Schooldays
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Ne indignus esse sumpta ex potestate Magia
Indignam parentis sui natos sine dono sectati sunt
Nubet suum munus qui sine indignis amet
Magicae Ne auferas animam dignis indigna
Magicas duo filii parentibus munere dignus
Recipere merentur potestatem legant digni sanguine
Sit iure merito digne susceperint
Desine ab imperio dignos recipere indignum
Quod digni sint qui vivunt quam qui excubant in Magia
-Text of the Ritual performed by the Guardians of Purity (Formerly known as the Death Eaters).
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Harry Evans was a happy boy as he ran home from school.
He was aware that he was different from the other children that he went to school with. His guardian, who went by the name of Antares Wolf, had talked with him about his differences the first time that he had used accidental magic. Under Mr Wolf's benevolent eye, Harry had learned how to use accidental magic to do what he wanted rather than wished for, whether levitating items or changing the colors of his clothes.
Mr Wolf also taught him meditation and how to protect his mind. At first, his mind was fully open but Mr Wolf had used an art known as Legilimency to show him how to build his own mental defences and organise his memories so that everything that he did, he would be able to recall later.
"I'm home!" He called as he dashed through the front door, using his magic to pass through the solid wood without going through the hassle of searching for his keys, opening the door and closing it after him. A more focused burst of magic allowed him to step out of his shoes even as Mr Wolf looked out of the kitchen at him.
"Harry." He said with a nod. "Homework?"
Harry slumped. He hated doing homework, even though he was very good at it and could generally hold his own against the new girl who had joined the school the previous week.
"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, phasing his hand into his bag in order to extract his homework notebook. Mr Wolf smirked slightly as he watched.
As Harry sat down at the table, idly summoning the books that he would need, Mr Wolf coughed to get his attention.
"I felt some odd magic earlier." Mr Wolf stated. "Accidental and not yours. Did anything of import happen today?"
"It was… grrrr, what's her name… Hermione. She pushed some bullies away from her before I could intervene" Harry replied, then he looked at his guardian and froze.
"Hermione... Granger?"
Harry closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, then he nodded.
"That's her."
"Heh." Mr Wolf chuckled. "Just when you least expect it, fate takes a strange turn. Befriend her if you can, Harry. After all, in a couple of years, you and her will be attending Hogwarts together. She will need a friend, and so will you."
Harry blinked. "Huh? But… she's a girl!"
Mr Wolf rolled his eyes. "I never said you needed to kiss her." He shot back and Harry scrunched his face at the thought of doing kissy-kissy stuff like he'd seen several adults do.
"I think I need to meet her parents." Mr Wolf continued. "As soon as possible, if not sooner. I still have tasks I need to accomplish, after all and having a place you can stay will be very useful. Hmmm, I do believe that it's her birthday next week. I think that I have a book she would like…"
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"Coming!" Dan Granger shouted as he strode towards the front door. Opening it, he blinked in surprise at the unexpected visitor.
Although everyone knew about Mr Wolf and how he had saved several children (pulling one boy out of the way of a car, fending off a dog that was trying to bite a girl, locating a boy who had got lost in the nearby woods and informing police about a father who was abusing his daughter), he was nevertheless seen as being reserved and rather stand-offish to adults.
"Who is it?" Emma called from the kitched and Dan saw movement as a boy only slightly younger than his beloved Hermione peeked out from behind the old man.
"It's Mr Wolf." He called back. "Please, come in."
"Thank you." Mr Wolf said with a small smile. "I brought your daughter a small present for her birthday. She's nine today, is she not?"
"Hermione!" Dan called, then he turned back to usher his guests into the living room. "Thank you… yes, but how did you know?"
"I have my ways." Wolf smiled even as a bushy-haired missile flew down the stairs. "And here is the birthday girl herself. Happy birthday. A present."
Hermione accepted the gift-wrapped parcel and put it on the coffee table.
"I'm here." Emma Granger said from the door. "I've put the kettle on, may I offer you a drink?"
"Not quite yet." Wolf smiled as he nodded to Hermione. "Please, open it."
Hermione carefully ripped the package open and pulled out a large book that was too big to have fitted inside the paper wrapping. "Huh?"
"A guide to magical culture and history." Wolf said gently. "You performed some accidental magic a few days ago and some more yesterday. I decided to visit to show you… that magic is real."
Wolf held up one hand and a glowing sphere formed above it. Harry smirked and conjured two balls of light.
"Showing off, you young whippersnapper?" Wolf chuckled as he willed another seven into being, all in different colors and orbiting the original (larger) light.
"Not fair." Harry pouted as he dismissed his own lights. "You know I can't do more than six yet."
Wolf smirked at him, then turned back to the shocked family.
"I am a wizard, as is my ward and despite the lack of magery in your family, your daughter, although technically she is a witch, being a female magic user." He explained. "There is an entire society of us and when your daughter turns eleven, she will be invited into it so that she may learn how to harness the power she possesses. The reason you have not heard of us is simple, for several centuries, magical society has hidden itself from the rest of the world. Although some amongst us claim that they conceal themselves to protect their superiority, the reason is far simpler. Should magical society ever find itself aligned against modern society, it is the modern one who would win."
"Because of the guns." Harry added.
"That is indeed one reason." Wolf confirmed. "Magical society has many amazing aspects, but for every advantage, there is a flaw. Nevertheless, it is worth learning about as there are those who would seek out those who choose not to train in magic for their own nefarious ends.
"I do not wish to scare you," He added quickly, "but should you choose not to let your daughter learn how to use the magic that flows through her veins, her power and memories will be sealed away, meaning she will be unable to defend herself should any of the darker ones decide to go after her. Even I can only protect against so much without aid."
"What's apparition?" Hermione asked, looking up from her new book. Harry gave Wolf an odd look as he began chuckling.
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"So… why?" Harry asked once they had returned home. Wolf gave him a long look before slowly nodding.
"You are old enough to know and your mental shields are stronger than any bar my own. What I am about to tell you, you must not repeat without my permission."
Harry nodded.
"The story begins with a child, the Heir of House Potter." Wolf began. "Orphaned by an evil wizard, he was placed with his mother's sister by a wizard who meant well, but who had so many responsibilities that he could not focus on what truly needed doing…
…
"…and for twenty years after the final battle, all seemed well. Harry Potter was lauded a hero and awarded a second Order of Merlin. He married and had three children, who all went to Hogwarts.
"But all was not as well as it seemed. For had anyone chosen to look, they would have seen that during the final rampage of the Dark Wizard Riddle and his followers, the ranks of the Muggleborn and the purebloods loyal to the light had become dangerously depleted, leaving the Dark families in control of the government through numbers alone. They moved slowly and carefully until twenty years to the day after the final battle, when they unleashed the darkest spell ever created.
"They had linked the spell to their own family magics and to the keystone that held the spells which defined the very foundations of western magery. The Dark families in the Wizengamot and their followers all profited from it. The few remaining Light families did as well, but they did not realize why they were growing stronger until it was too late.
"The spell covered the country and leached away the magic from the muggleborn and Halfblood magicals, turning them into squibs at best, or effectively muggles in most cases. The magic thus leached was then infused into the House Magics of the members of the Wizengamot as well as the family magics of those whom they deemed worthy. Within a year, there was no muggleborn or Halfblood magical able to cast even a simple lumos.
"Harry's closest friend worked out what was happening even as her magic was being drained. By the time the last of her magic had been removed and her magical core drained beyond the point where it could refill itself, thus breaking the grip of the spell, she had devised a solution.
"The spell had been infused into the foundations of magic itself. There was no way to break it without wiping out everything living on the planet. No way to undo what had been done. No way for the majority to stand against the Dark Families as they eagerly slew their enemies and the families of their enemies, celebrating by defiling the corpses of those who could no longer fight back against them.
"And so, the only way to defeat it, was to make certain that the spell was never created in the first place."
Harry stared at his guardian, who returned his shocked gaze with a calm one, but deep in his green eyes, amusement flickered.
"The solution was simple in concept but almost impossible in its execution." Wolf continued. "A single person sent back in time to change history. To protect the Boy-Who-Lived and train him in what he truly needed to know.
"And so I tell you, you are Harry James Evans, but you were born Harry James Potter.
"As was I."
Harry's jaw dropped as he realized what Wolf was saying. "You… you're… me?"
"No." Wolf said. "I stopped being you the moment I picked up your basket and carried you away. You are Harry James Potter. I may have carried that name in my past, but it is yours now.
"I am Antares Wolf, the Fifth of the Four Maruaders, the son of one, the Godson of a second. I renamed myself in their honor. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Star and Canine. Antares and Wolf.
"I have tried to remove as many obstacles from your path as I could without risking your safety. I have tried to prepare you, as I was not prepared.
"When you enter Hogwarts, it shall be as it was supposed to be, as Lord Potter.
"And when you need me… I shall come."
For a long while, both remained silent, then Harry looked up.
"The one who created the spell to send you back… it was Hermione, wasn't it?"
"Very good." Antares chuckled. "Very good. Yes, even now, she has a prodigious memory for facts. Once she gets some lessons in Occulumancy, she will indeed have a perfect memory. Back when I came from, she was for a time one of the Unspeakables with the code-name of Hypatia."
"Wow." Harry breathed. "She sounds awesome!"
"She was." Antares agreed. "However, the Hermione of now is not the Hermione of then. Already we have changed her path and I intend to change it further. This time, she will not be crippled and condemned to life in a wheelchair."
Harry blinked several times.
"Who else…?" He started to ask.
"Whose fates have I changed already?" Antares finished. "I saved the Longbottoms, their son Neville should be more confident this time round, now that he still has his parents to raise him. I killed the Lestranges and claimed an item from their Vault under the War Rites, an item that I destroyed. As for your Godather…"
Antares sighed.
"The spell I cast to protect you means that he still searches for you. I engineered the revelation that he had not killed the man everyone thought that he did and that he was not the Secret Keeper as everyone had assumed. He is free and knows that you are under the Fidelius yourself. Every month, I send him a letter and photos to show him that you are well. I believe that he took my suggestion to heart and plans to be the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher the year that you begin Hogwarts."
Harry grinned. "I remember the stories you told me. He sounds awesome!"
"He has also destroyed another of the items that need to be destroyed." Antares smirked. "And claimed a certain hyperactive House-elf for his own staff."
"Dobby?" Harry asked and Antares nodded, a wistful smile on his face.
"A more loyal friend I never had. He gave his life for me. Now… now he will have a Master who appreciates him and ensures that he lives a long and happy life."
