A/N: This will be my take on Harry Potter, and things will change off of cannon rather quickly. Don't be surprised when that happens, it's supposed to happen.

The first chapter is finally out! Make sure to review and tell me what you think of it, tell me what I can improve, and so on. The only thing I can ask is that you keep the negative reviews to yourself, or keep it constructive. It's rather demoralizing to see reviews along the lines of "This FF SUCKS!" or "You need to do this big change that would screw with the story or nobody would ever like it."

-§§-

"Normal Talking"

'Normal Thinking'

§Parseltongue§

I know it's goofy but below is the line break, I'm a goofy man:

-§Sserpentss§-

Chapter 1: Spirits of Old

-§Sserpentss§-

It was a cold, cold feeling for HJGP. You all know him as Harry James G. Potter. Now, what is this cold feeling, you ask? What is this feeling that Harry would later connect to the feeling of a dementor creeping its energy into the skull of its victims? The thing that was causing this feeling, this bone-chilling creeping darkness, was the Chamber of Secrets. More importantly, the enormous Basilisk that was lunging violently at Harry. This presented Harry with a very obvious problem.

Tom Marvolo Riddle, whom he had learned was actually the vile man who had killed his parents in cold blood, had suddenly whispered in a language obvious to him, Parseltongue. However, before Harry could interpret what the words that were said actually meant, he was attacked viciously. Unfortunately, Harry was just a 2nd year, and not a fantastic one either. He had allowed himself to be coerced by Ron Weasley to take the easy road with his school classes, and he was currently cursing himself for allowing that to happen. He had allowed his emotions get in the way of his future. What kind of good wizard even does that?

Anyway, Harry was in a LOT of trouble. A Basilisk lunging at a person, even blinded by a phoenix, was not good. However, Harry decided to do the most stupidly Gryffindorish thing possible. This move, was unfortunately to lunge back at the mountain of a serpent. As he started to move, he realized his mistake.

"Hahaha, I suppose I will rise back to life after all, Potter!" Riddle maniacally laughed, causing Harry to get distracted for a fraction of a second and tilt his head towards Riddle. That was all it took. Instead of the fang of the basilisk simply grazing his arm, it also ripped a shred through the right side of his face, not quite taking the eye with it, but leaving a long, bloody gash in Harry's face. It extended from just below where his hairline began, started curving at his cheekbone, and ended at the 90 degree angle of the bone in the jaw. After that, of course, it collided with his arm.

A simple scream did Harry well, as he speared the Basilisk through the brain with the Sword of Gryffindor. He was very lucking that the venom of the Basilisk only started injecting into him after it hit his arm, otherwise he would never have survived the brain damage the venom would have done. With a mighty roar, the Basilisk of Salzar Slytherin left its venomous fang inside the thin, bony arm of Harry Potter. Tom stared on in awe and fear. This could NOT be happening! A mere child, battling with a Basilisk and winning! As swiftly as a 12 year old that feels like he's aflame inside can move, Harry jammed the basilisk's fang into the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle, and with a scream, the fragment of Voldemort was no more.

Harry let out a breath of relief. He slumped in pain, with Fawkes trilling and crying over him. He looked over at Ginny and noticed that her skin was quickly gaining color. Good, that meant she was recovering, and fast too. It was simple luck that he had won that battle, but he had the feeling that he hadn't won the war. He suddenly cried out in pain, making Fawkes flinch. Harry propped himself against the wall, and put on the sorting hat to ask it for guidance.

'Hello? Sorting hat sir?' Harry tentatively reached out with his mind to the sorting hat.

'Please, young one. You have earned the right to call me by my old name. I am Kraz.' The sorting hat stated, mildly shocking Harry. What had little old him done to secure that kind of position, with a relic of thousands of years of age?

'It's simple, Harry.' The Kraz read Harry's mind, scaring him again. 'You killed a 1000 year old basilisk that had been driven insane by Tom Riddle, you destroyed his soul fragment, and you protected the people of Hogwarts more valiantly than I've seen in the past 700 years.'

'I just did what I thought was right, but I also really didn't want to die.' Harry winced, he did sort of feel like he was going to die if this pain didn't go away. It was muddling his thoughts.

'And that's what makes you worth of what I'm going to give you. Take me off, and reach inside. Oh, and also you're about to be resorted!' Kraz said these words with the cheek of a much younger soul. It was surprising with how much wisdom was put into the former given words.

'What do you mea-'

"SLYTHERIN!" Kraz yelled extremely loudly, as if he was in the Great Hall. Harry suddenly realized what had been done. He had been resorted into Slytherin, the house that had been the bane of his existence for a large portion of his time at Hogwarts. Despite this, he begrudgingly took off the damnable hat. He noticed his mind getting more muddled, so he needed to move quickly. His hand darted into the blasted hat, grasping a ring. The ring was Slytherin green, made of Mythril. It had a square emblem at the top, covered by a layer of quartz crystal. The small logo engraved in the quartz happened to be a simplified version of the Hogwarts logo. A shield-like shape with a large H in the middle and twin Basilisks slithering around the inside and outside of the emblem. Now that he looked back at the metal of the ring, he noticed several engravings on the band. Getting dizzy for a moment, Harry overcame it and slipped the ring onto his left middle finger, the ring shrinking to fit his slim size.

Putting back on Kraz slowly after another large hit of dizziness, he heard the old relic speaking. 'This is the ring of Hogwarts. The ring automatically changes to represent the house you are most attuned to, which is why the Basilisks are in it. It allows you to apparate silently on will to wherever in Hogwarts you wish to be, no matter the place. The portraits of the castle know the ring well, and will help you however they can if they see it. It has a powerful disillusionment charm attached to it in case you wish to hide it. Finally, it protects better than a lord's ring against mental control and attacks as well as poisons and such.' Kraz finished, and slowly stiffened. Harry thought that he had likely gone back to his state of unmoving, the same state of "sleep" that he was normally in when he was on Dumbledore's shelf.

Those thoughts left him however, as he soon felt his life's energy slipping away from him as he slumped on the wall. His heart started to beat marginally slower, and his eyes became glazed. His breathing slowed to a crawl, eventually stopping completely. There was a bright flash of light, and then nothingness.

-§Sserpentss§-

Harry thought he would be falling forever, however that was not the case. He suddenly noticed that he had stopped moving, and there was light creeping at the sides of his eyelids. Slowly, Harry opened his eyes, blinking a few times to get used to the light. Harry found himself in a place he had only been a few times, the King's Cross Station. Unfortunately for his eyes, it was almost completely bright white, the colors only dampened enough for him to know where things were. Standing, Harry looked around and noticed a figure behind him.

"Hey! Who are you! Where am I!" Harry exclaimed, a bit perturbed when the white-haired man didn't respond to him, not even moving to face him. However, that all changed when the somewhat disconcerting man started speaking.

"Hello, Harry, my grandson. My name is Gellert Grindelwald, glad to make your acquaintance." The newly identified Grindelwald said in a deep, airy voice, and turned around. Harry observed Grindelwald, noticing his black trousers, black leather boots, his white undershirt and stock tie, his black formal vest with a golden chain leading to a pocketwatch, and his black trench coat with the collar raised. He observed his pale skin and white mustache, his aristocratic expression in a neutral but tense form, his high cheekbones and defined jawline. His hair, straight and high, and his mismatching eyes.

"Okay, so I'm definitely dead." Harry muttered under his breath. Grindelwald deftly raised his eyebrow. The boy thought himself dead?

"No, Harry. You are not dead. This is the world between life and death. I am simply the man who was designated to meet you." Grindelwald stated, simply and airily, the corners of his mouth raising ever so slightly into a smile.

"Why would you be the one to meet me, sir? After all, you are a war criminal." Harry questioned, seriously scared for his own sanity. Then, he finally registered Grindelwald's original words. "Wait, I'm your grandson?" Harry asked, raising his voice a bit.

"Yes Harry, you are my grandson, and that is why I am the one to meet you. I am here to explain a plethora of things to you in a short amount of time. However, time is always moving even in the world between worlds, so will you allow me to explain?" Grindelwald asked. This child was certainly interesting. He had been told by the one who sent him here that his grandson had multiple limiters, wards, charms, and potions set upon him to make him a "true potter", however that would never fully change his blood.

"Alright, please start explaining sir." Harry said, a little bit afraid of the man. After all, this man had fought Professor Dumbledore and had only barely lost. He had taken over a large portion of Europe, and done horrible things.

Grindelwald sighed, sensing his grandson's fear. "Harry, I'm not going to hurt you. Also, sir makes me feel old even though I died in my 60s, I had used a technique to keep my body in my 30s. Nothing too dark however." Grindelwald started explaining. "Now, to start out with, I'm not a man who likes being interrupted, so try to ask questions when I'm done. You, my grandson, are precious to both me and the world. You see, in the family tree of the Potters, your grandmother is Dorea Black. Now, people think that your grandmother was Charlus Potter, but the reality is naught. You see, on the brink of my defeat, I was approached by Dorea. She had found out that Charlus was infertile. She asked me to help her with her problem, and I did. What I did not expect, however, was for her to use potions on the child, James Potter, to make him look like Charlus and completely mask everything about me in him. This sent me into a rage, and it is what led to my death."

"The only person who knew about this was Albus Dumbledore, your current Headmaster. He went to long lengths to ensure that my legacy was hidden within you, including many charms and wards. This was done to ensure your protection, however that isn't something you need anymore. He did, however, ensure that some part of me was in you. He asked your parents to name you with an extra middle name. Gellert, my own name, to "ensure that you would be great." However, you probably didn't even know that." Gellert said, not quite finished but he needed to breath.

"No, I didn't know I was named Gellert." Harry said, bewildered at all that was revealed so far. Grandson of one of the best wizards in the entire world? That was just far too crazy. He was just one child after all! Yes, he fought a basilisk and Quirrelmort, but still!

"It's not only that, my grandson. When Voldemort tried, and failed, to kill you, he put a fragment of his soul in you on accident, making you something called a Horcrux. This Horcrux limited your power and potential by around sixty percent. I know that you are already hiding your power due to those filthy muggles that raised you and their abusive ways, and that you could be at the top of your class, so now that this Horcrux has been destroyed by the Basilisk's venom that has scraped the scar and killed you, you will be legendary. The Horcrux has also limited your mental functions, so you will end up smarter and calmer by the end of this." Grindelwald finished, waiting patiently for Harry's reaction. He wasn't quite sure how his grandson would react, since the horcrux hadn't quite been removed yet.

"That's all well and good, but how do I know you aren't lying to me? How do I know that this isn't all just a dream? And if it isn't, why would you be helping me?" Harry asked, very nervous and very scared. It's not every day that you talk to a Dark Lord, even less when you die, and even more less when you figure out that he's your illegitimate grandfather. This was just a strange situation overall.

Grindelwald sighed, and he found that he had been doing that a lot these days. The child simply didn't understand, but he would make him understand. "It's simple, yet again Harry." Grindelwald started. "You will find that I'm not lying to you when you awaken. In a way, this is a dream, but it's also reality. You will find that I am not lying when you go to the very same place the Basilisk came from and say "Open, Lair of Salzar." That is how you will know I am not lying, because the portraits of myself and Salzar Slytherin will be there to guide you, and my portrait will remember this conversation. Finally, I am helping you because you are my legacy. You are my final hope. You see, my war was miswritten by history, because history is written by the winners and the winners don't always see the full scope. For starters, the "innocent muggles" we killed during the war were child abusers, rapists, or worse." Harry's eyes widened, but Grindelwald took no mind and continued.

"The reason we fought the war in the first place was not truly for domination. It was not for purebloods. It was for freedom of magic and all magical races. Why do you think that we had the vampires, the werewolves, the centaurs, and many more on our side? We wanted all races to be equal. We, the Knights of Walpurgis, wanted no magic or magical races to be oppressed. We wanted all types of magic to be allowed on the condition that they were not corrupting or pure evil. We wanted the law to be situational. For example, the Cruciatus curse was invented to restart the heart, but now if you were to use it for that purpose you would be sent to Azkaban for life. Fiendfyre was invented to breach wards and raze down buildings for new construction, however now it may be used for that and gain the user Azkaban time. Elemental magics were only labeled dark because one of the Ministers of Magic in the 1700s hated the Longbottoms and it was their family magic." Harry's eyes widened even further, and his mouth dropped open. This was not the Grindelwald he was expecting, he was expecting a crazy warmongering man who wanted to turn him into a weapon.

"So you don't hate Muggleborns, you just hate Muggles?" Harry questioned tentatively.

"No, my grandson, I hate corrupt muggles. I hate the muggles who would burn their child at the stake or abuse them because they are magical. I want to separate the world of the magical and the world of the muggle completely. I want all magicals to live in peace and harmony. That was my dream, and Dumbledore ruined it. He was my best friend, but he killed me because he couldn't be bothered to attempt to achieve peace." Grindelwald ranted a bit, scowling furiously.

"So what now then?" Harry asked. His grandfather did not seem that bad.

"Well, you have three options. Option one is to simply die." Grindelwald was interrupted by a resonant "No!" and grinned. "Option two is to go back to your normal life with not a single memory of this and possibly die when you kill Voldemort and live a mediocre life." He was interrupted by another, less resonant but still confident no. "Option three, young Hadrian," He was frustratingly interrupted again by Harry.

"Wait, Hadrian? Isn't my name Harry? I know that I didn't know my middle name was James Gellert, but I thought it was Harry James Gellert Potter, not Hadrian James Gellert Potter." Harry questioned curiously and excitedly, toning down the frustration on Grindelwald's face immediately.

"Well yes, Hadrian. Your nickname and assumed name is Harry but your full name is Hadrian. Nobody bothered to ask. If you were to get a blood test at Gringotts, you would have learned. You can also get an ability test there that will show Parseltongue and whatever other abilities you may have. It will also show you your bloodlines and allow you to claim the heir rings to House Potter, House Slytherin, and House Grindelwald. That would legally change your name to either Hadrian James Gellert Slytherin or Hadrian J. Gellert Grindelwald if you were to wish it. I am, of course, biased and would wish you to take on the Grindelwald name and mantle as soon as possible, but your name will only change when you become an adult or are emancipated from your magical guardian, which is unfortunately Dumbledore." Grindelwald finished, having become slightly angry at the final part he was about to say. "He also accidentally locked your Godfather, who should have taken care of you, into Azkaban. He had been under the impression that your parent's wills were not in need of reading, so he sealed them, which also sealed Sirius Black's fate. Sirius was believed to be the secret keeper for your parent's house while they were hiding from Voldemort, however it was someone else. Unfortunately, Dumbledore didn't know this."

"That old man is becoming more and more foolish in my eyes by the minute!" Harry exclaimed, angry at Dumbledore. His magic reflected this, as his tattered old robes started fluttering, his fists balled up, turning white, and his eyes glowed a brilliant Avada Kedavra green.

"Indeed. Now, calm down, I must tell you the third option of course." Grindelwald stated calmly, masking his anger. Harry also calmed down at this, curious as to what would happen.

"Option three, Harry, is to leave here with your true appearance, which almost completely mirrors me, upon you. You will have white, straight hair, your skin will pale a bit, your eyes will stay that brilliant green, you will be taller and stronger with actual meat on your bones. You will have a more defined jawline and a higher cheekbone, alike to me. The entity that sent me here has allowed me to instantly teach you one thing, and the thing you need the most is the art of the mind, called Occlumency. You will immediately learn it to my level, which is such a level to where not even Dumbledore with his mastery of Legillimens, the art of invading and reading the mind, will be able to break your mental barriers. You will not need to apply it, as it will already be applied and you will know everything about it. Occlumency will also allow you to have a memory alike to an eidetic memory, meaning you will remember everything you want to remember and you can store the rest if you don't want it. You will walk through Hogwarts with your new appearance, showing everyone possible who you are and what you look like. This is to ensure that Dumbledore does not put the limiters back upon you. The horcrux will be gone, ensuring you will have your maximum power." Grindelwald took a moment to breath. He certainly did not feel as young as he used to, but he still had some things to explain before he faded.

"After you sleep for the night, you will come back to the Chamber of Secrets when it is safe and convenient. You will come to the Lair of Salzar, where he has a library with hundreds of books, and I have planted many books of my own for you to learn from. Me and him will both be in portrait form like I said before, and my portrait will remember this conversation. You will learn from us until the end of the term at Hogwarts. When summer begins, you will summon the Knight Bus from the Dursley's home and go to the Leaky Cauldron. Then, you will go to Gringotts. Inside, you will ask for a blood test from a goblin called Griphook, the Potter account manager. He used to be the Grindelwald account manager, but now there is no manager for that account. You will claim your heir rings and claim your blood. You will also be able to be emancipated." Grindelwald explained. Before he could continue, Harry popped a quick question.

"How would I become emancipated, grandfather?" Grindelwald smirked a bit at the name. "After all, Dumbledore is the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, he would have all the power in this situation?" Harry had become a bit confused. All this information felt like a bit too much, but he had room for a bit more.

"Well, it's simple Harry. When a case of neglect at this level is brought to the goblins, they are allowed to take it into their own hands. The leader of the goblins, Ragnok, has the ability to emancipate you. Then it's just a matter of unsealing your parent's wills and having them read to the Wizengamot, which would get your godfather out of jail. As an emancipated child, you would still need a guardian, and Sirius should do well if you cannot prove yourself capable of living alone. That will be one of the things taught to you by me and Salzar however, living alone. It should not be very difficult, as the taxes and monetary bills are paid automatically by the goblins and the only other expenses you would have is food and cleaning. You already know how to do both of those things, however if you are going to live in either Godric's Hollow, the Potter Manor, or the Grindelwald Manor, you will want a house elf. You should end up inheriting mine when you become Lord Grindelwald, named Henlein. He's a German elf, but he speaks English well enough." Grindelwald finished. During this whole ordeal, his grandson had been grinning feverishly, however that dimmed when he mentioned house elves. He wondered what that was about.

"Grandfather, why do I need a house elf? Isn't that just slavery? I was used as one by the Dursleys, so why would I want one?" Harry asked. He had learned enough from this conversation that his grandfather wouldn't actively try to lead him into the wrong, however this seemed like it was too bad for him.

Grindelwald sighed, again. "My dear grandson, house elves are often mistreated by people, but they are not slaves. They need to be bonded to someone, or they will loose their magic and die. Henlein has been lucky to be bonded to my house, which is on a magical ley line. If that hadn't been the case, he would have died within two months of my own death." Grindelwald stated, mildly shocking Harry. He grinned when Harry schooled his facial expression. His boy was learning quick!

"Well, if I must. I don't feel good about it, but I'll treat Henlein as well as possible." Harry said, somehow wearily even for a twelve year old. He certainly felt a bit older after this whole conversation.

"Well boy," Grindelwald started, his image shimmering. "I'm starting to fade. Make your choice, quickly now."

"I choose option three!" Harry yelled, and ran toward his grandfather, hugging him tightly. Grindelwald hugged back, but soon Harry found that his arms were wrapped around himself. A bright light blinding him, and soon he found himself yet again on the ground of the Chamber of Secrets, slumped with the sorting hat in his left hand and the Sword of Gryffindor in his right.

-§Sserpentss§-

A/N: I'm using the Johnny Depp version of Gellert Grindelwald in this story, so make sure that if you want to know what that looks like, you go and look at it. I'm not using the other version of him from the second MB movie. Also, thanks for the support on the preview chapter that I had posted! By now, that chapter is simply gone, but for anyone who wanted to know what it was, it was simply the very same chapter, but it cut of when Grindelwald said, "Hello, my grandson. My name is Gellert Grindelwald, glad to make your acquaintance. "

For now, I'll try to get one chapter out every 1 – 2 weeks, but honestly I do not know. Anyway, thanks for the support and I'll see you all in the next chapter!