~EDITED~
Chapter 1
In the dead of night, in a quiet neighborhood in England, a cloaked man stood before a plain-looking two-story cottage. He allowed a small, smug grin to grace his lips, his crimson eyes shone in determination as he gazed at his target's house.
The cloaked man whipped out his wand and a stream of red light rocketed towards his target's door, easily obliterating it. He stepped inside the house and felt a magical energy wash over him, alerting his presence to the denizens of the house. His grin became wider and more feral as he felt the three magical presences inside.
Two children... the cloaked man thought, ... and an adult. His plan had worked; the Death Eater he sent had lured the heir of House Potter and his filthy mudblood wife to Diagon Alley. They would be too occupied to notice his attack on the prophesied child.
He climbed up the stairs and noticed a light coming from an open room, the door slightly ajar. The cloaked man blasted the door off its hinges with a powerful blasting curse and smiled as he spotted two children and an elderly woman.
Her raven hair was frazzled, but it did little to affect the intensity of her gray glare. The elderly woman looked unfazed at his arrival. "Voldemort," the elderly woman said curtly.
"Dorea Potter Nee Black," the cloaked man – Voldemort – said, a malicious glint in his eyes as he stared at the two children behind Dorea. "Move aside and I'll spare your life; resist and... there's no need for me to continue, is there?"
"Over my dead body!" Her wand was out in an instant and Dorea released a dark cutting curse at He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. A surge of orange energy bolted through the space between the two, surprising Voldemort.
Voldemort swayed to the side, letting the orange energy pass him harmlessly. It was common knowledge the elder Potter woman was a healer, so it had surprised him for Dorea to unleash a dark curse on him. But then again, she was also of the House of Black; underestimating the woman was a blunder he was not allowed to repeat.
Both dark arts users lashed out at each other in a magical frenzy, lighting the room in an array of colors. Spells were countered and repelled by one another, their skills seemingly equal. Little by little, Dorea started to feel tired as she discharged curse after curse, her magical reserves depleting at an astonishing rate.
With a powerful blast from Voldemort, Dorea fell to her knees, unable to withstand his power any longer. Voldemort chuckled, "It seems I've underestimated you, Black. If you had just moved out of the way, you might have lived longer."
Dorea painted, fatigue making her unable to brandish her wand. She glared back at Voldemort in defiance, fury maring her face as she stared at the noseless bastard. "I'd rather die than let your filthy hands touch my grandchildren!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Green light filled the room, and moments later a heavy thud was heard as the body of Dorea Potter fell onto the floor. The sound of wailing caught Voldemort's attention; he raised his head to see one of the children crying as the other held the crying child in his arms, glaring at Voldemort with bright green pupils.
This is him, he thought. Staring at the green-eyed boy, Voldemort could feel the large magical core inside of the boy. It was a shame the boy had to die; the boy could've been a great asset to Voldemort's army with the right training. "Pity, I might've made you my apprentice if not for the prophecy."
"Avada Kedavra!" He shouted triumphantly, not holding back an ounce of his power. Once again, a green stream of magical energy darted towards the defiant boy. Once the boy was dead, there would be no one capable enough of challenging-
The curse rebounded off of the boy and bounced back towards Voldemort. The magical energy was too fast for Voldemort to dodge, hitting him square in the chest. His body writhed in pain, convulsing every so often before it couldn't withstand the onslaught of his power. Voldemort's body disintegrated, leaving only the ghostly form of the once feared Dark Lord.
The sound of an apparition could be heard outside of the broken cottage, minutes after Voldemort's ghostly form retreated.
Three people arrived in the destroyed cottage. A cry of anguish was then heard by one wearing glasses when he spotted his mother lying there in their nursery. The other one, a woman, was frozen in shock seeing the body of her mother-in-law.
It was the oldest one of the trio that walked to the children, fear gripping his heart at seeing another child dying in this war. But to his astonishment, he spotted the two children healthy and, other than the scars on their faces, they were unharmed with the elder sibling hugging the younger sibling.
But this brought the question of which boy was the chosen one. The wording of the prophecy can be interpreted in many ways. He then started casting a diagnostic charm on both boys. The only thing that could be dangerous was the residue of dark magic in the oldest one's lightning bolt scar, whereas, the youngest had nothing but exhaustion afflicting him. He soon realized that he could use this time to his advantage to gain power, and began binding the cores of the children.
—
It was already a month since the attack at the Potter cottage and the fall of Voldemort. Many of his supporters had been captured and sent to Azkaban but many others were able to escape punishment by using the excuse of being under the imperius curse – whether it was true or not was still unknown. The people of Britain were also shocked when the one-year-old, Thomas Potter, was announced as the defeater of Voldemort and was the only one to survive the killing curse. The public then proclaimed him the boy who lived.
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts, waiting for the Potters' arrival. The floo then roared to life signaling the arrival of the Potters. The first to arrive was James Potter; the heir apparent to House Potter, looking exhausted with bags under his eye, his black hair looking messier than usual. It seemed that what happened in the last month had taken a toll on the young man.
The floo roared once again, this time Lily Potter arrived with the children in her arms. She too looked tired, an indication that the events had affected her the same as it did for her husband. After the defeat of Voldemort and the declaration of the youngest potter, the entirety of magical Britain had hounded the Potters to see their savior. It was only Albus' intervention that stopped the more eager ones from discovering the Potters' whereabouts.
"James, Lily, thank you for coming," Albus said, "I had hoped we would meet under better circumstances."
"What do you mean, Professor?" asked James. "Voldemort is defeated and his followers are hiding or being sent to Azkaban."
"Yes my boy, Voldemort has been defeated and many of his followers are pressured into hiding," – a sigh escaped Albus' lips who seemed to have aged by many years in the span of a second – "but I believe that one day he will return."
"What do you mean, Professor? How can Voldemort return?" asked Lily, bewilderment written on her face. As far as she knew, resurrection was an impossible act, even for wizards and witches. "Wasn't he destroyed?"
"I don't know how, my dear, but I believe that he will return. I have gone to the Hall of Prophecy and the prophecy still exists." Albus' eyelids narrowed and his brows furrowed as he stared at the young parents in front of him, his face grave. "The scar on Thomas' forehead is proof that he is the chosen one."
"Well, that's great then!" Smiles appeared on the Potter couple's faces while they forgot that their oldest also had a scar, yet Albus' expression remained the same.
"That's not the only reason I asked you to come here." Albus watched as the smiles slipped from the Potters' faces, an expression of seriousness overriding their previous elation. "I'm afraid the attack on your children is only the beginning. To ensure the children's safety, I propose that we separate them."
James Potter was a logical man; he could see why Albus had wanted to separate them. Thomas was the Chosen One, someone who was destined for greatness and adored by the public, a nearly impossible target with how famous he was; Harry, on the other hand, was just a child – a Potter child, but still a child. None of the Potter's enemies would hesitate to kidnap or attack the weakest link of the Potter family to lure the Chosen One into a trap. It was better for the world to not know of the existence of Harry Potter.
When Lily tried to argue James cut her off.
"I think it would be best if someone else were to look after him, lest he become forever bitter at the attention young Thomas will get as he grows," James said to Lily.
"What!" Lily gasped.
"Think Lil's, Thomas is famous, we won't have time for another child." James reasoned with her but Lily looked like she was still not satisfied.
After many arguments, Dumbeldore came up with an idea to keep Harry with them for a year or 2, and then, because he thought that Harry would get jealous of the training and attention Thomas would get, Harry would be sent away. They agreed to this.
However, the Potters and Albus didn't realize that Harry had been looking at them with fury blazing within his eyes. For he realized that they were talking about abandoning him.
"Who'll take care of Harry after a year?" James asked through gritted teeth, his downtrodden visage very visible to Albus which caused him to sigh. Albus didn't want this either, but he could see no other alternative.
"I have already contacted your father to legally show that he will take care of Harry as his guardian."
James asked, "Why my father? We could just send Harry to Lily's sister."
Dumbledore replied, "The rule in the wizarding world is: a magical child, especially one from the Most Ancient and Noble house, cannot be given to be raised by a muggle. However, your father has to take care of his wife who is currently in a coma. I doubt he will be able to raise the child on his own. Therefore, I suggest you take the lordship of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter, as your father should not take the stress of the work. He is now old as well, so I suggest this for the greater good."
Dumbledore thought of the power he would acquire when the foolish James Potter would be Lord Potter. As well as how much money he could steal from the Potters' overflowing vaults. He cannot take any now, as Charlus Potter is the strongest lord in wizengamot and doesn't agree very often with any terms or laws he proposes in wizengamot. Even though Dumbledore is chief warlock, Lord Potter still greatly exceeds him in power.. The Potters were known as former kings of wizarding Britain, but they buried that knowledge to not bring as much attention to them. Nonetheless, their 1 vote is equal to 20 votes on the wizengamot. Each wizengamot member was a representative of different houses and had the power of 1 or 2 votes.
Potter = 7: Founding family of wizengamot.
Gryffindor = 5: (This was also held by the Potters as they were the descendants of Godric Gryffindor, also as the founders helped the wizarding world most during the rise of various dark lords.)
Slytherin = 5
Ravenclaw = 5
Hufflepuff = 5
Peverell = 5
Blacks = 5 As they are also one of the oldest houses (and they were allies of House Potter from many centuries.)
Malfoy = 5 As they are very rich.
Evening shade = 5 (The family who had created Azkaban.)
Nott = 5
Longbottom = 5
And many other families held many votes in wizengamot.
The Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses were not occupied as there were no heirs, however, many were eager/waiting for someone to become heir by Magic.
James agreed to ask his father for lordship, and they were waiting for the floo to light up. When it did, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin arrived, and they were told about the plan. They had agreed reluctantly, but on the inside, they were both seething with anger as they could not do anything else, but they had a different plan in their mind for the future. Both loved Harry the most as he was a loving kid and more intelligent or smart than any children his age.
The floo lit up once again, and an aged man appeared as the light died down into nothing. The aged man, Charlus Potter, was the current head of House Potter, regent to house Peverell, and Gryffindor. His gaze scanned the room before it landed on the eldest Potter child whom he and his wife loved and adored the most. He walked a few steps towards the boy, crouching to see him eye to eye before asking, "Do you know who I am, child?" Lord Potter had not seen his family in a year as he was in Russia handling business, but his wife, Dorea Potter, would come to see her grandchildren often, however, it was mainly Harry. Every week she would return and tell him everything about him, and from what he had heard, he personally liked Harry. He had seen the boy's intelligence and thought about the bright future of the Potter house under Lord Harry Potter.
"You're my grandpa!" Harry's eyes shone as he hugged his grandfather which Charlus returned.
"Now, I have no doubt why Dorea used to praise you, little one," he said, affectionately touching Harry's cheek.
A smile graced Charles' lips; so young yet so intelligent, and his son wanted to abandon him? Foolish.
Charlus Potter had some other plan in his mind for the boy, and after talking to his grandson, he went to the adults.
As he made his way over, Dumbledore greeted him, "Welcome Lord Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you again. I am sorry for Lady Potter. Now you know I have called you for your grandson, Harry, as he will be sent to live with you after a few year." To which Charlus sighed and nodded before asking "Why are you giving up young Harry?"
"As you might already know, Thomas is the boy who lived, so we would need to start the training after a year. Seeing the fame and training in magic that Thomas would get, Harry would get jealous. We also have suspicion that he might be a squib as he has not shown any accidental magic. So, Lily asked for Harry to stay with them until we start training in about another year. After that, he would be sent to live with you. I would suggest you give James lordship, as you must be very disturbed due to Lady Potter being in a coma. It will help Thomas as well! He will be made heir potter and the family magic will help him succeed further." Dumbledore finished.
"How dare you tell me what I should do with my family AND decide who my family heirship should be given to. Stay within your limits or I will strip you of your positions for interfering in the matter of Noble Houses!" he ended in anger.
Dumbledore paled, as he tried to manipulate one of the most feared men in the wizarding world. Even Gellert Grindelwald was cautious to confront the man standing in front of him.
"I am very sorry Lord Potter, I didn't mean to–" Dumbledore spoke trying to save himself, but he was interrupted by Charlus once more.
"Enough of this shit, I'm not here to listen to what I should do! Finish the paperwork to give me custody so I can go." Charlus said, calming himself.
As soon as Charlus had finished speaking, Dumbledore brought out the papers and handed them to James and Lily. They signed it and then handed it to Charlus Potter. He read the paper, and it was written that James and Lily are giving legal guardianship of Harry James Potter to Lord Charlus Potter. When he saw the name, he thought to himself as he signed the papers, "A Muggle name. No, your name is now Hadrian Potter; a name fitting for the heir apparent to House Potter."
Charlus turned to Dumbledore, "You meddling jackass, this is the last chance I am giving to you. If you ever try to interfere in my family matters again, I will drag you in front of the wizengamot!"
Dumbledore paled and nodded.
Charlus turned towards James, "And you.. you are a disgrace to the Potter family. Who would abandon their son on the word of some old fool! I want you and your family in Potter castle tomorrow morning for a family meeting."
James just nodded, and soon Lord Potter left, fuming in rage.
—
The next morning in Potter castle.
James, Lily, and the twins were in the family meeting room when Lord Potter arrived.
"James, I have decided that you will be Lord Potter in wizengamot only! If I come to know of you casting Potter votes in favor of bloody Dumbledore, I swear, you will face the consequences! I am still the head of the Potter clan!"
James agreed to become Lord Potter in wizengamot
"I want Harry to be sent over whenever I send Molby to get him. You should send him, don't you dare go against my orders. When you finally give him up, send him to me!" Charlus finished all he wanted to talk about and left. After this James and his family left for the Potter mansion.
—
Potter Mansion
Everyone was enraptured with Thomas, the Boy-Who-Lived was surrounded by friends, family, and more, while Harry sat alone on the sidelines. He was ignored and forgotten, and soon a house elf appeared and said, "Master James, master Charlus wants to see young master Harry."
James replied saying, "Molby, he is over there, you can take him." The house elf took Harry and apparated to the Potter castle before handing Harry to Charlus and disappearing. Charlus had started to look after Harry anytime he was free. He loved Harry, and Harry loved his grandfather more than anyone.
Soon a year passed similar to this.
—
A 4-year-old Harry James Potter, older twin brother to the Boy-Who-Lived, Thomas Henry Potter, sat in his room in Potter Mansion, waiting until he was sure that no one was awake and moving about the house. He was doing this for one simple reason, he didn't get any dinner. His parents had forgotten him... again. Not that it mattered much, his parents had done it before and would do it again. He didn't care about it since he would spend most days with his grandfather in Potter castle, but when his grandfather was busy, he stayed here with his parents. Yes, they had kept him for an extra year, due to the fact that they haven't been able to start their precious boy's training.
Harry's life hadn't been like this for the first 15 months or so of his life, it was only after Halloween in 1981 that his life started going downhill. That was the night when his brother was chosen as the great "Boy-Who-Lived". Harry knew different. He may not have seen it, but Harry was amazingly smart. He had a perfect recollection and could remember everything in his short life. This was because Harry's magic was different than almost everyone else. It affected him physically. He learned at a very young age that he could manipulate his magic to enhance his body. It wasn't that his magic was different per se, it was just that he learned to use it differently. Even without his magic, Harry was a brilliant child. The way that he learned to use his magic allowed him to use wandless magic as easily as a typical magic user when they use a wand.
From there, things only got worse, they stopped paying even a miniscule amount of attention to him and doted on Thomas. Harry knew that they hadn't stopped loving him anymore, they just sort of... forgot about him, in favor of his brother. But he didn't care; he knew he had his loving grandpa with him. As well as his uncle and godfather who loved him.
Harry started excelling at manipulating his magic and taught himself to read so he could learn new things in the family library. He tried to impress his parents with the things he learned but they didn't seem to care. All they cared about was Thomas. He would do magic and try to get their attention and they always thought that it was his brother doing it. He didn't even try to correct his parents, he knew they would just tell him to go away and stop bothering his brother.
That was another thing that set him apart from his brother, because he could control his magic better than most, he never had any incidents of accidental magic. He was positive that his parents thought he was a squib or barely above one.
Finally, Harry snapped out of his thoughts and waited until he felt safe to go out and get something to eat. He sneaked out of his room and used magic to silence any sounds he may make. He made it to the second story landing before he heard voices. He was ready to dash back to his room when he stopped and heard his parents and the old man, Dumbledore or something, he didn't know because the man never really talked to him or introduced himself. The few times he did speak with Harry, the man asked where his parents or twin were. Harry and Thomas were easy to tell apart, Thomas had dark red hair, like their mother, and hazel eyes, whereas Harry had jet black hair and the greenest eyes anyone had seen, with flecks of gold in them.
Curious as to what the man was doing here so late, he snuck closer to listen and overheard them talking about him and his brother.
He heard his father say, "But professor, will it do any good? I mean he hasn't done any magic at all. No accidental magic since he was born."
The professor responded curtly, "Yes James I believe it will. He is magical, I can say that for sure. His name is written down in Hogwarts Book of Admittance, it just could be that he has very little of it. Anything that can help young Thomas will be good in the long run. You know the prophecy, only Thomas can defeat Voldemort. All three of us know that he isn't gone, he will return, and we must be ready for him. That means the chosen one must be ready as well. It is for the greater good that this must be done."
Lily finally spoke up, "Are we even sure this will work? I mean, as James said, Harry hasn't shown many signs of magic. Even if he does have magic, what if it's so small that it doesn't do any good? I agree that the sacrifice must be made for both of them to live through this, but what if it isn't enough?"
The professor sighed, "I agree that the possibility is there, but what else is there for us to do? The ritual can only be done with those that have a close family bond and you two are his parents and among the best fighters the light side has. For the greater good, young Harry must have his magic, however small it is, transferred to his brother to help him defeat Lord Voldemort. This could be the 'power he knows not' portion of the prophecy."
James sighed in resignation, "Okay, we will bring them to the castle towards the end of the week. Afterward, we will probably have to place Harry in the Dursleys' house so that he doesn't have to grow up being the squib brother to the Boy-Who-Lived. It would just fill him with jealousy and make him feel insignificant."
"No!" Lily said angrily. "We are already taking his magic away, we can't send him to the Dursleys' as well! That is being too cruel. He is our child and he will stay with us or your father."
"But Lils, I will disinherit Harry as soon as I become Lord Potter so that Thomas would become Lord Potter if something were to happen to us. That is the same as disowning him. I will even make it so that it couldn't be reversed in case I am captured by Death Eaters. That way they won't be able to force me to change it to Harry to gain access to the Potter fortune. After the ritual, I will go down to Gringotts and empty his trust vault, and explain to them that we found out he is a squib." James said.
Lily shook her head, "It doesn't matter, the least we can do is keep him with the family. We can send him to a muggle school and he could do something in that world. Besides, people will understand the disinheritance and we can explain away him being a squib because he has never done any accidental magic."
Harry had heard enough. They were going to take away his magic and were going to be merciful enough not to send him away, but at the same time, they were going to make him live with magic all around him as a reminder of what he had lost. As if that would get them to pay more attention to him. He let a few tears fall as he hastily made his way back to his room, holding a locket that his grandfather had given to him. It was a portkey which Harry could use in times of danger; he activated the portkey and was soon on the grounds of the Potter Castle. He quickly entered Potter castle and saw Molby.
"Molby, could you please tell me where grandpa is?" Harry asked.
"Young master Harry, master Charlus is in the living room," Molby told him.
Soon Harry was running towards the living room.
—
Charlus Potter was in Potter castle's living room which was filled with his friends, Lord Black, Lord Malfoy and Lord Greengrass, as well as their whole family.
Charlus stood, "I have an important announcement to make about my wife. I was surprised and relieved when I found Dorea alive and unconscious after dueling with Voldemort. Soon after discovering her state, I took her to Russia to heal her. She was in a coma, but she has now come out of it! Please welcome back, Dorea Potter!" as he gestured, everyone turned towards the door where Dorea was standing.
They were all happy to know that Dorea had survived and wanted to meet her as soon as possible.
Everyone rushed towards her with tears flowing from their eyes. Each took the time to ask her how she was doing and gave her plenty of hugs and well wishes. After everything was finished, everyone finally settled down when the door opened and a cute handsome boy was standing there with tears in his eyes and trailing down his face. He ran towards Charlus and hugged him as he started to cry even more on his shoulder. Charlus picked him up in his arms and everyone looked at the scene in shock.
"What happened Harry? Son, why are you crying? Please tell me." Charlus said as he was consoling Harry.
Harry began telling his grandpa about what he overheard while Charlus comforted him, saying that no one would do anything to him, which helped him calm down. He eventually looked up and saw his grandma who blinked at him. The last time that he had seen her was when his grandfather had taken him to Potter manor in Russia, there, he had seen his grandmother being treated while she was in coma. He levitated himself out of his grandfather's hands and landed on the floor, his legs moving in the air as if he was already running. He landed, almost scrambling, to his grandmother and ran into Dorea's arms.
Harry told her everything. How he was not given food as they forgot to call him to dinner, how he was always ignored and forgotten, and when he went down and heard Dumbledore and his parents talking. When he finished he started to sob again. He was consoled by Dorea once more, and everyone in the room was furious. Charlus was beyond the point of return. Dorea went over to Charlus and tried to calm him down, reassuring him that they would never let that happen. Charlus took Harry in his arms and went to the fireplace where he used the floo to go to Potter's mansion. Arriving right behind him was Lord Arcturus Black, who was there to keep the situation under control since he was one of the few people who could keep Charlus Potter in control. When they exited the fireplace, they walked towards the living room where they saw Dumbledore. Charlus drew his wand and threw a bone-exploding curse at him, knocking Dumbledore off his feet when it hit his left arm. Everyone watched, shocked that Charlus could curse Dumbledore. James stood up, an argument on the tip of his tongue when he was prematurely cut off.
"You bloody scoundrel! How could you think of taking Harry's magic away? This shall not happen while I am alive! I agreed on sending Harry to me but I will never agree to take his magic!'' As soon as James heard his father's words he paled.
"I am sorry dad, I won't do it! It was just a Theor..." James knew that if he argued, he would be killed by his own father.
"I don't believe you! I want Harry to live with me permanently. And You! Dumbledore! If you dare do anything to my grandson, I swear I will not hesitate to kill you and feed you to my family dragon!" Charlus said, pointing his wand at Dumbledore.
Soon Harry was sleeping soundly at Potter Castle.
—
The next morning, Charlus and Dorea were in his office when Harry walked in. He made his way over and hugged his grandparents, thanking them for taking him from James and Lily.
Charlus told Harry that he would start learning about their family history and start his training when he seems fit. He also gave Harry a personal house elf named Toby, for which he was very grateful for and reciprocated with a hug.
—
AUTHORS NOTE
How's the chapter guys?