Black Frost Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Change

"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change."

January 1, 1990

Discovery.

While all of the adults were spending their time raising their glasses in celebration of coming out of yet another year in life, a lone boy of nine walked the cold and deserted streets of London. The boy, one Harry Potter, was fiddling with a new addition to his look that appeared the moment that the clock struck midnight, a single streak of pure white hair going horizontally across the right side of his head.

The beginning of a new year. Suits this just perfectly I suppose, he thought as he stroked the streak for the seventh time that night, What brought it on though? Does it have something to do with my powers? Is something else going to change?

Thoughts of changing into a strong and respected man accompanied the boy as he teleported from the desolate streets and to his worn down one bedroom apartment. It technically wasn't his, but as long as the landlord never heard him come in, which he never would do to the fact that the nine year old could now silently teleport longer distances, he was safe.

Crashing onto his queen-sized bed, Harry began to think about his future and what it would entail now that those cretins were out of his life, absently fondling the necklace that Mayan had given him.

I absolutely have to learn how to defend myself. I know that I shouldn't broadcast my powers… I don't want to be locked up in another prison. But what should I learn first?

Rolling over to face a small window, he looked outside to see the white and powdery snow fall slowly down towards the trash filled streets.

If there is anything more beautiful than those eyes, it's that right there, he thought as he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a world covered in ice and snow.

January 2, 1990

After wandering about for a couple of hours, Harry had finally found a suitable establishment that would provide him with the needs to protect himself; a mixed martial arts studio.

Stepping inside the small building housed between a grocers and a laundromat, Harry instantly liked who he assumed to be the instructor, if the way that he didn't give Harry a second glance was any indication.

Making sure to take off his shoes, the young boy found himself amazed at the level of mastery that the sensei had over his art, weaving and dodging between the blows of his students before taking each of them down with a few well-placed strikes.

After watching the group practice for thirty minutes, the sensei called for a break in mid-strike, causing the others in the group to give him a look of confusion before they saw the young boy standing inside their dojo.

The master made his way over to Harry with an impassive look on his face before asking, "Why are you here?"

Harry felt as though the question was more loaded than most people would think, so instead of answering immediately, he took his time to think.

I can't tell him that I'm all alone. But I can't exactly lie to him either. Something tells me he'd see right through it… I guess I'll go with a half truth…

"I need to learn how to defend myself in the best way possible," he carefully answered.

The sensei's eyes narrowed, giving the young boy a critical look that would probably make others squirm, but simply made Harry give him a defiant frown right back. After folding his arms and rubbing the bridge of his nose, the older man let out a sigh and explained, "You will begin tomorrow. 6 AM. We will build you up first. Be prepared."

"I will be."

The sensei gave a snort in disbelief before going back to his students, any thoughts of Harry gone as he concentrated fully on the task ahead of him.

Harry simply backed out of the dojo, not seeing any other reason to be in there anymore.

After letting out a sigh of his own, he found an abandoned alleyway and teleported back to his house, instantly collapsing on his bed to try to catch some sleep in order to prepare for his big day.

xxxXXXxxx

March 20, 1990

"10 more," a soft voice commanded.

Harry gave the man a dirty look before going back to the task that his sensei had laid out for him, starting yet another set of muscle aching BURPEES.

"Now… what did you do wrong?" the man asked as he circled around the young boy, seemingly unaware of how fatigued he was.

Harry almost let out an irritated sigh before reigning in his temper, not willing to get angry at his teacher. He knew that the man was taking a huge risk with him. If someone found out that he was spending his time here, who knows what could happen?

"I was too ruthless… I need to learn… when to stop myself… before things go too far… I need to know… when it is more appropriate… to simply defeat my enemy… or break them," he breathed out in-between jumping up and going down for a push-up, sweat pouring off his body in buckets.

His sensei said nothing as he stroked his salt and pepper goatee, seemingly thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.

Harry hated it when he did this, as some life lesson will surely come afterwards.

And like most of the time, the nine year-old wasn't wrong.

"You are one of the greatest students that I have ever had," the man finally proclaimed, shocking the young boy further into silence.

"You are incredibly fluid for your age. Young boys much older than you who, at the beginning would have easily wiped the floor with you, now can't even touch you. Your ability to learn and access is remarkable, bordering on prodigal. But I know that you have a darkness within you. I can see it every time that you work with others..."

Harry looked everywhere away from the man, not willing to admit that he was right.

"However, it is my duty to teach you about balance. I will not say that I am above hurting others when it is truly necessary. But senseless violence is exactly that; senseless. I want you to remember that, okay?" the man finished, eyes pouring into his student's, gazes locked in order to validate the seriousness of the situation.

Finally, after a few tense seconds, Harry nodded his head, willing to be taught how to achieve this balance.

"Excellent," his sensei chuckled, "Now, how about a little sparing match?"

He grin that accompanied Harry's face was enough of an answer, and the two immediately went into their respective fighting positions, with Harry using Shotokan, and his master using his own technique.

"Begin," he announced quietly, before rushing his student, instantly catching Harry off guard and slamming him into the ground, ten feet away.

"Ughhh," the young boy groaned, shaking his head a bit before getting up and into his stance again. An iciness formed in the boy's eyes as he glared at his sensei, promising to make the sparring match much more difficult for him.

The man only chuckled before getting back into his stance, beginning the match anew.

xxxXXXxxx

July 30, 1991

Somewhere in London

11:59 PM

"Ughhhhh are people just naturally idiots, or am I just the only good person in this stupid city?" Harry asked himself, standing over a would-be mugger. "Would-be" because Harry had seen it happen. The idiot didn't even know what hit him.

"I guess something good came out of it," he mumbled, smiling at the dropped purse that lay unprotected on the ground, "What an excellent early birthday present Miss… Julie Hamburg… huh… okay?"

After grabbing as much money as his conscience would allow, the boy silently teleported from the dingy back street of London to his slightly less dingy apartment.

However, what he found would change his life forever.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing here?!" he shouted, staring at an old man wearing a dress made up of what seemed to be stars, and an old lady in green. Both were staring at the boy with open mouths and shocked faces.

After several seconds of silence, the boy shouted, "Well?! I asked you a question?"

xxxXXXxxx

July 30, 1991

11:58 PM

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Dumbledore's Office

Dumbledore was worried.

But that could never been seen by someone other than Minerva McGonagall, who had known the man for quite some time.

To anyone else, the aged Headmaster of Hogwarts looked to be as cool as a cucumber, but if one noticed the narrowed eyes and ever so slight shaking of the hands, they could see what she saw; Dumbledore was worried.

"This has to work Minerva. It has to," he tried convincing himself, glancing at the clock once again to find it to be 11:59 and then went back to gazing at the blank envelope on his desk.

Minerva gave out a worried sigh herself, not willingly to believe that their idea wouldn't work.

They had waited so long, trying everything to find the young boy who meant so much to the world, but to no avail.

The newspapers had found out, and the public was outraged. Everyone was calling for Dumbledore's head for losing their Boy-Who-Lived.

He wasn't theirs anyways, but they didn't care. The public just wanted their idol. Not the actual boy himself.

Suddenly, the clock struck 12:00 AM, signaling the day to be July 31, 1991. Harry Potter's eleventh birthday. And the day that he was to receive his Hogwarts letter.

Words began to form on the small envelope, and a collective sigh in relief escaped both Dumbledore and McGonagall.

They had found him.

As soon as the address was finished, the two Apparated to the scene, finding themselves in a dingy, backwater apartment in the middle of Muggle London.

After only being there for a few seconds, the two noticed another person Apparate in; a small child of eleven with a smug smile and a distinctive scar on his forehead.

That smile quickly turned into a suspicious frown as he yelled, "What the bloody hell are you two doing here?!"

The two adults were shocked into silence at the boy's level of magic, not expecting any of the events tonight to have happened at all.

Finally, the boy got fed up with it and yelled, "Well?! I asked you a question?"

That question must have done the trick, as the older of the two smoothed over his robes, a twinkle forming in the man's eyes.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are Harry Potter I presume?"

Harry gave the man a critical look, already sensing that he meant no harm, but finding that when he stared into the man's eyes, he couldn't read his surface thoughts. In fact, he couldn't see anything. It was as if nothing was there!

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes grew brighter as he announced, "I'm afraid young man, that I am much more adept at hiding my mind from other people than you are at reading it. Although I must say, a child such as yourself learning Legilimency on your own, and to be at this level is astounding."

The young boy's eyes widened in shock for a split second before calming himself, cursing on the inside for letting his emotions show to a stranger.

McGonagall was off on the side, staring between the boy who she knew to be Harry and her oldest friend, shocked into disbelief at what the Headmaster was saying.

"Albus, that is impossible!" she exclaimed, not believing that a boy with no magical instruction could do such a thing.

Harry gave the old woman a cold glare that chilled her to the very bones before he spat back, "You will find that I can do many things that people would think to be impossible, old hag."

McGonagall gave Harry a stern look that she only reserved for the Slytherins and the Weasley twins, hoping to make the boy squirm, but he only scoffed and blew it off.

Dumbledore began to chuckle at the play by play between the two, finding it to be an immense relief to the tense situation that he had found himself in.

Unbelievable! The nerve of the little brat!

Harry's nostrils flared at the insult, reading the McGonagall's mind as she had lowered her Occlumency shields in a fit of rage, and gave her a murderous look that promised pain. McGonagall gave an involuntary shudder from the cruel expression from such a young boy.

"I don't think that it would be wise to attack your future teacher Mr. Potter," Dumbledore chided, no longer chuckling.

As if a machine had been turned off, Harry instantly backed down, confusing the two adults as he lapsed into an impassive look.

"Why are you here?" he quietly asked, wanting to just lie down in bed and forget all of this.

"I am here because your parents had enrolled you into my school before they died. I am here to take you to Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained.

"You will teach me magic?" the boy inquired, seemingly uncaring of the mentioning of his parents, something that both of the adults picked up on.

"Yes, Hogwarts is the finest magical school in all of Britain, and one of the best in the world. You will learn everything that we know about magic."

"Fine," the boy agreed instantly, shocking the old woman, but only getting a raised eyebrow from the older man.

"What? I want to learn magic. You can teach it to me. I'll go with you to your silly school. But if I have to share a room with someone, all hell is going to break loose," he informed, giving the two a look that clearly expressed that he meant business.

"We'll see what we can do for you," Dumbledore instantly agreed, already wanting to take the boy and right the wrongs that he had committed against him.

With a wave of his hand, the young boy summoned all of his necessary belongings to him, and just to show off, made them all spin and twirl in the air, much to the enjoyment of the man and displeasure of the woman.

"We may need to adjust your curriculum though," Dumbledore chuckled, truly impressed with the boy's level of control of magic.

He's a prodigy! Maybe I'll mentor him myself when he's older.

He's a nightmare! His father wasn't even that bad.

These two have no idea what they're dragging into their school.

And just like that, the three Apparated back to the grounds of Hogwarts, giving the young boy his first look at the wondrous castle.

"Welcome to Hogwarts."

Author's Note:

Sooo a lot of stuff in just one short chapter. I know that there is a lot of skipping, but don't worry, I'll put some good Sensei lessons as flashbacks at the beginning of some chapters.

Ummm for those of you who want to know why I made him a karate master… well if you ask me I'll tell you, but I don't know if it constitutes as a spoiler or not.

Much like my last story, this one will have swords. It will not be a katana though. Sorry to the katana fans.

I have finished writing this on Sunday, so as to when it will get posted? Probably Tuesday. I'm trying to stay one chapter ahead of my posting, just in case I fall behind because school is coming up. Well, actually, school is already here, but it's summer school. So not even important.

Any other questions, feel free to ask! Especially about characters, because I give little hints and stuff that some people might not get. I want yall to think about how you would react to some stuff like this as an 11 year old, and then if you take all of the circumstances that my Harry has been through, I mean, it'll be a rollercoaster with him.

But again, I have this all planned out. Big stuff will go down this year that will change everything! After I finish book one, I might take a break, then plan out book two, and then start writing book two. I don't really have a time frame for all of that, as I also have to worry about college apps and all that scary stuff.

Thanks for reading! I have more followers in this story than I did for my other one, and I still only have one chapter posted atm. That's crazy! Thank you all soo soo much.

UPDATE Monday: Well, i have officially got 203 followers! 100 more than my first goal for 'Strikes'

Do you guys like this one more? Cause it seems like it. Any who, I have chapter 4 finished and have almost finished chapter 5.

I was thinking about posting 4 times a week, so Chapter 5 will be posted on... Friday? Maybe.