There's four of them:

Minerva McGonagall was working on the letters to the new first year. She had been doing this job for more than thirty years. This year would be a little different.

This year would bring a very special boy to Hogwarts.

Minerva had to forget about that boy, for now and get back to the list of children that needed their letters. She always started with the children whose last name began with a, she wasn't going to change it.

Minerva just finished with the two children whose last name started with o, then she turned the page of her book. This book had been invented by the four founders so they would know if a magical child had been born. The book magically wrote the names of those children in red. If they had underline, that meant the child came from a magical family. If there wasn't an underline, it meant they came from muggles, so they would need a visit to explain about the wizarding world. The book had other names but they were in black. Those were names of squibs. Those children would need to be tested to see how much magic they had. There were a few that had some magic but they could not cast spells. But they could see magical creatures like unicorns or dragons. They could see the Hogwarts castle and get into Diagon alley. Usually there would be one or two that had just enough magic that they could go to Hogwarts but they usually could only go as far as their owls. Some of the unlucky ones would have to leave after their second or third year. They did not have enough power to continue on with their magical education.

Minerva began working on the letters for the children whose last name began with p. Naturally, it started with p a, and so on.

Minerva stared at the four names in the book. The one she had been expecting to read wasn't there.

'What in the name of merlin is going on?'

Minerva would normally go speak with Albus about something like this but the headmaster was away at an ICW meeting in New Zealand. She realised she was going to need to find these four boys and see if they were related to James and Lily Potter. She also had to figure out why Harry Potter's name was not in the book. She knew Harry was a wizard, she had seen him do a lot of accidental magic during order of the phoenix meetings. Yet for some reason, his name was missing from the book. She could only think of two reasons for this and she hoped neither were true.

The first was in the boy died. His name would automatically disappear from the book. The second reason would be if the boy was no longer living in Great Britain. He had been left with Lily's sister after his parents had been murdered but Minerva knew they were the worst sort of muggles. They might not have wanted to keep their wizard nephew so he went to an orphanage and he could have been adopted.

Minerva decided to send all the other letters out before trying to figure out what to do about Harry Potter. The four Potter names were not underlined which meant she would need to pay them a visit. She usually did that the following day, after they received their letter. She had wanted that changed for years. She believed it would be best if a Hogwarts representative took the letter in person then explain about their world. But the governors would not change their mind. She would go see the muggleborns or raised and do it the day after she sent out the letters. She would get the address after the magical quill addressed the envelope.

Minerva watched the last of the owls fly off before she picked up the book and went to see one of her colleagues.

'Filius, do you have a minute?'

'Of course. What can I do for you Minerva?'

'I'm puzzled. As you know, Harry Potter is due to start this year, yet his name is not in the book. That's not all that is puzzling me. There are four boys with the name of Potter. Hadrian, Harley, Hathem and Hayden Potter, all the with same birth date, which is the same as Harry Potter's birth date.'

'That is puzzling.'

'You were close to Lily, closer than an of us. Did she ever say anything that could explain this, like James might have cousins?'

'No, as far as she knew, James had no close family. Lily did say she wanted at least four children but would like six. She was hoping for even numbers between girls and boys but we all know that you can make that happen. James had no other family alive, so they can't be from his family. Potter is not an unusual name, its just that I've never heard of having four babies at the same time. There is usually a set of twins born every couple of years. I know we've only ever had one set of triplets, but never four. They could be cousins, not siblings, if that's the case then I doubt they would have the same birth date. But this might not have anything to do with James and Lily.'

'I know muggles have four, or quads as they are called but they don't happen very often. I will be visiting them tomorrow, hopefully, I will get some answers then. Now Harry, you know there is only two reasons why a name would not be in the book if a child had magic and we know he did. We often saw him do magic at meetings.'

'Yes, I was told so the only way for his name not to appear in the book would be death or they are not in this country. If they did move to another country then their name would appear in the book for that school. You were concerned about the people that Albus placed Harry with. Do you believe they might have killed the boy?'

'I don't know but they were not nice people. I also know that Lily and her sister had a falling out after she began here. I am hoping that she just decided she did not want to raise a magical child and decided to put the child in an orphanage. If she was able to explain that the boy's parents are dead, he could be adopted. That could mean he has another name.'

'So he could be one of the muggleborns on your list.'

'They are all girls, apart from the four Potter boys.'

'What if a couple had three boys and they knew they were wizards. They might have gone to find another boy for their family and they adopted him, then they changed Harry's first name. It's far fetched but not impossible.'

'I never thought of that. If Harry is one of those boys, he would have that lightning shaped scar. I hope your idea is real otherwise I have no idea if we could find out if Harry is alive or was just adopted and left the country. I best get back to work.'

It was a few hours later that four boys discussed the letters they received. When the owls arrived, four owls, they did say to the owls could one of them remain to take their letter. The boys knew of the wizarding world, owls were always used in that world. When one owl nodded and the other three left, the boys worked together to write their letter. This letter would not be going to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The following day, Minerva began her visits, again, she went alphabetically. But there were only eight children and their families she had to visit. The four Potter boys were be the last four.

Minerva had a break for lunch after speaking with the Perks family. She decided eating now would allow her to really concentrate on her next visit. She had to see if one of those boys were Harry Potter, but if he wasn't, then she knew it would be time to send Albus a letter, explaining the problem.

As Minerva walked towards the large house where the four Potter boys lived, she saw someone she recognised. Amelia Bones, who was also with two other adults who Minerva recognised from the ministry. She was leading four boys with dark messy hair away from the building. Before she could get Amelia's attention, they disappeared.

'One of the must have been Harry, but why would Amelia Bones take the other three. Unless they were adopted into the same family. She realised there was nothing she could do. She could not interfere with the department of magical law enforcement. She also knew that Amelia Bones, the head of that department, was not fond of Albus. She decided to return to Hogwarts and write a letter to Albus, he had to know what was going on and know that maybe Harry Potter would not be coming to Hogwarts. If he was one of the boys, then all four of them might be coming to Hogwarts. She still could not work out how their is four of them.

Amelia Bones sat with the four Potter boys while she read the letter from Lily and James Potter.

'So basically, there is no Harry Potter. All four of you were combined so you could survive any attack by Voldemort. Your mother was an exceptional witch but hearing what she did, that is incredible.'

'Since our parents knew there was a spy, they decided not to reveal anything about their plans,' Hayden said.

'They also said that since Albus Dumbledore refused to use veritaserum or oaths to find out if the order of the phoenix was loyal to them and not Voldemort, they were not going to allow him to know what they were planning,' Harley said.

'From the time Dumbledore told them of the prophecy, they began to work on plans. One idea from our father, they decided not to tell anyone there was more than one of us about to be born,' Hadrian said.

'Also, from that time on, Dumbledore kept dropping in, for no reason and seemed to be anxious for me or us to be born. He did ask our parents when we were due,' Hathem said.

'They did try to work on a way that they could survive, or at least one of them. But thanks to Snape, Voldemort took out our father straight away,' Harley said.

'Snape, what has he got to do with this?' Amelia asked.

'We should have given you the other letters,' Hadrian said, 'It seems Snape was the one to tell Voldemort the first part of the prophecy,'

'He made a deal with his master. He wanted our mother for himself. He could have been killed right then but when Snape said he knew how Voldemort could get to us, easily, he knew Voldemort would give in,' Hayden said.

'The only reason our mother was still killed was that she refused to stop blocking us, we were combined into one at the time, Harry. Then she picked Harry up, held him to her and turned her back on him,' Hathem said.

'Snape wasn't the secret keeper though, Black was.'

'Our parents changed secret keepers four times in three months, without telling anyone,' Harley said.

'We have no idea which one was the secret keeper during that time,' Hadrian said.

'Only that it would be Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew,' Hayden said.

'They left us letters. One of the letters said there was a special tapestry in a hidden room at Hogwarts that would show up who was alive and who was dead. It would also show up their movements,' Hathem said.

'Our father along with his friends invented it while they were students. Our father along with his three friends were done first, then they added other friends along with our mother and people like the Longbottom's,' Harley said.

'They knew there were hidden death eaters so they wanted to make sure none of their friends were a spy. Being able to follow them and see who they interacted with, would let them know,' Hadrian said.

'They said when we get to Hogwarts, we are to go into the room to find out who was alive and who was dead. But to also find out where all of them were around the time Voldemort attacked us,' Hayden said.

'I would like to see that. Now would be a good time since Albus is out of then country. A couple of senior aurors will be able to keep Minerva occupied when they go to arrest Snape.'

'Why wasn't he sent to Azkaban before?' Harley asked.

'Albus said Snape was his spy and all he did for Voldemort was create potions. He never actually killed. He still won't be charged with murder but he can be charged with an accessory to murder which will have him do ten to fifteen years. It will also mean he will never be allowed back to Hogwarts. I have not been able to find anything on him to get him out of the school. He is ruining people's career's. Wait here boys, then we will head to Hogwarts. Hopefully, this tapestry will give us some answers.'

Amelia was able to get the boys into Hogwarts without anyone finding out. Gawain Robards and Rufus Scrimgeour were keeping the staff busy after they arrested Severus Snape. The boys explained what their father wrote in the letter, about walking back and forth in front of

The wall, three times. They had to think of the room where all the lost things go.

Amelia was amazed when the door appeared, but she just hurried the boys into the room. They directed her to the far right wall, where the tapestry was stuck to the wall, behind some furniture.

'Damn, I wish I knew how they did this. Maybe if I could study it, I could work it out,' Amelia said.

'Dad left notes about the tapestry,' Harley said.

'It's in his study,' Hadrian said.

'Would I be able to borrow those notes boys?' They all nodded so she gave them a smile before she went back to studying the tapestry. It was only a minute later she got a surprise.

'This is going to need investigating, but I believe the one that was sent to Azkaban for the crimes against your family was Sirius Black, yet it should not have been. I will need to read his file before I can do anything. But I also found three people who work at the ministry that was in contact with some of the well known death eaters along with someone called Tom Riddle.'

'That's Voldemort's real name. Mum wrote that down in case we came across anything with that name on it,' Hathem said.

'She wanted us to keep an eye out for danger but especially anything to do with him,' Hayden said.

'Then I would say those three people are about to find themselves in Azkaban along with the rest of the death eaters.' Amelia knew she could go over her memory later to get all the names written down. But she had two very important things to get to first. It was time to return the boys to their home while she got to work.

It was a week later that Minerva walked into the staff room to see every member of staff there apart from Albus.

'As you all know, Severus was sent to Azkaban and I still have not been able to contact Albus. I finally had to hire someone to take over the potions position.'

'Was it true Minerva, what we heard about Snape and the Potters?'

'Yes, it was. After his trial, I was able to speak with Amelia Bones. They were able to use veritaserum on Severus to get the truth. He made a deal with you-know-who. He contacted Lily and made it seem like he had important information about the danger her son was in. Lily always had a soft spot for Severus, even after their big fight. As Severus was waiting in the park for Lily to meet him, you-know-who was watching for when Lily came out from behind the fidelius charm. It might not have gotten him inside, then, but he knew where the house was, thanks to Severus setting up Lily. Severus also told you-know-who the first part of the prophecy that said Harry would be the one to vanquish him.'

'Did Albus know this Minerva?' Pomona asked.

'He knew that Severus told you-know-who about the prophecy, but I am unsure if he knew the rest. There is more I need to explain. I did not find this out until after Severus was sent to Azkaban when I spoke with Amelia Bones. It's about Harry Potter.'

'Did you find him?' Filius asked.

'In a way. There was no Harry Potter.' It took a few minutes to get everyone to stop talking, 'Lily came up with a way to protect her sons, her four sons, quadruplet's and none of them are named Harry. Now to the explanation. There is a reason why she had four, all identical. You see, there were some medical problem which was making it difficult to get pregnant. There are muggle methods to help. They used this method, which we can go into later. She gave birth to four identical boys. Lily and James decided no one would know due to the prophecy. They were not going to allow any of her boys to be killed but they also didn't want one of their boys targeted over the other three. Lily came up with a way to merge the four boys into one, then she named him Harry. The boys names are Harley, Hadrian, Hathem and Hayden. She chose the name Harry since one of James' uncles was called Harrison. Part of the spell she created meant that if they were hit with the killing curse, they would survive then in five hours, they would separate. James also worked with his house elves so they would be able to monitor the boys and take them to Potter manor if he and Lily were killed. They found Harry only an hour later, at the muggle sister's place that Albus placed him at. They took Harry home, then right on the five hour mark, they separated. They were perfectly fine and the scar that had been on Harry was gone from the four boys. Some of this information will be released, but not how Lily did it.'

'Apart from being shocked that Lily could do this, why is it being released,' Rolanda asked.

'Because Albus let it be known that Harry survived the killing curse with only a lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Everyone knows Harry was about to start Hogwarts. Now it's not Harry but the four Potter boys. Albus also told people that the one time he saw Harry, which was only a week before James and Lily died, Albus said he looked exactly like James but with Lily's eyes. That is not the real boys. They have Lily's eyes and James' hair but the four boys do not resemble one parent over the other. They have a combination of James and Lily. So you see, Amelia Bones and the minister believed they had to release some information so everyone will know there is no Harry Potter, there is no boy-who-lived. It's boys, all thanks to Lily.'

'So who has been caring for the boys since that night?' Filius asked.

'Apart from the four house elves, James also hired a nanny. It's very popular in the muggle world to have a live in woman who takes care of the children if both parents work. They decided since they had four, the nanny would give Lily and James a break. The nanny along with the house elves were to always raise the boys if James and Lily died. They used and created a lot of magic to protect those boys and make sure they always stayed together and in their home.'

'But wasn't the house destroyed that night?' Aurora asked.

'The cottage that James and Lily got as a wedding present was destroyed. James always planned to move to Potter manor once his parents died. They just died sooner than any one thought they would. But the moment they knew of the danger, they used the fidelius charm on the cottage but made sure all this magic they did meant the boys would always return to the manor if they died.'

'So the four Potter boys will be here tomorrow and it will be known it was the four of them. I wonder if they will go into the same house or will they separate?'

'From what Amelia told me, they are alike in every way, including the fact that they all answer if you ask them a question. They are brothers but they are also like best friends who enjoy doing everything together. She did say there was a chance they will go into either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.'

'Why those houses and not Gryffindor? James and Lily were both in Gryffindor,' pomona said.

'They loved to read, they love to learn and have been learning magical theory since they were five. They have also been making potions since they were seven. But they are loyal to each other, very loyal. They also help the house elves with the work around the manor so they are not afraid of hard work.'

'That does sound like they will go into my house or Pomona's,' Filius said, 'It also sounds like they will be in the same house. If we get the usual amount of students in each house, then whichever house they go into, could mean having to open up some of the unused rooms that have been closed off for more than a hundred years.

'Yes, we will. Normally all the boys or girls starting at Hogwarts will share a room. If the four boys go into the same house, then Hogwarts will decide who shares with who. Normally, twins will share so I will say if there is more than five boys, the four Potter boys will share one room, the others will share another room.'

'We will not know until tomorrow,' Pomona said, 'So, you still have not been able to contact Albus?'

'No, I even asked Amelia if she could help. She was going to send someone to speak with him. They were not going to tell him what was going on, not until he returned. She needed to speak with him about this, like why he released that information. But she also needs to speak with him on another situation. There is nothing we can do, we might as well just wait until tomorrow.'

'With the children arriving tomorrow, Albus would normally be here a few days before. Do you think he will arrive today?' Aurora asked.

'He should but I cannot say if he will. If he got the message from Amelia, I would say he will go there first.'

The staff didn't know it but Albus had arrived early that morning. He went straight to the ministry to speak with Amelia Bones. Just like everyone else, Albus was only given the bare facts. Amelia did not like the fact that Albus held three of the most important jobs in their world. She believed he held too much power but also, he was not able to put all his efforts into any job, he had to split his time between the three jobs. She also hated the fact she got Snape off then had him join the staff of Hogwarts. She was pleased now that Snape was in Azkaban but also that her niece would not have to put up with Snape as a teacher.

Amelia worked on some of her memories to show Albus. She wanted him to see the four boys and know some of what Lily did, like how she was able to create a spell to combine the four boys so they would survive. She also wanted Albus to know that until the boys became adults, they will never be separated. If there is danger, which there should not be, then the four boys will be together. If one of the boys gets detention, the four of them will sit it together.

Albus also found out about Severus. When he tried to argue with Amelia about the man, she instantly said she could arrest him for hiding a known death eater and one that was partially responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter. If the public heard that, Albus would lose his reputation and support. Albus realised there was nothing he could do about the four Potter boys or Severus.

Then Amelia hit him with the last shocking bit of news. Sirius Black was cleared of all charges and was now with his four godson's, healing and resting. The secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew. Sirius is and always will be the four boys legal guardians. Amelia passed on a message to Albus from Sirius, he will never forgive Albus for not making sure he got a trial. He also said he did not want Albus near his godsons. He had thought of taking the boys overseas so they could learn at another school, which is still open if Albus tries to interfere with the boys at all.

Albus left the ministry in a daze. He could not believe what Lily had done. He had no idea how she did it or why Lily and James did not tell him their plans. He realised there was nothing he could do. Amelia would make sure of that but also Sirius will do what he threatened if Albus tried to interfere with those four boys. Albus realised he would need to speak with Molly Weasley, so she would not be on the muggle side, looking for Harry. There was no Harry and if Molly tried to get to one boy over another, Molly could end up arrested or hurt. He only wanted Molly there to show Harry a friendly face, now the woman would not be needed.

Amelia finally got permission to have two aurors at Kings Cross, then they would be travelling on the train. Many had said it for years, leaving all those children alone on the train, with wands was asking for trouble. Albus knew Amelia wanted this but he also knew she had pushed it so the four Potter boys would have more protection.

The morning of September the first the story about what Lily Potter did to save her sons was released. It also said that there was no Harry Potter. That was the name she used after she was able to combine her four sons so they could survive an attack by Voldemort.

Everyone that didn't know this information before the Daily Prophet came out, where in shock. There was no Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived. There was Hayden, Harley, Hadrian and Hathem, the-boy's who lived.

The four Potter boys were taken to platform nine and three quarters by Sirius and they got there an hour early in the hope the boys could settle into a compartment on the train before reporters turned up.

'Now remember, you have the mirror, call me if there is anything wrong or you are worried about something. I would also like to hear which house you were sorted into.'

'We will Sirius,' the four said together.

'My money's still on Gryffindor, but you've proven me wrong a heap of times, so I'm probably wrong again now. Anyway, you have a proper lunch in your trunks, you can still buy stuff from the lady who works the cart. Is there anything else you want or need?'

The four boys shook their heads. Sirius hugged them before he left the train. He knew he would get a lot of looks. Not just for the fact that it was known he had been falsely accused of a crime and sent to Azkaban. It was also know that he was the four Potter boys godfather.

Sirius ignored all the stares and talk. He just kept staring at the compartment his godson's were in. When the train began to move, he waved, just like all the other parents were doing. Once the train was out of sight, Sirius turned on the spot and apparated away. He did not want anyone trying to ask him things about his godsons.

The four boys used their linked magic, which never disappeared, to keep everyone away from their compartment on the train. They really didn't want to be disturbed because they knew people would not stop asking about what their mother did. They never planned to talk about it, not now they had filled in Madam Bones and their godfather.

The boys waited until the train was empty before they got off, then followed the other first years. They took the last boat across the lake to the castle. They remained at the back of the group but kept their link going so the other first years would ignore them. They would remove the link when they entered the great hall.

One by one the students were sorted, when it was time for the Potter boys to be sorted, the scroll Minerva was holding changed. The four boys names were together before the name Potter. She quickly put on the hat who was linked to the list of names. She listened to the hat before she removed it from her head.

'This will seem different but the hat says this is how it has to be done. So please come forward, Potter, Hadrian, Harley, Hathem and Hayden. You will be sorted together.'

The four boys moved forward. The talk rose and people stood to get a good look at them. The four boys turned to face the students. Minerva held the hat above them, it expanded until it stretched so it could sit over the four boys heads.

It only took a few seconds before the hat shouted...Ravenclaw.

The end: