The black cloak covered the thirteen-year-old Harry's body, and a delicate silver mask covered his face, hiding his features but revealing his identity as the Dark Prince. Several colorful curses flew towards him, and the young boy dodged behind a half-broken stone wall, which shattered into a pile of bricks under the power of the curses, but still offered him some cover. Harry gasped for breath, clutching his chest in the dust. The injuries he had sustained from experimenting with dark magic suddenly resurfaced, his heart throbbing painfully and his body going limp. It was a critical moment.

He had conducted many experiments with dark magic to complete his father's research. Dark magic was dangerous, and he often piled up new injuries on old ones, but he never dared to tell his father. Even when his father asked him directly, he always said, "I'm fine," to show his strength, as he didn't want his father to think he was worthless. He always worked hard, even overtime, and rarely rested, so these injuries never had a chance to heal. Most of the time they didn't bother him and didn't affect the progress of his research, so Harry didn't pay much attention to them. Except for this time... how could they suddenly flare up on the battlefield?

Harry fell into a trap set by the Order of Phoenix, who laid a magic circle that blocked anti-space magic, anti-disapparation, anti-portalkey, and most teleportation methods, while restricting dark magic, obviously designed specifically for him. It was to capture the Dark Prince himself.

"I bet we can catch him this time," a wizard with messy black hair said to his companion.

"Let's take revenge for him!" his companion was full of fighting spirit.

"Hmph... with just you guys?" Harry gritted his teeth in pain, clutching his chest, silently mocking them in his heart. Escaping from the two members of the Order of Phoenix should still be easy. Although the trap magic circle was a bit tricky, it could be broken by breaking the formation.

Harry gasped as he looked around, quickly recalling his knowledge of magical prohibitions and rituals. His countless hours spent reading books had not been in vain, and he had successfully broken through a few formations before. This was clearly an elemental magic circle. Harry sensed the movement of the four elements within the magic circle, searching for any signs of imbalance. He raised his wand, intending to use elemental guidance magic to more accurately probe the composition of the magic circle, but had to first use a protective spell to block a few attacking spells. The two members of the Order of Phoenix were approaching aggressively, and Harry had no doubt that if they got close enough to him, they would throw away their wands and start punching him.

Without hesitation, Harry used his last detection spell, and the elements were quantified. He obtained the quantity of each element in each direction, so the location of the key point of the circle could be calculated. He didn't have the chance to calculate it precisely with pen and paper, but based on his experience, he could make a rough estimate, maybe it was one of these positions? Then all he had to do was destroy the key point of the circle. This was not difficult, even if there were two members of the Order of Phoenix chasing after him, it was still not difficult.

Just then, another tall figure appeared in the dust that had settled, entering the battle. The long white beard and white hair immediately made Harry recognize the newcomer. Albus Dumbledore. The magical aura that surrounded him made Harry instantly understand why people rumored that he was a wizard who could stand up to his father.

"Uh-oh." Harry muttered to himself, but he first lit up one of the candidate positions with his wand. He was lucky, and the magic circle shattered in response.

At the same time, Dumbledore's spell was heading straight towards him. Harry immediately used his defensive spell to block it, and the two spells held each other off for a moment. Two spells clashed and held their ground for a moment before exploding in front of Harry. His arm throbbed with a piercing pain, and he felt certain it was broken. However, the smoke from the explosion concealed his form.

Just as Harry was fighting for time to prepare for escape, the old wound from the dark arts suddenly acted up again at the worst possible time. His heart twitched, his vision went black, and he suddenly fell to the ground. His last thought before falling was not whether he would be sentenced to death if caught, but...his father. His father must think he's trashiness.

Since they saw their closest friend Remus Lupin die under the Dark Mark, Sirius Black swore to himself that he would catch the killer and avenge his friend!

They received news that Remus was killed by the Dark Prince himself. They knew that this person was very strong, but the members of the Order of Phoenix would always found a way to catch him. With the help of Dumbledore, they set up traps and lures, and Sirius and James Potter personally ambushed the legendary Dark Prince, vowing to take him down in this battle.

Although the process was a bit bumpy, fortunately the result was as they expected. They caught the person. Sirius impulsively threw a curse that shattered the unconscious wizard into pieces.

However, Dumbledore was quick to block the curse. The old man advised, "We can turn him over to the Ministry of Magic, and it would be the same."

Sirius and James exchanged a glance, and he heard his friend say, "The Ministry of Magic is eager to gain the support of the public. If a character like the Dark Prince falls into the hands of the Ministry of Magic, they will definitely kill him for votes, even without a trial."

"Should we give him the Dementor's Kiss? That would be the ending that this devilish murderer deserves."

However, what happened next... when they removed the mask from the Dark Prince's face, no one expected that the infamous Dark Prince was actually just a thirteen-year-old child.

Dumbledore felt that they needed to consider things carefully. Children are the future that needs to be protected. Even if he is the Dark Prince, he is only thirteen years old, and he may still be able to be saved - at least he should not be thrown to the Dementors without a trial.

The three members of the Order of Phoenix brought the unconscious child back to Hogwarts and began to discuss how to deal with the situation. Also present were the Transfiguration professor and deputy headmistress, Lily Evans, and the potions professor and spy, Severus Snape.

"Harry! Harry, wake up!" In a daze, he heard someone calling him. A voice that sounded familiar. Then he felt like someone was shaking his body.

Harry reluctantly opened his eyes and saw the figure of the brown-haired girl, her hair disheveled. "Hermione...?" He whispered the name from his memory in a weak voice, then fell into unconsciousness again.

Then, third-grade student Hermione Granger burst into the headmaster's office, shouting, "You can't kill him! Harry is not a bad person!"

The girl's words were like a bombshell to everyone present. Lily was shaken to her core, "Did you say his name is Harry?" As a mother, she might have had a feeling about it, and this was the final confirmation.

Then they confirmed Harry's identity.

Sirius stood up from his chair and roared, "What about James? No matter who that bastard is, he's a killing monster!"

James grabbed Sirius, who was about to rush out of the headmaster's office in a fit of rage. He was also stunned by the news and didn't know what to do or think. Too many conflicting emotions surged in his heart, and he looked at Dumbledore for help like a dehydrated and dying fish.

Meanwhile, Snape, who was watching from the sidelines, was delighted and started making sarcastic comments, "Oh, how wonderful! I'm going to put this exciting drama into a Pensieve. I can replay and enjoy it a hundred times a day."

"You Death Eater, shut up!" Sirius obviously intended to vent all his unfocused anger on Snape and looked like he wanted to have a life-or-death duel with him. Fortunately, James instinctively held onto him, or he would have pounced on Snape and wrestled him to the ground.

"Please calm down, everyone." Dumbledore's voice sounded very old.

The result of the calm was that Dumbledore decided to keep Harry's identity a secret and not turn him over to the Ministry of Magic for the time being. Sirius was not sure if he supported it.

When Harry woke up again, he smelled the scent of healing potions first. Then he opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling, a white bed, and white hair and beard. Albus Dumbledore was sitting by his bed, looking different from when Harry saw him on the battlefield; he didn't have that oppressive magical aura around him, which made him look kinder. Next to Dumbledore was another red-haired witch. When Harry's gaze met hers, he was momentarily stunned by her emerald green eyes, so similar to his own. Then he quickly looked away.

"I'm glad to see you awake," Albus Dumbledore said in a relaxed tone, trying to create a light atmosphere. "My spell didn't hit you. You fainted because of the old dark magic wounds on your body, right? We've treated you a bit. Do you feel better?"

"...," Harry tugged at the iron chains that were locked around his wrists, refusing to talk and remaining silent. The red-haired witch next to him suppressed a sob, and Harry only then noticed that she was crying.

"Miss Granger told us your name is Harry, is that right?" the old man with the white beard anticipated Harry's refusal to talk and continued, "It's really surprising. She said you saved her once, rescued her from the Dark Lord's castle. You wouldn't know that she had a fight with the dripping dragon statue outside my office just to get in and stop us from handing you over to the Ministry of Magic. She has been emphasizing that you must not be a bad person. I'm curious, as the Dark Prince, why did you choose to save her?"

"... " Harry still didn't speak. But when Hermione was mentioned in the conversation, his attention clearly followed Dumbledore's words. This made the headmaster feel like it was a good sign.

"But I was indeed hesitant. Perhaps I shouldn't have handed you over to the Ministry of Magic. According to wartime policies, they would definitely throw you to the Dementors, even without trial. However, I feel - maybe it's because of a headmaster's occupational disease - that the child is the real hope." Dumbledore's eyes were shining. "So Miss Granger's information just helped us strengthen our faith. We won't hand you over, but we won't let you go back to Lord Voldemort either. Perhaps you would be willing to study at Hogwarts? But I cannot return your wand to you for some reasons that both you and I understand, I hope you can accept it."

"... " Harry was stunned, then nodded slowly. He had never expected things to develop like this.

"Even the Dark Lord himself was fond of Hogwarts when he was young. Hogwarts, she's very charming. I hope you'll like it here, Harry." Dumbledore seemed to be in a better mood after getting a response. "Oh, by the way, this is Lily Evans, the professor of Transfiguration. I assume you might know that she's your..."

"Harry..." Lily's voice trembled. For so many years, she and James had thought that the child was no longer in the world. "You're still alive... that's really good, really good... Your dad and I thought you were..."

"... " It was hard for Harry not to think of the various abuses he had suffered as a child, until he ended up on the streets and almost froze to death, and then was rescued by his father. He had done a lot of terrible things, but he could be righteously indignant about this matter. He was considering whether to ask Lily loudly why they didn't want him back then.

When he was very, very young, he had imagined countless times that his mother and father would come to rescue him and they would be reunited. He had imagined throwing himself into their arms and crying, or asking them why they didn't want him and what he had done wrong. He had thought about humbly admitting his mistakes, promising to do better and begging them not to abandon him. He had tried to meet their demands and make them proud, to show them that he was a good child. He had thought this way almost all the time before the age of five. But after he was taken away by his father in the winter when he was five, he had a home and he no longer indulged in these daydreams.

After all these years, when the reunion came unexpectedly, Harry didn't want to ask anything. His pride wouldn't allow him to ask. If they didn't want him, so be it, as if he really cared. He just turned his head to the side, almost like a child sulking.

But Lily probably understood Harry's thoughts and started to explain what had happened in detail. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry... This may have been the biggest mistake we ever made. Harry... You must have suffered and he hasn't treated you well, look at all your injuries..."

"He has been good to me, don't worry." Harry spoke for the first time. He felt his words were not persuasive enough, so he added, "The injuries were my own fault and had nothing to do with him."

Lily ignored Harry's stubbornness and hugged him directly. She choked up and said, "It's our fault, we're sorry... My child. That prophecy we tried to avoid has come true. You have become his right-hand man and done terrible things... But... As a mother, I still have selfishness. I'm so happy to see you alive. At least for now, let me be happy secretly for a while."

Harry initially tried to struggle when he was held, but he was weak and couldn't move. Moreover, he had just listened to Lily's explanation and realized that he couldn't blame them for what had happened in the past. It was just a series of unfortunate events and fate playing tricks on them. Harry stopped struggling. It was pointless to be stubborn, especially when they had bigger troubles to deal with. The crack between them was more than just a past mistake. He could forgive them, but could he be forgiven by them?

James's mentality collapsed: "... I, I'm sorry for what happened to Remus." He buried his face in his hands in agony.

Sirius's mentality also collapsed: "Remus died in his hands! Are we really not going to avenge Remus?" He had been trying to remain calm, but he couldn't. Remus was such a good person, brave and resilient, and their best friend...

"... Even if I die, I have no face to meet Remus." James was really upset. "But Lily... Harry... Harry... Right, Lily is still with him. Oh no, is Lily in danger? Why didn't I think of that?" James got up in a daze and headed towards the hospital wing.

But the door was pushed open, and it was the headmaster and Lily who came in.

"Don't worry, I've taken away his wand, and hurting anyone in Hogwarts won't do him any good. We talked to that boy just now, and I have even more confidence in him." Dumbledore looked more relaxed than he did during the meeting.

Lily hugged James, and James hugged her back, like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood. This couple was in the most difficult situation. James was the head of the Order of the Phoenix, and Lily was the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts and a Transfiguration teacher. They were both members of the Order of the Phoenix, fighting against the Death Eaters on the most dangerous battlefield for so many years, experiencing countless near-death situations. They were at the center of the war vortex, but this Gryffindor couple never feared anything. Because they knew what they were doing was right, they were saving people, they were fighting for a better tomorrow, they were fighting for the next generation of the wizarding world to live in a better world. But now...

"In the moment when I knew the truth, I even... I would rather Harry had really died back then than things turn out this way. And then I loathed myself for thinking that way. How could I curse a five-year-old child to death just to avoid responsibility? He is our child, he is just a child... But he also... And Remus... I'm sorry for Remus, but we're also sorry for Harry. What should I do, how should I think?" James said gloomily.

"Actually, I not only want to protect Harry, but also need to protect you two." Dumbledore looked at Lily and James. He knew that if Harry's identity was exposed, this couple would probably be implicated. "So Harry's identity must be kept confidential. Harry is just a thirteen-year-old child who was raised by Lord Voldemort since he was young. He was induced or coerced into doing wrong things, which was almost inevitable. Lord Voldemort has always been very good at seducing people, even adult wizards find it hard to resist his coercion and temptation. But my intuition tells me that Harry may not be a bad kid... Perhaps there is still hope for Harry's soul, and there may be a turning point in this matter."

"... " Sirius remained silent. He clenched his fists and then let go, finally gave up the urges that rush to the hospital wing to avenge his dearest friend.

A/N: Please let me know if you like it~