Harry X Revelation

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do enjoy reading it though.

Harry bit his lip as he fell to the sidewalk. He could feel it twisting in his gut, but he knew that if he used it, he would be in big trouble. Quickly, he scrambled to his feet, turning to face the ones who had pushed him. It was Gordon and Piers.

Across the playground, Harry could see that Dudley had noticed and was beginning to lumber over. Piers smirked as Harry backed away, looking around.

"Fat D isn't here to protect you, Potty. Now you'll get what's coming to you." Piers moved forward and Harry saw his chance. He dove to his left, dodging Piers' lunge, and raced towards the entrance of the playground. He knew he would get in trouble for leaving school, and the others would probably call him a coward and a crybaby, but he had to get home before he used it.

The front door to Number Four Privet Drive slammed open, causing Petunia to jump. She quickly set the sandwich she was making aside and hurried out towards the door, just in time to see Harry dive into the cupboard and slam the door behind him. Light flashed out around the edge of the door and Petunia felt her hairs stir. That was a large surge. She waited till the light died away, then knocked smartly on the door.

"You had 'stomach cramps' again?"

The cupboard door slowly opened. Petunia clucked her tongue at the sight of her nephew. His hair was obviously wind-blown, and had turned a shade of pale green on top of that. The rest of his body was normal, except for his red shirt, which was glowing brightly. She quickly pushed him back into the cupboard. "Fix your hair and shirt first." She shut the door and waited. After several silent moments, the door opened, revealing Harry, looking like his normal self. Petunia quickly knelt next to him, taking in the traces of blood on his palms and the scuffed knees of his trousers, and reached out to wipe away the remnants of tears on his face. "What happened?"

Harry sniffed, standing silent for several moments, before mumbling softly. "..f..l..d.o..w..ry"

Petunia frowned. "Harry," she spoke, her tone sharp and warning, "what happened?"

"I just fell. It startled me, and I ran away."

Petunia eyed him, and then sighed. She knew Harry was being bullied, but she couldn't afford to drag too much attention to it, or he would get taken away by the MoS, and she would never see him again. "Alright. Just...be more careful."

Harry nodded woodenly, and Petunia quickly drew him into a hug.

The next day, Petunia managed to convince the principal of the school that Harry had eaten something that disagreed with him for breakfast, and that he had run home from feeling sick. She had assured him that Harry would go to the nurse next time, but she could tell the principal didn't really believe her. This was the sixth time Harry had run home early from school, and while she had been able to pass it off as Harry being sickly and socially fearful, if it continued, she would likely have the social services called in. She had talked to Vernon, and they had discussed the possibility of moving. The problem is they wouldn't have the cupboard in the new home, and that would probably be worse than social services poking around.

Many people may wonder about why a cupboard would be so important, and might be suspicious about the Dursley's fear of social services. It all tracked back to a night, nine years ago, when Petunia's sister showed up on her front door.

Lily looked around as she strode down the walk, and she quickly cut across the front lawn of Number Four, shifting the bundle she was carrying to allow her to knock on the front door. There was a scraping of chairs, and the door cracked open. Petunia's thin face displayed her naked shock at the sight of her sister standing on her doorstep.

"Lily, what...what are you doing here?"

Lily quickly stepped forward, squeezing in past Petunia, with a final glance back at the street before she pushed the door shut. "Tuney, there isn't...oh god, there's no time. I, I just..." Lily lost her voice, tears running down her cheeks as she shifted the bundle, revealing a small face topped with a shock of black hair.

Petunia gasped. "Lily, is, is he yours? When did you...?"

Lily smiled weakly. "It's a long story. I really want to share it with you, and hopefully I will be able to later, but I'm running on borrowed time, and I need you to trust me."

"Of course." Petunia led Lily back to the kitchen, where Vernon was looking up curiously from his dinner, and Dudley was pounding his spoon against the side of his chair. Lily smiled at Vernon, who shifted, surprised.

"Lily! How are you is that a baby?" Vernon shifted tracks in mid-sentence. "I didn't know you were expecting."

Lily smiled. "No one did, including the Mages, and that is how it needs to stay. I've found something," she shook her head, "I can't explain it now. It's too sensitive, but I need to deal with it, and I can't guarantee Harry's safety while I do so. I need to leave him here."

Petunia nodded, then paused. "But he's like you, isn't he? Doesn't that mean they can track him through his magic?"

Lily nodded. "Yes." She glanced back down the corridor. "May I use that closet?" She pointed at the cupboard under the stairs. Petunia and Vernon glanced at each other, before Petunia looked back and nodded. Lily quickly moved over, opening the cupboard. A few cleaning supplies sat off to the side, with a pair of boxes slid into the back corner. Lily nodded, and pulled a thin rod out of her back pocket. She pressed it to the floor, and began dragging it across the surface. Glowing marks traced out behind the rod's tip, forming into shapes and circles. She traced across the floor, up the walls, across the ceiling, and finished with an intricate design on the interior of the door. Slowly, Lily stood, as the glowing marks faded away. She turned, to find Petunia standing behind her, holding Harry in her arms.

"What is all of that?" Petunia peered into the closet curiously.

Lily sighed, wiping some sweat from her brow. "It will hide Harry's magic so long as he is in the cupboard. So, if he starts to show the signs, just send him in, and no-one will be the wiser." Lily then reached into another pocket of her coat, and pulled out a thick sheaf of paper, which she set on the side table next to the kitchen door. "This is all of Harry's papers. Shots and things."

Petunia frowned, stepping up behind Lily. "Lily...how long are you planning to be gone?"

Lily turned, tears in her eyes matching those forming in Petunia's. "I don't know. I, just promise me you'll take care of him."

Petunia could only nod, biting back tears as she stepped forward to hug Lily. Lily hugged her back, little Harry cuddled in between them. After a long moment, Lily stepped back and nodded, before turning towards the door. She paused, hand on the handle, to leave one final word.

"You can trust Sev. He'll help."

And then she was shutting the door behind her.

OK! So this story has quite a bit of backstory to it. I have a few more scenes planned, and I may write them up later.

First, World History. About thirty years after the Statute of Secrecy was enacted in this universe, a massive event occurred. Some of the names for it are the Cascade, the Unveiling, and the First Attack. Basically, a group of Wizarding Researchers in Tibet triggered a magical surge in the ley lines. The surge echoed across the entire globe, and had a terrible effect on the wards in use by Wizards. In most cases, the wards detonated, destroying the building they protected, along with a large portion of the area around them. Only a few structures, with the most stable wards, were able to survive the surge, which left those wards overpowered to an insane degree. The weakest wards, on the other hand, merely failed, though often in a rather flashy way. Over four-fifths of the world's magical population died instantly during the event, while many more died due to complications in the following week. The event re-enflamed the anti-magical sentiment that had existed prior to the Statute of Secrecy, and many witchhunts were led. This led to a startling discovery.

Wizarding magic had changed. Prior to the event, most wizards were equally capable of using any form of magic, with only a few rare magics restricted by bloodline, and most affinities only applying to a small boost in skill in a particular area. Now, however, each witch or wizard's magic was wholly focused into what became known as their Talent, a branch or portion of magic that they could use most efficiently. Some basic portions of other disciplines could be used, but in their given Talent is the only place a witch or wizard could truly excel. This shift led to many wizards and witches finding themselves defenseless, when spells that used to come easily, such as the Flame-Freezing Charm, the Shield Spell, or Apparition, now being almost impossible for them to use when lacking the proper Talent. Magicals died by the thousands, reducing the magical population to a mere fraction of what it had been before. Most magicals fled into hiding beneath what few wards remained, but magical society as a whole was largely broken. Knowledge that magic was real continued to exist openly.

Close to a century later, the initial organization that would become the Mages of State was founded in Germany. A small group of mundane-born magicals, and a few older magical families that had hidden themselves in the mundane world, was gathered by German nationalists in an attempt to face Napoleon. The organization never actually assisted in the Napolenic Wars, but it did persist, forming a strong enforcement arm for the unified German government. Other nations quickly began to adopt similar policies. Rapidly, tensions grew due to the fact that some of the families, such as the Kuglier Clan of Eastern Germany, had extended families in other nations, which were inducted into the ranks of their Mages of State. Gradually, an informal policy of magical cooperation between nations began to develop, which rapidly switched to a more formal policy. While occasionally a nation's MoS organization would break free of the whole, such as Germany's did during the World Wars, in most cases, the MoS became a very efficient organization for policing the world's magic, while under the mudane leadership of their host countries. One of the biggest issues with the MoS is that magicals are viewed as assets rather than actual people.

Within Britain, there are three major Magical groups, with two foreign groups having some minor influence. The first is the British arm of the MoS, which is based in London, on the site where the Ministry of Magic would be located in other universes, though their headquarters is accessible by anyone. The second group is the Order of the Phoenix, led by Dumbledore, and headquartered at Hogwarts. Dumbledore was raised in Godric's Hollow, among muggles. He learned about magic, and about many of the myths and legends from Bathilda Bagshot, an elderly witch that lived in the area. Inspired by tales of Hogwarts, he set out as a teenagers to find Hogwarts. It took him close to a decade, but he eventually uncovered the ancient castle, which had been sealed by the last headmaster after the Unveiling and subsequent witch hunts, and had stood empty since that time. He used the castle's resources to reach out and help him gather different magicals to rediscover their heritage, without the restrictions placed on them by mundanes, as the sad truth is that most magicals are seen as tools by their respective governments and the MoS. The third group is known as the Clans. Centered around the Ossuary, near Ottery St. Catchpole, the Clans are a collection of several magical families that managed to maintain their wards during the Unveiling, and that hid away. They are somewhat xenophobic, and prefer to simply be left in peace. Among their number are the Bones, Prewitts, Weasleys, Diggorys, Lovegoods, Finnegans, Turpins, MacDougals, McGonagalls, and several others.

The two foreign groups are the Knights of Walpurgis and the Tartarus Shadow. The Knights are an organization founded by Gellert Grindlewald. He was raised in Germany, while spending some time in Godric's Hollow with his aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. He knew Dumbledore growing up, and shared his interest in myths. However, unlike Dumbledore, who envisioned a society where magicals and mundanes lived as equals, Gellert saw magicals rightful place as being lords over the mundane populace. He orchastrated the German MoS's break from the larger organization, and even after the war was lost, he still maintained a sizeable force that was loyal to him, who would eventually become known as the Knights of Walpurgis. Gellert has studied many magical myths, and has tracked down a variety of mystic artifacts.

The Tartarus Shadow is a mysterious black-market organization. Founded in Greece, the Tartarus Shadow works to distribute contraband, magical and mundane, around the globe. Diagon Alley is run by them in the depths of London's back alleyways.

Tom Riddle in this story is a member of the mundane government of Britain. He is officially an assistant liason to the MoS for the office of the Prime Minister. However, he has been working to build up a network of contacts throughout the government and MoS, and has used those contacts to learn a great deal about magic. He hid his own talent for magic, leading to him flying under the radar, so to speak, of the MoS. He has conducted multiple inethical experiments, and is a shadow villain for the storyline.

James Potter was part of Dumbledore's Order, both of his parents having joined Dumbledore earlier. His talent was self-transfiguration, allowing him to become what was historically known as an Animagus. Lily, on the other hand, was an agent of the MoS, having been discovered along with Severus Snape at a very young age. Her talent lay in warding and rune work, especially in defensive barriers. James and Lily met several times in the course of their various assignments, often coming into conflict. However, James saved both Lily and Severus several times as well, and James and Lily eventually fell in love, marrying in secret. They had a son, Harry, that they hid away in secret, and then James disappeared while investigating rumors about Tom Riddle. Lily gave Harry to Petunia, having uncovered documents about Tom that showed he had some knowledge of Harry, and may have experimented on her without her knowledge while she was pregnant. She then went to confront him, and disappeared as well. The only people who knew about Harry was the Dursleys, Severus Snape, and Sirius Black, James's partner and best friend.

Eventually, Harry would run away after overhearing Petunia and Vernon's fears about the punishments they might face if Harry was discovered, and he runs into Hagrid, who is on assignment from Dumbledore to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone, which had been stolen from Nicholas Flamel by the MoS. Hagrid sends Harry off to Hogwarts with Hedwig, who had the stone contained in her stomach, while he ran off and distracted the MoS. Where the story goes from there is up in the air. As might be expected, Ron is part of the Clans, and Hermione is a Junior Agent of the MoS. Harry, Ron, and Hermione will all cross paths, interacting with each other. On one mission, a group of trolls went rogue in Wales. Harry is part of the Order Reponse, Hermione is sent out as an operative (read: expendable asset) by the MoS, and Ron was visiting a clan property nearby. Hermione engages one of the trolls, only to find that the illusion and fire magic she specializes in is ineffective against the troll. Harry intervenes, distracting the troll with some wind spells, and then Ron comes in after the fight almost crosses the border of the clan lands, and takes out the troll with a banished boulder. They interact more, at first as wary enemies, but later as comrades.

In this universe, Harry is unique, because he has pure magic, as opposed to specialized, allowing him to use all forms of magic equally. Tom Riddle actually maneuvered behind the scenes to cause Harry to gain this gift, experimenting on Lily while she was pregnant, though she didn't realize it at the time. Tom hopes to gain that gift himself, as at the moment, he only possesses a persuasion magic based Talent.