Chapter 1

Not a single thing in his body hurt, and that was strange. As he came to, he kept his eyes closed and slowly flexed all his limbs and they all incredibly seemed in good condition. In fact they felt better than he could ever remember them feeling. Now a little more alert, he felt the bed he was on, and it felt incredibly soft, just like the pillow he had his head on, and nothing like the hard dog bed he had been given at the Dursleys. The smells too were equally as amazing, gone were the nasty smells of the Dursley's old shoes and musty clothes, but it was replaced by the freshest air he could imagine, as if he was on the very side of a mountain.

He slowly opened his eyes, and as he gazed at the tall stone ceiling of the room he was in, he quickly realized what had happened. He remembered serving the Dursley's, he remembered dropping the pudding on to the floor, and the last thing he knew he was getting pummeled by his loving Uncle. So given that he felt better than he ever had, he was laying on the comfiest bed, and he was in a whole new place, he must have finally died.

He could not stop the large grin that spread across his face at that thought. Finally, he was rid of the Dursleys, no longer would he get beaten, starved, and, lashed at again. He would also finally get to see his parents. The Dursleys had of course tried their hardest to make him believe that his parents had been good for nothing drunks, but he had learnt a long time ago to not trust anything they told him.

He excitedly got up and stood up on the bed. He gave one look at the room he was in, filled with strange devices and weird liquids, before he got distracted by the incredibly squishy bed he was standing on and started jumping up and down in joy. It was right as he was giggling and crashing on the bed that the door across from him opened and in walked the palest woman he had ever seen. Her skin almost pasty white but with the most beautiful features.

Huh, he had not known Angels were so pale.

He rushed off the bed as the woman gave him an amused smile and made her way towards him.

"I'm dead right?" he eagerly blurted out before he could stop himself," I don't have to go back to the Dursleys again?"

He took a step back at the furious expression that crossed the woman's face for a moment before it disappeared. He felt a bit of doubt creep up within him that maybe this wasn't what he thought it was, and it was all a big joke.

The woman fell to her knees before him, and it was only then that he noticed her deep red eyes and the sharp canines that peeked out of her lips. As far as he knew, Angels did not have red eyes nor sharp teeth.

"What is your name youngling?" she asked in a soft voice.

"My name is Freak", he answered in a timid voice, looking down at his bare feet. It was a good thing he hadn't been looking at her face because he would have certainly been terrified at the sheer rage that passed through her eyes.

"No" she said, and he looked up, confused, what did she mean no, that's what the Dursleys had always called him.

"No" she repeated," that is not your name young one, and you will never be called that name again. Is there any other name you were referred by?"

He thought back to the few times he had not been called freak, and he faintly remembered being called Harry in school when the teachers would call on him.

"I get called Harry sometimes", he replied, a little unsurely.

"That's better, it is not a name fitting the heir to the House of Shade, but we will deal with that later. For now, we must see if your body is completely recovered, please go lay on the bed."

He swiftly did as he was told, trying to figure out why she was calling his name not fitting for a heir when he completely lost his train of thought. The woman simply waved her hand over his body and he felt a strange tangling sensation go through him. He gaped at the strange woman, who he had concluded was not an angel, but he was certainly dead because she had just done magic with her bare hands. His jaw dropped even more as strange lights started emanating from all parts of his body while the woman simply watched, unfazed.

"Woaaaahhhh" he whispered, but the woman must have heard him because she gave him a small smile, her teeth showing even more as she did.

Finally she was done and the lights disappeared from all around him. She slowly brought her arms down and one of them rested on his forehead. Her hands felt incredibly cold to the touch but the gesture was something entirely new to him. Something warm and loving like Dudley got all the time from his aunt.

"Come youngling, you have been in bed enough for now. The potions are still running through your system so you are likely feeling happier and more carefree but that will pass eventually. Let us go show you around your new home now with all that energy you have. I fear once the potions run through, I will want to go after some people. ", she said offering him her hand, and his grin from earlier quickly stuck to his face. He understood only half of what she said but that's no more Dursleys and if he had to keep taking whatever she gave him, he happily would.

They stepped out of his room, and into a short hallway that was wide enough to to fit the entire Dursley living room. Along the walls of the hallway, there were various paintings and a couple other doors. There were no lights but instead the entire hallway was illuminated with torches on either side. He watched in sheer awe as it looked every bit like the movies Dudley used to watch.

They made their way down the hallway and as he gazed around, and he could have promised that he saw one of the men in the paintings move but he tried to put that away as his wild imagination.

The hallway ended at a spiraling staircase that had thick red carpeting running through the middle and small figurines etched on to the walls on the sides. He felt like a prince going down the stairs, especially when the stairs ended in a room with huge ceilings and a magnificent chandelier hanging in the middle. His eyes struggled to take in every detail as they roamed around the room, laden with paintings, armors, weapons, and shields. He felt himself be pulled forward, but his eyes landed on one large painting that sat above a grand fireplace.

The man in the painting looked so incredibly familiar, with his messy black hair, similar facial features, and light brown eyes. He had never seen a photo of his dad but whenever he had imagined him, this is what he had looked like.

"Is that my dad?" he asked, his voice shaky and his eyes unable to look away as he took in every detail of the man in the portrait.

His amazement turned into shock however when instead of the woman answering, it was the painting itself that did.

"I am not your dad, lad. But I am your ancestor", answered the painting.

He yelped and scrambled to hide behind the woman who let out a laugh at his antics. First magic hands now talking paintings, what's next flying brooms? He peeked from behind the woman at the man in the painting, and he too seemed to be tickled.

He felt the woman turn around and slowly pry him out and he reluctantly allowed it. He couldn't tell why but he trusted her. She didn't seem like every other adult in his life had been.

"Youngling", said the woman, and he looked up at her," there are many things we must tell you, but first you must know that you are not dead, you are indeed alive, and magic that you have probably read about in books is real. You yourself are a wizard. "

He looked at her in disbelief, he liked her, but he was utterly sure she was wrong, he was not a wizard. Magic he could believe, since he had already watched her do it, but he would never be able to do that.

"I'm not a wizard, I'm a freak", he replied, with every conviction the Dursley's had tried to beat into him.

The woman closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He tried to take a step back, unsure if she was upset with him but she refused to let go. She opened her eyes which seemed strangely watery, and he felt her cold hands come up to hold his cheek.

"You are not a freak childe, you are a very special boy and don't ever think you are a freak. I will promise you, you will never go back to those vile people you were with, and forget everything they have told you, as it is most likely a lie."

He nodded to her slowly, still not believing that he was anything special but he didn't want to disappoint her and be sent back.

"Now", said the painting, drawing his attention, "sit down son, I think first it may be better for you to tell us everything about you."

He looked back at the woman, and she simply gave him a small encouraging nod. She softly pushed him into one of the plush chairs that sat before the fireplace and took a seat herself in another.

So he did, he told them about everything he knew, and everything the Dursleys had ever told him. From the death of his drunkard parents, to being left on the doorstep, to being a slave to the Dursleys. He told them about the starvation, the beatings, his cupboard, and everything else he could remember. By the time he was done he was staring at the floor not wanting to see what they thought of him. He felt incredibly exhausted, and he understood a little of what the woman had said about him feeling carefree earlier because he didn't think he would have ever just told anyone everything about his life at the Dursleys. He just hoped they still wanted him after that.

He looked up when he heard the woman get out of her chair and watched as she came down and knelt before him. She had tears running down her cheeks, but she also seemed to be holding herself together from lashing out. This usually meant he was the most likely target but, he knew it wasn't him she was upset with.

He saw her arms come up to the sides of him, and she simply just held it open. He knew what she was asking for, after all he had seen Dudley constantly get hugged by his aunt, and he had wished almost every day his entire life for someone to hug him. So as he looked at this strange woman with her teary red eyes, her pointy teeth, and her pale skin, this woman he didn't even know the name of, he felt everything within him simply crumble. He had made it a rule to never cry before the Dursley's, to never give them that satisfaction of seeing him break, but now it all came pouring out as he jumped into her arms and latched on to her like she was his lifeline. Her arms too came around him, holding him tight to her as he sobbed into her neck. He cried until he could cry no more, and he slowly drifted into sleep, feeling safe in her arms.

He breathed a small sigh of relief as his eyes opened to the same tall ceilings as he had woken up in before. He had feared for a moment that it had all been a dream. He looked around to see if the woman was in the room, but she seemed to be absent. He felt a little wary of everything this time around, Magic was real, talking paintings were real, and likely so much more. He still didn't believe he was a wizard, but he didn't mind as long as he could see more magic.

He got up from his bed and walked towards the lone window in the room. He climbed up onto the wide windowsill and pulled back the curtains, only to have his jaw drop to the floor at the sheer beauty of the view outside the window. His window looked out on the surface of a perfectly still mountain lake that was surrounded by snowcapped mountains on all side. The mountain range reflected on the water like on a vast mirror and the setting sun in the distance cast a breathtaking light show over the whole mountainside. He never wanted to leave this place if it meant he got to see this every single day.

He took his fill of the view until his door opened again and the woman walked in. Despite being rid of the potions he still felt at ease around her, so he got a little happier at her presence.

She gave him a small comforting smile and held out her hand to him, which he readily accepted as he slipped his much smaller hands into hers.

"How are you youngling?" she asked, as her other hand came up and slowly brushed the fringe off his forehead. He knew she wouldn't hurt him despite only barely knowing her, but he still could not help but lightly flinch at the sudden gesture. She said nothing of it, and instead gave his hand a small squeeze.

"You have not had any actual food in 4 days, and I think it is better if you eat before we tell you about everything." she said, her hand then dropping to his chin and gently lifting it to her.," You have been very brave, youngling, and I will tell you again that you will never go back there again. From the moment you arrived here, this became your home so nobody will be able to hurt you here, as in the Magic in this house itself protects you. There is a lot you do not understand yet but just know that there is nobody alive who could possibly lay a finger on you even if they wanted to. The protections in and around this house are second to none. "

He felt a weight lift off his back at the woman's words. He didn't how any of it worked but if she said nothing could hurt him here then he would believe it, even if it would take him some time to get used to it.

They went down the same way as earlier, and now that he realized his eyes had not been playing tricks, he noticed that indeed almost all the paintings moved a little in their frames. They made their way past the room they were in earlier and as they passed, the man in the painting simply gave him a small smile. Finally, they arrived at a large dining room with a table running down the middle with enough seating to fit a bus full of people. On one end of the table there was a small spread of incredible looking food and as they got closer, he realized how hungry he was as his mouth started watering.

He blushed a little as the woman pulled out a chair for him, which he climbed on, and she sat down next to him.

He looked at all the food before him, but he glanced at the woman unsurely if he could just eat what he wanted. Fortunately, she seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"Go ahead youngling, it is all for you. Eat your fill".

A part of him screamed that it was a trick, one that had gotten his hands slammed shut with the oven door at the Dursleys, but he fought it back as he tentatively went for a chicken leg and took a small bite. He glanced at the woman again, and she only gave him an encouraging smile, so he decided to just trust his gut.

He ate and ate like he never had before, the food was simply not of this world compared to what he had been forced to eat before, and there was so much of it, all for him. He did wonder why the woman would not eat, but she had pulled out a weird yellow looking paper and had started scratching away with a feather. He would have been more curious about the fact that she was writing with a feather had he not been so distracted with the food.

When he was done, the woman took his hand again, and she led him through a hallway, to a giant door that slowly swung open as they got nearby. Light streamed in through the door and he readied himself to the cold that would inevitably come through but none came, instead as he stepped out, the weather was pleasant with a soft breeze flowing in the air. They stepped out to the same breath-taking view he had seen from his window, but it simply felt much more alive standing out on it. He took in what he could and turned to look at the house he had been staying at, and he quickly realized calling it a house would be like calling the Buckingham Palace a cottage. The castle was large, with huge walls, tall windows, and enormous towers that seemed to reach for the skies. He realized he had only been staying in one of the four towers of the castles, and he hadn't even seen most of the castle.

"Youngling" called out the woman, and he turned around to find her seated on a patch of grass. She patted the space in front of her so he made his way and sat before her.

"I know everything is still new to you but I will tell you a little about Magic now that you are feeling like yourself. Listen closely. "

"Magic is real, witches and wizards have lived among non-magical people or muggles as we call them for thousands of years. Wizards and witches are typically born to magical parents but sometimes they are also born to muggles and they're called muggleborns. There are families in the magical world who can trace their family history to hundreds of years back in history, and there are others that only contain a few generations. Sometimes a family line can go dormant for some years before claiming a heir again, like in your case. This place is known as the Shade stronghold, of the House of Shade. The Shades were once known as a formidable family, and although magic is neither good nor bad, the Shades were known as a grey family. While I am not a Shade by birth, I have been with the house of Shade all my life. The Shades are one of the oldest families to exist today, along with a few others like the House of Black and the House of Bones. The Shades were known to be good to their people and vicious to their enemies, their magic so obscure and terrifying that few ever dared to challenge them. There was one other thing that made the Shades so prominent, and that was their ties to the Norwegian Shades, a dragon breed that is rumored to have been gifted to the Shade line by Magic herself. At birth a young Norwegian Shade would emerge from the mountains to bond with it's rider. A bond that tied the dragon to the rider for life and either would die if the other fell. When the house of Shade fell at the hand of one it's own, the last Dragon spoke of one egg that would await it's rider. Eventually the last dragon and the last heir too perished trying to protect the family and the Shade Stronghold went into lockdown with me as it's lone caretaker. I waited for hundreds of years and I had lost hope, until the other night that you showed up at the maw of a Norwegian Shade. I don't yet know how, but I do know for sure that you are the last remaining heir to the house of the Shade, and it is now my duty to teach and care for you as much as I can."

His jaw must have been hanging wide open because she looked on bemusedly at him. It was a lot to take in. He was barely accepting the idea of Magic, now all this, and did she just say he arrived here with a Dragon?!

As if right on cue, a thunderous roar sounded from behind them, and as he scrambled up, an enormous shape glided into the sky and landed right by the lake. He watched both mesmerized and frozen at the thing before his eyes. The dragon was pitch black in color with a long snake like body and large leathery wings. It's long neck had extremely sharp spikes running all the way to it's tail and it's claws were bigger than he was. It had two short horns on it's head and it's eyes were in slits but he noticed they were the exact same shade as his own.

He should have been trembling in fear, ready to run at a moment's notice, but he felt none of that. Instead, as the dragon slowly walked up, he found himself slowly walking towards it. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the woman stay behind and bow to the dragon. The dragon slowly lowered its head as he got close, and he reached his hand out to touch it's snout. As his hand finally rested on the dragon's snout, he felt an intense exhilaration go through him and he somehow felt complete. It was as if a piece of him had been missing his whole life and now he was whole again.

"That is because we are finally together, little one" came a sweet feminine voice in his head.

He gasped as his eyes met the dragon's.

"We can talk in my head?"

"Of course we can, I can't expect you to understand my roars and snarls after all" the dragon replied, her eyes laughing at him.

His surprise turned to wonder as he slowly remembered everything the woman had just told him. His lack of fear, and the intense feeling as he had touched her snout, it could only mean that they were bonded right?

"So does that mean we are bonded?" he asked.

"Forever, I will never leave you."

He let that sink in for a moment and he felt his eyes suddenly get watery. So much had changed in such a short time, but he would trade it for nothing. He would always have a friend now. With blurry eyes, he did the only thing he could, he rushed forward and hugged the dragon's neck. As he did so, he felt one of her wings softly come around to hold him.

"You may call me Selena, little one"

"I'm Harry", he replied, still a little unsure.

"No, you are no longer Harry. From today you are Araius Hadrian Potter Shade, Lord to the House of Shade, heir to the house of Potter, and rider of Selena. You will say your name with pride, you are a Shade, and you are a dragon rider."

He let go of Selena's neck and he stood a little taller as he stepped back. He would not let her down, he was a dragon rider, and he would be proud of it. He felt a fire awaken in him as he said his name out loud for the first time.

"I am Araius, and I am a Shade", he declared.

"Indeed, and Araius is a fitting name for a Shade", said the woman as she came close behind him but kept her distance. Selena moved her head over to the woman, and seemed to give her a once over before she was satisfied.

"She is trustworthy, little one. Names have power and should never be given freely but you may tell her mine."

"This is Selena", he introduced her to the woman.

"And I am Amara to the both of you", replied the woman, giving her name for the first time. "I will leave you with Selena, Araius, as I know she will take care of you. I will be in the main hall if you need me."

With that, Amara left to go back inside, and it was just him and Selena.

"I think it's time we share a flight don't you think?", remarked Selena as she stretched her wings out and lowered her neck down to him.

He let out a wide grin as he immediately scrambled up and seated himself between two of her scales.

"Ready to be a dragon rider Araius?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm ready"

He felt her wings open and with one strong push, they were airborne. Selena climbed straight up into the sky and he held on to her neck, with a grin permanently affixed to his face. She rose high above the clouds and air felt much thinner up here, Selena gave him no warning before she abruptly stopped climbing and started hurtling towards the lake.

He let out a scream of delight as the air rushed past them and they fell back to earth like one of those meteor things he learnt about. Before they could hit the water however, Selena spread her wings and glided on top of the surface of the lake. He peeked down and he could see Selena's reflection perfectly in the smooth blue surface of the lake. She looked incredible. Selena rose once more and flew towards the castle, and he simply could not get enough of it. With him on Selena's back, he felt invincible, like nothing could challenge them.

They flew for a long while until Selena finally glided down by the lake and softly landed on the sandy shore. He knew he should be going inside since it was quickly getting dark but he felt reluctant to get off her back.

"It's alright little one, I will be here tomorrow and forever. You should go in now, and I will go hunt".

He conceded since she still had to go find food, so he slid off her neck and gave her another hug before she spread her wings and flew off into the distance.

"You can still talk to me when you need. It will never matter, how far we are, we will still be able to talk and sense each other." said Selena as she became a small speck in the distance.

"Thank you, Selena,", he said, already missing her.

"You never have to thank me little one".

With one final look, he turned around and walked back towards the castle. Tomorrow he would start his life as a Shade.