HARRY POTTER AND THE PRINCE OF HOGWARTS
Prequel
AN: To all the people that had been reading 'As Slytherin as one can get': I have changed the title to make it more fitting and this is not a completely different story. Instead of putting his childhood into ten different chapters like before, I decided to sum the first part of it up into this one. I hope you enjoy this first chapter.
AN2: This chapter is somewhat rough, but if you read on to chapter 10 or so, I find my style, so bear with me. If you don't like it right now, I'm begging you, please read on, just to see if you like it in the future. When I have time, I will come back to edit this so it's better, but for now, it'll have to do. Thank you.
AN3: This chapter has been edited to smooth out the details and add some foreshadowing- 25/9/21. The first part is a lot of information about what happened and how the got to where they are now, but the second part is in the present and has some action. Enjoy :)
AN4: Another edit: I'm am going to call the first few chapters Harry Potter and the Prince of Hogwarts: Prequel, since he's not really starting his first year and there's maybe 10 chapters in between then and now. So that's that, and then Harry Potter and the Prince of Hogwarts: Year One will start.
Disclaimer: This story is written for fun and not for profit and I make no claim to rights and ownership of Harry Potter.
Summary: Harry Potter is the twin of the WBWL, and instead of growing up with him and the Potters, he partly grows up with Draco Malfoy, and partly with the Founders of Hogwarts (Time Travel). How will this impact his life at Hogwarts? His Sorting, his friends, his relationship with his birth family and Dumbledore? And the war and his part in it? Read to find out.
This story will include a Powerful!Grey!Slytherin!Harry, but no slash. Though there will probably be one or two characters that will be gay. But there will not be any romantic pairings until Year 4. There will also be slight bashing of some of the Weasleys, Dumbledore, and the Potters (but obviously not Harry).
For more information, read the chapter :)
Chapter 1- Leave and Never Come Back
When Harry woke up one morning, he had no idea that his perfect world would come crashing down that day.
Harry Potter was no ordinary child. Now, of course, he wasn't the Boy Who Lived. That title was reserved for his twin brother, Adrian Potter, who he hadn't seen in six years. Harry also knew that his birth parents were James and Lily Potter, but he preferred his life now to going back to them. He would, eventually, when he had to, but right now he liked where and with whom he was.
He also wasn't any sort of child genius or Quidditch star or anything like that. But he was powerful and cunning for his age (even though he mostly used his skills for pranks and tricks), and also kind, funny, and happy. His brilliant green eyes shone with intelligence and mischief, and his smile was one of true delight.
After the fateful Halloween night where Lord Voldemort had come to kill both potential candidates of a certain prophecy and had died trying, Harry was believed to be dead. He wasn't, obviously, but he was gone before his parents, Sirius and Dumbledore had arrived. They had assumed the worst when there was no trace of him as they searched the now-crumbled cottage and its equally burnt surroundings. The powerful killing curse had struck one twin and rebounded, the house caught on fire and collapsed, but using accidental magic, Harry had levitated himself and his brother out to safety.
Right into Lucius Malfoy's arms.
What Lucius had been doing there in the first place he refused to tell Harry, but he did tell him that after that, he had grabbed Harry without knowing who he was, because he had been bleeding so much from a scar in his forehead, and it would be a shame to let a magical child bleed to death when he could still be saved. Lucius had apparated back to Malfoy Manor and healed him, then used a simple but illegal potion to see the basic information about the mysterious boy from the blowing up house. And somehow, he was not surprised to see that it revealed a name with Potter. The messy, black mop on the baby's head was a dead giveaway.
He hadn't taken Adrian for several reasons. First of all, Adrian had gone unscathed except for a scratch on his forehead, and Harry, on the other hand, had been bleeding and unconscious after performing the magic that had saved them both. Also, one extra kid was enough. Narcissa would have blown up if she'd seen two Potters brought to her home.
When the newspaper came the next morning with headlines about how Adrian had saved them all and his twin brother was dead, Lucius had procrastinated giving Harry back. That might have also been due to the fact that he was starting to like Harry and that he thought that his own son, Draco, could use a big brother. Harry had also taken a liking to the man that had healed him and his son… but not to his wife.
She had been fuming when she heard about Harry. Out of the two, she had been most loyal and committed to the cause of the Dark Lord. Lucius had been dragged along; she and her father were dead set against Dumbledore (which Lucius agreed with- that old goon), but they didn't understand that Lucius wanted to run from the war, instead decide which side to fight for. He shared some of the Death Eater's ideas, but he wasn't the biggest fan of mass-killing sprees which could ultimately end with a lifetime in Azkaban. Yet it was hard enough in Slytherin without turning away from a fight, so he ended up swearing his loyalty, getting branded while still in Hogwarts, and getting into the Dark Lord's Inner Circle.
When Lucius had brought the child to her and revealed that it was Harry Potter and they would be keeping him for a big brother for Draco, it had been the last straw for Narcissa. She hated the Potters. He didn't know why, but she had been furious- so furious that magic had crackled in the air and she'd started throwing things at him. That same day, she had packed her bags and left. Where to, he had no idea. He'd been devastated then, but now, looking back, Lucius always said that he was glad she had gone.
He had only seen her once more after that, and that had been at a meeting in front of the entire Wizengamot to see who got custody of their actual, legal child, Draco, until Lucius won the case. He gave her about a quarter of the contents of his vault, as he was forced to by law, and after that, she'd never shown her face on the British Isles again. Lucius was alone in a huge manor, balancing taking care of both kids and working at the Ministry, gaining influence and whispering in the Minster's ear. Luckily he had the house elves; he would never have managed, if not.
Three years after the divorce, he had fallen in love with Evelyn, whom he had married two years later when Draco and Harry had been six. It had been a happy marriage, and together they continued to raise the children. Not without help, of course. They had told Sirius Black about Harry being at Malfoy Manor quite early, since finding out about Harry's death had taken a toll on him. It had taken quite a lot of debating; it would be risky and if Sirius told anyone that they'd kept a child... Even though Lucius had never paid much attention to the man, but even he could tell that Sirius had become cold and vicious, drowned in work to forget about his troubles. The funny and cheerful Sirius had been gone. In its place had been a wounded man. And it had shown.
His normally well brushed and styled, curly hair had been tangled, his face gaunt, his eyes bloodshot and haunted and below them bruised eye bags. He was thinner and his skin looked sallow. Since Halloween, no one had seen anything remotely resembling a smile on his face.
He looked like he had spent years in Azkaban.
And yet he still dragged himself to work, even spent longer hours than necessary there.
Lucius couldn't stand seeing that. He already felt guilty for kidnapping a child, and seeing the normally carefree man so broken because of his actions, he couldn't take it. Lucius didn't know he had such weakness in him, but apparently, he did- for the better, or for the worse. So he had gone and talked to him, told him about Harry and the reaction had been instantaneous. His face had lit up and there was a new, determined fire in his eyes at the hope of seeing the kid again. The pair Floo'd to Malfoy Manor and Harry had run into his arms. Funny how after five years, Harry'd still recognized him. Lucius left them to it and later found out that Harry and Sirius had a blast together. Draco had even joined in at some point.
He also learned that Sirius had been Harry's godfather. It took a lot of fighting, but eventually, they agreed to keep Harry here, but Sirius could visit Harry whenever he wanted. Thinking back, he should probably have been more specific because Sirius came every single afternoon after work and stayed the whole weekend. But it was a good thing. With both Sirius and Harry around, Draco was constantly giggling and even Lucius smiled and laughed more, something normally only Draco or Evelyn achieved.
Harry and Draco grew up as brothers. They were very close, even though they were different in lots of ways. Harry was very studious, loved to read and learn and do all kinds of magic, while Draco just loved playing Quidditch. Harry played with him often, but it wasn't even about the game, more like the flying involved. Harry loved flying.
They didn't have many friends, as Harry couldn't leave the house undisguised, but Draco often went to play with a girl called Pansy, which Harry just steered clear of. Her whole attention was on Draco and they even had some sort of contract- Harry didn't want to interfere with any of that. He and Pansy got along when they had to, she was nice, but he liked to take the opportunity while everyone was busy (Evelyn and Lucius had tea with Lady and Lord Parkinson, Draco and Pansy were doing whatever they did together and Sirius couldn't come when the Malfoys had visitors to keep their image- people might get suspicious) to sneak out the back into the garden and the forest. He was disguised because he knew it was for his own safety, but he did not use a wand to do so like Lucius or Sirius did.
As he grew up, he noticed he could change his features just by thinking about it and so, he trained himself to be able to slowly change his eyes, hair, height, and even gender. Who would have guessed that the girl in the park that practiced some sort of wandless magic (and failed quite a lot- it was harder than it looked) and the boy that constantly did tricks on and off a broom were the same person: Harry.
He didn't know how he did it, but he certainly had fun with it. He went around town and met lots of different people. He normally used his actual name but made sure they couldn't connect him to Adrian's dead twin. He had only told his best friend, Fleur, who he had met disguised, what he could do since she somehow had seen right through it. She had long, flowing blond hair and a strong french accent since she came from there and only had come to Britain for a holiday.
Harry had decided to teach her English while she taught him French and they became very good friends. Sadly neither had an owl and after she had left, he had never heard from her again. He certainly missed her though. While they had been sitting in a tree near the Manor, they both had shared their secrets. Harry told her that he was the Boy-Who-Lived's twin and plenty of stories of the Mafloys and Sirius and she told him that she was part Veela and lots of stories of France. Harry had good enough Occlumency shields (he had read a few books about it and decided to teach himself) that her developing Allure didn't affect him, but apparently, it was very weak right now, and would grow stronger as she grew older.
Harry didn't know why, but except for her, he didn't share the fact that he could change his features to anyone. Not even Draco or Sirius. It just felt like something private and he just kept it to himself.
The two boys were raised half like purebloods, half like complete mini-Marauders. Not bullies, more like pranksters (courtesy of Padfoot). Sirius and Lucius got along better than they thought they would, but Lucius was exasperated about his Gryffendorishness.
Sirius and Evelyn were great friends, and even though she was raised strictly, she quickly loosened up and joined the prank wars that Lucius kept out of. Harry seemed to have taken the best out of the three adults while growing up- Lucius's cunning, Sirius's cheerfulness and good humor, and Evelyn's quick thinking and efficiency to learning spells and charms. He was very cute and could grow up to be a real heart breaker, but Harry disliked his messy hair which Sirius loved ruffling so that it annoyed him.
Draco was a lot more like Narcissa than anyone else and it took time for him to grasp the change that happened by losing one family member and gaining two more.
To distract him- and because it would be good for them to be prepared- Lucius insisted for Draco to take lessons before actual school, while Sirius just gave Harry the choice and he gladly joined. Lucius called in a favor and had Severus Snape teach Draco and disguised Harry basic potions and wandwork. Lucius taught them a little charms and Sirius taught transfiguration. Evelyn contributed by teaching herbology and history. It was all very simple- just for them to get a feel of how things would be when they went to Hogwarts. As for speaking, writing, reading, grammar, and basic arithmacy- they were given potions that would immediately make them capable of all of that. There were also such potions for learning languages, but let's just say that, unless you want to speak french like someone in the 16th century, it was better to learn them the normal way.
Draco and Harry had a great relationship and even developed things they did every year, a tradition. For example, on their birthday, they get one wish and the other person has to agree, like let me borrow your broom or color your hair pink for the day. They always had lots of fun preparing for this day. Though it was mostly Draco getting payback since Harry was born a little less than a month before him.
Malfoy Manor
August 26th, 1987
Harry lay in bed a few minutes, eyes closed, trying to go back to sleep, but that seemed near impossible with the constant movement on his bed. He turned his face to his bedside table and groaned as he looked at the date and time. It was Draco's seven birthday and he'd been woken up at an unworldly hour.
"Seriously Drake? Four in the morning?"
Draco stopped jumping on Harry's bed and turned to face him with a grin.
"Oh come on! You wake up at like this hour every morning anyway!"
Harry turned around so that his back faced Draco and pulled one of his pillows over his ears. But it was no use. Draco started jumping again and grabbed a pillow from Harry's bed, flinging it right at his face. Harry groaned as the pillow made impact with his face and he turned around, grabbed his pillow, and threw it at his brother. Hard. Draco fell from the bed and when he was back in Harry's sight, he was fuming but grinning madly. They flung pillows at each other until Sirius came in groggily to find the source of all the noise he could hear from his room down the hall, looked around, and said, "You guys are having a pillow fight without me?!"
And with that, a big, black dog joined the biggest pillow fight anyone had ever seen at Malfoy Manor.
Lucius knew about Sirius being an Animagus and had accepted it with a shrug. He had illegally, unofficially adopted the Heir to an Ancient and Noble House. Being an Animagi seemed tiny compared to that. They knew each other well enough- and trusted one another enough- to know the other wouldn't tell.
When Harry, Draco and Sirius declared a truce, Harry was covered in maple syrup with feathers sticking to him, making him look like a human pigeon. Sirius's hair was white with all the feathers tangled in it but Draco looked completely fine. Not because you wouldn't have seen the feathers in his light hair, but Harry figured he had probably charmed himself before going into Harry's territory. He had been right to do so, since Harry had lots of booby traps to his command that could do lots of different things to intruders (specially designed for birthdays).
Harry grinned as he looked where Draco stood. Said boy had just said aloud a long spell that took away his protections that had kept away the feathers with his practice wand that didn't have a trace, so children could learn to control their magic and wave their wands before they went to school. Both Harry and Draco had one.
"Happy Birthday, Drake", Harry said in a sing-song voice and ran out the room past Lucius and Evelyn who had come to see what the commotion was, and laughed as he watched a huge, Draco-sized chocolate cake drop from the ceiling right onto him so that Drake was stuck in it. It was like a huge dress of cake and slightly ruined frosting with an angry but laughing head and no longer blond hair sticking out the top.
Evelyn clutched her stomach tightly as she doubled over, laughing, Sirius leaning on the wall for support and Lucius just shook his head, bemused.
"Make sure to get ready for breakfast Drake, if not who will open your presents?", Harry said before he joined Sirius and Evelyn for another round of laughter. Draco just stared miserably at the doorway that would lead to the room with all the presents, which was somewhere definitely better to be than inside a cake.
"Harryyyyyyyyyyyy! Get me out of here!" Draco yelled at his wheezing brother.
Lucius tried helping Draco out and waved his wand, muttering a spell, but the cake layers just got bigger and the frosting changed to a brilliant pink. When Draco realized, he went just as pink as the cake, and Lucius couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter himself.
Eventually, Evelyn made Harry get Draco out and he did it by simply saying to a strawberry on the cake, "Thank you, I have had enough cake. For today, anyway."
Draco made a face at the last part before running to his own room to change and clean up before breakfast. He slipped into his best, black robes lined with silver thread that had the Malfoy crest on the left of his chest and groomed his hair.
Meanwhile, Harry and the adults split up. Evelyn and Lucius went to the Master bedroom while Sirius went to the guest one and Harry to his own, and they got ready themselves; showering and getting into casual everyday robes.
Every year, a different person planned an activity of their choice for the birthday person and Harry being the one who was doing it this year, had hinted about it a lot, but had never told the others exactly what it was about, so it would be a surprise for them as much as it was for Draco. Apparently, they would all love it even though Harry had told them that they definitely had never done it before. It had spiked all their curiosity and they racked their brains, but when they couldn't come up with anything, they tried to get it out of Harry who saw right through their attempts and never told them anything that wouldn't leave them staring at his retreating back in confusion.
When they had all arrived at the breakfast lounge, they relished upon the various foods the Malfoy's elves had made; eggs, bacon, roast potatoes, avocado toast, french toast, pancakes, waffles, pumpkin and apple pie, and freshly made pumpkin and chocolate milk- Harry had made Draco try it after tasting it with Fleur and ever since, it had been Draco's favorite.
After they had all finished, they retired to the sunroom with their drinks of choice where a big pile of presents lay waiting on the table. He opened the biggest one first that was from Harry (after having asked his father to check it for pranks and he had declared it safe) which turned out to be the newest broom, the Nimbus 1988, and Harry hinted that it had something to do with his activity later. He also got a massive amount of chocolate and candy from him, one of which he popped into his mouth straight away.
All the adults except Sirius groaned at the broom part of the activity, since neither Evelyn nor Lucius had ever wanted to ride a broom more than they would have to. Sirius, however, whooped at the thought of playing Quidditch (which he thought was what they were doing- like, what else can you do with a broom?), since he had been Chaser together with James during most of his time at school.
The thought of James Potter brought a nasty taste to his mouth that he quickly swallowed. They still worked together,- actually, James would soon be Chief Auror because Moody was going to step down and Fudge wanted to be on the best side of the Boy-Who-Lived's father, even if that meant promoting someone who wasn't actually qualified for the job (in Sirius' opinion)- but they mostly avoided each other since things had not been good after Harry's 'death'. Sirius had blamed them, for telling him that they were safe and having switched Secret Keepers without telling him, even though he had been Secret Keeper first. He'd gone a year thinking that he was their Secret Keeper, hiding, and after that, thinking he was to be blamed for Harry's death, until they decided to tell him they had switched to Peter and Sirius couldn't have revealed their location if he tried. All the hiding, the blaming, for nothing.
After Voldemort had attacked, they backed Sirius's claims, though reluctantly, and affirmed that they had switched Keepers and so Pettigrew was thrown into Azkaban with other Death Eaters such as Barty Crouch Jr., Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rodulphus Lestrange, and a few others, which was the least they could do, in Sirius' opinion after all they did to him. James had had the gall to hesitate because apparently, he'd seen Sirius do Dark magic during the war, which was also part of the reason they chose to switch to Pettigrew.
Sirius shuddered to think about how he had almost landed in Azkaban. He tried to concentrate on Draco's gifts but one thought led to another and soon he was thinking about Harry and his past relationship with the Potters.
He thought that the Potters had always preferred Adrian a little more and had spent more time with him, but whether that was because of the prophecy or not he didn't know. But that didn't mean Harry was alone or not loved: Sirius and Remus had absolutely spoiled Harry and played with him all the time.
The image of his old friends brought his thought train to questions he desperately wanted answers to, but never got any. He had written dozens of letters to Remus asking where he was, if he was okay, etc, but after he had mysteriously disappeared after Harry's death, no one had heard from him.
He shook himself out of his thoughts when Draco opened Sirius' present: a book about Seeker drills and tips, with notes from professionals in the margins, since Draco wanted to play that position when he went to Hogwarts. He'd also given him a prank-set to get Harry back.
Sirius had deemed Harry a prank master last year after he had pranked everyone non-stop for more than a week to get him to settle. And he had meant it. Even though it served the purpose to have walking down a corridor a safe activity again, Harry was very creative and had never played the same prank twice, which rendered him unpredictable.
After thanking Sirius, Draco opened his father's and Evelyn's gift which was a bunch of new robes, a broom-cleaning kit and a golden pocket watch with a green gemstone. There was also a gift from Narcissa, which Draco ripped open and was delighted to find a golden amulet with two snakes intertwining and the same green gemstone in the middle so that it matched the watch. He read the letter that came with it quickly and pocketed the amulet as well as the other golden piece since he was only to open it when he was alone.
Sirius glanced at Lucius, who was sitting beside him, to see if he had any role in this present that matched his perfectly, but his face gave nothing away, which Sirius found extremely frustrating.
With a wave of his wand, Sirius banished the wrapping paper that Harry insisted they use, even though it was very Muggle-ish. Actually, pure-blood children never did anything much on their birthday except maybe on their 17th when they graduate. But Sirius couldn't remember one time he had sat down and opened gifts with his family.
Of course, his family had consisted of a dead little brother, Regulus, a dead father, who had been equally as crazy as the madwoman he had as a mother. Though he was relatively sure that she was dead now. The only close to normal people had been his brother and his grandfather, who had been the one who had named him Heir so he could now be Lord Black instead of some psycho that his parents could have chosen. His cousins were all very nice when they were kids- Sirius personally preferred Bella to Cissy and 'Dromeda, but now one was in Azkaban, the other fled the country and the other was no longer part of the family. Yeah, that was one big, happy family.
Sirius shook himself harder again, smacked his forehead, and then rubbed it so he could concentrate on what was happening. When he looked around to find the room empty except for the group of people beside the door that were partly staring at him, partly snickering behind their hands covering their mouths so it didn't turn into full-blown laughter, he jumped to his feet, hurried over to the door and followed them out of the Manor for the activity of the day.
After Harry returned disguised as a seventeen-year-old and everyone had finished accio'ing their broom, they mounted them and kicked off, Draco soon joining Harry in his loopings through the air. Once they were too dizzy to continue, they rejoined the group that had been heading west responsibly and without any vertiginous activities, and Harry finally explained his surprise.
"This is just our mode of travel. You see, we could have taken a portkey and walked, but some of us", he glanced to his side to were Draco and Evelyn were, a small red tinge mounting up their face to their cheeks, "get violently sick, as we sadly had to find out on my birthday three years ago, and I didn't want to repeat that. Ever. "
Everyone laughed at that. On Harry's fourth birthday, Sirius had insisted they go to a Quidditch match, partly because Harry's and Sirius's favorite team were playing and partly because it ended in a massive free buffet for everyone. They didn't get to that part though, because after having taken the portkey, Draco and Evelyn fell to the ground and threw up. Sirius had picked Harry and ran away from the stench, while Lucius stayed and helped his family.
All three had been stinking horribly despite the many scourgifys they had cast on each other during the entire match and even though everyone had laughed about it later, Sirius and Harry had sat as far away from them as possible and Draco had been pissed not being able to see the match with his brother. Harry had felt bad and halfway through, they had moved back to where the Malfoys were sitting with Bubblehead Charms on their heads and they had stayed that way until the buffet where Sirius just screwed the scent and ran over to the food, bringing back with him five huge slices of layered chocolate cake with him that they all ate together.
Harry continued his speech while he made his broom tip down to start a descent onto a big clearing with a few wooden houses and a path that started in the middle and disappeared as it led into a big forest. "So I've decided to let Draco use his new broom for the journey instead of apparating or something. This thing we're going to get a tour of is actually a side-camp from the main one in Romania, but the things that they have are still cool and you, Drake, will love them. I've even arranged for something that I think not many people have done and well, survived. And-"
He was cut off by Sirius who looked at his godson in shock, "Harry! This mysterious thing we're going to do is potentially lethal?!"
Harry punched Sirius playfully in the shoulder, grinning broadly. "Where has all of Siri's Gryffindor courage gone?"
Draco and Lucius snickered until Sirius shot them a look that said I-have-a-lot-of-spare-saliva-in-my-dog-form-that-I-bet-you-will-love-to-have-smeared-on-your-face-and-hair, which was the only threat he could convey non-verbally at the moment since he was used to doing it so often to Harry.
They stopped abruptly.
Sirius maturely stuck his tongue out at them and turned back to Harry. "Harry, if this is dangerous and we're not prepared, we-"
"-need to know beforehand. Nope, sorry Padfoot, you'll just have to find out when we arrive", Harry interrupted, stuck out his tongue like Sirius had just moments ago, then accelerated his descent to avoid his godfather's playful attempt to ruffle his hair in annoyance.
They reached the clearing not five minutes later, and a short and stocky redhead with lots of freckles covering his face came out to greet them. Lucius stiffened but didn't say anything. Disguised Harry smoothly stepped forward, hiding Lucius from view as he saw that the man had had the same reaction as Lucius, and they shook hands. He had made himself taller with light brown hair, hazel eyes, a sharp jawline, bushy eyebrows and a slightly deeper voice with a more pronounced British accent.
"Hello, I'm Charlie and I will show you around for the day", said the man whose hand Harry was shaking.
"Hi Charlie, I'm Harry. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Follow me, please." Harry stepped in step beside Charlie and they talked together while the rest followed. No one knew what Charlie Weasley did as a job and they were very nervous. Only Draco trusted his brother completely and followed the pair and with an excited spring in his step.
They came out of the forest in which they had been walking in for ten minutes to come to a paddock. And inside the paddock were three red dragons, their body full of muscle and their yellow eyes fixed on the visitors.
Evelyn screamed and slapped her hand onto her face to muffle it while Lucius put his arm around her for comfort and Sirius gaped at the creatures. Draco had a huge smile on his face and he went to hug disguised-Harry to thank him. Harry's crazy gleam in his eyes shone right through his disguise.
Sirius took a step back. "Oh no no no no no. No. Nu-uh. This is not happening."
Charlie said to Harry cheerfully, "Ah, you didn't tell them, did you? I do always love when that happens, they always have such funny reactions to these harmless, baby dragons. The big ones, the ones that breathe fire, now those are the scary and dangerous lot and we keep them right for the end. We've had quite a lot of people faint before they've even reached them."
Harry laughed and nodded to Draco. "Well, if we have to, we'll leave them here, gawking. Then it'll just be Draco and me."
They had gone over everything- safety rules and what the tour included- before Sirius could refind his voice and ask shakily, "Harry, what on earth is this?"
"Dragons!", he answered, trying very hard not to laugh at the look Sirius gave him. To sugarcoat it, he said, "Beautiful, aren't they?"
As an answer, Sirius gave Harry another look that strongly suggested that he was absolutely mad and raised both his hands to rub his temples, a habit which Harry had picked up.
After the adults had their ability to talk and walk back, Harry and Draco followed Charlie excitedly, hanging onto every word, while the adults wayed dangerously on their feet and their eyes looked close to popping out of their heads.
Quietly, so no one except Evelyn could hear, Sirius leaned to Lucius and whispered, "You know, for all the Death Eater activity you've been accused of, you look as if dragons were worse than all that. You scared of dragons, Lucy?"
Lucius glared at him while Evelyn chortled.
"Why'd you name him after them then? I mean, the only reason we're here is because Draco is obsessed with Dragons."
Draco was indeed obsessed with dragons after finding out that he was named after them. That had been why he had done hours of research to find out everything he could and it had become a dream to see one in real life. Or even ride one. And thanks to Harry, since he knew that his brother would love this surprise, he might actually be able to.
Lucius gritted his teeth at the comment and said something that sounded suspiciously like Narcissa, followed by a whole lot of swearing under his breath. He wasn't as quiet as he thought he had been because not a second later, both men were hit with mild stinging hexes.
They looked around widely before they could make out the source of the attack grinning and waving at them over his shoulder.
"Remind me again why we gave Harry a wand with no Trace?", Lucius grumbled.
"I mean, it was your idea!", Sirius said indignantly.
"Well, you don't want him to die again either!"
"He never even died in that first place!"
Two more stinging hexes each was all it took for them to be quiet again. That, and the furious looks Harry shot at them over his shoulder.
Harry, after taking care of the too noisy adults, continued to talk with Charlie over the dragons and a few more personal things as well, and they got to know each other. Of course, Harry was actually only seven but thanks to Lucius's 'how to act like a pure-blood Heir beginner course 101', he knew how to talk like an adult.
He did have to make up a few memories, ambitions, and names when he was asked about his school, family, and what he wanted to be when he graduated from his imaginary school. Fortunately, he had been prepared and had a few good backstories at the ready.
But from what he could tell about Charlie, he seemed very nice and goodhearted, and Harry was definitely going to come back and tell him who he actually was when he could and was a little older. Charlie seemed like a good friend- or, at least, ally, to have.
They didn't walk long after having passed a stone house that Charlie explained they stored all their emergency supplies for Dragons and humans alike. They soon arrived at a point where they could look down at the valley where hundreds of small dragons were flying, eating, and playing with one another and the bigger ones were lying lazily in the grass torn between watching them or watching the newcomers to see if they had more food. In the end, their eyes settled on Harry's little group.
Immediately the soft conversation that had involved all three adults ceased and they all looked anywhere except there and they were awed by what they saw. The endless fields of grass stretched for miles with forests to each side and all kinds of dragons everywhere; of all color and race and size.
"This is the camp where we raise them and the bigger dragons lying over there", he pointed to the small number of dragons that were staring at them, "didn't want to be moved without their kid, so we kept them here. The small ones you can see all around are harmless and we can go near them and feed or even ride a few. If you want to of course."
"YES!", Draco screamed.
"Yeah, that would be amazing", Harry added at a more reasonable tone.
Charlie's brow furrowed and he pointed to Harry. "You're good to go. But you", he pointed to Draco who was as good as bouncing up and down, "need parental permission."
Draco bounced over to Lucius and Evelyn and did his best puppy eyes he had stolen from Harry, as he had noticed they couldn't resist it and he made Harry teach it to him. It worked its magic, and Lucius signed the parchment that Charlie had conjured. When Sirius looked at Harry, Harry smiled smugly and mouthed, 'I'm seventeeeeeen' and blew a raspberry at his godfather, immaturely, making sure everyone else was not paying them any attention.
Sirius gave him a disbelieving look that said 'as if' and before Harry could respond with a look of his own, Charlie had made a bright, blue, electrifying shield pop into existence, going all around the perimeter of the valley. He pressed his hand to it and after it had taken a drop of his blood and he had murmured a long string of passwords before a door materialized and he pushed it open, and with Draco and Harry in the lead, the little group entered.
Soon they had touched and seen almost all dragons they could find and Charlie decided to let them choose which one they wanted to fly on. Draco wanted to ride a red dragon with bright amber eyes and Harry was drawn to a black one with silver teeth and spikes and green eyes almost exactly like his.
"This is Golden, a Chinese Fireball", he said, looping a lasso around the dragon's head and handed it over to Draco, who held onto it like it would disappear any second. He then walked over to Harry's chosen dragon, repeated the procedure, and said, "And this is Silverfang, a Hungarian Horntail."
Both boys were now holding a baby dragon about 10 feet tall on a leash. Harry went first and bowed, following Charlie's instructions that it was to be treated like a Hippogriff when it was small and he settled himself on the Dragon's back. Draco followed his suit and soon they were both in the air, flying, both exhilarated by the freeing feeling it had. They enjoyed how the wind rushed through the air, whistled in their ears and the scales felt under their hands. Harry felt a sort of bond connect him to the dragon; it was strange, unfamiliar.
When Harry asked about it later, Charlie confirmed that this indeed was a bonding experience for the dragon that allowed it, amongst other things, to feel if you are in great danger. "The wizard or witch would be able to communicate with it after having bonded souls, sort of like a familiar. They can also help you and heal you should they need to. Not a lot of people do it though because there are not enough dragons bred and it has a few risks. That includes that if the dragon dies, the wizard or witch will feel great pain and loss and will most likely pass out for a considerate amount of time."
At that, Sirius got angry. Charlie noticed and before Sirius could say anything, he continued. "Dragons live for thousands of years and are immune to almost all kinds of magic. That said, it is extremely hard to kill them and they usually outlive the bonded person by a lot. The bond also allows for the dragon to help fuel the wizard's or witch's magic and by doing that, they can live longer. It is also incredibly rare for wizards or witches and dragons to bond over flying since they do it a lot alone, but it does happen. And if there is a bond, it can always be removed, but that would badly hurt or kill the dragon. We do have a specialist on hand right now, if you want more reassurance."
They agreed and he swished his wand, making a jingling sound before the crack of an apparition of a brunette girl Charlie's age appeared beside him. "This is Anne. She's the one who does the research behind what we know of the bonds and has been doing exactly that for the past four years." He smiled warmly at his girlfriend that his family had yet to meet, and after getting introduced to everyone, she explained more about the bond between dragons and people and answered any questions they had.
Sirius and Evely were visibly relieved and so was Lucius, though Harry thought that no one would be able to tell if hadn't lived in the same house as him for the last six years. They decided that, should something happen, they were going to remove the bond from Harry, but for the time being, they saw no harm in it. Especially since it was particularly helpful for healing.
After Draco had flown with a few more dragons and Harry had with Silverfang, they decided that they were exhausted and it was time to go home. They thanked Charlie and Anne, and once they were sure Draco wouldn't hear, she mentioned that if he had been about the age of Draco (which he was, but she didn't know that), she had a younger sister that would probably absolutely love him and his humour, and Charlie even invited Harry over any time he wanted to care for the dragon or hang out with him and Anne.
Harry smiled at the offer and said, "Thanks, Charlie. I definitely will."
"I might return to Romania soon or go to visit my family in Devon, but you can always owl me."
"Okay, well, you guys take care of Silverfang for me?"
Charlie laughed. "Of course. See you."
He and Anne watched as the family mounted their brooms and kicked off, disappearing into the sky before going back to their sleeping quarters.
Harry, Sirius, and Evelyn were frozen by the time they had arrived back at the manor, though Lucius had actually cast warming charms on himself and the birthday boy.
"Couldn't have him arrive as an ice cube now, could we?", he said, smirking.
Everyone laughed and Harry (back to normal while no one had looked) and Draco decided to warm up beside the fire playing exploding snap before dinner. After the third time that Draco had won because of what Harry called 'extra-special birthday luck', Draco looked up from shuffling the cards with an earnest expression. So earnest that it scared Harry and a sinking feeling appeared in his gut: this wasn't good news.
"Harry I-" His voice broke. "You know how we have that one wish each year?"
"Yeah..." Harry was well aware of the fact that Draco still had to wish something of him.
"I've decided." He took a deep breath. "I want you to go."
Harry was confused. To go? What did Draco mean? What was he doing? He hid his internal panic attack behind his Occllumency shields and raised an eyebrow in concern.
"I'm sorry. I... I want you to go away. To go away and- and never come back. Please, Harry. Go. Do this for me."
"Drake…" Whatever he had been expecting, it had not been that. "What? Why?"
"You broke my family. Father and Mother divorced because of you. Father had to go into lots of trouble at the Ministry to hide you. And-"
Harry cut across him, his voice sad. "But that's not what's bothering you, is it?" The anger would come, he knew, but now there was just shock and sadness. Leaving would mean no more Draco, no more Lucius, no more Evelyn. It would mean leaving his family behind. He didn't know what would happen with Sirius though.
Draco smiled without any real humor. "You know me well. Like a brother. But- we can't be that. It's dangerous for us to have you. All our lives could fall apart and we could be thrown into Azkaban, while you just go back to Mummy and Daddy."
"Lily and James are not-"
But once he had started, he wouldn't stop. "Not only do you place us in constant danger every single day, but you also take all attention and love away from me! You stole it all. My father's love, my new mother's… Even Sev likes you even though he doesn't even know you. And he's Sev! He doesn't like kids. But you! Though if he finds out you're a Potter, that will change pretty quickly." He smirked nastily, but then his gaze turned angry. "But don't you see? YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY FROM ME!"
After he finished yelling his rant at his brother, he found himself near the door. He opened it and before he vanished into the corridor, he turned back. "That's my wish for this birthday. Leave and never come back. Goodbye, Harry."
And with that, Draco Malfoy left the room.
Willing himself not to break down and cry, Harry waited until he could trust his knees again and walked to his room, packing all his belongings into an expanded bag he had gotten from Evelyn at Christmas, and went to his desk to write. He tried, over and over again, but he couldn't find the right wording to say what he wanted. In the end, he went with: "Don't worry about me, Padfoot, I'll be back soon. I love you." He stuffed it in an envelope, and once he had one last look around his room, he made himself invisible with a disillusionment charm from his beginner's wand and slipped the letter under his godfather's door. Before he could linger and change his mind, he walked out into the night and once he was out of sight, Harry concentrated on his magic. He was engulfed in flames an instant later.
And when the fire died down, Harry Potter was gone.
AN5: I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of my first fanfiction. This was exceptionally long and the following chapters will be between 2k and 5k.
AN6:
Chapter 1-10: Harry Potter and the Prince of Hogwarts: Prequel
Chapters 11-...: Harry Potter and the Prince of Hogwarts: Year One
AN7: I will try and update Sundays every week. Make sure to Read and Review to tell me what you think and I will see you all next week!
~Meghan B.