Prologue
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, setting, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. All other concepts and ideas from other books or stories belong to their respective authors. No copyright infringement is intended.
Azkaban Prison, Middle of the North Sea; January 2006
In the middle of the North Sea stood a large black fortress. Unseen by non-magical eyes or equipment, it stood like a black monolith standing in the sea as if in defiance of the sky above and ocean around to destroy it.
This was Azkaban prison.
No one knew when exactly it came into existence. Records show that the man who made it what it is today was a wizard from the fifteenth century named Ekrizdis. Ekrizdis studied and practiced Dark Arts so twisted that all records of them were destroyed. The only thing known or even left about him today was that he liked to lure Muggle sailors to the island where he no doubt did unimaginable things to them. In fact, it is believed that the things he did to them led to the creation of his second legacy.
Dementors.
No one knows exactly what dementors were or even where their names came from. Heck, no one knew if they existed before Azkaban or were created there from the twisted experiments of Ekrizdis on Muggles. All anyone knew was what they did.
Dementors were the foulest, darkest creatures in the world. If they fed on anything, it could be said they fed on everything good and light in the world; all the joy, happiness and love from the world around them, leaving nothing but misery and the memory of pain in their wake. They were completely amortal, meaning they could not be destroyed by any means. Luckily, they also could not breed so that meant their population never increased either. But while they could not be destroyed, they could be defended against using the Patronus Charm, the few if not only truly Light spells in existence.
Since they could not be destroyed and because destroying Azkaban could cause the dementors to spread to the mainland, previous ministers had the genius idea to turn Azkaban into a prison. Using magic to expand the fortress as time passed, the dementors would be used as guards to keep prisoners sent there trapped. Their auras that sucked all joy and happiness also worked in depriving wizards of their magic, making escape from the prison completely impossible.
The fifteen year old boy shivering in one of the cells could have probably defended himself from the dementors by summoning a Patronus (the youngest wizard ever capable of doing so) if it wasn't for two things. One, they had confiscated his wand before throwing him in here despite being innocent of the crimes accused of. And two, over two months spent in their presence had robbed him of almost all his happy memories so he wouldn't have any memories to use to conjure one anyway.
Who was this boy? None other than the Chosen One, the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter.
Harry shivered as yet another dementor patrol passed his cell for the tenth time today. The dementors seemed especially attracted to him and so passed his cell twice as often as others. Maybe it was because they could sense they still hadn't broken his will or maybe it was because they knew he was innocent and so found him better tasting much like a juicy steak.
Whatever the reason, Harry grit his teeth as he once again heard his mother's dying screams (his oldest memory to make things worse) working as chorus to the memory/nightmare of Voldemort's resurrection. After two months of the dementors' presence, his worst memories had turned into a blend where he found it hard to differentiate between what really happened, what he imagined and what was part of a different memory.
Harry snorted as he realized that the Ministry got his wish. Since he could no longer truthfully tell whether him remembering someone at the graveyard was a true memory or simply the dementors' aura causing him to imagine it.
Harry remembered how he got here. It was during the summer after the Tournament when Ministry officials had barged into Privet Drive and taken him by force. So much for the blood wards' protection since it did nothing to stop the Aurors from stunning him when he resisted.
The next thing he knew, he had woken up chained to a very familiar chair staring up at a full session of the Winzemagot. Before he could even understand what was happening, he had been accused of a whole bunch of things including inciting unrest and murdering Cedric Diggory. When he tried to protest, he was magically silenced so they wouldn't have to listen to his "useless pleas for mercy".
Faster than he could blink, he had been tried and found guilty on all counts despite protests of some members such as Madame Bones that he should have a solicitor. Their protests were overturned and he was summarily sentenced to life in Azkaban.
Harry wasn't stupid. He knew the real reason he was sentenced. The cowardly Fudge didn't want to accept the idea of Voldemort being back and so decided the best way to shut him up was to set up a sham trial. Heck, they hadn't even had any real evidence beyond circumstances. Not even the fact that, as Madame Bones correctly pointed out, he brought back Diggory's body and scans on it showed he had been killed by the Killing Curse, something his wand showed no signs of having cast, stopped them.
No. He knew that this was nothing more than a coward's attempt to shut him up. Evidence and truth had nothing to do with it and much like Sirius, he was shipped off to Azkaban before he had a chance to defend himself.
Harry didn't know what his friends or Dumbledore were doing, whether they knew about his unjust incarceration and were trying to free him or if they had washed their hands of him. He doubted Dumbledore could do much since before the trial, he'd read that Dumbledore had been stripped of all his titles other than Headmaster. In hindsight, they had probably done that on purpose so he wouldn't be able to stop the trial or help Harry.
As more dementors gathered outside his cell, Harry's attempts at blocking out their influence started to crumble so with a sigh, he got up and started to go through various made-up martial arts moves while pumping magic through his body. Like before, he felt the dementors' influence diminish to nothingness as he lost himself in the movements, feeling nothing but the burn of his muscles and the magic coursing through his veins.
He had first discovered this during his third week in prison. He went slightly insane and starting screaming and lashing out much like some of the other prisoners. However, he noticed that while he was focused on lashing out, the dementors' influence lessened. Experiments afterwards made him realize that while doing some kind of physical exercise, magic coursed through his body to give him the energy to move despite the poor nutrition given to him by the human guards. This extended to his mind as well which had the side effect of protecting his mind from the dementors' aura.
He had tried to do the same using simple meditation but with much less results and eventually always turned to some kind of physical activity to keep the dementors out.
The end result was that he had gone from a scrawny little boy to a well-muscled and toned teenager that could have passed for an eighteen year old if necessary. He imagined that this was magic's influence since he doubted he could have become as ripped as he was with the little food they were giving him.
Another thing was that he actually felt his magic grow along with his physical fitness. He guessed there was a connection between physical fitness and magical power (which probably explained why he had yet to see a truly fat wizard). He wasn't a theorist like Hermione though and was just glad for it since he would be needing all his power for what was coming.
During his time here, there was a reason he hadn't tried to escape even if he'd learned how to cast some kind of wandless magic. Even if he escaped his cell, he had no defense for the dementors. The Patronus Charm required a focus, preferably a wand, to cast and his had been confiscated and snapped when he was sentenced. With the Patronus Charm being the only defense he knew for dementors, the only thing protecting him from being swarmed and Kissed was the cell door. Despite them looking like phantoms and grim reapers, dementors apparently can't go through solid structures so the cell door, which had been built without a handle or way to open to keep him locked inside, actually protected him from them.
For this reason, he'd stayed within his cell and bid his time while he waited for what he knew was coming.
During his few sleep times, he had realized that there was a mental link between him and Voldemort. He would see the horrific things him and his Death Eaters were doing, solidifying his hatred for him and his followers.
The only plus side was that it seemed Voldemort was completely unaware of the link and Harry decided to take advantage. He had quietly and unknown to Voldemort, searched Voldemort's mind for knowledge. For all him being a monster, he was a monster with a large pool of knowledge on hundreds of different things regarding magic. Everything from what was taught at Hogwarts to knowledge long since lost. Most of the latter were stuff Harry would never touch with a ten foot pole but at least knowing about it would allow him to prepare for it in the future.
It was for this reason that Harry knew that today was the day he would make his escape.
Just as he thought that and was finishing up his exercises, the entire fortress shook as something struck with explosion-worthy force. That was signal that Voldemort was here to free his captured followers.
He had been planning it for months, wanting to gather all his forces before revealing himself publicly. He wasn't stupid enough to think it would be as easy to free them once his return was known to everyone. No doubt security would be tightened or even his followers moved to prevent just such an occurrence.
Of course, Harry knew better. Wizards and the Ministry specifically were too arrogant to think Voldemort would ever dare or even be capable of successfully attacking Azkaban. But Harry wasn't about to point that out and had even unknowingly helped his plans by planting ideas in his head as to how to go about it. Considering his lack of knowledge of the link between them as well as his own arrogance, it hadn't been difficult so he knew exactly how it was going to go down.
As expected, the moment the explosion occurred, the dementors shrieked and went toward the source of the explosion. This was to separate the dementors from his followers and allow them the time to gather their wits and go to him. It was also to give Voldemort the ability to offer both the dementors and the other prisoners the chance to join him which would take a bit, though not as long as Harry thought it should. Even if most were innocent of their crimes when sent here like he had been, they didn't have his defense against the dementors' aura. Years spent in their presence probably broke even the most stubborn and if the chance to escape the dementors was given, no doubt most would take it.
While this meant Voldemort would be given a large amount of new recruits along with his more seasoned veteran followers, it also gave Harry a few minutes to escape himself.
Once the dementors were gone, Harry gathered his magic and lashed out with one hand, a wave of force emanating from it. The wave of force slammed into the cell door, easily breaking the weak hinges and blasting toward the wall opposite.
During his time here, Harry realized that wandless magic was incapable of the more subtle things wands allowed such as precise spells and transfiguration. Despite this, it did allow for stronger, more blunt force applications such as waves of force. It took quite a bit of magic but it was possible to do with practice.
It was actually very similar to telekinesis and Harry absently wondered whether that's where the stories of telekinetics and telepaths came from.
No matter, thoughts for a later time. For now, escape was the priority.
Harry ran out of his cell, ignoring the calls and screams of his fellow high-security prisoners, most of which were members of Voldemort's Inner Circle. He had considered killing them during his escape to prevent them from joining Voldemort but decided against it. He had little time as it was and killing them was meaningless if Voldemort and more importantly, the dementors, caught up to him before he could escape.
For that reason, Harry ran down the fortress toward the main entrance and exit, hoping that the doors were unlocked. The human guards usually left them unlocked since there was little to no chance anyone could escape anyway so hopefully they did the same this time.
It took him about five minutes to navigate the maze of Azkaban enough to find the main entrance/exit. He had been unconscious when first brought here and woke up within his cell so he had no memory of the place's layout. Voldemort had known the structural layout but knowing the layout from a map was different from knowing it from personal experience.
Eventually though, Harry reached the main entrance only to scream in fury when it was locked. 'Dammit, the one time I need them to be sloppy and they go and do this!' yelled Harry angrily in his mind.
Taking a deep breath, Harry turned and slowly walked back up the stairs. Guess it was time for Plan B.
Harry walked out onto the roof of Azkaban to an expected sight. Up in the sky, the dementors were floating and flocking like crazy, no doubt happy at Voldemort's promises for joining his side.
But far more important was the fact that said monster was standing across from Harry, surrounded not only by his released lieutenants but dozens of freed prisoners.
Harry scowled. If he had known that the main entrance was locked he would have gone with his idea of killing them before they could rejoin Voldemort. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.
Across from him, Voldemort smiled as he beheld his archenemy, looking as if he had been on a vacation rather than half-starved and tortured mentally for months. As expected from the man prophesied to destroy him.
"Harry Potter," hissed Voldemort with a cruel smile as he took in his destined foe. He was wearing the usual Azkaban rags which hid his physique but looked to not be as bad off as the other prisoners. "I see Azkaban has been good for you. Have you finally seen that good and evil are only illusions? In the end, power is the only thing that truly matters in this world. Join me and have your revenge on those who sent you here to rot."
Personally, Voldemort wanted to kill Potter and be done with it but he needed him to retrieve something for him. After he retrieved the prophecy and Voldemort had heard it in its entirety to make sure there were no more hidden traps, he would dispose of him however. No need to risk it, after all.
Across from him, Harry snorted, well aware what Voldemort truly wanted and what he would do to Harry once he was done. Even if he hadn't been aware, there was no chance he would ever believe a word out of the snake's mouth.
"Sorry," said Harry insincerely. "But I learned not to go with old men offering candy. Now if you were offering the use of Bellatrix's cunt after she's all healed up, I would consider it. However, something tells me you're not the kind to share."
Voldemort's eye twitched at the subtle hint as to the true relationship between him and Bellatrix. He guessed that Dumbledore had correctly guessed it and told his protege.
"Then I'm afraid," said Voldemort as he lowered his voice dangerously. "That we must go with the original plan."
At this, Harry smirked, unsettling Voldemort greatly. "Actually... I call it Plan B."
Before Voldemort could question what he meant, he was hit with a mental attack so powerful that he cried out in pain before falling to his knees. It felt as if he was being burned from the inside as something light and good rampaged through his dark mind, burning away the darkness that fueled him.
With Harry, he let out a breath as he saw that his plan of a mental Patronus sent down the link between them worked. It had been a gamble but Voldemort was so much like Dementors that he thought it might work. Luckily it did.
Seeing Voldemort temporarily incapacitated, Harry gathered his power before sending out a massive wave of force in all directions from him. He did this since he wanted to push back not only Voldemort's followers but also the dementors above that were even now swooping in an attempt to suck out his soul.
The telekinetic blast that emanated from him sent everyone on the roof and in the air blasting away from him, the people nearest the edge going flying off it from the force. The dementors were also affected and were blasted back into the air and away from him, not having expected anything like that from happening.
Seeing that it worked, Harry quickly ran toward the nearest edge, pushing everything he had through his body in preparation for what he was about to do. He felt some of the Death Eaters starting to get up but they were too late to do anything as Harry reached the edge and jumped off it, the magic in his body allowing him to jump far enough that he was over the ocean when he started to fall.
As spells missed his falling body, Harry went into a swimmer's dive and slammed into the North Sea and into freedom.
Hogwarts castle, Scotland; Three days later
Hermione Granger sighed for what felt like the millionth time since the news of Harry's false trial and subsequent incarceration reached her this past summer as she sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She couldn't help but feel that everything had gone downhill since the news of Harry's arrest and sentencing to life in Azkaban hit.
Hogwarts was now split down the middle between those who supported Harry and those who believed the Ministry. Not even Gryffindor was immune as shown when Ron and Seamus had gotten into a fight on the first day of school over that very thing. Seamus believed he was a dangerous person who murdered Cedric and got what he deserved and said as much apparently. Ron hadn't taken that well and gotten into a fist fight with the Irish boy that was only broken up when Dean went for McGonagall.
From what she'd heard, the two boys were put in separate dormitories when it happened for three days in a row.
And that wasn't the only sign of things falling apart. Hufflepuff was just as split between those who believed Harry murdered Cedric and those who don't. Long-time friends Susan and Hannah had gotten into a row about that a month into term (the former defending Harry and latter against) and the two no longer spoke. All around her, Hermione could see the fragile bonds among the Houses falling apart at the seams.
Whether Harry wanted to admit it or not, he had been a polarizing figure while at Hogwarts. Famous before he could walk, everyone expected things of him and when he failed to meet those standards, they mocked him for it. Yet when he did meet those standards, they were wracked with jealousy. She now had an idea as to how Harry felt all these years at Hogwarts.
Not even the Weasleys were immune. When word reached them that not only had Harry been arrested at home but that it had been Percy who gave the Minister Harry's address... well, let's just say that Arthur and Molly had been beyond furious at the betrayal. They not only threw him out of the house but out of the family completely, formally disinheriting Percy completely. He couldn't even take the name of Prewett since Arthur went out of his way to have Ron take up the previously extinct family name. Needless to say, Molly had been completely heartbroken and it had caused an unhealable rift between Percy and the rest of his family that would probably never heal.
Hermione was brought out of her musings as her boyfriend of a month and friend for even longer, Ron Weasley, now Prewett, sat down beside her with an equally tired sigh.
Ron had changed since Harry's arrest. The previously jealous of everything boy had matured greatly, basically being forced to contend with not only his best friend being unfairly imprisoned but also having to take up Harry's shoes as the leader of the 5th years Gryffindors. A position enforced by him being made Prefect alongside her this year. With the friction caused by Harry's incarceration splitting Hogwarts in half, fights and duels were more frequent, causing both new Prefects to work twice as hard as most did in their fifth year. Especially since most fights involved Gryffindors a lot of the time.
Hermione scowled slightly as her eyes fell on the back of Ron's right hand which now held a slight scar that in the right light said, "I will not tell lies."
That was a legacy of the late and unlamented Defense Professor, Umbridge. She had been sent as Defense instructor when Dumbledore couldn't find one for this year. No doubt it had been further force the Ministry's agenda down their throats.
Unfortunately for the Ministry, while the Dumbledore of last year might have let her get away with it, this one was far different.
Harry's unfair imprisonment and his failure to free him had affected Dumbledore profoundly. While he had been content to simply let the Minister lash out at him without protest, his act against Harry was the straw that broke the camel's back.
He had used his large amount of influence (less now without his other positions but still considerable) to launch a counter-campaign against the Minister. He revealed dozens of illegal dealings made by not only the Minister but also many other Ministry workers. The public outrage had been tremendous and the only reason he survived it was due to Malfoy's large bribes and deals to hush it all up.
As it was, the Minister had been forced to backtrack on many of his planned attacks on Hogwarts and Dumbledore. However, he staunchly refused to release Harry or even give him another fair trial, insisting that the previous one had followed the letter of the law even if it obviously hadn't according to Madame Bones.
This had caused a sort of Cold War to form between Hogwarts and the Ministry, with Dumbledore's supporters on one side and Fudge's (and the Death Eaters) on the other. Umbridge had been the Minister's transparent attempt to wrest control of Hogwarts from Dumbledore through a bunch of "Educational Decrees".
Of course, the horrid bitch had shown her true colors when she started torturing Harry's supporters using blood quills. Luckily, she made the fatal mistake of using it on not only Ron but also Neville, the heir of House Longbottom. When Dowager Longbottom heard about it, she used her own considerable influence combined with Madame Bones and Dumbledore's to not only have her arrested but tried in ICW courts.
Fudge had been forced to abandon her and deny all affiliation with her when she not only admitted to it under Veritaserum but a dozen of other crimes ranging from having muggleborns in positions above her killed to buying and selling illegal goods. It had been a massive blow to Fudge's campaign made worse when Dumbledore quickly found a new Defense teacher in an American witch who owed him a favor. Professor Smith was a great teacher and really helped them prepare for their OWLs and even offered extra classes for those planning on going into law enforcement.
Despite all this, Hermione couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Harry and Ron had been her first and closest friends and with Harry imprisoned, everything felt off. Like an important part was missing.
About the only good thing to come out of it was that Ron and her had admitted their feelings for each other and started dating. Ron's maturity as well as the tense atmosphere helped push them to admit it long before they probably would have in other circumstances. They found comfort in each other and while Hermione was still searching for any legal means to free Harry in her spare time, she admitted to being happy that they were together.
"Hey luv," said a still sleepy Ron as she shared a quick kiss with his girlfriend. "Couldn't sleep last night?"
Hermione gave a small smile. "How'd you know?"
Ron shrugged and gave her a teasing smile. "After third year I always know when you go without sleep."
Hermione gave him a halfhearted shove that caused him to chuckle before she frowned. "Was it really that bad?"
Ron outright laughed. "Harry and I used to make bets on whether or not you'd notice something we did. I think the highest we went was a galleon that you wouldn't notice we turned your bookbag purple."
"You two did WHAT?!" yelled Hermione, half in outrage, half in mortification.
Ron was saved from having to defend himself by the arrival of the morning post. Hermione paid the post owl the sickle and turned back to continue arguing with Ron when she saw the look on his face. He was looking at the newspaper on the table and turned so white with shock he was giving Nearly Headless Nick a run for his money.
Hermione took her own paper and opened it only for her mouth to drop in shock just as the entire Hall went silent as well, having received their own papers.
'Mass Breakout at Azkaban! Murderer Harry Potter among the escapees!'
Hermione quickly read the article, ignoring the obvious bias and aspersions as to how Harry was obviously going Dark now and had recruited Voldemort's old lieutenants for his new army. She cut through the lies and obvious attempts to cover up their own inadequacy to get a few facts.
First, this breakout happened three days ago. The reason they didn't notice until now was because of it happening right after the weekly check-ups on the prison. They had only come early to check due to reports of dementors being seen off the north coast. Second, it wasn't just the Death Eaters who broke out. Apparently the prison was almost completely empty of prisoners, and considering none of them have been seen until now, means they all escaped together and are probably still in the same hidden location.
And finally, yes Harry was among the escapees which the article tries to claim shows not only Harry's obvious guilt but that he probably orchestrated the breakout alongside his deranged godfather Sirius Black. How they can go from saying Sirius wanted to kill Harry in his third year to them obviously working together in his supposed to be fifth just shows how hypocritical the Ministry was.
Having finished reading the article, Hermione turned to a standing Ron. "Ron-"
"I know," said Ron gruffly as he grabbed his paper and started walking toward the staff table. They could see every professor with their own paper in hand and given how the two couldn't hear the obvious arguments and conversations going on, they had a Silencing Charm of some kind covering them.
They were proven right when they crossed a certain distance and could quickly hear the semi-loud conversations between the staff members. However, the two remaining members of the Golden Trio had eyes only for the man sitting on the golden throne having a heated conversation with Snape which ended when they saw them approach.
"Mr. Prewett, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore politely. "May I help you?"
"Is it true, Professor?" asked Hermione with a strained tone in her voice. "Did V-Voldemort really raid Azkaban and take Harry?"
It wasn't hard to see what really happened if you knew certain things. Obviously, Sirius had nothing to do with this and while they wouldn't put it past Harry to break out, she doubted he would be capable after months in Azkaban. At the very least, he wouldn't have freed the other prisoners. Therefore, the only conclusion was that Voldemort had raided the prison and freed his followers while also taking Harry prisoner.
"Yes and no, Ms. Granger," said Dumbledore with a sigh as he cleaned his glasses before putting them back on. "While Voldemort did indeed raid the prison and free his followers along with many other prisoners, Mr. Potter was not among them. From what I've been told from certain credible sources, Mr. Potter managed to escape on his own during the chaos of the breakout and hasn't been seen since. We're not sure exactly how but I've checked and am quite sure he is still alive."
The greatest proof was the fact that the prophecy orb was still active. Active prophecies go dark when they are negated such as by the death of the Chosen One prophecied. The fact that he saw the prophecy still active just last night was proof in his mind that the prophecy was still in effect which meant Harry was still alive. Something which greatly eased his old heart.
"So," said Ron anxiously. "Do you know where he is? Is he... at headquarters?"
Dumbledore sighed and shook his head, dashing their hopes. "I'm afraid we are as in the dark as the Ministry at this point. Our only consolation is that as long as we cannot find him, then that means neither the Ministry nor Voldemort can as well. In that, at least, we have a leg up on our competition."
"Why's that, sir?" asked Ron with a frown.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Because not only does no one know him better than you two but he won't be looking to avoid us finding him like he will Voldemort and the Ministry. That gives us a distinct advantage and I promise I will dedicate all my resources into finding young Harry."
That mollified the two and they turned back around, leaving the Hall, no longer hungry after what they heard. They also didn't think they would be able to stop themselves from reacting the no doubt numerous aspersions cast on their now on their now on the run friend.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" asked Hermione with a worried frown.
Ron nodded firmly. "He'll be fine, Mione. He knows to keep his head and keep a low profile. He's probably hiding out somewhere far from where anyone could find him as we speak."
Somewhere in the French countryside; June 2006
"I was going to go to class before I got high.
I coulda cheated and I coulda passed but I got high."
Lying on a lounge chair beside a large pool dozing while listening to the lyrics of Afroman was a certain dark-haired fugitive from the law, looking for all and sundry as if he had not a care in the world. Anyone who saw him would swear he was just a lazy playboy who did nothing but laze around all day ans was certainly not a high-value fugitive from the British magical government..
Said fugitive internally snorted as he thought about how useless British magical law enforcement was. Their entire way of tracking magical criminals down relied on tracking wand magic and did nothing more than give muggles a wanted poster of how he looked like for them to work with. This completely ignored the fact that even if muggles did find the fugitive wizard, a simple memory charm would make them disappear again.
Of course, this method usually worked both because most wizards couldn't function in any shape, way or form without magic so they usually stuck out easily in the muggle world even if they could refrain from using magic for every little thing.
But Harry was raised in the muggle world and while it had been long time since he had been there full time, he could adapt easily enough. Combined with the fact that he could use some wandless magic which couldn't be tracked like wand magic could, and he was basically able to easily disappear into the muggle world without a problem. A slight changing of his looks using some basic hair dye and some slight magic and he could walk down the muggle street in Britain without raising an eyebrow.
The first thing he had done once he broke out was try and decide what to do. He had thought about contacting either Dumbledore or his friends but ultimately decided against it. While he didn't want to think that his friends might have turned against him, he painfully remembered Ron's betrayal the year before and wasn't about to take any chances. That and he was almost sure they would lock him away somewhere "for his safety" and he hadn't broken out to trade one jail cell for another.
He had also briefly considered going to the goblins before also tossing that aside. Those greedy little fucks would probably turn him over for the reward if not for the ability to raid his vault. Harry had read the goblin bank bylaws during his free time before being locked away and as long as Dumbledore was his magical guardian, they couldn't touch his money. So waltzing up to them was just asking for them to ransom him back for the ability to raid his vault.
That left disappearing into the muggle world. It had been laughably easy. He just used a bit of magic on an ATM, found an empty apartment he could rent and used his growing Legilimency to convince him to rent it to him. Harry was almost sure his mental abilities were superior to others since everything he had read since his escape indicated it shouldn't be possible to manipulate people's minds with just Legilimency.
While doing this he had continued his exercise regimen as well as expand his wandless magic ability. He didn't know whether he would ever be cleared or if his would have to live his life on the run forever so he needed to learn to master his ability with wandless magic in case he needed to defend himself.
Funnily enough, he had found a lot of inspiration in muggle fiction, specifically Star Wars. He had actually managed to recreate a lot of telekinetic feats Jedi and Sith could do with some practice with some variation of course. It actually made Harry wonder if George Lucas was a Squib of some kind.
Harry groaned and laid a hand on the blonde head bobbing at his waist. "Gonna cum." he grunted just loud enough to be heard.
The girl in question heard him but only bobbed her head faster at his words causing him to soon enough reach his climax. Harry groaned deeply as he released into the blonde bombshell's mouth even as he swallowed around him, not missing a drop.
"Great as always, Fleur," said Harry with a smirk as his lover raised her head, licking her lips at his words.
"Did you expect anything less, 'Arry?" asked Fleur with a mischievous look in her eyes as she threw one leg over his laying form and stretched her voluptuous form over him, laying her head on his chiseled chest.
Harry's smirk widened as he laid a hand on her head, caressing his fingers through her hair. "Not really. And I know I've said it before, but I'm really glad I ran into you that day in muggle London."
Harry had actually run into Fleur about a month after his escape from Azkaban. He saw her from across the street inside a muggle lingerie shop of all things. Apparently, no matter how good magic may be, muggles beat wizards hands down when it came to sexy underwear.
Being away from his friends or really anyone he knew for so long, plus his good relations with Fleur, pushed Harry to reveal himself privately to her. It had been a gamble but it paid off.
Fleur had been happy to see him safe and had quickly offered to help him. Apparently, she had come to Britain both to work at Gringotts and because she had been dating Bill Weasley and wanted to be closer to him. However, their relationship ended amicably a while ago and she had found working for the goblins to be unpleasant to say the least. So she had decided to move back to France for a time while he decided what to do with her life now. She had actually been doing some last minute shopping before taking her portkey back.
Harry managed to convince her not to alert Dumbledore or the others, arguing that they would just lock him up for his safety, something he would be violently against, and it would be dangerous if he was found being protected by them. With the current Cold War state of things, anything like being found harboring Harry could cause an all-out war. The knowledge of the state of magical Britain had certainly surprised Harry but he was also pleased to know Fudge looked to be close to being sacked. Especially with the Azkaban breakout being laid on his feet.
After Harry's mental attack at Azkaban, Voldemort has cottoned on to their link and started employing Occlumency against him after failing to use it against Harry. After the dementors, Harry's mind was a steel vault and impossible to penetrate by even master Legilimens.
For that reason, Fleur decided to bring him with her back to France where he could hide out at one of her family's many villas in the country. They couldn't openly defend him what with him being a wanted fugitive but his saving of Gabrielle meant they were willing to look the other way as long as he didn't make any waves.
Harry had been more than happy to comply and had spent the past four months one of the Delacour mansions treating it like a vacation. The only things he did was continue to practice his new version of wandless magic (shamelessly copied off many Jedi and Sith Force powers), drink martinis and longue by the pool.
Fleur decided to stay with him and their new... relationship evolved about three months ago. They had been fucking like rabbits ever since.
Harry groaned as Fleur slipped his half-hard phallus into her before ever so slowly grinding and moving up and down him, causing to quickly become steel hard once more. "Merlin, woman," grunted Harry as he put his hands on her waist to help her sensual movements. "You're going to be the death of me."
"But what a way to go, eh 'Arry?" responded Fleur sultrily.
However, the mood was ruined when Hedwig arrived with the copy of the British post, barking loudly to get their attention.
Fleur huffed and sat up while glaring at the owl who glared right back. "I swear your owl hates me, Harry. She always interrupts us at the worst times."
Harry just chuckled as he reluctantly lifted Fleur off of him and got up to get the post from Hedwig. "Hedwig's just protective, aren't you? She had a rough time herself while I was imprisoned."
It had been a small mercy that Hedwig had been out hunting when he was captured by the Aurors last summer. She had apparently entered a slight panic when she returned and I wasn't there. The Aurors who confiscated his stuff tried to take her too but she managed to escape. Since then she's been dutifully awaiting my escape, avoiding any and all attempts by anyone to find or capture somehow.
She'd actually been the first thing he saw when he dragged himself out of the North Sea. His faithful snowy owl familiar had somehow automatically known he had escaped and had quickly returned to his side.
She had been like a balm on his soul and Harry was now extremely protective and fond of his beloved owl.
For that reason, Fleur did little more than huff and glare at the owl who seemed to give her a smug look back as she dutifully handed her master his post.
Harry noticed all this but just smiled at the seeming rivalry between veela and owl, finding it hilarious for reasons he would never voice aloud.
The smile was wiped off his face when he read the title of the first page.
'You-Know-Who attacks Ministry! Minister refuses to comment on revelation of You-Know-Who's return!'
Harry calmly read the article which described how You-Know-Who and several Death Eaters had infiltrated the Ministry building late at night in an attempt to retrieve what Harry knew was the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately for Voldemort, it turned out to be a trap and he found himself in a battle against Dumbledore and various other wizards and Ministry members who supported him. Apparently, the Minister himself and many other Ministry workers arrived just in time to watch the climax which was a duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort right in the middle of the Atrium which left it in shambles. Apparently, Dumbledore won but Voldemort managed to escape though many of his lieutenants were captured including one Lucius Malfoy.
Harry smirked darkly as this was the end for Fudge. All the other articles referenced this and talked about how Fudge ignored and vilified 'poor Harry Potter', who had faithfully stuck to the truth and been unjustly sent to Azkaban for it.
Having been on the receiving end of the mercurial mood of the British paper, Harry almost felt sorry for the Minister.
Almost.
The back of the paper called for a retrial for Harry in light of "new evidence" that could exonerate him. In short, Fudge and his supporters realized they'd fucked up and were now scrambling to suck up to him. After all, the fact they sentenced an innocent underage boy to Azkaban for life might as well be a death sentence for their careers so they probably hoped he would forgive and forget.
'Fat chance of that happening,' thought Harry darkly. If it was up to him he'd flambe the entire Ministry over a slow-cooked fire, laughing darkly all the while.
And that was not a metaphor.
"What's wrong, 'Arry?" asked Fleur, worry in her tone.
Harry passed the paper over to her, watching as her eyes widened at the front page before she read the article. Once done, she looked up at Harry with an expression half-sad and half-elated.
"This means we can return to Britain, 'Arry," said Fleur with a half-smile. "Papa can now help you openly and protect you from any attempts to silence you. Not that I think they'll try. That would be political suicide."
Harry just nodded absently before noticing something Fleur said. "We?" asked Harry with a crooked grin.
Fleur just huffed. "Of course. I'm not about to let you go after spending so much time training how to be a proper lover. You learned much faster than William and I'm not about to let all my hard work go to waste."
Harry laughed at the faux-arrogant tone in her voice, laying a kiss on her lips. "Thanks. Though you don't sound exactly elated about that."
Fleur made a face. "It's Britain. I can't understand how you people stand it. I'm convinced half of you turn dark due to the weather alone."
Harry had to laugh at that though he didn't disagree. Compared to perpetually sunny and good weather they'd had in France, Britain was quite dreary with its almost constant rain and cold. He now understood why she had been in such a bad mood during her first few months at Hogwarts.
"I promise to make it worth your while," said Harry huskily as he leaned over Fleur.
"You better," said Fleur sultrily.
The two shared a kiss that rapidly turned heated though they had to break off when they heard the phone ringing in the house inside. Unlike Britain, the French had actually managed to find a way to use muggle devices without causing them to break down due to magic. Something Harry had been very happy about as he rediscovered his love of video games and the internet.
"That must be Papa," said Fleur with frustration at being cock-blocked again in her tone. "Probably calling to arrange your return to Britain. I'll be right back. I promise we'll make those pigs pay for what they did to you."
"Oh," said Harry darkly once Fleur had walked into the house, his emerald eyes sparkling in anger. "I have no doubts about that."
At his side, Harry's right hand let out a crackle as lightning sparked around his clenched fist.
AN: Here's the prologue. As you can see there will be some Star Wars elements but no lightsabers unfortunately. Sorry.
Next chapter will pick up a little later after Harry's returned to Britain.
Also, I'm changing the dates as you can obviously see. Harry was born in 1990 instead of 1980 so everything is moved up a decade. Other than that, no major changes pre-fifth year. Everything up to his fourth year follows canon.
Will be a harem by the way but others won't be revealed till later.
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