Chapter 2: The blue haired teacher.

Harry Potter of number four, Privet Drive, had just turned five. He was not in the least bit normal to the all encompassing chagrin of his relatives Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. Both of whom would not hesitate in the slightest to inform him of such on an hourly basis. On this rare occasion of his birthday He had been informed that his name was in fact not Boy, or Freak, but Harry James Potter.

Harry did not know why Mr. and Mrs. Dursley treated him the way they did. Nor why he was just now learning his own name. A name that felt right somehow and reminded him of a gentle woman with red hair and brilliant green eyes like his own, and a lanky man with black hair that rivaled his own in the simple untamable way it went every where. For Mr. and Mrs. Dursley had had their hopes of normalcy away from 'those people' shattered the night he had been left on their doorstep. Luckily for him the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead had long since faded to a thin white line from the angry red it had been when Petunia Dursley had let forth her shrill cry for her husband to come quickly into the morning air. Its magic nullified by the actions of a heavily scarred man with white hair bleached from the interaction with powerful ley line magic.

Almost four years had passed since one Harry James Potter had been unceremoniously dumped on his relatives doorstep. However, Privet Drive was exactly the same as it had been that very day. The only thing to show any time had passed at all were the pictures over the mantle showing the Dursley family with the now five year old son Dudley. One would not know that another boy lived within this house from the evidence in the room. Yet Harry James Potter was indeed at this very house, asleep for the moment in the small closet under the stairs.

His wake up call for the morning would consist of his aunt's shrill voice as she unlocked the door yelling, "Get up! I need an extra set of hands in the kitchen. Make sure you scrub them properly," as she pounded on the door.

Outside a distinguished gentleman stood observing concealed behind a veil of magic that had two purposes, bending light around him, and telling people that he wasn't there or that he wasn't worth noticing. "Sorry harry," he mumbled to himself, "It took a bit longer than I thought to come check-up on you." He couldn't help but feel that something was off but he needed another few months to regain his strength before doing anything.

Later that evening Harry's uncle would sit down for dinner and begin to explain to Dudley that he would be expected to start school in the fall. At which point Harry's rather large cousin would begin the fourth tantrum of the day. Complaining in a loud voice that if he was to go to school then Harry should be made to go as well. He argued it would be unfair for his cousin to be allowed to stay home, between sobs of how unfair it was. His uncle relented barely a minute into the tantrum saying that Harry would have to go as well, all while grumbling under his breath about one of the neighbors informing the school about Harry's existence.

The gentleman outside having left only a few times during the day for food and other necessities having already taken the opportunity while the boy was out with his aunt and away from the wards that detected magic performed around the house to place a charm that would monitor his emotional and physical state, took his leave at this moment having verified that while slightly unkempt the boy appeared to be healthy, promising himself that he would return soon to keep an eye on the boy.

He would not get the chance to return until sometime in October after his spell alerted him that something had distressed the child releasing a burst of magic at the offending party.

Harry James Potter had been quite happy for the few short months between learning his name and starting school. A small part of himself that had been crushed for quite some time had slowly come back to life bringing his naturally inquisitive mind back into full gear. He had learned not to ask questions of his aunt and uncle, but out of their supervision everyone else was fair game! He spent every moment he could get when unsupervised by his aunt at the local library reading. Having memorized the schedule his aunt was on while she was at home, and his uncle at work. He was a bit worried that his baggy clothes and messy hair would deny him entry. His biggest break came with the two week vacation his relatives took before the start of school leaving him with the kindly old neighbor Mrs. Figg.

Mrs. Figg was an elderly lady with graying hair who lived down the street from the Dursleys. She had several rather large cats that were peculiarly intelligent. While harry didn't much enjoy having to listen to Mrs. Figg dotter on about her cats and showing pictures of each of them from over the years, it was definitely better than being subjected to the small cupboard under the stairs or the ridiculous chores that an adult would be hard pressed to finish in the time they wanted of him. He definitely found Mrs. Figg's house a far superior home than that of the Dursley's.

This had been his most enjoyable summer vacation away from the Dursleys yet. He managed to convince Mrs. Figg to take him to the library almost every day during those two weeks. He was sad when the day the brief respite from the people who called themselves his relatives ended but had already resolved to act as if he was treated in the same manner at her house as they gave him.

Some weeks, after school started he found himself on the playground being chased by his cousin dudley and a few other boys that he didn't know. When the teacher in charge of watching the motley group of children noticed she scolded him for provoking and the rest for not behaving.

Later in the day while sitting in class the substitute teacher called him to the front and berated him for his slovenly attire. When he begain to speak up the teacher told him to wait in the hall. As he walked out the teachers hair turned a stunning electric blue. causing the kids to laugh and point. Harry didn't know what to think of this. He had felt something in his stomach push as he had turned around and walked out the door.

The rest of the day was a blur. He hardly paid any attention to his surroundings being pulled from one location to the next before finally being sent home with dudley for the day.

"What is this!" Petunia yelled, holding a little yellow note informing her of a prank. "First I get a call that you got into a fight on the playground, then you pranked a teacher turning her hair blue! What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I don't know! It was like magic! one minute she was yelling at me the next her hair was blue!"

At this statement she grabbed him by the arm and tossed him into the cupboard. "No supper!" she growled out at him. Dudley could be heard snickering behind her.

The next morning when she called him in to make breakfast. He burnt himself on the stove not paying attention and dropping some of the food on the floor. His aunt screamed at him livid. Swinging at him with one of the pans she had in her hand. It dealt him a glancing blow to the side of the head. The only thing preventing his skull from being completely caved in was the momentum he already had in the direction she swung. as it was he still gained a severe concussion, his magic flaring into action sending waves of healing towards this new injury.

"Dammit" she swore. "Now look at what you've done I'm going to have to call the school now and let them know you're sick."

Arwin's head shot up the alarm spells urgently screaming in his mind, the child had been dealt a glancing blow to the head and was in severe pain. Possibly fatal this was too much, but it was his ticket to spirit the boy away. His hair had begun to show streaks of black in it having refrained from channeling ley line magic for such a long time. He pulled up the information in his head to check if the damage was bad enough to warrant his direct interference. It looked it. But the boy could wait until he was done here. "Tom," he called to the barkeep, "Looks like I'm done here, just received that message i'd been looking for and i might not be back."

"It's been good having you wanderer. Come back if you can." The barkeep nodded to him acknowledging his voice.

Arwin proceeded directly to number four, privet drive, that evening dressed smartly in a business suit with a lawyers card and briefcase. He rang the doorbell.

"Mrs. Petunia Dursley?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly.

"I represent a client who would be more than happy to help you out with a certain undesired situation." Arwin pulled out a card handing it to her. It had a light compulsion charm on it that whispered to her subconscious to allow him in. She gestured to the sitting room. "Thank you Mrs. Dursley."

"How can we help you this fine evening." Mr. Dursley said after viewing the card. The fat lumps eyes glistening with the thought of money that could be fleeced from whoever hired the gentleman.

"More how can I help you," He replied, "My client has been made aware of a certain undesirable package that was placed in your care some time ago which could make your life difficult. He has informed me of his desire to facilitate the transfer from your care to his. He has had experience dealing with the people who decided to play the cuckoo bird with your nest."

He could sense them going on edge at his words becoming slightly guarded but he pushed forward allowing another slight compulsion and calming charm to slip through his fingers at both of them.

"My client is not one of those people, though he has connections within them that would be willing to provide security measures that do not rely on the continued tenancy of your undesired guest." He spoke edging closer to the truth without outright saying give me the boy and i'll pay to have superior protections placed.

They haggled back and forth before he finally managed to convince them. It took all his training to not outright kill them when he saw the state the boy was in. As it was he channeled that fury into his act, "I see yes, a pitiful thing, I think my client will be pleased." His voice almost dripping with the loathing that Malfoy Sr. seemed so very capable of. He pulled the boy out of the cupboard sending a wave of healing magic powered by a nearby ley-line into the frail body. He carried Harry to the car he rented that morning placing him on the back seat before turning and activating the lattice of wards he'd spent the previous weeks building around the home. As they flared into life subsuming the bloodwards that had been powered by the boy and his aunt.

A secondary ward was pulled into existence which swiftly switched the connection between the monitoring charms and the bloodwards to the new wards matching intensity and magical readouts in dumbledore's office with barely a flicker making it look like the ward had only briefly fluctuated and then resumed its previous strength. The monitoring wards to inform him of the boys whereabouts within barely blinked as the new ward lied to them.

He pulled out a stack of papers and a blood pen from the US. It unlike the counterpart here in the UK did not scratch the writing into the back of the hand but pulled it from a vein in the arm and didn't leave a mark.

"I just need you to sign a few documents to make this official." He said slapping down a counter compulsion to the one dumbledore had made preventing them from doing just that with anyone else.

With the last page signed the old bloodwards around the house collapsed uneventfully. The new ones taking their place in full. The instruments on the old man's desk giving no notice of this action.

"Thank you for your cooperation Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, Now that that is complete I can tell you the new protections are in place though I would advise that you consider moving to a more suitable neighborhood before your Dudley's tenth birthday. Just a precaution mind you, It helps to not be where they expect you to be when they come calling to check on their little brood parasite." He fished out some papers from his briefcase. Much as he hated letting them get away with this abuse, the longer they went without the order of the flaming chickens knowing about his actions the better. "These are the details to an account that has been set up in your names. Your current residence can be rented out under an alias until after the freaks come calling, or sold. those are just a few options. Unless you desire to remain here and deal with them pounding on your door."

He bid them good day then drove away. He kept driving for quite some time until he entered a park with a secluded grove that repelled mundane eyes. Entering the grove he set the boy down in the midst of the trees and started throwing diagnostic and healing spells at him. It seemed this wasn't the first time he'd been injured. There was a core block and a few other inactive spells surrounding his core and mind. He gently eased a mental probe into the inactive ones his mage-sight flaring as he examined the fine weave of the spell before giving it a sharp twist that pulled it apart rendering it harmless static energy. Then he began to ease the core block off tying his own spell into it that would continue to loosen it over the next week until the boy's core was completely free. he pulled out a few potions to help counter the malnutrition and broken bones.

Setting up a shield around the area to prevent distractions keep the grove warm and prevent stray magic from entering he placed his hands on the boy's head and entered his meditative state. The boy's mind was a maelstrom of activity as it subconsciously directed magic to each of the areas affected by his treatment at the hands of his relatives. His core was already beginning to improve with even just the small bit of freedom it gained from the bond being loosened.

Arwin began building the basic shields that should have been in place had his magic been free to work normally. He pulled thoughts and memories and began to organize them into a basic system that would allow the boy freedom to change his mindscape later as needed. Then he began to edit pulling every abuse the child had endured and leaching away some of the intensity. He pulled up the buried memories of Harry's parents reinforcing them and placing them where harry could easily recall them. The next part made Arwin angry though, Someone had checked up on the boy at least twice and they had used a memory block both times on both his aunt and uncle and him.

He sunk deeper into the mind of the five year old resting on his lap and started placing information that would unpack slowly giving him instruction he would desperately need to learn to control the newly opened channels of magic. It would teach him how to instinctively and deliberately center himself and anchor his power deep within the ground beneath him.

As a backup plan he left several collections of knowledge that would only unlock in great need or if he learned about the magic they hid on his own, through instruction, or slowly after his seventeenth birthday.

When he came back to his own mind and opened his eyes it was nearing morning. Harry had finally left his healing trance and went into a natural sleep. The bruising faded and the injury to the side of his head now looked less like a blunt trauma and more like a simple scrape. What surprised arwin the most was the boy's core. It had latched onto the spell to loosen the binding that restricted it and was gently pushing the nefarious chainwork away from itself.

Perhaps that more than anything decided it for him. He would yet be here awhile longer fixing the broken mess that Albus Far-Too-Many-Names-and-Titles Dumbledore had left in his wake as the self-proclaimed light lord. But the boy needed to be sent through the gate now. He walked to the center of the grove carrying the small child. In the very midst of the trees stood an ancient ring of power built from ancient stone around a central dais on a nexus of ley line energies, not unlike the heartstones of the tayledras vales.

The foolish wizards if they but understood the damage that had been done to the magic of their country with the destruction of stonehenge. Arwin shook his head setting the boy down on the dais. before walking to the northern archway. He pulled energy from within himself, weaving strands of energy frantically like a spider building a web. Anchoring the lattice of energy to the arch he sent forth casting out with a call to the starry-eyed to guide the connection home.

:so wanderer are you ready to return?:

:No, goddess I have work yet to complete in this world. But the young one I send has been dealt with harshly by the fates of this world. He needs a place to heal.:

:I see, His strength of character is worthy even of the great heralds of Valdemar. Send him through I will deal with the fates of this realm, he does not deserve to be their chew toy!:

:As you will goddess.:

:I think he might make an excellent champion for me though.: a light giggle could be heard at this.

Arwin picked the boy up and walked to the gate he conjured a stretcher and gently laid the child on it before sending it through the gate. The goddess would ensure he was provided for on the far-side.

Arwin waited a moment longer before pulling the energy of the gate back into himself destroying the connection.

He had some people to wake up from an unfair mind prison.