Author's note: This is just a short, what-if story in the same basic concept of the Uncle Alex saga. It is not canon to the plotline of any of the other stories, and is a one shot what-if story.
Godric's Hollow, Wales, The UK, October 31st, approaching midnight.
In the lounge of the small cottage in Godric's Hollow sat three people. Lily Potter, the brightest witch of her age, James Potter, current head of the house of Potter, and Alexander Merlin, oldest surviving member of that house.
Originally, Alexander hadn't intended to be here. He'd been busy, elsewhere in the world, dealing with the never ending problems of life. But a faint feeling in his mind had drawn him here, on this hallowed eve, and so he'd ended up sitting down with his blood family for the first time in a long time, for a decent meal, followed by some excellent brandy. Now, they were sat around the fire, while baby Harry slept, upstairs. The Potter's were in hiding from the so called Dark Lord, Voldemort, as the result of a prophecy specifying that either they or the Longbottoms would bring about the Dark Lord's downfall.
But as midnight approached, the Dark Lord learned of their location. Betrayed by one of their oldest friends, the Potters' were to be caught unaware, and slaughtered, but for the quirk of fate.
As the wards collapsed, James leapt to his feet.
"Lily, Alex, go! I'll hold him off."
Now this is where history twists, and branches off down a very different path.
"Balls to that, James!" Alexander replied, standing slowly. "You stay here. I'm going to have a word with this uninvited troublemaker."
"...Uncle Alex, I know you're tough, but this guy's a killer. He's a psychopath, he'll kill you without a second thought."
"James... I think it's time you learned one of my secrets." Alexander replied, twisting the gem on one of the rings on his hand. His appearance shimmered, and his eyes turned completely black, while his face, normally framed by dark hair, turned silver and appeared to grow. His clothing became brown robes, trimmed in silver, and a faint outline of a crow appeared on the chest just above Alexander's heart. "I assume you've heard of Miles the Corvus? The master assassin who hunts so called dark lords?"
"...You're kidding me..."
"Nope. Though it would make for an epic prank." Alexander said, striding towards the door. It slammed open as Voldemort decided to make an entrance, only to meet a fist heading the other way. "No salesmen, no canvassers and definitely no Dark Lords!" was the battlecry as Alexander followed his fist outside.
"You dare to challenge me! I am Lord Voldemort, the most powerful..."
"Blah blah. I don't give two monkeys ballsacks who you are, kiddo. I'm Miles the Corvus, and you're about to become a smear of grease."
The sounds from outside were enough to wake Harry, who began to cry. As Lily comforted him, the sounds ceased. She looked out of the window in time to see Peter Petegrew smack back onto the road from what had apparently been a significant height, knocking him unconscious, and at a guess, breaking his legs. There was no sign of Voldemort, and the hedge of the cottage was aflame, though her husband quickly put it out.
When Aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived, due to the sudden surge of power detected, Alexander was long gone. James handed over Pettigrew, who was interrogated by none other than his other long time friend, Sirius Black. The mere thought of spilling his guts resulted in him spilling his guts, and the story of how the Dark Lord had fallen to the famed hunter of self proclaimed dark lords began to spread. As with all rumours, it became twisted at points, and saw itself magnified, until it was proclaimed that, to protect his son and heir, James Potter had hired the famed assassin to eliminate the Dark Lord. Reporters also got ahold of the fact there was a prophecy, and in traditional style for the news media, made up what they thought would sound best, meaning that it was "By the hand of Harry Potter the Dark Lord would be destroyed". Since they then argued that as he was being paid to protect the boy, the Corvus had to be counted as Harry Potter's hand, they also decided this meant the prophecy had been fulfilled.
Many years later, Harry was to attend Hogwarts. His mother had made sure he never let the fame get to him, and he'd made many friends over the years of mundane schooling. He'd even met his uncle Alex, and been let in on the secret. As a result, when Voldemort attempted to return in his first year, by trying to steal the Philosopher's stone, Harry and his uncle successfully trapped the Dark Lord's soul and banished it. Harry was allowed to invite a few of his fellow first years to learn the secrets of the Corvus, and eventually inducted them into the secrets beyond that which his uncle possessed. He would eventually become the Elder Corvus himself, there being an entire secret society of them, and would marry his school-friend Hermione Granger. But that's a story for another day, and history doesn't let us poke this twist too much.
Of course, as one of the many watching neverbeen, you might be wondering why I showed you this. Well... that's for me to know... and you to find out...
Pierre de Comminges
Founder of the Cult Corvus, Magus of the Order, and Watcher.
'Only a fool ignores a downed enemy. They can always get back up.'