Uatu: Since time beyond your reasoning, I have observed Humanity throughout the Multiverse. Long have I gazed through the various timelines to see both the best and worst within a truly unique race. I have, in my time, seen you Humans ascend to great heights and sink to deplorable depths. One of the truly remarkable aspects of Humanity is that, when times are darkest, there always seems to be one who arises and shines bright enough to combat that darkness. One such individual is Steven Rogers. Most of you would know him as Captain America. Possessing an unshakeable sense of right and wrong, often I find myself standing in marvel at his resoluteness. Still, there are others who are called to pick up a similar burden when darkness threatens their world. In one such world, a young man is forced to shoulder such a burden because of the acts of his mother. A prophesy, given before his birth, lay the burden upon his shoulders. In most timelines this young man, a Harry Potter, is forced to struggle alone. In one timeline, however, he is found at a young age and taught the significance of what his role in this world is by one who also carries this burden. Yes, in one such timeline, young Harry Potter is taken in by none other than Steven Rogers. I present to you:

WHAT IF… Harry Potter was raised by Captain America. Or, as you humans tend to call such things:
Harry Potter and the Legacy of the Past , part 5.

Inside Nuremberg, the Throne Room of the Reichmagus

Time stops for Albus Dumbledore as Gellert Grindelwald falls to the ground. He doesn't know how long he kneels there on the unforgiving stones as he mourns the loss of both the person he loves the most and the man that Grindelwald use to be. The only thing that registers in his mind that time has passed is the sound of a pair footsteps hurriedly moving away from. A glance around the room tells him that no one is left with him. Rising to his feet, his body operates on autopilot as he walks over to the hand of Grindelwald that still holds the wand.

The hand has cooled since the battle, and Albus has a hard time reconciling this hand with all of his other memories of Gellert's hands. There was none of the warmth and wit that live in his memory of these hands. Instead, the hand of Gellert Grindelwald clutches a wand he claimed was one of the Deathly Hallows they had sought in their youth. Almost all of the plans that they had made had somehow involved these three legendary artifacts. Now, having one of them in his grasp, Albus doubted that the other two would be worth a similar cost to uncover. Prying the wand from the severed hand, Albus begins to study it.

It is a low groan from where Gellert lays that snaps Albus out of his contemplation and starts his feet towards the downed man.

In the Corridors of Nuremberg.

Running along with Bucky at his side seems right to Steve. There has always been an easy friendship between the two of them. Usually as the two of them dealt with whatever mission they were on, a friendly banter would bounce between them. Most Nazis who could understand them found it irritating. Well, they found it irritating until they were knocked out and became the source of the next quip. Then, it became a rather moot point.

On this day as the two American heroes sprinted into the heart of danger, as they had thousands of times before, there was no witty banter. Each man maintained a grim countenance as they ran on. Muscles burning from the continued use, they round another corner and pause for a moment to catch their breath.

"J-just a bit furt-further Cap," gasps Bucky. Doubled over as he is from exertion, he is having a hard time getting the air his body needs. With an unconscious gesture, Steve reaches out and pushes his sidekick into a fully standing position.

"Stop…and breathe Bucky. It won't do anyone any … good if we get there and can't do anything. "

The two of them take the next several seconds to breathe and recuperate. Bucky nods and the two start off again, pacing themselves a little quicker than a jog. They both knew they were operating under a timetable. Before sending Bucky ahead, Fury had told him that the Howling Commandos were placing explosives. They would hold out as long as they could before blowing them and blocking the corridors of Nuremberg.

"How long do you think we have before he…," Steve starts to ask. Anything more that would have come out of his mouth is interrupted by a series of explosions that rock the very foundation of Nuremberg.

"Oh shi…"

Outside Nuremberg

The Howling Commandos surge out from the hole in the outer wall and into the surrounding trees. Dashing madly, the men hit the tree line and then drop. Low crawling for several more feet, the Howling Furies finally feel safe enough to report in.

"Sound off you miserable piss bags," Fury says to the men gathering around him. As the men sound off, Fury ticks them off of a roster he has in his head. Two minutes later, the roll call is done and Fury has his answers. Yeah, they'd accomplished the mission. They had gone into one of Nazi Germany's strongholds with a small team and shut down some bizarre weapons creation lab. Fury had no idea what any of those items were, but he was damn sure that they would have been devastating should they be used. Even Bucky had been able to accomplish his mission. Fury hadn't wanted to know what the kid's job was, but if the rumors were true then Fury actually felt some pity for the Kraut scientist that was Bucky's objective. Everyone knew not to mention anything to Cap about the rumors, there were things that even a Super Soldier didn't need to know. If the bloodstains the lad wiped off his face after 'visiting' with his target was any indication, then the rumors were true. The boy had handed off a packet of papers to Fury before running off to rejoin his hero. All in all, the Brass would say it was a successful mission.

Still, the cost had been too damn high. Three of his boys ended up dying in that cluster there. Those Nazi monstrosities inside saw to that with a ferocity and mindlessness that defied expectation. The Howling Commandos had faced off against the best the Reich could toss out and always came out on top. Even the elites of the Red Skull's personal troops, Hydra and their bizarre weapons usually weren't a match for the Howling Commandos. Hydra soldiers were human, despite their advanced gear. Fury honestly believed that there wasn't a group of human soldiers in this war who were harder, meaner, and just flat better than his Howling Commandos. Those monstrosities though, they weren't human and his boys had paid the price in this battle.

The Brass would say that they were acceptable losses, but they weren't the ones who would have to write up those boys for medals that would only be given to their grieving loved ones. That was one of the parts of this whole mess that Fury hated the most. How, in the Good Lord's Name, do you summarize a veritable lifetime's worth of heroism in just five lines? What kind of comfort does a goddamned hunk of metal on a pretty ribbon give to the family that had just been ripped apart?

A gentle tap on his shoulder shakes Fury from his momentary musings. His second-in-command, Dum Dum Duggan is standing there, looking as unflappable as usual. Even the Irishman's bowler hat is firmly planted on his head. The only sign that he'd even seen fighting is the depleted ammo belt he carries for his Thompson.

"Sarge? You got the package?"

"Yeah Dum Dum, I got it."

"Alright Sarge. We need to head out now. Suppose to meet tha' Canucks at Whiskey Point for extract. 'Sides, sooner we get back the sooner we can light one up a victory cigar. Those boys damn well deserve it."

A nod and a hand gesture is all it takes to cause the Howling Commandos to fall in and move out. Like the well-oiled machine they are, the Howling Commandos begin the trek through enemy territory and back to their extraction point. While this was a major victory, the war was still on-going and they all knew that many more of their brethren could possibly fall before they got back home. All the Howling Commandos knew two things: That Sarge would do his damndest to get them home. If Sarge couldn't get them home, then he would ensure that they were remembered. They had all seen Fury's collection of Victory Cigars. He kept the remains of every one he smoked for one of his boys. No matter how few there were, he always swore there were too damn many.

As the Howling Commandos move towards Whiskey Point, Fury tries to figure out how he is going to replace his boys. Not every Joe in this war is worthy of being a Howling Commando. It takes a special breed to be one of his boys, a rare soldier that there were never enough of. They have to be the absolute best at what they do; the missions they took on demanded it. Also, a potential Howling Commando has to be able to fit within the team dynamic to elevate everyone else around them. Three spots would be damn near impossible to fill. Maybe he could poach that Howlett kid from the Canucks. They did owe him a good bit.

As he moves, Sgt. Fury find himself wondering if this Infinity Formula would actually be worth it.

Inside the Throne Room

Albus kneels over the fallen form of Gellert Grindelwald. Looking around, Albus sees a crystal potion vial that he is all too familiar with. If he had drank that potion, then there was a chance that he would still live! The potion was one of his own brewing, a final gift to the mind that he loved after their separation. The potion, a Potion of Restoration that he himself had brewed from the leftovers of the most recently made Sorcerer's Stone, was assured to heal any and all wounds for a few hours. He had hoped that by sending it to Gellert, he could show that their goals could be achieved without resorting to the more extreme measures that Grindelwald was embracing. It wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but with the potion in his system, it would enable him to live. Already Albus could see Gellert's leg beginning to regrow. His wand hand though…

The German man coughs and looks up at the Brit, with eyes that are clouded with pain. The fallen wizard opens his mouth once, twice to speak and yet no sound comes out. Albus lifts the head of his love and settles it into his lap. The Elder Wand, long forgotten, sits inside Albus' robe. One drawback of the Potion of Restoration is how potent it is. No other healing magics can be worked on a person with the potion in his system. The Potion of Restoration would simply negate any magical healing effect that was not its own. All Albus could do at this is stroke the head of his love and hope that it provides Gellert some small measure of comfort.

Minutes pass as the potion works its way through Gellert's system. Shrieks of pain echo off the granite walls as a leg is fully regrown. All the while, Albus is stroking the head of his lover turned enemy and wiping sweat off of his forehead with a hastily transfigured towel. The process is exhausting for the German, draining whatever energy he may have had left after his duel. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he manages to meet the blue eyes of his friend.

"Albus, mein freund, " he gasps, struggling to stay awake. "I… I can think clearly now. Mein library. You…you must… the book…"

As he glances off towards an alcove behind his throne, Gellert Grindelwald passes into unconsciousness. Transfiguring the towel into a pillow, Albus lays his head on it and then walks over to the alcove to discover whatever it is that his beloved feels he must find.

In a side corridor of Nuremberg

Cap and Bucky once again are trying to catch their breath. They had just come out of an encounter with four more of those German soldier/golem hybrids that had already proven to be a match for the American Forces. For a good ten minutes the two Americans had fought with them, dodging blows and countering with anything and everything in their arsenal before they had all been dispatched. As it was, neither made it through the battle unscathed. Cap's protective uniform was almost completely destroyed and the man seriously suspected that several of his ribs had been cracked. Those …creatures all packed a serious wallop.

Bucky wasn't faring much better. While the boy was smaller and much faster than the golem things, all it would take to put the boy down was one lucky blow. It was a lucky blow that they almost got. While attempting to dodge one of the monstrosities attacks, the boy had jumped up and back. He had easily cleared the fist that was hurtling down on him, but unfortunately missed the golem at his side. A backhanded swing had thrown the boy into the wall, knocking both the wind and sense out of him. When Bucky had hit that wall, the boy's head had bounced a little too hard for Cap's comfort. The fight had finally ended when Cap had thrown his shield. The spinning, circular guardian ricocheted off of the walls and had ping ponged around the hallway, severing the heads of the golem men.

"Bucky, are you ok?" Cap asks the young man as he helps him to his feet.

"I'm fine Cap. Just a little fuzzy in the head. It'll clear up soon enough," the boy replies as his eyes struggle to focus.

"Get out of here Bucky. I'll stop the Red Skull."

"NO! Cap, I've already done one mission without you today, I am sure not going to let a chance to give those Hydra goons a good walloping pass me by. I'll be fine, I promise. Please?"

Steve promises himself that he would watch the boy. As they continue to make their way towards where Bucky had reported that Red Skull had fled, Bucky did look better. Well, he looked about as good as anyone who had been slammed into a granite wall by a golem monster. Sure he was favoring one side, and obviously struggling to regain his breath at times, but he was alive. And even injured, Bucky Barnes is worth more than 10 Hydra soldiers.

Finally, the American twosome reaches the doors that have to lead to the Red Skull. Kicking the doors open, Cap and Bucky see a rocket almost primed to launch. Strapped to the rocket is what could only be the bomb that Bucky had told him about. The Red Skull himself is busy with the final preparations as he moves towards the cockpit. Twenty Hydra scientists turn as one towards the inappropriately opened door. As one, they all pull pistols from their hips and move to intercept the invading Americans.

With a nod to Bucky, Captain America raises his shield and charges forward with the young boy close at his heels. A cry of "Wahoo!" comes from the youngster, and the battle is joined.