Disclaimer:

I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...

Mischief Managed Damn It!

Title: Pacific Ring Academy of Science and Sorcery (Working Title)

Posted Date: November 11 2023

Tags: Harry not studying at Hogwarts, Hogwarts not top school

Possible Challenges: Sirius released early

"Boy, get the mail!"

The small boy let out a sigh at the voice of his uncle yelling at him to get the mail right as he was going to enter his cupboard after eating his meagre breakfast. For as long as he could remember, this was how one Harry Potter led his life. Hell, he did not even know his name was that until he first entered primary school at age 6. Now at age 8 coming up to 9, he was just hoping for something to get away from the Dursleys and this town.

He turned to where the mail had been deposited by the postman through the flap and made his way to the spot. He shuffled through the mail as he stood up, looking at the usual bills and postcards when he paused to find a letter that was addressed to him. It was roughly the size of an A4 size paper, the envelope made of crisp white paper and had a crest stamped on the back in ink, the design being quite unique with what appeared to be a capital P surrounded by a ring of fire that under the lighting appeared to be glowing a light yellow. Harry turned it back up and looked at the wording that was written with slight cursive:

Harry James Potter

Number 4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging, Surrey

Now he was only eight years old at this point, but he had experienced enough from the Dursleys that if he were to bring this to the kitchen where Vernon was, he would likely take it away from him and destroy it in front of his face to make a point. A part of him was curious about who it was from, but decided to do it in the privacy of his "room". He quickly went back to the cupboard to hide the letter before returning with the rest and moving on to do his chores for the day.

Thankfully for him at least, there were not a lot chores and the Dursleys were going to visit Marge, and there was no way they would allow him to tag along even if their neighbour with the crazy cats was unavailable, so they left him behind in the house with Dudley laughing at his misfortune.

Personally Harry got the better deal of not visiting Marge, he did not have to worry about Ripper the bulldog trying to bite him, and the dog enjoyed chasing the both of them even with Marge telling it to chase only Harry.

Harry went to grab the letter after waiting for them to drive out the driveway and go down the road. He went to the living room to read it under better light and just held the letter in his hands, still in disbelief that anyone would write to him. A small part of his mind was thinking it could be the Dursleys' idea of a prank, but he did not recognize the handwriting. With a breath, Harry reached for the flap and pulled it off, blinking at both the letter and what appeared to be a black sheet of reflective stone with a note stuck to it saying "This side up." Harry shrugged and placed it on the table as such, before backing away in surprise as several circles appeared on the surface of the stone and then a ball of light appeared above it with alternating colours. With several flashes, the colours seemed to come off it and flooded the room with him being covered in waves, giving Harry the impression that he was being tested for something. A test that he apparently passed as the ball turned green and burst into light particles that congregated to form a figure, eventually showing a person dressed in respectable clothing, a cane in one hand and a smile on his rather youthful face despite what appeared to be greying hair.

"Greetings to a Prospective Student. My name is Professor Alexander Keating, Headmaster for the Pacific Ring Academy of Science and Sorcery. If you have received the mail and are able to view this recording, it means that you have been granted an invitation to my school."

Harry blinked at the message that was being played for him, moving slowly forward to where the stone piece was. His hand moved beneath the image to check for any disturbance of light and sound, before he picked up the stone piece to look for any speakers or lens. He also noted that the image was still hovering above the table despite him moving it.

"I understand you have questions but please wait until the recording is over. And on that note, please place the stone plate back on the flat surface." Harry flushed at the light admonishment and proceeded to do just that before moving back to his seat. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Harry answered automatically as the avatar of the principal appeared to be walking on air while talking.

"I know you and any possible guardian listening in would be sceptical about the idea of sorcery, otherwise called magic. But I can assure you, it is very real." The avatar paused on one side to allow more particles to appear and formed what appeared to be a large campus with several buildings, lots of paths that wound between trees and gardens and what appeared to be an actual waterfall in the distance. It looked so different to the cookie cutter design that Harry kept seeing around Privet Drive that he sat entranced while the avatar started talking.

"The Pacific Ring Academy is a unique establishment founded a few centuries ago with the initial goal to train students in their magic, and later expanded to teach them regular subjects to ensure the Stature of Secrecy and to help all function in the mundane world. Here, we make sure all have a balanced education of both mundane and magical studies that will allow them to work in both worlds, starting at the age of nine all the way to seventeen, the relative age of majority for most magicals." The images then changed to show what had to be the main building of the campus with groups of children and young teens milling about while dressed in black uniforms with different colour bands on their sleeves.

"The academy is primarily a boarding school that allows its students to stay in the dormitories provided all year round." That got Harry's attention definitely as the images switched around to show students performing archery, some odd fighting and other activities. "Our students are housed on site in groups to be taught teamwork, an important aspect when it comes to the combat training and exercise that we are conducting here, along with the security work that we expect our senior students to conduct to help protect the academy and the general region."

The images of the school and the activities vanished to allow the avatar to come back to the front to talk to Harry. "Should you decide to attend, an operative will be sent to answer any questions you may have, along with helping you get your school supplies. Along with this recording, you should have a letter that is a formal write out for you to read through if you wish to have more details. For some such as yourself, there may be an additional letter or item for you to go through, mostly in accordance with the wishes of your loved ones in the event they are unable to tell you such." The avatar smiled warmly at Harry. "I truly hope to see you in the new school year. Ending message."

The image faded out, leaving behind the smooth stone that had the circles faded and leaving behind two smaller circles with the words "Yes" and "No" in green and red respectively. Harry just sat there in silence and slight disbelief, his eyes on the stone and his mind wandering at light speed, but was stuck on one single detail spoken by the headmaster.

Pacific Ring Academy was a boarding school that allowed students to stay for whole years.

Pacific Ring Academy was in a different location away from Private Drive, Little Surrey.

Harry could be far away from the Dursleys for an entire year, maybe even more!

Harry could be free.

The only reason the boy was not slamming his finger on the stone piece was due to the rustling of letters on his legs that broke his thoughts of excitement, reminding him that he needed to look through these first before making a decision. He first looked at the formal letter that had the invitation speech and other minor details that he might need to take note of when the supposed agent came to take him. The second drew pause from him as it was in another envelope. He opened it up and unfolded the letter to see the contents, his eyes widening and hands shaking as he read it.

My dearest Harry,

As I write this letter, I am watching you play with the Padfoot plushy and praying that you won't be reading this or other letters written for different situations, but if you are reading this, that means that the worst has happened and for whatever reason, we have been betrayed by those we believed to be friends and you would be placed somewhere that could potentially be detrimental to your growth, be it physically, emotionally, or magical.

Yes, my son. Magic is real, and you are a wizard. Your name is Harry James Potter, son of James Charles Potter and Lily Rosette Potter nee Evans, and as of this writing, the primary heir to the Potter Family line of Magical Britain.

No doubt you have many questions, but I am afraid that time is against us, especially if this letter is in play. There is a lot to go through, and that can only be done where you are safe. This letter being shown means our final wishes were not followed and you ended up at the Dursleys, one of whom is your biological Aunt and my sister, Petunia Dursley nee Evans.

Headmaster Keating is a friend of mine when I was working briefly as a healer before going into hiding, and through him, your father and I have decided that you need the best education that can be offered. Hogwarts, our previous school, is the British school that as of this writing is headed by Albus Dumbledore, a man of many positions and the leader of our order. He also has a tendency to withhold secrets and critical information when it is vital, and is the one who insists that we go into hiding. I for one do not want to think ill of the headmaster, but he tends to have ideas that may not be suitable, and he would be quite stubborn at the worst of times.

In any case, as part of the procedures made in place, you should be granted an invitation to come to the Pacific Ring Academy. It is a school that allows students to learn magic early while preparing for the muggle / mundane world, and more importantly, you can be safe behind their walls. You should be able to learn all that is needed about the Potter Family, and a little of mine as well.

I genuinely wish that this letter is not needed, and that I get to see you grow up to be a fine young man. But if reality is as harsh as it is right now, I can only hope that our preparations are worth it.

Your loving mother,

Lily Rosette Potter nee Evans.

A few spots of the letter got wet from the tears coming down the face of the boy who read for the first time the words from a woman that was his mother. She sounded as caring as he would imagine when his heart yearned for motherly attention each time he watched Petunia pamper Dudley for whatever occasion there was. Even more so given that she had to write a letter and arranged for it to be delivered to him in the event his parents were unable to help him. He appreciated that and understood that whoever this Dumbledore was, he was likely not a friend. Harry turned back to the smooth stone with the blinking words, and with determination, jabbed the "Yes" icon, causing the stone piece to flash green and let out a chime.

With that done, he clutched the letter tightly in his hand while thinking that he was going to be free and learning about magic. Sure, he felt it would be a cruel prank if this was what the Dursleys were planning, but this was too much for a simple prank, and there were always the odd instances he had been having when something or someone upsetted him like the time he changed the teacher's wig blue or when he was escaping from Dudley and his friends and somehow ended up on the roof.

Magic. Who would know about it?

"Beep!" Harry's attention got caught by the sounds being emitted by the stone slate before a voice chimed out of it.

"This recording has achieved its purpose, it will now self-destruct in 5 seconds."

Oh dear.

Thankfully, it was not a big mess and the Dursleys were none the wiser when they returned a few hours later.

~ooOOoo~

"Headmaster." A man who was looking out of the window of his office turned to see his secretary enter the room. The sharp-dressed beautiful woman adjusted her spectacles while moving to his desk. "We have just gotten the next set of names from those who have accepted the invitation to come to the academy. One of the names is someone I believe you are interested in." The woman placed the device she had in her hands on the table, showing it as some sort of clear crystal with metal rims showing a list of names and profiles. The man went to flick the names on the list and paused on one name that was recently added, a gentle smile appearing on his face as he selected the profile and looked at the photo of a child. The smile however vanished when he checked the address that the child was placed in.

"Glynda, can you send an operative for this child within a week, preferably the next three days?" The woman raised an eyebrow at this. "I knew his parents and relations, and I know for a fact the mother would not want their child to be raised with this group of people."

"Should we expect trouble?" Glynda grabbed the glass back and did some gestures to show a different list of people.

"Keep it standard, but alert them to be careful in the event the folks decide to get nasty." Headmaster Keating answered. The woman nodded and left the office, leaving the man to look back out the windows to watch several students lounging on the grass and a couple using the levitation packs to fly about with those on broomsticks, the waterfall and geysers serving as a great backdrop for the scene of his academy.

"I finally found you, Harry. This time, I will fulfil the promise with your parents."