AN: This is an edited, updated, and frankly much better version of the original first chapter. I added some new things that set up storylines in the future and used the new POV to show Harry's personality far better than I did originally.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its associated characters, places, or ideas. That all belongs to JK Rowling. If I owned Harry Potter, well… Let's just say that 'Albus Severus Potter' wouldn't exist.

The Hope a Stranger Gives

Chapter 1: The Legend Begins

October 31st, 1981

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have

Thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…" These were the words that were stuck in the man known as Lord Voldemort's head as he sauntered towards the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow.

His servant Severus Snape had overheard part of a dreaded prophecy that foretold of someone powerful enough to defeat him. Shaking his head at the thought, Voldemort almost laughed at image of a kid defeating him in battle.

There were two different babies that fit the profile of the prophecy, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. Voldemort decided that being a half blood made the Potter boy an obvious choice for the position of arch nemesis. After figuring out who he wanted to kill, all that was left was finding the Potters.

He had taken his most loyal followers, Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov, and they marched on Potter Manor where he had suspected the boy to be. All they found was Charlus and Dorea Potter who didn't even give a hint to where the other Potters were. After Antonin killed Charlus in a duel and Bellatrix killed Dorea, they razed the grand manor to the ground with Fiendfyre and left the dark mark hanging over the Potter's ancestral home.

He then sent Dolohov to kill Fleamont and Euphemia Potter who lived on the Isle of Man. The youngest Potter wasn't there but Voldemort figured that if they were going to hide from him, they would lose all of their family as well.

After capturing an Auror and torturing him until he was ready to speak, Voldemort found out that the Potters were hiding out somewhere under a fidelius charm. The man needlessly explained that the only way he would find them was if the secret keeper willingly told him and that SIrius Black would never betray the Potters.

Luckily, he had a spy among Dumbledore's so called "Order of the Phoenix" that just so happened to be one of James Potter's best friends. All it took was a faux assassination attempt on Sirius Black and whispers of more werewolves joining up with the death eaters and Peter Pettigrew became the new secret keeper.

With the knowledge of where his greatest adversary was hiding, Voldemort immediately set off to the birthplace of Godric Gryffindor. If the rumors were true, the Potters were the closest living descendants of the Gryffindor family.

Frowning, the Dark Lord realised that if anyone could hope to stand against him, the heir of Slytherin, it would be the heir of Gryffindor. If the boy grew into a man, he may find a wizard far more willing to fight than Dumbledore.

While he found the idea of anyone defeating him laughable, Tom Riddle would not let anyone threaten his dream of a new world order with him as it's sole ruler. Everyone would bow to him, including the purebloods that once thought him a muggleborn. No one would be his equal, because he is the greatest wizard to ever live.

Approaching the door, the Dark Lord breathed in the smells as he revelled in the moment. 'After I kill Harry Potter, no one will be able to oppose me. NO ONE!"

With that final shout, Voldemort threw a powerful blasting curse at the front door, throwing it off of its hinges and onto the floor. "Lily, take Harry and run! Go!"

A flash of red hair dashed up the flight of stairs as a familiar foe stood in front of Tom Riddle. James Potter, a man that had somehow managed to escape from him twice after denying an offer of joining his death eaters. Voldemort was very much aware of how rich the Potters were and wanted that money to be backing him and his army. When James had denied him and wasn't cowed by threats, Voldemort personally tried to kill him and his wife but there was always some crazy coincidence that allowed the young couple to escape.

"Not tonight," Tom thought to himself as he effortlessly dodged a stunner and threw a killing curse that killed James immediately. Standing for just a couple of seconds to enjoy the feeling of victory, Voldemort turned towards the stairs and stalked towards the last two Potters.

While originally planning to kill every last Potter, Tom decided that he would try to honor his promise to Severus Snape and keep the girl alive. If the girl defied his orders again though, she would become fair game.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Voldemort checked every room until he was standing in front of the last door. Blasting it open, Voldemort stepped inside to see Lily Potter standing in front of a crib that held Harry Potter.

"Stand aside girl, only one of you need to die tonight!" The mother vigorously shook her head in denial and screamed, "Please kill me instead! Not Harry, please not Harry!" Growling, Voldemort took a menacing step forward and ordered her to move aside once more. When Lily Potter refused again, a killing curse took her life as well.

Watching her body drop, Voldemort shook his head as he figured that Snape may become disillusioned with the death eaters due to the broken promise. Brushing the thought away, the Dark Lord stepped towards the crib and looked into the green eyes of Harry Potter.

Raising his wand to the boy's forehead, Tom noted that the last Potter had the same eye color as the curse that would take his life. With a gleeful expression on his face, Voldemort shouted "Avada Kedavra" and three things happened after the lethal words left the Dark Lord's mouth.

A circle of runes appeared around Harry's crib, erecting an ethereal shield that split the power of the killing curse, sending half towards the caster and the other half to the intended victim.

After Voldemort was struck with his own curse, his fragile soul separated from his corpse and a piece of it split off from the main body to latch onto the last living being in the room.

As Voldemort's body dropped to the floor, it evaporated into nothingness and only his robes and wand were left remaining.

After all was said and done, only one person remained alive in the now quiet house. A dark haired baby with green eyes sat in his crib, cheeks wet from tears and forehead dripping with blood. While the curse usually kills its targets, the only evidence that the boy had been struck with the spell that took all of his family was the strange lightning bolt shaped scar that sat above his brow.

With an eerie silence, the legend of the boy-who-lived began.

HP***Hope That a Stranger Gives***HP

December 21st, 1987. The winter solstice, Harry Potter noted while staring at the calendar stuck to the fridge. Opening the fridge, Harry took one of his cousin Dudley's fudgesicles and quickly closed it. Normally the charcoal haired and emerald-eyed boy wasn't allowed to have sweets, but since he woke up to find his relatives gone, he figured that he would treat himself.

His uncle, Vernon Dursley, had the holidays off from work and that the whole family would go to visit Vernon's equally rotund sister, Marge. The whole family excluding Harry, of course. Two years ago, this would've made Harry cry and wonder why the Dursleys hated him. The older that Harry got and the more abuse that he suffered from his 'family', the less he cared to take part in their outings.

But he was still a seven year old kid and deep down, he did wish for at least his aunt by blood to love him. Sadly, Petunia Dursley did not love Harry Potter for in him she saw what took her sister from her all of those years ago. Harry was far too young to understand this though, so she never bothered telling him.

Making his way over to the couch and turning on the television, Harry plopped down and started watching 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Humming to the song 'Linus and Lucy', Harry was startled by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Grabbing a stool from the kitchen, Harry dragged it over to the front door so that he could use the peephole to see who it was before opening the door. Seeing that no one was there confused the young boy immensely.

Opening the door revealed that the only thing there was a cardboard box with the words "To Harry Potter" written on it's side. Taking one last look around to make sure that it wasn't a prank of some sort, Harry proceeds to drag the box into the house before closing and locking the door. He then pushed the box over to the couch before opening it and finding a multitude of books and a photo album. He also discovered a note that reads:

Harry, I have no idea how I am supposed to say this, so I will just tell you the truth. My name is Remus Lupin and I was one of your father's best friends. As strange as it seems, I was going for a walk when I felt something staring at me. When I turned around, I saw a stag and that led me to think of James which in turn caused me to think of you.

If you are wondering why I have never contacted you before, it's simply because I have only just figured out where you live. I did ask about you, shortly after your parents were… you know.. Lily would have never wanted you to live with her sister and that husband of hers but for some reason, that is where you have been kept.

I figured that those ignorant muggles wouldn't have told you about your heritage, so I have taken it upon myself to show you some of it. Included in this box are copies of all of the photographs that I have of your parents. There are also a number of books that you will need to study. Being that you were raised by Petunia and her lot, you may not believe everything that you read at first but I implore you to think for yourself. Has nothing strange ever happened around you? When you were angry or afraid, something would happen that seemed like magic? That's what this is.

On the last week of May in 1991, you will receive a letter from a place called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is where James and I met and it is also where we met Lily as well. Make sure that you get the mail first and when you see the letter, hide it and read it when you are alone.

In this box, you will find a small bag filled with ten gold coins called galleons. This is the currency of the magical world and you are to keep it until June 1st of 1991. On that day, you are to leave a note stating that you went to Diagon Alley. Say nothing else and take the gold and walk until you are away from muggle eyes. When you are alone, focus on your magic and call the Knight Bus to you and ask the driver to take you to The Leaky Cauldron. Once inside, ask Tom the Barman to let you into Diagon Alley.

You will find that you are extremely famous in our world, and if someone sees your scar they will recognize you. If anyone hears your name, they will recognize you. Your full name is Hadrian James Potter, very few people know that your real name is Hadrian so I would advise you to use that. Also, your mother's maiden name was Evans. Use that as your last name.

Goodbye Harry, we shall meet each other soon enough. I urge you to think for yourself, there will be a lot of people wanting to use you for their own gain. Make sure not to make enemies with the wrong people. Your name and legend give you enough already.

Much love,

Remus Lupin

Finished with the note, Harry placed it on the coffee table beside him and thought over what this 'Remus Lupin' told him.

"Magic is real? Uncle Vernon said that magic wasn't real though. But if it were real would he even tell me?" When Harry realised that he was speaking to himself, he quieted down and looked back into the box and saw a book labeled 'Heritage: James and Lily Potter Photo Album'.

Tentatively opening to the first page, Harry saw a beautiful red-headed woman with sparkling emerald eyes. To his surprise, the picture started to move his eyes widened as the beautiful girl smiled at him and waved. Tears fell down the boy's face as he laid his eyes upon Lily Potter for the first time in over six years.

Looking at the next page, the last Potter was greeted by a man smirking lopsidedly into the camera with a hand going through his unruly dark hair. The man looked like the spitting image of Harry but with dark brown eyes instead of glowing green ones.

Eager to see more of the family that he never knew, he flicked to the next page and saw James' arm wrapped around Lily as they sat on a couch and giggled over an unknown joke. Telling each other stories that Harry would never get to hear.

After a couple of hours of watching each picture attentively, Harry gently closed the photo album and placed it next to the note on the coffee table.

Grabbing a book from the box, Harry frowned at the title and reread it multiple times to make sure that it wasn't a joke book or something of the like. After the sixth time reading the title, Harry decided to study 'And Stay Down: A Warlock's Guide to Curses, Hexes, and Jinxes' at a later date.

Examining the box, Harry noticed that all of the books seemed to follow the theme of magic. At that point, Harry decided that this was either the real deal or the most elaborate prank ever pulled in history.

After a quick headcount, Harry found out that there were seventeen books. These books weren't 'Cat in the Hat' length either, they were huge. Harry made a mental list of all of the books to decide which one he would read first.

Transfiguration: An Introduction

Charms For The Common Wizard

The Standard Book of Spells Volumes 1-3

Magical Theory

Spellman's Syllabary

Numerology and Grammatica

Pureblood Customs

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Last Stand: An Impractical Guide to Practical DADA

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

History Redacted: The Truth About the Goblin Wars

Hogwarts, A History

Magical Drafts and Potions

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi

Deciding that 'Magical Theory' was the best place to start, Harry picked the book up and began his journey into becoming a wizard.

HP***Hope That a Stranger Gives***HP

Over the next three years and four months, Harry studied vigorously. He continued with his chores and schoolwork but as more time went on, the more disillusioned he became with everything mundane.

The book 'Magical Theory' vastly improved Harry's life as it gave him an understanding of the logic of Transfiguration, Charms, Occlumency, Legilimency, and Apparition. The boy had even managed to apparate once while running from Dudley and his gang.

The boys had chased the last Potter until he ran into an alley with a dead end. Harry hid behind the dumpster and then focused on disappearing and reappearing onto the roof of the building next to him. With a mischievous smile, Harry watched as Dudley and his goons tried to figure out where he had gone before quickly apparating back to his cupboard.

In the book 'Magical Theory', there was a whole chapter on wandless magic and how it worked. Most wizards couldn't do any wandless magic but Harry quickly found out that he wasn't one of them.

If Harry concentrated hard enough, he could do some of the spells in the book without a wand but they weren't anything too special. Once before, he had caused a table to float when Dudley touched it and drew the Dursley's attention to it by saying "Wow, Dudley! It's like you're magic!" After that, Vernon and Petunia grounded Dudley for the rest of the week.

HP***Hope That a Stranger Gives***HP

May 28th, 1991. Harry smiled when he woke up that day because he just knew that his Hogwarts letter was coming today. He got out of bed and grabbed his pouch of galleons that he had kept underneath his bed for the last three years and tucked it into his large pockets.

"Boy, get out here and make breakfast," Vernon called from the living room. After making breakfast, Harry made sure to hang around the table so that he could get the post when it arrived. When the sound of mail sliding through the hatch and dropping to the floor was heard, Harry tried to seem unaffected by the casual occurrence.

"Dudley, get the mail." Said boy grimaced at the thought of not stuffing his facing for long enough to get the mail and replied "Make Harry get it." Vernon continued to look at his newspaper and without missing a beat ordered Harry to get the mail. With a sigh to seem unpleased with the order, Harry trudged to the front door.

Finding the Hogwarts letter and pocketing it immediately, the green-eyed boy made his way back to the table. On his way there, the young wizard decided that Remus' way would cause far more trouble for him in the end so he chose to just appeal to Vernon's wishes for Harry to leave his family alone.

Arriving at the table, Harry handed Vernon all of the mail except for his Hogwarts letter. After checking through the mail multiple times, Vernon happily asked "Is this all?" All too happy to burst his uncle's bubble, Harry replied "Not exactly," while pulling the Hogwarts letter from his pocket and dropping it on the table.

Vernon's face paled considerably and paled even more so when Harry continued with "My parents' old school sent me this." At that point, Petunia joined the conversation and spluttered out "How did you learn of this?"

"When you guys left me alone for the holidays in 1987, a letter arrived explaining everything." Vernon's eyes started to bulge as his skin turned puce as he remembered that it was him that wanted to visit Marge at her house instead of having her over to theirs like usual. "I'll not pay for you to learn magic!"

"You don't have to." Petunia started to glare hatefully at her nephew and spat out "Liar, I remember when Lily went to that school. It was expensive but our parents sent her anyway, even though I had to attend public school."

Rolling his eyes at her obvious display of jealousy, Harry continued with 'You don't have to because my father paid for all seven years of my tuition the moment that I displayed magical talent." Ignoring the scoff that Petunia gave at the word talent, Harry turned towards Vernon as he knew that he would make the final decision anyway.

"I'd be gone for nine months out of the year at the least and I won't come back for yule or easter. Also, in the magical world, I will be declared an adult at seventeen instead of eighteen like it is here. That means that I will be out of your hair for good sooner rather than later."

"What about your course books? I'm not paying for those." Sighing at the man's stubbornness, Harry replied "That's not your concern, I'll pay for it. Somehow."

"Fine. I'll drive you to wherever you need to go but you'll have to find your own way back." Vernon smirked, thinking that he had won but those thoughts were quickly erased when Harry turned heel and said "Sure, I'll be waiting in the car."

Once in the car, Harry mutters a shrinking charm that resizes Dudley's clothes to fit him perfectly and then uses a cleaning charm to give the clothes their faded color back. The charm won't last more than four or five hours and the clothes will be ruined for good afterwards but Harry planned on buying new clothes in Diagon Alley.

Grumbling as he opened the door to the car, Vernon got in and turned in his seat to stare at his nephew. "You will not say a word this entire trip. We will not stop for bathroom breaks and you will sit still back there. Got it?"

After receiving a nod and an innocent smile in response, Vernon turned back around and muttered about "Freaks ruining his normal day."

HP***Hope That a Stranger Gives***HP

"Where is it? I don't see anything," Vernon announces as they arrived on the street that held the Leaky Cauldron. "It's charmed, only magical people can see it." Harry explained before looking around the street and finding it between two muggle stores.

"I see it," Harry proclaimed as he unbuckled his seatbelt and exited the Ford Sierra. "I'll be back at the house in three or four hours." Giving a grunt of dismissal, Vernon pulls away and drives back towards Surrey.

Walking into the pub, Harry made sure to cover his scar before walking up to Tom the Barman. "Hello sir, if it is not too much of a bother I would like to be let into Diagon Alley." Tom looked at Harry before searching the pub and then looked back at the dark-haired child. "Where are your parents?"

Harry let a hurt expression cross his face and a tear to come to his eye before he dropped his gaze to his shoes and whispered, "They're dead sir."

"Oh, sorry kid. Of course I'll let you through. Right this way." Tom led Harry into the alley behind the bar and up to a brick wall. "Now watch carefully. You want to tap the bricks exactly like I am doing." After he finished tapping each brick, the wall opened up and Harry saw an area bustling in activity with plenty of people walking joyfully around getting their shopping done.

Seeing the look on the kid's face, Tom laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "Welcome to Diagon Alley. Enjoy your stay."