"Are you sure this is wise Albus? Harry Potter not coming to Hogwarts is a travesty, his parents would have wanted him here among his own kind! Bad enough you sent him to those awful Muggles, but this is going too far! I have half a mind to write to take this to the governors -"

"Minerva, please calm down and let me explain." The Headmaster waited and only when he was sure Minerva had calmed herself sufficiently to listen did he begin.

"No one wants Harry here more than I, but not all Death Eaters went to Azkaban. He'd have to deal not only with fame which could go to any boy's head but with Voldemort's former followers, to say nothing of my own suspicions that we haven't seen the last of Voldemort. I'm sure he'll be happier and safer where he is."

"Lets give him a proper welcome boys!" The biggest and dumbest looking kid in Stonewall High sneered out, the group said advancing menacingly, or at least as menacingly as any kid could.

Harry ran, but unlike Dudley these boys were in a shape and not spherical and soon caught him. They didn't punch or kick him, just grabbing hold and carrying him, a limb per person taking him despite his struggles.

"No! Stop! Please-" He begged as he realized where they were headed.

"Shut up kid, everyone goes through this. Well, not me but come on, you're asking for it with those ratty clothes!" Harry knew he had a bit of a point, he knew the dyed elephant skin looking clothes would cause him nothing but trouble but it wasn't like his Aunt and Uncle would waste money on him more than they had to.

His head was pushed none-too-gently against the swinging door head first and he was panicking as he drew closer to the toilets, "No!"

He struggled harder as they drew closer and he felt it, that funny tingling sensation deep within him. The water in the bowl seemed to be boiling, only not as the water in the bowl rocketed up in a geyser causing three of the boys to let go of Harry.

Harry wrenched his arm free and was up like a shot running out of the bathroom before anyone could think to go after him, only realizing as he caught his breath in the stairway that was relieved to find he was bone dry.

He hoped his Aunt and Uncle didn't hear about this, they probably wouldn't with no Dudley to snitch- the boys could but they'd have to explain why they'd all been in the stall with him.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Harry wondered.

"Bully's will be bullies I guess, I saw that- it was awesome how the toilet bowl exploded in their face, how'd that happen anyway?" Harry was startled by the boy's voice spinning about wary but the boy held his hands up non-threateningly. It helped that he was actually shorter than Harry, he'd always been on the small side.

"Well?"

Startled, Harry realized he hadn't answered, "Um, well weird stuff happens around me, but I never do anything, honest!"

"If you say so. So what are you doing out here?"

"Avoiding some people I'd rather not see again. Er, what about you?"

"Same same, hey, you know we should stick together. Strength in numbers ya know, what do you say, friends?"

The boy's eyes widened- someone wanted to be his friend? "S-sure. I'm Harry."

The boy looked at him skeptically. "You don't look very hairy."

"No, that's my name." Harry gave the boy a funny glance not sure if he was being made fun of.

"Oh! I'm Ralph, nice ta meetcha."

That's when the bell chose to ring.

Saturday a knock on the door nearly caused Harry to fling the bacon out of the pan, luckily for his safety he managed to avoid that.

Since he was cooking and only because of that his Aunt huffed and went to answer the door herself. He heard her piercing voice and tried to tune it out knowing it would be no good, trying his best to crush the small amount of hope he held.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? No he may not! Because the no-good fr- he's a trouble maker and is being punished. I don't care if you made plans, yes yes, go!" Harry's stomach fell, he'd told Ralph he couldn't do anything with him out of school but that hadn't stopped Ralph's attempts.

His Aunt practically stomped back in the kitchen and he practically felt the glare drilling into his back. As soon as he was done cooking he felt his ear being painfully pulled and he winced and bit back a yelp. He wanted desperately to try and get her to stop but he knew if he did he'd be punished even worse, and as it was he was painfully dragged to the cupboard and shoved in, all the while his Aunt was on a tirade about "Good for nothing bringing trouble down on us, no good person would want to be your friend as you well know! You aren't to speak to that thug of a boy again! Maybe a day or two in there to think about what you have done wrong will fix you!" The door to the cupboard was slammed shut and Harry had to fight to keep in his tears, it just wasn't fair.

"Hey Harry- whoa, you're not looking so good, you okay to be going to school?" Ralph asked worried as Harry felt sluggish, two days without food or water and only a piece of burnt toast and glass of water weren't good he knew.

"Y-yeah, I can't go back, my- they wouldn't be happy. You.. You shouldn't talk to me anymore, my Aunt doesn't want me to be friends with you. I'm sorry." Harry's heart broke as he saw how upset the other boy was, and how angry, and he ran.

Harry did his best to avoid Ralph and everyone, no matter how many times Ralph tried to talk to him getting angrier and angrier.

It was on Halloween that everything went wrong.

Harry hated Halloween, it was a day that Dudley wanted to play the most tricks on him other than April First. This year at least Dudley was away to boarding school, but he didn't hold out hope that he'd get anything but dirty looks if he were to ask for so much as an M&M.

Then in between classes he saw a group of boys shoving Ralph around laughing even as he tried getting away.

Harry winced, thinking about how badly this was going to hurt, but he wouldn't be talking to Ralph, his... Okay, so he knew that his Aunt and Uncle would punish him anyway, they'd find an excuse but he couldn't do nothing!

He was half way there when the large lumbering beast so tall his hair brushed the ceiling came from around the corner. The misshapen gray-skinned thing that looked vaguely human took a deep sniff before grinning and raising his club nearly as long as Harry was tall, and brought it down on the kid nearest.

Harry nearly puked when the kid's skull practically exploded in a vapor of green mist of all things, but kept running forward even as the others gaped shaking. One screamed and started backing up which broke the others out of their trance and they scattered running. Harry was sure it was a trick of his eyes that the others briefly looked extremely thin green things.

Then he raised his club to the only kid that had remained, Ralph.

"No!"

He finally reached Ralph and grabbed his arm pulling him away just as the club descended down causing the floor tiles to shatter.

He didn't stop running pulling along Ralph, the creature with the club lumbering after them occasionally smashing a locker or door with it. Worse, it was gaining on them.

"The stairs! LEFT!"

Harry didn't hesitate rushing into the stairway and was about to head down when Ralph screamed "Up!"

Harry figured it didn't much matter, and the door that had closed behind them smashed open after a few steps up.

The narrow staircase proved a boon as the creature was slowed down significantly.

"Stop! I can't go on!"

Grunting Harry refused, managing to pull Ralph onto his shoulder, reserves of strength he didn't even know he had coming to the fore. Even as Ralph struggled to find something in his pockets Harry was slamming into the door on the top story and it burst open.

"Left! The classroom!" Ralph's advice had been good so far, he decided it wouldn't be any worse than running even further- there was only one set of stairs and he didn't like his chances going out a window.

"Set me down, quick!"

Harry did and Ralph quickly checked all his pockets before pulled something out and holding it out. "Here! It's not much but it's all I've got!"

"What?" Harry asked taking the circular gold keychain with plastic keys attached worried 'Did I accidentally hit Ralph's head against a wall?'

"Press the middle of the round thing with a finger! Hurry up, it's a-" The door smashed open and Harry decided to trust Ralph, at least he'd have a good story to tell in the afterlife.

Then the circular keychain expanded out into a golden gleaming shield just in time as the troll moved to strike. Harry managed to grab the handle on the back of the shield and get it up just in time for the troll to swipe his club into it, and Harry was sent rocketing away into the wall harder than he'd ever been thrown into the cupboard, the shield clattering to the floor.

"Get up! Hurry!" Groggy and coughing, wincing at the pain Harry managed to extract himself from the indent he'd made in the cheap school wall, picking up his shield. He was just in time to see the lumbering giant beast winding up his club straight up smashing a sprinkler which set them all off, then smashing a desk which Ralph had been hiding under. Ralph managed to leap into another leaving a shoe behind revealing something shiny and black but the creature was raising his club again.

"No!" Harry threw the shield and it struck the club with a reverberating clang that sent it out of his hand even as it smashed it down. The beast blinked at the undestroyed desk, scratching his hand with the one that held the club, before suddenly a look of confusion overcame it. Looking at his hand he tilted his hand before shrugging, winding up a punch.

Harry ran wincing when he saw the shield was on the other side of the classroom.

Ralph tried kicking away but with one shoe gone he found little purchase and didn't get all the way out of the desk in time as it covered him in wood. "Ralph!"

The troll was lifting it's foot to crush the struggling boy even as Harry reached the troll, and looking about there was nothing he could use but that, and even it was too heavy not too mention too far away.

Harry gasped as he felt the strange sensation within him as he wished for something to help and the club flew towards him. He barely managed to catch it and hurriedly swung it at the beast that was preparing to stomp down with all it's might, surprised it was working.

Club met foot and the lumbering beast was unbalanced, and Harry kept spinning hitting the troll's chest with little force, but it was enough to send the creature crashing down into floor which gave out, the beast screaming as it fell before all was silent.

AN: Since I don't foresee myself continuing this, Harry Potter in this is not the son of Poseidon despite the foreshadowing. He's actually a son of Hercules. I would have had them take a ship and end up on a nightmare of a journey to reach Camp Half-Blood as Poseidon hates Hercules in mythology.