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Beaten. Bruised.
"No…"
Four years old…too young…
"Stop…"
He'll die anyway…might as well give him a chance…
"Please…"
Fine.
He thrashed in the stark white bed, arms bouncing off of the cushioning charms on the metal railings.
"What is your name?"
"Harry Potter, sir."
"No! Stop!"
"No more."
Pain.
He was still muttering, eyes closed tightly. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry!"
Kaden
"Potter, sir?"
SMACK
"No family, no family name. Even you should understand that—simple rules for a simple boy."
"NO!"
Kaden's eyes flew open as he wrenched himself from the nightmare. He lay still, trying to catch his breath.
It was a nightly ritual for him—caught in a nightmare about his jaded past, forced to wake himself up before they heard. Because if they heard, he would be put in restraints again so that he wouldn't put so much wear on the cushioning charms placed on the metal so he couldn't hurt himself. Not that he wanted to, but it was standard—many did.
He hated this place.
And they hated him.
They kept him here. He was a lab rat, stuck in an impossible, endless maze, sent to find a nonexistent piece of cheese. He was their plaything—they could do anything to him, and no one would ever find out because he didn't exist. Kaden didn't exist. The only thing he could hope was that somehow, to someone, Harry Potter did.
But he wasn't really Harry Potter. Not anymore. They had done far too much to him. So really, whoever found him would be quite disappointed—they wouldn't be finding Harry Potter. But Kaden would be free.
He would be free because anyone humane enough to go looking for a boy who had disappeared nearly seven years previous couldn't possibly leave him with them. No matter how damaged he was, he was still human.
Unlike them.
Soon the cycle would start all over again—brought out for a meager breakfast before testing began. But, for fear of punishment, he wouldn't resist. He would run as they asked him, jump as they told him, and submit as they ordered him. His already out-of-control magic would be invaded again.
But they didn't care.
They just cared about their research. And he, a major part of their research, was also a danger to it. He was too unstable now—he would have to be disposed of.
Kaden had lasted far longer than any other test subject in the Morgana Magic Testing Facility. Most were worn out after two years at most, some of the stronger ones lasting three or even four. Kaden, on the other hand, was nearing his seventh year at MMTF, and his core was an unpredictable storm due to all of the tests it had endured—and the changes were not altogether invisible.
His once emerald eyes had been stained a nearly ethereal blue—identical to the raging sea of magic that seeped through his very veins. There was a shock of silver in a lock of his jet black hair that hung over one sapphire orb. That orb was marred by the single scar that began above and finished below it, not causing any visible damage to the eye itself. In reality his unleashed magic had healed it, bringing a hypersensitivity that had forced him to grow his hair out over it for fear of light-induced blindness.
The only thing that tied him to the young Harry Potter who had once stood in his place was the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He knew it meant something—they had never liked it very much, and had even tried to get rid of it at one point, resulting in the injury to his left eye—but no matter what he tried he couldn't figure out what mattered so much about it. Sure, it had a peculiar shape to it, but apart from that he could find nothing special.
And then the tapping started.
Kaden carefully sat up, casting a quick glance around the bleached room. Nothing was there. Until something was.
In a burst of flame, a bird appeared in the room. Kaden pushed the hair from his eye in order to see its detail in the dark—it had brilliant red and gold plumage and (if he wasn't imagining it) a wise twinkle in its black eyes.
He realized with a start that the phoenix must have been tapping on the door to his cell—or bedroom, as they called it. It would only be a matter of time before they came to see what was causing the disturbance; he needed to act fast.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered uncertainly, voice cracking. The only time he spoke was during his nightmares, and to answer the odd question during tests. Suffice it to say, he was rather unused to talking. The phoenix trilled, the beautiful sound raising a nearly foreign hope in the boy's chest. It flew to his bed, sticking out its leg in invitation. There was a letter, addressed in green ink. He carefully untied it.
Harry Potter
(Kaden)
Morgana Magic Testing Facility
Room 520
His heart skipped a beat. It was a letter. To him! Or, rather, to Harry Potter. Though it did have his name on it—the name he was used to, the name that he had, in essence, become. With shaky hands he opened it.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Kaden couldn't believe it! He knew about magic, naturally—the researchers at MMTF had to tell him at least a little in order for their tests to be accurate. He had heard rumors about magic schools as well, that you could go and learn to control it, but he wasn't sure what to believe. Surely, if there actually were a magical government, they would try to stop the things that happened at MMTF? But he had heard that the research was secret—horror stories of it being passed off as a training programme so that parents would willingly send their children with above-average power levels, signing a contract that transferred complete guardianship to the Facility in fine print, were prevalent among some of the old-timers. And Kaden, being the one who had been there the longest, had heard them all.
Heart still racing in anticipation and apprehension, he pulled out another piece of parchment—the shopping list.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First-year students will require:
Three sets of plain work robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags
Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
Kaden's stomach dropped; even if he could escape, how would he get all of this? He didn't know anything about the magical world, despite having previous magical "training". Besides, whenever he tried to use a wand for the tests they never worked for him—at best nothing would happen, at worst something would end up exploding. Doubt continued to worm its way around his mind.
And how would he react to all the people? He had never gone to an actual school before, and tended to keep to himself even within the Facility. Not to mention that these people expected him to be Harry Potter—whatever that would mean—and he highly doubted that he would even be able to respond to the name, much less be the person. He had gone by Kaden for nearly seven years, and he wasn't about to suddenly switch names.
Then there was the matter of escaping. It was said to be impossible—and decades of failed attempts backed that up. Though…perhaps the phoenix could—
The bird gently pecked at his hand, pulling him out of his frantic thoughts. It looked at him understandingly—no, he had to be going crazy. There was no way a bird, no matter how magical, could know what he was going through. Though, it did seem rather amused as his thoughts went off on a tangent…
He shook his head, trying to get back on track. The fact remained that there was no way that he would be able to survive going to a school, even if he did manage to escape. But still, there was the minor detail of there being an even smaller chance of him living past his eleventh birthday—whenever that was—if he stayed where he was. That decided it.
"Can you get me out of here?" he asked hoarsely, clumsily shaping his lips and tongue to form the words. The phoenix trilled in a very It's about time you asked way before flying up and hovering with its tail feathers dangling in front of Kaden's face. Another impression made its way into his head.
Well? An image of him grabbing the feathers glided in front of his eyes. Dazed by the intrusion he hastily reached out and held on, thrown when gentle flames engulfed him.
And that one simple decision changed his life forever.