THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
AN: I wrote myself in a corner in my other story and I've been struggling to free myself. However in the process, I came across this idea and it hasn't left my head since. Hopefully by getting this out of the way, I'll be able to continue with Potter Resurgence. In other words, my other story is on hold for the time being. Hope you guys enjoy this one for now.
I have also pushed the timeline forward for purposes of the crossover.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K Rowling.
Chapter 1: You're from that school then...Herbert was it?
July 31st 2001
Privet Drive was a normal neighborhood. The neighbourhood consisted of a number of almost exact replications of the same houses, — row upon row of executive houses for executive people. Outstanding people that were normal in every sense of the world. They were so normal that if anything were to come into their normal lives that didn't flow with their normality, they would do everything in their ppower to make it go away.
And if for some reason they are unable to do that, then they would simply...forget it. An ability they all seemed to possess that would have stumped even the brightest minds. The people who lived at Privet Drive were capable of forgetting something that they even saw everyday soloing as they were convinced that it did not belong there and they couldn't do anything about it.
An example of typical Privet Drive residents were the Dursleys. Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. They lived with their lovely boy, Dudley. A perfectly normal boy who was on his way into turning into the perfect copy of his father.
Petunia couldn't be more proud of her boy and her normal family. About nine years ago, that normality was threatened by the arrival of Lily's freakish son. They had to deal with that unpleasantness for nearly five years before it no longer became a problem. Vernon had tried to beat the freakishness out of the boy to no avail, whatever improvements he did, the boy somehow managed to undo it by the next day. It reached a point where the boy didn't seem to feel whatever Vernon did to him.
Locking him in his room never had any effect as they would just wake up to find him in the sitting room eating their food. All their efforts were wasted, whatever they did, somehow the boy's freakishness countered it, until Petunia realized that all they were doing was encouraging him use it. She sat down Vernon and told him her realizations and he agreed with her. And so they decided to leave the boy alone, maybe without them encouraging his freakishness, it would disappear.
It was the best decision they ever made. Without paying him any mind, the boy slowly started disappearing from their lives. They didn't have to pay for his medication, they didn't pay for his school, the freak had somehow managed to trick the school into giving him a scholarship but that was not their problem, so long as he didn't use it on them or their sweet Duddykinns. By the end of that year, they were a normal family of three once again, the boy was practically a memory in their lives now, along with almost everyone living within the neighborhood of Privet Drive.
He was like a ghost. No one gave him a second look, it was like they never noticed him at all. Not that he made any effort to be noticed, having adopted and grown to love the solitude of being a ghost accorded him.
In the smallest bedroom at No.4, a bedroom which the Dursleys would swear to hell and back that it was empty, said boy was just waking up. He rolled to the side and promptly fell over the edge of the bed with a loud thump. He grunted at the impact despite not having felt any pain from it, there weren't many things that were capable of hurting him physically thanks to his Uncle's efforts to purify him.
Harry wasnt sure what had really happened, all he knows was that as Vernon kept beating him over and over, he literally started growing a tougher skin. Every time he was beaten, he always felt a warm feeling in his chest and he would desperately pull at it, while wishing that he didn't feel the pain. He had initially thought that his uncle was tiring from the daily beatings, but as it turned out, his skin had been absorbing the blows.
The pain he felt from his uncle started reducing by the day until one day, he couldn't feel any pain at all no matter what Vernon did. And it wasnt like his senses had disappeared, he felt everything else on his skin, if anything touched it, he would feel it, however nothing could hurt him, atleast as far as he had found out so far. He had even tried cutting himself but while he felt the knife rubbing against his skin, it couldn't penetrate it.
And with that discodiscovery, his life was turned upside down. He nolonger cared about his aunt and uncle, because there was nothing they could do to him. When they tried to punish him with other methods, they just didn't work. They had tried locking him in his room under the stairs but all he did was pull on the warmth in his chest and directed it at the door and it was ripped from place. Vernon had been livid and had beaten him for hours to no effect. Not even a single drop of blood was shed, nor a tear.
That incident had led to him being temporarily transferred to the smallest bedroom as in order to repair the door of the cupboard, they didn't want the handyman to find out that someone had been living there. Once the door was repaired, they tried to get him to go back and he flat out refused. He promised them that he would just destroy the new door as well as every single door in the house if they tried forcing him. Vernon had been livid, he had even tried chocking him but other than feeling his fat hands around his throat, there was no effect.
It was liberating to know that they had no power over him. Harry had nothing to fear from them, no matter what they did, it would not affect him. Locking him outside was of no use as he could just destroy the door, hiding food from him too as he could call for it from wherever they have hidden it. All in all, discovering that power in his chest changed Harry's life. He stopped doing chores or anything the Dursleys told him and when he wasn't in school, he was either eating or sleeping.
He didn't go out much, he had no reason to. And on the rare occasion when he did, it would be to go to the library and while there he kept to himself. He was very rarely seen by the Dursleys much less the people who lived in the neighborhood. Most of the people had convinced themselves that the boy no longer lived there, and those that hadn't just didn't give him a second thought. It was like he lived in his own world and he was perfectly fine with that.
With a groan, Harry pushed himself off the floor. He looked around his messy room and sighed. There were books and clothes everywhere that Harry had been planning on organising for some time now but he just never got to it. It just like it was too much work especially with the fact that if he wanted anything, he could easily find it despite the mess. Looking at all the books in his room, he sighed again.
Almost all of them belonged to the Little Whining public library and he had planned on returning them today. Not that he was obligated to, given that the people at the library had no idea that the books were in his possession. Thanks to his mysterious power, he could just pick any book he wanted and walk out of the library without anyone sparing him a second glance. And that was how he had accumulated all the books in his room, but now that he had graduated from primary school, he didn't need the majority of them and so had decided to return them.
As soon as he completed his shower and put something in his aching stomach.
About an hour later, Harry was finished with his shower. He put on some clothes, bought with Vernon's money ofcourse. Not that he stole it, it wasnt stealing if the owner of the money knows that you took it, even though it wasnt with his permission.
Petunia and her husband were in the living room watching TV and didn't even look up as Harry passed by them on his way to the kitchen. Dudley was nowhere to be seen, probably out terrorizing kids. When he arrived in the kitchen, he found what they had kept for him. Despite their pretense that he did not exist, Petunia never forgot to keep for him food as she knew he would try and make his own and she didn't want him using his freakishness in her kitchen.
The last time she had left him to make his own breakfast, she had walked into the kitchen and had almost died in shock. She had found a seven-year-old Harry seated on the table reading his book while pancakes were cooking themselves! In fact she had arrived just in time to see the frying pan flip by itself as the pancakes were turned to cook on the other side as well. And so she was forced to start cooking for him as well, and given that he ate almost as much as Dudley, it was quite the chore for her.
After placing his sizable amount of food on the table, he went outside and picked his mail. The Dursleys always made sure to pick theirs and left Harry's to pick for himself given that he was always the last to wake up. He sat down and started eating while he went through it. There were only four envelopes from the schools he had applied to. They had all given him a place but only one was also giving him a scholarship. Being top of the class had some perks after all.
All four schools were top class, nothing like Smeltings and he knew there was no way they weren't going to admit him. The problem had been deciding on which particular one he wanted to go to but that had been solved for him by the scholarship. While he knew he could have the Dursleys pay for his tuition, he preferred not to give them anything to leverage over him in any way.
He put the envelopes to the side only to see something else.
"Huh?" He mumbled between a mouthful as he examined the thick envelope. "How curious."
He broke the seal and pulled out the contents. There were two pieces of parchment? Now he was very intrigued, there weren't many places he could think of that still used parchment. He opened the first parchment and found his eyebrows rising as he read what was written on it.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress.
Harry blinked a couple of times and read it again just to make sure he had read correctly. When the contents didn't change, he picked up other parchment and saw the most bizarre things. From robes to a wand and cauldrons, to pointed hats and then books with titles that meant no sense. Standard book of spells, transfiguration, magical herbs and remedies?
Shaking his head, Harry put the parchment to the side and continued with his breakfast. From what he had read, he came to a few conclusions. First, that he hadn't been as careful using his powers as he had initially thought. The letter showed that there were others who knew about his powers and that was why he was being called to attend this school of theirs. Secondly, he wasnt the only one with such powers, if there was a school, it meant there there were kids probably the same age as him who needed to learn to use their power.
And while Harry was curious to meet others like him, to see if they were capable of doing what he does, he really wasn't intrigued enough to go to this school. He knew how to use his power, and if there was something else they could do that he hadn't discovered yet, then he preferred to find out for himself. And that was not considering other factors like the requirements and where he were to find them not to mention the tuition as he doubted it was for free.
But most importantly, the offer wasn't...appetizing enough for him to abandon what he had been offered by other schools just to learn how to use his power. A power he knew how to use already and kept discovering other ways to use it all by himself. And with that, his decision was made.
Once he had finished his breakfast, he got two papers from the other schools and wiped his hand over one of the papers while concentrating on his power. Right before his eyes, the words on the started rearranging themselves to form what he wanted, transforming into an acceptance letter to the school that had given him the scholarship. He placed it in an envelope and wrote the return address.
He did the same to the second paper only this time the words transformed into a letter politely declining Hogwarts offer. He told them that while intrigued by their school and what it offered, he knew how to use his power and would prefer to discover its capabilities by himself. After the letter had been constructed he put it back in the envelope and repaired the seal with a press of his thumb, given that there was no return address, he hoped that they would receive it. Either way, the deadline was 31st July which was today and if they didn't receive an answer then they probably will assume that he wasnt intrested.
With that out of the way, he picked up the two sealed envelopes and put them in the post box. When he came back to the kitchen to pick the rest of the letters, he found his aunt holding the parchment from Hogwarts while looking like she had seen a ghost, just like she had looked back then when she walked in on him cooking. She saw him enter the kitchen and stumbled back, her skin becoming even more pale if that was possible.
"Why are you reading my letters?" Harry asked with a frown, his voice soft and curious. He rarely talked to his relatives, or anyone for that matter and it seemed hearing his voice seemed to break her out of her shock and she hurriedly placed the letter back and fled out of the kitchen.
Harry frowned in confusion before shaking his head. He had stoped trying to understand his relatives a long time ago. Yawning, Harry picked up the letters and went back to his bedroom. He was going to need to take back the books to the library, but before that, he was first going to take a nap for a few minutes.
-00000000-
Minerva McGonagall sighed as she finished compiling the addresses of the muggleborn first years she would be visiting. Today was the last day for replies and tomorrow she would start visiting them and introduce them to the Magical world. It was one of the most enjoyable parts of her work as Headmistress as she enjoyed the looks of wonder as the children prepared to embark on a journey that would change their lives entirely.
There was only one reply that was missing, from the student she was looking forward to the most. By Albus' orders, she had sent his letter that morning and hopefully, she would receive his confirmation soon. She still thought of what would have happened had she insisted that Albus didn't leave the boy with those muggles. But he had assured her that the boy would only be safe with his relatives and so she had let him. Atleast now that he was about to start school, he would join others of his kind once again.
The red post box in the corner of her office chimed to indicate the arrival of a letter and without wasting a second, she rushed over and opened it. She pulled out the Hogwarts envelope, complete with seal in place. It was like the letter had never been opened, but instead, when she opened it there was a muggle paper and it was printed a polite but brief letter.
It took her a few seconds to absorb what young Harry had written but when she did, she couldn't stop a gasps from escaping from her mouth. The folded the paper and left her office and looked for Albus. Without even knocking on the door and just entered.
"Minerva, what a pleasant surprise." The old man greeted without even lookilooking up from the report he had been reading. "How can I help you."
"Albus, we have a problem." She handed him the letter and he read through.
"Ah, I thought this would happen."
"You're not surprised?" Minerva asked in surprise.
"Not really, no." He shook his head. "You see, I had expected Petunia to have grown over my rejecting her from coming to Hogwarts but clearly she didn't. And so she must have given Harry biased knowledge on what to expect at Hogwarts and so she convinced him not to accept."
Minerva didn't think that was the case in this instance. "And what about his claim about knowing to use his magic?"
"He doesn't even know that it's called magic." Albus chuckled. "How could he possibly know how to use it. He has probably just experienced numerous bouts of accidental magic and for a boy with his potential, that is only to be expected."
"So what do you propose we do?"
"Simple, we shall just send someone to tell him a more accurate version about the magical world." Albus said. "I was thinking Rubeus would be perfect for the job. I have found that very few people could express the wonders of the magical world like him."
Minerva stood up. "Well, I appreciate the help but introducing students to the Magical world is my job, Albus. I'll talk to Mr. Potter myself."
"Are sure?" Albus said. "There's quite a lot on your plate already, perhaps_"
"Are you suggesting that I'm unable to do my job, Albus?" She asked dangerously and even Albus Dumbledore knew when he was treading on dangerous grounds.
"Whatever gave you that idea." He chuckled, trying to hide his nervousness. "I'm just making sure you don't overwork yourself."
"I can handle myself, thank you very much." And with that, she left him before he could say anything else.
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Thirty minutes later, Minerva appeared at the end of the Dursleys driveway. Given that she didn't have any other plans for today and visiting muggleborns was to start tomorrow, she decided to get this out of the way right now. Privet Drive hadnt changed at all, from the unnaturally similar houses to the freshly trimmed hedges. Everything looked the same as it had been ten years ago.
Just as she stepped on the driveway, the door to #4 opened and a young boy got out while walking backwards. Minerva would recognize that mop of hair from anywhere and it seemed in Harry's case, it was even messier than his father. He appeared to also be much taller than what James had been at eleven, he was certainly going to be taller than most if not all of his classmates.
When Harry finally turned around, Minerva's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. The boy was carrying books, they were so many that they were even over his head and he was just peering around them to see where he was going. There were quite a number of them, but he didn't seem to have any trouble carrying that much books, infact he looked very comfortable like he didn't mind the weight.
Humming to himself, the boy walked down the driveway and sparing her only a glance, he walked right past her like she wasn't there at all. She knew her muggle-repelling charm was up but surely as a wizard he should be able to notice her.
"Mr. Potter?" She asked when he looked like wasn't going to stop.
The boy stopped suddenly and slowly turned around. Peering at her around the books, he frowned in what could only be confusion. "You can see me?"
"Ofcourse I see you, why wouldn't I?" She asked. "And why are you carrying all those books, aren't they too heavy for you?"
The hummed in thought. "How curious."
McGonagall glanced at the freshly cut hedges, clearly a work of a professional. When she looked back at Harry, the boy had disappeared.
"Very curious indeed." She turned around to see the boy standing behind her with a puzzled expression on his face. "It took me more power to take your attention from me and even that, you still remembered to look for me...you're like me, aren't you?"
"Yes, I'm a witch while you, Mr. Potter are a wizard." Minerva replied. "How did you do that?"
"You're from that school, then." The boy said as he leaned back. "Herbert, was it?"
"Hogwarts, Mr. Potter and you did not answer my question."
"No, I dont believe I did." Harry replied. "If you're from that school, does that mean you did not receive my reply?"
"I received your reply, Mr. Potter and I thought I would come and explain what it really meant to be a Hogwarts student and if after that you still feel that you're not interested then I'll leave you be." Ofcourse she was lying, there was no way the boy-who-lived wasn't attending Hogwarts. But she was sure she was capable of convincing him.
The boy sighed. "I really needed to take these back, but I guess they can wait." He turned around and led the way into the house.
The inside was clean, almost ridiculously so and if she didn't know any better, she would have assumed they had used magic to clean it. The boy placed the books on the table and led her to a couch where he sat down and made himself comfortable. He blinked at her from where he was seated with his head leaning on the backrest.
"Well, professor." He started. "Go for it."
"You're...quite healthy." She started, actually at loss on where to begin. Usually she dealt with wonder, kids that were eager for magic and in a few cases disbelief. That was not the case here. "It would seem your relatives have been taking good care of you. Where are they by the way, I was hoping to have a few words with your aunt."
"I have no idea." Harry shrugged. "Last time I saw my aunt, she was looking like she had just seen a ghost after reading the letter you sent me."
"I see." She said. "Tell me, Mr. Potter, how much do you know about magic?"
"Magic? Is that what you call it?" He mused. "Sounds fitting I guess. As for what I know, is that I have this wonderous power that I could use to do practically anything so long as I practice and concentrate enough."
"And how did you discover this power?"
"I think I always knew it was there but I just never applied it, but the first time I consciously drew on it I think I was around five years old and I was fed up with Vernon's beatings. The rest as they say is history." Harry said with a shrug.
"Beatings!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Surely you don't mean to tell me that your relatives physically assaulted you?"
"It sounds dirty when you say it like that." Harry chuckled dryly. "But like I said, that's history so why don't we talk about why you're here before I start dozing."
Minerva wanted to press the issue but she decided to drop it for now and to be honest, Harry actually looked like he was a minute away from nodding off.
And for the next five minutes, she tried to explain to him about the magical world and what it meant to be a Hogwarts students. And true to his words he often caught himself nodding off every now and then but he managed to stay awake for the most part. He also kept apologizing for dozing, telling her that it was a disorder he had and it had nothing to do with her at all. Once she was finished, she looked at him expectantly to hear what he had to say.
"To be honest with you, the magical world sounds amazing and under normal circumstances, I would have jumped at the chance but I just dont want to enter it." Harry finally said, sounding way older than his apparent age. "I'm very comfortable in my life right now, I got a scholarship in a very good school and as for learning to use my magic, I'm sure I can figure it out by myself."
He paused and blinked at her tiredly. "I'm sorry professor but there's nothing the magical world can offer me that I can't get by myself."
"You're really like your mother." Minerva sighed. "I remember it was just as difficult to convince her, only she didn't have the same reasons as you."
Harry perked up at that. "You knew my mother?"
"Yes, I did. She was one of the my best students and a lovely person all together." She told him with a genuine smile. "Your aunt has probably already told you this but you have her eyes. I have only seen one person with that particular shape and color and you got them from her."
"So I look like my mother then?" He asked with a smile.
"Only the eyes, I'm afraid." She laughed. "The rest of your face, hair included is all James."
Harry's face grew even brighter. "You knew him as well?"
"I would never have admitted it to his face but James was actually my most favorite student." She replied. "He was a prodigy in transfiguration and throughout my years of teaching, I haven't met anyone as gifted as he was."
The two were quiet for almost a minute as Minerva relieved the past while Harry tried to picture his parents.
"Five years." Harry said abruptly startling Minerva.
"What?"
"I'll attend your school until I sit for my OWLs." Harry said. "And in those five years, I'll learn everything there is about my parents."
Minerva blinked. It was not what she had been hoping for when she commented about his mother but turns out that was all she had needed.
"Very well, Mr. Potter." She stood up. "Now, about shopping, I'll be escorting you to Diagon alley to acquire the requirements."
Harry groaned. "Do I have to go? Can't you just buy and I find them at school or something?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter you have to go." She said sternly. "There are items that need you to be physically present to acquire them."
"Fine." He pouted, leading the way out of the door. "But we need to get something to eat, I'm really hungry."
"Hadn't you just eaten before I arrived?"
"Yeah but all that talking just made me hungry all over again."
"I was do one who did the talking." Minerva replied in amusement. "You were barely awake the whole time."
Rather than answering, the boy just sulked os they walked down the driveway. Minerva just smiled to herself, despite never have met them, the boy was so much like her parents it was actually heartbreaking a little. However it filled her with a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time and she knew there and then that he would hold a special place in her heart just like Lily and James had.
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AN: Just incase some of you have forgotten, English isn't my first or even second language, so whatever I'm writing I either learned in class or through reading. So anyone interested in being my Beta, please PM me and we can talk.