THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Chapter 9:... I hear it's a family heirloom

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.

AN: I'm not sure if I've made it clear but Harry in this story will be extremely powerful, he will be far more powerful than the average witch and wizard. At the peak of his power and given the right circumstances along with the right training, he has the potential to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Odin himself. And that is without even considering his physical capabilities. If that is not your cup of tea, I suggest you look for greener pastures.

Watching the cab that had brought him speed away, Harry walked up the driveway to #4 Privet Drive all the while wondering what was in store for him this summer at his relatives' home. He was not so foolish to think that their truce from before he went to Hogwarts was still in place. He sighed, knowing that he was going to have to impress on his relatives his position in this household once again. Knowing how pig-headed they all were, there was a good possibility that things may end in violence.

He reached the door and placed his trunk on the ground, and Hedwig's empty cage on top of it. Bracing himself, he knocked on the door and waited. After a moment he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door before it was opened to reveal Dudley. The boy had managed to grow fatter three times since the last time Harry had seen him, however his reaction at seeing Harry was the same as the old one. He immediately became pale, his mouth opening wide and the fear was clear in his eyes.

Harry smirked at him. "Hello there, cousin_"

And the door was smacked closed in his face. He raised an eyebrow as he heard the lock click and Dudley stomping away in a hurry. "Dad...he is...back!"

His declaration was followed by even heavier footsteps coming down the stairs. Before everything went silent, and then someone, probably Dudley going by the footsteps came and unlocked the door before practically running away from it. Harry was actually intrigued, this was getting more interesting than he had imagined it would be. After a moment's silence, Vernon called for him.

"Come in!"

Harry entered cautiously, he wouldn't put it past his uncle to hire a bunch scientists to capture and experiment on him. When he didn't see any people with lab coats or expensive suits, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, his relief was shortlived when he heard the unmistakable sound of a rifle being cocked. He looked back at Vernon to see the barrel of the gun pointed right at his head. Well, that had gone from interesting to scary real fast.

"Get down on your knees, freak!"

Harry raised his hands cautiously though he refused to kneel, he would never kneel before anyone, much less his uncle.

"Alright Uncle, let's not do something hasty."

"On your knees, now! Or I'm going to shoot!"

Harry raised an eyebrow, surely he wasn't so stupid to shoot someone in the middle of the day, especially given how nosy the neighborhood was. Harry didn't know if bullets could hurt him, and he wasn't thrilled with the idea of finding out either, certainly not any time soon. Making sure that he looked panicked enough, Harry raised his hands towards his uncle.

"Please, don't shoot!" He begged, slowly taking a few steps forward. "How will you explain someone dying in your living room?"

"No one cares about you, Freak!"

"My people do." He said, voice still panicked even as he came closer. "They'll be concerned if they don't hear from me."

"He's right, Vernon." Petunia spoke for the first time from where she was standing in front of Dudley in the kitchen doorway. Not that she would be much of a shield for her son given that what part of Dudley on display was three times bigger than what she was hiding with her body.

"You think I'm afraid of those freaks?" Vernon laughed. "We know you can't use your freakishness out of school, we have nothing to fear from you anymore."

"You should be." By this point, Harry felt he was near enough and he lowered his hands while his panicked expression disappeared. "Because I can be very dangerous when threatened. Magic on not."

Vernon was surprised by Harry's sudden change and was therefore caught completely off guard when he moved. Like a snake, his hands shot forward, one pushing the barrel away from his face, a wise decision too as Vernon panicked and pulled the trigger. Harry's right hand had gone straight for Vernon's meaty face and punched it hard. The man stumbled back and fell on the stairs, holding his broken nose while the gun was wrenched from his hands. Harry cocked the gun and pointed it back at Vernon.

"And here I thought you knew that I don't respond well to threats." Harry said, gun trained at Vernon's bloody face. "It seems my time away has made you forget alot of things. Like the fact that I could kill you and no one would suspect me since they don't even remember that I live here."

"Please-" Harry pointed the gun at Petunia. She had moved from she had been and was slowly approaching with tears in her eyes. "Please, don't kill him."

"He was going to kill me and you were going to let him." Harry pointed out, pointing the gun back at Vernon when he made to get up. "You were even going to watch!"

"No, he wasn't going kill you! Please... Harry you must believe me." Petunia begged, using Harry's name for probably the very first time in her life. "We only wanted to scare you. To make things go back to what they were when you were still a child."

In other words, have Harry clean the windows, wash the car, mow the lawn, trim the flowerbeds, prun and water the roses, and repaint the garden bench under the smouldering heat of the summer while getting the bare minimum of food and taking his punishment like a good boy whenever Vernon felt like it. No thank you.

"But it doesn't have to be like that." Petunia hurried to speak when she saw Harry's expression start to shift towards anger. "We can just ignore all this and pretend like you never left. Pick off from where we left off, please."

"That was what I hoped to hear. It would have saved us from all this unpleasantness." Harry smiled but it did not reach his eyes. "You might pretend as much as you like but we both know Vernon would have gone through with his threat with the least provocation and I can't let you lot think that you can threaten me and just get away with it."

"Now listen here you little fr-agghh!"

Vernon screamed as Harry brought the rifle's stock down on his left knee with enough force to shatter the wood. Harry was pretty sure Vernon's kneecap wasn't in any better condition. From what he had read, a dislocated kneecap normally takes about two months to heal, that would keep the fat man out of Harry's hair for a while, that is if Vernon is lucky enough that it was simply dislocated and nothing worse.

While Petunia scrambled towards her screaming husband, Harry picked up his trunk in one hand and Hedwig's cage in the one that was holding the gun and went up stairs. He reached his room and just stared. From outside his door, there were three locks that could only be opened from outside and a cat-flap had been installed on the door, probably to feed Harry after he had been locked in his room. The Dursleys had been pretty confident in their ability to contain him, convinced that he can't use magic outside of Hogwarts.

Someone had imformed them of the fact, and after his realization on the train, Harry could take a wild guess. Though what he can't imagine is what the man hoped to gain from a situation like this. Shaking his head, Harry considered the locks, apparently underage usage of magic would guarantee one being expelled. He smiled, he had been thinking of ways to get out of Hogwarts and this had just presented itself. However, he didn't want to give the old man a chance to turn things around before the start of the year, so he was going to be patient. The headmaster thought he had him all figured out, well he was in for a rude awakening.

Entering his room, Harry could only gape in disbelief. The entire room had been stripped dry, all the books he had left behind were nowhere to be seen. The room was completely empty except for the bed with a thin mattress, a bedsheet and a blanket. There were even bars on the window. This was not a bedroom, it was a prison cell and there was no way Harry was going to sleep here. And with that in mind, Harry went back downstairs where Petunia and Dudley were congregated around a crying Vernon as they no doubt waited for an ambulance.

They looked up at him when they heard him arrive on top of the stairs. "I'll be staying in Dudley's room until you put mine back the way it used to be."

Harry didn't wait for an answer, he lifted his trunk and took it to Dudley's bedroom, placed it on the floor and fell on the ridiculously comfortable bed. With how tired he was from the journey on the Hogwarts Express, along with the fatigue of dealing with his relatives, Harry was asleep in no time.

It only took a day and a half to return Harry's room to how it was before he left for Hogwarts. Atleast as much as they could, given that Vernon had burned and destroyed some of his stuff. Thankfully, the majority of it had only been thrown in the attic and the rest in the cupboard under the stairs. Even with Vernon in hospital, Petunia who had stayed to take care of Dudley managed to coordinate things and Harry only had to sleep in Dudley's bed one more time before his room was ready.

On the second morning after his return from Hogwarts, Harry came down from his room to find Petunia already eating breakfast. When she saw him, she silently got up and got his share, put it on the table and sat opposite Harry. She silently sad down and continued with her meal.

"Thank you." Harry said softly before he started eating.

Petunia looked up at his voice, but then went back to her meal. After over two minutes, she spoke. "Atleast you learned some manners."

Harry didn't bother with a reply, instead opting to eat in silence. The two continued to eat, probably the longest they had been in a room together. As he ate, Harry felt Petunia's eyes on him and he looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"Vernon will be in hospital for three weeks." She said suddenly. "Not that I expect you to care."

"Well, atleast you know that much about me." Harry continued eating.

"I know that you are a freak." There wasn't any malice behind her words. Like she was simply stating a well known fact. "More of a freak than even your mother had been."

Harry paused. This was the first time his aunt was talking about his mother to him. Back then it used to be backhanded comments and remarks said behind his back or in the middle of abuse, it had never been directly like this. Harry cocked his head curiously to the side as he stared at the woman. She had already gone back to her meal.

"And just how much did you really know about my mother?"

"I know she was a freak, just like you. Different even from your lot." She said without preamble. "Lily was always perfect, loved by everyone without her even trying. She did no wrong and was adored by everyone, and she revelled it, rubbing it in my face when I got the opposite of what she had."

Harry hummed in thought. "And yet you weren't affected like the others."

"No, her freakishness never worked on me."

"Or maybe she just didn't use it on you." Harry suggested.

"Oh she used it alright." Petunia scoffed. "Hiding from me, turning our parents against me and almost everyone I know. They all preferred Lily to me, and it became even worse when she met that awful boy."

"Severus Snape."

Petunia nodded.

"He poisoned her, changed her into a complete stranger." She said. "It was like she had become a completely different person whenever he was around. And when she went to Hogwarts, she was lost to me."

Harry wasn't sure what to reply to that. To be honest, he wasn't sure how much he believed of what she had told him. She had however confirmed his suspicions about his parents, his mother at the very least, being far from normal witches and wizards. He however needed to learn more if he were to truly understand, he needed to talk to someone who had been closer to Lily, someone she was likely to confide in. At the moment, there were only two people alive that fit that criteria, one of which was Alice Longbottom who was still out of commission even though going by the last letter Neville had received, she was making some progress towards recovery.

And the second person was in the States doing God knows what and the only way of tracking her was a phone number and an address. Atleast he knew how she looked like from the memories he had seen of Lily and James, well how she had looked back then as the last time he saw her was on his parent's wedding. It's possible that in her bid to escape the magical world, she had even changed her appearance as well. He was going to have to hunt her down however if he wanted to get answers which meant he was going to be leaving for the States some time in the future.

But that tied in well with his plans, the USA was out of Dumbledore's jurisdiction and if he tried to find Harry, it would certainly be harder than if he remained in England.

"Aunt Petunia, I have a request." Harry said, surprising both of them.

"What do you want?" She asked with a sneer, Harry however could see that it lacked its usual malice.

"I plan to continue with my...normal studying." Harry started carefully, completely knowing just how bizarre the whole morning had been. "I therefore wish for you to enroll me into a Summer school program."

Petunia stared at him. "Are you serious?"

"Very much so, I'm afraid."

"Why ask me to do it for you yet u know you could do it yourself?" She asked. "Just because I'm talking to you doesn't make us friends."

"Normally, I would use magic to make people look the other way where necessary and so an eleven-year-old wouldn't attract attention trying to find himself a place to study, especially if for some reason I missed normal school." Harry shrugged. "As I can't use magic, well I could try to do it anyway but you never know what kind of scrutiny it might bring to me and ultimately you and your family."

Petunia gave him a flat stare, clearly unimpressed with his undisguised manipulations. "Fine, but I'm not paying for it."

"Let me worry about that." Harry said, he had literal heaps of gold in Gringotts. "Just find me a respectable place to study, I can pay for myself."

After breakfast, Harry caught the Knight bus to Diagon alley. It was a ride he didn't look forward to taking again any time. He was going to have to take a cab back to Little Whining after his trip. The moment he arrived at the Leaky Couldron, Harry let his magic free knowing there was no way the ministry could track him here. With his misdirection magic up, he made his way through the crowd towards the large marble building. The goblin guards at the entrance didn't even glance at him as he passed them.

Three hours later, Harry walked out of the bank with a mokeskin pouch containing nearly half his wealth hanging around his neck. The goblin who had taken him to his vault had suggested the small magical bag when Harry asked him if any way he could withdraw a large amount of money without worrying about thieves. The mokeskin pouch was apparently burglar-proof, shrinking almost to nonexistent if someone tried to steal it and also only the owner could open and remove anything from it.

It had been pretty expensive too, costing two hundred galleons. But it was well worth it, and now Harry carried with him enough money to cater for anything he was likely to need throughout the summer. He had even exchanged half of the galleons he had withdrawn from his vault into muggle cash with one galleon being equal to five pounds. After leaving the bank, he went to a trunk's shop where he bought an enchanted backpack not unlike the one he used at Hogwarts.

However, unlike his normal one, the one he bought was made out of tougher material though the shopkeeper couldn't tell him what. It looked normal on the outside though, except for its unusual material and wouldn't look out of place in the muggle world. However, inside it was an undetectable extension enchantment along with all other sorts of protections and weight enchantments. According to the shopkeeper, one could fit in there the entire contents of a whole apartment and it wouldn't change in size or weight. You could also throw it in Fiendfyre and it would come out unscathed.

Harry wasn't sure how much he believed about the man's words, and he was not exactly in a hurry to prove or disprove them. It had cost him four hundred fifty galleons.

He also picked a couple of books on advanced magical theory from numerous book stores, just because he wasn't returning to Hogwarts it didn't mean he wanted nothing to do with magic. He was still a long way from mastering wizard magic let alone adopt it into his own. He truly believed that understanding wizard magic would help him learn to control and use his much easier. Leaving Diagon alley, he went to a muggle bookstore and bought a few textbooks that he knew would help him in his summer studies. Seeing that most of his clothes had been burned, he also bought himself a few new ones.

With his purchases secure in his brand new bag, Harry caught a cab which took him back to Privet Drive. It was almost dark when he arrived at home, an irritated Petunia was waiting for him. She didn't ask where he had been, probably knowing that she wouldn't get an answer. She just handed him his admission documents along all related paperwork which included his study schedule. Taking one look at it, Harry almost cried, he was in for a very long summer.

Attending Summer school was a...curious experience for Harry after a full year of magical education. It was also very different from the education he had been used to before going to Hogwarts. There were only nine students for one, and here teachers really engaged with their students making sure than no one was left behind while at the same time ensuring that those ahead weren't pulled back by those lagging behind. And without his magic to hide behind, Harry had to participate and interact with the teachers and other students way more than he had in the past.

By the end of the first week, all the teachers knew that Harry was the smartest of the lot and so they kept piling him with work. It took him only a month to cover the material the others had covered throughout the school year. That month had been the most hectic part of his life as he spent the majority of his time studying, whether he was at home or school. He got to know the teachers and the rest of the kids, all of which stared at him like he was some kind of genius. And given his size, none of them truly believed that he was just about to make twelve.

In the fifth week of the six-week program, Harry sat his exams and after his vigorous studying, they were a walk over. He passed them with no difficulty and he was declared promoted to Year 8. They offered to start teaching him the material for the next class but Harry declined, deciding to have some time to recuperate atleast for a week. Seeing that his birthday was on the Saturday of next week, he told them that he could learn during August even though the program was supposed to officially end on July 30th. They were more than happy to agree though he would have to pay again as it would be a course of its own leading him to be promoted to Year 9.

Before he could officially begin his recuperation, Harry wrote a letter to McGonagall requesting for a meeting on the 31st. He called Mippy who took the letter to her directly, not more than five minutes later, the house elf came back with a reply saying that the professor would be coming to Privet Drive to meet him. Harry already had a plan on how to handle the Hogwarts situation and it all started with McGonagall. Even in the unlikely event that the professor didn't come through, Harry had a contingency plan, one Petunia had worked on right at the start of summer.

And so Harry spent the following week practically in his room. Leaving only three times a day to eat before going back to sleep. He was sure he grew more in that week than he had in the first month of his summer. The Dursleys were used to him by now and didn't bother him even when he came down to get his meal. And so it came as a huge surprise when Dudley of all people woke him up early on Friday morning.

"What do you want?" Harry growled, glaring at his fat cousin who gulped loudly.

"Uhmm, you have a visitor."

"No I don't, today is Friday not Saturday."

"But there's an old man downstairs asking for you." Dudley protested. "He's scaring everyone."

Harry got up, that could only be Dumbledore. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

With what had been going on, Hary had nearly forgotten about his deal with Dumbledore, 8n his defense though, he hadn't believed that the man would go through with it. Maybe he was trying to get Harry to trust him by doing this for him. Then again, it could be that the man was here to tell him that the deal was off. Harry got up, had a quick shower and dressed up real fast, also grabbing a jacket. From what he knew of Azkaban, he was certainly going to need it.

Going down the stairs, Harry raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted him. Dumbledore, dressed in bright purple robes with all sorts of creatures on them was seated on a single seater couch in front of the TV while facing the three Dursleys who were squeezed together on the triple seater. The headmaster was leisurely sipping tea while his hosts stared at him with a wide range of emotions ranging from fear to hatred. When they heard Harry arrive, he almost laughed at the relieved looks on his relatives' faces.

"Ah, good morning, Harry." The headmaster exclaimed. "You're just in time to hear about your dragon in the forbidden forest. She's quite the lovely creature."

The relieved looks swiftly turned to horror as what the man had said sunk in.

"I doubt Norberta would be very thrilled with the idea of belonging to someone." Harry replied, not at all surprised that the man knew about Norberta. "So, may I ask why you're here, headmaster?"

"Can't I just check on my most famous student?"

"I know you're a very busy man, I would hardly imagine you having the time for such."

"Perhaps you're right, though I can make time to give them an early birthday gift." The old man checked a pocket watch he had retrieved from within his robes. "And speaking of, we really should be going, otherwise the store might close."

Dumbledore merrily waved goodbye at the still-terrified Dursleys as Harry followed him outside. He offered Harry his hand. "I suggest you hold on tightly, we shall be traveling a long distance, I wouldn't want to leave part of you behind."

Harry took the man's hand and braced himself from the sensation of side-along apparation. When they emerged from the tunnel of apparation, Harry didn't even stumble, however an involuntary shiver went through him. It was cold, colder than he had even imagined and he could feel it even through his jacket.

"Warming charm?"

"No, thank you." Harry replied, calling upon his magic to ward off the cold.

He looked up at the imposing castle ahead of them and another shiver went through him. Looking at the castle, Harry could feel the sheer darkness being exuded from it. A rectangular castle-like fortress, that stood in the middle of the sea surrounded by water as far as the eye could see, Azkaban had a strange kind of beauty to it that Harry found himself appreciating.

"Quite the sight, isn't it?" Dumbledore said as the two approached the castle. There was a weary looking man waiting for them at the entrance. Dumbledore greeted him cheerfully. "Hello, Jimmy. How are you doing?"

The other man just grunted in response before turning around and leading them into the castle. Dumbledore took it in stride, not looking the least bit offended. When the door closed behind them, they were plunged into darkness, but it was dispelled when Dumbledore snapped his fingers and a ball of light appeared above them illuminating their way. The caretaker grunted in what Harry assumed was thanks as they went deeper into the castle. Maybe the man was incapable of speech, he doubted anyone in their right mind and body would want to work here.

"Your guest is waiting."

Well, scratch that, the man could speak after all. Opening the door to one of the rooms, the man indicated for them to go in, Harry felt a shiver go through him as he passed by the doorway it certainly wasn't because of the cold. "What was that?"

"A ward that makes sure no magic can be cast in this room, for the protection of both the inmate and the visitor." Dumbledore replied.

On the other side of the room, chained on a chair was a man. He was too thin that the filthy clothes he was wearing were barely hanging onto his bony frame. With his head bowed towards his chest, he was still, unnaturally so that Harry wondered if he was even alive. Hearing the headmaster speak, the man twitched once as if just waking up and then slowly, his head started rising and Harry took his first look at his godfather.

While he had looked thin before, looking at his face, Harry could see that he was even worse. Despite all the greasy hair in the way, Harry could almost see the outline of the man's skull as the skin clung on. His entire face was sunken with waxy skin, and long filthy unkempt hair. His dull gray eyes studied them for a few seconds as if he wasn't truly seeing them before his lips stretched into a resemblance of a smile.

"Well this is new." The man spoke, his voice old and scratchy. "Albus bloody Dumbledore himself, here to see little old me? With the dead tagging along no less?"

He laughed, or atleast he tried before he was gripped by a hacking dry cough.

"Hello, Sirius." Dumbledore spoke softly. "You're surprisingly in good health."

"Thank the dementors for me on your way out." The man snarked. "Now if you don't mind, I was enjoying my dream for once, so let me be."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Dumbledore shook his head. "I gave my word to young Harry to let him talk with you, you see."

"Harry?" Black's head snapped at him. He hadn't given him a second look since they had entered but now his gray eyes were taking him in, a hint of desperation in them. "Is that really you?"

"I'll leave you two to talk, I suggest you ask him as much as you wish though I doubt you'll be getting much answers." Dumbledore said before Harry could say anything. "You have five minutes."

And with that he left the two. The door closed softly behind Harry leaving godson and godfather alone. Harry turned his back on Black and raised his hand towards his chest. He could feel his magic thrum from under his skin and calling upon it, he willed a small ball of light to appear in his arm and it did. Either the headmaster had lied or the difference in magic was what allowed him to be able to use his even when he wasn't supposed to. He was leaning towards the latter. Letting his magic free, Harry made sure the entire room was covered in his misdirection magic. Even if someone was listening in or watching from outside, they would forget anything they heard or saw as soon as it happened.

"Black." Harry said, turning to look at his godfather. "Did you betray my parents to Voldemort?"

"No." The man replied, the lost look that had been in his eyes before having disappeared. It seemed the man wasn't as insane as he wanted everyone to believe. Harry had had his suspicions as he watched the man's interaction with Dumbledore, but now he knew for certain. "James was like a brother to me, I would never have betrayed him like that."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I deserve it." The man said simply. "I was the one who suggested we switch the secret keepers. If I hadn't, James and Lily would still be alive, so ultimately I'm responsible for their death just as much as Wormtail."

Harry stared at the man, he didn't sense any lies in what he was saying but the other man just might be that good. However, he had suspected something wasn't right with the Black situation the moment he had found out Pettigrew was alive.

"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?" Harry asked. "Lupin, Dumbledore, even McGonagall would have believed you."

"Nobody ever bothered to ask, not that it would change anything." The man shrugged. "I was foolish to go after Wormtail that night, but I was stricken with grief and honestly not in the right mind. The fool played me and I fell right in his trap, he blew up the street, called me a traitor and escaped while the Aurors fell on me, next thing I know, I'm in here with the very lot me and James were fighting against."

Harry was silent as he stared at the broken form of his godfather. He had been sure of the man's innocence, after viewing McGonagall's memories but it felt good to hear it from the man himself. Reaching a hand into his mokeskin pouch that was hanging around his neck, Harry withdrew his father's invisibility cloak. And dropped it at the man's feet.

"You need to find a way out of here. There's alot I need to ask you, answers only you can give me." He told the shocked man. "And we need to find the rat and bring him to justice for what he did to my parents. Can you do that?"

Sirius stared at the cloak at his feet and then at Harry. "Is this a trick?"

"Find me at Petunia's if you're successful." Harry said. "And take care of my cloak, I hear it's a family heirloom."

With that, Harry left, never looking back. He joined Dumbledore and together they left the fortress behind until they arrived at the platform where they had initially appeared. That was when Dumbledore spoke. "What have you done Mr. Potter?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was following your conversation with Mr. Black and yet I can't remember anything specific of what transpired between you and him." The man said, the familiar twinkle in his eyes absent. "The only explanation is that you used some kind of magic to make sure your conversation couldn't be followed and yet I know that should be impossible within that room."

"I read somewhere that the impossible is that which hasn't been done yet." Harry replied simply. "You could try to view the memory in a Pensieve, maybe that should help. However, my conversation with Black was supposed to be private, and I only wanted it to stay that way."

"You don't trust me." Dumbledore said after a moment.

"No, headmaster, you have yet to earn it."

"Then all I can ask is a chance to do so."

He took them back to Privet Drive where Harry called Mippy and asked the house elf to give the Stone to the headmaster. The old man left soon after, clearly deep in thought.

"Good afternoon, Harry." Professor McGonagall greeted him. "Sorry I'm late, something came up. Oh and Happy birthday."

"Thank you, professor." Harry smiled as he took the coupon.

"I wasn't sure what to get you, so I got you an open coupon for Florish and Blotts worth two hundred galleons." She said. "Hope it will be useful."

"It will, thank you." Harry said once again. "Anyway, professor I was hoping you would escort me to do something I wished to do since I learned of the magical world."

"And what's that?"

"Visit my parents." Harry replied softly and the older woman nodded silently.

"Of course." She told him. "If you're ready, we can go right now."

"I am."

They appeared in a small village, cottages on either side of them. Godric's Hollow was a curious town, occupied by magicals and muggles alike. Everyone went to their business without any concern of who might be watching, quite honestly it was a welcome change from Privet Drive. As they passed some kids playing, Harry wondered what it would have been like to grow up in a neighborhood like this. It certainly would have been much better than at the Dursleys.

He had read so much about this small village that he felt like he had actually grown up here. He knew its outlay, like the memorial in the town square which to the magicals was a statue depicting him as a baby and his parents. And as they approached the memorial, it transformed and sure enough, there was a statue of three people: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. Harry drew closer, gazing up into his parents' faces... How strange it was to see himself represented in stone, a happy baby without a scar on his forehead...

"They were so young."

"Indeed." McGonagall agreed before beckoning for him to follow her towards the church on the other side of the road.

There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard which McGonagall opened and led him inside the graveyard behind the church. As they went deeper, they passed rows and rows of graves, some with names he had heard of back at Hogwarts, other completely unfamiliar. They had gone pretty deep when he noticed a tombstone with the names 'Kendra Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore.' He knew very little about the Dumbledore sister, only that her death had been under some mysterious circumstances that involved her two brothers.

He had barely moved from the Dumbledore grave when he saw another that caught his attention. The grave was extremely old, weathered so that Harry could hardly make out the name, but the symbol drawn under the name was unmistakable, it was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

"Ignotus Peverell." Harry read aloud. "Isn't he the one who supposedly recieved the cloak?"

"Which was later passed to the next generation until it reached you." McGonagall said. "I'm not sure how much of the legend is true but that much I know for sure. The Potters are direct descendants of one of the three Peverell brothers."

Harry stared at his ancestor's grave, also wondering just how much of the tale was true. He thought back on the cloak he had left his godfather, a gift from Death if the tale was to be believed. Did that mean that there was some super powerful wand somewhere on earth and a Stone capable of summoning the dead?

"Over here, Mr. Potter." McGonagall called and Harry was distracted from his thoughts. He walked over to where she was standing and saw the headstone. He did not need to kneel or even approach very close to it to make out the words engraved upon it.

JAMES POTTER

BORN 27 MARCH 1970

DIED 31 OCTOBER 1991

LILY POTTER

BORN 30 JANUARY 1970

DIED 31 OCTOBER 1991

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Harry stared at his parents' resting place and placed his hand on the headstone before whispering. "I have a lot to tell you, and yet so little time. But when I do get the time, we shall talk."

"Are you done, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked, seeing him approach to where she had gone to give him some privacy.

"I am, thank you." Harry smiled. "Can we go back to Hogwarts, there's a few memories I would like to show you."

Odin looked up from where he was seated on his throne. He watched patiently as Loki walked towards him, dressed in his full armor except for the helmet he seemed to favor. It seemed he had summoned him while he was in the middle of training. Reaching the first step that led to the throne, Loki knelt on one knee and looked up at him.

"Father, you summoned me?"

"I have a mission for you, Loki." Odin said staring at him, he noted a flash of surprise on Loki's face but it disappeared as swiftly as it had come. "I'm sending you to Midgard."

"I live only to serve." Loki said.

"There's a boy on Midgard, he is as close to an Asgardian as any human can get." Odin continued. "And by some coincidence, pure Asgardian royal blood flows through his veins."

Loki frowned, this was more information than what his mother had given him. "And how did this happen?"

"That is not important right now." Odin shook his head. "What is important is that Ragnarok is almost upon us and if we are to stand a chance at delaying one more time, that boy needs to be on Asgard at the time it's supposed to happen."

"And my mission?"

"Is to make that happen." Odin said. "However, for my plan to work, the boy needs to be on Asgard by choice. How that choice comes to pass, is upto you but he should be the one to make the decision to come here. Is that clear?"

"Yes father."

"Good, now go and make me proud." Loki stood up and walked out of the throne room. Just as he was about to exit, Odin called out to him. "You may take one more of Idunn's apples if you feel it will be necessary."

This time even Loki couldn't hide his shock.