Percy Weasley let out an excited yelp as he saw the dementor fall through the veil. Within few seconds, Harry's soulless body began twitching a foam escaped his mouth. Within seconds, his body stilled. Percy turned towards the Aurors with smile on his face, knowing that they sent Harry's soul through the veil in time. He heard an Auror scream, "THAT WAS HARRY POTTER!" before multiple flashes of green light soared towards him. He dropped to his knees, watching the killing curses approach. Right before the curses hit, everything became white and that moment ceased to exist.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was 3:30am on August, 23rd 1987. Harry Potter, age seven, laid in his cot in the cupboard under the stairs in a deep sleep.

He was sitting alone in the park that stood nearby his home, casually swinging on the swingset. He was grateful that this park was so close, as this was the place he would always go to in order to escape that place he called was forced to call home. It wasn't really a home, he was always a visitor. A visitor who cooked, cleaned, and tried to stay invisible as much as possible. So not really even a visitor, but more like a servant.

So he sat there on his swing, wishing that life was just a bit less cruel. He wished he had a mum to hold him, a dad to play soccer with. But he didn't. He had relatives that despised him, neighbors who looked at him like he was diseased, and he had this swing.

He swung higher and higher, much higher than any real swing would allow him to go. He could nearly touch the clouds in the sky. He liked to think his parents were up there somewhere, sitting on a cloud watching over him. He was close enough to the clouds now, so maybe if he jumped off he could see them. All he needed was a glimpse, just to know that they were there.

He pumped his legs a few more times, gathering all the momentum that his small body could muster. With one last push he jumped off of the swing at its peak and soared towards the clouds. He felt as though he was flying. He smiled as he thought that this was the best feeling in the world. He was just seconds away from breaking through the clouds when they turned black and lightening crashed through them. Harry yelled as he realized he could not stop his momentum and he would soon be forced through this electric cloud. As he broke through the cloud, he breathed a small sigh of relief as he was not injured. However, that breath quickly found its way back into him as he gasped at the image that stood on the other side of the cloud.

Floating before him were endless bodies. Still flying in an upwards path, he passed a small red-headed woman, a bushy haired woman, and a red-headed man. Each of their eyes were open, but unmoving and filled with death. Eventually, he began his decent and approached the black clouds once more. However, this time rather than breaking through the cloud he landed upon it with a crash. Looking up, he saw a snake-like man with red slits for eyes. The man looked at him and said in a death-like whisper, "Harry Potter; we meet again."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The silence of 4 Privet Drive was broken with a piercing scream. Harry awoke, and realized that scream was coming from his mouth. He quickly covered it, hoping that he didn't wake anyone in the house. However, the damage was already done. He heard Vernon get clumsily out of bed, swearing loudly as he made his way down the stairs.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, and his 22 year old self took in his surroundings. He glanced at the calendar that he had stuffed away in the corner. The date read August 23, 1987. "IT WORKED! Mr. McGonagall is a genius!" was the first thing that his mind registered. He had a newfound hope; this was his chance to save everyone he loved. He would not fail this time.

The second thing Harry's mind registered was that he was shaking, but it wasn't from excitement; it was from fear. Harry thought for a moment, and then rationalized that it was probably his younger self's natural reaction to hearing Vernon march downstairs. "Don't worry," Harry thought, "we are getting out of this place in just a few moments." All he needed to do was push Vernon past his breaking point.

Suddenly, the door to the cupboard flew open and Vernon shouted, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU YELLING ABOUT!"

Knowing his answer would not matter, but deciding that saying 'bad dream' would be a poor decision, Harry whispered, "Sorry, there was a spider."

"A spider…" Vernon began, "A SPIDER? I HAVE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETINGS OF MY LIFE TOMORROW AND YOU WAKE ME UP FOR A SPIDER?"

"I'm s-sorry," Harry stuttered.

"GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Vernon screamed as he yanked Harry out of the cupboard by his hair.

Dudley and Petunia stood on the stairs, having awakened during this encounter. "DUDLEY, GET MY BELT," Vernon screamed. For being so late, Dudley's eyes were filled with excitement. He always loved this part, and he dashed upstairs to grab his father's belt.

Catching the belt that Dudley threw down, Vernon turned menacingly at Harry. "A spider has what… Eight legs?"

Harry closed his eyes. He turned his back on Vernon, accepting his punishment.

"Take off your shirt boy," Vernon commanded. He grabbed the belt clasp, letting the leather dangle. "And what do you think you're doing, turning your back on me? No, I want you to face me for this."

Harry slowly turned back around; his eyes staring at the leather strap. Normally, Vernon would just hit him on his back. That was bearable, but he knew this was going to hurt… badly.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of leather connecting with his ribcage. He exhaled deeply, and tears began flowing down his face. "I shouldn't be crying! I've dealt with so much worse, why can't I stop these damn tears! These damn seven-year old instincts…"

Harry looked down at his body; there was a bright red mark where the leather had connected with his skin. The skin was starting to swell, but he needed more. He wiped the tears out of his eyes and looked up at Vernon, almost willing him to hit harder.

Vernon looked back at Harry, and swung again. Again, Harry began to tear up but he quickly wiped the tears and looked at Vernon in the eye.

After the seventh hit, Harry looked down at his stomach. It was covered in distinct, red marks; but he still needed more. He had one chance to get out of this house; he needed to be sure he wouldn't be coming back. It was time for a bit of accidental magic.

As Vernon's arm came down for the last hit, Harry's arms flung up and he pointed his palms at the incoming belt. The belt quickly turned into a feather, and Harry was left unharmed… for a brief moment at least.

Vernon looked at the feather in his hand, and his face turned the deepest shade of purple imaginable. He stood there looking at Harry, his head shaking in fury. Without warning, he lunged forward, grabbed Harry around the neck, and threw him to the floor. He began kicking ferociously, and Harry could feel individual ribs break with each kick.

After what seemed like forever, the kicking stopped. Vernon grabbed him by the neck, threw him back in the cupboard, and locked the door. Harry let out a small sigh of relief as he heard Vernon march back upstairs. He just needed to be seen by a neighbor now for his plan to work. Something was wrong though. That small sigh of relief took too much air out of him. He gasped trying to inhale more air, but every breath became a little more difficult. He could feel his lungs slowly deflating, each breathe becoming less and less satisfying.

Harry began to panic; he didn't come back to the past to simply to die within minutes of arriving. He needed to get out of this house and to a hospital. He lifted his hands and did a small alohomora charm in order to unlock the cupboard. He was glad that he mastered some very basic charms wandlessly in the old timeline. Unable to stand due to his ribs, he slowly crawled his way out of the front door.

As he crawled out of the front door, he needed to decide which neighbor to disturb. He quickly thought it over, and decided that he needed to go to a muggle neighbor's house. He decided to go two doors down, as he knew that both of his next door neighbors were good friends with the Dursley's. He wanted to go to Mrs. Figg's, as she would be the most sympathetic since he discovered years ago that she was a squib and kept an eye on him, but he was scared that she would go to Dumbledore. If she went to Dumbledore, than his destiny would be left in Dumbledore's hands. Harry was unsure how Dumbledore would react, as he knew Dumbledore placed a very high value on his mother's blood protection within the confines of his relative's home and he was concerned that he would simply obliviate the lot of them and claim it for 'the greater good'. He could obviously not let this happen, as he needed his current memories in order to save his friends.

He slowly crawled on the grass, rolling like a log at times in order to speed up the process. His body ached, and his breathes continued to deteriorate. Finally, he made it to the front porch of his neighbors home and crawled up the cement steps. With his vision slowly becoming black from the lack of oxygen, he stretched his arm for the doorbell and he rang it multiple times before passing out.

After a few moments, a man opened the door with a baseball bat in his arms. After seeing the unconscious child lying before him, he quickly dropped the bat and moved Harry carefully inside before phoning the police.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Harry heard the beeping of monitors and a low grumbling noise beside him. Confused as to what that second noise might be, he opened his eyes and found Hagrid sleeping in the armchair opposite his bed. Time for the acting to begin.

"Excuse me," Harry said loudly.

Hagrid's eyes shot open, "Sorry, nodded off a bit there…you've been out for a few hours."

"Oh, well where am I?" Harry asked.

"Erm.. I believe this place is called Lil' Whingig Hospital or somethin' of the sort. How are you feelin' though? I'm suppose' to check in with some people when you wake up."

"I'm fine. A little sore… but fine. Are you a doctor or something then?" Harry questioned.

Hagrid laughed, "Me? A muggle doctor? No lad, I'm just Hagrid."

"Well I'm just Harry," Harry replied.

"I know yer are," Hagrid said with a smile. "But I was just sent to watch over you a bit while you slept. But now that yer awake, I really should go check in with some people."

As Hagrid stood up to leave, Harry decided that he should look a bit shocked by the man's size.

"Woah!" Harry exclaimed, "What are you? A giant?!"

Hagrid chucked, thinking that Harry was referring to the giants muggles would read about in their fairy-tales. "Well, half o' one," Hagrid said as he winked and walked out the door.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hagrid walked into the room a few minutes later with a muggle doctor trailing behind him. What surprised Harry a bit more was to see Professor Dumbledore wander into the room after the doctor.

Harry hadn't seen his idol in years, and wanted nothing more than to tell him everything. He had been the sole reason that he was able to defeat Voldemort in the previous timeline, and he had taken Harry under his wing towards the end of his schooling. That night on the Astronomy Tower many years ago, this man sacrificed his life in hope of a greater good. He accepted death knowing that it was necessary in order to bring Voldemort down. And now he stood before Harry, but Harry could not tell him his secrets. Dumbledore has proven time and time again that he pursues the greater good and he would likely see any downfall of Voldemort as a successful outcome, regardless of the casualties along the way. Harry respected his viewpoint and understood the logic behind it, but he simply disagreed what would be considered a 'successful outcome' and would not let history repeat itself.

Harry ripped his eyes from Dumbledore and paid attention to the muggle doctor, who was looking over at the monitors and scribbling some notes on a clipboard.

"Erm, am I going to be alright?" Harry asked.

The doctor looked at him sympathetically, "Well yes, you had two collapsed lungs but luckily we got you here in time to fix those up. Also, practically all of your ribs are broken but those will heal with time. It may take a little while, but you'll end up being all right." The doctor hesitated before continuing, "I'm sorry I have to ask this champ, but we need to verify how you sustained these injuries… From what it looks like, I would say a belt and either a foot or fist…"

Harry nodded.

"And, we believe that your uncle was involved… is that correct?" the doctor said softly.

"I'm not supposed to tell…" Harry mumbled. Those words slipped out of his mouth without conscious thought. 'It must be those seven-year old instincts' Harry thought. He was initially just going to say yes, but his unconscious response probably seems more authentic anyways.

The doctor looked at him solemnly, "Well, I can promise you that you won't be returning to that home."

Harry looked away from the doctor and towards Hagrid, who's face looked like it was about to explode. His fists were clenched and his hands were shaking as he tried to control himself. Harry then looked towards Dumbledore, who's eyes had a fire lit beneath them. "The doctor is right Harry," Dumbledore began, "You will not be returning to that house.".

Harry looked at him, hoping desperately that he would reach the conclusion Harry was hoping for. "Then where will I go?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore looked at the doctor, who took it as his sign to leave. With a quick backwards glance the doctor said, "I'll be back shortly to give you some medicine for the pain."

"Well Harry, it is an extremely long and fascinating story… but in short, you'll be living in my school for the next few weeks until we can find you a permanent home. That is, if that's acceptable to you. Term starts in about a week and the school will be filled with children. They will all be older than you, but I don't want you to think you're going to be locked in a classroom for a few weeks. All the children stay at the school during the term, so you should be able to have a deal of fun. Don't think of this as similar to the school you attend now… thing of it as more of a boarding school for extremely special children."

Harry's smile reached across his face, he had been hoping that Dumbledore would reach this conclusion. He knew that Dumbledore valued his safety above all else, and now that he could no longer benefit from the protection 4 Privet Drive offered, Hogwarts was the next safest place. And there was someone special coming to Hogwarts this year, and Harry happened to know that he would be bringing a certain rat with him. "That sounds awesome!" Harry exclaimed. However, he said that a bit loudly which resulted in a sharp pain coming from his ribs.

"We also have some special doctors at our school that will be able to heal your ribs much faster than this doctor expects," Dumbledore said mysteriously. "We will be asking for your release within the next day and then transfer you to the school immediately."

"But how will you do that?" Harry questioned. "Aren't my Aunt and Uncle still my guardians? How can you convince the doctors to move me without their permission?"

"Well… The doctors are under the impression that I am your grandfather. Which is unfortunately not true, but it will help expedite the process. On that note though, I'm going to go sort out some paperwork asking for your release given we will have some kind of 'home care' for you. Now, I don't know if you remember this at all… and I apologize if it brings up some bad memories… but yesterday you did the most marvelous thing to your uncle's belt. I'll leave Hagrid here to explain that to you," Dumbledore said has he turned to leave the room.

Hagrid, who had settled down over the past few minutes, leaned in close to Harry before saying the same words that Harry remembered hearing years ago. "Yer a wizard, Harry."

~~~~I really struggled to write this chapter, mainly because I was unsure of how I wanted to handle Harry. The direction I'm going to go is he has the memories and thoughts of a 22 year old, but some instincts of a seven year old. Please let me know what you think! Let me know if this chapter seemed kinda jumbly or confusing at all, because that was my biggest concern.