Disclaimer: One Piece and Harry Potter does not belong to me, each belongs to their respective author.
Challenge by TheBlackSeaReaper.
Beta: TheBlackSeaReaper (like in chapter 1)
-:- Letters for no one.
Nobody in Privet Drive saw Harry Potter again. While on the roads of England a new boy arrived, he called himself Ace D. Portgas, and there was no worse threat in the nation than him.
A year after his arrival he had robbed stores, handbags, and been chased by cops so many times that he had lost count.
He slept anywhere, forest, park, hotel, whatever. Even though he usually fell asleep without warning, in the middle of the street.
He ate in restaurants and then took advantage of his small size to leave the place without paying.
He spent a long time exploring and fighting anyone that crossed his path. It was like going back to the Grey Terminal, with the difference that each place was different. He liked going to the woods where he hunted and fished for food. The rest of the time he searches for adventure.
It would be a lie to say that he had decided to forget his past life, because although he tried not to think about what had become of Oyaji, Marco and Luffy he had set the goal to return to the life of a pirate. It did not matter that the pirates had gone out of fashion a couple of centuries ago, he wanted to live the life of the absolute freedom that he and his brothers had always wanted. The plan was the same: Save money and become strong from here to his 17 years, and then set sail.
In one way or another, Ace did not wanted to forget his life in the Grand Line while on the other hand he wanted to forget completely his life as Harry Potter.
Since he left that day Privet Drive, Ace returned to his name, D and the surname of his mother, what happened before that day did not exist. His biological parents were not Lily and James Potter, they were Rouge and Roger (although he still didn't like the man), his brothers were: Luffy, Sabo and all Whitebeard Pirates and his father was Whitebeard. He didn´t need anything else.
So could pass the rest of the days but then there could not be an interesting story, and so came the day that Ace, when he return to his improvised camp in the forest, on his backpack he found something out of place: A letter.
What was a letter doing there? Who knows, but whoever has sent it, this person, until Ace know what his intentions were, he would consider him a threat.
Once he opened and read it, Ace looked up. There was the method of arrival of the letter: A large brown owl on a branch.
He turned his eye to the letter, a letter of acceptance to a school, a school he had never applied. How had they found his information? How had they found where he was? He looked up at the owl that had been settled and seemed to say: "Yes you received a letter, now answer, I don´t have all day." If this owl was similar to the seagulls who delivered the paper in the Grand Line, then there was lot of sense in how they had found him. But that did not answer the question of why this school was accepting him? The letter was addressed to Mr. Potter. The only people who knew Harry Potter were the Dursleys, but the Dursleys had never tried to find him, he had verified the lists of missing children, one day when he had let been caught by the police, and Harry Potter was not on the list. On addition, the Dursleys would not bother to send him to a good school. He had only to see the paper, the letter, the shield of the school and the way it was write the letter, to see it was certainly a good school, most likely a rich boy's school.
Ace then imagined a place like Mariejois or Marineford, full of children of nobles, princes and princesses. Not exactly the place that Sabo would like to be with all those rules.
Yeah, definitely he was not going to go there, plus you do not have money for that.
He looked back at the owl, now sleep, tired of waiting. There was no point in waking her now, he would let her sleep and when she wake up tell her to leave. If no response was received they would think he has not been found.
In addition, Mr. Potter did not exist.
(Scene Break)
Whoever was this school, they were really interested in him going to ... Hogwarts.
At the end of the week, Ace was torn between sending the letter saying. "Mr. Potter does not live here," and do nothing. After changing city three times the letters kept coming.
By now he had read the letter at least forty times and this out of boredom, but also seeking any information, aside from the obvious, after all Marco always said that knowledge was power and better know your enemy before they attack you.
He knew the name of the director and he must be someone important, although the title "Order of Merlin 1st class" meant nothing, it could be a title of nobility, though it sounded more like an order of knighthood. The regular mail did not reach that place; probably that's why they used owls.
So far everything seems normal, or at least a bit. It was the list of books and equipment where everything became odd. Either this was a very bad joke, or was real and this was really a magic school, which was not impossible, especially after being in the Grand Line and see many strange things, he was a strange thing in fact, he could burst into flames and stay alive ... even worse he had died, had been reborn (or so it seemed) and still could use his Mera-Mera Fruit without any problem.
With the passing of days, Ace began to wonder what kind of stuff would teach at a place like Hogwarts. There was the matter of the wand; he was really intrigued with this subject that after a move and say funny words something impossible happen. The letter spoke of a cauldron, so they possibly teach them to make potions. It was mentioned that the first graders could not bring brooms. For what they would use the broom? Do they really would fly with it?
On the twelfth night after the first letter arrived, Ace quietly slept in an abandoned house when he was awakened by a loud voice: "Harry, Harry Potter!" Ace, lumbered completely asleep to the window, a man walked down the street near the house screaming. "Harry!"
"Urusai!" Said Ace "some of us are trying to sleep."
The man immediately looked from side to side before looking up and fixes his little black eyes on the window of the second floor and the eleven year old boy who was watching from above. "Oh! Harry did not expect you to be there, sorry if I woke you. Not seen you since you were a baby, you've grown. "
Who the hell was this man? He called him Harry, indicating that he had met Ace where he was just a baby and possibly before the Dursleys.
When Ace manages to awake fully, the man was no longer in the entrance and he could hear footsteps on the floor below. As fast as he could, Ace grabs his metal-pipe and rush to the entrance. When he reached the entrance to the room, the man was entering the room. It was without doubt the biggest man he had seen so far, of course, in this world. Possibly it was the same height as Oyaji, or maybe a little smaller, it was difficult to know for his height of eleven.
"By the way, happy birthday" said the man "I brought you a small detail, but it crushed a little" and he took a box from his big coat and handed it to Ace.
The boy looked at the package, then the man, and finally the package. Carefully Ace grabbed the package, took a couple of steps back without taking his eyes off the man, and very carefully opened it, inside was a cake in green letters that read "Happy Birthday, Harry"
"Thank" murmured the boy reminding Makino lessons "but the name is Ace."
"Is not your name Harry Potter?" asked the disturbed giant.
"I go by the name of Ace D. Portgas now" he did not know why he had added the "now".
"Oh, well… Ace, if you prefer that" said the man somewhat dismayed.
"Sorry, who are you?" Yes, Makino could be definitely proud.
"True, I haven't introduced myself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."
... Hogwarts...
"Ah! The school of the letters."
"Then you got the letter, we were worried that you had not received it. You must already know all about Hogwarts."
This was the time and Ace knew it, he didn't need to be a genius to see the immense admiration the man felt for the school and having a job at the famous institution, he must know everything, Ace only had to say the correct words to know everything he wanted to know.
"Yes, it's just a school" he said as if it was not important, and then turned to let the cake on the floor.
"Only a school? But Hogwarts is not just a school"
"Well, that's what I know" said Ace in his best child's voice. Had had to get some advantage of this troublesome form.
The man, Hagrid, was incredulous. "You mean you do not know anything about anything? Nothing of Hogwarts or our world?" Those words made Ace's heart stop briefly.
"World?" And if the Grand Line was that world.
"Yes" Exclaimed the man "Wait ... Where are the Dursleys?"
"I do not know" said Ace firing an improvised campfire, and then take out from the backpack something to eat. "I Have not seen them in year." he heard a slight TUM, Hagrid had dropped himself on the floor. Maybe he will need something stronger for the man.
"They abandoned you" he said in a small voice.
"More like they kicked me of the house" That was not the best answer, thought Ace as the giant fists tightened. "And I accepted gladly" said as calm as possible.
"When I get my hands on them. Imaging: Harry Potter ..."
"Ace D. Portgas" murmured the child.
"... without knowledge of our world, I mean, you're famous, your parents were famous and living in ..."
Hagrid raised his arms to refer the room, trying to find a word to describe the place.
"Actually I have no stable place to live" said Ace, just so Hagrid shiver further at the thought of a little Harry wandering around the country.
Meanwhile Ace meditated again the word "world", and now Hagrid had mentioned his parents, he didn´t know of his mother, but that excuse of a father, he had been famous ... enough to move many people to the sea, was it possible?
"Harry, I mean Ace" said Hagrid suddenly "you need to know this: "said the giant before breathing deeply while staring at Ace "Ace, you are a wizard."
The truth is that this was not what he expected. Ace imagining something like: "You come from another world" or "you are a reincarnation of the past", "this is just a dream", that would have been wonderful. But not that he was a wizard. He had heard many things in his life, but not the existence of wizards, even in the Grand Line he had not found evidence that there was something like that, maybe very bright scientists confounded by magicians on some islands, but nothing more.
"A wizard?" Repeated Ace, trying to fit the word on his tongue.
"Yes" said Hagrid, "and a very good one, with a little practice and with parents like yours."
"The Potter?"
"Yes, who else."
That discarded the possibility to return to the Grand Line, or to find his family in some way.
Hagrid continued "You know, you look just like your father, but you have your mother's eyes."
"I do not want hear about them" He felt bad, Ace felt bad, it was amazing how easy and fast hope could expanding someone. For a moment Ace tested the possibility of seeing Luffy again, or at least know what had become of him, but now...
"Why?" Hagrid asked in surprised.
"They kill themselves in a car crash and left me with the Dursleys" said while taking a bite of a sausage he had taken from his backpack. At this rate he would need something stronger.
"A CAR CRASH?" Roared Hagrid, as he stood up, almost colliding with the ceiling while Ace was pulled from his thoughts and reflexively prepared to fight, stretching his hand toward metal pipe "How would Lily and James Potter die in a car crash?" Yes it was definitely time for the sake "That's an outrage! A scandal!" Ace had pulled a bottle of sake and a glass from his backpack, where he served the liquid and passed it to Hagrid "Thank" muttered the giant before he continued "That Harry Potter...!"
"Ace D. Portgas"
"...do not know his own story, when every kid in our world knows his name" and after that took a long drink the glass.
"Every child?"
"Every child, youth and adult."
This was too much for Ace. "But why? What happened? What did they do?" exclaimed his little curiosity and the anger of Hagrid vanished as he finished with the contents of the glass.
"I never would have expected something like this" called out of concern while Ace served more sake. "I had no idea. When Dumbledore said I could have trouble getting to you, I thought it would only be to find you, no one had seen you with your uncles in a while; we thought you were still with them. I did not think it was at this point. Ace, I'm not the right person to tell you this, but someone has to. You cannot go to Hogwarts without knowing this."
Ace was going to open his mouth as if to say that he was not going to Hogwarts, but he wanted to know this.
Hagrid took a sip from the glass, while Ace gave a taste to the cake.
"I will tell you everything I can, because I cannot tell you everything. It is a great mystery, at least some of it."
He took a sip of the glass, watching the dancing fire that Ace had created.
"It begins, I suppose, with ... a person called ... but it's amazing you do not know his name, everyone in our world knows!"
"Who?"
"Well ... I do not like to say his name, if I can help. Nobody says it."
"Why?"
"Galloping gargoyles, Ace, people is still afraid."
"It's just a name ..."
"This is difficult," and took a sip "Look, there was a wizard who went ... bad, as bad as you can imagine. Worse than worse."
Ace said nothing that did not say anything, if you asked a civilian would tell you that the Marines were good and bad the pirates. If you asked a pirate, the Marines were the bad guys.
"People could not get out" Hagrid went quiet "people disappear every day, all who opposed him ended dead, were very dark days. Him...arg, he was called ..."
"Would you like to write it?"
"No, I don´t know how to write it" He returned to empty the glass as if he was searching courage in it. "Okay ... Voldemort."
"Voldemort?" What kind of name was that?
"Do not repeat it!" And a shot is over the glass that Ace had just served it "do not make me say it again. You see everyone is afraid."
"It's just a name" said again as he poured over the liquor in the glass. "But what has that to do with Potter, me and Voldemort."
"Do not say the name!" And sipped "Everybody call him You-know-who." Ace watched the man and all he could think was that this was immensely ridiculous. "Your parents, James and Lily, were the greatest wizard and witch of their year and obviously you-know-who tried to recruit them, but they refused and opposed him." There he stopped and began to sob. "I sorry, it is that to thinking that your parents, being such good people, what happened to them happened." from his coat pulled a handkerchief to blow his nose and then howled. "I'm sorry, you had only one year, and they were hiding from you-know-who and one October night he arrived at the house ... The house was destroyed, I had to remove the rubble and then took you with those people. If I had known I would have insisted more to Dumbledore of not leave you there. But that's why you're famous because you survived while many others do not, just with that scar on his forehead."
Ace was surprised, he remember that times of his childhood, in which the three brothers shouted to the four winds what they most wanted and Ace screamed that he could be famous so he would prove his existence. How ironic, in this world, he was just a year old and was already famous, famous for living, having survived where many had fallen, lived when the Potter had died, famous for something he did not remember, and did not know how he did it. Now Ace had a bad taste in the mouth, not proud of this, he was disgusted. One more reason to hate that damn scar on his forehead.
"What happened to Voldemort?"
Hagrid shivered "Nobody knows, some say he died, I do not think so, he is probably alive, weak, and hiding somewhere trying to regain his power." He took dramatically his glass to his lips ended it again. "Hey! This thing is very good."
Ace then meditated what happened, in addition to all; famous for defeating an evil wizard and he did not know how he did it. If was not satisfied with what happened, now less. And now that he was thinking how he could have done it, all he could think was that he had released the power of his Mera-Mera fruit, a lot of fire and this had saved Ace, defeating Voldemort, but then it was not magic, it was just his Devil Fruit doing what Devil Fruits normally do. In conclusion...
"I am not a wizard."
"Never made things happen when you were scared or angry? Something you cannot explain." The only thing that came to Ace´s mind was Haki, but he was sure that Hagrid did not mean that.
"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait" Hagrid then lifted his glass "you'll be right famous at Hogwarts one of the best schools of magic in the world, learn spells and potions, magic plant, defense against the dark arts, about magical creatures, see the ghosts that live in the castle the extensive collection of pictures that move, shifting stairs, the Forbidden Forest. And study under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had: Albus Dum ... ble ... dor ..."
And there remained. Ace could not contain his laughter when Hagrid collapsed on the floor for so much alcohol.
He was a nice guy, and if everyone was like him at Hogwarts, the place could not be that bad, although there was the factor of being famous. Harry Potter, apparently, as Hagrid described it, was a hero: The boy who beat Voldemort.
Ace did not want to be a hero; he was a pirate, a pirate who seeking freedom and adventure, but it was the same adventure that called him to go. That last little drunk description of Hogwarts had raised his curiosity.
He could go, he could try and if he did not like it he could leave, as simple as that.
Without much encouragement, Ace adsorbed the fire sinking back the house in darkness, and brushing his hair he went back to the makeshift bed.
This was going to be a problem; his narcolepsy could not let him sleep for the rest of the night.