Chapter 1

The months leading up to the final battle with Riddle had been tough; Harry had been hidden away by the Order, Hogwarts staff and a few trusted Aurors to try to learn and train as much as possible. He had been taken to the ministry, without Dumbledore's knowledge, and shown a prophecy he should have heard the first year he went to Hogwarts as was required by law.

~Flashback~

Harry was lying on his bed, trying to keep his mind from spinning through all of the thoughts from the events of his previous year at Hogwarts. Things had been about par for the course until the Third Task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. The death of his peer and co-champion, Cedric, was still haunting him. The memory of the shadowed figure walked nearer to them and the flash of green light that engulfed the older Hufflepuff boy. The hissing voice of Voldemort was not enjoyable to remember either.

Harry glanced over at the clock, trying to decide how to distract himself for the next few hours. It was nearing three o'clock in the afternoon when there was a knock at his bedroom door. He shifted slightly and gripped his wand. If it was his relatives, they would bust through the door, though they mostly kept away from him while he was in his room. The less they saw of him, the better in their opinion. They certainly would not be kind enough to knock on his door before entering.

"Come in?" Harry said with a curious tone to his voice. 'Who would be visiting me?' He wondered to himself. He had never had visitors come to see him at home before aside from Dobby and the Weasley's when the twins and Ron came to bust him out a couple years ago.

The door swung open slowly and a man dressed in wizard clothes stood in the doorway, "Mr. Potter, I am here to notify you of the prophecy that is being held for you. You were supposed to have been told of its existence when you turned 11 and been given the option to listen to it. However, it seems our letter have been misplaced along the way for some reason. Would you care to accompany me to the Hall of Prophecies to listen to it now?" The man asked.

Harry stood from his bed and settled into a slightly defensive pose, trying to think of a spell that might be able to help him in case this man was actually a Death Eater in disguise, "How do I know you are telling the truth? You could be a Death Eater here to capture me. How did you get through the Blood Wards anyways?"

"Bloo- What? You have no wards around this property except a minor mail deflection ward and a few monitoring charms. More on that later though, I, as an Unspeakable for the Ministry, do hereby swear on my life and magic that I mean no harm to Harry James Potter and that I am not nor will ever be a Death Eater or follower of Vodemort." The man intoned and Harry felt a tickling sensation flow across his skin as a bright light quickly flashed outward from the man.

Harry gave a nod, "I am willing to go with you if you are willing to take me there now."

The pair quickly left the house at Number Four Private Drive and arrived at the Ministry of Magic since the Unspeakable side-apparated Harry. Harry was taken through the Department of Mysteries blindfolded "to ensure the Department's secrets" he was told and was finally allowed to see when they entered the Hall of Prophecies. The Unspeakable that had accompanied Harry walked him over to the shelf his prophecy was resting on and motioned for the boy to listen to it before turning and walking a distance away and casting charms around Harry.

All the natural sound that had been around him was muffled to the point that the silence now around him seemed to build in pressure. Harry reached forward, took hold of the small, glowing orb and pulled it from its resting place on the shelf. Staring into the small sphere a smoky figure formed within it.

"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 ...

and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,

but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ...

and either must die at the hand of the other

for neither can live while the other survives ...

the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord

will be born as the seventh month dies ..."

The orb began to heat up in his hands as the last sentence faded out and Harry reflexively dropped it before looking over at the Unspeakable in horror and began to stammer out apologies. The charms around him were waved away by the Unspeakable, and rather than the berating and yelling he was expecting, the sound of laughter met with his ears.

"It is quite alright young man, that is supposed to happen. While there is supposedly another person who could have received that prophecy, he has previously been classified as dead by our records and as such is no longer able to receive a chance to hear it. You did nothing wrong." The Unspeakable said kindly.

~End Flashback~

Harry's already troubled mind from hearing the prophecy was strained even more as the Unspeakable he had travelled with explained that Dumbledore had been the one to first hear the prophecy. Harry had taken a few moments to start walking again as his mind raced to understand why the headmaster hadn't explained sooner why Voldemort was after him. He had asked that questions directly and indirectly for the past four years at Hogwarts and he had only received run around answers or promises for full disclosure at some other time.

As soon as Harry had gotten 'home', he sent multiple members of the Order a letter stating that he wanted answers or he would go into hiding from the entire magical world since the people he was trusting right now apparently didn't trust him enough to explain what was really going on. Dumbledore quickly worked to move Harry to Headquarters to find out what was going on.

Within five minutes of his arrival at Grimauld Place, the whole house was in an uproar after Harry openly questioned Sirius and Remus as to whether they had known of the prophecy or not. The question startled them and the others in the Order who were gathered for a meeting that night. Dumbledore gave a off a frustrated noise as ushered everyone into the kitchen and reluctantly explained that there was a prophecy and that it was about Harry and Voldemort. Outrage rippled through those who were close to Harry since it had been kept from him and them as to why Voldemort was so set on going after Harry.

In the end, the Order overruled Dumbledore unanimously and decided to begin training Harry above the common Hogwarts teaching levels once school began again to help him prepare for what he was apparently prophesied to do. Dumbledore finally started doing a little to slow or halt the recruitment and attacks made by the Death Eaters on the side and trying to get the ICW and Wizengamot to pass laws and encourage home defense after the Order explained that they couldn't continue to be an information gathering group of watchers when people were dying because the ministry was too stubborn to admit the return of Voldemort and actually help people.

The public side of trying to help people prepare for Voldemort's return was at a dead standstill, or maybe it was actually moving backwards because of the Ministry's insistence that Dumbledore was a fool and was trying to spread mass panic. The private and subtler endeavors by the Order were going forward little by little. They were able to plant seeds within people to help them be in a mindset to defend against intruders if needed. It was slow going for the ancient headmaster, but that is what you get when working with a group of biased and prejudice driven wizarding adults who act like spoiled children half the time.

Once school started back up, Harry began his training in earnest, which relied heavily on time-turner use and trusted Auror trainers, Order members and Hogwarts teachers. He was sequestered away within the Room of Requirements, not attending any classes, and the Order allowed rumors to be 'leaked' that Harry was spending this time searching for horcruxes to be able to defeat Voldemort. The response given from Snape to Dumbledore was that Voldemort found their fruitless search hilarious and would leave them alone for the time being since they were wasting time on an invisible kneazle chase. Voldemort had apparently gone on to gloat about their idiocy and then explained the major drawbacks to horcruxes that made creating one worthless and, ultimately, weakening to one's power. Snape reported this to the Headmaster and Order members at the next Order meeting, allowing them to relax some that the ploy was working up to this point.

After four months to the real world, which transferred to nearly two years with the time-turner, Harry and his trainers left the Room of Requirement, tired, but very pleased with his progress. He had nearly obtained his Masteries on the theory side of things in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense while he was at least decent with Potions, Runes, and Arithmancy. His magical core was large enough that it allowed him to do practically anything he wanted or could think of doing with magic which set him up to get his Masteries on the Practical side of each of those subjects with ease. One of the tricks he had learned in the RoR was how to gather raw, ambient magic, form it into a ball and move it back and forth between his hands like he was juggling a ball without fully touching it. He found the magic pulsing into his hands and then through his body to be very calming and refreshing.

He had discovered his core and the massive amount of ambient energy in the air during the meditation sessions he did for his Occlumency training. While he was working to build his mental defenses, he found his magical core. Unknown to Harry at the time, most witches and wizards keep their magical core contained, locked up and controlled, releasing only a portion at a time when casting. Harry on the other hand, practically swam through his, letting it cover and flow over and through every part of him. It was just after the start of Christmas Break that Harry left the RoR, and he knew it was time.

The Order and the magical races, those who would come at least, were called for preparation for the battle that was to come. The plans were laid; Voldemort was drawn in by the fact that they had all gathered in one place and attacked, as they had hoped he would, though his numbers were much greater than they were expecting. The battle lasted for three days, thousands of lives were lost, but in the end, Riddle's forces were pushed back. During a lull in the fighting, Harry challenged Riddle to a wizards duel, taunting and baiting him, calling him out saying that if they continued in this manner, no one would be left in the end for him to rule if Harry was defeated. Riddle, being overconfident, thought Harry was no match since he hadn't even had a fifth year in magical training since he was 'hunting horcruxes' and he accepted the challenge. The confident look on his face annoyed the forces of the Light as he strode out confidently to face his opponent.

Both wizards were weary and worn from the days of fighting, but their adrenaline kicked in at the knowledge that the end was near and strengthened them to the point they felt fresh and well rested. Both sides gathered in the middle of the fighting area. The fight went on for hours, Harry's training being shown in its fullness, Riddle's experience and cunning showing in his attacks and defenses. It was a long and hard fought battle, but the love Harry had for those watching spurred him on, to keep fighting, even after Riddle's lust for power and control failed him.

Harry cast the original death curse, created by Rowena Ravenclaw to end it. While it was the same color, the effect it had on the caster was much different than the twisted death curse 'Avada Kedavra' that Riddle and his lot enjoyed using so much. Riddle fell dead as did the Death Eaters who had taken the twisted Protean Charm, or Dark Mark as Riddle's followers had called it. The group of light fighters and magical creatures had cheered at the victory, but they hadn't been able to find their 'savior' and 'hero' after it was all finished. He had slipped away to pay his final respects to the friends he had lost, visit those who were in the healing tents and then he disappeared from the crowd to weep for his loss.

Perspective Shift

The war had finally ended, The Dark Lord had been struck down by the Boy-Who-Lived and the magical world was rejoicing in the newfound freedom, well, most were. Rita Skeeter was working frantically, listening to as many people's stories and thoughts on the final battle with as much attention she could give them. Her quick quotes quill was working its magic while her own mind was coming to its own decision on how she would twist this new information into a gossip hub. She may have questioned more than one person of 'questionable character' but that is just part of reporting, it's why her readers loved her; she wrote from 'every side of the story' though mostly just from the one with the most scandal involved.

The things these 'concerned members' of the magical community were saying were disturbing to say the least; apparently during the final battle, Harry Potter, the recently dubbed new leader of the light in place of Albus Dumbledore, had used many ministry dubbed 'dark' or at least questionable curses and hexes. These concerned members spoke strongly about their worry that they were replacing one tyrant for another though more hidden tyrant. If Harry could use such spells against Voldemort without having any repercussions, how could the rest of the community feel safe when he could turn on anyone, claiming that they are evil?

Rita packed up her things for the day and quickly rushed back to her office to combine notes, tweak it here and there and then send it to her editor for tomorrow morning's newspaper. Her contract demanded that she get the front page whenever she wrote about high class society members, her readers would adore and thank her for making sure they knew the darker side of Harry Potter that, if kept hidden, could be very disruptive to the safety of the magical community whether it was the truth or not.

Perspective Shift

A week had passed, and Harry was floored at the response of the magical community towards his actions in the final battle with Riddle. Rita's article had been posted on the front page, destroying his image and questioning his alignment between the dark and light factions of magic. The ICW had seen it fit to give him the International Order of the Grand Wizard Merlin: First Class (their most prestigious and illustrious award) for his services to the Magical world as a whole, but the Wizengamot had stalled the award ceremony on the grounds of an official investigation of his actions. However, said investigations were being handled by a number of corrupt ministry officials who had their pockets lined by the few remaining numbers within the community that, while unmarked, followed or supported Riddle and his ideals. They knew Riddle had lost, but they also knew that if Harry continued with an untarnished image and all of the political sway he gained for his victory, he would become the next Albus Dumbledore. Their fears were that he would actually be worse since he was not held back by the ideology of multiple chances at redemption; looking at the different spells he had cast against them in the final battle had proved this.

Harry had hesitantly but willingly let the investigators delve into every aspect of his life. He wasn't happy about it, but he had come to expect a lack of privacy when dealing with the magical world, if he refused they would only make it look worse. In the end, Harry was simply too tired at the moment to fight back. The investigations were expected to take a few weeks, but from the small reports they gave that were released from The Prophet each morning, he knew it wouldn't be pretty since things were being skewed on such a large scale. Halfway through of all of the poking and prodding at every inch of his life he finally reached his breaking point.

After reading the first article printed by The Daily Puppet as Harry liked to call it, he contacted Gringotts and asked to privately transfer his holdings to their American equivalent, he knew enough about the British magical community to know what would come next and his preemptive actions ensured that the transaction was legal and could not be reversed after twelve hours had passed (the maximum time allowed for a dispute).

Because of his thinking ahead, within an hour of the investigators leaving his home for the last time, Harry was packed. By the time the closing reports of their findings were given to their superiors, Harry had a flight booked. He was on said flight and halfway across the Atlantic Ocean before The Puppet was ready to be sent out to every magical being in Britain, whether they paid for a subscription or not. The front page was set to state the final decision on the matter, announcing the Wizengamot's decision to banish Harry from the magical community in Britain. None of the witches or wizards were the wiser to him already being gone since he was using a purely 'muggle' form of transportation.

Four hours later, Harry stepped off the airplane and into the bustle of people in the terminal. Before he had gotten into the airport, he had used his metamorphmagus ability to make himself look like a common young man with no identifiable qualities about him. His two years of training and healthy eating reversed the damage done by malnutrition and allowed him to grow a last few inches and put on a respectable amount of muscle. However, the scars he had received from the final battle, since he could only staunch the bleeding from the wounds for the endless three days, would stand out. He had not wanted to use his energy to completely heal the wounds with magic, which made the wounds heal back the mundane way, leaving light scars in their place. His messy black hair, and shocking green eyes were also all too noticeable and memorable for him to let himself look normal, just in case someone decided to come after him.

It had been a little problematic a few times, going through customs, security and such since he technically didn't have a passport or form of I.D. so a few minor, wandless confundus charms so that he could get through quickly and without causing those behind him to be held up. Harry made it outside the terminal and looked around. He had never been out of London or Scotland before, and definitely not across the pond to America, but it seemed like the best option when he was planning where to go before the British magical community turned on him. He caught a taxi into the downtown area of New York City and set to walking around a bit. He had slept some on the plane, giving him enough energy to go for a while. One of the shops he passed by had a clock in the window reading ten in the morning.

He walked a little ways further, but the vehicle horns and machinery in the area were giving him a headache. Loud noise made by humans was no where near as bad as the noise level here on the side of the road, and the people everywhere around him, he wanted to get away from everything for a while. He saw a coffee shop a little ways further down the sidewalk and quickly walked in that direction, wanting a little more caffeine in his body and to get off the street for a bit. As he made it inside, he saw a small bookstore was attached to the side of it. He paid for a cup of coffee and then went to sit down at one of the open computers supplied by the bookstore.

He didn't want to stay in a city like this, people were too close, and the air seemed polluted from vehicle exhaust. He opened a search engine and sat back to think. He wanted a cool, wet place, with plenty of surrounding forests, hills and a small town. Those features reminded him of Scotland and Hogwarts. He was technically about to turn sixteen because of his trips with the time-turner so he would probably need to go to high school to blend in fully. High school would be a smart idea anyways since he was planning to completely join the non-magical world.

He typed in a few searches and finally found a small town that matched everything he was looking for, and even a few that he hadn't thought of. He searched again and found coordinates for an area in the north western most point of Washington, looking forward to doing some hiking through the forests before he reached the town he had found on the Internet. If he didn't like it there, he had a few other small towns he had noticed and had their locations locked away in his mind that he could apparate to later. He left the coffee shop/bookstore and then slipped into an empty alley before concentrating on the coordinates and apparating away with nary a sound.

He arrived gracefully, surrounded by trees, but then had to lean forward with his hands on his knees and take a few deep breaths. Apparating across the entire continent was not an easy thing for the common wizard, most that he knew had to take a rest every couple hundred miles. Even for one with his power, after traveling through the night with only a short nap, it winded him slightly. Deciding to get rested up so his senses were sharp for travelling the next day, he transfigured a few dead branches into a simple, one-man tent, and conjured some food and water that he ate before lying down and grabbing a couple hours of sleep.

He had found after doing his Occlumency that he could sleep a shorter amount of time and feel just as rested as if he had slept the whole night. Something to do with his mind being able to shut down quicker and drop into its REM cycle sooner, he really needed to get into the mundane world of science and medicine so that he could understand things better.

A few hours later, he woke up and took the spells off the branches, scattered any sign that he had been there and then began his hike. He enjoyed the sounds of the forest, mostly untouched by humans and enjoyed the smell of the freshness of nature, the coolness of the air, and the beauty of the foliage around him. He had apparated to a place near the Jackson Cove on the east side of the Olympic National Forest, which was nearly 60 miles away from Forks. His plan was to take a winding route through the forest area on foot and enjoy being in a less dangerous area for a while, no people around, no cars, no machinery or magical creatures that would attack with little to no warning. Harry had done some checking on where all the magical community's presence was felt in the United States as a small part of his training in the RoR. Because of those studies, he knew that the Americas did a better job of watching where all the magical beings were located, often bordering on the level of invasion of privacy. The nearest magical community was in Salem, Washington, as tribute to the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials.

He had figured he wanted to take a week to reach Forks, mostly because he didn't want o rush it and the school year was still mostly in progress. It was nearing late February and most US schools didn't let out until the month of May. He had set out on foot, since it was the best way to take his time, but part of the way through the second day of travels, he was struck with a brilliant idea and shifted into his animagus form and ran through the forest, a few other animals slowly came out and didn't shy away from him as they would have if he was human. He chased a few animals here and there before continuing on his way.

He camped that night in another transfigured tent but as he was lying down, he heard the hissing of a snake not too far away. He called out to it in Paseltongue and it slowly slithered over to where he was. They spoke for a while before Harry lay down to sleep. The snake joined him in his hike onward the next day and the two spoke about the surrounding area, the snake's life and some of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts. The company was very welcome for Harry and he enjoyed being around a creature that wouldn't judge him based on what it was told, since none of the other snakes or creatures or even people would know who he was. The two parted ways halfway through the day and Harry continued on his trek through the mountainous forest situated in Washington.

It was a day or two out from the town he was heading towards, by his reckoning, that he felt it. Part of the way through the day he felt a presence somewhere nearby, watching him. He didn't get the sense that there was a threat or imminent attack from the presence, but curiosity. He brushed it to the side and continued on his way; a couple hours later the feeling went away. He let his mind wander again, as it had been during his nearly weeklong hike, and relaxed. He thought of the things he had just come from, the lives lost, the friends he had left behind with no warning and, though he was sad, felt resolved that there was no better option for him. He couldn't have stayed in Britain; he wouldn't have gone back to the magical community even if they begged. They were much more backwards and prejudice than he could really stand. After seeing them being led like sheep for the umpteenth time, he had given up on them.

The following day, after waking up and walking for a couple hours, he found a well-paved road that led west, out of the mountains and towards the town of Forks. He followed the road for a couple hours before the trees began to thin and he saw more and more houses, buildings and people showing up around him. He returned smiles and nods from the people around him, though he also received more than a few strange looks. Once he got a bit deeper into the town, he found a diner just a little bit off the road. Excited about eating something that would have more flavor than the conjured food he had been eating on during his hike, he headed in that direction. The hostess greeted him kindly as he entered, and then lead him to an open table off to the side. As they made their way to the table, a few of the other patrons in the diner smiled and gave him a nod when they caught his eye, he returned the gesture with happiness, so far he was really liking the town, the vibe of the town and people living here was very warm, inviting and open. Though many might say the clouds overhead were oppressive, he saw them as enveloping and comforting.

He shook himself mentally and ordered a cup of hot tea. As the waitress walked off with his drink order, Harry continued looking around, taking in the people around him, the scenery surrounding the part of town he could see and listening to the light conversation around the diner. When she returned with his drink, she started some light conversation with him before asking for his order, he told her what he wanted to eat and then asked her if she could come back and tell him some about the town if she had time. She smiled warmly at him and nodded before turning from the table to put in his order and check up on the people sitting through the diner before returning and asking if she could sit down across from him. Harry nodded and motioned towards it.

She sat for a few minutes and told him some things about the town like the history of the town, the kind of people who lived here, and many other things before she was called back to the kitchen area to take out his food. As she came back, she waved a man and a teen, who was likely the man's daughter, in and motioned towards a table. The man nodded and made his way to their seat, glancing for a moment at Harry as he and his daughter sat down. He was dressed in a policeman uniform and the teenager looked to be about Harry's age.

The hostess pointed out the two that just came in and told him it was the Chief of Police and his daughter. The chief noticed her glance back towards him, smiled softly and stood, walking over to where Harry was sitting. He introduced himself, asking if Harry was just passing through or if he was looking to move here, Harry stated his plans of moving here and his appreciation for the kindness shown by the townspeople he had seen so far. The chief gave a proud smile in response and offered to show him around town after he and his daughter finished eating, and that he should come over and talk with them once he finished since he had already gotten his food. Harry responded in the affirmative and turned to his food as the hostess continued her rounds and the chief walked back to his table.

The food from the diner, Harry decided, was much better than anything he could conjure through magic; permanently conjured food didn't have the full flavoring found in normal food. He finished it with gusto and thanked the hostess, paying his bill and leaving a good-sized tip, he slowly made his way over to where the chief and his daughter were sitting. He sat down at the table, nodded towards the chief and introduced himself to the girl. He found she was going into her junior year at the high school in town. He asked about the school, the students, how classes were and such and she answered nicely, though she was a little reserved while talking. Once the chief and his daughter finished eating and paid, the three left the diner and went out to the chief's cruiser.