Unholy Flames
Summary: Harry Potter has powers. He's known since he "magically" grew his hair back. Curiosity leads to stumbling across the magical world, and Harry is not pleased. AU.
Chapter 1: Learning
Across the span of several weeks, Harry found that, to his frustration, he couldn't seem to call out to his magic consciously. He had even resorted to stabbing himself once and using medicine to fall asleep. He had woken with a healed, albeit sore skin.
"What's missing? Why can't I use it?" he muttered to himself. He had been patient for weeks. Now he wanted a taste of that power.
Shrugging to himself, he got up from the musty cupboard floor, and opened the door. He quietly slipped outside. He found that after his talk with Petunia on magic, she had started giving him more liberties. He could now hang out outside and he had a part time job mowing lawns, which payed well due to his neighborhood consisting of mostly upper class citizens.
He walked aimlessly through the streets. The sky was a forget-me-not blue, and he could feel the sun blaring on his skin. It seemed like an awfully boring day. He walked by the yoga center, and marveled at what he saw. They were meditating. That was a likely way to tap into his inner magic!
He was going to meditate, Harry decided. The question was where. The Dursleys' household was much too loud. He couldn't picture himself doing it in a public environment. He had to find a private place.
Harry walked, once again aimlessly, but now he intended to leave town. After a few hours of ceaseless walking, Harry found an abandoned clearing with a DO NOT ENTER sign posted legibly on the gate. Confirming he was carrying his pocketknife, which he had nicked from Dudley, he climbed the gate clumsily and hopped off once his feet were on solid metal.
He investigated the area itself. It was completely abandoned and probably had been for years. It was perfect.
To be sure he remained there until nightfall. When verifying that no homeless person had made this their home, he headed home, or at least where he lived at.
Unholy Flames
A few days later, Harry returned to the clearing at dawn. His emerald eyes shining with determination, he made himself comfortable and imagined a raging blue ocean. After a while, the water turned a brilliant gold. Or so Harry thought, until he realized this must be his magic.
He had expected it to be like a core, but it spread throughout his body as golden mist, almost like the way blood is all around the body. He couldn't believe it. He was truthfully a mage. That or he had serious mentality issues. He settled for the former.
As he explored the depths of magic longer and longer, he couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of it. The magic flowed like blood, meaning every part of his body was magically charged, and was easily controllable from within. He had to remember this... sensation so he could repeat it outside his mind's eye.
The gold mist was his blood, and the dark red from which it protruded was likely the heart. He basically had a secret immune system untraceable by x-rays. There was most likely a downside he could not see. His core was large however, and he wouldn't hesitate to let it go to his head, this being the single best moment in his otherwise miserable life.
He suddenly felt a sneaking suspicion he had overstayed his welcome and grudgingly left his mindscape. He could return another day. Upon returning to reality, Harry checked his second watch that Dudley had believed he had broke. How wrong had he been. To his surprise, it was pretty late into the night. He had to head home, never mind no dinner. He had made a discovery. Once he had more advanced magic at his fingertips, the old Harry could kiss his life goodbye. Harry didn't realize in his thoughts that the old Harry had died a month ago, when he had first discovered the marvel that was magic. He was the only one with this gift, and he'd be damned if he let it go to waste.
Unholy Flames
The summer vacation was slowly coming to an end, Harry reflected upon sullenly. He didn't want to go to Stonewall. The kids there were even bigger pricks than his primary school classmates. Growing up underprivileged had taught Harry to look after himself. He put friends way after himself. He wasn't arrogant per se, but his own life was his primary concern.
"Boy, get the mail." The impatient voice snapped Harry out of his trance. He really didn't want to go to Stonewall. He was smarter than that. Even his grades could vouch for him.
Sighing, the aspiring young magician lifted himself from his chair, left the dining room, and went to the door to retrieve the mail. Harry took pleasure in knowing who mailed the Dursleys', for future blackmail, so he was surprised to see a letter addressed to him. He shoved it unceremoniously into his pockets, which due to being too large for him fit an envelope just fine. He returned to the dining room, dropped the mail on the table, grabbed his pack, and left the house. He didn't stay indoors very much anymore, as he could only use magic outside and had made several friends in the neighborhood.
That isn't to say he was attached to these 'friends'. They were just people whom he found interesting and sometimes spent the day with. He had an abundance of money from lawn mowing and baby sitting, so he was respected in the neighborhood and had quite a bit of pocket money. Most of it was saved up in case he wanted something later. In the meantime, he felt like returning to the clearing to read the letter he received.
He had grown quite adept at getting to the clearing quicker.
"Hup" he grunted as he jumped off the familiar gate.
He looked at the letter.
First-year students will require:
Uniform
Three Sets of Plain Work Robes (Black)
One Plain Pointed Hat (Black) for day wear
One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings)
One set of hydra hide goggles
Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags.
Books
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Ritual Magic: Level 1 by Wanda Goodwing
Other Equipment
1 Wand
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales
Students may also bring a Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.
Owl your reply
Fake. It must be fake.
'I would have believed magic was fake too...' Harry mentally reasoned.
"Owl your reply? What the hell?" he said hoarsely. He hadn't spoken all day.
As if on cue, a caramel brown owl descended onto the clearing.
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" He said, glaring daggers at the owl, who looked at him expectantly.
Growling softly, he reached into his pack and took out a pen and paper. He wrote a hasty reply and gave it to the owl.
"Fuck off, okay?" he said, smiling innocently.
He watched the owl go off. Freaking cultists.
Unholy Flames
Back at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall was enjoying her first break in the summer. Most of every day she was guiding first years or preparing for the next year's curriculum, which was largely different from the previous years'.
Imagine her unpleasant surprise when she saw one of the school owls descending upon her office. She sighed and sat up. Even on August 20th, she still had work.
"Dear lord..." she grumbled.
She took the letter from the owl, and gave the owl a cracker, which it happily accepted. Upon seeing the name on the letter she opened it with haste and excitement.
Dear Mister or Miss,
I'll need a bit more than a simple letter if I'm going to believe you aren't a radical paganistic cult like the ones that have been appearing on the news. Honestly, it would do well to be more informative.
Respectfully,
Harry James Potter
"H-He's unaware of his heritage? That's inhumane! I thought we had him in the wizarding world under some new name!" she said to no one in particular.
She had to remedy his ignorance as soon as possible. It wouldn't do for James and Lily's child to be reduced to a simple muggle.
A/N: A lot of people read this, but no one reviewed. Please do, as I doubt you like being unsure of whether your story is good or not...