Prologue
The Journey On The Train
"Why do we have to go?" said the child.
"I'll explain when we get there, darling." His mother replied.
"Come on, we haven't got time for this ..." Came his father's voice.
The three of them clambered onto the train, squeezing past the Muggles and hauling their luggage behind them. They had been "on the run" before, when the young boy was just a baby, but this was different. This was even more dangerous.
"In here, it's free." The boy's father opened the sliding door and stepped inside, changing hands and holding the door open for his wife and child. They stood inside a small carriage, just big enough for the three of them and their luggage. They sat down; the boy and his mother on one side, his father on the other, with their luggage in the middle.
"All aboard!" came a man's husky voice from outside the train door. He called again and after about a minute the boy felt a slight jolt and they were moving, gathering speed and moving loudly away from the platform, the whistle blowing and the passengers both in the corridors and in other carriages talking loudly, almost shouting over the noise as they zoomed off towards the countryside.
"Gosh, I hate Muggle trains," said the boy's father, "They're so crowded. But I suppose we should be used to it by now, after all, we've lived in the Muggle world for ten years."
"Mum, you said that you would explain to me why we left. Will you tell me now?" The boy asked.
The boy's father gave his mother a knowing look, and she nodded in return.
"Well, son," said the boy's father, "It's a very long story. Are you sure you're ready to hear it?"
"Positive."
"Okay. Harry, have you ever wondered why we have never lived in the Wizarding world, or near any other wizards?"
In truth, he had. He had often wondered, since his parents sat him down on his eighth birthday and told him that he was a wizard, and that they were wizards too, why they had never lived near other wizards. Of course, they were still in touch with a few wizards, their closest friends and the boy's godfather, but that didn't answer his question ...
"Yes." Harry replied.
"You have. Okay. Well, Harry, when you were just a year old, There was a very dark wizard around. A very dark wizard. This wizard was so feared, so hated, that most of the Wizarding world didn't dare speak his name. But, if you want, I will tell you now."
Harry nodded.
"Voldemort. Lord Voldemort. He killed Muggles and Wizards alike if they did not succumb to his wishes. There were those who tried to fight him, of course, Aurors, Ministry Officials, and members of the Order. But most of them were killed or had their memories modified. Anyway, those who were left, he came after, intending to kill every last one of them. We – that is, your mother and I – were among those people. We had you to protect, so we went to a place called Godric's Hollow. We found a cottage, set up a Fidelius Charm, and lived there."
"What's a Fidelius Charm?"
"A Fidelius Charm is a charm that makes us invisible – this is the easiest way I can put it to you – and it means that Lord Voldemort would not be able to see us if his nose was pressed against our living room window. The cottage would appear empty to him, and to everyone else. But, we were allowed to tell one person of our whereabouts; a Secret Keeper. We chose your godfather, Sirius. He vowed not to tell a soul. However, one night, Sirius came to us and begged us to change our Secret Keeper. So we did. We changed the Secret Keeper to Peter Pettigrew instead, because Sirius was aware that Voldemort was after him, and that he would ask for information on us. As Peter was not a member of the Order, Voldemort would not come looking for him and Sirius was sure our secret would be safe. However, Voldemort did come looking for Peter, and he found him. He told Peter he would be rewarded if he told him where we were. So Peter told him. He told him about Godric's Hollow, the Fidelius Charm, everything. As his reward, Voldemort let Peter join his side, become a Death Eater – one of Voldemort's followers. He came to find us and kill us that night.
He came to Godric's Hollow, to our little cottage, blew up the front door and came into the house. This broke the Fidelius Charm; he could now see us. I tried to hold him off, but he was too powerful, and he killed me. Or at least, he thought he did. He narrowly missed me, and I pretended to be dead. Your mother had taken you upstairs and he followed. When he was out of sight, I got up, planning to sneak up behind him and kill him. I went up the stairs silently, and when I got to the top, I heard your mother pleading with him to leave you alone and take her, and I knew I had to do something, so I bolted into the room, but just as I did, I saw Lily lying on the floor, and I saw him raise his wand at you, and my world crumbled. But then I saw the strangest thing; the curse rebounded off you and hit Voldemort! You were alive! Voldemort was barely that, but he managed to crawl away somewhere, I didn't care anymore. I had you. I picked you up and slowly started to walk out of the room, when I heard a small voice, saying, "James ..." I turned around, and your mother was getting up off the floor, and my heart soared. I just couldn't believe it! You were both alive! We all were! Lily told me that the curse didn't hit her, but it hit her necklace! It was nothing short of a miracle!
Next day, we gathered up what was left of our belongings, since the rebounding curse destroyed half the house, and wrote to our friends and our old headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. We got onto a train and started a new life in the Muggle world."
Harry was shell-shocked. He couldn't believe this all really happened. He could only manage one word:
"Wow."
"So there you have it. Now we have something else to tell you, too, but it can wait until later. We've arrived at our station.