Disclaimer: This is J. K. Rowling's setting, and it's quite nice of her to let us muck about in it.
Prologue 2: Burnin' Down the House
Harry was five years old. He'd just started going to school, which made the Dursleys quite happy. The Dursleys were currently, however, quite unhappy: a teacher's hair had spontaneously combusted and the Dursleys blamed Harry for it.
Harry had no idea how he could've made someone's hair spontaneously combust, but Uncle Vernon was punishing him for it anyway. Yelling at him. Threatening him. Calling him a freak, a liar, and various other names. Hitting him? That was new and unusually unpleasant.
Harry yelped and ran for his cupboard. Uncle Vernon dragged him back out and hit him again. Harry yelped again, put on a desperate burst of speed, and barricaded himself in his cupboard. Uncle Vernon broke down the cupboard door, spraying Harry with splinters, and took off his belt.
By this time, Harry had learned to mostly block out the things his Aunt and Uncle—especially his Uncle—said when they were angry, but physical violence coupled with increasingly severe impending physical violence was enough to force him to pay attention. Apparently, he'd been slapped in the face, punched in the gut, and choked a bit with his own shirt. He spit out a few spare teeth and got blood all over the floor, prompting Aunt Petunia to fly into a rage.
Uncle Vernon shoved him to the floor and hit him with the belt. He screamed, all his muscles tensed up, and the wood under his fingers started smoldering. His Aunt and Uncle were—separately, mind you—ranting about everything they thought was wrong with him.
Uncle Vernon hit him with the belt again. He screamed and tensed up again. There was rather a lot of smoke coming from the floor.
Uncle Vernon hit him again, harder this time, but Harry's mind was too full of fire to pay much attention. Another strike, and the only thing Harry could focus on was something Uncle Vernon had said about him being normal or else.
Something dark and wrathful stirred to life inside Harry. If these people who were set on making themselves his enemies prized normality so much, he would take it away from them.
Lily Potter's blood wards shattered. Albus Dumbledore drew his wand; Apparated to the dining room of Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey; Apparated to the street outside; and extinguished his beard and robes. He hoped this wasn't going to become a habit.
Had rogue Death Eaters found Harry Potter? If so, where were they? "Homenum Revelio! Aqua Eructo!" There were four humans in the house, two of them were dying, and the fire refused to go out. Dumbledore cast an Anti-Glare Charm (again), overpowered a Flame-Freezing Charm, and Apparated back in. A five-year-old version of James Potter lay unconscious on the blackened ground where there really ought to be a floor.
Dumbledore, once more in a panic, grabbed Harry and Apparated to Hogwarts. What would he do with him this time?
Author's note: Harry hit Number 4 Privet Drive with some sort of Ever-Burning Fire curse. Dumbledore'll send Professor Vector to figure out how to extinguish it once he gets his act together. The Dursleys will probably be dead by then.
