A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope it's to your liking. Takes place nine years after Voldemort attacked. Just wanted to show what was happening before Harry came to Hogwarts. Next chapter will skip to when Harry is eleven and show what happened to Harry and he'll get his letter from Hogwarts. Also I realized I didn't define the different spells I used in the last chapter so here it is if anyone's interested.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and never will.

The Killing Curse is a spell that causes instantaneous death and is one of the three Unforgivable Curses. There is no known counter-curse or cure for it; however, one may dodge the green bolt or use a physical barrier to block it. An explosion or green fire may result if the spell hits something other than a living target. Its incantation is Avada Kedavra. Avada Kedavra is based on the Aramaic אבדא כדברא avada kedavra, meaning "I destroy as I speak". It is also a pun with "abracadabra", which is a famous word used as an incantation.

The Cruciatus Curse is one of the three Unforgivable Curses of the wizarding world. It is a curse of torture, inflicting excruciating pain on a victim. The incantation is Crucio and takes its name from the Latin for "torture," from which term the word "crucify" also comes. It literally means "I torture".

Deprimo –a spell which places immense downward pressure upon a target, which may cause the target to fracture. The incantation for this spell may be derived from the Latin deprimo, meaning "I press down".

Ducklifors -a spell that transfigures a living being into ducklings.

The Reductor Curse is a spell used to blast solid objects into pieces. The incantation for this spell is Reducto. Reducto may come from the English verb reduce, "to bring down, destroy"

The Gouging Spell causes deep gouges or hollows to appear in a target. Its incantation is Defodio. Defodio is Latin for "I dig".

Piscifors is a spell. Its effect is unknown, but the name of the spell suggests that it would be used to transfigure an enemy into fish. From the Latin "pisces", meaning "fish" and "fors" meaning "luck"

The Severing Charm is a spell that rips, divides and separates objects into parts. The incantation for this spell is Diffindo. Diffindo is Latin for "to split, cleave, or open".

Expulso is a spell that causes an object to explode. The force of the explosion may depend on the intent of the caster. Expulsois a Latin verb meaning "to drive out, to expel". A different version of this spell would be Bombardaor for a stronger version Bombarda Maxima.

Ebublio is a spell. When cast, it makes the victim inflate and then explode into hundreds of bubbles.

Chapter 4

October 31, 1990

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW), Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot relaxed in his office at Hogwarts after a particularly long day of celebrations. He had just come back from the Halloween feast that the school has every year for its students and let out a groan after feeling comfortable in his chair. It had been exactly nine years to date since the apparent destruction of the dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort heir of Salazar Slytherin at the hands of the Potters.

This night always reminded Dumbledore with crystal clarity of the events that played out nine years ago on this very night.

Flashback

October 31. 1981

Albus Dumbledore was in his office at Hogwarts after attending the Halloween feast hard at work. He was busy signing some documents in silence for the school when an alarm went of from one of his devices shattering the peace that was occupied moments before.

The device was a full length mirror located to the side of his office similar to a foe glass. This device known as the Viewing Mirror looks like a regular mirror but it does not reflect the scene in front of it. Instead, it shows the person viewing it an event that is playing out in real life and in real time as long as it is tied to the mirror. It also lets the person hear and see what is going on as if the person was right there as well. It takes a lot of magical power to power it so only the strongest of wizards could use it. Dumbledore added the charm at Godric's Hollow to let him see what was going on in the area since two of his Order members resided there.

Startled from the noise he looked at the mirror and recognized the alarm coming from the location of Godric's Hollow. Standing up and walking over to the mirror he tapped his wand onto the top right corner of the mirror in a specific sequence and turned off the alarm. Another tap of his wand this time on the top left corner of the mirror showed Dumbledore an image.

He saw in front of him two figures walking towards the Potter house. Closer inspection of the wizards show them to be Peter Pettigrew also known to a select few nicknamed "Wormtail" for his animagus form of a rat and the self stylized dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort aka Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Pettigrew has eyes that are small and watery. His hair is thin, colorless, and unkempt with the beginnings of a bald patch. He has a small build and is not much taller than 5'3. His distinguishing features are a rat-like face and a pointed nose. His voice is squeaky and he has a pasty complexion.

Voldemort looked more snake than human but was no longer the handsome man that Tom Riddle was.

Right on time. Let's see if the prophecy will come to pass tonight. Thought Dumbledore.

He watched as Pettigrew told Voldemort the address to the Potter's home and how to get in. He watched as Voldemort blasted the front door of the house and walked in while Wormtail waited outside.

Another tap with his wand changed the image on the mirror to the main foyer of the home where James Potter stood. Dumbledore saw Voldemort taunt him and saw them duel each other. He watched impassively as the duel ended and watched as James died at Voldemort's hands. He then watched as Voldemort went up the stairs.

Pity. James was always gifted in transfiguration. I had even hoped at one time to take him on as my apprentice. Alas, we cannot always get what we want. His death could not be avoided. It was for the greater good. He thought.

Another tap changed the image to a different room. This time it was the bedroom of little Harry Potter.

Albus saw Tom's attempt to persuade Lily to join him. He saw as she defied him to protect her child. He saw as Tom then killed her with the same spell he used on James, the killing curse. Albus would have ordinarily wondered why Tom would have wanted Lily to live when he hated muggles and muggleborns with a passion and Lily was a muggleborn where it not for the information that Severus Snape ex death eater gave to him. Snape wanted Lily to live because he loved her and hated James Potter. He wanted James to die as well as his son so he could "comfort" Lily never mind what she would be feeling at the loss of her family.

Severus is a fool if he thought Lily would not fight for her child. And his "love" is nothing more than lust for Lily and anger at James for being with her. If she had lived and found out what Severus' actions have cost her he would be as good as dead. Dumbledore idly mused.

Turning his attention back to the screen, Dumbledore saw Voldemort as he began the Horcrux ritual.

So that's how he went on his path for immortality. It perfectly explains his change in appearance and how his behavior became even more disturbing as well as becoming much darker than the normal levels of evil. I wonder how many Horcrux's Tom made? The soul can only be split up so many times before it becomes unable to anymore and the person becomes unstable, at least according to Grindlewald's and my own research on Horcrux creations. But the most any person made at one time was 4 Horcrux's and that person became insane. The documents also mentioned that a person creating a Horcrux loses parts of themselves that are essential in humans and they would lose some of their rationale and follow the "flight or fight" response more often.

Tom then casted the killing curse at Harry Potter and Dumbledore believed he was going to die. Then, the most amazing and unheard of events took place. The killing curse, always known as being unblockable by a direct attack rebounded of young Harry's forehead and hit Tom tearing him from his body. He then saw some kind of light right before the room exploded. The backlash of energy destroyed the charms Dumbledore placed and destroyed the feed. The mirror exploded and only his fast reflexes with his wand stopped the shards of the mirror from hitting him.

Dumbledore immediately send his Phoenix Patronus to his gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid with the message telling him to go to Godric's Hollow and go to the Potters. Hagrid was one of the few people who knew the location of the Potter home after reading it on a piece of paper. The Fidelius charm made sure that only the Secret-Keeper could tell the address. For the Potter's it was Peter who they thought was a friend.

While he was waiting for Hagrid's return Dumbledore went back to the mirror and with a wave of his wand repaired the mirror. It was no longer attached to the enchantments and charms placed on Godric's Hollow but he could still review the events that happened pror to the mirror shattering. he waved his wand looking for a particular image. He rewound it to right before the room exploded. He could have sworn he saw some kind of light right behind were Voldemort stood. The light only lasted a second and Dumbledore thought it looked like a person. It was so fast that if he blinked he would have missed it.

What was that? It was so fast I almost missed it and why did it look like a person? Was it a trick of the light? Did Tom do this or was it something else entirely? Dumbledore Pondered.

Looking back at the image one more time he concluded that it must have been a trick on his eyes and he was seeing things. Sensing he was getting worked up over this tiny detail he used his Occlumency exercises to calm himself down. He chuckled to himself that he was getting worked up over a trivial detail and it was nothing. Still a part of him could not let it go for some reason. He sat down at his desk relaxing himself.

Before he could relax in his chair Hagrid burst through the doors clutching something in his hands.

"Headmaster, headmaster…"Panted Hagrid trying to catch his breath after he ran full speed from the gates of Hogwarts to the Headmasters office.

"What is it Hagrid? What happened? Dumbledore asked sharply standing up.

"It's-s-s-sss about Lil-l-l-l-ly and Jam-m-m-mm-es sir." As he said this Hagrid started crying uncontrollably.

"What is it Hagrid?" inquired Dumbledore in his grandfatherly persona with a twinkle in his eyes already knowing the answer.

"Th-er-r-re dead sir. DEAD." Yelled Hagrid.

At this pronouncement the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes died. He truly did not want them to die but it needed to be done for the greater good.

Sighing heavily Dumbledore responded, "I had feared that was the case when I heard the alarm wards go off. I had hoped I was wrong. I'm sorry to see that we have lost two more of our own."

Hagrid only sobbed some more. When Dumbledore felt Hagrid regained enough of his composure he asked about the fate of young Harry. At this Hagrid only wailed louder.

Dumbledore hid his annoyance at the half giant in order as to not lose his grandfatherly image. He waited until he calmed down enough to answer.

"Is young Harry dead as well?" Dumbledore asked softly hoping Hagrid wouldn't go into another crying episode.

"I don't know sir. There was no body I could find but the `ole `ouse was on fire and I only jus` managed to get James and Lily's bodies out of there. I don't know `ow `e could `ave survived the fire. When Sirius came `e was inconsolable. `e kept mutterin "it's my fault" over and over. When `e `eard that we couldn't find `arry `e lost it." Hagrid said.

"What did Sirius do then?" Dumbledore asked in the same soft voice.

"`e gave me his bike and said to tell you what `appened. Said `e `ad no use for the bike anymore. `e said `e `ad to take care of a rat and left. I transported Lily and James' bodies to St. Mungo's morgue center then came straight `ere." Hagrid finished.

"Anything else?"

"No nothing else… `ang on a mo`ent. I just remembered that I found these robes at the base of `arry's crib. I think it might have belonged to the death eaters who attacked them sir." Hagrid said holding out the robes for Dumbledore to take from his hands.

"This is distressing news Hagrid. Let me see the robes."

Dumbledore took the robes from Hagrid knowing that these must have been Riddle's robes. It had the Slytherin crest on it. He flicked his wand a few times muttered a charm for show so as to not arouse suspicion.

"I believe… that these robes belonged to Voldemort himself?" Dumbledore said questioningly ignoring Hagrid's flinch whenever he said his name.

"Sir? What does this mean?"

After a lengthy silence where neither man talked Dumbledore answered measuring every word he said heavily.

"I believe that Voldemort himself went to the Potters and killed Lily and James. I think that he also attempted to kill young Harry as well to end the Potter line but something happened which backfired on Voldemort injuring him gravely. It would explain why he left his robes there."

"Are you saying sir that You-Know-Who is dead?" asked Hagrid hopefully.

"I believe he is only temporarily indisposed as of right now. I believed that he suffered a huge defeat at the hands of the Potters and is unable to cause any damage to anyone as of this time and maybe for a while."

Even though Lily and James just died it was still not enough to dampen the joy at the words of the Headmaster.

"Hagrid. I must alert the ministry of this development and let them know the news. I will also tell them of the unfortunate fate of James and Lily's. I want you to alert the order members of an emergency meeting and tell them to meet me at headquarters."

"At once sir." Hagrid left to do just that while Dumbledore went towards the floo to go to the ministry.

"What happened to you Harry? Are you really dead or somewhere else?" He muttered to himself just as the green fire enveloped him.

End Flashback

By the next day the whole wizarding world learned of Voldemort's defeat and celebrated. The Potter family was given the Order of Merlin awards First Class post-mortem. The wizards were already talking about the Potters with reverence and awe. They were known as the Family-Who-Conquered in the Daily Prophet.

Dumbledore attempted to find Harry Potter to be certain if he really died or not and if the prophecy came to pass. The prophecy stated that only a child born at the end of July and whose parents that have defied Voldemort three times could defeat him. There was also the part about Voldemort marking him but Dumbledore didn't know if it was meant as something physical or spiritual.

He spent numerous resources and even attempted to look at the magical registry at Hogwarts that shows all the magical births in Britain, Scotland, and the surrounding areas. The registry also shows the name of all the people who have been deceased as well. Dumbledore could not get the registry open due to the fact once all the names have been added the scroll then magically seals itself and is locked in a drawer. It can only be opened when it is time to send the letters to the children who have been admitted at that time. All the other paths have lead to a dead end as well.

Eventually Dumbledore exhausted all of his resources and gave up his search of Harry Potter. He believed that since he could not find him and all other avenues have turned out to be useless then he had no choice but to conclude that Harry Potter died that night at Godric's Hollow and is not the chosen one.

He then turned to the only other person viable that fit the contents of the prophecy which was Neville Longbottom. Shortly after the defeat of Voldemort, Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured into insanity by a group of death eaters trying to find their master. Luckily Neville survived but his parents who were gifted Auror's were tortured into insanity. A young, foolish Obliviator named Gilderoy Lockhart thought it was best to erase the event from Neville's mind and cast the spell at him. Instead the spell affected Neville's brain and the spell affected certain areas of his brain which caused him to be a bumbling and forgetful boy.

Although he had not been marked by Lord Voldemort, Dumbledore believed that it would only be a matter of time. He believed that Neville would be their best chance of defeating Voldemort since there was no one else. It took Dumbledore sometime to undo the damage that was done to Neville and just recently started to train Neville after talking with his grandmother Augusta.

Besides looking for Harry Potter, Dumbledore as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot had to preside over numerous death eater cases making sure that Severus Snape was not among them and to protect his identity from the other death eaters who would try and turn him in to reduce their own sentence.

He also had to free Sirius Black from Azkaban after he heard Barty Crouch Sr. put him there without a trial. Black served no purpose to him locked up in Azkaban. If Harry was still alive then he would have left Sirius there otherwise Black would have taken custody of Harry as his godfather which was his right. Since Harry was nowhere to be found there was no point in leaving him there.

Sirius as the last of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black had access to a fortune. Even if he could no longer claim lordship to the Black family name he can still access the family money and properties under the Black name. The Black family also had a lot of influence in the wizengamot.

Dumbledore also attempted to access the Potter family fortune as well since it holds a fair amount of money as well but the Goblins at Gringotts would not let him. They said that until a proper heir can come and claim access to the vault no one else is allowed to get it. Many pureblood families attempted to access the inheritance but were turned away. Families like Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, Grengrass, Zabini, Diggory, Chang, and even the Weasley's tried to gain access but they were all denied. The Goblin's said that there was a person who was next in line for the fortune and they would keep the fortune safe until the heir came and claimed the vaults.

A knock at the door brought Dumbledore from his musings.

"Come in." He said.

The person who entered the room was his Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration. Minerva McGonagall is a tall, rather severe-looking woman. She wore emerald green robes; a pointed hat cocked to one side, and always had a very prim expression on her face.

"Albus. I wanted to drop of the budget reports for the month that are due tomorrow. I have finished them all and they need only your signature and seal of approval." Said Minerva walking to his desk and dropping off the paperwork.

"Of course." He replied. He took out a quill dipped it into the ink pot and signed his name.

"There you go." He handed back the papers with a flourish.

"Thank you Albus."

McGonagall hesitated for a minute before she voiced a question she wanted to ask all night.

"Are you all right? You seemed distracted tonight."

"I'm fine. Just thinking about what happened on this night nine years ago." Dumbledore answered.

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I can't believe that Lily and James are gone. Little Harry as well. He would have attended Hogwarts next year if he was still alive." She said.

"Sometimes I wonder if I could have done anything different. Anything that would have changed the outcome. If I had not made the choices that I made would they still be here?"

"Albus?" asked Minerva concerned for her friend.

"Hmm. Oh, it's nothing. Just the ramblings of an old man. You should get to bed. Have a full day tomorrow." He replied waving of her concerns.

Hesitating she got up and walked to the door but she left one last parting remark before she left.

"It's not your fault that they died. You did what you had to and know that I am behind you all the way. Good night."

She closed the door behind her leaving Dumbledore to his silence.

"Would you still be behind me if you know what I did or will do to insure we win? I wonder." Dumbledore spoke to the empty room before going back to his work.