02: From the ashes: a day and a letter

Please excuse my mess. Beta insisted this was to be it's own chapter! - Always wanted to be able to blame the beta for anything different.

His body ached. Dammit, he hated being this small again. It was awkward before, now it was even worse because he was used to being bigger. Now with his wand effectively absorbed into his arm, he wondered how to use his magic.

Lumos

He flinched in surprise as his entire arm lit up like a glow stick. 'Ok, note to self, spells are unfocused. Damn Dursleys and their damned cupboard. He looked down. Sure enough he was in his seven year old body. He paused as the implications hit, 'Sirius!' he thought. 'He's still alive.' Harry mutters quietly, "OK, so let's see where, or rather when I am" He put a little more effort into pushing the spell out of his hand instead.

Tempus

The ghostly numerals formed in the air above his hand. August 1st, 1987 4:30 am.

Harry looked around in disgust and thought its time to make some changes. He started with an illusion of the cupboard exactly as it was, something he'd found in a book during third year but hadn't had the skill and power for at the time. His memory seemed to be working much clearer. Then he started applying expansion runes he'd learned from Hermione during the camping trip from hell. At least he'd shagged her before Ron got to. Stupid witch had obliviated him afterwards as she apologized repeatedly saying it was all a mistake, but with his newly organized mind he could remember it. He'd have to visit the goblins soon to check out that head sucker Dave told him about.

He finished expanding the space beneath the cupboard enough that he could move around comfortably, and set about some permanent transfiguration to give himself a slightly more comfortable bed. He'd discovered that a permanent transfiguration works best when the target is made up of the same materials as the desired result.

Harry checked the time again. His aunt would be up pounding on the cupboard for him to get up and make breakfast soon. "Well time enough to put an end to that!" he said resolutely. A quick Alohomora and the cupboard door opened. He still had an hour until his aunt and uncle were awake. He disillusioned himself, silenced his breathing and footsteps, and cast about a dozen other charms to ensure he wouldn't be seen or heard.

Performing a magical diagnosis on his relatives that he remembered from his many trips to the hospital wing and a few medical charms texts he'd borrowed without Madame Pomfrey's knowledge. He found about a dozen odd compulsion charms, and behavioral modifications. Probably all designed to keep them from kicking him out or sending him to an orphanage. Working feverishly he transferred the lot of them into a small rock, then carefully he used the obliviation charm to remove all their memories of magic and replace their memories of hating him with indifference. He moved on to Dudley and did the same, but this time included some compulsions to force him to act less like a spoiled bully.

He made his way back to the cupboard under the stairs just in time for the alarm clock in his aunt's room to go off. He would have left already if not for the monitoring and tracking charms Dumbledore had on the place. Besides with his relatives now feeling indifferent instead of hate the blood wards if it existed should at least reach half power. He wondered briefly if he could modify it to focus on the relationship between his cousin and his aunt instead of himself. If the ward reached full power the Dursley family—and subsequently himself—would slip out of the minds of the wizarding world.

He finished carving the rune into the wall that would make this place inaccessible to his relatives when his aunt pounded on the door. "We're going out after breakfast, you're to head over to Mrs. Figg's. Before we leave or you'll be locked in here."

'Well,' Harry thought to himself, 'seems not all of her unpleasantness was related to the charms.'

He transfigured the clothes to something that would fit him a little better, then left the house for Mrs. Figg's. He needed to take care of the squib spy anyway.

When he got to Mrs. Figg's he found she'd been the one to sell pictures of him to the various wizarding publications in his previous timeline. That's how everyone knew about his glasses and scar.

He wiped all memory of himself from Mrs. Figg replacing her mental image of Harry Potter with that of his cousin Dudley. Then placed a compulsion to ensure that her letters to Dumbledore would remain as they had been for the past three years. Steady, unchanged, and with nothing to alert Dumbledore that the boy was up to something.

After a brief moment of inspiration as he remembered the hair incident that left him with a sprained wrist and a week in the cupboard when his hair grew back after a particularly ugly haircut he decided to try changing his appearance like a metamorphmagus. He briefly wondered if he could fix his eyes with the ability. If it worked he could get rid of his old glasses. Liability that they were.

When he was finished he spent some time in the restroom concentrating on the feeling of his magic letting it fill him until his skin tingled with energy. Then he focus on what he'd look like if he were twenty-one with light brown hair instead of black and with no scar. He left his eyes green wanting to keep something of his mother about himself, but he worked on defining the shape of his eyes as perfect as he could. He pushed the image in his mind over his image of himself and felt has bones and muscles ache as he grew and stretched to match the desired appearance. His eyes felt dry and there was a brief stinging sensation as he closed them tightly waiting for it to pass.

Somehow he knew he'd done something different than the usual metamorph change. He felt stronger physically, though a bit drained magically. Opening his eyes again his vision was a bit blurry. Then he remembered to take his glasses off. He could see clearer than he had when he wore the glasses. He looked down and realized the clothes he'd transfigured earlier no longer fit. So he changed them again into a polo and khakis before apparating out of the bathroom directly to an alleyway near the Leaky Cauldron.

He paused for a moment to grab some rocks from the gravel in the alley and surreptitiously transfigured them into roughly a coin shape.

As he entered the pub he noticed Lucius Malfoy was headed towards the public Floo. On a whim Harry quietly cast a switching charm on the money bag the elder Malfoy was carrying, his own pocket as a destination for Malfoy's gold, and the transfigured gravel from the alleyway outside to replace what he'd taken. He was mildly surprised when the spell worked without a hint of running into any security charms. He felt vindicated in his quick action when he heard Malfoy called out the Floo address for Fudge's private Floo at the Ministry.

He chalked his success with the spell up to a few things, first Malfoy was an arrogant sod, probably of the opinion that none would dare steal from a Malfoy, and second, the bag was a generic and probably the cheapest available temporary money pouch available from gringotts which had the minimum of charms only to make it easier to carry.

Heading for the back alley and the entrance to Diagon Alley Harry nodded a greeting to Tom, the bartender. Harry waved his hand over the bricks in the barrier which quickly opened the portal and made his way to Gringotts. Inheritance tests were rarely done because of the prohibitive cost, it was a risk that there wouldn't be any vaults open for the person taking the test and they would then have to pay out of pocket, but with Malfoy's gold financing his trip in the alley this morning he didn't care.

Harry made his way directly to the white stone marble building that was a sight cleaner and grander in appearance than the surrounding medieval architecture around it. He made his way through the burnished bronze doors and past the goblin guards standing next to them. He gave them a wary glance remembering the nastiness he'd had getting the cup out of the bank.

Inside were the hundred odd goblins sitting on high stools behind the long dark wooden counter. He picked one of the ones that looked to have just finished counting a pile of coins on a balance.

"How may I help you." The goblin said with a grimace as he looked up from scribbling in the ledger that he pushed aside when Harry walked up.

"I need to speak with someone about an inheritance test." Harry spoke quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"That will be sixty-five galleons and seven sickles for the test." The goblin declared without embellishment. Though the goblin doubted the wizard would just hand over the gold he was mildly surprised to see the wizard counting the coins on the counter. He would have been pleased to get some haggling in but alas the wizard before him was not so inclined.

Harry counted out sixty-six of the gold coins placing them on the counter. "Please write up a receipt, for accounting purposes. Keep the change as a tip." Harry shrugged, it wasn't his money paying for it what should he care if the goblin overcharged.

"Very well," the goblin said pondering that the man before him hadn't haggled for a better price as he handed Harry the receipt. "I will have someone take you to the inheritance office. Ironclaw!"

Ironclaw came over from where he was standing by the doors leading to the vaults. The teller handed him yet another slip of parchment.

"Follow me." The surly goblin said without a second glance at Harry.

Harry followed Ironclaw through one of the doors at the end of the hall. behind the door was a stairwell, they went up to the second floor of the bank and into an office with an aged brass nameplate on the wall next to door that read: Office of Inheritance, Teg Bloodfist.

Ironclaw gave the door an experimental knock, then opened the door at the command from within.

As Harry entered a look of alarm showed on the goblin's face. As if something it was expecting had failed to happen.

"Your name sir." Bloodfist enquired. The reason he was alarmed and surprised was because the identification ward on the door hadn't supplied a name, it did register he was there but flickered between two names as though it couldn't decide.

"Adrian Evans" Harry supplied as he pulled the chair back from the desk to sit. The ward settled on the name provided.

The goblin was all business and got right down to it. "Mr. Evans, please prick your finger with the needle and place a drop of blood on the indicated spot of the parchment before you. This will inform us of any vaults below which you have been keyed into. Whether or not you have the key."

Harry picked up the small needle peeling back the white flimsy paper to expose the sterilized metal tip held in a white plastic grip badly disguised to look like wood. He carefully pushed it into the tip of his left thumb wincing as it stung. He dropped the needle into his pocket to dispose of later letting the blood pool before pressing his injured thumb into the circle at the top left of the parchment.

Handing the parchment over to the goblin with his uninjured hand he held his index finger and thumb together applying pressure to help clot the pinprick quicker. The goblin held the parchment as a list of vault numbers appeared on the page followed by the access permissions.

Bloodfist's eyes widened as he read down the list.

#407 Evans Family - Full Access (inactive since 1947 reactivation fee 120G - 3g per year inactive)

#450 Potter Family - Provisional access

Items only

Partial money access available on July 31st, 1997

Full access available on July 31st, 2001

#486 Black Family - Provisional Heir access

Items only.

Full access on request of current Lord Black

#687 Potter Family Trust - Full Access

#694 Black Family Trust - Provisional Heir Access

500 Galeon Monthly personal spending limit

"If you'll give me a moment I can have your keys made for the vaults." Bloodfist was confused. The identification ward was now clearly stating that the gentleman sitting on opposite him was Adrian Evans, but when he first entered he could have sworn the ward tried to give his name as Harry Potter. On the one hand Harry Potter is known to be Lord Black's heir but not Adrian Evans. Yet the gentleman before him was older than Mr. Potter. Something was afoot and he would be damned if it was his foot caught in the dragon's mouth.

Bloodfist handed the parchment to Harry and Harry looked it over in mild surprise. He'd only been informed of the trust vault the first time around and he thought the Black vaults had been unavailable to him until after Sirius' death. "I'll need any existing Potter trust vault keys deauthorized. I have reason to believe that the key has been misplaced. Take the fee from the Black trust vault. Then I need to make a trip to the Evans family vault."

"Certainly Mr. Evans I'll need you to sign this authorization for both. Please note that the Potter Trust will need to make a new key for one Harry Potter whenever his guardian decides to bring him in." Bloodfist accepted the parchment back from Harry before calling in Ironclaw to get the keys made.

"Whats this about trust vaults and why doesn't the Evans family have one?"

"Some families choose not to open a trust vault Mr. Evans. Or should I say Mr. Potter?" Bloodfist gave a feral grin. Knowing he was the kneazle that caught the snidget.

Harry felt nervous for a moment, his heart pounding. "Alright, so you figured that I'm Harry Potter, but I'd prefer that few people know I'm here today at Gringotts. The less they know the more gold you'll get."

"Not to worry Mr. Evans," Bloodfist put particular emphasis on the name Evans when he spoke, "I'll keep that bit of information to myself. To provide a more in depth answer for your question the Black and Potter families set up the trust vault as something for the minors of the family so that the main family vault wouldn't receive as much traffic. They are usually refilled at the end of each year from the main vault."

"That won't be an issue. I'll turn the new key over to him personally within a day or two." Harry said knowing Bloodfist would understand what was left unsaid in that statement. Figuring that subtle reference might also lead to something he could use in the muggle world Harry thought to bring up a necessity that Gringotts may provide. "I also need identification paperwork for the mundane world. Which office do I need to get that taken care of?"

"I'll have Ironclaw take you when he returns. Perhaps you would enjoy a cup of goblin tea while we wait?" Bloodfist knew the tea would go unreceived; Goblin tea was an acquired taste. Harry declined the offer. "Then you don't mind if I do?"

"Of course not, it is your office." Harry replied.

A few minutes later Ironclaw returned holding a box which he set on the desk, before retreating from the room. "Here we are. This key will work for both Black and Potter trust vaults." Bloodfist handed over the first key before holding up the second one. "As you've had extra keys for the Potter vault removed from the authorization list this key will be for the young Mr. Potter. Who I'm sure you will do everything in your power to ensure he receives it." Harry nodded knowing the underlying meaning of why he's getting a duplicate. Otherwise it would just draw questions to why only one key was authorized to the Potter trust vault and not in the possession of Harry Potter.

Bloodfist then pulled three rings out of the box. "These are access rings for the main family vaults. If removed from your possession for longer than a week they will return to the bank where you can pick them up for a fee. They are spelled to only be visible to people who know about your having them. The rings also double as a status symbol of your position within the family; a Head of House ring, if you will. This is the Evans Head of House ring. Place it on your right ring finger first."

Harry slipped the ring on and it glowed for a moment before resizing to fit perfectly.

"House of Potter Heir ring. Place it on the same finger."

Harry slipped it on and it merged with the Evans ring.

"House of Black Heir ring." Bloodfist handed over the last ring.

Harry repeated the motion as it merged with the other two rings.

"As you are the provisional heir to the Black family the ring will alert you if you become Head of House or if Lord Black replaces you as his Heir. If you wish to remove a ring for any reason speak your intention and the ring will separate from the rest for you to remove. You can use the rings to authorize or revoke access to your vaults or to designate an heir. In the event that you're replaced as the heir the ring will fall off on its own and return to the bank."

"The rings may also have enchantments by previous owners and Heads of House. You can pay to have them examined for a full list if needed. Though it may not be necessary some families leave thorough documentation in the family vault. If there is nothing else?" Bloodfist enquired. At the negative response he continued, "Ironclaw, take Mr. Evans to the Office of Records and Identification."

Harry bowed slightly and left knowing that since the business was finished it would be best to leave quickly. He followed Ironclaw down the hallway to another office. Taking note of the brass nameplate on the wall next to the door that read: Sharpfang, Records and Identification. He entered allowing the Evans ring to remain visible on his right hand. "Greetings, Sharpfang. I find myself in need of identification paperwork for the muggle world."

"Good Signor Evans, are you come to meet your trouble?," was Sharpfang's response. "Tis the fashion of wizards these days to avoid cost, and you! You run to it!" The goblin completed with a wide smile baring his many pointed teeth.

Sharpfang had him fill out a mountain of paperwork with the required information for official documents that would be magically placed in the appropriate locations to give him a muggle identity. Harry chose from a list of locations they could place his birth certificate, selecting a date that would make him twenty-one and keeping his birthday on the same day. Since he was spending Malfoy's money Harry really didn't care about the cost. He figured the goblin had overcharged anyway.

In addition to his older identity he also had them produce a set of documents for an Adrian Evans that would be seven years old born on August 2nd.

He left the office with only a few galleons left in his pocket, stolen of course from Malfoy previously that day, and holding two cheap leather wallets with his new identities. It was still somewhat early so he decided to visit the Evans vault before lunch.

"Ironclaw I need to visit the vault #407"

Ironclaw grunted before leading the way back down to the main hall and then through another door into a stone hall lit with torches. He whistled for the cart which promptly arrived on the tracks in the floor. They got in and were off.

"Ironclaw," Harry called to the goblin as they were travelling at a decent speed, "I know the last time I was here they said these things only had one speed. But, I was wondering could it go faster and through a longer route?" Harry knew it was a childish request but he couldn't resist taking advantage of a thrill ride when he saw it.

Ironclaw looked at him for a moment not knowing quite what to think of this strangely polite wizard. Ironclaw shrugged to himself before calling back, "Sure!"

The cart seemed to kick the speed up a few notches as the turns flew past, It went through several forks, left, right, center, up, down, then up again. Harry was enjoying the ride which they managed to lengthen from the usual minute and a half until it took them three minutes to get to the vault. He was almost disappointed when the cart slowed to a stop.

"That was most enjoyable. I don't see why people have such a problem riding the carts." He said to the goblin next to him as they got out from the cart.

"Vault #407," Ironclaw announced. "Place your ring into the indentation next to the door." Ironclaw instructed pointing to the side of the vault.

Harry did so as Ironclaw ran a finger down the center of the door. The vault made a slight hissing sound as if releasing an airtight seal and the heavy vault door swung slowly inward.

"I shouldn't need but a few minutes. Half an hour at the most." Harry told the goblin as he walked into the vault.

Harry walked into the vault, lit by glowing panels along the sides. There were a few chests at the front of the vault from previous members of the Evans family. It was surprisingly organized. He made his way to the back of the vault. All the coins were sorted into neatly labeled bags piled into a corner. Near the very back of the vault mounted in the wall was the black and polished blue crystal head sucker like the one he remembered seeing in Dave's office. He braced himself for the headache, stepped up to it and let it grab his head. When it released him he collapsed holding his head.

"That was something." Harry didn't feel much different beyond a slight headache. He looked around the room and back at the head sucker as he'd been calling it. The words popped into his head. "Alteran Knowledge Repository." Harry's eyebrows rose as he realized he now knew what that thing was called. Slowly Harry turned back to the vault and wondered if he could also identify other objects.

A short distance away was a small sphere and what looked like a tablet. "Surveillance probe." He picked up the tablet and pressed a button. The small sphere powered up and started floating. "Wicked." He examined the tablet as the display showed a video image taken from in front of an opening in the sphere. "I shall call this a Kino." He steered it around a bit familiarizing himself with the controls. He tapped another button on the tablet and the sphere shimmered before disappearing. "Nice an invisibility cloak."

Harry powered it off putting both back into their places picking up another control sitting next to a container filled with a silvery liquid. 'Nanites! Perfect!' He decided to test them out. Mentally interfacing with the control in his hand he directed the nanites take the form of his seven year old self. The download from the repository combined with the information from the controller in his hand let him know that these were shielded against disruption by magic. They would absorb most spells cast directly at them and determine the appropriate response. A charm to change the android Nanomorph's[a] hair color would have no effect but to keep up appearances the nanites would reflect the change nearly instantaneously after processing the information on the effect of the spell.

"Hmmm…." Harry went back to the front of the vault and looked through the chests finding one with multiple compartments the first of which held a selection of clothing that looked like it would fit him and didn't look to old.

"No sense on spending money on a new wardrobe when theres a perfectly good one right here." he said to himself.

Whatever ancestor of his owned the trunk previously had left all his old wizarding clothes going back to his first day of school in the first compartment. He felt a bit embarrassed at himself comparing how organized this trunk was compared to his own from his previous life. The next compartment was a library, he gave it a cursory glance noting the titles of books from all seven years of school, the ones he didn't recognize being the potions text and the defence texts. As whoever the trunk had belonged to previously had different teachers in those subjects. Runes and arithmancy texts he noted as familiar from what he remembered Hermione getting. There was also a thick leatherbound book that peaked his interest at the title. Evans Family Grimoire.

The third compartment was mostly empty but contained a few personal items and a letter. The letter gave him a bit of a shock as it was addressed to him. He pulled it out figuring he'd read it during lunch. He went back to the first compartment with the clothing remembering that his clothes were transfigured and the spell could wear off in another hour or two.

He grabbed an outfit at random stripped his old clothing off quickly put on his new clothes. He placed the letter in the pocket of his new robes. He wanted to fire an incendio at his old clothing but decided to hang onto them for his nanite duplicate to know what to wear while going undercover and taking his place at durzkaban, so he folded and placed them into the trunk.

The remaining three compartments of the trunk were empty. He carried the trunk to the back of the vault and proceeded to move all of the devices and the nanite slurry into the compartments. There was a seventh lock on the trunk that only showed up when he grabbed a key from the third compartment. Inside was a sparsely furnished apartment. He closed the trunk and carried it to the middle of the vault, he then proceeded to carefully place the covered wizard portraits into the trunk. Someday he'd take the time to sit down with each one and learn his family's history. He opened the third compartment again and taking a few bags of coins marked fifty and hundred galleons from the pile in the corner tossed them into the compartment.

Finally taking one last look around the vault having hardly put a dent in the contents he closed his newly acquired trunk, grabbed two ten galleon sacks and left the vault, the huge door swinging shut behind him.

"Ironclaw, thanks for waiting. Help me strap this trunk to the back of the cart. Oh and here's a tip for taking so much of your time today." He said handing a ten galleon sack over.

This time they managed to make the trip last four minutes as the cart climbed back up to the surface. "Ever heard of a muggle rollercoaster?" was Harry's aside to the goblin before leaving the bank.

He looked around for a moment before deciding to head to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. He greeted Tom as he entered. "Morning!"

"Haven't seen you around before." Tom greeted him. "Name's Tom, I'm the owner of the place."

"Adrian Evans," Harry replied smiling back at the friendly innkeeper, "Looking for lunch."

"Seven sickles, comes with a drink"

"Tea if you would." Harry handed over the silver coins.

"Find yourself a seat it'll be out in a few minutes." Tom collected the coins and turned to the kitchen to place the order.

Harry made his way to a table in the corner and decided to read the letter while he waited.

Cousin Harry,

Welcome back. I'm sorry to say I won't be there to greet you. I've something of a gift of foresight. Nothing like that fraud Trelawny. I foresaw your need of my trunk during my seventh year.

If things went as I've foreseen then you have another uncle on your mother's side working for the British government. He's magical and went to school in America, he's from your grandmother's first marriage. The Evans' family tree is a rather tangled one lately.

I would have been your first cousin twice removed. That is your grandfather's cousin. I know the type of wards that idiot Dumbledore set up around your aunt's home. Any of my children still living would have been closely related enough to power them stronger than your foolish aunt could. Full strength blood wards based on love like those Dumbledore setup would have made you practically invisible to any who wished you harm. Including Dumbledore considering the plans he had for you.

What makes the blood wards so powerful is that they aren't set up using wardstones like normal wards. They are cast on the child and last until he reaches maturity. The ward automatically selects the nearest blood relation and builds in strength based upon the relationship between the child and that person.

The Evans family has had a history for magical talent skipping around. Most of our ancestors and family with magical talent left for the colonies before being detected by Magical Britain.

You could choose to move in with either your uncle's family or that of my son, your 2nd cousin once removed. The ward would be only slightly weaker with your 2nd cousin than with your uncle but it would be strong enough to disrupt the monitoring charms Dumbledore has on you.

As of this letter I had not been able to scry your uncle's information. But my son's family should live a block or two away from Privet Drive. The future isn't set in stone Harry, it changes with decisions we make. If my foresight followed the correct path my son should have a son a year or so younger than you but possibly older or the same age. Foresight isn't always accurate you know. Look for Jason Evans in the phone book to confirm. I've left you a letter to give him should you choose to seek him out. He'll know it's from me.

Your uncle's name is Leonard; that's pretty much all I've been able to get on him.

Good Luck Harry.

Edward Evans

Harry finished the letter and folded it back up placing it and the other sealed envelope back into his pocket. While he'd been reading Tom had brought out lunch. He ate slowly, thinking.

'I've got family other than that spiteful harpy Petunia.' was his first slightly stunned thought. 'Bloody Dumbledore' was his second. 'He wanted me conditioned as his obedient little weapon.'

By the time Harry finished his meal he'd made up his mind. It was too much work to look for his uncle. Since the letter indicated that his 2nd cousin lived in the same area as his aunt he figured he'd look them up first.

It would be a welcome change, having relatives that actually like him for once.

Harry looked down at the clothes he was wearing. While a little old fashioned for the mundane side, if he took off the blue robes he wouldn't look much out of place. He would need to change to shift his appearance to a seven year old and change into a smaller set of clothes from the trunk before visiting his newly discovered relatives.

Harry gave a small grin, by tomorrow Harry Potter would no longer magically exist. Adrian Evans was taking his place.

Harry left the Leaky Cauldron heading to the disapparation point in the little hidden alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. It was warded against non-magicals. He disapparated to Privet Drive. At the park was a small public restroom. Entering he closed and locked the door behind himself.

Harry pictured a smaller seven year old self only instead of black hair he left it light-brown to match his current disguise, he didn't bring back the scar either. He let the image fill his mind's eye and brought up the feeling of his magic against his skin again. He felt the same ache as before and a slight pain in his gut as he shrunk back down to the size of a now healthy seven year old. He stripped carefully placing his clothes which were now several sizes too big back into the trunk where the magic of the trunk would clean them. He then went to the smaller clothing at the other side and selected a new outfit for his smaller stature.

Then Harry pulled out the nanite slurry, his old clothes which he released the transfiguration from, and the control from the trunk. A few commands later and he was standing in front of a perfect duplicate of his former appearance including the scar. He had the nanites download the information from his mind leading up to and including his first year at Hogwarts so they could effectively pretend to be him. No sense on alerting Dumbledore that the plot was up.

Happily the replicator was able to mimic the appearance of his old clothes without having to put them on. Harry gleefully turned them to ash with a muttered "incendio!" Harry watched gleefully as the hated garments burned. Reflecting on the symbolism that like a phoenix he was burning his old life to be reborn anew.

After Harry was dressed in fresh clothing and the trunk was shrunk and back in his pocket, he sent the replicator Harry back to the Mrs. Figg's to be picked up by the Dursleys. Harry made his way to the library where he consulted the phone book for his cousin's address. It was a relief being able to walk down the street without people glaring at him. A short time later he had the address and was making his way to his cousin's house. Harry was amazed at how much he'd gotten done in the short time he'd been back. He had access to his vaults. Actually knew about his vaults. Found out he had living relatives that wouldn't hate him. Established a new identity. Made Mrs. Figg and the Dursleys forget he existed. If his feelings about the way his magic felt whenever he changed his appearance were correct then he had shed his identity as a clone of his father. He was happily walking along towards the street his cousin lived on.

When Harry reached the door to Number Seven, Forest Drive. He rang the doorbell and waited patiently. A moment later a friendly looking lady with brown hair dressed in a comfortable looking blue dress opened the door. "Hello dear."

"Hi, Mrs. Evans?" Harry asked hoping the information was correct.

"Yes?"

"My name is Adrian, grandfather said to bring this letter to Jason Evans. He said to wait for a response." Harry said shyly shuffling his feet as he pulled the yellowed letter from his pocket.

"Why don't you come inside. Jason won't be home until four. You can play with my son James until he then. Shoes off at the door." Mrs. Evans smiled politely as she welcomed Harry inside.

Harry looked around at the living room as Mrs. Evans ushered him inside. 'Mrs. Evans is definitely a better interior decorator than Petunia.' Harry thought as he noticed the invitingly comfortable looking furniture. Mrs. Evans led him upstairs to James' room. "James? This is Adrian, He's spending the afternoon with us until your dad gets home."

Harry looked around the room, it was a decent size, and clean compared to Dudley's room. The carpet was a soft blue that your feet sunk into. His cousin was on the floor with a pile of colorful Lego™ building blocks. Harry looked at the other boy, 'aside from my messy hair, and his eyes being brown we could be twins.' Harry thought.

Mrs. Evans pushed Harry gently into the room.

"Hi, i'm Adrian. You can call me Harry or Adric if you want." Harry greeted the other boy.

"I'm James." The boy said with a grin. "Wanna help me build a castle?"

"Sure"

Mrs. Evans smiled at the two as she turned and left.

"Wanna see something cool?" James asked after they'd finished the building block castle.

"O.k." Harry said grinning as James checked the door to make sure his mom wasn't still watching.

"Dad says just about anyone can do it with training." James said as he walked back over and held his hand out over the castle. After a moment of concentration it slowly lifted into the air and gave a lazy spin. Being made out of plastic Legos™ and extremely light it was relatively easy to lift this way.

Harry raised his eyebrow, "Your dad taught you magic?"

"Yeah, Dad's been showing me how to do stuff like that, only I'm not supposed to show off. Mum says not everyone can do that. It's really tiring the bigger or heavier the object."

Harry nodded in agreement. "My turn." Harry said as he took a good look at James. He closed his eyes and a brought the feeling of his magic to the surface of his skin. A few seconds later James gave an excited hiss as Harry's hair flattened and darkened until it was the exact same as James' hair. He opened his eyes and James looked at his now brown eyes.

"Wicked!"

"Should I leave it like that?" Harry asked.

"Totally, You could be the good twin. Though you should probably turn your eyes back to green." James replied. "Can you do anything else?"

"Yeah! watch this!" Harry held up his right hand and whispered. "Lumos"

His hand started glowing. James grinned excitedly. "I haven't done that. But I can do this!"

James cupped his hands together and focused for a moment. When he opened his hands there was a little ball of blue light floating above his left hand. It held steady for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I've only held that for about five minutes. I could probably hold it longer but it starts getting tiring after that."

"Nox" Harry said putting his glowing hand out. "You'll have to show me how to do that one. Just a second I'll put my eyes back to green before I forget." Privately Harry had to wonder of the power James had to conjure a free floating orb of magical light.

"James? What if I were your brother?" Harry asked hopefully.

"That would be brilliant!" James grinned. "Then we could really be twins!"

"Well, if your dad says so, I might end up living with you guys. See, my Mum and Dad died a long time ago. And I got this letter saying you were my cousin. I've been living with my mum's sister. But she's not very nice. And I like you and your mum seems cool." Harry rambled on. It was impulsive and had he been in an older body he might have felt differently.

"So, brother," James said happily accepting Harry as a member of his family and tackling him. "Wrestling time!" James laughed taking Harry by surprise.

After a while they got tired of wrestling on the floor and tickling eachother. James stood up and straightened his clothes, "Hey you hungry? Lets go ask Mum for a snack."

"Alright" Harry did his best to straighten his clothes out and followed his cousin and unofficial brother out the door.

"Hey Mum." James called out to his mother who was reading at the kitchen table.

"Yes dear?"

"Adric and I are hungry." He said as they both wandered into the kitchen.

James' mother had to take a second look at the two boys. "You two look like you could be twins. How do sandwiches and crisps sound?"

"Sure!" Both boys replied. Harry was actually enjoying being seven again.

Later in the evening Jason Evans arrived home. "Add one more for dinner tonight, Leonard stopped by the office and I invited him over." Jason kissed his wife on the cheek and turned as he heard his son. .

James yelled out, "Dad's home!" Running down the stairs as Harry followed shyly and a good deal less enthusiastic.

"Dad!" James yelled launching himself at his father. Jason caught his son spinning him around before setting him back on his own feet.

"Either you're growing too big or I'm getting too old for that. Who's this?" Jason asked looking at the almost clone of his son.

"Oh that's just Adrian. Mum said he brought a letter for you." James said before whispering, "He said we can call him Harry." Before adding, "or Adric," as an afterthought.

"A letter, eh? Why don't you go see what your mum is doing while I talk to Adrian." Jason said after removing James from his neck and pointing him towards the hallway.

James nodded and left for the kitchen.

"Adrian?" Jason looked at Harry. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter. Jason raised his eyebrow after noticing his father's handwriting on the front. "Make yourself comfortable while I read this."

My son Jason,

I told you someday this letter might arrive. It wasn't assured but there was always the possibility. Harry needs a home. One where he's loved. It's between you and Leonard.

He's your cousin Lily's son. Something went dreadfully wrong.

You remember Petunia and Vernon? He was staying with them. Yes, not the best home for a child of our kind. Harry has already done most of the work for you. He has all the documentation all it needs is a few changes.

Love, Dad

P.S. He has my old school trunk.

Harry waited tensely for Jason to respond.

"I wasn't sure if this day would ever come. Dad told me it was a possibility." Jason sighed. "Well lets see those documents Dad's letter said you had."

Harry was only mildly surprised that the letter mentioned his identification paperwork remembering his own letter from Edward. He pulled out the cheap wallet containing the paperwork for his younger identity showing his name as the seven year old Adrian Evans and handed it over to Jason.

Jason looked it over, "I'll talk it over with Sandra and make sure it's alright with her first, then I'll need to change a few things and then it's official. Welcome to the family Adrian. I'll tell her you're sleeping the night over with James."

A few minutes later another car pulled into the driveway. "That would be Leo." Jason said.

"Uncle Leonard!" James yelled before running and tackling the man.

"How's my favorite relatives." the tall man with dark red hair said as he held James upside down. Leo looked across the living room and noticed Harry next to Jason "Now, since when did you get a twin?" He asked James after setting him back down.

"That's Adrian." James explained to his Uncle Leo, with a whispered aside, "He said we can call him Harry or Adric."

"We're considering adopting him." Jason said. "He's your half-sister Lily's"

"Really?" Leo's eyes widened in surprise. Thinking fast Leo had to add the implications of how Harry would look like James twin.

Leonard took a moment to ask Harry quietly, "That isn't your normal look is it son?" Harry shook his head discretely. "Thought not. You look nothing like Potter. Though you've kept all of Lily's good looks."

Harry somehow felt happier at finally being told he reminded someone of his mother outside of her eyes.

"According to Dad's note, he's been staying with your half-sister Petunia." Jason hands over his father's letter to Leo.

Leo grimaced. "Damn. That's bad. You realize we've—that is my department at the office has been looking for him since they died right? Damn I'm kicking myself if i'd kept track of Petunia I'd have known about the lad."

"If Sandra says no you're his only other option." Jason said quietly. "Though you know her, she will probably agree in an instant."

"No contest cousin. While I know I'm not exactly fit to be a parent if you guys can't I'll take him."

"I haven't talked with her yet, I've only just got home but she should say yes."

Dinner was loud, and happy, unlike at the Dursley's; Harry mentally compared the two, usually he made most or part of dinner, then Petunia and Vernon ate in angry silence while Dudley loudly complained about how the food wasn't what he wanted. This was a completely different feel. This felt like what family dinner should have been. The adults were happily talking about things which he only half paid attention to as he listened to James chatter away. He and James finished their plates off, had seconds, then asked to be excused just as the adults finished their first plate.

After the kids left the dining room taking their plates to the kitchen sink. Jason brought the topic of Adrian up. "Dear, you remember my cousins Lily and Petunia?"

"Yes. Didn't care much for Petunia or that brute she married." Sandra scowled as she remembered the last time she met the Dursleys at a family reunion while Lily was still alive.

"Adrian is Lily's son, He's been with Petunia and only just found out he had other relatives."

"That poor dear!" She exclaimed.

"He's already done most of the work for us. If I know Petunia she's been less than kind to the lad, and James seems to like having him around."

"Jason, spit it out man." Leo said.

"I'd like to adopt him." Jason said with a sigh.

"Yes!" She said without hesitation.

"Really?" Jason didn't know what he'd expected.

"Yes really. He's a good polite boy. James likes him. They look like twins. When he showed up here just after one, he just has this look that I just can't help but like him, makes me want to protect him."

Jason put the paperwork on the table, and waved his wand over it. "We'll have to sign our names in the places where his parent's names would have been."

A few signatures and another wave of his wand later and Adrian Evans was no longer a fake identity but a very real one. Newly made son of Jason and Sandra Evans.

With a final flash that neither Harry nor James noticed. The newly minted blood ward sealed itself. A short time later Jason and Sandra walked upstairs to tell their sons it was time for bed.

Looking inside the room they found both of them passed out asleep. Jason moved the shrunken school trunk to the top of the dresser, waved his wand switching their clothing for pajamas from one of the drawers then they carefully picked them up and moved them so they were under the covers.

In a castle in Scotland a row of silvery trinkets that for the past six years had been calmly puffing smoke, ticking away, or spinning lazily suddenly became more energetic. The phoenix perched on its stand a short distance away looked up in surprise, then gave a trill that sounded like a laugh. One by one the devices reached their maximum setting before collapsing until none of them were functioning. Because Dumbledore was away for an ICW convention they probably wouldn't be discovered for quite some time.

Omake:

Lucius Malfoy exited the Floo into the Junior Minister's office.

"Good morning Minister. I trust I will have your support at the next Wizengamot meeting for the werewolf employment act." Lucius said politely.

"Ah Lucius! How wonderful to see you this fine morning. Why don't you explain the act again for me." Fudge sat back in his chair to listen to Lucius' proposal.

"It's quite simple really. The issue on the table calls for all werewolves to provide a notice before being hired of their status as a werewolf and makes it illegal for them to be hired in areas where children will be. I'm sure you've heard your undersecretary Umbridge talk about it. It was her project." Lucius smiled poisonously.

"Ah that one! You know Lucius… I'm planning on running for minister in a few years." Fudge said implying that if the bag of gold in Lucius hand made its way onto his desk and stayed there Fudge considered supporting the proposed legislation from his seat as a holder of a First Class Order of Merlin award.

"Then I'm sure you'll be happy to receive an early campaign donation." Lucius smiled happy to have the excuse to leave the bag of gold he was carrying.

Malfoy set it down on the desk and turned to leave. Fudge reached for it and opened it to check his loot and instead of the nice warm glow of gold shining up at him he found dull grey coin shaped rocks transfigured from gravel.

Scowling in indignation at being made a fool of. "Think you can bribe me with rocks, eh? We'll see about that." Fudge quickly sent one of the paper airplanes to the DMLE advising them of the attempted bribery of a government official by Malfoy.

Omake 2:

Lucius entered the goblin office for inheritance test, with a sneer on his face pushing Draco in front of him. After last weeks fines paid to the ministry for his campaign donations to Fudge he needed the Black capital to prop his holdings back up.

"Yes Wizard Malfoy?" Bloodfist called from his desk with an equal sneer. For humans the word Wizard meant wise one. For goblins it was an insult.

"My son, Draco, needs an inheritance test for the Back family." Lucius replied still holding his confident sneer with a hint of disgust as if being around the goblins had introduced some unsavory smell he was only just now beginning to notice.

"Place a drop of blood onto the parchment." Bloodfist replied growing weary of arrogant wizards. Why couldn't they all be polite like that nice Evans chap who was in here just last week.

"I'm not putting my blood onto that filthy parchment!" Draco complained as if the very idea was insulting.

Lucius smacked Draco in the back of the head with his cane. "You'll do as I say, and you'll like it boy."

Draco reluctantly sliced his finger with a sharpened letter opener allowing a drop to fall onto the parchment. He immediately began whining about a healing charm. Lucius growled at him to shut up.

Bloodfist, taking pity on Lucius, or perhaps growing tired of the whining himself leaned forward and used a goblin charm to heal the wound.

A short time later the parchment began to clear.

#486 Black Family - House Elf Access

Only with written permission by the head or heir of house Black.

#1507 Malfoy Family - House Elf Access.

Bloodfish smirked as he read the parchment. It appeared that the boy was the illegitimate lovechild of the Malfoy house-elf Dobby and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.

Lucius screamed obscenities.

[a] Nanomorph is the correct species name for a human form replicator according to the stargate wiki. That and these are not replicators having no free will to replicator or think about anything. Most likely any that do gain some semblance of free will, probably did so based on Harry's own psychological profile.