Harry Potter was woken by a loud buzzer outside his room. Well, it was more like a cell but not as drab. He reached for his glasses as he sat up, blinking away the sleep from his eyes and noticing the room around him. He had a few tattered posters of football players and some sketches of random objects up on the walls. He wasn't allowed to have too much in his room but he appreciated the stuff he did have.

He pulled on his shirt and stuck his feet in his trainers just as the door opened, rolling back on its old metal rails. He heard voices outside, a few of the other "students" were trickling towards the mess hall for breakfast. Grabbing his notebook off his desk he joined the crowd.

"I hope your plan works out today, Potter," a voice called from behind him. Harry turned to see his friend Nathan approach. "Training has been brutal this week."

Harry gave him a confident smile and tapped his notebook.

"I've put a lot of thought and planning into today's match so we should be just fine."

"Good. I'm excited to see those bastards at Gerrard go down in flames."

The two boys entered the mess hall a moment later. The room felt like it belonged in a normal highschool, except for the bars on all the doors.

Harry and Nathan chatted in line before grabbing a food tray. The guy serving everyone gave Harry an enthusiastic nod and an extra helping of eggs.

"Good luck today!"

Everyone's excitement was just amping him up even more.

Harry took his tray and made his way to the team table where the rest of the St. Brutus' Center for Incurably Criminal Boys football club sat. He saw a plethora of emotions on the other boy's faces. Some were excited and talkative, buzzing with nervous energy. A few were quiet and focused, clearly getting ready mentally for the match. Harry smiled at the group before noticing one of them was a bit more on edge than the others.

Alex, a relatively new addition to the team, was just staring at his food, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. He had only come to St. Brutus' a few months ago. After prodding him for details the boy admitted to soaking his step dad's prized Maserati in petrol and lighting it on fire after he found out the bastard had been cheating on his Mum with his secretary…

When he'd come to the center, Harry had shown him the ropes just like he'd done for almost everyone at the school. Harry had been there for longer than anyone and had made the decision years ago to be the unofficial welcomer for all who joined him in this hell hole.

"Doing alright there Alex?" he asked, taking a bite of eggs.

"Uh, yeah," Alex hesitantly replied. "I'm just nervous for my first match with the team."

Harry nodded before doing his best to calm him down.

"Don't worry about it. Gerrard have been pretty decent in recent years but if you play like you have been at practice we'll be just fine."

Alex relaxed just a bit before nodding at Harry and finally taking a bite of his food.

Harry smiled and returned to his meal thinking back on all the similar conversations he'd had before with countless other boys at the center.

He remembered his first year at the center and grimaced. He had been eleven when his aunt and uncle had sent him there. His uncle knew the warden and had cut a deal with him in order to keep the "freak" out of their house. Harry was the only boy at the center who wasn't sent there by a court.

When he'd arrived he'd been at least two years younger than the other boys and they were not the most welcoming of people. He'd been treated terribly by them through verbal and even a few physical attacks.

Things changed after a year or so when he'd been allowed to try out for their football team. He'd absolutely dominated those around his age and impressed the older boys quite a bit. Eventually, he'd been accepted and they left him alone for the most part.

The only downside was when he was finally able to play in his first match at fourteen, the referee had declared him ineligible due to him not actually being in the center for breaking the law. According to the league rules, only the "inmates" were allowed to play for the team.

Even after the skipper and the other boys had raised hell over it, he still wasn't allowed to play but they let him stay on the side lines and help coach the team. He'd been doing that for three years now and under his leadership they had won almost every match.

His openness and calm demeanor had also catapulted him into the default leader of the other students. He was the one they went to if there was an issue or conflict. He'd helped some of the boys with their schooling and even more with tamping down some of the more aggressive tendencies a few of them had struggled with. In Harry's time at the center, not a single boy that he'd helped was arrested again after being released.

All in all, he'd been a huge positive influence at the center and almost everyone there knew it.

"Alright boys," a voice rang out over the babble of the mess hall. "It's time to head to the pitch."

Harry looked up and nodded to Roman, the team captain. "Let's get a move on."

Harry started to stand before noticing Alex had frozen in place. He placed a hand on the kid's shoulder causing him to look up at the older boy. Harry just nodded his head toward the door. Alex gulped before standing and moving toward the door.

Harry followed the team to the door before a stern voice called out behind them.

"Potter!"

Harry turned, confused as to why the warden was calling for him. No matter what Harry had done to make the football team better or how much work he'd done to help the other boys, the warden continued to hate him, his view being poisoned by his uncle Vernon ever since the beginning.

"Get over here, boy!" the warden called again pointing in front of him with his cane. Harry made his way over doing his best to keep the rest of the mess hall calm. Everyone knew the warden had it out for Harry and they couldn't stand it.

"Yes Mr. Karnath?" Harry asked as he approached the warden.

SMACK!

Harry took the hit on the shoulder ignoring the pain. He looked the warden in the eye with a passionless stare. He'd been hit so many times this was nothing. Even the other boys had known it was coming and hadn't really reacted except for a few winces.

"When your betters tell you to come, you run, boy! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Karnath," Harry replied in monotone.

"Good, now come with me. You're no longer my problem and I can finally be rid of you."

Harry just stood there as the other boys in the room began to mumble, not understanding what was going on.

"Excuse me, sir," Harry said, "what do you mean?"

"I mean," the warden angrily replied, "you are being discharged. Your Aunt called and said you are to be sent off to a boarding school up north. With any luck, we'll never see eachother again."

Harry just stood there, dumbfounded.

"What about our match? He's our coach and needs to be there!"

There were shouts of agreement from everyone.

"SILENCE!" The warden roared. "You are not to speak unless spoken to! As for the match, I'm sure you will all be fine. I know the team has been successful these past years despite this reprobate's involvement."

The other boys were furious and began protesting loudly. The shouting combined with the crowd pressing in towards the warden put him a sticky spot. He hid his fear and tried to figure a way out of the situation without causing a bigger commotion. Harry noticed the man was in trouble and stepped in between the man and the boys.

"Sir, can I at least say goodbye to the others?"

The warden hesitated before giving him a quick nod.

"Very well. You have five minutes. Afterwards you are to go to your room and clean out all your personal items and then meet me in discharge. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said, but the warden had already fled the room.

Harry turned to the team and shook their hands, thanking them for their support. He gave them some notes on the upcoming match and did his best to keep their spirits up. His last step was to hand his notebook to Roman.

"Everything you need is in there. When you finally get out of here, hand it to the next guy. Its got all sorts of info on the other teams and their tendencies. Also, at the back is a bunch of random info about this place. Consider it Potter's St. Brutus' Survival guide."

The team smiled and thanked him before moving out to the pitch. He watched them out the door then turned back to the mess hall only to be surprised by everyone standing.

"What's all this then?"

The other boys just smiled before the nearest one approached him and took his hand.

"Thanks Harry," he said. "I don't think there is a single guy in this room you haven't helped in some way. Good luck out there and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we don't want to see you back in a place like this again."

Touched, Harry replied. "Well that goes the same for all of you, you hear? The next time I see you I want you to be Doctors and CEOs, eh? I've put too much effort into you lot just to see you end up worse off in the long run."

His words earned him a chuckle before he made his way across the room. He shook hands and had a word with almost everyone before he finally made it to the corridor where his room was.

In the quiet of the empty rooms, Harry finally allowed his thoughts to wander. He'd been under the impression that he wouldn't get out until he was eighteen which was still a little more than a year away. Why would he be sent to a boarding school now?

He pondered this while he packed and went through the discharge process. When he finally walked out of the center for the first time in six years and approached his Aunt and the family car, he couldn't help but feel hopeful for the future.