malfoy Manor. Only members of the Inner Circle were allowed to have the Floo address and even if he was in that select group, he was not willing to connect his own floo to theirs. No Death Eater knew the location of Prince Manor, and he was hoping it would stay that way.

He walked as slowly as he could towards the Manor, dreading the upcoming meeting. Just before he reached the door, he made sure his occlumency shields were in place. It would not do to have Voldemort discover his deception- the penalty would be worse than death. He then forced feelings of loyalty and servitude to the front of his shields for Voldemort to discover. The Dark Lord believed that he had basic occlumency shields but was yet to master shielding his emotions which made it easier for him to hide his true loyalty. Perfect shields would cast doubt on his loyalty.

"Master, I bring good news," he said after kneeling and kissing the hem of the older man's robes, forcing his disgust to the very back of his mind.

"Ah, Severus… I trust you succeeded? The reward would be great… the price of failure… severe."

"Yes, my Lord, I have succeeded in obtaining the post of Potions Professor at Hogwarts," he said softly, keeping his eyes on the ground. Only and Inner Circle member could look him in the eyes.

"Well done, Severus, have you more news?"

"My Lord, I was eavesdropping on the Divination interview, when the candidate began to speak a prophecy. Dumbledore was fast enough to place a silencing spell on the door; however, I heard the first part. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those that have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… I have narrowed the candidates down to the Longbottom and Potter boys."

"Severus, you have done well. You may look at me,"

"Thank you, My Lord, you are generous," said Snape, strengthening his shields as he looked up. He felt Voldemort's passive Legilimency before the older man withdrew and smirked.

"You are still loyal. You will need to work on your shields before you take your position. Wormtail!" he called. A short, balding man crept into the room, trembling, before he stopped and knelt down before Voldemort.

"Yes, My Lord," he whimpered.

"You expressed a desire to join my followers, did you not?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Very well, Legilimens!" Wormtail began to quiver even more on the ground. A minute later, Voldemort lifted the spell and smirked again.

"Associates with the two families we were just discussing," he mused softly, "what a nice little… coincidence…"

"Severus! This is your first task as a member of my Inner Circle… Mark him," he hissed. Snape nodded and pulled out his wand, taking care that it didn't point anywhere near Voldemort. That was a death sentence. He grabbed Wormtail's arm roughly and turned it so that the back of his wrist was facing upwards. Snape gathered all of his negative emotions of hate and jealousy and threw them into his wand as he whispered;

"Mordsmordre!" He wanted Wormtail to feel as much pain as was possible for being willing to betray Lily. He threw even more hate into the spell- the most painful emotion. Soon, Wormtail was screaming and twitching on the ground as the Dark Mark slowly spread across his left forearm. A grin slowly spread across Snape's face as he watched the twitching man. He could grow to like this marking business… they all deserved the pain for joining Voldemort. Once Wormtail was looking as though the pain had subsided, Snape grabbed him off the ground and roughly stood him to face Voldemort, who sneered at the sniffling man.

"Wormtail, I have your first assignment. Watch both the young Longbottom and Potter boys… when you get them alone, do a power revealing spell and tell m their current power levels. Don't let anyone… suspect you… it shouldn't be too hard, even for a coward like yourself," he sneered.

"Yes, My Lord," he mumbled, eyes firmly focused on the ground.

"Very good," Voldemort said patronisingly, "Wormtail, you are dismissed." The shorter man nodded and scurried out the door, and then the snake-faced man turned to Snape.

"Severus… I can see you enjoyed the Marking… that is good. You may keep that memory, but unfortunately… Obliviate! We can't have you knowing his name… especially when you work so close to Dumbledore… you're dismissed." Snape nodded and walked out of the room as quickly as he could while still appearing dignified. Voldemort was known for sending Cruciatus Curses at unsuspecting people as they walked out the door. Once he stepped out of the manor, he walked towards the wards thinking over the meeting. He had told Voldemort the prophecy… and his new position. He had marked a new Death Eater… and enjoyed it… but who? He couldn't help but feel it was important, but the name and physical description avoided him. Great, he though sarcastically, I've been obliviated before I could save the memory. How nice.

Lily and James Potter were sitting eating dinner after putting their son, 2 month old Harry Potter to bed.

"I can't believe the prophecy that Albus told us. Harry has to kill Voldemort! We have to help him, James," said Lily with tears in her eyes.

"I know, Lily… I don't think Albus told us the whole prophecy, though, Lily, it sounded incomplete," mused James.

"James- I have a feeling that the two of us aren't going to make it," said Lily softly.

"How? Just a feeling, or…"

"Yes, James, it's not just a feeling. I know the two of us aren't going to make it… Actually, I think we have just over a year," she said heavily. James gaped at her.

"Harry will only be a year old! We have to do something to help him now!"

"I know," she sniffed, "and I have an idea, but we can't tell anyone about it." James looked at her and saw the seriousness in her eyes. He gulped, before nodding.

"What's your idea, Lils?" She took a deep breath, before starting.

"There is a certain combination of charms and potions that help to… increase magical power. They're illegal because in the wrong hands you can create an incredibly dangerous person. You also have to go through a ritual, one at the beginning of the year cycle and one at the end, with spells and potions once a month in between. I don't think Harry will like it much, but it will increase his power dramatically every month. Then, there's also a charm… if you're dying, you can send all your magic to your eldest child, which is Harry. We can do both, they will be useful. The only person that can know of them are the Head Unspeakable in the charms/potions department and anyone else that discovers them is required to be obliviated, so I am the only one that knows them currently… so no one will suspect us. I might even destroy the records of them once we begin to make it impossible for anyone else to use them… as it is always possible to have a Dark Head Unspeakable," said Lily nervously. James gulped.

"I see why we have to keep this secret, and I agree we should do it. We need to begin as soon as possible though, as you're never wrong in these sorts of things, so we have little time to go through with it," said James seriously. Lily would have laughed at the expression on his face if she didn't fully agree with him.

"Yes, I think we should do the first ritual and potion/charms tomorrow." James' face was one of shock, before it morphed into a milder one of resignation and acceptance.

"Tomorrow, our son begins on the path of becoming a weapon," he said sadly. Lily nodded, looking upset before her tone became more business-like.

"Albus suggested the Fidelius charm… we need a secret keeper."

"Sirius! Who else would you trust to keep our secret? Dumbledore suspects that there's a spy in the Order, but Sirius would never betray us! And he's Harry's godfather!"

"True, he'd never willingly betray us, but James; you have to admit that the man's more than a little… well… reckless. He could easily let something slip. Besides that, don't you think that he's a little too obvious? You and he are like brothers! As soon as Voldemort discovers that we're under Fidelius, Sirius is going to be his first target. The information can't be given out under Veritaserum or the like, but there are still methods to encourage people to willingly part with the information."

"True… Remus?"

"Too dangerous. Use your brain! What happens if there's an emergency on the full moon? Besides, the spy is disguised well. No one looks all that suspect in the Order, but someone has to be. And… we… I highly doubt it, but Remus is a werewolf. Is it possible that the man got sick of all the slander and secretly joined the other side?"

"No! Moony would never do that! But you're right, again, having a werewolf as secret keeper is a little too risky. But who else is there? The Longbottoms are targets already, and Wormtail is talentless. There's Dumbledore, I suppose…"

"No. We're not using the Headmaster. Besides the fact that the man has too many jobs to focus on already, if everyone decided to use his as secret keeper just because he's the Leader of our side of the war, he would have exclusive access to half of the wizarding world! That's too many secrets for one man. You're right about the Longbottoms; of course, it's too risky to use them as they're also going into hiding. I have an odd feeling about Wormtail, though… we could put up other wards…"

"No, I agree that we need to use the Fidelius. How about we start off with Sirius as secret keeper until we come up with a better idea?"

"Alright… I don't really like it, but it is the best idea that we've had. I wish we could use Severus, though, but that would be too dangerous."

"Snivelous! We can't use him! He's a Death Eater!"

"No he's not! Didn't you know that Dumbledore offered him a spy position? But no, it's still too dangerous to use him as he's in Voldemort's presence too often… and if he was found out, it would spell disaster for both him and us."

"Exactly! What… what? Spy?"

"Yes! Spy. Now, how about tomorrow, you cast the Fidelius with Sirius, while I do the beginning ritual with Harry?"

"Ok… wait… you're the Charms mistress!"

"Yes, but I doubt that you know how to do the rituals that I'm planning, either, and they're far more difficult!"

"Oh, okay."

"I'm glad you agree."

"Errr… it's late…"

"I noticed."

"Right."

The following night was… interesting to say the least. While James and Sirius were putting the property under the Fidelius charm, (and, as a result, tearing down all of the other wards as the charm could not co-exist with wards. It was a trust-based charm and the other wards would undermine it.) Lily was getting Harry ready for the first ritual.

She had set up the 'ritual room' adjacent to the potions lab, and it was almost ready. It was warded so that uncontained magic couldn't escape and destroy the rest of the house and was empty apart from the ritual circle. She had studied the chant and Harry himself was ready. Normally the rituals were done outside as the moon and stars influenced it, but they had to make do with an artificial 'night sky' –the ceiling was charmed the same way as the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Another influence on the ritual was the nature and animals surrounding (though outside only) of the ritual circle, so the young witch had gone to the extent of creating a miniature, uncontrolled 'outdoor' area inside the room, with many mundane and small animals in the room. Thankfully it was a full moon, so the ritual was at its strongest performed tonight- it was also the second reason as to why she had rushed so much to get the room ready, although she could not tell James even that, as per the oaths taken as the Head Unspeakable of her department. Harry had been required by ritual to eat as much food as he could manage for the first two meals of the day, before having only water for dinner, so the young boy had managed to eat an entire adult's meal twice in one day, although Lily was sure that he had major stomach cramps. Finally, at 7pm, it was time for the ritual. The two of them went down to the ritual room and Lily sat the barely-clothed boy down in the centre of the circle before moving away. She waited for him to settle down before she took a deep breath and began.

"Diliata Magicus Centrus! Diliata Magicus Centrus! Diliata Magicus Centrus! Replete Magicus Corus! Replete Magicus Corus! Replete Magicus Corus! Diliata Magicus Centrus! Diliata Magicus Centrus! Diliata Magicus Centrus! Replete Magicus Corus! Replete Magicus Corus! Replete Magicus Corus..." the chant went on, expanding and filling the 2 month olds magical core. After a quarter of an hour's chanting, Lily knew that his core would be flexible enough to handle the extra magic that he would be receiving over the next year, so she ended the chant and gulped down a throat-soothing potion before picking up the first of twelve magic-enhancing potions that the little boy would be taking over the year and gave it to him.

Most people thought that a person's magic grew steadily until they reached magical maturity. That wasn't true, though. A witch or wizard had approximately 3 magical 'growth spurts.' The first 'growth spurt' could start as young as 2 or as old as 8, depending on the size of the child's magic. The second 'growth spurt' happened around the age of 11, and was the reason that children got their wands at that age- their core just isn't usually big enough to handle channelling magic purposely until the second 'growth spurt.' The final one was generally the largest and happened at around 16 or 17 and signified a person coming magically of age. They would never get magically stronger beyond that age, and magic-enhancing rituals and spells had profoundly less impact if used after magical maturity- the common term for the final 'growth spurt.' In fact, these growth spurts were the reason why wandless magic is so rare. A child needs to get a firm grip on at least simple spell wandlessly before they are bound to a wand as the connection between wizard and wand made picking up wandless magic impossible. However, if the connection has already been made, it will not close with the wand's connection- however, Lily was one of the few people that knew that. The other problem with it is magical core size- a child would have to be above average magically to be able to perform even the simplest wandless magic before the age of 11 as their magic is usually too weak before their second 'growth spurt'- thus creating the rarity of wandless magic. In fact, the only two known wandless magic users are Dumbledore and Voldemort- the latter having learnt control in the orphanage he grew up in before he knew what it was. He, though, had never really bothered to pursue it beyond simple shields once he learnt about magic as it was so much more draining than magic with a wand. Lily knew all of this and was hoping that Harry would have enough magic before his second growth spurt to begin to learn wandless magic, but her hopes on him actually achieving it were low as she knew that she would not live long enough to see him reach an appropriate age to begin. She would need to put some thought into it. Meanwhile, she was ready to test his current magical level (before growth spurt.) The scale for adults was a magical reading of 0-10 for muggles, 11-50 a squib, 51-200 a low-powered wizard, 201-500 normal wizard, 501-1000 high-powered wizard, 1001-1500 low sorcerer, 1501-2000 high sorcerer, 20001- 2500 low mage, 2501- 3000 high mage, 3000 and beyond an arch-mage. A magical child before their first 'growth spurt' was usually around 10 or 11. The first spurt would generally bring them into a high-range squib, low-powered wizard area before they began to fill their own categories, becoming more and more unpredictable. In saying that magic doesn't grow apart from the 'spurts,' it is still similar to a muscle- the more it is worked, the larger your spurts would be. The same goes for physical exercise- it would increase the strength of the magical growth spurt- not that many wizards knew that, judging from their exercise habits- none at all. Lily was also worried about what the effects of fusing her and James' magic with Harry's would be. They were powered at 502 and 516 respectively, putting Harry in the 'low sorcerer' rank after only one 'growth spurt.' It would definitely make wandless magic possible, but he would have to learn control almost immediately otherwise his accidental magic would occur often and severely. The magic enhancing spells, potions and rituals would give him a lot of power as well and he was already showing signs of magic! The combination was spelling out 'severely overpowered wizard' to Lily, and she wasn't sure she liked that idea all that much… especially in a one year old! She knew the general rankings of the more powerful wizards in the world, though, and didn't like what she saw. Dumbledore was ranked at around 4000, giving himself a large buffer in the 'arch mage' group. He, though, wasn't the most powerful. Voldemort beat him, at around 4200, and Nicholas Flamel was around 100 points above him. Perenell Flamel also outranked Voldemort, though was slightly less powerful than her husband. There was a couple in France that also outranked Dumbledore and the most powerful person alive had a magical rating of over 5000. She would need to know Harry's magical potential before they made a decision on whether or not they should donate their magic to a small child. If they did, there was always the possibility of putting a slow-release block on his magic so that it was released small amounts at a time instead of a huge rush all at once. Lily sighed, before turning her wand once more on her son and silently sending the magical revealing charm. 40. Before his first 'growth spurt.' it was an extremely impressive number, but could still do with some work. Lily sighed again, hating the fact that she was conditioning her son to be a warrior for a war that had begun long before his birth and wouldn't be ended for a while, if Harry's age was anything to go by. She gently picked the small boy up and carried him up stairs to the nursery as he looked incredibly tired, before heading back downstairs to check on the men attempting to cast the Fidelius. They weren't doing all that well. The two of them had disabled the wards of the property, conveniently then forgetting about the charm they had sent out to cast. As Lily threw open the door in mock anger, she failed to notice the fat grey rat that scampered in around her.

Peter Pettigrew was amazed at his luck. First, Lily had given him free entry into the house, but secondly- his target was alone! No adult protection! This was going to be easier than he thought. His animagus form allowed him to travel up the stairs quickly and he made his way into the nursery, thinking about the job is master had given him- to get power readings on the little Potter and Longbottom. He had gone to the Longbottoms first as they didn't trust him as much and it would be easier to pull off a cover-up if he was caught there without having gone to the Potter's first. He had cast the charm to find out little Neville's power rating and his master had been disappointed in it. The boy showed no signs of being highly magical- although it was hard to tell, the boy seemed as though he would be an average powered wizard, leaning closer to the low side- but not by much. His master was almost certain that the little Potter would be the 'one,' whatever that meant, but he had been sent out to check on the boy's power rating anyway. 40- Wait, 40? The Dark Lord is going to be interested in this, the little rat thought; no child should have so much magic at such as young age. He was ready to pick the boy up and take him when a small, barely noticeable pop rang through the room- the sound was barely noticeable, but the result was not. An elf- a high elf at that- was in the room for no apparent reason.

"Leave the boy," the woman said in a powerful but soft voice, "leave him. He is not yours to take, and you will leave him. Do not tamper with Fate- nor the elves," she said softly- but there was no denying her power. She meant business.

"O-o-o-ok…" trembled Wormtail, clearly in fright before he transformed back into rat form and raced outside- he left Harry Potter where he was, but he had all the information that his master wanted. In a few hours, the little boy would be Voldemort's top priority- he wanted him dead.

The elf, however, stayed in the room to look down at the boy.

"You are so small," she mused softly, "so small, so innocent- in so much danger. You will have a hard life, little one, with people hurting you on all sides. I wish I could help you, but there is little I can do, except…" the elf sighed, "an elfish blessing is such an honour... but it has little real value. Still, you could use all the help you can get… but would you even know? Until you are 11, at least, you will probably know nothing… and what does the blessing do? You get the ears… higher metabolism… similar boy shape- well, you would be a little taller, and your muscles would tone similar to ours if you put the effort in… but what would it do magically? Very little, I suppose… defensive and offensive magic wold come more easily, more naturally, as would healing magic… well, I suppose that is useful… the body shape might deter people from messing with you… maybe… you would look more powerful, certainly, but most people can tell the difference between looking powerful and actually being powerful… so is the blessing worth it? It would certainly seal you fate- but then, he rat-man has already done that, hasn't he child? The silver-bearded one, too… yes, you would benefit from the blessing… it's not much, but it is something, I suppose, little one…" the beautiful elf sighed gently before pressing a slender finger to his lips and saying softly;

"Sleep, little one, you have received the blessing of the elves." She watched as his ears changed shape a little, looking like a cross between human and elvin ears. She smiled at the little child before disappearing in the pop she had arrived in; leaving his parents clueless to the honour their child had just been granted.

Harry Potter would grow into the blessing gradually, the height and ears would come in time, but it would be such a slow process that those closest to him wouldn't notice the difference before he disappeared off in just over a years' time.

"Lily! It's Him! Take Harry and run, I'll hold him off!" James' panicked shout filled the house. Lily gasped before picking her son up and began to run up the stairs. She couldn't believe their luck- they had finished the rituals just over a week ago, and her son was now incredibly powerful for his age- but now she had other things to worry about. Lily knew it was fruitless, but she began heaping furniture in front of the doorway, hoping to hold him off but knowing it would only take a blasting curse to move it. She took a deep breath and looked at the baby in her arms.

"You're going to survive, Harry James Potter. I love you, my little angel," she whispered. The charms had already been placed to send her magic to her son as soon as she died, and James had done the same thing. A thought hit her as she heard the evil man begin to ascend the stairs. Lily whispered a charm to give her son the knowledge on how to construct mind shields and why they were important- hopefully they would also help him to remember times spent with his parents. The door was blasted open and Lily screamed before placing him in the cot and turning to shield him.

"Please, not Harry, not Harry…"

"Stand aside, you silly girl,"

"Not Harry, please, take me, kill me instead…"

"Stand aside!"

"No, have mercy! Not Harry!" Lily saw Voldemort get visibly angry and watched in horror as the deadly curse came rushing towards her. She crumpled to the ground as death enveloped her- it was just long enough to feel her magic leave her body and join with her sons.

Tom Marvolo Riddle- Lord Voldemort- had never felt closer to smiling than he did now.

"So you're the one prophesied to beat me," he mused, "so weak. Defenceless. Goodbye, Harry Potter. Avada Kedavra!" Then he broke. What was that? He saw the green light reflecting back towards him and his eyes widened a fraction. What is this magic? He silently screamed, before his own killing curse hit him. The pain. He needed to leave, now! Where to go? He felt broken, powerless- but surely one of his loyal Death Eaters would come and restore him. The now broken Tom Riddle fled the house leaving a boy with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead- still dripping blood and paving the way for a legend. Harry Potter would be forever famous.

Albus Dumbledore is another man that holds a lot of fame and power. He also had a lot of people working for him to get things done quickly and without fuss. One of these 'jobs' was to get little Harry Potter out of the house and to his relatives home before the Ministry could get their hands on the Potter Will- which he, as Supreme Mugwump and Head of the Wizengamot, would have to seal so that it couldn't be accessed. He knew that, although it was a little distasteful, he would have to leave the boy to grow up with magic-hating relatives. That way, when he arrived at Hogwarts he would be a little easier to control and manipulate into the role Albus had for him. The muggles would keep him grounded. If they went a little too far… well, Albus knew how to cover his tracks. He wouldn't be held accountable. First, though, he actually had to get his hands on the infant.

"Hagrid," he addressed the man in front of him, "I need you to pick the boy up before anyone else finds him. Take him to number 4, Privet Drive, I'll be there and we can leave him with his relatives." The half giant was still sniffing- Lily and James Potter had been amongst his favourite people and he was loathe to leave Harry defenceless with the relatives Dumbledore had decided to leave him with- the ones that Lily complained about, but it was Dumbledore's orders. Two conflicting sides of Hagrid's personality were at war, but finally the 'support Dumbledore at all costs' side won out.

"Yes sir, I'll do that now. Poor Harry…" he broke off, sniffing, before leaving the older man's office to collect him- leaving Dumbledore to scheme.

"We can't have him going to Black; that would be destructive to my plans- that man has no sense of proper decorum! Harry Potter would grow up to be a pranking menace, not following the rules or recognising authority! Sirius Black cannot care for Harry. How, though… I can leave him with the Dursleys, but that won't stop his godfather seeking him out and taking him… and the man does have legal custody," the older man began to mutter once the office door was firmly closed, "so we need to get him out of the way. But how? He needs to be stripped of his responsibility; the only way to do that is to send him to Azkaban, though… Azkaban! What a good idea. Everyone will believe it if we say that he was Secret-keeper for the Potters… and he was… for a while. I can give evidence to the court that he was secret keeper… after all; he did give me the secret of the Potter's address. The only difficulty would be making sure that he doesn't get a trial… at least, that he doesn't get veritaserum… that will be difficult, unless he does something ridiculous, making him look guilty…" Dumbledore rambled on, his plans getting wilder and less humane as he went. Finally, the man finished his rambling and, hoping that Phineas Nigellus hadn't heard his plans, set to writing a letter.

Dear Petunia,

It is my deepest regret to inform you of your sister's demise.

She was murdered last night by the Dark Lord Voldemort, along with her husband, leaving her only child, Harry, and orphan. You are the only relatives the boy has left, and keeping him in your home will grant you huge amounts of protection from 'our world.' I would encourage you to treat the boy as a human. The boy is incredibly famous in our world, and too many signs of abuse will bring them down upon you.

Thank you for your co-operation in this matter, and we will be in contact when it is time for the boy to start at Hogwarts.

Albus Dumbledore

The old man stared at the letter for a while, before adding a slight compulsion charm to it and sealing it up. Then he left intent on both imprisoning Sirius Black and receiving Harry at his Aunt's.

A few hours later, Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of number 4, Privet Drive. There were many things he had to do to get the property ready for the little celebrities' life there. He had blood-based wards, certainly, but there were others as well- directed at the inhabitants. There was one that encouraged them to stay at number 4 and not move- as Dumbledore needed them somewhere where they could be monitored. There was a ward encouraging them to treat the two boys unequally along with wards to keep adult magical people out. He knew that Petunia was a squib, but her magic wasn't enough to register in the wards. He also made sure that animagus could pass the wards as he might have need of sending Minerva- or Severus- to bring him his Hogwarts letter. He put up a few others to make the house a little safer- it was all he could do for them, taking the boy in, before he disillusioned himself and waited at the top of the street. He watched as Minerva, (in her animagus form) took up a sentinel position on the wall facing the Dursley residence. He watched as life went past on Privet Drive that day. Finally, it was almost time for Hagrid to arrive, so he reluctantly shook out his muscles before standing up and removing the disillusionment charm. He walked purposely towards number 4, watching in amusement as the small tabby cat twitched it's tail in obvious annoyance. She would be one to watch, as the Potter boy would always be her unofficial nephew and god child. She was always overprotective of children. When she transformed, he tried to keep his annoyance under wraps as she protested to his placement of the boy in that household. He manoeuvred her into a situation where she felt guilty of suggesting anything against it, and just a little late, Hagrid turned up… on a flying motorcycle! Dumbledore almost growled at his own stupidity. He had forgotten how protective Hagrid and Sirius were of each other. This might make some complications arise in his plan. Oh well. He put the little boy down on the doorstep before turning away. He called both Hagrid and Minerva with him before pretending to disapparated- really, just quickly putting on a disillusionment charm. It was quite amusing listening to people announcing that he could disapparate silently. That was impossible! Once he was sure that both his staff members were gone, he turned back to the small bundle on the doorstep. He needed to check the magical power of him. If he was below average, he could block the magical power. If he was too strong, however, the blocks would only serve to slowly increase his power whilst it was under wraps until the binding disintegrated leaving an extremely powerful magical child annoyed at him. He had made that mistake with Tom Riddle.

Albus Dumbledore prided himself on being able to handle all different types of situations. Harry Potter's magical power, though, floored him. 1379! For a child! This boy was going to be incredibly powerful, and unfortunately- any blocks placed wold increase his magic by huge amounts. He couldn't have another wizard more powerful than him. Really, it was beginning to destroy his reputation having so many people more powerful than him. Speaking of people more powerful than him, Dumbledore knew that for his plan to succeed, Dudley Dursley couldn't show any magical prowess. It would destroy the plan. So, a heavily disillusioned Albus Dumbledore silently let himself in to the house and crept into the nursery. His results of the scan made him shiver. The immensely obese child was on the way to becoming a low-powered wizard- very low powered, but it would be enough to destroy him. So he blocked it. Dudley Dursley would never become a wizard. He was now a squib. With that done, the most politically powerful person in the wizarding world took his leave.