Thanks to all those who reviewed and to those who added my story to their favourites or alerts list, it was great receiving about a hundred emails. I will not spoil which house Harry will be in but I have already decided.
Dreams
It took a bit of convincing to make Astoria get off of Harry's chest, it was a compromise in the end as she held onto his hand and tried to merge with his side as he was shown around his new home; the older women were enjoying his discomfort greatly if their giggling was anything to go off.
After exploring the whole house; he hoped they didn't expect him to remember where everything was as this house was about the same size as Ms Bone's (he wasn't comfortable calling her Amelia), the group made their way back to the lounge where there were two three seater sofas and a couple of armchairs in between.
John and Amelia took the armchairs whilst Daphne and healer burns sat on one of the sofas, Harry made his way towards the last sofa Astoria still attached to his side when his feet left the ground, he let out a startled grunt as Evelyn picked both him and Astoria up before she sat herself down bringing Astoria and Harry with her, amazingly Astoria managed to keep hold of him.
The feather on his chest had started glowing when he was startled but soon settled down as he relaxed a little when Evelyn started running her fingers gently through his hair whilst she rubbed Astoria's back, it wasn't long before Astoria fell asleep and Harry wasn't far behind her thanks to all the activities he'd done that morning as well as his young age.
If it wasn't for the children sleeping on her lap Evelyn would have been jumping for joy the smile on her face lighting up the room.
Harry was most grateful that Amelia and Samantha were still there when he woke up a couple of hours later still in Evelyn's lap; seeing his opportunity he slid off her lap and across to the other side of the settee Astoria was fortunately for him still asleep.
The adults had stopped talking when Harry had awoken and moved across the sofa, it upset Evelyn a bit but she understood and was sure with time he would lose all his mistrust towards them. Daphne who had grown bored had wandered off a long time ago whilst Harry slept.
As tea time approached much to his annoyance Astoria was shaken awake by her mother and asked to go get her sister; as she nodded she caught sight of Harry in the corner of her eye, she stood up on the sofa by using her hands to push herself into an upright position before quickly making her way to Harry's side and holding her hands out.
It was at this point Harry found out he couldn't say no to his new little sister as his hand betrayed him and took hers whereat in he was dragged out of the room by the hyperactive girl; for some reason he was sure he could hear giggling again.
Daphne was lying down on wool rug in front of the fire in the study when her little sister barged in dragging Harry along behind her "It's tea time!" Astoria shouted a happy grin on her face.
At first it looked as though Daphne was ignoring her sister but after a few seconds she placed the book mark into the page and walked silently out of the room "I don't think she likes me…?" Harry commented quietly to his devoted follower who whispered back "I think she does she's just um" Astoria brought her hand to her mouth as she thought what her mother had told her "she's into-hurt" her hands went to her hips with accomplishment and Harry nodded not wanting to show he didn't understand (not knowing about her mispronunciation).
Tea at the Greengrass residents was a lot more formal than the two meals he had eaten at Amelia's house; he was seated between the two Greengrass girls along one side of the table whilst Amelia and Samantha sat opposite them with Evelyn and John sitting at each end. Astoria kept asking him questions about some of the adventures he'd had not that he understood most of what she said (she didn't believe he couldn't remember saving a unicorn).
He picked slowly at his meal until he couldn't eat anymore; the food disappeared after everyone had finished only to be replaced by a dessert of strawberries and ice cream. Harry never noticed the worried looks he received from the adults.
As everyone helped themselves to dessert a goblet full of bubbling deep red liquid appeared next to his place mat "Harry that is a blood supplement potion it will make you feel better after a while so please drink" John motioned to the potion.
Harry picked up the goblet inspecting its contents with his eyes followed by his nose before finally taking a sip; his face screwed up in disgust "Ha I know most potions don't taste very good but they are effective." John gave a sheepish smile at the glare he received from Harry.
With dessert eaten and all the plates magically disappearing Amelia and Samantha prepared to leave, Amelia knelt in front of Harry "I know this will be tough but bear with it and after a while I'm sure you'll fit in fine; if you need anything or have any troubles you can contact me via owl, ask Evelyn and she'll show you."
It felt as if there was a lump in his throat at the thought of Amelia (the person who saved him from the Dursley's as he know thought of her) leaving him, he quickly threw his arms around her and managed to choke out his words "Thank you, Thank you for everything" he stood back wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.
Of course healer Burns received a hug as well before they were both whisked away out of the fireplace, now alone with his foster family an awkward silence descended upon the household.
Evelyn broke up the atmosphere "Well I think we have time for a story before you need to clean up for bed" with another squeal Harry was dragged after his foster mother by his excited foster sister; Daphne followed at a sedate pace after them.
After the story (The tales of Beedle the Bard) he was made to take his first bath and it was an experience he wasn't looking forward to repeating. The bath was more like a swimming pool and as he started to remove his clothes much to his embarrassment he was joined by Evelyn as she wanted to make sure he cleaned himself properly.
To hide his embarrassment he quickly jumped into the bath not knowing that as soon as the feather around his neck hit the water it shorted out and dispersed all of the stored electricity. Luckily Harry was unaffected by the electricity and Evelyn was not in the bath unluckily Harry couldn't swim and he had jumped into the deepest section of the pool.
It was her instinct (and the sparks) that stopped Evelyn from jumping in after him but using her wand she quickly cast a bubble head charm on Harry followed by a calming charm. After Harry had settled on the bottom and realized he wasn't drowning he saw Evelyn motioning to the other end of the bath. He made a note to not wear his focus into the bath (which meant he would need to focus more) whereas Evelyn added swimming onto things he'd need to learn.
That night after Evelyn had tucked him into bed he noticed just how big the room was and how his life had changed in such a short time, before he knew what was happening tears were already running down his face and he was quietly sniffling to himself.
About an hour after Daphne's mother had tucked her into bed she had the urge to go to the toilet so she snuck out of her room towards the bathroom. On the way back she could hear noises coming from Harry's room; being curios as she was she peered into the room but due to the only light coming from the hallway she couldn't see much.
Creeping into the room she made her way to the source of the noise, it was Harry who was curled up under the covers shaking.
Daphne at first wasn't sure what to do but then her thoughts turned to what her mother did when she or Astoria were upset. Going round to the other side of the bed she climbed up under and under the covers until she was just behind Harry who had frozen when he felt the mattress move.
Reaching over Daphne wrapped her arms around Harry and pulled his chest into her own and for the first time Harry heard her speak "Don't worry Harry it'll be all right" her voice more than her words soothed him as they fell asleep where they lay.
Amelia after saying her own goodbyes to healer Burns floo'd to her office in the ministry before making her way to the department of magical transport offering short greetings to those she knew.
The department of magical transport was split into several sub-sections, she moved quickly to the offices that controlled the floo network where a woman similar age to Evelyn sat going through paperwork a map of Great Britain on the wall.
Giving a quick knock on the door Amelia entered "Good evening Mrs Edgecombe, I find myself with a need to use your unique map" as everyone in the ministry knew that Amelia was soon to be head of the aurors Edgecombe didn't give her much protest and left to get herself a cup of tea whilst Amelia worked.
Quickly focusing the map on Surrey two red dots appeared one of which was on Privet Drive, tapping her want on that dot the floo address and who it was registered to appeared from the red dot.
Knowing what she needed to do Amelia cleared the map back to how it was before making her way to meet Arabella Figg to make sure she didn't tell Dumbledore that Harry was no longer on Privet Drive. As much as it was against her morals she had decided to do this by convincing Arabella that Harry was one of the other children on the street and as long as Dumbledore never came himself it was unlikely that he'd find out.
The new Greengrass family soon adjusted into a routine; normally after breakfast John would floo out to work whilst Evelyn taught all three of the children, these lessons included reading and writing, maths, etiquette and swimming. They also played several games together to break up the monotony.
The three women of the household quickly grew attached to Harry even Daphne as she now spent most nights crawling into Harry's bed for comfort after everyone had gone to bed; both parents knew but Evelyn thought it would be good for Harry and John…well he knew they were young enough that nothing could happen not to mention the future possible benefits.
Like they said they would Amelia and Samantha visited once a week usually on the weekend where they went out to the local park or zoo if the weather permitted.
It was just over five weeks before something different happened, waking up in Daphne's arms like he normally does he just lay there watching her sleep, her face still had some puppy fat but it looked almost exactly like her mother's, her blond hair pillowing out behind her.
Eventually the ice blue eyes opened and after a bit of stretching she was fully awake, they just looked at each other for a second before she made her way out to her own room.
A quick wash later, Harry got dressed and made his way to where the family always ate breakfast.
"Harry can I have a word with you please?" he was stopped by John just outside the breakfast room turning he followed the older man without protest even though he didn't really know him well he knew the rest of the family and was starting to trust them.
Motioning to a seat in front of him as John sat down he asked "Harry, is it okay if I ask a personal question?" the raven haired you looked down unsure but they did let him into their lives so he gave his accent.
"What do you dream about Harry?" John knew that most adults wouldn't answer this question but a child on the other hand…
Harry was nervous about his answer but he went ahead anyway "I used to dream about my parents coming to rescue me. Now I dream about them being with me and happy." John stood from his seat before kneeling before Harry a sad smile on his face "It is a good dream to have; I have a present for you Harry" John grabbed a package from the desk beside him.
"It is impossible to bring back those who have left us, all we can do is keep them in our thoughts and I hope this will help you with your parents" John waited patiently for Harry to open the parcel.
Neatly opening the parcel his heart beating rapidly as he'd never received a present before. A leather bound book fell onto his lap, the book was ornately decorated with a different coloured gem in each colour, and opening it to the first page he was greeted by a picture of a man and woman sitting on the floor just behind a small baby an adoring look in their eyes.
He quickly went through the book most of the pages at the beginning were either the older couple together or separately or the couple with the baby, most of the pictures moved which would have surprised him if he hadn't seen the moving portraits around the house. The pictures stopped about a third of the way through the book; on the last page of pictures there were two on the page one showing the whole Greengrass family out at the zoo with Harry and the other showing just Harry and Daphne sleeping together.
Harry was speechless he now knew what his parents looked like; there was no mistaking those green eyes on his mother the same as his.
Carefully closing the book and standing he threw his arms around John's neck exclaiming his thanks over and over not caring or knowing that tears ran down his face.
"This book is now yours to add to, fill it with your happy memories and in the future maybe you will have children of your own to show it to and keep the memory of your parents alive" John whispered in the child's ear "Now how bout we go to breakfast?" he took a look at Harry who had obviously been crying "or maybe we should make ourselves presentable or my wife will kill me" he gave out a nervous laugh at the end.
After Harry had recovered enough John guided him back to the breakfast room with his hand on Harry's back whilst the young animagus clutched his new book protectively to his chest.
It was Harry's first birthday with the Greengrass family and they wanted to make it one to remember so Evelyn had gotten up early to re-decorate the breakfast room with decorations covering the walls and the table covered in presents (mostly clothes).
Of course Amelia and Samantha were invited and John kept Harry busy whilst they put up finishing touches and people got into position, they were sure Harry was going to be surprised.
They were right as the three adults wands let of bangs and sparks of coloured lights whilst everyone shouted "Surprise" as the door opened but his reaction surprised them more as he disappeared in a flash and a bang, this was even more surprising as there were anti-apparition wards covering the whole house.
There was silence in the breakfast room before the adults broke out into panic the children forgotten as they started to discuss where they should start looking for the missing boy.
It was just as they were going to leave that they noticed Daphne and Astoria leading Harry back into the room; he looked to be fine except for his nervous expression.
"Harry! Are you all right?" "Harry! Where did you go?" came from several directions at the same time.
As Harry tried to shrink into himself Daphne answered with an even voice "He was in his room" and as the first time Harry had heard her talk it relaxed him a little though you could see he was still very tense.
The news brought up several thoughts to the different occupants of the room most of them wondered if he could do it again, the ability to travel through wards would have great tactical advantages whilst Evelyn was just happy that he apparated to his room meaning he most likely felt safe there.
After the somewhat active beginning of the day the rest of it calmed down somewhat; Harry opened his presents with the help of Astoria then they all ate cake and played games for the rest of the day, apparently chess was a lot more exciting in the wizarding world (if you could get your pieces to listen to you).
After his birthday (a day he was now looking forward to) everyone went back to their normal routine and as the year passed Harry's dreams started to change, at first his imagination's parents were replaced by his real parents then he like most boys his age that just found out about magic started to dream of being a superhero who beat villains with ease whilst his family (both Potters and Greengrass) watched on with pride.
It was these dreams that started Harry's thirst to learn magic at the age of five and three quarters, he had gained a lot of confidence since coming to live with his new family and it was this confidence that brought him the courage to ask John a question after he had been told no questions with his previous 'family'.
Finding him where he normally was when he was home Harry entered the parlour and made his way over to the chairs next to the bay window.
"Uncle John?" he spoke quietly a habit he had yet to break, John's attention shifted from the paperwork on his lap "I've been wandering if it would be okay for me to learn magic?"
John thought the question over; he knew Harry was learning to control his lightning with Evelyn whilst Daphne and Astoria visited their friends the Davies so it was obvious from his question that he wanted to learn to use a wand.
There were laws in place which were strictly enforced in the UK about teaching children under the age of eleven magic which were only slightly relaxed after they turned eleven.
That being said there were things that could be taught at home which would give someone a big advantage when they went to Hogwarts "Harry you cannot use a wand before you turn eleven but I will teach you a few things you can do without one before you go to Hogwarts and I'm sure Evelyn will help" it was not quite the answer Harry wanted but he was grateful none the less.
It was a couple of days later that John knocked on Harry's room's door early in the morning to start the training; Harry answered the door in his pyjamas which he'd received on his birthday, they were already too small for him.
"Good morning Harry, could you wake Daphne up for me and meet me in the breakfast room and I'll go over the different things I can teach you about magic?" no longer tired Harry rushed back into his room closing the door, whilst John took off towards the breakfast room he could hear Harry's door opening again and small footsteps heading toward Daphne's room.
It was just the three of them at the breakfast table this morning Evelyn and Astoria still in bed. After they had finished eating John leant back in his seat and looked to his daughter first "Daphne, Harry came to me a couple of days ago asking me to teach him magic, as you know it is illegal to teach young children magic but there are certain ways to avoid breaking this law; I asked you here to see if you wanted to learn alongside Harry?"
A small smile graced the young girls lips as she gave a short nod, she spent most her time in the study seeking new knowledge and was quite unhappy that she couldn't reach the shelves with the magical tomes on them.
John too let out a smile he was proud of his daughter "Good I was hoping you'd want to learn and as such I've gotten you a both a gift" he reached into his pocket and brought out two long thin boxes.
Upon opening the boxes they were both confused as there was a wand in each, John explained "These are just plain wooden sticks shaped like a wand, as you lean magic you find out that you have to move your wand in a certain way depending on the spell. A lot of these movements are repeated from spell to spell so with these 'practice wands' you can learn the movements the same way you learn to write" he demonstrated by casting a couple of spells exaggerating the wand movements.
"There are also many branches of magic that don't use a wand: Potions, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Occlumency & Legilimency as well as Divination to name a few. Potions is a must learn as that is one of the course subjects at Hogwarts but the rest of them are up to you?"
The two looked from each other Harry was relieved to see confusion in Daphne's face as well "What are they?" Harry asked.
John blinked once before remember how young the children really were "Ancient Runes is a study of an old scripture which is still in use today in some areas. Arithmancy is the study of numbers and like Divination is mostly used to predict the future, of course the approaches of the two subjects differ vastly as there is no guesswork in Arithmancy. Occlumency is the study of defending your mind from outside influences whereas Legilimency is the opposite, I cannot teach you Legilimency but I am a highly proficient Occlumens. Like I said you do not have to study any of these if you don't want to, I imagine most of your time will be looking up spells to practice the wand movements with, I will of course recommend certain books so that you don't learn everything you would at Hogwarts and you still have lots to learn in your normal classes, I believe you will soon be leaning to dance."
There was a giggle out in the hallway followed by the door bursting open, Astoria framed in the doorway as she looked around before bounding over to Harry and taking the other seat next to him.
A cup of tea appeared in front of John as he watched his youngest eat for a while before turning back to the other two "Well think it over and let me know at lunch time" Daphne got up and left the room, Harry tried to follow but Astoria grabbed his shirt as he started to stand.
Harry thought over what John had said about the different subjects the fake wand in his robe's pocket a constant reminder, in the end he had made his choice choosing what he believed would make him a better wizard.
After lunch Evelyn took Astoria out to play in the garden whilst John consulted the two starting with Harry "So Harry, what do you want to learn?" there was little hesitation in his voice as he answered "I want to learn Occlumency and spend the rest of the time learning spells."
Daphne's answer was similar if somewhat short "Occlumency and Ancient Runes."
John was quite happy with their choices but didn't let it show as he spoke to them both "Okay, I can teach you both Occlumency it is a useful skill to have. As for Ancient Runes Daphne I will speak to your mother later on today as she studied them whilst at Hogwarts. You will both learn potions with Evelyn as well and depending on when we have free time both of us will keep an eye on you when you practice wand movements. Harry you will continue with your animagus training whilst Daphne is learning Ancient Runes. Do either of you have any questions?" both shook their heads.
The next four years were busy as they started to learn how to cast spells without actually casting them; it started out slow as neither of the parents had a lot of time to supervise but they were given books to read, after the first year Astoria was allowed to join so they got more time practising wand movements.
Both of them managed to learn Occlumency after the first couple of years but they still practiced and improved whilst Astoria's mind was not geared for Occlumency she still tried to learn it.
As Daphne and later Astoria learnt Ancient Runes Harry was led outside to practice controlling his lightning, at first it was just against targets either moving or stationary before John brought home a pig…while this may have seemed cruel it was necessary as most of the time lightning kills when it hits someone. So several pigs later Harry managed to reduce the power of his shocks so it only causes temporary paralysis, they then moved onto different farm animals both magical and mundane until he could adjust the power needed by instinct.
To make sure Harry (and the girls) were not socially stunted they were quite often taken to the local muggle park or did various other muggle activities such as bowling and go-karting usually with Harry under a slight glamour, it was also a good way of teaching them about the muggle world.
Daphne and Harry did eventually stop sleeping together as they grew older especially as Daphne started to mature more.
By Harry's tenth birthday he could hardly remember there was a Dursley family and was now used to receiving presents on the anniversary of his birth; so it was no surprise to John when prior to the date Harry had asked if he could get a pet for his birthday.
John after making sure Harry agreed to take care of it quickly agreed but brought up a surprise of his own as it would be the last year Daphne and Harry would be at home he had booked a holiday for the family.
Of course the family couldn't go anywhere that Harry would be recognised easily (at least he would prefer not to face that storm yet); in the end John had booked a lodging in a small magical community in Greenland where the cold would mean most people were well wrapped up.
It was in Greenland that Harry wandered upon the local pet store, after all he had been promised, and for once he was the one dragging the two younger Greengrass girls as he entered the shop not that it took much to convince them.
The difference in temperature inside the store from the outside was easily noticeable as the store was kept warm by several charms, the store was packed full of cages all various shapes and sizes. The noise of the different animals took some getting used to but the three adjusted and moved to the nearest cage.
The first cage they came to contained a snake snoozing lazily on a heated rock, it turned and hissed menacingly at the three as their shadows fell over it. They quickly moved on examining different varieties of owls from Barn to Snowy who were all watching the magical rats do tricks.
Finally they came to the animals that Harry was really interested in, the cats and there were dozens upon dozens of them ranging from kittens a few months old to fully grown adults.
Harry went from cage to cage sticking his fingers between bars trying to stroke the kittens which seemed to hold his (and the two girls) attention whilst the store attendant kept a close eye on the three.
After spending an inordinate amount of time trying to stroke a small kitten he moved onto the last cage which held three more kittens; they were patterned like white tigers but were small enough to fit in the palms of their hands, they could tell the cats were very young as they weren't moving much their eyes still blind and to Harry he'd already found his perfect pet.
Although tough he managed to drag himself and the two girls, though that was harder than dragging them into the pet store, away from them to go and find Uncle John.
They found him back at the cabin just getting out of bed, near midday for some reason, and dragged him straight back to the pet store after he told Evelyn who was still in bed where they were going.
Telling Uncle John what he wanted when he got there was easy but getting the shop attendant to understand was not so easy, it involved a lot of motioning with their hands and for some reason the shop keeper was hesitant to sell them one of the kittens.
Harry ended up choosing the largest of the three a female with eyes that almost matched Daphne's own and he was tempted to name her after his closest friend but the glare he received from said girl quickly dissuaded him.
As for of the rest of their holiday Harry spent it looking after his new pet who seemed to never stop eating or growing. By the time the holiday ended Harry was starting to think his new pet wasn't a normal cat as it had grown to over twice its original size.
Back home the training continued only now Harry's pet that he'd decided to name Shiva had replaced Astoria in following the young boy everywhere although he still spent a lot of time with Astoria she no longer stalked him.
Shiva had continued to grow reaching knee height quickly; it had become more than apparent that she was not a normal cat, especial after she started freezing random objects around the house or a least he thought it was her even though he'd yet to see her do it.
Toward the end of November as Daphne's birthday approached she received an owl carrying her acceptance letter into Hogwarts and as congratulations ended up getting her own pet, after assurances from the shop assistant that it didn't have any unknown abilities, she received a spectacled owl she called Mercury; it had brown back and face except for what looked like white spectacle around its eyes whilst its chest was bordering on yellow.
At first Harry had to keep an eye on Shiva with Mercury around as she quite often sat there watching the owl fly back and forth her tail twitching behind her, luckily she was a very intelligent cat and quickly learnt not to eat owls or other birds as she saw Harry change back and forth.
Harry's animagus form too had grown exponentially and he was now bigger as a bird than he was as a human his plumage still a beautiful blue but it was tinged more with silver.
After what seemed like ages to Harry after Daphne received her Hogwarts letter Harry received his own as on the twenty fourth of July a familiar owl flew through the mail slot and dropped a letter addressed to Harry Potter, Harry's Room, Axminster Manor. The back of the letter was sealed with a wax seal stamped with a crest of four animals on the back.
The family after another day of celebrations made plans to visit Diagon Alley where Harry would most likely be recognised and their peaceful life changed forever.
Into-hurt = Introvert
It seems that most of my readers are male as of the 35 (at the time) votes 27 of them are for both Daphne and Susan to be Harry's partners, I'll leave the poll up for the next couple of chapters so feel free to vote.
I looked up each of the courses on Wiki and couldn't see anything about Ancient Runes having anything to do with warding or Arithmancy with spell creation (I say this because someone will point it out to me) and no real life animals were hurt in the writing of this chapter.
Teufel1987: Your right Hogsmeade is the only wizard village in the books but I find that highly unlikely in reality (and it fits my story better) so I changed it, as for the HP children's books being overused I somewhat agree and again I think it is quite likely there were children's books about him as it seemed like everybody in the magical world knew Harry.
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