Disclaimer: Don't own it. JKR does. Adopted from Nia River. Only own original ideas.

Chapter 6

A sixteen year old boy with jet black hair and emerald green eyes looked about the room he had just appeared in. How he had appeared in said room, he had no idea. He also didn't know how he was going to get out of the room either. The room was spacious enough for two comfortable armchairs and a two-seater couch encircling a coffee table and facing the fire. It was circular in shape and the boy turned slowly to see if he was alone or not. He wasn't.

"Who are you?" There was another boy standing by the window, perfectly relaxed. "Where are we?"

"I'm Kyle Potter. You might know me as the owner of the body that you seem to have taken over." The second boy replied. He moved and held out a hand to the first boy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry Potter. As to where we are, well we're in our mind. This room, this is a safe place that our minds have created for us to meet."

Harry gaped at Kyle. He was out of his mind. Well, maybe that hadn't been the best choice of words but it still fit the situation, weirdly enough. He took the outstretched hand and shook it slowly, still in a daze. "How on earth are we in our mind?" He asked. "And did you say 'mind' as in singular, not plural? How can two people share one mind?"

"Well, technically, we are two minds in the one body. It's confusing, I know that, but when you merged with me we became one person." Kyle sat down on one of the chairs in front of the fire. "What we didn't do however was merge our minds. I think that's what we have to do now, to become just one person in actuality."

Harry was confused. Deeply confused. "Wait, so you're not mad that I stole your body?" That sounded really weird. It was even weirder when Kyle just laughed.

"No," he said, still smiling. "I'm not mad. I was just about dead when we merged. Whatever you did it pulled me back into the living. If being alive means that we have to merge fully then so be it. I'd prefer to be alive rather than dead."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. He moved to sit down on the seat opposite Kyle. "So you think that we have to merge our minds together then?" Kyle nodded in confirmation. "And do you have any idea how we're going to do this?"

After listening to Kyle's following explanation of what they were going to do, Harry regretted asking. It sounded horrible. Kyle explained that there were two minds in the one body. Harry understood that well enough. He didn't understand how they were going to change that though, even when Kyle had explained it. Harry had been right in his assumption that Kyle had seemed like a male version of Hermione Granger.

The first step of 'The Merging' – as both Kyle and Harry had taken to calling it – was easy enough. The pair of them only had to make a copy of their memories. As they were in their minds, they only had to wish for it to happen. When they both said they wanted a copy of their memories two doors appeared in the room. Behind each door was a lifetime of memories in the form of Wizarding photographs. With another thought the two boys had both sets of memories encased in the one room. Both boys then settled down to sort the memories by year. For each year of their life there was a trunk and the memories for each trunk were put in there.

After that was done the boys had to take two new copies of their memories and sort them into other categories such as friends, enemies, things that made them happy, things that made them sad, their school experiences, and subjects. It was a gruelling task. There were times the boys laughed and times they cried but in the end, when all of the memories were sorted out into categories and sub-categories both boys were relieved. They felt closer than they had been at the beginning of the task; they felt more like the one person they were both becoming.

The worst part for Harry had been when he'd had to sort through his memories of his friends and family as he had come across all of his dealings with Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Remus there. He had wanted to leave that section until last in the hopes of finding that he wouldn't have to do it but Kyle had argued against it saying it was best to just get it done. In the end Harry had agreed and had felt a sense of deep relief when the task had been completed.

When they'd finished sorting the memories Kyle had suggested that they go the whole nine yards and build strong defences to protect their slowly combining minds. Harry had agreed, after all, his secret was only as strong as his mind was. Thus, the next step that was taken was the building of barriers around the newly organised memories. Then he had to build barriers around his mind as a whole. That had taken just as long as the actual sorting of the memories.

When the last metaphorical brick of the defensive walls had been put into place a bright light surrounded both Kyle and Harry. When the light had disappeared there was only one sixteen year old left standing. The merging of Harry James Potter and Kyle Ethan Potter was now complete.

Kyle groaned and rolled over in the bed. He was so very tired. In fact, all Kyle wanted to do was bury himself in the comfortable bed he'd found himself in and go back to sleep. He was just about to do that when the door to the room he was in burst open and both Alice and Frank Longbottom charged in. Kyle was confused to see such utter relief present on both their faces.

"Er," Kyle began when Alice started waving her wand over him. He assumed it was a Healers ritual as it was very familiar to what Madame Pomfrey had done to Kyle on more than one occasion. "What's going on? Where am I?" He belatedly noticed that he wasn't in fact in his own room at Potter Manor. "And where's, Harry?"

Kyle tried to push himself up off the bed to go and look for Harry but was stopped by Frank's strong hands keeping him on the bed. "Don't try to get up." He said. "Harry's fine, he's downstairs with, Neville. We'll bring him up in just a moment. You just sit tight and let Alice finish her diagnostics on you."

Kyle nodded and let himself lie back on the fluffy pillows. He wondered what was going on. The last thing he remembered was telling the three Longbottoms about how he had survived the Killing Curse after that… after that he remembered being in that room, his mindscape. "Please don't tell me that I collapsed in front of, Harry?" Kyle really hoped that he hadn't.

"You did, dear." Alice said with a small sympathetic smile. "But don't worry, Harry is fine. You seem to be fine as well, or as fine as one could be after being unconscious for almost nine days. Tell me, dear, do you have any idea as to what happened to you because I don't."

"Occlumency Overload." Kyle muttered. Technically that was exactly what happened. There had been a fundamental error in Kyle's Occlumency, the error being that the two minds that had been present were separate and could not co-exist peacefully with no negative ramifications. Kyle had sorted that now – obviously – but he just couldn't believe that it had taken nine days.

"You know Occlumency?" Frank looked a little bit amazed and so did Alice. Kyle understood, it was a rare art and it was even rarer to find somebody who actually practised it, let alone somebody Kyle's age. If anything, people usually started learning at Kyle's age – if they bothered learning at all – and for Kyle to have had suffered an Occlumency Overload then that would mean that he had been practising it for years. "If you don't mind me asking, when did you start learning?"

"The day I got my first wand," Kyle replied. "My eleventh birthday." There was a reason that children only went to school when they were eleven and that was because it was on a child's eleventh birthday that their magic began to settle or tame itself enough to be wielded consciously. On a student's fifteenth birthday they received another magical surge which was the reason that OWLs were taken that year. Their last magical surge was on their seventeenth birthday. That final surge was what broke the Trace that underage witches and wizards carried around via their wands. This was the reason that NEWTs were taken and the reason that a person was considered an adult at seventeen.

"Unbelievable." Was the last thing Kyle heard before he succumbed to the tiredness that had plagued him since he had woken up.

Mon, 10/2/1992

Somewhere in Scotland, in a magical school called Hogwarts, on the second floor, past a stone gargoyle guardian, up a spiral staircase, and through a highly polished oak door, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin, there could be found an office. And in this office, were one to look, there was to be found an elderly wizard with a long white beard and periwinkle blue robes, pacing back and forth across the room and muttering angrily to himself. This wizard was called Albus Dumbledore.

"…my plans… ruined… where… find him…"

Finally he threw himself into his seat and gave a frustrated scream, secure in the knowledge that the silencing charms on his office and locking charms on its door would prevent anyone from witnessing his most undignified behaviour.

Slumping in his chair, Dumbledore raised a hand to his throbbing temple. Things were not going well. He sent his mind back to when it had all started; the first Sunday of the February just past.

Fri 7/2/1992

The day had gone fairly normally at first. Dumbledore had awoken early and dressed in his favourite lavender and turquoise robes before heading down to breakfast in the Great Hall with the other professors. As expected, most of the students took the opportunity to sleep late, only beginning to trickle in as he was polishing off his pumpkin juice. He had bid his colleagues a cheerful good day, heading back to his office to get some paperwork done and respond to his mail.

There were a number of letters from Minister Fudge, once again seeking his guidance. He had sighed at the incompetence of the man but responded politely all the same. Fudge may not be the cleverest wizard but he did have one redeeming quality, at least in Albus's opinion; he was quite easily controlled. Of course that could also work against the Headmaster; he'd heard rumours that Lucius Malfoy had been courting Cornelius Fudge's ear, and that would not do at all. He would have to keep in closer contact with their esteemed minister, keep the man dependant on him. That was the only way for him to truly ensure that the proper decisions were made in the government. Yes, that seemed best.

By the time lunch had rolled around, he had managed to get through all his mail and perhaps half of his paperwork backlog. He considered calling for a House-Elf to bring him his meal and forging through the rest of it before changing his mind. He instead set the rest aside as he headed down to the great hall once again, this time for lunch.

The meal had passed as usual. Pomona and Poppy were having a discussion about expanding the section for medicinal plants in the greenhouses, to be supplied to the school infirmary. Severus and Rolanda got into a rousing debate once again about something or other. Really, the two quarrelled like children at times. A small scuffle broke out between two of the fourth-years – Gryffindor and Slytherin – but Minerva quickly split them up, deducting points and assigning detentions.

All in all, the whole day seemed determined to be quite normal. Or so he had thought, heading back up to his office. It was as he passed the gargoyle, ascended the rising stairs and then opened his door that the seeming normalcy of the day was shattered – along with his eardrums.

Racing into his office, he followed the wailing and screeching noises to their source. On a shelf behind his desk stood what looked to the unenlightened to be a line of crystal figurines. To Albus Dumbledore however, they were much, much more. Several of those figurines were magically linked to a charm or ward which he had cast. A charm or ward on the famous Harry James Potter. Since the noises were all too loud to tell from which figurine they emanated, he was forced to silence them all and examine them individually. He started from the left, needing to determine the severity of the situation.

The first figurine he chose was of Merlin, bearing his legendary staff. The staff was done in such fine detail that the individual runes carved into it could be seen. This figurine was linked into the magic detecting wards cast around not only the Dursley residence but also the surrounding neighbourhood and young Harry's school.

As he picked the statuette up, it filled with white smoke, as though it were a crystal ball. He watched intently as the smoke began changing colours. He frowned. Red meant Harry had had a magic outburst at school. Blue meant at home. Green meant near to four Privet Drive, merging towards yellow the further away from the house the incident happened. Purple smoke meant the magic was performed by some magician other than Harry.

The smoke in the figurine first flashed green before reverting to white. A moment later it was green again, then white, then green, then white and then green. It then remained white for some time. He was about to return Merlin to his place when the smoke changed colour once more. It flashed blue once before pausing and flashing twice very quickly again. He held it for a while longer but the clouds seemed disinclined to change any further.

Since the figurine was charmed to show outburst in reverse order – from present to past in order of occurrence – he could tell that two almost simultaneous outbursts occurred at the Dursley home followed momentarily after by another. Then, an hour or so later another four instances of magic happened within perhaps ten minutes of each other, a few streets from the house.

This was not good. Harry's emotions must have been much heightened to sustain the state of mind to perform accidental magic for so extended a period of time – and not only inside but also outside the house, in a Muggle neighbourhood nonetheless. Still, the Ministry magical reversal squad no doubt already knew what had happened; he knew they also kept a close eye on the boy. Satisfied that they would handle any reversals and memory charms necessary, he set the crystal Merlin back down.

Next he picked up the figure to Merlin's right. It was of a phoenix, leaning forwards with a tear tracking down its cheek, as though trying to heal someone. The phoenix monitored Harry's health.

He picked it up and watched it fill with white smoke, as Merlin had. He knew that violet meant he was well, blue that his was sick but nothing life-threatening, green that he had a serious illness, yellow meant he was injured, orange meant his condition was severe and life-threatening, and red meant the unthinkable; he had perished.

As he continued to watch, the smoke changed to black. He blinked in surprise. That wasn't supposed to happen. He frowned in concentration, trying to remember what black meant. His eyes widened in alarm when he did. All his figurines where set to smoke black if its ward had fallen or its charm had been removed.

Quite worried now, he quickly put down the phoenix and picked up the statuette next in line; a miniature globe of the world. He watched in worry as it filled with white smoke, quickly turning black. His tracking charms had been disabled. He replaced the globe, snatching up the next without pause.

This one was of a chess piece; a pawn. This one ensured that Harry would not cause trouble, encouraging loyal towards him; or it would when they actually met. For now it simply made sure the boy would not wander far from home. It also made him disinclined to be a trouble maker and to want to protect others before himself; all traits he needed the boy to have if he was to play the role destiny had dictated was his. His alarm increased tenfold as the smoke that had appeared within the pawn turned black. This would not do. He could not have the boy out of his control or Voldemort might triumph.

Fearing what might happen next, he picked up the last of the magically linked figurines. This one was of a mother holding a baby. If one looked close enough they could see a faint lightning bolt on the babe's forehead. This one reported the state of the blood wards – the redder the smoke the stronger the wards. The statuette filled with white smoke before giving only the faintest, barely noticeable hint of pink.

He stared for a moment in disbelief. Either the linking charm was damaged or the wards had fallen and the only way for the wards to fall was for one of three things to happen. One, a curse breaker had brought them down, this being highly unlikely. Two, Petunia had retracted her willingness to house Harry in her home. Or three, Petunia Dursley had somehow perished.

A frown began crossing his face. He did not like complications in his plans. He was determined to find out which of the three possibilities had occurred, not to mention the reason for the other figurines smoking black. Angrily slamming the figurine back onto the shelf, he strode determinedly towards his fireplace, throwing in a handful of Floo powder.

"Wisteria Walk!" he shouted, sticking his head into the flames.

The fire rushed around him before settling, leaving him looking out into a femininely decorated Muggle-style living room that would have passed for ordinary, were it not for the inordinate number of felines gracing the furniture.

"Arabella!" he called.

There was the sound of light footsteps and a middle aged woman with greying hair and wearing tartan slippers and a house coat appeared in the doorway. She stared at the flames in slight surprise before taking a seat in an armchair before her fireplace, setting the cat she had displaced on her lap and scratching it behind the ears.

"Professor Dumbledore! What a surprise to see you."

"Arabella, a pleasure to see you as always," he twinkled knowing the importance of niceties in keeping his people loyal.

"And you sir. What can I do for you? Is this about the James look-alike?" she asked, immediately grabbing his attention.

"James look-alike?" he asked before shaking his head, assuming a stern expression and watching in satisfaction as she straightened up attentively, "I'm afraid I'm calling with unsettling news. I have reason to believe that Harry has been taken from Privet Drive. Have you seen anything; this James person perhaps?"

"Oh dear, this is terrible news," she exclaimed before gathering herself together, "Well, it was around lunchtime and I was walking to the supermarket to fetch a few boxes of Kittastic Cat Food as I had run out. I still had a few boxes of the cheaper Cat Chow of course but my Mr Tibbles is quite picky and he'll only eat the Kitta-"

"Arabella," Dumbledore cut her off looking quite grave, "I do not mean to sound rude but I really need you to hurry your explanation along. Time may be of the essence."

"Oh, apologies Headmaster," she blushed before going on, "So I was on the way to the supermarket – which leads me past Privet Drive – when I happened to notice a boy leaving from the Dursleys carrying young Harry."

"Did you investigate to ensure he was not kidnapping the boy?"

"Well, no," she said flustered before explaining, "Mr and Mrs Dursley were seeing him off from the door, holding it open and everything. Added to that it was only a boy and I thought there was nothing to worry over. I did get quite the shock when I took a proper look at him though. I was a distance away but I'd swear he was the spitting image of a young James Potter."

"Hmm," Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully, "So you didn't follow them then?"

"No, I didn't. As I said, I thought there was nothing to worry over, even with such a strange likeness. I can tell you they were headed towards the park though."

"Very well. You have been most helpful, Arabella." he said with a thankful smile

In his head however, he was silently cursing the woman's decision to do nothing. A boy looking the mirror of James Potter, leaving the Dursleys with Harry was the sort of thing that warranted investigation. The whole reason for basing the squib there had been to keep an eye on the boy and she had missed a prime opportunity to do just that.

Sighing he focused back on the matter at hand. Arabella had indicated that Harry had left with the stranger with the Dursley's full knowledge and consent. He needed to pay them a visit and see what exactly had happened. Nodding in decision he looked up at the woman, sitting there patiently.

"I'll be coming through. I need to speak to the Dursleys."

"Of course, sir."

Pulling his head from the fireplace he stood up in his office. After ensuring that he had his wand on him, he stepped into the flames and was whirled off to Little Whinging, where he stepped out gracefully into Arabella's living room.

"Can I get you anything Headmaster? Tea perhaps?" the squib asked, standing up on his arrival.

"No, I really must get going. But thank you for the offer."

"Of course."

With that, he swept from the house and strode towards Privet Drive, too focused on his goal to pay any mind to the strange looks he received for his rather unusual attire. Reaching number four he passed through the gate then up the walk, reaching the door and rapping sharply upon it three times.

From within the house he could hear light footsteps approaching the door and then a pause, followed by the sound of a lock unlocking. The door swung inwards, revealing a smiling Petunia Dursley. As soon as she saw him however, her welcoming expression slid from her face, replaced by one of distaste.

"You," she muttered.

Then, she suddenly swept a look up and down him, taking in his long beard, lavender and turquoise robes and high-heeled buckled boots. Her eyes widened and her neck craned forwards, looking rapidly about.

"Quickly, get in here, before anyone sees you!" she said in a harsh whisper, dragging him in by the arm.

He stumbled forward into the house at the unexpected action and the woman took the opportunity to quickly shut the door, before flitting about to the visible windows and tugging their curtains shut.

Quite put out with the treatment he was receiving – first being dragged about, then practically ignored – he gave a pointed cough, watching in satisfaction as Mrs Dursley squeaked and spun around, her face paling as she took in his stern glare. Still, her distaste for him seemed as strong as – if not stronger than – her fear, as she soon gathered herself again. She pulled herself upright and looked down her nose at him.

"Well, get on with it. What do you want?"

"I need to speak with you and your husband about a most important matter," he said, staring at her over his half-moon spectacles, "Is he in?"

She sniffed, "Follow me."

She led him to the living room, quickly pulling the curtains in there closed as well.

"Take a seat, I'll get him."

And with that she was gone.

Albus stared at the door through which she had exited a dissatisfied look on his face. She really was a very unpleasant woman. He almost felt some pity for young Harry having to live here. Of course, 'almost' was the key word in that sentence. There was no point in regretting his decision now; it was for the best after all. His aunt's blood provided strong protective wards and having the boy raised as a Muggle would make it easier for him to step in as the guiding grandfather figure; better able to lead Harry towards his destiny. And if his family were less than pleasant… well, it was better than the alternative. Better that Harry be overly humble than raised as a spoiled brat. Of course, all his plans would be useless if he didn't get the Potter boy back here where he belonged.

He looked up as the sound of heavy footsteps, watching the skinny Dursley woman re-enter the room with her oversized husband. Petunia stopped near the doorway, her arms folded and a sour look upon her face, obviously intending to let her husband lead the conversation. For his part, upon seeing the strangely dress wizard in his living room, Vernon Dursley's face turned quickly to white, followed just as rapidly by an angry red.

"Now see here, what do you think you are doing in my house?" he demanded, his moustache twitching angrily.

Dumbledore – whist inwardly annoyed at the man's behaviour – merely took a seat, folding his hands in his lap and looking quite calm.

"Why don't you both have a seat, hmm?" he suggested.

Then he whipped out his wand and watched with an extra bright twinkle in his eye as two armchairs were animated and walked over to the two Muggles. The woman shrieked and the man cursed as they bumped against the back of their legs, until they each finally took the hint and sat down.

"Tea, scones?"

He hid his amusement at their reactions as he conjured up the items on a silver platter, sitting on their coffee table. Mr Dursley's face was changing rapidly from white to red to purple then back to white again. It was actually somewhat worrying. Mrs Dursley sat rigidly, wringing her hands. Her face was a strange mix of emotion - her eyes wide in fright and her lips pursed in distaste. He poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip before deciding he'd had enough fun and that it was time to get down to business.

"Harry left your house in the company of another, older boy at around lunchtime today," he said seriously, "Tell me everything that happened."

Vernon apparently did not take well to an order coming from a wizard and seemed ready to start shouting. He was stopped however as his wife reached a hand across and gripped his arm tightly. She turned to look at the Headmaster, and began speaking in a strained voice.

"The stranger was the boy's older brother."

"Did he give a name?"

"Kyle Ethan Potter, according to the papers."

"Papers?"

"Yes, the adoption papers."

Dumbledore sat up straight, eyes widening in alarm.

"What do you mean adoption papers? You were both charged to look after the boy, he is your responsibility. Not to mention that Harry has no older brother!"

"Now see here!" Vernon blustered, "We took in that freak boy out of the goodness of our hearts; feeding him, clothing him and providing for him. And we did it because it was the respectable thing to do as much as we hated him. But, we were led to believe that we were the only family that could take him. Now along comes this Kyle Potter saying he's the boy's family and can take custody. Well, that changes everything. We're not the boy's only relatives anymore so there's no reason we should have to put up with him. And we didn't. We signed those bloody papers right away and let the fellow leave with the boy."

"And as for him having no brothers," Petunia added, "If those boy's aren't brothers then they must be cousins or something. That Kyle boy looked exactly like Harry as well as Lily's husband. All of them with that horridly messy hair. No, they're related; there's not a doubt in my mind about that."

Dumbledore took in their words without comment although inwardly he was more than a little bothered at the strength of their dislike for their nephew. As they spoke he used his Legilimency skills to ensure they were being truthful. He also took the opportunity to pull up their memories of this morning to see them for himself.

He watched as Petunia greeted a stranger at her front door – a stranger with a keen resemblance to the Potters – and invited him in. Although there were no flaws in the boy's appearance that would signal a glamour being used, he would not be able to tell for sure unless he met this boy in person. He could usually see easily through glamour charms, but not from a memory.

He kept watching as Vernon and Petunia returned to their guest who introduced himself as Kyle Potter, Harry Potter's supposed brother. He watched the curses fly and then listened to this Kyle offer to take the Dursleys' ward. He was dismayed as he then felt their eagerness to be rid of young Harry, as they quickly signed the provided parchments. Those parchments more than anything bothered him. He couldn't tell without inspecting them personally but they seemed quite authentic.

As the memories continued be barely held back a gasp as this Kyle spoke of where the Dursleys had been keeping Harry, proving his point by going to the cupboard under the stairs and then opening the door. Inside, as he had claimed, was Harry Potter, sitting on a thin cot.

Once he was done watching their memories he tried to decide on the best course of action. He was shocked that the Dursleys' hatred of magic had extended so far that they kept their own nephew in such conditions. A part of him wanted to see these Muggles punished and ensure Harry never came near them again. The logical side of him however vetoed the idea.

The prophecy clearly stated that Harry had a destiny to fulfil and Dumbledore felt it was his responsibility to keep Harry safe and sound until he could do it. As much as he might not like the idea, he knew that with the Blood Wards, number four Privet Drive was one of the safest places for him. That did not mean he wouldn't ensure conditions improved for the boy hero though.

Decided, he stood, glaring at both the Muggles and flexing his aura eerily. His audience paled at the display of seeming anger. Whilst normally he wouldn't try to use such intimidation to get his way, he felt it may be the best way to get across to these people; perhaps the only way to get through to the blustering Vernon Dursley.

"I am disgusted that you would both to carelessly hand Harry over to a complete stranger. Such a resemblance could easily be faked by magic. If harm comes to young Harry from your callous disregard for his safety then I assure you that you will both be held accountable.

"More than that, I am sorely disappointed to know you have let your dislike for magic go so far. Yes, I know now where you have forced you're nephew to live and I am very disappointed in you both."

He paused then and reigned his aura back in. The Dursleys both seemed too terrified to argue, even the fat one. Adopting a considering expression he stared hard at them both of them before continuing on in a softer voice.

"However, I can be forgiving. In fact, if Harry is found unharmed I believe I would be willing to give you both another chance," he offered, appearing magnanimous, "I will return Harry to your care when I find him and I expect you both to take better care of him this time. He will be given a proper bedroom and I don't want to hear of you two willingly handing him over to a stranger again. Do you both understand?"

Both nodded rapidly, looking grateful for his mercy. He had to struggle a bit to keep the satisfied look off of his face. Since that both agreed, he resumed his normal knowing expression, eye-twinkling and all.

"Well, I am so glad that we have come to an accord," he said, standing up, "As soon as I find your nephew I will have him returned to you. Good day."

Then, without waiting for a response from either of them, he Apparated away with a 'pop'.

Dumbledore Apparated into the park Arabella had indicated the boys were heading to, surprising a family having a picnic. A few quick memory charms later and the family were leaving the park, remembering having finished their lunch in peace with no strange happenings at all.

Casting a magical detection spell, he watched as two areas lit up near one of the picnic tables. A closer look showed that one of the glows seemed to hover over the bench and the other was surrounding a stick lying on the ground.

Unable to divine anything further, he cast the magical detection spell again. He looked around but saw no other glows indicating magic usage. He was just about to leave the park when a flicker of light caught his attention. Heading in that direction, he found another couple magical traces behind a copse of trees, both glows hovering above the ground.

Further inspection gave no further information of the lower trace. He got lucky with the higher one however, when he discovered it had been a portkey. Nodding in satisfaction, his work here done, he Apparated away once again.

Arriving in the Ministry of Magic's apparition area, he quickly cast a notice-me-not charm on himself. His business was too important to be distracted by fans and politicians wishing to speak to him, however well-meaning they may be.

Ten minutes later, he had made his way to the records department, making himself momentarily invisible and slipping past the workers, looking for the personal file on Harry Potter. Soon finding the filing cabinet dedicated to the Potter family, he opened it and riffled through the folders till he found Harry's. Holding his breath, he opened it then he sagged in dismay. There, right on top, was a flat parchment copy of an adoption contract, making one Kyle Ethan Potter the rightful guardian of Harry James Potter.

The fact that the adoption papers were genuine had really tied his hands. The only way to overturn the contract would be to take the matter to the Wizarding courts. Unfortunately, the only reason the Dursleys had be able to take custody in the first place was because he had gone against the Potters' will, even going so far as to use magic to ensure it was never read.

If the matter was brought to court, the will would be required to be presented, and he would be in a whole lot of trouble. He could try explaining why he had done it; that the Blood Wards provided the best possible protection for young Harry. Unfortunately, the Wizarding world placed a great deal of importance on wills and rather than the public accepting his reasons, it was far more likely that they would rebel against him, demanding he faced charges or some such.

Sighing, Dumbledore plucked a lemon drop from the bag in his pocket and popped it into his mouth. Hmm, sour… rather like his mood. He groaned at the maudlin thought and cast his mind back to what had happened after he had discovered the adoption papers were genuine.

Sun, 8/3/1992

Dumbledore was sitting at the head table for breakfast, contemplating the search for Harry, when the morning mail had arrived. A gasp from his left moments later drew his attention. His Deputy Headmistress was staring avidly at an article on the front page of the Daily Prophet. In fact, it seemed quite a great number of breakfast-goers were doing the same. Since he received so much mail on a daily basis, he had personal owl wards which redirected all his mail to his office. Thus he was without his own copy of the newspaper at this time and left not knowing what the fuss was about.

"Problem Minerva?" he asked, hoping she would clear the matter up.

"What in Merlin's name was Harry Potter doing in Diagon Alley yesterday Albus?" she asked, giving him her newspaper along with a questioning look.

Eyes widening, we quickly took the proffered newspaper and scanned over the main article.

Boy-Who-Lived Spotted in Diagon Alley

By Deidre Devonport

Alley goers yesterday afternoon were treated to a rare sight. It seems the reclusive Harry Potter, defeater of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, was in attendance. One Samuel Anders was the first to spot the young hero.

"I lost my grip on my newspaper and was chasin' after it when a little boy catches it for me. I stopped to thank him and that's when I saw the scar," Anders explains excitedly.

Unfortunately this reporter must report that not all went well. Upon hearing that their hero was present, shoppers flocked over to see him. In their enthusiasm however, they overwhelmed young Harry and two witches shamefully admit to having knocked him over in their haste to meet him.

"I didn't even notice that he'd fallen at first," one of the witches, who chooses to remain nameless, admits tearfully, "Until suddenly a voice starts shouting over the crowd, telling us to move away from little Harry."

Eyewitnesses report that the stranger bore a startling resemblance to a young James Potter, deceased father of the Boy-Who-Lived. The James Potter look-alike then proceeded to make his way to the downed boy hero, sendingStupefy and Petrificus Totalus curses to those who didn't make way.

"It wasn't till the stranger reached little Harry and the boy threw himself into the strangers arms that we realised he was crying," the unnamed witch says, "I felt right horrid just about then; everyone did. The stranger said we should be ashamed of our behaviour and he was absolutely right.

What happened next though is the talk of the Alley. Delores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge demanded that the stranger relinquish young Harry to her so she could take him to the Minister.

"It was obvious that the boy knew the teenager. He was clinging to him like he was never going to let go again. The teenager didn't look like he was going to risk letting young Harry go either."

The teenager demanded to know who the Undersecretary was and under what authority he was to relinquish the boy too. Before things could escalate further Senior Auror Longbottom arrived on scene and greeted the teenager by 'Lord Potter.' Yes readers, you have read that right! The stranger has been identified as Lord Kyle Ethan Potter, Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. And what's more readers, witnesses claimed to have seen the teen wearing The Ring. This has been confirmed by Gringotts bank. What's more interesting though is the fact that Lord Potter is in fact young Harry Potter's half-brother. Gringotts has also confirmed that since claiming his Lordship, Lord Potter has also claimed custody of one Harry Potter.

This reporter is happy to report though that Lord Potter did not let his little brother's would-be-kidnapper away with her crimes as when Madam Umbridge attempted to have Lord Potter arrested for slandering Minister Fudge, Lord Potter turned the tables on her and had her arrested for the attempted kidnap of his brother.

"He didn't slander anybody," says one witness in defence of Lord Potter. "He merely told Auror Longbottom that he was preventing an 'attempted kidnapping' that Madam Umbridge had claimed to be 'sanctioned by the Minister himself.' That was the truth as Madam Umbridge did ask who the teenager was to deny the Minister the chance to meet young Harry."

According to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter has been living with his Muggle relatives since the defeat of You-Know-Who. One wonders then what he was doing in Diagon Alley with his older brother if this is in fact true. The trial of Delores Umbridge has already been scheduled to take place in a months' time. One wonders what Albus Dumbledore's response to yesterday's excitement in Diagon Alley will be. Rest assured readers, thatDeidre Devonport intends to find out.

Dumbledore's mind rapidly considered how he should respond. He could deny having had any knowledge of the Boy-Who-Lived's change in location but most would be disbelieving – one of the few drawbacks of presenting an aura of omniscience. However, if he admitted to knowing then he would surely come under fire for leaving the boy with a teenage guardian. He supposed he could admit to having known and assure Minerva at the same time that the newspapers were misinformed – that this Kyle Potter was really a competent guardian after all. Yes, that seemed the best course of action. After all, if the newspapers kept going on this way then the Ministry would eventually step in – to assuage the public if nothing else – which may lead to a trial of some description. Such a thing, he already knew, would be disastrous for him. He couldn't risk the Potter Will getting out. Decided, he let his face fall into one of weariness.

"Alas, I had hoped to keep this knowledge quiet for a while longer."

"You mean you knew?" she asked him harshly, "You knew that such a person had taken guardianship of Harry?"

"Why Minerva," he said, lowering his spectacles to shoot her a disapproving expression over the top of them, "Surely you know better than to believe everything you read? I can assure you that Kyle Potter is a most capable guardian for young Harry."

With a nod, Minerva turned back to her meal and he sighed in relief. Turning back to his own breakfast, his eyes glanced about the hall. This upcoming trial could be a blessing in disguise for Dumbledore, he could finally have a valid reason to meet with this Lord Potter and see about his intentions towards young Harry. Yes, this trial could be a very good thing indeed.

Tue, 14/4/1992

The trial of Dolores Umbridge took place in Courtroom One on the orders of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. This courtroom was apparently designed for criminals who were tried for petty crimes such as petty theft. Fudge obviously thought that the attempted theft of a child was petty. Frank had told Kyle that usually a person facing attempted kidnapping charges would be tried in Courtroom Seven as it was a very sever charge but due to Fudge's meddling they had been forced to move to Courtroom One. Kyle wasn't too bothered about this. The charges remained the same even if the location had changed regardless of what Fudge tried to do.

It was strange really, Kyle mused as he tightened his arm that was wrapped around Harry's shoulders; it didn't really seem like two weeks since the incident in Diagon Alley and when Kyle told Alice and Frank his history. Of course, that may be because he had been unconscious for most of it but even so. It didn't really matter. He had his head sorted out properly – at last – and Frank and Alice knew a little bit more about him which enabled them to trust him that little bit more. Of course, that nine-day siesta had been unplanned and irksome.

"Alright there, son?" Kyle was torn from his thoughts when Frank sat down on the side that was unoccupied by Harry. Alice sat on Harry's far side, enclosing the two Potter's from the rest of the world. It was a subtle but reassuring move on the Longbottom's part, one that Kyle appreciated.

"I'm fine," Kyle replied. "It's not me that I'm worried about though." He nodded down at Harry who was quite pale and had been very quiet all morning. Harry hadn't really wanted to come but Kyle thought that it was best that they went through with the charges for three reasons. The first being because Harry had had no one to stand up for him before and this was a chance for Kyle to prove that he was going to stand up for Harry if Harry himself was unable to. The second being that this would show the world that Kyle was no push-over when it came to his little brothers safety. The third reason was that Kyle felt that Umbridge deserved what was coming to her as she was a bitch and she obviously had no scruples about using her position to break the law, much like her counterpart in Kyle's old world.

At nine AM sharp, the back doors to the courtroom opened and the Wizengamot members dressed in their horrible plum robes filed in, Albus Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock at the head. Delores Umbridge was led in behind them by two Aurors and Fudge took a seat next to Dumbledore.

Kyle pulled Harry up into his lap when he felt the lad shaking beside him. Obviously Delores Umbridge had more of an impact on Harry than Kyle had originally thought. This only served to strengthen Kyle's drive to see Umbridge punished. Nobody had the right to terrify his little brother.

Once everybody was seated Dumbledore began by listing the interrogators and the witnesses for defence. Kyle found it interesting but not surprising that Fudge wasn't an interrogator; instead the man had himself listed as a witness for the defence. Well, if Fudge wished to dig his hole deeper then Kyle wasn't going to object.

"Delores Jane Umbridge," he said looking directly at Umbridge. "You have been charged by Lord Kyle Ethan Potter with the attempted kidnapping of his younger brother, Harry James Potter. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Umbridge said in her simpering voice. "In fact, I see no reason for this trial to be held at all, let alone against me. I am the Senior Undersecretary for the Minister. I have done no wrong."

Kyle honestly didn't care about her seniority when it came to being under the Minister and by the looks of things neither did Dumbledore or Madam Bones. "Your plea has been noted. Please do not speak other than to answer the questions asked of you in future or you shall have to be silenced."

Kyle just about managed to refrain from snickering at the look on Umbridge's face. Served her right, the ugly toad.

"We will now hear from the accuser, Lord Potter." Dumbledore looked at Kyle, "Lord Potter, please take the stand."

Kyle bent his head towards Harry. "Stay here with Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice." He said. "I'll just be over there, I won't be leaving and you'll be able to see me the whole time. Okay?"

"Okay." Harry slid off Kyle's lap and leaned into Alice's side when she wrapped a supportive arm around him.

After Kyle took a seat at the front of the court and had sworn on his magic to tell the truth Dumbledore began the questioning. This was one part of the procedure that Kyle was wary of, he was sure that Dumbledore wasn't too happy with him – he had after all removed Harry from the Dursleys care and thus the Blood Wards had collapsed. There was also the fact that Dumbledore obviously knew that Kyle had read the Potter Will. If he hadn't he wouldn't have been able to claim the Lordship of the Potter Line. So it was an apprehensive Kyle Potter who looked Albus Dumbledore in the eye and prayed to Merlin that Dumbledore wouldn't attempt Legilimency as Kyle didn't fancy testing his Occlumency shields against Dumbledore.

"You are Lord Kyle Ethan Potter of…" Dumbledore made a show of looking down at the parchments in front of him and then smiled apologetically at Kyle. "I'm sorry, but we don't have an address listed for you or your brother?"

Well Kyle certainly had to give the headmaster his due; such an innocuous question but an undoubtedly dangerous one. "Yes, I am Lord Kyle Ethan Potter. As to my address, well as I am not on trial I see no need to submit that to the records as it is not a legal requirement. For security reasons I do not wish to broadcast where myself and my brother lives. It could pose a threat to my brother after all."

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes dimmed a little at that answer, he had obviously expected to learn where Harry was living and was unused to being denied information. Kyle didn't mind rocking that boat.

"Nobody in this society poses a threat to your brother, as the Minister of Magic I demand that you tell us where you live."

Kyle turned to face the flustered Minister. "Nobody poses a threat to my brother?" he repeated. At the Minister's nod Kyle's eyes went cold. "Perhaps Minister you should think before you make such observations. After all, if nobody poses a threat to my brother then would you please inform me why we are here? Oh wait, I can do that. Your Undersecretary attempted to kidnap my little brother. And when asked under whose authority, she claimed yours. Forgive me, Minister, if I do not agree with your assurance of my brother's safety."

"How dare you speak to the Minister like that, Cornelius –" Umbridge was cut off by the promised Silencing Charm which Madam Bones happily administered. "Lord Potter is correct, Minister." Madam Bones said. "He is under no legal obligation to inform the Ministry of his address or of his brother's address unless an offence is committed by either one of them. Now perhaps we could get back to the trial on hand?"

After receiving a nod from an embarrassed Minister Dumbledore took over once again. "Lord Potter, could you please tell us what occurred between yourself, your brother and Delores Umbridge on March seventh which led to this trial today?"

"I could, Chief Warlock," Kyle answered. "I could also show you my memory of that day in a Pensieve if this court has access to one?" The court did indeed have access to one and twenty minutes later the Wizengamot were voting on Umbridge's guilt. The verdict was almost unanimous, only about four or five had sided with Umbridge's defence of 'I'm the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister.'

"Delores Jane Umbridge," Dumbledore began in a sombre voice. "This Court has found you guilty of the attempted kidnapping of one Harry James Potter on the seventh of March of this year. You are sentenced to three years in Azkaban for your crimes. Aurors!" Dumbledore then turned to look at Fudge who was still on Dumbledore's right. "Cornelius Fudge, you have been implicated in this attempted kidnapping and your defence of the would-be-kidnapper further implicates you. As the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot I declare that an investigation shall be carried out to see if you were in fact a willing party in this scheme. This court is adjourned."

"Come on, Harry." Kyle said with a smile. "How about we go tell Neville the good news and then get some ice-cream." Now all they had to do was leave without crossing paths with Albus Dumbledore. Alas, that was not to be as the first person they met after rising from their seats was the Headmaster of Hogwarts himself.