A/N: Hey all, sorry this took so long! The chapters are still short, but that should change soon. School is almost over, and I finally get to go home. Hopefully I will be successful in my endeavors of writing this story. Also, I know I said that all the future chapters would be Beta'd….but I guess I lied. This had not been beta'd, and my beta has not returned anything to me as of yet. Hopefully she will send me the reviewed work soon. But I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime!

"/" signifies parselmouth

Chapter 2: Second Chances?

As the weeks and months went on, Harry became extremely proficient not only with wandless magic, but also with occlumency, parseltongue, and potions. Harry would often spend hours during the day out in the yard, escaping Victoria's autocracy in the household. He would often talk to snakes and practice his wandless magic in a secluded forest area of the household. His only friends in the world were snakes. One in particular, Zexion, was a constant visitor for Harry. Zexion was a beautiful European Adder, who was about 50cm in length. Unfortunately, Harry was only able to talk with Zexion during the summer months. Harry would have brought Zexion into their house, but since he was venomous, Harry decided it wasn't prudent.

/It'ssss a wonderful day outside, is it not friend?/ Zexion asked

/That it is Zexion; that it is./

/Why is it you spend so little time with your family in the safety of your nest?/

/They don't notice me. And everything I do seems to be wrong./

/Ah yes. My mother was like that. Since the day I was born, I was off to fend for myself. It makes a being strong I think. However, I feel that this does not hold true for your race, as your sibling seems to be spoiled by the gifts of your parents./

Harry just nodded. /I just wish they would be proud of me sometimes./

/Why aren't they? You are the first human I have ever met that can speak to snakes! They must be proud of you for that./ Zexion said matter-of-factly.

/I don't—/

"Harry! What do you think you are doing!" James yelled in fury, as he ran up and grabbed Harry by the collar of his shirt.

Harry noticed his dad raise his wand to dispose of the snake, and Harry quickly and wandlessly cast a shield around Zexion, and hissed, Hide Zexion!

Zexion quickly slithered off as the shield protected the snake from being hurt.

After the snake was out of sight, James looked at his son, hatred burning in his eyes. He was furious and speechless. He grabbed his son by the collar, and quickly dragged him back into the house. James made a few glances around the yard to make sure nobody was around to see the horrible act his "son" had committed.

Once they were inside the manor, James unceremoniously dropped Harry on the cold stone floor of the manor. Harry quickly recovered from his shock and stood up to look at his father, fear clearly present in his young features. James looked at his apparent son with disgust in his eyes. "What the bloody hell do you think you were doing?" He yelled in fury.

"I was talking to Zexion—" Harry was cut off as James's hand forcefully collided with his face. Harry fell to the floor in surprise and pain, tears forming in his eyes.

"I am going to get Dumbledore over here, and we are going to discuss this—this defect of yours! Now stay right here, and don't move!" With that, James stalked towards the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of flames.

Harry slowly got up off the ground for a second time, and stood in fear as he awaited the punishment ahead. Little Harry, who still hadn't even turned eight yet, was shaking in fear. He quickly walked over to the corner nearest him, and sat down. He pulled his knees to his chest, and he began trembling with fear. He knew it was rare for someone to be able to talk to snakes, Salazar had told him that. However, he had not been expecting his father to act like this. Once again, he had screwed up again. No matter what he did, it seemed, his parents were never happy for him. This was just another example of how everything he did was wrong, yet this time he had a really bad feeling about it.

Harry wasn't sure how long he had been sitting in the corner, but he was broken out of his reverie by voices in the room. Dumbledore and his father had returned.

Dumbledore strode over to a crying a Harry. "Harry, please come and sit down." Dumbledore said as a table and chair materialized in front of him and Dumbledore. Harry nodded, and she slowly got up from his protected corner. He kept his head down in shame, trying to avoid his father's eyes, and took the proffered seat.

Dumbledore started, with small smile and kind tone to his voice. "Now, would you care to tell me what happened—"

"He was talking to a bloody snake Albus!" James screamed. Dumbledore nodded at James, clearly unphased by the outburst.

"Is this true Harry?" Dumbledore asked, still carrying a kind tone in his voice.

Harry slowly looked up, into Dumbledore's eyes and nodded. Harry suddenly felt a prod at his mind, and remembered what Merlin told him.

Flashback

"Harry, you are now a master occlumens. People will not be able to see into your mind, unless you let them."

"Thank you Merlin!"

"Now, now boy, you were the one who did all the work. I am quite proud of you. You are a quick learner, and as I have said before, I expect great things from you in the future."

Harry nodded excitedly.

Merlin's tone suddenly turned serious. "Now Harry, you are still only seven. It is important that if you ever feel someone entering your mind, you should not completely block them out of your mind. It is rather unique for someone your age to be so adept at occlumency. Instead, you should try and feed their curiosity if you can. Give them a little bit of information, let them see a little into your mind until they are satisfied. That way, you can keep what you want secret, yet still prevent any suspicion from your elders. I think that this would be best, and will prevent any questions."

Harry nodded in understanding.

End Flashback

Harry created an opening for Dumbledore to enter through, and quickly fed images of him talking to a snake, but not of the conversation.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. The kind and caring tone was no longer present in his voice. "It appears that you, Harry, are a natural born parselmouth."

Harry didn't understand why Dumbledore seemed so disconcerted by this. "What's wrong with being a parselmouth?"

"Snakes are dark creatures Harry, and Voldemort is a parselmouth." Dumbledore paused, sighing heavily. "It is a dark trait, Harry."

"But…but I'm not evil professor! I'm just Harry."

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a minute, and then said, "Perhaps you should go to your room while I discuss some things with your father. Hurry along now."

Harry was angry now. He was not a dark wizard. And he deserved to hear what they were talking about. He quickly cast a listening charm in the room so that he could hear what they were saying as he headed towards his bedroom. Merlin had taught the listening charm and shield charm that he had used that day to him. They were some of the only charms that he had mastered. Merlin had been teaching him a few useful spells that would come in handy for protection. Harry quickly made his way to his bedroom and opened the listening channel to the charm, trepidation building as he awaited his death sentence.

"James," Dumbledore started. "This is a very bad sign. It seems that young Harry may be heading down a dark road, similar to that of Voldemort."

"I always knew that boy was a freak." James uttered. "What are we going to do about it?"

"Alas, I believe it best if we nip this in bud right away. I made the mistake of giving Tom a second chance, and I will not let myself make that same mistake again. History shall not repeat itself." Dumbledore said. He looked up James, the sparkle in his eyes no longer present. "We will cast a magic inhibitor charm on Harry so that he appears as a muggle, and we will send him to a muggle family."

"I understand." James said.

"Now doesn't Lily have a sister? Petunia?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

A smile grew on James's face. "Yes. In fact, the Dursleys would be a perfect family."

Harry could not believe what he was hearing. How could his dad do this to him? How could his family do this to him? He knew they didn't love him, but he thought maybe they at least cared about him a little bit. Harry spent the rest of the afternoon moping in his room, thinking about how alone he felt.

Later that afternoon, Lily and Victoria returned from their shopping trip in Diagon Alley to find Albus Dumbledore and James sitting at a table in front of the fireplace.

"James? Albus? Is there something wrong?"

Albus quickly answered, "Perhaps you and Victoria should take a seat. We have something that we need to discuss…"

Lily and Victoria listened to the story about Harry being a parselmouth, and their plan of action to deal with the problem.

"I always knew he was weird!" Victoria exclaimed haughtily. She was clearly happy to see Harry getting punished

"You are just a very smart girl princess!" James said loving, as he wrapped his arm his daughter in a loving hug.

"Now Lily, how do you feel about this?" Dumbledore asked, knowing she would be the hardest to convince.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" She asked in a trembling voice. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. How could she give up her son?

Dumbledore nodded heavily. "I'm afraid so."

Lily sighed, sad to be losing her son, but understanding that she needed to protect Victoria. "I will call Petunia to let her know we will be by after dinner time." And with a tear sliding down her face, she left the table to go make a call to her sister.

"Thank you Lily." Dumbledore said. He turned to James. "I will go perform the spell right now." And with that Dumbledore headed up towards Harry's room.

Dumbledore found Harry sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes red from crying. "Harry, I am going to perform a spell that will help you. This isn't going to hurt; I just need you to stay still. Can you do that for me?"

"I'm not evil." Harry said in a shaky voice.

Dumbledore looked at the boy, sadness in his eyes. He had always been a man of second chances, but he couldn't let history repeat itself. "I know, but this is just going to make sure." Dumbledore said.

Harry just nodded in defeat. There was nothing he could do. He knew he couldn't fight Dumbledore and run away. He just had to accept that. Harry may be undertaking heavy training with Merlin and the founders, but he still didn't know very many spells. He just wasn't powerful enough yet. Most of his efforts were spend learning a few defensive spells for emergencies, such as this, and occlumency to protect his secret powers. He could never hope to even fend off Dumbledore.

Dumbledore lifted up his wand. He began waving his wand in complex motions, and chanted "Veneficus Absum Occulto Radix Quod Velieris Vox."

After Dumbledore was finished, Harry glowed a bright white. Harry could feel his connection with magic waver, and slowly ebb away, until it was no longer there. His senses dulled, and his hoped waned away. He was nothing now. He had accepted defeat.

Albus smiled sadly. He hated doing this, but it was for the greater good he thought. "Now Harry, we are going to take you to your Aunt's house in Surrey. You are going to be spending a while there. But your parents will come to visit, I'm sure."

Harry nodded, not paying attention to anything the professor said. Nothing mattered to him anyways.

Harry stood at the front door of the Dursley's house, with the rest of his family. Lily rang the doorbell, and the door quickly opened. Petunia had been expecting them.

"Hurry! Hurry! Get in the house!" Petunia said in exasperation to the people standing on her porch.

They all shuffled in the house. "Petunia, this is our son Harry. He has no magical powers. He is exactly the same as you." Lily said, trying to appease her sister, however it was clear that his association alone was enough to make her want to retch. Lily quickly mumbled, "Thank you so much for taking him."

Petunia snorted in disgust, but tried to hide it all with a smiled nonetheless. "Of course Lily."

Lily looked at Harry. "Listen to Aunt Petunia, ok Harry?"

Harry didn't respond. He just walked over to Petunia in a defeated manner.

"Goodbye Son." Lily said softly as she left. And Harry could hear Victoria say that she was happy he was gone, and James simply agreed.

Petunia looked at Harry sternly. She walked over to the cupboard under the stairs, and opened the door. "This is where you are going to be sleeping. We just finished dinner, so there is nothing left for you to do. Stay in here, and I will wake you up in the morning. You will make breakfast, clean the dishes, help with lunch and dinner, and do whatever other miscellaneous chores I need you to do. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry said defeatedly and headed into his cupboard. He quickly fell asleep on his uncomfortable makeshift bed. He was exhausted from his day, and nothing was going to stop him from falling asleep.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. He was usually a man of second chances. He had always been against the Dementor's kiss, even during the darkest times of first war against Voldemort. He felt that perhaps the death eaters could learn the wrongs of their ways, and if they couldn't then they would simply be imprisoned in Azkaban.

However, today, he felt like he had not given young Harry a second chance.

It had been hard to take away Harry's magic, and take him away from his loving family, but it was for the greater good. And if he had to sacrifice one person in order to protect Victoria and save thousands of people, then he would do it. And he truly believed that what occurred earlier that day was exactly that, one life to save thousands.

Dumbledore tried not to let it bother him too much, and even though he was receiving a few cold stares from Fawkes, he felt that he had done the right thing.

A/N: Ok, I really don't like when authors do this, and I promise to not take up too much space with these responses to reviews, but I feel there are a few I need to answer. Hopefully I can find a more efficient way to answer them in the future.

Moon Comet: I really like your idea of having Ginny meet Harry when she turns seven, but I feel that with they way my story is headed – especially with the move to the Dursley's – that will not quite fit in.

Codyesh2: Thank you for that wonderful vote of confidence :D. Anyways, I hope I can keep you on the bandwagon throughout the rest of this story.

To all those who are confused: Harry is truly the boy who lived, and he is the one who protected Lily and Victoria, but because of the scar on Victoria, they believe she is the girl who lived. I'm sorry that I did not make that clearer.

Finally, there will definitely be major H/G fluff…but not until they are at least a little older and can actually have a successful relationship.