Chapter 4

Harry sat in the window seat of a bus, watching the scenery race by him as the bus sped forward down the road. It was early in the morning, as the sun had only begun making its ascent into the sky just a few minutes prior. Typical of English weather, it was raining outside, though not heavily. It had been 3 weeks since he fled Hogwarts, and in that time, his life had taken a more radical turn than he originally would have thought. He didn't know what exactly had possessed him to walk into the recruiting office that day, fear, genuine curiosity, desperation, a combination of all of those, he couldn't say for sure, but something had told him to walk into that office. The conversation with the recruiter had been… interesting, to say the least. He hadn't realized just how bureaucratic the whole process would be.

Since he was only 16, he would have required express parental permission for him to enlist. However, he had to pass himself off as an orphan who had lost his parents, and had no known living family, and as such, was unable to obtain such permission from them or any recognized guardian for that matter. This had complicated things, at least at first, until he said what his last name was. Harry could've sworn that the recruiter had a flash of recognition in his eyes for a second, and suddenly, any dispute over parental permission had been seemingly forgotten.

While he found that odd, considering the desperate situation he was in, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially now. After that, he had filled out page after page of paperwork and had taken a series of aptitude tests, as well as a long gamut of medical examinations. He had insisted to the recruiter that he go through the enlistment process as quickly as could be done, which ultimately lasted a few days. During the process, he had revealed to the recruiter that he had no place to live and so he had been put up in a small hotel room over the course of the enlistment process. Finally, after about a week of non-stop paperwork, tests, and questions, his paperwork had finally been completed and organized and he was ready to be sent to basic training. He had been given a bus ticket and told to report to the nearest bus station by 5 am and to, in the recruiter's words "Do. Not. Be. Late." So here he was, riding on the bus towards an uncertain future, wondering what he had gotten himself into. He had also scrounged up enough money to buy a cheap suit jacket from a thrift store and used the rest of his Hogwarts uniform as slacks, a shirt and tie, seeing as that would be the dress code for arriving at the camp.

Seeing as he no longer had any use or desire for it, he burned his house robe in a barrel on the street, officially casting off his past as a Hogwarts student. He had been told that he would be training at Pirbright Army Training Centre, not very far from London itself. He had lost count of how long he and the rest of the new recruits had been riding on the bus, but he believed it to have been a good few hours now that the sun was well into its morning ascent. Eventually, he saw the bus approach the gate with a military guard standing by a small guardhouse, speaking with the bus driver for a moment before eventually waving the driver through and into the camp proper. Eventually, the bus stopped outside a registration tent and the driver opened the door, instructing the recruits to proceed off of the bus. Harry and the other recruits from the bus grabbed their belongings from the storage areas under the bus and proceeded to walk towards the registration tent with their paperwork in hand, where an instructor stood at a table, crossing names off of a list as recruits checked in and directed them to the next area that they needed to go. Eventually, Harry made his way up to the instructor.

"Name?"

"Potter, sir"

"Don't call me sir, I work for a living."

"Sorry si.. Sorry"

"Papers"

Harry presented the instructor with his paperwork and after a brief glance through, was met with approval.

"Follow the signs to the waiting area and wait to be processed, next!"

Harry uttered a quick thank you and scurried away to the waiting area, sitting there for what felt like an eternity before his name was called. This pattern continued for the next few days, sorting out paperwork, being issued his uniforms and equipment, and going through several medical tests and procedures. After about a week of the bureaucratic cycle, they were finally able to begin training, which meant meeting their Corporal. Harry and his section had been sitting in their barracks, mostly making small talk amongst themselves when the Corporal announced himself.

"ATTENTION!"

Harry and the rest of his section scrambled, standing at attention at the foot of their racks, not daring to make a sound as the Corporal walked up and down the aisle, eyeing each man up and down every time he passed them. Eventually reaching Harry, he looked Harry up and down for a long moment, staring him down for a few seconds before turning back and addressing the section.

"My name is Corporal Brackenreid, you will address me simply as Corporal or unless otherwise directed. I am not an officer, so if any of you mentally deficient shitbags call me sir, I will rip your eyes out of your skull and use it as a fucking latrine! Do you understand!"

"YES CORPORAL!"

"As you are now soldiers in Her Majesty's Army, you will be held to the highest standard that is expected of one of Her Majesty's soldiers at all times, for when you wear this uniform, you represent the Queen, the Army, and your country. Any infractions against these standards WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"

"YES CORPORAL!"

"Excellent! Now, change into your running gear and be in formation in 2 minutes! It's time you undisciplined rabble became acquainted with the trails. Oh, and you will be running an extra kilometer for every man that is late to formation, so hurry the fuck up!"

Harry and the rest of his section quickly dressed into their running gear, sprinting to reach the courtyard outside of their barracks. Harry and the men next to him quickly fell into formation, watching out of the corner of his eye with dread as a few stragglers came running up to the end of the line. Corporal Brackenreid smiled deviously.

"It seems three members of the section are in favor of three extra kilometers on this run, and I would hate to disappoint them!"

Harry heard a man next to him gulp nervously, knowing just how much their lives were about to absolutely suck. The rest of the day went in much the same fashion, running, push ups, sit ups, and everything else in between. The next few days went in pretty much the same fashion, exercise, drilling, inspections, and various tasks and chores in between. After those first few days, Harry had begun making friends with the other men in his section and had settled into a routine.

"Perhaps I'll survive this after all"

Hogwarts

Charles walked through the halls of the castle on the way to Dumbledore's office. He had been sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione when Professor McGonagall entered, saying that Dumbledore wanted to see him in his office immediately. He reached the stone gargoyle at the office's entrance and it moved aside before he could say the password, clearly expecting the young Gryffindor's arrival. He climbed up the stairs and stopped and stopped at the door, knocking a few times to announce his presence.

"Enter"

Charles walked into the office to see both of his parents sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk, flashing him a warm smile as he approached.

"Ah, Charles my boy! Please, have a seat."

Dumbledore conjured a cushioned seat between his parents and gestured for Charles to sit, which he quickly did.

"Now that you're all here, we can finally discuss some important matters. I trust you know why I have summoned you three here tonight?"

James spoke up first. "This involves my cowardly excuse for an heir doesn't it?"

Dumbledore frowned slightly and nodded his head. "Yes James, I'm afraid it does."

Lily spoke next "Do you have any news Albus? Any word on where he might be?"

"As of this moment, I do not. I can, however, confirm that Voldemort does not have much information on young Harry's whereabouts either. My sources tell me he has made every effort to locate him just as we have, and has come up short."

"And why exactly would Voldemort be putting this much effort into finding my brother? Surely he has bigger priorities than looking for a rogue Hogwarts student, even if he is a Potter."

"Because Charles, Harry may very well have information that may be useful to Voldemort, he might use him as a way to lure you into a trap. Of course… there is the possibility that he may seek to recruit Harry into his ranks."

Lily sprung out of her chair, her face red with fury "My son would never join…"

Dumbledore held up a hand, immediately drawing silence from the fiery redhead. "While the thought is disturbing, given the… turbulent nature of his relationship with all of you, it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility."

Lily and Charles and paled considerably at this point and James had a mix of panic and disgust mixed on his face.

"I would expect nothing less from that Slytherin coward" mumbled James

"We don't know that for sure, or what Harry's true intentions are, but given that Voldemort has yet to locate him, there is still hope that we can recover him before it's too late."

All three Potters looked solem at this statement, each of them trying to process what they were hearing.

"And if nobody finds my brother, what then sir?"

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together in thought.

"That, I do not know Charles."