Chapter One – "The Biggest Lie He Had Ever Said"

A/N: Here we are! This is a revised version of chapter one.

October 21, 1987, Dublin, Ireland

James Moriarty hated birthdays. They were dull, boring, and were just like any other generic birthday party—a blue theme, the corny birthday song, the kids whose only goal was to get as many prizes in the ridiculously boring games as possible. He would just sit in a far corner, leaving the others to their fun. When even his parents were too busy entertaining the guests, he would slip to his room.

What he did in there was a complete mystery to everyone, and he planned to keep it that way. He would halfhearted do the thing his parents so desperately wanted him to do—to stamp his abnormality out of him, or at least, control it.

It was now his eleventh birthday. His parents weren't at all pleased with him. He had failed his 'mission', and he secretly was glad he failed. It was an improvement—he wasn't required to attend his own party; he had to stamp out his abnormality more.

He ran to his room. Sitting on his bed, he held his closed hand in front of him and opened it. To his surprise and utter shock, his palm was conjuring wisps of fire. These flames were like dainty dancers in red silk, dancing on Jim's very palm without burning him. His face was of awe and amazement.

He closed his palm and shook his head. The moment the tiny little dancers of fire disappeared, he knew he would be in deep trouble. His parents had told him he should get the monstrosity out him, and it just got stronger. However, he was so happy. He went to his top drawer and got a yellowed piece of parchment—his Hogwarts letter. He did not notice the loud footsteps approaching him.

"We saw that, boy," said a gruff voice.

Jim nearly dropped his letter. He turned gingerly to face his father.

"Why aren't you getting rid of this disease of yours?" asked the man angrily. "Unless you get that out of your system, we'll be watching your every move. Your... peculiarity had better not have been the cause of the fire at our neighbor's house!"

"That's why you need to get me into Hogwarts!" retorted Jim in the same anger. "So I don't get out of control!"

"HOW DARE YOU, ANSWERING LIKE A REBEL!" roared Mr. Moriarty, and reached for the letter in Jim's hand. He slammed it on Jim's bedside table.

"I saw you, making flames with your palm," he hissed. He pushed the letter closer to his son. "Burn the letter."

Jim took the letter and, just as he appeared to be ready to burn it, he grinned and dashed to the window and darted out it, not giving a damn that he would fall from the third floor of his house. He would take a risk; he would gamble his life to get away. He didn't mind how fast he was moving—or how tall each floor of the house was, which was taller than he thought.

Twenty feet to go.

Fifteen feet…

Jim closed his eyes shut.

"Aresto Momentum!"

Jim felt something jolt his body, but afterwards, he felt himself drop gently to the ground. He was shocked; he thought he had lost his gamble.

"You foolish boy!" shouted a voice belonging to a stern teacher. "What were you thinking? Falling off a three-story building?"

Jim sat up, rubbed his eyes, and saw the prim, stern face of Minerva McGonagall. "Oh, professor."

"You wouldn't have the chance to call me such if I hadn't seen you!" she reprimanded. "What were you thinking?"

"Well, um, I got into a row with my parents" replied Jim. "So, I jumped out and hoped my magic can save me—that's all."

McGonagall shook her head. "That is no excuse for your stupidity. Come, Mr. Moriarty, we shall talk with your parents."

Like that's gonna help at all! Jim sighed, and led the professor to his house. He didn't react at all when his father and mother were shocked to see the professor again. It appeared that McGonagall too had no problem with their faces.

"I assume Jim has already decided on whether to go to Hogwarts or not," she told them flatly.

Mrs. Moriarty's eyes widened and she shook her head. She then grabbed her son's arm, and replied, "Actually, we were just getting to that now."

So, the couple pulled their son upstairs, and locked the door behind them just as they went to Jim's room. After making sure the door was closed shut, Mr. Moriarty's grip on Jim tightened.

"I want you to say 'no' to that magic professor," he told him. His harsh grip on the boy refused to go.

Jim furrowed his eyebrows. "But I want to go." I've already bought my wand and other supplies, thanks to that wizarding family called Wood. I don't want them to go to waste!

"You refuse that offer, Jim, or I'll make sure that one of these days, you'll be drinking poison without knowing it!" Mr. Moriarty threatened. He tightened his grip on the boy, who winced now. "Right before you could even go to your freak school."

Blackmail. The pathetic man. Jim glared at his father. "Surely you couldn't kill your son, now can't you?"

He saw Mr. Moriarty look at Mrs. Moriarty, who seemed to silently plead with watery eyes. He also caught his father say something, albeit softly.

"You know what happened to the other one."

Jim's face contorted to that of puzzlement. Who was this other one? A relative, or someone Father knew? He struggled to keep a straight face when he finally arranged it all. He poisoned another magical kid, who's a relative! He gazed at the older man with a gaping mouth. He's serious about this. If I don't say no, I'm going to get killed before I even go to Hogwarts!

The boy sighed, and murmured, "Okay, I'll do it." The moment the words passed his lips, his father let go of his arm, which now had a reddish area on it. The boy bowed his head, almost reaching his chest, and somberly went down the stairs to meet McGonagall. When the professor asked him whether he'd want to attend Hogwarts or not, Jim told her one of the biggest lies he never hoped to say.

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts."

Thanks to Phalanx for helping me point out that big plot hole here!

Reviews are welcome!

~MoJ