It was July 24th. Harry and Dudley had been free of their grounding since Dudley's birthday in June but had found many excuses not to go outside. They were both a little worried about what Billy would do the next time he ran into them and had avoided the prospect at all cost. The light of the morning was just creeping in past the curtains in the bedroom Harry and Dudley shared, filling the room with a warm light. Harry lay awake in bed. All was quiet in the house. The coffee had yet to start sputtering its daily song, and the alarms ready ring yet silent. The daily bustle and movement had yet to begin.

It was in this calm that Harry always found a sort of peace. Even as it yearly approached his birthday, the birthday that so obviously pointed out his incongruity. He knew he was not a Dursley. This was his family, but it was not where he originally belonged. He had never asked what his real last name was, it hadn't mattered, and it didn't matter. His mother and father were for all intents and purposes Vernon and Petunia. They cared for him deeply, he could tell. He was treated no differently, no less lovingly, no less challenged than Dudley.

However, every year as his birthday approached, it made him wonder. Why was he here and not with his real family? He was luckier than most children but what would cause both his real mother and father to disappear? Most of his classmates had only one parent missing from their lives, very few had both. Quietly Harry slipped out of bed, picking up his glasses and putting them on.

The world came into focus, small dust motes rising into the light beams shining through the window. Silently Harry padded to the door and exited the room, leaving Dudley snoring contentedly. Harry walked down to the den at the top of the stairs where they kept all the books. The den was a small room with floor to ceiling bookcases. It had a small recliner and a small padded window seat that was tucked between two of the bookcases.

Every year around this time, he would read the Lord of the Rings. He would read about his favorite character and orphan, Frodo Baggins, to try and get some perspective. Frodo may have known his parents before they died, but the bond he made with Bilbo always made Harry's troubles calm. The story was a memorable one. There were still parts of it that just didn't make much sense to Harry. He gave the books the benefit of doubt that perhaps he wasn't yet able to understand their true complexities.

Harry opened the first book of the series as he settled into the window seat and began to read. Not soon after he started, the buzzing of an alarm signaled the start of the day for Petunia. Harry continued to read, so engrossed was he that he didn't notice the coffee starting, Vernon and Dudley getting up, or even the smell of food being cooked. It wasn't until Petunia called him down for breakfast that he was startled out of his immersion. The sun was well into the sky now, Harry could see cars now coming and going on the street with regularity. "Coming mum." He called back down the stairs. He marked his place in the chapter, Frodo and Sam had just set out on their adventure.

Breakfast was bacon and eggs with some toast. While they were eating the door clinked with the sound of the mail arriving. Vernon stood, "I'll get it." A moment later, Vernon was back, rifling through the mail. "Junk, junk, junk, bill, more junk, and a letter for…" he glanced up at Petunia, his eyes flicking momentarily to Harry. "Petunia dear, I think you should take this." He handed the letter over to her.

She took one look and breathed a sigh, "So it is time." She looked at Vernon, "Do you have time this morning?"

"Yes, the office can wait. I'll make up the time later."

"Harry, finish eating, and then we'd like to have a family discussion in the living room." Petunia took the letter and went into the living room.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Dudley and Harry were confused, what could it mean? Vernon settled in and finished eating and watched Dudley and Harry eat their last bites. He took their plates and put them in the dishwasher, "Why don't you head in with your mother, I'll be just a moment."

The boys both filed in to the living room like they were in trouble, sitting down on the floor without a word. Petunia was staring at the letter, a worried look on her face. A minute later Vernon came in and sat next to Petunia. Petunia looked up at Harry and apprehensively began, "Harry, Dudley I know this may be a shock to you, but you aren't actually brothers."

Harry looked at Dudley pointedly with an I-told-you-so sort of expression, "Mum, we've known that for a couple years now."

Dudley chimed in, "Harry figured it out in our second year. His eye color wasn't the same as mine so we researched it at the library, and then he started wondering how our birthdays are so close when we are the same age. It wasn't that difficult to notice if you looked."

Startled Petunia gasped out, "You knew?" she seemed to have trouble finding the words. "But you never asked, you never wondered…?"

Dudley responded quickly, "Harry told me I wasn't to ask, so I didn't"

Petunia and Vernon looked at Harry expectantly. Harry took a moment and then said, "I didn't feel it was as important to know what might have been over what currently is. You are my parents. You've raised me and loved me. What more could I really ask for? If it was something you wanted brought up, I figured you'd eventually tell me and I could ask then." He said that last bit, almost as a question and paused. Petunia nodded at him, to tell him to continue. "Who are my real parents? Where are they, or what happened to them?"

Petunia nodded, tears had started flowing down her face, but her voice remained steady. "You have your mother's eyes. Your mother was my sister Lily. Lily married James Potter, and soon after they had you their first child. When you were just a year old, they were killed. You were found amidst the ruins of their estate and brought here. We don't know much about why it all happened. Lily kept us in the dark about much in her world. If you want to know more, you will likely find some of it in this letter. I expect it is an invitation to a special school where you will learn everything there is to know about Lily and James' world." She handed the letter over to Harry. Harry took it nervously. "Open it."

Harry looked for the first time at the address of the name, 'Harry Potter'. His real name gave him a feeling of falling, that feeling you get when the roller coaster drops from under you and your stomache flutters. "Harry Potter…" he said, testing out the feeling of it on his tongue. Opening the letter, he read aloud. "It's from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he looked up at Vernon and Petunia, "Is this a joke?" Vernon was looking at Petunia questioningly as well. Petunia simply shook her head and motioned for him to continue, "Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st. Yours Sincerely, Minerva McGonagal."

Harry couldn't quite organize his thoughts. Everything question just kept circling back to one word, "what?" He again looked questioningly at Petunia. This time she spoke up, "When she was eleven, Lily received a letter like that as well. From that year onwards, she attended Hogwarts. Every summer she came home with new magic, able to do new things, and with new stories. However over time, she stopped telling us about her life. She always asked about our lives, but markedly remained silent on her own. It wasn't until you were left at our doorstep after your parents died that we even knew about the darkness in the Wizarding world."

Vernon couldn't help himself, "You mean they could do Magic?! You knew and never told me?"

Petunia looked at him, "I told you it was a world apart, would you have believed me if I had told you?"

He settled back in his seat, pondering. Harry piped in then, "But what about the Wizarding world. What darkness are you talking about?"

Petunia looked at him, "That I do not know. It is something I'm sure you will know soon enough."

Harry looked down at his letter. He asked, "What do they mean they await my Owl?"

Petunia laughed, "That is how they send mail, via owls." Turning to Vernon, "You remember how many owls were seen in broad daylight the day before Harry came to us? That was the likely the mail from the Wizarding world." She reached over for the letter and Harry gave it to her. She scanned it quickly, "Oh, I've heard of this man before. Hmm, I wonder." She considered, "Don't mind me if this sounds a little silly. Albus Dumbledore help harry get to Hogwarts, he deserves a better explanation than a letter."

Three seconds of silence ticked by as everyone waited expectantly. Nothing happened. "Oh well." She said.

Dudley quietly taking in all this information asked, "Do I have any magic powers?"

Petunia looked down at him sadly. "Not likely dear. I'm sorry, I remember what it was like to watch my sister go and leave me behind. It is for the best I'm sure, for we would not understand their world."

Harry stood up, "If there's nothing more for the moment, I'd like to go think this over. It's a lot to take in." When Petunia nodded, Harry went back up to the den where he had been reading that morning. Taking the window seat he stared out the window thinking over what he had learned. He understood now, what he was doing was Magic. There was no more complicated an explanation than that. He wanted to stay with Dudley, he wanted to become leaders with him, but more than that he wanted to know this amazing power that was a part of him. He wanted to know this other world that seemed so unexplored with adventures to be found. It was a frontier he could go explore now, and did not have to wait for enough power to go to space.

"I will go to Hogwarts," he said to himself.

Dudley spoke then, making harry jump. He hadn't heard him come up the stairs. "If you go to Hogwarts, you had better aiming for something more than Prime Minister!"

Harry got up and hugged him, "Dudley, I'll explore this new world and be back. I'll find my place, you have to become the Minister now, and I'll become as powerful as I can and I will aid you and you me. We must fulfil the roles we fit Dudley. You know what I was saying a month or two back? I've found something I can do, and I must pursue it. And in the end, together we will be that much more powerful."

The doorbell rang cheerily in the now gloomy household morning. It was early for anyone to come over. Harry and Dudley gave each other a quizzical look and then went to spy on the front door from the stairs.

Vernon opened the door, "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

Harry and Dudley hear the response clear as a bell. "Ah, Mr. Dursley I presume. I am Professor Minerva McGonagal of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus Dumbledore brought it to my attention that I had neglected the care of one of our prospective students and that I was to personally rectify the matter. May I come in?"

Vernon stepped back from the door gesturing, "Welcome," over his shoulder he said, "Petunia, we have the guest you called for."

An hour later, McGonagal had personally accepted Harry's reply to Hogwarts about enrolment and explained in much more detail about the war that killed Harry's parents. She had also personally assured Harry that she would schedule someone to come aid him in picking out his school things and guiding him around Diagon Alley. She explained that the Potters had set aside money to cover Harry's school expenses so the Dursleys didn't have to worry. He would take a train from Kings Cross station that would bring him to Hogwarts. She had apologized for sending him the normal Wizarding acceptance letter. And then she departed, explaining that the work of a Deputy Headmistress never ceased.

Harry was nonplussed. Even Vernon and Petunia were having a hard time grasping how large the war in the Wizarding world had been. McGonagal had even mentioned a couple natural disasters and claimed they were actually atrocities committed during the war.

He would just have to wait and see.

The next day, an owl arrived bearing a letter detailing that they would send a one Rubeus Hagrid to help him with his school supplies on July 31st. Harry thought quite contentedly, "What better present for my eleventh birthday, then to be introduced to the Wizarding world."