Blaze

AN:/ Sorry about the chapter lengths guys. I will try to make them longer. This story is inspired by Zorro, and the Scarlet Pimpernel. Batman was the product of these two legends. R&R, it helps me make my story better. And without further ado- Blaze

Chapter 1

It was disputable, for many people close to one Harry James Potter, how to describe his closest living relatives: the Dursleys. Many would call them monsters, some animals, but the one thing they all agreed on was the Dursleys were a horrible excuse for human beings. Now theoretically if a boy of fifteen was suffering from grief somebody would try to get him some help, a physiatrist- or its magical equivalent if this boy just happened to be a wizard. This was not the case with Harry. He had lasted all but ten minutes in the house before being locked into his overcrowded bedroom by his relatives.

"You are to stay here for the rest of the day, and don't you dare use your unnaturalness to get out," said his Aunt sharply.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry muttered dully. He wasn't in the mood. It had only been a week since Sirius had died, and the bombshell of the prophecy had been dropped on him.

"Very well," she then slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. Harry couldn't deny it. He certainly felt guilty for his godfather's death, but deep down he knew it wasn't truly him at fault.

Enough with the pity party, he thought to himself, it doesn't even matter if it's my fault, there were other people involved. He's gone now, and he wouldn't want me to hurt for him, I've paid enough for my mistakes. He'd want me to pull some prank in his honour instead. But when I do figure out who's at fault there will be hell to pay. With a new resolve in mind Harry sighed, pulling out a piece of parchment, quill, and ink. He was going to make a list of events leading up to his godfather's death and who was responsible for each. Then he would list other things those people had done to him or others and make a hit list in order of who hurt him the most.

Thinking to himself for a moment he dipped his quill in ink and wrote down:

Lack of information about scar and/or prophecy- Professor Dumbledore

False vision- Voldemort

Kreacher lying on the floo- Kreacher, Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort.

The curse that sent him through the veil- Bellatrix Lestrange

Frowning Harry looked at his list. Four events and four people responsible, he separated the bottom half of the sheet into four more sections each with one person's name in it. Harry started with Dumbledore.

Lack of information about prophecy

Lack of information about scar

Forced lessons with Snape

Forced to stay with Dursleys

If he knew it was me or Voldemort why wasn't I allowed into the Order?

Lack of competent Defence teachers.

How did he not know about the bloody quill Umbridge used?

How did the wards not alert him that Riddle's diary was in the school?

Why did he push us to illegally use a time turner when there were other possible options?

How did he not realize Moody was an imposter?

How could a contract, like the triwizard tournament, be magically binding if I didn't agree?

If a twelve year old could figure out there was a Basilisk running around the school, why couldn't he?

Tailed my every move last and this summer.

How come three first years could pass the protection around the sorcerer's stone that was supposed to keep out Voldemort?

Couldn't he have done anything about the rumours around Hogwarts in second and fourth year?

Why didn't I receive any help after Cedric died?

Why am I not receiving help now?

How can the blood wards keep out Voldemort now that he has my blood?

Let Snape get away with unfairness in class

Harry was shocked at how long the list was. Reading over it again Harry felt his anger build up. There were probably more things he was unaware of, because now he realized that Dumbledore liked to keep his pawns in the dark. Only Dumbledore could see the entire chess board. Harry snorted; maybe it was time to play by his own rules. Putting that thought aside he turned to Kreacher's section.

Lying about Sirius

Being downright unpleasant.

Harry figured he could possibly forgive Kreacher. After all, he was ignorant, misguided, and most definitely did not see the entire picture. Harry quickly wrote down all of Bellatrix's and Voldemort's offenses, both lengthy lists. Eventually he finished his list. The first person, err elf, on the list was Kreacher. Harry would go lightly on him. Next he would deal with Bellatrix, then Dumbledore and finally Voldemort. Well, maybe he would get rid of Voldemort before Dumbledore; after all he would rather prefer to keep his life, and the lives of others. And Voldemort was on a killing rampage, while Dumbledore, as misguided and twisted as he seemed to be, was not.

"I'm going to need some serious training for this girl," Harry confided in Hedwig. She hooted in response. Harry continued to think some more.

"It's not like I can just fight my own way, it's too blunt. If I openly defy Dumbledore and the Order I give Voldemort an opening to exploit. It's too dangerous, and too debilitating." Harry sighed in frustration, suddenly noticing how hungry he was. He snuck down to the kitchen to find a snack. While there he noticed Dudley had left his television on: it was playing batman. Harry watched in fascination as the rich, famous, Bruce Wayne became the superhero batman: a man behind a mask.

"He's like me, rich, famous, forced to carry secrets- too hide behind a mask," Harry whispered, suddenly getting an idea. Harry had always been smarter than he let on. He didn't have a memory like Hermione did- but he was good at putting together the pieces, solving riddles and puzzles, and he had common sense. "That's what I'll do. I'll become a man behind a mask, fighting on my own terms like Bruce Wayne,"

Sometime during his planning Harry must have fallen asleep, because he woke up. Harry peered around the room, eyes finally resting on his alarm clock. It read 7:30 a.m. Grumbling, Harry pulled himself out of his chair and dressed in his best fitting clothes, stashing all of his muggle money in his back pocket. Staring in the mirror Harry decided he looked like he was wearing a potato sack. Shrugging it off, he checked his door to find it unlocked. Exiting down the stairs he headed into the kitchen to grab a brief breakfast.

"You're up," his Aunt sniffed as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yes," Harry agreed, "I'm going out today; you will not have to feed me or anything. In fact I'll stay out of your hair the entire summer as long as you agree to leave me alone," his Aunt gave him a piercing glare.

"Fine," she snapped, "but you'll be getting your own meals," Harry shrugged, knowing he wouldn't have eaten the food for Dudley's diet anyway.

"I'll just be going now," he told her, before exiting the house. Walking down Wisteria Walk, Harry hummed a pleasant tune. He was heading towards a small shopping mall not five miles from his house. He was hoping that he could find a shop there that sold hats and sunglasses. He was vaguely aware of someone following him. He stopped, pretending to sit on a nearby park bench. He watched the young woman stop to 'throw something away'. Frowning Harry pulled on his invisibility cloak, which he now carried everywhere with him. The young woman jumped and flushed angrily, her hair turning red with her face. Harry shook his head, it was just Tonks. Annoying, but most certainly not a killer.

Leaving her to her confusion Harry continued to stroll towards the mall. It took Harry a grand total of five minutes to reach the main entrance, where he took off his cloak. Looking around, Harry was shocked by the pure size of the mall. To the side, next to an ATM was a large map. Harry rushed over to it, hurriedly searching it for a costume store. There was a small store on the second floor called Costume and Makeup inc. Harry decided to search there first. Harry walked past the ATM. On it were the many colored bank logos of the cards and banks the machine accepted. Master Card, Debit Card, Visa Card, and Gringotts, wait Gringotts? Harry doubled over to look at the machine. Sure enough the Gringotts logo was in the left hand corner.

"Well it's worth a shot," Harry decided, pressing the logo on the screen. Suddenly a small questionnaire appeared. Harry filled in his name and vault number, before reaching a security question: Who was the first goblin to take you to your vault? Harry thought for a moment, recalling the memory of his first trip to Gringotts. Harry smiled and typed in Griphook. He pressed enter waiting for a new screen to appear. He was ecstatic when he realized he could withdraw both muggle and magical money. Smiling in contentment he withdrew a good amount of the muggle variety. It was time to shop.

The costume store was small but airy and well lit. Behind the counter were rows of wigs. To his left side there were racks of cosmetics, and a few costumes were in front.

"Can I help you young man?" asked a small middle aged man from behind the counter.

"Yes sir, you see I have this horrible scar that I want to disguise, and maybe a wig as well because my hair will never stay flat, and maybe a mask?"

"The wig will be easy enough, and the mask" the man chuckled, "can I see this scar of yours young man?" Harry swept his bangs aside revealing his scar. The man behind the counter began to splutter.

"Why bless my soul its Harry Potter, it's an honour to meet you Mr. Potter. Yes I can see exactly why you would like to hide that scar of yours,"

"You're a wizard?" gasped Harry.

"Squib," the man said, "didn't you know this shop did magical business?" Harry shook his head. "Well those three stars in the bottom corner of the shop window indicate that the store does both muggle and magical business,"

"Why are you here and not in Diagon Alley," Harry asked.

"Well many of the shops here sell items that the ministry frowns upon- like disguises, but are not dark. They can't sell their merchandise in broad daylight in the Alley and they don't want to sell it in Knocturn Alley for fear of losing reputation, so they come to muggle malls. Others just couldn't afford the rent."

"I didn't know that," Harry mused, "I'll have to look around later. So in the mean time, what can you do for my scar?"

"Well I would recommend muggle makeup for that, as it is a cursed scar and might cause a reaction to magical means."

"Very well, what type?"

"It's called cover up I would recommend using this one here." he stepped around the counter and picked up a small container from the rack.

"I'll take it," Harry decided, "now what are the magical means for disguising hair, eyes, skin tone, and etc."

"Well there is a charm and potion for permanent hair growth; you can always use a colour changing charm on it. For eyes there are magical colour changing contacts that automatically fit to the person wearing them's prescription. I also have magical masks that cannot be summoned by anyone."

"Alright, I would like the contacts, and could I see the masks?"

"Very well, let me get your contacts ready- they will automatically fit to your prescription- the masks are in the back,"

"Thank you," Harry said, going to look at the masks. Harry browsed for a bit deciding on a half face mask that looked like a very realistic fire, and according to the label had a weak notice me not charm on it.

"An excellent choice," the man said, "I have your contacts here, you shouldn't need to ever change them as they are self cleaning. When you want to change the colour just think about it and touch your eyelids. I also included a case- just in case- sorry bad pun, and a mirror.

"Thank you,"

"It was nothing,"

Harry then paid for his purchases and left the shop. He made a quick stop at the bookstore where he got a few tomes: The Art of the Acting, Advanced Occlumency and Legilimency, Potions and Drafts the theory, The Latin English Dictionary, Defence for the Defenceless, The Muggleborns Guide to the Magical World, The Decree of Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and How to Get Around It, and Runes for beginners. Then he went back to number four to read.

So what did you think? I'll update ASAP- just keep reading.