Chapter 4: Harry James Potter/O'Neill?
Hogwarts – Headmasters Office
Albus Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed, lightly rubbing at his temples to dispel the pounding in his head.
Using all his willpower, he just managed to prevent himself from replacing that pounding with a more physical one. That is of his head hitting his desk. Even letting his head hit just once –which he was sorely tempted to do- would not be a good idea as he was certain it would quickly escalate to once, every minute and then possibly seconds. Not a good idea.
It all started with the car crash that claimed the sweet and innocent lives of the four Dursleys. Well actually there were only three of them but Dumbledore was sure that young Harry Potter had been eagerly accepted into his cousins' family.
Although the parents and son were all killed, young Harry Potter himself, thankfully was left unharmed and was brought to the closest hospital for a checkup.
Making his way to the hospital, Dumbledore quickly discovered that all was not well. Just an hour before he arrived it seemed a few men came in asking to see Harry, supposedly Harry's Uncle and relatives. Reading the receptionist's memories had quickly led him to believe that for some reason, some faction of the United States Government had kidnapped him.
What the Americans wanted with Harry Potter he couldn't even begin to imagine, especially as these appeared to be Muggles. A few memory charms later and Dumbledore was cheerfully twinkling his eyes at an aghast Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge as he explained the situation.
After hearing him out, Fudge agreed to contact the Muggle Prime Minister, so they could contact the Americans on their behalf. Fudge also agreed that he should contact the Magical President of the United States so that he could talk to the Muggle President.
After that, Dumbledore went back to Hogwarts to pull the last card he had. Severus Snape, his potions professor, together with Dumbledore's other friend/familiar Fawkes the Phoenix were sent to the Americas to find Harry using tracking charms and such.
Now he was sitting at his desk pondering the puzzle and waiting eagerly for news. He was also trying extremely hard NOT to bang his head against his desk. He was sure it would be painful.
A ball of flames appearing out of thin air notified Dumbledore to the return of Fawkes, Snape and hopefully Harry. They had been gone all day and Severus was not one to leave a job unfinished. One look at his face however, Dumbledore had his answer; one he wished would be different.
Shaking his head and stumbling in exhaustion, Severus Snape went to get some well needed rest, knowing tomorrow would be another day for which to look for the spoiled brat-who-lived-to-cause-problems.
Five minutes later the fire flared in the fireplace and a head appeared in the fire. Cornelius Fudge watched in open shock as he saw Albus Dumbledore, the most respected wizard in the world, repeatedly smash his head into his desk. A resounding thud followed by a low 'ouch' broke the otherwise silent office every time flesh hit wood.
General West's Office – Cheyenne Mountain Facility
"Absolutely Not, Colonel!" Colonel Jack O'Neill winced at the loud and distinctive No. He tried again to get General West to see reason.
"General, please-" he was however cut off by the loud voice of the General.
"The Air Force, Colonel has never accepted a child into its ranks! We only accept people who are of eighteen years or older. While I usually trust your judgment Jack, this time I'm afraid, I think the Abydos mission did something to you!"
Jack sighed slightly; he hadn't really expected the General to agree it was however worth a shot. He decided to try once more before giving up.
"General, strictly speaking the rules say that you have to have consent from a guardian or parent in order to join the Air Force, and since no parent or guardian would normally agree then it's self understood that the age limit is eighteen. If however a guardian were to agree-"
"Enough Colonel. We aren't Potter's guardians nor will the Air Force take him on as a ward. Besides any guardian who would consent for a six year old to be in the Military would need to be checked into a mental home. Unless," the General paused for a moment, clearly trying to puzzle something out. "Is there something you're not telling me Colonel?"
'Oh well' thought Jack, 'Stop while you're ahead Jack'. "No, Sir" Jack said measuring his voice, and making sure nothing showed through on his face.
General West sighed, "Very well Jack. Given the current conversation I think that your next mission is to return Mr. Potter back to British soil, after which you will continue your early retirement plans. Don't worry about resignation papers. I took care of it already. Take some time in Britain and go sightseeing, the second I get the report that Potter was turned over, your off duty."
"At 1000 hours tomorrow morning, you will meet with a man who will take Potter into custody. You'll meet him at an airstrip forty-five miles outside of London. The man's name is Severus Snape. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Jack replied despondently.
"Dismissed Jack, and Good Luck." The General said softly.
Saluting the General, Jack walked out quickly heading towards Harry's room. Walking quickly, he made it to the room within the minute. Nodding his head at the guard, Jack swiped his card and opened the door; he closed it again after he slipped inside. Looking around, he saw Harry sleeping and he quietly moved up to the bed. He smiled as he watched Harry sleep, he was so cute.
Unfortunately, Jack had to wake him up, something he would rather not do. Slowly reaching for Harry's shoulder, his hand was a hairs-breadth away when Harry's eyes snapped open, his body tensing ready to spring at any moment.
When Harry saw Jack he relaxed quickly, smiling at him before rubbing his eyes. "Hey" Jack said, withdrawing his hand and trying hard to hide the fact that his heart was going three times its normal speed.
"What's going on?" Harry asked blearily.
Jack smiled at him, "We're leaving. I have to take you back to Britain. The President is under a lot of pressure to return the 'kidnapped' British citizen. This case in particular is worse than most because we actually took you on British soil. I am under orders to return you to some guy by the name of Severus Snape."
Harry's eyes widened in fear. "I won't go." He said immediately, his childish voice abnormally firm. "You can't make me." Jack shook his head, "Don't worry, it'll be ok." He said gently. "I'm not leaving you there so fast; I'll stick around for a while. We'll talk more on the ride there. Let's go."
Nodding his head, Harry quickly got up and got dressed as Jack went outside to wait for Harry and to make arrangements to get to London.
Two hours later – London
In front of an old majestic building, that was at least three stories tall, a young boy stood on the stoop by the front door. The black haired, green-eyed six year old hesitated for a second, before finally ringing the doorbell.
Looking behind him, Harry smiled mentally as he saw Jack hiding in the shadows. His face however remained expressionless.
A gold plated sign on the door identified the place as 'St. Mary's Orphanage for Children'. Footsteps behind the door alerted Harry to someone coming. The door swung open and a woman's face peered out.
The woman seemed to be around her late forties. Black hair, turning gray crowned her head in a way that showed she just gotten out of bed, the bath robe hastily thrown on confirmed it.
Despite the lateness, her face was kind and when she saw Harry her face lit up with concern. "What are you doing here at this hour, child?" she asked, a slight frown marring here features. Keeping his face as blank as possible, and making sure no emotion entered his voice –a talent he had learnt with the Dursleys- Harry answered, "I have no family. My mom and dad died while I was a baby, and my cousins were killed recently in a car crash."
"What's your name, dear?" the woman asked kindly as she opened the door inviting him in.
"Harry Potter, ma'am" he replied, carefully stepping in and looking around.
A door halfway open was obviously the woman's bedroom, it was the closest door to the front door. A few feet away there was a door marked Dining Hall. A second door market Kitchen. Opposite a big stairway went up to another level. Craning his neck, Harry saw that there were five flights of stairs winding up through the house.
"Well Harry, I'm Sophie. I run this orphanage here, would you like to stay here?"
Pretending not to be too eager, Harry slowly nodded his head. Sophie smiled, "Ok then. Welcome to St. Mary's Orphanage for Children. By law, you are now a ward of the orphanage making me your legal Guardian. Are you hungry?"
Harry shyly shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
Harry nodded.
"Ok then, how about some hot chocolate?"
Hesitating for a split second, Harry shook his head again.
Smiling knowingly, Sophie asked again, "Are you sure?"
Harry again shook his head.
At her laughter, a small blush appeared on his cheeks, and a small shy smile appeared on his face.
"C'mon" Sophie said laughter still in her voice, "let's go to the kitchen and get some hot chocolate, ok?" Holding out her hand she smiled at him when he immediately latched onto it. Still smiling, she led him to the kitchen.
The next morning
Sophie Goodkind sighed as she heard the doorbell ring. It was early; around nine o'clock and the children were just eating breakfast. She hoped Harry had settled in nicely and that someone had shown him around, for now she had to get the door.
She had finished getting dressed and slipped on her slippers as the doorbell rang a second time. It was unusual for the doorbell to ring so often, last night with Harry, and again now with someone who hopefully wasn't a child orphaned and looking for a home.
Walking to the front door she suppressed a smile as she saw faces poking out of the dining hall. To her relief she spotted the green eyed, black haired Harry Potter looking curiously at the door. When she met his eyes he smiled shyly prompting a smile from her.
Finally opening the door, she smiled her welcome as well as her relief as she saw a middle aged man standing outside, all the happier that it was not another poor soul. With her worry negated she allowed herself to wonder what a middle aged man would want at an orphanage.
A little while later…
Jack O'Neill smiled down at the newly adopted Harry James Potter O'Neill. Harry currently was jumping all over the place happy to finally be with Uncle Jack forever and ever. Checking the time he saw that it was 0930 hours. He would be late, but he didn't care, Severus Snape would not be taking his son anywhere and he was going to make sure of that.
A/N: Well here is a toned down version of what I wanted from Chapter 4 but I guess getting the chapter out sooner rather than later will make up for a few missing characters and shorter chapter. In any case enjoy. Next chapter a fight between Snape and O'Neill and then Snape and Dumbledore. After that I'm going to jump directly into Season 1 Episode 1 with a little bit of background on where Harry is how he's doing. I was left a great review from a person named Von. Unfourtanately it was anonymous and so the only way I have to reply is this way. BE WARNED! Never again will I reply to anonymous reviewers. And so, my reply:
Von:
About critcism , its ok I happen to enjoy it if its good! About the army man not having gold dog tags, I am aware however if you watch the show the dogtags he does have are gold, may not military provided possibly custom made but they are gold. About the shock, I guess you would be right and thank you for pointing out one of many mistakes I'm sure I made. About Jack telling the story, you have to remember that Jack just lost his son, Charlie. Was forced onto a mission which he didn't want to go on (Abydos) and was forced to kidnap a child he didn't believe was Ra. Add into the fact that Harry talks like a normall six year old kid, and has no idea whats happening I think Jack would be a little sympathetic. Now about Harry being way too calm, by character Harry is a calm person, and doesn't really care about his so called family. He was going into shock when he first saw his dead family but the knowledge he received shortly after was a bigger shock, and despite he not 'knowing' it yet, his mind is still busy subconciously assimilating all of it. You'll learn more about the knowledge he can't access later on. Finally about enjoying my story, thanks I hope to be able to continue it, I have a feeling I will be watching SG-1 more than once.