A/N: Harry Potter books and characters belong to JKR. I take no credit for any repeated quote or event from the original source.
Chapter 1
His body had already been incredibly fatigued from the sheer amount of energy…no...magic had had to use to heal his body. Taking into account how much body had seemed to adapt to healing itself both easier and more efficiently, well, he thanked God that he had magic.
The problem became slightly more pressing with his current sleep deprivation and pain coming from his stomach, his body now ached from the amount of magic he had used throughout the night. It was in the very early parts of the morning that he reached a small neighbourhood with chirping birds as a soft breeze moved the leaves on the trees, with some strange amount of power that he could feel simply being emitted from the town. It was still early enough that no one would be awake, but he was aware that he was becoming pressed for time as he searched for the house he was looking form, or maybe limp was a closer description with how much my left leg hurt's.
Either way, some few new scars where no wear near enough to dull the excitement building up in him as he read each pate of each house, looking with a hope in his eyes that had never been there before. After almost twenty minutes he inhaled deeply, coming to a halt he looked at the plate he had just read. Repeating the action a second and third time almost not believing what was written on it. He'd found it, the house he had lived in. He had been happy to here, it wasn't as much hope as it was that he knew it, he simply did.
Okay Harry, stop hyperventilating, deep breaths, deep breaths. Who am I kidding, it's not working.
Once he was vaguely stable, the question as to why part of the roof seemed to have suffered an explosion from the inside was raised in his head. At least it would have been had he actually cared about the minor details of the house looking highly unstable. He had been more worried that the house may no longer belong to him since his parents death, however if no one had fixed or demolished it then it was most likely that it was simply because it now belonged to him, and since he was both underage and lived with the Dursleys he'd never known about it.
Feeling a compelling sensation of craving to know where his parents had lived, he slowly walked towards the gate, opening it as a tingly sensation run through his body. Taking a deep breath he walked towards the door, feeling a slight sense of nervousness when he realized it wasn't looked.
He took another breath just for luck, gently opening the door in front of him. He immediately paused trying to register the scene in front of him. The slightly large hall with stairs at the end going to the upper wall was covered with burn and cutting-like marks all over, almost as if some sort of fight had occurred here years ago.
Wearily of his surroundings, he softly closed the door behind him as he slowly walked into a cosy sitting room that, apart from the lingering dust, seemed like they had lived in it yesterday. Gently placing his bag on one of the chairs he looked around the room, feeling a sense of nostalgia flow through his body before his attention was caught by the mantlepiece. On it laid many photos containing his parents, with some few being with people he vaguely felt like he had seen before, however the ones that caught his attention were the one that his parents were in with a small child with the same hair and eyes as his mother all three of them laughing as they looked at him.
He gently picked up the picture, using his sleeve to clean the lingering dust laying on the glass as he simultaneously studied the photo, looking at the incredibly happy family he had once been part of. Recognising the room the photo had taken place as the one he was in at the moment, he looked at his surrounding trying to imagine his parents taking care of him when he was just one year old.
Eventually putting the frame back down he went to the next frame, carefully examining each photo laying there, spending countless minutes on each one before moving to the next. From what he could see, his parents really had been happy when he had been born, countless of the photos including them looking at each other before looking at him while smiling brightly. It was strange really, to feel so happy and yet so sad at the same time.
They all varied, from one that had his father flying on what seemed to be a broomstick to their wedding day. There where some few other people that he had never seen, mainly three men and two women who he assumed was his parent's friends seeing how often they appeared in the pictures.
Picking up the last photo he immediately knew that it was his favourite, four people were smiling brightly in the frame. His parents, a man with black scruffy heir, and himself. It was difficult to believe that it was him, he was smiling so brightly with his family. He'd been so happy with his family. His family. It made his eyes water at the thought.
The idea was so foreign to him, the thought of a family. He couldn't help it, falling onto his knees not taking his eyes of the photo he burst into tears. Not soon later the effect of the exhausting trip started taking effect on him as he slowly closed his eyes, the last image his mind processed was the happy family sitting in front of him.
I'm home.
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Harry had never been so reluctant in opening his eyes, nor had he ever felt so safe in his life. But when he woke up he felt both of this feeling and much, much more. The sun was already setting down with its last raise of light passing through the window reaching his face. He hadn't realized how much his scars hurt until now, gently rubbing them he stood up looking at the room he had slept in with now the full assistance of the sunlight.
Trying to ignore the battered feeling in his body he decided to explore the house, curious as to where he had probably lived the happiest part of his life, the part that had been stolen from him. While the Dursleys had had a classy and posh decoration in the house, the one used here was warm and comfortable with its bright colours and wooden floor. Much better was all that he could think.
From the outside, the house may look like it was in ruins, however, the inside was a beautiful two floored cottage with a small garden at the back of the house, which looked like it was, unfortunately, looked like a wild jungle. Recalling the photos of the people in the garden made Harry start form tears in his eyes again, but he managed to rube them of his face and keep on exploring.
There was a kitchen that was far superior in appearance than the one at the Dursley's, and a bathroom he could probably use daily without being yelled at after a minute of usage. There were three bedrooms, the one that had belonged to his parents, two guest rooms, though he felt one of them would have been his, and a destroyed nursery that looked like it had contained an explosion, fire and anything else that came to his mind. Closing the door he mentally noted to leave the door locked no matter the reason he needed to enter. The room gave him a very ominous feeling that made his gut twist, he really didn't want to think what his instincts probably meant.
However, by far his favourite room was the huge library that by all logic shouldn't be able to fit inside of the house. Counting the dozens of bookshelf and hundreds, maybe thousands of books, it took him every strength of his will to walk out of the room.
Opening the bag, he took out the canned food and organized them in different piles before storing them as he worked out how much he would be able to eat each day. He could easily live on a slice of the breed and a glass of water a day, if he hadn't possessed those skills then he would have died in less a year than after being placed there.
Once he finished organizing the food he quickly walked back into the library, he admired the countless books that laid before him, the knowledge that would take him months, if not years to learn. A very small smile graced his face as he immediately walked towards the closest bookshelf and started looking through the many books in it.
While most would probably prefer to start immediately reading, he had no idea what the essentially knew world could offer, and if he wanted his questions answered, then he would have to do so personally. Hours were spent searching for an introduction to an understanding of how magic worked. As hours passed he discovered that magic had many branches, and like in his own school, they were divided into different classifications. Followed by the fact that a wand was necessary to cast spells, and what he had been doing was wandless magic.
Progressing through his research he started to put the classifications into different sections, with the important one being the simple books that would allow him to understand that branch of its magic. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, a book titled 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1' with the large integrated words of charms on it.
Wondering if the gradings applied to other books of different branches he started searching similar names to the book he had just found, eventually finding Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger all on the same bookshelf. Deciding that he had found enough books and that he could always search for more later, he allowed his book instincts to take over as he sat on the small couch between the bookshelves and opened the first book that was in the pile.
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Time passed quickly as Ren found more and more questions as to what magic was and how it worked. Days quickly becoming weeks as he found answers that simp.e raised more questions. Satisfying his ever-growing curiosity and actually having a place he could happily call home quickly made the past month the best. Free, feed and healing, such a good combination.
There really hadn't been much boredom, with all the books in the library he was perfectly happy shutting himself in the house for years as he read the many books in the library. It simply made so much sense, in a way, he could compare it to maths, it simple was everywhere that now that he knew it he could slap himself for not having realized it before.
Most bookshelves had books that he couldn't understand due to his lack of knowledge, which lead to him reluctantly leaving them as he moved to the next bookshelves only for the same problem to raise. Occasionally he found a book that explained a new subject allowing him to go back and look through books that he could now understand in better depth.
There was one question that kept coming up in his head. What was magic? He could find a book explaining it, he had come up with some few theories. The possibility that it was involved with space, or possible nature. Perhaps it was related to some ancient technology long forgotten by humanity. It could even be part of a god.
I always was obsessed with fantasy stories...
After a month of studying he realized that even if he did have a certain degree of control over magic, it was weak and inconsistent, not to mention incredibly hard to control. No, what he needed was mentioned in many books, explaining how it was necessary to have a wand to channel one's magic.
He eventually learned that he was doing wandless magic, and was apparently incredibly proficient if he took to heart that most, magical humans couldn't do magic at all without a wand. It was a great ability, not to mention an incredibly useful one, but it had major limits. For example, he could only make half-successful attempts at best when put to the test The best success being in charms, while no results were achieved in transfiguration. Because of this, he could understand the charms books he read much easier than the transfiguration ones, which he struggled to understand since he had no prior experience with.
Eventually, a problem arose that magic couldn't survive. Food. Had he spent time with other children his age, he would have known that he ate much less than them due to his bodies small and thin stature, with his magic had encouraged to help his body survive. But even with that advantage he eventually reached the point that he needed to find a shop or co-op were he could resupply on food.
Doing so had taken him over an hour, not because it was difficult to reach, but rather he had to be careful that people raised questions as to why someone so young was alone doing the shopping. Eventually, he had managed to somehow succeed. Thank God for magic. and leave before anyone asked uncomfortable questions. He appeared at the edge of the town, not wanting to appear nearby in case he was spotted since for some reason appearing inside or near the house wasn't possible. His theory had been that since magic allowed him to do so, there was probably magic to prevent it as well. And he had been right, finding the subject of Ancient Ruins that then explained warding and its many uses.
He camly walked through the pathway that was visible through the light provided by the moon. Enjoying the fresh air and tranquil night, with no worry of any bully trying to hurt him, walk towards his home, which still made him want to skip whenever he thought of that word, as he started to think of his situation.
He was low on money, and he would probably be able to only make it last between one and two months. He had found hundreds of coins in silver, gold, and bronze, in a currency that he did not recognize. Repressing his curiosity and excitement over the currency or questions were it came from, he started pondering what he could do about his food problem.
The only idea that he could think of that had some credibility in his mind was to search the origin of the unknown currency and buy the food from there. He already knew that there must be some form of society, if not country that had its own economy. With the countless books and grading it was the only logical solution that really occurred to him.
With a sigh, he came to stop as he looked to his right, seeing a graveyard with the dim moonlight illuminating the gravestones. His instincts, or maybe his magic, caused him to unconsciously and very slowly walk into the graveyard and search for it. One single possibility coming up within his mind as he looked around.
He read the inscriptions of each gravestone, unsure if his parents were even here, but none the less not losing hope as he continued locking for the inscription. Eventually, he found a white stone marked with the beautiful names of James Potter and Lily Potter. He wasn't sure if it was the gravestone itself, or the names were written together, but before he realized it tears started to form on his face as he gently pressed his left hand on the cold stone as he slowly fall down on his knees letting years worth of tears finally fall.
After time had passed, he tried to whip of the tears on his cheeks, failing dramatically as he realized the inscription under his parent's name. 'The last enemy to be destroyed is death' was quoted in the middle section of the gravestone.
Maybe it was the use of enemy of the sentence, but the quote didn't sit right with him. The idea of his parents having to face death wasn't comforting, and with an impulse building through his body, he gently placed the palm of his left hand over the words. Slowly, the move and change shape, forming the sentence 'Life doesn't last forever, but what we create will live on for us'.
Inspecting the wording he really hoped that his parents would have liked them. That they hadn't left anything in this world. His tears were still falling as he removed any accumulated dust that had formed on the gravestone. Standing up he walked next to the tree's and picked up some few flowers before he came back to the grave and placed them in the middle.
''Lily?'' He heard two voices to question in a quiet tone.
He spun around startled to actually see someone at this time. With equal expressions on their faces, some meters away were two women, equally as startled to see him as he was to see them.
He could feel his heart rate increase as a soft and slightly but cold breeze run through the graveyard, gently pushed the surrounding branches of each tree causing a soft sound from the battering leaves. He vaguely recognized both of them from the many photos he had seen, which meant that they were friends of his parents.
He could fill his body tense, surprisingly nervous from talking to people after such a long time. ''Who are you?'' He asked.
''I'm Aurora Sinistra'' The tall women with dark hair, eyes, and skin.''And she's Mary Macdonald'' She continued indicating the slightly shorter women with slightly tand skin, bright blue eyes and brown hair.''We were friends with Lily Potter. From your appearance, I'm assuming you're her son, Harry Potter?''
''I think so'' He answered nervously.
Aurora had always been an observant person, it was necessary when you were an astronomer, and the first thing she had noted was that the tiny small child in front of her should have been much bigger than he was. Some few memories of the times Lily had talked about her sister and she made the connection immediately. As a professor, they where taught to spot any signs of abuse, and he Harry was screaming every single one of those sings. Mary, as a healer was more proficient than her, which explained why the usually upbeat personality was completely quiet at the moment.
''It's good to see you again Harry'' She said kindly which seemed to have the desired effect as he calm him down.
''You look like Lily'' Mary blutted out as Aurora simple looked at her friend questioningly. ''Sorry, we weren't really expecting to see you until you came to Hogwarts.
He simply frowned in confusion at her statement. ''Hogwarts?''
Mary had already been making mental notes of different ways to murdering the Dursleys. However his reactions were immediately raising more and more alarms in her mind as he looked much younger and smaller than an eight-year-old, or for that matter even a six-year-old.
That and she was using all her self-control to not to laugh at how similarly his eyes were to Lily's when she wanted to learn something new. She momentarily pondered at how similar he was to not only her appearance but possibly in mentality.
''Magic school'' She explained trying to remember what her parents had shown her of the muggle world.
''Both you parents were at the top of their generation there, thought your mother was considered the best with the amount of effort she put into her studying unlike your father, who was naturally talented but preferred having fun with his friends.'' Aurora explained as Harry looked at her in interest of what she had to say about his parents. ''She never did miss a chance to show you off.'' She explained.
It seemed to have had the effect she had hoped for, though not completely he at least wasn't as tense or worry as he was before. Enjoying how similar his habit of going into deep thought was as his mothers she momentarily looked at the gravestone and to her surprise saw a different quote to that which she had visited over the years. She felt an overwhelming amount of sadness as she read the quote inscribed on the grave. It had almost become a habit to visit their grave with Mary once each Halloween.
It didn't escape Mary's attention thanks to her healer training that Harry had seemed to have immediately developed a significant amount of trust in them simply because she had stated that she knew his parents. That was worrying, because it meant that he either didn't know anything about them or had had to find about it on his own accord.
Neither were sure what to do, or for that matter what to say. Neither had expected to see Harry before he was eleven, and certainly hadn't expected to see him at his parents grave at the age of eight.
''Last time I checked, you were living with the Dursleys'' Mary trying braking softly. Harry would have usually not taken the news well that a friend of his parents had willingly left him at the Dursleys, however, the venom she had used to pronounce said fairly clearly stated she hadn't been willing to do so, which peaked his curiosity.
''I...well...'' Harry started tripping over his own words. How do I say that I run away from Private Drive just some few weeks ago? For that matter, how do I say that a eight year old has been living by himself for some few weeks?
She didn't need him to finish the sentence. It was obvious that for one reason or another he had left. The fact that he was here spoke volumes of how welcoming the Dursleys had been. She didn't needs to look at Aurora to know that her friend was having similar murderous thought as she was. In all honesty, she didn't really blame him, from what little Lily had told her about her sister, it sounded like a prison camp her parents had told her when teaching her about muggle world war two.
''At the very least are you living somewhere safe?'' Aurora asked worried that the potter's son would have had to live on the streets.
''I've been staying at my parent's house, so I can mostly sustain myself.'' He answered much more calmly.
''That shouldn't be possible, it's warded under fidelius...but...of course, you were keyed in, even if you weren't old enough the wards would still recognize you.'' She trailed off as realization hit her.
''Fidelius? What type of ward is that?'' Harry asked not recognizing said ward.
''You know what wards are?'' Aurora asked surprised.
''My parents had a library, I've been reading some book that talked about them'' He answered clarifying her confusion.
''I see, Lily always did love books'' She answered both in amusement and sadness.''Fidelios charm is an immensely complex spell involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single person, called Secret-Keeper, and is impossible to find unless the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. However, not many people know about the charm, much less as to how it works.'' Aurora answered slipping into her teaching persona.
''So that means that as long as I stayed in under Fidelios, even if the house was right in front of them, anyone looking for me would be none the wiser?'' He asked with curiosity that that rivaled his mother's.
''Yes, that's a pretty accurate description. I'm assuming you have no intention to return to the Dursleys?''
''If I said no, would you make me?'' Harry asked almost fearfully.
''No, we tried gaining custody to you, but Dumbledore had so much influence that we didn't stand a chance. Some wards were placed wherever you were living that made it impossible to find where you were or sending any mail.
''However, if you don't want someone from the wizarding world to find you then Id advise you to hide your scar.'' She finished before realizing that Harry was looking at her in confusion.
''My scar?''
''I honestly doubt there is a single person in Britain that would recognize you from you scar.''
''Why would people recognize me from my scar?'' He questioned.
''You survived the killing curse, something no one has ever done in magical history, thus you fame'' She answered while carefully observing him. She immediately noted that he seemed disturbed that he was famous, but he brushed it off as he asked her his next question.
''The killing curse?''
''A vile curse that instantaneously kills someone the moment it hits them'' Aurora explained.
''Why would someone try to use the killing curse on me?'' Harry asked with a pensive look that reminded Aurora of that of Lily's, it was like talking to her deceased friend and she couldn't help but note every single similarity. Taking a deep breath she started to explain the First Wizarding War.
''During the 70s, a Wizarding war broke between a huge terrorist group led by you know who and the joint force of the ministry of magic and the order of the Phoenix. You parents were members of the order and fought against you know who on countless occasions. Because of their defiance, You know who went after them and killed both of your parents, but when he tried casting the killing course it failed, some think this caused his death, but some few of us believe that he was severely weekend, and went into hiding.'' Aurora explained to Harry. Looking at his pensive face she started wondering if it had been a good idea to explain this to someone so young. She mentally cursed at herself for allowing her bottled up sadness get the best of her.
''You know...what was his name?'' Harry finally asked.
''You've got to understand that even to this day many people fear what he was capable of. His name, or at least the one he was known for was Voldemort.''
''I see'' He answered in deep thought. Before going back to the original question. ''Does that mean that anyone will be able to recognize me?'' He asked in a worried tone.
''Youll be hard press to find someone that doesn't, though you scar is well known, your eye and hair color are also common knowledge.'' She answered.
''What were they like, my parents that is?'' He asked timidly.
''You aunt never told you about them?'' They both asked with a frown.
''I didn't even know they names until I left. They told me they died in a car crash.''
Damned muggles, Lilly and James died in a car crash? Not even a mention of how they gave they life to protect they only son? She mentally shouted to herself with furry towards the Dursley's.
''You more similar to your mother, you have her eyes and almost identical hair colour. You even have her curiosity, though it seems to be more of a combination of both of your parents. Your mother was one of the best students we ever had at Hogwarts, at the top of every subject, she was close to finishing her mastery of charms. As for your father, he was a troublemaker, talented in transfiguration and one of the best of his year, but he liked breaking the rules a little too much and lacked the motivation to study, which is probably the only reason he didn't give you mother a run for her money.''
''Do magical people have they own currency, gold, silver and bronze coins, slightly bigger than a pound, with Gringotts written on it? ''He questioned remembering the many coins he had found at Godric's Hollow.
''Yes'' She awnsered confused at the sudden question. ''We have Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. However, the only place that I would recommend using them would be at Diagon ally''
''Where can I find Diagon Ally?'' He asked curiously.
''It's in London, by entering through the leaky caldron you'll be able to find it'' She answered easily, accustomed to the many similar muggle-born questions. ''If you interested I wouldn't mind taking you there on the weekend?''
''You can?'' Harry asked surprised. Aurora's and she suspected that Mary's as well jaw's tightened slightly seeing Harrys surprised and almost afraid reaction of her offer. She'd be damned before letting Albus find out that Harry wasn't at the Dursleys.
''We would be more than happy to'' Mary said softly trying to make him feel more secure. ''If you meet me here on Saturday morning at 10 I can apparate us to diagonally'' She finished trying not to chuckle at the slight sparkle in his eyes.
''Really?'' He blurted out before recomposing himself and giving her a small smile.
''Thank you''
''You welcome'' She answered warmly. ''I have one last question before I leave. I am quite curious as to how you got here, it isn't exactly close to the Dursleys.''
''I can't really explain how, but I can use magic to Teletransport myself''
''I'm afraid I am not familiar with that word'' She stated.
''Teletransportation, is simply put the process of appearing from one place to another'' He answered simply.
''You apparated?'' She answered in shock, only for Harry to nod in confusion. ''As in instantaneously moved from one place to another? ''She asked again just to make sure she hadn't miss understood, only for Harry to confirm it with another nod.''That's...well that unheard of at such an age...you can do this willingly?''
Harry simply appeared some few meters away from where he had been to prove his point.
''How old were you when you could do this?'' Mary asked still in a state of shock. It took her over a month to start getting it vaguely under control. Yep, this one a ball of talents like his parent's alright.
''Somewhere between a year or two ago so probably about seven...is it rare? ''He asked carefully.
''Not rare, just unusual to see someone underage to be able to do so, however, I've never heard of someone being able to apparate at your age. Then again, both of your parents had a certain degree of control over they accidental magic, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if you could as well'' She mused trying to come to terms with someone being able to apparate before being old enough to attend Hogwarts.
''Oh'' He simply stated causing both of them to laugh.
''Sorry'' Aurora apologized as he looked at her in confusion. ''Your reaction to being able to do advanced magic was amusing. With that being said it's already late, and I have lessons to teach tomorrow. I'm afraid that I'll have to head back to Hogwarts now.'' She said as Harry nodded in understanding.
''Um?'' He trailed off, debating something mentally before offering a shy smile. ''Thank you, for telling me about my parents. And for keeping this a secret''
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So chapter 1 is out and I've already worked out the whole transition from now to Hogwarts.
There will be quite some few replacements of major characters by a lot more minor ones, and a lot deeper than what they were in canon.
This Harry was much more severely abused, so finding out that his parents not only were amazing but loved him dearly is why he cries in this chapter.
Writing emotional characters is surprisingly hard, but at the same time enjoyable, though it kills me that I'm not able to do it properly like it works out in my head.
So yeah, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter, bye!.
