The shop:

Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, had been making plans from the first week after he began at Hogwarts.

Harry thought he might finally feel like he had a place in the world now that he knew he was a wizard. He thought since his parents were magical and he now knew he was, everything would be fine.

Nothing was fine, nothing felt right and he still felt like an outsider. He hated the staring, the pointing and the way people seemed to move out of his way when they saw him coming. He hated how they whispered about him even though they knew he could hear them. Apart from that, he couldn't work out why the headmaster went on about danger if they went near the third floor corridor. He also said they could die. Harry wasn't sure what to make of that but he was going to make sure he never went near that corridor.

What Harry also hated about Hogwarts was the rampart bullying, yet the teachers did not do a thing about it. The bullies got away with anything they did. But what he hated the most was Snape and the way he got away with harassing students, how he was really mean and in some cases, he was cruel, especially to Harry.

It was after Christmas and he got his father's invisibility cloak that first gave him the idea of being able to hide. If he could sneak way from the Dursley's, then using the cloak in the muggle world meant no one could see him but it would mean he could get things he needed to survive, until he was older. He knew he couldn't sneak away from Hogwarts so it would need to be before he got to the Dursley's.

Harry worked out one bit of his plan of escaping. He would be using his cloak the moment he left the train. He would stay hiding on platform nine and three quarters until everyone had gone. He would have to leave his trunk behind but he would put the things he had to keep with him in his bag. Hermione had explained about expansion charms that most of the older students used on their school bags. Harry was able to get Alicia to charm his bag. She did the undetectable expansion charm then said it would also need the feather light charm or he would never be able to carry it so she did that one as well.

Harry knew that meant he could keep his books, his cauldron, gloves, potions, things like scales and the ingredients, but it also meant he could keep his broom.

Since he was making plans while still at Hogwarts, Harry used his owl, Hedwig to buy some extra books. He knew he could make the odd visit to Diagon alley, but he would need to work on a way no one would recognise him. For now, he would use Hedwig.

Harry had no idea that the headmaster had been watching him, a lot. Albus wanted to test Harry, to see what type of boy he was and if he would be up to facing Voldemort. He wanted to see if maybe Harry would need some extra training or if he would be the type of boy that would run away the moment he saw danger. So far, Harry has not taken notice of any of the clues he had left or the accidentally dropped secret from Hagrid. He wasn't sure what else he could do. He could not just give Harry the information for him to go seek out the third floor corridor, that could make the boy not trust him and Albus needed Harry's trust.

When it was close to leaving Hogwarts, Harry made sure to keep everything he wanted in his bag. Alicia said until he learned the summoning charm, he would have to reach in and pull things out one at a time until he got what he wanted. She only knew he would have his books and things like potions equipment in there that would be used each day in his classes. She had no idea that Harry had all his books along with his potions equipment and ingredients, along with his broom and clothes all in the bag.

Harry planned to get some decent clothes. When he could sneak away from platform nine and three quarters, he would make his way to Diagon alley. He needed to get a lot of money out of his vault and change it into muggle money. He also needed to keep some wizard money on him so he could order books. He planned to leave a few galleons in his vault so no one would realised he had left. If he took it all out, it would close the vault and someone could easily enquire about Harry's vault, like people in the ministry.

Harry talked with his friends on the train, he did not want them to get suspicious. Hermione, he liked the girl but she had too much trust in people like the teachers at Hogwarts. If she knew what Harry planned, she would tell them. Ron wouldn't but he might tell his parents who would tell someone. So he acted normally, until he knew they were close. He made the excuse of needing the toilet, he would take his bag with him as he might be a while. He had sent Hedwig off that morning, she would meet him later in the day. Harry did that so his owl would be away and safe until he could sneak away.

Harry waited until everyone was gone from the train before he slipped his invisibility cloak on then quietly left the train. He stayed down at the other end of the platform so no one bumped into him. He also stood against the wall.

It took more than an hour before Harry noticed everyone had finally left. He could not tell if anyone was on the other side of the barrier until he passed through it. He figured he would give it another twenty minutes or so before he left his hiding spot.

Harry knew he would need somewhere he could stay that no one would find. For now, he was going to sleep in an old abandoned house that he had seen when the Dursley's drove him to kings cross station. He hoped he would only be there for the night, but until he researched, he wasn't sure how long he would be staying.

Harry was able to use his invisibility cloak to sneak some food and drink from a cafe he passed. He only took a bit, enough for the night. He would get more, but from other places.

Hedwig did find him that night. She landed on his shoulder, he gave her some food before making sure she had some water and knew the window would stay open for her. He knew she liked to go hunting of a night. After drinking, she flew back out of the house.

Harry had an idea where to stay but he had no idea if he would be able to get in. He also wasn't sure if it would be suitable. He spent the morning, right up until one o'clock, in the library, under his invisibility cloak. He found what he was looking for, now he just hoped it was suitable.

Harry stared around at the rooms that had been used during world war two. He thought he could easily make these bunker type rooms a bit more livable, cosy. He would need to get a few things, like an arm chair, a camping cot and even camping equipment, like stoves. He knew if he could make his own food, then he wouldn't need to steal all the time. He knew for now, he would need some things, which meant stealing. He snuck into a camping shop using his cloak and his charmed bag. He only took a camp bed, some blankets, a pillow, along with a stove, gas bottles, bowls, plates and cutlery, along with a few different size pots. He got back to the bunker easily, then left everything there while he went to the supermarket. He again used his invisibility cloak and charmed bag to get some food and drink. For now, he bought tin food that could be heated up in a pot. He remembered to buy a can opener. He did buy an already cooked chicken along with some sliced ham and fresh bread. He got the basics of everything and was thankful again for the spells on his bag and his invisibility cloak. He knew now he would be able to survive and stay hidden, until he was older.

During the next few months, Harry would read his magical books and use a stick to practice the wand movements. He put his wand on the table as he didn't want to take the chance of casting a spell, which could mean that the ministry would find him. He found a stick around the same thickness so he could get the hang of the movements.

While he was in hiding, Harry did sometimes sneak into places, like the cinema or museum. With his invisibility cloak, it was easy. Harry did use his cloak to also steal. He didn't like having to steal but he knew his money would have to last so he would steal only when he had no choice. He was lucky he knew how to cook the basic things so when he made his home in an old bunker, he was able cook on his little camping stove. When he stole food, he could cook the meat on the stove, but he could cook potatoes and vegetables on it as well. Apart from having a proper meal for dinner, Harry mainly had fruit through the day.

That was going to be his life for about six or seven years. He knew he might not be able to stay in the bunker for that long, but he would stay as long as he could. He hoped he could stay, but he wasn't sure if anyone ever visited the bunkers. Since he got there, no one had been down there but him, so he felt this just might be the place he could stay until he was a lot older. He had made himself a spot to sleep and his little cooking area in the last room that had been used by the prime minister during the war. It was towards the back, he figured if anyone came in, he hoped he would hear them before they found him.

One thing that had him trying to figure out was how to shower. When he explored the bunker, he found it still had running water. Harry went back to the camping store and stole a big bucket, one big enough that he could sit with his knees up. That is until he got bigger. Harry was going to use his stove to heat water then basically have a sort of bath. While he had been there, he had seen the camping showers, he figured he could do both, use the big bucket some nights and the shower other nights.

It was during the year that Harry would be almost finishing his second year at Hogwarts that he got a surprise.

Harry was practicing wand movements of spells with his stick, when the cup on the make shift table floated up into the air.

'How did that happen?' Harry stared at the cup, before he used the spell to make the cup float back down. He looked at the small table where his wand was sitting, just to make sure it was still there. It was.

'I wonder if that was a fluke or if I could do it again.'

Harry took a deep breath then decided to try to lumos spell. It worked, the end of the stick he was using lit up. He made sure it was a stick and not his wand, it was a stick.

'I hope that ministry don't find me,' Harry began to panic. He packed everything quickly and moved to the small back room. He put everything he owned in the corner then covered it with some old rubbish. He then took his own pillow and blanket, he sat on the pillow, he put the blanket over himself but he sort of scrunched down so he wouldn't look like a person under a blanket.

Harry sat quietly while he listened. He stayed like that until it got dark. No one came so Harry figured it was safe to come out. He decided to keep everything covered but when he needed to cook, he would do that out in the other room before returning to the room he was currently hiding in. He wasn't sure how long it could take someone from the ministry to visit so he figured he would be cautious for the next few days.

It was a week later that Harry realised no one was coming, which also told him he could continue to practice and see if he could do all the spells he had been reading about using his stick. He had no idea why he was able to do magic without his wand, yet he wasn't going to spend any time worrying about it. He put it down to good luck and was going to keep using it to learn as much as he could.

Harry would sometimes walk around, using his invisibility cloak, just to get out of the bunker. That was how he found things like chairs to use in his make shift home. It's how he got a bed, he found the mattress in a pile of rubbish one day when he was walking around. The following day, he found an old bed. He had to wait until late at night to go back and levitate the stuff to the warehouse. It was during these walks, when he often found things that would help him that gave him an idea of a job when he was older. It also meant he could begin straight away, once he learnt the spells needed.

Harry found all types of furniture that had been dumped. All of it was either damaged or had bits missing. Harry would levitate it back to the bunker, into another of the empty rooms, then begin to use different spells to fix the item before using different spells to fix it until it was in perfect condition, including the look. He found a lot of very old furniture and some he believed were antique.

Once he did the first dozen pieces of furniture, he smiled. He now knew that this could be what he did for work when he was older but it would give him things to do while he was in hiding. People could bring in items for him to fix. They would leave, he would take the items into a back room or a storage room, use magic, fix it within an hour, then wait for a few weeks before he contact the person that their item was done. No one would know he was using magic and that it only took an hour at most to repair. He wanted to live like a muggle so no one in the wizarding world would find him.

Harry also thought of making things, by hand but using magic as well. He decided since his last name was Potter, he would make pottery. He could use that for a name of the shop. He wasn't sure if that's what he would call the shop, if he didn't, he was sure something would come to him. It would not automatically have people think of Harry Potter if the name of a shop that made pottery was called Potter, like Potter's pottery or something like that. He would think on that and it wasn't like he didn't have time, in case he wanted to change his mind.

Over the years, no one in the wizarding world ever found Harry Potter. After he failed to return and after it was known that he never returned to his muggle family, the ministry got involved and began to investigate.

The aurors found out that the muggles had basically used Harry has a slave from the time he was four years old. They also found that they kept him locked in a cupboard. Many were outraged when they heard and blamed Albus Dumbledore, who had been the one to decide that Harry would live with his muggle aunt. The aurors also investigated Hogwarts. They could understand why the boy refused to return to the muggles, but they wanted to find out why he didn't return to Hogwarts and maybe find somewhere else to stay in the wizarding world. During the investigating, they found out more than they thought. Severus Snape was not only sacked for the way he treated most of the children, it was also because he supported all the children of death eaters. That told the aurors he was dark and always was. That led to him being questioned with veritaserum, then he was found guilty of multiple crimes. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban.

Because it had been Albus Dumbledore who spoke up for Severus Snape, Albus lost his job as chief warlock and he lost his job as headmaster when the aurors found out he allowed Snape to act terribly towards children at the castle, especially towards Harry Potter. They at least now knew why he refused to return to Hogwarts. It didn't help them find the boy but there was nothing they could do. It would remain an open case and they just hoped they would find the-boy-who-lived, one day.

The day Harry turned seventeen, he was ready to see if he could use his wand, without anyone from the ministry of magic finding him. He did find out that he could do wandless magic, which was how he had been fixing all the items he now planned to sell in his shop. After the first few times that he got magic to work with an ordinary stick, he began researching. One book he had bought explained about non verbal spells and wandless magic. Everyone in the wizarding world could learn non verbal spells, but only powerful people could do wandless magic. Harry realised he must be one of these powerful people since he now did everything without a wand, he just used a normal stick. After reading that, Harry put the stick down and began just using his hand. It took him a while to get the hang of casting spells without anything in his hand, aiming at the item he tried to move or vanish. But after a while, he had no trouble. He still wanted to test his wand to see if the ministry could detect magic now he was a legal adult in the wizarding world.

Harry wasn't going to allow anyone to find his place, if they did, they could make sure he was forced to return to the wizarding world and he would also lose all the items he had fixed that he planned to sell.

Harry used his invisibility cloak and went to a park. He made sure he could sneak behind a large group of trees, if anyone from the wizarding world arrived.

Harry took a deep breath, then he cast a vanishing charm on the leaves on the ground. The leaves vanished, so he moved behind the trees, covered himself with his invisibility cloak then made sure he had a view of the place he had been standing.

Harry stayed behind the trees for a few hours before he finally relaxed.

'Well, it seems this trace I read about is gone. I might be able to do it all without the wand but at least now I know they can't trace me if I do use the wand,' Harry smiled, then made his way back to his home.

Harry knew it was time to make some fake papers so it would seem like he was a few years older. He had to also open two bank accounts. One for his business expenses and one for his personal use. Harry also knew it was time to work on having his scar removed and working on coloured contact lenses. He needed to make sure no one from the wizarding world could find him. He thought of Hermione, a muggleborn who spent time in the muggle world. He knew there were a lot more muggleborns. He was going to make sure no one could recognise him.

It took a year but Harry now was scar free and he also had brown eyes when he went out. He got his business license, then he found the perfect premises, in Dover. Harry fell in love with the area and he even hired a boat so he could sit out on the water and look back at the White Cliffs of Dover. The moment he was in the town, he felt like he had finally found a home. Apart from the shop, which needed to be a decent size, he had a big size basement that would be where he would use magic to fix items, no one would be able to get down into the basement. It also came with a two bedroom flat over the shop. So Harry had a business and now a real home. He did call the shop, Potter's pottery and repairs. Underneath the name, it did say that they specialised in antiques but any item that was not electrical, could be repaired.

Harry knew that this type of business would not get a lot of customers, but he wasn't worried. He still had most of his money and he could still steal, if he had to. But all he needed was one or two items to sell in a month, that would give him the money he needed to live for that month.

One of the books Harry had bought was on magical travel. He did learn to apparate, which was nerve wracking when he first began. He read about splinching and if he did get splinched it would mean getting to St Mungo's where someone would recognise him. He had been lucky, he didn't splinch himself. After that he read up on the portus charm. He realised he could make a portkey in the bunker which would allow him to move all the stuff to his new shop in one go.

One thing Harry did do was learn to drive, then he bought himself a large van. He figured there might be people who did want something large repaired but had no way to get it to his shop. This way, Harry could pick it up, he could also delivery it back. That would be put on the cost of the repair.

The day Harry opened the shop, he got his first customer. An older lady had an old antique grandfather clock that had been damaged when part of her roof collapsed. Harry worked out what it would cost, then worked out when to go collect the clock.

After repairing the clock, Harry would be in the back of the shop, making all types of pottery. He had everything there so if anyone saw into the back of the shop, they would see his work area.

Harry continued to read and learn when he wasn't making pottery or repairing furniture. But now, he knew he could walk into Diagon alley and look through all the books without anyone seeing Harry Potter.

His shop did get a lot of customers in the first year, more than he thought he would. It didn't get a lot compared to some businesses but for what he did, it was a lot. He knew now that his business would make him enough money to give him a good life. He figured in a few years, he could buy a real house.

It was five years later that Harry got worried. He had seen an adult Hermione Granger walking through the town with a man he didn't know. Harry quickly dyed his hair, then made sure he had brown eyes along with a beard before returning to the front of the shop. He didn't know if she would come into his shop but he wasn't taking the chance that she might recognise him. He also knew that when he closed for lunch, she might see him when he went to the local pub to eat. He thought today he would eat upstairs in his flat. He hadn't been using the flat since he finally bought a house. It needed a lot of repairs, which he was able to do in a few hours. But Harry always kept a fridge in the flat filled with cold drinks and some food, along with tea and coffee in the flat. He sat by the window in the flat, eating his lunch and drinking his coffee while he stared out the window. He just hoped Hermione didn't come into the shop.

Harry went back downstairs then made sure to flip his open/closed sign back to open. He just got back behind the counter when a man entered, it was the man that had been with Hermione, yet she was not with him.

The man approached the counter and explained that his wife loved antiques and spotted the desk in the window, but they noticed the closed sign. He wanted to surprise his wife so while she was off buying some flowers, he worked on coming in to get the desk.

The transaction was quick and the man worked on picking the desk up himself in two days time. When the man left, Harry just hoped he could keep Hermione away. Even though he wasn't sure anyone would recognise him, with brown eyes with no glasses, brown hair, a beard and no lightning shaped scar, he didn't look like Harry Potter, it didn't stop him worrying.

All went well. Harry did speak with the man when he came to pick up the desk. Harry wanted to find out if they lived in Dover, they didn't, they were just sight seeing while they were on holidays. Harry felt very relieved.

One thing Harry said to himself when he first left, he did not want to know anything about the wizarding world or the people in it. He never once read a newspaper from the wizarding world and didn't listen to anyone when he did sneak into Diagon alley, to get books. Harry didn't want anything to do with the life he left behind and still to this day, he had no idea on what was going on.

It took Harry being in Dover for ten years before he met a woman and began dating. She loved antiques and admitted that even though she could never afford to own any, she still loved to look at them. That was how they met, Harry saw her come into the shop at least once a month. They finally got talking. It was after she had visited the shop over six months before Harry asked if she would like to join him for dinner. From then on they were together.

Harry didn't tell Rose he was a wizard until they were planning their wedding. Once she accepted that, Harry explained how he was able to repair everything. Rose ended up working in the shop with Harry until she fell pregnant with their first child.

The day Harry left Hogwarts after his first year was the start of him having the life he wanted. Now, he had everything he wanted.

The end: