Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot. The original concepts belong to JKR and Warner Brothers. Any concepts brought from other fictions are either coincidental or will be used in their own way, and no plagiarism is meant.

A/N: Ron's letter was copied and pasted from a google search and adapted to my needs, I do not own nor did I originally write it, and no plagiarism is intended.

A/N 2: So I know this chapter is a bit of an information dump, but it was the most practical way to get a good portion of it out in the open. There may be a few more chapters like this, but I will try and make them few and far between.

Chapter 6: Potter's Cottage

July 29th, 1993

Potter's Cottage, Alford

Dobby snapped his fingers, causing the trunk to shrink down and fly towards Harry, who using his quidditch reflexes, caught it and pocketed it. Dobby reached up and took Harry's hand, before a loud crack echoed around the room, and the two disappeared.

Harry had never before, in his entire life, ever felt the sensation he felt when the little bugger did his apparition. He felt like he was being spun in a blender that was being spun in the opposite direction in a washing machine, all while being squeezed and blinded by darkness. The instant it ended, which both felt like hours later and only a moment after it started, Harry fell forward, almost puking out his recently eaten dinner. It took him a moment to gather his bearings, in which something had left a nearby house, and was walking towards him.

"Whos be yous to come heres" the little elf squeaked, causing Harry to look up. It was shorter than Dobby, but looked less skinny, and younger. The elf stopped when Harry's gaze met its own.

"Master James?" the elf asked hesitantly, before shaking its head. "MASTER HADRIAN!" it yelled, leaping towards him and hugging the stunned teen.

"Yous been missing for ages. Serny never knew if yous would come!" Serney cried out.

It took Harry the better part of five minutes to calm the distraught elf down, but eventually it did. Apparently, the elf was lost without a master, and though it was still bonded to the property, it didn't have any master to serve, so it was slowly losing its sanity. Dobby stood to the side the entire time. Once the elf was calmed once more, it backed away, allowing Harry to stand up and look around.

The house was in a rural area of the town, and he couldn't quite see any other houses nearby, which was good news. Potter's Cottage looked amazing though. An older slate gray stone exterior with a built wooden porch around it gave a nice homely feel to it. Light emanated from the windows of what looked like the livingroom and kitchen, as the sun set to the left. There were two chairs on the porch to sit in, and a solid red-stained front door. The entire time he looked around, the feeling of being comfortable set within him, like he was finally home.

He knew, of course, that Potter Manor was the true home of House Potter, or so Axrak said, but it had been sealed by Charles Potter, Harry's grandfather, and only the Lord could unseal it. Godric Hollow was another place the Potter's owned, though less warded than where Harry was now, and the Potter's owned a place in France, though he didn't know where. He noticed his heir ring was warm, and realized that maybe it was magic making him feel so comfortable and safe.

"Mind giving us a tour, Serney?" Harry asked. Said elf got excited about the opportunity, and after dragging him around the outside of the house, showing him the small garden and clearing, along with where the ward line was, he was dragged… excitedly led, into the Cottage.

The inside, after he had been shown around, had clearly been expanded to roughly twice the space it should have had. The living room had a large fireplace that doubled as a Floo, with oak hardwood flooring and warm red furniture. Most of the tables were a matching oak wood, and curtains were all a well blended cream color and red accents. The kitchen and dining room had a similar decorative pattern, which seemed to flow through the whole house.

There were three full bedrooms with a cream carpet instead of a hardwood floor. Each with their own bathroom completely covered in a light gray marble tile, along with another bathroom in the hallway for general use. Along with those rooms, there was a potions lab downstairs, though there weren't any ingredients there any longer, as they had all spoiled. The last room that Harry was shown to, and he suspected it was done intentionally, was the office. It had a small set of bookshelves, with roughly a hundred books, along with a desk nearly twice as large as a normal one. The room had the same color scheme as the rest of the house, but that didn't matter to Harry. What did was the portrait of a man and woman on the wall.

The man had shorter dark hair that showed early signs of graying, which had a clean messy look, and soft brown eyes. His face was quite similar to Harry's, though he had a bit more roundness to it. The woman had piercing gray eyes and slightly curly long black hair, and a more angular face, one that made him think she was aristocratic. She was quite beautiful, even though she looked closer to 60 years old.

Said portraits occupants also took immediate notice of the newcomer in the room, who probably didn't belong. "Leave my family's property boy. You do not belong here." the man said.

Serney spoke back. "Master Charles! Mistress Dorea! This is Master Hadrian!" Both portraits froze at the elf's words, their gazes snapping back to the boy in the room, looking him over intently, before suddenly changing their moods.

"My god, it has been too long! You were supposed to be here ages ago! Where have you been? How has your life been? Who have you been staying with?" the man, Charles, asked. The woman, Dorea, was looking at him intently still, but stopped to slap her husband in the chest.

"Do not mind my husband. He gets a little excited at times, and forgets to introduce himself. I am your grandmother, Lady Dorea Potter, nee Black. This man here is your grandfather, Lord Charles Potter." she said kindly.

"Uh, Hadrian James Potter-Black, Heir of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses Potter and Black." Harry replied, shocked at the portrait of his ancestors.

"You could do better introducing yourself. Who taught you how?" Charles asked.

"Um, no one, I just winged it. I was raised by my muggle relatives, and they didn't teach me much. I only found out I was the heir a short while ago, and claimed the rings yesterday." Harry replied.

The man cursed, while the woman eyed him. "You look far too small, how old are you?" she asked kindly.

"Twelve, though I turn thirteen in two days." Harry replied, sitting down in a chair facing the portraits.

"Yes, far too small." She muttered. "Even Lily was bigger than you at your age."

"I was… treated poorly by my relatives. I saw a healer yesterday, and was put on Skele-gro and a nutritional potion every morning for a week, and they gave me a special potion to encourage my body to be closer to what it should have been." Harry told her, she nodded, and would ask for the report later.

"Well, tell us about your life, and school." Charles asked, or more, demanded.

That started a conversation that only went halfway through, before Dorea sent him to bed, and told him to come back after breakfast the next day to finish. Harry left the office that night feeling amazing. He had finally made it somewhere he could almost call home. It was certainly better than the Dursley's, though the Dursleys were still technically 'home' right now. He remembered the words Dumbledore had told him in first year, that should he call another place home, he would lose the blood protections from the house. He showered before bed, and feeling more relaxed and carefree than ever, he fell asleep.

July 30th, 1993

Potter Cottage

By the next afternoon, both of his grandparents were infuriated, mostly with Dumbledore. They said there were several people he was supposed to be with, and it was specified in their will. Charles had advised him not to open the will yet, and instead wait until he had talked to Black, which the portrait was certain would happen. Of course, Harry knew there was a will, and other guardians, but couldn't tell them how, so he accepted it as new information. Charles said there had to be more behind why Dumbledore did what he did, and that a lot of things don't add up, but still was pissed about his grandchild's condition.

Charles taught him how to find the ward book that afternoon, which is what allowed people into the Cottage. Harry marked off everyone, many he didn't know, other than Sirius, Augusta Longbottom and Neville Longbottom per his grandfather's suggestion, and set the floo to be as 'call only' unless the heir or lord manually override it.

Their next goal, namely Dorea's, was to get Harry into shape, teach him Etiquette, Occlumency, Dueling, Law, and basic magical knowledge. They told him that as the next day was his birthday, he would start the learning the day after, other than. The only thing they nearly demanded of him was to cut his hair, which Serney did. Now his hair was shorter on the sides than the top, yet still had a clean messy look to the top of it.

He spent a good portion of the rest of the day talking to his grandparents. It turned out that his grandmother had been a very good healer at St. Mungos, and had requested his healer's report from his Gringotts visit. While she looked over it, having an elf hold it near the portrait, Harry talked to his grandfather.

"When I was younger, I served in the war against Grindelwald. It was a nasty and brutal fight. If I hadn't had Arcturus, the last Lord Black, working beside me, neither of us might have made it home. We were some of the fiercest fighters from Britain, and pushed Grindelwald from France. Dumbledore joined the war not long after, and with his assistance, our group in joint with another defeated Grindelwalds 'Knights of Walpurgis', and later defeated and imprisoned the man himself." Charles said.

He told other stories, and more about his family as a whole. It turns out that Charles and Dorea were both well over a hundred when they died in an attack in London back in 1979. His grandfather explained that healthy magicals lived longer, a hundred was the common lifespan, with Potters having surpassed two hundred before. He was a hundred and twelve when he died, and Dorea was only a year younger. Their portrait had been painted in 1959, but updated just weeks before they passed, and they still had Serney keep them up to date with what was happening in the world.

Harry discovered that his great grandfather was a world renown potion-maker, and had invented several potions including Sleekeasy, a hair potion capable of taming the wild Potter hair. His great grandmother had started a Potions distribution alongside her husband, and it was still active though it was now managed by a board of directors. Charles had been an Unspeakable before and after the war, and still had a portrait in the Department of Mysteries, though Harry wasn't allowed to know where, and had a vast amount of knowledge in esoteric magics and theory. Dorea had been a leading healer, and was quite accomplished in healing and defensive magics. It turns out that she was actually Arcturus' sister, and that was one of the reasons Charles and he were close.

By the end of the day, Harry was beyond happy. He had been able to learn about his family, and spent most of it happily chatting with his grandparents. Though he hadn't been as excited about the nearly-forced haircut, it helped him notice how much he had physically changed since the chamber incident. He was looking healthier, less pale, and it almost looked like he had put on some weight, though he could not be sure.

July 31st, 1993

Potter Cottage

Harry woke up feeling amazing. He had slept well, with no bad dreams, and woke to the smell of an amazing breakfast. Making his way to the kitchen, he found both elves setting a place for him to eat, with plenty of food, mostly including waffles, eggs, bacon, and fresh fruits. After eating a hearty breakfast, and still not lacking in amazement over the amount he ate, he made his way to the office, where the elves said his gifts were.

Hedwig was sitting on the desk chair, much to his grandfather's annoyance. He was concerned that she would damage the chair, such words caused him to get hooted at. Harry spent a few minutes petting his familiar, before she flew off into a treat in the backyard.

It made his day better to hear 'Happy birthday' from both of his grandparents, and it almost made him tear up. He controlled himself though, and thanked them. At their behest, he started opening the gifts.

Hermione had gotten him a broom servicing kit, complete with polish and twig adjusters, and sent him a note that she would be staying at the Leaky Cauldron the night before the express leaves, and asked if he would be able to join her. She said she asked Ron as well, but hadn't heard back as he was in Egypt.

Harry hadn't known that, but opening his gift from Ron explained it. Inside was a sneakoscope, a letter, and a newspaper clipping. On the clipping, it showed "Weasley Family wins 'Daily Prophet Galleon Draw Grand Prize', and had been dated some time two weeks prior. Harry chose to read the letter, not disappointed in its contents.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday!

It's amazing here in Egypt. Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Mum wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. There were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff.

I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw Seven hundred Galleons! Most of it is gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year.

We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get my wand and our new books. Any chance of meeting you there?

Don't let the Muggles get you down!

Try and come to London,

Ron

It was good to hear Ron was being his normal self again, without the jealousy or pettiness over the classes, and that he was getting a new wand. Harry sat the letter and clipped to the side, and opened one of the last two gifts left. Hagrid had sent him a copy of The Monster Book of Monsters that Harry already owned. Though Hagrid's letter had told him how to open it without being bitten. The book had apparently been causing the store owners in Diagon Alley several issues, but it was amusing all the same. Harry's Hogwarts letter came alongside Hagrid's gift, and he was pleased to see he had already gotten everything for the year.

The last gift was a smaller package, and in a neat red wrapping paper. Slowly opening it, he found a nice platinum watch, it was used, but in good condition.

"It is tradition for a wizard to receive a watch for his eleventh and seventeenth birthday. One that was used by a relative, and a new one on his seventeenth. That was my old one that I had Serney wrap last night. I noticed you didn't have one, so I thought this would make up for the loss." Charles said.

"I bought it for him for our 75th anniversary. It is charmed to always be accurate, and it is waterproof and unbreakable. The watch face is the crest of our house, and has time, date, and moon cycle all present. Wear it proudly, Grandson." Dorea said fondly.

Harry slowly slid it on his wrist, before spending more time talking to his grandparents. He learned a lot more that day about his father and his friends. They were a group that called themselves Marauders and pranked people to try and make people laugh during the war, though they sometimes targeted the Slytherins. Three of them were Animagus, like his dad had told them, while the fourth was a werewolf, Remus Lupin was the fourth. Harry wondered what happened to him, as he had yet to hear from him. He did get a lot of laughs as his grandparents told stories of the letters they received from school about his dad.

Before bed that night, he eyed the trunk from his vault. He knew he needed to open it soon, but had delayed from nerves. He intended on doing it soon.

August 19th, 1993

Headmaster's Office

Albus returned to his office, having been out of the country for the past three weeks for the ICW. It had been a boring few weeks, as he had been forced to listen to France and India complain about Britain's import taxes, and Russia complain about Germany's lack of information sharing. It was always the same thing.

Walking over, he took a look at the devices that monitor one Harry Potter. He was unsure of the one that monitored Harry's health, as it showed he was in far better condition than when he left, but surely that wasn't a bad thing, even if the device was probably wrong. He was pleased to see the other, that monitored the Blood Wards, show that the wards were fully charged, and perhaps a bit stronger. He knew that Harry didn't get along with his relatives, but was sure the blood protections were the only thing stopping Harry from being possessed by the soul shard in his scar.

Dumbledore has spent years traveling, first to figure out what Tom had done, and later to figure out how to get one out of a living being. Nicolas had given him advice, saying that the best hope was either possession by the main fragment, or by the main fragment using the killing curse. Of course, there was a large chance that either way, the boy would die. Nicolas speculated that if it was done while the protections were still with Harry, he might live, but there was no guarantee.

For now, he would wait, and despite Nicolas' beliefs, try again to find the notes of the original ritual, maybe the answer rested with it.

August 30th, 1993

Potter Cottage, Alford

Harry had made plans to leave that night, in order to go to the Leaky Cauldron and meet with the Weasleys and Hermione. His grandparents supported the decision, as Harry had come a long way with his training the last month.

His grandfather was ecstatic to hear that Harry was a natural occlumens, and said they were incredibly rare, as it was only through a test that they were found. Charles had immediately begun teaching Harry how to sort through his memories, and was happy to see that Harry had his own copy of Protecting the Mind. Harry didn't need it, as Charles showed him where to find the Unspeakables Occlumency and Legilimency book. It was more informative, and though Harry was in the early stages, Charles doubted any could get more than surface thoughts from Harry's mind.

Harry was also taught Politics and Wizarding Law and Magical Theory by Charles, which covered the makeup of the Wizengamot, when they met, and most laws that concerned a minor, basically teaching Harry what his rights were in the Wizarding world, though it was similar to the muggle world. Magical theory covered things like how to access your core, which was a part of Occlumency, how to control your magical output, and how magical maturity worked.

Harry needed the second, as the first attempt at a levitation charm caused a book to be smashed into the ceiling, and Serney to yell at him about making a mess. Thankfully, due to training, his spells were now only marginally overpowered, and his Lumos charm only blinded people if they were in a darker environment. On magical maturity, he discovered it happened at seven points in a person's life. Generally it occurred on the first, third, seventh, eleventh, thirteenth, fifthteenth, and twenty first birthdays. During the few days before and after those birthdays, his magic would be harder to control, and slightly unstable, something that went unnoticed due to the new wand.

Harry also learned etiquette from Dorea, alongside basic healing knowledge, how his body would grow, and some more family history from both the Blacks and the Potters. He had taken to etiquette easily, but healing was not his forte. His grandmother explained that healing was often harder for younger people as they had yet to master the control of their magic, and that stronger people often struggled with healing anyways.

He also learned that while his appetite had decreased since he was off the nutritional potions, he would still be eating a lot until he was roughly twenty one, as both his magical core and his body would need it. Thanks to the potions though, he had needed more. Now though, he had grown nearly four inches, and almost twenty pounds. He looked far healthier, and had even gained some muscle.

Harry sighed as he was shaken from the thoughts, seeing the trunk his parents had left them. He had held off opening it, though he hadn't known why. Sighing, he sat the trunk on the floor, before tapping the top of it. It grew to its full size, and he noticed it had the Potter crest on the top. Slowly, he reached down, and popped the latch open.

Looking inside, it was only half full. The first and uppermost item was a book with the Potter crest on it, and the family motto, Non Timebo Mala, which Harry now knew meant 'I will fear no Evil'. His grandfather had told him that the Grimoire contained spells and magic his family discovered. His family was renowned for their warding abilities and transfiguration, and though there were some other types of magic, most of it was based on those two magical branches. Harry had also been warned that the book was cursed, and if anyone not of Potter blood attempted to read it to take the knowledge, at best, the pages would be empty, and at worse, they would be dead. Harry was planning on leaving it in the house for the school year.

Other than that were his father's two books, one on pranks and the other on Transfiguration and becoming an Animagus, while his mother left a Potions notebook and a Charms notebook, her two best subjects. Glancing through them all, Harry was stunned at both of his parent's intelligence, though now he no longer wondered how they were ranked at the top of their year. At least now Snape couldn't punish him in Potions anymore.

The last items in the box were two long and small packages, labeled James and Lily, and they were clearly his parents' wands. He called for Dobby to make a case, or buy one, so they could be displayed in his room in the Cottage. There was also James' broom, a Nimbus 1500, a photo album that made Harry cry happy tears, and some other small nick nacks, all of which he left in the trunk.

Packing away the few books he was taking with him, he left for the office. "I think I am going to leave the Grimoire here, and I will read it next summer." Harry said to the portraits.

"Good idea. You aren't ready for those kinds of magic anyways, not yet." Charles replied.

"Harry dear, how do you plan on explaining the new wands?" Dorea asked suddenly, stopping Harry in his steps to the desk.

Harry stood in thought for a moment. "Uh…"

"So eloquent. Why don't you say that you fell over the summer into your trunk and accidently snapped it where it had been laying? Or that you had it in your sleeve, and fell into a wall and snapped it?" Dorea asked.

"The second sounds more like me. I'll go with something like that, and hide the other from their knowledge. They don't need to know about it." Harry replied, "If they do, then Dumbledore will find out somehow."

"Harry, I know you don't trust him, and it doesn't surprise me, not when he has kept things from you, but try not to immediately alienate the man. Unless he has changed a lot since I was alive, there is something more going on." Charles said.

"That may be, but I don't, and won't trust him. Not until he gives me reason to trust him." Harry replied. This had been debated multiple times, but Harry still had only so much faith in the man.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making plans, adding a little last minute knowledge, and a few warnings from Charles. Once they were ready, and goodbyes had been said, Harry left and called for Dobby. The excitable elf popped into place, and Harry asked to be dropped off near Diagon Alley. He was already wearing muggle attire, and had his trunk shrunken down in his pocket, so with another nauseating trip, he appeared in a side alley outside the Leaky Cauldron.

"Alright Dobby, you remember the plan?" Harry asked. The elf nodded excitedly.

"I's wear ratty case, and goes to see Perfesser Wiskers. Hes lets me work for Hogwart. I's not allowed to tell anyones that I works for Master Harry, and I's listen for any possible threats or important informations for yous. I reports to you on nights where yous alone, and ensure no ones is listening." Dobby responded.

After confirming the instructions, Dobby left, and Harry walked the distance to the pub. Entering it, he didn't see any of the Weasleys, so he assumed they had already headed to their rooms for the night. He talked to Tom again, and after paying the two sickles for two nights, got a room and headed up to bed, excited to see his friends the next day.

A/n 3: So I've read the reviews on the initial chapters, and I understand that some are worried about Harry's partial immortality, but I promise there is a reason for it, and it is not going to be abused either. Along with that, this is along the same plotline, but Survival never made it far enough for it to be seen. I inverted two points in the story, those two being the trust in Dumbledore, and the meeting with Death. Originally, that was going to happen at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, however, for multiple plot points, I realized it wouldn't work, especially if Dumbledore was teaching him a lot early on. At this point in the story, Harry has access to some better magic, mostly just a few higher year spells, but nothing compared to what Dumbledore would have taught him by that point, which instead will happen later. Thank you for voicing your concern, and I am always welcome to hear everyone's opinions. It helps me as a writer, and helps the story too.