So, this is probably the most important chapter of this story. Important in terms of setting up Harry's future character motivations, some more of the political stuff and progressing the story away from this runaway stuff.

*Gulp* No pressure or anything…

(November 11th, Galena Outskirts)

"Infuse, now!" shouted Burmog.

Harry grit his sharpened teeth as he focused everything he had on moving the 10-foot tall boulder. He channeled his magic into the boulder before him until it almost felt like an extension of himself. Burmog's first lesson had been to emphasize the necessity of 'infusing' your magic into an object in order to make more powerful effects easier to perform.

After five or so seconds he could tell he had reached that point and urged his magic to lift the rock a foot off the ground. He only managed to hold it aloft for a good twenty seconds before the strain on his magic became too much and he dropped it with a dull thud in a clearing. Harry fell to the ground, not because he was physically tired, but using magic this way left him mentally drained from having repeated this exercise for the better part of the last three hours. All things considered, it was rather like a bad migraine.

"Not bad, Potter. You've about reached the level of a six-year old goblin," Burmog said.

"Gee, thanks…" Harry muttered.

In the first week of his practice with Burmog, he had barely managed to make the stone budge. Now nearly a month later he did feel he was improving, but Burmog wasn't a fan of plain old praise. He much preferred to kick him while he was down, a trait that annoyingly reminded him of Dudley. It didn't help that they would occasionally play a goblin version of hide-and-seek that was a bit too similar to 'Harry-Hunting'. What was worse about this was Burmog sprung a new stipulation on Harry before he would start teaching him. There would be no teaching unless Harry looked the part, meaning he had to shapeshift into a goblin while he was taught.

"Alright, that's 'nuff being a layabout. It's time to work on fortification magic," he said with a wide smile, or what Harry supposed must be the goblin-equivalent of one. The pointed teeth and slanted eyes made for a nasty expression.

"Uhg, I hate this one," he mumbled.

Unfortunately, goblin hearing allowed Burmog to pick up what he said.

"Don' matter. If you want me to teach you magic you'll learn it the goblin way and be thankful for the honor of it." It was a common back-and-forth between them. "Learn by doing I always say."

Fortification magic was the spell combination the goblins used to stabilize mine shafts that became unsafe. It involved applying a Sticking Charm to the unstable rock and then casting a Gorgon Curse onto the rock that had been stuck together. Given goblin mining involved magically pulling various metals and minerals from the mines, they couldn't very well cast the charms before they removed the desired material. The magical mines they extracted from sprouted new ore veins in different locations every few days so there wasn't anything to be done.

As if on cue, the goblins Gorlunk and Gatz walked into the clearing of the forest outside of Galena that Harry was learning at.

"Is Potty ready for his thrashing?" Gatz said happily.

"Just look at 'im. He's so excited by the prospect he's positively outta breath," Gorlunk answered.

Gatz placed both hands the ground and transformed the dirt around Harry into a pit of sand. Gorlunk followed suit and raised surrounding Harry until he was barred from escape by the four tree-high sand walls the goblin erected to block him in.

Atop the structure with his legs over the side was their group's leader, Burmog, who levitated himself to the top to watch Harry as usual.

"Begin!" he shouted in Gobbledygook to his subordinates and to Harry.

At Burmog's command, the two other goblins began to encircle the sand while sending out Gouging Hexes at random portions of the walls to blow out sand on top of Harry. Harry's objective was to last for a full five minutes without allowing the sand to reach his waist by levitating the falling sand into an open portion of the wall and then use the Sticking Charm to bind the clump to one of the sand walls.

As the sand began to pour down upon him, Harry had a vision of himself with sand up to his neck, as if he were a very confused ostrich…

While the Potter boy was engaged in his speed trial, a third goblin came up behind Burmog to ask a sate his curiosity.

"I'm all for keeping a kid's nose to the grindstone Burmog, but don't you think you're being a bit too tough on him?" Urag asked.

The mine foreman snorted at the question. "If he had been anyone else, I might've agreed with you. Hell, I wouldn't have believed him if I hadn't slipped some Veritaserum into the water we gave him afterwards. Being a Metamorphmagus made things tricky, but there's not a child alive who could learn any serious Occlumency."

"So, what, he's Harry Potter so we gotta give 'im what he wants? Ain't that at odds with tearing down his confidence?"

"Hardly," Burmog responded. "No, I'm being hard on him because the way he's learned magic so far has made misled him about about it."

"How d'you figure? From his story he worked pretty hard to pick up what he has," Urag replied.

"He thinks it's too easy, Urag. Since his life and freedom depended on him learning it, Coarsecasting became second nature to him. From what I could gather the only spell he had any real trouble with was Apparition, and even then that might've been 'cause he was scared of splinching himself or getting caught. When something becomes that intuitive it's intensely difficult to shake one's perception of it."

Burmog folded his arms as he watched Harry having difficulty keeping up with Gatz & Gorlunk's Gouging Charms. "If he doesn't develop a proper respect for how hard magic is, he might not keep trying to better himself on account of assuming it's easy to do. If you can do it all, why bother?"

"Eh, but there's plenty of arrogance among wand bearers. Why's he gotta have special attention paid to humble him?" Urag inquired in annoyance. Urag didn't dislike the Potter boy, but he was uncomfortable treating him as a goblin without good reason. Goblins and humans had shaky relations for most of recorded history, going against the grain in this way almost felt like an admission of inferiority.

"Because he's got a bloody Dark Lord out for him," Burmog hissed. "One who, I might remind you, didn't give two shits about murdering friends of mine in Nottingham."

Urag shut his mouth at this. 'How could I have forgotten about that. Damn…' he thought. Burmog had been driven to heavy drinking for weeks when he got the news that his oldest friend had been killed along with his wife and children.

"There's not a chance in hell You-Know-Who won't be out for revenge once he slithers back to prominence; they never did find his body. I don't have the magical know-how to prepare him for that confrontation, but I can at least set him up to save our necks again," he said grimly.

Urag grunted in agreement. "You gonna inform anyone about where he is?"

Burmog shook his head. "Someone's bound to notice he's missing eventually, I'll point 'em in the right direction when they do."

Harry, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. This was the one place where he could really let loose with his magic and feel like he wasn't keeping a part of him suppressed. For whatever, the No-Fun Police didn't come to bother him even when he user lots of magic in Galena. He had thought about asking Burmog why, but thought better of it. No sense in spoiling a good thing.

The two goblins blasted out chunks of sand from two opposing walls simultaneously. Harry pointed a hand at each scattering of sand separately and magically stuck together as much of it as he could, though a fair amount of the stuff ended up on his hair and face. Replacing it in the wall was a much trickier task. If he made the magic too strong, larger chunks of sand would be dislodged once that area was blasted inwards again. But if it was too weak, the Sticking Charm would fail completely, quickly filling up the pit he was in. And all the while, Gorlunk and Gatz would periodically add more work to do, so he couldn't stay preoccupied with single sections for too long.

This process continued for what seemed like ages to Harry before four holes appeared unexpectedly, one on each wall; Harry knew he'd lost immediately, he just wasn't fast enough.

Gatz and Gorlunk lowered the rest sand tomb that blocked Harry in, revealing the boy to have transformed back into a human and fallen on his behind. The sand covered his entire torso, so Burmog wasn't surprised the boy looked irritated with sand bothering his unmentionables.

Between the loud guffaws of he and his fellow goblins, Burmog said to Urag "And having the Boy-Who-Lived owe you a favor ain't a bad deal!"

Harry glared at them. "You guys are meanies."

"Yea well, the world ain't nice kid. Might as well toughen up with us and learn that now," Gatz said. "Stick with us and you'll at least have a shot at makin' it."

Harry contemplated what the goblin said for a few moments before letting loose a jet of water from his hand. The water hit Gatz in the head, knocking him onto his own backside.

"Thanks for the pep talk," Harry said happily. Harry might have been annoyed at having failed to pass these goblin rites of passage, but success seemed inevitable. Magic just made sense to him in a way that he couldn't describe.

'And if Burmog is right that some loony Voldy-whatsit is after me, I need be really really brilliant at magic,' Harry thought excitedly.

While Harry and Gatz began to wrestle in the clearing for their respective payback, none noticed their Disillusioned onlooker and the cruel smile his face after he spotted Harry from the dense trees that surrounded them.

(November 17th, Ministry of Magic, Dept. Of Magical Education)

Narcissa had spent a considerable portion of her day dealing with the complications relating to a whole different species seeking to attend existing human magical education centers. She was not a member of the department herself, but as a member of the Hogwarts's Board of Governors she was often called upon when various policy issues were pending. Yet, she had also managed to get another witch to agree to Lucius's proposal over lunch.

Talking of the devil, Lucius approached her briskly as she walked out the doors to the department.

"Any luck persuading Amelia?" he asked anxiously as they entered the empty lift. Amelia Bones was a witch of extraordinary power, one Lucius recalled even the Dark Lord having respect for. Her presence among the members of the coven and her position so the head of the DMLE would be an tremendous boon. But equally so, she'd make for dreadful opposition.

"She was not difficult to reason with, unsurprisingly. Most of her father's family and both of her siblings were wiped out by the Dark Lord's forces. She knows better than anyone how vulnerable we all are," Narcissa replied. "And I confess, I made liberal mention of young Susan, though in hindsight that could have backfired. You know how proud she can be." Lucius nodded in obvious relief.

"Cedrella has agreed to join the family coven as well. She'd rather not lose any more family the way she did Fabian and Gideon," Lucius said. He nervously glanced at his wife before venturing onward. "Has Andromeda replied to any of your letters? It's been weeks now."

Narcissa let out an exaggerated sigh. "If she had I wouldn't still be nervous about this scheme of yours panning out," she said angrily. "I doubt she'll ever forgive me for laying into her for marrying that Muggleborn, Tonks. I'm shocked she hasn't replied with a Howler, at the very least."

As they exited the lift into the Ministry atrium, Lucius volunteered a solution. "Perhaps allow me to make the arrangements then. We've not really spoken, but Edward doesn't strike me as the type who wishes his wife to remain estranged with her sister, if at all possible."

"Do you think it will do any good?" Narcissa asked wistfully as the two proceeded to Floo back to Malfoy Manor. "I can't stand these walls we've put between us…"

Upon their arrival, Lucius answered, "Well I may need to risk dropping Harry's name to get the ball rolling with Edward. No matter what bad blood may remain between us, Andy isn't the type to wish to leave him without a safe home."

(2 Days Later, Tonks residence)

Andromeda Tonks sat across the table from her younger sister and brother-in-law with her jaw clenched as she stared down Narcissa, who seemed to be doing her level best to keep a neutral expression. Lucius has attempted to start a conversation with pleasantries and broad questions to give the Black sisters something to build off of. The room quickly went quiet as Andromeda seemed to adamantly refuse to engage with Narcissa.

'If she thinks I'm just going to forget it all she has another thing coming.' Andromeda's anger was building to a breaking point just sitting across from her sister.

Edward "Ted" Tonks return to the table with the tea he had left to retrieve for the four occupants. No one made a move to drink any, however.

'Hm, maybe I should have brought out the wine instead' Ted thought. A bit of alcohol might loosen things up a bit…'

Realizing they were wasting time, Lucius progressed his efforts beyond small talk. "Andy, listen, we obviously didn't come to dilly-dally. We've come to request your assistance with an urgent matter."

Andromeda replied, "Thanks Lucius, I'm well aware this isn't a social call. What I'm not aware of is why you two believe I would ever want to assist you."

"Andy, I know what I said was off-base but-" Narcissa began.

"Off-base?! You called my marriage to Ted a 'disgusting watering down of noble blood'. You didn't show the least bit of contrition after Nymphadora was born either. So why in Morgana's name should I not hex you until you leave my house in painful boils?" she asked fiercely.

"I-"

"What could have changed that you think would incline me in the slightest to help you?" she continued.

"I became a mother and my son isn't safe!" Narcissa cried out.

"Do you have any idea- what?" she said uncertainly.

Narcissa took a steadying breath before answering. "It's not a story that would make the front page of the Prophet since there's no visible damage, but the Manor has been attacked several times over the last seven years. Do you think we would be fine after Lucius gave up names to Crouch? The wards protecting the Manor are strong but the attackers are getting bolder."

Andromeda looked uncomfortable and more subdued than moments before.

"Did you know Lucius had to request a dedicated Hit Wizard to watch over Draco while he's at primary school? Just the other day there was an unknown wizard caught trying get to our boy at his school," she said, nearly hysterical as she recalled Lucius informing her about the incident earlier that week.

"Cissa, I'm sorry. I wasn't-"

"I'm not saying Lucius and I don't get anything out of asking for your help. But our primary concern is our family."

Andromeda breathed in and out slowly for several moments before responding. "I'll hear you out but I'm not guaranteeing anything until I know more."

Narcissa nodded. "We wish to make a Covenant with Morgana to call upon her protection."

"...You mean to establish a family coven?" she said in bewilderment. "Is that really necessary? It could go horribly wrong."

"I wasn't sold on it at first either, but Lucius convinced me. There's more than just the immediate well-being of our Draco to think about. Did Ted tell you what one of Lucius's contacts informed us?"

Andromeda eyed Ted briefly, who had been watching the exchange as one might watch an impending car crash. A terrible sight, yes, but one you just can't tear your eyes from. Ted just sipped his team and gestured to Narcissa to continue.

"We learned that one Harry Potter has been living on the streets in Brixton."

She might as well have dropped bomb given the sputtering fish-out-of-water expression Andromeda's face broke into.

"Wait, the Harry Potter? Are you sure?" she asked.

Narcissa pulled out a photo and laid it before her older sister. "Isabelle Gibbon sent this along with the letter she sent me. She spoke to Harry in Galena last month, he was going under a false name. Lucius had some of his underlings at the Intelligence and Security Committee look into it. The surname he gave matched that of a Muggle family who were his legal guardians." She paused for a moment. "He's been missing since June, according to Muggle records."

"What's being done about this?" Andromeda asked. "Surely Dumbledore is…"

Lucius reentered the conversation at this point. "Oh I'm certain Dumbledore is trying to get the boy back quietly. The problem is he was just begging for this to happen when he put a boy who miraculously vanquished a Dark Lord into the hands of Muggles who were abusing him," he said nastily.

Andromeda's expression became fierce at this, prompting Lucius to elaborate.

"Based on the information I was given, these Dursleys - while being Lily Potter's remaining muggle relatives - had the boy locked in a cupboard and half starved. When they were forced to report the boy's disappearance, an investigation turned all this up. They were soon declared unfit parents and lost custody of their own child as well. Dumbledore put him there, and as far as I can tell, made no effort to check up on him over the years."

"OK, I can see your point. But why go to the bother of a family coven. Surely Narcissa could petition to become Harry's guardian and place a Fidelius to shield you?"

"How did that work out for the Potters?" Lucius asked bluntly. "The Fidelius provides an unparalleled protection, I will grant you that," Lucius said. "And yes, you cannot magically force or trick the Keeper into giving the Secret up. But it has one major flaw, as the Dark Lord proved. It is only strong if you can guarantee your Secret-Keeper won't give you up voluntarily. It can be as simple as threatening someone your Keeper loves and they'll hand you over nearly every time. After all, how many people would pick their friends lives, even the best of friends, over their family's?"

Andromeda's eyes widened and began looking rather distraught. "A-are you saying that's what happened with Sirius? That You-Know-Who threatened to hurt me and Nymphadora to force his hand?"

"Who's to say. Save for the Dark Lord himself, no Death Eater knew all of our number. I can only say I never caught wind that Sirius was a member and he never seemed the type," Lucius explained. "Once the Dark Lord returns we'll need every advantage we can. His influence continues to expand in several foreign countries despite his incapacitation, though I know not how."

"Even so, Dumbledore can call on the Order again. They're prepared this time should he come bac-" she began.

Lucius knew it was time to press his advantage to make Andromeda see sense.

"Andy, look. I may have been Imperiused at the time, but I wasn't blind. The Order wasn't prepared last time and they won't be this time, not at the scale they would need to be," he said with a slight edge to his voice as he recalled the years he spent under the Dark Lord's puppetry. "Dumbledore was the only threat to the Dark Lord. We were slaughtering the Order. The McKinnons, most of the Bones, the Potters, you name them. Dumbledore and Moody aside, the Order was more of an annoyance than real opposition. We can't count on another miracle to save us next time. Well, not that sort of miracle anyway."

Ted and Andromeda shared a meaningful look until she grasped Ted's hand beneath the table. "I won't lie, I'm not sure I can up and forgive you on the spot after the things you said. But I'll join in. As a known 'blood traitor', we'll have a target on our backs as well, and Harry needs his family." Narcissa reached for her sister's hand to signal she would try to make up for her actions.

"Do we even have enough willing witches for this to work? Calling on Morgana's power will require thirteen Blacks no further 3 generations removed from the dominant line."

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "We're not imbeciles you know. We didn't wait for you before we got started. Eight have already agreed to form the coven. Even Bones acknowledged the sensibility of the move."

Andromeda whistled in appreciation. "You convinced Amelia? Then this may just work. Who else did you have in mind?"

Lucius conjured a small piece of paper with the names of the eligible Black witches. There were dozens of names listed, eight of which had been magically moved to the top away from the rest. Andromeda smiled as she saw her name move join them, raising it to nine of the needed thirteen. The last name on the list of eligible Blacks left Andromeda laughing into Ted's shoulder.

"You might as well cross Molly of the list. She and Arthur can barely stomach the sight of you two," she said between the giggles.

"We're just keeping all our options open, Andy," Narcissa stressed before mumbling, "Not like I want to be around the overbearing do-gooder anyway…"

"And McGonagall, well, she'd at least hear out before tossing you out on your arse. Her father was a Catholic priest wasn't he?"

"I'm thinking your cousin Lyra and aunt Verona are our best bets," Lucius said to move things along. "They were never much for the blood purity movement, even if Verona was married off to the Selwyns."

Ted nodded. "Lyra seems a sensible choice. She was always quite taken with the Dark Arts. Heard she got job at St. Mungo's, Spell Damage Ward unless I'm mistaken?"

"That's right," Narcissa said. "A kindred spirit among our number is more likely to persuade Morgana into becoming the family goddess."

"Aren't we forgetting something though?" Andromeda asked. "To even begin the process of enacting a Coven-bonding Ritual we'd need to give up something substantial as an offering, something like the Black Grimoire. And last I checked that was locked up in the Grimmauld Place before Walburga died. No one but Sirius can get in."

"We should be able to get around that. Think about it. Walburga disowned you and Sirius, and Bella's mind is too incoherent in Azkaban, so the most 'loyal' Black whose call Kreacher would respond to is mine, isn't it?"

Andromeda smiled at Walburga's assumption of Narcissa's complicity working in their favor. "Why don't you give it a try, Cissa?"

Harry was leaning on Mitchell's shoulders as he and Cameron assisted him back to their home. He was too out of it to metamorph, so he settle for a hat to hide his appearance, at least enough that anyone still looking for him wouldn't recognize him at a glance.

"I hope you get better at this soon James. I'm glad to lend a hand and all, but half-carrying you across town isn't the kind of workout I enjoy," Cam said.

"Don't you worry, I'll be like Doctor Strange in no time. But after Burmog's trials, my magic's too strained for Apprachution," Harry replied.

"Appra-what? Is that a real word?" Mitchell asked dubiously.

Harry shrugged. "That's what they called it. Probably a silly goblin thing, they have their own gobbly language." His stomach gave a pronounced rumbling that the three could hear over the sounds of Brixton in the evening. "Uhg, if only I weren't so hungry. They tried to give me a chocolate frog as a 'reward' for hard work. Can you believe them? I'm not eating a frog, yummy or not" he said defiantly.

As the three continued through town to pick up Gwen from her new job on the way home, Harry began to think about what Burmog had told him the other week about the bad man that killed his family.

'I wonder why he wanted to hurt us so badly... Wait, maybe my parent were superheroes. Yeah, that's why he wanted us gone, cause he was a villain,' he thought sadly. Seeing photos of his parents had been a real delight for Harry. The Dursleys had never let him see what they looked like, which didn't surprise him since they also lied about how they died. 'And on top of that, I'm famous in the magic world? Why does it have to be me? Am I a weirdo even to other magic people?'

Waving of those sad thoughts for the time being, Harry looked up when he heard the loud engine of a sportscar barreling up the empty road beside them. Harry watched as it sped past them up Brixton Hill towards the shopping centre, seemingly intent on beating the traffic light. Harry would have thought nothing of it had he not seen what lay ahead.

A young girl had begun running across the crosswalk, oblivious to the red-colored doom that was headed her way at breakneck speeds. Despite finally hearing the sports car's brakes screeching in a desperate attempt to avoid the child just ahead of them, Harry began acting quickly.

He shook off Cam and Mitch and Apparated to the girl's location. Although he managed to make the jump, he collapsed against her upon arrival due to overusing magic throughout the day.

"Eep!" squealed the brown-haired girl. In her surprise, Harry felt a strong stinging on his chest that caused him to push off of her to make it stop. Her shock at Harry's sudden appearance changed to fear when she saw the car about to slam into them. Harry made one last attempt to Apparate them away after grabbing her by the elbow.

The two were sucked into the enveloping darkness that accompanied Apparition. Although Harry managed to get the magic to work, he could tell he hadn't quite done it properly the moment they reached the first destination that came to mind. They landed in the living room of the apartment Harry and his friends took up shelter in. A sharp pain on Harry's left breast was explained quickly: He looked under his shirt to discover that he had left a nipple behind due to his hasty teleportation.

"Well, damn, that looks funny," he said before passing out from magic overuse.

The girl Harry had saved had been busy emptying her dinner onto the floor of the apartment, which made her even more irritable when she turned to see the boy unconscious.

"Oh we just had to go visit Mum's friends today, didn't we..." she complained.

(Hogwarts, Evening)

McGonagall's mirror was buzzing about in her pocket. She had retired to her room for the evening to grade some schoolwork from the day, so hopefully whoever it was provided her a much needed distraction.

Upon answering the call, Alastor Moody's face appeared onscreen.

"Minerva, glad someone bothers being on-call," he said gruffly.

Before she could ask why he was contacting her so late, Moody said, "I've got a lead on him Minerva."

That caught her attention. "Where?"

"I got word from one o' Dung's contacts that someone fitting his description has been spotted sneaking around Galena consistently the past couple o' weeks. But there's more," he said in a bemused tone.

"Did something happen?" McGonagall asked frantically. "Is he hurt or something?"

"Nothing quite like that as far as I know. But you know how Shacklebolt has had a special eye paid to activity on the Muggleborn Trace in the Brixton area? It picked up a Stinging Hex from a little Muggleborn girl - one Miss Granger if I'm not mistaken - about twenty minutes back. The squad that got to the scene found the girl's parents in a right state," he said. "Some mad muggle was speeding down the street when their daughter was crossing the road."

"My word, did she survive?" McGonagall asked sadly. She recalled helping to give the Grangers their primer on the magical world after the Ministry detected their child performing magic a few years prior. The girl was as intellectually precocious as she had seen; it was a travesty to lose one so promising that way.

"That's just it, the girl was unharmed as far as anyone can tell. They didn't get a good look, but someone that looked about her age rescued the girl using Disapparition. It's hardly proof, but I've just got a hunch it was the kid," Moody said determinedly.

"Alastor, please find him. If one of Mundungus's 'friends' gave you that information, there's no telling who else might know."

"Aye, don't worry Minerva, I've been cooking up something for when I got the boy's scent. The damn thing is too sensitive to be called reliable, but I think the enchantment is about as good as it's gonna… ah well, you don't need to know the details. I'll call back if there's news," he said. His face disappeared from her mirror, leaving McGonagall in quite the state herself.

The feeling of someone prodding his face accompanied Harry's foray back to consciousness. He tried opening his eyes, to partial success. The world was a haze, blurred and bright in the evening light that came in through the window of the apartment. As his vision began to clear, Harry saw what he initially mistook as an overgrown beaver staring at him haughtily. As his sight cleared, he realized it was a young girl with long, wildly curly hair and, indeed, rather large front teeth. Well, he could at least appreciate that someone else had uncontrollable hair too.

"Ugh, did you catch the plates of the car that ran me over..." he said as he lifted himself from the ground.

"Awake are you? Would you like to explain why brought me here? And who are you?" Beaver Girl asked.

"You know, a thank you would be nice. I did just stop you from being flattened," he said, almost regretting his actions.

Thankfully however, the girl seemed to realize that Harry had prevented her from going to an early grave. She flushed a bit before saying "Oh, I'm ever so sorry. Thank you for saving me. I was just a bit cross for being snatched up so suddenly."

"It's OK, I didn't have a lot time to think about it beforehand," Harry said nervously. He wasn't much used to speaking with kids his own age, especially these days.

"Wait a minute,how did you do take us here? Are you magic, like me?" she asked while looking at him in wonder. "Who are you?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "You can do magic too? I've never met another magic kid!" he said in excitement. "I Appratuted us, it's pretty nifty."

"It was a shock to me too. All that weird stuff began happening, and then suddenly some government types showed up at our house to explain things," the girl said in comparable excitement. "I didn't know anyone was allowed to Apparate until they had their license. Oh, I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger." She held out her hand to him.

"Funny name. My name is Harry Potter," he said as he shook her hand. 'She really likes to talk,' he thought in amusement.

The girl gasped. "Are you really? You're really famous you know." She moved his long bangs back and saw the famous scar on his forehead, just as the books said.

Harry ruffled his hair a bit. 'So I really am famous. Oh great...' he thought. 'Why me...'

"Yea, that's me," he said quietly.

The girl tilted her head a bit and said, "If you're Harry Potter then what are you doing here? I thought you lived in the Muggle world?"

'They even know where I live?' Harry thought in exasperation.

"I ran away months ago. My aunt and uncle… well, they didn't like magic, so they didn't want me around and I didn't want to stay. So I left," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But, Harry, that's crazy. You can't grow up homeless, who takes care of you. How do you eat?"

"It's no big deal, I just nick food from shops around town. I tried to make it with magic but it didn't work for some reason."

"You steal? But, isn't that against the law?" Hermione asked.

"I-I guess. But I've got to eat somehow, don't I?" he said after crossing his arms. "It's easy to judge when you have probably have parents that don't throw you in the cupboard."

Hermione shifted uneasily at that statement, and she didn't know how to respond without seeming too high and mighty.

"I didn't mean it to come across that way." She chewed her lower lip a bit, a nervous habit of hers. "Um, so, does anyone know you're gone? As famous as you are, I'd expect to see your name in the wizarding newspapers."

"I wouldn't know, I don't really talk to many wizards, just goblins mostly," Harry said. The goblins were easier to talk to, you never really had to wonder what they thought of you. They were rather curt beings.

Before the conversation could progress further, Mitchell walked into the room.

"Mitch, there you are!" Harry said with a grin. "Look, I found another magic kid, like me!" he said, pointing at Hermione.

The girl gave a small wave at the two. "Hi..." she said weakly.

Mitchell didn't respond though. In fact, the more Harry watched him the odder her seemed. He had tense shoulders and looked to be in a sort of daze, as if he couldn't even see Hermione.

"Harry Potter," Mitchell said in an oddly flat tone. "If you wish to see your little Muggle friends alive, you'll follow this body to my location. Tell no one where you are going or your friends are history."

"W-what?" Harry said. "Is this some kind of joke Mitch? Well it's not very funny. Gwen was right, leave that to Cam."

"You have one hour or these two are dead," was all Mitchell said in response before he began to walk out of the apartment.

After he had left, the two kids stared at each other in shock.

"Harry, is he going to be…" Hermione began.

Harry shook his head. "I'll get to the bottom of this, don't worry." He realized something first. "Oh wait, I should probably take you back to your parents."

Hermione nodded and looked at her watch. "Oh no, my parents must be be so worried, it's been 45 minutes," she said.

"Don't worry, I can magic us there now that I'm all rested," he said confidently. And with that, he popped the two away before he made to follow after Mitchell.

(30 Minutes later, Night)

It had taken Harry a short time to find Mitchell after dropping Hermione off near her parents, who had stayed near the scene of almost-crime. The young girl promised not to say who had whisked her away provided he made her a promise in return.

"Would you be friends with me?" she asked. "I don't have any friends at school," she said anxiously.

Harry smiled. "Of course! I didn't have any friends at my school either," he said. Hermione had responded with a tight hug that left him a bit winded before she ran out of the alleyway they were in.

"Goodbye Harry! I hope your friends are OK!"

Harry waved at her as she left, and turned his attention to the more pressing matter.

After finding him, Mitchell had walked Harry to a construction site quite far away and continued on into the unfinished building present there. Harry was rather nervous about the whole thing, but followed anyway since Cameron was still nowhere to be seen.

Upon entering the building, Harry saw Cameron at the end of the room they had walked into. Cameron was in the same daze that Mitchell was; Mitchell walked in and stood beside Cameron. A loud crack echoed into the room to signal the entrance of some unknown figure. Harry itched his arm, afraid at what the mysterious man planned to do.

The strange man seemed to be a bit hunchbacked, short brown hair and tiny eyes, giving him quite a distasteful look. The pitch-black robes he wore made him look sinister, even.

"Well well well, Harry Potter," the man said in glee. "To think I'd be the one to find you for the Dark Lord. Good ol' Imperius to take over those Muggles you was with to lure you away from the Accidental Magic responders and here you are." He appraised Harry briefly before saying, "You don't look like much; runty little thing. Ran away from home did ya?"

Harry summoned up as much guts as he could and said, "You better give me my friends back or… or not good things will happen to you!"

The robed man began giggling wheezily at Harry's threat. He wiped a tear from his face before replying, "Am I supposed to be afraid Potter? Of you, a specky defenseless half-blood? I don't know what luck allowed you to escape the Dark Lord but I assure you," he paused to lick his lips, "it won't happen again."

Harry paused a moment. "You're quite strange," Harry said before using a Sticking Charm to adhere the man's shoes to the concrete ground and his feet to the insides of his shoes. The man waved his arms around as he lost his balance and fell to ground. He couldn't lift his feet up.

While the man was frustrated undoing Harry's work, he ran forward to grab his two friends to magic them away from danger. However, the man had pulled out his wand and released himself from from Harry's charm.

"Lucky indeed. Accidental magic won't save you, Potter!" He raised his wand above his head, no doubt to do something really really bad, so Harry directed his hands at the man's wand and levitated it out of his grasp.

"What the devil?" the man shouted as he tried to jump and grab the ascending stick.

While the man was properly distracted, Harry grabbed his friends and tried to Apparate away with them. However, the two of them began shoving Harry away as if he were the threat.

"Guys it's me, James. Knock it off, we don't have long!" Harry pleaded. Mitchell seemed to begin to respond to Harry's words, and started shaking his head repeatedly as if to throw off whatever magic was holding him. Harry decided to remove him first, as Cameron fighting back might cause Harry to leave parts of him behind.

When Harry deposited Mitchell back at the apartment, he seemed to come to senses.

"W-what the hell just happened?" Mitchell asked shakily.

"Don't know, some bad magic man was making you and Cam do what he wanted. Gotta go!" Harry said quickly before Apparating back to the unfinished building.

After reappearing at the site with a small pop, the bad wizard turned to him, wand in hand, and said, "Oh you are a clever one. Yes, now I see why the Dark Lord was so intent on offing you."

He pointed his wand at Harry again, who dove behind an unfinished counter to avoid the green light that came out the wand after the man said some Abracadabra word. Harry didn't know what it was, but it reminded him uncomfortably of a nightmare he used to have.

The green light blasted a large hole in the wall Harry had been standing in front of moments before.

'This is mad, this is mad, this is mad' Harry thought in fear. Some of Burmog's instructions on what to do in a fight echoed in his mind.

'YOU control the pace of the fight. Don't let your enemy dictate the terms of engagement,' he had said. 'Giving up control places your life in their hands.'

After peeking around the side of the counter, he spotted Cameron still rooted on the spot he was before. 'Well, no sense trying to keep away from the No-Fun Police with this loony bloke blasting the place to bits.'

Harry pointed at the man's robes and and lit it on fire. As the man switched to putting out the flaming robe with water from the tip of his wand, Harry sprinted to the end of the room to grab Cameron, knowing that if he could just touch him they would be safe.

"Impedimenta!"

A curious sensation engulfed Harry from behind. His body slowed down tremendously. Try as he might, he felt like he was trying to run through a river of syrup.

"That'll slow you down," the robed man said. He walked around from behind Harry, letting Harry see the look of anger on the man's face.

"L-let me go!" Harry shouted.

He shook his head. "No, I think I'll pay you back twice over for making this more annoying than it had to be." He waved his wand in a circle above his head. "There we go. Since you just had to use magic, that barrier should keep out any uninvited guests long enough for me to have my fun."

With a cruel smile that would scare even his uncle, he pointed his wand at Harry and-

Harry began screaming at the top of his lungs and flailing upon the ground. The pain that followed the man's magic was beyond excruciating. It was worse than anything Harry thought possible, even than his uncle's worst beatings, as if all his skin had been set aflame.

And just as suddenly as it began, it ceased, leaving Harry panting and crying on the cold ground.

"They say your first Cruciatus is always the worst. Why don't we if that holds up?" he asked nastily.

Again, the all-encompassing pain took ahold of Harry, whose unheard screams filled the air once more, for how long he couldn't tell. The ceaseless pain was all that occupied his mind. As Harry nearly reached the point of asking the man to put him out of his misery, he stopped.

The man crouched down in front of the whimpering Harry with a satisfied expression on his face. "Turns out the second can eclipse the first. But don't worry Potter, I can spare a bit of mercy for you.

He walked over to Cameron, who seemed to have been fighting the magic controlling him, though the man seemed unaware of it.

"Be honored Muggle, you get to see the death of the 'great' Harry Potter." He raised his wand at an angle diagonal from his head. The tip of the wand was engulfed in a purple fire. As the man brought the wand down in a slashing movement, Harry closed his eyes to await the inevitable, wondering all the while how magic could be used so horribly.

"Oof!" grunted a voice. Harry heard the sound of someone falling to ground loudly.

He opened his eyes to see Cameron on the floor, eyes closed and unmoving.

(Tonks Residence)

"Well, Kreacher?" Narcissa asked.

Kreacher bowed respectfully and said, "Kreacher lives to serve his Mistress. I will find the Potter boy, as mistress commands." With that said, the aged house-elf Apparated to complete his task.

"Do you think Kreacher can find Harry?" Andromed asked. "He could be anywhere."

Lucius shook his head. "If he has been in Galena so much I'm certain he's holed up somewhere in Brixton. Besides, as a descendant of the House of Black, Harry's location should be somewhat easier for Kreacher to find. House-elves have some kind of sense for the location of their masters so they can Apparate to them."

"We can only hope," Ted said.

"Cam!" Harry shouted. He stood shakily from the ground and hobbled over to his fallen friend as fast as he was able. What he saw was gut-wrenching. His hands had been severed but the magic the robed man used.

"Cam, it's OK, I-I think I can fix this. I will, I will!" he shouted, breathing heavily at the sight of all the blood.

The robed man watched with interest. "Oh go on Potter, try and save your little Muggle pet," he said with a snort. "You'll see the power of the Dark Arts cannot be overcome. But the despair in your eyes when you realize it will be appetizing."

Harry ignored his taunts. If there was one thing Harry was good at, it was magic; he knew he could fix this if he tried. As sickening as it was, he picked up his friend's severed hands and pushed them up against the stumps at the end of his arms.

He then concentrated harder than he ever had before. He'd never wanted to succeed at anything as much as he did this.

"Please magic, don't let my friend die!" he pleaded. A blinding light enveloped the room, spreading from Harry's hands into the hands and arms of Cameron's.

Harry couldn't see for a moment, but the feeling told him it had worked. He had never summoned up so much magic, so how could it do anything but succeed?

When the light died down, Harry expected to see Cameron sit up and say something like "Gimme a hand, would ya?" Only he didn't. Cameron remained motionless, his hands just as detached from his arms as they had been before.

Harry began to cry. "But how? I gave it everything I had? Why didn't it work?" he asked. Magic had never failed Harry, not really. Even when he couldn't make food appear, he always assumed it was because deep down he knew he could always go out and steal it. But anything he had ever been really motivated at doing seemed to work, so why didn't it this time.

"Come on, work!" he shouted, trying to force the magic to do its job. "It's magic, it can do anything, so why isn't it working?"

The evil wizard began laughing in earnest at this. "I told you Potter, the damage done by Dark Magic is irreversible. Did you really think all it would take was a bit of effort to undo it? But don't worry boy, you'll be seeing your friend soon enough."

Harry was furious. This man actually enjoyed killing people. Harry had never wanted to really hurt someone before, but he felt it now.

"Avada K-"

"Expelliarmus!" came a new voice.

A red streak of light hit the robed man, causing his wand to fly out of his hand.

"Damn!" he shouted before Disapparating away in a resounding crack.

Harry turned to see the strangest man he'd ever seen. The man seemed to be getting up in years and quite disfigured though by what Harry didn't know. He had a mane of long black hair, a strange blue right and and the gait that made Harry think of a pirate. In his right hand was a magic wand, while in his left hand were a pair of odd metal rods.

"Damn scum got away, that barrier was stronger 'an I expected," the man grumbled in a low tone. He looked over and spotted Harry kneeling in front of what he assumed was a dead Muggle; his eye could see the boy's heart was non-functional. All the while, his right eye was whirling about in his head to inform him if his prey returned to finish the job.

Moody hobbled over to Harry and asked, "What happened here, Potter?" With his wand held behind his back, he surreptitiously cast a quick Tracking Charm on the boy in case he got any funny ideas.

Recovering from the shock of the man before him, sadness consumed him again as he cried out, "I tried to save him, I really did. But the magic didn't work."

Moody saw the severed hand and understood in an instant. "It's not your fault, severe Dark Magic damage can't be fixed."

"But it was my fault. Cam wouldn't have been here if he didn't know me," he said. "He'd be alive if it wasn't for me. He jumped in the way of that spell to save me"

"Potter, don't bla-"

"I-I gotta get out of here," he said frantically. He Disapparated before Moody could grab ahold of him.

Moody sighed. After a brief glance at the body of the deceased Muggle, he pulled out his mirror to call for Minerva and Albus. Both of their faces quickly appeared in his mirror, taking up half the screen each.

"I found Potter. He got away, but not before I placed a Tracking Charm on him. We'll get him back," Moody said.

"Excellent, Alastor!" Dumbledore said in good cheer. "Did the Dumble-Dowsers work?"

Ignoring the silly name Albus had come up with for Moody's inventions, he said "Aye. They took me to Apparition points all over the place for the better part of an hour. But then they picked up a lot of Apparition activity from one location, so I chanced it. Potter had been cornered by what I assume was a Death Eater… Bastard got away too, but from the looks of it he got Potter pretty hard. Even killed some Muggle the kid was acquainted with in front of him."

"Alastor, we need to find him! I'll be right there," Minerva said before leaving the call.

"As will I," Dumbledore said in haste.

The two of them appeared behind Alastor, each with a house-elf accompanying them before they Disapparated back to Hogwarts without the professors.

"Where to?" Minerva asked with a stony face when she saw the dead boy in front of them.

Moody flicked his wand, causing a semi-transparent white trail to appear in the air. It began from the spot Harry had been before he teleported away and went out in a particular direction toward the boy's present location.

"Follow me!" Moody said as they quickly made to find the hurt boy.

I was running. Running as much as I could. And when I could run no more, I teleported further up the road, just to keep myself moving. The evening sun was quickly making for the horizon.

There was just no point in it all. How could I even think about having friends if they'd just get hurt for knowing me? The look on Cameron's face as he fell to the ground, never to stand back up…

No, I have to keep moving. If I stop, if I think about it, that'll make it real. That'll make have to feel it. No, no, if I let that happen, I just know I'll never want to get up again. There's be nothing to live for…

I don't know how long I've been moving. I've come upon a house in the middle of a field. It seems to be empty, so maybe I'll just stay here for now…

I sat there in the empty living room for minutes on end, hours even. The pain from that man's magic would be difficult to forget. I'd never thought someone would want to make someone hurt so badly. Magic is amazing, so why would anyone use it like this? Is this why Uncle Vernon hated magic, hated me?

The minutes begin to bleed together, and I can no longer stop the images flashing before me eyes. I poured all the magic I could into it and I still couldn't save Cam. How could the magic not work?

I wanted to teleport out of the room, to return my focus to something else, but I realized something. The magic wouldn't work. I tried it again, only for it to fail utterly once more. The realization just hit me: I can't do it. The magic is gone and I'm all alone…

As the boy sat there alone, a powerful, dark wind began to flow from his body. The dark force started tearing the house apart around the boy as he hid his head between his knees. Although the force threatened to overtake him, the boy was spared due through a stroke of luck.

"He's just up ahead," Moody announced.

The trio had trapsed about Brixton for the last five or more hours to follow the magical trail that Moody's tracking spell created for them. They had ended up on some farmland near a farmer's market.

Moody stopped suddenly at the sight his magical eye saw through the farmhouse.

"What the hell is that?" Moody nearly shouted.

"What is it, Alastor?" Dumbledore asked with narrowed eyes in the direction of the house. He was picking up a familiar feeling, and it was causing the hair on his neck to stand up due to how Dark it felt.

"I've never seen this before Albus, but something strange is happening to Potter. We need to hurry!" he yelled.

The three ran into the house, with McGonagall having Vanished the door to allow them through unimpeded. What they saw was startling. The house was being torn apart by something nearly invisible. A powerful wind was sweeping through the dwelling as if a mad poltergeist had taken up residence there.

And there in the middle of it all was Harry Potter, head hidden between his knees as if he were trying to hide from it.

Dumbledore's blood ran ice cold as he realized what he was looking at. "It can't be. It can't be..." he muttered.

Minerva barely overhead him over the destruction of the house. "What Albus? What's going on hear?"

Dumbledore didn't respond to her question, he was frozen. All he could think about was his own sister and how he had failed to stop this dark force that had overtaken her in his youth.

A loud crack occurred behind them, drawing the attention of Alastor, Minerva and Albus. A group of four people, two men and two women, had been Apparated to the farmhouse by a decrepit house-elf. Alastor growled when he saw that one of the four of them was Lucius Malfoy.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Moody asked fiercely. "Came to try and finish the job your friend from before failed to do?" Moody never bought the claim that Malfoy had been Imperiused by Voldemort himself into assisting the Death Eaters monetarily. He hadn't been as large a voice among the blood supremacists as figures like the Carrows and Blacks, but Malfoy was no saint; Moody would never trust him on principle alone.

Lucius raised his empty hands. "We simply came to find Harry Potter when we learned he had run away from an abusive family," Lucius said. Narcissa scowled at Dumbledore, who looked down guiltily at that statement. "We mean the boy no harm."

Andromed stepped forward with her husband. "Albus, it's true. We're just trying to protect him, he's family. And even if you can't trust Cissa and Lucius, at least trust that Ted and I would never hurt Harry."

Dumbledore nodded and returned his attention to Harry, who hadn't moved an inch.

The four newcomers walked forward, with Andromeda asking "What's happening to him?" While the house was being torn apart, Harry's hair was rapidly changing colors, from gray, to black, brown, reminding Andromeda of her own daughter. "He's a Metamorphmagus?"

"Indeed he is." Dumbledore paused before bitterly saying, "He's turning into an Obscurial..."

Only Minerva, Moody and Lucius seemed to recognize the term, given the grave expressions that appeared on their faces.

For Dumbledore, however, all he could think about were those words he'd been told more than eight years previously. 'The power the Dark Lord knows not...'

'I pray this is not what was Foreseen...' Dumbledore thought.

(A/N):

A cliffhanger? I know I hate it when I read those but if I wrote anymore in this chapter it would have felt excessive. Well, how was it? If you liked it, leave me a Review as they motivate me to write more and Favorite if you wouldn't mind. Constructive criticism is also nice, especially if you tell me exactly what you think I should work on. I'm well aware I'm not a brilliant author, heh. Also, if anyone is willing I'm looking for a second Beta for times when my current one is unavailable. PM me if you're interested. Sorry about any typos, I needed to get this one out as, since it was near completion, I wouldn't be able to until the following week since this week will be a mess for me.

Just to head off a few things. Please remember that I have this story outlined, so I know where I want to head with it (at least up until around 4th year, bit hazy afterwards right now). So if something here put you off because you think it's going in a certain direction, well, maybe wait until next chapter before dropping it just to make sure I didn't resolve it? Please? :-

Someone wondered if the Black Coven would be a way for Harry to become OP quickly, and I'd like to just say that it won't. The coven is only to be for those who are of age, and I don't plan on making it make individuals stronger at magic. Harry's skill in magic (which as you see in this chapter, isn't anywhere near an adult wizard's) is developed by doing magic. I felt that as this Harry's acquaintance with magic was pragmatic (to learn to survive on the streets), it would fit him more to get better at magic by doing it, not getting stupid random power-ups or the old "Harry spends the summer learning Occlumency and becoming OP wizard Mcbuff guy".

One thing I want to do with this coven thing is explore some that the RoBM hasn't yet: the role of the being the coven worships, what does Morgana as a family deity do?. I'm not sure if there are any other stories where this religious angle is tackled, but it's something I'd like to develop some as it will play a role down the line.

Also, sorry if the brief change in perspective annoyed you. I thought I'd try my hand at it briefly, and that seemed the best time to do so. Don't worry though, it's not something I see myself doing again.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Hopefully my update schedule will begin to crystallize into something that works for me as the author and you all as the readers. Life is hectic and tiring sometimes, ya know?