The Son of the Titan
Magic is an incredible thing; its limits are as endless as the sky, and those that practice it are capable of great evil or great good, depending on how they use it.
A decade ago, magic's potential was pushed further than it ever had been before when a hole appeared in the Department of Mysteries that led to an entirely new world called Fiore where magic wasn't hidden like it is in this world, but rather a part of everyday life that everyone was entitled to.
At first, these two worlds were wary of each other since, in one world, magic was celebrated, while in the other, it was hidden. Still, in time an understanding came between the two, and soon the 'hole' was transformed into a gate that allowed travel between the two worlds and the trade of knowledge and information that soon benefitted both worlds. Economics and academics soon flourished as each world shared its knowledge with the other; even politics (which had been stagnated for decades in the Wizarding World) began to make changes as the Wizarding World was granted seats on Fiore's Wizard council, and members of the Wizengamot were granted similar rights, thereby allowing both worlds a voice in the affairs of the other.
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Natsu yawned loudly as he walked down the street; beside him walked Lucy, Grey, and Erza; the four of them had crossed the 'border' two weeks ago for a much-needed vacation by order of their guild master, Makarov.
For the first few days, the group explored the city of London, careful to not use their magic as dictated to them by the Ministry of Magic upon their arrival through the gate connecting the two worlds. The citizens of Fiore universally agreed that the so-called "Statute of Secrecy" was complete nonsense, but they agreed to follow the rules of the Wizarding World; that was why Natsu was forced to leave Happy behind in Fiore, much to the blue cat's annoyance.
After exploring as much as they could of Magical London, the four decided to see what exciting sights Muggle London had to offer; they had just exited the British Museum, which held an impressive amount of objects that Lucy and Erza had found fascinating. Natsu and Grey, however, had been almost bored to tears and were now looking for something fun to do.
"I enjoyed that very much," Erza said with a smile as they walked down the street,
"Speak for yourself," Natsu replied, "I don't think I've ever been so bored before!"
"That's because you have no culture," Lucy sniffed,
"Culture? What's that?" Natsu asked in mock seriousness, making the group laugh lightly.
As they rounded the corner, Erza suddenly spotted a family walking to their car; that in itself wasn't unusual. What WAS unusual was the little boy who seemed to be limping closely behind the family and appeared to be wearing clothes that were four sizes too big for him.
As Erza continued to watch the family, she began to notice other things about the family; the father was a rather large man with a wide mustache, while the woman was quite skinny and looked like a human-horse hybrid. The son was equally large and seemed to waddle after his father, but the limping boy looked almost impossibly thin, as though he hadn't eaten in some time. Erza's eyes narrowed as a suspicion began to plague her thoughts, which was amplified as she noticed a rather large bruise around the boy's neck that looked fresh.
As the family approached a rather expensive-looking vehicle, Erza stared in shock as the fat man roughly grabbed the boy and said something to him that made the boy pale instantly before throwing the child into the back seat and slamming the door behind him.
"Erza?" Natsu called, "Hey Erza! Earth to Erza!"
"What?" Erza said in surprise as she turned back to her friends, "What did you say?"
"I asked if you wanted to grab a bite to eat before we made our way back to the hotel? It's our last day here, so I'm thinking we should try that pub we saw earlier. The food looked good!"
"You go ahead," Erza replied, turning back to the fat man who was grumbling as he tried to get into his vehicle, "I have another matter to look into first."
"Is everything okay?" Lucy asked in a worried tone,
"I don't know," Erza replied softly, her eyes glued to the car, "I just have a bad feeling about the man in that vehicle; the child with him looked…like me."
"What do you mean?" Grey asked,
"He looked like I did as a child…. when I was abused and treated as a slave."
Natsu looked sharply at the car that had caught Erza's attention and a dark expression took over his face as he stared at it,
"Then we should follow them and see if you're right,"
Erza looked at Natsu with surprise for a moment before an expression of gratitude took over; without another word, the four hailed a taxi and began following the car as it drove back to wherever it was going.
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Harry Potter shivered as he sat quietly in the back seat, it had started off as such a good day, but now that it was over, he felt fear rise in him as they got closer to Privet Drive. The Dursleys had decided to take Dudley to London for the day, and because no sitter could be found to watch Harry, he'd been allowed to come.
It had been perhaps the best day of Harry's life with his adopted family; they went to a movie and then to an art gallery; even though Dudley complained endlessly, Harry had thoroughly enjoyed looking at the pretty pictures as he was rarely, if ever,, allowed to go anywhere with the Dursleys. In the five years that Harry had lived with them, he had never been allowed to go anywhere with his relatives; instead, he was kept hidden and only allowed out to do his chores or when his Uncle needed to beat him to relieve some stress or because he did something wrong.
Things had gone wrong, as they always did, towards the end of the day, however; the Dursleys had been eating lunch after the art gallery when Dudley decided he was still hungry and demanded that Harry hand over the meager sandwich that Vernon had been forced to buy him when the waiter asked what Harry would like.
Harry had been so hungry from lack of food that he had foolishly told Dudley no, resulting in Harry's cousin turning red with anger and attempting to snatch it from Harry's plate. Harry, in an act of desperation and hunger, had accidentally used "The Freaky Stuff" and caused Dudley to fly backward out of his chair.
His Uncle Vernon had immediately paid their bill and dragged Harry out of the restaurant; once they were outside, Vernon had told Harry that he would be receiving the worst beating of his life once they got home before roughly shoving the frightened boy into the car. Now Harry stared out the window at the passing city, desperately trying not to cry as they got closer to Privet Drive; he knew what would happen if he cried, the Dursleys hated it when he cried, and it would only make things worse if he did so.
When they finally pulled into the driveway of the Dursley's house, Harry nearly sobbed as he imagined what was about to happen to him; a moment later, he was ripped from the backseat and dragged inside by his Uncle before being thrown to the floor as Vernon slammed the door behind him. Dudley smirked down at Harry before making his way to the kitchen with Harry's Aunt Petunia, who sneered at her nephew before raising her nose in the air and following her son.
"Please," Harry said in a soft whimper, "I didn't mean to!"
"I don't care!" Vernon snarled as he took off his belt, "I take you into my house out of the goodness of my heart, and you attack my son in return?! This will teach you, freak!"
A moment later, the beating began, and Harry tried not to cry out as it would only make it worse; his resolve only lasted a few minutes before he begged his Uncle to stop.
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Erza scowled in disgust as she paid the taxi driver and looked at the house that the fat man and his family had just entered; every house was exactly alike, right down to the hedges, and it was disturbing, to be perfectly honest.
"Sheesh, this place is eerie," Natsu groaned as their taxi took off, "Everything is the same,"
"Looks like the sort of place a cult would live," Grey joked,
"Let's just do what we came here for and leave," Lucy said, "This place is giving me the creeps."
Before anything else could be said, a cry split the air, making the group stop in their tracks and stare in horror at the house in front of them; Erza suddenly sprinted to the window and looked inside to try and see what was happening, what she saw, however, was a nightmare.
The small boy she had seen earlier was being savagely beaten with a belt by the fat man; the boy was sobbing and begging for the man to stop, but the man seemed to be enjoying hurting the child and showed no sign that he would be stopping any time soon.
With a roar of outrage, Erza activated her armor, transforming the blue sun dress she had been wearing into her 'Heart Kreuz Armor' before smashing through the front door, making the fat man turn in shock just in time to see Erza's fist slam into his face and throw him off his feet and into the nearby wall.
A second later, she was holding the small child in her arms and gazing in horror at the injuries that the fat man had inflicted on him,
"Shh, it's okay," Erza said softly as she rocked the boy back and forth, "It's over now. He won't hurt you again, I promise."
"Erza, what are you doing!" Lucy yelled as she ran through the front door, closely followed by Natsu and Grey, "We're not allowed to use magic in front of the…. what are they called again?"
"Muggles," Grey responded, making Lucy nod,
"Yeah, them!" Lucy continued, "We could get into a lot of trouble for this!"
"I don't care!" Erza snarled, "Look! Look what they were doing to him!"
As Erza turned to her friends, they gasped in horror; the little boy was sobbing in Erza's arms and appeared to be covered in bruises from where the fat man had been beating him. Grey turned pale at the sight, while Lucy collapsed to her knees and began crying in horror; Natsu, on the other hand, looked PISSED and ready to murder someone, luckily there was someone available that was slowly climbing to his feet from where Erza had sent him flying.
"You did this to that little kid?!" Natsu spat in barely contained rage, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"I can do whatever I want with the little freak! He's my property!" The fat man spat back angrily, "Now, I don't know who you all are, but I demand you leave at once!"
"Please…." the little boy in Erza's arms whispered through his sobs, "Please don't leave me…."
"Don't worry, sweetheart," Erza whispered back, "We're not going anywhere."
"Property?!" Grey snarled, "He a kid, you jackass!"
"He's a freak!" The fat man snarled, "Left here by other freaks because no one else wants him! So, I'll do with him as I please! Now, hand him over and get out!"
"We're not leaving him here with you!" Lucy cried with angry tears as she jumped to her feet and stormed towards him, only to be held back at the last minute by Grey. "He's coming with us!"
Vernon roared in rage at that and attempted to charge at Lucy but was promptly sent flying through the living room wall by Natsu a moment later,
"Vernon? What's going on?" The horsewoman asked as she walked into the hallway before screaming in terror as she took in the four strangers in her house, followed by the sight of her husband lying unconscious in the living room after having been seemingly sent through the hallway wall.
"Who are you?!" Horsewoman shrieked, "What have you done to my husband?!"
"Just gave him a small taste of what he did to the kid," Grey responded angrily, "You hurt him too?"
Horsewoman paled at the words as Natsu turned his attention to her and took a step forward,
"Grey asked you a question, did you hurt the kid as well?"
"N-no…I….my husband is the one who would always punish the freak!"
"Don't call him that!" Lucy snarled as she backhanded the horsewoman and sent her sprawling to the ground, "He's a little boy who your husband nearly beat to death for no reason whatsoever!"
"This boy needs medical attention," Erza said as she rose to her feet, the child held carefully in her arms, "We're leaving,"
"Wait!" The boy said in a soft voice, "My deer!"
"Where is it, sweetie?" Erza asked softly; the boy weakly raised his hand and pointed at a small doorway at the foot of the stairs, which seemed to have a lock on the outside and made Erza narrow her eyes in suspicion as she approached.
"Stay out of there!" Horsewoman yelled as she tried to rise to her feet, only for Natsu to kick her in the chest and place his foot there, holding her down,
"I'd stay still if I were you!" Natsu growled, making the horsewoman pale as she watched Erza slowly open the cupboard.
Erza stared in horror as she looked into the cupboard; it was a horror show that reminded her of how she had been forced to live as a child, and it took her a moment to regain her composure.
The inside stunk of human excrement and dried blood; spots of blood dotted the interior floor, and in the far back lay a small cot, upon which sat a small stuffed stag. Careful not to drop the boy, Erza grabbed the stuffed animal, noticing a small message written on the wall in green crayon that read, "Harry's Room."
Horror ran through Erza as she pulled out of the tiny space and handed the stag to the little boy in her arms, who hugged it as tight as he could,
"Harry, is that your name?" Erza asked softly,
"Uh-huh," Harry sniffled,
"It's a good name," Erza replied softly as she ran a soft hand gently through his hair, "Is this where you sleep, Harry?"
Harry said nothing, just nodded, and Erza felt a wave of pure rage course through her as she turned to the horsewoman, who was still trapped under Natsu's foot and staring at Erza with fear.
"You are a disgusting piece of filth," Erza said in a cold voice, "You deserve to suffer every cruelty that you have inflicted upon this poor boy, and I shall make sure that you do!"
The horsewoman shook with terror at Erza's words and was about to respond when Natsu lifted his foot and brought it down on her head, with just enough force to knock her unconscious but not enough to kill her.
"Call the authorities," Erza said as she turned to Grey, "They must be made aware of these monster's activities."
"And the kid?"
"I'll not leave him here!" Erza answered as Harry fell asleep in her arms from fatigue and the pain of his wounds, "He comes with us!"
"But, what happens when the authorities ask about him?" Lucy asked softly, fresh tears running down her cheeks as she took in what lay in the cupboard,
"They will no doubt think that those beasts killed him," Erza responded simply, "Which will ensure that those monsters are giving their just rewards for what they have done."
"Are you sure about this?" Natsu asked, "Master Makarov won't be happy when we show up at Fairy Tail with a kid from earth."
"Once we tell him what happened here, he will understand, I'm sure," Erza replied as she gazed down sadly at the little boy in her arms, "Now, hurry up and make the call, Grey! This kid needs medical attention, and we must be gone before anyone sees us!"
Grey nodded and quickly made his way to the phone before making the call and hanging up a moment later,
"It's done; now, let's get out of here!"
The four quickly ran out of the door and across the street as sirens rang out in the distance; quickly, Lucy pulled a black key from her pocket and held it in the sky before shouting,
"RETURN!"
Instantly, all five disappeared in a blinding flash of light just as four police cars stopped in front of the Dursley's house; upon searching, the police found two unconscious adults and a terrified six-year-old who would tell them that monsters had attacked his parents before fleeing just before the police arrived. Further inspection of the house would reveal a nightmare of abuse that another little boy had been forced to endure at the hands of those who should have protected said boy. It would result in both adult Dursleys being sent to prison for child abuse and murder, though both would deny killing little Harry Potter, not that anyone believed them, that is.
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Far away in a castle in Scotland, an old man wearing purple robes and sporting a long white beard was reading a letter sent to him from the Minister of Magic when suddenly one of the many devices on his bookshelf let out a shrill whistle and promptly exploded.
Dumbledore immediately jumped to his feet and sprang to the device as the color left his face, leaving him looking pale and horrified; this particular device was created with a singular purpose, to monitor a small boy named Harry Potter and to inform Dumbledore if ever the boy should be in trouble. The fact that it had exploded told the aged wizard that not only was Harry in danger, but also he wasn't even on earth anymore!
Quick as a flash, Dumbledore apparated to Privet Drive in time to see Vernon Dursley being roughly shoved into the back of a Muggle police car as he shouted and raged incoherently. A moment later, Petunia Dursley was dragged kicking and screaming from her home by two police officers, likewise screaming incoherently.
Quickly using a spell to hide his appearance so that he looked like an ordinary Muggle in a business suit, Dumbledore approached one of the onlookers and asked,
"What happened?"
"Terrible thing," the woman replied sadly, "Those two supposedly have been abusing a poor boy who lived with them,"
Dumbledore went pale in horror and softly whispered, "No…."
"Oh yes," the woman replied, "And apparently tonight, they went too far."
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, fear evident in his voice,
"The police apparently found a cupboard where those two monsters were keeping the boy; the inside was covered in blood. They haven't found the body yet; they think that the Dursleys dumped the poor child somewhere."
Dumbledore felt as though he might faint as the words hit him like blows,
"H-how did they discover what was going on?"
"Anonymous tip, apparently," the woman replied, "Pity it didn't come sooner, though."
Dumbledore nodded before turning and hurrying away, Apparating back to Hogwarts once he was a safe distance from any witnesses. Once back, Dumbledore hurriedly rushed to a room that only the headmaster of Hogwarts was allowed to read, "The Book of Admittance," which held the names of every witch and wizard to ever be accepted to Hogwarts.
Quickly, Dumbledore turned the pages until he came to the year that Harry Potter was supposed to attend; Dumbledore felt a wave of relief course through him as he saw that the boy's name was still there, meaning that he was still alive. As the panic slowly began to leave his body, a troubling thought made its way into the old wizard's head, if Harry was still alive, then where was he? Perhaps the one who had called the Muggle police had taken the boy, and if that were the case, the child might still be in grave danger!
Quickly, Dumbledore made his way back to his office; he needed to summon 'The Order' immediately and send them out to search for Harry; it was Dumbledore's fault that the poor boy had been sent to live with the Dursleys, but he could hopefully rectify his mistake by finding Harry before something worse happened.
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Erza stared at the sleeping boy silently; the wizards of earth believed that the only way to enter or leave their world from Fiore was through the gate, and the Magic Council had been happy to let the fools in the Wizarding World believe that.
The truth, however, was that the people of Fiore had discovered not long after the gate appeared that they could leave earth whenever they wanted, as long as they had a special black key tied to Fiore's magic. When this key was used, along with a simple passcode unique to each holder, it would allow those of Fiore to leave earth anytime they chose, making the gate useless.
Upon arriving back in Fiore, Erza and the three others had immediately taken Harry to the nearest hospital, and the doctors had immediately taken Harry in for examination. Several hours later, the doctors returned and explained that Harry had suffered unimaginably at the hands of the fat man and the horsewoman.
Several of his bones had needed to be rebroken and properly set as they had healed in the wrong place. In addition, nearly eleven percent of the poor boy's body was covered in scar tissue from the years of abuse he had endured at the hands of those two monsters he had lived with. The more Erza heard, the angrier she became until, at last, the doctor thankfully stopped, and she was allowed to go and see Harry. Now she sat in the chair next to the boy's bed, silently staring at him, while Natsu, Grey, and Lucy sat next to each other, fast asleep on the room's only available couch.
Suddenly, Harry began to moan in his sleep and twitch violently, making Erza gently run her hand through his hair, which seemed to calm him; slowly, Harry's eyes opened, and he stared at Erza's red hair for a moment before whispering,
"Mummy?"
Erza felt her breath catch in her throat at that, but before she could answer, Harry had fallen back asleep, and Erza felt a sad smile spread across her face,
"It's okay, Harry," Erza said softly as she ran her hands through his hair, "Mummy's here, now."
With that simple statement, Erza made up her mind; she would adopt this boy and raise him as her own; she, more than anyone, knew what this boy had gone through, for she, too, had once been a slave and been beaten and abused.
Harry needed someone to love him and show him what it meant to be cared for, and Erza was determined to be that woman; as Erza gently stoked the boy's hair, she felt a wave of love course through her that had happy tears running down her face.
"Mummy's here, Harry," she whispered softly, making the boy smile and lean into her touch.
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Author's Note:
This idea came to me while I was working on the newest chapter for my other FanFic, "Under the Raven's wing," and it is one I would like to continue one day, but since I'm already working on four at the moment, I'm storing it here until I have a chance to return to it.
