Disclaimer:
I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, these belong to that wonderful author JK Rowling and the various publishing companies used to publish her works. I am however borrowing them, no not to make money but for fun and fun only.
Summary:
I know most people have done "Harry goes to Azkaban" stories where he is betrayed by everyone. This is not one like that, it's very different indeed. After three years in Azkaban Harry is free and out for revenge. Rated for violence and gore.
Now I have a hard time when people say Harry has "gone dark but not evil" and all Harry does is go into soldier mode. To state he is dark when he kills as a soldier would does, in my mind a disservice to soldiers the world over. No Harry is out for justice and revenge and though he will do violent and bloody things he will not cross the line and become evil. He will not kill those who do not deserve it nor will he kill those who sent him to Azkaban believing the lies.
Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore are not evil in this story just misguided in what they think of Harry. Harry is the hero here, but a darker hero who will kill when needed as stated above. He will gain powers from his years locked up and he will use them to fight back, and fight back he will. There will be no slash, if you like that kind of thing then you will not like this story. Also there will be mentions of religion and such, again if you do not like that than this story is not for you. So on with the story.
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Chapter One: Freedom Found:
Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a cupboard under the stairs in his aunt and uncles house. This boy was made to work for his food and the oversized rags handed down from his bully of a cousin. Yet for all that he thought himself lucky to have a place to live and lucky he was fed three times a day and not beat or taken to the orphanage. Yet words did hurt as badly as a beating though in time he could tune these words out and go about his work between school and sleep. A magical thing happened to this boy when he was eleven, he found out he was a wizard and headed to Hogwarts.
It did not take long for this world to turn out more dangerous than his aunt's home, sure he was insulted there and his cousin tried to beat him if he could catch him but he did not face professors who sot to kill him, giant snakes and escaped convicts who were not who they seemed to be. No the magical world was far more dangerous and to make matters worse he was famous for something he did not remember doing. In fact he was sure it was his mother who stopped Voldemort, the dark lord behind all the horrible violent things that happened to the boy. He had friends who stood with him even when many thought he cheated in his fourth year at the school to get into the Triwizard tournament, even when Cedric came back dead they believed him.
That changed though one cool summer night, Dumbledore should have got the boy to safety and hidden but he had not. Because of that the boy's aunt and uncle were murdered and the Wizarding world ever the ones who thought they knew best believed the boy did it. An unfair trial, and worse, friends who turned on the boy and he was sent to Azkaban pleading his innocence, that is until his one-time best friend hit him and was allowed to hex him badly. The boy had passed out in the courtroom to wake in a cell and that is where this story starts, three years later.
Azkaban was a cold barren rock in the middle of the north sea, it was three miles long and one wide with the fortress of Azkaban high up on the tallest hill looking over the bleak island that was home to only mists and some grouse shrubs. In the fortress deep inside and in the highest security levels were the worst of the worst. This was where demons the Wizarding world called Dementors prowled as guards, they took all the best memories of the prisoners and left a weakened and hopeless shell behind. In one of the cells a young man had lived for three years, this was Harry Potter, one time hero of the Wizarding world, now only a prisoner to be guarded and tortured by sadistic human guards.
Two of the worst were headed to the cell today, they were brutish in looks and clad in black dragonskin under their red robes. They opened the cell door and one woke the skeletal figure clad in ragged prison garb to wake him. The young man woke and sat up, his once short hair was now long and hung past his shoulders and what skin could be seen was covered in scars, welts, bruises and fresh cuts. One of the men held a whip in hand, he was nervous, not at torturing the boy but the Dementors were acting strange and he did not like that. It was as if they were afraid, he turned to see the boy's green eyes glaring at him and he wished he could do more than beat the boy.
"So what today gentlemen?" Harry asked, this was one of the few times he was in the prison in mind and he so loved to taunt the guards, "branding, knives whips?"
"Shut it traitor!" One of the guards snarled.
"Why, it will not stop you." Harry said, he was so used to pain now he hardly even reacted when he was hit.
"Stew, we have a problem." The other guard said going pale.
"What now Rob?" Stew asked.
His eyes went wide as he heard a shriek of pain and saw a Dementor fall to the floor and disappear, leaving behind his rotted robes. A goblin in full battle armor stood behind it and the two wizards, so brave in beating prisoners who were bound and helpless ran screaming as more goblins swarmed the corridor. Two entered the cell and swore in goblin at the state of Harry, gently they picked him up as he could not stand on his own, he was too weak and both legs had been broken so badly before they had not fully healed. It took only two goblins to get Harry on a stretcher and with a pop they were gone from the prison.
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Albus Dumbledore, sat heavily at his desk feeling every bit his great age. Railroaded, that was what Severus had ranted about three years before, and he was right. One of the few to believe Harry was innocent was Severus Snape, the man who did not like Harry and said as much defended him stating that he could not have done what he did. Now the proof was clear, Peter Pettigrew was far more evil than any had thought and had simply stowed away in Harry's trunk and when he got to Privet drive he had waited then acted. Even Harry's cousin did not believe in his cousin's guilt and he had not been allowed to testify as he was a muggle, in fact everything was done to make it look as if Harry were guilty. He looked to the dark haired man seated before him sadly.
"You were right Severus, I was wrong in this." Dumbledore said sadly.
"Yes you and most of your Gryffindors, and they say Slytherins are evil." Severus said, "at least they did not betray him, not like young Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, what they did at the trial disgusts me to this day."
"I am well aware of what you think of them, is it not enough you refused them into your classroom and had the governors back it?"
"No, they should have been expelled, destroyed the property of a fellow wizard is against the law even if said wizard is convicted of a crime. What they did should have had them expelled and their wands snapped, but no they are Gryffindor and so nothing they do could ever be so bad."
Dumbledore winced, Severus would bring up his past failings whenever he could. Though secretly Severus had come to terms with Sirius as Sirius and he had a common goal, get Harry out of Azkaban Dumbledore did not need to know that. He had been humiliated enough when Sirius in a fit of rage at the conviction threw the order from his house and refused them entry, going as far as to get a goblin fidelius charm on the house to keep Dumbledore out. Sirius had even apologized to Severus for his actions in school and had meant it, they had strangely become secret friends and that was something Severus wanted to keep from Dumbledore. That and other things he knew that he was not going to tell Dumbledore as he was loyal to Lily still and her son and he was damned if the headmaster got in the way of that.
"We should go get Harry." Dumbledore said.
"We cannot." Severus said handing over a letter to Dumbledore, "the goblins have destroyed the Dementors as they promised to and they are in control of Azkaban."
"So they believe Harry is guilty?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, if you read the letter Harry is in their protection now and we cannot get to him." Severus said with secret glee, "they took him."
There would have been a time that he would have gladly wished Harry far, far away, but not Azkaban. When he had gone to the boy's trial he had learned much about the boy and most of what he thought was wrong, so very wrong. The boy was not spoiled and was treated much like a house elf by his relations. Yet Severus knew the boy was innocent and he was angered in how Harry was treated, in what his two "best friends" had done. Destroying his things because they believed him guilty was the final straw for him, the only reason the governors agreed to let him ban both teens was due to the destruction of personal property and that was it.
He had been at odds with much of the staff these past years and now, well now he was going to be vindicated. It was harder to convince Voldemort he stated this so that none in the school suspected him as anything but a loyal spy. Now that Harry was out Severus would have to go to him and he hoped the boy would not kill him on sight. If he did he did and he would not do anything to defend himself, he excused himself from Dumbledore and headed back to his rooms. He had a letter to write and work to do before he met his fate, whatever that might be.
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The goblin healers looked on the skeletal boy before them grimly, they could fix him up, they were good at that. As they were an honor-bound and war-like and miners and metal smiths on top of that their healers were second to none. Yet the boy before them would keep them working for some time. The first thing they had to do was take care of the cuts and scars and they had just the thing for that, the pool of purity. This pool would heal all a warrior or anyone's ill got scars and such, and Harry had a lot of these now, in fact his whole body was covered in them. Harry was taken to the pool and put in and watched while it took care of the scars and wounds, the only scar it did not get rid of was the "prophecy scar" as the goblins called it.
Once this was done they made sure Harry was still in an enchanted sleep they started to heal his bones and organs. This would take them a long time as Harry was very nearly dead as he had been on survivor rations for far too long. Yet the goblins had to save this young man, their future depended on Harry and he was not going to die now if they could help it. Finally they finished healing him physically and put him in a ward to observe him for the next few days, when he was well enough they would move him to his godfather's home where he would stay to recover fully. It was the least they could do for such a warrior as him.
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So first chapter, let me know what you think!