Phase: 1 – Becoming Jamie Black

Harry Potter stared at his hands in confusion. He'd just disappeared and reappeared on the roof with a crack. There had been a lot of shouting and confusion, and he was back in the school office with Aunt Petunia trying to tell the headmistress that Harry had always been a strange boy. It was all very overwhelming, he felt exhausted and now he would be locked in the cupboard.

He burst into tears. The headmistress looked at him with some compassion. "I'm – I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it, I was being chased and I was scared and I jumped and it just happened," He hiccupped. "Please don't lock me in the cupboard again." He froze. He wasn't supposed to mention the cupboard outside.

"You'd deserve it you little freak!" Aunt Petunia hissed. Harry flinched away, and didn't notice the headmistress narrowing her eyes at that. "Just like your mother – doing nasty things and making excuses—"

Harry's heart lifted and he ignored what else was said. His mum had been like him? He didn't know anything about his parents except that they drank and had died in a car crash and were apparently not very good people. But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon thought kind Mrs. Figg and the Black and Indian people nearby were 'nasty' too, though they reserved freak for him, so he didn't trust their judgement much.

He liked to lay in his cupboard imagining a mum with kind eyes who'd hug him when he felt sad and scold him if he acted like Dudley. He imagined a dad who tickled him and made him laugh and gave him chocolates and sent him to a room for himself if he misbehaved but always explained what he had done wrong and never starved him. He'd heard his classmates complaining about scoldings and punishments but all their parents hugged them when they left school and came and cheered them on sports day. He wanted parents like that. He wanted to be told that he acted just like his parents.

And now his mum also did freaky things like him? That meant that he had to know more. There must be something more to this. At home when he got locked into the cupboard, he pressed his ears to the door and when he was sure everyone was asleep, he took a deep breath and held the lock desperately. He focused on the growling in his stomach and his desperation to know more about his parents. The lock clicked open.

He scurried into the hall, heart beating fast. He was a knight, he decided. And he was searching for a lost treasure while the dragons slept. He crept softly to Dudley's second bedroom, avoiding the squeaky steps. Aunt Petunia had once shown Dudley and him photos of their grandparents. She'd sniffed at him, but mostly ignored him and told Dudley about Lyle and Juniper, and how they were good parents. She'd even mentioned his mum's name – Lily – once, before furiously pursing her lips and giving him extra chores and that's how he knew it. He also knew his mum's name had been Evans before she'd married his dad and become a Potter.

There, in the part of the room gathering dust, were the albums and his and Dudley's health records. His aunt and uncle complained a lot about how much he was a burden, but they got him all his shots and check ups, at least as far as he knew. He knew about vaccinations, something he was very proud of, because the doctor had been a very nice woman who Aunt Petunia hadn't complained about him to her.

The Dursleys disapproved of questions, so he was all for them.

At the very bottom, there was a partially crumpled paper. There were a lot of complicated things on it, but he saw his name, 'Harry James Potter' on it. Then there were his parents' names on it. Harry's breath caught and he traced fingers on 'Lily Caroline Potter' and 'James Fleamont Potter'. Harry giggled softly at his dad's middle name. It was like one of those funny names from Jane Austen.

So his daddy had been called James, he thought in awe. Maybe his mum had called him Jamie.

Maybe his parents had had nicknames for him. His throat closed up, and he moved to the albums after pocketing it. There were loads of pictures, and he took one of his grandparents and his mum and Aunt Petunia. She actually looked happy. And his mum was very pretty, with red hair and a smile and green eyes. His eyes, he realized with delight. There was one of his mum and a boy who looked very untidy, in the album which had been shoved behind; before Harry's eyes had caught it, it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Harry noted that he wore hand-me-downs like him. There was a caption which said 'Lily and Severus, ten years, 1969, Cokeworth, about to head to Hogwarts'.

Hogwarts, he mouthed. What was that place? A hospital where they treated freakishness like his? But his mum looked too happy for that. He pocketed that too. And then finally … jackpot! Harry gasped softly at the final picture in the album. The pages had been almost stuck, no wonder his aunt hadn't seen it. His mum looked very happy, holding her hands over her stomach. He was in there. And a scruffy looking but still handsome man had his hands wrapped around her shoulders and waist. Both were smiling at the camera, outside a nice house. It had a caption saying 'James and me with your latest grandchild, Mum! How're Tuney and Dudley? And Godric's Hollow, 1980.'

Harry felt tears pricking at the back of his eyelids. Godric's Hollow. Was that where he had been born?

And then finally:

The Last Will and Testament of Lily and James Potter. There was a lot of legal stuff which Harry could barely read, much less understand, but the executor was Greengrass & Lindley Inc. through Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

Harry's mind stuttered to a halt. Wizarding. He read the word again, making sure he was forming the syllables as Miss Mina had taught them. Wizarding. Maybe this was his freakish things. Maybe his dad and mum were both freaks, or wizarding, apparently. So he wasn't the only 'nasty' person in the world after all!

He continued reading. He apparently owned properties? Because his parents had left everything to him except sums of money to Remus Lupin, Abigail Whitmont, Casey Bolton, Lyle and Juniper Evans and Peter Pettigrew. And the money was in 'galleons' which Harry couldn't understand. They must've been friends of theirs. And they gave specific things which Harry didn't understand to Lupin, Pettigrew, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Marlene McKinnon and his grandparents.

Harry's name was mentioned again, and his guardianship was given to a … 'Sirius Black'. He had a godfather? Why wasn't he living with him? There was a whole list of people, the only new name was at the end; Andromeda and Ted Tonks. His aunt and uncle were placed only 'if there is no other option and Harry is going to be sent to an orphanage'. Harry laughed slightly at that. His parents clearly shared his opinion on his aunt and uncle.

Maybe his godfather was dead too, he reasoned. Maybe he'd been in the car with his parents and him and nobody had ever mentioned it.

He stuffed the will in his pocket too, did a quick cursory check to see if he hadn't seen anything and everything was in its place before rushing back to his cupboard.

He raised a wooden toy sword he'd nicked from Dudley proudly. Treasure obtained, and mission accomplished!

Next chapter preview:

Harry clung onto the tree with all his might, fighting his tears. He could hear Dudley shouting with laughter and Ripper's barking. Aunt Marge ordered him off but even Harry could hear that she didn't mean it. This was it. This was really it. How could he stay somewhere where people clearly didn't care whether he fell off or not? Anywhere was better than this place.