Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Well, here we go again with posting this rewrite of the original Knight Errant. The last time that I posted this story, I was right on the edge of writer's burnout (or in the midst of it) and wasn't in the right headspace to be posting a project. This story is a response to DZ2's "The Robin Factor" challenge, which can be found in their forums on FFN. As far as pairings go, they're really not on my mind at the moment. I know I can't stop people from suggesting their preferred pairings, just know that it's not really a factor at the moment and I am not guaranteeing *any* pairing, though a possibility of Harry pairing off with a particular OC is higher than him pairing off with a canon character.

Also, I am only posting this on FFN because FFN is where most Potter readers are. AO3 is a little different on that front. It might be a good place for my Arrowverse fics, but it doesn't seem to be the best place for my HP fics. Due to the fact that this story already has two chapters posted on AO3, I am posting two chapters now. Please be aware there will be a potential delay in posting between AO3 and FFN due to FFN not registering new chapters that are posted within the same 24 hour period. I think it's absurd, but that seems to be how they do things.

Knight Errant

By

ArlyssTolero

Chapter 1:

The Discovery

Hadrian Peverell smiled excitedly to himself as he put on the Muggle clothes that had been provided to him for this excursion, a pair of black jeans, a pair of sneakers, a t-shirt with AC/DC written across it, and a black jacket that was similar to a dragonhide jacket, but different. According to Mistress Belleza, the Mistress of the Mental Arts and one of the chaperones for this excursion into the outside world, it was called a leather jacket by the Muggles. Hadrian didn't really care since they weren't actually going into the Muggle world, per se, but to the Quidditch World Cup, though they would be camping at a Muggle campsite and thus needed to appear 'Muggle.' Hadrian snorted as he imagined what some pureblood bigots would be wearing. While the Knights of Walpurgis did espouse a desire to see a pure magical society, they didn't ignore the Muggle world the way those bigoted against the Muggleborn, or First-Gens as Hadrian called them, did. As a result, they knew how to use authentic Muggle clothing. The only thing magical on this trip would be their wands and the magical tent they would be using, because who would rough it in a Muggle tent when they could have a magical one? Besides, odds were that the Muggle caretaker would end up getting Obliviated if they were the observant sort who took notice of large groups of people entering an otherwise small tent.

The reason Hadrian was excited was because flying was the one thing he did at the monastery that wasn't part of the normal curriculum. Hadrian loved flying. It was the one thing he could do without any instruction and it was very helpful for him in de-stressing after a long day's studying under whichever master he was studying with. It had been his coping mechanism for a few years now, and one couldn't fly a broom or get a broom to fly without at least hearing about Quidditch, even if one didn't know all of the rules or whatever. Hadrian was excited because he was going to get to see the premier Quidditch game of the year. Even better, they had gotten prime tickets, getting seats just below the Minister's box, or the Top Box as it was called. Hadrian was a little disappointed they wouldn't get to be in the Top Box, but the fact that they were going to be able to go to the Quidditch World Cup at all was a major relaxation of the secrecy surrounding the Knights of Walpurgis and the Walpurgis Monastery, where Hadrian had lived and trained for eleven years.

That wasn't to say there weren't breaks. Even the Knights knew the value of giving rewards for excellence. Sometimes it was a trip to the Caribbean to enjoy the sun and the sand; one time they had gotten to go to a Muggle attraction, something called a film festival, in the United States and seen the kinds of things Muggle passed off as magic in their 'movies.' Another time they had gone to Rome and visited the Vatican (that one had been fun, especially with Charles Harrington jinxing one of the Swiss Guard so he tripped every ten feet). They had gone to dueling tournaments, too, though never being allowed to enter them, which was disappointing, but they'd been told people would be… upset about the way they were being trained despite the Knights of Walpurgis being a recognized and noteworthy organization. But this? This was pure fun, a reward for their best private dueling tournament yet. All of them had excelled beyond Knight Alexius Stellan's expectations and he had convinced the Grandmaster that the fourteen-year-old apprentices deserved a real reward. So, after a great deal of thought, the Grandmaster had decided on allowing them to attend the Quidditch World Cup.

"Excited, Hadrian?" Alithia Ravenwood, the Grandmaster's daughter and a friendly rival to Hadrian, asked cheekily, grinning at him as he arrived at the departure point. She knew Quidditch and flying was his guilty pleasure.

"Oh, yes," Hadrian said with a grin. "I can't wait to see this, Ali. I've been dreaming of attending a Quidditch match for years, and now I get to attend the Quidditch match of the year! I could sing!"

"Don't," Alithia advised with a smirk. "Your voice is still cracking from time to time. Give it another year or two before you start trying out for an orchestra."

"Yeah, Hadrian, you don't want to be mistaken for speaking Mermish," Mariko Novus said cheerfully.

"Very funny," Hadrian said, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me you're not excited about the possibility of getting to see all the things on sale at the Cup, even if you've got no interest in the match."

"Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to seeing if there's any ingenious inventions that have come out that aren't available in catalogues yet," Mariko said with a nod.

"Alright, alright, settle down," Mistress Belleza said as she came up to them along with Knight Stellan, the other chaperone for this trip. "Now, do you all remember the rules?"

"We're not allowed to tell anyone we're from the Walpurgis Monastery so we don't get mobbed," Hadrian said instantly.

"We're not allowed an expense greater than thirty galleons," Alithia added.

"We're allowed to talk with other young witches and wizards about the Quidditch match and the wares on display but not about academics," Mariko said with a sigh.

"We're allowed to use magic at our discretion if we need to defend ourselves, but we're not allowed to show off," Charles Harrington said, looking disgruntled.

"We're not allowed to have sexual relations with each other or another underage witch or wizard," Jackson Roberts and Conere Perissa said in unison.

"And we're to wear our glamor bracelets at all times," Alice Suxa finished.

That was the one thing that annoyed Hadrian, the fact that they had to wear glamor bracelets, which would give them an alternate appearance. He didn't understand that security precaution at all. What did it matter if they were seen? It wasn't like anyone who knew them would be at the Quidditch World Cup. But that had been the Grandmaster's one point of contention and it wasn't until the Charms Master, Lex Luthor, had come up with this idea that he had budged. Once the glamor bracelets were in play, the Grandmaster had had no more qualms about allowing them such a potentially extensive excursion (some Quidditch matches had been known to go on for a week or more, after all). Still, in the end, they were getting to go to the Quidditch match of the year, and that was all that mattered to Hadrian. Whatever freedoms he had to sacrifice to go, he would gladly do so.

"Very good," Knight Stellan said with a smile at all of them. "Now, remember, the Monastery and the Knights are rather well-known in the magical world and revealing that you're training here could become a source of envy. You need to be careful of that, all of you. The last thing we need is Knights in training causing an international incident because you picked a fight with someone from Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Ilvernmorny, or even Hogwarts."

"Would it even be a fight with the students of Hogwarts?" Charles Harrington joked.

"It would now," Knight Stellan said with a smirk. "Remember, I'm teaching them. It's why we've only been able to hold our dueling tournaments during the summer and winter breaks."

"Yeah, but you're not teaching them everything since the old blood traitor who runs the school would have a conniption fit if you taught them how to really fight," Hadrian said with a matching smirk.

"True enough, Hadrian," Knight Stellan said after a moment. "Still, best not to pick fights with Hogwarts students, either. They do still believe Hogwarts is the best academy of magic in the world." All of the fourteen-year-old apprentices for the Walpurgis Monastery snorted at that. "Now, gather around, everyone. It's time to take the Portkey." The group all gathered around, taking hold of the length of rope that Knight Stellan held out. They waited silently for the Portkey to activate, anticipation building just as it always did when they went somewhere new and exciting. "Oh, and remember, we're going to Britain. So don't pick fights with anyone who should have been a Knight. It's not their fault or even their parents' fault. It's their grandparents who betrayed us."

"Yes, Knight Stellan," the apprentices said. A moment later, the Portkey activated and they were off in a swirl of multicolored light. A moment later, they all landed on their feet on a bluff.

"Six past four from Greenwich," said a voice, and Hadrian frowned. Why had the man misidentified where they were coming from? Seeing Mistress Belleza and Knight Stellan shake their heads, he subsided and followed them away, looking around in interest… then did a double-take. Was that man wearing a dress? He shook his head and caught Alithia's eye, gesturing to the man in question. Alithia burst into a fit of giggles and once everyone saw what she was laughing at, there were smirks, snickering, and in Conere Perissa's case, full-blown belly laughs.

Knight Stellan chuckled and said, "Yes, some witches and wizards don't quite understand what 'Muggle clothing' means for the different sexes," he said. "Come along, now. We've got to find the campsite manager and get to our campsite." Stellan and Belleza led Hadrian and his fellows away from the portkey arrivals area and towards the throng of tents that could be seen in the distance. As they moved through the campsite, they saw names carved into wooden planks planted in the ground. Bones… Potter… Donner… Cartwright… and more. Finally, they found a man who was looking around suspiciously at all of the clearly magical tents. "Excuse me, are you the campsite manager?"

"Yeah," the man said shortly. "Which name?"

"Stellan," Knight Stellan said.

"Right, Stellan, Stellan…" the man said, studying his clipboard for a moment. "Okay, you're on plot 45. Down that way and on the left." He gestured towards a path. "At least you paid in advance. Had some weirdo try to pay me with a couple of gold coins. Nice enough, but way more than the campsite is worth, and I run an honest operation."

"Imagine that," Mistress Belleza said mildly. "Well, thank you, sir. We'll be on our way." The group headed off down the path and searched for their campsite, being confused briefly until they realized the name had been misspelled as 'Stelin'. "Alright, let's set up the tent and then we'll give you each your allowance for this trip. Do remember the rules."

"Yes, Mistress Belleza," the apprentices said, showcasing they were in fact teenagers by adding an eyeroll. Seriously, why did adults think they were stupid or something?

Once the tent was assembled and they had been given their money bags, the group set off for the bazaar where people were hawking their wares. Hadrian ended up buying a pair of Omni-oculars, which would allow him to record the game and re-watch it at his leisure later, a sound investment for someone who might not get another chance to see a Quidditch match until he had finished his training and become a full Knight (and thus allowed to leave the Monastery whenever he wanted). He also bought a Broomstick Servicing Kit since his broom had started showing some wear and tear. Unsurprising since it was a Nimbus 2000 and was a few years old now. They made their way back to the tent and spent some time talking until it was time for the match. Excited, they followed Mistress Belleza and Knight Stellan in the direction of the vast stadium that had been constructed.

*HP*

"That was amazing," Hadrian declared several hours later as they sat in the tent, talking about the match. It had been a quick match, by international match standards, but very exciting, nonetheless. "I like the fact that Viktor Krum decided to end the match on his terms. He saw that his team just couldn't stack up to Ireland and decided to make sure they weren't completely embarrassed. He'll probably get reamed out by his coach for doing that, but in the end, it'll mean Bulgaria is still taken seriously. If the match had kept going, I think Ireland would have simply destroyed Bulgaria."

"Yeah, there's no way Bulgaria was catching up," Charles agreed. "The Irish offense was just too good, and their defense was even better. Bulgaria was good, too, but I don't think they trained as hard for this match as Ireland did. Krum, yes; the rest, no." Charles snorted. "Of course, it didn't help that their mascots bamboozled the referee and made him predisposed against Bulgaria in the first place."

"No, the Veela certainly didn't help their country any in this case," Mariko said, shaking her head. "They also didn't help their case in the eyes of those who already see them as beasts, like the ass-backwards wizards of Britain do. Admittedly, Russia has a similar attitude and Bulgaria's on the fence at this point, but most wizarding governments recognize Veela as beings, not beasts, and afford them all the rights and privileges inherent therein. But this little incident will set their relations with the likes of the British Ministry of Magic back a few years."

"Yes," Conere said. "Of course, the leprechauns were no help. But at least they know they'll never get beyond beast status." Murmurs of agreement came from the other teenagers. There was a loud bang outside, followed by screams. "Well, sounds like the Irish are getting wild. I'd hate to be the Aurors that had to tell them they had to settle down."

"That… didn't sound like screams of delight," Hadrian said slowly, cocking his head slightly, and the other teens fell silent, as well, with Knight Stellan and Mistress Belleza also coming forward, cocking their heads to listen as well. When they did, they heard what Hadrian had. There were notes of panic and terror in the screams, which were getting closer. "I think we had better get out of here while we can. Now."

"There are wards all over this area," Knight Stellan said. "Only Ministry authorized Portkeys are allowed entry or exit. If we want to get out of here, Hadrian, we're gonna have to make for the edge of the wards. I checked out the ward schematic earlier while you were all at the bazaar. The wards end two miles to the south, in the middle of the woods."

"Then we should go," Mistress Belleza said briskly. "Come along, come along. Grab your things. We'll leave the tent." The teenagers grabbed their belongings and then followed their masters out into the throng of screaming people. Hadrian tried to keep close to the group, but the screaming crowd was running every which way, and he was pulled away from the group.

"Hadrian! Hadrian!" Alithia managed to fight her way to him. "Come on, we have to keep moving!" Hadrian nodded and followed her, pushing towards the woods. "It's a good thing that we've already learned to Apparate, we can leave as soon as we reach outside the wards!"

"Yeah, we just have to get there, and this crowd isn't making it easy!" Hadrian said. "What the hell are we running from, anyways?"

Alithia tried to catch a glimpse of whatever was happening behind them and hissed in displeasure. "Death Eaters! Those blood traitors are terrorizing the crowd!"

"Then maybe I ought to give them a taste of their own medicine," Hadrian said, shoving his Omni-oculars and Broomstick Servicing Kit into a startled Alithia's hands. "Go on, head for the edge of the wards. I've been wanting to test myself against someone who should actually be challenging for a while!"

"Hadrian!" Alithia cried, but Hadrian had already turned and plunged into the panicking crowd. He barely heard her curse him out, but he could sense her turning and heading for the woods. That was a thing he could do, sense the magic of those he was attuned to, and he was certainly attuned to Alithia after all of their time studying together. As Hadrian moved through the crowd, a few people tried to grab him and drag him along, but he ripped his arm from their grips and continued forward. As he came closer to the Death Eaters, Hadrian saw the situation was grimmer than he had thought. The Death Eaters had hostages, a woman and two teenage girls, high above in the air, clad in their pajamas. Hadrian noted that the Ministry wizards were all trying to get to them, but the Death Eaters were blocking all attempts to save the woman and the girls. Rage boiled in Hadrian's gut at the way these bastards were using those women as a grotesque shield for their actions. Luckily, he had an ace up his sleeve. He leaped into the air, transforming into his Animagus form of a phoenix, and flew forward, trilling a battle cry. He snagged the brown-haired girl first, flashing to behind the Ministry wizards, then lifted off and headed for the girl with red hair. He dodged more than a few curses from the Death Eaters, seized the girl's upper arms with his claws, and flashed away. He repeated this feat with the woman, the girl's mother based on her red hair, and then flew over the heads of the stunned Ministry wizards at the Death Eaters, landing as a human between the Death Eaters and the Ministry wizards. Now it was time for some fun.

"Viscera Expulsio!" he cried, aiming his wand (blackthorn, twelve inches, with a phoenix feather core and an emerald capstone as the pommel) at the nearest Death Eater. The Death Eater was stunned at this attack and was hit with the curse. Instantly, his robes and stomach split open as his intestines burst out of his split stomach and he collapsed, trying to shove his intestines back into his body briefly before collapsing on top of his innards. This seemed to wake up both the Death Eaters and the Ministry wizards, but even as the Ministry wizards fired Stunners (which Hadrian mentally sneered at), most of the Death Eaters fled in columns of black smoke. One, however, aimed at Hadrian and fired a curse. Hadrian blocked it, but a sliver of the curse broke through and struck the glamor bracelet, causing the glamor covering Hadrian to flicker slightly so he shifted rapidly between the glamor (a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes) and his natural look (black hair and emerald-green eyes). His image shifted so rapidly none could figure out what his real appearance was. His attacker was taken down by a Stunner from one of the Aurors behind Hadrian.

"Well, this is most interesting," said a woman's voice, and Hadrian turned to see a woman with a monocle over one eye and steel-gray hair studying him. She was flanked on either side by two men. One was of African descent, but the other… Hadrian almost froze. The man to the woman's right was practically a spitting image of him, except with glasses and hazel eyes. But… that couldn't be, right? His family was dead. That's what the Master of the Dark Arts, Damian Wayne, had told him when he asked about his parents when he was ten. His family had been killed by Death Eaters when he was three and he alone had survived, so he had been brought to the Knights in order to be kept safe and trained to one day avenge his family. Who was this man? An uncle? A cousin? "How is it that a Dark wizard has a phoenix for an Animagus form?"

Hadrian chuckled, ignoring his shifting image for the time being and acting like it was completely normal. "How is it that an educated witch or wizard doesn't know that phoenixes are creatures of balance, neither Light nor Dark?" he asked in return before laughing mockingly. "Oh, wait, never mind. I forgot this was Britain, the country that swallows the lies and driveling nonsense of Albus Dumbledore as if it were gospel truth. You have no understanding of the world beyond your shores and you glory in your pathetic, doubly-inbred ignorance."

"Doubly-inbred?" said the man who looked like he could be a member of Hadrian's family.

"Ideological and biological inbreeding are rampant in Wizarding Britain, this is a known fact in the world at large," Hadrian said dryly.

"I'm sure I've just been insulted," the man muttered.

"Good instincts," Hadrian said coolly. "And as for your next question, yes, I knew my spell would kill that man. He posed a threat to innocent people. There are some people in this world who deal only in extremes, and it is naïve to believe anything less than extreme measures will stop them."

"You seem very young to have such strong convictions, or such a strong grasp of Dark Magic," the woman said. "How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen," Hadrian said with a shrug. Why lie, after all? "And I've been training in magic since I was three. I am more than capable of handling such powerful magic, with or without a wand."

"You're saying you are capable of wandless magic?" the African man asked.

"Yes," Hadrian said shortly. "Now, could I possibly get your names?"

"I am Amelia Bones, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement for the British Ministry of Magic," said the woman. "This is Kingsley Shacklebolt and James Potter, two of my Auror Captains. And you?"

"Hadrian Peverell," Hadrian said. "Look, can we wrap this up? I kind of need to go meet up with my friends and our chaperones. I only circled back so I could give the Death Eaters a little taste of their own medicine. Sadly I didn't get to do much beyond the one asshole. Too bad. Would've loved to have given all of them a little taste."

"You hate the Death Eaters," James Potter said.

"I do," Hadrian said. "They killed my family when I was three. It was after that that I was brought to the Monastery."

"Monastery?" Madam Bones asked. "What Monastery is that?"

Hadrian worried his lower lip. On the one hand, he had been told not to reveal he was a Knight in training to avoid moments of envy from those who heard him. But on the other, considering the Monastery was world-renowned for their magical prowess, surely the British Ministry of Magic already knew something of it? "The Walpurgis Monastery," he finally said. He backed up slightly when wands suddenly raised at him and he saw that the previously genial expressions on the surrounding Aurors' faces had turned to shock and suspicion. "Woah, what did I say?"

"You're a Knight of Walpurgis?" James Potter asked tightly.

"In training," Hadrian said. "The Grandmaster said people outside the Monastery were jealous, but I didn't think he meant it like this. You all are ready to attack me after I saved those women and rid the world of one more Death Eater? Some thanks. Next time I'll just let the innocent people die, yeah?"

James breathed out slowly and lowered his wand. "You're right," he said. "You did save my wife and daughter, and my daughter's friend. But you have to understand, the Knights of Walpurgis have a certain… reputation."

"I'm well-aware that the Death Eaters tried to claim that title for themselves," Hadrian said dismissively. "I would think the fact that I attacked them would be enough of an indication that that's not true."

"No, we're well-aware that the Death Eaters' claim of being such was false," Madam Bones said. "But we're also aware of the fact that the Knights of Walpurgis are guilty of many other crimes, among those crimes being abducting young children and training them to be their next generation of warriors for their so-called holy mission to maintain a 'pure' magical world. Your words indicate you might have been, even if you don't realize it. I can't help but notice that the bracelet you're wearing is some kind of glamor and it's been fluctuating since it was hit. You're wearing a glamor. Why?"

"Um, it was one of the rules for this excursion," Hadrian said, confused. What did this woman mean? He hadn't been kidnapped. None of them had been. "We earned a reward for excelling in our dueling studies this summer under Knight Stellan. He convinced the Grandmaster to give us a treat and let us come to the Quidditch World Cup."

"You're telling me there are more of you here?" Madam Bones asked.

"Um, I'm not sure I should say anything else," Hadrian said, flushing and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey, kid, it's okay," James said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "You have to understand that we're not trying to hurt you or your friends. We want to help all of you. Could you take the glamor thing off so we can see what you really look like? The fluctuating appearance is giving me a headache."

"Uh…" Hadrian managed. "Yeah, I guess I could take off the bracelet." Hadrian unclasped the bracelet and let it fall to the ground. He looked up at the three in front of him and noticed they were all gaping at him, with James Potter in particular looking at him in a mixture of wonder, shock, and something Hadrian couldn't quite identify since he had never seen this emotion before. "What?"

James swallowed. "Hadrian," he said quietly. "A more formal way of calling someone Harry. Peverell. The Peverells became the Potters. My family. Eleven years ago, my son Harry was abducted from our home in Godric's Hollow. It caused me to move my family into our ancestral estate. We searched for my son for years but found no sign of him. But you… you look almost exactly like I did when I was your age, except your eyes. Those are my wife's eyes. Your mother's eyes." James swallowed again. "You're my son. Your name is Harry Potter."

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter.

I'm hoping that this new version of Chapter 1 felt more immersive than the first chapter of the original "Knight Errant." I'm also hoping I conveyed the fact that the Knights are considered with wariness at best, hostility and suspicion at worst.

The spell 'Viscera Expulsio' is, naturally, rooted in Latin and essentially means 'entrail expulsion.' One could call it the Evisceration Curse, I suppose. As always, if one wishes to use this spell in your own works, I have no issue with this. After all, all I'm doing is looking up Latin words for what I want a spell to do. I can't claim intellectual property on them. (Insert Smiley Face Emoji)

The majority of the Knights' names are original creations drawn from various original ideas I've had over the years. Damian Wayne and Lex Luthor are, naturally, shout-outs to DC Comics, with the former in particular being the inspiration for the challenge this story is an answer to.