Chapter One;

"Falcon! The wards have been breached around Flame's residence!" came a nervous voice.

"Rith? Is that you? The wards around Flame's... she was in hiding for a good reason! Status?"

"Her husband is down... she and the child are left."

"Stand by, Rith, I'm going over there," said Falcon as she pulled on a nondescript gray robe and pulled up the hood. It was impossible to tell that she had short brown hair, or dark eyes... you couldn't see the battle scars littering her face and body. You couldn't distinguish any part of her body to tell her apart from another person even if you looked closely... not that you would, as there were charms on every inch of the clothing to make people completely disinterested in her.

"You're going?" called Rith, "This is going to be a major night, tonight, isn't it Falcon?"

"Yes, Rith, it is. More than you know," she sighed before moving out of the building. Flame had given her portkey access to her home, so it was a complete shock that when she activated it, she bounced away from the wards of the home.

"This isn't good," she mumbled, "They really don't want anyone to escape today." Feeling anxious, Falcon crept towards the building in time to see a huge magical backlash explode the roof of the house.

"Oh, Chocolate Frogs," she moaned, using words that unless you heard the tone of your voice, her meaning would have confused anyone; and quickened her pace. This was not good... She opened the door of the little cottage and gulped. The man, James Potter, she remembered- was lying dead near the door, his expression one of complete defiance. She mentally applauded the man who had died protecting his family before she began to move deeper into the home that was beginning to crumble around her. Soon enough, she found the stairs and began to climb. The target had been the baby, so Falcon made her way up the stairs and into the nursery. The quiet was extremely disconcerting. She opened the door and gasped. Flame was lying dead in front of the child's crib, her face twisted into an expression of complete determination. But... the black robes opposite her were confusing. What had happened? She looked up when she heard a sound and gasped again. The child was still there, and alive, bleeding profusely from a head wound that had dark magical residue on it... it reminded her of the killing curse. Baffled, she picked up the dark wand lying beside the extra set of robes. It was definitely Voldemort's. Gulping, she pulled out her own. The Priori Incantatem... 3 killing curses, the first had killed James. The second; Flame... Lily. The third...

"No," she whispered, staring at the bleeding forehead, "that's impossible." But it was true. The child, barely a year old, had defeated Voldemort. He wasn't safe though. Looking down at her colleague, Falcon made her decision. He couldn't remain here; Dumbledore would send him off to live with muggles if she knew the man. The boy would be famous, that's for sure, and leaving him to the mercy of just any Wizarding family wasn't acceptable either. Slowly, she picked him up so she wouldn't frighten him. She began cleaning the wound. But paused when she heard a crash downstairs. She needed to hurry; Dumbledore was going to get here soon. She quickly conjured writing utensils and a square of parchment.

Headmaster Dumbledore,

I am sure that you will get this letter. Voldemort has vanished. He cast the killing curse at Harry and it rebounded onto the man, leaving him gone and Harry quite alive. I do not trust you or anyone else with him, so I am taking him. You will see him when he is old enough to attend Hogwarts. Possibly.

Thank you for your co operation,

Lily's friend.

Falcon smiled. It wouldn't do any good to mention that they were colleagues, that would give the game away- as far as the rest of the world knew, Lily Potter was unemployed... well, you don't just announce that you work for the Unspeakables. Falcon sniffed once, before activating the return portkey- the wards had fallen at the same time as Voldemort- it would explain the magical backlash.

"Rith, I'm back," she called softly, "and I brought someone with me."

"Flame?" he called hopefully. Falcon shook her head.

"No, I didn't get there on time... Flame died," she said, "but you'll never guess what happened next!"

"What?" asked Rith, not sounding at all curious.

"Voldemort cast the killing curse at her son, Harry-" Rith gasped, "and it rebounded. Voldemort's gone, defeated by a small child. I've got him here."

"Wow," said Rith, looking as though he was afraid to believe it, "so what are you going to do with Harry?"

"We'll have to raise him."

"What?"

"Would you really trust Flame's child with anyone else? Dumbledore would send him off to live with muggles. Trust me, I've met Flame's sister and her husband, they hate magical people and everything to do with them. They wouldn't care for Harry. We can't just auction him off to the highest bidding Wizarding family, though, and that is what would happen if he didn't go with Dumbledore. He'd grow up with a Voldemort-supporting family!" Rith bit his lip.

"You're right," he said slowly, "but you'll have to talk to Silver, and then... would you raise him yourself, or would he grow up knowing everyone here?" Falcon bit her lip.

"I'm not sure," she said finally, "I don't think I can raise a child, but Silver might not like the other option."

"I think you'll be fine," said Rith, "Silver would probably take it as an opportunity to get a good operative in this department for once. Goodness knows the skill levels have been dropping dramatically over the last few years." Falcon bit her lip.

"It would be good to have a well-trained operative for once, but I want him to grow up at least somewhat normally!"

"Relax, Falcon, you'll be fine... he'll be fine. Go and see Silver."

"It's alright, I heard everything," said an old but powerful voice, "and I'm glad you have so much confidence in me." Falcon bit her lip.

"Sorry, Silver," she said.

"Relax, Falcon, you were speaking the truth. To be frank, I agree with you. He can grow up with us, and have a semblance of a normal childhood, but even so... it would be interesting to see what would happen if he was introduced to the Unspeakable's power boosts so young."

"What?"

"Relax, Falcon, they wouldn't harm him... they just might work better than usual. Of course, the information would come to nothing. It is too dangerous to be introducing everyone to them, as too many people would be swayed by the power so young in life. We will have to monitor him carefully." Falcon thought for a while before slowly nodding.

"As long as he learns how to have fun once in a while," she said finally. Silver smiled.

"Indeed, we will all hope for that. So... what will his name be?" Falcon looked up sharply.

"No," she said, "He will only be known as Harry or Harry Potter until he is old enough to understand." Silver grinned.

"Relax, Falcon, we need to know more about him before we give him a name, anyway. I will make the announcement to the rest of the crew and you might get Mere and Snake to look at that cut on his forehead... the magical residue should have left by now, so whatever it is... it's a lingering darkness from the curse." Falcon nodded.

"I was going to get them to look at it anyway," she admitted, "I was going now. Bye, Silver... coming, Rith?"

"Awww... and here I was thinking the pair of you had forgotten about me," he pouted. Falcon rolled her eyes.

"You need to speak up a little more," she said, shooting an exasperated glance at Silver as she passed him. "Now let's go!"

"So... what section do you think he'll join when he's older?" asked Rith.

"I suppose he really will have to join if he's growing up in here... we can't obliviate his whole childhood away! We'll have to learn more about him, of course, but I think he'll be going out into the field when he's older," she admitted, "both Lily and James were brilliant fighters when they had to be, and growing up here will make him even better no matter what section we try and prompt him towards." Rith nodded.

"That makes sense. Still, I could teach him a little about wards... they really need a trained warder out on the field, it would make our lives so much easier," he complained. Falcon rolled her eyes.

"If you're so terrified about going out onto the field, why did you choose to specialise in something so practical?"

"I wanted to be a Curse-Breaker, not an auror!"

"You are a curse-breaker."

"Yeah... oh, that was a bad argument."

"And they say you were a Slytherin," she said, smiling.

"They say you were a Hufflepuff," he shot back.

"The Hufflepuff traits are loyalty and hard work... that doesn't mean I can't poke fun at you! I'm loyal to the team and I work hard in my job."

"I particularly liked that latest charm you guys invented... when are you going to leak it?"

"We're not sure," said Falcon, frowning, "not for a few years, at least."

"Mere!" called Rith, "Snake! Come out here for a minute, we've got a puzzle for you!"

"Harry is not a puzzle, Rith," Falcon admonished, "he's an injured boy!"

"Injured boy?" came a new feminine voice, "what happened?"

"Mere, you're not going to believe this," Falcon began, "but old Voldy hit him with an AK." Mere gasped.

"Yep," continued Rith, "but he lived and Voldemort didn't! He reflected the curse back onto its caster."

"Yes, but one, his parents both died, two, Voldemort isn't dead and three, there is now a painful looking wound on his forehead from where the curse struck!" came Falcon's heated reply.

"And we get to raise him!" said Rith just as cheerfully.

"That explains a great deal." A new voice came, neutral but with a slight hardness hidden in it. He had clearly suffered from the war.

"Snake," greeted Falcon, "would you like to help Mere, please? The darkness isn't leaving his forehead and it has been long enough that the residue should have gone by now..."

Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore were currently arguing. Dumbledore had been alerted by his wards that Harry had survived the killing curse and he had immediately set out for Privet Drive, a reluctant McGonagall trailing him- she disagreed with leaving the boy with the despicable muggles that she had been observing. Grudgingly, she admitted to herself that Dumbledore was probably right but she wasn't going to tell him that. There was a loud roar overhead, just after she had discovered that Dumbledore had sent Hagrid of all people to go and collect him. She looked up and saw that the man was sitting astride a giant, flying motorcycle! And Dumbledore wondered why she felt uneasy leaving him the task!

"Ah, Hagrid," Dumbledore was saying, "There were no problems, I trust?"

"Sir," the half-giant sniffed, "I went, but he was gone! Harry was gone. Here, they left a note for you," he said and passed the crumpled letter over to the aged headmaster. Dumbledore read through the letter, paling as he went further down. This was not good. Silently, he passed the note to Minerva, not trusting himself to speak. He didn't have to- as soon as the cat-animagus had scanned it, she burst out;

"What? What are you going to do? What do they mean we might see him when he's old enough for Hogwarts? Who is it? Were they really friends with Lily?" she was becoming hysterical, "Albus, what are you going to do... what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Minerva, I just don't know," he said heavily, "we can only hope that they do not mean Harry harm. We will try to trace him, of course, though there is a possibility that the tracks might have been lost by now... then we can check with every one of Lily and James' friends."

"That we are aware of," muttered Minerva darkly, "is that really all we can do?"

"Alas, yes. If the boy is not currently residing with Death Eaters-" she gasped, "it would be foolish to alert them to the fact that the boy is missing. Somehow, the knowledge of what he has done has leaked out to the rest of the world, though the effects of the rebounding curse are unclear... we shall simply tell the Wizarding World that he has gone into hiding as there are still many people around that would wish him harm and that he will return when he is ready." Minerva sniffed again, but nodded uncertainly.

"I- yes, you're right, of course," she said heavily, "I just feel so bad, leaving him!"

"There, there, Minerva," said Dumbledore, "we won't stop looking until we find him." Hagrid let out a large sniff, reminding them of his presence.

"I jus' 'ope you find 'im, Headmaster Dumbledore, sir," he said, "James' an' Lily's son is missin' I don' think I'll be able ter get to sleep any time soon."

"Alas, our presence here is no longer required," said Dumbledore, "and I see no point in remaining here."

Mere and Snake had been working on the little Harry for hours, with little results until now. Snake sat up, looking grave.

"As far as I can tell, this is a dangerous piece of the darkest magic that I believe it should be rated black... the only reason it is not is because not many people have even heard of it."

"And you have?" asked Falcon suspiciously, causing Snake to shoot her a dark glare.

"It appears that Voldemort has become so frightened of death that he split his soul into several pieces, hiding the fragments that have split off. If he is killed, his spirit still lingers on, making it entirely possible for him to return to a body. Now, if I am correct, When the curse rebounded onto him, a piece of his already unstable soul split off instead of killing him as the curse should have done. The piece of soul has gone for the only living being it could find."

"Harry," breathed Falcon in disgust.

"Quite," said Snake, looking equally disgusted, "that is what is called a horcrux. There are not many ways to defeat a horcrux and, quite unfortunately, most of them would kill Harry as well in the process."

"You can get rid of it, though, right?"

"It is dangerous," he said carefully, "but I believe that I could do it."

"what are you planning?" asked Falcon nervously. Snake was usually extremely sure of himself.

"You see how the piece of soul has gone for his mind?" Falcon nodded nervously, "well, what I am proposing is that we use legilimency to enter Harry's mind. If we have enough power between us, we should be able to force it out and into something else where we can destroy it properly." Falcon bit her lip. It sounded incredibly dangerous.

"What is likely to happen to Harry?"

"As his mind is still young and undeveloped, the risks are not as high as they could be. Still, there is a chance that we would damage his mind and it would not develop properly. That is worst case scenario. Best is that the older, more mature presences in his mind will cause it to mature a little quicker, allowing him to think more clearly and learn faster."

"Which one is more likely," asked Falcon nervously.

"Each has about a 40% chance of happening... 20% chance that his mind would remain the same." The young woman bit her lip.

"So you are saying that there is a 60% chance that this would be fine for Harry and that odd would decrease as he gets older."

"Yes," said Snake, "and we do have to get rid of it." Falcon nodded.

"I can see that," she said, "so who will do this? Snake, obviously, and myself... Rith? Mere?"

"Better just one of you," said Snake, "and I vote that Mere come with us. Rith, your job will be to contain the horcrux when we remove it. Mere's mind is a little more stable and I would prefer it to be her if people have to enter a young child's mind."

"Snake, listen to yourself," teased Mere, "I've never heard you care about a child before!"

"Be quiet," he snapped, "this boy is important, so we must do what we can to preserve his sanity. It has nothing to do with caring about him!"

"Of course, Snake," said Falcon, "so are we going to get this over with now?"

"On 3," said Snake, "1... 2... 3!" The cry of 'Legilimens!' came from all three adult witches and wizards, Falcon being guided by the other two into the infants mind as she had less experience. The three of them looked around- Snake and Mere looking for the soul piece and Falcon observing the child's mind. It was extraordinarily different to that of an adult's- large and spacious, with thoughts and memories moving around randomly with little structure. There was a small section, though, that was beginning to take shape.

"Found it," came Snake's voice, and now that she could see it, Falcon was amazed that she hadn't seen it before. It was small, yes, but a bright, sickly green and reeking of evil. It also seemed to be trying to take a hold over the young mind it was in, and she could see it slowly eating away at a strand of magic. They had to get it out of there!

"How do we get it out?" she asked nervously.

"I don't want to risk using magic," said Snake slowly, "as that could damage his mind... we're going to have to move it physically." Falcon, jumped, repulsed.

"Touch it?"

"Falcon!" said Mere, "your body in here is not really your own, just a representation of it. What's more important, you not touching that, or Harry's life and sanity?" Falcon gulped.

"Okay," she said determinedly, "let's do it." Mere nodded.

"On 3... 1... 2... 3!" said Snake and they all threw themselves at the soul piece. At first, it seemed incredibly easy- it had been taken by surprise. Very quickly, though, it began to fight back... and it was strong. The three of them lost a lot of ground before they managed to catch themselves and begin to put the effort back it. The abrupt fight of the soul had pushed them all off guard. Slowly, they began to force it backwards, but it wasn't easy. The soul had a lot of fight. Falcon was on the brink of exhaustion, and she was sure that Mere and Snake were feeling the same. She wasn't sure that they would make it. That was when Mere's words came flooding back.

"We have to do this," she cried, "For Harry! What's more important- our temporary exhaustion, or his life and sanity?" She would have sworn that she saw Mere smirk but a second later it was gone, replaced with an energy that had given the healer her name. Together the three of them managed to throw the piece of soul out of Harry's mind, and Falcon was sure that she had felt Harry's magic join in the fight. They slumped down, too exhausted to move, instead choosing to watch his mind. The strands of magic that the soul piece had been trying to chew away were slowly growing back, brighter than ever. The most extraordinary thing, though, were the thoughts and emotions... as well as the memories. They seemed to be moving faster than before, but not in random movements like they had before. No, the young child's mind was structuring itself incredibly.

"We have to get out of here," came Snake's panicked voice, "if it structures too much more while we are in here, he will start to have difficulty learning things because it is too developed! It already looks like the mind of a 5 year old instead of someone of his age!" Mere and Falcon leapt onto action, trying to get themselves out of his mind. Finally, they managed it, and stayed conscious just long enough to see Rith open his mouth to say something triumphantly before they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious from physical exhaustion. Harry himself was still asleep.

It was a whole day before they awoke, still feeling the effects of their exhaustion.

"Well, that could have gone worse," said Snake finally.

"That's good," said Falcon sleepily.

"No, I'm serious," he said, "his mind is more structured, so he will definitely be able to think more clearly and understand things that are more complex than most people his age... than everyone his age! I think my warning was a false alarm, though. The younger you are, the easier it is to learn new things and I don't think that part of his mind was 'aged' at all if you get my meaning. Technically, that means he will learn things well and quickly, and remember things better as well. The downside of that is that he did witness his parent's murder..."

"Ouch," winced Falcon.

"Oh, the poor boy!" said Mere.

"Hey, everyone," said Rith, coming in the door, "Silver announced that Harry will be living in the department. Everyone's pretty excited, actually, having a child around will certainly liven things up, and they all want a chance to teach their skill-" Rith snorted, "Harry's going to be the most well educated child ever to put the sorting hat on his head when he's eleven!"

"If we send him there," said Falcon, "though I think we will. Just that school is very narrow-minded... but we have 10 years until then!"

"That we do... so what's happening now?"

"Well, we'll need to get him a room somewhere... you could put some monitoring wards on it too, Rith!" Rith nodded, "then we try to give him as normal a childhood as possible. There's an 'outdoor' area around here somewhere, he can have some toys and play... muggle playgrounds when he's old enough to control his magic, probably... then we will have to teach him all of those lovely things that we all take for granted, such as how to speak, eat, and go to the bathroom..."

"Okay, okay, I get it, Falcon, you can stop!"

"Awww... is ickle Rithy embarrassed?" she smirked, "seeing as Snake thinks that you learn best when you're young, we might take the opportunity to teach him a few languages. Being multilingual is really important around here, especially in the magical world, I don't know why more people don't do it."

"I agree... you'll get Tongue to help you with that?"

"Obviously," she said, and Rith nodded.

"When he's older, we'll start teaching him control over his magic and everything else people want him to learn provided that it is not too old or dangerous for him. Silver wants to put him on the power boost rituals as well, see if they are more potent when you are younger."

"I know," said Rith, "I heard him say that to you... 'not that the knowledge will come to anything...' or something like that anyway.

"Mere and I are still here, you know," came Snake's voice, "and I have something that might interest you."

"What?"

"Look at his hair," Snake said, and they all turned to see Harry's hair changing colours, "he's a metamorphmagus. Definitely going to be one for the field, I can tell you. He'll need to start learning stealth and logic as soon as you can teach him that. Also, I saw that he has an animagus form while we were searching his mind, though I wasn't able to see what it was. By the time he's 9 or so, his growth should have slowed enough to teach him that."

"as long as he gets time to play like a normal child," said Mere, "I see no reason why he shouldn't be able to learn some of the more basic potions and other things that he will learn in his first few years of Hogwarts." Falcon shook her head.

"He can learn potions, sure, but we don't want him slipping into boredom while he's at school. Better that he learns things that they don't teach there, or that they don't teach for a few years." Mere conceded the point.

"So what happens now?" asked the healer.

"You stay here while Rith, Falcon and I go find the child a room and some supplies," said the Dark Arts expert, "Rith, you can get the... toys... and other things a child might like. I shall get furniture and Falcon- you look after finding a room." They nodded and went separate ways, leaving Mere to start singing to Harry in her native tongue.

Thanks for reading! And, thanks to my wonderful new-found beta (my sister) who has graciously agreed to edit all of the stories that she likes. :/

Anyway, thanks for reading, and please remember that reviews make authors happy!

(And force them to sit at the computer and so they have to keep writing :D)

Ok, see you all next chapter!