-8-
The Magic of the Old Religion.
-8-
On the 31st of July 1978, a little boy was born. Harry James Potter, was born to Lily and James Potter. Well-loved and cared for by his parents, Harry had a happy childhood, and then two years later, his little brother, Charlus Fleamont Potter was born, on August 1, 1980. Both boys were young, too young to know they had been born in the time of a brutal magical war, although as Harry grew older, he became aware of something wrong with his parents.
The Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, had been rising to power for many years; ever since the 1940s, Voldemort had been plotting and scheming his rise to power, gathering allies, silently killing, coercing or buying allies and slaughtering enemies, all the time coming up with plans for his ultimate goals. Secretly, Voldemort had known Albus Dumbledore was the ultimate enemy.
Dumbledore had met him at the orphanage where he had been raised since his mother died in childbirth; at the time, Voldemort, then known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, had some, basic rudimentary knowledge of magic and he used it all the time against the muggles who ran the orphanage. Everyone treated him as a freak, bullied him, destroying his few possessions. The moment he harnessed his powers, Tom lashed out.
Then Dumbledore came, and he effortlessly battered down Tom's attempts to learn more about magic. Tom was scared, which was one of the reasons why, after he was told about magic, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and about the magical world in general, he travelled to Diagon Alley to gather his school supplies by himself.
He was worried about what Dumbledore would say or do.
He wanted to explore Diagon Alley by himself.
But, more importantly, Tom wanted to gather information about Dumbledore, and magic without others watching over him.
For the next seven years, Tom Marvolo Riddle became a top Slytherin student, even if Dumbledore never liked him, but the feeling was mutual. In secret, Riddle found the Chamber of Secrets and the Room of Requirement, discovering the long-hidden libraries, and accelerating his magical development.
In the muggle world where he lived, much to his annoyance and frustration, which was one of the reasons why he was going out of his way to find a new home for himself for the time being, Riddle found himself living through the Second World War. Cowering in the London Underground, hopeless despite his knowledge and skills, although he did reach the point a few times where he was prepared to use his magic and damn the consequences.
But those times in the Tube changed him; Tom had already developed an intensely strong hatred and fear of dying, after hearing about the way his mother had died in childbirth despite being healthy.
In the magical world when he got back, Tom went back to the Room of Requirement and Chamber of Secrets' libraries, looking for information about immortality.
Magic was capable of a great many things; time travel, dark magic, necromancy, and enchantments; with the right knowledge, wizards and witches could brew potions that could transform metals into pure gold or silver, and raise crops in arid and barren conditions. Immortality was relatively simple, but the problem was the methods of immortality would never last long. The soul would eventually whither and die.
Tom Riddle studied the methods of immortality closely, looking out for the most powerful and the most versatile he could find information about before he discovered what he was looking for.
Many years later, secure in his acquisition of immortality, Voldemort rose to power.
Originally Voldemort's rise to power was almost a dead ringer for his predecessor, Gellert Grindelwald, who had held rallies across half of the globe in his quest to get supporters against the muggles.
Voldemort went the same way; he held rallies, telling his supporters about the brutality of the muggle world - he showed them how the muggles were violent, he showed them memories of the Blitz, how he was raised in the muggle world and how they treated magical children. But Dumbledore moved quickly, he had been watching for signs of Tom Riddle's rise to power, incorrectly assuming - as Riddle intended - that the Dark Lord was using Horcruxes to achieve immortality.
Under his orders, the Aurors and Hit Wizards launched a brutal attack against the rallies, forcing Voldemort to change his strategy before the whole incident was covered up. When Voldemort reemerged, only his inner circle were aware of his formerly peaceful attempts to bring about important change in Britain.
Lily and James left Hogwarts just after Voldemort began launching attacks against his enemies and trying to pass bills through the Wizengamot, only to be stopped by the so-called Light. At the same time, someone was framing him; someone was launching vicious assaults on magical families, and the perpetrators were using his symbol, throwing it into the skies above. Witches, wizards, and children...raped, tortured, murdered. Voldemort had never wanted violence against other witches and wizards.
Someone else was responsible, and whoever it was was making his organisation feared, something he hadn't wanted in that way.
When they got married and had their firstborn son, Harry, the Potters joined Dumbledore, firmly believing him to be in the right, but when Charlus was born, there was a prophecy hanging over their heads. Dumbledore never told them about the prophecy, except that Voldemort was after one of their children.
Lily and James fought harder against the Dark Lord, but one day during one of their fights, Voldemort revealed the existence of the prophecy, and how he refused to believe it as he didn't believe in Divination or fate, and that he wasn't even going after children on the whole. Naturally, the Potters did not believe Voldemort, after seeing many of the atrocities committed. But then Voldemort revealed several pieces of information; he swore on his magic that the Death Eaters, his followers, only went after muggles and the occasional wizards. They never went after magical blood, as it was precious. He also showed them conclusive proof of Dumbledore's brainwashing and enchanting wizards and witches, disguised as Death Eaters, who would go on to commit those atrocities, before he offered the Potters a choice to be truly rid of the prophecy forever and to save themselves.
The Potters were cornered, but they were parents, and they wanted their family to survive. With that, Lily and James betrayed the Light and became Death Eaters. Soon they joined him and saw how much truth was in his words.
But the Potters' betrayal did not go unpunished by the 'Light.'
One day, the Dark Lord decided to send a group of Death Eaters to speak to the Longbottom family, but something strange happened. Dumbledore declared in the aftermath of the violent attack, that Neville was the Boy Who Lived, and that the family had been betrayed by the Potters, and then sent agents after Lily and James, but he still had plans for the Potter children. With Lily and James gone, forced into exile, Dumbledore placed the eldest, Harry, with the Dursleys, and Charlus into an orphanage with plans to mentally twist the Potter boys until they became his followers.
In the meantime, Voldemort went underground. The Death Eaters went back to their lives, however they saw fit. And the Potters were forced to go on the run, but not until they'd locked down their homes, and their family estate, in case Dumbledore or his lackeys stole it.
-8-
Harry's life with the Dursleys was a misery. He missed his parents, and his friends - Daphne, Theo, Draco, and he missed his little brother. But more than that, he missed Aunty Bell, Uncle Lucius, and Aunty Narcissa, and more than that, he missed Tom, who had taken a shine to him very quickly, and had taught him a lot about magic.
The Dursleys had spent the last few years making it clear magic did not exist. Too late, he had known about magic for a long time, and he was old enough to retain long-term memories, despite their efforts. They beat him furiously, but Harry had learnt a lot about magic from Tom and Aunty Bell, and his mother.
He had learnt how to use wandless magic, and thanks to being with Tom, he had learnt how the Dark Lord had attained immortality, by jumping into different bodies. At the time, Harry had also discovered his metamorphamagus powers, being able to change his shape was so much fun. But he discovered he had another interest, especially in the muggle world.
Time Travel.